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“Come on Yeon, just this once, please.”  Mark pleaded, as he put on his most innocent doe-eyed expression in front of his best friend. Soyeon could only roll her eyes at his attempt before shaking her head for the nth time that afternoon.

“No means no Mark. There’s no way in hell that I’ll agree to this. It’s just plain weird.” Soyeon forced a shudder upon herself as she thought back at his ungodly request. Mark whined at her words, grabbing her arm tightly like a child. She sent him a glare once again: “You’re acting like a teenager. You’ve had girls in the past, why should I go on a mock-up date with you this time.”

“Tsk. You know that all I did was sleep around, but this time, I want to make things right. I don’t think that rambling on about how I could make her feel good in bed would be a good choice of conversation, more so on a first date.” Mark reasoned out and Soyeon could not help but mentally agree with him yet, he was still putting her in the weirdest situation.

“Fair enough, but don’t you think that going on a romantic date with your best friend is just awkward and a source for problems?” Soyeon grimaced, confident in her reasoning as both her mind and heart for once agreed that this was nowhere near a good idea – better said, it would be plain torture towards her feelings.

“I beg to differ.” Mark cleared his throat as he took an oddly professional stance. “See, in my opinion, you would be perfect. We already know each other which will facilitate the whole ‘pretend’ aspect, you don’t have to worry about me being a creep and I don’t have to worry about you getting the wrong idea or being clingy. You get to spend time with your best friend, with a free dinner as a cherry on top. I don’t see where problems could arise.”

“Yeah but what about fee-.” Soyeon sighed as Mark’s grin wouldn’t budge before she finally conceded to her own dismay. “Fine. But it’s only once. This Friday.”

Mark immediately enclosed her in a tight bear hug which she had no choice but to reciprocate. A series of grateful words that honestly made no sense altogether escaped his lips whilst she tried her best to keep her neutral composure. ‘You’re so stupid Kang Soyeon,’ she scolded herself.

“You’re so stupid Kang Soyeon.”

“Gee, Jungwoo, thank you, those are the exact words I wanted to hear.” Soyeon groaned as her forehead collided with the table in an attempt to punish herself. Jungwoo sighed at his friend‘s predicament and could only pat her back slowly.

“Why didn’t you say no?”

“Cause you think I didn’t? But we both know him and how persistent he can be.”

“Still, you shouldn’t have agreed. Mark is denser than wood, I can only imagine how this date will go. He will be all charming and you will be all melting and then poof, midnight hits and he takes you home, all happy that he got his said ‘mock-up’ date whilst you get home to your feelings all mashed up like gravy.”

“Stop telling me things I already know. I came to you for support not this – I knew that I should have gone to Donghyuk.”

“Now we both know that Hyuk would have been worst to you.” Soyeon groaned again, poking Jungwoo’s side which made the latter yelp. “Stop being so violent woman!” Jungwoo brought his friend closer in his embrace as he squeezed her shoulder. “I don’t know what to say, to me this is emotional suicide.”

“I know but let’s see it in another light, at least I’ll get to see how it would have been to date Mark. Then hopefully, I’ll be able to turn the page completely when he’ll start dating Minah.” Though Soyeon expressed those words with confidence, her darkened pupils showed how distraught she really was.

“Whatever floats your boat Yeon… I’ll be there with Hyuk holding a big bucket of Vanilla Pecan ice cream when it’s time.”

To Soyeon’s dismay, Friday came sooner than later. Fixing her hair subconsciously as she gave herself a final look in the mirror, she took a deep breath as her inner voice was giving a pep-talk.

‘It’s going to be okay. You are just going out for dinner with your best friend. Nothing odd about that, nothing special about it either. No strings attached. Just regular dinner, where he’ll be pretending to be your boyfriend, but that’s okay cause you are there only to guide him through the night. That’s it.’

-Knock Knock-

“One minute!” Dressed in a beautiful and flowy yellow dress, paired with summer sandals and a white kimono-coat, Soyeon grabbed her purse, which was conveniently a gift from Mark two years prior.

Opening the door swiftly, she was greeted by a stunning bouquet of champagne roses, her favourites. Unbeknownst to her, a sincere glimmer found her eyes as she looked up to her best friend who wore his signature goofy grin. He handed her the bouquet immediately while she took in a discrete sniff out of the beautifully assorted flowers.

“Thanks, Mark. Let me just put these in a vase.” Soyeon made her way into her apartment once again but stopped a few steps in as she didn’t feel Mark follow her in. “Stop standing there as if it’s your first time here dummy!”

