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ushigushijimas · 6 years ago

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a little more chemistry | l. mark

Mark Lee | 3.1K In which Mark is your lab partner and you wish paid more attention during Chemistry lectures.

If you were to count the number of days you had been late this year, you would spend the entire day. Over the summer break, you had decided “new semester, new me”. Evidently, that was not the case as you rushed across the campus in your mismatched socks at 8:01am to your least favourite place in the school – the Chemistry lab.

Of course, the heavens made it such that you had to begin the new semester with your favourite subject along with your favourite lecturer. The day she had walked into the lecture theatre was when you decided that you were doomed for Chemistry. Her barely audible voice lulled you to sleep on a daily basis and took the opportunity to catch up on sleep every time she stepped into the theatre.

Scurrying to your designated seat, you turned to the left expecting to greet Haechan, only to see a boy in a pink hoodie staring at you. It was not just anyone sitting next to you. It was Mark Lee – the golden boy on campus. He not only topped the cohort for multiple classes but he was even the President of the Student Council and the Vice-President of the Dance Club. You had never gotten the chance to interact with him but from the multitude of girls approaching him in the cafeteria, you could tell that he probably had a great personality. Plus, he was Haechan’s best friend-

“You’re late,” Mark commented, breaking your train of thought and filling you with embarrassment. No “hello!” or any sort of introduction came from him.

“No, I’m not. I’m Y/N,” you trailed off with nervous laughter after his face failed to show any amusement.

Feeling extremely uncomfortable with Mark’s hostility, you scanned the lab trying to spot the ever-joyful Haechan, who would have cracked up at your lame joke or at least returned it with a sassy comment. Sure, you knew that you were bound to meet Mark one day considering how Haechan was his best friend but you never thought it would be this uncomfortable and that you would meet under such circumstances – without a middleman to ease the awkwardness. Your eyes fell on Haechan sitting next to the girl, looking completely lost in their own world.

“Well, He wanted to swap partners with me,” Your head snapped back to stare at Mark with confusion.

“Uh, Haechan? Your previous lab partner?” Mark explained, a dust of pink upon his cheeks. It was only when you looked down at his fingers that you noticed his fidgeting.

“Ah yes, I always thought he was into someone else,” Mark only hummed in response and silence fell between the two of you again.

Every time you saw Mark in the hallways, he would be laughing with his friends, having the habit of slapping his thigh multiple times while doing so. That Mark and the Mark next to you were so different, you almost thought they were different people.

As your tutor finished her briefing for the experiments you were required to carry out, Mark wordlessly left to collect the necessary solutions. Normally, you would leave everything to Haechan, waiting for him to instruct you whenever he needed a pair of hands because you were an idiot when it came to Chemistry. And looking at how Mark did not bother to split the work with you, you guessed that Haechan probably told Mark about your inability to comprehend the reactions between oddly named compounds.

But no, you were not going to let him do all the work. New semester, new you. Mark probably already had a bad impression of you after you unceremoniously plopped down on your seat at 8.02am. Hastily, you picked up the nearest beakers and started washing them, hoping to be of some help to Mark.

“Y/N, we don’t need any beakers for this experiment,” Mark appeared by your side, making you stop washing the beakers.

You were beyond embarrassed, wishing the earth could engulf you instantly. The inability to grasp concepts was one thing but thinking that you required beakers for this experiment was a completely new level of stupidity. Especially since your tutor made your class do the exact same experiment every single session.

While you were busy chastising yourself under your breath, you failed to notice the endearing smile that spread across Mark’s face.

“It’s ok Y/N, we all make stupid mistakes once in a while. Not that you’re stupid- I mean, that was kind of dumb- No, I mean, ah!” Mark spluttered before he turned his back against you to carry out the experiment by himself while you just sat next to him in complete embarrassment.

“You what?!” Haechan exclaimed after he saw you rush out of the lab without a word the moment the clock struck 10:00am.

“I didn’t call her dumb! I just said that what she did was dumb,” Mark tried to reason.

“Well, you might as well have done it! I can’t believe I swapped seats with you just for you to butcher your chances. Also, I don’t understand how you were able to put up with your lab partner, she kept trying to hold my hand the entire two hours.” Haechan’s comments did not help to ease the discomfort within Mark’s chest.

“She probably thinks I’m some arrogant douchebag who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else!” Mark lamented as his shoulders sagged down. The thought of making a terrible first impression ruined his entire mood.

Mark continued to brood over his lack of charisma when it came to you. He was the golden boy of the school. How did a girl in mismatched socks manage to render him speechless? He could only hope that you did not misinterpret his careless comment.

Unfortunately, the next time you encountered Mark was earlier than you had expected. You thought that you would have an entire week to mope over your blunder before you would have to sit next to him in the same fateful lab.

