Chapter Twelve.

Three days had passed and Winter entered the apartment with excitement in her eyes. Jieun also seemed happy as he left her side, setting a large package onto the coffee table in front of the sofa.
"Welcome back" Jihae politely greeted in a tired tone, still dressed in his work clothes. Winter thanked the man, knowing that he had only got home from work half an hour ago.
"So what's the exciting news?" Jihae asked, looking between the two rabbits and the package.
"Winter has an interview next week!" Jieun hummed in a cheery tone, the prince in a cheerful and excited mood.
"Well hopefully I will if I haven't lost my touch" she modestly said with a small smile, a blush gracing her cheeks. Jieun bounced onto the sofa that Jihae wasn't seated on, leaning forward to grasp the package.
"Can I open it?" he asked eagerly and Winter nodded, slightly surprised that the prince wanted to do something for himself instead of asking someone else. Winter sat herself next to the curious Jihae, tilting her head as the excited prince struggled with the tape. Winter removed the wide ribbon from her head, letting her ears free with a long sigh of relief. She rubbed them, the pair being sore from being stuck under the ribbon most of the day.
"So what are you trying for?" Jihae asked in curiosity and Winter sheepishly smiled, as if embarrassed about it.

At that moment Jieun pulled out a small violin case from the package, handing it over to Winter. She carefully unlatched the case, pulling out the brand new silver coated violin.
"I've applied to join a recording contract looking for a musician to make a record with their singer. I met up with the developer earlier and showed him some of my skill… he seemed interested" Winter told him and Jihae grinned.
"That sounds fantastic" Jihae praised.
"I'll be done by the summer too and I'll have enough money to rent a place of my own" Winter told him, unable to hold back her excitement. Winter plucked some of the strings, her ears twitching at the sound.
"I did not know you could play an instrument" Jihae noted, surprised that someone with her background could do such a thing. Winter awkwardly smiled, reading his thoughts like an open book.
"I learnt many things from my previous job" Winter hinted, briefly glancing at the young prince. The prince didn't know of her past and she didn't plan to tell him of it either – she was trying to start a new, fresh life now… everything that had happened before didn't matter anymore.
"I play a few instruments and have sung in the past. I mostly enjoy the violin and harp though, they have such beautiful sounds to them" Winter softly explained in a dreamy voice, slowly playing the strings as she tuned the violin by ear.
"The piece I was given to practice isn't easy though, I haven't played for around a year so I'm pretty nervous. I don't know if I'll be ready in a week but I couldn't let the opportunity pass" Winter said, shaking her head. Jihae supportively placed a hand on her knee, the feeling welcoming to Winter.
"You'll do fine, I know you will" he told her and she grinned, hoping he was right.
"Will you play for us?" Jihae asked and Winter blushed, lowly nodding her head as she finished tuning the instrument and begun to play a few tunes for them.

Time went by in a blur and Winter found herself only having one more day to prepare for her interview. If it wasn't for Jihae she would have hardly slept or had food. The company she was applying for were nice enough to allow her to use one of the rooms in their company building, the black rabbit using it every day for hours on end to try and perfect her piece. Today was different though, Jihae had the day off from work and had joined Winter. He had claimed that he wanted to keep her company as she practice and Winter was thankful at the offer, wondering if he regretted it after they entered the building. The workers there clearly knew of him already, even the owner did as he greeted the pair as they headed to the spare music room. Jihae was polite in greeting them back but it was clear he was slightly uncomfortable at the attention, the feeling of being watched putting him on edge. They could hear the younger female workers gossiping as they went by, swooning over the tall silver rabbit with dreamy eyes. Their dreamy eyes soon narrowed in jealousy as they noticed Winter walking closely next to him. Winter brushed off the comments knowing there was no need to kick up a fuss.

A few hours had already gone by and Winter was playing some of her old songs to take a break from learning the song for the interview. Jihae was enjoying his time with her, the pair talking between each other as she played. They didn't take the topics too seriously until now.
"It's a relief that you've got the next few months planned out" Jihae commented as she played.
"Yeah" Winter breathed, a pleasant smile on her face when thinking about it.
"Even if they don't accept me tomorrow for the job I've seen other companies who are looking for musicians" Winter added on looking across to the man. She saw uncertainty in his eyes and also slight worry. Winter slowly plucked the company's harp in front of her, playing a soft, slow melody.
"What have you planned?" Winter asked in curiosity and Jihae's face hardened.
"I will not be returning home, I will be staying with the prince considering Jisoo has already won" he informed her with a low, quiet voice. Winter's eyes left him as she watched her hands playing the harp.
"That is very noble of you" Winter noted quietly.
"But besides from that I don't know what I'm doing" Jihae honestly said, brushing off the thought.
"Jieun has been acting distant, I'm worried he is upset with not winning the game… He's also been requesting that he wants to do things alone" Jihae continued on, rubbing his temples.
"He's getting older and if he's going to remain in this world then he'll have to learn to be independent" Winter said, pausing her playing as she looked at him.
"I know you mean well Jihae but it's time for him to experience things alone and face the terrors on his path. To shield him away from it will only make him suffer more later on. The best you can do for him is to be there for him when he needs you" she seriously said with a soft, gentle voice. A sigh of relief left her lips as the man nodded his head in agreement; she was thankful that she hadn't offended him with her words. The pair of them remained silent for a moment, brewing over their thoughts.
"How long do you have left?" Winter quietly asked, her voice so small and timid it surprised Jihae. The silver rabbit knew exactly what she was asking – how long did they have left until the winner was granted his wish.
"Until the summer" he answered her and Winter's body slumped in defeat, her hands falling to her lap.
"Oh…" she quietly whispered, her heart dropping.
"We do not have a lot of time left then" she implied but she already knew that her words were true.
"What do you mean? I'm only going to have a part of my memory removed…" Jihae said in confusion but he paused as Winter went back to playing the company's harp.
"That's the problem" she sadly said.
"Everything that has happened here will be removed. You'll forget about the game, about the other animals besides Jieun, about me…" Winter explained.
"You'll forget about your entire time here in this world and will be left confused" she summarised for him and the realisation hit him hard in the gut.
"I… oh… I see" Jihae mumbled, lost for words and Winter's eyes closed, trying to mask her feelings.

Since arriving here Winter had told herself not to get close to anyone because she would leave as soon as she was recovered from her injuries… The problem was that she failed to follow her own advice; she was close to Jihae. As the time went by the bond between them grew stronger and stronger. She was constantly thinking of him, worrying… she couldn't deny that she didn't have feelings for him.
"Winter?" Jihae called and Winter jumped out of her thoughts, noticing that Jihae was kneeling besides her with a worried expression. Winter stopped playing the harp, a torn expression on her face.
"I…" she breathed, shaking her head.
"Its just that if I get this job then I'll only have Sundays off and…" she tried to explain but she fell silent as Jihae took a hold of her hands.
"… and I've enjoyed my time with you and the others. Letting go of my mother was the hardest thing and to see her now and again without her remembering who I am is heart-breaking. I…" Winter tried to explain,
"I'm just not looking forward for the same thing to happen again" she quietly said as she sadly tilted her head down