✯ arcade

@p jimin Yeosang was walking around and stumbled upon the arcade, a nice site, a site where he can relax for a minute. Until he saw another Corvus member there. GOSH CAN I HAVE SOME TIME ALONE. He cursed in his head he was upset but he understood that he had to get along with them. The person's name was Park Jimin. A respectable man within the ranks of Corvus. One that could teach Yeosang a thing or to.

He chuckled to himself as he tried to understand the Japanese words on the screen. "Do you need help there Jimin? Judging by your reaction it looks like your a bit lost in the game?" He laughed at Jimin and sat down near him. "What brings you over here, Jimin?"

@k yeosang as much as jimin likes playing games whenever he has leisure time, he wasn't really the type to appear and be around arcades. his age wouldn't fit such loud and lively atmosphere anyway, he had thought, albeit the childish personality he holds. the place would appeal much better to younger audiences. one could instead find him lounging and lazing about back at the corvus headquarters, playing a variety of games either on his phone or switch.

today, however, jimin had finally decided to take a look at what the arcade has to offer—just out of curiosity, since he hadn't yet visited the place. at first, he didn't plan on playing anything, but the strong urge to was there. he gave in sooner than expected, however, and found himself standing in front of one of those rhythm games—specifically the one where two big drums were displayed for use. he inserted two arcade coins into the slot, and grabbed the provided drumstick for the game. though, inconveniently enough, everything that was written on the screen was in japanese, and jimin inwardly cursed when he couldn't understand the simple instructions. what seemed to irritate him further was when he had unknowingly chose a hard song to play—which, to his dismay, he failed miserably at. he just hoped that no one had seen him play so terribly. just thinking about it made him cringe in silence.

@l ten "the weakest? why would you get the weakest one, boo?" yena usually uses the one she's comfortable with the most - wario. wario had the reputation to have one of the fastest karts for playing. she didn't knew who the weakest one, so she just had a wild guess. "probably princess peach? most people don't usually use her, from what i observe..." she tilts her head while thinking. the leaderboard rarely had a princess peach, most of them are either mario, luigi or wario. she looks at ray, "and you're a princess, and princesses are strong, right?"

as ray's father sat down with the child on his lap, she pointed at the instructions on the screen presented while the game is loading, "so the pedals are pretty similar to the ones of the car, it's just that there are only two pedals, one for brake and one for speed. the right one is for accelerating, and the left one is for brakes." the instructions switched in automatically, now showing on how to drift for faster turning. "and then if you're going to drift, you have to push the brakes, instead of the accelerate, and spin the wheel to the direction of the road." yena's no driver, but playing in mario kart, she felt like she already got a driver's license. she's very much thankful that the instructions showed on screen, as it would be harder without it, especially on the drift. it took her 3 days to fully master it.

the game is starting, and yena focuses her orbs to the screen. "give it a try, there are 3 laps anyway so you just have to grab the first place to win."

[] it's been a while since i played mario kart at the arcade so i just threw in all that i remember—

@c yena "a character to race with me?" ray blinked up to yena after hearing the statement, looking at her choice of characters with a contemplative expression. she tilted her head from one side to another, before finally deciding to just turn to yena and ask, "who is the weakest, miss?" the grin adorning her face was innocent, even though her question was anything but.

ten was rather taken aback when he was suddenly addressed, having fully immersed himself as part of the background while watching ray interacting with the young lady. he looked to yena, his initial confusion quick to diffuse as he listened to her explanation, glancing to the steering wheel then the pedal. finally, he shrugged and nodded, smiling softly. "yeah, sure, of course."

he approached his baby girl and lifted her up, the latter squealing in surprise at suddenly being hefted off the ground before laughing in glee, hanging onto her father. he sat down before setting ray onto his lap, peeking at the pedals to fit his feet onto, then looking to yena again. "what should i do?"

@l ten she was ready to scold ray from steering the wheel repeatedly, but yena, thankfully, maintained her calm. it's a child, and her father is just behind her. she didn't want to ruin her image again, unless she wanted people to hate her. "here, you can pick which character you'd like to race with you! there's mario, luigi, princess peach, yoshi, there's a lot to pick from! you can choose who you want."

as the child decides on which character to pick, she notices that ray can't reach the car pedals below. she hums in thought. her eyebrows raised when an idea came, although she wonders on who will do it. she glances at the young man, "hey, uhhh, ray can't reach the pedals so i wonder if you could carry her and do the pedals?" she points at the pedals below and scratches her head. "i mean, um, you're her father and i'm just a stranger, so i think it's much better if it's you."

