Fidgeting in her seat, Baeri threw her friend one of her infamous death glares but the elder just acted as if nothing was wrong and took a sip of her chocolate macchiato. “So what’s up with the earring,” Sora laughed and tapped the black crescent that hung from Mark’s ear. “Is that a tooth?” she asked with widened eyes and leaned closer to see it better. At this, Mark stiffened, feeling a little uncomfortable at the lack of space between them but remained seated. “Yeah,” he then answered simply.

 

Sora hummed with pursed lips and startled Mark once again when she leaned over his lap to see his other ear. “Where’s the other one?” she asked innocently, a few inches between them when they met eyes. Jaehwa, a friend of Mark, laughed at this question. “This guy is pretty romantic,” he pointed his thumb at the brown-haired, to the latter’s dismay, "he put the other one away because he wants to give it to his future girlfriend so it’ll basically turn into a couple item.”

 

Sora had already moved back into her seat, allowing Mark to properly breathe again when he got his personal space back, and gasped with a grin on her lips. “That’s so cute!” she genuinely exclaimed and patted his shoulder, making Mark’s face redden at the explanation. “I’d totally wear such an item,” she smiled and rest her chin into her palm when she propped her elbow onto the wooden table and dreamily stared into space.

 

“Are you offering?” Jaehwa grinned playfully, making Mark’s other friend roll his eyes exasperated. Sora, on the other hand, found the comment amusing and leaned in with a just as playful of a grin. “Are you objecting?”

 

“Not at all,” Jaehwa answered casually but there was definitely a flirting vibe in the air - Baeri felt this but really tried not to pay any attention to it. Sora let out an airy chuckle and turned to her friend who had been silently observing and judging the elder. “Baeri, you’ve been awfully quiet,” Yoochun commented before Sora could speak up, catching the girl’s attention but she just shook her head to dismiss it. “Oh, I was just thinking.”

 

“About?”

 

“Food probably,” Sora laughed and began digging through her bag for something edible. What Baeri didn’t tell, however, was the fact that she wasn’t really thinking; rather, the artist had been trying to figure out what her friend was up to because normally when strangers were involved, Sora was more held back and observant - much like Baeri had been just now. And yet here she was, casually speaking and even flirting like she had known them all for ages.

 

Baeri sneered at the thought of her friend being able to set aside her nerves and dive straight into easy conversations while the artist was way too awkward to utter a single interesting fact. “How’d you know?” she tried keeping up her facade by responding with the most logical answer in this case. “I know you better than you thi~nk,” Sora sang and lightly bumped her shoulder against the smaller’s. Just when Mark wanted to speak up, Yoochun stretched, letting out a loud grumble of satisfaction before standing up. “Before we met you two, we were planning on going to the skating rink. Care to join us?” he then asked Baeri and Sora.

 

Baeri met eyes with Mark for a moment, an unreadable glint in his eyes, but before she could speak up, Sora interrupted. “I love skating so definitely yes!” she smiled widely and hooked her arm through Mark’s, glancing at him before looking at Baeri - ignoring the slightly shocked expression on her face, “Right, Bae?”

 

Slowly, the latter nodded while desperately trying to avoid Mark’s eyes and stood up, joining Yoochun. “Sure.”

 

“Great!” Sora exclaimed, her smile never fading, and pulled an uncomfortable Mark with her as she got up. Baeri had already walked out of the cafe together with Yoochun and stood near the entrance to wait for their friends. Baeri hadn’t noticed but the gray clouds that had shed millions of snowflakes earlier in the day, were overshadowed by the darkness that went paired with the night. It was a little colder too so the girl buried her face deeper into her thick scarf to keep herself warm.

 

“The rink isn’t that far from here,” Yoochun spoke up when Baeri looked around, scanning their surroundings, “so we’ll be there in a few minutes if these slowpokes could hurry up,” he added and stomped his feet on the icy ground to warm himself a little. Baeri couldn’t help but smile at the comment because she had noticed he was much like herself; caring yet sometimes a bit douchey because of frustrations that she felt because of her friends.

 

Finally after what seemed ages, Jaehwa appeared in the door opening while laughing heartily with Sora as she still had her arm hooked through Mark’s; it was still clear on the boy’s face that he was uncomfortable in this position.

