Cartel│Mark Lee

Bliss, for now

The sunlight blinded my view as I met Mark on the beach. It was our second week here in his beach house. I handed Mark the bottle of whisky I grabbed from the cellular and he thanked me. "Come here." Mark gleamed at me. He looked healthy. The tiredness from his face disappeared and the stress that followed him everywhere he went suddenly left. Mark only smiled here with me as the worries in the world left his mind. It made me happy to see him this way. This place was a sort of haven for the two of us. I crawled between his legs and leaned my back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around me and rested his chin on my shoulder. We watched the waves roll onto the shore softly as the sun slowly fell below the horizon. It was pure bliss being here. I sighed when Mark placed his lips on my check. "What are you thinking about?" I asked Mark and smiled in content. "How happy I am right now. Being far away from everything with you." He paused for a second. "It feels like nothing can touch us." We both knew his words were not true. We knew we had to leave at some point and face reality, but it was a nice thought to think about. It really did feel like nothing could touch us. I was in bliss, for now.

Over the past two weeks Mark and I grew close. We spent every waking moment together and he was loosening up. Mark was no longer hesitant towards me, although we never talked about the multiple kisses we shared or our feelings. Nothing was dramatic here, everything was just easy. Mark took a sip out of the whisky bottle and he handed it to me. My face scrunched up at the taste of the burning alcohol. We sat there for a long time in each others presence. "We should head inside before the bugs come out." Mark said and I nodded my head in agreement. I wiped the sand off my legs as I stood up. My face looked at Marks mischievously as he eyed me. "First one back up to the house has to do the dishes." I let out a laugh before I turned around to start running. Mark chased after me, grabbing my hips he lifted me up off the ground and spun me around. I screamed in shock and tried to release myself from his grip. We both laughed as the world around us turned dark. The sun finally disappear into the horizon and we made our way back into the house. 

"I won." I cockily smiled at Mark who grinned back at me. "Only because I let you." I poked his nose and walked toward the kitchen. "I'll help you anyways."  My hand reached to open the dishwasher but I was stopped when Mark turned me around. He smiled down at me and brushed a strand of hair out of my face and put it behind my ear. "What?" I looked up at him innocently. "I've never met someone like you before nessa." He looked at me in admiration but I couldn't help but feel upset. I knew he was just distracted by the bliss of being here. Mark was just happy for the first time in a long time and he thought it was because of me. He was just dreaming. I let those thoughts slip away when he pulled me in close to him and our lips met. Whenever he was with me I felt like I was dreaming too. The feeling of our lips being put together was enough for me to go crazy. My body ached for Mark in every way and I wanted to enjoy every second of it. I allowed myself to dream with him in that moment. I allowed myself to fall into his spell for the time being and completely let him absorb me. The kiss was passionate and deep. My hands roamed around his body as his slipped down my back. His head swooped down to my neck as he trailed light pecks around the area. I was breathless as he touched me with care and ease.

We both broke away from our actions when his phone rang. My breathing was heavy as he looked at me. We haven't heard from anyone in the past two weeks and the ringing of the phone could only mean one thing. It was Taeyong with important news. Mark bit the inside of his cheek and picked up the phone. "Hello?" He paused and his face looked like it fell. He sat down in the dining room and responded to Taeyong. He cursed at whatever words he was hearing and let his head fall to his hands. "Alright send the driver." He muttered into the phone and hung up. The room fell silent for a moment before he looked to me. The bright face i've come to know during this time was replaced with one I knew all too well. Mark was back in business again. He held a frown as I looked at him questionably. "Pack your stuff we have to go back." 

I took a deep breath and nodded. I knew this day would come where we would have to go back to reality but I couldn't help the disappointment that crossed my mind. "We need to handel Haechan now. He wants to set up a meeting, god knows what he wants to say." Mark sighed and rubbed his head. "Are you okay with this?" He asked me and I nodded. "Of course." I knew there was no other option for me. If I said I wasn't okay It wouldn't of matter anyways, I would still be getting into a car to go back to attend that meeting. I didn't want to stress Mark out even more so I complied. "Listen Vanessa." Mark huffed. "We need to be careful again. I am sorry about this and my actions. But we cant-." He took a breath to pause but I already knew what he was going to say. "Be together like this." I finished his sentence and he nodded. My mouth went dry.

 He was right though, we had to be careful with his plan. Our relationship was straight was business, nothing more. It couldn't be anything more. We could ruin everything with being together intimately or emotionally. Whatever Mark and I had between us it had to be stopped, for the sake of the business. "It will go back to normal. Back to square one you and I when we get back. We are simply business partners and are fake dating for status." His words seemed force like he was holding back his tongue. "Okay, I understand." Our eye contact was toxic and I was ready to just leave and go back to the real world. If whatever we had went down badly his plan would go down the drain and it would affect business. I completely understood why he wanted things this way but I couldn't help the pain I felt. I knew this was coming but It still hit me like a ton of bricks. I was upset but then I realized I had no time to dwell. We had to handle Haechan and continue business as usual to make money. We were leaders in this industry and were not to be frowned down upon. We had to be perfect and be ready for whatever was to come our way, no strings attached. I sighed and forced a smile onto my face "Duty calls."