It's Monday and there's something different about it. For whatever reason, Karina is excited to go to work today. She woke up early, had her breakfast, and left for office right away. She came in too early that she had the entire floor to herself when she arrived.
She immediately checked the list of her online friends in their internal messenger. Winter's status is still colored gray.
She's not here yet.
She stood up, retouched herself in the ladies' room, grabbed herself a coffee in the pantry and went back to her table to check her friend's list again.
Still not in.
She checked her emails this time. Slowly, people are coming in one by one.
Although her table is located at the center of the floor, she can't see who comes in and goes out because her back is facing the entrance.
"Good morning, Karina!" Yeonjun , who just arrived, greeted her.
"Hi Yeonjun ," said Karina, smiling at him. The guy stopped and stare at her.
Karina noticed it. "What's the matter?"
Yeonjun crossed his arms. "There's something different about you, Karina."
"And what is that?"
"I'm not sure..." He walked towards her. "You just seem so vibrant. You look blooming today."
"Does that mean I don't look blooming in some other days?"
"Oh, c'mon. You're always beautiful, darling. There's just something different right now," he said, scanning her. "New haircut?"
"No."
He scanned her more. "Hmm, new hair color?" Karina shook her head. Yeonjun held her chin this time and asked, "Are you using new make-up?"
"No."
"Don't tell me you already have a boyfriend."
Karina smiled at that. She shook her head no.
"That smile, Rin, I knew it! There must be someone!" he exclaimed, pointing a finger at her.
Karina waved her hand. "Nah. I just had a great weekend. There's no special someone yet."
"Oh really? I don't know why but my intuition says I should not believe you."
"Oh, Yeonjun , don't make a fuss out of it."
"Fine! Fine! I'll wait until you're ready ti spill the details," he said, walking back to his station.
After the conversation, she checked her friend's list again to her disappointment.
Offline.
She shifted her eyes at the bottom of the screen to check the time.
It's already 7:53, what time does she usually arrives?
At that instant moment, she saw Winter's status changed color from gray to green. The little notification appeared.
Kim Minjeong is online.
She moved her mouse to Winter's name and clicked it twice. A new window popped up to start a conversation. Her hands motioned to the keyboards.
But then, she stopped the idea.
Wait, what am I doing? What should I tell her? Do I really have to message her now?
Karina found herself staring at her monitor, hands clasped on her chin. The only reason she added Winter before is for the lipstick project they worked on together. She can't remember the last time they chat, and the probable reason for that conversation was all regarding the project.
After a few seconds of uncertainty, she clicked the close button with her mouse. She leaned at the backrest of her chair and stared at the ceiling with both her hands on her tummy.
Kling!
The chat message notification made Karina rose up. A sweet smile flashed on her face after checking it.
"Good morning. "
Without having second thoughts, Karina replied right away, "Morning, Winter."
It took just a few seconds for Winter to reply, "How was your weekend?"
"Boring. Sunday was the worst. How about you, what happened to your tennis practice?"
"Just same ol' stuff. Got so tired after the practice. Sunday was boring for me too."
"Ooh, poor Winter, always alone. "
"You should probably visit me often. "
"I think you should buy a pet, you know, so you won't get bored somehow."
"Come to think of it. I haven't thought of that until now, Karina."
"You love cats or dogs?"
"Hmm. Do you think turtles are going to be a fun pet around?"
Karina glanced at Mrs. Lee beside the monitor. She's not aware that she's still smiling. She typed her reply, "If you're patient enough to wait for it to greet you, I guess it's going to be fun around. "
"Cool! I'm gonna buy one soon!"
"So, how's you and Min--"
Karina wanted to ask about Minju but was hesitant about it. She deleted her message.
"Hey, Rin," a message appeared again, even before Karina was able to respond to the previous chat.
"Yeah?"
"Do you know what turtles use to communicate?"
"I have no idea."
"C'mon, make a wild guess."
"Mmm, are they using radio waves like bats?"
"No, they are using shell-phones! Hahaha!"
Karina couldn't understand how a simple corny joke like that made her smile. She was giggling silently in her station, trying to keep it to herself so no one would notice.
"I can't believe I bought that one, Winter."
"Have you had your breakfast yet?" Winter was typing too fast. It seems like she isn't doing anything yet.
"Yeah, I had it at home."
"Good for you."
"How about you?"
"Nobody prepares food for me. "
Karina was too busy on her computer and she didn't notice the people around her arriving. "Don't tell me you're skipping breakfast?"
