Fiance For Hire - Mark Tuan vs. Jackson

22

Su doesn't know where to put herself in this very awkward situation. 

"F...Fiance?" Mark asks. He looks at Su, obviously confused. "I thought..."

"I thought so, too." Jackson answers. "But, my mom found out about it. Ugh...." He rolls his eyes as if annoyed, "long story, brotha man."

Su's looking down at her feet, embarrassed and ashamed even to look at Mark. 

"Hey. We're going out to grab dinner. Wanna join us? I'll tell you all about it." Jackson innocently asks. 

"Uh..." Mark's still unsure of what he has to feel at this moment. There's a mixture of sadness and hurt and a bit of betrayal. He glances at the girl once again then back at Jackson. "Maybe next time, Jackson. I need to go see my mom." He reasons. 

"But, you're mom's off duty today." Jackson knows because Su told him. 

"Yeah?" Mark pretends to have confused the days, "Oh. Uhm...I'll just go check on Jer then. Maybe I'll catch up on you later." Before Jackson can say another word, he gets in the doors and runs towards the closing elevator. 

"What's up with him?" Jackson asks, completely oblivious of the awkwardness earlier. "Let's just go. Kimi's made a reservation for us."

Biting her lip and feeling really bad, Su follows him in the car, saying nothing. 

"Who are you texting?" Jackson asks, trying to open a conversation since there's an uncomfortable silence in the car. 

"Just drive." Su waves him away, looking down at her phone. She's got a message typed already but she's still arguing whether to press send. She wants to explain the situation to Mark. But, she's thinking what if Mark doesn't want to hear any of it. It's her problem anyway. Telling him would be like asking him for help or something. 

But, Su saw Mark's expression earlier and she doesn't know what it meant. He looked hurt. "Did he feel betrayed? As my only real close friend, he should know, right?" 

'Sorry for not telling you. Just had lots happening lately. Forgive me? Will explain everything when I get the chance. Nice to see you though.' 

Mark doesn't know what to make of the message. His heart beat starts running a race again at the thought that she's still concerned about him and that she cares about what he feels. He can say that she really feels bad about it. So as not to make her feel even worse, he decides to reply. 

'Forgiven. But, you ok?' - Mark.

"Your sister's really something, huh?" He tells Jer, fixing the blanket on top of him. "How can she make me have these different emotions in just a few seconds?" 

'I'm alive, if that's what you mean by 'ok'. With Jer now?' - Su.

"Hey. Su, wanna go watch a movie after dinner?" Jackson is trying to get her attention as she's bent on her phone, not seeming to mind the boy. He's thinking of ways to make it up to her somehow. At least let her have a bit of fun while she's with him. He knows how regretful she is. He can't help but feel guilty all the time. 

For the past days since they got back from Hong Kong, he hasn't left her side. He's just afraid that she'd feel lonely or tired or even get sick with all the things his mom lets her do. She sleeps really late, studying books and files. And wakes up very early to discuss her schedule with Kimi. 

She would also need to prepare for an exam. She decided to enter college and a tutor would be coming in from next week to help her. She chose to try out a school that offers pre-med courses. She's grabbing this opportunity to follow her dream to be a doctor. Her volunteer work in the hospital would help her a lot. But, since she hasn't been in school for years, she has a lot of catching up to do. School would be starting in a little more than a month and it's not enough to get ready, so she needs to study even harder.