it was fun while it lasted

Apartment Block 17
[APARTMENT #118; Choi Hansol, Boo Seungkwan]
 
Equipped with their battery packs, which they had tested out on the day they bought them, the two boys were ready to go out for another day of Pokémon hunting.
 
It had only been four days since the release of the game in South Korea; and several residents of Apartment Block 17 were in heated competitions against each other. One thing that hadn’t changed however, was the mysterious player by the name of ‘hoshi’, who had managed to hold his place at a majority of Gyms across the area. 
 
Junhui and Minghao, the two Chinese boys that Seungkwan and Hansol had met while playing the game, had also been advancing quickly. Since they were in the same team as ‘hoshi’, Team Mystic, they had been going around assisting ‘hoshi’ in holding their place at the Gyms. All the Gyms around Apartment Block 17 were blue, Team Mystic’s colour, which annoyed both Seungkwan and Hansol. No one seemed to be able to beat this guy.
 
They decided to spend the day at the Shining Diamond Mall, the shopping centre across the road from Apartment Block 17. It was there they had bought their battery packs; as well as where they found many Pokémon in the past few days.
 
It would be a lie to say that regular shoppers weren’t annoyed with the onslaught of teenagers flocking the mall in order to catch Pokémon. There were rumours that the owner of the mall was going to file a complaint to the app developers for placing so many PokéStops and Gyms around the building. That definitely didn’t stop people like Seungkwan and Hansol from going there anyway and clogging up the hallways whilst swiping furiously on their phone screens.
 
Having been out past dark for the past four days, the two boys had slept in until nearly 2PM, meaning that by the time they washed up and got ready to go to the mall, the streets were already filled with teenagers and adults all bustling about to grab some late lunch. 
 
“I’m starving. Do you want to grab food somewhere?” Hansol asked. His stomach growled in agreement.
 
“Sounds good!” Seungkwan agreed. He spotted a familiar café up ahead, and began hurrying through the crowd to get there before the line became too long.
 
Upon entering the café, Jam Jam, Seungkwan hopped into the growing line and began scanning the menu above the counter. Hansol joined him moments later, checking his phone for nearby Pokémon. 
 
Hansol jumped when his phone vibrated and displayed a Poliwag in the coffee shop. He caught it without a moment’s hesitation. Seungkwan got out his phone and caught it as well. Soon enough, they had finally reached the counter. 
 
“How may I help you?” Seungkwan squinted when he realised he knew the barista; Jeon Wonwoo, the quiet guy who lived in Apartment Block 17. Also, the guy who had taken in Kim Mingyu the other week.
 
“I’ll get a stack of pancakes with ice cream, and a blueberry smoothie,” Seungkwan said. He was about to ask Hansol what he wanted, but saw the the latter was busy catching another Pokémon.
 
“Will that be all?” Wonwoo asked politely. Seungkwan gulped; as nice as he seemed, there was something unnerving about his eyes. His gaze wasn’t purposely intimidating, but Seungkwan felt as though it was piercing right through his soul and analysing every fibre of his being. Noticing Seungkwan’s hesitation, Wonwoo brought out a sample menu.
 
“If your friend wants something, may I recommend the Belgian Waffles? You can order it with a variety of toppings-” 
 
“Oh no, sorry. He’ll order in a minute, he’s just trying to catch a Pokémon,” Seungkwan interrupted, smiling sheepishly while he tugged on Hansol’s sleeve to get his attention.
 
Wonwoo nodded and smirked ever so slightly. “Seems like everyone’s enjoying that game, huh.”
 
“It’s pretty addicting,” Seungkwan agreed. Hansol finally caught the Pokémon; an Eevee; and proceeded to order the same thing that Seungkwan chose. They nodded politely at Wonwoo and sat down at the only free table in the establishment.
 
“Alright, I think after this we should head to NO F.U.N, as well as a clothes’ shop called SIMPLE. Cheol texted me saying he found really good Pokémon around there,” Hansol said.
 
“Cheol was helping us? Really?” Seungkwan asked suspiciously.
 
“He said he didn’t care who overtook the Gyms as long as it wasn’t ‘hoshi’ or Team Mystic,” Hansol shrugged.
 
Wonwoo brought them their food moments later, and the two boys wolfed it down gratefully. Upon finishing and preparing to leave, they were stopped at the door by a deep voice calling out to them.
 
“Wait, you two! I just remembered. You’re here to catch Pokémon, aren’t you?” Wonwoo asked as they were walking out of the café.
 
“Yeah, we are! Do you play as well?” Hansol’s eyes lit up with excitement.
 
