The chilly, strong wind that had slipped in from the old window had sent chills up Suho’s spine. It was already the beginning of October. She had spent nearly every weekend with her new friends, ending up at various parties which she enjoyed. If not with her friends, she was with Lay. They hung out at the park most of the time, working out at the outdoor fitness machines or practicing their dance routines. They got to know each other better and this way they didn’t have to do something they weren’t comfortable with. It made them happy.

However, today was a bit different than the rest of the days. She had been invited by Baekhyun and Channie to the Pumpkin Fair. They had just started becoming closer and Channie didn’t want to go alone with him, even if he was a cute sophomore. In the spirit of friendship, Suho accepted the invitation and Lay followed.  The Pumpkin Fair was an event that only happened for the first two weeks of October. It was one of Suho’s favorite events. She usually went with her older brother but he was too busy living his life at University to go with her this year.

Suho slipped into a bronze knitted sweater along with a spider black skirt. She added onto the outfit by getting her feet into cute tattooed stockings. She put on her jet-black high heel ankle boots and looked at herself in the mirror that sat at her vanity table. She was missing a few accessories so she looked around her room. She found a pair of glasses, a fedora hat, and a watch that she thought was broken but put it on anyways. She contemplated putting on makeup but settled on put putting on tinted moisturizer like she always did. Simple but pretty.

There was a honk outside Suho’s window, cueing Baekhyun’s arrival. Suho waved at them from her window and closed it the best she could without making it worse than it already was. She grabbed a black bag from the closet and filled it with chewy candies and heat packs in case they got cold. She closed the door behind her and made her way downstairs.

“Bye Mom!” She said before grabbing her keys and phone off the table before leaving. Her mom probably didn’t hear her though, she was having a meeting with the neighborhood ladies that lived near them, like every saturday.

She walked quickly towards the white pick-up truck that awaited her and opened the back door, sitting next to Chanyeol. Lay and Baekhyun sat in the front and Jongin was driving.Suho thanked JongIn and greeted everyone inside. He had only gotten his driver’s license over the summer but his parents insisted to buy him the car. She was surprised, he seemed more like a sports car type of guy.

‘I’m so happy we didn’t have to walk to the fair in this freezing weather,’ Suho texted Chanyeol.  'And I'm happy I finally see these colors,' Suho thought to herself.

Chanyeol glanced at her notification and looked back at Suho. She nodded in agreement but didn’t reply to the text, like usual. The boys started talking about football teams and Suho zoned out completely. She was more into soccer. Their chatter filled up the car and nearly lasted the whole ride before Chanyeol hooked up her phone to the radio and played some music, making them go silent. It was some rap music. Everyone looked at Chanyeol in disbelief.

“What? A girl can’t like rap music?” she asked, defending herself. Lay laughed and looked at Suho, making eye contact for the first time. He still wore his glasses but their lenses were obviously replaced. He was going to say something before Baekhyun opened his (usually sassy) mouth.

“Of course you can, pumpkin— Fair! Look it's the Pumpkin Fair,” Chanyeol interrupted him before he could say anything that would make the whole situation three times as awkward than it already was.

The parking lot was filled with cars, leaving almost no space for their vehicle. They were lucky and got a good spot, not too far away from the entrance. They carefully got out of the truck and made sure they didn’t hit other cars around them. Lay helped Suho and Chanyeol with the door and shut it behind them.

“Thank you,” Suho smiled at him, grabbing his hand so she would trip over the gravel. The walk looked shorter than it actually was. They held hands the entire time and no one really thought it was weird. Except Baekhyun of course.

“Are you guys going out or something?” He inquired. They looked at each other and let go. The shook their hands and denied the assumption, leading to a bunch of ooh-ing from the group and a flustered Suho. They weren’t together, just really close.  “Don’t worry, we won’t tell anyone,” JongIn assured the two.

