Claw Machine
Title: Claw Machine
Pairing: KyuMin
Sub-Pairing(s): None
Chapters: One-Shot
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Only the fic is mine.
Warnings: Language
Synopsis/Summary: Everyday, Sungmin sees the same boy over and over again, trying to get a pink bunny stuffed animal from one of those rip-off arcade claw machines.
A/N: So, I recently found dip_eiffel_tea's prompts, which can be found here. I liked the claw machine one a lot, so I thought I'd write it. Anyway, here it is! And thanks for letting me use the prompt, dip_eiffel_tea!
DAY 1
He clears up a table holding boba drinks and spicy popcorn chicken into a cart he wheels around the arcade with him. Kids run around, playing the games that appeal to them whereas boy teenagers play the shooting games and win prizes for their girlfriends. He smiles to himself, liking the atmosphere of the arcade…and that’s why he chose to work there.
“Come on…Just a little more… DAMN IT!” A boy angrily kicks a calw machine, cursing at the pain after a moment of realization that was a moment too late. Said boy glares at the pink bunny stuffed animal that was on the other side of the glass, and he just knows that it’s laughing at his failure from its little hat to its vest to its wrongly sewn on mouth. His friends laugh at him, teasing him for not being able to get the simple little plush toy on the other side of the glass.
The employee - Sungmin - his nametag reads, stares at the scene before him. He has seen the boy before, always coming to the arcade with his friends. He beats them at every single game they play, and on almost all - if not most - of the games, has his score at the very top. Sungmin watches those boys, wondering what they’re up to.
“C’mon, Kyuhyun. Just admit you lost the bet,” The raven-haired boy to his left says, “And besides, we better get home before your mom has another panic attack.”
“Not yet,” The boy who failed to get the bunny toy says, fishing out more quarters to feed to the machine. He inserts the coins and try again…and again…and again…
By the time Sungmin comes back from making his rounds to clean up tables, the boy - Kyuhyun, was it? - is still there.
One by one, his friends had all gotten calls from their moms and left. However, he continues to play until his older sister appears suddenly to drag him away from the machine.
“I, CHO KYUHYUN, WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY A STUPID CLAW MACHINE GAME! I AM DETERMINED TO GET THAT BUNNY.” He screams at the machine, whose colorful lights and catchy elevator tune laugh at him for his failure.
“Oh shut it, Kyu. Mom’s gonna kill you when we get home. And I want to watch it.”
And Sungmin is still there to watch this scene, stifling a giggle every now and then.
DAY 4
By now, Kyuhyun is obsessing over the claw machine, angry at how he can’t possibly get the bunny no matter how many times he tries. He wastes at least twenty dollars a day - in quarters - on the machine, and Sungmin is surprised his mother hasn’t ground him yet for using up money so carelessly. He also notices how each day, it’s the same thing over and over again.
Kyuhyun - as Sungmin had learned the boys name - comes everyday around four or five, depending on when he probably had after school activities. He also almost always comes with his friends, and they leave one by one as the hours go on. It is also the raven-haired boy who almost always tells Kyuhyun to give up on the bet, which by now, Sungmin has learned was that he probably couldn’t beat them at the claw machine game. Then again, nobody could beat the claw machine game. It’s a rip-off machine to try and get you to keep feeding it money, thus making whoever owns the arcade lots of money. Anyhow, during this cycle, Kyuhyun would be left to play until whenever his sister comes by - which is usually around seven - to take him by the ear to drag him back home.
This is almost always accompanied by Kyuhyun shouting for his vengeance and his sister telling him to shut up and that if their mom really was going to make budae chigae, that she was going to cook Kyuhyun straight into it.
At that point, Kyuhyun would stop struggling and protesting, and remain silent until they disappear around the block.
If Sungmin didn’t already like his job before, he loves it now.
DAY 28
It’s been a whole month since they made the bet, and Kyuhyun is still at it. Sungmin watches the young man as he sweeps the area around the tables. He has grown used to the presence of Kyuhyun everyday, and when he thinks about it, he wonders if Kyuhyun will still come back two months from now. He shrugs, wondering why he cares. However, he admires the boy’s determination to get that pink stuffed bunny.
But there’s a question that’s nagging at him at the back of his mind.
Why would Kyuhyun be so obsessive about getting the bunny? Was he really that determined to win a silly bet that would soon be forgotten? Or was there a different reason?
This, Sungmin ponders…even after he leaves work that day after Kyuhyun is pulled away from the claw machine by his older sister for the twenty-eighth time.
