(for woohyunized) Arrow in The Knee
For: woohyunized
Title: Arrow in The Knee
Genre: fluff
Rating: PG-13 (for swearing)
Length: 9,600 words
Summary: Kyungsoo hates video games. He doesn’t understand why anyone would waste their time battling dragons or creating a virtual world, but when he meets gaming nerd Kim Jongin in a gaming store, he starts to understand why.
Notes: hi, recipient! i hope you find this fic satisfactory and to your liking. you asked for crack but this is all the crack i could muster from my non-humorous self. thankyou for the wonderful prompt!
Summer is considerably Do Kyungsoo’s least favorite season of the year. He hates how the Sun radiates more heat than usual, how the clouds that block out the sunlight are always missing from the sky and how the unavoidable UV rays penetrate into the pores of his skin, rendering him vulnerable to the whims of skin cancer and other dangerous diseases he most definitely would not want to be diagnosed with over the summer.
Fatal illnesses aside, Kyungsoo especially hates the exceptional amount of sweat he produces from the moment he steps out of his house and the feeling that comes afterwards. It isn’t pleasant; it’s a feeling of great discomfort. It absolutely grinds his gears when the thin fabric of his shirt is plastered onto his skin with a layer of sweat in between and when he has to bring his hands up to his forehead every two minutes to wipe away droplets of perspiration to keep himself from looking overly disgusting and unflattering.
The only entity that makes up for all the horrible things summer brings is the two-month break from school. But as much as Kyungsoo would love to stay at home, re-watching Prince of Tennis on his laptop with a bucket of fried chicken perched on his lap, he is almost always dragged out of his house every day by his best friend, Chanyeol.
To do what exactly? The answer is ever-changing.
Chanyeol has planned up a line of activities a month prior, starting from day one until the very last day and has given the the long list to Kyungsoo. It’s the same every summer, Kyungsoo would reluctantly agree to follow Chanyeol on his errands for the first week, and proceeds to disappear into his batcave for the rest of summer break. This time, it’s no different.
Kyungsoo holds the list in his hands, carefully inspecting its contents. The first line reads: day one - shoe shopping! and beside it, the name of the mall they frequent is messily written with smudged ink and he can barely read it.
He groans aloud, rolling around on his bed. It’s the first day of summer and he has to spend it in the most ridiculous way possible; with Chanyeol. He reaches for his phone on the bedside table, unlocking it and he sees that it’s already 10:58 AM. His thumb is about to reach for the Twitter app when an incoming call appears on the screen and it’s none other than Park Chanyeol.
His thumb hits the answer button and he moves the device to his ear.
“RISE AND SHINE, SOOSOO!”
A moment of silence for Kyungsoo’s right eardrum, please.
“Morning,” he mumbles half-heartedly.
“Are you still in bed?”
“Yes. We’re kind of in a relationship, you see.”
“I’d hate to be the cause of a messy breakup but you need to get your ass off your bed right now. Didn’t you read the list I gave you?”
“Cut me some slack, Chanyeol. I really don’t see the joy in getting a new pair of overpriced sneakers,” he sighs. Honestly speaking, Kyungsoo is broke as hell and he’s being as efficient as he can to last through the break without having to work part-time jobs.
“Who the hell said you’d have to get them? I just need you there to give me your opinions.”
“I’m only in if you’re treating me to lunch.”
“Oh, come on, Soo,” he whines, dragging his name in the most disgustingly girlish tone ever and Kyungsoo wishes he had him in headlock at this very moment.
“Then I guess you’ll have to go alon-”
“I’ll treat you to McD but that’s it, nothing more,” he cuts him off abruptly.
Kyungsoo scoffs. What a cheapskate bastard. “Deal,” he agrees anyway because unhealthy fast food is still food, no matter how fattening it may be.
“I’ll see you at 12 don’t be late I’ll meet you at McD you do know which one I’m talking about right please get your butt off the bed right now and could you at least look presentabl-”
Kyungsoo hangs up before his head explodes.
---
As soon as he shuts his door close, a wave of heat greets his entire body and he can already feel beads of sweat forming under his clothes. It’s nearing noon and the Solar Lord is at it’s highest peak in the sky. 20 seconds into his trek to the mall, he’s beginning to regret his life decisions. The sidewalk is crowded with pedestrians, making it extra hard for him to breathe in this sweltering heat and unfortunately for Kyungsoo, walking in a crowd also means there’s a higher chance of him getting trampled over by rude and inconsiderate citizens who have no sense of morality. He wasn’t blessed with a height of an average male teenager so all he can do is accept his fate, put on a stoic face and brave through the storms of pedestrians.
I should’ve just taken the cab, he grumbles inwardly. Public transport is definitely a more comfortable option, but it would cost a whole lot more than Kyungsoo could afford and he is willing to sacrifice the pleasant smell of his clothes to trade it in for a horrific stench of sweat to get to his destination without charge.
It only takes one droplet of sweat rolling down from his forehead and into his eyes to make him completely snap. His desire to be in an air-conditioned environment is too powerful to ignore, so he looks around and finds that he’s standing in front of a row of roadside shop lots. He doesn’t wait a second longer before stepping towards the nearest one, hands gripping the handle and swings door open.
The cool rush of artificial arctic air hits him immediately and he lets out a sigh of relief, slowly stepping into the store with a smile on his face. Who would know something as simple as air-conditioning could bring such bliss to Kyungsoo? He’s instantly drawn to the air-conditioner and he knows there’s a compelling attraction between them. He decides to break all ties with his bed once and for all for he has found the true love of his life.
Just kidding.
He looks around the store and after much contemplation, he declares that he’s currently in a gaming store, seeing that there are at least a hundred 24x36 video game posters stuck onto all four sides of the walls. He walks up to the racks filled with gaming CDs lined up side-by-side as compact as the rack allowed it to be. Never in his life has he entered a gaming store, and he has a sudden urge to bring out his diary and write this historical moment down.
The two guys who are standing beside him are engrossed in a conversation, presumably about the latest game on the market and how it’s quote, ‘hella rad’. It’s difficult to overlook how obnoxiously loud they are and Kyungsoo merely rolls his eyes. He’ll never understand the importance of online gaming.
To be honest, in the 16 years of his living, he has never once played an online video game. Although Chanyeol is an avid fan, he hasn’t bothered to take interest in things as useless and non-beneficial as this. He’d rather read a good book, catch up on some anime and other stuff that doesn’t include virtually shooting down dragons or saving an entire empire from an evil king.
He fishes out his phone from the back pocket of his jeans to check the time. It’s 15 minutes to noon and there’s ample amount of time to enjoy the comfort of the air-conditioning a little while longer, so he shuffles up to the other side of the racks, and that is when he sees him.
He’s cladded in a grey cotton t-shirt with mid-thigh khaki shorts, eyes glued to the CD he has in his hands and sweet mother of Jesus his side profile is so fucking attractive Kyungsoo nearly melts into a puddle of goo if it wasn’t for the air-conditioning and his jawline is so sharp it could slice through a raw carrot with such precision even Gordon Ramsay couldn’t achieve.
Kyungsoo must’ve been intensely admiring him in the creepiest way ever because Hot Stuff is starting to notice there’s a midget beside him dumbly staring at his face, and he slowly turns his head around to reveal a face that can only be sculptured by Leonardo Da Vinci himself.
Attractive Stranger raises an eyebrow, as if he’s expecting Kyungsoo to say something.
Mouth agape, Kyungsoo wills a few logical words to come out of his throat to avoid any potentially embarrassing situations.
He fails miserably.
12 hours into summer break and he has already managed to make a fool out of himself in front of a stranger he may or may not want to be friends (or more) with.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” the boy asks and Kyungsoo has half a mind to fling himself into an ocean filled with man-eating sharks because his voice is like chocolate ganache dribbled onto a scoop of french vanilla bean ice-cream.
Kyungsoo gulps, still unable to find his voice.
The Cutie looks at the CD in his hand and holds it up to Kyungsoo’s face. “Did you want this?”
“N-no,” he replies. Smooth.
The taller male retracts his arm, putting the CD back into the shelf. “Are you looking for anything in particular?”
Kyungsoo shakes his head. “I’m not into gaming,” he says.
Eyebrows furrowed slightly, he looks at Kyungsoo with a confused facial expression and asks, “why are you here, then?” His hands gestures to the shelves around him. “This is a gaming store,” he points out.
“Uh, I came in here for the air-conditioning,” he admits with a sheepish grin.
At that, he chuckles, showcasing a set of impressively white teeth, and Kyungsoo can feel the butterflies in his stomach coming alive at the sound of his laughter.
“I’m Jongin,” he introduces himself, offering him his hand.
Kyungsoo gladly takes it (although he thinks it’s a bit old-fashioned). “I’m Kyungsoo,” he says and silently thanks the heavens for blessing him with the ability to say his name without stuttering.
And this moment could very well be a scene straight out of a romantic film; two strangers brought together by fate, smiling as their shaking hands, and not wanting to let go. At least that’s what Kyungsoo thinks it is.
“So,” he starts, loosening his grip on Kyungsoo’s hand, “you’ve never been in here before?”
“Nope.”
“Ah…”
Awkward silence engulfs them, and Kyungsoo mentally beats himself up over his inability to carry out basic everyday conversations. He has a perfectly healthy and handsome guy standing in front of him but unfortunately, is incapable of continuing the conversation because of his terrible social skills.
“Do you come here often, Jongin-ssi?” Yikes, that sounded so awkward.
“Yeah, this is my favorite gaming store. I come here every weekend, so I was kind of surprised to see a new face,” he says a small smile playing on his lips. “No one really comes here, you see,” he adds.
“Oh,” Kyungsoo breathes, nodding his head, not knowing what to say next. Ugh, Do Kyungsoo, you’re such a fucking loser.
“Hey, do you have anything going on late-”
His sentence is cut short when a familiar tune starts playing in the background and Kyungsoo feels a violent vibration on his right buttcheek, making him jump a little. His hands quickly find his phone in the back pocket of his jeans and PARK CHANYEOL IS CALLING is displayed on the screen, all bright and ugly.
“I’m sorry,” he says to Jongin, flashing an apologetic look and proceeds to turn the other way. His index finger grudgingly hits the answer button and he really hopes PARK CHANYEOL has a pretty damn good reason for ruining what-could-be-a-perfect moment.
“SOMEONE BETTER BE DYING OR SOMETHING FOR YOU TO CALL ME AT THIS TIME,” he whispers/shouts into his phone.
“OH MY GOD, WHERE ARE YOU? I’VE BEEN WAITING AT MCD SINCE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.”
“CALM THE FUCK DOWN, CHANYEOL. I’LL BE THERE IN 10 MINUTES.”
“NO, I WANT YOU HERE BY FIV-”
Kyungsoo removes his phone from his ear and forcefully taps the end call button multiple times. Turning back around to face Jongin, he says, “I’m so sorry but I have to go now. My overbearing friend can’t stand not being around me for more than 18 hours at a time,” rolling his eyes a little. He’s actually quite amazed by Chanyeol’s competence to ruin his life even from miles away.
“Oh, okay, um, yeah,” Jongin says and a look of disappointment momentarily washes over his face. (Kyungsoo doesn’t see it because he’s too busy plotting his best friend’s accidental death in his head.) “It was nice meeting you, Kyungsoo-ssi,” he smiles and it’s the kind that would make a hundred girls swoon, maybe even Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo beams at him, head dipping down slightly to give a small bow. “Me too,” he replies and makes his way to the door. (Kyungsoo also misses Jongin catching up to him a few seconds after with “wait up!” at the tip of his tongue because he’s already jogging along the sidewalk that leads to the mall but he does feel a tiny pang in his chest when he exits the store. He doesn’t know if it came from not wanting to part with the air-conditioner or the lanky stranger he just met.)
---
“KYUNGSOO! OVER HERE!”
Said man facepalms as he walks into the fast food restaurant, avoiding all the weird glances from strangers are throwing his way. He quickly shuffles up to Chanyeol’s table before he can do anything more embarrassing.
He drags his chair along the tiled floors and promptly takes his seat in front of Chanyeol. “For the love of God, can you stop embarrassing me in public?” he mutters under his breath, glaring at his best friend.
Chanyeol responds with a grin. “That’s what you get for being tardy.”
“I was literally a minute late,” he fires back.
