The Professor's Son

Cherry Bomb - Part 13

You entered the huge foyer of the apartment block and marvelled at the decoration of the interior. Striking white marble floors covered the vast area, everything was gold plated, from the staircase hand-rails to the buttons on the elevator, and fresh cut flowers lined the walls. Ivory gardenias, deep pink hydrangeas, white lilies and golden forsythia sat proudly in Royal Copenhagen porcelain vases.

Mark seemingly didn't notice the opulence of the place, his dull eyes wandering about the room, searching.

"Come on let's get in the elevator." Mark beckoned to you, pointing down the foyer to the elevator and patient concierge waiting next to it.

You hadn't realised you had stopped, your feet stuck in place and mesmerized by the elegance.

"Do you not see this?" You marveled.

"See what?"

"The flowers, the lobby, the doormen in their suits...this place is way too fancy for me."

"Nothing I'm not already used to," Mark laughed, "Come on Y/N you're dawdling, we need to get to the penthouse suite."

"Penthouse suite!" you covered your mouth, eyes nearly bulging out of your skull.

"Dude, this is Jeon Jungkook we're talking about." Mark ruffled his hair, a broad grin covering his charming face, totally puzzled by your wonderment, "Do you think he'd take any ordinary apartment? God forbid it's a studio, he would have had a meltdown."

"This Jungkook guy is starting to sound a little bit like a brat."

Mark gave you a playful smirk, making your heart flutter, "Trust me, you'll like him."

The elevator took an unexpectedly long time to reach the penthouse suite, and your ears popped on arrival to the floor. Walking down the hallway you noticed how quiet it was, only two other penthouse suites occupied the entire floor.

Mark knocked briskly on the door and straightened out his outfit, "You ready?" The both of you waited in silence. He looked over his shoulder to you, with those striking feline-like eyes. 

You noticed he hadn't worn his glasses, opting for barely noticeable contact lenses instead. Tonight, he gave off an especially charming aura, a man with a sense of purpose and pride.

"Don't look at me like that." You snickered and tried to hide your awkward smile.

"What do you mean?" He teased and gave you a glance up and down, taking in every inch of you with tenderness.

"You look...I don't know, like you're proud or something."

"Only cos I've got the most beautiful girl on my arm tonight."

Before you could reply the door swung open and the sound of booming EDM music poured into the hallway.

"Mark Lee my little brother, so good to see you! How have you been?" Jungkook jumped onto Mark, swinging an arm around his shoulder, the older man pulled Mark into a tight bear hug.

"Hyung...Hyung." Mark gasped for air and tapped Jungkook's back vigorously.

"Oh sorry, I got too excited huh?" Jungkook gave Mark a captivating grin, showing off his perfect pearly whites.

"That's okay, thanks for inviting me to your party. It's been a while," Mark laughed and rubbed the back of his neck where Jungkook had put him into an affectionate headlock, "Umm, here's my friend. I bought her along, hope you don't mind."

"Aye, of course not, mi casa es tu casa man!" Jungkook glanced over to you and you nearly melted from the attention. He was even more handsome than you had anticipated. He looked like he had been handcrafted by the God's themselves...Just like Jaehyun.

You quickly shoved the image of Jaehyun out of your mind and prepared to greet your heavenly host.

"Hey my name's Y/N," you nervously reached your hand out to shake his, but he pushed it to the side and went in for a hug instead.

"It's a pleasure to meet you Y/N, that's a gorgeous dress you've got on." Jungkook stood poised, thumbing his chin and taking in the make of your dress.

"Why thank you...It's just something my mom gave me, nothing fancy." You laughed and instantly felt at ease.

"Wow, I could have sworn it was a Valentino cut, the trim is just to die for!"

"It does look great on you." Mark chimed in.

With that Jungkook leads you two into the midst of the party. The living room had turned into a makeshift dance floor, which was bursting at the seams with people. Mainly college students you figured, but ones with copious amounts of wealth considering the designer shoes and dresses on display.

Jungkook, being the excellent host that he was, offered you two a cocktail of your choice and left you at the bar while he went off to mingle with the other guests.

"Damn where did you meet this guy Mark? He's like the modern day Mr Gatsby or something." You exclaimed absolutely astounded by the self-assured and gallant nature of your host.

"Actually, we went to the same boarding school." Mark grinned and took a sip of his Negroni.

"Boarding school? I didn't know you were..." you trailed off, suddenly feeling rude.

Mark raised an eyebrow in question, peering at you out of the corner of his eye, while taking another sip, "What? You can tell me, I promise I won't bite, not just yet anyways."

You giggled at his flirtatious joke, "Well, you don't act like you're...rich."

He shook his head in reply, "Well duh, I mean how else could I afford to attend a prestigious university as an international student? I'm not smart like you, so I can't get scholarships. My parents pay for everything."

You were gobsmacked, but tried desperately not to show it and instead took a sip of your own cocktail while trying to think of something appropriate to say. Your vow of not drinking had flown out the window by the time you saw the tantalizing lists of drinks, and they were all free!

"But Mark you are smart, I can tell you are just by how aggressively you tap at the keyboard in class!"

Mark laughed mightily, slapping his leg multiple times to show his joy and enthusiasm, "You're funny Y/N. You want another drink? You're cups already empty."

You hadn't noticed it, but you had been pretty thirsty.

"A cranberry vodka couldn't hurt right?" You looked at Mark for confirmation. He pinched your cheek in return.

"Y/N you're really cute tonight, do you know that?" Mark cooed in delight.

"Mark you're making me blush...Just hurry up and get me another drink before I turn into a tomato will yah?"