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“Please, Chan-hyung,” Jisung borderline sobs, “Please let us go…”
Chan frowns, looking understandably doubtful, “No, Hannie. It’s too dangerous.” The mature, minuscule part of Jisung knows he’s correct and just worried, but he’s been wanting to go for days and the cotton candy there is apparently to die for—
“Hyung, we’ll wear a bunch of scarves and beanies so no one will recognise us!” Hyunjin promises, jumping into the plea. Chan’s got a soft spot for him, so Jisung very much appreciates the help.
“It’s going to be thirty-two degrees tomorrow,” Their leader sighs, “You’ll have heatstroke if you wear a disguise and if you don’t, you’ll get swarmed.” Chan runs a hand through his hair and shakes his head, “I’m sorry, you two, but the tourists here are…for lack of a better word, discourteous.”
“They aren’t polite and will absolutely run you over once they know who you are.” Seungmin deadpans. They collectively wince at his blunt tone but ultimately…he’s kinda right.
“You both are idiots and will get yourselves killed,” Minho adds, ignoring Hyunjin’s bristle and Jisung’s annoyed whine, “Sure, if we went as a group it would be fine, but if it’s only you two…”
“Changbin-hyung…?” Hyunjin tries weakly, “You can come with us and protect us, right?”
“Sorry,” Changbin smiles, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, “I’m going out with Innie, remember?” Jisung knows Hyunjin does remember, but it was worth a shot anyway.
“Hey!” Jisung sulks, “Why do Bin-hyung and Innie get to go out and we don’t!?”
Innie gives him a smug smirk, that little brat. “Because we’re going to the mall where it’s cool and air-conditioned, and we won’t need to worry about heat exhaustion when we wear disguises!”
At that, Hyunjin and Jisung give twin cries about how unfair it all is, until Minho shuts them up with a flat glare. They settle for crossing their arms and pouting like toddlers.
“I…could come if that would help…?” Felix offers nervously, eyes flitting to Chan for approval.
“No way,” Seungmin protectively cuts in before Chan can, “No offence, Lixie, but you’re a little bit of a pushover and these morons,” He motions to Jisung and Hyunjin and silences their squawks of indignation, “Will definitely take advantage of that.” He’s kind enough to not mention the fact that they don’t need three airheads with Bambi legs strolling around a theme park with zero supervision.
“Sorry, Sungie, Jinnie,” Chan’s eyes crinkle with guilt as he smiles, “It looks like you guys won’t be able to go.”
Hyunjin bows his head with depression and Jisung sniffs.
“It’s not that we don’t trust you…” Felix squeaks, the only one seemingly apologetic.
“No,” Minho says, “We don’t trust you.”
“You guys did set the fire alarm off and got our entire apartment evacuated last week,” Changbin points out, before shivering at the memory, “Chaeryeong was so mad…”
“Think of it as punishment for burning our kitchen to ashes!” Innie grins enthusiastically, clearly enjoying all of this.
Jisung bites his lip and looks to his side. He can tell that Hyunjin is losing his courage but Jisung won’t let them win. He needs that cotton candy—his life depends on it!
Ah…He scans the room and wracks his brain, What can I do to convince them?
—> We can definitely handle ourselves!
—> I’ll beg on my hands and knees!
—> Minho should come with us!
—> We can definitely handle ourselves! <
“Why do you guys have so little faith in us?!” Jisung cries, “I go to the gym almost every day and Hyunjinnie isn’t that weak! We can totally fight off anyone who tries to touch us!”
“Yeah!” Hyunjin pumps his fists despite the slight jab to his physique.
“But you can’t fight them, idiot,” Seungmin huffs incredulously, “We’re idols. Big ones, at that. There’s no way the company will let it slide if you choose to beat up someone.”
“Plus,” Chan adds, “The right to fight them requires them touching you first. I’m sorry, but I cannot allow that to happen. Their first move could range from a careless shove to a violent punch. I will not allow any of you to take that gamble.”
“They could even stab you!” Innie chirps, seeming far too giddy for the morbid words coming out of his mouth, “Or they could shoot you! Or chloroform you and kidnap you!”
“That’s horrible!” Felix gasps. He frantically turns back to Jisung and Hyunjin, “They’re right, Sung, Jinnie! It’s way too dangerous!”
“We won’t let it get that far…” Hyunjin pouts.
“Five days ago, you set our apartment on fire.” Minho raises an eyebrow.
Changbin shakes his head, “No. Just, no.”
No way! I totally just made it worse!
—> I’ll beg on my hands and knees! <
“Please!” Jisung whines, pressing his hands to the floor, “ Please, please, please—”
“What the fuck are you doing.” Minho gawks, pure disgust showing off his face.
Hyunjin, because he is Jisung’s ride-or-die, joins him.
Seungmin starts laughing.
“Bye.” Innie monotonously says, before getting up and leaving. Changbin scrambles to catch up to him, but not without sending the two on the floor a concerned glance.
“Both of you,” Chan heavily sighs, sounding on the verge of tears, “Please get off the floor.”
“Will you let us go if we do?” Hyunjin’s hopeful voice is muffled because his face is pressed into his knees.
“No,” Minho snaps.
“Please get off the floor,” Felix repeats, sounding slightly scared, “You’re really just embarrassing yourselves.”
“No, keep going,” Seungmin grins maniacally, holding up his phone, “I’m gonna send this to National Geographic.”
“Huh?!” Hyunjin’s head snaps up in panic, “Wait, don’t—!!”
Jisung keeps his head on the floor and sulks.
—> Minho should come with us! <
“I know!” Jisung snaps his fingers, glaring at Innie when he snickers behind his hand, “Minho-hyung can come with us! With his super-duper murderous glare, nobody will want to come near us! We won’t need thick disguises, either!”
“Ah, yes,” Changbin deadpans, “Paboracha, all alone at a circus theme park in a foreign country, what could possibly go wrong?”
“I can go as well!” Felix eagerly offers. “The more people, the better, right?”
