BGM: Younha - Telepathy

"So, how are we going to split the teams, then?"

It was a chilly Saturday, and just like it was planned a few days prior, today was the joint birthday celebration of January babies Kyungsoo and Jongin. All fifteen of you, already sporting the standard red-white-and-blue shoes rented out in the bowling alley, were huddled around the centermost automatic scoring machine to discuss how you're supposed to divide yourselves into two teams.

"Let's do it X-Man style," Chanyeol suggested, referencing the old Korean variety show X-Man, which features two teams, Team Kang (Hodong) and Team Lee (Hyukjae), that battle it out in a series of challenging games that include everything from the obviously tiresome metal bar wrestling to the incredibly hilarious Dangyunhaji face-offs.

"Good idea, Chanyeol!" Baekhyun praised.

Minseok also liked his friend's idea. "Yeah, let's do that! And since we are celebrating their birthdays, Kyungsoo and Jongin will be the team captains-"

"Team Do versus Team Kim?" Moonkyu interrupted.

"I think that's a really great idea!" Jongin agreed, his competitiveness gradually building up. "Let's do it! Let's do it!"

Kyungsoo, who was less enthusiastic than Jongin, but nevertheless excited about the idea of making bowling a bit more interesting, asked his friends whether they're going to follow the format which made X-Man quite popular. "Do we also appoint a person who will secretly sabotage the team?"

"That would be Bubble Tea," Sehun reckoned.

"HEY!" you complained, snatching away his beloved baseball cap, which Sehun managed to retrieve in an instant. "I may not be generally athletic, but I'm pretty decent at bowling!"

"Really?" Luhan asked, honestly curious.

It was Jihye, however, who supported your claim. "Jaemi's not really the type to score strikes, but she can knock down a pin or two," she said, tightening the laces on her bowling shoes. "She even managed a spare once."

"Can I be Yoo Jaesuk?" Kevin suddenly volunteered. "I'm not really in the mood to play."

"Eh~ but you're a terrible MC, Hyung!" Youngho complained.

Zitao nodded. "Gēgē sometimes awkward."

Joonmyun tiptoed to put an arm around Kevin. "I'll be the MC!"

"It's not like you're any better than me when it comes to hosting," Kevin reminded, patting the top of Rich Kid's head as he spoke. "Joonmyun-ah, your jokes are not exactly funny, you know."

"We all know I'm the funniest one here," Chanyeol suddenly proclaimed without a hint of shame. "But I can't be the MC today because I really want to play and I'm sure that whichever team I end up in will win the whole thing!"

Baekhyun patted Chanyeol's back. "You must be a brilliant bowler, Chanyeol!" he said, his tone full of admiration. "I'd consider myself lucky if I get to be in the same team as you!" he excitedly announced, but he didn't get any reaction from his much taller fellow trainee.

"Does this mean that- HEY!" Yixing stopped mid-sentence when a sneaky Zitao suddenly snatched the can of cola he was holding. If he wasn't so agile, the panda-eyed Chinese boy would surely get smacked in the arm by his bedimpled gēgē. Defeated, Yixing just chuckled to himself and shook his head in disappointment. "What I was going to ask - before this kid stole my drink, was that- what is it again?" he paused, immediately puckering his lips when he finally remembered what he was about to say. "Oh! Does this mean that Kyungsoo and Jongin are also the ones in charge of picking out their members?"

"Yeah," Minseok answered.

"That seems fair," Joonmyun nodded.

Kevin patted Jongin's back. "Do kawi-bawi-bo to determine who gets to pick first."

Just like Kevin suggested, the birthday boys played a round of kawi-bawi-bo to find out who gets to choose first, and as most of you expected, it was a battle that your Kyungsoo sunbae was meant to lose.

To the surprise of everyone, Jongin didn't use this advantage to pick out the best bowler in the group as the first member of Team Kim. "Hmmm... Jaemi chingu!" he called out, gesturing you to come to his side.

"JAEMI?!? Why did you pick her first?" Moonkyu complained, a bit jealous.

"What's so wrong about picking me first?" you wondered, rushing to Jongin's side to return the smile and the high-five he was offering. "Ji has already confirmed the fact that I'm a pretty decent bowler. So what's the problem?"

