내 가슴이. Tik Tok Tik Tok Tik Tok.
( My heart. Tik Tok Tik Tok Tik Tok. )

The moment that Saemi heard that the girl, Yong Seura, had ended up in the hospital, every single cell on her body told her that it was all because of Mark Tuan. The saying was that Seura had fallen down a long flight of concrete stairs, so she had broken a couple of bones. Not to mention, she had also hit her head pretty hard, so she had also slipped into a coma.

While the story wasn't completely unbelievable, Saemi found the fact that Mark's completely nonchalant behavior to be a little disturbing. In an attempt to provoke some sort of response from him, she finds the time to talk with Mark between classes up on the roof.

"Did you hear about what happened to Yong Seura?" she asks, leaning against the balcony that was overlooking school grounds, "Didn't someone say that she fell down the stairs and broke a few bones? I really feel bad about what happened to her."

As Saemi searched Mark's eyes for any trace of emotion, he nods slowly, "Yeah. I can't believe something so terrible happened to her."

"Wasn't she an acquaintance of yours?" Saemi continues to say as she struggles to find the feeling of concern in his gaze, "I've seen her talking to you before."

Mark tilts his head to the side in confusion, "You've seen her talking to me? Where?"

"Just in the hallways," Saemi casually responds. In reality, she has no idea if Mark really knows Seura, but she was sure that Seura knew Mark. Everyone knew who Mark was, and every single girl had a crush on Mark. That is why she is able to confidently say for a fact, "the last time I saw her, she seemed really happy to see you. You two seemed quite close, and I almost thought that the two of you were the true girlfriend-boyfriend pair."

The moment she finishes speaking, a flash of annoyance is seen across Mark's expressions. It only lasts for a few seconds before he takes a deep breath, speaking in a solemn manner, "She was one of the people who took a liking to me; in fact, she is the reason why I asked you to become my stand-in girlfriend. While she had started to become the possessive type, I still can't believe someone wanted to hurt her. She is still one of the nicer people I know."

"I wonder who has it out for her," Saemi taps her chin, though still highly certain that it was Mark, himself, "Maybe we should get justice for her. She seems like a sweet girl."

Out of the blue, she hears Mark laughing to himself, "Yeah. She does make quite the good first impression."

Puzzled, she doesn't understand what was so funny. She also doesn't understand why she was speaking up for Yong Seura when she knows that Seura was one of the people who was playing dirty tricks against her due to her jealousy about the relationship between herself and Mark.

Quickly brushing these thoughts aside, she attempts to regain focus on attempting to figure out if Mark really was the culprit against Seura's accident, "I think we should go visit her. She is your friend after all."

"I don't think I can do that," Mark frowns a bit, "I'll be quite busy these days. Perhaps you can visit her on my behalf. I'm sure she'll like that."

Saemi almost scoffs. If Mark doesn't show up, then her visit would be completely pointless. Even if she wanted to visit Seura for any reason, she knows that Seura would despise her for showing up. Why would anyone want their rival in love to see them in a pitiful state?

"Is that so?" Saemi speaks slowly then nods, but not before she decides to pull through with her angel-like image, "Alright, I will go see her and make sure she is doing well in treatment."

***

It didn't take very long for the teacher to pair Saemi and Mark up again for some assignment regarding societal relationships and lies. She takes this opportunity to ask Mark what the assignment was about as a means of testing his ability of listening to the details and how much attention he pays in class.

Surprisingly, Mark answers her flawlessly.

She was completely impressed by his detailed response, quickly making a mental note of his intelligence and diligence, before realizing that his would only make her job harder.

Putting her mission aside for a few seconds, she finds that little part of Kim Hana beginning to show; she hates having to procrastinate teamwork, so she suggests that Mark come over to her home to begin working on the project. Luckily for her, she remembers that she still has to arrange for an apartment that Park Saemi lives in or else Mark would get suspicious, "Would you like to meet after school today to get this started? Around dinner time? 6 o'clock? I have prior arrangements before then."

She figured she would be able to find an apartment by then if she just asks her father for help.

***

It certainly surprised her when she found how honest Mark was being when she asked him about his past. He told her about his dead mother, and he told her about the unfortunate accident that she had fallen victim to. He also told her about his father's absence and how he hasn't seen him since.

It almost made Saemi feel bad about lying to him about her family. After Mark arrived at her apartment at 6 o'clock, Saemi explained that her parents always worked late, so they didn't come home until past midnight; this of course, was not true. This wasn't even her home.

Her father had asked a favor of a friend, pulling some strings to lend his beloved Hana this apartment for a week. With some cleaning and editing, Saemi was able to make this place look like her own home, but even with this lie, it was strange how Saemi felt like Mark had been her friend for a long while.

"Did I hear that right? The perfect Mark Tuan doesn't come from a perfect family?" she pretends to gasp dramatically, even though she long knew the truth.

"My perfect personality has nothing do with my family background," he defends, but the smile does not fade from his expression, "Park Saemi. It's not like your family is so perfect either. You did transfer back to here because your family business in Seoul didn't work out!"

As if they were two childhood friends, the two of them continued to bicker playfully. Saemi had never felt so relaxed. That is, until Mark asks her to spill secrets of her own.

The question made Saemi a bit nervous, because she cannot reveal anything about herself. As a result, she tries to describe an ideal lifestyle about how she has busy parents who still care for her. She tells him that though she rarely sees them, she is still happy to live. She tells him how she is very capable of taking care of herself.

She then proceeds to tell him that she is not alone.

The amount of lies spoken there put Saemi in a tough spot. Truth be told, Saemi knew that she did feel more lonely than any other person she knows. She is thankful that father took her in and raised her until now, but there was a part of her that longed for her biological family.

As if provoking the situation, Mark proceeds to play the devil's advocate, "While you might say that you're not alone, I feel like if you never see your aprents, then they have basically left you by yourself in this apartment of yours. Isn't that literally what it means to be alone?"

As soon as she hears him challenging her, she finds herself becoming defensive, "It's not the same!"

But immediately afterwards, she realizes what she has done. In a calmer tone while she balls her hands into fists to prevent herself from having an emotional breakdown, she repeats herself, "...It's really not the same."

Before she is able to comprehend the situation, she finds Mark's arms around her. Though she doesn't want to understand why Mark was doing such a thing, she finds herself responding to his behavior.

When did she allow herself to depend on him?

My love. Tik Tok Tik Tok Tik Tok.