“Shall we really start preparing now?”
When Kang Su-yeon said that,
Yeon-ju still didn’t fully understand what she meant.
The meeting had been set.
Four people, including Jung Woo-jin, would be coming.
Four people from their side would be going.
She knew that much.
But then.
“Wait a second.”
Yeon-ju had been staring at the whiteboard when she turned her head.
“Am I really going?”
Su-yeon blinked.
“Yeah.”
“To the meeting?”
“Yeah.”
“I’m going to a four-on-four meeting?”
“I’ve been saying that from the beginning.”
Yeon-ju was at a loss for words.
She had known.
When they had first started making plans for the meeting, Su-yeon had included herself in the headcount.
Even then, Yeon-ju had asked, ‘Me too?’
But at the time, they didn’t even know whether the meeting would happen.
It had only been one possibility.
The other side might have turned them down.
And if they did, they could just find another way.
So it hadn’t felt real.
But now it was different.
It was really happening.
Four-on-four.
With four male students she’d never met before.
Yeon-ju slowly leaned back in her chair.
“...I’ve never done anything like this before.”
Su-yeon tilted her head.
“I’m not exactly a meeting expert either.”
“You talk to strangers really well, though.”
“That’s true.”
“So does Hyun-a.”
Hyun-a took her eyes off her laptop screen.
“I don’t particularly enjoy talking to people I’ve never met, either.”
“You’re still better at it than I am.”
“That’s hard to deny.”
Yeon-ju’s expression grew a little darker.
Su-yeon smiled.
“It’s okay.”
“What is?”
“No one’s asking you to carry the whole mood.”
“Then what do I do?”
“Just sit there.”
“That’s even scarier.”
It was far too easy to imagine herself sitting there without being able to say a word.
Su-yeon looked like she was trying not to laugh.
Yeon-ju said immediately,
“Don’t laugh.”
“I’m not laughing.”
“You are right now.”
“Only the corners of my mouth moved.”
“That’s called laughing.”
Hyun-a cut in between them.
“Yeon-ju does have a job.”
Yeon-ju immediately looked at Hyun-a.
“What is it?”
“Observation.”
“Observation?”
“Yes.”
Hyun-a turned her laptop screen around.
The table they’d been organizing was displayed on the screen.
Purpose of the meeting
A natural first conversation between Seo-jin and Woo-jin Creating a comfortable atmosphere for both sides Leaving an impression good enough for them to exchange personal contact information after the meeting
Yeon-ju read through it.
Hyun-a said,
“No matter how carefully we plan, things can change once we’re actually there.”
“Right.”
“Who talks a lot, who stays quiet, who shows interest in whom.”
Hyun-a lowered the screen.
“Keep track of how the conversation flows while watching all that.”
Yeon-ju listened quietly.
“While we’re talking?”
“Yes.”
“So I have to keep staring at everyone?”
Su-yeon said,
“If you stare too obviously, they’ll arrest you.”
Yeon-ju glared at her.
“Don’t joke around.”
“You’re way too tense right now.”
“Who do you think made me this tense?”
“Me?”
“Yes.”
“You’re the one who joined.”
“You gave me the pen.”
“You’re still bringing up that pen?”
Hyun-a sighed.
“Both of you, be quiet for a minute.”
They both shut their mouths.
Hyun-a pointed at the screen again.
“The important thing is whether Seo-jin can talk comfortably with Woo-jin.”
Yeon-ju nodded.
“And what his reactions are like.”
“Exactly.”
“He might talk to her but not seem particularly interested in her.”
“That could happen.”
“Or they might get along better than expected.”
“Right.”
Yeon-ju looked at the screen and said slowly,
“So I’m not recording the result. I’m watching what happens during the process.”
Hyun-a smiled.
“That probably suits you better.”
The person in charge of the materials.
That description was slowly taking on a more concrete shape.
It wasn’t just organizing documents.
It meant seeing what actually happened.
Separating confirmed facts from her own guesses.
And putting together materials about what they could do next.
Yeon-ju nodded faintly.
“...Then I’ll try.”
Su-yeon clapped once.
Smack.
“Good.”
“Why are you the one who’s happy?”
“We didn’t lose a member.”
