Jinsoul felt her phone vibrate underneath her leg and sat up quickly, noticing the bright light coming from the window and realizing it was morning. She grabbed her phone and noticed it was at four percent. ", I guess I fell asleep before I could plug it in," Jinsoul mumbled. She looked at the text that had woken her up.

Haseul got sick and her parents won't let us use her car, Jungeun typed, so I can't come and see you today :(

Jinsoul frowned. She really wanted to see Jungeun, and what was she supposed to do all day if her new friends weren't around? She sighed, typing out a response:

D: I'll miss you, Jungeunnie... Jinsoul sent the message quickly, realizing a second later that she sounded really desperate. She facepalmed then shook her head, reaching towards the table next her bed to grab the TV remote.

~~~~~~~~~~

After a good three hours, the rumbling in Jinsoul's stomach became too loud to ignore. She turned off the TV, lazily getting out of bed and hopping into the shower. She let the warm, running water clear her mind of overly dramatic brides and families with way too many children.

She emerged from the shower a half an hour later, not caring that it was almost three o'clock in the afternoon. She threw on a pair of sweatpants, a cozy t-shirt, and wandered down to the buffet. Quickly she perked up, remembering that Yeojin was probably still in the casino. 

Come eat at the buffet with me, Jinsoul sent. 

Ive been waiting 4 ur text all day! Finally! Yeojin immediately answered, and Jinsoul smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~

“What should we do now?” Jinsoul asked Yeojin after they finished their meal (she couldn't tell if it was breakfast, lunch, or dinner).

“There’s a bowling alley downstairs.” 

“I don’t know if they’ll let just two people play...” 

“Someone might need another player," Yeojin whined.

“True.”

“Yes!” Yeojin cried a little too loudly and started running off towards the bowling alley, Jinsoul chuckling and casually following behind.

The bowling alley was fairly full, a few lanes free but most occupied by families and groups of male thirty-somethings with graying hair. As Jinsoul stepped into line, she noticed a middle aged woman and two girls behind of her. As the woman thanked the employee and left to go with her family, Jinsoul listened to the two girls talk with the worker.

"Hello, how can I help you?" the employee asked.

"Um, can we get a lane?" one of the two girls said.

"How many people?" the employee spoke.

"Just the two of us," the same girl responded.

"I'm sorry, you need at least three people to get a lane," the employee said. He gave the girls a pitying look, and their bodies slumped. Suddenly, Yeojin started jumping up and down and waving her arms. 

“We can join! We can join!” The nine year old yelled. 

The two girls turned toward Jinsoul and Yeojin, and the employee gave them a worried look. 

"Um, if you guys need more players we can join. We’re a group of two anyways," Jinsoul volunteered. The employee and the two girls turned to look at her and Yeojin, grinning

"Then the four of us will take a lane," one said.

"That will be sixteen dollars please," the employee answered. The other two girls began to hand the worker money, but Jinsoul pushed their hands away and handed forward her room key.

"I get in free," she explained. They smiled as the employee swiped her card.

"You four are good to go! Shoes are just around the bend, and you'll be at lane thirty six," the employee spoke, and the four girls made their way over to the shoe area.

"Thanks for that," one said.

"Oh, it was nothing," Jinsoul responded.

“Our pleasure,” Yeojin added proudly and winked.

"I'm Heejin, and this is my girlfriend Hyunjin," the girl spoke, gesturing to the other. Hyunjin waved and held Heejin's hand. They looked young and very pretty, still older than Yeojin though. It was obvious they were both very soft spoken.

"I'm Jinsoul," she said. 

“And I’m Yeojin, ultimate phone gamer and frog expert.” Heejin and Hyunjin smiled at Yeojin as they reached the shoe counter. 

"One size five, one size six, and..." Hyunjin trailed off, looking expectantly at Jinsoul and Yeojin.

"One size seven," Jinsoul said. 

“And a kids size three,” Yeojin finished, and the shoe guy brought the pairs up to the counter.

After they slipped on their shoes, they walked down to their lane. Hyunjin punched their names into the machine.

"So how old are you guys?" Yeojin asked.