“No, I don’t have time for that kind of stuff. But I’ve seen lots of people playing it. Have you tried ’20 Books’ yet? That bookstore on the second floor. I was there a while ago and I saw lots of people huddled there on their phones,” Wonwoo said.
 
“Wow, thanks for the tip, Jeon Wonwoo. We’ll check it out,” Seungkwan said in awe. He was beginning to think that Wonwoo wasn’t as scary and taciturn as he initially thought.
 
“...How do you know my name?” Wonwoo asked, tilting his head.
 
Hansol sighed. “This boy is Seungkwan. He knows basically everyone and is extremely nosy. Please forgive him. My name is Hansol, nice to officially meet you. We live in Apartment Block 17 as well.” 
 
“Oh, alright. I won’t ask... It’s a pleasure to meet you two. As Seungkwan said, I’m Wonwoo,” he bowed slightly. “Good luck with your Pokémon hunting.”
 
“Pokémon hunting?” another voice piped up from somewhere behind Wonwoo. Wonwoo turned around, his face lighting up in recognition as another university-aged boy made his way over from where he was seated in a nearby table. 
 
The boy had luscious, long, dyed auburn hair and circular glasses that fit snugly around his face. If not for his broad shoulders and stout build, he could’ve easily been mistaken for a girl with his gorgeous locks and delicate features. Seungkwan immediately recognised him as Apartment Block 17’s infamous ‘angel’; Yoon Jeonghan. A junior at Pledis University, majoring in art, he was well known across the area for his appearance, as well as his amazing talent for painting among other art forms.
 
“Oh, Jeonghan! I was so busy I didn’t notice you had come in,” Wonwoo said, quite comfortably. He definitely wasn’t as stiff as he had been with Seungkwan and Hansol.
 
“You know I’d never miss a meal here, Wonwoo,” the boy, Jeonghan, tutted. “Anyway, I heard you guys talking about Pokémon.”
 
Wonwoo groaned. “Don’t tell me you’re playing it too, Jeonghan? Of all people...”
 
“Nah, I’m not. But my boyfriend, who works at Love Letter, told me that tons of people have been surrounding the place because there was some rare Pokémon there,” Jeonghan said.
 
“Wait, you have a boyfriend?” Wonwoo asked incredulously. 
 
“Oh, have I never mentioned? His name is Jisoo,” Jeonghan said, smiling when he said the name. 
 
Wonwoo blinked. “Oh. Nice. I’d love to meet him sometime.”
 
“He doesn’t usually follow me here, since he knows it’s where I go to brainstorm in peace. But I’ll bring him along one day,” Jeonghan said. 
 
“Oh, your boyfriend, did he tell you about the Pokémon recently?” Hansol asked. He didn’t particularly want to interrupt their conversation, but curiosity overtook him.
 
“Yeah, he texted me just now. You two should go soon! If you meet a guy called Jisoo, tell him I sent you. Oh, I’m Jeonghan, by the way!” Jeonghan smiled.
 
“Wow, thanks! Looks like we’ll catch lots today,” Hansol grinned. “I’m Hansol. Nice to meet you, Jeonghan.”
 
“I’m Seungkwan,” Seungkwan piped up. 
 
Jeonghan’s expression changed at the two boys’ introductions... was it surprise? “Wait, Hansol and Seungkwan? You two seem really familiar,” he squinted as he looked closer at the two boys. 
 
“No way!” Jeonghan suddenly exclaimed, causing the three others to flinch in surprise. “Aren’t you two ‘Boonon’?” Seungkwan and Hansol both nodded, while Wonwoo just looked confused. 
 
“Wonwoo, what are you doing? We have customers who need to be served over here!” an angry voice yelled from the counter’s direction.
 
“Sorry, gotta go. Nice meeting you two, I guess. See you around, Jeonghan,” Wonwoo muttered, scurrying back to the counter.
 
“Oh, bye Wonwoo!” Jeonghan turned back to the two boys, who were still startled that they were recognised. “I’m actually on a break right now, and I need to go back to work anyway. But yeah, my boyfriend and I have watched lots of your videos! I feel so bad that I didn’t recognise you two right away. Wow, this is pretty cool,” Jeonghan gushed.
 
Seungkwan smiled at Jeonghan’s excited words. He’d always pegged Jeonghan to be the cool and calm type; like most artists seemed to be. But at this point, he resembled something close to a puppy.
 
“That’s so cool! I’m glad you like our videos,” Hansol grinned.
 
“They’re great! I love your vocals especially. You two really look good together,” Jeonghan said. Though he seemed to mean it in a good-natured way, Seungkwan couldn’t help but feel slightly flustered. It definitely wasn’t the first time someone had told them that. 
 
