CHAPTER ONE | 장

❝YOU'RE A FOUR-
COURSE MEAL.❞

━━━━━━━━━

18 hours and 15 minutes.

It's been 18 hours and 15 minutes since the kiss happened. And since then, M/n could barely close an eye even during lectures. Luckily, it was Saturday, and all he had to do now was to attend some extra classes and he'll have the rest of the day to himself.

But the problem was— he could barely pay attention at all.

"It's finally over." M/n groaned as he stretched his back as soon as he left the building. He doesn't understand why his parents would even bother spending money for him in cram school when he can clearly do fine on his own.

Feeling a light vibration on his pockets, he saw a text from his father, a screenshot of what seems like an advertisement.

Taking a closer look, it was a University abroad, one that offers a great deal.

But of course, it spiked no such interest in M/n. Sure, he would love to travel to other places and countries but he didn't want to study there. It felt more comfortable to stay in his own country where he already is a citizen at.

Already knowing his father's intention, they might have plans for him to study abroad. But that wasn't happening. M/n was going to make sure of that.

"M/n!"

Hearing a familiar voice, the said male estatically snapped his head towards the noise and greeted the familiar face with such delight.

"Goo!" The high school student rushed to the other side of the road just to join the blonde's side, feeling light in his presence. "Why're you here? It's Saturday, isn't it?"

"I finished early."

Humming, M/n nodded. "That's nice."

"It is!" The blonde agreed happily. "So, where are we going this time?"

Hanging out somewhere. . . That sounds nice, but M/n did have a few boundaries. He's sure that if his parents caught them again, he wouldn't be only receiving the consequences anymore, Goo might be dragged in.

But they were not that powerful. They didn't have the status nor manpower, it was hard to believe that M/n grew to fear them.

Since he was already with his favorite person, M/n decided to just fuck it. He's been obedient enough for the past 18 years of his life. A little secret hangout wouldn't hurt that much.

"There's this arcade I've been wanting to go to. They have the only limited version of Teken. But I heard it's pretty crowded there, rather dangerous." M/n trailed off, saying whatever popped up in his mind.

Goo listened intently.

"Well, whatever. We can go somewhere more peaceful if you'd like. There's this lake nearby, I think you'll like it."

The blonde for sure didn't enjoy peace all that much. But M/n didn't have to know that. In fact, an arcade did sound good at this time. Plus, it's the nearest around without having to go by car.

"The arcade it is."

"Wait— huh? It's dangerous! We'll get beaten up at that place, and it's getting dark already; there'll be a lot of criminals around, you'll get robbed." M/n was honestly nervous.

Why did he even bring that up?

That place was clearly for delinquents and is not a suitable place for people like him who are basically defenseless and unarmed.

"Beaten up?" Goo snorted in amusement. "Robbed maybe but not beaten up."

"It's not any better!" M/n barked.

"Well, what are we waiting for? I love Teken." The blonde was too careless and easygoing. Way too chill for someone who's about to enter criminal territory where gangs usually hang around.

Unknown to M/n, he was currently standing beside one of the best fighters there is and also a former criminal sent to detention center before.

"Are you sure about this? We should carry pepper spray, in case anyone tries to pick a fight." M/n was the most concerned here though. "If they approach us, I'll give the signal and I'll spray them with my hand sanitizer and then you run ahead, okay?"

Goo was utterly amused.

"What are you grinning for? I'm serious. I'm not looking forward to see us getting cornered by thugs, especially with that dress shirt you're on, they'll know you have cash."

"Calm down, my love. I'll protect you if someone ever approaches us." Goo was too casual. Far too casual. It was as if meeting thugs wasn't a whole big deal for him.

"As if. You probably don't even go to the gym." Though the blonde admittedly does have a nice body build. "And. . ." M/n paused on walking as he retracted Goo's words. "My love?! Don't give me corny pet names. I don't like it."

The blonde glanced at M/n's face before grinning.

"You claim to not like it but you're blushing so hard already." He pointed out teasingly, taking the boy's hand away from covering his own face. "Don't hide it!"

"Stop it already, I just wanna play Teken." M/n groaned.

"We will soon! That's why you should walk a little faster." Goo snatched the boy's hand into his as he dragged him to the place faster.

After minutes of walking, they finally arrived. And as expected, it was filled with people with bad issues. Smoking, drinking, and fighting was freely available in every corner. It was a sight that M/n was not used to.

"Finally." Goo hummed as he looked around to find the game they came for. He frowned as soon as he saw the line it had. He was too impatient for this.

"Maybe we should go back another time. . ." M/n said hesitantly, not very comfortable with this place that was filled with delinquents.

Goo was definitely not going to wave down and return another time instead. He was simply not the kind of person that wants him and his significant other to wait.

"Nope, we're playing it right now."

"What? Goo, don't do anything reckless-" it was too late for that. "Goo!" The blonde already dragged him towards the front as he pushed people out of the way just so that they could go through.

"M/n, can you close your eyes for a while?"

Feeling no need to argue, M/n obeyed as he covered his eyes, looking away.

The blonde leaned down to face eye level at the person playing the game, Goo then kicked the person off the chair casually, fitting the likes of a delinquent before taking the seat himself.

"Oi! What was that for? I was playing, you damn bastard!" The previous player was about to throw a punch before Goo pushed him off slightly with his leg, soon picking up the chair and hitting the person brutally, leaving the person unable to stand up nor fight back.

It caused an uproar.

Fights were usual around here but a fight inside the arcade and it getting this fatal was a sight to see.

Goo stared right at the person across him with a death glare, the guy gulped before scurrying away to help his fallen comrade that the blonde previously beaten up with a chair.

The Teken game was multiplayer and Goo was already getting impatient since he just wanted to enjoy the game with M/n. So, he resorted to violence.

"M/n, we can play now."

The boy slowly opened his eyes to see people gathered at the other side, seemingly viewing a brutal sight. But luckily, they could play now.

M/n didn't bother to question Goo what he did. He just felt like it wasn't his place.

"I'm gonna use the panda." Goo was back to his bright mood, acting like his usual easygoing self. And M/n realized that he preferred him like this, Goo being serious was scary.

"I'm gonna use Leo, I kinda know the combo for him."

They played 2 games and M/n nearly forgot where they were and how they were surrounded by thugs now. That was until one of them finally decided to break the silence as several of them stood behind Goo and some of them behind M/n as well.

Effectively circling them.

"Were you the one who smashed our friend's head with a chair?" One questioned Goo in a very intimidating manner. But the blonde was too engaged in his final combo to finish off M/n's character.

But being distracted with this much pressure in his air, Goo hated how many people were blocking his way. And so, he missed the final movement for the combo and ended up losing this round, making M/n the winner.

Goo would have been happy for him buy he wasn't happy with the people who bothered him.

After several games, M/n finally saw victory on his screen and was visibly excited, failing to realize their situation.

"Yes! I won!" He breathed out happily.

And he was going to think that this was fun.

That was until heavy hands rested on both of his shoulders as they weighed him down heavily.

"Yes, you won." The thug repeated, a deep tone in his voice, signaling danger to M/n as he soon became aware of his surroundings.

The weight continued to add up as M/n felt a grip on his shoulder that held his bones tightly, causing pain and discomfort, letting out an accidental yelp that clearly wasn't a positive one.

Goo glanced at the sight across him, visibly unhappy as the grin fell off his face and turned into a frown. He didn't like how the thug was hurting M/n.

After all, he did promise the boy he would protect him— and he admittedly grew attached to the boy he likes.

Easy-go-lucky people like Goo never get serious, but even so, if the smile falls off his face, it was guaranteed to be deadly.