Irony of Revenge

Chapter 7

Mark was mindlessly scrolling down the social media and then with nothing interested found there, he tossed the phone aside. He was on a couch in the guest room of Hyebin's office.

He was to take her out for dinner at a restaurant and at the moment, waiting for her to come out of her office room, where she was talking with her customer. He missed Jinyoung and wanted to be with him instead but Jinyoung had to be at Jieun's parents' place for dinner this evening.

It had been only a few days since Mark and Jinyoung had been dating, but several texts had been exchanged between them. And Mark would always stop by the golf club whenever he could make time. Sometimes, the time they could be together would not be more than an hour as Mark had to leave for his schedule afterwards.

But more than certain, he was putting more effort into this relationship than he had ever done his and Hyebin's.

After another half an hour had been passed, Hyebin appeared in the guest room and sat down next to Mark, on the couch.

"Hey, getting bored?" Her words were followed by her face inching closer to Mark's. He watched her lips, which were clearly asking for a kiss, and those lips, which he had enjoyed somehow before, failed to excite him now.

He thought of letting her kiss him if she wanted, because she was technically still his girlfriend. But the closer her face came to his own, the more uneasy he felt, and at last, he turned his face away.

Hyebin pouted a little and said, "What? Are you mad at me? Because I took too long to come here? It was business, Mark. Of course, it took time!"

Mark got up to his feet and pretended to check the time on his phone, "I'm not mad. It's just that we should already set out. I'm hungry."

Hyebin stood up and linked her arm with Mark's, "You should've said so. Wait, is this dress okay? Should I change into something else?" She always had some spare clothes kept at her office room.

Mark let out a quiet sigh and assured her that she looked alright in her navy blue dress. At last, they headed out of the office, and for Mark's car.

The Kims led Jinyoung to the living-room after the grand dinner. The meal had been more than nice but Jinyoung had not been able to enjoy it. The place he had been so familiar with, now made him feel like suffocated. And sooner or later, he would become just a stranger here. The fact that the others were oblivious of that and thus were so nice to him, gave him this guilty conscience.

"So, the business's all going well? I could never hear any details about you from Jieun," Mr. Kim said, looking at Jinyoung, after all of them had been seated in the living-room.

"Dad! I always tell you everything you want to know!" Jieun said.

"Just look at that, she's still acting like a child," Mr. Kim said, laughing.

"And you're teasing her. See, Jinyoung? They're always like that," Mrs. Kim said.

Jinyoung laughed just to assure them that he liked whatever he was seeing, even though his mind was weary.

"So, Jinyoung, how's the business?" Mr. Kim said, turning back to him.

"It's all doing well, uncle. But problems arise at times. Sometimes, staff problems and sometimes, something concerned with the service."

"Indeed. These are inevitable, right? The same in Colourful Dream, I'm sure. Jieun doesn't complain about any problems to us anymore. But still, we can guess, such conflicts can't be helped."

"I'm managing it well, Dad," Jieun said.

They fell, like that, into the business conversation and then, it shifted to random things. Jinyoung tried his best to follow the talk and it was all going well, until the question he dreaded the most came.

"You two have been together for a long time, already," Mrs. Kim said, "Have you already thought of your future plans? Consider your age too. It's not so good to be married when old."

"Mom, we're only in our twenties!" Jieun said. But when she turned to Jinyoung, her eyes were expectant and shining. Jinyoung did not know what answer he was supposed to give because he did not have it ready.

He felt himself getting agitated and like a criminal being watched at a court, when the three pairs of eyes fell on him and he needed to say something, as an answer to that question.

"N-Not yet. We don't have any definite plans at the moment. Yes, I also think that it's time we gave a serious thought to that."

"Yes, you already should. We want to see you two settled down soon before we get too old," Mrs. Kim said.

"Life is unpredictable. We don't know when we'll die. It could even be today, tomorrow, or well, anytime."

"Dad, what're you talking about! You two are still so fit and healthy."

Jinyoung released a quiet sigh as the topic was now apparently changing to something else from marriage.

Drying himself with a towel, after the shower, Jinyoung recalled the conversation at the Kims' place. The 'marriage' topic had been troubling his mind since then. When they found out that he had no more intention to marry their daughter, how would they react? He would never be forgiven, for certain.

His phone screen lightened up suddenly with a text and it brought a smile to Jinyoung's lips when he saw it was from Mark, who told him to come out because he was already in front of Jinyoung's place.

Jinyoung rushed to the closet and put on a T-shirt and pants fast, before grabbing the key and hurrying downstairs. Once the main door was opened, Mark flung himself into Jinyoung's body, in a hug, and dropping the random kisses on Jinyoung's face. Then he buried his face in Jinyoung's shoulder and muttered, "So cold outside. And you feel so warm".

"How? I've just showered. My skin is still cool," Jinyoung said, with a chuckle.

"Whatever. You make me feel warm."

Jinyoung detached himself from Mark, who let go of him unwillingly.

"What's with this sudden visit? You should already be in bed, filling yourself with energy for tomorrow work."

Mark pouted and it was cute. Jinyoung had seen this side of Mark only after they had started dating.

"How about me doing that in your bed? Doesn't that sound better?"

"Oh, yes, Mr. Tuan, just do whatever you want."

"How was the dinner?" Mark asked, with his hand playing with the strands of Jinyoung's hair. They were in Jinyoung's bed, with their heads on one pillow and their bodies snuggled against each other under the same duvet.

"It was okay. What about yours?"

"Nothing unusual. Just like the old times. Except that it felt fake this time."

"Jieun's parents, they were already urging us to marry. Soon, they said."

"What did you say then?" Mark's voice was as composed as it could be as this was no shocking matter.

"I told them that we, Jieun and I, would think of that. They might even hate me when they know the truth," Jinyoung murmured.

"But it can't be helped. Sooner or later, they'll know. You're not regretting, Jinyoung?"

"Of course not! Did you need to ask me? You're the one who I want to be with. I'm more than certain."

Mark smiled, although Jinyoung could not see it in the dark. But of course, he could feel Mark's lips, which took and enveloped his in a warm kiss.