22

"People are messy, unpredictable things, and you're the most beautiful mess I've ever seen."

I stared at Jimin in confusion for a second before turning bright red. I clicked my tongue while turning my face away from him. I heard Jimin laugh at my reaction.

"I never knew you were so bashful, Princess."

Jimin teased me while poking my cheek. I lightly shoved him and stuck my tongue out at him.

"I am not! You just catch me off guard with a bunch of nonsense at random times, hmph."

I crossed my arms and glared at him. He only smiled wider before lightly flicking my forehead.

"Hey! What was that for?!"

"For not admitting the truth. Lying is bad, Princess."

"I'm not bashful, Park Jimin, I'm going to kick you if you don't drop it!"

"Woah, woah, alright! Who knew royals could be so feisty?"

"Haven't we gone over this 'royals' thing already?"

I sharpened my glare and immediately, Jimin raised both his hands in surrender.

"Alright, Queen. No need to be so rash, I'm only playing."

"Park Jimin!"

Jimin snickered as I stomped my foot like a child.

"Fine, fine, if you beat me in bumper cars then I'll stop calling you royal titles. If I win, I get to call you whatever I want without your say, deal?"

"Deal! Get ready to be defeated, Jimin."

"Hah! Only in your dreams!"

We took off running towards the bumper cars. Once we got to the front of the line, I carefully placed my goldfish bag in a cubbie before walking back over to Jimin who motioned me to go first.

"You first, Princess."

I

smacked the back of his head before gladly going ahead of him. I heard him mumble a quiet 'ouch', causing me to giggle. I picked a red car and strapped on the seat belt before gripping the steering wheel with an excited smile on my face. Carnivals were never things I went to a lot. I was usually at home, busy with studies, or I just never went because what fun is going to one alone?

I heard a loud buzz as a signal to start. I locked eyes with Jimin who gave me a mischievous smile along with a wink. I stepped on the pedal and went straight for him, but he easily avoided me. I was jerked forward by him as he bumped me from behind while laughing. By the end of the course, I had surrendered in defeat with a pout.

"Cheer up, Princess. Where's that smile you had before I totally crushed you back there?"

Jimin taunted me with a smirk as he walked with pride, his head held up high and his eyes closed. I saw a wooden sign up ahead but I smirked and chose to keep my mouth shut. Next thing I knew, Jimin had smacked right into it and now had a red forehead along with red ears due to embarrassment. I laughed at him while clutching my stomach until I felt myself being lifted off the ground.

"Wait whaーP-Park Jimin!!? What the hell are you doing?!"

"Taking you to the dunk tank."

"The what?!? Don't you dare, Jimin!!"

I heard him snicker as I pounded my fist on his back, my other fist holding the bag with the goldfish. He ignored my protests and continued to carry me over his shoulder.

"Hey, you shouldn't thrash around so much. You're wearing a skirt, y'know."

I

felt my face get hot as I stopped struggling and just faltered on his shoulder. I gave him a five star on his back one last time, which he totally ignored, before sulking with my arms crossed. Jimin happily continued walking for a bit before stopping and setting me back down on my feet.

"I swear, if we're really at a dunk tank, I'm going to hit you."

I fixed my nearly-dry uniform and adjusted my skirt before turning around expecting to see a dunk tank, but instead seeing a long row of food tents. My eyes grew wide as I held my stomach in hunger. I heard Jimin chuckle from behind me.

"What do you want to eat?"

I scanned the long row of tents before finally picking the one that looked the best. I picked my favorite Korean street-food and Jimin gladly paid for both of us. We sat down on a bench and ate like we always did together at school.

"Thank you for paying, Jimin."

"No problem, Princess."

I shot a glare at him as he smiled innocently while eating. Rolling my eyes, I ate while watching the Ferris Wheel rotate slowly with its colorful carts rocking gently back and forth.

Jungkook would have probably been staring at the scenery along with me like we did on his veranda. I felt my smile falter at the thought of him. Everything came spilling back in my mind as I thought about Taehyung's message from my dream and the cracked pocket watch. There was nothing I could do right now. I knew I was being selfish, but what could I do to help him if I didn't know why he was so unhappy?

