DAY 0099

Christmas approached fast. Yesterday was a big day for Jellyfish High as they celebrated their traditonal Christmas party. Their party had two sessions: the morning session and the afternoon session.

The morning session was the usual class parties wherein students get to exchange gifts from their classmates and friends. They usually have a mini-buffet of desserts to eat. There's also a mini-program to make the party flow smooth, unless one class decides to just do whatever comes out of their mind.

The afternoon session was a school-wide party, including the faculty and the administrators of Jelpi. There's a raffle of all the great gifts one could ever receive, and a few live bands to entertain the people. Although the principal's long speech was boring, people enjoyed being sociable to him for at least a day. It was a rare incident Mr. Hwang talks to students, unless it's study-related or deportment-related.

VIXX received a couple of gifts not only from their classmates, but also from their admirers. Although it was risky, Sojin still gave a gift to N. The guy had no choice but to receive it, especially that the gift was pretty important to him. Leo, Ken, Ravi, and Hongbin mostly received scarves and earmuffs since it was already the season of winter. Hyuk was the most problematic of them all because he received a lot—literally a lot—of gifts from his admirers. VIXX even had to carry them all because Hyuk could only carry two bags full of his gifts.

Youngji have received a couple of gifts too. Not only that, VIXX gave her presents as well. She received a book from N, a scarf from Leo, a tee from Ken, a pair of shoes from Ravi, and a stationery set from Hyuk. She was a bit sad though, because she didn't receive any gift from Hongbin. He gave her the guy a set of specs, but the guy didn't give anything in return.

Not until she received a message last night.

From. Lee Hong Bin

I'll meet you at eight in the morning tomorrow, your house. Just dress casually, and bring extra clothes.

Youngji couldn't contain her excitement when she saw the message. The thought of him forgetting her vanished in a split second.

Today was a chilly Saturday, as snow fell from the sky. Youngji liked playing with the snow when she was young because the snow made her happy through the cold winter season. Good thing there wasn't too much snow on the streets, or Hongbin would postpone whatever he planned to do with her today. She can't wait any longer for this to happen.

True to his words, Hongbin arrived at Youngji's house. She saw the girl looking at his car—his cousin's car, actually—and trying to figure out who is the man in the car. Hongbin dropped down the driver's window for the girl to see her. He smiled when he saw Youngji's shocked face.

"Get in, you might be cold," he said.

Youngji went inside and sat at the passenger's seat beside him. She couldn't believe it. How could Hongbin actually drive? He has his own car?

"This car belongs to my cousin," he said as if she read her mind. "And, I have a student license, if you're wondering why I'm driving."

Youngji shyly smiled. How did he know?

"Where are we going, by the way?" She finally managed to ask after a while.

"You'll see," he said as they stopped in the middle of the street. "I want to keep the element of surprise today."

She only nodded. She understood that Hongbin didn't want to give off much. It's a subtle lesson she learned from him—the more you give off, the more you lose interest. You always keep the element of surprise to amaze people in the end.

"Hey," Youngji sort of whispered.

Hongbin took a glance of her. It was a signal to talk to him.

"I just wondered something."

"What is it?"

"VIXX gave their gifts to me yesterday," she paused for a second to cautiously tell him, "except for you."

Hongbin chuckled. "I didn't forget you, Youngji. You're just over thinking."

"But—"

"You'll see," he assured. "Don't you want to sleep? We're still far from our destination."

"I'll sleep when you tell me where we're going," she insisted. She even crossed her arms to prove it.

Hongbin shook his head. "You really have the guts. Fine, we're going to heaven."

"What?" Youngji shockingly asked.

"Element of surprise, Youngji. It will be a surprise."

She sighed. Screw that element of surprise, she thought. "Fine, I'll sleep first. Just make sure we arrive at our destination, okay?"

"As if I won't bring you there," he joked.

She didn't opt to reply. Instead, she inserted her earphones into ears and tried to sleep. She thought that Hongbin would take her back home if she didn't sleep. The thought of it made her chuckle inwardly.

