"Well that was weird," you noted once you and Mark entered your humble abode. "Definitely fun. But also definitely weird."
"Yeah, I'm sorry about that," Mark replied, scratching the back of his neck. "Jackson tends to go overboard."
"Understatement of the year," you replied as you thought back to everything that transpired during dinner.
Jackson had gone all out. Instead of a casual dinner, they had prepared a candlelit dinner for the four of you. You turned to Mark who just shook his head. After dinner, you all headed off to the amusement park by the pier. Jackson had targeted Mark's competitive side and before you knew it, the two had played all the games available - winning stuffed animals for both you and Irene.
It then got a lot weirder. All four of you decided to go on rides - Jackson was meant to ride with Mark and you with Irene. During the first few rides, Jackson would drag Irene to sit with him at the last minute, so you were then left to sit with Mark who would roll his eyes. Eventually, Mark just automatically sat with you for the rest of the rides.
You didn't mind though. Mark was a great person to take for a ride. Yes, that's right. He screamed and laughed just as much as you did and squeezed your hand as much as you did his. It almost felt like it was just the two of you there.
"What are we supposed to do with all of these?" you asked Mark, pointing at his stuffed animals haul. There was a giant bunny, a couple of penguins and a couple of dogs.
"We can gift them to our nieces and nephews for Christmas?" he suggested.
"Fine. The giant bunny is coming with me though," you picked up the toy, almost double your size and started heading over to your room. Mark found it adorable.
"Aren't you too old for stuffed animals?"
"Definitely not. Besides, this is the first one you won for me. He's special. I'm keeping him."
Mark smiled to himself as he watched your retreating form. "I hope you haven't forgotten our deal?" he called out before you completely disappeared into your room.
"I haven't," you turned to smile at him. "But, Jackson wasn't that annoying. So, I don't think that counts as a win for you."
"Something should count!" Mark exclaimed. "I even got you a bunny!"
"Fine," you relented. "You get three requests and that's it."
Mark pumped his fist and you laughed before retiring to your room for the night.
xxx
Your routines pretty much kicked in after that week. You always left first because of your job at the cafe. Sometimes it was morning by the time Mark came home because of his shift at the bar. You made sure there was food for him before you go and in turn, he made sure you had food when you got home. You both ensured that there was minimal house chores left for the other.
Wednesdays remained as your movie night. You would take turns in choosing the movies each week. Luckily, you and Mark had similar tastes in movies so there had been no arguments about it yet. Those nights were filled with pizza, beer, popcorn, laughter and tears. Just how you liked it.
Saturday also remained as shopping and chore day. You didn't know how he managed it, but Mark always made grocery shopping and cleaning fun. You always looked forward to it.
You and Mark became really good friends after a few months. You were glad because you had to live with him for a year, but a part of you was also wary. The closer the two of you got, the more the thing you had been wanting to avoid became inevitable. You were starting to crush on him. Hard. You were in trouble.
What you didn't realise was that you weren't alone in your pining. Mark was in the same boat as you. The more he got to know you, the harder it was for him to resist. But, he had to. You were so beautiful, kind, intelligent and so out of his league. He just knew you couldn't feel the same towards him. So he did what he had to, wanting to forget how he felt towards you.
xxx
Saturday came rolling in and you had never been more thankful. You had a terrible day yesterday, and you couldn't wait to have Mark to yourself and have him cheer you up. The day had gone rather well and you thought nothing could go wrong. Of course, you were wrong.
"So, what do you want to have for dinner tonight?" you asked Mark after he helped you put the groceries away.
"Shit, did I forget to tell you?" Mark asked more to himself. "I have a date tonight."
"Yeah, you did," you tried to hide your disappointment with a smile. "But, that's great news. I'm happy for you. Is this the first date for you and....?"
"Her name is Nelyn," Mark smiled. "Yeah, it's the first date. I met her at the bar last night and we hit it off, so I thought why not. I'm really hoping it goes well."
"I'm sure it would go fine, Mark," you said genuinely. "You're a great guy. She'll be crazy not to like you."
Mark flashed you his killer smile in thanks before going to his room to get ready, leaving you deflated in the kitchen. You let out a sigh before ordering some take out, grabbing the bottle of wine from the fridge and settling yourself in your room.
xxx
You caught up with Mark when you got home the next day as he was getting ready for his shift at the bar. He informed you that the date with Nelyn went rather well, and you were glad. You had spent the previous night convincing yourself that this was what was best for the both of you, so you were definitely happy for him.
Mark spendt his free time the next few weeks going on more dates with Nelyn, which meant he was missing out on your planned hang outs. He seemed truly happy so you were mostly okay with it.
Except for tonight. Tonight a part of you truly wished he was still single.
Before you and Mark left for class in the morning, he informed you again that he had another date with Nelyn, so you decided to make plans for yourself. You didn't want to stay home moping around anymore so you met up with Jaebeom at the local sushi train for dinner.
You found yourself in a food coma on the way home, and all in all exhausted after a long day in classes. You were so tired that you hadn't been paying attention to your surroundings when you entered the apartment.
