Chapter Text
maybe it’s the lack of text messages, or when jaehyun stopped calling jimin like the way he used to, but she knows it’s not the same anymore.
jaehyun was a good guy, really, but he wasn’t consistent. he was sweet, always watched frozen with jimin everyday because the girl really loved olaf, always sang his girlfriend to sleep, and gave her flowers every time he came back home from work. but as time goes by, jaehyun slowly withdraws from their accustomed habits, he doesn't sing her to sleep anymore, no more flowers, no more good night kisses, watching frozen alone now, the list goes on.
on some particular days, she caught him talking to someone else on the phone, a lovestruck smile painted on his face. he used to smile like that at me too, the girl thinks. but truth to be told, she was getting tired of him as well.
jaehyun doesn't check up on her anymore, nothing but only a few words exchanged every single day. lovers to strangers, living under the same roof, but it doesn't feel like home. he doesn't feel like home anymore.
jimin knows she didn't lack. she tried a lot of times to save their relationship, but being the only one who tries is tiring, and receiving nothing from the other end of the line was draining.
why not break up with him yet? aeri asks every time jimin vents to her about her love problems. trust me, she wants to, but maybe a breakup isn't enough. god knows that jaehyun was just waiting for her to say it, because he expects her to break up with him sooner or later.
she knows that he won't get hurt, because he already found someone new, and she hates that. she wants him to feel pain, she wants to break his heart, to shred and tear it without pause.
ah, so that's what you want. sleep with someone else then, and make sure to show the marks, ning suggests after knowing what bothers jimin at night. the brunette thinks it's a good idea. she isn't doing this because she wants him back, she's doing this out of spite, because she hates him.
"morning. i'm not sure what time i'll be able to come back but, i'll try to be back early for you." he greets her, but it's the same thing he says everyday. "okay, love you." she replies, only getting nothing but a hum from him before he closes the door, and there it is.
she'll eat breakfast alone, again.
[minmin] hook me up with someone
[king ning] interesting, ure finally doing my suggestion???
[aeri chan] did u break up with him alr
[minmin] yes and no respectively
[minmin] if u guys cant do what i want yall to do then ill do it myself
[aeri chan] i can only provide u a list of new bars that opened up near us
[aeri chan] im on my date with my wife rn so
[king ning] u did not just call me ur wife >:0
[aeri chan] i just did
[minmin] why am i friends with u all
[minmin] bye enjoy ur date
true to her words, the japanese girl does send her a list of new bars. jimin smiles, there's one that's just nine blocks away from her shared apartment with her boyfriend. she'll pay them a visit later, but for now, she'll spend her whole day at a pc bang to play games.
-
3pm.
"you've been sitting there for five hours straight playing valorant and osu. i swear if you don't eat the food i gave you, i'm gonna tell the stranger over there to come and feed you." sakura, the owner of the establishment, sends a warning to the brunette. the two are pretty close because they bond over games.
sakura's statement actually distracts jimin, and she stands up from the gaming chair to see who the pink-haired girl was referring to. their eyes meet. oh, she was already looking at me? she quickly averts her eyes away, pretending to look for something else.
that is one handsome girl.
"you are very bad at acting." sakura blatantly says, placing her hands on her hips like a tired mom. "and you are very bad at threatening people! go, tell her to come here and feed me because there's no way i'm leaving this place without getting my rank to platinum." jimin firmly says, no embarrassment on her tone, no nothing.
wow, i wish i was as stubborn and shameless as her, sakura says internally while shaking her head. but she is a woman of her words and does approach the stranger she told jimin about earlier. okay, i hope this turns out well. "hey, are you busy?"
"oh hi, not really. why?" the other girl answers, removing the headset from her ears. "it might sound weird to you, but can you feed the girl over there while she grinds her account in valorant? you're the only person here as of the moment and she hasn't eaten since she arrived here and i have something else to take care of so…"
the other girl blinks owlishly.
