chapter seven: coincidences

The next day, Mark found himself loitering outside the college. He had told himself he was there to meet Jin Young and see Jin Young but he knew that wasn’t true. Proof of that was that he hadn’t bothered to actually ask Jin Young when his classes ended.

He paced the quad in the entrance of the college. He sat down for a while on one of the steps but stood right back up and walked around once more before sitting again. Ever since Jae Ah had left the group yesterday, he had been unable to stay still. He had left shortly after her, trying to find her but she was long gone. He could have followed her in wolf form, tracking her scent, but he didn’t exactly trust his wolf around her anymore.

He suddenly flinched as he made his turn, stopping in his tracks. A sharp throb began in his mind and he groaned, holding in his head in pain. His eyes opened again and he felt everything come sharp into view and knew that his eyes weren’t there normal brown color. He quickly ducked his head as people passed by him to make sure they didn’t see him.

Mark shut his eyes strongly, in an effort to get rid of his wolf eyes, but it didn’t work. He was just about turn away to get out of there before someone found him, when he heard someone call out his name. A voice that he couldn’t resist.

Jae Ah didn’t know what was in her when she called out his name like that. She had recognized him from the moment she saw him on the quad and as soon as she saw him holding his head as if he was in pain, the name was out of before she even knew it.

Mark snapped his head towards her in instinct before he quickly ducked his head again, remembering that he didn’t exactly look human again.

Jae Ah froze on her way to him, blinking in surprise. For a moment, his eyes had looked blue, bright blue. She slowly began walking again, until she was right behind him, “Mark?” She said again.

Mark felt his entire body on alert at the sound of her so close to him. His name coming out of made shivers wash over his entire body and he felt the need to reach out the her. He held himself together though, with an unknown strength, and took a deep breath. He felt his eyes return to normal and he slowly turned to face her.

He cleared his throat, “Jae Ah, right?”

Jae Ah and Mark both caught their breaths as their eyes met. Mark quickly composed his expression, slightly lowering his gaze. Jae Ah averted her gaze awkwardly too, clearing her own throat. “Uh, yeah. You remember me.” Mark didn’t respond to her and she glanced back to him. “Are you okay? You looked like you were in pain.”

“Fine.” Mark tersely said just as someone else called her name over his answer. They both turned as a group of people waved to Jae Ah. She cheerfully replied to them, waving back, and Mark felt a spark of jealousy at her happiness at seeing them.

“What are you doing here?” Jae Ah asked, turning back to him. “You don’t go here, do you?”
 

“Uh, no.” Mark said after a moment of hesitation. “I was… meeting with Jin Young.”

“Oh.” Jae Ah replied, thinking for a moment. “You guys must be close.” She smiled, meeting his eyes again, “Jin Young is really nice.”

Mark felt sudden irritation at his best friend, “He’s okay.” He instantly backtracked once he realized the anger in him was his wolf growling at her attention at Jin Young, “I mean, yeah.”

Jae Ah looked at him oddly before a shor