PART 3 of When We Met

A/N: Honestly I don't know what I'm writing half the time ;-;

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“Are you both hanging out again without us?”

Nayoung’s words had echoed in my mind the week after. She did not say it in that sad, we-neglected-her-and-kyulkyung kind of way. It was more of like- I’m actually not sure. Her eyes just had that weird cheeky grin which I was so compelled to claw out. Mreow.

She was not wrong though…

Sungyeon and I did hang out a lot after the first day of of the semester. I admit I was still being ridiculously slow during then to not notice what was going on. Whatever we had… that was going on. I mean the both of us hardly talked about anything else. It was usually through music and food that we bonded. Simple.

It wasn’t too long after Nayoung’s confrontation that Kyulkyung sent us an invitation. Coming from Kyulkyung herself was quite the surprise. That girl used to spend so more time with her boyfriend. Then again, I wasn’t the kind to put that much thought into stuffs. Sungyeon wanted to go and so I agreed. The four of us ended up on a trip to Lotte World. Nayoung, Kyulkyung, Sungyeon and yours truly, me.

The day itself was insane.

Partially because two of us woke late, preparations became a mess. Don’t judge, sleep is bae. Live and let live, blah blah. Besides, it was arguing with Nayoung on text was why we both fell asleep at the ungodly hours. She wanted to know if she should be straightforward with Kyulkyung and we all understood her contemplation on the matter. The reluctance of confession…

The other unspoken reason was because Nayoung and Kyulkyung half tricked the both of us and we ended up riding the Ferris wheel by ourselves. Yes, the Ferris wheel ride that I can remember so vividly as if it all just happened yesterday. The epic session of the day.

Sungyeon was tasked to get us the drinks and I was waiting with the other two when Kyulkyung sent me off to get them snacks at the stands. Obviously, Sungyeon and I never thought that we’d be abandoned the moment we left to get the stuffs. Apparently, Kyulkyung had already dragged Nayoung up onto the

Ferris wheel carriage and left us a convenient text with a lame reason. We knew.

“Minkyung…” Sungyeon had the drinks in her hands.

“Nayoung and Kyulkyung are already in the Ferris wheel.” I told her and she did not seem to be surprised.

“Oh, I guess they both have things they needed to talk about in private.” She explained calmly and handed me a drink.

Pretty darn right, if you ask me.

Their tension was so obvious. We were all wondering when they could actually find the time to straighten it out. Somewhere in the midst of my own thoughts, I did not realize that Sungyeon was already pulling me towards the Ferris wheel ride too.

It was only when we joined the queue and she gave me a knowing smile. “Sorry for not asking but I have always wanted to have a glimpse of the view up there.”

“Have you not been here before?” I almost forgot.

Sungyeon studied abroad initially and only came over for high school. During that time, I have learnt that the girl was a hard worker. Rest and holidays were never in her vocabulary. Even now when she had the time to take a breather, her compulsive behaviour to do stuffs surfaces once in awhile.

“Nope. Never.” She gave a little shrug as if it did not matter but I could tell she was going to enjoy every bit of the view above.

“Think they’ll be okay?” I asked casually, averting my eyes upwards at the slightly moving carriages.

“Them?” A light chuckle escaped her lips. “They will know what needs to be done.” She exhales slowly with a light smile, “Eventually…” Her voice blended with the wind. It got hard to hear and I leaned my head down closer, catching the faint scent of flowers from her fragrance. A strange sense of lightheadness hit me for a moment.

It was our turn next.

The carriage was not exactly small, but I felt compressed the moment we entered. Possibly due to my tall height… From the corner of my eye, I saw a bunch of teenage boys coming up. Reaching out for the door, I quickly closed the gate of the carriage. Nope, they’re not coming in with us. Nope.

Sungyeon wasn’t expecting that. “Hey, there were-”

I cut her off a little too quickly, “Hate the crowds.” My eyes roved everywhere else except at her.

“Uh huh, okay…” Her voice told me that she was smiling and I knew she hasn’t stopped smiling then.

The wheel began to churn and the carriages began their journey upwards. I shifted myself to sit opposite from her, leaning back into the seat with a contented sigh, closing my eyes. A smile tugged up my lips when I felt her nudge my feet with hers. There began our small talk in the skies…

“What is it-” I feigned annoyance.

“Don’t fall asleep or I’ll leave you in here.”

I responded with a snort, “I think I’ll be fine.” Opening my eyes, I see Sungyeon gazing out of her window downwards. “You scared?”

“Nope. You scared?” Her snort was like a soft exhale coming out, I was surprised that I had noticed. She had a meaningful look in her eyes. That look that lingers a bit on whenever I stared at her a little too long.

I looked away. “Don’t be daft. This is a kid’s ride.”

“Don’t see kids on it though.” She muses with a sideways smile at my scowling.

The view of the outstretched park had yet to come but we were getting there. Our carriage was reaching the top soon. I shifted to look out the windows too, taking in the beautiful skyline of the late morning sun casted against the Ferris.

“Hey Sungyeon, have you ever thought of singing?” I caught her confused expression and explained, “I mean you play the guitar.”

She let out a little hum, her nose wrinkling up from deep thought, “I would want to branch a little into singing to be honest.”

“So you sing?” She sings…

“Yeap, I do. Do you?”

