"Ladies and gentlemen, Thank you for inviting me here. My name is Winter Kim, the CEO of MJ's kitchenware. I'll tell you a short history how's MJ's started".
"It's all started... with pottery and woodcrafting. My father loves pottery and woodcrafting, while my mother is a doctor".
....
Karina had nothing much to do that day. Winter's office was too clean than usual. No crumbled papers, no spilled coffee, no scattered books.
But there's tissues on the floor.
"At least there's improvement from that gay", Karina sneered before carefully picking up the tissues from the floor (again, afraid that there's snot on it).
Karina just wiped Winter's desk, Winter's coffee table, Winter's gigantic window, and mop the floor. There's nothing much to do actually. It's kinda boring to be honest because the room was so quiet.
"I guess I can go home early today~", Karina smiled happily.
....
Winter asked Ningning to pick her up that night. She said she was too drunk to drive, and Ningning can understand why her friend became like that.
When Ning arrived at the usual pub Winter had mentioned to her, she rushed out to look for Winter. It wasn't hard to find Winter, because she'll always sitting at the same spot every time she visit the pub.
"Winter, let's go...", Ningning said as she wrapping one of Winter's arm around her neck.
"Did she told you anything?", Ningning asked to the shop owner which was another friend of her and Winter, named Ryujin.
"She need to tell the audience the company history again, got that sudden pain, and she ended up here. Oh! She already take her meds, no worries", Ryujin confessed and Ningning just sighing heavily before decided to bring the drunk girl to her car.
"Oh? I walked? Are you trying to kidnap me? Who are you?"
"Are you sure what you're doing right now was the best decision, Winter?", Ningning asked and Winter just smiled like a fool.
"Oh? It's Ning! Hey Ning! What are you doing here? Why am I walking? My leg hurts... Ouch...", Winter pouted and Ningning just shaking her head with her friend's nonsense.
....
New day comes and Karina was happy, wearing the gift she got from Winter inside that tiny envelope.
It was a silver bracelet, and it looks cheap from Karina preferences. Even tho maybe Winter bought it from online shopping apps or a street arcade, she was grateful with the gift and that's why she's wearing it.
Just because she's grateful.
"Hello Ning!", Karina greeted the younger woman at the secretary table. Ningning smiled back at her and gesturing her hand towards Winter's office doors.
"Winter is inside, just informing you", Ningning said and Karina answered her with a nod and a small thanks.
Karina didn't know why, but knowing Winter was there inside the office made her day. She prefer working with Winter's annoyance and disturbance more than none.
Strange. It is. Karina couldn't understand herself as well. But a day working without annoying Winter was so boring in Karina's preferences.
She slowly open the office door, revealing Winter who's currently reading some papers that Karina didn't even know what. Karina face formed into a small smile even tho the younger girl didn't even look at her once.
"You're early today, Winter?", Karina asked as she closed the door slowly.
"Uhuh. Got a lots of things to do", Winter replied short before focusing back on her job. Winter's short answers was kinda new to Karina, but she didn't mind.
"Look! I wear the bracelet you gave me! Thanks tho!", Karina lifted her wrist up to show her boss the bracelet, and Winter lifted her head up for few seconds, examined Karina's wrist. It's true that she wear it to work.
"I'm glad that you liked it~", Winter smiled brightly and later bring her attention back to the papers.
Karina were stunned for a moment. She never saw Winter smile... that bright? It's good now that she finally saw it. Maybe what Aeri said was true after all. Winter was a good person, and only is that she didn't show it to people.
Looking at how busy Winter is right now, Karina just do her job silently without disturbing the younger girl. Starting from wiping everything to organizing everything. All left was to mop the floor.
But suddenly, the idea just come to Karina's mind.
"Winter. Don't you... um... want to annoy me, as usual?", she asked and that one question succeed to make all Winter's attention to Karina, looking in shock at the older girl who's currently holding her NTYU mop.
"Annoy you?", Winter asked with her eyes blinking few times.
"It's just... It's just... It wasn't like you. There wasn't a single day you let me work without annoying me. But you didn't annoy me at all today, and I found it a bit... strange?"
Hearing Karina asking her that kind of question, Winter keep blinking her eyes in surprise and confusion. Since start, Winter already planned to stop annoying the older girl if she succeed to survive there for the first month.
She never thought Karina will think much about it, and to brush away Karina's sudden curiousity, Winter decided to answer back.
"Why? I thought it would be better if I didn't annoy you anymore?", Winter replied and now trying to focus back on her papers.
"I know it's kinda annoying, but I was bored. So, yeah...", Karina just being honest as always and she make Winter trembling again. Winter didn't answer back while Karina was waiting for an answer.
