It's so hot to describe. Whether it came from the heat of her own body or the effect that the tattoo artist had on her. Now, Winter has two sets of tattoos on the most sacred parts of her body, which were only touched by Karina.

Even tho in Winter's mind, she saved it for her future lover, hoping it would be, and it would be only the tattoo artist itself.

Acting like it was a normal thing to do, Winter came again to the tattoo shop for the third time with a smug on her face. Her hand was occupied by a tote bag filled with a sketchbook and sets of pencils. As she set foot inside the shop, her eyes met the taller girl who was looking at her with a loud sigh and cloudy grapes.

"Seriously. You again?", Karina asked, totally bothered by Winter's frequently sudden visit.

"I had some proposals to do so I can show them to my deadly professor tomorrow. Mind if I stay for a while?", Winter smiled to her ears before sitting on the counter, uninvited.

"So you're not coming for a tattoo today?"

"Nope. Not at all", Winter answered happily, pulling out her sketchbook from her tote bag and pulling out a few pencils from the set.

"Is my shop a camping site for you to come and stay?", Karina sighed before inhaling her pod again, pulling it out and breathing out the grape flavour clouds harshly, dumbfounded.

"I think it'll be from today", Winter smiled and started dribbling some sketches on her book, sometimes glancing at the tattoo artist in between before doing the sketches again.

Dumbfounded and giving up, Karina groans and rolled her eyeballs before putting her pods inside her pocket and vanishing herself as she entered the door. Winter never knows where it leads to beside the designated working couch. The shorter girl is slightly bothered by Karina's annoyance towards her, but she knows that this place is the best for her to do her proposals.

Her emotions belong here, that's why. If she missed and failed again for the fourth time tomorrow, Winter might kick her professor on his balls for real.

The scribbles inside her sketchbook got thicker, darker, and more complicated. A figure started to show up inside her drawing, surrounded by darkness, and the only source of light is a crescent moon above the figure.

The figure itself is drawn in black but filled with white stars and lights, which tells that the figure is light itself despite her dark surroundings.

Winter felt that way the first time she saw Karina.

Cold and mysterious. Bold and unbothered. Her dim and aesthetic shop shows the owner's personality. But Karina still treats her pretty nicely despite her hates Winter is here for the third time in less than seven days.

Karina herself is a light in the darkness in Winter's eyes.

Almost done with her scribbles, Winter didn't realize she spent almost two hours inside the shop, and Karina was still behind that mysterious door. The moment Winter's done and pretty satisfied with her proposals, she put her things on the counter before making her way to the unknown door.

Nerves hit her guts as she slowly knocked on the door.

"Hey. Karina? I'm done", Winter said. But getting no answers.

"Hey. Can I... leave?"

It took a few seconds before the door clicked open, revealing Karina only with her sports bra on top and black shorts. There is sweat rolling down from the artist's neck, falling slowly to the centre of her chest as Winter's eyes follow the droplets. Winter's heart skips at the view inches in front of her face.

"You are sweating", is an honest word from Winter's automatic mouth.

"Do you even need to ask me if you want to leave or not?", Karina asked as her expression shows how bothered she is by Winter's knocking. Her brows furrow as she looks into Winter's nervous eyes.

From the slightly opened door, Winter saw a crimson-red bed just right behind the artist. The revelation made Winter into a curious mess.

"You lived here?", Winter asked, and Karina became more confused than ever. As the shorter girl pointed her finger to the bed behind Karina, the artist sighed lightly before opening her door widely.

"I lived here. Any problem?", the artist said sternly.

Winter wonders her eyes at the revelation inside this mysterious space. She saw how the crimson red bed is a queen size bed. There's a punching bag in the corner of the room. A medium-sized closet. A see-through glass walls shower and tub. Finally, a computer.

But, the computer is switched on.

"What are you doing just now that you're all sweaty?", Winter asked innocently, and Karina just glared at her, not wanting to answer her question.

"You can go so I can lock the main door. It's almost nine", the artist said enough to hit the sudden realization of Winter. It's almost 9? Did she stay at the shop that long?

"Oh great! I'll miss the last bus!", Winter scrambled to the counter again, shoving her things back inside her bag. Her house wasn't that far tho. Three stops only by bus. But because it was already night and dark, the girl wasn't that brave to walk alone to home without transportation.

