The morning began as usual as Mark came by again to pick you and Yugyeom to work. Although you told him he didn't have to, he somewhat shrugged it off saying that it was an efficient use of fuel to carry more people now that Yugyeom was headed the same way.
You knew obviously that he was just making it up an an excuse to go to work together with you more often in this 'sensitive' period.
As the day passed, you realised Jackson had not come in.
"Mark, did you hear from Jackson?" You turned your chair around to ask.
He looked up in his glasses, "No but why? Isn't he at his desk?"
[[MORE]]You both stepped out of your shared cubicle to look, and it was quite obvious that Jackson was either very late, or absent without notice.
Mark strolled to his table. "He hasn't come in at all it seems. Do you want to call him?"
You pick out a thick file of confidential information of your subordinates and flipped through to get to his profile. You realised you didn't have his number or knew where he stayed even though he had been working with you for some time. You call his mobile but he didn't answer so you dialed his home.
Right when you were about to hang up, you hear the ringing cut by a voice.
From a faraway voice you heard Jackson saying something like "hang on hang on" and so you waited. After some moments a slurred and muffled voice came to the phone.
"Hello.." it sounded like Jackson but much huskier and deeper, almost therapeutic to the ear.
"Hello? May I speak to Jackson?" You asked.
"Yes this is he."
You frowned for a second, "Jackson I'm Mandy, do you know what time it is?"
"Oh hey, I don't, what time is it?" He asked like as if he just woke up.
"Its lunch on a Tuesday noon." You said.
"Omg. I'm so super sorry about that but I can't really see right now? So I really don't know what time it is and I've been trying to find my phone to call you. Thank goodness you called." He rambled in a whiny tone that was still low and overly husky.
"What do you mean you can't really see?" You asked.
"I don't know, I was having a bit of an itch yesterday? And then when I woke up my eyes were like goldfish? So I popped some meds and thought it would be fine but now I reaaaallly can't open my eyes at all OMG..." his tone audibly getting whinier and frustrated.
"Do you need me to help you call someone over since you can't see? A friend or doc or something?" You asked, not quite sure of the severity of his situation.
"I don't know, I just can't open my eyes at all do you think you could dial an ambulance for me cos I can't even see the keypad." He said calmly.
"Wait, did you just say an ambulance? Is it that serious? Why didn't you call sooner?" At this, you stood up and closed the file on your table, taking with you his loose sheet of contact details.
"Look, I can't even find my phone Mandy... and I'm like really annoyed now cos I can't even crawl to pour myself a drink." You heard a couple of things being knocked over and some uneasiness in his voice.
"Okay Jackson just sit down, and try to orientate yourself slowly. I want you to move to your front door and I'm going to be there in 10minutes, do you think you can open it?" You nestled the phone between your shoulder and neck while you packed your stuff and grabbed your bag.
"No, no you don't have to come, you can just call an ambu~"
You hung up and started to move out.
Mark who was listening from his desk got up as well. "What's up with him, is he okay?"
"Yeah he's alive" you replied, "but not sure if he will stay alive if I don't head over now."
"I'll drive you!" He stood up wanting to grab his stuff but you were already walking out.
"Its okay Mark! I'll just grab a Taxi, you've got a meeting later!" You shouted across the room and continued walking out. "I'll call you!~"
He slumped back in his chair, and heaved a sigh. "O-kay.... he had better be really sick..."
You bounce out of the Taxi and saw a shadow behind the frosted front door. It was Jackson holding on the the door knob, while fidgeting and trying to rub his eyes. You run up to him and knock the panel urgently.
"Open up Jackson its me!"
He immediately turned the knob he had been holding on as if for dear life.
"Oh gosh you're really swell!" You gasped and tried to hold in your laughter. He looked like a puffer fish in hip hop slacks as PJs.
"Ok just help me to dial an ambulance and go back to work you don't have to come in..." Jackson was waving his hands around trying to look for where you were but you dodged them and swiftly went into the house instead.
You found his plight quite an amusement since he had always tried to be cheeky and pull pranks on others. As you silently tip toed away from his flailing arms, you realised his house was really aromatic. It smelt so comforting and familiar that you couldn't help but look around at where it was coming from in a bachelors little messy home.
