"Mom, I'm not sure if I still like him in the same way I did before, okay? May I remind you that it was like ten years ago?"
"I know, but at some point, you're still fond of him, right?"
Karina stared at her mom for a long time while and breathed out uncertainty.
She knows her mom is right. There's this part in her, no matter how little, that is still attracted to Heeseung. And she doesn't know if it will continue to shrink or --- who knows --- grow eventually.
"Just try going out with him for like a month and see if anything would spark between you two. If it doesn't then you tell him. I believe it's enough time for him to rethink his feelings too, right?"
"Mom ..."
"A month won't hurt you, Karina. The least I could hope is for you to become good friends if this really won't work out. If after a month you'd realize that he's not the right guy, then fine. I'd stop bugging you."
Karina knows that there's no way she could win this argument. "You promise?"
"Yes, just for a month. I just don't want you letting this chance pass by..."
--
Karina is staring blankly at the ceiling, reflecting on what she and her mom talked about earlier. Her mom snooped on what happened after Heeseung dropped her home. Karina told her everything, making her mom squeal with glee.
Just for a month? Urgh! Why am I not feeling right about it?
She is supposed to be happy too because this is what she wanted before ... to get his attention. And the fact that her mom has two thumbs up for him should be good news. But instead of being joyful with the turn of events, she's in a dilemma instead. No matter how much she tried to convince herself that she's morally better off with Heeseung, she can't set aside the fact that she's still feeling something for Winter too.
The problem is she's not sure how serious her feelings are for Winter. It's too underrated to call it a crush but is it that serious to call it love? How would she know if it really is love? And what would she do if it really is love? She can already imagine her mom objecting to it.
Karina turned to her side and curled up against her body, hugging herself in anxiety. Sleep won't come to her yet. She was hoping that Winter would call her just to confirm if she's arrived or what. She feels so lost right now that all she wanted is to hear Winter's voice.
She glanced at her phone to check the time:
12:07 am
She buried her face in the pillow and sighed.
Please let me see you tomorrow, Winter. Please.
--
Incheon International Airport
"Good evening. This is the pre-boarding announcement for flight 89B to Seoul. We are now inviting those passengers..
Winter let out a sigh of relieved after finally setting foot on the ground.
Phew! Home sweet home!
If she had know how much of an encumbrance that storm would be, she would not have gone to Indonesia in the first place. It was torture missing Karina for a week, and what's making it worse is she can't even make a call because the electricity was cut for days due to the wide damage the storm caused.
But her agony is over. She's finally home. Her enthusiastic is building up on the thought that Karina has been missing her too. She couldn't believe it herself at first, but after their trip from Gampo, everything seemed to have changed between them. They grew in closer, in a more special way than friends could be. She knows it's too early to assume anything but she can't help raising her hopes up.
That's the reason she wanted to have that talk with Karina, to clear things out. Although she's not hoping for that talk to happen right away, she has no plans on prolonging it either. She just need more signs from Karina before she pushes that talk to happen, and that's when she'll finally confess to her.
Having plans to call Karina, Winter checked the time on her phone:
12:07 am
Oh, I guess she's already sleeping.
She puffed her cheeks and blew air out. She pulled her bag straps over her shoulders as she walked towards the exit. There's an excitement that's quickly building up inside her on the thought that it'll be just a few hours from now before she goes to work.
I can't wait to see you, Karina.
--
Monday - 7:11 am
What the--
Karina purposely went to the office early that day with the objective of putting her chocolate present before Winter arrives - or before anyone arrives and sees her-. It never occurred to her that she'd be competing with a pile of wrapped gifts, cards, letters, and some tiny stuffed toys.
She bit her lip and stared at the chocolate on her hands.
Tsk. Will she even like this? It's so simple.
"Hey, good morning," said a voice who's entering the room.
Karina's stomach flipped and her heart began to race. She knows that voice well enough to make her panic. She turned around and immediately hid the chocolate behind her back.
"W-Winter?"
And then there she is, the person Karina has been longing to see since last week, standing in front of her, having that smirk on her face with one hand holding tight to the strap of her bag.
"Hey, 'sup? What are you doing here this early?" said Winter.
"I, uh, I just put my reports on Soobin's table." Karina lied.
