Chapter Text
As she lugs her suitcase in through the cabin’s heavy wooden door, Sakura has to remind herself to smile. This shot is important, her entering the house with a naive and hopeful smile on her face, staring at her surroundings in wonder. A look that says I am kind and unthreatening . A look that says I genuinely believe that true love can develop between two strangers who are constantly on camera over a matter of weeks . This is her first chance to get the audience to trust her, to win them over. It has to be perfect.
So Sakura forces her lips into a smile, forces her eyes wide and admiring. It really is a nice cabin, if she ignores the cameras mounted on every flat surface. A fire crackles in the fireplace and the whole place is decorated in warm reds and greens. It might be nice to fall in love here…if it weren’t for the entire world watching you and a cash incentive of $100,000 dollars to fake it.
For Mom , Sakura reminds herself, for Mom and Yuto . Sakura never thought she’d join a reality dating show by choice, but $100,000 dollars could change a lot for her mom and little brother. If she can just fake it enough to get people to vote for her, she can drop the act as soon as her mother cashes the check. Until then, she’ll have to keep her head in the game. She can’t let anything distract her from falling into beautiful, intense fake love.
Sakura doesn’t have much time to strategize. As soon as she sits down on the couch the next contestant enters. And, shit , she’s pretty. Pretty and small and there goes Sakura’s chance at winning the cuteness vote. This girl is adorable, big eyes peering out from under jet black bangs. She smiles when she sees Sakura.
“Hi,” the girl comes right over to introduce herself, sitting down beside Sakura, “I’m Kim Chaewon. I’m so excited to be here.”
“Miyawaki Sakura,” Sakura nods.
Shit. Her voice is cute, too. Sakura is going to have to step her game up if she wants any chance at winning. What’s worse is that Chaewon knows she’s cute. She chatters on about how pretty the house is, showing off her charms oblivious to Sakura’s judgments. Sakura sinks further and further into bitterness until she realizes that Chaewon is looking at her expectantly.
“Sorry, what was that?” Sakura gives an awkward smile.
“I asked what you do,” Chaewon flashes a blinding white smile.
“Oh, yes, sorry, I, um, I work at a cafe,” Sakura stammers, “How about you?”
“I make videos and stuff,” Chaewon says, “I guess I’m kind of an influencer.”
Sakura holds in her scoff. So you’re unemployed , is what she wants to say. Still, with that face, Chaewon is definitely making more money than Sakura shakes out of the cafe’s tip jar at the end of the day.
“Oh. My. God.”
A loud voice interrupts their conversation. Sakura turns to see another girl coming through the doorway. Tall, blonde, with legs that might be longer than Sakura’s entire body. Of course they’re all pretty, Sakura thinks, this is for TV after all.
“Oh my God, this is literally unreal,” the girl says, “Like, I genuinely cannot believe this.” Looking over the room, her gaze lands on Chaewon and Sakura and she squeals, rushing over to greet them, “Oh my God, hi, you guys are literally so pretty.”
Sakura smiles thinly at her, a headache already developing.
“I’m Yunjin,” the girl continues, “Oh my God, we’re going to have so much fun.”
Yunjin is studying music, which sort of explains her problem with volume control. If Sakura thought Chaewon was chatty, Yunjin talks more than a douchebag guy with an expensive microphone and a podcast. And Chaewon is beaming at her, nodding along with every word. Jeez, that girl is media trained. For Mom and Yuto , Sakura reminds herself.
Thankfully, the next contestant enters, pausing Yunjin’s constant flow of words. Big shock, she’s tall and pretty, wearing a crop top that showcases impressive abs. Sakura can respect a girl with a strategy. Still, Sakura’s not going to be outshined by some abs. The girl introduces herself as Kazuha, a dancer. Finally, this is something Sakura can work with. She’s shy, a welcome contrast to the blonde chatterbox beside her, and quite good-looking. The two of them will look good together, Sakura decides. Having found her target, Sakura relaxes a little and tries to let herself enjoy the conversation.
“They can’t expect us to fall in love so quickly,” Chaewon is saying, “I mean, surely we need a few days to get to know each other at least.”
