“Hey! Hey, Haneul! Wait up! I’ll walk you home!”

Mark jogged his way to me as I walked ahead of him.

“Oh really now? I thought you have something with the boys?” I looked back and reminded him. He did say that he has a dance practice with his 6 buddies.

“Screw them.” He said as he walked beside me. I shook my head and chuckled.

This scenario is normal. Him walking me home. It was reassuring for me that I was safe. That I have a somewhat older brother that would protect me if something went wrong. It was comfortable.

Not until I realized that there was something more to this. At least on my side. These days, whenever he offered to walk me home, I feel fidgety. Giddy, maybe. My mind kept telling me that it was just because I’m glad that I have someone to fight for me if some bad soul went in the way of me going home.

Don’t get me wrong, I still am glad. But in this case, it’s a different kind of happiness. This time, I was happy because he’s willing to spend even more time with me even though we already spend a lot of time together inside the campus. I really do want to spend more time with him. And this gesture makes me feel like he does too. But I just hope we’re in the same page of understanding the situation, if you know what I mean.

“Let’s grab some ice cream.” He suggested.

“Uh… maybe next time, Tuan. I have a lot to do.” Like saving my soul from this guy that makes my heart race whenever he looks at me.

“Please….” He started tugging my shirt sleeve and looked at me with those puppy eyes.

“No. No please. Do not start with your--”

He pouted.

“Ugh… I hate you so much, you know that?” I sighed and rolled my eyes in defeat.

“Wooh! You know you love me.” He winked. GOD YES I KNOW THAT’S WHY I DON’T WANT TO EAT THE ING ICE CREAM WITH YOU!

I scoffed. “Let’s just get this over with.”

We arrived at an ice cream store about a few blocks away from school. The ambiance of this store always makes me feel like a kid again. Unless I’m visiting it with a guy I like, which makes me feel a bit tense. Like right now.

“Get