It was during Nayeon's fan meet, which also happened to be her birthday. They had decided to be honest to Sana after the latter's comeback promotion but on Nayeon's birthday, the decision was disrupted.

Minhyuk had surprised her and in front of all her fans, he proposed.

Nayeon looked around nervously, she noticed how Mark who's at the furthest back stood up with his cap lowered even more. But despite the distance, she could also see how tightly his grip was on the seat in front of him. Nayeon definitely did not miss the 'aw' and the cheers from the fans, she shifted her gaze to the audience in front then back to Minhyuk who's still waiting for her response.

In front of so many people, in front of her fans, how could she reject him flat out? However, she also knew that she couldn't marry him no matter what. Her gaze shifted up to Mark again who never once looked away; she could tell that he's waiting for her answer too, for different reasons.

When the host and fans saw that there's no response from her, they started chanting loud 'Marry him!' repeatedly and soon, the whole auditorium was filled with only the echoes of the loud chanting.

"I-" She had started and broke into a nervous smile. "Yes."

The crowd cheered louder when Minhyuk got up and gave her a tight hug after; no one noticed how her tears were not filled with happiness but instead, they were filled with guilt. Things shouldn't be like this, she was going to be honest and end it with Minhyuk, why did things have to get even more complicated now?

In Minhyuk's arm, which the male was too happy to realize how she didn't return the hug, Nayeon looked up at the spot Mark was at again.

He was nowhere to be seen.

That night, Nayeon had made up an excuse of her not feeling well. Even though Minhyuk had initially wanted to stay with her –both to take care of her and because of the happiness he was feeling– she still managed to convince him to go home and have a rest since he had a morning flight to catch the next day.

After he had left, Nayeon collapsed on her couch, leaning her head back against it while she massaged her temples. Why did it have to be Jeongyeon's filming day? She had considered calling Jinyoung over but the thought of Jaebum coming along too stopped her from tapping on the call button. She didn't need any lecture that night. Calling Bambam over seem like a good option and hopefully Mark had say something to him too. However, all hopes were dashed when Bambam told her that he's back in Thailand. Jihyo's overseas with her husband, so she's out of the options too.

How is Mark doing too? Should she call Mark instead? He must be really upset and mad at her. At least that's what she thought since she knew she would be hurting a lot if the roles were reserved.

Her thumb hovered over his name before she threw her phone to the other side of her black leather couch. What was she supposed to tell him? Sorry? That is such a strong word and now she's feeling guilty towards both Mark and Minhyuk. She knew she lied but she was supposed to break up with him privately, not publicly, definitely not that.

Even if she's never really loved him, she still cared for him.

What should she do now?

Nayeon didn't know how long she had stayed on her couch. She could only hear the deafening silence around her with just the kitchen light keeping her company. It was the loud banging on her door that brought her back from her messy thoughts. She took a quick glance at the clock on the wall, it's already midnight, just who in the world would be here?

The loud banging never stop but instead, they got louder and heavier.

"Im Nayeon!" Mark's voice could be heard from the other side of the door. It's slightly muffled but Nayeon could tell that he's drunk. Her eyes widened slightly and immediately, she hopped off her couch and rushed to the door.

And indeed, Mark collapsed onto her once the door is opened.

"You cruel girl." He slurred but his actions were opposite from what he said as his arms wrapped around Nayeon's slim body, almost as if he's afraid that he would lose her.

Nayeon kicked her door close as she tried to support Mark's taller figure to the couch. However, Mark who's stronger, didn't allow her too. He instead, pinned her against the wall with his two hands on both sides of her head.

He was drunk but Nayeon could also tell that he cried a little. Mark had always been someone who cries a lot but seeing him like that always break her. Especially now that she knew she's the reason, it hurt her even more.

"I'm sorry..." She didn't know why but that was the first two words that came from her as tears filled her eyes. "I really am."

"I will not and I can't. Please Nayeon," Mark muttered in a slight gibberish way. "Tell me that you did not just accept his proposal."

Before Mark got drunk, he knew that Nayeon had no choice. There was no other way than to accept the proposal but it still hurt a lot. It was only supposed to be a few drinks but the thought of Nayeon getting married to someone else was too painful to even imagine. Even when he knew that Nayeon's heart is with him, he couldn't help it. That image of her saying yes to the other him and when he hugged her so tightly, he wished he could have forgotten them all.

And that was the reason why he kept drinking that night.

"Mark," Nayeon whispered softly, her own tears threatening to fall as she kept her gaze on his handsome face. "I won't marry him, you know that."

"I know." He chuckled dryly. "But I can't help it. When I see you saying yes... I really want to just go down and take you away."

"Why didn't you?"

