As the weeks passed, Mark kept to his word about wanting to be friends. He ate with me, or should I say, dragged me to his table every lunch and even invited me over to his house a couple times to play video games. I still had this feeling Mark was hiding something from me though; that he had ulterior motives to his sudden friendship to me. I wanted to talk to him a couple of times about it, get him to divulge his reasons but I was never the confrontational type and would have probably ended up with nothing gained.

But whatever his intentions were, it was hard to decipher. Nothing he did seemed to point to any gain on his part, which just further baffled me. He was the one making the effort to get to know me, not the other way around. I hadn't completely trusted him, but with each passing day, I could feel my walls coming down. 

Not just Mark too. I felt myself growing closer to his group of friends, Irene and Jackson in particular. What with Irene's similar personality to Wonpil, it just helped fill the void that Wonpil once occupied. Jackson on the other hand was the jokester yet chill kind of guy, so much like my own personality that it was no surprise that we clicked. Mark was also a headache at times. Even after me telling him not to, on more than one occasion I might add, he still called me cute on a daily basis, which only added to my confusion.

Yeah on one hand I was suspicious about Mark, and on the other hand, I found myself growing attracted to him. Not to the point of wanting to kiss him or anything. Hell not even to the point of wanting to hold his hand, but attraction was there no matter how little, and I hated that fact. In the past, Mark's seemingly horrible personality cancelled out any physical attraction I had towards him, but since he became my 'friend', little flecks of attraction had started to form.

So here I was. At lunch as usual, sitting with Mark and his friends. Although, I guess you could say that they're my friends now too. Seeing that basketball season has started, most of them talked ball most of the time, something I didn't mind being left out of. I wasn't a sports person. 

"Not really a sports person huh." Mark said, turning to face me. I shook my head in acknowledgment. "Then what do you like to do?"

"Anything and everything."

"That's specific."

"I go with the flow. I do whatever I feel like doing at the time." I said.

"C'mon, surely you have hobbies." He pressed.

"I guess photography but you already knew that."

"Oh right, you're like the best photographer in school. I forgot about that. You did that photo exhibit once, for English class." He said. I had to think back, recalling the stuff that I did for school. I finally recalled the photo exhibit, one I did for English class back in sophomore year. I was surprised Mark even remembered it. "It was pretty good." 

I raised an eyebrow at him, "Don't patronize me." I deadpanned. That exhibit was far from good and I wasn't being critical on myself. What was supposed to be a short, funny skit became one of the most awkward teen photo exhibits the world had ever seen. I can't even remember what it was about anymore, just that it was bad in retrospect. "That exhibit  balls. In what shape or form was it any good?"

"Really? I thought it was kinda funny, in an awkward kind of way." He said.

"Yeah you thought it was funny because of how bad it was."

"No, I don't think so... Jackson" He called to Jackson who turned to him. "Remember that photo exhibit we saw in English class sophomore year." 

Jackson thought for a while but shrugged his shoulders, unable to recall. 

"The 'so bad it was funny' exhibit. The only photo exhibit I made in sophomore year." I said. His face brightened as he recalled, not before his brow furrowed.

"Wait, you made that exhibit? But... It was so bad... No offense." Jackson said, his eyes growing big.

"None taken. It was a train wreck." I looked to Mark and raised an eyebrow at him. 

"Well at least it shows how much you've improved?" He tried, and I shook my head, chuckling. Irene came bouncing in, taking a seat across me. I noticed that for once she didn't give Mark her routine lunch kiss on the cheek. I looked to her then to Mark, both of whom returned my glances. "What?" I asked.

"You're the one that gave us that look first." Irene retorted. I played dumb and watched as Irene looked to Mark, sharing a look. It was clear something was up, and I knew they knew I knew. I watched as Mark and Irene had a silent argument with their expression, something they did on a regular basis, a little trick they developed from years of friendship. Irene took a deep breath, I assumed that they came to a silent agreement on the matter, whatever it was.

"Okay guys." She called, making everyone at the table turn to face her. "Yeah so uh... Mark and I have something to tell you guys... So ... Uhm Mark?" She said, chickening out and waiting for Mark to save her, to which he rolled his eyes.

