Work Text:
you like boys, i like you
there's this tune i found, that reminds me of you
you stood in front of me for what felt like an eternity
my soul aching for something that's never meant for me
Karina let out a frustrated huff and combs her hair using her fingers exasperatingly. She should stop writing these kinds of things. She closed her diary with a loud thump.
She had definitely moved on but still doesn't mean she's no longer bitter. She unblocked her ex's Instagram account for the second time that day, before blocking it again because goddamnit why can't I stop this obsessive behavior of checking her profile every single time?
Giselle, her roommate, chuckles on her side of the room as she watched the emotions change from her friend's face in a span of few minutes.
"Grumpy? Hungry? Bored?"
"All of the above." Karina huffs, tossing her phone on her bedside table and grabbing her diary again. It's another hobby she recently started, realizing she loves writing things down and she's not bad at it. However, today, she feels like the words are dancing and swirling, unable to formulate the right words from her vast vocabulary.
She stared at the poem she has recently written and gripped her pen, hoping to put in a second verse to it but it's nothing. Pure blank.
Giselle chuckles at that and just continued swiping on her phone. She's bored too.
"You know what, Rina, why don't you install Tinder or something," Giselle said, showing up her phone to the older.
"I'm bored, but I'm not that desperate."
"Come on, it's nothing serious. It's a fun way to waste your time." Giselle added. She skips to her roommate's side of the room and grabs Karina's phone, typing her passcode and installing the app herself.
Both girls know each other's passcodes for a variety of reasons, and they both trust the other would value their privacy anyway. Giselle flops down beside the girl and looks at the empty page Karina is now staring at, the said girl just clicking her pen repeatedly.
"Okay, so...." Giselle started, "-where is that picture of you again when we went to the Red Velvet concert?"
Karina rolled her eyes and kept mum. She will not go on Tinder just because she's bored.
"Found it!" Giselle yelped before going back to being serious, fingers tapping on Karina's phone. "Okay, I'll put here Karina, 21, Looking for someone awesome so I can uninstall this app." Giselle reads as she type, adding few more selfies of her roommate before hitting save. Giselle swipes right for few accounts before handing the phone back to Karina.
"There you go, wait till you get—" Giselle stops when she hears the notification before smirking at her roommate mouthing matched.
Karina stares at her phone and is unsure of what to do really.
She's not looking for a date or something, no.
But she's so freaking bored.....
She's so freaking bored, so might as well make use of the created account for her.
She knows the basic swipe left and right anyway, (which in few minutes of getting the app installed, she has already swiped right for a lot of people.)
What? I'm bored!
—But she was really surprised at how people talk in here.
Jeno, 23, 25km away
Respiratory Therapy Student
Cute enough to take your breath away, smart enough to bring it back
Jeno: Hey! So funny we matched! I didn't think I'd see you again.
Karina scrunched her eyebrows at that and looked at the picture again. She's pretty sure she hasn't seen this guy before.
You: Uh, we've met?
Jeno: Haha do you not remember drunkenly walking on my dorm?
You: What? When was this??
Jeno: Next weekend.
Smooth. She'll give him that. But if she's going to meet someone, she's not traveling 25 kilometers for them, thank you very much.
Karina ignores that one and heads over to the next message.
Fahar, 22, 15kms away
Roses are red, bacons are red, poems are hard. Bacon.
Fahar: Hello, I'm a Nigerian Prince and I can make you rich beyond your wildest dreams. I just need your phone number.
You: Haha wow that's actually smooth.
Fahar: And your bank account
Fahar: And your resident registration number
Fahar: And your mother's maiden name
Okay, well now Karina is entertained. Giselle looks at her and tells her I told you so.
Heejin, 21, 6kms away
80s music brings me back to good times like when I wasn't alive
Heejin: You into girls?
You: Yeah, you?
Heejin: Cool, are you a top or a bottom?
You: A what now?
Heejin: I'm a bottom so if you can top me, please?
Nope nope nope not going into this shit. Karina was about to close her phone when another notification came in.
Winter, 20, 1km away
I'm a cat. Meow meow meow.
Winter: halp pls
You: Umm?
