Chapter Twenty Seven

A suspicious group of eight heavily masked individuals entered The Lotte World with unabashed excited steps.  In the middle of the group stood a red head, a corn secure in her right hand. The corn in her hand was a definite hint to who they were if one was to look closely. Even without words it was quite obvious that she was the group’s leader. Her eyes ablaze with excitement and a hint of pure mischief that was missed by her trusting dongsaengs. The amusement park was crowded as usual but this time the crowd was dominated by foreign tourists. A sigh of relief was heard from Bom as she scanned the crowd. “It’s fortunate that there are a lot of foreigners today. We can a bit more at ease. We don’t even stand out with all this pretty cosplayers around.”

Dara’s eyes crinkled with delight. She was the most anxious about this ‘great adventure’ as Bom put it. And she should be. Any sane idol would be. Eight top idols, in pairs nonetheless, in one of Korea’s top dating places would definitely attract all kinds of paparazzi. 2NE1, DBSK & 2PM in a seemingly group date would be the century’s top scandal. Hearts would surely be broken and more so careers could end. “What’s the plan Bommie?” She asked with her hands clapping in excitement.

But before Bom could answer the over excited Changmin opened his mouth which kick started Bom’s annoyance. “Let’s try the horror house!” He was expecting a cheer but was given a cold response. The most piercing glare was of course from the annoyed big unnie.

“You dare,” her tone sending shivers down the maknae’s spine, “suggest to bring our Minzy inside that skinship triggering sin filled hallway?!”

Changmin swallowed the sudden lump in his throat. “It’s not that noona,” he reasoned with his hands up in surrender, “I just thought that it would be fun.”

“I’ll tell you what’s fun Max Changmin.” Bom said with her hand on Minzy. “Hearing you scream in pain with my bare hands would be bliss.” She declared, the intensity of her glare made even the innocent hyungs in red alert.

Changmin broke into cold sweat. That was clearly a threat. Under Bom’s gaze he turned quiet. A smart move. Jae Joong grabbed the opportunity to finally speak up. “Noona, why don’t we just ignore Changmin’s suggestion and hit the rides instead?” This act of bravery was eagerly supported by seven simultaneous nods.

Bom narrowed her eyes on Jae Joong, his close proximity to Dara did not escape her keen eyes. “And what particular ride would that be?”

“Let’s try the scariest ride unnie!” Minzy blurted out, having this serious and tensed atmosphere was starting to get to her. She was supposed to be having fun by this time. “Please unnie we already wasted too much time by having this discussion. Why can’t we all have fun just like regular friends?”

Their maknae’s outburst sent both Dara and Chaerin into a fit of hysterical giggles. Of course Bom was left dumbfounded for a second. “Unnie stop torturing the boys with your words.” Chaerin teased. “You don’t have to. All of Korea knows that you are pretty capable of sending even a man a foot taller than you into the emergency room.”

“I don’t have that kind of image!” Bom protested which was answered by her dongsaengs’ teasing stares. “I’m pretty sure about that.” She insisted, more like pleaded towards her supposed to be partner in crime. But even Junsu seconded Chaerin’s claim. “You really should lighten up a bit Bom noona.”

Realizing that she was outnumbered and that her corn has already turned cold she was left without much choice. “Fine.” She said while giving the boys her best eye warning. “Let’s turn this into a contest. The losing pair will buy everyone’s lunch.”

“Can I be paired with Chaerin, noona?” Junho asked as he moved to stand beside Chaerin.

“Of course Junho-ah.” Bom instantly agreed and proceeded with the pairings. “Even though I am a bit worried I’ll have to give Changmin a chance to be with Minzy. Jae Joong with Dara.” She added with a stern gaze on the suddenly happy idol. “You can thank me later if I don’t end up breaking your bones.” This instantly sobered Jae as he moved a little bit closer towards the now tensed Dara.

“And I take that you and I are a couple.” Junsu said with a soft smile.

Bom smiled back before taking a bite on her almost ignored corn. She was getting hungry and paying for everyone’s lunch was definitely not included in her agenda. She was pretty confident that they could win because she have always loved and enjoyed amusement park rides and Junsu seemed tougher than he looked. And with Dara in the gamed, she could see the Smooch couple losing. Her grand plan was starting to unveil. “The couple with the loudest scream and with the most frightened face will be declared as the loser.”

Dara’s heart started to race. This was not going well. Being paired with Jae already made her nervous and now riding this incredibly life threatening rides was close to making her losing her sanity. If she had her way they would spend the day playing at the arcades. But even in her terrified state she still forced her feet to follow the group. Appearing weak in front of Jae Joong would bring her even worse nightmares. And so she tried to calm her heart by doing her breathing exercise.

“Are you okay?” Jae asked his voice laced with concern. Dara was breathing rather heavily and her forehead started to sweat.

