THIRD PERSON’S POV.

Chaewon drags Winter inside the elevator, afraid something might slip from her twin’s mouth.

“Ano ‘yun?!” Winter asks inside the elevator as Chaewon presses the button going to the grounds of the building. “Bakit mo ‘ko kinaladkad?”

“Afraid you might say something.” Chaewon said as she calms down from the adrenaline rush.

Winter looks at her in confusion. What might she say, and to whom? “Kanino? Tsaka kape? Kelan ka pa nag simulang mag kape?”

“That’s what I’m preventing you to say.” Chaewon said as she closed her eyes.

Furrowed brows. “Bakit? Eh ‘di ka naman talaga nag kakape ah?” Winter said.

“I just don’t want to disappoint someone.” Chaewon said calmly.

Winter tilts her head slight, thinking who it might be. Seconds passed and she didn’t think of any. “Who it might be?” Winter asks, still figuring out who her sister’s pertaining to.

“Much better if you don’t know” Chaewon said as she readied to get out of the elevator.

Winter brows creased more. “How’s that being better? Dami mo na ngang secret sakin, uno.”

‘Uno? It’s been a while’ Chaewon thought hearing the nickname called by her sister. Uno and dos are their codename when they’re playing in their backyard long time ago. It’s a nickname only for the two of them. Winter came up with it since Chaewon was the first born. As they grow older, they get different priorities. Sure, they’re still close but not as close as when they were younger.

“It’s…” winter looks at her closely, waiting for her to spill something, there’s excitement in her eyes as she thinks that someone got her twin’s attention. “It’s… nothing.”

“BORING AMPUTA!” Winter hissed and a grin formed in Chaewon’s lips. Been a while since they teased each other. “Ang boring! Ayaw pa sabihin eh.”

“Palamura.” Chaewon simply said ang get out of the elevator followed immediately by her twin.

“Hindi naman. Sabihin mo na kasi, si ms. pres ba? Inaaakit ka rin ba niya?”

“Ka rin?” Chaewon said emphasizing the ‘rin’

“Ano? Tungkol sa’yo ‘to! H’wag mo ‘kong baliktarin!”

“So defensive, I see.”

“TUNGKOL SA’YO NGA ‘TOOO!” Winter’s voice gets loud as she tries to defend herself from her twin’s judging look.

“H’wag kang sumigaw! We’re inches from each other.”

“Mag tagalog ka nalang, twin.”

“Is that your car?” Chaewon points at the black aventador parking in front of the building.

“Tagalog! At oo, bakit?” Winter said as she got her car keys and jiggled it in front of her sister.

Chaewon didn’t say a thing. She got engulfed in the thought she saw a while ago. Her sister and Minju are together and the fact that her sister’s car is in front of them means that they go somewhere, probably a date.

Snap out from her thought because her sister is snapping her fingers in front of her. “Bakit kako? Sabay ka?”

“No. I have mine.” She answered and was about to walk because their building’s not that far from where they are.

“So sino na?” Winter asks, didn’t want to throw the topic.

Chaewon sigh. She knows her sister and she’ll never let go of this topic. Chaewon also feels the urge to tell her that it’s Minju and she doesn’t know why. Maybe because she wants her sister not to pester her, that’s what she thought. “It’s Minju.” She simply said and stared to see her reaction.

In her surprise Winter just look at her without any reaction. Chaewon’s expecting her twin to or say something stupid, but Winter just looks at her blankly. A pause, then Winter blinks her eyes. ‘Paano sila nagka-kilala? Do twin know something?’ sentences formed in Winters head but none of them come out of .

“Ba’t ‘di mo siya sinabihan na ‘di ka nag kakape?” Winter said rather than the sentences that formed inside her head.

Confused by her sister’s reaction, Chaewon feels that her sister is hiding something from her. She thinks that her sister likes Minju because why would they go out? It’s not like the Winter she knows, and she feels bad for wanting to brag that it’s Minju who gave her coffee to suffer. But she’s not blaming the girl, it’s mostly her fault that she didn’t say anything.

‘Do they like each other?’ ‘Are they already going out?’ ‘Is there something in between them?’ Questions pop inside Chaewon’s mind as she recalls the sight of her sister and Minju in front of the elevator door laughing together and the fact that they had just gone out for a date.

“World to Chaewooon!” Winter talk that gets her back from her senses. “You’ve been spacing out, what’s the matter?”

“Wala. Just remember something.”

“Oh, balik sa tanong ko!”

“It’s a peace offering daw. She made it her- tinanggap ko lang sayang eh.”

“Kelan ka pa nasayang sa kape? Na-stress ka ba kaya ka nag kakape?” Winter goes back to fooling around her. “Baka pinapahirapan ka ni ms. pres, san mo nga pala napulot ‘yon?”

Like Winter, Chaewon just dismiss the thoughts she has about Minju. It’s the least on her concern for now. Even though her sister’s relationship to the girl’s bothering her for unknown reason.

