the narrative switches from winter and karina a lot, i don't clearly state it so it may be confusing cus there aren't really transitions. i also write in the 3rd person so i hope it's not too confusing when i switch from karina and winter's thoughts. my english teacher would throw up if he read this. 

 

some things to note:

italicized = singing 

bold = article 

-------------

“what are you doing?” winter looks up at the unwelcomed voice that had just disturbed her precious harry potter reading time, the little moments of her week she had left to focus on herself. in the most polite voice she could muster, she replies;

“what do you mean?”

“that's my seat you're sitting in.” with her sitting down, it felt as if this girl was towering her. well, for the most part, it's because she was- the girl in front of her held herself with a dignified air, even if she wasn't that tall, you could tell that she was most accustomed to her ‘requests’ being obeyed. she was wearing a long sleeved black dress, with a bodacious golden necklace sitting on her neck, that affirmed winter’s suspicions that this girl was definitely obnoxious. her jet black hair almost touched her shoulders, yet when she moved her hair it characteristically swayed in a controlled fashion.

“you sound like one of those mean girls in highschool.” winter chuckles, fully intent on going back to the page she left off (because who likes being interrupted during the good parts) but was too distracted when she noticed that the black haired girl had not moved an inch, and was still staring at her as if waiting for something. she tried her best to remain unbothered, flipping the page as if her presence was merely nothing but somebody trying to pass by. stunned, the girl places her expectedly expensive bag on the table, gesturing for winter to scooch over.

“and what are you doing?” winter says, now not trying to hide the irritation in her voice, trying her best not to move at all as if there was something to gain by not giving this stranger what she wanted. well really, if she had just asked nicely, winter wouldn't have really minded moving, but she had been used to dealing with people like this and knew that a lesson needed to be taught. 

“i hope you don't mind company.” she replies, noisily putting all her other belongings on the table, her car keys, which winter did not fail to notice was obviously a porsche because what else would it be, a newly bought coffee, and her phone, a model she did not recognize, but winter just assumed it was the best on the market. winter remained silent, incredibly grumpy at this point, but insistent on not letting this girl win. she sighs and flips the page, not a trace of her good mood that was there minutes earlier to be found, not registering anything on the previous page (though she could recite it word by word because it was her nth time reading this). “what are you reading?” the girl beside her asks, clearly not interested at all, and winter thinks nobody has ever looked more annoying sipping coffee. winter reluctantly shows her the cover, and the black haired girl beside her smirks. “ah, a children's book i see,” all winter can do is scoff at this, now she's crossed a line, she could have talked her appearance and winter wouldn't have thought twice of it, but harry potter, how could one hate harry potter?

 revolted, she replies “well clearly somebody didn't have a very good childhood.” winter internally smiles at herself to see the girl falter for a moment, her cold look coming back almost immediately. but a moment is all winter needed to see, a moment of humanity or a moment of weakness, maybe some people really are cold natured like this, but most people really aren't, most people just act tough but there's always more to it than that.

“why would it be sold in the children's section then?” she retorts, admittedly not a very good comeback, but she had never lost a verbal battle and plans to keep it that way. 

“because adults are stupid.” winter replies nonchalantly, trying to refocus her attention back on the book, as if the real life incarnate of meryl streep from devil wears prada wasn't sitting right beside her. 

“you're weird.” is all she says back, and opens her phone. she sees a particular message come in, and a wave of panic hits her, though looking at her you would never be able to tell. she has to think of something, anything really, to get this grown woman reading a children's book out of her table. but getting the idea that she may have just met her equal match of somebody just as stubborn as her, she pauses for a moment to think of how to provoke the girl. she decides to play with the information given to her; “so tell me about this harry potter boy.”

“and why would i do that?” 

“cus i’m literally not gonna stop bothering you until you do.”

“isn't this an infringement on my rights or something?”

“no, i don't think there's anything in the law that restricts somebody from asking about a book written by some transphobe.” winter pauses for a second, and with a disgusted look on her face turns her head to fully face the black haired girl for the first time. all the latter does is look back innocently, internally celebrating on successfully provoking the girl. 

“have you never heard of separating art from the artist?” winter tries to say menacingly, however she has the reputation to never look angry even when she is. though, she is definitely sure this time that her expression was undoubtedly mad, even though she did nothing wrong except pick the best seat at the cafe. 

