Be careful, the cure will be a moth drawn to the cursed's flame. Come too close and it'll burn...

—

Winter will never, ever understand why Karina chose the night of her birthday to end all this.

Sure, Winter admits that she's often distracted about a lot of things, university being the very first one on her list. 

Karina had a lengthy discussion with her parents about attending university herself, but whilst she can safely say she got out of high school alive, college is a totally different beast. 

It would be easy if Winter is with her, but she never really want to burden her girlfriend with all the trouble of all the hand holding (quite literally) that a university needs. They also have different goals in life, which means if they go to college together, they'll be in different courses, buildings, or even in different universities. 

Winter opted to enroll in AE-U's education system, wanting to be a teacher one day. Karina decided to take online courses whilst she figures out what she actually wants to be in the future. There's not much to choose from with her current situation.

So Winter will never, ever understand why all of a sudden, Karina wants to end what they have.

The first lunar eclipse of the year was predicted to happen on the night of December 31st, around midnight. Coincidentally New Year's eve, coincidentally Winter's 21st birthday.

Winter clutched the phone in her left hand as she struggles to run towards Han River, to where Karina is waiting for her. Winter can't help but be worried if there are a lot of people tonight, especially with the celestial event that's about to happen.

Will she be okay? Is she not overwhelmed with all these people?

Winter runs a little faster than the speed she's already on in hopes she'll get to her girlfriend as soon as possible. Never mind that the last thing she got from Karina was an 'I think we need space, let's break up' message.

After a few minutes of jogging, she sees Karina on a bench overlooking the river from the other side of the street. The sky was dark and the moon is yet to show itself, and the only thing illuminating the place are the artificial lights coming from the street and passing cars. There are a lot of people around which made Winter confused as to how Karina is managing to tune out all those noises. 

She looks uncomfortable though, so Winter sprints towards her girlfriend, even yelling to call out her name whilst she's still a few meters away from her, carefully threading the busy street. 

Karina looked at Winter with sad eyes.

Be careful, the cure will be a moth drawn to the cursed's flame. Come too close and it'll burn...

Above them, the clouds parted ways to show the moon, and Winter felt the sudden need to pause and look up.

As soon as Winter does, a car stops abruptly because of her, and all Winter saw was darkness.

-

"You've got to be kidding me." Winter wakes up from her nightmare and pinched her cheeks to make sure she's awake. 

This is the third night in a row. She's been getting these weird nightmares, all of which pointed to Karina breaking up with her in Han River. 

And Winter dying. 

The first nightmare was Karina calling her to meet in Han River but she didn't show up, and Winter getting drowned in the river for some reason she can't comprehend. The second one was Karina telling her they should break up, but tells her she's by the Han River with a guy, and Winter rushes to get to them only to get stabbed to death by the guy with no face. 

The most realistic one yet is this, and Winter had to take several deep breaths to make sure she's awake now, in her bed, and it's not the 31st yet. 

Winter thinks it might be because she's just excited to spend her New Year's eve with her girlfriend, or maybe it's because she's somehow afraid of whatever prophecy was said in the past about her. 

She kept in touch with Minju who keeps on assuring her that everything will be fine.

Winter knows it's just not her who's anxious about her 21st birthday. 

Karina had been showing signs of anxiety as well, oftentimes looking at her wristwatch to check the date when they're together, and mostly staring at the printed calendar in her room whenever Winter's over. 

Even when they're in their magic room, Karina would always ask what date it is, rocking her knees back and forth as if she's dreading something. 

They never really talked about it. 

Sure, Winter talks to Minju about it, and she's sure Karina can read it all in her head, but Karina never liked talking about the said prophecy. 

Winter thinks Minju is right, it can only end either really well (like Karina becoming normal and not needing her touch to silence the noises) or really, really bad, like Winter getting burnt alive or something. 

Winter shakes her head at the thought and decided to get up and join her sister for breakfast. 

