So summer break came around after what seemed like forever to some, and to others no time at all. Many college students took this opportunity to visit home, or go on vacation, or use the extra time to study or make more money by being able to work more.
For a certain group of friends, however, there was one thing that had priority on the summer activity docket.
June 28th, Namjoon's house. It had been more than half a year since they all gathered here, and everyone, including Yoongi, though he denied it, was looking forward to it.
They wanted to have enough time to play all eight of the games they chose, so everyone agreed to meet up at around 5 p.m. And even earlier than that, Namjoon was at his house, making thorough preparations because he wanted this night to go well. Not that he had doubts, of course.
At 4:52 p.m. Seokjin appeared at the door. Upon said door being opened to him, he threw his arms around Namjoon and hugged him tightly, pressing a gentle kiss to the corner of his mouth.
"It's not five yet," the blond joked. Jin rolled his eyes.
"I wanted to be the first here. Am I?"
"Yeah. Yoongi's gonna be driving himself and Jimin here after he's done work so they'll be here a little after five."
"I see." The older boy smiled, stepping inside the house only to find a large snack table set up in the living room, with everything from crackers to chips to candy and drinks and more set out for all to enjoy. He hummed happily and made his way over to snatch a handful of Doritos. "Amazing, Joonie."
"Thanks," the other stifled a laugh. "You're still gonna help me cook dinner, right?"
"Obviously, Joonie, I don't want this house burning down.What would your parents say?"
" 'Typical Namjoon' ."
"...sad." He ate another Dorito, chuckling as he reached out to kiss his boyfriend's cheek. "Don't worry, you'll learn."
Just then, the doorbell rang.
"Are we late?? Did Jin eat all the Doritos?!"
"I brought Lacroix!"
"...I didn't even notice that. Why did you bring Lacroix?"
"I dunno, I thought someone might appreciate it."
"You're so thoughtful, babe."
"The door's unlocked," Namjoon called out. And with that, Hoseok and Yugyeom came bursting into the house, smiles on their faces as they happily greeted their friends. And as Yugyeom was setting on the table the pack of Lacroix sparkling water he had so generously brought along with him, his boyfriend made no hesitation to reach for the Dorito bowl which Seokjin already had his hand in, thus igniting a hand-slapping war between the two with which Namjoon was too afraid to interfere.
Fortunately the door opened soon after.
Yoongi entered, found his way to the couch, and lay down.
Then Jimin walked in, dropped a duffel bag full of Taehyung's nerf guns on the floor, and was puzzled for a second because he thought Yoongi had disappeared. Namjoon pointed in the direction of the couch and the orange-haired boy stifled a laugh.
"Rough day at work?"
"He told me he felt a bit tired," Jimin replied, making his way over to sit in front of Yoongi on the floor, "but he didn't want to skip out on tonight. He's been looking forward to it, actually."
"Jimin, stop making things up."
"Not making it up." He giggled and patted Yoongi's back. "You can't wait to get down with yo' bad self in dance dance revolution~"
"You're hysterical. Joon, did you get those Doritos like I asked you?"
"I did, yeah. Hey, Jin, would you mind bringing over a plate of Doritos for the cat?"
"Joonie, we're out of Doritos."
"...okay, forget what I said, I guess."
It wasn't until about twenty minutes later that the last two guests arrived, and what signified this was a concerning, resounding 'thump' against the front door. Being the closest to the door at the time, Jimin was the one who opened it and found Jungkook and Taehyung standing there wearing gym shorts and sweatbands, and the latter of the two was currently staring at a stopwatch he held tightly in his hand.
"Eleven minutes, 34 seconds, and 88 milliseconds."
"Alright."
The two highfived.
"...did you guys run here all the way from the dorms?"
"We did," Jungkook answered the dumbfounded Jimin, panting, "and we didn't get hit by any cars, either."
"Oh, I never would have guessed."
"Did you guys start the party games get?"
"No. And we're not going to until you guys shower."
"Already planned on it."
Jimin sighed deeply as the two raced past him into the house, then up the stairs without doing so much as saying hello to everyone else—they were in some kind of exercise high at the moment. No one would stand a chance in dance dance revolution.
Fifteen minutes later and they were both back downstairs again. By this point everyone had gotten themselves together and were ready to start; even Yoongi, who, snuggled up next to Jimin, certainly looked ready to check out for the evening.
"So what's first on the docket?" Taehyung asked eagerly, rubbing excess water from his hair.
"Didn't plan an order," answered Namjoon, "I figured we could just do the classic 'pick a paper slip from the hat' technique."
"Fine with me. Where's the hat?"
