Seo Hyun blinks her eyes twice as those huge rides appear in her sight. opens slightly in disbelief. How did I end up here?—her mind asks. Her view goes down to the two arms linked into hers. Yumi is on her right while Ji Ah is on the left.

            “Look Hyunie! Those rides are like welcoming us!” Ji Ah says in a very bright tone.

            “It’s not everyday that we’d be able to play around for free so why waste it, right?” Yumi says.

            “Thanks again, Yonghwa sshi!” she says to Yonghwa who’s behind them.

Yonghwa nods in response.

Seo Hyun refused to go to the amusement park but then her friends found out about the tickets bought by Yonghwa, they insisted to go.  Ji Ah and Yumi look really excited to go so Seo Hyun could not do anything but to go too.

            “Don’t worry, there are mild rides here for you….” Says Yumi.

            “Right. Let’s play and have a blast!” Ji Ah adds.

Seo Hyun smiles awkwardly.

            “Let’s go!” the two says in unison with big grins on their faces.

With their grasps in her arms, Seo Hyun feels like she’s locked down so she couldn’t do anything but be yanked by them.Yonghwa quietly follows them.

They first take mild rides like the carousel and rotating teacups then goes to the souvenir shop. The girls bought some cute headbands with animal ears on them.

Ji Ah sees a photo booth and suggests getting a group picture. The four of them goes inside the small booth. There is a small space so they all have to compress together. Yumi and Ji Ah bend their knees and so Seo Hyun and Yonghwa stand next to each other. They both feel awkward and couldn’t concentrate well on the picture taking.

            “Eyyy….the wig made me look like a middle age woman!” Yumi complains as she looks at the photos in her hands.

            “I told you not to get this background, see, only half of my face has been caught!” Ji Ah tells Yumi.

These two are busy with their small bickering that they couldn’t pay attention to Seo Hyun and Yonghwa’s unusual behavior.

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Next destination…..House of Terror.

They were about to enter when Ji Ah suddenly feels like going to the comfort room.

            “Guys, I need to use the comfort room first. I feel like my bladder is going to burst!” she says.

Yumi turns to Seo Hyun.

            “You two go ahead. I’d go with Ji Ah so that she won’t be alone when she enters.”

            “Huh? No, let’s wait then..” Seo Hyun says.

            “No. Go with Yonghwa sshi. We’ll be right behind you, okay?”

Yumi and Ji Ah step away leaving them with no choice but to enter together. Seo Hyun blows out some air while Yonghwa swallows a bit. This will be the first time that they will be left alone since their misunderstanding earlier at school. There’s tension between them and no words from either one of them.

They silently walk pass the dark corridor however, when the creepy aura of the place crawls in, the distance between them draws narrower. With one more turn, a very horrifying visual springs in front of them. Seo Hyun hands hold tightly to Yonghwa’s right arm sleeve. His left arm unconsciously goes to her back and holds her by the shoulder. Yonghwa holds her tight and make sure that nothing will come near her as they encounter scary and shocking effects. Seo Hyun screams because of fright and Yonghwa yells for being startled. Both are immersed with the situation that they momentarily forgot about what happened at school.

            “Are they gone?” Seo Hyun nervously asks Yonghwa.

            “Yes. We’re finally out.” He replies.

All of a sudden, they realized where their hands are.They immediately draws away from each other and the awkwardness returns.

            “Oh My God, that was scary!” Ji Ah exits with a hand over her chest.

            “I thought we won’t be able to come out alive. How did you manage that?” Yumi says to them.

            “We just got out. You finished it quick.” Yonghwa tells them.

            “Just got out? I guess you two are more scared huh?” Ji Ah comments.

            “My throat is dry from all the screaming. Let’s buy some drinks.” Yumi says and links her arm with Seo Hyun. Seo Hyun slightly looks back to Yonghwa.

            “Let’s rest for a while.” Ji Ah says.

They buy some snacks and eat while resting. Yumi and Ji Ah keep talking until they notice that both Seo Hyun and Yonghwa are quiet. They give short answers whenever they ask them but nothing more than that.  While drinking his cola, Yonghwa glances at Seo Hyun but the latter only focuses on her fries as if she’s avoiding him on purpose. Ji Ah looks at Yumi and they both nod. They finally confirmed that something’s wrong.

