Million Dollar Man (COMPLETED)

26. Time after time

Lian put her phone down and faced her friends. She smiled as she wiped her tears away. Mark felt his heart tighten at the sight. He wanted to do something—anything to help! But he knew there was nothing he could actually do.

Zei was Lian's brother, eight years older than her. They had been really close until he ran away from home six years ago, just a year before their grandmother died. He visited Hong Kong along with Lian every summer too but one summer, he just disappeared. Only leaving a note telling his family that he wanted to breathe. It didn't make sense to 12-year old Lian at first, but now she knew exactly how Zei must've felt. Suffocated and trapped. Zei also said he'd come back for Lian and that was the only reason for her to keep going on. For weeks she had been depressed, crying endlessly as she searched for her brother in every corner of Hong Kong. When it got worse, and Lian's Nainai started to worry, that was when her friends decided that it was enough and helped her get through her depression before summer was over.

Now Mark felt like they were back to square one as he watched the life drain out of Lian's eyes.

Sunmi cleared her throat to get everyone's attention. "So..." She said, suddenly sober. All of them sobered up when Lian announced Zei was calling her. "Since it's already 4:30AM, why don't we all get ready before the maids find out we stayed up all night, yes?"

"Yeah let's do that before Jimin runs out of money to bribe the maids with," Jinyoung chuckled as he messed his cousin's red hair. The girl just stuck her tongue out at him.

Lian nodded and gathered her stuff. Mark was about to walk up to her when he felt someone hold onto his shoulder. It was Taecyeon and he lightly shook his head. Mark understood that it wasn't the right time yet so he decided he was just going to wait.

When he glanced back at Lian again, Jinyoung was already with her, gathering her in his arms. He was always the best at comforting. Then the two started walking back to the mansion, the rest of the group trailing behind them.

The maids were already up when they entered through the back door. Some cleaning, some setting the table.

The group separated and disappeared into their own rooms to clean up before they had to be called again for breakfast. Mark was in the middle of putting his shirt on when he heard a knock from the door. He had just gotten out of the shower.

He walked over to the door and opened it to find Lian standing in the other side.

"Hi," she said with a soft smile. Her hair was damp and her cheeks were red. She was wearing gray sweatpants and a white loose shirt that said Mermaids don't date humans. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," Mark replied and opened the door wider to let her in.

"So..." She began, sitting on his bed as she faced him. Mark was leaning against the vanity, his arms crossed over his chest. "I'm sorry for ruining the mood just a while ago... You know... With my crying and all..."

"You didn't ruin anything," Mark said. She didn't need to apologize. They were way past that.

Lian just looked up at him and pouted. She looked like she was on the verge of crying again. Mark fought the urge to wrap his arms around her.

"What did he say?" Mark asked quietly.

"He said he misses me... And asked how our parents were doing... That's it though."

"He'll come back," Mark said after a while, Lian glanced up at him again and Mark immediately regretted saying what he said. How would he know? He didn't know anything. He sucked at comforting.

It was quiet for a while. Mark was contemplating what to say next, Lian was recalling her conversation she just had with her brother, memorizing every word.