“She’s from NNU, an ace student.” Chaewon replied.

“Ang random lang kasi mag assign ka ng transfer pero syempre ikaw na ‘yan, I’ll trust your verdict.” Winter said smiling to Chaewon before bashing the girl. “Ang sungit lang ayaw pa rin kami bigyan permit kala mo kung sinong maganda.”

“Is she not pretty for you?”

“Hehe, bigyan muna kami ng permit.”

“Admit it. Naaakit ka nga kamo.”

“Bastos ng bibig mo, twin!”

“By the way,” Chaewon looks at her eyes twin finding a word first then continue. “Will you come home?”

“No. Not again!” Winter firmly said.

“Just this once. At dinner, I want-“

Winter didn’t let her sister finish what she was about to say and turned around, raised her arm to say goodbye to her sister then she proceeded to her car.

Chaewon sighs, she knows how much her sister hates going to mansion where their father is. But she needs Winter to come as she announces something important. Chaewon wants her sister to get involved little by little in her plan. There’s nothing to worry at the moment and her plan’s going out well. It’s also a preparation for Winter when she unfolds all the things to her sister. Chaewon doesn’t want to shock her again but… it needs to be done.

“I want need you there.” Chaewon said stopping Winter.

Winter turns around. “I don’t want to talk about politics and business and mostly, I don’t want to eat with him.”

“I just want to announce something and it’s better if you’re also there.” Chaewon said calmly, hoping to convince her sister.

“Text mo nalang, una na ‘ko.” Winter turns around again to finally get inside her car, but Chaewon said something that stopped her.

“Huli na ‘to, dos. ‘Di na kita pipilitin pag tapos ng gabing ‘to.” Chaewon said and Winter closes her eyes as she sighs.

It’s not so common when Chaewon requests something from Winter. It’s always the other way around, that’s why Winter can’t resist her sister, but she also doesn’t want to go if is forced to. Chaewon knows it too and she doesn’t want to force her but… she really needs Winter there. Winter’s reaction will be a big part of her plan.

“Is it so important?” Winter asks looking at her twin brown orbs.

“It is.” Chaewon replied and she saw how her sister left out a loud sigh.

“Is it favorable to me too?”

“It depends on how you react about it.”

A nod. The two of them just stared at each other for a minute. One’s silently hoping and the other’s silently rejecting the thought of it. Looking at each other’s eyes, the two are having the same thoughts in their head. Whatever each of them is thinking, they will never get each other. They have no idea what the other is thinking. Perhaps the so-called twin instincts don’t work on them.

“Edi tignan natin.” Winter said as she agreed to what her twin’s proposing.

Chaewon nods and smiles at her twin. “Then I’ll wait for you.”

“Time?”

“7PM would do.”

“7PM it is. Now, alis na muna ako. Baka ma-bash na ako pag wala pa rin kaming permit.” Winter said and smiled too.

Chaewon nodded at her, and Winter did the same then got inside her car. ‘Hope it all goes well’ Chaewon thought as she watches Winter’s car disappear. Chaewon’s worrying about what her sister is going to react to, she already knows that her twin will going to oppose to what they’re going to discuss later but still hopes that Winter considers it.

AT THE KLIER’S MANSION

Winter parks her car outside the mansion, confused as there are tons of cars outside their mansion. She gets out of her car and immediately looks around. She saw many people coming inside. Winter furrowed her brows, she thought that it was just a simple dinner like they always do when her mom asks her to come home but, to her surprise, big people started to show up in front of her.

She saw congressman, mayor, governor, businessman getting out in their vehicles and the confusion consumed her more. Winter reached for her pocket to get her phone and dial her sister. Phone in her ear waiting for the other line to answer.

“Ma’am Winter!” The butler shouts at her.

Winter looked to where it came from and the seconds, she met eyes with the butler her body froze. As if cold water was thrown into her, she feels cold, very cold as she saw all the pairs of eyes looking in her direction. Winter suddenly feels someone suffocating her. There’s a big lump in throat that she can’t swallow preventing her from breathing properly. She can’t move as if those pairs of eyes were pinning her on the ground.

“Hello?... Winter?... Are you there?” The other line answered but Winter’s still frozen to where she is.

Winter doesn’t know what to do. All eyes looking at her felt like they threw daggers at her, and it bled. She still can’t move and her minds going blank… not until she felt someone holds her hands.

“Want some company?”

Winter slowly turns her head to the side to see who’s the owner of the voice. When she could properly see the person beside her, it didn’t help her that much as the confusion got bigger than it already is. ‘Why’s she here? Why is Karina here? What the hell is happening in here?’

“You don’t want to?” Karina said as she was about to let go of Winter’s hand a sudden grip from the other, preventing her from letting go.

