The editor sitting next to me heaved a heavy sigh.

"You know, you'll let all your happiness escape that way,"I comment.

"Its just that its so hard laying out all of the specioal feature photographs. I've done so much to prepare...Its a sudden change, you know? That five hotties feature thing...."

Oh, the article on Zelo...

"Why's the change of plan so suddenly anyway?" I asked curiously.

"The Chief wouldnt say. He said that he dosnt know much about it either. It must be a sponsor thing."

"Sponsor huh? That's a sad excuse if 've ever heard one."

"No kidding....Man, what a pain!"

Bringgggg.....

The phone rang and my coworker grabbed up the receiver.

"Jiyoon, its from someone named Mr Choi."

Mr Choi? Er Zelo?

"Hello?"

"Hey, Jiyoon."

"About today's session...Wold you mind if I changed the meeting place?"

"No problem..Where should I go?"

"Let's just meet in front of Hongdae Station. We'll take a car from there."

"All right. I'll see you there."

"Thanks! I'll be waiting."

A car huh....Where are we going?

 

Clatter, clatter...

The rollercoaster made clattering noises.

"I've always wanted to try this."Zelo said happily.

-.-

I shot a sidelong glance at Zelo, who was looking downright delighted as I tried tp calmly lay out inb my mind how exactly I had come to be in this situation.

We were in an amusement park in the city.

We were riding t the head of a rollercoaster.

"Zelo, I'm sure I've asked this before, but...What are we doing playing in an amusement park again?"

"Come on, I told you. Its for material."

"Tell me ehat part of this is material, and how! Otherwise I'll..."

The rollercoaster reached the summit.

"Look, the scenary is gorgeous when you see it from this high up."he coaxed.

Below us was a spread of greenery attractions glimmering in the sunlight and broad, blue skies.

I didnt hate the scenery or the rollercoaster, per se.

But this is the fifth time in a row!

"Eeeeeeeeeeeek!"

My screaming was drowned out by the roar of the rollercoster.

 

"Ugh.."

I feel sick.

As I rested my limply back on a park bench, Zelo offered me some ice cream.

"Jiyoon, can you eat? It might help if you eat something cold."

'Okay..Thanks.."

"Sorry,I didnt notice you were sick I should have stopped sooner, huh?"

He..doesnt seem to have done it on purpose.

Zelo look a bit dejected and I gave him a smile.

"Its all right. I should apologize for not sticking it out all the way with you. You wanted to ride more,didnt you?"

"Yeah,"he answered, smiling. "I was hopingto fufill a dream of mine......... A dream of rding a rollercoaster 20 times in 2 hours."

"Tw-twenty times..?"

"Oh, that's alownumber for a challange, isnt it? But with you here, I couldnt push it too much."

Does that mean we would have gone 20 times if I hadnt gotten sick?!

"Zelo, what are you trying to accomplish..?"

"I want to eventually meet the challange of going 100 times in a row. You've got to ride at least tht much."

I felt a little dizzy.

"I hope you can meet the challange."

"Thanks!"

100 times...I'm glad I stopped sooner rather than later...

"Do you like the ice cream?"

"Yeah.. I feel a little better now. You didnt get ay for yourself Zelo?"

"Yeah, I.."

Zelo quietly set his hand upon my mine as I held the soft serve.

Th hand felt surprisingly cold, and my heat skipped a beat.

And her I swore I wouldnt get excited today!

He bought his other hand to the nape of my neck.

"I want to eat it up," he whispered.

Zelo gave a teasing grin.

"Er...."

Zelo swept my hair back behind me.

Then he opened his mouth widely and leaned in towards my exposed neck.

Wait a minute, is this what he means by eating.....?

I tried to move but Zelo held me in place with his other hand.

I cant move like this! What do I do?!

I could feel breath on my neck.

Awmf...

Zelo took a bite out of the soft serve in my hand.

He looked up and sounded amused as he spoke," Heheh, you look so red. What did you think I was going to eat?"

Didnt last month's Cinderella mention that playing it cool worked best on this type of situation?

I acted calm and ate my ice cream as if nothing had happened.

"Jiyoon?"

Zelo wiped a finger across my mouth.

"What?"

"You had some ice cream on you."

Whoa, careful. I almost reacted there.

Zelo the finger with ice cream on it. "Mmm, delicious."

He said innocently but its making my heart pound again.

Why is Zelo doing nothing but trying to tease me?!

For that matter, eversince the time we met, I've had no idea what he was thinking.

"Jiyoon, what are you thinking?" he asked .

"Ahaha, nothing."

"Jiyoon, are you wishing that I wouldnt take the ice cream off you?"

Oh geez, can he read minds? How did he know?

"I am not," I denied.

"I suppose not. Are you wishing I wouldnt tease you?"

"What?!"

He bend his head and look at me.

"But that wont work. Once I find something entertaining, I never let it go."

It feels like he's seeing right thru me....

How pathetic is that, getting teased by a kid his age...?

I ate my ice cream in defeat.

 

After leaving the amusement park, we tool the train, two stations down to an aquarium.

We were in a tunnel tank where manta rays and tropical fish swam happily to and fro.

