String to my heart ♪ Mark Lee

♪ 35

In the morning when you wake up
Thinking 'bout how you wanna run away from here
Wanna cry and disappear
There's something that you need to hear

♪

Hannah avoided Mark to the fullest.

Hannah knew Mark was back and had even seen him at the company several times. Their paths crossed more often than she would have liked, but each time, she forced herself to act as if he wasn't there.

The once easy-going, cheerful demeanor she usually wore around him was gone, replaced by a cold indifference.

It wasn't that she didn't care in fact far from it. But the fear of letting her feelings slip through, of him seeing just how much she was affected, made her retreat into herself.

Whenever their eyes almost met, she would quickly look away, pretending to be engrossed in something else, as if he didn't exist. This was the only way she knew to protect herself and him, even if it hurt.

Mark's texts to Hannah remained unread, each one marked with the telltale double check but no response.

At first, he told himself she was just busy. after all, the industry was demanding. But as days turned into weeks, his concern grew.

He wondered if she was going through something again, some kind of struggle that she didn't want to share.

Yet, whenever he saw her around others, she seemed perfectly fine smiling, laughing, even joking like nothing was wrong.

It was almost like she had built a wall around herself, a wall he couldn't seem to break through no matter how hard he tried. The more she appeared to be alright on the outside, the more he questioned what was really going on inside.

Afterall they were just idol and composer.

Mark couldn't help but wonder if she was drawing the line to protect their professional relationship.

Maybe she didn't want their friendship to interfere with their work. Or maybe, he thought, she simply preferred it this way, keeping things strictly professional rather than risking the complications of a closer relationship.

What Mark didn't realize was that Hannah was struggling with her own feelings. She had developed a crush on him, but she feared that acting on those feelings could ruin everything, his image, their work dynamic, and even their friendship.

To Hannah, keeping things professional seemed like the safest option, even if it meant sacrificing the closeness they once shared.

But to Mark, it felt like she was pushing him away, and that thought hurt more than he cared to admit.

But Hannah was hurt too.

She tried to push away her thoughts and feelings for Mark, convincing herself it was for the best. But the more she suppressed them, the more it hurt.

Every time she saw him, the feelings would resurface stronger than before, making it impossible to ignore. The tension between them grew, and she realized that avoiding her emotions wasn't just painful,

it was tearing her apart.

Sometimes, she found herself wishing that he wasn't an idol. If things were different, maybe they could have been, too. The constant spotlight on his life, the expectations, the fans, everything about his career made it harder for her to imagine being with him.

She knew it was selfish, but in quiet moments, she couldn't help but think that if he were just a regular guy, it might all be so much simpler, so much less painful.