Chelsie saunters past the almost empty hallways of Eton. Everyone is still at the Main Hall. Today marks the last day of her senior year in high school. Soon, she will be entering a new phase in her life. She has already decided on what she will study for college. Fashion design has always been what she's passionate about.

Fortunately, Eton offers that field of study so she doesn't have to move to another school again. She just has to maintain her scholarship because without it, she won't be able to keep studying in that prestigious university.

As she takes a turn going to the stairs, someone catches her hand, surprising her from behind. She doesn't even need to see who he is because there's only one person who likes doing that. "Mark, are you following me?" She shoots him a question, squinting at him.

Mark cackles, pulling her close to him. "Of course I am."

"Hey, we're not dating yet," she teases, pushing him away lightly. It's not the first time Mark hugged her, but she likes to keep it on the down low especially because everyone somehow knew about her resolution not to date before graduation.

"But we've finally graduated high school," he reasons out, almost pouting like a kid.

"I meant college graduation, not high school," she explains.

He exhales, nodding. "Fine. I mean, what's four years more right?"

She stifles a laugh, seeing how cute he is right now. "Patience is a virtue, Mark."

He presses his lips in a thin line. "That's what grownups always say."

She crosses her arms over her chest. "Are you losing your patience now?"

He leans closer to her ear, causing her to quiver a bit. "What if we date in secret?" He stays there, not until she gets back to her senses to push him again.

"No one's going to break my resolve. Not even you, Mark. Sorry." She shrugs at him and he lets out a huge breath in frustration.

When they both reach back the Main Hall, Chelsie sees her sister with Taeyong beside her. "Where have you been? Were you two sneaking away?" Traze eyes them in suspicion as soon as they reach them.

"What? No," she says defensively and Mark just laughs at her. "Tell them that's not true," she instructs him.

Mark finally nods slowly. "It is true."

Taeyong laughs in return, but Traze glares at him so he stops.

Chelsie attempts to punch Mark on her side, but the guy catches her hand at once and doesn't let her go. They both stare at each other, not until a clicking sound catches their attention.

"Perfect!" Traze looks at her phone screen, smiling. She must've snapped a photo of them together, to which Chelsie doesn't approve of. "Alright, one more. Look here," Traze orders them. "Wide smile, kids!"

Mark places an arm over her shoulder and tilts his head to the side, bumping lightly into hers. He's already flashing a goofy smile. "Chelsie, look here," she hears her sister say so she finally looks to the front and forces a smile. "Say mouse and cheese!"

"Mouse and cheese?" She overhears Mark mumble in disapproval.

"Mouse and cheese!" Chelsie beams. Snap!

"I'm not a mouse. I'm a lion," Mark grunts after taking the photo. Chelsie loves the fact that he hates being called a mouse, even though he's the one who actually started it.

Taeyong taps his brother's shoulder. "You were a mouse, blud. You said so yourself."

Chelsie laughs. It suddenly became an inside joke to everyone who knew about that night Mark confessed to her. Well, basically everyone in Eton knew about that night because apparently one of the students was there and recorded it on her phone and posted it online.

"Hey mouse and cheese!" Someone exclaims, catching their attention. Just by the deep voice, Chelsie already knows who he is. Mark groans beside her. Even if she hates being the cheese, she likes seeing Mark getting annoyed like that. "Are you two ignoring me now?" Lucas finally rests his arms on both their shoulders.

"Yes we are," Mark doesn't even falter saying that.

Chelsie turns to Lucas. "He's kidding."

"I'm not," Mark says stoically.

"Alright, who's up for another photo?" Traze raises her phone up, getting ready to snap another one.

Lucas looks over his shoulder and exclaims, "Guys! Over here!"

"We're coming!" In no time, all of Mark's friends from the debate team come running towards them. Jungwoo, Xiaojun, Hendery and Yangyang position themselves beside them. Even Elexa and Renjun suddenly advance toward them.

"Congratulations to us!" Elexa hugs her tight after the photo.

"Yeah. I'll see you in a few months," Chelsie tells her.

Elexa frowns at her. "Few months? Why not after a week? We can go to our beach house-"

"But we're going to the Hamptons together," Renjun butts in.

Elexa gulps down. "Right. I'll call you after that, Chelsie."

She finally nods, seeing Elexa and Renjun's usual cute bicker. Until now, those two remain to be bestfriends who don't want to cross that boundary, even though it's apparent that they're in love with each other.

Out of the corner of her eye, she notices a certain someone looking her way. She excuses herself from Mark and his friends and makes her way towards Kiera. "Hey," the girl acknowledges her first.

"Kiera, I know we haven't really been friends, but I just want to say thank you and congratulations," Chelsie states.

Kiera nods. "You too. I'm glad that you and Mark are finally together."

"Oh we're not yet-"

Kiera stifles a laugh as her parents call her from behind. "I'll see you around, Chelsie."

****

A simple celebration for Chelsie and Mark's graduation party is held at the Lewis' mansion. Some of the wealth of Mark and Taeyong's dad has been recovered from Miller so from there, they were able to start their own record label company. It turns out that their father was passionate about making music, which his sons obviously inherited.

"Congratulations hun," her mum says, hugging her tight as soon as they reach inside the house.

"Thanks mum," she mumbles, feeling her mum's warmth.

A loud bang suddenly disrupts the room. Chelsie pulls away from her mum in surprise as she sees colourful bits of confetti fall to the ground. "Haechan! Jisung! Chenle! I told you to pop those at the garden area," Izzy scolds the young ones. It seems like they're hiding behind the curtains in the living room all this time.

"But we thought we should do it as soon as they come in," Haechan says, grinning mischievously. "Oh, hi Chelsie!" He waves at her, Jisung and Chenle do the same.