“not when the tale is about a little boy flying around on a broomstick, i’m afraid not.” winter scoffs loudly enough for the surrounding tables to look at them, and there she goes again, sipping her coffee like that, why can't she just sip her coffee like a normal person? 

“you’re single handedly the most obnoxious person i’ve ever met.” winter replies, opening her book again, thinking it best to try and ignore the girl completely. unsurprisingly, it was a wasted effort when the girl kept on prodding on. 

“okay move then?” she says it as if it was the most obvious answer in the world, like she was correcting a classmate that got an ‘easy’ question wrong, but this screwed winter in place even harder. 

“no thank you.” she says jokingly, smiling and waving her hand, as if refusing something from somebody that was not the most annoying person in the universe. 

“alright, how much do you want, 100 bucks?” she clicks open her wallet as if that was the second most obvious thing to do, and winter just stares at the black haired girl incredulously.

“what? what makes you think i want your money?” winter pushes the girls hand with bills flying out back, now feeling uncomfortable for the first time since the girl sat down beside her. rich people with their money, she thought, however the idea of taking someone's money simply just to move seats did tempt her. especially if that somebody was the girl sitting beside her, but it did seem like quite a desperate move.

“what do you want then? to make you move seats?” 

“i want you to ask me nicely.” now it was the other girls turn to scoff, to laugh unbelievingly at winter's request, but all winter did was return to her book, though she was not reading at all. 

“seriously?” like it was the most incomprehensible thing in the world, she was refusing money for this? this is probably why her shoes have holes in them, the black haired girl thought, but decided not to comment further. 

“will it hurt your ego too much?” winter replied mockingly. the black haired girl sighed, she knew that the person she was meeting was going to be here soon, and she also knew that he was the most abrasive man in the world and God knows she did not need two people bothering her. 

“can you move?” she very unconvincingly said with the most polite voice she could muster. all winter did was look at her, but she knew very well what that meant. “please?” she quietly added, now looking out the window. 

“that's the best you can do?” winter laughed, putting her book down on the table. “have you never had to ask anything to anybody kindly? was everything you wanted always just handed to you?” she had thought the last part unnecessary, but after seeing a fire start in her eyes gave her a feeling of satisfaction. 

“can you move please?” she said a bit louder this time, clearly unwillingly but with a softer tone than the first time. 

“ah, now see, was that so hard?” winter smiled at the girl before collecting her things. “ya know, a bit of kindness goes a long way. if you would even count that as kindness.” she stands up and pats the black haired girls head, which she knew would undoubtedly make her angry, and walked to another of the numerous empty tables.

 

wordlessly, a man sat down across the black haired girl, who looked at him sternly.

“i see you've ordered without me.” 

“yes well, clearly somebody never learned to be punctual.” 

“karina, you hurt me.” 

“i have other business to attend to, so please make it quick.” she says pitilessly, the difference between the please she used now compared with the blonde haired girl who would not move out of her table was astonishing. 

“ah, well you know why i asked to meet you anyways, don't you?” he asks, smiling almost sinisterly. karina just looks at him indifferently, hands calmly placed on her lap. “cmon karina, i know you're a smart girl.” he says with what would be considered a playful tone, but all it does is want to make karina punch the wall. 

“cut to the ing chase matthew.” she says harshly, though her face did not indicate any anger whatsoever, her features staying the same as they once were. 

“karina it's always business with you,” he laughs lightly, not earning any reaction from the girl sitting across him. “is that how you should be treating the new CEO?” this however, catches karina by surprise and does not go unnoticed. “daddy didn't tell his little girl i see.” he taunts, only making karina angrier, but she has had years of practice masking it, and knows that showing it will only be a disadvantage for her. “well, i’ll get going now. i hope you send your older brother my regards, but i guess the board doesn't like twats that all the interns.” he walks away, but karina makes sure to watch him get into his car before immediately picking up her phone to confirm if it was true. 

“is it true?” she asks as soon as the line picks up. 

“the board meetings happening in an hour,” he replies tiredly. 

“and i had to find out from matthew? jesus ing christ.”

“well from what i can tell, this is a done deal. nothing i can do about it now.” 

