A doe-eyed boy walked into a small, quaint coffee shop, tugging on the bottom of his sweater with jittery hands. Dark grey sweater and acid-washed jeans seemed to be the most appropriate outfit for this specific occasion. His facial expression made it evident to anyone who saw him that he was extremely nervous, but then again, what can one expect from a guy who hasn’t been on a date since he was in college (we’re talking freshman year).

As usual, Kyungsoo arrived prompt and ready to impress Jongin on their date. After exchanging phone numbers and texts back and forth, both had settled on the place and time for their date. Naturally, he walked over to a corner booth after a worker told him to seat himself. It was private enough that he could openly talk to Jongin about himself, yet it was public enough so that he couldn’t get too nervous being with Jongin alone.

He inhaled and exhaled and smoothed over his clothes once more. A waiter stopped by his booth asking Kyungsoo if he was ready to order, to which the latter responded that he was waiting for his date to arrive. The waiter promised to come back later and had left Kyungsoo alone.

This was the first time Kyungsoo had ever been so anxious about a date. Jongin was quite the catch and he felt fortunate that Jongin seemed interested in the kindergarten teacher.

To Kyungsoo, there was only one of two ways this date could go. One, Kyungsoo and Jongin would have a lovely time and continue to date in the future, or two, Jongin would not pursue Kyungsoo any further because he’d hate to be the bearer of bad news to his younger brother, who would face heartbreak if everything went smoothly.

Kyungsoo pursed his lips and looked out the window, watching for any sign of his date. He sighed and then turned his gaze down to his watch. It was now 6:14pm and Jongin was now fourteen minutes late. He really hoped Jongin wouldn’t stand him up.

A simple text message would suffice his growing dejected heart.

Jongdae probably declared war on his older brother because he knew that Jongin was going to back off to please his younger brother, making him the ultimate winner.

Kyungsoo mentally slapped himself at the thought. How could he ever accuse his favorite student of doing something so evil? Jongdae wouldn’t hurt a fly. He always drew him pictures and was well-mannered to anyone he talked to, even his fellow classmates.

Minute by minute, time kept passing. Soon enough it was 6:27 pm and Kyungsoo felt like he got the message. It just wasn’t meant to be and clearly Jongin didn’t think so either. No message, no call, what was he supposed to think? Kyungsoo tried not to let the crestfallen expression display on his face.

His waiter had come back about two times during his wait for Jongin. Each time, Kyungsoo sent him away. The waiter could only give him a sad smile after the third time he was sent away. Kyungsoo realized that even the waiter knew his date was going to come.

He peeked out the window once more before pulling out his phone. It was no use waiting anymore.

Just as he was about to send Jongin a text about rescheduling or even cancelling altogether, a panting Jongin came running in, attracting attention from the only other three customers inside. He politely gave them an apologetic smile before looking around. When he spotted Kyungsoo he gave the elder a blinding but sorrowful smile and strolled over.

Kyungsoo fought the urge smile widely when he saw the arrival of Jongin. He didn’t want Jongin to know how sad he felt when he thought he was going to be stood up. It may make him look desperate if he knew.

On the walk over, Jongin quickly flatten out his otherwise crinkly clothes and used his fingers as a makeshift comb to fix his disheveled hair. He sat in seat across from Kyungsoo.

“Sorry I’m so late. I was babysitting Jongdae and my mom got held up in traffic. I couldn’t leave Jongdae alone or bring him here on our date so I stayed and waited with him. I was going to text you but Jongdae started playing with my phone and killed the battery. He wouldn’t give it back but I hoped you were still here.” It was evident to Kyungsoo that Jongin really did do his best to rush over to him. For that, Kyungsoo was thankful.

Kyungsoo smiled at the out of breath boy, “It’s okay, really. I was just about to send you a message about possibly rescheduling our date because I hadn’t heard from you and—” Kyungsoo blushed before continuing his sentence, “I wasn’t sure if you were going to show up.”

Jongin looked at his date guiltily.

Kyungsoo shook his head and chuckled. “Don’t feel bad. I understand completely, I would actually do the same thing for my younger brother although he’s fifteen now so I’m not really needed anymore but still!”

