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Plectrum of HopeThis is probably the worst case scenario ever. He feels like he's somehow in a dream; floating in the thick liquid of sleep. Everything seems to move in a slow motion at first. But this is not a dream, and he has to act fast. Chanyeol grabs Soo Yun's hand without a second thought and sprints towards a bus stop he had seen beforehand. If they stayed, he's certain that more fans will crowd them and that would be far too risky and treacherous without any bodyguards to secure their safety.
Soo Yun tries to match his long strides with her short legs; her lungs already out of oxygen. She knew this would happen. And now they're running for dear life in the middle of the city in broad daylight to escape a horde of teenage girls. (And perhaps more to come.) The shouts and screams sound more ruffled now; like more people has join into the mass of crowd.
Thanks to their dance rehearsals everyday which acts more like a workout, night jogs and being on reality shows that requires them to use physical strength, the EXO members run with ease and faster than their fans. They turn a corner into a new road and Chanyeol points towards the ramshackled bus stop. He tugs Soo Yun's hand and promptly pulls her into the bus that's about to close its doors. The other members manage to get on just in time before the bus driver pulls the door to close.
Chanyeol drops into a seat with a sigh of relief. He ignores people's stares that's boring into the back of his skull and takes in huge gulps of air just as his knees give out under his weight; just in time as the bus jerks forward.
"That...was... freaking.. dope.. man,.. but.. I'm never doing... that.. again" Jongin stutters, his breath hitching on his throat everytime he tries to say a word.
Chanyeol laughs, suddenly realizing the absurdity of it all. He peers outside the window but sees none of the girls that were chasing them a minute ago. Just like a dream. He feels a slight twitching under his hand and discerns he hasn't let go of Soo Yun's hand yet. The poor girl is shaking relentlessly. From what---he's not sure. Chanyeol gives her hand a reassuring squeeze and offers her a small smile. "I got you", he says.
Soo Yun looks up at him with wide eyes and uses the last bit of strength to smile back. She relaxes her grip on his hand and never lets go until they reach their destination.
The inspiring delight scent of popcorn; sweet and salty, greets them by the entrance. Soo Yun stares in awe at the huge amount of rides in every radius of her peripheral vision. The fun fair is exuberant with a myriad of coasters, flume rides and lively carousels. At her far right, there's a cotton candy booth crowded with people that swarms like bees over a flower. The cotton candy are made differently; not the ones like huge puffs of clouds, but spun into shapes like a carnation. The clamour from the fair sounds almost calming to her ears.
She's never been to a carnival before; let alone one as big as this. Her father disappeared when she was a child, leaving only her pregnant mum with herself in their almost subsidence house. Since then they were indigent since he was their source of income. Her mother falls terribly sick a few years later, but she couldn't remember much about her omma's death or even her last words. She feels a terrible ache in her chest when she realizes how selfish she is to go to this fun fair alone without her little brother.
"Let's meet up here later at six sharp guys. We need to be back before dinner or else sunbaenim will kill us." Suho's reminds them.
"Araso. We'll be good, hyung." Baekhyun chirps, his face bright with excitement. He wraps an arm around Kyungsoo's shoulder and pulls Jongin with them. Sehun wanders somewhere else with Suho. Baek notices Chanyeol and Soo Yun still frozen on the exact spot. "You coming with us?"
Chanyeol shakes his head as his eyes glances at Soo Yun. Baek nods in comprehension and wiggles his eyebrows. He storms off in his suit to the arcade with Jongin and Kyungsoo. James Bond in an arcade. How comical.
"You okay?" Chanyeol asks after noticing Soo Yun's lapse of silence since they got here; his eyes mirroring his anxiety.
"Nothing...I just, never went to a fun fair before", she admits sheepishly, and Chanyeol grins from ear to ear.
"Well you're missing out on a lot."
Chanyeol takes her to a big-sized platform with a sign "Dodgems" enshrined in scrawly blue and red paint. He's ecstatic when he leads her into a small electrically powered car before gets into one himself. No fair is complete without the excitement and chaos of the dodgems track. He also finds it fascinating even, how people become a completely different person when they get on this track. You see people who are careful with their cars and treat them with respect. But when they get on dodgems they drive like hell.
Soo Yun suddenly feels nervous when the tracks come to life, the cars crackling in power and lights. A loud booming "Start!" fills her ears and instantly all the other cars start to bump into each other without a care--letting out an almost sickening sound. Somebody launches into the side of her car and she's thrown slightly over her side. Chanyeol smirks; obviously challenging her to step up her game.
