GIVE ME LOVE (WINRINA AU)

CHAPTER 10

Karina: Yeji is visiting. I hope you can come by my unit :)

Winter: I'll try

Winter is on a break. With a cigarette on one hand and a phone on the other, she spends her time alone at the back of the store.

"boo!"

Soobin's voice doesn't scare her. Winter turns around to see him with a smile.

"hey." Winter greeted. "what took you so long?"

"boxes, as usual. I helped the cashiers too." Soobin sits beside her. "so... next week you'll take the night shift?"

"pretty much. I'll talk to boss so I can work flexibly." Winter informed.

"nice! We can go home together." Soobin excitedly said.

"by bus?" Winter asked.

"well... I have my old bike." Soobin hums. "where do you live? JYP District?"

"SM." She replied.

"so, quite near by bus. I'm from HYB District. Sad that we're not on the same path." Soobin sighs. "let's go out on the weekends. How about that?"

"I'm not free either." Winter then takes a long puff.

"do you have another job?" Soobin asked as he blows away the smoke coming from Winter.

"sort of."

"so, you have classes, then you work here, and also you have another job. Am I right?" Soobin recalled.

"basically yeah." Winter throws away her cigarette butt.

"damn. I can't even move my ass from the bed." Soobin scratched his head.

"we work differently. You got your full pay here. I'm not." Winter looks at him. "let's go back."

-

Winter walks up the stairs of the old apartment. She looks down, watching her step on each staircase. Then, she stops at Karina's floor. She looks to the side, having a thought of knocking. She doesn't know why she hesitated. She looks at the time on her phone, thinking that she has some time before doing her other work.

"hi! I thought you wouldn't make it."

Yeji greeted her shortly after Winter knocked on the door.

"I have some time." Winter gave her a small smile.

"you must be tired. You just got off work, right? We're preparing dinner. Eat with us."

Yeji guides Winter to the couch before going to the kitchen.

"give her a drink first. I'll set up the table." Karina said as she prepares the table.

Yeji walks back to the living area with a glass of water. She then sits beside Winter.

"here." Yeji gave it to her. "how's work today?"

"it was nice." Winter then takes some gulps. "so far, I haven't found any problems."

"that's good. I'm glad you enjoy your job." Yeji smiles. "you can rest for a bit." Yeji then takes her arm and starts to lightly massages it. "Karina told me that you do all the heavy works. Must be tiring."

"I'm kinda used to it." Winter enjoys what Yeji does. "thank you."

"I used to massage my dad. Now that I live alone..." Yeji paused.

"yeah I understand." Winter looks at her. "I haven't thanked you personally. For the gadgets."

"oh... you're welcome." Yeji chuckles.

"guys! Let's eat."

After that, the three sits around the dining table with Winter sitting beside Yeji.

"this is a lot." Winter commented on the food.

"you can eat as much as you like." Karina said. "dig in."

Yeji helps Winter with her meal. Taking scoops of rice, side dishes, some veggies, and pour her another drink. She then places the plate in front of Winter.

After seeing Karina and Yeji start eating, Winter begins to eat with them. it's been years since she has a proper meal. Most of the time, she can only afford some rice, eggs, and if she's lucky, her mother would get some leftover meat from a butcher. On some unlucky days, Winter could only eat some instant noodles.

"you want more?" Yeji asked. "you can take more."

"can I ask something?" Winter looks up.

"sure." Karina replied.

"why do you choose to live here? You seems to be able to afford something better." Winter wondered.

"well, my contract ended with the previous apartment. So, I asked Yeji to look for another apartment. Since her own apartment is expensive, I asked for another. Besides, if I get a better apartment, it'd be far from where I work." Karina explained kindly.

"it's expensive but it's good. It's like five minutes by car to the company." Yeji added. "how about you? Did you also move here with your family?"

"I don't know. I've been here since I'm aware of my existence." Winter replied.

"wait... you can live here for years?" Yeji raised her eyebrows. "I thought we have contracts."

"my dad bought the apartment."

"ah... understandable. By the way, are you in college right now?" Yeji asked.

"I'm starting the class next week. Online."

"why? It'd be fun if you can go." Yeji responded. "you can meet some friends."

"I just wanna study." Winter looks at her.

"that's good. Me and Karina are high school friends. We're pretty competitive with each other but we get along eventually." Yeji shared a bit of her life.

"that's nice." Winter smiles at her.

"I haven't got your number." Yeji opens her hand in front of Winter, asking for her phone. "may I?"

"sure." Winter quickly takes out her phone from her pocket and gives it to Yeji.

"there." Yeji gave back her phone.

"that's a nice last name." Winter commented on Yeji's name. "I guess... I'll text you later?"

"if you need to." Yeji places her hand on top of Winter's lap. "you can call as well."

"okay."