The next morning, Winter swore that her hearing had been permanently damaged. Ningning, Giselle, and their manager were already at the dinner table eating breakfast. Mysteriously, both Winter and Karina were late to the meal.

Karina and Winter left their respective rooms at the same time, startling one another. They met just as they were about to descend to the first floor where animate chatter could be heard. The girls and their manager seemed quite lively today. 

"O-oh, you woke up late too?" Winter asked with a shy smile on her face. Karina nodded with a laugh.

"I did. I wish I woke up next to you though." Winter's cheeks reddened. Karina felt prideful at the sight.

"You know we can't do that yet. We don't even know how they will react." Winter's eyes cast down towards the floor. Although she was ecstatic that her relationship with the older girl had progressed, she still had doubts about how others would respond. 

"I know. I'll be patient, just for you." Karina winked. Winter shook her head with a smile before enveloping the taller girl in her arms. Their hug was sweet and warm but was rudely interrupted by Ningning and Giselle yelling their names from downstairs.

"Ready to head down?" Karina pulled away, patting the girl on the head as she distanced herself. Winter hummed happily and practically skipped down the stairs. Cute. 

"Oh good, the sleepyheads are finally awake. Don't start slacking off just because you had one great performance." Their manager reminded them while passing them their plates. The two rolled their eyes in response.

"What happened, Jimin unnie? You're usually the first one up." Giselle asked while shoveling food into . 

"Yeah, Minjeong too. She usually is the one waking me up. I really thought there was a corpse in her bed this morning." Ningning agreed. "Are you two okay?" Minjeong flushed. She looked at Karina for assistance but the girl offered no help and simply continued eating her food. 

"Y-yeah. Why wouldn't we be?"

"Well, you two never wake up late. Like, ever." Ningning claimed with an accusatory voice. "So, the fact that both of you woke up late can't be a coincidence, right?"

"Nothing happened!" Winter defended, her eyes refusing to make contact with the others. 

"Oh, really? Do you know our bedroom door is really loud, Minjeong unnie?" Ningning asked with a cocked eyebrow. 

"Yeah? I mean, it's not like it's that bad." Winter answered cautiously. Where was Ningning going with this? 

"Yeah, you're right. It's not that bad." Ningning answered in a monotonous voice. Winter froze. She felt like she had just been caught for a crime. 

"Uh?"

"Ning, just get to the point already!" Giselle whined with an excited look on her face. 

"Okay, fine." Ningning cleared . Winter and Karina braced themselves. "Minjeong, I know you left the room late last night and didn't return until like, an hour later." 

"U-uh-" Minjeong stuttered. She turned to Karina for help once again only to sigh when the leader looked like a deer in headlights. 

"And Jimin, you didn't get back into the room until around three in the morning." Giselle interjected. Karina cleared , surprised. 

"H-how do you know that? You both were awake?" Karina asked nervously. 

"Maybe, maybe not." Ningning teased. "I don't need to be awake to know." Ningning suddenly lifted a finger at Karina. "No one else could have made those hickeys on your neck, right?" Ningning's pointed glare sent Karina and Winter into complete shock.

Karina's hand shot up to her neck, attempting to cover her skin to no avail. In a panic, she even attempted to see her own neck by looking straight down. Even Winter couldn't help but laugh at Karina's silliness. 

"Where? Tell me, now!" Karina's voice raised. She whipped out her phone to take a better look at her neck, something she should have done in the first place instead of straining her neck. "Oh my god, guys. Where?" When she was met with only laughter, she groaned. 

"Minjeong, what the hell?" Karina suddenly turned her frustration to Winter. Gasps were heard from around the table. "Wh-what? It's not my fault! We said we wouldn't do anything too obvious." Karina's rambles were still met with silence. 

Even Hajoon, who had been babbling about in the arms of his mother seemed to be stunned. Karina's temper rose when she saw Ningning and Giselle's expressions. They looked as if they won the lottery. 

Pissed, Karina continued. Not caring about if anyone answered her or not. "What the hell, you guys? This is not funny. We have a performance later and this will just add to the work the staff have to do and-"

"FINALLY!" Ningning screamed in unison, successfully cutting off their pitiful leader. Karina's anger turned into utter confusion. Winter's hand immediately covered , her cheeks blooming red.

Their manager started clapping, as best as she could anyway. Hajoon was making it difficult. 

"Huh?! What's going on?" 

"I can't believe it! I'm so happy! Aeri, you loser! I won!" Ningning happily exclaimed. She shot up from her chair and began dancing around. Beside her, Giselle was smiling despite having her head in her hands. She looked a bit disappointed. 

"Congratulations, you two!" Their manager announced, pleased. "Anyways, now