At around one in the morning, the adults finally came around to get their children so everyone could go home.

Upon walking into the room, they were surprised to see Soori and Mark snuggling in a corner, Soori resting on Mark’s shoulder with Mark’s head on top of hers and his arm wrapped around her body, both of them fast asleep.

Soori’s mom and Mark’s mom gave each other knowing smiles and shook their heads, smiling at the view.

Mark’s dad, on the other hand, came close to them and snapped a picture, making sure to send it to his son immediately afterwards before waking the two up.

First, he woke up Mark. Soori was surprisingly a very heavy sleeper.

Mark stirred and made small grumbling noises, his grip on Soori tightened, not even his sleepy self wanted to let her go.

Mark’s dad chuckled and lightly tapped his son again before whispering into his ear, “I know you’re awake. If you’re not up in the next minute I’m showing Soori your baby pictures.”

Then Mark’s eyes shot open as he stared terrified at his dad, “Dad!!” he whined, first loud, then ending in a hushed voice as the adults immediately stared at the boy with wide eyes and their fingers on their lips.

The dad merely chuckled, “You must really like her if you got freaked out by that simple statement. You used to not care.”

“You don’t understand. I have a feeling she would somehow use those pictures against me,” Mark frowned.

Nodding, Mark’s dad raised an eyebrow at his son, “Then… Care to explain why your arm is still wrapping around her and you’re still holding her close to your body?”

At that, Mark slowly turned his head, noticing that the girl was still peacefully sleeping in his arms. For a moment a smile flashed across the red haired boy’s face as he stared at her. She’s never looked more beautiful in his eyes.

If only I could wake up to see you in my arms everyday…

Then, Soori’s mother was kneeling down in front of the two.

“I’ll be taking my daughter now if you don’t mind, young man,” she chuckled.

“Oh… Of course,” Mark said, unwrapping his arm from the girl and gently moving her off of his body. He immediately missed the warmth of her body against his.

“Soori…” her mom slowly woke her up.

Soori groaned a little bit, struggling to keep her eyes open as she stretched out her arms and let out a soft yawn.

“We’re going home now dear,” Soori’s mom said.

“Where’s Mark? Did the kids go home already?” Soori asked in a sleepy voice, her voice seemingly a bit higher pitched than usual.

Mark smiled when he heard that she had asked about him first.

“Mark’s over there, we’re all just starting to go home now,” the mom replied.

“What time is it?” was Soori’s next question.

“One in the morning,” Mark’s mother answered for her.

Soori just nodded while rubbing her eyes before she was able to focus on the people in the room. Parents were getting their children, Mark and Soori being the only ones who weren’t adults or babies in the room.

As all the adults were exiting and saying their goodbyes, Mark suddenly approached Soori’s mother, bringing his parents along with them.

Soori was helping the last adult with their children and their things.

“Ma’am, I have a question to ask of you,” Mark stated, throwing a wary glance towards Soori.

When did he come to this decision, he had no idea. But something suddenly washed over him, perhaps his mind wasn’t thinking straight, but he had a feeling he wouldn’t regret this decision at all.

“Um, what is it?” Soori’s mother asked, unsure of what she was expecting.

Mark drew a deep, long breath. Not even his parents were sure what he wanted to ask. “I would like your permission to take your daughter out on a date.”

Everyone in the room stopped in their tracks, their eyes wide as they stared at the young red haired boy. They all cooed and glanced back and forth between Soori and Mark.

Soori on the other hand was frozen on her spot. She couldn’t even bring herself to move a single limb, let alone look at anyone in the room, especially Mark.

Soori’s mother had her eyes wide open and she glanced over at her daughter before back at Mark, “Do you have her permission?”

Mark looked over at the girl, who was still frozen in her spot. “No… But… I wanted your permission first before I asked her…” he said slowly and carefully.

“I see… Well… You’re the first boy to ever ask me permission to date my daughter,” Soori’s mom smiled and looked over at her daughter before back to Mark, “You have my permission.”

Soori’s eyes widened and she brought herself to look up at her mom. When was she finally okay with Soori being able to date before she was eighteen?

Mark’s dad just chuckled as he grabbed Mark’s shoulder and smiled at him, “You son of a gun. You didn’t even ask us!”

“This is the first time you’ve ever asked a girl’s parents for permission!”

“Whoa hey wait what about me I didn’t agree!” Soori whined, finally able to find her words.

The parents all blinked, the other adults were suddenly rushing to get out of the room to give the two families some privacy. Von was awkwardly waiting at his doorframe for a moment before walking out, heading to Samuel’s room instead.

