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If you ever asked Mark Tuan to describe his life, he’d say it was like a cliche American romantic comedy. And if majoring in Physics at Seoul National University was the setting for his series, it would hold a lot of different characters. Mark was the main one.
Always wanting to know all the happenings, having many acquaintances but only confiding in a popular duo that was the mismatched minds of Jackson and Jinyoung, Mark enjoyed his peace and staying away from trouble. Despite his loud friends and an effortless aura around him, he didn’t pay much attention to people swooning for him- at least one person in every class Mark shared with would say that they liked him.
All in all, despite Mark's performance in the field of logic and being surrounded by two womanizers, he was still too thick to understand courting. He was just the type not to fall easy or think much about it.
But, if you asked Mark, what is the perfect introduction to someone. In a heartbeat, he’d reply with something funny . And if you asked him to clarify, he’d shoot a boring look and say, “it’s not hard to be funny.”
The first week of September
It was a weirdly grey Wednesday - Mark’s favorite time of the day because he had enough time in between lectures to go back to his dorm and nap for exactly 20 minutes before returning to university once again and staying there until the pitiful hour of 7 pm.
It seemed that being a senior- an excellent student in a prestigious university wasn’t enough to manipulate the administration into letting Mark and his team have the lab in a normal time to work on their robotic projects and they were damned with staying in the cool western facing hall until 9 in the evening when Mark would return home and just fall straight to bed, no questions asked.
But on Wednesdays is when Mark also had a lecture in one of the smaller halls, at 9:30 am every Wednesday, Mark would go to the most eastern part of the campus- near the Fine Art buildings so he can listen to one of his electives - astronomy.
You’d think that they’d set up the lectures in a more different time or place but Mark found it cute how he learned about asteroids and ever-growing black holes in a classroom lit up by warm sun rays of that day in a different environment as opposed to his cold northern building.
He never really explored that part of the campus. Always preferring to stay near his colleagues whose buildings were close to his anyway. So going to the eastern building every Wednesday and Friday provided a bit more dynamic in his life. Plus, he didn’t expect how much his life would change after he decided on Astronomy as an elective instead of AP Algebra.
He had another Astronomy class which was held on another morning every Friday. When Mark entered the classroom that morning, instinctively he went towards the desk he sat for the first time. As he went to put his stuff under the desk something fell. A simple blue pawn with a note “You made me feel like you got me in your palm. Almost as if you can get me around however you want.”
Mark inspected the figurine, it was rough around the edges. It didn’t look to him like it was made in a factory, father that it was a product of someone’s still inexperienced hands. He thought about the message. Was this for someone else instead? He played with the thoughts of possibly having an admirer the whole class and decided he didn’t give a flying comet.
Chances were too slim that if some secret admirer missed the seat their beloved sat, right? They had to time placing their little gift well so that nobody else got it. Besides, the fact of someone liking him - a whole ass nerd who can’t remember the last time he got laid, was, well not only totally ego-boosting but he felt excited.
He put the pawn inside his backpack and hid the note inside his university ID. Nobody touches those so Mark would be safe from prying eyes for the cryptic but sweet note. That day, he sullenly pushed through his lectures. Getting the little gift with a note was like a huge sugar boost and after that he just slouched down, waiting for another push of dopamine- maybe he should go out with his friends and see new faces. Maybe one of the new people Mark met would be his fated admirer.
Entering his shared small apartment with Jackson and Jinyoung, Mark noted the failed try of something that looked like lunch.
“Oh good. You’re here.” Jackson popped his head off the couch like a puppy.
“Give money for pizza.” Jinyoung shot curtly.
“Hello, Mark! How are you? Did you have a good day? Did anything interesting happen?” Mark mimicked the conversation he wanted to hear but the duo’s hungry stomachs spoke louder and they did not have the willpower to be nice.
“Well,” Jinyoung started blankly, “Did anything interesting happen?”
“Uhhh” Mark felt the tattletale blushing appearing on his cheek so he just threw his backpack onto Jinyoung, “take what you need.”
“Sexy,” Jackson added.
Mark walked into the bathroom to splash his face with some cold water and heard Jinyoung saying, “what’s this chess figure?”
Mark froze. “I uh” he was looking at himself in the mirror, he looked dumb trying to think of some explanation, “professor got it for us! For a good start of the year. Yep. Being mindful astronomers and all that shabang.”
“Fucking nerd.” Jackson snorted.
“At least it’s something better than nutrition-” Jinyoung started mocking and Mark saw himself relax as he dodged the bullet.
The second week of September
Next week, on his desk, appeared one more pawn accompanied with a note “There are six more pawns to get you until I start with the first row... I hope they don’t get repetitive lol I hope I’m giving this to the right person...Can you write on the desk ‘Hi’ so I know if I’m giving to the right blonde guy with grey feathers hoodie? :)”
Mark’s doubts were cleared, he smiled upon confirmation that yes, he had an admirer. It shot a warm arrow through his chest when he looked back onto the note and realized that his admirer must’ve decided that giving small gifts little by little is the best way to get to him?
