Chapter Text
Lix
( Sungie )
( What do you say we do something fun before we start uni tomorrow? )
( What did you have in mind? )
Lix
( There’s that cool laser tag place not too far from here. I’ve never been but it’s supposed to be really big inside )
( That sounds interesting 🤔 )
( Give me the details and I’ll meet you there )
Lix
[ location attached ]
Tomorrow marked the first day of starting university for the both of them. They were going to the same school since both of them applied to the musical field; Jisung being in the music producing program while Felix was going into dance. It was a bit nerve-wracking to say the least, but at least they would be dorming together so they wouldn’t be thrown into a new environment all alone.
They had already moved in so there wasn’t anything left to do except continuing to explore what the campus had to offer and wait for classes to start. Felix’s idea of going to play laser tag seemed to be a good one to put their minds at ease so Jisung quickly obliged. With his keys and phone in hand, he made his way to the location that his friend had sent him.
“Woah…” Jisung awed at the size of the building that he was led to. The exterior of the building made it seem like the inside area would be at least two stories to play in. “Impressive.”
“You should see the inside.”
Jisung jumped at the sudden voice beside him. He hadn’t noticed Felix approach him.
“While I was waiting on you, I took a peek inside. There’s so much space that I’m pretty sure we’re going to have a big team.”
Jisung
@hansome
Large team or not, we’re going to win this!
[ image attached ]
“So,” Jisung looked around at the lobby. “How exactly does this work?”
Felix ushered him over to a kiosk and tapped on its screen. “You just put your player name and what team you want to be on in this thing. Then we wait until it’s our time to go in,” he explained as he selected his own name and team then moved aside to let Jisung go.
He played around with the screen for awhile before finally deciding on a player name and adding himself to Felix’s team. There was no way he was going to let an experienced gamer be on the opposite team as him just for him to lose. The big screen above the entrance to the arena lit up with the names of both teams who were due to go in next. The clock ticked down from five minutes.
There were two teams with 10 people each. Twenty people seemed like a lot but Jisung was sure that once inside, it would seem like there were far less than that. Once the clock reached zero, an announcer called all participants of the next round to enter the room to get their vests and guns.
Felix entered first with several other people and Jisung trailing behind. He wasn’t a fan of crowds, but at least the room wasn’t that small so he could feel like he had more space. The room was dimly lit by a small overhead light on the ceiling and the glowing of the equipment. Two sides of the room were lined up with blue and red vests with matching guns attached to them. Each had a number that matched up to a unique player when they first signed up. Jisung and Felix found their respective numbers and put on their equipment as the instructor started giving everyone the run down.
“Your score will be shown on the monitors inside of the arena. There is one on each far side and on each level so you can always check to see your ranking,” the instructor explained and picked up a vest that had not been claimed.
“To shoot, make sure both of your hands are on your gun. It will not shoot if you only try to pull the trigger with no other support to it,” she instructed, demonstrating what she meant. “Also, please do not cover your sensors. Play this game fairly. Though there are two teams, individual rankings are shown as well as which team won. You cannot gain any points for yourself if you try to shoot at a teammate. Whether you work together or alone is your choice. It will all add up in the end.”
She set the vest back down on the rack in which she got it from and gestured to the monitor hanging on the wall. “You have 15 minutes to play. Once inside you will have 30 seconds to decide a starting point for yourself. When the game ends, please come back to the doors that you first entered through. We will project the final scores outside for you to see. Any questions?”
“What happens if we accidentally shoot a teammate,” someone piped up from the side of the room.
“Good question. If you accidentally shoot a teammate, that’s okay in terms of points. You won’t gain any points for shooting or lose any from being shot by someone on your team, but it will stall their shooting time. The only way you will lose points is if you get shot by an enemy,” she explained then added, “anymore questions?”
Silence filled the air, showing there to be no more concerns about the game. The instructor opened the door to the arena and stepped aside for everyone to enter inside. “Please head on in and find a place to start. The countdown will begin shortly.”
Trotting over tomorrow Felix’s side, Jisung followed him into the dark arena. Save for the neon decorations glowing on the walls and sides of the ramps as well as the dim black lights, there were no lights around. It was a large maze-like space with two staircases that led up to a second level. Jisung started to worry if he was going to be able to find any opposing players in this big of a space.
