"Okay, who want to go on the Ferris wheel?"
Jo-Ee asked the other three adults, to break the awkward silence. She was going to push Dorami and Kenyu to go on ahead but Sual took his sister's hand first and ran to the Ferris wheel with her. He had always wanted to ride it with Dorami but she refused every time. He had to make his wish happen this time for sure, to reward himself for working hard going on concert tours in the past four months.
Dorami had no will to refuse her brother and had no energy left to do so. It was like her soul had already left her body. She lay down on the seat to take a nap but her brother wouldn't let her. He shook her body and whined like a baby.
"Dorami-channnnn, you can't sleep. This is the first time we are riding this together. Come onnn, get upppp!"
She lay still, undisturbed by his annoying cries. Her eyes were still closed until her brother turned silent. Dorami opened her left eye to peek at Sual and saw him hugging his knees on the other seat. He was sulking. She slowly got up and looked at her brother with her half-opened eyes. She really couldn't win against him.
"I'm up," said Dorami.
"Oh, so you are up," said Sual while still sulking like a kid. He didn't even look at her.
"….." Dorami couldn't utter any word anymore. She was extremely exhausted emotionally and physically.
"Tsk… So you got a new friend and you don't care about me anymore, huh?" Her brother finally turned to look at her but the words that came out from his mouth were too absurd that Dorami could only face palm herself after hearing them.
"Kennyu is good but from what I see, I'm way better than him." Her superstar brother continued talking when there was no response from her. She wanted to bump her head onto the seat cushion until it bled because she could not stand her brother anymore. Her friend's name was Kenyu, not Kennyu. At least pronounce his name correctly. Dorami started wondering for the nth time why she had to be born as Sual Mongan's younger sister.
Dorami's world almost turned 198 degree while she was listening to her brother explaining the reasons why he was better than the so-called Kennyu. She also prayed non-stop for the ride to go faster and finish as soon as possible but it felt longer and longer. The dizziness and the noises made her want to puke in the face of the man sitting in front of her. It might have been different if she was to ride with Kenyu. Her heart would be thumping and her face would blush like ripe tomatoes, but him and her on the Ferris wheel might just be another dream.
She looked down and saw both of her friends on a bench near the ride. They looked like they were having fun while eating ice-cream and talking. She saw them laughing. How nice, she wanted to be like Jo-Ee too. She wanted to be comfortable in her own skin in front of Kenyu, to have a fun conversation with him, to joke around with him, but the scene at the haunted house suddenly crossed her mind.
'It's going to be more than awkward between us. Sigh…, how long will it take for us to become close again?' Dorami thought to herself. The irony was that she was the one who wanted some time before she could get close to him again but she also wanted to get closer to him as soon as possible. Even she herself couldn't grasp what she was really thinking.
The Ferris wheel finally stopped at Dorami's cart. She jumped out as soon as the door was opened and ran straight to the restroom. Jo-Ee saw her friend running pass her so she walked to ask Sual who also just got off the cart. Kenyu followed after. He looked back to the restroom where Dorami had gone to, twice and thrice, worried that she was still not feeling well.
"What happened? Did you do something to her again?" Jo-Ee licked her ice-cream after asking, making Sual's stomach growl. He wanted an ice-cream too. He talked too much to Dorami that his throat felt dry.
"MY sister needs to go poo-poo, maybe."
Kenyu who was drinking his bottled water next to them choked after Sual's unexpected response, not noticing that the older man had stressed on the word 'My' while side-glancing at him. He coughed a few times after the choke until he heard the soft voice of Dorami.
"Let's go back for dinner. I'm hungry now."
"But you haven't… Okay, where shall we go to eat?" Jo-Ee looked like she wanted to say something but decided not to, after seeing her friend's expression.
"Umm… Sorry, I have a family dinner tonight and they might already be meeting now. Could I excuse myself?"
Kenyu raised his hand up to ask to leave first. He might have adopted the habit of raising hands from spending the whole day with Sual and Jo-Ee. The other three then replied at the same time.
"Sure!" but their tones were somehow different from one another.
Kenyu glanced at Dorami. She was looking at him too. He smiled and ruffled her hair. It seemed like she finally calmed down from the shock at the haunted house. It might have been because of the lovely Ferris wheel ride she went on with her brother, he thought.
"Thank you for today. I really had fun." He told Jo-Ee and Sual.
"Thank you for coming with me today. I'm really happy that you spent your day off with me and introduced me to your friend and brother." Kenyu turned to Dorami and spoke softly so that only he and she could hear. He was really sincere with his words that it made Dorami feel guilty. Kenyu, she was going to cancel the date today and she didn't plan to introduce the troublesome kids to you either, but whatever made you happy.
"Thank you too…" Dorami replied softly too. She smiled while looking straight into his eyes.
Ah, it was as simple as that. Kenyu was happy that she went to meet him as promised and even introduced new friends to him. Despite various unexpected events, he was just happy because he could spend time having fun with her. Although she thought it was more of embarrassing than fun, she was happy too after hearing that he was happy.
"See you later, Kenyu." Dorami continued.