Don't touch me // Minsung

16. 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘨𝘢𝘮𝘦

As soon as they entered, Minho's shiny eyes had no idea where to look. He had never been in this kind of fun center and to say he looked amazed was an understatement. Even if the loud noises and the huge crowd gathered in this large space unsettled him, a part of him wanted to discover more. There were neon signs everywhere, people playing arcade games in one corner, pool in another. It smelled like freedom and youth and insouciance, skipping school, spending time with friends and family, drinking way too sugary drinks. Universal experiences Minho knew nothing about.

He took in everything his eyes witnessed as they made their way through the crowd, avoiding teenagers chasing each other and running right in front of them. Jisung wanted to be at the bowling alley already, there would be less people than here. His heart beating in his chest suddenly ran his breath short, overwhelmed by the movements and noises around them. But still, he did not recognize anyone from campus, so it was a small victory.

They all changed their shoes as soon as they arrived and went to play. Minho just sat down, waiting for the group who agitated frantically, not really knowing why. Changbin and Hyunjin were very serious about which ball to use, almost planning a strategy already from the choice of the balls. The others picked them as well but Jisung noticed Minho had not chosen any and went up to him.

"Why are you not choosing a ball?", he asked, intrigued.

"I'll take whatever ball there is, I'm not good at this anyway", he said, hiding the fact that he had never played before. He did not even know why he lied, he just did not want them to make fun of him, he felt like everybody had done this once in their lives, and well he never did. It was not like he had ever been allowed to relax or do anything fun before...

"I'm not good either", Jisung reassured the older, giggling.

He quickly chose his ball and took the same one for Minho before sitting down next to him. The others arrived right after and got ready quickly, some already boiling with excitement.

And to prove a point, Changbin did not waste any time and opened the game with a spare, as Seungmin had not even sat down yet.

"Hyunjin-ah! Do you see this?", he exclaimed, way too excited for the group who had been left stunned by the early start. But Hyunjin laughed and played right after him, only to score 9 points. He pointed at Changbin, challenging him: the competition was on.

Jisung leaned closer to Minho, sensing the older lacked some needed background information. "They're both really good at bowling, and they've been challenging each other for years now. Changbin wants revenge because Hyunjin's been winning every game for the last few months."

Minho nodded, finally getting some context, and as Jisung got up to play he suddenly felt cold, the younger's warmth missing next to him.

Seungmin laughed as Jisung only scored 2 lonely points. "I don't think you'll get better one day?"

He shushed him and threw the second ball under Minho's observing eyes. The older had been trying to understand how to play since the beginning, desperately hoping to not look too stupid. It felt like the entire world knew all about the game, except for him. What was he supposed to do? Look lame in front of everyone, become an easy target for them to make fun of... He knew he sucked, he did not need a reminder!

Minho's anger left him when he joined back the world hearing the friends' laughs. Jisung sat down next to Minho, laughing at himself as well, he had not scored any more points. He looked at him, a wide grin still spreading on his face and tapped his thigh, telling him to go play.

Minho finally got up, a bit stressed, feeling everyone's eyes on him. He took the ball and figured successfully which fingers to use. He calmed his breath and tried to repeat what he saw but his first throw was quite chaotic, the ball hit the ground loudly and well, he did not score any points.