“Anyway, it was really cool meeting you! I gotta go before my boss hunts me down,” Jeonghan sighed. “Feel free to visit me anytime though! I work over at the Pretty U Beauty Salon.”
 
“Oh, are you a make-up artist? Hairstylist?” Hansol questioned. Seemed to be a fitting job for an artist such as himself.
 
“Make-up. It’s only part time, but it’s really fun. Sometimes we even get invited to music shows to do make-up for idols,” Jeonghan said.
 
“Wow, then we’ll be sure to stop by sometime,” Hansol smiled. 
 
After saying goodbye to Jeonghan, they decided to head over to Love Letter, the store which he had recommended.
 
-------------
 
[APARTMENT #811; Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung]
 
“Jihoon-ie,” Soonyoung groaned. It was mid-afternoon and he still felt like an elephant was sitting on his head. 
 
Jihoon poked his head into Soonyoung’s room. The curtains were drawn tightly and the lights were off, so Jihoon could only make out a vague human-shaped figure bundled up in bed. “You’re finally awake?”
 
“Everything hurts,” Soonyoung croaked. 
 
Jihoon sighed and the light. Soonyoung flinched and buried his face underneath his thin blanket. “Didn’t I tell you not to stay out so late? This is what you get for playing that goddamn Pokémon game.”
 
“I had to defend my honour, Jihoon,” Soonyoung mumbled, his voice muffled by the blanket. 
 
Jihoon stormed over to the bed and ripped the blanket off Soonyoung. The boy looked terrible; body dripping in sweat and bloodshot eyes outlined by dark circles. For the past four days, Soonyoung had been out later and later, coming home at past midnight that morning. Jihoon was beyond worried; to the point where he just felt angry at Soonyoung for being so reckless.
 
“Did it ever occur to you that there are things more important than a stupid game? Do you have any idea how worried I’ve been?” Jihoon said roughly.
 
Soonyoung sat up groggily and tried his best to look Jihoon in the eye; he hadn’t seen the boy this angry in a long time. “I’m sorry, Jihoon. I swear I didn’t mean to make you worry like that. I guess I got carried away.”
 
“You guess?” Jihoon sighed in exasperation. “You know what, that’s it. Give me your phone.” He stuck out his hand authoritatively. Soonyoung was about to protest but Jihoon’s sharp glare shut his mouth.
 
Finding his phone hidden amongst various food wrappers inside his backpack, he placed it in Jihoon’s waiting hand. 
 
“There goes all my honour,” Soonyoung laughed nervously. Jihoon pocketed the phone and threw the blanket back over Soonyoung.
 
“You’re not leaving this apartment today, you hear me? If you don’t rest, it’ll get worse,” Jihoon said sternly. “Luckily for you, it seems like it’s only a cold. It should get better if you stay here for the remainder of the day.”
 
“Thanks, mother,” Soonyoung grinned. Jihoon pulled a face at him. Then Soonyoung suddenly sneezed violently, covering his face with the blanket. Poor thing. Not really. He deserves this... Kind of.
 
Jihoon opened Soonyoung’s closet, pulled out some seemingly clean clothes and tossed them at him. “You should change into cleaner clothes. Maybe go wipe your face or something.”
 
Soonyoung nodded obediently and dragged himself off the comfort of his bed to go to the bathroom. Jihoon went back to the living room, feeling slightly better that Soonyoung wasn’t being too stubborn.
 
Jihoon glanced at the phone he had taken from Soonyoung. Turning it on, he saw that Soonyoung had some messages from Jisoo, a fellow resident of Apartment Block 17 who they would sometimes play games with along with his boyfriend, Jeonghan.
 
josh 10m ago
hey hosh, you play that pokemon game right
 
josh 10m ago
i just got into work and there’s a gazillion people here
 
josh 10m ago
one of them was yelling ‘OH MY GOD IT’S A CHARIZARD’ 
 
josh 9m ago
so idk you may want to come here, just saying :)
 
Wait, since when did Jisoo call Soonyoung ‘Hosh’? Jihoon hated to admit that he felt a little betrayed, since he thought that only he was the only one who knew about that nickname, considering he was the one who thought of it. And since when did Soonyoung tell Jisoo that he was playing Pokémon Go? ‘Our little secret’, my .
 
Feeling bored and slightly curious, Jihoon swiped right and keyed in a random number for the passcode. He was surprised when the phone actually unlocked. The password had been Jihoon’s birthday; 1122.
 
He laughed when he remembered that he had told Soonyoung to set his passcode to something he could easily remember. Ah, what am I going to do with this idiot.
 
-------------
 
[LOVE LETTER FLOWER & GIFT SHOP]
 
Upon arriving at Love Letter, Hansol noticed that indeed, the area was much more crowded than normal. A long, haphazard line seemed to be overflowing outside the gift shop.
 
