We had a wonderful dinner last night with BigBang and Hyo-rin, who joined us later on that evening, courtesy of Taeyang, Christine and I since we did all the cooking. Everything turned out delicious. It was the first time I ever tried cooking different cuisines and it was exciting since Christine and I had the best chef to teach us, that is Taeyang, of course.
After supper, Collins and Lee came to pick us up, though my brothers were really insisting on staying over at BigBang's apartment for the night. But it was pointless convincing Collins. Not after what happened earlier on during the day with Zoey meeting EXO and Christine causing a mess at the grocery store after meeting BTS. He was more concerned about Christine's case because it would seriously have made her and the rest of us Toxins get into a lot of trouble.
He wasn't really mad to the point of scolding her, but he didn't talk much the whole way back to the hotel. And no one dared try to talk about BTS or EXO in the car. Much less, say anything at all.
After a good night's sleep, I was all dressed up and heading to the lounge when I heard laughter and chattering coming from the lounge. I could recognise Lee, Christine and my two brothers' voices. But there were other voices in the lounge too. There was no way Collins was here. He told us last night that he was going to have a busy day today and that he would be up early. We had cancelled our usual morning dance practise because we were exhausted from last night.
As soon as I stepped into the lounge, I stopped in my tracks. There seated with Christine, Lee and my two brothers at the dinning table were WINNER. All four of them. And they were all having breakfast. Well, this was a surprise. I didn't move as they all stopped talking and laughing immediately I appeared before them.
"Wow," I said, first looking at Mino, then Jinwoo, Seunghoon and Seungyoon. "I wasn't expecting you guys for breakfast today."
"They asked Collins' for permission to come see you and he said it was okay," said Lee. "I suggested they come over for breakfast so that you can all start the day together."
"Oookay," I said giving Lee the eyebrow. "I didn't expect Collins to even allow this."
"Why?" Seungyoon asked. "Considering what happened yesterday?"
"Ya," I replied as I went over to the dinning table and I reached out to Mino first and hugged him, wrapping my arms around his neck from behind. "But I'll admit, it's good to see you guys."
Mino smiled up at me and said, "it's good to see you too."
I hugged Jinwoo and Seunghoon in the same manner. Seunghoon in return took my hand and kissed the other side of my palm.
"Good morning, my lovely princess," he said as he smiled at me.
I gave out a smile laugh. "Morning," I said. "I've to admit, I missed you a lot, Seunghoon."
"You did?" Mike and Daniel who sat at the opposite side of the table asked at the same time, looking at me.
"Is it weird to be honest?" I asked as I looked back at them.
I didn't give them the time to answer as I went to hug Seungyoon. I sat at the end of the table where Collins usually sat.
"Well, you seem to be in a good mood this morning," said Christine who sat next to Mike. "Mind telling us why?"
"It's because of what happened yesterday, of course," I answered as I grabbed a plate and two slices of toast.
"Christine was just telling us what happened," said Jinwoo, with a cup of tea in his hand. "We read the story on the entertainment news, but we wanted to hear the story first hand ourselves."
"Explains why you were all laughing." I filled my glass with orange juice. "I'm even surprised that Christine even told you. I thought she wouldn't say a word about yesterday."
"As embarrassing as it was, I got over it," said Christine.
"I'm just waiting for Zoey to explain to me how she met EXO," said Lee.
"You don't want to hear it," I said. "I had to stay up an extra hour last night just to hear her side of the story."
"Explains why she isn't here," said Mino. "She must be exhausted."
"Maybe you can tell us, Sam," said Daniel after putting a spoonful of cereal in his mouth.
"You know it's better if she tells you herself, right?" I suggested. I soon bit into my toast.
"Zoey might be a good storyteller, but she will add things that weren't even supposed to be mentioned, making the story ten times long."
"Mmmm," Lee muttered as she sipped her coffee and put the cup back down on the table. "Looks like you know Zoey after all."
"Most of us have known her forever it's like we're her best friends too," said Mike as he rolled his eyes and bit into his toast.
We all laughed, except Mike.
"You're right," I said. "You, Mike, have known her forever."
"I wonder what she would say if she heard you say that," said Seunghoon.
"Obviously lock horns with him," said Jinwoo.
"You, my friend, are very correct," said Mike as he gave a thumbs up to Jinwoo.
"Don't you think she has slept for far too long?" Christine asked as she looked at me. "It's best she wakes up now."
"No, let her rest," said Mike. "Right now, I'm enjoying my breakfast without her around. It's only nine in the morning, anyway."
"So, Sam," said Seungyoon who sat beside me. "How was it meeting BTS?"
I raised an eyebrow at him as I drank my juice. "Do you really want to know?" I asked putting the glass aside.