"No, I'm having a burger now. "
Karina looked up, imagining Winter eating a burger in her station. "Is that what you're having every day?"
"Yes, most of the time. Why?"
"Wow. You're killing yourself, Winter."
"I know, but I don't have a choice."
"Can't cook your own food?"
"Love to but I don't want to. Cooking is only fun if you're sharing the food with someone."
"You mean you always go out even for dinner?"
"Yup, every single time."
"You must get some real food, Winter, even for breakfast only."
"I told you, I don't have time for that. Unless someone here is kind enough to prepare my breakfast. "
Karina smiled at the idea. "Fine. I'll bring you breakfast tomorrow."
"WOW! Really????"
"Of course. Consider it as a token of gratitude for carrying me to your apartment."
"Yehey! "
"Be sure to arrive her 7:15 tomorrow, okay?"
"I will your highness. Thank you! "
"What time did you arrive today?"
"About ten minutes ago. I saw you talking to Yeonjun."
"Oh, I didn't notice you come in."
"How would you notice? Your back is facing the entrance."
"Yeah I know that."
"Were you waiting for me?"
Karina's fingers on the keyboard were frozen. After few more seconds she replied. "No, why would I wait for you?"
Winter replied fast, "Aww, that's too bad."
"Why is it bad?"
It took few more seconds before Winter to reply, "Because I miss you."
Karina instantly shuddered in delight after reading the message. She even have to look away from the screen just to contain the feeling. When she turned around she Giselle looking at her.
"Hey, Rin. Who is that? Why are you blushing?" Giselle who just arrived, dropped her shoulder bag on her chair.
Karina immediately shook her head, unaware that she cannot get the smile off her face. "It's nothing, Giselle."
"Oh, c'mon. I don't believe you! Why do you look so happy? Who are you chatting with?" asked Giselle, coming over.
Without further ado, karina closed the conversation window before Giselle sees it.
Giselle's excitement rose up when she saw the chat box closed. "Why did you close it? Who's that?"
"No one."
"No one? I don't believe you, Rin. I haven't seen you smile like that before.
Who's the lucky guy?"
"No one important, Giselle. Just forget about it, okay?"
"How can I forget about it? Look at yourself, you're blushing."
Kling!
Oh shit!
Giselle and Karina stared at each other for a second, waiting who'll make the first move.
"Let me see! Let me see!" Giselle grabbed the mouse right away."
"No! No!" Karina was doing her best, forcefully trying to remove Giselle's hand from the mouse.
But Giselle was stronger. She clicked on the notification and opened the conversation box.
"Good morning, karina. How are you?"
"It's Soobin?" Giselle shoot Karina a suspicious look. "Did something happened last Friday that I missed?"
Oh my, that was close.
"Nothing, Winter drove Soobin home first, and then she drove me home.. after."
Karina lied. She doesn't know why she was lying in the first place. Well, it's not purely a lying. Winter drove her home after 15 hours.
"Ooh, you're hiding something from me," said Giselle, still suspicious.
"I'm not."
"I'll ask Winter and Soobin about it."
"I told you, nothing happened." Karina got a bit worried what will happen is
Giselle ask Winter instead.
"But did you enjoy our little party last Friday?"
The party didn't matter to Karina, she had more fun after. "Yeah, I enjoyed it. How about you, I remember we left you and Ningning at the bar, right?"
A wide smile slipped across Giselle's face. "Ningning is soooo sweet..."
"So... You're into her this time?" Poker-faced Karina asked.
"I guess I am. I enjoyed her company a lot. After that, we went to see each other again on weekend."
Karina can't help but admire how fast things are going between Ningning and Giselle. "So... What about Winter?"
"I still like Winter. I really do, but I have this feeling that she's not into me." Giselle held Karina's hands. "I have a feeling that she likes somebody."
"Who?" asked Karina, pretending she doesn't have any idea about it.
"I don't know. I could ask Ningning about it. But yeah, I think Winter is in love with someone else."
Karina didn't say anything. She knows who's that someone. She'd seen her.
Im fact, she'd shaken hands with her already.
Minju.
----
Karina couldn't reply to Winter's message after that because she was afraid that Giselle might look into her conversation again. Plus, she doesn't know what to respond as well.
It's nearly the end of the day and she hasn't gotten a glimpse of Winter yet.
Something inside her wants to see how Winter looks today. What kind of shirt she's wearing, or she's wearing her favorite bucket hat again. She was also asking herself why Winter didn't bother to visit her when she said that she misses her.
