the takeover | Winrina

Chapter 6- The Lunch Table Mess

"Why so serious?"

Karina jumps a little on her seat, startled by Aeri's voice. She fiddles with her mechanical pencil and exhales.

"You've been spaced out for a while."

"Sorry," she murmurs, facing her friend. "I was just thinking."

They're in homeroom for the first period of the day and there's a low buzz of sound around them since Ms Bang doesn't care what they do in that time as long as they don't walk around the classroom.

"She's been staring at me since we got to homeroom, Aeri-ah," Karina explains, biting her lip. 

Hearing that, Aeri simply smirks, making Karina feel defensive.

"She's sitting in my line of sight," Karina huffs, elbowing Aeri to get that smug expression off of her face. "I mean it, Aeri. I think she's planning something and it's freaking me out."

As if knowing they're talking about her, Winter chooses that moment to chance a glance at them. She does a quick salute when she notices they're both already looking her way, a grin forming on her lips.

"Did you see that?!" Karina whisper-shouts. "She doesn't just smile when she looks at me! She usually scowls or tries to kill me with her eyes!"

"I think the lady doth pay too much attention to the new girl," Aeri jokes. Karina glares at her. 

"Honestly, who cares if she has something planned?"

"I do," Karina grunts, letting go of Aeri's hand and crossing her arms in annoyance.

"Rina, you're the smartest person I know," Aeri says, patting her leg. "Whatever Winter comes up with, you'll just come up with something even better. I don't get why you're so worried."

"I don't either." Karina rests her head against Aeri's shoulder, deciding she's done with her tantrum. Physical proximity always helps when she's feeling anxious and Aeri knows that. "She just gets under my skin."

"Don't you have that interview with Sungchan Jung today?"

"I'll just skip it," Karina says, "I didn't do it last year, and everything worked out fine."

"No offense, but last year no one ran against you," Aeri teases, kissing the top of Karina's head. "You'll be fine, baby. I have faith in you."

"Pray for me?"

"Bitch please, as if you needed divine intervention," Aeri taunts, making Karina laugh. "But I'll make sure to squeeze a prayer in for you when my family tries that new church next Sunday."

"I need it today, Aeri-ah, you suck," Karina whines, cuddling closer to her. "I'll take the Sunday prayer anyway, though."

Winter looks at them again as Karina is shifting to face forward and their gazes meet. Karina wets her lips out of nervousness but she notices that Winter's eyes lower to follow the motion.

It fills her with a... weirdly satisfying sensation that boosts her confidence, and when Winter's eyes lift back up, Karina smiles at her with a wink.

Winter rolls her eyes and turns towards the front of the classroom.

Karina just smirks.

It's pure coincidence that Karina is walking behind Yeji and Aeri when they enter the cafeteria that day. Not that they walk in a particular order, but Karina is typically the first one entering the cafeteria when they walk there together because she's always starving by lunch time. As luck would have it, she'd stopped for half a minute to confirm the interviews place and time with Sungchan as their paths had crossed in the hallway, and the two traitors had kept on going as if it was none of their business.