“AMERICAN!” I jumped at the loud voice and screamed out of panic. A hand clamped over my mouth and I looked up to see Lu Han gazing back with apologetic eyes. “Sorry, you wouldn’t wake up.” I stuck my tongue out and drooled on his hand before he would remove it. As he scrunched his nose and wiped his hand on his jeans, I turned and ruffled Kris’ hair. He awoke at the touch and lifted his head a little bit.

                “Hey.” He huskily whispered and brought me to his chest, wrapping his arms around me gently, but honestly.

                “Guys! If you’re going to do that, get in your room.” Xiumin grumbled at us and I laughed groggily before getting up. “You two, get changed, we’re going to Disneyland.” The cute singer ordered us and left, dragging the still-cringing Lulu down the hall. I turned to Kris, who silently looked up at me, mixed emotions on his face.

                “Can I go back in?” He asked softly and I nodded, opening the door and dragging the blanket we were covered with back in, tossing it on the rest of the bed. I searched through my belongings and picked out a suitable outfit for the day. “You’re going to be with your family today right? You did call them, right?” I nodded and picked up my phone.

                “I’ll tell her the details now though.” Dialing my mom’s number, I held the device to my ear as I slipped out of my pajama pants and into a pair of jean shorts.

                “Good morning Jihyun!” My mother’s voice melodically rang through the receiver and I sighed, only a couple hours now.

                “Morning Mom. Hey, so the guys and I are all going to Disneyland today. Would that be doable?” I quickly explained as I tugged the tank top over my head. A pair or arms s around my waist, and I felt Kris’ chest press up against my back as he hugged me.

                “Yeah, that’s great! How long?”

                “Um, Kris, how long?” I turned to the tall male and he shrugged.

                “Um, two hours because of food for the others?” I nodded and returned to my call.

                “Two hours, Mom.”

                “Sounds great! I can’t wait to see you Sweetie! Love you!” She practically screamed and I smiled lightly.

                “See you soon, I love you too!” I called back cheekily and hung up the call.

                “Cute.” Wu Fan commented as he pressed a kiss to my earlobe. “Why aren’t you that adorable with the members?”

                “Because they’re a lot of guys. I’m not usually the super cute one of the group. I leave that for Tao.” I joked and Kris chuckled lightly before capturing my lips in a soft kiss. “Come on, let’s not keep the members or my family waiting.” He nodded as we pulled apart and I tugged on my t-shirt.

                Stepping into the park with Exo, I spread my arms and spun in a circle, taking in the bright sun and the warmth of a home. Chanyeol pushed me along despite his amusement of having someone as excited as him to be there. We all gathered between the entrances to the two parks and I looked around, pursing my lips.

                “So, Jihyun, be able to answer your phone when we call, in case of emergency. Try to maintain your distance since you’ll just be with your family but don’t hesitate to come to us in something happens to you. Okay?” Exo-M’s manager ran through his little speech with me and I agreed to everything he said. “Well, have fun, okay?” I nodded and pulled out my phone, about to call my mother.

                “Jihyun!” My head turned at the familiar voice calling my name and a bright smile came across my face. I waved to the guys before turning and running over to my family.

                “Mom!” I cried as I hugged her tightly. “I’m so glad you guys came!”

                “Of course we would. It’s one of the few times we’ll get to see you for a while.” My little brother chirped up and wrapped his arms around my waist.

                “Where’s Kevin?” I looked around and my mom sighed lightly. “I guess he couldn’t get away from work?” Upon shaking her head, I shrugged. “Well, next time for him then. Let’s go out and have fun! The guys are going to California Adventures and our manager let me have the whole day for you guys.”

                “I want to ride the rollercoasters Jihyun!” Nikolai exclaimed and I patted his head with a nod.

                “Ji-Ji! Don’t run off so fast, I might not be able to find you next time.” I stiffened at the voice that appeared next to me and tried as hard as I could not to cringe as he tucked my hair behind the ear closest to him.

                “Chanhee!” My little brother lit up at the sight of the older male and let go of me to stand in front of him.

                “Um, Mom, this is part of the thing I needed to talk to you about.” I tried to start, but seeing my mother’s mesmerized expression, I knew this wasn’t going to end up how I needed it to. “Mom!”

                “Yeah sweetie, he can join us.” She stated and I shook my head in disbelief. “Jihyun, he’s a lot more handsome in person you know.” Chunji beamed at my mother’s words and extended his hand to her. As she gently put her hand in his, he kissed her fingers gently.

                “It’s nice to finally meet you, mother.” He spoke in practiced English and I threw my hands up in defeat. “Ji-Ji. Should we get going?” He asked me and I looked back to meet with his sweet and innocent expression. It looked as if he had no clue what he was doing, but his eyes gave him away. There was a smirking feeling swirling in his glossy eyes. When he spoke in his native language, I just wanted to hit his flawless features. “Let’s not keep our family waiting, since you haven’t even told them yet.” He smirked lightly before turning to my mother and brother with a sickeningly sweet smile.

