"You're back! I have good news, I got you a date for tomorrow."

 

"You can't be serious, Chae," Jinsol crossed her arms. The culprit behind those words was none other than her sister, who was currently lounging on the couch with her eyes glued to her phone. Based on the occasional bursts of gunfire, Jinsol knew Chaewon was probably playing that FPS game she had been obsessed with lately.

 

"Oh, but I am," Chaewon said, looking up from her game to give a mischievous smile to Jinsol. Not a second after, a single swift shot rang out, alarming her. Darting her eyes back to her phone, she got a glimpse of her character dying and turning into a crate. She narrowed her eyes in disbelief. She was at the perfect spot, on high ground, laying low behind a tree with her ghillie suit on. It was hard to even spot her, much less kill her with a stupid head shot. Ugh, whatever, they just got lucky, she thought, quitting the game with an annoyed grunt. 

 

"Serves you right." Jinsol pulled the strap of her sling bag and walked away with a smile of her own. She had one foot up the stairs when she heard Chaewon call out, "Jinsol come baack, your date's already on their way over." 

 

Jinsol reluctantly walked back to the living room, there goes my afternoon nap. Standing in front of Chaewon, she released a frustrated sigh and emphasized what she told Chaewon just this morning, "I already told you that I'd go alone."

 

"And I stand by what I said earlier. You can't go to your ex's wedding alone, Jinsol," she stressed, "especially to his wedding."

 

"Chae, seriously, I'll be fine," she reassured Chaewon with a roll of her eyes, "Tell whoever's coming over to go back home." 

 

"No." 

 

"Yes." Jinsol plopped on the couch beside Chaewon and looked her straight in the eyes.

 

"No," Chaewon firmly said. "I paid a hefty amount of money for this, you can't back out." 

 

(A few loaves of bread were pretty pricey considering how much pocket money Chaewon had left, but Jinsol didn't need to know that.)

 

Seeing her sister furrow her eyebrows in confusion, Chaewon fondly smoothed the newly formed crease with her thumb as she clarified what she meant.

 

"Hyunjin and Yeojin runs this legit 'Rent-A-Date' business, like Haseul-approved legit. Before you ask, yes, I called Haseul to make sure," Chaewon calmly explained, "She explained a bunch of stuff but I wasn't really paying attent–."

 

"What is wrong with you??" Jinsol hissed out, slapping off Chaewon's hand. It would've been different if she mentioned either Hyunjin or Yeojin. But both? It was a catastrophe waiting to happen, something Haseul probably couldn't save.

 

The chaotic pair was known for their pranks throughout high school, occasionally inviting Chaewon to get in on the action. Their pranks never harmed anyone, only for s and giggles, but they still made the janitor genuinely want to quit every now and then; a shiny hallway from a huge glitter bomb they set off, multiple occasions where the girl's bathroom got flooded, that one time they turned the pool water purple for their friend's birthday. You get the idea. There was no way whatever Jinsol got dragged into was Haseul-approved. 

 

(Cough. Blackmail. Cough.)

 

"Geez, take a chill pill, will ya?" Chaewon rubbed her reddened hand with a pout on her face. Rent-A-Date was harmless, probably. Haseul did say she hand-picked and interviewed the applicants herself. It was the only thing Chaewon remembered from their brief conversation, or in Haseul's words, "I can't go to jail, not yet anyway."

 

"Take a chill pill? TAKE A CHILL PILL?" 

 

This is for Jinsol's sake, Chaewon stopped herself from rolling her eyes as she repeated her little mantra inside her head. Maybe a little baiting would help her sister realize how important it was to bring a date.

 

"Well, don't come complaining to me when people talk about you." 

 

"Excuse me?"

 

"The whispers, Jinsol, the whispers," Chaewon said. Using the most dramatic tone she could muster and equally dramatic hand gestures, she continued, "Boohoo, poor widdle Jinsol, showing up to her ex's wedding without a date. She's probably still hung up on him, huh? Oh, wait, what if she's actually here to crash the wedding?"