“your wife’s gonna go ballistic.” she can hear someone enter the room, and the call instantaneously ends. 

 

karina hears an awfully familiar voice but unable to name the perpetrator, evades to the farthest part of the arcade. she swipes her card on the machine, picking up the gun, already shooting as a zombie comes toward her on the screen. now you see, karina could easily buy herself a gaming console, ten of them if she’d like, but there was something about all of the flashing lights and screaming kids that was more appealing to her than sitting in her apartment alone (though she would never admit that). completely immersed, she shoots each zombie with a calculated precision, never having to use more bullets than there were zombies. 

“you're kind of bad at this game,” she hears that familiar voice again say from behind her, and she seethes her teeth, if this was somebody for work she'd probably kill herself, and maybe the person talking to her too. but don't be mistaken, not out of embarrassment, but between hearing her mother's anguished cries about her perfect son and dealing with her brother’s childlike tantrum leaving the office, she was not somebody to with right now. karina turns, and to her surprise, it's the blonde lady who would not move out of her seat earlier. 

“following me now, are you?” she says returning to the game, a hoard of zombies already closing in on her. 

“if you didn't notice, i actually work here.” 

“how lovely,” she says sarcastically, not sparing the girl any attention. 

“so you're telling me,” the blonde girl prods on, standing beside the screen so that karina could see her from her peripheral vision, “that harry potter is childish but finding you in an arcade isn’t?” 

“zombies are much more realistic than wizards and magic,” karina retorts, and satisfied with her killing spree, she pauses the game. “now, what do you want from me?” 

“why do you always assume i want something from you?” the blonde girl asks back, and karina scoffs. 

“because people always want something?” karina says as if it's the most obvious answer in the world again, like explaining something to a 5 year old. 

“sad life you lead then,” she mutters, and karina barely hears it over all the noise, but for some reason, this hits her like a knife in the chest. it's true, isn't it? her whole life, it's always been business this business that, never able to take time off because the company (and her father) needed her too much, when was the last time she'd done something for herself? not like this, not something silly like go to an arcade for stress relief, but made a decision for herself, fully self serving, not for her father, or for the sake of the company? slightly concerned at karina’s change of expression, she hesitantly adds: “i'm talking to you because you're fun to annoy by the way.” karina, not noticing who was standing in front of her or where she was for a moment, and realizing that she was slowly losing her composure, looked back at the girl standing in front of her. 

“huh? oh, yeah. well, seeing you fuss over that harry potter boy made my meeting slightly more bearable.” 

“what was it about?” 

“my meeting?”

“yeah,” karina looked at the girl questioningly, why would she want to know? is she secretly a journalist looking for inside information? or does she work for Kara Corp and can't wait to report to her boss how things are slowly falling apart at Yu Industries? without another word, she drops the gun on the floor, picks up her bag, and leaves the arcade. 

 

winter counts all the things on her to do list and groans when she realizes that there is absolutely no way she's having fun this week. she opens up the first of many textbooks she sees, and painfully starts reading. an hour in, and in desperate need of a break, she makes her way toward the convenience store. she grabs her favorite snack, checking her pockets to see if she has exactly enough change, and joins the ridiculously long line for the cashier. she looks around mindlessly, other college kids just like her moped around the store, but she sees something that catches her eye: slowly, she makes her way toward the newspaper stand, she barely sees it over the cluttered mess all the papers were in, but it's there; standing out so clearly like it was asked to be looked at. a picture of the black haired girl she met a week ago. she picks up the magazine to examine the picture closer, it was the outfit she was wearing on the day they met, at the cafe. her face was still as cold as ever, like she did not have a smile to spare. winter flips to the page of her interview, to discover that she was the daughter of the chairman of one of the most popular phone brands in the country. winter laughs, the people around her too tired to even look at her weirdly, and she continues reading. she thinks about how comical it was, her conversation was karina, who was apart of one of the richest families in the country.

