okay so everyone's been freaking out over jaemin and jamie ending up together and wondering what happened to her and mark so here y'all go :D

"jamie? why are you home? i thought you were going out with mark?"

jamie turned her head towards johnny who was holding a banana in one hand and king xue in the other.

"mark cancelled last minute," jamie faked a smile. "something about forgetting he promised to help taeyong with something regarding their new apartment."

"why didn't you just go help?" her brother asked, very confused.

"i don't know johnny," she sighed, playing with her fingers. "i just wanted some alone time with him. we're both been really busy recently and just growing apart. him being in college and me being in high school makes this really hard. especially since he finally made a good friend group and i'm in my last year and trying to figure out where i'm going to college and everything."

johnny put his banana on the counter and put king xue down before sitting next to jamie and wrapping his arm around her shoulders.

jamie just looked at him silently, waiting for his lengthy answer she knew he was going to give.

"jamie, school just started like a month ago, are you sure you're not just having trouble adjusting?"

the girl nodded.

"do you still have feelings for him?"

"i think so, yeah."

"so what exactly is wrong? tell me the whole story."

"mark and i have always had issues. we were really bad at communicating. he would never tell me anything straight up and i would get upset and i guess i started our petty little fights. this past month, the little fights have become more often. i lied, the reason we're not going out right now is because we had another little fight on the phone. they're never serious, but it's getting tiring.

"i love mark- i really do. however, i didn't lie about us somewhat growing apart. since college started back up, he's been super busy with his classes and internship and the songs he's been producing. then i started my third year and i've had college essays and stuff to do so when he's free, i'm not always, but i will always drop other plans for him. he won't do that for me."

"well jam that's not very healthy," johnny interrupted. "you shouldn't drop other plans for him. you both have your own lives and should plan around them. don't adjust for one person no matter what."

"i talk more to donghyuck than to mark nowadays," jamie laughed emotionlessly. "i've been talking to xiaojun again too. mark doesn't know this, but jaemin persuaded me to actually talk it out with yangyang, so i've talked to him too. all more than my own boyfriend because he's too busy to answer."

johnny was quiet for a minute.

"jamie this might be hard to hear, but maybe you two should break up-"

"what-"

"listen to me. i think you might be experiencing right person, wrong time. that or you and mark are just not meant to be. that happens and it's okay. some people don't work together in a relationship but still love each other. it's natural. you just have to say that to him. it'll hurt for a while, but will be the better choice in the long run. your relationship isn't the healthiest right now and it's okay to take a break as well."

johnny scanned jamie's face, trying to figure out what she was thinking, but she was silent and stoic.

"just think it over okay? i'm here if you need anything," he said and ruffled her hair.

"thanks johnny," she smiled at her brother. "i love you."

"love you too," johnny smiled.

"does this look okay?"

"jam you look fine, stop worrying."

jamie huffed, glaring at jaemin through the screen, donghyuck laughing at the two's interaction.

"well you know this may be my last date with mark," jamie smiled sadly, sitting down in her chair in front of her laptop. "maybe i want to look my best-"

"what, to show him what he's losing?" donghyuck interrupted this time.

"lee donghyuck!"

"sorry... actually no i'm not, i'm not sorry."

"have you decided what you're going to do yet?" jaemin asked, leaning his head on his fist.

jamie's smile turned sheepish and she shook her head.

"if it makes you feel any better," donghyuck twirled a pen around in his fingers, "i talked to mark and he said he's feeling what you're feeling."

"actually that kind of does thank you," the girl mumbled.

"well, whatever you decide, good luck," jaemin smiled. "i have to go now."

the two others chorused goodbyes and jaemin was gone.

"okay now that jaemin's gone give it to me straight," donghyuck looked straight at the screen to the girl. "do you actually think you'll be leaving this date today still dating?"

jamie slowly shook her head.

donghyuck let out a sigh of relief. "thank fuck finally you two dumbasses are realizing."

"what the fuck does that mean?"

"jamie, this has been coming for like, a month. you've been growing apart and i have to hear about it from both of you. i also hear your fights and get stuck in the middle sometimes. i'm tired of it and i know you two are as well."

"you've... noticed?"

