Page 12 of Marked By Him

She snorts. “Translation: it was bad. Real bad. Here, I ordered you one of your staples.”

She nudges a large iced Dalgona Latte toward me. It’s definitely one of my favorites from Unnie’s, the sweet caramel drizzles and honeycomb shards are a great sugar rush when I need it.

Today’s one of those times.

I suck down a few swallows of it, trying to distract myself from the tender skin on the inside of my wrist—and the mark that’s practically been seared into me.

I tried to disguise it with several bangle bracelets, but it’s not exactly subtle.

Kelly, clueless to my hidden anxiety, leans in, elbows on the table. “Okay, so spill. Give it to me straight. Did Drew look as good as his photo?”

I let out a breath that’s half laugh, half sigh. “Um, no offense. But… no. The man in the photo had a full head of hair. And height.”

“Oof,” she says, wincing. “Okay, sooo about that. He’s started losing his hair. He’s a little sensitive about it. And the height thing? I think in the photo you saw hewastaller than the other guy. That other guy being five-three.”

“It did give catfish vibes. But I would’ve maybe overlooked itifwe clicked. Which we did not. At all.”

“Nooo! I really thought you two would! Was it something he said?”

“Well, he kicked off the night by telling me he almost didn’t show up. He thoughtImight be the catfish because apparently hot single women don’t need their friends to set them up. They can get dates on their own. Then he said I looked better than my photo and acted like it was a compliment.”

Kelly groans, smacking her palm to her forehead. “Tell me Drew did not say that!”

“It only got worse from there. I don’t think I got to talk about myself for more than five seconds. The other hour was spent on him monologuing his way through every impressive achievement he’s ever had. I know all about NYU and how the CEO at Sungjin Solutions begged him to take his job offer.”

“Okay, so, Drewcanbe a little cocky. But he’s usually a lot of fun! And he loves splurging on the women he dates.”

“I didn’t get to mention how he invited me to his apartment halfway through his meal. For a so-callednightcap.”

“Which is code for,” she finishes for me, then groans again. “I am so, so sorry! I owe you dinner. Like… real dinner. Not Burger & Pasta dinner.”

I manage a soft laugh, though it sounds hollow to my ears. Iwishmy bad first date with Andrew was the worst part of the night…

“Honestly, I left pretty quickly,” I murmur, watching the ice melt in my Dalgona Latte. “I just wasn’t feeling it.”

“I get it. Sometimes it’s just wrong energy. No chemistry.”

Wrong energy. That’s one way to put it.

If only I knew I was about to put myself in the crosshairs of a whole lot of wrong energy moments later.

Ugh.

Why the fuck did I not pay more attention to where I was going?!

Maybe I should’ve seen the date with Andrew through. At least then I wouldn’t have been marked.

“So what are your plans for the rest of the day?” Kelly asks.

I shrug, eyes still stuck on my iced drink. “Not sure. Probably clean up the apartment a bit. Maybe work on next week’s final lesson.”

“On a Saturday? Come shopping with me! You love the underground mall!”

“I’m going to pass. Maybe next time.”

For the rest of our coffee date, I’m distracted by the ink on my inner wrist. Every time I shift my arm and the bangle bracelets slide further up my forearm, I can’t help glancing down at the mark Jin left on me.

My thoughts are immediately drawn back to the alley, and it feels like he’s still peering down at me with eyes so cold it makes me shiver from the inside.

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