                “You wanted roller coasters, right Nick?” My little brother nodded hyperactively and I smiled as I looked at the familiar group trying to pass through the gates to start their day. “California Adventures it is then. Let’s go.” I took my happy brother’s hand and walked with him to go purchase the tickets for us. After getting our four tickets, I led our small group to the gates.

Giggling slightly at all of the memories flooding back to me, I led him through the gates as our turn came, not letting go of the child for a moment, and sighed at the familiar procedures came natural to me. As I had the stamp place on the back of my hand, I went through the gates and looked around for the larger group.

                “Well, should we get going?” My mom caught my attention before I could find Exo, and I nodded at her. They nodded and Nick let go of my hand and circled around me, pushing Chanhee beside me before taking our mother’s hand and leading her onwards. Taking the opportunity, the older male laced his fingers with mine and started walking, earning happy smiles from the two in front of us, and a grimace from me.

                Despite not wanting to be around Chunji, my brother distracted me from morning until late afternoon and decided he couldn’t miss being next to me for long. The playful little kid started dragging me around, leaving Mother and Chunji to catch up. Since I hadn’t been around in his upbringing much, the little booger was using all of our time together. With his smile brighter than the sun, and his spirit as energetic as a hare, I found that he was in ways much like Chanhee, though I hated to admit it.

                “Hey sweetie, let’s go ride Screamin’ like when you were Nick’s age!” My mom exclaimed and I slung an arm around her shoulder.

                “Which one is that?” Nick tugged on my belt loop and I kneeled down to be the same height as him and pointed to the large ride at the far end of the park. His face paled at the sight of the large loop inside Mickey Mouse’s head, and I bit my bottom lip. “Oh.” He whispered and I stood up, ruffling his hair, and them pushing him along with us. As we neared the pier along the carny games that curved to lead to the entrance to my favorite ride, my little brother started crying. “I don’t want to! Jihyun! Let’s go somewhere else!” I kneeled down and wiped the tears from his face and he wailed. I tried to calm him down and he wrapped his arms around my neck and cried into my chest. “It’s too high!” I patted his back with a sigh. I remembered I was the same way when I was just a few years younger than him, and I nodded.

                “It’s okay Nick. Mom and Chunji can go on it, and I’ll take you to go do something much more fun, okay? We won’t go on it until you’re ready. I promise.” I cooed as I rubbed his back gently, slowly he stopped crying and I smiled at him when he looked up at me.

                “Really?” He sniffed and I nodded.

                “Really really,” He nodded and wiped his tears away quickly.

                “Jihyun, I can take him. That ride doesn’t seem like my kind of thing. Something fun, right?” My gaze lifted to Chanhee who had seemed as pale as Nikolai at the sight of the roller coaster. When he smiled down at me, I couldn’t help but to smile back.

                “Nick, would you let Chunji take you to go terrorize the park? He’s scared too.”

                “I am not; I just don’t want you to miss out on something you love.” He shot at me defensively in Korean and my brother scrunched up his face before looking at Chanhee with a small grin. “How about ice cream?” Nickolai’s face brightened up again, only noticeable trace of sadness from his red nose.

                “Let’s go!” He exclaimed and started skipping down the path, stopping to look back for Chunji.

                “Thank you, Chanhee.” I reluctantly spoke and he kissed my cheek before running off after my little brother. My body froze for a moment as I looked after him, but I shook my head and huffed as I my heels and followed after my mom.

                We made our way to the long, twisting line full of people, and I sighed. This was just going to get longer and longer as the day went. I desperately just wanted to go home and dive under my blankets. Home. I shook my head and bit my bottom lip as I thought about it.

                “Are you two fighting? You’ve barely spoken to each other all day.” My mom’s voice brought me from my thoughts and I looked over at her. Her expression was worried and I sighed. Now was a great of a time as ever to tell her, right? Seeing how she looked at him earlier though, I knew she really liked him. He was gentlemanly, energetic, willing to try to speak English for her even though he was pretty bad at it, and an all-around good guy. Then he offered to take Nick to go somewhere else, just so I could have a few minutes of fun. “Jihyun?”

                “It’s nothing Mom, we’re fine.” She smiled at me and nodded as the line progressed.

                My mom and I held each other up as we walked out of the ride, laughing boisterously. Nick came running up to me and hugged me tightly.

                “Why did you scream so loud?!” He angrily asked me and I patted his head before tears started to well up in his eyes. “I thought you were going to die!” He exclaimed and I fished a few napkins out of my bag and wiped his face.

                “Why are you so tall for a seven-year-old? You look like you’re trying to be a tree.” I muttered at him as I wiped his nose, he giggled lightly and I looked up to Chanhee who was smiling genuinely at me. “What? Do I have something on my face?” I snapped at the male as I stood up and threw the napkin the nearest bin before leading Nick back to my mom. Chunji’s arm s around my waist as we walked and I shook my head.

