“But you said you loved me.” 

“I lied...I just really wanted the jacket.” Jinsoul glances down at her near and dear triple fat goose coat. The one she begged her boy...well  now ex boyfriend to buy her one day and finally convinced when she batted her eyelashes and said ‘ but I love you, don’t you want me to look cute just for you? Jinsoul patted herself on her back for her acting skills, just like she will later tonight for this amazing scene she’s pulling off at the moment.

She smiles and twirls her hair,“I’m sorry Minho baby but you know how I am, I didn’t mean any hurt feelings.” The tennis star, the most popular dude on her campus, looks like a total loser now. 

He has tears in his eyes and he’s forgotten to shave ever since Jinsoul had broken up with him over the phone, the blonde twirled her finger into the curves of the home line as she told her gruffy voiced boyfriend it was getting boring. Really it had always been boring, the only reason Jinsoul kept saying the sweet little words and ping her skirt was because Minho had endless pockets. 

Meaning she could save her money for her ‘ hobbies ’ while keeping up with all the trends. It was a mutualistic relationship, Jinsoul didn’t have to pick up shifts at the laundromat and Minho had the perfect girlfriend. Except Jinsoul wasn’t perfect, she was a, “phony.” Jinsoul raises her brow. “You’re such a big fat phony.” 

Now Jinsoul’s very concerned, because she was not fat nor fake...for the most part. She was just a girl with special needs. Special needs being 400 dollars so she can buy some designer shoes. Also she’s concerned that she’s been dating a six foot baby all along. “Oh get real Minho, I know you go to Pizza Hut with Yeri behind my back.” Jinsoul didn’t care about that, but she wasn’t gonna sit here and be called a phony by a lying loser.

“Whatever, just leave me alone and stop calling me. My mom is gonna again if the phone bill is high.” Jinsoul puts her hand up, with perfectly manicured nails when Minho tries to speak again. “What part of what I said meant you continue. Shut up and off.” Minho clenches his jaw and turns with the muttered word  under his breath. When he’s far away Jinsoul presses her fingertips into her temples. A headache brewing from the argument. 

Minho will leave her alone now. Just like the countless other boyfriends she’s had. When they realized they weren’t in love with a sweet blonde with perfectly crimped hair, teased around the scalp. Once she shows her true colors they always leave, hating that they are not worshipped by her like every other girl does. 

She wasn’t a .

Jinsoul just had no tolerance for bull.

Reapplying her lip gloss she starts to strut through the courtyard on campus, it’ll be awhile until she can find a new boy to leech off of since Minho will create rumors. She weaves through the people on the streets, keeping her clutch close to her hip. Heels clicking on the pavement, Jinsoul takes her anger out on glaring at all the people walking past her.

They do the same, she likes that just as much as when they hide their away in fear. 

The rhythm of steps stop right in front of an entirely too loud and flashy place with no doors. It’s sunset so the colors will become more intense at night. Walking in she ignores the smell of sweaty armpits belonging to all the dweebs with oversized glasses. Their shirts either being baggy or too tight showing the tiny hairs they are proud of wearing on their chest. That’s the regulars here.

They’re not as bad as the couples on dates who have no idea what they’re doing on duck hunt, only using the game to get closer to each other. Jinsoul always gags when the guy stands behind the girl and ‘ teaches ’ her how to play, getting closer and closer which each pull of the trigger until they’re wanting to play a new game in the backroom.

Jinsoul’s does tolerate a group at the arcade though. It’s not the stoners who reek up the whole place with a skunk smell and laugh louder than the sounds on Galaga. She smiles at the two boys and the girl with pigtails jumping around as one of them plays Donkey Kong. She liked kids, they were mean, had no filter, and truly came for the fun of the games. Stopping in front of them she points at the screen, “you wanna grab the hammer, you’ll get more points and it’ll help avoiding the barrels.” The kid smiles at her and does what she says, destroying barrels as he makes his way to the top to princess peach. Jinsoul stands behind the three with her eyes glued to the screen until the boy beats the level. All of them cheer and share high fives, Jinsoul only chuckles to herself before heading off, afraid she’ll be stuck watching them play all night. 

Jinsoul doesn’t think anyone else besides her and the kids enjoyed the games for what they truly are. 

