In the debate world, there are five unspoken rules. The first four are trivial; simple social laws that every sane person would understand.
But the last one. Now that's something.
Rule Number Five: Never, ever, under any circumstances, date your d...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
today's theme: extempore
Minho popped a chunk of pink cotton candy into his mouth. "I think we've pretty much covered everything on this end."
It was eleven-thirty. The air had gotten colder, a crisp blanket settling over the park as the night inched closer and closer to twelve. They were back on the main street, three hours of exploration behind them, strolling through the latter half of the area.
The park was still going at full speed, being run to its maximums, at the courtesy of Hyunjin's orders. It had allowed them to speed through teacups, go karts, and six different roller coasters and thrill rides without a moment's hesitation—leaving out the drop tower and the haunted house, of course, because only people on the brink of insanity went through those.
"We have about two hours left," Jisung noted, passing by an ice cream concession stand. "But there's something I wanna do before twelve."
"Kill me?"
"What is with you and murder? Did you do something?"
The older boy laughed. "You've been giving me periodic glares ever since I kicked your ass in laser tag."
"It's because you keep hogging the damn food," he grumbled, snatching the cotton candy stick away. "You also didn't kick my ass. You won by a single point."
Thinking about laser tag made his heart blip, appear on the radar softly. Minho had only said it briefly, jokingly, a strategic string of words that would carry him to the finish line, but the simple brevity of that sentence had left him cornered.
This was under the knowledge of the first rule, no less. Jisung feared the thought of going through all of this without that basic understanding of it—it would've ripped his consciousness apart.
The rules. Of course.
There was one more thing he had to do tonight. It was probably the culmination of everything, and the dark uncertainty of its possibilities left a mystery in what would come out of it.
If Rule Four and Five were still out there with any chance of survival...
Jisung shoved that thought back.
"We have a few minutes before we need to head somewhere," he murmured. "Probably time for one more thing."
They entered a small pavilion. The snow had been cleared, shoveled into a large mound in the center, surrounded by the twinkling, flashing lights of the game booths around them. Ring tosses, fishing hoops, balloon pops, they were all there.
He looked around at the bright, inviting challenges. "We could play a game. We haven't done that yet."
Minho snorted. "Those games are scammy, expensive, and the prizes aren't even that nice."
