this is a filler chapter, to prepare for the next EunHae chapter. Sorry for the long wait. I don't know if i still have any reader waiting for this, but update is always nice, no?

Park Chanyeol, 23 going on 24, was one of three secretaries/PAs working for Lee Hyukjae. He started working for the richest man in Korea ever since he was 21 and fresh out of university. He worked alongside Cho Kyuhyun and Choi Minho to make sure CEO Lee’s days went as smoothly as possible. They divided the workloads with Kyuhyun sunbae taking care of the appointments and schedules, Minho hyung taking care of the endless paperwork and Chanyeol taking care of everything else.

Chanyeol’s day started very early. He was up and ready before the clock even struck 7. The first order of business was CEO Lee’s breakfast. His boss wasn’t fussy about food, but Chanyeol found out by chance that the hot chocolate and butter bread from a certain small bakery could greatly improve the older man’s moods. Every morning he would personally deliver those two items to CEO Lee’s penthouse. After dropping the breakfast combo, he went straight to the office and prepare for the day.

Chanyeol came by the sought after job by pure good luck. But it was his dedication, tenacity and hard work that made him kept the job after the first week of probation hell. It was a known fact that Lee Hyukjae only wanted the best, and he weeded out the weak from the strong by making them went through his fearsome ‘7 days of torture’.

Before Chanyeol, only 2 other persons survived it, Cho Kyuhyun and Choi Minho. Their respective salary was the envy of many other employees, but the sum was understandable, since they have to deal with CEO Lee on a daily basis, with 24/7 work hours and almost no vacation time.

CEO Lee wasn’t a horrible boss per se, but he was a workaholic and damn perfectionist at all times. He always gave out his best and he expected the same from all of his employees. The brunt of the demand just happened to be shouldered by those who were closest to him. He went through secretaries like a chain smoker went through a pack of cigarettes. He burned them out fast, really fast. One of the secretaries only lasted a mere 3 hours before she quit and went home crying.

CEO Lee was also widely known as a neat freak. He had a strong dislike for clutters and it was Chanyeol’s sacred duty to keep the man’s office in a clean and organized state. Chanyeol had a long and meaningful talk with the cleaning crews for the CEO’s office over Korean BBQ and bottles of soju. They came to a mutual understanding of what was expected from the professional cleaners and what Chanyeol was willing to offer as reward for job well done.

Another important thing about CEO Lee was that he had what Chanyeol dubbed “Silent Mode”. It only came once in a while, usually when the CEO was under a lot of stress. Being the head of several multibillion won companies (yes, more than one actually, 12 if Chanyeol included the overseas subsidiaries), stress was an everyday thing for CEO Lee, and the older man handled it remarkably well.

The only indication of how severe the stress was when CEO Lee pulled out two photo frames from his locked second drawer and put them up on his desk.

The first time Chanyeol saw the frames, he was confused because he was sure there were none before. He was about to ask the CEO about them, but after seeing the intense way the older man looked at the pictures, Chanyeol swallowed his words and went about his day like usual. When the CEO left for a meeting and Chanyeol was left alone in the office, his curiosity got the better of him and he peeked at the frames.

The first one housed a picture of a younger version of CEO Lee sitting on the lap of a beautiful woman. His mother, Chanyeol concluded after noticing the similar almond eyes and button nose. The second one was a mystery. The picture was of a chapel or something like that. On the bottom left corner were two dates, only several days apart, and on the bottom corner was an initial, DH, written in bold letters. Chanyeol knew that the pictures held deep meaning and he unconsciously memorized the dates on the second pictures, his PA instinct kicked in.

Part of the mystery became clear when the second date on the pictures rolled around and CEO Lee took a leave of absence from his duties to attend his mother’s death memorial. The first date remained a mystery.

*****

Kris Wu walked the hall of LDH main branch with confident stride. The 25 year old model was a permanent fixture at the power house of Korean fashion industry. Despite the hundreds offers he received from other establishments, Kris Wu was signed exclusively to LDH. He refused to appear on any other campaign aside from LDH’s.

Even though he only walked on LDH’s shows, he managed to build a reputation as one of the top models around the globe. Half of it was his strikingly handsome features and tall body. The other half was the mysterious aura he shrouded himself in.

Kris Wu started modeling at the tender age of 17. Donghae accidentally spilled his coffee on Kris and one thing led to another, they became acquaintances. Kris was then recruited as a model for Lee Donghae, a struggling fashion student at the time. His first payment was two big burgers from a fast food joint. He up a friendship with Donghae-ge and when Kris ran away from his abusive uncle’s house, Donghae was the one who took him in.

Kris would never forget the small and cramped apartment, the texture of the faux fur carpet where he slept because the bed was too small and there wasn’t enough room for even a couch. He remembered the cracked sink and rusty shower head, where the water was lukewarm at best during winter and smelly during summer. He remembered the rickety stairs and the flickering hall lights. He remembered how they have to play hide and seek with the landlady because the room was obviously only for single occupant instead of two. There was no denying that it was hard, but Kris loved it there. It was the only place he could truly call home ever since his parents died. And Donghae-ge was the only person he would call family ever since his uncle almost cracked his skull with an empty bottle of beer.

Kris took whatever job was available and when Donghae needed a model, Kris gladly volunteered. Donghae was willing to pay Kris for his time, but after everything, Kris would only accept food as form of payment from his ge. It was by helping Donghae that Kris developed a fondness for modeling.

Once Donghae graduated, he returned to Korea and offered Kris to come with him. Kris agreed immediately and the two flew to Seoul with bags of hopes and dreams.