"We should, uh-" Mark scratched the back of his neck. "Let me take you out to dinner." he smiled softly with excitement making his eyes sparkle.
Nabi couldn't keep a straight face even if she wanted to act calm and cool, her pearly whites showed as she nodded. Mark kept on smiling and added "perfect, it's a date then."
The two couldn't hide their happy faces as their hands stayed interlocked, waiting for the elevator to take them to the floor Nabi lived on. When they walked out, the girl's face quickly dropped as she froze in place. Her grip loosened and she almost didn't use any strength to hold onto Mark's hand that she previously didn't want to let go of even for a second. His brows furrowed as he looked between the girl and a man who finally turned their way.
"Hi, Nabi." The girl's eyes filled with tears as soon as the man called her by her name.
She turned on her heel, pulling Mark behind her, when the older man suddenly rushed over to the two and grabbed her by the arm.
Mark immediately tore the guy's hand off of Nabi, who didn't even have to say anything for him to see that she was thankful for that. "Don't touch her. Who the hell are you?"
The man scoffed and pointed to the young boy, looking at Nabi with a cocky gaze. "Is this your new boyfriend? How come you didn't tell your dad something so important?"
That's her dad. Mark thought, eyes glued to the girl who looked sadder than after her breakup with Xiaojun and angrier than he has ever seen her before.
He remembered the only time she had mentioned her dad and that he just didn't exist to her. She never wanted to talk about him more and Mark didn't insist on it either. But seeing her reaction made him think of all terrible things.
"I asked you a question." the man changed his tone, the ironic smile wiped off his face.
Mark pulled the girl behind him, shielding her from whatever the old guy wanted to do. "I think it's time for you to leave, Nabi clearly doesn't want to speak with you."
The man scoffed. "Who do you think you are, little guy, to tell me what to do or not to do when it comes to my daughter."
"You should leave."
Nabi's dad's eyes widened at the stubbornness of Mark and the lack of fear which was the opposite of how Xiaojun reacted to him. And he didn't like that change. He enjoyed having people scared of him - especially the ones that tried to stick their noses into his family's business.
Family.
That man hasn't been a part of Nabi's family ever since she was little. He was a gambler who'd loose all their family money constantly, having zero care for his wife and kids who quite never even called him dad - because he clearly wasn't worthy of that title. After putting up with it for way too long, Nabi's mom decided to ask for divorce and he didn't protest even once, after what he disappeared from their lives. The only times he did show up, was to ask for money - obviously still addicted to gambling - and every time he'd do so, he'd make those encounters living hell.
When the elevator rang and the door opened, Nabi walked in, pulling Mark behind her. The man only scoffed and watched the two disappear into the elevator.
Mark let out a deep breath and turned around to the girl who burst out crying. His arms immediately wrapped around her, pulling her head close to his chest as he rubbed her back. When they reached floor zero, Nabi finally pulled away from the boy and walked out, having him follow. He quickly took out his phone and dialed a number while side-hugging the distressed girl.
"Let's wait here, my manager will pick us up in a second and we'll go to my place." he cupped her face, making her look at him. Once she did, even through her teary eyes, she saw his gentle smile as he rubbed her cheeks with both thumbs. "Oh, baby." he pulled her in for another hug which made her only burst out crying even more.
The manager looked at Nabi concerned as soon as the two entered the car. Mark only shook his head, letting the woman know not to mention anything and just drive. When they got to his place, he put on a face mask and lowered down his beanie, wanting to hide his face as much as possible just in case some sasaengs had already found his address.
Thankfully, no crazy "fans" waited outside the building so the two got in without a problem.
"Nabi!" Johnny screamed with a big smile painting on his face, until he saw what state she was in. His brows furrowed "what's going on?"
"Not now, bro, sorry." Mark pulled the girl towards his room, leaving Johnny confused. "Sit down, baby. Do you want tea or something?"
Nabi shook her head as she dropped down on his bed. She suddenly grabbed Mark's hand, pulling him towards her so he'd sit down as well which he didn't protest at all. He sighed and looked at the girl who kept her eyes on their hands together, tears flowing down her cheeks.
After telling Mark the whole story - it was a perfect opportunity to do that since she also didn't want to hide it all from him forever - she felt like they became even closer. Mark listened carefully, even declining few phone calls from his manager which made Nabi feel bad. "You should call her back, I'm ok now."
He shook his head "she can wait." but Nabi gave him a look that said a thousand words so he eventually sighed and listened. "Like I thought, nothing important." he smiled and sat back down next to the girl. He looked at her with soft eyes and a gentle smile as he put a strand of hair behind her ear, making her blush a little. When a small smile painted her face, Mark cracked an even wider one, suddenly practically jumping at her with his arms open, hugging her and making them both fall back onto the bed in result. Nabi burst out laughing and so did he right after while they laid on their back, staring at the ceiling.
She turned to face him and he quickly did the same too. Her still teary eyes didn't look as sad anymore and Mark's looked happier each second he realized she was feeling a bit better. When she chuckled and shook her head he furrowed his brows "what?" to which she only covered her face with her palms, taking a second to answer.
"Nothing. I just like how we're still acting like best friends."
"People in love should be best friends too, shouldn't they?"
Nabi looked at Mark who turned her way too. A blush wanted to force its way onto her cheeks again. She couldn't believe the reality - she really just heard Mark talk about being in love, meaning.. was he in love with her?
Is it really more than a crush? Does he like.. love me? Damn it, why can't we just quit being scaredy-cats and talk about it? I'm going crazy. I need to know.
She finally nodded, agreeing, but let out a deep sigh. "It just never was the case for me. It was always one or the other."
Mark nodded and looked back up at the ceiling. "Well, for me, right now, with you, it's both."
Nabi's heart began to race. Did he just read my mind or something? Are we finally going to talk about what we are?
When the boy finally turned back around to face her, she placed a small kiss onto his lips. The corners of his raised up and he suddenly moved himself up a little, draping his right hand over Nabi's body while he leaned on his elbow, hovering above her. She didn't even act surprised, because maybe she just wanted it too bad.
He leaned down closer to her face, smirking attractively and making Nabi weak. After way too many seconds of waiting, Mark finally pressed his lips against hers. It was passionate and deepened more and more until their tongues linked as well. Nabi's hand slid to the boy's back which he took as an invitation so he moved his body a little more on top of hers. Of course, before the magic could continue and take them wherever it was going to take them, Nabi's phone buzzed.
The girl almost cursed at whoever was interrupting them and the boy only chuckled at her reaction. He pecked her pink lips once more and said to pick up since it was Jeno who called. Before she even did so, she knew it must've been about their birth father, and she didn't like going back to that subject.
Especially not after what had just happened between her and the one she called her soulmate.
back with another one 💚
hope you liked it, more is coming hehe
ALSO PLEASE SUPPORT MARK'S "GOLDEN HOUR" ITS A SONG OF THE YEAR IM AFRAID 😩 MARK LEE IS A FREAKING GENIUS ARTIST