Winter: oh thank god u replied
Winter: ur near me right
Winter: save me from this boring date please
Winter: *sends address*
Winter: thank u ill wait
What?
Karina stares at the picture of the pretty girl on her phone. Is this girl for real? How sure is she that someone will just randomly agree to meet her without so much context aside from save me from this boring date please?
Karina knows this girl is clearly straight and is just really looking for someone to help her get out of the mess she's currently into.
Karina knows she said she isn't that desperate, but this girl is just 1km away from her. She can just run back home if she turns out to be a murderer or something.
So Karina grabs her denim jacket over her tank top and pulls her white cap over her hair, before slightly fixing her makeup. She grabbed her wallet and her phone, checking the address one more time before heading to the door. Giselle looks at her curiously and Karina just yells that she'll be back in 30 minutes.
Karina ended up in a cafe just around the block. She looks at her phone again to check Winter's face, hoping she can easily identify the girl in the crowd. From the outside, she takes a quick look at the people inside, easily spotting the girl from Tinder luckily sitting on a window seat. She looks bored to hell, nodding absentmindedly on the guy in front of her. Karina opens the door but stops when she realized that she's not sure how she's going to crash that date.
Gosh, I didn't think this through. Karina murmurs, taking her cap off and running her fingers through her hair. Someone was about to enter the coffee shop but Karina was standing in her way, looking at Karina confused. Karina opened the door for the stranger instead before smiling at her weirdly.
Geez, I look so weird. Karina takes a sharp breath and pushed the door to let herself in as well.
She looks at Winter (and wow, she's prettier in person too) and sees the empty seat beside the girl. She crashed into it and looks at the girl excitedly.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Winter, I'm late. Have you been waiting for a while?" Karina starts, hoping the girl would at least know she was the one she swiped right to ask for help.
"Oh- oh! Yeah um, yeah just in time, really." Winter said awkwardly.
"Oh, sorry I didn't know he's going to come with us. I'm Karina, by the way." Karina extends her hand to the guy looking at them surprised.
Karina ended up ordering a large Iced Americano and talked to the girl like they haven't seen each other in a while. The girl, Winter, entertains all her questions and looks at the guy across them, silently willing for him to just end the awful date already.
The guy though is probably dense or just doesn't know what to do really. Karina sees him fidgeting in his seat, and decided to end his suffering.
"Oh wow look at the time. The movie is about to start in 20 minutes, we better run before it starts." Karina said, opening her phone to show a screenshot of a digital ticket she had already used just a week prior with Giselle.
"We gotta jet, but thanks a lot! Here's our share of the bill." Karina placed down few bills and grabs Winter's hand, waving goodbye to the guy who looks like he was just robbed.
They turned into a corner and were not able to hold back their laugh, doubling over right away.
Once everything died down, Winter looks at Karina thankfully before quickly muttering "Thank you so much for that. I thought I won't be able to get out of it."
"Yeah sure. I was just around the corner anyway."
"Well thanks again, Karina-ssi." Winter said, angling her body asking permission to leave.
"Yeah yeah, no worries. See you around, I guess." Karina said and waved back as the girl bid her goodbye.
Karina pulls out her phone and updates her Tinder profile. She laughs as she imagines the look on Giselle's face.
Karina, 21
Professional Date Crasher
-
Karina didn't think of checking her Tinder app again, thanking Ning Yi Zhuo for getting her busy on one of her projects. They were out in a street market to look for ingredients for Ningning's recipe, the culinary student asking her help once again to recreate her mom's special Korean Stew. Karina got her phone in her back pocket, both her hands holding the eco-bags of the items they bought from different stalls.
She felt her phone vibrate and notify her of another message from Tinder. She was about to ignore it when she read the notification pop up, showing the same girl she had recently saved earlier that week.
Winter: halp again
Winter: are you around the area?
Winter: *sends address*
Karina checks it and found out she is indeed a few minutes away, the restaurant Winter's at is somewhere they passed by earlier. She looks at Ningning walking in front of her, smelling spices and even tasting some. She calls the attention of the girl.
"Ning, I just need to check something real quick, but I'll be back in few minutes." She said.
"Oh, okay unnie, let me take that—" the younger said, pertaining to the eco-bags the older was holding.
