Single Father • Namjoon + BTS!Kids

xcv.

"It's too loud," Jimin said, fighting the urge to put his hands over his ears, but his words were drowned out by the roar of bells and whistles.

"WHAT'S THAT?" Namjoon yelled, leaning closer, and Jimin just shook his head, sinking down slightly and giving in, clamping his hands over his ears.

As part of their reintegrate-Jimin-into-society mission, they'd decided to take him to every young boy's favorite place: the arcade.

Only Jimin was immediately certain that he liked the aquarium much better because the loud noises hurt his ears and the bright flashing lights hurt his eyes and there was altogether too much stimulus to process. All he ended up with was a headache, and he hadn't even been standing inside the door more than five minutes.

"C'mon!" Jin yelled, grinning and grabbing Jimin's hand, forcing him to uncover his ears, before dragging him deeper into the overwhelming nest of chaos. "This game is my favorite!" Jin said before sitting down in the seat and shoving coins into the machine while Jimin frowned at the screen, blinking and squinting in an effort to not hurt his eyes.

"What is it, hyung?" Jimin asked, frowning at the screen as Jin hit the flashing START button. "What is that sound?"

"It's called Pac-Man, Jimin, and that's just the sound the game makes," Jin explained while fighting for control with the joystick.

Jimin frowned. "It sound like a siren," he mumbled.

"Oh, yeah, maybe," Jin said, but he was too distracted by the game to really process Jimin's words. "Aw, man!" he yelled after dying before turning around to smile at Jimin. "How about you give it a try?"

Jimin tried to protest, but Jin was already getting up and shuffling him into the seat. Jimin cautiously set his hand down on the joystick and waited for some sort of a sign.

"Now! Jimin, you have to move or they'll get you!" Jin yelled, and Jimin looked over, confused.

"Wait, it started?"

"Yes! Didn't you hear the song start over? It's okay, just hurry! Don't look at me! Look at the screen!"

Jimin looked back at the screen, confused, but he obeyed Jin and pushed the joystick to the left, watching the yellow circle move and eat the dots. Then he ran into a wall and frowned.

"A different direction! Choose a different direction!"

"Oh," Jimin mumbled before moving the yellow circle up and hitting another wall before slowly turning right. "Wait, do I need to use turn signals?" He stopped to look at the sides of the machine. "I don't see them, how am I supposed to-"

"No, you don't need to use turn signals, Jimin! It's a Pac-Man, not a car!" Jin shouted, watching the screen intently. "Hurry! Go down! Pinky is going to get you!"

"Pinky? Is that the pink thing?"

"Yes, now hurry up and go down!"

Jimin did as asked. "So, is the red one Reddy? And is the blue one Bluey? And is the orange one Orangey?"

"No," Jin said, looking at Jimin as though he had suggested something ridiculous. "The red one is Blinky, and the blue one is Inky."

"Oh. Well, what about the orange one?"

"His name is Clyde."

Jimin just blinked. "I don't understand that."

"You don't have to understand, just- TURN LEFT!"

Jimin winced at Jin's volume and turned, but he saw the pink one closing in and he panicked, getting stuck in a corner. He physically flinched as though struck when Pinky got him before standing up quickly. "Y-you can play," Jimin said, and Jin nodded shortly before jumping back into the seat, not even noticing as Jimin wandered off.