Students walked past Giselle, some saying hi as they went by, the Japanese girl waving and smiling back at them. It’d be a lie to say she wasn’t surprised at her best friend talking to the vice president of the student council, but she was glad that Winter might have found a new friend. 

‘I might not be able to be there for Winter all the time…’ Giselle thought as she walked into her classroom. It made her at ease to see that Winter was comfortable talking with someone else other than her, just in case she couldn’t go to Giselle in an emergency.

Ding Dong Ding Dong…

The girl made it to her seat right as the bell rang, greeting a few of her acquaintances here and there if they sat near her… 

….

…

…

“Giselle-unnie!”

It was break now, and Giselle turned around to find a red-haired girl waving at her from across the cafeteria. Giselle smiled, walking over to the younger girl with her lunch in hand.

“Hey, NingNing-ah.”

Yizhou, more commonly known as NingNing to the students, was another one of Giselle’s close friends, her fiery red hair as bold and quirky as her personality. Both of them were in a popular group at school but the aura around them was different from the rest. Although their “friend group” had a lot of people, they both weren’t close with any of them except for each other.

“Let’s go outside and eat, it’s not that windy.”

Giselle glanced up and down at the Chinese girl, “are you sure?” She wasn’t wearing leggings underneath her skirt, and the girl’s school jacket was nowhere to be found.

NingNing nodded, “yeah! I’m not cold.”

Giselle smiled, “then let’s go outside.”

The younger one grinned back, both of them walking past crowds of students to head outside to the school’s large field.

…

“Hey, isn’t that your friend?”

Giselle glanced over to where NingNing was pointing to see a familiar girl talking, no, laughing, with another girl that was much taller than her.

She smiled at the sight, “yeah, want to go to them?”

The two began to walk, Giselle calling out to her best friend while giving a long wave.

“Winter!”

The shorter girl from afar jumped after hearing her name, turning with a surprised yet annoyed expression to the coming students.

“Can you stop yelling out my name?”

“Sorry Mindungi~”

Winter blushed in embarrassment, pushing Giselle’s arm while the tallest of them all raised an eyebrow in amusement.

“Mindungi?”

“It’s nothing, Karina-unnie.”

“Call her that, she likes it.”

“No I don’t.”

“What about Gyeoulie?”

All three girls stared at the vice president, Winter in flustered shock, Giselle first in shock but then knowingly, and NingNing since well, the others were looking.

“G-Gyeoulie?”

Was the vice president low-key flirting with the straight-A’s student? Giselle thought so, and NingNing was smirking as well, both giving the equivalent to lenny faces at the other two.

Karina nodded innocently, “yeah, since well, ‘gyeoul’ is winter.”

Winter snapped out of her shocked state, looking away, “sure, that’s fine…”

Giselle and NingNing could be seen giggling while Karina smiled at the shy girl, muttering something so softly that only Winter heard, which made her blush harder than she has already.

“Anygays-”

“What?”

“Anyways, want to eat with us?”

Winter stared at her best friend weirdly before shaking her head, “sure, are you fine with that Karina-unnie?”

The oldest chuckled, “yeah I’m fine with that.”

NingNing gave a small pose, “I’m NingNing by the way, I don’t think we’ve met formally.”

Winter and Karina smiled and nodded at the girl, both of them thinking that the younger girl was adorable.

The four sat down in a quiet area, getting to know one another during the remainder of their lunch break, laughing with, and at, one another as if they knew each other for years, not mere minutes.

….

…

…

…

The two-toned haired girl walked out of the classroom, sighing as she headed down the hall, out the school’s doors. Winter’s last class was choir, and she might love to sing but… Those eyes of her peers and teacher.

Thinking about them made her shudder, as she shook her head to clear her thoughts, looking around to see if she could spot Giselle or her two new friends.

Not seeing any of them, she walked out the school, walking past people without a word.

But then there was a small bark that made her stop and turn her head. Winter grinned, skipping over and crouching down in front of a small, fluffy, peanut-colored dog.

“Ttang Kong-ah~ Did you miss me?”

The cute dog ruffed in response, sitting down while wagging his tail.

Winter pouted, “ah I know… I haven’t been out to see you in a week. Are you hungry?”

“Bark!”

The dog’s tail wagged faster as he stood up and the girl chuckled, sifting through the items in her bag.

“Hmmm I should have something…”

She smiled, taking out a bag of unsalted peanuts and taking a piece out.

“Sit.”

…

“Ah- no- sit first.”

…

“Hand? … Paw?”

…

Winter sighed, making a small finger gun motion, “bang!”

The dog laid down, pretending to be dead.

“Aw good boy~”

Winter gave the nut to the dog, the animal waiting for more.

“No, no more. Too much is bad for you.”

The dog huffed in a way that sounded like a sigh before rubbing himself on the girl.

“Did you just sigh?”

“Woof.”

Winter giggled, but her eyes widened when she saw people boarding the bus a few meters away.

“Oh I have to go- I’ll see you tomorrow Kong!”

The girl stood up, giving the small dog one last rub before running to catch the bus before its door closed.

Ttang Kong was your average street dog, but he was very affectionate towards Winter, who always showed him love and care ever since she found him a year ago… Even if she couldn’t bring him home. He always waits for her at a certain time in front of an alley, knowing that she passes by that area everytime she goes home from school. He’d wait, everyday at four pm, hoping to catch his friend...

Winter got on the bus, thanking the driver as she showed them her bus card. She scanned around for an empty seat, only to have her eyes land on the one and only, Yoo Jimin. She hesitantly walked towards the vice president, suddenly feeling shy since she was outside school.

“Hey, Karina-unnie.”

The raven-haired girl looked up from her phone, smiling at Winter, “hey Winter, I didn’t know you took this bus.”

Winter smiled, “is anyone sitting here?”

“Yes.”

“Oh,” the younger girl looked away, “who?”

“You, who else?”

“O-oh…”

Karina laughed as Winter sat down, “you looked so sad when I said someone was sitting here, why’s that?”

Winter stared at her hands in her lap, “i-it’s nothing, unnie.”

The older girl’s laugh quieted down to a soft giggle, her eyes unable to look away from the beautiful princess next to her, even when that princess stared back.

“I-is there something on my face?”

Karina smiled, “beauty?”

That broke Winter.

The girl’s file has stopped working thanks to the vice president’s silky words.

“Uh- Are you okay?”

Winter went back online and looked away quickly, covering her face with her hands to hide her red cheeks.

“I’m fine!”

Karina chuckled at that, thinking to herself how cute this girl was…

She shocked herself in being so forward with her words, but she was still glad she took the chance.

There was just something about Winter… 

It made Karina’s chest slightly pull in a way she’s never felt before...