"Omo!" You accidentally let out a soft gasp. Thanks to that Jackson quickly turned towards the direction of your sound to walk bravely over.
On his table were a bunch of lavender stalks thrown all over and you recognised them from the one you received yesterday.
No way! It couldn't have been from Jackson?
"Ack!!" He crashed right into your side and lost his balance not knowing he had already reached where you were standing. You instinctively grabbed his arm but he had come with too much impact to be steadied by you and both of you fell over with a loud thud on the floor.
"Omg OMG Omg OMG." Jackson was half freaking out and you had to calm him down.
You quickly caught his rapidly turning head between your hands and saw him frowning so hard, and realised he was probably in pain from all the swell, and now the fall.
"Its okay, stop moving." You said in a soft but firm voice.
He continued to panic for a few more seconds before slowing down, realising his head was clasped.
"Okay listen to me." You began. "Tell me. What are your medical allergies."
His swollen lips shifted and you could see him trying to blink behind the puffed up eyelids.
"Pollen. I think."

You gasped and realised he was allergic to the stash of lavender that he must have been hanging around with when he arranged he bouquet for you.
"Ok good, now, tell me, where do you keep the anti-histamines?"
"The what?" He replied.
"The stuff you eat to ease the swell when it happens." You remove your hand from the side of his head and let him think.
He described a bunch of places that you searched but it wasn't there, including his room drawer, his kitchen sink cabinet, his toilet.
"Don't you carry them around with you?" You asked.
"Ah! Ah! I have one in the back pocket of this pants I wore to the store when I bought some! But its......" he stopped short of telling the location.
"Its okay Jackson, nothing is gonna be more embarrassing than you looking like a marshmallow and I've gotten used to that face now so just tell me." You stood in the middle of his living room.
"Its... in the black box with my boxers... BUT ITS CLEAN ITS WASHED I JUST PUT THEM THERE!" He started explaining animatedly and seeing him flustered while being unable to see a thing was just too hilarious.
You stifled a laugh and went back into his room to search. Before long you came out with the tablet and poured a glass of water for him. He was still sitting on the ground where he crashed into you.
You squatted down and pulled his wrist up to hold the cup.
"Ok drink and then swallow this." You pressed one tablet into his other hand.
He obediently did as he was told.
Getting up, you walked him to his kitchen and sat him down. There wasn't much to eat in his fridge.
"Why don't you take a rest in your room, I'll head out to grab lunch. I'm hungry and you should be too."
He nodded but didn't stand to move.
"Aren't you gonna bring me?" He turned his head to face you and outstretched an arm.
"Oh, I forgot." You mumbled and took his hand and brought him there.
"Here." He reached into his pocket as he sat down on his bed and took out his keys for you. "I won't be able to open the door for you later."
Feeling a little too intimate to be taking his house keys, you had to take them anyway since he had a point.
Back in the office, Mark was hardly concentrating on whatever he was working on.
Just the thought of you and Jackson alone in his home was enough to drive him nuts. He tried to calm himself down and think of a solution but he didn't have Jackson's address. He tried to get some more work done without being affected but it wasn't helping. He was just like a duck paddling above water - calm on the surface but struggling underneath.
He decided to misuse his authority just once, because he could no longer stand the thought of leaving you alone in another guys house, furthermore one that was clearly able to take you away from him.
He dialed up the HR department and asked for Jackson's details to be sent to him, citing that you were away and needed to verify them. These confidential data was usually not revealed unless a superior made a specific request, but knowing that you and Mark were longstanding work partners, they closed an eye to formality for him.
Armed with the address, Mark made no haste to set off.
He was gonna have to come up with a good story to be there but he didn't care. All he knew was he had to intervene, and fast.
You were done with getting lunch and headed back, you opened the door with ease and strolled in as if it were your home. You see Jackson still in his room and the redness on his face subsiding a little.
As you took out your phone to check your mail, you saw a missed call from Mark. It came with a message asking if you needed a lift back as he was around the area.
Before you could reply you heard a noise from Jackson's room and quickly popped your head in, only to see him on the floor.
"Hey you alright?" You asked, wondering if he could see you.
"Oh hey you're back. Don't you need to go back to work?" He was trying to stand up while holding on to the bed side.
"Yeah I will, Mark is giving me a lift."
