KARINA'S POV

"i'll get the same thing she's getting." winter points at me to tell the waitress as the four of us sit at the little campus diner for breakfast. the waitress smiles and nods, walking away from the table with our orders. yes, i said four of us.

yeji has also been included in this breakfast.

ryujin and i are sitting next to each other as winter and yeji are sitting across from us. of course i'm across from winter and ryujin is across from yeji.

this should be interesting.

"so i cant believe christmas is right around the corner." winter breaks the silence and successfully makes a conversation starter. i smiled at her.

"i know. it feels like we just got here." i responded. she nods, leaning her head back to put her hair in a ponytail. i look at her in awe, but i can't help but notice she doesn't have the chain around her neck to which the promise ring i gave her connected to. i try to glance at her hand and i see no ring on any fingers. maybe she forgot to put it on the morning when she woke up. or she didn't want to get food on it.

"i don't know about you guys but i cannot wait to get away from here for a week." yeji joins the conversation, talking about our christmas break we get.

"you can say that again." winter says and nods. she takes a sip of her water and glances up at me. i wink at her and her face turns red. she looks away from me and tries to think of something to say quickly.

i glance over at ryujin, who's just lost in space. i nudge her and she jumps a little. she gives me a small smile and turns away. she's the one who wanted to come for this breakfast and now she's not saying one word.

"what are you doing for break?" winter asks yeji. 

"i'm going with my family to see the tree in rockefeller center. other than that, probably just going to enjoy the freedom and relax." she answers winter. winter's eyes widened.

"oh my gosh i love that place, it's beautiful. you have to send me pictures!" she smiles at yeji.

“of course i will." yeji agrees. "what are you doing?" she asks back.

winter glances at me and gives me a warm smile. then she turns back to yeji. "i'm spending christmas break with my amazing girlfriend and best friend ningning. we're going to watch christmas movies and eat a bunch of junk food. i hope to have some cuddle sessions with karina." she blushes as she looks at me again. i smile, almost forgetting what it's not going to just be the three of us. yeji puffs out her bottom lip.

"you guys are too cute." she shakes her head. "it's gross." she laughs. winter and i joining, our smiles filling the table. ryujin, not so much.

winter then looks over at ryujin, opening to speak. "ryujin, what are you doing for break? anything exciting?" my heart stops.

ryujin looks over at me, not saying a word. i look at winter who is just looking at ryujin, confused on why she isnt answering. winter then looks at me.

"i'm um.." ryujin is lost for words. i know she doesn't want to tell winter that she's staying with us because she knows even i didn't tell winter that yet.

"what?" winter furrows her eyebrows. .

"baby i hope you don't mind but i invited ryujin to spend christmas with us." i said quickly to my girlfriend. her face slowly drops, her head tilting a bit like a confused dog. the whole table just got awkward so fast. yeji's mouth opens wide for a second.

"you what?" she asks me. "i thought it was just going to be you, me, and ningning." her voice gets soft. this was the worst time and place to tell her and now i've upset her..again.

“well one more person won't hurt. right?" i ask, trying to make this better in anyway possible. winter sighs, glancing over at ryujin.

“when were you going to tell me?" she crosses her arms across her chest and leans back against her chair.

"today actually." i replied. she nods, losing eye contact with everyone.

"i wont get in the way." ryujin intervenes, trying to cool down the table a little. winter looks up, staring right at ryujin.

"oh no ryujin, i'm sure you won't." winter says in a very sarcastic voice.

"babe–" i'm cut off.

"no no of course she won't get in the way. it's not like you're the only one she's close with so she'll have no choice but to be with you the whole damn time." my girlfriend now looks at me, starting to steam.

"winter, babe, i was going to check with you first." 

"oh..oh really?" she asks. "it seemed like you two already had this set...ready to have a great christmas break." she stands up from the table, staring down at both of us.

"winter let's go outside and talk about this." i stand up as well. trying to calm her down with the side tone of my voice. her face looks so sad as she sniffs her nose.

"oh you want to talk about this now?" she opens her eyes wide in sarcasm. "it doesn't make a difference now karina." she turns and walks away, walking past the waitress with our food in her hand.

i watch her walk around, stomping away from the diner.

