Summary: In which the building owner blackmails you into going on a date with his nephew… who turns out to be really cute???
A/N: I feel like this title sounds kinda angsty, but I promise that this story is 100% fluff. I had a really good nap the other day, and from this nap, this lil scenario arose so.. yeah, hope you enjoy! :D Feel free to request!
Omg this scenario took so much longer to write than I expected, and it ended up so much longer than I thought it would oh ma lawwwwd. Well, I love Mark Lee, and hope you like this :)
“And here… is the kitchen! What do you think?”
You beamed at your brother, finding it cute how excited he was about the apartment. “It’s great bro, I’m so happy for you.”
He laughed and said, “Well, don’t be too happy yet. We still have to actually sign all the paperwork. There’s another person apparently coming down to look at it later, so fingers crossed they hate it!”
You couldn’t help but chuckle at his statement, and just as you were preparing a sarcastic comment to respond with, there was a knock at the door. You looked towards your brother, questioningly, to which he responded, “That’s probably the building owner.”
Your brother went to answer the front door, and you followed behind, low-key smoothing your shirt down, wanting to make a good first impression that could hopefully help your brother get the place. He greeted the owner, whose name seemed to be Minjoon, before introducing the two of you. You made sure to be extra nice, remembering all your manners and laughing at all the terrible jokes he made.
One thing you found out about Minjoon was that he really, really liked to talk. Each time you tried to push the conversation towards the direction of the contracts, Minjoon remembered another story that he just had to tell. You were getting used to his constant talking about himself, so needless to say, you were a little surprised when he asked you what grade you were in. “I’m a senior in high school,” you replied. He nodded thoughtfully, then sat up straighter, a much more serious look on his face.
“Here’s the thing, I like you guys. I really want to be able to give this apartment to you. However, I already told this person that he could take a look at this house. Since he is willing to pay me more for it, if he says yes to this place, he takes priority.”
Your brother chewed at his bottom lip, concern clearly painted over his features. You knew how much he wanted to finally move out of your parents’ basement, and he was really hopeful about this apartment. You let out a nervous breath as Minjoon continued:
“However, I think there’s a way that we can make that all.. go away.”
“I mean, I have a nephew who is around Y/N’s age––sweet kid, a big looker––and I would like for her to go on a date with him. I’ve been bugging him about getting more involved with the ladies, but he keeps avoiding the topic. If not a date, he’s got to at least have some female friends.”
You couldn’t help but gape at the suggestion, disbelief flooding your body. Before you could respond, your brother stated “I’m sorry, but I really don’t believe my sister would feel comfortable with that situation.” You smiled at him gratefully, looking back at Minjoon to see what he would say.
“It seems I did not make myself clear. If Y/N does not go on a date with my nephew, you have no chance of getting this apartment.”
Your brother’s head whipped towards you, shocked at your sudden outburst. You gave him a reassuring smile, and whispered, “Don’t worry, it’s just one date.”
Needless to say, Minjoon was very happy. He gave you all of his nephew’s contact information, and told you when and where to meet him. Before you left, he reminded you that your brother’s apartment was still in his hands, and that if you did not show up to the date, your brother could say goodbye to any chance of getting an apartment any time soon.
As you left the complex, you turned towards your brother, who had been thanking you ever since you walked out the apartment door.
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You stood outside the small cafe, nervously fidgeting with your hands. You felt terrible for judging before you met the guy, but the fact that his uncle had to blackmail you into going out with him had you a little worried. You took a deep breath before finally walking in, looking around the busy cafe for any sign of someone who was waiting for you. It took a while before you realized that he didn’t know what you looked like either, so you took out your phone and shot him a text.
You: Hello?
???: Hi…
You: Um… I’m Y/N, the girl who you’re uncle wanted you to meet…
???: Oh, I’m really sorry about that. Are you here?
You: Yeah, I’m at the front of the cafe.
Your eyes roamed around the room thoroughly, wondering which one of these customers would be the one you were meeting today. You chewed at your lip, your nerves taking over as you thought about what, or who, rather, was in store for you.
