"I don't believe you can sit with us so soon, Mark."

"Just let me." I rolled a piece of broccoli onto his tray, hoping he'd take it as a subtle apology. "I don't want to sit with her right now."

Jinyoung stared at me incredulously, his eyes widened and his lips parted slightly. "Did... something happen between you two?"

My eyes flitted to my left, to my right, and seeing how both Jackson and Jaebum were grabbing desserts for the empty table, I sighed and reluctantly nodded.

"Look, I might still be mad at you for... Well, you know." The boy scratched his head, his expression bemused. "But I'm still your friend at the end of the day; and I'm still your brother too. So, don't hesitate to confide in me."

He popped the piece of broccoli I gave him into his mouth with a small smile.

"Alright? Hyung."

I chuckled and just like that, I believe we've put our differences aside and made up.

"So you're saying that Suzy's your dance goddess...?" Jackson gaped, and I could see my very own expression reflected on his face when I first saw the lioness as my goddess.

"S-Suzy!?"

"M-Mark?!"

"W-What are you doing here...?" The bag of onions slipped from my fingers as the ominous sound of cracked onions resounded in the lapsed silence of the canal. "I-I don't understand..."

"M-Mark, y-you have to believe m–"

"Believe what? That all along you were the dance goddess that I've been telling you about, and not once did you want to confess to me about your identity?"

"It's not like tha–"

"Or did you perhaps find it fun to see me prancing around in my happy bubble only to have it popped when now I realise that my beloved dance goddess was you all along?"

Her apologetic expression changed to that of pain and hurt when she heard my words.

"So you're saying that you're disappointed that your dance goddess is me, the ugly Suzy? The girl with bushy hair and hideous spectacles instead of the girl with sleek hair and perfect eyesight? Are you implying that, Mark-sshi?"

A pang of pain struck my chest as she attached honorifics to my name, after having heard her only call my name for the past month.

But I shoved the hurt away, tightened my jaw and clouded my eyes.

"Yes."

A single tear escaped her eye and I willed my tingling fingers to not reach up to her face and brush it away.

She inhaled deeply, and she bent down to retrieve her belongings, amongst it a familiar can of hairspray.

When she emerged, her face was steeled, her eyes were hard and devoid of emotion, and her expression was positively blank.

"Fine, so be it." The coldness in her tone shocked me, for I never knew she could be capable of such sharpness and iciness. "Then I suppose this is it."

Heaving the bag onto her shoulder, she brushed past me and a barely audible sniffle escaped her lips. I kept my fists clenched, and mentally reminded myself to not grab onto her, to stop her from stepping out of my life.

"I thought I knew you."

A pained whisper travelled to my ear and tears that had been scorching the back of my eyes spilled down my cheeks. I bit my lower lip, not wanting any cries of anguish to be heard.

"I thought we could truly be friends."

"Wow, that's just..." Jaebum in his cheeks, hands patting my back absentmindedly. "Mortifying."

I didn't reply him, for I was trying hard to not let my eyes stray to her. She was sitting at her desk, amidst curious gazes from our classmates as to why she wasn't with me as we've been for the past few weeks.

"Mark-hyung? Control your eyes please." Darkness soon flooded my sight and I knew Jinyoung had placed his hands over them, wishing for me to stop staring at her. "Two holes are going to appear at the back of her head."

"Psh." I tilted my head forward and rested my forehead on the table while the boy removed his hands with a disapproving cluck of his tongue. "Why do you care what happens to her?"

"Hyung..."

I shut up, closing my eyes and planning to use the free period to nap since I have nothing better to do anyway.

"He really hates her, doesn't he?" Jackson whispered, and I mentally rolled my eyes at his naivity; hello, I'm still here and listening to your every word.

"I don't think he does." Jinyoung replied, his tone warm and certain, and I could feel his gaze on the top of my head. "He's just shocked, that's all."

"Anyone would be if they find out the girl of their dreams turns out to be an ugly duckling." Jaebum scoffed, a chair screeching and I knew he had just plopped himself onto it. I could only visualise numerous glares from around the classroom due to the noise and the boy grinning apologetically. "I would."

Someone sighed.

"But do you think that Mark-hyung would still want to be friends with her? After all, they've been together for weeks after something happened between you both." Jackson mused. "And talking about that, I still don't know what happ–"

"You ask about it one more time and I swear I'll disown you as a friend."

"My lips are sealed."