Insouciant | Mark Lee

38~Trouble Calling

The group of four sat down to eat. Many conversations were made. Even Mark was included in it. He felt like a normal young adult for the first time in a long time.

"Damn, I missed this." Aera said leaning back in the chair. "Totally!" Soa and Jihoon said in unison. "How long have you guys been friends?" Mark questioned the trio. "Me and Jihoon, we have been friends since elementary school. Me and him went to the same elementary school and Jihoon being Jihoon was the first one to approach me. His cheesy self tried giving me a rose in the fourth grade and asked me to be his girlfriend.  It kinda didn't go well. My flustered ass ended up punching him in the face. Since then he has been my bestfriend, to be more precise, my ride or die." Aera said and flashed a smile to Jihoon and gave a fist bump.

"And as for Soa, this lover boy went head over heels for her in highschool. He asked her out we started hanging more and now the three of us are inseparable," Aera continued. "That's cool. You guys have been around for a long time now." Mark said. "We have. Well Mark, do you have any friends?" Jihoon question him. He went silent for a while contemplating on what to reply. Aera saw this and jumped in to save him.

"Oh he does! He has a lot of them. I met them during the camp and trust me they are really cool and very sweet," Aera spoke on behalf of Mark. The latter mouthed a thankyou in return. Jihoon narrowed his eyes at Aera, "You usually don't compliment people, what's up?" he interrogated her. Aera rolled her eyes, "What? They are genuinely good people. I wouldn't have said that if they weren't," she said as Jihoon just shrugged, "If you say so."

"Let's roam around. I cannot sit in one place for a very long time," Soa suggested. The others nodded in agreement and walked around in pairs. Soa and Jihoon were walking ahead of Mark and Aera.

Mark sneakily slipped his hand in Aera's. He held it lightly just incase she refuses. As he saw she didn't complain about it, he held it a bit tighter. Both of them looked away from each other hiding their blush.

Mark's eyes were wandering around when he saw a familiar figure. He slightly tucked Aera's hand to catch her attention. Turning around she faced him, "What?" "Don't turn around quickly. On your 9'o clock," he replied still keeping an eye on the couple.

"What the hell, it's DK" Aera said as she recognized her rival. "He seems to be alone and he has been following us," Mark retorted. Both of them tensed as they weren't alone but Jihoon and Soa were present with them too. Their lives were practically at risk too.

"Hold onto them and let's get them out of here. Activate your in-ear," Mark instructed and continued, " You go beside Soa and I'll stay beside Jihoon. We'll take them to car and drive off to the mansion."

Aera nodded in return and started following the ace's instruction. Increasing their speed, both of them caught up to the couple and held them. They started dragging the couple out of the mall. Aera turned back and saw DK still sneakily on their trail. "I swear to god I am never returning to this mall again. These bitches won't even let me breathe," she mumbled.

Soa somehow managed to hear it, "What are you talking about? And why are we getting out again?" she question. "Soa, babe, just do what I say okay? Please?" Aera asked her. Soa just nodded in response. "You got some serious explaining to do," Jihoon said as he observed Aera turning back for the n'th number of time. He started getting skeptical about this whole situation.

The four reached the parking lot and speedily started walking towards their car. "Okay, I'm not entering the car unless you tell me what all this running is about," Jihoon threw a fit. Aera assuring him kept a hand on his shoulder and said, "Hoon-ah please get inside the car," she practically begged him to get inside the car.

Jihoon aggressively shrugged off Aera's hand which made her stumble backwards. Mark saw this and he couldn't contain his anger. He went near Jihoon and held him by his collar. "You were interrogating me, I didn't mind that but I won't tolerate you treating her like that. You either enter the car or get knocked the shit out of yourself by someone. The choice is yours." Mark growled at him. Silently without uttering a word, Jihoon entered the car followed by Soa.

Mark and Aera too sat on the front seats. "Okay, now wear your seatbelts and duck down," Aera instructed them as Mark drove off.

Aera immediately took out a gun from the front cabinet and one from under her seat. The duo's eyes widened in fear as their gaze landed on two metal objects their friend was she holding. "OMG AERA, WHAT THE FUCK. THOSE AREN'T TOY GUNS! PUT THEM DOWN. I'LL GIVE YOU ONE OF MY NERF GUNS JUST PUT THAT SHIT DOWN. HOLY SHIT WHY DO YOU EVEN HAVE ONE?!" Jihoon rambled on.

"Damn mama, you look hot with those babies in your hand!" Soa complimented Aera. "Thanks babe, I am always hot," Aera replied and winked at Soa. Mark chuckled lightly still keeping his gaze on the rear mirror. "Why am I surrounded with crazy women, I don't get it." Jihoon mumbled. "Stop whining babe, I'm sure Aera has an explanation for this." Soa said to him.

DK was still hot on their trail. Mark was focused on his driving. "Mark he's alone in the car. We can take him to the mansion," Aera informed. "We have these two with us, we cannot risk it," Mark retorted. "I'm calling hyung," Aera said as she took her phone out. "Which hyung?" he asked back. "Jaehyun hyung. Yong hyung would freakout if I basically call him telling that we have an enemy on our trail. Jae hyung is very chilled. I'll tell him and Johnny to meet us at a point. We can transfer Soa and Jihoon in that van and we can take down DK," she explained.

"Sounds like a plan to me. I'm in. Tell them to bring a van and handcuffs," Mark instructed.

Aera's finger lingered on Jaehyun's contact as she proceeded to call him. The ringing stopped as the phone got picked. "Hello?" she heard a response from the other side.

"Hyung, I need your help....."