B1A4 - Only Learned Bad Things

Mark was at the usual basketball court where all of his friends would meet up from time to time. After their second match the boys were lying flat on the grey cement their arms and legs spread apart. Their chests were heaving up and down trying to catch their breath after an intense match.

Mark`s throat felt dry which was why he decided to grab his water bottle which was inside his backpack that was on the bleacher a few steps away. He debated with himself if he had the strength to walk those few steps and finally got up on his feet.

He grabbed his water bottle after digging through his bag and gulped down the content being too greedy to ask the rest of the guys. “Oi!” Mark noticed the youngest among them also known as Yugyeom wave with his arm as if telling him to share. Mark simply wiped away the traces of water from his mouth with his sleeve ignoring the younger one.

Yugyeom rolled his eyes and jumped up from his spot heading over to his place. Suddenly the sound of Mark`s phone ringing interrupted what Yugyeom was about to say. Mark quickly fumbled with the zipper on his bag and pulled out his phone and picked up. “Hey!” He grinned from ear to ear seeing his girl`s name on the display.

“Hello. What are you doing?” Mark looked over at his defeated guys and laughed.

“Playing basketball”

“Oh. Uhm…I have booked a table for us at the restaurant nearby my college. Can you make it there 6pm sharp?” Mark blinked and then shrugged. He was sure the time was probably 5 at this time since he knew the boys and himself arrived at the court 4.

“Yeah, sure” He shrugged and Lian hung up right after hearing the positive reply. That was when Mark realized he only had 20 minutes to get himself ready. “” He cursed under his breath and swiftly packed his stuff. “Tell the guys something urgent came up” Yugyeom nodded his head seeing him passing him by like the wind and getting inside his car.

Mark was older than Lian by two years. While he was finished with all of the studying and had now begun working, Lian was in her first year in college. He lived with a roommate in the meantime just waiting for Lian to finish her studies so she could move out of her dorm and begin living with him. Jackson was Mark`s roommate and his best friend and they got along quite well, maybe too well sometimes.

Not having much time to spare Mark took a quick shower and changed to something comfortable yet presentable. He jumped back inside his car and made it to the restaurant Lian had been talking about earlier. The moment he stepped inside he noticed Lian light up when she set her eyes on him. Even though he was 5 minutes too late she didn`t seem mad about it.

He sat down across from her and saw how well dressed she was. Usually she was the laid back person wearing a pair of jeans and a white tee on top, but today she had put a lot of effort on her looks. Mark wondered why, but didn`t think so much about it and decided to take in the view instead. She was looking stunning as ever and he was happy she was all his.

“Remember this place?” She asked playfully peaking from behind the menu they had gotten earlier. Mark wrinkled his nose and took in the surroundings looking back at her.

“Ah yeah” He finally remembered a huge smile placing his lips. “This was where we had our first date” He mentioned and Lian`s cheeks couldn`t help but turn red while she nodded her head. “I remember how nervous I was back then. I wanted to do my best so you wouldn`t turn me down” He chuckled reminiscing. “When I think back now I sound like a total dork” He shook his head but Lian thought otherwise.

“If you hadn`t tried your best we wouldn`t be sitting here today, would we?” Amusement was visible in her voice and Mark nodded his head agreeing with her words.

Soon the food was ordered and they were eating quietly talking about old times and how they had made it this far. They continued talking about what Mark had been doing today, and how Lian`s studying was doing. When they were done eating they headed outside with their hands intertwined seeing how the sky was soon turning darker and how the clouds were huddling up.

Mark nibbled on his bottom lip watching over the content Lian from the corner of his eyes finally having the courage to ask her the question he had wanted for so long. “You`re…not mad, right?” She snapped her head towards him. When she thought about it she had been acting too immature, she had no good enough reason to get mad at him from the beginning. With a smile stretched on her lips she shook her head and Mark sighed out in relief.

“It wasn`t your fault, I was unreasonable” She mentioned shyly and Mark only squeezed her hand in return telling her ‘it was okay’. Mark had actually stood her up on their previous date. It wasn`t his fault though, he had to since his boss called in the last minute telling him one of his colleagues couldn`t make it to work. So Mark had to take over for her shift which Lian did not like. They hadn`t spoken for 3 days and now finally Lian had decided to talk to him again.

