You Make Me Smile

feat. Ilhoon and Yooyoung

It is a nice Thursday so Ilhoon decides to ask Yooyoung out for a date at the amusement park. He concludes that not many people will be there on a Thursday and since they don’t have anything to do today, he decides to do just that. Besides, they haven’t seen each other for a while.

Ilhoon waits outside her apartment in his white t-shirt, black coat (just in case), a pair of blue, washed-down jeans and a pair of green Vans. It is approximately 2.45 pm, according to his watch, so Yooyoung should be out by now. He taps his feet continuously on the cement ground, feeling excited yet nervous.

Then, Yooyoung comes out from the door. She’s wearing a sleeveless dark-blue dress that falls just below her knees with a white cardigan and a pair of black jeans. She ties her hair, leaving it into a loose ponytail. “Hi Ilhoon!” She greets him excitedly.

He smiles when he sees her. “Ready? Okay, let’s go.” He leads the way after she nods.

They are on the bus, making their way to the amusement park. They are excited at first, talking to each other and teasing each other as well. Then, they become quiet for a moment, taking a break for a while. “Yooyoung, you sure are very excited about the trip.” He chuckles after a while. But, she doesn’t response to his tease.

He turns sideways when he realize that she isn’t responding to his questions and all, but he is surprised to see that she is already (cutely) dozing off with her head leaning onto the bus’s window. He laughs a bit, shaking his head in disbelief. This girl, she is really something.

“Yooyoung-ah?” he calls her out quietly while poking onto her shoulder.

“Hmm?” she suddenly wakes up, rubbing her eyes and squinting at him.

“Did you actually feel asleep?”

She blushes. Her cheeks are becoming redder by the second and this amuses Ilhoon so much. “No! I was just… watching the scenery along the road.” She giggles for a moment when her gaze meets with his. “My heart is already at the amusement park.”

He laughs yet again but this time, he decides to admire the scenery as well. “Then, I should make my heart be at the amusement park as well.” He joins her, gently placing his chin on her shoulder, and admires the scenery along the road. The sun is shining quite fairly but it is a bit cloudy. The weather is, for him, perfect for a fun date out.

They have just walked into the entrance of the amusement park and they (Yooyoung, especially) are filled with excitement. They walk together, side-by-side, going deeper into the park.

“Are you afraid of heights?” Yooyoung asks him all of a sudden, after her eyes trail over the area where there are large rides and all. He gulps.

“What? No, I was ju –”

“Okay great, let’s go!” she says as she pulls him over to where there is a roller coaster.

“We will be riding… that?”

Yooyoung just nods her head gleefully, as if she is teasing him. “Come on! It’ll be fun. After all, you have always said that we must first try it out and then see.”

“Oh alright.” He snorts as she quotes his own words that he always repeats almost every time. They quickly queue up and sit down next to each other at the back of the ride. Ilhoon begins to sweat profusely and Yooyoung laughs at him. But she holds onto his hand to remind him that it will be alright and fun.

The ride begins to climb up the rail and she swears that she can hear her heart pounding as well as his heart pounding. In a matter of seconds, they are already at the top. Then, it plunges down and everyone screams in excitement yet scared.

“Omma!” Ilhoon shouts loudly, louder than any other person on the ride, and this makes Yooyoung laugh her heads off. (But still, she screams as well so that Ilhoon will not be embarrassed. And she is kind of afraid as well.) The roller coaster twists and turns and the both of them begins to feel dizzy. But suddenly, the ride stops and they are already at the beginning of the ride. The ride is over.

“It ended that fast?” Yooyoung mutters, a bit disappointed.

“It ended at the perfect time.” Ilhoon says in relief as he pulls her out from the ride and away from the roller coaster area. Ilhoon finds a bench and they sit down, catching their breaths after being in such an extreme ride. The both of them laugh suddenly, because they are being awkwardly funny. Yooyoung teases him for being such a scaredy-cat and she says she will definitely tell her unnies about this. Ilhoon sighs. He is embarrassed yet happy because he can put a smile on her face.

Then, they decide to take a ride on smaller and less-dangerous rides, such as teacups, Ferris wheel, bumper cars (in which proves to her that Ilhoon is a bad driver.), merry-go-round, the pirate ship and more. Ilhoon also takes her to the ghost house, and he regrets it because Yooyoung always screams into his ear while running away from the fake ghosts. “You’re cute when you were screaming.” He teases after they walk out from the ghost house.

They haven’t eaten since they arrived in the evening so when it is already five o’clock, Yooyoung asks him to buy her lunch. So, they skid over to the area where there are many food stalls. The aroma of the street food makes them even hungrier, so they quickly walk around the stalls.

