Chapter Twenty Nine – Shadow

“You left your phone at the office?”

“I guess so.” Chen couldn’t help but nod in agreement. He had looked for it in his pocket but his phone didn’t seem to be there. He supposed he had left it in the office.

Actually, he was in rush when his girlfriend, Luna, called him saying that she had already at the parking lot, waiting for him to have lunch together. So in the end, he ended up leaving his phone on the desk to meet up with Luna. He didn’t want the latter to wait for his arrival.

“So, go get your phone before we leave, Chen,” Luna said thoughtfully. “I don’t mind waiting for a moment.”

“Nope, it’s okay.” He shook his head lightly. “We can leave now, Luna.”

She raised an eyebrow. “But what about your phone? You should get it, Chen. What If someone calls you to deliver some crucial matters?”

“Fine, I’ll go get It,” he gave in with a sigh. “Wait for me.”

With that, he ran towards the lift and headed to the office in a split second. Without hesitation, he stepped in the forlorn office. Everyone was out for lunch so it was undeniable why the office seemed so lonely.

“Ah, there it is!” he bursted out as he came across his phone lying on his desk. He slipped it in his pocket and he was ready to leave the office quickly as Luna was waiting for him at the parking lot.

But he halted his intention as his ears caught creaking sound through Luhan’s office room. His eyebrow knitted together in bemusement. Why it seemed like someone was in his room? If Luhan was present, he wouldn’t have bothered himself to pay attention. It was strange, though.

As he imagined, someone was really in Luhan’s office room when he barged in the room discreetly. It was a girl, though, and surprisingly, he knew who was the girl although she didn’t face him directly. It was Chorong and she was oblivious of his presence. He had no idea why the latter was in Luhan’s office room where basically everyone wasn’t allowed to enter his room.

“Chorong-ssi? What’re you doing in here?”

The latter looked flabbergasted as she listened to his voice. She must have not expected someone would be here during lunch hour.

When she didn’t have the guts to answer his keen inquiry, Chen threw his another question impatiently. “Chorong-ssi, let me ask you again. What’re you doing in here?” His face looked intense. “And will you please look at me? Don’t treat me like you don’t know me.”

“Y-you?”

“Yes, it’s me,” he replied flatly. “What’re you doing in here? I suppose you aren’t allowed to be here, am I right?”

Chorong nodded helplessly. “Yes, I know it… but…”

“But what?” Chen casted her a suspicious glance.

“I… I….” The latter was at complete loss of words. She couldn’t think what sort of excuse she she should use to trap him. She wouldn’t want Chen to catch her red-handed and tell Luhan that she entered his room without consent.

“Chorong-ssi?”

“Uhm, Mr. Luhan’s office room looks rather messy so I helped to clean his things up before he comes back to office.”

“Oh, really?” He flickered his eyes to the surrounding. He seemed incredulous of her explanation but he didn’t care much to interrogate.“Okay, I’ll believe in you and thanks for lending a hand.” Chorong sensed a tinge of sarcasm in his words as if he actually didn’t believe in her but she didn’t bother to care. “By the way, why you didn’t go out for lunch?”

“Oh, I’m a bit under the weather, Mr. Chen,” she said and faked an unwell look. “I feel nauseous that I don’t fee like to eat.”

“Do you want me to take you to clinic?”

“No, it’s okay, Mr. Chen,” she refused, shaking her head fervently. “I can bear this.”

“Fine if you say so,” Chen remarked and his eyes rolled at Chorong  peculiarly.

“What’s the matter, Mr. Chen?” Chorong asked as she raised an eyebrow.

“What’s behind your back, Chorong-ssi?” He thought there was something behind her back as she seemed to hide it wit her hands.

The latter bit her lip and tried to hide the photo that she deliberately hid behind her back. She had no idea Chen would actually notice it. “It’s nothing, Mr. Chen!”

“Really…?”

A fake smile plastered on her lips. “Indeed, Mr. Chen.”

“Alright then,” he said and was about to step out the room. “Okay, I’m leaving now. After you’ve done cleaning up, please leave at once, Chorong-ssi.”

“I understand, Mr. Chen.”

