Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Who is he?
Jiyeon stared at the feather in her hand while wondering about his identity, but no part of her brain could develop a sane thought. The concept of thinking about someone who is not home to Earth made her feel insanely stupid.
"This is so stupid." She sighed, placing the feather in between the pages of her notebook as she headed down the staircase, exiting the university.
"Jiyeon!"
At the sound of someone calling her name, she turned in the direction of the voice only to spot Mark, who waved at her with a smile on his face.
"Hey." Jiyeon greeted him as he approached her, slightly panting to catch up with her before she left the university premises.
"Damn. You hate uni so much, huh? You rushed out immediately after the lecture." Mark rasped in between his pants with hands on his hip, breath erratic as he looked at her through his soft black locks.
"Oh, that. My shift starts soon, so I gotta catch the bus." Jiyeon explained, pointing at the nearby bus station before her eyes shifted to the loose sheets of papers he clutched in his hand.
"What is it?" She asked, pointing at the papers.
"Mr. Han wanted to hand over the content for the project." Mark stated as he handed the papers to her, and she nodded, stacking them on the notebook that was held in her propped arm.
"And," Mark continued hesitantly, "I'm also working on the same topic for the thesis. Would you, maybe, uh, want to work together?" He proposed, scratching his nape while awaiting her response.
Jiyeon nodded, "Sure. I believe we can be twice more productive working together." She added upon recalling how he was always academically active and maintained a good rapport with the professors, hoping his addition would help ease the weight of the workload on her.
"Alright. It's a pair, then." Mark flashed a relieved smile.
Jiyeon glanced at her wristwatch, and just as she was to bid him goodbye and hurriedly make her way for the bus, Mark stopped her with his arm extended out.
"Um, do you want me to drop you off?" He pitched while fishing out his car keys from his pocket.
"Oh, no thanks. I'll just catch the next bus." Jiyeon politely rejected.
"But the next bus will only arrive after 15 minutes." Mark said, looking around at the crowd that began to pile up by the station, "Plus, it's getting very crowded."
"Are you sure?"
Jiyeon glanced at her watch and bus station and back at Mark before accepting his ride. She could not afford to be late for her shift since the manager was always firm about discipline and workers being on time, to the extent he had once cut down an employee's wage for a day simply for being ten minutes late.
Mark guided her towards his car, which was parked, and she took her place in the passenger seat, clicking the seatbelt lock while Mark drove out of the university grounds and headed onto the main road.
Jiyeon kept glancing at her watch and the road ahead as traffic slowly began to form, and her fingers fiddled with the ring on them anxiously.
Mark, who took note of her nervous actions, chuckled, "We can make it on time, don't worry." He assured, causing her to stop messing around with the rose-gold ring, instead locking her fingers that rested on her thigh and looking out of the window.
Jiyeon was never good when it came to making friends and starting conversations, but this time, she wanted to initiate one, also considering he did not hesitate to offer her help.
"So, do you happen to live with your uni friends?" She asked, thinking back on Mark mentioning someone named 'Minseok' before he opened the door to collect his delivery.
"No. I live with my family- myself, mum, dad and an elder brother." Mark's response cleared her doubt, and she nodded, assuming Minseok was his elder brother.
"What about you?" He asked with eyes fixated on the road.
"I live at my uncle's house."
"Oh? I thought you belonged from Seoul." Mark remarked, quite surprised.
"No. I'm from Yeosu." She answered while drumming her fingers on the bookbinder.
"That's interesting." Mark hummed, "How is Seoul treating you, then?" He kept the conversation going, just so no awkwardness or silence made the two uncomfortable.
"Hectic. Considering I have uni and work to manage." Jiyeon replied, slowly easing into the talk, courtesy of his smooth communication skills.
"Fair enough." Mark's eyes drifted from the road to her for a split second, and a black feather peeking from in between her notebook, placed like a bookmark, caught his eyes.
"Do you perhaps have a pet bird?" He asked, tossing her in confusion.
"What? No." Jiyeon looked at him, wanting a reason as to where that question stemmed from, and his hand, which was once clutching the steering wheel, pointed at the book on her lap.
Jiyeon glanced down, spotting the black feather from earlier, and the smile on her face died instantly.
"That's nothing." She dismissed it, and Mark wordlessly nodded, not asking any further questions and being nosy.
The rest of the car ride was silent as the music from the stereo trailed the air in low volume. The car swerved right, and within no time, they were already in front of the supermarket.
"Thanks for the ride, Mark. I appreciate it." Jiyeon genuinely thanked him for his help as she got down, and he returned a warm smile before they parted ways.
Mark's hands on the steering tapped the leather covering, deep in thought, as he pondered over the strange feather that looked oddly familiar to him.
After spending some time gathering his thoughts, he pulled out his phone and dialled someone.
"Mum, I have a question."
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
