AUTHOR

Check the character profile I made for all the characters here.

Winter declined Karina’s lunch proposal at first, muttering excuses that she had to take care of her pet duck’s food, but immediately clamped shut, remembering that pets are not allowed inside the dorm.

  Some of you might say that she was just saying this as an excuse and that she doesn't have a pet duck to feed, but truth be told, she does. And that so-called pet she has doesn't eat any kind of food if it's not organic. 

  Prof. Beak is a white-crested duck that has a fluffy crest of feathers on his head, making him look like an 18th-century wig-wearing aristocrat. As Yizhuo would have described it, he's Mozart II—the III—the IV maybe, whatever number suits.

  Also, he's a high-maintenance duck that wears colour-coded Hermès scarves and has a Birkin bag as a carrier. She doesn’t understand why Yizhuo always complains when he spoils Prof. Beak a lot. He literally deserves it because he was abandoned by his mom at birth because he was born with spraddle legs.    

  Winter nursed him until he was no longer disfigured. It was the first time she ever made an effort to take care of another living thing. And that led the two of them to become more attached to one another.

 She mentioned that she had to go to Sainsbury's to fetch some organic fruits and veggies for Prof. Beak. But Karina, being the stubborn charmer she was, insisted on coming with her to the supermarket. 

 Winter is pretty much familiar with how people with extravagant backgrounds are absolutely mediocre when it comes to doing the simplest stuff like grocery shopping, cooking, doing the laundry, etc., because she was like that a year ago. 

  Yizhuo, her dearest friend, came from a humble family and was the one who taught her how to live a normal life. It took her a while to become less mediocre, but eventually it all paid off since she could do the laundry on her own now.

  Imagine her surprise at how knowledgeable and reliable Karina was when it came to grocery shopping. The latter gave her some useful tips on how to pick the freshest fruits and veggies, which made her envious of how much of a perfect person this person could be.

 After that, Winter’s stomach rumbled, which made Karina chuckle. Winter grumbled in embarrassment, explaining that she hadn’t eaten breakfast. Karina offered to eat lunch together, not accepting her refusal this time, as she explains not eating on time might lead to some serious illnesses in the future.

  Let’s just say Winter is just being nice, which is why she doesn’t have a choice but to agree to the latter’s lunch proposal. Her initial plan was to have lunch with her just once, and after that, she'd go incognito for the rest of her university days.

  Winter placed the grocery bag under the table and sat comfortably on the chair.

“What do you want to eat? My treat.” 

They’re now sitting in a restaurant a few blocks away from their university.

“Oh, let me—”

“No, I insist.” Karina took the m