The 3-to-1 Date

"Wow, Jiyoon unnie, you look so pretty today!"

They'd agreed to meet first thing in the morning near Dayeon's studio. Jiyoon, who'd volunteered to drive, was the first to arrive. Dayeon showed up next.

"I'm a little worried I look too much like a kid, though."

Jiyoon said it with an embarrassed little laugh. She'd let down the ponytail she always wore, pulled on a black T-shirt with a denim jacket thrown over it, and finished the look with a pair of short white hot pants.

"No way! It looks amazing on you. You even look younger than usual, somehow."

On a normal day, Jiyoon dressed like the textbook definition of a sharp office woman — neat, polished, heels and all. Today, she looked like she'd stepped out for a date, or a day of fun somewhere.

"You're the one who looks gorgeous, Dayeon."

"Please. I'm just wearing something ordinary."

Dayeon had on a white off-shoulder shirt and denim hot pants, with a tiny muted-yellow bag just big enough for a phone and a wallet. It was, in a sense, a completely ordinary outfit — except that on Dayeon, it became the gold standard of girlfriend fashion. Her face did all the work.

"Well, yeah, the styling itself isn't anything special. When your face is that pretty, everything just looks good on you."

"Oh, come on, unnie! You're embarrassing me!"

The two of them were deep in that uniquely female relay of complimenting each other's clothes and looks when a voice rang out from down the street.

"I'm not late, right?!"

From a distance, Eunchae came bounding toward them — the living, breathing embodiment of cute.

"Pfft! Jung Eunchae, what the hell? Why are you so adorable today?!"

Dayeon had always been one of the people who loved Eunchae's cute outfits, and today's look was peak adorable. She'd pulled on a blindingly bright yellow T-shirt — the kind of color most people wouldn't dare wear — and layered denim overalls over it. She looked like some tiny creature that had wandered straight out of a movie.

"Hehe. And here's today's fashion highlight!"

Since she was wearing pants, Eunchae kicked one leg up without a second thought. Black socks with two white stripes at the ankle, paired with white sneakers — that was the finishing touch that pushed the whole look into peak cute territory.

"Oh my god, Eunchae, you're too cute."

Jiyoon, who'd spotted her a beat after Dayeon, jumped in with her own praise.

"Those socks... the two white stripes... Ahh, that's actually too cute."

Jiyoon, who'd thought ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of a puppy the very first time she met Eunchae, flushed slightly and gazed at her with the expression of someone looking at an impossibly precious little creature.

"No, seriously, who gave you permission to be this cute?!"

Dayeon made a huge fuss of it, throwing her arms around Eunchae and bouncing up and down.

"M-me too...!"

Even Jiyoon, who was normally so composed, couldn't hold back this time. She piled in and started bouncing right along with them.

"When did the three of you get this close?"

Dohyun had been watching the whole scene from a distance, looking thoroughly amused. He walked over to join them right on time.

"Kyaah...! Dohyun, how long have you been standing there?!"

Jiyoon practically shrieked, as if she'd been caught doing something embarrassing.

"I've been here a while, actually. You noonas and Eunchae were just too cute, so I stood there watching. Sorry."

"Cu-cute... A-ahem...!"

Jiyoon's face went bright red at the word cute, and she bolted for the driver's seat.

"Dohyun... today... we kind of look like a couple..."

Of course, being the bold type she was, she still said exactly what she wanted to say. And she wasn't wrong. Dohyun and Jiyoon were dressed so similarly they might as well have coordinated on purpose.

"Oh, you're right! Is it because you're both wearing denim jackets? You look exactly like a couple!"

Jiyoon had on white hot pants, while Dohyun was in ordinary black slacks — but what caught the eye first was the tops, not the bottoms.

"What the heck~ You two matched the dress code all by yourselves~ You should've told us too!"

Dayeon put on a teasing face and started needling the two of them.

"Aigoo, I totally forgot to mention it! Well, what can you do~ Guess the two of us just have to walk around like a couple today~"

Dohyun played along, tossing the joke right back. He'd been pretty worried about Dayeon, but she looked so much happier than he'd expected that his own mood lifted, and the teasing came out naturally.