Taking out his mechanical pencil he wrote a big ‘Hi’ to whoever it was waiting for. It didn’t matter. If the person wanted to show how much they were into him then he’d gladly accept. It was also an amazing motivation to get up for class. He hated getting up.
On Friday he got a third pawn, only 5 more to go. “That’s another two weeks and a half. And another four weeks for the first row. What do they even plan after getting me all of these.” He murmured softly to his chin as the class started quieting down but Mark’s thoughts were louder than ever.
What will wait for him on Wednesday when he receives the last chess figurine? An invite to a date? A thank you note saying something along the lines, “thank you for being a part of my project” or will his admirer just wait in the classroom.
Watch Mark until he claims the pawn and then approaches him?
He wasn’t sure, and the lack of note brought an unwanted feeling of discomfort to him. Yet, he pushed it aside. Thinking that it’s better to wallow in happy thoughts then think negatively.
If there is something that listening to Astronomy lessons taught him, it was realizing how small he is. And how pitiful yet wonderful it is to live a life that’s screaming to be filled with experiences. That’s why he was so keen to see the end of this adventure, or a rendezvous would be a more appropriate word for it.
He enjoyed the journey too. He hoped it was the same as the admirer too. That they can enjoy this too. That making chess figurines wasn’t hard for them.
A sudden realization of how the perks surrounding him and feeling victorious in love life, pushed Mark to accept Jinyoung and Jackson’s invitation to one of the campus parties. It’s been what felt like ages since he got out, drank, and shared experiences with a lovely person.
On the weekend of the second week in September, Mark met a girl. She spoke perfect English and had her hair dyed blue. Instantly remembering the chess figurines he was getting, the girl turned to be an even bigger matter of interest for him.
They kissed under the moonlight and as she told him they fit like a puzzle. Mark’s drunk mind sobered just enough to ask her if she liked chess. “No, what?” she stuttered confusedly, “chess is for nerds.”
Her words gave him a big indication that she was not an admirer, just a girl whose hair reminded him of the figurines he was getting. Nonetheless, he spent the night with her and decided not to ever call her.
He drank more on Sunday too, he couldn’t wait to meet his admirer. Mark was usually a patient person but waiting until to meet someone - someone who already knew him was nerve-wracking.
The third week of September
Monday and Tuesday passed in a blink of an eye. The robotics project his team started in April of that year has entered the finish line and Mark pushed with work so they could be done with it as soon as possible. Maybe he pushed too hard because the next morning he overslept- a lot.
Rushing out of his bed, he jumped into the bathroom, got rid of his morning breath, and grabbed his backpack that was still laid on the dining room table since last night when he just threw it on and went to sleep. With his pajama bottoms still on an empty tummy, Mark ran to the eastern building.
The morning sun was blinding him and he collided with an unfortunate stranger. The other was bigger than him which meant Mark took it worse.
Falling on his butt, Mark cursed everything silently as the stranger helped him get up.
“Are you okay? Sorry I didn’t get out the way I-”
“No no no it's my fault. I’m just uh, so in a hurry to get something.”
Then it hit Mark, it wasn’t about the lecture. He was more driven to get another figurine than he cared for the astronomy class. Nonetheless, there was no way to claim a figurine if he didn’t attend the class. Fuck-
“Then I won’t hold you back. But please be careful,” the stranger said.
“Yeah I,” Mark stopped for a second when he saw how handsome his catlike eyes were, “I will. Thank you.”
And so Mark continued running as a boy named Jaebeom stayed back watching him with a smile on his face .
If you really cared about something it meant you had to embarrass yourself for it. To Mark, that Wednesday morning it was heaving with lies about how the bus he was on broke down and he had to run. The professor didn’t buy into his story but when she noticed he was still clad in pajamas she decided it was better to just let it go. Mark managed to find some air only when he finally sat by his desk and felt for the contents underneath the desk.
There, as never promised but always expected and welcomed, was the fourth pawn. Friday morning went without problems and Mark found a fifth pawn with a note saying “You figuratively knock me off my feet. But I have yet to try to see if I can do the same for you.”
Reading the note made Mark feel as if he was drunk in love. It threw him in a good state of mind and with the finished robotics project, Mark was ready to spend his weekend partying and meeting new faces. There was a big possibility that in the mass of bodies, one of them could be his admirer. But Mark had no starting points who they were, what they looked like, and if they even had a clean police record. He decided not to overwork his mind as he finished picking up his outfit for whichever party he’d be attending. It ended up being wild like last weekends, like any.
That night Mark spent almost the whole time from arriving at midnight to dawn talking with one of Jackson’s acquaintances. His name was Brian and his skill of playing beer pong was almost as good as kissing. He said bye to Mark at 6 am when he escorted him back to his apartment. They arranged a date in the evening that same day but Mark thought of his admirer and canceled it just a few minutes before.
