“Hey, let’s try this one.”

“This one.”

“Let’s go for that one.”

“Cabanas, hurry up!”

“Yeah, coming.”

It was Sunday afternoon.

Frias, Tinabet, and Adrian were at Timezone.

The reason the three of them were there could be traced back to yesterday.

It was Saturday night when they decided to have an online meeting. Frias initiated it by sending a link to the group chat they had created, saying, [Let’s have a meeting at this time.]

During the meeting, Tinabet started by mentioning their agenda. What followed was a brainstorming session. Frias and Tinabet eagerly shared some suggestions, but Adrian had been silent since the start of the discussion.

[Hey, say something, Cabanas! You should contribute too!] Tinabet complained.

[This meeting isn’t going anywhere… Hmm…] Frias muttered, trying to think. [I’ve decided. Let’s continue this meeting tomorrow.]

[Why? Why not just finish it today?] Tinabet asked.

[I want to try something. So let’s meet at…]

Hearing the plans for tomorrow, Adrian was taken aback and asked, [Wait, are we having a face-to-face meeting?]

[That's right. What? You don’t want to? Are you busy on Sundays or something?]

[Well… not really.]

[So, are there any complaints?]

With that, everyone reluctantly agreed.

[Alright then, see you guys tomorrow.] Frias said, ending the online meeting.

Thus, the next day, Sunday arrived.

The group first met at a church for mass.

“Cabanas, you took long enough,” Tinabet fussed.

“What? The mass hasn’t even started yet,” Adrian replied defensively.

“Guys, let’s just go inside already,” Frias interrupted, cutting the argument short.

They had agreed to attend the 10 a.m. mass together first.

Upon entering the church, they saw it was already crowded, with barely any seats left. Fortunately, they managed to find a spot.

“So this is what the church looks like inside,” Adrian commented, astonished by how majestic it was.

“Quiet, the mass is starting,” Tinabet reminded him.

“Sorry.”

As the mass began, everyone stood up. A priest, accompanied by altar servers, walked down the aisle. Small bells chimed, and the scent of burning incense filled the air as they approached the altar. Upon reaching the altar, the priest bowed and circled it with incense before taking his place at the chair. Standing before the congregation, he made the sign of the cross and said, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”

The congregation responded, “Amen.”

The priest then greeted the people, and the mass continued.

The mass continued with a Bible reading, followed by a sermon from the priest. The congregation recited chants and prayers, which were sung as hymns. During the gospel reading, the priest dynamically interacted with the congregation. The priest read the gospel aloud, and the people responded in unison.

Each of these is a special part of the mass, but the most meaningful moment came toward the end. Everyone, though not all, lined up to receive the Ostya. The Ostya is a type of bread symbolizing the body of Christ, and it is believed that consuming it signifies receiving Christ himself, offering spiritual sustenance and grace to believers.

After receiving the Ostya, Adrian and the others returned to their seats and knelt. As they consumed it, they each offered their silent prayers.

While kneeling, Adrian leaned slightly toward Frias and whispered, “Um… Miss Frias, do you always attend mass?”

Frias is busy praying and didn’t respond at first. It is bad manners to disturb a person praying. Nonetheless, Frias tolerated it and eventually replied to his question, “I go to church every Sunday.”

“Oh, so you’re a religious person?” Adrian asked curiously.

“Not really,” Frias answered. “But the thought of having something to rely on isn’t bad.”

“Something to rely on… like who?”

“It’s God,” she replied simply.

Belief in God, she prayed.

“So, what do you pray for? For our success in the election?”

“That’s the last thing on my mind,” Frias said firmly. “I’m praying for my family’s safety and well-being.”

“That’s… very thoughtful of you.”

“That’s just normal,” Frias stated matter-of-factly. “How about you? I assume you don’t often go to church.”

“You know what, this is my first time in a place like this.”

“Are you for real?”

“Yep.”

“No wonder you act like you know nothing,” she said, shaking her head.

Just as Frias had stated, Adrian was completely clueless throughout the mass. He couldn’t keep up with the chants, didn’t know how to respond, and was slow to kneel. To make matters worse, during communion, when it was Adrian's turn to receive the Ostya, instead of replying “Amen,” he just stood there staring at the priest, with a completely wrong gesture.

“Haha, that's right. I don’t know anything about this stuff,” Adrian laughed awkwardly.

“And I can't believe you even held my hand—or that lady’s hand beside you—during the Our Father prayer,” Frias teased.

“Can you please not remind me of that? I only did it because I saw people from the front doing it.”

