18 - the welcome dinner

The class was dismissed early today, the students cheered in joy as they watch the lecturer leave the room.

"are you really not joining us for lunch?" Seolla looked over to her friend, who was busy packing her things, rushing to go home, avoiding all conversations at all costs.

Seolla being Seolla, she made sure to use her puppy eyes, those eyes that her best friend could have never denied, "You've been in your apartment for days now!! I miss the 4 of us hanging out!" She pleaded.

Jieun looked over to the two boys, "she's right Eun, we miss you, it's been a while since we last hang" Jake said and Jay added, "Come on~ you know you wanna!" He wiggled his eyebrows as he poked onto her shoulders.

The scene of her three best friends trying their best to convince her to spend time with them really made her heart move. Feeling beyond grateful to have friends like them. She burst out a chuckle seeing them pull their best puppy eyes and Seolla even did aegyo, "fine" She smiled.

The three cheered in unison, finally able to drag Jieun out of her slump. Jay and Seolla exchange a high five and Jake did a mini victory dance.

However, the atmosphere was immediately ruined as they were met with a familiar figure.

"Hey guys!" The engineering boy greeted as he stepped into the same classroom. His eyes immediately landed on the girl, whom he hadn't seen in ages.

"Hey!" Jake smiled and the others waved and gave him a little nod, while Jieun just stayed quiet.

"Hey?" Mark greeted again but this time he stood closer to Jieun, making sure she knows that he was speaking to her.

Mark quickly looked over to Jay, giving him a little nod. "we'll leave the two of you alone, call me if you need anything, I'll text you the address for the restaurant Eun!" Jay said and gave her a small pat on his shoulder.

Jieun watched as her friends exited out of the room, her eyes were begging and signalling them not to leave.

But too bad, you should face your problems yourself and you can never avoid them.

"hey" Jieun finally replied soft, avoiding Mark's eyes. Not knowing what to do, Mark just went along with it, "You free right now?"

Heaving a sigh, Jieun gave in and looked up to meet his eyes, "No, I'm gonna have lunch with the boys and Seol" she said.

Ignoring what she had just said, "Are you avoiding me?" Another question came.

His question made Jieun hesitant to answer, was she avoiding him? Maybe. Was he the sole reason why she was in a slump? Maybe.

Maybe.

Jieun didn't know what to answer, fearing that if she said maybe it'll hurt his feelings. In the end of the day, if she did have a little crush on him, she didn't want to ruin it because Mark was such an amazing friend. And so she lied,

"No?" She questioned back, raising a brow. Trying her best to lie. "I've just been busy with work" Another excuse came, trying to back up her lie.

Mark stared at her in silence. Uncertain with her reply, his gut telling him something is wrong but his mind just couldn't seem to figure out what was. Ignoring his thoughts, he decided it would be best if they settle everything out by lunch.

"You're so busy that you won't even have time to have lunch with me?" He asked, this time his tone was soft.

Jieun sighed at his reply, "Did you not hear what I just said? I'm having lunch with the boys. We can eat some other day" She said sternly, this time eyes piercing through his.

"Come on Eun, we haven't seen each other for so long, and you're the one who left me hanging without a word. Don't you think I deserve an explanation?" He said. The way her name rolled of his tongue ever so smoothly.

His eyes were soft, Jieun didn't know if he was sincere. It took her good minutes before sighing and giving in.

"Okay" she replies half-heartedly.

-

The two settled down in the same cafe that they had come before. They've visited it so often that they're practically regulars now.

"So mind, telling me why you left all of a sudden and how you didn't reply to a single text that I sent?" Mark asked looking straight at her.

"Family emergency" Jieun replied short.

Mark rolled his eyes at her reply. His action made Jieun gasp and shifted in her seat.

"You did not just roll your eyes!" Jieun half yelled.

He laughed at her reaction, "Come on, we both know that was a lie, but whatever if you don't feel like telling me I won't force you to" He shrugged.

"so how's Byeol? is she settling in well?" She asked trying her best to break the silence.