“If Yongbok is going, then I will too.” Seungmin steps in, seemingly more concerned about Felix than the other three. He’s not outright denying it this time, and Felix looks elated at the prospect of strolling around a theme park holding Seungmin’s hand, so it’s a win for all sides.
“I…I guess if Minho and Seung are going…” Chan just sighs, looking tired and worn out by the persistence, “It would make me feel better…”
Fuck yes. His will is crumbling.
“I didn’t even agree to this,” Minho points out.
“You’re going to let Seungmo do the heavy lifting, then?” Hyunjin challenges, “I mean, he is probably the more responsible one…”
Minho twitches. Jisung internally grins. That’s right, Hyune, go straight for his weakness.
“I’ll go,” Minho affirms harshly, “But only because your four will certainly end up in jail if left unattended.” He shifts his glare, “Especially you, Kim Sky Seungmin.”
“Well fuck you too,” Seungmin drawls.
“So it’s settled, then?” Changbin asks, looking fidgety, “You’ll let them go?” Jeongin looks kind of disappointed. Jisung gloats internally.
Chan is silent for a few seconds, before sighing and nodding hesitantly, “Yes. As long as you all promise to be careful.”
“We will!” Hyunjin promises eagerly.
“They won’t,” Seungmin whispers in Felix’s ear.
“Thank you, hyung!” Jisung leaps into Minho’s arms against better judgment, “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Minho makes a weird, strangled noise from the back of his throat, but doesn’t push Jisung off. He’ll take that as an incredible win.
“See,” Innie stage-whispers to the others, “If Hyunjin-hyung tried that, he’d be rotating in the air fryer right now.”
“If Seungmin did that, he’d be castrated,” Felix agrees.
Seungmin gags and wrinkles his face. “Why would I ever leap into hyung’s arms like a fucking newborn baby.”
“Do you hear that, hyung?” Changbin calls, “They’re calling you whipped.”
“You should all kill yourselves,” Minho gripes back.
Jisung thinks he should probably say something or at least acknowledge the fact that Chan is very heavily regretting his decision and trying to merge into the couch itself, but there is something else at the very forefront of his mind and mouth that he simply cannot ignore above all else.
Bursts of blue and pink fill his mouth. There are spores of sour and sweet clouds sprouting on the base of his tongue and then melting into iridescent crystals just as quickly as they grow, and they soak right into the earth of his lingua and rest there like a newborn deer in a field of fresh grass, dormant and lingering in his taste buds. This is Heaven.
“Hannie,” Chan calls from somewhere behind, sounding concerned, “Are you okay.”
Oh, yeah, Jisung swoons dreamily, (still in Minho’s arms, mind you,) Wait for me, cotton candy. I’m coming.
“This is the lamest theme park I have ever been to,” Seungmin grumbles into his turtle neck. It’s been five minutes since they’ve entered.
“It’s not that bad,” Felix tries, always the optimist, “I heard the food here’s pretty good.”
Jisung feels his mouth fill with saliva. He tries to keep his face forward and a neutral expression but he can’t fake the rumbling growl that comes from his stomach. Minho, who has an arm around his waist, is kind enough not to say anything.
“Damn, you’re really serious about this,” Hyunjin comments, sweeping his eyes over various stalls as they pass them. ʜᴜᴍᴍɪɴɢ ʙᴇᴇ. ᗷᗩᒪᒪOOᑎ ᗩᑎᗪ ᗪᗩᖇT. Ϛհօօէ էհҽ ϚզմìɾɾҽӀ. 𝓕𝓲𝓼𝓱 𝓯𝓸𝓻 𝓓𝓾𝓬𝓴𝓼. “Goodness. What’s with the gaudy fonts…?”
“They put all the food stores at the back of the park,” Seungmin huffs, bringing the large paper map closer to his face, “Damn consumerists.”
“I don’t think that’s what that word means,” Jisung says.
“I don’t fucking care.”
“That’s what they do in supermarkets,” Minho adds absentmindedly, “They put all the essential needs at the back so you have to walk through other aisles to get to them.”
Wow. Jisung can’t even remember the last time he went grocery shopping. Minho really is sexy malewife material.
“Well, I’m sure no one’s hungry yet,” Felix’s eyes crinkle behind the mask on his face, “We can try some rides first.” He sends an apologetic glance to Jisung, “Sorry, Ji. But I think this is the best option.”
“It is,” Seungmin immediately reassures like the whipped fucker he is, “You’re so smart, Yongbokie.”
Felix practically floats on makeshift clouds at the compliment, and Jisung makes the wise decision of turning his head away before he can witness the heart eyes that will soon magically appear. Hyunjin and Chan can be pretty grotesque but at least they’re aware of it. These two, on the other hand, are just plainly ridiculous and also the most air-headed people Jisung has ever met in his entire life. He wonders how they can be so intelligent most of the time, but the moment they’re put in the same room, all brain cells go flying out the door like evil spirits in an exorcism.
“Gross,” Minho gags and shivers, on the same wavelength as always. This is why Jisung loves him.
“Oh,” Hyunjin gasps suddenly, “I wanna try the huge rollercoaster over there!” He points to a ride in the distance.
What.
Jisung thinks he feels his soul leave his body in real-time.
What the fuck is that drop.
“That has to be as high as our apartment,” Seungmin says.
“Wouldn’t doubt it.” Minho doesn’t appear nearly as frazzled as he should be, but Jisung’s known him long enough to tell that even he’s a bit nervous at the suggestion of riding something as tall as that. That looks like a medieval torture device. It probably could be one. Probably is one.
“I think I’d faint,” Felix swallows thickly, curling into himself.
“You don’t have to go on if you don’t want to,” Seungmin tells him gently. Jisung’s glad he’s said it now because there is absolutely no way anyone is forcing him into a seat.
“I’m not going,” He blurts before he can get ahead of himself.
“Suit yourself,” Hyunjin shrugs, beginning to walk in the direction of the roller coaster, “Seungmin? Minho-hyung? You guys wanna come?”
“I’ll film you guys from the ground!” Felix decides when Seungmin looks at him in question.
Seungmin nods, “Okay. Then I’ll go with you, Hyune.”
Minho stays silent.
