The next morning Jinsoul woke up, groaning and trying to fall back asleep. After about five minutes of tossing and turning, she opened her eyes again, realizing she was up for good. She sighed: it wasn’t like she had any reason to be awake and sleep was so much sweeter. With a groan she sat up and grabbed her phone. She had one new message:

Hello Jinsoul, her mother wrote, I'm probably out again today. From now on, you should probably just assume I'm not in my room. I'll text if we should meet up. Stay safe, I love you!

After what felt like a few minutes but was really a half an hour of mindlessly scrolling through instagram, Jinsoul got out of bed and went back to the ground floor. Although she was starving, she realized she was going to get very sick of the buffet if she kept on eating there. At that moment, her eyes landed on the starbucks. "Oh, I'll get something from there," Jinsoul muttered. "God, I'm such a white girl," she said out loud, "I'm a freak too. Like, who talks to themselves ther much? No one other than me.” Jinsoul shook her head and continued on her way.

~~~~~~~~~~

With a chai tea latte in hand, Jinsoul walked around the hotel, mindlessly going down the escalator to the basement. She wandered around, noticing the lack of people in the carpeted halls and cheap boutiques.  She turned a corner and looked down the hall. "Why don't I just go to the arcade today?" she muttered, and sped up her walking pace to get into the arcade.

As Jinsoul walked in, she noticed the loud, bright game machines. They basically looked like slot machines, except for children. There was a token machine off in the corner, next to the prize stand and restaurant. The place wasn't empty, a few groups of children and their parents playing the games, but it wasn't even close to packed. Jinsoul finished her drink then, looking around for a trash can. She found one in the restaurant, and as she threw away the cup, she realized she was still hungry. 

"I guess I'll just get something from here," Jinsoul muttered. She ordered a large soda and some chicken nuggets, and sat down. There was only one other group of people: a group of girls around Jinsoul’s age. 

The girls were sitting at a table a few seats down from her own. There were five of them, some definitely older than others. One had bright, bleach blonde hair, and a young and sweet face turned in a heavy glare. Beside her was another girl with pitch black hair and a resting face. The two girls were dressed in all black, with chains and spikes and heavy dark makeup. They were sharing a set of earbuds and even from a distance Jinsoul could hear the loud rock music blaring from it. It made her chuckle to see the two girls dressed so goth in the childlike arcade. 

Next to them was a smiling girl who looked a few years older than the two goths, but with her bright and happy expression, she looked like she fit in here way better. The other girl, birdlike features with a short brunette bob, was staring intensely at the prize stand, but not for the prizes they offered. Her sparkling eyes were directed at the young girl working at the stand, a short but pink haired teenager. She clearly had a thing for the employee, but the worker was oblivious. 

Finally, there was her. Soft, brunette, and extremely beautiful, Jinsoul was immediately drawn to her. She had pretty lips, a perfect nose, smile, and oh. She was so perfect.

"Damn," Jinsoul muttered, eyes still locked on the gorgeous girl. She suddenly realized she was staring, and looked down at the bright blue table. 

"You really shouldn't look at people for long, extended periods of time. It's rude. Also, ther table is really bright. Why are you looking at it? It's really bright, you might hurt your eyes," Jinsoul said. Her mind wandered off, spacing out until he heard a voice.

"Do you always make a habit of talking to yourself?" she heard. Jinsoul looked up quickly, the voice abruptly ending her daydream: it was the gorgeous girl standing on the other side of her table, grinning and gazing at Jinsoul. She blushed deeply.

"Oh, um, no, not really, just, um, while I've been here, I guess," Jinsoul stuttered. The pretty girl laughed quietly, and Jinsoul smiled nervously.

"I'm Jungeun," the gorgeous girl said.

"Jinsoul," she responded, and shook Jungeun's hand. 

Her hands are really nice, Jinsoul thought, I wonder how they'd feel wrapped around my waist in a tight hug. Oh god Jinsoul you should not be obsessing over someone’s hands when they’re right in front of you- Jinsoul shook the thought from her mind.

"Chicken nuggets for Jinsoul," the cashier called out. She stood up to go get her food when Jungeun gently grabbed her arm.