You missed the extra pair of shoes by the door and littered clothing in the hallway. You were taking off your coat as you walked in and you were getting ready to throw it on the couch when you finally noticed what was in front of you.
Mark was there in all his naked glory, doing a girl, hopefully Nelyn, on your living room couch. She was holding on to the back of the couch while on her knees as Mark was thrusting behind her.
"Oh my God!" you yelled out after the reality in front of you finally sunk in. You abruptly covered your eyes and turned around, holding your hand out to feel your way towards the kitchen counter.
Mark and the girl screamed out at the same time in shock, before moving to hurriedly get their clothes back on.
"What are you doing here?!" Mark asked in surprise.
"Uhh, I live here?" you replied confused.
"You can look now," Mark instructed before sighing. "I meant, I saw you at the restaurant with Jaebeom. I thought you'd be out longer. That's why I brought Nelyn over."
"Ahh, I see. It's nice to meet you," you introduced yourself to her. "I was beat and Jaebeom had an early day tomorrow so we both decided to head home. I would've stayed out longer if I knew you were bringing her home."
"Yeah, I'm sorry I forgot to text," Mark scratched the back of his neck.
"This is my cue to exit," Nelyn said grabbing her purse before turning to you. "It was nice to meet you. I'm gonna go."
"What?" Mark asked. "You don't have to go. We can continue this in my room."
"Mark's right. I'm just going to lock myself in my bedroom. It's really no big deal."
"I'm still gonna go," she offered a small smile before heading out the door.
"What are you doing?" you whispered to Mark and he looked at you confused. "Go after her, silly. You're really just going to let her walk out? Come on, dude. Go!"
Mark sighed, knowing you were right and darted out after Nelyn.
"Hey, wait," Mark finally caught up to her. "Come on. Come back inside. We can continue where we left off."
"No thanks," she sighed. "You really think I'm going to go with you after you lied to me?"
"Lied to you about what?"
"About your roommate," Nelyn seethed. "She's the girl you were eye fucking in the restaurant. The one we literally argued about when we walked out. You told me you didn't know her and now she turns out to be your roommate. Did you think I wouldn't recognise her?"
"Nel, it isn't like that," Mark tried to come up with an excuse. "I wasn't eye fucking her. I was just surprised to see her there, that's all."
"But you still told me that you didn't know her, Mark. You still lied," she told him and he couldn't say anything back since she was telling the truth. "She is the one you told me about at the bar right? The one you are trying to get over?"
"Yeah, that's her," Mark told her the truth. There was no point denying it now.
"We've been at this for weeks. You're not over her yet, are you?"
"I'm sorry," Mark said, putting his hands in his pockets. "I never meant for it to be this way, Nel. This wasn't my intention."
"I know, I don't blame you," she said earnestly. "I knew what I was getting into, but it's probably best if this ends now. Goodbye, Mark."
Mark bid her farewell with a kiss on the temple. He turned to leave but she caught his wrist at the last minute and turned him towards her.
"You should tell her how you feel, Mark," Nelyn advised. "She either feels the same or she doesn't. But you'll never be free if you don't tell her."
She gave his hand a final squeeze before leaving him to contemplate her words.
You saw the whole thing happen from your apartment window but you were too high up to hear anything. You could tell it didn't end well though and you were wondering what had happened for it to turn out like this. Mark walked in and gave you a sad smile.
"What happened?" you asked.
"She broke up with me."
"Oh my, I'm so sorry Mark," you said before quickly walking towards the door.
"Where are you going?" Mark inquired.
"I'm going to go after her," you announced as you put on your coat. "I'll talk to her and I'll apologise."
"Why do you think you need to do that?"
"Because I feel like this has something to do with me," you revealed, staring at your shoes. "The same thing has happened with Jaebeom. His ex-girlfriends never liked that he was best friends with a girl, let alone be living with one. I always caused issues and even though he says it never bothered him, I knew that deep down it did. That's why I wanted to move out. I wanted him to be happy. Now, I'm doing the same here. Just let me talk to her, Mark. It'll be fine, you'll have her back in no time."
Mark approached you and started to slide off your coat from your shoulders. "You don't need to do that. It ended because of me, not you. I wasn't ready for a relationship, but thought I'd give it a go anyway. I was proven correct. It has nothing to do with you."
"You promise?"
Mark crossed his fingers behind his back and lied through his teeth. "I promise. Now, you said you were tired. I know you have work tomorrow, so off to bed you go."
"Okay," you resigned to your fate and headed off towards your room. "I'll cook you something tomorrow to cheer you up?"
"That would be greatly appreciated," Mark smiled and you returned it before bidding him goodnight and closing the door after you.
Mark was close to following Nelyn's advice tonight and almost told you how he felt about you. He hesitated because he already lost one person tonight and he wasn't prepared to lose another. He wasn't prepared to lose you, because he knew that that was what would happen if he ever told you how he felt.
This was better than nothing, Mark reminded himself before retiring to his room and letting his mind fill with thoughts of you as he drifted off to sleep.