Chapter 60: I’m turning thirty in a day or two

As we walked a little further down the path from the parking lot, the ticket booth of the amusement park and a long line of people came into view.

Perhaps because it had been several years since my last visit, excluding the school trips during my middle and high school years, I felt a slight sense of nostalgia.

No, even if I call it nostalgia, I didn’t have any friends during my school days, so all I did was wander around by myself.

Still, the bustling atmosphere unique to amusement parks and the sweet smell of cotton candy were enough to turn a 28-year-old man back into a child.

Anyway, as I was about to join the line before it got any more crowded, I felt a pressure on my sleeve. It was Dasom.

“What’s wrong, unni?”

“…”

“Ah, should we buy some water before we go in? It’s expensive inside.”

Unni, who had shaken her head slightly, moved her lips and then spoke.

“Um… Dojin, you can rest nearby. I’ll go by myself.”

“Huh? Why?”

Dasom, hearing my words, rolled her eyes as if it was a completely unexpected reaction, and then cautiously continued.

“Why, you ask? It’s obvious you’ll hate it, Dojin. You must be angry enough for me to have ruined your precious holiday, and now we even have to take weird pictures…? Um, you don’t have to worry about anything, Dojin. I’ll take care of everything.”

Her words explained the gap between us in a single stroke.

And from now on, I will tear down that flimsy rope.

“It was certainly an unplanned event.”

“Right, you don’t even like taking pictures, Dojin, do you?”

It was true that in the past, I disliked having my picture taken. More precisely, I disliked seeing my own face.

However, thanks to someone who consistently captured my face on camera, I had now reached a level where I could tolerate it.

At the very least, I understood why people took pictures.

“But.”

Cutting to the chase, I wanted to tell her this right now.
That I came here just because I wanted to hang out with her.

And by doing so, I wanted to prove that my being with her now wasn’t just out of pity or a sense of responsibility.

No, I had to prove it. Even if it was just to get rid of the colorful insects that crawled around in my heart whenever I saw her.

However, since she wouldn’t believe me in a situation where I had lost her trust, I decided to use a little trick.

“I’ve wanted to come here at least once. With someone I’m close to…”

“Huh?”

Unni, who understood my meaning, quickly covered her trembling lips with her hand. But it was difficult to hide the hot breath escaping from between her fingers.

She would not be able to refuse the offer I was about to make.
In a way, it was what she was most desperately hoping for right now.

“L-Lies. You’ve been here on a school trip before.”

“…Well, I didn’t have any friends, so I just wandered around by myself and went home.”

“Oh, I see. I’m sorry, I asked without thinking…”

But not everything was a cunning trick. Half of it was true.
I had always wondered. What it would be like to come to an amusement park with someone I’m close to.

My parents had never come with me, saying they were busy, and I was alone during my school days.

Even during my club days, when I started hanging out with people and going to various places, we never came to an amusement park. The reasons were as follows:

Chae Seolha said she didn’t go to amusement parks anymore after throwing up on the person in front of her on a roller coaster, and Oh Minseo was the type to just stick around unless she was specifically invited. As for the naturally timid Yu Garyeon, it was out of the question.

With the majority of the club being like that, it was only natural that the topic of amusement parks never came up.

“Then.”

Anyway, unni, who had heard my words, fiddled with her fingers for a moment, then glanced at me and hesitantly began.

“Then, you know… If you’re okay with it, Dojin.”

Unni’s hesitant gaze turned towards me.

“Do you want to look around with me…?”

****

The weekend amusement park was filled with a diverse crowd.

Families out for a picnic, friends of the same age who had come out looking for some moderately thrilling fun, and finally, couples who were busy taking lovey-dovey pictures with the park as their backdrop, the rides being a secondary concern.

Then how do unni and I look in the eyes of others? As I was thinking for a moment, unni, who was walking ahead, stopped abruptly.

“Dojin, let’s ride this first.”

