Singles’ Royale is a light romance webtoon about three single women- Jurim, Chayeul, and Seona- as they spice up their bland love lives with a grand dating contest (seriously, it’s grand, the winner gets five hundred million won). Will they realize that true love might be under each of their noses all this time Previously in Singles’ Royale, Jurim realizes that her handsome online boyfriend was a stout Asian teenager who tried to catfish her, and that the real man (from the fake photos) was an elusive artist, Dowon, with whom she’d been assigned to work. Chayeul had begun dating a seemingly perfect man, Sanggyu, through the connection of Daeseong, her childhood friend. And Seona, after an embarrassing date with an older co-worker, Mr. Kim, runs into her old student, Hyeonbin. Let’s continue the games in Singles’ Royale Chapter 11-12!
Singles’ Royale Chapter 11: An Unexpected Family Reunion
Singles’ Royale Chapter 11 begins as Seona and Daeseong, walking together through the cafeteria, talk about studying for grad school together. They run into Mr. Kim, who, noticing Seona, turns away in embarrassment.
Later, during lunch, Seona asks Daeseong if he was ‘okay’ with Chayeul’s budding romance with Sanggyu. “Who will you hang out with if he and Chayeul get serious?” she inquires. Daesong brushes it off, stating that he was fine on his own (sure, buddy). When Seona asks him to set up a date for her, he honestly replies that no one was ‘good enough’ for her.
On the weekend, Seona meets up with Hyeonbin, her former student, at a restaurant. Wearing a shirt and dark sweater for a ‘mature look’, Hyeonbin nervously wonders whether he made the right fashion choice. Seona walks in with Daeseong behind her. When both men notice each other, a shock of recognition passes between them- what’s my cousin doing here? Hyeonbin and Daeseong greet each other, welcoming the pleasant surprise, and explain the coincidence to Seona.
A Leap of Blind Faith
During lunch, Seona and Daeseong reminisce about their past-studying for tests and quizzing each other, making Hyeonbin feel left out. When Seona leaves for the restroom, Hyeonbin admits his feelings for her to his cousin. Daeseong immediately understands and leaves, telling Hyeonbin to create an excuse for his abrupt departure (what a wingman).
Daeseong, in his car, calls up Chayeul to see if she is free to hang out. She apologized over the phone; she was with Sanggyu. Daeseong tells her to have fun, but secretly starts thinking about Seona’s words.
That evening, Seona and Hyeonbin casually chat about their relationship statuses. Seona explains the details of the ‘Singles’ Royale’ to him- from the five hundred million won prize to their (the three girls) desperate desire to escape singlehood- and how she really wanted to win. “Ms. Kang, would you like to go out with me?” he impulsively asks, concluding Chapter 11.
Singles’ Royale Chapter 12: An Amendment… and a New Deadline
Singles’ Royale Chapter 12 begins as Seona and Hyeonbin stand in a moment of awkward silence after his unprecedented, spur-of-the-moment question.
Seona, misunderstanding the truth behind his statement completely, breaks the silence by loudly exclaiming that she had no idea he needed money that desperately. When she mentions the tests they had to pass as a couple to win, namely, the kiss, Hyeonbin immediately reaffirms his request. Even still, Seona doesn’t take him seriously and playfully punches his arm. He, blushing, watches Seona walk ahead in complete obliviousness.
At dinner, Hyeonbin asks Seona for her type, and when she says ‘bad boys’, he hopefully asks her if he looks like one (meanwhile, she’d thought he knew a prospect for her- the woman is clueless). Unfortunately, she calls him ‘a total nice guy’. Hyeonin slicks his hair back and holds a knife semi-threateningly to prove to her that he wasn’t. The ridiculousness of his action makes Seona spit her drink out on his face (lo behold, a genuine spit-take).
Hyeonbin asks Seona out again next weekend, conceding, “I just really want to see you again.” Smiling widely, she tells him that she wasn’t sure about her schedule.
Seona’s Dilemma
A few hours later… Wailing loudly, Seona asks her friends what she should do. Hyeonbin did like her after all (finally, she realized!). Jurim advises Seona to give the young, passionate man a chance. Old student or not, they were both adults. Seona doesn’t seem to heed her words, and flips the conversation to her- what about Dowon? Jurim admits that there was nothing going on between them; she was too busy to even see the mysterious artist these days. Chayeul formulates a plan to add another rule to the game: whoever couldn’t make it to the first stage in a month would have to drop out (they couldn’t very well drag the game out until their old age!).
In the middle of their conversation, Seona receives a text from Hyeonbin, and Jurim’s words seem to finally click into place. ‘I do need to get a boyfriend in a month..’ she deliberates. Seona replies to the message, telling him that she’d ‘get back to him ASAP’, concluding Chapter 12.