“Hyung?” Hyunjin prompts again, “You wanna c—” He stops himself abruptly, “Ohh, you don’t like how high it is, right?” His tone is far from condescending, yet Minho seems to take it like that. He bristles yet continues to stay silent.
“That’s okay, hyung!” Felix smiles good-naturedly, “The three of us can stay on the ground while Minnie and Jinnie go!”
“The line’s pretty long, though,” Seungmin points out, “You’ll be waiting for quite a while.”
“I’ll wait eternity for you,” Felix replies easily. Smoothly. Maybe a bit desperately. It would be pathetic if Seungmin didn’t also look like he was about to grab Felix by the neck and press their lips together. Holy shit they need to get it together. And also maybe get together but Jisung’s not sure they haven’t already done that.
“You guys could just, y’know, leave.” Hyunjin snorts, “I think Channie-hyung was overreacting a bit when he said it’d be dangerous. There’s security all over the place.”
“That just means something has happened here and they want to prevent it from happening again, or create the illusion that they’re doing something about it,” Minho mutters dryly.
“You’re too paranoid, hyung.”
“I’m gonna stick with Seungminnie and Hyunjin,” Felix says, playing with the bracelets around his wrists, “But if you two wanna go, then you totally should!”
See, Jisung recognises this as a golden opportunity to get the cotton candy he has been craving for so long, and perhaps he should be taking it because he’s literally been pinching himself all day in anticipation. Still, on the other hand, as much as he wants to deny it, he really needs Hyunjin to be there. For moral support. It’s best friend code. Can’t be broken.
There’s not much else to do, though. Most of the rides either lead straight into the next neighbouring solar system or are for little kids. Minho would never let himself be seen on a kiddie ride made for those under a hundred centimetres. Heck, even Jisung doesn’t like the sound of that. They probably wouldn’t be allowed on, anyway.
“Oh!” Hyunjin claps his hand once and Jisung internally groans because this means he has another stupid idea, “You two should go on that huge Ferris wheel!”
They all crane their heads to see what Hyunjin is talking about.
“The shit,” Minho mutters under his breath.
See! He was right! A very stupid idea! So! Stupid!
“That’s almost as tall as the roller coaster, though.” Seungmin sighs, unknowingly helping Jisung out. “They’d piss their pants.”
Minho shoots him a dark glare. Seungmin merely raises an eyebrow, “What? You would.”
“But it’s not as intense as an actual roller coaster!” Felix reasons, “The ride’s smooth sailing and you could technically just close your eyes until you’re back on the ground.” Leave it to Felix to make anything seem a little more bearable. He’s such an angel. Jisung can easily see why Seungmin’s so intensely infatuated with him.
“Maybe it’ll help you guys get over your fear of heights!” Hyunjin gasps like he just cured cancer, “This is a great, beginner start!”
“Jinnie,” Jisung laughs nervously, because he really doesn’t want to test it, “Are we even looking at the same wheel right now? That’s gotta be as tall as the Lotte World Tower.”
“The Lotte World Tower is five hundred meters tall,” Seungmin deadpans, like a fucking nerd.
“Yeah,” Jisung huffs, “And that Ferris wheel looks about a kilometre.” He, in his humble opinion, is not exaggerating.
“You’re exaggerating,” Hyunjin rolls his eyes, “Look, if you wanna loiter around like idiots and wait for an hour while we ride the coaster, be my guest. I’m just saying that it’ll be a total waste of your time, especially when you could be catching some views of the city and tackling your outrageous acrophobia altogether.”
Woah. Harsh. What comes out of Jisung’s mouth next will really be their downfall.
—> If we’re idiots, then Felix is too.
—> We should just get cotton candy.
—> Is that a challenge?
—> If we’re idiots, then Felix is too.
“Hey!” Jisung squawks, stepping forward, “Why’re you only going out for us when Lix is also staying on the ground?!”
“Favouritism,” Minho scoffs lightly.
“Don’t bring Lixie into this,” Seungmin retorts instead of actually answering. He even has the audacity to pull Felix closer to him like he’s his personal alpha, this bitch.
“That’s different,” Hyunjin carelessly waves his hand, “Yongbok’s simply waiting on the ground and taking photos for Seungmo like any good boyfriend would.” He starts clicking his fingers in Jisung’s face like he’s invalid. “Hey, can you guys keep up here?”
“Fuck you!” He whines, “This is so unfair! Discrimination! You guys just have stuff against hot, sexy, awesome men!”
“Felix is hot and sexy and awesome.” Seungmin deadpans not even a second later. “And he’s not afraid of heights.” Oh. Okay. Low blow.
A rosy blush spreads across Felix’s cheeks and he bites his lower lip, averting his gaze from Seungmin’s stern eyes. What the fuck. Jisung can’t believe he’s being pushed off as a side character in his own fanfic. This cannot be happening.
“C’mon Jisungie, Minho-hyung,” Hyunjin whines impatiently, “The line’s only getting longer! Choose already! Either wait like, an hour for us to ride the rollercoaster—and I know Sungie has a shit attention span—or ride the Ferris wheel! C’mon, it’s only like, a thirty-minute ride? You’ll be fine!”
“Shut the fuck up,” Minho snaps, which roughly translates to: No we will not be.
“Just hurry up and choose,” Seungmin groans, not caring in the slightest, “I don’t wanna keep Lix waiting for longer than he has to.” And oh, Jisung so wishes he could throttle him.
—> We should just get cotton candy.
“Maybe we’ll just go to the food stalls,” He tries, even though he knows how this is going to turn out.
Hyunjin takes a deep breath.
And screams.
“WHAT!” His face is red and he points a sharp nail at Jisung, “What! What are you saying!? You’re going to try the cotton candy? Without me?!”
“Oh, it’ll be like having a date with Minho-hyung!” Felix smiles, ignoring the murderous glares he gets, “So cute!”
“Han Jisung!” Hyunjin is still crying, and Jisung knew this wouldn’t work, “Are you really replacing me?! With your stupid boyfriend, of all people!? You’re breaking bestie code right now! It’s bros before hoes! Chicks before dicks! Mates before dates! Bruvvers before lov—”
“Okay. Okay.” Jisung stops him before he can start clawing at the ground and watering the weeds with his tears, “I know. I know, Jin. Stupid idea. I’m sorry.”