“A minute late is still considered,” he pauses, stuffing five pieces of french fries into his mouth, “late,” he continues with a mouth full of grossly half-chewed potatoes.
Kyungsoo pulls a disgusted look on his face but doesn’t hesitate to grab some fries for himself.
“Why were you late, anyway?” Chanyeol asks.
“I was in the gaming store,” Kyungsoo casually replies.
“The gaming store? But you hate video games,” he points out, flailing his hands around with a french fry in between his fingers.
“Well, yeah. But I happened to be there today and there was this guy-”
“GUY? WHAT GUY? OH MY GOD, I DON’T SEE YOU FOR 18 HOURS AND THIS HAPPENS,” Chanyeol cuts him off abruptly and Kyungsoo winces at the sudden increase of volume.
“Shut the fuck up. People are staring.”
“Tell me everything.”
“Well…”
---
Fast forward 20 hours, 18 minutes, and 37 seconds, Kyungsoo’s mind is still racing over the fact that he had encountered the most beautiful human being to ever grace it’s presence on the face of this Earth in the most unlikely place.
Perhaps it was fate; a confrontation bound to happen, written in the stars a billion years ago. Perhaps it was a mere coincidence. Kyungsoo would never know which of both it truly was.
He ponders over the possibility of ever meeting him again and hearing his melodious voice that could put a choir of singing angels to shame. He would die a thousand times over to get the chance to speak to him again, or maybe even a quick glance of his face would even suffice.
Exactly how hard did Kyungsoo hit rock bottom? After having a 10 minute conversation with a guy with astonishingly good looks, he has already mentally proclaimed his undying love for said guy and would willingly put his own mortal being in danger just to creep on him?!?!?!
Kyungsoo heaves a sigh as he’s lying on his bed, wallowing in an imaginary pool of self-pity and distraught. As he’s about the get up from the bed, his phone vibrates, displaying a notification from Line. It’s from Chanyeol, of course. And this ensues an argument in the chatroom.
chanyeol: yo, meet me in the pc bang in 20
kyungsoo: wH AT?
kyungsoo: the list clearly says that we’re going to lotte world on day 2
chanyeol: change of plans
kyungsoo: i’m not going then
kyungsoo: that place is crawling with low-life male teenagers who have nothing else better to do than rot away in a confined space for hours at a time
chanyeol: lmao that sounds kinda like u but u do it at home
kyungsoo: i’m still not agreeing to this
kyungsoo: i was actually excited to go to the amusement park
chanyeol: jfc we’ll go another day, ok?
kyungsoo: no
chanyeol: what do you want this time?
kyungsoo: …
kyungsoo: well, there is this new manga
chanyeol: ok deal
chanyeol: see you in 20
chanyeol: trust me on this, kyungsoo. you won’t regret this.
kyungsoo: i want the manga by tomorrow, park.
---
Kyungsoo instantly regrets agreeing to Chanyeol’s plan to have their Day Two activity in the fucking computer cafe as soon as he swings the door open. The smell of Internet Addiction and The Absence of Life hits his nose and he isn’t entirely sure if he can handle the smell for a period longer than five seconds. He steps further into the place, scanning it with his eyes and he finds himself thinking that it looks exactly like how he imagined it would be. It’s not a bright place; the only light sources are the ones emitted by the computers that are occupied.
He sees Chanyeol seated at one of the tables in the secluded corner, facing the wall as his whole stature is unmoving save for his two hands on the keyboard and the mouse. With his head bowed, he makes his way to Chanyeol, avoiding all eye contact with the strangers in the room who are glancing at him with a weird facial expression, making Kyungsoo feel even more out of place. As he closes the distance between himself and Chanyeol’s table, he realizes that he’s seated next to a guy, who is also fully-immersed in the video game that he’s currently playing, and by the time he can make out the facial features of the stranger, it hits him; hard and fast with a force equivalent to an industrial truck.
It’s Jongin.
His jaw drops to the floor, not caring to hide the shock from his facial expressions because oh my god, is this for real? He literally spent the last 21 hours of his life bemoaning over the fact that he’ll most probably never see Jongin again and now he miraculously appears right in front of him, looking all cute and shit while playing a goddamn video game. He stands there for a few seconds, taking in the surreal sight right in front of his eyes and goes completely unnoticed by the both of them. It’s not until Chanyeol turns around and sees Kyungsoo dumbly staring at Jongin.
“YOU MADE IT!” Chanyeol announces, snapping Kyungsoo back into the world of reality.
He clears his throat, trying to recover from the shock. “Yeah, um, but who is that?” he asks (just to confirm) in a whispering tone, pointing his finger at Jongin who is still has his eyes glued to the monitor, unaware of Kyungsoo.
Chanyeol nudges the guy next to him then, and Jongin turns his head around, removing the headphones from his head. As soon as his eyes fall on Kyungsoo, it widens in disbelief, jaw dropping the same way Kyungsoo’s had.
“It’s you.”
Kyungsoo gulps. “Hi,” he dumbly says in his starstruck state of mind.
“WOW, YOU GUYS KNOW EACH OTHER? WHAT A SMALL WORLD, HUH?” Chanyeol laughs obnoxiously loud it sounds almost fake, his tone suspiciously nervous at the same time.
“Yeah, we met at the gaming store yesterday,” Jongin says.
Kyungsoo forcefully yanks Chanyeol out of his chair with one hand, positioning his other hand at the back of his neck, ready to choke the living daylights out of him if he ever tries to escape. Chanyeol hurriedly gets up, fearing for his life.
Kyungsoo shoots a deadly glare at Chanyeol as he stands beside him. “Sorry, Jongin. I’d like to have a word with him outside,” he says, faking a grin.
Before Jongin could reply, Kyungsoo’s already pushing Chanyeol towards the exit.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?” Kyungsoo shouts at Chanyeol once they’re outside.
“I think a simple thank you would suffice,” Chanyeol replies.
“Stop playing games, Chanyeol.”
His lifts up his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright.”
“How do you know him? And why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”
“Middle school, my friend. We were in the same club.”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow, as if he’s expecting Chanyeol to continue his explanation.
“When you went batshit crazy about this Jongin guy you met in the gaming store yesterday, I thought his name sounded familiar. So I went home, did a little research on social media, and turns out, he was the exact Jongin you were talking about!”
“Look, it’s really sweet of you to care about my love life and all but couldn’t you have at least given me a heads up before pulling shit like this?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise!”
“CONGRATU-FUCKING-LATIONS, FRIEND. YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR OBJECTIVE.”
“Jesus, I’m sorry. If you’re so uncomfortable having him around, I’ll just ask him to leave right no-”
“NO, DON’T!” Kyungsoo yells at him mid-sentence. There’s no way in hell he’s going to give up this opportunity to have Jongin slip through his fingers again. The stars have answered Kyungsoo’s prayers and this could very be fate being played at hand.
(Fate in the form of his best friend.)
Chanyeol smugly grins, poking his fingers into Kyungsoo’s shoulders repeatedly. “I knew you wouldn’t disagree to this.”
“Stop it,” Kyungsoo warns.
“Hurry up and get in there!” he says, already stepping towards the door.
“No, wait!”
Chanyeol turns back around.“What?”
“I’m nervous,” Kyungsoo asks, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Chanyeol laughs, swinging his arm around Kyungsoo’s neck while his other hand ruffles his hair. “Aw, my little Soosoo is acting like little lovestruck boy. How adorable,” he coos, pinching Kyungsoo’s cheek.
“Don’t call me that,” Kyungsoo snarls, swatting away his hands.
They head back inside, Kyungsoo slowing their pace as much as he can. He can feel sweat forming on the palms of his hands and his heart rate increasing with every step they take. As they’re approaching Jongin, Chanyeol comes to a sudden halt. “Oh, Kyungsoo, one more thing.”
“What?”
“Jongin is completely oblivious to the fact that you told me about him yesterday. So, basically everything is a coincidence,” he explains.
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Christ, Chanyeol. The dude isn’t that dum-”
“JUST PLAY ALONG.”
“GOSH, OKAY.”
Chanyeol shuffles up to his chair, promptly taking his seat next to Jongin, and Kyungsoo follows suit, sitting next to Chanyeol. He finds that his computer is already switched on, he fidgets with the mouse, clicking the browser and slightly unassured what to do next. It’s not like he can run a video game on this computer and play it like he’s been a gaming veteran since the age of 12. He doesn’t even know the first thing about video games. It’d be an understatement to say that Kyungsoo feels completely out of place here.
He side-glances Chanyeol who has his headphones on and eyes plastered to his screen, and Kyungsoo mentally pleads for some help to come from his best friend. He feels like a complete idiot right now, not knowing what to do.
Turning his head slightly, Kyungsoo’s eyes meet Jongin’s who is staring at him but he immediately breaks eye contact, returning his attention to his computer. Kyungsoo can feel his cheeks heat up and quickly looks for a distraction. He opts logging into his Tumblr account, rather than staring mindlessly at his Facebook feed. And this is the very moment Kyungsoo realizes that he’s an actual loser. The type who has absolutely no idea how RPG games work or what FPS stands for. The type that would sit in a computer cafe and end up scrolling up and down Tumblr for 15 minutes straight, rather than battling other online players in a magical fantasy world.
The sound of Jongin’s chair moving abruptly across the floor, startles Kyungsoo, causing him to look up at Jongin who’s already gathering his things and pushing in his chair (neat fellow).
“Sorry, guys. I’ve got to go,” he announces, peering down at Chanyeol and Kyungsoo.
“What the hell? But you just got here,” Chanyeol protests and Kyungsoo silently agrees.
Jongin flashes an apologetic look, clearly uncomfortable with Chanyeol’s verbal dissent. “Bye,” he simply says, turning on his heel to head for the exit.
Kyungsoo sighs in his seat and starts to weep internally because the time spent breathing the same air as Jongin wasn’t enough to feed his 22 hour long deprivation. He settles his head on the table, ignoring the billions of germs that would most likely cause an outbreak of acne on his forehead touching the surface, and his mind wanders about The Land of Failed Potential Relationships and how he would find solitude there. He finds himself regretting not striking up a conversation with him, all thanks to his lack of courage and self-confidence. He could’ve at least gotten his phone number.
Kyungsoo feels a tap on his shoulder and immediately thinks it’s Chanyeol trying to console his depressed soul. “Go away,” he mumbles against the table.
“Sorry,” the voice says, disappointment lacing his apology.
Wait. That doesn’t sound like Chanyeol’s voice.
In a split-second, Kyungsoo lifts his head up from the table, standing up with the speed of a bullet and-
BAM.
His forehead collides with Jongin’s and Kyungsoo lets out an involuntary yelp of pain, feeling the spot on his forehead starting to ache. Kyungsoo concludes that it is impossible to interact with Jongin without embarrassing himself even before the real dialogue commences.
“OH MY GOD, I’M SO SORRY. GOOD HEAVENS WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOUR WONDERFUL GODSEND FOREHEAD I WILL COMPENSATE FOR THE DAMAGES INFLICTED UPON YOU. JESUS CHRIST, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Kyungsoo blurts out, fast and loud.
“I’m fine, Kyungsoo-ssi!” Jongin assures him, chuckling at how worried Kyungsoo is.
“Oh, uhm,” Kyungsoo clears his throat, “of course you are,” he says, avoiding eye contact out of pure embarrassment from his sudden outburst.
“Actually, I came back to ask you something.”
Kyungsoo looks up at him almost immediately. “Yes?”
The taller male hands him his phone and Kyungsoo’s heartbeat speeds up by a thousand times. “Can I have your number?” Jongin asks in the most innocent and simplest way possible.
Kyungsoo’s heart stops.
“Y-yeah, sure,” he stammers, gingerly taking the device and punching in the digits. (He does it slower than usual because how ironic would it be if he gave Jongin the wrong number.) “Here,” he hands it back to him once he’s done.
Jongin beams, his eyes crinkling so adorably Kyungsoo’s 100% sure it’s illegal for someone to have such a charming smile. “I’ll text you.”
Kyungsoo simply nods, unable to find his voice. He sees Jongin’s lips curving upward into a shy smile, him turning towards the exit and walking towards it with his phone in his hands. Kyungsoo’s eyes follow him until he’s outside of the cafe, walking along the street and can no longer be seen from where Kyungsoo stands. He places his butt on his seat, and lets out a deep sigh, but this time for a different reason.
