MINJEONG doesn’t look really pleased with her partner and her partner doesn’t look pleased with her as well. The activity was really exciting but they didn’t seem hyped at all. 

“Why am I stuck with you?” Seungwan asked in a very tired voice. “I came here for Seulgi but I am always stuck with you.”

”Do I look happy?” Minjeong responded with the same energy. She then looked at Jimin’s way where the girl was happily chatting with Minjoo. “Jimin should’ve been my partner in this, not you.”

After Yerim chose Yujin, Seungwan was about to pick Seulgi after receiving the same courage from the other girl when the writer quickly picked Joohyun as her partner. Joohyun was pretty surprised that she got picked, she even swatted Seulgi’s hand that was reaching out to her. But in the end, she was really happy that Seulgi picked her though she can’t just let her grumpiness subside for now.

Since Minjoo isn’t close with Seungwan at all, Jimin chose to be with Minjoo. Though Minjoo was still awkward with Jimin because she’s Yujin’s love interest, she has already proven that Yoo Jimin isn’t a bad person at all and she doesn’t have anything to be irritated with. In the end, she has proven that her best friend has a very good type. She just doesn’t look at the appearance. 

That brought the cousins together in one kayak. Both of them have no progress with their pursuits at all. 

“I shouldn’t have told you about this trip.” Minjeong sighed. “You’re a baggage to me.”

”Hey!” Seungwan sprinkled water at her cousin. “Don’t be like that! I was really happy that you told me about this. I didn’t want to be a burden to you.”

Minjeong let out another sigh. “They look like they are having fun though.” 

Seungwan followed where her cousin was looking and her eyes had to squint. Seulgi was laughing heartily while she took pictures of Joohyun. The latter was still frowning and was trying to stop Seulgi from whatever she was doing. 

Joohyun’s voice can be heard all over the place and so was Seulgi’s laugh. Seulgi almost dropped her phone in the water when Joohyun swatted her hand. Their boat rocked heavily when they tried to catch the said phone. Seulgi managed to save her phone and Joohyun felt sorry after what she had done. 

But Seulgi didn’t seem to mind what happened. She patted the other girl’s head to assure her that everything’s okay. After realising that she let go of the grumpiness momentarily, she gave Seulgi an uppercut that took off Seulgi’s cap and sent it to the waters. The two shout in chorus, staying loud while trying to salvage Seulgi’s cap.

”They look like an old married couple.” Minjeong commented. “They are like my mum and dad. Mum always gets grumpy with dad’s antics. Just like how Prof. Bae gets pissed with all the things Prof. Kang is doing.”

Seungwan remained silent. She could see what Minjeong was talking about. The two are indeed like a married couple. They aren’t like couples who are constantly sweet with each other but would eventually break up in the end. Their relationship is more than that. It’s not shallow like what everyone is thinking.

”I don’t like to admit it but they do give that impression.” 

Minjeong suddenly heard a sob which made her look at Seungwan. ”W-W-What? W-Why are you suddenly crying?”

“I am not crying!” The older girl shouted which made the younger girl roll her eyes. “I am just really frustrated and confused right now.”

The actress wiped her tears before looking back at Joohyun and Seulgi again. “No matter how you look at it, Seulgi is indeed in love with Joohyun. She treasures her a lot. She loves her even without admitting it. She loves her even without clearly saying it. It’s very obvious. She’d choose Joohyun over anyone else. I just don’t understand… She directly denied Yerim-ssi but couldn’t deny Joohyun at all. That just means one thing but…”

Seungwan brushed her hair backwards, pulling her hair a bit to relieve her stress. “What’s keeping Seulgi from telling her? What’s keeping Seulgi from being true to her feelings?”

While Seungwan was busy trying to calm herself, Detective Yujin was already in the move in solving the case. She and Yerim went a little far away from the others before taking a rest from rowing.

“Phew~ That was quite a workout.” Yerim sassily wiped the sweat from her forehead while Yujin looked at her in disbelief. All the rowing was done by Yujin in the first place. “Let’s start with the main agenda? I believe we don’t have that much time to talk.”

Yujin straightened up her back after that initiative from the older girl. “So, are you—“

”Seulgi-unnie’s bride? Definitely not~” 

The younger girl’s eyes widened after that straight to the point statement. “Y-Yes?”

”You are the one investigating the identity of Seulgi-unnie's bride, right? Sorry but it’s just not me. No, not me…” Yerim stressed, even shaking her head with every no. “First, I am still too young for marriage. With how Seulgi-unnie is acting, she’s so sure that the girl would be saying yes to her right away. I just know it’s not me. I am not even thinking of marriage at the moment.”

”S-So, you’re saying—“

”Remove me from the list~” Yerim said with a wide smile on her face. “Unnie just included me in the list because I am one of the few girls she wrote a story about.”

Yujin blinked her eyes quickly. She couldn’t believe that Katy’s case would be solved that quickly. It was the inspiration herself that confirmed everything to her. 

”I-I just want to confirm one more thing…” Detective Yujin, who didn’t work that much, cleared . “Does this also mean that you’re not here to chase after Professor Kang? You’re not here to change her mind about getting married?”

The other lady stared at Yujin for a moment before cracking into laughter. “What do you mean? That’s a very silly thing to do! Seulgi-unnie doesn’t like that kind of stuff! Once it’s over then it is over. She’d really show annoyance if the past tries to chase after her!” 

‘Oh?’ Something lit up in Yujin’s head. ‘Is the reason why Prof. Kang’s attitude towards Director Son changed a bit? Because she doesn’t like being chased? If that’s so then…’

The younger girl closed that has been hanging since earlier. “T-Then what are you here for? Why did you say that you regret breaking up with her then? Why are you kissing her then?”

