"Maybe we can just set the margin of error up to 10%? The whole of the sophomores is going to be our population, so we must think of........."

Blah. Blah. Blah.

Mark is on his last year in college as a business major and they're supposed to conduct a research study as the final requirement in his major subject.

His groupmates, keep on talking and he TRIED listening... but he just can't pull his thoughts back to his head.

They keep on scattering. . . . flying around. . . . and finally settling on its favorite place.

His raven hair. His wavy bangs covering his entire forehead, and slightly touching his eyes.

Those smiley eyes. 

Those eyes Mark willingly spend his time looking at.

His small button nose that scrunches everytime he pouts.

His lips. Those pink plump lips.

Never has he seen such perfectly sculpted lips... and boy does he always think about those...

And...

"Mark hyung!?"

Right. He's back.

Mark turned to Youngjae who just called him.

"Yeah?"

The younger laughed at him while shaking his head. "Don't leave me out here on my own, hyung. Jackson hyung already slept on us. It's only the two of us now."

Mark looked at Jackson who is almost snoring. This guy, really.

"Okay. I'm sorry. I was just distracted. So, where were we?"

Youngjae pushed his notebook towards him. "Tomorrow, help me decide on which sampling method to use."

Mark just nodded. 

This thesis will surely take a lot of his time.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Will take a lot of your time, huh? Really Mark, who are you kidding?

Mark mentally scolded himself as he pushed through the glass door of the shop.

His eyes searching for. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . yes. Found him.

Otherwise, staying here will be a total waste of his precious time.

Because you should be working on your thesis, right?

The sane part of his mind is still not done on scolding Mark.

He sat comfortably at that far corner of the shop, near the window, overlooking the streets of Gangdong-gu.

But is it really the view that entices him?

"Jinyoung-ah?! Please help me with this!"

A man with squinty eyes and is wearing an apron (obviously a barista, too) called on the guy who has puffy cheeks and smiling eyes.

"Coming, Jaebum hyung!"

He put down the pitcher that he was holding and handed the dishcloth to a guy who has white hair and seems to be younger.

He wiped his hands on his apron before approaching the guy who called him earlier.

Mark can't help but smile at that. He is too kind.

Really, Mark?

Mark shakes his head and refused to smile some more when he saw how the barista almost spilled the coffee because he forgot to put the lid on before shaking the bottle.

"Haha! Jinyoung hyung, babo!" a taller guy with black mushroom like hair won't stop laughing at the latter.

"Hey Kim Yugyeom! Leave Jinyoung alone and get back to work!" The squinty eye guy shouted. He maybe the store manager or something. "And where's Bambam?"

"Here!" The white haired guy answered, while doing the job Jinyoung was doing earlier.

Mark knows his name. As he frequently visits the cafe, he learnt of his name. One, because he read it once on his nameplate. And two, the guys tend to always call his name out.

Mark brought out his sketchpad and his pencil. Right. He's just spending an hour of his time here to relax and sketch his favorite subject.

Mark ordered a slice of blueberry cheesecake along with a milk tea.

Newsflash: He doesn't like coffee. And the fact that he spends his afternoon in this coffee shop is one of the reasons why Mark always scold himself.

He plugged in his earphones, as he looks at his subject, finding the right angle to start with.

🎶Yes, you, why are you making me this confused?
I don’t get you anymore... the song goes.

Mark stared at him, taking an order from an old lady. He smiled radiantly as he bowed and said thanks.

Mark is in the perfect spot. He can see Jinyoung clearly as how he always wanted.

He started drawing while still listening to music.

🎶When my heart is beating for you. What are you feeling? I don’t know, I'm not able to do anything in front of you...🎶

Mark took a last bite of his cheesecake as he stared at his finished work. 

He's done well.

Mark looked at his direction again as he saw him hurriedly cleaning the mess he made after finally spilling the coffee.

It would happen alright, Mark knows. Jinyoung's that clumsy.

Mark closed his sketchpad and put it inside his backpack. He got one of the table napkins and wrote on it.

Park Jinyoung,

You are constantly making mistakes and creating mess.
You are always spilling things.
Though you fail in such things, you never fail on one thing.
You are clumsy. 
Yet, today you made me smile.

He folded it and left it on the table then with one last glance on him (still cleaning his mess) headed outside the shop.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

"Thank you, hyung." Youngjae smiles his bright smile. "Me and Jackson hyung will take care of the printing and distribution of these questionnaires."

"Why me?" Jackson whined.

"You really have the guts to whine, Wang?" Mark's words made the younger shut up.

After handing them the questionnaires which he worked hard for last night, Mark waved goodbye.

His last class just ended and that could only mean one thing. And no, he is not excited.

It must be because it's Friday. 

The cafe is packed with people. 

Some are having their meetings. Some are doing their projects. Some are reading books, some are writing. Some are just drinking coffee.

Mark stood in line to order a milk tea. 

He tried looking for Jinyoung but he found him busy making something so he was not at the counter. 