"I don't," said Seunghoon, not looking at me as he played with his breakfast.
"The same way I was excited meeting you guys was the same way I felt when I met BTS," I replied.
"But wasn't it that Seunghoon scared you by jumping out of the closet?" Mino asked.
"Seriously? Are you really bringing that up now?" Seunghoon asked as he looked at Mino.
"I forgot that even happened," I said with a little laugh. "But that was one totally weird surprise."
"It's always good to make an extraordinary entrance." Seunghoon smiled at me.
"Ya, it is." I smiled back.
I noticed Mino roll his eyes and apparently, they landed at the entrance of the lounge. I followed his eyes and coming into the lounge in her pink sleeping gown, was Zoey.
She yawned and rubbed her eyes. She still looked really sleepy with her hair all scruffy looking. When she looked at us at the dinning table, she tried to open her eyes wide enough, but she couldn't. She rubbed them again.
"Wait, am I dreaming or are WINNER sitting at the dinning table eating breakfast?"
"Yes, they are," Daniel answered.
Zoey's eyes flew wide open and so was her mouth as she held her face in shock. "Oh, my goodness! Morning, guys," she greeted them. "I better go take a shower. This is so embarrassing."
Zoey quickly turned back around and disappeared down the hall.
"Thank goodness," said Mike after he heard the door to the room slam shut. "As much as I didn't want to eat breakfast with her because of her tattle tales, I wasn't going to eat with her looking like that."
Christine hit Mike on the shoulder and he wailed in pain. "You take that back," she told him. "It's so not funny."
"Please, even you know Zoey always looks funny when she gets straight out of bed."
Mino laughed. "Mike's right," he said. "She does."
"So, what do you guys plan on doing today?" Lee asked changing the subject.
"I don't know," I replied. "No idea."
"Don't tell me you've to babysit us and make sure things don't get out of hand," Christine looked at Lee beside her.
"Collins told me to keep an eye on you," said Lee. "Remember that you all have to keep a low profile."
"Any suggestions?" Daniel asked as he looked across the table at WINNER.
"None at all," said Seungyoon.
"It will be so much easier for me if you're all here then," said Lee.
"No, I want to go out," said Christine.
"Same here," I said.
"Mmmm," Mike muttered to himself. "But where?"
"Ding, ding, ding!" Seunghoon exclaimed so as to draw all our attention to him. "I think I know where we should go."
"Really?" Daniel asked. "Where?"
"I'm glad you're the one who asked, Daniel, because you and Mike are going to love it."
"Okay," said Christine, shifting with excitement in her seat. "Even I am anxious."
"Why not go to an arcade?"
Christine's mouth dropped open and my two brothers muttered "yes!" and high fived each other. Lee on the other hand, didn't say a word. I, eventually smiled at Christine.
"An arcade?" Christine asked as she scratched her head.
"You don't seem to like the idea," said Jinwoo as he looked at her.
"I don't know," Christine seemed to be thinking to herself whether to agree. "When was the last time I ever went to an arcade back home?"
"It's been forever," said Mike.
"And where we're going is the hottest arcade spot in town," said Seunghoon as he winked at Christine. "It's totally legit. You won't regret it."
"It's Funny Land, isn't it?" Seungyoon asked.
Seunghoon nodded his head with a smile. "The same one."
"Even the name sounds fun," said Mike. He turned to look at Lee. "Can we go, Lee?"
"I think it won't hurt to go there," said Lee. "Since you boys love to play video games all the time and you don't give the chance for the girls to showcase their gaming talent."
"Well, I know Sam is a lot of a gamer than Christine and Zoey," said Daniel.
"You're a gamer, Sam?" Mino asked.
"Well," I shrugged my shoulders. "I was a lot of a gamer during my school years. I still am though I just prefer to watch my brothers when I have the time to understand the game."
"I'm also just a spectator," said Christine.
"Ya, but you can play on those arcade games too," said Mike. "I remember the last time we had fun at the arcade, you never wanted to leave."
"That's why I don't want what happened then to ever happen again." Christine rolled her eyes.
"Come on, that day was your birthday, wasn't it?" I asked. "I saw no reason for you to want to play some more."
"I'll admit, it was one of the best birthdays ever," said Christine as she smiled.
"So it's settled then?" Jinwoo asked. "We're going to Funny Land?"
"Definitely," the four of us Toxins answered at the same time.
"Whoa," Lee warned us as she held her hands up in mid-air, "before we decide on anything, we have to ask Zoey too."
"For a moment there, I thought you were going to mention Collins," said Mike.
"Yes, he has to know too, though I don't think he would mind. As long as we don't cause mayhem like what happened yesterday." Lee and each one of us at the table turned to look at Christine.
