It has been a few months since Peniel met Jessica on the bus. They were getting closer and closer every day. They went to the cinema every Saturday or to the coffee shop whenever they were free. Jessica liked him. She thought she was a e. But Peniel was warm, friendly and manly. He doesn’t look like a high school student. Peniel liked Jessica as well. She was cute and funny. And with that, they went really well.

Peniel woke up and took his phone.

[3 new messages from Jessica Jung]

She texted me early in the morning. How romantic. He thought and quickly opened Jessica’s messages.

[06.41 a.m.] ‘Good morning. Don’t forget about our plan today –J’

[07.02 a.m.] ‘Wake up, kiddo!’

[07.59 a.m.] ‘Peniel you sleepyhead…’

Of course I do remember about our plan, girl. We’re going to have some fun today, right. He thought and chuckled. He sat up on the edge of his bed, stretched out his arms and went to the bathroom for a shower. Peniel and Jessica were planning to go to the amusement park. Peniel had never been there, so Jessica asked him whether he wanted to go there with her. He felt so happy when Jessica asked him and she was happy as well since the last time she went there was with Heechul, her ex, 4 years before.

After taking a quite long bath, he went downstairs to have breakfast. As usual, his mom made sandwiches for him and his older sister.  After finishing two sanwiches in five minutes, he went back to his room and gave one last look for his outfits.

Grey blouse, blue jeans and sunglasses. Perfect. He thought while fixing his brown hair.

He took his car key and jogged downstairs again.

“I’m going! I’ll be back tonight,” he said and ran towards the garage.

“Where are you going?” his father asked and looked up from the newspaper.

“Somewhere! Bye, dad! I love you!” Peniel tied his blue sneakers and walked towards his luxury car his parents bought for his nineteenth birthday. He was absolutely ready to spent one whole day with his crush.

--

Peniel arrived at Jessica’s house right at 8.55 a.m. as he went out from his car and walked towards the door. He pressed the door bell and patiently wait someone to open the door.

“I’ll get it!” Krystal shouted. When she opened the door, she stared at Peniel and studied him. He was really fashionable and handsome as well. Her jaws dropped when she saw his expensive car behind him.

Is he Jessica eonni’s friend? Or her boyfriend? Gosh! I never thought she would fall to another guy besides Heechul. But this guy is handsome too. She thought.

“You are?” she looked puzzled.

“I’m Peniel, Jessica’s friend. You must be Krystal, her little sister, right? She told me a lot about you,” he said as he showed his angelic smile. Krystal’s heart melted and her eyes were locked at him for a couple of seconds.

“…Is your sister here?” he asked politely, realizing that she was staring at him.

“Oh, yeah, right! Wait a sec,” she ran back in and called her sister.

Her house is quite big.

“Hey!” Jessica greeted. “Thank you for waiting,”

“No problem,” Peniel smiled and stared at her from head to toe. She was wearing soft pink shirt, short jeans, white converse shoes and a small backpack behind her. Peniel opened the car door for her as went in and opened the window. He jogged to the other side of the car and went in as well.

“Bye, Tal! Don’t miss me, okay!” Jessica waved at Krystal who was standing in front of the door. Krystal laughed and waved back as the car left her behind.

--

“Hey, wake up,” Peniel shook her shoulder carefully. Jessica opened her eyes slowly and looked around. She was sleeping all the way to the amusement park since it took a couple of hours from her house. “We’re here,” he said and grinned.

“Are we?” she answered weakly. Half of her soul was still in dreamland, though. When she was fully awake, she stretched out her arms and excitedly jumped out from the car.

“She was sleeping two minutes ago and now she is wide awake. I bet she’s so happy,” Peniel whispered to himself and went out as well. They walked to the ticket counter and bought two tickets for them. It  was quite crowded since winter was coming. There were so many children and couples, too. They all came there because it was a beautiful day in October. Happy faces were everywhere.

“Here it goes. Have fun with your girlfriend,” the counter lady winked. Peniel was about to say that Jessica was not his girlfriend, but his arm was already pulled by excited Jessica.

