I brushed a lock of hair behind my ear, skipping forwards. "Where?" I grinned, my eyes scanning around for a booth that would interest me. My gaze fell on the neon lights of the claw machines. Its queues had dwindled as the hours had gone by, and there I could see Jia Le, Da Chi, Lu Xia and Qi Ying already playing with them.

"I wanna try the claw machines," I told Zhuo Zhi, letting him follow me as I twisted my way through the crowd.

I heard him scoff lightly behind me. "Why? I swear those machines are all rigged."

"It's addictive!" I defended, although knowing that Zhuo Zhi probably wasn't lying. "I mean, until you're broke, it's still fun to play with."

"Yeah, but how lucky can you be to get any prizes at all?" Zhuo Zhi argued as we emerged out of the crowd and walked to the claw machine section. "Okay, pick a booth."

"This one!" I squealed as a particular machine caught my eye. I pressed my hands to the clear, transparent window, gazing longingly at a particular toy. It was a cartoonish kitten, its small eyes sewn with black thread and a chubby face stuffed with cotton. It had a comically huge head and a disproportionately tiny body, clothed by a sunny yellow coat and a miniature cotton hat sewn to its head, the ears sticking up by its sides. My face, reflected by the light of the machine in the window, matched the expression shown by the kitten: a wide, bright and happy grin, although the kitten's pink mouth with a black outline was much smaller in comparison to its face.

Zhuo Zhi, his hands in his pockets, chuckled as he walked up to the machine beside me. "You like this one?"

"It's adorable," I gushed, taking my wallet from my pocket and searching for silver coins. I rolled a coin in my fingers, feeling the numbers engraved into the metal before slotting it into the machine. The machine whirred to life and an annoyingly catchy tune began to sing. As I shifted the joystick over my kitten, at the corner of my eye I spotted Zhuo Zhi nodding his head to the music subconsciously. I smiled to myself, laughing quietly while I turned my head to look at the claw from another angle before hitting the button. The claw dipped down and its thin metal fingers enclosed around the toy, giving me a second of hope as it rose back up with the toy in its captivity. My spirits fell as the claw loosely dropped the toy to the ground, sliding back to its corner.

"Dang it," I muttered, slipping another coin into the machine, Zhuo Zhi watching amusedly. Once again, the claw dangled the kitten dangerously in front of my eyes, just before it let go and the kitten bounced even further away from the hole.

I made a noise of frustration, taking another coin from my wallet. "It's going to cheat you out of your money, you know," Zhuo Zhi grinned casually beside me.

"Practice makes perfect," I said through gritted teeth and hit the button more forcefully than I should have. The claw swayed mockingly at me as it dropped my kitten another time. The music no longer sounded catchy and bright, but just distracting and bothersome.

"I heard a trick from one of my friends before," Zhuo Zhi piped up. Seeing as I had nothing to reply and was focused on the game, he elaborated, "The machine lets you win the toy after a fixed number of rounds in a systematic way."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean, Senior Zhuo Zhi?" I groaned as I gripped the joystick and shifted it with precision, cautiously.

"For example, maybe the machine is designed to pick the toy up and drop it in the hole after twenty tries," Zhuo Zhi said. "For the first nineteen tries, it's programmed to release the toy before it gets to the hole."

"That's bullshit," I scoffed, glaring at the claw as it glided back to the corner of the machine. "It's a skill, Senior. I'll get that toy, just watch."

Zhuo Zhi chuckled, obviously not convinced but amused by my stubbornness.

After three more tries, I was left with a much lighter wallet and an extinguished dignity. I gave an angry sigh, holding in the urge to kick the machine. "Damn these frauds," I growled under my breath.

"Hey." I looked up to see Zhuo Zhi smiling.

I glared at him. "I don't trust the lies your friend tells you. I swear, one day I will master the trick of claw machines."

"Let me try," Zhuo Zhi nodded, patting my shoulder gently to comfort me. I pouted and stepped aside to let Zhuo Zhi have a turn of his own. I heard the clink of his coin drop into the machine and the music started up again. I watched as he observed the claw intently, tapping the joystick lightly to adjust the position of the claw over the toy. He pressed the button and the claw dipped down, deceivingly clutching the toy and bringing it to the ceiling of the machine before the kitten slipped out of its grasp.

"One more try." Zhuo Zhi had the look of resolution in his eyes and I had to hold back a laugh. Just minutes ago, he was the one chiding me to not give in to the addiction of the claw machine. Look where he is now.

My eyes roamed around the claw machine area, landing on Lu Xia and Qi Ying. The claw of the machine Qi Ying was playing with let go of her Pikachu toy, and a disappointed expression cast over her face like she already had a couple of failed tries. I watched Lu Xia tell Qi Ying something before Qi Ying nodded obediently, stepping away to let Lu Xia have a try at the machine. Lu Xia's face might look stony most of the time, but I could tell by the way his lips pursed just slightly at the corner that he was nervous to impress Qi Ying.

