ice cold

17

"can we talk?" you asked in annoyance, and pulled mark's shoulder to face you.

there was just something bugging you ever since you saw him with the letters. something odd that even you, yourself, can't explain what you are feeling.

"i'm actually very bu-"

"i know you aren't busy," you cut him off while looking at him seriously. you had just enough of his lousy excuses, "why are you avoiding me huh?"

"i am not," mark rolled his eyes, scoffed and turned his back at you. he started walking away, but you held his shoulder once more, stopping him from taking a step further.

"did you write those letters?" you asked yet another question.

"what if i did?" he answered and sighed, before grabbing your hand away from his shoulder. he whispered something to himself which you didn't hear.

you sighed as you remembered the scene yesterday.

how come he was brave enough to tease you?

how come he was brave enough to send you all those letters?

.. but not brave enough to talk to you?

he wasn't the mark you knew. he would never walk away, knowing he had something to face. he would never feel embarrassed to show his true feelings, but why doesn't he want to talk to you now?

perhaps he knew you would be disappointed?

and you were. but that doesn't mean you can't give him a chance, right? now that you realized he had been burying his feelings, you thought you might want to give him a chance..

but not before heeseung, of course..

you plan to confess to him before mark does to you..

heeseung's your priority- he's practically the one.

"one corndog," you snapped out of your thoughts as soon as you heard sunghoon's voice.

you were at the small store and it was quarter to midnight. almost all the seats were empty and some lights were turned off. the atmosphere was balmy, which created a perfect setting.

you quickly lowered your head for him not to see your face. but it was too late, when jay suddenly called your name.

you bit your lower lip in frustration and forced a grin on your face,"hey."

sunghoon turned to his left to look at you and smiled. he took his receipt from the cashier and casually walked towards your direction.

"i'm sorry..," that was the first thing you heard from him.

"why are you sorry?" you raised your head.

"about what happened a week ago," he answered, "i'm sorry. i never really meant to hurt you."

"it's fine, as long as you won't joke about that matter again," you said, but a slight feeling of apprehensivenes knocked your chest over, "you won't break up with her, right?"

his lips curved, forcing a small smile on his face. you two haven't been hanging out lately and these past few days, you noticed how he doesn't smile quite often anymore, and the way he stares at you with sadness implies he isn't fine.

"what if i do? what are you going to do, yejin?" his voice was gruff, and his brows were drawn together in a frown. despite that, his brown eyes still twinkled with humor.

he was known to be the guy who was frivolous, who made life as a joke, who puts a smile on everything, but now, he seemed like he wasn't that guy.

"sunghoon, she likes you," your voice cracked, saying those few words. it was always his troublesome heart that's causing someone else's to break apart, "i hope you don't take advantage of that."

"i won't, i promise," he forced a smile although it was dry, "i should get going. happy birthday, yejin."

your heart started to ache when he said those simple words to you, because he greeted you the moment that clock's hands placed at 12. it was definitely unexpected to hear that from him, then again, it was comforting to know that even him- the person you hated the most, remembered your birthday.

-----

"happy birthday," heeseung greeted while handing his gift to you. his sweet smile never failed to make your day better.

you grabbed his gift and a smile formed in your lips, "thank you, heeseung."

"i'm really sorry i have to go," heeseung held your shoulder, while putting back his phone in his pocket, "i'll make up for it, hmm?"

he offered, but you shook your head, rejecting it. you know to yourself that he has done so many things for you, why would he make up for it? he celebrated your birthday, not to mention, he gave you a gift- honestly, what more could you ask for?

"you don't have to. you do know this is more than enough, right?" you laughed as you showed him the gift he gave you.

he chuckled and pat your head, "alright then. you don't want a souvenir from my dad? he just arrived from his business trip."

you shook your head and bowed a little, "it's fine, really."

"it's your birthday today. i really want to make it extra special but i couldn't even spend the night with you. a stroll at the park would be fun. don't worry, i'll really make up for it-"

"heeseung, it's fine,"

his lips formed a smile, realising to himself that maybe he was talking too much. he waved his hand at you, his smile not fading, but becoming more apparent and wide.

this made you like him more. he was willing to make up for something that he no longer needed to.

you lifted your head up to see fireworks crackling at the dim sky. it was definitely the most mesmerizing thing that happened on your birthday. but your smile started to fade when you saw him walk away in your peripheral view.

you heaved a deep sigh and ran up to him.

you grabbed his wrist and blurted out those few words you have long avoided, "heeseung, i like you."

at this moment, you were left with two choices. he would either reciprocate your feelings or reject it.

you hoped it wasn't the latter.