The rest of lunch passed with Shin Hwa’s friends making fun of him, and gaping at the fact Tae Yeon was actually talking to him, and going on a date with him. (Of course they didn’t know it was only his mother’s date).

After a few more lessons, Shin Hwa found himself meeting with Tae Yeon, and starting the walk in to the city centre.

The way Tae Yeon walked was very interesting. First, she would quickly take two steps, before glancing back to make sure Shin Hwa was still there. Then she would take three small slow steps, and then a large step to catch up with Shin Hwa. She would then either walk backwards, take a few skips.

Shin Hwa grinned as they walked. His backpack was slung off one shoulder, and his arm was bent out, with his hand holding on to the bottom of the bag’s strap.

‘What do you want your detective name to be?’ Tae Yeon suddenly asked in a serious tone. She grabbed hold of Shin Hwa’s upper arm. He stiffened slightly as she did so. Goosebumps jumped up where her skin was only separated from his skin by the thin fabric of his school shirt.

‘Y-you can pick one for me.’ He stuttered, losing his cool as she continued to cling on to his arm with both of her hands as they walked down the street.

‘Hmm...’ She said. Her forehead crinkled as she slipped in to a deep chain of thought. ‘Well our detective names should go together... after all we are partners in crime’ - Tae Yeon released her grip on Shin Hwa to do some swift karate hand movements before returning her grip - ‘So you can be Pineapple, and I’ll be Pumpkin. Those go together right? They’re both fruits and they they both start with “p”.’

‘Are pumpkins a fruit?’ Shin Hwa asked. Tae Yeon nodded quickly.

‘Yeah. It’s weird right? They seem like they’d be vegetables. But they’re not. They have seeds which grow inside them. Last Halloween me, my Oppa, and my Dongsaeng got in to a massive fight about if they where a vegetable or a fruit. After two hours we googled it, and we found out it was a fruit.’

‘Were you team fruit or vegetable?’ Shin Hwa asked laughing.

‘Me and my Oppa where vegetable. My Dongsaeng was fruit. That’s why it was so embarrassing. She’s ten years younger than us, and yet she got it right.’ Tae Yeon laughed.

‘So you have a brother, and a sister?’ Shin Hwa asked. Tae Yeon nodded.

‘Yeah, there’s Ji Woong, my Oppa. He’s eleven months older than me. Then there’s Ha Yeon, she’s ten years younger, like I said.’

‘Are you close?’ Shin Hwa asked. Tae Yeon quickly nodded.

‘Of course! Me and my Oppa are like twins.’ She said smiling, but her smile quickly fell of her face. ‘You don’t have any sibling, right? That’s kinda sad.’ She pouted.

‘It’s just me and mum.’ Shin Hwa said, feeling himself get angry inside thinking of his mum’s date. Tae Yeon patted him on the back.

‘It’s okay. You can share mine, Pineapple.’

‘I don’t think that’s how that works, Pumpkin.’ Shin Hwa replied. Tae Yeon shook her head.

‘Family is who you love, not who you share blood with. Otherwise when people got married they would have to mix up all their blood.’ Tae Yeon said. Shin Hwa chuckled.

‘You know that was almost an inspirational speech then, but then it got creepy.’

‘Life gets creepy, Pineapple.’ Tae Yeon said chuckling. She suddenly stopped walking, and pushed Shin Hwa behind a phone box. His head hit the phone box slightly with the force. She glanced around the side of the phone box.