"Your career, Nayeon. Your career." Mark looked up, his gaze locking with hers, which he then gave her a sad smile. "The media, the fans, they are all there. What will happen to—"

Before he could continue, Nayeon had cupped both his cheeks and the rest of his words were lost against her lips. It was a soft yet lingering kiss but enough to calm Mark down who looked into her eyes again after she had pulled away.

"It must have hurt a lot." Nayeon muttered in a soft whisper, her thumb caressing his cheek as she spoke. Her tears were falling but she kept her attention on the male in front of her instead.

"I don't know what I would do if you're the one who proposed to Sana instead. I love you, I haven't been saying this a lot but I love you. I want you, just you in my life. I'm sorry you have to go through this and I promise you, we will get this through. It will be over soon."

"Will we?" It's almost like an innocent child was asking this question.

"We will." Nayeon smiled and gave Mark an assuring nod. "You want to go back to LA? I will give my career up and leave with you. You want to travel the world to expand on your business, let's do that too. Let's just stay together."

Mark said nothing in return and instead, he crashed his lips against hers. This time it was unlike any other time; it's neither slow nor playful. This time, the kiss was sloppy and desperate, as if they were both showing the other how much they need them. Nayeon could almost taste the vodka in Mark's mouth and the slight burn of it with every push of his tongue against hers.

There was no gentleness this time, not now, not after the long day they had. When Mark lifted her up, Nayeon wrapped both her arms and legs around his neck and waist naturally. Using the wall behind her as a support, Mark slid his hands down her thighs one after another and looked up at her. When their gazes met, both of them gave each other a smile, both breathing heavily.

And when Nayeon leaned down again to take Mark's mouth into hers again, he carried her back into the room and kicked the door close.

Nayeon's engagement with Minhyuk was one of the top news for a few days that neither of the people in Jinyoung's living room could just ignore it. Nayeon had been receiving congratulations from everyone no matter where she went. She didn't want to even log into her SNS or fansite because they would all be congratulatory messages.

"What are you guys going to do now?"

Silence.

"Answer us, you two."

Silence again.

"Mark Tuan, Im Nayeon, talk." Despite the firmness in his voice, Jaebum sighed at the silent treatment they're getting from the couple.

"I don't know." Nayeon answered truthfully, closing her eyes in defeat as she placed her can of beer on the ground. "I really don't know."

"Why did Minhyuk hyung have to propose?" Jinyoung groaned, messing his hair up at the complicated situation. "And why did you say yes?"

"Use your brain, Park Jinyoung." Jeongyeon grabbed a handful of peanuts and threw it at his direction. "How can Nayeon reject him in front of all the fans and media?"

This time, everyone sighed at Jeongyeon's words and for a long while, no one said anything. Not that they didn't want to but, no one knew what to say or do.

"It's the start of October and I still haven't said anything to Sana." Nayeon muttered and hugged her legs close to her body this time. "When she came up to me with Mina and Momo to congratulate me, I really didn't know how to react."

"Don't think about it." Mark took her hand into his. "I told you I will handle this."

"All of you always have a lot to say." Mark turned to face the rest of them this time, not letting go of Nayeon's hand. "Why are you quiet now? Jaebum, say something."

"Something." Jaebum mumbled half-heartedly, not bothering to even look at the older male as his head stay rested against the couch while he remained seated on the floor.

"Bambam."

Bambam looked up from his phone, which he was pretending to be focusing on and looked at the older male with a sheepish grin.

"Mark hyung, you know me. Even at this age, I still come up with stupid things to say."

"Sometimes stupid things are the right things. Just say it, Bam." Jaebum muttered lifelessly again, his position the same as earlier.

"We are going to come clean anyway. Forget that noona had accepted his proposal and just tell them? The engagement will be off immediately after that."

"What Bambam said is true too." Jinyoung sighed, his head still bowed low before he looked up. "Why don't we just pretend the proposal never happen?"

"What's wrong with the both of you." Jihyo turned to look at the two men on the couch. "You have been really in sync right from the start."

"Surprise." Jaebum snorted.

"That's going to be an additional bomb." Nayeon muttered, her chin resting on her knees. "Us dating behind their back is bad enough. Then we had to also come clean that we've been dating since years ago. And now, breaking the engagement?"

"Why didn't you guys think, oh my god!" Jeongyeon exclaimed which finally made Jaebum sat up straight. "Just tell them, Nayeon. the number of bombs. Minhyuk threw a huge bomb on us!"

"Twice debut anniversary is coming." Jihyo interrupted the conversation. "Can we at least do it after that? You get what I mean right, you two?"

The last question was directed to both Jeongyeon and Nayeon who both sighed as a response.

"Let's do it on the day itself."

