the bet | dojae

thirteen

"aw, man, i didn't even get any pictures of them! i'll text taeyong later for one."

jaehyun and doyoung were walking to the arcade nearby, and for most of the walk, jaehyun had been telling doyoung about everything the arcade had to offer. he admitted the second they stepped outside that he had never actually been there before, and jaehyun was beginning to understand the offense doyoung felt back at the aquarium.

taking doyoung's hand into his own, he led him inside the dark building, illuminated only by the neon lights that lined the floors and the machines. their first stop was the token machine, jaehyun waiting for the machine to accept his money and watching as doyoung marveled at the machines that surrounded them. "any specific one you wanna visit first?"

"do you have any recommendations?"

"hm ... not really. plus, since this is your first time ever being here, i want you to go in blind."

"is it really going in blind if you told me everything the arcade has?"

he rose an eyebrow, and jaehyun rolled his eyes, shaking his head a little. "you don't know what the games are like, though. you only know what they are."

"fair point. what about that one?" he pointed, and jaehyun narrowed his eyes, following his finger to the racing game in the center of the arcade.

shrugging a little, he grabbed the tokens and took doyoung's hand again, leading him over to the game. "have you ever played a racing game before?"

"uh ... does mario kart count?"

"good enough."

he got into the left seat, doyoung getting into the right, and they each inserted a token, watching as the title screen faded and the menu came into view. they picked their racers and voted on a track, and when the actual race started, jaehyun immediately began to realize that doyoung was good. better than he was probably willing to admit. he was surprised he had never played one of those games before, especially when the race ended and doyoung was in first. "are you sure you've never been to an arcade?"

"mario kart did pay off!" doyoung turned in his seat and high fived jaehyun, who had to stop himself from smiling like an idiot at the boy's enthusiasm.

"okay, okay, get your tickets and let's go. what do you wanna try next?"

"hm ..." they wandered around the arcade, doyoung eventually stopping in front of the pac-man machine. "a classic."

"this isn't your way of telling me you've never played pac-man before, is it ... ? we're gonna have to break up if that's the case."

"no, no, i've played it before, just not on one of these. do you wanna go first?" he stepped aside, and jaehyun inserted a token, cracking his knuckles before resting his hand on the joystick. "this is probably the easiest game in the ent— fuck."

the screen transitioned to black, and doyoung snickered beside him, nudging him out of the way with his hip. "i think you just got the world record for the fastest death in pac-man."

"shut up."

when the game reset and moved on to their next life, doyoung went quiet, his brows furrowed as he focused on the game in front of him. his tongue stuck out slightly, and he moved the joystick in every direction, not letting jaehyun have another shot at the game when he entered his last life. soon, he died, and he released the joystick, frowning. "i think it's rigged."

"i think we might just not be suited for pac-man."

grabbing the few tickets they got, he walked alongside doyoung until the boy stopped him, pointing to a photo booth. "there."

"you wanna take pictures?"

"why not?"

he looked over at jaehyun with his head tilted slightly, and jaehyun sucked in a sharp breath before muttering, "fine." doyoung dragged him to the photo booth, and they stepped inside, sitting next to each other as the screen displayed instructions. the countdown soon began, and they entered multiple poses, switching the second each picture was taken. the first few poses were cute, but then jaehyun got brave.

jaehyun kissing doyoung on the cheek. doyoung frozen in complete shock. doyoung looking over at jaehyun.

doyoung kissing jaehyun.