“WOOHOO!” Taemin punched the air as he was admitted into the theme park. Finally, finally. His (awful) junior year had just come to an end, and he and Kibum were about to fulfill their yearly tradition of going to a theme park and riding as many rides as they could until they felt sick.

Next to him Kibum pulled on his sunglasses as a smile lit up his face. Summer meant jobs and chores and sometimes boredom, but for the next couple hours it meant freedom, and he planned on enjoying it as much as possible.

As always they went on the merry-go-round first, ignoring all the children giving them looks as they picked their favorite animal to ride. After that the order didn’t matter. They picked rides based on how long the lines were and how brave Kibum was feeling at the time. Strictly speaking Kibum didn’t like heights, but this was the one time of the year when he felt willing to take risks for the sake of tradition. Plus, he and Taemin always avoided the more intense rides.

That was until Taemin spotted the occasional terror that he just had to try, so Kibum wished him luck and tried to stay calm on the ground as he watched his friend get thrown around at impossible heights secured by harnesses that never looked quite safe enough.

“Holy check this out, I didn’t realize it was opened yet!” Taemin’s eyes sparkled as he saw the line leading to the newest attraction at the part: The Terminator. From Kibum’s secure point of view on the ground it seemed that The Terminator went up so high he wasn’t sure if gravity existed up there.

“Kibummmmmm” Taemin whined, sticking out his bottom lip for the full effect. “I know the line is kind of long but you can wait with me until I get on.”

He started to edge towards the end of the line, pulling his friend along with him.

“Fine, whatever.” He didn’t really mind, and it was nice to know he could trust Taemin to not try and force him to do anything he didn’t want to.

The closer the line got to the ride the louder the voice of a complaining teen got louder.

“It’s just a couple of centimeters! I’m 17 years old for god’s sake, this is ridiculous!”

Kibum peered around Taemin’s body to see a shorter boy standing under the “You must be _____ tall to ride” sign at the entrance to the ride, obviously not tall enough to reach the height required. He tried not to laugh. This guy was trying to look tough but with his oversized shirt and snapback he looked just like a little kid in his older brother’s clothes.

“Hey, Key, I’m going now.”

Kibum jerked his head around to realize that he had made it to the front of the line with Taemin. After waving Taemin off he walked over to who he was guessing was the (obviously taller) friend of the complaining teen.

“Dude, you can go sit with my friend on this ride, I’ll babysit your friend.” He motioned to the spot left on the ride next to Taemin.

As his friend smiled to Kibum in thanks and left to board The Terminator the person who’d originally attracted Kibum’s attention turned his head and opened his mouth to complain only to promptly shut it. After looking Kibum fully up and down he opened it again.

“I don’t care how cute you are, I don’t need a babysitter.” he said indignantly.

Kibum rolled his eyes as he softly grabbed the other boy’s arm and guided him in the direction of the benches where they could watch their respective friends enjoy a near death experience. He wasn’t going to lie, this guy wasn’t so bad to look at either.

Back on the ride Taemin turned his head to watch the tall boy that had just taken the seat next to him.

“Sorry about my friend, he’s a little sensitive about his height.” He apologized as large metal bars secured them in their seats.

“Is he only a little sensitive because he’s so small?” Taemin hoped he wasn’t being insensitive by making the comment, but it just slipped out. And he was rewarded by the most blinding smile and beautiful laugh that he had ever seen or heard.

“Oh my god I can’t believe you just-AHHHHHH!!” The smiling stranger screamed in delight as the ride began and they were catapulted in the air.

Taemin shouted out in appreciation as he felt the euphoria of flying.

“I’M TAEMIN.” He tried to yell. “WHAT’S YOUR NAME”

“JINKIIIII” Jinki yelled back. His shoulder length hair was whipping around the smile plastered to his face and Taemin wasn’t sure if he had ever seen anything more beautiful. He needed to get to know this guy.

They continued to yell nonsense back and and forth to one another as the ride continued, and once they were softly let back down on the ground both groaned, disappointed.

“Want to go again?” Taemin asked instantly.

Jinki smiled back. “Of course! But we should check with our friends first.”

What they didn’t expect to return to was both of their friends knee deep in a discussion about Harry Potter.

“Yes, exactly!! Slytherin’s aren’t all bad, because they- oh hey.” Jonghyun stopped as he saw them approach.

After they all properly introduced themselves Taemin and Jinki asked if Jonghyun and Kibum minded waiting for them to go on the ride again. They were both quickly shooed back to The Terminator so the two boys could finish their conversation. Afterwards all four of them went to get ice cream as they discussed their summer plans together.