Chapter 5

Through the Winter
Please Subscribe to read the full chapter

             Winter had never been happier for the school holidays. She used to think that school holidays lasted too short for her to be able to do anything productive, and then she would be in school again, in the company of her prankster classmates that she could not really call ‘friends’. This time, she was grateful that this holiday meant that she would not be seeing any of her classmates from high school any longer. Most importantly, this meant that she could avoid the people who had witnessed her maniac dancing moves and terrible singing that was accidentally showcased during the Graduation Talent Show a week ago. She cringed from the memory of seeing herself on the screen, smiling without knowing the bad things that would befall her. No, she told herself, she was not going to think about the terrible event that had been surfacing in her nightmares for the past few days. However, scenes from the aftermath of the event seemed to flash in front of her eyelids like a broken recorder on repeat, and she found herself dwelling on the memories before she could stop it.

 

              Winter had sat on the pile of tangled wire for what felt like the longest time ever, her mind filled with a monotonous buzzing, her body going numb as the entire backstage crew ran about, desperately trying to salvage the ruined performance. She half-wished that she could sit like this forever, alive yet unfeeling, blending in the shadows unnoticed by others. Yet the negligence towards her had lasted only briefly, as all too soon she felt a strong grip on her arm, forcing her upright. She stood up wobbly, as if her legs were made up of jelly and saw with a start the furious pupils of Mr Jeong’s eyes boring into hers.

 

             “This… this is your doing!” Mr Jeong seethed venomously, his face inches away from hers as he shook her shoulders vigorously. This close, Winter could see a tiny pulse at his temple beating away at a furious pace, and she thought for a moment that he looked like a ticking time bomb, threatening to explode at any moment. Her heart contracted uneasily, bracing herself for the blow. “You knew that was your thumbdrive and you did nothing to warn me!”

 

               A flame of anger the sides of Winter’s stomach at his words and she blinked, seeing the scene in front of her more clearly and consciously, as if she had just been woken up from a dream. Despite her disorientated state, this, she knew, was pure slander.

 

               “Sir,” Winter gritted her teeth, trying to contain the anger that threatened to burst out of her system. “This is the exact reason I barged into the backstage without authorisation. I did it to retrieve the thumbdrive that I mistakenly placed in your pencil case earlier this morning. But you didn’t listen to me!”

 

            “Then you should have tried harder to get my attention!” Mr Jeong snapped, and Winter realised, somehow, that this was the reason why Mr Jeong had not left her alone. Because he desperately needed someone to take responsibility for this incident, and Winter was perfect for the role. Rage washed over her at this discovery, and the strange unyielding character inside her seemed to rise and pour out of her before she could contain it.

 

               “Don’t blame me for not trying! Because the only thing I did once I reached here was try to talk to you. I told you it was urgent, but you pushed me away as if I was a pest in your garden. You always assume that my problems are unimportant before listening. You never gave me a chance, you never do!” Winter shouted, fully enraged now. Mr Jeong released her shoulders in surprise, his expression a mixture of shock and embarrassment.

 

               “Y-you—“

 

              “What’s happening here?” Someone spoke with a deep voice from behind Mr Jeong. It was a male teacher that Winter did not recognise. His face was heavily lined for his age, but otherwise the look in his eyes were kind. “What are you doing, Mr Jeong? Shouldn’t you be dealing with the video mishap right now instead of arguing with a student? The audience is completely baffled, and I’ve just assured them that it is a minor technical error that will be fixed in a minute. Are you going to fix the error, or do I have to do it for you instead?”

 

            “No, of course I should be the one to do it,” Mr Jeong mumbled softly, as he unplugged the thumb drive and handed it to Winter. “You, take this thumb drive and get out of here.”

 

             Winter did as she was told. She did not want to spend a second longer in that cramped space with Mr Jeong, or any other backstage crew that had witnessed her tirade. Even though she knew she ought to be ashamed of herself for failing to control her anger, she was thankful for her outburst. Through the confrontation, she knew it had become an unspoken agreement between her and Mr Jeong that none of the thumbdrive business would be her fault entirely.

 

           After that incident, Winter had made sure to delete the video file inside the thumbdrive the moment she reached home. Following that, she blocked the contacts of all her classmates, removed herself from chat groups, and deleted

Please Subscribe to read the full chapter
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
pdrb_88
Hello subscribers! The Epilogue of Through the Winter has been uploaded. Thank you all for reading and see you next time!
Poll

Hello to all the arohas out there reading this fanfic! Thank you for supporting my fanfic. Let me know who is your bias in Astro! Just curious hehe;)

Results

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
whowhowho #1
Chapter 20: This is a fantastic story! There are too little Astro fic here, thank you!! I really love it! To wait for your update, I will just reread this one more time!
PhinkLipsThick
#2
Chapter 20: Finallyyyy, they are starting to become friends! I liked that both of them admitted their mistakes and apologized sincerely. I'm digging this character development. On to the next chapter! 🛬
PhinkLipsThick
#3
Chapter 16: So short:(((((( but I like it omg! Fiesty Winter and Moonbin what a nice couple oops. I wonder how things are going to develop between the two of them? Will this situation lead them closer to each other or not??
PhinkLipsThick
#4
Chapter 15: OH GODDDD HERE WE GO! Thank you authornim for pairing her up with Binnie! Huhu now I cannot wait for more scenes between the two of them ❤️
PhinkLipsThick
#5
Chapter 13: OMGGGGG Winter's living with Moonbin, my bias huhu! I really like how the story is progressing, not too slow and not too fast. We get to atleast see how each character acts and develops. The only thing that I dislike is that the chapters are short huhu but I don't want to force you authornim so write at your own pace. Good luck!