TIMESKIP 1 WEEK...

“Are you okay?”

Winter glanced up at Karina, “yeah, why?”

“You just coughed.”

“Oh uh- I’m just- trying not to cry you know?”

She gestured her head to the television screen where a sad scene from a kdrama was playing.

Winter’s been getting a few stray coughs here and there for the past few days, but she was indeed, trying not to cry at this time.

She’s been going out a lot more lately, maybe the amount of smokers and smoke was getting to her.

What else could it be?

It was the beginning of summer so there was no way she could’ve gotten sick.

Karina wrapped her arm around the smaller girl, “daww my little puppy is such a softy~”

Winter snuggled closer to the older girl, hugging her sideways around her waist, “I’m your softy.”

The two blushed, small smiles lingering as they continued to watch the show…

TIMESKIP A FEW DAYS…

Knock Knock…

Winter grinned as she fixed her hair, “I’ll get the door eomma!”

“Araseo~”        (okay/alright)

As she ran to the front door, she let out a small cough before opening it to reveal a dark-haired girl.

“Jimin-unnie~”

“Hey Minjeong-ah~”

The younger girl glanced behind her to see that her mom wasn't in sight, turning back around to give the older girl a quick kiss on the lips as she came in.

“Glad you could come.”

“Of course! Am I the first one here?”

Winter nodded as they walked back inside, “yeah, Giselle and NingNing are coming together right now.”

Karina hummed in response, bowing in respect as Winter’s mom came to view.

“Hello, Miss Kim.”

“Welcome, Jimin-ah, make yourself at home.”

The older girl thanked the mom and looked around, “is your brother not here?”

Winter shook her head, “he’s with our dad today.”

“Ah, I see, I see…”

The two whisked off into Winter’s room, immediately going into conversation, sometimes sneaking a few pecks here and there with soft mutters of fluttering compliments.

Half an hour passed and the front door was knocked on again.

“That must be Giselle and NingNing, let’s go.”

The two girls stood up and walked down the hall, but another cough from the younger girl didn’t escape Karina’s ears.

She muttered softly, “are you sure you’re not getting sick? You’ve been getting a bad cough since I came here, for the past few days, even.”

“Pssh, why would I be sick in June?”

Karina stared worriedly at the girl next to her, but seeing the blonde girl smile, she relaxed, nodding to drop the topic.

They headed to the living room to see that Miss Kim already let their other two friends inside.

“Hey guys~”

“Hello~”

The group of friends exchanged hugs and crazy handshakes, Winter’s mom watching with an amused expression.

The four girls crowded around the couch in the living room while Miss Kim sat down in an easy chair off to the side, the five deciding to watch a show on the TV. The girls didn’t mind Winter’s mom being there, and the only reason why she didn’t leave was because she liked this show. She was like a mother to all, and she enjoyed having Winter’s friends as company.

The show’s episodes went on and on for the whole afternoon. That’s what they all planned beforehand, to spend a day together just watching what they all enjoyed.

It used to be just Winter, her mom, and Giselle. Sometimes her brother would join if he came over to visit.

But Winter’s heart felt fuller from the edition of Karina and NingNing, and as her mom would sometimes glance over her way, the older woman would smile, seeing how happy her daughter looked.

….

…

…

“I’ll be right back, I need to go to the bathroom.”

Winter untangled herself from Karina, walking down the hall to her room. She let out a cough, the sound more raspy than before since she’s been trying to stop herself from letting it out for the past hour.

She took a swig of the water on her desk before doing her thing, glancing at her reflection as she washed her hands.

‘Huh?’

She blinked, confused on what she just saw.

“I must be tired… I didn’t sleep well last night.”

Winter shook her head, slapping her cheeks to wake herself up.

It must’ve been her imagination, since when she looked back one more time, her irises were as they should be, not pitch black.

She let out another, throaty cough, taking another sip of her water before walking out her room, only to cough again, one that rattled her bones.

She silently walked down the hall, wishing that she had brought her water with her just in case.

THUD.

All four women in the living room jumped from the loud noise, all of their heads turning to the hallway.

Miss Kim paused the show as they all stood up in unison.

“Winter-unnie?”

There was no answer as NingNing called out, and the older two girls quickly walked out the living room since they were the closest to the hall, the others following suit.

“Winter!”

Giselle and Karina ran to the fallen girl, crouching down to roll Winter onto her back.

Karina gently shook the girl, “no no no, not again… Winter, wake up.”

Giselle cursed in Japanese under her breath, fishing out her phone from her pocket as Karina rested Winter’s head on her lap.

The eldest girl glanced up to see Miss Kim hesitantly kneeling down, “w-what… happened?”

Karina shook her head, “I don’t know ma’am… She just fainted out of nowhere.”

The mom gently rested a hand on Winter’s cheek, “Minjeong-ah, il-eona…”        (wake up)

NingNing felt the older girl’s forehead, “she has a fever.”

Giselle disconnected the call she was taking, “I just called an ambulance, they’re coming right now.”

Mere minutes felt like hours as they rested Winter in a comfortable position on the couch, their earlier, merry emotions gone as they stared at the unconscious girl.

Soon enough, the ambulance came, whisking the blonde girl into the back.

“Sorry, only two people can come with.”

Giselle gently pushed Karina forward, “go with Miss Kim.”

NingNing nodded, “we’ll take the bus to the hospital.”

The oldest girl mouthed a thank you to the other two, quickly jumping onto the back alongside Winter’s mom and a worker before the doors shut closed.

Giselle glanced at NingNing, “let’s go, there should be a bus around this time.”

The maknae nodded, both of them running to the nearest bus stop to see that indeed, there was a bus arriving.

“May I ask what happened?”

Miss Kim shook her head, “we don’t know. She said she was going to the bathroom but before she came back, it seemed like she fell to the floor, unconscious.”

“What were you all doing before this?”

“We were watching a show in the living room.”

“Is there anything else we should know?”

Karina thought for a moment, “she… she’s been coughing a lot recently. She always said she was fine but… I don’t know, it seemed worse to me for the past few days.”

The man nodded, scribbling down what he heard in a small notebook.

The rest of the ride continued in tense silence, the mother and friend clutching each other’s hands tightly with worry, their eyes glued to Winter the whole ride.