"So," Catalina whistled, looking around at the towering and looming skyscrapers around them, "why again did you think it was a good idea to go sightseeing in the city?"

      "Because," Jae pulled out his cell phone from his back pocket, poking around in it to try to find the best setting for a good photo shoot, "that's what my parents think I do...They always think I'm off exploring or something when I say I'm on a date."

     "Are you ever on a real date?"

     "No," he scoffed, "I don't have time for that, but I think you already know that."

     She hummed in agreement and then walked in front of the monument that sat in the middle of the two busy streets. "So, selfie? Picture? What're the beans?"

     "The what?"

     "The beans? Like—you know what, never mind. What are we going to do?" She rephrased.

     "We need to ask someone to take a pic for us," he answered.

     "Easier said than done," she muttered under her breath as she stared out at the rushing people. "It's a work day, do you really think people would want to stop to take a picture for two idiots?"

     "Well," Jae sighed, "if we could just find another couple, I'm sure they'd help us out."

     Catalina sat down on the ledge of the bronze statue's base, swinging her feet and leaning back. "Ugh, ew, it's so hot," she cried as she fanned herself, eyes squinting at the intensity of the late summer sun. The afternoon was suffocatingly humid and it made her recoil in disgust as she could already feel the sweat forming on her brow, she wished to run back into the cool breeze of Jae's car. "It's hotter than the pits of hell right now."

     "You do know that hell is thought to be freezing cold, right?"

     "Oh shut up, I'm dying here."

     "You're not the one that got all dressed up."

     "Yeah! Remind me again why you would wear a sweater on a scorching hot day?"

     "Unlike you," he wrinkled his nose, "I have some sense of fashion and think dates should sorta be fancy."

     "Excuse me," Catalina gasped, "Clearly you've never been on a date before. From the many boyfriends I've had—"

     "You mean two?"

     "What? I've had three. And how did you—"

     "Madeline told me you had two real ones and the third one was communist, somehow that doesn't validate him?"

     "I'm gonna kill Maddie," she growled, "Anyway! That's off topic! What I've learned is that you don't need to be so fancy."

     "Why? Because you're uncultured like that?"

     Catalina glared at him but patted the concrete next to herself, offering a smile. Slowly, almost hesitantly, Jae accepted her invitation and sat down next to her. She turned to him, still fanning herself and keeping her smile.

     "Let me tell you, little Jae-Jae," he'd already given her a look of murder, "at your age, I had already learned so much in the game of dating. You see," She wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pointed to the distance, "outfits have to match the occasion. Walks in the park or sightseeing doesn't equal fancy clothes. This doesn't mean you dress all ratchet though."

     "I'm literally half a year younger than you," he frowned.

     "Exactly! At your age I'd already had three boyfriends."

     He glared at her.

     "How many girlfriends have you had?"

     He refused to answer, spurting something along the lines of it not being her business and he didn't care how much dating experience she'd had. "Anyway," he opted to change the subject, "let's take these damn pictures."

     She sat up and posed on the ledge, trying to look as cute as she could. He stood and took a few steps back so that he could take a few pictures of her before he sat down next to her. They took a few selfies and even managed to ask a random stranger to take a picture of them.

     "Okay, so now what?" Catalina ruffled her hair so she could feel the breeze.

     "We're gonna walk around a bit more, then we're going to get lunch; it's on me."

     "How 'bout we stop for a smoothie, since I do owe you one and all."

     They took a couple of pictures here and there while looking for a smoothie place, when they did order their drinks, Jae had insisted he pay but Catalina was able to convince him that a deal was a deal and she had to honour her word.

     "So, tell me a bit more about yourself."

     "What is this? An interview?" Catalina frowned.

     "Ha ha no," he deadpanned, "This isn't an interview, but we need to get to know each other as best we can so we don't get caught," he said before sipping from his drink.

     "Well." She settled in her seat on the subway, watching the dark tunnels pass by through the windows. "My name is Catalina. I'm a hardworking indivi—"

     "Cat, I'm dead serious."

     "Alright, alright," she pouted, "so...I have two fishes. I know French, I...I don't know. What do people say about themselves?"

     "When you make friends, what do you usually start by saying?" He asked.

     "Hmm," she nibbled the inside of her cheeks, "I start by asking a stupid question, kinda like what I did when we first met."

     "And then?"

     "And then we just talk," she shrugged. "Let's see...I...I like to paint with acrylics, watercolours are crazy hard. I love meat and I love to go out. I've binged a few shows, one which was cringey and so very long ago... now it's your turn."

     He played with the smoothie cup. "I'm studying life sci because I want to go into research. I like working in labs and smoothies are heaven. I have a younger sister but she's back in Korea."

     "Really! How's she like? She must be adorable!" Catalina fawned. "How old is she?"

     "She's still in high school, but she's pretty mature for her age, although she loves to party. Her name's Eun-Byul and she can't get enough of dogs." He stirred his drink and Catalina could make out the faintest of smiles on his lips as he looked down at the smoothie. "She's fun and we get along very well."

     Catalina smiled brightly. "That's adorable! She sounds like she's quite the bit of fun, I'll admit."

     "So, what about you, any siblings?"

