arcade banter
Apartment Block 17
a/n; points if u get all the svt video referneces in this :')
-------------
[APARTMENT #417; Jeon Wonwoo, Kim Mingyu]
“I’m sorry, Wonwoo-hyung!” Mingyu pleaded through the bathroom door to his roommate who was inside changing. “I’m terrible at waking up in the morning. I probably should’ve told you that earlier, but I really wanted to watch the reruns!”
Wonwoo hated to admit it, but he really loved teasing Mingyu. The boy was pretty easy to push around; not in a negative way, of course. Maybe he was being too harsh on the boy; but Mingyu apologised way too easily and Wonwoo found it really endearing. It wasn’t like Wonwoo was ever actually mad at Mingyu, but maybe he did come off as annoyed to someone who didn’t know him that well.
“I already told you, it’s fine,” Wonwoo sighed, his voice muffled by the door in between them. He pulled on his black jeans, completing his casual ‘I wear black but I’m not emo’ look he tended to favour when being dragged out on social outings.
“Maybe try sleeping earlier next time,” he continued, opening the door. Mingyu stumbled forward as if he had been leaning on the door. He caught himself before he could knock Wonwoo over, rubbing his neck sheepishly.
Mingyu laughed hesitantly, baring his blindingly white canines in a full, toothy smile. “No promises. Anyway, let’s go?”
Grabbing their bags and locking the door behind them, the two boys exited the apartment block. Mingyu had insisted on going to the newly opened arcade with Wonwoo that afternoon. Wonwoo honestly loved playing games, but was always too shy to go to arcades, where games were publicly played in front of judgemental strangers. He would much rather play games in the privacy of his own apartment. But Wonwoo found it really hard to say no to the pleading look Mingyu was giving him (and the fact that Mingyu would probably whine about it for a few more hours).
After living with Mingyu for around two weeks, Wonwoo found it increasingly harder to keep his cool around the apartment. Mingyu was loud, needy, whiny, clumsy... the list could go on, but Wonwoo knew that deep down, he wasn’t actually annoyed with the boy. Of course, he wouldn’t admit that, but for reasons he didn’t know, he was frustrated. Frustrated that though Mingyu was everything he disliked in a person, he didn’t hate him at all. In fact, he felt curious, drawn to him and his awkward nature. From the moment he saw Mingyu’s goofy smile on Seokmin’s phone, he was intrigued.
Wonwoo would often ask for advice as well as rant to Junhui and occasionally Minghao and Seokmin about his frustrations. The things they had said in response were bothering him.
“I’m pretty sure that anyone listening to you right now would agree that you probably like him very much.”
“He likes you a lot more than you think, you know.”
“I’m telling you that you actually have a chance with Mingyu.”
He hated his friends for even suggesting such things; it just reinforced the fact that Jeon Wonwoo was thoroughly and utterly gay.
Wonwoo never actually had a problem with who he was. He was openly gay for a majority of his life; he never questioned it, but just knew that deep down he was ‘different’. But his high school life went just as well as you’d expect any gay guy’s life to be in a clichéd school setting - isolated, bullied, looked down upon just because he was ‘different’. He had lived a stereotypical gay guy’s life in an ignorant, majority-rules society.
He always felt like more of an introverted person, but after being shamed upon throughout his high school years, his smiles became rarer and he retreated further back into himself, hiding behind his grown and matured poker face. He became really good at it; hiding his emotions.
It took a while, but university straightened him back out again. Somewhat. He convinced his parents to let him move to Seoul to start a new life studying a subject he loved at one of the top universities in South Korea. Junhui, Seokmin, then Minghao came along and reminded him that people weren’t all that bad. All was great, fantastic, wonderful... so why did Kim Mingyu have to come along and emotionally ruin everything he had built up for himself? Wonwoo blamed himself for even considering the need for a roommate.
“You complain endlessly about him, yet you have never said that you wish he wasn’t your roommate.”
Wonwoo hated how helpless he felt around Kim Mingyu.
“Wonwoo-hyung, are you alright?” Mingyu waved his hand in front of Wonwoo’s face as they entered the bustling mall, people dodging the two boys impatiently as they rushed off to appointments, dates and whatever else they had going on in their lives. “You’re spacing out again.”
“Oh, sorry. Just got a bit lost in thought,” Wonwoo said. Stop looking at me like that.
“You sure? Your face is paler than normal... you look like you’re going to pass out any minute,” Mingyu insisted worriedly. I really will pass out if you keep looking at me like that.
“Stop worrying,” Wonwoo said, perhaps a little too irritably. “I’m just tired. I had to wake up at 8AM because of you. And you didn’t even wake up anyway.”
Mingyu pouted and lightly shoved Wonwoo’s shoulder with his own. “I’m sorry, Wonwoo-hyung. Maybe we can catch the reruns tomorrow!”
