CLOSE TO ME | MARK LEE

19

Everyone part of this concert were heading down to a restaurant to have a celebratory dinner. From the directors to the choreographers to the stylists, managers and the members, everyone was here.

We had taken over the whole restaurant but it was already quiet as it was midnight. Everyone sat in rows, eating and drinking whilst laughing. I sat next to Johnny and Taeil hyung and opposite me was Areum. We all poured in our shots and clanked our cups together whilst downing them. Everyone was in a cheerful mood and all this hard work paid off for the better. I couldn't forget this moment nor Areum's pure smile as she looked at me. I smiled back at her whilst gently staring at her. She chuckled and put her head down on the table.

"Ehem... is there something you want to tell us Areum?" Johnny smirked at her whilst eyeing me. At this moment it could be seen that Areum was slightly tipsy. She stared at me and started laughing again.

"Is it something about Mark? Care to share?" Johnny smiled.

"Mark? Well there's a lot to say about him." Areum chuckled whilst looking right into my eyes. I became paranoid. What is she going to tell them? What if it's something embarrassing?

"Huh, what are you on about? Like there's nothing to say about me-"

"Oh there's a lot to say about you Minhyung-ah" She stated. I went red. What was she going to say?

"Oooooo~" Taeil and Johnny both cooed.

"He worked so hard for this and sometimes he'd start whining like a baby. Then once I seen him practice his aegyo in-front of a mirror just incas-" I quickly shut up her by putting my hand on top of her mouth so she wouldn't say more but I guess the other two already figured out as they burst out laughing.

"I'll see you guys in a bit." I said awkwardly as I took Areum along with me to go outside.

"Have fun." Taeil winked.

I took her outside to the back of the restaurant where the fairy lights hung lighting up the dark night.
"Stop telling them all this!" I whined like a little baby.

"Haha, what your aegyo? That was so funny."

"Wait how did you know I was practicing that?" I asked quietly.

"That's a secret. But at least I didn't tell them that you were practicing it so you could show me. Like this." Areum copied the faces I tried to attempt looking at the mirror. She looked so cute at this moment of time and her eyes glistened like little galaxies inside of them.

It came to all of a sudden. This was it. This was the time.

I grabbed her lower back with my hands and bought her closer to me. She looked flustered at first but then became comfortable. She placed her hand on my chest as she smiled at me.

"Getting confident huh, Mr Mark Lee."

"Well if you've already seen my aegyo side then you should be able to see my confident side."

"Well that is true."
After a bit of a pause I started to talk again.

"Areum,"

"Hmm" she replied quickly.

"I like you."

Her eyes opened wide as she just stared at me and I could see she was going a slight shade of pink. She lowered her head then picked it up again.

"Do you like me?" I asked boldly.

"What do you want to hear Mark?"

"I want to hear a yes."

"Well then... Yes I do like you Mark. I like you a lot. I have liked you for a while but I had no idea how you felt. You make my heart feel warm. So yes I do like you."

I smiled and then she also smiled. She was still in my embrace and I didn't want to let her go. I lowered my head to be at level with her and I closed my eyes. Slowly our lips met and stayed there for a while till we parted. I then gave her a tight hug whilst she rested her head in my chest.

After a bit we went back inside the restaurant to continue with the meal. We sat back down and no one really questioned as to what we were doing. We sat back and just beamed smiled at each other.

"Your food is probably all cold now." Taeil hyung said to the both us.

"Oh well, it doesn't matter." Areum said as she smiled back to him.

And just like that the most eventful night of my life I have had so far came to an end.