Youngji suddenly woke up when she felt that the car stopped. She slowly opened her eyes to see a view she thought that was heaven. Hongbin was merely right, thanks to the description of today's destination.

"So this is really heaven," she slurred.

"I told you. Wake up, we have a day to spend happily!" He exclaimed as he patted the girl's shoulder.

After regaining her senses, Youngji finally got out of the car. She was amazed to see where Hongbin took her—to a theme park.

"Merry Christmas, Youngji," he whispered.

Youngji couldn't say a word. She was happy—no, blissful—that Hongbin took her here, but she also felt a pang of guilt as she remembered her gift to him.

"But this is..." she trailed off. She couldn't say that it was too much for her, thinking about the gift she gave him.

"Too much?" Hongbin asked. "Aren't these specs a little bit expensive?"

Youngji suddenly looked at him. She couldn't believe Hongbin was actually wearing the specs she gave. She started to tear up, and Hongbin automatically placed his thumbs on her face to wipe the forming tears.

"It's the thought that counts, always remember that," he said as he wiped her tears. "Come on, we're here to be happy. It's my treat."

Youngji wasn't thinking straight. She was happy he took her here. She was guilty because her gift to him wasn't as much as his gift to her. She was touched because he wore the specs she bought, and that he comforted her.

With all the emotions she felt, she embraced Hongbin.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

Hongbin didn't know what to do. It was Youngji who hugged her. He froze at the moment. He felt that his cheeks were turning peachy. He was flustered with the action.

But as a good friend, he embraced her back.

After a few seconds, Hongbin was the one to end the embrace they had. He smiled seeing Youngji's face. Her face turned into a deep shade of red. Youngji turned back, realizing what she has done to the guy.

"It's okay, we sometimes get to the height of our emotions to the point we don't know what we're doing," he said, looking at her back.

Youngji finally faced him. "Why do you always make this hard for me?"

Hongbin crossed his brows in confusion. What was that for?

"Let's go! I don't want to waste your treat," she happily said as she rushed towards the ticket stand.

Hongbin can't help but laugh. Seeing Youngji being happy made him happy, too. That's the best Christmas gift he could ever give for himself.

After buying tickets, they headed to the food banquet first. He was already hungry. Youngji didn't mind because she was actually hungry as well.

"What do you want?" Hongbin asked her as they seated near a food stall.

"Um," she stuttered. "I was wondering if I could treat you our food, since you were the one that paid for our tickets."

"Go on, I don't mind. Just buy me a freshly cooked bibimbap and we're cool."

Youngji nodded and headed for the food stall. After a few minutes, she came back to their table bringing two orders of bibimbap. Hongbin wanted to ask why she bought two, but realized that it might be her food as well.

"Thanks," he mumbled.

Youngji didn't reply and started to eat. Hongbin did the same too. They were eating quietly until Youngji whimpered.

"Are you okay?" Hongbin asked while giving tissue to her.

"Too spicy," Youngji whined.

Hongbin chuckled at her. "Is this the first time you're eating bibimbap?"

Youngji felt her cheeks blushed. "Uh, yeah, in a long time."

Hongbin smiled. "Do you want to continue eating your lunch?"

She nodded and started eating again. Instead of continuing his meal, Hongbin stared at Youngji. He tried his best to contain his laugh because she was having a hard time eating. He wanted to snatch her meal, but he thought it was rude. Besides, it's still a meal.

When she felt that the guy was staring, Youngji stopped eating and asked, "Why are you staring at me?"

Hongbin couldn't contain any longer and started laughing. Youngji, on the other hand, is still confused at his reaction. Why did he laugh all of a sudden?

"Give me your food, I'll finish it for you," he said while he tried to get her meal.

Youngji suddenly waved her hands in front of him as if she's denying something. "No, no, I'll finish this," she insisted.

"But you're having a hard time," he said with concern.

"I'm okay."

"Come on," he insisted. "We still have to go to the rides."