 

"Chae." Jinsol sighed. "What did I tell you about watching cheap dramas."

 

"C'mon, be real for a second. All his friends knew how whipped you were back then." Chaewon scoffed. "Every Tuesday you would bring him lunch to his office. I mean it would be okay if his office wasn't TWO HOURS AWAY. Oh, need me to remind you that you dyed your hair the exact same shade of blonde as his favorite idol? Look who's still blonde, hmm?"

 

"Hey, that's not fair, I kept it like this because I liked it!"

 

"Your scalp begs to differ." Chaewon stopped herself from saying more, she was getting out of topic. "Look, I'm not sorry for overstepping, Sol. I don't want you to get hurt."

 

"Chae, I'm a big girl. I'm your older sister for God's sake, I can take care of my—"

 

The doorbell rang, cutting her off. That's some cliche right there, Jinsol sighed.

 

"Meet him first, please? I promise I'll cancel it if you don't like him," Chaewon begrudgingly compromised as she got up from the couch. 

 

Closing her eyes, Jinsol hung her head and let out a sigh for the nth time that day. She supposed it wouldn't hurt to give this date of hers a chance. Hearing footsteps gradually getting closer to the living room, Jinsol opened her eyes. 

 

Standing beside a guilty-looking Chaewon was a woman, an attractive woman with rosy lips and hair in a half ponytail. The woman was casually dressed in a cropped long-sleeved shirt with a pair of jean shorts, showcasing both her abs and legs.

 

"So a quick search on google told me Yves was a common French name for males. Apparently, this was not the case."

 

–––

 

"So I'm guessing you didn't use the app?" Yves questioned as she made herself comfortable on the chair, sitting diagonally from the two blondes.

 

"Uh, no.. I called in a favor from Hyunjin," Chaewon answered. There was an app?? How she wished she had listened to Haseul's explanation, maybe she wouldn't have been so surprised when she opened the door. 

 

"Um, is Yves your real name?" Chaewon asked, trying to break the ice. She felt the need to get the conversation going for Jinsol since she was being quiet.

 

"It's a nickname that kinda stuck," Yves said with a sheepish smile. "I played basketball in high school and the captain told us we'd have to use aliases on our jersey, bonus points if they were hard to pronounce. A little something to throw off our opponents she said, all it did was annoy the commentators."

 

Yves grinned in relief when she heard Jinsol laugh. She wasn't used to her clients being so quiet, it made her a bit self-conscious. So laughter was absolutely a good thing.

 

"How did you even find a job like this? And why did you apply" Chaewon inquired. She couldn't imagine Yves being desperate enough to get a job like this. 

 

"Long story short, my dad kinda cut me off because I crashed his favorite car so I was looking for a job. So without my knowledge, my cousin signed me up," Yves answered with a small grimace. "Haseul then reached out to me and she was very convincing. So here I am, getting paid to go on dates with random cute girls."

 

"..fair enough," Chaewon commented, shrugging. "How about the guys though? I mean in this line of work, you're bound to come across creepy ones right?"

 

"I had to get a restraining order on a girl who was a little too obsessed with me but no, no creepy guys. I take it nobody told you that this was exclusive to women?" Yves asked, cocking one eyebrow.

 

See, Chaewon knew she should have listened to Haseul. 

 

Here's the thing, Jinsol never explicitly said if she was open to dating girls before. But Chaewon had a feeling she wouldn't mind... much. She had seen Jinsol check Jungeun out (the local pool's hot lifeguard) under her ray bans more than once. But then again, Chaewon could be wrong and for that reason alone, she was going to hide in her room, preferably with her door locked.

 

"Oh, um.. I just remembered I have a test to study for. Nice meeting you, Yves. Have fun getting acquainted!" 