Straining to see what was happening closer to the store, Hansol spotted a sign; 
 
There’s a Charizard in here. However, only paying customers will be allowed entrance.
Failure to adhere to this rule will result in severe consequences.
 
“Wow, this is really getting out of hand,” Hansol sighed. Pulling out his phone and opening the app, he saw the silhouette of a Charizard, only one footstep away, meaning they had to get closer to the store in order to be in the right vicinity to be able to catch it. Love Letter was smart in making people buy something to go in; people were desperate enough to capture that Charizard that they would pay the price for it. 
 
“Hmm, I heard a classmate was having her birthday this week. Maybe I should get her a gift,” Seungkwan pondered.
 
“Well, if you’re paying, say it’s from me as well. I want that Charizard,” Hansol grinned.
 
Seungkwan sighed. “What has this game done to us?” He pulled out his wallet nonetheless.
 
A few minutes later, the two had advanced to the front of the line. The store was bright and colourful, filled with all sorts of cute keychains and gifts. The right display window was piled to the ceiling with shelves full of meticulously arranged flowers ranging in size and colour. 
 
A boy in his early 20’s was standing at the door, wearing an apron with ‘Love Letter’ printed across it in an ornate font. He had fluffy brown hair and distinct almond-shaped eyes. He wore a kind smile and had a cross-shaped piercing in his upper left ear. Looking closer, Hansol saw a name-tag pinned to the top of his apron, but he moved before Hansol could read it.
 
“Hello, are you here for the Charizard? Or are you an actual customer?” the boy asked Hansol and Seungkwan. 
 
“Charizard,” Hansol began sheepishly. “But we also need to buy a gift for a classmate, so it works out anyway.” The boy nodded. 
 
“Oh, you’re Jisoo! Jeonghan’s boyfriend,” Seungkwan said, noticing his name-tag, as well as having recognised him from around the apartment block. Hansol glanced at his now still name-tag, and saw that it was indeed ‘Jisoo’. Weird. He seems quite different to Jeonghan, yet he seems like a perfect match for him.
 
Noticing Jisoo furrow his eyebrows in confusion, Hansol quickly interrupted. “We met Jeonghan just now at Jam Jam. He told us to come here because of some Pokémon sighting. And he mentioned you,” he explained hurriedly. 
 
“Oh, right,” Jisoo nodded. “Well, if you’re buying something, then go on in. I have to move the line along, but I’ll talk to you later,” he smiled.
 
Hansol nodded and followed Seungkwan into the crowded store. Their phones vibrated as they neared the Charizard, and after much difficulty, managed to catch it before it ran away. They spent the next ten minutes deciding on a gift for their classmate; Hansol had no idea who it was, but Seungkwan insisted a box of chocolates would do. 
 
“Everyone likes chocolate,” Seungkwan reasoned, though it wasn’t true, as Hansol knew a guy who absolutely hated it for unknown reasons. When they proceeded to pay at the counter, they noticed that Jisoo was their cashier.
 
“Did you rotate jobs?” Hansol asked as he handed Jisoo the chocolate. 
 
“Yeah, thank goodness. It’s a riot out there,” Jisoo sighed.
 
“Oh, I’m Hansol, by the way. Didn’t get to introduce myself just now. And this is Seungkwan,” Hansol pulled Seungkwan’s arm, as the latter was distracted by the 3D bookmarks in a shelf near the counter.
 
“Wait, Hansol and Seungkwan? No way!” Jisoo’s eyes widened in a similar manner to Jeonghan’s when he recognised them. 
 
“Oh yeah, Jeonghan told us that you both watch our videos!” Hansol smiled.
 
“Yeah, we do! We haven’t been able to lately, since we’ve been busy, but I myself have watched them since the beginning,” Jisoo said as he scanned and bagged the chocolate. “I grew up in Los Angeles with a Korean family, though I didn’t know that much about Korea itself until I came here a few years back and experienced the different culture myself. That was when I found your channel, and I’ve been watching ever since.”
 
Hansol cringed when he remembered the first videos he had made with Seungkwan; back in their first year of high school, when they were so much younger and so much dumber. Though he wanted to delete all history of his 17-year-old self, Seungkwan refused to let him, saying it was important to embrace their previous mistakes and embarrassments.
 
Chatting a little while more with Jisoo, Hansol told him that he was from New York. They started conversing in English, to which Seungkwan desperately tried to follow with his limited knowledge. After noticing the glares from customers behind them in the line, they bid Jisoo goodbye, with promises they would return some other time when the shop wasn’t so busy.
 
