“What?” Yejun said, whirling around as if the danger would pop out of the bushes.
The bushes.
“Shut up for a minute,” I said, before shoving Yejun into the nearest bush just as Jihoon rounded the corner with his little sisters.
Jihoon froze at the sight of me, then a smile broke across his face and he started walking faster, tugging his sisters along. I glanced at the slightly misshapen bush, which thankfully stayed silent.
“Mina!” Jihoon said, jogging up to me. His little sisters stumbled after him, all but dragged up the hill, then peered at me with wide eyes. “Are you leaving?” he said.
I screamed internally—I could have said no and stayed here with him, but Yejun would probably find a way to join us, and that was the last thing I wanted.
“Yeah, sorry,” I said.
“No no, it’s fine!” Jihoon said quickly. “If you’re busy now, how about we hang out later? Like this Friday?”
I was scheduled for a 3:00 to 5:00 shift with Hyebin on Friday, plus studying for calculus, but I could probably fit in a date with Jihoon. It was technically work, after all, so maybe Hyebin would even let me go early.
“Sure,” I said, forcing a smile onto my face. “We could get dinner?”
The bush rustled beside me. I pretended I hadn’t noticed, but Jihoon and both his sisters turned toward it.
“Must be a raccoon!” I said quickly. “You should keep your distance. It might bite.”
Jihoon’s sisters ducked behind his legs. “Oppa, I want to go inside,” the older one said.
“We will, Jiwoo,” Jihoon said, patting her hair before turning back to me. “Yes, let’s get dinner! I love dinner!” he said. “I’ll text you?”
“Sure,” I said again. Yejun’s annoying observation kept playing in my head, making me hyperaware of my body language.
It’s just that you pay a lot of attention to him, but you seem different when you do. Sort of like you’re lying.
But I wasn’t really lying, was I? I actually wanted to get dinner with Jihoon. It was better than squishing bugs with Hyebin.
“Is she your girlfriend?” Jihoon’s younger sister asked.
“Okay let’s talk later!” Jihoon said, his face bright red. “Bye, Mina!” he called over his shoulder, dragging his sisters toward the main entrance.
I waved, making sure to keep the smile on my face until the door closed behind him.
Yejun popped his head out of the bushes, his hair tangled with leaves. “You’re lucky that my curiosity is stronger than my desire for chaos,” he said. “I could have made that very awkward.”
“And I could have punched you in the face, but it’s a good thing we’re both feeling merciful today,” I said.
“Ooh, did I hit a nerve?” Yejun said, standing up and brushing himself off. “Nervous about your pretend date?”
“It’s not pretend,” I said, heading for the shuttle as Yejun shook leaves off his backpack.
“What, I can’t even joke after you crammed me into a bush?” he said. Something in his tone had shifted—his words had a sharper edge to them now.
I paused, looking over my shoulder. “I’m sorry about the bush, but I didn’t see many other options,” I said.
He scoffed. “The option to be seen with me was too intolerable?”
For the purposes of my infiltration mission, yes, I thought, but of course I didn’t want to tell Yejun that, because then I would have to admit he was right about my mission. If I hadn’t hidden Yejun, it would have looked like we were on a date, and I couldn’t exactly tell Jihoon we were just trying to destroy the timeline platonically.
“I’ll keep that in mind,” Yejun said when I didn’t answer. He wouldn’t meet my gaze as the shuttle pulled up, and we rode in silence back down the hill.
Chapter Nine
