ONE; ficlet

Fluff; Mild cursing; Suggestive material

“Oh, ,” Mark commented, interrupting his and Jackson’s conversation. He held up a menu, trying to cover his face and Jackson turned around to look.

“Oh, !” he called a little louder than he would have liked as he, too, scrambled for a menu to cover his face.   A girl a few tables over looked over at all the ruckus to see the two of them suspiciously covering their faces.

“Because that’s not shady,” she commented to herself before going back to her soup. She stirred it gently as she turned her attention towards the door. A prissy looking girl clad in jewelry with large sunglasses on her face entered the café. Her designer purse hung by her bent elbow, the same hand which she had raised. She was yacking on her phone about something. The girl looked back over to the table of two, noticing the red-headed one peeking over the menu only slightly before it reassumed the position.

Shin Mina was her name—the girl never minded her own business and that was pretty apparent right now as she neglected her studying to watch the scene in front of her play out.  She eavesdropped without making obvious eye contact with anyone over there as the other woman finally noticed the two boys.

“Mark Tuan,” she spat sassily as she pulled the menu from his grasp. He peered up at her from under his lashes, unsure of what kind of a response he should give. “It’s such a surprise seeing you here; you told me you had work today?” she questioned.

Mina turned her head completely now to watch them. Her heart pounded for him—he was obviously in some trouble.

“And you’re here with Jackson, what a lovely surprise seeing you here, too,” she said sarcastically as she ripped the menu from his grip as well. She slapped it down on the table as she leaned over to approach Mark’s face. Things looked like they were about to blow up, so Mina quickly finished her soup and packed her things up in case she decided to make a guest appearance.

“I told you, Sandy. It’s over, and it’s been over; so if you would kindly leave us—”

“Nobody decides this is over except me,” she replied sharply.

“I don’t think that’s how that works,” Jackson piped up but Sandy turned to practically snarl in his face.

“I don’t think I asked your permission, Jackson,” she snapped.

“Sandy, stop,” Mark said, pulling on her wrist to get her to leave Jackson alone but she promptly ripped it from his grip. “You don’t need to be so harsh with everyone. Just because you’re mad that I broke it off with you, doesn’t mean you can show up here and get in mine and Jackson’s faces. Get your things and just leave it alone.”

Sandy brought her hand back to slap the male across the face, attracting the eyes of everyone in the small café. Jackson stared at her wide-eyed as Mark tended to his stinging face which was now facing away from her.

“Oh, hell no,” Jackson said, shoving his chair back as he stood before a soft hand was placed on his shoulder. It was only soft for a moment before it shoved him back into his chair. Mina flung her purse into the open seat on Jackson’s side before pushing past Sandy to tend to Mark. 

“What’s going on here?” Mina questioned, pulling Mark’s hand away from his face with a gentle tug. She inspected his face—a bright red handprint marking his face. Her fingers protectively weaved through his hair to the back of his head and Mark looked up at her. Her eyes told him to play along as she mouthed the same words to him and he nodded slightly.

“Excuse you! That’s my boyfriend you’re touching!” Sandy screeched at Mina before she reached for the girl’s long brown hair. Mina whipped around to meet the slightly shorter girl. Her blonde hair and blue eyes obviously did not fit in there and the English was too perfect.   

“Your boyfriend?” Mina asked and reached up to grab the woman’s wrist as her hand reached for Mina’s hair. “That’s funny, because he’s my boyfriend,” she replied to Sandy. The woman squawked in frustration.

“He must be lying to you. We’ve been together for three years now; it’s a shame that he played you like that, you poor pathetic girl,” Sandy replied, crossing her arms over her chest.

Jackson was probably the most dumbfounded of all of them. He sat there and stared at this mystery woman, at Mina, who was handling the situation so well. She had effectively shut down Sandy for the most part but he knew the girl still had some fight in her.

 “Then how come I’m in his bed every night, and you’re not?” Mina replied to the woman. Jackson had to scoop his jaw back up and cover his mouth as his face flushed a bright red. He looked at Mark who just looked down, hoping for the best as he toyed with Mina’s fingers as she reached behind her. He was whispering quiet ‘thank you’s to her. But Jackson looked back to the two females in utter shock. Mina played her cards right, though. Sandy didn’t live with Mark—in fact, Mark’s only roommate was Jackson, but Sandy would never know that.

Mark couldn’t care less what Mina had to say to get Sandy to leave—he just didn’t want to go through all of her drama anymore; it was the entire reason he broke up with her so many months ago anyway.   

Sandy may as well have physically scooped her jaw up as well. Thinking Mina had stumped Sandy, Jackson just watched as Mina stood her ground in front of Mark—someone who was a total stranger to her. It was incredible, really, how someone could have not only such a good heart, but such good acting skills.

Mina could see the tears welling in Sandy’s eyes as she came to the final realization that yes, it was over with Mark, and it obviously had been for a while now. Mina never had the intention of making Sandy upset, but she did have the intention of making her see her place to Mark, which was no place at all anymore.

At the feeling of final victory, Mark spun Mina around and buried his relieved face into Mina’s stomach, to which she blushed furiously but threaded her fingers through his hair for dramatic effect. Jackson watched as Sandy stomped away, finally defeated. When she reached the door and left, Jackson turned back to the other two.

“You’re a miracle, you know that, girl?” Jackson told her, but the two didn’t separate from each other, mostly due to Mark who wanted to just break down and cry with relief into his savior. Jackson could see it on Mark’s face, the final freedom that he had been trying to obtain for a little over four months now.

“The name’s Shin Mina and I know what it’s like, so I couldn’t just stand back and watch,” she replied, looking over at Jackson as she comforted Mark who seemed to really need it right now. His face was still hidden in her stomach, arms resting in his lap as she cradled his head, unsure of what else to do at this point in time. She’d never dealt with such an emotional male, so she had zero experience with the current situation.

“Mark here’s been trying to shake her for months, but she just wouldn’t let go. I’m sure you can tell just how relieved he is,” Jackson said with a soft chuckle, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. 

She took Mark’s face in both of her hands and forced his eyes to hers. “No more crying, okay? It’s over. You don’t have to worry about it anymore. I apologize for saying embarrassing things,” she told him, but his eyes wouldn’t even open for her.  She brushed his tears away with the soft pads of her thumbs.

“It’s over, you don’t have to cry,” she said, but Mark shook her hands from him to stand and gather her into his arms.

“Thank you,” he muttered to her, sinking his face into her neck, seeking solace in her warm skin. “I can never repay you enough for what you just did for me, and you don’t even know me.”

Mina didn’t reply as she smoothed her hand over Mark’s back comfortingly. “I don’t need to know you to know that she was bad for you,” she finally replied. “Now you’re free,” she said with a smile before finally he released her. She went to grab her things but Jackson grabbed her wrist before she could leave. She turned around to see the pleading look in Mark’s eyes—she was just going to leave and that was it.  Jackson looked up to her as well.

“My name’s Jackson and I think I speak for Mark when I say, stay for a little while,” he said with a grin. Mina smiled back at him before looking to Mark who looked relieved for a second time that day as he pulled the chair next to him out for her. Mina happily took a seat and got to talking with the two boys.