HIM.

xiii.

xiii. TWO OF US

SHE didn't know what drew her feet towards that place. Mari didn't know what it was exactly. Maybe someone had told her to go to his office to ask for someone, she hadn't paid much attention to what Jungkook had been saying to her.

Jae made her so annoyed every time she saw him. She was pretty sure the feeling was very mutual, but never had she ever held such a perturbation towards someone she hardly knew. Mari didn't like to judge people much, but he was certainly something else.

All she knew right now in this moment was that when she stepped inside his office, and his black eyes darted up towards hers, she regretted it but also not really.

If he annoyed her so much, why didn't Mari ever try to avoid him? She wondered that everyday.

Luckily they weren't the only ones in there, Jeong Heejin was also present. That didn't last for long however; taller girl didn't bother speaking to her, she just simply side-glanced Jae, who was still looking at Mari's unaware form, then snorted to herself.

"I'll get going now."

The male hummed in response, hesitantly turning back to his computer. When Mari heard the door shut softly behind the brunette, she cleared her throat.

"I think someone told me to tell you something, but I forgot what it was." She faltered, surprised at her lack of words. "Wh...what do you even do on that?" She gestured to the desktop.

"What do you want?"

"I don't know." Mari responded plainly. There was an evident change in his demeanor than usual, Mari wasn't blind. She'd noticed his shift ever since they returned from one of their outings as the Black Pearl. She was right to assume something had changed, she just didn't know what.

Jae didn't respond to that, it seemed like he hadn't even heard her, but Mari knew better.

"I don't know what it is really," She confessed. "I don't even know you, but you get my on nerves so much. You're not even doing anything, but anything you say just pisses me off, and I'm just so fucking confused as to why I get so riled up by you. I am never like this around other people."

He ran a hand through his curly brown hair. Xiaoling didn't really acknowledge it better, but he was slightly on the attractive end of the scale. Mari wasn't really a person to focus on looks, she wasn't really interested in her own appearance. She knew she was fairly pretty, everyone deserved a little self-confidence in themselves, but now she had a revelation which she hadn't before.

He was very attractive. Even that made her irritated. He used to be just 'Number 39' in her eyes, a man who ordered the same drink several times a week. Nothing else. She didn't expect him to be a member of the mafia, have enigmatic black eyes that pierced through her soul and dug up all her secrets and dark past which she spent years trying to bury. She rarely saw those lips curve up into a smile, the only times were when he shot a sarcastic smirk in her direction, only to utter something which would (once again) annoy the living hell out of her.

"Yeah." He finally mumbled, staring at her once again. "That makes two of us."