Friday 8pm (2 weeks later)
Karina's P.O.V.
It was the night of the Valentine's dance. A casual event with various live music performances and a DJ set that was now currently playing the latest music. Around the sports hall venue, the flock of the crowd continued to dance under the multicoloured lights and tasteful decor with decorations in tones of red with flourishes of pink.
From across the room, I watched as Winter chatted happily to the band who had recently finished performing on stage. She had a way of lighting up the room with her effortless beauty that simply took my breath away.
Yet as she continued to chat and laugh with the rest of her friends, I stood away feeling ignored. Regardless of how successful the dance might have seemed, to me it simply felt bittersweet when Winter wasn't beside me.
Giselle approached, handing me a glass of wine as my attention remained on the blonde currently on the dance floor. "Why won't they all just backoff?"
"Who?" Giselle asked, following my line of sight in confusion.
"Taeyeon, Wendy and now even Sana and Momo are talking to her." It seemed day by day Winter was becoming more popular on campus. Although she didn't like the attention, her optimistic personality and her captivating singing voice caught the attention of many of the other students much to my annoyance.
"Oh we're talking about Winter again." Giselle muttered in disinterest taking a sip of her wine.
"Of course we are! You see the issues I'm constantly having." I gestured towards the group across the dance floor, feeling livid with every moment that passed.
Giselle sighed, shaking her head. "No but I see your imaginary problems are back."
"It isn't imaginary, everyone wants to be with her. Why won't they just leave so we can be alone together?" At that moment another group of students entered the dance, greeting me by bowing politely and waving with cheerful smiles as I waved back. The role of the student council president seemed never-ending.
When they left after some small talk, I turned my attention back to Winter who was still oblivious to my mood and now dancing with Ning Ning. Giselle however sensed the tension, staring at the 2. "She's just talking to her friends and having fun. It's no big deal."
"Says the one without a date tonight who's been annoyingly pining after Ning Ning for months on end." I muttered under my breath, casting her a sidewards glance.
"Okay, I'm not gonna stand here and be insulted by you. I get enough of the when we're at the office." She turned away to leave but I quickly stopped her. After all, she was closest to a friend I had on campus.
"Fine, I apologise. You were very helpful with situation with Lia but now I you're help me with them." I pointed with my glass towards Winter's circle of friends.
"What do you want me to do?" Giselle huffed, mirroring my life of sight.
"Something useful would be nice, Giselle." I mimicked back at her lack of initiative to deal with the situation.
"Maybe try something different. Just talk to her and be polite to the others." I gave her a look as if it was the most ridiculous idea.
"What kind of advice is that?" The music in the room suddenly changed to a slower tempo of another popular chart topping song.
"Wow you really are in a bad mood." Giselle muttered, glancing over at the snack table in the corner.
"What exactly was your first clue about that?" I smirked continuing to greet the guests as they entered the party as part of my student council role.
Giselle didn't take much notice, her attention too had been focused across the room when Ning Ning had arrived to join Winter and the others on the dance floor. "Listen Ning Ning said that-"
"Oh great, here we go. More advice I don't need." I huffed, taking another sip of my wine before wandering across to the table where the drinks and food for the evening had been arranged.
Giselle too placed her glass down with a slight sigh. "I wish you could try and get along better with her."
"You sound just like Winter." Winter had a distinctive way of always being so optimistic, calming and thoughtful. Her hopeful attitude was what I recalled the day we met in the park. When things had seemed bleak, her smile had melted my heart and given me hope.
"Well maybe she had a point. Besides Ning Ning knows her best and she obviously means a lot to her." Giselle stated, still glancing across at Ning Ning from across the room.
"And what? I don't?" I yelled back, slightly louder than anticipated as it seemed to gain the notice of a nearby group of dancers.
"It's didn't to have a conversation with you when you're not being rational." Giselle whispered in her attempt to keep the scene peaceful.
"Its difficult to have a conversation with anyone in this campus who isn't acting completely idiotic." I scoffed back bluntly, my focus once again returning towards Winter who was singing along to song in the background and laughing at a joke Taeyeon was telling her.
"Well while you're in this mood, maybe try not to burn a whole glaring at everyone from across the room. You're the student council president, you need to make an effort talking to people." But I wasn't listening to that advice.
"I want Winter by my side." I stormed away across the dance floor with Giselle trailing after me.
"Or just completely ignore my advice. Whatever." She muttered as we eagerly approached the group in the distance.
Friday 9pm
Winter's P.O.V.
"Hey you." Backhugging me, Rina rested her chin on my shoulder as I jumped slightly startled when she whispered in my ear.
I turned around, her arms still on my waist as I placed mine loosely around her neck with a shy smile. "Hey Rina! Are you having a good time tonight?"
"I am now." She replied with a hint of flirtatiousness, oblivious to the others around us.
"The student council did a great job organising the dance, Jimin." Wendy stated cheerfully as we glanced around at the beautiful decorations and upbeat atmosphere.
"If this was left solely to Jimin it wouldn't get organised at all and they'd be no dance or other social events for that matter." Giselle muttered, having clearly organised much of the event herself.
"And yet I was the one voted student council president." Rina smirked, she placed a kiss on my neck making me blush at her constant displays of affection.
Giselle sighed, seemingly frustrated but keeping her cool. "Which you constantly remind me about."
I could see Ning Ning was watching the situation in intrigue. Though she didn't say it, it was clear she still really cared for Giselle. "Why do you go to so much effort when you don't even like these events?"
