THE BLIND DATE MIX-UP||L.HS X P.SH

T W E N T Y O N E

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE: THE BLIND DATE MIX-UP

Sunghoon sat at the kitchen counter, absently stirring his coffee. His mind was still reeling from the previous night’s dinner fiasco with Heeseung. Heeseung’s unexpected charm offensive on his mom had left Sunghoon dazed and mildly horrified. Now, he was wrestling with the nagging feeling that he needed to confront something that had been bothering him for weeks: the blind date.

The blind date that started this whole ridiculous mess.

Sunghoon's mother, who was in an unusually good mood after meeting Heeseung, was busy tidying up the kitchen. She hummed a cheerful tune, occasionally glancing at Sunghoon with a smile, clearly thrilled that her son was finally “dating” someone as wonderful as Heeseung. Sunghoon, however, was far from relaxed. His curiosity had been piqued, and he needed to clear the air.

“Mom,” Sunghoon began, hesitating slightly. “Do you remember that blind date you set up for me a while back?”

His mother paused, turning to face him with a puzzled expression. “Blind date? Oh, you mean the one I arranged because you never bring anyone home?”

Sunghoon nodded, a little embarrassed by how she put it. “Yeah, that one. The, uh... date with Heeseung.”

His mother’s brows furrowed in confusion. “Heeseung? No, honey, I didn’t set you up with Heeseung.”

Sunghoon stared at her, stunned. “What? But… you told me you set up a date for me, and then I met Heeseung at that café…”

His mom looked even more perplexed. “Sunghoon, I arranged a date with a nice young man named Minho. He’s the son of my friend, Mrs. Kim. I never mentioned anyone named Heeseung.”

Sunghoon’s mind went blank. “Wait, so who…?”

His mother sighed, shaking her head with a mixture of disappointment and amusement. “You never showed up! Minho was there waiting for you, but when I asked him how it went, he said you didn’t come.”

Sunghoon’s jaw dropped. The pieces started falling into place, and he felt like the world’s biggest idiot. Heeseung wasn’t his blind date. In fact, Heeseung hadn’t been there for him at all. They had simply run into each other by sheer coincidence.

“Oh my God,” Sunghoon muttered, rubbing his temples as the realization hit him like a ton of bricks. “So Heeseung… wasn’t the person I was supposed to meet.”

His mom laughed, patting his arm sympathetically. “Sounds like you two were just in the wrong place at the right time. Funny how fate works, isn’t it?”

“Fate?!” Sunghoon exclaimed, his voice a mix of disbelief and frustration. “Mom, I’ve been thinking this whole time that Heeseung was the guy you set me up with!”

She chuckled, seemingly unbothered by Sunghoon’s existential crisis. “Well, it looks like you met someone special anyway, didn’t you? You two seem to get along so well.”

“Get along?” Sunghoon spluttered. “Mom, this is—this whole thing—ugh!”

His mom just smiled, clearly enjoying Sunghoon’s flustered state. “Sometimes things don’t go as planned, but they work out even better. It seems like this Heeseung boy has really taken a liking to you, even if it wasn’t planned.”

Sunghoon groaned, burying his face in his hands. All this time, he’d been annoyed and confused, thinking that Heeseung was some prearranged date who had somehow managed to flip his life upside down. But it was all a mix-up—a wild, unbelievable, ridiculous mix-up. And Heeseung… Heeseung had known none of it.

Sunghoon recalled the weirdness of their first meeting: Heeseung’s unfazed attitude, his complete lack of any “first date” jitters, the way he’d seemed to enjoy Sunghoon’s bizarre antics rather than be put off by them. It was like Heeseung had been playing along with a joke Sunghoon didn’t even know he was part of.

“I can’t believe this,” Sunghoon mumbled to himself, feeling embarrassed, amused, and just plain stupid. “This whole time…”

His mom continued her humming, blissfully unaware of the inner turmoil she’d just unleashed in her son’s mind. To her, this was a cute little misunderstanding that had led to a blossoming relationship. But to Sunghoon, it felt like his world had just been flipped upside down again, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted to laugh or cry.

Sunghoon stood up abruptly, running a hand through his hair in exasperation. “I need to go. I need... air.”

“Tell Heeseung I said hi!” his mom called after him, entirely too cheerful for Sunghoon’s current state.

As Sunghoon stormed out of the house, he could only think of one thing: Heeseung. The man who wasn’t even supposed to be there that day, who wasn’t the blind date Sunghoon was dreading. The man who had somehow wormed his way into Sunghoon’s life by complete accident.

And yet, Sunghoon couldn’t help but feel a strange sense of relief. It was as if the truth had set him free—though he was still trapped in the whirlwind that was Heeseung’s constant presence.

Sunghoon sighed, walking down the street with his hands shoved into his pockets, his mind a chaotic mess of disbelief and a reluctant smile tugging at his lips. Heeseung wasn’t part of his mom’s plan. He was just… Heeseung.

And maybe, Sunghoon thought, that made everything a little more interesting.