I leant my chin on my hand, watching Mark working hard. Mark, the adorable yet smoking hot Taiwanese-American boy, that was The same boy that I had been friends with for over two years. He turned around to ask Jaebum about something and I caught him smiling cheekily. His eyes locked onto mine, making a small smile appear on his face. He waved discreetly, trying not to catch the teacher’s attention.  waved back and tore my eyes away from him. Mark Tuan arrived at my school in the middle of January two years ago. I had heard my friends Kunpimook and Jackson talking about him on several occasions. It seemed that everyone else knew him and I didn’t. It was only in April, on my birthday, to be exact, that I finally met him. “Oh, you’re Gyeoul, right?” I stared blankly at him, nodding. Back then I wondered how he knew my name, but before I could ask, he broke out into a shy smile. “My name’s Mark. I’ve heard a lot about you from Jackson and Kunpimook. I guess they were right, you are kind of cute.” I definitely started blushing at his comment, but then again, could you blame me? I hung up my school blazer and reached down to tie my laces. Beside me, Mark’s older twin sister stopped to face me. “So I noticed that you and my brother have been growing close recently. I think you two are perfect for each other.” I stared at her for a while before lowering my head, blushing. I shook my head. “No! No!” his sister smiled knowingly and winked at me. That had been the first time someone ever noticed my crush on Mark, but it definitely wasn’t the last. “Can you stop staring at him? It’s like you fancy him or something.” Jackson teased, rolling his eyes. I bit into my cookie, making a loud crunching sound. Jackson’s eyes widened and he flailed his arms around. “Oh. My. Gosh. You do!” “Shush, Jackson, you fool. I don’t want the whole school knowing.” I smacked his arm.   I just wanna be in love this Christmas, that’s the only present I want; to fall in love.   I sipped on my strawberry milkshake. I felt so lonely now that my two best friends were stuck in detention for throwing paper aeroplanes at each other. Seriously, those two were so stupid. I glanced over at Mark and his friends who were messing around. In Mark’s lap was the school’s cutest blonde… Kim Yugyeom. Mark groaned and playfully pushed Yugyeom off his lap. “You’re heavy! What have you been eating to get this fat?” Mark joked. Yugyeom pouted. “Hey, don’t call my son fat!” Jaebum scolded Mark as the overprotective father figure he was. “So…” Youngjae slung his arm around Mark’s shoulder. “Are you going to confess yet?” I nearly spat out my milkshake. He likes someone? Oh please, not now. “Guys! Shut up. I need a little more time okay. I’m nervous here.” Mark flushed deep pink. “What does Gyeoul think Mark should do?” Youngjae turned to look at me. I shrugged. “Well at least say they look perfect together. Because they do. Ahh! I knew he liked her.” I cleared my throat, avoiding Mark’s gaze. “Who? Don’t tell me he likes someone and didn’t tell me.”   Mark sat upright. “I was going to tell you.” Mark sounds awkward; maybe it’s someone I know well? “He likes Jangmi. You know, his seating partner in science. I can’t believe you didn’t know.” My throat closed in on itself, my head thumping. “Oh, I guess you two were always close.” I mentally facepalmed myself. Of course they are. What an obvious thing to say, Gyeoul. “Hey noona, doesn’t she sit behind you in art class?” Yugyeom asked. I nodded slowly. “Do you talk to her a lot? Are you friends?” Jaebum asked me. I shrugged. “I don’t speak to anyone a lot. I am too absorbed in my work.” I replied quietly. Jaebum nodded. “Ahh, so you don’t get along with her? Is it because you like Mark?” My eyes widened. Do they know? Or are they joking? “N-no, she’s nice. And of course I like Mark, he’s my friend, isn’t he?” Great way to play it cool. Mark smiled at me apologetically. That doesn’t make the pain of this heartbreak go away.   There is just one thing I need on this snowy winter day.
Call me a fool to love you, but I want nothing but you.   I drummed my fingers against the canteen table, staring at my strawberry milkshake. Kunpimook slurped loudly on his soda, and Jackson cleared his throat. “What happened to you? You’ve been acting weird since yesterday.” I shook my head, refusing to look at them. “Oh look, it’s Mark!” I looked up, seeing Mark wave at me. I broke eye contact and stabbed the straw into my milkshake carton. Jackson raised his eyebrow and looked at Kunpimook, confused. “Did he do something? He didn’t hurt you did he?” Kunpimook asked, pulling me closer to him. Jackson clenched his fists. “If he hurt you, Gyeoul, I swear I will make him pay.” I put my hand up to stop him. “He didn’t hurt me. Not physically anyway.” Jackson stood up abruptly. “And not on purpose!” He sat down again, staring at me. “So how did Mark hurt you then? Did he reject you.” I bit my lip, looking down. “Not directly. He doesn’t know how I feel about him.” Kunpimook handed me his soda, but I shook my head. I wasn’t in the mood to drink or eat anything. “He’s going to the Christmas party.” Jackson shrugged, taking a sip of Kunpimook’s soda. “So? Everyone’s going to the Christmas party. You’re going, right?” I shook my head. “Especially not, since I won’t have a date. And to make things worse, Mark has a date.” “It’s probably Jaebum or one of those lot. Did he say?” Jackson asked, taking a bit of a doughnut. “Yes. Well, Youngjae told me. It’s Jangmi.” I mumbled. Kunpimook’s eyes widened. “You mean that blonde girl who sits behind you in art class? There always was a bit of rivalry between you. And now it’s even worse. Aish Mark’s so stupid.” Jackson sighed. I banged my head on the table, groaning. “I hate it. I can’t help wishing she wasn’t so nice and perfect.” Kunpimook slung his arm around me, turning to face me. “Don’t worry noona, we’ll cheer you up.”   I don’t wanna be alone this Christmas; I want to meet somebody like the couples on other streets.   I walked along the pavement, busy messaging my two best friends in a group chat. That was until I bumped into someone. “Whoa! Be careful Gyeoul-ah.” I looked up in surprise. Is it someone I know? To my relief, it was, though I had only spoken to him a couple of times. He was Park Jinyoung, and he was in the year above me. He took art class, too, and I often saw him in my class finishing his work. He was one of the most talented painters I had ever seen in the school, so naturally I was fascinated with his work. “Oh, hi Jinyoung.” I greeted with a shy smile. I’m not r