After that snack break, the group decides to take rides again but Yumi and Ji Ah suggest to be split by two for the meantime. Yumi and Ji Ah will be riding the roller coaster so Yonghwa will be left with Seo Hyun. Yumi secretly told Yonghwa to fix whatever misunderstanding Seo Hyun and him has. Ji Ah pumps her fist to encourage him.

Once again, the two of them are left alone. Yonghwa gazes at Seo Hyun who’s trying her best to look somewhere else. He’s really eager to ask her about Lee Won Geun though he’s doing his best to keep his composure because he knows that Seo Hyun is upset over something he couldn’t figure out.  His heart is being eaten by jealousy whenever the picture of her walking away with that guy flashes in his head. Yonghwa takes a deep breath.

            “So, what’s with Lee Won Geun?” it’s too late…the words already came out of his lips.

Seo Hyun glances at him. She was a bit surprised that such topic is the one he chose to break the silence with while they’re waiting in line for the Ferris wheel.

            “I didn’t know that the two of you are that close.” He tries to sound lively about it but his eyes say the opposite. He’s really curious to know what made Lee Won Geun treat Seo Hyun so casual to the extent that he can even ask her to buy him a drink.

            “I don’t think I’m obliged to tell you every single detail of my interactions.” Seo Hyun responds. She takes a few steps as the line moves forward then bit her lower lip and turns to him.

            “I mean, you don’t tell me any of yours…so why would I?” her voice is filled with disappointment.

Yonghwa tries to speak but don’t know what to say. Seo Hyun sighs.

            “You should have asked Bae Suzy to come here with you instead of me….” She utters to herself but Yonghwa heard it.

            “Why would I ask Bae Suzy?” he asks her.

Seo Hyun mentally hit her head because she let her true emotion slipped.

            “You’re dating her.” She just says.

Yonghwa’s brows furrow.

            “Who told you that?”

            “Everyone witnessed her confession.” She bravely meets his stares.

            “It was just a confession.”

            “But she told everybody that you’d consider it. That it was just a formality and she’s now exclusively dating you.”

            “It’s not…” he tries to tell her but she cuts him off.

            “I saw you….You took her by the hand and disappeared somewhere with her.” Seo Hyun’s eyes sell her. The hurt she’s feeling can be seen from them.

Could that be the reason why she’s upset? Yonghwa finally realized the reason why she’s giving him the cold shoulder the whole day.

Their conversation was stopped when the attendant told them to enter the carriage. Seo Hyun made sure to sit far as she could, leaving a space between her and Yonghwa. The Ferris wheel started to move upward but the two of them are sitting there quietly. Yonghwa gazes at Seo Hyun. She’s looking outside but her attention is not really there.

            “What you heard is not true.” Yonghwa speaks in a low voice. “That day, I told her that I can’t accept her feelings.”

Both of them are eyeing the stainless floor. Seo Hyun chooses not to say a word but she’s paying attentionto every word he says.

            “I told her that I cannot look at her the way she wants me to.” He turns to her. “Believe me, there’s nothing going on between us.” He says in a serious way as if making her believe him is the only thing that matters.

Seo Hyun is convinced that he’s saying the truth and she silently berates herself for taking it all out on him. A voice in her head criticizes her for being irrational without hearing his side of the story. How could she call herself a friend when she acted like that? How could she let her judgment to lapse that quick and be dragged by her annoyance? All of a sudden, she began to feel embarrassed about herself. She should have given him an extended benefit of the doubt…the guy obviously deserves it.

She kept telling herself that the reason she’s upset is that he didn’t honor their ‘friendship’ because he probably think that he couldn’t trust personal things like that to her but then the voice told her that she’s just trying to use that as an excuse. She acted immature because she’s jealous….she couldn’t bear the thought of him dating other girls.

Who do you want him to date then, you? The skeptical voice accuses. No! We’re just friends….I’m just his friend…her mind defends.