 

"Likewise?" Yves replied in confusion, baffled by Chaewon's statement as the girl stood up and scampered away. "What was that about..?" 

 

"Don't mind her," Jinsol dismissed it with a wave of her hand. She would deal with Chaewon later. Clearing , she continued, "Um, can you explain to me how this," gesturing back and forth between herself and Yves, "works?"

 

"There's not much to it honestly. We get to know each other and act like girlfriends for a day," Yves said.

 

"That's it? No funny business?"

 

"That's it. No funny business," Yves repeated, amused.

 

"Oh, okay. I can do that." Jinsol nodded. I mean it shouldn't be that hard... right?

 

They started off with a simple game of Twenty Questions, which was easy enough. How could they act like girlfriends if they didn't know a single thing about each other? Among the things they had learned about each other, the most surprising one was they were studying at the same university. Although their faculties were on opposite ends of campus, with Yves majoring in Business and Jinsol in Marine Biology, which explained why they had never crossed paths before.

 

("So what's your real name?"

"Nope, not answering that."

"Why?"

"That's for me to know and for you to find out."

"But you can just tell me now??"

"Tsk tsk, where's the fun in that?"

"...you're impossible."

"It's part of my charm.")

 

Plus, to put on a more convincing act, they decided it would be best they got their stories lined up, like how they met at one of the house parties Yeojin threw when her parents were away (much to Haseul's dismay). How they finally went on their first date after Yves' constant wooing, like walking Jinsol to class and carrying her books despite the distance. Yves even planned a romantic confession to get Jinsol to be her girlfriend.

 

("So I'm the smitten one? Why couldn't that be you?" 

"The client is always right."

"That's not even our motto.")

 

Jinsol thoroughly enjoyed their conversation. It was fun getting to know Yves in general and making things up for their little backstory. Unfortunately, as the orange sky turned a dark blue, Yves announced that she had to get going, much to Jinsol's disappointment. Apparently, the job had a rule, a maximum of four hours a day, extra hours required extra payment and Chaewon only "paid" for eight.

 

Before walking out the door, Yves handed over her phone with a languid smile. "I can't really leave without my girlfriend's number, can I?" 

 

Yves leaned her body on the door frame as she watched Jinsol carefully input her number and save her contact as "Sol<3".

 

"Last chance, are you sure you're fine with this?" Yves asked with a playful smile as she pocketed her phone, but Jinsol could see the faint trace of concern in her eyes. After all, Jinsol was basically outing herself.

 

"I'm sure," Jinsol mirrored Yves' smile.

 

As long as they clicked, Jinsol didn't particularly care whether they were male or female. Coming out as a biual didn't sound bad at all (not that she was hiding it). If the hot lifeguard wasn't already dating the bubbly redhead that liked to visit the pool, Jinsol probably would have asked her out back then.

 

"Really?"

 

"Really, really. I have my reasons," pausing to grin widely, "but that's for me to know and for you to find out," Jinsol repeated Yves' words from earlier. She pushed Yves lightly, enough for her to stop leaning on the door frame. "Get home safe, girlfriend. See you tomorrow night." 

 

Jinsol gave her "girlfriend" a wink and closed the door, hearing a muffled "Touché" and faint laughter from the other side of the door. 

 

Now that her guest was gone, it was time to deal with a certain busybody. After picking the lock of her sister's room (Yeojin taught her how, don't ask), Jinsol not only gave her sister an earful but also took away her phone for the night so she could "study" for the test she had in peace. She slept with a smile on her face that night. It had been a long day and she was glad she could finally rest. Definitely not because some "unknown number" sent her a goodnight text. Nope.

 

———

 

Jinsol was nervous.

 

The wedding was held on the top floor, a ballroom of a fancy five-star hotel and she already felt jittery from being in the lobby of the said building. It wasn't like she hadn't gone to weddings held in such places before but tonight, the luxurious interior felt a little bit more intimidating than usual. Lost in her thoughts, Jinsol almost jumped when she felt someone hold her hand, albeit gently.

