Ready to inherit his father's company, Mark is sent on one final errand before he becomes the new CEO of Lee Corporations and that is to secure a merging deal with Na Industries.
Setting off with an overnight bag for the countryside where Mr Na had...
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"There's so much to do!" Taeyong, his advisor, cries as his fingers file through some messages and emails on his phone with impressive speed, not taking his eyes off of the device.
"At 11 you've got a meeting about the new marketing campaign that's about to launch, at 1 you've got to approve the selected trainees for the design department, then at 2 you have to be at the conference hall, and that'll last till 5-"
"Tae..." Mark cuts him off, his head turned ever so slightly so that he can catch the boy out of the corner of his eye, "Breathe, please-"
"-And that is just the beginning!" He announces with a sigh, locking his phone, only to then unlock it a second later as he goes back to his calendar app, "Remember you've got that dinner later, which under no circumstances should you be late for..."
Ah.
The dinner with his father and his fiancé and her father.
Mark wants to throw his head back against the headrest repeatedly until he can't even remember his own name.
There's nothing he wants to avoid more than to mull over dull business deals with two opinionated old men over small portions of food that he's never heard of, his hand holding some girl's that he's never actually had a moment alone with.
He would do anything to get out of it... but he knows Taeyong is right, under no circumstance is he to miss this, because if he did, then he'd never hear the end of it and he could probably kiss the promotion of CEO goodbye.
"Wouldn't dream of it" He mumbles, his head lolling to the side so that he's mindlessly staring out of the window, watching silently as the city landscape blurs before his eyes, all just the same monochrome shades of grey with the high rise buildings and the flashy black cars.
He feels like somehow time had just sped up, he feels almost like his breath keeps getting caught in his throat because of how time passes here in the city. Maybe he just didn't notice it before because he became so used to all the schedules and the meetings but since spending the weekend with Jaemin and his friends in the countryside, riding bikes, taking picnics, playing guitar, suddenly he feels like a stranger in his own life, he feels so out of place, as he's now aware of all that the world has to offer.
He finds himself comparing the tarmac streets to the lush green hills that were rolled out before him, he compares the thick air and the grey clouds to the crystal clear blue sky that tasted sweet like summer freedom, he compares the polished shoes and the pressed suits to ripped denim shorts and cropped shirts... to smooth tanned skin, to wavy brown hair, a button nose and deep brown eyes that God, Mark swears he could've drowned in, that rich and warm chocolate, those golden flecks...
"Oh, I almost forgot!"
Mark squeezes his eyes shut, humming in response to Taeyong's rather sudden outburst to tell him that he's listening, even if he really isn't.
