Now it’s November. Since Mark’s birthday party something seemed to change. Hyuk was more cautious about Mark than before, and didn’t want Soori spending as much time with him. Soori figured it was because he was being an overprotective brother, which Hyuk admitted to. 

While at school, Mark spent as much time as he possibly could with Soori; which did not go by unnoticed by the other girls that were growing used to Mark’s company. They glared at Soori’s back whenever she walked past them, whether or not Mark was with her. One time, a girl even stuck her foot out and tripped Soori. Luckily, the girl only stumbled before regaining her balance and once she did, she only glanced back at the girl before rolling her eyes and continuing on.

It’s been like that for weeks now. Soori was sad to say that she had gotten used to being glared at. At the very least, no one was saying harsh and unnecessary comments to her face, nor did she hear any stupid remarks when she walked through the halls.

“You know, comments are bound to happen if you continue hanging out with Mark. He’s a very well wanted guy at school and even the girls my age want to have him for a night. He’s a freshman with seniors wrapped around his finger,” Heesung told Soori while they were getting some equipment out for Ms. Henan.

“I guess but I mean… It’s not like he and I are dating. We don’t even have feelings for each other. There’s no reason for them to be… Jealous of me or whatever it is,” Soori sighed.

Heesung let out a small snicker while glancing at Soori, “You think you guys don’t have feelings for each other?”

“I know we don’t.”

“Interesting,” Heesung said simply before the two girls went back to the stage where Ms. Henan was waiting for them.

“So what’s all this for, Henan?” Daniel asked while looking at all the art equipment.

“Your project,” Ms. Henan stated simply.

“This looks like an avalanche of crap to me,” Dave said, looking through the randomly placed equipment that Soori and Heesung had brought down.

“We do not use such words in the theater,” Ms. Henan said before explaining the project, “I am assigning all of you a partner. For this project, I want you all to either construct a miniature scale set design, or a costume design. For each partner I have designated a different movie or play to base your designs on. Anything used in the final project must be set to scale, I will be measuring it myself to make sure. Any questions?”

While the class seemed highly intimidated by the project, no one spoke up to ask any questions. They figured that while the work will be strenuous, the explanation was good enough.

“Good. Now, I decided on all the partners based on how well I think you two work together. That being said… Mae, you are with Jinyoung. Heesung with Daniel. Tiffany you are with Dave…” Ms. Henan continued announcing the partners until the last couple, “And lastly, Mark and Soori. There are absolutely no partner changes.”

Mark smirked when he heard that he and Soori would be working together. He strode over to her and grinned widely, “Hey partner.”

Soori rolled her eyes and sighed, “Well I guess I prefer you over some people in this class.”

Mark chuckled and was about to make a comment before Ms. Henan walked up to them. “Mark, Soori, your movie or play is…” she looked down at her clipboard while looking for the duo’s names, “Into the Woods, a rather… interesting Broadway slash movie in my opinion. Have fun with that.”

“I… Haven’t seen this yet,” Mark stated.

“You’ll have to watch it on your time, I am definitely not rewatching that movie or the broadway,” Soori chuckled before looking up at her partner. “So, would you prefer to do costume design or set design?”

“Which do you think will be easier?”

“Costume,” Soori replied with no hesitation.

“Then let’s do a set design.”

Soori raised both eyebrows in shock, “I thought you’d choose the easier one.”

“I’m working with you… If I choose the easier one we’ll get it done way too fast. If I choose the harder one we might be able to use that as an excuse on Hyuk Hyung to let us hang out at each other’s homes for a bit,” Mark chuckled before wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

Soori rolled her eyes and slapped Mark’s arm, “Costume design then.”

“You don’t want to hang out with me more? I’m hurt!” Mark pouted, “Soori I want to do a set design!!”

“Ugh, don’t be a child…”

At that comment, he started to do aegyo while wiggling his body a little, “Can we please do a set design??”

Mark’s aegyo caught the attention of almost everyone in the room and they watched the adorable scene. Of course, everyone loved seeing Mark and Soori together, the entire theater class shipped them together. Before long, Soori had groaned and poked Mark’s forehead, “Okay we’ll do the set design just stop with the aegyo it’s disturbing!”

“My aegyo disturbs you?”

