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Seungkwan doesn’t know how he ended up in this situation. Well, he knew how it happened, he just didn’t know how he was the one to end up in a snaking queue, on a slow march to his doom. He definitely shouldn’t have agreed to Chan’s stupid challenge.
“Have fun, Kwannie! I’ll take a video of you!” Chan had said, gleefully waving at Seungkwan while he stared at the ride’s entrance in horror.
“Chan. If I go on that rollercoaster, I will fall off and break my limbs. Or I will collapse and have a heart attack while exiting the ride. Do you want your dear Kwannie to die?” Seungkwan pleaded as Chan started to drag him nearer the ride.
“You agreed to the challenge and lost. Now you have to fulfill the forfeit. I’ll wait for you over there!” Chan said, scurrying off to a bench and leaving Seungkwan to face his doom.
Seungkwan had been crushing the candy wrapper in his pocket angrily for the last 15 minutes, cursing Chan under his breath. All his belongings, including his phone, were kept with Chan as he couldn't bring it onto the ride. With no other form of entertainment, Seungkwan had been passing the time by dreaming up ways he could take revenge on Chan if he made it out alive.
“Why is Chan so quick at eating sour candy? Does he have freakishly good sour tolerance and challenged me knowing I’d lose?” Seungkwan muttered, balling up the plastic wrapper and squeezing it.
In hindsight, Seungkwan regretted how he took on Chan’s challenge. He’d chosen a tangerine-flavoured sour strip, which was surely worse than whatever flavour the amalgamation of purple, blue, and red that Chan was eating was supposed to be. Chan seemed to inhale the candy, finishing it while Seungkwan had only eaten half of it. He had then grabbed Seungkwan’s arms gleefully, racing towards the Atlas – a terrifying ride that boasted many high-speed drops and exciting sharp turns.
Alas, it was too late to turn back now. Seungkwan had spent the entire waiting time lamenting and dreading his fate, with the sounds of rollercoasters trundling towards the platform growing louder by the minute. Seungkwan had tuned out the terrified screams of other riders, but they slowly became a constant ringing in his ears. Before he knew it, he was at the front of the line, being shoved forward by excited children towards the ride.
Seungkwan hurried to the last seat of the rollercoaster, hands trembling as he gripped the safety bar in fear. As soon as another rider took the seat next to him, he pushed it down and closed his eyes in anticipation. The sounds of metal clanking and staff giving safety instructions through a mic that peaked too much only accelerated his anxiety.
At the unmistakable sound of the ride beginning, the rollercoaster began its slow climb towards the sky. Seungkwan could’ve sworn he could hear Chan’s mischievous laughter from 80 metres below him, but with the sun shining straight into his eyes and the thunks of the ride filling his ears, it was hard to think about anything except his march towards doom. Seungkwan’s arms shot into the air as the rollercoaster tipped over the peak and rocketed down swiftly. He flailed around and screamed as the rollercoaster swooped through twists and turns, tossing Seungkwan around in his seat. At a particularly sharp curve to the right, Seungkwan’s arms slammed back down on the safety bar to stabilize himself as his body lunged in response to the ride’s jerky movement. The ride approached the final drop and slowed down, making its way back to the ride platform. Seungkwan finally opened his eyes and felt faint as his body recovered from the exhilarating experience. His eyes spun as he glanced at the safety bar, realizing that he’d gripped it so hard his knuckles had turned white.
As Seungkwan’s eyes regained focus, he had made a horrifying realization. He gasped and lifted his left hand off the safety bar, only to see someone’s palm under where his own had been. He must've accidentally gripped the person's hand while clutching onto the safety bar, fearing for his life. As he was trying to form sentences in his head to apologize to the person, the safety bar lifted, and the stranger got off the ride quickly. Seungkwan scrambled to his feet, desperate to catch up to the person to apologize. He scurried over, frantically tapping the man on his shoulder. The man spun around in surprise, and Seungkwan’s heart sank. ‘Oh god. The person I accidentally held hands with on a rollercoaster is hot,’ he thought, mentally preparing himself for what might happen next.
“I’m so sorry about…about that.” Seungkwan blurted out, mentally chiding himself for not sounding cooler. He could feel his face flushing with heat as the man looked at him up and down, processing what was happening.
“It’s all good, man, I understand. I reckon I might’ve done the same too.” The man replied with a smile, patting Seungkwan on the back.
“Oh, um…thank you for understanding, sorry, I’m still kind of shaken up from the ride. Could I treat you to a coffee or something as an apology? Or a funky headband from the gift shop if that’s…more your style?” Seungkwan joked, still running a little high from adrenaline.
“You’re funny,” the man laughed, his smile growing wide, “it’s okay though, thanks for the offer.”