She sighed. She tried her best to eat bibimbap, but she wasn't really fond of it. She passed her meal to him silently. While Hongbin was finishing her meal, she couldn't help but stare at the guy. Damn, he looks so peaceful, she thought. She secretly got her camera inside her bag and took a picture of him.

Unfortunately, the flash was on.

"What was that for?" Hongbin questioned.

"It was for nothing," Youngji stuttered. "Sorry."

Hongbin grabbed the camera on Youngji's hand and took a picture of her. "Wow, your cheeks have a deep red shade," Hongbin joked.

"Give me back my camera!" Youngji screeched.

She tried her best to reach her camera from him. Unfortunately, the guy was way taller than her. Hongbin raise his arm with the camera and tiptoed so she won't be able to get her camera.

"Lee Hongbin, give my camera back," she sternly said.

Hongbin smirked at her and started to run away, leaving Youngji's unfinished meal behind. Youngji started running as well. They were probably running in circles around the theme park. People have noticed them already, but didn't mind and continued to do whatever they've been doing.

A few minutes have passed, and Hongbin suddenly felt tired running away from Youngji. He stopped in front of the bump cars. He was catching his breath when someone bumped into him. It was Youngji, who was actually tired as well. He almost lost his balance when she bumped. Good thing there was a post beside them.

"Can you give me back my camera, please?" Youngji asked while panting.

Hongbin gave the bump cars a glance and suddenly thought of an idea.

"Let's ride the bump cars. If you bump my car once, I'll return your camera. Deal?"

Youngji raised her chin up and determinedly said, "Deal. I'm good at this, you know."

"You're good, I'm better," Hongbin teased.

"Hmp, let's see about that."

Without any words, they joined in the line for the bump cars. They silently waited for their turn, innocently building up some tension between the two of them. When they were called for the ride, they rushed to the cars they wanted. Youngji almost tripped because she was running to reach the car near the corner. Hongbin silently laughed at it.

"You'll see, Hongbin. You have challenged Park Youngji," she shouted from the other side of the ride area.

"Well okay, say good bye to your camera for a while," he shouted back.

Their match started when the engine finally worked. Youngji rushed to where Hongbin was, but she suddenly bumped to another rider. With that wrong move, Hongbin had some time to move to another place so Youngji won't catch him.

When Youngji recovered, she tried to go for another attempt again. She was almost there, but Hongbin knew better. He drifted the car away in another place. She whined because of that.

"Damn, I can't afford to lose this," she mumbled to herself.

She was about to step on to the engine when someone bumped her car from behind. She was shocked to see Hongbin behind him.

"What was that for?" She screeched in frustration.

"There's no rule for not jumping to you, so hello," he joked to her. "Smile!" He shouted as he caught a picture of her having a fuming expression on her face.

Not only that actually, Hongbin caught a lot of pictures since their turn started.

"What the—" she almost cussed.

"Bye!" Hongbin exclaimed as he escaped.

 Youngji followed where Hongbin was going. Although she bumped to a couple of cars, she easily recovered until she was actually near to Hongbin. It was already her chance to score and get her camera back. She forcefully stepped on the engine, making her move become a lot faster.

A huge smile formed on her face. She was going to bump into him. Hello, camera, she thought.

Hongbin started to freak out when he saw the girl getting close to him. He tried to steer the car backwards, but he bumped to another car.

"," he cussed. He's cornered.

"I told you..." Youngji suddenly trailer off at the end.

"—so," Hongbin finished her sentence. "I'm keeping this camera for a while, okay?"

Youngji brushed her hair in frustration as they got out of the riding area. She lost. Hongbin was going to hold her camera for the whole day.

But how did that happen?

She was so close—really near to his car. Unfortunately, she slowed down until she felt that her car stopped. It was already the end of their turn.

Worst case: Youngji's car was a hand away from Hongbin's car.

"Hey, you choose where we should go next," Hongbin said when they were out in the park again.

"Why me?" Youngji questioned.

"Compensation for you loss."

"Rude," she muttered under her breath.

Hongbin placed his left over her shoulders. Hongbin secretly smiled at her. Youngji felt her cheeks have a shade of pinkish red.

