Hopeless Valentine

Strained Significance

Ichiro blinked at you, utterly surprised.

You also blinked at Ichiro, absolutely speechless.

Actually, it was more like you weren't sure how to react. Do you wave? Say hi? Acknowledge Ichiro standing among 4 other boys? Did he want to be acknowledged?

Ichiro turned away, rubbing the back of his neck anxiously and you took that as a no.

One of your friends had gone through a messy break up and to take up time and loneliness decided to set up a mixer. Originally you didn't want to go; mixers weren't your thing. She had guilt tripped you into agreeing, saying that you never wanted to hang out with them. That wasn't it at all, but because you felt bad somehow you ended up here, in front of an arcade, facing Ichiro and 4 other guys that seemed to be his friends.

Your friends quickly started up conversations with the guys but you stayed quiet, replying only when talked to. Honestly you were disinterested at everyone but Ichiro, even if he was currently giving you the cold shoulder. Still, to not make anything uncomfortable and awkward, you decided not to be too friendly towards the dark-haired teen in front of his buddies. It didn't help that you couldn't keep your eyes off him.

Arcades weren't your thing either, so while your friends paired off and played games with the boys, you found yourself wandering the crane machines. You sucked at crane games but truthfully even though a lot of them carried limited edition items, the majority was rigged so it wasn't like the stakes were great either.

"Do you like that one?"

You jumped, startled by a voice you didn't recognize murmuring right beside your ear. When you turned to the side, you saw a lanky, blonde-haired boy with silver piercings––one of Ichiro's friends . He was flashy and quite attractive, but gave of an air of a player. His name...?

The blonde smiled and you noticed a deep dimple in his right cheek. He pointed to himself, his fingers decorated with bulky, silver rings. "I'm Jun. What are you doing here all by yourself?"

"I.. Uh," You stuttered, your gaze flitting to where the girls stood surrounded by the others.

Ichiro was standing a few meters away, straight-faced with his hands in his pockets. He was watching your friend and a brown-haired boy play a shooting game, complacent at the spectacle.

Jun's gaze flicked between you and Ichiro and he leaned in, waving a hand in front of your face to get your attention. When your attention was on him again, he grinned. He had a pretty smile, too.

"Y'know, you're kinda cute." Jun said, causing you to gape at his straightforwardness. "You're [Name], right?"

"Uh, yeah." Was all you could say, stunned by his compliment.

Jun turned to the crane machine and tapped on the glass screen. This particular one had a black bear with a red ribbon around its neck and although you didn't collect stuffed animals, you thought it was cute.

Jun glanced at you, raising a brow. "If I get this bear for you, will you fall in love with me? I'm actually pretty good at crane machines."

You offered him a small smile. "Falling in love is a bit farfetched, don't you think?"

He chuckled. "Why don't I try anyway?"

Jun was smooth and easy to talk to. You could see a lot of girls easily falling head over heels for him, even if he did have an edge. Any boy with blonde hair and multiple silver piercings in your age group definitely meant trouble.

"You don't have to."

"Whoops." Jun slipped in a coin and shot you a wink. "My fingers slipped."