"Fine, Jongin. Pick Jaemi first. Do what you want. I don't care. I'm going to build a very strong team to make sure you lose," Kyungsoo sassed, the art of intimidation clearly not his forte. "For the first person on my team... I choose you! Luhan hyung!"

Luhan, who was hoping to be on the same team with you, walked over to Kyungsoo's side slightly disappointed. "What am I? A Pokémon?" he commented.

"Ooh~ Luhan hyung and Jaemi noona in opposing teams!" Youngho exclaimed. "Interesting!"

You pinched Youngho's arm. "Stop calling me, Noona!"

"I get to pick again, right?" Jongin asked. When the other boys nodded to confirm that he, indeed, has the privilege to choose the next member of his team, he called out his pseudo-twin. "C'mon, Moonkyu. Don't be jealous of Jaemi anymore."

"I wasn't jealous!" he denied.

You smiled sweetly at Moonkyu. "Of course, you were~"

Your primary intention was to make fun of Moonkyu for being jealous of the fact that Jongin decided to pick you first instead of him, but somehow, it ended up looking like you were performing aegyo. It was a convincing one too, Yixing thought, because he caught Luhan grinning like an idiot when you teased your other commuting buddy in a singsong voice. Jihye noticed it as well.

"I choose you next, Minseok hyung!" Kyungsoo announced.

Minseok left Joonmyun's side to position himself between Luhan and Kyungsoo. Nudging his Keroro-eyed dongsaeng, he asked, "Sticking with the Pokémon concept, huh?"

"Kyungthoo hyung thinkth he'th Ash," Sehun remarked.

"So which Pokémon is Minseok hyung then?" Yixing asked. "Togepi?"

"JIGGLYPUFF!" you and Luhan shouted at the same time.

This prompted some of the boys to join in the fun by singing the Jigglypuff song from Pokémon: ♫ Jiiiii~ ggaly puff, jiggaly~ eeeh~ puff! Jiiiii~ ggaly puff, jiggalyyyy~ ♫

The teasing didn't bother Minseok that much. What stuck to him the most, after all, was not your insistence that he looked like a pink ball of cuteness with a sleep-inducing singing voice, but the belief that the repeated Ji's in the Jigglypuff song is just another sign that he and your best friend are meant to be together.

"Jihye looks like Misty," Minseok noticed, his gaze dropping to her long legs.

The selection of team members went on for a while because the boys kept on making unnecessary comments whenever someone else gets picked before them. Well, that and Kyungsoo's pathetic attempt on trash-talking by pretending to be a Pokémon trainer. In addition to you and Moonkyu, Jongin also selected Yixing, Zitao, Sehun, and Youngho to his team.  He said it was okay that your team is a man down, since he's expecting another friend to show up later. Kyungsoo, on the other hand, ended up choosing Minseok, Luhan, Kevin, Joonmyun, Jihye, Chanyeol, and to the former's dismay, Baekhyun.

"Ah~ Kyungsoo! Why did you even?!?" Chanyeol vented.

"He was the last person left," Kyungsoo argued. "What am I supposed to do?"

"Jaemi Chingu, I want to show you something."

While the others were still figuring out how to add nicknames into the automatic scoring sheet, Jongin held your hand and slowly dragged you to a corner that was strategically obscured by a vending machine for carbonated drinks. With a big grin on his face, your subway chingu ped his black backpack - unintentionally causing you to jump back in surprise when a fluffy brown puppy suddenly popped its head out.

"Kyaa~ how cute!!!" you exclaimed, patting the puppy's head.

"My noonas gave her to me for my 18th birthday," he said, taking out the puppy from his stuffy backpack. He then carefully placed it in your arms so you can pet it properly. "She's really cute, isn't she?"

"Really cute," you agreed. "What's her name?"

"Jaemi," he replied.

When your face suddenly turned sour, Jongin burst into laughter. "I'm kidding! I'm kidding!" he assured, waving his hands frantically before pinching both of your cheeks in an attempt to turn your frown into a grin. "Relax. I was just kidding. Don't worry, I didn't name my puppy after you," he promised, still chuckling a little. "I called her Monggu."

"Monggu? Why Monggu?" you asked.