 

"Hey, you okay?"

 

Her body instantly relaxed when she heard the person's voice. She completely forgot about Yves for a second there, which was pretty stupid since they arrived together, using her car nonetheless.

 

"Yeah, I'm fine." The small gesture left her feeling less agitated. She smiled to hopefully relieve the worry in Yves' eyes. "Let's go up."

 

Yves squeezed the hand she was holding and assured her, "Look at me. You don't have to worry about anything, I'll be with you the entire time."

 

Jinsol couldn't help but feel warm inside, there was something in the way Yves said it that made her want to believe she wasn't doing it for the sake of her role.

 

After the short elevator ride up, they followed the white carpet laid out on the floor into the venue. Entering the opened doors, they could clearly see how gorgeous the venue was. It contrasted the lobby's elegance with its almost-magical ambiance. They had fake trees that looked would have looked real if not for their white leaves. What made it look magical was the yellow fairy lights that illuminated the venue. They made the floral ceilings pop out, the white petals glowing a warm gold. But what caught Jinsol's eye the most was the life-sized ice sculpture of the bride and groom, standing proud in the middle of the venue. It was interesting, to put it simply, as it was her first time seeing one as big and detailed.

 

The guests, on the other hand, were already busy getting food and socializing with others. Jinsol and Yves had purposefully arrived after the ceremony took place so they could blend in with the crowd better. Jinsol had a feeling it would be a little too awkward if she had stuck around from the beginning, even if she was officially invited (high-key Chaewon's fault).

 

"You look like you might need this," Yves gracefully took a glass of champagne from a passing waiter and passed it to her. If her other hand wasn't holding Jinsol's, she would've taken another glass for herself. She wasn't the only one nervous.

 

As they sipped their champagnes (Yes, Yves snatched one more as another waiter passed), some of her ex's friends came up to her to say hello. The interaction was brief, merely an exchange of pleasantries but Jinsol made sure to let them know that the "lovely woman" beside her was her girlfriend, mainly towards those who's eyes lingered too long. At her action, she felt Yves give her hand a squeeze. 

 

Probably as a thank you, Jinsol thought so she mindlessly squeezed back as she was currently engrossed in her champagne. Then she felt another squeeze, and another one, and another. She furrowed her eyebrows at the repeated action and turned to stare questioningly at Yves.

 

"Ice sculpture look-alike, 9'clock," Yves whispered hastily.

 

Before Jinsol could process what she had said, she heard a familiar deep voice call out her name.

 

"Jinsol, you made it!"

 

Her ex.

 

"Of course, I did. Congratulations on your wedding, Minho," Jinsol smiled, giving him a short hug. "But seriously how'd you manage to make her say yes?"

 

"Hey, I can be pretty charming sometimes, I mean I got to date you," Minho joked back, awkwardly rubbing the nape of his neck when the last part slipped out. He cleared his throat and smiled when he noticed Jinsol's occupied hand, "though I can ask the same thing to you."

 

"I like to think I got lucky with this one," Jinsol said as she shyly glanced at Yves, "this is my girlfriend, Yves."

 

Yves didn't know if Jinsol was just that good of an actress or what, but her heart definitely skipped a beat or two. Heart, please, you're being unprofessional. This is a job, you can't go dugeun dugeun like that all of a sudden.

 

"Choi Minho, pleased to make your acquaintance," he introduced himself, sticking his hand out for a handshake.

 

"Likewise," she replied shortly, smiling as she shook his hand.

 

"Have you guys tried our desserts?"

 

"No?" Jinsol said, a little surprised by the random question.

 

"You should! We have chocolate mousse and I know you like them," Minho told her, "and I'm pretty sure only a few are left."

 

Perking up at the mention of chocolate mousse, Jinsol turned to Yves, silently asking for her permission to go get one before they run out. When Yves nodded, she let out a happy squeal before running off to find the dessert table.