“So, what were you two talking about?” Seungkwan asked as they made their way outside and back into the mall itself. He had tried for a nonchalant tone, but it had come out rather interrogatively.
 
“Just about American life versus Korean life. He’s so cool! I’m glad I got to meet another fellow English speaker,” Hansol grinned. “I feel like my English has become a little rusty lately.”
 
“Hmm, that’s great,” Seungkwan mumbled.
 
“Sorry, Seungkwan, I promise I’ll teach you more English so you can practise with us!” Hansol said, slinging his arm around the latter, who looked a little sulky. 
 
What are you talking about? My English is very high quality,” Seungkwan huffed in his heavily accented English. Hansol laughed loudly, attracting curious stares from surrounding shoppers. 
 
“Looks like I’ve got some work to do, huh?” Hansol said in between laughs, earning a light punch from Seungkwan.
 
-------------
 
[APARTMENT BLOCK 17]
 
The riot surrounding Love Letter finally died down about 15 minutes later when the Charizard finally disappeared from the radar. As soon as Jisoo’s boss heard about the rare Pokémon sighting from one of the workers who was ever so discreetly playing the game whilst on the job, he had put up a sign saying only paying customers were allowed in. It was a smart move on his part, because during the 45 or so minutes the Charizard appeared there, they earned triple the amount they usually would in a day. 
 
Finishing off the rest of his shift in peace, Jisoo was finally let off hours later around 8:10PM after helping to clean up part of the mess the earlier crowd had made. He texted Jeonghan that he was about to go home.
 
Today 8:11 PM
 
me
> finally got to leave work!
> i can’t wait to get home
> did you cook or do i have to buy takeout?
 
cheonhan<3**
> of course i cooked, jisoo
> who do you take me for
 
me
> yOU DID?
> omg i love you
> i didn’t want to have to buy dodgy chinese takeout again
> it may be cheap but my stomach doesn’t agree. 
> especially after last time 
 
cheonhan<3
> awwWWWW don’t worry you know i got you! :))
> i was just lazy last time
> sorry
> but i know how tough work was for you today
> because of that pokemon 
 
me
> yeah, you have no clue!!
> BUT
> I MET BOONON
> THEY SAID THEY MET YOU TOO 
 
cheonhan<3
> OH YEAH I KNOW RIGHT
> I DIDN’T RECOGNISE THEM RIGHT AWAY I FELT SO GUILTY
 
me
> HAHA SAME HERE
> i feel so accomplished
> i never knew hansol was from america as well?
> we talked in english wow it was cool
 
cheonhan<3
> damn, did you find an english buddy then?
> what about me :(
 
me
> as much as i love you and your amazing english
> it was good talking to a native speaker :-)
> well, somewhat native. he seemed a bit hesitant still 
 
cheonhan<3
> looks like i need to study english harder then...
> so you will notice me too :(
 
me
> noo you don’t have to i won’t neglect you why would i do that
> you’re doing that pouty thing aren’t you
> yoon jeonghan 
> i moved thousands of miles to be here
> i’m not going to forget you just because i met some american dongsaeng
 
cheonhan<3
> lol i know i just wanted to hear you say it ;)
 
me
> i hate you
 
cheonhan<3
> love you too, josh :^) [a/n; he typed this in English]
 
Jisoo smiled as he pocketed his phone in order to cross the road back to Apartment Block 17. Upon reaching the other side, he saw the landlord’s son, Choi Seungcheol, racing down the front steps hurriedly with a grin plastered on his face. 
 
Nearly colliding with a surprised Jisoo, Seungcheol grabbed him by the shoulders and shook him lightly. “Jisoo, right? Guess what?!”
 
“W-what?” Jisoo asked confusedly.
 
“I think I found a Mewtwo!” he said, grin growing bigger by the second. Letting Jisoo go, Seungcheol proceeded to race around the apartment block, presumably towards the back parking lot.
 
“What?” a loud yell sounded from the opposite direction. Jisoo turned to see two boys, both with short brown hair, one taller than the other, racing towards him at an alarming speed. 
 
“Did- Seungch- just say- Mewtwo?” the taller one huffed in excitement.
 
“Yeah?” Jisoo answered uncertainly. He had no idea what was going on. Was it another rare Pokémon or something? “He went off towards the back parking lot,” Jisoo continued, pointing in the direction Seungcheol had gone.
 
“Thanks, hyung!” the shorter boy smiled and the two took off at a speed that rivalled Seungcheol’s. Jisoo shook his head and told himself to ignore what just happened; weirdness like this was to be expected in Apartment Block 17. However, he was stopped once more before he could even reach the front steps of the building.
 
