It had been a week since the incident with Michelle and Hyun. Ever since then, Mickey had kept his distance from the two, and they had as well. With both sides intentionally ignoring the problem, leaving their friendship ambiguous. Even though Michelle and Hyun did not out Mickey directly, it was their intention from the start. The awkwardness between them all was eating away at Michelle’s conscience, and she could no longer leave it unaddressed. Therefore, she planned to talk with Mickey about their situation after school.

Class sessions were over, and it was time for the students to take their leave. Like clockwork, Mickey waited at the gates for Rain. As he waited, he caught glimpse of Michelle walking by. He pretended not to notice her, staring off into the distance. It was no use; Mickey could smell the faint scent of her rose perfume, growing more present next to him.

Mickey had no choice but to interact, “Hi, Michelle.”

“Hi, Mickey.” Michelle spoke in a cute innocent manner.

A silence surfaced between the two, before Michelle broke it, “Mickey… you’ve been very distant with Hyun and I. I don’t know what happened, but if I did anything wrong to you, I am truly sorry!”

Ha, you don’t know what you did? Mickey said to himself amusingly.

Mickey responded, forcing a smile and a happy appearance, “You did nothing wrong, Michelle. I’m sorry if it seems like I have been ignoring you and Hyun. I just have a lot on my mind because of my family’s situation, that’s all.”

Anyone could have seen through Mickey’s façade, but Michelle played along, “I see. Keep in mind, that if you need someone to talk to, I’m always here. I’m glad we got to figure this out! It felt a bit weird, that we all stopped hanging out after last week.”

“Thank you, Michelle. You’re a good friend.” Mickey said, yet his words rang empty.

Michelle’s mood perked up to her bubbly self again, “Well, now everything is good again, hopefully things can go back to normal. But I highly doubt it, now that Hyun is going steady with Anako, I bet he’ll be spending a lot of time with her. You probably don’t want to hang out with me and a bunch of girls anyways ha-ha. I guess, we can spend time together in the future when we’re all available.”

Mickey too played along, “Of course, we can hangout whenever we’re free. Just let me know and I’ll be there.”

The conversation was an act itself, to cover up the real issue. It was away for Michelle to atone for the awful thing she did, without losing face. While for Mickey, it was a way for him to not give Michelle any assurance he had feelings for Hyun. The two knew the obvious facts but were embarrassed on both of their ends. It was their mutual agreement to stay acquaintances and to barely interact again.

Right then, Rain appeared, “Oh, is this your friend, Mickey?”

Michelle gave a lovely stare, as she stuck out her hand, “I’m Michelle, it’s nice to finally meet you in person, Rain. I heard so many great things about you from Mickey.”

Un-flattered, Rain did not reach out to shake Michelle’s hand, but lightly nodded instead, “It’s nice to meet you too. Am I interrupting anything important?”

“Not at all, we were just about done with our conversation.”  She said kindly.

Rain brought her attention to Mickey, “If that’s the case, Mickey and I will be going then.”

The two left without saying goodbye to Michelle.

After leaving the school grounds, Rain spoke her mind, “Is that the girl you’ve been hanging out with this whole time?”

“Yeah, but not anymore.” He answered.

“Good! I don’t like her at all, one bit.” She quickly replied.

Mickey jokingly laughed, “You know, she kind of reminds me of you. Sweet and kind on the outside but cunning on the inside.”

“Of course! Which is why I don’t like her. I can tell with one look that she’s a fake!” Rain exclaimed.

“Really? I thought you two would have hit it off. Since both of you are so similar in personalities.” Mickey said humorously.

“Oh Mickey… you have so much to learn about girls like us. Don’t you know the saying? Two tigers cannot live on the same mountain.” She mockingly elaborated, poking at Mickey’s forehead.

Mickey then probed, “Aha I see. Well, I’m going to the market, I’ll be running the stall by myself today. What are you going to do? If you’re free, you should come help me.”