-

Gang 🤟🤟🤟

Aeri: Sup all, what's your new year's eve plans?

Julia: watch Netflix and eat popcorn.

Aeri: Aww, you're free to come over tonight if you like?

Julia: Nah, I'm fine.

Aeri: @Ryujin you have a sad girl here, pick her up

Aeri: Oh shiz, sorry

Aeri: Aeri deleted a message.

Julia: Doesn't make it any better, Gi.

Aeri: I'm sorry!

Ning: I won't be coming back to SK till the end of Feb.

Aeri: Extended stay in Harbin?

Ning: Yeah...

Aeri: @Rina, you?

Winter: we'll be watching the fireworks show. han river

Aeri: Ooh that's nice 

Aeri: I'm jealous

Winter: @Hyunjin, you have a sad girl here, pick her up

Hyunjin: We'll be back before you know it.

Aeri: Come back here quick! Why'd you even decide to spend the holidays in the US 

Hyunjin: Noona wanted to, we just got dragged.

Yeji: it's not like you weren't invited, aeri

Aeri: And you know I can't, Luce. 

Yeji: sure, whatever

Winter sighed as she dropped her phone. It's been years but she's thankful the gang has managed to hold up with their ever-changing lives. Though some of them didn't end up well, they remained civil and kept in touch.

Ningning and Yeji didn't end up together, not that they have started anything really.

Winter likes to think it's the right love, but the wrong time. 

Ryujin and Lia's thing was fairly recent. With Ryujin's parents finally divorced, the two seemed to have issues with spending time with each other, especially that Ryujin had to deal with a lot of family drama that came with the divorce. 

Winter knows they can still fix it if they try a bit more.

Giselle and Hyunjin were as strong as ever.

Winter and Karina? 

Well, Winter likes to think they're fine, though there are a lot of small issues college brought them, as well as her upcoming 21st birthday.

And even without Karina saying anything, she's sure the girl is more anxious today than ever. 

Winter dials her girlfriend's number, still in a bit of a weird mood because of her nightmare, but she needs to be assured that Karina's not actually breaking up with her.

"Hey, love." Winter greets as soon as the call connects.

"Hi, babe." Karina greets back, though her voice sounded a bit off.

"How are you feeling?" Winter asked, concerned. 

"I'm- I'm alright."

"Are we still on for tonight?" Winter queried.

"About that..."

"What? Don't tell me you're breaking up with me?" Winter interjects right away.

"What? No! Silly! Where did you get that idea?" Karina said. "I was about to say..."

"Oh, thank God."

Karina chuckled faintly on the other line. "No, I was about to say, I checked the weather app and it says here it's going to rain tonight." 

"Oh. Uhm, well.. Do you still want to go? I mean, we're probably not going to see the eclipse if it's raining."

"Yeah, no, um, yeah, let's go. I..."

"You..."

"I actually booked us a room nearby the river so we can stay the night, I mean, that should be okay, right? I mean, you're okay with that? Gosh, am I making this uncomfortable? Why did I—"

Winter laughs at how flustered her girlfriend became. 

She can't blame her, really. Even with countless sleepovers at each other's place, booking a hotel room seems a bit....

"Are you ready for mature roles now?" Winter joked.

Karina started stuttering and mumbling on the other line, causing Winter to laugh a little more.

"I'm kidding, babe. Of course, I'm fine with that. It's not like we have not shared a room before."

"Ye-yeah.. I mean... It's just..."

"Hey, hey. We're not kids, we're adults now. I mean, I'm about to turn 21 so..."

Karina sighed loudly on the other line. "Yeah, that too."

"Are you still nervous? I mean, about me turning 21?"

"Who wouldn't be, min-min baby?" Karina huffed. "I've been nervous of you turning 21 for like, years now."

"Shhh, stop worrying about it," Winter said, though it sounded as if she's trying to convince both of them