[Chaeyoung’s POV]

I closed the door behind us. “Jamkkanman.”

I pulled out a black face mask from my pocket. She gave me a confused look. Smiling reassuringly, I reached for face and secured the mask behind her ear. Making sure it covers her nose and mouth properly. There.

“What is this for?”

Safety pre-caution. Maybe that person won’t recognize you with this.

“The wind is a bit dusty today. I’m just making sure you won’t catch cold or something before the concert.” I smiled at her.

“How about you? Where’s your mask?”

“A…” I fluffed up my scarf until it reached my nose. “There. I have the scarf you gave me.” I smiled from behind the scarf.

“Kaja?” she tried reaching for my hand.

I almost grabbed it but instead extended my arms pointing outside.

“After you.” I beamed. Urging her to walk in front of me.

“Arraseo.” She smiled and curtsied. Walking two steps ahead of me.

Mianhe, Minari.

[Mina’s POV]

Chaeyoung is walking behind me, which is weird because I have no idea where we’re going. I stopped walking and turned.

She’s texting while walking, she didn’t notice that I stopped and her bowed head bumped my shoulder. “Ah. Mianhe. Mianhe.” She immediately took two steps back.

“Chaeyoung-a,” I felt a little bit annoyed. She’s messaging someone else when she’s supposed to be talking to me instead. “Gwenchanha?”

“Ne. Ne. Mianhe.”

“What are you doing?” I asked. Trying not to sound annoyed.

“Ah... Maps.” She immediately hid the phone in her pocket.

“Maps?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Ne. I forgot the exact location of the restaurant. I just had to make sure.”

Lie. I sensed it right away. Your nose flares whenever you lie.

But I didn’t call her out on it. I reached my hand out again.

“You’re walking beside me.” I used my sternest voice.

She hesitated. I sighed. “Aren’t couples supposed to walk side by side?”

“Well, not all. Some people like walking behind the other.” she tried reasoning out. I think this is the first time I got annoyed with Chaeyoung.

“Well, I don’t like anyone walking behind me. Especially not my girlfriend.”

[Chaeyoung’s POV]

Girlfriend? Did I hear that one right?

When we started the ‘experiment’ it was clear that I’m portraying the role of the ‘trial boyfriend’. But now. Girlfriend. Huh. I’m just staring at her. Maybe it’s just a slip-up, but I felt my heart flutter when I heard the word.

Also even while wearing a face mask, angry Mina looks… y. I gulped. Andwae. Don’t think like that, Chaeyoung-a.

“Fine.” She said. “If you don’t want to walk beside me, that’s okay. Just tell me where we’re going.” In slow-motion, I saw her hand land on the strap of her mask, slowly removing it. My hand instantly grabbed her wrist.

“Wae? I couldn’t talk properly with this on.”

“Andwae. Don’t remove it. Hajima.” My hand still gripped her wrist. Slowly pulling it away from her face. My fingers travelled to her palm, down to her fingers until it interlocked with hers.

“Arraseo. Let’s walk beside each other.” Our hands are down at our sides, still clasped together.

*click*

I pulled Mina to make sure her back is facing where the sound came from and I positioned myself in front of her. Angling my head in a point of view where I could scan the surrounding without being obvious.

I found him. Just three meters away from us, hiding behind a lamp post.

It’s a guy who looks just a little older than us. He’s wearing a thick glasses, a black coat, gray pants and white sneakers. He didn’t notice me glancing at him because he was checking the photo he took in his camera’s LCD display.

“Wae gurae? (What’s wrong?)” Mina asked me.

I shifted my focus to her. “N-nothing. I’m just excited to show you where we’re going.” I smiled as wide as I could.

[Mina’s POV]

“It’s a Hole-in-the-wall.” Chaeyoung sat in front of me. We’re in a small rustic looking restaurant with copper chairs and long wooden tables. It was dimly lit with industrial pipe lamps and pendant lights. One side of the wall is filled with succulents and wood framing. Smooth jazz playing in the background. We’re the only customers in here so far. I finally removed my face mask.

“Hole-in-the-wall?” I repeated.

“Ne. It’s what you call this type of restaurant.”

Outside, you wouldn’t expect this to look like this. We entered a small alley between a bookstore and a barber shop. There was just an A4 paper sized signage up front that says the name of the restaurant. It’s like it’s hidden but not. Like a secret waiting to be revealed.

The waiter walked to us and Chaeyoung ordered our food. I had her decide what to eat.

“How did you know this place?”

“The owner is my close friend’s oppa. He just opened it last year.”

I looked around. I don’t mind staying in this kind of place for a long time. It doesn’t have much tables and it gives off a calm and peaceful vibe.

“I just need to go to the washroom.” Chaeyoung stood up. “Just wait for me here, arraseo?”

I nodded and smiled. “I’ve got nowhere else to go anyway.”

[Chaeyoung’s POV]

I went straight to the kitchen to use the restaurant’s back exit and circled back to the front. The cooks already knew me so it was easier to slip out. I asked them to keep an eye on Mina.

As soon as I went out, I saw him. Standing behind a car, clutching his camera close to his chest. I bolted towards him.

“Ah. You’re here now.”

Dahyun nodded at me, with her arms crossed.

Tzuyu is standing behind her, with her hands in her pockets. Her eyes locked in the guy, like she’s ready to beat him up if he does anything stupid.

It was all Dahyun’s idea. At first, I thought it wouldn’t work but he took the bait. He’s here.

I just finished telling what happened when Tzuyu was teasing me about Mitzu being a better ship than Michaeng when Dahyun suddenly stood up. “You’re scared this person might show up and take more pictures of you with Mina, right?” Tzuyu and I both looked at her. I nodded.

Dahyun paced around the couch. “We can lure him. Let him take photos and catch him in act. He already has a leverage against you. He has a photo and if we tell the management, it might create chaos that won’t be able to handle. But if we act now, we’ll be able to find out who he is and we can avoid it from leaking out.”

I considered, “but how? What if he’s a professional? These people are good at hiding.”

Dahyun smirked at me. “You might be forgetting this about me, but I’m great at finding cameras.”

Right. This could work. I nodded and looked at Tzuyu.

She has a looked at me with her poker face. “And I’m good at intimidating people.”

I’m using my strongest voice. “Why were you taking pictures of me? Who are you? Where are you from?”

He just looked at me, unfazed. “I can’t tell you that.”

Tzuyu walked towards him and snatched the camera out of his hands. “Who do you work for? Who sent you?”

He looked terrified. “I work in a news company…” he gulped.  “D-Dispatch. I work for Dispatch.”