The dweebs were obsessed with beating each other, not that Jinsoul wasn’t guilty of the same by beating their scores herself. Couples are self explanatory, stoners just wanted something colorful to make them drift from reality. 

Jinsoul didn’t need that stuff though to let her drift off, she didn’t hide her passion for all these big boxes of joy. It’s...well she didn’t really ever bother telling anyone.

Except her bestfriends, Xiaojun and Yoojung who just so happened to work here. Xiaojun is shamelessly looking at a playgirl magazine, a hairy chested man on the cover. Yoojung is stacking a card tower that Jinsoul quickly knocks down. 

“Oh Yoojung look who’s here it’s our great friend Jinsoul.” Xiaojun says nonchalantly without looking away from the pages, Jinsoul rips it away from him causing him to whine. Yoojung is still planning how to murder her while Jinsoul grimaces at all the...hair...and bulky bodies. Xiaojun snatches his candy back out of her grip.

Jinsoul rolls her eyes and hops up on the counter plucking a piece of somebody’s half eaten pretzel and tossing it into . While she’s chewing happily someone from behind puts her in a choke hold. The blonde fights for her life, kicking her feet in the air as Xiaojun slides in front of her with a snide smirk and a raised brow, “Soulie I may have found my dream man...lets’ take a look shall we?”

Yoojung continues to keep her elbow locked around and Jinsoul gets lightheaded. Xiaojun keeps his lip up at an angle and flips through the pages until he lands on one that makes his eyes light up. Holding it up he lets the extended page fall and Yoojung releases Jinsoul, “EWWW IT LOOKS LIKE A WORM ON A STRING!”

Closing her eyes Jinsoul searches for Yoojung’s hands again so she can put them back on , “please god just finish me off.”

Xiaojun hangs his mouth open, offended by the girl and raises a hand only to let it go limp, “you es have no taste, this is a real man.” Jinsoul opens an eye and glances at Yoojung and then bursts out into laughter. As Xiaojun rolls his eyes, the blonde shifts back down to her feet. Already forgetting about her earlier encounter with mcdouchebag. 

Her friends go back to their designated spots, spending their days eating junk food and gossiping all day while letting kids and adult babies waste their money on arcade games. Jinsoul sighs and picks at the pretzel, “I broke up with Minho.” Yoojung snorts and Xiaojun tilts his head with a smile.

The boy with pierced ears and a holey shirt leans forward, “girl no way what happened!”

Jinsoul smiles with a bit of regret, “we banged and he said he was in love…” Yoojung almost falls out of her seat with how hard she’s laughing. Xiaojun is also covering a laugh with his hand, littered with rings. Jinsoul slaps him in the side of the arm, “stop! Do you know how weird that was for me! I didn’t even like kissing him so I had to cut it off before it got annoying.” The blonde shudders thinking of all the stuff she’s done with Minho, with all the guys she’s dated.

“Come on guys! It was way too serious I couldn’t let it go further or he’d get hurt even worse.”

Xiaojun lifts his brows and looks down, throwing shade. “Sure...that’s totally the reason you dumped him.” Jinsoul rolls her eyes and leans onto the counter. Ignoring the way Xiaojun looks at her with a knowing smirk...this was her excuse every time for breaking up with a boy. They were way too into her. 

And she was never into them. 

Jinsoul didn’t want to collect broken hearts. 

Yoojung wipes a tear from her eye, her hair curled from the perm she got. “God Jinsoul this happens every time!” The tiny girl with platforms and some tommy hilfiger overalls on slides over to counter to stand beside Jinsoul, “were you a to him?” Jinsoul may be notorious for her attitude, but that was only because guys got on her nerves. Really she was sweet, unless you got on her bad side. That was too easy to get on.

Looking around the arcade she avoids the question until her friend pokes her in the stomach. Jinsoul pushes the sneaking hands away and groans, “okay okay maybe I was? So what? I was totally over it like a month ago.”

Xiaojun blinks, “you two just started dating a month ago.” 

Yoojung agrees with a nod, her hair bounces with all the aquanet. This was just a cycle at this point, Jinsoul gets with a guy, him dry(his money that is) and then turns him away like a stray dog once she couldn’t stand being around him anymore.