"of course if you don't want to then that's completely fine! it's very understandable since you guys really don't know each oth-"
"i'll handle it," she cuts her off, and sakura wasn't expecting that. she thought the girl was just gonna stare and blink at her forever. "very well then, i appreciate that! thank you. i have to go now and actually work, so, bye." the pink-haired girl leaves the scene, now attending to her responsibilities.
despite being focused on the current round, jimin does notice a figure approaching her. it was the same girl who was already looking at her a while ago. holy shit, kkura unnie actually told that stranger to feed me. what the fuck?
her inner turmoil prevented her from hearing what the other girl said. seconds later, she felt her chair being shaken, and now her agent died on the current round. the brunette inhales sharply, ready to talk shit at the person who was disturbing her.
"look, thanks but i don't need anyone to feed me and-"
"i'm not going to feed you."
"then what are you doing here?"
"just," the girl pulled jimin away from her chair, pushed her to sit on the chair beside her previous chair, and now, the stranger was sitting on her seat. it takes a few seconds for her to register what happened, she felt like the wind was knocked off of her lungs.
"you eat, i grind your account."
jimin's jaw hangs wide open at the statement. this time around, she takes her sweet time to check the stranger out. short blonde hair, slanted sharp eyes, small body frame but seemed muscular, kissable lips-
alright, you're getting way too ahead of yourself, woman. jimin slaps herself internally. nonetheless, she watches the blonde play. she looked like a pro player with the way she plays and talks with her teammates.
"sova is in heaven," the girl calls out, but she kills sova herself. they win the round again.
"is this the same person playing earlier? man, you are actually cracked." one of her teammates say, and the stranger shows a little smile. jimin is curious, and so she finds a way to satisfy her curiosity.
"what happened?"
"ah, they just asked me if i was the same person playing earlier." the short-haired girl chuckles. she laughs cutely, the brunette thinks, but she shakes the thought away. the girl shoves another spoonful of tteokbokki into her mouth.
i don't even know her name, what the heck. "whaf's yourh name?" jimin asks with a mouth full of food. thankfully, the other girl understands what she was trying to say. "you can call me winter."
"oh, so we on code name basis, aight. i'm karina then." the brunette replies after swallowing, a tad bit mesmerized in winter's fingers. they move smoothly around the keyboard. "sounds nice," winter says, genuinely surprised. she's never met someone named karina, but she knows it's not the girl's real name.
code name basis, remember?
"you play really good, makes me wonder about your rank…" jimin trails. she was expecting the other girl to be at least platinum, or diamond. "i'm in immortal." winter answers her question in a nonchalant manner, as if it's just a normal everyday thing to say. the brunette almost spits out her soup.
her lover must be very lucky. imagine having an immortal girlfriend. jimin thinks, sighing deeply. who doesn't want a girlfriend who plays so well that their rank is immortal?
winter chuckles again, jimin doesn't realize that she said her thoughts out loud. "i am single." the blonde informs her. they won the round four times in a row. 9-5 as the score, in favor of winter's team.
"oh fuck, sorry i said it out loud." the brunette flushes, she already finished eating. "no worries, it was cute." winter comforts the other girl, not knowing that it obviously doesn't help jimin. the latter turned redder every passing second.
the game has reached matchpoint. if winter's team wins this round, they win the game. jimin watches closely this time. who doesn't want to observe how an immortal player plays?
winter's brows furrow in focus. she gets a little close at the monitor, fingers moving swiftly but smoothly like the wind. "i'll smoke site and dash and you guys follow through. viper watch b main, omen clear elbow, and when they both say it's clear, sage you plant the spike. i'll watch spawn, and cypher please watch hooka for me. thanks."
jimin's ears felt some kind of pleasure when she heard the blonde say all those words. she's pretty sure everyone wants winter as their teammate, one who isn't cocky or toxic and knows how to lead the team to victory.
-
the clock lands at seven p.m. her rank is now at platinum, thanks to winter.
"i can't believe you did all of that for me. thanks, winter." jimin says abashedly, red tinting her cheeks.
"it's fine, i had nothing better to do anyways. and you're welcome." the blonde offers a blinding smile, god, jimin was mesmerized for the nth time. "well, i guess this is when we depart. see you around, puppy." the brunette waves goodbye, not knowing what possessed her to call the other girl 'puppy'.
“i think white highlights would suit you,” she mutters under her breath, but she knows the other girl didn’t catch it.
"see you around, karina."
jimin makes sure to bid her farewell to sakura who was secretly watching all of their interactions. she knew about jimin's situation with jaehyun, and maybe hopefully, winter could be the one to help the brunette in some type of way.