# Chapter 51
“You’re really cute, hyung. Just like a squirrel.”
Well of course he looked like a squirrel, he was wearing squirrel ear headband. Yeomin wore an expression like he’d just bitten into something foul.
Meanwhile, Jiho’s face was split with a wide grin as he shoved his phone camera in Yeomin’s face, snapping photos nonstop.
‘Be patient… this is a paid gig… be patient…’
Yeomin repeated this mantra over and over. He would overcome this with the power of capitalism!
“If you’re done taking pictures, I’d like to take this off.”
As Yeomin tried to hastily remove the headband, Jiho stopped him.
“We need to take one together too!”
Damn it. It was like he was possessed by the ghost of someone who died from not taking enough photos. This guy normally didn’t even take selfies.
‘Isn’t the young master’s fantasy a bit too modest?’
Couple headbands at an amusement park, really?
A date where they went shopping at a department store would be much better. Or going to a hotel buffet and eating until they burst!
Despite Yeomin’s dissatisfied expression, Jiho paid no mind and pressed his cheek against Yeomin’s. Then he counted, “One, two, three~” and took a selfie.
Click. Click. The shutter sound wouldn’t stop.
“Cut it out.”
The people around them didn’t seem to care about the two men enthusiastically taking photos.
That’s because half the people here were busy taking pictures while wearing strange headbands themselves.
Jiho and Yeomin looked like just another ordinary group, no different from the others. Except that the others were male-female pairs, while they were both men…
“Now that we’ve taken enough pictures, you can stop looking so grim. Shall we go home? Your legs must be tired.”
So they really just came here to eat churros and take pictures? Yeomin grabbed Jiho’s arm.
“Since we came all this way, let’s ride at least one thing. It would be a waste of the all-day passes.”
“Amusement rides…?”
“If you’re scared, you can just wait for me.”
Yeomin never missed a chance to look down on Jiho. “You can’t handle rides, can you?” he taunted, which made Jiho bristle.
“I can ride them just fine!”
“Really? Then can you ride that?”
Yeomin pointed to the gyro drop. Watching the ride plummet as riders screamed “Kyaaak!” made Jiho’s expression change in the most entertaining way.
“Are you trying to kill me, hyung?”
Yes~ He obviously looked like he couldn’t handle it.
Yeomin snickered and moved his finger elsewhere.
“What about that one?”
This time he pointed at a high-speed train that dropped almost vertically at 90 degrees. Jiho’s face turned pale.
“Just looking at it makes me queasy… I think I might throw up.”
He felt sick just looking at it?
‘So this guy actually has things he’s afraid of.’
Yeomin felt that Jiho seemed a little more human now.
“You’re such a total newb, Seol Jiho.”
“Can’t we ride something easier?”
“Hmm. Then what about that one?”
Yeomin pointed to one last ride. It was a swing ride that spun around in the air.
Jiho’s expression still wasn’t good.
“Don’t tell me you’re scared of that too? Maybe we should just ride the merry-go-round.”
“N-no…! Let’s ride that one.”
Jiho said hurriedly.
“Why? I’m fine with the merry-go-round too.”
Before Yeomin could finish, Jiho grabbed his hand and pulled him toward the swing ride.
Yeomin, suspecting something, said:
“I was just kidding earlier. You really don’t have to ride it if you don’t want to.”
“No, it’s okay if I ride with you, hyung.”
“…I’m not taking responsibility if you cry.”
“If I cry, you’ll stop the ride for me, right hyung?”
“Oh, please…”
Jiho’s hand, gripping Yeomin’s more tightly than usual, felt especially warm today.
The swing ride was designed for one person, so they couldn’t ride together. To make matters worse, the entry line was cut off between Yeomin and Jiho who were waiting.
Feeling mischievous, Yeomin pushed Jiho’s back.
“Go ahead and ride. I’ll watch from here!”
Yeomin planned to capture Jiho’s terrified face on camera.
Jiho was trying desperately to get out of it, but at the staff member’s direction, he reluctantly took the last available seat.
Yeomin waved from outside the fence like a parent seeing their child off.
“Close your eyes if you get scared~”
‘I never knew teasing Seol Jiho could be this fun.’
After always being the one teased, Yeomin was enjoying the role reversal.
Jiho, seated on the swing ride, was visibly tense from his stiff posture alone. What made it even more comical was that he was surrounded by children who looked no older than ten.
“Smile, Seol Jiho!”
Even when Yeomin shouted, Jiho just looked at him with anxious eyes. He gripped the swing chains as if they were lifelines, unable to let go.
With Jiho in this state of tension, the swing ride began its operation.
