The Close Strangers

t e n

"MAAAARK!"

He spontaneously turns his head to the bedroom door, where a familiar voice that he hasn't heard for a while suddenly comes from.

It must be no one but Arin. How could his sister let her come to the second floor all by herself when they freaking know how Yerim is in there?

Mark gets off of his bed as soon as when a dog spots bone on the street. He slams the door which Yerim left opened right before Arin, the one who's searching for him, can push the door.

He locks it, causing the girl outside to call his name again. He can hear a hint of confusion in her voice.

"Oh, heck," Yerim who has been standing at her place ever since the first time she hears Arin's first call finally release a sound from her mouth, "Mark, what should we do?"

"Mark, is everything okay?" Arin asks from the outside as she knocks on the door.

"You can hide inside my bathroomㅡ no, actually, you don't need to hide in there since I won't let her come inㅡ but I still think you should hide in there first, Yermㅡ I mean Yerimmie," Mark talks super-fast, causing Yerim to become more confused and panic since Arin keeps knocking on the door.

"WAIT, ARINNIE, I'LL COME OUT IN A SEC," Mark suddenly says out loud, feeling annoyed by how she keeps calling his name.

He comes to Yerim and takes her hand, leading her to his bathroom.

"I'm so so sorry," Mark says as he turns on the bathroom lamp, "You can wait in here first since I'm afraid she might look over the room once I open it."

"Then, you can wait inside my room until she comes home or whateverㅡ I'm so fucked up," Mark adds as he rubs his face stressfully.

Yerim nods to assure him, "I will wait here until she comes downstairs."

Mark sighs, trying to release the uneasy feeling inside him. Ever since Yerim lives here, he never expected things like this to happen. It never even crosses in his mind that he must also hide everything even when they are home.

He comes out eventually since he doesn't want Arin to wait any longer, meanwhile, Yerim waits inside the bathroom.

She doesn't know why but Mark and Arin end up staying on the second floor to play the piano, so Yerim has no other choice but to wait in there.

"When will she come home though?" Yerim asks herself as she changes her position while sitting on the bathroom floor, "It's almost 9 pm."

She's afraid even to get out of there since that Arin girl might suddenly burst into Mark's room, judging by how close they are. She knows how she will feel numb on her body by staying on the floor with an uncomfortable position like that.

Mark also has told her through a text message that she should just move to his bed since it's not comfortable at all to wait in the bathroom, but just like Yerim said before, she's afraid to come out.

Things will be super complicated if Arin sees her in this house, in Mark's room to be exact.

She starts to feel tired and sleepy, so she changes her position again, drowning her head on her thighs.

She feels like it's only been a minute since she accidentally fell asleep, but she is startled to see Mark kneeling down beside her as he pats her head in a way to wake her up.

"What time is it? Did she already come home?" Yerim asks when she feels numb throughout her legs.

She straightens her legs right away while stretching her neck, getting help from Mark.