I'll Ram You Properly
As Chae-yeon and I wandered around the amusement park, I scanned our surroundings. No matter where I looked, every pair of a guy and a girl was clearly a couple.
How could I tell? The vibe alone was enough—even someone completely oblivious would pick up on it. The way their hands naturally intertwined, the zero gap between them that wouldn’t allow even a single sheet of paper to slip through. Who in their right mind would claim those two weren’t together?
I took in the sight of those couples, then examined my own situation with Chae-yeon. If I exaggerated a little, sure, we were holding hands. But in reality, she was gripping my wrist. The distance between us? There was enough space for an entire box full of A4 paper.
Yeah. We definitely weren’t the same.
“Jung-woo, let’s ride that one!”
“The Viking? Don’t you think that’s a little too intense to start with?”
“What? Are you scared?”
“Scared? Wow. Hey, you know damn well how good I am at rides. How can you even say that?”
“You just look scared, that’s all.”
“That’s it. We’re doing the full course today—Viking, roller coaster, gyro drop. All of it.”
“I’m in!”
Our first ride was the Viking. The golden rule is to sit in the very back, so Chae-yeon and I naturally headed straight there. The thrilling music kicked in as the ship began to move. It started at a low altitude, then gradually climbed higher. The moment we reached the peak, I realized something was very wrong.
Every time we swung down from the highest point, my body actually lifted off the seat. I’m not speaking metaphorically—my butt was genuinely floating in the air. I’d lost a lot of weight since the old days, so I’d expected something like this… but not to this extent!
“Kyaaa! This is so much fun!”
While Chae-yeon threw her arms up and screamed with pure joy, I clung desperately to the safety bar beside her. If I let go even for a second, I felt like I’d fly straight out.
“Jung-woo! Isn’t this great?!”
No. I feel like I’m about to die right now. Every time this thing drops, it feels like I’m crossing the Jordan River.
“What the—? Why are you so scared?!”
Through her flying hair, I caught her mocking grin. If I could have any superpower right now, I’d swap our bodies. Then she’d finally understand exactly how I felt.
After enduring all her teasing, we somehow survived the first ride.
“Jung-woo, are you okay?”
“For a brief moment, I understood exactly how the Angry Birds feel.”
“I saw your butt lifting off the seat earlier.”
“It wasn’t just my butt. My whole body was pitching forward.”
“It reminded me of those dancing balloon things at events.”
What exactly does she think I am? At least compare me to another living creature.
“Alright, next up is the roller coaster! You ready?”
“What if I say I’m not ready? Does that change anything?”
“Nope, not at all.”
“So I never had a choice to begin with.”
She grabbed my wrist again and dragged me along. Thanks to the free pass Su-ho had given us, we skipped the lines and went straight in. If my confession succeeded and we started dating, I’d have to find some way to repay him. I’d received way too much.
The roller coaster was no different from the Viking. Every time we climbed high and plunged down, my butt would lift and my body would lurch forward.
“Ugh!”
“You look like you’re struggling, Jung-woo.”
“If I were just four years younger, I could ride all this stuff easily. I resent time itself.”
“Shouldn’t you be blaming your weakened body instead of time?”
We’d planned to do the full course all the way to the gyro drop, but my body gave out completely. I collapsed onto a bench to rest.
“Mr. Jung Jung-woo, are you alright?”
“No. I think I’m going to die soon.”
“The fact that you can say that tells me you’re fine.”
“I’m really dying, teacher. Please save me.”
“Unfortunately, I’m still a student, so I can’t save you.”
While we were chatting and resting, a pink bear came into view. I’d seen it a lot on YouTube, so my attention automatically shifted in its direction.
“Oh? I want to go take a picture with the pink bear.”
“The pink bear? Oh, that one? It’s pretty famous.”
“I’ll be right back. Just wait here for a bit… ack!”
The moment my body moved before my mind could catch up, Chae-yeon’s hand grabbed the back of my neck and pulled me back down onto the bench.
“Where do you think you’re going?”
“Can’t I go?”
“You’re just going to leave the person you came to the park with?”
“B-but if I don’t go now, I might miss the chance to take the photo.”
“Choose. Me, or that bear.”
Excuse me. Throwing a question like that at me out of nowhere—what am I supposed to do?
