"Hey Mark. Can I ask you something?" I leaned my back on the sink, facing him while he was in the middle of drinking his orange juice. After clearing his throat, he put the glass down and gave me a knowing look.

"What?"

"Uhmmm... why..." I stuttered in my attempt to find the right words with every ounce of courage that I could muster. "Why..."

He leaned back on his chair and looked up at me, waiting patiently. "Uhmmm... you see... Wonju is a two-hour drive away from Seoul..." I started. I observed his facial expression very carefully before I continued with my series of curious interrogations. And that was when I noticed a ghost of a smile twitching on the corners of his fine lips. "You're going to ask me why I'm here today? Why I came all the way here the other night after you gave me that call? Why it suddenly feels different between us now?" His eyes lit up and he grinned at me mischievously.

My mouth was left agape for a good few seconds while my eyes blinked in lengthy intervals. He has totally rendered me speechless.

"Uhmmm... uh... yeah... Wait, the pancakes..." I turned around awkwardly and immediately dressed the pancakes with syrup and butter before placing it on the table. For obvious reasons, I was again flustered and heated by his steady gaze.

I sat on the table opposite him and tried to continue with our conversation. "Uhmmm... I'm just curious." I reasoned.

He reached for a pancake and placed it on his own plate before he looked at me again. "Well..." He folded his arms across his chest. "I'll answer all your questions once you can already remember everything you told me the other night." He continued to give me his mischievous look.

"What?"

Who would've thought Mark freakin' Tuan would come up with something like this? That's like admitting myself guilty of being head-over-heels, heart-in-my-mouth, madly in love with him. I was even cursing him at that time. I know. There's nothing wrong about liking him. That's like 101% normal. Any Mark-biased fan would definitely end up at this level of craziness too if they become a little too close with this idol. But the embarrassing thing is, he knows I got myself drunk because of him! It's like a big slap on the dignity of women all over the world. Or I'm just over-reacting. Again.

"Do you remember now?"

"Uh... I guess..." I slowly replied.

"Really?"

"I called you Mark freakin' Tuan." He laughed.

"And then?"

"And then... I called you nitwit." He laughed again.

"You're the only fan who called me 'freak' and 'nitwit' in one setting."

Fan? Still just a fan then.

"I was drunk. And I was thinking that I was just imagining things. I didn't know that it was really you who gave me that piggy-back ride." I felt my cheeks suddenly turning red at the memory.

His lips curved into another smile. "What else do you remember?"

"I told you I've been fangirling over you since your debut." That was a safe line to say, Mia. Good.

"And you called me crazy." He added. And yet again, he laughed. He obviously finds this whole 'tell-me-what-you-remember' thingy extremely interesting.

"What else?" He continued to ask.

"I... I told you I kind of like you..." I said. I felt my subconscious tapping my back to congratulate me for choosing another safe phrase. "...Which is normal since I'm a fan..." I continued.

"Normal." He repeated the word while nodding his head. "What else?" He asked and finished the last piece of pancake.

"Uh... Those are the only things that I could remember... for now." I timidly said.

He let out a boyish smile. "That's too bad. You're not getting any answer from me then."

"That's not fair. You should answer at least one of my questions!" I scowled at him.

He had this sudden serious look on his face before he responded at me. "I came all the way here the other night because I was worried about you." He stated.

All the muscles in my belly instantly clenched as mad butterflies flooded my stomach. “W… worried? Why would you be… worried?” I threw the question ever so slowly.

He cocked his head to one side, grinning. “Have you recalled anything new from that night?”

Damn this guy. Why couldn’t he just answer my questions?

“Uh… uh… No… Later… Maybe…” I said. I then stood up and started picking the dirty dishes, placing them on the sink. “I have to go to the supermarket after this. Just stay here. It’s seriously not a good idea to be out in a public place alone with me.” I stated, my back facing him as I washed the dishes.

“It’s okay. I’m not that popular yet so you don’t have to worry.” He chuckled.

I turned around and faced him. “Ya! Any person who would look at you right now could instantly tell that you’re a celebrity. You don’t look like a normal guy on the street at all. You’re way too… good-looking.” I swallowed hard after mentioning the last word. His lips automatically arched into a trace of a smile and I turned around to break away from his gaze. After I finished washing the dishes and dried my hands, a crazy idea came into my mind.

“Hey Mark.” I said, suppressing a smile. He was in the middle of checking some stuff from the fridge.

“What?” He turned around to look at me.

“You really want to go to the supermarket with me?” I asked.

“Ey, just stop worrying about it.” He said.

“I’ll make you a great disguise.” I said, my mouth grinning from ear to ear.

---

We walked our way to the supermarket a few blocks away from our apartment without a single trace of a fangirl tailing behind us. Mark gave me a devilish glare as I continued to mockingly laugh at his awkward gestures.

“Whoa! You’re no joke. You’re even prettier than me!” I commented, awed by the unbelievably beautiful female version of Mark Tuan. With my annoying persistence, I managed to let him wear Nikki’s long, curly wig matched by a black fedora hat. He is still wearing his white shirt and denim polo but they were now paired with a pair of tight black pants.

“Ya. You’re having so much fun? Huh?” He shot me another annoyed look.

“Eyyyy… Don’t be too serious. This is actually working! Look!” I nudged at him while motioning at our surrounding. “Nobody knows that you’re Mark Tuan.” I whispered at his ear and giggled again. He let out a soft chuckle before lightly flicking my forehead.