Have You Ever Felt Déjà Vu?
"Uh… the photo's a bit…"
"Why? It came out great. The quality's crystal clear."
"No, it's not the photo quality I'm talking about…."
Jaehyuk and Alina were staring at the picture taken during their roller coaster ride.
But Jaehyuk looked far from satisfied with how he appeared in it.
In the photo, Alina was beaming brightly, the very picture of relaxed confidence.
Jaehyuk, on the other hand, looked like a character from a comedy horror film—face frozen in an absurd, over-the-top expression of terror at the sight of a ghost.
"Do you not handle rides well, Jaehyuk?"
"It was so fun that my face just ended up like this. It's not because I was scared or anything…."
"Really?"
At his excuse, Alina flashed him a playful smile.
Jaehyuk's face flushed red as he turned his head, avoiding her gaze.
Why the hell did I come out looking like such a coward…? This is so embarrassing….
"But it's cute. It really is."
Her words only made his face burn even hotter.
Alina watched him for a moment before slipping her arm through his.
"Your face is really red. Are you okay?"
"It's just hot. Maybe I dressed too warmly…."
"Come on, it's obvious you're embarrassed."
Jaehyuk had nothing to say to that and fell silent.
"Where should we go next?"
"Next? Hmm… Actually, aren't you hungry? It's 12:20. Let's grab lunch and think about it after."
"Sounds good. Now that you mention it, I am a little hungry."
The two of them headed to one of the restaurants inside the amusement park and ordered tonkatsu.
As Alina cut into her tonkatsu with a knife, she casually asked Jaehyuk, "So… how long are we supposed to keep speaking formally to each other?"
"Formally?"
"Yeah. Keeping it up like this feels… I don't know. We've gotten closer, but it doesn't quite feel that way. There's still this distance between us."
Jaehyuk took a bite of his tonkatsu, then immediately switched to casual speech.
"Then let's drop it right now. How's that?"
Alina looked slightly flustered when he switched so abruptly, but she quickly composed herself.
"Okay. I mean… yeah, good."
"If you're not used to it yet, we can wait a little longer."
"No… it's fine. I'll switch now."
Jaehyuk couldn't help but chuckle at how adorable she looked—clearly wanting to drop the formal speech but struggling to actually do it.
"So what should we call each other? I'd like to call you… babe."
"How about darling?"
"Darling's not bad… but what about Oppa?"
"Brother? Hmm… Now that I think about it, the female leads in Korean dramas and movies call the guys that a lot."
"A lot of couples actually do it in real life too."
"Hmm… Then I'll call you Oppa."
Wow… I never thought the day would come when I'd hear "Oppa" used as a term of affection….
Until now, Jaehyuk had only heard the word from Dahyun and Suyeon. He'd never heard it spoken with romantic meaning.
At school, the underclassmen girls had only ever called him "sunbae."
"So where should we go after lunch, Oppa?"
"Let's walk around a bit first to help with digestion."
"Okay."
Jaehyuk and Alina left the restaurant and wandered through the amusement park.
"The haunted house, huh… Babe, is there any particular ghost that scares you?"
They stood in front of the haunted house entrance, with Alina sticking close to his side.
"They're all scary, but if I had to pick one… zombies."
"Zombies? Why?"
"Because they're the kind that could actually exist. I heard it from some acquaintances. In places like the Middle East, Southeast Asia, or Latin America where shootouts are common, they say people overdose on drugs to eliminate pain. So there are stories of guys who keep charging forward even after getting hit by dozens of bullets."
It wasn't the kind of story you'd expect to hear from a delicate, elegant young woman.
Jaehyuk's eyes widened in surprise.
"Who did you hear that from…?"
"My acquaintance's bodyguards. They're all former soldiers with extensive overseas deployment experience. They've seen scenes like that countless times on the battlefield. When I was little and bored, I'd ask them to tell me interesting stories before bed, and they'd always share those. Such pranksters."
"Ah… really?"
Jaehyuk had encountered similar situations a few times in his previous life.
It happened during clashes between the Gangryonghoe and certain domestic gangsters who mainly dealt in narcotics, or foreign criminal organizations that had smuggled themselves into Korea.
Those enemies would fight while under the influence of pain-killing drugs. Even when slashed with knives or axes, or shot with bullets, they wouldn't go down easily.
Because they kept coming no matter how many wounds they took, the first time Jaehyuk saw them on the battlefield between organizations, he'd immediately thought of zombies.
Of course, the drugs only removed pain—there was no regenerative healing effect, so a clean hit to a vital point would still kill them.
A short while later, Jaehyuk and Alina entered the haunted house.
Alina stuck tightly to his side, her eyes wide with fear as she scanned their surroundings.
Around them were bloodstained zombie mannequins, Frankenstein's monster, virgin ghosts, and other horror figures.
Some of them were actually people in costumes.
"Kyaa!"
Alina suddenly screamed and threw herself into Jaehyuk's arms.
The zombie mannequin right beside her let out a grotesque creaking sound.
Hmm… Back in the day it was mostly people doing the jumpscares… These days they're using robotic mannequins too.
Alina trembled in his embrace.
Jaehyuk gently patted her back, soothing the girl who was muttering in English.
""
"It's okay. Just stay by my side."
A little later, someone in a ghost costume suddenly leaped out right beside them.
Alina screamed again and buried herself in Jaehyuk's chest.
"Um… Thank you for your hard work."
"Ah… Yes…."
In truth, the person jumping out had startled Jaehyuk more than the actual ghosts, but he casually greeted the performer.
The person in the ghost costume, looking somewhat dazed, returned the greeting.
The expression on the costumed worker's face seemed to say, What kind of person is this?
Definitely less scary than the bastards who suddenly jump out shooting guns and swinging knives.
