upstart; skz

6; arcade

If you see any mistakes, don't be afraid to point them out.

☆

"Feels like forever since we've spoken."

I sigh and tighten my grip on my boyfriends hand, leaning slightly so our shoulders were agaisnt each other.

"Why do you think I brought us here?" I retort, smiling.

Chris smiles back, let's go of my hand and wraps his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer to him in a warm embrace.

"Happy to spending time with my girls," he says with the cutest voice as he turns to his right and I hear Jamie giggle loudly.

I smile and chuckle softly, glad to be spending some time with Chris and my little sister, even though it was spontaneous.

Today was a free day, from college and work. Changbin had told me to go home early from training, meaning a whole day to myself, until I remembered why I had even started boxing in the first place.

When I arrived home this morning, my mother was sitting on the front porch, her eyes closed with a white, burning stick in her hand. I knew she had been smoking in secret, but I had never caught her in the act of doing so.

It broke my heart when she started crying and apolagising to me, begging to keep her habit a secret from Mimi. Even though I didn't say I wouldn't, I could never bring myself to tell my sister or anyone I knew of her problem.

While Jamie was in school, I took care of mom and cleaned up the house. She tried her hardest to keep the house tidy, but she'd get tired easily and rest for an hour or two. Her room was very unkept, and sometimes, the dishes from breakfast were still dirty.

"Yah, (y/n), this is your day off, please rest."

I look at my mom, who lays on her bed, eyes closed. I sigh, walking up to her and placing a kiss on her temple.

"Don't worry about me right now, I'll be taking Mimi to the arcade today."

The sad smile that she had at mentioning my little sister was still fresh in my mind. When Jamie got home, I made her a sandwich and helped with her homework. She asked about mom, I had to lie.

"Is mommy home?"

"Yes, she's just a little tired from work."

The three of us enter the building, the soft chatter and laughter of teens and children welcome us into the arcade. Jamie pulls Chris towards one of the many games, pointing with her finger and repeating endlessly that she wants to play.

I follow behind, reaching into my bag for my coin bag that Chris had gifted me last year for my birthday. I take out a quarter from the small bag and walk up to the machine, handing Jamie the coin.

She quickly throws the currency into the machine and begins pressing the buttons to move the yellow character on the screen. I watch as Chris hypes her up, helping her every now and then when she was struggling to keep the pixel alive.

"Hey, hold on, you messed me up! Run it back!"

A voice behind me yells out loudly, catching my attention.

"Jisung, you've lost twice already."

The voice responding to the other is awfully familiar, but I needed to see his face to confirm. If it was him, would he approach me? What would Chris think?

"Whatever, where's Felix anyway? I'm hungry."

I turn my head to one side, hoping to get a glimpse of the two boys who were talking. I see one, the backside of him at least. He wore a black beanie and shirt, paired with some blue jeans. He started walking and the other appeared, dark hair and clothes.

"He should be at a booth," the boy I've come to recognize tells the other and they both walk to the other side of the building.

"Everything okay babe?"

I turn back around to face my boyfriend, smiling and nodding.

"Thought I recognized someone," I simply say and we move on to Mimi's favourite game, one she enjoys watching other people play mostly.

I give her a couple of quarters and the machinery takes it, allowing us to play freely. My little sister giggles as she chooses her favourite song from the game's many choices.

"I wanna see you play, (y/n)! Then Channie!" She squeaks happily, clapping her hands in excitement.

I hand Chris my purse and step onto the squared platform decorated with different coloured arrows. I start the song and the same arrows appear on the screen, slowly at first but begin to pick up pace as the song continues.

My feet landed perfectly on each arrow, getting many points as I went on. I managed my breathing to not get too tired, but my legs already started to ache. I gripped to the railing behind me to balance myself, the song getting faster.

"You got this (y/n)!" Chris cheers and I let a laugh out, the song then ending abruptly.

I sigh and lean forward, my hand on my bent knees, taking a breather. Was this song always this difficult?

"Alright Chris, goodluck."

I hop off the platform, leaning against another machine to catch my breath.

"You're really good at that."

My attention turns to the boy I had seen earlier, approaching with the two others. His features held no emotion, but his other friend, the one wearing the beanie, had wide eyes.

"That's the hardest song! And you got an S rank!?" He exclaims, his eyes darting from the machine to me.

Hyunjin sighs, crossing his arms.

"Excuse him, he's never won a game in his life," he teases the other, walking up to me. "Do you come here often?"

"Who are you?"

The both of us turn to Chirs, who's arms were also crossed, but I saw that look in his eyes and I shook my head lightly, grinning at my boyfriend.

"This is Hyunjin, he's Minho's friend," I explain, silently hoping the boy beside me won't bring up Changbin or anything relating to our training.

Chris lowers his arms and his defensive aura disappears, the familiar grin appearing on his features.

"Ah, nice to meet you, I'm Chan," he introduces himself, shaking Hyunjins hand.

"Pleasure," Hyunjin states simply.

"Hi! I'm Jamie, but you can call me Mimi!" My little sister comes up in the middle of us, looking up at Hyunjin with sparkling eyes and a sweet smile.

Hyunjin smiles.

"Nice to meet you Mimi."

☆

Will Hyunjin end up telling Chris about (y/n)'s secret? Will Jisung be able to win a game? And will Felix have any lines?

Who knows? 🤪

okay. today's a busy day so I gtg, hope you're enjoying this read! please vote, it helps with my motivation (:

Love ya ♡