Later that afternoon...
Yuna stands in front of her closet, glaring at her clothes like they personally betrayed her. Mina lounges on Yuna's bed, flipping through outfits on her phone.
"What about this one?" Mina holds up a photo of a girl in a cute floral dress.
Yuna stares at it. "Do I look like a floral dress kind of girl?"
"No," Mina admits. "But you'd look hot in it."
Yuna snatches her own denim jacket. "I'm going casual. Low-key. I'm blending in."
Mina snorts. "Honey, your face is not blending in anymore. You're 'Miss Americano.' The entire internet is looking for you."
Yuna groans. "Kill me."
5:58 p.m...
The street market glows like neon confetti as Yuna approaches. Lanterns sway overhead, casting shifting patterns on the street. A breeze carries sizzling garlic, spicy gochujang, and sugar frying into twisted tornadoes of scent.
J-Min stands waiting by a TTteokbokki stall.
He's wearing black skinny jeans, a soft beige sweater, a black baseball cap pulled low. He's also wearing a surgical mask, but it doesn't matter...he still radiates star power like a damn supernova.
Yuna feels her heart thump once. Stupid, traitorous organ.
When he sees her, J-Min gives a quick nod. "You're on time."
She lifts her chin. "It's called barista punctuality."
Mina pops up behind Yuna. "Hiiiiii...J-Min!"
J-Min blinks. "Who...?"
Yuna flings an arm out like a traffic barrier. "Nope. She's not here."
Mina leans around her. "I'm Mina. Best friend. Life coach. Number one supporter. Also possibly your future sister-in-law from another mother, depending how this goes."
J-Min stares, shell-shocked. "Future...what?"
Mina beams. "Kidding! Mostly."
J-Min glances at Yuna like he's genuinely terrified. "Is she always like this?"
"Yes," Yuna deadpans. "Now pretend we're alone before Seo has a heart attack."
Mina gives J-Min an exaggerated wink. "I'll just...stalk you from a respectful distance."
"Please don't," J-Min mutters, but Mina has already vanished into the crowd, phone out, probably live-tweeting.
Yuna and J-Min inch their way through the crowded street. The smells alone are an assault...so good it's borderline illegal.
They stop at a skewer stall. J-Min watches Yuna suspiciously. "Are you going to throw this at me too?"
Yuna rolls her eyes. "Ha ha. Hilarious."
She orders spicy chicken skewers. J-Min studies them like they're radioactive.
"You okay, Mr. K-pop?"
"I don't...do spicy," J-Min confesses, voice low.
Yuna gasps. "No...!"
"My tongue is delicate," he huffs.
"You're delicate."
His eyes narrow. "You want me to breathe fire onstage?!"
She shoves the skewer at his mouth. "Live a little."
Reluctantly, J-Min takes a tiny bite and immediately goes bright red, eyes watering.
Yuna doubles over laughing. "Oh my god, you're dying."
J-Min fans his mouth, glaring at her between coughs. "WHY WOULD ANYONE EAT THIS? THIS ISN'T FOOD. IT'S A HAZING RITUAL."
Yuna's sides hurt from laughing. "You're so dramatic."
He points accusingly. "I am a precious national treasure!"
"National treasures don't cry over spicy chicken," she shoots back.
He wipes his eyes. "I'm emotionally fragile right now."
Yuna snorts. "Want ice cream?"
"...yes."
They wander down the street, J-Min looking like a man recovering from a near-death experience. Yuna buys him a tall cone of soft serve. He takes one cautious lick, sighs with pure bliss.
"This," he declares, "is the only acceptable food."
Yuna takes a lick of her own cone, glancing sideways at him. For a fleeting moment, she sees a different J-Min. A twenty-something guy who's just...normal. Enjoying ice cream. No spotlight. No schedule. Just...human.
Then he catches her staring.
"What?" he demands.
"You're cute when you're not being a cold robot," Yuna blurts before her brain can stop her.
He blinks. "...Excuse me?"
Yuna flushes, waving her cone like a weapon. "I mean...you have ice cream on your nose!"
