Meant To Be | Mark Lee ✓

FINAL

Several Months Later

Mina's POV

As soon as I finished up my final semester in Canada, I had hopped onto the first plane back to Korea. I wanted to spend my summer break in my home country with the people I love before I had to return back for consecutive years of slaving away at school. No one except my parents and Taeyong knew I was coming back today since I wanted to surprise everyone. Mostly Mark, whom I hadn't seen since I left and missed dearly. I also figured this would be as good a time as any seeing as his birthday was three days ago and the only celebration we could fit in was a brief Facetime call.

This lead me to where I was now: waiting backstage at one of NCT's concerts with the hyungs of NCT as NCT Dream performed on stage. Taeyong had provided me with tickets and had snuck me in unbeknownst to Mark who'd been too preoccupied with trying to move from one stage to the next. The poor guy couldn't catch a break being in all three sub-units, but my heart swelled with pride seeing him perform with an equal amount of energy and effort as the stage before.

Only the members of NCT, BTS, my family, and a select few staff knew of my relationship with Mark. Since NCT were still fairly new to kpop, only being 2 years since their debut, we didn't want to jeopardize their futures with a scandal or by upsetting fans with the news of a relationship. That being said, my relationship with Mark has been steady and strong as ever thus far.

NCT Dream's stage finally ended and I anxiously sat up from the sofa. They would be entering the collective dressing room any moment now. I decided to hide rather than just awkwardly stand in the room for Mark's arrival, so I pressed myself against the wall next to the door. Not a minute later the door swung open and in came a sweaty but ecstatic Jisung, followed by the rest of NCT Dream. I winced since the door had smacked me upon opening, glaring at Taeyong and Winwin who were chuckling heartily as they'd seen it happen. Jisung gave them a puzzled look before they pointed, with red faces, to where I was, now rubbing my nose, and Jisung covered his mouth in shock. "Sorry Noona!" he mouthed and I put up a hand in acceptance.

I examined the backs of each member that entered the room in search of my boyfriend. Finally, after the rest of NCT Dream had entered, he walked in. I recognized his backside almost instantly and a wide smile overtook my features at the thought of reuniting in a couple seconds. When he had fully entered the room, I slowly shut the door and crept forward, wrapping my arms around the boy who stole my heart.

Mark froze at first at the sudden contact but then immediately melted into my touch. He grabbed my hands from around him before turning around to meet my gaze, a grin as wide as mine on his face. "Babe!" He exclaimed. Mark picked me up and spun me around as I laughed uncontrollably, never breaking eye contact with him. He brought me back down onto my feet, taking my face in my hands before capturing my lips in an electrifying kiss. We ignored the groans from the 17 other individuals in the room, too entranced by each other to worry about PDA. I could feel the sparks as we kissed, sensing the longing and passion behind his movements that reflected mine. Eventually Mark pulled away only to lean his forehead against mine.

"You're here." He whispered.

I nodded before giggling. "And you're sweaty." Mark took that as a signal to trap me in his strong arms, pulling me tight against his chest, his shirt damp and sticking to him. I squealed and weakly pounded his chest to let me go, but he was unrelenting.

"I missed you." Mark murmured into my hair before resting his chin on my head.

I wrapped my arms around his torso, no longer caring about his sweaty state. "Me too, baby, me too."

--

Mark and I were now at the park beside Han River where I had set up his birthday surprise. I was covering his eyes with my hands, which was difficult due to the fact that I was shorter than him, and leading him towards our spot. After many stumbles and laughs, we eventually made it.

"Keep your eyes shut for a second. Don't you dare peak!" I warned him. He smiled cheekily and shut his eyes tight, also taking the liberty of covering his ears. As quickly as I could, I uncovered the sweets and the cake, lighting all the candles before taking Mark's hands off of his ears and whispering, "Open. Ta-da!" I gestured to everything with a wide sweep of my hands.

He opened his eyes and his face enlightened at the sight. He inspected the cupcakes I had made, each a recreation of the one he designed to officially ask me out, before turning back to me. "Babe, you're amazing. How did you even do this?" He asked in wonder.

I simply took his hand and moved him to sit on the picnic blanket. "Don't worry about that. I just wanted to do something special for you for your birthday." Mark stared at me, into me is more like it, not saying anything. "What? Is there something on my face? Is something wrong?" I worried, suddenly insecure. I was feeling my face for anything but Mark grasped my hands and removed them, bringing them to his lips to place a sweet kiss on my knuckles.

"Everything is perfect. I was just wondering what I did to deserve you." My heart warmed and my heart-rate accelerated. "You mean so much to me, Mina."

I wrapped my arms around him and breathed in his scent, his musky cologne was a scent I couldn't get enough of. "I love you too." I pulled away and turned our attention to the cake. "Now make a wish and blow out your candles!"

"Blow them out with me." Mark requested, his lips quirked in a smile.

I furrowed my eyebrows. "Why? This is your day."

"Your birthday is three days from now. I want this to be our day."

Words could not describe how precious this man was to me.

I stared into his eyes for a bit before pecking his cheek and complying to his request. We counted down together before both gently blowing away the flames. I took some frosting and smeared it on his face, chuckling at his shocked expression. It was replaced with a mischievous smirk as he challenged, "If that's how you want to play it, fine by me." He suddenly grabbed an entire cupcake and I didn't hesitate in getting up and sprinting away from him. Mark swiftly followed and was close behind me, causing my heart to pump.

As I was running I failed to notice a slight dip in the ground, and being the clumsy person I am my foot caught slightly. I tripped and prepared myself for a hard fall. However, it never came. Instead, a pair of strong and familiar hands were gripping my waist and suspending me in the air, preventing my fall. I looked up at my handsome boyfriend's face, his eyes shining with a glint of humor, nostalgia, and affection. He pulled me close to him and whispered, "Does this remind you of anything?"

I briefly giggled. "Which time? The airport or the restaurant?" I asked.

He laughed, too, reminiscing on our first encounters, where it all started. I can only imagine where we would have ended up if I could remain upright like any other person. As if Mark could read my mind, he said, "You're too clumsy for your own good. Thank God for that, though, because look where it lead us." He then nuzzled his face into into my neck and breathed against my collarbone, "I'll always be there to catch you when you fall."

I cupped his face in my hands. "Thank you for showing me what it is to truly love someone, and what it feels like to be genuinely loved in return. Thank you for sticking by me and fighting for us. I love you so much."

Mark's face softened and he kissed me tenderly. "I love you, too,beautiful."

--

this was super cheesy but omg dont worry there's still an epilogue! and who knows, maybe a little somethin somethin else extra, we'll see ;) thanks for reading everyone!