To Byul (Omegaverse)-Chapter 41: This is tough

"Well," Kang-woo stood to his feet. "You two were having so much fun so I didn't want to interrupt when my phone rang. I also decided to change a few notes and get some some change but unfortunately..."

"Unfortunately what?" Chin-hwa asked, his eyes wide in shock and Kang-woo put his hand in his coat pocket to bring out the few coins he got.

"I could only get these little." He said. "So, we can only play five rounds."

They went silent at this sudden 'unfortunate' news.

Yun-tae immediately apologized, bowing his head in regret.

"I'm so sorry." He said. "I got carried away, and..."

"Yun, I was also having fun." Chin-hwa said. "So, stop apologizing. It's not a big deal, really. I, for one, knew those coins wouldn't be enough, so I had planned to get more. But who knew the machine had less change?"

He didn't want Yun-tae to feel bad about it.

"In any case, it's not your fault. So, don't start looking down, okay?"

Yun-tae pursed his lips. He may say that but Yun-tae knew that at that rate, neither of them would take that kitty cat home.

"Alright, I'll give it a shot." Chin-Hwa said, drawing up his sleeves but Kang-woo drew them back down, clearing his throat afterwards as he said,

"It's cold."

Chin-hwa sighed. Of course, he knew it was cold.

"Anyway, I'll take three. So, wish me luck." He took three coins from Kang-woo and then he stood in front of the claw machine.

"Good luck, Hwa." Kang-woo said, cheering him on from the side and Yun-tae decided to do the same.

"Go for it. You can do it." He said. 'You'll definitely do a better job than me, I know it.'

Chin-hwa paid keen attention to the claw in the machine, aiming for the kitty cat. He stuck his tongue out as he was very focused and needed no form of distraction.

He pressed the button that lowered the claw but, unfortunately, grabbed the ear of another animal, a monkey. It was better than nothing, right? But it was still futile.

Just as the claw was lifting the monkey, it slipped out of the claw and fell back into the bunch.

"Ugh!" Chin-hwa exclaimed. "This is tough."

When he watched Yun-tae and gave advice, it was so fun that they lost track of time, putting in more coins to try different tactics over and over.

But now they were all silent, giving him room to concentrate since they had only a few coins to spare.

The second time was also a bust, and the third time too, but Chin-hwa felt he was very close. He just needed to try one more time.

He shot his gaze at Kang-woo who surrendered one of his coins.

"Thanks," he said and put it in the machine, using his last chance.

This time for sure, he thought.

And then he caught the white kitty cat. He almost screamed in excitement but it was too early for jubilation. He kept his excitement inside, pressing his lips together in a fine line and hoping it did not slip.

But the claw showed no mercy and the kitty cat slipped out of its grasp.

Chin-hwa almost lost it and he gently and repeatedly pounded his head on the glass of the claw machine.

"Damn you! Damn you! Damn you."

"That's enough, Hwa," Kang-woo said, placing his hand on the glass and Chin-hwa dropped his head on his hand. "You might hurt yourself."

Chin-Hwa slowly rolled his eyes towards Kang-woo and with fallen eyes, he said,

"All hope is lost. We will never be victorious. Let's give up on this war."

Kang-woo blinked at his words and his expression and then ended up laughing.

"What? Do you think it's funny that we keep losing to this stupid machine?" He asked Kang-woo who shook his head and said,

"That's not it." He said. "It's just..." He helped Chin-hwa to his feet and brushed his forehead. 'You looked really cute.'

But certainly, he wouldn't say that out loud. Not at this moment though.

"Let me give it a shot."

"Yes, there's still hope." Yun-tae said. "The last coin might just be our lucky try."

He lifted Chin-hwa's spirit with his words and Chin-hwa nodded.

"Yes, no one knows what may happen. Give it your all, Byul. I'm counting on you."

Kang-woo's heart skipped a beat. Not only did Chin-hwa call him Byul, but he was also counting on him. He wouldn't fail. He would make sure not to mess up and disappoint his little Hwa.

He marched towards the machine with so much confidence, adjusted his collar and then let out a deep breath. He was ready to impress.

But everything fell to nothing when the claw didn't even grab a single toy.

Chin-hwa dropped his hand on Kang-woo's shoulder, shaking his head with a sigh.

"This war was lost from the start." He said but Kang-woo was not ready to accept this.

He stood straight and suddenly walked away.

"Where are you going?" Chin-hwa asked but he did not respond. He turned to Yun-tae who shrugged. "Hm, is he going to cry because we lost?" He scratched his head.

"Should we go after him?"

"No, if he really wanted to cry for his loss, he would only be embarrassed if we followed him, don't you think?" Chin-hwa laughed. He knew that wasn't the case but he just found such a thing hilarious.

A few minutes later, Kang-woo returned with a carton.

"What's that?" Chin-hwa asked and Kang-woo presented it to them.

"Since we couldn't get the toys from the claw machine, I decided to get the toy set instead." He said and Yun-tae took it from him while looking surprised.

"Wait, you what?!" Chin-hwa exclaimed, looking at the carton. It was the set of the toys that filled the claw machine. "Kang-woo, you didn't have to do that. How much did you get it?"

"It was cheap considering how much we've spent on this machine." He said, laughing nervously.

Chin-hwa took a moment, counting his fingers to calculate how much they might've possibly spent, and even though he did not get the right number, he was able to come to a figure that made his eyes widen.

They had not spent a small sum at all, so if the amount was similar then he...

Chin-hwa grabbed Kang-woo's collar and started shaking him and his body flapped like a piece of paper in the wind.

"You spent that much?" He asked while Kang-woo's body shook like a leaf. "How could you?"

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"I just wanted to get the toys. Besides, hehe," he smirked victoriously. "I've always wanted to do that each time we lost. There are other ways to win the war, you know."

"That's childish." He let go of Kang-woo's now rumpled collar. "Just return it and..."

"Riiiip!" The ripping sound of a tape attracted their attention and they turned to discover Yun-tae had already ripped the tape off the carton.

"Ah," Yun-tae noticed they were staring at him and raised his head to find Chin-hwa staring with widened eyes of dismay and Kang-woo giving a secret thumbs up from behind Chin-hwa's head. "Did... did I interrupt you?" He innocently asked and nervously laughed. "Sorry bout that, carry... Carry one."