➪The Man|| WINRINA

𝚃𝚠𝚎𝚗𝚝𝚢-𝚝𝚑𝚛𝚎𝚎

Later that day...





“Jeno, wait!”


Karina jogged after jeno in a mix of sleepwear and casual wear— a oversized shirt and . She could not believe that jeno would be reckless enough to storm Jaemin's family cafe. Sure, she and jaemin were frquently at opposite terms but she still cared. It was jaemin, he needed to be cared for.



She picked up her pace, now sprinting after the male. Goodness, jeno was a raging beast whenever he felt that jaemin would be harmed. She would think the guy had some possessive problem because who the fuck hurts every person who hurts their ‘best friend’. Jaemin was hers but she would beat up someone to a pulp.



“you—” she gasped out, a clenched hand hitting his heart to urge it to continue beating. “are going to kill yourself. Aunt Na is there and you know she doesn't—”



“idiot.” jeno clicked his tongue, abruptly coming to a stop. Karina widen her eyes, running past him. She ended squeaking when jeno pulled the back collar of her nightgown, pulling her back to stand in front of him. “it's about time she knows about who her son fucks with.”



Karina spluttered, saliva landing on Jeno’s face. “fuck?! You—”


Jeno gave her an exasperated sigh. Honestly  karina may be part of the top ten but she can be an idiot at all times. “not—” he felt discouraged, “not that type of fuck. Gods, jaemin is going to kill me.” he was a man of needs but he knew what consent was.


Karina let out a relieved sigh, shoulders sagging, but that relief did not lastnlost as she recalled why she was chasing after the male. Scowling, she punched Jeno’s right arm, hissing, “then why do you want to kill winter!? For naevis sake jeno, I don't want to graduate single!”



“not my problem.” jeno showed his tongue, making karina scowl more and hit him again. He hissed in pain, cupping the stinging pain on his arm. “I trust minejong or winter, whoever they are because there is something odd about them. What if, what if minjeong does not exist?”


That could be the case but karina knew that minjeong was real. She meant, why would minjeong not be real? It's not like minjeong was a disguise. Minjeong was real and she knew it, the same way she knew winter was real.



She shook her head after a few seconds of silence. “nah, that's impossible. Minjeong is—”



“a figure of out imagination or a lie.” jeno suddenly gripped Karina’s shoulder tightly, the grip so strong that the girl feared it would snap her bones. Jeno was seething, eyes glaring at her figure. This was a new one. “I'm warning you Karina, once jaemin is hurt because of that minjeong and winter, I won't hesitate to get rid of them. The legal way or the illegal way.”













Winter stared at jaemin who was animatedly talking to chenle, the boy being weirded out by his boss' son suddenly change of personality. Then again, who would not? In fact, the story, her story, was shifting differently.


Moreover, when jaemin was busy tending the customers at the front counter, she decided to rumage through his things. His bag, coincidentally, was left in the open on the table in the employee lounge. She knew it was wrong but maybe his bag held the answer to her question.


The contents of the duffle bag was one of regular person's except for the empty medicine container. Winter lifted it up, inspecting the label. She recognized it was strong vitamins that people with anxiety and sometimes depression would take. It was a strong drug, doctors only advising to take it once a day or once a week to lessen the possible side-effects.



Side-effects, winter thought. Could Jaemin's sudden shift of personality be one of the side-effects. Was the ‘good’ jaemin the side-effect or was it the ‘bad’ one?



“yah, kim winter!” running and then standing behind her, chenleade sure to conceal his tall form behind the girl. He peeked past her shoulders to jaemin who was wondering where he went. “that na jaemin is crazy! He won't stop babying me. Do I look like a child to you!?”



Wonter turned around, scanned chenle up and down before snorting, “not one bit. Look like stressed teen with no fucking money.”



Chenle scowled, jabbing winter in the stomach. “i have enough money to buy this place.”



“and why don't you?” winter asked him.



“because of that.” chenle pointed at something behind her, making her turn around and look st where he was pointing. Her blood ran cold, seeing jeno then karina enter their establishment.