 

"So..." Minho started off, making Yves look at him, "how long have you been together?"

 

"A couple of months. I met her at one of Yeojin's parties," Yves answered, sticking to their backstory, "This might sound super cheesy but she looked so damn beautiful that I had to approach her."

 

Minho smiled knowingly but his hardened eyes said anything but friendly, "I hope you're not planning to play with her heart, Ms. Ha."

 

"Uh, sorry.. do I know you?" Yves asked as she furrowed her eyebrows. She didn't recall mentioning her last name to him nor did she remember meeting him before.

 

"I work for your father, Ms. Ha. I sometimes see you on your visits to the company," Minho calmly replied. The subtle surprise in Yves' eyes was enough to convince him that his assumptions were correct, that Yves' was, in fact, his boss' daughter, the first heir of the company. "You haven't told her, have you?"

 

With a sigh, she answered, "Of course not."

 

"That's why she calls you Yves, she doesn't even know your real name, does she?"

 

She didn't like the accusation laced in Minho's question but she couldn't deny it. Jinsol wasn't supposed to know her identity, nobody was. She couldn't let her status interfere with her job, she didn't need more gold-diggers after her.

 

"It's my right to keep my identity a secret, Mr. Choi."

 

"I know it is," Minho sighed, "but I'm definitely not going to let you toy her like that. She deserves better than you."

 

"Excuse me?" Yves was slowly getting ticked off, The nerve of this guy. They barely knew each other, who gave him the right to judge her? 

 

"You heard me loud and clear."

 

They were glaring at each other, waiting for one of them to cower from the intensity of their gazes. However, their little staring contest was broken when Jinsol came back, looking delighted with a mousse in hand.

 

"You're right, the mousse is really good– uh, okay... what'd I miss?"

 

Minho tore away his gaze from Yves first, side-eyeing her as he made eye contact with Jinsol.

 

"Oh, I don't know, maybe the fact that your girlfriend here is keeping secrets from you."

 

"Hey," Yves growled out as a warning, gritting her teeth. 

 

Jinsol softly exhaled from her nose, quickly getting in between Yves and Minho. Looks like I can't even enjoy my mousse in peace.

 

"I'm sure she'll tell me eventually, Minho. We haven't been dating for long so I don't exactly expect her to tell me everything." 

 

"You don't get it–"

 

"Stop, we've been over this. We're not together anymore, you have to tone down your protectiveness of me."

 

"Jinsol, this isn't even me being protective," he defended himself, obviously hurt, "she's engaged!"

 

Well that definitely attracted a few eyes on them.

 

"What?" Yves shrieked, baffled at his claim, "I'm not engaged!"

 

"There's no use denying it."

 

"But I'm really not engaged??"

 

"Please, a few months ago your father clearly announced that his daughter was getting married–"

 

"God." Anger was written all over her face when she knew exactly what he was talking about. If today wasn't his big day, she probably would've made a scene and punched him. She really would, no lie. "I'm Sooyoung. Sunmi's the one getting married. You mistook me for my older sister, you imbecile!" 

 

A meek "oh" was Minho's reply. So maybe he didn't think this through. He had never seen the Ha siblings up close and they really look alike from afar. "I'm sorry–"

 

"Save it," Yves sharply said and turned to walk out the venue.

 

"Ugh, now look what you did!" Jinsol chastised, slapping Minho's shoulder. "I'm gonna go after her. We probably won't come back so enjoy the rest of your evening."

 

Ignoring Minho, she quickly made her way through the crowd. Well as fast as she could in her stupidly high heels, they made her legs look awesome but boy, were they a pain to walk in. Her shoulders slumped dejectedly when she didn't see Yves by the elevators. Did she really leave?

 

"I didn't leave if that's what you're thinking." Jinsol heard a voice say behind her. Not even thinking twice, she turned to face Yves and hugged her, getting a small adorable "oof" from her date. 

