//might contain typos

In less than 30 minutes, the last day of application for the exchange student program will finally reach its bittersweet ending. As expected, numerous students from all year levels and courses waited in line to pass their application forms. This event happens yearly, but out of a thousand applicants, only the 13 most qualified lads and lasses are off to go for an adventure of a lifetime at the end of the academic year. Well, who doesn’t want to study overseas for a couple of months?

And this whole application thingy kept Jinyoung’s heart beating on full speed for the entire day. If he only knew earlier that the schedule of submission was changed due to whatsoever reason, maybe his form was already tucked somewhere in those tall piles of paper on top of registrar’s table. Honestly, he could just run off and pass that damned sheet, but no, he can’t leave the class that he is currently in. “Stop tapping your pen against the desk. Its annoying!” Jackson, his seatmate whispered while scratching his nape, struggling to formulate the right statements for an essay.

Jinyoung seemed to keep his both ears closed for any distractions. He continued tapping the pen on the table and much worse, it got faster. “Dude!” His seatmate spoke in a normal volume voice yet the hint of extreme helplessness was there. “For s sake, please stop. I cannot keep my thoughts on this stupid exam anymore!” said the other as he held Jinyoung’s fingers to stop him from doing the tapping thing again.

“I need to go now, Wang.” Jinyoung said with full determination. “I need to pass my application form!” The room is well ventilated, along side with the chilly air coming from the large air conditioner near the window, but the balls of sweat rolling from his forehead made it clear that he’s in a huge distress. Jackson felt nothing but pity. Out of all the people in this room, he’s the one who’s fully knowledgeable about Jinyoung’s extreme desire for the offer. He knew that Jinyoung is willing to throw his good boy image in exchange of the plane ticket with an admission form stapled onto it. “But you need to finish the exam! This is our last key to pass!” Jackson explained with much concern.

“Looks like Mr. Wang and Mr. Park got some interesting stories to tell at the middle of the examination period.” The strict and insanely scary voice from their professor shook the entire area and broke its tranquillity in a speed of light. All eyes on the both of them now; this is bad. Mrs. Han is hated by many due to her out of this world policies and for being overly-strict that sometimes its no longer reasonable at all. She stood up, strongly slammed her palm against the wooden table and grinned. “Mind sharing it to the whole class?!” she added with a forced sweet tone and a disgusting expression that could make any student threw up in their exact places.

Jackson and Jinyoung froze for a while. But as expected, whenever Jinyoung is puzzled and absolutely far from his real self, nothing comes off from his mouth. So before this gets worse, Jackson tried to come up with something to sooth the burnt area. “We’re sorry, Mrs. Han! Jinyoung is not feeling well so he asked me if I got some extra meds.” For a while, Jinyoung was taken aback from what he just heard. Sometimes he keeps on wondering why Jackson chose Engineering but then a thought will hit him hard and accept the fact that there’s no course that majors in lying and storytelling, so this is where he landed. Jackson is undeniably smart, but sometimes his severe talkativeness either helps or ruins a situation that they’re into.

Mrs. Han walked towards their table and observed Jinyoung like an emotionless emoji. This woman rarely smiles and if she does, its leading to no good. She saw Jinyoung’s sweat build up despite of the cold atmosphere. There must be something wrong, she said to herself. “Are you okay, Mr. Park? Do you need to go to the clinic and get some medicine?” For the first time, this lady got concerned about her student. Special thanks to Jinyoung’s massive sweat for teaming up to make the whole scenario more convincing.  Jinyoung tried to think, and later realized an opportunity that come within the short freedom that he might receive.

Here’s the catch, if he nod along with this ‘not-feeling-well’ set-up created by his beloved friend, their professor would allow him to leave the room for a while to take some capsules at the infirmary. But since he’s all set to kill just to pass his precious application form, he could use this time to get in line and  personally file his registration for the exchange student program. And if he declare that he’s good, nothing feels wrong in any part of his body, Mrs. Han will never let him leave the room until the next thirty minutes. In addition, Jackson will surely get busted for telling a lie. Wondering why he’s being too logical about this? Simply because lying is not his forte. Not at all. Whenever he lies, he effortlessly gets caught right away. What a loser.

