"Amusement park, huh?" A teenage boy spoke, grinning. "That sounds exciting! I'm jealous." He stated, chuckling lightly.

"I just hope we won't run to some clowns, or else I'll strangle them up with the balloons they're holding." Halilintar muttered, gritting his teeth afterwards.

The figure let out an airy laugh, looking at the ruby-eyed boy with an amused look. "You're still afraid of them, aren't you?"

"Well, what can I do? I'm globophobic, remember?" Halilintar replied, narrowing his eyes to the person he's speaking to.

The boy let out another chortle. "Well, you have to tell your friend about your phobia. What if he took you to some places with balloons and he has no clue you're already trembling uncontrollably?" He reminded, smiling gently.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll tell him later." The lightning elemental responded, crossing both of his arms on his chest.

There was a moment of silence between them, thinking of what to talk about next. There's also not much time left, so one of them should at least say something before their time ran out. Not long after, one of them spoke up.

"Halilintar, I hope you're doing okay." The figure said, looking at the boy mentioned in worry. The latter only glanced away, trying to calm his senses.

"Gempa, I told you, I'm fine, really." Halilintar answered, with both his teeth and his fists clenched tightly.

The said teen deeply sighed, slowly shaking his head. "You know I can't be there every time whenever you're going through something. At least, let your friend know. You can't bare this pain alone."

"I know," Halilintar's rubescent eyes stared on the horizon, with his brows frowning then sighed. "But sometimes, he's just... annoying."

"Well, I was annoying too back then, you know?"

"He's much more annoying than you know."

Gempa chuckled slightly, giving Halilintar a soft smile. "One day, you'll realize how much you'll miss his mischievousness."

"No, I won't—"

"Oh, you will, you in denial."

"What did you say?!"

The hazel-golden eyed teen only let out his last laugh before Halilintar finally wakes up from his deep slumber.

<<>><<>><<>>

Gasping, Halilintar jolted up from his bed, sitting up straight with beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. He grunted, holding his head that's slightly aching. He then wiped his sweat off his forehead, sighing softly once more.

Suddenly, he heard multiple footsteps coming towards the room. Cautiously, he stared at the door while gripping tightly on his blanket. Before he knew it, the door of the room slammed wide open, revealing an eager, restless Taufan.

"HALI, RISE AND SHINE!" The blue masked boy exclaimed, laughing with full of giddiness.

Halilintar only gave him a creepy glare, making the startled wind element to look sideways, whistling innocently while sweating nervously.

The short-tempered teen sighed heavily, trying to compose himself from his friend's impetuous actions. "You know, there is such thing as opening the door 'gently', right?" Halilintar emphasised, giving his anxious friend another chilling look.

Taufan cheeped, smiling sheepishly while slowly answering his friend back with a salute. "Yes..." He replied, his voice squeaking once again.

Halilintar let out another light sigh. "I'll be down in a few minutes. Don't get too exhilarated. The amusement park isn't even open yet around this early morning." He stated, rolling his eyes before getting up from his bed.

"Actually, there is this one ride that's been recently opened not too long ago, and~" The cheerful boy grinned. "It's also included in one of my bucket list, so we have two things to do today!~" He added, smiling widely.

Curious, the lightning elemental raised a brow. "Which are?"

Taufan smiled even wider. "GOING TO THE AMUSEMENT PARK, AND TO SKYDIVE!"

The uninterested Halilintar only blinked his eyes a few times. "'kay."

"We're going to ride on that skydive by the time we set our foot down on the amusement park! Aren't you excited, Hali?!~"

"That's... not even a ride. It's a free fall, idiot."

"Eh... Still! It's exciting, right?!"

"It's... okay?" Halilintar replied, slightly unsure with his answer.

"Oh, Hali. I'm sure you're going to enjoy it!~"

<<>><<>><<>>

To pass time, both Halilintar and Taufan decided to have a walk around the public park— that's just located next to the amusement park— while waiting for the latter to open. It's still early for them to visit the said venue, but the blue masked teenager was too enthusiastic in going out already, so Halilintar had no choice but to go with his friend. Regardless, they would have an advantage since they'll be the first one to get inside, only if they will head there early enough around five minutes before the amusement park opens.

Not to mention, it's still snowing on their place, which made Taufan more vigorous than ever. He just loves snow so much that he could just make a bed out of it and sleep on it. Halilintar on the other hand, only looked up slightly, watching as the tiny snows fall until he raised up his hand, letting some of it land on his palm.

While patiently waiting, the two of them stopped infront of a small pond, with Taufan bending over to get a small rock from the ground. Confused, Halilintar glanced at his friend, giving him a questioning look about him and the small stone he's currently holding. The wind element turned to look back at him, and behind the mask he's wearing, he smirked.

"Looks like we're about to do three things now from my list in one day." Taufan stated, chuckling.

"What is it this time?" The grumpy boy asked, folding both his arms on his chest while shifting one of his foot to the side.

"One, Amusement Park. Two, Skydive. But before we start with those two plans," The blue masked boy giggled, as he raised the rock he's been holding. "We'll be skipping stones first." He responded, looking at his friend confidently.

"Right... skipping stones... How childish, airhead."

"That's not childish at all, ya pikachu!"

"What did you call me?!"

"Pika-pika?" Taufan mocked, smiling innocently.

'Calm down, calm down, calm down...' Halilintar thought to himself, as he tried to breathe calmly.

