After finishing a lunch that left a lingering feeling of discomfort, I found myself wandering around the amusement park with Shiyeon.
It seemed like everyone was at lunch, as the line for the rides snaked away from the restaurant, making the situation a bit less crowded.
Still, no matter how much I encouraged Shiyeon to enjoy herself…
There wasn’t a particular ride that I felt we had to go on, so we ended up just walking through the park together, swept along by the crowd.
Since it felt odd to just keep walking, I casually asked Shiyeon as we walked side by side.
“Don’t you want to ride anything?”
“Um, anything!”
The response I got from Shiyeon was the most undesirable answer in this situation.
Anything, anything…
Maybe the bumper cars? At least that was a safe choice among the rides I knew.
Plus, it was a ride Shiyeon had been on before, although these days bumper cars seemed to lack the thrill they once had.
Ultimately, I shifted my gaze and tried to look at other attractions.
What rides could we go on together? Roller coaster? Viking?
Never mind, I thought and just brushed it off. When was it that I enjoyed riding those things anyway?
Then I suddenly noticed a ride moving along the rail high above the amusement park, creaking as it went.
The sky bicycle.
“That’s been a while since I saw that.”
“Let’s ride that!”
As I stared vacantly at the sky bicycle, I noticed Shiyeon pointing it out, seemingly having caught onto my gaze by stretching her arm toward it.
Fortunately, it was a two-seater, and it seemed a bit awkward for Shiyeon to ride alone, as it hadn’t been one she’d chosen earlier in the morning.
“Let’s do it.”
Nodding in agreement, I walked along the elevated rail and stood in line at the starting point.
Thanks to the aftermath of lunchtime, the line here had thinned quite a bit too.
Were there only about ten people? Instead, it seemed like the line wasn’t getting shorter at all.
It was likely due to it being a manual pedal system rather than automatic, and with only one or two people riding at a time, we ended up waiting even longer.
There were even people near the entrance who couldn’t take it anymore and turned around to go grab lunch.
After what felt like a 30-minute wait…
It was finally our turn.
As usual, there were announcements from the speaker about safety precautions and the necessity of wearing seat belts before riding.
We half-listened to the things that we needed to pay attention to while working together to start pedaling as we sat closely together.
“Should we figure out what to ride next while we’re here?”
“Sure!”
Creaking, creaking, the sound of pedals being pressed along with the leisurely start of the sky bicycle.
In any case, it seemed that no matter which ride we picked, waiting would take at least 30 or 40 minutes.
So, like pedaling a four-wheeled bike, we leisurely pushed down on the pedals.
As we glided through the air, enjoying the views and the scenery, I thought about taking photos of the spring flowers…
“Yaaaah!”
“Whoa!”
As I tried to shoot a photo, a strange moan echoed from somewhere behind us at roughly the same height.
“…?”
Amidst the noisy chaos of Children’s Day in the amusement park, I instinctively turned around at the loud, bizarre sound.
From a distance, another sky bicycle was rushing at us at an incredible speed.
The passengers were two adult men whose faces I didn’t recognize.
For some reason, they were pedaling as if they were competitive cyclists just before the finish line, their bodies bouncing around.
At this rate, we were about to collide at a speed comparable to that of the old bumper cars, so I gently prodded Shiyeon, who was lazily pedaling next to me, with the back of my hand.
“Shiyeon, let’s go faster, behind us….”
“Uh?”
I accelerated our pedaling speed to show the reality of the situation waiting behind us, and in a flash, we shifted from scenery-gazing to a frenzied race, genuinely putting our effort into pedaling.
As we picked up momentum, the sky bicycle in front of us as well as the one in front of it…
The 30-minute wait became irrelevant as our journey, along with the other sky bicycle riders, was cut short thanks to those racing behind us, and it all ended in just 10 minutes.
And while it did say it was 10 minutes, not stopping for a second during that time while continuously pedaling with weighty pedals was not an easy task for two middle school girls.
“Agh, my legs….”
In an attempt to rest my trembling legs, I was the first to step out near the exit and sat on a bench when the two men, who had been pedaling like crazy behind us, approached.
“Shall we go for the spinning cups next?”
“Let’s do an all-out full spin!”
They completely disregarded the pain they caused the person in front of them and were busy crafting their next plan to fully enjoy the amusement park as just two guys.
Sure, that might actually be the right attitude.
