When Masha realized that the flashy plushies were for her, her jaw almost hit the ground. Her eyeballs were about to pop out from their sockets as she stared at the dozen or so plushies! Goodness, Gabriel’s arms were overflooding with all sorts of stuffed animals!

Misha didn’t wait for his sister to recover from the shock, and with a proud tone, he started to brag that he had won all of them himself; the ones that Gabriel won in his stead didn’t count. The child’s exaggerated way of speaking as he told his feat brought a genuine smile to Masha’s lips, her whole face lightening up with joy.

Her little brother hadn’t finished talking yet when Masha hugged him tightly, squeezing the giant teddy bear between their bodies.

It was the first time her brother had given her something! Usually, she was the one who showered him with gifts, and the novelty of being on the receiving end was quite delightful. She couldn’t help but think that she would cherish those plushies as priceless treasures, even though they were low in quality and some were a little too flashy for her tastes—in the end, they were still cheap goods from the amusement park.

“Thank you, sweetie. I like them all! They are so pretty.” She kissed the child on his forehead before adding, “I didn’t know you were so skilled. You hid it well!”

“Hehe, I was lucky!” Misha laughed as he buried his face in the crook of his sister’s neck, his tiny arms grabbing her back.

Misha closed his eyes, enjoying the warm feeling that spread over his body. For years, he had yearned for his sister’s hugs, and now that she was by his side again, he wouldn’t miss a chance to hold her close.

Even after a moment passed, the boy refused to let go, trapping Masha in his arms.

Laughing, the teenage girl said gently, “You will have to release me if you want to eat something. You must be hungry after playing so many games.”

“Hn.” But although the child made a sound to acknowledge his sister’s words, he still didn’t budge. Instead, he snuggled against her a bit more.

“If you continue to hug me like this, you will have to sit on my lap while eating, you know?”

“...” Misha thought that it was indeed a bit too much and finally let go, albeit a tad reluctantly. He did release his sister, but he still extended his hand and slid it into hers, intertwining his tiny fingers with hers.

Masha raised an eyebrow but didn’t complain; she could only smile helplessly. Since his nightmare two days ago, her little brother glanced at her now and then, seemingly wanting to say something without being able to. He was also a bit more clingy at times while distant at other times. Obviously, the bad dream affected his mood more than he wanted to let them know.

However, she didn’t need to know the reason for indulging him. It wasn’t like his clinginess bothered her, anyway.

Putting aside the bro-con/sis-con duo, Mrs. Brown went to Gabriel to help him put down the plushies on the table. There were too many, and they covered most of the said table, leaving them with little space to eat their meal.

On the side, Camille was laughing so hard that she was about to choke. The dozen colorful plushies in the teenager’s arms destroyed Gabriel’s overly serious image. She probably wouldn’t see another scene of the same kind any time soon, so she took a few seconds to burn it into her mind. It was one hell of a sight!

As Gulnas helped Gabriel put down the plushies, she said, “I’m sorry about this. I’ll pay you back. How much did it cost?”

“Please don’t worry, it didn’t cost much. Misha almost won the game in one go all the time, so I didn’t lose any money.”

“But...”

“Really, it’s fine! I had a lot of fun. We can also say that this is my contribution to Masha’s birthday gifts.” Gabriel winked, a gentle smile on his lips.

In the end, faced with this gentle yet firm stance, Gulnas had no choice but to yield.

Afterward, the group bought food at the stalls and sat down to eat until their bellies became round. Then, they went to the lockers they rented and put the plushies next to their luggage. However, the pink teddy bear was too big to fit inside the locker, and thus Masha decided to keep it with her.

Once they packed away all the plushies, they closed the bulging locker and set a time for their next meeting. But, before parting, Gulnas made her son promise not to play too much at the game booths. The reason being was that they wouldn’t have enough hands to bring back home more plushies—well, she also didn’t want her daughter’s boyfriend to deplete his bank account.

Soon after, the group split up.

Again, Misha watched his sister’s and mother’s backs slowly disappear in the crowd before turning on his heel and walking away.