She darts forward, wiping the dot of ice cream from his skin. J-Min goes completely still. His breath hitches. His eyes drop to her lips, then flick back up.
For one heart-stopping second, the crowd vanishes. The neon lights, the sizzling street food, Mina lurking nearby...it all fades. There's just the warmth of his skin under her fingertips, the soft scent of his cologne, and the rapid thud of Yuna's pulse.
Then J-Min steps back, clears his throat. "Don't touch my face without permission."
Yuna sputters. "Like you didn't wipe crumbs off mine yesterday!"
"That was professional," he retorts.
"THIS was professional," she argues. "PR. Remember?!"
J-Min folds his arms. "You are the single most aggravating person I've ever met."
"And you're the coldest," Yuna shoots back.
They glare at each other, both panting like they've run a marathon. Then J-Min glances sideways, lips twitching.
"...You really think I'm cute?"
Yuna's brain short-circuits. "NO."
His smirk grows. "You totally do."
"SHUT UP."
Seo suddenly materializes from the shadows like a vampire, grabbing them both by the shoulders and yanking them behind a food stall.
"You're trending again!" he hisses, waving his phone. "Fan cams. Photos. People are screaming about 'the ice cream moment.'"
Yuna slaps a hand over her face. "I hate the internet."
J-Min mutters, "I told you not to touch my face."
Seo ignores them both. "Anyway, keep going. The fans are eating this up. The top tweet is 'Coffee Girl and Cold Prince: The Real K-Drama We Deserve.'"
Yuna shrieks. "I'm going to vomit."
Mina suddenly appears beside Seo, grinning like a gremlin. "I have a question."
Seo sighs. "No, you can't join the official couple schedule."
"But I could be her manager's manager!" Mina protests.
J-Min throws his hands up. "I can't handle two of her."
Yuna smacks his arm. "Rude!"
Seo waves them back into the street. "You have five more vendors to hit for tonight's fan content quota. Let's go."
J-Min groans. "I feel like a zoo exhibit."
"You are," Mina chirps. "A hot one."
The night winds down as they share Hotteok stuffed with brown sugar. Mina finally wanders off, satisfied with approximately seven thousand photos.
Yuna stands beside J-Min under a lantern, feeling exhausted and oddly...lighter.
She studies his profile, noticing how his jaw tightens whenever people pass too close. How he subtly angles his body to block her from the cameras. How his eyes soften when he thinks no one's watching.
"Hey," she murmurs.
J-Min glances at her warily. "What now?"
"Why don't you date for real?"
He stiffens, his mask slipping back into place like an iron gate. "Because it's not worth the cost."
"What cost?" Yuna presses.
He hesitates, then says quietly, "Freedom. Privacy. People think they love idols, but they only love the version we let them see. If they knew the real me...I'd lose everything."
Yuna's chest aches. "That's...lonely."
J-Min stares into the crowd, expression unreadable. "I'm used to it."
A sudden pang of protectiveness rises in Yuna's chest. She reaches out, takes his hand without thinking. His fingers tense under hers but don't pull away.
"You know..." she says softly, "you're not as cold as you pretend."
He meets her eyes, and for the briefest flicker, he almost looks afraid. Then he gives a tiny, rueful smile.
"Don't tell anyone," he murmurs.
"Your secret's safe with me, Cold Prince," Yuna whispers.
Then, because she can't help herself, she grins. "But I'm still calling you babe."
He groans. "I'm going to kill you."
Later That Night...
Yuna lies in bed, staring at her phone.
Her DMs are exploding. Her face is everywhere. Mina keeps texting her memes like:
"LOOK AT HIS EYES WHEN HE STARES AT YOU."
"Girl, you're gonna marry him, I can feel it in my ovaries."
Yuna shuts her eyes, tossing the phone aside.
She still doesn't know if she's in a fairy tale or a horror movie.
But somewhere deep in her chest, past the anxiety and the panic...there's a tiny spark of hope.
And it terrifies her more than any viral meme ever could.