Serendipity 奇缘 - Chapter 8

Chapter 8: Ferris Wheel

I looked into Jaejoong's eyes when he said that, and I managed a smile amidst my tears. When he saw me smile, a sense of happiness crept through him, and he pulled me into his arms.

*HONK HONK HONKKKKKKKKK*

The both of us were shocked by the loud horning, and pulled ourselves apart to see what was causing the loud commotion.

"EHHH... MISS...... U STILL WANT THE CAB A NOT?!!!! U HAVEN'T PAID YET LEH!!!!"

"Gosh... I totally forgot about the cab... My things are all still in the cab!!!"

"Hee hee...", Jaejoong tousled my hair with his hand, "you're such a scatterbrain... Come, let's go..."

And he grabbed my hand, tugging me along, as he ran towards the cab.

"Sorry uncle... Can take me... erm... us... to Marina Bay now? Thanks."

The taxi driver turned to take a look at us.

"Aiyo... *shakes his head, and smiles cheekily*... so you two reconcile already lah?? Ha ha..."

Jaejoong smiled embarrassingly, nodding his head in agreement as he turned to look at me. When I saw him do that, I felt a sudden pang of embarrassment, as the driver had most probably seen everything that happened just now! My face flushed red with embarrassment, and I turned to look out the window, to avoid looking at either one of them.

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After a unbearable 10-minutes ride, where the taxi driver was chatting throughout the entire ride to Jaejoong about us, we FINALLY reached our destination...

AND escaped the clutches of the never-ending taxi driver...

I hopped out of the taxi and breathed a sign of relief...

"Phew... at last... no more taxi uncle..."

"Yeah... just the two of us...."

Jaejoong walked over to me, and took my hand in his. His eyes looked at the circular architecture nearby, and then back at me.

"So... care to tell me why are we here?"

".... erm... well... it's just that I thought you were in a bad mood, and then I remembered that I read somewhere in an interview... that you like Ferris wheels by the sea... And I realised there was one here for a special carnival... so... I... thought it might cheer you up... if you came..."

His eyes brightened when he heard what I said. And he turned so that he faced me, putting his hands on the sides of my shoulders, and leaned down so that his face was at the same level as mine.

"... you mean you... you wanted to bring me here just to cheer me up???"

"...erm... yeah... I thought you liked Ferris Wheels..."

The corner of his mouth curved into a smile.

"Well, I DO LIKE Ferris Wheels... But you remembered something wrongly..."

I gave a puzzled look.

"...huh... what did I remember wrongly???"

He stared at me with his mesmerizing eyes in a way that I felt like I was going to hyperventilate and faint anytime soon.

"... erm...I really.... can't remember... I don't know... I have... erm... very bad short term memory... Can't really remember things very well... Which is why Fifi calls me blur queen..."

He smiled, and he removed his hands from my shoulder, and took my hand.

"Ha ha... I'll tell you if you take it with me..."

And he started running, pulling me along with him.

"...WHAT!!!??? Ahh.... Noooo... Jaejoong.... I'm.... afraid.... of.... heights.... I.... can't....."

He stopped in front of the Ferris Wheel carriage.

"Ladies first..."

He did a signal to ask me to go in first.

I looked at him and shoke my head with a worried look.

"... erm... Jaejoong... I... I don't think.. I can take it with you... I'm.... afraid of heights... I have acrophobia..."

I started nudging him to go in.

"Why don't you go ahead? I'll wait for you here... And I can look for the rest first too... Huh?? What do you say??"

He turned and looked at me with a straight face, causing me to slam straight into his chest, as I was still trying to nudge him in first. I quickly recovered myself and took a few steps back. He tried to hide his laughter with his hand.

"What do you think?"

"...erm... yes???"

"... On the contrary, if you're not going with me, I'm NOT going to take it too... The choice is yours..."

I gave a sulky and reluctant face. It didn't change his mind at all. We stood there as the queue moved in to take the carriages one by one until the last one...

"Sir, we're going to start the ride soon, do you want to get on or not?" The operator asked Jaejoong.

I turned to look at Jaejoong. His face was still straight.

"Jaejoong... Please... Why don't you take the ride first??? I'll wait for you here... I'll stand right here where you can see me..." I pleaded.

"Nope. If you're not going, I'm not going."

Gosh he can be really stubborn!!! I felt really frustrated.

"Miss... We'll need to start soon. The rest of the customers are waiting..."

"ARGHHHHH!!!! Okay okay okay... fine..." I stormed into the hanging carriage.

Jaejoong grinned cheekily as I stormed past him, and he followed me into the carriage.

"Okay we're starting the ride now." The operator announced.

I took a deep breath and grabbed hold of the seat and the window sill, as the carriage started moving upwards. Jaejoong was sitting opposite me and was looking at me with immense amusement, covering his sniggering with his hand. I was too occupied with the moving carriage gaining height to bother about his sniggering.

"I told you I have height phobia... *breathe breathe breathe* and you still make me do this... I don't know how you're going to enjoy the ride if I'm hyperventilating over here in the same carriage... *breathe breathe breathe*" I looked down at the floor of the carriage and took deep breathes to calm myself down.

Suddenly Jaejoong stood up, and started walking over to my side of the carriage, causing the carriage to shake violently.

"...AHHHH..... JAEJOONG... WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING???!!! SIT DOWN!!!! SIT DOWN NOW!!!" I screamed, grabbing onto the seat for dear life.

And he sat down next to me.

"I told you there was something you remembered wrongly just now right?"

".... uh huh..." I was shivering slightly from the violent shaking of the carriage just now.

"THIS... is WHY I like taking Ferris Wheel rides..." He said, putting his arm around me.