“Did you come to the theme park alone?” Seungkwan asked, wondering if he could convince Chan to let this gorgeous, mysterious man tag along with them for the rest of the day. He seemed nice and like he would be good company, though admittedly, Seungkwan was letting his mind run a bit. ‘Sue me, he’s hot and has a beautiful smile,’ Seungkwan thought.
“Ah, my friend is waiting outside the ride. He said he wasn’t interested and walked off to the churro stand instead. What about you?” The man said.
Seungkwan tried to not let his smile falter as he replied, “I’m here with my friend too. I lost a bet, and the forfeit was to take this ride. I’m not too fond of high-speed thrills, so I’m sure he had a blast watching me suffer.”
“Well, it seems like you had a great time,” the man smirked before glancing out at the crowds of people flocking around the ride exit. “Oh, I see my friend over there! It was nice meeting you.” The man said, staring at Seungkwan with a small smile.
“It was nice to meet you, too. Thanks for being such a good sport about what happened back there.” Seungkwan replied, smiling back at him.
“Don’t worry about it, it makes for a funny story to tell my friend.” The man said, walking over to his friend with a wave.
Seungkwan’s heart sank as he watched the man leave, feeling like he was watching a long-lost lover slip away. He trudged back to the bench Chan was waiting at, slumping onto the seat as his soul drained from his body.
“Congrats, you survived!” Chan smirked, clapping slowly as Seungkwan slouched further miserably.
“You took so long to come back, I managed to make a new friend while waiting for you. He’s pretty cool, he even bought me a heart-shaped churro!” Chan continued, waving a chocolate-stained paper bag in front of Seungkwan.
“Wow, I’m glad at least one of us enjoyed the past hour or so.” Seungkwan droned, taking the bag from Chan, and checked inside for any leftovers. The bag was empty, save for a few crumbs, and more chocolate sauce pooled at the bottom. Chan was so sweet to him. What more could a best friend ever ask for?
“Chan-ssi!” A loud voice exclaimed, causing Seungkwan to whip his head towards the noise. A tall, bespectacled man was rushing towards the bench, holding his phone out. Seungkwan glanced towards Chan in confusion, only to see his friend’s eyes wide and mouth shaped like a perfect 'O'.
“I’m sorry, I realized I left without getting your number. Also, would you like to join my friend and me? We’re planning to go on the log ride next.” The man said, startling as he spotted Seungkwan sitting next to Chan.
“Oh! Your friend is back. Hello, did you enjoy the Atlas? My friend went on it too," the man said, passing his phone to Chan, who'd recovered from his surprise and was delightfully inputting his number into the man's phone, along with about a million hearts in the contact name.
Chan passed the phone back and turned to Seungkwan. “Seungkwannie! This is Wonwoo-ssi, the friend I made while waiting for you!” Chan grinned as Seungkwan politely nodded and shook Wonwoo’s hand. “We’d love to join you and your friend, wouldn’t we, Kwannie?” Chan said, smiling and batting his eyes at Seungkwan.
Seungkwan opened his mouth to protest, but another person approached the group before any words could leave his mouth. Seungkwan didn’t know it was possible to feel his soul leaving his body three times within an hour, but seeing the mystery man walking towards him again felt like he was dying while a choir of angels serenaded him at the same time.
“Hansol, there you are. Did you manage to find him?” Wonwoo asked the mystery man.
“No, I think he’d already left to find his friend by the time I went back to find him-” Hansol said, his eyes widening and mouth slightly agape as he laid his eyes on Seungkwan. “It’s you! Why are you…” Hansol said, gesturing at Wonwoo and Chan in surprise.
Seungkwan quickly regathered his thoughts and explained, “I’m Chan’s friend, are you friends with Wonwoo-ssi?”
Hansol nodded, lips curving up as he understood the situation. Wonwoo and Chan were equally amused at the turn of events as well, already giggling about something at the side.
‘This must be a miracle, a reward even, for surviving that horrible roller coaster ride,’ Seungkwan thought, as the group began walking towards their next ride. He was still in disbelief that somehow, Chan had unknowingly orchestrated this. He really needed to thank Chan for this, too. Maybe an invite to the wedding would suffice.
-
“Oh no, this ride looks kinda scary, need a hand to hold while you’re on it?” Hansol asked with a smirk, and he and Seungkwan climbed into the rollercoaster seats.
“Hahaha. Hansol, for our next anniversary date, we are not going to a theme park again. I prefer not to be dizzy and disoriented while holding my boyfriend’s hand. It makes the memories harder to remember.” Seungkwan scoffed with a not-so-hidden smile, placing his hand into Hansol’s palm anyway.
“Ah, but then you’ll have that boyfriend to lean on as you queue up for the next ride!” Hansol grinned, squeezing Seungkwan’s hands tight as the rollercoaster climbed towards the sky.