DAY 44
Half a month later and Sungmin is amazed to come to work after a week’s vacation to see that Kyuhyun still at it. Doesn’t he know when to give up?! Sungmin decides to hang around the tables that he cleans everyday, even though they’re already cleaned, to see if this cycle is really still repeating itself.
Surely it is repeating, and Sungmin wonders if he didn’t get in some accident while on vacation and is now dreaming the same thing over and over again.
However, when he gets home, he sees that indeed, it is the twenty-fourth of March - a month and a half after the first day the bet had been made.
DAY 52
Today, Sungmin doesn’t see Kyuhyun. He stands there near the tables, pretending to clean even though he’s scrubbed the same table five times already.
It’s near seven, and he’s just about read to give up when he sees a familiar face walk into the arcade. His back straightens, eyes going immediately over to the person only for his shoulders to slump back down. It’s that friend of Kyuhyun’s, the one always telling him to give up on the bet. Sungmin sees him looking through the glass of a different claw machine, looking at a blue and green fish stuffed animal.
Strange taste, Sungmin notes as he turns around disappointedly to wipe another table for the umpteenth time.
DAY 53
Sungmin is passing by the claw machine again with his little cart that he pushes around to clean up messes with. He doesn’t know why, but ever since yesterday, he hasn’t felt like going to work.
He thinks he’s beginning to catch a cold. However, he looks up from the cart in time to see a familiar lanky figure slam his hand down on top of the red button to drop the claw.
Sungmin smiles unconsciously, happy to see the daily teenager there, going at the bunny again. Suddenly, his foul mood is exchanged for a bright one as he quickly wheels his cart over to the tables, cleaning up the left over drinks and snack foods, all the while watching Kyuhyun as he tries and fails at getting the bunny.
DAY 91
Now Sungmin is getting worried. It’s been about three months since Kyuhyun started doing this, and he wonders if he should just stop Kyuhyun by getting the key to open the machine and give him the toy. But at the same time, his little inner demon says he shouldn’t, because then Kyuhyun would stop coming to the arcade and he won’t be able to see the young man anymore.
He sighs indecisively and decides on something else. He’ll sleep on it.
DAY 93
Okay, now he’s just fed up with it. This cycle has been going on for ninety-three days and Sungmin knows that all that money is being wasted. Therefore, as Kyuhyun goes over to the claw machine like usual everyday, Sungmin stomps over to where the machine.
He takes Kyuhyun by the shoulder, pushes him aside, and inserts the key he found out back into a hidden key hole at the side of the claw machine. He opens it and takes out the bunny, slamming the front close before shoving the bunny into Kyuhyun’s arms. He looks up at the bewildered teenager.
“Here. Stop wasting money,” Sungmin says quietly. However, before he could make a move to walk away, a hand shoots out and grabs him by the wrist. The bunny plush is put into his arms as he turns around to see a smirk on Kyuhyun’s face.
“Took you long enough,” Kyuhyun says, rolling his eyes.
“W-what? What do you mean?” Now it’s Sungmin’s turn to be bewildered.
“I saw you watching me everyday from those tables over there,” Kyuhyun leans against the claw machine casually, “And I have to say, you’re pretty cute.”
“I…I…So…What…The bet?” Sungmin sputters, holding the bunny stuffed animal still. He’s confused. More than confused…He’s…he’s…shocked.
“Do you really think I’d keep going at a bet for three months straight?” Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow, lips parted in a slight laugh, “I won the bet against Hyukjae and Kangin hyung a long time ago.”
Sungmin’s mouth drops, “So…all those other times…”
“I was only here so you’d notice me,” Kyuhyun looks over Sungmin’s shoulder suddenly, “Oh shoot, my sister’s here. Gotta run…but…how does Saturday sound?”
“For what?”
“I don’t know…A date?” Another smirk turns the corner of Kyuhyun’s lip up.
“I…”
“I’ll give you ‘till tomorrow,” Sungmin sees Kyuhyun wink at him before running off and around the corner, away from his very angry sister who runs after him.
Huh…who would’ve thought?
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A/N: Ohmygoshers, why is it so fluffy? Anyway, Dream Catcher is...well, will be posted when I find out where I put my USB, and Lights! Camera! ...And Love?! was far more popular than I though it'd be, so I'll probably try to post that sometime tomorrow... Anyway, this is a KyuMin from me, and I know it's been a while since I've posted KyuMin. I'll try to come up with more KyuMin fics. Sorry!
