Mark looked away from the trio of students that had approached them and picked Suzy's silverware off of the ground. He brushed off the dirt and set them to the side. He grabbed for his backpack where he kept and extra set of utensils. But before he could even begin searching for him his eyes locked onto Suzy's hands. They were shaking. He glanced up at her eyes which were still locked on the trio that had approached them. He dropped his bag back to the side and placed a hand on hers in an attempt to calm her down.

“What's wrong, Suzy? Why do you seem so surprised to see me? Did that dumb little brain of yours actually think I was going to leave you alone this year?”

Mark glanced up at the girl who was speaking, taken aback by her words and her condescending tone. She might have been pretty, but the twisted look on her face turned Mark off to her completely. She was chewing on a piece of gum, seemingly waiting for Suzy to speak up.

“Jiyeon...” was all Suzy managed to mutter.

Mark had heard about this girl, Park Jiyeon. The guys in their class seemed to fancy her. He knew she was popular but he had never run into her before. The petite girl on her left was probably Lee Jieun and the boy on Jiyeon's right was Im Jaebum, a boy from Mark's own class. Jieun looked awkward standing there, desperately trying to avoid eye contact with both Mark and Suzy. And Jaebum looked disinterested in the whole thing, like he rather not be there, like was dragged along against his will.

Jiyeon crossed her arms over her chest and let out a loud, drawn out sigh. She tossed her head, moving her hair out of her face.

“I can't believe you came back here – after everything you did,” Jiyeon said at last, breaking the silence. “You walk around here like you have done nothing wrong. Do you not hear what people are saying about you behind your back?”

Suzy frantically started to gather up her things, spilling the rest of her food on the ground. Mark sat silently, watching her with confusion in his gaze.

“Does he know what kind of person you really are?” Jiyeon continued, her tone become more and more harsh with every syllable that slipped from her pink lips.

Suzy shouldered her bag and took a step forward, a sob caught in and tears threatening to spill from her eyes. Mark grabbed hold of her wrist before he could even think about what he was doing. He stood, tossed his bag over his shoulder and led Suzy away from there. He didn't dare look at her, afraid to see her tears. He didn't like seeing girls cry.

“Are you okay?” Mark asked when they stepped foot inside the school. Suzy shook her arm free from his grip and wiped the tears off of her face. She sniffed back a cry and looked up at him. Her lips were trembling.

“What she was saying-”

“I don't need to know about any of that. I don't care about what happened between you and them. I just want to know if you're okay.” Mark surprised himself with what he had said. He was being honest, he didn't care about her past. But on the other hand, he didn't care much if she was okay either... did he? He ran a hand through his hair and sighed. He reminded himself not to get too close to her. He never knew when he'd be moving schools again.

“I'm fine,” Suzy said. “I'm sorry... about them.”

“You have no reason to be sorry. They're the problem – not you. Class is going to start soon, we should head back.”

Suzy nodded and followed him.

Suzy was smiling now, as if the event that had taken place earlier that day had never happened. She had her tape recorder out and was kneeling beside the river. She had taken her shoes off a few feet away and was standing bare foot in the dirt, not seeming to care about how dirty her feet were getting. Mark stood back behind her a few feet, his hands in his pocket and his eyes scanning the sky. As a warm breeze blew over them he closed his eyes and exhaled slowly.

“Mark,” Suzy called and the young man opened his eyes. She was staring back at him, still knelt by the river. He approached her and crouched beside her, his eyebrows raised as he waited for her to continue. “You really don't want to know why Jiyeon is like that to me?”

Mark shook his head and looked at the water. He dipped his fingertips in and made small circles. Suzy bowed her head, her eyes watching the patterns he was making in the water.

“She used to be your friend, right? All of them did.”

“Yeah.”

“Friends don't treat each other like that. If there was a conflict between you that couldn't be resolved, she should just ignore it. Why bring up the past...”

“She wanted to embarrass me, I guess.” Suzy sighed and stood up, Mark following her lead. She let out yelp as she twisted her leg the wrong way and started falling towards the water. Mark quickly grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her towards him. He wrapped his other arm around her instinctively, holding her close to his body.

“That was close,” he muttered. Suzy looked up at him, her chin grazing his collarbone in the process. Mark's eyes widened and he released his hold on her as he took a step back. He could feel his cheeks grow hot, in an attempt to hide it he turned around. “You should be more careful, Suzy. I won't always be around to save you like that.”

“I-,” Suzy started but stopped.

“It's about time we went home,” Mark sighed, glancing back at her after having composed himself. She was staring at him, her big brown eyes looking confused. She gave a quick shake of her head, as if trying to break herself out of whatever thoughts she was having.