"No all good, I'll bring this with me, go continue looking around." Karina said, awkwardly holding her phone in two of her fingers, not letting go of the bags. I need props. "Say, meet me in that Bulgogi diner around 5th street?" Karina said, already walking backward.
The young culinary student looks at her friend weirdly, nodding instead.
Karina smiled at the younger before running off to the address Winter has sent her, internally asking herself as to why this girl keeps going on bad dates. She recalls how pretty, no, beautiful the girl is, and Karina knows she can definitely get whoever she wanted. Not some random dudes in a dating app.
She arrives in front of the restaurant, a bit out of breath, not realizing she was walking-running all the way there. She checked the bags she's holding before heading inside to save her damsel in distress.
She sees Winter sitting on a table with a guy beside her, a little too close for her comfort. The guy was trying to whisper things on the girl's ear who looks so uneasy, and Karina wanted to roll her eyes because why can't she just stand up and leave if she's too uncomfortable?
Karina gathers all her inner self-control, takes in a deep breath, and puts on her I'm so happy to see you smile.
"Hey, hon." Karina starts, grabbing the attention of the couple on a date.
Winter smiles at her widely, relief washing on her face, and Karina almost wanted to melt on her spot.
She's so uwu!
"Hon?" The guy- who looks like he's the human version of majin-boo asked Winter, as if he's perplexed that someone is calling her date hon.
"Oh, um, she's my umm-" Winter starts, unable to put the right words she needed at the moment.
"I'm her best friend. We're doing grocery and she told me to pick her up in a few. And you?" Karina said in one breath, her intimidating look radiating from her position. She hasn't sat down yet so she's full-on towering both of them, even making an act of showing the bags she's holding.
"Well, I'm—" the guy started, his smirk growing, about to boast that she's on a date with the girl.
"—not interested. Come on hon, I gotta get this one ready for dinner. You're in charge of the dishes tonight yeah?" Karina said, cutting off the guy. "You— go home. I don't like you for my best friend. And you know what they say, you gotta pass the vibe check first. Scram." Karina said, her face falling and eyebrows arching.
Karina watched as the guy lost all the confidence in his face and almost fell on his chair, trying to get away from the scene. Karina laughs loudly as soon as the guy left, looking at the girl she has saved for the second time.
"What's with that one this time?" Karina asked, trying to get Winter to explain why she needed help getting rid of him.
"He's too pushy, and already tryna make a move on me, you may have seen some of it," Winter says. She looks at the bill in front of them and smiled when she saw the guy has paid it in full earlier so she didn't have to pay anything for their meal. She stands up and thanked Karina, motioning for the other to get out of the restaurant with her.
"So... Thank you again, Karina-ssi. Are you from around here too?" Winter asked.
"No, but I was doing some shopping with a friend." Karina said, showing off the bags again.
"Ah, makes sense." Winter hums. "Well, I should probably get going then?" Winter asked hesitantly.
"Yeah, yeah sure. See you around." Karina said, turning around.
"Uhm - Karina-ssi?" Winter calls back.
"Yeah?"
"Can I probably get your number so it's easier to reach you next time?" Winter said, smiling slightly.
Next time.
She's still planning on going through those awful dates!
"Yeah, give me your phone." Karina types in her number and hands it back to Winter.
"Thanks, umm see you around?"
"See you around, Winter-ssi."
-
It took two more weeks before Karina is done with it.
"So this mystery girl, she hasn't texted you after getting your number?" Giselle asked, munching on the kimbap roll from the bento box Ningning made for them. They decided to have a picnic in the nearby park, enjoying the way the sun is heating up their skin. Karina is lying on the blanket and staring up at the sky.
"And you met her on Tinder." Ningning probed.
"Yeah..."
"You, the great Karina, was on Tinder." Ningning chuckled.
"Yah— it was Giselle's fault."
"I was merely a humble servant, your Highness, I only did the minimum." Giselle teased.
Karina sits up and looks at the two before losing her focus because of the couple walking in the pathway behind Giselle and is that Winter?
She sees the girl look in their direction as well, smiling widely when she spotted her. She's with a guy who looks twice the size of the girl, making Karina gulp visibly when she saw Winter typing on her phone.