"Good afternoon. I'm Kim Yugyeom, may I take your order?" it's the mushroom haired guy.

"Uh. Yes. Uhm... I would like to have a milk tea. Grande sized."

"Would that be all?" Mark nodded and Yugyeom is it? Yugyeom smiled before calling out on the other barista, the one with white hair. "Bam! One milk tea, grande!"

"A'right, man. That's eaaaaasssyyy!" 

Mark sat by the table which he always occupies. It is not occupied because it is in the far end corner of the shop.

Only Mark enjoys sitting there because it gives him a perfect view of what he always loved looking at.

🎶It’s really making me crazy,
When given the chance I wander around you
Like a habit, when I see you
It makes me smile.🎶

The song played with his earphones plugged in.

On the table napkin which he have, he started writing.

Park Jinyoung,
You are busy today. You're doing well. Not creating any mess... Yet?
Just kidding.
I didn't get to see your eyes today. 
Your smile neither.
You are too busy to spare me a glance.
Yet today, just seeing you still made me smile.

Again, Mark folded it neatly and left it there before heading outside.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

His hair is probably messy. Mark has been incessantly running his fingers through it while editing the first chapter of their thesis.

"That. That one is cute." He heard Jackson. "Oooohhh. Did he just look at me? Oh god, Youngjae, did you see that?"

Mark turned to look at who Jackson is pointing at and there he saw his Jinyoung, . . . . . . . . he meant Jinyoung. Just Jinyoung. Jackson is pertaining to him.

"YAH!" he shouted at Jackson who is obviously surprised. "Focus on this. We're here to work on our thesis. Not to do some boyfriend hunting or something."

Jackson's lips curled up as he got his notebook. "Jeez, alright. No need to go bat on me."

Mark ignored him.

The three of them are in the coffee shop. But Mark wasn't able to do his favorite thing. 

Mark is too busy with his task that he was just able to look at Jinyoung once. It's nearly 6pm.

"This is so tiring."

"Jackson hyung, you just finished typing one page." Youngjae pointed out.

Just then, a tray with three cups of coffee was put on top of the table.

Mark stared at it for a second.

Then to the person who put it there.

Goodness. Gracious.

Mark probably looked confused which made the other scratch his head and smile shyly.

"It's on the house." He is talking. Jinyoung is talking to him.

"Oh that's so nice of you." Jackson was the first one to respond while getting a cup for himself. "Thank you, uhm..." he tried to read his nameplate. "Jinyoung. Thank you, Jinyoung. I'm Jackson."

Mark heaved a sigh. Jackson flirts so openly.

Jinyoung smiled again. "Nice to meet you. Uhm, this is actually a courtesy of our boss. Since he finds your friend cute."

"YAH PARK JINYOUNG!" The guy Jinyoung pointed at yelled.

"Which friend?"

"Him." he answered Jackson and pointed at Youngjae who is flustered right now.

"Oh, dang I thought it was me." Jackson pouted.

Mark was watching Jinyoung giggling when suddenly an arm snatched him away.

"Uhm, excuse us for a second. Please enjoy your coffee." the guy (who's the boss as Jinyoung said) dragged Jinyoung with him.

"But Jaebum hyung-"

And they disappeared to the kitchen.

"Oohhh. Youngjae-ssii, that Jaebum is cute." Jackson mercilessly teased the younger.

It's not long before Mark remembered, he hates coffee. How will he finish this?

Mark glanced at his direction. Jinyoung was blending something, when he looked back at him. 

Mark just smiled and raised his cup to say thanks. 

The moment he sipped from his cup, Mark regretted it. But Jinyoung is still looking so he faked a smile. And another thing, Jackson and Youngjae shouldn't know that he doesn't like coffee, since it's his reason for always going here in the cafe.

It took Mark another 30 minutes to finish his coffee. Unwillingly, of course. The other two went ahead of him after finishing their task for the day.

Mark plugged in his earphones as he prepared to head out.

🎶What should I do?
My heart is going ahead of itself on the thought of you,
My head is flustered today too.🎶

Again, reaching for a napkin, Mark started to write.

Park Jinyoung,
You are not aware that I don't like coffee. I hate it.
And you just gave me a hard time, making me finish all of it.
You gave me a cup of coffee which I don't like.
Yet today, you still made me smile.

Mark folded it neatly as he looked at him again. He left the note on the table and headed out.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

It's around 5 pm and there are only a few people in the cafe.

Mark is currently enjoying his cheesecake and milk tea.

He's decided that if Jinyoung offers him coffee again, he will really refuse it, no matter how cute he is.

The last time he drank coffee, Mark spent hours in the comfort room. Like, eew.

He doesn't want that to happen again.

Mark is finishing his sketch of him, carefully pouring coffee powder in a container.

He bite his lips, silently praying for Jinyoung not to cause a mess again.

Mark stared outside where a shade of orange is enveloping the whole of the sky.

🎶This time waiting for you,
I wonder if I can go a bit closer to you now.🎶

The song continues to play through his earphone.

