Laughter resonated throughout the dim-lit living room when Kris returned home from the office. He was tired - mentally and physically - and had thought about staying at his condo in the city that night but raced back to his beach house when he recalled the two ladies occupying his home. It was nearly midnight when he walked in through the front door, halting on his steps upun hearing the laughters that seemed to brightened his dull home.

        He recognised his mother's laughter as the loudest, but the other melancholic laughter that blended in with hers was what made him feel like as if a giant weight has been lifted from his chest. His whole body has been dragging and somewhat painful the whole day and hearing her laugh seemed to draw them all away. He was suddenly energised and no longer feeling tired after a whole day of working. Kris snapped out of his thoughts all of a sudden and frowned in confusion over his own inner feelings. He shook his head in order to regain his composure and silently made his way towards his living room.

        "...it was hilarious! His father and I had to cancel our Europe trip because of him." he heard his mother say, immediately making his face turn hot and red. He has a pretty good idea what their conversation was all about, and having Nina know about his embarrassing past made his fastened him steps and appear in front of the two ladies.

        His mother looked up from the opposite of where Nina sat and brightened at the sight of her one and only son. "Kris, you're home!" she greeted, causing Nina to look behind her where Kris stood. Their eyes met and Kris was surprised with the smile she flashed him.

        Welcome home...

        "I thought you'd be staying at your condo tonight since it's already so late," his mother added, gaining his attention.

        "And leave you ladies here doing who knows what?" Kris snickered and shook his head. "Not happening, mom."

        Kris walked around the couch and took a seat at the single couch which was in between the two couch occupied by his mother and Nina. He leaned his head back and drew out a tired sigh, closing his eyes at the process. He heard movements but it wasn't enough to make him open his tired eyes. What made him open his eyes were when he felt someone tugging onto his shoes and slipping them off his feet, followed by his socks. He stared soundlessly at the girl kneeling at his feet and when she looked back up to him, her eyes seemed to widened for a moment before she turned her gaze away, hiding her blush.

        "I thought you were asleep," she explained in a small voice.

        "I wasn't." Kris replied with the same tone.

        "I can see that," she mumbled with a deeper blush. "Uhh... how was work?"

        Kris usually hated it when people around him how his day of work was - even his parents. He would scowl and spit out sarcastic answers since he never find his working days enjoyable. He hates working, but he would use it to hide from the world and keep himself busy. It would always bring him stress in the end, but he preferred running to the office and using his pile of work as an excuse instead of being pushed around here and there by his family, friends and business associates.

        But this time, he just felt like answering her. Especially with the brown eyes that seemed to gleam as she waited for his answer, Kris felt himself softened and gave in. "It was busy, as usual. Meetings that lasted for hours, friends that prefer killing me instead of saving me - oh and endless papers and projects to work on," he rambled and paused when he realised that he sounded like he was complaining to her. He looked into her eyes again and found her smiling at him.

        "I used to have to work like that too, and I'm just a general worker. I mean, it's not as difficult as yours but since I don't really enjoy my work, I guess I felt bored with it." Nina replied.

        "I thought you liked writing?" Kris asked, earning a surprise look from her.

        "How'd you know?"

        Kris rolled his eyes at this. "You work in a publishing company. Isn't that what you do? Write and publish books or magazines?"

        She smiled and shook her head. "I'm just Mr. Zhang's assistant. I don't write but instead, I run around doing errands."

        "Oh."

        "And here I thought you had all my background details checked," she muttered with a scoff.

        Kris raised his eyebrow at her. "You're really something, Kim Nina."

        "What do you mean?" she frowned.

        "When I first met you, you were scared less and defensive, and the longer you stayed here you seemed... different. You're even scoffing at me."

        Nina blushed and looked away. "I-I.. I don't know what came over me. I guess, I just don't feel like I'm-"

        "Threatened?" Kris cut her off.

        Nina looked up to meet his eyes and he could see the confusion and curiousity swimming in them. His eyes landed on her lips when she absentmindedly bit on her bottom lip and he recalled the feeling of those lips on his. Damn it, Kris. Now's not the time. When Nina opened again, he was taken by surprise. "Why are you locking me up here?"

        Kris had no answer to that. After the wedding drama, he was angry and embarrassed, his ego got in control of him and his first thought was to find the culprit and deal with her. And he tried to act like he was pissed to no end about the matter, but his many encounters with her made him weak inside instead, and he find himself liking it instead of hating it. He felt weak around her, and seeing her cry or shiver with fear at the sight of him made him hate himself. He recalled himself telling Tao to make her feel at home when he should make her feel the other way around, and the latter had smirked mysteriously instead of questioning his actions.