Her light tinkling laughter was cut short by a sudden jolt from the Ferris. Our carriage had stopped right at the top of the wheel. I craddled my face with both my hands and glanced downwards to see what was going on. There were staffs running about below us, guess we’ll just have to wait.

During then, the thoughts of us being stuck in a Ferris wheel was pretty straightforward. We wait… Or so I thought…

Sungyeon had her eyes tightly closed at the slightest move of the carriage. I only realized when she had been awfully quiet ever since the wheel had stopped moving. Her hands were clutched tightly onto the seat handles and I let out a soft chuckle at the sight.

“You’re afraid of heights?”

She did not look at me at first but when she did, it was an unexpected look of fear, “Shut up…”

“Hey…” I moved closer and the carriage tilted slightly.

She let a soft squeal and glared at my direction, “Don’t move, just- just sit there.”

“Fine, fine.” I sighed and rested my head on my palm, staring at her. It probably annoyed her but this was pretty funny. A strong breeze blew past, rocking the carriage a little more than it should be rocking. I grabbed onto the handles and froze.

There was a good moment of silence when a familiar tinkling laughter drifted through the stale air of the carriage.

“You’re scared too?”

I felt a scowl coming, “So are you, and what gives you the right to mock me huh?”

She was about to retort but bit it back when the carriage swung gently. I stuck a foot out and nudged at her feet with it. She opened one of her tightly squeezed eyes to take a peek, only to glare again at my smiles.

“Screw you, Kim Minkyung.”

I made a reproachful sound, “Language, Bae.”

Her face lit up into a bright shade of pink and she looked away with a huff.

“Rock a bye baby, on the tree top…” I sang lightly and a involuntary smile tugged at my lips when I heard an unmistakable sigh.

“Moments away from our death and all I get to hear your awful singing of lame nursery rhymes…” She said with a pitiful tone.

“Sheesh, dramatic much?” I chuckled and slowly leaned back into my seat, “We need a guitar right now. I could strum a few chords. They would make a better companion than you.”

“Yeah right.” She scoffed and let out another sigh, glancing downwards again.

It was hard not to take amusement at the sight of her shudder. “Stop looking down if you’re scared.”

She turned to me with a scowl. “I want to see if they are done fixing the problem. What if we get stuck here the entire-” A buzz from my phone made her jump in fright.

I pulled out the buzzing device and stared at the message that popped out. It was a message from Nayoung which said she was headed off home but we should stay on. I think I must have looked lost during then. All I could think of was Nayoung was running away again.

“What is it?” Sungyeon asked, “Who was that?”

“It’s Nayoung. She just said she’s going home.” I answered and sighed unconciously, staring at the message on my phone screen. That wasn’t a good sign. “Crap…”

We learnt later on that Kyulkyung had decided to tell Nayoung that she was dating. Nayoung had told us both days later. That was what I had been pondering about. Kyulkyung had rejected Nayoung in the gentlest way possible. Though rejection is never kind, no matter how gentle you try put it across. I could not hate Kyulkyung but I knew she had surely broken that bit of hope Nayoung had. Broken a little piece of what Nayoung was.

Wasn’t I the same though…?

“Is Nayoung alright?” Sungyeon’s soft voice broke me out of my train of thoughts.

I glanced up at her and nodded slowly, only shaking my head when she had that questioning look on, “No. No, I don’t think she’s alright. I- I don’t know… I don’t know how to fix this. I-”

All of a sudden, there was warmth around my hands.

I blinked and stared at her. Sungyeon, somehow, had managed to come over to my side despite the carriage being slightly off balanced. I felt the nervous tightening of her fingers around mine. Her lips were pressed thin together. I let out a chuckle and wrapped my other hand around hers, intertwining our fingers firmly. She pouted and shook her head silently as if to rid the scary thoughts intruding.

Being this close, I realized her eyes actually held a certain softness within.

A gentle patting roused me from my thoughts, “You alright? I’m sure Nayoung will be okay. She’s a big girl, she can handle this on her own for now.”

I know Nayoung can handle it but… “I just feel sad for her…” My voice was strangely soft, I could barely hear it too.

“Why is that?”

I shook my head and frowned, “Just…” I didn’t quite know how to explain. “Regrets? You know, it’s this sad feeling that comes from when you know how others are feeling. I know Nayoung must be regretting so much now and it that I can’t help.”

She nodded and then gave a tight-lipped smile, “That’s empathy.” I felt a reassuring squeeze from our joint hands. We haven’t let go yet.

Honestly, what’s funny was that during then she hasn’t said much but I felt as if she had spoken volumes. Just from the look in her eyes alone and her touch, just her presence there. I felt comforted in a way that no one has ever done for me. Yet… Yet, I repeat, I have not realized a thing.

So we did not let go of our hands till the carriage started moving again. With a slight jerk, of course…

A surprised squeak escaped from her lips and instantly, my arms went around her waist. Yes, what a strange hug. I mean, as best friends we hardly were the type to show much skinship or affection, whatsoever. She stiffened but relaxed after a moment and I felt myself laughing a little. Her chuckles was like the sea waves coming back to shore.

What were we laughing about?

It felt strange to be laughing unconciously. Strange to feel so comforted, as if I was home. That was a first…

I guess I was happy.