Chapter Text
"Hurry up, man, we were supposed to close ten minutes ago," Baby urged, leaning back against the glass of the front of the café. His fellow three employees were likewise waiting around for Jinu to finish a last sweep of the business before they could leave. Jinu emerged from the kitchen and said, "Alright, we're good to go."
"Finally," Baby drew out, turning on his heel and leading the procession into the chilly night air. They had more productive things they could be doing tonight - all of them had homework due by the end of the week - but the bowling alley was half off on Tuesdays. The five formed a loose group and wound through the streets to their destination: Jinu and Baby up front, Mystery behind them, and Abby and Romance heading up the rear. Impulsively, Romance removed his hand from his hoodie pocket and extended it to Abby, but Abby shook his head minutely. Not yet. Romance frowned and returned his hand to the warmth of his hoodie and continued on, now picking up what Jinu and Baby were talking about.
When they entered the alley they took in the overwhelming sent of pickled jalapeños, wax and feet. Jinu and Mystery made their way to the front desk and the other three chose an empty lane. "One size 12, two size 11's and two size 10's, please," Jinu relayed to the big burly man at the counter. The man wordlessly set the desired shoes on the counter and Jinu assembled a collection of bills and coins to pay with, knowing off the top of his head the cost for five on a Tuesday night. Mystery and he picked up the shoes and brought them over to where their coworkers sat, tossing them to the floor for each to find his own pair. Their sneakers were soon strewn over the floor and while the rest were entering their names in or selecting their bowling balls, Mystery was pushing their sneakers under each of their chairs.
Romance planted himself right next to Abby and stayed there for as long has he could muster. He deeply missed his boyfriend, who was called back to his grandmother's house when word of a serial killer got out. Abby only returned a few weeks later when the university resumed classes and Romance was starving for quality time. He sensed Abby was too.
Baby took the helm of the little computer and added in everyone's names, sequencing them in terms of seniority. "Now hold on, why is Mystery ahead of me?" Abby asked incredulously.
Baby leaned back in the chair and stated simply, "He got to the training first, so he has seniority over you. Jinu is up first."
As if summoned, Jinu came back from the wall of bowling balls hauling a medium-sized black ball. He stepped up to the lane and adjusted each body part this way and that, working towards the perfect stance. While he took his time, Baby and Mystery left to pick their own balls, leaving Abby and Romance alone for a short time, given Jinu was completely tuned out to what was going around him. Romance said softly for Abby's ears alone, "I missed you." He grabbed Abby's hand in his, though the other boy only let the contact last for a second before pulling away.
"I missed you too, Rom," he replied, though Romance could sense his mind was elsewhere.
"I think we should tell them tonight," the long-haired boy explained. "This might be the only shot we have at being all together for a while with midterms coming up."
"I don't know," Abby responded with a frown.
Romance huffed out a breath and dropped the topic for the time being, not wanting to cause a scene with Mystery and Baby coming back, balls in hand. Romance stood up promptly and marched off to pick his own ball despite being last in the bowling order.
After all of this time, Jinu had only thrown his ball once, knocking down a measly three pins. "You know bragging rights are on the line for this game, right?" Baby taunted.
Seemingly unaffected, Jinu responded coolly, "I'm getting warmed up. Just you wait." He waited for his ball to be returned, then took an equal amount of time to bowl it again, though to his credit he picked up a spare. Next up was Baby, who sped through his turn and also picked up a spare, though one would have though his achievement better with the amount of gloating he spread around. The other boys rolled their eyes at him, promising to make him eat his words by the end of the night.
Mystery stood up to the plate and took his time getting started, though he effortlessly bowled a strike and sat back down without a word. The others were speechless. His ego bruised, Baby said, "You know what they say, right? You're either good at bowling or good at sex."
"You're one to talk, virgin," Jinu scoffed, eliciting a hearty laugh from Abby and a small smile from Mystery.
Scandalized, Baby exclaimed, "I told you that in confidence!"
Jinu shrugged, looked around their pod and asked, "Where's Romance?"
"Getting a ball," Abby replied.