Misha and Gabriel strolled around the amusement park for a while. The teenager obediently followed Misha around, almost like a lap dog, until the boy stopped before a particular attraction.

The kid lifted his head, squinting his eyes to see the top of the spinning carousel tower. People filled the circle of swing chairs, their legs falling into the air, and their screams and laughs resonated throughout the place, reaching the child’s ears. Even though they were hundreds of meters high in the sky, passersby could hear them as if they were sitting right next to them.

A devious smile slipped onto his lips, but Misha quickly hid it. He tugged Gabriel’s shorts and pointed his finger at the colorful tower, “I want to ride this! I’m tall enough, right?”

“Yes, I think so,” Gabriel nodded. “Let’s wait in line.”

Despite Gabriel moving forward, Misha didn’t move an inch. Instead, he demanded, “Ride it with me!”

“I’m sorry, but I’m really not good with heights...” the teenager shuddered as he forced a smile.

Misha frowned and pursed his lips, appearing to be in a dilemma. Finally, he looked at Gabriel with big puppy eyes and said in a small voice, “You really can’t?”

“...”

“You really, really can’t?” the boy repeated.

Truthfully, Misha still couldn’t believe the teenager was afraid of heights. He couldn’t shake off the image he had of Gabriel so easily! That man had shown him his gentle yet firm side every day for years. He was someone that wouldn’t back down no matter what, someone that could face everything head-on and still stand on his own two feet afterward. To say that he was afraid of heights...

It just didn’t feel right.

“Just this one?” Misha pleaded.

Gabriel hesitated a few more seconds before finally sighing and nodding. He had a feeling that the boy wouldn’t stop pestering him until he agreed. “But just this one.”

Anyway, he wouldn’t die from riding one roller coaster… right?

Giggles resounded as Misha grabbed the teenager’s wrist and dragged him to the carousel tower waiting line.

A ladder with a red mark stood at the entrance, indicating the minimum height required to do the attraction. Misha just barely reached it, which made him a little grumpy. Was he really that small when he was young? It was a bit depressing.

The amusement park still wasn’t too crowded, so they didn’t have to wait for a long time before getting on the carousel tower. The swing chairs were by pairs of two, and thus, Gabriel and Misha sat next to each other.

One was bouncing excitedly on his chair, while the other had a stiff face. The latter’s expression was so rigid that he could have been mistaken for a mannequin.

The moment Gabriel sat in the chair, he clenched his fists until his knuckles turned white. ‘Everything will be alright,’ he told himself before taking a deep breath and glancing at the thin chains that supported the chair, then the thin metal rod placed on his lap for safety.

“...”

Gabriel couldn’t help but wonder if the one who created this thing even knew what safety meant.

The ride started and he was lifted into the air. Soon, Gabriel couldn’t keep his eyes open. He had to close them, biting his finger until it bled to stifle his screams. When the tower began to spin, he cursed under his breath, and as time went on, his cursing became louder and louder. As well as cruder.

Misha, who was near the teenager, looked at him with big, round eyes. It had to be said that he had rarely ever heard Gabriel swear in his whole past life. The only time Misha heard his tongue getting as loose was when Gabriel learned what his father had done to him. Even he felt his ears get scorched by the vulgar words at that time.

He was left speechless. Was Gabriel so afraid that he forgot he was by his side?

When the carousel tower finally came to a halt, Gabriel hurriedly got off the chair and ran to the nearest trash bin before throwing up. His beautiful face was still deadly pale when he felt well enough to stand up, facing Misha, who had walked to his side. The child had a dumb expression on his doll-like face, making him appear somewhat foolish.

A bit shameful, Gabriel felt the need to explain himself, “I’m really not good with heights….”

“Yeah. I saw that….”

Goddammit. It appeared Gabriel was human, not a demon in human skin.

Mini theater

MC: We need to come back to La Ronde in a few years.

ML: Why?

MC: They will build a particular roller coaster. You know, the kind that reaches for the sky? It’s really fun riding it. :D

ML: … My poor stomach.