“You sly bitch,” Chanyeol says from beside him.
Kyungsoo giggles.
---
“Welcome!”
Stepping into the gaming store, Kyungsoo flashes a small smile at the sales assistant.
It’s currently day 3 of summer break; exactly 19 hours and 43 minutes since Jongin asked for his number. Needless to say, Kyungsoo has waited the same amount of time for a text from him (and counting). He spent the rest of yesterday with his phone in his hands, bringing it around everywhere he goes, even at home. His phone did sound at a notification several times, each of them had Kyungsoo hastily unlocking it, expecting a text from Jongin’s number.
None of them were from Jongin.
That night, Kyungsoo willed himself to go to bed but his mind kept going back to Jongin’s words earlier at the PC bang. What had he meant by I’ll text you? Did he mean I’ll text you later, tomorrow, in a week, next year or never? Was Jongin following the rules set by wikiHow on their How To Text Your Crush page by waiting at least a day before actually texting him to not seem overly desperate or disinterested at the same time? Whatever it was, Kyungsoo didn’t give a flying fuck. He just wanted a text from him.
He lost his train of thought when the corner of his eyes catches the door being swung open by a familiar figure. As he turns his head around, his eyes catches Jongin stepping into the store and Kyungsoo’s entire being combusts into a giant ball of fire and the remains are left on the floor of where he previously stood; nothing but a big pile of ashes burnt into cinders.
Jongin notices Kyungsoo standing by the racks with his mouth agape in utter shock and his own eyes widen for the exact same reason. But he doesn’t dwell on that Wow-I-Just-Ran-Into-The-Person-I-Completely-Forgot-Or-Didn’t-Care-Enough-To-Text moment for more than a few seconds necessary and strides over to Kyungsoo with a smile starting to play on his lips, greeting him with a simple, “Hi.”
“What are you doing here?” Kyungsoo deadpans and it came off rougher than he had wanted it to be.
Jongin chuckles. “I should be asking you that,” he teases. “Last time I checked, I was the regular customer, not you.”
Yes, why exactly is Kyungsoo there in that gaming store? Why didn’t he choose to stay in the comforts of his home where he could mourn about the unproductivity of his social life? Why had he felt the need emerge from the doors of his familiarity to head down here?
“I came to get a video game,” Kyungsoo blatantly replies.
That is the naked truth. After spending a few hours in the computer cafe yesterday, Kyungsoo has come to realize that he is completely isolated from the video game world that most teens his age tend to revel in. He hadn’t think that it was all that important in the first place but as he sat there in his seat, watching everyone fully immerse themselves in something as petty as a video game, the realization had slowly begun to sink in and it drove him completely insane. Hence, he has made the decision to be self-introduced into the hobby of gaming. (He isn’t sure if this is one of his wisest decisions ever made.)
“Do you need any help picking one?” Jongin offers.
Kyungsoo hesitates before answering. Is he really going to let Jongin choose a video game for him and allow him a further insight of Kyungsoo’s extreme stupidity in this field? “No, thank you.”
With that, he (very coolly) walks over to the other side of the racks to continue his search for the perfect beginners’ video game, although he has absolutely no fucking idea the difference between this and that. Jongin trails at the back of him and Kyungsoo is fairly aware that the former is staring at him but he tries not to acknowledge that fact.
After a few minutes of pretending to look through a few games, he randomly picks one and shoves it in front of Jongin’s face. “I’ll get this one,” he confidently declares.
Jongin takes it from Kyungsoo, inspecting it carefully. Dramatical Murders. He looks back up at Kyungsoo, eyebrows furrowed. “This is a game about yaoi ,” he deadpans.
“I KNEW THAT!” Kyungsoo fires back, quickly snatching it back from Jongin and sliding it into it’s original place in the racks. He turns his face away to hide his embarrassment but he can hear Jongin’s shameless laughter, making Kyungsoo want to shrivel up into a tiny prune and sink into the floor.
“Here,” Jongin says, showing him another game. “This should be easy for a beginner.”
Kyungsoo eyes the game. Portal “Thanks, Jongin,” he says with a sheepish grin, taking the game from his hand.
“No problem.”
They make their way to the counter and Kyungsoo hands it to the cashier. “That’ll be 10 dollars.”
As he’s reluctantly reaching into his pocket for cash, he hears Jongin speak up from beside him. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to text you last night.”
He peers up at Jongin a little bit surprised. “Nah, it’s fine,” he replies, passing the cashier a 10 dollar note.
“You weren’t waiting for my text right?” Jongin smugly asks, one corner of his lips lifting into a smirk.
Kyungsoo scoffs. “What? Me? Waiting for your text? No way!”
The taller male raises an eyebrow, unconvinced.
“I’m serious, Jongin,” Kyungsoo says. He retrieves his game and starts walking towards the exit with Jongin beside him. He reaches for the door but Jongin beats him to it, holding it open for Kyungsoo as he walks out.
“I’ll text you,” he promises, once they’re outside.
“That’s what you said the last time,” Kyungsoo retorts.
Jongin responds with a laugh, eyes forming two adorable crescents and Kyungsoo wishes he could capture this moment with his phone without him knowing, but that would be impossible with basic human standards. “Good luck with the game, Kyungsoo-ssi,” he says while slowly pacing backwards, not caring about the pedestrians he might accidentally run into.
Kyungsoo lifts his hand up to give a little wave. “Bye,” he murmurs quietly, almost to himself.
A shy smile starts to play on Jongin’s lips and Kyungsoo wishes he hadn’t turned around to disappear into the crowd.
---
Kyungsoo wastes no time at all when he reaches home.
He locks himself in his room, quickly switching on his laptop and slides in the game. As it’s in the midst of the installation process, he decides to watch a few beginners’ guide to gaming on Youtube to mentally prepare himself for what’s to come. He begins to understand the basics of video games; the types, the standard position of fingers on the keyboard, and all the other essentials everyone should know about gaming.
Hours later, he finally runs the game and a strange rush of excitement washes over him; something he hasn’t felt in a long while. The first few minutes were going fairly smoothly. Kyungsoo tried his best to follow every step given and he feels a sense of pride swelling in his chest for completing the tasks with ease. Gaming isn’t that difficult.
But everything changed when the fire nation attacked.
Turns out, those were only warm-up missions. The game takes a 180 degree turn and he’s given even longer, harder tasks to complete within a limited amount of time while trying to take down enemies at the same time. His brain fails to comprehend these multiples things fast enough and as a result, he dies over and over and over again. His frustration and rage gradually build up with every mission he fails to complete but he refuses to give up. No way in hell is he going to lose to a petty mindless good-for-nothing video game.
After countless attempts, he’s about a stone’s throw away to completing the mission and he’s so close to the glory of success he can almost taste it. Just a few more steps and he’ll make it--
BEEP BEEP.
His phone sounds at a notification and Kyungsoo turns his head away from his laptop to his phone momentarily, entirely forgetting the mission at hand. When he realizes his mistake and returns his attention back to the game once more, his character’s already dead and in the midst of re-spawning.
He lets out a groan of frustration and collapses on the bed feeling defeated. His hands grab his phone to check the message that ruined his chance in advancing from the stage he’s been stuck in since 2 hours ago.
15.16
from: unknown number
hey! it’s jongin :>
Kyungsoo has never been so happy to receive a text from an unknown number. He quickly types his response.
15.18
to: jongin
took you long enough.
It’s not long before another text comes in.
15.21
from: jongin
have you played the game yet?
15.22
to: jongin
yeah and i totally suck at it. you didn’t trick me into getting a game meant for veterans right?
15.26
from: jongin
why on earth would i do that? i thought you trusted me T_T
Kyungsoo snickers as he’s reading the text, mentally picturing an upset, pouty Jongin.
15.28
to: jongin
you give off a suspicious vibe. can’t really put my finger on it.
15.34
from: jongin
i’m totally clean. all i do is sleep and play video games all day long. there’s nothing skeptical about that, right?
How the hell do I reply to a text like that without sounding awkward?
15.39
to: jongin
whatever you say, jongin.
Kyungsoo grunts aloud and buries his face in his hands in humiliation. With his impaired social skills, texting could very well be considered an Olympic Sport. He doesn’t wait for Jongin’s next text this time, thinking he probably wouldn’t continue the conversation anyway, and resumes his game more determined than ever to advance to the next stage.
Fast forward 38 minutes and 14 seconds, Kyungsoo finally makes it and throws his fist in the air as a victorious gesture of sorts. He decides to take a small break to allow himself to prepare for the following chapter. If the first one was tough, he can’t imagine the level of difficulty in the next.
He unlocks his phone, seeing an unread text from Jongin that was sent 30 minutes ago and immediately panics.
15.41
from: jongin
enough about me. let’s talk about you n_n what do you usually do over summer break? i’m assuming you volunteer at animal shelters or something. i mean, ‘cause you’re so cute-looking and all.
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK DID JONGIN JUST BLATANTLY CALL HIM CUTE OVER A TEXT MESSAGE OH MY GOD?!?!
He has to read it 20 times over just to confirm that it’s real and it’s not only happening in his head. Feeling slightly light-headed after comprehending the whole situation, he buries his head in his pillow, basking in the glory of his message. A pang of guilt hits him in the chest because he entirely forgot to reply him instantly.
16.18
to: jongin
you’re pretty funny for a guy this lifeless. but no, i don’t volunteer at animal shelters or anything like that. i don’t do much either. school is already hectic enough and summer break should be the time when i just lay back and not care about the world, right? and sorry for the late reply! this damned game was distracting me =A=
Kyungsoo’s thumb hovers over the send button for a few seconds, unsure if he should push it. (He takes the plunge anyway.)
Kyungsoo patiently waits for Jongin’s text, fiddling around with his fingers and anxious heart thumping loudly in his chest. His phone rings and he almost falls from the side of his bed.
16.23
from: jongin
ah, i see. i guess i shouldn’t be bothering you so much then. have fun with the game!
Kyungsoo doesn’t reply.
---
01.27
to: kyungsoo
good night, kyungsoo. sweet dreams.
Jongin never hit the send button.
---
Kyungsoo’s eyes slowly flutter open and the first thought that comes into his mind is: Wow I should really just go back to sleep.
Needless to say, he barely got a wink of sleep last night all thanks to the video game. It kept him up until 4am, trying to complete all 19 stages of the game. (He failed.)
That night, Kyungsoo realizes why every teenager could so easily lose their entire sanity over a video game. If his act of sacrificing his precious hours sleep to attempt completing the game didn’t plant a seed in his head, then he doesn’t know what will. Honestly, he feels terrible about being such a hypocritical bastard and there’s a sudden urge to apologize to every single gamer he has ever judged just because they’re obsessed with a video game.
12.53
to: jongin
hi. i want my life back. thanks.
Kyungsoo switches on his laptop while waiting for a reply that may or may not come. As the game’s loading, his phone rings.
12.59
from: jongin
sorry :< no exchange and refund available. did you complete the game yet?
01.00
to: jongin
no and it’s driving me crazy. i’ve been stuck at stage 14 since last night.
01.02
from: jongin
do you need any help? i could help you, if you want.
Cue the internal screaming.
01.03
to: jongin
that’ll be great, jongin.
01.05
from: jongin
meet me at the pc bang at 1.30?
01.06
to: jongin
see you there!
What in hell just happened?
---
“Hey.”
“Hi,” Kyungsoo breathes as he takes his seat next to Jongin’s. “How many hours did you buy?”
“Just three. Are you okay with that?”
“Yeah, totally. How much was it?” Kyungsoo asks, pulling out his wallet from his pocket but Jongin’s hands stop him abruptly.
“You don’t have to!” Jongin insists sternly.
“But that’s not fair!” Kyungsoo fires back twice as more stern, expecting him to oblige.
Jongin smiles instead. “You can pay next time.”
Next time? Kyungsoo likes the sound of that, so he nods at Jongin, lips curving into a smile of his own.
Jongin’s smile widens into a grin, but he turns his head towards his monitor, hiding it from Kyungsoo. “These computers already have the game installed so we just have to run it,” Jongin says.
They decide to play in multiplayer mode so it’d be easier for Jongin to guide Kyungsoo whilst in-game. He tells him the dos and don’ts of the game along the way in the most gentle way possible. Whenever Kyungsoo makes a mistake and gets them both killed, Jongin would never get angry. He’d laugh and dismiss it as a harmless oversight, telling Kyungsoo to be more alert the next time.