Pairing: KyuMin
Sub-Pairing(s): None
Chapters: One-Shot
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: Only the fic is mine.
Warnings: Language
Synopsis/Summary: Everyday, Sungmin sees the same boy over and over again, trying to get a pink bunny stuffed animal from one of those rip-off arcade claw machines.
A/N: So, I recently found dip_eiffel_tea's prompts, which can be found here. I liked the claw machine one a lot, so I thought I'd write it. Anyway, here it is! And thanks for letting me use the prompt, dip_eiffel_tea!
DAY 1
He clears up a table holding boba drinks and spicy popcorn chicken into a cart he wheels around the arcade with him. Kids run around, playing the games that appeal to them whereas boy teenagers play the shooting games and win prizes for their girlfriends. He smiles to himself, liking the atmosphere of the arcade…and that’s why he chose to work there.
“Come on…Just a little more… DAMN IT!” A boy angrily kicks a calw machine, cursing at the pain after a moment of realization that was a moment too late. Said boy glares at the pink bunny stuffed animal that was on the other side of the glass, and he just knows that it’s laughing at his failure from its little hat to its vest to its wrongly sewn on mouth. His friends laugh at him, teasing him for not being able to get the simple little plush toy on the other side of the glass.
The employee - Sungmin - his nametag reads, stares at the scene before him. He has seen the boy before, always coming to the arcade with his friends. He beats them at every single game they play, and on almost all - if not most - of the games, has his score at the very top. Sungmin watches those boys, wondering what they’re up to.
“C’mon, Kyuhyun. Just admit you lost the bet,” The raven-haired boy to his left says, “And besides, we better get home before your mom has another panic attack.”
“Not yet,” The boy who failed to get the bunny toy says, fishing out more quarters to feed to the machine. He inserts the coins and try again…and again…and again…
By the time Sungmin comes back from making his rounds to clean up tables, the boy - Kyuhyun, was it? - is still there.
One by one, his friends had all gotten calls from their moms and left. However, he continues to play until his older sister appears suddenly to drag him away from the machine.
“I, CHO KYUHYUN, WILL NOT BE DEFEATED BY A STUPID CLAW MACHINE GAME! I AM DETERMINED TO GET THAT BUNNY.” He screams at the machine, whose colorful lights and catchy elevator tune laugh at him for his failure.
“Oh shut it, Kyu. Mom’s gonna kill you when we get home. And I want to watch it.”
And Sungmin is still there to watch this scene, stifling a giggle every now and then.
DAY 4
By now, Kyuhyun is obsessing over the claw machine, angry at how he can’t possibly get the bunny no matter how many times he tries. He wastes at least twenty dollars a day - in quarters - on the machine, and Sungmin is surprised his mother hasn’t ground him yet for using up money so carelessly. He also notices how each day, it’s the same thing over and over again.
Kyuhyun - as Sungmin had learned the boys name - comes everyday around four or five, depending on when he probably had after school activities. He also almost always comes with his friends, and they leave one by one as the hours go on. It is also the raven-haired boy who almost always tells Kyuhyun to give up on the bet, which by now, Sungmin has learned was that he probably couldn’t beat them at the claw machine game. Then again, nobody could beat the claw machine game. It’s a rip-off machine to try and get you to keep feeding it money, thus making whoever owns the arcade lots of money. Anyhow, during this cycle, Kyuhyun would be left to play until whenever his sister comes by - which is usually around seven - to take him by the ear to drag him back home.
This is almost always accompanied by Kyuhyun shouting for his vengeance and his sister telling him to shut up and that if their mom really was going to make budae chigae, that she was going to cook Kyuhyun straight into it.
At that point, Kyuhyun would stop struggling and protesting, and remain silent until they disappear around the block.
If Sungmin didn’t already like his job before, he loves it now.
DAY 28
It’s been a whole month since they made the bet, and Kyuhyun is still at it. Sungmin watches the young man as he sweeps the area around the tables. He has grown used to the presence of Kyuhyun everyday, and when he thinks about it, he wonders if Kyuhyun will still come back two months from now. He shrugs, wondering why he cares. However, he admires the boy’s determination to get that pink stuffed bunny.
But there’s a question that’s nagging at him at the back of his mind.
Why would Kyuhyun be so obsessive about getting the bunny? Was he really that determined to win a silly bet that would soon be forgotten? Or was there a different reason?
This, Sungmin ponders…even after he leaves work that day after Kyuhyun is pulled away from the claw machine by his older sister for the twenty-eighth time.
