Taking Nari’s hand, Baekhyun rubbed the back of it with his thumb. Like that could stop her trembling.

They were sat on the train, on their way to Everland for their first proper ‘date’. Baekhyun had insisted that they go as soon as possible despite Nari’s anxieties. Though she was happy to be with him, the nagging thought in the back of her head, the feeling that people were always watching, made it a little hard for her to enjoy their time together. She’d managed to push their date back until now but, the disappointment in Baekhyun’s voice whenever she’d say no, her weak little heart couldn’t take it anymore.

So, here she was, trembling uncontrollably as she tried not to look for the people who definitely weren’t watching them.

"Don't worry. Chanyeol's not here,” Baekhyun started.

"I know that..." Nari mumbled.

"Then why are you so nervous?"

"Just 'cause."

He smirked. "'Cause you're with me?"

She stared at him, baffled.

He chuckled. "You're so cute."

Blood rushed to her cheeks.

"Nari, today, let go of all of your thoughts and just be with me. Can you do that for me?" He took both of her hands now, turning to her. He smiled, his eyes doing that scrunchy thing that made her chest squeeze.

Of course, Baekhyun always knew what was wrong. Even if she tried to hide it now, it wasn’t hard for him to guess. It was like she was an abandoned book shoved to the back of the shelf, and he was the one who finally found her and bothered to read. Now that she was with him, secrets were impossible.

"What?" Her eyes avoided his.

"I've thought about it and you think way too much." He added.

"No, I don't."

"Yes, you do."

Frowning, she couldn’t protest any further when she knew he was right.

"If you have to think then just think about me. 'Baekhyun oppa is so much fun', 'Baekhyun oppa is so good looking', that kind of stuff."

She finally looked at him, noticing his cheeky smile and burst into giggles. He laughed along with her.

At that moment, the train stopped at the next stop and an older woman ambled over with her walking stick to stand in front of the two of them. Baekhyun swiftly stood up, moving in front of Nari. The lady sat down, thanking him, but Nari didn’t pay much attention as she watched his hands that were previously attached to hers grasp onto a railing for stability. She stared holes into them, feeling ever too presently the loss of warmth from him.

His fingers were so long. So soft, like freshly washed dog fur, or what she imagined the inside of a cloud to feel like. So pretty as well – she’d been brainstorming colours to paint his nails one day for a while. A nice purple would be best for his complexion, or maybe a blue–

Baekhyun took her hand again, slouching over as he held the railing to be closer to her. His hair flopped over his eyes that were doing that scrunchy thing again. Nari fiddled with his fingers, suppressing a smile, heat flooding her cheeks.

Beside them, the lady looked on with a smile. "You're a lovely couple."

Baekhyun stood up straight, eyes widening. "My girlfriend is super cute, isn't she?" From the veins about to pop in his neck, Nari could tell he was trying to hold in his excitement.

The lady laughed. "You're very lucky."

"Definitely not! Men are always around her so, I’m always on guard,” Baekhyun protested.

"What are you saying?" Nari in.

Ignoring her, he continued, "We only started dating recently, you know. She had three boys chasing after her! I barely beat the other two."

"Must have been difficult." The lady nodded in fake agreement.

Nari grabbed his arm. "Stop."

He paid no attention. "My girlfriend is too popular. What am I gonna do?" Baekhyun sighed, looking off into the distance.

"You're popular too,” Nari mumbled in argument. She let go of his hand, folding hers in her lap.

"Oh, really?" The lady cocked an eyebrow.

"That's just with boys. Girls don't pay attention to me,” Baekhyun assured them.

Frowning, Nari turned away from him. "I heard a girl confessed to you just last week."

Baekhyun’s eyes widened like a deer in the headlights.

Now that Nari was actually paying attention to Baekhyun, it wasn’t hard for her to notice his raging popularity. He couldn’t walk very far around the school without being stopped for at least five minutes. She had noticed the gossip of the girls whenever he dropped her off at her classroom, wondering how Nari could possibly be connected to him. And if she ever mentioned Baekhyun to someone, they’d nod in understanding, knowing exactly who she was talking about. Also, Chanyeol had an interesting habit of telling other people’s secrets.

"That was just-" He fumbled to find words.

Nari sighed, resisting the urge to roll her eyes.

"It seems you've been caught." The lady shrugged.

Squatting down, Baekhyun shook as he took Nari’s hands. "You know you're the only one, right?" He tried to meet her eyes but, she refused to look at him.

"I know,” she mumbled. Her cheeks flushed red for the third time that morning, though she tried to seem unaffected.

It was too easy for him to knock down her walls now. Like he was pushing over a carefully balanced pencil. She couldn’t stand it back up quick enough to stop him from pushing it over again.

"Me too,” Nari muttered.

Baekhyun smiled widely, squeezing her hands. The lady giggled, patting Baekhyun on the shoulder.

-

After a long ride of compliments and sweet reassurances, the two had arrived at Everland. They made their way through the commanding front gates and now stood at the entrance with the map, with no idea where to go first.

"What should we start with?" Baekhyun asked.

"What do you want to do first?" Nari replied.

Examining the map for a good few minutes, he finally spoke. "Let's start here and make our way across like this." He pointed out the route carefully, Nari nodding along in complete agreement.

Smiling, he took her hand, entwining their fingers, and they made their way through the theme park. Walking past a strange abundance of fairy floss and churros vendors, they lined up for their first ride.

Hours flew by as they ate, rode rides and played games to their hearts content. The nagging thoughts and the back of Nari’s mind had almost completely vanished, just basking in these wonderful moments where she could be with Baekhyun without prying eyes. She felt freer than she ever had before, and she couldn’t really explain why. He had this weird distracting effect on her. Her body, eyes, mind could see nothing but him.

Having ticked most of the rides off their list by now, they were now standing halfway through the line for the Viking. Baekhyun had his arm around Nari to engulf in his corduroy jacket. Though it was still not November, the cold had come on early and the air had started biting at them. She slid her arm shakily underneath his jacket, around his back, for further warmth. He suddenly tensed and she almost regretted her movement until she saw him looking over his shoulder.

"Hey.” She tried to get his attention.

Baekhyun turned back, holding his head down with frantic eyes he was trying to hide. "Yeah?"

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"What?"

"What were you looking at?"

Smiling queasily, he removed his jacket from around her. His hands shook like a phone on vibrate as he grabbed her hand tightly

"Let's go somewhere else,” Baekhyun muttered.

"I thought you wanted to ride this," Nari asked.

"No, it . Let's go."

Pulling up the hood of her jumper, he dragged her behind him as he walked out of the line. He held up his jacket collar as they left and his hands wouldn’t stop shaking. It felt like it would go on forever. She didn’t know how many people she was apologising to as they pushed through.

"I like the Viking though..." Nari mumbled to herself.