“Hey,” Jisung said suddenly as he followed Felix, weaving through many walls. “We’re going to work together, right?”
“Of course. I’ve got your back as long as you’ve got mine,” Felix said with a smile that glew under the black light.
Jisung couldn’t help but to laugh at how bright his teeth were, showing his own in the process. “We did good with black clothes, but our teeth are going to give us away.”
“Oh-“ A hand went to Felix’s mouth to cover his teeth. “You’re right. No smiling allowed. And let’s be real quiet so no one will hear us.”
Jisung nodded his head and continued on moving until they found a good spot where no one else was. Even though there were twenty players together, the size of the room allowed for the two of them to not be able to see any of them. Jisung couldn’t help but to feel a bit anxious as the countdown began over the speakers. He looked to Felix who seemed to be feeling the same.
“Alright, let's do this for the blue team,” Felix said as a singing sound rang through the air, signaling the game to start. He bolted off in a set direction, looking for someone who sported the color red. Jisung followed closely beside his friend, keeping a look out for anyone that tried to come at them.
The two headed up the ramp to the second floor in hopes of having an advantage of seeing more people. It was only that they weren’t the only ones who had that idea. A girl peeled out from the corner and shot Felix from an angle. Jisung had been blocked with the way he was at Felix’s side but shifted around to shoot the girl back, giving her a time delay for her next shot. It was enough time for them to run past and take cover before it loaded up again.
“Nice shot,” Felix cheered in a whisper as he ducked down behind a wall.
“Thanks.”
Felix peeked his head over the barrier they crouched behind and took a shot at a red player who was stalking by.
“Two points for us now,” whispered Jisung as he slowly looked around the corner and made his way to another barrier.
The two of them worked well as a team together, racking up points one by one. Time went by, leaving only about 5 minutes left on the clock. Felix led his partner in crime over to a small monitor on the wall to check the scores thus far. Their team was currently in the lead by 200 points with Felix being in the top 3 players and Jisung in the top 5.
“We’re doing really good. But we don’t have much time left to widen our winning gap,” Jisung murmured in a low voice to avoid being overhead by someone else.
“Let’s go keep our gold,” Felix said and ran off from the monitor. He was a bit too quick the time for Jisung to keep up with his movements. A maze of walls surrounded Jisung as he tried to find his little Aussie friend. “Felix… Felix?” He tried his best to keep his voice just below a whisper, hoping only his friend would hear.
“Fe-“
Just as he turned, he bumped into someone and just perfectly to where their lips met the other’s. Jisung’s eyes widened in surprise at the act and stepped back, holding a hand to his mouth in shock. It definitely wasn’t who he was looking for. It was a boy on the opposing team who was just a tad bit taller than him, but not tall enough to see any difference between them both. He had shorter dark hair that was covered by a hood. The unknown boy’s look of shock was soon replaced with a slight smirk after giving Jisung a once over.
Frozen in place, Jisung could only manage to stare at the boy wildly. Why was he smirking? Was he not going to apologize? Before he could even open his mouth, said boy shot Jisung with his gun right on his sensor and made himself vanish from his vision. What a cocky move.
“W-what the hell? Hey! Come back here, you punk!”
In his attempt to call the boy back, he only let himself be discovered by more rivals. Since he got shot and his time delay was still going, all he could do was try to make a run for it and find cover. Luckily, Felix happened to find him and pull him back behind a wall for cover as he took care of those following him.
Jisung put a hand to his vest, being able to feel his frantic heart beating underneath the leather and plastic.
Once the coast was clear, Felix looked back to Jisung in question. “What happened? I turned around and you were gone.”
“I lost sight of you and all of the sudden this guy runs into me and we kiss,” he blurted, frantically throwing his arms into the air.
The gun in Felix’s hands dropped out of astonishment at that. His mouth fell agape as he tried to process what was just said. “You did what?”
“I was looking for you,” Jisung started to explain more slowly now. “And as I was turning around this guy bumped straight into me. And in the process of that we accidentally kissed. Then he shot me and left smirking like some cocky bastard,” he muttered with crossed arms. It was definitely going to be a while before he let this one go.
Felix began to laugh quietly once he started to imagine it. “That’s pretty funny, honestly. Who was it?”
