"Ah... it's nothing... I just haven't had ice cream in ages, and the craving drifted back like a summer breeze."

Gu Xin smiled, a curtain dropping over the ripple of shock in her chest.

"Oh... then let's catch up with them," Ye Yiyi said, her words darting like a swallow after its flock.

"Mm," Gu Xin answered, her assent a small stone sinking through clear water.

While Ye Yiyi turned away, she flicked Meng Yuting a look, quick as a spark in dry grass.

Meng Yuting gave a tiny nod, like a reed bending to the wind.

"That, that—the roller coaster, there's a roller coaster!" Meng Xiaoxiao cried, tugging Tang Coco's arm up ahead, her voice fizzing like soda.

"Uh... aren't you scared?" Tang Coco asked, caution fluttering like a moth at a lamp.

"Of course not. I've wanted to ride forever, just no one to go with me; Coco-jie, take me once," Meng Xiaoxiao said, pulling a cute face like a kitten pawing a ribbon.

"Okay, okay," Tang Coco nodded, helpless as a leaf in a current, then turned to Ye Yiyi and said, "Yiyi, come ride the roller coaster with me," her invite stretching like a hand in sunlight.

"I..." Ye Yiyi hesitated, fear pooling like shadow under the eaves.

"Yiyi, are you scared?" Tang Coco stepped close, her voice warm as a lantern in mist.

"N-not... not really... okay... I'll try," Ye Yiyi said, resolve setting like thin ice.

"Yeah, yeah, it’s super fun, Big Sis and Sister Gu, come too," Meng Xiaoxiao chirped, joy popping like firecrackers.

"Mm, let's go," Meng Yuting and Gu Xin agreed, the whole thing a pebble before mountains to them.

The coaster had two seats per row, but there were five of them; after polite shuffling like chess pieces, Meng Xiaoxiao and Meng Yuting took the front, Gu Xin sat alone in the middle, and Ye Yiyi with Tang Coco took the back.

"Mm..." Ye Yiyi lowered her head, small hands clenched like two shells.

Seeing it, Tang Coco sighed inside, a mist rising and fading, then reached out and caught Ye Yiyi's tense little hand like a skittish sparrow.

Soft warmth spilled across Ye Yiyi's palm like spring water; she turned to Tang Coco, who smiled, and then the smile stretched too wide, her tongue twinged, and the bloom flipped to a wince like a petal bruised.

"Pfft—" Ye Yiyi laughed, a bell shaken by wind, while Tang Coco pouted, lips like a duck’s beak, and said, "Still laughing? And whose fault is this?"

"Hmph, someone didn’t warn me and just ambushed me," Ye Yiyi shot back, the words snapping like a playful whip.

"Well, well—little miss, you mess up and still act all righteous," Tang Coco lifted her aura like a banner in wind.

"You moved first—no, you used your mouth," Ye Yiyi retorted, the line dropping like a pebble into a pond.

They tussled playfully, laughter scattering like petals, and Ye Yiyi’s nerves loosened like knotted rope in the sun.

In front of them, with no one beside her, Gu Xin sat alone, head bowed, thoughts drifting like leaves on a slow stream.

She remembered a mission long ago with Tang Ke; they tailed a target as lovers in an amusement park, and he bought her ice cream, that mango gold she said she liked, the memory glowing like a paper lantern.

Gu Xin stole a glance back at Tang Coco, quick as a fish through reeds.

No way, she thought, the idea impossible as snow in summer.

The roller coaster rumbled to life, the track unspooling like a steel dragon with plunges and spirals.

Clack, clack, clack—while it climbed, Ye Yiyi’s heart tightened like a drumskin, and Tang Coco held her hand like an anchor in tide.

"Wow, wow, it’s so high," Meng Xiaoxiao’s voice rang ahead like a skylark, and Meng Yuting’s helpless reply followed like a sighing breeze, "Hey, keep it down."

"See? Even that little brat isn’t scared," Tang Coco smiled at Ye Yiyi, her grin like sun breaking through cloud.

"Mm!" Ye Yiyi nodded, the motion small as a pebble dropping.

They reached the top and the train paused, perched like a hawk on a cliff.

"Huh? Why isn’t it moving?" Ye Yiyi asked, nerves drawn like a bowstring.

"Maybe a glitch, it’s fine, we’ll roll back in a bit," Tang Coco said with a smile, calm as still water.

"Oh... really... that’s great..." Ye Yiyi’s heart unclenched, and she let out a breath like steam from a kettle.

Then, as her guard fell, the train lunged forward and dived, the world dropping away like a cliff of wind.

"Waahhh!" Ye Yiyi screamed, her voice a torn ribbon in a gale. "Coco, you lied to me!"

"Hahaha!" Tang Coco laughed, bright as sun on waves.