Page 113 of Marked By Him

Busan is stretched out below us. With the sun dying, the city lights have started to shine. Farther out, the bridges carve silver paths across the water. The ocean itself looks like a mirror cracked with golden veins.

Minutes pass with us sitting in silence, breathing in the warm, sweet evening air. I rest my chin on my knees and enjoy how the wind blows through my curls.

It’s almost overwhelming, the difference a year has made.

The last time I sat here, the future seemed so precarious. So uncertain. I wasn’t even sure if I would live or die, marked for death by the tattoo on the inside of my wrist.

Now, everything feels so limitless.

I turn my gaze to the ink on the inside of my wrist and smile. It’s been altered since that first night in the alley—Jin had a friend add more ink to the symbol, so that now it means fearless in the face of death.

Fitting considering everything I’ve been through.

But, most of all, the mark reminds me I’m a survivor. How one fateful night changed my world forever, and I’m here to tell the tale. I’m sitting by the man who helped bring about that change.

When I glance sideways at Jin, a few subtle things catch my attention.

He slides his fingers through his hair for what feels like the twentieth time. He shifts like he’s restless, his breath uneven. His hands disappear into the pockets of his leather jacket like he needs to give them something to do.

The closer I watch, the more I notice how even his throat bobs from a tight swallow.

For Jin, a man of discipline and stoicism, it’s all alarming.

Is he…nervous?

The realization fills me with a tender fondness. As if I couldn’t love this man any more. The sight of him nervous, knocked even a little off his usual game, is possibly the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

I’ve barely started pondering why he could be when he speaks.

“You’re probably wondering why I brought you all the way up here,” he says, his voice strained.

I smile slightly. “It’s crossed my mind.”

He huffs out an unsteady breath like he’s trying to laugh but can’t. “I figured it would be a good place. One of the best views in Busan.”

“I remember the night you first brought me here,” I say gently. “It feels like yesterday, even if it was a year ago.”

“I remember too. I remember… what I was thinking that night.” He pulls one hand from his jacket, his long fingers flexing restlessly in his lap. His gaze finally finds mine as he glances over at me, a dark intensity flickering in his eyes that I can’t place. “I was supposed to kill you. It was supposed to be simple. It should’ve been over quick.

“But then… I watched you,” he sighs unevenly. His fingers sift through his messy strands again. “You were unlike anyone I’d ever seen. You were real. You were good. Too good to be true. Definitely too good for someone like me.”

My heart twists, aching for the boy he once was. The man he’s grown up to be, where love and happiness were never a reality.

“Jin…” I whisper, not even sure what I want to say.

He shifts on the hood, turning slightly so he’s facing me more fully. His hand finds mine where it rests on my kneecap. Ourfingers lace together, his palm warm and a little sweaty. It finally sinks in that he really is nervous.

Seo Jin-tae is nervous.

He never gets nervous.

“I couldn’t do it,” he admits. “I couldn’t hurt you. Even when every part of me knew it was what I had to do. My standing in the Baekho Pa relied on it. I didn’t know it at the time… but I was already in love with you.

“You’re the most special person I’ve ever met, Tokki-ya,” he says, his thumb absentmindedly brushing circles over my knuckles. “You’ve shown me life can be more than what I told myself it would be. More than brutal violence and ruthlessness.”

The air swells around us, charged with so much emotion, I’m holding my breath. Jin reaches into the pocket of his leather jacket and pulls out a small velvet box.

“I want that life,” he says, opening the box to show me the ring inside. “I want it with you. The mornings and nights and all the smaller moments in between. The happiness that we can bring each other for the rest of our lives.”

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