“what the fuck are they doing here?” she voiced out, crouching on the ground and dragging chenle with her. She placed a finger between her lips to signal the dolphine to keep his loud mouth shut. “shit.”


Chenle was not surprised. “you did something and that something could earn you hospital bed in st. Peter. And let me guess, you lied to those people.”



“how do you know!?” winter was, more or less, bewildered at how chenle knew.



Chenle clicked his tongue, digging his hands into his pockets before retrieving a familiar name pin. “I'm a student too, you idiot. I knew the moment you entered the lunch hall it was you.”



Winter felt faint. So chenle knew. If she was that obvious then guess what, someone else was bound to know! Gods, this was a fail of her Mulan adaptation and she wasn't even sent to a war!


But wait, chenle as a student? She never saw the boy. “you're a student? Like no lie?”



Chenle clicked his tongue, motioning to punch her. “I can just forge this pin you idiot. I sit on the second floor.”



Ah, so that explained it. Winter knew nothing about the second floor.



Wait, halt, stop!



She recalled her conversation with taehyun and soobin. Then something clicked. Chenle was with sungchan. Oh fuck, chenle was with sungchan and she never realized it. Haha, sorry.



“dang, I never realized you were with sungchan. I mean, I only recognized sungchan, not you.”



Chenle hits her for real this time. “I am—”






❝winter!❞

🧑

Winter wondered if she ever committed treason to her country in her past life because why were the people she ever encounter either congratulate her warmly or look at her like they wanted her dead. No in between and usually the latter.



She toyed with her coffee stirrer. Beside her sat karina who refused to utter a word.



After being discovered by jaemin, accompanied by jeno and karina, the bunny insisted they take a break and have some tea. Who drinks tea at this hour (it was four o clock in the afternoon) !?



Not wanting to refuse (because of jeno), chenle was quick to guide to a secluded seat at the back of the cafe near the family portrait.


Chenle was busy preparing their orders, leaving the two pairs to theur own internal predicament.



Winter's was the possibility of being caught; Karina’s was how to keep a raging jeno from killing winter; Jeno’s was how he can get rid of winter in a public setting; and Jaemin's was if the table cloth matched the cafe's aesthetic.



They had priorities.





“so,” karina pursed her lips, glancing at winter as she fiddled with her fingers. “how are you? I mean, your brother said that you live in lawa city.”



Oh the dream, winter thought. If only. “yeah.”



“but work here.” jeno cut in, wrapping an arm around Jaemin's waist. The bunny did not mind, even snuggling closer to the samoyed.


Winter would like to ask if they were a couple but then again, she already knew the answer, no.



“why is that?”


Well, here's another lie. “because there are more job opportunities in the big city. While lawa city has a good business venture on its own, most options involve fish.”



“but Chenle's family own a kitchen tools business there.” jeno replied pointedly.



Winter realized that jeno was like jaemin, sly with his questions. Relax, here comes another lie.



“really? I never knew.” this is not a lie. She really did not know that Chenle's family own that.



“jeno,” karina called over girtted teeth, kicking the man's right leg. She eyed him with a look that said drop it. She fully turned her attention to winter. “so, how's your twin?”



“he's—”



“he doesn't exist,” jeno looked at winter calculatively. “right?”



Naevis have mercy I did not covet the things in kwangya. “he exists, though, very secretive.”



“I see.” karina made sure to hit jeno on his crouch, causing the man to bite of his lips to surpress his pain scream.  “um, go on a date with me?”




The sound of porcelain suddenly clashing with each other shifted the attention to chenle who was in the middle of settling their orders on the table.



The young boy's eyes blinked. He was blinking at karina. “aren't you the girl who kept on stalking winter? ”

-𝐭𝐛𝐜-

[Suspenseful drumming] and scene! Do you think winter would go out with karina? nomin are literally couple goals (in a weird way), and damn, chenle be exposing people.  things are slowly being revealed, what would happen next? Hehe, stay tune for the next update! Hi :)