Fourth week of September
From days leading up to Wednesday’s Astronomy class, he stuck his head into his materials to study. He felt a sense of guilt for kinda ghosting the dude because he was nice but nothing about him invoiced a feeling of excitement like his admirer did. Truly, it was kinda pathetic because the only interaction they had was from the admirer's part with gifting and a frequent note. Mark only said ‘Hi’ once.
With a full chest of impatience, he walked to his desk in Astronomy class and the only thing that could've been found at that moment was a disappointment.
It was silly to be upset when he didn’t find a figurine waiting for him that day yet he was so confused about why. What happened that his admirer couldn’t give him the figurine? Millions of possible scenarios went through his head. Friday rolled around and Mark thought about skipping. He felt dumb for waiting to get a figurine. Maybe a piece of paper with the scrambled text yet with so many feelings left lingering in the black ink.
That weekend, Mark went out again and made out with a guy whose name he didn’t even remember. He was drawn to him because the guy was adorned with many jewelries on his ears and had a studded leather jacket, almost reminding him of galaxies he studies about. His eyes were dark and sadly, the same way as Mark’s memory.
He didn’t spend the night with him. Passing out on one of the plastic balcony chairs seemed to be the only culmination of the night. When he woke up, the guy was gone .
The first week of October
That Wednesday was unusually sunny for a month that was supposed to be windy and grey. Nonetheless, after a cloudy weekend and an unfortunate all-nighter he pulled, some warmth on his cheek was very much enjoyed as he walked to his first lecture.
He slowly rolled to his desk and as he sat down he couldn’t help but still try and see if anything was waiting for him. The gods, saints, all the stars, and planets decided that there was still hope - waiting there were three blue pawns. One of which had a stud glued onto it. He didn’t know what was up with the slight change of one figurine but he pushed it aside and tried calming his breathing, he didn't even realize but he started breathing fast from all the rush of happiness. His heart raced upon the realization that no, his admirer didn’t give up.
A note was attached with the pawns, “Sorry I wasn’t here last week. I had a project to do. Hope you’re thinking of me.” Mark was beyond ecstatic.
“Mr. Tuan, care to share what you’re shambling around your desk?” He was suddenly torn out of his thoughts when the professor called his name. “N-no sorry I’m just uh, going through some readings.”
There was nothing that could mess up with his day after such a good start. He didn’t find Jinyoung’s smelly socks in the shower that morning, the mechanic's professor forgot to give homework... Oh, did he mention that the admirer was alive? Mark wanted so badly to meet his admirer and ask them why. How did they come up with a plan? Where did they see Mark and decided something along the lines of “oh yeah that guy sounds like he’d be a good partner.”
His two closest friends made him go into the main student cafeteria, something about needing a fourth opinion about a project Jinyoung had. It seemed that he was paired with an unknown colleague from a different field of study.
Jinyoung studied Literature and one of his projects was to write a short children’s story and his partner had to provide appropriate art for it. He sounded excited when he called Mark to meet them so they could brainstorm all together. See, Jinyoung adored reading. But kids' literature? Not his thing.
Mark approached the table they were sat at. With them sat a black-haired guy who eerily looked familiar, maybe from some fever dream he had during his Astronomy class about bright stars. His head felt heavy and while he did try to remember or solve puzzles of what’s real and what’s not, he disregarded the need of controlling his legs that ended up tangled at one another as Mark fell face down.
The fall was secured after the newcomer at Jinyoung and Jackson’s usual table reacted fast and caught him. Mark enjoyed one sniff of the guy’s jacket who smelled like a mixture of cigarettes, wood, and black pepper. “Dude you okay?” the stranger smiled with the most perfect smile as Jinyoung and Jackson started cracking up loudly. “Of course it’s only Mark that’d you expect to fall even while walking in a straight line,” Jackson snorted.
Mark kept quiet. Embarrassment starting to warm his cheeks. “You do look like the clumsy type though.”
“Uh. Oh yeah, it happens. I bump people a lot.” Mark answered, to which Jaebeom smirked and chuckled softly, “yeah I’ve experienced once or twice something similar. Oh. I’m Jaebeom by the way.” Dove-eyed Mark just slowly replied with his name and at that, Jaebeom turned back to Jinyoung as they continued going over basic details for their project as Jackson nudged him.
“Bro. You looked like a troubled Disney princess just now.” Jackson pretended to be worried. “I was thinking,” Mark replied slowly, “I still can’t remember jack shit from last weekend.”
“Don’t worry. You were safe and so far, it doesn’t look like you got any visible STDs.”
Mark scowled as he tried to be of help in building whatever the subject of the problem was. He couldn’t focus. Not with Jaebeom so close to him. He had a feeling like they already met but no matter how much Mark tried to remember, no sense of revelation was on the horizon for him. Friday came faster than Mark thought it would. Maybe it was because he spent all his free time thinking about Jaebeom. That windy morning was blessed by the first figurine of the first row in chess, a rook. He tightly clutched onto it.
