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Tan had assumed that he would be better than Fang at video games. He had spent plenty of time playing with Phum, staying up and being tired all day at school. Needless to say, he wasn’t expecting to be beaten repeatedly by his boyfriend who had never once mentioned playing video games. He had even started off purposely not at his peak performance, thinking he would be nice to let Fang win, but clearly, Fang did not hold this same sentiment. For Tan, it was loss after loss, even at his peak performance he stood no chance. Additionally, after playing so many rematches his brain seemed to be giving up as well, as he began losing his general understanding of how the game worked and what techniques he had learned previous to this truly unfortunate moment. Meaning, that Tan was not only losing terribly but actually simultaneously decreasing in chances of winning as he continued to get worse with each pitiful attempt.
He should’ve guessed a guy he met through getting punched in the face would’ve been competitive, but for some reason, he blanked on it, going into the first round with full confidence. At first, he thought maybe it was a mix of him not trying his best and Fang being lucky, but after the 10th loss or so, he realized that wasn’t the reality, “Babe, can’t you go easy on me?” he cried.
“Didn’t you say you were good at this game?” Fang asked. It seemed like more of an insult than a question.
Tan groaned in regret, “Don’t rub it in. I have already lost so many times babe!” Fang laughs lightly. It may be at his own expense, but maybe losing a game wasn’t so bad if he got to hear Fang’s laugh. Tan can’t help but smile a bit upon hearing Fang despite being seconds away from another miserable loss. His fatal mistake is shifting his gaze to see Fang’s expression, being lured in by the siren song Fang’s laugh was, immediately hearing the sound the game made when the round ended.
“You aren’t going to win by staring at me,” Fang states meeting Tan’s gaze.
“I won you, babe.” Tan winks. Fang pushes his eyebrows together and shakes his head, but it scores another laugh and that’s what matters.
He refocuses on the TV, “Just play the game.” Tan pouts to himself before briefly returning to face the screen as well. Tan wanted to win, he really did, but he also knew that he stood no chance. While he may have given up winning fairly, he could still possibly win by cheating, which may not count to most people, but it counted in his mind. Sure, winning fairly was the ideal, but that clearly wasn’t going to happen, so why keep playing fair? That was Tan’s rationalization.
Tan looks away from the game briefly to peck Fang’s cheek, attempting to distract Fang enough to the point of losing. Fang shakes his head and doesn’t flinch let alone switch focus away from the game. All that did was make Tan’s chance of winning this round decrease even more. Fang sneers, “Are you trying to cheat?”
Tan whines, “How did that not work!”
Fang exhales a gentle snicker, “Only you would lose to something like that.”
“Ouch,” Tan replied, watching Fang continue to shake his head through his peripheral vision. Well, it was back to the drawing board for Tan then. Tan was sure that would work, and the fact that it failed so quickly was a bit demotivating. He beat Fang, even when he tried to cheat, how was that possible? Why was Fang so good at this game? Tan thought he knew a pretty good deal of information about Fang, but he seriously had no idea how good Fang was at games. Should he have asked about this prior? If he had, he could’ve saved himself from his current devastation. Just as he had begun reflecting on this he lost once more. He honestly wasn’t phased by the loser screen anymore, “Babe, how are you so good?”
Fang sets down the controller on the coffee table in front of them, “I play sometimes with Phum,”
Tan wailed, “So do I!”
Fang shrugged, “I am just better than you then.”
Tan sighed dramatically, “I wasn’t wondering about that,” he lowered his head to enhance the theatrical effect, but it was quickly lifted back up when he felt Fang kiss his cheek. Fang smiled brightly and giggled like they had never kissed before, “Babe, you’re always laughing at me.”
“You make it easy.”
“You’re so brutal!” Tan mimics a stab wound to the heart.
“Do you want to keep playing?” Fang asks with no doubt; with an intention that was anything but innocent or sincere.
“So you can keep beating me over and over? Babe, you are too cruel.”
Fang shook his head once again, “I will teach you.” He paused and then added, “It’s boring to play with someone who isn’t on the same skill level as me anyway.”
Just like Fang had proposed, he began doing his best explanations of the different techniques and game mechanics that were vital to winning. Tan felt like he never learned any of this, or perhaps never played the same game Fang had been explaining to him. All the information was new to him. Tan had taken the game at full face value, which was ok against certain people, but he now realized how much true understanding mattered.
Fang was logical whereas Tan was impetuous, they thought and understood things in completely different ways. Perhaps this is what caused their conflict during their first meeting. Everything Fang said had evidence and a reason to believe what he said, his thoughts were comparative to the structure of an argumentative essay. On the other hand, Tan believed things to believe and rarely had any explanation for those things. They seemed to contrast each other at every angle of life which is what made them being together so special.
It took a bit, and maybe some leniency on Fang’s part, but Tan did eventually win once, and after that, they both agreed it was time to stop playing for the day. Finally winning felt pretty good, but it felt better when he connected their lips. Fang could argue that it was some sort of reward for Tan’s efforts, but the real truth was he just wanted to kiss Tan. As for Tan, he didn't care what the reason was, he was always happy to kiss Fang.