2 million won is around 1,800USD. The characters are in their 20s.

It was his eighth frame and Jongin was still nowhere to be seen. Chanyeol was in the lead by seven points, which wasn't a very huge gap to him, considering how good his opponent was. One screw up would turn the tables on him. “Yes Yeol, I'll be there, my ,” Chanyeol muttered as he watched his owl-eyed opponent grin at his recent move. He looked at Jongdae as he walked back to his seat, wringing his hands exasperatedly, and all he got in reply was a wide grin and a thumbs up.

Chanyeol was at the bowling alley for a mini competition that the alley, Astro, held every year. It was his first time taking part in a bowling competition and he was nervous as hell. He came across the tiny bowling alley when he was bored one day and fell in love with the sport instantly. He became a member at the alley and went there every Friday night, sometimes with his good friend Jongdae, sometimes with his co-workers, but never with Jongin. Jongin, his supposed best friend slash crush. Jongin, who liked dancing more than anything else in the world. Chanyeol was completely infatuated with Jongin, but Jongin was completely oblivious to his feelings and his love for bowling. The owners were kind and encouraging, urging him to enter the competition even though he was only a casual player. “You’ve got the skills, kid. A real natural! Besides, your arms are the perfect length!” and a pat on the back was enough to sway him. The prize took the cake though—it was a whopping 2,000,000won—not bad at all for a small scale competition.

Jongin was supposed to be at the alley for him. He knew how important bowling was to Chanyeol even though he only started recently, but he was never really supportive of him. “There are better things to do, Chanyeol.” “Chanyeol, I’m busy. I’m not really interested in what you have to say about bowling.” “Mm yeah, that’s great Yeol. Wanna see my new dance?”

Chanyeol understood that Jongin didn’t like bowling like he did, but he couldn’t help but feel slightly hurt. Shouldn’t you be supportive of your best friend? Wasn’t that what best friends did? Maybe it was just his feelings speaking, but he was supportive of Jongin’s hobbies even though they were not what he liked. Dancing, seriously? Bowling was so much better, in Chanyeol’s opinion, but he never said that aloud. He felt more like a burden on Jongin’s shoulders and less like his best friend. Jongin made up for his lack of support by bringing back his favourite food and showering him with kisses, as if that was enough, but Chanyeol was appeased each time anyway. It made him feel like Jongin loved him, and not just as a friend. Chanyeol liked to think of Jongin’s forehead kisses as his good luck charm. It didn’t work if it was on the cheek, or the nose. It had to be his forehead. To Chanyeol, it was the sweetest type of kiss and it felt like Jongin was his boyfriend when he did that. It felt like every day Jongin kissed him on the forehead was going to be the best day of his life; and he hadn’t received that kiss yet that day.

The score screen was glowering at him as if to say don't this up and Chanyeol couldn’t help but get more and more paranoid. His opponent had one more ball in his eighth frame. What if Jongin met with an accident on the way here? What if he’s decided I’m not worth his time and ditched me for his salsa instructor? Chanyeol was going mad. His train of thoughts was interrupted by a very worried Jongdae nudging his shoulders.

“Dude, are you all right? You were spacing out. Everyone’s watching, it's your turn now, Kyungsoo got a spare,” Jongdae whispered, a slight frown marring his face. Chanyeol shook his head, getting up from his seat. His face fell when he looked at the screen—his opponent, Kyungsoo, got a ing split. 7 for the first ball, and 3 on the second. He was lucky, and Chanyeol had to be careful. “Could you call Jongin for me? I'm not sure where he is and he promised to be here tonight.” Jongdae sighed, knowing that it would be useless calling Jongin but he acquiesced.

