TAK!
The rubber bullet hit the corner and ricocheted under the law of physics.
That was the first shot.
Ilyas wasn't disheartened. As soon as he saw it missed, he loaded the second bullet in and once again steadied his breath. His form was immaculate, it even made me question if guide's training included a course about long-range weapon mastery.
He put his finger on the gun's trigger, giving it one last adjustment...
"Huu..."
And pulled the trigger.
TAK!
The sound of bullet hitting its target resounded. An item had dropped on the floor from the impact of Ilyas' bullet.
"Congratulations! You get a keychain! We'll wrap it up for you imme-"
"Who said I'm finished?"
Ilyas cut off the employee, reloading the toy gun once again. His eyes wandered to me before turning back to the employee once again.
"I still have one more bullet don't I?" he said, the corner of his lips curved upward.
This time, with more confidence, he raised the gun again. In the next second, he already pulled the trigger and the bullet flew across the air.
TAK!
Another keychain dropped on the floor and the employee, seeing Ilyas' display of skill, curiously asked.
"Such an amazing skill! You sure you aren't an esper too?"
"Haha, of course not, I'm just a regular person trying my best to have fun."
Ilyas turned toward me, a wide smile plastered on his face. Narrowing his eyes, he tapped on his lips as he breathlessly whispered, "Two kisses."
I stared at him suspiciously.
'This kid, where does that slyness of his come from?'
Did Cedric teach him a trick or two on being sly? He had somehow become more proficient in tricking people into doing what he wanted.
"Which keychain would you like?"
Walking toward me, he held out the two prizes in front of me. A violin and a music note keychain, it had a unique chemistry with each other. Did Ilyas target these two with this in mind?
"That's your prize, you should save it." I rejected the offer, I didn't want to take his hard-earned prize.
"No, I want this to be a momento of the shared moment between us. I want you to think of me when you look at this keychain, so please take it." Ilyas looked up at me, his eyes glistening as his brow turned upward, "Or is it a no for you?"
Seeing his expression, a pang of guilt struck me. Ilyas had used the 'act as pitiful as possible' attack.
And it worked.
In fact, it worked so effectively that I felt bad if I didn't take it.
'Ugh, since when has he been this good at persuading people?'
Of all people I had known, Ilyas was the last of my list to guilt-trip me like this. But it wasn't a bad feeling, it was the opposite. I felt proud when he put this much love and care into me.
"Then I'll take the violin."
Ilyas face brightened when I picked the keychain from his hand. I brushed it slightly, adorning it. It wasn't fancy, but it held a meaning between us so that was enough.
I hung the keychain together with my house key. I wasn't the type to bring a huge bag to begin with, so this was the best I could think of. Ilyas on the other hand, hung the keychain on his bag, proudly displaying it.
"Shall we go to our next ride?"
Ilyas offered. The sky had turned orange, but his smile hadn't faded from his face. He held my hand and intertwined it as he guided me to line up at another ride.
This time, the famous ferris wheel was our destination.
We stepped inside the car, it swayed slightly under our weight before finally settling down after we sat on the seats.
As the wheel began to ascend, the park beneath us came into full view. The dazzling lights, the joyous face full of laughter – all of it was a sight to behold.
"The view is beautiful, isn't it?"
Sitting in front of me, Ilyas gazed out of the glass window. His side profile, outlined by the warm sunset light was simply breathtaking.
"It is." I smiled, appreciating both the view outside and inside the car in my mind.
"You're more beautiful in my eyes though."
"H-Huh?"
My heart almost jumped out of my chest at Ilyas' honest words. While I also admired his looks, I only did it inside my head, but to hear his compliment of me being said directly like that… Ilyas really did have a nerve of steel.
"Haha, I knew it, you're the cutest when you're embarrassed."
"Stop teasing me Ilyas."
"I won't, teasing you is that much fun."
"Huh, you're so shameless at admitting it."
"Of course, I learned it from you after all."
'You little pup, did you learn a bad thing from me?'
The innocent Ilyas, who's literally the angel of our team, had turned into a mischievous devil that shamelessly admitted he did a bad thing.
"Two kisses."
"Hm?"
"You still owe me two kisses."
He leaned forward, supported by his legs, he intertwined his fingers together to support his chin, a wide smirk on his face.
"Ugh…"
I brushed my hand on my mouth, feeling a bit shy as he shamelessly asked.
"Later, when we are in a private room…"
"No, I want one now."
Ilyas spread open his arms, that gesture was definitely an invitation. There was not a single hint of embarrassment or guilt that could be detected in his emerald eyes.
'Huh, he really is a bold one, isn't he?'
We were out in the open and he was demanding a kiss, that's such an indecent act to do in public. But even when my mind was strongly opposing the idea, I stood on my feet. I guess I had a weak spot for Ilyas.
The car tilted slightly from the shift of weight. I took off my hat and held onto the seat for support while one of my knees was placed between Ilyas' thigh. He brushed my cheek as our breath touched each other.
We were already high up in the sky, right at the top, yet at this moment it felt as if we owned the sky for ourselves.
"I never agree to give you any kisses." I rolled my eyes, gauging his reaction, "But I'll tag along with your desire just this one time."
A kiss was planted on Ilyas' lips, a light one at first, but when I pulled back and went for the second kiss, Ilyas pulled my head and initiated a deep kiss.
Tongue tangling and hot breath that tingled our skin were all we could feel from each other, as if our other senses were blocked from the world.
"Haa…Wait Ilyas- Hngh!"
I was gasping for breath at Ilyas' aggressive attack. His guiding energy was flowing into me, making my head fuzzy and he did it unconsciously because of the overwhelming emotion he felt right now.
I pulled away and blocked Ilyas' mouth. Tears had started swelling in my eyes so I couldn't get a good look at his face but I took a deep breath and pulled away from him.
"Alright, let's stop here, the ride is almost over."
"Ah, yeah."
Ilyas sounded dejected. If he had puppy ears, it would surely lower down in disappointment.
I chuckled, patting his head, "I still owe you one more kiss, don't I? Let's find another time to continue."
Once our car completely came to a complete stop, I tidied up my disheveled appearance and got out of the car, trying my best to pretend that nothing happened.
I glanced at Ilyas beside me, he looked so unfazed about the thing we had just done.
'What part of him is innocent? Have I been misled by the comic's description? Or maybe this is just how Ilyas' real personality is like?'
Regardless of the fact, we were having an enjoyable time together today.
"Let's head back."
"Sure."
With the sun already low on the horizon, it's now time for us to get back.
And that marked the end of our first date.