Touch you | Winrina

10

Midterms come and go and finals creep up on them. Karina's fallen a little behind in two of her classes and she needs to ace her exams if she wants perfect grades. That means less fencing practice and no Winter. Which means Winter bringing other people home.

Her step sister has grown much more considerate and Karina's grateful for that. She's still loud, yes, but with her door closed and with Karina holed up in her father's study, it's much less bothersome. It is bothersome for other reasons, but Karina's never been one for people ownership so she brushes those reasons aside.

Even if they did roleplay that one time, Winter isn't hers in any way. No matter what her body is telling her. She doesn't consider Winter hers.

Or so she thinks, until she enters the kitchen one day to find some snacks for her tired brain and finds Winter chatting with another blonde girl, both of them in various states of undress. Winter is wearing her usual robe; Karina's come to think of it as Winter's morally ambiguous hero robe. The girl has Winter's shorts and a band t-shirt on, and Karina tries not to look at the way she's tracing her fingers up and down Winter's arm.

She's contemplating turning around and leaving when the girl notices her and speaks in a lovely, mild voice. "Oh. Hello." She casts a quick glance at Winter. "I'm Heejin. You're Winter's sister, right?"

Karina's eyes meet Winter's briefly and she struggles not to cringe. "Step sister, yes."

"Not even that yet, really," Winter adds. She looks as uncomfortable as Karina feels, just for a second before it's gone and she's smiling again. "Karina, Heejin. Heejin, Karina."

She's never introduced her to any of her conquests before.

Heejin is nice enough, Karina thinks. She's soft-spoken and pretty, and she doesn't look older than them. She likes tea and poetry and genuinely laughs at Winter's jokes.

Karina feels like a stranger in her own kitchen, so she stands up and leaves with a customary 'it was nice to meet you' and a long look at Winter.

The blonde averts her eyes first and Karina nods to herself as she goes back to the study.

It doesn't really mean anything, Karina tells herself. She's not sure what exactly she's talking about.

When she bumps into Heejin again, she gets her answer.

(Whatever she and Winter had, it never meant anything.)

Heejin is about to close the door to Winter's room when Karina emerges from hers, ready for her morning jog. She blinks at the blonde, surprised. No one, besides Karina, has ever been to Winter's room twice as far as she knows.

(But it never meant anything.)

"Hey," the blonde whispers, smiling at her in greeting. "Did I wake you?"

Karina looks down at herself, clearly decked in running gear and lifts her eyes to meet Heejin's again, raising an eyebrow.