“We? Who said I’d be joining you?” Wonwoo pursed his lips. Truthfully, he had ended up watching the drama rerun that morning since Mingyu didn’t wake up. He definitely didn’t want to admit that it was actually really good. Not to mention the episode ended on a nail-biting cliffhanger. Maybe I shouldn’t try to wake him up tomorrow so I can find out what happens next...
“Also, I told you to stop calling me ~hyung. Just call me Wonwoo,” he added. Wonwoo noticed that while Mingyu often forgot to add the ~hyung, he had recently begun making a pointless effort to do so every time he called Wonwoo’s name.
“Alright, but it sounds weird without ~hyung,” Mingyu pouted. You forget it sometimes anyway...
Up ahead past the crowd of shoppers was an enormous, obnoxiously bright neon sign flashing ‘MANSAE’ in a strobe pattern that gave Wonwoo a headache. It made him remember part of the reason why he never wanted to go to arcades.
“Wow, the line is so long!” Mingyu said, happiness emanating from his infectious smile. Wonwoo followed the excited boy into the line. Looking around, Wonwoo spotted some familiar faces in the queue that was extending from the arcade’s doors right past the length of seven stores along the mall’s hallway. He hoped they wouldn’t notice him; he didn’t feel like engaging in social interaction. Mingyu was enough to handle.
“So, have you been to an arcade before?” Mingyu asked, trying his best at small talk. Though he was aware that Wonwoo wasn’t the biggest fan of it, he decided to follow Junhui’s advice anyway; pester him until he breaks.
“No. They’re too loud and there’s too many screaming kids,” Wonwoo said, his voice barely audible over the loud music and talking surrounding them.
“Oh, well, I’ve never been to one, but I’ve always wanted to! So I’m really excited! Thanks for coming with me,” Mingyu beamed. “I see them in the movies and stuff but I’ve never been able to go to one, since my hometown didn’t have any nearby ones.”
“There are quite a lot in Seoul. If you like the one here, I could take you to other ones I’ve heard of,” Wonwoo suggested. What the hell are you saying, Wonwoo?
“Really? Just by looking at the front doors, I can tell I’ll love this place!” Mingyu shouted over the surrounding noise.
The line inched forward, and the two boys were now close enough to see past the tinted windows into the arcade. Various prize-winning games that were obviously rigged lined the walls in their dazzling neon glory. Further back into the establishment, Wonwoo could make out much bigger booths as well as car racing games decked out in plush leather seats. The arcade was packed to the brim with adolescent teens screaming left and right, a majority of them losing all their pocket money to the claw games.
Several minutes of silence passed between them before Mingyu hesitantly prodded Wonwoo once again. “So, you’re studying literature,” he stated, wanting to know more. His major was pretty much all Mingyu had gotten out of Wonwoo in the past two weeks.
“Yeah,” Wonwoo replied curtly. He was about to elaborate further but Mingyu beat him to it, probably assuming that Wonwoo wasn’t going to.
“Do you want to be a writer?” Mingyu asked. Wonwoo thought for a moment before answering.
“I guess, but it’s not like I’ve attempted writing a novel or anything. I simply like reading and analysing. You can learn so much from reading different books that were written in different contexts and by different authors. Stories can be about the exact same topic, but written in a contrasting perspective that makes you view it completely differently. I don’t know, I find it really fascinating,” Wonwoo concluded hesitantly. Damn, I sound like a complete nerd.
“That’s cool! At least it’s something you enjoy doing,” Mingyu smiled. “I guess I feel the same about acting, though I could never describe the feeling like you can. I love watching the same actor portray completely different roles. It’s so inspiring. I really want to become an actor that can play any role, no matter how absurd,” he said proudly. Seeing that Wonwoo was staring blankly at him, he quickly asked, “Uh, so do you have any book recommendations?”
“Oh, uh. Yeah. I’m reading this English book called ‘Me Before You’. It’s really... good,” Wonwoo said with lack of a better word.
“What is it about?” Mingyu asked curiously.
“I guess it’s like those dramas you watch? It’s a romantic... tragedy,” he said, not particularly wanting to spoil the book.
“Oh, the dramas I watch? How would you know that?” Mingyu smirked, catching Wonwoo’s slip.
Before Wonwoo could protest that no, he simply guessed and he definitely did not watch the drama reruns, a boy with generically dyed brown hair began waving frantically from the front of the line as he caught sight of the two tall boys waiting further back. “Wonwoooooo!”
Though Wonwoo didn’t have the best eyesight, he would recognise that voice anywhere; his great friend Seokmin. He waved back shyly as Seokmin pushed his way out of the line, making his way to where Wonwoo and Mingyu were waiting.