If he needs to weight which option applies best at the current moment, a lot of things, such as maybes and what ifs, has to be considered. Sadly, aint nobody got time for such deliberation. “Yes’ I’m not feeling well.” He replied instantly, making up his mind and already  constructing his plan. He made himself look sick; coughing and sniffing, acting like he’s cold and unnecessarily touching his forehead for a couple of times. Deep inside, he’s praying that his skills would work even just for now. He looks ill yet it made him look stupid as well. “And why are you not feeling well?” Mrs. Han replied.

Why don’t you just let me go? Jinyoung mentally said. “I....I wasnt able to sleep last night since I....I studied very hard for this exam.” And with that, Jackson tried his best not to burst into laughter. Anyway, Jinyoung seemed to be honest with those puppy eyes and impromptu drama lines. His legs were shaking under the table as the thought of him passing his form flashes on his mind from time to time. Speaking of time, he glanced on his wrist watch swiftly. 3:45 PM. ing 15 minutes left before the application ends! Come on, Mrs. Han! Be an angel for once!

“Fine. Go ahead and get treated. Just come back before 4PM to finish your exam. I will also make some announcements so I need all of you to be here before I leave. Okay?” Said the professor who transformed into a fairy god mother in disguise. Is it real? Jinyoung asked himself before give a ‘is this really happening’ look to Jackson. And as his seatmate nodded and patted his shoulder, Jinyoung discretely held his form on one hand and stood up, of course still acting all weak and in pain.

“Thank you so much, Ma’am. I’ll be back.” He promised then left the room. What an award winning performance, Mr. Park!

Just after exiting the door, Jinyoung sprinted like a professional runner and headed towards the registrar’s office. Some of his friends greeted him along the way, but he half-heartedly ignored them. For now, all the matters to him is the application—nothing more. The rush is pretty overwhelming that his entire body felt too energized, as if he drank 5 bottles of Red Bull all at once. From the 4^th floor of the building, Jinyoung needs to land on the first floor, run across the school field and head straight to the 2^nd floor of the administration building. Just getting into his destination would consume all his given time, but with all the determination and willingness within him, Jinyoung is quite confident that he’ll make it minutes.

Everything happened in a bliss. The line for the application is just 8 steps away from his current spot and to be honest, the joy in his heart is indescribable. The feeling of content and assurance reigned in his once unstable self. Without thinking twice, Jinyoung threw himself at the end of the line and patiently waited. All the running that he did only snatched 5 minutes of his free time. What a relief! The line moves slowly; little by little. He peeked in front and tried to count all the students in line. 21...22...23...24 and he’s the 25^th. He remained positive about this. All of a sudden, the person right in front of him hardly stepped on his right foot. “Ouch!” Jinyoung screeched as he lifted his leg and took a good hold on the slightly injured area. It hurts so bad that he even thought that his entire foot will be chopped off.

“Oh!” The guy turned around and faced him. “I’m sorry!” he apologized.

“Jaebum!?” Jinyoung said after seeing his face. Well, how can he forget this face when there is absolutely no way to forget how the person that you extremely envy looks like. He wanted to act tough but his foot hurts like hell and maybe this is not the right time to be too manly at all. “You’re gonna apply too?” he absentmindedly questioned. Mind, please function normally, Jinyoung whispered to himself.

Jaebum isn’t the type of person that would negatively react to such absurdity. He likes taking things lightly. He’s ultra friendly, approvable, athletic, intelligent and chic. He is well loved by every single lifeform in the university since their freshmen year—even the guards like him. A crowd favorite or in a vulgar term, a total chic magnet yet he said that doesn’t have any time for relationships and prefers to stay single until he graduates; which will happen next year. Jaebum helped him once, when Jinyoung lost his favorite book at the school canteen. Jaebum accompanied him as they looked for it and luckily they found it on a trash can for unknown reasons. That incident was their first encounter. “Yeah! Hope we can make it till 4pm!” he said with his ever so captivating smile. No wonder why girls fall hard for him. He’s charming. And when a guy says that another guy is handsome, believe it because it’s ing true.