"Sit with us, alright?" Jungeun asked.

"Yeah, I will," Jinsoul answered and smiled, her cheeks turning slightly pink.

As she walked over to get her food, Jinsoul contemplated what had happened to her in the last few minutes. 

I can't believe she talked to me. Maybe she just felt bad for me or something, Jinsoul thought. She sighed. She's really pretty, isn't she? And beautiful. And pretty. She smiled and walked to Jungeun's table. When she arrived, Jungeun looked at her and smiled back, patting a spot next to her. As Jinsoul sat down, Jungeun spoke.

"Guys, this is Jinsoul," she said. No one paid attention except for the smiling girl. 

"I'm Yerim!" she answered and grinned softly. Jinsoul nodded at her, returning the grin

"That's Haseul," Jungeun explained, pointing to the girl staring at the employee working at the prize stand.

"Oh, oh, hey," she said, turning around for a single second before turning back toward the worker. Jungeun chuckled and rolled her eyes before turning toward the younger girls that were still just glaring. 

"That's Haseul's little sister, Chaewon," Jungeun spoke, pointing to the girl with bleach blonde hair. "And my little sister Hyejoo," Jungeun continued, pointing to the girl with pitch black hair. At that moment, Hyejoo and Chaewon turned to stare at Jungeun and Jinsoul.

"What,” Hyejoo deadpanned.

"Go play some of the games. We look like idiots," Haseul said.

"It's not my fault that you make us come here every day. Anyways, I'm twelve, I can do whatever I want," Chaewon answered in her surprisingly high pitched voice. Jungeun and Jinsoul laughed quietly, until Chaewon gave them a look and they stopped.

“Yo yo yo!” A voice suddenly interrupted. They all turned to look, and Jinsoul smiled as she saw Yeojin was the one who called them. The rest just looked confused. 

“Who’s this?” Jungeun asked with a grimace. 

“My...friend? Yeojin,” Jinsoul explained. 

“She’s...a child.” 

“Yeah...yesterday was weird.” 

“What’s going on? Who are these people? More abandoned children?” Yeojin asked, and Jungeun introduced everyone. “Well I’m Yeojin, ultimate phone gamer and frog expert. What’s everyone doing?” 

“I wanted to go play some of the arcade games, but nobody wanted to come with me,” Haseul spoke frustratedly

"I'll go play some of the games with you," Yerim said. 

“Oh, oh me too!” Yeojin added. Haseul looked suspiciously at Yeojin but Yerim smiled at her. The three got up to play, Haseul giving one last glance toward the prize stand.

"So what brings you to Reno?" Jungeun asked Jinsoul once they were off.

"My mom and I are staying here until winter break ends," Jinsoul explained, and Jungeun smiled widely. "And you? Why are you guys here?" 

Jungeun chuckled, and Chaewon and Hyejoo rolled their eyes. "Well, every time there's a school break, like spring, summer, or winter break, that girl," Jungeun said, pointing to the girl that Haseul was staring at earlier, "always works here. Haseul's in love with her, and she's the only one with a car, so if we want to go outside we have to come with her.” 

"When we were younger, she used to bring us along so we wouldn't look strange. But now she doesn't really have an excuse," Hyejoo said.

"Why doesn't she just talk to her?" Jinsoul asked.

"Who knows?" Jungeun responded.

"It's so embarrassing; they go to the same school," Hyejoo said.

"How long has this been going on?" Jinsoul questioned.

"Three or four years," Jungeun answered sadly.

"THREE OR FOUR YEARS?!" Jinsoul exclaimed. Jungeun, Hyejoo, and Chaewon nodded slowly.

"And guess who has to listen to her blab about this chick? Me. Ugh, the pain of having Haseul as a sister," Chaewon said, leaning her head on Hyejoo’s shoulder.

"So you guys live around here?" Jinsoul asked. 

"Yeah, we're all neighbors, and we live down by the mountains," Jungeun said. Jinsoul nodded.

"Is there even a school around here?"

"The K through eight is down there, and the high school is next to it," Hyejoo said, pointing off into the distance. “AKA...hell.” 

“Hell is where we belong though,” Chaewon added. “So it’s more like purgatory.” Everyone ignored them.

