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JIHOON OPENED the door to their airbnb. "so, you're telling me you got this for one whole entire week? for at least, 600 dollars? this is impossible, that's so cheap!" mark gasped, throwing his bags onto the couch, as he looked around the house.
it was warm and cozy. it was big enough to fit three people. although the problem was that they only had two beds. but jihoon willingly offered mark the other bed, and said that he could sleep on the couch. but mark refused.
"it's okay, we're here for one week, right? or at least days. let's just switch places okay?" mark suggested an idea. nari scoffed, "you couldve had the bed all to yourself but you decided to be kind, didnt you?" she laughed and patted mark's back before walking to the kitchen to see if there was any food.
jihoon changed out of his sweatshirt since it was hot over there. "you think yukhei's training?" jihoon asked as he changes into a new shirt. nari shrugged, "when are we going to see him?" she questioned. mark walked out of the bathroom and adjusted his hair.
"how about now?" he suggested. jihoon looked at nari, mark too. the girl just laughed, "are you serious? like- right now?" she said. the two of them both nodded their heads. nari started to find herself panicking.
she didnt have time to actually prepare herself. she was about to see the guy whom she has been thinking about for so long, she was about to see the guy who left her without a word, and she was about to get the answers she needed.
she grabbed her bag and walked out the door, following jihoon. she prayed to god that the encounter would end well. she hoped that she would go back with new and better memories.
[UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, BERKELEY]
"so who's gonna do it?" jihoon asked, looking at nari and mark. the three of them were sitting under a tree on a bench together. a bench that was located at a park right next to the university. students were flooding the school, walking in and out.
the bench that they were sitting on was facing the school directly. jihoon squinted his eyes, and asked the question again. "damnit! who's gonna go in there and ask them where the hell is wong yukhei?" nari looked at mark. mark just jumped out of the seat.
"why are you looking at me?" he defended himself, he didnt want to do whatever jihoon wanted him to do. nari shrugged, "uh, i dont know, probably because you're the only one who knows english?" proving a point, jihoon high-fived nari for that smart comment.
mark scoffed, "nari shut up you passed english, you can even speak english!" he groaned in frustration. nari laughed, "you really think i remember all the shit they taught me in english?" looking at jihoon, who was backing her up. eventually, mark gave in.
"fine. im only doing this because you both are my bestfriends," he sighed, walking towards the front entrance. "or probably because you would do anything for nari," jihoon mumbled under his breath which was loud enough for the two of them to hear.
nari and mark looked back at jihoon. "im sorry did you say anything?" the two of them asked in unison. jihoon just coughed and said, "huh? sorry, i think it was just the windy. it's a bit windy isnt it?" but nari just responded back with a, "jihoon, you see the leaves on the tree right now?"
jihoon nodded. "see how they're not moving?" she continued, he nodded again. "that's because its not windy darling," she said. jihoon stuck his tongue out and pushed nari away from him, which she ended up hitting against mark. jihoon saw mark blush a little but decided to shut up.
that's what bestfriends do.
as mark walks into the campus, he walks around, leading the two of them, trying to find some sort of prefect or a teacher or something. he stumbled upon a cheerleader who was waving her dumb pom-poms around.
"uh, excuse me?" mark said, trying to get her attention but miserably failing. jihoon urged mark to get closer or tap her on the shoulder or something, but he was too shy. nari pushed mark closer and he groaned in frustration. "hello? miss?" mark said louder, which this time, caught her attention.
she turned around, her ponytail hitting mark in the face, he silently groaned. he put up a smile anyway. "do you, by any chance, know where the rugby team is?" he asked the girl, she laughed, "they're right there!" she pointed to the field, who was filled with people doing all sorts of sports.
there were cheerleaders practicing, soccer teams running their laps, and other sorts of teams doing their own shit. mark thanked the girl and lead the way. "see? it wasnt that hard, right?" nari encouraged mark, ruffling his hair.
mark just ignored and rolled his eyes at the girl. when they walked to the field, they were being greeted by a huge bench and table which was sitting right at the corner, thats where all the players sit, to chat, to talk, to rest.
and it was nari's lucky day, because lucas was on that bench, sitting with his rugby team, chatting, having fun. it was nice, to see lucas smile again, she felt her heart be at ease. seeing him smile made her feel warm, made her feel happy again.
but what she saw next broke her heart into a million pieces. what she saw next made her heart become cold, and empty. because what she saw next was lucas wrapping his arms around another girl, and then kissing her gently on her lips, before pulling away and giggling with his bunch of friends.
she stopped right in her tracks. automatically, her eyes just watered up. jihoon didnt know what to do. if he was in korea, jihoon would have went up there and punched lucas in the face. but they werent, and jihoon didnt want to catch a case.
so mark just pulled her behind him, to make sure that if she wanted to cry, she wouldnt have to cry infront of everyone. jihoon just groaned. youre telling him he wasted his money? jihoon walked over to the watercooler that was right next to him and kicked it with all his might, he was filled with rage.
the bang was loud enough for lucas to hear. he diverted his gaze to where the loud sound came from. his eyes landed on park jihoon, and then mark lee. his heart beat fast, he was shocked, could it be that they know about the letter that he sent to nari?
his mind was telling him, please not nari please not nari, but his heart was practically hoping for nari to just come out of nowhere. the conversation that his teammates were having was suddenly a blur to him. he just looked at the two of them.
just then, he saw mark pulling nari into a hug, and she was crying. his heart skipped a beat. he felt like as if his heart just light up, but at the same time, he felt- weird. should he walk over there? why was nari crying? could it possibly be that she saw him kiss someone else that wasnt her?
lucas jumped off the bench and ran towards her. mark saw him running and called jihoon for help. he immediately pulled nari behind him, to protect her. "chae nari!" he ran towards her, but when she heard him call out her name, she ran off.
she left jihoon and mark right there, and she ran off somewhere else. somewhere that doesnt require her to look at wong yukhei. dont get her wrong, she really wanted to see him, but not after seeing him kiss someone else, and then crying like a bitch.