“Yeah.”

“You just continue to hurt my feelings day after day,” Mark pouted more.

“I’m going to start on the set design now. Give me a moment as I go talk to Ms. Henan about a few details.”

When Soori walked off Jinyoung walked up to Mark, shaking his head in amusement. Mark looked at him and raised an eyebrow, “What?”

“Oh nothing… Just… I haven’t seen Mark aegyo in a while,” Jinyoung chuckled.

“So?”

“You and Soori are so cute together.”

“Don’t be such a girl!”

“I know you like her.”

“We all like her.”

“You know what I meant.”

“If I liked her so much would I still be making out with other girls?”

“You’re still doing that?”

“Occasionally.”

~

“See, he doesn’t like me,” Soori chuckled as she and Heesung overheard Mark’s conversation with Jinyoung.

“Ah… Players will be players. He’ll change soon. I know he likes you. I can tell by the way he looks at you and the way he treats you,”

“Heesung… You’re crazy,” Soori rolled her eyes before going over to the two boys, pulling Mark away so they could get started on their project.

~

By the end of the week, Soori found herself in Mark’s room as they worked on the project. He often offered to work at her house instead, but she told him that she would much rather work at his house. When he about wanting to be home alone at his house, Soori quickly explained that she just didn’t want to be home with her uncle. Mark knew better than to ask what the deal with her uncle was.

“I can’t believe she expects us to finish this in two weeks,” Mark groaned as he worked on creating the small details of their set. They had already created a box with the background painted as if a backdrop were to be used with some lighting effects, and the floor was kept a black color with some slight letting effects.

“Ms. Henan gets ahead of herself way too much,” Soori chuckled as she worked on creating a few scale trees.”

“The only thing good about this was having you over and going to your house,” Mark stated.

“Yeah yeah yeah you keep saying that,” Soori let out an amused laugh before placing down another tree, a low groan escaping her lips as she stretched out her arms. “Working on all these small props is tiring…”

“You can rest on my bed if you’d like,” Mark said, hiding back a small smirk as a thought crossed his mind.

With no hesitation, Soori laid herself down on Mark’s bed, resting her arm over her eyes as she took a moment to rest up. A small smirk found its way to Mark’s face before he went over to the bed, laying down beside Soori before whispering quietly, “You just lost the bet.”

“What?” Soori muttered.

“Well, Jang Soori. You have met my bed. You have lost the bet. And… It appears my bed is already quite fond of you. Why don’t you come over more often?” he chuckled with a slight smirk plastered on his lips.

“Wh- Aahhh you tricked me!!” Soori pouted as she sat up on the bed, looking over at Mark. He couldn’t help but find her reaction extremely adorable as he wrapped his arms around her waist.

“Sorry baby, I just did not want to lose the bet.”

Soori rolled her eyes and gently nudged Mark away before laying back down on the bed, “You’re a cunning little bastard.”

“Oh, why thank you,” he grinned proudly.

“I thought the bet would be a little more than just me laying on your bed, honestly.”

Mark smirked and suddenly hovered over Soori, “Well, we could let something like that happen if you want.”

“Mark I-”

“Oppa!! We’re home!!!” a cute voice called out before steps started sounding out, as if the little girl were running up to Mark’s room. Mark shut his eyes closed and inwardly cursed before pulling Soori up and getting out of the promising position they were in.

By the time the two were off the bed, Grace was found at the doorway with a wide grin. “Ah! You’re the pretty Unnie from mom’s friend’s party!” she exclaimed.

Soori flushed slightly at the compliment before bowing slightly, “Hi! I’m Soori, you must be Mark’s little sister.”

“Yeah, I’m Grace! I’m ten,” she grinned while holding up ten fingers. Soori smiled warmly at her before Grace turned to Mark again. “Tammy Unnie is here!”

“Wait, really?” Mark’s eyes seemed to brighten up.

“Yeah! They’re all downstairs! She’s waiting for you!!” Grace grinned while grabbing Mark’s hand starting to drag him out of his room, “Ah, Soori Unnie you come too!” Grace ran back and grabbed Soori’s hand. The two teenagers glanced at each other and shared a small smile as Grace pulled them down to meet Mark’s older sister.