“Thanks for not getting mad. I actually had a good date planned out for us. So let’s get going?” The taller of the two stood up out of his seat and walked in front of Kyungsoo.

The kindergarten teacher looked at his date rather confused, “Oh? Are we not having our date here?”

Jongin shook his head and held out his hand to the seated boy. Kyungsoo hesitated before finally taking Jongin’s hand into his own. The two boys exited the coffee shop (but not before the waiter gave Kyungsoo a small smile and a thumbs up) and Kyungsoo let himself be guided by Jongin. Their hands were still interlocked, making Kyungsoo’s insides all fuzzy.

After walking at least a block, Kyungsoo curiously asked, “So if I may ask, what’s on the agenda for tonight?”

“Well Kyungsoo hyung if you must know I planned for us to go to the new arcade down the street. It’s an arcade and a place to eat so I thought it’d be better than some coffee date.” Jongin stopped walking for a moment before turning to his companion, “Is that okay? I mean we could always go back to the coffee shop I just thought maybe this would be more fun?”

Kyungsoo fought back a smile and pushed Jongin’s shoulder with his free hand, “Don’t worry too much. I’m very easy to please, really. I would love to go to this arcade restaurant place.”

“Okay but don’t get mad at me if you don’t like it,” Jongin teased.

Kyungsoo shook his head in amusement and continued to leisurely walk with Jongin. It was a nice night to be walking around outside. The sun was still setting so it was still warm, but the nightly breeze was starting to kick in to make it cool. It was just right.

Many other folks were walking around trying to get to their own destinations. Kyungsoo stayed close to Jongin since others kept bumping into him and he hoped the other wouldn’t mind. Although, Jongin took the initiative first to hold his hand so it shouldn’t be a problem that he was in within close proximity.

He failed to realize that the college senior was staring down at him, watching him intently.

“Are you okay?”

Kyungsoo looked up at Jongin with his wide eyes, “Yeah why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well you’ve been quiet for about ten minutes already so I didn’t know if you were tired or just didn’t want to talk.”

Kyungsoo hadn’t even realized it himself that he was lost in his own thoughts for so long. It was probably because he had gotten comfortable with Jongin that he stopped talking. Jongin announced that their destination was right up the street when Kyungsoo asked if they were close by.

“Hey Jongin, why didn’t we just drive here?”

Jongin shrugged his shoulders, “I thought this would be more romantic and plus it’s nice to just walk and talk. I mean in a car it could be awkward and then one of us would just end up turning on the music.” Kyungsoo nodded and silently agreed. The walk was definitely a romantic gesture.

The inside of their date place had a very welcoming vibe. It seemed appropriate for kids, teenagers and even adult like themselves. The restaurant part was dimly lit while the arcade shined in the brightness of the lights; it was a very big contrast. Kyungsoo was quite pleased.

“We can just seat ourselves and they’ll come to us.” Kyungsoo nodded and looked around for an empty booth. He tapped on Jongin’s shoulder and tilted his head toward the booth when he found one. Together, still hand in hand, they walked over to the booth and sat down across from each other.

The positioning to Kyungsoo made him feel nervous. Now he would have to be face to face to Jongin and stare at his wonderful face and his twinkling eyes and his smile that could kill even the meanest person alive. His plans at the coffee shop to be in a private yet public booth with Jongin proved futile when they sat the empty corner booth. Well, just privacy it was then.

“So is there anything you want to order hyung?”

Kyungsoo shook his head and returned his eyes back to the menu that was sitting on the table, “What do you recommend?”

“Well if I’m being honest I really like the pizza and mozzarella sticks here. Me and my best friend came here last week and tried it out it was really good.”

“Sounds good to me.” Kyungsoo closed his menu and returned his focus to Jongin, who hadn’t even looked at the menu.

“So hyung, tell me about yourself? Who is Do Kyungsoo, mystery man extraordinare?” Jongin propped his hands under his chin. His whole undivided attention was now on the elder boy in front of him.

Kyungsoo cleared his throat, a reflex from his nervousness, “Well, you already know my age and my name so um I majored in education at the local university, I have one younger brother and one older brother, I like to sing and watch movies, and I love dogs.”