"What? It was just that one time," said Christine shrugging her shoulders.
"I don't think Zoey would mind going to the arcade," said Seungyoon. "For starter's, it's one fun place to go to."
"Zoey is a little difficult with such things," I said. "She can play a simple Pac Man game, but she isn't a real fan of games like the rest of us."
"Ya, I remember on my birthday, she didn't even stay long in the arcade and went out window shopping instead," said Christine.
"So, you've a bad feeling that she might say no?" Mino asked.
I nodded my head, even when I didn't want to. My two brothers and Christine groaned in frustration.
"But," I said with my index finger raised. "All hope isn't lost."
"What do you mean?" Seungyoon asked, looking at me.
"We don't have to convince her to come with us. Just say we're all going, and she will gladly come along."
"Why?" Jinwoo asked. "You just said it yourself, she's not much of a fan of the arcade."
I pointed across the table and everyone else followed the direction of my finger to what it was pointing at. We were all now staring at Mino.
He looked surprised and he gave me a questioning look. "Me?" he asked.
"It's obvious she likes you," I said as I smiled at him. "So, she won't refuse."
"We'll just have to wait and see," said Lee.
We soon heard a door opening and closing down the hall. Speaking of the devil. We all remained quiet as soon as Zoey appeared in the lounge.
"I had to shower quickly," said Zoey as she flipped her black shiny hair to the side and she sat at the other end of the table, facing me. "Hope I didn't take long."
"No, you were actually really quick," I said.
"Thank goodness," said Zoey as she got a white mug and poured in some coffee. "So, what are the plans for the day?" She looked at me.
"We're going to an arcade centre."
She paused for a minute, trying to take in what I said. She soon looked at each and everyone of us at the table. I could tell this wasn't what she expected and I gave her time to sink it in a little more.
"Oh," she said, her voice felt a little shaky and not everyone could be able to catch it. Besides, she did have a calm composure. "Everyone wants to go to the arcade, then?"
"Yes," I replied.
"Okay," Zoey turned to look at Mino with a smile. "If we are all going then, why shouldn't I?"
"Yay!" I said cheerfully. "We're going to have so much fun."
Everyone else apart from Zoey didn't seem so enthusiastic as they were before she joined us seconds ago. I bet they were still taking in what I said about Zoey and watching all that unfold in front of them. I received a few glances, especially from WINNER. My two brothers just looked at Zoey, not believing that she even agreed to come along without a complaint. Christine's mouth was partly wide open as she looked at me.
"You better eat your breakfast then," said Lee. "I'll call for the chauffeurs to come pick us up."
Along with Lee, I stood up from the table. The others slowly did the same, leaving Zoey and Mino together at the dinning table. Lee went in the hall to make a call while the rest of us went to sit by the comfortable sofas on the other side of the lounge.
"Sam," Seunghoon who sat beside me started to ask in a low tone. "How did you do that?"
"Do what?" I asked as I looked at him.
"You know what I mean. How did you know that Zoey was going to do exactly what you said she would do?"
"Sam knows her very well," said Mike who sat on my other side. "She's pretty good at predicting things. She can tell you what I'm thinking of right now, and she will be right."
"Okay," said Jinwoo, who sat on the other couch with Seungyoon and Christine. "So, Sam, what's Mike thinking of right now?"
"Playing games at the arcade," I answered.
I turned to look at Mike and he beamed at me.
"You're right," he said.
"Isn't that obvious?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Daniel is probably thinking the same thing too."
"I just can't wait," said Daniel excitedly who sat next to Mike.
After Zoey finished her breakfast, WINNER, us The Toxins and Lee went downstairs and as usual, our rides were waiting. We got in and we were taken to Gangnam. The place brought back memories of when we went bowling with BigBang and had a challenge with them which, we, The Toxins, emerged victorious. The thought of that day made me smile that Seunghoon who sat beside me couldn't stop staring at me when he noticed it.
"And why are you smiling like that?" he asked.
"Oh, nothing," I said. I sat close to the window and looked out, still smiling.
"Well, you seem to be remembering something." Seunghoon leaned in closer to me and our shoulders touched. "Or someone with the way you're smiling like that."
I raised an eyebrow and turned to look at him. "Just because I'm smiling like this doesn't mean I'm thinking of someone. I just remembered the time we came here bowling with BigBang."
"Oh, that bowling challenge you guys won," said Seungyoon who sat at the backseat with my two brothers.
"Looks like you and I were thinking the same thing, Sam," said Mike.
"Who couldn't remember that day?" Daniel asked. "It was awesome."
"And I did my first ever split. I had to admit, I was scared until Sam calmed me down."