Something clicked inside his brain. After almost a whole month he never thought about checking out if there was a chess club at campus?
Surely there had to be one. All he had to do was snoop and get to the member’s list. It was university policy to be transparent about everything clubs did so he guessed it’d be a piece of cake.
Feeling victorious, he managed to stay focused until he met his friends for lunch that day.
“So I have a situation,” he calculated that it would be the best to avoid the complete truth, “I need to get to the list of people enrolled in the chess club.”
Jinyoung gave him a weird look but answered, “easily done. But what for do you need it for?”
“Not important right now.” Mark dismissed. “Just help me please and I’ll buy you food for the whole week.”
“We’ll help you!” Jackson jumped in. “Say yes,” he nudged Jinyoung in the ribs who winced in pain but agreed.
The next day, Mark was presented by a link of chess club members. Jinyoung’s short message said he’d just have to scan through the list accompanied by members’ ID university photos and he’ll have “his precious answers.” He stayed in bed, relishing in the fact he can finally stay in bed after five long days. With the new information in his hands, he could now search for these people on social media and narrow down the search.
After some stalking, two cups of coffee and maybe breaking a law of two of his university, he came to an end of his best worst plan. The narrowed down list provided two people who could be the match for his secret admirer.
One of them was a girl he saw a couple of times near his classes. She listened to a class with Mark in their first year but then changed her majors. To biology or something similar. Every time Mark saw her, she was seen carrying big binders or smoking outside the building in her lab coat. She did give out the vibe Mark would deem interesting. The other secret-admirer-suspect person was a guy he was sure he’s seen on Wednesdays before his Astronomy class. He looked way too preppy for whatever subject took place before his and Mark just couldn’t see him crafting chess figurines, or even paying for them.
So he took a lucky guess and decided that the girl would be the match. After some thought, he could remember her shooting some looks his way.
“That’s it.” He victoriously said and closed his laptop.
“What’s it?” Jackson screamed from the kitchen.
“Finished homework.”
“Fuckin’ nerd.”
The second week of October
Tuesdays were the days he saw the girl the most, Yuna or Yeri her name was. Mark just finished with his Electricity and magnetism class and as he entered the yellow painted hallway, he looked around if he would see his supposed admirer.
She was standing by the vending machines, probably getting herself coffee in between her laboratory break. Mark could feel some panic finally entering his body as he walked up to her. He had to push it down though because, as much as he enjoyed gifts, he thought it was about time they established a real direct relationship.
They walked out of the building, Yeri indeed holding a cup of coffee in her dainty hands.
“So what do you want to talk about?” She asked, cocking her head to the side.
“I uh... I kinda put two and two together and I know that you like me.”
At that, Yeri burst out laughing. Almost spilling coffee over her pristine lab coat, she tried to compose herself to stutter over some words. Mark was shocked and felt as if she, with her reaction to Mark’s conclusion not only insulted him but all of his family and maybe even his future grandchildren even.
“Ehem. Why would you think that?”
“You have access to the classrooms we both frequent, you kept throwing looks at me in freshman year, you’re the one leaving chess figurines for me.”
“I what!?” her powdered face scrunched up in confusion. “Oh, Mark. Oh, honey. Whoever’s that you're looking for is not me. I’m a raging lesbian.”
Mark stayed silent, shock now filling his whole mind that he didn’t know what to say.
“Oh, I really feel bad. You know what? I can help you find them, huh? What do you say? I could use a break from dissecting goat brains.”
Her genuine curiosity about his problems pulled him out of the impending depression and Mark complied.
Their plan was nothing someone would expect from two STEM majors. More so because it was genuinely a plan that sounded like two 4th graders made it. But still, it was better than nothing.
They took a photo of the 8th pawn Mark got last week and along with that, wrote “lost chess figurine. Found in the cafeteria. If this is yours, call xxx-xxx-xxx.” Yeri volunteered to give her phone number rather than Mark’s because his admirer maybe even knew it, plus “maybe I’ll get a girlfriend easier that way.”
The next day, Mark was welcomed by a second rook and a note saying, “If you might feel impatient, just imagine how I feel.” He chuckled upon reading it. Getting out one of his pencils, he wrote on the desk “reveal yourself already.”
On Friday, a knight was waiting for him. “I’d keep you safe like a knight.” Yeri's phone never rang to ask about the pawn.
“Did they just ignore my whole message?” he asked out loud.
Suddenly, he could feel all heads inside the room staring at him. Embarrassment crept up to his face instantly and he just looked down. Some way in shame, some way in not understanding why the admirer wouldn’t comply with his one wish.
“Mr. Tuan, please leave your romantic problems outside the classroom.” His teacher said sternly.
He breathed in melancholically almost. “I wish they were.”