"i'll go check on her." yeji says as she tries to walk away. i just stand there frozen, shocked that i found another way to make my girlfriend upset.

i sit back down, staring at the food that was set on the table. it smells so good, but i've lost my appetite.

"i don't have to come with you." ryujin says quietly next to me. "i'm clearly getting in the middle of you two and i don't want to do that."

i shake my head, putting my hand in her shoulder. "you don't deserve to spend christmas with your ty family, ryujin. i'll find a way to make this right." she just nods, picking up her fork to start eating her eggs.

YEJI'S POV

"winter?.. winter?!" i yelled a little louder, just to make her stop walking away. she stops in her tracks and turns around, seeing me.

"i.." she starts, waiting for me to get closer. "i just wanted a normal christmas with the two people i love the most." she says to me. i wrap my arms her, patting her back to try and soothe her.

"i understand winter," i uttered as we pull away. "but you have to trust karina."

"i do it's just.." she pauses. "ryujin always wants to be around karina recently. she's all she has. karina and i are going to have no free time."

"i don't think ryujin is going to hog karina the whole time. karina wouldn't let that happen either." i shake my head, trying to reassure her. "besides ningning is going to be there. it could be fun." i correct myself. "it will be fun."

she rubs her face. "i wish she asked me first." she shrugs.

"that's understandable. but karina loves you." i assure her again. she nods, taking a deep breath.

"i don't know why i overreact about everything. i just can't lose her." she pouts. i give her a confused look.

"do you think you would lose karina to ryujin?" i ask her. she doesn't get a chance to answer because karina comes running up to us.

WINTER'S POV

"come here, love." karina engulfs me in a big hug out of nowhere and runs her fingers through my hair. i hug her back, melting into her arms like i never have before. "listen to me baby." she pulls away from the hug and brings her face close to mine.

"i'm listening." i whispered. we stare into each other's eyes, frozen. yeji walks away, back to the diner.

"i love you more than you will ever understand because i can't even think to begin how i would show you how much i do. but i do. i do so so much. you're my whole life, okay?" she rubs my cheeks with her thumbs. i sigh quickly, nodding my head.

"i love you, karina." i say back to her. "next time just..just ask me. yeah?"

“of course, yes.” she nods her head. "regardless of me telling ryujin she can come..can she?" she asks me now.

"what if i said no?" i ask her. her face drops as she takes a step back from me. she crosses her arms and stares at me. "answer."

"i don't know, winter. gosh don't make this difficult for me." she whines and just comes closer to me again. i smirk, trying not to be such a big pain in the about this.

"exactly." i kiss her lips and take her hand to bring us back into the diner. to our surprise, yeji and ryujin are talking. their voices fade as we get closer to them. we sit back down, ready to enjoy our meals.

"you won't even know i'm there." i heard ryujin say as i look at her. she's trying to lighten the mood.

"it's fine." i told her. "really, it's all good." i smiled lightly.

wonderful.

_______

KARINA'S POV

after classes that day, winter and i walked back to our dorm rooms. i gave her a kiss goodnight as she went into her room and shut the door. i walked down the hall to my room and dug in my pocket for the key. i unlock the door, hearing ryujin's voice talking.

"yeah." i hear her say as i close the door behind me. she has her back towards me, tapping her foot. "i just need a ride there and back."

i look at her with a confused expression. i walk up to her, placing my hand on her shoulder. she spins around, not expecting me. when she sees it's me, she gives me a small smile. then she zones back into the phone.

“alright..yeah..see you then." she takes the phone away from her ear and hangs up.

"who was that?" i ask her. she throws her phone on her bed and sighs at me.

"my mom." she says quietly. i furrow my eyebrows.

"you're seeing her when?" i ask her, confused. she scratches her eyes, acting like she doesn't want to tell me.

"i'm going home for christmas." she says quickly, walking away from me towards the dorm room door. i follow after her, not letting her exit the room.

“wait what? why? you're coming with me." i speak in a defensive tone and not even i understand why. she shakes her head at me.

"no i'm not." she says. "my sister won't be there anyway, she's going with a friend. so i told my mom i'm coming home." she tells me.

"listen, no." i grab her wrist lightly and pull her away from the door. "you can come with winter and i. i'm serious. i don't want you to be stuck with them."

"they are my parents, karina." she immediately says after me. i tilt my head at her.

"do not even try to pretend like you actually