Although it was not intentional, those two had inexplicably raised the excitement level.
To make the most of the remaining rides we hadn’t used, we began trailing behind the two men.
Even with our legs feeling utterly worn out, we somehow tried to keep up.
After that, on the spinning cups…
“Yaaaah!”
‘…Centrifuge?’
On the rather mundane swan boats…
“Pedal, pedal, pedal!”
‘Is there a motor on that boat?’
And surprisingly, even on the bumper cars…
“Crash!”
‘That actually accelerates, huh?’
Thanks to the noticeable antics of the two men, at least it wasn’t boring.
You know, it’s like how watching zoo animals can be unexpectedly entertaining for no reason.
Unfortunately, due to the five-ride limit, including the Ferris wheel, we couldn’t keep up any longer, but I gained the realization that we could enjoy the amusement park even with this childlike mindset.
More importantly, two grown men hanging out at an amusement park on Children’s Day…
Setting aside the enjoyment, I wondered about the circumstances that brought them together.
The time was nearly 5 PM, just before we were done enjoying ourselves.
Though it felt wasteful, we decided to purchase two hotdogs for 5,000 won each, totaling 10,000 won, with our own money and joined Jiun’s group, feeling relaxed and content.
In various ways, it had been a day filled with fun.
After joining them, I spotted Juwon, who was peacefully resting in Jiun’s arms with his eyes shut.
“Is Juwon… asleep?”
“He’s run around a lot, so did he have fun?”
As I dragged my somewhat tired body into the car, Jiun asked me that question with a faint smile.
“Yeah, I managed to use up all my ride tickets….”
I didn’t want to just say it was decent when in reality, I had enjoyed myself more than expected.
Besides, saying “decent” to someone who paid for everything didn’t feel right, so I mentioned that I had used up all my tickets and stretched my arms inside the car.
“What was the most fun?”
That was Uncle Dae Han’s question about which ride was the best.
Even though he asked what was the most fun, we had only been on around five rides.
“Um….”
A long pondering sound escaped, and I began recalling the five rides we had gone on today.
The Ferris wheel that Juwon had cried on really had nothing to do with fun…
I started to remember the rides, starting from the sky bicycle.
But what stood out in my vague memories were those wild adult men.
This wouldn’t do, I couldn’t remember anything about the rides, just their faces whom I didn’t even know the names of.
“…Zoo?”
“Huh? Was there a zoo?”
With Uncle Dae Han’s confused response, I thought to myself.
There was one. Inside the amusement park, there were two under-evolved hominids known as Homo sapiens…
I mean, they even rode rides and spoke like humans.
In any case, returning home filled with satisfaction.
In stark contrast, the schedule was tough enough to be overwhelming for a student’s body, and I collapsed onto the mat laid out in the living room.
‘Well, at any rate, we had fun….’
“I’m going to wash up first.”
“Uh….”
Having returned safely, it was time to take everything out of our clothes.
I pulled out my wallet and smartphone from my left pocket, and then reached into the right pocket for Gomtaengi…
Gomtaengi…?
As I rummaged around, my fingers found nothing of the expected plush toy in the pocket.
As soon as I thrust my hand inside, the thing that should’ve been there was simply absent, raising a sense of unease.
‘Huh?’
Only then did I notice something was off.
A chilling sensation coursed through me.
My legs quivered, and panicking, I abruptly sat up from the mat, smacking my palm against the areas around my pockets to confirm my emptiness.
But since a mascot that should have been there wouldn’t have appeared out of nowhere, I realized…
‘Where the heck did it go….’
Wondering if I had dropped it in the car, I dialed Jiun’s number.
“It’s not in the car….”
“Oh, really….”
Hearing the faintly assured response only deepened my anxiety.
I couldn’t just sit still on the mat, and as I contemplated what to do, Shiyeon’s mascot came fluttering toward me from her room.
“Hey, Mary?”
“Why, sea serpent.”
I replied curtly to the mascot that was wiggling through the air as if swimming.
I was already stressed out as it was; what could it possibly want to talk about now?
However, it turns out this little guy had the answer I was looking for.
“The bear… is at the lost and found right now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me sooner?”
“They just contacted me, wondering if you had forgotten it….”
The Shiyeon mascot was spinning in circles in the air, seeming as puzzled as I was.
Though it was my fault, returning to that place now after getting home felt too bothersome.
“…Tell it to discreetly come by at night.”
“Eh….”