Your head flew to the side, the sick feeling of anticipation growing in your stomach. You had no idea what to expect, and that was kind of scary for you. However, when your eyes landed on the blonde-haired boy in the glasses and the pink hoodie who was waving at you, you were more surprised than anything else.
He was cute. Scratch that, he was really cute. You walked over to him slowly, almost doubting that this was the person you were supposed to meet. He stood up as you got closer, giving you a bow that you returned. He motioned for you to sit across from him, and a moment of awkward silence passed between the two of you. Not being able to take it anymore, he tried to start a conversation.
“Um.. I’m going to be honest, I didn’t think you were going to show up today.”
You smiled, “Well, I’m a pretty good sister, so I’m trying to do whatever I can to get my brother into that apartment.”
He winced a bit at your statement, then moved his hand to rub the back of his neck sheepishly, “yeah, I’m really sorry about that. My uncle can be really crazy sometimes. This is not the first time he’s blackmailed someone into going on a date with me. I keep telling him to stop, but he won’t listen to me…”
You laughed, thankful that the awkward atmosphere was gone.
“By the way, I didn’t catch your name.”
“Oops, my bad. My name’s Mark… Mark Lee.”
“Well Mark, if you don’t mind me asking… why does your uncle feel the need to get dates for you? You definitely could get them yourself if you tried.”
Your hand flew to your mouth as your face flushed, shocked that you had let the compliment slip from your lips. His face too turned a rosy pink as he looked down at his clasped hands in embarrassment.
“Thank you for that, but it’s not because I can’t get dates… it’s because I don’t want to.”
Your eyebrow quirked up teasingly at his statement, questioning how he phrased his sentence. He responded by widening his eyes and shaking his head and hands rapidly before justifying himself:
“No! That’s not what I meant! I just meant that I’m not interested in dating any of the girls from my school!”
You couldn’t contain your laughter anymore as you watched the flustered boy struggle to find the right words. He was a little surprised at your sudden outburst, but soon realized that you were simply messing with him.
When you finally calmed down, you faced him again, genuine curiousity on your face:
“Why aren’t you interested in dating girls from your school?”
“Well, the girls from my school are all really rich and preppy… They always act like they’re entitled to everything, and that’s something that I just can’t stand.”
You nodded your head in understanding before asking another question: “I get that there are some people like that…all the girls though?”
He nodded, “In freshman year, there were still people who were nice and humble, but as we got older, more and more people started to become assholes.”
You broke out in a smile at his choice of words, and you could’ve sworn you saw a tinge of red on his cheeks. After a short moment, he cleared his throat and spoke again: “So do you want something to drink? My treat since my uncle basically forced you to come here.”
“Iced tea is fine, thanks, but I’m paying next time.”
He furrowed his brows, confusion written on his face, “Next time?”
You smiled at his CUTE reaction, “Yes, next time. You’re pretty okay Mark Lee, I think we’d be good friends.“
This time, you could clearly see the red on his cheeks. After a quick, “I’d like that,” he ran off to pay for the drinks, leaving you with an amused smile on your face.
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“Yo, yo, yo, Mark Lee!” you yelled out playfully as he walked over to your table. He rolled his eyes at your loud greeting before sitting down across from you.
After your—surprisingly successful—date with him a few months back, the two of you became inseparable. His uncle was happy, which meant your brother was happy, which meant you were happy, and luckily, you had gained a new friend along the way. Mark Lee was literally the best friend you ever had: he was sweet, caring, funny, a little crazy, and most of all, he knew exactly what to do whenever you were stressed or sad or angry about something. So, it wasn’t too much of a surprise when you found yourself growing fond of the boy, developing more than just platonic feelings for him and his goofy smile. You felt your heartbeat quicken whenever he slung his arm around your shoulder and your breath caught in your throat whenever he laughed. It was really stressing you out, and Mark, being Mark, could totally tell.
You shook your head and blinked before finally responding, “Huh?”
Mark chuckled before pressing a finger against your head and giving it a light push.
“You zoned out dumbass. You’ve been really out of it lately…are you sure you’re okay?”
