Tao arrived in Huang Industries headquarter at precisely 10.50 am that Monday. He was supposed to have his orientation day at 11.00 sharp with one of his future leaders.

Tao stood up outside the building after jumping out of the car, taking in the view in front of him. It was not the first time he had came here, but it was a long time ago since he came the last time. The building was the same, properly maintained, same polished floor, same shade of paint, same artwork in the lobby, although the security system was improved. He finally walked in, going through the security and the ID check machines before heading to 55^th floor where he’s supposed to meet his father.

He was excited, more than thrilled; this was the place where he’s going to work at until he had to retire, as well as the place for him to start. He wanted nothing more than to develop himself as much as he can and prove that he was worthy as his father’s successor. There is, of course, a realization inside of him of the fact that he then needed to be better than everyone else in the building; but another part of him wanted to just take in and enjoy everything, taking baby steps to make sure he learned everything in the process, so he’s going to be able to handle things on his own when it is time for him to.

Tao just hoped no one would push him to do things he didn’t want, or he didn’t know. He crossed his fingers, hoping for meeting and interacting with great group of people he could work well together with.

Upon stepping out of the elevator, Tao was met by his father who just arrived at the same floor.

“Right on time, son!” he exclaimed happily, immediately patting Tao’s shoulder, guiding him to the office.

“Yes, sir. I am so excited,” Tao said, nodding.

Huang senior laughed as they walked towards a man who looked really sleek and charismatic, standing tall in the middle of the office, smiling towards them, “I could tell! So, Tao, this is Choi Siwon, he is your leader in Business Development department. He would be your mentor and General Manager from now on. Choi, this is Zitao. Please make him learn a lot,” Tao’s father introduced Tao to a taller man in front of them.

The said Choi Siwon pulled out his right hand to shake Tao’s, who took it gladly.

“Nice to have you, Zitao. You will definitely learn a lot in this department,” Siwon flashed him a smile.

“Thank you so much for having me in your supervision, Sir. Please take care of me,” Tao replied with a smile too.

The senior Huang laughed at their introduction to one another, “Zitao here has so much to learn, Choi. This would be his first job experience,”

“Oh really?” Siwon raised both his eyebrows before smiling widely, “Don’t worry, Zitao, looking at your records, I believe you won’t have a hard time keeping up,”

“Thank you, Sir,” Tao bowed a little.

“Welcome to the department!” Siwon tapped Tao’s shoulder.

“Alright then, all good here? I am going to the Finance Department; I would like to see if Choi senior has met Chanyeol. I hope he had had him settled in,”

“This morning he did mentioned that he was getting a new trainee over at his department. Someone with exquisite math skills? I personally think he would excel in finance analysis,”

“You are just like your father,” Mr. Huang laughed heartily, “Well then I should be going, I don’t want to miss the introduction over there. I shall see you later, Zitao, Siwon,”

Both Tao and Siwon nodded, “Have a good day, sir!” the General Manager said, smiling.

Mr. Huang waved towards Siwon and Tao before disappeared into the elevator.

“Well, Zitao, let’s go, I will introduce you to your colleagues. Some of them are in our trainee program, and the rest are already permanent employees here. Usually they don’t look serious, but don’t let their looks defy you; they are very thoughtful and critical. Your father was very proud of having the most excellent group of people in his business team,” Siwon continued as he gestured Tao to follow him.

“Then I am glad to join, Sir,”

“Well said, Zitao!”

They were entering the glass doors when a familiar voice chimed in.

 “Zitao!”

Tao turned to his side to see Luhan walking towards him excitedly.

“Ah yes, one of your colleague would be your friend Luhan. Xi Luhan is now working on the future development project we have been focusing on. He would be one of your mentors too. He’s one of our best associate partners,” Siwon tapped Luhan’s back lightly, earning a smile from the other.

“I was trained by the best, hyung!” Luhan said before turning to Tao, “You look handsome in a suit, Tao,”

“Ge! How are you! Was the work good??” Tao beamed excitedly, as Siwon chuckled beside him.

