final; 

 (A/N: Italicized paragraphs mean flashbacks; words or phrases mean thoughts.) 

“You shouldn’t have walked me home.”

“You shouldn’t have hugged me.”

“You shouldn’t have said those words.”

“You shouldn’t have!”

Soojung cried out as she buried her face into her pillow. For the nth time, she was feeling this way again. A feeling she wants to feel, but also wants to ignore it. She liked it, but her anger is overpowering the flutter she was feeling in her heart. And who is the cause of this burst of emotions?

“Yah, Mark Tuan! What am I to you? A toy!? Aish!” She talked to herself as she continued beating her pillow. Good thing her parents’ bedroom was at the other end of the second floor, and hers was near the staircase. She was not liking it, the feeling of getting confused, yet she likes it- the feeling of falling for him, her love interest.

She looked at her phone and saw that there was one message. As soon as she saw the sender, her heart skipped a beat. It was Mark. It read:

From: Mark

To: Soojung

Goodnight, cute potato. :)

“Aish!” She threw her phone lightly, too lightly that it landed just a few inches away from her. She did not just read that message. She did not just saw that smiley at the end of his message. Again, she was confused. Her feelings were mixed. Her thoughts were not organized. She thought, what should she feel? Should she feel happy? Should she blush? Should she squeal in happiness? Or should she feel angered? Offended? She messed her hair as she was now getting annoyed at this foreign feeling. She was so troubled with her thoughts that she thought of a stupid thing to do: She took her phone and started recording, “Yah, Mark, what did I do to you, huh!? You just don’t know what you’re doing- making girls fall in love with you and then what? Ugh, I hate you so much!” She sent the voice message to Mark’s number, not even thinking twice of her actions, probably because of the war going inside her mind and heart.

“Uwaa….. I hate you so much, Mark Tuan…” She mumbled her words as she buried again her face into her pillow. “I hate you for making me like you… love you.” And as she said those words, her eyes closed, putting her into deep sleep.

~

“Thank you everyone! You’ve worked hard!” Mark said as he bid goodbye to his classmates. It was the last day of their school festival, and being the facilitator of the event, he, together with his club mates, cleaned the whole school, dismantling the different stalls, putting down all the flaglets that were floating in the sky- they did every single thing they could to put the school back to its normal state. The night had just begun, and so is their final task. The students were already tired from the celebration, yet they still managed to clean everything up. All of them had a mindset that they will clean the school and go home as soon as they could.

But for Soojung, it was the most fun day of her life, because she was able to spend time with her love interest. She followed him, wherever he was cleaning or fixing something. From the checking of the classrooms, school grounds, up to the school gate- she was there for him. She almost looked like his tail, because she was going wherever he was heading to.

And now that all the work has been done, and they were going home, and he was gong home, Soojung couldn’t help herself but draw a frown on her lips as she knew that day she would not forget for the rest of her life was about to grind into a halt.

“Soojung-ah,” She felt her heart tingle at the feeling of her name being called. “Hmm?” She looked at Mark with a bright smile on her face. “Can I… walk you home?”Mark asked, looking down, rubbing the nape of his neck. Meanwhile, Soojung was already internally screaming. Her cheeks were now flushed red as she heard the boy’s words. She couldn’t respond quickly though, because she felt her whole nervous system shut down for a couple of seconds. ‘Is this it, destiny? Have the gods answered my prayers?’ She thought as she managed to reply, “Uh, yeah! Of course. Why not?” She chuckled, earning a smile from Mark.

~

“Uhm…” Soojung looked at Mark, as she was waiting for what he was going to say.They were now walking, heading to Soojung’s house. “How are you?” They let out a laugh as they both said it in unison. “You first.” Mark said. “I’m… great? I guess. Maybe just a little tired from all the work.” She said it in the most shy way ever. “Is that so? I guess I am too.” He replied. A deep silence ensued as they continued to walk. Soojung was also getting suffocated at the thick air of awkwardness surrounding them. She thought that she needs to do something. After a minute of thinking, she finally had the courage to speak.

“Hey, did you remember when Jaekyung tripped and fell on the stage?” She said as Mark laughed at her words. “Yeah, your little brother looked like he was about to cry that time.” He replied. “Oh, did you also remember the time when he forgot his lines at the school play? The teachers were horrified at what he said,” Mark said in between laughs. Soojung giggled as she remembered her brother’s funny but cute mistakes.”Oh, did you also remembered when Jaekyung got himself a…” And that was the start of their long conversation while walking towards Soojung’s home. They reminisced many memories they had with their classmates, friends, and with each other. They may not be the best of friends, but they’re close to that. And that is all possible, thanks to Soojung.

“And… we’re here!” Soojung let out a sigh of relief as they were now in front of her house. She was already tired from walking, but good grief they already got here. But even though her wanting to rest is controlling her way of thinking right now, the feeling of sadness because the day she wanted to go on forever… had already ended.

“I guess this is goodbye for now?” Mark said. “Since we have a long weekend, you should rest. It has been a tiring week for us, you know.” He added. Soojung gave her a faint smile before speaking. “Okay, I will, sir.” She chuckled when suddenly; opened slowly, as she felt a gush of hot air exit through . She just yawned in front of him.