You couldn’t deny that Mark was truly attractive with his wide doe eyes staring back at you. The way he held your gaze last week made you want to get to know him better. It was almost as if you could tell that there was more to him than simply a pretty boy with brains and talent.

Your game plan was to rush to the back of the lecture theatre, drowning in the crowd so that he would not see you and hopefully, somehow, by the next lab session, he would have already forgotten about your stupidity. Your very first interaction with Mark had probably already painted an unfavourable image in Mark’s mind and you prayed to the heavens that you would be able to make up for it during the subsequent lab sessions.

However, things never ever turn out the way you want them too because the moment you stepped into the lecture theatre, you heard Haehcan’s loud voice bounce off the walls. “Y/N! Come sit with us! We saved a seat for you”

Finding the source of the booming voice, you spotted Haechan sitting near the front of the theatre. When your eyes fell next to him, memories of your embarrassing first encounter flooded your mind. There sitting next to Haechan was the boy you had been avoiding in the hallways. Mark Lee in all of his glory was seated there with his round spectacles, waiting for the lecturer to start. Of all lectures, Haechan decided that now would be the time to introduce you to Mark.

It was only when you approached the duo that you noticed that the seat that Haechan “saved” for you was the one next to Mark. You could just turn away and run to the back of the lecture theatre but you doubt Haechan would have allowed that to happen. So you carefully made your way past Mark and Haechan to the empty seat, making sure not to step on their toes by accident. You could not afford to look like a fool in front of Mark again.

“Hey y/n, nice meeting you again,” Mark whispered the moment you sat down, avoiding your eyes. He was wearing the same pink hoodie you saw on him last week but this time, he styled his fluffy blonde hair. In another universe where Mark did not think of you as an idiot, you definitely would have reached your hand out to ruffle his hair.

Lowering your voice as your lecturer started speaking, you whispered, “Hey, Mark. Sorry about last week, I wasn’t really in the right state of mind.”

“It’s fine, we all have those days,” he reassured, smiling brightly at you. Somehow, you found yourself mirroring the curve of his lips.

Even having Mark next to you was not enough to keep you awake. Your lecturer spotted you nodding off despite having started the lecture less than half an hour ago. She then decided that embarrassing you in front of the everyone else would be a good way to teach you a lesson, “Y/N, what is the name of the reaction between alcohols and carboxylic acids?”

Mark’s head snapped to the left only to find you nodding off, completely unaware of the lecturer fuming. If not for the anger radiating off your lecturer, Mark would have taken time to admire the way your eyes fluttered open when he nudged you.

Sitting up straight and still disoriented, you shouted, “Yes Prof!”, evoking laughter from everyone else within the lecture theatre. It was apparent to everyone that you had not been paying attention. If Mark did not already think of you as a blockhead from last week, you were certain that he thought so now. You could feel your ears turning red and your eyes almost prickled.

Sensing your discomfort, Mark quickly slipped a piece of paper in front of you. You assumed that was the answer to your lecturer’s question and read off of it, “esterification”.

“Wow Y/N, I’m impressed. Sitting next to Mark must be helping you.” Despite the supposed compliment, you could not help but feel as if your lecturer was looking down on you. Grudgingly, you stayed awake during the rest of the lecture, wanting to prove your lecturer wrong.

“I don’t understand how you’re so bad at Chemistry! You’re basically one of the smartest people I know, after Mark of course.” You walked out of the lecture theatre with Mark and Haechan, approaching to campus café to obtain your coffee fix.

“I don’t get it either. I just can’t understand Chemistry. I can solve difficult mathematical problems, understand how the heart efficiently pumps blood around the body and even quote Macbeth! But I just can’t do Chemistry!” While you were grumbling to no one in particular, you failed to notice the silent conversation Mark and Haechan were having by your side.

It was only when you received no response that you turned to the left to see Mark walking by your side and Haechan missing. You decided to take take the opportunity to thank Mark for helping you back there, preventing you from embarrassing you any further.

His gaze unreadable, he offered, “I know we don’t know each other that well. But I could help you with Chemistry if you’d like? It’s fine if you don’t want to! It’s just that-”

You stopped him mid-ramble, “that’ll be great actually, I really need help.”You were not sure why he seemed so jittery around you but it was endearing and interesting to see the supposedly untouchable Mark Lee nervous.

When Mark had offered to help you with Chemistry, you were not completely sure whether or not he was being serious but here you were, having your fifth study session with Mark.

Staying true to his word, Mark met you every two days after school at the campus café, patiently debunking every misconception you had. Despite how lacking you were when it came to Chemistry, Mark never once blew up. Surprisingly, the awkwardness between the two of you dissipated within the first two sessions and you could say that you were comfortable around him.

“Y/N! Didn’t I teach you this just two days ago?” The pout on Mark’s face made you want to tease him even more.