Boring lectures finished and Mark hurried to the cafeteria. He’d be meeting with Jackson and Jinyoung for lunch in the cafeteria. It was time to tell them about the admirer. If he were to ever expect a proper invite to date then his friends had to be informed about everything that went down in the past month.
“So,” he started, throwing his backpack on the floor and throwing himself at the bench. “There’s something we need to talk about.”
“Hello dudes” Mark was interrupted by a familiar voice, “Jinyoung sorry I’m late. You don’t mind if we work on the project here?”
Mark and Jackson nodded that yes, it was okay.
“What did you want to talk about bro?” Jackson curiously asked.
“Nothing. It can wait.” Mark tried answering with not much emotion when in reality, jealousy was bubbling inside him. “Just hope it’s worth it.” He didn’t know what or who he thought when Jackson asked him to clarify.
On Saturday Mark went to another party with another colleague of his, Youngjae, along with closer friends of his. They all had to walk a pretty good distance until they reached their destination. He had fun, managing to relax from chess figures flooding his mind and mingling around. At some point, he found himself alone in the kitchen.
“Mark.” He almost dropped his beer. Turning around, he saw Brian. The basketball dude he halfway ghosted just minutes before their date.
“Haven’t seen you in a while. Got someone?” He mockingly asked.
“Uh no, no I don’t.”
“Funny because last month when you ruined my night,” he stopped to get closer to Mark, continuing with an accusing voice, “you said you got someone.”
Mark was lost at what to do, he didn’t know how to get out with words because yes, he did lie, and too much alcohol in his organism wasn’t the best match to try and outrun the sportsman.
“Brian get off you prick.”
Brian stepped aside and Mark had a view of his savior - Im Jaebeom.
“He’s not worth it, you know,” Brian spat out, “a few weeks ago we were making out and all of a sudden he asked me if I liked chess. Weirdo.” With that low blow, Brian left the kitchen and returned to the mass of bodies, and Jaebeom and Mark were left alone.
“I’m so sorry about that dick.” Jaebeom sighed. “Are you okay?” He kept his distance almost not to disturb Mark once again that night.
“I am,” he really was, “it’s like you’re my knight in shining armor” Mark joked.
Something different twinkled inside Jaebeom’s eyes and just as he was ready to say something, they were interrupted. Youngjae staggered into the kitchen clutching his stomach quickly saying “don’t mix Iagermeister with orange juice. Don’t.”
Mark spent that night tending to Youngjae with Jaebeom in one of the spare rooms of the frat house with little words exchanged. While Youngjae lay sideways on the bed, the other two sat onto the footer of the bed. It was good, Jaebeom didn’t pressure to have a conversation. They enjoyed silence but Mark fell asleep with Jaebeom’s soft humming.
In the morning the younger felt so embarrassed after his drunken night that after his throat was refreshed by water and some gum, Mark and Jaebeom parted ways with him. As they walked to Mark’s apartment - it was Jaebeom’s idea to escort him, Jaebeom asked “what was that chess thing Brian was spewing about?”
“Um nothing I, I just don’t know how to play chess and...”
“Hmm, I see,” Jaebeom replied with a slight chuckle, “We should fix that one day huh?”
Mark could feel his eyes widen and no words would come out. They were standing right in front of his building entrance on that Sunday morning and even after a long night, Jaebeom still looked as good as he did every day. It was so close. So close to kissing Jaebeom. So close to finally asking him if he might be the one Mark was searching for.
It felt like an hour had passed, Mark was still looking dumbstruck at the taller man, undecided. Cowardly.
“Well,” Jaebeom pulled him out of his meditation, “see you.” With that, he winked and disappeared behind the corner.
The third week of October
Twice that week, as expected, he got two more figurines. The second knight to complete the duo and the first bishop. He was done with the lectures for the week and with no plans in mind, Mark was spending his afternoon lying in bed with Frank Ocean in the background. Both of his roommates had plans after lectures and they wouldn’t be coming home anytime soon. Pushed with the thought that he’s alone at home, he jumped out of his bed and walked over to his dresser. In the last few weeks, he made sure to diligently store the figurines. Safe from prying eyes, in the bottom drawer, sorted from first to newest.
He took them all and put on the bed. Maybe something was hiding when he put them all in the correct order? Maybe they all had a code or something?
Nothing fruitful came from his inspection of the figurines. He could only note that whoever has been crafting the figurines, they got so much better at it. The edges didn’t appear so rough like at the beginning, and they started looking more uniform as opposed to looking like each has been done by a different set of hands.
The decision that it’s finally time to confess to his two roommates has finally settled inside his head. Arranging to meet his friends in one of the cafes just off campus, Mark started his brisk walk. It was nearing 6 pm and the late October sun had vanished for the day. Catching from his peripheral vision was a figure clad in black. Mark jerked with a surprise for a moment until he realized that the figure belonged to Jaebeom.