"Because she's a mongshil mongshil (fluffy) chingu (friend)," he revealed, playing with Monggu's front limbs while you continued its fur. "She's a poodle, by the way. My noonas tried to trick me by telling me that she was a toy poodle, but later I found out that she was just a regular poodle. I still like her, though."

"She really is fluffy," you agreed, giggling as you tickled the puppy's big, brown ears. "Monggu-yah~ Monggu-yah~ baby Monggu-yah~" When Jongin's poodle suddenly looked at you with her cute, big, dark eyes as if she was pleading you to stop tickling her, you put down your fingers and felt a bit sad all of a sudden. "Monggu-yah~ if Shinki was here, I'd let you have a play date with him."

Jongin tilted his head. "Shinki?"

"My Maltese puppy," you divulged, not taking your eyes off Monggu's fluffy fur. "You know, like Changmin oppa's Mangdongie. He already passed on, though. Cardiovascular disease." Quite uncomfortable talking about your beloved pet's death, you decided to change the topic by asking, "Is Monggu even allowed to be in here, though? This is a bowling alley, after all. I don't think they'd want animals in here."

"I already told the manager about her. She said it's okay because it's my birthday-"

"-yesterday. It was your birthday yesterday," you corrected, wagging your finger at Jongin, who just responded with another set of chuckles. "If I had known you were getting this fluffy friend from your sisters, I would have gotten you a chew toy instead."

"Eh~ but that wouldn't be a present for me, would it? It would be for Monggu," Jongin pointed out. "Besides, I like what you gave me yesterday." With a single step, your subway chingu stood back so you could have a full view of the blue and red checkered jacket he was wearing. "It suits me well, don't you think?"

With a worrisome expression, you asked, "Do you really like it?"

"Yeah," Jongin nodded, scooting closer to you and Monggu. "I really appreciate it especially now that I know you've been saving all the money you can because your favorite idol group has been releasing stuff left and right."

"Yeah, the HoMin-JaeChunSu thing has been hard on Cassiopeia's wallets," you sighed, awkwardly chuckling directly afterwards. "That's why you boys have to work extra hard once you debut. Just think of all the sacrifices your fans do just to support you. Imagine all the lunches they skipped or the extra hours they spent on work just to save more money to buy your albums."

Jongin cocked an eyebrow. "You? Skipping lunch?"

"No, not really," you honestly admitted. "I'm not really the kind of person who'll give up food for my oppas. But some fans are like that. They sacrifice a lot of things just to show their idols how much they love them. Where's Taemin Chingu, by the way?" you suddenly asked. "I mean, it's your birthday party, so I was expecting to see him."

"On a plane," Jongin answered, half-sighing. "They just had a show in Australia. They'll arrive sometime today. Or tomorrow morning. I'm not really sure about the time difference."

It was obvious that Jongin was disappointed that his best friend couldn't make it to his party, but it was also evident that he completely understands why Taemin wasn't here today. "It's quite difficult to be friends with an idol, isn't it?"

Jongin chuckled shyly. "He already greeted me, though," he said, brushing his fringe with his fingers. "He called me at exactly 1:00 AM on my birthday. He said he wanted to be the first one to greet me, but I think he got the time zones confused as well."

"So, who was the first?" you asked.

"My noonas," he replied, almost bashfully. "They invaded my room at midnight and interrupted me from whatever dream I was having. I guess they couldn't wait to give me Monggu. It turns out they've been hiding her inside the house for days. I had no idea."

"Jongin Chingu..." You trailed off as you figured out how to tell Jongin what was on your mind at the moment. Biting your lower lip, you quietly asked, "Can I? I mean, may I? May I-"

Because you were stuttering nervously, Jongin tried to finish your sentence. "-pet Monggu for a little longer?" he guessed, his left eyebrow arching up.

A bit flustered, you just nodded to confirm it.

"Of course," Jongin said with a smile. "I know you'll take care of her for me. You are naturally motherly, after all. I'd even ask you to be Monggu's umma, but I don't think Luhan hyung would approve," he teased, signaling you to check out the baby-faced Chinese boy who was quietly watching you by the corner.

"You misspelled my name!"