"Oh? Cool. Get going then!" He stood up and was trying to blink.
"I saw the flowers Jackson. Why'd you do that if you have an allergy?" You ask, standing not too far from him.
He smiled a little and tilted his head, "well but you liked it isn't it? I know its a little inappropriate to be giving you flowers so I mean, what else could I do?"
"I'm fine with being friends, Jackson. Don't worry." You wanted him to know that he shouldn't be taking his personal agendas into the office, but if they were on a personal level out of work, you knew he was a nice guy.
"Really?? I would really like that, we're close aren't we?" His facial swell was going down and he could smile now and open his eyes a little more, looking at you with whatever little bit of gap there was.
You laughed, and he smiled. "You're cute when you laugh like that."
"Are you hitting on me right now?" You straightened up and asked him.
"I won't dare to, with a face like that." He said and held his hands up in defence.
"Alright then, I've got us some lunch. Do you need me to help you?"
"If... Mark isn't here yet , of course." He said, and tried walking but went right into his cupboard door instead.
"Hey hey, okay I got you, come on here." You held him by his arm and walked him out. He was smiling on the inside but you couldn't see it
You realised he couldn't even scoop his food since he could hardly see where they were and you ended up having to feed him.
Every mouth he took, he was grinning and smiling to himself.
"Yah! You're enjoying this too much huh." You retracted the spoonful and caused him to bite on his lips.
"Ouch!" He frowned and held his lip in obvious pain.
"Oops... you okay?" You put down the spoon and hurriedly went nearer to examine it.
You didn't exactly realise that you were just inches from his face, neither did he but he knew you were very close, from the radiating warmth.
He held his breath, being clueless as to what you were really doing.
"Oh hey.. I think you bit your lip kinda hard. Its bleeding a little..." you said, after seeing a little ooze of red form on his plump lips. He pouted from it and you had to hold his hand away.
"Omg did you just touch my hand Mandy?" He was still trying to be a drama mama even in such situations.
"Hey stop talking you're smudging the blood!" You grabbed a tissue and gently dabbed on his wound. While holding his head still, with your other hand at the back if his head. You didn't feel anything romantic about it since you pretty much felt like you were taking care of an injured kid.
"Thanks, I feel so much better now." He said with a tissue stuffed in his lower lip.
"Alright I think you should rest. You can't eat anyway." You started putting away the food stuff and getting quite comfortable in his kitchen.
Just then your phone started ringing.
It was Mark.
You: Oh hey! Sorry I was gonna return your call.
Mark: Its okay, are you still in Jacksons place?
You: Yup, I just fed him his lunch.
- some silence -
You: I mean, he had his lunch.
Mark: what's up with him? Is the dude alright?
You: Yea he looks like a puffer fish cos he's got some pollen allergies and his eyes were all swollen so he couldn't even open them to see.
Mark: Do you need me to come by and help him?
You: Where are you now?
Mark: I'm eh.... at ....ah... the area nearby.. are you done yet? Give me the address I'll be there now.
Just then a bicycle rode pass the road and rang it's bell. You heard it outside the door and through the phone.
You: Wait a minute...
You walked with your phone to the door and held it open.
Greeting your sight was Mark, standing by the roadside, with his back faced to Jacksons house, while he hunched over the passengers side of his car door with phone in hand.
You walk right out barefoot to the pavement and down a few steps to the where he was. Tapping his shoulder, he turned around, his face frozen and jaw dropped. He flashed you a smile of being caught red handed.
"Mark! How did you know I was here?"
You were so pleasantly surprised and the coincidence was almost magical to you.
"Oh hey!!! You mean this is his house? Oh WOW" Mark tried to disguise his intention with a mock surprise a little too exaggeratedly unlike his usual self.
You squinted at him, analysing his expression.
"How's the dude?" He quickly asked.
"Ah why don't you come see for yourself." You turn to walk back to the house but felt a hand on your arm.
You turned around to see what was it he stopped you for.
"Babe." He said softly, almost in a hushed whisper.
"Uh?" You responded instinctively, caught by surprise at the familiar term of endearment that he used on you everytime he tended to say something heartfelt.
"You.... in his home.... like this..... its.... makin’ me... uncomfortable." Mark's face grew uneasily stiff as his eyes looked at everywhere else around you.
