WINTER SECRETS

The house was thick with tension, every occupant glued to their phone screens, refreshing like their lives depended on it. The air was heavy with anticipation, and every notification sound sent a ripple of anxiety through the room.

Then, Ava's phone buzzed. She grabbed it instantly, eyes lighting up.

"Yes!" she exclaimed, grinning. But as she read further, her expression twisted into confusion. "Wait… isn't this Henry, the basketball captain?"

Carrie, sensing the shift, walked over. "What happened?"

Ava simply tilted her phone toward Carrie, revealing a freshly leaked photo—Ryan and Adam holding hands.

Carrie blinked. "Isn't that Adam?"

"Yeah… Henry Adams," Jae-wook replied, stepping closer, arms crossed.

Leo peered over Ava's shoulder, eyebrows raised. "Not what I expected, but… I gotta say, this just got interesting."

Ava shot him a glare, but her expression quickly turned thoughtful. "Whoever is behind this isn't after Jae-wook or Carrie anymore. They're targeting the popular kids now."

"Or is trying to maneuver their way out of this mess" Jae-wook said.

Leo frowned. "Wait, isn't this the kind of drama that only happens in high school?"

Carrie let out a dry chuckle. "You have no idea."

Leo leaned back. "So… no pictures of Jae-wook or Carrie?"

"No," Ava confirmed. "Nothing at all. Julia's not behind this. Someone else is pulling the strings." She sighed, flopping onto the couch. "Poor Ryan."

Carrie stretched ignoring the sudden sympathy for Ryan that filled the atmosphere. "Great. So now that we've ruled out Julia, can I go?"

Leo raised an eyebrow. "Is studying really that fun?"

"Plus I still don't trust her" Jae-wook said with a shrug.

Carrie shot him a look. "I'm learning a lot." She grabbed her bag, glancing at them all. "And no one—absolutely no one—should interrupt me."

With that, she walked out.

As soon as the door clicked shut, Ava turned to Jae-wook. "We're definitely interrupting, right?"

Jae-wook shook his head. "No, we shouldn't. If we push too hard, Julia might start suspecting something."

Ava groaned. "Fine, fine… Anyway, we should go. We'll be late for work." She stretched dramatically. "Oh my gosh, it feels so nice to say that. 'We'll be late for work.' We're so responsible!"

Leo smirked, grabbing his bag. "Yeah, yeah. Let's go. You're on your own now, Mr. Alex."

Jae-wook scoffed. "I hope you don't return soon." He walked into his room, slamming the door shut.

Ava and Leo exchanged a look before heading out.

---

FEW MINUTES LATER.

TechCom HQ – Reports Department

Ava and Leo sat at their shared workstation, staring at an open Excel spreadsheet like it was an unexploded bomb. Their job? Review, organize, and finalize sales reports. Their actual skill level? Non-existent.

Leo adjusted his glasses, whispering in panic. "Ava, what the hell does 'pivot table' mean?"

Ava waved him off. "I don't know, but it sounds optional. Just click around and see what happens."

Leo gulped. "That's how I deleted my entire university project once."

Ava rolled her eyes. "Drama queen. We're spies, remember? This is just light infiltration."

Leo gave her a deadpan look. "You call THIS light? We're about to get exposed by Microsoft Excel."

Determined, Ava clicked a few buttons. Instantly, the entire spreadsheet collapsed into a single unreadable mess—numbers, symbols, and bright red error messages flashing across the screen.

Leo gasped. "What. Did. You. Do?!"

Ava blinked. "I... optimized it?"

Leo mashed random keys. Nothing. The data was gone.

And then, to make matters worse, their senior manager—Mr. Jack—walked by, coffee in hand. He paused, eyes locking onto their screen.

"What… happened to the quarterly report?"

Ava's brain went into survival mode. She straightened up, flashing a confident smile. "Ah! We streamlined it."

Mr. Jack frowned. "Streamlined?"

Leo nodded furiously. "Yes! We used… um, advanced data compression."

Mr. Jack squinted. "So why does it say '#VALUE! ERROR' in every cell?"

Ava tapped the screen knowingly. "That's… a custom placeholder while we implement our innovative approach."

Leo nodded again. "We call it—uh—Data Minimalism."

Silence.

Mr. Jack took a slow sip of coffee, staring at them. "Fix it." He instructed harshly before he walked off.

Ava and Leo stared at each other.

Leo exhaled. "We are so fired."

Ava smirked, cracking her fingers. "Or… we fix it before anyone notices."

Leo groaned. "Ava, neither of us knows how to fix it."

Ava spun in her chair, eyes locking onto the nearest IT employee. She flashed her winning smile.

"Heyyy, quick question—how do you recover an entire deleted spreadsheet? Asking for a friend."

Leo dropped his head on the desk.

This was going to be a very long day.

---

MEANWHILE

The library was quieter than usual, the only sounds being the rustle of papers and the soft hum of fluorescent lights. Carrie and Julia sat across from each other, books spread out, but their study sessions always seemed to turn into something more—something alive.

Julia chuckled, closing her laptop. "You know, studying with you is unfairly fun. It's like you make everything ten times more interesting."

Carrie smirked, twirling her pen. "Maybe you're just easily entertained."

Julia scoffed, nudging Carrie playfully. "Or maybe you're just incredibly smart." She leaned in slightly, curiosity flickering in her eyes. "By the way, what school did you transfer from?"

Carrie hesitated for a fraction of a second before taking a slow sip of coffee. "Baruch College."

Julia's eyes widened. "Wait—the Baruch College? That's huge! People would kill for a chance to go there. Why did you leave?"

Carrie's smirk vanished. The warmth from moments ago cooled instantly.

"I don't like to talk about it." Her voice was even, controlled—but distant.

Julia immediately regretted asking. "Oh—I'm sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

Carrie sighed, rubbing her forehead before giving Julia a softer look. She reached out, squeezing her shoulder lightly. "No, don't be. That was on me. I didn't mean to sound so harsh."

Julia relaxed, offering a reassuring smile. "It's okay. Whatever happened, I trust you made the right choice. And hey, if you hadn't, I wouldn't have met you."

For a moment, Carrie just looked at her, something unreadable flickering across her face. Then, she exhaled, leaning back in her chair as she lifted her coffee.

"That's true. Maybe some things are meant to happen after all."

She took a slow sip, the conversation settling into something lighter—but the unspoken questions still lingered between them, hanging in the air like a mystery waiting to be unraveled.