The next morning, Jinsoul woke up with the sun high in the sky, yet she was still somehow tired. She suddenly remembered how she'd stayed up texting Jungeun until four am, sharing random stuff about their lives and thoughts with each other. She had learned so much about Jungeun, and she felt closer to her than ever. Just thinking about it made her let out a lovesick sigh.

She checked the time on the digital clock by her bed, and it read 12:30 pm. "Oh !" Jinsoul cried out loud, throwing herself out of bed and rushing to the bathroom to get ready. She quickly washed her face and brushed his teeth, not bothering to shower at all, throwing on the nearest clean clothes she could find and barely spending a moment to brush her hair. She didn't want to miss a spare second with Jungeun. 

Jinsoul ran all the way to the elevator, down to the escalator, and to the basement. But as she neared the arcade she slowed down, not wanting to seem like she was too crazy about getting there on time. When she finally got there, Jungeun quickly grinned.

"What took you so long?" Hyejoo asked knowingly.

"Sorry I'm late, I just woke up really late," Jinsoul said apologetically, looking up at Jungeun. Hyejoo gave them both a pointed look, then turned to Chaewon and whispered something in her ear. Chaewon nodded, face expressionless, and whispered back to Hyejoo. Yeojin, who despite being still a child was now an official part of their group, gave them a look, and then Jungeun and Jinsoul a look. 

“Were these two doing something?” She asked loudly. Nobody answered but Chaewon winked at her. “Oh...” she answered. The three of them shared a smile, Hyejoo and Chaewon standing up before looking at the other girls.

"We're getting food now," Chaewon spoke, and everyone handed her their five dollars.

"Um, chicken nuggets for me please," Jinsoul spoke.

“Me too!” Yeojin cried loudly.

"I'll take that too," Jungeun said.

"We'll have some too," Yerim spoke, referring to herself and Haseul, who was typing furiously on her phone. Chaewon gave her older sister a look before holding Hyejoo's hand, the two of them walking to the cashier.

"Wait, who is Haseul texting?" Jinsoul asked.

"Vivi," Yerim responded casually.

"But isn't she, like, right there?" Jinsoul asked, pointing to the prize stand, where Vivi's eyes were also glued to her phone.

"Welcome to Haseul logic," Yerim said. 

Suddenly, Yeojin stood up. "Well, I want some candy. I'm going to Candy Baron, anyone else want to come?" 

“Me!” Yerim cried, following the nine year old.

"Nah, we're good," Jungeun said. Haseul just shook her head, desperately waiting for her phone to buzz.

"Your losses," Yerim said and Yeojin snapped sassily in their faces, walking out of the restaurant. Just then, Chaewon and Hyejoo returned, Chaewon immediately resting her head on Hyejoo's shoulder.

"Why must these tables be so damn uncomfortable?" Chaewon whined.

"Why couldn't Vivi have worked in a cooler part of the casino?" Hyejoo responded.

"Maybe one day, when Vivi and Haseul finally go out, we can get discounts here. Like maybe get a sweatshirt or something," Jungeun spoke.

"Why are you so obsessed with getting a sweatshirt?" Jinsoul asked Jungeun jokingly.

"Because I've been forced to come here since I was twelve and I am still unable to get a ing sweatshirt," Jungeun complained, making Hyejoo and Jinsoul laugh.

"Why don't you just save up tickets?" Chaewon asked, expression neutral. Jungeun's eyes widened.

"How did I never think of that? Guys, guys, we are going to get a ing sweatshirt, if it's the last thing I do," Jungeun said with determination.

"What do you mean by we?" Hyejoo asked.

"I mean the seven of us, including Yerim and Yeojin when they get back from Candy Baron," Jungeun explained.

"And who's paying for all of that?" Chaewon asked.

"Um, everyone is? We can each chip in five dollars," Jungeun said.

"And who gets the sweatshirt?" Jinsoul asked. She wanted to join, mostly because she’d been dreaming about wearing one of Jungeun's gigantic hoodies.

"We can all share it!" Jungeun responded, trying to make everyone excited about her new plan.

"But it's ugly as ," Chaewon responded.

"They only come in pink, bright blue, and beige. No black. Not even a good deep purple or blood red," Hyejoo added.

"But it's an heirloom of our labors!" Jungeun begged desperately.

"I'll help you!" Jinsoul said happily.

"I guess I'm in too," Haseul said. Just then, their food was done and Yerim and Yeojin came back.

"Look, I got everyone taffy!" she said happily.

"I have braces," Hyejoo deadpanned.

"Me too, but we'll just eat them anyway," Chaewon spoke, grabbing her taffy and stuffing it in .

"Remember that time when Hyejoo and Chaewon got their braces stuck together when they were kissing?" Jungeun said, laughing. Yerim and Haseul followed.

"I didn't know that actually happened in real life," Jinsoul said with fascination.

"Well, it did. It was so funny when they tried to explain it to grandma and grandpa," Jungeun said.

"It wasn't that funny," Chaewon muttered. 