“Chill, girl. Let’s walk together,” Peniel hold Jessica’s warm hand and walked together. It has been a while since he hold someone’s hand beside his mom. She covered her face with her free hand when her cheeks turned red. They bought a pair of cat’s ears’ bandana and wore it as they walked along the park.

“Let’s ride that!” Jessica pointed at the roller coaster and Peniel stared at it for a second.

We were just arrived here and now she wants to ride that as the start. He thought.

“Are you scared?” Jessica teased and nudges him.

“Of course I’m not!” he nudges her back and they both laughed. They walked towards the roller coaster queue. Although it was quite long, they didn’t care. They waited patiently. Both of them looked like couples. While waiting for their turn, they shared funny stories and laughed together. After a fifeteen minutes waiting, it was finally their turn to ride the roller coaster. Jessica jogged to the first row while he can’t help but followed her.

“You sure?” he frowned.

“Yes. Now come on, get in,” she went in and sat down with Peniel next to him.

“ARE YOU READY?!!” the crew screamed.

“YEEEEEESSSSS!!!” everybody screamed, including Jessica. Well that makes Peniel laughed.

I’m glad she’s having fun today.

“HERE WE GOOOOOOO!!!!” the crew pressed the start button. Slowly, the train started to move. It went upwards. As they were facing the blue skies, Jessica felt like she was going to fly. She didn’t even realized that Peniel was staring at her. A bright smile on her face made she looked more perfect. Peniel’s heart raced faster and faster. Finally, she looked at her and they stared at each other for a second before the roller coaster went downwards and made them felt like their inner part were going to fly away. They spontantly hold each other’s hand tightly and screamed.

“AAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” Jessica screamed. “THIS IS AWESOOOOOOMEEEE!!!!!” they laughed and screamed simultaneously when the roller coaster started to a circle track.

After two times of circling the track, it was finally over. They were back to where they were started. “Let’s do this again!” Jessica shook Peniel’s hand. Her hand was still sticked to his. He shook his head a couple of times and went out from the ride.

“No way. You’re going to waste another precious fifteen minutes for waiting,” Peniel reminded and pulls her hand to get out from the ride.

“You’re right,” Jessica said and walked down the stairs. He nodded and they decided to ride another things they could find there. They walked hand in hand like little kids but they enjoyed it so much.

--

“Let’s eat,” Peniel said and walked towards an Italian restaurant. They sat outside and ordered for spaghetti for Peniel and fusilli for Jessica.

“So, how’s your school?” she asked and leaned back to her chair.

“Quite good. I got good marks for Science but not for History,” he answered and she chuckled.

“I can’t believe I’m dating a kid,” she blurted and suddenly closed with both hands.

“Dating?” he showed his cheesy grin and leaned forward.

“N-no, I mean.. I mean I can’t believe I’m going out with a kid... yeah.. going out...” she answered with red cheeks.

“Aww nuna, you’re so cute,” he pinched her right cheek and they both blushed. A couple of seconds later, Peniel laughed and Jessica joined in. “Babo.”

“What did you say?”

“Babo. Stupid,” he cracked up.

“Hey! I’m not stupid!” she crossed her arms and looked away.

“You are, nuna. Stu-pid. HAHAHAHA.”

“YAAH! SHIN DONG GEUN! I’M OLDER THAN YOU!!” she hold her laugh and looked into his eyes. They both cracked up while clapping their hands. Exactly looked like sea lions.

“I’m sorry, grandma,” he bowed and laughed again. “Okay, okay, stop this,” he tried not to laugh but he couldn’t do that. Jessica who was sitting across to him was chuckling at him. She took out her phone and took dozens of photo of Peniel laughing. When he realized that she was taking pictures of him without his permission, he leans towards her to take her phone but failed. He decided to stood up and took it but it was failed as well, until he accidentally fell to her. Their faces were inches away, Jessica was still holding her phone with her right hand with Peniel’s left hand was holding hers, his right hand was holding the chair’s handle, preventing his body to stick with hers. Their eyes widened and their cheeks blushed. Peniel quickly pulled his body away and sat back to his chair, looking away, while Jessica sat back and looked away as well. Gladly, the waitress came with their orders. They ate their pastas in silence and awkwardness.