“Hey, Wonwoo! You’re here? At an arcade? Am I awake or is this a dream?” Seokmin asked in sarcastic disbelief. “And Mingyu! I’m Seokmin! Nice to finally meet you,” he turned and shook Mingyu’s hand earnestly.
“O-oh! Seokmin!” Mingyu stuttered.
“Damn, you really are more handsome in real life,” Seokmin marvelled. “Don’t cause Wonwoo too much trouble, yeah?” he winked suggestively. Wonwoo groaned.
Mingyu laughed nervously. “I won’t? Anyway, how’s training going? Haven’t talked to you recently.”
Wonwoo narrowed his eyes. Hmm, didn’t know these two were such good friends already.
Seokmin and Mingyu began talking like old friends, about things from their upcoming university semester to what dramas they were addicted to (Wonwoo did feel like joining in with that conversation, but managed to refrain himself from doing so).
The line continued to inch forward, until the boys finally reached the ticket counter. Picking up a brochure, Wonwoo found out that in order to enter the arcade, one must purchase a keycard. Each keycard has an allotted number of tokens, which you can use to play the games in the arcade, as well as a time limit which determined how long you had those tokens for. Extra tokens could also be bought for a hefty price if you ran out. You could pick and choose between different numbers of tokens and hours in the arcade.
The boys ended up buying a two hour keycard with fifty tokens. Wonwoo had to pay for Mingyu since the latter had conveniently forgotten his wallet. Mingyu smiled sheepishly and insisted he’d pay Wonwoo back twice over when they got back.
“I’m so excited! Let’s go~!” Mingyu grinned at Seokmin and Wonwoo, dragging the two boys into the arcade.
Wonwoo was immediately drowned beneath the blaring music and rowdy chatter. The arcade was huge, almost like a giant warehouse with a low ceiling and tons of games littered around the place. Long queues were snaking through walkways and cluttering up the path. It was dark, the only source of light being from the games themselves and a row of small bulbs lighting up the walkways in between the games. Strobe lights flashed intermittently, hurting Wonwoo’s eyes, and the sound of incessant button smashing and cussing made him want to curl up into a ball right then and there.
I want to go home.
-------------
“Oh my God,” Seungkwan marvelled, watching intently as Seungcheol earned a near-perfect score in Dance Dance Revolution. A small crowd had gathered around the machine, admiring Seungcheol’s quick and precise steps and cheering as he set the new high score. Several young challengers were lining up eagerly, keycards at the ready, wanting to beat the insanely high score Seungcheol had gotten.
Seungkwan had tried his hand at the game before Seungcheol, but found it incredibly exhausting to keep up with the never-ending steps. It’s not like he really had a passion for dancing. But Seungcheol’s lighthearted laughs at his attempts on the game made him wish he was a little better at it; or at least better at coordinating his mind and legs.
After leaving Dance Dance Revolution, Seungcheol dragged Seungkwan over to the claw games as he really seemed to want one of those cheap plush toys you could probably buy at any dodgy retailer. But it was the feeling of winning that counted, Seungkwan guessed.
Seungcheol had a massively childish grin on his face and was laughing randomly with short bursts of cackling. Seungkwan was glad to see him having so much fun, though a happy Seungcheol was unpredictable and scarily hyper.
“Yes!” Seungcheol screamed, overjoyed as he finally managed to snag a giant plushie from one of the arcade’s terribly difficult claw games.
While Seungcheol was admiring his newly won prize, Seungkwan stretched and looked around. Through the darkness of the arcade, he made out the shapes of three tall boys stumbling towards them in excitement.
“Oh hey, it’s Seungcheol! And... Seungkwan!” a handsome bean-pole uttered as he came to a halt in front of the two. Oh, it’s Kim Mingyu. That guy who just moved in. Behind him; Jeon Wonwoo, his roommate who was nicer than I thought, and... I believe the third one is Lee Seokmin?
Seungkwan wasn’t quite sure how, but after brief introductions and exchanges of “Oh, we’ve met but I don’t know you that well,” the newly formed squad of five had wound up in the line of a car racing simulator.
Seokmin seemed slightly salty that Seungcheol wasn’t getting his name right. “Sungmin? Wait no, don’t tell me... you’re ... Sugyeom? Seungmin?”
“Seokmin,” he sighed. Seungcheol smiled sheepishly.
Hmm. Lee Seokmin; idol trainee, freshman at Pledis. Very smiley. Friends with Jeon Wonwoo - which is a pretty odd combination. Friends with Mingyu, too?
“So, you’re Seungkwan?” Seokmin snapped Seungkwan out of his thought processes with a tone of voice that made him sound legitimately curious and not just asking things to make small talk. Seungkwan nodded. “I feel like I’ve heard your name before. Anyway, I’m Seokmin! Nice to meet you!” he finished with a wider grin.