“I wasn’t planning to drop out.”
“Then you didn’t need to worry in the first place.”
“I’m allowed to be nervous.”
Su-yeon laughed again.
They settled on Friday evening.
That was the result of Do-hee getting in touch with the other side and confirming it.
Su-yeon copied the details from the group chat onto the whiteboard.
Friday, 7:00 p.m.
Restaurant near the university’s main gate
Yeon-ju looked at the time on the board and asked,
“Why near campus?”
Hyun-a answered,
“Because it’s our first time meeting.”
“Can’t we go somewhere farther away?”
“It’s not impossible, but there’s no reason to.”
Hyun-a opened a map app.
“If it’s in front of campus, it’s easy for everyone to get there. And if the vibe isn’t right, we don’t have to stay long.”
Su-yeon added,
“If we start at a bar, it’ll smell too much like a setup.”
“But it is a setup.”
Yeon-ju said it without thinking.
“Sure, but there’s a difference between making it obvious and keeping it natural.”
“That’s true, too.”
Hyun-a pulled up three possible locations.
Five minutes on foot from the university’s main gate.
A place with a large table.
Prices that weren’t excessively high.
And not so noisy that they couldn’t hear each other.
“This one.”
Hyun-a pointed to one of them.
“They have a table that seats eight.”
“You’ve been there?”
Su-yeon asked.
“Yes. With some friends from my major last semester.”
“How was the food?”
“Pretty good.”
“Expensive?”
“A lot of students go there, so it’s reasonably priced.”
Su-yeon nodded.
“Okay.”
Yeon-ju asked,
“So we’re choosing this place?”
Hyun-a didn’t answer right away.
“Let’s look at the seating arrangement first.”
“The seating arrangement, too?”
“It’s important.”
A photo of the restaurant’s interior appeared on the laptop screen.
Hyun-a zoomed in.
A long rectangular table.
Four seats on each side.
Yeon-ju nearly laughed.
“Are we really going this far?”
Hyun-a looked at her.
“Why?”
“It feels like we’re storyboarding a TV drama.”
Hyun-a thought about it for a moment.
“It might be similar.”
Su-yeon said,
“Her dream is to become a TV writer.”
Yeon-ju’s eyes widened.
“Really?”
Hyun-a nodded.
“That’s what I want to do after graduation.”
“So is that why you like this kind of thing?”
“That is part of why I joined at first.”
Yeon-ju grew a little more curious, but Hyun-a was already looking at the screen again.
This wasn’t the mood for a detailed conversation.
Hyun-a wrote the names simply over the table layout.
At one end first.
Su-yeon
Across from her.
Other Side A
Next to her.
Seo-jin
Diagonal from her.
Woo-jin
Yeon-ju said,
“Seo-jin and Woo-jin aren’t sitting next to each other.”
“If we put them together from the start, it’ll be too obvious.”
Hyun-a said matter-of-factly,
“It would be different if this were a blind date where we seated people who liked each other side by side. But right now, it’s just a four-on-four meeting.”
“Can they still talk?”
“Diagonal is close enough.”
Su-yeon said,
“If we put them next to each other right away, Seo-jin will freeze.”
Yeon-ju couldn’t argue with that.
If she were Seo-jin, she probably would, too.
Hyun-a filled in the remaining seats.
Su-yeon would sit across from the person on the other side who was most talkative.
Hyun-a would sit in the middle.
Yeon-ju would sit at the opposite end.
“I’m at the end?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“It’s easier to observe from there.”
Yeon-ju stared at the screen.
The end seat.
She would be able to see the whole table.
“...You really chose it because of my role.”
Su-yeon smiled.
“What did you think it was?”
“To fill a seat.”
“That, too.”
Yeon-ju’s expression stiffened.
“Seriously?”
“If both are true, that’s even better.”
Hyun-a continued,
“And Yeon-ju doesn’t need to keep a conversation going with anyone from the other side in particular.”
“That’s a little reassuring.”
“You still have to talk, though.”
The reassurance was brief.
Seo-jin came back to the club room the next afternoon.
Yeon-ju had arrived first after class.
As soon as Seo-jin opened the door, she asked,
“Is it set?”
Su-yeon raised a hand from where she was lying on the couch.
