THREE; two-shot; pt.1

Fluff; terrible flirting; mildly aggressive kissing

Mark shoved his hands in his pockets after bundling up a bit. It was a colder winter day in Seoul and he was walking home from the coffee shop, just stopping by to get a drink before heading back. The coffee warmed his stomach a bit, keeping his internal heat up only slightly but he still shivered as he walked through the cold air. His turtle neck kept the majority of his neck warm, but without a scarf which he begrudgingly forgot at home his face was still rather cold.

His nose was becoming red from the cold; his ears had frozen a long time ago. His hands were not a bit of help as they were only barely covered by fingerless gloves which were now attempting to be warmed by his jacket pockets.

On his tail was a large white dog which he had yet to notice. The dog’s nose was close to the ground, sniffing around frantically as he followed Mark’s trail. Only did Mark notice the large dog when there was a cry of terror from a couple of nearby girls. Without thinking, Mark turned around only to have the dog sniff right up to his shoes.

He looked down at the big Akbash dog before him and while he was a little intimidated, the dog showed no signs of aggression, so Mark took his chances.

“Hey there,” he said, holding his hand out, palm side up, for the dog to sniff. “You’re pretty large for being from around here, huh? Large dogs aren’t that common here,” he commented as the dog accepted him, finding Mark to be not a threat at all. He scratched the dog behind the ears, finding its collar buried beneath the thick white fur.

“You’re a pretty girl, aren’t you?” he asked, kneeling down slightly after noticing the collar color—pink. “Are you lost?” he asked, looking to the tag on the collar which read, Shiro.

“Well, Shiro, where’s your owner at, huh?” he asked, patting the dog for only a moment before she hopped to her feet, causing Mark to back up a little and stand back on his feet. The large dog let out a bark and following that boomed a female’s voice.

“Shiro! Dammit, dog!”

Mark’s eyes looked up to see a dark haired female turned around from their direction, trying to look over people for the dog.  Shiro took off running in her direction and bumped her head into the girl to get her attention.  

“There you are! You can’t just go running off like that, you’ll scare a lot of people,” she said before the dog took off running again. “No! No, come back!” she called, running after the dog who had approached Mark a little too quickly for his comfort before the dog stood on her hind legs, tall enough to throw her front paws over Mark’s shoulders.

“Shiro, rude! Get down off of him!” Chaerin yelled as she approached the two.

“No, it’s okay. I like dogs,” he said, scratching the dog’s head once more. “Isn’t that right? You’re a good dog and you know it, aren’t you?” he asked the dog who his face. Mark chuckled, a chuckle so graceful and contagious, she had to chuckle too.

“I’m sorry; I know it’s not common to have large dogs. It’s not often we come across someone who isn’t just absolutely terrified of her,” Chaerin commented, snapping the leash back on the dog’s collar.  Shiro just looked at her owner before barking once more. 

“No, it’s fine. I’m used to being around big dogs; I lived in America for a while, there are big dogs everywhere there,” he laughed. She only nodded understandingly before turning her attention to her canine friend who was being quiet bothersome with all of the pushing and barking.

“What?” she asked before the dog shoved her nose against Chaerin’s pocket. “No, you silly dog. We’re turning it into lost and found,” she laughed, petting her dog. “Sorry to bother you, again. Have a nice day,” she said with a smile and Mark replied the same as Chaerin walked past him but Shiro wouldn’t budge.

Mark laughed, “It seems like she really likes me.”

“Yeah, she’s always liked men; a little too much if you ask me,” Chaerin replied, looking to Mark’s eyes for the first time since they interacted.

Mark just chuckled in response as he looked back at her before patting his pockets to look for his phone to check the time since he had forgotten his watch that day.

Mark continued patting his pockets in search for his phone only to come to the realization that it was nowhere to be found. “Oh, shoot,” he commented, “I must have dropped it earlier, dang it,” he added to himself, ping his jacket to search the pockets on the inside.  Shiro nudged Chaerin’s pocket again which contained a cell phone that she had recovered on the street not too long ago, then it all clicked in the girl’s mind.

“Did you… happen to lose your phone?” Chaerin asked.