Alina continued trembling in his arms, and Jaehyuk kept comforting her.
Heh heh heh… If a beauty this gorgeous and elegant clings to me like this… Ahem….
After making their way through the rest of the haunted house, they finally stepped back outside.
As they walked through the park, Alina asked him with genuine curiosity, "Weren't you scared, Oppa?"
"Not really. People are scarier than ghosts, you know."
"That's true."
Alina took his hand and pressed herself closer to his side.
"Was I too loud with all that screaming earlier?"
"No, I was fine. But is your throat okay?"
"It doesn't hurt that much."
"You really are quite the scaredy-cat, aren't you?"
"Yeah… That's why I can't even watch horror movies properly."
"Really?"
Jaehyuk said this with a mischievous smile, and Alina pouted.
"And don't even think about suggesting we watch a horror movie together. I'll be screaming right in your ear."
"Haha, got it. I won't do that."
After leaving the haunted house, quite a bit of time had passed.
Jaehyuk and Alina were now riding the Ferris wheel.
"I've always wanted to do things like this when I had a boyfriend."
As she spoke, Alina sat facing him, her eyes filled with deep affection.
"You mean sitting across from each other like this on the Ferris wheel?"
"That too. And talking to each other. Places like this inside the Ferris wheel are one of the few spots in a crowded amusement park where you can be alone together. That's why a Ferris wheel date has always been one of my romantic fantasies."
Jaehyuk smiled softly, and Alina gazed at him as she asked, "Oppa, do you have any dream dates you've wanted to do with a girlfriend?"
"Amusement park dates like this are nice. Working out together, going to the beach in the summer… Anyway, I have a lot of fantasies."
As they talked, Jaehyuk suddenly got the strange feeling that he'd experienced this exact situation before.
Wait… What is this? This oddly familiar feeling…?
It was right then, as Jaehyuk was feeling déjà vu, that Alina spoke.
"Oppa? What are you thinking about?"
She was watching him as he stared blankly at the scenery outside.
When Jaehyuk blinked and looked at her, she asked again.
"What are you thinking about so deeply?"
As she spoke, Alina crossed one leg over the other.
Her posture was exactly the same as in the dream he'd had two years ago—back when he'd traveled to New York and met Alina for the first time.
The emotion he was feeling right now was identical to what he'd felt in that dream.
Alina stood up, moved over to sit beside him, and took his hand in her small, pale one.
Could that dream I had back then… have been a precognitive dream? How interesting.
While Jaehyuk was thinking this, Alina rested her head against his shoulder, still holding his hand.
"Oppa. I heard an interesting story when I went to Tokyo."
"An interesting story?"
"They say that if lovers kiss at the very top of a Ferris wheel, they'll never break up."
After saying this, Alina blushed as she looked at him.
Jaehyuk smiled, understanding exactly what she meant.
The very top of the Ferris wheel, huh…
He glanced outside.
The Ferris wheel had climbed so high that it offered a sweeping view of almost the entire K-World.
"Do you believe in that superstition?"
"It's not very credible, but it's romantic."
"Yeah… It is pretty romantic."
Jaehyuk gazed at her tenderly for a moment.
Then he suddenly closed his eyes and gently pressed his lips to hers.
Huh…? So suddenly??
Alina seemed startled by the abrupt kiss.
But soon she closed her eyes as well, staying still. Jaehyuk slowly pulled away.
Her face flushed red as she avoided his gaze and whispered, "We're not at the top yet…"
"You just said it's romantic even if it's not very credible. If it bothers you that much, let's just decide that spot was the top. Life is all about how you look at it."
"That's a cool line. Who said that?"
"Who knows? Should we say it was me?"
Jaehyuk grinned at her.
She smiled brightly back at him, then suddenly leaned in and kissed him.
As if it didn't matter that this wasn't the top she'd been hoping for.
They closed their eyes together, lips pressed against each other.
In that moment, the two of them felt their love for one another deepen even further.
Some time later, the Christmas sky had grown dark.
Jaehyuk and Alina walked hand in hand through the streets of Seoul.
Small and soft. And warm. I want to keep holding it forever.
As they walked, Jaehyuk slipped their joined hands into the pocket of his coat.
"How's that? Warm?"
"Yeah… it is."
"Is it okay for you to get home late?"
"Yeah. It doesn't matter."
As they continued walking, snowflakes began to drift down from the sky.
"Oh? It's snowing."
"They said it would be a white Christmas. Guess it was true."
They tilted their heads up to admire the falling snow.
"......It's beautiful."
"It is. Just like you."
"Huh…? All of a sudden…?"
The sudden compliment made Alina's face turn bright red. Jaehyuk just grinned at her.
"What? It's true."
"That… I mean… Ugh, I don't know…."
Alina hung her head and lightly punched his shoulder with her right hand.
Her reaction was so cute that Jaehyuk's smile only grew brighter.
"Then… let's hang out a little more before I take you home…."
"No. I'm not going home tonight."
"What? If you're not going home, where will you sleep?"
"Actually… I booked a hotel restaurant and a room. I wanted to spend more time with you, Oppa."
"You booked a restaurant and a room?"
"Yes. We'll have dinner at the hotel restaurant together… and then…."
Jaehyuk hadn't expected Alina to have reserved a hotel room.
He stared at her in silence as she kept her head down.
"So tonight… you want to sleep in that room with me…?"
Alina's face burned with embarrassment at having to say it out loud. She stayed quiet for a moment before finally nodding.
This… is moving pretty fast. Not that I mind, though.
A short while later, the two of them arrived in front of a luxurious hotel.
Slightly nervous at the thought that he might share his first time with Alina tonight, Jaehyuk followed her through the hotel entrance.