It had been ages ago the last time that Taehyung had entered the arcade. It wasn’t the type of place for his age anymore but a sudden urge had wanted him to try one of those games again. The neon lights of the arcade flickered in front of his eyes and the place was almost too noisy for his taste as he was mostly used to quietness when he worked for the gang. However, he was fascinated by this place and decided to stay looking for any of the games that he could play. He wore more casual clothes to fit in even though he still stood out between the kids. Taehyung didn’t care. As a child he had never had the time, never had the friends to enjoy a place like this. It was almost as if he tried to make up for his younger years.

@c yena "that's true," mused ray with a thoughtful hum, nodding her head before declaring determinedly. "i learned something new today!" she turned to her daddy briefly to announce, "i learned something new today, daddy! eyes can sweat!"

ten only chuckled, shaking his head while patting his daughter's head. "yes, yes, baby. eyes can sweat when they feel hot."

ray listened carefully as yena taught her the kinks of the game, trying to steer the wheel too when the elder female went to push a button leading to the character selection screen. she gazed up at the list of characters with an awed expression, looking to yena. "what is this, yena-jie?"

@l ten "but yena-jie's your teacher now, isn't she?" yena pouted, cheeks puffing with air. she can't help but let out a chuckle when the small girl believed in her, innocence is shining in ray's eyes. yena silently wishes to turn back time to when her family is still around. if only...

yena pushed a button that starts the game, leading to the race selection part. "so you pretend to be driving a car, and you race with the others. you have to be the fastest in order to win!" she moves the stirring wheel in front of her, "you use this to move in any direction, like if the road is going to the left, you move the wheel to the left." yena picks the easiest race map and pushes a button, leading to the character selection.

@c yena "aye, aye, miss!" ray declared enthusiastically, standing straight as she saluted, a playful act although her serious face (which was for show, of course). she blinked in confusion after hearing yena's excuse, innocently inquiring, "can eyes sweat? teacher never told us that!" ten just smiled awkwardly in the background, amused that his daughter actually believed the blatant lie.

perking up at the offered hand, ray took it without hesitation, bounding up to the mario kart station while tugging the elder female with her, her father following behind the two girls. ten produced three coins that he had exchanged for before entering the arcade, inserting them to the slot so the game could start. ray took control of the station, looking up to yena as she asked, "how do we play, yena-jie?"

@l ten [] cries i c An t i wanna hug her tightly hnnggggggggHHHHHH

"Aww, thank you, Ray! I'll be a great teacher, so be a good student for me, alright?" Yena smiles warmly. She never had a child to easily trust her like that. It may be a life lesson to Yena, as she doesn't trust anything or anyone that easily. A small child, teaching a young adult like her, she laughs about it, but admits that it's true.

Yena looks away, wiping up her cheek with the sleeve of her jacket. "Ah- I- my eyes are just sweating! Phew, it's too hot in here!" She tries to let it go, as if nothing really happened. She fans herself with her hand, feeling the heat from the crowded place. "L-Let's go play?" Yena asks, still stuttering. She offers her hand to the child, feeling her small hand slowly warming up the older's cold hand.

@c yena () HNGG I KNOW RIGHT QUQ SUCH A PRECIOUS BEAN, I WISH I HAVE HER FR SKSKSKSK

Ten just smiled and shrugged a shoulder, showing that it was no big deal. Hearing the lady’s response to her claims, Ray couldn’t help the excited giggle slipping from her lips, small hands covering as her eyes turned up into crescents. “It’s okay! Jiejie can be the second prettiest! Right after me.”

“Yena,” repeated Ray, nodding her head before beaming again. “Nice to meet you, Yena-jie!” Ten caught Yena’s eyes and quickly nodded, showing that he didn’t mind and just smiled reassuringly, ruffling his little girl’s hair. Ray shook her head before affirming, “It’s okay, Yena-jie! I’m sure you’re a great teacher! Ray trusts you!”

Noticing the single tear that managed to escape her eye, Ray gasped and looked at Yena with worry. “Yena-jie, are you okay? Why is Yena-jie crying?” Ten also noticed the stray tear and was staring at the younger female, brows furrowed as he wondered what was on her mind for that droplet to fall. Ray quickly stepped up to the young lady and wiped the tear away, resuming, “Please don’t cry! Jiejie said tears can wash up our beauty, remember?”

