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Well, you could say Yunho found the key to his luck thanks to experiencing bad luck.
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"...that's not what I expected when they were talking about 'going to a fun place'", Wooyoung complained silently to Yeosang whom he linked his arm with.

San on the other hand, even when there was a notable height difference, had his arm wrapped around Yunho's shoulders and was totally baffled.
His brown eyes glistened like stars in a dark night sky when he got to see the countless machines, flashing lights and numerous other visitors of the arcade

„Oh. My. God", was all the blonde boy could manage to say; the playful and cheerful melodies swirled around his ears like a soft breeze, making his childish smile grow even wider than before.

Wooyoung's heart immediately melted at the sight and made him forget how much he disliked the idea just a few seconds ago. He let go of Yeosang's arm just to link his own arm with San's and let himself get dragged away by his excited boyfriend.

Yeosang just shrugged, showed Wooyoung an encouraging thumbs up when their eyes met for a brief second and then disappeared with Seonghwa, Hongjoong and Jongho to find a game that suited their taste.

They were pretty sure that Yunho would follow them or the other two, so they started walking away. Little did they know that the blue-haired was frozen on the spot, his gaze fixated on a certain machine that had caught his attention as soon as they set their feet into the arcade; a clawing machine.

Usually he wasn't a fan of stuff like this, since his luck always left him when he decided to give in to his child-like instincts telling him to leave all his money in just one machine...but this time it was different. Something about this clawing machine made him want to at least give it a try.

That ‚something' was not just some kind of feeling he had in his gut, but a special plushy he had spotted right away; a plushy of three characters from one of his absolute favorite series; Grizzly, Panda and Ice Bear from "We Bare Bears".

Even when you didn't know anything about him or the series he adored so much, you would've been able to see the sparkles in his slightly widened eyes. He had wanted this plushy for a long time by now and already had searched online for it before, but since he still was a student and didn't work part-time either he just couldn't afford it. He didn't want to let this chance slip away.

His slow but steady steps led him to the queue he was supposed to wait in. Since he had nobody to talk to or anything to kill time with while waiting he just looked around.

A tint of rosy tainted his squishy cheeks when he realized that he was the only boy in the queue between girls who barely even reached his shoulder, making him stand out unnecessarily (in his opinion).

In the few minutes when he was like a little center of attention he noticed people who thought it was cute, people who looked at him weirdly and other visitors who apparently didn't care at all and asked themselves why it was such a big deal to others.

Yunho personally preferred the latter...he didn't like to get much attention since he had a rather shy personality; at least when he was with strangers.

Sadly a lot of people misjudged him by his height, causing them to be unpleasantly surprised when they got to know his true childish and shy self. In their opinion he was supposed to 'act taller'...whatever that means.

Of course he was more comfortable with his friends and clearly...louder than usual, but who didn't know that feeling? He himself was glad to be able to be himself around his friends without being embarrassed or feeling the urge to apologize or justify himself for everything he did.

That was also a reason why he would've had preferred to wait with one of his friends, but he couldn't spot them anywhere. And since he had already made a huge progress in moving closer to the clawing machine, leaving the queue and looking for them wasn't an option either...this was about his plushy after all.

‚Only two people left...', he thought as he checked when it was his turn. For once he had actually a good feeling about this; he felt as if he was really able to win.

His hopeful thoughts were interrupted not even a second later, seeing a girl aiming for the plushy he wanted made him freeze on the spot. An uneasy feeling grew in his stomach when the claw moved closer and...she actually caught it.

Yunho looked down, pink lips forming into an adorable pout. Images of cuddling with the three bears made of cotton, talking to them when he felt lonely and pecking their heads when he accidentally stepped on them (not that he planned it, that thought was just in case) ran through his mind like a photographic film and disappeared as quickly as they came.

He didn't want to admit it, but it actually made him a little sad.

His feet already prepared him for leaving, but a frustrated whine from the beginning of the queue made him stop in his tracks.
He lifted his head to see what's going on, a few of his blue strands falling in front of his eyes, reminding him that he had to get a new haircut soon.

Even when his hair was pretty interesting at the moment he had looked up to see what or who had caused that whine in the first place, so he checked what's wrong and saw...that the girl had in fact dropped the plushy.

A smile tugged at the corners of his lips, but he quickly tried to hold it back since he didn't want to be rude. The girl was really sad she didn't get it and it made the tall boy feel bad for her.