The boy across the counter slurps on a big gulp, shrugging his shoulders, “maybe the next time it will be the one?” Who knows it could be one of the basement dwellers in here.”

Jinsoul scoffs, “as if.” Xiaojun goes back to his magazine propping his feet up on the counter. Yoojung grabs the blonde’s arms in an attempt to comfort her.

“Next time Jinsoul, you’ll find the boy of your dreams. I can even-”

“Please Yoo, let’s stop talking about stupid boys.” Yoojung gives her a guilty frown and Jinsoul shrugs her off, “I don’t need one, I need to beat my highscore.” Ignoring her friends whines of protest she makes her way to what she’s best at. 

Q*bert

Jinsoul thinks she may be the greatest of all time at this game. It’s the only one she’s ever been able to keep her name at the top of the leaderboard, only beating her own high score everytime. Taking off her denim coat she hangs it off to the side, popping her knuckles and cracking her neck. Flipping her hair over her shoulders she adjusts the straps to her red tank top. 

Pressing the buttons with skill and habit she stares at the screen unblinking. Jinsoul doesn’t get embarrassed at the little gasps and groans she makes when she messes up. Nor the screams when she gets too close to losing. She genuinely gets in. Anyone could take one look at her and not be able to figure out she was secretly a nerd. She looked like one of the prep girls at school, a mean fashionista. That was true, but Jinsoul who wears pac man pajamas and oversized coke bottle glasses, crying over rom coms is also an honest character. 

During the day Jinsoul was popular and a trendsetter. At night she was a whole different person. Sometimes instead of parties, she’d be putting a hood over her head and sneaking into Xiaojun’s basement to play D&D. 

No one needed to know that though...she enjoyed both her persona’s. She lived the best of both worlds. But neither of them had, well, the love that she cried about when she watched them in those rom coms. Jinsoul has always been obsessed with Romance and at the same time despised it. Because she’s been taken on all those cheesy dates and been told things that you’d find in a New York Times best seller. 

None of it though made her feel like those girls in the movies.

But playing this game made her feel like a starstruck lover, and that’s all that mattered in the moment. Hopping up and down as the level gets harder and harder, this is where the real fun began. Jinsoul in air and laughs, even tilting her body as she slams on the button and steers the stick. Sticking her tongue out she concentrates, a sweat breaking on her neck from how hard she’s playing.

It was like a workout with how seriously she was taking this. It takes every inch of muscle to keep this Q*bert alive. But the bad day catches up to her and she loses her first round. She gets 5,350 points, not a terrible start, but definitely not her best. She goes to the leaderboard to see what she needs to break her previous score. 

Jinsoul’s jaw drops.

And she screams loudly to the sound of Pac-Man dying.

The dweebs, kids, and stoners all stare at the blonde who was kicking the bottom of the Q*bert box in a fit of rage. The only ones who don’t stare is the weird couple stuffing their tongues down each other’s throat.

Yoojung and Xiaojun watch their friend with concern as she argues with an inanimate object, pointing her finger at the screen and cursing it to hell. Her eyebrows curled aggressively and a vein popping out her neck. “Man she’s had a rough day.” Yoojung mumbles out before searching for the sour punch stick she was holding up with her tongue since her eyes were glued to the gamer raging.

Xiaojun leans over.

