“She’s coming.”
About ten minutes had passed since Kang Su-yeon said that.
Yeon-ju had already looked toward the door for the third time.
No one had come.
Park Seo-jin was still sitting on the edge of her chair, while Hyun-ah had been looking over the consultation notes Yeon-ju organized earlier.
Only Su-yeon remained unbothered.
She was finishing the remaining half of her triangle kimbap.
“Sunbae.”
“Yeah?”
“Is she really coming?”
“I told you she is.”
“When?”
“Soon.”
Yeon-ju checked the time.
“You said ‘soon’ earlier, too.”
“For Do-hee, this is fast.”
“How late is she usually?”
“Sometimes she doesn’t come at all.”
Yeon-ju shut her mouth.
She suddenly wanted to ask again why they had called someone like that.
That was when it happened.
Footsteps sounded from the end of the hallway.
Neither fast nor slow.
And a moment later,
the club room door opened.
“You called?”
Yeon-ju reflexively looked toward the entrance.
Short hair.
A black tracksuit jacket over a comfortable T-shirt.
Jogger pants and sneakers below.
A small bag hung from one shoulder.
She looked barely dressed up, yet somehow stood out.
The woman stood in the doorway and swept her gaze around the room.
Su-yeon.
Hyun-ah.
Seo-jin, whom she had never seen before.
And finally, Yeon-ju.
Her gaze stopped there.
Yeon-ju immediately remembered.
‘Cha Do-hee.’
The last club member, whose name she had only seen in the group chat.
Su-yeon raised a hand.
“You made it.”
“Yeah.”
“You’re early.”
“You told me to come quickly.”
“You still could’ve not shown up.”
Do-hee looked at Su-yeon for a moment.
“If I was going to do that, why call me?”
Yeon-ju lightly bit her lip.
She felt like she shouldn’t laugh.
As if this were familiar, Hyun-ah said, “Do-hee, this is our freshman.”
Do-hee’s gaze returned to Yeon-ju.
“Lee Yeon-ju?”
Yeon-ju’s eyes widened slightly.
“You know me?”
“Group chat.”
“Oh.”
Apparently, that was all there was to it.
Do-hee gave a brief wave.
“Cha Do-hee. Third-year physical education major.”
“Hi.”
Yeon-ju quickly greeted her as well.
Do-hee nodded once, then pulled over an empty chair.
She sat across from Su-yeon.
“So.”
She asked, “What do I do?”
Without meaning to, Yeon-ju looked at Su-yeon.
She had said hello.
Sat down.
And gone straight to the point.
She really didn’t seem all that interested in other people’s romances themselves.
As if accustomed to it, Su-yeon pointed toward Seo-jin.
“Client.”
Do-hee looked at Seo-jin.
Seo-jin lowered her head with a nervous expression.
“Hello.”
“Hey.”
Do-hee then looked at Su-yeon.
“Who’s the other person?”
“Second-year in the same major.”
“What’s their relationship?”
“They’ve said hello once.”
“That’s it?”
“That’s it.”
Do-hee looked back at Seo-jin.
“So what do you want to do?”
Seo-jin blinked.
“Huh?”
“Do you want to confess, or do you want to get closer?”
Seo-jin moved her lips in confusion.
Su-yeon didn’t interrupt.
Neither did Hyun-ah.
Seo-jin thought for a while before answering.
“...I want to get closer.”
“And after that?”
“That... ”
Seo-jin’s hand once again gripped her bag strap.
“I want to think about that after we get closer.”
Do-hee nodded.
“Then we’re done.”
Yeon-ju blinked.
“What is?”
Do-hee looked at her.
“What she wants to do.”
“Oh.”
Yeon-ju immediately picked up her pen.
She added a line beneath the goal she had already written down.
What the client wants: Get closer first. Decide what comes next herself.
Do-hee’s gaze lowered to the paper.
“You organize everything?”
“Yes. I’m in charge of the materials.”
“Good.”
It was a short remark.
Yet for some reason, it made Yeon-ju feel good.
Su-yeon smiled.
