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"Munchkin! This outfit is absolutely stunning!" Mrs. Ahn cooed and looked at her daughter that was wearing a thin knitted sweater with pastel-colored stripes and a white cord-miniskirt. "Oh, Mum!" Mari sighed. "I just look like your regular young adult." She waved her hands around and her mum chuckled. "I think it's beautiful." Her mum announced and Mari rolled her eyes.
"I would love to take you shopping in Seoul. I bet there are many stores that you would like and probably never went to when we all were in Seoul." Mari said and looked at her mothers simple navy colored dress. "Darling," her mother said and looked at her daughter through the mirror that was in front of them. "Would you mind brushing my hair?" She smiled and Mari chuckled.
"Sure thing, Mum."
It was quiet while the younger Ahn-woman brushed her Mothers hair. It was a sentimental feeling, that was lingering in the air. Mari used to love brushing her mothers dark, long locks. She loved going to the Opera with her father to see her Mum all dressed up, with pretty hairstyles and wonderful make-up. She loved coming home after school to freshly baked pastries and delicious smelling dinners.
Mari quickly shook her head, but her mother saw it. "What's on your mind, Mary?" She asked and looked at her daughter through the mirror. Mari bit her bottom lip. "Nothing much. Just some things about work." There was a slight hint of pink on Mari's cheeks — remembering all these warm memories from her past made her heart hurt.
"Oh, Work?" Mrs. Ahn asked in a strange, almost curious tone. "How's work?" She asked and Mari smiled and told her about the Basket Case Foundation and her song that would be released when she would come back to Seoul. "I'm having a concert in Yeoido Hangang Park on December 1," Mari said. "I heard about this song. It's with someone from NCT, right?" Mrs. Ahn asked and Mari chuckled.
"Someone? Seriously Mum?" The daughter chuckled and set the hairbrush back on her mother's make-up table. "It's Mark. Mark Lee, my old best friend." Mari announced and Mrs. Ahn slowly opened her mouth. "Little Mark?" She asked and Mari nodded. "We're dat—" Mari closed her mouth and sheepishly looked at her feet.
Heat was rushing through her cheeks and she felt like fainting. She almost blurted out her biggest secret, that not even her parents were allowed to know yet. Thankfully her Dad had called his wife, so Mari didn't have to think about this awkward moment for way too long.
― 💌 ―
Later that evening, the Lee's finally arrived at Mari's house. Mark's mother embraced the singer and looked at her as if she was her own daughter. "I can't believe how much you've grown, Mari!" The Korean woman spoke and Mari bowed politely. "I want to wish you greetings from Mark," Mari said in Korean, the woman smiled. "My little boy... how is he doing?" She asked and led Mari to the sofa in the living room.
Mari told Mrs. Lee about the song she and Mark had worked on. She told her about the amount of work Mark has to do and that he's currently preparing a World Tour together with NCT 127. Mrs. Lee almost started crying and Mari smiled and carefully patted her hands.
"He's awake right now since he's working in the Studio. Do you want to have a chat with him?" Mari asked and Mrs. Lee nodded. Mari quickly pulled out her phone and unlocking it — unaware of the fact that Mrs. Lee could see her lockscreen: which was a picture of Mark and herself, with the lad kissing her cheek.
Mari quickly pressed a few buttons and held the phone to her ear. "Hey Mark", she said in a cute voice when her boyfriend picked up. "Guess who's sitting next to me." She grinned. "Oh, please don't tell me it's that scumbag Austin!" The rapper sighed and Mari laughed. "No, he's not here yet" Mari announced when the doorbell rang. "It's your Mum! I'll let you talk to her for a bit." Mari smiled and handed Mrs. Lee the phone with a bow.
Then she stood up and walked to the front door, that her Father had already opened.
Mari smiled to the new guests until she realized that it were her old classmates Austin, Charlie, and Dorothy. Austin and Charlie seemed to have matched their outfits, while Dorothy wore something that could be out of an K-Pop MV. She had a long neon-green T-Shirt under a lacey dress, matched with knee-high boots and a choker. Her long, dirty-blonde hair was in a tight ponytail and she had some glitter under her eyes.
"Wow, guys..." Mari said when the three of them rushed to her. Dorothy immediately hugged her and held her by the arms. "You look so cute! Like a Twice-member!" She whistled and made finger hearts towards Mari. "Well, I'm not..." Mari said — slightly confused before looking at the two boys that had taken off their jackets.
Mari's eyes almost fell out of their sockets, when she saw that Austin was wearing an NCT shirt and that Charlie was wearing a BlackPink shirt. "What, in God's name, are you wearing?!" Mari let out. Her head was buzzing. Those three looked ridiculous.
"I'm wearing my Jisoo shirt!" Charlie said, pronouncing Jisoo-sunbaenim's name in the worst way possible. "Isn't it obvious that I'm a Blink?" Charlie asked and twirled for Mari. The Idol blinked twice and looked at Austin, that was eyeing her.
"And I decided to get a Mark Lee shirt since you soon have a comeback featuring him!" Austin said with his sleek and clean voice. "Are you a fan of NCT?" Mari asked and Austin shook his head. "I'm a girl-group stan. Red Velvet, Twice, Momoland are my top tier groups." He grinned. "But I also love Queen Chungha a lot."
"And all three of us are MAJOR Ahn Mari fans!" Dorothy announced and made jazz-fingers. "F-Fans?" She asked, her smile dissapeared a LONG time ago. "Exactly. We post your pre-debut pictures almost everywhere. People in our schools are jealous that we're friends!" Charlie said and said something in a very broken Korean, that Mari couldn't really get.
Austin still eyed Mari. "You look even prettier in real-life than in 1080p on Youtube." He smiled cheekily and Mari frowned. This is going to be a very, very long evening.
