Being short had its benefits. Minah and Jihoon found it easy to quickly duck behind corners and random objects as they followed Wonwoo and his newfound girlfriend around town. The two of them looked like a pair of suspicious stalkers, clad in cheap sunglasses and wrapping Jihoon's baseball team towels around their heads. 

Looking at Yoojung'a hand firmly in Wonwoo's, Minah was starting to lose hope for her brother. 

"It looks real."

Jihoon thought otherwise. 

"Nope I know this guy. He is the last kind of person to spring a sudden relationship on us. Trust me on this."

As Wonwoo and Yoojung finished sharing some street food together and turned the corner, Jihoon immediately grabbed Minah's wrist and snuck after them. 

"But I heard that they have always known each other. So it's not exactly sudden right? And everyone says that Yoojung has had a crush on Wonwoo since school started."

Jihoon leaned in closely and whispered beneath his voice, "Oh c'mon, how much time have you seen Wonwoo spend with this girl? He was clearly into you, and then for the rest of the semester Mingyu could not bear to separate with him. I don't care if she has the biggest crush in the world, this guy wouldn't budge." 

Minah let his analysis sink in for a moment, "Fair enough. But how long is this date going to last...I need to get back to my homework before I get kicked off the team for academic reasons. And you probably need to give your girlfriend a call. I saw that she looked very upset when you ran off with me earlier. Does she know you are doing this?"

Minah thought Jihoon didn't hear her, and was about to ask him again when he muttered, "she doesn't need to know. She wouldn't care anyway."

He said it so quickly that Minah thought she had hallucinated his reply. 

Just then, Jihoon's strong tap on her shoulder broke her train of thought. "Look!"

As the two of them huddled more closely behind a stack of boxes, the two short Busan friends witnessed Yoojung remove her hand from Wonwoo's and greeted him with a bow. 

"Thank you Wonwoo oppa for the treat today," she chirped. "It's nice having you as a cousin. How long is this charade going on for? Am I getting free lunches this entire semester?"

Once again, Minah was about to let out an audible gasp, but Jihoon's hand was gently wrapped around right on cue. The mission was a success, and now the two of them just had to wait for Wonwoo to be alone to confront him. Jihoon dragged the girl aside, and bought her an ice cream while they waited around the corner. 

"Told you, I know a genuine relationship when I see one." 

Minah rolled her eyes at Jihoon's smug face. Somewhere in her, she felt happy for her brother too - the situation was not hopeless!

Before she could catch herself, the words escaped her, "Well, I know a happy relationship when I see one. And yours isn't."

This time, she slapped a hand on her own mouth, shocked that she let her thoughts slip out without filter. She made a mental note to blame Seungcheol the next time she visited. It's all because the college boy wouldn't stop talking about how worried he was for Jihoon! And somewhere in her, a thought had been gnawing at her as Seungcheol's voice rung in her ears. 

You have been spoiling her and spending a lot of time with Minah recently. 

Minah knew she must be his escape, just like her was hers from Mingyu and homework. She had tried to fight that silly thought, but the suspicions kept creeping out at random moments.

Jihoon's unreadable expression and silence terrified Minah, and she knew to shut up. The saving grace was that he did not just leave, because she knew too well about Jihoon's three stages of Busan real man anger - Stage 1, retort with an equally snarky remark. Stage 2, get ready for a fight (usually he doesn't do that with girls, but Minah was an exception because she would fight him back). Stage 3, growl and leave. That was the absolute worst. 

This silent treatment was new, so Minah could only wait out the uncomfortable silence. 

After what seemed like forever, Jihoon finally spoke again, but it was as if he ne