“Oh yeah, Seungkwan is hella famous on Youtube and all that,” Seungcheol grinned and wrapped his arm around Seungkwan’s shoulders in a half-headlock. “Dunno if you’ve heard of a duo called Boonon?”
Wonwoo’s face lit up in slight recognition; he remembered Jeonghan saying something about it when they all met at Jam Jam recently. Jeonghan was like their fan or something, wasn’t he? Are they that famous?
“Oh, right! I have! But I haven’t watched too many videos,” Seokmin admitted. “That’s so cool, though. I’ll definitely search you up.” Seungcheol took this opportunity to promote himself as a rapper; he had multiple social media accounts on which he uploaded cover raps as well self-written ones. Seungkwan was slightly amused when Wonwoo sniggered discreetly after learning that Seungcheol’s stage name was “S.Coups”. Mingyu was beside himself in awe at the two of them; “Chasing your dreams at such a young age,” he had marvelled.
“Oh hey, Wonwoo. I just remembered,” Seungkwan turned to him, raising his voice over the crowd’s noise, “Thanks for telling Hansol and I about the Pokémon thing the other day. It was a good place, that bookstore.”
“Oh, 20 Books? Glad I could help. I went there again yesterday and people were still there trying to catch Pokémon,” Wonwoo sighed.
The front of the line was approaching quickly and after several rounds of rock-paper-scissors, it was decided that Wonwoo would be the fifth wheel. Seungcheol and Mingyu would be against Seungkwan and Seokmin, as the car simulator could only take teams of two; although one in each team was a passenger, so it was pretty pointless to have them there except for moral support.
“Are you sure you don’t want to play?” Mingyu asked Wonwoo. “We can go again after if you want.”
“It’s fine, I’ll just watch you guys. I lost rock-paper-scissors anyway. The line’s way too long for another go and I don’t like racing games that much,” Wonwoo said, though it was a lie as he absolutely loved racing games.
“But-” Mingyu began to protest.
“Just go have fun,” Wonwoo prodded Mingyu and urged him on using his eyes.
Wonwoo left the line and stood off to the side.
“Cheer for me!” Mingyu shouted over to Wonwoo. Wonwoo gave him a thumbs up; but there was hardly a trace of a smile or a sign of happiness.
Seungcheol laughed, seeing Mingyu’s pouty expression at Wonwoo’s lack of response. “Still haven’t gotten used to that poker face? Don’t worry, I can assure you that Jeon Wonwoo does indeed know how to smile. But it’s almost as rare as a Mewtwo, at least to me,” Seungcheol sighed, patting Mingyu’s back.
The four finally reached the front of the line, next in line for a turn at the game. Seungkwan and Seokmin had used rock-paper-scissors once again to determine the driver; Seokmin was driving while Seungkwan sat as passenger (he wasn’t very happy about that). Mingyu and Seungcheol however, had still not decided.
“I’ll drive,” Mingyu insisted. “I’ve driven before back home.”
“Playing Mario Kart doesn’t count,” Seungcheol huffed. “I’ll drive; I’m older. Respect your hyung.”
“No! First one to sit in the driver’s seat gets to drive,” Mingyu said hurriedly, scanning his keycard and jumping up onto the driver’s seat without missing a beat. Seungcheol’s mouth dropped into an ‘O’ of disbelief and proceeded to shove Mingyu lightly into the passenger seat. He attempted to force himself onto the seat, but Mingyu used his weight and height to hold his ground.
Wonwoo held back a chuckle; the two looked absolutely ridiculous. They were beginning to cause quite a commotion as well.
“I said, first one to sit gets to drive!” Mingyu protested, pushing Seungcheol, who was half-sitting on the driver’s seat in an uncomfortable position.
“Just because you said so, doesn’t mean I agree with it!”
“Guys,” Seungkwan interrupted, “Just do rock-paper-scissors so we can play the game before we get kicked out.”
Both frowning childishly, Mingyu ended up winning after three tied rounds. Seungcheol reluctantly slid onto the passenger seat; Mingyu stuck out his tongue.
“What are you, five?” Wonwoo muttered to himself. So immature. But damn, it’s cute. Wait no. Shut up, Wonwoo.
Finally starting the game, the four boys yelped in surprise as the simulator began to rise. A large screen was displayed in front of them which showed their car avatar. Upon starting the race, the drivers found it incredibly difficult as the simulator would twist and turn just like a real car. The simulator moved up and down in jerky movements every time the driver would swerve.
“No, Mingyu! Left! No, my left! That’s not left? Give me the wheel!” Seungcheol yelled.
“Oh my God!” Seungkwan hollered for the umpteenth time that morning. He was gripping onto the handlebars, though they all had seatbelts securing them to the chairs.
