The Close Strangers

t h i r t y - s e v e n

"That's so freaking fun!" Felix exclaims while clapping his hands happily as he walks while tilting his head to right and left in rhythm. "Hyung! Can I ride it one more time?" He asks his dance instructor — a friend of Kim Jongin.

"Ah, Felix! Do you want to ride that again? Let's ride it together!" Yoojung says to him, causing his eyes to be brighter than before.

Chan can't help but doing a facepalm, walking towards Mark and Yerim who are the closest ones from where he's walking — leaving Felix who is supposed to walk with him.

"Huh? He hasn't read my messages at all, Mark," Yerim says, checking her phone out to see if there are new messages from her father.

"Who?" Chan asks, already walking beside Mark.

Mark turns his head, "It's her father. He said he'll go here."

Chan suddenly pulls out a teasing face, "Oh... so you're going to meet your future father-in-law?"

Mark smacks the back of his head, "Not like that."

"Aye, that's fine. I know you'll make him fall for you right away."

"I know right! I told him that it will be fine, but he keeps on being worried over nothing," Yerim responds to Chan while typing another text message for her father.

"Yerim-ah! Do you want to go to the restroom? Because we are," Mina suddenly calls her, causing Yerim to look up to see Mina who is holding Sooyoung's hand.

She nods right away, telling Mark and Chan that she'll go for a couple of minutes. She also asks Mark to look around just in case he might see her father accidentally.

It's true because not long after Mark and Chan along with Taeyong and Jaehyun take a seat on the bench near there, Jaehyun spots Kim Junmyeon under the big tree near there.

He pokes Mark right away, pointing to the direction where Kim Junmyeon is. Mark can really feel how nervous he is all of a sudden.

"What are you waiting for? Go there, Mark," Jaehyun says, noticing that Mark is too nervous to think about anything.

Taeyong and Chan ask about what is going on and of course, Jaehyun explains it all right away.

Chan does a face-palm, "You're embarrassing. It's not like you're meeting God or something."

Mark gets up, taking a deep breath as he shakes his foot alternately to release the nervousness he has. He puts both of his hands into the pocket of his coat.

"Come on, Mark Lee," Taeyong claps his hands, acting like a coach who is trying to build the confidence of his team in the middle of a baseball match. "I know you can do it!" He adds.

"What should I say first?" Mark asks, planning to go meet Yerim's father after he gets an answer.

Chan frowns, "Hello? I mean— what else?"

Jaehyun chuckles as he throws his head back, "Stop asking about useless thing and go there now!"

"You're wasting your time," Taeyong suddenly gets up, pushing Mark away to the direction where Yerim's father is waiting — having his phone on his hand as he wanders his eyes around.

Mark almost drops his heart off when Kim Junmyeon spots him as he approaches him. He suddenly pulls out a big smile, causing Mark to do the same spontaneously.

He bows down to him once he stops right in front of him. "Hello, Mr. Kim," He greets him politely, getting a pat behind his back because Junmyeon embraces him.