The sun was sipping through the blinds, and Winter woke up earlier than her alarm with a bright smile on her face. Pushing away the blankets and standing up, she grabbed her towel and went straight to the bathroom to take a refreshing bath. 

Last week's exchange replaying in her head makes the butterflies in her stomach that she didn't know existedㅡgiddy. After putting her fit for the day, she went to the kitchen with her hair still wet. She prepares breakfast for her and Ningning which is unusual given it's Saturday.

While waiting for the oatmeal to cook, she grabbed her phone and gathered all the courage that escaped her last week to text the reason why she's smiling like a fool every morning ever since.

morning~
you up? yeah
why are YOU awake?
thought your class starts at 9

Winter smiled even wider reading the reply. Did Karina researched her daily schedule?

want to walk together? careful
i might think you like me

Reading the reply made Winter scoff. Karina has been really confident since the night of Ningning's birthday. She was ready to clapback when she saw Karina typing again.

too~ 
😉 funny. 😑😑
walk?
together?

Winter quickly scooped a large spoon of really hot oatmeal to which under normal circumstances would faze her but reading Karina's reply numbed her tongue. She went out of their apartment, living the dishes undone to catch the 8am bus. 

Karina was already at the campus bus stop when she arrived.

"Someone's in a good mood. Breakfast?" Karina asked.

"Already done. You look like you didn't get enough sleep."

"Yeah. I underestimated the time I needed to finish my project."

"Want me to offer you an advice?"

"And what advice is that?"

"Don't think of me too much," she said, thinking that she will earn a flustered reaction from Karina.

"I'll do my best," Karina chuckled. Their walk to Karina's building was full of bickering and laughters, asking about their final plans for Giselle's birthday party tomorrow.

 

***

 

K: will be spending the night at the shop
K: stay w/ ning's for the night, scaredy cat

Winter read the message that Karina sent to Giselle earlier. They planned to push Giselle to stay at their apartment so they can freely make the decorations and prepare the foods in Karina and Giselle's apartment for the surprise party. Winter didn't inform her bestfriend about the party because she knows that the girl will not be able to keep the secret from her girlfriend.

"Are you sure that's enough? Won't she be suspicious?"

"No. Giselle is the densest person I know. She'll actually thank me for giving her an excuse to sleepover at your apartment."

Just in time, Karina received a message with a simple "thank you" and a squealing meme.

"told you. so what's your excuse?"

"my mom suddenly showed up in campus and want me to spend the night at home."

"Your mom does that?"

"From time to time. She and Mommy misses me a lot so I try to come home once every month."

"That's so sweet of them." Silence.

There was something in the tone of Karina's voice but Winter doesn't want to pry. She noticed that Karina's mood suddenly changes with the mention of her parents. That the glow in her eyes would turned cloudy and longing and the girl will try her best to hide it with a smile that doesn't reach her eyes.

"I already bought the decors," Karina attempted to break the silence. "We only need to do the groceries. "

"And the baking store so I can buy the things I need for the cake."

"Right. Minju will be here in a minute. She just picked up Yujin from school."

"Why are we going with Yujin and Minju? I thought it's just the four of us?"

"In the party, yeah. But we'll be buying a lot so I asked for their help. Don't worry I'll talk to them."

A few moments later, a black BMW X5 arrived with Minju in the driver seat while Yujin has her head peaking from the passenger window. Winter almost forgot that Minju knows how to drive. The moment they were inside the car, Karina explained everything about the surprise party that they will be throwing for Giselle. The two promised not to spill the secret and help with everything if Karina will let them take the car for a short road trip tomorrow. 

"This is your car?" Winter asked.

"Yes, it's Minju's parents' gift for me on my high school graduation. I don't drive often, I only use it whenever I need to pick up the supplies for the shop."

"You must be really close with Minju's parents for them to give you that."

There's that look in Karina's eyes again and Winter felt suddenly guilty.

 

***

 

"I already sent you the list of the things we need. I trust you not to mess this up." Karina said. Yujin gave them a salute before pushing the cart away with Minju.

"Are they..." Winter trailed, expecting Karina to get what she means.

"They what? Like each other? Yes. Dating? No," Karina said, pushing their own cart.

"Why not?" she asked, curiousity getting ahead of her. "They get along with each other and they look cuteㅡ" 

"Because they promised their parents that they will wait until Yujin graduates high school,"

"Oh."