Wonwoo smiled internally as he saw the grin on Seokmin’s face, tongue slightly poking out in concentration. Seokmin was winning at the moment; it was only the first lap though.
Seokmin had noticeably become increasingly tired toward the end of the last semester, and Wonwoo was quite worried about him. He no longer talked about his idol training with the zest he did during earlier months. It was good to see him loosen up a little in the arcade.
As for Mingyu... he seemed happier than ever. If that was even possible. Part of Wonwoo wanted to be in Seungcheol’s position; Seungcheol was now gripping Mingyu’s arm tightly, partly to guide the steering wheel and partly because he was scared (he would never admit it, but Wonwoo had heard that Seungcheol wasn’t the biggest fan of rollercoasters and extreme motion simulators).
The race ended in a very close finish; Mingyu outdriving Seokmin by only 1.2 seconds. As they hopped off the simulator, they had to catch each other as they stumbled back towards Wonwoo. Due to the intense motion from the simulator, they all looked tipsy to the point that it was funny.
“Did you see that, Wonwoo?! I won!” Mingyu beamed, pumping his fists in ecstasy.
Wonwoo laughed lowly. “How could I have missed that amazing finish? After seeing your skills, I doubted either one of you would even reach the end,” he said teasingly. It was true though; during the first few laps, the two had crashed into multiple obstacles and traveled in the wrong direction for about half the race. It was a miracle they managed to finish in such a spectacular fashion.
Mingyu slapped Wonwoo’s shoulder. “It’s harder than it looks, alright! Still though, it was so fun; we should play together sometime, hyung!” Mingyu laughed. “You try driving that thing before you talk trash about my amazing skills.”
“Sure,” Wonwoo agreed quietly. Mingyu didn’t seem to hear, so he leant in closer. “I said alright.”
“O-oh,” Mingyu stumbled back, flustered at his roommate’s sudden forwardness. “Yeah. We should!”
Wandering around, the five boys nearly lost each other amongst the crowd. “What should we try next? We have about an hour left,” Seokmin asked loudly.
“Oh, what about that?” Seungcheol pointed over at a relatively short queue. The large neon sign above said queue read out “BOXING SQUARE”. Like the name suggested, it was a boxing simulator; it seemed that there were two separate body-sized screens with your opponent’s avatar shown on there as you punched the air using boxing gloves rigged with sensors (which translated as attacks on your opponent’s screen).
“Wonwoo, do you want to try?” Mingyu prodded. Frowning at first, Wonwoo reasoned it wouldn’t kill him to try something out since he had paid entrance anyway.
“Alright, then. Seungcheol, you seem the easiest to beat. You and me,” Wonwoo called Seungcheol out, low-key taking advantage of his competitiveness.
Seokmin and Seungkwan hollered, while Mingyu’s mouth dropped open in surprise at Wonwoo’s boldness. Hyung, I wish you’d tease me like you tease your friends.
-------------
“What should my nickname be?” Seungcheol wondered as the game asked for them to input one. He decided just to use his stage name, S.Coups.
The two screens stood side by side, Wonwoo in front of one and Seungcheol in front of the other. There were ropes around the small area, resembling a boxing ring. Mingyu and Seokmin were standing off to Wonwoo’s side while Seungkwan stuck near Seungcheol.
The two boys fitted on their boxing gloves and calibrated them. Seungcheol chose the buffest looking avatar in the selection, while Wonwoo chose a rather elegant looking man. The screen flashed with fancy graphics, introducing the two opponents. Those still in the queue started cheering, as if it were a real boxing match.
“Introducing our fighters!” the upbeat programmed voice of the machine announced. Their nicknames flashed across the screen as their avatars walked onto the screen of their opponent. Seungcheol snorted as Wonwoo’s avatar walked out; his nickname, Jeon Cena, flashing in bright colours across the screen as the avatar pumped his fists.
The match started, and Seungcheol started assaulting the air in front of him in a flurry of punches. He had no idea what he was doing, so he figured the faster, the better.
Wonwoo on the other hand, thought much more tactical. He didn’t have great physical prowess, but through observing Seungcheol’s random attacks, he managed to pull off a couple of uppercuts and sharp jabs which greatly lowered Seungcheol’s health. The boxing gloves also seemed to sense their whole body movement, so Wonwoo began moving back and forth in order to dodge Seungcheol’s punches.
Seungcheol started to lose strength as his stamina ran out, and Wonwoo finished off his avatar with one powerful jab. The crowd cheered as ‘K.O’ followed by ‘JEON CENA WINS!’ flashed across the screen, accompanied by glorified trumpet music. Through all the noise, Seungcheol could hear Mingyu shouting all sorts of praise and congratulations to Wonwoo.
