It’s night out and the city is alive, filled with excited chatter from couples and outbursts of laughter from groups of friends while they navigate through the streets to their next destination eagerly.  

Taeyong strolls pass a few of these individuals and releases a nervous breath, eyes flickering around at his surroundings. He stops in front of a shop displaying TVs for sale, watching as random music videos play idly until his attention is taken when he overhears what sounds like a couple fighting nearby.

“Can you please drop it? I came here to have some fun, okay?” A male voice states, clearly agitated.

“Yuta, come on.” The other voice, another male, pleads. “Yuta.” He tries again, this time a distinct whine evident in his tone.

Taeyong looks to his left and witnesses the two individuals walking across the street, nearing him as they continue to argue back and forth.

“I’m still walking, Ten.” Yuta responds, smiling as he ignores the other’s pleas.

“We’ve only got a couple of hours to kill…so let’s use it to our advantage,” Ten says while grinning suggestively at Yuta.

Yuta turns around to face Ten, a bright smile remaining on his lips even as his eyes glimmer teasingly. “I am using it.” He replies and confidently strides into the club a couple feet away from Taeyong; Ten following after him with a small shake of his head, muttering something low under his breath.

Taeyong looks away as they enter and silently debates with himself on whether going in after them is a smart thing to do. He’s still new here and doesn’t know the ropes to how all this goes, but it can’t be that bad, right? Biting his lower lip, he adjusts his glasses and convinces his feet to move forward to enter.

Immediately he’s met with lights bouncing all around, people swaying and bopping along to the music playing throughout the club. There are couples dancing together and he can hear the sounds of shouting and laughter from those at tables nearby. Pure enjoyment radiating off and filling the entire place.

Taeyong slowly makes his way through it all with a look of apprehensiveness until he hears the familiar tune of a ‘GAME OVER’ from a video game he’s played before. Turning to the source, he finds there is a section of the club that has arcade games and makes his way over there instead.

Sticking his hand in his pocket, Taeyong approaches where Pac-Man is and takes out a quarter to play, a content smile appearing on his face once the screen starts up. He spends a while playing mindlessly, not paying attention much when someone approaches him from the left after a while.

“Hey,” another male greets with a smile, a drink in his hand.

Taeyong glances at him with a polite smile then returns to shifting the joystick in earnest.

The guy gets a little closer to the screen and points to the game Taeyong is playing. “You’re good at this.” Taeyong goes to say something but his face scrunches up when he sees one of the ghosts nearing him. “I, uh, I heard that there is a pattern you can do to avoid the ghosts.”

“Oh?” Taeyong responds distractedly, now he has two on him and can’t shake them off. He jostles the joystick around the maze to find a way to finish the round while avoiding capture. 

“Yeah, there are like three patterns you—”

“Damn it!” Taeyong interrupts when he suddenly dies in the game and bangs his hand on the machine in frustration. He searches his pocket again for more quarters while the other guy moves to stand next to the game beside him.

“Do you wanna play Road Fighter instead?” He offers.

Turning to where the other is, Taeyong tilts his head to watch as the screen displays a red sports car driving fast on the road. He guesses it’s some sort of racing game and figures it might be fun to try, but in the next moment the car crashes rather loud and unexpectedly.

Taeyong backs away at the sudden increase in noise, bumping into another arcade stand and shakes his head. “Oh, no…thank you,” his voice comes out a little shaky. He doesn’t understand why such an image bothers him, he was never the squirming type and certainly not for some computer graphics, but gives the guy what he hopes is his best excuse that doesn’t come off too rudely. “I think I’m just going to go get a drink.”

The other male nods understandingly, though a little put off. “Okay…well I’m Taeil, see you around?”

Taeyong hums a non-committal “mm-hmm,” back to Taeil. Walking past, he doesn’t see Taeil slap a hand over his forehead as he reprimands himself.

After getting himself a drink, Taeyong can’t find an unoccupied table and decides to just sit down in an empty booth where other drinks and a box of cigarettes are. If anyone does come back to the table he can just up and leave. Taking sips from his coke while looking around, he manages to catch sight of one of the guys he saw earlier outside the club, Ten was it? And not a moment later the other, Yuta, make his way out from the dance floor.

One look at Yuta’s face shows he isn’t happy seeing Ten either and turns around only to catch Taeyong’s gaze. Taeyong himself is a little thrown off at how wide and shiny Yuta’s eyes are and looks away shyly.

Without missing a beat, Yuta makes his way over to Taeyong and sits down beside him. “Go along with whatever I say, please.” He says to him hurriedly and plasters on a smile.

“Sorry?” Taeyong isn’t sure how to respond and sets his drink down.

Yuta wraps his arm around Taeyong, his grip tight but not to the extent of being painful. “Whatever I say, just go along with it please.” He shifts closer so they’re more pressed together then faces forward when Ten comes into view again. “Ten, you’re starting to be a little too much now. Do I have to red light you?”

Ten taps his watch while looking at Yuta. “Two hours and 35, there’s not much time left.”

“Ten,” Yuta groans out, knowing exactly what the other is implying.

“Look,” Ten starts as he takes the seat opposite of them. “Last week, we had the most amazing time together—”

“Last week was last week,” Yuta cuts in before Ten can finish, watching as the smile on Ten’s face slips. He doesn’t pay it any mind and directs his attention to Taeyong, who has been silently watching their exchange. Yuta smiles and squeezes Taeyong’s shoulder, looking back to Ten. “I need to talk to my friend here, okay? We haven’t seen each other in a while and need to catch up.”

Ten scoffs and Yuta leans over to say in a not so subtle whisper, “He’s sick, like ‘six months to live’ sick.”

Taeyong feels his lips twitch and speaks up, “Five now, actually.”

Yuta looks over his shoulder at him and shares a smile with Taeyong. “Right,” he then faces Ten again. “We need some private time together.”

Ten doesn’t look the slightest bit convinced, looking between them suspiciously but gives in with a sigh, “Okay.” He stands up and chews on his lower lip, looking over to where Taeyong is sipping on his drink again. “Hey sorry about…y’know.”

“It’s okay.” Taeyong replies, lips still curved up amusingly.

Ten takes one last look at Yuta, voice coming out a little hopeful. “See you around?”

Yuta stops himself from saying something worse and instead offers a reluctant shrug. “Sure.” He waits till Ten is no longer in sight before resting his head back against the cushion of the booth, glad to be rid of him.

Taeyong can’t contain his laughter anymore and releases it. Yuta picks his head back up to smile at him apologetically. “Sorry for killing you. The whole ‘six months to live’ thing? Not my best excuse, but hey five? Five was a nice touch.” They share a laugh together and Yuta sticks