“I hope so too. I told my professor that I’m going to the clinic. I need to go back and finish my exam or else I’ll be seeing my first failed grade in my whole 3 years in this institution.” With a bit of anxiety, Jinyoung tried to sound relaxed and cool. He doesn’t like exposing his emotions, especially to someone that’s not even close to him. Jaebum was shocked. “You can switch places with me!” he offered. Now Jinyoung knew why people likes him.

Jinyoung shook his head enthusiastically. “It’s not fair for you.” Although he wanted to take the place, his pride won over the hunger.

“Your professor might –”

And the smaller one interrupted, “No need, Jaebum. Thank you for your concern. I can handle her wrath though.” And he hated that he acted too brave because no one can endure Mrs. Han’s anger. She’s like a certain character from Dragon Ball when she’s mad. That super saiyan thingy; she does that in her own way.

Accepting the other’s response, Jaebum tried to make everything lighter as the wait. “I bet the professor that you’re pertaining to is Mrs. Han, but the mere fact that he allowed you to leave made me think twice!” and for the first time in three years, Jinyoung and the ever so glorious Im Jaebum laughed together. What a picture perfect moment.

Their attentions were caught by the loud creaking of the door. As Jinyoung averted his sight and focused on the person going out of the door, his heart seemed to skip a beat and melt into puddles. The world slowed down and all the sounds gone mute as a long song played in his head. How hopeless can I still be? “I’m sorry but we have to cut the line now.” Yerin, a student assistant working in the registrar’s office said in a very sweet voice which gave Jinyoung enough chills. “She’s so pretty!” Jinyoung whispered.

“You like her?” Jaebum whispered back, causing Jinyoung to jolt in surprise. He never thought that Jaebum would hear it. “Crush...just a crush.” He replied, embarrassed.

Yerin begun counting the students starting from the boy in front of the door, Yugyeom, a freshy with a weird height. “Only the last 23 students can submit their forms.” She spoke while counting the students that would make it until the last number. Jaebum and Jinyoung are the last two so they didn’t hear her statements. As Yerin gets nearer to their spot, Jinyoung’s cheeks gets redder and it made Jaebum laugh. He’s cute.

“Number 22, Ms. Kim. Lastly, number 23, Mr. Lee. All the 23 students, please get inside the office now. Thank you.” Yerin said, leaving Jaebum and Jinyoung dumbfounded. That means the both of them didn’t make it? Jinyoung’s world crashed. All the sadness covered his hope and blinded his vision towards a brighter tomorrow. Everything went down, including his energy. He was almost there! But too bad he didn’t make it into the count. Yet he tried to imagine Jaebum’s disappointment too. Maybe its worse that his since Jaebum is the 24^th one. Man, that’s more depressing!

“Excuse me.” Yerin said and the remaining boys looked at her but Yerin is only looking at one of them—Jaebum.

“You can pass your form as well.” She shyly said while blushing. Seriously, it doubled Jinyoung’s pain. He knew that Yerin likes Jaebum; that’s the main reason why he wished to live Jaebum’s life even just for a day. Jaebum was quite confused with the situation. “This is not fair. I thought 23 –”

Yerin flashed her widest smile; so wide that her lips could crack. “I’ll take care of it! Just go ahead and register.” She answered. By the time that Yerin already held Jaebum’s arm, all ready to pull him inside the office, the man looked back. “Yerin, take Jinyoung instead.” He pleaded as he watched how a devastated Park Jinyoung tries to keep all his emotions in. The girl was forceful and Jaebum’s request got ignored. “Come on, Jaebum! I’ll help you sign up!” she cheerfully said while dragging Jaebum away.

As the distance between them grew bigger, Jaebum’s eyes remained focused on Jinyoung. He felt bad.

Jinyoung never thought that Yerin could be this cruel. He understands that likes Jaebum but things doesn’t have to reach on this level. All left out, efforts wasted and completely kicked out from his dream trip. What hurts him the most is the reality that after all his countless prayers and 11:11 wishes for this said application, he didn’t make it.

