06 why can't life be all fun and games

Irene looked at Taehyung with somewhat judging eyes as stood in front of the old rundown arcade which was situated in a quiet neighbourhood at the outskirts of the city.

“You’re kidding me, right Tae?”  The place looked so old-fashioned, Irene would be surprised if anything worked in there.

“You forgot about this place already?”  Taehyung asked, not at all affected by Irene lack of enthusiasm for the place.  “We came here all the time when we were kids.”

Irene looked up at the worn out rusted metal sign, which was bolted quite carelessly onto the top of the front section of the store.  It was mildly familiar and she did have a feeling of déjà vu.  But as Irene tried to pinpoint the exact memories of her being here, Taehyung ahead of her, his hand motioning for her to come into the arcade with him. 

 “Come on, no point standing outside.  The fun is inside.” Taehyung said bouncing with excitement.

Taehyung had comfortably taken a seat at the row of racing car machines and slid his coins in as well as some in the machine next to him.

Irene sat down beside him and said, “I remember playing this.  We always took turns though, because we never had enough coins.”

Taehyung smiled fondly at her.  “Well, we don’t have all day.  Quickly pick your car so we can race!”

Taehyung had already shifted through all the different cars available and made a selection already while Irene still looked through unsure.  But once the selections were made and the sound of the beep went off, Irene focused on the game and took her mind off everything else.  Her unfinished artwork.  Her unrequited love for Taehyung.  Her uncaring dying mother.  Everything. Just this moment, she didn’t feel quite so alone.

“Oh that was a cheap shot, running into my car like that.” Taehyung murmured as he quickly got his car back on the track, his tongue sticking out as he concentrated on accelerating again.

“I can say the same for that booster you keep using.  Seriously tell me how are you doing that?”  Irene asked, not as familiar with all the controls of the game as Taehyung was.

“It is a skill.”  Taehyung turned to her with a smug smile to which Irene said, “Then it must be my skill for being able to distract you.”  She had slammed back Taehyung’s car as well as the other two front cars at the last moment to win the race. 

“Oh yeah! Take that Tae.  You forget I’m good at racing games, even if I don’t play them as much as you do.”

“I didn’t forget Irene.” 

Taehyung’s usually soft face, turned serious as if to tell her that he wasn’t joking around.  But, as fast as switching a channel on a TV screen, Taehyung’s expression quickly morphed into a cheeky one as he said, “I think we need to go play my favourite game next then and see how well you fare there.”

As they stood in front of the air hockey table, Taehyung took a few moments to remember the many times he was here as a kid. 

“I wish I was a kid again,” He said out of nowhere.  “No cares, no worries.  And when it was always the simple things tha