It was temporarily at the back of your mind that it was still officially work time and you were here somewhat on official business to check on a member in your team.
You put your other hand over his, and he turned his eyes to meet yours.
"Mark, you'll understand when you see him." holding his hand, you lead him through the door.
Mark entered, seeing Jackson's familiar back, sitting at the kitchen stool, with his chin resting on his hands.
As Jackson heard the footsteps, he turned to squint his eyes in your direction.
"Yo Jackson." Mark said in a cheerful voice.
"Oh, hey man. Welcome to my home but sorry I can't really see you." Jackson said plainly, allowing his swollen face to be seen clearly by Mark.
You walk over to him and looked to check if his lips were still bleeding, to Mark's surprise that you both had become so close so quickly.
"Alright, I think the bleeding has stopped. I'm gonna just put a couple of bottles of drinks at your bedside since I doubt you'll be able to see them later." you said, as you began grabbing them.
"I'll do it." Mark hurriedly went forward to take it from you "Which room is it?" he asked.
Jackson pointed to the far end, "the only one with a bed." At this, Mark made a mental note to never ever let you come back here again on your own.
When he was safely apart, Jackson whispered for you "hey, hey, come here for abit."
"I AM here, Jackson." you said, as you sat down beside him.
"Are you sure you guys aren't dating?" he asked, still whispering.
"Are you asking me this as someone working alongside with us? Or are you asking me as Mark's friend?" You replied but not bothered to keep your voice down.
He didn't quite know what to say because if he could he would have been outright to remind you that he did send you flowers. Just then, Mark returned, to see Jackson leaned over towards you a little too far for his liking. He acted like he didn't care but kept his eyes on Jackson for the whole time.
Jackson in his amazing intuition sensed it, and moved away slowly. "Alright Mandy you had better get back to work, as you can see, I will be down for awhile more and unable to read your texts."
"Which reminds me, you might need to give me your email password so I can actually get to those mails you missed." you picked up your stuff and got ready to go, seeing that Mark had already tucked his hands into the pockets of his pants, quite a clear indication that his job was done.
"Oh... its erm... 'M'..."
"Yeah, go on? I can remember it." you stood waiting for him to continue.
"You know what, I can't remember it now. You can get the IT guys to reset it" he said, and nodded at you.
"Seriously?" Mark interrupted with a slight laugh, picking up what the conversation might have missed but didn't want to make it too obvious.
"Well, okay then. Anyway here's your phone, and the medicine for your next dose." you held his hand, and placed it on the packet, sitting infront of him.
"I'll give you a call later so just pick it up if you can." The sight of Jackson not being able to call anyone was quite worrisome to you. It meant that you had to keep calling instead, to check if he was okay, and when he didn't pick up the call, it could mean anything from, he was trying to swipe at the right spot, to being unconscious altogether.
"We can drop by later after work." Mark said, reaching for the doorknob already.
You shot him a glare for rushing you so obviously, to which he shrugged and just smiled.
-
When you got in the car, you kept quiet, slightly annoyed that he was acting like a bit of a selfish brat because of an apparent jealousy. He kept silent as well, all the way back to the office.
"We're here." he said, and avoided looking at you.
"Mark, are you gonna keep acting like this? Cos if you are it's gonna make it hard to work together." You said, with disappointment in your voice.
He leaned back into his seat and unbuckled his seat belt.
"I know, and I'm sorry." he sighed, and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath.


"You're keeping everything in and it's getting too much for you, that's why you're behaving this way." Because of how well you both knew him, nothing could escape your eyes.
He knew as well that you were spot on but didn't move to say a word or open his eyes. Ironically, it was when he wasn't trying to tell you things, that you would pay more attention to him. You gave him a few moments, as you once again noticed that his side profile was really quite a masterpiece.
Unknowingly, you were tracing the bridge of his nose with your eyes, and to his lips. You stopped there, and bit your own lips, remembering that those were the same soft warm and comforting lips that met yours not too long ago. How you wished you could rewind times to that day when it all happened like a sweet dream.
Lost in your thoughts, you were staring blankly at his face, recollecting that it was a magical feeling that sent tingles down your spine. The way he hugged you closely and snuggled beside you or hovered over you trying to be cheeky for once. You honestly thought that it was the game changer to take things to a more serious level.