“Yeah, I guess it fell out of my pocket near the coffee shop. It couldn’t possibly be there by now,” he replied, sighing in slight disappointment.

“Yeah, it’s not,” Chaerin replied, “Because I think I might have it right here,” she said, pulling the device out of her pocket to show it to Mark who just looked at it before looking at her in total disbelief. “I picked it up and Shiro took a good whiff of it before taking off. I guess you didn’t cross the coffee shop long before we did.”

Mark looked back to the phone, recognizing it as his before reaching out to take it from her. “No way,” he said, “This has to be my lucky day,” he added with a laugh as a smile broke onto his face. “Thank you; I seriously don’t even know what I was going to do.”

Chaerin smiled before looking down to her pup. “Don’t even worry about it. We’re glad to help out,” she said before looking back to Mark. She noticed how red his nose was and how slightly he was shivering now. “Just one more thing,” she said, unwrapping the scarf she had around her neck. Mark looked at her, unsure of what she was doing before she swung the scarf over his neck.

“Stay warm, it’s kind of cold out,” she said, pulling the edge of the scarf up over his face to cover his nose and ears.

Mark shook his head, trying to pull it away from him. “No, please. This is yours,” he said.

“You need it more than I do,” she told him, tucking the ends into his jacket. “Your nose is red and so are your ears. That’s how you get sick. Just stay warm,” she added.

“What’s your name?” he asked her, finally accepting the scarf as he reached up to adjust it.

“Min Chaerin, and yours?” she asked.

“Tuan Yien,” he replied, “But everyone just calls me Mark,” he finished, looking nervously away from her. As much as he kind of liked it when girls called him Yien, Mark was good enough for now.

“Well, we should get going. Stay warm and have a nice day, Tuan Yien,” she finally spoke after a couple moments of what she would call awkward silence.  He wished her the same and as they tried to go separate ways, Shiro was not pleased with the end of things with them. She tugged hard on the leash, trying to follow Mark the opposite direction she was supposed to be heading as she nudged her head into Mark’s hand. Chaerin on the other end of the leash was stumbling as she followed the dog, slightly losing her footing before Mark stepped to the side just a bit.

Chaerin crashed into his chest, catching herself against firm warmth she couldn’t recognize right now. “Shiro, you trouble maker,” she cursed before realizing she didn’t hit the ground but instead crashed into Mark.  Slowly her eyes traveled up his chest before meeting his eyes. His eyes met hers with a slight blush before asking if she was alright to which she replied affirmatively, at least, until her legs were tangled with his. Shiro, in all of her excitement, wagging her tail had wrapped the leash around hers and Mark’s legs, binding them together.

“I’m so sorry about this,” Chaerin apologized, trying to untangle them from her close proximity before he pulled her back up.

“I think Shiro’s trying to tell you something,” Mark commented, directing Chaerin’s attention to the pooch who just sat there next to Mark and continued to wag her tail.

“Maybe you’re just trying to tell me something,” she accused, watching his face for any sign of guilt, but Mark was a wall.

“Maybe you’re trying to tell me something,” he replied to her, raising his eyebrows as his hands came up to cup over hers which had returned to residing against his chest, even after she had tried to untangle them.  “You know what they say, you can tell a lot about how a girl feels by where her hands are. Plus every time you hold my gaze your pupils dilate subtly, dopamine and oxytocin,” Mark told her, trailing off at the end of his sentence.

“You’re one to talk mister standing up straight, squaring your shoulders, puffing your chest out trying to come off more masculine, touching my hands and telling me how attracted I am to you,” she replied sassily, but trailed at the end of her sentence, too, as he looked deeply into his eyes.

The leash had finally loosened from their legs, freeing them enough to step away from each other but Chaerin wouldn’t make a move and Mark’s only move was his hands tightening around hers. “Biting your lip is a subconscious tactic to try to get me to look at them,” he commented, his eyes not being able to help but fall to gaze at them. They were thick and luscious, smooth and glossy.