“Yeoooon!” He whined. “You have to pretend remember.” Soyeon rolled her eyes but complied to her best friend’s silly antic.

“Mark, please come in. You can sit on the couch, make yourself comfortable, I won’t be long.” She sent him a forced smile since, though those words sounded very off coming from her, they ran perfectly given their situation.

Mark grinned at her compliance and did as told, knowing his way around her place like the back of his hand. Soyeon really did not take long since she conveniently had an empty vase on the kitchen’s counter. Barely five minutes later, she went to find him in the living room and off they were on their date.

“You look very pretty tonight, Soyeon.” Mark’s words could pass for a whisper while his gaze remained focused on the busy streets of Seoul that night, but she heard them perfectly.

“Thank you, Mark, you don’t look too shabby yourself.” He chuckled at her words. “I hope that you are hungry, the place I’m taking you to is famous for its gourmet dishes but particularly for its assorted desserts options.”

By the way he formulated his sentences, Soyeon knew that he was trying very hard not to fall into their usual tones and bickering. Despite the tight pinch she felt to her heart, knowing that he was doing all this for someone else, she bit back her tongue and played along. “Oh really. And where is this too-good-to-be-true restaurant?”

“Who said that it was a restaurant?” Mark’s playful self took a step forward before he winced at himself. “I mean – it’s a surprise.”

“Mark, it’s okay. Be yourself. You want her to like you for who you really are.”

Mark gulped inadvertently at Soyeon’s thoughtful words, anxiety pricking at his veins, but nodded slowly, deeply thankful that she agreed to be there for him, as she always did.  

Despite his goofy and clumsy personality, Mark had always been very much of a gentleman in disguise towards Soyeon, getting her door, tucking her chair, making sure she was served first, and the list goes on. Yet, that night, his attention to details made her heart pace way too fast, faster than it usually would in his presence – maybe because of the pressing theme that flooded their date, or simply because Mark was that charming and she was just that trapped.  

Skimming through the menu, Soyeon concluded that Mark did choose a very adequate restaurant for a romantic date. The décor was awfully aesthetic – with vintage tones and the right amount of semi-formal semi-casual vibe going on. The menu displayed a wide choice of Western-Asian fusion cuisine with prices that would avoid making him seem like a cheapskate as well as a show-off – indeed the perfect spot. Bringing her out of her thoughts, Mark asked:

“Found anything that you want?”

“Not yet, there are just so many mouth-watering choices. Do you have any recommendations for me?”

Mark rubbed the back of his head, showing his contrasting bashful nature, one of his annoyingly endearing habits which Soyeon adored. “Well, to be honest with you, I’ve never been here. But I heard only good reviews about this place.”

A waiter came back to their table at this very moment to ask if they were ready to order and Soyeon seized this opportunity to take a mini breather for herself and follow her gut-feeling choice.

“I’ll have the alfredo pasta paired with the house’s secret Korean kimchi sauce. A glass of red wine as well thank you.” Soyeon closed her menu and politely handed it back to the waiter as the latter turned his attention to Mark this time, who seemed to have been caught off-guard.

“Euh… I’ll take the lamb steak, medium rare, mushroom sauce accompanied by the black-bean infused potato purée.” Mark nodded once, as if agreeing with his own choice as he handed the menu back to the waiter as well.

“What about your drink sir?”

Mark was about to speak when Soyeon interrupted him short: “He’ll take a glass of sparkling water with a slice of lemon on top. Thank you.”

Mark could not help the beam that found his lips as Soyeon bit her lower lip upon realising that she had fallen out of the pretence for a few seconds. He mouthed to her a small; ‘It’s okay,’ whilst the waiter recited their order before disappearing further into the restaurant.

A comfortable silence settled between the two of them but Soyeon could see that Mark was trying to find his words. Sighing quietly, she leaned on her elbows, joining her hands beneath her chin, showing her utmost attention to her best friend.

“Mark, stop stressing. Your date will be fine.”

“Easy for you to say, you’ve dated before. My conversations with woman have been very limited, particularly when I’m struggling to get out of their grip when I happen to have fallen asleep at their place the previous night.”

“Urg, spare me the details please.”

“Sorry… it’s just that I don’t know what to talk about. Worst, what if I slip up and give off the jerk vibe all over again.”

“Oh please, you may have slept around but it doesn’t mean that you are a player Lee Minhyung.” It’s only then that Mark dared meet her gaze, catching himself in a mesmerising fall into her hazel pupils. “You’ve always set boundaries with those women and really