“You think Minho is trade?”

~~~~

At home Jinsoul does everything out of rage. She feeds her bald dog pinky with a slam of his bowl, aggressively scrubs the dishes, fights the piles of laundry. Her chores have become her worst enemy. Well not her worst. 

That’s Yves. 

What kind of lame name was that anyways? Jinsoul scoffs thinking about it, how her worst enemy is a mystery with a name she can’t pronounce. Slamming the lid to the washer shut she leans against it and crosses her arms. She stands completely still until the fire in her tummy consumes her. 

“STUPID ING NAME!”

Her high score was demolished by some random guy. Jinsoul knew everyone’s name in the arcade and only a regular could have a score that good. It was killing her, she knew it was none of the dweebs because they would have rubbed it in her face. Nor could they even dream of beating her high score...no this had to be a newcomer. Someone in secret that Jinsoul’s never noticed before. Someone who plays in the shadows.

Like her.

Ignoring the tingle of excitement she gets when she thinks of someone that’s the same as her she instead focuses on how pissed she is that she’s gonna have to go to the arcade even more than does already just to beat that score. 21,250. Jinsoul’s only got to 18,200. “Stupid name…” Curiosity gets the best of her, she wonders if he’s tall or handsome. If he has a good sense of style god, Jinsoul would only hope he’s not a complete . If he’s a dweeb like the other guys, or just a normal dude.

She dreams that he’ll be charming and has some humor. But she also dreams of breaking him in his teeth. Jinsoul was the best and she would not let her throne be taken so easily. If she ever meets this guy he’s gonna wish he never stepped foot in that arcade. It’s making her go crazy. How badly she wants to meet him...just to punch him in the nose.

Stomping up the stairs from the basement she leaves the laundry turning. Going straight to the landline. Dialing Yoojung’s number she taps her foot on the ground until the line clears, “sup?” It’s not Yoojung.

“Doyeon put Yoojung on the phone.”

“Why?”

“Because I said so jolly green giant! This is girl business, go do your little pots and pans or something damn!”

Doyeon, Yoojung’s very tall ‘ roommate’ (sometimes Jinsoul thought something was there when Yoojung would answer the phone breathless and she could hear kiss noises and a voice dangerously close to Doyeon’s) who was an art major at their campus. The type of art major to only wear acid wash jeans and wife beaters, that weirdly those clumps of wet clay on the spinny disk thing.

One time Jinsoul had sat in and watched Doyeon make a vase. It was very homo. Especially the way she made the hole in the top and all the...strange noises the clay made. 

“I’m a girl too ya know, why can’t I be involved in girl’s talk.”

Jinsoul pinches the bridge of her nose, “because you're weird.” Doyeon is about to argue but Yoojung’s voice cuts in.

“Baby who is it?” Jinsoul blushes, sure they were roommates, but also probably bedmates. Maybe mates too. When Jinsoul says hello there’s a tiny squeak and an argument in hushed whispers until the other line fizzles. 

It’s silent and Jinsoul thinks about how good they would look together.

The line becomes clear again and Yoojung speaks in a high pitched voice, “heyyy um sorry ‘bout that what’s up?”

Jinsoul doesn’t like the beat around the bush, “I can't stop thinking about it.”

Yoojung groans, “seriously! That was hours ago! It’s just a game Jinsoul. Give it up!”

The blonde grits her teeth. Clenching onto her sleep shorts she pushes her glasses back up on her nose, blowing out frustration she seethes through her teeth, “it’s not just a game. You know I’ve held the top spot for almost a year. It…” Jinsoul stops, Yoojung may be her best friend but she doesn’t understand.

“Whatever I’m going to bed.”

Yoojung whines, “oh now Jinsoul don’t be like that!”

Jinsoul hangs up and calls her other friend. Well not her friend, but the girl that works at the library. When it picks up, Jinsoul listens to the sweet voice that flows through her ears. Jinsoul spent a lot of time at the library, usually when the girl works because...well Jinsoul loved talking to her.

“Hi this is the-.”

“Jiwoo it’s me, soul.” 

“OHHH HI JINSOUL WAZZZ UP.”

Jinsoul holds the phone away from her ear, but the blush reaches her cheeks. Putting back to her ear she realizes it’s silent, “can you do me a favor?”

“Yes ma’am.”

Jinsoul explains the situation as Jiwoo motions around the library, clicking on her computer. She asks about the name yves. Spelling it out for Jiwoo, the girl was a genius with literature.

The girl hums, “it’s pronounced eve, and it’s probably a French name. Predominantly male.” Jinsoul holds her tongue as Jiwoo says a bit more. “Hm Jinsoul you there?” 

Sighing she answers, “yeah, I- I’m a little tired so imma sleep. Goodnight Jiwoo.”

The girl on the line giggles, “don’t let the bed bugs bite.” Listening to the deep voice she pulls the phone away and hangs up. 

So the mystery gamer is French. 

Jinsoul does the rest of the laundry like a robot. Lost in thought as she repeats the same motions of folding the clothes in the hamper. She’ll have to call Solji tomorrow and get a new schedule since she’d have to start working again because Minho was no longer in the picture.

Walking up to her room she ignores the emptiness in her chest. 

French...guy. 

She couldn’t help but feel disappointed. Flopping on her bed she grabs her rubix cube and goes to work. Shifting her glasses up everytime they slip down she sinks further into her bed. She has her dragon slayer shirt on, it smells like cake from the countless times that she’s spilled it.

The name keeps appearing in her head.

Yves  

Yves  

Yves 

Jinsoul chucks the cube across the room, making a loud thump against the wall. Her sister Chaewon thumps back. Staring at the ceiling she groans, “I’ll show you...Yves.”

Closing her eyes she starts to drift off into sleep.

“I’ll show you.” 