She wasn’t trying to attract him, but she couldn’t say that he wasn’t good looking, either, also cute and shy and intelligent, all things she liked about a man.  Her hands flattened onto his chest as she noticed his gaze on before he reestablished eye contact.

“You’re pretty open for us being total strangers,” Chaerin commented, not once breaking the gaze.

“I’m a little shy but I’m not afraid to notice a girl who’s into me,” he replied confidently. Confidently, not arrogantly, and she really respected that about him. “Especially one as into me as you; we’ve been untangled for at least five minutes now and you haven’t moved an inch,” he noted.

“To be fair, neither have you,” she responded.

“Maybe I’m just waiting for you to forfeit your number to me,” he whispered in the cold air.

“As if there was a thought in your mind that you weren’t going to get it,” she said, her tongue subconsciously moistening her lips slightly.

“Stop with the lips. I see them; they’re perfect,” he said, his hands really gripping hers now as he looked at her, his body slightly curving towards her now. Mark wouldn’t even blush at his words; he was so caught up in her. Yeah, they were strangers; it didn’t seem to matter to him. It was what he would classify as love at first sight. He didn’t usually believe in it, so maybe he would count this as second sight since they were going to depart with no problem the first time.

She raised her eyebrows at his previous statement. “Oh?” she asked, “is that so?” That was it for Mark. It didn’t matter how much she thought she wanted to fight it, he had already told her that he saw the attraction in her eyes. He didn’t need anything else but to know that she felt the same way he did; that she was totally and utterly captivated by him.

“If I were flaunting mine, I’m sure you’d feel the same way,” he told her. It didn’t even seem cold anymore now that he had her warming him up literally; her body in such close proximity to his, they were sharing body heat.

“I don’t need you to flaunt them to see them,” she retorted quickly; but it didn’t stop him from flicking his tongue out over his lips to draw her eyes to them. He quickly raised a brow at her before his hands slid away from her hands so his right hand could touch her hip only to have her turn her face away from him.

“Is this your sick way of trying to seduce me? First you’ve got your hands on me, then you’re playing the lip game and now you’re essentially offering your neck to me, trying to drug me with your pheromones,” Mark commented only to have her head whip back to him.

“Excuse me?” she asked, “Trying to seduce you? I think that’s what you’re trying to do right now,” she replied to him, gently slapping his hand on her hip but it didn’t move, it remained there with a strong grip.

“I really wish you would stop with the lips,” Mark retorted, completely ignoring her previous rebuttal.

“If it’s bothering you so much, why don’t you just stop me?” she asked, a little too flustered to really think about the consequences of that statement. Mark was quick to move his face to hers, tilting his head to the side to dodge her nose and put his lips within centimeters of hers.

“Are you sure that’s what you want?” he asked, his breath hitting her lips aggressively. Her hands clawed the fabric of his jacket, trying to find something to hold on to before coming back to her scarf which was wrapped securely around his neck.

“At this point we act familiar enough you might as well just take me home with you,” she replied sassily and sarcastically, but Mark wasn’t about to let her get by with that even as he swallowed heavily and nervously.

Mark’s parted lips froze near hers but didn’t touch. “You should think about the consequences of some of your words. I can’t help that you’re flustered, but you probably would not consciously ask me to take you home with me,” he said. “I don’t give idle threats and I don’t take dares lightly; if you ask me to do something, I’m probably going to do it,” he threatened, his lips drawing nearer to hers.

“You won’t do it,” she stated, but refused to move even as he drew closer.

“Are you prepared to accept the falsities of that statement?”

“Kiss me, I dare you,” she said through gritted teeth.

Mark’s hand tugged her hip towards him, bringing her lips into his. Chaerin didn’t buy it at first. There was no way he would kiss her, they were total strangers. But he did prove her wrong and he stuck to every single one of his statements he had told her about himself. It wasn’t a short kiss that was only meant to stick it to her, either. Mark felt something for her that couldn’t be explained—maybe it was destiny that brought them together with the dropping of his phone; either way, it felt so right.  