Without saying anything to him, Youngji pulled Hongbin to their next ride. Hongbin didn't speak and let himself be pulled by her. He liked the way she pulled him. It was tough, but it had a soft touch, thanks to her hands. She was holding his wrist while running. He almost tripped because she was fast, but that didn't matter. All that matters right now is how Youngji held his wrist.

When he felt that his wrist was starting to be in pain, he held her hand.

Youngji stopped running. She felt her heart beat irregularly. She felt something she never felt before. Should she call these the butterflies in her stomach? Or the sparks that they say? She couldn't tell. It was something she never felt before. No more, no less.

She couldn't say anything. In instances like this, she would've twisted Hongbin's arm, or just release her hand from his hold. But no, she didn't do anything. She let him held her hand.

And she liked it.

"The next time you pull me, make sure you hold me tight," Hongbin huskily said.

Youngji absentmindedly nodded. Instead of pulling him again, they walked silently. They stopped in front of the roller coaster.

"You want to ride here?" Hongbin asked.

"Yeah, let's go here."

They calmly went inside the waiting booth that was full of people. A lot of people have been mentioning how much they are excited to ride the roller coaster. They wanted to ride it because it seemed awesome. Others wanted to ride it because they wanted to overcome their fear of heights. The rest have mentioned that this was the theme park's popular ride, and they wanted to give this a shot.

The murmurs were the noise that made the two enjoy their silence. It's not that they didn't want to talk to each other. It's just they sometimes like being silent to enjoy the noise around them. They've been like that, even during their tutor session.

When Hongbin felt that the silence was deafening, he broke the ice and asked her, "Why here, Youngji?"

"Pardon?"

"Why did you choose this ride? The people around here have different reasons, and I'd love to hear your own reason."

"Well, I've always wanted to go to a theme park," she shared. "My biological mom would always tell me that we'll go to a theme park soon, but that didn't happen. She would always tell me how fun it is to ride in a roller coaster. I wanted to feel the fun that she was telling me before." She paused for a while before asking him, "You? Do you like to ride here?"

"I love to," he said with a smile. "Being in a theme park makes me release all the stress I have with me. The scenery makes me bring back to my old childhood days when everything was in place. Riding in any ride makes me hype up and feel relaxed."

Youngji nodded. She loved hearing Hongbin share a piece of himself. She loved how he actually feels comfortable talking to her now. He talks as if nothing happened to them, and she liked that.

"I was wondering," she started. "How could you talk to me freely? I mean, we're not in good terms before, but you talk to me as if nothing happened."

Hongbin chuckled and shook his head. He liked how Youngji whined about what happened before. "Why, are you still thinking about that?"

"Sometimes, when I realize how close we are to each other now. I feel bad for myself."

"You don't need to. Look, I'm the one who was actually wrong. I treated you badly before. You just feel bad at yourself because you think I'm still treating you badly. Besides, we've settled that already. You don't need to bring that back."

"But, why?"

"Why what?"

"Why are you so good to me?"

"Don't you want me to be good to you?"

"I just feel insecure. No one has treated me like this, you know."

Hongbin cupped her face and assured her, "You don't need to be insecure because you're a good person. Whatever happened to your past stays there. And besides, I like your company. You don't seem bad at all."

Youngji blushed. She tremblingly removed Hongbin's hands from her face and shyly smiled. She never felt this assured before.

"Come on, we're next," Youngji said as they walked to the ride itself.

Of course,  they sat together. Youngji was a little bit scared, but Hongbin held her hand to comfort her. She called down yet at same time,  she freaked out. She couldn't track how many times Hongbin held her hand since the day started.

"You know, you can stop holding my hand now," she irritatingly said.

Hongbin did release her hand. "Sorry," he muttered. "I guess I assured you too much."

"Yeah, I guess. You assured me too much," she stuttered. She honestly had no reason why she wanted him to stop holding her hand.

"Passengers, here we go!" The machine exclaimed as he pressed the button to start the ride.