🎶Time that seems like it stopped,
Yearning gets bigger.
Whether you know it or not,
It makes me hesitate.🎶

Mark was done with his sketch and he's planning to head out early. He still needs to review for their exam tomorrow.

He'll spend more time here tomorrow. Then he can stare at Jinyoung again for hours.

Mark looked at Jinyoung who is busy cleaning the table occupied by the couple who just left. Bambam and Yugyeom (if he remembers them correctly) were on his side, also cleaning but bugging him at the same time.

On a napkin, Mark wrote to him.

Park Jinyoung,
You are doing good today. In fact I think you are improving.
You didn't make a mess today. Good job!
I didn't have enough time to look at you.
Yet today, you still made me smile.

Mark folded it neatly and he was about to leave it above the table when Jinyoung suddenly moved to the table next to him and started cleaning it.

Mark thought Jinyoung might notice the note immediately if he'll just leave it there so instead, he decided to put it under the center piece of the table.

Okay. This is hidden. Mark thought.

He fixed his things and stood up.

"Thank you, and come again next time."

Mark briefly stopped and looked at Jinyoung who bowed and smiled at him.

He managed to give him some sort of a smile (because his heart is still beating loudly) before finally heading out.

That was a close call.

Mark always leaves his note on that table but he is sure that no one has read it. 

Why bother to look at a napkin? 

But earlier, Mark thought he would've been busted. Whew.

Mark was about to hail a cab when he realized he forgot his sketchpad. 

God, he's really stupid for forgetting that.

It's probably there on his chair. Mark hurriedly went back inside the cafe.

Then Mark saw Jinyoung by the counter. He passed by him and went directly to his table.

But it wasn't there.

"Uhm, excuse me but, are you looking for something?"

Mark was startled to see Jinyoung, now in front of him. His mind is surely in panic.

What if he sees... Oh my god, please don't.

Mark nodded. "Uhm, my... My sketchpad."

Jinyoung smiled and looked like he remembered something. "Oh right! The one Yugyeom gave me. Was it yours?"

Mark could only nod. And Jinyoung signalled him to wait as he turned to the younger barista. "Bambam!" 

He went to the counter and got something from the younger. It's his sketchpad.

"Good thing I kept it." Jinyoung said as he handed it back.

Mark just smiled awkwardly. Jinyoung probably saw what is inside it. This is his end.

"Thank you."

Mark took one last glance at him and walked away, completely embarrassed.

That's it, Mark. You have no face to show him after this.

Might as well, never come back here.

As Mark waited for a cab, he stared at the thing which caused the trouble.

He opened it. Realizing more that Jinyoung already saw these drawings. Mark's sketches of him.

Jinyoung might see him as a weird guy crushing on him.

But as Mark browse the pages, something caught his eye.

Something is written on one of the pages which was blank a while ago.

And Mark almost gaped upon reading what was written.

Mark... So I finally know your name.
Sorry. It's written on the front cover.

Gulp.

I am sorry for my clumsiness. I've been like this since forever.

I tend to spill things. But I wasn't able to spill what I felt for you since the first time I saw you.

I am sorry if you think I didn't see you that afternoon. I was busy, but I did see you. I hoped you stayed a little longer. But it's fine. What's important is you came.

I didn't know you hate coffee. I should've given you a milk tea instead. I am sorry.

The side of his eyes feels like burning. Mark's not sure why.

He continued reading.

Do I really make you smile, despite all my clumsiness? I am glad that I do. 

But seeing all your sketches, you made me smile too. It makes me beyond happy.

When we see each other again, I promise I'll have the courage to finally talk to you.

Mark froze after his last sentence.

But Mark was drawn back by the sound of Jinyoung's voice calling him

"Mark!"

The first time hearing Jinyoung actually calling him gives Mark an elated feeling. 

Jinyoung stopped on his tracks when he was finally in front of Mark.

"You forgot, another thing."

Jinyoung handed him something. And when Mark looked at it, he could only confirm what he was thinking a while ago.

"You read my notes. You've been reading them all along?"

Mark asked.

Jinyoung bit his lips. His eye smile showing as he smiles shyly. And Mark couldn't get a hold of his own feelings anymore.

"So you really think I improved?" 

Mark smiled widely and nodded.

"It's just that I really love my job. And, I don't want to cause a mess again, much to your seeing." Jinyoung continued while scratching the back of his head.

"So..." Jinyoung prompted.

Mark smiled more.

"So..." he answered back.

Then the two find theirselves laughing. 

This, right here. Is a perfect moment for Mark.

Finally facing him up close.

Seeing Jinyoung's smile towards him.

Hearing his laugh.

Maybe this is what he's been waiting for.

This right here. 

No, it doesn't compare to anything Mark had.

◾◾◾◾◾◾◾

And I'm finally done! 

I made it, didn't I? The day hasn't passed yet, so I sticked true to my promise of updating this today!

This is only a one shot story. And since it's done, I'll be focusing more on Just When I Thought.

See you awesome guys, there! :*

<3 nicapark