“Friday at seven p.m.”
Seo-jin froze in place.
“This week?”
“Yep.”
“That’s so soon.”
“Want to push it back to next week?”
Seo-jin couldn’t answer right away.
Watching her, Su-yeon sat up.
“We can postpone it.”
Seo-jin looked up.
“What?”
“If you’re scared, we can put it off.”
“We don’t have to go just because we arranged it.”
Su-yeon’s tone was light, but her expression wasn’t.
Seo-jin bit her lip for a moment.
“If we postpone it... I think I’ll be even more scared.”
Su-yeon smiled.
“Then this week.”
“Yes.”
Seo-jin’s voice was quiet, but clear.
Hyun-a took out the materials she had prepared.
“Then let’s decide one thing first.”
“Okay.”
“The success criteria for this meeting.”
Seo-jin blinked.
“Success criteria?”
“A successful confession?”
Su-yeon asked teasingly.
Seo-jin blushed and shook her head.
“No!”
“Then dating?”
“Definitely not!”
Yeon-ju held back a laugh.
Hyun-a’s lips curved slightly, too.
“Then how far would you like to get?”
Seo-jin thought for a long time.
When Do-hee had asked her a few days ago, she’d said, ‘I want to get closer to him.’
That was still true.
But this time, she needed a slightly more specific answer.
“...I want to talk to him.”
“How much?”
“I’m not really sure.”
Seo-jin spoke slowly.
“After the meeting, when we see each other on campus, I’d rather not be at the point where we just say hello and nothing else...”
Her voice trailed off.
Yeon-ju waited.
Seo-jin continued,
“I’d like it if we could talk a little more comfortably.”
Hyun-a nodded.
“Good.”
Yeon-ju wrote it down immediately.
Success criteria
A relationship where they can naturally continue a conversation when they meet again after the meeting
Su-yeon looked down at the paper.
“That’s good.”
Seo-jin asked,
“What about contact information?”
Hyun-a didn’t answer right away.
Su-yeon asked,
“Do you want his?”
“...I do.”
Seo-jin answered honestly.
“But I don’t know if I’ll be able to ask for it first.”
Su-yeon thought for a moment.
“We’ll see how things go there.”
“Isn’t that something we decide beforehand?”
“Not everything works just because you decide it in advance.”
Su-yeon tapped the table once with her finger.
“If they barely talked and then she suddenly asks for his number at the end, that would be weird.”
“Right.”
“On the other hand, if they talk well but leave without exchanging contact information, that would be a shame.”
Seo-jin nodded.
“So we’ll decide then?”
“Yep.”
Hyun-a agreed.
“If we make exchanging contact information the goal, Seo-jin might focus on nothing else.”
“Oh.”
“For now, just conversation.”
Seo-jin slowly exhaled.
“Conversation.”
To Yeon-ju, it seemed like Seo-jin liked that word a little.
Because it wasn’t grandiose.
Because it felt doable.
Next came conversation topics.
Hyun-a asked,
“Should we go over what we know about Woo-jin again?”
Yeon-ju opened the materials she had organized.
“Second-year media and communications major.”
“Yes.”
“He often participates in department events.”
“Yes.”
“Three friends he usually hangs out with.”
“Yes.”
Yeon-ju turned the page.
There was also some additional information Do-hee had checked.
It was limited to information from public department posts and things she had casually heard from people around him.
“He’s part of a small video-production group.”
Seo-jin’s eyes widened slightly.
“I didn’t know that.”
“His name was listed on a team that made several videos for department events.”
Yeon-ju pointed to the material.
“Do-hee sent it to us.”
“She checks things like that, too?”
“Only public information.”
Su-yeon said,
“No snooping around in secret.”
Yeon-ju added a line after hearing that.
No investigating private life beyond public information
Hyun-a looked at the screen.
“Seo-jin, are you interested in video?”
“A little.”
“How much?”
“I filmed some short videos with my friends in high school.”
“Great.”
Hyun-a said,
“That’s one conversation topic.”
Seo-jin immediately tensed.
“Do I have to bring it up first?”
Su-yeon laughed.
“Do you still think we’re going to write your lines for you?”
“...A little.”
“We’re not writing them.”
“Really?”
