#18 - Claw Machines Are Better Together
When I arrived at the PC bang on Kim Haneul's orders, there were exactly four other guys waiting inside.
“Oh, there he is. There he is.”
“Our final party member has arrived. Welcome.”
“Get in here already.”
“Now that you're here, we've got our 5-stack.”
A lineup that made me sigh on sight, sure — but I'd already agreed to play with them, so play I would.
I followed them into the room they'd booked, sent my share of the money to the guy who'd paid, and logged straight into the game.
“Let's warm up light first.”
“Okay, okay.”
“So how late are we playing today?”
“Dunno. Kim Haneul, you're the one who called us, so you set the time.”
“How about we just go till 10?”
“Eh, that's pushing it.”
“Yikes.”
“For real though.”
“Yikes.”
Four consecutive yikes — that's out before the first strike even lands.
Kim Haneul knew it too, snickering as he forged a reasonable compromise.
“Fine, then we go till 4.”
“Till 4 it is~”
“4 o'clock works.”
“Let's get it~”
“Please, let's at least break a fifty percent win rate today.”
I don't know who said that last one, but thanks to them, our win rate somehow cratered to a hard twenty percent.
How do you play eight games and win exactly two of them?
“Hey, that was a team diff, team diff, hey hey hey!”
“Ugh, don't you guys ever call me for a 5-stack again.”
“Man, we got absolutely stomped.”
“Sigh. Hey, let's just get out of here. Somewhere other than the PC bang.”
“It's already 4, though?”
“We can goof off somewhere else for an hour or so, can't we?”
“Fair enough.”
The five of us spilled out onto the street and drifted, entirely naturally, into the game center right next door.
“Straight from the PC bang into a game center. What is this, some kind of herbivore combo?”
“Gotta admit, that's kind of wild.”
“What's even to do in here, though?”
“There's punching machines, Iron Slug, plenty of stuff.”
“They've got claw machines too.”
“Ooh, that could be fun… wait, someone's over there?”
Sure enough, a group of girls were crowded around the claw machines. And those girls — they were wearing our school's uniform.
“Hey, those are our uniforms.”
“Yeah, they are.”
“It's right by the school, makes sense they'd come hang out.”
“True.”
“Yup, yup.”
We were chatting like that, and someone was already pulling out cash—
……And then I saw her.
Long black hair, tied half-up with a pretty white ribbon — Soye, looking impossibly cute.
Soye. At a game center?
That Yoon Soye?
It's a combination that makes my head spin in more ways than one, but that's not the point here.
It feels weird to admit this, but hanging around these guys makes a person lowbrow. Crude jokes just come tumbling out of my mouth too.
And I absolutely never want to be like that in front of Soye. Never, ever want to say stuff like that.
So the plan: watch my mouth, and above all, don't get spotted by Soye.
If she found out I was hanging out with this crowd, she might just look at me with disdain.
With that in mind, I was quietly planning to just play some other game with the guys—
“…Sunbae?”
Soye spotted me first.
She came sprinting toward me, and as I watched her approach, my eyes immediately started darting around the room.
The guys hadn't noticed her heading my way yet. If I just gave her a quick greeting and escaped, everything would be fine.
“Oh, uh. Hey, Soye.”
“You were here too, sunbae?”
“We were at the PC bang until just now… I didn't know you were here.”
“Yes! I had dessert downstairs here, then went to a manga café to read, and now I'm back.”
Should I have expected this from Soye? Apparently she loves comic books right alongside regular novels.
She's a certified bookworm, through and through. Which, admittedly, is part of her charm.
“I see… so, um…”
How was I going to send Soye on her way and get back to those guys? How could I slip away from Soye without her catching sight of them?
I was wracking my brain pretty hard, when—
“Hey, what are you doi— oh?”
…That son of a— Kim Haneul saw her first.
“Ah! Haneul sunbae-nim! Hello…!”
“Yep yep, hello there~ I see, I see~ Okay, got it, all clear~”
I have no idea what he “got,” and I'd rather not know.
Just as I was thinking that, Kim Haneul, without another word, wandered back to where he'd been standing—
“Hey, let's do this one. Two-on-two could be pretty fun, no?”
—and started dangling a two-on-two game as a distraction.
Then, immediately after, a single thumb popped up from behind a game cabinet.
Am I supposed to raise my thumb back at that thumb, or sprint over there and snap it in half right now?