“Yu Karina, set to inherit her father's company, has displayed admirable qualities of leadership, despite dropping out of Harvard a few months ago to shadow her father in preparation. She comments on the subject by saying, ‘We decided it was best I discontinue my studies and that I would benefit more from immediately working at the company.’”

harvard? damn. well, makes sense, it would've been too much of an inconvenience being involved in the company by being halfway across the world. winter reflects back to the time she met her at the arcade, and now understands why karina had left so abruptly. probably thought i was digging for information, or something stupid like that. she reads a bit more of the article before putting it down and running back into line when she hears the manager shout to look at the ‘buy it or drop it’ sign.

 

“i think i've seen enough,” karina says, already turning off the projector although their presentation had just started a few minutes ago. “we’re advertising phones, not trying to become the new cocomelon,” her voice was the type that demanded respect, and though very few people around the office thought she deserved it, it was common information that she had inherited her father's temper. it was also common information that her intelligence was unrivaled (except for her father), but an air of jealousy filled each room she walked in, because she was not only richer and smarter than everyone, she also had to be prettier.

“we’ll make the changes right away ms. yu,” one of the people that was presenting finally speaks up, and they all make their way toward the door. 

“we meet same time on friday.” karina says, already halfway through writing a text, as they bow and leave. where do they even find these people? karina sighs in her seat, because even though she has never studied graphic design or advertising, she's still confident she could whip up something better than what she just saw. she looks out the window, being on the 57th floor, she could see the sun slowly fade down the skyline of buildings, orange filling up the sky. and though nothing of the type has ever bothered her before, the words the blonde haired girl uttered to her at the arcade still cross her mind. she's always known what lay in store for her in life, her father's constant reminders of the family legacy have drilled a permanent place into her mind, but it has just occurred to her she has never once thought if that was what she wanted. she'd make the perfect candidate to replace her father, there's no doubt about that, but her whole life has always surrounded that idea, if she wasn't born as her father's daughter who would she be? she shakes off the thought, she hasn't got the time for this she tells herself, and rushes out the door to make it to her next meeting. 

 

“yo you wanna check out that new ramen place? i’m starvinggg,” yujin complains as she throws herself onto winter’s bed. 

“have you even started studying for the psych exam?” winter looks at her roommate unbelievingly.

“i’m paying.” yujin dodges the question and grins, and just like that winter’s out of her seat and grabbing her coat. 

“you're such a ,” winter groans and she heads out the door, followed by yujin who just laughs. 

“damn, i'm paying for your meal and you treat me like this, what did i do to deserve this?” she says playfully. 

“i have literally never seen you study i don't know how you pass.” winter says nudging her arm towards yujin, as they head down the stairs. 

“i’m just cool like that.” yujin says smugly, and winter just rolls her eyes. however, yujin stops walking when she notices something interesting on the bulletin board. 

“what's up?” winter asks, tracing her steps back to where yujin was standing.

“look, Yu Industries is interviewing for interns,” yujin says curiously, while winter wonders why that name sounds so familiar. 

“you gonna go for it?” winter asks, and realizing it was the company that karina worked at, lets out a chuckle. 

“heyyy why are you laughing…” yujin pouts, grabbing the flyer from the board. “i mean why not?”

“oh no, sorry i wasn't laughing at you, i just met someone who works there and she's like really stuck up.” 

“oh? i didn't know you knew anyone that worked there.”

“well i like don't really know her, just bumped into her a couple times.” winter explains, grabbing yujin's arm so that they could start walking towards the reason she stopped studying in the first place, free ramen. 

“hmm, i'd have to go in for at least 3 days a week though.” yujin says, examining the flyer in her hand. 

“yasss the dorm will actually be quiet for once!” winter grins. 

“stop lying you love my singing,” yujin rolls her eyes. “oh wait, that reminds me.” she struggles to pull out a very crumpled piece of paper from her pocket, handing it to winter. 

“there's a trashcan right there.” 

“no silly,” the words are almost unintelligible as yujin uncrumples the paper, the only thing easily seen was a cute drawing of a guitar in the middle. “i was supposed to give you this earlier but i forgot.” 

“well clearly,” winter grabs the paper and squints her eyes to try and read the words. “what is it?”

“the cafe near the business building is hiring someone to sing every friday, saturday, and sunday night. and i know you've been wanting to quit the arcade anyways,” winter stares at the flyer, thinking about it. 

“i’ve only ever sung in front of you and my parents though.” winter shyly says, carefully folding the paper and placing it in her pocket. 

