Youra and Key exchanged numbers before saying their goodbyes. She was looking forward to get to know him, and see more into why her sister liked him.

As she walked away from him though, she realised just how much lighter her heart had gotten after talking to him. She got to know more about the boy her sister liked, and maybe in the process was slowly gaining more closure while also giving Key some. She smiled and walked with a skip in her step. She had also gained a new friend in the process.

Albeit an unconventional one, but nevertheless a new one.

She walked towards the university gate and saw Mark leaning against the wall, looking at something on his phone. She could feel her pace automatically picking up as she got closer to him.

Mark put his phone away and looked up, to see Youra quickly approaching him. He smiled at her and on noticing the wide grin on her face, found his smile quickly turning into a grin as well.

Looks like things had gone well.

She almost slammed into him as she threw her arms around him and squeezed him tight. He stood there dazed for a second before wrapping his arms around her too. He closed his eyes and had to stop himself from burying his face into the crook of her neck.

How she always managed to immediately make Mark forget everything around him as soon as she came in his view, was truly beyond him.

But then again, there were so many things about Youra that were beyond his understanding.

He didn't mind though.

'Cause it was those little things that made her, her.

And he would always love her.

She pulled apart and looked at him, tears in her eyes, but happy ones.

He gently wiped them away with his thumb and chuckled. "I'm assuming it wen-"

He was cut off when Youra cupped his cheeks and placed her lips on his.

Mark's eyes widened as his mind tried to process what was happening.

Youra was kissing him.

And it was better than anything he had ever imagined.

His eyes drooped shut as he tightened his hold on her waist, pulling her closer as he kissed her back.

The taste of her lips on his felt like bliss.

Like the heavens had finally granted a lifelong wish of his.

There were moments before where he would find himself wanting to lean just a bit forward and see if Youra tasted anything like he imagined she would, like the embodiment of who she was as a person, sweet and intoxicating. But there were also moments where Mark had come to terms with the idea that Youra may never come to love him the way he loved her. His head used to spin with all the possibilities of what they could or could not be.

But now, it felt like all those moments didn't matter.

They were nothing compared to what he felt now, nothing compared to the sense of euphoria that was rushing through his veins.

And she was the reason why.

She pulled apart and rested her forehead on his.

Mark was still reeling from the way their lips had moved in unison, like they somehow recognised each other.

It was like they were made for each other.

"What was that?" He whispered against her lips, almost groaning when he felt her brush them against his.

"Jackson asked me a question. I thought about it and I realised," She smiled at him. "The answer's yes."

-

The car ride back home was silent.

Jackson had come soon after having lunch with Minho, only to find hsi friends staring at each other intently and holding each other so close that his eyes immediately widened.

Friends do not hold each other like that.

He was just about to ask what the hell was going on when Youra let go of him and quickly walked out the university gate, leaving behind a very much dazed Mark who couldn’t even bring himself to open his eyes when Jackson asked him what was going on. He figured something good had happened and Mark was trying to figure out whether or not it was a dream because Mark was mumbling to himself like an absolute idiot. Jackson was in too good of a mood to shout at him to be clearer though, so he just dragged along his dazed friend outside.

And now, the car ride was silent, even though Jackson could tell all of them were bursting from the inside with various emotions.

The emotions were so strong, he felt like he could almost smell them off each other.

He tried stifling a laugh as he looked in the back mirror to see Mark touching his lips like he had just kissed satin and was unable to get rid of the feeling, only to see Youra’s face getting increasingly red with a blush as she too glanced at him.

This was going to be fun.

-

Or not.

After driving back home, Youra and Mark had hastily said their goodbyes to Jackson (completely ignoring each other) before walking back to their houses.

Jackson stared at their retreating figures.

What the hell?

Wasn’t this the moment he was supposed to burst from the seams and hug his friends until they complained they couldn’t breathe? Wasn’t this the moment they were going to tell him that they liked each other? So how the hell did he end up standing on the sidewalk watching his two friends walk away from each other?

He walked inside his house, still really confused.

“Jackson, you’re back. Where did you go?”

He looked at his mom who was in the living room. “Oh, KUBS.”

“Why?”

“Youra wanted to talk to a friend of noona’s.” He explained.

“Oh, is she okay?”

He smiled at the obvious concern. His mom had always loved Youra.

“Yeah, she’s okay.” He walked to the living room and sat next to her, taking a sip of her tea before handing it back.

“So then why do you look so confused?”

He turned towards her and leaned his head on the couch. “How could you tell?”

“Aiyah, mother’s intuition.” She waved her hand dismissively, making Jackson chuckle. “What happened?”

“Nothing, it’s just Mark and Youra are acting a bit weird.”

She took a sip of her tea and nodded for him to go on.

“I met a friend of mine when I was at KUBS and after talking to him, I went back to where I knew Mark was waiting, because Youra had gone to talk to noona’s friend alone.” He swatted her hand off him. “Yah, why are you hitting me?”

“She went alone? You should have gone with her, Jackson! Who knows, what if that guy took advantage of her or something?” She went on rambling about the possible scenarios that could have happened before Jackson stopped her.

“Ma, I know the guy she spoke to, he’s a nice guy. Besides, she was the one who wanted to speak to him alone, which I think is a good thing, it means she’s moving on.”

“Oh, that makes more sense. Well, in that case, I’m happy for her.” She took another sip of her tea and Jackson had to stop himself from shaking his head at his mother. He wondered if it was a natural thing for all mothers to jump from topic to topic like a tennis ball that never stopped. “Anyways, what were you saying?”

“I said Mark and Youra were acting weird. I know for a fact something happened between the two of them while I was gone, Mark was smiling like an idiot and Youra was blushing, but the moment we got home, they ran away from each other!” He said, sounding exasperated.

He was still confused as to what had happened.

Jackson’s mom chuckled. “Maybe they didn’t know how to act around each other after whatever happened between the two of them. Or maybe they were embarrassed.”

“Embarrassed of what?”

“Embarrassed of what happened, maybe it was a mistake. But I doubt that’s the case, I think they’re just shy.” Jackson’s mom shrugged.

Jackson shook his head in frustration. “Why does this have to be so complicated? I told Mark he should have just told Youra he was in love with her!”

His mom almost spit out her tea. Her eyes widened as she swallowed whatever was left in . “He’s in love with her?”

“Oh, I don’t think I was supposed to tell you that, but yeah.” He scratched the back of his neck, waiting for his mom to start freaking out.

“Oh my God! I just knew something like this would happen! I knew one of you would end up falling for her, and how could you not? She’s so pretty, lah. And intelligent too, and also polite. She’s like the ideal daughter in law.” She sighed. “It’s a shame she won’t be my daughter in law.”

Jackson clicked his tongue. “Ma, that was never going to happen in the first place. Besides, Mark and Youra were made for each other.” He lied down and put his head in his mother’s lap. “You know, you should see the way Mark looks at her or the way he talks about her, he’s so whipped.”

She slowly started running her hand through her son’s hair and Jackson closed his eyes. “It’s going to happen to you too one day, and before you know it, you’ll forget all about me.”

He peeked through one eye and shook his head. “I could never forget about you, ma.”

She patted his head. “You better not, because if you do, you won’t hear the end of it.”

-

Woah.

Youra had not thought of the repercussions of kissing Mark.

The only thing that was going through her mind in that moment was Jackson’s question.

If Mark was the one helping you, would you have kissed him?

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