Chapter 3

Hyde Park

14:00 PM

 

Herin couldn’t believe her eyes and unconsciously, she lifted herself off the grass and walked towards the man.

 

With his signature smile still decorating his face, the man parted ways with the kid and walked towards the opposite direction as he chuckles to himself.

 

Dazed, Herin stopped her tracks and she can’t seem to utter a word nor catch up with the man.

 

“Herin!”

 

She was brought back to reality as she heard Liam called her name and tapped her shoulder.

 

“Huh?”, Herin looked at Liam, who’s now next to her.

 

“What’s up? You suddenly walked away amidst preparing the brownies”, he questioned.

 

“Oh, I thought I saw someone I know”, Herin answered absent-mindedly.

 

“Hmm… I know you just saw a hot guy and probably just wondered away”, Liam nudged her shoulder with his own.

 

“I did not!” Herin protested.

 

Liam playfully straggles her in a headlock and messes her hair, “Admit it, Kiddo”

 

Herin laughed out loud and threw air punches at him as they both walked back towards their bunch.

 

She shook her head and exhaled a deep breath.

 

‘Yeah it can’t be him, why would he be here’

 

‘But wait, why can’t he be here? Maybe he’s here for schedule”

 

Mark throws another pebble towards the lake and watches it bounce as his mind wanders back to earlier in the afternoon at the center of Hyde Park.

 

‘Herin!’ As soon as he heard that, Mark snapped his head back to see where the voice was coming from.

 

He spotted a tall, attractive brunette guy and a blond girl playfully tangled with each other; their laughter was clear in his ears. Mark tried to get a better look at her face, they were already jogging back to their friends on their picnic blanket so all he could see was their back profile and the girl’s white sun dress with an off-shoulder beige sweater on top of it.

 

Mark threw another pebble as he thought to himself, “Maybe it was just another person with the same name”.

 

“Hey, stop throwing pebbles you’re scaring the ducks away”, A tiny voice could be heard next to him and he found an adorable young girl around 7 years old with curly pigtails and red overalls sitting next to him.

 

“Ah sorry,” Mark grew pink and touched the back of his head sheepishly.

“It’s just that I have a lot of things in mind”

 

The girl looks at him with her big green eyes as if asking him to continue.

 

“So, I thought I saw the girl I used to know but I don’t know if it was really her. I mean, what are the odds?”

 

“Your girlfriend?”, the girl asked innocently as she her strawberry ice cream.

 

“No, not my girlfriend. We were just close friends. I liked her but I had no idea what she thought about me, and I still don’t,” Mark chuckles as he found himself in this hilarious situation. He can’t believe that he’s confessing his feelings about Herin to this 7-year-old girl who suddenly sat next to him and nagging him about ducks.

 

The girl still has her eyes on her ice cream, and she commented, “Just tell her and ask what she thinks about you. It’s simple.”

 

Mark shook his head, “You see, I haven’t seen this girl in 5 years and I have zero ideas about how she’s doing or what she looks like now. But I still think about her from time to time, but I don’t know if she’d want anything to do with me when she left without even telling me”

 

“You’re frustrating. You should do whatever you can to reach her if you really want to see her”, the girl finally looks at him in the eyes and pressed her lips into a thin line, showing her frustration.

 

Mark was taken aback but can’t deny what this girl is saying is true.

 

‘Why was I being a coward all these years? It’s simple”

 

“Liv, I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Ready to go?” their conversation was cut by a feminine voice from a distant and they looked back to find a red-haired girl with a picnic basket in her hand.

 

“I’m coming,” the girl answered and looked back at Mark, “I gotta go, that’s my sister.”

Mark got up as the girl got up and dusted her overalls before she looks back at Mark and taps right forearm as she finally gave him an innocent grin, “Just make things simple and chase after it. Don’t chase away ducks.”

 

Mark smiles and taps her shoulder gently, “Will do. Thanks, Liv.”

 

The girl nodded and waved at him as she jogs towards her sister.

