The day of the carnival I slept in. There were no classes scheduled and I had been working hard. But my break was short lived. My cell phone rang. "Yeobeseyo?" "Min He, come help out," Ae Cha said politely. "Wow, you said it so nicely. What are you, sick?" "Please? I'm exhausted and can't take much more of these idiots." "I'll be right over." I hung up. I went to the mini fridge and grabbed a few, ice cold water bottles and put them in a satchel. I grabbed scissors, glue, and duct tape. I hurried out to the carnival.

"What are you wearing?" Ae Cha asked. She was in her trapeze outfit already as were most people. "I'll wait until the actual carnival to put on a costume." I handed her a water bottle and she responded like a beached whale and drank the whole thing in one go. I handed her another. "Thanks," she smiled. A girl walked up, "Ae Cha, our tarp fell again." "I've got it," I smiled and followed the girl. I used the duct tape to attach the tarp. I went down to the next stall that couldn't keep their letters on their sign and handed them the glue. At the next stall they couldn't get their cotton candy machine to work. I started to work on it. Before long I figured out the problem, "You're missing a part here." They frantically searched for it as I moved on. Most problems were caused just by anxiety.

"How are things?" Ae Cha asked. "The animals haven't broken out yet, have they? Oh, no, what if...?!" "Ae Cha, everything is under control." "But..." "Everything is okay." "I'm going to go check." She wandered away. The carnival would start in a couple hours. I went back to my room to get ready.

The dress went to the floor and was candy apple red. The straps hung off my shoulders. It followed the style of 1930s dresses in the states but it looked like I was going to prom. I fixed up my hair and makeup. I stared in the mirror. I didn't really want to go to this carnival. It wasn't something that interested me much. I would wander around alone. If I had a boyfriend then I would understand the sense in having especially going but I didn't. I supposed the only reason wasn't that Ae Cha wanted me to go but that HongKi would be there and thinking about seeing him there made me smile. I wondered what he was wearing. Maybe a clown or dressed as an animal? I wondered if I'd even recognize him in his outfit. I sat down on my bed. "This is silly," I sighed. "Going over a guy. This wasn't who I wanted to be. I wanted to be the independent writer who did what she wanted and didn't do what she didn't want. Yet here I was daydreaming about a guy I had spent my days with and some of my nights. Someone who had turned me into another person. I looked out the window. It was dark now. If I didn't go now I wouldn't be able to go at all. If anyone asked though I had went because Ae Cha had forced me.