Luhan was samely excited, “It was great, it’s only my third day and I already learned a lot! I met the trainees yesterday and they were so eager, and they’re really nice. You’ll have fun,” he ruffles Tao’s hair, “And you have the best mentor,” he gestured towards Siwon, who laughed wholeheartedly.

“Oh Lu, shut it. How was that project going?”

“It was on schedule, we’re having a meeting today regarding it. I believe you receive the invitation too?” Luhan checked his tab.

“Yes I did, it’s this afternoon, right? Is everything ready?”

“Just finishing up,” Luhan smiled.

“Alright, get going then! I’ll show Zitao around then I will stop by your room to see through the presentation,”

Luhan nodded, ruffling Tao’s hair once again before excusing himself, “Good luck!” he said.

Tao smiled before shifting his gaze back to Siwon.

“Everyone gets a room except the trainees, they get one big classroom. Yours would be the one in the corner over there. Wait, have you visited the building before?” Siwon asked, turning to Tao as they walk through the corridor.

Tao shook his head, “Not exactly, no,”

“Ah well then we shall start from downstairs,” Siwon his heel and motioned for Tao come with him to the elevators.

Soon one of the six elevator dings and the two stepped inside. There were a lot of buttons inside, from basement 4 to 57.

“So anything below the ground floor is the parking area,” Siwon pointed the buttons, “Mr. Huang senior works at the top floor, 57. 56^th floor is for our CFO and directors. 50^th floor through 55^th is ours, Business Development. Legal is below us, the whole three floors, because they have this big meeting room. Finance and Human Resources are on the same floor. Those nutties from finance needs to be kept sane. It’s good that we have the best HR team working here. So all seven floors are theirs. They also have one floor special for training purposes; it’s the one on 39^th floor. We have admins and tech supports on 37^th and 38^th, then an auditorium on 36^th floor. Marketing and Communications office is on the 31^st through 35^th. We don’t usually go to the rest of the floors, but we do have a break room on 10^th floor, and coffee shop on the 9^th. That’s the important one. Coffee,” Siwon explained with a grin as they went down to the 37^th floor.

“I don’t drink coffee, Sir,” Tao said with a small smile.

Yes. He stopped.

“Really? Well you should try! It’s good!” Siwon beamed, “And from now on, call me hyung, Sir only works whenever our fathers are around, okay?” he winked.

Tao smiled wider then nodded, “Yes, hyung,”

“Good!” Siwon smiled as the elevator doors opened, “Now this is our tech supports and admins, this is Mrs. Lei, she’s our support manager, practically the boss of the floor,”

Mrs. Lei smiled, “Siwon-ssi how are you?”

“I am good, Mrs. Lei,” Siwon smiled back, gesturing towards Tao, “this is Zitao, he is our new addition at Business Development,”

“So I’ve heard! Welcome to Huang Industries, Zitao. Your father must be really happy,” Mrs. Lei patted Tao’s arm.

“Thank you, Mrs. Lei. Please help me in the future,” Tao bowed politely.

“A polite young man! Teach something to Siwon’s friends upstairs,” Mrs. Lei winked, making Siwon laughed loudly.

“Donghae is not impolite, Mrs. Lei. He’s just very talkative,” Siwon grinned.

“Everyday! I don’t know how he got all those energy,” Mrs. Lei replied with a smile.

They continued to chat for a while until Siwon excused both him and Tao.

“Come and play down here whenever you get bored, okay?” Mrs. Lei winked again.

Tao nodded with a smile. He’s so glad that the first two person he met today were so welcoming towards him.

Their tour continued until they got back to the floor where Tao met Siwon this morning.

“This is our floor, Business Development. That room in the corner is yours,” he pointed at a vacant room in the back, “Come, let me show you,” they made a turn on the corridor, to meet with a couple of people from the opposite side.

“Oh, that’s Donghae! Come, Zitao! Let me introduce you!” Siwon waved his hand so Tao would come faster.

Tao walked behind Siwon, but was halted when a woman came from her room on his right, bumping into him.

