Kris loves his mother. He always has and always will. No matter how much she nags, scolds and embarrasses him, he would always let them go whenever he recalls who she was in his life and how much she means to him. Of course, he will never openly admit that he is somewhat a mama's boy. 

        But he absolutely, freakingly hates it when his mother drops a bomb on his head. She's done it many times before, recently a year ago when she told him he'll be marrying a certain Lee Yuri and now this. He had opted to lie to his mother about his relationship with Nina since he was sure that his mother would be gone by the next day. But she just had to crush his dreams away, didn't she?

        Something's not right.

        Kris can't stop thinking about it even when he had left his beach house and was on his way to the city. He bit his bottom lips so many times in anxiety as he thought about Nina being left alone in the house with his mother. He couldn't explain why it bothered it him so much but he figured it had something to do with last night's happenings.

        But she deserves it, doesn't she?, his inner devil whispered. She did cause a ruckus into your life, embarassing you in front of the whole media.

        She's a lady, Kris. She didn't do it because she wanted to, the better side of him whispered. She was just helping her friend. It's not your fault that she's slightly naive, gullible and easily manipulated. As a man, you should protect her, not throw her in front of the bus.

        Kris sighed and ran a hand through his hair. His brown eyes hidden behind his Oakley sunglasses were swimming in anxiety and worry, but he knew he couldn't just turn back and back out on the meeting. He has a responsibility to do and he knew he will be nagged endlessly by his mother and even Nina if he ran away from it. He still hasn't figured out why he bothered about what she thinks though and simply ignored it. So Kris reluctantly stepped on the accelarator and made his way to the proud building of Wu Empire.

        "Morning, boss."

        Kris nodded his head in response towards his new personal assistant, Baekhyun, who then handed him a file as they walked side by side along the lobby of Wu Empire. Employees stopped and bowed in respect as he walked past, but Kris ignored them and flipped open the file as he made his way towards the elavator.

        "Anyone here yet?" he asked, eyes still not leaving the file.

        They stopped as they reached the doors to the elavator and Baekhyun immediately pressed the up button. He then turned to his employer and shook his head. "It's still a bit early, Kris. Though Suho called earlier to inform us he'll be a tad bit late due to some transportation emergency."

        Kris nodded and shut the file at the same time the elavator dinged and the two immediately got into the metal compartment. Baekhyun pressed for the 35th floor and the two fell into silence throughout the ride. When they finally reached their designated floor, Kris stepped out followed quickly by his personal assistant and was greeted by none other than Park Chanyeol, Kris's obnoxious and loud best friend slash Baekhyun's cousin. The male rolled his eyes at the sight of the beaming beagle (as he called him) and Baekhyun fist-pumped his cousin before moving towards his desk.

        Chanyeol chuckled as he trailed behind his employer and shut the door behind him as soon as they reached his office. Kris strided towards his chair behind the desk and took a seat with a sigh before placing his file onto the table and switching on his laptop. He ignored Chanyeol who had seated himself on the chair opposite of him and kept his focus on his work.

        "Who else is joining this meeting?" Chanyeol suddenly asked to avoid the silence. Being the vitamin and happy virus Kris had ever known, he knew Chanyeol will never be able to quiet down for long. The male sighed and decided to answer him anyway. 

        "A lot, actually. There's Mr. Jung from TVXQ Enterprise, Mr. Kim of JYJ Holdings, Ms. Ahn from that fashion company - I forgot its name - oh and Suho." Kris said without looking up at his friend.

        "Ahhh..." Chanyeol nodded his head then unexpectedly grinned. "So Nina-sshi's boss will be here too."

        Kris looked up at Chanyeol in surprise before frowning in confusion. "How'd you know Nina works for him?"

        "I have my sources." Chanyeol shrugged.

        "You mean Tao?" Kris deadpanned.

        "...yeah."

        I should fire him for his big mouth.

        "Luhan and I kinda forced the info out of him, Kris." Chanyeol defended Tao as if reading his mind. "We were talking about the old man and Tao kinda slipped a little clue about Nina-sshi and him, so being the curious us, we forced it out of him."

        "He still slipped."

        "People makes mistake."

        "Sure they do." Kris sighed.

        Chanyeol grinned. "Yeah, like you."

        Kris scowled at this. "What do you mean by that?"

        Before he could demand an answer out of Chanyeol, his intercom buzzed and Baekhyun's voice came through it. "Kris, Mr. Kim Junsu of JYJ Holdings had just arrived at the front entrance."

        Kris sighed and replied, "I'll be right out. Get everyone involved in the meeting prepared."

        "Yes boss."

        Kris mentally sighed at Baekhyun's playful tone while Chanyeol beamed.

        Kris sighed and ran a hand in his hair as he walked out of the meeting room, followed by Baekhyun and Chanyeol. The two cousins were bickering about something Chanyeol did during their family gathering on the weekends, ignoring the fact that their employer is right in front of them with a massive headache. The meeting had gone for hours and Kris had find it difficult to pay attention to whatever that was discussed. Chanyeol had to clear his throat many times in order to gain his attention during the entire ordeal since he kept zoning in and out of his thoughts. 

        For some reason, Kris's thought kept bringing him back to the two ladies at his beach house - or could it be only one? Still, Kris couldn't help but worry as he thought about Nina being home alone with his mother. He knew for sure that his mother would never harm her, and for some reason, he realizes that she really does like Nina. But something smells fishy. Kris can't stop thinking that something was amiss, but he's meeting dead ends with what could be the reason. But one thing's for sure, he didn't like the certain glim he managed to catch in his mother's eyes.

