(Author's p.o.v)

"Lonely, lonely, lonely lonely lonely~ lonely lonely lonely boy~"

"Lonely, lonely, lonely lonely lonely~ lonely lonely lonely boy~"

Jackson stuffed his phone back inside his pocket before slamming his hand down on the wooden desk. "Dude! you've had that same part of the song on repeat for over 30 minutes!!" Jackson grabbed Mark's arm, attempting to pull him up into a sitting position. "Bae's only been gone since yesterday! stop acting like it's been forever since you've seen her!" Mark slowly brought a hand up to his heart as he closed his eyes, not moving from his spot on his bed. "It feels like forever..." he sighed.

"That's it... I can't let my best friend stay like this, it's making me look bad!" Jackson grabbed both of Mark's arms and lifted him up. "Let's go out and do something, it's Saturday... don't just waste it laying here!" Mark pulled back, not wanting to leave his bed that he's been laying in all morning. "Let go~ I don't want to go anywhere!" Mark groaned, spreading his limbs out.

A long, tired sigh came out of Jackson's lips as he shook his head, ashamed to call this love-sick puppy his best friend. "She has you wrapped around her finger... you're completely whipped!" Mark glanced at the brown haired boy before nodding. "You know... I'm okay with that."

"Well I'm not!" with one strong tug, Jackson succeeded in pulling Mark off of his bed. letting his body fall to the floor, Mark sighed, giving up on fighting back as Jackson dragged him towards his closet. "Change your clothes and meet me down stairs-" before Mark could cut him off, Jackson pointed a finger and narrowed his eyes. "I'm making you come with me whether you change out of your pj's or not!"

Mark scoffed as he rolled his eyes, grabbing a change of clothes and walking to his bathroom. he sent a glare towards Jackson before shutting the door. "You'll thank me for this later." Jackson mumbled, before walking down the stairs.

"Oh, Jackson, I didn't know you were still here." Jackson took a seat next to Mr. Tuan before nodding. "Of course I'm still here! I can't leave Mark when he's like this! he'll reach the depths of despair if he stays here any longer!" Mr. Tuan laughed loudly as he put the newspaper down. "Did you actually talk him into leaving his room? I tried to get him to come down for breakfast... but he just laid there, lifelessly."

A smirk stretched across Jackson's face as he rubbed his chin. "I have my ways, Mr. T, I have my ways." Mr. Tuan let out another chuckle as he turned to look at Jackson. "I don't know what's gotten into him... since yesterday he's been really depressed and whiny." Jackson gave a knowing look as he opened his mouth. "It's because he's weak! he's been whipped by a girl!" the two looked at each other before they burst into laughter. "I know! I don't know where he got that from, though... I was never one to be weak." Jackson laughed again (sounding a bit like a hyena) before quickly moving his hand to the back of his head, rubbing the now sore spot.

"What was that for?!?!" Mark looked at Jackson with a dull expression before taking a seat. "Will you quit telling people I'm weak? I just don't feel well, that's all." a loud scoff came out of Jackson's mouth before he opened it to speak again (probably to say something sassy) "'Don't feel well'? oh, so you just so happen to feel sick right after your girlfriend leaves??" (told you) Mark's eyes widened after the words came out of his best friend's mouth. *Crap!*

You see, Mark has yet to tell his parents about him dating their new neighbors daughter (aka: Bae) it's not that he wanted to hide it, oh no, he just- what's the word? forgot?... yeah! he forgot. "You have a girlfriend?!?! who?!?!" his dad shouted, a little too close to his ear. "Y-yeah, I do..." Mark rubbed his left ear, trying to regain his hearing. "It's Bae."

"Bae? you mean, the Chu's youngest daughter??" Mark meekly nodded his head as his dad stared him down, a wide grin stretching across his face. "Way to go, son!" Mark looked up after his dad patted his back, smiling teasingly as he did so. "I knew you had it in you! your mom is going to be so happy!" Jackson held in his laughter as he watched their interaction, thankful that he wasn't the one in Mark's spot. 

Mark stared in confusion before he decided to ask the question on his mind. "What do you mean you knew I had it in me?" Mr. Tuan threw a mischievous smile towards his son before he picked the newspaper back up. "I knew you liked her right away, you were so obvious! I knew you'd end up getting her with your charm, I just didn't think it would be so soon! you are my son after all~" Mark turned to Jackson, rolling his eyes in the process.

"If you were planning on going out, I suggest you do so before your mom comes down, otherwise she'll talk to you for hours about Bae." before Mark could reply, Jackson was already dragging him out the door. "See ya Mr. T!~ don't worry, I'll take good care of your son~" Mr. Tuan waved as he began to close the door. "Don't bring him back until he gets over his love-sickness!" Jackson saluted before walking off of the front porch, still dragging Mark along.

"Let go!" Mark shoved Jackson's hands off of him, standing up straight after doing so. "You did that on purpose, didn't you?" Jackson gave an innocent look while jutting out his bottom lip. "I don't know what you're talking about." with a roll of his eyes, Mark scoffed. "I already know you told my dad about Bae on purpose, there's no point in denying it." 

"Of course I did! don't you want him to know?" Mark nodded his head as he looked down at his feet. "It's not that I don't want him to know... it's my mom that I'm worried about." he let out an inaudible sigh before continuing. "She gets a little too excited about things, and seeing how this is something important...I don't know, I guess I just don't want her scaring Bae away."