“Hyung you are too cute.  I’m majoring in business-economics and minoring in dance since both are my passion, Jongdae is my only sibling, I like to draw and take pictures, and I have two dogs, a corgi and a poodle,” Jongin replied, sounding please with both his and Kyungsoo’s response.

“Welcome to the Amusement Shack can I take your order?” A dull-sounding waiter asked the couple at the table, interrupting their conversation.

Jongin looked up and said, “A medium pepperoni pizza, two medium cokes, and mozzarella sticks please.”

The waiter wrote down their orders and took their menus before leaving. Kyungsoo just sat in silence until he heard his date speak again.

“So you and Jongdae huh? I heard it’s getting pretty serious.” Jongin moved is eyebrows up and down in a teasing manner. Kyungsoo could only groan at the teasing. If Jongin hadn’t been sitting across from him in a public place, Kyungsoo might have hit him hard.

“Jongdae is my favorite student but I wish he didn’t have a crush on me. I obviously can’t reject him since he’s only six but I also can’t let him keep doing what he’s doing. How do I tell him without hurting him? It’s harmless so I’ll just let it be for now.” Kyungsoo said, as a matter-of-factly.

“Don’t worry about him hyung. You may be his first crush ever and he may always talk about you but you need to tell him sometime.”

“Wow, way to uplift my dampening spirits.”

“I was kidding. You say I worry too much but hyung, I think you worry too much. I can help you tell Jongdae if you want. He’s a big boy he’ll understand.”

“No he isn’t that bad. He hasn’t bugged me much so it should dwindle down but it’s fine. Thanks though Jongin.”

“No problem hyung. This war thing is actually kind of ridiculous if you ask me.”

Kyungsoo doesn’t say anything but instead watches the waiter set their food on the table. The looks in both of the boys’ eyes signal that of desire and want for the food in front of them. The pizza was perfectly golden from the cheese atop it. That was the first thing Kyungsoo saw; he didn’t even bother to look at the toppings. The breaded mozzarella sticks looked perfect and ready to eat.

Jongin reached over to grab a plate. He cut the pizza and set a slice on the plate, later handing it to Kyungsoo. After both had their pizza and mozzarella sticks in front of them they continued talking and devouring the food.  All the Jongdae talk had stopped and the two dates talked about anything and everything. Jongin even let out some of his corny jokes.

(“Hey hyung, why do seagulls fly over the sea?

 “I don’t know why?”

“Because if they flew over the bay they would be called bagels.”

“That’s terrible.” )

Once Jongin and Kyungsoo finished eating, Jongin asked for the check. Kyungsoo had tried to grab for the check when it was placed on the table but Jongin had stolen it away from him. Jongin set down some cash to cover their bill and stood up from his seat. He held out his hand for Kyungsoo to take and led him out to the arcade area.

Kyungsoo secretly looked at is watch. It was already 8pm and boy had the time flown by. The teacher was really enjoying his date. Texting Jongin and being with him in person gave Kyungsoo two different sets of emotions. One was excitement but the other, well, the other was just pure happiness and heightening feelings that made is heart beat faster.

“Want to play some games?” The elder nodded eagerly while Jongin chuckled.

Jongin had pulled them over to the front counter and added some money to the card he already had. Each dollar gave him more credits to use for the games. He settled with a twenty dollar bill since he would be sharing the card with Kyungsoo. In Jongin’s mind, if you are taken out on a date by him, you will not pay for anything. He didn’t want Kyungsoo to worry about anything except having fun.

“Let’s play a few games.”

They started out in the car racing section of the arcade. Jongin had easily beat Kyungsoo at the game since Kyungsoo, despite having his driver’s license, kept crashing into the virtual walls. Kyungsoo insisted on one more round of the game. And while Kyungsoo did improve, he still lost to Jongin.

Jongin couldn’t help but laugh at the frustrated Kyungsoo. The next game they went to go play was a shooting game. Kyungsoo had fared pretty well compared to the driving game. He was always trailing behind Jongin’s points but couldn’t never actually beat him. They played a few more simple games like these until they walked by the basketball shooting game. Kyungsoo secretly smirked to himself.

