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10

LATER THAT NIGHT (1:00 AM) – AT GISELLE AND JAEHYUN'S HOUSE – GISELLE'S POV

"She didn't even say what it was about?!" Jaehyun asks me as I'm getting out of bed.

"No..." I shrug while putting on my bathrobe. "She just said she was outside our house and didn't dare ring the doorbell because she didn't want to wake up the kids."

"Anyway, I better go get her..." I add, leaving our bedroom.

I climb down the stairs as quietly as I can, before hurrying to open the front door.

"Hey..." I whisper upon seeing a distressed Winter on my doorstep.

She must have dressed quickly because her clothes don't match at all and her hair is all messy. Her eyes are red and shiny, a clear sign that she'd been crying.

"I'm so sorry to show up unannounced at such a late hour, G, but...can I please sleep here tonight?" She asks and I can hear the despair in her voice.

"Uh...yeah, of course!" I nod, inviting her to come in.

"What happened?" I ask.

"I um..." She trails off. "Yeji and I broke up..." She eventually says in a shaky voice. "And then, she threw me out of the house, so..." She adds with a sad shrug, before breaking into tears right in front of me.

"Oh, Win...Come here..." I say, pulling her into a tight hug.

"I'm really sorry to barge in here like this, G..." She repeats, sobbing and clinging to me as if her life depended on it.

"Don't be silly, you're always welcome here!" I say, rubbing her back to comfort her.

Even though we remain silent, I keep her in a tight embrace for a while, until she calms down.

"I never meant to hurt her..." She eventually whispers, breaking the silence.

"I know you didn't..."
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FLASHBACK TO EARLIER THAT NIGHT – AT WINTER'S HOUSE – WINTER's POV

"I don't...I don't understand..." Yeji frowns, shaking her head.

Yeah, if roles were reversed, I wouldn't understand either...In the three and a half years we have been together, Yeji and I never even had a fight! We got along since day 1, and things have always been amazingly easy with her because she just got me.

"You said you loved me..." She argues, sobbing.

"I do love you..." I say in a cracking voice, unable to hold back my tears.

"Then why are you breaking up with me?" She asks, locking sad eyes with me, but I remain silent, not knowing what to say.

"Are you seeing someone else?" She eventually asks.

"No!" I immediately replied.

I didn't tell Yeji I cheated on her. I figured it would only cause her additional pain, without changing the outcome. Even though it took me a while to accept it, I know I don't have a choice. I have to break up with her...Because even if a part of me just wants to pretend nothing happened, I know that everything has changed and that it will never go back to what it was.

But I'm not sure it's a lie when I say I'm not seeing anyone, because I'm actually not seeing Karina.

"You really expect me to believe that?" She asks, upset. "Win, we haven't had sex in two weeks!" She argues and God knows that for anyone who has ever dated me, that would be enough to know that something is off.