As if to combat Mingyu’s shouts, Seungkwan started cheering for Seungcheol as well. He started jumping up and down, waving his hands and screaming terrible rhymes in an effort to out-cheer Mingyu.
The game entered its second round, music blasting out once again and their avatars walking proudly onto the screens. Seungcheol had underestimated Wonwoo; he definitely wouldn’t lose this time.
The second round proceeded similarly to the first, though Seungcheol slowed down on his attacks and tried to play smarter rather than harder. Though Wonwoo still held the upper hand for a majority of it, in a twist of events, Seungcheol managed to land a fatal blow on Wonwoo's upper left cheek. ‘S.COUPS WINS!’
Mingyu started booing lightheartedly, and Seungcheol shot him a glare. He laughed and hid behind Seokmin.
Tension was high as the third round began. Seungkwan upgraded his cheer by taking off his shoes and wearing them on his hands. He waved them around chaotically and looked like he was about to break out into a full Olympic gymnastic routine.
As the entrance music played, Seungkwan danced energetically, flinging his hands about and shaking them in a comedic manner. The crowd laughed and cheered him on.
Seungcheol looked to his right and studied his opponent. Wonwoo looked far too calm for someone about to go into a life or death match. Is he underestimating me? No, his eyes look really focused. He noticed Wonwoo glancing at Mingyu and Seokmin on the sidelines every few seconds, as if for assurance that they were still there. Mingyu was still yelling out encouragement; he was really into it.
Their avatars finally finished their glory parade and took their fighting stances. The match started and Seungcheol immediately jabbed sharply to the right. Wonwoo anticipated this and dodged easily, countering with a swift uppercut that sent Seungcheol’s avatar flying to the end of the boxing ring. As the match wore on, both of their health bars hovering around the same mark, the cheers grew louder; cheering for who, Seungcheol wasn’t sure.
Seungkwan’s cheerleading got more intense, his arms swinging about dangerously. Mingyu had started fist pumping intensely and Seokmin seemed to be having the time of his life. Seungcheol had broken into a sweat as he focused as hard as he could on knocking Wonwoo’s avatar out.
By the five minute mark, both of their health bars were dropping below the 10% mark. Both of them were pretty exhausted from the previous two rounds of excessive arm pumping. Seungcheol didn’t know how the gloves were still on his hands; he could feel himself sweating out buckets through his hands.
In a swift moment, Wonwoo managed to land a lucky hit on Seungcheol’s nose, which caused his health to drop down to 4%. Seungcheol swore under his breath and blamed the sensors for not registering that he had definitely dodged that strike.
Seungcheol really didn’t like losing. His avatar’s health was so close to depleting completely that his body started acting on its own before his mind could catch up with it. He sidestepped Wonwoo’s next attack and slung his arm around real-Wonwoo’s neck in a light headlock.
“Seungche- what the-” Wonwoo spluttered, flailing around as he tried to escape Seungcheol’s grip on his head.
They were struggling with each other awkwardly, Seungcheol attempting to pull off some weird sidecuts with one arm while enveloping Wonwoo with the other. The crowd’s cheers dimmed down as they looked on in confusion.
“Hey, Seungcheol! That’s not fair!” Seokmin protested.
“Life’s not fair!” Seungcheol countered. Wonwoo seemed to accept Seungcheol’s challenge as he had a scarily eerie grin on his face. It was probably the closest thing to a smile Seungcheol had seen. Wonwoo attempted to counter Seungcheol’s haphazard punches whilst he was still enveloped in Seungcheol’s death grip.
Seungcheol managed to lower Wonwoo’s health bar down to 6%; his was still dangerously hovering around the 3% mark. The cheers resumed and Seungkwan entered the 10th round of his extensive cheerleading routine.
Just as Wonwoo was about to win the third round, the cheers halted as a group of burly men pushed their way through the crowd, angrily staring down Seungcheol and Wonwoo, who were still half-wrestling each other in an effort to win.
“Stop!” they commanded in eerie synchronisation. Seungcheol and Wonwoo stopped flailing and straightened up as best they could. The men approached them and grabbed their arms firmly.
“What part of virtual fighting only do you not understand? If you didn’t know, that means no verbal or physical abuse,” one of the men said firmly.
“We didn’t really mean it-” Seungcheol began.
“Shut up. This is your first warning; if we see you causing trouble again, you’ll be banned from this arcade. Are we clear?”
“Yes, sir,” Seungcheol gulped.
Hauling the two boys out of the simulator area, the crowd dispersed in disappointment as the match wasn’t able to be finished. The game had reset once there was no movement for a while.
“Wonwoo totally won that,” Seungcheol heard Mingyu arguing with Seungkwan as the two of them met up with the other three away from the simulator.
“Seungcheol managed to bring him down 7% in like, 2 seconds. He definitely won,” Seungkwan said.