“And I hope you won’t enter our big boss’s office room again after this unless you have his consent,” he added, earning a nod from the latter before he left the scene.

Chorong heaved a deep sigh of relief when he had gone. It was fortunate that he didn’t find out what was her real intention or else, she’ll be completely doomed. Her precious career might be at stake as well.

***

As Luhan had stated before, he would occupy his remaining days by spending time with Yoona at home. That was what they had decided to do. Though some people would say that spending time together at home were dull and boring, Luhan found it interesting and fun. In fact, Yoona seemed to agree with his preference.

“What kind of movies do you want to watch, jagiya?” he asked as he flipped through the dvds that he had purchased yesterday solely for today’s programme. He bought quite a lot and surprisingly, he didn’t choose them. He just picked them randomly without even looking at the titles.

Yoona seemed busy browsing through the dvds. There were a lot of choices so she did not know which one they should watch. “I don’t know, B…” she said, seemingly clueless. “All of these movies seem worth-watching.”

“I know right.” He emitted a laugh. “Actually, I have no idea too which one should we watch but out of these dvds, I’d choose ‘Wolf Boy’.” He took the said dvd from the bundle.

The younger frowned mildly. “‘Wolf Boy’? Why?”

“By any chance, do you still remember when we went out to catch a movie?”

“I do remember the time,” she answered with a nod, “we watched ‘Twilight’ during that time, right?”

Luhan smiled, nodded. “You’re right. We watched ‘Twilight’. Initially, we wanted to ‘Wolf Boy’ but we couldn’t since it was out of tickets.”

“Yes, you’re right, B.” Yoona beamed in remembrance. “Still, ‘Twilight’  is not that bad,” she remarked, chuckling vigorously. “It has the handsome Edward Cullen.”

The elder pouted slightly. “He’s not that handsome, jagiya,” he retorted with a rough snort. “I’m much better and handsome than him. I mean, way, way handsome.”

Yoona couldn’t help but let out a laugh. She found her husband was quite adorable when he was being jealous. On top of that, he even debated himself with Edward Cullen, saying he was much better than the latter. How childish of him, really.

“Cute,” she blurted out, still laughing.

“What ‘cute’?”

“You.” She pointed her finger at his face. “You’re being jealous over Edward Cullen.”

“Yes, I’m jealous,” he agreed, pouting cutely. “Who wouldn’t jealous if their wife talk about some guy when their husband is in front of them?”

“Okay, okay stop talking about Edward Cullen,” she eventually gave in and took the dvd from his hand. “Let’s watch ‘Wolf Boy’.”

“Alright then. Let’s watch this.” Yoona gave the dvd back to him and Luhan brought it the dvd player.

Then, she stood up and straightened her body before she stepped towards the kitchen.

“Where are you going, jagiya?” Luhan asked, frowning at her. “The movie’s about to start.”

“I’m going to kitchen to take some snacks and drinks,” she uttered. Watching movies won’t be indeed complete without refreshments.

“Oh, okay. I’ll pause the movie then.”

***

“The number you are calling is not answering. Please try again later.”

Kyungsoo heaved a sigh yet again. It had been countless time since he attempted to call Kai but he had never take his calls even for once. Anxiety, disappointment and bewilderment smashed together in his heart. He had no idea why the latter seemed to avoid accepting his calls. On top of that, he even stayed away from meeting him whenever he offered one. He’d make a bunch of excuses saying that he had loads of work at office, his parents were sick and so on though he knew Kai was obviously lying. They had been friends for years through thick and thin, though. He knew every single thing about the latter. He knew Kai wasn’t a decent liar. He could sense in an instant if he were to lie, though.

To be frank, he was somewhat upset with him when he intended to stay away from him. It seemed as if the younger didn’t want to be his friend anymore. He was deeply hurt, to be truth. Kai used to talk so softly and smoothly when talking to him but now, he barely heard his voice. Plus, he seemed hostile and his voice was undeniably hoarse. It seemed like he was straining himself to talk to him.

He let out a sigh again. He had used to meet him almost every day, listen to his voice every day and make everything together. If he was busy with his work, he’d at least make a call to know about his progression. In short, he soothed his tough days.

But now, all those things seemed to have started tumbling down. Kai wasn’