Fiance For Hire - Mark Tuan vs. Jackson

9

Mark is by Jerry's bed at the hospital, talking to him about Su and their day together, when he realizes he's getting bored. It's already eight in the evening. The party his friends organized has already started an hour ago and he's still thinking if he's gonna go or not. 

He's actually never missed any of his friend's party before, but tonight, he just didn't feel like it. Something...or should I say, Someone has been running back and forth in his mind. 

"She said she can't," he voices out his frustration at the boy on the bed. "What kind of work does she do anyway? It was just a date. It's not like were going steady or anything...Well, of course that's what I wanted anyway, but that's besides the point."

He sighs, frustrated at himself. His phone rings and he sees one of his friends calling him. 

"Yup!" He answers, taking the phone away from his ear almost immediately because of the loud music coming from the other line. 

"Where are you, Dude? You're missing a lot already."

"Hey, Junior."

"So? Are you coming or not? Jackson told me to call you. He's been bragging about his fiance all night and he really wants you to meet her."

He almost forgot about that. Jackson texted him many times earlier to tell him he should be there to meet the girl. 

"You should've seen Sam's face, man. It was epic. Get your ass down here now." 

"Ok. Ok." Mark gets up from his chair, chuckling at how persistent Junior is. "You already sound like Jackson, man. I'll be there in an hour."

He puts his phone back in his pocket and goes back to Jerry's side. "Well, kiddo. I'll see you again soon. For now, this guy," he points at himself, "is going to get drunk." 

He goes home to get changed before driving to the party. He gets there more than an hour later, determined to just drink his thoughts away. Although he knows he would still be thinking about her in the morning, at least for tonight the dancing and the ladies would keep her out of his mind. 

He immediately spots Jackson in the middle of the crowd, with two girls in each arm, which, he's sure, are not his fiance. He tries to scan through the crowd for somebody or something to catch his attention - but it's all the same people. 

Mark sees the couple, Marj and JB, at the bar and decides to join them first before hunting for a distraction. He waves his hand but suddenly pulls it back down after seeing their expression. He furrows his brows and follows Marj's eyes. It lands on a girl at the bar, sitting all alone, looking a bit tipsy. 

His jaw drops to the floor when the girl turns her head and sees the same expression on her face. 

"Mark!" The sound of his name coming from the girl, although it's the same girl, sounds foreign. She, also, looks a lot different. 

Mark is glued to the floor as she looks at her. Her hair tied up in a bun with locks dangling on the sides. She has a pretty pink dress on and her face....her face looks like she just came out of a magazine ad for cosmetics. It's just flawless. 

The girl also can't move. Aside from his name, she couldn't find the courage to say another word. What is he doing here? Oh right, how can I forget? He's Marj's friend. Of course he's gonna be here. Stupid!

Her face turns pale despite the blush on and she feels her stomach churning. She can't ignore how handsome and really cool he looks tonight. 

Even Marj and JB just looks from one person to the other, still nervous of what Mark would say.