Its so beautiful...

I had been irate over the ice cream incident but this had calmed me down a lot.

"Its beautiful isnt it? I love relaxing here after work and exams."

"You like aquariums, Zelo?"

"Yeah, its a place where everyone can be happy, just like amusement parks right? Do you like places like this too Jiyoon?'

"I do. When I was little, my family and I went to aquarium to see fireflies."

"The fireflies?"

"Yeah, there was this summer event... I remember the fireflies more strongly than the fish I saw there."

"I like fireflies too. They're kind of magical. arent they? With those lights they give..."

,Magical huh...Zelo has a cute side to him every now and then.

"You can see them in the summer here at this aquarium too,"he informed.

"Ah, it must be gorgeous. Even the fish alone are already this beautiful."

"Its true, Lets see it together in the summer then. Its a promise!"

Saying that, Zelo slipped his hand into mine.

His fingers gave a gentle squeeze that felt pleasantly cool.

"Zelo, your hand..."

"Is something wrong?" he asked innocently.

"Well...This is work..."

"Whats the problem? We're the only ones here,"he said with a wink. "Doesnt holding hands make it easier for you to catch me?"

"Catch you...? Were you planning to run off?"

"Heheh, I might run if I get chased."

What does that mean, he might run off?

And holding hands like this is really making my heart pound....

"Shoplifters! Someone catch them!" a staff of the aquarium shouted.

Three middle school aged boys came running out of the shop.

"Excuse me Jiyoon. I will be right back."

Zelo ran off merrily after the boys.

Oh wow, he ran so fast!

He caught up with them in a snap and tie the boy's hand behind their back with rope when they struggled.

What? Why was he carrying a rope?

Zelo turned the three boys over to the staff and returned to me.

"Sorry about that Jiyoon."

Why are you apologizing? That was a good thing that you did. You dont have to apologize for that."

"You think so?"

Zelo gave a bashful smile.

Zelo's embarrassed. Maybe I should compliment him.

I patted Zelo's head. Wow, Zelo's hair is so soft.....

No reaction..........

"Zelo..?"

I peeked at his face. It was deep red and frozen in place.

"I'm just a little...Dont look at me right now!"

"Wh-whats wrong?"

"Sorry, I'm not used to being treated that way... I dont know how to react."

Even his parents?

I wanted to ask but couldnt bring myself to question him any further on it.

Instead I just patted his head one last time.

"Zelo, that was really great."

Zelo took my hand and started walking.

"Jiyoon, lets go get some dinner."

"Oh sure."

I could tell that he was embarrassed even by watching him from behind,and I smiled behind his back where he wouldnt see it.

 

We left the aquarium and went out to a fancy restaurant.

After everything all the way up to dessert, I sipped some fragrant coffee and murmured to myself.

"Sigh...I didnt get any material out of all that.. I dont know if I'll get my article done in time," I lamented to myself.

"What? You got perfect material, didnt you?" Zelo said.

"Not at all. All we did was play round at the amusement park and aquarium..."

"Oh, I must have not explained it to you."

"Huh?"

"My companies have invested in every place that we've visited today. This restaurant too, of course."

I couldnt immediately grasped what he was getting at.

"I manage companies more or less for fun but...........I always get this urge to invest in places that looks fun"

"I heard you were the CEO of venture businesses but... That's impressive, doing management,"I praised.

"Oh, I leave all the management to others. All I really do is put forth money so its not that big of a deal."

"I see but well I still think its great."

"Its not all that great. Anyone could do it if they put their mind to it.."

He said that nonchalantly. This was a college student who had built venture businesses that invested in notjust restaurants, but even amusement parks and aquariums...

So that's the charismatic college boy...

Just then Zelo pulled out his cell phone.

He looked at the display and his shoulders slumped.

'Mm, sorry Jiyoon. I've got to get going."

"No problem. Is it work?"

"Yeah, playing the hero."

"Hero?"

"I'm really sorry. I'll make this my treat."

"What? I-I can pay."

"How can I make a girl pay on a date? Besides it made me happy to see the way you ate all that Jiyoon."

A date? Wait, since when has this become a date?

"Let it be my treat tonight. Think of it as a gratitude for a lovely date today."

"The way I ate? I'm not sure how I feel about hearing that,"I said with a pout.

"I think I'd be hard pressed to find a girl who enjoys her food as much as you. I think you made me enjoy mine more than usual."

"Oh, thank you. All right then if you insist."

"I do! See you tomorrow."

"Right. Have a good day."

Zelo looked up at me in momentary bafflement at my words.

What? Did I say something strange again?

"Okay, I'm off!"

A smile lit up Zelo's whole face.

He picks on me so much but I just cant bring myself to hate him....

Zelo left the restaurant, looked back over his shoulder, and waved to me.

It was such a cute gesture that I smiled and waved right back.

 

Text Received ~

I had lots of fun today, going to the amusement park and aquarium...Next time, I'm definitely going to ride the rollercoaster 100 times! With you, of course.

So I wanna go watch for fireflies with you too, got it? Its a date.

Anyway, thanks for working on the story today. I look forward to our next session!

- Zelo

 

End of Chapter.