I got to their door, only to find that it had been locked. They must have known I would come.

“Yah! Open the door!” I screamed, pounding my fist on it simultaneously.

“Uhh. Mark, we’re kind of busy right now, so why don’t you come back later in the day.” I heard Grace say from the other side.

“Aniya!” I said, letting some Korean slip out, before continuing in English, “You’re just hiding from me! And both of us know it.”

“What are you talking about?” She said, obviously bluffing.

“Just let him in, Grace. We’ll deal with him sooner or later, so we might as well get it over with.” Tammy spoke up.

I heard the door click before seeing it open in front of me. I barged in, grabbing Grace, who was hiding behind the door, by the arm on my way in. I pushed her to sit on the bed, next to Tammy. I sat on the other bed, facing them.

“What the hell is your problem?!” I scolded. Sometimes, it felt like I was the eldest child in the family, since both my older sisters, one 22, the other 20, we’re so immature.

“What do you mean, Mark? If you meant what happened a while ago during lunch, then sorry, but we were just giving our honest opinions about her. It’s an older sibling thing. Once Joey brings a girl home, you’ll understand what I mean.” Tammy said, acting like it was no big deal.

“How could you guys do that?! You bashed her and insulted her right in front of her face!” I tugged on my hair, feeling stressed.

“Yeah. We actually meant for her to catch on, but she didn’t, because first, she doesn’t speak Mandarin, and second, you told her that we said something else.” Grace said matter-of-factly, making it seem as if this whole ordeal was my fault in the first place.

“But what if she did understand? She would think you guys are rude and would never give me a chance!” I exclaimed.

“Well, then that would have been a better outcome than this one then. That was our goal in the first place, to drive her away.” Tammy muttered.

“What?! Why are you two being like this?! Why can’t you just be the seemingly nice girls you ere when Jaehee came over?!” I exasperatedly asked.

“There! Oh my God! You should be with Jaehee instead! She’s the perfect girl for you, I swear. You guys were a match made in heaven.” Grace said excitedly.

“Great thinking, Grace! Mark, why can’t you just like Jaehee instead? C’mon! She’s pretty, smart, talented, and she can cook really well!” Tammy practically begged at the last part.

“Why don’t you guys date her then?!” I said. Ignoring my comment, they continued to talk on and on about how I should pick Jaehee over Jessica..

Finally hearing enough, I got up and walked out the door, slamming it shut, again.

I entered the room, and Joey looked up from his phone to ask me, “What was that about? I’m guessing you scolded Tammy and Grace judging from the door banging that I heard.”

“Mmm.” I said, tired from the stress I felt just talking to my sisters.

He left me alone after that, and I just laid in my bed, thinking.

Why was Jessica here? Why now of all times? Because she missed you and now was her only chance, idiot.

Wow. She and I would spend practically every day together for the next few months. This is the perfect time to confess to her. What about when she leaves for the US, though? Lots of long-distance relationships work, right? No, stupid. Face it, she’d never say yes, anyways. You aren’t even her type.

Even though that stupid voice in my head was pissing me off, it had a point. I wasn’t Jessica’s type at all. Maybe I could try and become her type. I was suddenly reminded of Jaehee. She was coming over tomorrow.

Oh no. She was coming over tomorrow. What if Jessica sees her? What would she think? Oh god. I need to tell her she can’t come over.

Taking my phone out, I was about to text Jaehee, when I realized that I only had her number from years ago. She probably changed it. It was worth a shot. I pressed ‘call’.

It was ringing.

It went on for about a minute. I was starting to lose hope. I was thinking up other ways to contact her. She wasn’t my friend on Facebook, and she didn’t have a twitter. That means I can’t through SNS then. I most definitely didn’t have her as a Line and KakaoTalk contact, and Jinyoung and the others obviously don’t have her number. I was about to put the phone down, when a voice suddenly came on,

“Hello?” I heard a girl speak.

“Ah. Neh. Is Jaehee there?” I asked, a bit nervous. What if the person on the other line didn’t even know a ‘Jaehee”?

“May I ask who this is first?” the person inquired.

“Ah. It’s Mark. Mark Tuan.” I replied.

“Omona! Mark? Wow. I haven’t heard from you in years! It’s Sooyeon, Jaehee’s caretaker.”

“Ah. Neh. I remember.” I smiled over the phone. Sooyeon was Jaehee’s caretaker, as she mentioned. Jaehee’s parents were always away, so she was usually tended to by the maids in the house. Sooyeon was the head maid, and she had been serving their household since Jaehee was 2 years old. Jaehee told me that she felt that Sooyeon was her second mom from the way she treated her.

“Jaehee is in her piano class at the moment. Would you like me to excuse her?” She questioned.

“No! It’s fine! I’ll just call a bit later.” I said.

“Nonsense! Why don’t you just come over for now. Her class is almost finished anyway.” Sooyeon insisted.

“It won’t be inconvenient at all, trust me.” She continued.

“Uhm, okay, but just for a little while.” I listened to her request.

“Great.” She said, the joy evident in the tone of her voice, and she dropped the call.

I stood up and went to our shared walk-in closet. I looked for some decent clothes to wear, and changed.

“Where are you going?” Joey looked up at me.

“Jaehee’s house. I’ll be back in an hour and a half or so.” I nonchalantly replied. Grabbing my phone and earphones from my bed, I headed out of the room. Before completely leaving the house, I made sure to say, “I’m going out!”

I plugged in my earphones and put them on as I started walking. The whole walk took around 10 minutes, and before I knew it, I was standing in front of the familiar house. The fond memories of our childhood started to come back.

“Hey, Mark!” I heard Jaehee call from her kitchen, “Wanna go out and play on the swings? Arabeoji just had them installed the other day. He said it was a prize for working so hard.”

I was currently immersed in watching TV. They were playing a movie marathon, and Batman Begins was on. Jaehee was in the kitchen, baking who knows what, but whatever it was, it was bound to be delicious.

“Mmmm, maybe later.” I answered, half-heartedly.

The next thing I knew, she was pulling on my arm, “Come on! Please! Play with me! Even just for ten minutes! I swear!” she begged.

“No! Wait until the movie ends, then we can play outside.”

“But, Mark! It’ll be dark by then! Let’s play now!” she persisted.

I turned around to glare at her. Bad idea. She was pouting. I hated it when she’d do that. It always got me to do what she wanted. I didn’t even know why. I had seen people with cuter pouts, but I only cracked when she would do it.

“Fine.” I said, annoyed.

“Yay! Sooyeon-unnie, please take the cupcakes out when they’re ready and ice them, as well! Mark and I will be outside, by the swing set!” She said while dragging me out to their backyard.

“Arasseo, agasshi.” Sooyeon bowed.

I ended up not playing at all. Jaehee just made me push her the whole time. Despite that, I still had fun, because with Jaehee, there was never a dull moment. She was the life of the party, really. A huge ball of energy that seemed to be radiating happiness. So when I left for home that day, a box of cupcakes in tow, I went back with a smile on my face

A/N: Yehet! It's up, and on time! My friend said that this story seems a bit rushed, and I kind of agree, but there's actually a reason behind it which will be exposed in the latter part of this fic ^____^

Well, I still have no chapter 7 prepared, but I hope to write it from tonight to tomorrow morning, since I'm kind of an insomniac. Well, 'til tomorrow, then!