Limitless || Mark Lee

Chapter 9

Mirae helped Johnny and Jaehyun pick out some new outfits, enjoying her time as the fashion evaluator.

"What do you think about this one, Mirae?"

"I like it! But drop the hat, it makes you look like a dork." From the next stall over, Jaehyun let out a deep laugh as Johnny playfully scoffed before returning to his dressing room.

"How about this? Hot right?" Jaehyun pulled open the curtain and strutted out in another outfit.

"Ehhhh..." she giggled as Jaehyun stared at her in shock. "I'm just kidding, you look great. I'd buy it if I were you."

"You know what they say, all it takes is a good looking guy and even an ugly outfit can look great."

"Well it's a good thing the outfit is great already." She joked playfully.

"Wow. I am offended."

She just rolled her eyes and shoved him back into the dressing room. Both Johnny and Jaehyun came out at the same time, wearing their normal attire and carrying a heap of clothes in their arms.

"We're gonna go pay for these, see if Mark needs any help, will you?"

She let out a deep sigh as they walked away from her and begrudgingly began looking for Mark. Scanning the store, she finally recognized the boy among the clothing racks and walked over to him. She noticed that he was struggling to decide between a few items, and decided to approach him.

"Want some help with that?"

He immediately stopped what he was doing, tensing up as he turned his cold glare on her.

"I'm good."

"Are you sure? The other guys are busy and I'm all done with-"

"I said I'm good."

She let out an annoyed huff as he cut her off, turning back to look at the clothes. She was silent for a moment but eventually her frustration got the better of her.

"Mark, why do you hate me?"

He stopped once again, staring at her a moment before shrugging.

"I don't hate you. I don't particularly like you, but I don't hate you."

"You don't even know me."

"Exactly. And I think it's best to keep it that way."

She recoiled at his words, mildly offended but even more confused.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"Look. All the other guys have been nice, and they obviously like you a lot, but what we do is dangerous. I'm dangerous. And I don't want to be the reason you get hurt, for your sake and theirs."

"I'm stronger than you'd think."

"Maybe so. But I'm also tired of being hurt."

"I would never hurt-"

"Don't." He raised a hand before she could finish her sentence. "I've heard the words too many times to believe them anymore. Emotions aren't really something I experience after being in the mafia for this long."

"You certainly seemed to have strong feeling about me when we met." She mumbled back, thinking to the way he glared at her in Doyoung's office.

"Correction: positive emotions. And it's nothing personal, I just don't take well to strangers, I've learned my lesson about trusting people."

He turned back to the clothes, selecting a few shirts before straightening back up. When he looked at her again, she had a smile on her face, mischief flickering in her eyes.