“Mark!” Tammy exclaimed when she saw her younger brother. Then her eyes glanced over to Soori and they formed into an eyesmile, “Oh, hello. Who are you?” she asked politely.

Soori immediately bowed, “Hello, I’m Jang Soori, one of Mark’s friends.”

“Girlfriend,” Mark coughed, causing everyone to look at him with wide eyes.

“Oh- I- Uh- No-” Soori stuttered.

Joey quickly stepped in, “Mark Hyung has been taking Soori Noona out on dates. They’re just not an official couple yet,” he explained.

“We’re official,” Mark replied while wrapping his arm around Soori.

“We’re not,” she mouthed to the family, who just snickered at the scene.

“Yeah, you guys are official in your dreams when you start sleep talking and going, ‘Jang Soori I love you so much!’ and then you start making kissy faces!” Joey remarked.

Soori gaped and gave Mark a teasing gaze. Mark grew flustered and started chasing Joey around the house, “Yah! When did I do that?!” he yelled as the two started running everywhere.

Tammy and the other adults in the room just snickered silently to themselves before facing Soori. She bowed politely, “Uh… I should get going… It was nice meeting you, Unnie.”

“Oh, what’s the rush? Stay for dinner! I’m sure Mark would love that,” Mr. Tuan said.

“I don’t want to be a burden or anythi-”

“Soori dear, you’re always welcome in our house. Think of this as us repaying you for cleaning up after Mark’s birthday party!” Mrs. Tuan grinned.

“Well… If you insist… But at least let me help you with dinner.”

“Of course! I really want to get to know the girl of Mark’s dreams!” Tammy grinned widely.

~                                                                                                    

“So, how many times has that brother of mine tried to get in your pants?” Tammy asked as she and Soori were cutting vegetables and meat while the mom was preparing the pan and pot. They were making fried race along with char siu and wonton soup. For dessert, they would have mooncakes.

“Hmm… Well the first day we met all he did was try to get in my pants… Then on the second day he was a little bit better and he just made subtle hints to wanting to get into my pants… Then that weekend I met your family, and Mark asked me out on a date. Since then we’ve gone on a few dates… Last time he really tried to get in my pants was... Just before you guys got here?” Soori said as she cut the vegetables.

“What?” Mrs. Tuan exclaimed, “We let him be home alone and he brings you home to get in your pants? I didn't even know you were coming over!! Aish…”

"He didn't tell you I was coming?? Oh- I'm so sorry!" Soori quickly bowed to Mrs. Tuan.

Tammy stepped in for the rescue, “Umma, you had to know Mark would try to get in her pants… Especially if he likes her as much as Joey says. Besides, he probably just got really excited about having Soori over and so telling you guys slipped his mind,” she chuckled while soothingly patting her mom’s back. “Don’t mind her, sometimes she gets worked up because of how hormone crazed that guy is.”

Soori smiled and shook her head, “No I understand. If I had a son like Mark I’d get pretty frustrated too."

“So… Tell me about yourself Soori. I want to make sure you’re good for Mark. You already seem too good for him though,” Tammy chuckled softly.

“I-It’s not like he and I are actually dating or anything!” Soori quickly explained while a blush started to tint her cheeks.

“Well, not yet at least,” Tammy winked before chuckling softly, “So. Were you born in Seoul?”

“Ah, no. I was born in California.”

“Really? Where?”

“Los Angeles.”

“Oh! Same as the rest of us!!”

Soori laughed softly at Tammy’s enthusiasm and nodded, “Yeah, Mark told me.”

“Umma!!” Grace ran into the room, “Appa told me he’s going to have a boy talk with the Oppas, so can I join your girl talk?”

The three girls chuckled softly and nodded, “Of course you may Gracie!” Tammy grinned, “Your Soori Unnie is just telling us about herself.”

“Ah, Unnie is really pretty and really nice! When I met her, she was helping Mark Oppa take care of this many babies!” Grace exclaimed while extending her arms really wide.

~

For the next couple hours as the three girls prepared dinner, the 3 boys (Mark, Joey and Mr. Tuan, Tammy’s husband was too busy taking care of their child) talked about Soori as well.

“Her parents know she’s here right?” Mr. Tuan asked the young boy.

“Of course,” Mark replied without hesitation.

