“Come on, Max, cheer up! When else can you visit the night market? Aren’t you always busy with Quebracha? There’s nothing wrong with having fun just for one night,” Gabriella exclaimed, dragging the hand she was holding.
The man who was one step behind could only sigh in resignation. The crowd around him made the memory spin faster.
“How about you try that shooting game?” Gabriella suggested suddenly. “I’m sure you can hit all the targets.”
Max didn’t answer. He just stared at the red circle that seemed boring to him.
“You don’t want to?” Gabriella asked hopefully.
After three seconds of waiting, the woman finally pursed her lips and sighed in annoyance. “Then I’ll just play alone.”
Gabriella let go of Max’s hand and walked towards the booth. While she was paying, the man was watching her back with a worried look.
“Why should there be a night market here?” he grumbled before looking up at the black sky. A brief inquiry began.
“But, how long am I going to dodge like this? The past should not overshadow the present.”
Finally, with heavy steps, Max caught up with his wife.
Gabriella looked happy when her turn came. However, as soon as the woman fired the first shot, her expression turned flat.
“Why did the bullet miss so far? I used to be great at aiming,” she muttered before launching the second shot.
Again, the target failed to touch. Gabriella’s lips moved forward in an instant.
“Is it because of the tremors? But, today, my hand has improved a lot.”
Until the fifth shot, not a single bullet managed to hit the target. With maximally furrowed brows, Gabriella held out the money for another shot.
Witnessing that despair, the man could no longer remain silent. “Why are you wasting your time and money on that gun?” Max whispered successfully eliciting a cynical glance from his wife.
“Please don’t interfere. I have to get that green teddy bear,” Gabriella mumbled before re-directing the shot.
Max’s gaze instantly fell on the teddy hanging among the prize pool. “Why do you want it? You already have Snowy.”
The woman did not answer. She continued to concentrate until sweat beaded on her forehead.
After noticing his wife’s determination, Max heaved a sigh of pity. Before Gabriella began the umpteenth attempt, the man took over the launcher.
“What are you doing?” the woman asked spontaneously.
A second later, she was astonished at her husband’s shrewdness in aiming. In just an instant, the man had dropped all the red circles.
“What is this? You’re refusing to play because you’re too great?” Gabriella said with arched eyebrows in admiration.
Max just shrugged curtly, then pointed a finger at the prize pool. Before the man could move his tongue, Gabriella had already called out, “That green bear.”
A few seconds later, the teddy she wanted was in her arms. Gabriella thanked and walked back cheerfully.
“Is it this easy to bring back her smile?” Max thought in admiration, before following with veiled satisfaction.
“You look very happy,” he said as he arrived beside Gabriella.
“Of course. Snowy has friends now,” she chirps like a child.
Seeing that sweet response, the corners of Max’s lips automatically became lighter. “You’re an adult but still collect teddies.”
“This one is not for me,” Gabriella said, shaking her head.
The man’s eyes spontaneously narrowed. “Then, for whom?”
“For you. You said you want a teddy like Snowy.”
Max’s blink immediately expressed confusion. “But, I already have you.”
Gabriella suddenly stopped walking and turned to face her husband. “You can’t make me a doll for the rest of your life, can you?” she asked, arching her eyebrows high.
“Why not?”
The woman pursed her lips and lowered her gaze. “One day, our business will end. We will beat the mastermind, your company is safe, and you will definitely meet the girl you like.”
The air in Max’s chest suddenly felt heavy. It took extra effort for his lungs to be able to pump air. Why did the wife suddenly bring up the topic?
“When that time comes, it seems … I won’t be by your side anymore,” Gabriella continued before lifting her head and curling her lips. “I doubt that the woman of your dream is willing to be treated as a doll like me. That’s why you need Smiley. He will always comfort and accompany you.”
The man’s face was frozen, just like his heart that was left by warmth. He could not give any response, other than a sad blink. Gabriella’s words had seeped into his mind, creating a sense of emptiness that urgently needed to be dispelled.
“You have named this teddy?” Max asked changing the subject. His lips were forced to curve even though they were very heavy.
In just an instant, the joy radiated again from the woman’s face. “Of course. Look at his smile. Even Snowy didn’t have anything this cute. Doesn’t that name suit him?”
Max spontaneously noticed the teddy in his wife’s hand. After taking a deep breath, he nodded slightly. “Right. It’s cute.”
Gabriella suddenly handed Smiley into her husband’s hands. “Then take him to have some fun. This is your first meeting.”