Chanyeol went forward, picking up his bowling ball and squaring his shoulders. He held the ball away from his body, swinging it backwards as he took small, calculated steps toward the lane, swinging forward and letting go as he reached the foul line. He held his breath as he watched the ball speed down the lane, dangerously close to the gutter. “,” he groaned, hiding his face behind his hands. He had gotten a mere two points. He could feel Kyungsoo’s eyes on him, boring holes into the back of his head—or well, chest, considering their height difference—as if mocking him. He whipped his head towards Jongdae, pleading with his eyes, eyebrows furrowed as he mouthed, “I need my good luck charm, man!” accompanied by kissy faces. “ing Chanyeol and his stupid forehead kisses,” Jongdae murmured, more to himself than anything. He shook his head as if to say Jongin isn't gonna be here.

His next ball was no better, a five-pointer. Kyungsoo was definitely in the lead now. “Good luck Chanyeol, please don’t stress out too much, it’s just a game,” Kyungsoo said as Chanyeol walked past him to get to his seat. Yeah, a game with 2 million won prize money. Chanyeol was angry at Jongin for being the worst best friend in existence, angry at Kyungsoo for being so genuinely nice, angry at Jongdae for just being Jongdae, angry at himself for believing in that stupid forehead kiss . He just wanted to win the competition, wanted validation that he was good at what he liked, and he couldn’t even do it because he didn’t have his ‘good luck charm’. He felt so pathetic. He closed his eyes and threw his head backwards, tired and upset. It was midweek and he had a long day at work, rushed to Astro for the competition, and now he was losing.

Suddenly, he felt something soft and moist land on his forehead, but it was gone as quickly as it came. Startled, Chanyeol opened his eyes, only to see crinkled eyes smiling down at him, a bit too close for comfort. “Who the hell are you?” Chanyeol asked, palm swiping at his forehead as he frantically stood up. “What was that?”

The man stood back, pouting. “Don’t wipe it off! That was your good luck kiss!”

“My what?” Chanyeol spluttered. Who the hell is this man and what just happened? He looks familiar, though…  “Well, I heard your friend—you know, the one with the catlike smile?—cursing at you, I quote, ‘ing Chanyeol and his stupid forehead kisses,’ and I asked him what was happening and he told me you need forehead kisses as a good luck charm or something?” The man stifled a laugh as he continued babbling, his cheeks tinted pink, “Well there you go, your kiss. Now go kick some ! Kyungsoo doesn’t like losing, it’d be nice to see him defeated for once…”

Chanyeol stared at the man as he rambled on. He had strikingly red highlights in his raven hair that looked strangely good on him. He had dark brown eyeliner on his droopy eyes, making them look sharper than they were. His lips were pink and tempting, and his skin looked so, so flawless. Not a blemish! Is that even possible? Chanyeol thought, unconsciously reaching out for the man’s face. “…forehead kisses though? How cute. You’re really cute—Woah there! You have a game to play. Please don’t let me distract you,” the guy grinned, leaning away from Chanyeol. Dear lord, even his smile is angelic. This man is the epitome of beauty, Chanyeol thought.

Before he could say anything, Kyungsoo appeared and had the man in a headlock. “What are you doing again, Baekhyun? Stop preying on innocent men. I’m so sorry, Chanyeol. It’s your turn now,” Kyungsoo smiled warmly at him, before dragging his yelling friend away. Baekhyun, Chanyeol thought, unconsciously touching his forehead. He’s cute.

Chanyeol gaped at the screen. Kyungsoo had gotten 8 points on his first ball, which meant that his spare was worth 18 points…. and Chanyeol was screwed. He was now a whole 12 points behind. “There’s no way I’m gonna win,” Chanyeol mumbled, defeated. His palms were sweating as he gingerly picked up a lighter bowling ball, silently praying that he would win the game. “GO CHANYEOL!” a voice hollered. Chanyeol jumped in shock, hugging the ball to his chest. He turned around to see a smiling Baekhyun pumping his tiny fist into the air as they made eye contact, and he couldn’t help but smile back. Baekhyun blushed and huddled deeper into his seat as Kyungsoo frowned at him and asked him to quieten down.

The truth was that Baekhyun was sort of a regular at Astro too, but he had never actually introduced himself to Chanyeol. He had gone to Astro once with his friends, and saw Chanyeol bowling like his life had depended on it, eyebrows