“Let’s just say it’s a tie,” Seokmin intervened.
“As much as I don’t want to accept that, I’m too tired,” Seungcheol sighed as he and Wonwoo rejoined the group. He turned and shook Wonwoo’s hand firmly. “It’s a tie. But next time, I’ll beat you. Fairly,” he added for good measure.
“Sure, sure,” Wonwoo smirked. Looking at the time, Seungcheol figured they had just over half an hour left in their keycards. Wonwoo’s group came in later, so they may have more time, he figured.
“What do you guys wanna do now?” Seokmin asked.
“Ooh, karaoke!” Seungkwan suggested excitedly, pointing over to the karaoke booths toward the back of the arcade.
Seungcheol figured it was the perfect excuse to practise and show off his rapping prowess.
-------------
“Wonwoo, I didn’t know you were so good at boxing,” Mingyu marvelled as the group walked toward the last empty karaoke booth.
“I’m not,” Wonwoo said, “Seungcheol’s just terrible.” Seungcheol shot Wonwoo a playful glare.
“Well, you looked really cool anyway,” Mingyu laughed.
As the day wore on, Mingyu began to feel more and more hopeless that he would ever get a response out of Wonwoo. He had never met someone who could act so passive around him. Most would either show signs of annoyance or happiness towards him; but Wonwoo was just blank.
Wonwoo would sound slightly annoyed or irritable at times, but none of it was extreme; his emotions all seemed very mild. There was so much about him that Mingyu wanted to find out; a treasure box waiting to be opened.
Scanning his keycard, Mingyu took a seat next to Wonwoo on the couch in the booth. The other three boys had taken up the microphones and were arguing over which song to choose.
Seungkwan ended up picking ‘I can’t go to Shinchon’ by PostMen, a vocal-oriented song that Seungcheol looked ready to take on. Mingyu wanted to hear Seungcheol rap, since he himself was quite interested in rap music, but he was curious to see how well Seungcheol sang.
Seokmin began singing and Mingyu’s ears were filled with the sound of his soothing voice; Mingyu definitely saw why Seokmin was able to be an idol trainee. Seungkwan soon joined him, harmonising perfectly in time. Mingyu felt Wonwoo shift beside him. I wonder what Wonwoo’s voice sounds like.
Seungcheol waddled back and forth behind them, clutching his microphone tightly. He had a wide grin on his face as he watched the two vocals sing in perfect harmony. The high notes hit, and Mingyu felt shivers go down his back at their beautiful voices. Seungcheol made a face of pure appreciation and prepared to sing his part.
Turns out, rappers could sing too. Man, Seungcheol really nailed that high note.
Mingyu snapped out of his hypnosis as he felt Wonwoo staring at him weirdly. Wonwoo shook his head, as if coming out of a stupor, and hurriedly muttered, “You look like you want to try it too.”
“Oh, yeah! I don’t really sing but... I like rapping, I guess?”
The current song ended and Seungkwan and Seokmin handed their microphones over to Mingyu and Wonwoo. Mingyu hesitantly stood and cleared his throat; he wanted to avoid sounding like a run-over frog as much as possible.
“You can pick,” Seungcheol said to Wonwoo, handing him the remote. Wonwoo pursed his lips and scrolled through the vast song selection. He seemed to be looking through sappy romantic ballads. Seems like his music style. It suits him...
Wonwoo finally stopped scrolling and settled upon ‘Drunken Truth’ by Kim Dongryul. Mingyu wasn’t familiar with the song, and Seungcheol didn’t seem to be either.
Mingyu wiped his sweaty hands down his jeans. The song started in a rhythmic tune and Wonwoo slowly eased into the beat. I actually get to hear him sing... Should I be this excited just to hear a guy singing?
“Yeah, man,” Mingyu held his hand up and Wonwoo met it in an awkward high-five. Their hands were in contact for a split second too long and they awkwardly let go.
Seungcheol immediately began belting out some high notes at random, but they seemed to fit in with the song. Seungkwan started waving his hands and clapping. Then, Wonwoo started singing.
Mingyu felt his heart skip for a beat. Or maybe two beats.
“Jeon Wonwoo!” Seokmin cheered, his face in mock disbelief and appreciation. He probably had heard Wonwoo sing before and wasn’t surprised at the smooth, deep, velvety voice that flowed out from Wonwoo’s mouth.
Seungcheol joined in for a verse, but left Wonwoo to sing the chorus alone. Mingyu wanted to join in as well, but he was far too paralysed to do anything other than mutter along with whatever lyrics he could catch on the screen. It didn’t really help Mingyu’s wellbeing that Wonwoo was literally singing ‘I love you so much’ with his beautiful deep voice. Wait, did I just think his voice was beautiful? Well yeah, it is... Platonically beautiful, yeah. Oh, who am I kidding. He has a gorgeous voice.
