chapter eighteen: kisses

“Mark?” Jae Ah called out when he didn’t step back. Her breath caught in when his eyes flickered to her lips. “What are you-”

Mark’s eyes shut at the sound of his name before snapping open as he felt his eyes shifting color. Before Jae Ah could notice though, Mark was moving forward.

His hand came to the back of her head to hold her still as he leaned forward, placing his lips on hers.

Jae Ah froze, utterly still. Her mind went blank as all of her focus to the movement of Mark’s soft lips on hers. She could feel tingles running from where Mark’s fingers graced the back of her neck, leaving goosebumps that weren’t from the chilly air along her bare skin.

Mark’s eyes suddenly shifted color again and returned to their normal chocolate brown shade. He froze as well,  his lips still on hers for another long moment before he snapped away from her.

Before she could even react, Mark was steps away from her in movements so fast that she didn’t think it was possible. Her lips parted as she opened to say something but they were quickly lost when she felt a cold rush of air hit her. She could feel absence of his warmth since he’d moved away from her way more than she should have been able to.

He was facing away from her with his fists clenched at his sides very obviously. His expression was blank but his thoughts were running faster than ever in his mind. He struggled to control his body as his wolf fought for power again.

He didn’t know whether it was the fact that he had a minimal control over his wolf’s actions that he’d snapped back to normal or that he could feel her start to respond to him that woke him up. But he was glad he did. But not for himself.

He had a feeling that Jae Ah wouldn’t have been very happy with herself if she had responded to the kiss. A painful voice in the back of his head reminded him that she had a boyfriend, one that she really liked. His eyes shut as he felt a sharp pain in his head as his wolf angered at the thought of Jinwoo.

Jae Ah’s breath came out shaky as she watched Mark. She wasn’t sure what had just happened. Her mind was still blank with the momentary and quick thought that she hated herself for. She wished she’d responded to him. She wished she had responded so she knew what it was really like to kiss the beautiful boy in front of her.

Jae Ah shuddered at her thoughts and her arms came around to hug herself. She looked away from him, staring into the dark forest with a blank expression. Her senses slowly returned to her but in the back of her mind, she could still feel his touch on her skin and his lips against hers.

“O-Oh yeah.” Jae Ah stuttered before clearing . She slowly looked back to Mark, only to find he was staring back at her. Her breath caught for a moment and she had to remind herself to keep speaking and ignore his strong gaze. “I needed to tell you something.”

Mark didn’t answer her right away. His mind calculated what she said with strong hope. If she’d meant to tell him something, it meant she’d been thinking about him.

“What?” He finally asked, keeping his voice leveled.

“Um,” Jae Ah blinked at him hesitantly before speaking again, “Jaehyun and I overheard Jinwoo talking to someone today.” Mark internally flinched at the name of her boyfriend and he suddenly didn’t want to hear the story anymore. But before he could stop her, she continued, “He mentioned you. This girl he was talking to was giving him inf