“Do you not want to date our son?” Mark’s dad suddenly asked.

Now Soori was put in an awkward position.

“Uh… It’s not that it’s just… You guys are standing around as if my decision didn’t matter…” she said in a quiet voice, hoping not to enrage anyone.

Mark bit his lower lip and looked at the parents. Soori’s mom shrugged and mouthed the words, “Ask her out now.”

The young boy blinked a few times before nodding and walking to Soori. He got down on one knee.

Soori’s face turned a bright shade of red, “Y-Yah what are you doing?”

“Jang Soori, would you like to go on a date with me next Friday?” he asked while taking her hand.

“Mark Tuan you’re unbelievable…” she muttered while staring down at him.

She looked up at her mother and Mark’s parents, they all gave her a wide smile and two thumbs up.

While biting her lip she looked back down at Mark, who was waiting patiently for her answer.

“…Fine. I’ll go on a date with you next Friday,” she said, her face involuntarily turning three shades darker.

Mark suddenly smiled widely and he jumped up, wrapping his arms around her body. Soori rolled her eyes as she hugged him back, making sure the parents didn’t hear her next words.

“But I swear if I see you flirting with another girl at school this next week, this date is canceled and I’ll never agree to another date with you,”

Mark was about to say something but Soori continued. “And I’ll make sure to have your friends and my friends keep an eye on you.”

“Understood,” Mark chuckled.

~

The next week flew by quickly. Word had spread about Mark and Soori’s date. People were suspicious about their relationship, it didn’t appear that they were officially dating, but they sure did act like a couple.

Much to the girls’ dismay, Mark stopped flirting and making out with them. He had now spent as much as he could by Soori’s side.

Men were only affected because they had to go by nonstop listening to the girls’ whining.

Soon, everyone began to dislike Soori. For the girls, the reason was because she took Mark away. For the guys, the reason was because of her they had to deal with nonstop complaining.

Soori took notice of this hatred, but she didn’t seem to care much. Of course, she missed passing by being loved or not really noticed by many, but she was able to deal with it as long as her theater friends and her main friends didn’t mind.

Needless to say, they didn’t, with the exception of a few people in her theater class.

Mark walked Soori home every day of that week. Once he saw Soori’s brother, Hyuk, who greeted him politely.

One day when they got home, Soori’s mom was just heading out.

“Oh. Hello Mark,” she smiled.

“Hello Mrs. Jang.”

“It’s just Ms. and feel free to call me Auntie from now on.”

“Oh… Okay, thank you Auntie,” Mark smiled and bowed.

So she doesn’t have a dad…

The second time running into her mom was a little scarier for Mark.

“Soori, how long have you and Mark known each other?”

“I just met him on the first day of school. So almost two weeks now,” Soori answered.

“So you guys barely knew each other a week when Mark asked you out?”

“That would be correct, Auntie.”

“Mark… Be sure to take things slow with her. She may not have a dad but she has two older brothers and you met her family, barely any girls there. Soori’s everyone’s little princess,” she warned.

“Mom!”

Mark gulped but nodded confidently, “The last thing I’d ever want to do is hurt her, Auntie.”

“Good.”

~

Finally it was Friday. Mark and Soori decided to go home first and freshen up before they went on the date. They agreed on a casual date, nothing too fancy, and nothing too special. Mark would pick her up at seven. Despite having both parents’ approval to stay out until midnight, they agreed it’d be safer for them to get home around ten, especially since they’d more than likely walk home.

Before they went home, they decided to stop by the café, where they ended up spending a few minutes longer there than they originally had planned to. They blamed it on the fact that this time, for the first time since last week, Moonhyun, Jackson, and the others were with them.

Truthfully, Soori had missed walking home with her friends, so she was happy. But she was slightly annoyed since now she didn’t have as much time to get ready for her date as she was hoping for.

The couple said their goodbyes when they reached Soori’s house and she hurried inside.

Once inside her room, she quickly dropped her bag onto her bed and opened up her closet. For some reason, she was suddenly nervous.

Dress casually… She kept reminding herself as she stared at her clothes.

After a few minutes of fumbling through her clothes, Soori had finally decided on her outfit.

First she grabbed a pair of plain denim shorts that ended mid-thigh, over that she’ll be wearing a light orange sleeveless shirt that flowed loosely on her body, showing a little bit of cleavage, the words ‘Hakuna Matata’ etched on it in fancy black handwriting. Then, to make sure she wouldn't be showing too much skin, she would wear a light peach jacket over it. 