She quickly covered and covering her face as she was now greatly embarrassed at her actions. “Really? Yawning in front of Mark? Way to go, Jung Soojung!” She thought as she wanted to mentally slap herself right now. She was now panicking- What should she do to make the situation not “awkward”? Should she laugh and just say that she’s tired, or just forget that she yawned and just say goodbye to him? Neither of the two choices were Soojung’s style, so what should she do? She was so occupied in her own thoughts that she didn’t realize what was about to happen.

“Goodnight Soojung.” Mark hugged her.

Soojung felt her heart was about to explode from what Mark just did. It felt like time had slowed down, and that all that she was feeling right now was the warmth of Mark’s embrace. As Mark broke the hug, a smile was drawn to his lips as he saw that he left Soojung with a flustered look on her face. And when he say flustered, he meant really flustered. Red cheeks, mouth slightly opened, frozen body- what else could be added to make the figure in front of him better? Meanwhile, Soojung was still not recovering from what just happened. She was still halfway to making herself speak when Mark spoke. “By the way, you look cute.” He smiled sweetly, before leaving.

~

“No, Mark! Don’t leave- oh.” Soojung’s expression turned into a stern one as she realized that she was dreaming of what happened last night. It was a new day, another day to have fun, enjoy life, yet for her it was already destroyed. “Aish…” She said as she tried to fix her hair that looked like a broom. She groaned as she sat up straight on her bed, trying to get her senses back. When her brain was now 100% working, she looked for her phone. As soon as she found it on the end of her bed, she checked the time and saw that it was already 8 in the morning. She looked at her right and saw a note placed on her lamp. It was from her mom.

“Me and Jaekyung are going to the dentist to the dentist.There’s pancakes at the table. Maple syrup is at the cabinet. Didn’t bother to wake you up- you look tired. xoxo – Mom”

Dang.. did I really slept late? She groaned as saw there was one notification from her messages. She opened it and saw that it was a message from Mark. Crap. As she reflected on what she did last night, she let out a squeal as she was now messing her hair even more, regretting that she sent a voice message to Mark. “You’re such a dumb person, Jung Soojung! You shouldn’t have done that! Don’t you know that you’ll never get to talk to him again! Ugh! Dang you, Jung Ahyeo- WHAT!?“ Her ranting was cut off when her eyes landed on her phone, seeing what Mark had messaged her.

Fr: Mark

To: Soojung

Hey. Can we talk? I’m at your doorstep right now.

Crap! She quickly rushed towards her bathroom as soon as she saw his message.

--

“Hey.” Soojung tried to shot him her best smile for today, as she opened the door for Mark. She pulled off the most comfortable, yet presentable clothes- a white shirt with blue sleeves, and denim blue shorts. Her hair was combed, but was still a bit messy- anyhow, she looked naturally good (and attractive) today. “Come in,” She said as she led her to the living room. On the other hand, Soojung was admiring at the godlike figure that was now with her. Mark wore a red shirt, topped with cream-colored shorts.

“So… do you want to eat something?” Soojung asked, as they were now sitting at the sofa. “Mark shook his head. “Nope, thanks. I already ate breakfast.” Soojung, on the other hand, was feeling uneasy because she knew the reason why he came over here. Without thinking twice, she started to speak. “Okay, let’s get straight to the point. It’s about what I… sent… last night, right?” She looked down. “Y-yeah. I wanted to hear from you personally the reason wh-“ Mark was cut off when Soojung suddenly interrupted him.

“It’s because I like you, okay? The reason why I sent it to you last night is because I’m so confused. Because, I don’t know what you feel about me.” Mark averted his gaze away from her as he heard her words. “Last night, you hugged me. You said I’m cute. What does that even mean? Does it mean something? Or does it mean nothing? You’ve been always like that to me every time. I don’t know what to do anymore!” Soojung’s voice cracked at her last words.

 “Do you like me or not?” She blurted out.  Unfortunately, there was no response from the guy, which made Soojung think of the possible answer. “I guess it’s a no. Fine, I accept it. But you shouldn’t have done these things! You shouldn’t have walked me home last night. You shouldn’t have hugged me last night. You shouldn’t have said that I’m cute. You shouldn’t have done them!” Tears were now falling from her eyes. Suddenly, she stood up. She wiped her cheeks and tried to muster up some courage before speaking again. “You got what you want. Now leave.” Soojung told her as she turned her back on him. Soojung was surprised at what she did- she just totally burst in front of her crush! But she thought that, it was the best thing to do, so that it won’t be more hard for her. She was about to go to the kitchen when suddenly, Mark grabbed her wrist, pulling her towards him, and hugged him from behind. Soojung blushed at the sudden contact.

“I may not like you.” Mark blurted out. Soojung felt her heart get crushed at his words. “But I think I’m in love with you, Jung Soojung.” And as he said those words, he turned her around, and pulled her into a kiss. Soojung couldn’t do anything but just enjoy what was happening. And as this fantasy of hers was happening, one thing was inside her head.

Maybe I shouldn’t have doubted him… I shouldn’t have.

 author's note 

OH MY POTATOES i'm sorry if it . I hope you guys enjoyed this oneshot!  As always, comment (I love reading them), subscribe (well idk on this one. lol), and vote! Thank you in advance! :)