"Ya, that was a pretty awesome day," said Lee who sat in the front passenger seat.
"I feel today is going to be a whole lot fun," said Mike.
"That, I agree," said Seunghoon.
"Oh, here we are," said Lee.
The car parked along the sidewalk of a small street and there was a store with the yellow bright coloured words "Funny Land" beaming out for our eyes to see. I bet it looked even better at night with its bright yellow lights.
There was no time to waste. Seunghoon quickly opened the car door and stepped out. Like a gentleman, he led me out of the car and the others soon followed. Zoey and the rest who were in the other car packed behind the vehicle I was in, also joined us on the sidewalk.
Just by looking through the glass windows and the glass door, I could see a lot of machines inside. Most of them were doll claw machines with pretty tiny cute dolls inside. I could feel that the best of what the place had to offer was deep inside the store.
"I can't believe we are actually here," said Daniel who stood to my left and rubbing his fingers. "My fingers are just itching with excitement."
"Wait," said Zoey. We all turned to look at her. "This is the place?"
"Ya," Mino who stood beside her answered. "Anything wrong?"
"Nothing. I'm just surprised it's called Funny Land, that's all."
"Don't worry, Zoey," said Mike. "Today will be the day you'll fall in love with the arcade."
"As if," said Zoey. I noticed her roll her eyes.
"She's fallen in love with other things and other people that she doesn't need to fall for games," said Christine.
"We'll see if that's true once we get in," said Lee. "Shall we?"
Lee went ahead towards the entrance of the store. My two brothers and I hurriedly followed behind her. I had to admit, I felt pretty excited to be here and I couldn't wait to get inside.
Lee was already in and headed straight for the counter. When the three of us entered next, we stopped to take a look around.
The place was a whole lot bigger from the inside than most of us thought. There were many doll claw machines all arranged in columns and the game machines were probably further beyond the store from where we stood.
I was looking at one of the doll claw machines when I noticed one machine that had tiny Pokemon dolls in it. I noticed the Pikachu ones and it brought back memories.
"Awww! Pikachu!" came Zoey's voice. I hadn't noticed the others come in since I got so engrossed with the surrounding and also with looking at the Pikachu dolls.
Zoey passed me and went over to the claw machine and looked at the Pokemon dolls through the glass, specifically looking at the Pikachu dolls. I smiled when I saw a smile on her face. She might not like games, but I bet the claw machines will keep her a bit occupied.
"Sam, do you remember when you were dressed up as Pikachu?" Zoey asked as she looked at me.
I rolled my eyes and before I could reply, Jinwoo did.
"She looked hilarious," he said.
"But she looked really adorable too," said Seunghoon as he came to stand behind me.
"Too adorable," said Zoey as she came over to me to pinch my cheeks in a playful manner. "I should get that Pikachu doll in memory of you, Sam. Anybody got a token?"
"Don't worry, I got tokens enough for everyone," said Lee who came from the counter and bought tokens. She carried them in a blue pouch.
"Nice," said Mike. "I'll need all the tokens I could get."
"If you run out, you can come to me and get some more."
Lee gave each and everyone of us enough tokens. My two brothers already started their way down the aisle passing the claw machines heading further into the store.
"Mmmm, looks like those two don't need any help finding where the game machines are," said Seungyoon as he watched the two brothers go.
"They can sniff a game machine from a mile away," said Christine. "They are typically game hounds."
Jinwoo laughed. "No doubt about that," he said.
"I'll be here trying to get a Pikachu doll for myself," said Zoey. "There are so many pretty dolls to chose from, I might stay here for a while."
"Then, we'll go to the fun side of this place," I said. "Aren't you coming with us, Lee?"
"Definitely. I don't want to be left out watching you guys play and see how some of you lose," said Lee with a smile.
"Very funny," I said. "See you later, Zoey."
Zoey waved at us as we made our way down the aisle where my two brothers had walked through earlier. There weren't many people in the store considering that it was still early during the day. But just by the looks of those who were on the doll clawing machines, this place was as legit as Seunghoon said it is.
We soon reached the gaming area and I couldn't help but smile to myself. There were so many games and I didn't know which one to play first. Daniel and Mike were already playing a motorcycle game and were riding on top of the motorcycle models used to control the game. The two were having a blast.
"I'm going to play Pac Man," I said when I saw a Pac Man machine and there was no one playing on it.
"These guys seem to be having fun," said Lee, as she looked at my brothers move side to side on the motorcycles. "I'll go and just watch the fun." And she went over to them.
"I'm in a mood for some competition," said Mino. "Why don't we go to the basketball game and see who can gain more points, Christine?"