It came to a point where Karina was already thinking of excuses to go to Soobin's department. However, she kept on suppressing the thought because she doesn't want to be branded as one of Winter's fangirls.
"Hey, Winter, I haven't seen you fooling around here today?"
Karina whipped her hear around when she heard Giselle spoke. Giselle happens to see all the people who walk in and out in that area.
Winter, who's just passing by after getting water from the pantry, stopped in front of Giselle's terminal. "Yeah, just busy, you know, Monday."
"What happened to you guys last Friday? Did I miss something?" asked Giselle.
Winter got interested. She placed her tumbler above Giselle's terminal. "Nothing important, why?"
"Well.." Giselle turned her body to Karina. "Someone's acting different today."
Winter glanced at Karina for a second but immediately looked away when their eyes met. She had to avert her gaze because she feels too shy to look at Karina who's so stunning today.
That morning, when Winter came, she saw Yeonjun and Karina talking. Anyone who enters through the door will immediately get a glimpse of Karina's back.
It is a view that Winter starting to love looking at each time she passes the hallway.
"And what's different about her?" Winter asked.
"Well.. there's someone making her happy..." said Giselle, teasing.
Winter looked back at Karina and saw her already doing something in her station. "Is this someone I know?"
"Giselle, stop it." Karina warned.
Giselle hesitated for a moment to speak. She knew she'll be dead if she disobeyed.
"What's that?" Winter asked. She can't control her curiosity.
Giselle left out a soft giggle. "It's just that I caught Karina this morning, blushing while chatting with Soobin."
Winter's eyebrows furrowed. The entire morning, she thought that the reason Karina didn't respond to her is because she felt uncomfortable. And because of that notion, Winter felt shy of what she did to the point that she lost the guts to visit Karina in her station even if she wanted to.
And now, hearing from Giselle that it was because of Soobin made her feel uneasy.
"It's not like what you're thinking, Giselle," said Karina , covering her face with her palms.
"Then why were you blushing like a teenager earlier? Stop denying it." Giselle accused. She turned to Winter. "Did something happen to your two drunk passengers last Friday, Winter?"
Winter shook her head. "I drove Soobin home first, then I drove Karina home." she paused a bit, then continued. " after. Nothing really happened."
Winter noticed Karina's shoulders moved, like she was giggling. Karina glanced at her quickly, smiling. Winter smiled back.
"Hmm, maybe Karina and Soobin had a date last Saturday. What do you think, Winter?" Giselle who's unaware of what happened asked again.
"I have no clue, Giselle." Winter shook her head to make it look more convincing.
"I'm just curious." Giselle was thinking out loud, "I thought Karina didn't like Soobin , but this morning, she's really blushing, Winter. I saw it."
"It wasn't Soobin, Giselle ." Karina said in a flat tone, facing her monitor.
Both Winter and Giselle's attention were on Karina who doesn't seem to want to face them at the moment.
"Then who is it?" asked Giselle.
"It's.. somebody else, not Soobin." Karina admitted, her back is still on Winter and Giselle.
"Oooooh, I see," Giselle let out a teasing tone.
Winter's jaw dropped slightly. Her heartbeat rose. She tried to hold off her smile after finally understanding the reason why Karina couldn't respond to her.
"Then who is it, Karina ?" Winter thanked Giselle in her mind for the follow-up question.
"Eee... I'm not telling you that.." Karina yowled, still facing her monitor, covering her face with her palms.
Winter is secretly smiling now. She couldn't help it. On the back of her head, she doesn't want to hear Karina admit it in front of Giselle as it will be hella awkward.
"I-uh... I think I'm going back to my station. It's already five o'clock." Winter said.
"Ugh! Saved by the bell. Okay, Winter. We'll resume interrogation tomorrow," said Giselle.
"Yeah." Winter waved goodbye and left right away.
Karina felt relieved after that. She doesn't know what to do anymore. She doesn't want them to think that it was because of Soobin but she was also too shy to admit that it was because of Winter.
She tried her best to hide her blushing face from Winter and Giselle. She was also hoping that Winter would have at least an idea that it was all about her. But the idea of letting Winter know about it makes her want to disappear from where she's sitting.
Kling!
Karina is still scratching her head from embarrassment when she heard her new message notification. She opened the message.
"I'll see you tomorrow 7:15 am for breakfast. Ciao!"
Then Winter went offline.
Karina smiled.
Oh, Winter.