The best solution I could think of at the moment was to “accidentally” miss when I tried to assassinate the politician and pray that Hong Gildong thought I was just nearsighted instead of a traitor, but surely he would either make me try again or give me something even worse to do instead.
I didn’t expect Yejun to just hand me a solution, but it would have been nice to at least talk to someone about it. The mission was obviously classified, which meant my parents didn’t want to hear about it, and Hyebin was… well, Hyebin.
“Have you ever wanted to try an escape room?” Jihoon said as we walked along the stream after school. He’d just bought me a dairy-free bubble tea, and I was gnawing on the straw distractedly.
“No, not really,” I said. “I like my leisure time to be as low stakes as possible.”
“Oh, uh, me too,” Jihoon said quickly. “I hate them, actually.”
“You can like escape rooms even if I don’t,” I said, suddenly tired.
“But I want to spend time doing thingsyoulike,” Jihoon said.
I smiled, even though it felt more like a grimace. The problem was, I didn’t know what I liked, because I hardly had time to like things. I liked not failing my classes. I liked not disappointing Hyebin. I liked getting closer to finding Hana. But Jihoon wouldn’t understand any of that, and I could never tell him.
Something bounced off the side of my head. I winced and looked up at the tree branches. A falling eunhaeng, maybe?
“What’s wrong?” Jihoon said quickly.
“Nothing,” I said, taking another sip of bubble tea. “A squirrel dropping acorns or something.”
Half a dozen eunhaeng rained down over my head.
I nearly dropped my tea as I stumbled back, glaring at the branches. But before I could curse out any squirrels, I caught a glimpse of blond hair and a sharp smile from up in the branches, shielded by yellow leaves.
I froze, unable to hold back my smile as I locked eyes with Yejun.
I suddenly felt wide awake, my whole body warm and light. Yejun was here, and he was okay.
Jihoon was frowning up at the tree, but I grabbed his arm and tugged him toward me before he could catch sight of Yejun.
“Just a squirrel,” I said quickly. “Sorry, I forgot something at school, so I’m gonna run back. See you tomorrow?”
“I can walk back with you!” Jihoon said instantly.
I shook my head, already walking away before he could try to kiss me goodbye. “No, no, I don’t want to make you late. Thanks for the bubble tea!”
I ran off around the corner and waited another minute until Jihoon was out of sight, then hurried back under the tree.
“Are you stuck up there like a cat?” I said. “Do I need to call the fire department?”
The leaves trembled as Yejun clambered down, landing easily on the path. “Cats always land on their feet,” he said with a smirk.
I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around him, crushing him in a hug. He stumbled back in surprise, then his hands fell to my back and held me tighter. Here was the only person I could actually talk to about how the world was crumbling apart in my hands.
“Wow, you missed me, huh?” he laughed.
But when I said nothing and only gripped him tighter, feeling how fast my heart was racing compared to his, he pulled away.
“What’s wrong?” he said, trying to get a better look at my face.
I clamped my hands to his jacket, not letting him. “You didn’t get caught,” I said into his shoulder.
He let out a sharp laugh. “Of course not,” he said. “I’m too fast for them.” Then he tried again to pull back, tugging some of my hair out of my face. “Did something happen?”
I glanced around the street, where people were still meandering on both sides of the road.
“I can’t talk about it here,” I said.
