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After dropping Mrs Chen off at the retirement home and delaying their stay to keep her company, Mark and Jia finally decided to head back to school before it got any later. They both would have, however, opted out on the option if it wasn’t for the fact that they had left their belongings in their respective classrooms.

As the two of them were walking back to school it was quiet. Neither one of them uttered a single word. On occasion, they would just discreetly steal quick glimpses of the other party. Finally, Jia realized how strange things felt between them and furrowed her eyebrows. Why were they acting like they didn’t know each other? Halting in her tracks, she puffed her cheeks out and stood her ground. Mark, who wasn’t paying attention to her at the moment, continued moving forward. He only stopped when he heard her call out to him. “Where are you going, Mark?”

He spun around and his eyes widened seeing how far they were from each other. “W-what are you doing back there?”

“You left me,” Jia pointed out as she pursed her lips out. “Do you hate me now because I didn’t have money to pay for lunch?” she questioned bluntly.

At her ridiculous claim, Mark’s jaw dropped as he fervently shook his head and waved his hands in the air, dismissing her remark without even a second of reluctance. Next he jogged back to her. “I don’t hate you,” he began slowly. His heart thudded loudly at the remembrance of his real feelings for Jia and he struggled to control himself. He couldn’t slip, at least not right now.

“Then why aren’t you talking to me? You weren’t even paying attention to me either. You kept walking when I stopped. You were trying to leave me behind, weren’t you?” Jia threw her gaze to the ground and hung her head low. People always leave me behind.

“I was not trying to leave you,” Mark defended immediately as he held onto her shoulders. He expected her to look up at him. Instead she only shifted her head away. “Jia,” he whispered. “Is something wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong,” Jia replied a little too bitterly for his taste. “I just thought you didn’t want to be friends with me anymore.”

You’re right. I don’t want to be friends with you anymore, Jia. I want to be so much more. Mark bit down on his tongue to keep himself from vocally processing those words for the girl to hear and released her. He cleared his throat and forced himself to fake a smile. “Are you crazy?” he chortled. “Why would I not want to be friends with such a cool person like you? Sorry I didn’t talk to you. I just had a lot on my mind I guess.”

“R-really?” Jia stuttered, lifting up her chin to lock gazes with Mark.

“Of course. I would never lie to you.” He beamed, the guilt already manifesting his body doubling.

An elevated sigh left the girl as the corners of her own lips etched upward, forming that beautiful smile which always had the boy’s hearts racing a thousand miles per hour. “I would never lie to you either,” she chirped sincerely. “Now let’s get back to school before we both get into trouble with our parents.” And without much thought, Jia slipped her hand into Mark’s, interlaced their fingers and started sprinting toward their school.

Every block or so Jia would glance back to check on how Mark was doing, her melodious giggles filling the air as she witnessed his rather befuddled expressions which she found to be undeniably cute. Although they were only running through the barren streets of Seoul, Jia felt like she was having the time of her life. She couldn’t even remember the last time she had experienced this kind of euphoric sensation. It’s been so long but she did not wish to recall those memories. All that mattered was this moment she was sharing with Mark and nothing else. The past was the past. There was nothing she could do except learn from it. The present was where she needed to focus all of her attention on.

Mark, on the other hand, couldn’t agree any less. He, too, was having a rather enjoyable time, paying no attention to where they were going. All he could see, all he could feel, was Jia’s soft palm resting in his own. His heart was soaring and he swore he was on cloud nine. Without even realizing it, they had already arrived at their school. Jia was panting hard and as she tried to pull away from Mark’s grasp, he wouldn’t budge. She looked back at him and cocked her head to the side. She tried to liberate herself a second time but her efforts ended in vain.

“Mark?”

The boy snapped out of his daze and looked up at her with rounded eyes. “Yes?” he replied, still slightly absentminded.

“You can let go of my hand now. We’re not running anymore and we’re already at school,” she explained.

He awkwardly coughed and let go of her limb. “Oh right.” He then glanced over to the school and exhaled. It looked like his time with Jia was finally coming to the inevitable end he had wanted to earnestly avoid.

“Come on,” Jia beckoned as she took initiative and stepped onto the school’s campus. “We’ll go to my class first and then yours.” Hearing nothing in response, she peered over her shoulder and discovered Mark staring rather blankly at her. Suddenly she grew self-conscious and cleared . Her face was beginning to heat up but she couldn’t fathom why. She scanned the area and found a small pebble. She picked it up and threw it the boy’s direction, striking him right on the forehead.

“Hey,” he winced, his eyebrows bunching in shock. “What’d you do that for?” he questioned, obviously bewildered by her action.

“You were spacing out. I had to get your attention somehow,” she said with a nonchalant shrug. And the way you were looking at me made me feel funny too.

“I wasn’t spacing out,” defended Mark. “I was simply thinking.”

“You were?” Jia grew intrigued by his answer. “About what?” She started approaching him and the way she batted her lashes had Mark going crazy.

“Nothing! I was thinking about nothing!” he shrieked, afraid that he would unintentionally purge his feelings out to her if she continued being so… being so Jia in front of him any longer. If that made any kind of sense. “Now come on. Let’s go get our things.”

As fast as lightening, Mark bolted by her and toward the double-doors sitting on top of the wide and flat staircase. He tugged on the handle but the doors were locked. Why wouldn’t they be? School was over now and the moon was hanging up in the sky. It would only be rational and logical that their school was closed at this hour.

“I guess we’ll have to leave our things in there until tomorrow morning,” he declared.

“I suppose that shouldn’t be a problem.” Jia nodded. “But how are we supposed to get home?”

“I have no—” Mark stopped talking when he felt his keys in his pocket and quickly pulled them out. How could he have forgotten about them? “I can give you a lift,” he offered, dangling the keys in front of Jia.

“Can you really?” she asked gleefully. To that the boy nodded his head. Before