 

"You're still here!" Jinsol felt a pair of arms encircle her waist, returning the hug 

 

"Well, I don't want to tarnish my five-star rating on the app," Yves joked, "I was standing right beside the arch but you walked past me."

 

"Are you okay?" Loosening her hold, Jinsol pulled back to look at Yves, searching for any trace of anger left.

 

"I'm okay, I guess."

 

"Wanna get out of here?" Jinsol asked, glancing at her watch, "I still have two hours with you."

 

Yves smiled before pulling Jinsol towards the elevators, "I thought you'd never ask. I know just the place."

 

The place turned out to be the McDonald's that was a few blocks away. Apparently, eating junk food was Yves' way of coping whenever she felt upset, angry, or sad. After ordering food that was for more than two people, they settled on a table on the corner to avoid the prying eyes.

 

"So, Sooyoung, huh?" Jinsol asked as she munched on a fry.

 

"Yeah, you weren't supposed to find out, at least not like that," Yves– Sooyoung grimaced. She was going to tell her later tonight and maybe ask Jinsol on a real date afterwards. As Sooyoung, not Yves. But now she was having doubts, what if Jinsol realized she was the Ha Sooyoung?

 

"Minho can be... a little rash," earning a snort in return, "But from the way he talked, did he know you or something?"

 

"I guess you could say he works with my dad," kinda, Sooyoung answered vaguely. To avoid having to elaborate, she asked a question of her own, "How'd you guys end up dating?"

 

Jinsol proceeded to tell her the story of how the nerdy mathlete ended up dating the cool jock in high school, similar to a popular fiction trope. Their relationship was short-lived though, only five months. She broke up with Minho two months after he left for college. He was being too protective of her and Jinsol was tired having her freedom chained down. Weirdly enough, after two years, they decided to be on talking terms again. Awkward moments were inevitable but they made it work, kinda.

 

But enough of Minho, tonight was about them. They ended up talking about a wide range of topic, from normal topics like Jinsol's fascination with Gundam and Sooyoung's love of dance, to unusual topics like a penguin's mating habit and wolf ecology. Their conversation was seemingly endless and Jinsol loved every second of it.

 

It wasn't until the clock approached midnight that they decided to call it a night. Hand in hand, they walked back to the hotel's parking lot to get Sooyoung's car. There wasn't much talking involved on the drive back, but they did sing. You could say it was like a short lyric-less karaoke session. After five songs, they finally arrived in front of the Jinsol's house.

 

"So here we are," Sooyoung announced as walked Jinsol to her door.

 

"Hey, Sooyoung? Thank you." for the ride home, for the unexpected McDonald's date, for accompanying me and not leaving. Jinsol didn't specify what for but the smile on Sooyoung's face told her that she understood.

 

"You're welcome."

 

"I guess this is the part where I say good night, huh?" Jinsol asked, smiling a smile that didn't quite reach her eyes. Her hand was already on the handle and as she was about to open the door, she felt Sooyoung grab her hand.

 

"Wait, um, I really had a nice time," Sooyoung started, hesitation obvious in her voice, "this is probably not professional of me but would you, maybe, want to, uh."

 

"Yeah?" Jinsol bit her lower lip to stifle a laugh. Sooyoung looked so torn that it was actually funny.

 

"Would you go on another date with me?"

 

Jinsol managed to keep her pokerface for a solid four seconds before saying yes, eyes crinkling as she laughed.

 

"You're mean," Sooyoung pouted, "Is it too late to take back what I said?"

 

"What can I say, it's part of my charm."

 

"You can't keep stealing my lines like that, Sol."

 

"Watch me," Jinsol grinned, "Text me when you get home?"

 

"How about I one up you by calling?"

 

"I'll be waiting." 

 

Even though she had to deal with her sister's teasing, Jinsol slept with a small smile donning her face. But this time, it was definitely because a certain someone called her to wish her a good night.