Coming Home | mark lee.

7

⏯️ From The Start by Laufey

"How's the weather over there?" Mark asked, resting his chin on his hand.

"It's nice," Tiffany replied. "What about you? How was it finally seeing my parents again?"

A smile immediately appeared on his face.

"It was really nice." His voice softened. "It felt like I was ten years old again."

Tiffany smiled. "Yeah?"

"Yeah." Mark laughed quietly. "I walked into the house and suddenly remembered all those Christmas dinners."

"Oh my God. You remember?"

"Of course I remember. You used to steal cookies."

"I did not."

"You absolutely did."

"I was helping."

"By eating them?"

"Quality control." Tiffany laughed.

The sound made something warm settle in Mark's chest. For a moment, neither of them said anything.

Their minds drifted to the same place. Snow-covered streets.

Fairy lights. Family dinners.

Board games that always ended in arguments. The years before everything changed.

Before Korea. Before university.

Before distance. Tiffany's smile slowly faded.

Because with the memories came another one. The day Mark told her he'd passed the audition.

The day he'd told her he was leaving. She remembered smiling.

Congratulating him. Being happy for him.

Then going home and crying into her pillow. Back then, she'd liked him.

Not in a childish "he's cute" kind of way. In the way that made her stomach twist whenever he smiled at her.

In the way that made her secretly imagine what it would be like if they were more than friends. But life had happened.

And eventually those feelings had become something distant. Something safer.

A celebrity crush. Because that's all it could ever be now.

He was Mark Lee. And she was just another fan.

"Tiff?"

She blinked. "Hm?"

"You disappeared for a second."

"Oh." She forced a smile. "Sorry."

Mark noticed it immediately. The way her smile didn't quite reach her eyes.