"You're on," said Christine as she smiled at him. Mino led the way and she happily followed.
"If you need us, we'll be in the shooting range," said Seunghoon and he went along with Jinwoo and Seungyoon.
I went over to the Pac Man machine, inserted a token and started to play. Just like Zoey, Pac Man was one of my favourite arcade games and I was really good at it too. At the moment, I was using this game as a warm up for the other games to come.
After playing a few rounds of Pac Man, Lee and I ended up playing a Tekken game and I beat her in every round we played.
"Aww, I lose again," said Lee as she clapped her hands together in frustration.
"Don't worry," I said as I held her shoulder. "With a little more practise, you'll get used to it. You just have to know some of the characters' special abilities. That's how it's easy to win."
"You play these types of games. I don't."
"Sam seems to be hammering you, Lee," came Mike as he appeared behind us. "Let me beat her for you."
"Not this time around," I said as I looked at Mike. "Don't forget, I can whoop your butt if I want to."
"Oh, you're on, sis," said Mike. "Lee, kindly move aside. I think Sam has to know who's the champion around here."
Lee stood aside and Mike joined me at the machine. We both inserted tokens into the machine slots, chose our game characters and started to play.
Playing such games with my brothers could be really competitive, especially when you know they are really good. In the first round, I at least did my best but Mike beat me by giving my character a killer move which completely drained out my character's remaining life bar.
"Dang it!" I muttered.
"This is interesting," said Lee. "The whole fight completely blew me away."
"There's round two," said Mike as he gave me a smirk. "Do you want to continue so that I can whoop you again?"
If he thought trying to chicken me out of this was going to stop me, he was dead wrong.
I faced the screen. "I'm up for another round."
"Okay. Your funeral."
We started the second round and this time, I was careful enough to block whatever punch, kick and power move that came at my character's way. And this time around, I beat Mike.
"Yes!" I exclaimed. I looked at my brother. "In your face!"
"Okay, I have to admit, that was good," said Mike with a defeated look on his face.
"Oh, wow!" Lee said. "This is great. It's a tie."
"Winner of the last round, wins," I said.
"OMG," said Daniel and we all turned to look at him behind us. He had a look of awe on his face. "This game just got real."
"You've been watching?" Mike asked.
"Dah, since the second round. Come on, you two, it's the last round. We need a winner."
Mike and I quickly turned back to the screen and started to play the final round. This round felt like the longest I had ever played and time was running out. This time around, my life bar decreased like crazy because of unnecesary kicks and punches. Blocking wasn't doing me or my character any good. I had to think of something or else Mike might as well have won this game.
We had thirty seconds left on the clock, and Mike and I were tapping uncontrollably on the controls, our eyes fixed on the screen. Fifteen seconds remaining and my life bar was almost close to zero. Just as Mike was about to apply his killer move on my character, I blocked it. He had missed his chance and his player character was left wide open. This was my chance to finish him with my own killer move. I tapped on the buttons, remembering the killer move for my character. My character gave Mike's a giant kick that made him hit the ground then bounce in the air and drop back to the ground again, draining a huge part of his life bar. Just as Mike's character was about to get up, I gave a somersault kick, finishing him off and ending the game.
"I win!" I exclaimed as I jumped with excitement. "I win!"
Mike groaned in frustration and Daniel came over to hug me.
"That was amazing, Sam," said Daniel. "And you finished him off just in time."
"I had to admit, this fight was great," said Lee. "Completely awesome."
"Thanks," I said with a smile. "It was an awesome fight, Mike."
"Ya, ya, it was great," said Mike as he rolled his eyes at me. "That was clever of you blocking my killer move like that."
"Thank you. You always beat in such games, it was my time to shine for once."
"Ya, but I'm still number one."
"That's one thing I can never take away from you."
"Oh, my goodness," came Christine. "Did you just beat Mike in a Tekken game?"
"I sure did," I answered with a smile.
"Explains why you have people watching," said Mino as he also appeared after walking through a small crowd that had come to watch the game. I hadn't noticed that there were even there and it looked like some had their phones out recording the whole thing.
"Who doesn't like a good Tekken game?" Mike asked. "Are you up for the challenge, Mino?"
"You're on," said Mino as I stepped away from the machine, giving way to him.
"Don't take him so lightly, Mino," I warned him. "Mike's the number one gamer in the family for a reason."
Mino smiled at me. "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind."
"Hey, do you want to try out the shooting range?" Christine asked me.
"Sure," I said. "We will leave the boys to it."
"I'll also join you," said Lee. "I need to practise on my aim so that when it comes to duck season back home, I'll be able to aim right."
"I'll have to learn to aim just in case I've to shoot annoying boys," I said.
