Red Flag In Question | Winrina

22 | Empty Track

I just found myself drinking a can of coke in front of a corner store. 

I wasn't thinking properly earlier, I couldn't stop thinking about what happened inside Karina's house and I just knew I needed to stop driving or else I would lose my focus on the road. 

I was sipping on my coke when my phone rang. Yeji is calling me. 

"Hey."

"Winter, stay there, okay? I'm coming."

"Okay…"

Yeji will always be the one I'll run to when it comes to a situation like this. She just knows how to handle me and my overflowing thoughts (and vice versa). This time, I wanted to tell her something.

I wanted to confirm something. 

So when she arrived in front of me, the first thing that I said was—

"Yeji, I think I like Karina."

She stared at me, as if she weren't really surprised with what I just said. She took a seat beside me and spoke. 

"When did you realize it?"

"…Just now." I muttered, absent-mindedly watching the vehicles passing by. 

"Are you sure about it?"

"I…Honestly, I'm still not." I answered. "I just suddenly felt it."

"What made you think that you like her?"

"Something happened earlier…" 

I told her what happened, every detail of it, and she just listened to me. 

I sighed heavily. "—and I felt threatened. I don't know why. I don't understand why her Mom wants me to stay away but one thing is for sure…" 

"What is it?"

I looked at her. "I don't want to, Yeji. This might be so disrespectful to say but, not even Karina's parents can stop me from wanting to be with her." 

Yeji chuckled at me, and I just let her. 

I sound so whipped right now and I'm not even denying it. 

"You won't back down?"

"Never. Winter Kim never backs down," I smiled lightly. "You know that."

"Of course, I do." She returned the smile. "But you know you need to do something first, right?"

I nodded. 

"You need to figure out your feelings. Make sure that what you're feeling for her is true. And," She tapped my back. "You need to know why Mrs. Yu wanted you to stay away from Karina." 

I nodded again. "I will."

"Good luck, Winter." She grinned, and I chuckled. 

Good luck to me, indeed.

____

"I'm sorry, I can't go backstage. Mom texted me to go home."

I sighed. Here we go again.

"It's fine." I muttered, leaning my back on the wall. "I'll just see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Baby, I'm really sorry…"

Fuck, I can't hide it.

I knew I sounded disappointed, but that's really how I feel right now. Mrs. Yu has been doing things to make me stay away from her daughter.