“Good, because we sure as hell had no idea you were bringing her over, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking you guys wouldn’t mind… I was also thinking you wouldn’t be home until after she had left anyway.”

“But still… Bringing home a girl without telling us? Son, even though your mom hates how many girls you play with we’ve come to accept that that’s how you are. You’re lucky Soori has self-respect. If we didn’t know you had a girl over and she didn’t have respect for herself, we would have arrived in the middle of something. That’s something I am not putting Grace through yet, and I am especially not putting that sweet grandchild of mine through it either.”

“Sorry Dad… But honestly, if I was bringing a girl home that I was expecting to have with, I would have told you. It was just Soori. No matter how much I want to, she wouldn’t let me.”

“We know that Hyung. What I wanna know is… What were you guys doing anyway? I don’t think Noona would come here just because she wanted to hang out with you,” Joey spoke up.

Mr. Tuan nodded in agreement, “Yeah, what was she doing here anyway?”

“Oh, we were working on a school project together,” Mark answered.

“And… You were working together in your room?”

“Yeah…”

“That’s it. You two in your room with absolutely no flirting? Hyung how am I supposed to learn from you if you aren’t giving me anything!” Joey exclaimed.

Mark and Mr. Tuan both laughed at the young boy’s sudden outburst. “Well, she did lay down on my bed.”

“What? I thought she wasn’t that kind of person!” Mr. Tuan said with both his eyebrows raised.

“She was tired. So she laid down. Of course, I took the opportunity and laid down with her.”

“And nothing happened? You didn’t kiss or anything like that?”

“Well… I was about to make my move… But then you guys came home. Thanks,” Mark sighed while ruffling his hair.

Really ruined a once in a lifetime chance…

“Hyung, I doubt that’ll be the last chance you get to make a move on her in bed,” Joey chuckled.

“Well… I guess… Considering that wasn’t the first time I’ve been in bed with her,” Mark admitted, remembering the time he went to her house after homecoming.

“What?!” both Mr. Tuan and Joey shouted. “How many times have you been in bed with her??” Mr. Tuan asked with wide eyes.

“Just one other time! I swear!” Mark said with his hands held out in front of him, “I went to her house after homecoming to comfort her since something bad happened the night of homecoming… While we were talking we both just ended up laying together on her bed. I swear nothing happened!” he said with his cheeks flushed.

“Sure…” Mr. Tuan smirked, dragging out the word as he stared down at his flustered son. Joey joined in and wiggled his eyebrows at his older brother.

“I promise! You can even ask her!” Mark exclaimed, his cheeks turning redder.

“Look how red he is!” Joey burst into laughter.

~

“So he’s been hitting on you for a little over a month now?” Tammy clarified.

Soori nodded, “That sounds about right.”

They were now leisurely sitting around while waiting for the food to cook. Mrs. Tuan was adding seasoning to the rice while stirring around the soup. Every now and then she’d put the soup on the side to cheek on the pan for the char siu.

“But you don’t like my brother?”

“Not like that… No offense. Mark is fun to be around and all but… He’s a player and I’d rather not go through that sort of drama,” Soori explained herself to the other girls.

“But if Oppa really really really likes you and doesn’t even look at other girls except for you, then what would you do?” Grace asked.

“Well…” Soori hesitated and blushed a little bit. “I suppose I would like him a little better if he wasn’t so much of a player?”

Mrs. Tuan and Tammy glanced at each other and smiled. “You know, Soori… Mark isn’t going to be a player forever. Eventually he’d want to settle down,” Tammy said, “Maybe at that point you could consider him?”

“I mean… If Mark really has feelings for me I wouldn’t mind giving it a shot. Honestly, I really enjoy going out with him. But if you guys say that to him I’ll deny it. I’m really good at lying, I’m a bit of an actress,” Soori chuckled.

“Hyung did you hear that?” Joey whispered as he, Mark, and their dad eavesdropped on the girls.

“She’d only like me if I stopped being a player.”

“So you should stop being a player!” Mr. Tuan said, hitting the back of his son’s head.

Mark sighed in response and rubbed the back of his head. “Easier said than done. Bad habits die hard,” he said while giving his dad a look.

The two others nodded understandingly before they went back to eavesdropping on them.