        "Yo!"

        Kris looked up and narrowed his eyes at the sight of Luhan approaching him with Tao by his side. Luhan was dressed in a black turtleneck beneath a gray coat matched with dark blue jeans while Tao wore a white T-shirt underneath his brown coat and similar blue jeans unlike the usual work attire they always had on when they were at work. Luhan had just taken a day off while Tao was still on leave.

        "What are you two doing here?" Kris asked as they met halfway. Chanyeol and Baekhyun grinned from behind him.

        "This derp called us and we decided to meet up for lunch." Luhan replied with a grin while pointing at Chanyeol who grinned right back.

        I have a bad feeling about this.

        "And you're joining us, boss." Baekhyun smirked and grinned.

        Kris sighed. "I have a lot to do. So you guys can just-"

        "No you don't." Baekhyun simply cut him off with a not-so-innocent look on his face. "You're free for the afternoon. I double checked your schedule and you are not tied to anything at the moment." Oh the perks of being CEO Wu's personal assistant, Baekhyun thought with a smirk when Kris groaned.

        "Unless you have better things to do?" Chanyeol asked slyly and flashed him a knowing smirk as Luhan snickered, earning a low growl from Kris. He then shifted his gaze to Tao who had been quiet the whole time.

        Tao caught the look in his eyes and gulped. Before Kris could say anything, he heard Chanyeol's voice booming again and turned to see the hyper vitamin hugging a slightly shorter guy who wore an angelic smile on his face. His stiffed and shared anxious looks with Tao while Luhan pressed his lips into a thin line at the sight.

        "I haven't see you for so long, hyung!" Chanyeol said as he draped an arm over the male's shoulder.

        "Yeah, I've been travelling a lot lately." He then shifted his gaze to the others and caught sight of Kris. "Hey man, long time no see."

        "We've been quite busy lately, you and I." Kris agreed with a stiff nod.

        Suho sighed. "Yeah, tell me about it. Anyways, how's Nina-sshi?"

        Shoot.

        The other boys shot him a knowing look while Kris struggled to control his face expression. He surprised the others by looking slightly shy yet kept his cool posture as he slightly smiled. "She's fine. Thanks for letting me pull her away from the office."

        Suho shook his head and smiled. "It's fine. According to her department manager, she's always working and she's never took a leave before ever since she started working with us two years ago," he chuckled. "A workaholic, like you."

        "I agree." Kris nodded. "Maybe that's what pulled me in." 

        I did not just say that. 

        "I'm surprised that Kris managed to seriously sit in a relationship which doesn't involve one-night stands and ." Luhan snickered from beside the tall male, earning a threatening glare from the said male.

        "I don't do , dickhead." Kris hissed while Chanyeol and Baekhyun topled over in laughter.

        "OMG I can't imagine Kris tied to the bed with all those ." Baekhyun laughed. Even Tao couldn't hold back his smile while Suho seemed to cringed at the topic.

        "I swear if guys don't shut it right now, I will have all of your things removed from the office immediately." he threatened. That shut them up right away. "And what makes you think I'll be the one tied to the bedpost?" he hissed, earning chuckles from his idiotic friends. Kris sighed and turned to Suho. "Why am I friends with these people?"

        "Cause they're the only ones who can handle our ?" Suho replied humorously. Kris chuckled and nodded his head in agreement. "Anyways, I have to go. Need to meet up with my sister to help out with her wedding."

        "Oh, Sunmi's getting married?" Baekhyun asked with wide eyes. "I thought she just met the dude?"

        "Which dude?" Chanyeol asked.

        "Big eyes, wide smile, heart shape lips, right?" Luhan described Suho's soon-to-be brother-in-law, earning a chuckle from Suho. "What's his name again?"

        "Do Kyungsoo. And they've been friends since high school, actually. We all know him from then, so we didn't mind them getting married after only a few months dating. He's a great guy and I guess I can say that he's perfect for my sister."

        Kris nodded. "Congratulate her for us, will you?"

        "Sure. She might send out the invitations soon. I'll make sure you guys get them." Suho promised.

        Tao suddenly beamed. "So we're gonna get to eat cakes?" he squealed. "I love cakes!"

        "I know you do, Tao." Suho replied with a smile. "Well, I'm off. See you guys around," he said before turning to Kris. "All the best with you and Nina-sshi."

        "Ah," Luhan suddenly exclaimed and turned to Kris. "When is she going back to work?"

        Kris mentally growled but kept his posture. "Who knows? I recall Suho allowing her to take a break for as long as I want her to since she's always working. At least now she has time for herself."

        "And you?" Baekhyun smirked.

        "And me."

        Suho was oblivious to Kris's sudden change of tone and smiled. "Well, that's good to know. Though it's best if she starts working again by next month. We're recruiting more employees and we need her to help us settling them in." When Kris promised to convey the message to Nina, Suho nodded and left.

        Kris immediately turned to glare at the idiots beaming behind him and pinched the bridge of his nose in exasperation. Chanyeol chuckled and draped his arm around his shoulders while beaming brightly, knowing that Kris would not be beating the crap out of them. "So, shall we go for lunch now?" he asked. Kris was then dragged away before he could even say a word.