"Why didn't you go with him? You're up," Baby asked aggressively, likely still caught up in his secret being exposed, though Abby wondered if it was a show or not. Abby stood up and made a big display of marching off to find Romance and pick out his ball.
He found Romance exactly where he suspected, though the young man was staring down at his phone instead of picking a ball. Abby looked back and couldn't see the rest of the group, so he wrapped one arm around Romance's waist behind, startling him at first before he recognized the touch. "Hey, let's get our balls and head back. We're up."
Romance slid his phone into his pocket and shrunk back into himself. Abby squeezed him harder and said, "Look, I'm sorry. This is my first time back with the boys after a few weeks and I'm trying to fall into the rhythm again. I want to tell them, but doing so is a whole 'nother ball game than just talking about it."
Abby took Romance's face in his hand and turned it to face him. "I promise I'll be ready to tell them after the first game. I'll be psyched up enough. Is that okay?"
The hurt still lingering, Romance nodded. Abby sealed his promise with a tender kiss on Romance's cheek, which the long-haired boy relaxed into. They picked their balls and headed back. Abby walked right up to the lane, set his posture, then threw his ball down the alley, quickly landing in the gutter. "Dammit," he muttered under his breath. Romance smiled lightly, though it disappeared when he remembered, even if only until this game was over, he couldn't encourage Abby in the way he wanted to - as his boyfriend.
The game progressed quickly with conversation interspersed between the sound of clattering pins. Mystery rolled more strikes than not and Abby more gutter balls than pins hit with the other three somewhere in the middle of the two extremes. It seemed a runaway game for Mystery no matter how hard Baby tried, though the teal-haired boy didn't give up until the final scores came in.
*WINNER*: Mystery - 286
Baby - 193
Jinu - 171
Romance - 150
Abby - 32
Abby groaned when he saw the final results and Romance winced along with him. Baby thought he heard Mystery whisper, "Not too bad," under his breath. Now livid, Baby stormed off to the bathroom, too humiliated to fight back. He stood up next and informed the rest, "I'll be right back," and walked off the opposite direction from everything else.
"Either of you want anything?" Abby asked casually, though Romance could parse the tension in his voice.
"Yeah, could you get me a hot dog? I'll pay you back," Jinu requested.
"No problem. Anything for you, Romance?" Abby asked, now standing.
"No thanks. Not hungry," Romance said coldly.
Abby clicked his tongue awkwardly and said, "Alright, I'll be back."
Romance looked to Jinu to see if he could wring some conversation out of him, but Jinu already had his phone held up to his ear. "Hey, Sloane," he started, then stood up and walked away, pacing up and down the carpeted walkway.
Now completely alone, Romance slumped down in his chair, tears threatening to spill from his eyes. He steeled himself as best as he could, though felt he was loosing. Having coming out to the guys postponed for a few weeks should not have felt like an issue, but was tearing him up inside. Even if he knew the circumstances were in no way Abby's fault, it still felt like he was another dirty little secret.
Baby was the first to return. He plopped down into his seat with arms crossed, still fuming about being bested by Mystery. A minute later the purple-haired boy returned and then Abby with a hot dog and soda in hand. He sat next to Romance and noisily sipped his soda. Realizing they were only minutes away from the big moment, nerves began infesting Romance's body, making every cell vibrate violently. He looked to the side at Abby and on the surface saw a carefree young man relaxing until the start of the next game, though he knew how well he hid his own anxiety. Abby's gaze drifted to his boyfriend and he gave him a small nod which helped give Romance the courage to keep going.
The four of them waited for another five minutes before Jinu made his way back, repeating into the phone, "No, you hang up." After about six times he took the phone away from his ear, puzzled by the disconnect sound.
"God, that was sickening," Baby grimaced. He looked to the other three and said, "If I ever get like that I need one of you to put me down." Jinu sat down and Baby clapped his hands on his knees. "Alright, this time I'm gonna smoke all of you."
Romance turned his head slightly to the side to Abby, who took the hint and set his soda down. As Baby stood up to reenter the names into the computer Abby cleared his throat and said, "Before we start another game, I have something to say."
