It’s their first date, and Hana is late.

 

Kai nervously paces up and down the sidewalk. They agreed to meet at 3 PM by the Cafe O’ Latte. It’s 3:01. Kai pulls out his phone for the 5th time, composes a text to Hana, and then deletes it at the last second.

 

Am I being stood up? Is this what I get for calling Hana a potato yesterday? I was kidding! What if she thinks I was telling the truth? Oh my-

 

“Hi, Jongin” a sweet voice says. Kai whirls around. Hana is standing behind him, wearing a cute striped miniskirt and a cream shirt. Her hair is loose, slightly curling at the tips. Kai’s cheeks redden, and he quickly turns away.

 

“Hi,” he mutters. “Y-You’re late.”

 

Hana furrows her eyebrows. “Huh? It’s only, like, 3:02. Jeez.”

 

“Whatever,” Kai shrugs, trying to regain his nonchalant facade. Why is he freaking out so much? He’s been on plenty of dates with several other girls. This is nothing new! Kai shakes his head. Think back to those old dates!

 

“Call me oppa,” Kai tells Hana in a suave voice.

 

“Are you high?”

 

Kai’s face falls as he mentally face-palms. I’m losing it!

 

His anguished thoughts are broken by a laugh. “Jongin, let’s go,” Hana says, holding out her hand. “The faster we get to the amusement park, the more time we can spend there.”

 

---

 

“I never knew my brain could hurt this badly,” Yuri moans, slumped up against the door of Caffe O’ Latte.

 

“We’d better get a 100 on this exam,” Kyung Mi says. “If we don’t, I’m actually going to start screaming.”

 

“This group study session really helped though! Right, Yoojin?” Kris turns to his girlfriend.

 

“Definitely.” Yoojin rubs her temples. “But let’s swear that we’ll never wait until the last minute to start studying.”

 

Yuri snorts. “Like that’s going to happen.” Suddenly, a familiar figure out of the corner of her eye catches her attention. “Hide!” Yuri hisses, yanking her friends back behind the door.

 

“Oh my god, is that Kai and Hana?” Yoojin gasps. “It looks like... they’re on a date.”

 

Kris folds his arms, a determined look on his face. “Well, we all know what we have to do.”

 

The HSC grins. “Follow them!”

 

---

 

“So do you want to go on the teacup ride first?” Kai asks Hana. “Or would you prefer starting with some carnival rides?”

 

“Hmm...,” Hana looks around. Suddenly, her eyes light up. She points to a ride in the distance. “Ooh! I wanna go on that one!”

 

Kai’s jaw drops in shock. Hana is pointing to a tall, twisting roller coaster jutting up into the sky. Crooked black letters at the base of the ride read “The Ride of Horrors”.

 

“Uh... are you sure?” Kai laughs uneasily, scratching the back of his head. “I don’t think that would be very enjoyable. I’d- I mean, you’d get scared.”

 

Hana giggles. “Me? Scared? Nah. Now let’s go!”

 

“Ooh, do you think Kai’s gonna chicken out?” Yuri whispers. The HSC is crouching behind a caramel popcorn cart, watching Hana and Kai from a safe distance. Although they are attracting several odd stares, it is completely worth it: they definitely don’t want to miss this.

 

“I don’t think so. He’s going to try and stick through it,” Kyung Mi murmurs back to Yuri.

 

“Kris and I have been on that ride before,” Yoojin remarks. “We were literally clinging on to each other the entire time. It was intense.”

 

Kris smirks. “I can’t say I didn’t enjoy that.” Yoojin gives him a playful glare, and Kris wraps his arm around her shoulders.

 

“So that’s what Hana’s trying to do!” Kyung Mi exclaims, slamming her fist in her open palm. “By going to a scary ride, she’s trying to have an excuse to put the moves on Kai. What a brave girl.”

 

“Or she just enjoys scary rides?” Kris says, but Kyung Mi shushes him.

 

20 minutes later, Kai and Hana emerge from the rollercoaster. Kai is deathly pale, clinging on to Hana’s arm. His eyes scream ghastly tales of horror and death. Hana, on the other hand, looks absolutely thrilled.  

 

“That was great!” she squeals. “Hey, let’s go to the Rollercoaster of Tears next!”

 

“Hana!” Kai gasps desperately. “Let’s- let’s try something else. How about the Waterfall ride? That’s always fun.”

