Late in the afternoon, Joon Young was awakened by the sound of his phone ringing. For a moment his heart leaped, thinking it was No Eul, but then he remembered that she had not forgiven him for what she saw at the restaurant. He hadn’t even had a chance to explain everything to her yet.

He lay in bed for a minute, thinking of how it had felt to wake up with her in his arms this morning and wishing the same were true now. If everything went according to plan, he’d be able to do that everyday.

But first things first, he needs to clear up the most recent misunderstanding.

There always seem to be misunderstandings…

Picking his phone up off the nightstand Joon Young checked the message that had woken him up. It was from Na Ri.

“What the hell happened last night?!”

He thought of the way he had woken up that morning, his limbs entangled with No Eul’s, and smiled happily before replying:

“Nothing. I cleaned up the mess and put her in bed.”

Less than 30 seconds later, a reply came back.

“Oh really? Then why is she asking me to set her up on a blind date!”

Joon Young froze. A blind date?

“What do you mean? No Eul wants to go on a blind date?”

“Yes. She was going on and on when I got home from work about how I should set her up on one.”

He started composing a message to ask Na Ri to arrange No Eul’s blind date to be with him when his phone signaled another incoming message.

“I told her I wouldn’t do it…. But then someone sent her flowers at work today and invited her to dinner!”

Flowers? Dinner?!

Joon Young was wide awake now, rapidly punching the buttons on his phone to send a message back to Na Ri.

“Who? Did she say yes? Did she tell you where they were going for dinner?”

“She didn’t say and I didn’t ask. I do know that they arranged to meet at the restaurant at 7pm…”

Joon Young looked at the time. 5:43pm. He leapt out of bed and hurriedly started getting ready. He had to make it to her house before she left! He knew that he probably couldn’t stop No Eul from going on the date but he could at least check out his competition, right?

----------------------

By the time Joon Young made it over to No Eul’s house, it was already 6:15pm.

He scanned the streets, looking for any sign of that familiar figure but saw nothing. He’d asked Na Ri on his way over how No Eul was getting to the date and had been told that she was walking, so he knew the restaurant couldn’t be far.

Joon Young pondered his options for a moment.

He finally decided to stay put in the car for 15 minutes and if he still hadn’t seen her, then he would go looking for her in all the restaurants in the vicinity. Joon Young wasn’t sure what he would do when he found No Eul but some monster inside of him rose up viciously when he thought of her going on a date with someone else.

Luck was with him though. Before his allotted 15 minutes were up, Joon Young spotted No Eul coming out of her building. She was dressed up. The beast inside him roared in anger.

Resuming his stalker ways, Joon Young watched No Eul walk down the street as he casually followed her. When he saw which restaurant she had gone into, he crossed the street and stood on the other side, seeking out her face in the crowd.

There.

She was sitting at the table in the middle, looking around as though she were trying to find the person she was meeting. Joon Young smiled smugly, thinking that maybe her date had stood her up, but then he saw a familiar man taking deep breaths just outside the doorway of the restaurant.

Recognizing him as the man he’d seen in the courthouse with No Eul, Joon Young’s posture went rigid. She’d told him they weren’t dating!

It took him a moment to remember all the details Na Ri had texted him. Like the fact that the card No Eul received with the flowers had not had a signature on it. S