It didn't take long for the doorbell to ring through the whole apartment unit, startling Ningning who was on the couch beside Karina. The Chinese sighed lightly as she signed "Winter's here," only resulting in the older girl jolting up happily, almost running (not really running since she is a bit limping) to her front door.

As soon as Karina opened the front door, she was greeted by a startled expression from the singer, which quickly changed into a shy smile. "Hi, Karina," Winter signed, and she said it in a low voice. Of course, Karina smiled back excitedly.

But then, she jumped.

Karina literally jumped from the floor, clinging her arms around Winter's neck, hugging the singer so close as she planted her head deeper onto Winter's skin. A soft chuckle could be heard from the taller girl before she suddenly spoke, "Yes!"

"Yes?" Winter laughs at the librarian's sudden outburst, slowly releasing their hug for Winter to look into Karina's expression better. Oh god, she is so pretty with that cheeky smile. "Why are you saying yes?". Her thumb snaked onto the adhesive bandage on Karina's forehead, caressing them gently.

Karina smiled so wide that it made Winter's heart beat so bad. "You are here, and I am happy! It's been a while since I last met you. So, it is a 'Yes'!"

"Stop being all lovey-dovey in front of the door, won't you? Come in and eat this cake Karina asked me to buy for you just now. Gosh, are you guys girlfriends or what? So disgusting," Ningning literally shouted from the couch just enough for the singer to hear her. What? Girlfriends?

The words were too sudden for Winter to process inside her mind, and Karina clinging her arms around Winter right now makes it worse. She immediately pulled away from the librarian, too flustered to spill out her reply. "W-What are you talking about? Ha-ha, funny Ningning. F-fine, I'll come in."

When Winter made a small gap between her and Karina, she could see how upset the taller girl had become when Karina started to pout. Feeling defeated, Winter grabbed the girl's hand before she walked into the apartment after she closed the door tight. Only then, Karina starts to smile back.

"My-My. Look at you two," Ningning rolled her eyes at the two girls annoyedly as she cut the cake. Winter carefully brought the librarian towards the couch, making sure that she wouldn't hurt her much further. "One step at a time," she said, despite Karina not being able to hear it.

Karina then excitedly explained with eager hand movements as Winter watched her full of anticipation, "I bought this cake for you because I remembered that you mentioned you liked them. Eat a lot, Winter."

The singer could only chuckle as she said and signed "Thank you, beautiful—"

"You are not calling my friend with that kind of endearment!" Ningning cuts Winter from anything she is doing right now. The Chinese glared once at the startled singer before she moved her attention to Karina, glaring at her the same amount as she did to Winter. "Should I leave? She called you 'beautiful'. I guess I am interrupting something here"

Karina's brows start to furrow, "I like that endearment, what do you mean?"

*****

In the end, Ningning still decided to leave (because she felt like gagging every time Winter called Karina 'beautiful'). There's now Karina and Winter on the couch, feeding themselves with the cake as they entertain themselves with a movie Karina put on the TV. Despite Winter being able to hear everything, Karina relies on the subtitles, which she already gets used to.

They talked some more after the movie ended, and without they realized, it had been almost five hours since Winter arrived. The clock shows it is almost seven in the night and Winter needs to leave. Why not? She landed in Seoul, alone, without her manager, even her luggage (she took three hours earlier flight from her team because she was eager to meet the lovely librarian) she still didn't take a bath after coming back, nor did even organize back her things after coming back from China.

Winter coming here is such a last-minute decision, and she was yelled at by Aeri this morning for being too— Uh... Too head over heels, she said. Winter is being too head over heels for Karina, which the singer didn't deny.

"I need to leave, Karina. It's night," Winter signed with an apologetic expression, too sad to leave to be honest. She and Karina knew already by this time that they enjoyed each other's company. Leaving one of them alone would be sad, really.

"Can't you stay? Ningning wasn't here. What if I trip and fall down again?" Karina pouts before she pulls the hem of Winter's white shirt. That pout — sure. Winter's weakness. "But I am stinky. You will hate me for being stinky."

Winter's statement only makes the deaf girls laugh, which Winter appreciates for making her feel a bit lighthearted. Before the singer could say more, Karina smiled amusedly at Winter as she signed, "Do you have schedules tomorrow?"

Winter quickly shakes her head, "No. I was free for three days."

Seeing Winter's reply, Karina nodded eagerly that she said another "Yes!" before she quickly signed, "Stay here! You can wear my clothes! Now, tell me. You actually hated to leave, didn't you? Cuz I do, Winter. I don't want you to leave."

With Karina continuously begging Winter with her cute pout and antics, how could Winter Kim, the singer-woman lover refuse? Karina is the ethereal, girl of perfection, who succeeds in triggering Winter's heart to run like a marathon. Now, tell her. How could she refuse?