“Jisoo-hyung!” a familiar voice called. Jisoo turned to see Hansol and Seungkwan jogging across the road towards him. Though they both looked physically exhausted, their eyes were still gleaming with excitement. “Do you live here too? I never knew.”
 
“Oh, you two live in Apartment Block 17? Wow, I can’t believe I’ve never seen you around until now,” Jisoo said incredulously. He had been watching their Youtube videos and Vines the entire time; but he never knew they lived in the same building?
 
“Yeah! We should hang out sometime,” Hansol grinned. Jisoo didn’t know if it was the dark, or his tired eyes, but he swore that he saw Seungkwan huff ever so slightly.
 
“I’m really tired now, but come by Love Letter some other time and we’ll talk. Oh, but before I go, I should probably let you know that there’s a possibility there’s another rare Pokémon in the back parking lot-”
 
“Which one?” Seungkwan perked up.
 
“Um... Seungcheol said it was a... Mewtwo?” Jisoo guessed.
 
“No way! The legendary one?! Thanks, hyung!” Hansol yelped and ran off towards the parking lot, followed by Seungkwan, who nodded respectfully and excitedly before leaving.
 
Some other people walking past the building began whispering frantically as they caught the word ‘Mewtwo’. Several began taking out their phones, and upon seeing something jaw-droppingly amazing, began to walk hurriedly towards Apartment Block 17.
 
Jisoo figured it wouldn’t be long before word spread, so before he could be interrupted anymore, he rushed into the apartment building. I hope this building will still be standing tomorrow.
 
-------------
 
[BACK PARKING LOT]
 
“Hey, Mingyu, it looks like I’m going to be a little late,” Wonwoo sighed into his phone.
 
“Oh, how come? Were you held back at work?” Mingyu asked.
 
“No, uh...” 
 
“What’s that yelling in the background? Where are you?” Mingyu asked bemusedly.
 
“I’ll explain later. Basically, you can go ahead and eat without me,” Wonwoo said hurriedly before hanging up. He turned to Minghao, and to his relief, he was still next to him, straining to see over the heads of the crowd of strangers lining up the fence that surrounded the back parking lot of Apartment Block 17. 
 
Wonwoo had finally finished his shift at Jam Jam and was walking back to the building with Minghao, who had visited the café to get a coffee (definitely not to see Junhui, who was also working his shift at the time). But with his luck, Wonwoo found himself being pushed along a crowd of people who were heading towards the back parking lot. 
 
He heard a few common phrases thrown back and forth; ‘Mewtwo’, ‘legendary’, ‘have to catch it’. Seriously? Is this about that goddamn Pokémon game? I swear to God...
 
If he had it his way, he would’ve escaped the crowd long ago and returned to comfort of his apartment, where Mingyu would be waiting with a hot bowl of something delicious; his cooking skill was definitely one of the pros Wonwoo saw in choosing him as a roommate, though he wasn’t sure if the pros in Kim Mingyu entirely outweighed the cons. But that wasn’t the problem at the moment.
 
Minghao, being a Pokémon Go player himself, had drifted toward the crowd naturally as if he possessed some psychic ability to sense whenever a Pokémon was nearby. Or at least be able to tell the difference between a crowd of Pokémon hunters and a crowd of angry rioters. Wonwoo saw no difference. He forced himself to go along with the Chinese boy because if something happened to him, not only would he be worried, but Junhui would certainly not let him see daylight again.
 
The fence to the parking lot seemed to be locked; denying entry to the frenzied crowd and forcing them to clog up the pathway and front doors of the apartment block. 
 
“Why’s the door locked? How come that dude is the only one in there?” an angry mobber Pokémon hunter demanded to know.
 
Wonwoo and Minghao, having a slight height advantage over everyone else, managed to peek over and see a familiar figure huddled at the far end of the parking lot, the brightness of his phone screen illuminating his face.
 
“Seungcheol?” Wonwoo frowned. What the heck is this boy doing? Though Wonwoo didn’t know Seungcheol all that well, he knew that the boy was definitely capable of some crazy things. Aside from the stories he’d heard, Wonwoo had seen Seungcheol to be a rather caring and responsible individual - that was when he wasn’t in his competitive and reckless mode. Right now, seeing the boy furiously swiping and tapping his phone in the middle of an empty parking lot, fences surrounded by dozens of angry strangers... Seungcheol was undoubtedly in his reckless mode.
 
The angry mutters of the crowd were suddenly silenced in an instant as a loud scream pierced the night. 
 
“No! Are you actually joking right now?! Of course. It had to be now. I was so close to getting it and ....” Seungcheol kicked the ground in frustration. He sat down on the gravel in defeat. The crowd resumed its chatter, twice as loud as before.
 
“Did he catch the Mewtwo?!” 
 
“What happened?”
 
