ATTACHED • Winrina

• chapter seven • UPDATED

Jungkook was right. Jimin decided it would be best to meet up with Winter. It has already been 10 months since they have been penpals.

Though, the problem is, she knows Winter's address, Winter doesn't know hers.

Greetings Winter,

I've decided we'd meet up. I no longer want to hide in the shadows and cease to conceal. I want to show up to see you. The problem is, you don't know a thing about my address. My house is nearby Jogyesa temple. Right outside the temple, there is a Cherry Blossom tree. Why don't we meet there?

I hope for your response.

Yours truly,
Jimin

When Winter received this, she was so excited to meet her. Though she doesn't have a clue of where the temple was. There's the internet and can look up the map. She found it grateful to be in a modern era, there's technology and no longer needs to look up an entire rolled map to look for a specific location.

Cherry Blossom tree. Just like the one she has outside of their home! Although Cherry Blossom is common in Korea, it is not that common in their neighborhood. Perhaps, it's easier to locate the temple with landmark as Cherry Blossom. The temples she's known don't have trees outside.

The air thick with anticipation and anxiety. Each envelope had felt like a lifeline, connecting her to someone who understood her in ways no one else did. Yet, the revelation that her penpal, whom she had come to consider a close friend, was from an entirely different time fractured the illusion. How could she connect with someone whose world was decades away?

The air was crisp, a gentle wind weaving through the cherry blossom branches, causing soft pink petals to flutter like butterflies onto the ground. Winter stood still, her heart racing, as she adjusted the collar of her coat against the cool breeze. The temple behind her, a majestic structure with intricate carvings, was steeped in history-a witness to countless stories. But today, all of her focus was on the one story that mattered most: hers with Jimin.

Each letter she received had transported her to another world, one where time was merely an obstacle. But now, standing beneath the sprawling branches, she felt the weight of time pressing down on her. What if this meeting wouldn't live up to what she built in her mind? What if Jimin wasn't what she imagined? A cacophony of thoughts whirled in her head, almost drowning out the serene chirping of birds overhead.

From the moment she first held Jimin's letters in her hands, she had wondered what she looked like-what her laugh sounded like, how her eyes sparkled when she talked about the things she loved. They had both shared snippets of their lives, their dreams, their fears, like pieces of a beautiful puzzle that felt delightfully incomplete. And now, today, she stood at the precipice of discovery-if she would even show.

As she waited, she closed her eyes and tried to center herself. "Just breathe, Winter," she whispered under her breath. The soft rustle of petals kissing the earth echoed a gentle reminder of meeting opportunities and fleeting moments. Time flowed differently here, both fragile and eternal.

The sun began its slow descent, casting long shadows across the temple grounds. Winter glanced at her watch, feeling the flutter of anxiety double down in her stomach. She had promised to meet her here, beneath the cherry blossom tree, where they both had shared their dreams. But beneath the stars and the blossoming trees of different times, could they really meet?

Out of habit, she reread the letter that had ignited this entire journey-the one where Jimin finally wrote her name with a date, an invitation set in ink across decades. "Winter," it began, a simple but enchanting declaration. As she recalled her words, a warmth enveloped her, easing the tension she felt.

Suddenly, the air shifted. The wind picked up, swirling around her, pulling at her clothes. She opened her eyes, instinctively stepping back as a shimmering light emerged beneath the cherry blossom tree. The moment was surreal-a portal slowly unveiling itself, suspended in time, igniting an accident of fate that bridged their worlds.

Winter's heart pounded, sensing that whatever this light was, it was connected to Jimin-the girl who wrote from a time that felt both distant and achingly close. She took a tentative step forward, the petals falling around her like snow. Each step felt like crossing the very fabric of reality.

Suddenly, a figure emerged from within the light. Tall, with dark hair that caught the soft golden glow of the setting sun, Jimin appeared more real and breathtaking than she could have ever imagined. She wore a simple yet elegant hanbok, its colors reminiscent of the blooms surrounding them. Her breath caught in her throat; she looked just as she had pictured her, infused with the essence of the letters that had brought them together.

"Winter?" came her voice, tentative yet filled with warmth. It felt like music-the calling of souls drawn together across time. She stepped closer, her eyes wide with wonder and recognition, disbelief flickering in them. "You're really here!"

She swallowed hard, emotions churning within her-joy, fear, and an indescribable longing. "I ... I am," she managed, the sound barely above a whisper.

Moments stretched, timeless yet charged with urgency. "But how?" he asked, glancing around, her disbelief palpable. "I thought... I thought it was impossible to meet."

With the petals swirling around them like confetti celebrating their encounter, Winter took a deep breath, channeling all of her courage into the moment. "Maybe love transcends time," she suggested, her voice tinged with an unexpected profundity. "Or maybe, against all odds, we were meant to find each other."

There was a heartbeat of silence, and then Jimin's smile broke through-the kind that lit up her entire face. She couldn't help but smile back, her world bursting with color, the weight of time melting away for their shared moment, two souls intertwined beneath the cherry blossoms.

As petals danced around them, Winter took a tentative step forward, her voice trembling with excitement. "So, what now? Is this just the beginning?"

Jimin took her hand gently in hers, a connection that sent ripples of warmth through both of them. "Let's create our own story, one letter at a time."

And together, as the sun dipped below the horizon and the first stars twinkled overhead, they stepped into the unknown-an adventure awaiting them, unlike anything they had ever dreamed.

One thing is what's important to Winter and that is to be with her.