Winter swallows the lump in as best as she could. Anyone can see her shoulder move up and down as she tries to calm herself and come back to her senses. She closes her eyes to gather all the strength she has. When she calmed down a little her senses also came back slowly. Winter now recognizes the warmth coming from her palm.

Her body now tries to warm up. One last deep breath and she opened her eyes to look where the warmth was coming from, only to realize she was holding tightly to Karina’s hand.

“You might break it.” Karina said pertaining to her hand that’s turning white to Winter’s grip.

“I-I’m sorry.” Winter loosens. “Sorry again because I’m not planning on letting go… I-I mean for a while.”

Karina just looks at her, analyzing Winter or analyzing herself for not wanting to let Winter go too. She doesn’t know how to react seeing Winter like that. Yeah she’s been stalking the girl for a while but it’s first the time seeing her like this. Like her blood out from her body as she’s cold as dead.

Karina wants revenge for her cousin but she’s not an evil person to just let Winter suffocate on her own by just stared at. Plus, it’s new information about the girl. She didn’t expect her to have any problem with people as she always seen her with the crowds. What might trigger her?

“It’s fine. I also need a date.” Karina answers.

Winter breathing is even now. “Bakit ang daming tao?” Winter asks looking at the ground avoiding glances from everyone.

“I also don’t know. Just invited last minute.” Karina said and Winter looks at her.

Karina saw her eyes glisten; the girl was nearly breaking down. Thank heavens that she came to save her.

In a split second Winter brows furrowed at her. “Bakit ka ‘andito?” confused again.

Winter’s thinking if Karina’s family is acquainted with hers. She recalls her surname and as she remembers there’s no Mendrez in their family connection or she’s been left out? It’s not a new thing.

“Someone send me an invitation, I guess?” Karina said mocking.

“Brat!”

“Ano? BITAW!” Karina said in annoyance.

“AYOKO!” Winter said and put their hands into her leather jackets pocket.

Karina on the other hand was totally shocked at what the other had done. She doesn’t know what it is but she’s feeling something foreign inside her stomach. ‘Is it there for a long time or is it there just now?’ She doesn’t know. There’s something inside her stomach but she can’t describe it. Is it because she’s holding hands with Winter or is it the fact that she’s just nervous as the girl beside her? Well, probably the latter because the first one is totally absurd.

“Ma’am, Winter. Sunod daw po kayo sa’kin sabi ni Ma’am Chaewon.” The butler from before reached for them since they still hadn’t moved to where they are.

“Kuya Gabo, ba’t andami pong tao?” Winter whispered to the butler.

“Nagulat lang din po kami, ma’am. Ang sabi po samin ng kambal niyo po eh kayong pamilya lang tapos bigla pong dumating ‘yung lolo niyo po.”

“WHAT?” Winter’s totally in shock.

If she doesn’t want to see her father, it’s much worse for her grandfather. She hates her father a hundred percent and doubled for her grandfather. Winter blames grandfather for being an evil root. She thinks that the beginning of this madness came from her grandfather. But she can’t do a thing because deep inside, she feared him as much as she hates the man and no one knows.

Karina felt Winter’s hand become sweaty and it’s beginning to get cold again. For she doesn’t know the reason, her thumb automatically brushes onto Winter’s hand. She might think she’s out of her mind to do things, but she just let it pass. Seeing Winter close in trembling then it’s also hard for Chaewon to please the man and Chaewon did anything just to please him for their revenge to get successful.

She might not tell it but getting held by Winter lessens her anxiety with all these big people. Winter by her side felt like she was not alone as the girl felt the same way in those pairs of eyes. Comforting her means she’s kind of comforting Karina too, feeling that they’re in the same shoes.

Winter felt that Karina’s caressing her hand and it somehow help her to calm down. She looked to her side and saw a pair of dark orbs looking at her, but it was different. It’s different from any of the eyes that look at her tonight. It doesn’t feel like Karina’s throwing daggers at her. It’s comforting, feels light in Winter skin and not with the thick feels of blood coming down.

“Didn’t know you hate crowds?” Karina said as they reached the table the butler reserved for them, or for Winter.

Winter let go of Karina’s hand to pull a chair for her. “I didn’t hate crowds.” Winter said and sat beside her.

“Then why-“ Karina paused as Winter took her hand again and put it inside her pocket. “What are you doing?”

Winter drinks water first before looking to her side. “Sabi ko ‘di ako bibitaw. Pahiram muna ako it… it feels warm.” She finished then looked down again trying to hide her face.

Karina rolls her eyes and sighs in defeat as if she’s opposed to their situation but deep inside her, she’s more than happy to be held up in a time like this, when surrounded by big people.

“Hindi ko ayaw sa crowds.” Winter said quietly.

“Yeah, I heared you.” Karina said.

“This type of crowd is what I hate. ‘Di ka ba naiilang sa mga ganitong gadering?” Winter asks, looking at Karina.

‘naiilang ako because it’s my first time attending’ Karina thought. “Bakit ka naiilang?”

“Alam m