The Close Strangers

n i n e

"Noona," Mark greets the owner of the shop where his mother asked him to go.

"Hello, Mark," She greets back, "It's nice to meet you again."

She notices Yerim who greets her by bowing as she stands beside Mark.

She looks at Mark, eyeing him to give her an explanation about the girl beside him.

"Oh, this is Yerim-ah," He says as he points at Yerim with his thumb.

The owner of the shop still giving him the same look even though she is already shaking hands with Yerim as they introduce each other.

"She's my friend," Mark explains furthermore, receiving a sigh of disappointment.

Mark rolls his eyes as he crosses his hands behind his back, "I'm going to take the stuff that Mom asked me to take," He informs even though the older girl in front of him already knows it.

She excuses herself to take the stuff in the Store Room, leaving Yerim and Mark behind.

"I guess you've come here for a couple of times before," Yerim says as she looks around the shop.

Mark nods as he looks at Yerim who is still busy looking around, "This is the only thing I can do to help Mom's bakery."

Yerim turns her head to see Mark, but she immediately turns her head away when she feels her phone vibrating.

"Your sister asked us to stop by the cafe near your house," Yerim informs after she read the messages which she got from Minhee, "Also, we need to buy some drink for your friend too."

Mark shakes his head, "Let's just buy it from the cafe next to this shop," He points at the direction of where the cafe is.

Yerim nods in response at the time the owner of the shop comes back with two boxes in her hands.

She puts the boxes on the desk in front of her, "Here they are."

Yerim walks forward to help Mark bringing the boxes, but the latter suddenly blocks her way, causing her to stop in a way not to bump into him.

He takes the boxes by himself before thanking the owner. Yerim bows to the older girl as she says goodbye before helping Mark by holding the door for him.

"Yerim-ah," The owner suddenly calls her name, causing her to turn around again.

"I hope I can see you again," She says while smiling, "Since you're literally the first girl Mark has ever brought here, beside his sisters."

Yerim chuckles since she doesn't know how to respond. When Yerim comes out of the shop, Mark is already locking the car door, showing that he has put the boxes inside the car.

He leads Yerim to the cafe that he mentioned earlier since he's the one who has gone there before.

"You know what your friend wants, right?" Yerim asks, expecting Mark to nod, but he casually shakes his head.

Yerim frowns in response as she walks into the line up to order. Once their turn, Yerim orders first before letting Mark orders his drink.

When Mark is ordering, Yerim suddenly greets one of the baristas in there.

"Oppa, you work here?" Yerim asks, receiving a nod from the tall guy.

Mark ignores them as he takes out his card to pay for their order, but he notices from the side of his eyes how that guy keeps glancing at him when he's talking to Yerim.

Mark slides to the left side, waiting on the "Pick Up Order" section. Yerim follows him while still talking to the guy whom Mark doesn't know and Yerim seems not to introduce them in a short time.