As she thought, she sees a number on her notification bar and the word halp? in preview.
"Ugh, Winter is still going on those shitty dates!" Karina exclaimed, knowing well the girl wouldn't be able to hear her from their distance.
"Winter?"
"Tinder girl." Karina said, eyes following the two.
"Oh, she's here??" Ningning was about to look back so Karina pulls the younger's face, effectively missing Giselle who looked at the two right away.
"Oooh can we save her this time?" Giselle said, thrilled that finally, something exciting will happen in their lives.
"No, of course not."
"We can pretend to like kidnap her or something." Ningning offers, now looking at the couple whose backs are turned from them.
"Have you seen the dude?" Karina exclaimed.
"Well, how about we pretend there's an emergency, and you have the same blood type and only her can save you?" Ningning said instead.
"That sounds like a shitty fanfic prompt there, Ning Yi Zhuo." Giselle countered.
"You— come with me. You— stay here, the birds will eat our food." Karina said, pointing to Ningning first, then Giselle.
Giselle pouted and huffed in annoyance. "I want to join too!"
Ningning chuckled. "Go, I'll stay here." Giselle smiled widely at that and hugs the younger.
-
Karina and Giselle followed Winter and his date around the park at a safe distance. They should have thought this through before following them, but seeing Winter's panicking expression is enough to rush Karina out of a plan.
"Let's do this." Giselle said, sipping on the straw of her iced tea. "Go behind them. Then play along."
Karina looks at Giselle worriedly, unsure what the other was planning. She moves to walk behind the two, almost two arm's length away from them when she heard Giselle yelling from a distance.
This caught the attention of the couple on a date.
"You bastard!" Giselle yells, looking at the guy who got his eyes wide as if he was caught with his hand on the cookie jar.
"You— fucking— douchebag!" Giselle yelled, pausing in between the words, and the guy steps back a few steps before looking at Winter apologetically.
"After everything—" Giselle was about to continue when the guy cut her off.
"I'm sorry, okay! I mean, wherever it is that I left you, I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" The guy said profusely, both hands clasped in a way to show how apologetic he is.
"You—" Giselle almost broke her character but realized how jerk he is if he doesn't even remember the girls he dated, even guilty that he thinks he actually ghosted Giselle in the past.
"I'm calling the police." Giselle made the action of dialing a number on her phone before the guy literally sprints away from them.
"Wow, that's a running red flag right there." Giselle jokes as she stares at Winter looking at her wide-eyed.
"I— umm"
"Oh, I'm Giselle, I'm Rina's friend." Giselle offers her hand, to which the younger shakes unconsciously.
Karina caught up to them chuckling. "How long have you wanted to do that?" She jokes.
"I know! My life is no longer boring, thank you!" Giselle answers, chuckling as well.
"I— well, I'm Winter." the younger murmurs, mostly for Giselle. "Thank you for saving me..." She looks back to Karina, "..again."
"Why do you keep on going through shitty dates though?" Giselle said, earning a surprised look from Winter.
Karina looks at Giselle reprimandingly.
"Sorry, she's just— umm"
"No, umm she's actually right. I— well, to be honest, I don't know either." Winter admits. "I guess, I'm just trying to find who can get me, you know." Winter continues.
"Are you straight though?" Giselle comments again.
"Gi!"
"What? I'm just saying, maybe all your dates were shitty because they're guys. They're normally shitty... No offense to them."
"That's literally offensive already." Karina warns.
Giselle raised her hands up in surrender. "Okay, at least one out of ten is okay, but it'll take you a while to skim through all of the ten guys to find one."
Karina looks at Giselle pointedly.
"Okay okay! I'm heading back to Yi Zhuo. Nice meeting you, Winter."
Giselle runs back to their picnic place, leaving Karina standing awkwardly in front of Winter.
"I'm sorry about that. Giselle can be a handful sometimes."
"No, it's okay. She's right though, I should stop going on to these shitty dates." Winter sighs.
"Uhm, anyway. Do you want to join us instead?"
"No, no. I don't want to impose."