“You should be!” Hyunjin sniffs.
Jisung glances towards Minho. He looks like he’s at a loss for words. Jisung can’t really blame him.
Seungmin shifts a little. It’s clear his annoyance is becoming more than lighthearted. “Just man up and take the damn ride. What’s the worst that could go wrong?”
“We could fall and die,” Jisung suggests.
Felix blinks at them, uncharacteristically blank. “You could fall and die on an aeroplane. You could fall and die on a trampoline. Hell, you could fall and die while walking down the stairs. What are the odds?”
And, well.
He does have a point.
Hyunjin is smiling triumphantly at them, like he’s the one who gave the speech and not Felix.
Jisung frowns, not really having any more arguments. He glances towards Minho. Minho looks like he’d rather be standing in the Ferris Wheel of Doom than here any second longer.
Screw these guys, man.
There are a couple more long seconds of silence, then Jisung sighs.
“Fine.” He mopes, defeated. “We’ll take the stupid ride, but if the thing malfunctions and kills us, it’s on you guys.”
“And I’ll be haunting you for the rest of your hopefully short lives,” Minho adds, glaring particularly at Seungmin even though Seungmin was hardly the convincing argument.
“Sure.” He drawls back, too occupied in fixing Felix’s necklace to really respond.
“Perfect!” Hyunjin smiles, claps, does whatever the fuck he does when he leaps off the ground and taps his feet mid-air, “Awesome! Spectacular! We’ll be waiting for you guys at the bottom if our ride ends up finishing earlier, okay? All good? Capiche?”
“Please shut the fuck up.”
—> Is that a challenge?
It’s for the best that Jisung never got to this option.
“Okay. It’s okay.” Jisung breathes in and out. Deep breaths. “It's just a ride. A quick one. A slow one. We're gonna be fine, we're not fine die, the bolts are not going to come off loose while we're inside and send us hurtling towards the ground—”
“Sungie.” Minho sounds strained. “Shut up.”
He's gripping Jisung’s hand so tight it feels like a blood pressure cuff.
Oops.
“Sorry, hyung,” he says, because he is and didn't mean to freak Minho out with his overthinking. They will be fine. Truly. The chances of a ride malfunctioning are, what, near zero?
The line moves forward.
“Let's have fun, hyungie.” Jisung tries smiling at him, to which Minho gives a small smile back in response. Fuck yeah, little wins.
“I'm gonna kill Kim Seungmin for this,” Minho grinds out. Jisung thinks, that’s pretty unfair for Seungmin. Too bad for Seungmin, Jisung will cheer Minho on anyway.
He rocks on his heels. Despite knowing Minho for years, Jisung still gets nervous around him. He’s hard to impress. Jisung wants to impress him!
“Do you think we'd see Felix finally get mad?”
Minho pauses, then nods. “Probably. Yongbokie loves that fiend. I don’t understand why.”
Probably for the same reason I love you, Jisung thinks, but instead says, “Love is an understatement. His entire room is filled with Minnie's versions of the albums, and PuppyM. A lot of PuppyM.” He shudders against his will. “Fuck. He has unofficial merch too. Can you believe that? Bootleg merch because he's bought out everything official?” Even Jisung hadn’t thought of that.
Minho looks at him strangely. “Yes. Yeah.”
Jisung moves past whatever that is, because Minho’s always been weird. He’s probably acting weirder now because they’re willingly-unwillingly about to get into a rotating death machine that they really should’ve backed out of. But they won’t, because they’re not chickens, and they’re not scaredy-cats, and Jisung isn’t excited at the prospect of a romantic ferris wheel ride with Minho that will not result in their untimely demise.. None of those.
“Next!” The operator calls, tiredly motioning for them to step forward. Oh Lord. When did it become their turn? He almost wants to jump over the railing and make a run for it.
Minho makes the decision for the both of them, though. He probably doesn't want to risk public humiliation, so he drags Jisung—and himself—to the metal platform. Or something. Jisung kind of blacked out for a second after Minho willingly grabbed his hand and pulled.
TOBI. That's the operator's name. He’s wearing the same red uniform as all the other underpaid staff and looks just as tired as Jisung feels. “The ride is about twenty minutes for two revolutions,” he starts, “If you feel like getting off after one, just tap the window once you're near the bottom…”
He drones on, clearly, this speech is nothing new to him. Jisung isn’t sure if he wants the stalling to continue or if they should just get it over with.
Twenty minutes. Ten minutes, even. They can do this. They can do this.
“We can do this,” he declares, quite solidly, in front of Tobi and Minho. Minho, who seemed to actually be listening, startles minutely. Tobi just stares at Jisung with exasperation before continuing his legally required monologue. He kinda reminds Jisung of Seungmin. It must be the deadpan glare.
Minho is nudging Jisung forward, despite being planted to the floor himself. No matter. No matter at all. He’s got this in the bag. Jisung can be the big guy for once.
He steps forward. The clank of metal satisfies him. It sounds nice. It sounds like sound. Oh, yeah. Hell yeah. He’s not sure where this train of thought is really going, but he hopes it takes him far away from the Ferris wheel.
“Hurry up.” Tobi’s monotone voice comes from behind them, probably because Jisung has taken a mere three steps in the span of thirty seconds. Minho nudges him again.
Shit. He really doesn’t wanna move.
—> I needa pee.
—> No.
—> I think your machine is broken.
“I—”
“Jisungie.” Minho looks resigned. “Stop.”
Huh. “Huh?”
“I know you’re thinking of three options to get out of this,” he continues, grabbing his arm, “Don’t. We’re already here, we’re already on the platform, and most importantly, we’re holding up the damn ride.”
Jisung glances behind him. There is certainly a long line. They all certainly have varying expressions on their faces. Ranging from slightly amused to absolutely fucking infuriated. One guy in particular looks like he wants to slaughter Jisung whole, and the person next to him is just absentmindedly chewing on their lucious, purple cotton candy.
