For Jeon Jungkook
That late summer day, we bet on coins and dropped them in the river without knowing the answers. The universe didn’t decide our fate anymore. We made our own luck.
Like when we sped around the carousel to claim the grey rabbit and the fat raven even though no one else stood in line. Every time we passed each other in the up-down, we contorted our faces in silly expressions and declared each other the victor.
Afterwards, you caught ice cream in your hands when my three precious scoops of mint chocolate fell off the cone. You ran away when I tried to get it back, ate it straight out of your hands as you laughed the most mischievous giggle. You had to wash your hands in the crumbling water fountain.
An older lady with a fancy, shiny cane offered us two free tickets to the Ferris wheel. I stuffed them in the breast pocket of my beat-up denim jacket to save for later, when the dying sun and waking city fought to win for first place in their daily beauty contest.
With the spare change we’d accumulated from many a coin hunt in the park, we bought two hot dogs from the grumpy vendor, who slowly counted the pieces to make sure we weren’t trying to swindle him. You drowned yours in mustard and tried to make me take a bite, but only managed to smear it all over my cheek. Instead, we tried to see who could eat their hot dog in the least amount of…
