Time flew far too slowly for my liking. It felt like forever when the day to stalk the professors outside campus arrived. I was so excited that I only had a few hours of sleep the night before. One reason was because we would finally get to see how lovey-dovey they really were and the other because we’re going to a theme park! Nothing could ruin my good mood.

It wasn’t difficult to get an answer from Professor Zhang. Just like any other day, I walked beside him after our evening class with some books in hand. My mind was going at a higher speed, trying to find questions that deemed appropriate. I didn’t want him to know that he was going to be stalked on his date. We were just a few steps away from his office when I decided to just go with it and ask whether he’s going anywhere with his girlfriend (thankfully I remembered to use this word instead). It took him awhile to answer – and I was close to apologising as it might have come off as rude – but he did.

It was the new theme park that just opened around a month ago. I arrived at the venue an hour before it opened and I had an excuse (two, in fact) for that: my energy was too high to just stay at home waiting and I didn’t exactly know the time the date started. The latter was never asked to either of the professors because I figured it would be too obvious. Knowing the place and day was good enough for me. We could just wait by the entrance for them. Hopefully, they wouldn’t come late because then I wouldn’t get to ride any of the amusement rides. I knew it was selfish of me but that would totally ruin my good mood.

“I’m sorry, did you wait long?”

My attention was shifted from the phone screen to the speaker whose soft voice was both distinct and familiar at the same time, for some weird reason. We’d met and spoken for a number of times after our first meeting but mostly it was just me who talked about anything that could come out of my head. I figured we must have gotten closer or something but apparently it was kind of difficult for her to stop being so formal with me.

“Oh, hey,” I said, giving her a smile. “I got here like,” I checked my phone for the time and looked back at her, “half an hour ago.” Then I realised what she was wearing and I could feel my smile disappearing as a frown came to replace it. “Why is your outfit all black?”

She gave herself a onceover. Her sneakers were black with white shoelaces, her straight jeans were black, and her white t-shirt was seen peeking underneath a black cardigan that was buttoned from top to bottom. Her hair was tied into a ponytail and on her face was a pair of thick eyeglasses. “Is it too much?” She looked up at me.

To be frank, I wanted to lie to her and reply that it wasn’t but I couldn’t let her be the centre of attention when we were supposed to be discreet. She looked like she just returned from a funeral. So I nodded as a confirmation. “But don’t worry,” I hurriedly added. “We’ll figure out something.” It took me a few seconds to come up with a decision: the cardigan and pull up the sleeves a few inches below her elbows. At least now she looked a bit more casual and relaxed. “There, you’re good to go.”

Lines were starting to form in front of the ticket booths as chats and laughter came to visit our ears. It was almost opening time so we decided to follow the crowd and buy the tickets. Once paid, our feet took us to the entrance and then to the benches nearby. The various sounds of the amusement rides played in the background and it was very tempting to go in that direction instead of taking a seat. But the thought of witnessing the professors’ date in a moment stopped me from doing so.

“How are we going to do this?”

I looked to my right and saw her head bowing down, inspecting her shoes as if she was talking to them instead. Her hands were on the straps of her red backpack. If I didn’t know who she was, I would have thought that she was a high school student.

“We just follow them from behind,” I answered, my eyes alternating between the entrance to check for their arrival and her. “It’s just like what we usually do at the university, except now we’re out in public.”

“But what if they turn around?”

I scoffed. “I doubt they’d even realise we’re here in the first place.” My attention was then fixed on her who was still staring at her outstretched legs. “And besides, there are so many people around us. They’ll be busy doing their things to notice their surroundings, trust me.” I must have some kind of Professor Zhang Yixing radar or something because all of the sudden, my eyes looked up and caught two figures we’d been waiting for. My mouth formed a smile. “They’re here.”

And thankfully that got her attention. Her eyes were wide with a hint of excitement hidden somewhere inside. “What? Where?” She stood up from the bench so quickly that it looked like she got burned from the hot seat. She snapped her head around but immediately turned back towards me with a look of horror evident on her face. She said something akin to a swear word, which was shocking because she didn’t strike me as a person who would say those kinds of things.

“What is it?”

“Professor Kim might have spotted me.”

My head was tilted to the side in confusion. “But that’s impossible in this distance,” I replied. “You’re freaking out. Calm down.” I reached out and squeezed her arm for reassurance.

Then, the radar suddenly rang again (it’s just my imagination but there’s nothing wrong with that), indicating that they were approaching. So I mouthed that information and held her arm so she wouldn’t squirm away. When they eventually passed by us, they didn’t even give us a glance. They kept walking and talking animatedly, eyes fixed on the amusement rides. It was our cue to start our mission of the day. Fortunately, she agreed without much coaxing.

