five months have passed since ji meizhen agreed to be fan chengcheng's girlfriend.

they say time pass by fast when you're happy. does this mean meizhen was happy being his girlfriend? well, she wasn't that serious being his girlfriend anyways. it was more like hanging out like the old times, and it's hard to deny for meizhen that it was one of her happiest memories, when everything was okay.

"hey!" a hand waved in front of her, stopping her in daze. "you're too serious."

"yeah, loosen up a bit. we're here to enjoy!"

linong glanced at meizhen once and patted her back before facing his game again. on her right is fan chengcheng, also playing a game. it's a saturday afternoon and they're at an arcade.

dumbasses. you're the only ones enjoying. i was dragged here.

meizhen rolled her eyes. they have just arrived 30 minutes ago but it already felt like hours to the suffering girl. arcades weren't her thing either.

earlier in the morning, she was enjoying her cup of coffee while listening to an audio book peacefully. then a call disrupted the audio, it was from chengcheng and surprisingly, linong's voice was also in the background.

"meimei, argh-" chengcheng was cut off and some weird sounds took over. it sounded like someone took the phone from him.

"good morning meizhen! it's nongnong!"

she furrowed her eyebrows. "chengcheng and nongnong? you're with each other?" it's unusual for them to be together without her.

"well, we somehow bumped into each other when we were going to your apartment." linong explained.

"let me guess. you're in front of my door now."

"yes." they both answered in unison in a small voice.

if only i could send them away. she hung up and went to open her door, revealing the two standing whose hands in their backs.

the two guys didn't argue as much as they did. upon the mention of arcade, they instantly agreed with excitement like little kids. meizhen facepalmed herself as she looked like the guardian of the two.

fast forward to the current situation. chengcheng and linong are aggressively pushing the buttons and turning the joystick of a fighting game. meizhen couldn't continue listening to her audiobook because arcades always have a bunch of sounds from different games all over the place.

"yes! i won!" linong stood up from the stool and raised both of his arms in victory.

on the contrary, chengcheng's head fell on the control panel. the screen of his game shows a big 'you lose' on pair with a classic sound of defeat.

"told you i was better at video games!" linong mocked while laughing at chengcheng.

"let's play together on this one to see who's the real gamer!"

chengcheng's head shot back up and challenged linong. linong accepted it with equal confidence, excusing meizhen to sit aside so they can play on the same video game.

that's it. meizhen had enough. she stood up, arranging her hand bag, and hinted the two that she's leaving. before she can take another step, the two stopped playing and stopped her, chengcheng holding her shoulder and linong's hand on her wrist.

"meizhen-"

one glare from her shoulder, the two's hands got off meizhen and stood up straight. "i'll just buy us snacks."

normally, the guys would volunteer to pay for the food, but as soon as she left, they sat right back on their stools and replayed the game. it's actually lunch time but her friends didn't seem to notice.

hamburgers were the only food she can think of that's easy to eat and the boys like, and they eat it almost every time the three of them got together. meizhen bought three kinds of burgers with drinks for all of them at mcdonalds. she used her card to pay.

meizhen hasn't kept track. when she was checking her bank account, her eyes widened at the amount, thinking the numbers were false. it was a little late when she remembered that those were her salary from her girlfriend job.

she does remember that he needs to pay her monthly, but this reality feels like a dream. after all of this girlfriend job, she'll get a job then buy a new unit for her to live. what happens to her relationship with chengcheng... still unsure. but she can't be his girlfriend forever, right?

when she came back at the arcade, the two boys were preoccupied on another game, the basketball shooting. it was chengcheng's turn to rejoice in victory, while linong was groaning in defeat. meizhen faked a cough to catch to their attention. they thanked meizhen and went to a gun shooting game, multitasking to play and eat.

boys will be boys. she rolled her eyes and munched on her burger before leaving them.

maybe she could find game that suits her tastes. a colorful claw game with her favorite character, squirtle, drew her closer. she immediately grabbed a handful of coins from her bag. never once she played this game before, as she wasn't fond of arcades, and lost on her first try.

"meizhen! i'm sorry i didn't pay much attention to you." linong said as soon as he stood beside her.

"meimei! i thought you left me." chengcheng whined. the two gamers towered meizhen, who was too busy on catching the pokemon than notice them. "you want that? that's easy! let me!"

"it's my fifth try and i still haven't got one!" she almost punched the machine hard.

meizhen groaned and grumpily stepped aside for chengcheng. he won in just one go. a squealing meizhen would seem impossible, but it's just rare, and she did when the cute squirtle toy reached her hands.

"thank you chengcheng! you're the best!"

chengcheng was about to take this chance to hug her until linong shoved another toy between them. it was a teddy bear with a heart in the middle. meizhen, face slowly getting red, stared at it for a long time. linong smiled at her to know that it's for her. chengcheng backed away by instinct, giving the two some space.

"t-thank you... nongnong." she accepted it and hugged the bear and pokemon to her chest.

while chengcheng was catching the pokemon for meizhen, linong decided to catch one too and give it to her. one of the other claw machines had teddy bears and he thought it was cute.

the three of them decided to go home after hanging out at the nearby mall longer. chengcheng dropped linong on his stop first. when the two of them were left at his car, he offered to eat dinner together in a restaurant. meizhen, having a light mood today, agreed.

"chengcheng, it's 7pm." meizhen scolded as she saw him order beer.

"it's just one mug. i can still drive you home later." he assured her, smiling, that he won't get drunk.

they didn't talk when they ate, though she felt that chengcheng has something to ask her, and she'll just let him talk whenever he's ready. after one chug of beer, the mug slammed on the table, causing a loud sound and vibration on the table.

"you have a crush on linong, right?" chengcheng asked her straight to the eye. he has been longing to ask this, so he'll know the pain and he'll fight it.

"is it that obvious?" she avoided it and pretended to eat. even chengcheng knows it, linong might have known that since then.

"how and since when?"

"i don't know. maybe because he's the only friend i had back then?"

with that said, a thought popped in her mind. that was a bad reason to say. chengcheng, too, was the only friend she had before...

but why didn't she had romantic feelings for him? did she like linong because she just missed the feeling of having a close friend like chengcheng before?

—

the arcade scene wasn't supposed to be that long ,, but ideas kept popping in my mind. i'm sorry this chapter is so boring.

sorry for promoting but, if you want to read another nine percent story, try my ziyi drabble-like story! link: https://my.w.tt/e7KomvrQPM