Winter glanced at her wristwatch. "At this hour? It's only seven quarter, Rin. Can't that wait until 8 am?"
"Ummm,"
"By any chance, were you checking if I'm already in?"
Karina rolled her eyes in defense. "Why would I?"
Winter made a quote sign with her fingers and mimicked Karina's way of talking. "You have no idea how badly I'm missing you now, Winter.."
That immediately brought Karina to embarrassment. She covered her blushing face with a hand and grunted. "Urgh, I hate you, Winter, I hate you."
Winter laughed. "I missed you too, big time."
"Not funny.." Karina glared, still blushing.
"Hey, why is the baby still grumpy?" asked Winter, walking over to her. She patted Karina on the head. "You're so cute, are you even aware of that?"
Karina pursed her mouth in attempt to repress a smile that badly wants to break free. Seeing Winter now in front of her want to throw herself for a hug.
"You haven't called me."
"Ah, yeah. My phone was dead. Lights were out for days because of the storm."
"You should have at least called me when you arrived yesterday."
"Were you.. waiting for my call?"
Karina gave a slight nod for an answer. "I was up until 1 am."
Suddenly all her stress from the travel and lack of sleep just vanished in a snap. Winter's heart melted at the sight in front of her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. I arrived her past midnight. I thought you were already sleeping." said Winter.
"Hmp..."
"Hey, don't be mad at me.." Winter leaned over, searching for Karina's eyes.
Instead of answering, the latter stretched out her arms and showed a wrapped item in her hand. "What's this?" asked Winter, pointing at it.
"For you."
Winter took it hesitantly and stared at it. She didn't really expect to receive something like this now, especially from Karina.
"If you don't like it, feel free to throw it somewhere else. I'm going back to my station now." said Karina, starting to walk away.
"W-w-w-w-wait," said Winter, grabbing Karina by the arm. "Who said I don't like it?"
"Then why aren't you saying anything?" Karina tried to yank off her arm, too shy to even look at Winter.
"I'm just surprised, Rin, come on.." Winter linked their hands together and squeezed it. "Don't go yet, honey..."
Knowing that Winter won't see her face, Karina smiled at the endearment. It's thrice sweeter hearing it in person. She finally stopped yanking and turned to Winter, their hands still linked.
Winter is observing the chocolate with a big smile on her face. "Did you make this? Is this the reason you came here early today, to surprise me?"
Karina nodded. "But I don't think you'd like it. I guess you don't need that chocolate when you have these," she said, pointing at Winter's table where the latter shifted her eyes at.
"Are you kidding me?" Winter chuckled. She walked over to her station and dragged Karina along with her. "There's no way these can beat this," she said, raising the chocolate. "This is the best Valentine's gift I received this year!"
"Hmp, you're just saying that just to make me feel good."
"Hey, I'm not kidding, okay? I love it. I promise. And thanks for this. It means a lot to me." Winter put her bag down on the table and tried unzipping it with her free hand.
"It means a lot to me too. What are you doing?"
"I'm trying to put your chocolates in my bag so I could bring it home."
"You can let go of my hand so you can open it faster, you know."
"No, I don't want to." Winter squeezed Karina's hand harder. "What if you ran away?"
Karina smiled secretly. "Ran away? Where would I go?"
"I don't know, maybe ran away with someone?"
Karina suddenly felt something stuck in her throat. She knows it was just a joke but she can't help feeling a slight of guilt.
"Done!" Winter exclaimed after successfully putting the chocolate inside her bag with one hand only. "By the way, have you had your breakfast yet?"
Karina shook her head. "Want to grab a bite first?"
"Definitely. Come on now."
"Wait. Let me see your neck first."
"Huh?"
"Show me your neck," Karina reiterated. Winter, although hesitant, followed by unbuttoning her collar buttons. Karina looked in closely and finally saw what she's looking for. "Okay, I thought you're not going to wear it."
"Ah, this?" Winter pulled out the butterfly pendant. "You said you want us to wear it, right?"
"Yeah, that's why I'm checking, to make sure you obeyed."
"Ofcourse, how about yours?"
"You're not looking hard enough," said Karina, pointing at her exposed necklace. "Make sure your fan girls won't see that, okay? I don't want to receive death threats anytime soon."
Winter smiled. "Yes boss, yes."