A drop of sweat fell from Rain’s head, as she waved her hands back and forth, “Sorry, can’t help you today! I need to get home and work my studies. Remember, Jiang’s assignments as well? You can use mines as reference, for his, how about that?”

“Fine.” He agreed.

Mickey and Rain parted ways at the crossroads, in that late after-noon.

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It was a slow day at the market, with very few customers stopping by. Mickey went to unload some boxes from the truck, to sort out, with his spare time.

Suddenly, a customer spoke out behind him, “How much for this one?”

Mickey put on a genuine smile, while turning to see the client, “How may I-”

Paused, Mickey became emotionless and still. He could see the annoying grin on Jungha’s face, when watching Mickey’s reaction.

Mickey furrowed his brows and went back to do his business.

Feeling ignored, Jungha hollered, “Hey! I want to buy something!”

Not wanting him to cause a scene, Mickey obliged, “What do you want? Why are you here to cause more problems for me?”

“I was in the area and I happened to see your little stall. I thought I should get something to cook for tonight.” He explained, trying to sound innocent.

Mickey retorted, “There are a lot of other vendors who sell what I have. You can buy from them.”

Even after being so cold towards Jungha, Jungha did not leave, “I want to buy from you!”

Just like the basketball incident, Mickey knew it was pointless to resist. He let out a long sigh, “Okay, just get what you need and pay up.”

Jungha leisurely took his time to look at what Mickey’s shop had to offer, purposely testing the boy’s patience. He was enjoying himself, using any excuse to be in the same presence as Mickey.

Jungha pointed at a pile of neatly stacked daikon radishes, “How much for these radishes?”

Without even looking, Mickey answered while he restocked the counter, “Are you blind? The price is listed below it.”

Unfazed, he picked up a branch of longan fruits, “How about these guys?”

“Look at the price.” Mickey replied with little reaction.

“And what about-” before Jungha could finish his sentence, Mickey interrupted him, “Are you going to stand there and be an eyesore, or are you going to buy something?”

An old man came by and picked up a bundle of mustard greens off the table. Mickey headed to him with a plastic bag, preparing to help the customer.

In a sincere and charming voice, he greeted the old man, “Good evening sir, will that be all for today?”

“Yes, that will be all.” He slowly responded and handed over money.

“Thank you, please come visit us again!” Mickey slightly bowed and the old man left.

Jungha witnessed the whole thing with envy, still looking at the silhouette of Mickey’s body.

Mickey turned back, his once sincere face had faded at the sight of Jungha, “You’re still here?”

“How come you don’t give me that kind of service? I’m a valued paying customer as well.” He playfully pointed out.

“Those customers are actually here to buy, you’re here to cause trouble.” Mickey teased.

An amused facial expression surfaced on Jungha, “I’ll take this.”

He picked up a large bitter melon and handed it to Mickey. Without a word, Mickey grabbed the melon and placed it in a plastic bag. During that time, Jungha reached for his wallet to pull out some cash. They made their transaction, but before Jungha could speak again, a voice yelled out his name.

“Oi, Jungha!” It was one of his friends who called out.

“Oh, hey Koichi! What are you doing here?” He wondered with enthusiasm.

Koichi went on, “I came here and got some stuff for my mom. What about you?”

Jungha revealed his bag with the bitter melon, “I got this for dinner tonight,” He then placed his arm around Koichi’s shoulders and walked away, “Say, do you know how to cook this?”

Their conversation went on, in front of Mickey the whole time, as if he were invisible. It was if Jungha purposely did that, to make Mickey feel a certain way. Maybe it was jealousy, or it was to display how much of a cool guy Jungha was. This did not bother Mickey though, and he watched the two disappear into the crowd. He slightly smirked and shook his head at the thought of how childish Jungha’s behavior was. Mickey had already gone back to his tasks, before Jungha would peak back, to see one last glimpse of the boy working at the stall.