Lennon timidly followed behind the band. They instantly knew where to go and what to do. She watched them with curiosity.
"Did you guys have these cards in America too?" Han's voice came from behind her.
"The reloadable ones? Yeah. Sometimes you go places and they give you actual coins to use instead. They're usually in some of the older establishments that have decided not to upgrade their systems. I thought this place was just an arcade."
"Really? We've always had reloadable cards for as long as I can remember. Technically, it's called an entertainment center. They have arcade games and a variety of other things. One of my favorite things to play is air hockey, I'm pretty good at it."
Lee Know and Chan stood in front of a machine talking to each other. Lennon couldn't hear them over the sound of music and talking. The arcade had just opened a few minutes ago, but people must have had the same idea. If they got there earlier, there was a chance not many people would be there. That idea backfired on everyone.
There were a few families already scurrying around the area. Lennon had already spotted two different groups of teenagers. She stuck her hands in her sweatpants pockets. She could feel herself starting to slightly panic. The arcade was set up where you could go up to a machine and purchase a re-loadable card. You could put so many points on it and scan it at the games. Every game took a different set of points.
Chan turned around from the machine with a stash of cards. "Okay, everyone gets a card. We'll meet at the bumper cars at one. We can play a round of bumper cars and then we can go off to eat. Does that sound good?"
A murmur of replies responded.
"If you run out of points on your card, you're paying to refill them. Chan and I aren't buying you any more points. Got it?"
Han squealed in excitement from Lennon's side. He reached over and placed his hands on her shoulders and shook. Lennon squeezed her eyes shut. His thumb dug into the bruise on her shoulder. "Aren't you excited?"
"Han, get your hands off her!" Lee Know barked. "Keep your hands to yourself!"
"Sorry," Han instantly let go.
Lennon's shoulders dropped in relief. She reached up and rubbed the bruise. It still ached and Han had accidentally made it worse. Lee Know held a card out in front of her. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"Take it, it's for you."
"Are you sure? Because I was going to buy my own card."
Lee Know shook his head, "no need."
"I'll pay you back on Monday."
"Nope. No take backs. Just take it and enjoy it."
"But I-"
Before Lennon could say anything else, Han grabbed her hand, and pulled her away. Lee Know chuckled and spun around to find Chan. Annoyed, Lennon let Han pull her through the maze of games.
"Where are we going?"
"To the air hockey tables! They're in the back corner and I know anxiety when I see it. Don't worry, I struggle with anxiety too. Usually, people aren't around them because they think it's dumb. They think they're too cool for air hockey."
While walking, she tried to glance at games in the area. The building was darkened. A variety of colorful neon lights were everywhere. They sporadically flashed on top of and around the games. Small rectangular devices glowed white on the bottom of them. A screen with a number of points appeared inside of it. All they had to do was scan their card to start the game.
Sure enough, three air hockey tables were in the corner where she was being led. A white rectangular device glowed on the side of the tables. Han led her to the one in the very back corner. He scanned his card over it and let go of her hand. The table started to glow a light blue as it powered up. Han grabbed the red pusher on one side of the table while she grabbed the blue on the other.
"You know how to play, right?"
Lennon nodded her head. He pulled a puck out of the slot and placed it on the table. A slight hum filled the air letting them know that the game was ready to play. He hit the black puck over to her side of the table. Before it sunk into her goal, she hit it back to his side of the table. That's how it went for a few moments before the puck entered her goal slot.
Han cheered as she got out the puck and sent it flying back to him. He barely saved it from flying into his slot. "That was such a cheap shot!"
"Maybe next time you'll save the celebration until after you've won."
"Oh, I'll win!"
"Are you underestimating me?" Lennon's eyebrows raised in amusement.
"Probably."
The two of them let out a laugh. Soon, Han hit the puck into her goal slot again. It went like this back and forth for a few minutes until the game ended. Han ended up winning and he did a celebration dance. All Lennon could do was laugh at him because he looked like an idiot.
When he was finished making a fool out of himself, he made his way to her side. "So when did your anxiety start?"
"Um..."
"We don't have to talk about it if you don't want to! I just know sometimes it's nice to talk to people that share your same struggle. I struggle with social anxiety and I don't like meeting new people. That sounds insane because I'm in a band and we're always traveling and working with different people, but it's true."
"No, it's okay, I can talk about it. I guess that I've never talked about it before. Nobody has come up to me and asked me to open up about my anxiety. It was unexpected, that's all."
"I used to struggle with social anxiety a lot. Over the years, I'd say it's gotten a lot better. There are times where I still have anxiety in social situations, but it's not as bad as it once was. I've kind of gotten used to it through exposure therapy, you know?"
"I'm the same way. I deal with those situations because I have to, but I still hate it."
"Exactly," Lennon nodded. "As for general anxiety, I've had it forever. I remember being a kid and having it. My social anxiety was so bad that I refused to talk to strangers as a kid. This included my teachers and peers at school. I rarely talked to anyone because I was so nervous. I was almost mute as crazy as it sounds."
"So it must be genetic then?"
"It's my best bet. What about you?"
"I think mine's genetic too."
"You said you don't like meeting strangers, but you seemed fine around me. When we met a few days ago, were you faking everything?"
He shook his head rapidly. "No, I could tell you were nervous through your body language. Your hands kept slightly shaking, so you shoved them in your pockets. When you kept talking to everyone, you kept unconsciously tugging at your ear. Plus, you couldn't hold eye contact for long periods of time."
"You're really good at analyzing people."
"I've had years of practice. Being anxious causes me to think too much about things. I can tell if someone likes me or not through their body language. You were already uncomfortable, so I thought I could try to make you comfortable. It seemed to work because it didn't take long before you were laughing. You seemed to ease up a lot."
"Thanks for that. I was so nervous I thought I was going to throw up. I've never done makeup on professional idols and it was a lot to take in. I didn't think I was going to get the job. I sent my application to the company on a whim."
"Well, I'm glad you sent it in and I'm glad you chose to hang out last night. Plus, you're here now."
"Yeah, me too. This is probably the most fun I've had since I've moved to South Korea. I've kind of been locked in my apartment. There's a cafe down the road that I've been to a few times and a grocery store. Other than that, I'm usually inside."
"Stick around with the band and you'll see a bunch of cool things. You'll get to meet a variety of people. You might even get to meet a few fans. I know our last makeup artist really liked meeting the fans. Some of them recognized her and had their photos taken with her."
"Awe, that's cute. I didn't even consider something like that happening. I guess we'll have to see as time goes on."
"Yeah. Do you want to play another round of air hockey?"
"Okay, but we're using my card this time."
The hair prickled at the back of Lennon's neck. She scanned her card and turned around. It took her a few moments before she spotted him. Changbin stood staring at her from behind one of the arcade games. She raised an eyebrow, but he didn't respond. He turned around and disappeared into the crowd of people.
"Are you ready?" Han asked.
"Uh-huh."
She shook off the quick moment of confusion and turned her attention back to the game. Han was better at air hockey than she expected him to be. If she didn't defend her goal slot properly, he was going to win again. She let him hit the puck first. A single thought flooded through her brain as she defended the goal.
What the hell was Changbin's problem?