Timeless - Mark Tuan

Chapter 15

We decide to go to a villa his parents own. More hours on the road and we finally reach the house. I can see how tired he is. He must also be hungry, we haven't had anything since we left the cafe this morning. 

So, as soon as we get in and I put a temporary shield around the house - hoping it would keep us hidden from Gillian until the others come - I ask the care taker of the house to prepare the ingredients I need to fix up a meal for us. 

Mark is still busy on his phone when I finally finish cooking and I call him to join us in the dining room. From the way he was startled when he saw me and how he almost dropped his phone when putting it in his pocket in haste, I know he was sending a message to his fiance. 

"I just told her I'd be away for a while." He answers me. I wasn't even asking. 

"It doesn't matter." I shake my head and turn around, avoiding his eyes. My chest starts aching again. "Did Jackson reply yet?" I ask him, diverting the conversation to something else before I lose it again. 

"No." He steps up beside me. "I sent him the address. He knows this place anyway. It won't be hard for him to get here."

I nod and take the seat at the table. The lady who was helping me earlier already left for the night and it's just the two of us. I hate to think of things that could happen if we're left like this the whole night because I know Mark would know what I'm thinking, but I can't help it. I'm scared.

I see him chuckle silently as he sits across from me at the table. He clears his throat and starts with his food. We eat in silence for a while. Which is really not in favor to me. Even if unspoken, my thoughts are heard by the other person in the room. 

I try to remember what I did last time, the time Jinyoung said he didn't hear my thoughts for the first time. But, as hard as I try to block Mark out of my mind, I can't. I see him react at everything that pops up in my brain and it's disturbing me. The most bothering thing is when I think of Jinyoung, worrying if he and Mae had made it out alive. Mark's pupils contract and the sparks in them are back. 

I can't deny now how this boy is becoming more and more like a warlock as time passes. It's even scarier that he isn't even aware of it. 

The creases on his forehead deepens. 

Come to think of it, he hasn't asked me anything about it ... yet. I know he heard me the first time. 

He clears his throat and gets up, leaving his half-eaten food on the table. 

You don't expect me to clean up, too, do you? I've already cooked. 

"Just leave it in the sink. The maid's gonna come clean up in the morning." He hollers from the stairs. 

See. He acknowledges the fact that he could read my mind. Does he actually know? Is he just pretending not to? What the heck is this? And what with the other house being shielded? And Gillian? I just hope Jackson and the others are on their way. Now, I really regret not getting one of those phones. I mentally note down to remember getting one as soon as we get back to the city. 

When I get in the room next to his, I put a thin shield around it, hoping it would at least help keep Mark from getting to my thoughts. I need some time to freely think of everything that just happened. 

First things first - Gillian. She's gotten so much more powerful alright. For the past months I haven't been at my best. How could I face her now? 

Months before we came to Korea, the three of us - Mae, Cecilia and I - lived in the US. It was easy to get a guy to sleep with back there. However, because of Benedict's death six months prior to that, I had to lay low. I had a break down when I saw Benedict burning from the inside.