At Stage 15, Kyungsoo’s frustration gets the better of him. They’ve been stuck at this stage for 20 minutes courtesy of his own stupid incapability of shooting down a few obstacles without Jongin’s help. He hits pause mid-game, stunning Jongin.
“I’m so sorry, Jongin. I told you I suck at gaming and I’m just pulling you down with me,” he mutters against the table, resting his forehead on his folded arms.
“Not everyone can be good at a game in their first try, right? You’re actually pretty good for a beginner actually,” Jongin says with the utmost sincerity.
Kyungsoo’s cheeks start to blush and he’s thankful Jongin can’t see his face.
“Wanna try again? I mean, it’s fine if you don’t want to. We can always try another game,” Jongin asks.
“Let’s try again,” Kyungsoo sighs, lifting his head from the table and positions his fingers on the keyboard.
“Wait.”
Turning his head towards Jongin, he sees that his hands reaching for his. “Your fingers shouldn’t be placed like that,” he says, fixing Kyungsoo’s fingers gently on the keyboard, repositioning in the right order. Jongin’s face is inches away from Kyungsoo’s and he’s100% sure Jongin can see his glaringly red cheeks now. There’s no way to hide them.
“Relax your fingers. It’ll be easier like that,” he gently explains, smiling at Kyungsoo.
“O-okay,” Kyungsoo stutters, mentally beating himself up for getting so easily flustered over such trivial physical contact.
Jongin doesn’t retract his hands from Kyungsoo’s, letting it linger for a few more seconds before returning to his seat.
When the game resumes, Kyungsoo’s finds that his fingers do feel slightly more comfortable than before. He’s able to reach keys smoothly and manages to get through stage 15 without much complication. They fly through the remaining stages, getting stuck in some levels at times but their progress was way better than before. At the final stage, the stakes are higher than ever. Kyungsoo can hear the thumping of his heart in his ribcage and sweat forming in his palms.
“We can do this,” Jongin says, giving him a reassuring smile.
Kyungsoo nods at him, more determined than ever.
11 minutes and 53 seconds later, they defeat the boss and it’s all over. They’ve won the game.
“HOLY SHIT, WE DID IT!” Kyungsoo shouts, standing up abruptly with his arms in air. feeling as though he has won a century-long war against an army. He looks at Jongin who has also risen from his seat, wearing the exact same smile Kyungsoo has on his face.
Subconsciously, Kyungsoo takes a step closer to him, throwing his hands his neck and pulls him down for triumph hug. “I CAN’T BELIEVE WE DEFEATED THE BOSS. IT FEELS LIKE A DREAM,” he says, tightening his arms around him.
In his starstruck state of mind, Jongin’s arm wrap around Kyungsoo’s waist and smiles. “Yeah, it does feel like a dream.”
Then it hits Kyungsoo. He’s hugging Jongin.
Kyungsoo let’s go off him and takes a leap back, cheeks starting to burn red. He clears his throat awkwardly. “Sorry about that,” he murmurs, peering down at the floor.
Jongin looks mildly disappointed. “No, it’s fine.”
The shorter male glances at the timer on his monitor and sees that they have less than 3 minutes left. “We should go,” he informs Jongin, pointing at the timer.
He nods in agreement, gathering his phone and keys he left on the table and pocketing them.
As they’re walking towards the exit, Kyungsoo wants time to slow down. Honestly speaking, he really did enjoy the three hours he spent with him. He liked how he didn't feel as awkward interacting with him as he thought he would.
They make it to the street and Kyungsoo already has “goodbye” at the tip of his tongue until Jongin says this:
“Do you wanna go get some food at that cafe over there with me?”
Kyungsoo has to blink thrice before actually understanding his words.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to! It’s just that I haven’t had my lunch yet even though it’s already 4.30 but I heard the food there’s grea-”
“I’d love to,” Kyungsoo cuts in.
---
That night, Kyungsoo does a lot of thinking.
He thinks about their little ‘date’ at the cafe they had in the evening and how much fun it was in a subtle way. He thinks about the conversations they had and how easy it flowed, like they’ve been friends since they were 5 when in truth, they’ve only met 4 days ago. He thinks about Jongin’s handsome smile, his lame jokes (Kyungsoo laughed anyway), and his charming demeanour that made him fall in love with Jongin even more.
He learns that Jongin’s a year younger and that he doesn’t appreciate sports that much despite his blessed figure. He learns that he’d prefer reading an entire Chemistry textbook over any physical activity that would leave him sweaty and tired in the end.
Kyungsoo learns that they have much in common.
He sighs dreamily, wondering what on Earth he did to deserve such good luck to have met a guy that’s nice, good-looking and everything else good in this world. He must’ve saved a nation in his previous lifetime.
His phone buzzes and Kyungsoo hopes it’s from him.
12.36
from: jongin
i had a great time with you today. sweet dreams, hyung.
---
Kyungsoo finds the whole situation a bit strange.
He’s on his bed with his laptop in front of him. Nothing weird about that. However, the only difference is that Jongin’s here. In the flesh. In the exact same bedroom.
After the events of that day, Kyungsoo and Jongin slowly developed a friendship. They’d text each other every day and have occasional phone calls at night. Somedays, they’d meet up at the pc bang to try a new game. Somedays, they would have lunch together at the cafe. But it doesn’t matter what they do, Kyungsoo thinks, because at the end of the day, he’ll only fall deeper in love with Jongin even more.
Kyungsoo decides to invite him over for a change. He’s getting bored of the same environment in the pc bang and they wouldn’t have to pay to game at home. (This is a plus point for Kyungsoo. He’s running dangerously low on cash.)
Summer break is coming to an end and Kyungsoo still finds it amazing how he has spent almost six weeks (honestly, it felt like one) with Jongin and how much he has grown attached to the latter. Sometimes, he’d pinch himself on the arm to make sure that this was all happening in real life and not in one of his crazy fantasy dreams.
“Hyung.”
Oh shit. Kyungsoo hadn’t realized he was staring at Jongin while he was deep in thought.
“Is there something on my face?” he asks, head titled cutely in confusion.
“No!” Kyungsoo replies, shaking his head vigorously.
“Let’s start,” Jongin says, looking back down to his own laptop.
They’ve decided to venture a little further from Kyungsoo’s comfort zone this time, picking a first-person shooter game with horror elements. He eagerly hits the play button, feeling a hint of excitement to be trying yet another new game, but that excitement turns to disappointment when his laptop’s display turns black all of a sudden. “What the hell just happened?”
“Mine just crashed, too,” Jongin sadly mutters. “I think it’s the CD.”
“This is so depressing,” Kyungsoo deadpans.
“I guess we’ll just have to find something else to do,” he says, shutting his laptop and setting it aside. His eyes wander, making the Kyungsoo slightly self-conscious about the state of his bedroom. “Your manga collection is really impressive,” he says, walking over the bookshelf beside Kyungsoo’s bed.
“It’s the result of many years of unproductivity,” Kyungsoo says with pride, patting the mangas like they’re his precious children.
Jongin stifles his laughter. “I got you something,” he mumbles, arms reaching for his backpack he left on Kyungsoo’s bed. He pulls out it and hands it to the shorter male without making eye contact.
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen when he sees the gift and hastily takes it from Jongin’s hands without shame.“You got me Volume 15 of Haikyuu? Are you serious about this?” he asks, unable to hide the excitement from his voice. He’s been wanting it since it released but haven’t had the time (and/or money) to go get it. “You didn’t have to!”
“But I wanted to,” Jongin smiles.
Kyungsoo returns it with a grateful beam. “Thanks, Jongin,” he says, sliding the manga into his bookshelf. “How did you know I wanted it anyway?”
“You talk about Haikyuu a lot so I thought you’d like the manga,” Jongin replies, a faint red spreading across his cheek. (Kyungsoo doesn’t notice.)
He tilts his head slightly to the side. “I didn’t think anyone would actually listen to my insistent ramblings about it.”
“But I do,” Jongin admits shyly and this time, Kyungsoo’s the one who starts blushing.
And so they stand there dumbly for a few seconds, unsure of what exactly to do next until Jongin speaks.
“I have something to tell you, hyung,” Jongin says, eye contact unavoidable.
“Yeah?”
His tongue darts out to moisten his lips and he gulps. “I like you,” he says slowly. His eyes are hopeful and looking into Kyungsoo’s expectantly.
Kyungsoo doesn’t need to be good at rocket science to know what to say next. “I like you, too,” he mouths.
Both of them wear matching shy smiles, looking at each other like it was the first time they’ve met. Jongin inches closer to Kyungsoo’s face, closing the distance between their lips. He lets his eyes flutter shut when he feels a soft pair of lips gently pressed on his and fireworks go off in his mind.
When Jongin pulls away, Kyungsoo opens his eyes to see him grinning dumbly and he thinks it’s the most adorable thing ever. “It’s true,” Jongin whispers.
“What is?”
“That your first kiss is the sweetest thing you’ll taste.”
“What about the second one?” he asks before pulling Jongin down by the neck, joining their lips once more, but this time, it’s a little longer and messier. Kyungsoo isn’t exactly sure how this whole kissing thing works but he knows it won’t stay that way much longer.
Kyungsoo breaks away from the kiss to catch his breath. (He thinks the second one tastes better.)
“So what now?” Jongin asks, a smile still visible on his face.
“Wanna go get a new game?”
Jongin shrugs. “Why not?” he says, lacing their fingers together as they head for the door.
The shorter male thinks that this summer has been the best one he’s had yet.
---
Kyungsoo’s favorite season of the year has finally come. And this year, it’s even more special.
As he’s sitting on the bench at the edge of the skating rink, he mindlessly kicks at the thick, white snow beneath his feet, keeping himself busy while waiting for his boyfriend to arrive. It’s exceptionally cold today and he tries to ignore the fact his cheeks are about to the bitten off by the crisp air. He observes the people skating on the frozen lake and the carefree smiles plastered on their faces, and it slightly warms Kyungsoo’s heart, knowing that you can find happiness by being with your loved ones.
He feels a hand on his shoulder and instantly knows who it is. He looks up and sees Jongin smiling, sitting down next to him.
“Oh my god, Kyungsoo, is that you? What a coincidence that you’re here. I didn’t know you were coming,” Jongin jokes, feigning surprise.
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes but decides to play along. “I guess fate wanted us to be together, huh?” he smiles, proceeding to lean forward and presses a chaste kiss on his cheek.
Jongin’s smile grows wider and breaks into a grin, staring lovingly at his boyfriend. “Let’s change into the shoes,” he says, placing two pair of skating shoes on the snow.
As they’re bent forward, fitting into the shoes, Kyungsoo brings something up he’s been meaning to talk about for quite some time now. “Hey, Jongin?”
He hums in response.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that our relationship came to-be because of coincidences?”
Jongin’s eyes widen and his fingers that were tying the laces come to a halt.
“It’s so strange. If I hadn’t walked into the store, we wouldn’t have known each other. And isn’t it freaky how Chanyeol, my best friend, actually remembered you from middle school? Oh, and remember the time when you happened to come by the store when I was picking my first video game? Weird, huh?”
Jongin grabs Kyungsoo’s gloved hands then, sitting back upright against the bench and looks into his eyes. “Look, Kyungsoo, I don’t really think it matters if it was coincidence or not. What matters is that we’re together now, right?”
Kyungsoo shrugs. “Yeah, you’re right,” he agrees, lips slowly curving into a smile. “That was really cheesy, by the way. Where do you learn these things from?”
The younger male chuckles lightly. “It comes from deep within my heart that you’ve stolen when I first laid my eyes upon yours,” he replies dramatically, accompanied with theatrical hand gestures.
Kyungsoo wears an expression of confusion and disgust, genuinely embarrassed by the words Jongin had just uttered. “Cut the crap, Jongin. Let’s just skate,” he says, getting up from the bench and stomps over to the lake.
Jongin doesn’t get up from his seat just yet. Instead, he silently laughs to himself at Kyungsoo’s words. He knows what he had really meant to say was: I love you.
---
a/n: thank you so much for reading until the end. i hope you liked it!
Title: Arrow in The Knee
Genre: fluff
Rating: PG-13 (for swearing)
Length: 9,600 words
Summary: Kyungsoo hates video games. He doesn’t understand why anyone would waste their time battling dragons or creating a virtual world, but when he meets gaming nerd Kim Jongin in a gaming store, he starts to understand why.