Chaerin’s hands subconsciously tugged him closer and he was able to take half a step closer to her, causing him to become a little taller. He craned his neck the distance as his lips molded against hers as his free hand found the small of her back to arch her against him. Chaerin, getting a little carried away with herself, stood on her toes to get a little more of him until he took her plump bottom lip between his teeth to nibble it and caress it with his soft warm tongue. Her tongue screamed behind her teeth for him.

She melted into him, into his touch, into his kiss, into his entire presence. He lit her on fire—a feeling she had never felt about anyone else before. She became dizzy at the feel of him, the taste of him, the scent of him; this complete stranger was the biggest weakness in her life, especially as his tongue poked past her lips to touch the gate of her teeth. He pulled his tongue back only for a moment to speak one work against her lips in a raspy low tone, “Open.”

He dove back in from the opposite angle, his head falling the opposite way it was previously as his tongue slid past her lips and teeth to touch against her tongue. Chaerin’s right hand moved from the scarf to run over his neck and dishevel his hair as his warm muscle twisted with hers, rubbing together slowly but sensually before pulling away.

“I think you’ve had enough,” he muttered against her lips, his eyes opening to meet her closed ones.

She didn’t even have a reply. She was breathy and needy still. “Who’s to say?” she asked finally, tugging his hair gently to try to bring him back in.   She leaned in for his lips but he pulled away just out of her reach.  

“Maybe I’m just trying to get you to beg for a little more,” Mark told her, his lips just out of reach of hers even as his arms tightened around her. Chaerin’s jaw tightened after her teeth locked back together as her eyes finally opened to look at his. “Maybe I want you to admit to me that this wasn’t a coincidence. Maybe this is life’s way of bringing me to the one,” he said before gently tilting his head to the side as his gaze drifted away from her, “or bringing the one to me.”

“What are you saying?” Chaerin asked, her nails scratching the back of his head gently.

“I’m saying it’s love at first sight. What would you call it?” he asked, his eyes snapping back to hers.

“A deep unexplained attraction and desire for you that may or may not lead to this so called love at a later time,” she replied quietly to him.

“Do you think it’s a coincidence you were brought here? Do you think it’s a coincidence your pup won’t leave my side? Do you think it’s a coincidence Shiro tied us up with the leash? Is it a coincidence you’ve done absolutely nothing but flirt with me and show interest in me since you first got here? Look at you; your eyes are dilated again, you’re touching your neck, still completely pressed up against me; can you honestly deny it?” he spoke, his eyes never once leaving hers as their noses occasionally brushed.

“What are you trying to accomplish by doing this?” he asked, taking her hand away from her neck to bring attention to her actions. “You’re still flirting with me,” he told her.

“Are you complaining?” she finally asked, her eyes looking hard into his.

“Absolutely not,” he replied, defending himself. “Why would I? You’re beautiful, a great kisser, a dog lover, friendly, and totally into me. But I want you to know that I’m totally into you, too.”

“I don’t think you would have kissed me the way you did if you weren’t even just a little bit,” she replied to him, her fingers nervously playing with his zipper now, the mood having calmed down. Her eyes moved away from his, the nervousness finally taking over her completely.

Mark’s fingers touched her chin, lifting it slightly to bring her gaze back to his. “How about we skip all of the playful texting and calling and go on a date now. Only if you’re free, I mean; I don’t have anywhere to be.”

She nodded, her voice suddenly lost from her as the realization of the situation sank in.

“We’ll take Shiro home, put you in something a little nicer and I’ll take you to a nice dinner,” he commented, noting her sweatpants as he was dressed in a nice pair of slacks and a button down under his jacket.

He nodded as she nodded, “We’ll talk, actually get to know each other, have some awesome food; I’ll bring you back, kiss you goodnight on your doorstep, call you when I get home and talk with you until you fall asleep,” he whispered to her, taking one of her hands to hold it gently in his. All of her fingers draped over his index finger as he held her hand, bringing it to his lips to kiss her knuckles, his eyes gazing up at hers.

Mark flicked his head in a random direction. “Let’s go, then,” he said, waiting for her to start walking to lead him to her home which she did only moments after he spoke. With Shiro in tow and Mark by her side, Chaerin laced her hand with Mark’s to which he replied with a grin. Today turned out to be pretty great day.