His attention is all on the claw and the Pikachu. The neon lights of the machine illuminated his face as he stared at the claw, pushing the button tentatively as if his life depended on it. The fingers of the claw wrapped around the Pikachu, bringing it up. A smile dangled on my lips as I witnessed the claw hold onto the toy loyally, sliding to the corner and dropping it into the hole. Qi Ying gasped in delight as Lu Xia bent down to pull the toy out for her. She took the Pikachu from his hands and hugged it, before throwing her arms around Lu Xia's waist in an embrace.

I was ready to chortle out loud as I watched Lu Xia stunned by her hug, his arms hovering above Qi Ying, unsure of whether to return the action, even though the corners of his mouth were trying to suppress his grin. Even though I was elated at seeing my two juniors have a sort of romantic interaction between each other, regardless of how small it might be, I felt an ache in my stomach that made me have to turn away from them.

"Is this your third try?" I asked Zhuo Zhi, my hands clasped behind me as I studied the claw floating above the kitten, hanging precariously, taunting us.

Zhuo Zhi nodded silently. A lock of black hair hung beside his right eye, almost covering his vision. I had the temptation to reach my fingers out to push it back, yet I bit my lip and diverted my attention away from his face.

The button was pushed and the claw drifted onto the kitten, caging it in its metallic tentacles. I anticipated the thump of the kitten on the surface again when the claw hit the roof of the machine, but to my astonishment, the kitten was locked within the claw, which carried it all the way over to the corner of the machine before releasing it straight into the hole. I was still rooted to the spot, my jaw dropped to the floor as Zhuo Zhi leaned down to pick the toy out of the dispenser. He examined it, turning it around in his hands, then held it out to me. "Here."

I stammered, "What... how did you..."

Zhuo Zhi gave a nonchalant shrug, but the smug smile of satisfaction gave it away. "Must be that lucky twentieth time, huh?"

"Damn you, Senior Zhuo Zhi." I bit down on my grin as I retrieved the toy kitten from his hand. I admired the design and the way the toy was manufactured, feeling the softness of the toy in my palm. The image of Qi Ying moving forward to embrace Lu Xia crossed my mind, giving me the rash idea of copying her behaviour.

It's a different situation. Lu Xia sincerely likes Qi Ying.

I rolled my tongue around in my mouth, an idea forming in my head and a smile spreading across my face. I can win a toy for Senior Zhuo Zhi in return! "Senior, pick a claw machine."

"What for?" Zhuo Zhi questioned, following me idly as I roamed around the array of claw machines.

"You won a toy for me, then I'll win one back for you."

"Can you?" Zhuo Zhi asked back in an amused tone. "You know, I might have been just lucky to win the kitten for you. And I didn't ask for anything--"

I halted in my tracks and whipped around, shooting him a threatening glare. "Pick."

"Alright, alright," Zhuo Zhi laughed softly, nodding as he glanced around the area. "Uh..."

I followed his gaze until my sights were on a machine containing blue octopus plushies. They were all identical, just a sea of baby blue felt with pairs of doe-like eyes and small childish smiles.

"This?" I pointed to the window of the machine, questioning.

Zhuo Zhi sighed, twisting a coin in between his fingers. "Well, I guess this is the one that fits my criteria the best. Here." Zhuo Zhi moved to pass the coin into my hand.

I held up a finger to refuse the coin, grinning cheekily as I fished for a coin of my own from my pocket. Zhuo Zhi's face fell as he began to protest, "Wait--"

"I'll use my own money, Senior Zhuo Zhi!" I stated firmly, skipping over to the machine to insert my coin before Zhuo Zhi could say another word.

I heard an exasperated sigh from behind me. "I'm only going to let you pay on the first try," he mumbled.

"Right, okay," I answered coolly, my focus on the claw now. The music threatened to divert my attention away while I adjusted the joystick again. Playing with the claw machine was a little like tennis, I realised with a smile. Observe and adapt. I studied the claw quickly from a few angles to confirm its position before changing it again. The neon red numbers ticked down to the limited time I had left. Gritting my teeth, I squinted one more time at the claw and hit the button.

The skinny metal fingers wrapped around the octopus and lifted it into the air. I surge of hope swelled in my heart as the claw dragged across the roof of the machine, carrying the octopus in tow, and finally releasing it above the hole. There was a satisfying clatter at the bottom of the machine and I yelped in excitement, retrieving the octopus toy out from the dispenser. A proud smile plastered on my face, I spun around and held the octopus out at Zhuo Zhi at a full arm's length. "Here!"

Zhuo Zhi chuckled, conveying both his surprise and amusement through one noise. "You had that lucky twentieth time on your first try," Zhuo Zhi defended, tapping the bill of my hat once playfully.

I folded my arms. "Nu-uh! It was a skill that I managed to master within ten minutes."

"Luck."

"Skill!"

Our eyes connected and we held it there, daring each other to blink and lose the staring contest. I felt lost in his eyes, a dark brown as dimmed by the night. Swimming endlessly in their simple colour as our eye contact continued. There was an unexplainable flutter in my stomach and any human noise sounded like it was dunked underwater, almost inaudible. Why can't you understand how I feel? I wanted to convey this mere message through my eyes. Why don't you feel the same way?

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~ Snowy ♡