“Hey! Where are you going?” Jaebeom breathily asked. “Meeting with Jacks and Jinyoung. It’s an uh… friend troubles?” Mark stammered, not knowing how to say that he’s got an admirer for the last 6 or so weeks and he’s been keeping it like a dirty little secret.
Plus, it was better not to even mention anything alike to him. He might’ve met Jaebeom just some time ago but if all goes wrong... Well, he hoped Jaebeom’s possible liking towards him would be the circus net to catch a sad clown that is Mark.
“Mhm, I see. Well, I won’t bother you. For now.” Jaebeom gave Mark another one of his, what seemed to be, signature smirks and threw in a wink too. “Bye Mark.” He took a right turn as they approached a corner on which a cafe Mark was meeting his friends sat.
Mark let himself to gawk for 5 more seconds in Jaebeom’s direction then entered the cozy cafe. Jackson and Jinyoung were already in, slurping on their tea in the burgundy booth. Both raised their eyebrows in a silent hello.
After ordering hot chocolate he was ready to spew all happenings since their senior year started. And so he did. Jackson and Jinyoung stayed silent during Mark’s rambling and jumping from week to week and explaining all the different figurines he got and how after all those weeks, he still didn’t know what the admirer wanted.
He finished the story as fast he could but still, at the end when he went to take a sip of his hot chocolate, he grimaced upon the realization that it was now unsatisfyingly lukewarm.
“So,” he started, “what are we thinking?”
“I think that whoever’s sending you those-” Jinyoung started but was cut off by Jackson. “They’re a fucking stalker. That’s what I think.”
“Yeah. It’s just...” Jinyoung ruffled his black hair, “normal admirers don’t put so much effort in it. If it’s been seven weeks-” he sat up straighter, “it’s been going for too long. I think that the initial romantic gesture has disappeared.”
Jackson agreed with a nod.
“What are you thinking about it? Aren’t you nervous or something?” Jackson leaned on the table, true worry showing onto his face.
“I, I never thought of the fact that they could have ill intentions,” Mark confessed.
“Maybe it doesn’t feel like it but it sure as hell looks like it.” Jackson added, “look, I know that you’re probably over the moon because someone showed adoration to you. But Mark, you’re not unlovable or unattractive-”
“There are so many opportunities to meet people who will worship the floor you walk on,” Jinyoung’s worried voice made Mark turn his head to the side, “but…”
“It’s just not this.” Jackson finished the same point he and Jinyoung thought. “It could be dangerous, bro what would we do without you?”
“I’m sorry Mark,” Jinyoung continued, “it’s just not safe.”
“Think of a way to make them back off, we’ll accompany you to the class on Wednesday.”
“No. I, I will write them to back off.” Mark’s heart broke prematurely.
After he and his friends came back home from the cafe, they confiscated all 11 figurines Mark got so far. Knowing that Mark was not indifferent to the conclusion they reached, they spent the weekend on the couch watching bad horror movies and finally eating some home-cooked meals.
The fourth week of October
On Wednesday, Mark’s nerves were going haywire. It was the first time he wouldn’t take the figurine into his hands. After the Astronomy class, there were two things to be found under Mark’s desk. A lonely knight accompanied by a note taped down onto it saying ‘Don’t give these to me anymore. It’s finished.’
His head was swarmed in doubts of what he just did. On one side he thought that Jackson and Jinyoung were correct, but on one side, he trusted his judgment that no threat was near. Still, Jackson and Jinyoung guarded his back everywhere he went on campus.
By the time Friday rolled around, Mark could not find the energy to get up on a cold morning and go to his Astronomy class. That day, after 2 months of perfect attendance, Mark allowed himself to sleep in and ignore the world and questions whether the admirer would try and give him a figurine once again.
On Saturday, it was Halloween, and Mark went out with his two best friends. Mark was dressed up as a president with two bodyguards. The mask was a genius plan from Jackson. While the other two joked about how funny it is, Mark couldn’t make himself laugh.
Jaebeom was nowhere to be found, so that spooky night Mark hooked up with another random girl. He was in good company all night long but ended up choosing a girl dressed up as a princess. She said her name was Tanya and while he was sure that both her name and the phone number she wrote on his forearm in the morning were fake, he did not care.
The second week of November
Time seemed to pass quickly ever since he left the note. The chess figurines haven’t appeared under his desk although a small part of him still wished for them. But, with exams breathing down his neck, Mark truly did not have time for anything but to think about equations and papers to write.
Sometimes he let himself think about Jaebeom. The last time he saw him was on the day he met with Jackson and Jinyoung in a cafe. It’s been almost three weeks since that day.
He guessed that he also had to be swarmed with obligations leading to the most joyful time of the year. Still, he worried about him. They shared nice moments but right now it seemed like Jaebeom was just a passing figure in his life.
When Mark asked Jinyoung about Jaebeom, he got a simple answer to how the project he worked on with Jaebeom was done and since they had nothing much in common, they didn’t keep in touch. And when he messaged Youngjae asking about him, the younger boy simply replied how Jaebeom was taking some time off . Whatever that meant.