DAY 44
Half a month later and Sungmin is amazed to come to work after a week’s vacation to see that Kyuhyun still at it. Doesn’t he know when to give up?! Sungmin decides to hang around the tables that he cleans everyday, even though they’re already cleaned, to see if this cycle is really still repeating itself.
Surely it is repeating, and Sungmin wonders if he didn’t get in some accident while on vacation and is now dreaming the same thing over and over again.
However, when he gets home, he sees that indeed, it is the twenty-fourth of March - a month and a half after the first day the bet had been made.
DAY 52
Today, Sungmin doesn’t see Kyuhyun. He stands there near the tables, pretending to clean even though he’s scrubbed the same table five times already.
It’s near seven, and he’s just about read to give up when he sees a familiar face walk into the arcade. His back straightens, eyes going immediately over to the person only for his shoulders to slump back down. It’s that friend of Kyuhyun’s, the one always telling him to give up on the bet. Sungmin sees him looking through the glass of a different claw machine, looking at a blue and green fish stuffed animal.
Strange taste, Sungmin notes as he turns around disappointedly to wipe another table for the umpteenth time.
DAY 53
Sungmin is passing by the claw machine again with his little cart that he pushes around to clean up messes with. He doesn’t know why, but ever since yesterday, he hasn’t felt like going to work.
He thinks he’s beginning to catch a cold. However, he looks up from the cart in time to see a familiar lanky figure slam his hand down on top of the red button to drop the claw.
Sungmin smiles unconsciously, happy to see the daily teenager there, going at the bunny again. Suddenly, his foul mood is exchanged for a bright one as he quickly wheels his cart over to the tables, cleaning up the left over drinks and snack foods, all the while watching Kyuhyun as he tries and fails at getting the bunny.
DAY 91
Now Sungmin is getting worried. It’s been about three months since Kyuhyun started doing this, and he wonders if he should just stop Kyuhyun by getting the key to open the machine and give him the toy. But at the same time, his little inner demon says he shouldn’t, because then Kyuhyun would stop coming to the arcade and he won’t be able to see the young man anymore.
He sighs indecisively and decides on something else. He’ll sleep on it.
DAY 93
Okay, now he’s just fed up with it. This cycle has been going on for ninety-three days and Sungmin knows that all that money is being wasted. Therefore, as Kyuhyun goes over to the claw machine like usual everyday, Sungmin stomps over to where the machine.
He takes Kyuhyun by the shoulder, pushes him aside, and inserts the key he found out back into a hidden key hole at the side of the claw machine. He opens it and takes out the bunny, slamming the front close before shoving the bunny into Kyuhyun’s arms. He looks up at the bewildered teenager.
“Here. Stop wasting money,” Sungmin says quietly. However, before he could make a move to walk away, a hand shoots out and grabs him by the wrist. The bunny plush is put into his arms as he turns around to see a smirk on Kyuhyun’s face.
“Took you long enough,” Kyuhyun says, rolling his eyes.
“W-what? What do you mean?” Now it’s Sungmin’s turn to be bewildered.
“I saw you watching me everyday from those tables over there,” Kyuhyun leans against the claw machine casually, “And I have to say, you’re pretty cute.”
“I…I…So…What…The bet?” Sungmin sputters, holding the bunny stuffed animal still. He’s confused. More than confused…He’s…he’s…shocked.
“Do you really think I’d keep going at a bet for three months straight?” Kyuhyun raises an eyebrow, lips parted in a slight laugh, “I won the bet against Hyukjae and Kangin hyung a long time ago.”
Sungmin’s mouth drops, “So…all those other times…”
“I was only here so you’d notice me,” Kyuhyun looks over Sungmin’s shoulder suddenly, “Oh shoot, my sister’s here. Gotta run…but…how does Saturday sound?”
“For what?”
“I don’t know…A date?” Another smirk turns the corner of Kyuhyun’s lip up.
“I…”
“I’ll give you ‘till tomorrow,” Sungmin sees Kyuhyun wink at him before running off and around the corner, away from his very angry sister who runs after him.
Huh…who would’ve thought?
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A/N: Ohmygoshers, why is it so fluffy? Anyway, Dream Catcher is...well, will be posted when I find out where I put my USB, and Lights! Camera! ...And Love?! was far more popular than I though it'd be, so I'll probably try to post that sometime tomorrow... Anyway, this is a KyuMin from me, and I know it's been a while since I've posted KyuMin. I'll try to come up with more KyuMin fics. Sorry!