"we all have," donghyuck rolled his eyes. "it's so painfully obvious. look- nothing will change if you two break up, it'll be fine, so just do it."

jamie nodded, looking at her phone as it lit up. "mark's here."

"good luck jamie, let me know how it goes. don't call me right after because mark probably will but at least text me to let me know how you are."

"thanks hyuck, love ya."

"gross. love you too i guess."

jamie giggled and shook her head, hanging up.

she grabbed her stuff, told lucas she was leaving, and then went to the front door.

"hey," mark greeted with a smile when jamie opened the door, his hands in his pockets.

"hey," jamie beamed. "what's on the agenda for today?"

"a surprise," mark grinned, the two walking down the stairs.

"a surprise? it's been a while since we had a surprise date," jamie chirped. "i'm excited!"

"before you even ask for a hint," the male said, seeing jamie open her mouth again. "it's somewhere we went when we were first dating."

"well that was not helpful mr. lee," she groaned.

mark just grinned cheekily at her.

"how have you been recently?" jamie asked as they waited at the bus stop. "anything exciting?"

mark hummed. "my internship is so much fun. the kindergarteners are so cute and love it when i play my guitar. producing has been kinda hard, but i've been like getting a lot of help from the teachers and other students. how about you?"

"the volleyball team is undefeated right now," jamie smiled. "jisung and i are planning on applying to the same schools- of course chenle is looking at expensive schools we can't go to, but he's looking somewhere to go closer to jeno and hyuck. i've been talking to some old friends too. i feel very refreshed."

mark nodded, a smile on his face but a hint of some other emotion in his eyes. "like who have you talked to?"

"xiaojun," jamie replied. "i also talked to yangyang-"

"you talked to yangyang? when?"

"like two weeks ago?" the girl hesitantly said. "i tried to tell you that day, but you were busy, and after i forgot."

the male was silent.

"anyways, yangyang and i are good now. he goes to a local college and him and xiaojun frequent the café."

"how exactly did that happen?" mark asked while they got on the bus.

"well he had reached out asking to talk again," the girl explained as they sat down. "he said he has a girl he really likes, but he wanted to properly apologize and fix our issue before he felt comfortable asking her out. i wasn't going to answer, but jaemin convinced me to. so we met up and talked it out and i forgave him."

"they're actually on a date today too," jamie's lips lifted into a smile as she opened her phone and went to her chat with yangyang. "look how cute!"

mark smiled at the photo. "they do look really cute together."

"i'm proud of him for growing up," jamie stated, putting her phone away.

"me too," mark agreed. "i'm glad he did what he did."

"me too."

the two talked about random things for the remainder of the ride before mark pulled her out, saying it was their stop.

"a dog café?" jamie breathed out.

"yeah," mark smiled softly. "where it all started."

jamie froze for a minute. either this man was about to proclaim his love for her again, or he was going to break up with her. it was a full circle.

"come on jam," mark reached his hand out for her.

she took it with a smile and let him gently lead her inside.

butterflies were in jamie's stomach from her nerves as they ordered and sat down, the puppies surrounding them.

mark laughed and played with them, jamie habitually taking photos, smiling widely at the sight of his bright smile.

"why did you decide for us to come here?"

mark stopped and cleared his throat, looking at the girl. "i wanted to talk... about us."

jamie was silent.

mark continued while nervously fiddling with his drink. "we've really like grown apart recently and like our little fights every now and then are like really tiring. i think it might like be better if we... took a break. i love you jamie, i really do love you a lot, i just think this is like the best course of action right now. i think we need some like time apart to get through what's going on and maybe we'll like get back together in a few months."

"i agree."

"you do?" mark was slightly surprised.

"yeah. things just aren't like they use to be," jamie smiled softly. "and i love you too mark, a lot, but i also think taking a break is for the best for now."

"this is really hard, i really don't want to do this," mark frowned.

"me neither, but we have to," jamie sighed.

"well now that that's over with," he cleared his throat, a smile playing at his lips. "karaoke?"

she laughed, shaking her head. "of
course fork."

and that's it! i hope it's a satisfying conclusion to their relationship and i'm sorry to those devastated by this 😭 the plan from the beginning was always to have jaemin and jamie together.

also i hope the characters are like they should be- i just wrote this and it's been, what, two years since i last touched this book and wrote in it?

thank you guys for your support i love y'all :D <3