Hongbin and Youngji were silent as the machine went up. Youngji was starting to get nervous when the machine was nearing its peak. She never knew roller coasters could be this frightening.

They were already at the peak when the machine stopped. She glanced at the magnificent view above, but remembered they were already at the top. She got scared in an instant. Why did the machine stop there?

"Why did it—holy !" Youngji exclaimed when the machine stormed down to the bottom in lightning speed. She freaked out. She screamed through the twists and turns of the roller coaster. Because of the shock she had, she absentmindedly held Hongbin's hand.

Hongbin was laughing at how she freaked out until she suddenly held his hand. He froze. When he realized what happened, he smiled and screamed with her.

It was probably the shortest, yet most enjoyable five minutes of the day. Youngji couldn't believe that she rode the theme park's awesome roller coaster. So did Hongbin, who still can't recover on what happened during the ride.

Youngji held her hand.

He was the one holding her hand the whole day, until this happened. And he liked it so much.

"Earth to Lee Hongbin! Where do you want next?"

"Ah!" He jolted in surprise. "What were you asking?"

"Where do you want to go next?"

He smirked. He almost forgot he had another surprise for her.  "Do you need to know?"

"Of course?" She rather questioned than answered.

"But I don't want you to know," he seriously said as he blindfolded her.

"What the hell!" Youngji screeched. "Take the blindfold off!"

"Nah-uh," he teased.

"Take it off! It's annoying."

"Sorry, I can't."

"You're hopeless," she spat out.

"You're clueless," he retorted back.

Youngji hissed. When Hongbin's guts are on a high level, do not mess with it. That's another thing she indirectly learned from him.  Hongbin held her hand again, and he was the one who pulled her this time. They slowly walked as Hongbin was assisting her to walk without bumping anybody.

"Do I really need to wear this for God knows how long?" She asked while they were still walking. A few minutes have passed and they haven't reached their destination.

"Yes, until I let you remove it," he nonchalantly said.

"And when are you going to let me remove it?"

"Once we get there."

Youngji groaned. She had a lot of thoughts inside her head. Where is he taking her? Why are they taking so long? Are they still inside the theme park? When is she going to remove her blindfold? It's making her more agitated, yet more curious.

Hongbin stopped walking. Youngji did the same as she was following his guide.

 "Why did you stop?" She asked.

"Long line."

"Oh," she whispered. "Are you going to let me remove the blindfold now?"

"Not yet."

"Then when?"

"When I say so," he stated.

"Fine," she mumbled.

They waited in line without talking. Youngji didn't know what to say him except for asking him where are they already. Hongbin didn't want to talk as well. He might tell he where they are and spoil the surprise.

When it was finally their turn to go to their ride, Hongbin assisted Youngji in going into it. Youngji knew they were going in for the ride, but was still frustrated because Hongbin's not letting her remove the blindfold yet.

While the others are also getting in to the ride, Hongbin watched over as they started going up. They were slowly reaching the peak of the ride.

"Take it off," he said as soon as they reached the top.

"What?"

"Take the blindfold off."

Youngji did what he said. When her eyes finally adjusted to the light. She could help but look at where she was.

"Oh my gosh," she uttered in shock and amazement.

They were at the top of the Ferris wheel. From above, all the other rides looked a little bit smaller. People below were like tiny dots moving around. One could see the amazing view of the theme park from the peak of the Ferris wheel. And to top it off, the sky had shades of red, orange, pink, and purple to signify the sunset.

"I can't believe this," she exclaimed in happiness.

"There's more," he added.

"What?"

Youngji looked at the view again to see that the rides had started lighting up. She was stuck in amazement of the whole theme park. It was dreamy. It was beautiful.

"Where's my—" she paused mid-air when she saw Hongbin holding her camera and taking pictures of the whole scenery.

She smiled. She couldn't believe Hongbin did this for her.

"Shall we take a picture together?" He asked.

"I'd love to."

Youngji moved closer to him as he was fixing himself. Hongbin smiled and placed the camera in front of them.

