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28. GUTTER BALL ガターボール
NAMJOON STUFFED ANOTHER fry in his mouth before glancing at lia next to him. she distractedly chewed on fries, her gaze following one person in particular. he breathed out an amused chuckle. "it's like your eyes are a tracking device." he remarked after a moment.
"hm?" the girl turned to him. "you've been trailing kook with your eyes for the past couple of minutes." he told her. her face warmed, scoffing repeatedly as she reached for another fry. "i wasn't!" she answered in a too high voice. "i was just thinking." she mumbled, turning away from him.
he smiled knowingly, nodding at her. he decided to change the topic for her sake. "hodan's really good." he commented, watching the girl knock down nine pins. "woo!" she cheered, turning towards him. he grinned, pumping a fist in the air in reply.
"she's always been the best at sports. you're lucky she's your partner." lia nodded. "she's holding us up." he chuckled. "jungkook's holding us up too. team weak link." she held up a hand. "yeah," he high-fived her.
"are you two conniving to push our teams out of the game?" cathryn slid into the booth with narrowed eyes. lia snorted in reply. "we're just celebrating being the worst players in this damn thing." she replied, reaching for another fry.
"both your teams are doing just fine at the top of the table though." apollo slipped in next to his girlfriend. lia glanced at the scoreboard. he was right. somehow, both jungkook and hodan had managed to make up for their epic fails and gutter ball flush. "i'm starting to think they have super powers."
apollo laughed, two deep dimples appearing on his cheeks, the corners of his eyes crinkling warmly. cathryn leaned her head on his shoulder, feeling very comfortable in his arms. "there's definitely some voodoo going on here." she mumbled, watching hodan skip over.
namjoon held up a hand in waiting. she slapped her palm against his excitedly, the grin she had on never leaving her face. without much thought, she threw herself onto the seat. reflexively, namjoon stretched out an arm to protect the back of her head. both cathryn and lia's eyes narrowed at the action but neither said anything.
jimin came over, placing two burgers on the table for himself and kash before turning his attention to the girl who was picking up a bowling ball. "nobody touches these." he instructed, staring at namjoon in particular then walked over to where jungkook was standing. "why me?" namjoon frowned slightly.
the game went on for while. lia and namjoon hitting the least amount of pins and the highest amount of gutter balls. "tragic." lia muttered as she watched her ball knock down only one pin. "not bad." jungkook encouraged, patting her head. she cocked a brow at him. "my hand is a bowling pin repellent." she glanced at it.
"you just need a little practice." jimin piped. she shook her head. "bowling just isn't my game." she plopped on the seat. "i don't think it's mine either. i'm tired of lifting heavy bowling balls already." kash's nose crinkled in a frown before she finished off her burger.
"me too." cathryn laid her head on the table, letting out a groan. "i don't know how these three still have so much energy." her gaze moved between hodan, jimin and jungkook. "monsters." she muttered. apollo sweetly brushed her hair away from her face, his amusement at her words showing.
hodan rolled her eyes at her friend. "lazy." she remarked with a scoff. "say what you will, nothing is going to make me pick up another ball." lia let out drily, looking drained. "it is getting late and we should get you guys home." jimin glanced at his watch with pursed lips.
everyone nodded their agreement. "i think i've done a month's worth of workout just lifting bowling balls." kash stretched, letting out a small sigh. "i'm pretty sure you carry books heavier than that around." cathryn narrowed her eyes at her. "i do not!" the girl let out defensively. "sweetie, you do." hodan patted her back.
they began to file out of the booth, everyone heading off to change back to their own shoes first. they chatted as they did so, the conversation staying alive as they made their way outside.
"i'll take cat home." apollo announced. "bye, guys! we had fun!" cathryn waved before letting her boyfriend lead her off. "well, we the bus commuters..." namjoon chimed, making them smile. they strolled to the bus stop, making light conversation.
hodan was the first to get off, clearly still happy about her winning streak as she skipped her way off the bus. kash was next, lifting her hand in a wave, a small smile on her face. "this is my stop." lia announced, getting on her feet.
jungkook followed suit, making the other three raise a brow. "i'll walk yaya home. want to say hi to her little sis and brother." he told his friends. both jimin and namjoon looked like they were suppressing smiles as they nodded. "call us when you get home." jimin chimed. "nice hanging out with you, lia." namjoon added.
"you too." she waved, making her way out of the bus. jungkook glanced at his friends as he followed her. catching namjoon's wink, he rolled his eyes. hopping off, he smiled at the girl next to him. "let's go."
