Chapter 32: Two Gifts Under The Christmas Tree

Wednesday | December 20th, 2023 | 7:13 PM

It was a nice feeling. Slender fingers intertwined with mine, a warm touch against my cold palms. Our hands swung along to a gentle rhythm. There was a comforting weight in the air, and a soft presence at my side. It was a nice feeling, a nice night.

"Are you excited to get your ass kicked," she asked, the familiar teasing tone in her voice. Chaewon giggled and shrugged, the corners of her lips turning up into a grin. There it was, that playful glint in her eye, a shine that was just so uniquely her.

"Well, maybe, we'll see," I responded, squeezing her hand.

"I'm excited," Chaewon replied. Together, we walked from my car up towards the bowling alley's entrance. The doors were automatic, sliding open for us to step through. We entered the building and headed over to the shoe counter. The place was a lot bigger than it appeared. The entrance was a wide hallway, the walls lined with various arcade games and claw machines, and the area had a nice neon aesthetic that suited the dark mood lighting.

There were also multiple lanes, most of them taken by either families, friends, or other couples. "Have you been here before," I asked, looking at Chaewon for an answer. Her head snapped towards me after looking around, "Yeah, I have. I've been here with Sakura and the others before."

"Nice," I remarked, watching the older guy behind the counter get us our sized shoes. After paying, we took the shoes and headed over to our designated lane. I took a seat on the bench, unstrapping the shoes and switching them out. I had to adjust the laces a bit, but it wasn't long until we were both ready.

Chaewon stood up and walked to the console, putting our names in. My eyebrows rose, amused at the sight of her nickname for me. "Hey, you spelled my name wrong," I called out, making her head snap up. She glanced back, an incredulous look on her face.

"How? That's your name," she stated, pointing at the screen. The name 'Pinhead' was displayed, the letters flashing as a reminder. "Pinhead? Seriously," I said, my expression amused.

"You don't like it?" Chaewon asked, walking back towards me.

"It's a little childish," I responded, my hands finding the pockets of my jacket. She rolled her eyes and reached for my hand, pulling me up, "Don't be like that. It's fun, come on."

Together, we headed over to the racks where the bowling balls were kept. Chaewon immediately picked a green ball, the color resembling a lime. I found myself picking a red one, the color reminding me of an apple. I rolled it between my hands a bit as we walked back to our lane, testing the weight of I held it.

I glanced over at Chaewon, watching her hold her ball. It looked lighter than mine, the lime-green material definitely matched the neon aesthetic of the place. She brought it over and placed it down on the ball return, turning to look at me.

"You're up pinhead," Chaewon teased, a smirk on her face. I gave her a fake pout and walked over to the lane.

"Tell you what, loser has to buy food," I declared as I readied myself. She sat down on our lane's sofa and shrugged, "That's fine by me."

"Good luck," Chaewon taunted, the sound of her voice getting more distant. I recognized that competitive, teasing tone. I had seen so much of it back in high school, whether it was in the classroom or playing games. The girl loved a competition and I could tell she was fired up for this. I felt a fluttering feeling inside me, the sound of her voice, the familiarity.

"Please, I don't need luck." Eating my words, I walked up to the lane, holding the ball at my side. With a sigh, I stepped forward and swung, tossing the ball. My throw was off and the ball missed the pins entirely.

I let out a sigh and watched as it fell into the gutter, rolling to the end of the lane. "Oh, come on," I groaned. A giggle made me turn, seeing Chaewon holding her hands over her mouth.

"Ooh, you're bad," she commented, a wide grin on her face. I laughed at myself, a dry chuckle leaving me as I shook my head. I was never good at bowling, not once in my life. It just felt like a game of luck and luck wasn't something that favored me.

"Guess I am," I responded, walking back towards the ball return where my ball eventually came back up. I picked it up and made my way back to the lane, watching Chaewon get up from the sofa.

"C'mon, get at least one," She encouraged, patting me on the shoulder. I let out a breath, moving towards the lane and throwing again. The ball rolled along the wood floor, the momentum causing it to move towards the pins. It didn't fall in the gutter this time, instead, rolling into the pins and taking out eight of them.

Wow, that was more than I expected.

