T A E H Y U N G

"Do you guys go to the arcade often?" Momo asks.

"Not very often, but we like to go every once in a while."

The ten of us were walking to the arcade together after school. The sidewalk was narrow so we walked along in pairs. I walked beside Jungkook, but he was awfully quiet today.

"What's on your mind, JK? You've barely said anything all day." I say.

"I'm just tired." He insists, "I'm sure playing some games at the arcade will make me feel better though."

'What games do you guys like to play?" Mina asks.

"I like playing the racing games and the claw machines, but you should see Taehyung play Dance Rush! He's an expert!" Jimin says.

"I'm not that good." I shake my head.

"What are you talking about? You have the high score on the machine at this arcade."

"You have to show them, Tae. You're really good." Hobi pats my shoulder.

"I'll think about it."

When we got there, we all split up in small groups because we all wanted to play different games anyways. I was playing air hockey with Jungkook for a while and then I noticed the three girls heading upstairs to the rhythm game area. Jungkook noticed this too.

"Let's go join them." He said.

They were busy playing a drum game so Jungkook insisted on playing Dance Rush together. If you don't know what Dance Rush is, it's basically a rhythm game with falling notes, but you use your feet. You have to step, slide, or shuffle to hit the notes.

We chose a random song and started playing. Not even a minute in and I started to sweat. I wasn't going to let Jungkook beat me. I ended up getting a higher score by just a few points. We won some free play so we could do another song.

"Alright. Enough playing around." I say, taking off my blazer.

"Uh oh. You're getting serious, I'm scared." Jungkook laughs.

I got so into the game, I was so focused that I didn't even notice all of our friends came to stand behind us and watch us play.

I only realized when I turned to the side while I was still playing. I lost focus for a split second, but I wasn't go to let Jungkook win.

The song ends and I came out with a higher score.

"Why are you so good at this?" Jungkook pants.

"Practice makes perfect, bro." I say, wiping my forehead.

"Great, now you're both all sweaty." Yoongi says.

"It was worth it." I shrug.

"You must've played that game so much! You are an expert!" Sana says.

I walk around to try to stop sweating while the others played some more games.

Walking by, I noticed Mina hovering around a game by herself. She kept looking at it, watching the demo videos, but she wouldn't play it.

"Have you ever played it before?" I ask, catching her by surprise.

"Oh..y-yeah. It's one of my favorites." She says.

"Then why don't you play?"

"I...I don't have anyone to play with. It's a two-player game."

I smile, "I can play with you if you'd like."

"Would you?"

"Yeah! I'd love to."

"Really? Thank you so much!" She gets all excited.

Cute.

It was a fighting game, kind of like Street Fighter. I didn't mean to underestimate her, but damn, she was really good! She kicked my butt all three rounds.

"Wow...you're really good." I say after I lose the last match.

"Practice makes perfect." She smiles.

We stuck around the arcade for a little while longer before heading home.

"Thanks for inviting us, guys! We had a lot of fun today." Sana says.

"Anytime. You guys are fun to hang out with." Jimin tells them.

"Well, we'll see you guys tomorrow at school. We gotta get going."

"Alright. Get home safe."

"Bye guys!"

"Bye!"

When they were already pretty far down the street, I noticed something sitting on the ground in front of us. It was a bracelet. I've seen it before...oh, right! It's Mina's! I saw she was wearing one just like it when we were playing.

I pick it up and start running after them.

"Wait! You dropped something!" I call.

The three of them turn around as soon as they hear my voice.

"This is yours, right Mina? I found it on the ground just now."

"Oh, yes, it is. I didn't even notice. Thank you, Taehyung." She bows.

"Don't worry about it." I say, "I'll see you guys tomorrow."

I hope I'm not being too obvious.

My entire perspective has changed over the course of two days. I won't fight it. I admit.

I like her.

But no one else needs to know that just yet.

As time went on though, I only found more reasons to like her. Maybe I'm just blindly in love with the idea of love because I've never had a real crush before. Before I do anything with her, I have to ask myself: am I really ready to do something like this right now?

Until I can confidently answer that question, I'll wait.

In the meantime, we're still friends and I'm happy with that.

Whatever this is that I'm feeling right now, it's just platonic. I like her as a person. I don't know much about her personality yet, but I'd love to get to know her. If I want to do that though, I have to let her get to know me too.

I don't open up to many people. If they don't make a good impression on me or if I just don't like their energy or their vibe, I don't open up with them. I won't be rude, of course, but I won't go out of my way to become friends with them.

There was something about these girls though. Maybe it's because Jimin introduced them to us or maybe it's their energy or something, but it didn't take much for me to feel comfortable around them.

There's just something about them.