"You're not imposing on anything. Come on!" Winter was not given a chance to answer as in two seconds she's already being pulled by Karina.
-
"You—"
"You?"
"You know each other?" Giselle looks at Ningning and Winter, looking like they both have seen a ghost.
"Well, long story." Ningning murmurs.
"We have all day." Giselle prods. Karina looks at them curiously.
"We umm. We kinda dated once?" Ningning said, cringing on her own words.
"You did what??" Giselle asked, surprised, looking at Karina, then at Winter, then Ningning.
"Well—not really dated dated but you know..." Ningning explains.
"No, we don't know. Did you know she's the girl Rina was telling us about?"
"No, God, no. You said her name's Winter?" Ningning asks, looking at Karina. The older girl nods.
"Well, that's my fault. I— my name is Minjeong, but I just use Winter for umm Tinder."
"Huh, so you ended up dating guys then." Ningning comments, not really in a condescending manner, but rather merely stating the fact.
This is awkward. Giselle mouths to Karina who just shrugged at her.
"Umm..." Winter awkwardly shifts in her place. "I think I better go. Um, thanks again."
Ningning just looks at the girl with no expression at all, whilst Giselle was almost ready to prevent Winter from leaving.
"Okay, text me if you need me?" Karina said instead, keeping Giselle in place.
"I will, thank you."
-
"oKaY tExt mE iF yOu nEeD mE?" Giselle teased Karina as soon as they're back in their room.
"Shut up." Karina grunts.
"The next girl who caught your interest ended up being an ex of one of your best friends." Giselle continues to tease. "Sucks to be you, I guess?"
"Ugh. I don't know Gi."
"Let me guess. When she gave you her number, you've already made up scenarios in your head like her texting you right away, you goin out on dates, you actually dating, moving in together, getting married, and having kids?"
"Wha- I— what are you even— you- Shut up Gi!" Karina scrambles and can't deny that she indeed thought of those things.
She can't help it that she tends to fall in love with strangers. She once sat beside a cute girl on a bus and she already imagined their life together, only to get heartbroken when the girl jumps off the bus at the next stop, leaving Karina not even the name or one word from her.
Yes, she's like that.
"You totally did. I know you so well!" Giselle flips her hair at that, chuckling.
"What do you want me to do now?" Karina grunts in her bed.
"Go back to Tinder and find someone else to dream your future with."
-
Renjun, 21, 16km away
Nurse
Last time I was someone's type, I was donating blood.
Renjun: can i ask u a question
Renjun: do u like raisins?
You: Why do i feel like this is a trick question?
Renjun: no tricks here i promise
You: I love raisins!
Renjun: shit, i just checked, no raisins avail here
Renjun: can i offer you a date instead?
You: Color me impressed :)
Renjun: soooo...
You: Yeah I don't think it's a bad idea.
Renjun: really? can i maybe have ur number then?
You: Sure, it's XXX-XXX-XXX
"You're going out on a what now?" Giselle looks at her roommate, shock evident on her face.
"A date, Gi.... A date."
"With a guy....."
"Yes, a guy."
"But you're gay."
"No, I'm bi."
"Are you doing this just so you'll get over Winter?"
"What do you mean—what- Gi! I don't need to get over her, we didn't date?"
"Oh so are you still trying to get over Yeji then?"
"Ye— what? I haven't even thought of her for like- months now! Haven't even stalked her IG in a while."
"Uhuh... exactly sweetie, exactly."
Karina scoffs at her friend before looking back again at the full-body mirror in their room. She's wearing a yellow sun-dress cut a few inches above her knees, showing her long, slim, hourglass figure.
"I'd whistle if I can, damn girl."
"I'll be back around 8 so don't wait for me, eat dinner okay?"
"Yes mom."
-
Surprisingly, the date was nice.
Renjun was nice too. He was a complete gentleman, brought her roses, paid for their meals, took pictures of her.
They had bonded over a lot of things, having the same music tastes, same literary choices and they both love Sidney Sheldon.
"What's your favorite Sidney Sheldon book?"
"It's a crime to ask that."
"Exactly my point. This is why no one gets me, you can't choose one!"
By the end of the night, Renjun drives her back to her apartment and kisses her on the cheek, hoping for a second date.