“Dara almost jumped up in surprise.” It was the first time that Jae had directly addressed her. She looked straight ahead, refusing to meet his penetrating brown orbs as she gave him a stiff nod in response. Beside her was Bom who looked like she was having the time of her life just by munching on her corn. How she remains loyal to her corn remains a mystery even to her own family. She wouldn’t be Bom if she would just let this slide. “You know Jae,” she said in a loud teasing voice that gained their group’s undivided attention, “I feel like it’s my duty to let you know that right now you have the highest probability of buying lunch with Dara as your partner.”

Amused but worried for Dara he chose to pretend not to care. “Really?”

Feeling tad guilty and embarrassed, Dara covered her flaming cheeks before turning to reassure Jae. “Don’t worry, I’m not that scared.”

“Dara you do know that covering your cheeks like that is one sure indicator that behind that mask you are blushing.” Bom added with a laugh just as they approached their obstacle. None other than the ride that promises pure terror – The Roller Coaster.

Dara could still feel her cheeks burning. Trust her best friend to in front of her pretend husband. It wasn’t helping that Jae was looking at her with his eyes crinkled. Was he smiling? She thought and hoped that behind that black mask was indeed a smile. And then her temperature dropped as her eyes landed on the scariest ride in every amusement park. She stopped abruptly in front of the gates with rounded eyes and her heart ramming wildly against her rib cage. “I’m going to die a .”

Jae Joong was about to comfort her when he heard her exclamation. Before he could stop himself he laughed out loud. Dara who was feeling highly sensitive due to fear turned to look at him with pure irritation. “Are you laughing at me?”

“Of course unnie.”

“Of course Dara-ah.”

Minzy, Chaerin and Bom simultaneously exclaimed. “Who wouldn’t? When you just said something funny.”

Dara paled when she realized that she had voiced her thoughts out loud. And the boys’ controlled expressions only confirmed her horror. Tears of humiliation started to form in her eyes when she felt someone hold her hand.

Jae gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “Remember what I told you before?” He asked while holding her eyes captive.

His gaze was warm and so were his hands; that despite her friends’ teasing stares she couldn’t help but feel calmer. She shook her head to answer Jae’s question. Her voice seemed to get stuck in .

Jae’s answering smile was obvious even with the mask on. “I promised to protect you.” He held Dara’s hand tighter to emphasize his words. “And I plan to keep that particular promise.”

Dara’s heart rate doubled as Jae’s words registered in her mind. But oddly her earlier fright and embarassent melted away. It was the nice kind of racing heart that every girl wishes to feel. She smiled back. “Thank you.”

Before she could savor the moment Junsu butted in. “If you two are done melting each other with your eyes, the ticket is here.” He gave them the front row tickets that instantly died down Dara’s retort.

She held Jae’s hand tighter as they took the seat that promised nothing but pure terror. Suddenly the safely buckles didn’t feel anywhere near safe. She took a deep breath as she turned to look behind her. Minzy was obviously excited while Changmin was trying to remain calm. Behind them were Chaerin and Junho were both glowing with excitement. And the masterminds were of course seated at the fourth row. Bom and Junsu were both staring ahead, their eyes fierce with determination.

Dara could only continue her breathing exercise as she tried to clung into her thin thread of bravery. “We are not going to die, right?”

“Of course not.” Jae’s steady voice helped calm her down a bit.

She turned to look at her source of calm and was greeted with his reassuring smile. “Trust me.”

“I trust you.” She replied and knew that it was true. But that wasn’t enough to completely calm her thundering heart. “It’s this ride I can never trust.”

Jae had to smile at that. Even in distress she was adorable. Before he could say anything to further comfort her, the ride started its slow ascend to the starting peak. He felt Dara tighten her already death grip on is hand. She closed her eyes and the litany of ‘omo’ and ‘otoke’ started. Despite his calm façade, Jae could feel the buildup of a scream in his throat. The thing was tilting to an almost 80 degrees before it stopped at the end of a cliff-like edge. Dara’s scream thundered above the yells of terror and in some cases exhilaration. Her panic sent his own fright at bay. He released her ice cold hand and wrapped his arm around her shoulders in an attempt to sooth her. But the ride was just beginning. Soon it plummeted down and increased its speed as it went through the many hoops, climbs and the soul eating drops. Everything around them blurred out of focus. The wind slapped their faces but the most disturbing thing for Jae was Dara’s sudden silence in the middle of the ride. She wasn’t screaming her lungs out but her body was badly shaking.

“It’s okay to scream.” He yelled but Dara only managed a weak shake of her head. There was no way that she would pay for everyone’s lunch. That was too much. This ride already cost her half of her sanity. She couldn’t let it win over her wallet too!

“That was the longest and scariest 3 minutes of my life.” Dara exclaimed as they alighted the ride. She looked like a mess with her hair covering her face and her eyes bloodshot with tears. She struggled to compose herself and gasped in complete shock and disbelief to actually find everyone else looking absolutely fine. They were even smiling with delight. It was obvious that they have enjoyed the ride. And that they have jus