Izzy shakes her head in disbelief. "You three clean that up after we eat."

"Alright I'm sure you're all hungry kids," Mr. Lewis' voice resonates in the room. He appears wearing a dirty white apron from the kitchen.

"Dad, did you cook?" Mark asks, pointing at his dad's unusual outfit.

The old man looks down and realizes what his son is talking about. "Oh, yeah. I tried. But don't expect too much."

"We won't dad," Taeyong comments, stifling a laugh.

Everyone finally gathers in the garden area, where a long table is set up. All their friends are there whom they consider to be their family already. It's like they're having a thanksgiving feast. All sorts of meat and vegetable dishes are present, even desserts which Chelsie can only imagine eating before.

As she takes a bite of the chicken casserole, her phone vibrates from her pocket. She fishes it out and sees a message from Jeno. "Happy graduation, Chelsie!" A smile spreads across her face after reading it. It's been a while since she last heard from Jeno. Even after everything that happened, she's glad that they remained friends.

"I can't believe you're cheating on me, Chels. We're not even official yet," Mark says in a low voice beside her.

She snaps her head at him. "It's Jeno."

Mark nods slowly. "Even worse."

She narrows her eyes at him. "Maybe I should go back to liking the prince."

Mark pauses his eating, dropping his utensils and turning to her. "That's not funny, Chels."

She laughs as she turns back to her phone to send Jeno a response. Right now, she's finally found her prince and he's already beside her.

****

When Chelsie hears the voice of Traze waking her up the next day, she's tempted to throw a pillow on her sister just to make her go away. It's the first day of her freedom. She just wants to enjoy it while it lasts. She can't believe her sister is trying to ruin it now.

"Chelsie! Come on!" Traze continues to pull the blanket away from her.

She groans, peeking through the sheet. "I'm still sleeping."

"Today is Mark's flight!"

Her eyes instantly open, processing what she just heard. Mark didn't tell her anything about a flight. "What do you mean?"

"He's going to Canada," Traze explains, but not really explaining enough, which makes Chelsie even more frustrated.

"Why didn't he tell me?" She complains. She has no idea what this is all about. More importantly, she's furious at Mark for not even telling her about it.

"If you don't stand up right now, you're going to miss seeing him off."

Without another word, Chelsie drags her feet to the bathroom to wash up and change clothes. Taeyong is already waiting for them outside in his car. When she finally steps inside with her sister, she finally asks, "Where is he?"

"He's already at the airport," Taeyong answers, starting the car.

"Can anyone tell me what's going on? Because I swear I'm going to kill him if I see him." She grits her teeth in anger.

"That is we catch him there," Traze says matter-of-factly.

"Why is he suddenly going to Canada?" She asks again, directing it to Taeyong.

"He's going to study there for college. He didn't tell you?" Taeyong glances at her from the rearview mirror, but her throat dries up that she can't even speak. "He said he told you about it."

Chelsie falls silent on her seat. She doesn't speak a single word until they finally reach the airport. She presses his number, hoping that he'll still be able to pick up. She has seen movies of couples reuniting and/or breaking up in airports. But never did she imagine that she will be in that kind of situation, even though she and Mark are not an official couple yet.

"Come on, Mark! Pick up!" She mumbles over and over, stopping occasionally and scanning the area.

Luckily, the airport is not too crowded so she can easily spot him - that is if he hasn't entered the boarding area yet. She's about to turn around when his voice finally reverberates through the phone. "Chels!"

"Mark, where are you? Why didn't you tell me you're going away?"

"Hey, relax!" Mark's voice suddenly sounds so close that she can almost hear him from a distance. "I'm right here." Someone pokes her shoulder and when she turns around, she sees him in the flesh, smiling at her. "So?" He raises his brows at her, waiting for her response.

She frowns at him. "What the hell were you thinking going to Canada, huh?"

He scratches the back of his head. "Well I just thought it'd be perfect. When I come back after four years of college, you'll finally let me date you."

"Yes I said that but that doesn't mean I want you to go away." Her voice cracks, but she doesn't even care anymore. "I'll let you date me now. Alright?"

Mark stares at her, as if his life depended on it. "You're not just saying that, are you?"

She shakes her head, a tear escaping from her eye so she quickly wipes it off. "If that's the only way for you to stay."

After a good few seconds, Mark reaches for her hand and pulls her in for a hug. "Chels, I'm not going away."

"What?" She mumbles, her face still buried on his chest.

Mark chuckles, looking down at her. "I got invited for a one-week summit debate in Canada. I'm not going to study there for college."

She sniffs, pausing. "So you were lying?"

"Well... my brother and your sister suggested it." He shrugs, still not letting her go from his embrace.

"I hate all of you," she mutters, frowning at him.

He continues to chuckle. "So about what you said... that means we're official now?"

"You wish." She pushes him, freeing herself from him.

"I had it all recorded in here, miss." He taps the side of his head, stifling a laugh. "Oh and before I forget..." he pauses, taking something out from his coat pocket. "You can read this so you won't miss me too much." He hands her a small notebook so she takes it.

"Is this your poetry notebook?"

He nods, taking a step towards her. He cups her face with his hands and plants a kiss on her forehead without hesitation. "I hope you don't mind me doing that."

She swallows hard, not able to respond. It's the first time a guy has ever kissed her. She doesn't even know how to react to that.

"Also..." he pauses, kissing his index and middle fingers and bringing it to her lips. That sends a tingling sensation to her which she can't even explain. "Alright. I'll go now. See you in a week, my cheese!" He waves at her, walking backwards so he's still facing her.

She finally gets herself together and waves back at him. See you in a week, my mouse!