Peek (ii)

“Let’s go on the roller coaster.” I boldly take Daehyun’s hand and lug him towards the queue, seizing the short opportunity to hold his hand. We weave slowly, Daehyun discreetly interlocking our fingers and lagging behind me as an excuse.

"How long has it been since you've ridden one?" I ask.

"A really long time."

"Didn't you go with your friends?"

Daehyun rubs the back of my neck. "They invited me but I felt like they'd push me off something."

I burst out laughing as Daehyun flashes a pleased grin. "Who would do that?"

"Byunghun, Minho... They like to pull pranks a lot." Daehyun suddenly clears his throat and folds his lips, feigning an aloof look. "It's the Minho who you said was handsome."

I blink at Daehyun before squinting at him in amusement. It was a long time ago when I commented that Song Minho, fellow heartthrob in our school, was good-looking.

"Mm, he's my style," I brashly announce.

"He cusses a lot. He's a player, too," Daehyun remarks, bending down to make eye contact with me. "That's the kind of guy you like?"

"Yes. I like bad boys," I return smugly. Daehyun purses his lips and nods slowly.

"F, U..." He starts like reciting the alphabet.

I slap Daehyun's wrist and chortle, "Hey, stop it! I don't like it when my boyfriend curses."

"I thought you liked bad boys?" Daehyun teasingly asks, cocking a brow. "Then… what kind of guy do you like?"

"A guy whose name starts with J."

Daehyun flutters his lashes and then huffs. "Jay Park, right? It's unfair that I'm competing with a celebrity."

"Hey, it's worse for me. Do you know how many girls like you?" I fold my arms with a pout. "And no, I was talking about Jung Daehyun."

"That's good," Daehyun beams, sunshine radiating from his lovely eye smile. "And no, I don't."

"Yeah, you don't. I'm competing with so many pretty girls out there. It's unfair."

Daehyun suppresses a laugh using his fist. He crouches slightly and remarks in a soft voice, "But you're the prettiest?"

My cheeks bristle with warmth. Still, I retort, "So... that's all I'm worth?"

"You’re difficult." Daehyun pinches my cheek gently and then rubs it with an apology, making me laugh again.

"If you're going to pinch me and then say sorry, why'd you do it in the first place? Stupid." I prod Daehyun's arm.

It takes a long while for the queue to clear. Our silly jokes last us till we finally reach the front of the queue.

"I'm so excited," I chime as we get into a cart. Daehyun continues looking around as we fasten our seatbelts. After the staff checks our safety belt, Daehyun surreptitiously reaches over and holds my hand.

"Are you scared?" I tease.

Daehyun melts into a small smile. "Yeah," he hums, squeezing my hand softly.

"You don't sound scared."

Daehyun exaggeratedly widens his eyes. "I'm really scared," he says in his usual flat tone, igniting a chortle in me. It's so easy to smile and laugh around Daehyun; to say he makes me happy is a complete understatement.

The ride begins. As we go up, I find myself tightening my grip on Daehyun's hand, adrenaline bringing along just a tinge of anxiousness in me. We finally reach the top and in a brief second, we're barrelling down the tracks and I'm screaming my lungs out in joy. Clasping hard on Daehyun's hand as the wind blusters against my face, I glance over to find Daehyun with his eyes comically large and his lips folded, clearly shocked by the speed of the roller coaster.

The roller coaster comes to a stop and Daehyun stumbles out of the car, wobbling slightly. I hold Daehyun's arm to stablise him and can't help but laugh at his winded expression.

"Was it fun?"

Daehyun slowly nods. "When it went down, I suddenly couldn't feel my seat... I panicked."

He's really so cute. "Did you feel better holding my hand?" I ask, leading Daehyun to a bench underneath the shade of a tree.

"No... I was scared that if I flew off, I'd pull you along."

I double over with laughter as Daehyun innocently gazes at me. "It's possible," he insists. "You're small."

"I'm not small. I'm f-" I hurriedly catch myself but Daehyun easily makes out the words I wanted to say.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to say that," I wince, hoping it doesn't ruin the mood. Daehyun must be so, so tired of hearing me saying these kind of self-deprecating things; I really wish I wouldn't say these things so out of reflex.

Instead, Daehyun musters up an encouraging smile. "I'm happy that you stop yourself from saying it," he says quietly. "Oh, we haven't eaten a lot. Since we've cleared the roller coaster, let's eat now."

I stare up at Daehyun, suppressing the small flutter in my heart. I wonder how a person like him can have so much patience with me.

"Okay. Jaebum said there's a lot of good food here." I point to one of the stores at the end. "Oh, they're selling fried chicken and fries. Do you want that?"