Mark had already snapped out of his thoughts by now and was looking at you, look at him.
"Babe." his voice brought you back to reality as your eyes met his.
"Can you please not go to Jackson's house on your own next time. Is this a little too much to ask? I just really don't trust him."
When you heard this, although not the first time today, you felt secretly delighted that he was fussing over you that way.
"Alright. I won't." you nodded to him and smiled. "Thanks for fussing."
"I'm NOT fussing, I'm just... annoyed that everyone seems to be taking you out of my sight." he frowned and said in all seriousness, even though the way he said it was quite childishly amusing.
"Excuse me?" you laughed.
"It's not funny, Mandy. I can't even see you when I want to nowadays and it's seriously not funny to be waiting outside your house at 6am."
You didn't really understand what he meant. "When were you outside my house at 6am?"
"That morning, and actually the next." he mumbled.
"Whatever for? You could just call?"
"Well you said that you needed some time to think about things and sort it out. But I couldn't wait, you know I don't have patience like that." he grumbled, now back to his original picky self.
"SO anyway have you sorted it out or not?" he impatiently asked, like the way Yugyeom would when you took forever to sort out his laundry from yours.
You laughed again, finding his innocence just too amusing. It wasn't something you didn't already know but each time this helpless and dependant side of him came out, you just found him too adorable.
In actual fact, you knew deep inside and way before, that you did like Mark. But due to the long periods of time you remained as friends, you chucked those romantic feelings away, locked up and suppressed for safety reasons. Not until you found out that he too felt the same way, that you began entertaining those thoughts, little by little.
That night you spent at his house for the second time, somewhat brought out those feelings almost completely, resulting in you getting so upset about the misunderstanding when he denied your relationship with him the next day.
You decided that you wanted to play along with him since he was already worked up.
"Wh-what do you want me to sort out?" you asked, and turned to face him with a curious expression.
His eyes widened at you in complete disbelief that you were unaware, "whatever you said you were sorting??? I don't know? You tell me."
"Well yeah I sorted it out - so like, I received 2 bouquets yesterday right, and I realised Jackson was the sender for one of them and -"
He cut you off abruptly "You don't even like flowers."
You bit down your lip in a bid not to laugh out loud to agree, "but hey they were sweet weren't they?"
"NO.”
“They aren't, don't bother trying to be girly." he hissed back at you, rolling his eyes. "I've never ever seen you gush about a plant."
"You're so judgy! Mark! Am I not a girl?" you whined and blinked your eyes at him, whom you deemed to be locked in an unimpressed mode.
"Hajima." he said while sighing out a breath.
You burst out laughing, seeing that he had reached his wit's end so quickly. He was really impatient and had trouble expressing himself to a degree that he would rather keep quiet than argue with you, letting you win most of the time.
"Oppa~ Mark Oppa~" you mimicked the way those screechy fangirls addressed him.
"Stop it........." he groaned, irritated again in his low manly voice. "You're avoiding my question."
He stared intently at you -- the kind of look that stopped you in your tracks every single time and made you go on a guilt trip if you did something wrong.
"What?" you asked.
"Don't skip around the topic." There was hardly gentleness or tenderness in his voice instead he was firmly in the no-nonsense sort of mood.
"Don't you think you should be a little sweeter if you're trying to ask someone, something bordering on romantic..?" You turned away to face front, breaking away from his line of sight and folded your arms. You had your answer ready for him but you just wanted to know how he was going to react if you held it a little longer than you should.
He didn't move or say anything, to your disappointment. He just sat still as a rock.
Gee, you should have known better. It wasn't like he was the most romantic charmer in the world, and you knew it anyway. He was more of the hesitant, cautious observer from afar, that only made his move when they were absolutely necessary.
To your further disappointment, he turned the engine off, garnering your attention with a frown.
You were getting worried now that he was getting annoyed about the situation, and wondered if you pushed it too far. Just when you unfolded your arms wanting to talk again, he opened his car door and stepped out quickly, shutting the door loudly without even looking back.
Your jaw dropped, feeling the panic rise in your chest, seeing him walk around the bonnet with his jaw clenched. Even through the window, you could see the clear chiselled jawline that he was biting down hard enough that it was obvious. In just a few strides he reached your door and you quickly opened it.