Jinyoung sadly went back to their room and noticed that his classmates already left, but Mrs. Han is still there and checking the papers. He sadly entered and picked up his bag. “Got some meds, Mr. Park?” the professor said all of a sudden. Jinyoung lost all his will to talk so he nodded. He is just about the leave but a statement made him stop from moving further. “Since when did the registrar’s office started giving tablets?!” and he faced her with a terrified look. Damn.

“I.....I....I went—” Stuttering, Jinyoung’s mind went blank.

Mrs. Han gave him a blank look. “Sit here.” And pointed on a chair right in front of her. Jinyoung followed with his limbs shaking in fear. “If you are wondering how I caught you, I watched you from the window. The saw you running on the field with a sheet of paper on hand.” She explained calmly while checking the other papers on her desk. “Wang told me everything.” the professor added. Jinyoung was thankful that she’s not yelling nor mad. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Han. You can report me for skipping classes, you can shout at me, give me a failing grade or whatever you want. I deserve it. I’m a loser.” Looking down at the ground, Jinyoung hugged his bag and prevented himself from crying like a five year old. He just can’t accept that his biggest dream will never come to life.

“And do you think that it will make everything better?” she asked. Jinyoung was greatly taken aback by her words. How come she talked like a mother just now? “About your test, your scores for the first half were enough for you to pass. You can leave now.” And Jinyoung stood up from his seat and walked away with a heavy heart. Even the good news wasn’t able to erase the bitterness in his chest. “Jinyoung...” she called one last time and Jinyoung gave her a forced smile. “Yes, Mrs. Han?”

“If it is meant to happen, it will happen.”

With those words, Jinyoung found the comfort that he needs. Thanks to his professor for being a blessing for this day. Mrs. Han might be terrifying but she’s a been through a lot so she’s qualified as a life coach somehow. He left the room and hoped that he could let go of all the negativities later on.

Enjoying the absence of his professor, Mark silently roamed around the department store to look for the perfect perfume that his special someone would totally love. He hates buying girly stuff but for his girlfriend, he’s willing to endure the stinky, rotten-flower scent of the shelves. I wonder why girls like this. They all smell the same! He thought while trying some on his wrist. Today is his girlfriend’s birthday and he’s actually planning to surprise her. “May I help you, sir?” a lady asked.

“I’m looking for a gift for my girlfriend.” Mark replied. Apparently, the appearance of salesladies during his shopping time is something at annoys him the most. He hates it when someone keeps on interfering with his decisions. Like they keep on talking about the products that he’s not even interested to buy then afterwards they will insist that he should be buying it. Plus, they will guard every move that you make as if you’re gonna steal a something. What kind of sorcery is that?!

The girl smiled and asked, “I believe you’re done with testing all the perfumes here, would you like to give her a necklace?” she pointed at the jewellery section where everything is sparkling. The glittering light is pulling him towards the area but his wallet will surely weep after spending all his money on such luxury. “I don’t have enough money.” He shyly admitted.

“We have items on sale and a special discount for students.” The lady talked so professional that it could attract anyone’s attention and push them to buy. The words ‘sale’ and ‘discount’ triggered him to trudge towards the section and look for some charms. “This one is on sale.” The lady pointed onto a gold necklace with a small gold ring as it’s pendant. It looked so stunning that Mark wanted to buy it right away. He saw the price and its not that bad, he can buy it.

He tried to look around and saw a silver necklace with an anchor pendant. “Is this on sale too?” he asked after seeing the price which happened to be higher that the first one that he saw. “Yes sir! And we can still give you a discount if you are a student.” Mark’s ears perked up at those trigger words again. Although he wants the best for his girl, he cant spend all of his savings on her; that’s pathetic. “Yes! I’m still a student and my grades are good so please give me a discount! I’m begging!”

The lady smiled and took the piece out of the glass. “Let’s talk about it at the counter.”

As expected, Mark bought the necklace in a very low price. Thanks to his superior flirting skills which made the lady lessen the price. He happily walked over a small lemonade stall and decided to get one to quench his thirst. Suddenly, his phone rang. “Hello?” he answered.

“Mark, its Jinyoung.” The other sounded too sad and Mark wondered why. “Hey Nyoung! What’s up?”

