Meant To Be | Mark Lee ✓

Chapter 4

Mina's POV

After standing outside the door for a few minutes, (my dad had already gone in), I finally walked into the place where most of my childhood was spent. The place where I hoped I would be dedicating my time as an adult to. My family restaurant. I stepped inside the warm building, immediately hit with the familiar aroma, a mix of kimchi, soybean paste, and many other ingredients. I felt like I was home.

I spotted my mother behind the counter, ringing out a customer. A smile instantly broke out onto my face as I noticed the short woman had not changed a bit since the last time I laid my eyes on her, nearly a year ago. The customer had finished his transaction and walked past me and out the door. My mother's gaze followed the man until she finally noticed me. Her eyes shined and she quickly came out from behind the counter.

I met her half way and engulfed her into a tight hug. "Annyeong, eomma." I said as I kissed the top of her head."

My mom pulled away from the hug and took my face in her hands, analyzing my face. "Omo! Look at how grown up you've become! My beautiful daughter." She exclaimed, pinching my cheeks as if I were still a child. I laughed and removed her hands from my face, grasping them in my own.

I observed the restaurant before mentioning, "Everything looks newer, has the restaurant been more successful?"

My mother, with a proud smile, answered, "Thankfully, yes. But our customers are mostly regulars. They even introduce this place to their friends. I suppose they appreciate our keeping things on the down-low." She winked at me.

I scrunched my eyebrows together. "What do you mean?" My mother merely shushed me before waving me off to go unpack and settle in, muttering that she'll tell me another time. I simply agreed and headed towards the stairs to walk up to my family's home which was located above the restaurant.

I lugged my suitcase up the stairs and opened the door. Before I could take two steps inside, two small bodies collided with mine, each clinging onto my tightly.

"Unnie!!" "Noona!!" They both exclaimed at once, and I met the smiling faces of my younger siblings, Hana and Jihyun. I hugged them both before releasing myself from their grasp.

"I missed you guys! Have you been good?" They both nodded. After asking Hana how middle school has been and seeing how Jihyun has liked elementary school, I excused myself to my room.

I walked into my old room to see that it's exactly how I left it. I reminisced about my younger years and the hard studying I did to be where I am today in place of having fun and doing the regular teenager things. I collapsed onto my bed, forgetting about unpacking entirely, and let sleep take over.

--

The next day was spent entirely with my family. They took the day off from the restaurant, leaving it in the hands of a trusted manager, and we gathered by the Han River and ate lunch boxes together. I smiled at the sight of my younger siblings playing frisbee together while my parents and I caught up. On the way back home, the car was silent except for the radio playing quietly. A new song had begun, and the strong bass caught my attention.

"Appa, can you please turn the radio up?" I asked. He complied and I listened intently. The song sounded really good so far, I loved the beat and the transition from bridge to melody. I spent a lot of time with Hoseok as a kid, so I learned to appreciate music. Once a rap started, I was broken out of my trance because for some reason the voice sounded familiar.

"Fly to you die to you...I can make it make it work for you..."

Why did this sound so familiar? I was certain I'd never heard this song before. (A/N just to clarify, the whole time Mark and Mina were together they spoke in English, now it's all gonna be Korean unless otherwise stated) I looked at the stereo to read who the artist was. NCT U? I've never heard their stuff. Who were they? I asked my mom but surprisingly, Hana answered excitedly.

"They're a subunit of NCT from SM Entertainment! Unnie, how have you not heard of them? They've been debuted for like 2 years!" Hana was shaking my arm as she informed me, rather loudly. "I love them so much, NCT is one of my favorite groups!"

"Huh, I'll have to check out their stuff later." With that the conversation ended, but for some reason something in the back of my head kept nagging at me. Who was that?

--

I woke up early the next day so I had time to get ready. I pulled my hair into a ponytail, applied minimal makeup (just some mascara and a lip tint), and dressed myself in black skinny jeans, a black top, and comfy sneakers. Today, I'd be running the restaurant with my dad.

I worked diligently in the kitchen, putting my all into cooking. I made countless bulgogis, teokbokkis, gimbaps, and jajangmyeons. I worked with a smile on my face as I truly enjoyed being in the kitchen and cooking to my heart's content. Time flew by, and eventually the waves of people slowed. I glanced at the clock and noticed the time. 11 p.m. I moved towards my father who was sitting down, catching his breath with droopy eyes. I patted his back. "Appa, why aren't we closing? Do you want me to finish up and you can head to bed?"

He shook his head. "No, we always stay open late on Fridays, it's usually when our regulars come in." I scrutinized his tired face and thought to myself, these must be some special regulars if we extended our hours especially for them.

I said with finality in my voice, "Go home, I'll take care of the restaurant until it's time to close. You look like you'll pass out any minute." My dad hesitates before giving in with a tired nod and smile, kissing my head before heading out.

I stood behind the counter and stared at the clock. My chin rested on my palm, and I nearly dozed off a few times while waiting. I had already done most of the closing preparations, now I was just waiting for the clock to strike midnight.

At around quarter to 12, I was broken out of my woolgathering by the sound of a bell clinging, signalling the entrance of a customer. 3 guys walked in, all with masks and hats on, laughing and pushing each other. As they entered they removed their hats and coats, placing them on seats while moving their masks to below their chins. They all walked to the counter where I greeted them with a careful smile.

Holy shit.

They were all gorgeous. God obviously spent a little extra time on these ones because hot damn. They scanned me up and down before the one with greyish hair spoke. "Hi! Are you new here, I've never seen you before?"

It took me a second to answer as I was still awestruck by the perfection in front of me. Quickly, I answered, "Kind of. My parents own this place, I've been studying abroad." The guys all looked at me with interest, and to avoid more awkwardness I took their orders. Once they ordered I asked for a name for the order, and the guy gave me a surprised look before saying, "Yuta is fine".

One of them, a tall guy with brown hair, was on the phone, and I caught him saying, "Yah! Hurry up before we eat without you." As soon as he said this, the door bell clanged again and I heard an all too familiar voice saying, "Hyung, I'm literally here already. Chill out." The boy hung up his phone and walked in, looking down at his phone.

"Mark?!" I exclaimed, and upon hearing me the boy's head shot up. His face wore an expression of shock equal to mine.

"Mina?!"

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Dang, this was a longer chapter. Please let me know what you guys think so far! I appreciate you guys reading! If you're enjoying the story so far, please vote or share with your friends, it'd mean so much to me :)