GIVE ME LOVE (WINRINA AU)

CHAPTER 9

Winter is at the store that she works at, peacefully arranging some snacks on a rack while tidying up them up. when that's done, she takes care of other things like making sure everything is in stock and helping customers.

"excuse me. where's the electronics section?"

Winter faces the person. She starts to feel embarrassed when she found out that it's Karina calling her.

"let me take you there." Winter smiles at her for the sake of professionality.

As Winter walks ahead, Karina follows her. honestly, she knows that it's Winter from her short hair and her posture. Karina just wants to talk to Winter, that's all.

"so you work here?" Karina asked.

"here's the electronics section." Winter stops walking and faces the taller girl.

"you should smile more often. I like it." Karina smiles at her. "thank you, Winter."

Winter looks away as she walks away from Karina to continue her work. Other than that, Winter can't shake off the feeling of flattered from Karina's compliment.

"yo.. how's your study?"

The only person that Winter talks to in this store greeted her with a big box on his arms.

"I haven't even started." Winter replied, not looking at him.

"oh. I wish I can go with you." he sighs as he helps Winter with her work. "I'm stuck in this goddamn store."

"pretty enjoyable for me." Winter responded.

"you're a part-timer. You have a lot of time at home." He shrugs. "actually, you'll be off in like... an hour. With this much work, you won't even notice the time."

"I'll notice if you talk about it."

"right." he chuckles. "anyway, boss told me that his computer is broken. Can you fix it?"

"sure." Winter nodded. "can you please help me to move the rest there?" she stands up then picks up some medium sized boxes.

"gladly."

With that the two got busy in the storage room. after some time, Winter, and her friend walks out of the room when everything is done. The two walks around isles, looking for customers who probably will need help.

"Soobin." Winter calls him. he turns his head towards her. "can I fix the PC tomorrow?"

"are you tired?" Soobin got concerned. "I'll tell him. you can go home."

"my shift is not over." Winter raised her eyebrows

"...and my shift will be over in twelve. I'm happy for you, but not really. Kinda envy you." Soobin sighs.

"are you gonna keep complaining?"

"of course not. I mean... after you're here it's so much fun. At least, better than before. Most of the workers here are like... troublesome people." Soobin continues.

"including you?" Winter scoffs.

"ha. Ha. you're funny. Maybe you're one of them too." Soobin returned the joke.

Winter stays silent. She's indeed one of them. She's here for the money and the experience is just a bonus.

"I'm sorry." Soobin looks at her, realizing what he did. "I'm sorry to offend you."

"it's alright." Winter stifles a laugh. "I can't disagree with what you said."

"at least you have me." Soobin smiles. "if you need anything you can come to me."

-

Arriving at the apartment, Winter goes straight to her unit, carrying her own weight up the stairs. Even though it's tiring, this is the only way she can afford her study. Sadly, the scholarship doesn't cover all the tuition.

Once she stepped into the unit, she can already hear her mother talking with another woman. Turns out, it's Karina.

"good evening." Winter greeted her. she then goes to her mom and kisses her cheek. "is he working overtime?"

"yes. so I invited her here." The mother looks at Karina. "it can be a little lonely."

"oh..." Winter then looks at Karina. "thank you for giving her a company." the side of Winter's lips curves into a subtle smile.

"no problem at all, Winter. I met her at the laundry room actually." Karina giggles. "then, she offered me to eat together."

"alright. Excuse me."

Winter then goes to her room, leaving them on their own.

"you can talk to her if you want to. I want her to have a friend." The mother sighs. "I feel like she's too caught up in her own world."

"she seems to be a hardworking girl." Karina commented.

"she's a smart girl. she loves to play with her computer. That day, when your friend gave her some devices, she really keeps it well. She's wearing them every day." The mother informed. "it's a shame that she has to work instead of studying. I feel like I'm not a good mother."

"don't say that. I can even see how much she loves you." Karina reassures her. "I think it's better for you to let her do what she wants. That doesn't make you a bad parent."

"I will need someone to remind me of that." She stifles a sad laugh, looking down at her lap. "I'm sorry to keep you here. If you're tired, you can go."

"it's okay, ma'am. If you need me just give me a call." Karina smiles at her, standing up to prepare to go.

"just wait here."

The woman walks towards winter's room. she opens the door after knocking a few times. Then, winter comes out of the room. looks like she's ready to sleep.

"here." Winter gave her phone to Karina. "my mom doesn't have a phone."

"oh, okay." Karina gladly typed in her number on the phone. "tell me if you need anything."

"thank you, dear." The woman smiles at her. "you can go with her when you go to work as well. She has a morning shift."

"I will, ma'am."