𝗚𝗢𝗧𝟳 𝗜𝗠𝗔𝗚𝗜𝗡𝗘𝗦 𝟭

ferris wheel ; jinyoung

'Jinyoung, come on,' she grinned, waving at him at the end of the line.

So that's his name, Jinyoung... you thought internally to yourself, watching as he walked back to her a smile on his face. You felt slightly disappointed but shored it up quickly. It's not as if you could have him anyway you admonished yourself as you saw that to the last few stragglers that left. Well, he is really sweet, to do that for her, she must be a really lucky girl you thought to yourself.

Opening the line, you took the paper coupons that they used to pay and as Jinyoung passed you, you flashed him a quick grin that he returned before focusing his attention back to the girl.

Memorizing which carriage, they sat in, you started the machine, watching carefully as they slowly but surely reached the top. As soon as they did, you pressed a button that would stop the Ferris Wheel for 2 minutes, surely more than enough time for him to propose to his girl, unless he prepared some long-winded speech.

Surely enough, the Ferris Wheel jerked back to life after 2 minutes and you smiled to yourself, hoping it had worked. By the time the ride had ended, you were looking through the crowd for Jinyoung, but all you saw were nameless faces as they passed. As the crowd thinned, you finally saw him, head down, hand fiddling with the edge of his turtleneck. The girl was nowhere in sight and that prickled your suspicion. As if he could hear your curiosities, he looked up, made eye contact with you and shook his head slightly.

You winced, feeling his pain, the look on his face was on of pure heartbreak as he passed your booth. Now, normally you weren't an impulsive person but you felt like you just had to do something. Abandoning your booth, you went after him, tapping him lightly on the shoulder.

'Hey, I'm sorry it didn't work out, do you... maybe want to talk about it? Over ice-cream?" you offered as his face lit up slightly.

He looked at you for a long time and you shifted uncomfortably as those dark brown eyes scrutinised you. But finally, he let a heavy sigh leave his lips and nodded.

'Sure? Why not, this night can't get any worse,' he muttered harshly.

'I'll just finish off my shift in 10 minutes and I'll be right back, I know this place down the street that serves some late-night ice-cream,' you said, before rushing back to the booth as he waited for you.

Thank God, the fair was already closing, and you could wrap up everything quickly, joining Jinyoung as he waited by the popcorn stall.

'Come on,' you said, bringing him to your usual ice-cream place which was opposite the Han River.

Han River

You licked off a part of vanilla ice-cream which had begun to melt, as you sat on a bench, listening to Jinyoung.

'It turns out she doesn't like me in that way after all, you know what she said after she told me no? She said that she didn't want to 'ruin the friendship',' he air quoted, chuckling darkly before taking a bite out of his mint chocolate ice cream, coincidentally, your second favorite flavour. 'Which, to be honest is a downright lie, I know she has a thing for this guy in her new college, I think his name is Jay or something,'

'I'm sorry about that,' you said softly. 'You guys sounded like you were really close,'

'Yeah,' he sighed, running a hand through his dark hair, leaning back against the bench. 'I've known Ji Eun for about 5 years now? We were sort of best friend back in high-school and then I did have a sort of crush on her back then so I thought well, why not?' he laughed at his own foolishness.

'Well,' you replied, carefully, not knowing how he would react. 'It's her loss,'

He glanced over at you shocked and flattered at the same time, lightening up the sadness that darkened his eyes.

'Thanks,' he said softly and you could feel the heat rising up to your face.

You popped the last bit of your ice-cream into your mouth in order to avoid humiliating yourself any further. Jinyoung did likewise and you stifled a yawn with the back of your hand, hoping he didn't notice. He did, smiling guiltily.

'I'm sorry to keep you up for so long, you're probably exhausted from work,' he mumbled an apology, offering a hand up.

Taking it, you let go quickly, trying not to allow your mind to dwell on the feeling of your hand in his.

'I'm fine, I'm pretty used to it, I'm a night owl by heart,' you teased, but despite your claims, you could feel your eyelids drooping, succumbing to sleep.

Chuckling, he shook his head. 'Come on (Y/N), I'll walk you home,' he offered.

'I'll be fine, my place is just 3 blocks away,' you waved off his offer but he insisted.

'You allowed a stranger to pour out his heartbreak to you, you treated this stranger to ice-cream and then somehow you made the stranger feel a bit better on probably the most embarrassing night of his life, so walking you home is the least I can do, besides, it's late,' he insited.

Laughing, you couldn't deny that he had a couple of good points, besides, spending a little bit more time with him wouldn't hurt would it?

'Fine,' you laughed, playfully shoving him as both of you walked back.

At Your House

'Well, here we are,' you sighed, inserting your keys into the lock, watching Jinyoung out of the corner of your eye.

He seemed sort of nervous as if he was debating to do something. 'Thanks for walking me home,' you said softly and just as you were about to step into your house, he stopped you with a quick '(Y/N)'

'Yeah?" you asked turning around to face him.

'I don't do this often but, well I really appreciate everything you did for me tonight so if I can ever help you out, or if you just want to hang out again,' he shrugged, offering a piece of paper with his digits scrawled on it.

Hesitant, you took the paper, scanning the numbers. Sure enough, it was his contact and you wanted to squeal with joy but you decided that it would be a little too early for that.

'Thanks Jinyoung, good night,' you whispered, and you watched as he walked down the street till he was out of sight.

A Month Later

You fiddled with your pen, your thoughts, once again floting down a very non-educational direction. You were thinking about Jinyoung again, although the last time you had seen him was a month ago and despite the fact that he had given you his number, he hadn't even texted, much less called. You had hoped, that maybe you would be able to spot him in the fair and you waited, eyes searching for a flash of dark hair and brown eyes.

Maybe a coffee your addled brain suggested and you grimaced. Coffee could either help you focus on your assignment or it could sharpen your attention on other things that were definitely not going to help you concentrate.

Both sides of your mind played tug-of-war with each other, debating and debating. Whilst you were busy in your own head, your phone suddenly buzzed, alerting you to a text message. Grateful for the interruption, you picked it up and swiped to see the message.

Jinyoung: I believe I owe you an ice-cream?

Me: Make it a coffee and then we have a deal

Jinyoung: There's a pretty good café down the street near your place, and it just happens that I'm in the area...

Me: Is this a date?

You didn't know when you became so bold, but you allowed yourself to send the message anyway.

Jinyoung: Only if you want it to be 😉

Me: I'll be there in 5

Jinyoung: See you

You couldn't help the smile that was starting to form on your lips as you tidied up your paper-strewn table.

I guess a coffee it is you thought to yourself grinning as you sped out the door.