“Personally, I think Mark really likes you. Based on what you, Umma, and Grace have told me,” Tammy spoke up.

“Oppa does like Unnie. Mark Oppa has a lot of boy talks with Joey Oppa about Unnie,” Grace said with a nod.

Mr. Tuan gave his sons a sideways look, “You guys do that?”

“Hyung panics when it comes to Noona,” Joey quickly explained.

“The real question is how do you really feel about Mark?” Tammy asked Soori.

The girl hesitated to answer. She pursed her lips in thought and fiddled with her fingers. “I… Well… I don’t know? He’s a good friend?” Soori asked, quite unsure of herself.

How do I feel about Mark?

The question haunted her for the rest of the evening. Her answer also apparently haunted Mark for the rest of his week. She only thought of him as a friend while he knew that if he ever had the opportunity and chance for a yes, he'd ask her to be his.

Tammy nodded before Mrs. Tuan called out for everyone to gather at the table, since the food was ready now.

~

As everyone was settled down and eating, Mr. Tuan spoke up first. “So girls, what’d you talk about?”

“Girl stuff. You can’t know, yeobo.” Mrs. Tuan childishly stuck out her tongue. Tammy clicked her tongue in disapproval.

“Yah, Umma. How are you supposed to be a role model for Grace if you act like that?” she laughed loudly as Mrs. Tuan just glared at her eldest child.

“What did Oppas and Appa talk about?” Grace asked innocently.

“Boy stuff. You can’t know,” Mr. Tuan also childishly stuck out his tongue. Tammy once again clicked her tongue and shook her head in amusement.

“Aigoo, our parents are so immature,” she spoke to her husband and Soori. The two non-blood relatives just laughed a little bit while continuing to eat their food.

For the rest of dinner, Mr. and Mrs. Tuan thought it’d be appropriate to share Mark’s childhood stories with Soori. Many of which Mark tried to quickly cover Soori’s ears or create a distraction so she wouldn’t hear the embarrassing tales of his younger years.

“There was actually a time that Mark was really nervous around girls!”

“You must be lying to me!” Soori laughed while playfully glancing over at Mark, “This guy was nervous around girls?”

“Yeah! It was really funny. One time he came home crying because he tried to talk to a girl he liked but he failed!” Mr. Tuan exclaimed, causing the whole table to burst into fits of laughter.

“Yah! Appa!! I wasn’t crying! I was just freaking out because that was when we first moved here! I couldn’t speak Korean fluently and she gave me weird looks so I thought I said something wrong!” Mark defended himself.

Joey spoke up, “Is that why you didn’t talk to any other girl for the next five months?”

“Five months all because of that? Awww Mark~” Soori cooed while giggling a little bit.

“That’s different though. Before we moved here I had plenty of friends who were girls in California!” Mark pouted.

“Aahhh, so Korean girls scared you. Alright~ I’m not judging,” Soori chuckled. Mark’s jaw dropped and he quickly tried to explain himself again, causing everyone else to laugh even more.

“Oh, here’s my favorite story to share about Mark. When we lived in California we actually gave him a nickna-”

“Dad no you do not need to tell the whole world this one!” Mark said in English.

“Oh, but I do. I feel very inclined to tell the whole world this one,” Mr. Tuan chuckled before continuing on, “Anyway. His nickname was ‘Little ’ back in California.”

Soori almost choked on her water after hearing that one. She burst into more laughter and looked over at Mark, “Little ?” She said in English, “Do I even want to know why?”

“Let the name speak for itself,” Joey laughed.

Soori raised an eyebrow and chuckled before turning away from Mark, a playful smirk plastered on her lips, “Interesting.” She hummed.

“It was my nickname in the past it isn’t true anymore!” Mark said defensively.

“I wouldn’t take his word for it,” Tammy whispered to Soori, causing the two girls to giggle. Mark just pouted and whined to his elder sister.

~

After dinner, Soori found herself sitting down on Mark’s bed with her legs crossed as she played with a basketball. She made several attempts to spin and balance the ball on her finger. Some were successful – for no more than a minute.