"That was how we had to ing come out to our grandparents," Hyejoo said sadly.

"Well, the only reason it's an us that was coming out is because you totally outed me," Jungeun explained.

"I had to! Then they would have focused on me the whole time," Hyejoo said.

Jungeun rolled her eyes but put a smile back on her face. "Anyways, now that Yerim and Yeojin are back, we can discuss our plan!"

"What's happening?" Yerim asked. Jungeun explained the idea with the sweatshirt.

"That sounds fun!" Yerim said. 

“I’m ing down!” Yeojin cheered. 

“Language!” Yerim, Jungeun, Jinsoul and Haseul cried simultaneously.

"Fine," Yeojin grumbled and the seven girls stood up, walking away from the restaurant. Chaewon and Hyejoo suddenly made a move to split from the rest of the group.

"What are you two doing?" Haseul asked Chaewon and Hyejoo.

"We're going to find a good spot to film some tik toks," Chaewon said, completely seriously.

"Dude, you're in public! Unless you find a way to break into a room, then there's nothing you can do," Jungeun responded. Hyejoo and Chaewon looked at Jinsoul expectantly.

"No, no, no. I do not want to go to sleep knowing that I'm lying in the same spot where middle school students made weird tik toks. Plus you’ll mess up my room," Jinsoul protested.

"Oh, come on, it's just tik tok," Hyejoo said.

“It’s not tik toks, its the tik toks you guys make,” Haseul answered.

“They’re weird," Jinsoul, Jungeun, and Haseul all said at the same time. Chaewon rolled her eyes, and Hyejoo and Chaewon stomped off.

"We'll text you when we're done," Hyejoo yelled back to the other girls.

The other five girls giggled at their middle schooler friends, and walked off to the game machines.

After an hour, the girls had gathered thousands of tickets. They fed the tickets into the special machine, pulling out their receipt, which stated they they had about nineteen thousand tickets total.

"We might be able to get it," Yerim said hesitantly. 

“I dunno, I thought Vivi said it was way more than nineteen thousand last time...” Jungeun spoke up. 

“We might as well try though,” Yeojin answered, and they all shrugged and walked over to the prize stand.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Vivi asked, and Jungeun handed her their receipt.

"Can we get a sweatshirt?" Yeojin asked hopefully.

"No, sorry. It's still sixty thousand," Vivi said.

"That is so ing stupid," Jungeun said, sighing angrily.

"Can we get candy then?" Yeojin asked.

"No! We are saving this," Jungeun responded, tucking the receipt into her wallet. "We can combine tickets, right?"

"Yeah, you're allowed to do that," Vivi answered.

"Well, I'm going back to candy baron," Yeojin said, skipping away. 

“I’m gonna make sure she doesn’t do anything stupid...” Yerim mumbled, running after her and yelling her name.

"Hey Haseul, so you were telling me last night that you enjoy watching movies?" Vivi asked Haseul, grabbing her arm. Haseul stared back in shock, and Vivi pulled her behind the desk so they could talk. Jinsoul and Jungeun walked away to leave the two girls alone.

"What now?" Jungeun asked.

"We could hang out in my room," Jinsoul suggested, trying not to think of anything weird or seem too excited.

"Sounds good," she said, following Jinsoul up the escalator and to the elevators. When they arrived at the little elevator lobby, Jinsoul leaned against the one on the far right.

"Why do you think it's going to be that elevator?" Jungeun asked.

"I don't know. It's a little game I play, guess the elevator that's going to open," Jinsoul said to Jungeun.

"Well, I think it'll be this one," Jungeun said, going to the one closest to the opening, across from the Jinsoul chose. When the elevator finally opened, it was the one in between Jinsoul's and Jungeun's. They got on it, Jungeun linking their arms together. Jinsoul grinned widely. 

When they finally reached the fifteenth floor, Jinsoul walked out, Jungeun following behind her. They finally made their way to her room, stopping in front of the door because Jungeun received a text.

"," she muttered.

"What's wrong?" Jinsoul asked.

"Why does this always happen!" Jungeun said, sighing. "Well, Yerim said that she and Yeojin were leaving candy baron and saw Hyejoo and Chaewon making one of their tik toks in the middle of the casino basement. With the volume of their music turned all the way up. In front of children. And you know what kind of music they listen to," Jungeun said.

"I guess that means you have to leave then," Jinsoul said, deflating a little. Jungeun nodded.

"Haseul's going to throw a fit. Finally talking to Vivi, only to get thwarted by her weird little sister," Jungeun said. Jinsoul giggled.

"Well, bye, I guess," she said sadly. Suddenly, Jungeun leaned in and pecked Jinsoul on the cheek. Jinsoul grinned, blushing a dark pink, and Jungeun's cheeks matched as well. She began to walk away.

"Bye," he said, waving with her pretty hands. Jinsoul waved back until the girl was out of sight. When she wasn't visible anymore, Jinsoul opened the door to her room, throwing off her shoes and jacket. She laid out like a starfish on his bed, promising to herself that she will never forget what that simple kiss felt like.