HP 10

                                    

                                          
<> Y/N <>
                          
"Since when did my hyung become such a gentleman?" The guy called Jungkook swoons over his friend while picking up his drink. "Who said chivalry was dead?"
                          
"Hajimaaaaa," he whines. His fingers tentatively wrap around his cup. His voice barely makes it over the table. "Something like that is natural...isn't it?"
                          
"So..." I interrupt. The two of them turn their heads to me. Subway guy refuses to meet my eyes. "Your names..."
                          
"Ah!" His buddy raises his hand. "I'm Jeon Jungkook. Also known as Jungkookie. I assume you don't watch my live streams or my gameplay."
                          
"I do!" Yoona calls from the storage room.
                          
"No, I don't. It's nice to meet you, though," I greet him. Yoona's greeting goes completely unnoticed. "And you are...?" The quiet one taps his fingers against the table as though I wouldn't realize he was there. 
                          
"Min Yoongi."
                          
So his name is Min Yoongi. I nod my head, finally getting the answer that had been hanging over me since I last met him. "Thank you for last time."
                          
He nods before diverting his attention elsewhere. His eyes keep catching the billboard across the street. 
                          
Waving my hand across his face, I bring his attention back to the conversation. "Do you play the game, too? Ambition?"
                          
Again, he nods.  It's almost as though he fears speaking. Fears breaking the silence embedded in the wall of air around him. Why?
                          
"Professionally?" 
                          
"I do," Jungkook intervenes. "Yoongi is just my hyung."
                          
"I see." 
                          
"Actually," Jungkook starts, "we wanted to talk to you." He slides his mask off the table to stuff it in his pocket. 
                          
"Talk to me? About what?"
                          
"Well..."
                          
Subway guy clears his throat, interrupting his maknae. His hand reaches for his collarbone and he taps against it repetitively. "Do you remember the arcade at the corner?" 
                          
The arcade?  
                          
My mind returns to two years ago...three years ago...four years ago. If he means that arcade...
                          
"The one with the dingy neon sign out front?" I lean back in my chair. He nods. "The one with the cardboard cutouts of Mario and Pacman?" Nods again.
                          
Fingers now twirling, I part my lips. "What about it?"
                          
Jungkook leans forward. "Is your nickname Bangtan?"
                          
Hair bristling at the back of my neck, I cease twirling my fingers. "Yeah."
                          
"For real?" Jungkook's smile overshines the sun's rays. Yoongi also seems to perk up a little bit.
                          
"Y...yeah."
                          
"We used to compete with you!" Jungkook's words tumble over one another. Yoongi's eyebrows raise slightly at his maknae's outburst. "My username is still Jungkookie on the machines. Do you remember seeing that name?"
                          
"Ah..." I take a few moments to recall. Bright pixels flashing on the victory screen...white words listed top to bottom. There wasn't just one name that I always saw, though. "I remember."
                          
My eyes land on Yoongi. His black lashes drift down with his eyes, staring into his drink. He brings one hand over the steam and curls the wisps in his palm, creating a delicate image of swirls and loops in the empty space. I know he's listening.