“I don’t know how to take a teddy for fun,” Max said in confusion.
A second later, Gabriella looked around. Her smile got bigger when her eyes fell on the merry-go-round. “How about we take Smiley on that giant wheel? He will definitely be happy.”
Before the man agreed, the woman had run to get a ticket. Max could only laugh a little while shaking his head at Gabriella’s behavior. However, when his wife’s back began to be blocked by people, the corners of the man’s lips slowly pulled down.
“That woman … how long does she think that I will leave her? Doesn’t she realize that I don’t want a divorce?” the man thought as he exhaled slowly.
“I’m still the same little Max who dreams of a kind princess that can make him happy.”
Unknowingly, the man’s feet began to move towards Gabriella. The longer he walked, the faster his speed became.
When the woman’s hand was already in his grip, without any doubt, Max said, “Don’t disappear from my sight. I don’t want to feel left out anymore.”
The wife spontaneously froze. After the blink of her eyes broke the stiffness, then the woman returned to her bright face. “What did you say? I didn’t hear it clearly. It’s too noisy in here.”
Max gaped in disbelief. His sincere confession failed to convey. “She didn’t hear what I just said? Tsk, why does she make me repeat the words?” he grumbled in his heart.
“I said ….” Suddenly, the man hesitated. After a brief thought, his expression turned flat. “Don’t run around like that. I won’t help if you fall.”
A small laugh escaped from Gabriella’s mouth. “Take it easy. Even without your help, I can get up on my own.”
As the woman looked the other way, Max’s honest expression returned. Sincere and hopeful. “Stupid! You’re not alone anymore, Gaby, and I wouldn’t mind to hold your hand,” he thought.
“It’s our turn. Come on, Max!”
The man gasped as Gabriella pulled his hand. In just a few seconds, they were sitting face to face in a small cabin. There, Max’s eyes had no object to look at, other than Gabriella’s sweet smile.
“Wow, I haven’t been on a merry-go-round in a long time,” the woman sighed while observing the interior. After a few moments, her hand pressed against the left chest. “I like how my heart is beating so fast with joy.”
Instead of replying, Max looked at his wife in amazement. He never felt tickled just by witnessing other people’s pleasure.
After a while, Gabriella locked her gaze through the glass with her palm. The higher their position, the more often she sighed. Every now and then, she commented on what was seen below. Although the husband did not respond, the woman continued to talk.
“Look, Max! We’re at the top. All can be seen from here. And look at that! A train has just arrived. Is that ours? Wow, how cool!”
Due to the endless silence, Gabriella finally checked her husband’s condition. As soon as she saw the indescribable expression, spontaneous joy turned to surprise.
“Max? Are you okay? You look pale.”
The man didn’t answer. He just took a deep breath.
“Are you really afraid of heights?” the woman guessed, starting to worry.
A second later, she looked out the window again. They still had a long way to go to the bottom.
“Oh no! Max can pass out if he keeps holding on to his fear,” Gabriella thought with furrowed brows.
After pondering for a moment, she moved to her husband’s side. Without hesitation, the woman grasped the fingers that were not holding Smiley.
“You should admit that you have a phobia of heights. I wouldn’t ask you to go up here if I knew,” Gabriella said trying to get Max’s response.
A few seconds passed, the man remained motionless with eyes shaking faintly. Thinking that the husband had indeed been caught in the horror, Gabriella began to pat the big warm hand.
“Calm down, Max. We’ll be out of here soon. How about you just listen to my story? Hm?”
Not getting a response, the woman decided to start a monologue.
“By the way, why don’t you ask me why I chose this green teddy? There are also brown and pink bears. Honestly, I wanted to take the brown one because of Mom. But, I remembered the ice cream you ate. Since you like the taste of green tea, I ended up choosing Smiley.”
Suddenly, Max’s rumbling breaths grew wilder. Sweat began to bead on his forehead.
Realizing that her husband was not getting any better, Gabriella’s expression became anxious again. “Does my story not help? You want a more exciting story?”
The woman’s eyes immediately spun around, looking for ideas. “What if-”
Unexpectedly, Max covered Gabriella’s mouth with his lips.
In just an instant, a small pop in the chest had frozen the woman’s body. She was completely incapable of understanding the situation. Her faintly quivering eyes did seem like she was looking for an excuse. But, her mind had actually been stifled by a heart-melting warmth.
Gabriella had been hypnotized by her husband’s unexpected action.