He swung it back at the same time, causing the door to open to its full.
Thankfully there wasn't a car beside in the lot. His impulsive strength made you feel small and almost timid all of a sudden, unsure what he was thinking or going to do next.
In a split second after the door swung open, you expected him to start lashing out at you for being so demanding.
Instead, he knelt down on one knee, right at the parking lot, as your jaw dropped dumbfounded and instantly self-conscious.
"What are you doing Mark! Get up!?" you reached forward to pull him up.
He caught your wrist with a firm grip, stopping you from any movement. Smoothly sliding down his grasp to hold your hand in his palm, he put his other hand on your knee to stop you from stepping out.
He took a deep breath with eyes closed.
"This is the second time I'm on my knees for you." he paused, and opened his eyes, softening his gaze and his voice.
"I know I'm no gentleman and you know I don't do flowers." he went on, giving you the most intense heart pounding experience with the gaze that sucked you right into his.
"But what I know is that I'm a selfish and ignorant man, I don't share and I don't care about anything else when it comes to matters about you."
You gulped. He was being serious about this again, and you felt your heart fluttering to hear it.
"You're mine, and I'm not going to ask you to consider it, period."
At that, he stood up calmly, leaning towards the hand resting on your lap for support to stand, and releasing the hand that was holding yours. But instead of standing upright, he moved his body into the car and slipped his hand behind the crook of your neck in a single move, to steady your head. Before you could blink, you felt a his warm breath closing the distance between you and him and his soft puffy lips touching yours.
You smiled under the kiss and he felt you move. Pulling apart after a second or two, he looked at you in case you had something to say.
"You know, you're such a brat." you said softly, too embarrassed to meet the look in his eyes. "How am I supposed to get along with you at work like this?"
"Is that what you haven't sorted out?" he leaned his forehead closely on yours, gently pushing your head to touch the backrest of the car seat.
Seeing that you weren't answering him again, he smiled and kissed you lightly. "Come."
He took your hand and pulled you out of the car, as you quickly tugged your bag and held it close to your side while he whipped the door shut again.
With your hand in his, he walked in large strides towards the lobby, almost too fast for you that you had to walk in small quick steps just to catch up.
Reaching the front desk out in the open, he continued pulling you along, as you nodded shyly to greet the girls at the reception who had their eyes on him zooming pass them while holding your hand. He continued all the way into the lift, pulling you with him as he squeezed into a crowded one deliberately, holding you by the waist as you barely made it through the closing doors. The intimate move drew looks from everyone else in the lift.
"Oh, sorry, 18th please." he said loud and clear to the lady by the panel of buttons.
It raised some brows as that was the level only director's went into.
You desperately wanted to bury your face away but your body was too hard pressed to his and there wasn't an inch of space you could turn to except to either stare straight at his collarbone, or look up and count his eyelashes.
He suddenly tightened his grip and pressed you even closer against him, as the door opened to let a few guys out. They slid out pass you and turned to look back at both of you, as if wanting to verify that Mark was displaying a little TOO much affection for a co-worker.
The lady at the door looked at you as you turned to face her with a helpless frown on your face. She smiled and mouthed “IT'S O-K". You frowned even harder not understanding what she was okay about.
Then you recognised her and realised she was the hot secretary that stories had been circulating of her being wanted by every director's office. Your eyes widened as you stammered 'No-nooo, No' and shook your head to stop her from misunderstanding that there was some hanky panky going on.
But the door opened again and Mark stepped out, taking you with him.
"Mark! Did you know who that was just now?" you whined while catching up to his long strides with quick steps again.
He was headed straight to your director's office, the one both of you reported to, and one of the 3 director's of the company. He briefly stopped at his secretary's desk.
"Please inform him Mark and Mandy need to speak with him now." he said, dispensing with whatever formality there should have been.
She looked down to see that he was holding your hand. While you awkwardly breathed and looked away while waiting. You nudged Mark to let go of his hand but he ignored you completely.
"Please enter, he's ---" before she could finish, he stepped pass to open the door. You mumbled your thanks as she looked on disapprovingly at his bad manners.
The director continued writing without looking up from his desk.
"Mr Park, sorry to barge in unannounced at this hour but I would like to request for a transfer." Mark said. You shot him shocked glare.