 

“About time!” Yoochun complained as he frowned and began walking away from the group, somewhat motioning with his head for them to follow him. Sora let go of Mark - to the latter's relief - and hopped over to Baeri, wrapped an arm around her narrow shoulders and smiled widely. “You were right about Mark,” she said, “he’s very cute.”

 

Baeri didn’t look up but Sora still caught the frown on her face. “I never said that.”

 

The elder girl thought for a moment and realized that she indeed had never stated this, but nodded anyway. “Well, he is.”

 

Still feeling a little uneasy, Baeri let the conversation slide away and instead, focused on where she was walking so she wouldn’t slip and take Sora down with her. Yoochun hadn’t been lying earlier when he told her that the rink wasn’t that far away from the cafe. Soon, the group was surrounded by festive lights and bright faces that emitted nothing but pure happiness. Baeri’s mouth fell when she caught sight of the large skating rink, crispy white ice running from the center to the edge.

 

“Whoa,” Baeri let out an elated sound of admiration but it soon got drowned out by a shrill call from her friend. Sora passed her with Jaehwa and Mark on either side of her as she still had her arms linked with theirs, fastly approaching the skating rink with a wide smile playing her lips. Something shifted in Baeri at the sight of her friend like this and for some reason made her feel anxious. So she pulled her eyes away from the view and followed after Yoochun to a stand that rented out skates.

 

“She’s so enthusiastic,” the artist heard Yoochun mutter, and couldn’t help but laugh at the somewhat burdened tone his words carried. “Ball of energy, that one,” she responded casually and subconsciously searched for the girl through the crowd. Yoochun chuckled, albeit not entirely sure if he was happy with that or not, and checked the rows of skates that were placed behind the vendor. “What size are you?”

 

“I don’t really skate,” came Baeri’s immediate response, leaving Yoochun to frown as he laughed. “Then why did you agree with the skating plan?” he asked before asking for a pair of size 11 skates from the vendor. Baeri shrugged. “Who am I to oppose of something like that when I know I’m the only one who doesn’t skate,” she spoke up and walked towards the edge of the rink, leaning on the railing and watching Sora put on her skates together with Jaehwa and Mark.  

 

Yoochun shook his head with a small smile before he thanked the vendor and moved to sit on a bench to put on his skates, “Still could’ve said so.”

 

“It’s fine - I’m more of an observer rather than a do-er anyway,” Baeri smiled.

 

“Suit yourself,” Yoochun then said and stood up, patted her on the shoulder once before passing her to the entrance, “call if something is up, alright?”

 

Baeri was momentarily surprised by his strangely nice behavior but nodded anyway, “Have fun.”

 

Soon, the four youngsters - minus Baeri - found themselves on the crowded ice. Sora clung onto Mark and Jaehwa as she was trying not to fall. It amused Baeri because the girl had been so enthusiastic about going skating and seeing her struggle to stay on her feet, Sora looked like the reincarnation of Bambi herself. And once again, Baeri could make out that Yoochun was complaining by the wild movements of his hands and own struggling to stay upright. Baeri chuckled to herself but still she felt a stir in her stomach when she spotted her friend together with Mark. So she pursed her lips and continued to watch as they goofed off.

 

Mark, on the other hand, was still a little awkward and shaky on his skates. Never had he gone skating before, and with obvious reason because it always seemed very dangerous to him. Wincing as the muscles in his body continued to awkwardly contract with every sudden movement, he managed to get to the side of the rink and held onto the railing. There he stretched a little, calming his muscles to stop the random contractions. Sora spotted the boy at the side and slid over to him. “What’s up?” she asked chirpily and leaned over the railing. Mark jumped at the sudden voice next to him but managed to keep himself upright.

 

“It’s tiring,” he then answered with quite an uncomfortable grin. The girl laughed and bumped her shoulder against his. “We’ve barely been here for five minutes; man up!” she winked and skid off again, joining Jaehwa again. Mark sighed as he tightened his fingers over the metal railing, when another voice startled the boy. “You okay?” Yoochun asked when he stopped next to him.