Christine laughed. "I hope you don't mean either G-Dragon or Seunghoon."
I rolled my eyes. "What do you think?"
Daniel said he would join us later on at the shooting range and stayed behind to watch. The three of us broke away from the crowd watching Mino and Mike play.
At the shooting range, we found Seunghoon, Seungyoon and Jinwoo, all in separate shooting booths.
"How long have you guys been here?" I asked them when they noticed us approach. "Didn't you say you were coming here first?"
"We got caught playing something else because of Jinwoo," said Seungyoon as he looked at Jinwoo. All Jinwoo did was shrug his shoulders.
"It's not my fault that I wanted to play darts," said Jinwoo.
"I wouldn't mind these guys," said Christine as she smiled at Jinwoo. "Let's get to shooting."
"Are you good at it?" Seunghoon asked.
"No, the three of us aren't good at all," said Lee. "Especially when it comes to aim."
"Well, you ladies have the perfect people to teach you then" said Seungyoon. "First off, let's see how you aim."
"Okay," I gave him a smirk. "But if I end up shooting at your head, you have yourself to blame."
Seunghoon, Jinwoo and Seungyoon stepped out of the booths they were in then Lee, Christine and I stepped in the empty booths. Each booth had guns laid on a counter. I picked up a gun and checked that it was fully loaded. I looked to the side and I could see Lee through the glass which separated the booth she was in from mine. I looked further and I could see Christine, in the booth next to Lee's, looking at her gun.
"I think I don't want to do this anymore," said Lee, shaking her head.
"What do you mean?" I asked. "Just minutes ago, you were talking about how you wanted to kill a duck when you get back home."
"That's before I remembered how frightened I am of guns."
"They are not real, they are just meant for this game. So, I don't think you should even be worried," said Christine.
"I don't know about you, but I think I'm ready to shoot," I said as I held the gun up in front of me towards the targets before me. The targets were small white balls.
"Don't forget to hold the gun straight and aim," said Seungyoon behind me.
"Hopefully, I'll be good at my first shot." I stared at the tiny targets in front of me. There were three rows from top to bottom. Each row had six balls all lined up.
Before I could pull the trigger, I made my arms firm and steady as I stared at the targets. I targeted for one of the balls in the second roll. And when I felt I was ready, I fired.
And I hit it.
"Woow!" I yelled with excitement and punched the air.
I saw Lee and Christine with their mouths wide open, staring at me. They look stunned.
"How did you do that?" Lee asked.
"I listened to Seungyoon's advice," I said as I turned to look at the guys behind me. Even they couldn't believe that I got away with my first shot.
"Are you sure you've never done this before?" Jinwoo asked.
"It's the very first time. I was never a fan of shooting ranges till now."
"Sam is on her A game today," said Christine. "Did you know she beat Mike in a Tekken game before coming here?"
Now the boys grew even more stunned as they looked at me with their mouths wide open.
"No way, I don't believe it," said Seunghoon.
"Should I challenge you to a Tekken game after this?" I asked him with an eyebrow raised.
"You're on. But first, let's see if you can shoot down all those targets."
"I can assure you, I won't be able to do so."
"Before that," said Lee. "Let me shoot."
"You're finally ready?" Jinwoo asked.
"No, I just want to see the looks on your faces when I get my aim right."
Lee raised the gun in her hand and she pointed it towards the targets in her lane. She paused for a moment, staring at the targets with concentration. Then she pulled the trigger. She shot down a target.
"Way to go, Lee!" Christine and I cheered for her.
"That felt great!" Lee said with her eyes wide with excitement as she looked at me. "I might just be good at this."
"I wouldn't be too confident about it," said Seungyoon. "That's just your first shot."
"I beg to differ. Instead, you all should be happy for me."
"Well, I'm happy for you," I said with a grin.
"Okay, now it's my turn," said Christine.
Christine took a huge breath and raised the gun to shoot the targets in front of her. She bit her tongue as she stared with concentration. Just as she was about to pull the trigger, Daniel came running towards us, calling out my name and Lee's.
"Lee! Sam!" Daniel called as he approached us. "You better come with me, quick!"
"Darn it, Daniel!" Christine grew furious as she lowered the gun and turned to look at him. "Can't you see that you almost made me miss the target?"
"We've more important things to worry about than that," said Daniel.
"What's wrong?" I asked. He had a terrified look on his face and I felt something was wrong.
"It's Zoey. She's fainted. Mike and Mino are with her now. They went to attend to her and I came here to fetch you guys."
"Oh, no," Lee and I muttered at the same time. And dropping our guns, we ran out of the booth and followed Daniel.
