that one stained shirt | mark lee

officially yours

"I guess this will become a frequent stop from now," I sighed as the SM building came into view. It was a fine day - the sun shone bright through the clouds, reflecting on those huge windows above, warming my cheeks. I honestly could not wait for summer to come.

I slipped through the crowd in front of the company and headed straight to the back. I looked once over my shoulder, noticing a few irritated faces and a couple of loud complaints. Looks like business starts strong on Mondays.

When I reached the door, I sent Mark a message.

It took him precisely two minutes to open.

"Hey, thanks for coming," he breathed out and quickly checked the street when I entered. "It shouldn't take long, it's just a few papers, some super important talk with my manager and you're free."

He was smiling the whole time, but I could see the tiredness in his eyes. They must have been training hard. I nodded my head and followed him closely to the nearest elevator.

"Good to know. Although I wouldn't mind hanging around here."

He laughed and wiped his forehead with the back of his hand. "I can take you to the boys if you'd like. You'd have to make a proper introduction either way."

To be honest, I completely forgot he was part of a group. Was I ready for their reactions and potential questions? Not really. But when else would I be willing to show myself as Mark's girlfriend? In the end, the quicker it was over, the better.

"Yeah, sure. Let's get it over with."

We entered the elevator and once its door closed after us, Mark looked at me with a smirk hinting at his lips. I crossed my arms over my chest and sighed out loud. "What is it?"

"No, nothing," he shook his head, trying to hold back a smile, a pushed the button of our floor. "I just have a feeling like you're absolutely fearless."

"Fearless?"

"Yeah," he admitted, and I raised a brow. "First you came with your plan and now you have no problem meeting my teammates. I have no idea how they'll react, none of us ever just brought his girl to practice before."

"Then it's time to figure out, isn't it?" I smiled and leaned against the wall. The numbers above my head were slowly rising.

"I guess so, pretty."

For a mere second, my body froze. I kept looking ahead, pretending to stay unbothered, sinking into the smooth movement upwards. A little snicker even escaped my lips, but he didn't react to it at all. In the next moment, we reached floor number sixteen and Mark stepped out first. He led me through a few halls, turning right and left in no regular patterns. I tried to push down the memories of the first time here. We stopped in front of a random door on the left, there was no name tag or anything that would indicate where we were. But Mark knocked three times. And in a second a deep voice answered and invited us in.

I saw a bunch of fancy-clothed people sitting around a long rectangular desk. There were two free seats at the end close to us - one for me and one for my fake boyfriend. Mark stretched his hand to the chair in front of me and we both sat down. The man on the other side stood up and handed me a stack of papers. Contracts, I thought. Mark looked at them over my shoulder when I lay them in front of me. I felt his eyes scan over the words.

"Seems fine to me," he murmured to my ear, his voice suddenly firm and serious, and I gulped. I read over the sentences, but most of them didn't make any sense. If Mark approved, then I should too, right? A new wave of chill ran through me. He knows what he's doing, I comforted myself. He had to sign so many in this career.

I lifted the first page and looked at the others, trying to appear as if I knew what I was doing. Each paragraph described a certain issue of our relationship. Rules to follow online, and in public, however, we may present ourselves in front of our friends and family. I was able to briefly run through them all, marking some important ones in my mind.

There was so much to do and so much that could go wrong.

"Yeah," I lied, laying them all back down on the desk. "Seems fine to me too."

"Then it's decided," stood up a man on our right, swept invisible dust off his sleeves, and bowed to the front man who gave me the papers. Mark rose to his feet too, so I followed. The man turned to us and held an unreadable smile on his face. "Welcome, Miss Suh, as the new romantic partner of Mister Lee. Please, keep the conditions of our agreement in mind or a heavy punishment is promised. We will introduce your relationship publicly in the matter of the next weeks. Please be aware of so-called 'couple behavior' and all the details around your new relationship. We will make sure to deliver all the important documents to you. Thank you."

Then he bowed and left before anyone had the chance to say anything.

The others started to clean off their places and Mark took my hand gently. We bowed and left, him opening the door for me. We walked back through the building, not stopping once, not uttering a single word. I couldn't decipher what was going on in his head.

Then we entered the same elevator that took us there. Mark selected a double-digit floor, which made my stomach drop a bit. I don't think I have ever been this high above the ground. The ride was silent until I cleared my throat, putting a strand of my hair behind my ear.

That was the moment I realized our hands were still connected.

"We did quite the talking," I chuckled. "But at least everything is set."

"Yeah, sorry. I thought they would ask you something, but apparently, they had everything they needed."

"No, it's fine. Quick and effective. I liked it."

"That's good," he looked at me and smiled, squeezing my hand gently. I smiled back and held his one tighter.

"We gotta get used to this," he pointed at our hands. "Act natural. Not even the boys must suspect that we're fake."

"Sure. One thing is though, how long have we been supposedly dating?"

"It said something over a month," he shrugged. "But we've known each other longer."

"Cool. Just to make the physical part believable."

"You're a full-on actress too, aren't you?"

"Unfortunately not. All I can act on is reading steamy scenes in public," I stated nonchalantly and almost burst out laughing when I noticed his reaction. The disbelief spoke volumes. "But we don't have to discuss that."

"Thank you," he gulped, and I patted his upper arm in a comforting attempt.

If nothing, Mark was fun to be around. Pretending to be in love shouldn't be hard, especially, if he was okay with the touches. These were also interesting because they didn't at all bother me.

The elevator reached our destination. We exited it and entered another hallway, this time a lot quieter and more abandoned one. Not even plants stood by the windows. Mark led me once again, holding me tight, as he found the door of a practice room. The milk glass let me see shadows and figures, but nothing more.

"Ready?" Mark asked me while looking fondly into my eyes. How could he care so much about a stranger like me? But I nodded and he slowly opened the door. "You're with me, now, Jess. Act like you love me."

And we entered, still holding hands, attracting the attention of seven other men. Some stood there in confusion, some in interest. But one specifically in horror. And when our eyes met, my heart dropped to the floor.

This can't be, I argued with myself. What are you doing here, Johnny?