The wind elemental only let out an airy laughter. "I'm really happy that conscience exists!" He chirped, laughing once more.

His response made Halilintar inhaled deeply, trying not to let himself aroused by his friend's tease, but actually, he only has a few amount of patience left before he gets to strangle up his friend. "Stop provoking me, you airhead."

"Ah, fine, fine." Taufan replied, with a few more suppressed laughs escaped his lips. "By the way, this skipping stones we'll be doing, it's actually pretty challenging."

"Challenging, huh?"

"Oh, yes. Very challenging indeed, Hali~"

"Airhead..."

"Okay! As I was saying, we'll be skipping stones but, we should skip them for like five times, said by my list here."

"You just made it sound so easy, stupid. Make it ten."

"Hey! Five is already hard, Hali!"

"Whatever, do five then. I'll do ten. Let's see which one's the coolest."

Taufan pouted. "But we both have to skip it five times at the same time, since this is our 'bucket list', remember?" He said, whining.

The lightning elemental sighed heavily, crouching down on the ground to pick up a stone. "Fine." He replied, pursing his lips.

Halilintar's response made Taufan's eyes sparkled, chuckling giddily afterwards. "Yay!" He exclaimed, as he gripped the stone and fistbumps the air.

"How about a race then? Whoever skips five times first will treat the winner what they want."

"Oh!~ Deal then!"

<<>><<>><<>>

'Why did I even made-up that race...?' Halilintar groaned internally, making him facepalm mentally for his own idiocy.

"Haha! I win!~" Taufan cheered, proudly raising both his arms up high.

"Whatever, airhead..." He muttered, rolling his eyes annoyingly.

After some time, the amusement park finally opened, and currently, both of them were walking around, with Taufan thinking deeply about something. When he did, his eyes lit up with delight, turning to Halilintar who's still mumbling inaudible words from his lips.

"Hali!" Taufan called, making the latter turn his attention to his friend with one of his brows raised up. "Since you lose, you have to owe me a blue balloon!"

As if, his friend's last word from his sentence repeatedly echoed inside Halilintar's mind. Balloon. The phobia. His horrifying phobia.

His heart suddenly started beating rapidly, beads of sweat also started trickling down his face, with his whole body slightly trembling in fear.

'Ah crap, I forgot to tell him about my phobia on balloons...' The lightning elemental thought, clenching his teeth tightly while mentally face-palming himself again.

"Umm... Hali? Are you okay?" Taufan asked, his face filled with worry. "Are you upset because... you lose?"

"I-It's not that! I-I's just... W-Whatever! I'll get your b-ba-b-balloon!" The petrified boy stammered, making his way towards the clown who's been selling different kinds of balloons not too far away from them in an instant.

'It's okay, Halilintar, it's okay. You just have to get one ba-b-balloon, and that's it.' He thought to calm himself.

As he looked at the clown, his face turned to a scowl, as he has this hatred feeling for clowns. It's not like he's afraid of them, but rather, he just sees them as a curse, especially with that one object they always carry with them: balloons.

Meanwhile, Taufan was so clueless why Halilintar's acting all weird all of the sudden. He thought he's not that type of person to feel so... uneasy about something? In any case, he's curious, and worried, and he needs to ask his friend about it later on after he comes back.

Few minutes later, Halilintar came back, with his grip on Taufan's round-shaped, blue balloon shaking uncontrollably. He offered the balloon to his friend, still trembling with the object he's holding.

With a concerned look, Taufan gently took the balloon from his grasp, placing a hand on one of his friend's shoulder afterwards.

"Are you really okay?" The wind elemental worriedly asked, now feeling anxious for Halilintar.

"I'm..."

"Well, you have to tell your friend about your phobia."

"I... I HAVE GLOBOPHOBIA!" Halilintar exclaimed, as he started hyperventilating.

"Eh?! Why didn't you tell me sooner?!" Taufan exclaimed as well, feeling a bit disappointed with his friend and to himself. He's disappointed with Halilintar because of not telling his fear for balloons sooner, and also feels ashamed for himself for thinking of balloons as his prize from their race out of everything.

"I-I'm sorry! I'm really, so very, very sorry, Hali!—"

"No, I'm sorry."

"... huh..?"

"I should've told you sooner. It's practically my fault so, you don't have to apologise."

Taufan's cerulean eyes shook, feeling a bit touched by his friend's response. He then glanced at the blue balloon he's holding, as he contemplate about something. Underneath his blue mask, he smiled warmly, and without hesitation, he let go of the blue balloon his friend struggled with to get for him, setting it freely up the sky.

"H-Hey! Why did you let it go?!" Halilintar questioned, staring at his friend in disbelief.

The blue masked teen turned to look back at his friend, his eyes smiling at him. "I'd rather set it free than see you struggle again." He said. "You've been through a lot, and there's no way I'll add another burden on your shoulders." He added.

"But, you won, and that balloon was meant for you as your prize."

"Having you as my best friend is already an awesome prize. Actually, a prize that can last for a lifetime. That balloon can only last for a few days, but a true friend can last until the end."

"Airhead..." Halilintar uttered, as he became speechless by his friend's response.

"Well, let's forget about that balloon. Come on! We still have to get on some rides and to skydive!" Taufan cheerfully stated, suddenly sprinting towards the Vikings ride.

Halilintar hummed, shaking his head before catching up with his friend afterwards.

====================================================

I once again, sincerely apologise for my 2 months of procastination. 🙏