Karina agrees right away.
Well, that wasn't bad.
Karina arrives at their dorm to see Giselle and Ningning bundled up in the older's bed.
"How's the date?" Yi Zhuo greets.
"Let me guess, awful!" Giselle cuts her off.
"It was surprisingly nice, we're going on for a second one." Karina smirks at the reactions of her best friends.
She changed into more casual clothes and joined the two.
"What are you watching?"
"Wynonna Earp."
"Oh my God, I love Waverly!"
"Yeah, sure, you little gay."
Karina rolls her eyes at that.
"You know what, Jimin-unnie... If you really like Minj—Winter, why not try with her?" Ningning said after few minutes.
Giselle looks at both of them knowingly.
"What- ha ha ha I'm not- it's not-"
"What happened between you guys?" Giselle said, saving Karina from her embarrassment.
"Well... She was nice, really." Ningning starts.
"Oh nooo, is she a serial killer? A psychopath? Or worse.... does she like pineapples on pizza?!" Giselle jokes.
Karina rolls her eyes at Giselle's antics.
"No, no, she had been nothing but awesome." Ningning explains. "It's just that... you know that feeling when you want to hug your sibling, or your cousin, or like the feeling when I hug you guys..." Ningning continues. "That's what I feel about her. It's so weird."
Karina nodded at this. She totally understands. She had been on few dates like those as well when she was sure they're better off as friends.
"Then, I know she was having a hard time figuring out what she really wants.. and I was not of any help because I just made her more confused because apparently, she felt the same way. So I kinda umm told her to date... guys... just to umm see?" Ningning added, voice getting softer and softer.
"So basically, you're the reason why she's going on those stupid dates." Giselle summarized.
"This is awkward." Ningning said.
"And I pushed Rina to go back on Tinder so she can date someone else because apparently, we thought you had a serious history and we didn't want to get awkward even though you're not exes." Giselle mumbled.
"Apparently."
"Apparently."
"Stop saying apparently, I keep on picturing that kid on youtube who keeps on saying apparently."
"Apparently."
"Ugh."
-
A week after the first date, Renjun has called Karina to schedule the second one. It was a no-brainer really, they enjoyed each other's companies and they're bound to go on another one, get to know each other better, date exclusively, marry, have kids, and die together.
Except for this time, Renjun was asking her to go to a bar.
It's weird, from that fancy dinner they shared, to a night in a bar?
But hey, at least she's no longer moping in their dorm room, stalking her ex and writing non-sense in her diary.
Karina likes to think she's a sophisticated adult, about to graduate from college in a few months' time, and is ready to deal with the adult world.
Except for bars, apparently.
Ugh, stop saying apparently!
She asks for a soda in a can from the bartender who wanted to offer her something alcoholic to loosen up. She shakes her head at that and insisted on getting the soda, rolling her eyes because some guys are really just so pushy.
She opens the can and lets the carbonated drink quench her thirst, knowing she's better off chugging water but hey, she's on a club.
She lets her eyes roam around to look for Renjun- she hasn't seen the guy for a while now, lost him when he said he's just going to the bathroom.
She sat at the counter and watched as all those drunk people let their inhibitions go, grinding on the next person they see, probably getting touched in inappropriate places.
"Too noisy for you?" Karina hears someone whisper from behind her, a little too close for her comfort but relaxed a bit when she saw it's a girl.
"Yeah, a bit," Karina answers hesitantly, unsure what the girl wants.
"Do you come here often?"
"No, it's my first time here actually."
The girl looks at the soda in her hands, Karina following her eyes as she does.
"You're not drunk enough to be here." The girl chuckles.
"Yeah, I don't really enjoy drinking."
"Who are you with?"
"Umm, with my- well, with someone. He just went to the bathroom."
"I don't see him coming back anytime soon. He's been in the bathroom for almost an hour now?"
"Well- I"
"Tell you what, let me buy you a drink, just so you don't feel out of place here." The girl signals for the bartender who nodded in their direction.
"I don't really think-"
"I insist." The girl said, and Karina ended up nodding.
