All I could do was stare at him, completely struck speechless. It had not ever occurred to me that Mark had these feelings for me. In fact, just the fact that anyone could like me seemed completely outrageous to me because I was the most ungirly girl out there. I just continued to sit there, staring at Mark with a blank expression. In my head was a hodgepodge of thoughts, swirling around and clogging my brain so that I could not even say a normal sentence clearly. Again, my mouth imitated a fish, opening and closing but with no words coming out.

“…Sorry for springing this on you so suddenly. I guess it was bad timing, huh? Just…don’t worry about it and get some more rest, k?” He gave me a meek smile, and retreated out of the room before any words could leave my mouth.

                Then, it was silent again as no one was left in the resting area of the infirmary. I finally let out the breath I had been holding with a big sigh, thinking about what just happened. Even though I treasured Mark dearly as a friend, it was only just that: friends. Besides, I had ultimately decided that I in fact did still like Jae Hyun. Although I didn’t want to hurt Mark, I just didn’t like him in that way. Also, I didn’t want to ruin our friendship. *Is it possible to still be friends if I reject him? It would be too awkward, right? Ahhhhhhhg this is too hard!!*The mess of thoughts running through my head just made me more confused, and soon enough, I gave up and flopped back down onto the bed. Wanting to just escape reality for a while, I decided to just go back to sleep and think about it later. I knew it wasn’t much of a solution, but I had started feeling dizzy again after sitting up for a while, and did not want to use my brain any more at the moment. Soon, I was asleep again, my face looking much more peaceful than my mind had been.

                Awaking to an annoying voice, my vision cleared to reveal Jackson’s face in front of mine. When he saw that I had woken up, he started giggling uncontrollably. I was immediately suspicious, because he was known for playing pranks. Narrowing my eyes, I grabbed Jackson’s sleeve and pulled him towards me so that his face was at eye level to mine.

“What. Did. You. Do?” I glared right into his eyes, trying to impose a threatening atmosphere. He looked surprised for a second, widening his eyes, but he immediately started laughing again, breaking eye contact and spinning around like a hyper child.

                I rolled my eyes, wondering for a second just why I was friends with this weirdo. Then, suspicious again, I grabbed my phone and looked at my reflection in the screen, hoping he had not drawn on my face when I had been snoozing. I was relieved to find that my face was normal, and that there was no moustache or panda eyes decorating my face. I turned my gaze back to Jackson, who was still trying to suppress his giggles. Then, my eyes found Mark standing behind him looking completely out of place and uncomfortable with his awkward stance. I immediately redirected my line of sight to the window on the other wall, feeling just as awkward as Mark probably felt. My mind automatically raced back to thoughts of Mark’s confession and how I should respond. Being unable to do anything, I just sat there staring at the window, not wanting to turn the other way in case I accidentally made eye contact with Mark.

                Jackson must have finally noticed the tense atmosphere, because his laughing stopped, and he waved a hand in front of my face to get my attention.

“Hey...Min? Are you ok? Do you still not feel well?”

“Huh? Oh, yeah, I’m completely fine now! Just zoned out for a bit there…you know how unfocused I can be at times hehe.”

Once again, my acting was probably the most unconvincing acting in the world, but being the considerate person he was, Jackson didn’t ask any more and nodded with a small “ok”. He looked kind of disappointed that I didn’t joke around with him like I usually would, and I felt so bad for being like this to one of my closest friends but I just didn’t know how to react with Mark around right now. He shuffled out of the infirmary with a small smile and wave, leaving just me and Mark alone.

“Umm….” I started, still not completely sure what I was going to say and how I was going to say it. “Mark, can you come over here?”

                He nodded and slowly made his way over, gently taking a seat on the bedside. I reached out to grab his hand, and he grasped mine back, both feeling the warmth of each other’s skin flowing into our own, because we couldn’t bear to look at each other’s faces. Mark tightened his grasp on my hand, probably already anticipating unfavorable words. Then, I took a deep breath and started the conversation that might be our last conversation as friends. I hoped it wouldn’t be, of course, but there was probably a high chance that it would be.

I HAVE RETURNED. Sososo sorry for the update that took over two weeks. I have been so busy with school stuff (╥﹏╥) Thanks to all of you who have been waiting for new chapters <3 I will try my best not to disappoint you guys and to update more frequently! (´｡• ᵕ •｡`) heehee these are so cute