“Is the shadow here actually a Mewtwo?”
 
“I swear I saw the Mewtwo pop up on his screen for a moment!”
 
“Oi, landlord boy! Unlock the goddamn fence!”
 
“Guys, the server just crashed.”
 
The crowd hushed and turned to the person who had uttered the last statement. Wonwoo’s eyes widened; it was Seokmin. He was standing very close to the fence with his younger brother, Chan. Amongst the crowd, Wonwoo also spotted the two boys he had met earlier that day; Seungkwan and Hansol. Looks like the whole gang’s here. All that’s missing is another Chinese guy, Jeonghan and a certain annoying roommate and you’ve basically got all the people I’ve come to know in my current university life. 
 
Everyone in the crowd reloaded the game on their phones and saw that indeed, the server had crashed and they weren’t able to log in. Seungcheol trudged over to the fence, which he unlocked with his keys, seemingly oblivious to the multiple pairs of eyes on him. It seemed that he had simply locked the door to prevent anyone from entering and capturing the Mewtwo themselves. Smart. But that’s a new low, even for him. Wonwoo chuckled silently, despite the heavily gloomy aura that was surrounding the area.
 
The crowd parted slightly to let Seungcheol through. On his way out, he saw Wonwoo, and gave him a dispirited nod. Wonwoo patted him on the back.
 
Everyone began to disperse as their attempts to re-log back into the game proved to be futile. Seokmin smiled slightly upon noticing Wonwoo and Minghao, but looked thoroughly exhausted and was half-relying on Chan to guide him back into the apartment block.
 
“Ah, that’s a shame. Mewtwo hasn’t been spotted anywhere before, and the server just had to crash now, of all times,” Minghao sighed. “But at least I got to take a screenshot of it’s silhouette! I’ve got to text Jun about this.” 
 
“So now that that’s over, can we go home?” Wonwoo yawned. He pulled Minghao’s arm and guided him up the steps and through the front door as he busily tapped out messages to his boyfriend. I hope Mingyu didn’t actually start eating without me. 
 
-------------
 
[APARTMENT #811; Lee Jihoon, Kwon Soonyoung]
 
“Oh, you’re awake. About time, Hoshi,” Jihoon turned to greet the boy from his comfortable spot on the living room couch. He had been aimlessly watching the morning news, as he usually did when he actually managed to wake up that early.
 
“Good morning,” Soonyoung yawned. “Man, I feel so much better! You were right, resting really did help.”
 
Flopping onto the couch, he rested his head in Jihoon’s lap, grinning mischievously up at him. Usually, Jihoon would have uttered some profanities and shoved Soonyoung off his lap, but today, he seemed rather... happy. Which was weird, considering it was 9AM on a Wednesday morning.
 
“Are you alright? Don’t tell me I gave you the flu,” Soonyoung furrowed his eyebrows.
 
Seemingly unable to hold his excitement anymore, Jihoon said, “Have you heard the news?”
 
“I just woke up, so no,” Soonyoung said carefully.
 
“Oh, well. I think you’ll find it quite interesting,” Jihoon’s smile grew wider. But it wasn’t the shy, bashful, honest smile that Soonyoung loved seeing; it resembled more of a Cheshire-Cat-grin. And it was terrifying.
 
 “You’re scaring me, Woozi,” Soonyoung drawled out the nickname that he hadn’t used in quite a while; these days, he tended to favour using ‘Jihoon-ie’. But Jihoon didn’t seem to care either way. “Oh, by the way, can I have my phone back? Since I’m feeling better, I wanna go out and retake the Gyms I’ve probably lost.”
 
“Sure,” Jihoon’s grin turned into a smirk as he handed Soonyoung his phone back. “Though I’m not sure you’ll have to worry about your Gyms anymore.”
 
Feeling incredibly suspicious, he unlocked it and immediately opened up the Pokémon Go app. Nothing seemed to be out of place. “What’s wrong with you this morning, Jihoon-ie? Did you pull an all-nighter again? Did I cough non-stop in my sleep? Did SHINee break up?” he asked worriedly. Soonyoung knew that Jihoon wasn’t the biggest fan of boybands in general, and he was constantly teased by the latter for buying their albums and dancing along to their music. Nevertheless, Jihoon accepted it, but that didn’t mean a boyband breakup would make Jihoon feel any sympathy for the wreck Soonyoung would be in. Is that why he’s so weird today? Nah, Jihoon wouldn’t be that mean.
 
“So uh, last night. You were sleeping,” Jihoon began, his voice dancing with a playful tone. Soonyoung squinted in suspicion. “I went out to buy more cough syrup, remember?” 
 
