Imagines Book 1 |Stray Kids|

Carnival Boy •Hwang Hyunjin•

Genre: non-idol
Word count: 1k

The smell of buttered popcorn, cotton candy, and other delicious carnival foods filled the air all around you.

"Thank you," you thanked the old man whom gave you your wristband.

You exited the line full of other teenagers who go to your school and families from neighboring towns, waiting for your two friends to receive their own wristbands. You didn't expect the carnival to be this big. Or full of so many people at night.

Each ride was lit up, and so were the rigged games you still enjoyed playing because truthfully, they were fun. And sometimes, if you bribe the workers, they'll let you win at least once.

"Okay!" your friend Mara exclaimed, skipping over to you as she linked arms with her boyfriend whom is your best friend.

"Which ride should we go on first?" Jaehyun asked, looking between you and Mara with a childish smile on his face.

You looked around, unsure. There were a lot of people around and it was making you feel a little claustrophobic. Jaehyun and Mara had made you come with them to the carnival tonight. You had told them that you didn't want to interrupt their date, but they insisted.

You don't like rides, yet they still encouraged you to go with them.

"What about the..." Mara's voice trailed off, looking around the big rides that surrounded them.

Glancing from the Ferris Wheel, to the tall swings, her eyes landed on a tall ride that drops you from 200 feet up in the air. You hate heights.

"That one!" she exclaimed as she pointed to the ride with a smile on her face.

"Sure," Jaehyun agreed, being dragged by Mara. "Come on, Y/n!"

You shook your head, watching your two friends wait for you in the midst of a large group of people passing by.

"You guys go ahead! I'll wait here!" you shouted over the loud screams of people on the rides above, waving them to leave you.

They didn't even hesitate to protest abandoning you. The couple instantly disappeared in the crowd, leaving you all alone around strangers.

.

20 minutes passed by.

Mara and Jaehyun didn't show back up. They were on their own little date sharing fried dough together at a little table by all of the food trucks. They completely forgot about you.

You wandered alone, past all of the rigged games you didn't feel like playing.

"Step right on up, win a big pikachu plushie!" one of the workers exclaimed in your direction.

Tucking your hands in your hoodie pocket as you glanced at the ground, you continued walking past people a little faster.

Until you walked directly into someone, getting a drink spilt all over you.

"Oh!" you exclaimed, bouncing back off of someone's chest. "I'm sorry-"

"It's okay, that was totally my fault," the boy replied in a reassuring manner. He looked down at you, realizing he accidentally spilt his drink on your shirt.

As you looked up, you made eye contact with a rather tall boy that seemed to be around your age. He had short brunette hair and bangs that caught your eye. But his attractiveness caught your attention even more. He had a freckle underneath his left eye, and the prettiest eyes and fullest lips you've ever seen. To make his appearance even better, his ears were pierced with two little hoops.

Then you realized you had been staring at the pretty boy for too long.

"I'm- sorry," you stuttered, looking back down at your shirt that was covered with his drink. It smelled like Fruit Punch.

"Hold on, I'll help you with that-"

"No no, I got it," you quickly cut his words short, trying desperately to dry the shirt by rubbing it with your other sleeve as you walked away, leaving the boy standing there.

This wasn't your hoodie. Mara lent it to you, but it's definitely not hers either. It's too big. It's Jaehyun's expensive Champion hoodie.

.

You sat down on a bench with a sigh and a big sticky spot on Jaehyun's sweatshirt. You didn't know where they were, nor did you really want to know. They were probably on the Ferris Wheel making out for the fourth time tonight.

Just as you were about to stand up to leave the carnival, a body appeared in front of you.

The carnival boy, to be exact.

You slowly looked up and met eyes with his. He was so pretty and you couldn't get over it.

He held out his grey sweatshirt that he was wearing earlier when he spilt the drink all over you accidentally. But he gave you a soft, apologetic smile that made your heart flutter.

"You ran away before I got the chance to apologize," he told you, setting his sweatshirt down on your lap gently.

You glanced down. You couldn't help but feel a little guilty for leaving like that.

"Sorry," you apologized yet again, looking back up at him.

You grabbed his sweatshirt and held it back up at him stubbornly.

"Here," you said, placing it in his hands. "I'll end up forgetting to take it off,"

"That's okay," the boy replied almost instantly, shaking his head.

"You can keep it," he smiled at you, pushing the sweatshirt back your way.

You furrowed your eyebrows at him. Is he serious? Nobody has ever offered a sweatshirt to you in your life.

"Thank you," you replied, taking Jaehyun's dirty sweatshirt off to replace it with the carnival boy's warm and bigger one.

It was so soft and comfy. It was a little big for you considering your hands disappeared when they go down at your sides, but you couldn't help but feel grateful for this boy's kind gesture.

"What's your name?" you asked, standing up beside the boy, leaving Jaehyun's sweatshirt on the bench.

He turned to look at you with doe eyes. "Hwang Hyunjin,"

You smiled, watching his eyes slowly disappear into pretty crescents. Your heart fluttered at his beautiful smile.

"Hwang Hyunjin," you said, glancing behind him to the tall, blue and purple lit Ferris Wheel.

"Do you want to go on the Ferris Wheel with me?" you asked, feeling your heart beat faster. You didn't know why you were being so bold all of a sudden.

Hyunjin's face lit up with a bright smile, his cheeks turning a light shade of pink from natural blush as he nodded. "I would love to."

If you had to go on a tall ride like the Ferris Wheel, going with Hwang Hyunjin, the Carnival Boy, was your exception.