“Hey! Suzy! Are you ready?” I shouted from the outside, waving my hands.

She peeked from the bedroom window. “Sssh! Chanyeol, please be quite!" and then put her finger on her lips while I was still shouting for her to come down. "It’s early in the morning. You’re disturbing the neighbors!” she replied to me while laughing. “And yes, I’m almost finished. I'll be right down in a minute. Just wait for me.”

After she closed the window, I looked down and played with the stone near my right foot. “Will always be…” I said under my breath.

I was sweaty  and nervous. Because for the first time, I got to be with her alone. We decided to go to an amusement park, just the two of us. I was taking deep breaths when their door opened and she came out. My attempt to calm myself was immediately abandoned. Deep breaths came into a halt. I was mesmerized by her. She was wearing a simple white dress with her hair hanging loose over her shoulders. Simple, yet stunningly beautiful. Ever since we were young Suzy never failed to captivate the people around her. Even I was not immune to her charms. There was something in her, something that could make you hold your breath. But more than the outside appearance, I knew her long enough to know that she was also beautiful inside.

Knowing all this who would not fall for her? Oh, my poor heart.

“I’m really excited to go to the amusement park!” she told me, linking her arm to mine.

“Yes, I know, I know,” I said, faking indifference. “You’ve been talking about it since last night.”

“Hmmp! As if I'm the only one.” She then nudged my arm.

“Ouch! That hurts!” I hissed while rubbing my arm. It might not be obvious but Suzy was quite strong. "Please control yourself," I joked. But she just stuck her tongue out and went ahead of me. 

“Do you think we’re too early?” she asked after a minute of walking to the bus stop.

“Nah,” I answered while trying to catch up with her. “We will arrive there just in time for the opening.” Since her giddiness was so infectious, I couldn't help but to smile.

It was an hour trip to the amusement park. While in the bus I noticed Suzy was quiet. I started talking to her but she didn’t hear me, like her mind was in a different place. A crease was forming on her forehead, like she was thinking of something sad.

“Boo!” I shouted near her ear. And it finally worked! She turned her head to me, shocked.

“Chanyeol! How many times did I tell you to stop surprising me like that?” She reprimanded me like a child but I ignored her.

“Look, look,” I said. I held my two ears and scrunched up my face. Though it would make me look foolish, I still made funny faces in front of her while she was laughing so hard.

“Oh stop it,” she told me in between her giggles. “I can’t breathe from laughing.”

After that, I insisted on playing a game so we played one where the winner would have to flick the loser’s forehead. We got so into it that some of the passengers were looking at us but I didn’t care as long as she was happy.

By the time we arrived, both of us have reddish forehead but ignored it. Seeing Suzy’s eyes sparkle when she saw where we were, I knew it was the right decision to go here.

“Thank you!” She hugged me. “What should we ride first?” She stopped and thought for it for a while. “I know! Don't just stand there, let's go!” Suzy held my hand and went to ride the Viking.

It was the best day ever! After the Viking, we went to ride the roller coaster, river rapids and so on. We tried almost every ride available in the amusement park even the carousel. At first, I didn’t want to but Suzy forced me, saying that it would be a fun experience. So I agreed, and while we were surrounded with small children, we laughed and took pictures of us together.

At the end of the day, we were so exhausted that we decided to rest on a bench, eating cotton candy and ice cream. She finished her cotton candy in seconds, then eyed my ice cream like her life depended on it. When I saw her face, I cracked up.

“You’ve already eaten yours. This is mine.” I said, holding my ice cream cup high so that she could not reach it. 

“But,” she pouted, “I want more…”

I chuckled. “Here.” I gave mine then ruffled her hair. “You’re so spoiled, you know that?”

She looked at me and gave me her warm smile that turned her eyes into slits. “Only to you. You've made me spoiled.”

I sighed. I never did have the power against her smiling eyes. “Do you want to ride the Ferris wheel before we go home?" I asked while looking at the orange sky. "Let’s watch the sunset there.” I got up and held out my hand. If I was not looking at her intently, I would not have seen her face flashed a brief hesitation before taking my hand. It made my heart ache.