 

Mark slipped his hand onto his jacket pocket and grabs his phone to text someone.

 

“Yeri, have you heard back from Herin? Count me in if you’re meeting up”, the message read.

 

Liberty holds out her hand for her little sister, which she immediately holds.

 

“What were you doing? You missed Herin’s brownies”

 

“Oh, I saw this guy throwing pebbles to the lake and chasing the ducks away, so I talked to him”, Liv shrugged and gave her sister a wide smile.

 

Herin held Liv’s other hand and winked at her, “Don’t worry, I saved you some”

 

“Oh guys, I have a dinner appointment today with an old friend who visited from Korea. So, I won’t be joining dinner tonight”, She announced.

 

“Someone famous? Is he hot?”, Lia chimed.

 

“It’s a she, you ”, Herin laughed.

 

Lia’s shoulder slumped down and then she shrugged.

 

A restaurant in Notting Hill

19:30 PM

 

Droplets of rain hitting the restaurant’s front porch as the rain started calming down, Mark brushed off the droplets hitting the corner of his white jean jacket and closed his newly bought automatic light brown umbrella.

 

He shivered a bit due to the sudden gush of wind and proceed to enter the restaurant and escorted by the server to a table that Yeri had booked.

 

“Here’s your table, sir. I’ll be right back with a bag for your umbrella”, the server excused himself.

 

“Yes, that would be great. Thank you,” Mark glanced at him with a grateful smile.

 

“Oh hey, you’re here. How come you’re so drenched?”, Mark heard Yeri’s voice as he ran his fingers through his damp hair to have the warm air dry his hair.

 

“Yeah, I didn’t check the weather forecast today. It was so sunny today and I—” Mark paused when he noticed another pair of shoes as he set his umbrella on the floor and looked up.

 

His heart skipped a beat and his breath hitched.

 

“It was really you”

 

They muttered at the same time.

 

“Mark”, he could not believe his eyes and ears, he had to stop himself from pinching his cheek right then. She is really standing right before his eyes. Her voice that he longed for the last 5 years, the voice that greeted him at the company’s cafeteria before practice every day.

 

“Herin”, Mark praised himself internally for being able to voice out a normal response externally.

 

The next thing he realized; he’s engulfed by a sudden wave of warmth as Herin wrapped her arms around his shoulders for a friendly hug. Mark’s eyes fluttered a couple times as he was both taken aback and also inhaling her shampoo scent mixed with the soft laundry smell from her thin sweater. His right arm found itself to hug her back and tapped it gently.

 

Although it only lasted for a couple seconds, it seemed like eternity and how he wished it would last even longer.

 

Herin’s dark brown orbs bore into his own, and her lips curved into a warm smile then she sits down as Mark follows. She then moved her arm away and giggled a bit; she didn’t even realize that she was still holding onto his forearm until she saw their arms together on the table.

 

Mark unconsciously chuckles a bit as her deep dimples were proudly showing even under the dim lighting of the restaurant.

 

“Hey, let me look at you”

 

Herin looks up and those familiar dark brown orbs found his own once again.

 

Mark takes in her features which he hasn’t seen in the last 5 years. Mark noticed that Herin has dyed her hair light blonde and puts it up in a low ponytail with some hair framing her face, making her beautiful smile and big eyes even more prominent.

 

Herin also takes the moment to examine Mark’s features. Although she had seen his face on billboard ads and in some commercials, seeing him up close is truly different as her heart beats faster than its normal rate. He still has the same jet-black hair; his baby fat is long gone and his jawline looks stronger than ever. His dark orbs still ooze the same confident and intelligent aura with a hint of playfulness as she remembers.

 

“Sir, here’s a bag for your umbrella”, they snapped back to reality as they heard the waiter’s voice behind them.

 

___*****___

 

OKAY SO THEY FINALLY MEET!  Waiter, why you gotta cut their moment like that?! 

Stay tuned for Chapter 4, I will try to update weekly or even do a double update per week due to the Covid-19 lockdown. Stay safe everyone!