I sit on the stool in the store, tapping my finger to the music playing from my iPod and flipping through a fashion magazine. We closed the store about an hour ago, and I got out of my uniform like ten minutes ago. Why am I sitting in Gucci with skinny jeans, a graphic tee, and a beanie?

Well Xiumin and I are gonna go to a Pulsa Bang to get to know each other more. Thanks to Kris, but not that I have a problem with it. I just have to wait for Xiumin to come out, and we can leave.

“Hey, you ready?” Xiumin asks tapping my shoulder. I turn around to see him in his casual outfit, which I’ve never seen before. He was wearing a jean shirt with the sleeves rolled up, some black jeans, and some converse. Handsome is an understatement for him.

“Yeah, I’m ready,” I say cheerfully. I grab my shoulder bag and am about to step out of the store, but Xiumin stops me, “What?”

“We still have to wait.”

“What?!”

“I’m ready!” Tao yells as he comes strutting out with a black jacket, cheetah scarf, and a fedora. They have to be kidding me. Tao is coming?! Not only that, but Kris also comes out with a white button up shirt and some jeans. They’re all coming.

“Why are you so surprised Cha-Sook? You didn’t think that it would just be me and you?” Xiumin jokes as he playfully punches my arm. I feel somehow betrayed because he didn’t define ‘We’ in the text...but then again...I shouldn’t be because he didn’t define ‘We’. Sigh...I just got my hopes up.

“Nah, I didn’t think that,” I play it off cooly, “We’re still going to the Pulsa Bang right?”

“Yeah, totally. Kris thinks it’s a cool idea,” Xiumin says, blushing a bit. I’m guessing it’s because he’s the one that come up with it. Tao scowls.

“I still think we should go to an amusement park or a Norebang,” Tao grumbles. I just roll my eyes. Don’t get me wrong! Tao is a good person...but...I don’t think he likes me all that much. Maybe I can prove to him that I’m not that bad of a person.

“Okay, so are we all ready?” Kris asks. We say yes and he puts his hand in the middle. Tao follows in suit; Xiumin and I just stand there staring at the two of them. Like are they crazy? “Come on you two.”

I awkwardly stand there, reluctantly put my hand in the middle. Xiumin didn’t quite know what to do, probably cause this is pretty unusual for a Korean. I dunno, anyway...I just guide his hand to the middle so we can “break” and shout whatever Kris wanted us to shout. Which was Gucci, cause Tao is just so obsessed with this store.

This night is going to be an interesting one. I can tell.

~oO:Oo~

“Ugh, this place is so dirty,” Tao grumbles to himself as he daintily sits at the edge of the couch. We just stepped into this place, and he is already complaining. Why is even here if he was going to complain? It makes no sense. Besides, this is one of the cleanest Pulsa bangs I have ever been to.

“Tao, you can go pick a game you want to play,” Kris says handing us our playing cards. We’re mainly going to play on the Sony PlayStations that they have here. Tao just shakes his head.

“I know nothing of video games. I trust you guys to pick something out that I can play,” he says. Kris tries to talk him into picking some game, but I refused to listen as I want to pick my own game. I think Xiumin had the same idea.

We start looking around to see if there is a video game available on the shelves. Suddenly, I see it. The game that I played a lot of while in the States. FIFA 13. I haven’t played it a while, might as well show everyone my game playing skills!

I reach out to grab the game, and my hand brushes against another persons. That person just happened to be Xiumin.

“O-oh, I’m sorry! You can have the game!” he quickly says yanking his hand back. I furrow my eyebrows.

“Xiumin, relax. We’re going to be playing the same game.”

“Oh...right.”

I can still tell he’s a bit uncomfortable with me. There was nothing I can do but sigh. I guess I still have work to do.

~oO:Oo~

“PASS! PASS!” I yell, mashing buttons on my controller. It was my turn to play FIFA 13 with Kris, and I was mopping the floor with him. My player then shoots to make the goal, “GOOOOAAAAALLL!!”

Kris rolls his eyes, “I thought I was good. Guess you changed my opinion. You’re really good at this.”

“Haha, thanks.” I chuckle, “It’s a 4-0 game and it’s over! I win.”

“You are really good.” Kris repeated, “But...are you good enough to beat Xiumin?” I turn my attention to Xiumin who has been sitting quietly next to Tao. He looks embarrassed.

“Alright...I’ll take him on.” I say determined. I don’t think he’ll beat me at my own game; I am too good, and he is so timid. He can’t possibly beat me.

“You up for it man?” Kris asks, standing up to let Xiumin sit next to me. Xiumin looks hesitant as he stares at the spot for a while. He then turns his attention to me and at that moment, he nods his head.