Now, Karina is a lightweight. There's a reason why she didn't want to drink at all, maybe that's why her date, what's his name again? Ren- Reni- Rej- whatever that guy's name is left her because she's boring and she's not drunk.
Now she's on her third bottle of uhh, she can't read the label but she knows it's alcoholic, and this girl just keeps on buying her drinks as soon as she finishes one.
"So is he your boyfriend or?"
"Haha funny you said that! He- *hiccup* he, uhh I can't remember his name- *hiccup* is not-- not my! my uhh boy- *hiccup* friend."
"Easy, easy." The girl comes forward as Karina stumbles on her seat, grabbing her elbows but doesn't let go.
"Do you want to get out of here?" The girl asked and Karina knows that specific sentence is something she shouldn't trust.
"Are you *hiccup* going to uhh *hiccup* uhh bring me *hiccup* home?" Karina asks instead.
"Yeah, yeah totally. I'm bringing you home." The girl smirks and Karina nodded.
"No, I don't think you are." A voice said from behind them, startling the girl.
"Who do you think you are?" The girl said, voice rising a bit.
"I'm the one taking her home." Winter said, looking worriedly at Karina.
"Fuck off, she's with me."
"She's not. She's coming with me. Come on, Karina-ssi. You're drunk."
Karina heard her name being called, so she tries to open her eyes but everything is just blurry.
"Who- who are you?" Karina asked.
The girl huffed. "See, she doesn't even know you."
"Karina-ssi, come on. It's Winter."
"Wint *hiccup* Winter? Winter? Ha! Winter!" Karina exclaims. "The girl I keep *hiccup* on saving from *hiccup* shitty *hiccup* dates!" Karina exclaims again and Winter laughs.
"Yes, that girl. You need to come with me. You're drunk."
"I am not *hiccup* drunk!" Karina said. "Ask the *hiccup* nice lady here. Right? I am *hiccup* not drunk!"
The girl smirks at Winter before moving forward again, trying to pass by her.
"I told you she's coming with me." Winter said, blocking their way.
"Oh fucking- come on, she's coming home with me."
"Win *hiccup* Winter? Why *hiccup* do you go *hiccup* on shitty dates with *hiccup* guys?" Karina yells amidst the noise. "You should *hiccup* date me *hiccup* instead! I'm a nice *hiccup* girl!" Karina whines and Winter laughs again.
She looks at the girl holding Karina, raising her right eyebrow.
The girl mutters profanity but lets go of Karina, aggressively bumping on Winter's shoulder as she leaves.
"Come on, hiccup girl. Let's get you home."
-
Karina wakes up the next day with a terrible headache.
Groaning from underneath her covers, she was suddenly wide awake when memories of the past night came back to her.
Well, not totally but fragments of it.
"Hic- hiccup girl?"
"Good morning to you too Rina." Giselle looks at her from the other side of the room, feet dangling from her bed.
"Oh God." Karina groaned and looks at her phone to see the time.
"It's lunchtime already. I made you soup. Do you want me to heat it up for you?" Giselle offers, standing up.
"Yes, thank you, Gi."
"So..."
"..."
"How was your date?"
Here it comes...
"I can't remember half of it." Karina groans, getting up and heading to their bathroom.
"Do you remember how you got home?" Giselle yells from their mini-kitchen.
Karina splashed water on her face, trying her best to recall what happened that night.
She went on to brush her teeth, eyes closed, letting out frustrated groans every now and then.
After freshening up, she heads down to their mini-kitchen and waits for Giselle to finish heating up the hangover soup.
She smiles thankfully at the other girl as soon as the savory flavor hits her nose and mouthes thank you at her friend when she saw her sliding her some hangover medicine in a bottle.
"So... going back to my question." Giselle starts again."Do you remember how you got home?"
Karina whacks her brain for last night's memories and almost burnt herself with the soup when she finally remembered what happened.
"Oh my God oh my God oh my God that's so fucking embarrassing!" Karina said, standing up and walking back and forth, wiggling her arms.
Giselle chuckles across her.
"She left this for you." Giselle said, pointing the bottle of hangover medicine beside Karina's soup.
"Oh my God, that was the worst night of my life!" Karina exclaims.