“See? Our new member’s useful, right?”
Yeon-ju’s face stiffened.
“Sunbae.”
“It’s a compliment.”
“Don’t call people useful.”
Do-hee looked at Su-yeon.
“You said that to her, too?”
“Said what?”
“When I first joined.”
Su-yeon thought for a moment.
“Did I?”
“You did.”
“I don’t remember.”
“I knew you wouldn’t.”
Their conversation was strangely dry.
But it wasn’t uncomfortable.
They seemed like the kind of people who didn’t need to explain themselves to each other.
Yeon-ju remembered what Su-yeon had said a few days ago.
Because she’s my friend.
Because I was the one who suggested it.
She felt like she understood those words a little better now.
Hyun-ah turned the consultation form toward Do-hee.
“What we’re thinking right now is a group date.”
“How many people?”
“Four and four.”
“What about the other four?”
Su-yeon answered.
“Three friends who usually hang out with that sunbae, plus him.”
Do-hee asked again, “And on our side?”
“Seo-jin.”
Su-yeon pointed to herself.
“Me.”
“Hyun-ah.”
“And Yeon-ju.”
Do-hee’s gaze moved from one person to the next.
Yeon-ju straightened her back for no reason.
Do-hee asked without any particular reaction, “Do you know the other person’s name?”
Seo-jin answered.
“Jeong Woo-jin, sunbae.”
Yeon-ju’s pen moved.
Other person: Jeong Woo-jin / second-year in the same major
Do-hee continued.
“What major?”
“Media and Communications.”
“What are the names of his three friends?”
“I’m not really sure...”
“Do you have pictures?”
Seo-jin hesitated, then took out her phone.
“There are pictures posted on the major’s Instagram.”
Do-hee held out her hand.
Seo-jin carefully handed over her phone.
Do-hee swiped through the screen several times.
Group photos.
Freshman welcome party photos.
Photos from major events.
She stopped on one of them.
“This person?”
“Yes.”
“And the three next to him are the ones who usually hang out with him?”
“Yes. They’re almost always together.”
Do-hee looked at the screen a little longer.
Then she handed the phone back to Seo-jin.
“I’ve seen one of them before.”
Su-yeon raised an eyebrow.
“Who?”
Do-hee pointed to one person in the photo.
“Him.”
“You know him?”
“I’ve seen him a few times while eating with a friend from the physical education college.”
Yeon-ju asked, “Are you close?”
“No.”
Do-hee answered immediately.
“I just recognize his face.”
Hyun-ah said, “That might actually be better.”
Yeon-ju looked at her.
“Why?”
“If we’re too close, it could make things awkward.”
Hyun-ah pulled her laptop closer.
“It can’t feel like we set up the group date because someone likes someone.”
Yeon-ju nodded.
She was right.
To hide ILY’s involvement, the group date itself had to feel natural.
Do-hee asked, “So I just need to ask that friend if he’s interested in a group date?”
Su-yeon nodded.
“For now.”
“If you specifically tell him to bring Woo-jin, it’ll look obvious.”
“Exactly.”
“If the four of them usually hang out together, it’d be better to ask whether all four of them want to do something together.”
Hyun-ah said, “Please do that if you can.”
Yeon-ju began writing as soon as she heard it.
Things to confirm
1. Whether the four, including Jeong Woo-jin, are actually interested in a group date
2. Suggest it naturally to all four without singling anyone out
3. Do not reveal ILY or the fact that Seo-jin made the request
Do-hee looked down at Yeon-ju’s paper.
“You’re fast.”
“If I don’t write it down, I get confused.”
“Nice.”
Su-yeon immediately cut in.
“I picked a good one, right?”
“You didn’t pick me.”
“I gave you the sign-up form.”
“I filled it out.”
“But it was my pen.”
Yeon-ju stared at Su-yeon, speechless.
Do-hee said, “You two got close.”
“We’re not close.”
Yeon-ju answered immediately.
Su-yeon grinned.
“See? She’s already starting to sound like me.”
“How?”
“Talking back.”
Do-hee stood up.
