Karina’s POV

It’s the following day from reading out my thoughts to Winter. I feel like there won’t be a wall between us now. I’m walking down the school halls to make my way to class. There are students scattered about the corridor. I hear their murmurs, but a distinct name pops up which makes my ear perk up as well.

“Winter’s so pretty.” A boy said to himself. 

“She’s coming!” A guy whispered loudly to his friend.

I saw a group of guys watching her as she approached them. She had a present in her hands, she said something to the guy which made him smile widely. He carefully took the gift in his hands, afterwards he bowed deeply to her.

“Thank you, vice president!” He wore a silly grin. “I’m happy you noticed my hard work when organizing the cabin arrangements.” He bowed his head shyly.

I heard Winter’s giggle which made me stare with a sharp look. Before I could realise what I was doing, I was standing by Winter’s side. The guys stared at me with round eyes.

“What’s she doing here…” A guy mumbled to himself.

“Shhh! She can hear you.” His friend elbowed him in the ribs and smiled at me with fear in his eyes.

I saw Winter wearing a confused face. I turned my head to face the clueless boys in front of me.

“Thank you for your hard work.” I smiled showing my white teeth.

I showed them my eye smile, which made their jaws drop slightly. After a few seconds they looked away to avoid eye contact. That hurt me a bit, since I was trying to be nice like Winter. My smile faded and I looked at Winter for help. I was taken by surprise to see her holding in some laughter. I tilted my head and that's when she quietly told me to look at their ears. I looked to where she was pointing, they were burning red. I felt confused, Winter grabbed my hand and waved bye to the guys. 

“What was that about?” I asked her while feeling lost.

Winter giggled to herself.

‘What’s so funny?’ I thought.

“She’s so pretty when she smiles.” I caught the guy looking at me.

My eyes opened wide and his eyes did too. His friend elbowed him again and said something like: She heard you, you idiot!. I finally understood why Winter was laughing to herself so much.

“You don’t have to try so hard you know,” Winter threw me a smile. “A lot of people will like you if you just let them.” 

I raised my eyebrows, pretending not to know what she meant.

“I saw you trying to be nice to more people today.” She grinned at me with a proud look on her face.

I nodded my head in defeat then said not to tell anyone. 

She walked me to my class and I waved goodbye as the bell rang. Indicating that recess was over. I took my seat next to Taemin and he gave me a little wave.

“Alright, everyone!” The teacher’s voice echoed. “Next week will be the camping trip for the school.” 

Some students cheered, while others stayed quiet, trying not to get on the bad side of the teacher. The teacher clapped his hands together loudly, making some students wince in pain.

“Your cabin arrangements will be on the whiteboard. Please go and make note of which cabin you’ll be in. Oh and you’ll also be rooming with other students from different classes” He instructed us before moving away from the board.

He was quick to avoid the stampede of students eagerly trying to find out who they will be staying with. Some made disappointed grumbles, while others celebrated with their friends.

I stayed in my chair, not wanting to be stood on. Taemin did too, except for Ningning. She bravely made her way through the crowd and I could hear her: Yay!

Taemin and I laughed with one another. Ningning squeezed through the crowd and jumped in front of me.

“Guess who I’m gonna be in a cabin with!” She was jumping up and down.

I was about to answer, but she cut me off.

“You!” She sang loudly.

I smiled along with her and Taemin. But in my thoughts, I wondered how I was going to endure her loud voice.

“Oh!” Ningning looked as though she just remembered something. “Giselle will also be in our cabin.” She waved and returned to her seat.

I got up from my seat when students left the front of class to go back to their seats. I looked down the long list of names and saw mine. It was as Ningning said, it’s going to be me, Ningning and Giselle sharing a room with three two other girls.

“No Winter?” I heard Taemin’s voice behind me.

I shook my head, unable to hide my disappointment. I tried to shake off the thoughts and decided to help Taemin find his cabin mate’s names.

“Here it is.” I pointed for Taemin to see. “You’re with....” I froze at the three letter name.

“Kai.” Taemin finished my sentence with a sigh.

There was a brief period of silence between us. I looked at him with worry. He noticed then smiled.

“I’ll be okay.” He said. “It’s not like Kai will smother me in my sleep.” He laughed then quietened down before really thinking about it.

‘He might.’ I thought to myself.

“We can ask to change rooms for yo-” He shook his head and patted my shoulder.

“No, I’ll be fine.” He looked out the window with a far away look in his eyes. “Maybe I can try doing what Ningning suggested...” His voice trailed off.