"See you tomorrow, Karina!", Winter bid her goodbye to the artist before slamming the main door close as the bells chime like it usually does. Karina sighed heavily, knowing the fact that the girl would come back nonstop to this unpopular shop.

"What's your deal, Summer...", Karina sighed with her head turned sideways, which later turned into a slight confusion about her own words.

"Is it Summer, or Winter?"

The artist locks the front door like she intended to. Then she stands in front of the big mirror beside the counter, looking at her sweaty mess figure. Winter was right. The sweats are freakin obvious.

Karina sighed one last time before entering the second door, sitting in front of her computer again, playing back the video she was currently watching before Winter interrupted her just before.

A moan was then heard.

....

Winter ain't kidding when she said she hates to walk alone at night in the darkness.

She ran like a madman towards the bus stop, praying for some unknown spells as the few people on the road were looking at her in a terrific reaction. It's more horrifying for them to hear Winter's weird spells than the darkness of night itself.

When she saw the bus stop just a few meters away from her, and the bus is also there, picking up the last passengers, Winter was shouting towards them for a stop.

But sadly, the bus didn't have enough ears for it to stop longer for her. Winter was now left alone at the bus stop.

Hands-on knees. Breathing hard for air. Panting and disappointed. Winter wanted to curse the bus driver for not waiting for her, but her anger couldn't fight how much the darkness of night scared her more. She can't handle this terrifying loneliness on the night roads of Seoul.

Scared, the girl makes her shouting-praying comebacks to the tattoo shop again. Knocking on the door rough for dear life, Winter called Karina's name for help.

"Karina! Help! Open the door!"

It took a few minutes for the artist to unlock the main door, revealing herself in the same state Winter saw her minutes ago.

"Again, Summ- Winter?", Karina asked, dumbfounded.

"Help me...", Winter said between her breath. Her face is all sweaty and pale, and Karina couldn't dare to let the terrified-looking girl outside her shop longer. With a heavy heart, she invited the shorter girl in despite knowing the girl would make her tattoo shop her camping site.

Karina closed the door behind them as Winter took her seat on one of the empty chairs. The artist looks at the breathless girl full of questions, tapping her feet fast, seeking answers.

"Aren't you going-"

"I missed the last bus and the douche driver won't stop for a poor girl like me and I'm scared to walk alone at night despite my house being just two kilometers away from here and so I ran back here with my prayers hoping that no one will follow me behind my back to kill me-"

"Wooow wooow... slow down, girl...", Karina said, stopping Winter from her breathless raps. Her hands moved for Winter to take a deep breath in, then exhale it out slowly. Winter follows her instructions despite finding the acts of the tattoo artist too nice to ignore.

"Okay. What happened again?", Karina asks in her usual deep voice.

"Okay. The last bus left me, and I'm afraid to walk alone at this hour even tho my house is just three stops away from here", Winter said after calming down.

Karina doesn't want to help, to be honest. The appearance of the shorter girl itself in the shops annoys her, but if Karina leaves her there without help, Karina swears she might be the one heartless human ever to exist on earth. Maybe she might be a douche like the bus driver Winter mentioned.

"I have my bike. I can send you home"

"Really!"

See? That's why Karina doesn't like this weird girl in front of her. Her duality from being scared to all giddy scared the artist to her bones. Sometimes, when getting a tattoo, it's the opposite. From being all giddy to quiet like hell. It's terrifying.

"Y-Yeah... I'm not going to offer you stay here for the night, so I'm offering to send you home", Karina said with a visible light sigh.

"That will do! Thank you! I love it!", Winter is all giddy and happy, smiling so bright to her ears. Karina can't get a hold of what the shorter girl is thinking. She's too bipolar for Karina to understand.

Karina walks her way inside the other door, shuts it closed, and later comes back out with a new set of clothes and her brown leather jacket wrapping her upper body. Winter's heart beats at the mesmerizing view as Karina led the shorter girl out from her shop.

Karina handed Winter a helmet, and Winter wears it easily. When Winter tried to get a picture of Karina's bike, she saw how the taller girl walked towards a big black Honda bike, and it sways Winter much more for the taller girl's charms.

"That's hot", Winter blurted out as her eyes followed Karina wearing her black helmet.

"Hop on and hold tight if you want to stay alive",  Karina said before getting on her bike as Winter follows her, taking the passenger seat behind the artist.

As Karina instructed her to, Winter circles her arms tight around the artist's waist.

What a terrific night.