Call me when you wake up we need to talk

-Mark

 

Celeste stared down at her phone the next morning and nervously scratched her head as she read the text over and over again. 

 

That did not sound good.

 

She jumped off her bed and did a few anxious laps around her room before jumping back on her bed and looking at the text again.

 

No matter how you looked at it, that was ominous as and Mark didn’t even put a smily face at the end to make it sound less scary. 

 

What could Mark possible need to text her at 2 in the morning for?

 

Well, there was only one way to find out.

 

She took a deep breath and called him.

 

“Hello?” Mark’s voice sounded groggy and stressed, like he had been working through the night.

 

“Hey Mark,” Celeste tightened her grip on her cell phone. “I got your text; What’s up?”

 

She could hear his sigh and a slight rustle. “I know this is kind of a weird, romcom kind of thing to ask but I’m kind of stuck between a rock and a tough place and I don’t have any other options.”

 

“Is everything alright, Mark?” She asked worriedly.

 

“Remember how I mentioned that my great aunt is coming to visit?”

 

“The one who use to give you her son’s toys because she didn’t want to go shopping for you?”

 

“Yeah, that one. Well, now that I’m a student at Daebu Academy of Social Etiquette and Business-”

 

“She’s suddenly very interested in being your favorite Aunt?”

 

“I wish.”

 

 

Celeste raised her eyebrows. “Whoa, that bad?”

 

“She’s trying to hook me up with one of her friend’s daughters.”

 

“Ugh, gross.” She cringed and made a face.

 

“She’s been shoving pictures of all these girls in my face and just not taking no for an answer. And I kind of got fed up-”

 

“Yeah, I imagine so!”

 

“Celeste, just let me talk.”

 

“Sorry, continue.”

 

“Thanks. Where was I?”

 

“You got fed with her.”

 

“Hm! Yeah, I got fed up and told her I had a girlfriend.” He suddenly sounded very nervous.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“I see. And that’s were I come in?”

 

“Yeah, but I really don’t want to force you into this. I mean, it would be ready helpful but-”

 

“I see what you mean about this being a romcom kind of thing. You’re lucky I like you, Mark.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

She smiled, her expression slightly troubled but sure. “I’ll help you. I’d want her off my if she was my relative as well.”

 

“Oh my god that you so much, Celeste.” His voice brightened and he sounded like a large weight had been lifted off his shoulder.

 

“What are friends for?” 

 

***

 

That’s how one week later, Celeste found herself in a bus climbing up the side of a snowy mountain. She rubbed the sleeve of her knitted sweater on the foggy window to look at the scenery.

 

“It’s really pretty, Mark!” She pointed outside and he leaned forward to look at the winter wonderland that flew by. 

 

 

“Looks like the perfect weather for snowboarding.” He smiled slightly at the thought. If he could manage to get away from his family obligations for a few hours he knew what he was going to do.

 

“Are you sure your parents aren’t going to randomly pop by and ruin this whole thing?” She turned toward his as the window got foggy again. “That’s always happens in movies.”

 

He chuckled and ruffled her hair affectionately. “Nope. There’s no way they can. They have a business trip in India right now and they won’t be back for two weeks. The only reason my great aunt came up here is because my mom wanted her to check up on me and make sure I didn’t spend the whole time in the house alone.”

 

“And somehow your great aunt checking in on you turned into meeting up with her at at ski lodge?”

 

“I never said she was actually going to do what my mom asked her to do.”

 

“Your family is wild, Tuan.”

 

“Yeah, yeah it is.”

 

They fell into a comfortable silence as Mark listen to music, tapping his hand on his thigh lightly to the beat, and Celeste drew pictures on the window with her finger. Half an hour later, Mark heard a dull thud as the song changed and glanced over to his right. Celeste nodded off some time ago to the gentle rocking of the bus. Every time they hit a small bump in the road, her head would bang against the window and she’d furrow her brows but quickly fall back against it. Mark watched her, amused for a minute, before reaching over and gently guiding her head toward him. She rested against his shoulder and let out a small sigh. His shoulder was obviously more comfortable then the window and she wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled him closer.

 

Mark smiled softly at his childhood friend and kissed her temple before leaning his head on hers and falling asleep in her arms.

 

 

***

 

“Mark!”

 

The second they stepped off the bus when they got to the lodge, they were greeted with an obnoxiously high pitch voice. A woman plowed through the crowd of people and stopped in front of Mark before giving him a big, awkward, painful looking hug.

 

“My, how you’ve grown!” As she pulled away from him, Celeste got a whiff of her overzealously applied perfume and gagged at its smell. The overwhelming scent of sickly vanilla did not hid the smell of old lady and cats. It was like grandma had gotten a bit too excited while making cookies but without the delicious benefits. The woman was also draped in green shawls that made her already big frame look even bigger and honestly the more Celeste looked at her the more she was convinced this woman was part frog. “You look just like your father.”

 

Celeste scrunched her nose. He didn’t.

 

“Hi, Auntie. How are you?” Mark forced and smile and quickly took step back to try to get back his personal space.

 

“I’m wonderful, darling. Just so excited to see you again.” She didn’t let him have any personal space at all and stepped forward to be just as close as she had been before. “It’s been too long to since we last saw each other.”

 

“It has been.” He practically said through his teeth. “There’s someone I’d like you too meet, Auntie. She’s-”

 

“Goodness! That reminds me! Where are my manners?” She turned to the side and revealed a very beautiful girl behind her. “This is my friend’s daughter, Jinju. I know you two will get along nicely.”

 

“Hello, it’s nice to meet you.” The girl smiled kindly and bowed slightly.

 

Mark and Celeste’s eyes widened as they recognized the girl.

 

Jo Jinju.

 

The famous model.