Over at the automatic scoring machine at the other end of the centermost lane, your best friend was giving Park Chanyeol another dose of eardrum-threatening nagging for incorrectly spelling her name. Instead of typing in 'JIHYE', the tall 92-liner made a mistake when he added the name 'JIHAE' to the list of players for Team Do.

"It's Jihye, you pabo! Jihye. JIIII-HYYEEE," your best friend corrected, putting more emphasis on the vowel sounds. "There's an iotated diphthong after the hieut (ㅎ) in the second syllable!"

"Whoa~! Iotated diphthong!" Moonkyu repeated.

Zitao scratched his head. "What ioatated diphthong?"

"It refers to the vowels yae (ㅒ) and ye (ㅖ)," Joonmyun answered.

"Sounded pretty similar to me," Yixing shrugged.

"Why are you making such a big fuss out of this?" Chanyeol asked Jihye, as he went on to enter Joonmyun and Kevin's names on the list. "It's just spelling! We all know that it's you, anyway!"

"Yeah," Baekhyun concurred, still determined to get into his fellow 92-liner's good graces despite Chanyeol's stubborn insistence to overlook his existence. "You also mispronounced my name the other day, remember?"

Jihye rolled her eyes. "But that's different! It was the first time I met you, so it's totally understandable for me to mispronounce your name," she argued. Mercilessly messing up Chanyeol's hair, she added, "But for this pabo - who has known me for almost a year - misspelling my name is unforgivable!"

"And your name is quite different," Kevin chimed in. "I bet it's not uncommon to mishear it the first time."

"JONGIN HYUNG!" Sehun called out, his lispy voice enveloping the entire bowling alley. "WE'RE DONE ADDING THE NAMETH! COME ON OVER AND LET'TH THTART BOWLING!"

With a shrug, Jongin grabbed your hand again and led you back to the lanes. Cute little Monggu, who seemed to have developed a liking for you, remained comfortably cradled in your arms. "I'm going to bowl first," Team Leader Kim declared, as confident as ever. "Who's going to start for your team?"

"Luhan hyung will start for us," Kyungsoo announced, prompting Chanyeol to groan in disappointment. He wanted to bowl first, obviously, but Team Leader Do was convinced that the very athletic Luhan was a better match against game master Jongin than the stiff and lanky Park Chanyeol.

Baekhyun, in an attempt to console his teammate, gently patted Chanyeol's thigh and reminded him that the person who gets to play first isn't necessarily the best player on the team. "You'll get your turn soon," he assured with a smile... a smile that Chanyeol returned with a frown.

Luhan and Jongin approached the racks to choose their bowling balls.

"This is a battle for Jaemi," Yixing whispered.

"If it is, then Sehunnie should be in there too," Youngho suggested.

"But Sehunnie's on our team as well," Moonkyu reminded.

"I would just like to remind the three of you that I'm sitting right here and I could actually hear what you're talking about," you insinuated, and as if she understood what you just said, Monggu barked twice to show her support. Sehun, who was seated beside you at the time, just rolled his eyes and wore the baseball cap you just returned to him.

Luhan and Jongin stood behind the foul lines of the adjacent lanes designated for your group. Both of them were holding black-colored bowling balls - the heaviest among the bunch. When their eyes met, they gave each other a nod, took a deep breath, studied the position of the pins, and released their respective bowling balls at the same time.

Jongin knocked down nine out of the ten pins at the other end of the lane. It was a pity he didn't score a strike, but he managed to score a spare when he finally took down that pin on the far left when he bowled for a second time.

The baby-faced Chinese boy was luckier. When he pumped his fists into the air after scoring a strike on his first try, you and Yixing unexpectedly yelled out "SHOW OFF!" in unison, bursting into fits of laughter afterwards.

"YEEEESSS!!! A STRIKE!!!" Kyungsoo cheered. "Team Do! Fighting!"

Next up for Team Do was the tall and hansome Kevin Li. It was quite evident that he doesn't seem too thrilled when Kyungsoo called him out as the next player for their team and you wondered why. Although he was not a very fast runner like yourself, you still view your friend Totoro as a very sporty person. He was an amazing basketball player, after all.

"The next player from Team Kim is..." Jongin smiled mischievously. "JAEMI CHINGU!"