No idea which, but for the moment, I decided to make use of the opening Kim Haneul had created.
“Soye, weren't you playing the claw machines with your friends?”
“I was… but they've all gone into a karaoke booth now.”
“Oh, then shouldn't you join them?”
“Well… honestly, I don't really like singing… so I told them I'd just stay out here and look at the arcade games.”
I was a little worried she might be getting left out among her friends—
…And then I saw it.
One of the girls peeking out at us through a crack in the karaoke booth door, then swiftly vanishing back inside.
Hmm. Maybe I should slip her some money? To cover the cost of the booth, at least.
“…Could we play the claw machines together?”
“Together?”
“Yeah. I'll pay, so let's play.”
“You really don't have to…”
“Aw, come on, it's no fun alone.”
“Then I'll pay for half…!”
“How about you just let your sunbae treat you, in celebration of finals being over?”
At my words, Soye puffed out her cheeks, looking vaguely put out.
“Sometimes I feel like you buy me things a little too often, sunbae.”
“What's wrong with that? Isn't it a good thing?”
“For the person receiving, absolutely not.”
“Just accept it this once, okay?”
“………”
Soye deliberated for a moment, then gave a small nod.
“Okay. I will.”
And so we walked over to the claw machine together, me keeping a careful eye on our surroundings.
Singing had started drifting out of the karaoke booth where Soye's friends were, and my idiot friends were already deep in their game, paying zero attention to my side of the arcade.
Now's my chance, I guess.
I casually fed a five-thousand-won bill into the machine and took hold of the controls.
Vrrrr~
Vrrrrrrr~
Watching the mechanical claw move, Soye wore an expression wound tight as a spring.
She was so adorable that part of me couldn't resist teasing her a little.
“WHOOSH!”
“Hyaaagh!?”
I snickered at the sight of her jumping out of her skin — and, in doing so, let the claw drop straight down.
Vrrrrrrr~
Chomp!
Soye gave me a look that said she had any number of complaints, but it melted away almost instantly.
In its place, her face lit up with anticipation as she stared at the machine.
And fair enough — I'd just grabbed a plushie.
Whiiiiir~
But either the grip wasn't locked or the claw just gave up on life, because it dropped the plushie with a soft plop and glided back to its starting position.
The way Soye's expression deflated was so cute it should be illegal. Is she really allowed to be this adorable over a claw machine?
“Your turn, Soye. Give it a try.”
“…Can I really?”
“Of course.”
“Th… then I'll try…”
She hesitated a beat before stepping up to the controls.
Watching her, I gave her a light fist pump.
“Go, Soye, go.”
“G… go…!”
With that tiny cheer, Soye started working the machine, and the claw began to inch along, slow and careful under her timid hands.
Her face looked like it was trembling just slightly, and honestly it made me anxious — but at the same time, I rooted for her with everything I had.
After all, I wanted Soye to win a cute plushie of her very own.
But… no, should I say of course?
Shink… plop!
The plushie rose, and dropped.
Soye wilted all over again.
I did my best to comfort her.
“So close. Give it a few more tries, you might get it.”
“Maybe… uuugh…”
“Let's take turns, one at a time. We've still got credits left.”
“Okay…!”
Soye nodded big and determined, and the two of us really did alternate, moving the claw one attempt at a time.
However…
Vrrr~
Vrrr~
Vrrr~
That cursed claw never once managed to hold onto a plushie till the end.
One attempt remained. Soye stared at the prize with an expression taut with nerves.
“Sunbae, I… I'll do this one.”
“You've got this, Soye.”
She gave a small nod — so cute — and I nodded back at her, and she started working the machine one last time.
Vrrr~ vrrrr~
Soye had her eye on that little otter plushie the whole time, the small and ridiculously cute one, and this attempt too she steered the claw toward it like she was determined to make it hers.
Chomp!
The claw clamped onto the otter's head and began to lift.
Naturally—
Plop.
Vrrrr…
—the claw let go, as if to say don't make me laugh.
In that instant, I shot a careful glance at Soye's face. What if all those failures had finally gotten her down?
But Soye just looked at me with a small smile.
“Thank you, sunbae.”
She was thanking me, of all things.
“Huh…? For what…?”
“The claw machine. It was so much fun.”
…If it had been me, my first move would've been cursing out that machine.
Soye really is playing on a whole different level.
Her sheer goodness left me in awe.
Truly — can a person really be this kind and get away with it?