Baby turned on his heel and leaned backwards on the housing of the computer, opening his posture up to what Abby had to say. Abby swallowed hard and amended, "Well it's something we have to say." To ground himself he slipped his hand into Romance's and stated, "We're dating."
The silence that followed was palpable. After a time Baby inquired, "For how long?"
"It's been a little over a month now," Romance replied, squeezing Abby's hand tight.
Another silence, though it was broached by Mystery of all people. He said softly, "I'm happy for you."
Jinu and Baby nodded, the latter asking, "How come it took so long?"
"Well, you're the guys, you know? We didn't know how you would take it and we didn't want to mess up the group dynamic," Abby explained.
"We don't care about that," Jinu replied. "If you're chilling, we're chilling."
Romance let out a breath of relief he hadn't known he'd been holding and saw the tension melt from Abby's shoulders. They shared a smile, which Baby interrupted. "Can we get this show on the road now? I need to kick Mystery's ass this time."
Baby turned back to the computer to enter their names in and the two pink-haired boys were unable to hide their smiles.
*WINNER*: Mystery - 292
Jinu - 184
Romance - 162
Baby - 159
Abby - 65
After their second game Baby demanded that he redeem himself by beating Mystery in pool. The first game was just the two of them while the other three watched from the sidelines, sat side by side. Things weren't looking good for Baby when Mystery sunk three stripes when he broke the rack. Jinu chuckled to himself and Baby shot daggers at him with his eyes, though after two years working with him he had learned Baby was all bark, no bite.
"You know, you guys aren't very good at keeping a secret," Jinu said easily while scrolling through his phone.
Balls clacked on green felt and Romance asked, "What gave it away?"
"The hickeys. You two also spend way too much time in the back," Jinu offered. "I think Zoey has taken notice, too."
Abby lightly punched Romance in the arm and said, "I told you those were a bad idea." Romance gave him a knowing look and leaned into the bigger man. Abby turned back to Jinu and said, "Yeah, I told her a while ago."
Romance added, "And in our defense, what we have going on is a lot less gay than what she and Rumi have going on." Abby hummed in agreement and nodded.
Jinu chuckled and replied, "Yeah, them and Mira now too."
"Who's Mira?" the other two asked in sync.
"GOD DAMMIT," Baby shrieked. The three paused their conversation and looked to the table; apparently Baby pocketed the eight ball too early. "RACK 'EM UP," he demanded of the other boy, who smiled silently at his misery.
"She's this other woman Zoey told me they're dating now," Jinu provided.
"Woah," Romance exclaimed, awestruck.
"We gotta ask about that," Abby proclaimed.
Romance came back to the moment and elbowed Abby in the ribs. "You can't just ask about that stuff, man. Let them live their lives."
"Oh come on, that kind of thing is too crazy to not ask about," Abby shot back, massaging his ribs with a hand.
Jinu inhaled sharply and sat forward in his bucket seat. "Well, I better get going. I gotta open tomorrow." He stood up and clapped Abby and Romance on the shoulders and said, "I'm happy for you two." Abby and Romance smiled and thanked him as he made his exit.
Before the could settle into each other, Baby screamed again - this time Mystery sunk all of the solids before Baby could get a turn. He eyed Abby and Romance and demanded, "Jonathan Bailey! Neil Patrick Harris! Get up here."
Abby and Romance stood and the latter asked, "Are those the only two gay guys you know?" Abby added, "Plus, neither of us are gay. We're both bi."
Baby ignored them and said, "Alright, you two against Mystery and me."
Romance rolled his eyes and said, "I'm pretty beat. I'll see you later."
He and Abby made for the door and Baby called out desperately, "Come one, just one game?"
They ignored the teal-haired boy and shuffled out into the cold. Abby snatched Romance's hand and stuffed them into the pocket of his jacket. In response Romance took half a step to the side as they walked down the cobblestone street so their shoulders pressed together. They walked in comfortable silence for a time, the only sound their soft footfall. "That went pretty well," Abby stated finally.
"Yeah, can't complain," responded Romance. A beat passed, then he asked, "Stay the night at my place? Campus is too far for you to walk alone."
"I thought you'd never ask," Abby responded warmly, a wide smile on his face.