“I’m sorry,” they said simultaneously.

“No, I’m sorry,” again, at the same time. They stared at each other for a moment and giggled.

“I’m really sorry. You were so funny and I took some photos of you without your permission,” she looked down and took a sip of her lemon tea.

“No, it’s okay. I’m sorry for making fun of you,” he said. “And anyway, it’s okay if you want to take a picture of me,” there he goes again. His pure and angelic smile is back, making girls’ heart’s melted.

“Let’s take a selfie!” she cheered and pulled out her phone from her backpack. She unlocked it, and hold it up in the air after she clicked the camera button. “Say kimchiiiiii,” she said as Peniel did what she told. It was their very first picture. They looked good as usual, with good atmosphere as well. They didn’t want to miss every single precious second they could spent together.

After Peniel paid the bill, they walked around again and walked towards the carousel. And of course, hand by hand. It was Jessica’s request to ride carousel. Both of them stood behind young couples. Literally young. They were about seven or eight years old. The boy embraced the girl and pecked her cheek, while the girl blushed and smiled shyly. And of course, Jessica took a picture of them. She really loved to take pictures since she just made an instagram account the day before.

“Hey kid, how old are you?” Peniel asked and leaned forwards, indirectly disturbing their romantic moments. Jessica pulled his hand and quietly scloded him for disturbing them. The kids looked back at them and stared at each other for a moment.

“I’m seven and a half,” the boy said. “And my pretty girlfriend is seven. Today is her birthday,” he continued and hugged his girlfriend, even though he was still don’t understand what ‘relationship’ stands for. “She’s the prettiest girl ever,” he said as he pecked his girl’s lips. Jessica and Peniel’s jaws dropped, didn’t know what to say.

“But this girl is much prettier!” Peniel embraced Jessica and pointed to her. Her eyes widened and glanced at him while he grinned and winked. He pulled her closer and finally buried her face to his chest when the little boy hugged his girl again. They rolled their eyes, looked back to the front and continued their romantic moments. Peniel stared at them for a long time before he let go of Jessica.

“They.. they’re just seven!” he said in disbelief of what just happened, while Jessica was still blushed because of what just happened. Same time, different side of view, different feelings.

“Young love. Come on, it’s our turn,” she said and walked through the carousel’s fence. She hopped in to the carousel and sat on a big, white horse. Peniel followed her and sat on a black horse next to her white horse. Jessica cheered when the horse started moving up and down. The little boy took a glance at her and rolled his eyes. Such a bad, bad boy.

When Peniel’s horse went up, Jessica’s horse went down, and of course when his horse went down, her horse went up. Actually, Peniel was a bit embarrassed because he was the only man that rode that kind of thing. He saw another guy before he rode it and he thought he would be save because he was not the only one. But after that, that guy left. He looked at Jessica and stared at her happy face. That was the only reason he would ride that thing.

--

As the sun started to say goodbye, they started to felt tired. Jessica sat on a bench and stared at Peniel who was buying ice creams.

I want to spend everyday in my life with that handsome,nice guy. It would be very awesome. She thought and smiled by herself.

“There you go,” Peniel handed her a cup of chocolate ice cream with oreos on top. She took it and thanked him. He his vanilla cone and sat next to her. They stayed in silence, watching the view. Children were passing through them with excited smile on their faces, some couples were sharing romantic kisses, while the others were hugging each other, and a pair of families were taking pictures in front of the giant wheel. It was such a beautiful evening.

“Are you tired?” Peniel suddenly asked and Jessica nodded. “Me too,” he continued. He stared at her and moved closed to her. “Here,” he patted his shoulder. “Lay your head here,” Jessica looked confused but followed his instruction. She rest his head on his wide shoulder and shut her eyes. They blushed as their heart raced. He embraced her and her hair. For a second, Peniel thought she was his girlfriend.