Notes: hi, recipient! i hope you find this fic satisfactory and to your liking. you asked for crack but this is all the crack i could muster from my non-humorous self. thankyou for the wonderful prompt!
Summer is considerably Do Kyungsoo’s least favorite season of the year. He hates how the Sun radiates more heat than usual, how the clouds that block out the sunlight are always missing from the sky and how the unavoidable UV rays penetrate into the pores of his skin, rendering him vulnerable to the whims of skin cancer and other dangerous diseases he most definitely would not want to be diagnosed with over the summer.
Fatal illnesses aside, Kyungsoo especially hates the exceptional amount of sweat he produces from the moment he steps out of his house and the feeling that comes afterwards. It isn’t pleasant; it’s a feeling of great discomfort. It absolutely grinds his gears when the thin fabric of his shirt is plastered onto his skin with a layer of sweat in between and when he has to bring his hands up to his forehead every two minutes to wipe away droplets of perspiration to keep himself from looking overly disgusting and unflattering.
The only entity that makes up for all the horrible things summer brings is the two-month break from school. But as much as Kyungsoo would love to stay at home, re-watching Prince of Tennis on his laptop with a bucket of fried chicken perched on his lap, he is almost always dragged out of his house every day by his best friend, Chanyeol.
To do what exactly? The answer is ever-changing.
Chanyeol has planned up a line of activities a month prior, starting from day one until the very last day and has given the the long list to Kyungsoo. It’s the same every summer, Kyungsoo would reluctantly agree to follow Chanyeol on his errands for the first week, and proceeds to disappear into his batcave for the rest of summer break. This time, it’s no different.
Kyungsoo holds the list in his hands, carefully inspecting its contents. The first line reads: day one - shoe shopping! and beside it, the name of the mall they frequent is messily written with smudged ink and he can barely read it.
He groans aloud, rolling around on his bed. It’s the first day of summer and he has to spend it in the most ridiculous way possible; with Chanyeol. He reaches for his phone on the bedside table, unlocking it and he sees that it’s already 10:58 AM. His thumb is about to reach for the Twitter app when an incoming call appears on the screen and it’s none other than Park Chanyeol.
His thumb hits the answer button and he moves the device to his ear.
“RISE AND SHINE, SOOSOO!”
A moment of silence for Kyungsoo’s right eardrum, please.
“Morning,” he mumbles half-heartedly.
“Are you still in bed?”
“Yes. We’re kind of in a relationship, you see.”
“I’d hate to be the cause of a messy breakup but you need to get your ass off your bed right now. Didn’t you read the list I gave you?”
“Cut me some slack, Chanyeol. I really don’t see the joy in getting a new pair of overpriced sneakers,” he sighs. Honestly speaking, Kyungsoo is broke as hell and he’s being as efficient as he can to last through the break without having to work part-time jobs.
“Who the hell said you’d have to get them? I just need you there to give me your opinions.”
“I’m only in if you’re treating me to lunch.”
“Oh, come on, Soo,” he whines, dragging his name in the most disgustingly girlish tone ever and Kyungsoo wishes he had him in headlock at this very moment.
“Then I guess you’ll have to go alon-”
“I’ll treat you to McD but that’s it, nothing more,” he cuts him off abruptly.
Kyungsoo scoffs. What a cheapskate bastard. “Deal,” he agrees anyway because unhealthy fast food is still food, no matter how fattening it may be.
“I’ll see you at 12 don’t be late I’ll meet you at McD you do know which one I’m talking about right please get your butt off the bed right now and could you at least look presentabl-”
Kyungsoo hangs up before his head explodes.
---
As soon as he shuts his door close, a wave of heat greets his entire body and he can already feel beads of sweat forming under his clothes. It’s nearing noon and the Solar Lord is at it’s highest peak in the sky. 20 seconds into his trek to the mall, he’s beginning to regret his life decisions. The sidewalk is crowded with pedestrians, making it extra hard for him to breathe in this sweltering heat and unfortunately for Kyungsoo, walking in a crowd also means there’s a higher chance of him getting trampled over by rude and inconsiderate citizens who have no sense of morality. He wasn’t blessed with a height of an average male teenager so all he can do is accept his fate, put on a stoic face and brave through the storms of pedestrians.
I should’ve just taken the cab, he grumbles inwardly. Public transport is definitely a more comfortable option, but it would cost a whole lot more than Kyungsoo could afford and he is willing to sacrifice the pleasant smell of his clothes to trade it in for a horrific stench of sweat to get to his destination without charge.
It only takes one droplet of sweat rolling down from his forehead and into his eyes to make him completely snap. His desire to be in an air-conditioned environment is too powerful to ignore, so he looks around and finds that he’s standing in front of a row of roadside shop lots. He doesn’t wait a second longer before stepping towards the nearest one, hands gripping the handle and swings door open.
The cool rush of artificial arctic air hits him immediately and he lets out a sigh of relief, slowly stepping into the store with a smile on his face. Who would know something as simple as air-conditioning could bring such bliss to Kyungsoo? He’s instantly drawn to the air-conditioner and he knows there’s a compelling attraction between them. He decides to break all ties with his bed once and for all for he has found the true love of his life.
Just kidding.
He looks around the store and after much contemplation, he declares that he’s currently in a gaming store, seeing that there are at least a hundred 24x36 video game posters stuck onto all four sides of the walls. He walks up to the racks filled with gaming CDs lined up side-by-side as compact as the rack allowed it to be. Never in his life has he entered a gaming store, and he has a sudden urge to bring out his diary and write this historical moment down.
The two guys who are standing beside him are engrossed in a conversation, presumably about the latest game on the market and how it’s quote, ‘hella rad’. It’s difficult to overlook how obnoxiously loud they are and Kyungsoo merely rolls his eyes. He’ll never understand the importance of online gaming.
To be honest, in the 16 years of his living, he has never once played an online video game. Although Chanyeol is an avid fan, he hasn’t bothered to take interest in things as useless and non-beneficial as this. He’d rather read a good book, catch up on some anime and other stuff that doesn’t include virtually shooting down dragons or saving an entire empire from an evil king.
He fishes out his phone from the back pocket of his jeans to check the time. It’s 15 minutes to noon and there’s ample amount of time to enjoy the comfort of the air-conditioning a little while longer, so he shuffles up to the other side of the racks, and that is when he sees him.
He’s cladded in a grey cotton t-shirt with mid-thigh khaki shorts, eyes glued to the CD he has in his hands and sweet mother of Jesus his side profile is so fucking attractive Kyungsoo nearly melts into a puddle of goo if it wasn’t for the air-conditioning and his jawline is so sharp it could slice through a raw carrot with such precision even Gordon Ramsay couldn’t achieve.
Kyungsoo must’ve been intensely admiring him in the creepiest way ever because Hot Stuff is starting to notice there’s a midget beside him dumbly staring at his face, and he slowly turns his head around to reveal a face that can only be sculptured by Leonardo Da Vinci himself.
Attractive Stranger raises an eyebrow, as if he’s expecting Kyungsoo to say something.
Mouth agape, Kyungsoo wills a few logical words to come out of his throat to avoid any potentially embarrassing situations.
He fails miserably.
12 hours into summer break and he has already managed to make a fool out of himself in front of a stranger he may or may not want to be friends (or more) with.
“Is there anything I can help you with?” the boy asks and Kyungsoo has half a mind to fling himself into an ocean filled with man-eating sharks because his voice is like chocolate ganache dribbled onto a scoop of french vanilla bean ice-cream.
Kyungsoo gulps, still unable to find his voice.
The Cutie looks at the CD in his hand and holds it up to Kyungsoo’s face. “Did you want this?”
“N-no,” he replies. Smooth.
The taller male retracts his arm, putting the CD back into the shelf. “Are you looking for anything in particular?”
Kyungsoo shakes his head. “I’m not into gaming,” he says.
Eyebrows furrowed slightly, he looks at Kyungsoo with a confused facial expression and asks, “why are you here, then?” His hands gestures to the shelves around him. “This is a gaming store,” he points out.
“Uh, I came in here for the air-conditioning,” he admits with a sheepish grin.
At that, he chuckles, showcasing a set of impressively white teeth, and Kyungsoo can feel the butterflies in his stomach coming alive at the sound of his laughter.
“I’m Jongin,” he introduces himself, offering him his hand.
Kyungsoo gladly takes it (although he thinks it’s a bit old-fashioned). “I’m Kyungsoo,” he says and silently thanks the heavens for blessing him with the ability to say his name without stuttering.
And this moment could very well be a scene straight out of a romantic film; two strangers brought together by fate, smiling as their shaking hands, and not wanting to let go. At least that’s what Kyungsoo thinks it is.
“So,” he starts, loosening his grip on Kyungsoo’s hand, “you’ve never been in here before?”
“Nope.”
“Ah…”
Awkward silence engulfs them, and Kyungsoo mentally beats himself up over his inability to carry out basic everyday conversations. He has a perfectly healthy and handsome guy standing in front of him but unfortunately, is incapable of continuing the conversation because of his terrible social skills.
“Do you come here often, Jongin-ssi?” Yikes, that sounded so awkward.
“Yeah, this is my favorite gaming store. I come here every weekend, so I was kind of surprised to see a new face,” he says a small smile playing on his lips. “No one really comes here, you see,” he adds.
“Oh,” Kyungsoo breathes, nodding his head, not knowing what to say next. Ugh, Do Kyungsoo, you’re such a fucking loser.
“Hey, do you have anything going on late-”
His sentence is cut short when a familiar tune starts playing in the background and Kyungsoo feels a violent vibration on his right buttcheek, making him jump a little. His hands quickly find his phone in the back pocket of his jeans and PARK CHANYEOL IS CALLING is displayed on the screen, all bright and ugly.
“I’m sorry,” he says to Jongin, flashing an apologetic look and proceeds to turn the other way. His index finger grudgingly hits the answer button and he really hopes PARK CHANYEOL has a pretty damn good reason for ruining what-could-be-a-perfect moment.
“SOMEONE BETTER BE DYING OR SOMETHING FOR YOU TO CALL ME AT THIS TIME,” he whispers/shouts into his phone.
“OH MY GOD, WHERE ARE YOU? I’VE BEEN WAITING AT MCD SINCE THE BIRTH OF CHRIST.”
“CALM THE FUCK DOWN, CHANYEOL. I’LL BE THERE IN 10 MINUTES.”
“NO, I WANT YOU HERE BY FIV-”
Kyungsoo removes his phone from his ear and forcefully taps the end call button multiple times. Turning back around to face Jongin, he says, “I’m so sorry but I have to go now. My overbearing friend can’t stand not being around me for more than 18 hours at a time,” rolling his eyes a little. He’s actually quite amazed by Chanyeol’s competence to ruin his life even from miles away.
“Oh, okay, um, yeah,” Jongin says and a look of disappointment momentarily washes over his face. (Kyungsoo doesn’t see it because he’s too busy plotting his best friend’s accidental death in his head.) “It was nice meeting you, Kyungsoo-ssi,” he smiles and it’s the kind that would make a hundred girls swoon, maybe even Kyungsoo.
Kyungsoo beams at him, head dipping down slightly to give a small bow. “Me too,” he replies and makes his way to the door. (Kyungsoo also misses Jongin catching up to him a few seconds after with “wait up!” at the tip of his tongue because he’s already jogging along the sidewalk that leads to the mall but he does feel a tiny pang in his chest when he exits the store. He doesn’t know if it came from not wanting to part with the air-conditioner or the lanky stranger he just met.)
---
“KYUNGSOO! OVER HERE!”
Said man facepalms as he walks into the fast food restaurant, avoiding all the weird glances from strangers are throwing his way. He quickly shuffles up to Chanyeol’s table before he can do anything more embarrassing.
He drags his chair along the tiled floors and promptly takes his seat in front of Chanyeol. “For the love of God, can you stop embarrassing me in public?” he mutters under his breath, glaring at his best friend.
Chanyeol responds with a grin. “That’s what you get for being tardy.”
“I was literally a minute late,” he fires back.
“A minute late is still considered,” he pauses, stuffing five pieces of french fries into his mouth, “late,” he continues with a mouth full of grossly half-chewed potatoes.
Kyungsoo pulls a disgusted look on his face but doesn’t hesitate to grab some fries for himself.