"Right here." He slid out the hat from underneath the couch, the paper slips already inside. Smiling, he held the hat out in front of Jin. "Would you do the honors, my sweet?"
"Don't mind if I do, dear."
Returning the smile in full, Seokjin closed his eyes, dramatically dug through the pile of paper slips, mixed them around, pretended to take one out several times, then finally chose one once he sensed everyone starting to get annoyed.
He inhaled deeply through his nostrils. The room fell silent as he gradually started to unfold the paper.
"Here it is..." Taehyung whispered from several feet away. "The truth unfold..."
Three people smacked him on the head simultaneously.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Jin at last announced what was written on the paper:
"Russian roulette, featuring nerf guns and shots."
"You're freaking kidding me," Yoongi groaned. "We're starting off with that one?"
Namjoon, failing to hide his amusement with his friend's dismay, said, "Hey, at least we'll get it over with. And besides, it'll probably be one of the quickest games."
"Whatever. Fine. Let's do this."
"That's the spirit."
And so the group all gathered in a circle in the middle of the living room, Taehyung made a joke about how it looked like they were trying to summon something, someone threw a chip at his head, and he then volunteered to retrieve one of his nerf guns from the bag Jimin had brought over for him.
What a wonderful mess this night had already turned out to be.
Naturally, because this was supposed to be Russian Roulette, Taehyung chose the nerf gun that most closely represented the type of gun used in the deadly game, then loaded a bullet into one of the chambers. Meanwhile Namjoon had already set out a tray of unidentified shot glasses.
Tae reclaimed his seat. It was time to start.
"Shall I be the first to go?"
He pressed the barrel of the gun against his temple. Jungkook gasped.
"No!" He sobbed, trying to force the gun away from Taehyung. "Let me-!"
Nevertheless Tae pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Several surprised "ooh's" swept across the group as he passed the toy gun over to his boyfriend who immediately put it up to his head and fired. Again. Nothing.
Jimin accepted the gun and swallowed his breath while trying not to laugh at Yoongi's intense staring, as well as Hoseok's and Yugyeom's chanting for the first victim to be their fellow dance major.
However for the third time, nothing happened.
"Geez, Tae, did you actually load it?"
"I did, I swear! You guys saw me!"
Ignoring the commotion, Yoongi slipped the toy gun out of Jimin's grasp and put it up to his head, then pulled the trigger.
The first victim was chosen.
And of course, laughter erupted from the room, as no one but Jimin held sympathy for poor Yoongi who stared with such malice at the orange and black foam bullet now on the floor beside him. Jimin rubbed his back encouragingly. Everyone else encouraged him taking the first shot. And although he really didn't want to, rules were rules, and Yoongi wasn't about to ruin everyone's fun by skipping his turn.
So he selected a random glass and drank it. His friends clapped. Since they had all decided beforehand to go three rounds, the game continued after another bullet was placed into the gun and the cylinder was spun. Hoseok happily accepted the fake weapon and pulled the trigger, fully expecting to be safe from the foam bullet's subtle wrath—and he was, but his boyfriend, who also boldly assumed likewise, was chosen as the second victim.
Hoseok was sent into an unstoppable giggling fit. He couldn't even watch, tears in his eyes, as the defeated Yugyeom reached for the tray and took one of the glasses, then winced before and after he drank the contents.
"Agh, gross, it tastes like cabbage juice."
"How do you know what cabbage juice tastes like?" Jin asked. Yugyeom just shook his head solemnly.
"Bitter sophomore year chemistry class flashbacks. Some of it's a blur..."
With that vague yet somehow descriptive comment, the final round of the game began. And the toy gun was safely passed through the hands of Jin, Namjoon, Taehyung, Jungkook, and Jimin, before it reached Yoongi again and decided to let loose.
"That's it. I'm going home."
"You coward!" Cried Taehyung. "Take the shot!"
"One of these is actually soda water," Namjoon added. "You could get lucky."
"Or, I could get unlucky and get the cabbage juice like Yugyeom."
"It wasn't actually cabbage juice. Look at him, he's fine-"
"He's twitching."
"It's the flashbacks."
"No, it's probably the horrendously toxic taste."
"Just take the shot."
Groaning loudly once again, Yoongi did as he was told.
"...oh, okay, that was actually soda water. Nice."
"So are we gonna go onto the next game now?"
"Not yet, Jungkook," Namjoon said with a cheeky smile. "We're gonna go one more round, and whoever gets hit this time has to drink the rest of the shots on the tray."
If looks could kill, the party host would have been knocked dead in a split second the moment he uttered this. But he remained alive, and so his words were carried out.
And go figure, Yoongi was hit for the third time.
"If I get drunk from this, I suggest someone hiding the knives and Joon from me."
"Noted."