But unfortunately, coaxing was necessary whenever we’re about to enter the extreme rides as she’s actually afraid of heights. And apparently, Professor Kim was the same case. Professor Zhang had to put his arm around him so he wouldn’t run away. It took them five minutes in front of each ride, but the more rides they tried, the less time needed to persuade. And whenever it happened, we couldn’t help but hold each other and squeal like fangirls.

“Come on, Joonie-ya,” Professor Zhang once said before the first extreme ride they were going to take. “It’ll be fun. I promise.”

The other lecturer shook his head vigorously. “It won’t be fun for me. You know I don’t like roller coasters.” As if to , the roller coaster passed by and screams from the passengers were heard. He visibly shivered, his smile turning into a worried one. “Stop that.” His right index finger was then up, pointing at the guy in front of him. “Stop pouting. It’s not going to work today.”

The expression on the professor’s face was then changed into a serious one, a lopsided smirk visibly plastered. “Then, should I kiss you to change your mind?” He stepped closer to Professor Kim who was tilting his head up just a bit, a hint of blush roaming around his face and neck. “I know how you are with PDA.”

By this time, I was certain that the girl next to me had the same look as I did. My mouth was wide open in shock. They wouldn’t.

“No, Yixing, you wouldn’t.” Professor Kim stepped back when the person in front of him walked even closer. Both of his hands were up on Professor Zhang’s chest, attempting to stop him from coming even nearer. “People can see.”

“Let them,” he replied. “We don’t know them and they don’t know us.”

Oh my God. My heart felt like it could shoot out of my chest. Professor Kim currently had both of his eyes closed but his face was slightly turned downwards, avoiding the attack. If it were me, I would accept the kiss with open arms. Alas, all we could do was just watch at the sideline as Professor Zhang suddenly changed his mind and headed for the forehead instead to give a loving peck. Even then, it was still adorable.

“I’m going to kiss you for real if you reject me again.” He paused as he just stared at the smaller guy not doing anything. “You know I’ll do it.”

“Fine, I’ll ride it with you,” Professor Kim eventually said, but only after the other professor gave him another peck on the cheek which was actually pretty close to the corner of his lips. Would it be weird for me to think that he might be doing it on purpose?

Professor Zhang smirked one more time. “No, you’ll ride them with me.” Before the other could refuse, he was already hugging the professor from the side and heading towards the roller coaster a few metres away from our position.

It took me a few moments to realise that we had to follow them right behind or we might not be on the same train. But just as I was about to go after them, I felt a tug on my left hand causing me to look back to my friend.

“Do I need to ride it as well?” she asked, a worried look on her face.

I nodded my head. “Of course,” I replied before pausing for a few seconds. “I don’t have to do what Professor Zhang did to Professor Kim, do I? We’re not that close yet.”

“No, you don’t!” Her voice was louder than usual and when she realised what she’d just done, she widened her eyes in shock and mumbled an apology. “You don’t have to do that.”

“I was just kidding, anyway,” I joked, sporting the widest smile I could muster. Before she could do anything that might attract attention from everywhere, I encircled an arm around hers so we could start towards the roller coaster. “Just keep your eyes closed and hold on to the railings. Scream your head off. People won’t tease you for being scared because we’ll all be screaming.”

It was almost 3 o’clock when we finally made a stop to have lunch at one of the restaurants on the theme park. Almost every attraction had been tried which resulted in croaky voices for screaming too much. It was inevitable because it was fun and I was sure my friend had the same thought, even if she did get scared sometimes – or maybe most of the times.

The restaurant was full of customers. Their table wasn’t that far to the point that we couldn’t see them, but it was still far enough that we couldn’t listen to their conversation. It was frustrating but it was clear that their actions spoke louder than words.

They were currently munching on their meals; mostly it was Professor Zhang doing the talking whereas the other was just quiet. By the looks of it, Professor Kim was being teased at the moment because he was looking down at his plate under his nose with a slight blush on his cheeks. His hair was a bit messy courtesy of Professor Zhang’s fingers. He must have something near his mouth because one of the said fingers made its way there to gently wipe the unseen food. Professor Zhang then it away, his eyes never leaving his lover.

Oh my God. If I was the only audience, I might have shrieked like there’s no tomorrow.

Once sober, I turned to her who was biting the bottom of her lips. She definitely had seen what just happened between the professors. “Aren’t they the cutest? I could just die.” The last word came out as a sigh. “Aren’t you glad we’re here today?”

“Very much,” she replied, nodding her head with a wide smile on her face. To be honest, this was the first time I had witnessed that. And I was proud that I was able to make her loosen up a bit.

TO BE CONTINUED

A/N: The next chapter will be the last one. Thank you for reading and please don't forget to comment :)