“your voice is so nice it's sort of a crime to humanity to keep it hidden,” winter smiles at the girls comment. “almost as nice as mine.” yujin grins, ruining the moment as winter rolls her eyes. 

“why don't you do it?” winter asks, the difference between her and yujin was that she was always confident in her abilities, which is something the girl admired about her.

“because i actually go out during the weekends and don't stay home studying like a loser.” yujin teases, and winter just laughs. “cmon it'll be fun! plus, you're always grumpy when you get home from the arcade.”

“you try being surrounded by shouting kids and blinding lights for 6 hours straight!” winter argues, but seriously ponders yujin's offer. college is for trying new things, i guess. “alright yeah fine i’ll check it out.” yujin mimicks the sound of fireworks, and winter chuckles.

 

“good morning! how can i help you today?” the guy behind the counter warmly smiles. winter embarrassingly pulls out the crumpled flyer, handing it to the barista. “ah, i see. hyewon!” he shouts, and a girl comes running up to the front, wearing a fit way too boujee that you wouldn't suspect her to be working at a cafe. 

“what's up?” she says, and winter can feel her eyes scan her. 

“she's here for the singer flyer we put out.” he says, gesturing towards the flyer. winter just nods along. 

“can you sing something for us then?” a bit taken aback, winter just sings the song she was listening to before entering the cafe. 

“mother mary comes to me, speaking words of wisdom, let it-”

“can you be here friday at 5pm?” hyewon interrupts her excitedly. 

“holy you're good,” the guy comments. 

“oh yeah, sure,” winter shyly says, tucking her hair behind her ear. 

“at this rate, people’ll be coming here just to hear you sing.” hyewon chuckles, and winter feels extremely flattered by the compliment. “so, the gig’s about 5-10pm, and it's about $15 an hour. that all g?” winter, feeling incredibly eager at the idea of earning 15 dollars an hour just to sing, nods her head enthusiastically. “oh, and you'll also have to help us close up.” 

“yup that's perfect.” 

“great! we don't really mind which songs you sing, as long as they aren't explicit so we don't get ed by the karens.” she says, running toward the cashier, which has now formed quite a long line. 

“we’ll see you then!” the guy says, before walking towards hyewon to assist with all the orders. 

 

“ah, guess who finally decided to come,” an older looking woman says, carefully laying down her chopsticks on the table. her posture was so refined it was like somebody was holding up a ruler on her back, which made her presence feel demanding, even if she was quite small.

“hello mother.” karina indifferently says as she sits down on the empty seat, glancing at everyone blankly.

“what happened? you said that you were going to leave the office soon,” the man that sat beside the older woman asks, while the younger boy sitting beside karina just scowls. though his face looked tired, his business suit and what seemed like fake hair (cus the amount of hairspray he used was obvious if you asked karina) made him appear sharp as ever. 

“the meeting about the ad took extra long.” karina says, looking at all the food in front of her. they probably didn't even order for her, but there was definitely enough food on the table to feed a family of 10. tension filled the table, and though they usually always talked about business, her brother and her mother's sour expressions made the conversation feel awkward. 

“have you no shame?” the older woman cuts her father off from replying, who was undoubtedly concerned about the ad as well. 

“what?” karina asks, unable to hide her glare towards her mother. 

“just leave it, ma,” her brother says, putting his hand on top of the older womans. she reluctantly tries to refocus her attention back to her food, but karina feels anger boiling within her. she had always tried avoiding arguments with her mother as much as she could, because she knew that there was nobody as stubborn as her. but she was always the punching bag, taking the shots even if it wasn’t her up, and she can feel the years of that burden fighting their way out. 

“no, what were you going to say?” karina stares at her mother, who just purses her lips. she can hear her father sigh, as he very well knows an argument is about to break out, and takes a sip of his beer. 

“what i was going to say,” she pauses and looks at the younger boy lovingly, “is how can you talk about business when they created a coup just to unrightfully kick oliver out?!” her voice threateningly getting louder as she finishes her sentence, karina just sinisterly laughs. the only person in her family she had ever felt some sort of close relationship with is her father, if you could even call it that, but her older brother and her have never been anything more than competitors. “why are you laughing?!” her mother had now released all restraint she had, scolding karina loudly, and eyes in the restaurant were now on them, as if they were performing something for everybody to watch.