After watching the last girl in front of him for a few seconds he realized that she was too focused on a Totoro pillow at the other side of the large machine, assuring him that his plushy was save.

Two more tries later she won her desired pillow and immediately rushed to a boy around her age with a big smile on her face, showing it proudly. Said boy just smiled and patted her head praisingly before taking her hand and leaving the arcade with her. Yunho smiled at the scene; he loved seeing people so happy and joyful.

His smile faded a little when he realized that it was now his turn, trying to hide his nervousness as he took a deep breath.

‚Okay Yunho, you can do it', he cheerfully motivated himself in his head and slowly put one of his coins inside, one of his hands grabbing the joystick while he placed the other one on top of the start button.

Fully concentrated his eyebrows furrowed a little, showing how important it was for him.

He tried his best at his first try, same at his second and third...but he just didn't seem like he was supposed to get it. Eventually he thought of it as impossible.

„One last try", he reassured himself in a whisper as he decided the fate of the last coin he owned, which was to disappear in this machine tonight.

Yunho slowly moved the claw and cautiously grabbed the plushy; fast movement could make it drop after all.

Just a few centimeters were left...before he dropped it again, like he did before.

He sighed, his pink lips changing into a sad pout when a small feeling of disappointment built up in his chest, even though he had expected something like that.

Online shopping it is then.

He left the area, feeling a little upset because his luck had left him in such a situation.

Little did he know that the key to his luck stood just a few meters away, wearing a light blue shirt and a black cap. The key's eyes followed the disappointed blue-haired with curiosity, but he himself couldn't describe where it came from. Something in his mind told him that he wanted to make the bear-boy happy and a smile bloom on his adorable face.

Yunho, who of course didn't notice the unknown person staring at him, now started looking for his friends; maybe they were already confused and asked themselves where they accidentally left him.

When he spotted them gathered around a racing game, parted into two three-person-groups who cheered for either Seonghwa or Jongho, the corners of his mouth were lifted by a smile.

Wooyoung and Hongjoong eagerly stared at Seonghwa's screen while Yeosang and San did the same with Jongho. Calling both players nervous would be an understatement.

„Hey guys", he said when he reached his group of totally mesmerized friends, joining them in watching the game. „Who's in the lead?"

„Oh, there you are, Yunho! Seonghwa's in the lead of course", Hongjoong exclaimed proudly with a smirk on his face, earning a snort from Yeosang in return.
„Are you blind?? Jongho is in first place!"

Both of them averted their eyes from the screens and squinted their eyes, shooting glares at each other which Yunho only commented with a giggle.

He wrapped one of his arms around Hongjoong's shoulders and one around Yeosang's and made them look at the screens again.

„Okay", he started off, „if Jongho wins then Hongjoong will pay for our dinner and if Seonghwa wins then it's the other way around, yeah?", he grinned.

Yeosang wanted to complain to the taller since he thought it was a stupid idea, but was interrupted by Hongjoong. „Good, but only because I know that Seonghwa is going to win anyway!"
"Tsk, we'll see about that!"

Not even two minutes later the small competition had changed to a whole different scenario; Hongjoong sat on the ground next to Seonghwa's chair with his head buried in his knees as he fake-cried while Seonghwa watched him, scratching his neck in embarrassment.

Yeosang sat on the armrest of Jongho's chair with a mischievous smirk decorating his face as he already made plans with the youngest how to make their friend broke with just buying food.

San was on his knees, holding onto his boyfriend's leg and apologized a thousand times to Wooyoung since he had cheered for another team and Wooyoung acted as if he was mad when in reality he just wanted to laugh and throw himself at the blonde to cuddle him as if there's no tomorrow.

Yunho couldn't stop giggling at the stares of others probably thinking all of them were drunk; he seriously loved them.

Being in his small bubble of watching his chaotic but funny group of friends, he didn't notice a certain someone behind him clearing his throat.

Only when he felt a soft and hesitant tap on his shoulder he snapped out of his thoughts and turned around.

In front of him stood an attractive young man wearing a light blue shirt, brown locks almost completely hidden by a black cap.
Judging by his appearance he seemed to be around his age and slightly taller; maybe around one or two centimeters.

Both of them were at a loss for words, neither Yunho nor the tall stranger were able to say something.

„U-Uhm", the male stuttered, followed by a long pause. He was clearly nervous about the situation.