"What grade are you in?" Jungeun asked Jinsoul.

"Oh, I'm a junior," Jinsoul spoke.

"So you're sixteen, right?" Jungeun replied. Jinsoul nodded. “Then we’re the same age. Yerim and Haseul too.”

"And so is Vivi," Chaewon said. Jinsoul gave her a confused look.

"Vivi is the name of Haseul's crush," Jungeun said.

"How did you figure out her name?" Jinsoul asked.

"Mostly just intense stalking," Jungeun said. Jinsoul giggled.

“We’re twelve," Chaewon spoke. Suddenly, Haseul, Yeojin, Yerim arrived back at the table.

"We spent about twenty bucks, so we’re gonna go get prizes now," Yeojin said. Yerim had her arms wrapped proudly around her shoulders; they were getting along already. Haseul was still trying to shyly glance at the prize stand. 

"I can't believe you just spent twenty dollars just to talk to some girl," Chaewon said with exasperation.

"Me either," Haseul answered, shrugged, and walked over to the prize stand with Yerim and Yeojin. A few seconds later, she returned alone.

"What happened?" Chaewon asked. 

"I chickened out and gave Yerim all my tickets," Haseul replied. Jinsoul looked over at the prize stand, and Yerim was excitedly helping Yeojin pick out crappy stuff, while Vivi was handing it to her with a neutral expression. Hyejoo sighed. 

"Again?" she said. Haseul nodded shamefully.

"Why do you always do this? You force us to come here and spend tons of money, but then you always get nervous and don't do anything. You really need to take a look at yourself," Chaewon said. Haseul looked down at the table, head hanging in embarrassment.

"We're still coming back tomorrow, right?" Hyejoo asked. Haseul kept looking at the table, but she nodded and smiled. Jungeun and Jinsoul giggled, and Chaewon rolled her eyes. 

At that moment, Yerim came back with a small bag of stuff.

"Here, I got everyone some cat ears!" Yerim said, walking around and placing a plastic headband with cat ears on everyone's heads. As Jinsoul received hers, she reached up to touch it. 

"Those look cute on you," Jungeun said, smiling at Jinsoul. Jinsoul blushed.

"You too, Jungeun," Jinsoul spoke, and maybe it was just Jinsoul's imagination, but she swore Jungeun's cheeks turned a bit pink.

"I even got a pair for Vivi!" Yerim exclaimed. Everyone quickly turned to look at Vivi. Yerim waved at her, and Vivi waved back. Everyone turned to look while Yerim put the cat ears on Vivi's head. When Vivi grinned at Haseul she quickly turned around, eyes wide. Vivi made a face, and continued her work. 

"We should go now," Haseul said.

"Ugh, finally," Chaewon moaned.

"By the way, could you possibly drop us off at my place? And Jungeun, can you go Haseul or Yerim's?" Hyejoo asked.

"Guys...what are you going to do..." Jungeun said suspiciously.

"We're updating our tik tok," Hyejoo firmly answered.

"Please, do not disturb the neighbors again....but fine," Jungeun said.

"Yes," Chaewon muttered, and high fived Hyejoo, the two girls smirking at each other. Haseul rolled her eyes at them, and they all stood up together.

“Wait, what’s wrong with their tik toks?” Jinsoul whispered to Jungeun. 

Jungeun grimaced and shook her head. “I’ll just have to show you sometime. And, um, Jinsoul?”

"Yeah?" 

"You should meet us back here tomorrow. At around one or something?" Jungeun suggested, a nervous inflection in her voice. Jinsoul smiled widely.

"I'll be here," she said brightly, looking at Jungeun.

"You know, maybe we should exchange numbers. Just in case, you know, we can't find each other or something, I dunno," Jungeun said, chuckling nervously. Jinsoul nodded vigorously, and handed Jungeun her phone. Once they handed back their phones, they looked at each other and smiled. 

"Well, see you tomorrow," Jungeun said.

"Yeah, see ya," Jinsoul responded. They left the arcade, and after insisting on dropping Yeojin off Jinsoul went back to her room. The smile didn't leave her face all day or night.