It was a bright, sunny day; the sky was clear and blue, and the clouds were white and fluffy. Mieun laid slumbered in bed despite the bright ray of light that shone through her window. She was having a good sleep when suddenly- 

 

“HAPPY BIRTHDAY MIEUN!” a boy shouted as he flung Mieun’s bedroom door open. He scurried in and yanked Mieun’s blanket off her and started clapping and singing, “HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUUU, HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MIEUNNN, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOUUU!”

 

Mieun groaned and shoved her head under her pillow, “Taehyung, it’s still early… And how did you even get in here?”

 

“I knocked on the door and your mom let me in,” Taehyung exclaimed, “and it’s not that early, it’s 8am!”

 

“You know that I usually wake up at 10,” Mieun murmured from under her pillow. 

 

“That’s so late! And by the way, I said Happy Birthday and you didn’t even say thank you?” Taehyung pointed out. 

 

“Thanks,” Mieun replied.

 

“Now get off! I have a surprise for you!” Taehyung said excitedly as he attempted to drag Mieun off her bed.

 

“Whyy?? I’m sleepy,” Mieun whined.

 

“Just go in your bathroom and get ready to go out. You’re gonna love the surprise!” Taehyung insisted. 

 

“Fine,” Mieun said as she finally sat up, “I don’t think I can sleep anymore anyways.”

 

“Yay! Now, go! I’ll be waiting outside, okay?” Taehyung enthusiastically pushed her into the bathroom, “Don’t be too long!” 

 

After Mieun went into the bathroom, Taehyung left her room and walked to the kitchen, where Mieun’s mom was.

 

“Did she wake up?” Mieun’s mom asked as she prepared breakfast.

 

“Yeah, she’s in the bathroom now,” Taehyung nodded.

 

“Thanks for doing this for her, she’s going to love it,” Mieun’s mom smiled.

 

“No problem,” Taehyung beamed, “she deserves it.”

 

Taehyung took a seat on one of the chairs and fished out a very small present from his pocket and stared at it. It was wrapped nicely and had a bow on top of it. He waited in anticipation for Mieun to finally finish getting ready. As soon as he heard the door open, he immediately stuffed the gift back in his pocket.

 

“I’m ready,” Mieun said as she walked out and closed the door of her room.

 

“Your breakfast is ready, dear!” Mieun’s mom called from the kitchen.

 

“I’m coming!” Mieun made her way to the kitchen. 

 

“Happy birthday!” Mieun’s mom said as she brought out a plate of pancakes and waffles.

 

“Thank you!” Mieun’s face shone with happiness when she saw what she was going to eat. Pancakes and waffles were her favorite food. 

 

After quickly finishing up her food and saying goodbye to her mom, Mieun headed out of her apartment with Taehyung. When they got out of the lobby, Taehyung suddenly stopped and pulled out his present.

 

“Open it,” he said as he gave Mieun the present.

 

Mieun carefully untied the ribbon and unwrapped the gift. Her face shone with happiness when she saw what it was.

 

“THEME PARK TICKETS!” she cheered. She couldn’t contain her happiness and flung herself to Taehyung to hug him, “THANKS!”

 

 

“You’re welcome,” Taehyung grinned, “now let’s go!” 

 

The reason why Mieun was so happy was because she had never went to a theme park in her whole 16-year-old life although she always wanted to. That was because her family was poor; her father passed away a few years ago and that made their financial situation even worse. They could barely afford the small apartment they lived in and sometimes, Mieun had to work part-time so she could help her mom pay for her school fees.

 

Luckily for the two of them, the theme park was only a 10-minute walk away. During the whole time they walked, Mieun kept on talking excitedly about what she was going to do in the theme park and Taehyung just listened the whole time. 

 

“It’s there!” Mieun exclaimed and pointed at a big roller coaster, “I see it!”

 

The two of them made their way into the theme park and quickly scanned their tickets to go in. 

 

“Hey! Let’s go on that roller coaster!” Mieun pointed at a huge, red roller coaster that had a sign that read ‘SCREAM’. 

 

“Oh- oh okay,” Taehyung said hesitantly as Mieun dragged him to the roller coaster. 

 

Taehyung was actually not a fan of big roller coasters. But he went with Mieun anyways for the sake of her her being happy. In fact, all the rides Mieun chose that day were the big, scary rides and Mieun always wanted to have the front seat in the roller coasters. Taehyung was actually terrified inside but he didn’t want to show it. He wanted to scream out loud during each scary roller coaster but held it in and screamed only when Mieun screamed. 

 

They ate at almost every single food booth there was and ignored the fact that almost all the food were unhealthy. The one they went to the most was the churros, which Mieun said, “was the third best thing I’ve eaten in my whole life” and insisted that, “walking around the theme park and standing in line will burn all the calories we’ve eaten.”

 

By 6pm, the two of them have ridden all the big rides and the only ones left were the ‘kiddy’ rides and some game booths. Mieun decided to go to the game booths first because she wanted to try and win some prizes.  The two of them played all kinds of games – darts, basketball, shooting targets, and more. In the end, Mieun won a stuffed panda, which she gave to Taehyung, and some snacks. Taehyung won a stuffed dog, which he gave to Mieun, and a toy plastic sword. 

 

When it turned dark, most of the people had left the theme park. Only the merry go round and the ferris wheel lit up the park. But, Mieun and Taehyung still wanted to stay until it closed at 11pm. They rode on the merry go round and all the other kiddy rides, which Taehyung enjoyed the most. The last ride they rode on was the ferris wheel. They sat across each other and when they reached the top, the ferris wheel stopped for a moment and they took the time to enjoy the view. 

 

They could see all the little street lights and the tiny ant-like people walking around. The cars looked like the toy cars of a little child and the figure of the tall buildings created a breathtaking skyline. 

 

“Ah, today was so fun,” Mieun sighed as she admired the city view. 

 

“Good to know,” Taehyung beamed. 

 

“Thanks so much, man,” Mieun said sincerely. 

 

“No problem. You deserved it,” Taehyung said before he pulled out a card from his pocket, “here, read this.”

 

Mieun took the card and opened it to read it out loud:

 

“Dear Mieun,

 

Happy 16th birthday! I hope you enjoyed the theme park today as much as I enjoy being your friend :) Thanks for being my best friend and accepting who I am despite my imperfections (and weirdness :p). You’re always with me during my happiest and saddest times. You’re one of the best people in my life and I’m sososososo happy that I met you. That’s why I decided to take you to the theme park on this special day. Thank you for existing and I wish all the best for you :D

 

From your best friend (no one else is allowed to call you their ‘best friend’),

Taehyung”

 

After Mieun finished reading the card, she looked up at Taehyung with a bright smile plastered on her face. She put down the card and flung herself across her seat to pull Taehyung into a tight hug, which rocked their whole gondola and made Taehyung scream out of shock fear. Mieun pulled away from the hug and looked at Taehyung with confusion before bursting out in laughter. 

 

“You scaredy cat,” she cracked up.

 

“You didn’t have to jump and shake the whole gondola like that!” Taehyung was embarrassed, “we have no seat belts you know!”

 

“You’re silly. You think that just because I shake the gondola it will fall off the ferris wheel?” Mieun snickered. 

 

“Well… I was shocked, okay?” Taehyung whined. 

 

“You get shocked too easily,” Mieun said as she looked at Taehyung with disapproval. 

 

The two of them continued talking and laughing for the whole ferris wheel ride. They were both tired and drained of energy but they were happy and enjoyed each other’s company. During that moment, they felt like they had become closer and they formed a bond that was never to be broken.