        For some reason, he didn't want her to suffer. Not when he finally got a hold of himself after one whole night of thinking. She's innocent, naive and easily manipulated, and Yuri had used her power as a friend to play her. She's now dealing with her consequenses and yet she is in another country, probably hooking up with a guy of her choice by now. But thinking back her question made him frown. Why did he lock her up here? He could've just released her and let her go back to her life, but something inside him told him not to. He had grown fond of her and he didn't want to watch her leave.

        Kris frowned when he felt his heart beating undeniably fast in his chest, a similar beating he had felt years ago - and a feeling he never wanted to feel again. But it was there, and she was the cause of it. The girl who was sitting at his feet, her warm brown eyes staring into his, still waiting for his answer. He didn't want to admit it but his heart says otherwise.

        He's in love with her.

        "...I don't know." he finally whispered. He then looked up into her eyes again and realised that she seemed disappointed with the answer. "Would you like it?"

        "Hmm?"

        "If I let you go back to your life, would you want that?"

        Kris felt a pain in his chest when her eyes brightened in delight, but frowned in confusion when it deemed again. His curiousity got the best of him and he could't help but ask. "What's wrong? Isn't that what you've always wanted? Eversince two weeks ago, I mean."

        Nina smiled bitterly and nodded. "You're right. That's what I wanted, but not so much now."

        He felt his heart sore at her answer. "Why not?"

        "I-I've grown to like this place and not sitting behind that desk running errands make me... happy." Nina then chuckled shyly. "I'm sorry. I guess I've fallen in love with the beauty of this house. And the beach right behind it."

        "You can always come back here," he found himself saying, but there was no turning back now. "I-I wouldn't mind." , did I just stutter?

        "Can I?" Nina asked, the light in her eyes gleaming again. "Can I really?" Kris couldn't find his words and nodded his head instead. Nina suddenly let out a delighted squeal and hugged the surprise male, wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Thank you thank you thank you!"

        Before Kris could even respond to the hug, she moved back abruptly and blushed. "I-I'm s-sorry, I d-din't know what came over me."

        "You were excited." Kris pointed out, causing her to smile. She then looked back up to him and met his eyes. "Can I really leave?"

        Somehow Kris felt his chest tightened at her excitement, but he couldn't help but nod at her. She was about to smile when she suddenly recalled the male's mother. She looked around and sighed in relief when she couldn't find her anywhere and turned back to the male. She frowned when she realised the sudden sadness in his eyes, but it quickly disappeared when he turned to stare at her.

        "What's wrong?" Kris asked upon seeing the look on her face.

        "Nothing," she shook her head with a soft smile. She then remembered something and bit her lip. "Kris?" His heart hammered in his chest at the sound of his name and he could only hum in reply. "What about your mother?"

        Realisation dawned upon him and he sighed. His mother is still here and he had introduced Nina as his girlfriend. Wouldn't it be weird if Nina suddenly left? He didn't feel like being honest with his mother because he knew how fond she was with the girl, and he didn't want to disappoint his mother for the umpteenth time. Knowing his father, Kris knew that he would be gone for nearly a month, and he doubt his mother would want to stay alone in the huge mansion when she can clearly find company in him. He also knew that he would have to let her know eventually, but he just didn't feel like dealing with it now. Not when he wanted her to stay so badly.

        An idea suddenly strucked him and he turned towards the girl again. "Nina, I have a thought but it's going to be quite difficult on your part."

        "What is it?"

        "Can you stay and continue pretending to be my girlfriend?"

I have returned, cupcakes, with another update of TWB! Hohoho... Kris is finally letting Nina leave, but then again, his mother is in the way. Would Nina agree to stay or would she just leave? Hehehe... Now some of you had speculations that Mrs. Wu knows the real deal between these two. And here's the truth... I ain't telling ya! *beams* Don't be disappointed, cupcakes. You can always find out in the next chapter. Or the next. Or maybe never. Hahahaha... Anyways, I'd like to thank you all for the supportive comments. Keep in comin' people! ^^ 

Oh yeah, this is me about to shamelessly advertise my new Sehun fic. It's called "Baby, It's Not You...". Do check it out, okay? For those who had subscribed to "Fool Again" (which also had featured Sehun), I'm sorry to say that I've deleted the story because I couldn't come up with any ideas! Please forgive me! Here's something to make it up to you...

God Baekkie you're so adorable! >,< Wow, I think this is the longest author's note I've ever posted. Hehehe... Oh yeah one more thing, I realised some of you had given our characters a couple name -- KrisNa. OMG I love it! And I can tell that you guys love them too! 

Check out my other on-going fics!

1. Baby, It's Not You... ft. Sehun & OC 

2. Behind The Scene ft. EXO & OC (co-author)

Ah, and for those who have Instagram accounts, you guys can follow me @pixietink_ but I've just created the account so there's nothing much there. 

However, I would love to meet up with my readers there and share my photos.

Oh, and it's not my real acc. I'm gonna remain anonymous lol.

Thanks guys! I love you all! <3 <3 <3