the charm | winrina

eight

Karina was so angry at Haechan she nearly missed Hyoyeon's shit-eating grin.

Except then she didn't, because they were all standing in a circle on a beach and the light wind whipped Karina's long hair around her face, ruffling her bangs, and as she peeked through them she glimpsed the host's expression. The fear instilled in Karina was only multiplied by the evil glint in Hyoyeon's eyes as she stood, her perfectly gelled hair not being bothered a whit by the wind.

"Welcome to the first-ever official recoupling of Third Time's a Charm! Will they stay? Will they transfer? What will they do with the new contestants? Stay tuned to find out," Hyoyeon crowed, gesturing at the camera. "Due to this being the first official recoupling of the show, contestants will be taken back to the villa to dress up. Tonight is the night of first impressions, people! Go big or go home!"

Karina glanced around the circle. Haechan was crossly staring at her, and she shot him an eye roll back before crossing her arms and looking around. Riki was expressionless, the contortion of his features matching Rei's exactly; they both displayed no emotion. Chaehyun's face was a mixture of smugness and confusion, and perhaps a little fear in her eyes.

Winter, however, looked like she had been... scolded?

Her face was that of a kicked puppy. Her big dark eyes were crushed and stared at the ground, and her full lips were pursed unhappily. Her hands were deep in the pockets of her high-waisted maong shorts, her head bowed, her red hair falling over her eyes. The superior attitude normally surrounding her was completely dispersed.

What the hell had happened?

Karina shot a curious look at Chaehyun, who shrugged, like I don't know.

"You will be given five hours to prepare for the recoupling dinner," Hyoyeon announced. "Your makeup teams are in your rooms. Clothing will be provided, but it is up to you in the end. Now go!"

As the contestants turned to dash for the villa, Karina caught up to Chaehyun.

"What's up with her?"

"I don't know," Chaehyun answered. "She was so... despondent... all night. In the morning too. She even asked me, 'Do you feel like I like you?' I just answered with 'Yeah,' because she was so moody I didn't know what to say, you know? She just said okay and left."

Karina frowned. "Really? That's out of-"

"Enough gossiping, girls, get a move on," Hyoyeon shooed with a laugh, and Karina sighed and quickened her pace towards the villa. Chaehyun shrugged apologetically and turned to go her way.

Karina did not, however, miss the intense, unreadable stare Winter pointed at her.

Haechan had gone with his stylists a while ago, so Karina had the room to herself. She could hear Haechan directing his crew like a sergeant from a room away, and internally grinned at all the bad ratings that would get him- ordering them around like dogs. Karina, however, wasn't focusing on that at the moment.

For her makeup style, she was going black-themed. Red-carpet-style makeup. Light eyeliner and mascara. Diamond earrings. Merlot-colored lips and hair falling down around her shoulders. Smoky eyeshadow.

As for her dress, it was small and black, with a sweetheart neckline and no shoulders. A white rose was embroidered on the edge of the dress. She wore no tights, exposing her long legs, and soaring heels, making her a full inch taller. Karina felt confident for the first time in a long time, feeling younger than she was. It was a good feeling; it blotted out all of the negativity surrounding Winter and Haechan and the show. In a photographer's words, it focused her frame; put her goals in the middle square of the grid and enhanced the pixels.

"Knock em' dead," her stylist, a sassy thirty-two-year-old named Tiffany, grinned. "You'll kill them all with this look. You look great, honey."

"Thank you," Karina said honestly with a nervous chuckle. "Anything else I need to do?"

"Walk out there looking like the prom queen and snag whoever you want," Tiffany shrugged. "It's up to you. You got this."

With Tiffany's encouraging words resounding in her mind, Karina headed down a designated path. The villa residents were not allowed to view each other before the recoupling, so she took a stairway while others took elevators and other stairs.

Karina met with a small group of crew members, who directed her to a section in the huge villa dining room. The room was dimmed, and a soothing ambiance hovered in the air, the long, glossy table set with nine places.

Nine.

There were six contestants. Nine wasn't divisible by two.

That meant that someone was going home tonight if they weren't paired up.

Karina swallowed, her throat suddenly dry.

Hyoyeon arrived seconds later and shooed everyone else in, smiling at the omnipresent camera. "Hello and welcome to the first official recoupling of Third Time's a Charm! The festivities will begin presently, with our contestants entering and taking seats at the table. A dinner will ensue, where new contestants get to know each other along with the current ones, and then the recoupling will happen! If a contestant is not picked by the person they choose, they are eliminated!"

Karina swallowed again, which was completely fucking counterproductive because Winter had just walked in.

The creative director was dressed in a beige blazer and matching slacks, a black silk vest underneath. The blazer had a black rose embroidered on the pocket. Her makeup was light and natural, but she wore blue contacts, and she had her RBF on, staring expressionlessly at the crew and contestants. And then her eyes landed on Karina.

Karina swore to God Winter's eyes slid up and down her- appreciatively?- and she smirked. Karina just rolled her eyes.

Clearly ignoring the way Winter looked, or the suggestive look the creative director was giving her.

Haechan looked fine as well- regular black-and-white tuxedo- except he looked angry at the fact that Karina wasn't a) matching with him and b) looking at Winter. Karina ignored him as well, instead making her way to the seat that Hyoyeon gestured her to.

She was planning on having an uneventful dinner until a voice next to her murmured, "What a coincidence, huh?"

A smirking Winter Kim stood right next to Karina's chair, hands deep in her pockets and a smug look in her eyes that made Karina want to both punch and kiss her.

Whoa, what? No, I meant kill her. Obviously. That malfunction had absolutely nothing to do with- 

Then Winter sat down, leaning her head against the chair, and slugged her jacket a little lower on her shoulders, exposing her arms, which weren't covered by the vest.

Karina's throat went dry again. All right, maybe it had something to do with the clothes.

"You can stop ogling me now, Yu. I know you want me."

Karina snapped out of her reverie, and unfroze enough to laugh loudly. "Me? Want you? Kim, are you delusional? That's gross."

"Is it?" Winter grinned, leaning her chin on her open palm. "Is it so gross? It seems the producers want us together too."

"What the hell do you-"

Winter flicked out a long finger, gesturing to the rose on Karina's dress, and the rose on Winter's own breast pocket.

The world froze and Karina let out another laugh, this time incredulous and shocked.

"You're... joking."

"Eyes don't lie. You, as a photographer, should know that more than anyone," Winter snickered, then pulled the plate of food towards herself, starting to eat.

Karina rolled her eyes and grabbed her own food as she ignored both Haechan's glare and Winter's snickering.

This recoupling was going to be absolute hell.