"One, two, three," he said as he pressed the shutter.

After the shot was taken, they looked at how nice the picture was. They both wore their best smile for that certain picture.

"I-I can't find the right words to say to you right now," Youngji stuttered. "I'm thankful for this. I really am. I couldn't believe you've done this for me, and I will always be grateful for that. I'll treasure this day we went to the theme park." 

Hongbin smiled and said, "I knew you'll be happy if I take you here. Thank you for sharing the dart with me. I couldn't be this happy without you."

Youngji blushed again. She lost count how many times they've held hands, or how many times her cheeks turned to a shade of red. All that matters right now is how Hongbin made her smile the whole day, and how he will make her smile tomorrow, and they day after tomorrow, and every single day they'll meet.

Because she lost it.

Youngji held him in a tight embrace. Hongbin hugged back.

This Christmas gift couldn't get any better.

Youngji was lying down on her bed, scanning her phone if she missed any message or call. She was already home thirty minutes ago. She couldn't forget that Hongbin kissed her—on the forehead.

Gosh, I can't believe it, she thought. Hongbin was sweet to me, if sweet is the right word to use.

She was about to place her phone on the side table when it rang. She checked to see that Hyuk texted her.

From. Han Sang Hyuk

Are you home already?

She started typing her reply to him.

To. Han Sang Hyuk

Yes, thirty minutes ago. Why?

After she sent the message, she finally placed it on the side table. She was about to get a book from her shelf when her phone rang again. She rushed to her side table to see that Hyuk was calling her.

"Hey, Hyuk," she greeted. "Why did you call?"

"Hi, noona! How's your day?" Hyuk asked from the other line.

She was trying to recap what happened today, and she couldn't help but smile at the thought of it. "Fun, great," she carefully said.

"Was the theme park great?"

"Yup, it was amazing," she exclaimed. She couldn't contain her excitement about it.

"Just as I thought."

"Why? What's with that theme park?"

Hyuk chuckled. "Should I tell this you? I don't want to raise your hopes, though."

"Hyuk," he called the dongsaeng's name in confusion. "What are you talking about?"

"Look, noona. Please don't tell Hongbin I told this to you. But as far as I remember, Hongbin mentioned once in the past year that he wanted to take the girl he likes to a theme park. He shared that her mom said that to her, because that's how his parents became together."

Youngji nodded even though Hyuk couldn't see him. She thought about it: Hongbin did take her to a theme park. Does that mean he likes her? She suddenly blushed at the thought.

"Noona? Are you still there?"

"Oh, sorry," Youngji said after her mind came back to Earth.

"It's fine! Anyway, I need to put down this call. I hope I didn't mess up with...you know."

"It , but yeah. Bye," she closed the conversation.

"Bye, noona," Hyuk said and ended the call.

When everything was settled already, she lay down on her bed and stared at the ceiling. A lot of thoughts are coming to her mind right now, and it's all about Hongbin.

What am I feeling today? Do I really like him already? No, I can't! I have no chance over that guy. But yeah, Hyuk mentioned about how Hongbin liked taking the girl he liked to a theme park. Does he like me, too? No, no, no! It's not that I'm not her type, but I don't know. Gosh, I'm messed up. I need a life! Why did Hongbin even take me to a theme park when he could've given me any material for a gift? Do I need to ask? No, he might know Hyuk told me about it. I don't want Hyuk to be beaten or something. Argh, what the hell am I thinking! I need sleep! (Youngji)

She threw her pillow in frustration. Yeah, she needed to sleep more rather than questioning herself if Hongbin likes her.

Day 0099 | 06:20 by multipaenida

sorry, this took long! i did my best to make this fluffy and i hope you like it! tell what you think about it, okay? and yeah, thank you for a thousand views! luv u guys!

xoxo, jays

ps. i might be busy in the next few days, so i guess updates will take a little bit long. also, i'll be having classes this august already so i am very sorry if i update really slowly. i hope you'll still follow hongbin and youngji's story even though the updates are really slow.

pps. longest update with whopping 4000++ words