Yeon-ju asked in surprise, “You’re leaving already?”
“Yeah.”
“What about the confirmation?”
“I have to go do it.”
She really meant it literally.
Yeon-ju checked the time without thinking.
“Now?”
“I have a friend at a nearby gym.”
Do-hee adjusted the bag on her shoulder.
“I’ll get the first message sent through them.”
Su-yeon asked, “Can you do it today?”
“When we get a response is up to them.”
“That’s true.”
“I’ll leave a message in the group chat when I reach them.”
She was concise.
Su-yeon didn’t ask for anything more.
“Okay.”
Do-hee walked toward the door.
Then she stopped.
Without turning around, she asked, “One thing.”
Seo-jin flinched.
“Yes?”
“What if they don’t want to do a group date?”
Seo-jin closed her mouth.
The room fell quiet for a moment.
Su-yeon didn’t answer for her, either.
Seo-jin thought for a long time.
Then she said in a small voice,
“...I’d like to think of another way.”
“Even if it isn’t a group date?”
“Yes.”
“Got it.”
Only then did Do-hee turn around.
She opened the door and left.
Yeon-ju watched her back.
She thought she understood, at least a little, why Do-hee had asked that at the end.
The group date itself wasn’t the goal.
What mattered was creating an opportunity for Seo-jin to get closer to Jeong Woo-jin.
That method could be a group date.
Or it might not be.
The door closed.
Yeon-ju looked at Su-yeon.
“Does she always move that fast?”
“Yeah.”
“She really left right away.”
“That’s why she handles things in the field.”
Su-yeon said it as if it were nothing.
Only then did Yeon-ju begin to understand.
There was still work to do even after Do-hee left.
Hyun-ah stood in front of the whiteboard.
“Let’s think this through assuming the group date happens.”
Seo-jin’s face tensed again.
“Already?”
“If we wait until it’s confirmed to start preparing, we might be too late.”
Hyun-ah drew two squares on the board.
“Let’s start with the goal.”
Su-yeon said, “Create some time for Seo-jin and Woo-jin to talk one-on-one.”
“If we keep them together too long, it’ll look obvious.”
Hyun-ah responded immediately.
“And seating them next to each other from the beginning could feel unnatural, too.”
Yeon-ju asked, “Then should we seat them apart?”
“Not completely apart.”
Hyun-ah drew eight squares.
It was a simple seating arrangement.
“At first, maybe diagonally across from each other.”
“Why?”
“They’ll see each other often, but it won’t feel as forced as making them talk.”
Hyun-ah’s hand moved across the board.
“Then once everyone loosens up, we can naturally change seats once.”
Su-yeon said, “We could play a game or something.”
“Nothing too much like a dating game.”
“Why?”
“Because it would give away the purpose.”
“Then we can just talk naturally over dinner.”
“That would be best.”
Yeon-ju listened to the two of them and quickly took notes.
Initial seating.
Conversation topics.
The possibility of changing seats.
A natural moment for Seo-jin and Woo-jin to exchange a few words.
Nothing had been finalized yet, but the plan was slowly taking shape.
One thing bothered her, though.
“Sunbae.”
Yeon-ju called out to Hyun-ah.
“Yes?”
“Everyone on our side knows Seo-jin likes Woo-jin.”
“That’s right.”
“Wouldn’t it seem strange if we paid too much attention to it?”
Hyun-ah stopped.
Su-yeon looked at Yeon-ju, too.
Yeon-ju’s voice grew smaller for no reason.
“If we keep trying to put the two of them together, I think the other side might notice.”
Hyun-ah smiled.
“You’re right.”
“So...”
Hyun-ah erased one of the lines she had drawn on the whiteboard.
“Even if we make a plan, we can’t force everything to follow it.”
Yeon-ju looked at the erased line.
“Because we have to see how things go?”
This time, Su-yeon answered.
“Yeah.”
Su-yeon leaned back in her chair and looked toward Seo-jin.
“If romance always went according to plan, things would be easy for us, too.”
“It doesn’t?”
Seo-jin asked.
