CHAPTER THREE

On their way home, Jina recalls the incident in her office.

‘I think I went overboard,’ she tells herself.

Looking back, she realizes that the man did not look like a con artist at all and did not even panic when she accused him of being one. With the way he dressed and spoke, he seemed like a very decent man.

‘I am not usually rude like this. What’s wrong with me? Was it because of the conversation that I had with my father? Should I apologize to that man? Should I have this investigated? Arrgh! This is giving me a headache!’

She rubs her temples not knowing that Mark was watching her.

“Stop worrying, Jina,” he tells her.

“Do you think—“

He cups her face and reassures her, “We did nothing wrong. He’s a scammer, okay?”

“Okay…”

Mark flashes his cute gummy smile and pinches her cheek. “Good! We’re here!”

“Wait, what? That fast?”

The man chuckles and teases her, “Well, you were too immersed in your thoughts you didn’t notice how much time had passed and didn’t realize that the whole time, you were just there staring into nothing. Why worry yourself and stare blankly into nothing when you have someone as good-looking as me to feast your eyes on?”

“Stop it, you,” the woman blushes and avoids Mark’s gaze, making him laugh even more.

“Okay, okay. Let me.” Mark escorts Jina out of the car and then into the house. She stands at the door and faces him, “Would you like to come in first?”

“Oh, yes. I can’t leave yet, you know.”

“What do you mean?”

“Sorry I didn’t tell you, but my parents and your dad told me to come here for dinner. They said they have something to tell us.”

Realizing that it had something to do with the wedding her father mentioned, Jina tries to lure Mark away but it is too late.

“Aww, look who’s here!” Mark’s mother sees them and announces their arrival. She hugs both her son and her soon-to-be daughter-in-law. “Shall we?” She asks and motions towards the door.

‘This is going to be a loooong night,’ Jina whispers to herself.

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“As we’ve separately informed you this afternoon, we’re already planning to have your wedding December next year!” Mark’s mother excitedly tells the couple.

“We thought hard about this but you see, our son here is really in love with you, sweetie!” Mr. Tuan adds, tapping his son’s shoulder.

Jina blushes at the man’s remark and so did Mark. “Hey, dad, there are things that you shouldn’t say here, you know…”

“Awwwww~ Look at them! They’re as red as tomatoes!”

Jina’s dad laughs along saying, “Our children are really meant to be together, don’t you think? I mean, look at them! Both are so good-looking! Not to mention that they’re both hardworking and smart, too. I can totally understand why we need to rush this wedding – we all want to see our grandchildren soon!”

“Dadddd!!!”

From across the table, Mark mouths to Jina, “Sorry… Just ignore them.”

Mrs. Tuan sees this and comments again, “We should finish this dinner fast so these two love birds can spend some time alone. Look at them mouthing words to each other!”

“Mom!!!”

The room erupts in laughter and Mark and Jina could only listen in embarrassment.

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After dinner, Mark and Jina go for a short walk together.

“I’m sorry if my parents made you feel uncomfortable during dinner…”

“It’s okay. There’s nothing to worry about…” Jina coolly responds.

Mark stops walking, causing her to face him.

“Jina… Please let me prove myself to you….”

“What do you mean?”

“I want to prove to you that I’m worthy to be your husband… your partner for life…”

“Mark, you don’t have to,” Jina starts walking again leaving her fiancé behind but he chases after her.

“Hey…” Mark pouts, “Do you hate being with me that much?”

Jina sighs then responds, “No, I don’t hate you.”

“Then why are you pushing me away?”

“I’m not… Alright, do what you want, okay?”

“Yayyy!” Mark hugs his fiancée who then tells him, “Tss… You always act cute.”

“Oh come on~ I know you like it~”

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“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s me.”

“Oh, yes! Congratulations! The product’s doing well, I heard.”

“Thank you but we have a problem…”

“What is it?”

“I think the owner of the recipe will be causing us some trouble… Shall we talk about this and think of alternative plans?”

“Sure. Let’s meet sometime this week, then?”

“You know the usual time and place.”

“Okay.”

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A/N: Ooooh, ooooh, someone's behind the blueberry cheesecake issue. Who could it/they be~??

Short update again, sorry :( It's Friday tomorrow so I promise to post another chapter (pinky swear~). I'll be introducing new characters soon and some of them are not GOT7 members. These were specifically requested by my bestfriend (hi!) so I included them ^^

And if the story appears to be progressing slowly... I apologize but let's say in the later chapters, there'll be time skips and it'll be kind of fastpaced. Heehee. Anyway~ thank you so much for reading!