boy in seoul

chapter five

Today was an unusual day. An unusually happy day.

Marc had already woken up in a good mood. Instead of rolling out of his bed, he landed on his feet. Instead of munching his cereal for the few promised nutrients, he made himself an omelet and fried rice.

The weather had been nice on the way to work. The sky blue and the wind warm announcing spring was finally here. With the extra bounce in his step, he had walked into his office and let himself fall onto his chair.

Instantly he was ready to get work done. Not because he had fun working, but because he was meeting Kien after. They had texted but Marc's mood was declining rapidly so he decided to ask Kien for another meet-up. And since Marc was always hungry he invited Kien for dinner.

After work, they would meet and eat fried chicken. Obviously Kien couldn't just walk into a random restaurant so they would order and eat it at Marc's place. The thought of having something exciting to do after work was exhilarating.

Time seemed to fly and before Marc even noticed it, there were only three more hours of work left. Unofficial company rule was that everyone stayed a little bit longer to get things ready for the next day but today Marc wouldn't do that. He would leave this place the moment his official work hours ended.

"What is going on?" Youna sat down on Marc's desk and looked at the focused man. Slowly Marc leaned back into his chair and looked back at her.

"I am just in a good mood today," he said smiling at her.

"Any particular reason?"

"No, not really."

"Did you book your vacation?" she asked further. What vacation was she talking about? He must have looked very confused since Youna said: "You know the one I recommended the beach for?"

"Oh," remembering which vacation Youna was talking about, "no I didn't have time yet." The thought that he wanted to leave just a week ago seemed strange now. A short spark of guilt shot through his mind clouding his mood for a second. Too short for Youna to notice.

"Then what is it because you are ... happier than normal?" Youna pulled the corners of her mouth demonstrative higher. Was that such a weird thing for him? Was his depressed mood showing that much? Did he really slip down that far already?

"Nothing, I just have dinner with a friend after work," Marc declared and sat back straight pulling his chair closer to the desk. Hopefully, Youna would just take the hint and go.

"A friend?" Youna asked suspiciously obviously not taking the hint.

"Yes."

"Oh, I know. You got yourself a girlfriend, right?" Youna pointed her finger at Marc. Slowly he looked up at her smirking face. She looked like she had just caught him doing something naughty.

"It is a male friend," Marc said hoping that would shut her line of thought down.

"Is he cute?" Youna's eyes suddenly grew wide.

Marc thought about it for a second. Kien was more adorable and sexy and interesting and strong. There was something in the way Kien talked and moved that just demanded Marc's attention. But cute? "No, not really," Marc said.

Youna made a disappointing face, but Kien wasn't for her anyway. She should just look around. There were a lot of men who would kill to take her out on a date. For example, the gentleman who was eyeing her right now. Or the one who was slightly glaring probably at Marc.

At that moment his phone vibrated. Quickly he picked it up. A text from Kien.

K: 'So sorry but I have to cancel tonight. Something came up.'