"I've known Karina since freshman year," Ryujin recounts, the two of them already settled upon the benches on the rooftop, deciding that they wouldn't make it to PE, so they cut classes. 

 

"She's popular even when she was a first year, and the teachers immediately favored her unconsciously. Imagine, a first year being an officer of a club immediately? That's a feat that only Karina could deliver." Ryujin explains, chuckling as she played with the iron fence, Winter staring at the cemented ground mindlessly. 

 

"Well, I don't really know if I should confess… or what." Ryujin says, Winter's thoughts clearing immediately as she hears those words. 

 

"I like her so much, Winter." Ryujin says, chuckling as Winter sighed at Ryujin's frowning. 

 

"Then tell her, Ryujin-ssi. But make sure you're ready to face the consequences if ever she does not like you back, because even I'm not sure if she even is into girls." Winter says, Ryujin chuckling at that. 

 

"What about you?" Ryujin says, Winter immediately turning to look at her. 

 

"What about me?" 

 

"Would you mind it if I confessed to Karina, Winter?" Ryujin asks, and Winter lets out a sigh as she stares at the ground again. 

 

"Honestly…" Winter starts, and Ryujin finds herself listening intently at every word. 

 

"...shes just a friend to me." Winter says, for she knows that it is the truth, although Ryujin finds it very anti-climactic. 

 

"She's just someone who's nice to gloomy old me. You know, I wonder why she even talks to me, you know? I worry I might be overstepping or that she really don't want to talk to me at all." Winter says, Ryujin frowning as she hears those words. 

 

"Hey, don't say that—you're actually nice to talk to." Ryujin says, grinning as Winter just smiled at that, nodding at those words, somehow lifting an unknown burden off her heart and mind. 

 

"So… friends?" Ryujin says, and Winter smiles at that. 

 

"Friends."

 

"You both cut classes??? Ryujin, you know I hate the professor and you're the only one I can trust to bail me out!" Yeji whined, hitting both Ryujin and Winter in their shoulders, making Karina also laugh at that. 

 

"You cut class? How very unusual of you." Karina says, though she notices how Winter scratches her nape awkwardly—something must have happened with her and Ryujin, Karina thinks, but she's too shy to ask about it. 

 

"Uh… me and Ryujin just talked about something—" 

 

"That took a whole class period to discuss? Did she bully you? I'm going to whack her for that." Karina says, Winter panicking as she shook her head intently. 

 

"No, she didn't—" 

 

"Karina, can we talk later?" Ryujin says, and Karina flashes a what? look to Winter who just smiles at that, then looking back to Ryujin who expected an answer. 

 

"I'll be waiting for you in the room after classes, Karina." Ryujin says with an expectant smile, and before Karina could even protest, she had already walked forward to catch Yeji's stride, the four of them on their way to the cafeteria. 

 

"I'll accompany Junyoung, if that's what you're worried about." Winter says, a smile upon her face as Karina still hesitates, staring wildly at Winter and silently begging her to tell her what is really happening, but Winter would only smile at her again. 

 

"Just listen to her, Karina-ssi." Winter says, putting both hands upon the pocket of their uniform coolly, and Karina dreads what is about to happen. 

 

(Ryujin confesses, to no surprise, and Karina finds a headache immediately settling upon her head as she hears of the woman's timely confession to her.)

 

Meanwhile, Winter and Junyoung had settled upon the Yoo's familiar couch, the little boy scribbling upon a coloring book that Winter had bought her when she was the one to show up in front of Junyoung's school, the both of them basking in the peaceful silence. 

 

"Winter noona, where's Jimin noona?" Junyoung asks after a long while, to which Winter patiently answers "She just took care of something in school, so I beat her here to spend time with you." 

 

Junyoung did not have any more questions after that, so Winter was left with her thoughts, her head reeling from countless scenes playing just from one possibility that sprung up in her mind when thinking about that again. 

 

Ryujin would replace me, Winter thinks, letting out a shaky sigh she hopes the little kid would not notice. 

 

I wouldn't be permitted to go here anymore because Ryujin would not want it. 

 

No more after school hangouts. 

 

No more seeing Junyoung or hanging up with him. 

 

No more of Karina's cooking, or seeing her clean mindlessly like it is already second nature her. 

 

No more of that side of Karina's that she had grown to like. 

 

No more of that—

 

"Noona!" Junyoung exclaims, rushing towards the door as Winter could hear the lock being opened from the outside, and she pushed the thoughts away before it could even show up in her face—

 

And there she enters, emotionless, staring straight at Winter while Junyoung was helping her with her things she brought home. 