Oh. The cotton candy. Oh, cotton candy. That could be Jisung right now. That should be Jisung right now if Hwang Hyunjin and Kim Seungmin did not exist.
Minho is pulling him again. They are right in front of the carriage. “Hannie.”
Oh fine. For Minho. For candy.
“Hey, this isn’t so bad!” See, they’re maybe halfway to the top. The entire amusement park is beneath them. He’s sure that if he squints hard enough, he’ll see Felix’s bright blonde hair somewhere because he didn’t want to cover it up and Seungmin had argued: he’ll blend in with the locals anyway.
Which, hey. Let’s see who’s talking once pictures of Lee Felix at XXX Amusement Park with Suspected Band Members! are uploaded for the entire world to see. Chan’s gonna kill them. Or just Seungmin. Hah, this is Seungmin’s problem. He hopes Chan eats into that shit once they’re home.
“Hyung?” He turns, because Minho hasn’t said a single word since they started ascending. “You good?”
Minho is quite pale under his mask. Not good. Minho is also staring anywhere but out the windows. Double not good.
“Hyungie.” They’re approaching, steadily, the peak now. Jisung feels a little queasy, which means Minho must feel ten times worse. “We’ve got this, okay? Fighting?” Maybe the hesitant tone isn’t helping much but it’s all Jisung’s got in him.
Maybe this was a bad idea. Jisung didn’t even come for any of the rides. Just cotton candy! And here he is, getting tortured and dragging poor Minho-hyung into it. This can’t be a good look. Minho must hate him now. Oh no. Minho’s relationship bar just went down, didn’t it. From green to yellow. Jisung needs to watch himself. He should’ve known better. A Ferris wheel is a shit first date, anyway. Can he call this a date? It wouldn’t be the first anyway, would it? They go on plenty of dates. This is nothing different.
“I’m fine…Jisung.” Minho finally breathes. Good, he’s talking again. Not good, he looks like he’s about to throw up.
They’re nearing the peak now.
“Just…don’t look.” That’s all Jisung can say. And he follows his own advice, because the view is starting to become a little too nauseating.
Ugh. This is all Hwang Hyunjin’s fault. Totally. If he hadn’t wanted them to take that damn ride, they wouldn’t be here! Jisung’s going to…he will do something. Vengeance. Later. After they’re off this brutal contraption.
“So!” Felix’s smile lines can be seen from beneath his mask. He’s still holding his camera in their direction. “How was it?”
“It was fun, Lixie.” Seungmin nods coolly, which, is so wrong. Hyunjin should’ve recorded Seungmin’s ear-piercing shrieks as the cart went down, but then he’d also have inadvertently recorded his own, embarrassingly louder screams. And also lost his phone in the process. Some things are only meant for the eyes, and ears, it seems.
The two of them link arms, which is a little obnoxious to Hyunjin, but whatever. They can do whatever they want. It’s not like he and Chan are any better. Hyunjin also never took Seungmin as one for PDA but Felix has probably rubbed off on him.
“C’mon.” He walks ahead and as expected, they follow. “Let’s go see if Minho-hyung and Jisungie are done.”
He had expected them to be waiting with Felix at the bottom, to be frank. No idea why they’re taking their sweet time. But maybe they enjoyed it so much they’re going for seconds?
Who is he kidding, this is Minho and Jisung. They’re probably taking so long because they’re letting the people behind them go first.
“You’re amazing, Minnie.” Hyunjin can hear Felix’s gushing behind him. Okay, never mind. He gets it. This is gross. “I wish I could be as brave as you…” Oh brother. Where is Jisung when you need him? Where is Chan? That geriatric is always so busy. Always working, Oh, Jinnie, I’m sorry. I have a meeting with Sara from HR. Do you remember her? She’s—well fuck Sara from Human Resources. Why does Chan even have a meeting with HR? Why does Chan have to take care of everything? He’s going to keel over before he hits thirty, and Hyunjin will be left a widow. This is a tragedy in the making. It’s all Sara’s fault. He's going to file a complaint. Take that.
“Lixie, you have something on your face…” Oh. Okay. Oh fucking hell.
He needs to calm down before he does something he’ll regret.
Come on, Jin. Think happy thoughts. Think about why you came here in the first place. No manslaughter, no premeditated murder, no third degrees or fourth degrees or whatever. Just. Happy thoughts.
Hyunjin blocks Seungmin and Felix out in favour of thinking about the sweet treat waiting for them. Like a prize at the end of the rainbow. He’s glad he had the foresight to attempt an excruciatingly traumatic roller-coaster ride beforehand. Now the cotton candy is going to be even more satisfying.
He’s not exactly sure what’s so significant about this cotton candy. Jisung just described it as the most magnificent, "propitious", rousing, “gregarious” floss in worldwide history. Whatever those English words mean.
Oh, man. He’s so hungry. Where are they? “There’s the Ferris wheel,” Seungmin says. He and Felix have joined Hyunjin’s pace. He looks ahead, and there indeed is the Ferris wheel. Hyunjin can’t exactly see which car Jisung and Minho are in, but they’re surely in one of them.
“Hey,” Felix looks like he’s frowning. “Isn’t that a bit too many maintenance men for one ride?”
“And a Ferris wheel, at that,” Seungmin agrees. And so does Hyunjin, because Felix is right. There are at least three workers huddled around the box that presumably operates the machine. It doesn’t look too serious. Maybe. Well, there aren’t any firefighters bringing out life nets to catch anyone who may have to jump off, so that’s that.
Still, it's not normal. Their pace speeds up.
“Boss is gonna kill me,” One of them moans. Hyunjin squints now that they're closer. The namecard: TOBI. Okay then, Tobi. Hit em. What's the issue here.
Minho is so fucking going to kill them.
“Excuse me,” Felix approaches them with such impeccable English, he might actually fit in. “Is everything alright here? Our friends are in that Ferris wheel.”
Tobi slowly turns to face them. Holy shit. Did they just find Seungmin's body double. Did Seungmin achieve the feat of cloning and not tell them? He’d do that. He definitely would. They have the same exhausted, cryptic aura alluding from their hair.
