oh sheet! MARK (♬)

chapter 2 "a bronze heart is just a rusty heart"

"so what do you do now? you clearly ruined his mood," ahyeon prodded, a hint of concern in her voice.

rina felt a sour taste hit the back of her throat. must be acid reflux but whatever.

they made the joint decision to ditch their afternoon classes and instead retreat to their hideout, which was conveniently situated near the fire exit of the building. so here they are, playing salon and retouching their makeup.

rina let out another sigh, the weight of the situation settling heavily on her shoulders. "i don't know, ahyeon. i feel so conflicted. mark makes me feel terrible, like i'm not worth anything you know."

ahyeon finished braiding rina's hair and tied it off with a small ribbon. she studied her friend's reflection in the hand mirror, her eyes filled with understanding. "i get it, rina. love can be complicated, especially when it involves mark lee."

standing, ahyeon gets a hold of her best friend's shoulder and shakes it a little.

"why don't you just accept golden-hearted yechan's love for you then? rumor has it, he's so in love with you... why not use him as your rebound"

should she consider yechan's affection as a rebound? was it fair to both of them? of course not.

"if it were the olympic games, i would say he's got to be a bronze at most–everything is just a facade." rina shrugs.

"he has such a rusty personality, but using him for my benefit is just plain horrible dont you think", she added. she takes a compact powder and gently puts it on her face to get rid of excess oil.

"if you say so", ahyeon was the one to sigh now.

♬

the next day~

"hop in loser, we're going shopping," haechan said as he rolled down the window of his red hyundai avante. he had been saving up for this car because he had a massive crush on hyuna, and his favorite song, 'red,' was by her. naturally, he named his hyundai hyuna, and it had been with him since he got his license last year.

"i'm not even dressed up, hyuckie," rina complained, lightly tapping the side of his car with a yawn. it was already 2 o'clock in the afternoon. her morning hours were occupied by diligently completing a cross-stitch masterpiece—a colorful horse of some sort—with a circular design that fits a 6” hoop level.

"no need, you look stunning in your watermelon pjs," he whistled.

"thanks for the ego boost, i appreciate it", she chuckled.

rina took the front seat as haechan blasted dojaejung's new release, 'perfume.'

"jaehyun's voice sounds so sexy," rina gushed while enjoying the music with her brother, who nearly ran a red light. it seemed like he really had a thing for the color red.

"yeah, for real," haechan quickly agreed.

"why did you bring me to the mall anyway?" rina asked, looking up at her brother.

"because you seemed sad," he answered honestly. he took off his seat belt and held the door for her. "i know that what mark said to you yesterday upset you. plus, i wanted to buy myself a new belt because my current one is all worn out", he pointed to the flaky belt that adorned his slender waist.

"awwww, you're such an amazing brother," she playfully pinched his cheeks.

haechan knew of his younger sister's little crush with his close friend mark, and it was evident to him that mark had been unreasonably cross towards rina. he would eventually need to have a conversation with mark about it, but he hesitated as he didn't want to risk their friendship nor his bond with his beloved sister.

♬

"me want vanilla ice cream hyuckie!" rina pointed to the ice cream station that glowed in a bright pink with all the led lights full on display surrounding it.

"you're so baby", haechan ruffled her hair that was now gorgeously curly thanks to ahyeon's skillful braiding yesterday that she only took off now.

"hey jaem! two vanilla cones for us please! one plain and the other doused in like the chocolate melt that hardens– and with mallows on top please!", he cheerfully recited their order to the pink-haired sweetheart.

jaemin works part time here during weekends to help manage his mother's business. he enjoyed working here though. the shop experienced a surge in sales whenever he worked due to the attention he'd receive from girls who visited the shop hoping to catch his eye.

after haechan, three girls placed in their orders.

rina and haechan found a table to sit at while they patiently waited for their ice cream.

"it must be dangerous for you to work here... jaemin" one of the blonde girls flirtatiously remarked, noticing his name tag on display. "a hot dude like you would melt all the ice cream here i fear."

the two other girls giggled at their friend's weird antics.

"move it jiwoo, the poor guy just wanted to take our orders", sewoo proceeded to tell him their orders instead.

"nah, it's all good. i actually find it funny– that was like the smoothest pick-up line i've heard in my 8 months of working here," he shot them a wink, jotting down their orders in his mini notepad neatly.

"and it would only take 9 months for me to bear your chi–"

"gosh, jiwoo that was so inappropriate!" sewoo covered the girl's filthy mouth with her hands.

"order for customer number 127 please!", jeno carefully gave jaemin haechan's ice cream cones.

jeno sometimes also accompanied jaemin in making ice cream. he finds it really relaxing– just twirling and dipping sweet treats for everyone to enjoy– and he also earned a lot of money while he's at it which is great.

"thanks jen and jaem! here", he handed him his card to pay for their ice creams.

"no need hyuck, it's on the house," jaemin shook his head politely, declining haechan's card.

"yay, really? thanks! ice cream tastes even better when it's free," haechan joked, appreciating the gesture of his friends.

as haechan returned to the table to give rina her ice cream, he noticed she wasn't sitting at their usual spot.

♬

a/n: hello beautiful people🤭i may have overspent a little on my sticker obsession..... i might just go up unannounced at jaemin's ice cream shop and apply for a job as a floor mopper or table wiper or whatever so tgat i could feed my sticker addiction. i spent so much money on 11 ELEVEN— sheets of stickers as if they weren't just cute pvc thingys with adhesive :/ im trying to cut back on wasteful spending and become a #responsibleCitizen for once ugh inflation is #FELT im so mad at myself for caving in