____

{16}

Jonghyun’s newly built playground was a few miles away from the already small town. It wasn’t occupied or touched, but it had incredibly refreshing air conditioning. The shelves and cupboards were already filled; Jonghyun assured us that we would be able to take anything from the overstock and not get in trouble. “ it’s like 100 degrees out here,” I hissed and we hurriedly entered the paintball station, gasping for air.

“ and we’re gonna have to play out here!” Baekhyun cursed and Jonghyun hooked a vest onto him.

“Well now you have to wear your sweater for the whole time,” the field designer smirked evilly and Baekhyun glared at him, tightening the straps anyway. We all fastened up vests another safety gear before turning towards weapons and ammo. “We have semi-automatic guns so all of us don’t have to deal with a pump, but there is only so much ammo. Standard for two hours is about 2000 rounds so I thought we should have a bit of fun with seeing how many rounds we can get.”

“We should split into teams first, 3 on 3, so we don’t choose people who have more ammo just because,” Jiyong added.

“How do you wanna split? Originals versus newcomers?” Wooyoung asked, grabbing Jonghyun and I by the collar.

“No! You have the field designer and air force lieutenant on that team!” Seunghyun argued. “And Taeyeon’s lucky as ; you want her just so you can get a crap load of rounds!” In games of chance, aka gambling, I wasn’t bad. I admitted it. Whenever 2 or 4 managed to appear, I found myself getting the jackpot.

“Then how about we go Leaders versus Others?” Jiyong suggested. Our band director insisted that the percussion section should have a leader, right-hand, and a back-up. Jiyong was our leader, I was the right-hand, and Wooyoung had been the back-up.

“Doesn’t seem bad,” Jonghyun said, switching places with Jiyong.

“So how are we choosing rounds?” I wondered and Jonghyun went behind the desk, pulling out a black box with a hole in the top.

“I put slips of paper with numbers by the hundreds and thousands, from 500 to 4000. Pull it out and that’s the amount you’re stuck with,” he grinned and held it out. “Who’s going first?”

“I shall!” Seunghyun jumped up and stuck his hand in the box, sticking his tongue out and feeling around.

“You better get a good one, you’re on my team,” Jonghyun mumbled and Seunghyun pulled out his paper. He looked at it and immediately laughed, throwing it on the ground and trying to run outside. Baekhyun then jumped on him while I picked up the paper. Seven hundred. Oh my God how is that even possible? I laughed out loud. “Yah! That’s like impossible! How can you be so ty at this?!”

“Taeyeon! You go!” Jiyong pushed me towards the box and I reached in and pulled out a number before the other team could ruin my chance.

“You read it!” I handed the paper to Wooyoung so he and Jiyong could look at it first.

“Oh my God, you got 4000!” Wooyoung screamed and I high-fived my two teammates until our hands got numb.

“You got the only 4000 slip?!” Jonghyun gawked.

“Damn, your luck is still shining, Taeyeon,” Baekhyun noted and I grinned.

“Dude, Yong, dance with me,” Wooyoung tugged on the rocker’s hands and they both pranced around, dancing as they let the other team choose next. Our totals came out to 7100 rounds vs. 5300 rounds.

“Hey, you guys wanna do a before and after shot? I have my camera,” Baekhyun mentioned, pointing back at my car.

“Yeah! Go grab it!” I said and unlocked the vehicle so he could grab his camera. The biologist ran back over and set the camera on the counter while the rest of us started posing. Jonghyun jumped onto my back and I stumbled a bit before looping my fingers together to hold him.

“Woah, Mama Tae’s gotten a lot stronger!” he said.

“Don’t call me that,” I shook my head. Seunghyun laid on the ground, propping his head up and only God knows what face was made. I squatted in the middle of Wooyoung and Baekhyun, who posed dramatically. Wow these guys are embarrassing. I smiled anyway.

We each chose a spot on our bodies to mark with a red “x”. That “x” would represent our weak spot and if ever hit, we were out. I placed my marker below my ribcage, on the left flank of my stomach. “Being strategic about this?” Jiyong pointed as we walked to our end of the field.

“Yeah, I have curves and you guys don’t. Hitting this spot will need a little more depth perception since it dips in,” I explained. “Jong said that the building was a safe zone right?”

“Yup, reserved for the bathroom and or water breaks,” Wooyoung hummed and handed me the bag of rounds we won. I filled up my gun and put the rest of the rounds in a fanny pack Jonghyun gave us. As I handed the bag to Jiyong, I looked around. It’s mainly flat land but I can see the manmade hills and trails, they seemed to have also added shrubs and palm trees. Oh wow and they integrated a stream!?

“Jonghyun did a great job here, it looks like an oasis,” I mumbled.

