Changing into my PE Attire, I looked at the mirror and contemplated for a moment. Is this the right thing to do...? Should I just go against my parents and have fun with Chanhee?
Shaking off my thoughts, I decided to just go out with Chanhee and threw away my worries. Maybe one day of fun wouldn't hurt.
I sprinted to the school gate, thinking that I was probably fashionably late, but it turned out that Chanhee only just reached the front gate. I sighed, "Oh god, I thought I kept you waiting." He said, "I thought you know that I am slow."
I giggled, "You are going to live a long life if you really are that slow." He said, "I probably do want to live a long life. Okay, our first destination of the day... The arcade. Let's go!"
I smiled and followed him to an arcade located in one of the shopping malls near our school. It was probably the first time I entered an arcade center. Everything seemed so new to me, as though I time traveled from the caveman era to the modern era.
"Woah! So this is how an arcade looks like?" I asked. He looked at me, surprised, "You mean... you have never stepped into an arcade before?" I shook my head, "Nope..."
Instead of laughing at me, he smiled and said, "I guess this gives me more reasons to take you out to play. Come on, let's play Street Fighters."
We sat down in front of a joystick machine and he taught me how to play. It was easy, but difficult for me to control. I was literally spamming the buttons while Chanhee was all relaxed. Occasionally, he would purposely lose so that I would not feel disheartened by the number of losses I attained.
"Wow... you're really good," I pouted. He chuckled, "Hey, you don't need to sulk over losing. It's really just about having fun, you know. Besides, you are pretty good too."
I smiled, "You are like a pro though. Alright, what's next? I'm up for another game." He said, "The basketball machine it is!"
It was a fierce competition between the two of us as we challenged each other to see who could score the most number of points. The moment it started, I was throwing the basketballs into the rim. Many of it rebounded but I was determined to win at least once. However, my competitiveness ended up having one of the balls rebounding towards me.
I got hit in the head by the ball that rebounded back and Chanhee panicked, "Oh my god, are you okay?"
He stopped throwing the basketballs and went to me to see if I was okay. My forehead went red, but I was laughing out of embarrassment. I said, "Yeah. I'm okay, I'm okay."
Suddenly, he was standing really close to me as he looked at my forehead, placing his delicate fingers on it, and massaged the spot that was stinging in pain. My heart began to race as he massaged the spot, and I did not know what to do.
I excused myself to go to the toilet before things got any more awkward. As I was all alone in the toilet, the sound of my heart racing was much more audible. I mumbled, "Shion... what are you doing? It's just Chanhee massaging your forehead..."
After washing my face, I went out of the toilet and tried to act normal. To my surprise, the guys in my class passed by and saw me. The 'boss' of my class, Stephen Yoon, walked towards me and glared, "What are you even doing here?"
I stuttered, "I... I am here to play in the arcades..."
"You? Playing in the arcades?" He repeated and bursted into laughter, as though my words were a joke to him. Even his friends were laughing at me. He said, "Oh please! You? Playing in the arcades? I bet you are super bad at it. Stop trying so hard to fit into the modern society and go back to your wormhole to study."
They continued to laugh, and I was in the verge of tears. Was it really wrong for me to learn to have fun? They were the ones who said I didn't know how to have fun. Now that I'm actually having fun, they said I am trying too hard. What is it that they want from me?