Jackson’s voice can be heard at the background, arguing with somebody about fishcakes, and Mark tried his best not to yell at Jackson for being too noisy. “Let’s drink tonight.” Jinyoung said.

As much as Mark wanted to join his best buddies, there’s a thing that pulls him away from giving his sweet yes. “Dude, it’s Minah’s birthday. I can’t join, I’m sorry!” he apologized. Jinyoung rarely drinks, so if he asks his friends to join him, most probably, something isn’t right. “Okay. Hope you two would break up soon so you can join us again.” Jinyoung spoke on the other line to spread his misery.

Mark laughed. “Shut up! I promise, I’ll join next time and all the drink are on me.”

“Whatever. Bye.”

Mark hung up first before making a low chuckle. Having such awesome friends is really something that he’ll be forever thankful for. Regarding Jinyoung’s last statements, it kinda bothered him though. Minah and Mark’s relationship is about to reach its 5^th month 18 days from now. Although Minah got some attitude, Mark loved him without any complaints. As the small box of necklace was handed to him, a smile crept up his face. He cant wait to give it to his one and only.

He was just about to leave when someone accidentally bumped him from the back. He almost fell down because of the force. After regaining his lost balance, Mark turned around to face the person who pushed him, well not by intent. Mark could just get through it, but the guy left no apologies at all. Mark faced him and his eyes couldn’t believe what he saw.

There was a guy, probably at the same age as him and looks like a son of a rich businessman or politician. You can tell that he’s ultra rich just because of the way he grooms himself. There’s also a key of a famous luxury car on his left hand. Oh, while the other hand is tightly wrapped on the waist of a girl who’s wearing a short red and awfully revealing dress as they happily talk about something. Her hair was brown and the long, eyes are tantalizing and seductive. She’s pretty...pretty familiar?!

“M-Minah?!”

The couple froze and the girl looked at Mark with a astonished expression. It was obvious that she isn’t aware of Mark’s presence earlier. Nevertheless, Minah didn’t move away from the guy who’s clinging onto her, in fact she held the guy closer as well and gave Mark an intimidating grin. Hurting and confused, Mark lost all the words that he’s been dying to ask. The girl decided to talk first. “Hey Tuan!” she said cheerfully.

The guy standing beside Minah interrupted. “You know him?”

“I’m her boy—“ Mark wanted to spill the truth but his ‘girl’ seemed to have different views on this. Without giving him any chance to finish talking, Minah butted in with the same attitude that only flirt and spoiled ladies use to arouse boys. She moved closer to the guy and caressed his cheeks. “He’s my old friend, babe!” she replied while glancing at Mark like girl who is literally wining at everything.

Babe?! Mark thought. The evidences are pretty clear now and he’ll prolly cross the boundaries of being idiot is he still remained clueless about everything that’s going on. The girl that he thought would reciprocate all the love that he can offer simply gave her everything to another man. The silence that he made is not because of sudden confrontation, but the pain and disbelief that hit him during the less expected time and situation. His first love rapidly shattered the image of happy ending that Mark pictured in his mind.  

Minah has no mercy, and chill as well. Maybe Mark’s silence made he release more unwanted statements that the lost boy doesn’t want to hear. On the brighter note, Mark needs to know the truth; he needs some enlightenment directly from person who’s required to do a lot of explaining. “By the way, this is my boyfriend, Wonho. We’ve been together for 8 months.” She added.

8 months with Wonho!? Which means she’s cheating on both guys all along. They met on a social networking site. Minah flirted Mark because according to this jerkette, she’s broken hearted and Mark, being a gentleman he is, comforted the girl that he’s crushing on that time. They became a couple since Mark believed that Minah already broke up with her unnamed ex boyfriend. But after all that he discovered now, everything made sense; Mark Tuan, the guy who’s famous for his skills in martial arts tricking, just got fooled and wrecked by a living disaster named Minah.

After sudden realizations, Mark found a truckload of courage somewhere inside him. “Can we talk for a while, Minah?” he requested and although Wonho looked uncertain, Minah gave him a kiss before asking him to leave them for a while. Disgusting, Mark thought. Minah’s been kissing him with the same lips he used to kiss that Wonho guy— a moment of silence for their indirect kisses.