Recalling the incident, Adrian felt embarrassed and couldn’t bring himself to look at Frias or the lady beside him in the eye.

The Our Father prayer was sung while everyone held their hands in an orans posture. Adrian must have seen the people in front and simply imitated them.

“Well, it’s not exactly wrong, but it depends on the situation,” Frias said.

“What situation?” Adrian asked.

“Usually, you only do that with your loved ones, like family,” she explained.

“Wait, is that really how it is?”

“Yeah. Don’t your parents take you to church much?”

“No, they’re pretty busy,” Adrian admitted.

“I see.”

Frias seemed to understand Adrian’s situation and didn’t press further. The conversation ended with an awkward silence.

“Are you guys finally done?” Tinabet’s voice broke the silence.

Her remark reminded them of their surroundings. Realizing they were the only ones still kneeling, they quickly stood and sat back down.

“Sorry about that,” Frias apologized.

The mass concluded with another greeting and blessing. Afterward, the priest sprinkled holy water over the congregation.

“So, where are we having the meeting?”

“I already had it in mind, but before that, there’s somewhere I’d like to go.”

“And that’s where?”

That’s how they ended up in Timezone. It was entirely Frias’s idea. And her reason was…

“Um… what are we doing here?” Tinabet asked, confused.

“This is Timezone, and we’re here for a reason.”

“And what reason is that?”

“It’s a personal matter, therefore, I won’t share any details. Forgive me for being selfish.”

“It’s okay. We won’t force you to share.” Adrian reassured her.

“Thanks for understanding. So, Cabanas, can you give us a tour of this place?”

“Eh?”

Adrian was stunned. Not only was he confused enough about why they were there, but also he didn’t expect to be asked to give a tour.

“Just show us how things work here. For example, how do we play those games? Do we need tokens? Do we need a subscription or something?”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes. I just want to know how it works. Plus, this is a great chance to have fun before we stress ourselves out later. So go ahead, Cabanas, show us around.”

“O-okay. To play one of those game cabinets, we need a Timezone card, like this one I have.”

He pulled out his wallet and showed them his card.

“I see. So where can we get one?”

“Well, you can buy one at the counter. It costs 250 pesos and comes with a freebie of 100 loads. But if we’re just playing for today, we could load mine instead.”

“No, I’ll buy one.”

“Are you sure? If you buy one, that’s only 100 loads, but if we use my card, we can load 250 directly. It could save us a lot.”

“Don’t worry, I’m willing to spend. I’ll buy one and just top it up with 500 instead.”

“500? Then that’s 750 in total. But if we use my card, we’ll only spend 500.”

Adrian tried to reason with her. It was true that using his card would be cheaper, and even Frias knew that, but she stood firm.

“I said I’m willing to spend. And having a card is probably a good idea since it might be useful in the future.”

“Oh? Like using it on a date?”

“What? No. That should be the man’s responsibility.”

That statement felt biased, but Adrian could see her point. A man should take the initiative to please his partner. When viewed that way, it might seem unfair to the guy. But that wasn’t the case, since men have pride and often prefer to do things on their own.

“Then where are you going to use it for?”

“That’s also something I’m not willing to share.”

“I get it. Who am I to ask? It’s your privacy, after all.”

“Can we move on already? We’re holding up the line,” Tinabet interrupted them.

Without realizing it, they were now at the front of the line.

“So, Cabanas, what should I do next?”

“Excuse me, a card please, and 500 loads.”

Instead of explaining what to do, Adrian demonstrated it directly as they approached the counter.

“Since you’re buying the card, then the only thing we’ll split is the 500 load.”

Splitting 500 into three would be 166 each, leaving a 2-peso shortfall. One or two of them would have to cover the extra. Adrian insisted on paying the extra, but Frias stopped him as he reached for his money.

“No, you guys don’t have to. I’ll pay for all of it,” she said firmly.

Without hesitation, she paid for the card and the 500-load herself.

“So, what’s next?” she asked after receiving the card.

The author's narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

Adrian was baffled by Frias’s decision. At this point, it was useless to argue with her. He respected her choice, so the only thing he could do was sigh.

“Are you sure about that?” Tinabet asked, clearly dissatisfied. She turned to Adrian and added, “And what about you, Cabanas? Don’t you feel bad letting her pay for everything?”

“I do feel bad,” Adrian admitted, “but if Frias insists on paying, we should respect that. The least we can do is accept her choice.”

“Fine, but you and I aren’t playing,” Tinabet declared.

“I’m fine with that,” Adrian replied.