“Your friends are going to be fine,” Tobi sighs. And then, with much more emotion, “If Cal could actually fix the damn wiring properly and stop acting like it's his first time doing this.”
“Fuck you, man,” the other—Cal, hisses from where he's buried halfway in the box. “I'm trying my best here! It's not like you're doing much. Just standing around twiddling his thumbs. Can you fucking help me.”
“I would if Zuzu didn't steal my toolbox last week because she wanted to play Dynamite by BTS over the park’s speakers. She doesn't even listen to BTS! I think she wanted to fuck with me. Oh, she definitely did. And then she got me in trouble with Meg—” And then, he starts hacking the poor guy's ear off.
To be honest, Hyunjin doesn't care about Cal, or Tobi, or whoever Zuzu is. All he's hearing is that the ride is broken and once it becomes unbroken, Minho is going to slaughter him whole for getting him and Jisung stuck on a Ferris wheel in the first place.
He resigns. “I'm so dead.”
“Perfect,” Seungmin deadpans. “So, how long is this ‘fix’ going to take? And is the ride just stuck like this? No one can get on or off?”
Oh dear. He and the Tobi guy are having a stare-off.
Cal peaks over the metal. “Since Zuzu ran off into the fucking sunset, and brought Tobi's precious toolbox with her, this is going to be a one-man job. Sorry. At most, it’ll be another twenty minutes. And yes, the ride will be stuck like that for the safety of the passengers inside.”
“Thank you!” Felix chirps, as Seungmin grumbles something about Minho killing them. Which, exactly.
Fuck. If Chan were here, he could fix this. He can fix anything. This is all stupid Sara’s fault. Hyunjin hopes she’s ready for the massive email he's going to send her once this is all over. Human Resources his ass.
Alas, there is no Chan. Only Hyunjin, Seungmin and Felix are here. And they know nothing about amusement park operations. It's a lost cause.
“We're sitting ducks,” he declares. And then he sits down right there, in front of the toolbox, on the concrete. It is the only thing he can do.
The ride has halted. Abruptly.
“What the fuck is happening,” is the first thing to come out of Jisung’s mouth. The stop had shuddered the cart. It wasn't smooth, probably wasn't intentional, seeing as when Jisung precariously—just for a moment—looked down below them, he saw angry people in the lines and not one, not two, but three maintenance workers huddled around the control panel.
Great.
They're stuck.
And they're at the highpoint of the wheel, too.
Fucking. Fuck.
Of course this would happen to him.
“Hyung.” Jisung starts, though there is no good way to start this. “Don't panic…but we're probably not going to move for a while.” He says, while actively panicking.
Keep it together, Ji. Don’t panic. If you panic bad, no one's going to fly this damn plane. The two of them are notorious for being afraid of heights but Minho more so than Jisung. So you. Jisung. Must fly. This. Damn. Plane.
He rips his eyes away from the floor of the carriage to look at Minho.
Ah, shit.
Jisung knew this was a bad idea.
He's going to kill Hyunjin for this.
“Minho-hyung.” He shimmies closer so he's pressing against Minho’s side. He can feel the fabric on his sleeve, and how tense his arm is. “It's okay. We're not going to be stuck here forever.”
Minho's hands clutch his knees even tighter. Okay. Okay, maybe Jisung shouldn't be feeding scenarios into his head. That's not very smart. Bear with him, please. He is rambling. He is rambling because he is panicking.
Minho’s gone silent again, out of anxiety or just not to throw up, Jisung doesn't know. It doesn't really matter to him either way. He gently slides his fingers over the loops of his face mask to slip it off, because some real, fresh air will do his hyung good.
Hell, fuck it. Jisung takes his own mask off, too.
He's not about to risk looking over again, for the sake of both of them. He's just going to assume Tobi and the rest of his crew have it handled. Surely. Surely? Oh, why can't Chan be here. He'd fix this.
Ugh, fuck. Fuck. Minho's breath is picking up. Jisung is well aware of the signs of a panic attack. Just…not in the boys, before. Or anyone other than himself. Usually Jisung starts shivering violently and his teeth chatter, but Minho isn't doing any of that, so it's obviously not going to be the same for him as it is for Jisung…
—> Distract him.
—> Sing.
—> Panic.
—> Distract him.
“Hyung, guess what.” Jisung doesn't wait for an answer. He launches straight in. If Minho needs a distraction, he's lucky that's something Jisung specialises in. Talking, that is. And talking a lot. And talking fast.
“Okay, hyung.” Focus, Jisung. Honestly, just start spitting whatever comes to mind. “I’ve been thinking a lot about our dorm room. And seeing that it’s really fucking bare, I think we should start decorating more. You know? Yeah, I’m sure you know. You’re Lee Know. I mean, my room personally is just a blank canvas. I could really put up some more posters and shit. Do you remember my old room? I mean, I wouldn’t expect you to, since we usually hung out in yours, but my old room had a shitton of stuff. Seriously. Genuinely. Truly. For real. Felix taught me that. For real. For real, bro? For real, man? It’s very cool. Very good phrase. I didn’t understand what it meant at first but after he started using it everywhere I think I’ve got the gist. Hyung, I’m going to confess, I’d pay money to hear you say for real. I think it’d be hilarious, and maybe kinda sexy. And also really damn cool. Hyung, I know you’re opportunistic like that! How much are you going to make me pay you? Hyung, please spare my wallet. I’m your favourite, aren’t I? And my wallet’s been used as a weapon against Kim Seungmin, so you have to give it some credit. Credit. Hah. That was funny. Credit, as in recognition. But credit, also as in credit cards. Oh fuck, that was really smart. Channie-hyung’s going to love that as a lyric. Something like, man, you like my music too, why not credit my wallet—credit my credits. Hell yeah. Right, hyung? Minho-hyung, aren’t I great? Right? Right?”
Jisung takes a large breath.
Minho is still as stiff as a board.
Clearly, Jisung, and everyone else, underestimated Minho’s rooted petrification of heights. He knows they shouldn’t have. They should’ve known better. They should’ve known so much damn better. This was never going to work.