"We’re both twelve!" Heejin answered. Jinsoul held back a chuckle. They were the exact same age as Hyejoo and Chaewon, but so different.

“Oh, so you are also abandoned children. I’m nine.” 

"And I'm sixteen," Jinsoul responded. Heejin looked at her with wide eyes.

"I know, I'm an old lady," Jinsoul said, and Heejin giggled. Hyunjin turned to look at Jinsoul.

"Did I spell your name right?" he asked. Jinsoul looked up at the screen.

"Yeah," Jinsoul responded. 

"Well, Heejin, you're up!" Hyunjin said, and Heejin smiled and walked over to the bowling balls. She lifted a few of them up, testing out their weight before choosing a green one. She picked it up, walking to the lane, and tossed the ball with perfect form. She succeeded in knocking over ten of the pins. Hyunjin cheered loudly, and Heejin grinned at her. They clearly liked each other a lot.

When the ball she'd chosen came back, she sent it flying again, and got a spare. Hyunjin cheered even louder, hugging her girlfriend as she walked back.

"Your turn," Heejin said to Jinsoul. She walked over to where the bowling balls were, and tried to pick up the ball Heejin had had before. She almost dropped it on her toes, immediately setting it back on the bowling dispenser before choosing a lighter one. She tried to imitate what Heejin had done, but only took down four pins. She chuckled at herself, and picked up a similar ball. In the end, she knocked over three more pins. Hyunjin and Heejin nodded their heads as Jinsoul walked over to her seat.

"Not bad," Heejin said. Jinsoul chuckled again.

"Not good either," she responded. Hyunjin stood up at that moment, picking up the ball Jinsoul had used earlier.

"Wooo, go Hyunjin!" Heejin cheered enthusiastically. Jinsoul grinned, thinking about how adorable the pair was.

Hyunjin, too, ended up being amazing at bowling. But luckily for Jinsoul, Yeojin was at about the same level at bowling as herself, even after getting bumpers for the sides. Still, Jinsoul kept cheering as though she was the greatest bowler in the world, and Jinsoul didn't feel embarrassed by her bad bowling skills. 

When the game ended, Heejin ended up as the clear winner, with Hyunjin in a close second. Jinsoul and Yeojin had been battling out for third, with Yeojin finally beating Jinsoul in the last round (which she blamed entirely on the bumpers).

"We’re tied in my heart," Heejin said, hugging Hyunjin and sharing a soft peck on the lips. They smiled romantically at each other, Jinsoul awkwardly watching from the sidelines and Yeojin making gagging faces. But suddenly they pulled away, just as Jinsoul and Yeojin noticed a man walk into the bowling alley.

"Hey kids," the man said. The two girls smiled nervously.

"Hey dad, what's up?" Hyunjin asked.

"Just checking up on my girls. I have another game tonight, do you think you two can manage on your own again?" the man responded. Heejin and Hyunjin nodded.

"Of course, dad," Heejin spoke. Jinsoul looked at the three people (who were apparently related) just as the man noticed Jinsoul and Yeojin.

"Who are these young ladies?" the man asked.

"This is Jinsoul and her sister Yeojin," Hyunjin spoke. He walked over to Jinsoul and Yeojin and shook their hands. 

"I'm Doyoung, Heejin and Hyunjin's father," he said, grinning. Jinsoul squeezed Yeojin’s hand, trying to keep her quiet, managing an uncomfortable smile.

"Well, you girls have fun!" Doyoung said, walking out of the bowling alley. Jinsoul stared at her new friends in shock.

“Okay, Jinsoul and I aren’t sisters. But apparently you two are...so what the is going on with that?” Yeojin spoke up.

“Language,” Jinsoul whispered.

"Wait, wait, it's not what it looks like! I promise," Heejin said nervously.

"We're not blood related, we're actually just step sisters. My mom married her dad last year, so it's not like we're really related at all," Hyunjin explained. Jinsoul nodded, still a bit creeped out but feeling more accepting.

"It's not that weird, right?" Heejin said, wincing. 

“Not at all! Actually that’s kind of cool,” Yeojin answered. 

Jinsoul thought it over for a few moments, then nodded her head. She wouldn’t call it cool but..

"I guess not," Jinsoul said. Heejin and Hyunjin smiled.

"Are you two down for another game?" Heejin asked. 

“Hell yeah!” Yeojin cried, making the bowlers near them turn and stare. Jinsoul shrugged her shoulders. 

"Sure," she said, and went up to the counter to pay for another game.