"Irene and I are no longer a couple. We broke up yesterday on mutual terms." He said, without so much as a blink. Everyone was silent, unsure of what to say. Even I, who suspected something was up didn't expect that they would have broken up. "It's really no big deal and don't worry, we're still friends if that's what you're wondering. We talked yesterday and we just decided that our relationship was going nowhere past friendship. So we broke up." 

"But... You guys were together for two years. Why the sudden decision?" A cheerleader from the end of the table asked, I think her name was Yeri.

"We just... I guess figured we weren't for each other." Irene said.

"And what brought this about? You guys like someone else or something? We all know you can read each other like that and all." Jackson asked. Irene visibly blushed at the comment, but it seemed only I noticed. So it was Irene who has feelings for someone else. I looked to Mark, whose expression was indifferent. 

"Look. It doesn't matter what the reasons are. We just wanted to tell you guys that we are no longer dating. End of story." Mark said. 

"So you're both cool about it? No hard feelings?" Jackson asked, although cautiously.

"Geez man, didn't I already say that it was mutual?" Mark rebuked. Contrary to what he said, I got the vibe that something was bothering Mark, whether it was because of the breakup or not, I did not know. It could very well be, but then again, he was fine until he got berated with questions. Perhaps he just didn't like his choices questioned?

Lunch became pretty quiet after that; the only people who really talked were Mark and Irene. Curiously enough, they spoke like nothing had transpired between them. Which only made it sink in that they really were still friends, regardless of their breakup. The thought of them being those 'still friends but ing awkward friends' thing must have crossed everyone's mind but that apparently wasn't the case. They were still really close. I guess it wasn't so easy to destroy years of friendship over a breakup. Well at least that was the case for Mark and Irene. Mark did still seemed a little irritable though.

No one asked Mark anything else about the breakup due to his mood but I wasn't one to shy away from the truth. That day, I had Phys Ed class with Mark and I figured it would have been the perfect time to weasel some information out of him. As if luck was on my side, coach asked us to run some laps around the field, which was perfect for me to talk to Mark. He ran at a comfortable pace, lucky for me as I could keep up with him. 

"So, everything okay?" I asked.

"Why does everyone think I'm not okay?" He asked, exasperation in his tone. Okay, so he was more than a little irritable. In fact, his mood seemed to have gotten worse since lunch. 

"Just asking because you seem a little on edge."

"I am not." He said defensively. I gave him a blank stare. "Okay so maybe I am, a little, but it's not because of the breakup."

"Then, what is it about?"

"Nothing. It's nothing, I'm just a little out of whack today."

"Is it the person Irene likes?" I probed further. I was walking on thin ice with my questions but I was curious.

"No."

"I already know Irene likes Jackson." I lied, not actually knowing anything except a gut feeling. Mark stopped in his tracks, making me run a couple feet ahead of him before I stopped and turned too.

"She told you already? When?" His look conveyed something akin to betrayal. Maybe they made a pact not to say anything about it.

"She didn't. You just did." Mark gave me the finger and continued his run, me falling in step beside him again. "So, that's the problem?"

"I told you it's not. Just... Forget about it okay? I'm seriously fine over this breakup. You may not believe me but we really did mutually separate. We were both thinking it for some time now and we decided to finally act upon it. No biggie."

"I believe that part. It's the part that you say nothing is bothering you I don't believe." 

"You're entitled to your opinion." He said. 

"So if Irene likes Jackson, then perhaps you like someone else too?" I said, taking a side-glance at Mark but he didn't say anything. Just then, a small blush crept up on his cheeks. Barely noticeable seeing that he was already slightly flushed from the run, but the deepened tint of crimson was unmistakable. I shook my head chuckling. "You are such a bad liar. So, who's the lucky lady?"

"It's not... I'm... It's none of your business." He stuttered, his cheeks growing a shade darker as he spoke. Trying to get away from my apparently embarrassing questions, he took off sprinting the last lap. I tried catching up with him, but I was in no way as fit as Mark. 

He managed to avoid me the rest of the day, that is, until last period, which was Biology. Before the bell rang, I peeked my head in the class. A few students were already seated but Mark wasn't there yet. I waited outside the class. Knowing that if I were to take a seat, Mark would have chosen a seat far away from me. By waiting outside, I eliminated that variable. True enough, I saw Mark a minute later. His backpack slung over his right shoulder. He stopped outside the classroom, looking at me. He raised his hand, motioning for me to enter but I knew what he was playing at.