I was suddenly snapped about of my thoughts by a hand being waved

in front of me.

"Hey, what's wrong? Does it taste bad? I can buy you something else if that's the case.."

"No, Jimin. It tastes fine, I was just thinking about something."

I sent him a smile as I started to eat again. He watched me as I finished my food and chuckled as I chewed the last bite. I gave him a questioning look while tilting my head slightly to the right. He smiled and inched closer and closer towards me. I felt my cheeks heat up as he kept his eyes locked with mine until I felt him gently swipe at the corner of my mouth before pulling back and sitting down again. I stared at him, too dumbfounded to do anything. Jimin laughed and pinched my cheeks. I finally came back to my senses and ended up smacking Jimin on arm before getting up to throw away my trash. He followed me and threw away his own trash before throwing and arm around my shoulders. We continued our walk through the long rows of stands, stopping at multiple game tents. An hour and a half later, we were both trying to see where we were going while carrying oversized stuffed Pokemon plushies.

"Jimin, whose idea was it to get a six foot Pikachu and Snivy?"

"Why of course, it was you, Princess."

Jimin's voice came out muffled as he hauled the large Pikachu in his arms while peeking out from behind it to watch where he was going. I giggled as he looked so small compared to the Pikachu. I dug out my phone from my pocket with one hand and quickly snapped a picture of him. He glared at me as I shoved my phone back in my pocket and started walking again. We stopped at a bench and after we placed the plushies

down, we both groaned in relief and fell on our backs onto the grass. I let out a loud sigh as I stared up at the night sky. I felt a smile form on my face as I watched the stars twinkle in the sky. Jimin started to hum a song that was far too familiar for me not to sing along to.

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are."

"Up above the world so high,

Like a diamond in the sky."

"Twinkle, twinkle, little star,

How I wonder what you are."

We sang the last stanza together and ended up in giggles after. I pushed myself off the ground and got on my feet again. I dusted off my uniform as Jimin did too.

"Let's go, Princess. It's getting late."

We picked up the plushies again and started our walk out of the carnival. I watched the Ferris Wheel spin as we walked past it. It was quite a sight, beautiful even. I let out a breath as I watched it flash with its colorful lights and I heard Jimin's voice from behind me.

"Do you want to ride it?"

I stared at it for a moment longer before shaking my head no. There was someone who I wanted to ride it with, and that person wasn't here with me right now and could possibly fail to exist in this world in a few days. I clutched the plushie in my arms tighter and with a determined mindset, I told Jimin that we could just go. I saw him shrug and we continued our way out. As we did so, a couple walked past us and I caught sight of the girl's face. It was her. She was laughing, her eyes closed while doing so. She had her arms linked with another boy's who looked a year older and was laughing along with her.

She was telling the truth. Jungkook really was nothing but a rebound and I felt pitiful, not for Jungkook but for her because she was playing around with the person who loved her even through all her wrong doings.

I must have been too lost in thought as I heard Jimin call my name loudly in a slightly annoyed tone causing me to jump a little. He saw me and immediately softened his voice and apologized.

"Sorry, my bad."

"No, it was my fault, sorry. What were you saying?"

"Oh. Eh, nevermind. I'll tell you some other time. You seem tired today."

I shrugged and just gave him a smile as we made our way out of the carnival and towards my house. When we reached the intersection, I told Jimin that I could go alone from here but he refused to let me walk alone at such an hour.

I rolled my eyes but let him walk me all the way to my door. We walked in a comfortable silence until we rounded the corner. A few steps away from my house, I saw a familiar silhouette crouched down by my house gate. There was a small flare by the person's mouth and as it gave off the slightest amount of light, I recognized his face and I could feel my heart speed up.

"J-Jimin, you can go home now. I can get home by myself now."

Jimin gave me a skeptical look before finally giving in.

"Alright, fine. Thank you for coming with me today, Jimin. Goodnight, Princess."

He smiled at me before turning around and turning the corner, heading for his own house. I let out a breath and turned back to see that he was still there. I slowly approached him and one by one, the streetlights flickered on. When I reached him, he seemed not to notice as his hands were pressed against his eyes.

"What are you doing here, Jungkook...?"