The others followed behind us. Daniel lead us to where we left Zoey at first at the doll claw machines. We noticed a small crowd of people around the area. We excused ourselves pushing our way through the crowd to get to Zoey.
Daniel, Lee and I reached the clearing where we found Zoey laying on the floor unconscious. Mino had her head on his laps and was calling out to her gently to wake up. Mike was beside her with a thin piece of paper, fanning to give her air.
"What happened?" I asked as I knelt beside Zoey with Mike on the other side. Lee knelt right beside me.
All Mino could do was look at me and he didn't say a word. It could clearly show on his face that he was worried. We all were. Even Mike who kept fanning air in front her face.
"Zoey, Zoey," I called to her as I held her cheek. She looked really pale. That's strange. She was fine this morning. What happened all of the sudden?
"Is she breathing?" Christine asked behind me.
"She's breathing fine," Mino answered.
"But what happened?" Lee asked. "Zoey couldn't just faint out of nowhere."
"Maybe we should call an ambulance?" Jinwoo asked.
"I don't think it's that serious. Mike, what happened to her?"
"If you knew the reason why she fainting, you would faint too," said Mike.
"Now isn't the right time to joke around, Mike!" I snapped as I looked at him. "Tell me what happened right now."
Mike didn't have to answer me at all when someone suddenly broke away from the crowd with a glass of water in hand, came to kneel beside Mike close to Zoey and sprinkled water over her face. Zoey soon started to come around.
"Zoey? Zoey, wake up," said Mino as he held her cheek. "Can you hear me?"
Zoey's eyes flew open and she looked up at Mino. Thank goodness she was alright. I was just scared of how she would react if she were to see the person who just sprinkled water over her face. Because right now, I also felt like I was going to faint. Mike was right when he said if I knew what made Zoey faint, I would faint too.
Zoey turned to look beside her and smiled at Jungkook. I sighed in relief. Thank goodness. I thought she was going to faint again.
"What's going on here?" Christine asked with a surprised tone in her voice. I bet she finally found the voice to speak after Jungkook had appeared before us from the crowd. I could imagine her ready to faint too.
"Zoey fainted when she saw us come in," came Namjoon's voice. I looked up and saw the rest of BTS in front of me. I hadn't noticed them the entire time thinking that they were part of the crowd of spectators.
"Now I'm the one who's going to faint next," said Lee as she looked at me and I looked at her.
"Same here," I said.
"No way," said Mike as he shook a finger at the both of us. "You two are the strongest women I know and fainting now isn't going to do us any good."
"Are you okay?" Jungkook asked Zoey.
"Now that you're asking, I'm fine," said Zoey as she continued to smile at him.
"Okay, let's get up," said Mino.
Mino and Jungkook helped her up and the rest of us who had knelt beside her, also stood up from the floor.
"Do you feel any better?" Mino asked.
"I'm okay," said Zoey. "Don't worry."
"Do you want to go back to the hotel?" Lee asked.
"No way." Zoey smiled at Lee. "Now that BTS are here, I don't want to leave."
Christine, my two brothers, Lee and I all slapped our foreheads at almost the exact same time. Typical Zoey.
"I'm so glad to finally meet you guys!" Zoey exclaimed as she hugged Jungkook who was closet to her. He didn't expect it as it could clearly show on his face. I noticed the BTS maknae (막내) blush and wondering whether to hug her back or not.
"Well, looks like you're better," said Suga.
Zoey turned in his direction and just as she was about to run over and hug him, Suga held up a hand to stop her.
"That won't be necessary," he said with a smirk on his face. It was pretty obvious that he wasn't a fan of hugs.
"Oooooooh!" WINNER and the four of us Toxins muttered at the same time with our mouths covered. That was harsh.
"Awwh," Zoey muttered as she looked at Suga and pouted her lip. "You're no fun."
"Bring it in, Zoey," said RM with his arms out wide. Zoey shrieked like crazy and went to hug him.
"This is so cool," she said after hugging RM. "I can't believe that I just hugged you."
"I can," I heard Mike mutter. I turned to look at him and didn't say a word.
Zoey ended up hugging each and every other remaining BTS member. I wondered if she was still okay after all the fainting. Because right now, she couldn't stop giggling like crazy.
"So, we meet again," I said as I smiled at BTS. "No wonder Zoey fainted."
"Are you upset about that?" J-Hope asked.
"No, why should I? Actually, I couldn't be the more happier that you're all here." I looked towards Zoey who stood next to V and couldn't stop staring at him. Now I was really worried.
"Zoey? Zoey," I called out to her as I came and took her by the arm, dragging her away so that she could stand right next to me.
She looked a little puzzled at what I did. "But, Sam......" she started to say but I interrupted her.