“I miss Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol whined. Everyone knew she would never come to the event with them, she was more of a stay at home and chill person. She was probably watching Orange is the New Black or cooking for her family. She was the best chef in the town.

“Then stop missing me,” A voice spoke up from behind them. The whole group turned around to see Kyungsoo standing behind them. She had a big crimson sweater and a pair of onyx colored jeans that matched her beanie and Doctor Martin boots. She had a smirk spread across her face, joining the group. Chanyeol squealed in happiness because her best friend was finally going somewhere with her that wasn’t school related.

The group approached the ticket box and all pitched in to buy around fifty dollars worth of tickets. They all agreed to split up into pairs and meet up around one for lunch at the food booth that was always held by owners of the Italian restaurant that everyone loved. It was probably more crowded than any of the games or rides. Their food was always delicious.

“What do you want to do?” Lay questioned Suho, looking at the amount of tickets they had together. They had 20 tickets and a handful amount of rides to choose from. Lay looked around one more time before looking at Suho. She was looking at the Hayride which cost four tickets in total. He sighed and lead them over there.

“Look, if you want to do something just tell me. Okay?”

She was still getting used to Lay and being alone with him. If she was her friends, it was so much easier because Lay wouldn’t have to pay that much attention to her. Alone with him put this sort of burden on her. She thought she had to act a certain way to get him to like her. Even if he was her destined soulmate she was still worried about his perspective on her. She really liked him.

“Yeah, okay.”

The couple sat on the hay along with other people around them. The tractor started to move. It was peaceful, just riding around in almost complete silence. The wind started to pick up it blew her hat away. She sighed and watched as it hit the muddy ground. The tractor turned around to the beginning, leaving her dust in the field. She knew at this point there was no purpose in getting the hat back.

“I lost my hat,” she told Lay. He patted her head and smiled at her sweetly. He promised to buy her a better looking hat and gave her a hug. If anyone asked they agreed to just say it was too cold outside and they needed warmth.

When the ride came to an end, they got off and headed towards the game booths to play a couple rounds. Lay won a pair of headphone and Suho won a stuffed panda. The was an average sized bear but it had colorful eyes.

“What should I name it?” she asked Lay. He was fumbling with his headphones and making sure they worked before he left the fair, not listening to what Suho was saying. She shrugged and looked at it. She wanted to give it a name that was unique. She almost named it Henry before someone tapped her shoulder. The boy standing behind her was familiar but she didn’t know exactly who he was.

“Kris!” Lay greeted the man with a smile. They seemed close, like a pair of best friends that haven’t seen each other in a long time. Suho learned it was actually a Senior at her school, she just never really hung out with him before. They talked for about ten minutes before heading towards the food booth that they all agreed to meet up at earlier.

The group was all laughing about their experiences and telling stories about what they did. JongIn and Kyungsoo did all the games but had only one prize and it was an extra ten tickets. Baekhyun won a bear and gave it to Chanyeol, the group’s stuffed animal enthusiast.

“The prizes were all so lame,” Baekhyun complained, shoving a piece of fried dough into his mouth. Chanyeol started talking about the mechanical bull and how Baekhyun tried to look manly while riding it but within the first four seconds he was screaming at the top of his lungs. She even posted a video on her snapchat of it.

Kyungsoo was obviously getting tired of the conversation so she switched it and put Suho and Lay in the spotlight.She asked what they did with their two hours. They both shrugged and filled them in, it wasn’t that special.

“Suho lost her hat in the Hayride, I won a pair of headphones and she won this bear. We ran into Kris. Did you know he works at the squirting water booth?” Lay asked the group. Kyungsoo nodded her head and lifted her tickets.

“He was nice enough to give us these. We lost at nearly all the booths,” She laughed at herself. Chanyeol patted Suho’s shoulder while looking at the bear she got. It was something unique and Chanyeol never saw anything like it. Suho rolled her eyes and told her she good have it. It wasn’t useful to her anyways, she had thrown away all the stuffed toys she had during the sixth grade, when she was in her ‘emo’ phase.

