Who's That Guy? | Yuta [Book 1] ✓

23 | 'i mean ... which one would you rather see naked?'

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        SOMETIMES YUTA REMINDED HER OF Seohyun. The first weeks of a divorce could push its middle-aged victims to give youthfulness a shot; a brief moment in springtide. They forget it's highly farfetched. Mother had been in much disarray that Eun Ra demurred the possibility for someone of Seohyun's caliber to try her luck at online dating—it probably tampered with some debutante rule—but she did and she proved her wrong. However, to see how it turned up in the end didn't leave anyone reeling in from consternation. It was apparent only Kim Jaehwan could put up with her ... and only for so long.

        Before Eun Ra docked off at the elite boarding school, she spent sleepless nights feigning naiveté to the not-so-silent sobs three doors down at their humble two-storey residence back in Seoul.

        Here was Yuta now, starting to believe he was invicible, deriving an on-top-of-the-world notion from heaven knew where because he came closer than ever to a future with Jisoo who, on the other hand, made it clearer still—if it were possible—that she had her sights set on another.

        Her.

        On Doyoung. On her brother: the boy thousands of miles away without a penchant for keeping in touch with his loved ones while he chased those superfluous goals of his. Just like her. Heh, they really were twins—a single brain split fifty-fifty. And, still, he was ages away from finding out anything.

        Keep him ignorant for as long as possible, she thought, and if he shows up eventually...

        Now she huffed. There didn't have to be an if. By the time Chris Martin screamed a British "Goodnight," to the very last city of their tour, she would be home. As if nothing had happened. And whichever mishmash turned on from there, it was his shit to worry about. For once he would have something to keep his hands tied.

        "You were right, man. I imagined her the price and now we're off on a date."

        "Exactly." She wanted to slap him, for more reasons than one thought they knew. "Yeah, a date. And that's all it is, nothing more, nothing less."

        Yuta frowned. "You don't seem happy about it." His furrowed brows then parted and rose. "Is this about the whole double date thing? Because I'm truly sorry, just that I panicked. You do understand that, right?"

        "Sitting across from the both of you and beside her best friend is the least of my worries, Yuta," she explained, "just don't get your hopes up is all I ask."

        "I know that, except I could use a little more faith from you. Where the hell is that annoying optimism?"

        "Present to tell you the only possible upside in all of this is that you get to prove to her you're not a jerk."

        The smile returned, and again, Eun Ra hankered to smack him right down the bridge of his nose. "I know right"—his hands clamped down on her arms. "Perfect time to lay out some groundwork. Should I get her something? Like a gift? Chicks dig the altruistic behavior, don't they?"

        "If you believed everything teevee fed you," she said. "Even though I want to assume you're smarter than that, but no, chicks don't dig that. Jisoo is not a charity case, so absolutely wrong place, wrong time to want to shoot ahead of Robin Hood. The last thing you should think to accommodate right now is another check mark on your record."

        "Right. No gifts then."

        Yuta kept his distance. On impulse he kicked up a stray ball by his foot and the globoid object found his waiting hands. If it could've been that easy to have Jisoo in his arms, he thought. Of course, this afternoon he knew Doyoung's words weren't hollowed, even if he wished they were. Yuta sought a camo instead, a lie. Hadn't that always been the base concept of optimism? Lie to get one's hopes up and then lie some more?