"What are you doing, hiding like that?" 

The Monday morning after that encounter certainly was unforgiving to her as Karina tried to push away the uneventful Friday she had just gone through, and she hides her face while using Yeji as a cover from the seat just a few meters away. 

, Karina curses, over and over again as she steals a look upon that table, seeing the same Winter sitting down upon it, staring at the windows like always, but Karina is still filled with embarrassment because she could not even recognize her that day. 

Junyoung's whining did not help at all, however, because he wanted her to come and visit him again like she's just a same age friend—Karina had already promised to talk to her on Monday. 

Well, Monday already came, and Karina finds herself hoping that the ground would open up and eat her alive, as she could not bring herself to do just that. 

Junyoung will whine again all day if you don't do just that, her mind scolds her, and she sighs as she figures out that she has to get this over with, no matter what—

"Winter, can we talk?" Karina says, certainly getting the attention of Winter and almost everyone in the room as she proudly marched towards the end of the classroom and towards her seat like a raging bull, and she immediately gets out of the classroom, walking towards one of the fire exits with the girl in tow. 

"Junyoung, uh… Junyoung wants you to come over again." Karina says, spitting out those words out of her system, and the embarrassment level in her slowly levels down as she sees Winter's wide smile, nodding at that as she swears she could see the gloomy girl jump a little in celebration at that, and she could not even control herself from laughing, finally easing the unknown tension between them. 

"I honestly thought you wouldn't talk to me after Friday, you know." Winter says as her laugh died down, Karina tilting her head in curiosity about that. 

"And why is that?" Karina asks, and she sees Winter adjust her glasses (she did wear that one last Friday, Karina remembers) and scrunched her nose in a little embarrassment as well due to talking about the matter. 

"Because you know what people think about me—" 

"Eh, I don't care about that at all." Karina says, folding her arms together as she leaned down upon the wall, staring at Winter who visibly stiffened with that but did not make it evident as she propped her elbows upon the window, not directly facing the girl. 

"Those are probably just rumors that started… well, it started maybe because you were always alone—" yeah, Winter thinks that it must be the case as she still musters a smile, abandoning all other feelings before that—

"—up until now."

Winter widens her eyes as she hears those words, then staring back at Karina who has her wide smile upon those lips, then laying her hand out for the woman to shake. 

"My name is Karina Yoo," Karina says, and Winter's hand is shaking with unknown feelings as she goes and shakes the girl's hand. 

"Nice to meet you, Winter." 

Like an unrelenting storm, their two fates collided—something both of them never quite expected. 

What a good start for the schoolyear, indeed.