On one of his free days when he let himself sleep in as a reward for a finished yesterday’s exam, Mark was still woken up by his phone ringing sometime around 10 am. It was Jinyoung, he was the only one still using calls.
“What.”
“Jaebeom approached me on campus, asking if I can give him your number,” Jinyoung said in a hurried hush, he probably just took a few steps away from Jaebeom and called Mark.
“Huh,” Mark’s sleepy head suddenly woke up, “yeah, yeah give him.”
Now feeling completely awake, Mark got up and half an hour later his phone rang.
“Hey Mark,” it was Jaebeom’s soft voice.
“Hi, what’s up?”
“I,” Jaebeom took a second, “I wanted to ask if you’d like to go grab a coffee or something?”
“Yes! I mean, yeah I got time.” Being cool about stuff was never Mark’s skill.
“Great,” Mark could almost hear the relief in his voice, “meet me in front of the Arts building at 2? That’s when I’m done for the day if you’re okay with it.”
“Yeah, that’s fine. See you.”
Mark’s nerves were running wild and he didn’t know what to expect. He ate a small lunch, showered, and began his walk towards the Arts building. It seemed that even though the schedule of exams released him from the pain that was the eastern building, he was still invited to be present there.
He decided to send a quick message to Jinyoung that he decided to meet with Jaebeom. Since the other played some part in connecting them, it was only right to inform Jinyoung. Not even a minute later, Jinyoung sent in a message saying he and Jackson would be watching them two just in case .
That day, Mark decided against taking a shortcut through a park covered in colorful leaves. Walking up to the campus he could feel his breathing getting shorter, some from the crisp November air, some from the excitement that just wouldn’t calm down.
Jaebeom
Walking down the stairs that led up to Arts’ building, he saw Mark's two best friends. He fumbled with his backpack in a hurry, there was so much stuff inside and he regretted not taking his time inside the classroom to properly close it.
Amongst the pile of papers, painting utensils, and other scattered junk, in the backpack were also hiding the remaining five figurines he never got to give Mark.
His plan for today was to finally confess. He didn’t know what made Mark tell him to stop with the gifts and notes, but it has been eating him away for two weeks now. There had to be a reason why Mark decided that and no matter what, Jaebeom had to be honest with his attraction towards the blond man.
Over two months passed since Jaebeom gifted the first figurine. Being deep in thought showed not to go to Jaebeom’s advantage. He tripped over his own feet and his backpack went flying.
Jackson and Jinyoung who were at the bottom of the stairs became alert to the sudden mishap and ran to him. But, their worry lasted for a short time.
Jinyoung was the first one to note that some chess figurines fell out of the backpack. And so the shitshow went down.
“Hold the bastard Jackson.”
“What”
“Just hold him so he can’t run away”
Jinyoung bent down and picked up the figurine, “What’s this?”
Jaebeom, whose hands were behind his back held tightly by Jackson tried wiggling around, but the fencer was stroger. “A chess figurine, are you blind? Why are you holding me!?”
“You’re Mark’s stalker that’s why you prick.”
“What? What no, no you got it all wrong-” Jaebeom tried explaining.
“Shut up and save it for the campus police.” Jackson shot back.
Mark approached from the corner then stopped in shock. What did just happen?
“Mark! Don’t come near!” Jackson shouted, “We caught the damn stalker.”
“I can’t believe I worked on a children’s book with you.” Jinyoung’s dramatic self truly appeared to be hurt.
“Who was stalking what are you talking about,” Jaebeom shouted, he managed to get out of Jackson’s grip, “I was only gifting Mark to get him to like me!”
“That’s stalking!” Jinyoung shouted back.
Mark approached the three of them and in the calmest voice said, “Can you all just calm down.”
“Mark I swear to god I didn’t-” Jaebeom was apologetic, not moving.
“I know, and I know you . You two bodyguards can leave, I can deal with this myself.”
“But-”
“No butts,” Mark cut them off, “where do you want to go for a coffee?” He asked Jaebeom.
The same day
“So,” Mark started slowly, “all these chess figurines were to slowly warm up to me? That’s how it looks.”
“Yeah. I thought that after I-”
“But somehow you made my friends believe that you’re a stalker who wants to kill me.”
“It wasn’t my intention,” Jaebeom let out an embarrassed laugh, “I thought that we could meet and play chess. I don’t know why I decided that. It was the first thing that came to my mind. But then that night when Youngjae got drunk you said you don’t play chess,” he was playing with the handle of his cup looking deep in thought, “I was already so into the plan and it’d be dumb to stop with the figurines after I tried so hard.”
“I’m sorry it ended up like this.” He apologized.
“No, no it was hilarious actually.” Mark confessed then continued, “I truly did fall for the admirer, and you-” he took a short breath, “I thought, no I wanted you to be the admirer.”