Seungcheol waved his hand in front of Mingyu’s face and motioned for him to join in as well. He sang hesitantly, but was overpowered by Wonwoo’s now confident singing voice. Seungcheol and Wonwoo sang the rest together, while Seokmin cheered and Seungkwan intermittently shook a tambourine he had somehow gotten a hold of.
The song ended with Wonwoo stumbling over a high note because he was laughing. Handing the microphone back to Seokmin, he sat down and grabbed a bottle of water from his backpack.
It took a few moments for Mingyu to register that Wonwoo was actually laughing. Stumbling into the seat next to him, he muttered the first thing that came to his mind. “You... sing?” He immediately slapped himself internally for sounding so nervous.
Wonwoo looked up from the bottle he was taking a drink from. “Sometimes. I used to play guitar, so my teacher encouraged me to sing as well. But I guess I'm more interested in rapping like you.”
“O-oh! That’s cool! We should rap together, maybe?” Mingyu said timidly.
Wonwoo’s expression faltered a little. “U-uh, yeah. I just... it’s not a good idea.” Meanwhile, the other three had gone back to the song selection to choose another song.
“How come?” Mingyu asked worriedly. He hoped he didn’t offend Wonwoo, just when he was getting a little closer to him.
“I don’t really like performing in front of others,” Wonwoo said, “It’s... embarrassing.”
“You just sang, though! Do you have stage fright?”
“I got a little carried away. It’s fun singing with others as opposed to singing solo. I’ve had stage fright since forever, which is kind of why I quit guitar. My teacher kept insisting that I should perform at recitals.”
“Oh, yeah. It definitely is embarrassing performing in front of people you don't know too well,” Mingyu agreed. “If you don’t want to rap with me, it’s okay... I’ll just have to rap twice as often for the both of us!” he grinned.
Wonwoo buried his head in his arms. He mumbled something that Mingyu couldn’t hear over the arguing of the other three boys.
Seungkwan had picked a song this time; ‘Romantic Cat’ by Cherry Filter. The booth was soon filled with upbeat rock music accompanied by high quality screeching in English.
Seungcheol grabbed the tambourine and shook it energetically as Seungkwan belted out the lyrics in his amazing voice. Mingyu leant down so that his head was at Wonwoo’s level and prodded him.
“What did you say before?” he asked loudly next to Wonwoo’s ear. Wonwoo flinched slightly.
Turning out of his arm-cave to look at Mingyu directly, he whispered something. Over Seungcheol’s shouting, all Mingyu could make out was, “...why... frustrating.”
Not wanting to ask again, as Wonwoo had buried himself back into his enclosed position, Mingyu sat back and tried to focus on the singing boys. But his mind was filling with utter confusion at Wonwoo’s actions; he could hardly concentrate as the three boys sang their way through yet another song. Seungcheol sat down next to Mingyu after that song, and the two remaining vocals powered through two more songs before the machine beeped and alerted them that their time was up.
After five minutes of attempting to locate the exit, the boys finally made their way out of the arcade and handed in their keycards. On the way out, they passed a large, fancy photobooth that was seemingly still in construction. They agreed to come back and use it sometime; especially an enthusiastic Seungcheol, who was definitely extremely photogenic.
After a long while of exchanging numbers with each other, the five boys bid their goodbyes to each other as they got off the elevator on their respective floor back in Apartment Block 17.
Mingyu plopped facedown onto the couch as soon as they entered their apartment. Wonwoo slapped his head and motioned for him to move over. Mingyu lay stiffly next to Wonwoo as silence settled between them.
“That was fun,” Wonwoo said quietly after a while. Mingyu was about to say something along the lines of ‘I told you so’, but stopped when he saw a jaw-dropping sight unfold in front of his very eyes. Jeon Wonwoo was smiling? He didn’t seem to be aware that he was smiling in the first place; it was the kind of smile that looked like a natural reflex, a pure display of true happiness that was impossible to suppress. Though it wasn’t a wide, jaw-breaking grin, rather a slight upturn of Wonwoo’s lip-line, Mingyu’s heart raced faster than he had ever felt it race before.
He couldn’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment. Jumping up from the couch, he happily bounced into the kitchen.
“What are you doing? You looked like you were about to collapse a moment ago,” Wonwoo asked loudly from where he sat on the couch.
“Cooking a celebratory dinner!” Mingyu announced happily.
“Celebration of what?” Wonwoo frowned in confusion.
But Mingyu would never admit how genuinely happy he had felt when he witnessed a real smile from Wonwoo for the first time since he moved in. They should open arcades here more often.
a/n;
yey very long chapter wow such words idk what this was im sorry if it felt fillery bc it wasnt meant to be
Comments