 

Hana pouts. “That’s no fun.”

 

Kai rubs his temples. He is beginning to regret taking Hana to this amusement park. Kai had no idea she would go crazy in here.

 

“Poor Kai,” Yoojin clucks her tongue. “He should just take her somewhere else.”

 

“Hey, I have a question. Seeing Kai squirm and cry is fun and all, but I kinda wanna go on the Supersonic rollercoaster. Can we?” Yuri sticks out her bottom lip in a heart-wrenching puppy dog face.

 

Kris coughs. “Yeah, to be honest... I want to go get some pizza from one of the stalls.”

 

Yuri and Yoojin exchanges glances. “Well, I’m sure Kai and Hana will stay at the amusement park for a while. Let’s go take a little break.”

 

“Perfect!” Kris laces his fingers through Yoojin’s hand. “Jinnie, do you want me to buy you a blue coconut slushie?”

 

Yoojin grins. “Aww, you know me so well.” She looks at Kris with a sweet expression, squeezing his hand.

 

“Oh, please,” Kyung Mi gags, sticking a finger down . “I think I’m going to barf.”

 

“Yeah, can you guys keep the PDA on the down-low? You remind me of my parents,” Yuri teases. Yoojin and Kris throw them looks.

 

---

 

Finally, Kai thinks. We’re doing something normal.

 

He is in a passenger car of a Ferris wheel. Hana is sitting next to him. Their fingers are touching just the slightest.

 

Alright, dude, he tells himself. This is literally the most romantic place in the park. Do something romantic.  

 

“It’s nice up here, hm?” Hana sighs, resting her head on Kai’s shoulder. Kai smiles, wrapping his arm around Hana’s waist.

 

“Yeah. You can see everything in the park.” As Hana and Kai rise up higher and higher into the clouds, the amusement park gets smaller below them. The rides and people and carts and attractions begin to look like they are part of a miniature toy set, something from a child’s playroom.

 

The sight causes a wave of sentimentality to pass over Hana’s body. It feels like she and Kai are the only people in the world, looking out over everything together.

 

“Hey,” Hana murmurs. “Thanks for taking me here.”

 

    Kai grins. “Thanks for coming here with me. We had a crazy time.”

 

    “Definitely. We should come here again,” Hana giggles. A few moments of silence pass, before she gently says, “I like being here with you.”

 

    Kai’s eyes crinkle up in a smile. “I love being here with you.” And he leans over and kisses Hana.

 

    And Hana realizes at that she has been holding hands with Kai the entire day.

 

    As she melts into Kai’s lips, everything seems perfect.

 

---

 

    “Where did they go?” Yuri cries, looking around. Her arms are laden with tshirts, water bottles, stickers, and pencils, courtesy of the amusement park’s souvenir shop. “They were here, like, 4 hours ago!”

 

    Kyung Mi stomps the ground in frustration. “We lost them! Wow, what a waste. And where did Yoojin and Kris go?”

 

    Yuri rolls her eyes. “They’re sharing a slurpie somewhere. I left them. Jeez.”

 

    “Ugh, I wish Sehun was here,” Kyung Mi sighs, twirling her hair. When Yuri gives her a strange look she holds up her arms in defense. “What? He’s hot! And he’s a dancer. You know how much I love dancers. Plus, did you know that he likes watching stand up comedy, too?”

 

    “Well, good luck trying to get Hana to approve of that.”

 

    “Hey, Hana should be the most accepting of relationships. Even though she’s younger than him, she’s technically dating her student.”

 

    Yuri shrugs, taking a seat on a wooden bench near the side of the walkway. “Touche.”

 

    Kyung Mi plops down next to her friend. The two watch the hustle and bustle of the amusement park. Children race around, excitedly pulling their parents’ arms in the direction of their favorite rides. Couples stroll around the park, laughing and leaning into each other. The smell of french fries and churros and hot dogs.

 

    “Do you think Yoojin’s happy?” Kyung Mi asks.

 

    Yuri sighs. “So you’re thinking the same thing as me, huh?”

 

    Kyung Mi looks at Yuri gratefully. “Nice to know that someone agrees. Yoojin looks happy with Kris, and they make a cute couple. But... do you think she's gotten over Joonmyeon?”

 

    “You know what?” Yuri exhales slowly. “I guess we’ll just have to see how everything ends up.