“unrightfully?” karina repeats, closely mocking her mother, “this was a long time coming. i was just surprised it happened sooner rather than later.” her brother turns to look at her hostiley, like he was about to catapult the rice that was halfway to his mouth onto her, and her mother looks at her incredulously. 

“dont talk about your brother like that!” karina looks at her father, who looks back at her with a ‘leave me out of this’ face. 

“is it not true? he's done nothing beneficial for the company ever since he started, and the only thing he did made the stocks plummet by twice fold.” she nonchalantly says, trying not to lose her temper, as she locks her mother in some sort of staring match. 

“that wasn't his fault!” is all her mother can say, voice getting louder each time she speaks. 

“of course, how could i forget, there's no way mommy’s little boy can up.” karina says rolling her eyes, and she knew she had pushed her mother over the edge. 

“you will not speak to me like that!” she stands up from her chair, almost pushing the food off the table. karina just grabs her bag and stands up as well.

“what a nice family dinner. now if you could excuse me.” without waiting for anybody's response, she walks out and heads for the door. 

the cold air immediately greets her as she steps out of the restaurant, and she satisfyingly smiles as she walks, not caring which direction her feet lead her. that was something she's always wanted to say to her mother, and seeing her reaction only made it better. couldn't even deny it, karina thinks, and though it makes her slightly sad that she’ll never live up to her brother in her mother's eyes, that's something she’d already accepted a long time ago. she walks a couple of blocks, breathing in the night air, not thinking of anything in particular, when she hears a sweet voice that felt like it was melting the cold around her away.

“why do i sigh, why do i try to forget…” 

karina looks around for the source of the sound, and sees it’s from the cafe across the street. 

“it must have been something lovers call fate…” 

she mindlessly crosses the street, and her feet bring her towards the cafe window. 

“kept me saying i had to wait…”

the warmth of the cafe envelopes her as she enters, and she doesn't even notice that she's been shivering. 

“i saw them all, just couldn't fall, til we met…” 

a blonde girl sat at the corner of the cafe, her eyes closed fully immersed into the song, and karina interrogates herself because she knows she had met the girl before. she joins the line to order, her eyes still glued on the singer. 

“it had to be youuuuuu…” 

what a cheesy song, karina thinks, but there's something charming about the way the girl sings it. the note’s a bit deep, but she still manages to sing it softly, like it's something to be treated delicately.

“ma’am?” 

“it had to be youuuuu…” she's always been the type to listen to classical piano music, because she's found that that was what induced productivity the most, but that's all she viewed it as, a tool to help her focus. but the way this girl sings, it's like that's not what music is about at all, music (or that girl’s voice in particular, karina unwillingly thinks) is something that deserves your full attention, a message of the emotion you couldn't convey in words. 

“ma’am? are you going to order something?” the guy behind the cashier snaps her out of her trance, and she remembers the reason she's here. because she wanted something hot to drink, right?

“oh yes sorry. i’ll have a hot decaf americano please,” karina says apologetically. 

“sure sure.” the guy replies, punching her order in the computer. “her voice is nice, isn't it? we’ve never had so many people this late.” he chuckles. 

“huh?” karina felt exposed for some reason (probably because she was staring at the singing figure for a bit too long) but gets back on her feet immediately. “oh yeah, she sounds lovely.” she sheepishly says. 

“that'll be a dollar and fifty cents.” he says, and karina hands him the money. she scans the cafe for a seat and he was right, there are quite a lot of people here. she sees a free table beside the window and slowly walks towards it, still listening to the girls voice. she sits down and looks back at the girl, still not able to place how they know each other. her coffee arrives at her table, and she drinks it as she looks out the window, allowing herself to be totally absorbed in the song. 

she feels a slight tap on her shoulder, and jerks out of her seat, scaring the girl who tapped her. karina realizes that she fell asleep, which she found incredibly odd because she's never fallen asleep in a public place before. 

winter's eyes widen as she notices who she had just woken up. 

“ah, i thought you seemed familiar.” winter chuckles. 

“oh, it's you.” karina says, catching on to where she had previously met the blonde haired girl. 

“why do you sound disappointed?” winter laughs, putting the chairs on the table beside them up. 