“Then Hyun-a can.”
Hyun-a looked at Su-yeon.
“I’m not writing them, either.”
“See?”
Seo-jin looked flustered.
Yeon-ju understood a little.
Seo-jin had apparently thought that since ILY was making a plan, they would even tell her exactly what to say.
Hyun-a explained,
“If you memorize entire sentences, it’ll actually sound more awkward.”
“Then what do I do?”
“Just remember the topics.”
Hyun-a counted one off on her finger.
“Video.”
Two.
“Life in your major.”
Three.
“Campus events.”
“Just three?”
“And the rest is whatever comes up in the moment.”
Seo-jin asked anxiously,
“What if I can’t think of anything to say?”
Su-yeon said,
“We’ll figure something out.”
“How?”
“I’ll handle that.”
Yeon-ju looked at Su-yeon.
It was a little amazing that she could say things like that so casually.
Su-yeon didn’t seem particularly afraid of silence forming between people.
If anything, she seemed like the kind of person who could see where that silence came from and steer things in another direction.
Hyun-a called to Yeon-ju.
“Yeon-ju.”
“Yes?”
“You have a role in situations like this, too.”
“Me?”
“If Seo-jin freezes up too badly, pass the conversation back to her.”
“How?”
Hyun-a gave an example.
“Say Woo-jin brings up videos, and Seo-jin reacts but can’t keep the conversation going.”
“Okay.”
“Then you could say something like, ‘Didn’t you say you’ve filmed videos before, Seo-jin?’”
Yeon-ju’s expression grew complicated.
“Wouldn’t that be too obvious?”
Su-yeon laughed.
“Good catch.”
Hyun-a nodded, too.
“Which is why you shouldn’t say it exactly like that.”
“Then how?”
“Only when the conversation naturally comes around to that topic.”
Hyun-a wrote a small note beside the table with her pen.
Only help when necessary.
“If we help too much, it stops being a meeting and becomes a production.”
Hearing that, Yeon-ju remembered the ILY rules she had written down.
Help them find the path.
After that, it was up to them.
The standard was more delicate than she’d expected.
There was a difference between helping someone and doing something in their place.
They might look similar, but they weren’t.
When the preparations were mostly finished,
the door to the club room opened.
It was Do-hee.
She was holding a black helmet in one hand.
Yeon-ju’s eyes naturally went to it.
“Do you ride a motorcycle?”
Do-hee set the helmet on a chair.
“Yeah.”
“You ride it to school, too?”
“Sometimes.”
Su-yeon said,
“She hates walking.”
Do-hee looked at Su-yeon.
“You walk too much.”
“It’s a school. You’re supposed to walk.”
“It’s a big school.”
Do-hee looked down at the materials on the table.
“Are you done preparing?”
Hyun-a said,
“Almost.”
Do-hee sat in an empty chair.
“I checked the names on the other side.”
Yeon-ju immediately picked up her pen.
Jung Woo-jin.
And three friends.
Two second-years from the media and communications major.
One friend from another major.
Do-hee listed them one by one.
Yeon-ju wrote them all down.
“Do we know anything about their personalities?”
When Yeon-ju asked, Do-hee shook her head.
“Not that much.”
“Oh.”
“We’ll find out when we meet them.”
Su-yeon said,
“That’s how it should be.”
Yeon-ju nodded.
More information wasn’t automatically better.
It could make them decide what people were like before even meeting them.
Confirmed facts were enough.
Do-hee looked at Seo-jin.
“Are you ready?”
Seo-jin answered with a stiff expression.
“...I think so.”
“‘I think so’ is good enough.”
“What?”
“Is anyone ever perfectly prepared?”
Seo-jin couldn’t say anything.
Do-hee tapped the helmet once with her finger.
“Just go and talk to him.”
It was a simple thing to say.
Even so, Seo-jin looked like she was thinking about it for a moment.
Su-yeon looked at Do-hee.
“You’re not coming, right?”
“No.”
“Too bad.”
“Why?”
“Because nine people would be more fun than eight.”
Hyun-a immediately said,
“Then it wouldn’t be a meeting.”
“Just spectating.”
“That’s even weirder.”
Do-hee picked up her helmet again, looking uninterested.
