dot dot dot | winrina

cut to the feeling

❝ i wanna cut through the clouds, break the ceiling

i wanna dance on the roof, you and me alone ❞

‒ carly rae jepsen, ' cut to the feeling '

winter pov

"The dance is soon," Ningning mused. "They're having it early this year."

"Oh, yeah?" Winter's eyes stayed on her phone as she continued to text, her fingers flying across the screen. "What day?"

Ningning grinned. She was wearing a gray hoodie and sweatpants, and the two girls were sprawled across Ningning's couch. It was a chilly afternoon in mid-March, and the cold was seeping into the room, barely whisked away by the faulty heater. Winter was wearing a similar outfit- oversized hoodie and tiny shorts, except her long legs were covered by a fuzzy blanket and Ningning.

In the past week, things had flown by. Karina and Winter were nearly always together, in the halls giggling and talking. They texted even more frequently now, and their calls always ended with "i-love-you"'s and "talk-to-you-later"'s, to be followed up with "How'd you sleep?" and "I missed you," in the morning.

Interestingly, neither of them had asked each other anything yet, which was why Ningning's spiel actually caught some of Winter's interest. Although she was the shier type, if she could ask out Karina Yu to a dance (and hopefully to be her girlfriend also) maybe they'd be getting somewhere.

"The fifth of April, I think."

"Oh my God," Winter blurted suddenly, remembering a small detail Karina had told her. "Yooji's birthday is six days after that."

Ningning grinned again, looking up from her phone and staring at Winter. "You still call her Yooji? God, you're such an e-dater sometimes. But anyway, that's cute. Ask her to the dance, and then be good the whole week so that'll be her birthday present."

Winter laughed. "She likes the nickname. She calls me Min. It's cute. It's our thing."

"And you're her...?"

"Hers," Winter corrected. "I'm hers. That's all I know right now. And that's all I'm okay with being, for now, I guess. She's popular, and she has Heeseung up her ass, you know. I can wait."

"Girl, no," Ningning yelped, shaking her head. "The second you start thinking of yourself as secondary then it's all over. You need to prioritize you and her, babes. If she's not willing to commit yet, then you need to talk to her about it, okay?"

"Whoa, whoa," Winter interjected, shaking her head. "I don't even know if she's out yet."

Ningning snorted. "If she wasn't by then, she sure as hell is now. You two look gayer than gay in the halls."

Winter blushed, endeavoring to quickly get the subject off of her. "So how are you and Aeri?"

For Ning, "Ningselle" was a touchy subject. Aeri had hinted about her apologies, and Somi had already found herself a boyfriend in another class, so that wasn't happening again. Ningning and Aeri had met up a couple of times, but never gotten anywhere. Aeri had to actually make an effort, because Winter knew that since her best friend was so honest that way, Aeri needed to completely rework her image of the untrustworthy crush Ningning was currently preserving.

"We're going fine, I guess," Ningning mumbled. "She hasn't clarified anything yet, and it sucks because it's so obvious I still like her. She's so... like... self-aware... that it shocks me she hasn't figured this out yet. I know she did that, and if she just explained herself, then I'd feel so much better. All I want is us to fix things, so that I won't feel like a one-night stand. I want to feel important, but if she doesn't make it clear what we are or what she's doing, then I can't stay there."

"Similar boats, then," Winter shrugged. "Both have people that won't ask us out or haven't yet. Well, when the dance rolls around I might ask Yooji."

"You might?"

"Okay, I will. No way in hell I'm letting anyone else get her."

- - -

Elaborate proposals were bursting into bloom around the school in the form of serenades, candlelit dinners, and surprise flowers.

In fact, it was starting to become something of a competition. Chaewon had made it widely known that whoever asked Wonyoung would have to impress her, but Yujin had done just that. Chaewon wouldn't share Wonyoung's interests, so Yujin found them out herself, working hard to plan something out in time. She invited the younger out to watch an outdoor movie, and according to a totally lovestruck Wonyoung, gave her a sports jacket when the younger got cold. After the movie, Yujin had driven her to the beach, where they sat to watch the sunset.

As they watched, Yujin told Wonyoung everything she loved about the younger girl, every little detail she noticed and how much she liked it about her. Yujin had asked the girl to date her, and then smoothly questioned after Wonyoung's acceptance, "So does that mean you'll go to the dance with me?"

A resounding yes, resulting in Wonyoung and Yujin adorably clinging to each other at Karina's usual lunch table.

Winter also observed a difference in Chaewon's demeanor; more shy, more blushing. Yunjin seemed more confident, more possessive, almost; Winter later found out from Karina that Yunjin had invited her to a special spot and decorated it well, then sang her a song she'd composed for Chaewon. They weren't officially dating yet, but it was widely known that Chaewon was Yunjin's and Yunjin Chaewon's.

Also, the usually more outgoing Sakura was even more so now. She was happier, brighter, more extroverted, hanging onto Kazuha with a smile like the sun. They kissed between classes, cuddled in whatever classes they had together, and stayed attached to each other like koalas during lunch.

Honestly, it was kind of cute.

Interestingly, Karina was the only one without a date- which was saying something, since her fellow cheerleaders scored top picks, but there were still enough left for Karina.

However, she didn't seem interested in any- Winter counted two soccer players she rejected, one basketball player, four gamers, plus Heeseung, who Karina had simply walked right past without even acknowledging his massive, probably very expensive "I'm-sorry" setup he'd created in the parking lot.

Winter had to bite in a laugh after that, except it stayed in because now everything was up to her, to impress her crush to go out with her and go to a dance. To convince Karina Yu.

Karina Yu.

The person she loved.

"Hey," Karina murmured as she slid into the seat next to Winter, flashing her a smile that Winter reciprocated quickly. She leaned over and gave Winter a soft kiss on the cheek. "How are you doing?"

"Better now that you're here."

They'd only done cheek kisses, and the occasional, prince-type kiss-on-the-hand thing, but they hadn't actually kissed yet. Appropriate seeing as they weren't actually dating yet, but the small actions still made Winter's heart trip over itself.

Karina smiled again and took out her laptop, keeping her eyes fixed on Winter the whole way. "I love you."

"I love you too," Winter murmured, and being in a rather secluded dark part of the classroom, she pulled Karina over, and they hugged across the aisle for a moment before the teacher strode in.

Surprisingly, Karina didn't move, until the teacher looked at them both. Then, she gave Winter a lingering kiss on the cheek, then pulled away, smirking at Winter the whole time.

Winter almost asked her out right then and there, but the plan was already starting to form in her mind.

She just needed to make sure Karina didn't seduce her into spilling the details first.