“Why were you late, anyway?” Chanyeol asks.
“I was in the gaming store,” Kyungsoo casually replies.
“The gaming store? But you hate video games,” he points out, flailing his hands around with a french fry in between his fingers.
“Well, yeah. But I happened to be there today and there was this guy-”
“GUY? WHAT GUY? OH MY GOD, I DON’T SEE YOU FOR 18 HOURS AND THIS HAPPENS,” Chanyeol cuts him off abruptly and Kyungsoo winces at the sudden increase of volume.
“Shut the fuck up. People are staring.”
“Tell me everything.”
“Well…”
---
Fast forward 20 hours, 18 minutes, and 37 seconds, Kyungsoo’s mind is still racing over the fact that he had encountered the most beautiful human being to ever grace it’s presence on the face of this Earth in the most unlikely place.
Perhaps it was fate; a confrontation bound to happen, written in the stars a billion years ago. Perhaps it was a mere coincidence. Kyungsoo would never know which of both it truly was.
He ponders over the possibility of ever meeting him again and hearing his melodious voice that could put a choir of singing angels to shame. He would die a thousand times over to get the chance to speak to him again, or maybe even a quick glance of his face would even suffice.
Exactly how hard did Kyungsoo hit rock bottom? After having a 10 minute conversation with a guy with astonishingly good looks, he has already mentally proclaimed his undying love for said guy and would willingly put his own mortal being in danger just to creep on him?!?!?!
Kyungsoo heaves a sigh as he’s lying on his bed, wallowing in an imaginary pool of self-pity and distraught. As he’s about the get up from the bed, his phone vibrates, displaying a notification from Line. It’s from Chanyeol, of course. And this ensues an argument in the chatroom.
chanyeol: yo, meet me in the pc bang in 20
kyungsoo: wH AT?
kyungsoo: the list clearly says that we’re going to lotte world on day 2
chanyeol: change of plans
kyungsoo: i’m not going then
kyungsoo: that place is crawling with low-life male teenagers who have nothing else better to do than rot away in a confined space for hours at a time
chanyeol: lmao that sounds kinda like u but u do it at home
kyungsoo: i’m still not agreeing to this
kyungsoo: i was actually excited to go to the amusement park
chanyeol: jfc we’ll go another day, ok?
kyungsoo: no
chanyeol: what do you want this time?
kyungsoo: …
kyungsoo: well, there is this new manga
chanyeol: ok deal
chanyeol: see you in 20
chanyeol: trust me on this, kyungsoo. you won’t regret this.
kyungsoo: i want the manga by tomorrow, park.
---
Kyungsoo instantly regrets agreeing to Chanyeol’s plan to have their Day Two activity in the fucking computer cafe as soon as he swings the door open. The smell of Internet Addiction and The Absence of Life hits his nose and he isn’t entirely sure if he can handle the smell for a period longer than five seconds. He steps further into the place, scanning it with his eyes and he finds himself thinking that it looks exactly like how he imagined it would be. It’s not a bright place; the only light sources are the ones emitted by the computers that are occupied.
He sees Chanyeol seated at one of the tables in the secluded corner, facing the wall as his whole stature is unmoving save for his two hands on the keyboard and the mouse. With his head bowed, he makes his way to Chanyeol, avoiding all eye contact with the strangers in the room who are glancing at him with a weird facial expression, making Kyungsoo feel even more out of place. As he closes the distance between himself and Chanyeol’s table, he realizes that he’s seated next to a guy, who is also fully-immersed in the video game that he’s currently playing, and by the time he can make out the facial features of the stranger, it hits him; hard and fast with a force equivalent to an industrial truck.
It’s Jongin.
His jaw drops to the floor, not caring to hide the shock from his facial expressions because oh my god, is this for real? He literally spent the last 21 hours of his life bemoaning over the fact that he’ll most probably never see Jongin again and now he miraculously appears right in front of him, looking all cute and shit while playing a goddamn video game. He stands there for a few seconds, taking in the surreal sight right in front of his eyes and goes completely unnoticed by the both of them. It’s not until Chanyeol turns around and sees Kyungsoo dumbly staring at Jongin.
“YOU MADE IT!” Chanyeol announces, snapping Kyungsoo back into the world of reality.
He clears his throat, trying to recover from the shock. “Yeah, um, but who is that?” he asks (just to confirm) in a whispering tone, pointing his finger at Jongin who is still has his eyes glued to the monitor, unaware of Kyungsoo.
Chanyeol nudges the guy next to him then, and Jongin turns his head around, removing the headphones from his head. As soon as his eyes fall on Kyungsoo, it widens in disbelief, jaw dropping the same way Kyungsoo’s had.
“It’s you.”
Kyungsoo gulps. “Hi,” he dumbly says in his starstruck state of mind.
“WOW, YOU GUYS KNOW EACH OTHER? WHAT A SMALL WORLD, HUH?” Chanyeol laughs obnoxiously loud it sounds almost fake, his tone suspiciously nervous at the same time.
“Yeah, we met at the gaming store yesterday,” Jongin says.
Kyungsoo forcefully yanks Chanyeol out of his chair with one hand, positioning his other hand at the back of his neck, ready to choke the living daylights out of him if he ever tries to escape. Chanyeol hurriedly gets up, fearing for his life.
Kyungsoo shoots a deadly glare at Chanyeol as he stands beside him. “Sorry, Jongin. I’d like to have a word with him outside,” he says, faking a grin.
Before Jongin could reply, Kyungsoo’s already pushing Chanyeol towards the exit.
“WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON?” Kyungsoo shouts at Chanyeol once they’re outside.
“I think a simple thank you would suffice,” Chanyeol replies.
“Stop playing games, Chanyeol.”
His lifts up his hands in defeat. “Alright, alright.”
“How do you know him? And why didn’t you tell me yesterday?”
“Middle school, my friend. We were in the same club.”
Kyungsoo raises an eyebrow, as if he’s expecting Chanyeol to continue his explanation.
“When you went batshit crazy about this Jongin guy you met in the gaming store yesterday, I thought his name sounded familiar. So I went home, did a little research on social media, and turns out, he was the exact Jongin you were talking about!”
“Look, it’s really sweet of you to care about my love life and all but couldn’t you have at least given me a heads up before pulling shit like this?”
“I wanted it to be a surprise!”
“CONGRATU-FUCKING-LATIONS, FRIEND. YOU HAVE COMPLETED YOUR OBJECTIVE.”
“Jesus, I’m sorry. If you’re so uncomfortable having him around, I’ll just ask him to leave right no-”
“NO, DON’T!” Kyungsoo yells at him mid-sentence. There’s no way in hell he’s going to give up this opportunity to have Jongin slip through his fingers again. The stars have answered Kyungsoo’s prayers and this could very be fate being played at hand.
(Fate in the form of his best friend.)
Chanyeol smugly grins, poking his fingers into Kyungsoo’s shoulders repeatedly. “I knew you wouldn’t disagree to this.”
“Stop it,” Kyungsoo warns.
“Hurry up and get in there!” he says, already stepping towards the door.
“No, wait!”
Chanyeol turns back around.“What?”
“I’m nervous,” Kyungsoo asks, feeling slightly embarrassed.
Chanyeol laughs, swinging his arm around Kyungsoo’s neck while his other hand ruffles his hair. “Aw, my little Soosoo is acting like little lovestruck boy. How adorable,” he coos, pinching Kyungsoo’s cheek.
“Don’t call me that,” Kyungsoo snarls, swatting away his hands.
They head back inside, Kyungsoo slowing their pace as much as he can. He can feel sweat forming on the palms of his hands and his heart rate increasing with every step they take. As they’re approaching Jongin, Chanyeol comes to a sudden halt. “Oh, Kyungsoo, one more thing.”
“What?”
“Jongin is completely oblivious to the fact that you told me about him yesterday. So, basically everything is a coincidence,” he explains.
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes. “Christ, Chanyeol. The dude isn’t that dum-”
“JUST PLAY ALONG.”
“GOSH, OKAY.”
Chanyeol shuffles up to his chair, promptly taking his seat next to Jongin, and Kyungsoo follows suit, sitting next to Chanyeol. He finds that his computer is already switched on, he fidgets with the mouse, clicking the browser and slightly unassured what to do next. It’s not like he can run a video game on this computer and play it like he’s been a gaming veteran since the age of 12. He doesn’t even know the first thing about video games. It’d be an understatement to say that Kyungsoo feels completely out of place here.
He side-glances Chanyeol who has his headphones on and eyes plastered to his screen, and Kyungsoo mentally pleads for some help to come from his best friend. He feels like a complete idiot right now, not knowing what to do.
Turning his head slightly, Kyungsoo’s eyes meet Jongin’s who is staring at him but he immediately breaks eye contact, returning his attention to his computer. Kyungsoo can feel his cheeks heat up and quickly looks for a distraction. He opts logging into his Tumblr account, rather than staring mindlessly at his Facebook feed. And this is the very moment Kyungsoo realizes that he’s an actual loser. The type who has absolutely no idea how RPG games work or what FPS stands for. The type that would sit in a computer cafe and end up scrolling up and down Tumblr for 15 minutes straight, rather than battling other online players in a magical fantasy world.
The sound of Jongin’s chair moving abruptly across the floor, startles Kyungsoo, causing him to look up at Jongin who’s already gathering his things and pushing in his chair (neat fellow).
“Sorry, guys. I’ve got to go,” he announces, peering down at Chanyeol and Kyungsoo.
“What the hell? But you just got here,” Chanyeol protests and Kyungsoo silently agrees.
Jongin flashes an apologetic look, clearly uncomfortable with Chanyeol’s verbal dissent. “Bye,” he simply says, turning on his heel to head for the exit.
Kyungsoo sighs in his seat and starts to weep internally because the time spent breathing the same air as Jongin wasn’t enough to feed his 22 hour long deprivation. He settles his head on the table, ignoring the billions of germs that would most likely cause an outbreak of acne on his forehead touching the surface, and his mind wanders about The Land of Failed Potential Relationships and how he would find solitude there. He finds himself regretting not striking up a conversation with him, all thanks to his lack of courage and self-confidence. He could’ve at least gotten his phone number.
Kyungsoo feels a tap on his shoulder and immediately thinks it’s Chanyeol trying to console his depressed soul. “Go away,” he mumbles against the table.
“Sorry,” the voice says, disappointment lacing his apology.
Wait. That doesn’t sound like Chanyeol’s voice.
In a split-second, Kyungsoo lifts his head up from the table, standing up with the speed of a bullet and-
BAM.
His forehead collides with Jongin’s and Kyungsoo lets out an involuntary yelp of pain, feeling the spot on his forehead starting to ache. Kyungsoo concludes that it is impossible to interact with Jongin without embarrassing himself even before the real dialogue commences.
“OH MY GOD, I’M SO SORRY. GOOD HEAVENS WHAT HAVE I DONE TO YOUR WONDERFUL GODSEND FOREHEAD I WILL COMPENSATE FOR THE DAMAGES INFLICTED UPON YOU. JESUS CHRIST, ARE YOU ALRIGHT?” Kyungsoo blurts out, fast and loud.
“I’m fine, Kyungsoo-ssi!” Jongin assures him, chuckling at how worried Kyungsoo is.
“Oh, uhm,” Kyungsoo clears his throat, “of course you are,” he says, avoiding eye contact out of pure embarrassment from his sudden outburst.
“Actually, I came back to ask you something.”
Kyungsoo looks up at him almost immediately. “Yes?”
The taller male hands him his phone and Kyungsoo’s heartbeat speeds up by a thousand times. “Can I have your number?” Jongin asks in the most innocent and simplest way possible.
Kyungsoo’s heart stops.
“Y-yeah, sure,” he stammers, gingerly taking the device and punching in the digits. (He does it slower than usual because how ironic would it be if he gave Jongin the wrong number.) “Here,” he hands it back to him once he’s done.
Jongin beams, his eyes crinkling so adorably Kyungsoo’s 100% sure it’s illegal for someone to have such a charming smile. “I’ll text you.”
Kyungsoo simply nods, unable to find his voice. He sees Jongin’s lips curving upward into a shy smile, him turning towards the exit and walking towards it with his phone in his hands. Kyungsoo’s eyes follow him until he’s outside of the cafe, walking along the street and can no longer be seen from where Kyungsoo stands. He places his butt on his seat, and lets out a deep sigh, but this time for a different reason.