Jisung lightly smacked the Aussie on the arm, annoyed by his laughing. “It wasn’t funny! And I don’t know who it was. Just someone from the other team. It’s kind of dark in here so I couldn’t really see their face all that well. But I’m sure I could probably pick him out in a line up.”
Feigning hurt, Felix rubbed his attacked arm. “You’ll probably see him when we leave. We only have a couple minutes left so let’s make it count. So don’t go wandering off and kissing strangers this time,” he teased before setting off to get his last few points in before time was up.
Jisung mockingly mumbled something unintelligent before keeping up and shooting all opponents that he crossed paths with.
A buzzing noise signalled through the arena, informing that the game had come to an end and that everyone should return back to where they entered from. The black lights were replaced with actual lights so everyone could see the exit better.
“How do you think we did?”
Felix shrugged casually. “I honestly think we did pretty good. But we’re about to find out.”
Once inside of the lobby once again, Felix made a beeline for the big monitor hanging on the wall to see the scores. Jisung on the other hand had other plans. He scouted the area looking for hoodie boy. He wasn’t sure why exactly he was even looking for him other than the fact that he wanted an apology for the way he acted.
“Oh, look Jisung. I’m 2nd and you’re 6th. Wow, you went down in rank since the last time we looked.” Felix looked to his side to where Jisung had previously been standing only to find the space vacant. “Jisung? Geez… why does he keep running off like that?”
Jisung stood near a wall with crossed arms and a foot tapping impatiently on the ground. He had moved back to where he was hoping he would be able to find hoodie boy in the crowd. But it had seemed like the one in question had disappeared completely from the lobby.
“What are you doing?” A voice called from beside him. Felix.
“I was really hoping to teach that guy a lesson for bumping into me and running off in the way he did,” he remarked.
Felix gave him a look of disbelief. “Are you still hung up about that?” A sigh escaped his lips. “Come on, let’s sign up to play another round. We have all night. And who knows? Maybe you’ll see the dude again in there.”
It was a long shot to be in another match with hoodie boy, but regardless, they were here to have fun and get rid of all of their stress. The two of them stayed for another hour until they began to feel hungry. Though, that still wasn’t enough to keep Jisung’s irritation at bay.
Jisung
@hansome
So there I was just minding my own business, and this b!tch runs into me, shoots me, and walks off with the biggest smirk on his face
Felix @fabulix
He failed to mention that they accidentally kissed
Jeongin
@notyouroppa
Is this what people do when they go to uni? If so, I’ll pass
Take-out was ordered and brought back to the freshmans’ dorm room. They figured it would just be easier to go ahead and unwind there rather than stay out later at a restaurant to eat. It was one of the smaller dorms but they were alright with them considering the fact that they were lucky enough to get to dorm with each other rather than some stranger. It had what they needed; a bedroom that they shared, a kitchen, a small sitting area, and a bathroom. And it wasn’t like they would stay in the dorm for the entirety of their stay. They would most likely be at their respective studios to work on projects.
“I’ve got to say,” Felix spoke up through a mouth full of food. “I’m excited for tomorrow but also nervous.”
“What do you have to be nervous about? I’m the nervous one here. You’re a social butterfly and everyone has always liked you.” Honestly, he wasn’t sure what Felix had to worry about. He had always been the popular one in high school who everyone was cool with. Not to mention, he was a talented dancer and he was sure to excel here with what he had to offer.
Felix rubbed the back of his head absent-mindedly. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s just because it’s a new environment for me. We’re freshman, afterall. Maybe our seniors will be way beyond us and won’t give us a chance. I’d like to make friends that I can learn from while I’m here.”
Setting the food down on the table, Jisung moved beside his friend and put an arm around his shoulders. “Don’t worry about any of that. This is a learning experience for the both of us. And don’t forget that you’re not alone here. You always got me to have your back.”
The gesture caused Felix to smile in response, seeming to be more relaxed now. “You’re right. I’m sure once I get inside the actual classes tomorrow, I’ll feel better.”
Felix
@fabulix
We were supposed to get rid of all of our worries earlier so why do I still feel anxious?
Jeongin @notyouroppa
Don’t worry. You’re going to do great, sweetie
Felix @fabulix
@notyouroppa 🥺😭💕