Me:
Hey Lix, ready for the arcade?
Lixie 😊:
I mean, no, but I have time, right?
I kinda just woke up lol
Me:
Um... i said I was coming at 11:30. Its basically 11:15.
Lixie 😊:
OH SHOOT OK
sent at 11:11pm
Jisung chuckled, imagining Felix literally jumping out of his bed and scrambling to his bathroom. That boy was something...
After the party, the pair's bond was slowly becoming stronger and stronger. The boys were polar opposites, but they somehow made it work. Felix was Jisung's 'brother from another mother,' since they were born coincidentally a day apart. The two almost never left each other's sides now. Though Felix was quiet, he was becoming more and more vocal, mainly because of Jisung. And the other two, of course.
Seungmin joked to Hyunjin about "being abandoned by my own best friend for some Aussie dude," but in reality, all four of the boys were becoming a close-knit friend group very quickly. Even though Hyunjin and Jisung had the rockiest relationship, they were, little by little, being less snarky.
Jisung opened the group chat to tell everyone he was picking them up, since his mom gonna be back for a few weeks before her next business trip. Da was still out, though.
Party Dudes
Ji 😇:
alright my dudes, let's go eat pizza and play arcade games until we puke
Jin😈:
how about we skip the throwing up part
but yeah let's play them video games amiright
Lix🌺:
Lez geddit my dudes
Min🌟:
why am I friends with u guys...
Jin😈:
because you love me, pretty boy 😉
Ji 😇:
oh god please no not here
Min🌟:
Hyunjin ISTG!!!
Alright, your new nickname is Drama Llama
Jin😈:
That's kinda cute, tho
Ji 😇:
🤦♂️
Lix🌺:
this is mildly entertaining lol
Ji 😇:
WHY ARE YOU ENCOURAGING THIS?!
Min🌟:
Exactly!
let's just go to the arcade...
Ji 😇:
My mom just left the house, we're picking up Lix first, then Min, then Hwang
Jin😈:
1. Why am I last
2. why am I without a nickname
Ji😇:
1. because you're farthest away
2. You're not special
Jin😈:
WHY!
Ji 😇:
😝
Should call you drama llama then?
Jin😈:
😒
alright, Jisung, you're uninvited. I'm picking Felix up myself
Lix🌺:
aight, i'm cool with that
Ji 😇:
you little shit 😡🤬
i've already left the house istg
If you dare to play without me, I will come for your ass, Hwang Hyunjin.
Jin😈:
Oh devils not the proper grammar
jk don't hurt me plz
Min🌟:
why r we like this...
Fast forward about 30 minutes, and everyone is in Jisung's mom's car, on their way to the arcade, Jisung in the front, or course, because child privileges.
"Alright kids, we're here," Jisung's mom said.
"Thank you!" everyone said.
"Thanks, mom," Jisung whispered. His mom smiled. He barely saw his mom, and the fact that she accepted his new friends so quickly made him feel really good.
Hyunjin breathed in deeply, "Yes! Let's get some tokens and play!"
Felix looked around the arcade apprehensively. The place was grand and quite different from back home, yet it was bringing up a few...unpleasant memories...
"Hey Lix," Jisung said, wrapping his arm around the Australian's shoulder. The other stiffened for a moment, but then calmed, "What's with that look? They didn't have arcades like this in Australia?"
"Um," Felix mumbled, taken aback by the question, "Not really but...kinda...could we, um, not talk about my hometown, please?"
"Oh, sorry, Felix," Jisung said immediately, not knowing that the boy would react like this, "Hey," he said, looking at Felix's now dejected face, "Light up, let's forget about the past and live in the present. Let's play!"
Felix laughed slightly at Jisung's comment. Jisung's heart warmed. The boys paid for tickets and adventured into the world of blinking screens and neon colors.
About an hour later, "OI!" Felix yelled as Hyunjin beat him in a shooter game, "Why am I so bad at this?"
Hyunjin laughed as Seungmin and Jisung walked over from getting more tokens. "Let me guess," Jisung said, "Felix lost. Again."
"Yes," Hyunjin said before Felix could retort. Felix had a cute pout on his face, which made Jisung swoon.
"Hey, anyone wanna play this with me?" Seungmin pointed at the huge Crossy Roads game.
"I will!" Hyunjin said with a smile.
The boys inserted their tokens. Seungmin chose the duck while Hyunjin took the chicken. For a second, neither said a word, concentrated on the screen.
"Shit," Hyunjin mumbled as a subway train hit his character, giving him a measly 15.
"Ha, you lo- shhhhhoot," Seungmin said as his temporary distraction made him fall into a river, giving him 22. He turned to Hyunjin, and realized how close their faces were. The other had his hair swept to the side, and his serious, concentrated side profile was really, really hot. Seungmin turned away quickly, trying furiously to hide his blushing face.
"Well, I still beat you," Seungmin said as he grabbed his tickets.
Hyunjin sighed with a playful eye-roll. "But I managed to distract you. Do you find me distracting?" he asked, wiggling his eyebrows, "Aww, is my Minnie blushing?"
Seungmin slapped his shoulder, "Very. Very distracting."
"Hey Seungmin," Hyunjin said, "Let's combine tickets so that we can get more stuff!"
For a moment, the boy gave Hyunjin a glare, as if to say "That's dumb," then softened when he comprehended his words. "Wow, you're actually smart for once," Seungmin said, "Let's do it."
Together, the boys had a total of 1,347 tickets. For a good 5 minutes, the boys looked at the shelves, scouring for something to take home with them.
"Hey let's get that!" Seungmin said, pointing at this really cool expandable ball.
"I guess we can," Hyunjin said.
"It's...oh," Seungmin pouted, "It's 1,500 tickets." The boy sighed, "Too bad then." His eyes averted to other things, but Hyunjin could tell that the boy was sad.
"Wait a sec," Hyunjin said, handing Seungmin the tickets with their tickets and running off into the arcade."
"Hyunjin wha- ugh, fine, I'll just wait," Seungmin sighed, "Sorry, sir," Seungmin added apologetically, ignoring the employee's glare.
"I'm back," Hyunjin said 10 minutes later, arms full of tickets.
"Wha- what's with the tickets?!" Seungmin sputtered, "Did you really-"
"Play more games to get enough tickets to get that ball, yes," Hyunjin said, allowing the Ticket Eater to take his tickets. As the machine printed the receipt, Hyunjin took their original receipt and went to the prize corner, a red-faced Seungmin following behind. "May we combine our tickets, please?"
The employee looked at Hyunjin, then at Seungmin, and back again. "Sure." The man scanned the receipts, giving them a total of 1,507 tickets, "What would you two like?"
"The expandable ball please," Seungmin said quietly, pointing at the colorful object.
As Seungmin took his prize into his hands, Hyunjin's face was glowing with a wide, dazed smile.
"Why are you staring?" Felix asked from behind Hyunjin.
Hyunjin just sighed, "He's just so cute and beautiful..."