So Karina just decided to start mopping the floor silently, without asking anymore question.
The room was too silent, not as always. Karina's usual rants and complains were exchanged with screeching sound from the mop and the floor. Winter's usual evil laughter and diss were exchanged with sounds of paper's pages.
It was too quiet for both of 'em.
"Hey. What's your family feels like to you?", Winter suddenly spoke out, trying to wash away their silence that was there for minutes just now.
"All of sudden??", Karina asked.
"I was bored as well", Winter answered, trying to sound convincing.
"My family are nice. My father is a good and loving father, while my mother is noisy but it's a normal thing for any mother out there. She's nice as well~", Karina answered with her smile and Winter just sneered silently, still looking at her papers. Karina's family was nothing like Winter's, she thought inside her mind.
"Oh. I see".
"How's your family?", Karina asked back and Winter didn't think much that Karina might ask the same question to her. Slightly nervous to answer, Winter couldn't help herself from laughing slightly, trying not to show it to Karina that she's faking it.
"T-They are good. They lived well..."
"Really? What did they do? I heard once that your father was the one who started the company because he loved pottery and woodcrafting! Does that mean that he.... bla... bla... bla..."
"Pottery..."
"Woodcrafting..."
"Pottery..."
"Woodcrafting..."
Karina's questions fading slowly from Winter's eardrums. She never like it when anyone mentioned about how the company began. Her head feels like it slowly turning into a grey smoke. Again, the pain on her leg came back because of that.
"Pottery..."
"Woodcrafting..."
"Pottery..."
"Woodcrafting..."
"So basically, your company first product was kitchenware made by clay and woods? That's amazing!!"
"Pottery..."
"Woodcrafting..."
"Pottery..."
"Woodcrafting..."
"Pottery..."
"Woodcrafting..."
"I wish I could learn pottery and woodcrafting like your father did! I want to make-- Winter!!", Karina shouted when she saw that Winter slowly coming down from her office chair, to the floor. She wasn't unconscious, because her face is frowning in pain while holding her legs.
"Winter! What's wrong??", Karina asked, panic when Winter completely on the floor now. The older girl tried to bring Winter up by wrapping Winter's arm around her neck, but somehow Winter can't stand up at all. Everytime she tried, she'll fall again and again.
"Call Ningning....", Winter said with her low wincing voice. But panic Karina couldn't hear that low voice at all.
"What should I do?!", Karina keep questioning herself as she tried to pull Winter up. But since the action was useless, she decided to just hug Winter's weak body tightly and pull her up with every energy she have right now.
"Call Ningning....", Winter tried again as Karina hugging her tight, bringing her towards the couch inside Winter's office. This time, Karina heard her.
"What did you say?"
"Call... Ningning...", Winter repeated before wincing in pain again.
"Ah! Ningning! Right..."
Karina gently putting Winter on the couch before rushing out to find Ningning. In no time, the office door bangs again, and Ningning was there running towards Winter.
"Oh my god, Winter...", Ningning gasped. Karina was right behind them, confused and don't know what she need to do to help. She never saw Winter like this before.
"My meds... at my desk...", Winter said once and Ningning nodded her head, understand the command. She headed straight towards Winter's office table and going through everything in it to find that sepific medicine she need right now.
When she found it, she headed back towards Winter, taking out exactly two pills like usual, giving it to Winter. Looking at the situation, Karina headed out to the pantry for a glass of water. Even tho she was confused with the situation, she just knew that she need to help them.
"Here", she gave Ningning the water before Ningning helped Winter to eat her pills.
Once she had done, Ningning put the empty glass back on the coffee table beside the couch and helping Winter to lie down comfortably.
"What happened to her?", Karina asked when Ningning suddenly gave her that mysterious gaze again.
"What kind of talk did you two have while I'm outside?", Ningning asked in her concerning looks.
"Just general stuff", Karina answered and she didn't lie about that. Ning sigh once before getting up from where she sitting just now, and Karina stand up with her as well.
"Don't tell anybody what you saw today. I'll tell you why later. Let's get out and give Winter some space", Ningning said before she get out from the room first. Ning words just make Karina much more confuse than ever.
Before she leave the room, Karina take a glance to Winter on the couch. She can't help but to feel worried and curious with what just happen. Why Winter suddenly become like this, and why Ning asked her to keep it a secret. She sighed one last time before leaving the room.
"Pottery..."
"Woodcrafting..."
"Pottery..."
"Woodcrafting..."
"Father..."
"Crafting knife..."
"Legs..."
"Mom..."
and the pain on Winter's legs slowly disappear after 15 minutes.