“An oasis to die in!” Wooyoung whooped and I rolled my eyes. “We start in one minute, remember: if you can’t see the mark, it’s probably on the back. We have lots of ammo but there are very few of us in this giant place, let’s be accurate.”

“Is this what you say during basic training?” Jiyong asked with a smile and Wooyoung grinned.

“Add a gruff voice and like seven more swear words,” he joked and we heard a distant air horn.

“That stupid air horn,” I grumbled and pulled down the mask.

“Just like old times,” Jiyong laughed and the three of us ran out, eyes darting to look for the opposing team. I ran out as far as I was comfortable with before ducking behind a sand hill. Gosh, this isn’t supposed to be nerve wracking. I heard a pop and watched as the first bullet was fired, splashing blue on Jiyong square in the chest. “Ow!”

“First shot!” Baekhyun shouted and I grinned, leaning my head back.

“ you!” Jiyong screamed back and fired a few rounds. “I see your mark! You wanna get hit in the face?!”

“Hit me in the face!” Baek challenged and I peeked out from my hill, seeing the cocky male and I rolled my eyes, raising my scope to my right and fired at his hip. His left thigh and hip were splattered in orange. “Ow!”

“Warning, Baek!” I called and ran out, dodging a round and hid behind another sand hill.

“I thought Taeyeon was gonna be the black hole!” Jonghyun laughed somewhere farther on my right.

“You’re a black hole!” I retorted and popped some rounds at a random sand barrier. Seunghyun popped his head over it and stared at me with a dramatic frown. I laughed after realizing I probably hit him in the stomach or back.

“Eat paint!” he propped his gun on top of the sand and kept firing randomly. Suddenly, two voices shouted all of a sudden and I looked up, seeing Wooyoung and Seunghyun wrestling and dropping their guns.

“Are we seriously gonna play paintball like this?!” Jonghyun laughed as we all came out of hiding, chanting “fight” as the two grown men wrestled into the stream.

“Water in my shirt! Water in my shirt!” Seunghyun cried out and shoved Wooyoung off of him, jumping on him so they splashed in the water again. I’m not gonna end this day with no color. I reached into my pocket and looked at the experimental technology. Let’s try it. I removed the safety clip and yanked the pull ring, dropping it onto the sand.

“Grenade!” I shouted and started running back, dragging my gun with me.

“ you found one!” Jonghyun screamed and I moved behind a shrub, hearing a dull “puff”. I looked back and grinned at the rainbow colored smoke.

“Taeyeon! You !” Baekhyun walked out of the cloud, dusted with multiple colors.

“Jonghyun! It works amazingly!” I opened up my arms with a big grin and the field designer started pelting me with hard paintballs. “Ouch! Oh, not the face mask, not the face mask!” Yes it didn’t hurt that badly, but it initially stung and he was consistently firing.

“Damn you!” he cursed and wiped down his face with water from the stream. That only made him bait for a tackle from Jiyong. What initially started out as two hours of competition and drive, turned into three hours of random talks, near drowning experiences, and spontaneous coloring.

When we were dry and tired, we came back inside, took the after shot, and leaned up against the walls. It’s been a long time since I was euphorically tired. “Mama Tae, can you unlock the car? We should shower before heading to the house,” Seunghyun reminded and I hummed in agreement, unlocking my car. I was too tired to protest against the old nickname. We all grabbed our pajamas and headed to the showers. I went to the women’s side and quickly washed up, rubbing away sand and paint. I was out before any of the others. I flicked out all of the sand from my painted clothes and folded them up on the counter, looking back to see all of the guys coming out simultaneously.

“What, did you guys shower together?” I smirked and helped them fold up their clothes.

“You took less than ten minutes,” Jiyong whistled and I hummed.

“We’re not going anywhere else are we? Because we’re all wearing pajamas and my hair is down,” Seunghyun mumbled, trying to pull his hair back up.

“Nope, going to the house you’re super stoked about,” Wooyoung said and I handed him his folded clothes.

“Does anyone else wanna drive? I’m beat,” I sighed, dangling my keys by my finger and Jonghyun dove for my keys, snatching them off before the others could take another step.

“We’re out, es!” he whooped and I smirked. God I need rest. And food, rest and food. I sat in the back beside Baekhyun and leaned back.

“I’m gonna sleep, is that okay?” I asked him, crossing my arms.

“Yeah, oh wait, but would Tiffany come rip me in half because you fell asleep beside me?” he asked sarcastically and I shoved him over, making everyone laugh.

“Shut up, she’s not a crazy psychopath,” I sighed and got comfortable. How did they make me more exhausted than I already was?

“Yo, Mama, steak or salmon?”

“Steak me, ,” I groaned, waking up at the mention of food. I wiped my eyes and lazily looked around. Oh my gosh this condo looks amazing. My jaw unhinged as Jonghyun slid into the driveway, letting me look at the building. It was amazingly tall and chic and white. I hope we don’t wreck this place. “Seunghyun, let’s see the interior,” I mumbled, hopping out of the car and took my bag.