     "I wish, instead I've got a lot of cousins! They make up for it though, I love them a lot but they're in Colombia, so it's not like I can visit them all the time. Though," she grinned, "one of my cousins is here to study English for her Masters and I'm having fun with her."

     "That's nice."

     "Other than that, I love swimming and playing tennis. I once tried fencing but it was very demanding; I don't like commitment much when it comes to extracurricular stuff."

     "At least we can agree on that," he said as he leaned his head on his hand.

     "Do you do anything on your free time?"

     Jae shrugged, "I don't really do much. I don't like sports, I prefer to stay home and watch shows or movies. I do some morning workout routines for less than an hour but that's as active as I get, I hate sweating."

     Catalina laughed.

     "I didn't think what I said was funny," he spoke with a vacant expression.

     "Ah, well, it's not, really, it's just...sorry. I...sorry."

     "So, for lunch I was thinking of Korean barbeque, what do you think?"

     She blinked, "Anything should be fine. I've never tried it, so I can't really have an opinion."

     "Would you like to try it? It's good. I'll be your guide."

     Catalina nodded. "Why not? Sounds like it'll be great." Then, she pulled out her phone from her pocket, sliding open the camera. "Say cheese!"

     He glared at her.

     Click!

     "Perfect! I'll post it on my story, is that alright, bae?" She showed him the picture and he simply grumbled in response. "I'll take that as a yes."

     She played around a little with some stickers and added a few hearts before adding it on her social media with whatever stupid caption she could come up with. "Now," she put her phone away, striking a cute pose with the smoothie, "take one of me."

     "Why would I do that?" Jae asked, furrowing his brows.

     She rolled her eyes, "Because we're dating? Why else would you take a picture?"

     He grit his teeth and pulled out his own smartphone. He took a picture without warning and added it straight to his stories. They had already followed each other on social media the day of the dinner and now they tagged each other.

     It didn't take long for Catalina to receive bombarding messages from her friends and cousin. She opted not to look at them for the moment as they had started their way to the restaurant for food, taking a billion more couple pictures and even changing into the other outfits to make everything seem a bit more believable.

     "How did you like it?" Jae asked, opening the door of the car for her.

     "It was delicious! I am definitely going to come with my friends later. Thank you so much!" She sat down and he closed the door for her, coming around and taking his own seat on the driver's side.

     He started the car and nodded. "Glad you enjoyed it."

     They had done much more throughout the day; they had gone to the art gallery and even gone for crepes, now it was getting dark outside and the sun was slowly setting.

     "Are we going home now?"

     "Yes, I think so," he answered, "was there something else you wanted to do?"

     Catalina shook her head. "Nope, I don't think so."

     "Great, we should go home then."

     "Did you have fun?" She asked, leaning back on her seat, trying to relax a bit.

     "You could say. It was nice going outside for a change. But pictures are tedious."

     "So, what are we going to do next time?"

     Jae turned the radio on just before the car merged on the highway and they were driving home. "I think we should be good for a day or two before my parents start to ask me more questions. I'm sure they'll ask you to come over in a few days."

     "Damn," she cursed under her breath, "I've never really 'met the parents' so I know it won't go well."

     "I'm hoping it goes a bit better than the dinner. Just don't come all goth."

     "It's grunge, not goth and no problem, I'll come like a pretty pink princess."

     He glanced at her for a mere second before paying attention to the road once more.

     "I'm just curious," Catalina played with the strap of her backpack, "does your sister know the truth? Does she know I'm fake?"

     Jae nodded once more. "I'd never lie to her."

     After a few minutes of silence, she gasped, "Oh!" She deviously smirked, "I'd nearly forgotten, bae," she teased, "I told you about my boyfriends, you gotta tell me a bit about your girlfriends."

     "I thought I told you that it wasn't any of your business, Cat," he spat.

     "Yes, but then again, it's only fair we exchange information."

     "Well, if you must know," he began.

     "Of course I must!"

     "I'm not going to tell you."

     She frowned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Why are you keeping it such a secret?" She grumbled, "Why does it even bother if I ask you? You just have to tell me a number, it's not that hard."

     "Wanna know why I don't want to tell you?"

     "Yes! Why?"

     "Because we just met. We're not even—" He stopped himself.

     "No, please, continue. We're not even what? We're not even friends? That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?"

     "Yes."

     "Well, Jae, let me just say that we are friends. If we weren't, I wouldn't be helping you out. So, next time you say we're not friends..."

     "What? What're you going to do?"

     She huffed. "I'm not good at threatening people, Jae, it's not what I like to do."

     "Did you forget the time you threatened me when I didn't want to smile?" He rose an eyebrow, "I'd say you just didn't have a good comeback, oh great and mighty Cat."

     Catalina held her laugh back, realizing he had made a little light of the situation so she could cheer up. "That was last week. And I so do."

     "Are you sure you want to be friends with me?" He asked, in a more serious tone. "I'm not a great guy."

     "I like danger," she beamed with pride.

     And then, the most unexpected thing happened...he laughed? He actually laughed. It might have been the tiniest of laughs but for Catalina she wasn't sure why it had sounded like liquid gold. It wasn't even an attractive laugh, there was a snort there somewhere and it was outright messy, but it made her smile.

     "Danger," he repeated in a scoff, "what am I? Batman?"

     "Yeah," she laughed, "yeah, you are."