GLOW-UP

13 | dinosaurs still exist

fortunately, taeil had scrolled through a pickup line site before arriving at the pizza parlour.

unfortunately, he still had no idea what the fuck he was doing when it came to flirting.

"okay, i'll start," said johnny.

taeil gulped as johnny turned his body ninety degrees to face him.

"if you were a booger... i'd pick you first."

jaehyun practically spat out his pizza in disgust. "ew, you tried that on me last semester and i told you not to ever use it ever again."

ten just looked thoughtful, eyeing johnny up from across the table. "why does that kinda work though?" he mused.

"barak obama could say that to you and you'd still melt," mark quipped, his voice muffled by the huge lump of pizza in his mouth.

"fine, look, i'll go again," johnny sighed, picking a line from the collection of them in his head. "hey, mark... is it hot in here? or is it just you?"

mark expression slowly became more flustered and uncomfortable as his face turned the same colour as the pepperoni. "um... b-but i'm not hot..."

"yeah, i know, it's fall now, it's not hot anymore. it was a pickup line, mar-" johnny began to explain.

"no, i'm just... not hot," mark mumbled. embarrassed, he shoved another load of pizza in his face so he wouldn't have to talk any more.

"you are hot, mark!" ten objected. "god, if i was as cute as you, i wouldn't have to ask for guys' numbers - they'd be giving them to me."

mark gave a tiny grateful smile, even though he didn't seem thoroughly convinced.

ten sighed. "anyway, your turn," he said to taeil.

"o-okay," taeil hesitantly agreed. the list of pickup lines he could remember from that site was painfully short, so he just said the first one that came to mind. "a-are you a mirror? b-because i can see myself inside you."

there was a moment of silence at the table. then everyone burst into choking laughter, bits of soggy cheese flying everywhere. taeil blinked nervously, watching them all crack up in hysterics.

"oh my god," johnny wheezed, wiping tears from his eyes, "are you a mirror? of all the fucking pickup lines, you go for 'are you a mirror'?"

"i found it online!" taeil protested.

"what - on a dirty pickup line website?" johnny was still almost weeping with laughter, slapping a fist repeatedly on the parlour table.

"um..."

johnny finally caught his breath and calmed down. "okay, we need to upgrade this game," he said. "let me demonstrate."

while taeil was still feeling rather bummed at his first attempt at using a pickup line, johnny was already on the move. he went up to the counter to fetch a napkin, and then walked slowly back towards the booth, stopping near a table where two girls were sitting. he strategically dropped the napkin right next to them and bent down to pick it up, catching their attention.

"oh, hey," he said, flashing them both a smile. "by the way, do you believe in love at first sight?"

the girls looked up at him, surprised by the question.

that's when johnny cracked out the smirk. "or should i pass by again?"

the girls dissolved into embarrassed giggles, chatting between them as johnny returned to his table. taeil's jaw had dropped in amazement.