Chapter 36: Let Us Meet Before the Last Snowfall

"Unnie, you're finally back."

"What's wrong? Why are you looking at me like that? Did something happen?"

"Nothing, just curious. Where did you go after leaving the company?"

"I... I went to see a friend."

The girl's face suddenly flushed bright red. She shrank her neck, covered her face, and scurried into her bedroom. She hoped that by hiding, she could make everyone ignore the guilty conscience she was feeling at that moment.

"How could I... say something like that!"

Karina buried her head into her quilt, pounding the mattress beneath her while letting out a stifled groan of misery.

"Why did I have to bring up cooking ramen..."

Curled up in her small cocoon of blankets, Karina smacked her lips, still feeling a lingering sense of embarrassment. Not only had she talked about cooking ramen, but she had actually put it into practice tonight after finishing work. Even though she had done the "naughty" deed while that guy hadn't even had a chance to get home yet, it was still enough to make her want to hide from him for a while.

"What's wrong with Unnie?"

At the doorway, two younger girls were huddled together, gossiping about the commotion inside the room. What was going on? She had suddenly disappeared, then suddenly reappeared. Now, back in the dorm, she was diving under her covers and wailing. Did she run into some kind of trouble?

"Maybe she's playing games?"

"Unnie seems to have been playing 'Gardenscapes' a lot lately. Maybe she's stuck on a level?"

"You share a room with her, you should remind her. It's best if she sleeps early and doesn't stay up late. She can't keep holding her phone and playing all the time."

"She has to actually listen to me for that to work." Ningning couldn't help but roll her eyes. It was easy enough to move her lips and talk, but getting Karina—who always had a mind of her own—to listen was a very difficult task. Was she really going to be able to lecture their leader about playing games? Obviously not. Was there anyone who could actually get Karina to listen? Perhaps... but they might not even be born yet.

Unfortunately, both Winter and Ningning outside the door had guessed wrong. Karina, lying on her bed, was indeed on her phone, but she wasn't playing a game. She was...

"Thank you." Lim Soo-ha’s calm voice came through the earphones.

"Are you being so polite?"

Karina stretched, feeling languid, her eyelids growing heavy.

"It’s nothing," the man paused, then added, "It was delicious. I ate the ramen in the pot as soon as I got home."

Lim Soo-ha was likely exhausted from just finishing an event; the fatigue in his voice was unmistakable.

"Did you just get home?"

"Yes, that commercial performance this afternoon took a long time."

"You worked hard. But is it really okay for your throat to be eating spicy food?"

"Don't worry."

"Alright, so are you getting ready to sleep now?"

"I need to tidy up the place and organize my instruments."

Even though his throat was clearly weary, in front of the girl he liked, Lim Soo-ha still forced himself to sound energetic. They say the end of the year is a hellish schedule. Lim Soo-ha believed it now. From the week the music programs paused, he would wake up, hop into a car to travel for various schedules, and as soon as he got home, he’d just want to close his eyes and sleep. Tsk, he didn't know how the seniors managed to endure it.

"Do you have a schedule tomorrow?"

Karina rolled over, adjusted her sleeping position, leaned against the pillow behind her, and let out a lazy yawn. It wasn't time to sleep yet, and her teammates were lounging on the living room sofa, so she could speak a bit more freely.

"Yes, there are many multi-artist stages I need to participate in." The man shook his head with a smile. To have a place in this fiercely competitive industry, he had to, as Lee Do-hyun once said, seize every single opportunity.

"That's so nice." The girl bit her lip, her focus drifting. It’s so nice to still have schedules to run. In a year that everyone called the "Golden Age of Girl Groups," Aespa had been forgotten in a corner. While everyone else was screaming over collaborative stages on TV, they, having obtained the livestream account from the company, could only beg their fans for another chance, promising they would do better next year.

"It’s so nice to be able to eat the ramen Jimin cooks."

Seemingly sensing the disappointment in Karina's tone, the man chuckled and imitated the girl's voice, successfully diverting her attention.

"Hey."

"That ramen stuff..."

"Tsk."

The guilty girl covered her face. She hadn't meant it in that way, but the more she said, the more wrong it sounded. It was better to just shut up.

"You should eat less ramen."

Lim Soo-ha took the lead, giving her a chance to step down gracefully. After all, it was high-calorie food; for artists like them, it was best to avoid it as much as possible.

"Right, that’s exactly what I meant."

"And play fewer games, too."

"Games are different. Games don't affect your health."

"But they affect your sleep."

"You need to sleep earlier."

Lim Soo-ha had noticed the dark circles under the girl's eyes yesterday; they were clearly marks left by frequent late nights. While it didn't detract from her beautiful face, it would inevitably affect her health.

"Why are you so chatty?"

It was fortunate that she had a special filter for Lim Soo-ha; no matter what he did, she felt like she was being cared for. If Lee In-ro were in Karina’s shoes, she probably wouldn't have been able to keep the conversation going for more than a few sentences. Who chats with a romantic interest like that? Everything he says is about her health; he doesn't seem to care about anything else. For example...

"Jimin-ah."

"Hmm?"

"Shall we meet?"

"Didn't we just see each other yesterday?"

Having reached this point, the inexperienced Lim Soo-ha didn't know what else to say. He was just a beginner when it came to matters of the heart.

"Hehehe." The girl's crisp laughter rang in his ears.

"Soo-ha-ssi, come out and see me." Karina, standing at the intersection, sniffled and pulled her coat tighter.

"Where are you?"

Hearing this, Karina tucked her chin into her collar and looked around for a landmark building.

"Where do you think I am?"

The girl became playful again. She looked at a building not far away and narrowed her eyes.

"I... I don't know."

The man put down his instrument, not caring about anything else. He grabbed a long trench coat and a beanie, then pressed the elevator button.

"I am..."

The girl's gaze was fixed on the top of that building, where a sign lit up by LED lights hung. She cleared her throat, but her voice still carried a smile: "I'm at LOEN. How about it? Come meet me."