“Yeah, I’ll play,” Xiumin takes his place next to me. Kris hands him the controller and sits down next to Tao, who is a little bit more excited that Kris is now sitting next to him. I then go to start a new game. I turn to give a good luck to Xiumin, but...he seems so different. Xiumin’s expression is so much more focused and slim; his eyes seem a bit darker than usual. I think he looks more handsome in fact.

“Okay, let’s do this!” I say starting the game.

The game draws on for a while, before Xiumin shoots a goal.

“OOOHHH! What now?!” He yells. I’m honestly shocked, but it’s refreshing to see this sudden change in Xiumin. I guess he really likes soccer. I smirk.

“We’ll see who wins this!” I pull him down to sit back next to me. I can hear Tao groan in the background.

“Gege, I’m gonna go get something to drink.” he says. Kris nods as he intently watches the game. Tao rolls his eyes and walks away. I wasn’t paying much attention to him; I had to win this game.

“Xiumin...shoot...SHOOT!” Kris yells as his player goes to shoot the ball; I end up intercepting him and stealing the ball, “AHH! You almost had her.”

~oO:Oo~

My character runs furiously to the other end of the field. Last minute of the game of overtime and he’s leading the score by one. Kris seems to think Xiumin has already won, but suddenly I was in a good position to shoot a goal. We’re all on the edge of our seats as my character kicks the ball into the goal.

“WOOOO! GOOOAAALLL!” I yell jumping off of my seat. We go to the kick off and see who wins. Kris is bewildered at my comeback, and Xiumin stands up in disbelief too. I show off my pretend muscles, grunting like a muscle man. Kris just starts laughing at me, “You ain’t got anything on me brah.”

Kris stands up, and I end up chest bumping him. I then did the same to Xiumin, but he didn’t know what to do. So….it ended up me losing my balance and him catching me before I fell on my face. Kris just starts laughing his off as I probably just made a fool of myself. Xiumin didn’t say anything.

I groan, “I’m gonna go get something to drink before the end of the game.”

I walk over to the concession area to hear: “! Watch where you are going!”

“No, I don’t have to watch where I’m going. You do! Now move out of my way, stupid brute.” That was Tao’s voice. There was a group of guys surrounding him; my instincts told me they were bad news. Tao didn’t know what he was getting into.

“Alright, pretty boy. You asked for it.” The largest of the men say. He was going to hit Tao! Fragile Tao!! No, I can’t let that happen.

I step in the middle of that mess, ended up getting punched in the face. Right in the nose. I clench it in pain, letting out a groan as tears start to build up in my eyes. I think he broke my nose...wouldn’t be the first time though.

The man looks bewildered as he just punched a girl in her face.

“Leave Tao alone,” I nasally say, “He didn’t mean any harm in what he did, and I know he may seem rude, but he’s actually nice...I think.”

The guys then left as more people began to stare. The nosebleed must have given it away. Tao then turns me around as he probably is just as surprised as the dude who hit me.

“Cha-Sook, you didn’t need to do that.” Tao says.

“No, I had to. I couldn’t let one of my bosses be hit by a jerk. I mean you just bumped into him right?”

“Well yes, but no you didn’t need to do that. I can take care of myself. I mastered martial arts for a reason.”

Wait what? He knows martial arts. We are silent for a while til I start hitting his arms, “I DIDN’T NEED TO DEFEND YOU FOR ANYTHING! AISH!!”

“Oww! Stop.” Tao whines. I sigh, “But you’re okay aren’t you. I think your nose might be broken.”

“Oh...yeah. I might need to go to the hospital. It seems pretty bad.”

We walked back to where Kris and Xiumin was. When we got there, they immediately stood up and went straight to me, “Cha-Sook, what happened?”

“Oh, a dude punched me in the face. No big deal. Just need to go to the hospital cause I broke my nose.” I explain. Xiumin grabs my face, inspecting it closely and not even caring that my blood was getting on his hands, “I’m fine, Xiumin! Honestly.”

“Are you sure? Maybe I should’ve went with you.” he says.

“Xiumin, I’m fine. I just need to go to the hospital.”

“Xiumin, I’ll take Tao home and pay for the games. You take her to the hospital okay.” Kris says.

“Alright. I will.” Xiumin says as he gives me some tissues to hold my bloody nose with. He then starts to lead me out to go to the hospital.

“Hey, Cha-Sook!” Tao calls out to get my attention before we left, “Thanks. Really…” I smile and bow towards him. Tao wasn’t so bad after all.