Nabi's head was pounding the next morning. The emotional rollercoaster mixed with stress got the best of her. After tossing around in bed for awhile, she eventually sat up, looking around and realizing Bona wasn't in the room. She chuckled and shook her head, thinking that maybe she snuck out to Jeno who was sleeping on the couch. The two kept on acting a bit awkward last night, still not being completely comfortable about showing affection towards each other in front of Nabi, but she only used that to tease the two. The truth was, she was happier than she thought she would've been after finding out the two were dating for awhile. Of course, she did feel a little betrayed that both of her closest people kept such a secret from her, but who was she to decide wether they tell her or anyone for that matter?
Nabi grabbed her phone and immediately smiled at the awaiting message from Mark that said:
hey beautiful
i hope you're feeling ok
and jeno too
i'm off to a photoshoot but text me when you can 😊
She still couldn't believe that he was becoming a real superstar, a truly appreciated artist. She was more than proud of him and no matter how much she wanted to describe it with words, she couldn't. Simply put - in her eyes there was no one better than Mark Lee.
She texted back quickly that she was feeling better, ignoring to tell him her head pouted because, honestly, it wasn't that important, and how she wished him good luck at the photoshoot, knowing he'd kill it like he always did.
Once she left her room, she was ready to hear giggles or catch the two love birds in action, but to her surprise, there was only Jeno in the living room. "Hey, where's Bona?"
"You look like you had a rough night." Jeno laughed at Nabi's messy hair, making the girl push him as he walked past her, towards the kitchen. "She had to leave for work, her boss called out of nowhere. He's an ass."
Nabi smirked as she watched Jeno grab two cups and filling it with coffee. The boy eventually noticed her almost cracking up and rolled his eyes "what now?"
She shrugged and took the cup from Jeno. "Nothing, you just seem to know more about her daily life and work and boss and everything than me."
He let out a chuckle and decided to ignore it, still feeling a bit awkward talking about it with his sister. But, he should've known better that she was a curious cat who would ask questions until she was satisfied with the amount of information.
"Bona didn't get to tell me much yet, so you're the one I'll torture right now."
Jeno shook his head as Nabi laughed and wiggled her brows. "Nope, you're not getting anything out of me."
"Oh come on, you can't be like this!" she followed her brother to the living room, sitting on the couch next to him. "At least tell me how it all started! Who fell for whom first?" she whined.
Jeno shook his head and took a sip of his hot coffee, almost burning his tongue. Nabi kept on teasing and annoying him to the point he eventually gave up, deciding to give her at least one answer so she'd leave him alone. "Will you let it go if I tell you?" she nodded, looking at him excitedly, waiting for a great story.
After Jeno told her about how they'd always bicker at first to the point they were literally annoyed to even see each other, something changed one night when he saw Bona in a club he was at. When a random dude made her uncomfortable to the point Jeno saw that she could almost cry, he didn't think twice and rushed over to her, literally rescuing her from the creep. Ever since he saw the fear in her eyes and the tears that fell down her cheeks, he had the urge of having to always protect her. Eventually, they started talking more, Bona used to ask Jeno to pick her up from places if she was afraid to get back home alone and he never even once said no. After awhile, naturally, they developed feelings and started dating, keeping it a secret from Nabi for about three months.
The girl leaned back on the couch, eyes glued to the ceiling, trying to absorb all the information since he pretty much ended up telling her not one thing, but the whole story. Jeno laughed at her reaction and she finally blurred out "I had no idea you're such a romantic. Ew."
They laughed at her remark, the boy agreeing because he had never thought he was like that either - it seemed like he just needed the right person to take it out of him.
"No, but in all seriousness, I love your story. I don't know why I never noticed how perfect you two are for each other. Well, maybe if you didn't act like assholes to each other in front of me than maybe I would." she pushed Jeno's arm and he just laughed.
Once the laughter got quieter, Jeno's face painted with stress. "I hope he never comes back again." Nabi's eyes turned to her brother bringing up the unpleasant events form last night and he glanced at her as well. His eyes were full of pain and it made Nabi ache as well. No matter how much they bickered, they were all they had, along with their mom. She reached for Jeno's hand, forgetting it was a little injured so he hissed when she squeezed it a bit too hard and apologized immediately. "I hope so too. And remember, we can't tell mom he came back."