You nodded unconvincingly. The problem with Mark being your best friend was that you had no one else to go to to talk about your problems. That meant you had to keep everything bottled up inside, which you weren’t very good at dealing with, and that made you even more stressed out, and well… it just wasn’t great for you. So you decided to try to relieve some of your stress by striking up “theoretical” situations with Mark in hopes that his obliviousness—Thank God for that—would keep him from figuring out you were actually talking about you.
“Actually… well I’ve got a classmate in my homeroom and she’s been talking to me about a problem she’s been having…” you began.
Mark nodded, encouraging you to continue.
“It’s this classmate she has… they’ve been getting to be super close friends, and she’s starting to develop some more-than-friends feelings, if you know what I mean… And well, she’s so stressed out about it that it’s got me stressed out. What do you think I should tell her?”
You bit your lip, awaiting his answer. He hummed thoughtfully before responding: “Well, what’s keeping her from telling him?”
“She doesn’t want to ruin their friendship. They’ve got a good thing going right now.”
“Ah, I see. Well, that’s totally understandable, but if she really likes him, shouldn’t see tell him? He might like her too!” Mark beamed.
His bright optimism was so infectious that you found yourself smiling too. Unfortunately, if also caused you to realize that if your confession caused you to lose him, you wouldn’t be able to live. You needed Mark in your life, so you selfishly kept your feelings to yourself.
“Thanks Mark, I’ll tell her…”
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“I’ll get it!” you screamed when the doorbell rang. You rushed downstairs, expecting the package you ordered a week ago, but instead, you found Mark Lee. Unable to contain your disappointment, you let a small pout form on you face as you moved aside to let him in.
“Yeah, and you don’t seem too happy about it.”
You shook your head before smiling brightly at him, “Sorry, I was just expecting my package to come today. But instead I got you,” you teased.
Mark stuck his tongue out at you before replying, “You love me.”
You laughed bitterly at his statement, him not knowing just how true it was. Just as the two of you were about to make your way upstairs, your parents came in the room.
“Mark!” They exclaimed excitedly. Ever since the two of you became friends, your parents have loved Mark. They thought he was incredibly kind and sweet, and they were right about that. They actually often told you how perfect of a boyfriend he would be, and would drop hints whenever he was around to embarrass you. It was terrible.
“Well, you just keep getting more and more handsome every time I see you, doesn’t he Y/N?” your mother questioned.
“Mom~” you whined, your cheeks flushing a light pink.
“Okay, okay, well you kids have fun alright? We’ll be gone until tomorrow afternoon, so make sure you guys eat your meals and stay safe!”
You gave both of your parents quick hugs and kisses goodbye before dragging Mark up the stairs to your room. You jumped on the bed as soon as you entered, and Mark followed in suit after placing his bag in the corner of the room.
“So, what movie do you want to watch today?” you asked, having no clue yourself. After comfortably adjusting himself against the headboard, Mark simply shrugged, to which you responded with a light snort.
“I guess we’re scrolling through Netflix.”
After a good 20 minutes of browsing and being totally indecisive, you guys settled on watching “The BFG,” bringing both of you back to your childhood. Watching movies with Mark was basically just an excuse for the two of you to cuddle. He laid propped up against the pillows on your bed, and you snuggled close to him, head on his chest and his arm around your shoulders. It was a position perfectly comfortable for the both of you, but recently, it’s been difficult for you to just focus on the movies you watched. You could hear his heart beating steadily against his chest, and his slow, systematic breathing. You could feel his warmth against your cheek and smell the scent of his cologne off his shirt. You were completely encapsulated with thoughts of him that you didn’t even notice when your eyelids started fluttering close.
You woke up tangled up with Mark, closer than either of you had even been before. The two of you had fallen asleep together, something that you’d never done before, and during the night, you apparently did some serious cuddling. Your face was pressed in his neck, your lips just centimeters away from his collarbone. His chin rested on top of your head and his arms circled your waist, one hand resting on the small of your back and the other on your hip. Your own arms were wound around his waist, your hands coming into contact with his bare back, where his shirt had ridden up. Your bare legs were tangled between his, and you swore your body was on fire. When you finally had the courage to move, you looked up at his face only to find him dangerously close––and awake. He smiled smugly at you before whispering in his hoarse morning voice, “Morning, beautiful.”