“Contact me if you need anything.”
Yeon-ju asked,
“Even during the meeting?”
“Yeah.”
“For what?”
“Who knows?”
Do-hee walked toward the door and said,
“If there’s an accident.”
Yeon-ju’s face stiffened.
Su-yeon burst out laughing.
“There won’t be an accident.”
“We’ll know when you go.”
The door closed.
Yeon-ju stared at the door Do-hee had left through.
“Do-hee.”
“Yeah?”
“Do accidents usually happen at meetings?”
“No.”
“Then why would you say that?”
“Because she’s Do-hee.”
That wasn’t an explanation at all.
Friday came sooner than expected.
Yeon-ju kept checking the time throughout her afternoon classes.
One o’clock.
Two-thirty.
Four.
She usually hated having classes that ended late, but today, time seemed to be moving even faster than usual.
Her last lecture ended at five-thirty.
The major classmate sitting beside her packed up their bag and asked,
“Got plans today?”
“Yeah.”
“Meeting someone?”
Yeon-ju paused.
It felt a little embarrassing to say it was a meeting like that.
“I have something to do for my club.”
“ILY?”
“Yeah.”
“What do you guys do?”
“...Just meet up.”
It wasn’t a lie.
She’d only left out a very small part.
Her classmate waved casually.
“Have fun.”
“Thanks.”
Yeon-ju left the classroom.
She checked her phone.
A message had been posted in the group chat.
Kang Su-yeon 6:20 p.m. Club room.
Kang Su-yeon If you’re late, I’ll kill you before the meeting.
Under that.
Jo Hyun-a You’re probably going to be the latest one, though.
And then.
Cha Do-hee True.
Yeon-ju snorted.
The tension she’d felt just moments ago eased a tiny bit.
6:15 p.m.
Yeon-ju arrived at the club room.
Hyun-a was already there.
Seo-jin was sitting at the end of the couch, too.
Her outfit was a little different from usual.
A knit sweater and jeans.
She wasn’t dressed up excessively, but it was clear she’d put in more effort than usual.
Yeon-ju said carefully,
“You look pretty today.”
Seo-jin blushed.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“I don’t look too dressed up?”
“Not at all.”
Even after Yeon-ju answered, Seo-jin kept fidgeting with the end of her sleeve.
Hyun-a said,
“Don’t touch your clothes from now on.”
Seo-jin’s hand stopped.
“Do they look weird?”
“No. If you keep touching them, you’ll only make yourself more anxious.”
“Oh.”
Seo-jin placed her hands on her knees.
Yeon-ju glanced down at her own clothes.
A bright knit sweater and jeans, what she usually wore.
She had thought about it, too, in her own way.
She was participating in the meeting, but she wasn’t going there to impress anyone.
Still, she thought Seo-jin might feel more self-conscious if she dressed too casually.
In the end, she’d chosen the most ordinary outfit she had.
The door opened.
“I’m not late, am I?”
It was Su-yeon.
Yeon-ju checked the time.
6:24 p.m.
“You’re four minutes late.”
“It’s still the six-twenty range.”
“What kind of standard is that?”
“One that just came into existence.”
Hyun-a stood up.
“Let’s go. We’ll be late for our reservation.”
Su-yeon said, completely unfazed,
“See? I wasn’t late.”
Yeon-ju didn’t even have the energy to argue anymore.
By the time they left through the university’s main gate, the sun was beginning to dip.
The four of them didn’t walk side by side.
Su-yeon and Hyun-a walked ahead.
Yeon-ju and Seo-jin followed behind.
Seo-jin took a deep breath every few steps.
Yeon-ju asked,
“Are you okay?”
“No.”
She was so honest that Yeon-ju laughed.
Seo-jin smiled a little, too.
“Aren’t you nervous?”
“I am.”
“Really?”
“It’s my first time doing something like this, too.”
“I thought you’d be used to it because you’re in ILY.”
“I’ve only been a member for a few days.”
Seo-jin’s eyes widened.
“Really?”
“Yeah.”
“Then we’re kind of alike.”
“How?”
“We’re both doing this for the first time.”
Yeon-ju thought about it for a moment, then nodded.
“We are.”
That somehow made her feel more at ease.
