Until I Met You │ Mark Lee

The Night (Part 1)

"Health is a virtue."

"In my world money is." 

-

His face, somewhat bland and tedious, showed no remorse as crept down the long halls of his house. As Ryung looked at Mark she wondered what misery he had been through to see the world this way. He was cryptic. Before the night dawned, Mark was as pure as gold in her eyes. He secretly felt guilt for opening up in front of a stranger, even if it was only in front of someone who had enough of their own problems to care about him. Mark relied on their secret exchange to feel comfortable enough to expel his hidden thoughts. He felt so out of reach that feasible repercussions didn't faze him. She imagined growing up in his family and felt a pit of emptiness in her stomach. While Mark was never to speak unless called upon, he did, but only for tonight. "I bet you underestimated the maliciousness a chairman could impose on his own son."

Ryung went silent at his words, not wanting to give them any kind of attention. "I never really cared though." Mark almost laughed at his statement. "I just want the company. I've never wanted anything more in my life." He breathed heavily, like the weight of his words held heavily on his heart. "You want it so bad that you let your father scorn you." Ryung abstracted his impression to make sense of it. "That scorn will one day retreat to respect. Once I become the perfect heir." He opened the front door to his house and held it for Ryung to walk past. "What more can you accomplish to become the 'perfect heir'?" She mocked Mark and he pursed his lips. "I need to marry for business. Only then I will be accepted by him." Marks bittersweet words held no regret or sorrow. "You can't treat marriage as a business proposal."

Mark only lightly smiled at Ryungs words. He couldn't think that way when he was so close to his life's purpose. Nothing mattered to him but the CEO plaque in his father's office. "What is the point of escaping your dull life for just one night?" She asked him curiously. Ryung, although in the same upscale society as Mark, couldn't relate to him at all. She strived to follow her own path with little aggravation from her parents. She was allowed the freedom to not worry about the future and she never placed any hefty goals on her shoulders. She knew deep down that losing her wealth wouldnt affect her soul, but here Mark was practically selling his. So what was the purpose of pretending everything disappeared for one night for it to only reset when the sun rises tomorrow?

Mark walked down a trail while Ryung stumbled behind him. She felt the cold wind gush by her figure and shivered. "My father would kill me if he knew what I was doing," Mark mumbled while pushing some branches aside. "What exactly are you doing?" Ryung asked, not finding the dirt trail ideal for her heels. "Escaping for the night. No business talk or uncomfortable suits." Mark struggled to loosen the tie off his neck and groaned, coming to a stop. "Come here." Ryung scoffed and ushered for him to come towards her. Mark cautiously walked toward her thin frame and sighed as she undid his tie. "You need to take a deep breath. It's not like your doing anything illegal." She mocked Mark as he gave her a blank stare.  

"How do you feel?  Free yet?" Ryung asked him as they made their way deeper into the forest behind his house. He slightly chuckled at her question, finding it ridiculous. "You are the heart of what makes this society go round." He said, maneuvering his way past endless branches. "What is that supposed to mean?" She furrowed her eyebrows, not sure whether his words were a compliment. "Girls like you run around freely. You spend your father's money like it's nothing while setting trends and overflowing with greed. This lifestyle, the one that you live, is hard to let go of Ryung." Mark glanced behind him to see a frowning Ryung. As they continued to walk ahead Ryung questioned what his words meant. "It's quite admirable, isn't it?" She spoke up. "Girls like me run this world." She confidently smiled and playfully made her way past Mark to walk in front of him. "We set the trends that make your businesses profit from. We spend money freely that we don't earn for our own enjoyment. We overflow with greed because we always want more. While never being satisfied by the gifts we receive and the purchases we make we are hungry for more. We are hungry for more money, power, and purpose which makes this world spin around." 

Ryung followed the trail, not daring to look back to see Mark's reaction. "I don't know about you but that sounds like quite a powerful woman to me." She softly said. Mark secretly smiled behind her. His smile was wistful almost yearning. "That is quite admirable." He smirked. "Were here." He said before pushing past Ryung. Her high heels, struggling from the dirt ground, sunk into the ground. Ryung looked down to see sand. She took off her high heels and followed Mark. "Is there a beach?" She asked while trying to see past the pitch dark and endless trees. Mark didn't answer her question. He only grabbed her wrist tightly and led her past a mass of bushes. The moonlight lighted the horizon of water. The sandy beach went on for miles and Ryung excitedly smiled. Letting go of Mark's hand she ran down the coast. Laughing, she looked back at Mark who stood in the same spot. "It's beautiful!" She gushed. Mark watched her intently, amazed at the emotion she possessed. Mark had lived the same day every day since he was a child and had visited this beach by himself since he was ten as an escape. He couldn't even begin to imagine the excitement Ryung could hold over something so trivial as a beach. It was yet again admirable to him. 

Mark couldn't help but smile at the girl running around in the sand giggling. He found joy in the way she smiled at the stars. She was like a child, new to the world he sheltered himself in. The innocence she held was refreshing for the sore eyes he had. Ryung's long brown hair flowed behind her in the wind as she ran back to Mark, slightly out of breath. Her eyes glimmered under the moonlight and for a single moment, Mark forgot about the party, his arranged marriage, and his grueling father. "Do you like it?" He asked the stranger in front of him. Ryung looked to the shoreline, watching the waves crash silently. "It was worth walking all the way here in heels but then again the journey is never as pleasant as the destination." Her focus on the ocean didn't drift an inch. While she wondered about the consequences she and her family would face tomorrow, Mark questioned whether his future destination was pleasant enough to go through this draining journey of life.