“You sly bitch,” Chanyeol says from beside him.
Kyungsoo giggles.
---
“Welcome!”
Stepping into the gaming store, Kyungsoo flashes a small smile at the sales assistant.
It’s currently day 3 of summer break; exactly 19 hours and 43 minutes since Jongin asked for his number. Needless to say, Kyungsoo has waited the same amount of time for a text from him (and counting). He spent the rest of yesterday with his phone in his hands, bringing it around everywhere he goes, even at home. His phone did sound at a notification several times, each of them had Kyungsoo hastily unlocking it, expecting a text from Jongin’s number.
None of them were from Jongin.
That night, Kyungsoo willed himself to go to bed but his mind kept going back to Jongin’s words earlier at the PC bang. What had he meant by I’ll text you? Did he mean I’ll text you later, tomorrow, in a week, next year or never? Was Jongin following the rules set by wikiHow on their How To Text Your Crush page by waiting at least a day before actually texting him to not seem overly desperate or disinterested at the same time? Whatever it was, Kyungsoo didn’t give a flying fuck. He just wanted a text from him.
He lost his train of thought when the corner of his eyes catches the door being swung open by a familiar figure. As he turns his head around, his eyes catches Jongin stepping into the store and Kyungsoo’s entire being combusts into a giant ball of fire and the remains are left on the floor of where he previously stood; nothing but a big pile of ashes burnt into cinders.
Jongin notices Kyungsoo standing by the racks with his mouth agape in utter shock and his own eyes widen for the exact same reason. But he doesn’t dwell on that Wow-I-Just-Ran-Into-The-Person-I-Completely-Forgot-Or-Didn’t-Care-Enough-To-Text moment for more than a few seconds necessary and strides over to Kyungsoo with a smile starting to play on his lips, greeting him with a simple, “Hi.”
“What are you doing here?” Kyungsoo deadpans and it came off rougher than he had wanted it to be.
Jongin chuckles. “I should be asking you that,” he teases. “Last time I checked, I was the regular customer, not you.”
Yes, why exactly is Kyungsoo there in that gaming store? Why didn’t he choose to stay in the comforts of his home where he could mourn about the unproductivity of his social life? Why had he felt the need emerge from the doors of his familiarity to head down here?
“I came to get a video game,” Kyungsoo blatantly replies.
That is the naked truth. After spending a few hours in the computer cafe yesterday, Kyungsoo has come to realize that he is completely isolated from the video game world that most teens his age tend to revel in. He hadn’t think that it was all that important in the first place but as he sat there in his seat, watching everyone fully immerse themselves in something as petty as a video game, the realization had slowly begun to sink in and it drove him completely insane. Hence, he has made the decision to be self-introduced into the hobby of gaming. (He isn’t sure if this is one of his wisest decisions ever made.)
“Do you need any help picking one?” Jongin offers.
Kyungsoo hesitates before answering. Is he really going to let Jongin choose a video game for him and allow him a further insight of Kyungsoo’s extreme stupidity in this field? “No, thank you.”
With that, he (very coolly) walks over to the other side of the racks to continue his search for the perfect beginners’ video game, although he has absolutely no fucking idea the difference between this and that. Jongin trails at the back of him and Kyungsoo is fairly aware that the former is staring at him but he tries not to acknowledge that fact.
After a few minutes of pretending to look through a few games, he randomly picks one and shoves it in front of Jongin’s face. “I’ll get this one,” he confidently declares.
Jongin takes it from Kyungsoo, inspecting it carefully. Dramatical Murders. He looks back up at Kyungsoo, eyebrows furrowed. “This is a game about yaoi ,” he deadpans.
“I KNEW THAT!” Kyungsoo fires back, quickly snatching it back from Jongin and sliding it into it’s original place in the racks. He turns his face away to hide his embarrassment but he can hear Jongin’s shameless laughter, making Kyungsoo want to shrivel up into a tiny prune and sink into the floor.
“Here,” Jongin says, showing him another game. “This should be easy for a beginner.”
Kyungsoo eyes the game. Portal “Thanks, Jongin,” he says with a sheepish grin, taking the game from his hand.
“No problem.”
They make their way to the counter and Kyungsoo hands it to the cashier. “That’ll be 10 dollars.”
As he’s reluctantly reaching into his pocket for cash, he hears Jongin speak up from beside him. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to text you last night.”
He peers up at Jongin a little bit surprised. “Nah, it’s fine,” he replies, passing the cashier a 10 dollar note.
“You weren’t waiting for my text right?” Jongin smugly asks, one corner of his lips lifting into a smirk.
Kyungsoo scoffs. “What? Me? Waiting for your text? No way!”
The taller male raises an eyebrow, unconvinced.
“I’m serious, Jongin,” Kyungsoo says. He retrieves his game and starts walking towards the exit with Jongin beside him. He reaches for the door but Jongin beats him to it, holding it open for Kyungsoo as he walks out.
“I’ll text you,” he promises, once they’re outside.
“That’s what you said the last time,” Kyungsoo retorts.
Jongin responds with a laugh, eyes forming two adorable crescents and Kyungsoo wishes he could capture this moment with his phone without him knowing, but that would be impossible with basic human standards. “Good luck with the game, Kyungsoo-ssi,” he says while slowly pacing backwards, not caring about the pedestrians he might accidentally run into.
Kyungsoo lifts his hand up to give a little wave. “Bye,” he murmurs quietly, almost to himself.
A shy smile starts to play on Jongin’s lips and Kyungsoo wishes he hadn’t turned around to disappear into the crowd.
---
Kyungsoo wastes no time at all when he reaches home.
He locks himself in his room, quickly switching on his laptop and slides in the game. As it’s in the midst of the installation process, he decides to watch a few beginners’ guide to gaming on Youtube to mentally prepare himself for what’s to come. He begins to understand the basics of video games; the types, the standard position of fingers on the keyboard, and all the other essentials everyone should know about gaming.
Hours later, he finally runs the game and a strange rush of excitement washes over him; something he hasn’t felt in a long while. The first few minutes were going fairly smoothly. Kyungsoo tried his best to follow every step given and he feels a sense of pride swelling in his chest for completing the tasks with ease. Gaming isn’t that difficult.
But everything changed when the fire nation attacked.
Turns out, those were only warm-up missions. The game takes a 180 degree turn and he’s given even longer, harder tasks to complete within a limited amount of time while trying to take down enemies at the same time. His brain fails to comprehend these multiples things fast enough and as a result, he dies over and over and over again. His frustration and rage gradually build up with every mission he fails to complete but he refuses to give up. No way in hell is he going to lose to a petty mindless good-for-nothing video game.
After countless attempts, he’s about a stone’s throw away to completing the mission and he’s so close to the glory of success he can almost taste it. Just a few more steps and he’ll make it--
BEEP BEEP.
His phone sounds at a notification and Kyungsoo turns his head away from his laptop to his phone momentarily, entirely forgetting the mission at hand. When he realizes his mistake and returns his attention back to the game once more, his character’s already dead and in the midst of re-spawning.
He lets out a groan of frustration and collapses on the bed feeling defeated. His hands grab his phone to check the message that ruined his chance in advancing from the stage he’s been stuck in since 2 hours ago.
15.16
from: unknown number
hey! it’s jongin :>
Kyungsoo has never been so happy to receive a text from an unknown number. He quickly types his response.
15.18
to: jongin
took you long enough.
It’s not long before another text comes in.
15.21
from: jongin
have you played the game yet?
15.22
to: jongin
yeah and i totally suck at it. you didn’t trick me into getting a game meant for veterans right?
15.26
from: jongin
why on earth would i do that? i thought you trusted me T_T
Kyungsoo snickers as he’s reading the text, mentally picturing an upset, pouty Jongin.
15.28
to: jongin
you give off a suspicious vibe. can’t really put my finger on it.
15.34
from: jongin
i’m totally clean. all i do is sleep and play video games all day long. there’s nothing skeptical about that, right?
How the hell do I reply to a text like that without sounding awkward?
15.39
to: jongin
whatever you say, jongin.
Kyungsoo grunts aloud and buries his face in his hands in humiliation. With his impaired social skills, texting could very well be considered an Olympic Sport. He doesn’t wait for Jongin’s next text this time, thinking he probably wouldn’t continue the conversation anyway, and resumes his game more determined than ever to advance to the next stage.
Fast forward 38 minutes and 14 seconds, Kyungsoo finally makes it and throws his fist in the air as a victorious gesture of sorts. He decides to take a small break to allow himself to prepare for the following chapter. If the first one was tough, he can’t imagine the level of difficulty in the next.
He unlocks his phone, seeing an unread text from Jongin that was sent 30 minutes ago and immediately panics.
15.41
from: jongin
enough about me. let’s talk about you n_n what do you usually do over summer break? i’m assuming you volunteer at animal shelters or something. i mean, ‘cause you’re so cute-looking and all.
WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK DID JONGIN JUST BLATANTLY CALL HIM CUTE OVER A TEXT MESSAGE OH MY GOD?!?!
He has to read it 20 times over just to confirm that it’s real and it’s not only happening in his head. Feeling slightly light-headed after comprehending the whole situation, he buries his head in his pillow, basking in the glory of his message. A pang of guilt hits him in the chest because he entirely forgot to reply him instantly.
16.18
to: jongin
you’re pretty funny for a guy this lifeless. but no, i don’t volunteer at animal shelters or anything like that. i don’t do much either. school is already hectic enough and summer break should be the time when i just lay back and not care about the world, right? and sorry for the late reply! this damned game was distracting me =A=
Kyungsoo’s thumb hovers over the send button for a few seconds, unsure if he should push it. (He takes the plunge anyway.)
Kyungsoo patiently waits for Jongin’s text, fiddling around with his fingers and anxious heart thumping loudly in his chest. His phone rings and he almost falls from the side of his bed.
16.23
from: jongin
ah, i see. i guess i shouldn’t be bothering you so much then. have fun with the game!
Kyungsoo doesn’t reply.
---
01.27
to: kyungsoo
good night, kyungsoo. sweet dreams.
Jongin never hit the send button.
---
Kyungsoo’s eyes slowly flutter open and the first thought that comes into his mind is: Wow I should really just go back to sleep.
Needless to say, he barely got a wink of sleep last night all thanks to the video game. It kept him up until 4am, trying to complete all 19 stages of the game. (He failed.)
That night, Kyungsoo realizes why every teenager could so easily lose their entire sanity over a video game. If his act of sacrificing his precious hours sleep to attempt completing the game didn’t plant a seed in his head, then he doesn’t know what will. Honestly, he feels terrible about being such a hypocritical bastard and there’s a sudden urge to apologize to every single gamer he has ever judged just because they’re obsessed with a video game.
12.53
to: jongin
hi. i want my life back. thanks.
Kyungsoo switches on his laptop while waiting for a reply that may or may not come. As the game’s loading, his phone rings.
12.59
from: jongin
sorry :< no exchange and refund available. did you complete the game yet?
01.00
to: jongin
no and it’s driving me crazy. i’ve been stuck at stage 14 since last night.
01.02
from: jongin
do you need any help? i could help you, if you want.
Cue the internal screaming.
01.03
to: jongin
that’ll be great, jongin.
01.05
from: jongin
meet me at the pc bang at 1.30?
01.06
to: jongin
see you there!
What in hell just happened?
---
“Hey.”
“Hi,” Kyungsoo breathes as he takes his seat next to Jongin’s. “How many hours did you buy?”
“Just three. Are you okay with that?”
“Yeah, totally. How much was it?” Kyungsoo asks, pulling out his wallet from his pocket but Jongin’s hands stop him abruptly.
“You don’t have to!” Jongin insists sternly.
“But that’s not fair!” Kyungsoo fires back twice as more stern, expecting him to oblige.
Jongin smiles instead. “You can pay next time.”
Next time? Kyungsoo likes the sound of that, so he nods at Jongin, lips curving into a smile of his own.
Jongin’s smile widens into a grin, but he turns his head towards his monitor, hiding it from Kyungsoo. “These computers already have the game installed so we just have to run it,” Jongin says.
They decide to play in multiplayer mode so it’d be easier for Jongin to guide Kyungsoo whilst in-game. He tells him the dos and don’ts of the game along the way in the most gentle way possible. Whenever Kyungsoo makes a mistake and gets them both killed, Jongin would never get angry. He’d laugh and dismiss it as a harmless oversight, telling Kyungsoo to be more alert the next time.
