You stood by the gate of the school and looked at the lively colors everywhere. *Sigh.*

“Do I really have to do this?” You thought. Would it really be worth it? Would you really be willing to risk your dignity again just for a perfect final exam score? Hmmm.........

OF COURSE!

What kind of idiot would let such an opportunity pass by? It’s just 12 stars anyway, and that would surely be as easy as pie for you.

“Now, where should I start?” You tapped your chin as you started walking around. There were lots of excited students everywhere, and you silently prayed that your insane friends weren’t one of them. And to even make things harder, you couldn’t differentiate outsiders from students since your principal allowed civilian clothes for this even. God, who knows what they’ll do to you this time? Surely, they’re already plotting some weird things to do this year. And you had no intention in getting involved with any of those. You shook your head, deciding to forget about them and just try to enjoy. As you looked left, a retro-looking signage caught your eye. It said, “ARCADE BOOTH.”

Hm, that doesn’t seem so bad. You walked towards it and as soon as you got in the door, the overpowering smell of man-sweat ran past your nostrils. You almost gagged. Uhh, maybe we should just try another booth.

“Hey there! How may I help you?” A blonde guy wearing hipster glasses greeted before you could even turn back. He was sitting behind the table at the front, and his nametag said “Baekhyun.” He was probably the person in charge here. You had no choice but to return his square shaped smile with a forced one.

“Uh, I’m here for a star.”

“Jinjja?” His eyes widened. “You’re the first girl to ask for that here.”

“Oh really,” you answered lifelessly as you looked around. “So what do I do? Raffle? Play for hours?”

“Beat me in one game,” He stood up, still smiling. You raised an eyebrow. Really? But he looked... nerdy. He didn’t look like a hardcore gamer. It’s been a while since you played in these things, but yeah, you once became a Gaming God. Not sure if that’s still applicable today, tho.

He guided you towards a special looking spot at the corner of the place. There was a flat screen TV attached to the wall, and a game console with 2 controllers was sitting prettily at the small table at the side. There were tons of games stacked on the shelf below it. As the two of you sat down, you placed your messenger bag under the chair and grabbed your own controller. You glanced at the Baekhyun guy, and saw him looking at you as well.

“What game do you want?” He was still smiling. This guy’s quite weird.

“I can choose whatever I want?”

“Yeah, we have everything. What do you feel most confident in?”

Confident, huh? Ok then. With a smirk slowly creeping up your lips, you gave him a challenging stare. “Tekken Tag Tournament, if that’s ok with you.”

Nodding brightly, he motioned for his assistant to insert the game. Once again, you glanced at him, but he seemed oblivious of your not-so-friendly attitude and even winked at you. Chuckling, you started throwing combos at him, but much to your surprise, he was able to counter every. Damn. Move. Your pride was starting to get bruised. No, you can’t let this nerd beat you. Not one with hipster glasses!!

“Wah, you really knew what you were doing!” He said with sparkling eyes. He won. This can’t be. Losing isn’t your thing!

“Rematch! I want another round!”

“I’m sorry, but that’s—“ the assistant started to explain, but Baekhyun cut him off with his hand.

“Ok then,” he smiled, but you weren’t sure if it was still supposed to be friendly or he was already just mocking you. “I want to see more of what you’ve got. Another round it is, then.”

And then it started once again. This time, you made sure not to underestimate him, and it was a close battle. Both of you only had little life bars left, and just as you threw a kick, Baekhyun suddenly sneezed, and he wasn’t able to block your attack. He was K.O’d, and you won.

“Did I just win... because you sneezed?” You stared at him, dumbstruck. Somehow, your win didn’t feel like... a win. It was like you didn’t deserve it.

“No, of course not!” He laughed at your silly question. “You seriously were awesome. No one has ever reduced my life to critical before. Plus, you’re a girl. You deserve this.”

He reached out to grab your hand, and you immediately froze. Gently, he placed a yellow star sticker on your palm. For a few seconds, you just stared at your hand as if you just touched a unicorn or something. Then you blinked back to reality and shoved the item on his chest.

“I can’t accept this. I want another round. I want a fair win.”

Baekhyun seemed shocked at this. Then he looked down at your hand, smiling. He held your hand again and took the star. He stepped closer towards you, and strangely, despite of the man-sweat scent in this place, you were able to smell his mint cologne. You just looked up at his smiling face as he spoke.

“Ok, to make things fair between us, how about telling me your name?”

“Ah... ______,” You stuttered. You were starting to wonder how this blonde nerd could make you feel flabbergasted. On second thought, you have never been this close to a stranger in all your life.

“There, ______. Now we’re fair. You can have this star now.” He dangled the item in front of your face. After snapping out of your daze, you cleared your throat and grabbed it from him.

“If that’s what you want.” You forced a cold tone and walked away. As you reached the door, you felt a slight urge to turn around, making you stop. And when you did turn around, your heart almost jumped out your chest as your nose brushed against someone’s chin. You instinctively backed away, but idiotically stumbled on your feet and almost fell down. Thankfully, the person caught you by your waist, saving you from a sore butt. It was Baekhyun.

“W-what the heck?” You felt warmth creep up your cheeks. You quickly fixed your shirt and your hair.

My nose just touched his chin. My nose just touched his chin. Frickin nerd guy. Making me blush like crap.

“Uhh, you forgot your bag?” He slowly handed out your peach messenger bag. Your heart pumped loudly against your chest, making you feel slightly dizzy. Carefully, you grabbed it by the place as far from his hand as possible.

“T-thanks,” You stuttered once again as you bowed. And as you looked at him for a second, you accidentally said out his name. “Baekhyun. The star. Errr, thanks.”

Silently cursing at your sudden speech impediment, you quickly turned around to save your last piece of dignity left. But he suddenly grabbed your shoulder, making you look at him again. You realized that he was blushing as well.

“Uhh, ______,” He nervously licked his lips as he fixed his glasses. “Maybe... Maybe you could come around and play again sometime?”

You stood there, frozen. “Well... um... ok...”

With that, his bright square-shaped smile came back. A smile broke out of your lips as well. On second thought, he seems cute... After bidding each other an awkward goodbye, you finally went out and walked in search for another booth again. As much as you didn’t want it, you still couldn’t help but smile like an idiot. You lifted your hand and gently touched the tip of your nose.

Yeah, a few games couldn’t hurt.

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