Just after Wonho left, Minah started the conversation. “So, I guess you already know the drill by now.” She said with a smirk. “I’m just bored so I tried to hit you up, surprisingly, you gave in! I don’t waste blessings, especially when they come to me personally.” With these kind of language, Mark’s regret about opening his heart for Minah intensifies. “Actually, you’re too boring for me yet still I had fun playing with you, Tuan. Thanks!” she ended her speech with that same high pitched, toned voice.

If only his parents didn’t trained him to respect women, Mark could’ve kicked this girl out of his way. Her words showed what kind of girl she really is. And Mark hated himself that he wasn’t able to see all these right away. He was blinded by his emotions. Minah smiled wider, insulting the other like a pro. Kidding aside, Mark can’t even think of a better comeback. He doesn’t want to look weak and pitiful because he’s strong enough to handle this. The only thing that could save him from playing the loser role is to get even with his opponent.

“What a perfect timing!” Mark begun and Minah was all ears on it. “Should have brought my girlfriend here as well.” Mark continued, leaving Minah in great shock.

“G-G-Girlfriend?!” she asked, stuttering.

Mark smirked. “Yes! We’re on our 10^th  month and still going strong!” What the hell am I saying!? he realized.

Seeing how Minah reacted, Mark is confident that she’s affected by it. But these lies has to be supported with evidences, which will be Mark’s main problem, sooner or later. “And this...” Mark showed the box of necklace on his hand. “This is for her.” He said as he watched how Minah’s face scrunched. Its great that she had a taste of her own medicine. Now she’s aware of how being manipulated felt like. The months indicated that Mark cheated on her too. It to be Mark, but come to think of it—it , bigtime, to be Minah.

Tables are now turned and Mark’s going home with the trophy.

As Mark turned around to finally end this tragic tale, he dropped his last bomb. “Player 1 had fun playing with you too, Minah! You’re not that remarkable, but having a pastime like you is better than nothing.” and he left the mall with a heavy heart covered by a weird smile on his face. Somehow, he feels quite happy, maybe because he defeated Minah. But the fact that his first heartbreak happened on his first girlfriend’s birthday isn’t that something that he can set aside. The sadness still won.

Standing at the bus stop with no idea about he’s going to do next, Mark reached for his phone and dialled Jinyoung’s number. “Nyoung...” he immediately said after the boy on the other line answered the call. “Now you’re calling me?! Wow! Let me guess...you broke up with your Minah?!” and the laughs of the two boys on the other line were heard. Who would have known that their previous joke really happened.

The buses come and go and watching them calmed Mark for a while. “Yeah.” Mark sighed, holding back his emotions and the other two were left silent. “8PM on my dorm, I’ll take care of the drinks.” He added and ended the call. A long day for Mark. Still in pain, he vowed to let it all out on his friends later that night. For now, he must focus on buying the beers first. Can someone teach me how to live a life? Mark thought before riding a bus.

“You have been warned, Mark! Jinyoung and I knew that she’s a huge trouble living inside of a y body. But I hope you learned your lesson. Dude, she’s one of a kind!” Jackson sarcastically said after emptying his 5^th can of beer. Its been 2 hours since the three of them started their drinking session in Mark’s dorm. They have lots of drinks and chips as they sat on the floor with the lights dimmed. It’s perfect because all of them carries an unfortunate experience that they need to shrug off. The three of them are from the same university, but Mark is taking a different course—Mathematics, because he wants to be a teacher in the near future. They allowed Mark to talk first. Mark rarely speaks so this is the best chance for him to open his mouth and release some gas. “I agree. I didn’t see it coming. I feel bad for myself. Should’ve listened to you and Jinyoung before.” Despite of the break-up, the boys were amazed that Mark didn’t cry. Not even a single tear rolled out of his soulful eyes. “She’s not worth it. I hate her so much and I guess that’s why I didn’t cry. Hate ruled over my sadness.”

