The Han River was quieter than they had expected.
By the time they reached the riverside, the city seemed to have moved somewhere far behind them. The river was wide and calm, and the cool wind touched their faces.
For a moment, the three of them just stood there, looking at the water.
Then Hana suddenly ran towards the river.
“Come on!” she shouted, laughing.
Yoon looked at Min Ho and laughed.
“She’s crazy.”
“Maybe,” Min Ho said with a smile. “But she looks like she’s having fun.”
Yoon smiled and ran after Hana.
Soon, all three of them were running around like kids. They walked along the riverside, talked about random things, laughed at stupid jokes, and sometimes stopped just to look at the river.
They didn’t care about the time.
They didn’t care about anything else.
They just enjoyed being there.
Hana challenged Yoon to a race, and Yoon accepted without even thinking. Min Ho stood there watching them, laughing as they ran. A few minutes later, Hana pulled him into their little race too.
“Hey, I never agreed to this!” Min Ho said, laughing.
“Too late!” Hana shouted.
The three of them ran, laughed, and played around until they were tired.
For once, none of them were thinking about tomorrow.
They were just enjoying today.
Slowly, the afternoon passed.
The sky began to change, and the bright blue slowly turned into soft shades of orange and pink. The sun started going down behind the city.
The three of them finally sat near the river, tired from all the walking and running.
Yoon smiled.
“This was the best day,” she said softly. “It’s been so long since I enjoyed myself like this.”
Min Ho looked at her.
A small smile appeared on his face.
“Yeah,” he said. “For the first time, I was this happy too.”
Hana, who was still looking at the sunset, smiled.
“Yeah,” she said. “It’s been so long. Today was the best day.”
The three of them looked at each other.
Then they smiled.
After a moment, Yoon looked at Min Ho.
“Um… by the way, what is your name?”
Min Ho looked at her in surprise.
“What?”
Yoon giggled.
“I’m sorry. I forgot.”
Min Ho laughed and shook his head.
“Okay, okay. I’m telling you again. Please remember it this time.”
He pointed at himself dramatically.
“My name is Min Ho. Min Ho. Please don’t forget it again.”
Yoon giggled again.
“Oh, okay. I’ll remember it. Promise.”
She smiled at him.
For a minute, the three of them stayed quiet, watching the last bit of sunlight disappear.
The wind was cool, and Yoon’s hair kept falling across her face.
Min Ho looked at her.
Without saying anything, he gently moved a few strands of her hair behind her ear.
Yoon froze for a moment.
She looked at him, and their eyes met.
The simple touch sent a strange feeling through her body. She got goosebumps, and her face slowly turned pink.
She quickly looked away, trying to control herself.
Min Ho just looked at her.
There was something in his eyes that Yoon couldn’t understand.
Yoon looked back at the river, pretending nothing had happened.
But she could still feel the warmth of his touch.
Hana suddenly looked at them.
“Okay, what is going on with you two?”
Yoon quickly looked at her.
“What? Nothing!”
Hana raised an eyebrow.
“I didn’t even say anything.”
Yoon laughed awkwardly.
Min Ho also smiled awkwardly.
Hana shook her head and laughed.
“You both are weird.”
Yoon smiled at herself, still feeling a little embarrassed.
Then Yoon suddenly stood up and looked at Hana and Min Ho.
“So… what are we going to do next?”
She looked at both of them.
“My mom and dad are still putting pressure on me about marriage,” Yoon said. “And I’m going to tell them that you are my boyfriend.”
She looked at Min Ho.
“Remember what we talked about at the café? You’re going to pretend to be my boyfriend. I have to make them believe that we’re really together and that we love each other.”
Min Ho nodded.
“Yeah, yeah. I remember.”
He thought for a moment.
“But how are we going to do that? I mean… what exactly are we supposed to do?”
“I don’t know,” Yoon admitted. “That’s why we need to plan everything properly. We have to make it convincing.”
Min Ho nodded again.
“Okay. I’m ready whenever you are. Just tell me what to do, and I’ll act like it.”
Hana looked at both of them.
“Guys, let’s discuss all of this tomorrow.”
Yoon looked at her.
“Tomorrow?”
“Yeah,” Hana said. “At the café where we first met. Remember? We can sit there and talk about everything properly.”
She looked at the sky and then back at them.
“Let’s meet tomorrow at four. We’ll discuss the whole plan there.”
Hana smiled.
“This is not the time to talk about all this. We’re at the Han River. We came here to enjoy ourselves, so let’s not ruin the evening by talking about marriage and fake relationships.”
Yoon looked at Min Ho.
Min Ho looked at Yoon.
Then both of them looked at Hana.
“Yeah,” they said together.
Hana smiled.
“Good. Now let’s go.”
“Where?” Yoon asked.
Hana’s eyes lit up.
“Myeongdong.”
“Myeongdong?” Min Ho repeated.
“Yes!” Hana said. “We’re going to eat. I want street food.”
Yoon laughed.
“You only think about food.”
“Of course,” Hana said proudly. “What else should I think about?”
The three of them laughed and started walking away from the river.
Soon, the quiet Han River was behind them, and the bright streets of Seoul were waiting ahead.
The evening was not over yet.
And none of them knew that tomorrow would be the beginning of something much bigger than a simple plan.