I checked her expression, thinking it might be a joke, but the murderous look in her eyes said otherwise. If I chose to go take a picture with the pink bear right now, I’d be crossing a river with no way back.
“Um… should we take it together?”
“Hm. Partial credit.”
“Was that wrong?”
“It wasn’t right either! Sigh, let’s go take the picture.”
Thanks to Chae-yeon’s permission, we headed over to the pink bear. It looked at the two of us, then pulled out a strange sign.
[Are you a couple?]
Whoa. So the pink bear was actually a vicious bear. What a shocking revelation.
“No, we’re not. We’re friends. Just friends.”
[They say there’s no such thing as friends between a guy and a girl.]
Where does it keep getting these signs from? Were these lines prepared in advance?
“We’ve been friends since elementary school, so that’s why it looks that way. Right, Jung-woo?”
I hesitated for a second, wondering how to answer, but ultimately went along with the flow she wanted.
“Yeah, that’s right.”
Deep down, I wanted to take one more step forward, but that single step might ruin this very moment. So I held back. After taking one photo with the pink bear, we headed to the gyro drop.
The gyro drop had a much shorter ride time compared to the others, but it boasted insane speed. If I rode that, wouldn’t I actually fly away?
“Ever since I was little, the moment it starts climbing has always been the most nerve-wracking part for me.”
“Isn’t that how it is for most people? That tension is why they ride it.”
“I think so. It should drop soon, right?”
“Don’t say that or it won’t drop.”
“Should I count down from three?”
“Let’s try it. One, two, threeeee!!”
As always, the gyro drop plunged at a completely unexpected moment. Even though it was brief, I experienced what it must feel like to sit on one of those diving chairs they show on variety shows.
“Puhaha! Pffft!”
“Was it that funny?”
“No, that was genuinely hilarious.”
“Fine. As long as you’re having fun, that’s all that matters.”
“That ‘threeeee!!’ right as it dropped is going to be legendary.”
The aftermath of the rapid descent left Chae-yeon’s hair completely disheveled. I reached out and gently fixed it for her so she could see properly again. Once I did, her smile—previously hidden behind the messy strands—came into full view.
Whoa, my heart. That hit me like a truck out of nowhere.
“There. All done.”
“W-what?! All of a sudden?”
“Your hair was a total mess.”
“Yours is the same, you know. Let me fix it for you.”
I stayed still, quietly savoring the feeling of Chae-yeon’s hands in my hair. I felt a little bad for my mom, but her touch felt better than anything I’d ever experienced before. So good that I wanted to keep feeling it forever.
“What should we ride next?”
“I saw earlier that they’re having a parade in the evening.”
“Really? Do we have enough time?”
“Yeah, we’ve got plenty. Our train isn’t until nine-thirty, so we’re good.”
“That’s a relief. You can’t say you’ve really been to an amusement park unless you watch the parade.”
The next ride Chae-yeon chose was the bumper cars.
What terrible thing had I done? Why was she suddenly suggesting this?
“Remember when we were kids? We used to play bumper cars all the time.”
“Oh yeah, we did. It’s been a while.”
“Want to ride for old times’ sake?”
“Sure. Sounds fun and nostalgic.”
“I’ll ram you properly.”
“Full of confidence, huh? Sorry to break it to you, but bumper cars aren’t driven with strength. It’s all about skill.”
“Yeah, yeah. Sure it is.”
To be honest, I was confident I could win at bumper cars. Who would claim there was a weight class difference in bumper cars, of all things?
The moment we got in, we charged straight at each other.
BAM!
Wait a second. Something’s off here.
Bumper cars aren’t supposed to send you flying backward just because someone has more power. But every time I collided with Chae-yeon, my car was violently shoved back. And it kept happening. Her car never budged an inch while mine was the only one getting pushed around.
“Wow, all my stress is melting away!”
“My head is ringing. It feels like I got hit in the skull.”
“What was that you said right before we started riding?”
“Huh? What did I say? I don’t remember.”
“What is this, early-onset dementia? How are you going to be like this already?”
After riding so many attractions, I was finally starting to feel the limits of my stamina. In contrast, Chae-yeon looked as fresh as if she’d just arrived at the park. But if she was having fun, I couldn’t just say I was tired and rest. This was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, so I had to go along with whatever she wanted.