“Well, I guess that says a lot about my tutor!” Your teasing only made him jut his lips out even more, making your heart flutter.

While Mark looked through your assignment, you took the time to admire his features. Sure, initially you were attracted to Mark’s physical appearance and who the rumours made him out to be – the cool golden boy. Following the time spent with him, noticing the way his brows furrowed when he spotted mistakes in your work, the way he bit his lip while thinking of what drink to buy and his habit to slap his thigh whenever he laughed, you realised that the boy before you was far from cool. However, that did not make him any less attractive in your eyes. In fact, these little things drew you even more.

“Good job, you’re improving! I wonder who helped you! He must be a really great tutor whose stomach is waiting to be filled.” The proud smile on Mark’s face made you want to do well just so that you could see more of it.

“My great tutor, let’s go get some food, my treat!” The both of you packed your books and left the café that became your meeting spot over the past two weeks.

The both of you walked down the empty street side by side in comfortable silence. Who would have thought that it had only been three weeks since your first meeting at the laboratory?

“Thank you for helping me. I really appreciate it, Mark.” You turned to look at him, hoping that he could feel the sincerity in your words.

Meeting your eyes, Mark replied genuinely, “I actually didn’t do much, you just needed a little nudge. I’m sure you’ll ace tomorrow’s quiz!”

Another thing that contrasted to his cool image was how genuine he was. Despite being an actual prodigy, Mark still remained so humble, dodging praise and you could tell that he truly wanted you to do well.

Your chemistry definitely improved by leaps and bounds but you were far from “acing” it, “I doubt so. Prof. Kim is known for giving the most difficult quizzes.”

“How about this, if you get an A, you have to do me a favour. If you don’t get an A, I’ll do you a favour.” With that proposal, you started to consider what Mark could do for you.

“Hmmm, I’ll make you eat ketchup!” You stuck your tongue out at Mark before running off to the convenience store with Mark shaking his head at your behaviour while trailing behind you.

Initially, Mark had only been physically attracted to you. And all he knew about you was what Haechan would share once in a while. Over the time spent together, he noticed the way you would stop to pet stray cats whenever you walked home together, the way you intentionally wore mismatched socks and how quickly your eyes would turn red every time you were embarrassed.

It baffled the both of you how quickly you had turned from two awkward beans who could not even make eye contact to feasting on ramen together at 11:00 pm the night before a test.

“Pen’s down!” Your lecturer’s voice bounced off the walls as the hall was filled with groans.

For the first time in forever, you completed all the questions in a Chemistry quiz and the possibility of doing well actually existed. In a span of a few weeks, you not only gained knowledge, but you had also gained a new friend.

Somehow, you and Mark would always end up gravitating towards each other, finding each other less than a minute after your lecturer released the class. “The smile on your face tells me that I won’t be having to eat ketchup!”

“I wouldn’t count on that, results will be out this afternoon. I would be satisfied with a B!”

“We did it!” Mark shouted as the both of you stood in front of the noticeboard that afternoon, spotting the big “A” next to your names.

Overwhelmed with joy, you launched yourself at Mark, tackling him with a hug. You felt Mark freeze up instantly but before you could pull away and apologise, you felt him wrap his arms around you.

Mark’s whisper of “Good job, Y/N, I’m proud of you” made your grin from ear to ear. Even after separating from each other, the both of you adorned wide smiles.

Your happiness was short lived because next up on your schedule was “Chemistry Practical”, which meant two hours in your favourite place. This time, you could not tell if you were being sarcastic when you called it your favourite. It was after all where you first interacted with Mark.

“So, what would you like me to do, my dear tutor? Your wish is my command,” This was a bet you definitely did not mind losing because honestly, what could Mark make you do?

The teasing smile on Mark’s face piqued your interest but he only responded with, “Let me think about it, I’ll let you know after our lab session.”

The moment you reached the lab, you reached past the beaker for the burettes and the pipettes while Mark wordlessly collected the necessary solutions. Side by side, the two of you worked synchronously. No discussion was needed between you and somehow Mark was able to tell what you were doing and vice versa through silent conversations. Whenever you met Mark’s eyes, smiles would break out on your faces.

In less than half the given time, you had completed the experiment and gotten the necessary data. Working with Mark this time contrasted so much with the lab session three weeks ago.

As you started to pack up the apparatus, you decided to ask Mark, “So, what would you like?”

No response.

You stopped what you were doing and turned to look at Mark only to find him staring at you with those dark orbs you came to find yourself loving. He opened his mouth only to close it again, having difficulty voicing his favour. Raising your eyebrow at him, you waited for him to continue.

With his cheeks getting exponentially redder, Mark requested, “Go out with me. No, that sounded rude. I mean, go on a date with me… if you don’t mind. Wait, you owe me a favour-”

“I’d love to.”

THE END.

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