Amusement Park Date (2)
After barely weathering the awkwardness my little stunt had caused, we finally made it to our destination: the amusement park.
Standing in front of the ticket booth, Yeonhee's eyes sparkled as if none of it had ever happened.
"I'll go get the tickets. You sit and rest."
The line in front of the booth stretched on forever, but if someone had to stand in it, there was no reason for both of us to.
I'd taken a single step forward when Yeonhee's voice stopped me in my tracks.
"Oh. I already made a reservation, so we can just walk right in."
"..."
I stared at her, utterly deflated. She tilted her head as if to ask what was wrong.
If you had something like that, you could've told me earlier...
"What?"
"It's nothing... Let's go in..."
We headed for the entrance, scanned the barcodes, and stepped through. Rides of every kind sprawled out ahead of us, packed with a restless, milling crowd.
...There's a ton of people.
"Wow... there are so many people."
The sigh that slipped out beside me told me Yeonhee was thinking the same thing.
"It's the weekend."
Standing around gawking at the entrance wasn't going to accomplish anything, so I decided we should just start moving.
"What should we ride first?"
I looked around at her question. In the distance, a towering drop ride loomed against the sky. A roller coaster raced along a snaking stretch of track. Off to one side, a Viking ship swung in a wide pendulum arc.
Starting with any of those felt like overkill, so I turned my gaze elsewhere. Unlike me, who was actually trying to pick a ride, Yeonhee had her eyes fixed in a completely different direction.
I followed her line of sight. A building stood there with a sign that read Gift Shop.
The stare was so blatant I pointed at the place and asked.
"Want to hit that first?"
"Huh...? Is that okay?"
She was the one who wanted to go. We'd come all this way—might as well do everything she felt like doing. I took her by the arm and headed straight for the gift shop.
The moment we stepped inside, Yeonhee vanished, as if she'd already had her eye on something. I wandered the nearby shelves at a leisurely pace, taking in the souvenirs one by one.
Phone charms, stuffed animals, T-shirts... Yeah, there's no way I'm wearing any of that.
A lot of it was the kind of merchandise only real couples would buy, or else stuff aimed at little kids. Either way, it was a bit too childish for me. I was browsing under the firm conviction that none of it would ever end up on my person when I suddenly felt something settle onto my head.
There was only one person who would do something like that to me. I turned around, and—
Click.
Yeonhee stood there, phone in hand, grinning from ear to ear. A pair of cat ears sat on her head—when she'd even bought them, I had no idea.
Which meant the thing I'd felt on my own head was...
I pulled out my phone and checked the screen. A pair of puppy ears stared back at me from the top of my head.
Not two minutes ago I'd been thinking I'd never have any use for something like this. The second that thought finished, this happened. I didn't even know what to say.
"Aww~ Juyeong looks so cute~"
She was the one who'd done this to me, and now she was cooing over it like it was the funniest thing in the world.
"...Could you maybe delete that picture?"
"Nooope~"
I pleaded. I begged. She had absolutely no intention of deleting it. So I switched on my own camera, ready to return fire—and she just winked at me, smiling even wider.
"Did you think that'd fluster me?"
"..."
Not a chance, her face said, and she kept giggling under her breath.
Up until we'd arrived, she could barely even look me in the eye. The second we set foot in the park, it was like she'd found some hidden reserve of courage. She was a completely different person.
As long as we were inside this amusement park, I had a feeling I'd be better off not even trying to win.
In the end, all we bought were the two headbands. And the number of rides we'd actually gone on since arriving at the park was, astonishingly, zero.
So I asked for her opinion, my voice already going flat.
"So... where to now..."
As if the answer had been decided from the start, Yeonhee took my arm and started walking. And the place we arrived at was...
"We're really starting with this?"
"Yep! I've always wanted to try it at least once."
A chorus of screams tore through the air as a cart raced along the rails overhead. She had brought me to the roller coaster first thing.
I wanted to suggest we try something else first, but she was standing there radiating so much naked anticipation that the words wouldn't come out.
...Is this really okay?
With no idea what the next few minutes of my life were about to look like, I simply stood in line beside her.
By the time our turn came around thirty minutes later, my palms were slick with sweat. Yeonhee, utterly oblivious to the state I was in, beamed as she pulled me into the very front row and grabbed the safety bar.
The coaster lurched, then began to creep forward. From the first second it climbed toward the sky, higher and higher, until it paused at the peak.
Then it eased forward, and—
AAAAAAAAAH!!!
The coaster plunged. The same screams I'd been listening to the entire time we stood in line came roaring up from behind us.
And Yeonhee, sitting right beside me—
"Aaaaaaah—!!"
—was clearly having the time of her life. That, at least, was a relief.
As for me...
"..."
My soul had left my body. I hung limp in the seat, without even the strength to scream. We spun, climbed, dropped, screamed.
Ulp.
That was my stomach, shrieking in protest.
Just hold on. It's almost over.
That's what I told myself. In real time, it felt like an eternity before the coaster finally rolled back into the station.
The instant I got out of the cart, I dragged my boneless body over to a nearby bench and sat down. Watching it from the ground, I'd thought it looked fun. Having actually ridden it, I had changed my mind.
"That was so much fun~ Right, Juyeong?"
Unlike me, she had clearly enjoyed herself.
"Yeah..."
I gave her a halfhearted murmur of agreement, and she immediately pointed at another ride.
"How about that one next?"
In the direction her finger was aimed, the same kind of screaming I'd just been listening to was already filling the air. A boat-shaped ride was swinging its passengers through a wide pendulum arc. The Viking, as it was commonly called. And Yeonhee was pointing right at it.