The two agreed not to play, thinking it was only fair for Frias to play since she paid for everything. However, Frias immediately rejects their idea.

“No, you guys are playing too,” she said firmly.

“We can’t. We’d feel bad if we did,” Tinabet argued.

“I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it. I’m paying because I want to. And I want you two to play with me. That’s my decision.”

Tinabet glanced at Adrian, silently asking for support. But he merely raised his brows, signaling that nothing could be done.

Letting out a sigh, Tinabet finally relented. “Alright, alright, we’ll play.”

Frias smiled, satisfied with Tinabet’s response. “Great. Now, Cabanas, what’s next?”

“We can start playing,” Adrian replied.

“Then what games are we playing?” Frias asked.

“I don’t know. What games do you want to try?”

“We don’t know anything about this place,” Frias replied. “Why don’t you recommend something for us?”

“Alright, fine,” Adrian agreed.

“Can’t we just try all the games?” Tinabet suggested.

“We can’t,” Adrian explained. “Each game has its price—some are cheap, others are expensive. Therefore, the 500 load won’t be enough for all of them.”

“Then recommend a game worth playing,” Frias said.

“I can recommend a few, but it depends on what you like,” Adrian replied.

“We’re fine with whatever you think is best,” Frias assured him.

“So, I guess the decision is on me.”

Adrian now had to figure out which games would be fun to play. Popular options like basketball, fighting games, racing, bowling, and billiards came to mind. However, he quickly realized these might not be the best choices for the girls. He needed something more suited to their tastes.

“Hmm…” he paused, thinking briefly, then an idea came to him. “May I ask, do you guys like singing?”

“No,” Tinabet bluntly replied.

“Not really,” Frias answered. “Why do you ask?”

“Because there’s karaoke here. So, if you want, we can head there.”

“We can try, but is there anything more laid-back?” Frias asked.

“There are other options, but I don’t think you’d find them fun.”

“We can’t be sure until we try, and it’s a good chance to explore.”

“Alright, follow me.”

After deciding, they made their way to the ring toss game.

“Do you guys know how to play this?” Adrian asked.

“Yes. It’s about tossing rings onto the pins, right?” Frias replied.

“That’s right.”

“Okay, how do we start?”

“It’s simple.” Adrian took Frias’s card, which she handed to him without hesitation. “We just tap the card here.”

He tapped the card, and the mini device lit up green. Moments later, several hand-sized rings dropped into a compartment beside the device.

“Here,” Adrian handed the rings to Frias.

“Okay, I’ll go first.” She took the rings.

The game was straightforward. As the name suggested, they had to toss the rings onto the bowling pins. The pins were arranged in a triangle, with the point facing directly at them.

“Each row of pins has its value. The closer pins give fewer points, while the farther ones give more,” Adrian explained.

“Got it.”

After hearing Adrian's explanation, Frias tried for the farthest pins. She struggled to land a ring on the ones at the back, so she mostly targeted the second or third rows to the back. Additionally, throwing the rings wasn't enough ‘cause the rings would often just bounce off the pins. As a result, she could only manage to land one or two rings on the pins.

“You don’t have to keep trying for the farthest pins. The front or middle rows are fine,” Adrian suggested.

“You’re right.”

Taking Adrian’s advice, Frias adjusted her aim for the closer pins. She threw the rings carefully, ensuring not to apply too much force with each toss. It does make wrist action come into play. With more finesse, she began landing more rings.

“Looks like that’s the end,” she said.

The game finished, and Frias had scored 46 points.

“So, did I win anything, or is this just for fun?” she asked.

“You will get tickets,” Adrian replied.

“Okay, where do I get them?”

“It’s all digital. The tickets are stored on the card.”

“How convenient. So does that mean I got 46 tickets?”

“Not exactly. Points don’t correspond directly to tickets. They scale your points to determine the number of tickets you get based on the system. Check the mini device—it should show the number of tickets you’ve earned.”

Frias looked at the mini device, which displayed the number of tickets she got.

“What? Only 15 tickets for all that? What a rip-off!” she said, feeling like her effort had been wasted. “But I can’t complain, can I? It’s already established in the system.”

“Yeah, that’s how it works here. Don’t worry, though. Each game has its scaling. Some games give more tickets, some give less. And some don’t give tickets at all.”

“Oh, some games don’t give tickets? Like what?”

“Karaoke, for example.”

“I see.”

Any game without a challenge doesn’t offer rewards.

“Alright, it’s your turn now.”

