Karina’s POV

After leaving the library while Kai stayed behind, I headed straight home. I saw Winter too many times this weekend. On my way home I could see the little girl from the park was now smiling with her new friends. I felt the corner of my mouth curve into a smile. My mind replayed what happened in the park. Winter helped cheer up the little girl, while I taught those kids a lesson. I left when the little girl noticed me looking at them. 

I’m making my way down the street when I see a guy who looks similar to Kai, except he has a gentle expression on his face. He turned and saw me staring at him. His eyes grew wide with excitement.

“Karina!” He eagerly made his way towards me.

“Taemin?” I felt confused for a moment. “I thought you moved.”

When he stood in front of me, I felt like I could breathe easier. He was a good friend to me and Winter in our early years. 

“I missed you all, I decided to come back.” Taemin smiled.

I looked down to hide my smile. I looked up when he cleared his throat to get me to look at him. 

“You wouldn’t believe who I bumped into on my way to get a hot drink.” He then pointed behind him.

I peeked over his shoulder smiling, my smile fell from my face when I saw who it was. Winter was trying to hide her face with the book she borrowed from the library. Taemin must have sensed the tension between us, because he looked confused.

“What?” His soft voice spoke up. “Still fighting?” He joked to try and lighten the mood.

He knows it wasn’t ever a fight, because Winter never defended herself. But that was his way of trying to get an understanding of what happened between us.

I shrugged my shoulders, Winter pretended to be busy looking at her new book and Taemin just analysed our behaviors. He knows us so well, even though it has been a long time since we last saw each other. He was the one who got me to stop bullying my old friend eventually. Taemin’s gaze looked at something behind me. I turned my head and saw Kai coming towards us. Kai wrapped an arm around my shoulder and flashed a smile. Taemin tilted his head at that and looked towards Winter, then at me.

“Hey, Taemin.” Kai greeted him with his smile.

“Kai.” Taemin nodded his head.

There was a brief moment where both guys were staring each other down. They used to be best friends. Until Kai started causing trouble, while Taemin tried to stay out of it. The atmosphere was heavy and I could feel Kai’s grip tighten on me. I bit my lip under his pressure.
 

‘He must be angry.’ I thought.

“What brings you back here?” Kai broke the silence. “I thought you weren’t coming back.”

Taemin smiled, showing his white teeth.

“I’m enrolled in your guys highschool.” He spoke casually. “By the way,” Taemin’s eyes flickered towards me then back to Kai. “Loosen your grip on Karina.”

Taemin looked at Kai with a hard expression. Kai frowned and loosened his grip on my shoulder. I looked at Taemin with gratitude. 

Winter looked at me with concern. I caught her staring at me, we held each other’s gaze. For the first time in a while, I didn’t glare. Kai’s presence suddenly felt cold, whereas Taemin and Winter felt warm. I looked to Winter and Taemin for some help.

Winter whispered something to Taemin, he smiled and looked straight at me.

“Karina.” He got me to look at him. “Would you like to catch up over some coffee with us?”

I felt my spirits lift up and I felt myself start to smile a little. Kai’s grip started to get tighter again, he didn’t seem to like that idea.

“Let’s go, Karina.” Kai’s deep voice said with a hint of annoyance.

He held me close to him, as we were walking past them, Taemin got in the way of Kai. He let go of my shoulder and crossed his arms across his chest. As the two of them stared each other down, Winter grabbed my hand. I was shocked at first, but I didn’t feel secure with Kai right now. Her warm hand guided me to stand behind Taemin. She was about to let go, I held onto her hand tighter. I was trembling, because Kai was starting to get angry at Taemin who was blocking him from getting closer to me.

Winter’s POV

“Leave her alone, Kai.” Taemin said with a low voice.

Kai flinched and for a second looked at Karina with a hurt expression. He mumbled whatever and walked away. As his figure disappeared down the street, Karina still held onto my hand.

“Are you alright?” I asked her with concern.

She batted her eyelashes and looked at me. Karina hesitated before nodding her head. She bit her lower lip, while gripping my hand tightly but gently. 

Taemin turned around and was back to smiling. 

“Let’s go get some coffee!” He suggested and guided us to a nearby cafe.

The little bell rang as we entered the small cafe. The smell of coffee beans and sweets made me remember I hadn’t had much to eat today. There was a low hum of conversations that could be heard from people enjoying their coffees.

“1 hot chocolate, please.” Taemin got to the front counter first. “What will you two like?” He said while digging for his wallet in his pocket.

Karina and I exchanged looks before looking back at him. 

“Hot chocolate please!” I said with a bright smile.

I looked at Karina to see that she stole a glance of me before she gave Taemin her order.

“Three hot chocolates please!” Taemin laughed with the barista behind the counter.

Karina finally let go of my hand to take her seat. My hand felt cold without hers. She sat in silence while Taemin and I sat down.

“So…” Taemin breathed a sigh. “Kai, huh?”

He raised his brow while looking at Karina with a smirk playing on his lips.

Karina gulped and began to fidget with her hair. 

“It’s not like we are dating.” She stopped playing with her hair to look Taemin in the eye.

He chuckled in response and rested his chin on his palm.

“They’re friends now.” I spoke up. 

Karina and Taemin looked at me with surprise. He looked at me and offered encouragement.

“Go on.” He offered a smile.

I glanced at Karina then gathered some courage to look at her. She did the same and we sat there looking at one another while people were chatting loudly in the background. There was no aggression in her gaze, just curiosity.

“Kai told her the reason why Karina and I aren’t that close anymore…” I took a breath. “I made her break up with her boyfriend. And…” I explained the full story to Taemin from my perspective.

He patiently listened to me speak. It had been a little while since it happened, so it wasn’t a fresh wound. But it still did sting a little bit. I took a look at Karina as I told the story. She didn’t seem to show much emotion, she hid behind her mask of indifference.

“Now everything is kind of in ruins. Karina doesn’t care about-” I was interrupted.

“I still care, you idiot.” 

I slowly looked towards Karina. She looked annoyed by what I said. I felt confused though. I looked into her eyes with a confused expression. Karina looked offended.

“I was in shock, yes, but.” She paused to look at Taemin, then continued to look at me in the eye. “That’s because I was afraid. Which is why I stayed away. Rather than going out of my way to bully you like before.” She combed her fingers through her dark hair and looked away. 

Whatever she’s trying to say, it can’t be easy for her.

“I still care, I just don’t know what to do.” She admitted with a small voice.

And just like that, my face started to warm up and I got this funny feeling in my stomach. I looked around me and my eyes landed on Taemin. He was looking at us with a gentle gaze. He seemed content just listening to us.

“But you stayed away from me.” I wanted to dig for more answers.

Karina looked at me with narrowed eyes.

“I just said I didn’t want to hurt you.” Her voice got louder.

I felt myself start to smile a lot. I pretended not to hear her and asked her to repeat what she said.

“Are you deaf?” She expressed her annoyance. “I just said I cared enough I didn’t want to hur-” I made her stop talking by surprising her with a hug.

I wrapped her in my arms and I couldn’t stop grinning. I ignored her protests and whispered in her ear a small thanks. Karina stopped and went quiet. I felt her place her hand on my back and she softly patted my back. 

We were in our own little world until we heard:

“Three hot chocolates!” The barista made us break our hug.

Taemin laughed at our faces. We drank our hot drinks while catching up on what’s been happening with everyone. It’s like we could forget about our conflict before and enjoy each other’s company over a hot drink.