“Oops!” she exclaimed, dropping her phone.

Tao reached down to help her get her phone, “Here, miss,”

“Thank you! I am such a klutz!” she hastily said, giving him a flash of grateful smile as she made her way to the elevator behind him. Tao’s eyes followed her. Her blonde hair was bouncing behind here, and it was very long. She was only walking eight steps when she returned to where Tao was standing.

“Forgot my purse!” she sang, entered her office again.

Tao chuckled, watching her fumbled all things in her office.

“Good morning,” a voice said in front of him.

Tao was turning to greet back, almost forgetting that he was in the middle of introduction session with Siwon.

But when he saw the figure that had just greeted him, his heart started to race, his breathing was hitched.

It was like everything stopped.

He was still the same, but a lot different. His hair was dark black, no longer blonde. It was shorter. He looked more mature, slightly taller if it’s possible. He no longer wears sneakers. He wore a suit with white shirt and damn he looked so handsome. Too handsome. There was a smile on his face, as if he wasn’t surprised to see Tao here. There was a man in front of him, smiling at Tao’s direction. Siwon gestured him to come closer, same smile plastered on his face. Tao glanced at the first figure’s expression again, who smiled wider.

Suddenly Tao felt sick.

“I’m sorry, excuse me,” he mumbled as he turned and headed to the elevator.

Trying to compose himself and not to alert people around him and cause a scene, he pressed the elevator button as calm as possible. He stood and waited, but it was taking to long. He could have catch up to him in approximately three seconds. He glanced at the emergency staircase.

He walked fast, almost jogged, impatiently pushing the door and started to walk up the stairs.

He walked and he walked, climbing the stairs and climbed some more.

And in a blink of an eye, he was at the rooftop.

He fell sitting on the cement, back pressed to the roof door, trying his best to breathe normally.

It was him.

"Kris!" Donghae appeared on his door with a loud thud.

Kris lifted up his head at the sound, grinning, "Good Morning,"

"Good Morning, mate! How is it going?"

"Good, catching up. Do you need anything?"

"I need you. We haven't got a chance to show you around. Lets to! Lots to meet lots to see so little time,"

Kris nodded as he got out of his chair, grabbing his suit then followed Donghae to the top floor. They stepped out of the elevator to be met by a woman with two desks, for her and another person across her, and a big twin door behind them. The room was neat and spacious, too big to be occupied only by two people. On the corner there were leather couch, loveseats in the same shade, and a coffee table with various magazines. All had Mr. Huang's face on them.

"Well here is the office for our CEO. He usually doesn’t spend much time in Korea, but now he does. He's a good leader, can be strict sometimes," Kris memorized it in his head as Donghae gestured to the woman, "This is Ms. Kwon, his secretary," the woman nodded with a smile, "and Mr. Zhou is not here. Is Mr. Huang in?" he asked Ms. Kwon.

"Yes", she nodded with a smile; "Mr. Huang is with Zhou downstairs, meeting the new trainees,"

"Alright," Donghae smiled back then turned to Kris, "So yeah, this is where our CEO's office is. Our CFO's is one floor below, as well as the directors. Mr. Huang doesn't really stay in his office, though. They have a big meeting room downstairs, and he likes discussing stuff. But anyways if you need anything that concerns him, you can ask Ms. Kwon. She has his schedule for everything. Her email is already in your Outlook,"

Kris nodded, following Donghae who has started to walk back to the elevator, "Nice to meet you, Ms. Kwon,"

Ms. Kwon smiled again, waving, "Nice to meet you too,"

"I'm sorry you haven't got to meet Mr. Huang yet. He is nice. Not every CEO spare time to meet their subordinates, you know. Let alone trainees. I hope they don't embarrass themselves," Donghae grinned.

Kris grinned too, "Well I hope I don't when I get a chance to meet him,"

"Nah, you won't. He selected you himself, you know. He saw your CV, did his direct assessment on you, and was like, 'I want this young man' haha!"

Kris smiled, proud of himself. They reached the next floor.

