Vans with tinted windows pull into the parking spaces as the evening settles in Kyoto, Japan. The filming for Secret Tape was coming to an end and they decided that for the last full day they would spend it outside of Tokyo and into the more rural area.

Kyoto is known for its traditional architecture, the city filled with wooden houses, gardens, shrines, and temples. Many came there for celebrations, such as the fireworks that were happening tonight.

Karina and Winter step out of the van with full-on traditional kimonos for the special occasion, turning heads of on looks, even earning a few photos from people who recognized them. It reminded Winter of hanboks when she would wear them during events in grade school. 

She finally got a good look at how the outfit looked on Karina, and she’d like to say, the girl was an absolute goddess in the red colour. But who’s surprised? Jimin looked great in everything after all. 

“You look stunning in red, Jimin unnie” While Karina gets compliments often, she feels the flutter in her stomach hearing it from Minjeong.

The effect this girl has on me from just one polite comment, Karina thinks. 

“Thanks, blue suits you, especially since you have that blonde hair” Winter gives her a smile, then takes her hand to walk around the city’s narrow alleys with the camera crew following them to find a shrine. 

“This reminds me a lot of elementary school when parents would dress kids up in traditional clothing for their birthdays” Karina agreed that it was nostalgic. While their childhood was short-lived, it was a special time in their lives where they felt normal. 

As directed on Google Maps, they easily found the shrine the locals wanted them to visit. Neither Karina nor Winter practiced Buddhism, they were in awe at the place and had much respect for the people that reserved the culture. Fushimi Inari Taisha was infamous since it was the head shrine of Kami- Inari, with beautiful paths that stretched along the mountainside.

The celebrities watched their tour guide demonstrate the tradition in the shrine and they respectfully followed suit with everything she did. It was apparently common etiquette when visiting shrines in Japan.

This was definitely an experience for the two, but they were told that they were going to eat dinner before watching the fireworks, so they bowed once more when exiting the gate and then boarded the van.

Listening to the topics of offering and wishes from the tour guide caused Jimin to have a question in her head.

“Winter, what do you wish for, you know since you’re an artist now. What did you want out of becoming one?” It caught the girl off guard. Winter knew why she wanted to be one, because she wanted to do what she loved and singing and dancing happened to be two of her favorite things, but now that she was an artist, what now?

“I guess, the answer that came into my head first was to have an impact? While being in this profession is short-lived, it’ll be a matter of time before people become irrelevant, but I’m definitely an in-the-moment type of person. I'd give it my all, just thinking about the current challenge in front of me”

“Hmm, I understand what you mean” 

Minjeong continues “If there's one person willing to listen to me and find what I do to speak to them, then there you go. As long as it makes them happy, then surely I won’t regret anything in the future”

“Even if the person you are portraying isn’t truly who you are?” Jimin challenges. She was determined to find out if Korea’s angel was really one.

“Jimin, I came into this industry to be a performer, they don’t care about who I really am. Nobody is interested in someone who doesn’t fit their standards. It doesn’t matter if they don’t know me personally” 

Karina gets an unexplainably painful tug in her chest when she hears Winter’s answer. While it may be true to a certain extent, it wasn’t something Jimin believed in. It was the type of mentality that made Jimin leave SM Entertainment in the first place, they raised the trainees there like robots who only had one purpose, to make money for them. She had respect for the trainees that decided to stay, such as Minjeong.

“You’re wrong” Karina squeezed their intertwined hands together, looking out of the car windows. 

“Elaborate”

“Winter, are you seriously going to be in this already suffocating pressure being in the entertainment industry to only suffocate even more by being this sculpted perfect gorgous robot?”

“Aw, you think I’m unflawed and gorgeous?”

“Yes I think you’re gorgeous, but I only know you’re making herself seem to be a flawless person because I was there once too you know? Except now I don’t give a flying anymore because if they’re going to watch me do my thing on television, at least I'm going to make it comfortable to be myself” Winter hums, taking in the other girl’s perspective. 

“All I’m trying to say is, be honest with yourself. Sometimes you’re too nice for your own good, like a pushover” Minjeong stares at her with an offended expression “You’re literally letting yourself become a person people want you and expect you to be, and I feel like you’re starting to believe them, that your just Winter Kim”

“And how would you know that about me?”

“I know we only really started to get to know each other, like what, a week ago? But we debuted around the same time, you could even say we grew as an artist together in a way. I’m just looking out for you. I don’t want you to let people say whatever about you”

Winter sighs, turning her head to Karina. “I appreciate the concern, but don’t w