Chapter 23: Amusement Park
Stepping into the amusement park felt like walking straight into a high-budget movie.
It was massive, sprawling, and overflowing with energy. Sunday crowds filled every corner, families holding ice cream cones, couples walking hand in hand, and groups of teenagers shouting in excitement. Towering roller coasters twisted overhead, neon game booths lined the walkways, and the smell of sweet funnel cake and fresh popcorn drifted through the warm afternoon breeze.
Back when I was working eighty-hour weeks at the restaurant, an amusement park was just a place I saw on television or heard my coworkers talk about. Actually standing here in the middle of it all with complete freedom felt surreal.
"Alright! First stop-that giant metal death trap!" Yerin declared, pointing a gloved finger toward the tallest coaster in the park.
She turned to me with a wicked grin, tilting her head. "What’s the matter, Seth? You’re not scared of heights, are you?"
"Maybe a little," I admitted with a shrug, glancing up at the massive vertical drop. "I’ve never actually been on one of these things before."
"Don’t worry, cousin! I’ll protect you!" Yerin laughed, slapping my shoulder like a knight straight out of an anime.
She pulled a compact, high-end digital camera out of her oversized hoodie pocket and tossed it toward Val. "Here, Valerie! Capture the best moments of our date—I mean, trip! Make sure my good side is always facing the lens!"
Val caught the camera effortlessly with one hand, staring at it for a long second before letting out a soft, defeated sigh. "I am going to request a raise from Lord Julian."
We joined the queue, which moved surprisingly fast. Before I knew it, we were stepping into the loading station and being strapped into the front cars of the roller coaster. A nervous jitter settled in my chest, a mix of motion anxiety and raw excitement.
As the mechanical track began clicking loudly, slowly pulling us up the steep, towering incline toward the sky, the park below us shrank into miniature size. I took a deep breath, my hands tightening around the safety bar.
Suddenly, a small, warm hand slid over mine.
I glanced to my side. Yerin had slipped one hand free from her harness and wrapped it firmly around mine. Even with her face mask hiding her mouth, her large dark eyes curved into a gentle, reassuring smile.
"Everything’s gonna be fine, Seth," she said, her honey-sweet voice surprisingly soft beneath the mechanical clanking of the coaster. "Just hold onto me."
A subtle warmth bloomed in my chest. Her hand was soft, delicate, and comforting. Before I could say anything, the coaster reached the peak, paused for an agonizing fraction of a second, and plunged straight down the vertical drop.
"WAAAAAH!" Yerin screamed at the top of her lungs as her dark wavy hair flew wildly in the wind.
The wind blasted against my face as gravity seemed to abandon us. The sheer speed was insane, twisting through corkscrews, loops, and sudden drops that turned my stomach upside down. I couldn’t help letting out a loud, breathless shout of my own, laughing as the adrenaline surged through my veins.
Throughout the entire wild ride, Yerin never let go of my hand. Her fingers remained tightly intertwined with mine, her body leaning close whenever the track banked hard into a sharp curve, her sweet feminine scent briefly overwhelming the metallic rush of the wind.
Meanwhile, directly behind us in the second row, Val sat in her harness with her arms casually crossed over her chest. Her expression didn’t change even once as the coaster went through a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree loop. She looked as relaxed as if she were waiting for a train.
When the coaster finally screeched to a halt at the station, my legs felt like jelly.
We unbuckled and stepped onto the exit platform. The world around me spun slightly, and a sudden wave of nausea hit me like a brick wall.
"Whoa, easy there, sir," a park attendant said, stepping forward to guide me toward a nearby bench. "First-timers usually get a little motion sickness from that initial drop. It’s totally normal."
I sat on the bench, holding my head as my vision swirled. ’Paige... a little help here?’ I asked mentally.
[On it, Host,] Paige replied instantly. [Cleaning up your inner ear balance and settling your digestive tract now.]
A faint, cooling sensation rippled through my body, and the nausea vanished within seconds, leaving me refreshed.
When I looked up, Yerin and Val were walking toward me. Yerin had a cup of iced citrus juice in one hand, trying to drink it through a straw tucked beneath her face mask, wiggling her jaw awkwardly to get the liquid in without exposing her face. It was one of the most absurd things I had ever seen.
"Here," Yerin said, handing me the drink with a smug look. "Drink this, weakling. It’ll help with the dizziness."
"Thanks," I said with a chuckle, taking a sip. Even though she was teasing me, the thoughtful gesture brought a smile to my face. She really did care in her own chaotic way.
With my stomach settled, we resumed exploring the park. We wandered through the vibrant walkways, soaking in the lively atmosphere, before Yerin suddenly stopped in front of an arcade.
Her eyes locked onto a massive, glowing claw machine filled with plushies of a famous round cat mascot with big, derpy eyes. It was a character everyone recognised.
"I NEED IT!" Yerin declared, slamming a stack of tokens into the coin slot.
She grabbed the joystick with intense concentration, positioning the metal claw over the largest cat plushie. She slammed the drop button, watching with wide, hopeful eyes as the claw descended.
Clank. The claw grabbed the plushie’s ear, lifted it barely two inches, and immediately dropped it back onto the pile.
"WHAT?!" Yerin gasped. "That was rigged! The machine is biased!"
She inserted more tokens, tried again, and failed. She tried a third time, a fourth time, and a fifth, ending up with absolutely nothing every single time. Like the sore loser she was, she started kicking the bottom of the machine while making wild excuses about the joystick calibration.
A group of little kids nearby started giggling at her childish meltdown.
"Look, the masked lady can’t even win once," one of the kids whispered with a snicker.
Yerin’s head snapped toward the kids, her dark eyes blazing with competitive fury. "What did you say, you little brat?! I’ll show you—"
"Okay, okay, let me stop you right there," I said, grabbing the back of her hoodie and pulling her away before a world-famous pop star ended up on the evening news for fighting a seven-year-old. "Don’t fight children, Yerin."