Now that Frias had finished, she urged them to play next. The two want to decline, but knowing Frias, it would only lead to unnecessary conflict. Therefore, it's good just to play along.

So, Adrian stepped forward and tapped the card to play next.

After retrieving the rings, he took a moment to steady himself before tossing the rings one by one. Unlike Frias, he threw his with a bit more height, creating a perfect arc. This technique allowed him to get more than two rings in the middle row.

“63 points, that’s only 30 tickets,” Adrian remarked.

“It’s now your turn, Tinabet.”

“A-alright.”

Tapping the card again, it's now Tinabet's turn.

She took the same approach as Frias, aiming for the farthest pins.

“You don’t have to aim that far,” Adrian advised.

Despite his advice, Tinabet continued aiming for the back. She wasn’t very good at it, but after several attempts, she finally landed three rings onto the pins. As time began to run out, she shifted her strategy and aimed for the middle pins. And surprisingly, she continued to rack up a decent amount of points.

“50 points, that’s pretty good,” Adrian praised her.

“Hmph, that’s nothing special,” she shrugged off the compliment. “So, what are we doing next?” she asked Frias.

She turned to Frias, but Frias just asked Adrian the same thing.

“Alright, alright. I’ve got something in mind,” Adrian said, ready to move on.

Continuing their fun, Adrian led them to the air hockey table for their next game. It was a one-on-one kind of game, but with three people, they had to figure out how to split the matchups. To solve this problem, what they do is all of them have the chance to fight each other to make it balance.

“So, do we get anything from this?” Frias asked.

“Oh, this is one of the games I mentioned that doesn’t give rewards,” Adrian replied.

“Hmm, well, that makes sense. Moving on,” she said, ready for the next game.

With that, Frias signaled it was time for the next game. Adrian led them to the Speed of Light game, where players tapped glowing buttons as fast as they could within a set time. The game could be played solo or with two players, adding a competitive element. Like with the air hockey, they took turns, keeping the mood light and fun.

After finishing that game, they moved on to the next—a racing game.

This time, all three could play together, as the setup typically included four racing machines that allowed for multiplayer action. It was another competitive game, and naturally, they raced each other.

“This is unfair! You’ve probably played this game before,” Frias complained as Adrian easily won the race.

Unlike Frias and Tinabet, who struggled with the steering wheel and had difficulty turning corners, Adrian skillfully maneuvered through the course, smoothly drifting around tight turns.

“Well, yeah,” he admitted, “but I don’t play these games very often.”

They continued moving from one game to the next, with Adrian carefully considering games that might suit their preferences. However, as they went on, he eventually ran out of ideas—except for two things.

“What’s next?” Frias asked, waiting for his suggestion.

“Hmm…” Adrian hesitated, unsure if he should suggest it. But there was nothing wrong with asking, so he decided to ask anyway. “Hey, wanna try the photo booth?”

“No way,” Tinabet responded immediately, her tone was firm.

Her abrupt response caught both Adrian and Frias off guard.

“I... I’m not into that either,” Frias quickly added, trying to ease the awkwardness.

“Alright,” Adrian said, quickly pivoting. “Then, are you guys agile?”

“Agile?” Frias raised a brow. “We just did the speed game, didn’t we? What do you think?”

“That was for your hands,” Adrian clarified. “This one’s for your feet.”

“Our feet?” She asked curiously.

“Follow me, I’ll show you,” Adrian said, leading them to the next game.

They followed Adrian to a Dance-Dance Revolution machine.

“Oh, this one?” Frias remarked.

“You know it?” Adrian asked, surprised.

“I saw someone playing it from Facebook,” she explained.

“So, wanna give it a try?”

“Sure,” Frias replied, eager to give it a shot.

“I’ll pass on this one,” Tinabet said, backing down.

Not wanting Tinabet to feel left out, Frias handed her the card after tapping it twice on the machine.

“Here, you can play another game in the meantime.”

Thus, only Adrian and Frias played Dance-Dance Revolution. When played solo, the game offers three tracks, but with two players, it provides four. Hence, they had four tracks to play.

“Hah, that’s too much footwork.”

“Phew.”

Both of them felt exhausted after playing those four tracks.

“Oh, Tinabet, you’re done playing?”

“I haven’t decided yet.”

“What?! Play already! While I go to the CR.”

She gave her a chance.

“So, Cabanas, where can I find the CR?”

“It’s this way.”

Adrian led Frias to the comfort room. However, Adrian didn’t feel like using the comfort room yet, so he returned to the Dance-Dance Revolution area. But when he returned, Tinabet was nowhere to be seen. Although he already guessed where she could be.