"Okay, beautiful. I'll stay."

The night starts all peacefully with Winter wearing Karina's sweatshirt that smells the same as Karina always did and Karina invites Winter to sleep on the other side of her queen-sized bed. But, Winter swears to the name of Mona Lisa that it all starts to get worse when she lies down right next to the girl with the lights out.

Bad. This is so bad.

So bad for Winter's woman-lover heart.

"God, save me from making stupid mistakes," Winter prays with her eyes tight shut, mumbling some unknown spells freely, knowing that she won't be caught doing so by Karina.

*****

It was a few days after the sleepover at Karina's house. In the early days after that, Winter was still persistent in coming to the library to dive deeper into sign language, still using the same book in the library. For Winter, that book is the easiest for her to understand and to get used to it.

Her comeback is getting nearer, and knowing she can't make enough time to come back to the library regularly, Winter decides to borrow the book.

Karina was slightly upset by Winter's disappearance at the library, not that she hated it.

Most of the days, she would expect Winter's arrival at the library and Karina would always make some time, slipping between her work to say hi to the singer on the third floor.

But now, there will be no more Winter, temporarily.

Every time Karina stepped her feet onto the third floor and glared at the empty seat in the corner that used to be occupied by the singer, Karina could feel her heart start sinking. She thought to herself why was she felt so upset by this? It's not like Winter wasn't coming because she ignored the librarian.

"This is ridiculous, Karina. Get back to your senses," Karina slapped her cheeks with her palms before slowly walking away from the third floor.

Right. Winter's new song would be released in two days. Of course, she would be hella busy at the moment.

The librarian then pulled out her phone, opened KakaoTalk to send that certain singer a single message. "Hope she won't be that pressured with her schedules."

The message reads, 'Have you eaten? Don't forget to eat. I know you are busy, but always fill up your tummy with something, Winter'.

*****

It's officially one week since the last time Karina saw Winter physically. Surprisingly for Karina, it sucks.

She knew she got Ningning, but things getting way more suck than Karina had ever imagined. It was just Winter, but why did she feel like she lost half of her soul?

Winter comeback will be today, in the evening. Karina had wished her a good luck in the morning through their messages, and Winter had replied to her with a thank you, followed by a big heart emoji.

Thankfully, Karina smiled after that.

The librarian punched in work and headed straight to her assigned floor, stopping by a coffee vending machine on the same floor before heading straight behind her designated counter. But, as soon as she dropped herself on that comfy office chair, her phone vibrated.

It was a video call from her friend on the third floor.

Karina calmly picked them up before she fixed the phone angle to make sure she was inside the frame. "What is wrong, Ningning? You look bothered," Karina signed taking note of how Ningning's brows started to furrow.

"Bad, Karina. Something bad happened," the Chinese signed back and before Karina could react much, Ningning continued, "Something happened to Winter."

Wait, what? "What did you mean?" Karina signed, looking totally bothered when the singer's name was mentioned.

"I'll send you the link to the news later. Someone— I mean... A celebrity humiliated Winter in public just now, and the news spreads like wildfire—"

Karina didn't even let her best friend finish, already fishing her way on her phone, opening certain messaging apps, clicking the link Ningning sent her open, and it sent her directly to the news that's already been read by half of the South Korean population.

BREAKING NEWS!

Singer, Winter Kim's trash behaviour, owing actor Jake 4,000 won two weeks ago without paying.

It's been revealed by the actor itself that idol singer, Winter Kim had owed him a small amount of four thousand won this morning. The actor confessed that Winter borrowed him the money to buy something in cash, and since she was in a hurry and the store only allowed cash payments, Jake had kindly provided her the money.

Since then, the singer didn't pay the money back to him. Jake quoted, "I know it was a small amount of money, but she has been ignorant about it and didn't pay back. Such a top behaviour, you know?" he said in the interview this morning.

Winter Kim has yet to respond on this issue.

Singer, Winter Kim was scheduled to make her comeback this evening. It has a big probability that her comeback will be put on hold regarding this issue.

Karina's concern was brought towards the comment sections. Most of the people criticise Jake for his petty attitude, but many are against it, stating that Winter is being irresponsible and ignorant. Totally a trash attitude, they said.

The comments left the librarian fuming, conflicted, and worried.

"Winter was just too occupied with her comeback, and maybe she really forgot to pay him back. What's wrong with him that he needs to announce a small problem to the whole country?"

Karina complained more inside her mind, but then, another piece of news popped on her phone screen.

This is getting bad.

BREAKING NEWS!

Winter Kim's new song this evening was put on hold.

"Oh, no. Winter."