Hyunjin went up to the counter and paid, despite my flustered protests of at least splitting the bill, and he practically skipped out of the Cafe as of nothing had happened. I was simultaneously glad and unsettled that we were both just choosing to ignore what he had said.

Spreading his arms and closing his eyes as he tilted his head back, Hyunjin suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk and took a deep breath, letting the now midday sunlight bathe his face in light and warmth. Letting the deep breath out in a content sigh, Hyunjin opened his eyes, brought his arms down and stated with a smile, "It's a beautiful day."

I nodded, watching him, more amazed than shocked by his duality. "Yeah, the weather's nice."

What weather? Hyunjin's entire existence was the only thing I could think about.

I was only now overwhelmed by how attractive he was, his soft features mixed with the sharp angles of his jawline and big doe eyes, sparkling under the sun. He ran a hand through his hair, sweeping it back before it fell in dark bangs over his forehead again. 

Licking his full lips and curving them into a smirk as he watched me, I didn't realize I was staring at them until they moved to whisper by my ear, Hyunjin's breath tickling my neck.

"Are you 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 by something, Hana?"

I jumped, jolted out of my daze as Hyunjin pulled away and smiled at what he did. I bit my lip as I stared at him for a moment longer.

"N-No, I'm not distracted, what would I be distracted by?" I laughed it off nervously, but Hyunjin had to reply.

"Me," he smiled innocently, framing his face in a cute flower pose.

"I wasn't distracted by you," I lied, and he chuckled, tilting his head to watch me scramble for an excuse. I squinted up at the sun and pointed at it. "The sun, was— 𝘪𝘴 bright and... it was in my eyes, so... you know..." As my voice trailed off, I inwardly slapped myself on the forehead at how dumb I sounded.

Hyunjin shoved his hands in his pockets with a smile, brushing past me to enter the place we had stopped in front of, muttering what I was moderately sure was a comment similar to "You're extra cute when you're flustered."

I turned to watch his back as he walked inside the dimly lit building. "Wh-What?"

"Let's do this," Hyunjin stated a bit louder, stopping in front of the glass door to wait for me. He pointed up at the sign on top of the building while simultaneously nodding inside to the interior, black walls illuminated with red lights and skulls with other questionable objects lining shelves behind the counter at the front.

I squinted up to follow his finger before bringing my eyes back down to meet Hyunijn's with a disbelieving stare.

"Hyunjin... this is a horror house," I stated, although he seemed to already know that.

Being the first week of August, the fall months were quickly approaching, leaving distant and nostalgic memories of the summer past in their wake. With the fall months came the booming business of Halloween themed stores, spooky mystery mazes and horror houses in general, although those types of attractions usually didn't open fully until at least the start of September.

While I personally was excited that this particular horror attraction, a hole-in-the-wall shop tucked between two bigger buildings on the sidewalk, was already open, I knew for a fact that Hyunjin could have cared less. He was easily scared, and while his fright was hilarious, he wouldn't let himself be caught half-sane in a horror house.

So why was he so eager to participate in this horror house and drag me along with him?

"I know —" I swear I heard Hyunjin audibly gulp, "— what this place is. Now are you coming or not?"

I raised a brow, suspicious and curious. "Hyunjin." I repeated my blatant observation, just in case he was indeed less than half-sane right now. "...It's a horror house. You know, Halloween-themed?" I gestured with my hands. "Spooky, scary stuff?"

He drew a deep breath, crossing his arms and mirroring my confused expression. "And..?"

Watching him for a moment with disbelief, I convinced myself that whatever food they had served us at that Cafe had messed with his mind. "...And you'll be screaming your head off the moment you get the scare you paid for."

Hyunjin rolled his eyes, stepping away from the building to take my hand once again. He dragged me off the sidewalk and back towards the door before opening it and shoving me inside.

"I thought you liked horror stuff, Hana." Continuing to drag me to the counter, which he didn't really have to since I had begun to follow him of my own will, he teased me, pulling out his wallet. "You could just tell me if you're too scared."

"You're the one who's going to be clinging onto me for your life," I scoffed as Hyunjin payed for two tickets. I shrugged to myself — if Hyunjin wanted to do this to himself, I wouldn't stop him, and I would have fun.

I glanced around the little shop as Hyunjin shoved his wallet back into his pocket and gripped onto to the two slips of paper with almost visibly shaking hands. 

Skulls, hopefully plastic, were mounted onto the walls along with stuffed animal heads, their eyes a deep abyss that bored into our souls as they watched us stand at the counter. Crows were suspended from the ceiling over head, and I thought I saw one of their beaks suddenly drop open out of the corner of my eye. 

The red lights beaming onto everything around, contrasting the bright and comforting rays of sunlight outside, made the clusters of eyes in the corners shine. I could have sworn at least five of the pupils moved to stare directly at me, and the black velvet draped like a tapestry behind the counter gained crimson folds and creases from the streams of colored light.

Upon looking closer, I realized that the contents of a jar on the shelf I had been studying weren't small pearls... they were teeth, and I noted with immediate regret that there were 20 floating in the green tinted glycerin.

A complete child's mouth full.

I shivered, tearing my eyes away from the unsettling decorations as Hyunjin took my hand, interlacing his trembling fingers with mine, probably for much-needed mental support.

"Um... Y-You ready? The cashier said we just enter that door to start," Hyunjin pointed with his free hand across the small space to a wooden carved door that seemed to lead to a back area of the shop. I nodded with a mixture of uncertainty and excitement.

Leading me towards the entrance, Hyunjin stopped right in front of it, hesitating. Biting his lip, he gulped again as he stared at the door, signifying the start of his worst nightmares combined, horrors unimaginable behind that ominous barrier. He reached for the handle, but it was too slow for my tastes as I stood behind him, watching him move like a snail.

"Just go," I pressed impatiently, glaring at his hand, hovering above the brass handle.

Suddenly stepping aside, he motioned towards the looming door with a flourish and a slight bow. "Ladies first," He forced a polite smile, prompting me to open the door and enter before him.

I rolled my eyes as I stepped up, grabbing the handle, which made me shudder at how surprisingly cold it was. The door inched open with a deafening creak as I struggled to pull it open, and I threw Hyunjin a glare as he stood behind it. He shrugged nonchalantly to show that he had no intention of helping with the heavy door.

Finally managing to open it wide enough for both of us to slip through, 𝘣𝘺 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧, I gave Hyunjin another look as he cautiously stepped through behind me, staying close enough to my back to use me as a human shield.  

Scoffing as I glanced over my shoulder to see him cowering in the new atmosphere, I muttered, "What a gentleman."