”Oh~ You were awake back then? I knew it~” Yerim playfully pointed at Yujin with both hands gesture like guns. Yujin stiffened and Yerim couldn’t help but to laugh. “It’s okay~ I am actually glad that you saw that. You didn’t see the first time that I kissed her back in the locker room because you got knocked down right away after the match.”

“You also kissed her after the match!?” 

“Yes~!” Yerim flipped her hair. “I kissed her in front of everyone~!”

“Wow—I mean, you’re really something.”

“I am not called the wildest for no reason~” Yerim admired the cute reaction on the younger girl’s face. “If you’re curious about why I am here and why I am doing this then it’s just for one thing—for the dramaaaa~”

Yerim dropped that line knowing that she’s savage. “I just want to see everything with my own eyes. I want to see if Seulgi-unnie’s resolve for marriage is really true. She never had the image of someone getting married.”

“I mean…” Yerim just shrugged her shoulders and sighed. “Who? Who is that person that managed to change her mind about marriage? I am dead curious about it but she just won’t say anything to me yet. She told me to just wait for a little while.”

There was a loud scoff from Yerim followed by the shaking of her head. “Seulgi-unnie isn’t the type to hesitate when it comes to the things that she wants. She learned a lot from her past experiences with romance. She’s a very good hunter too. Once she has her eyes on her target then she’ll grab it right away. And now she’s prolonging something this important? This is just so not like her.”

Yerim looked at Seulgi’s way. She smiled when she saw how the older girl was having fun even after getting an uppercut. 

“When I saw her SNS post with that ring after ranting on me about someone who can’t remember something important, I thought “Ah~ So she’d be going just like this?” Just like that, the alpha-female, Kang Seulgi would be tied to someone. It honestly felt like a bummer but when I found that she hasn’t proposed yet she already announced she’s engaged, it just felt so off yet so right at the same time.”

Yerim took out her phone and took some pictures of Seulgi. Yujin also looked at her mentor who was now trying to race with the cousins. “It’s not that she's purposely prolonging the proposal, right? She’s not doing this because she’s bored and just wants to play games with me.”

“Of course, but she has this annoying talent of making people misunderstand her. It’s a skill she developed to hide what she really feels.” Yerim then remembered the times she felt so frustrated because of that part of Seulgi. It was quite nostalgic. Sometimes she really thinks that she should’ve just opened her eyes better that time. Their relationship should’ve worked if she didn’t give up right away.

“This time… She’s certainly not confident. She’s just really scared and it annoys me so much. She never changed in this area.” Yerim smiled again but this time, Yujin felt like the smile was pretty forced. “Her being scared like this just means she values this person so much.”

Yujin pressed her lips together. “That game she’s making me play is just her asking help for a push… To give her the right cue to propose and face her own feelings.”

“Ohh~” Yerim was quite surprised after that statement from Yujin. “I can see that you somehow understand her now. I guess there’s really a reason why you’re the one she asked for help.”

“Yeah, I mean…” Yujin paused to gather her thoughts. “I was really confused by her actions at first. I thought she was just really trying to act cool and all but then I remember the story she wrote inspired from your relationship with her.”

“She’s still technically trying to act cool. She’s such a coward who can’t ask for help directly.”

The sound of the ocean waves was so calming and the giggling from Minjoo and Jimin who were watching the race was filling the air as well but there’s just another atmosphere between Yujin and Yerim. 

“Seulgi-unnie…” Yerim uttered Seulgi’s name almost like a sigh. “I wonder if she already told the person that she chose about her real feelings for her. I wonder… I just really wonder…”

Yujin could only lower her head. In the story, Katy broke up with Rowoon because the latter couldn’t give her assurance. She did feel loved. She did feel like she was treasured. Rowoon focused more on her and spent more time with her–Never went to meet any other girls, stopped going to clubs and did things that would make Katy happy. But Rowoon had one problem that caused Katy to end things between them.

Rowoon couldn't say it… those very important words—”I love you.”

“Who the hell is that person? Who managed to make her challenge her fears of commitment? I am so frickin’ curious!” Yerim then pointed at Yujin with a cute frown on her face. “That’s why you have to do your job quickly! I can see that a lot of people are waiting for the answer!”

The student could only laugh awkwardly. Another pressure added on her shoulders then. 

“I am doing my best. Actually, the top candidate now is Professor Bae. Everything just points at her despite the past she had with Professor Kang.”

“Oh~” Yerim let go of her paddles that she wasn’t really using before crossing her hands. “You really are AhnYuGenius just like what Unnie said. I have the same hypothesis as of the moment! She won’t be playing basketball just for her if there’s nothing serious between them!”

“Right?” Yujin couldn’t agree less. “She really went all out just to stop that date! I just can feel it… There’s something between them that only the two of them can understand. About Director Son, it felt like her chances already dropped. She told me about fighting to get Prof. Kang back to her and just like what you told me earlier, I noticed the little awkwardness between her and Prof. It feels like Prof is intentionally pushing her at times. I don’t know! There’s just this awkward tension between them!”

Yerim chuckled confidently. “Remove that other ex from the list too. She’s just not the bride Seulgi-unnie is talking about. Do you want a definite proof?”

“You have?”

Yerim then pulled something from her pocket and handed it to Yujin. The student had her jaw drop yet again. It’s Yerim’s business card and she couldn’t believe what she just saw. “Y-Y-You work for d*spatch!?” 

“Yeah~” Yerim flipped her hair again. “I am one of those spawn of the devil~”

Yes, Yerim is one of the investigators from that infamous group. She was actually undercover, tailing a certain personality when she met Seulgi in a bar. 

“Aside from the fa