You immediately felt your face heat up, and you quickly untangled yourself from him.
“I’m going to wash up,” you stated quickly, before walking to the bathroom and splashing cold water on your face.
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Tears streamed down your cheek as you watched the last of the sun disappear along the horizon. Earlier that day, you had found out that your parents had gotten into a car crash, and your dad was still unconscious in the hospital. Your mom was recovering, so the doctors said that you couldn’t visit her until tomorrow. How could everything have gone so wrong so quickly?
Lost in your own thoughts, you didn’t notice a figure taking a seat beside you. He scooted closer to you until your shoulders were touching, and only then did you look up. Well, you could’ve guessed who it was: Mark Lee. As soon as your eyes met his, you broke down, grabbing fistfuls of his shirt and sobbing into his shoulder. He met you with open arms and placed gentle, reassuring kisses to the top of your head.
You don’t know how long you cried, but when you started getting dehydrated, Mark took you bye the hand and pulled you toward your house.
He gave you water and made you food, and he didn’t get upset or frustrated when you told him you weren’t hungry. He brought you upstairs and let you lay your head on his chest again, and you stayed their until you fell asleep, with him gently stroking your hair and humming sweet songs to you.
That was the day that you realized you really could not accept just being friends with Mark anymore.
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A few days after Mark comforted you, your father woke up, leaving you happy and relieved. You spent all your free time visiting your parents, tending to their every need and making sure they were comfortable. That meant that for the past few days, you didn’t really get to see Mark, and you were starting to miss him a lot. You had already decided that you were going to confess to him, but you just didn’t know when.
When you mother and father were finally discharged from the hospital, you decided that it was time for you to face your fears and talk to Mark about your feelings.
You: Hey Mork Leeeeeee~~
Mork: Hey! Look whose alive :P
You: Haha, very funny
Mork: But seriously, how are your parents doing?
You: Much better, thanks, they’re finally home, and the doctors cleared them for daily activity, so that’s a relief.
Mork: Yes it is.. listen, if it’s okay with you, can we hang out today?
You: Oh, did Markie-poo miss me?
Mark: Yes I did, you dork. Now, meet you at the café in half an hour?
You: See you there.
You took a deep breath.
I guess this is it…
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As you waited in front of the café, you remembered the first time that you stood there. You were even more nervous now than you were then. How in the hell were you going to do this? While you were in the midst of convincing yourself to turn around, run away, and never look back again, your phone rang, waking you up from your thoughts. It was Mark, and he was no doubt wondering where you were. Instead of picking up, you simply walked into the café and made your way to the table where the two of you always sat.
“Sorry I’m late, I was…daydreaming.”
“Yes, daydreaming.”
“About what?”
You took a deep breath. It was now or never.”
“Uh… it was kinda about you.”
He nearly choked on his drink, looking at you with a shocked expression. His doe eyes had doubled in size, and you couldn’t help but think he looked incredibly cute like that. “M-Me?”
“You see, remember when I told you about that classmate of mine? Well–”
“You were talking about yourself, and your actually head over heels completely in love with me?”
It was now your turn to be surprised, “Wait Wha-How did you know?”
He chuckled before bringing his face close to yours.
“You’re pretty obvious, you know. I may be oblivious, but not even I’m that oblivious.”
You blushed hard before shyly asking, “Then why didn’t you say anything?”
Mark only grinned: “I wanted to make sure you were comfortable with it first before confessing. You obviously were still dealing with some problems, and I was willing to wait until you were ready for the next step.”
“Wow, what a sweetheart,” you teased, secretly thankful for his thoughtfulness.
“You know it. Well, now that we’ve both established that we like each other, I would like to officially ask you out on a date.”
You beamed brightly at him, “I’d love to.”
“Well, now that that’s out of the way, it’s time for me to do something I’ve been waiting a very long time to do.”
He suddenly reached across the table, pulling your face closer to his own. You saw a devilish twinkle in his eyes before he pressed his lips on to yours, molding them together gently before separating. A stupid grin appeared on your face as you made the incredibly intelligent comment: “That was nice.”
He laughed wholeheartedly at you then placed a soft kiss on your cheek.
“There’s plenty more where that came from.”
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