~~~~~~~~~~

As they watched each other play, they all talked.

"So, what does your dad do?" Jinsoul asked Hyunjin.

"Our dad's a professional poker player. We usually stay at casinos for a few weeks, then move to another one," Hyunjin explained.

“Ah, so you are also abandoned children,” Yeojin spoke knowingly. 

“You know of the abandoned child tradition. I see,” Hyunjin answered

"We don't see dad much, but it's okay because mom is usually there. Since we move around so much, she has to homeschool us," Heejin continued.

"The only reason I even call Doyoung dad is because he'd kill me if I didn't," Hyunjin said. Jinsoul chuckled.

"So what does your mom do?" Jinsoul questioned further.

"Well, she usually is just a housewife," Hyunjin said.

"More like, hotel wife," Heejin added.

"But sometimes she'll attend these special Christian meeting thingies at night, and we'll have the room to ourselves," Hyunjin spoke.

"It's nice, because we get to kiss and cuddle in peace," Heejin spoke as she walked back from scoring yet another spare. Jinsoul thought back to Hyejoo and Chaewon again. If they had the house to themselves...Jinsoul didn’t even want to think about the tik toks they’d make.

"That's another reason we'll never tell our parents about this. Dad doesn't really care about religion, but mom's a pretty big Christian. If she knew, she might try to get us anti gay therapy or something," Hyunjin said sadly. Jinsoul nodded, then bowled. She scored a good five points.

"Well, how about your parents?" Heejin asked as Hyunjin went up to go bowl.

“My parents repair slot machines, so we travel around a lot too,” Yeojin explained. 

“You?” Heejin asked Jinsoul.

"My parents actually just got a divorce. My dad's a big CEO, and my mom used to be a housewife, but now we're just living here until she can find a job," Jinsoul answered.

"I'm sorry about that," Heejin said, sympathy and empathy in her voice.

"It's alright, I hated my dad anyways," Jinsoul said, and Heejin chuckled.

At the end of the game, Heejin emerged as the winner (again), Hyunjin got second place (again, also). Jinsoul almost won this round but at the very end she realized she didn’t want Yeojin to be last, so she threw the game. Nonetheless, she was disappointed.

"Ugh, why," Jinsoul whined, and Hyunjin laughed. Heejin looked down at her phone, then back to Hyunjin.

"We'd better get going soon so we can maximize our cuddle wuddle time," Heejin said, pouting cutely.

Hyunjin made a disgusted face but Jinsoul could see the love behind it. "Alright then. Hey Jinsoul and Yeojin, can we get your numbers? Maybe we can hang out tomorrow."

"That sounds good," Jinsoul said, and passed their phones around.

“We'll bring some of my other friends along!” Yeojin said excitedly. “They’re weird and there’s one named Haseul that’s kind of pathetic but they’re all really nice.” 

“We haven’t hung out in a big group in a while!” Heejin said, a smile on her lips. 

“Sounds fun,” Hyunjin mumbled, smiling at her girlfriend.

"Well, see you tomorrow!" Heejin said happily, grabbing Hyunjin's hand.

"See ya!" Jinsoul replied. 

Once they were a big enough distance away, Yeojin whipped to look at Jinsoul. “Walk me to my room so we can analyze how weird that just was.” 

“Sure thing,” Jinsoul answered, chuckling a little. She had to text Jungeun about this.