Okay. (He doesn’t say this one aloud.) Awesome. Clearly, this tactic isn’t working. All Jisung is doing is making the author seem like they don’t add breaks in between their paragraphs. Wait, no. Actually, fuck the author. They’re the reason Minho and Jisung are in this situation in the first place. So fuck it. It, as in the author. It, as in, everything else.
Plan B, Jisung. Minho is staring at him with a bit more lucidity than before, so that’s good. He’s still gripping Jisung’s arm like a python, which is not good. Think, Jisung. What’s something that’ll calm Minho down?
“Zuzu, don’t fucking touch that,” Cal’s voice warns.
A pause from behind the box. Then:
Tobi stands. He looks miserable. “And then Zuzu fucking touched that anyway.”
These people are absolutely insane, Hyunjin thinks. Which, is quite ironic of him, as he sits on the boiling pavement in a hoodie, wearing a scarf, sunglasses and a face mask. It’s thirty-something degrees.
“Minnie, maybe you can help them?” Felix blinks brightly up at Seungmin, as if Seungmin is a mechanic or something. As if Seungmin works here. “You’re smart!”
Don’t do it. Hyunjin tries to alert with his eyes. Don’t fucking do it, Kim Seungmin. You’re going to break the damn machine. Hyunjin is, again, wearing sunglasses. And then Chan is going to kill me, too. Chan isn’t going to let us out of the house.
“I’ll try, Bokie.” Seungmin smiles, looking far too confident for someone who has absolutely no idea what he’s doing. Then, he steps towards the box.
Screw Kim Seungmin and his pride. They’re going to be here for another fucking hour.
—> Sing.
Jisung calms his breathing. Opens his mouth.
“Countless trials, mistakes and fights…”
Han Jisung is as good of a singer as he is a talker. An even better singer, one may say.
“'Cause all I want is you, not your tears…”
He squints an eye open. Minho certainly looks less like he’s about to punch a hole in the ceiling. Fuck yeah. They can do this.
“Baby, hold my hand now…”
It’s quite romantic.
But…
One thing about Jisung. His mind flies faster than the average human and the average human’s comprehension. This isn’t a problem around the boys. They aren’t average people (God, even the insinuation makes him shiver). The problem is that when he’s singing, his mind can drift as the lyrics leave his mouth. And once something more constructive overrides his focus—well. He can’t control it, truly.
So that’s how Hold My Hand turns into Bounce Back.
It’s still quite romantic. But only because it’s Jisung and Minho.
“WHY ARE YOU BARKING ALL—”
Now, another problem. Jisung is also notorious for his violent headbopping.
They are in a suspended carriage.
Tobi had instructed them not to move too much, but Jisung hadn’t been listening then. So he is certainly not listening now.
The car, like Tobi said it would, shakes. It is a slight shake. But a shake enough.
Minho screams. His grip, which had just started to relax, clamps even tighter around Jisung. That makes Jisung scream, too, because now there are crescent-shaped Minho-nails printed into his arm.
“FUCK, HYUNG—”
It really is Jisung’s fault, even though he was trying to help.
That being said, the shaking, and the arm grabbing, startle him too. So there. Now they’re both alarmed, scared, clutching each other tightly as the carriage slowly stops swinging and they are still suspended, what feels like, two hundred meters in the air.
It’s time for Plan fucking C.
Hyunjin doesn’t care that this wasn’t Sara from HR’s fault. She will be getting an email. She will be getting thirty damn emails.
—> Panic. Fucking panic.
“Shit. Shit.” He’s starting to chatter. “Hyung, sorry. I’m sorry.” Oh Lord, they’re clinging deathly to each other.
Minho’s staring at him and his eyes are the size of dinner plates. This is quite bad. This is in fact the worst possible outcome. Jisung glances away from Minho’s face and catches the bottom beneath them. Bile rises up his throat.
No. He is not doing this right now. He cannot afford to do this right now.
“J—Ji,” Minho croaks. He is definitely trying his best. Jisung would appreciate it if his mind could actually focus on one thing at one time. Right now, all he’s thinking is—fix this. How can I fix this? I need to fucking fix this—
An issue, depending on who you ask: Jisung does not cognitively work on the same wavelength as most people. Again, this is no issue with the boys, though some of their wavelengths are also different to his own different wavelength. The issue is that this concept is applied to Jisung on a good day. A normal Jisung. A completely fine Jisung. A Jisung.
Currently, Jisung is not just Jisung. He is a freaking out Jisung.
Panicking Jisung is. Panicky.
His logic is quite illogical.
He gives fruit to stupid ideas.
Most of the time, it ends up on two different extremes.
Very fucking good, or very fucking bad.
So.
“No. Fucking. Way.” Hyunjin gawks. On the outside, comically due to his attire, he looks pretty much the same.
“I’m handing in my papers tomorrow,” Cal whimpers, slowly backing away from that fuckass box. God, Hyunjin empathises heavily. Because there is no fucking way.
“Yay!” Felix is the only one clapping and cheering. As per fucking usual. “Oh, good job, Seungminnie! I knew you could do it! Only my namja~” See, there’s the emphasis on this specific Korean word, because only Lee Felix and Kim Seungmin could pull off such an incredulous and stupid feat. Only them. No, seriously. Only them.
Tobi is simply standing there, a hand stretching down his face in pure horror. Zuzu, next to him, is just smiling ominously.
“It should be working now.” Kim Seungmin stands, quite obnoxiously, over the technician box. Hyunjin wants to be mad, but he’s honestly just impressed at the sheer lengths Seungmin will go to, to prove his love and strength to Felix. Is this what true love can do? Are Kim Seungmin and Lee Felix his love-life sunbaenims? Will he and Chan ever reach this level of emotional equilibrium? Can they?
And then the two of them embrace, and share a kiss (They don’t. Even pull their masks down.), right fucking there, in front of everyone. Including Hyunjin, and the technicians, and the small crowd of people who horrifically waited in line for the ride to be running again. One scarily scary individual, who had been staring at them for the past thirty minutes, looks strangely but reassuringly proud. The person next to them is even clapping and cheering. Who said these people were dangerous and insane? Chan? Hah.