"Sounds good. I want meat." Daehyun rubs his tummy. He taps my thigh and says, "Stay here. I'll go buy it."

"No, we can queue up together." I take Daehyun's hand to stop him from leaving.

"It's okay. The line's long," Daehyun remarks. "I don't want you to be hot."

I put my bag down and say, "How about I get drinks so we save time? What do you want?"

"Oh, okay. Iced tea please." Daehyun takes out his wallet and promptly tries to hand me a ten dollar bill. "Remember to get one for yourself too."

I nudge Daehyun's shoulder, narrowing my eyes playfully. "Are you my Daddy?"

"What?" Daehyun returns, blinking hard.

"I asked if you're my Daddy. You're giving me money like I'm your five-year-old son." I lightly push Daehyun's hand away. "You don't have to give me money."

For some reason, it takes Daehyun a while to process my words. He heaves as the shock from his face dissipates, a lovely guffaw spilling from his lips. He glances around and mumbles, "Youngjae... phrasing."

It's my turn to be confused, before the realisation sets in horrifyingly. I shove Daehyun hard and exclaim with a red face, "Jung Daehyun, oh my god! You're sick!"

Daehyun struggles to repress his laughter, pressing a hand hard against his mouth. "I-I wasn't thinking that way! I'm sorry.”

"You're a freaking lecher!" I hit Daehyun square in the chest and stalk away, my cheeks flaring with embarrassment. "Go buy the food! I don't want to talk to you."

"The money-"

"I don't need your money!"

In the distance, I can hear Daehyun laughing boisterously to himself. I can't help but laugh a little, rolling my eyes at Daehyun's little antic. Every time I think he's too innocent for his own good, he ruins the impression for me.

I get our drinks and settle back at our table, watching the people swarm the area merrily. Children scamper from one end to the other while couples have their hands meshed together, giving each other pecks here and there as they point out attractions. I draw circles into the table as my mind wanders off, thinking about the things I'd like to do with Daehyun if we were like those couples.

I'd want to kiss him. Every time he does something cute, I really want to kiss him. I smile stupidly to myself and just then, Daehyun returns, curiously regarding me.

"What are you looking at?"

"Nothing." I nudge Daehyun’s drink over. “Here, lecher.”

“Hey.” Daehyun pouts. “It was your phrasing.”

“I thought you were innocent, but really, you’re just a lecher.”

Daehyun thinks to himself for a moment.

“…Someone was feeling my stomach last Saturday morning, though,” he coughs, a small tint of pink colouring his bright face.

“It was an accident! I already told you! Ugh, I hate you,” I groan, burying my face in my hands.

Daehyun chuckles softly and reaches out, clearing wanting to caress my cheek. He retracts his hand at the last moment and instead my head.

“Let’s eat. I’m really hungry.” Daehyun hands me a fork and we bite into the chicken pieces. It’s a little dry, so it’s a good thing we bought drinks.

“Did you find the book you wanted yesterday?” I ask, watching fondly as Daehyun gobbles up his chicken.

“Mm, no. Yongguk-hyung says his friend might have it.”

“Is the book really new?”

“No. I guess it isn’t well-known.” When Daehyun looks away to shift his bag in, I plop in a few chicken pieces into his box.

“I’ll ask Aaron if he knows that book. The City of Ember, right?”

Daehyun nods. “Thank you.” After a moment of looking at me, he smiles to himself for no reason, glancing to the table.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

I sigh. “You’re thinking about someone else right in front of me.”

Daehyun squints at me, repressing an amused smile. “You’re being cheeky today. Why?”

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s because I’m in a really good mood.” I squish my cheek against my palm.

“I’m glad I brought you to the carnival.” He munches up his chicken and remarks, “I’m in a good mood, too.”

“Thanks to the carnival?”

“Mm. That I’m with you at a carnival.” Daehyun laughs softly to himself. “You’re having fun, right?”

“Mm, lots of fun. I always have lots of fun when I’m with you,” I say firmly.

“That’s good.” He brushes back my hair and feeds me a cheese fry. “Here, eat more. I can buy other things if you want.”

“It’s okay. This is enough.” I glance out at the other attractions, scanning through them. “Where else do you want to go?”

“The bouncy castle looks fun.”

“Mm, it does. Do you want to go to the haunted house too?”

Daehyun his lips and thinks to himself. He murmurs, “It looks kind of scary. I’ll go if you hold my hand…”

“I will, I promise,” I assure, a bit surprised that Daehyun’s afraid of the haunted house. He didn’t seem fazed when we were watching that horror movie—I remember clearly because it was the first time we went out together. He wasn’t bothered much by the horror games we played, too.

“We don’t have to go if you don’t want to,” I bring up. Daehyun shakes his head.

"I want to go," he insists. "Let's go on the ferris wheel when the sun's down."