"Let's see who's the boss", she mumbles under her breath as she turns the steering wheel using all her might and tries to crash into him. But she presses the pedals too hard and ends up hitting a pole; causing a large inertia that hits her backwards. Chanyeol throws his head back and bursts out laughing; clearly enjoying the scene of her struggling with this small-size electrical powered car. Soo Yun grits her teeth; refusing to give up. She reverses her bumper car until it crashes into his, throwing him a little off balance from his seat and causing his thick glasses skewed on his face. Chanyeol stares at her dumbfoundedly, and she knows she pulls it off with one strike.
They ride the biggest roller coaster, the one painted with a shade of blue and orange and had tracks that swirl like rolls of ribbons that meets at the center. Soo Yun hesitates at first because she'd rather have a peaceful death than one that involves falling off from her seat and screaming in mid-air. But in the end Chanyeol screams are louder than hers and he has to take a few trips to the bathroom afterwards. His face is still somehow green-ish after an hour.
"Here. Try this. I swear it's good." Chanyeol hands her a small paper bag filled with big, golden-coloured fried balls that doesn't look quite appetizing to her. He slips his change into his pocket after buying it from the ahjumma but when he looks up at her, Soo Yun still stares at the fried balls like it's alien food.
"What is this?", she picks one up and turns it around to inspect it.
"Try it first. You won't regret it."
"But I'm trying to cut oily food from my meals." she frowns at him. Chanyeol sighs and takes the one that she's holding and shoves it into .
"YA!", she bursts in shock as she stumbles back a bit. She's about to hit him and mutter incoherent curses but then bites into the fried ball instead and ice cream oozes from the middle like a surprise center in . She flaps her hand excitedly and munches on the sweet delicacy until it's finally swallowed. "Oh my God what is this??" she squeals in surprise.
"Fried ice cream, my favourite. I told you it would taste good. They only have it here though." Chanyeol bites into a piece.
"Bummer. Let's buy more."
They end up buying more fried ice cream than any other person would and making the ahjumma leave early because her food is finished--not that she complains.
The sky starts to turn orange with splashes of red, yellow and gold in the horizon by the time they complete all the rides; mostly the ones without high points since Chanyeol ends up throwing up whenever he sees them. He suggests they rent a bicycle and circle around the area to kill off time before six o'clock. Unluckily, the only bicycle left is a pink coloured one that looks far too small for the both of them. Chanyeol barely manages to fit his long, giraffe-like legs on the pedals. Soo Yun shakes her head in embarassment before she had to help him position his body properly on the small bike like a mother to her child. It takes a few grunting and incoherent mutters but they manage it. Kind of. He can't help it that 80% of his body consists of his legs.
The park located beside the fun fair smells like daisies and lavendar and lemon grass. The cold weather hadn't actually taken the life and redolent of all the blooming things yet. Chanyeol cycles the bicycle effortlessly, in spite of having to bear both of their weights. He's still wearing his disguise, but the mole had peeled off earlier without him noticing and he'd ditched the moustache that causes him constant prickles. He wonders what Jongin, Sehun, Suho, Kyungsoo and Baekcon are doing right now. Hopefully they're not getting chased by sasaengs.
"Chanyeol?" Soo Yun blurts out suddenly from the passenger seat after a stretch of silence between them since they rode the bike.
"Hmm?" he mumbles, and turns his head a bit to glance at her.
"I'm sorry...for earlier. I..didn't mean to.. snap at you like that." she admits, and looks down on her shoes that's lifted from the ground. Everything blurs past them like a series of pictures being fast forward rapidly.
Chanyeol is silent for a while. The only sounds audible are the wind blowing across their faces and the rustling of fallen leaves on the ground when they cycle by. If she leans in a little bit closer to his back, she swears she can hear the rhythm of his heartbeat.
"It's fine", he finally says. "It's my fault too." he admits, and offers her a genuine smile. He suddenly feels light; like a feather. Like all the weight of her anger that he was directed towards is finally lifted.
Soo Yun breathes a sigh of relief that she doesn't realize she was holding. "And thanks for today, pabo. I really appreciate it. Not everyone have the experience of being brought to a fun fair for the first time by her famous, goofball best friend." she smiles gratefully. "And for introducing me to the infamous fried ice cream balls that taste absolutely sinful."
Chanyeol's back shakes with laughter. He steeres the bike to turn into a new corner. "No problem. And I kinda like the word "goofball". You come up with the best nicknames while I at it, badly." he sighs exaggeratedly.
"Ha! I knew I was at least good at someth--", her words are cut off when Chanyeol suddenly halts the bicycle to a stop.
Soo Yun almost falls off from her seat. "What's wrong?" her tone are a mix of panic and anxiety.
His eyes look alert as he stares at something afar she can't decipher. Without explaining why, he jumps off from the bike and sprints towards the distance. Chanyeol ignores Soo Yun's calls from behind him. The only word that his mind can process is:
Nononononono
And the only thing he can think of is making it there on time.
{ A/N }
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