"Ah, Jiyoon noona, sorry if that made you uncomfortable...!"

Joking about couple looks when they weren't even dating could easily come off as rude, so he apologized.

"N-no, it's fine. Couple looks... I like that kind of thing."

Jiyoon answered with a faint blush, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠and Dohyun stared at her, a little dazed.

Has Jiyoon noona always been this pretty? No... I mean, she was always pretty, but something about her vibe is different today.

He'd always thought Jiyoon's usual grown-up look was incredibly neat and cool. But today's version of her was a little closer to his actual type. That was more than enough to make him suddenly very aware of the quest — and to send his heart racing.

"Anyway, let's get going so we're not late. We still need to grab breakfast on the way."

Jiyoon smiled shyly and waved everyone into the car.

"Then Dohyun, you take the passenger seat! Eunchae and I will sit in the back!"

Dayeon was still fully committed to shipping the two of them. She couldn't sit this one out, but she was determined to play wingwoman, so she shoved Dohyun into the front passenger seat.

"Whoa, noona...! I can get in by myself...!"

A guy and a girl in matching couple-look outfits sitting up front made for a pretty picture.

"Hehe, you two look so good together!"

Eunchae pulled out her phone, snapped a photo, and climbed in. The restaurant they were heading to for breakfast was one Dohyun had already found and told them about in advance.

It was a brunch café that opened early. The place was hot on Instagram and the actual ratings weren't bad either, so he'd hunted it down with extra care — partly to check off the quest, and partly to treat the three of them to something delicious.

"If you want to listen to music or anything, go right ahead."

"Oooh~ Jiyoon unnie~ Veteran driver over here~"

Back when she'd been a beginner who needed to focus, Jiyoon used to tense up if someone put on music in the car. These days, though, she was closing in on five years of accident-free driving. And after punching through Seoul's hellish traffic every single day, she couldn't help but become a best-in-class driver.

A fun little outing was officially underway.

The place was famous enough on Instagram that even at this early hour, a decent line had already formed outside the ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠brunch café. Luckily it wasn't that long, and the three of them didn't seem to mind waiting, so after about thirty minutes we were finally shown inside.

"Wooow, this looks so good...!"

We each picked what we wanted, mixed and matched, and put in our orders. Since dessert came included, the meal and the café both cleared in a single go.

I hadn't seen that coming... huge win...!

"Dohyun, you must've worked so hard finding a place this good!"

"Nah. It was nothing, really."

I played it off like it was nothing when Jiyoon noona hyped me up. Honestly, though, I'd dug through the entire internet to find this place. Praise like this? I was eating it up. Still, I forced down the smile that was trying to tug at the corners of my mouth. Had to keep that gentle, sweet-guy image going.

"Hehe, look at Dohyun. He's so happy he got complimented. Your mouth is twitching. Cute~"

...Of course Dayeon noona caught me immediately. Ugh.

"She's right. It's written all over your face. You're too cute, seriously."

Once Jiyoon noona jumped in with the c-word too, there was no way this wasn't going to be mortifying. Cute. At my age. Give me a break.

But something else had been nagging at me for a while now...

"Ah, Dohyun! Try this too. It's really good."

Jiyoon noona kept feeding me bites of her food, and she took whatever I offered her just as smoothly. This quest to win her over... I might actually be able to clear it.

I'd been thinking this for a while, though — I genuinely couldn't figure out why everyone had suddenly started liking me so much. Well, Dayeon noona and Eunchae had already been my partners for a while now. Two of them I could almost ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠accept, even if it still felt late to be processing it. But now Jiyoon noona was openly showing interest too, and I couldn't help feeling a little stunned.

It wasn't like I'd never gotten a confession or two back in school. But had every person who looked at me ever given off this kind of vibe? Obviously not.

I had to wonder if the status window — and the Charm Stat that came with it — was applying some kind of correction. The Charm Stat itself wasn't all that high, so I hadn't expected it to do much. But the world of the status window really was a mysterious thing.