The bear-boy's doe eyes and light rosy cheeks had completely caught him off-guard and erased everything he had planned to say just a few minutes ago.
He had the perfect plan before, but as soon as he was actually close to the cute stranger everything was gone.

When he still couldn't find any words that suited the situation he revealed a plushy he had tugged between his elbow and his waist, holding it out for the blue-haired to take it.
It was the same plushy from the machine, the one he had worked so hard for without getting it in the end.
„For...you..."

Yunho's eyes widened when he spotted the prize and a small gasp of him was heard.
„I-I...don't understand...?"
Behind his question was a hidden tone of confusion which left the brunette no other option than to explain himself.

A silent sigh escaped his throat before he hesitantly started to speak.
„I noticed how hard you tried to get it and...how sad you were when you dropped it in the end", he mumbled and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment.

Yunho could've sworn there was a tint of pink tainting his cheeks, but he himself was too busy to try his own face from blushing too hard.

His head tilted a little in confusion to symbolize that he still couldn't understand what exactly was happening, but the stranger seemed to get it the wrong way and looked at him in shock.

„Oh god, you think I'm a creep, right? I'm so sorry, I promise I'm not, I'm just an employee here and uh...not a stalker or someone like that, I'm...see? I have a nametag, Mingi! I-I'm just-...I-...ugh", he sighed and rubbed the back of his neck, scolding himself in his mind for stuttering all of a sudden. How embarrassing.

He took a deep breath before looking straight into the brown eyes of the boy in front of him.

„I just thought you'd be happy about it, so...this is for you", he repeated his previous sentence (without stuttering this time, he'd remember to buy himself an ice cream as an reward for this later) and held it out for him to take it again.

His gaze slowly studied the boy's facial features still wearing the same surprised look.
"For...me..?", he asked hesitantly and blinked a few times to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

The taller answered with a small nod and immediately felt how his heart melted when a bright and cute smile appeared on the other's face. He was already so whipped for him, yet they didn't even know each other.

Yunho slowly took the plushy into his own arms and cuddled it against his chest as if it was the most precious thing in the world.
The brunette found it so heartwarming that he couldn't help but smile back.

„T-Thank you, so so so much", the pale boy smiled. „How much do you want for it?"

Now it was Mingi's turn to look at him surprised. How much? He didn't think about that. The only thing he wanted to achieve was to make him happy...

After a short pause and some seconds without an answer his silence made himself feel uncomfortable, causing him to just say the first thing that came to his mind.

„A smile", he answered with a soft smile and kept looking at him. This way he noticed how an almost crimson shade made its way up to the bear-boy's face. „And maybe your name on instagram..?", he added, not being able to hide his embarrassment.

Yunho looked at him with an uninterpretable gaze, making him feel a little uneasy. Was that too much...?
His doubts though were quickly blown away like a fallen leaf in a soft summer wind when he got a nod and another cute but shy smile as an answer.

So both of them exchanged their usernames and lost themselves in a conversation consisting of compliments and shy giggles in which especially the blue-haired's cheeks became redder and redder by each second.

Mingi on the other hand just smiled at his cuteness and then said goodbye with a wink when his manager called him back to work. Yunho's smiling gaze followed him and his pale hand raised itself to wave him when the brunette turned around once more to give him a childish grin.

Totally captivated and distracted by the attractive employee Yunho had totally forgotten about his friends who still sat and stood behind him and watched the two 'flirty birdies' the whole time with their mouths agape.

As if they were statues they had watched them and let the scenario replay in their minds to understand what actually just happened.

„What...was that???", Wooyoung asked in pure confusion.

„That...was a flirt, right...?", San added another question.

„Oh no, not on my watch. He's still a child-", Seonghwa was about to complain when Yeosang interrupted him.

„Whatever that was........I ship", he said, being the only one who was totally chill about it and still sat on the armrest with an orange juice box in his hand, making everyone laugh.

„Yeah, me too!"
„But-", Seonghwa started again, only to be interrupted like he was before.
„I bet!"

And with everyone's cheering Seonghwa was defeated.

San just smirked and giggled evilly, making his way to his blue-haired best friend to tease him with his arcade-flirt.
„Yunhoooo~"

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words: 2870

This one actually took me two days to write and three days to translate-

I hope you liked it!
Feel free to share your opinions. ^^

©PrincessTaecci