@l ten [] rAY IS TOO CUTE OMG I CANT HANDLE IT ICRI I WANNA PIMCH EM CHEEKS SO BADLY HNNGGHHH

Yena smiles back at the young man, "Thank you, I really needed it." She shifted back her attention to the young girl, making Yena giggle at her remark. "Aww, I thought I was the prettiest girl in town, but I saw you! I lost!" Yena pouts, only to burst in laughter afterwards.

"Jiejie? Oh- ohh! My name is Yena!" She was confused at first, but after remembering what it meant, she went on with the flow. She took a quick glance at the young man, eyeing an 'is it okay?', before shifting back to the child. "Ray? Aww, what a cute name! I'm not a great teacher though, is it okay?"

Yena has long lost forgotten childhood fun, ever since she lost her family and got adopted by the gang. But after seeing Ray smiling, it looked like the colorful and beautiful rainbow after the rain. Yena missed it. A lot. Flashbacks of her happy family comes back into her memories. Unable to notice, a tear suddenly drops from her brown orbs.

@c yena Ray turned to the stranger when she noticed her kneeling beside them, Ten also following her gaze to look at the female, caught off guard by the sudden action and just staring at her a bit dumbfounded. The tears weren’t streaming down Ray’s face anymore as she listened to the young lady’s affirmation, slowly nodding her head as she took in the latter’s words. “You’re really not mad at daddy?” She asked softly, her voice slightly wobbly, though there was hope in her eyes.

Hearing the apology from the female, Ten quickly shook his head, assuring, “It’s fine. You must have had a rough day, huh?” He smiled sympathetically at the girl, continuing, “Things will get better. I hope whatever made you so stressed will resolve soon. You’re far too young to be worrying so much.”

Quickly wiping her face, Ray tried to act like she hadn’t been crying just seconds ago, puffing her chest out. “I’m prettier! Jiejie is pretty, but I’m prettier!” Ten let out a chuckle of disbelief, amused by his daughter’s antics. His little girl soon looked up at the stranger again and asked, “What is jiejie’s name? Can jiejie stay and teach Ray how to play Mario Kart?”

@l ten Never in her life did she saw a child as compassionate as the little girl in front of her. It made Yena's guilt to add up, asking herself many times on why did she shout at him and why was she angry just because the man asked to be the next ones to play with her daughter.

'Why were you angry, Yena? Aah, I can't believe myself.'

She stares at the young man trying to comfort the young girl, trying to listen to what they are saying despite all the noise polluting around the arcade. Although she was confused, she was still able to grasp on what they're talking about. Yena knelt down on two knees, sitting on her heel part of the feet.

"I'm sorry, I'm not angry at your father..." Yena smiles, not in her usual wicked smile, but it was an apologetic and innocent smile. She turns to the young man and bows, "I'm sorry, I got so stressed that it made me lash out on you. Um, you can play mario kart now, I'll just uhh- go to the other games." Yena turns back to the young girl, smiling once more. "If you're going to cry more, you might not look pretty like me. Your tears are going to wash up all your beauty, so stop crying now, okay?" Yena stands up as she fixed her twin pigtails.

@c yena Seeing how much the stranger was trying to calm his little girl down, while seemingly panicking herself, brought a reassuring smile to his face, looking at the young lady in pity. He continued to pat Ray’s head, smoothing his palm along her long smooth hair as he did so, hoping the gentle gesture would be enough to calm her down. Neither did his other hand stopped in thumbing away the tears that only persisted to fall, fat droplets cascading down her cheeks as soft whimpers and sobs left her lips.

“There, there, baby. Jiejie already apologised, can you forgive her?” Ten asked as he held Ray’s cheek, gazing at her wet eyes, orbs shining with more tears to shed. “Jiejie didn’t mean to yell at you. Can you forgive her, baby? She didn’t mean to.”

Ray kept shaking her head, and for a moment Ten was worried that his baby girl was too sad to show forgiveness.

But then, she looked at her daddy and, with her voice trembling but dripping with every bit of sincerity, she said, “Daddy got yelled at because of me. I- daddy didn’t do anything wrong. I-I’m sad because someone is angry at daddy for asking. Ray just wants to play, I didn’t want daddy to be yelled at.”

Ten stared at Ray for a moment in shock after hearing her confession, glancing up at the female as if unsure of what to do either. Finally, he looked at his daughter again and asked, “Were you worried jiejie is mad at daddy? Would you stop crying if jiejie said she wasn’t angry at me?” Though she still hiccuped with sobs, Ray nodded her head in the end, and Ten looked up at the young lady as if awaiting.