~~~~

“ you don’t have to act like the CIA, this is probably just some innocent guy that’s like good at q-burnt or whatever.” Jinsoul doesn’t reply to the stupidity that comes out of her friend’s mouth, Xiaojun has had enough of her and rightfully so.

For almost two weeks now Jinsoul has been on a stake out. Tonight she wore sunglasses insides, a leather jacket and black clothes, but still kept it stylish with some red pumps and a scarf. Like she was some top secret agent. When she was there she would watch the spot like a hawk, annoyance bubbling in her tummy every second. She has never liked her enemy in the first place, despite the initial fantasy she had of them. The one where Jinsoul didn’t think it was so bad having someone on the same level as her.

But no, Jinsoul wasn’t having it at all. Her temper has gotten the better of her because she knows no one is better than her. How dare some random person come in and steal the one thing that doesn’t irk her. Q*bert, her faithful companion had been ruined, tainted by some evil entity. She had to protect it with her life.

However she wasn’t doing a great job, after every person had played the game Jinsoul would go over and check their scores. No one ever got close to beating her. But somehow, Yves still was able to keep racking up the points. Like she was some ghost. Jinsoul was losing sleep with how much she was playing this game. She’s bested her best four times now...and everytime she thinks she’s won, Yves swoops in during some time she’s not here and ups her score by thousands.

It was pure torture. Jinsoul felt like a dweeb.

“Do you at least want some coffee? Like you look like , and you’re falling asleep in my nachos.” Jinsoul doesn’t even realize she was drifting off and lifts her elbow where it was covered by sticky golden gooeyness. Trying to her elbow( since she hasn't eaten in a hot minute) she figures it’s just as impossible as it is finding Yves. 

Jumping on the struggle bus for the fifth time this week, she begs Xiaojun for help. “Man push my elbow back!” Xiaojun rolls his eyes and keeps pushing while Jinsoul pulls.

Somehow she ends up dislocating her shoulder. Screaming out in pain Jinsoul falls to the floor and rolls around as Xiaojun scrambles to fix her. Kicking around she lands one of her pumps right on Xiaojun’s crotch. Even if he may act like nothing’s there, the voice crack and red face proves that he was hit in his weak spot. The boy falls to his knees too in pain. 

While both of them try to figure out how they’re getting out of purgatory in walks a taller woman. Large framed glasses fit her face, sliding up and down as she chews her bubble gum with a bit of exaggeration. Some of the dweebs stop and stare, she was new but came in almost every night for one game of Q*bert. One of the dweebs started to shake and they all watched her like some goddess. The woman had this untouchable aura surrounding her. It was almost like a swagger, mixed with parts chic and class. 

Her short feathered hair framed her face, sculpted elegantly unlike one of Doyeon’s potterys. She wore loose fitting slacks with a matching blazer and a plain white guess t-shirt tucked into a louis vuitton belt. The woman doesn’t notice the two idiots rolling around on the ground near the counter. 

She pulls up a stool to the game, dropping her tech bag to the ground. Sitting effortlessly on the cushion before crossing her legs. She keeps chewing on her gum like nobody's business, occasionally popping it as she makes no mistakes while playing the game. Unlike Jinsoul, she makes no noise, she doesn’t break a sweat. And most importantly she doesn’t lose. She only quits when she wants to.

