The classroom was dim, quiet save for the scratch of pencils and soft rustling of papers.

Late-night study sessions had become almost routine, and Winter usually handled them with ease. But tonight, her mind felt like it was buzzing with static, completely unfocused. She stared blankly at her notes, Karina’s teasing words from earlier replaying in her head on a loop.

“Hey,” Ningning’s voice cut through the quiet, bringing Winter back to reality. She glanced up, blinking as she realized her friend was staring at her, brows raised in amusement.

“What’s the answer for this one?” Ningning pointed to a problem on her worksheet, tapping her pencil impatiently.

Winter looked down, trying to focus, but her thoughts slipped right back to Karina—the way she looked in that video, the soft curve of her lips, her wink. She felt her cheeks heat up again and quickly glanced away, burying her face in her book as if it held some sudden secret.

Ningning let out a dramatic sigh, closing her notebook.

“Okay, what’s going on with you?” She leaned forward, peering intently at Winter, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.

“You’ve been in your head all day. Something’s up.”

Winter shifted uncomfortably, trying to force a casual smile.

“What do you mean?” She attempted to laugh it off, glancing back at her notes as if she could brush it away, but her heart was pounding a little too loud. Ningning wasn’t buying it.

“Uh-huh,” Ningning said, crossing her arms, one eyebrow arching in that knowing way of hers.

“You haven’t answered a single one of my questions since we started. And I know that look—you’re somewhere else entirely.” She nudged Winter playfully, a smirk tugging at her lips.

“So? Spill.”

Winter bit her lip, looking down at her notebook, suddenly feeling exposed. She hesitated, part of her wanting to just laugh it off, but another part—one she could barely ignore—wanted to share a little. Just enough to ease the knot in her chest. Taking a quiet breath, she glanced over at Ningning, then quickly looked away, embarrassed.

“It’s just…” Winter trailed off, her fingers fidgeting with the edge of her notebook, eyes fixed on the neat lines of her handwriting.

“Certain someone’s been distracting me. A lot.”

Ningning’s eyebrows shot up, and she leaned in closer, her eyes sparkling with intrigue, with knowing smile.

“Oho, someone, huh?” she teased, nudging Winter’s arm.

“Someone important, maybe?”

Winter couldn’t help but smile, her cheeks reddening. She shrugged, her voice soft.

“I guess… You could say that.”

“Tell me more.” Ningning’s voice was barely a whisper, but her curiosity was obvious. “Is it... serious?”

Winter felt a pang of warmth and frustration all at once, the memory of Karina’s voice in her ear, the teasing, the hints she’d been dropping lately. She sighed, glancing at Ningning with a defeated look.

“It’s… complicated. She just has this way of getting into my head, especially when I need to focus. And it’s not like she even has to try. Just… one look, and I’m gone.”

Ningning’s eyes widened slightly, her mouth forming a small “oh” as understanding dawned. She smirked, leaning back in her chair with a satisfied grin.

“I get it now. This "certain someone" got you in a twist, doesn’t she?”

Winter groaned softly, covering her face with her hands.

“You don’t even know the half of it.” Her voice was muffled, frustration mingling with a sense of longing she couldn’t shake.

“She’s just… been so close, and yet I can’t do anything about it, you know? And with finals coming up, it’s like I can’t even focus on what I need to do.” She let her hands drop, looking at Ningning with a helpless smile.

Ningning nodded slowly, her eyes warm with understanding.

“It sounds like she’s got you wrapped around her finger, huh? Why don't you tell President to stop, if it's too much," she said gently.

“But then, maybe that’s not such a bad thing. Sometimes, a little distraction is good.”

Winter looked away, her thoughts drifting back to Karina, her lips, the playful smirk, the promises hidden in her voice.

She could feel the heat rising again, but this time, it wasn’t just embarrassment. It was a feeling she couldn’t shake—a tension, an anticipation building inside her that was becoming harder to ignore.

“Maybe,” Winter murmured, barely loud enough for Ningning to hear, though her heart was screaming otherwise.

_

Karina sat at her desk, the light from her small desk lamp casting a warm glow across her notes and textbooks.

The room was quiet, except for the faint ticking of the clock, and she found herself tapping her pen absently against her notebook, her mind elsewhere. Her exam prep materials lay open, but her focus kept drifting—again—to Winter.

She sighed, propping her chin in her hand as her thoughts wandered. She thought back to all the teasing messages, the playful video she’d sent, the little flirty moments she’d tossed

Winter’s way over the past few days. A smirk tugged at her lips remembering the way Winter’s voice had faltered on the call, that slight breathless pause, the barely-contained frustration.

Karina had known exactly what she was doing, and admittedly, she enjoyed every bit of it.

But now, as she sat there alone, a small doubt began to creep in.

Was she being… too much?

She bit her lip, replaying their last few conversations, the little hints and innuendos. Winter had always been steady and calm—if anything, she was the one keeping Karina grounded. And Winter had exams, too, the same as her.

Shouldn’t she be helping her focus, rather than driving her to distraction?

Karina let out a soft sigh, leaning back in her chair. She’d only wanted to give Winter a little break, something light and fun to lift the stress of studying. A smile or a laugh between the notes and late nights.

But maybe, in trying to be playful, she’d gone a bit overboard. She imagined Winter’s flushed face, the way she’d sounded both eager and flustered on the call, and a warm, almost guilty feeling spread through her.

In her heart, Karina knew she hadn’t meant to make things harder for Winter, not really.

But Winter meant so much to her, more than she’d ever allowed herself to say. Every little joke and tease was her way of showing it, maybe even hinting at the depth of her feelings.

Maybe that was the problem—she was falling deeper, and it felt so easy, so natural, that she hadn’t stopped to think how her words or actions might be affecting Winter.

Shaking her head, Karina smiled a little to herself. She couldn’t just switch off how she felt about Winter. But she could ease up, give Winter a little room to breathe, to focus.

Just until exams were over, she thought, with a slight pang of longing.