Mark told his parents that the two were going to quickly finish up a few things on their project and then clean up. Of course, the project wasn’t one hundred percent finished yet, but they didn’t want to put it aside with some props just half painted. After he was finally able to convince Soori to let go of the basketball, they got to work on finishing the props they were currently working on. However, since the props were so small, it took them a lot longer to finish painting them since they wanted it to not look messy.

“Maybe I should take you out on a basketball date,” Mark suddenly suggested.

At this suggestion, Soori’s eyes lit up and she looked at Mark with a sparkle in her eyes. “Really? I’d be really excited for that!!”

He chuckled and smiled at her, finding her reaction to be rather adorable. He liked seeing Soori’s cute side. “Basketball date it is. But I’m not going easy on you just because you’re a girl.”

She scoffed and rolled her eyes, focusing on the prop again. “I wouldn’t underestimate me if I were you, Little .”

“Yah, stop calling me that!”

“Little ~~” Soori cooed before repeating the name several times.

Mark just sighed, “I’ll get you back eventually. I’ll find a good way to make you as embarrassed as I feel right now.”

“Oh really? Like wh-”

She couldn’t even finish her question when Mark suddenly leaned over and kissed her cheek, his lips dangerously close to hers. Soori turned bright red and she cleared before turning away from him. “I’ll kiss you every time you call me Little ,” Mark said with a nod, smiling victoriously when Soori just nodded, too flustered to even say anything.

When the two finally finished up with their little props, Mr. Tuan peeked in through the door. He entered when he saw the two were just putting away the supplies. “Hey, Soori,” he said, “Your mom just called, she said it’s getting pretty late and you should head home now.”

“Ah, okay. Sorry for staying so late, and thank you for dinner,” Soori smiled and bowed politely to him.

“Not a problem at all. Oh, it was a pleasure having you. You’re welcome back anytime you want,” Mr. Tuan said with a smile. “Mark, you can walk her home once you’re both done cleaning up.” Mark nodded in response and Mr. Tuan walked out, bidding them both a good night, which they returned.

~

When the two were in front of Soori’s house, Mark held onto her wrist before she could enter her house. She turned back and looked at him.

“I’ll uh… See you on Monday?” he asked shyly while rubbing the back of his neck.

Soori smiled softly at him and nodded, “Yeah. And thanks for tonight, it was really fun hanging out with your family.”

“Hey, it’s almost like you’re a part of the family,” Mark said with a wink.

Soori laughed as her cheeks became a tint redder, she put her free hand on the door of the gate and smiled at Mark. “Good night, be safe on your way home.” Mark nodded and waved at her, making sure she got into the house before he made his way home.

She didn’t deny that she was a part of the family.

He thought with a smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~

This was literally like at least 10 pages on word.

I'm spoiling you guys because I meant to upload this forever ago. And I didn't. So instead I went back and made it longer for your guys' entertainment.

Also I am already working on chapter 20 so you can be anticipating that. I wouldn't anticipate it anytime soon-- I would like to post it soon but seriously first week back and my teachers are like, "Okay here are 2 reading assignments, 4 projects, 10 papers, and don't forget to do your homework! Btw you have a test next week okay have fun this weekend!"

Teachers why. Go easy on me my birthday is soon--

MAYBE I'LL UPDATE ON MY BIRTHDAY. I hope. I want to. That sounds nice. Update on my birthday. It's like a present from me. (yes i'm one of those who like to give presents on my birthday instead of receive presents on my birthday)

Anyway. Comment/Subscribe?(:

Comment Replies~

weiszofyke - I'm sorry I don't update often/frequently! :(

thelillcat - ALL THE FEELS <3

secretreader - Sorry for a late update :(

MelodyNguyen143 - 5AM?!?!?! Daannnggg I didn't know my story was worth staying up that late-- Thank you so much~! <3

HaraxD - This is actually my first time writing fluffy things. I'm glad you like it though~ Thank you! <3

kawaiimacaron - Thank you for the support!

EXOtic1994 - I doubt Mark is this corny irl. But he's probably really corny irl xD Thank you for reading~! <3

BTS_LOVE_JIN - I'm so sorry for the late update :(

bloomst - Thank you for the support! And I feel that, school is just fjeawpiuehg lately.

ash_xoxo_21 - Hehe well I love you for reading this~ <3 Thank you for being so supportive <3