Yunjin claps her hands, “Do you guys believe in love at first sight?”
Kazuha shakes her head, “I think love is something that develops as you get to know someone more deeply. You can be attracted at first sight, but love takes time.”
“I think love at first sight was invented to sell heart-shaped chocolates,” Sakura agrees. The other three girls blink at her. Oops….too cynical?
Yunjin is the first to smile, “Are you a T by any chance?”
The girls laugh, the conversation moving on to MBTI types and, hopefully, forgetting Sakura’s slip-up. She’ll have to watch what she says a little more closely.
Soon enough, the door opens once again. The girl behind it is breathtaking. Soft dark hair, big eyes, and plump lips. She pulls out a cue card and clears her throat, turning towards the camera mounted on the wall.
“Good evening, everybody! I’m your host, Jang Wonyoung! Welcome to the first episode of Love Cabin Season 2!”
The host, already? Sakura looks around. So there are only three other contestants? The other girls look just as confused, save for Yunjin who just looks like she’s waiting for her next chance to talk.
“I’m sure you all are wondering where the rest of the contestants are,” Wonyoung flashes a winning smile towards the girls, “This season, we’ve opted for a smaller cast in order to…build intimacy.” She winks, “But the three people beside you may not be all this season has in store, you’ll have to wait and see!”
Sakura frowns. It’s only the first hour in the cabin, and she’s already dealing with more than she signed up for. Her brother’s lucky that he’s cute.
“The rules of the show are simple,” Wonyoung continues, “Every day, we’ll have something new planned to help bring you all closer to each other. Every night, you’ll pick just one of your housemates and send a message to them expressing your feelings. Only the messages will be anonymous, so you won’t know who’s secretly or not-so-secretly admiring you. At the end of the show, the couple who receives the most votes will win One. Hundred. Thousand. Dollars.” Wonyoung pauses to let the number sink in, “So…who’s ready to fall in love?”
Yunjin and Chaewon cheer, with Sakura and Kazuha joining in a little late, and the girls are sent to unpack. Sakura sets up a framed photo of her mom and brother on her bedside table and gazes at it, gaining strength from it. She can do anything for them. Even compete with small and perfect Chaewon. Even pretend to be Kazuha’s girlfriend. Even endure Yunjin’s yapping.
Speak of the devil, a knock sounds at her door and, before Sakura can respond, it opens to reveal the tallest and blondest girl of the bunch.
Yunjin stands awkwardly in the doorway and Sakura raises her eyebrows, “What is it?”
“I, um, came to see if you needed any help unpacking,” Yunjin fiddles with her hands, “But I guess you’re done.”
“Yeah,” says Sakura.
“Okay, well, um, sleep well tonight,” says Yunjin, “You’re really pretty, by the way.”
“Thank you,” says Sakura.
Too late, after Yunjin has already closed the door behind her, Sakura remembers the cameras and realizes she should’ve called Yunjin pretty, too. She is pretty, very pretty, but telling her so would probably result in another eruption of nervous babbling and Sakura’s not sure she can deal with any more of that today.
She still has to send that stupid note. They’ve been given phones to send the messages with that will conceal the identity of the sender. All she has to do is select the girl she likes and write out her message. It should be simple enough, right? Before she can give herself the chance to overthink, Sakura types out and sends a simple note to Kazuha:
It was wonderful to meet you today and I can’t wait to get to know you better.
Just as Sakura presses send, her phone dings. She’s received a message:
you are so, SO pretty I can’t even think around you🤭💗😍💌🫶🏻🤍❤️💗😍
Well…it’s obviously from Yunjin. She’s the only one who would type like a third grader who just discovered the emoji keyboard. Sakura fakes a blushing smile for the cameras and puts the phone away, settling in for the night. It can’t hurt to have Yunjin on her side, she supposes. Double the love interests should hopefully mean double the votes. All she has to do is keep an eye on Chaewon and make sure Kazuha falls hard, and she’s got this in the bag. But Sakura only got one message, and it’s pretty clear who sent it, which can only mean one thing: one of the other girls has caught Kazuha’s eye.