CHAPTER NINE

Jina stands at her room’s balcony, staring at the sea. Today is their last night in Jeju and though they’ve only stayed in the island for a week, she has already fallen in love with the place and the thought of leaving somehow makes her sad.

‘We’re back to reality again tomorrow,’ she sighs.

She crosses her arms and rubs them, as a cold breeze blows towards her, making her shiver. The cold doesn’t last for a few seconds later, the chill she was feeling soon turned to warmth.

She turns her head and sees Mark, his arms around her waist and his chin resting on her right shoulder.

“You should be more attentive,” the red-haired man whispers to her.

“You should stop acting like a ninja and stop sneaking around me. You’re scary,” Jina answers back then chuckles. However, Mark did not answer and this worried her.

“Hey, I was joking!” Jina turns around and finds her fiancé staring at her. “Mark?”

Still, he doesn’t answer but this time, he moves his face closer to his fiancée’s.

“Mark, I think we should sleep. We have an early flight tomorrow.” Jina starts walking back inside her room but Mark grabs her by the wrist and kisses her on the lips.

Taken aback, she tries to break the kiss but Mark cups her face, keeping her from moving. She could feel her heart beating fast but she’s feeling uneasy at the same time. She feels it’s too early to be doing such. She likes Mark but not yet to an extent that she sees him as her lover. Her fiancé somehow senses this and breaks the kiss.

“I’m sorry,” he apologizes.

Jina pretends not to be bothered by what Mark has done as she tells him with a smile, “It’s okay. Let’s sleep, shall we?”

Thinking that his fiancée meant what she had uttered, Mark bids Jina goodnight and leaves for his room.

As they lay in their own beds, Mark and Jina recall the kiss they shared earlier. The former smiles as he remembers his fiancée’s reaction. Though she tried to fight back, he sensed that Jina didn’t necessarily hate his move.

‘She must have been surprised… Oh, was it her first kiss?’ The thought makes Mark smile even more.

Jina, on the other hand, is feeling bothered. ‘I quite like him, yes, yes… But that was my first kiss! With how I behaved, how will I face him again?’

She gets distracted from her thoughts when her phone plays its message tone. She reads the text message she received:

“From Mark Tuan: I can’t sleep T__T Are you thinking of me? ;)”

Jina rolls her eyes, ‘This man is such a joker…’

She sends a response, playing along with her fiancé: “I can’t sleep, too. Maybe you’re the one thinking of me. You probably can’t sleep because I’m all over your mind. :>”

Reading his fiancée’s reply, Mark lets out a soft chuckle. He sends a message to Jina before finally going to sleep. “Actually, yes :) Well, I guess I should let my princess sleep now. You’re probably too tired from running inside my mind all day ;) Goodnight! See you in my dreams and see you tomorrow morning, my dear! :*”

After reading Mark’s text message, Jina decides to sleep as well, a blush evident on her cheeks. ‘I guess he’d make a good man after all.’

Jina could feel her emotional walls starting to crumble and Mark slowly inching towards her heart. Over a short time, her fiancé has changed her. From an indifferent woman, Jina started to care more about the people around her. ‘And look at me caring about that Im Jaebum guy who’s nothing but a stranger to me... How I wish my family would start caring about me, too....’

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Once sure that everything was a dream and that his son is sleeping soundly, Jaebum goes back to bed. However, he finds himself unable to go back to sleep that night due to the disturbing dream that he had.

Trying to forget about it, he finds himself thinking of his last conversation with Kim Jina. Jaebum realizes that there’s no point in competing against a company as big as Kim Foods.

‘To them, I guess I’m just an ant; something they can barely see and easy for them to step on.’

He thinks of Jinyoung and remembers how she’d always tell him to do good to others and to never hold a grudge against someone.

‘Jae, even if people are being cruel to you, you should still treat them nicely and never hold a grudge against them. If you do, you’ll just be burdened with so much negativity.’

Jaebum smiles as he recalls how kind Jinyoung was to everyone. He then considers forgetting everything but he knows that he is not yet ready to forgive – not until he gets a proper apology.

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After spending a week in Jeju Island, Mark and Jina went back to work right away. Entering her office, Jina sighs as she sees the pile of papers on her desk.

‘Don’t be stressed, don’t be stressed,’ she reminds herself. She just got back from a nice vacation so she wanted to keep things as stress-free as they can be.

“Hmm, what is this?” On top of the stack, she finds a brown envelope labeled with her name. Below it is the name of the sender: Cho Kyuhyun.

A very short update just to let you guys know that I'm still alive (lol) and I'm serious about finishing this story :) Mark-Jina interaction~ Who ships them so far? ^^

To my lovely readers, please do leave me comments. I'm not sure if you're liking how the story is turning out :( Oh and I'd really appreciate it if you'd share this story (and the others too) to your mutuals / friends <3

'Til the next update!