Jaebeom’s face lit up upon hearing those words. “Do you want to hear the full story,” he took Mark's hand into his, “I’ve been dying to tell it to someone.”
“Yeah, of course.”
“So, that Wednesday you bumped into me after my Renaissance class-” “Oh my god that was you!?” Mark cut him off.
Jaebeom laughed it off. “This is only the beginning Mark. You bumped into me twice before properly meeting me. And uh," he stopped, some anxiety showing on his forehead, "we kinda made out one weekend? I don't remember much because I was drunk as fuck."
Mark was quiet, then exclaimed, "Oh my god, so that wasn't a fever dream!"
"You remember?"
"Not really, just a figure in black and shiny studs on a jacket" he touched Jaebeom's jacket, "were we both that drunk?"
"My roommate, Yugyeom, told me he basically carried me home."
"I can't believe that after being so bamboozled with you my drunk mind took over. I'm sorry.”
“Oh, you shy baby. We were into it both, not just you.”
“Yeah,” he smiled looking down, “uh, I was confused at first because I didn’t know what majors or which years are entering the classroom but when I saw your tired eyes I was just like ah yes, he’s a senior .” They both laughed heartily.
“Did I apologize for bumping into you? I can’t remember.”
“Shortly and quietly. Were you sporting a hangover?”
“I drank tequila with Jackson and Jinyoung the night before. That morning they both literally dragged me out the bed so I wouldn’t miss the first class, ‘that’s not how nerds act’ they said.”
“What would we do without them?”
After another laughing session was finished, Jaebeom just started telling his plan. “To continue, I was so dumbstruck with everything about you that during my pottery class a rolling disk almost fell onto me. But yeah, I just figured that since when you listened to Astronomy that you’d like chess.”
“And I never even played it...” Mark pretended to be guilty, positioning a hand over his heart.
“That’s a fault on my side. So, I decided to start with the figurines because I couldn’t go off of anything.”
“I don’t really buy into the fact that you chose chess figurines because you thought I liked chess.” Mark was onto something and Jaebeom could feel the tattletale sweat forming somewhere on his forehead.
“No no, that part is true.”
“Oh, do continue.”
“I wanted to go with the chess figurines because in my mind if you accepted each one and decided that I’m not a total weirdo and a stalker by the end-”
“We could be complete.” Mark finished for him.
“Yes. And if you didn’t accept then you would have an incomplete set. Something useless of yours because mine failed too.”
“Sadistic much, Im Jaebeom?”
“I’m sorry,” he apologized, again, “the thought of us having something ours… Especially when it was made by all of this'' he signaled a circle with his free hand, “it brought me so much motivation to make them and one day possibly being with you.”
Mark accepted the answer. He was okay with it, even if this was the first long conversation they held, it wasn’t weird.
“What about the color? Usually, chess sets are in black and white, that much I know.”
“Mark, I couldn’t give you a boring white.”
Mark tightened the grip on their hands which lay on the table and Jaebeom continued. “In my mind, I was the black one and the color blue associated me with the sky and you instantly. And as more and more I thought about it I came to the conclusion that any color, in this case, blue, has to reach black. With us and in nature, the sky is blue but as deeper and deeper it goes, it becomes black. The whole point was to meet those two colors.”
“I actually really like that thought.” Mark admitted smiling, “but how did you find out that I have Astronomy on Fridays too?”
“It’s not hard finding schedules of different majors, you just need to know where to dig.” Jaebeom victoriously replied but Mark’s eyes are wide.
“Oh my god. So you did stalk.”
Mark sat upon his knees and turned to the front of the cafe where Jackson and Jinyoung were, “yo he just admitted he did stalk.” He yelled but he was ignored as Jaebeom jumped up to calm him down. “It was just a quick online search I-”
“I don’t care,” Mark unceremoniously sat back nicely, starting once again to laugh. “Really. As long as you don’t try to steal my social security number I think we’re okay.”
Sometime around Christmas
Jaebeom and Mark were spending their day on the Han river. It was a perfect winter day with the sun up and snow remained unbothered with the sun rays.
“Isn’t it funny?” Jaebeom asked, holding a cup of mulled wine.
“What?”
“I mean, how differently would it go if I wasn’t a coward and just approached you,” he turned his eyesight from the river back to Mark’s unblemished face, “would you still think I was a stalker.”
“I never said that I thought you were.” Mark snorted,
“You said that being funny is the best way to get noticed by you,” Jaebeom stated, “was my failed attempt at giving you chess figurines, the most boring sport, worth it?”
“Fuck yes,” Mark replied and leaned to kiss Jaebeom’s sweet lips.
Seemingly, Jaebeom and Mark have no visible interests they share, but once they met, they realized how the universe is set funny.
Its connection of stars is what makes the world go around and things interesting. And somehow, the universe decided to have fun with tangled webs of people who are all over the place with their lives to make them meet. Even if it took a few tries. It still all fell back into its place.