“just surprised.” karina says, eyeing her now cold coffee. 

“so what’d you think of it?” winter asks, leaning on the table to face karina.

“think of what?” 

“my singing dummy,” karina pauses for a moment to think of her response, she's never felt shy to voice her thoughts before, but the idea of admitting that her voice was the only thing that was able to put her to sleep the whole week made her feel a bit sheepish. 

“it's good.” karina says shortly. 

“wow, i got a compliment from karina yu everyone, time to celebrate!” winter jokingly says. 

“wha- how do you know my name?” karina looks at the girl suspiciously, and winter realizes that they've never actually introduced themselves to each other. 

“i saw it in a magazine.” winter explains, but karina still looks at her doubtfully. “you're kind of famous, it's not that surprising you know.” 

“and you? what's your name?” 

“winter,” she smiles, and karina seems to finally relax again. “do you mind moving? i gotta put the chairs up.” karina nods and stands up, and winter laughs remembering the first time they met. 

“why are you laughing?” karina asks accusingly, now standing beside winter. 

“it just reminded me of the first time we met.” surprisingly, karina chuckles at the sentiment. 

“sorry for being rude by the way,” karina says as she watches the girl pick up the chair and lean it against the table. 

“as long as you learned your lesson it's all good.” winter nonchalantly replies, and turns to face the girl. 

“yes, i learned how to use please that day.” karina jokingly says, and winter just rolls her eyes. karina wonders why she hasn't left yet, maybe she's just enjoying the warmth of the cafe for a bit longer (definitely). “so, what did the magazine tell you about me?” 

“you should know, it was an interview.” 

“i get interviewed a lot,”

“well, it said that you dropped outta harvard to work for your dad's company.”

“ah that one.” karina says, both of them standing beside the table, and she thinks about when was the last time she's experienced this, just talking for the sake of talking, no business as the ulterior motive. 

“you must be smart.” winter comments, sitting down on the bench attached to the wall, and karina just follows her (why, she's not sure). 

“i am, but what makes you say that?” winter rolls her eyes at the first part of her sentence, she needs to surround herself with more humble people she thinks. 

“harvard acceptance rate is like literally less than 5%.” 

“ah yeah well, that wasn't my first choice anyways,” karina casually says, putting her hands on her lap and leaning her head against the wall. 

“it wasn't?” winter asks in disbelief, and karina just nods her head. 

“i was supposed to go to snu but my father had this big fight with their president,” winter just laughs in her head because she's never met anyone that called their dad father before.

“i know right and imagine having to go to harvard instead, that school .” winter teases, and karina just chuckles. winter thinks that it's a nice change of image seeing karina smile, and that this suits her much better. 

“what about you? are you in college?” karina asks, and she feels a bit weird because she's never felt interested to know more about somebody before, and she lets herself sit in this new feeling wondering if it's a good thing. 

“coincidentally, i go to snu.” winter says, placing her hands on the bench and swinging her feet.

“oh, no wonder i always bump into you.” karina says, as her office building is near their campus. she puts her hand down on the bench, not realizing winter's hands had already occupied the space. she moves her hand immediately, feeling awkward (which never happens), but her mind lingers on the short contact. winter stands up and karina wonders if she had made the girl uncomfortable.

“well, i’ll get going now.” winter smiles, and karina hates herself for feeling disappointed. 

“oh yeah, i should probably get going too.” karina picks up her bag and looks out the window, not realizing how late it was. 

“you know, you're nice to talk to when you're not acting like a total .” winter says, and karina laughs. 

“god, i’ve never met anyone like you before,” 

“i hope that's a good thing?” winter says, as they step out into the cold air. 

“i’d say so,” karina replies, and seeing as they’re heading in different directions (and burying that feeling of disappointment again) she waves. “bye winter.” 

“bye karina.” winter smiles, and though its definitely at least -3 degrees, karina feels a warm feeling in her chest as she walks towards her car. 

 

------ 

i think that's a good place to end :)) it actually took me so long to write this, so fair warning, updates are gonna be slow and they're gonna come in big chunks like this. 

 

in case ur curious, here are the songs winter sings (in order):

Let it be by the Beatles 

It had to be you by Frank Sinatra