The director looked up in surprise, and his eyes briefly saw that Mark was holding your hand, clasped tightly.
"Is there a problem?" he asked, and put his pen down, swivelling his leather armchair to the side to get up.
"Yes there is." Mark replied.
You couldn't believe your ears and the audacity Mark had, accompanied by his impulsive move,
"Can it be solved by a transfer?" Mr Park raised his brows.
"Within my knowledge, yes." You couldn't figure out where Mark's confidence came from.
"Well, draw up your proposed path and I'll consider it." Mr Park turned back to go to his seat.
"Thank you sir." Mark bowed just a little and was going to leave.
"Ah, by the way Mark." Mr Park said, as he sat back down, and both of you turned to look at him. "Would a promotion be better?"
"I beg your pardon sir?" Mark asked again.
"I've received a few reports of the past month from your department. It seems to be a bad move to take either one of you out from where you are, given that there has been positive results since both of your skill sets are a perfect match to drive results up the charts. So I have been considering to promote both of you together, but well if a transfer is what you wish for then I guess I'll shelf that." Mr Park was a shrewd master at mind games and had a wicked sense of humour that few could understand.
You saw Mark's clueless face as usual and muttered under your breath, "he wants to promote us you fool...... just..... say....... yes........."
"Yy-yes.." Mark absent-mindedly responded to the surprise of the director as they met with raised brows.
"NO! No, he means NO to shelving that, and YES to the promotion." You animatedly blurted out and gestured with your hands to clarify it.
"So Mandy, I take that as your acceptance to the promotion on behalf of both of you?" Mr Park asked again, pleased with himself to have successfully manipulated his employees.
"Yeah~ yeah, with many thanks in fact!" You accepted it because that meant you both were moving out of your office and into the director's level, and both of you would have your own rooms. The thought of that was sheer accomplishment that you never dreamed would come this soon.
"Great!" Mr Park gave a fake applause. "Wait for the memo then. Now if you both would excuse me."
"Sure. Goodbye sir." You bowed and pushed Mark's head down with you and dragged him out of the room quickly.
As expected, his secretary completely ignored Mark with a look of distaste, while you thanked her and pushed Mark all the way out of the room and into the lobby where it was quiet.
"What were you thinking Mark??? A transfer??? For what???"
"So we can be together?"
You sighed and rolled your eyes to the moon and back. "Wake up, Mark! We worked so hard to get so far can you just............... get a hold of yourself? And not make stupid decisions?"
"It's not stupid." he said flatly, disagreeing with you. "I can work anywhere, but I can't just date anyone."
You blinked a few times, not understanding what it meant.
"Okay anyway, let's cut it out. He just said he was going to promote us so please snap out of your trance and get back to work now?" It was going to be a challenge to continue working alongside Mark if you both were dating but for what the promotion was worth, you were going to just give it a shot.
"No wait, so are you FINE, or NOT FINE with us working and dating?" he asked out rightly, stopping you from taking another step further.
"I'm FINE Mark FINE." This man's persistence and stubbornness was epic.
He wrapped his arms around you and picked you up, spinning around before putting you down with a million dollar smile plastered across his face, wanting to plant a kiss on your lips.
"HAJIMAAAA!!" you squealed while repeatedly hitting his shoulder.
Just then an lift opened and you broke free from his hold and ran in, jabbing the close button repeatedly, hoping there wasn't anyone around to see what just happened. Your cheeks heating up from the embarrassment and adrenaline that came from the moment.
Your phone vibrated and you received a message and a picture.

‘I’ll have to leave you to blush alone. Going for my meeting now but I’ll be waiting for you in the car after work!’ - Mark

You smiled to yourself again, glad that one thing was finally out of your mind.

Right below his message was one from Jinyoung, which you hadn’t replied to, and it read:

‘Hey sweetie, I’ve cut short my trip and I’m reaching the airport at 10pm tonight. See you!’

Now that things were clear with Mark, it was time to meet JR too.
You typed it into the reply, knowing you had to even though it was going to be a little saddening. ‘Sure Jinyoungie, I’ll be there :)’

Bracing yourself to get on with the rest of the day, you took a deep breath and walked out of the lift.

-To be continued!-

Notes