My Ace

Chapter 5 ♦️

After a few more days, his escapades with Jungwoo became more frequented, and after a few weeks it was practically every night. Although it was rarely more than comforting cuddles, Mark was starting to become content with the way things were going.

But Mark awoke this Monday by himself, contrasting to the warm older he slept with the night before. There was a note beside him that read, "I'm so sorry Mark. I had a family emergency and had to catch the first flight available. I'll be back in a few weeks, call me when you read this."

And Mark did, panicking, and luckily he didn't have to wait long for Jungwoo to pick up. "Is everything alright? Are you okay? Is your family okay?"

Jungwoo let out a small chuckle on his end. "I'm alright, Mark. My dad just got lonely, so I'm gonna be staying with him for a few weeks. I already got the good to go from Taeyong, so I'll see you in a bit, okay? Call me after you get off work today."

"Oh, Oka-" Jungwoo promptly hung up on Mark. Mark was left feeling a bit defeated and lifeless as he readied himself for work.

He was finishing up with his hair when there was a loud knock on his front door. "One minute," he yelled. He finished up and went to answer, the annoyance clear on his face.

It was Ten. He looked slightly distressed and he quickly shut the door behind him. "Hey, thanks. Also I wanted to apologize for that one time. We good? Great."

Ten quickly brought Mark to the couch, and sat down. "Now I'm sorry, but you need to kiss me. Taeyong's gonna be here any minute and if you want to keep Jungwoo out of trouble you need to move to phase two. Now. For phase two, I guess it's going to be me, and someone else. We'll figure that out later."

Ten quickly grab the stunned Mark's face at the sound of keys at his door, melting his face into the younger. Mark wanted to protest, but Ten was holding him tight, and the need to protect Jungwoo, although he wasn't sure how this helped, was set aflame.

"Ah, good morning Mark," Taeyong said. "Ten."

Taeyong held up a set of keys and let out a small laugh. "Master keys for the whole building. Sorry for coming on in un-announced, I just wanted to check on your progress since Jungwoo had to leave so abruptly. I see you're on phase two, so I'll let you both enjoy the next hour or so, but Jeno wants you at his desk at nine sharp," Taeyong said, directing towards Mark.

Mark just nodded, his eyes still a bit wide. Taeyong didn't wait for goodbyes and quickly left.

"Phase two?" Mark repeated. He was sure he had heard people say that every now and then throughout the office, only for someone else to correct them with a "No, still phase one."

Ten smiled. "Sorry. Sorry. Sorry. Okay, so Jungwoo was supposed to lead you into everything here. He was supposed to introduce everything, but he got too nervous and he had to take a break. He didn't want to lose you yet, but I have hope you'll come around so I'm gonna take you through phase two. You have to trust me though. Push Jungwoo to the background for now, and stick with me. These next few weeks are going to be rough, and Jungwoo won't be here to soften the blow for you."

"Okay but what are the pha-" Mark was cut off but Ten's panicked outward thinking.

"Taeyong thinks you're midway phase two by now, and he wants to speed up the time until phase three, which will be when Jungwoo gets back."

"OKAY BUT WHAT THE HELL ARE THESE PHASES?" Mark yelled, getting frustrated as he pulled at his hair.

Ten placed an awkward hand on his back. "The phases are how deep into the crazy shit that happens here. Phase one, you don't know shit. Jungwoo helps you, you fall in love with him, he introduces you to phase two. Phase two, you start to learn the stuff that happens here."