After 15 minutes or so she sighs and suicides the game. Chewing her gum she rolls her eyes when she sees the name Jindori on the screen. Her rival that she’s been going at ever since she’s got to this arcade. She beat her score again and smirks with the left side of before typing in the letters. Yves. It’s been this back and forth constantly and the woman absolutely loved it. 

She hasn’t had competition like this in years, she’s been untouchable since she was a teen. Grabbing her bag and returning the stool to its original place she flows out of the arcade. Excited to come back tomorrow and see what score Jindori has come up with next time.

Yoojung steps out of the backroom with a 12” pizza, only to find her friends on the floor writhing in pain. “The happened here!” Jinsoul screams out and Yoojung rushes over to help her friends, pulling Jinsoul’s shoulder back into place while giving a solid pat to Xiaojun’s back. After the two our nursed back to health Jinsoul finally remembers what she was supposed to be doing. 

“ HOW LONG WAS I DOWN!” Screaming she scrambles over to the game, playing a quick round to check the high scores. Yoojung and Xiaojun follow.

Yoojung whispers to the boy, “is she still obsessing over that?”

Xiaojun nods, “yup.” He pops his lips and gives Yoojung a side glance, “this is every night by the way. She comes in constantly es about the mystery dude and plays that stupid game. It’s like Tom and Jerry with this .”

Yoojung frowns when she sees Jinsoul is at second place again, “looks like soul is ol’ Tom.” 

Jinsoul’s heart drops when she sees the score. Looking up and pointing at the ceiling she questions the higher being, “god you better stop playing with me.” Yves was just in here, because Jinsoul checked the score every thirty minutes and she’s been watching for hours. No one has sat at that game.

The little window of time she was out Yves came in and beat her high score once again. Slamming her fist into the game she literally growls, “IDIOT!” She doesn’t know who she’s mad at. Yves for being so mysterious and sneaky, getting away and winning the little competition they’re having once again. Xiaojun for ing her shoulder up or herself, for being so caught up in something so trivial.

Here she was hung up on a ghost gamer and for what reason? Because they were better than her? Jinsoul just loved playing, she didn’t care about high scores. But still she couldn't help it. It was killing her knowing there's someone just as good as her out there. She wants to destroy them.

Yoojung rubs on her back as she sniffles with her face down on the grubby buttons of the game. Why couldn’t she beat this person, why wasn’t she good enough? Why couldn’t she ever catch them? 

Xiaojun feels bad for Jinsoul, “shopping trip this weekend? Before the block party?” Jinsoul doesn’t think anything sounds better than that. She needed some new cute outfits, she had a bit of an addiction to shopping and fashion. Just like this obsession she has with this game at the moment, which has never happened before. She was more obsessed with Yves than the high score...Jinsoul knots her brows, no that wasn’t it. She was just mad she wasn’t the best at her favorite game.

Yeah, Jinsoul needed a break from all this or she’d go crazy. Maybe she could just forget about the whole thing and go back to playing for fun instead of competition, no matter how pissed it got her seeing that stupid name on the screen. 

Raising her head up she smiles, “that sounds perfect guys, thank you.” They shared a group hug before heading back over to devour the pizza Yoojung had made which was extra cheesy. 

Meanwhile on the subway, a woman slips on her headphones and slips in a DeBarge cassette into her walkman. The music flows into her head and she keeps chewing and popping her gum as the train takes her home. She smiles, wondering what her competition is like. If it was a pretty girl or a smelly guy. She hopes it's the prior. Hopefully it was a friendly rivalry and the other person isn't getting fed up with her. She enjoyed seeing that name on the screen, while at the same time getting frustrated with how little the gap gets each time. Leaning her head back she ignores the shake of the windows and the lonely saxophone toot of the player in the corner. 

Hanging onto the rail she fantasizes with the lyrics, and dreads work tomorrow, but looks forward to the arcade again.

Sighing deeply into the night train she thinks about the name over and over again.

Jindori 

Jindori  

Jindori  

~~~~

Me with yvesoul: don’t be shy, have some more!

Sorry guys...I know I should broaden my horizons but me thinks not, the yvesoul tag be a little dry! Just kidding hehe

Hope everyone enjoys this and I don’t go off the rails of this outline I got and ruin this ! Should be short n’ sweet five chapterish! That’s it! Mwah! Thank u peoples!