Granted, the maintenance men are indeed fucking insane, so Hyunjin supposes he’s half right.
Panicky Jisung panics.
Read: he smashes his lips right against Minho’s.
This was not how he wanted it to go, but desperate times call for desperate measures.
Minho’s eyes blow even wider, somehow. Or something. Jisung doesn’t know. He closes his eyes after that because he is literally kissing Lee Minho. Whom he has loved since forever. In a cart attached to a Ferris wheel, fatally dangling above the ground, and he’s damn fucking enjoying it.
They don’t even notice the ride begin to move again. Why would they? This is Heaven. This is so much fucking better than cotton candy. Jisung thinks a whole other world materialises in his mouth from Minhos alone. He stops shivering. He stops shaking. Minho, too, breathes normally again, against his face.
They pull apart. They breathe.
“Jisungie,” Minho whispers. His voice is hoarse. Jisung feels heat rush up. Minho is so very beautiful.
“Hyung…”
Minho sighs. Then inhales. Then sighs again. His eyes are back to their normal shape, which Jisung can only be grateful for. He knows he should also feel embarrassed, because he cannot believe he just did that. He cannot believe he just did that.
“I am so sorry,” he blurts, because he is. Minho was having a damn panic attack—they both were, and his reaction was to lock lips. What. Kind of bullshittery is this.
Minho smiles with his teeth. Jisung momentarily short circuits. “No, Sungie. It’s…” There is so much. So much in his eyes that Jisung does not have the current mental or spiritual or even physical capacity for. “Don’t be sorry. Actually…thank you.”
Nope. No. The sheer endearment is making Jisung implode. He buries his face in his hands and hears Minho laugh.
“That’s cute. You’re cute, Hannie.”
“Hyung…”
“And for the record, me too.”
What.
“What.” Jisung can’t help himself. He looks straight at his hyung. Because what does that mean.
Minho chuckles again. “I mean, me too. I love you too, Jisungie.”
He stares. Minho bursts into another round of laughter at his face.
“Hyung—wait, I can’t process this right now. Don’t laugh at me! What do you mean!? You like me. You love me. Stop fucking laughing, hyung, this is serious business. We need to talk!”
“What’s there to talk about?” Minho is still giggling. Jisung wants to say, I don’t know. Maybe the fact that this all happened in a centrifugal death machine that Hyunjin forced us into and caused us to have panic attacks in? Maybe? Just a suggestion?
“I’m fine, Sung.” Minho pokes his cheek. He’s always reading his mind. It’s starting to piss him off. “I’m sorry for freaking out. You know I don’t do well with heights.” His mouth curves slyly again. “But you certainly triggered a positive association for me there. Maybe I’ll be fine the next time this happens. If you’re with me, of course.”
Huh? “Huh??”
“Hannie! Minho-hyung!”
They’re back to the bottom again. Oh, there’s the ground. Oh, how Jisung missed the ground so very much. Another thing to thank God for every day: the sweet fucking ground.
Hyunjin’s shoes sound heavy on the metal platform. He meets them at the door of the carriage. Jisung kinda feels bad to see how worried he looks, but then remembers he’s the one who put them here in the first place. Hah. Take that, Hwang Hyunjin. That’s what you get.
“Oh my shit,” Hyunjin blabbers as he almost breaks the lock and swings the door wide open. It clangs against the cart. “I’m so sorry. Are you guys okay? Genuinely? I didn’t think the fucking Ferris wheel would fucking malfunction. I didn’t even know they could do that.” He hoists them out with surprising strength. “Seriously, if I knew you’d be stuck there for that long, I wouldn’t have made you go.”
“Jinnie, we’re fine—”
“I’ll pay for the food, I swear.” He presses his palms together and looks them up and down. “All of it. Anything you want. I can’t imagine how scared you guys must’ve been. I know you have a fear of heights—a phobia, on Minho-hyung’s part. I’m sorry. God, you’re so red, too. I—”
Hyunjin pauses.
He stares at them. Up. Down. Again. Jisung sees literal wheels turn in his head.
Minho’s face flattens. “Hyunjin.”
“Hyung. Jisungie.” His face twists.
Oh, brother. Maybe they should’ve stayed in the damn carriage.
“Fucking finally,” Seungmin calls from the back. That fucker. He’s clinging to Felix even now. “I genuinely can’t believe you two are the last ones. That’s pretty fucking embarassing for self-proclaimed soulmates.”
“Seungie,” Jisung whines. He can’t win with this guy. Like, at all. Actually, fuck Seungmin and his pretentious ass.
"This cotton candy fucking sucks," Seungmin mumbles. In the background, BTS' Dynamite plays.
“Oh, you’re back.” Jeongin greets them with an apple in his mouth, legs swinging off the kitchen counter. He checks them over one by one. “No one got stabbed. A shame.”
Chan pokes his head over the corner and Jisung watches Hyunjin’s face light up in real-time. He supposes it’s only deserved. Poor guy had to hang out with Seungmin and Felix for the majority of the day. It drains the will out of you.
“How was the cotton candy?” Changbin asks. The most normal greeting they’re going to get, to be honest.
“It was pretty average.” Seungmin shrugs. His arm is slung around Felix’s waist. Jisung can’t bring himself to care anymore. “We saved some for you. Here.”
“Well,” Minho sighs. He turns to Jisung. “Are you satisfied, Hannie?”
Is he?
The cotton candy, because Seungmin is always fucking right, was pretty mediocre. He isn’t sure what made him so compelled to try it. He can’t remember anymore.
Jisung also predicts that in ten seconds from now, Hyunjin is going to blurt out the Ferris wheel fiasco, and their entire planned evening will be ruined because their six guys are nosy as fuck and also supportive as fuck.
But overall? Genuinely?
“I’m pretty happy, hyung.” He smiles. “I’m quite happy.”
To: Sara (Human Resources JYPE)
fuck you. but also thanks. but mainly fuck you.
Live, Laugh, Love,
Hyunjin Hwang