"So, Mark, do you really not recognize me or are you just ignoring your childhood best friend?"
When her best friend moved to Korea to become an idol, their contact died down and they soon started living lives completely separate from one another...
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At the end of the evening, everybody had bags full of presents to take home after a nice evening of exchanging gifts and lots and lots of talking. To everyone, it had felt like the old days. With both families together, like nothing had changed.
Gyuri felt really happy. Every so often, she'd glance around the room and smile seeing everybody having fun together. She couldn't imagine a better way to spend her holidays than like this. Mark seemed to feel the same and often retreated from the conversation to observe with a small smile how the two families enjoyed their time together.
Mark had been thoughtful enough to also bring presents for Charlie and Toto, which Gyuri felt her heart burst at. It was a small gesture but it meant so much to her that he had taken the time to buy something for the pets as well, because it was Christmas for them too. Gyuri herself had bought them some new toys and snacks, and Mark had bought both of them a cute toy.
Charlie was obsessed with his new little tiger and didn't let go of it once, constantly holding it with his teeth and pushing it around the room. Toto had gotten a stick toy with a fluffy ball attached to it that absolutely entranced the feline when somebody held it up. Gyuri watched with heart eyes as Mark walked around the room with it, Toto eagerly jumping up to catch the ball. Mark had an amused smile on his face as he mindlessly played with the little cat, and Gyuri just watched them.
Having him in her apartment like this, during the holidays and just so happy, Gyuri realized how badly she wished she could spend all her holidays like this with him. He brought such joy to her days and any room he walked into that it was hard to feel down when his stunning smile and infectious laugh were around.
It was getting late now, and especially the parents were showing signs of fatigue after hours of socializing. As they got ready to leave, Gyuri cleaned up some of their stuff and met Mark in the kitchen who had just placed some dirty cups in the sink.
"Oh- hey," Gyuri said, surprised because she hadn't seen him go into the kitchen. "You don't have to do that, it's okay. I'll clean up,"
"Oh, it's nothing. I don't want you to clean this all up alone," he said, shrugging. Gyuri sighed at his kindness and put down some plates, shoulders slightly touching as they stood by the sink. A silence hung between them and Gyuri was too worn out to come up with something to fill it. Luckily, Mark spoke up.
"I just- I really had fun tonight. This was great, man. I hope we can do this again someday," he said, turning his head to the girl with a small smile. Gyuri met his eyes and nodded. Because this was unplanned things had been a little chaotic, but seeing both their families together was such a heartwarming sight for the both of them and the perfect escape from their busy lives, which they had really needed lately.
"Me too," Gyuri simply smiled. She saw the raw emotion in his eyes, the sheer joy combined with a longing to stay in this moment forever, and Gyuri related to how he felt. It was a shame their families would both return to Canada soon, leaving just the two of them in Seoul. As if they were frozen in appreciation of their feelings, their eyes remained on each other and Gyuri felt her stomach do somersaults at the intimacy of this setting. Maybe it was the eye contact or the way their shoulders would softly rub against one another occasionally, but there was a tension between them that had Gyuri's breath quickening.