Once seated inside, we were quiet, both were taking in the amazing view from the top. Suzy broke the silence as we saw the sun went down over the horizon.

“Thank you.” She whispered.

“What?” I was snapped back to reality.

“Thank you for today,” she repeated. I wanted to hold her gaze even for a second but she looked away. “Thank you for making me smile. I realized today what I’ve been missing this past months. I missed smiling and laughing. Thank you for bringing it back."

A deafening silence followed after but it was broken quickly for Suzy spoke again. "Did you know that I dreamed of riding a Ferris wheel with Kris?”

I didn’t answer her. Of course, she wanted to be with her boyfriend, well ex-boyfriend, in this romantic setting even if he broke her heart and made her cry. What could I say to that?

“But we will never going back together, so I guess it's quite impossible. This ride is still special though. Thank you, Park Chanyeol, for making it special for me. You’re the most wonderful... b-bestfriend in the whole wide world.”

I choked. After all this, it still went back to me being just a friend. I wanted to shout at her, I wanted to confess but I was afraid, afraid that when those words came out from my mouth there was no going back. Yes, I was a coward. “Hey, you promised that if I brought you here in the amusement park, there will be no drama, no more crying.” I tried to hide my breaking heart behind my smile.

She nodded and watched the sun. “Yes… I promised...”

After that ride, we went back to the bench we occupied earlier. I told her to sit down and close her eyes. She was skeptical but eventually listened to me. I let a few minutes passed to prepare before telling her that she could open her eyes.

“You can open them now,” I said directly in front of her. Her eyes widened when she saw that I was holding two dozens of balloons. “I actually wanted to give you flowers but they are already cliché. I wanted you to have them and make a wish.”

“Wish?”

“Yes, for Kris to come back to you. And then, set the balloons free so that it can carry your wish to heaven.” I gave all the balloons I was holding to her and smoothed away a wisp of hair from her glistening eyes. “Go ahead. Make a wish. Be happy.”

As I saw her closed her eyes and moved her lips to make a wish, I remembered this from something I've read.

"Sometimes I knew in all my mind and heard why I had done what I had done, and I welcomed the sacrifice...What good did I get from it? I got to have love in my heart."

My heart yearned for her but she yearned for someone else. This was my sacrifice. At least she could be happy.

When she opened her eyes again, she let go of the balloons and we watched as they floated higher and higher.

“Did you wish for him?” I have to ask even though I was hurting.

She shook her and said, “No…”

I stared at her while she held my hand and smiled.

“I'm already happy so didn’t ask for anything… or anyone. I prayed.”

I was still staring at her blankly. "Prayed? What did you pray for?"

She shook her head again. “No, I didn't pray for anything but thanked Him. I thanked Him for sending a good virus to me,” with her one hand still holding mine, the other gently touched my cheek. “My very own Happy Virus. I thanked God for sending you.

"Ummm...Chanyeol, there's something I..."

To hear that, it was all enough for me. All my preparations for the past weeks were worth it. And as according to my plan, I stepped sideways revealing the person behind me.

"Kris!" She was so surprised that she stayed still from where she was standing. But after that, every thing went blurry. Maybe it was from how fast Kris ran to her and hugged her tight. Or maybe, from my tears.

Before I could witness more, I turned away. But someone stopped me and hugged from behind. When I turned back, it was Suzy. "You did this?" she asked.

I smiled for her sake. "All for you. I've contacted him and set this date. Enjoy!" I walked away before she could sense anything from my voice, or before I could see anything from her eyes.

I looked ahead and told myself, 'Yes, it was enough. You are her Happy Virus. You must do what would make her happy. The pain. The sacrifice. It was worth it. All you ever wanted was to see her smile and you did. That is enough for you to be thankful.' It hurt so much but loving her was not a mistake so held my head high and kept walking.