episode_0049

“Wow~!”

Whether it was cheers or screams, something indiscernible could be heard in this place, Gwangalli Beach Land. It seemed somewhat crude, but there was a bustling atmosphere with quite a few visitors.

“Wow, the Viking looks quite impressive.”

Dayoung exclaimed with her mouth agape.

The old Viking ride going back and forth in front of us had a decent scale, and when it soared high, you could even see the sea far away, making it somewhat intimidating. The bumper cars were faithful to the basics, and the Disco Pang Pang had a miniaturized feel of a real amusement park with the DJ’s skillful announcements.

“There’s more than I thought. There’s even a betting area, bumper cars, and Disco Pang Pang. What else is there? A twist?”

Both Dayoung and I agreed that such scary rides were a bit too much for us.

We decided to ride the bumper cars, Viking, and Disco Pang Pang in that order and lined up at the ticket booth for the Viking ride.

I can’t even remember the last time I rode an amusement park ride. It must have been around 10 years ago during Dayoung and Davin’s elementary school days.

“Oh, it might be a bit scary since it’s been a while.”

Dayoung nervously held my hand.

“Well, it’s just an amusement park ride. What’s so scary about it?”

A moment later.

“Ahh! Help me!”

Due to the size of the Viking ride, the inertia hitting our bodies was no joke. Moreover, seeing the sea beyond the night sky added to the thrill. Isn’t that how amusement park rides are supposed to be?

What if it malfunctions? Such fears crossed my mind. Imagining the Viking ride derailing and flying off into the sea was an absurd thought. These irrational fears mingled together, creating an unknown sense of terror.

I was overwhelmed by fear, only able to scream.

However…

“Wow, this is awesome!”

Contrary to what I felt, Dayoung was enjoying the inertia, laughing heartily.

Why is she having fun? I’m scared to death.

After about 10 minutes of screaming and shouting until my throat was sore, when we got off the Viking ride, my throat hurt.

“I…I’m exhausted.”

I didn’t feel well. Initially, stepping on solid ground felt welcoming, but as my legs grew weaker, I feared they might give out. I had to exert more strength to avoid falling, resulting in muscle pain.

“You okay? Next up is the bumper cars. That should be better, right?”

Yes, I thought so. But I was wrong.

“Why do they keep targeting me!”

A group of young men, around six of them who looked like college students, kept ramming into me exclusively. It seemed like some kind of rivalry, as all but Dayoung and I had the same group in their bumper cars. Two stuck to Dayoung, five to me, with one moving back and forth, waiting for an opportunity.

“Stop it! I feel like I’m going to pass out!”

I shouted, but it was met with silent echoes, an empty reverberation. The continuous collisions made my head spin, especially since I wasn’t feeling well to begin with.

With each collision, my whole body shook, particularly my chest, which felt uncontrollably jolted.

Despite Dayoung skillfully dodging two cars, I had to deal with five, leaving me no room to breathe. When one of them managed to fixate on Dayoung, she too struggled. Thus, the two of us were toyed with by eight men until the time was up.

Getting off the bumper cars, my legs trembled as if they would give out.

I almost fell, but the man from that group who had just come down next to me caught me.

“Ugh, th-thank you.”

Thinking about it, it was all because of those guys that I stumbled like this, but I wondered if it was necessary to thank them like this.

“Oh, we were just kidding around a bit too much, right? Seeing only guys around, it seems like they went crazy after seeing a beauty.”

Now I realized that he was the guy who had been eyeing me and Dayoung back and forth earlier.

“No, maybe they all came to have fun, so it could be.”

After settling my dizziness for a moment and pushing away his support, I replied.

“Are you here to have fun too? Your way of speaking doesn’t seem like it.”

“Oh, yes. I came down for a short vacation.”

“I see. We came to Gwangalli for an MT.”

It was clear from the way he poured out information that his intentions were obvious.

“Haha, well… Have fun then?”

Saying that, he approached Dayoung. To my surprise, the guys from the group who had been bothering me persistently earlier were now huddled around Dayoung, saying something.

“No, it’s okay. And she’s a high school student.”

The atmosphere didn’t seem friendly at all, so I grabbed Dayoung’s hand and headed towards the bumper cars.

“Ridiculous, really.”

Dayoung seemed visibly upset.

“Um… aren’t you mad, Unnie?”

“If your feelings are too obvious, just laugh it off. Kids… Oh, you must be the oppas to them.”