 

Mark steadied himself again, glaring at his friend because he had almost fallen. “I don’t really skate,” Mark then sighed and met eyes with Yoochun for a moment. The latter studied Mark for a moment, pressing his lips together as he narrowed his eyes. “She said the same thing,” he then muttered to himself, confusing Mark.

 

“What?”

 

“Nothing. If you don’t feel like skating, you can go keep Baeri company,” Yoochun answered as he also leaned against the railing. It was then that Mark noticed that he had completely forgotten about the girl. Instinctively, his eyes began scanning the crowd but he couldn’t spot the short female because of the denseness. Yoochun chuckled at the sad sight of his friend desperately trying to find his schoolmate, and pointed at the other side of the rink. “She’s sitting near the other entrance.”

 

Mark nodded thankfully and began moving to the closest exit that would lead him to solid ground. “Thanks Chunnie!”

 

His legs were still a little shaky when he stood on solid ground again. When he found the bench where the three of them had left their shoes, Mark slid the plastic covers over the knives under his skates, untied them and slipped into his shoes again. Making sure he had all of his belongings, he then sauntered through the crowd to find Baeri. He mentally smacked himself because he had forgotten about her, and would completely understand if the girl was angry with him for ditching her. But in his defense, he couldn’t really escape from Sora’s side since she had stuck to him like a second skin.

 

A petite girl sitting a bench near the railing of the rink pulled Mark out of his mentally abuse. Baeri had pressed her arms along her body, her hands covered under her thighs as she lightly swung her legs under the bench. Her shoulder-length hair was covered by her infamous black beanie; this made Mark ruffle his own - now shorter and darker shade of brown - hair because he hadn’t worn his trademark blue beanie.

 

Baeri had her lips pursed before she let out a sigh and bobbed her head to the music that was playing around the rink. As she still was distracted, Mark began approaching her with his hands stuffed into the pouch of his hoodie before he sat down next to her. Baeri jumped at the sudden presence next to her, but when she turned to the source, she met with an amused Mark. “Bad conscience?”

 

The artist mocked him, not amused by his jokes but Mark didn’t take it to heart and instead playfully bumped shoulders with her as a silent apology. “Is something wrong?”

 

“No, why?”

 

“You weren’t thinking about food back then,” the brown-haired boy smiled at Baeri as he referred back to their visit at the cafe earlier. Baeri was left confused for a moment before she understood what the boy meant and instantly felt caught. “What do you mean! Thinking about food is my hourly thing, okay!”

 

Mark laughed at this but his smile soon morphed into a painful wince. He carefully placed his hand on his side and rubbed his waist through his hoodie. “Is it your waist?” Baeri asked worried when she saw his actions. The boy only showed her a small smile but this was enough of a confirmation for Baeri. Before she could ask him anything else, however, Mark already beat her to it. “Why didn’t you join us?” he asked after the pain had subsided for as much as it normally did, and breathing didn’t hurt as much. Baeri chose to let it be for now and moved her hands from under her thighs. “I lack proper balance for ice skating,” she answered before laughing to herself, “falling every five seconds is no fun.”

 

Mark narrowed his eyes at her response, knowing she was talking about her head injury but he also didn’t want to ruin the mood so chose to throw in a joke. “Isn’t that just because you don’t know how to skate?” he grinned and when Baeri took the bait and gaped at him, he held up his hands as to surrender. “Kidding~”

 

Again, Baeri sneered at the boy with an obvious pout displayed on her lips but she was still thankful that he didn’t pry into the matter any more.

 

Their friends continued skating for another ten minutes, leaving Mark and Baeri to fall into random conversations about nothing in particular with comfortable silences. It was then that Baeri realized that she had missed talking to him like this; even since Sora had been around, he was either with her or his other two friends. And of course Baeri knew that she couldn’t keep him to herself - not that she particularly wanted that - but she hadn’t expected to be the odd one out in their group. So now she could comfortably speak to him, she felt a lot lighter than she had been earlier and a small smile never left her lips.

 

When the two students had fallen into a silence again, Yoochun joined them, already spouting complaints about how Sora and Jaehwa were constantly flirting. “I feel like a goddamn third wheel there,” he continued complaining and eyed Baeri and Mark for a moment. “Well, here’s not much different but at least you two are not openly flirting and making googly eyes at each other.”