She could have talked or asked about something else, but out of all the topics she could think of, it seems like Byeol was the one that intrigued her the most. She tried her best to act like she cared,

"I was about to ask you that" Mark said sitting up straight and now leaning in towards the table.

"Hmm?" Jieun hummed looking over to Mark curious about what he was about to say.

"I'm doing a mini welcome dinner for Byeol, You know, to get her more comfortable around the area and for her to make some new friends." He stated.

"I was thinking of maybe doing it at one of the restaurants down towns. I thought of inviting a few friends, Jaehyun and the boys, but then it'll be too much testosterone." He laughed at the thought of his male friends.

"Sooo I was thinking of inviting you and Seolla you know since Haechan will be there too! you can bring Jake and Jay too! I understand that y'all come in a pack" He smiled at her patiently waiting for her answer.

But the thought of seeing Byeol again made her sick.

So he asked me out for lunch was just because of Byeol, again. To think he wanted to see me, and catch up, silly me.

Seeing how quiet the girl was Mark quickly reassured her, "no pressure though, I know you're busy-" "I'll come!" Jieun cut his words, forcing a smile

She tried her best to sound interested, "I'll ask the others too! I'm sure they'll love to meet Byeol!" She smiled.

"Alright cool!" Mark smiled at her reply, "you're the best!"

am I?

-

The weekend comes by in a blink.

Today, the four of them gathered at Jieun's apartment, trying to plan out their best strategy in hopes that Jieun doesn't get triggered into landing a punch onto Byeol's face.

She wasn't mad at the girl, and Byeol never did anything wrong, but Jieun was simply annoyed and it made her head hurt.

The girl stood in front of the mirror, judging herself. She felt a knot in her stomach, the feeling of wanting to puke.

She didn't know why she said yes to him. Whatever that was in her head the other day, that made her agree to come to this stupid damn dinner, wasn't with her today.

But one thing's for sure she made it her plan that this will be the last time she's meeting Mark.

She needed to get rid of this stupid crush of hers, that's obviously not doing her any good.

Out of sight, out of mind.

If she stops seeing Mark, she'll eventually forget about him and move on to someone new.

"Whatever you do, try your best to not cry!" Seolla said fixing her make up looking over to her best friend.

"Yea, you don't want to cry in front of Byeol" Jake said and Jay added, "and definitely not Mark"

After her lunch with Mark the other day, Jieun went home and had a tea session with her friends. Making sure they get filled in on all the details and the whole reason why she was in a slump in the first place.

The boys kept teasing her about her silly crush on the engineering boy and Seolla kept on persuading her to confess her feelings.

But Jieun, being Jieun, she was bullheaded, she was determined on getting over Mark. Telling herself that it was just a silly little crush and that she'll probably get over it if you give her a week or so.

"I won't cry" Jieun glared, eyes still on the mirror checking herself out. "I'm just pissed"

-

And so, the four of them were now at the restaurant that Mark had mentioned.

The restaurant had a rustic and mediaeval vibe to it. The tables were made out of oak wood and they had a large chandelier light hanging on. It was simple yet fancy. Judging by the crowd in the restaurant, it is definitely a good place to dine in.

"Amazing choice Marker!" Jaehyun said as he looked over to Mark. "of course! it's been a while since Byeol has had a fancy dinner! she's been working so hard in the hospital, so I thought why not?" He smiled at Byeol, and she did the same.

"Where are my manners? Guys, this is Byeol my best friend who just came back from Canada! She's currently doing her housemanship in Seoul, I hope y'all can get along" Mark introduced.

"She needs a few friends or two, I bet she's tired of seeing my face every day" Mark joked and Byeol burst a chuckle, "I'll never get bored seeing you! you're literally my roommate!"

Jieun felt sick looking at the scene.

"roommate?" Haechan voiced out looking at the two.

"Yeah, Byeol moved in a few days ago, she had nowhere to stay and it just so happens that I had an empty room, so I invited her" Mark shrugged.