@l ten as the little girl beside him cries, yena immediately stood up. not knowing what to do, she bowed down, "i—i'm sorry! i didn't mean to shout at you like that..." she raises her body up, biting her lower lip as a sign that she felt guilty of what just happened.

"i—uhh... here, i'll let you play the game, um, should i teach you how to play? uhh, uhh-" it was clear in yena's voice that she was anxious, stuttering many times in her sentences. making a child cry is a really big shame, and there are a lot of people in the arcade as well. she could feel the eyes of people staring at her. as much as she'd like to swear at them, she gained control at herself, and focused on the little girl crying infront of her.

yena knew she was bad at children, she could barely get close to children, heck, even gaining a smile from them was hard. now that there's another child that cried because of her, her anxiety level went up.

'oh god, is the water plumbing finished yet?' she asks in her mind, wanting to get out of the situation as possible and remove the eyes of shame staring at her. she scratches her head, messing up her twin pigtails.

@c yena as a tattoo artist, ten had met plenty of interesting individuals. of course, that included rude customers. although they got on his nerves, he never tried to show it, quick to calm down before his own anger bursts forth.

still, no matter the amount of wrath he had encountered in his life, that didn't prepare him from being yelled at by the lady he was trying to talk to nicely. it made him dumbfounded for a moment while trying to process what on earth just happened. all he could do was stare at the young lady until she was done with her game, which ended with a game over on her end.

to his side, ten felt his hand being squeeze painfully and he glanced down, noticing his daughter quivering as if trying to hold back her tears. that seemed to snap the male out from his daze as he quickly knelt in front of the little girl, holding her arms so she was facing him.

"hey, hey, baby. aww, don't cry!" ten hastily wiped away the tears that managed to spill over, his daughter trying her best to duck her head and hide her face from her daddy. "it's okay, baby. there's nothing wrong, baby."

@l ten yena had never been this stressed while playing mario kart, it made her lose many times, until her coins went down to her last 3 coins. she clicks her tongue, her stress meter rising little by little.

it was unusual for yena to lose in the games she play, maybe because of stress? she shook her head, she came here to release her stress, but her consecutive losses added more to her irritation.

as a young man comes in, patting her shoulder, her irritation went to its peak. "gOD! FIND ANOTHER GAME, WON'T YOU? CAN'T YOU SEE I'M BUSY HERE?" but as the race ended seconds later, she turns around, realizing that the young man had company - a child. her brown eyes widened, heart pounding fast. she didn't know he had company, and a child as well.

'great job messing it up, yena. what a great way to release your stress like that.'

@c yena "daddy? are you okay?"

ten hadn't even realised he had been clutching onto his daughter's small hands until then.

"daddy is okay, baby. don't worry," assured ten with a soft smile, loosening his grip on ray a bit, though still holding onto her palm securely.

as a past corvus hitman, ten knew the arcade was a dangerous turf. on the surface, it was just a location where anyone could drop by and de-stress. to a young man such as himself, who had seen the other side before, he was well aware that the arcade was a territory of one of the underworld's most dangerous gangs.

the fact this place belonged to his past gang made him even more on edge.

"what would you like to play, baby?" ten decided to ask, not wanting his mind to wander too much.

glancing around, ray finally noticed an interesting looking station and pointed to it. "mario kart, daddy!"

looking to the female that was playing the game now, he walked towards her, bringing his little girl along with him. he patted the stranger's shoulder to catch her attention, exclaiming over the noise of the crowded arcade. "excuse me, miss? my daughter would like to play this game. could she play after your round?"

@l ten Yena yawns and stretches her arms upward, "Mhmm, freedom! That was bOriNg oHMYGOD." she sighs. She was about to go back home and continue her stalking with their next target until a text comes in, telling Yena that the water plumbing is still being fixed. She groans, she didn't want disturbances at home, especially that no one must know that she's from a gang. She turns off her phone screen and bid farewell to her friends, telling them that she'll be doing something else today. Stress meter: 75%.

As she passes by the west, she notices the arcade, getting crowded by a lot of children and elderly alike playing. 'Well, let's just go in and wait for the text message." Yena told herself.

She bought some arcade coins and went playing on every different games - zombie apocalypse games, shooting games, gambling, claw machines, but to no luck, she kept losing. Stress meter: 80%. She saw the empty seat of Mario Kart, so she looked around, and as she confirmed that no one's interested on it, she took the opportunity and sat down, inserted 3 coins, and played.