"Yes," I cheered, watching the pins get picked up. Chaewon smiled and cheered too, clapping her hands and jumping up and down for me. "You did it," she cheered.

"Okay, my turn," she said, moving past me and grabbing her bowling ball off the ball return. I dropped onto the sofa and clapped my hands gently, watching Chaewon get into position. "Go," I shouted, "you can do it!"

She looked at me and laughed, before looking forward and throwing the ball. Her aim was straight, and the ball was rolling down the lane smoothly, knocking into the pins and sending them flying. The sound of metal crashing and plastic colliding rang through my ears, and a grin grew on my face.

"Nice," I congratulated, seeing the result on the scoreboard. Nine of the pins were knocked down, only the spare remaining. "That should be easy for you," I said.

"You think so?" Chaewon responded, grabbing the ball and heading back over.

"Definitely," I assured, watching her roll the ball. It just breezed past it, barely missing the last pin. "Agh, close," she muttered, turning to me. I gave her a thumbs up and we switched again. I stepped up to the rack and picked up the red bowling ball. From behind, I heard her call after me, "Minjae!"

"Hm," I responded, turning to face her.

"Remember that one time you dropped a ball on your foot," Chaewon grinned, "I just suddenly remembered it." I let out a deep breath and chuckled, remembering the incident. Nothing too exciting, I just happened to not have a good grip and let a bowling ball drop on my foot. It didn't hurt too bad, but the embarrassing moment was what stuck with me.

"Yeah, I remember that," I answered, shaking my head, "that was embarrassing."

"Don't drop it on the other foot now," Chaewon teased, laughing at her joke. Even if we got older, her jokes and teasing stayed just as childish.

"Shut up," I said, throwing the ball and sending it flying down the lane. It cleanly swept through the side without falling into the gutter, taking down six pins. "Yes," I shouted, watching the pins get swept up.

"Good job," Chaewon cheered. "Your form was nice, keep that."

"Uh huh, someone's getting concerned, aren't they?" I asked, walking back to grab my ball from the return.

"What," Chaewon exclaimed, her voice going up in pitch. "I'm just encouraging you," she insisted.

"Right, right," I drawled, picking up my ball and turning around. "Let's see if you can beat this." I playfully slung the ball down the lane, not really aiming it anywhere in particular. Chaewon laughed behind me as we both watched the ball roll straight into the gutter, completely missing the pins.

"Ah," I smirked, the sound of Chaewon's laughter ringing through my ears.

"Pinhead," She taunted, walking past me to grab her ball. I went to sit down on the sofa and watch her. My arms found the sofa's armrest and I leaned back into the plush seat, relaxing and crossing one leg over the other. It felt like deja vu, sitting back and watching her bowl.

The way she tucked her hair behind her ear before bending over to pick up her ball, using two hands like she always did. That little juggle with the ball as she looked for the holes to put her fingers into, the small adjustment of her feet, and the way she stepped up and lined up with the lane.

It all brought back memories and it made my heart swell. My gaze softened, and a gentle smile found my lips as I watched her bowl. This is nice. Everything feels nice. Familiar. Like nothing has changed.

She was bouncing up and down, clapping her hands together. She turned to face me, a large smile on her face, "I got it, did you see?"

"Yeah," I laughed, the corners of my eyes crinkling as a large grin stretched across my face. My brief comfortable stay on the sofa was over and I found myself getting up and walking towards the rack to get my bowling ball.

"Let's see how long that will last," I declared.

"Oh please," Chaewon teased, rolling her eyes.

"Watch," I warned, the red bowling ball in my hand.

"Uh huh, I'm watching," she said, her arms crossed over her chest and a smirk on her face. "You can do it," she taunted, the grin on her face growing wider. I scoffed and turned around, looking down the lane. My mind raced with the different ways I could send this thing down the lane.

In my head, the physics of the game worked themselves out and I felt like I was making sense. Throw the ball straight down, make the pins knock into each other, get a strike, but it seemed my body wouldn't cooperate and do what I wanted it to do. My hand slipped and sent the ball down the lane, the object rolling sideways and thankfully knocking a single pin before disappearing into the gutter.

"Damn it," I mumbled, letting out a defeated sigh.

"You're not doing so great," Chaewon giggled, a hand over her mouth.