Thinking of herself as the person going to help Seo-jin had made her feel like she had to do well, too.
But the truth was, this was Yeon-ju’s first meeting as well.
Her first time in the field.
Her first assignment.
It was only natural that she didn’t know much.
Su-yeon, who had been walking ahead, suddenly turned around.
“What are you two laughing about?”
“We were talking about you behind your back,” Yeon-ju said.
Su-yeon’s eyes widened.
“You two have great teamwork already.”
“Why are you happy about that?”
“Because you got closer by talking about me.”
Hyun-a said,
“You interpret almost everything positively.”
“That’s one of my strengths.”
“Don’t say that about yourself.”
Seo-jin laughed.
Her expression was much more relaxed than it had been in the club room.
Seeing that, Yeon-ju felt a little relieved.
Maybe half the preparation was already finished.
Not eliminating the nerves.
Just making it possible to keep walking while nervous.
The restaurant was extremely close to the university’s main gate.
The inside was visible through the glass doors.
It didn’t look like the other four had arrived yet.
Hyun-a checked the time.
6:54 p.m.
“Perfect.”
Yeon-ju asked,
“What is?”
“We got here first.”
Su-yeon opened the door.
“Let’s check our seats and sit down.”
Once they went inside, an employee confirmed the reservation name and led them to a long table.
The layout was almost exactly like the one Hyun-a had shown them the day before.
Four seats on each side.
Yeon-ju looked at the chairs.
Suddenly, everything became real.
Eight people would sit here.
Four strangers.
One of them was the person Seo-jin liked.
And Yeon-ju was one of the three people who knew that.
“Yeon-ju.”
Su-yeon called to her.
“Yes?”
“End seat.”
“Oh.”
Yeon-ju sat in the seat they had chosen beforehand.
Hyun-a seated Seo-jin diagonally across from her.
Su-yeon took the outermost seat.
Hyun-a sat in the middle.
Yeon-ju looked over the whole table.
Just as planned.
So far.
Su-yeon asked,
“Remember everything?”
Seo-jin nodded.
“Conversation first.”
“Yes.”
“Contact information depends on how things go.”
“Yes.”
“And we’re not going to force the two of you together.”
“We’ll remember that part.”
Hyun-a said,
“Seo-jin, just talk to everyone.”
Seo-jin took one deep breath.
“Yes.”
Yeon-ju turned her phone facedown on the table.
She couldn’t keep looking at her notes.
She would have to remember everything in her head.
Who talked a lot.
Who stayed quiet.
How Woo-jin reacted to what Seo-jin said.
When Seo-jin froze up.
Offer a comment once if necessary.
Don’t do more than that.
‘You can do this, right?’
Yeon-ju asked herself.
The answer was closer to ‘I’m not sure.’
Then Su-yeon said,
“Yeon-ju.”
“Yes?”
“You should just have fun, too.”
Yeon-ju blinked.
“I thought I was supposed to observe.”
“Do it while you’re having fun.”
“Can I do that?”
“If you can’t, then don’t.”
“Seriously.”
Su-yeon smiled.
“If you look like you came here to work, everyone will notice.”
Yeon-ju closed her mouth.
She had a point.
Hyun-a nodded, too.
“She’s right about that.”
“See?”
“Don’t enjoy this too much.”
“Why does everyone hate it when I’m right?”
Su-yeon grumbled.
That was when it happened.
The sound of the restaurant door opening reached them.
Yeon-ju turned her head without thinking.
Four male students were coming in.
The one in front glanced back and forth between his phone screen and the restaurant.
Behind him,
there was a face Yeon-ju had seen several times in photos.
Jung Woo-jin.
She could see Seo-jin’s hand go rigid beneath the table.
Yeon-ju instinctively looked at Seo-jin.
Seo-jin was looking at Woo-jin, too.
Just once.
Then she immediately lowered her gaze.
Su-yeon saw it but didn’t say anything.
Instead, she stood up.
Her voice was bright and natural.
“Hi.”
The four male students looked over at them.
“This is the four-on-four meeting, right?”
At that moment,
Yeon-ju realized for the first time.
A plan became something entirely different
the moment real people walked into it.
Episode 5: If Everything Goes According to Plan — End.