A few days had passed since the whole mishap, and now it was time for the actual evaluation. The girls spent the last few days perfecting their routines in their now more relaxed training sessions, thanks to the partial leadership of Winter, making sure that their training wasn't too exhaustive. 

The day started with yet another morning vlog. Their whole day was to be recorded as their evaluation for their debut was going to be a major milestone in their trainee career.

The girls went about their usual routine with ease, excitedly telling the camera about different stories—which seemed to mostly consist of Winter and Karina's relationship, unfortunately for the pair. 

Ever since their manager told them about Winter running after Karina and them taking care of Hajoon together, Ningning and Giselle fully embraced their roles as excited spectators as well as matchmakers.

Leading up to this point, the two found great joy in just teasing the girls, but now? They were fully invested. Especially after being encouraged by their manager. And the media. 

———

It started when their manager pulled aside Ningning and Giselle while Winter and Karina were busy discussing their choreography changes in their other promotion song, Thirsty. 

"Have you checked Twitter and Naver lately?" Their manager said hurriedly to the two. The two furrowed their eyebrows as they shook their head.

"Well, after Winter and Karina had one of their weird...uh, I don't know, their whatever in the lobby the other day, they've really gained a lot of traction from netizens. They went viral. Here, have a look." The manager passed them her phone in a comically suspicious way.

Although their backs were turned to the two oblivious girls, she did not want Winter and Karina to know what she was up to. 

"Uh, what are we supposed to be looking at? We know this story already."

Presented on the screen was a post from a popular media site entitled 'AESPA's Winter and Karina was seen having a cute play flight in the lobby of SM Entertainment! Netizens wonder if Winrina is authentic or just for show. Read more below.'

"Did you read what it says?!" Giselle skimmed through the post. It seemed like just another media site tweeting whatever gossip or rumor they could find.

There have been tons of posts about the girls before this one, especially about Winter and Karina. Why is manager unnie so excited over this? 

When Giselle and Ningning looked uninterested and a bit bored at what they were reading, their manager snatched back her phone and hurriedly scrolled to the comment section. "Look!" She pointed.

1. [+52, -32]

Their chemistry is so good nowadays. They really seem close

2. [+30, -12]

Who cares? They do this all the time

3. [+27, -9]

Did they actually fight? I wanna see it ㅋㅋ

4. [+24, -5]

It's amazing how Winrina is so open with each other before their debut! 

5. [+21, -17]

Their Tom & Jerry relationship is what got me interested in Aespa, after all.

Among thousands of other comments from netizens, Giselle and Ningning noticed a common theme in the majority of the comments.

Among the praise for the two for keeping a professional yet tight-knit relationship with each other in both the workplace and in their dorm, there were also comments discussing the popularity of the two as a couple. 

25. [+27, -5]

I watched all of their vlogs yesterday just to see the interactions between Winter and Karina. No matter how hard they try to hide it, I know it's real 

41. [+33 -12]

I wish to be reborn as Winrina's baby ㅜㅜ

The two giggled at the last comment they read before a look of realization was seen on their faces. They knew where their manager was going with this.

"So, how do we make them realize this?" Giselle asked in a whisper. Their manager smirked. However, Ningning seemed concerned.

"Wouldn't it be too obvious if we push them together? I already feel like our teasing doesn't help them, it just...makes them angry." Ningning sheepishly said. Their manager quickly waved her concerns away with a few gestures of her hand.

"Don't worry. I have a plan. Look," Their manager once again took back her phone and showed them a graph. "Our number of searches across all these platforms almost tripled after our last vlog. And again the other day when Minjeong and Jimin were fighting in the lobby!" 

Giselle tilted her head. "What was so special about our last vlog?" As far as she could recall, nothing special happened in their last morning vlog. Maybe her dancing with Winter to LE SSERAFIM attracted fans? She was wrong, of course. 

"You don't remember? Minjeong and Jimin had one of their whatevers again. Jimin even kissed Minjeong on the cheek!" The manager said excitedly before she was shushed by the two girls. She almost forgot that the girls in question were a