At Stage 15, Kyungsoo’s frustration gets the better of him. They’ve been stuck at this stage for 20 minutes courtesy of his own stupid incapability of shooting down a few obstacles without Jongin’s help. He hits pause mid-game, stunning Jongin.
“I’m so sorry, Jongin. I told you I suck at gaming and I’m just pulling you down with me,” he mutters against the table, resting his forehead on his folded arms.
“Not everyone can be good at a game in their first try, right? You’re actually pretty good for a beginner actually,” Jongin says with the utmost sincerity.
Kyungsoo’s cheeks start to blush and he’s thankful Jongin can’t see his face.
“Wanna try again? I mean, it’s fine if you don’t want to. We can always try another game,” Jongin asks.
“Let’s try again,” Kyungsoo sighs, lifting his head from the table and positions his fingers on the keyboard.
“Wait.”
Turning his head towards Jongin, he sees that his hands reaching for his. “Your fingers shouldn’t be placed like that,” he says, fixing Kyungsoo’s fingers gently on the keyboard, repositioning in the right order. Jongin’s face is inches away from Kyungsoo’s and he’s100% sure Jongin can see his glaringly red cheeks now. There’s no way to hide them.
“Relax your fingers. It’ll be easier like that,” he gently explains, smiling at Kyungsoo.
“O-okay,” Kyungsoo stutters, mentally beating himself up for getting so easily flustered over such trivial physical contact.
Jongin doesn’t retract his hands from Kyungsoo’s, letting it linger for a few more seconds before returning to his seat.
When the game resumes, Kyungsoo’s finds that his fingers do feel slightly more comfortable than before. He’s able to reach keys smoothly and manages to get through stage 15 without much complication. They fly through the remaining stages, getting stuck in some levels at times but their progress was way better than before. At the final stage, the stakes are higher than ever. Kyungsoo can hear the thumping of his heart in his ribcage and sweat forming in his palms.
“We can do this,” Jongin says, giving him a reassuring smile.
Kyungsoo nods at him, more determined than ever.
11 minutes and 53 seconds later, they defeat the boss and it’s all over. They’ve won the game.
“HOLY SHIT, WE DID IT!” Kyungsoo shouts, standing up abruptly with his arms in air. feeling as though he has won a century-long war against an army. He looks at Jongin who has also risen from his seat, wearing the exact same smile Kyungsoo has on his face.
Subconsciously, Kyungsoo takes a step closer to him, throwing his hands his neck and pulls him down for triumph hug. “I CAN’T BELIEVE WE DEFEATED THE BOSS. IT FEELS LIKE A DREAM,” he says, tightening his arms around him.
In his starstruck state of mind, Jongin’s arm wrap around Kyungsoo’s waist and smiles. “Yeah, it does feel like a dream.”
Then it hits Kyungsoo. He’s hugging Jongin.
Kyungsoo let’s go off him and takes a leap back, cheeks starting to burn red. He clears his throat awkwardly. “Sorry about that,” he murmurs, peering down at the floor.
Jongin looks mildly disappointed. “No, it’s fine.”
The shorter male glances at the timer on his monitor and sees that they have less than 3 minutes left. “We should go,” he informs Jongin, pointing at the timer.
He nods in agreement, gathering his phone and keys he left on the table and pocketing them.
As they’re walking towards the exit, Kyungsoo wants time to slow down. Honestly speaking, he really did enjoy the three hours he spent with him. He liked how he didn't feel as awkward interacting with him as he thought he would.
They make it to the street and Kyungsoo already has “goodbye” at the tip of his tongue until Jongin says this:
“Do you wanna go get some food at that cafe over there with me?”
Kyungsoo has to blink thrice before actually understanding his words.
“It’s okay if you don’t want to! It’s just that I haven’t had my lunch yet even though it’s already 4.30 but I heard the food there’s grea-”
“I’d love to,” Kyungsoo cuts in.
---
That night, Kyungsoo does a lot of thinking.
He thinks about their little ‘date’ at the cafe they had in the evening and how much fun it was in a subtle way. He thinks about the conversations they had and how easy it flowed, like they’ve been friends since they were 5 when in truth, they’ve only met 4 days ago. He thinks about Jongin’s handsome smile, his lame jokes (Kyungsoo laughed anyway), and his charming demeanour that made him fall in love with Jongin even more.
He learns that Jongin’s a year younger and that he doesn’t appreciate sports that much despite his blessed figure. He learns that he’d prefer reading an entire Chemistry textbook over any physical activity that would leave him sweaty and tired in the end.
Kyungsoo learns that they have much in common.
He sighs dreamily, wondering what on Earth he did to deserve such good luck to have met a guy that’s nice, good-looking and everything else good in this world. He must’ve saved a nation in his previous lifetime.
His phone buzzes and Kyungsoo hopes it’s from him.
12.36
from: jongin
i had a great time with you today. sweet dreams, hyung.
---
Kyungsoo finds the whole situation a bit strange.
He’s on his bed with his laptop in front of him. Nothing weird about that. However, the only difference is that Jongin’s here. In the flesh. In the exact same bedroom.
After the events of that day, Kyungsoo and Jongin slowly developed a friendship. They’d text each other every day and have occasional phone calls at night. Somedays, they’d meet up at the pc bang to try a new game. Somedays, they would have lunch together at the cafe. But it doesn’t matter what they do, Kyungsoo thinks, because at the end of the day, he’ll only fall deeper in love with Jongin even more.
Kyungsoo decides to invite him over for a change. He’s getting bored of the same environment in the pc bang and they wouldn’t have to pay to game at home. (This is a plus point for Kyungsoo. He’s running dangerously low on cash.)
Summer break is coming to an end and Kyungsoo still finds it amazing how he has spent almost six weeks (honestly, it felt like one) with Jongin and how much he has grown attached to the latter. Sometimes, he’d pinch himself on the arm to make sure that this was all happening in real life and not in one of his crazy fantasy dreams.
“Hyung.”
Oh shit. Kyungsoo hadn’t realized he was staring at Jongin while he was deep in thought.
“Is there something on my face?” he asks, head titled cutely in confusion.
“No!” Kyungsoo replies, shaking his head vigorously.
“Let’s start,” Jongin says, looking back down to his own laptop.
They’ve decided to venture a little further from Kyungsoo’s comfort zone this time, picking a first-person shooter game with horror elements. He eagerly hits the play button, feeling a hint of excitement to be trying yet another new game, but that excitement turns to disappointment when his laptop’s display turns black all of a sudden. “What the hell just happened?”
“Mine just crashed, too,” Jongin sadly mutters. “I think it’s the CD.”
“This is so depressing,” Kyungsoo deadpans.
“I guess we’ll just have to find something else to do,” he says, shutting his laptop and setting it aside. His eyes wander, making the Kyungsoo slightly self-conscious about the state of his bedroom. “Your manga collection is really impressive,” he says, walking over the bookshelf beside Kyungsoo’s bed.
“It’s the result of many years of unproductivity,” Kyungsoo says with pride, patting the mangas like they’re his precious children.
Jongin stifles his laughter. “I got you something,” he mumbles, arms reaching for his backpack he left on Kyungsoo’s bed. He pulls out it and hands it to the shorter male without making eye contact.
Kyungsoo’s eyes widen when he sees the gift and hastily takes it from Jongin’s hands without shame.“You got me Volume 15 of Haikyuu? Are you serious about this?” he asks, unable to hide the excitement from his voice. He’s been wanting it since it released but haven’t had the time (and/or money) to go get it. “You didn’t have to!”
“But I wanted to,” Jongin smiles.
Kyungsoo returns it with a grateful beam. “Thanks, Jongin,” he says, sliding the manga into his bookshelf. “How did you know I wanted it anyway?”
“You talk about Haikyuu a lot so I thought you’d like the manga,” Jongin replies, a faint red spreading across his cheek. (Kyungsoo doesn’t notice.)
He tilts his head slightly to the side. “I didn’t think anyone would actually listen to my insistent ramblings about it.”
“But I do,” Jongin admits shyly and this time, Kyungsoo’s the one who starts blushing.
And so they stand there dumbly for a few seconds, unsure of what exactly to do next until Jongin speaks.
“I have something to tell you, hyung,” Jongin says, eye contact unavoidable.
“Yeah?”
His tongue darts out to moisten his lips and he gulps. “I like you,” he says slowly. His eyes are hopeful and looking into Kyungsoo’s expectantly.
Kyungsoo doesn’t need to be good at rocket science to know what to say next. “I like you, too,” he mouths.
Both of them wear matching shy smiles, looking at each other like it was the first time they’ve met. Jongin inches closer to Kyungsoo’s face, closing the distance between their lips. He lets his eyes flutter shut when he feels a soft pair of lips gently pressed on his and fireworks go off in his mind.
When Jongin pulls away, Kyungsoo opens his eyes to see him grinning dumbly and he thinks it’s the most adorable thing ever. “It’s true,” Jongin whispers.
“What is?”
“That your first kiss is the sweetest thing you’ll taste.”
“What about the second one?” he asks before pulling Jongin down by the neck, joining their lips once more, but this time, it’s a little longer and messier. Kyungsoo isn’t exactly sure how this whole kissing thing works but he knows it won’t stay that way much longer.
Kyungsoo breaks away from the kiss to catch his breath. (He thinks the second one tastes better.)
“So what now?” Jongin asks, a smile still visible on his face.
“Wanna go get a new game?”
Jongin shrugs. “Why not?” he says, lacing their fingers together as they head for the door.
The shorter male thinks that this summer has been the best one he’s had yet.
---
Kyungsoo’s favorite season of the year has finally come. And this year, it’s even more special.
As he’s sitting on the bench at the edge of the skating rink, he mindlessly kicks at the thick, white snow beneath his feet, keeping himself busy while waiting for his boyfriend to arrive. It’s exceptionally cold today and he tries to ignore the fact his cheeks are about to the bitten off by the crisp air. He observes the people skating on the frozen lake and the carefree smiles plastered on their faces, and it slightly warms Kyungsoo’s heart, knowing that you can find happiness by being with your loved ones.
He feels a hand on his shoulder and instantly knows who it is. He looks up and sees Jongin smiling, sitting down next to him.
“Oh my god, Kyungsoo, is that you? What a coincidence that you’re here. I didn’t know you were coming,” Jongin jokes, feigning surprise.
Kyungsoo rolls his eyes but decides to play along. “I guess fate wanted us to be together, huh?” he smiles, proceeding to lean forward and presses a chaste kiss on his cheek.
Jongin’s smile grows wider and breaks into a grin, staring lovingly at his boyfriend. “Let’s change into the shoes,” he says, placing two pair of skating shoes on the snow.
As they’re bent forward, fitting into the shoes, Kyungsoo brings something up he’s been meaning to talk about for quite some time now. “Hey, Jongin?”
He hums in response.
“Don’t you think it’s weird that our relationship came to-be because of coincidences?”
Jongin’s eyes widen and his fingers that were tying the laces come to a halt.
“It’s so strange. If I hadn’t walked into the store, we wouldn’t have known each other. And isn’t it freaky how Chanyeol, my best friend, actually remembered you from middle school? Oh, and remember the time when you happened to come by the store when I was picking my first video game? Weird, huh?”
Jongin grabs Kyungsoo’s gloved hands then, sitting back upright against the bench and looks into his eyes. “Look, Kyungsoo, I don’t really think it matters if it was coincidence or not. What matters is that we’re together now, right?”
Kyungsoo shrugs. “Yeah, you’re right,” he agrees, lips slowly curving into a smile. “That was really cheesy, by the way. Where do you learn these things from?”
The younger male chuckles lightly. “It comes from deep within my heart that you’ve stolen when I first laid my eyes upon yours,” he replies dramatically, accompanied with theatrical hand gestures.
Kyungsoo wears an expression of confusion and disgust, genuinely embarrassed by the words Jongin had just uttered. “Cut the crap, Jongin. Let’s just skate,” he says, getting up from the bench and stomps over to the lake.
Jongin doesn’t get up from his seat just yet. Instead, he silently laughs to himself at Kyungsoo’s words. He knows what he had really meant to say was: I love you.
---
a/n: thank you so much for reading until the end. i hope you liked it!