“Kyungsoo hyung, do you want to play this game?”

Kyungsoo pouted and cutely stomped, “I’m not good at sports. You are totally going to win this game Jonginnie.”

“Don’t worry hyung, I’ll go easy on you.”

The objective was to shoot the ball as many times as you can under thirty second for two points each. When there was only ten seconds left the hoop automatically moved back and you could make three pointers.

Jongin hated to brag but he was pretty bomb at this game. In the arcade around his house, he and his best friend Sehun would play for hours trying to outscore each other. Jongin was rather good and won a majority of the time with Sehun scraping a win here and there.

This was the perfect opportunity to put his skills to good use. Any guy trying to impress their date would use his strengths as an advantage. Jongin saw the opportunity and figured it would work out for him in the end. Plus, how good would he look in front of Kyungsoo if he was athletic? Very good.

Jongin set in the credits for his machine then proceeded to do the same for his date.

“Ready?”

The buzzard on the machines rang and the two boys started shooting the balls.

Jongin felt as if he was in his zone. He kept shooting and making the shots, one right after the other. He missed a few but when he looked down to see the time (and coincidently his score) he realized that there was no way he was going to lose.

It seemed a little childish that he was acting the way he was but to him every shot equaled the more love he was going to receive from Kyungsoo.

After the thirty seconds ended, the buzzard rang signaling that time was up. Jongin checked his final score and silently murmured a ‘yes’ and held up his fist. Thirty-two points was definitely not that bad, not his best score, but still not that bad.

“Kyungsoo, it’s okay to lo—”

Just as he was going to pat Kyungsoo on his back and console him, he saw Kyungsoo’s score.

A bright red forty-six caught his eye.

Jongin stepped back in shock. Kyungsoo had just beaten him. The assumingly unathletic Kyungsoo who had told Jongin that he was bad at sports just beat him. He would be lying if he said his pride wasn’t even just a little hurt.

Puzzled, Jongin scratched his head. It’s not that he didn’t think Kyungsoo could do it but beating him by fourteen points was amazing. Maybe Jongin told himself he was going fast because he knew Kyungsoo hadn’t won any games yet. No, that couldn’t be it. Maybe Kyungsoo just beat him from talent or luck. Either way, his cocky attitude and hopes for impressing Kyungsoo just went down the drain.

“Hyung, I thought you just said you weren’t good at sports. You just beat me.”

Kyungsoo shrugged his shoulders and rubbed his nape, “Just luck, I guess. Want to play again? I’m sure you’ll win this time. There’s no way I’ll win again.”

Jongin didn’t want to seem too petty but he did want to win so he nodded and put in the credits again, mentally preparing himself.

Once again when the buzzard went off, Jongin began shooting as fast as he could. A majority of the shots he shot made it in so he thought there was no way he could lose this round. Slowly, his eye peaked over to his opponent. He almost stumbled in shock because Kyungsoo was beating him again.

Before he knew it the game was over and he failed to catch up to Kyungsoo’s impressive score. It was even higher than the first round.

“One more round Kyungsoo?”

“Okay. But you’ll probably win. My luck is going to run out.”

And again Kyungsoo beat Jongin. Jongin huffed in annoyance. Not annoyance with Kyungsoo but rather annoyance with himself. He wanted to impress Kyungsoo with his skills but yet he couldn’t even do that. Now Kyungsoo probably think he at basketball and is a sore loser.

To save himself even more embarrassment, he smiles at Kyungsoo and grabs his hand again, rather harshly if Kyungsoo had anything to say about it.

“Why don’t we play another game, hyung?”

The elder noticed Jongin’s defeated face and felt guilty. Kyungsoo bit his lip and tugged on his date’s sleeve, “Actually Jongin, I lied. I was on the basketball team in high school but I’ve been playing much longer. They used to call me the ‘Sharp Shooter’ for obvious reasons. I didn’t mean to lie I just wanted to impress you so you didn’t think I at everything.”

Jongin was somehow put at ease with the news. He felt his body warm up in slight comfort at the thought of Kyungsoo wanting to cheer Jongin up. At least he knows his skills don’t if he was able to keep up with the “Sharp Shooter”. He giggles a little at the nickname.