 

At this, Baeri’s mouth fell while Mark just avoided any eye contact with a subtle blush playing his cheeks. Right at that moment, Sora and Jaehwa came into sight. “Where’d you go!” the male of the two whined when he spotted Yoochun. The latter pulled a face and crossed his arms. “Away from the disgusting hearts that began to crowd around you two!” he instantly countered and flicked his friend’s forehead. “At least warn me before you become a sleazy Casanova.”

 

Immediately, the two boys began bickering, not taking any notice of the other three people in their group. Sora couldn’t help but laugh at their behavior but when she spotted Baeri who had stood up from the bench together with Mark, she darted through the crowd to the two. “Hey Bae, I’m going to catch something to eat with Jaehwa,” she smiled at the girl and eyed Mark for a moment, “do you mind going home with Mark and Yoochun?”

 

“Sora!”

 

“I know but we really hit it off and I want to get to know him better~,” the tall girl whined and wiggled the smaller’s shoulders in her act. Baeri sighed annoyed but knew she couldn’t say no to her friend and just waved her off, “Whatever, I’ll survive on my own.”

 

“Thank you!” Sora exclaimed and hugged her momentarily before bowing at Mark, “Please take good care of Kim Baeri from now on,” she winked at the boy, her words hiding an underlying meaning, and dashed away before either of the two could say anything. “Where did Sora go?” Yoochun asked with a frown when he had joined Mark and Baeri again after his ‘special meeting’ with Jaehwa. But the two students didn’t really bid him any attention as they watched the two figures get smaller until they couldn’t see them anymore, mixed in the crowd.

 

“Going to eat somewhere with Jaehwa,” Mark then said and stuffed his hands into his pouch. Yoochun’s mouth fell at this. “Without us?!”

 

Agan, Mark just hummed in response and watched how his friend washed a hand over his face and sighed. “Screw this day, I’m going home.”

 

“Why!”

 

“Because I will obviously be the third wheel yet again if I stay with you!”

 

“You won’t-”

 

“Leave it. I’ll talk to you later,” Yoochun sighed and left the two with an annoyed scowl on his face. Seeing his friend walk away sulking, Mark couldn’t help but laugh, surprising Baeri. “How is this situation funny?” she asked with a frown curling her eyebrows as she sideways looked up at the boy. “He’s always been like this, it’s fine,” he answered and shook his head, “still funny every time though.”

 

The frown that had settled on Baeri’s face didn’t leave as she remained silent for a second. “You’re weird.”

 

Again, Mark laughed at her comment and wrapped his arm around the girl before leading her through the crowd. It was still early in the evening and the crowd was still as filled as before so it took the two a while before they finally arrived at the main road. Both didn't say a thing, much like they had been like when they sat at the rink, but it was comfortable.

 

But at one moment, Baeri noticed that they were still walking and into a direction she wasn't familiar with at that. “Where are we going?” she asked Mark who had been silently sauntering next to her. The boy glanced at her, then around before gently pulling her across the street to the other side. “My house is pretty close” he then explained casually, “if we hurry, we can still be in time for dinner?”

 

At the sudden invitation, a frown of uncertainty appeared on Baeri’s face. “Won’t I be invading?”

 

“Of course not!” Mark instantly waved away any of Baeri’s doubts and wrapped an arm around her, pulling her with him. “You’re my friend, I’m sure everyone will love to meet you.”

 

 

No sound came from Baeri’s lips when Mark suddenly stopped walking and began searching for something in his pockets while standing in front of the door of a modern house. It was built in a contemporary style with large windows that would let in a great amount of light in the daytime; the house exuded nothing but wealth with its high panels and multiple balconies that were lit up, the double car lot doors on the right of the front door and the swirly letters that formed the words ‘Tuan Residence’.

 

“You coming?” Mark smiled at Baeri, snapping the girl out of her thoughts of admiration. He had opened the front door and stood in the opening with a lazy grin, his head playfully slanted as he waited for Baeri to come back to life. The artist still didn’t speak, just mindlessly nodded as she was still admiring her surroundings; this was fueled when she entered Mark’s home. A lit-up flight of stairs ran up to another door and after they had climbed it, Baeri thought she had entered another dimension. The interior was exquisite – black, white and gray were the base colors and complimented everything perfectly and they were just in the hallway!