Soonyoung vaguely remembered being fed something that was gooey and artificially strawberry-flavoured late last night. Or was it early this morning? 
 
“I saw a huge commotion outside our building. Turns out, a certain-”
 
“-legendary Pokémon finally appeared, in none other than Seoul!” the chirpy voice of the news presenter on the television interrupted Jihoon and caught Soonyoung’s attention.
 
“Last night, around 8:15PM outside an apartment block near the Han River, reports were posted all over social media claiming that the elusive Mewtwo had spawned in the building’s back parking lot.” Soonyoung’s heart leaped. It can’t be... did Jihoon...?
 
“Many witnesses claimed that before they were able to catch it, the server had unfortunately crashed. But one user by the name of ‘hoshi’ seemed to have been victorious in capturing the legendary Pokémon before the server bombed out. The user had posted screenshots of the captured Mewtwo a few hours after its reported sighting. Netizens are debating the authenticity of the screenshots, though many have agreed that they seem to be legitimate. Will Mewtwo spawn again anywhere else? Or was this just a one-off slip from the app developers? Follow us on-” 
 
Soonyoung grabbed the remote and switched off the television. Hands shaking, he clicked on his Pokémon menu to bring up the list of all the Pokémon he had captured. It was sorted so that the most recently captured one was in the top left. Soonyoung felt his head pounding again when he saw what Pokémon held the top left spot. Mewtwo.
 
“What the f-”
 
“So now that you’ve captured Mewtwo,” Jihoon interrupted, grinning like mad once again, “You’ll stop playing Pokémon Go for good, right?”
 
“But how-”
 
“No buts! You promised me!” Jihoon asserted.
 
“I know, but-”
 
“Seungcheol locked the fence so no one could get in, but I went all the way around and climbed a tree so I could catch the goddamn Pokémon. Happy?”
 
“But how did you know my passcode?” Soonyoung asked incredulously.
 
“Don’t use your roommate’s birthday, you idiot,” Jihoon laughed and flicked Soonyoung’s forehead.
 
“Fair enough. But it helps me remember it, so it’s essentially a win-win situation,” Soonyoung chuckled. “But wow, Jihoon. Didn’t know you had it in you! Being able to catch a legendary Pokémon on your first try. I can’t believe my name’s world famous now because you helped me catch a Mewtwo... You must really hate me playing that game, huh.”
 
Jihoon yawned and stretched. “Yeah, I guess. No big deal, really.” If he was trying to sound like he didn’t care, it wasn’t working. His happiness (or was it pride?) was too evident.
 
“Whatever you say. I’ll admit my defeat to you this time,” Soonyoung grinned. Fulfilling his promise, he unlocked his phone again and deleted the Pokémon Go app after a few moments of hesitation.
Well, it was fun while it lasted. 
 

a/n;

and so ends the mistake that was the pokemon go arc AHAHAHA i hope it wasn't too cringe :3

** so about Jisoo’s name for Jeonghan on his phone; cheonhan<3; ‘cheonsa’ is ‘angel’ in Korean so I just joined ‘cheon’ with ‘han’ from Jeonghan... but it turns out ‘cheonhan’ can mean ‘gross’ in Korean.

I thought that being the person he was, Jisoo would probably have found it hilarious, so I decided to keep it in :’)

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
hosaki
[190302] wow its been a while

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
JustMe
#1
Chapter 28: Look at this hoe not updating anymore smh
bluequartz_a
#2
Chapter 28: Ok... I knew I shouldn't have started to read this 'cuz it's been like ages since the last update. Yet, here I am hahahaha so happy to read this and so happy to see your love for Seventeen through the years. I'll be here, silently waiting for my Verkwan and SoonHoon resolution.

Thank you for writing this fic <3 hope you can update tho hahahahha
yihshinee17
#3
Chapter 28: I actually clicked on the SHOW MORE .......( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) and then realised that i shouldn't click on it
anyway, welcome back~~!!
JustMe
#4
Chapter 28: Look who remembered to uPDATE I WAS WAITING FOR SO LONG
marisajaneweiman
#5
Chapter 27: omg please keep updating this is my favorite seventeen fanfic!
nsy317
#6
Chapter 27: Been a long time ago authornim. Welcome back :)
chocolatemeimei #7
omg hi i'm the same person from wattpad
found u hehe
TheiaP #8
Chapter 26: This is so goooooddddd
Love the ending of the last chapter XD got so confused and went awww until i saw it was a joke XD
The play is good toooooo. Funny funny. Sad that soonhoon didn't get a closure or verkwan really but the meanie made up for it
Lucinda_Serenity
#9
Chapter 26: Asdfghjkl yaaaas!!! Like they all said. FCKING FIN-AL-LY!!!!