“Hyung, it’s okay. I was just frustrated because I want to impress you but you really impressed me instead. We should play basketball some more another time. I’m sure I’ll be you someday.”

Kyungsoo was sure that there was going to be another time.

“It’s getting late. Let’s just play one more game and we can walk back to the coffee shop where the cars are.”

Kyungsoo nodded in agreement and followed Jongin.  The younger had walked over to the claw machine determined even more than the basketball game to win something.

“What do you want Kyungsoo from in here?”

He pointed to the little dragon in the middle of all the plushies. Jongin puts the credits in and began maneuvering the claw machine to aim for the dragon.

Kyungsoo watched the focused Jongin trying to get the dragon plushie out for him. It was a cute sight as Jongin’s eyes were scrunched and his tongue perched on the corner of his mouth. Kyungsoo hoped Jongin was able to get the stuffed animal for him.

“I think I got it.” The claw lowered and opened up to grab whatever was under it. It seemed to Kyungsoo that Jongin was actually going to get the plushie for him. The claw was right over the dragon plushie as it lowered down. Jongin and Kyungsoo both stared. The claw somehow managed to catch a hold one of the ears of the dragon. Kyungsoo was excited as was Jongin.  Unfortunately, claw failed to catch a tight hold on the animal’s ear and the plushie fell on the claw’s way back up. Two collective “aw man’s” were heard.

“Should I try again?”

Kyungsoo put a hand to cover the credit machine.

“No Jongin it’s really okay. Let me try once and then we can just go.”

Kyungsoo did the same and let the claw drop. He was surprised when he managed to grab the dragon’s body. The claw made it to the top and over to the dropping section before the plushie could fall again. Kyungsoo reached down to grab it. Jongin pouted as he was defeated once again.

“Even I’m shocked Jongin. This time really was luck. But here you go.”

“Thanks hyung. I’m going to name it Lucky because you are quite lucky. But also because I’m also quite lucky to be here on this date with you.”

Kyungsoo refrained from crushing the boy into a big hug. That was the sweetest thing anyone has ever said to him. He bravely got the motivation to hold Jongin’s hand first. Jongin smiled and headed toward the exit. The two boys walked back to the coffee shop in comfortable silence.

Jongin was proud that the date had turned out so well. Kyungsoo was a much more fun date than he anticipated, quite frankly. He was everything Jongin wanted and more in a date (a quite possibly a future boyfriend). The elder didn’t even get mad at him about the basketball thing. Plus, he received a plushie and that means a lot to him.

Kyungsoo felt almost exactly the same. His sentiments about Jongin had changed for the better. Before he was cool, mature Jongin but now he was cute, playful Jongin who liked to have fun. Being a kindergarten teacher, Kyungsoo was all about fun, sort of. This date had turned out better than he thought.

The walk back seemed to be a lot faster than the walk to their date place.

“I had a great time today hyung and I hope you did too.”

“I really did.”

Jongin hesitated as he took a step forward. He kept creeping up on the elder before he settled his hand on the back of Kyungsoo’s neck. He leaned down and placed a sweet chaste kiss on the Kyungsoo’s lips. It was over as quickly as it started.

But Kyungsoo could feel the linger of Jongin’s lips on his own. He looked up and smiled at the blushing boy.

“Thank you.” He’s not quite sure why he thanked the younger but it seemed right.

Jongin cleared his throat, “Hyung I was hoping that we could hang out again maybe next week or something. We could go to the arcade again or maybe see a movie if you’d like.”

“I’d really like that.”

Jongin walked Kyungsoo over to his car and watched him get in. With one last wave, he kept his eyes on the kindergarten teacher’s car as it drove down the street. After his car turned the corner Jongin jumped in glee and shouted “yes” not caring if anyone saw him.

“Take that Jongdae!”

--

+fun fact: Amusement Shack is based on Dave and Busters (if you live in the U.S. maybe you've been? It's really fun.)

+excuse my mistakes, it's 3:30 am here.

+this is probably the last I'll write for this AU

+thanks to all the readers for supporting this one-shot (plus bonus). I was really excited to see people subscribing, commenting, and upvoting. thanks a bunch. :)