"So this is the floor I told you about earlier, the office of our CFO, Mr. Choi; the other Choi, but the same Choi as our Choi, and the other Choi,”

Kris raised an eyebrow towards Donghae.

“Our CFO is Choi senior, father to Siwon and Minho,” Donghae explained and laughed, “It’s okay if you don’t know. But you do know Huang senior has a son, right?”

Kris nodded in understanding, “Yeah I do,”

He knew him well.

“Anyways, this is his office, and the Directors’. It's all in the back, with their names on the door. This is Ms. Kim, their receptionist. They have their own secretaries, all in the offices next to the director's offices," he walked around the floor, "This is the meeting room. These desks are for Ms. Kwon or Mr. Zhou when Mr. Huang is here,"

"Now if you want to make appointments with any of them, you should address it to the secretaries. Not because they’re that kind of bosses who are always unavailable, or like arrogant, but they’re just that busy and sometimes couldn’t keep up with their own schedule. Man I’ll go crazy if I have their schedule,” Donghae laughed.

Kris laughed, “As if your schedule now is not packed,”

“Well not like theirs. Once I had to make a conference call with one of our directors, he was in our Zurich branch the night before, and I invited him for lunchtime conference. But then by lunchtime he was already in our Chicago office and with the time difference it was practically still breakfast. It’s confusing. I let his secretary to arrange the next conference calls. Never again,” Donghae sighed exasperatedly, gesturing Kris to follow him.

Donghae walked him through all the rooms, introducing all their directors and general managers who happened to be on the floor. All of them seemed to be so nice and eager to have Kris, and Kris was nothing but excited to learn.

“Our CFO is not here, probably he’s in the Finance department. He goes there a lot. I heard we’re also having some new people down there, and some on Business Development. I think I heard Ms. Kwon said that the one in Business Development was our own CEO’s young Huang,” Donghae said, nodding in approval of his own gossip.

Kris’s ears perked up at Donghae’s words, turning to his new friend with piercing eyes, “Really? When is this guy coming?”

“Well probably today. Poor guy better get ready. I bet he’d get a lot of expectation. But anyways he would be in good hands; Siwon would take a good care of him. You know, give him challenges and stuff. Or maybe he’d be included in the trainee programs. I heard they’re all really good in this batch. Can’t wait for them to be assigned on projects. Last year we got one who dropped the program because he couldn’t keep up anymore,” Donghae laughed, “Haa~ Now that’s poor guy. Well what are you hoping? This isn’t any company,”

Kris nodded blankly, only listening to half of what Donghae just said. So there is a possibility that he’d able to meet the young Huang today. He crossed his fingers in his mind, hoping to be able to meet the person he’d want to see the most.

“Anyways, since you have met everyone, lets continue. Next is the Business Development,” Donghae led the two inside the elevator again.

“So we have six floors to ourselves, which is good. We have two classrooms on the 50^th floor; we usually use them for the trainees. But during football season, or any sports season really, we turned them into theatre. Don’t tell any of our leaders, okay,” Donghae grinned.

Kris scoffed, “Really? Don’t you think they know by now?”

“Well usually they don’t work overtime here. Even if they do, they do it from their homes. Our CEO was notorious for being a real workaholic, even dragged his wife all over the planet. She was one of our directors too. She had quit now, and since, he had always went home when the office hours is over. It’s good, little less tension on the building,” Donghae grinned wider his face look dumb.

Kris smiled, “Good thing then. Giant company like this must took a lot of time to take care. I wonder how they balanced it with their personal life and family,” Kris tried to provoke Donghae to get information he had missed for these whole years of being abroad. Dirty, but Kris really wanted to know.

“Well it was hard, I heard,” Donghae was hooked without knowing Kris’ intention, “they were practically never there for their son. I also heard that they left their son in the care of their evil butler. Poor thing. They have a really big mansion as far as I know. A whole block downtown where I could never imagine to be able to afford a month rent. I heard they even have a helipad in their house. Imagine living there alone. All these money and greatness but there was no one to enjoy it with. I promised myself not to be too engrossed at work later when I have my own family,” Donghae said as he stepped out of the elevator.

