My Ace

Chapter 20 ♦️

The next morning, things returned to normal. Everyone went to work and avoided the biggest subject in the office.

Taeyong had sent in the group chat for Mark, and no one's seen or heard from either of them since that morning.

It was almost four in the evening.

~•~•~

Mark woke up in the passenger seat. They had been driving for a few hours, and Taeyong wouldn't tell him where they were going. All he told him was to pack a bag for a week.

They seemed to be next to a mountain, and Taeyong broke off from the main road onto another windier trail up the mountain. "Finally awake?" Taeyong asked, watching as Mark held on for dear life with the sharp turns.

"I wish I'd have slept through this road," he grumbled, finally relaxing when the road straightened out.

Taeyong laughed lightly. "This road is my least favorite part of coming here as well."

"And where would 'here' be exactly?" Mark asked, sitting up in his seat.

Taeyong deadpanned, "If we'll be getting married, there's some things we need to tie up first."

"Which would be...?" Mark continued to press.

"You'll see when we get there- explaining it now would do no good." Taeyong took a deep breath, before looking over to Mark. "It's not that much longer. We should be there in ten."

Mark nodded along and looked out the window. As Taeyong said, it was only another ten minutes before he was pulling into a driveway. "This is it, we're here."

It was a small house, isolated on the mountain side.

"Are you going to explain things now?" Mark asked, getting out as Taeyong did.

"If we're gonna be married, you'll be moving to my apartment- I need to see if we can live together."

"And we couldn't have done that in our building?" Mark asked, rather skeptically.

"We could've, but there's so many distractions and everyone. Besides, we haven't spent much time together, I'd like to do something with just you for a bit."

Mark nodded and the two grabbed their stuff from the trunk. "Think of this as a vacation with your boyfriend, Mark. Nothing really more than that as of now."

Taeyong pulled off a necklace that was hidden under his shirt with two keys on it. He unlocked the door, and Mark lost his breath.

Directly opposite the door was a giant window that overlooked the valley below the mountain. There was a small village nestled in the valley, but other than that it was an open field and opposite them was another mountain and a waterfall flowing down from it. It flowed into a lake at the bottom and the water snaked into the nearby forest.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Taeyong said, slipping off his shoes. "Just wait for the sunset- it gets twice as beautiful."

Mark slipped his shoes off and walked to the window to take the view in even better. It truly was absolutely stunning, and it wasn't until Taeyong coughed for his attention that he broke away from it.

"Let me give you the tour, then you can keep admiring the view."

Taeyong led him down a hall to the right and Mark immediately noticed the childhood photos of the man guiding him. There was a whole wall filled with pictures of what must be Taeyong and his family throughout the years. "This is the study," he said opening the door opposite the gallery wall. Inside the study was two fully decked out desks, and a TV with at least four consoles below it.

"This is just a gaming room," Mark laughed out.

Taeyong blushed. "I like games, okay?" Regardless, he led Mark to the other door at the end of the hallway, and opened that. "This is the indoor pool and hot tub. There's a sauna in the back too."

Taeyong quickly ushered Mark out before he could gawk at the room. Taeyong led him to the stairs in the main room. The kitchen, dining area, and living area were all completely opened with just a staircase leading to the second floor balcony overlooking the whole space. "Down that hall is our bedroom, the other side is my sisters' old rooms."

Mark audibly gasped. "Is this your family home?"

Taeyong laughed lightly and nodded. "I've renovated it a lot since then though." He looked at his feet for a moment. "The left side on the first floor was my mother's room."

Mark noticed the blatant 'was' but decided not to press. "We're both sleeping in your room?" He asked, the realization finally dawning on him.

Taeyong nodded and opened the door for him. "I've updated my room so it's not the same as it was when I was young."

Other than the massive bed, the room was simple and tidy. Before Mark could inspect it more, Taeyong pulled him away and shut the door. "We still have the grounds and the agenda."

"So organized," Mark laughed out. Taeyong led him back downstairs and back to the pool room. The pool was an L-shape and seemed to take up the space behind the gallery wall. At that end of the pool there was a single door to what Mark would assume was the mentioned sauna room. Taeyong disappeared through a tinted glass door, and Mark hurried to catch up.

The outside was a small flattened area on the mountain, with an opening to see the valley below. In the back, there was a raised area where Taeyong was standing at. Mark climbed the short steps to find a little lake that had a waterfall from higher up on the mountain meeting it. The other side of the lake trickled down the mountain in another waterfall.

"This whole place is beautiful, Taeyong. You grew up here?"

Taeyong smiled sadly and looked at him. "When I was little I lived here with my mother and my sisters. When I got a little older, she sent me with my uncle to learn business in the states."

"Oh... Is that how you came to be the CEO and all that..?"

He nodded along absentmindedly before leading Mark back down the steps. "Alright so there's a small and loose agenda. Right now, it's Tuesday evening. Tomorrow and Thursday, will be date nights. Friday, my sisters and their husbands will be arriving. Saturday we will spend time with them, and Sunday we'll all be leaving at the same time."

"I'm meeting your family?!" Mark practically screeched.

Taeyong laughed and put a gentle arm around Mark's shoulders. "You'll be fine."

~•~•~

How is everyone doing? Hope everything is good and well with you all and that you're staying happy and healthy. :)

Also, if you have any questions or are curious about the story or characters within, add them here and I'll try to answer them as best as possible! Or if you have any questions for me as well, I'll try to answer those as well! :)

I have a question for you though- out of all the members in NCT, which member do you think got me into NCT? (Small hint, it was summer 2020 right before Sungchan and Shotaro were announced)

As Always,

💚💚 Stay Wonderful y'all! 💚💚