Chapter 08

“Minju.”

At the Love Coach’s voice calling her name, Minju withdrew her gaze from Ha-yoon and took a light breath.

“Please introduce yourself.”

“Hello. I’m Seo Minju. I’m thirty years old, and I work in graphic design in Seoul.”

Her voice was calm, but there was a faint hint of nervousness in it.

“What kind of work do you mainly do?”

“I work on graphics related to brands and exhibitions. These days, I’m also working on projects involving cultural foundations at my company.”

“In dramas, you always see people working late into the night. Isn’t it difficult?”

“It is difficult, but when I get good results, it’s just as rewarding, so I’m okay with it.”

At that moment, Sang-ho asked a question.

“What do you usually do on weekends?”

“I like taking walks in a park near my home or lying on the couch and watching TV.”

“What do you think about long-distance relationships, Minju?”

“I’ve never really thought about it, but if two people’s feelings are compatible, I don’t think distance matters.”

Sang-ho smiled brightly, taking her answer as a positive sign.

Just then, Choi Moon-yeol raised his hand.

“If you’re a designer, you must have a good sense of style. Do you look for that kind of thing when you look at men too? Like their appearance or the way they dress?”

“I don’t particularly care about appearance, but I suppose it’s nice when someone dresses well.”

After a brief pause from Minju, Moon-yeol pushed up his black horn-rimmed glasses with his middle finger and gave her a sly smile.

“Then what about me?”

“Pardon?”

“What’s my style like? I’m honestly curious.”

Moon-yeol even shrugged his shoulders as though he naturally expected a favorable assessment.

“…I think you have a very distinctive style.”

His tight black T-shirt showed off his physique so clearly that it was almost embarrassing to look at, but Minju had deliberately phrased her answer indirectly.

Moon-yeol, however, seemed to completely misunderstand it as a compliment and laughed heartily, looking extremely pleased.

“Haha! I knew it! People always tell me they like my style.”

An awkward silence followed.

The female contestants exchanged glances and small smiles, but there was a clear sense of discomfort and distance among them.

The Love Coach gently clapped his hands, seemingly trying to smooth over the atmosphere.

“Alright. Moon-yeol, I like your confidence. That’s enough for the introductions. After a short break, we’ll meet again at the location of the next mission.”

Once the Love Coach left, the male contestants went outside to smoke or give interviews.

Naturally, only the women remained in the shared accommodation.

After a brief silence, Seol-hee couldn’t hold back her curiosity and spoke first.

“So, what did everyone think after hearing the introductions? Did anyone change their mind after hearing them?”

“I chose Choi Moon-yeol, but I was turned off after hearing his introduction. Confidence is good, but when there’s too much of it, it feels a little overwhelming. His T-shirt was too tight, too… and some of his questions were rude.”

The women laughed in agreement.

Then Na Seon-young added,

“I actually liked him more after hearing his introduction.”

“Your first impression choice was Kwon Seok-jun, right, Seon-young?”

“Was it that obvious?”

“Yes. Completely.”

Seol-hee’s words might have embarrassed Na Seon-young, but instead, she answered confidently.

“What did you like about him?”

“Hmm. He doesn’t act arrogant just because he’s an executive, and he doesn’t show off. Other than being a little quiet, he’s completely my ideal type.”

“Me too.”

Ha-yoon chimed in as though she’d been waiting for the opportunity.

Na Seon-young lowered her gaze before adding,

“Well, I guess we’ll find out who gets chosen in the end, right?”

Her tone was gentle, but her eyes seemed to say that Ha-yoon wasn’t even a real competitor.

After withdrawing her gaze, Seon-young turned toward Minju, who had been quietly drinking her coffee.

“What about you, Minju?”

Lost in thought, Minju looked up in surprise.

“Yes?”

“Is Han Sang-ho still your first impression choice?”

Seon-young’s gaze as she looked at her was sharp.

With another competitor now in the picture, she seemed to be carefully probing Minju, wondering whether hearing about Kwon Seok-jun’s occupation had caused her to change her mind as well.

“It hasn’t changed.”

At Minju’s calm answer, a small smile appeared at the corners of Seon-young’s lips.

A hint of relief crossed her face.

“It would be fun if the four of us went on a double date later.”

She spoke as though the outcome had already been decided.

At that moment, Ha-yoon suddenly cut in.

“You haven’t forgotten that this is a place where people can change their minds at any time, have you?”

“What are you trying to say?”

Seon-young’s smile disappeared instantly.

“I’m saying it’s too early to relax.”

“Who said I was relaxed?”

“I’m just saying.”

Ha-yoon gave her a meaningful smile, lightly shrugged her shoulders, and left the shared accommodation.

When the sound of the door closing reached them, Seon-young bit her lower lip and swallowed down her restrained irritation.

Minju took a quiet breath.

She felt uncomfortable with this atmosphere, as though she had unintentionally been dragged into the center of an incident.

After the individual interviews ended, the next mission was a “Kayak Date.”

The male contestants would first get into kayaks on the lake, and the female contestants would choose which man’s kayak to join.

Following the filming crew’s instructions, the contestants moved to the lake near the resort.

Under the blue sky, transparent kayaks floated peacefully across the calm surface of the lake.

Minju accepted a life jacket but couldn’t bring herself to approach the water.

“Unni, are you okay?”

Seol-hee, standing behind her, asked worriedly.

After learning during the introductions that Minju was older than her, Seol-hee had asked if she could call her unnie, and Minju had smiled and given her permission.

Perhaps because Seol-hee was the same age as her younger sister Min-young, Minju felt much more comfortable around her.