Giselle looked at her before awkwardly shrugging her shoulders and staring at the ground. "I don't want people I care about to miss out on things they enjoy like this dance so at least if I plan it then I can make sure it happens to a decent standard."
"Aeri, that's so sweet." Ning Ning brushed her hand on Giselle's arm who gave a smile. It was rare to see her displaying any emotion but in Ning Ning's presence smiles were so natural.
"If you say so." Rina scoffed, making me give her those puppy dog eyes she adored before she smiled playfully and hugged me tightly ignoring the others again.
"Just remember you need to be at the meeting on Monday, Jimin. It's important for you to speak with the representatives of JYP, YG and SM to make arrangements before their visit here." Giselle continued, the mention of SM gaining my attention.
"SM? The representatives are coming here?" I asked, it seemed to be news only the student council knew about. The selection of potential trainees that would eventually transfer from the university to begin their contracts with several of the major Kpop companies before debuting as idols. It was my dream.
"They are. They always have a general meeting first and then an official visit here to start the selection process in a few weeks. It's extremely important that Jimin is there-" Giselle stated until Rina suddenly interrupted.
"And I will be so stop with the constant reminders!" She yelled at her, fortunately not as loud as the music.
"Whatever. I'm gonna go get some fresh air." Giselle muttered before walking away.
"I'll go with you." Ning Ning replied much to our surprise. I watched as they were leaving the dance hall, when Ning Ning intertwined their hands making Giselle smile at her as they walked quietly to the garden outside.
Rina stormed away from the group as I followed behind her to a quiet booth in the corner. She was breathing heavily, her temper flaring as I sat down opposite her. "Rina, are you okay?"
"Of course I am." She muttered back, staring ahead into nothingness.
"Well you just kind of yelled at Giselle for no reason and she was only trying to help. Is something bothering you?" I asked, taking her hand in mine.
She ran her thumb across the back of my hand before shaking her head. "It's just... my busy schedule. Will you go with me to the meeting tomorrow?"
"Me? What for?" Since Rina and I had been dating, she hadn't spent much time at the student council office hence Giselle's constant schedule reminders.
"I just like seeing you there." She replied with a smile.
"But I'm not in the student council-" I began to say, knowing that meetings were extremely exclusive.
"That doesn't matter. I want you there." The music was turning upbeat in the background again as the lights continued to shine on the dance floor.
I suddenly recalled Giselle mentioning about the trainee idol companies that would be visiting soon. "Would I get to meet the representatives from SM on their visit? You know I sent in my application for their program next year."
She glanced at me in confusion. "You didn't tell me that."
I mirrored the same confusion, having told Rina many times about my plans to apply for SM in the future. "You know it's my dream to be an idol for SM. Taeyeon and I both got through to the first stage-"
"Taeyeon knew about this before I did?" She questioned sternly, somewhat in disbelief.
Rina had been so busy since we got back from Busan that I hadn't told her the exciting news but hoped to get through to the next stage at least before telling her without getting my hopes up. "Well Taeyeon helped me choose my song for the audition and then Wendy helped me train with the choreography."
"Why didn't you ask me instead?" She continued to question as if trying to process the whole situation.
I played with the napkin on the table at a loss of what to say. "Well... like you said you had a busy schedule so-"
"So what? I'm the last to know about something so important to you?" She asked again sternly, glaring across the table from me.
I sighed, glancing at my friends in the distance who were happily waving me over. "It's a long application process, Rina. I just wanted to try. Why are you mad?"
"I'm not." She muttered, following my line of sight with a groan of dismay.
"You could have fooled me." I pouted, whispering under my breath.
She gave a small smile at my expression before eventually taking my hands in hers again that were resting on the table. "I still want you at the meeting on Monday."
"Well I have a lecture in the morning but I should be able to make it on time afterwards." I replied, smiling back as she cast her gaze into the distance.
After a while of silence, she suddenly spoke again as if to say what had been bothering for the past few weeks. "I don't want to lose you but if you get accepted at SM then things will change. I'm not ready for that."
I held her hand tightly with every word I spoke. "It's not something to think about now, it's way in the future and we can still be together. You might even end up going into management training with one the big companies too. Have you decided which you want to apply to internship at?"
She didn't reply and instead stared into nothingness again as if lost watching the dance floor. "Rina? Are you okay? You zoned out for a while and that's usually me."
I chuckled to break the ice when she glanced back at me. With a heavy breath, she nodded her head before staring deeply into my eyes."I'm falling in love with you, Winter.
My heart raced at her words as thought butterflies were surging within me." I'm falling in love with you too."
She smiled widely at my shy expression before leaning across the table to gently kiss my lips and whisper. "Would you like to dance with me?"
Surprised, I instantly felt the confusion wash away replaced by an adrenaline to dance. "I'd really like that, Rina. Let's have fun and dance tonight, just you and me."
She smiled again that genuine smile that was often so rare to see. As I took hold of her hand, I lead her to the dance floor where we swayed in rhythm to the music.
I wish I could have frozen that evening with Rina. The music was fun, the atmosphere was energetic and the there was a lively sense of optimism wavering through the air that was almost infectious, that things would only get better.
In that moment, the crowd seemed to fade away and suddenly it was as if we were back to that magical day we'd spent at the park. A day when mystery and happiness was in it's depths but where there was an indescribable feeling, confusing somehow that was hard to ignore.
As we enjoyed the night and continued to dance, I felt myself transported back to that first winter's day when we met with an anticipation for the chapter.