Seems like I was thinking too much from my perspective. Ever since my body changed, there were many ways in which I relied on Dayoung, so I sometimes forgot that she was just a first-year high school student now. Above all, Dayoung looked quite mature physically. That’s probably why those guys were fixated on Dayoung as a high school student.

Anyway, we shook them off and headed towards the Disco Pang Pang ride. But lo and behold, the guys from earlier stuck to us like glue. Well, there weren’t many rides here anyway, so it was possible, but it didn’t feel good to see them smirking at us. It was a clear manifestation of desires typical for their age.

Oh, these brats. They’re already old enough to be fathers to kids like her. The child they would have had by now would be the daughter next to me.

“Don’t pay attention to them. Unnie.”

I nodded at Dayoung’s words.

“Don’t give attention to idiots. If you do, they’ll act even more foolishly, so let’s just ignore them.”

Yeah, that abbreviation…

Soon, as the ride in front of us finished its operation and it was our turn to ride, we slowly entered inside following the line.

And as we sat down, the DJ started making announcements.

“Okay, okay. Everyone please sit down quickly. Yes. Oh, you guys over there, guys, sit a bit apart. Are all eight of you going to sit together closely? Split into pairs. Yes. Oh, man. You know what’s pretty. Okay, each team play rock-paper-scissors. The winning two teams will sit next to those pretty ladies over there.”

Despite deliberately sitting far away from them, the DJ was blatantly trying to bring them closer.

When I crossed my arms in an X shape, the DJ burst out laughing.

“Haha! Hey, the ladies don’t like you guys. Not at all.”

They alternated between looking at us and the DJ while pointing fingers at us. Due to the masks, it wasn’t very audible, but it seemed like they were gesturing to come over here.

“What? Still want to go? Who won? Go and stick with them. Ladies, please understand. Anyway, they make up half of the passengers. They’ll end up sitting together no matter what.”

Annoyed, but knowing that what the DJ said wasn’t wrong, I just sat there. Then the guys came over, splitting up and sticking to us.

“Ugh, I’m sorry about earlier, okay. You’re not still mad about that joke, right? If not, please let go of your anger.”

Saying that, a man sat down next to me. Feeling a bit too close, I gently pushed away his hand wrapped around the bar behind me and said,

“I understand, could you please sit a little further away?”

“Oh~ I didn’t pay for the whole seat, sitting close makes it more thrilling. Is this your first time here? I’m the DJ, famous for being notorious, seems like I’ll be targeting only that side to death, so we need to stick together to catch them in case of emergencies.”

I’ve never been on this kind of ride before, so I don’t know if what he’s saying is right or wrong, but his intentions were clear, and I just didn’t like it. However, as everyone eventually boarded, we ended up sitting tightly together, so I reluctantly nodded my head, spread my arms out to the sides, and tightly grabbed the bar behind me.

“Alright, we’re starting now. Hold on tight!”

The Disco Pang Pang slowly began to spin. As the speed increased, the centrifugal force started to take effect on our bodies.

Then, with a swift stop, the DJ asked, “Are the ladies over there with you?”

Clearly asking me and Dayoung.

I nodded.

“Are you two sisters?”

For a moment, I considered revealing the truth about these guys to avoid a lengthy conversation that might end up bothering us more, so I just nodded.

“You came from Busan?”

-Nod.

“From above?”

-Nod.

“Seoul?”

-Nod.

“Hey, guys. She’s from Seoul. Got it? I should set her up with someone today.”

Saying that, he began to spin faster and only bounced the machine when we were at the top.

I held onto the bar with my already sore muscles and braced myself desperately.

-Boing, boing!

My chest bounced each time the machine did.

“Wow, nice view.”

That pervert?!

Without a subject, I couldn’t say anything.

“What are you doing, guy next to me? I should catch you.”

He then increased the intensity and tormented us until Dayoung couldn’t hold on and was bounced off.

“Whoa!”

I reached out and barely caught Dayoung, but it was impossible to hold her with one arm. Eventually, I tumbled to the ground along with Dayoung.

-Tumble, tumble.

“Oh, goodness. Hold on tight. What are the guys doing? Hurry and grab us.”

As she bounced towards the guys. Eventually, one of them got up and hurriedly supported us back to our seats. Seeing the guys next to Dayoung, they were busy holding each other’s legs to support their upper bodies.

“You guys are in trouble.”

Looking at them, DJ sighed deeply. After finally sitting back and grabbing the bar again, the man who supported us asked,

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah, thank you.”

I don’t know why I’m thanking them, but is this the placebo effect?

Anyway, it’s only been 2 minutes since Disco Pang Pang started.

Oh, this isn’t easy.