The voice laughs at her and calls her a hypocrite for how she behaved despite her insisting that she’s satisfied with being his friend.

           “I simply can’t be with her.” Yonghwa says breaking her train of thoughts. Seo Hyun finally turns to him. “I can’t because there’s someone else I want to be with…” their eyes meet.

Seo Hyun has no idea where his words are leading to as she matches his stares.

            “She’s the only one I see…And it can’t be possible for me if it’s not with that person….” Yonghwa swallows hard. His heart is beating so hard right now. He’s afraid of the consequence if this turns out badly but there’s no way to go back. It’s now or never--his mind tells him.

            “The place I always want to be is here….where I can perfectly see her face like this.”

Yonghwa looks down for a moment to carefully hold Seo Hyun’s hand before looking at her eyes again.

            “And this…is the only hand I want to hold.” He utters with sincerity in his eyes.

Seo Hyun’s eyes widen in shock as she realized what he’s trying to say. She unconsciously took her hand away from Yonghwa’s grasp and covers with it for she doesn’t know what to say. She’s in love with him and she sometimes wonder how it feels to be loved by him too but she never expected this to materialize.

            “I know we’re friends….God knows how much I held back because I don’t want you to think that I’m taking advantage of our friendship. But….I can’t help myself. Each time I spend with you…my feelings grow even stronger that I can no longer pretend that I don’t feel it.” He says finally admitting to the personal dilemma he’s dealing with for quite some time now.

Seo Hyun’s vision becomes blurry from the tears that are threatening to break out. She feels how much difficult it is for Yonghwa to keep it all to himself.

            “Seo Hyun…” he swallows hard again. “I had completely fallen in love with you.” He stares at her while holding his breath.

If she’s just an ordinary girl….without a doubt, her happiness will be great at this very moment but that’s not the case. She is torn between the sweet sensation knowing that the person she loves is feeling the same way about her and the bitter truth that this love will only give them misery in the end.

            “It’s my fault.” She finally manages to say.

Yonghwa looks at her with confusion on his face.

            “I thought, as long as you don’t know…everything will be alright. That I have a full control over the situation….” She utters like she’s saying it to herself. Seo Hyun thinks that she’s responsible for this. That because of her arrogance, she was confident that things will be just fine and Yonghwa will be spared from the despair this love will bring. She overlooked the possibility that he might fall for her too. “It’s not how it was supposed to be…” she utters while shaking her head a bit.

            “Then how do you think it was supposed to be?” Yonghwa asks her.

            “I should have been satisfied looking at you from afar but because of my selfish desire, I let myself to stay closer to you. I wanted to be with you for as much as I can though it was wrong. I should have been stronger in rendering my heart and take all the sorrow with me when I leave.”

            “Wait…why would you leave?” Obviously, Yonghwa didn’t pay attention in understanding the true meaning behind the things she said because this last line caught his attention.

            “Because I’m not supposed to be here….Because whatever I have now does not belong to me…Yet, it terrifies me that I’m actually starting to want all of these.” She confesses.

Yonghwa takes her hand again and place it above his left chest. Seo Hyun feels his heart pounding fiercely under her palm. From their hands, she looks up and meets Yonghwa’s eyes again.

            “Like you, I’m terrified too. I’m terrified with the thought of losing you….Being afraid is an awful and helpless feeling but I’d rather take that than to just let this love to pass by.” His eyes are filled with emotion as he swallows hard. “So let’s be afraid together…”

            “You fool……You shouldn’t have said that….” She utters as her tears roll down her cheeks.  Her remaining will to control her feelings and mindset to do what she thinks is right has finally collapsed to the ground.

Yonghwa slowly pulls her body close and holds her into a warm embrace.

            “Call me fool all you want…because I can’t figure out what you were trying to say but it’s enough for me that I get your warning.” He whispers.

I don’t want to think anymore….Yonghwa and I love each other…that’s all that matters….

Seo Hyun finally gave in to her heart. She decided not to look at what’s about to come and just to savor each moment of this newfound love.

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[Author's Note]

Yey! They're together now....How do find the recent chapters? Write your comments people....I'll be waiting. ;)