 

Still gaping, Baeri ped her jacket and slid off her beanie, toeing off her shoes as she was still admiring the shiny marble floor, black wooden wardrobe and the beautiful stairs that ran up to the first floor. “Nice house,” she let out in admiration and handed her things to Mark. He grinned in amusement as he took her clothes and hung them in the closet next to him.

 

“Wow, really took your sweet time today, huh.”

 

At the sudden voice, Baeri looked at the entrance that led to the living room. Her eyes widened when she recognized the figure in the opening. “You!”

 

Joey mirrored her surprise at the sight of the petite girl that stood next to his brother. “Baeri!” he exclaimed happily and ran to her before gathering her into a bear hug, subtly pulling her with him away from Mark. “Don’t stand near him; he might tackle you to the ground when you least expect it.”

 

Eyes still confused, Baeri glanced at Mark while Joey still held her in a protective manner. “Is Mark your brother?” she asked quite the obvious but could you blame her for being confused by this sudden development?

 

Joey loosened his grip on her and nodded with a playful sigh. “Unfortunately.”

 

Mark had been silent all the while, observing and trying to understand what just had happened but when he heard his brother’s answer, he found his voice again. “I’m right here!” he exclaimed exasperated when they spoke as if he was invisible. Yet Joey ignored his brother and held Baeri on arm’s length, patting her head which made the girl laugh. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you.”

 

“Aren’t you a bit too clingy to someone you just met?” Mark asked as he approached the two after he had kicked off his shoes.

 

“We haven’t just met,” Joey instantly clarified and wrapped an arm around Baeri, who just watched the two brothers interact. To both Mark’s and Baeri’s surprise, the younger boy didn’t elaborate on the issue and instead, pulled the woman with him into the living room. Still distraught, Mark followed after the two, the scent of his mother’s cooking instantly entering his nose and hugging his stomach. But to his dismay, Joey had already pulled Baeri with him to meet their mother and introduced her.

 

“Oh Baeri, it’s very nice to meet you,” the woman smiled as she shook the girl’s hand. “My boy hasn’t stopped talking about you from the moment he had taken the groceries out,” she continued and her youngest son’s head, leaving him to whine for her to stop embarrassing him. Instantly, this reminded her of the switch of their groceries but just when she wanted to apologize, Mark stepped in.

 

“Yeah, how do you two know each other anyway?” Mark asked with a frown as he wiggled himself between Baeri and his brother. The girl smiled inwardly at his behavior but knew she had to explain herself. “I was grocery shopping earlier today and met Joey at the store but after we parted, we accidentally swapped our bags,” she embarrassedly played with the hem of her shirt as she continued explaining, “we didn’t have each other’s contact information so I couldn’t call or text him. I’m really sorry for the inconvenience, Mrs. Tuan,” she then apologized and bowed at Mark’s and Joey’s mother.

 

Letting out an amused laugh, the woman shook her head. “Oh it’s ok, Baeri. Don’t worry about it,” she smiled at the girl but somehow this didn’t exactly calm the girl because the groceries that she had put away were of more expense than hers. “No, I will make sure to bring your things next time!” Baeri instantly countered but again their mother just waved it away. “It really is ok; I wanted to make pasta tonight anyway,” she finally smiled and began leading them to the kitchen. “Mark dear, can you set the table and call your father while I finish up here?” she then requested before ushering Baeri to the dining table. “Joey, keep our guest company.”

 

At this, the youngest smiled and nodded happily before taking a seat next to the girl. Mark gaped at the turn of events and met eyes with Baeri for a moment; she sent him an encouraging smile that was supposed to tell him that it was fine. This still did not sit right with the boy so he followed his mother into the kitchen to complain. “But mom-”

 

“No buts,” Mrs. Tuan interrupted him and sent him a wink, “you’ll have enough time to woo her later.”

 

Mark’s mouth opened and closed as if he were a fish at this statement but Mrs. Tuan just laughed and patted her eldest son’s reddening cheek with a satisfied grin.

 

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