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“Jun! Come on! Get your shoes.”
Jun pulls on his sneakers, a scowl slowly forming on his face. ‘ He’s only 12 ’, Dongho mused, ‘ why’s he always so serious? ’
“I’m going, calm down.”
The brothers make their way to
Dongho’s
their father’s car, and get in. Dongho adjusts the mirror and smiles at his little brother’s reflection before starting the car and pulling out of their driveway. Jun busies himself with the loose leather on the back of his hyung’s seat, slowly peeling it off, before he decides that pulling on Dongho’s hair would be more fun.
“Ow! Stop it, I’m driving!”
“Does it look like I care?”
“Jun, you’re going to kill us both one of these days.”
The drive is quite chaotic, but otherwise enjoyable. Unfortunately, no amount of bugging Dongho would make him turn the car around, so Jun was stuck going with him.
Oh god.
Finally, after 5 minutes of driving, they arrived. Mengkkongyee Oraksil, a new arcade located just around the corner, was the perfect spot for the local teenagers and children to gather and do their normal, teenage/childhood things. You’d think Jun would be ecstatic to be at such a place, and on a day off of school, no less. Nope. He’d literally do anything to be anywhere else right now. Why? Well, it’s not like he has some kind of aversion to fun and video games, no that’s far from it. Rather, it’s the people.
Even then, Jun doesn’t really mind the people that are just background noise, that have nothing to do with his life directly. No, it’s because today, on this annoyingly sunny Monday, he’s going with his hyung to meet up with his friend Minsung. It’s not even that part that’s annoying Jun, he’s met Minsung a few times before, and they’re acquainted with each other.
The thing is, Minsung’s bringing his younger brother. A younger brother that was just Jun’s age.
Of course, like any annoying hyung, Dongho just had to force Jun into coming to try to get him to socialize and make actual friends. As if Jun needed anyone more than his older brother and that one kid that lives across the street, Ahn Jaewon.
As soon as they met, Jun came to a realization. Minsoo was a surprisingly quiet kid. From what he had heard, Minsoo was bratty and rambunctious. This person in front of him was quite the opposite. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets, and wouldn’t make eye contact with anyone but his brother. In fact, he was clinging to Minsung practically the entire time they were being introduced to each other.
“Hey Minsoo. This is my little brother Junsu. We usually call him Jun, though. Jun, this is Minsoo. I told you a little about him.”
‘ Yeah, you told me way more than just a little about him ’, Jun grumbled internally.
Dongho peered at his brother fidgeting behind him with a small, tender smile on his lips. He was so shy, even though he tried to hide it. Dongho used to be the same way with Minsung, back when they were younger.
“Let’s go inside then.”
The arcade was comfortably populated, if that makes any sense. Enough people for it to not seem awkward, but not so much that it was crowded beyond easy access.
Minsung locked arms with Dongho and began dragging him off towards the snacks and drinks, cheering, “You guys take these quarters and find a game to play, we’ll be right back.”
“What’d you do that for?” Dongho raised an eyebrow at the other male, “Jun’ll kill me when we get back.”
“That’s how we became friends, remember? My mom kept talking to yours and made us leave them alone, so we were forced to play with each other. It worked for us, it’s bound to work for them. Anyway, how are you and your parents? Did ya tell them about it yet?”
Dongho’s anxious gut feeling from a few days prior came back. He had been telling Minsung about his dream of following a career in music, but knew that his parents probably wouldn’t approve of it. ‘ Think of your future, ’ they’d say, ‘ You’ll grow old, and then what? You’ll starve and become homeless. ’
“I haven’t told them yet. I’m going to do it by this weekend, for sure, just...I need a little time to prepare myself for it.”
“Take your time, alright? Well, not all the time, but as much as you need as long as you get it done.”
Dongho knew he was right. It had to happen at some point. He just didn’t want to think of it that day, not then.
“How’s Minsoo doing? I haven’t seen him since that time we went to the dentist.”
“What do ya mean? You just saw him right now.”
Dongho coughed out a chuckle and ruffled the other’s hair, “Dumbass, I mean before today.”
Minsung looked fondly down at the money clutched in his hand and smiles, “He’s been doing well. He’s getting his grades up and stuff. He’s got these two other friends too, one named Daehyun and the other Jaewon.”
“Jaewon? What’s his last name?”
“Ahn, why?”
‘ Ahn Jaewon, huh? So that kid knows Minsoo too? ’
The snack shop lady glared at them. They hadn’t even noticed that they were next in line.
“He’s that shy kid, right? The one that wears baggy sweaters all the time? Jun knows him too. His only good friend.” Dongho grunted, arms crossed in front of his chest as he leant against the wall while Minsung ordered. He nodded in confirmation.
“Yeah, that one. Anyway, they came over last Tuesday and--oh shit!”
The condensation on Dongho’s Sprite seemed to be too much for Minsung’s slippery fingers to handle. The soft drink slipped through his fingers and spilled onto the floor, bubbly clear liquid staining the rug and wetting the tile below.
“Ah...Sorry Dongho. I’ll get you another one.”
Dongho shook his head, and quickly moved in a different direction, “Nah, you don’t have to. Hold on a second, I’ll be right back.”
“Dongho? Where you going?”
“Paper towels.”
Minsung snickered and called after him, “You don’t have to do that, people work here for this!”, but his words went unheard, leaving him to stand alone in the puddle of Sprite while the snack shop lady glared at him again, probably cursing him out internally for some reason.
Dongho moved swiftly through the aisles of arcade games as the place slowly became more crowded. ‘ Jeez, it’s a Monday, why are there so many people here? ’
He went into the males’ bathroom for the towels, and came out to see quite a curious sight. Jun stood at an air hockey table, his back towards his hyung, while Minsoo was on the other side leaning over the table to try to push the orange puck out of the middle.
Huh.
They were playing together.
Dongho smiles while walking back to Minsung, paper towels in hand. Looks like Jun’s finally making another friend.