“Oh. Who are you? Mark, do you know her?” Jessica asked in English and looked at me.

“Uh, yeah. Jessica, this is Jaehee, my classmate. Jaehee, this is Jessica, my childhood friend.” Not bothering to translate to Korean, since English was Jaehee’s first language, as well.

“Hey. It’s nice to meet you.” Jaehee said politely.

“Oh,” Jessica looked surprised, “you speak really well. There’s no accent at all.”

“Yeah. I spent the early parts of my childhood in the United States, so I’m pretty used to using English. It’s what we use at home, as well, so yeah.” Jaehee smiled.

“I’m guessing you came here to eat, then.” Jessica said.

“Yeah. This is actually one of the places I frequent, so I was shocked when I saw Mark sitting here with you.” She replied.

“Hey, why don’t you sit eat with us. Mark has some space left next to him.” Jessica offered.

I was praying to God that Jaehee would say no. This wasn’t supposed to be a dinner between friends, it was supposed to be a date.

“I don’t know. I guess, if Mark would be okay with it.”

“What do you say, Mark? C’mon, she’s your friend, right?” Jessica looked at me with her puppy dog eyes, and that was when I knew that I wouldn’t say no.

“Uhh, sure. Why not?” I scooted over, immediately regretting what I had just said. There was no going back now.

Jaehee got an order of specially made flaming hot ddeokbokki for herself. It seemed that she really was a regular at this stand, since apparently, they only served those to customers that they are close to and know well.

More conversation went on from our table for the rest of the meal, almost none of it coming from me. I gave the occasional smile and laugh, but the two girls were the ones who seemed so into whatever it was they were talking about. If you ask me, it seemed like it was really Jessica and Jaehee who were on a date.

“So, Jaehee, I almost forgot to ask. Are you dating Mark, or something?” Jessica questioned.

I almost choked on the water I was drinking. Jaehee erupted into a fit of giggles.

“Yeah, right,” she said, wiping away tears of laughter, “like I would date this loser. Who would?”

“Yah! I wouldn’t date you, and neither would Jinyoung, remember?” I said, defending myself.

Jaehee’s face went serious, and that’s when I knew that I went a bit too far.

“I’m—“

“Yeah, that’s true, isn’t it?” Jaehee started playing with her fingers,  which rested on her lap.

Jessica looked at me, a mix of slight anger and confusion in her eyes.

“What the hell did you do?!” she mouthed at me.

Her attention was on Jaehee after that, “Who’s Jinyoung?” she asked gently.

“He’s just Mark’s best friend. I confessed to him a few days ago after crushing on him for a long time, but he rejected me. It’s not a surprise, though. Every single girl, no, even some with boyfriends, seems to have a huge crush on him. I knew I wouldn’t stand a chance.”

Jessica stood up and walked over to our side of the tables, giving Jaehee a hug. “Aw. I bet he isn’t even that great. Mark, I want to meet this Jinyoung guy. Does he go to our school?”

“Yes. He does.” I answered. Jessica was wrong, for once, because Jinyoung really was all that great. In fact, in everyone’s eyes, including mine, he was beyond perfect.

“Why don’t we head home now?” Jessica returned to her seat and asked, noticing that we had finished all our food. Jaehee and I nodded. After paying for the bill, we headed back to the train station. Luckily, we were able to get some seats in the train.

Jessica and I were next to each other, while Jaehee sat across from us. I only noticed now that her hai was damp. Did she bathe? It wasn’t raining, either. She also had her earphones plugged into her ears, and she looked a bit uncomfortable, since the man next to her was leaning on her shoulder, sleeping.

Wait. When did Jaehee start taking the train? She told me that unless she was with me, her parents disallowed her from using public transportation. That’s why when I was with Jinyoung, she would be taken to and from school by her private chauffer.

We finally got off at the Gangnam station after a few train switches. Soon enough, we were out of the train station and were walking home. We walked Jessica home first, since apparently, her place was on the way to ours.

“Good night, guys! I’ll see you tomorrow! Bye!” she waved before walking to her door.

It was just me and Jaehee now. We walked with a space that could fit 3 people in it between us. It was beyond awkward. I decided to strike up a conversation, but she beat me to it.

“She was the reason you cancelled on today, right?” she asked.

“Yeah.” I didn’t bother denying it. The cat was out of the bag, anyways.

“She’s also the girl you used to talk about when we were kids, right?”

I stopped in my tracks. I didn’t think that she would remember.

“Mark, have you ever loved anyone before?” Jaehee asked me, bluntly.

We were currently sitting in her living room, and we just finished watching Titanic.

“Hmm… I wouldn’t call it love, maybe like.” I replied, unashamed.

“What? Really? How does it feel?” she asked me in amazement.

“Well, whenever I see her, I get all flustered and my mind goes blank.”

“So when you like someone and fall in love with them, you become stupid?” she wondered aloud, “I don’t wanna be stupid, so I guess I don’t want to fall in love either.”

“No, Jaehee, you don’t become stupid. It’s just really hard to explain. Everything they do just seems to be so wise and right,”

“Exactly. You become stupid.”

“No! You don’t” I laughed, “You just need to experience it first. Maybe when you grow up.” I patted her head.

“But Mark, you’re only a year older than me! Why can’t it happen now?!” she stomped her feet on the ground.

“I don’t know, either. It will just come when it comes.”

“You remembered that?” I asked.

“Of course. I’m correct, right? It’s her.” She looked to me.

“Yeah.” I blushed.

“But you were right back then. Falling in love makes you feel weird. I was also kind of right, too. Sometimes, loving makes you stupid and blind. It confuses you and lets you fall for someone who doesn’t like you either.” She said, gently.

I knew she was talking about Jinyoung. Quickly changing the topic to avoid even more awkwardness, I asked, “I noticed you weren’t driven home.”

“Oh. I asked not to be driven home on days that I train, since I go home pretty late sometimes.” She replied.

“Do your parents know?” I questioned, surprised that she was even allowed to.

“Of course not.” She laughed, “they would never let me do it.”

I noticed that we reached her house. I stopped walking.

“Why? What’s up?” she asked, curiously.

“It’s your house.”

“I know. Don’t I usually bring you to yours, though?”

“No need. I’m not 10 anymore. I’ve walked home plenty of times.” I smiled.

“Okay then. Suit yourself. Good night, Mark!” she said, and headed to her doorstep.

I started my trek to my house. Today didn’t go as bad as I thought it would, even with Jaehee there. Maybe she even made it better...

A/N: LOL OMG I accidentally forgot to unhide this last night. I guess I was too sleepy. Sorry!!!! Double update tomorrow to make up for this mistake, though. Good by! Thank You! I'm sorry, once again :(