“Are you free tomorrow?”

The message shines almost blindly on Mark’s phone that laid on his table, next to his biology opened-book. He is in the middle of working on his homework and about to ignore the message before he reads that familiar name as the sender of the message. Frowns his brow, he decided to straighten up his body and look up to his window’s room, only to find a girl standing in a room dominated by pink, just two meters apart from his own room. She is staring back at him.

Mark slides his window trying to get direct conversation, but that girl doesn’t bother herself to do the same act. Instead she is just waving her phone and giving instruction to chat using that technology.

Mark takes his phone almost in the same time as another message comes. He taps his phone that displays a name read Ko Eunji in alphabetical letters than hangeul, then swaps it to unlock the screen.

Ko Eunji :

Are you free tomorrow? [10:11 pm]

Come with me to Lotte Mall, won’t you? [10:14 pm]

Mark frowns his brow for the second time. It’s not a common thing to him for Ko Eun asking him out when he is in the middle of studying at 10 PM, well actually she used to ask him out so often before when they were in the first and second year of high school (Ko Eun’s parents are strict enough to let their daughter hang out before she is at least 16 with her friends, even with her own neighborhood very best friend, in which is this guy with his round glasses named Mark Lee.). But as now they both in the last year of school, they – mostly Ko Eun – seems like too busy preparing for the university entrance test that they rarely meet each other and hang around together like the old days.

Mark Lee :

For what? [10:15 pm]

At first Mark wanted to type “Why”, means why did she ask him, why didn’t she ask her other friends. But he thinks that question is too ambiguous even for himself. So he asked her another stupid question that he believes Ko Eun just rolled her eyes as she reads his text.

Ko Eunji :

What else do you expect from a girl asking you out to a mall on the weekend? [10:16 pm]

Mark Lee :

A date? [10:16 pm]

Mark himself got surprised right after he read that two words on his phone screen. His heart skips a beat as he silently takes a deep breath and decided not to look up to his window because he can already imagine Ko Eun sending a death glare to him across her room.

Ko Eunji :

In your dream. [10:18 pm]

Theres something i need to buy and i need someone to bring my shopping bags around. [10:20 pm]

Mark sighs. Of course he is just going to be that coward porter he always used to be for this girl. What else did he expect.

Ko Eunji

I’ll take it as a Yes [10:22 pm]

Pick me up at 5 and don’t embarass me with your weird outfit. [10:22 pm]

Mark throws his phone to his bed after types a short “OK” for the reply. He chews his inner cheeks to hide his angry feeling that comes out of nowhere. He is angry because Ko Eun always decides everything by herself? Yes. He is angry because he always let her do that to him? Big Yes.

It’s not that Mark hates being treated as a Friend with Benefit or something by Ko Eun, God, Mark also took benefit from her when he happened to meet his ex-gilfriend with her surprisingly handsome new boyfriend when he and Ko Eun studied in the library a year ago, and Ko Eun could tell how annoyed Mark that day by the way he flinched his ear countless time until it had a bright red flush on it – it’s his cute habit everytime he gets nervous or uncomfortable. And Herin indeed was so annoying she insisted to sit on the same table as Mark and Ko Eun just to show off how his boyfriend kept whispering something to her ear and she giggled with the most fake giggles Ko Eun ever heard in her life. Just right after that when Mark took a sip of his Starbuck to hide his uncomfortable feeling and brush his lip harshly til uncoinsidently had some leftover cream at his right cheek, Ko Eun took his chin to fully face her that sat right next to him. She smiled with the most beautiful smile Mark ever seen, then lean in to left Mark’s eyes balling as he felt a soft lip pressed lightly around his cheek. With that, Herin was standing abruptly and drag her new boyfriend to left their table with a loud stomp. That day after studied, Mark had to treat Ko Eun ice cream as she said she saved Mark’s pride in front of her ex. And also that day, Mark wondered when it will come again the time he felt his cheek burning after Ko Eun kissed him.

Mark decided he will continued his homework tomorrow night, he still be able to do it the day after tomorrow though as the deadline actually is a week later. He pushes his chair back and walks to his bed, crawling to his mattress before taking off his glasses and placing it on the bedside drawer. He turns to his side, facing another room across his. That room is already dark, indicating the owner probably is deep asleep now. Mark closes his eyes, rearranging his schedule on his mind as he should accompany Ko Eun tomorrow and deciding to practice basketball a little bit longer to fill up the spare time before 4.30 pm. Before he could think what will he does next after sending Ko Eun home from shopping, he already fall asleep as his brain is too tired holding alot of thought he never manage to say out loud.

And Mark Lee himself is indeed a lot of things, from a good student and great basketball player to a goddamn coward porter for a girl he has crushed on. He knows this, he has accepted it, but he’d rather die than to admit his feeling to his childhood friend that he loves her for more than half of his ages.