“Oh my God! Best day ever!” Wooyoung laughed as he opened the door and I followed behind, whistling at the scene in front of me. We came through the dining room and I admired the granite and the colors used for the upholstery. Despite being really modern and the ultimate singles’ pad, the natural colors were extremely homey and made everything a lot more comfortable.

“Jong! Come help me with the grill on the roof deck!” Seunghyun called and the two went up on the loft then out onto the deck. Oh wow, this place is amazing.

“Banker did pretty well, this place is nice,” I confessed and walked around, looking at all of the bells and whistles the house had. Fireplace and flat screen in the living room, fully furnished kitchen, rooftop deck, dang. I couldn’t stop being impressed.

“Guys! Who gets the master?” Wooyoung called from upstairs and I ran up the steps.

“I’m the only girl! I call it!” I shouted and jumped into the room, flinging my bag somewhere and fell on the bed.

“Never mind! Tae called it!” Wooyoung said and I grinned, ready to pass out. “Taeyeon, let’s eat out on the roof. Seunghyun somehow fired up the grill already…”

“What a fat ,” I groaned and forced myself to get up and eat. The two of us walked out onto the roof deck and I sighed, the view was beautiful. The beach was right by the house, the sun glowed a rich orange color and I couldn’t help but grin.

“Your steak’s coming up, Taeyeon, you like lean meat right?” Jonghyun remembered and I hummed, sitting at the head of the table.

“I was surprised you didn’t go for salmon, especially since we just exercised like crazy at what was sort of paintball,” Baekhyun noted, already eating his own fillet of the fish.

“I need protein,” I simply said and felt my phone vibrate. I took it out and smiled. Tiffany. I answered. “Hey Hun.”

“Hey Baby! How’s your first day of the reunion?” she asked and for some reason I was surprised she wasn’t jealous. Maybe she really did outgrow it.

“Good, Seunghyun got us a sick condo and we’re barbequing on the roof,” I told her and said man set a plate of deliciously smelling steak in front of me. “Thanks man.”

“Did you like paintball? I know you’ve all wanted to do that since forever ago,” she added and I grinned, holding the phone with my shoulder as I cut my meat.

“It was seriously one of the best times I’ve ever had, Babe; we shot each other, rolled around in the sand, dunked heads underwater! It was a blast; I’m really glad we went out and were able to do it,” I confessed.

“We love you too, Taeyeon!” Jiyong clamored and I rolled my eyes as Tiffany laughed.

“I’m glad you’re having fun and reuniting with them, I know you missed them,” she said softly and I smiled, looking around at the guys I went through high school with. We’re all grown up. I had friends and I tried to be friendly, but these guys were basically the main chunk of my best friends. I love them, it was weird to say it back then, but I love them all.

“Yeah, it’s nice. This is going to be an interesting weekend,” I sighed and she hummed. I ate a piece of my steak. “How was Vietnam?”

“Pretty good, really muggy and humid, but the beaches are amazing and Hoa Long Bay was gorgeous, I wanna take you there so badly,” she groaned and I smiled.

“As long as you took pictures it’s okay, we’ll go there sometime,” I assured, continuing to eat.

“Taeyeon! We’re going gambling tomorrow, do you need permission from Tiff?” Wooyoung wondered and I furrowed my eyebrows. I don’t think so.  

“I’ll ask, hey Babe? The guys wanna go gambling tomorrow, is it okay if I join them?” I asked and she hummed her approval.

“Just don’t get wasted and bet all your money away, you still have to be responsible when thinking about money,” she reminded and I nodded, even though she couldn’t see me. “I’m boarding my plane now, I have to go. We’re heading to the Philippines next,” she informed and I sighed. At least she called. “I’m sorry I can’t talk to you more.”

“It’s okay, Love. I know you’re busy,” I insisted and ignored the others’ eyes. “I’ll talk to you later then, I love you, Tiffany.”

“I love you, Taeyeon. Have fun and make memories with the guys, I’ll talk to you soon,” she said and hung up. Ugh, no, don’t get sad. This has been a great day, you shouldn’t be sad.

“I have a surprise for you guys,” Seunghyun suddenly said and jumped up from his seat, running back into the house. I blinked. Jonghyun stole a bit of salmon from his plate and we returned to normal as he came back holding a bottle. I sat up. Oh my God he didn’t. “Highland Park Scotch, when I bought it the thing was a 30 year, saved it so now it’s aged 35,” he grinned and set it on the table, along with six glasses. We all gaped as we watched him pour out the caramel colored alcohol and passed it around.

“This thing costs more than $500!” I exclaimed and he grinned, holding up his glass.

“To the first day of coming back to you dorks,” he toasted and the rest of us raised our glasses. To the first day…