"Are you sure this will work?"

"I hope it does."

Winter Carnival is one of the main events you need to attend if you are to visit Busan at Christmas.  The whole event is themed after a story but also has a lot of activities. From snowmen and snowballs to roller coasters and snow angels; from ice skating and snowman contests to shooting at balloons; from going on the Ferris wheel and seeing the stars above them. You can even go to the pier for some rides, as well as eat cotton candy or get steak. All sorts of things.

Winter carnivals were something that had always been around since the beginning of time.

Although this year, the activities were toned down due to the pandemic precautions and wellbeing for all the attendees—that was expected. It was still gonna be fun if what I was planning would go smoothly.

Soobin was still determined to only have small talks with me, and that was perfectly fine.  We've both come a long way and we're trying to move past our old issues, so there's no reason to push anything further than this right now.

"Do you think Soobin will like it?" Yeonjun asked me, breaking me out of my thoughts and back into reality.

"Hm? Like what?"

He looked at me suspiciously before saying, "Don't you know?"

"Know what?"

"Soobin likes winter."

And I knew I wasn't making a mistake. "If that's true, he would love it." Yeonjun grinned, "I hope so too." His eyes then landed on Soobin on the couch, comfortably talking to Beomgyu about God knows what. His smile fell, making me frown. I too looked at Beomgyu and back at him. "Is something wrong?" Yeonjun sighed, looking back at me. "It's nothing."

I did not ask any further. He seemed upset about something else and I didn't want to press.

We spent the rest of the day catching up and just enjoying each other's company until it was finally the time I was waiting for. But then I faced the biggest challenge, inviting Soobin to the carnival.

What if he doesn't want to go? What if he thinks it's childish? What if he wants to watch something on his laptop and pretend I'm not there?

But what if he does want to go? What if he enjoys it? And maybe he wants to spend more time with me? What if...?

I mentally slapped myself and urged it to be productive for once. With large steps, I stalked towards Soobin and with all the courage I could sum up, I asked,

"Binnie, are you free right now?"

His gaze shifted towards mine, "Uh... yeah, why?"

"Well..." I started to pick at the cuffs of my sweater nervously. My hand ran through my hair nervously and he frowned at my nervousness. "I uh... wanted to ask if you are up for going to the Winter carnival."

We were dating for three months now, I don't know how I managed to make it sound like a high schooler asking their crush out. He looked a bit surprised and slightly confused. "Yeah sure..." He said slowly before smiling shyly. My heart melted at his adorable shyness and I couldn't help but blush a little. "Okay."

"Okay."

God, was this awkward.

After this, I was dragged to my room by Yeonjun who took the authority to dress me up for the date, the fashionista he was.  I let him do that because I knew he wouldn't let me do it myself anyway.

He picked out a cute red and white jumper tucked into light blue skinny jeans with white socks and converse. I was hurled to the front of the mirror and was sat through a whole makeover, light glitter over the eyelids and eyeliners for effect. It was barely noticeable but somehow I looked much better than how I usually do.

I smiled to myself. This was better than I expected and Yeonjun knew exactly what he was doing. Then I met Soobin outside the house and I did not expect to find him in a red sweater and black high jeans that hugged his waist perfectly and his hair curled which looked cute on him.

"You look beautiful." He said with a slight daze in his voice. That was another thing about Soobin. When he spoke or acted, he did so with passion and seriousness that he didn't really seem like he was joking. Even when he wasn't talking to me that much earlier, his body language spoke a lot more.

My lips turned upwards at his compliment, showing an innocent, but genuine smile at him. He returned it with a sweet smile and walked close to me and placed a gentle kiss on my cheek. It was our real interaction after two days and it felt just right.

"Ready?"

"More than I'll ever be," I answered him with a chuckle. Starting the engine of the car my mother owned, I drove us down the streets of Busan. Instead of the awkward silences between us, we talked freely. There were laughs and smiles exchanged every few minutes throughout the drive. Sometimes he would tease me, sometimes I would tease him, and sometimes we would bicker good-naturedly. And before we knew it, we had reached our destination.

"Woah," Soobin breathed out softly as I grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the entrance of the infamous carnival. "Let's go in!"  I exclaimed excitedly. Soobin laughed and nodded at me and we went inside together with excitement bubbling in our stomachs.

The first stop of the day was the Snowball War, a new addition as it snowed only this. It was a game where you throw a snowball at anyone else in your team while they try to hit you in turn. I got to know how competitive Soobin was when it came to games. I was showered with the balls one after the other before I gave up and fell to the ground, holding onto my stomach as I laughed. "Stop now, I admit defeat." His victorious expression was unremarkable.

We spent the evening walking around, eating food, playing all kinds of games, and having great fun. There were different types of food there as well, ranging from traditional Korean to fast food stalls. Each of us grabbed a stick of cotton candy and chatted away with occasional flirting. In the end, it was time for the light show and Soobin insisted we go on the Ferris wheel. So we did.

We boarded one of the pods and settled across each other. The started, we went up in the sky and I was mesmerized. I stared at the twinkling stars in the night sky with a small smile on my lips. "Beautiful," I whispered quietly. I was so hung up on it that I almost didn't hear Soobin speak.

"Taehyun."

I blinked and turned to him, eyes probably still glittering from how overwhelmed I was. "Hmm?" He looked upset. "I am sorry."

"For what?"

"For making things awkward between us. I don't know, it just felt unreal to finally have met you realise something that I wasn't aware of since...well, since forever." I was happy, yet confused. "And that is?"

"That how much I've fallen for you." He responded, his cheeks turning a slight pink colour. He came a bit closer, taking my hands in his in a gentle, caring hold. I opened my mouth to reply but closed it again. I wasn't even sure what to say. "Taehyun." He called my name softly. I looked at him, my eyes meeting his and my breath hitched. "I love you and, if possible, would want to stay with you forever."

My breathing slowed as he leaned forward, bringing his face closer to mine. My eyes widened, my heart thumping against my chest, my breaths quickening. I swallowed.

Just as his forehead connected with mine, he whispered, "Maybe this is what I lacked in mine and Junnie's dating period. He was just there for some time while I wanted something which lasted forever."

A pause, which felt like hours, before he was speaking again. "And now I've found you." He lowered my mask as well as his and before I knew it, his mouth brushed against mine softly before kissing me. He kissed me passionately as the lights from the fireworks flashed in front of us, illuminating his face. I smiled into his lips and held onto the lapels of his shirt tightly, feeling his hands running through my own curls. Our lips moved together gently and I could feel myself falling in love with him all over again. I had never been happier than at that moment.

Are you online?

☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆*ﾟ ゜ﾟ*☆