Jackson patted his back. “It’s okay, Markiepooh. She’s not the only girl in the world. You’ll find a better one. Am I right, Jinyoungie?” Jackson called the attention of their other friend who’s sadly drinking a can of beer and eating a large bag of potato chips. His words for tonight’s session happened to be too scarce and its very unusual for the other boys. He’s full of stories and jokes, but why does the man who could make everyone laugh lost all the happiness in his entire physique? He remained silent yet he nodded.

“What’s the problem, Jinyoungie? You’re the one who wanted to drink in the first place.” Mark asked, worried. Jinyoung hugged a pillow lying near him. Jinyoung sat closer to Mark and rested his head on the other’s shoulder. “I wasn’t able to pass my application for the exchange student program.” And he cried. Mark and Jackson are aware about all the efforts that Jinyoung did to make his records straight. He sacrificed countless things, even his good relationship with his father who’s against his plans. Mark will me surprised if their precious Jinyoung refuse to shed a tear. Jinyoung is a smart one, but his emotional strength isn’t reliable; that’s why his two pals make sure that he is always on the bright side of life.

Jinyoung cried harder when Mark rubbed his back to calm him down. “I lost my last chance.” He followed before wiping his tears.

“Cheer up! Everything happens for a reason, right? Who knows, greater opportunities might start knocking on your door. Don’t lose hope! We are always be here for you.” Mark advised. Good thing, slightly drunk Jinyoung contains himself easily. He stopped crying and opened his 7^th can of beer instead. Craving for a lighter conversation, Mark tried to search for a good topic. “What about your crush? Saw her today?!” he asked, unaware that Yerin is involved with what happened several hours later.

Jinyoung rolled his eyes as he heard a low chuckle from Jackson. “Oh. Yerin? She still likes Im Jaebum. The God-like guy from the football team. She even asked for Jaebum’s form earlier although the office already reached the quota. She said she’ll take care of everything.” Jinyoung stated with much annoyance. “And she’s not my crush anymore. What a –”

The serious yet bitter filled talks were once interrupted by Jackson and his wild imagination. “That Jaebum is so gay for you, Jinyoung! He’s checking you out during our swimming class. I swear his eyes were fixed on you!” And Mark laughed loudly. It lifted his spirits like a rocket on full blast. Jinyoung was dumbfounded. He cant imagine Jaebum having a crush on him. That’s super impossible. Jackson giggled along yet the stories went on. “I guess he jerked off after that.” He added with a smirk.

“Ohhhh! So our Park Jinyoung is bringing the boys out now!” Mark added, controlling his laugh.

Getting all shy and uncomfortable about the topic, Jinyoung breaks his silence. “You’re overreacting, Jackson! He’s just looking at me and that doesn’t mean he likes me.”

The Hong Kong native was persistent. He believed in his own views so 86% of this conversation will be him, defending his side that Jaebum is so into Jinyoung that his inborn manliness vanished like a bubble freely floating in the mid-summer air. “I know the difference of normal look and those looks of desire, love and lust. You can see it his eyes!” Jackson said. Well, here he goes again.

Mark pushed Jackson lightly. “I bet the way Jaebum looked at Jinyoung is just the same as the way you look at Kunpimook!” he teased and Jackson’s face redden in an instant. Jinyoung cackled and made a high five with Mark. Even Jackson’s ears heated up! He looks like a tomato—a flawless, y tomato.

“Speaking of that Kunpimook!” Jackson said, voice quite serious. “I asked him about the auditions for the theatre club, and he said that I need to play the role of a mother to test my versatility. Ugh! I really hate that kid! I’m too manly to play a girly character. Too bad he’s an officer of the theatre club, I need to follow his rules.” Angry and left with zero choices, Jackson complained. Mark and Jinyoung just laughed.

“Look who’s whipped!” Mark chimed and it caused for boys to laugh even harder. “You’re a fine one to laugh, Mark. You even bought a necklace for Minah.” Jackson countered. “Now tell me who’s whipped.

Jinyoung widens his eyes in curiosity. “Can I see it, Mark?” and the other handed him a box. Jinyoung opened it and was delighted by what he saw. “Wow! This is nice!” he spoke while touching the piece and taking it out of the box. “Can I try it?” he asked Mark, who’s now on his 8^th beer and obviously drunk. His hands were loosely griping on the beer car and his head sways side by side. Without them knowing, Jackson, who was just lively bickering earlier, is now into deep slumber.