"Are you sure you're okay?" I asked as I placed my palm over her head to check her temperature.
"If I'm coming down with a fever, just know it's a BTS fever," she said as she grinned at me.
"I'll keep that in mind."
"Now that this is all over and Zoey's okay, can we go back to why we came here?" Seunghoon asked.
"Sure," said Jin. "We also came here to have fun."
"You're finally speaking my language," said Mike. "Anyone of you guys up for a Tekken game?"
Jimin, Jungkook, J-Hope, Suga and Jin all agreed. Mike and the rest of WINNER led the way down the aisle as they followed. Zoey was just about to turn around and follow them also when I hooked my arm around my elbow to stop her from going.
"Oh no, you don't," I said as I looked at her.
"But Sam, I also want to go and watch them play," said Zoey.
"You've never been a fan of violent games yet any other game except Pac Man," I said. "You need to be monitored, not after that fainting episode of yours."
"Sam's right," said Lee. "If anything, you should even be in the car heading back to the hotel."
"But I'm fine," Zoey said. "I just got super excited upon seeing BTS." She turned to look at V and RM in front of us.
"Come on, Sam," said V. "Zoey says she's fine. Besides, we are all here to have fun, right? It wouldn't be any fun for you if you babysit her the whole time."
Before I could respond to V's statement, Zoey sighed and so did Christine. I turned to look at Zoey and she was staring at V all dreamy eyed. I turned to look at Christine and she looked exactly the same. I shook my head, and so did Lee.
"He's right," said RM. "Now that you're, how am I supposed to challenge you in a game if you take care of Zoey?"
"You want to challenge me in a game?" I asked.
"Oh my gosh, you've the most hottest voice ever, RM," said Zoey, before RM could reply, still looking dreamy eyed. "And your dimples are just so cute."
He laughed. "Thanks, Zoey. And you've the most peculiar and yet sweet attitude ever."
Zoey giggled like crazy. "He said I'm sweet," she said as she looked at me with a grin.
"And peculiar," said Lee. "Didn't you hear that?"
"I don't think so." Zoey leaned her head on my shoulder and sighed again.
"So, what do you say, Sam?" RM asked looking at me. "You and I go against each other. Let's see if you're much of a gamer like your brothers are."
I raised an eyebrow at him. He was really asking me for a challenge. But right now, I felt like I wasn't really up for it.
"Oh, you wouldn't want to go up against, Sam," said Daniel who stood beside Lee. For a moment there, I thought he had joined the others at the game machines.
"And why is that?" V asked.
"Sam is really on fire today," said Christine. "I'll let you know that she beat Mike in a Tekken game earlier."
RM and V looked at me with surprised looks on their faces. Even Zoey who had been leaning her head on my shoulder looked at me.
"For real?" Zoey asked. "Why did I miss out on such a thing?"
"Because you were here the whole time by the claw machines, dum, dum," I answered. "Besides, I just got lucky and did what I could in the last dying seconds. Mike always beats me in such games. "
"But you have to admit," said Lee. "It was one heck of a good fight."
"Just awesome," said Daniel.
"After hearing all these reviews, now I really want to get this challenge underway," said RM as he smiled at me.
"That sounds great, Namjoon, but not today," I answered.
Zoey murmured. "Come on, Sam," she complained. "If you're worried that I might do something wrong when you aren't looking, I won't do a thing. Besides, Lee will be there to watch over me."
"Hey! Unlike you, I also came to have fun and only to make sure that you guys don't cause a mess like Christine did yesterday," said Lee.
I noticed Christine throw Lee an annoyed look. She clearly didn't like being reminded of what happened.
"Come on, Sam," pleaded Daniel. "Just go against RM. It will be so much fun."
I rolled my eyes as the others including V and Lee, also started to plead. I looked at RM and he kept on staring at me, this time with an eyebrow raised.
I rolled my eyes in the end and unhooked my arm around Zoey's elbow and I held my hand out to RM.
"Okay, let's do this," I said. "One Tekken game. Winner takes it all."
"Why not have a multiple game challenge?" RM asked as he stared at my hand and then back at me. "We'll not only play Tekken but other games as well. The person who comes top in most of the games, is the champion."
I noticed the others pause upon RM's request. I was going to play who knows how many games. There wasn't enough time to think things through. Sometimes in life, you just have to take the risk despite the consequences that follow. And as a gamer, you should accept every challenge that comes your way. Though I myself wasn't ready for it.
"Deal," I said.
He shook my hand as the others around us grew excited and muttered "yes!" They weren't the only ones though. There was still a small crowd of people who remained with us to watch the whole thing and they seemed to love the idea of RM and I going against each other.
Well I for one, was in for a crazy game ride.