"I know it looks a little childish," I said as we stepped into the colorful photo booth where we could pick any the we wanted. "But there’s no such thing as being too old to have fun."
Lando didn’t really complain—or maybe he just didn’t get the chance to—because I had already paid for it with his credit card. Well, technically, he was the one who insisted on paying for everything whenever it involved the two of us anyway.
There were five photo booths, each with a different color the, but I picked the pink one. Why? Because it looked cute, and honestly, it matched the whole date vibe.
Holy crap, I kept calling it a date now.
[Because it really is a date, Host.]
I ignored the system’s teasing voice and helped Lando walk toward the booth since it would be impossible to take pictures together if he stayed in his wheelchair.
"Let’s use this." I stood on my tiptoes to put a fuzzy tiger hat on his head, then slipped on a bunny-eared one for myself. "Here, hold onto my shoulders."
I didn’t want him to accidentally fall, so it was better if he leaned on for balance, but because of that, we ended up standing so damn close!
"We don’t have formal wedding photos yet, but maybe these can be our temporary ones!" I said, getting ready to tap the screen in front of . "Okay, say cheese!"
We took at least ten photos in a row, but when I looked at the results, I couldn’t help but laugh. Every single one of Lando’s expressions looked exactly the sa. He was like a mannequin on display, while I looked like a crazy woman taking selfies with a ridiculously handso mannequin.
In one photo, I was flashing a peace sign while he looked like he was seriously questioning all his life choices. In the next, I was doing a cute little wink, but he just stood there like a bodyguard on duty.
Then ... oh god, I was making a heart pose, but he looked like soone who’d just been dragged here against his will!
Well, technically, that wasn’t wrong because he really was dragged into this cute photo booth by .
"We can also add so cute edits here," I said, picking four pictures that I thought turned out the best or, to be more honest, the ones where my face looked the prettiest.
Then I grabbed the stylus pen and started doodling, adding little cat whiskers on his face, hearts, sparkles, basically everything cute I could think of.
After that, I printed two copies; one for and one for him. I wasn’t sure if he would actually keep that ridiculous picture, but anyway, it wasn’t a big deal.
[Ding! Ding!]
[Congratulations! You’ve completed one of the checklist tasks!]
[Reward: $4,000 has been credited to your account.]
[Current Balance: $147,915]
Nice! We only had two more things left to do.
"Have you ever been to an arcade?" I asked once we stepped out of the photo booth.
"The last ti I went was back in high school. After that, never again," he replied.
Oh, right. He probably never got the chance to go again since he’d been busy studying abroad, and then suddenly beca disabled after the accident.
"I haven’t been there since high school either," I said quickly, trying to make him feel more comfortable. "But hey, we can make new mories now."
Back then, I was always too busy studying and running from one casting to another. I never really had ti for fun things like arcades, and honestly, I didn’t have many friends to go with anyway, so going alone didn’t sound fun at all.
The arcade in this mall was pretty big, though. There were bright lights, flashing machines, and cheerful music filled the air, but since it was a weekday, it wasn’t too crowded. Perfect.
"So," I turned to him with a grin, "what do you want to play first?"
Lando looked around, his eyes scanning the colorful machines and blinking lights. "It’s been a while," he admitted softly. "I don’t even rember how most of these gas work."
"That’s fine," I said cheerfully, grabbing his hand. "I’ll teach you! Or ... maybe we’ll just learn together and embarrass ourselves in front of strangers. Either way, it’ll be fun."
The first thing that caught my eye was the basketball machine. "Let’s do this one!" I announced, then stopped mid-step. "Oh ... I’m sorry, maybe it’d be uncomfortable for you."
"No, it’s fine," Lando said calmly. "I can still stand, rember?"
I blinked, surprised, then smiled. "Right. But tell if it gets too tiring, okay?"
He gave a small nod. "Okay."
I quickly swiped the ga card, and the machine lit up with flashing lights and upbeat music. The balls rolled down, and I handed one to him. "You go first."
To my surprise, he was really good at it!
Even after we played three rounds, I couldn’t beat his score, not even once.
"You only have the advantage because you’re taller!" I huffed, crossing my arms in mock frustration.
"I can also shoot while sitting in my wheelchair," he said casually.
I gasped, completely caught off guard. Was he ... challenging ? "No way! I don’t want to waste all the ga card points on just one ga!"
Technically, he was the one paying for everything, but still ... principle mattered!
Before he could say anything else, I was already walking away toward another ga. "Co on, let’s try sothing new!" I called out.
We moved from one machine to another; racing cars, air hockey, even that hamr strength test where I nearly dropped the mallet on my foot. I lost most of the gas, but sohow, it didn’t bother .
It was the first ti I saw a relaxed and casual version of Lando, so different from his usual stoic self. He even chuckled softly a few tis whenever he won sothing.
Finally, we stopped in front of the doll claw machine. Rows of adorable plushies stared back at us through the glass. My eyes lit up instantly. "Oh my god, look at them!" I pressed my hands against the glass. "They’re so cute!"
Lando tilted his head slightly. "You do know those things are rigged, right?"
"Don’t crush my dreams," I said dramatically. "Besides, I will win one."
In the end, I didn’t win a single ti, but sohow, he did on his very first try.
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