One advantage of an indoor amusement park is that even if it’s freezing outside, it’s not that cold inside. Conversely, in the summer, the inside is relatively less hot.
Of course, there are limits due to the size, but since it wasn’t the kind of midwinter that felt like freezing to death outside, the temperature inside was quite comfortable.
Besides, the reason it was still cold outside was that the sun had only just risen. Once it was fully up, the temperature outside wouldn’t be too low.
So, I figured we could spend some time riding indoor attractions first and then head outside once it warmed up.
But.
“Whew…”
My sister was someone who was really bad at riding amusement park rides.
“Are you okay?”
I carefully asked her as she sat on a bench, catching her breath. She had a hand over her chest as she steadied her breathing. After a moment, she nodded and replied.
“Yeah. I’m feeling a lot better now.”
It wasn’t even an extremely scary ride. My sister and I had only gone on the large, boat-shaped ride commonly called the Viking.
Well… I mean, even if it’s a common attraction, that doesn’t mean it’s not scary. Just because roller coasters exist in many amusement parks doesn’t mean they’re not thrilling.
“If it’s too hard, you don’t have to force yourself to—”
“Alright, let’s go!”
As I spoke to her with a worried expression, she clenched both fists and suddenly stood up.
“……”
I looked up at her, stunned, and she looked down at me and spoke.
“Hm? You’re not coming?”
“Huh?”
Wait, isn’t it kind of weird for someone who was struggling so much just a moment ago to suddenly say that?
Or maybe, even though it was hard for her, she still found it fun?
As I was lost in thought, my sister grabbed my hand and started pulling me along. I got up without resistance, and as she led the way, she said,
“If we wait too long, more and more people will start showing up. We should try as many rides as we can before that happens.”
“Ah… okay.”
…Well, if she says she’s fine.
Honestly, I also wanted to go on lots of different rides with her.
But in reality, my sister, who was sitting next to me, had her eyes tightly shut, clutching my hand with all her strength, and screaming nonstop. She probably didn’t even realize it herself.
As for me, someone who had grown used to thrills in Irrelcia, I just kept watching her the whole time.
I felt bad for her, but to be honest, she looked adorable. So much so that I wanted to keep watching her over and over again.
…Still, if she was struggling too much, we should probably stop riding.
As much as I loved seeing my sister being cute, seeing her in distress hurt my heart.
Especially since it was because of me.
*
Honestly, I didn’t really like that falling sensation.
When the giant boat-shaped ride went up and then suddenly dropped down, the weightless feeling of my body lifting off the seat was terrifying.
On top of that, the constant back-and-forth motion made me feel a little nauseous.
But, how should I put it?
Because of that situation, I felt the presence of Shihyun next to me even more strongly.
It’s not something I should be saying as the older one here, but thanks to Shihyun , who held my hand tightly the entire time, I felt both scared and reassured at the same time. Knowing that someone was definitely by my side and that the person was Shihyun made me feel safe.
Even after getting off the ride, I leaned on Shihyun for quite a while.
Though, it was a little frustrating how Shihyun ’s expression remained so calm, as if nothing had happened.
….When we first met, she had seemed so fragile. But in just a few months, how had she come to seem so reliable?
Not only was she younger than me, but she was also a fellow girl.
Sure, she was taller, but not by a huge difference. Her face looked younger than mine. And sometimes, she even had this innocent, almost clueless expression, as if she didn’t fully understand how the world worked.
When we first entered the park, I had been the one holding her hand and leading the way. But at some point, our positions had completely reversed.
“If it’s too hard, you don’t have to force yourself to—”
The moment Shihyun said that, my mind snapped back into focus.
No, not yet. I still wanted to go on more rides with her.
I didn’t expect to genuinely enjoy them, but…To be honest, even I wasn’t sure what exactly I was feeling as I held onto Shihyun ’s hand and walked forward.
Was it just my pride, feeling embarrassed about acting too much like a child and wanting to show some dignity as the older one?
Or…..
Was it because, even in the middle of something so terrifying and difficult to endure, having Shihyun next to me felt… comforting?
My thoughts were a bit messy, but there was one thing I knew for sure.
Right now, in this moment, walking beside Shihyun I was truly happy.
*
“Phew…”
In the end, just as my sister insisted, we focused on riding the scariest attractions. We tried out every type of roller coaster in the park….Well, there were still a few we couldn’t ride. We had to give up on the Gyro Drop because my sister’s legs started trembling just from looking up at it. She seemed relieved when I suggested skipping it.
Even though it was a weekday morning, the park was still pretty crowded, so we couldn’t ride everything in the limited time we had. The thrilling rides, in particular, had long lines. Even if we were lucky, we had to wait for tens of minutes; if we were unlucky, the wait could be over an hour—almost two in the worst cases. There was no way around it.
Still, I was glad we got to ride as much as we did in the morning. If anything, we rode quite a lot, didn’t we?
When I came here with my coworkers last time, we didn’t go on as many rides. That time, we stayed until late afternoon and pushed ourselves to get through everything.
But doing that with my sister might be a little too much.
“Be honest. You’re a little tired, aren’t you?”
“…Mmm…”
When I asked her that as she leaned against me, she finally admitted it.
It was as if all the strength had left her body she rested her head on my shoulder. A soft, pleasant scent drifted from her hair.
The warmth where she touched me felt nice, though I couldn’t bring myself to say that to her when she was this exhausted.
Even as she leaned on me, she kept her fingers tightly intertwined with mine. She had been holding my hand all day, even while riding the attractions, as if it gave her a sense of security.
Knowing that she relied on me that much made me feel both proud and a little guilty. No matter how I looked at it, she seemed to be pushing herself to match my pace.
“……”
For a while, my sister remained silent, just leaning against me.
The background was filled with the chatter of people passing by. Most of them were couples or families.
There were some groups of friends as well, but since it was still a weekday afternoon, the crowd mostly consisted of college students with free time between classes or parents who had taken the day off to bring their kids.
I wondered if school groups still visited amusement parks often. Before I left for Irelasia, I had only come to amusement parks on school trips. Back then, my friends and I would roam around noisily in big groups.
Since I was too scared to ride the scary attractions, I would wait below with the others who couldn’t ride either.
…Come to think of it, this was my first time coming here with my sister.
Realizing that made my heart start pounding again.
My sister remained quiet, still leaning against me. The only thing I could hear from her was the sound of her now steady, relaxed breathing.
With her so close, the chaotic noise of the amusement park felt a little more distant.
“……”
Slowly, I leaned against her too.
My cheek brushed against her hair. I wasn’t sure how she managed it, but her hair was incredibly soft and smooth.
I squeezed her hand just a little tighter.
And for a while, we stayed like that in silence.
Grrrgle.
Until my stomach decided to make a noise.
We had been so busy running around all morning that I hadn’t even thought about eating.
My sister, still resting against me, must have heard it too because I heard her stifle a small laugh.
My face burned with embarrassment.
Even though I had practically grown up glued to my sister’s side, I had never been completely open about things like this. Especially after realizing my feelings for her, I had tried my best not to let her notice anything embarrassing.
So letting out a sound like that in front of her was mortifying.
“Should we get something to eat?”
Without lifting her head, she spoke softly. Since my cheek was pressed against her hair, I didn’t just hear her voice I could feel the vibration of it.
The ticklish sensation made me think, at least, she couldn’t see how red my face was.
“…Yeah, I think we should.”
Before my stomach could make another noise, I quickly answered.