"Oh, but I thought Jieun was-" Haechan was cut off mid way by Seolla nudging his elbow. The boy obviously didn't know how to read the room.

"Sorry, you were saying?" Byeol knitted her brows, "Nothing~" He shrugged

Sensing the awkward atmosphere Mark quickly chimed in, "Anyways, this is Jaehyun, he's my engineering classmate" Mark said gesturing to Jaehyun,

"this is Haechan and Jeno, who I went to high school with, we now study in the same uni"

"This is Seolla, Haechan's girlfriend, then there's Jay and Jake, I played badminton with them, and there's Jieun! you met her the other day remember?" He smiled.

"Of course! she was the second person I met other than you" Byeol smiled and her eyes formed beautiful crescents.

"it's such a pity though, we only talked for a few minutes and you went off, did something happen?" Byeol looked over at her.

"Nah, wasn't anything serious just had some family emergency" Jieun forced a smile.

The dinner quickly went on, and surprisingly it went really well. They all talked about their uni courses and Byeol talked about her housemanship.

Jieun tried her best to chime in and join their conversation, even though she was on the verge of leaving the dinner.

She felt her heart being heavy and she needed a break.

"I think I'm gonna head to the restroom!" Jieun said abruptly and went off to the restroom.

"Is everything okay?" Mark said looking at her leaving her seat, but she went off too quick, leaving him hanging again.

"I should go check on her" Seolla said standing up preparing to leave her seat, but Byeol beat her to it, "No, I'll go. Maybe she's having a stomach ache. After all, I am a junior doctor, I'll go" Byeol said.

Having no valid reasons to fight, Seolla just allowed Byeol to leave, wondering if she made the right decision.

Byeol made her way to the woman's restroom, only to find Jieun fixing her hair in front of the counter, "is everything okay? you left so suddenly again"

"Oh!" Her voice startled her, "yeah, I'm fine! just needed some air" Jieun forced a smile, "I don't do well with crowds haha" She trailed off.

A sigh of relief came from Byeol knowing that the girl is alright.

"Really? cause Mark told me that you were such a party animal!" Byeol joined her, stepping in front of the counter.

"Whattt? He told you that?" Jieun laughed, "Well I mean he's not wrong... I'm just taking a break from partying... you know... school's been really busy for me" Jieun gave her a small smile, trying her best not to be rude.

The mood quickly went quiet again, taking this as an excuse for Jieun wanting to leave, but she was too late as Byeol had already spoken up.

"Hey, I know it's none of my business, but I really like Mark" Byeol said her tone was serious and her eyes piercing through hers.

"and I know about your whole situation-ship and how you're friends with benefits with Mark"

Jieun wanted to voice out but Byeol was too fast to cut her off, "He told me everything" Byeol said emotionless, making it hard for Jieun to read her mind.

She didn't know what to reply, she was simply too stunned to speak.

"I don't blame you, I mean we broke up a long time ago and it's totally okay for him to go sleep around..." She uttered,

"But I just want you to know that I still like him like I like like him. and I never stopped liking him" She chuckled a little at the thought of him.

Jieun stayed quiet.

"and I'd really appreciate it if you'd stop seeing him" Byeol said.

"I hope this doesn't come out the wrong way-"

Jieun cut her off, "No, I totally understand it!" She tried her best to smile "I'd be pissed too if there's someone who goes hog walking all around my man!" She joked making Byeol laugh along.

"No worries Byeol, I only see him as a friend nothing more" Jieun reassured her.

"Besides, didn't you know that I'm an influencer? I have a whole line of boys waiting for me! why would I want a nerdy engineer like him?" She laughed.

"Thanks, Jieun!" Byeol said and went in for a hug, Jieun frozed before opening her arms to return it. "I knew I could trust you!"

"you're the best!"

am I?

**two of them telling her she's the best, such parallels, Is she tho?💀💀💀

-

a/n: a long chapter! again I wrote this in a rush and didn't have the time to proofread it :,) hope yall enjoy it as much as I do!

do vote it means a lot <33