“Are you not going to try that?” he asked her.

Tinabet was in the crane game area.

“How did you know I was here?”

“Do you think I wouldn’t notice? You've been staring at this place for a while.”

‘Am I that obvious?’ she thought.

“So, are you playing or not?”

“It’s not that I want to play, I’m just curious. Besides, I can’t just waste the card here.”

She wasn’t sincere, but somehow, she was thoughtful.

“You want that stuffed toy specifically?” he pointed at the cat stuffed toy.

“Not really.”

She wasn’t being honest again. Judging by how her eyes flickered, Adrian could tell she wanted the stuffed toy. Given how she wouldn’t move to somewhere else despite saying all that, Adrian grew impatient and snatched the card from her.

“Let me have that.”

“Hey!”

He then tapped the card onto the crane game’s device.

“I’ve already said, I’m not playing that.”

“Who said you’ll be playing?”

Once the timer started, he grabbed the joystick and steered the claw toward the cat-stuffed toy. Afterward, he clicked the button to catch it. However, the chance of getting it on the first try was slim; even when the claw grabbed and lifted the toy, it would often slip back down.

“Stop it, you’re wasting the card.”

Adrian tried again.

The crane game is unfair because it’s already set with certain criteria for getting a stuffed toy. Nevertheless, it still relies on luck, the probability of those criteria falling in his favor.

“Still no luck.”

“Really. Stop it. I don’t want that stuffed toy anyway.”

“In that case, why do you look so anticipated?”

“That’s…”

“Just watch me. If you’re worried about the card running out of charge, I’ll take responsibility and talk to Frias.”

As if guessing her correctly again, she didn’t utter another word. She now just stayed beside him and watched closely.

Now going back, Adrian tried again.

To be able to win the crane game, luck is important, but there's also a technique for grabbing the stuffed toys. One method involves hooking the chains or loops of the toy, but that wouldn’t work here since the toy Adrian was aiming for didn’t have any. Another technique, however, could give him a chance. He just needed to find the right spot on the toy's body to grab. While it wasn't a 100 percent guarantee, it could reposition the toy closer to the dropping point.

While trying that, Adrian suddenly spoke.

“Hey, Tinabet.”

“Yes?”

“I wanna say sorry.”

“What for?”

“For not considering you part of this group. I thought you were some noisy person telling us what to do.”

“You thought of me like that?”

“Yeah, I never thought you’d be running for class officer. And never tried asking you anything about it. I feel pretty ashamed.”

“I see. But you know what? I don’t mind it. Also, I wouldn’t have known if you hadn’t told me. Let’s just forget what you said and focus on helping each other for the class officer position.”

“You’re right.”

After trying again, Adrian finally got the toy.

“Yes!”

“You got it?”

Adrian grabbed the cat stuffed toy from the drop box and handed it to Tinabet.

“Huh?” She looked confused.

“Take it.”

“But you’re the one who worked so hard to get this. I can’t just take it.”

She tried to give it back, but he stopped her.

“I’m not into things like that. You can have it. Besides, you wanted it, right?”

“C-can I truly take it?”

“Yeah, I insist.”

“Thank you.”

It was true—Adrian wasn’t fond of stuffed toys. Plus, she was the one who originally wanted it, so it made sense to give it to her. However, there was another reason he did it. He felt the need to make up for what he’d said earlier. But he couldn’t tell her that; it might only make her angry.

“Oh, Miss Frias, how long have you been there?”

“I just arrived.”

That was a lie. The truth was, she had been watching them from afar the whole time. Earlier, Frias seemed comforted by watching them, but afterward, her expression shifted to one of pain, as if recalling something.

“Cute,” she said, bluntly.

“W-what?” Tinabet was taken aback. Frias' comment had come out of nowhere.

“The stuffed toy, I mean.”

“Oh, this? Cab–I got it in the crane game.” She lied, embarrassed to admit that Adrian had won it for her. “Do you want it? You can have it.”

“No, keep it. It’s yours anyway.”

“So, wanna try the crane game?” Adrian asked Frias.

“Hmm, not this one. I want to try something else. Recommend another game.”

“To tell you the truth, I’m running out of ideas.”

“Is that so?”

Not exactly, there were still games to play, but he wasn’t sure if they would match their preferences.

“Hey, there’s a game I find interesting. I’m thinking of trying that next,” Frias suggested.

“Sure, let’s go with that.”

And thus, Frias led them around, trying more games until the card was empty. With that, they could finally start their meeting.