The second night of the trip didn't end up being as fun as the group had originally planned. The boys hung out separately from Nabi and Bona who wanted to keep her best friend's company. The two girls drank and talked in a room that was once Nabi's and Mark's, though not for the second night. The girl with a butterfly name knew that maybe she was exaggerating the whole situation with Jiu, but everything that has been happening with her and Mark recently was a bit too much to take in. Dating a famous person in secret was hard on its own, and recent events didn't help at all.
Mark was being comforted by Johnny and Jeno who eventually believed the boy's good intentions towards his sister and his goodness itself. He was a guy who wouldn't go behind Nabi's back because he just wasn't like that, he was a good guy and most importantly - his love for Jeno's twin was sincere.
"We're leaving tomorrow and this trip turned to shit." Mark sighed while looking down at the beer bottle in front of him. He then looked around the beach that was right in front of his eyes. "Beaches seem to be cursed or something."
"What do you mean?" Johnny raised a brow.
"Last time I visited one was picking Nabi up after she broke up with Xiaojun." He scoffed. "And now, this shit happens."
The other two boys shared a glance at loss for words. The situation wasn't good and honestly, they didn't know how to help their friend. The oldest suddenly grabbed Mark's hand to catch his attention. "Look, I know this whole situation sucks, it really does, but we'll figure it out. You'll figure it out. Your company is already on it too."
The boy smiled softly for a second and nodded, appreciating his best friend's emotional support.
"I think I'm going to head to bed. I'm pretty beat." Jeno announced and Johnny followed with the same decision.
"I'll stay here for a bit longer."
"Will you be ok?" Johnny asked with a worried face.
Mark chuckled. "Yeah, dude, go on. I can see you're really tired already."
When the two left him alone, he looked around the beach once more and then up at the sky. He finished his beer in silence as he let his mind come up with a perfect plan. He really couldn't believe that Jiu had to come back and ruin his life that seemed pretty much perfect at that time. He finally made his dreams come true and found his soulmate who was too good to be true, and his ex had to ruin everything.
As he stood up to go and grab another beer, the door opened and Nabi came to sight. Both of them froze in place as if it was the first time they ever saw each other.
"Oh, I didn't know you were still here. I'll leave you alo-"
"No, I was um, I was going to bed anyways. You can stay."
She nodded, letting go of the door knob and reaching into her zipped hoodie's pocket. Mark was a little taken aback when he noticed her taking out a cigarette so he asked "Since when do you smoke?"
"I don't, not really. Just.. sometimes, when the situation makes me."
He didn't want to comment or start an argument, after all it wasn't up to him if she smoked or not. He felt bad that she felt bad to the point she felt the need to smoke, but it was none of his business - she was able to do what she wanted to do.
He watched for a second as she exhaled the smoke out of her mouth and wanted to chuckle to himself about how the cigarette actually fit her like it does fit some people. Who would've thought?
As he was about to walk inside the house, his intrusive thoughts kicked in. He glanced at Nabi who was leaning her shoulder and head against the house as she smoked and looked ahead at the beach. She felt his eyes on her, but tried to play it cool. She then suddenly felt him pull her by the sleeve gently and saying "baby" with the deepest yet saddest voice she's ever heard. Her eyes turned to him and they met his that looked intoxicated, sad yet intimidating at the same time. His forehead suddenly landed against hers as he continued "Can we not do this? I don't want to argue."
"We're not arguing."
"But there's this distance between us, I hate it."
The girl didn't know what to say. She was sad and mad, mostly at the crazy ex of her present boyfriend, not much at him, but the situation made her feel hopeless. "I just need to figure everything out. It's a lot to take in, Mark."
"I don't want to lose you." He said in a sad and low voice, making Nabi want to burst out crying. Instead, their faces started moving in closer, both of them craving each other's lips. The cigarette that was in between Nabi's fingers had finally dropped onto the sand as she wrapped her arms around Mark's neck and their lips met. The kiss was intense and hot that the girl's mind somehow quickly forgot about how she needed some distance. When she finally realized what was going on, she pulled away.
"No, we can't. I don't want to do it like this."
"We don't have to do anything. I just want to kiss you."
After she gave in once more, she broke the kiss for the second time. She placed her hands onto Mark's chest and looked into his eyes "I need time."
Mark knew he had to give it up, either he wanted it or not. He nodded and let go of her, stepping backwards a little. Nabi cleared her throat and as she was about to say something, the boy had raced her to it. "I'll give you space then. Goodnight."
Her lips pursed back together as she turned around to catch a quick glimpse of Mark's back disappearing behind the door. She turned to face the beach and immediately walked over to watch the waves. As soon as the sound of waves reached her ears, she burst out crying. The mixture of alcohol and all the emotions she felt caused the tears to flow without her consent.
"You got everything?" Johnny, as the oldest, had asked everyone as they all gathered in front of their airbnb. Once they all nodded, Nabi's eyes turned to Mark who seemed to avoid hers. Distance was exactly what she wanted, so why was that disappointing for her?
Bona patted her best friend's back and smiled reassuringly, linking their arms together right after. Once the group reached the car, the atmosphere got a bit awkward again.
"So who's-"
"I'll drive." Mark blurred out, catching everyone's attention. On their way there him and Nabi were together in the back seat, holding hands, sharing laughs and admiring pretty views out the window. This time it seemed that their ride back home was going to be a rather quiet and awkward one.
Nabi couldn't help but glance at Mark who's eyes were glued to the road as they drove in silence, only music playing quietly in the background filled the car. She then looked to the side and smiled at the sight of Bona sleeping on Jeno's shoulder meanwhile he looked outside the window. She wished hers and Mark's relationship was as simple as theirs - simply loving each other without unnecessary drama and people disturbing their romance.
What Nabi didn't know, was that Mark did in fact glance at her as well. He looked at the rare view mirror too many times when it wasn't necessary, but the truth was he was looking at her. Her sadness was too visible on her face as she leaned her head against the window and looked at whatever was outside as they drove. If space was what she wanted, that's what he was going to give her. Maybe acting a bit cold or uninterested was a bit too much, but maybe that's exactly what she wanted from him. He realized that his behavior last night didn't help her, or him, at all, so he decided to take a different turn from now on.
Once they reached Nabi's place, everyone felt the awkwardness rising. The girl sighed and unbuckled, forcing a smile as she said bye to everyone who sent her sincere smiles back. Her eyes and Mark's met for a split second through the rare view mirror and they said the quietest "bye" to each other that the others had ever heard.
well.. please don't hate me lmaooo
we needed some drama didn't we? 😅
will probably give you all a double update today <3