“When you get four people together—or eight—there are a ton of variables.”
Su-yeon folded down one finger at a time.
“Someone might be late. Someone might be more talkative than expected. Or the people who already know each other might only talk among themselves.”
Hyun-ah added, “That’s why we make only the basic flow and adjust it in the field.”
Yeon-ju added a small note beside the plan she had written down.
Plan = not fixed
Adjust according to the situation on-site
Writing it down made it a little fun.
Hyun-ah made the plan.
Su-yeon watched how that plan actually worked among real people.
Do-hee brought the necessary information in from outside.
And Yeon-ju gathered and organized it all.
Until a few days ago, Yeon-ju hadn’t even known what she was supposed to do in this club.
But little by little, everyone’s role was beginning to come into focus.
About an hour later,
Seo-jin left the club room first because of her next class.
Hyun-ah also had to leave for her afternoon lecture.
“Leave a message in the group chat when we hear back.”
Hyun-ah said this while gathering her bag.
“Okay.”
Su-yeon was sitting on the sofa, looking at her phone.
Yeon-ju also had to return to Gyeongyeonggwan.
She gathered the papers spread across the table into one stack.
“I’ll leave these here.”
“Okay.”
“If anything gets added, please write it here.”
Su-yeon took the papers.
Yeon-ju added with an uneasy expression, “So I can read it.”
“My handwriting’s great.”
“So I can understand the content, too.”
“You don’t trust me?”
“Not completely.”
Su-yeon laughed.
Yeon-ju picked up her bag as well.
She checked her phone as she left the club room, but there still weren’t any new messages.
That was only natural.
Even if Do-hee had reached out, there was no reason for the other side to respond immediately.
Yeon-ju went down the stairs.
Fifteen minutes until her next class.
Once again, she had to run there as fast as she could.
Afternoon class ended a little over two hours later.
Yeon-ju checked her phone as she stepped out of the lecture hall.
There were three unread messages in the ILY group chat.
The first had been sent by Cha Do-hee.
Cha Do-hee Reached them through my friend.
Below that:
Cha Do-hee They’re asking if the four of them want to do something together.
And the last message had come ten minutes ago.
Cha Do-hee They’re in.
Yeon-ju stopped walking.
It had really worked.
At that moment, a new message appeared.
Kang Su-yeon Club room.
Yeon-ju stared at the screen.
A moment later,
another line came through.
Kang Su-yeon Time to actually start preparing.
Yeon-ju let out a small laugh.
Then she turned around and started retracing the route she had just taken.
When Yeon-ju arrived at the club room, Hyun-ah had already returned, too.
Seo-jin’s seat was empty; she must have said she would come back as soon as class ended.
Su-yeon waved her phone screen.
“You saw it, right?”
“Yes.”
“They’re interested, too.”
Hyun-ah asked, “All four, including Jeong Woo-jin?”
“Yeah. The same four who usually hang out together.”
“What about ILY?”
“Of course I didn’t mention it.”
Su-yeon looked down at Do-hee’s message.
“She said she just told them, through someone they knew, that there were some people from another major looking for a four-on-four group date.”
Yeon-ju nodded.
They hadn’t specifically called Jeong Woo-jin out.
Seo-jin’s name hadn’t come up, either.
At least for now, everything had been natural.
Yeon-ju spread the paper open again.
Progress
Below that, she wrote something new.
Four-on-four group date confirmed.
As she lifted her pen, Su-yeon said, “All right.”
Yeon-ju and Hyun-ah looked at her.
Su-yeon smiled.
“Should we really start preparing now?”
Yeon-ju looked at the eight squares drawn on the whiteboard.
Until a few days ago, she hadn’t really understood what it meant to help someone else with their love life.
But now, she thought she was starting to understand.
It wasn’t about delivering someone’s feelings for them.
It wasn’t about forcing two people together, either.
It was about creating a place where they could meet.
Preparing a moment when they could start a conversation.
And then leaving the rest up to them.
Her first request
was finally about to begin in earnest.
Episode 4: Field Operations — End.