사람들 앞에서 우린 어색하게 인사하지만.
( In front of others, we greet each other awkwardly. )

"...What the hell," her voice was quiet yet dangerous.

After Mark had the audacity to lean over and give her a kiss, Saemi did not react in one of the two ways that Mark had thought she would. He had believed that she would either fawn over that kiss like any other girl in school or explode in anger like the girls in the dramas that people talked about, yet here she was, barely giving a reaction.

There was no visible blush. There was no visible flustering.

There was absolutely nothing but the atmosphere of danger. For the first time ever, Mark felt himself growing excited. Park Saemi was absolutely not like any of the others that he has met, male or female.

Quickly putting his prince-like mask back on, he notices that Seura had rushed away from the scene, unable to watch Mark become closer to any other girl that was not herself.

At that sight, he immediately looks at Saemi, pretending to be apologetic, "I'm sorry about that! I needed someone to help me get rid of a girl who has become obsessed with me. I couldn't get someone at this school to help me out, because everyone knows that I'm not dating anyone here. Since you just transferred, I thought it would be more ideal. Please forgive me."

Hearing those seemingly sincere words, the dangerous atmosphere Saemi was giving off suddenly disappears. Replacing the previous deadly her, she had suddenly became a bit more innocent; a perfect 180-degree change in character, "Oh, so that's what happened! I completely understand. I'm more than happy to help you out with your problem."

Lie.

Mark unnoticeably flinches. Who did this girl think she was? What big secret did she have to hide that made her lie all the time? Was she in the witness protection program? Did they give her a completely new identity? Was she running away from some dark past that she couldn't reveal to anyone?

He doesn't know what to think, which is odd for Mark. He was always to deduce situations due to his ability. However, he realizes that he cannot understand the person that is Park Saemi.

Who is she, really?

***

The word spread like wildfire: Mark Tuan is in a relationship with Park Saemi. Of course, the moment the rumor began to spread around the school, Mark was confronted by many students. That was when Mark learned something about his ability to recognize lies.

If the person who states the lie believes wholeheartedly that the lie is the truth, then Mark would not feel the lie.

He, who had prepared himself for the discomfort, was quite satisfied when he didn't feel as much of the negative feeling as he thought he had to. But even so, there were still exaggerated rumors going around; rumors that were, in simple terms, lies.

These were people who knew that what they were spreading were rumors, and even they did not completely believe in the rumors themselves. However, even then, that was how rumors worked. People liked to spread things that they knew were untrue, because it always created more drama.

So that was how all the lies around JG High began: Park Saemi took Mark Tuan to a hotel. Mark Tuan is threatened to be Saemi's lover. Saemi and Mark are in an arranged marriage situation. Saemi is pregnant with Mark's child.

With these rumors circulating the school, Saemi could feel all the judgment from the other students. Though not a single girl came up to her and physically violated her, they did send her anonymous notes that were filled with threats with the typical leave Mark alone or we won't hesitate to hurt you type of contents.

It didn't take long for Mark to notice that Saemi was suffering because of him. He thought that he would be happy with her constant situation, but he was wrong. Even though he wanted Saemi to suffer, he wanted to be the one that was causing his suffering directly.

As a result, Mark completely snapped, "I will personally kill whoever is spreading lies about Saemi and I."

The students didn't take Mark's words very seriously. No student would. No one would believe that the perfect student would ever hurt another. However, they did get the implication. They knew that Mark wanted to protect Saemi like the perfect boyfriend that they believed him to be, and that caused two different reactions.

The girls were immediately split into two groups. Half of them wanted to clearly support Mark and his newly found, blossoming love. The other half were completely cloaked in jealousy, almost like a sickness without a cure.

Seura was a part of the second group.

After the kiss scene, she had caught Mark off-guard at his locker. She was in sniffles and tears, demanding an explanation why he had chose to be with a girl like Saemi. She insisted that she, herself, was better, and he would truly be happy with her, but all Mark could feel were lies.

Even Seura could not completely defend herself within her mind. There was no guarantee that changing girlfriends would make her beloved Mark happier.

That's what drove her to say the unavoidable, "I won't let Saemi get away with this!"

Truth.

Honestly, it wasn't as if Mark really cared about what the two types of girls were feeling. He just didn't want anyone interfering with his newly created plan to destroy Saemi, and here Seura was doing just that.

It was utterly disappointing.

***

"Mark!" Saemi calls out as she runs over to him, a wide smile bright upon her lips, "Do you believe it? Guess who just got her first 100 on a test?"

Lie.

In her hands, she held a a sheet of paper with a 100 written in the upper right corner. After Mark had told Saemi about how he had kissed her in order to get rid of a the crushes of a few obsessed girls, Saemi had happily agreed to help him out and continue to be his fake lover.

To Mark, he had just made a large breakthrough in getting close to Saemi, but Saemi only believed she had gained a new friend. With that thought, Mark knew that she must've been quite happy. Every time he had seen her since then, she always came up to him with some great news like getting a 100 on a test.

To any other guy, Saemi would've seemed quite cute. She wasn't particularly average-looking. Her dark brown hair flowed past her shoulders, and she her dark eyes could pull someone right into her gaze. Her smile was radiant, and she never seemed to harbor any darker thoughts.

In other words, she was a beautiful yet simple girl.

When she had agreed to become his fake girlfriend, she had reassured him that she was familiar with things like this since she's read and seen too many stories and movies that had plotlines with fake lovers. Of course, when Mark heard her talk about this, he knew it was another lie.

Truthfully, he expected nothing else from her.

He grins at the happy news and gently ruffles her hair, "Good job. I knew you could do it. You should have a bit more faith in yourself. I know you'll get another 100 pretty quickly."

"I have plenty of faith in myself!" Saemi pretends to be offended, "I just often don't do as well as I hope!"

Lie.

Mark gently flicks her in the forehead, "You better not be lying to me."

He clearly knows that she is. He clearly knows that, and yet she seems so carefree when lying to him. Unconsciously, he finds himself becoming increasingly frustrated. He cannot stand how she is blatantly lying to his face without feeling any of the guilt; he has never felt so controlled by his own emotions before. He knows that he really needs to find an outlet to release the anger that Saemi is causing.

The next day, it was announced that Seura had ended up in the hospital.

In front of others, we pretend to care for each other awkwardly.