"There'll be a lot of couples waiting for that time," I mention amusedly.

"We can join them." Daehyun prods another fry into my mouth. "Are there any updates with the publishing team?"

"Nope," I heave. "The principal says they'll think about it but I think the parents were really angry. It makes me kind of sad. That just because the interview touched on Heechul-hyung and his coming-out experience..."

Daehyun's expression softens. He reaches over and daringly places his hand over mine, squeezing it.

"Your team published his interview. You should be proud, even if there's backlash," Daehyun hums.

I offer a small smile, admiring how strong Daehyun can be when an issue like this hits so close to home for both of us. "And I have a lot of free time now, without a club!" I chime to bring up the mood.

Daehyun readily nods. "Designing took up a lot of your time."

"Yeah. But I spend most of my free time now waiting for you to end basketball practice."

"You should go home first," Daehyun immediately says, melting into a frown.

"It's okay. I want to spend time with you."

Daehyun suppresses a smile. "We can always spend time on the weekends."

"True... Maybe we spend too much time together," I lightly remark.

Instantly, Daehyun's eyes snap wide open, some panic scrawling over his irises. "No, I didn't mean it that way."

He's really too cute for his own good.

"Okay, then, I'll wait for you." I poke two chicken piece into Daehyun's mouth and he chews like a contented little boy, cheeks turning round.

"Only if you want to, and you're not tired or busy," Daehyun blubbers through his munches.

"I do." I wave another chicken piece and Daehyun obediently takes it into his already full mouth, looking exactly like a chipmunk.

"Can I take a photo of you?" I quickly take out my phone as Daehyun nods, trying his best to smile for the camera. With a chortle, I proudly set it as my wallpaper.

"I should take more photos of you," I murmur absentmindedly. "I don't have a habit of doing so... But I really want photos of you to keep, so I can remember them for later."

“I want to do that with you too. Can I?” Daehyun asks.

I purse my lips, my wince giving away my thoughts. I really don’t like having my photos taken. Sometimes, seeing my own picture can instantly make me feel down.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to,” Daehyun soothes quickly.

“No, you can,” I concede gingerly.

“Let’s take photos together instead,” Daehyun suggests. He scoots over to sit with me and fumbles with his phone, one hand placed on my thigh.

He awkwardly raises his hand as he faces the camera towards us. “I don’t know how to take photos at this angle,” he admits.

“Me neither. I rarely take selfies.”

We stare at each other and I stifle a soft giggle. “Oh no. We both don’t know.”

“I’ll ask someone.” Daehyun gets up and politely stops a middle-aged lady passing by. Once she looks up at Daehyun, she stills slightly, eyes glistening in awe.

“Excuse me, do you mind taking a photo for my friend and me?”

“Oh, of course!” She takes Daehyun’s phone and Daehyun returns back to his seat, wrapping an arm around my waist. She enthusiastically takes several photos for us, even going so far as to squat just to take it from another angle.

We both thank her as Daehyun receives his phone. The lady broadly grins to us and walks off, not before sparing another few glances at Daehyun.

“Cute…”

I turn to Daehyun. He’s brushing a thumb over his phone screen with a pleased look, particularly over my large cheeks. I cringe at the photo and cover Daehyun’s phone. We have a lady enamoured by Daehyun’s looks in the span of a few seconds and he’s here admiring my constipated face.

“Why? You’re really handsome,” Daehyun points out.

“No.”

“Yes.”

“You have no taste,” I say airily.

“No, you.”

I squint at Daehyun. He tilts his head slightly, clearly remorseless.

“Are you dissing yourself?” I amusedly question. “You’re my taste.”

“Yes. You should be your own taste.” Despite his comment, Daehyun’s face vividly lights up, pleased by my remark.

“Weirdo. You want me to be in love with myself.”

“I would be, if I was you.”

“You’re not smooth, Jung Daehyun,” I announce loudly while Daehyun laughs. “I’ll date myself, then.”

“Oh no. You’re my love rival.”

“I’ll pinch you if you don’t stop.”

“…You’re threatening to attack your competition-”

“Stoooooop,” I raise my voice and reach over to pinch Daehyun’s arm. He shifts away and rubs his elbow with a honey-like laugh, making my heart flutter.

“Keep quiet and eat your food.” I gently stuff Daehyun’s mouth with a few fries, dissolving uncontrollably into a grin. Thankfully, Daehyun acquiesces, training his attention once again on his food.

“Have you done the essay assignment?”

“Not yet. I don’t know what theme to do on.”

“Zitao chose Coming of Age.”

“That’s a fun theme to do. I was thinking about Family.”

“A lot of what we’ve read has to do with that. It’s good.”