“Do you want to go to the ferris wheel?” Lay whispered in her ear, making sure no one else heard. Suho always went to the ferris wheel alone, but this year was all types of different so she obliged. Lay wasn’t a monster.

They all split off after telling JongIn he didn’t have to worry about bringing them home. Chanyeol hugged her friends goodbye, signaling her mother was here to pick her up. SHe had a party to go to, like always. Baekhyun left right after her, going to the booth where Kris worked. JongIn and Kyungsoo left to go home.

“And then there were two,” Suho chuckled. It wasn’t that awkward this time. She was pushing off her nerves. They walked together to the ferris wheel and wasted their last tickets on the ride. They stood alone in the observation capsule. As it went up slowly, it showed the view of the city. It was so pretty. It was something that was picture worthy.

“You know what? We should take a photo,” Lay said, pulling out his phone as he scooted closer to Suho. She was blushing like crazy again. He smelled like apple cider and it was intoxicating. She smiled for a selfie and watched as he posted it to instagram.

“Are you really going to post this photo?” She asked him, looking at their selfie. It was cute but so many people from their school followed them. They looked like a couple. A good looking couple.

“Suho I really like you, I like you so much it makes me want to cry because we fit each other so well. You’re shy but have a loud personality once you get to know someone. I’m charismatic but sometimes I get shy. You are my other half. I know it sounds cheesy but don’t you see those things too? You’re as much a part of me as I am to you. We complete each other. Don’t you want to be together?” He confessed to her. He was so open and she was keeping so many things from him. It made her feel guilty.

“I want to be with you, Lay. I really do. It’s just...I’m scared,” She replied. The ride stopped once they reached the top. Now they could really see everything. “It makes my stomach feel funny but in a good way. I like you, like so much I couldn’t go a day without seeing you. I have had some of the worst friendships with some people, that It makes me cautious to step in another one. I don’t want either of to get hurt,” She told him. He put his hands in hers and brought her in closer, their faces nearly touching.

“You make me crazy. I promise you, Suho. I won’t be like those people who’ve hurt you before,” he whispered to her. She smiled like a child who had just received a bowl of ice cream on a hot summer day. She didn’t care anymore. She didn’t care if he hurt her or left her heartbroken. She just wanted to live in the now.

So that’s what she did.

She pulled Lay’s arms around her and wrapped her own arms around his neck. Lay gulped at her sudden change of emotions. It was brand new to him. She took off his glasses and put them in her pocket. He didn’t need them anyway, he had her.

Slowly, she kissed his soft lips. Suho was inexperienced so she didn’t know what kissing someone was supposed to feel like but she never imagined that it’d feel this good. Lay tried to bring her closer but they were already in each other’s arms. They pulled apart and looked at each other as the ride started descending.

It was like a butterfly dance party in their stomachs.

They left the ride, their lips swollen and hand linked. They posted their photo on their instagrams and left the caption blank. No one really needed to know what they were, what they did, or if they were together. Not for right then at least.

They walked to Suho’s house together, Lay wanting her to be safe. He covered her in his jacket, making sure she was warm. They walked slowly, listening to music on Lay’s phone through his headphones. It felt comfortable.

As they reached their destination, Suho hugged Lay one more time and pecked his cheek. Lay made a promise to text her as soon as he got home. Neither of them wanted to leave. They already found their home, each other. Lay had to push her to ring the bell. He didn’t want to worry her mother.

“I’m home,” Suho called out. Her mother interviewed her about the entire day. On the table were snickerdoodle cookies, Suho’s favorite. She bit into one and groaned in delight.

“How was it?” Her mom asked for the third time, shaking her daughter a little. Suho thought about her day. What wasn’t there to say? She was at her favorite fair, with her favorite friends, with her favorite person.

“It was good.”