“I’m not really on good terms with water.”

“Did you tell the production staff?”

“Yes. I did, but… I told them I’d give it a try.”

In fact, when Minju found out that the next mission would be a “Kayak Date,” she had carefully approached the production staff and told them about her fear of water.

However, all the filming preparations had already been completed.

They told her not to worry because there would be safety personnel and life jackets, so she could no longer insist.

She became worried because even when water reached only her waist, she would become tense.

But she also didn’t want to cause problems for the filming because of herself, so in the end, she nodded.

She had made up her mind to do it, but now that she was standing in front of a lake whose depth she couldn’t even see, fear suddenly surged through her.

At that moment, the Love Coach continued with the instructions.

“Today, the female contestants will be the ones making the choices.”

A few light groans immediately came from the male contestants.

But the Love Coach continued without paying attention.

“If several people choose the same man, you’ll take turns riding with him. Alright, let’s begin.”

At the Love Coach’s signal, the first person to move was Na Seon-young.

Without hesitation, she walked toward Kwon Seok-jun’s kayak.

“Is it okay if I ride with you?”

Seok-jun gave a brief nod.

“This is my first time riding a kayak. Have you done it before, Seok-jun?”

“Yes. A while ago, when I was on a business trip, I tried some recreational sports activities as part of entertaining a client.”

“No wonder. You looked so relaxed.”

Seon-young was visibly excited about her date with him, but soon she turned her head at the sound of someone approaching from behind.

Two other female contestants were standing there.

The displeasure on Seon-young’s face was obvious.

She had believed she would have him all to herself.

This time, Baek Seol-hee chose the kayak of a different male contestant rather than Choi Do-yoon.

The disappointment on Choi Do-yoon’s face made it clear that he was interested in Baek Seol-hee.

As the last person left to choose, Minju hesitated for a moment before heading toward Han Sang-ho’s kayak.

However, Ha-yoon had already arrived and was waiting there.

Minju hesitated, feeling as though she were intruding unnecessarily.

Just then, Sang-ho spotted her and waved brightly.

“Minju, come on over!”

“Can I… ride too?”

“Of course!”

But Ha-yoon, who had arrived first, had a stiff expression.

Her eyes seemed to ask, There are plenty of empty kayaks. Did you really have to come here?

An awkward expression crossed Minju’s face.

Sang-ho noticed her discomfort and suddenly stood up.

“Wait a moment. I’ll be right back.”

Then he practically ran toward the Love Coach.

“Coach, is it possible for the men to refuse?”

“That’s not allowed.”

When Sang-ho returned with a disappointed expression, the contestants who had figured out what was happening burst into jeers and playful cheers.

“Hey, Sang-ho, you’re being way too obvious!”

“You were planning to take Minju with you alone, weren’t you?”

“That’s how a man should be! Go straight for it!”

Minju felt her face grow hot and lowered her head.

It was embarrassing, but strangely, she didn’t dislike it.

When Sang-ho returned, Ha-yoon, who had arrived first, snapped at him in a sharp voice.

“I got here first. Isn’t that a little unfair?”

“I’m sorry. I’m just… the kind of person who only sees one person at a time.”

Sang-ho even bowed his head as he apologized.

Ha-yoon couldn’t argue with that and crossed her arms, turning her gaze away in displeasure.

“Everyone, please board your kayaks.”

At the Love Coach’s words, Sang-ho and Ha-yoon reluctantly climbed into the kayak.

The other contestants also paired up and slowly began moving out onto the lake.

Back under the shade canopy, Minju waited for the heat in her face to subside as she watched the kayaks passing across the lake.

Baek Seol-hee already wore a bored expression.

Han Sang-ho silently paddled away.

One couple chatted nonstop, while another laughed with one hand covering their forehead because the sunlight was too bright.

Yet even amid all those scenes, Minju’s gaze unwillingly drifted toward one particular place.

The kayak Kwon Seok-jun was riding.

Na Seon-young was smiling brightly, but somehow her smile looked slightly exaggerated.

It was as though she knew exactly how to smile to make herself look the prettiest; whenever she smiled, she always tilted her head slightly to one side.

Soon, her gaze landed on Kwon Seok-jun, who was quietly paddling on the opposite side.

Minju could only see his back and not his face, but he was probably enjoying the date.

If he didn’t like Na Seon-young, he wouldn’t have entertained her conversation the previous evening.

Objectively speaking, the two of them suited each other well.

They were a pair with attractive appearances that naturally drew people’s attention, along with ability and financial means.

By comparison, although Minju had worked hard to live her life during the years they were apart, she somehow felt inadequate when compared with his glamorous career.

She couldn’t even begin to estimate how long she would have to save before she could afford the luxury car he had driven around so casually.

That gap, something she had felt even in the past, surfaced again, making a corner of her heart shrink for no reason.

Even though he was now someone who had nothing to do with her.

Just as she was about to force herself to look away, the kayak changed direction, and her eyes met Kwon Seok-jun’s.

Minju’s heart dropped for a moment, but she deliberately didn’t look away.

They were far apart, and she didn’t want to look like someone who had been caught secretly staring.

The gaze she thought would pass by briefly remained fixed, refusing to break.

In the end, unable to withstand his persistent gaze, Minju was the one who turned her head away first.

It was only much later that his gaze finally moved away.

A little while later, the couples who had finished their “Kayak Dates” first began returning one by one.

Following the staff’s instructions, Minju slowly walked toward where the kayaks were docked.

At that moment, Na Seon-young, who had just finished her date with Kwon Seok-jun, was approaching from the opposite direction.