Jackson snorted loudly before chuckling. "Bae? getting scared?? that's a good one!" Mark stared at him, waiting for him to continue. "Bae is the queen of scaring other people away, I don't think she's the one you have to worry about. I've heard quite a few stories about her at school, and some of things- let me rephrase that- all of the things she's done are insane! her skills in scaring people away are crazy good!"

"What stories?? I want to hear!~" Jackson and Mark walked into Auntie's cafe, walking straight to their regular booth. "Are you sure want to hear them?" Mark took a seat across from Jackson, nodding his head as he did so.

"Okay, but don't say I didn't warn you!" tapping his chin, Jackson thought of which story he should start with. "Okay, this one I heard from a few guys in my science class... it's about her first day when she started her freshmen year..." he chuckled to himself before speaking again. "Usually people want to make friends on their first day, but not Bae! she told everyone that tried to talk to her that she had a curse, and if they came near her they would get it too! most people believed her, I guess, but there were some that didn't and still tried talking to her... they were never heard from again..."

"What?!" Mark's eyes widened before Jackson burst into laughter. "I'm just messing with you! they said she never hurt them, she just fell to the ground every time they came near her." Mark threw a glare towards Jackson while he continued to laugh to himself. "Oh! I heard from some girl in one of my classes that Bae acted as a ghost in the first school festival they held, she said that Bae's acting was so good that grown men would come out of the haunted house crying! I'm not sure if it's true, but someone said she chased a couple that went in all the way out of the school gates!"

Mark's expressing turned into a soft smile as Jackson continued to rabble on. *She was so cute, even back then. why is it that everything she does to scare people away, makes me fall even more in love with her? have I gone that insane?* "Yah! are you even listening?!" Mark snapped out of his thoughts and quickly nodded his head, not wanting to make the drama queen upset. "I've heard enough of the stories for one day... let's go somewhere else." 

Jackson contorted his face in confusion. "Don't you want to hear everything about Bae? I thought you wanted to learn more about her." Mark gave a quick nod before smiling softly. "If she wants me to know these things about her, she'll tell me. besides, I don't care about how crazy the school thinks Bae is, because I already know she's crazy... and that's exactly why I love her so much." 

Jackson pointed down his throat with a gagging sound. "Ew! you're so in love that it's making me sick! let's hurry up and leave before I lose my breakfast." Jackson looked at the time on his phone before standing up. "I'm gonna tell the guys to meet up with us, I don't think I can handle you on my own." Mark rolled his eyes while stuffing his hands into his pockets. "'Handle me'? what is that suppose to mean?"

"You're too far gone! you've already crossed over the line of manliness and stepped into the unknown! that's what girls do, they lure guys into their land then leave them there to be devoured!" Mark snickered as he shook his head. "You've been reading too many mangas... what you just said made no sense." Mark stopped in his tracks after kicking a pebble. "Besides, the guys that say you're unmanly if you're in love are the guys that are lonely and jealous... you're not one of them, are you?"

"No! why would I be jealous?!" Jackson crossed his arms as he waited for an answer. "I don't know? because you want to fall in love too?" a loud scoff escaped Jackson's lips before he let out a fake laugh. "Please, the only time I fall in love is when I look at the mirror... and I intend to keep it that way!" with a shake of his head, Mark walked forward again. "That's sad, dude." Jackson let out another scoff as he quickly walked to catch up with the red haired boy. "'Sad'? sad my ! that's called self pride, something you wouldn't know!!!"

"Yeah, yeah~ sure." Mark waved a hand, dismissing Jackson's insults. "Yah! don't ignore me!"

=======================

"The mall?... seriously?" Mark looked around with a blank expression, cringing every now and then at the large crowds of people. "Yeah! where better to go on a weekend than the mall?" Jackson looked around as well, eyeing a few cute girls as he did so. "I can think of at least 10 better places to go than here!"

Jackson wrapped an arm around Mark's shoulder as he lead him to a shop. "Well you don't have a choice, so you might as well enjoy yourself~" Jackson waved his arm back and forth after seeing a group of familiar guys. "Yo~ my family!" Jr. pounded his fist with Jackson's, giving Mark the chance to escape from his grasp.

"Mark hyung!~" Bambam and Yugyeom ran towards him, pulling the red haired boy into a hug. "Hey." Mark lightly greeted, knowing that he lost his only chance to escape from this horrible place (aka: the mall)

Seeing the expression on his face, Bambam and Yugyeom exchanged a knowing look."Don't be too sad, hyung, she'll be back tomorrow!" Mark whipped his head in Jackson's direction, sending a deathly glare to the younger male. "Just how many people did you tell that too??"

Jackson shrugged with a playful smirk stretched across his lips. "I've only told the guys, and they already know you're hopelessly in love... so no need to be embarrassed~" Mark's expression turned into one of confusion. "What are you talking about? why would I be embarrassed?" Jackson gave a pat on his back as he sent a wink. "Exactly." Mark stared at Jackson with a blank expression, letting him know that he was an idiot.

"Okay, let's go~" Jackson led the guys into one of the restaurants, taking a seat at the largest booth.. "Why'd you pick an Italian restaurant?" Youngjae asked, taking a seat next to JB. "Because I was in the mood for Italian food... why else?" Jackson mumbled, sounding as if it