Kinnosuke's scream was unbelievably loud. That wasn’t a scream but a hysterical shriek like a frightened girl. Yukihide wanted to burst out laughing, but the speed of the roller coaster made him scream again, and so did Kinnosuke. The latter cursed every time the roller coaster dipped or went uphill.

Yukihide glanced at the man sitting beside him. That man tightly gripped the iron handle in front of him, his eyes closed, with a frown. He thought that Kinnosuke looked so cute that way. Yukihide shouted while laughing—he sounded like a bad person.

After they got off the roller coaster, Kinnosuke asked for five minutes to calm down. He fanned his face with his hands. Yukihide felt guilty. These were all his ideas. Spending time playing roller coasters when he was stressed and needed to scream had been his favorite thing to do. Who would have thought that Kinnosuke had a phobia of heights? Yukihide passed his water bottle to the younger man. The man accepted it and gulped down, not leaving a drop for Yukihide at all.

"I'm sorry, Kinnosuke. I didn't know you were that scared."

The guy pouted, “I don't want to look like a coward, you know."

He sat beside Kinnosuke, waiting for him to calm down before taking him into the haunted house. Somehow he wanted to prank Kinnosuke.

"Ready for the next game?”

Kinnosuke's eyes narrowed, "I don't want to be fooled again. Let's just go for a walk, yeah?" He stood up. He grasped Yukihide's hand.

It was Yukihide who panicked as his hand was grabbed by Kinnosuke. His heart was beating fast, “We should try a few more games. It's no fun if it's just one game. Come on, let's go to the haunted house." He still managed to force Kinnosuke to take another ride.

Kinnosuke didn't want to move, “Do you want to torture me?”

“Hmmph,” He stifled a laugh. It was entertaining to see the frightened look in Kinnosuke's eyes.

The man took a deep breath, giving up, “Alright, alright. Today you can choose any rides you want. As long as you're not sad anymore, I'm fine. Come on, let’s buy the tickets.”

Yukihide was rooted to the spot.

As long as you're not sad anymore, I'm fine.

Why did Kinnosuke say that?

The younger man turned around as soon as he realized Yukihide wasn’t following him. He held Yukihide's hand again. His eyes widened in surprise. He wasn’t used to someone holding his hands beside Imai. He was supposed to feel uncomfortable but with Kinnosuke, everything seemed different.

***

Kinnosuke's energy was completely drained after almost two hours of screaming, squealing, and sometimes laughing. Every time he got scared, Yukihide burst out laughing, to the point that he pretended to be scared just to make the older guy laugh.

He's gone mad.

His reasoning was that he wanted to make Yukihide happy after what his father had said earlier that afternoon.

"You're done laughing at me, huh?" He pretended to be sullen. Yukihide who was walking beside him was still crossing his arms over his stomach in an attempt to catch his breath.

"Sorry, but you look so cute when you're scared."

He pointed at his own face, “Yukihide-kun, this is the first and last time I looked this scared. So you have to remember carefully. I don't want to do it again."

"I understand." Yukihide took out his cell phone and took a photo of Kinnosuke, "That's why I have to capture it."

He tried to grab Yukihide's cell phone and the man raised his hand and hurriedly put it in his pocket. Kinnosuke subconsciously grabbed Yukihide's body and pulled him in a hug.

Yukihide froze.

He immediately stopped his actions after noticing the change in the latter's expression. He felt that he had gone too far with someone he had only known for just a week. He was used to insulting or hugging Inagaki carelessly.

But this was Yukihide. If he overstepped the boundary, he wasn't sure if he could think straight anymore.

"I-I'm sorry, Yukihide-kun." He bowed in front of the man, "I didn't mean to."

"It's okay. Let's just go home."

He was relieved when he heard that Yukihide was about to return home. It meant that the man was no longer angry with his father.

"Come on, I'll take you home."

"Uh," Yukihide tugged at Kinnosuke's arm to stop him, "I don't want to go back to my house."

"What? Then where do you want to go?" He was really confused by the guy’s behavior.

Yukihide smiled awkwardly. Scratching his head, he asked, “Can I crash at your place, Kinnosuke?”

"What?"

"Can I stay overnight, please?"

How could he have the heart to refuse Yukihide's request especially with such a smile? Of course not.

“Sure, you can.”

***