Unni, who had spun around, said with a bright smile. It was the brightest expression I had seen on her face in a long time.

I wanted to respond with a smile too, but.

“…Unni?”

“Yeah?”

“You want to ride this?”

“Yeah!”

“Not just take a picture?”

“Yeah, why…?”

Behind unni, who was blinking her eyes in bewilderment, the sound of children’s laughter flowed out.
A cylindrical roof sparkling with lights, and white horses rotating underneath it.

It was a carousel.

“A carousel at this age is a bit much.”

“You’ve never ridden it before, have you, Dojin? Then you have to try it. When you come to an amusement park, you’re supposed to ride the carousel first.”

I’ve been treated like a baby since earlier. It was true that I had never ridden it before, though.

“I’m definitely not doing this because I want to take a picture of you on a carousel, Dojin…?”

Dasom, who had taken out a DSLR camera from her bag, said, puffing out her nostrils. Her voice held a strange pressure.

Of course, I could do anything for unni, but if I just kept giving in, we’d be back to square one. I had to enjoy myself today too.

“Then shall we ride it together?”

“Huh?”

Unni’s face widened in surprise again. Her smirk suggested she was telling me not to joke.

I forced a wide smile and pulled her arm.

“Let’s ride it, together. You said we’re supposed to ride the carousel first when we come to an amusement park. If we’re going to have fun, we should do it properly.”

“Ah, no, the picture! Who’s going to take the picture if I ride it?”

Snatching the camera from her hand, I asked a couple who were taking lovey-dovey pictures near the entrance to take a picture for us.

They looked a little fed up, but they readily accepted my offer with a wry smile.

“W-Wait, Dojin. I-I’m turning thirty the day after tomorrow, you know?”

“Then what about me? I’m turning twenty-nine next year.”

“Are you and I the same? Our Dojin is so young, people would believe you if you said you were fifteen…”

The standard of age I had in my mind was being twisted at that moment. At this point, I was curious about how I looked in her eyes.

“Forget it, let’s just ride it. The kids behind us are waiting.”

I used the swarm of children coming from behind as an excuse and pulled her hand.

****

“Even though I took it, it came out so, so well. You two are so photogenic, really.”

The woman, who had a lively atmosphere, laughed bustlingly as she handed me the camera. Judging by her school uniform, she seemed to be a student. Or perhaps a tomboyish couple enjoying a school uniform date.

“Thank you. Really, I don’t know how to repay you…”

“Hehe, then could you take a picture of us too? Seeing you two makes me want to ride it.”

At those words, the man standing behind her turned pale. It was unfortunate, but it couldn’t be helped.

“Honey, this time, with the flower pose, quickly!”

As I was taking pictures of the unbearable sight, a faint breath escaped from beside me.

“I-I didn’t look like that, did I?”

Unni, who had been muttering with her hand over her mouth in horror, immediately turned her head as soon as our eyes met.

Of course, there was no need to say how the picture of two youths in their late twenties, squeezed between innocent children with stiff expressions and postures, would look.

“It was even worse.”

“What…?”

Unni, whose face flushed bright red at my passing remark, soon started jumping up and down, trying to snatch the DSLR camera hanging from my neck.

“E-Erase it.”

“Then erase my embarrassing pictures from your gallery first.”

I had no way of knowing exactly how many there were, but she had taken a lot of humiliating pictures of me under the pretext of them being cute.
In a way, what I was doing now was a form of revenge.
A very petty and small revenge.

“Embarrassing pictures? They’re so cute…!”

As I jokingly reached out my hand, unni clutched her phone and shook her head. She looked like she was protecting a treasure.

“Then I shouldn’t erase this either. Because it’s cute.”
“…”

Unni, who had been looking back and forth between her phone and the DSLR camera for a while, squeezed her eyes shut and said.

“D-Do as you please. But you can’t erase this.”

So that’s how you want to play it.

Then I will also take a lot of cute pictures of unni today.
With that resolve, I gripped the DSLR camera swaying from my neck.