Chapter 197: The Ferris Wheel
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 197: The Ferris Wheel
Lunch at a lovely family restaurant.
Of course, for a student living on a modest allowance, the price was anything but lovely, but I managed to cover it with the money I’d been diligently saving.
On our way out, Rika spoke to me, her expression still worried.
"I’m serious, we should go Dutch."
"It's fine. Let me get this, at least. You've been paying for everything else."
The only money I’d spent all day was on my all-day pass at the entrance.
Other than that, Rika had volunteered to pay for everything before I even had a chance.
Putting all else aside, just letting her treat me to everything was weighing on my conscience.
It’s the principle of give and take.
"As long as you enjoyed it, I'm happy."
"Honestly…"
Finally seeming to give up on splitting the bill, Rika turned her head away, her face blushing.
"Anyway, now that we've had lunch, let's get back to having fun. Is there anywhere you want to go?"
Rika pulled the amusement park pamphlet from her handbag and said in a cheerful voice.
"Let's go see the parade! It starts at two!"
"Sounds good."
With our next destination decided, we headed over to the nearby Fantasy Land area to watch the parade.
*
The Fantasy Land area was filled with architectural recreations of various fairy tale symbols you’d associate with D○sney.
Cinderella's Castle, the Seven Dwarfs' cottage, Peter Pan's pirate ship, and so on.
Everywhere we looked, beautiful buildings and attractions that seemed lifted straight from a storybook caught our eyes. We were so engrossed in the sights that we lost all track of time on our way to the parade route.
"Wow! The parade's starting!"
I looked where Rika was pointing. Giant floats, princesses riding atop them, and staff in various character costumes were marching down the main street, waving to the crowd.
It was a rare spectacle you couldn't see anywhere else, and everyone—from young children holding their parents' hands to couples and foreign tourists—stopped in their tracks to watch.
"It's so pretty…"
Rika and I were no different.
The parade had a charm that made you stare with your mouth agape without even realizing it.
It was enough to revive a long-lost sense of childhood wonder.
The parade seemed to last for about an hour, and people followed the floats in a large crowd, like kids chasing after an ice cream truck.
The sight made me feel a bit antsy, wondering if we should follow them too, but Rika said she’d seen it before and suggested we relax with a drink at a nearby dessert cafe instead.
"Ah, since Ryu-chan paid for lunch, it's okay for me to buy dessert, right?"
"Be my guest."
She must have still been thinking about it. I gave a wry smile and nodded at her quick proposal.
*
"How dare he! Going on a cafe date he hasn't even had with me yet!"
"Please calm down, Young Lady."
Watching Kumiko bite down on a handkerchief like a villainess from a manga, Minami spoke in a placid voice from behind her.
"How can I be calm in this situation! That vixen beat me to it!"
"You did say you would let them have their day."
"But it's still so frustrating!"
Grrrrrind!
As if to vent her frustration, Kumiko bit down even harder on the handkerchief. Soon, she saw the desserts arrive at Kim Yoo-Sung and Rika's table and asked Minami a question.
"Minami, is there an ice cream shop around here?"
"Yes. Shall I get your usual green tea flavor?"
"No, get me mint chocolate chip. I feel like my blood sugar is dropping today."
"…Understood."
As Minami quietly disappeared to buy the ice cream, Kumiko spat out the handkerchief and glared at the heartless Kim Yoo-Sung, who had no idea of her inner turmoil.
'Yoo-Sung probably has no idea I'm tailing him.'
It wasn't that she didn't trust him.
But the human heart is a fickle thing, and there were certainly people who couldn't believe something was true, even if it was, unless they saw it with their own eyes.
'This is the last time.'
Once she confirmed with her own eyes that her faith in him wasn't misplaced, she would never do this again.
Kumiko made this vow to herself, dressed in a conspicuously suspicious outfit of sunglasses, a wig, and a trench coat, holding a tree branch in each hand.
*
After our drinks at the dessert cafe, Rika and I dove back into the fun.
To be honest, it felt like we spent more time walking and waiting than actually riding the attractions, but isn't that just how amusement parks are?
We enjoyed all sorts of food and attractions in the themed areas like Adventure Land and Western Land. After finally riding Rika's number one favorite, the flume ride, we realized it was already past 5 p.m.
Unlike in summer, the autumn sun sets early, and the sky was already tinged with a gentle orange glow.
The time of day that the park classified as its night opening was approaching.
"Ah! That was fun!"
Sitting on a bench, Rika stretched her arms wide before turning to me.
"How was your day, Ryu-chan?"
I was in the middle of drinking a can of cider, and her sudden question made me turn my head. "Hmm?"
Rika was looking up at me with her usual sparkling eyes.
I think this every time I see them, but Rika's green eyes hold a mysterious charm.
Maybe it's just me, but they seem to have a strange kind of depth.
Thanks to that, I missed my cue to answer for a moment, but I cleared my throat and looked away.
"It was fun. I can't even remember the last time I came to an amusement park and had a blast like this."
"Hehe, I'm glad to hear that."
Rika smiled shyly and scratched the back of her head.
I crushed the empty cider can in one hand and tossed it into a nearby trash bin.
"We should probably head back before it gets too late. It's about an hour one-way, so your parents will worry if we're any later."
"Ah, right."
At my words, Rika quickly stood up from the bench.
We were just about to walk toward the exit to leave the park.
"Ryu-chan."
Suddenly, Rika stopped and called my name.
"Yeah?"
I answered reflexively and turned around. Rika looked at me, her expression stiff as if she were nervous.
"Can we ride just one, really, really last ride?"
"What do you want to ride?"
As I tilted my head, Rika swallowed hard and pointed to an attraction.
"The Ferris wheel."
*
The Ferris wheel.
In a way, it was one of the essential elements of a romantic comedy—the alpha and the omega.
And the moment Rika suggested it, I realized.
She was going to confess to me.
Honestly, it wasn't that I hadn't anticipated a moment like this.
She was the one who had suggested the date, after all, and I had even given the President a heads-up just in case a situation like this arose.
But now that the moment was right in front of me, I couldn't stop my heart from pounding.
"Have a good time."
As we sat down in the empty seats of the round cabin, an attendant closed the door for us with a friendly, practiced line.
Clank!
The Ferris wheel began to move with a gentle vibration.
They said a full rotation took about fifteen minutes, so we still had plenty of time.
As a slow feeling of ascent began, Rika turned her head to the side.
The ground grew more distant.
The sky drew closer.
It was a unique view you could only see from a Ferris wheel.
As we climbed higher, all the park's buildings we had just passed came into view at once.
Since it was almost nighttime, colorful LED lights had been turned on, making the nightscape incredibly beautiful.
Rika was gazing at the scenery outside, lost in the moment, when she seemed to snap back to reality with a small gasp and turned her head.
Sitting across from her, I instinctively straightened my back.
I knew, intuitively, that the moment had arrived.
Finally, a nervous-looking Rika broke the silence.
"Hey, Ryu-chan… what do you think of me?"
"Huh? Of you?"
"Yeah."
Fearing I might hurt her with my limited vocabulary, I chose my words as carefully as I could.
"You're a good friend. Someone who doesn't judge me for my intimidating looks, who sees people for who they are on the inside and is always warm and friendly. A friend I'm grateful for."
That was right.
Currently, Rika and I were friends.
If nothing happened to change that, our relationship would likely continue even after I graduated.
But unlike me, it seemed Rika had no intention of maintaining this ambiguous relationship.
After hearing my answer, Rika swallowed hard, her face flushed bright red, and looked me straight in the eye.
"Hey, Ryu-chan… will you go out with me?"