They were quiet the whole time, not knowing what else to talk about, their cart already half full. Yujin and Minju finished their own list and are just roaming around to look for their own snacks. She and Karina agrees with everything until the girl put in two cans of each flavor of pringles, seven bars of chocolate, three bags of assorted gummies and five boxes of fruity loops.

"What do you think you're doing?" Winter asked, hands crossed on her chest.

"Oh, this? It's my stash, I'll pay for it don't worry." Karina said while choosing which bars of granola bars to pick.

"And you plan to eat this on your own?"

"Yeah. I think that's the whole point of buying food, Winter Kim," Karina answered, emphasizing her name.

"Karina Yu," she said, imitating the way Karina said her name. "I understand the craving but are these necessary? Do you want to die of diabetes?"

"No, but I need my sugar when I do my papers."

"Nope. Just no, pick two of each and return the others"

"But, they're my favorites"

"Return the snacks or I'll leave," she said, giving the other girl an ultimatum.

"Isn't that the same thing?" Karina replied with a sheepish grin on her face. 

"That's it I'm leaving. I'm calling Giselle to pick me up and spoil the whole thing."

Karina had no choice but to return the items one by one on their shelves while saying sorry to each of them.

 "I'll come back for you babies." Karina said as they walk away from the snack aisle. Karina has a huge pout on her face while following Winter to the ice cream section of the supermarket.

After a few minutes, Winter noticed that Karina was not following her, she tried going back to the snack aisle but the girl was not there. When she found her, the girl looked like a lost kid, looking around, also noticing that she lost Winter. The supermarket that they went to was a bigger grocery than the ones Karina was used to. 

Winter approach Karina and looped her arm around the girl's, "You'll get lost if you mindlessly walk like that," she said before throwing the girl a smile to end the conversation. Karina looked amazed and amused.

Winter looked calm and collected outside but she's internally in panic with her own spontaneous action. She dragged Karina back to the snack aisle and put all the snacks that the girl returned earlier to their cart. Karina is just watching her with a confused expression.

"Can you guys return my friend back to normal?" she asked the snacks on the cart which made Karina smile, stopping Winter and return the snacks herself. Unbeknownst to them Yujin and Minju are secretly (and happily) watching them from the other aisle.

"Giselle Unnie is right, they do look like a married couple," Minju said, snapping a picture of the two. 

 

***

 

After doing their groceries, Winter cooked dinner for the four of them in Karina's apartment. Minju shared that she and Yujin plans on going to the newly opened archery center and watch the sunset in the beach. Karina was just quietly listening to their conversation.

The three of them, Karina, Yujin, and Minju, began decorating the living room of the apartment, hanging polaroid photos of Giselle from middle school to college and a few freshly printed childhood photos that her mother sent Karina a week before. They also added a few halloween ornaments.

Winter is almost done making the cake base, she's planning on making a red velvet cake but she'll cut it to make it look like a strawberry. She's putting the freshly baked cakes on the fridge when she heard Yujin and Karina laughing at Minju. It turns out the three were playing with the helium balloons and Minju inhaled too much causing her to burst into a coughing fit. Karina called her to join them but she refused.

After chilling the cake bases, Winter started stacking them without forgetting to put a generous amount of filling. Yujin and Minju had camped beside her eating the cake scraps. Karina had surrendered to her room to find some clothes that Winter can borrow later. 

"Unnie," Yujin asked. "Do you like Rina unnie?" which earned her a punch on the arm from Minju. Thankfully, Karina's room is far from the kitchen.

"We saw you earlier in the supermarket," Yujin continued, not minding the series of punches she's getting from Minju. Winter just answered with a smile. "You two are really the same. Karina unnie just smiled at me when I asked her last time."

"So don't ask," Minju finally said before apologizing. Winter returned to making Giselle's cake. Yujin went back to eating or so she thought because the moment Karina entered the kitchen, the youngest asked Karina the same question she asked Winter.

"You know what I think? It's time for you to leave if you don't want to miss the 8pm bus. I'll make sure to save some of Winter's bakes for you tomorrow," she said but looking at Winter instead. 

Winter had her hopes up but she also expected that Karina will dodge the question. Yes, things between them has shifted after Karina's sudden confession, if you can call it that. They have been coming to the campus and going home together and just the other day, they went to the archery center that Minju mentioned earlier. But other than the constant teasing, Karina never told her that she likes Winter. 

She asked me to take her out? What does that even mean?

She didn't notice that Karina had returned from ushering Yujin and Minju to the bus stop. 

"The alarm had already rung, are you not going to take out the cupcakes?" Realizing what Karina said, Winter quickly opened the oven only to be stopped by th