"What—"

"Yes, right after that. So we will all be together." Jeongyeon nodded then pointed at herself, Nayeon and Jihyo. "We were all part of this since 2012, there's no denying of that."

"Alright." Jihyo agreed which made Nayeon frowned deeper.

"The both of you did nothing wrong."

"We did, every single one of us here did." Jinyoung answered for the two girls. "We helped and we lied, we are all accomplices. You two, we will be with you."

Mark and Nayeon looked around, meeting the gaze of everyone in the room, and finally smiled for the first time that night.

It was hard to fix a date that all nine of them could but eventually they did it to celebrate Twice anniversary. Despite them already disbanded, it had become a tradition for the ex nine members of the group to meet every year on October; no matter far apart they're from each other. And to keep the nostalgia, most of the time it would be held around JYPE building or within JYPE.

That year was no exception.

Even though it's not on the day itself, all nine of them were happy to be able to gather as a group again. They would be either catching up with each other, laughing together or reminiscing the past. Now that they're at the age of marriage and the fact that their leader and youngest were both married, the topic of it would occassionally come up.

But this year, to Nayeon's dismay, the topic was hot among the members especially when they started asking about her wedding preparations, she really had no idea how to answer them since she had been avoiding that topic even with Minhyuk himself. Thankfully, Jihyo's observation skills and Jeongyeon's quick wit were able to save her from any awkward situation. She would usually just go along with whatever they say which added more lies onto the long list they already had.

The attention was soon shifted to Sana when Dahyun asked her if she would be getting married to Mark anytime soon.

"We hadn't really talked about it." Sana had answered in very casual tone but Nayeon did not miss that shy laughter that escape from the girl herself. "I don't think he wants to think about it yet. He's busy with his cafes."

"But he's almost 40!"

All Sana did was laugh at Dahyun's reaction which the other girls joined it too. However, no one noticed how Nayeon was just quietly sipping on her fruit punch, occasionally smiling at what the others were talking. Jeongyeon's fist was tightened around her fork in the midst of her cutting a small piece from her cake and Jihyo, she had gone unexceptionally silent after she let out an inaudible sigh.

After tonight, things would be different between all nine of them but there's Sana, who was just laughing with the other five members, not knowing what's going to happen. That fact was enough to make the three quiet women even more guilty.

It was long and torturous but eventually, they reach the end of the night. Tzuyu was the first to leave since she had to fly back to Taiwan the next day. Next were Mina along with both Chaeyoung and Dahyun, the former had offered to send them back to their place.

Finally, it was just Nayeon, Jeongyeon, Jihyo, Sana and Momo who stayed.

They had been walking along the streets after they've left the company's building. To Sana and Momo who were both walking at the front, it was just a peaceful walk along the quiet streets. But to the other three who were just slowly walking behind them, it was an uneasy one. There were the endless glances the three of them shared, unsure of whether they should do it now.

Finally, Nayeon was the one who decided to take that first step. After all, she couldn't let Jeongyeon and Jihyo do it when it all started from her.

"Sana!" Nayeon had taken a few steps forward when she called out, which caught the two Japanese ladies at the front. She almost wanted to just turned back when Sana gave her a bright smile when she heard her name being called.

However, Jeongyeon and Jihyo went to her side and gave her back a gentle and encouraging pat each.

"Let's talk, yeah?" Nayeon spoke in a quiet tone.

"Do you want to go grab another drink?" Sana's smile was still haunting Nayeon but it's either now or never.

Despite her wanting to just give it up, Nayeon still smiled.

"Yeah let's go get another one."

That led to another uncomfortable walk again, however this time the five girls were instead walking as a group.

"You never really answered earlier. How's your wedding preparation?" Momo had brought the topic up to Nayeon again.

"Well," the latter chuckled nervously which neither of the two Japanese girls caught on. "It might not hap-"

The sudden brightness from a car's headlight cut Nayeon off mid sentence. Five of them widened their eyes at the sight of a car sprinting towards their direction and it seemed like it had no intention of stopping. Sana was closest to the road however, before there's any reaction from her, she felt herself getting pushed by something.

Or rather, someone.

"Nayeon!"

-

'we've finally reached this part of the story. honestly, i don't know if one more chapter will be enough to conclude the whole thing. it might be split into two parts instead. anyway, did no one really guessed that Minhyuk would propose? i thought, it might actually be slightly obvious HAHA.

again, the markyeon scene in this chapter was the hardest to write. i really can't write intimate scenes and this story is kind of the first mature theme story i attempted. i never really was that ambitious HAHA. so long story short, i still hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. do look forward to the next! 

peace out!

p.s. no edit this chapter bc i was busy with chinese new year! will make it up on my instagram these few days so check it out there!!