When she was content with the outfit, she went to her bathroom, humming lightly while she took a shower, making sure to make herself as clean as the kitchen after her mom’s ‘special’ cleaning days.

When Soori finished she quickly dried herself up and wrapped her hair in the towel, her bathrobe draped over her body while she rushed back to her room. She applied her strawberry and cherry scented lotion on her legs and arms before slipping on her undergarments. After that she shook her hair dry and started to brush it out.

Soori glanced over at her small collection of makeup for a moment, wondering whether or not she should apply any of it for once. After a small battle inside her head, she decided to just apply a light amount of blush, mascara, and lip gloss. Once she was content she went back to her clothes and finished putting them on. She ended the outfit with a pair of light pink sandals.

She looked at herself in the mirror and sighed; it was an understatement to say she was content with the way she looked.

Looking over at the clock, she saw that she still had a few minutes to waste before Mark would be at her door. With a small sigh, she sat down on her bed and played around on her phone.

~

As soon as Mark saw that Soori was safe inside her house, he his heel and lightly jogged back home. He was under a panic, yes they agreed on a casual date. Mark’s been on plenty of casual dates.

However, there was something about Soori that tugged at him, made him want to make sure he still impressed her while dressing casually. When he finally got home he sped over to his room and immediately opened his closet, throwing his clothes everywhere in hopes to find the ‘right’ clothes for his date.

It wasn’t until his closet was nearly empty that he took notice of his two younger siblings at his door.

“What are you guys doing here?” he asked slowly.

“There’s no practice today… What are you doing Oppa?” Grace asked.

“I’m just… Looking… For clothes. Yeah. Clothes,” Mark nodded.

“Hyung… You already dumped out your entire closet,” Joey pointed out.

Mark stared at his floor.

“Oppa, are you going on a date with the pretty Unnie from last week?” Grace asked innocently.

“How do you know about that?” Mark shot his head up, staring incredulously at his sister.

“Mommy and daddy told us!”

“Us?”

“Anyone they’ve seen who knows you and that Unnie!”

Mark turned to Joey. Joey in return just shrugged.

“Do you want help?” the young boy offered.

“…Yes.”

“Grace, go back to mommy, your Oppa and I are going to have a brother talk, okay?”

“Okay Joey Oppa!” Grace grinned and ran off to the living room where their mother was.

Joey just chuckled as he started sifting through Mark’s clothing. “I think you missed a few outfits in your closet if you were aiming to decorate your floor with everything.”

“I’m just trying to find good clothes that’ll impress her…”

“Get a tuxedo?”

“We agreed on a casual date.”

“Wear a sweater.”

“Have you been outside today Joey?”

“Hyung, you’ve never been so… In a panic. For a casual date.”

“You met Soori! She’s different…”

“Yes, Noona is very beautiful…” Joey raised an eyebrow.

Mark shot his younger brother a death glare.

“Okay, okay. Relax Hyung, I’m not interested in her that way.”

“Ugh…”

“Hyung, did you fall in love with her?”

“I am not in love with Soori.”

“Infatuated. Obsessed. Affectionate.”

“Joey.”

“Alright… Look. It’s a casual date. She already agreed to go with you, normally to your standards that would mean your usual self is good enough and you wouldn’t worry about impressing her any further.”

“So?”

“So first off. Noona must be really special. Second, just wear something. Plaid, stripes, a plain shirt, I don’t know. I don’t think she’ll care.”

“…Alright fine…”

“Now hit the showers you stink. I’ll get an outfit for you.”

“Thanks Joey,” Mark ruffled the boy’s hair as he made his way to the bathroom.

“By the way Hyung.”

“Yes?”

“You owe me around fifty bucks.”

~~~~~~~~

Wow.

That happened.

#EXCITEDTOWRITEUPCOMINGCHAPTERS

BE EXCITED

I'M EXCITED

The past week I was half writing this chapter half writing future chapters--

Comment Replies~

kimva4ever - ME TOO

khayjun-ho - Hehe I'm working hard to get a more regular update xD

thelillcat - I know ain't it adorable

yehet_shidae - I'm trying xD 

Kim_Hyojin_Sweethear - Kekeke I tried my best to make it as cute as possible <3

mikilee - Aawww welcome aboard new reader~! I like cute Mark better too~

roxxanne - Hello new reader! I'm glad you love my story!

Cvang13 - Mark wouldn't do that... Pffft... Pfft... Pft... We'll hope Soori forgets about Jimin~ Which she may or may not sooner or later *coughcoughwinkwink*