 

"Welcome home," Winter says, sadness hiding underneath the words, and Karina does not smile at her at all. 

 

"Junyoung fix your things, it's already dinner. Winter, we have to talk." she shortly says, turning away from Winter's sight as she sets her things upon the counter, and Winter reluctantly follows her to the hallway near the stairs of their little home, dreading that word. 

 

She's going to say it, Winter overthinks. She's going to tell me I can't go here anymore—

 

"What did you tell Ryujin?" she asks, all of those thoughts getting blown away as Winter stared back at her, absolutely dumbfounded. 

 

"W-What?" 

 

"What did you tell her?" she asks once again, this time more stern and strict, but Winter still could not utter even a single word. 

 

"Did you tell her that… that I was just being nice to you?" her voice breaks, and Winter's heart falls. 

 

"K-Karina, I—" 

 

"Answer me. Did you tell her that?" she asks and she moves backward as Winter nods. 

 

"I… I did." 

 

Winter widens her eyes as she stares at Karina who is pursing her lips, as if she's trying hard not to cry, then wiping the first tear that comes afterward with rushed fingers—

 

"You ing—stupid—" Karina stutters as she rushes towards Winter, growing afraid by the second, and in a swift motion that Winter could not even see coming, she headbutts her. 

 

"How dare you! I wasn't just being nice to you, I really meant it!" Karina shouts, whining like a little girl, and Winter hesitates to even touch her as she's still reeling from the sudden violence inflicted upon her own forehead. 

 

"Ryujin told you that?" Winter asks, but she backs down as she receives Karina's glare through her tears. 

 

"Ryujin does not matter right now! God, you even told her that I might not want to talk to you at all? Who are you to decide that, huh?!" Karina shouts, hitting Winter with such force equal to that of a child's tantrums, the girl sure that maybe Karina is still holding back. 

 

"I just… I thought I was making you look bad—" 

 

"Why does that even matter to you?" Karina asks, once she had calmed down a little, but still was glaring upon Winter. 

 

"Because I clearly have a… uh… a reputation, Karina. You know how it is… they all think I'm gloomy at most—" 

 

"No one thinks that. If they're thinking like that, I'll headbutt that idea out of their minds." Karina says, and Winter chuckles at that, shaking her head. 

 

"No… you don't need to do that for me, Karina—" 

 

"But I want to." Karina says, a stern look upon Winter, hoping that she can show her she means it. 

 

"So don't go on about thinking that I'm just nice to you. I actually want you here." Karina says, a faint smile upon her face, the only thing ruining that moment is the blush upon Winter's cheeks because of those words. 

 

"I-I mean, Junyoung wants you here too! Who would accompany him, and he keeps bothering me to get you to come here, you know—" 

 

"Karina," Winter says, after she got hit upon her shoulder again with Karina's rambling. 

 

"Thank you." she says, and Karina smiles. 

 

"No worries." she says, patting her head like she is a little child, ending their talk right there, but Winter still has some things she's curious about after they'd already come out to the kitchen. 

 

"So… what did you do with Ryujin?" Winter asks, Karina sighing as she prepared their dinner (some kimchi stew would do the trick for the night), answering the question half heartedly while Winter was again playing with Junyoung, waiting for her answer. 

 

"I rejected her."

 

"WHAT?" Winter says, startling both Junyoung and Karina, but the girl immediately regained her focus. 

 

"Sorry for that… um… why did you reject her?" Winter asks, still distracting Junyoung from ever listening to their little conversation, and Karina sighs for the nth time this afternoon. 

 

"I don't know if you knew, but she's a chaebol—she's rich, and I don't think she'd be much pleased with how I'm living. Plus, I hear she isn't fond of little kids, unlike you." Karina says, uttering those last words without a thought behind it, but it does not fail to send a grin and a blush to Winter's face, though she hides it at another second that passed. 

 

"I'd have to deal with her tomorrow, though." Winter says, whining as the thought of a rejected Ryujin sends stress upon her mind, Karina tilting her mind in curiosity. 

 

"And why is that?" 

 

"Because I was the one who told her to confess to you—OW! What was that for?" Winter asks, massaging her forehead after Karina flicked on it, the three of them then sharing a meal together for the night. 

 

"Because you deserve it," Karina shortly says, and Winter just drops the topic at that. 

 

She's weird, Winter thinks. 

 

But I don't mind.