After eating ddeokbokki and kimbap and cotton candies (she even takes photos of them eating), Ilhoon and Yooyoung decides that they should play games. She keeps on telling him that she wants a prize from him, in which he refuses at first. She pouts but he quickly pulls her over the games areas after saying “Alright.”

They stop at the throw-the-rings-to-the-bottles stall, because Ilhoon was feeling confident that he can win. He throws the first ring but it doesn’t land at any bottle necks. She just laughs at him. He throws the second ring, but it only lands on a smaller-point bottle neck. Ilhoon gives up so Yooyoung tries out. All of a sudden, the ring lands on the highest-point bottle neck, and this impresses Ilhoon. They win a star-shaped keychain, so he gives it to her even though she says that he should have it. But when he isn’t looking, Yooyoung silently and carefully slips the keychain into his pocket when he doesn’t notice.

Next, they walk over the ball-throwing stall and Ilhoon says that he’s a master. Yooyoung doesn’t believe in him, though. He smirks as he prepares himself to throw the first ball. He throws and every can actually drops. She claps, actually impressed by him. Ilhoon throws again for the second and third time, with only some of the cans don’t fall down. Yooyoung cheers him on while he is throwing. With such a high score, the stall keeper rewards them with a fairly large monkey doll, with a pair of long hands. “It’s because I can’t stand cute people.” The stall keeper says spontaneously, smiling while looking at the both of them.

After thanking the stall keeper, they walk away from the games area and take a stroll around the lake within the park. Yooyoung keeps on poking the monkey, playing with its long hands and soft fur. The doll is cute, she concludes.

After being silent for a while, Ilhoon suddenly pokes her right shoulder.

“The stall keeper said that you’re cute.” he mutters while kicking a small stone that is on his way. “I’m jealous.” He is actually sulking.

“He says we are cute, Ilhoon.” She laughs when she realizes that he is being ridiculously jealous.

“Oh, really?”

“Well, yeah. Don’t we?”

He pauses for a moment. “We should continue being the cute couple, then.” He suggests. He takes the monkey doll, grabs its hands and wraps them around Yooyoung’s neck, tying them neatly to make sure that it will not fall down. “Now you don’t have to keep holding the monkey. It is getting more attention than me.” He grins sheepishly.

Then, suddenly, he takes her right hand into his left hand, lacing his fingers with hers. She blushes, being her shy self, but she really likes it. They continue walking around the lake. She loves the current moment that she is sharing with him. And she can swear that she can clearly see his cheeks becoming redder by the minute.

It is already eight after they have successfully walked around the entire park. So, he decides to take her back to the lake area. They find an empty patch of green grass so they decide to just sit down and enjoy the night sky. Ilhoon is finishing up his last few spoonful of ice-cream while Yooyoung looks up and notices that the moon is in a pretty crescent shape. The multitude of stars can be seen clearly as well. The view is very pretty and she likes it.

“Yooyoung-ah.” Ilhoon pokes her shoulder again. (It’s beginning to be his favourite thing to do.) “The show is about to start.”

Her eyebrows arc in confusion. “What show?”

As if on cue, fireworks begin to shoot up into the sky, colouring the sky with its bright colours and loud sounds. She gasps in surprise, and begins to take pictures with her camera.

After letting her take pictures to enjoy herself, he pokes her shoulder again. “You like it?”

“Well, I like the view, it is kin–”

He laughs. “No, I mean the whole trip. Was it fun?”

“Oh.” She plays with her fingers. “It was definitely fun. I get to play and go out with you. So yeah, I’m really happy today.” She nods as she looks at him. She can feel her adrenaline rushing.

Ilhoon smiles as he slowly takes her left hand and lays it down on the grass, wrapping it with his hand. He smiles (her heart drops) before slowly leaning towards her face, kissing her gently on her forehead. He slowly backs up, examining her face. She looks a bit disappointed though.

“Are you disappointed?” he laughs.

Her eyes widen in surprise. “What? No, I’m fine! It’s just th–” before she can explain herself, Ilhoon already places his lips on her, kissing her lightly. The mint chocolate ice-cream’s taste still lingers on his lips, so she kind of likes the kiss.

“So, you’re actually fine now?” He teases her.

“I’m fine. Better, actually.” She giggles a bit before letting herself catch some breath. Then, she rests her head on his shoulder, enjoying the special moment between them.

“So, your heart is still at the amusement park?”

“Yeah, a bit, but my heart is at yours as well.”

a/n: tee hee hee.