We talk about school work as Daehyun gobbles up his food, the conversation straying to Byunghun and his escapades in school last week. Apparently, he’d tried to squeeze under the school gates so he wouldn’t be marked late, only to get stuck. No wonder we heard alarm sounds—the fire department had to be called to get him out.

Once we finish up our food, we join the queue for the haunted house. I take a deep breath and muster up all my courage. I have to be brave inside there; I'll make sure to comfort Daehyun if he's afraid. It doesn’t look too scary... In fact, the outside seems quite corny with the weird fonts.

As we enter and darkness falls over us, Daehyun immediately interlocks fingers with me. It smells musty in here and there are fake cobwebs all over the walls, the interior looking just like an abandoned house.

“I’m scared,” a girl behind me squeals as she clings onto her friend.

“You just entered, you coward.”

“I know, but…” Her voice drops to a hushed whisper. “Look, they’re holding hands. It’s not just me who’s scared.”

I squeeze Daehyun’s hand to reassure him and courageously lead the way. Skeletons line the wall and I leap back with a squeak when the skull of one suddenly drops to the ground.

Daehyun quickly pulls me into his grasp and my back. Embarrassed, I nudge him away and continue leading the way.

A loud, evil laugh fills the hallway and the lights go out. Suddenly, a loud shriek pierces the air and a woman with no features appears with a burst of light. She lunges towards us.

Letting out a shrill scream, I bury my face into Daehyun’s chest and cling on to him tight. Daehyun jerks and he nearly suffocates me in his chest, squeezing me against him protectively. Thankfully, that ghostly woman disappears into the darkness.

I end up clinging to Daehyun’s waist the rest of the way while he goes first, comfortingly rubbing my lower back. The rest of the jumpscares are somehow worse than a woman with no eyes rushing towards us---a serial killer in a ski mask, a demon baby in a cradle, a slender figure with a crooked smile.

Eventually we emerge from the exit and I gratefully heave a sigh, my face still squished against Daehyun’s arm.

“Are you okay?” Daehyun murmurs. He combs my hair back and I let go of him once I notice the two girls giggling at us.

“Uh, yeah,” I cough, embarrassedly trying to harden my voice as my heart continues to pound. I went in there thinking I’d be the one soothing Daehyun yet I ended up screaming at everything and trying to burrow my head into Daehyun’s armpit, like I’m an ostrich. Nice.

“Are you okay?” I ask back.

“Yeah. It was nice,” Daehyun laughs. His eyes twinkle and he hums, “We should go again.”

“No,” I return without missing a beat. “Um, we won’t have time for the other rides.”

“Oh, right. Shall we go to the bouncy castle?”

“Mm.” I briskly tug Daehyun towards the other side of the carnival, not wanting to be near the haunted house any longer.

“You didn’t find it scary?” I ask gingerly.

“It was. Did you find it scary?”

I fold my lips and deadpan at Daehyun. Considering I was screeching my lungs out, that shouldn’t be a question.

He chuckles and remarks softly, “You were really cute. The way you kept trying to push your head under my arm.”

I flush and murmur, “It must be because I’m sleepy from lunch, so I was jittery.”

“…Okay,” Daehyun says airily, looking away. I sulkily tug at his shirt as he refuses to meet my eyes, pressing back a smile.

“It was really because I was sleepy.”

Daehyun nods, deliberately glancing around with a playful simper. I grunt and tiptoe, making Daehyun step back in surprise.

“I wasn’t scared.”

Daehyun muffles a laugh. “Okay,” he repeats.

“Really!”

Daehyun stops in his tracks and turns to face the haunted house. “Then, let’s go again.”

I shut my mouth instantly. Daehyun’s eyes twinkle with amusement.

“I guess we’re going to the bouncy castle?”

I turn my nose upwards and return airily, “Well, since you want to.”

Daehyun points towards the haunted house and raises a brow. “You want to go back to the haunted house?”

He chuckles again when my face contorts.

“Well, since you want to go to the bouncy castle, not the haunted house, I’ll go with you. Because I’m nice,” I announce.

“If you want to go to the haunted house, you can go alone,” Daehyun teases, slinging an arm around my waist as we walk towards the bouncy castle.

“Fine. I’ll find another guy to go with.”

Daehyun snivels. He gently pats the side of my waist, as if hitting me in punishment.

“No.”

I bite back a laugh, pressing my cheek lightly against Daehyun’s arm. “So, you want me to accompany you to the bouncy castle...”

Daehyun groans. “Yes, I do.”

“Then, I shall! Aren’t you lucky?”

“Yes, yes,” Daehyun grins, his voice dropping an octave into a long exhale, “The luckiest person in the world.”

His steps slow as he gazes at me, stare falling to my lips. He turns his head awa