Arcade Lover

Chapter 1

"Go faster! Come on!!"

"Harder!"

"Tap harder!"

"I'm almost there!"

Amidst the commotion, Jennie Kim finds herself with a wide satiable grin, the very moment the constantly abused machine rang music to her ears. She's scored yet another point. A higher record even. She cheers with joy, and turns around with the same dreamy smile, peering over a standing machine to a blonde cheering her on by the sides, eagerly gazing back. Her heart grows warm, taking in the sight of the girl who looked her age. She was presentably fetching.

She's never seen the girl before.

"Do you want to have a go?" She offers nonetheless, her voice coming off timid, unlike her usual aggressiveness when she screams for the next person in line to advance so they can lose quickly for her next turn to arrive faster.

Something about this blonde seemed to tranquillise her, or perhaps the brunette was just shy.

"No it's okay, you go ahead."

Jennie was at a loss for words. Usually, everyone at the arcade wanted to have a chance at this game. It was well received, and it was only available here. Why didn't she want to play? Why had the girl just been angelically leaning towards one of the machines, and charmingly staring at her while she played this entire time?

While there would often be a crowd waiting on to play, there was barely anyone else at the arcade now since it was 12.10 in the morning.

Jennie loved to hangout in the arcade. It was her safe place, her comfort crib. Everywhere else in this world was a rotting crater she hated to associate with. She loved things animated, bright sound effects, the smell of tickets and coupons. Everything about the arcade was blissful to her.

At the moment, she wondered if the blonde girl felt the same.

"Why're you just spacing out over there? Did you run out of game tickets?" A soft voice snaps her back.

She starts to fumble with the tickets in her pockets, cursing silently when she only had one left. She pulls it out awkwardly, suddenly feeling conscious of the way the taller one was observing her. It was a gentle stare, but it could mean so many things.

"One ticket," The blonde chuckled warmly, "You need at least two to start a new round, right?" and proceeds to ask.

But before Jennie could give her an answer, she turns on her heels with a subtle smirk, "Don't mind if you give me a moment. I'll be back with more, just stay here."

When she finally comes back, the brunette was taken aback by what she was seeing. It was not just a couple strips of tickets that she was so used to purchasing. Instead, the blonde had returned with an entire basket full of tickets. Jennie realised they were even being compressed so the basket could take in more. No wonder the girl took so long.

"What the crap-"

"I might have gotten too many by mistake."

"You can't just accidentally buy this much."

"Believe me or not, this was clearly an accident."

She watched the girl's expression go blank, was she being impassive? So she was serious? It was hard to believe.

"This is hilare. You must be a really funny person."

The blonde raises her eyebrows skeptically, "Is that a compliment or are you being sarcastic?"

Jennie shrugs, "Whichever you'd like to think it is." She bends down to receive the tickets from the basket, "Thanks for this by the way, how much did you pay for it?"

"Uh.... twenty dollars??" The girl mumbles.

This got the brunette eyeing her suspiciously. She was so familiar with the arcade it was practically considered her second home by now, and she was also really familiar with the ticketing system. There was no way in hell this entire basket of tickets were only sold at twenty bucks. It had to be at least a fifty.

But she wasn't going to complain.

"Here, I'll pay you back." She searches for bills in her wallet, but the girl stops her.

"You don't have to, it's alright."

The brunette looks up, grinning brazenly, "You sound experienced doing this. How many times have you used this same tactic of yours on how many people?" and teases, feeling all the satisfaction when the blonde flushes.

"You're the only one I've ever done this to?" She tries to clarify.

"I bet that line's also part of the act?"

The girl groans lightly, propping her elbows by the barrier between the game section and the standing machines while her palms rests on her cheeks.

"Okay, well, you don't have to believe me if you don't want to."

"Right, it would take more than just this for you to get me swayed in any way." Jennie lets on pretentiously, "Take your money."

"I told you, you don't have to."

"What if I insist?" The brunette challenged.

The blonde goes silent for awhile, and just as Jennie thought she was going to relent and give in to taking her rightful dollar notes, she suggests something else.

"You keep your notes, and you let me watch you play in return?"

The brunette's mind was twisted, "What has that got to do with anything? It doesn't make sense."

"Yes, yes it does." She sounded uncertain herself.

"Okay let's get a run down of everything," Jennie says with much affirmation, "You were the one who got me these tickets, correct? So that means I owe you the cost of these tickets, correct? So how would I be repaying my debt if you watch me play?"

"That's simple. You're letting me watch you play. Your consent and permission would replace the cost of all these tickets. That being said, you're not indebted to me anymore." The blonde speaks with much amplification, seemingly unbothered and very resolute of her own explanation.

Jennie sighs.

"Fine. You sure you don't want your money back?"

"Nope, not at all."

The blonde gives her a feverish smile, enough to leave an impression on the brunette that would probably last for weeks.

She was just sure of it.