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"Hey, Mathew!" Tiffany greeted cheerfully, AirPods in her ears as she made her way to get coffee for herself and her roommate before heading back to study.
"Hey, Tiff. How's college?" Mathew asked.
Mathew had been Tiffany's and Mark's best friend back in middle school.
"Hectic," she chuckled.
"I heard you and Mark finally caught up after all this time," he said.
"Yeah," she smiled. "I'm actually going to visit him next month."
"You think he didn't tell me?" Mathew laughed. "You're all he talks about."
She giggled as she entered the café. "Hey, Mat, I'll call you later. I need to order coffee."
"Yeah, talk to you later," he said.
"Bye," she smiled and hung up.
"Oh, hey."
A female voice made Tiffany turn around.
"How's your leg?"
Tiffany frowned. "Uh...do I know you?"
"You don't?" the girl said mockingly. "You don't remember me? Emily. Emily Smith. From middle school?"
"Oh...hi," Tiffany said stiffly.
"How's your boyfriend? What was his name again...Mark?" Emily smirked.
"He's not my boyfriend," Tiffany said, stepping back.
"Oh? Well, I'm sure he'd recognise mine," Emily said lazily. "Calvin, babe, come here."
She called over a man who had been ordering coffee.
"Well...Mark's not here anyway," Tiffany said quietly. "He's in Korea for work."
"Yeah," Emily shrugged. "I saw him on TV. Hard to recognise people under all that makeup, though. Guess we can't see his scars."
Tiffany swallowed, looking away.
"I'm getting married next week," Emily continued. "That's why we moved here. By the way...how's your leg? You weren't limping earlier."
"It's better now," Tiffany said calmly. "I had surgery."
She forced a small smile. "I've got things to do. I'll see you around."
And with that, she walked away.
*
"Why isn't she picking up?" Mark muttered, staring at his phone in the practice room.
"Milk!" Haechan called out.
"Don't bother me," Mark said.
"What are you doing?" Johnny asked.
"Calling someone."
"He's calling Tiffany," Haechan said.
"Who's Tiffany?" Kun asked, walking in.
"Just a friend," Mark replied quickly. "She's coming next week."
"Come on, Mark, we have to practice," Doyoung called.
Mark nodded and put his phone away.
*
Back in Houston, Tiffany watched her phone ring and didn't answer.
She had locked herself in her room after getting back from the café.
"Tiff?" Alex knocked. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah..." Tiffany sighed.
"Did something happen?"
She shook her head. "Nothing."
"Mark's calling," Alex said.
"I know."
"Then pick it up."
Alex left the room quietly.
Tiffany reached for her phone, but the call ended before she could answer.
*
Practice finally ended around 2 a.m.
Mark stumbled back to the dorm and collapsed onto his bed.
He unlocked his phone immediately.
No messages. No missed calls.
His chest tightened.
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