“They don’t have a helipad in their house,” Kris mumbled.

“I’m sorry what?” Donghae turned to Kris.

“No, nothing,” Kris smiled, scolding himself for his own slip.

“Haha dude if you have any question just ask alright, don’t hesitate,” Donghae said again as the glass doors opened, “Alright, back to Business Development. Let’s start from the back,”

Again, Donghae led the two to the back of the floor, nodding to their colleagues that passed them. Donghae introduced Kris to some of the leaders and to the other business partners. They were on in front of the last room on the corner, and Donghae opened the door without knocking.

“Luhan! Come here, come! This is Kris Wu, our new partner!” Donghae said as he pushed the door to open wider.

Luhan was just rising from his seat and approached the door when he stopped midway, realizing who this ‘Kris’ was.

“Good morning,” Kris said with a small smile, hoping that his nervousness would not show.

Luhan blinked, stunned.

“Kris, this is Luhan, Lu, this is Kris,” Donghae said, smiling happily, completely oblivious to the tension in the air.

Kris extended his right hand.

Luhan blinked again before nodding, “Good morning, I’m Xi Luhan,” he managed to say as he took Kris’ hand, shaking it.

“Yes, so Kris, Luhan is also out new partner. He’s currently handling one of our future development projects, so for now you have different projects. But in the future you may work together,” Donghae grinned.

“You’re also new here?” Luhan asked, still confused.

Kris nodded, smiling. He hoped Luhan would be professional and able to work with him despite what had happened. Unknowingly to him, Luhan was thinking exactly the same thing. He hoped Kris have matured and could separate work and personal life. He had no idea why Kris would act as if they never met before, but until he figured it out, he’ll go along with it. Luhan himself was not holding grudge against Kris, he never was. It just surprised him that Kris actually had the balls to come back, and work in Huang Industries on top of that. He could imagine how mad Baekhyun and Suho would be, although if he were Kris, he would worry more about the former. Baekhyun could whip out a bazooka out of nowhere and blast Kris’ head off right away.

Did Tao have any clue about this, Kris being here, working for his family’s company?

“Yes, he was here the same time as you but I just got the chance to give him the tour, that’s why you just met him,” Donghae answered for Kris, the same excitement still in his voice, “Well we gotta go now. Still have a lot of places to get to!”

Luhan nodded, “Ah. Yes. Well, it is nice to meet you,”

“Nice too meet you too,” Kris said as Donghae closed the door again.

Luhan paced around his desk to find his phone. If Tao knew, he would have called him by now but there were no notifications coming from Tao on his handheld. Then he must have no clue. He must tell Tao fast.

Little did he know, the concerned one had already seen Kris outside his office.

“Oh, that’s Donghae! Come, Zitao! Let me introduce you!” Siwon exclaimed from the middle of the corridor.

Donghae saw Siwon and waved, “Hello! So you’re also giving a tour? Is that the new guy?”

Siwon smiled, “Not just a guy, he’s Huang Zitao,”

Kris’ eyes searched as soon as the name was mentioned. The figure behind Siwon was facing the other side so he couldn’t see the face yet. He begged heavens for the person to turn around, but he was staying on his position for a while, watching a female employee fumbling in her office. Impatient, Kris boldly called.

“Good morning,”

And then he turned.

The same boy, now a man. Still cute, still mesmerizing. Stunning in his tailored suit. Kris had never seen him in a suit and he had to admit he is gorgeous in it. The familiar eyebags were still there, a little darker. Cheeks, a little thinner. The lips, still plump and inviting. Overall, he was still the person he fell in love with.

Their eyes locked.

The other gasped, eyes wide starring at him.

“I’m sorry, excuse me,” his face faltered as he turned and practically ran towards the elevator.

Kris was too stunned to do anything. Siwon stared for a while then shrugged, telling Donghae that maybe Tao needed bathroom break. Kris knew more than anyone that Tao left not because of that, but he stood there pretending to listen whatever Siwon and Donghae was talking.

Once again Kris let Tao go.