Yeomin pressed the video record button. The swing slowly gained altitude and began to rotate.
“He’s so nervous…”
Yeomin had no idea Jiho was such a scaredy-cat. When he comes down, I’ll show him the recording and tease him thoroughly!
While Yeomin was filming with a grin, someone tugged at his pants.
“…?”
Yeomin’s gaze dropped to his knees. A little girl, not even waist-high, was looking up at him.
She was just a tiny tot, barely kindergarten age, if that.
“Excuse me, have you seen my mommy?”
Mommy? Who’s your mommy… A look of bewilderment crossed Yeomin’s face.
“Mommyyy…”
The child’s lips started trembling, and she was about to burst into tears.
Yeomin quickly put away his phone and picked up the child.
It seemed she had lost her mother. Yeomin first looked around for the child’s parents who might be nearby.
Even when he asked where she got lost or what clothes her mother was wearing, the child only cried.
Yeomin was about to search for the information desk on his phone to make an announcement.
While he was doing this, a young woman came running from a distance, calling out “Sua!”
“Mommy!”
The child stretched out her arms toward the woman.
When Yeomin carefully placed her on the ground, she ran into her mother’s arms.
Watching the touching reunion between mother and daughter, Yeomin felt relieved.
“Thank you, thank you so much…!”
The child’s mother bowed repeatedly in gratitude. Seeing her startled face, Yeomin became fully invested in the moment.
Yeomin waved goodbye to the child in her mother’s arms.
“Bye, Sua-“
“Bye-bye~”
Sua smiled as she moved away. As Yeomin watched them leave with satisfaction, he suddenly realized he had strayed quite far from the swing ride.
‘Oh right, Seol Jiho!’
Yeomin took out his phone. He’d left in a rush this morning without charging it, and after recording the video and searching for the information desk, the battery was barely hanging on.
By now, Jiho should have gotten off the ride.
“I need to call Seol Jiho quickly.”
He’s going to give me an earful again. Yeomin’s ears already felt hot just thinking about it. He urgently pressed the call button.
And at that moment, with a ‘beep,’ his phone shut off completely.
“Damn it… why now of all times…”
Yeomin went back to where the swing ride had been.
Even with so many people around, Jiho would stand out immediately.
‘If I can’t find him, I might have to go to the information desk and ask them to make an announcement for Seol Jiho…’
While genuinely worried and searching around the swing ride area, Yeomin’s anxious expression suddenly calmed.
“…Seol Jiho.”
Yeomin’s steps halted in front of a nearby bench.
A figure sitting with his head hung low in a secluded area. He had almost walked past without recognizing Jiho.
Yeomin approached with relief and explained:
“Sorry. A kid got lost, so I was late because I was helping her find her mom.”
“…”
“I tried to call you but my phone died, sorry. I know you don’t like this kind of thing.”
Not sure why he was apologizing, but it wasn’t empty words. Yeomin truly felt sorry. If he had been in Jiho’s situation, he would have been upset too.
And until then, Jiho had been hanging his head, but now he silently pulled on Yeomin’s arm.
“…”
“Seol Jiho. Are you okay?”
At the worried question, Jiho slowly raised his head. His pale face didn’t look okay at all.
Yeomin thought Jiho would just be a little angry, but it seemed more serious than that.
“If the ride made you feel sick—”
“Hyung…”
The weak voice sounded nothing like Jiho.
Instead, Yeomin was the one who was flustered. It was really the first time seeing him like this.
‘Did I force him on the ride unnecessarily…?’
As Yeomin was feeling guilty, Jiho rested his head against Yeomin’s stomach. Then, in a very low, damp voice, he said:
“Don’t abandon me.”
“…”
“You can’t abandon me, hyung. Don’t go… okay?”
The wet murmur sent tremors through Yeomin’s body.
What was he supposed to say to that? Yeomin just stood there stiffly, not knowing what to do. His voice caught in his throat as if words were stuck there.
After a long while, Yeomin patted Jiho’s shoulder and spoke matter-of-factly:
“How could I abandon you?”
Isn’t abandonment something only the person in power can do? Would it be presumptuous for him to tell Jiho, “Alright, I won’t abandon you”? That’s what he thought.
Jiho said nothing more and just hugged Yeomin’s waist tighter. With a truly desperate motion.
Yeomin couldn’t understand why Jiho was acting this way, but he could guess it wasn’t simply because of the ride.
‘Have you, too, been abandoned by someone before?’
Yeomin held back the rising question and said in a soothing voice:
“Let’s go home.”
“Yes. Let’s go to our home.”
Jiho, exhaling silently, was just like a dog. A wounded dog.