                “Jihyun, it’s getting closer to Nikolai’s bedtime. I’ll take him back to the hotel and maybe we can just see you tomorrow morning?” She smiled at me and I nodded. Stepping forward, I embraced the woman I was closest with, hugging her tightly, as if I wasn’t going to see her again. “I love you dear, and I’m so proud of you. I know your father would be too if he were here.” Feeling tears well up in my eyes, I sniffled and let her go.

                “Come here booger face.” I called to Nikolai as I kneeled down. He wrapped his arms around me and clung to my neck like a little monkey as Chunji thanked my mom and gave her a quick hug. When my brother finally relented to let me go, he did the same to Chanhee. I watched as Chanhee’s eyes softened and he hugged the little monster back just as tight. “Alright, Nick, that’s enough. I can’t be responsible for you missing your bedtime now, can I? You’ll see us tomorrow. Okay?” He let go of Chunji and nodded at me, running over and kissing my cheek before returning to our Mom’s side and taking her hand.

                “We’re staying at the Desert Palms, so if you meet us there tomorrow, we can all go out for the day.” I agreed and she smiled before turning and leading Nick away from us. As soon as they were far enough away, I turned to Chanhee.

                “What are you playing at by being here?”

                “I’m not going to let you go without fighting for you, Jihyun.” He calmly spoke, and took my hand in his. I was stunned by his words and so didn’t realize what until after his lips were brushing against my fingers. “I know we didn’t part well last time, and I’m sorry. I was angry; you would’ve been too if you had been faced with what I was. Try to understand me?”

                “Why should I when you didn’t stop to understand me?” I countered and took my hand from him. “What if you already lost me?” My words fell soft as I tried to walk through the crowd of people going this way and that, rushing with their families to go enjoy themselves. Suddenly, I was pushed by a few people who weren’t watching, and I landed up in a pair of arms. I looked up to see Chunji smiling softly at me as a few teenagers apologized and ran off.

                “Then I’ll get you back.” He smiled with a promise in his words and I blushed lightly. “By the way, this is for you.” He held out the bag he had been carrying and I took it skeptically. “You’re little brother covered both of us in boogers, the pink one is yours.” I took the pink sleeved shirt out of the bag and he took the red sleeved shirt from the bag. Holding it up, I felt a smile tug at the corner of my lips as I saw an artsy drawing of Minnie on my shirt leaning to the right, puckering up, with a half of a heart above her head. Chunji held up his side next to mine, and it put together Minnie and Micky kissing, with a heart completed. “Let’s go change, yeah?”

                Chunji led me to the nearest bathroom and I changed into my new shirt, stuffing the old one into my purse. As I came out, Chunji stood, watching the lights of the park whirl around, the magic of the feeling overwhelming his senses. A soft smile of the heavens pulled at my lips as I skipped to him and bumped him with my hip.

                “You are such a dork for getting these shirts.” I chuckled and rolled my eyes at the man.

                “A dork you love though.” He cheekily grinned at me and took my hand, dragging me along.

               “Come on, there’s one last ride I want to go on. We can fit it in just before the park closes.” He laced his fingers with mine and took off running, dragging me with him. I laughed and started running on my own, a smile on my face and I kept up with Chanhee. Chunji and I sprinted as fast as we could across the park, all the way to the Tower of Terror. As there weren’t many people, we raced each other, through the line system, up to the front line of the ride, earning several laughs from the staff.

               As we boarded the ride, we found that we were the last, and only, ones on the ride. The staff checked to make sure we were secured correctly, and then wished us luck. The ride began and Chunji’s fingers found mine, lacing tightly as the story of the Hollywood hotel ghosts played for us. We started to elevate as the visual played, and I squeezed Chanhee’s hand in anticipation.

               “How many times have you ridden this?” He asked nervously and I turned to him with a smile.

               “Enough.” He shook his head, eyes still wide, before turning back to the visual. Knowing what was coming, I held onto the bar with my other hand, just in time, as the video stopped and we plunged down several stories. I let out a shrill shriek of excitement and found myself happily entranced by the erratic manner of the lifts and drops as the night lights of Anaheim brightened in the darkness.

               When the ride finished, Chanhee and I held to each other, taking wobbly steps from the intense rush. A smile that could light the world fell on his lips and I felt my heart fluttering when he looked at me.

               “Whoa.” He shook his head as we entered the gift shop at the end of the exit. “That was awesome.”

               “Agreed.” I nodded and looked around us. “Do you want something to prove that you survived the Tower?” He shook his head and half-hugged my shoulders as he led me outside.

               “Let’s go get some food.” He smiled at me and I rolled my eyes, letting my arm hug around his waist as we walked.

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A/N;

And here is just the beginning of Chunji's rework into the story. How was it so far?

Thank you guys for the support you've given me, I truly appreciate it.

I love you!

~Lynn