I am so happy. They thought.

“Hey,” Jessica made Peniel surprised. “Let’s ride that and go home,” She pointed at a giant wheel that was right 100 metres away from them

“Okay,” Peniel answered. They stood up from the bench, and walked to the ferris wheel’s queue. That time, Jessica grabbed his hand and hold his cold fingers. She looked at him but he looked away, didn’t want Jessica to look at his red cheeks.

After 5 minutes of silence, Peniel decided to start a conversation, “winter is starting next month. Aren’t you going anywhere?” Jessica looked at him and shook his head. “Good.”

“How about you?” she asked back.

“I don’t know. Maybe I’ll go to Chicago for one or two weeks,” he answered and queue for the giant wheel.

He’s going to leave me for two weeks... but wait... I’m no one for him... I’m just an old stranger who gave his friend an empty seat. Ahh what kind of feeling is this. I’m so sad. She thought.

“Jessica? Jessica are you there? Hello?” Peniel waved his hand in front of her face. She looked blank. “Are you okay?”

 “Yes...” she lied.

After a long, awkward moment, the small gate in front of Jessica and Peniel opened. They stepped forward. A mid-twenty lady opened the small door of the wheel for them and said, “watch your step and enjoy the ride!” A bright smile appeared on her face. Jessica smiled back and went in while Peniel followed her and next to her. As soon as they sat, the lady closed the door and the giant wheel started to move.

“Peniel,” she said and he looked at her. “I’m scared.” She totally freezing. She was shaking, her face was pale and her hands were cold. Peniel hold her hands and rubbed it to make her feel better. He really wanted to hug her, but he couldn’t.

“I’m here, I’m here,” he embraced her and rubbed her pale face. She looked right at him and tried to smile. She couldn’t smile. She just couldn’t. All was back right four years ago, same day, same feeling, but different person. She was with Heechul, her perfect ex. Jessica was always scared of riding giant wheel, because she had acrophobia, fear of height. She would shake and froze without saying a word.

“Jessica, look at me,” he cupped her face and looked right to her eyes. He saw fears deep inside her eyes, her heart. He can’t help but hugged her really tight. When he let her go, she looked much better. Her pale face was gone, she didn’t shake, and her hands were warm too. She tried to look outside the window, but not even a second later, she looked back at Peniel. He was always there for her. He hold her hands and rubbed it everytime her fear is back. After the fifth time of trying to look outside, Jessica looked back at him again. That time, he leaned closer and closer. His eyes were moving from looking deep to her eyes, to her pink lips, and back to her eyes again. She shut her eyes and gulped. Peniel slowly leaned to the right until his lips met hers. It was warm, it was nice. She tried to let it go, but she couldn’t. His kiss was so gentle. He cupped his hands on her cheeks as Jessica rounded her arms on his neck, his brown hair. Their kiss got deeper and deeper when they got to the top of the giant wheel. The night sky was pretty, the night view was beautiful, and the girl he was kissing was gorgeous. Everything was perfect at once. Her soft lips was still stucked on his warm lips. They got crazier and crazier. At once, they thought, ‘Am I dreaming?’ The answer was no. It was real. Real kiss, real life.

Peniel broke the kiss for a second and whispered three beautiful words.

I

Love

You.

Jessica smiled and they continued the kiss. They only seperated to catch their breath, and then kissing again. In a blink of an eye, they were almost back to the beginning. They smiled and sat straight until the wheel perfectly stopped. The lady opened the wheel’s door and they went out with red faces. They hold each other’s hands to the car happily. Sure, it was their best of the best day ever. But their romantic moment wasn’t  over yet.

--

“I love you so much,” Peniel whispered when he broke the kiss before he started the engine. They had been kissing for like fifteen minutes before they realized it was late at night and need to go back to their home.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

WIll Peniel choose Jessica? or Jieun?

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