"Huh, I'd like to think it isn't." Giselle comments. Karina looked at her unimpressed.
"What? You came home literally in that girl's arms, your face buried in her neck and you're telling me you had the worse night?"
Karina panics again, running back to her bed to grab her phone.
She opens it up to check if Winter left any messages, smiling when she saw a simple "don't get drunk again, hiccup girl" message from the other girl.
She checks to see if Renjun has left any messages or was even looking for her and wasn't even disappointed that the guy didn't even bother checking up on her.
Ugh, so much for dating shitty guys.
-
Now, Karina thinks they should have moved pretty fast after that drunken incident, but she hasn't heard from Winter after that.
Radio silence.
Karina kept on asking Giselle for details like "did I throw up on her?" or "Did she have to carry me?" or "did I do anything stupid--well aside from everything else I did?" trying to figure out if she did something that could have scared the girl.
Giselle kept on telling her no and told her to just wait for Winter to call her again for her next shitty date.
Karina didn't appreciate that joke. Not one bit.
Because as soon as Giselle said that, her phone dinged, the word halp? popping in her notification bar.
So here she is, contemplating whether she should actually go and save this stupid-ass girl who just keeps on going into all these stupid-ass dates.
"Just go and save her, Rina. It's like the third or fourth time now, right? You'll end up making a career out of it." Giselle jokes again.
"She's right unnie. Besides, you still haven't thanked her for saving you on your shitty date. So I guess it's fair to go." Ningning agrees.
"I'm supposed to thank her? I have been saving her since forever!" Karina exclaims, earning chuckles from her best friends. "But ugh. I hate that you're right."
The girls looked at each other knowingly.
"I just hate it that she keeps on going out with dudes when she's clearly gay like me!" Karina huffed.
"You're bi." Giselle reminded.
Karina rolled her eyes.
Ningning walked over to her closet and pulled out Karina's typical denim jacket, tossing it to the older.
"Go."
Karina grunts but pulls her denim jacket over her white tank top. She grabbed her gray cap over her hair, before quickly grabbing her favorite tube of red lipstick.
She stared at the address on the phone and realized it's the same cafe where she first met Winter.
She bids goodbye to her best friends and tells them she's going to be back soon.
"We hope not!" Giselle yells back.
-
Karina stood in front of the same cafe around their block, peeking from the glass windows to see where the girl is seated. There aren't many people inside but she can't see Winter, so she decided to head inside right away.
Karina removes her cap, running her fingers through her hair. She looks around to see where Winter (and whoever her date is) is seated, making up scenarios in her head on how to get her out of her date.
From the farthest table, she sees Winter waving at her, Karina's eyes dropping on the bouquet of roses across Winter on the table. She looks around to see where Winter's date is, seeing the seat is empty.
"Hey, hiccup girl."
Karina rolls her eyes at that. "Hey, you." Karina sits down beside Winter and looks around again.
"Where's your shitty date?" Karina asked when she realized no one seems to be heading to their seat.
"Don't say that. My date's not shitty." Winter pouts and Karina felt her heart hammering in her chest.
This girl...
"Then why are you asking to be rescued if you're having such a good time?" Karina said, unable to hide the spite in her voice.
"Well.. for starters, my date just got here." Winter smiles. She stands up and walks around the table to get the bouquet of white flowers, handing it over to Karina.
"Wha- what?"
"I'm sure we're going to have a good time. The moment my date sat next to me, rather than across me, I knew then we'll have a good time."
Karina looks at Winter, confused. She looks at the flowers in her arms, looks back at the girl, and looks around the cafe again.
"Wait, shit. Umm, wait!" Karina said, putting her hand in front of Winter as if asking her to pause.
"I'm- I'm the date?" Karina asked, slowly, afraid she'll jinx it if she say it too fast.
"Yes, do you believe me now? That my date isn't shitty?" Winter smiles at her, and Karina swears she can hear wedding bells.
"So much for falling in love with strangers." Karina whispers.
"What?"
"I said, I'm so glad you stopped going on shitty dates, Winter."
"I'm so glad I went on those." Winter said instead, earning a confused look from Karina.
"Because I wouldn't have met you, hiccup girl. Duh."
-