How Do I Say I Like You? | BL

Chapter 22

Xu Chen could see the relief on Ma Tian's face as he turned the car back on and pulled onto the road. They didn't converse during the drive, but the atmosphere between them wasn't tense or awkward like it had been during lunch.

The arcade Ma Tian had hired was located in the mall and Xu Chen walked beside the tall man through the crowded building. He noticed how a lot of people would openly stare at them or Ma Tian and he even noticed some people whispering. Xu Chen didn't understand this since Ma Tian had long sleeves on, so you couldn't see his tattoos and they weren't holding hands like normal couples. Ma Tian thought Xu Chen would walk a little apart from him after seeing the people staring at him but instead, the boy stayed close to him while obviously confused. To stop Xu Chen from being so confused, Ma Tian explained briefly.

"I was on the cover of a business magazine with my Father recently. That is why people are staring."

At the Arcade ,the manager unlocked the door for them and gave Xu Chen a card. The machines and games no longer took coins or tokens and instead used cards to hold points. Ma Tian had already made sure that there would be more than enough money for Xu Chen and they set off in the empty room.

The arcade was huge, holding both old and new games as well as a separate area for claw games. Xu Chen felt as if he was a kid in a candy store and a little overwhelmed too as he didn't know what to choose first. At the entrance of the arcade, they were standing near a motorbike racing game so he chose to race Ma Tian. While getting on the bikes, Ma Tian smirked at Xu Chen while saying.

"Do you want me to go easy on you since you don't have a license?"

"No, let's make it a competition and see who can win the most games."

"Hmm, Okay but what's the prize for the winner?"

On the spot Xu Chen couldn't think of a suitable prize so shrugged and said the winner picks what they want. Ma Tian slyly grinned as he straddled the stationary motorbike, waiting for Xu Chen to get on and scan the card. Just like the racing game on Ma Tian's phone, Xu Chen wasn't great and ended up losing, he was so bad that the game clocked out before he had even finished his last lap.

Ma Tian pulled out his phone and triumphantly wrote down the score, at first Xu Chen had been too flustered since he didn't know how to act on a date, but after playing one game, his competitiveness took over and he scanned the room for a game he knew he would be good at. Ma Tian had finished writing their names and the first point for him when Xu Chen was already waiting at another game.

"Hurry up Tian Ge!"

The next game was a timing game where you needed to hit the targets once the ball on the screen passed over them. Xu Chen made Ma Tian go first since he didn't want Ma Tian to go easy on him and let him win. He watched seriously at the side while Ma Tian focused on his game, Ma Tian was completely focused when he quickly glanced at Xu Chen and lost his game from being too amused by the boy's serious glare. He couldn't even comment before he was being pushed aside.

"My turn, my turn. Your score was 86 remember that"

Ma Tian chuckled as he stood off to the side, Xu Chen was concentrating more than Ma Tian had ever seen and he was shushed multiple times when he would start chuckling. Xu Chen's turn lasted around the same time as Ma Tian's before he slipped up and pushed the button too early.

"Ah, 85. What was your score? I can't remember it."

There was no hesitation or change in expression when Ma Tian answered 84. Xu Chen jumped excitedly and punched the air as he thought that he had beaten Ma Tian, after his jumping he hurriedly made Ma Tian pull out his phone and put his point in. Again, he ran off to find another game while trying to hurry up the man behind him.