"After you." I said. He stayed there for a while before finally realizing that I wasn't giving in. He walked in and I followed behind, sitting myself down into the seat next to him. I got him right where I wanted.

"You're pretty annoying today, you know that?" He said.

"And you're annoying every other day so I guess it's fair." I shot back.

"If you think I'm gonna tell you anything then you're sorely mistaken."

"So you do have something that's worth telling then." I pushed. He sighed and put his head on the table, not saying anything after that. I would have to admit, I wasn't actually very curious anymore. He didn't need to tell me if he didn't want to. I just liked teasing him, seeing him squirm. Hmm wasn't that why he said he teased me back then too? 

Just then, Ms. Han came in. Ms. Han was American but she migrated to South Korea ever since she was a little girl. Just under her thirties, she was one of the youngest teachers in school, and one of the hottest too. I may be gay but I can identify a hot girl when I see one. Ms. Han was the eye candy of most boys in school, making Biology one of the few classes very little people slept in. She was also a fun teacher in many aspects. Unlike the other teachers in our school, Ms. Han made it a point to make her lessons as enjoyable as possible. She gave us lots of projects but they were mostly pretty easy and quite honestly, fun to do.

"Okay class, you don't need your textbooks today because, surprise surprise, I have another project for you guys." There were a couple 'ughs' but most of the students were just playing. "Yes, yes I know, not another one but I think you guys would like this one. Okay so as you all know. The new botanical garden just opened last weekend, so I thought maybe we could do something along those lines." 

Yeah, the new botanical garden was all over the news. Apparently, it boasts plant species from all over the world, with large domes of controlled environment to simulate conditions that you could not normally experience in Seoul.

"So seeing that we were going to start the topic on evolution, I thought what better way than to do a project about adaptation, the evolution of different species to adapt to their various climates. You will be paired up and each group would get a region to focus on. Choose a couple plant species you want to work on and document their adaptations to the environment. Of course you can research all these online, but I strongly encourage you to head down to the garden and check it out yourself. Bonus points for photos taken at the garden. 

"You will then present your project to the class in two weeks time. The presentation should last between five to ten minutes. You can choose any format. A simple poster, slideshow or even a video. You can even perform a skit if that's how you want. Let wild with your imaginations." Ms. Han finished her explanation of the project and I was pretty excited about this. It seemed fun and I myself wanted to head to the botanical garden to see what all the hype was about.

"So I will be pairing you guys up and giving you the region you would be focusing on." Ms. Han said, taking a clipboard off her table. She read off groups and gave them their topics, while I just waited for her to call my name. "Park Jinyoung." She called and I perked up, waiting to hear who my partner was. "You're partner is... Mark Tuan. Your topic is deserts." 

I looked over to Mark who had a look that just screamed 'seriously?'. "Ms. Han no fair." Suzy whined from the front of the class. I never really liked Suzy; she complained too much. "Jinyoung's a great photographer with an awesome DSLR camera and Mark's really good at video editing. They're so gonna get the highest marks." I rolled my eyes. You got that right.

"Now, marks will not be awarded to entertainment value but project content. Entertainment value is just to keep you guys awake while doing it, and to keep the class awake during your presentation. A little something I thought up so you guys don't fall asleep. " Ms. Han laughed. I couldn't disagree with that logic. Suzy shrugged but said nothing. I guess she agreed too. 

Ms. Han gave us the rest of the lesson to plan what we wanted to do for the project. Normally there wouldn't be much of a problem but seeing that Mark was particularly irritable today, it wasn't very productive. Well, at least we agreed to head over to the botanical gardens that weekend to get some shots and get a head start of the species of plants we were going to work on. 

By the end of the day, Mark was still irritable for some reason. I already stopped teasing or pushing him for information but his sour mood stuck. Mark had basketball practice while I was going to head home. It was merely coincidence that I was tailing behind him as I made my way over to my car. Apparently though, Mark had other thoughts about the matter. 

"Will you stop following me? I told you already, I'm not telling you anything." He turned, making me stop in my tracks in confusion. 

"I wasn't..." I was cut off before I could finish. 

"No you listen to me Park. Irene and I both wanted to end it. I'm totally fine with her liking Jackson. It doesn't bother me and I am ing fine. Whether or not I like someone else is my damn problem, so just off," He shouted. It was weird hearing Mark cal