"I don't like to take them alone... I like to take them on a date... With someone I like..." With that, he pulled me towards him.

I stared at him in disbelief.

"... so you mean you put GIRLS you LIKE, through all this torment, just to do THIS???"

I pushed myself away from his arms. The carriage shoke, and I grabbed the seat to secure myself. I couldn't believe it. I couldn't believe that he would do something so mean, to just have some mindless fun.

"What's wrong? Most girls say they are afraid of heights, but then when you hug them, they just willingly succumb into your arms... Is THAT called torment?" he tried to lean closer to explain himself.

"Well I'm NOT like MOST girls... AND I REALLY HAVE ACROPHOBIAAAAAA!!!"

*KA BOOOMMM*

The carriage stopped moving round the Ferris Wheel, but it was still shaking side to side in mid air.

"Please do not be alarmed. There is some problem with the Ferris Wheel, and our technicians are looking into it now. Please stay calm and do not try to climb out of the carriage. I repeat. Please remain seated inside the carriage. Sorry for the inconvenience caused. Thank you." The operator's voice can be heard blasting through the air.

"OH MY GOD!!!! WHY IS THIS HAPPENING!!!! I CAN'T BELIEVE IT!!! *breathe breathe breathe*" I grabbed the seat and looked down at the floor, trying to calm myself down unsuccessfully.

"Kiki... Are you okay?" Jaejoong asked concernedly, while leaning nearer.

"Yes I'm fine. Don't talk to me. *breathe breathe breathe* I'm... I'm okay... *breathe breathe breathe*" I replied, staring at the floor.

*SCREECHHHH*

The carriage screeched as a strong gust of wind blew past it, making it shake from side to sdie again.

"AHHHHH.... how much longer do they need to fix this thing... *breathe breathe breathe*... I'm dying here... *breathe breathe breathe*" I complained under my breathe, closing my eyes to try to teleport my mind away from this place.

I felt Jaejoong place his hand on my back, and start to stroke my back softly from upper to lower back.

"I'm sorry... I didn't know you were really... really acrophobic... I thought you were just... I'm sorry..."

His voice and touch had a strangely calming effect on me, and it slowly took my mind away from the situation at hand. I turned to look up at him. He looked so concerned and sorry that I felt bad for screaming at him just now. I pushed my shivering body upwards, and pulled myself towards him.

"Gosh... you are shivering like crazy... and your hands are so cold..."

"Jaejoong... *breathe breathe breathe* can you just... *breathe breathe breathe* I am really... feeling... *breathe breathe breathe* not... okay... *breathe breathe breathe*"

He took off his jacket and wrapped it around me, and then he placed his arms around me.

"I told you... *breathe breathe breathe* that you would be better off taking the ride.... *breathe breathe breathe*... alone... *breathe breathe breathe*"

"It's alright... Don't worry... I'm here... I'll help you through this okay? We'll take the ride together like this... You won't even know we're moving..."

"Dear passengers, the problem has been resolved. We'll be resuming the ride in 10 seconds. Thank you for your patience." The operator's voice cut through the air.

"See, I told you that everything's okay with me around... Just relax okay... We'll be down in no time..."

"Okay...*breathe breathe*"

As the Ferris Wheel started moving, I grabbed Jaejoong and hugged him tighter. It felt really warm and cosy in his arms. I felt myself slowly relaxing in his arms, as my breathing calmed down.

The carriage finally stopped.

"See... We're back to earth now... hee hee..."

"... Yeah...." I replied weakly.

I let go of Jaejoong and tried to stand. But my knees were weak from the shock, so I fell back into his arms.

"It's okay... Let's get you out of this carriage..."

He got up and scooped me up into his arms, and carried me out of the carriage.

"Jaejoong... it's alright... you don't have to... I can... walk..." I said, trying to dissuade him from carrying me in his arms.

"No... you're too weak to walk... Let me find somewhere to let you rest..." he looked around for a bench.

"JAEJOONG-HYUNG!!!"

A familiar voice cut through the carnival crowd. It was the rest of the guys with Fifi. They squeezed their way to us.

"Hyung, what happened to Kiki-nuna???" Max asked.

They looked at me and then at Jaejoong.

"Erm... we took the Ferris Wheel, and it broke down..."

"Ohhhh......" All five of them said together, and looked at him again, then at me in his arms.

"...erm... Jaejoong... I think I'm feeling better now... I think I can stand now... Why don't you put me down??" I whispered to Jaejoong self-consciously.

"Are you sure? Cos I can find somewhere to let you rest first, then put you down..." He looked at me with concern.

They looked at Jaejoong then at me again.

"Er... I think I'm okay..." I looked at him then at them, and back at him self-consciously.

"Ohhh... Okay..." Jaejoong looked at them, and suddenly it dawned on him that he was still carrying me in his arms in front of them.

"Thanks..." I said, looking at him as he placed me down cautiously.

He looked so gentle when he was putting me, like he was afraid that something might hurt me. A gush of sweetness swarmed my heart.

He put me down carefully and placed his arm around my waist to support me. Conscious of the rest around, I tried to let go of him and to stand on my own, but my knees proved to be still weak from the shock. I lost my balance, and fortunately Jaejoong grabbed hold of my waist just in time to prevent me from falling down.

Our faces were inches apart when he caught me, and I stared at him in surprise. Looking at him this close, really made me feel like giving him a kiss then and there, if there weren't the others around...

I glanced self-consciously at the rest. They were staring at us with mouths wide opened.

"Jaejoong... They are staring at us..." I murmured embarrassingly to him.

He glanced over at them, and they started pretending to look away to avoid his stare. He grinned and he turned back to face me.

"It's okay... Just... let... them... stare...."

And he leaned closer and closer to me....