I rolled my eyes as the truck in front of the window pulled away.
The sun had started to set in the time we’d been here, and the lanterns in front of the restaurant across the street had lit up,illuminating little red cats in front of the ramen restaurant I’d gone to on my date with Jihoon.
Despite everything, the ramen had actually been amazing. Maybe I could convince Yejun to go there next. My gaze dropped to the couple in the booth by the window and their bowls of ramen with broth as thick and creamy as gravy. They looked a bit like…
I dropped my fork.
“Everything okay?” Yejun said, raising an eyebrow. Luckily, Yejun was facing away from the window, so I managed to smooth out my expression before he could turn around.
Across the street from us, Jihoon and I were on our date.
This was the night I’d finished my final assignment, when Hong Gildong had given me the small task of single-handedly destroying the Korean Peninsula. If I had never kissed Jihoon—or at least waited until after the political rally—would Hong Gildong have given me a different assignment? Something less terrible?
“I have to go to the bathroom!” I said too loudly, jumping up.
Yejun looked surprised but nodded warily. “Have fun,” he said with a half smile.
I walked around him and headed for the bathroom before hurrying out the front door, across the street, into the ramen restaurant.
I could have told Yejun what I was doing—after all, he’d heard me and Jihoon set up the date, so it wasn’t exactly a secret.
But for some reason, I didn’t want Yejun to see.
Maybe it was that I didn’t want him to make fun of me, or that I felt bad treating Jihoon like a spectacle, or because having a witness to my lies made me feel even crueler than I already felt.
But part of me knew the real reason.
I’d gone out with Jihoon mostly for my infiltration mission, but also to get back at Yejun for walking with the other girl, to show him he didn’t own me, to hurt him.
I didn’t want to hurt him—or anyone—anymore.
As I crossed the restaurant, I considered a dozen ways I could ruin the date. I could pretend to be the real Mina and insult Jihoon, but he was too damn nice and didn’t deserve it. I could drag the other Mina out when Jihoon went to the bathroom so it looked like she’d ditched him. I could even set the whole place on fire, which would definitely ruin the mood.
I flipped up my hood so Jihoon wouldn’t see my face, but slowed down to a stop as I realized what was happening.
An Echo in a sweatshirt had poured ramen into my purse on my date with Jihoon. Now, here I was, in the same sweatshirt, contemplating ways to ruin the date.
Pouring ramen into my own bag hadn’t worked—I had no idea why I’d tried that in the first place and sacrificed my phone in the process—but maybe I could make one small adjustment that would change everything.
I reached the table, locking eyes with the other Mina, and picked up her bowl of ramen. In my mind, I could already see the scene playing out—ramen broth dumped over Mina’s head, her hair ruined, makeup dripping down her face, her shirt see-through, noodles in her bra. If that didn’t ruin the mood and make sure no kiss happened tonight, nothing would.
But then a sharp pain flared behind my eyes.
My timesickness headaches truly had spectacular timing. I lost my grip on the bowl, and instead of landing over Mina’s head, it overturned into her purse.
“Are you serious?” the other Mina said, jumping to her feet.
I pushed past her and hurried out of the restaurant, wincing at the glare of streetlights.
I glanced back at the restaurant, but I knew my chance had been lost. I didn’t want to go back and risk Jihoon seeing my face. The only thing worse than kissing him in the first place would be exposing him to magic and having to drag him into headquarters for a brain scrub.I had already made the mistake of kissing him, and apparently I would have to live with it.
I slipped back into the café, where Yejun was waiting for me.
“Okay,” Yejun said. “Now are you ready to tell me what’s actually going on?”
Yejun waited patiently while I stared at my empty plate and recounted my new assignment from Hong Gildong. With every word, Yejun’s expression grew more and more grave.
By the time I finished talking, he looked like he wanted to murder someone. Hopefully not me.