"No!"
If I got on that thing right now, I was fairly certain whatever was in my stomach would end up scattered across the sky. I shut it down as hard as I possibly could.
"O-oh? Well, I guess we don't have a choice..."
Hah... I live another day.
"Then is there something you want to ride?"
Honestly, my stomach was so unsettled I didn't want to ride anything. I was fishing for some excuse to sit still when the map I'd seen at the entrance suddenly floated back into my mind.
"I want to check out Safari World."
I'd never heard of an amusement park having a Safari World, but—
Some parks have them, some don't, I guess.
I knew enough to know this was not the moment to be picky about it.
"Safari World?"
"I saw it on the map near the entrance."
"Really...? Then shall we go there?"
With our next destination settled, we got up from the bench and started walking—slowly.
The crowd in front of Safari World was a different mix from the roller coaster line—kids through adults, every age you could think of. The wait wasn't long, though, and we were inside before we knew it.
Following a staff member's directions, we boarded a vehicle that looked like a bus. The lead car started forward, and the rest of us followed.
The vehicle crawled along. After a short stretch, a pride of tigers came into view beyond the glass. They strolled past with aristocratic indifference, as if we didn't exist at all. The guide's practiced banter drew laughter from the passengers.
"Wow... I've never seen them this close before."
Yeonhee, for her part, was too busy staring out the window in wonder to care about any of that. She looked even more excited than I was, and I was the one who'd suggested coming here.
I'd mostly wanted a place to sit still and recover, but seeing the animals this close really was something.
"Oh, look, Juyeong! A white tiger!"
At Yeonhee's cry, everyone's heads turned, and a beat later the guide's voice confirmed it. A tiger with a white coat and black stripes came into view.
They really do have a lot of variety here.
The vehicle sat still long enough for everyone to get a good look, then rolled on. Next came a pride of lions. Unlike the tigers, some of them were asleep. Others were awake and actually interested in us. One lion stood at the window with its front paws up against the glass. It was a strange thing to think about a lion, but it was almost cute.
"Juyeong, isn't this lion super cute?"
A snort of laughter escaped me. Who was calling who cute here?
"Why are you laughing?"
"No, it's nothing. Really."
"...?"
Yeonhee gave me a look that said I was being weird, then turned back to the window a moment later.
After that came hyenas, giraffes, a few bears—and then the end of the tour was already in sight.
"Aww... I wanted to see more..."
A small, disappointed sound slipped out of her beside me.
"Then we can go to a zoo next time."
"Huh? Really?"
"Sure."
Without me, that is. She can take Kim Naeun or Kang Hanbyeol. She'd be happy enough.
I kept that part to myself.
"So what should we do now?"
Grrrrl.
While I was still trying to think of an answer, someone's stomach decided to speak up for itself. It wasn't mine. Which meant the culprit was...
"..."
"..."
I turned to look. Yeonhee's face had gone as red as a perfectly ripe persimmon—so flushed I half expected it to burst if I poked it.
"Want to get lunch first?"
"...Okay."
We made our way back toward the entrance and stepped into a restaurant so large you could spot it from well outside the park. A server showed us to a table. We ordered, and despite the crowd, the food came out fast.
I'd gotten a pork cutlet. We were going to be getting back on rides after this, and if I let myself get dragged around according to Yeonhee's tastes, there was a real chance everything I'd eaten would make a return appearance. So I hadn't ordered much.
In front of Yeonhee sat a plate of pasta, a salad, and a round of side dishes besides. She dug in with gusto, completely unaware of the way I was staring. Eating was its own kind of joy for her, I supposed...
Watching that much food disappear was impressive no matter how many times I saw it. The fact that she could eat like that and still get on those rides afterward was, as far as I was concerned, a genuine mystery.
"How's the pork cutlet?"
I'd been watching her eat when the question caught me off guard. I answered on autopilot.
"It's pretty good."
I hadn't actually taken a single bite.
"Can I try just one bite?"
The spread in front of her already looked like more than enough, but apparently Her Gluttonous Goddess-ship still had room on the list. She looked like she was enjoying this even more than the rides.
"Go ahead."
The moment I said it, she speared a piece of cutlet, popped it in her mouth, and ate it with an expression like she'd just been handed the world.
"Mmm~ this is delicious too~"
She ate so heartily, so happily, that just watching her made something warm settle in my chest. I was just thinking I should start on my own food when—
"Ah. I'd feel bad eating yours without sharing, so I'll give you a bite of mine too."
She twirled a generous forkful of pasta and held it out toward me.
"Here. Say ahh~"
The gesture called up a memory I couldn't quite place. Her arm was stretched toward me, but her eyes had darted off to the side—so she knew perfectly well how embarrassing this was.
Telling her to stop wouldn't have worked anyway. I leaned in and took the bite without a word.
"It's good..."
"R-right?"
She clearly hadn't expected me to just... eat it. She looked thoroughly flustered. It was a little late to get shy about it, given everything she'd already done today, so I emptied my head and focused on the food in front of me. Yeonhee, apparently, could not do the same. Her eating slowed down so much it was obvious even at a glance.
I had no idea why she kept digging these holes for herself.
After that, red-faced Yeonhee ate so slowly that it was a long time before we finally made it out of the restaurant.
Once that little episode was behind us, I was trying to figure out what to do next when I felt something poke me in the side. I looked over.
"How about that...?"
The direction Yeonhee was pointing...
From the outside it looked like a grand old mansion, but a damp, oppressive aura leaked from every window, as if the building itself were advertising that something was waiting inside.
The Haunted House.