Before I could ask what he meant, the bell rang and Taemin left with his bag in a hurry. The day ends when I get home from school to pack my things for next week’s trip. I feel excited, but also sad I won’t be in the same cabin as Winter. 

Next week arrived faster than I expected. I didn’t do much on the weekend, which is why time flew by rather quickly.

Everyone was lined up and had on casual clothes, rather than their usual uniforms. One quarter of the school is going on the camping trip, while the others wait their turn to come up. I can see some students who are disappointed to know that they won’t be camping with their friends. I looked around the groups of students to find a blonde haired girl. I received a tap on the shoulder, which made me jump. I turned to see Winter smiling while biting her lower lip. I looked at her up and down, she’s wearing casual clothes and I felt my worries get swept away.

I looked at her with excitement, my heart beat picked up. I felt myself smile. I playfully pushed her for making me jump.

“Ready for camping?” Her eye smile was so pretty to look at.

I nodded my head eagerly.

“I heard from Giselle and Ningning that you’re in the same cabin as them.” She smiled brightly. “That should be fun.”

I looked down at the ground, which surprised Winter.

“But you’re not going to be in it…” I couldn’t help but show my disappointment. 

Winter’s smile faltered, she closed her eyes before biting her lip. She softly rubbed my arm. She opened her eyes and tilted her head.

“You’ll still see me.” She tried to cheer me up. “I’ll meet you at breakfast, lunch, dinner and before night.”

She managed to make me smile with those words. I like that she is good at changing the mood of others. 

I was busy smiling at Winter when I didn’t realise Kai was standing behind me. I felt a tap on my shoulder. I was smiling until I saw Kai’s face.

“Good morning!” He greeted me with a big grin. “You should smile more.” He poked my lips, I swatted his hand away. That made him laugh. “Come on, you were smiling for Winter.” He complained.

Kai looked between Winter and I. His eyes narrowed on Winter, but when his gaze landed on me, he was back to smiling. He leaned in closer to me while I stood my ground.

“I thought we were friends.” He looked me dead in the eye. He was no longer smiling. “Why haven’t you come to our spot lately?” He tilted his head.

I looked away and my eyes managed to look at Winter who hadn’t been included in the conversation. Kai followed my gaze and sighed heavily.

“I told you already.” He stood up straight. “She’s the one who ruined your relationship and kept you all to hersel-” I cut him off.

“Stop it.” I warned him.

Kai scoffed and crossed his arms over his chest.

“I thought you were different…” He leaned in closer again. “I thought we were good friends. I even protected you from getting hurt by that girl’s supporters-” Another guy’s voice overlapped Kai’s.

“There you are, roommate!”

We all turned our heads to see Taemin standing with his hands on his hips. He wore his usual smile, Winter and I were relieved to see him. Kai on the other hand looked pissed off.

“Let’s go to our cabin group, Kai.” Taemin marched to him and dragged him by the arm away from us.

There was a moment of silence. I felt bad because of what Kai said. He did help me when I needed it. He stopped those supporters from doing something I don’t even want to remember. Winter looked sad, she eventually asked the question I hadn’t been ready to answer.

“What happened back then with those fans of mine?” She asked in a quiet voice.

Flashback.

I was being shoved onto a chair and held down. I was being held down by a stronger male and I was too scared to really fight back. 

“What are you doing?!” I demanded answers.

“We heard you made the vice president cry.” A girl cracked her knuckles.

I looked at her fists then at her stoic facial expression. I looked around me and they started to pull out their phones.

“Please don’t, I didn’t do-” I got shouted at to be quiet.

That when some students cheered her on and I tried to reason with her and the others. But none of them were listening to reason.

They were beginning to fight over who would deliver the punishment until a loud slam was heard.

Everyone in the room fell silent and slowly backed away. The crowd was blocking my view. I finally saw the person who stopped everyone from inflicting harm on me. He wore a murderous look and kicked aside a desk which made the crowd stumble away from him and I. Kai glared at the guy holding me down, the tight grip around me let go and I looked at Kai in wonder. He held out his hand for me to take. I slowly blinked away my shock then took his rough hand. In that moment I never felt more safe.

Flashback ended

“Nothing happened.” I looked away. “Kai stopped it all before things got out of hand.”

I turned to see Winter looking at Kai getting pulled away by Taemin.

“I’m glad he helped you.” I heard her whisper.

‘Me too.’ I thought to myself.

The group of teachers blew their whistles to get our attention. They guided us to the buses and took us in groups into different buses to fill up. I followed Ningning and Giselle to the bus they were going in. It was cramped in the bus, It’s a good thing that Giselle and Ningning are really slim. The bus took off once the teacher gave him the signal. And so began the school camping trip.