"I know. I hope he fucking listened to me and won't bother her. I think I was pretty convincing." he raised his hand up, chuckling. Nabi only shook her head and softly smiled, putting her head on Jeno's shoulder as they watched TV.
"Hey, how was it?" Mark dropped on the couch, sighing loudly as Johnny looked at him with a confused smile. "Man, you ok?"
Mark nodded, stretching while practically laying down. "It was fun, I'm just exhausted. What did you do?"
Johnny shrugged, complaining once more to his best friend about his job that he hated so much, but happy that he was almost done with it as well as his degree, and how he'll be able to start his own business soon. Mark smiled honestly and patted Johnny's thigh "I'm proud of you, man."
The tall boy smiled widely, loving and appreciating the support he always got from the younger. "Thanks. So, what's the photoshoot for?"
"A magazine."
Johnny's eyes widened. "A magazine?! Holy shit, that's so cool."
"Yeah, it's for a cover." Mark chuckled when Johnny widened his eyes even more.
"And you're reacting so.. lightly?! I'm more hyped than you seem to be!"
The on-the-cover-to-be boy laughed and explained how incredibly happy he was about that opportunity and how thankful he was, but the exhaustion didn't let him enjoy it to the fullest. Also, he still worried about Nabi. He knew she said she was fine, but she could've just been saying that.
Even though he was tired to the point he didn't think he'd be able to leave his house at all, he got ready after taking a quick shower. He texted Nabi that the date he asked her to was happening today if she had the time, to which she immediately said yes. The next message from him contained a sentence "wear something special" since he was dressing nicely as well. Nabi was about to see the side of Mark she hadn't seen yet.
Nabi's heart kept on racing every time she glanced at the clock and every time it was closer to the time Mark was picking her up. The fact that she was supposed to wear something special, probably something elegant, made her anxious. Her style was nowhere close to elegant so when she searched through her closet and didn't see anything too girly nor elegant, she got even more anxious. Then again, why pretend someone she wasn't?
She picked one the nicest blouses she had and decided it'd be perfect for something special, matched with skinny jeans and some basic, white sneakers. She tied her hair as well and put on a red lipstick, something she usually avoided, but it seemed perfect for the occasion.
When Mark's call suddenly came, she flinched. She cleared her throat and immediately furrowed her brows at the anxious actions - she never exaggerated like that and even picked up his calls when her voice would still be raspy in early mornings. Silly how love makes you behave sometimes.
After hearing the excitement in Mark's voice, she felt butterflies in her stomach. She took a deep breath, grabbed a bag and made her way out of the apartment. When she reached outside the building, she froze.
Mark had stepped out of a car as soon as he saw Nabi walk over. He smiled at her from ear to ear while she walked slower and slower because of the outmost shock at seeing Mark.
It was a side of him she had never seen before, and maybe that was a good thing, because honestly, she didn't think she could handle it well more often.
Mark had eventually caught up to her and grabbed both her hands gently, scanning her up and down. "You look beautiful." he smiled, rubbing her palms with his thumbs.
Nabi's mouth was almost wide open as she looked him up and down as well, not believing the sight. "You look," she glanced at his outfit again, then at his hair that was a darker color than the one she knew. "Amazing." she finally added, making Mark chuckle.
"Thank you. You ready?" he pulled her towards the car a little and she nodded, but suddenly blurred out "wait, but now I'm definitely underdressed."
Mark chuckled and shook his head "you look perfect, don't worry."
Nabi's insides kept on twisting incredibly and her stomach filled with butterflies once again. Her mind couldn't process the fact that she was lucky enough to meet someone like Mark, to have someone like Mark treat her like a literal princess. It was unbelievable how perfect he was and how screwed she was, because, she was definitely falling harder than she ever did before. There was no going back
another longer chapter but i hope you don't mind, i enjoy writing them longer recently :,)
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