πππππ'π π πππππβ ππππ πππππ ππππ πππ
or, where garam sinks his claws into πππ ππππππ, written in participation of the daehan carnival event
garam's spent a grip of his night with his back against the wall; his vulpine stare making its way through the crowds of people, taking all of them inβpainstakingly bored. he was (un)fortunately ditched by his "benefactor," which he's noticed, as of late, is becoming a more common occurrence. he's not exactly complaining about that, though. at least not really. so long as he's still "on the payroll," he doesn't mind the lack of attention. it's not like he's a sad-sack, delusional numbskull who thinks there's any shred of love between them. instead, he knows his place, and lives his double life cloaked in the shadows. besidesβit's more than worth it in the end.
garam adores watching the figures of his bank account go up by seven-thousand won at the top of every month. it's a pretty sweet deal.
however, being that he traveled here for that specific purpose and it's no longer happening, he had to figure out some other way to spend his night. he didn't drive all the way over here for nothing, and it's not often that he gets to take a trip to daehan in the first place. though, about an hour into his time amongst the neon-soaked rides, games, and concession stands, he caught sight of a certain face; one that he became quite familiar with only a few weeks prior. his eyes lit up, a sly smile tugged at the corners of his lips, and without further hesitation, he eagerly made his approach.
once he learned that seohan was here alone, garam knew that he needed to take advantage of the delicious opportunity that bestowed itself upon him, and now, the pair of them find themselves standing before of a gaudy row of skee-ball lanes. turning his head over to the current apple of his eye, he smirks impishly; his moon-like face drenched in vivid technicolor, then touched with a soft undertone of starlight. "why do i get the feeling that you're, like, stupid good at this game?" he teases, taking a step closer; his hands tucked into the pockets of his denim jacket.
"something tells me that you have great aim... and strong arms. is that true?"
the tone of his voice is cheeky; cute. he hopes it takes the edge off of his more forward remarks. he doesn't wanna scare seohan off, after all.
what fun would that be?
"you should go," his mother had all but pleaded with him, her worry always a little too obvious despite how she tries to cover it up with sweetness. "you're still young, you should be going out and having fun at these things. go."
how could he say no? truthfully, seohan doesn't remember the last time he's done something purely for fun's sake. he's not sure he even remembers how. and surely the injury complicates things; while he's back on his feet for the most part, it still hurts. he's off crutches, but his knee is wrapped in a rather intense-looking brace to try to minimize the pain he's in from being upright for too long. and honestly? attempting to play skee-ball like this is probably a really bad idea, but at the time it seemed better than climbing onto one of the rather rickety looking carnival rides.
seohan's balance might be off, but he manages to sink the ball in the 20-point center spot. good, but he'd feel better if he could hit a 50. he would say that he's not after the high score, but one does not become a professional athlete without an innate competitive streak. maybe there's a part of him that would like to see the number he can rack up on display for any other players and passerbys.
he's winding back, judging the aim and power it'd take to get a 50-pointer, when he's suddenly startled by a vaguely familiar voice. seohan releases by mistake, arm still strong enough to have a decent roll up the machine. he scowls when the ball bounces against the board and rolls into the 5-point hole at the bottom of the largest circle; how disappointing. it's only then that he glances back at the speaker.
a boy, he realizes, who he thinks that he's seen before but can't immediately remember where. young, pretty, confident, seohan sizes him up quickly, determining his purpose here. a fan? an old friend he forgot about? he's not sure immediately, but then it dawns on him with the way he emphasizes his interest in his arms; he's flirting. the audacity of it floors him, mouth half-open with a thought never vocalized dead in his throat. he's glad for the dim lighting; he's sure that his face must be burning right now. all he can think is how did he know?
"uh," seohan looks at the skee-ball track, then back at the young man. he shouldn't be so nervous. "i guess. i'm kinda banned from leg day for a while so. arms get extra attention, i guess." oh, he's so awkward. he knows this guy isn't really interested in his workout routine. seohan just doesn't really know what to say otherwise; he's never told anyone about that. he turns and throws the ball up the ramp. he secures 10 points this time; still not great.