“Go ahead.” Mark replied while grabbing Jackson’s bag.  Jinyoung wore the necklace and was satisfied on how it felt against his neck. He glanced at Mark and saw his friend holding a beautiful wig from Jackson’s bag. “He’s gonna use that for the auditions. A mother must have a long curly hair, right?” Jinyoung explained in behalf of Jackson.

They said never trust an intoxicated friend, and Jinyoung must remember that all the time.

All of a sudden, Mark attacked him; making them lie on the floor with Mark on top of him. The smell of beer lingers all over him. The spaces between their faces are too little which made Jinyoung admire how beautiful Mark’s reddened cheeks are. Less powerful, Jinyoung wasn’t able to escape easily. “You’re drunk, dude.” He said yet Mark pinned him against the floor and wore the long wig on Jinyoung’s head.  “You’re cute, dude.” Mark used his low, husky voice as he gazed at Jinyoung with half-lidded eyes, looking all girly with Jackson’s long wig and the necklace that he bought.

“Lemme take a photo with ya~” Mark said and just as before Jinyoung could pull the wig off him, the other strangled him and begun tickling his sides. Genuine laughs were emitted from their lips as their tired limbs do all the work to ease the sorrow in their hearts. Their tickling and light fights lasted for a while. And it ended when they both lay side by side, catching their breaths.

Mark took his phone and struggled to find the camera button. Its the perfect timing since the alcohol is now getting into Jinyoung’s nerves, plus the tiredness caused by their playtime made him subconscious. He moved closer to Jinyoung, so close. It somehow alarmed Jinyoung so he tried to cover his face but Mark’s finger was faster. The photo was captured; Mark widely smiling with his eyes closed and someone with a long hair who’s face is slightly covered by his hands yet his unquestionable charm is very visible. Truly, no one will believe that its Jinyoung. The ‘girl’ on the photo is so beautiful, it can question other girls’ gender right away. “Delete that...” Jinyoung ordered before dozing off, still wearing the wig.

Mark shook his head and smiled. “I can use this for free lunch and dinner.” For blackmailing purposes, of course. Such friendships.

Hours gone by after the sunrise and the house which was once filled with all sorts of noise and absurdity still remains peaceful. Loud sounds coming from the busy morning street begun spreading throughout the area yet everyone inside the said structure were sleeping as if nothing can wake them up from their deep slumber. Mark was the first one to wake up because of all the beeping noises from his phone. Battling the headache caused by binge drinking, he lazily checked his phone.

Instagram notifications were all over. Did I post something on Instagram last night? He asked himself. Why would he get a hundred of likes? His account only got pictures of his dog named Coco and poorly filtered mediocre selfies that could only reach 28 likes— Yes, that’s the maximum. He slowly clicked the logo and browsed his profile. There he saw a photo of him, smiling like a fool with a girl – “!” he cursed after realizing that he uploaded his picture with the girly Jinyoung because he’s beyond drunk.

MTUAN_93

‘Awww don’t be shy, cutiepie <3’

♡ 362 LIKES

● 189 COMMENTS

I’m so done. Mark thought as he looked at the sleeping Jinyoung beside him. As Mark ran through the comments, he noticed that a lot of them were praising the girl. People, such as classmates and schoolmates are asking for his number. There are some malicious comments as well, asking if they did it already and Mark’s fortunate to have her. Some just asked for her name and school, some said she’s remarkably beautiful although only a portion of his face was shown. Mark looked at the picture and glanced at Jinyoung afterwards—the wig and the necklace are still on him. Despite of the headache, Mark came into his senses and realized something. Jinyoung is really beautiful.

Mark is about to end the public’s funfair and unveil the utter truth that the ‘cutiepie’ in the photo is a guy, but a new comment appeared and it instantly changed his mind. A comment from Minah herself.

OHMYMINAH_00

So she’s your girl???? Cutiepie, huh???

With that, Mark just had an idea that could change everything between him and Jinyoung. Smirking, Mark headed towards the bathroom for a quick shower before going to school.

All is well, Mark. All is well.