-

After the merry go round, Youra had suggested getting some lunch, which reminded Taehyung.

 He hadn’t gotten her on the rollercoaster yet.

“Youra,” He called out to her before realising he hadn’t added anything to her name. “Um, sorry Youra sunbaenim.”

Youra waved her hand and wrinkled her nose at him. “Oh please, not sunbaenim. Makes me sound so old. Youra’s fine.”

“Okay then, Youra. You mind waiting here a sec? I’ll be right back.”

Before Youra could even reply, Taehyung ran off. She watched as he jogged off and could feel the corner of her lip twitching.

What was that boy up to?

 She crossed her arms and stood for a while before spotting an empty bench and sitting down. She took out her phone and sighed.

There had been no more messages from Namjoon since the day he had asked her to spend time with Taehyung, which worried Youra. It was so unlike Namjoon to miss out on meeting up or to just abruptly leave for Ilsan the way he had.

He had returned back to Ilsan so quickly that something just didn’t feel right, especially because Jackson hadn’t mentioned meeting him which meant they probably never met at all.

Then why had he told her that he would call him?

She looked up from her phone to see a panting Taehyung, bent over as he tried to catch his breath. He held up a finger before standing upright again and smirking at her.

“Now, if you would close your eyes and follow me.”

Taehyung grabbed her hand and started walking and for a second, she shut her eyes and did as she was told. She figured that he had something planned but she was really intrigued by the way he was acting.

She knew all the rides the amusement park had to offer so there were really no avenues for him to surprise her with, unless he had organised something on his own, which Youra was fairly certain he hadn’t.

She furrowed her eyebrows in thought and was about to ask him just what exactly he was doing when all of a sudden, it hit her.

She immediately stopped, opened her eyes and pulled Taehyung back. He turned around and looked at her. This time it was his turn to be confused.

“We better not be going to the rollercoaster, Kim Taehyung.” Youra threatened quietly as she stared right into his eyes, trying to look determined enough that he would give up on even trying.

He grinned at her and shrugged. “You got me. That’s where we’re going.” He turned around and started to walk again but Youra wasn’t having any of it. She stood still and tugged him back.

“Not happening.” She pulled him in the opposite direction, towards the food stalls. “Come on, let’s eat. I’m starving.”

He pulled her back and looked at her. What Youra was expecting was Taehyung to be all determined to take her back and for him to end up pulling her along despite her shouts and pleas. What she wasn’t expecting was for Taehyung to just look at her, without saying anything, almost as if though he was trying to convince her through his eyes, which seemed to be peering into her soul.

“Now, why exactly do you not want to go on the rollercoaster?” He asked softly, like he was trying to talk to a child.

“I’ve told you multiple times already, I’m scared of rollercoasters.” She tugged on his hand again. “Now, let’s go.”

“Listen, I know you’re scared bu-”

“I’m sorry to say this but you don’t know me as well enough as you think you do, Taehyung-ssi.” That was the first time she had added something formal like that ever since Taehyung had told her she could be casual when addressing him. “So you would be doing us both a favour by not pretending like you do.”

Taehyung let go of her hand and Youra could tell he was hurt by the way his eyes seemed to have lost their glow and the way his smile no longer reached his eyes. He merely nodded and the two of them walked to the food stalls, in silence, with Taehyung still clenching the tickets for the rollercoaster in his hand.

-

They had settled on getting burgers and cotton candy and had found a nearby table to sit at. The silence that loomed over them made Youra feel guilty. She really shouldn’t have burst out on him like that but the alternative to that would be bursting out into tears because she was already struggling not to succumb to nostalgia and all the other feelings swirling around in her mind.

She realised then that maybe she had made a mistake in agreeing to come to the amusement park.

It was just too soon.

How she had convinced herself this was a good idea in the first place was beyond her, because now all she was doing was suffering the consequences.

She swallowed the last bite of her burger and cleared . “Maybe we could go on the Ferris wheel before leaving?”

Taehyung looked up from his cotton candy that he was slowly taking bites from and nodded.

“Look, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have burst out on you like that. That wa-”

“It’s okay. You don’t have to explain. You were right, it was wrong on my part to assume that this was just some childhood phobia you had in your brain when it clearly isn’t.”

Although his words seemed somewhat harsh, his voice contained no malice, and Youra had only then realised just how sensible and understanding Taehyung was. Anyone else would have stormed away the moment she started talking to them the way she had spoken to Taehyung. But he stayed.

It seemed like Taehyung was filled with all sorts of pleasant surprises.

They cleaned their hands and ended up leisurely strolling to the Ferris wheel, eating the rest of their cotton candy as they went. Youra attempted to make conversation but Taehyung’s mind seemed to be somewhere else, and she cursed herself yet again for having lost control of herself.

It did however show that she thought of him as a friend, in a way. Growing up, even though Youra was cheerful and loud and always seemed up to make friends, still on occasion found it hard to navigate her way through friendships. She always overthought her actions and overanalysed people’s reactions.

So even now, she found the initial stages of friendship pretty mentally frustrating because she always tried her best to be polite.

But if she was being straight with Taehyung and telling him things without really thinking of the consequences, then that probably meant she had already started considering him as a friend, and not just an acquaintance or Namjoon’s little brother.

Silver lining perhaps?

They got to the Ferris wheel, waited in line for tickets and then got in. Youra was happy to note that despite not really talking to her, Taehyung had still offered her a hand to get on. But that happiness was sort of short lived when he moved away from her afterwards and sat opposite to her as opposed to besides her.

The side door to the compartment that they were seated in shut and they slowly started moving upward. The sun was setting and these were one of those moments that normally Youra would have been able to fully enjoy due to how beautiful her surroundings were and how much she loved being able to view the city from up above but wasn’t able to.

Why, you ask?

Because there was a boy in front of her who seemed almost determined not to meet her eyes with.

“Listen, Tae,” He looked at her and Youra let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding when she saw him raise an eyebrow at the nickname before smiling, “Is it okay if I call you that?”

He nodded, looking somewhat intrigued now.

“Tae, I know I said this before but I’m really sorry. I hate that I almost shouted at you just because you wanted to take me on a rollercoaster. That was super immature of me,” She let out a mirthless chuckle, “And that says a lot considering I’m older than you.”

“What makes you think I’m still upset at you?”

Now that was a sentence Youra was not expecting.

She blinked at him and opened to say something but in the end, wasn’t able to say anything.

“If anything it’s made me realise that despite being afraid of certain rides or having sensitive experiences with them, you still came. And as a friend, I’m happy for you.”

“So why are you still sitting on that side?”

Taehyung raised his eyebrows at her and gave her a lopsided smile. “You want me to sit beside you?”

Youra blushed at his question and ended up looking outside. She looked at the skyscrapers that seemed to be so small from over here before feeling a shift in weight in the compartment. Taehyung was sitting next to her.

And looking at her so intently that it made her heart ski