The Close Strangers

t w e n t y - s i x

Yerim is about to jump out when Mark suddenly comes into her room. Well, she actually doesn't close the door, but she didn't expect him to come out of nowhere while she's studying for the last exam day.

"What? What is it?" Yerim turns her chair around, meanwhile, Mark already falls his body to the bed.

He lifts up the stuffed toy to the air, the one that Yerim got from Chan.

"Do you really didn't remember anything I said when I called you that day?" He turns his head to Yerim, causing that girl to groan.

"I've told you a thousand times! I didn't remember anything, Mark, likeㅡ I swear to God."

"Yerm, I called for an hour," Mark responds.

"Yes, I know. You've been saying that since two weeks ago."

Ever since the day after Yerim had a sleepover at Hyewon's room, Mark couldn't stop asking her about the same question over and over again. He said he called Yerim at night when he was drunk, but he couldn't remember anything about it.

Yerim said she actually kind of remembered that she's hearing Mark's voice in her sleep, but she also couldn't remember anything. She asked her friends about it, but they said they were already sleeping at that time, so Yerim must be the one who answered him.

"I don't know, Yerm, I feel like I told you a lot of things on that call, but my mind went blank just to think about it."

"I don't know, Mark, I feel like I heard your voice, but I didn't remember picking up your call or even hearing what you said," Yerim copies Mark's tone as she's turning her chair back to face the desk where her books are wide open.

She was about to pick her pen, so she could continue her notes when Mark suddenly pulls her hair tie, causing her hair to fall down to her shoulder.

"Why did you cut your hair?" Mark asks even before Yerim has the time to complain about his behavior.

She takes the hair tie right from Mark's hand before pulling her hair up to tie it back to its previous style, "Why shouldn't I?"

"I didn't say you shouldn't though I was just asking."

Yerim just got a new hair cut yesterday. She has planning to do that since ages ago, but she finally did that with Chaeyoung yesterday. That girl also got a hair cut, way much shorter than Yerim did.

Yerim's hair length is around her shoulder now, meanwhile, Chaeyoung's hair is below her ears.

"You still look good though."

She turns her head for seconds, finding out how Mark is currently playing with his phone and makes what he just said sounds normal.

Yerim sighs, feeling used for how he acts. He never knows how her heart always jumps out every time he says something like that.

"Thanks, I got that from my mom," She blurts random answers out.

The silence comes between them, but it's not an awkward silence. It's more like a comfortable one.

"Can I join you leaving for Germany?" Mark suddenly lets out the oddest question Yerim has heard in a while.

"Why?" Yerim asks while writing down some things in her notebook.

Mark leads himself back to Yerim's bed, realizing that this bed will be empty in two days.

"I've never been there," Mark answers.

No, actually, he just wants to go there with Yerim. He thinks it will fun to spend time together in a country where Yerim has lived for years. She would bring Mark to every memorable place she has. Mark could meet her parents once again, so he could get to know them as much as his parents know Yerim.