---
"WINTER!"
Karina flinched in surprise when Yeonjun stood up from his chair and screamed.
She turned around and saw Winter looking surprised as well. She looked like she came from a quick trip from the pantry.
Winter halted and put down her tumbler on top of Giselle's terminal. "Hey, Yeonjun, how's it?"
Yeonjun went over to hug her. "Winter! Where have you been? I haven't seen you for a week!"
"Yeah, I know. I was trapped in Indonesia last week. I missed you guys."
"Winteeeer!" This time it was Somi who came over and hugged Winter too. "I kept on asking Mark why you were missing," she said, pouting, which shifted to a smile after a second. "Did you get my present on your table?"
"Yeah, I did. Thanks Somi," said Winter, patting Somi's head. She turned to Giselle this time. "And you? No hugs for me?"
"I'm sorry, Winter, you had your chance before. I'm already dating your best friend, so no.." Giselle said sassily. She laughed eventually and stood up. "Of course, I missed you. Come here and give your mommy a big hug."
"Mmmmm!" Winter gave Giselle a tight squeeze. She pulled away and said, "Wow, it's just now that I realized how much I missed you all."
"Aren't you going to hug Karina too?" asked Giselle.
Their eyes met for a second but Karina turned her chair around, obviously feeling embarrassed with the question.
Knowing that it would stir some attention in the office and will raise some eyebrows from the fan girls, Winter knows Karina isn't planning on bragging about how special their friendship is.
It might be easy for others to tell that they are close but no one has any idea how deep it is now. And to be honest, Winter's in the same boat too. She hasn't told Ning or Yunjin about what's happening between her and Karina lately, afraid that some jinx would ruin the rhythm.
"We already said hi to each other when I arrived her earlier," Winter answered instead. "We even had breakfast together, right, Rin?" Karina hummed to agree. "Winter went in a little later after I arrived."
"Hmm. are you sure you guys didn't plan on having a breakfast together ahead?" Giselle asked them; probably still pulling out the string she had pulled before about noticing the closeness of the two.
"No," Winter and Karina said in unison. "We just came in both early," Winter continued, which Karina had agreed on right away.
"Okay, if you say so," said Giselle. "Oh! Winter, have you seen Mr. Lee yet?"
"Mr. Lee?" asked Winter, pretending not to know. Somi showed the 'male' alien to her and she hugged it right away. "Aww, this one is so cute!"
"Last week, someone sent that on Karina on Valentine's Day. Isn't that sweet?" said Giselle, giggling.
"Ah, yeah? A secret admirer?" Winter glanced quickly at Karina who's already smiling at the acting.
"And speaking of that, have you already found out the persona of the sender, Rin?" asked Yeonjun. "I really want to see the guy."
"Y-yeah," said Karina hesitantly. "I received a call that afternoon. It turned out that it was a special friend of mine."
A smile slipped across Winter's face.
"Special friend?" Yeonjun got excited. "You haven't mentioned him to us, hmmm."
"It's because there's nothing to tell yet," Karina answered.
"When will we meet him then?" asked Giselle.
"Huh? Why would you want to meet him?"
"We want to know the face behind this alien," said Yeonjun, picking the alien from Winter. "Don't you think I can see from my station how much you're giving this toy a special treatment?"
Winter got curious. "Special treatment, like what?"
Karina facepalmed herself. Oh my gosh, Winter. Why are you even asking that?
"Like bringing the toy literally anywhere she goes?" Yeonjun answered. "I bet if she could bring it in the restroom she would too."
"Urgh, Yeonjun, stop that already," Karina grunted, embarrassed.
"Oh, and mind you," Giselle interrupted this time, "she's always hugging that you when she comes in and before she leaves. And it's on her lap during the entire working day."
"Giselle!" Karina yowled.
"What?"
"It's embarrassing."
"Why would you be embarrassed, it's not like your special friend can hear you, right?"
Karina grunted again and covered her face with her palms.
Yeonjun nudged Winter. "You see that? No one has made Karina blush like that before. That guy must be really special."
Winter couldn't take the smile off her face seeing how Karina is blushing now.
"Well, I believe that she surely is special to him too."
Their eyes met for a second before Karina turns back to face her computer.
When she's sure no one would see her, Karina broke into a full smile.