While walking on the pavement hand in hand a girl was walking on the opposite direction heading their way. When she looked up meeting eyes with Mark she stopped in her tracks and he did the same. Lian copied their movements only she was confused. It seemed like Mark knew this girl but she was nowhere familiar to Lian.

“Mark?”

“Ming?” He questioned back and they both smiled seeing how they recognized each other. There on the side was Lian who was confused as ever.

“Oh my god. How have you been?” Ming exclaimed while clapping her hands. Mark`s free hand rubbed his neck while he nodded his head.

“Good, good. You?” He questioned back and she grinned.

“Good too” Her eyes slowly steered over to Lian and her smile remained on her lips.

“Oh this, this is my girlfriend, Lian” He introduced the two and they shook their hands. Lian didn`t mind Mark having girlfriends, it was fine. She had guy friends herself and he didn`t mind either. It was all because they trusted each other way too much.

“So have you been able to travel around the world? Your studies are probably over by now, right?” He peeked at Ming and she giddied while nodding her head only to have a pout creeping up her lips.

“My studies are over but I haven`t been able to travel around the world yet” She huffed her head ducking. “Only because I don`t have the money too. So I am working fulltime trying to save money so I can spend as much as I want during the travel” She winked and he chuckled while shaking his head.

“Oh” Her eyes suddenly rounded with her hand plastering against her lips. “I can see your both dressed. You’re probably celebrating your anniversary or something. I won`t interrupt and let you do your thing” She quickly waved with her hands and Lian smiled thinking this girl was quite considerate.

“Oh no” Mark shook his head and chuckled. “It`s not our anniversary. We`re just on a date” He explained and Lian`s head rotated slowly over to Mark. She couldn`t believe he had forgotten what day it was today. Did he think she had just planned a regular date? “Our anniversary is September 22” Lian snickered quietly he really was ignorant.

Ming`s eyes rounded and soon she burst out laughing. The slightly hurt Lian turned now confused seeing Ming`s reaction and so did Mark. She quickly found her composure and waved with her hand wanting to apologize for her outburst. “Really? September 22?” She questioned with her now high-pitched voice.

“Yeah, why?” Mark asked back with his head slightly tilted to the side.

“Uhm…” She cleared . “That used to be…our anniversary date…remember?” She pointed out with a small twitch with her brows and Lian`s jaw dropped. She couldn`t believe it. Ming was his ex-girlfriend and he remembered his anniversary date with his ex and not his current girlfriend?

Lian`s blood boiled and her face turned red from fury. She yanked her hand out of Mark`s hold and stomped the small way to the bus stop ahead leaving Mark stunned. Ming knew mentioning about their anniversary date would probably make her mad. But she couldn`t help it thinking they had the same anniversary date. “I am sorry I-“

“It`s okay. It was nice meeting you though” He blabbered on running off so he could pursue Lian. What made the situation even worse was the rain that suddenly began pouring.

He ran down the pavement and grabbed onto Lian`s elbow making her spin around. He noticed how her cheeks were wet from her tears mixing with the cold rain drops provided from the sky. “Hey babe-“

“Let go, Mark” She spoke calmly and he furrowed his brows.

“Look. I should have told you about-“

“I said let go” She repeated herself and he sighed thinking it was wrong of him to not tell Lian that Ming was his ex-girlfriend.

“Babe, seriously I-“

“You don`t remember do you?” Lian carefully voiced out with her now crisp voice and his brow twitched. Her eyes met him searching for answers from his eyes but there were no answers to find. He noticed her mascara running down her cheeks and how her clothes were now drenched. She knew now that he was clueless, he had no idea today was their third anniversary.

“Our anniversary is August 27…” The bus stopped right beside the bus stop that was only two steps away. “Not September 22” She mentioned pushing his hand away and turning to get inside the car with her now wet clothes.

Mark was too dumbfounded to utter a word and watched his girlfriend getting f