AUTHOR'S NOTE

First and foremost, I deeply apologize for the confuion that Chapter 16 has caused last night. I was so focused on keeping my promise that my brain just got mixed up, perhaps it was also because of the exhaustion. But it's my fault, so please forgive me for posting it and causing confusion, I should have read through it much more throughly before posting. I'm sorry :(

So I hid the chapter for a while and edited the part with Luhan and Xiumin. The conversation yesterday does not happen, I'm very sorry for confusing you all and causing disappointment :(I promise to thoroughly read carefully before posting the future chapters.

P.S. Since there is no class on Monday, I'll do double updates over the week end to make it up to you guys :)

CHAPTER 16

“Hana-yah”

“Neh, appa?” she looks up to her father –who casts her an endearing smile.

They were walking home from school and she was happily holding her father's hand as they did so. Snow was falling and the little girl was bundled up in layers of clothing to keep her from the cold.

“What do you want to be when you grow up?” he asks her.

She thinks for a moment then brightly smiles “I want to be just like you!” “Like me? But Hana-yah, appa works at a construction site” he says in a worried tone.

Any father would want a bright future for their child and in this case, her choice of career didn't seem so promising to him “Not that!” she interjects “I want to be just like you; happy”

The picture disappears as if it was sand blown away by the wind; I felt myself being shook and when I open my eyes, I see Stephanie. The car had stopped and when I look out of the window, I see a tall structure –the hospital.

“We're here, unnie” she smiles. Had I stayed any longer in that dream, I may never have wanted to wake up again. “Are you okay?” she asks me and not wanting to worry her, I nod my head with a small smile “Just a little tired... shall we go?” I ask, exiting the vehicle and she follows.

My heart begins to thump as we walk through the quiet halls of the institution; the silence made me take notice of the little details I found, like the nurses in white passing by my left, the white creamy walls, the little cracks on the wall... but perhaps it was also because I wanted to keep myself distracted, deep inside me... I just feel like fainting. This visit feels nerve wrecking, actually.

Stephanie stops infront of a pair of wooden double doors and gives it a light knock before entering; Gulp. With one deep breath, I follow her inside the room.

Wow.

Yes, that word above sums up all of my thoughts for the first sight of the room but it's expected, he is one of the richest men to walk on the face of the earth, afterall. It's expected that he could afford such a luxurious room.
“Come in, unnie” Stephanie tells me.

I walk further into the room, past the small living area and entry way was where I saw him. Kris's father. His eyes were closed, breathing shallow, lying down with so many apparatuses on him.

“Papa...” Stephanie calls out to him, gently shaking him awake. I quickly protest “S-Stephanie-ah, just let him rest for awhile...” “He's been resting since I left, he told me to wake him up once you arrive”

The patient shifts a bit, his eyes opened and I felt my heart rate rapidly increase. Mr. Wu looks around the room for a moment, a light groan escaping his lips as he blinks his eyes to adjust to the light. Stephanie brightly smiles “Papa, Hana-unnie is here”

“Hana?” he finally wakes up. I take a step forward, standing beside his bed and muster up a smile “How are you, Mr. Wu?” I ask him; he smiles back at me and I don't know why but I felt my heart shattering. “I'll go talk to the doctor... I'll be right back” Stephanie announces and leaves the room.

The door closes.

I turn around from facing the now closed panel, my eyes landing on the man, lying down on the bed, casting me a grateful smile. I always thought that I would be immune to things like these, I always thought that at moments like these, I could be one of those people who would be the last one on their knees, having their heart shattered by a certain image.

But then I remember, I'm human too. And no matter how many times I've witnessed scenes that brought my world shattering into a million pieces, I could never become immune. Not even after losing my mother at a young age, not even after seeing my father –lose himself every day of his life after the death of his wife- and not even after seeing him hung by the neck. Even if this man is not, in any way, of family related to me... I still feel like I'm losing someone important.

Hana smiles and sits down on the chair beside the bed, setting down her bag on the floor “Are you doing well, sir?” she asks and the old man smiles; Ofcourse he's not well, Hana. Says her inner subconscious.

“Thank you, Hana-ssi” he says. Crack. Came a distant sound from within her chest; she purses her lips together for a moment, feeling her chest tighten and it was suddenly difficult to breathe without shedding tears but she didn't cry. Don't cry... it won't do good.

“Kris doesn't know, right?” she looks at him. Mr. Wu shook his head slowly, it was as if he were to shake his head with force, he would shatter –he had become fragile. “And he can't know...”

“Why?”

“Hana...” he starts, taking a deep breath “Yi Fan –no matter how strong he may seem- is still a boy somewhere but when I go, he will never cry because for him, he will always be a man”

She was confused; Mr. Wu continued

“He is stubborn and full of pride and he will keep putting on a straight face against all odds, so what I'm asking you is...” he pauses for a while, swallowing hard “No matter what... be there for him” “Mr. Wu, you just said --” “Hana, he will open up to you... trust me”

Hana swallows hard and keeps silent “So when he cries, wipe his tears... no one else will because he will never cry infront of them... just you”

Silence.

A dying man's last wish... is the hardest to decline. Hana had her fears and insecurities, being the girlfriend of a chairman of a very powerful company was –and she's pretty sure- and never will be easy. The months that she was with Kris weren't all just sweet surprises, kisses, hugs and dates, it wasn't all just about sleeping on the same bed and waking up to a good morning.

Like every couple, they had their own ups and downs. Though Kris was a very assuring and a comforting partner, there were times that he couldn't deal with her little girly insecurities and they end up fighting, sometimes it made her wonder if ever she'd be able to handle things like that in the near future.

Sometimes mornings were bad, dinners were lonely and the bed felt much bigger than it was already; they weren't the perfect couple that most people pictured.

But... she bit her lower lip. I love him. She nods her head and takes a deep breath before putting on an assuring smile “Don't worry, sir. I will try my very best”

Kris.

Click.

The door locks as soon as it closes and I puff out a tired breath, dropping my bag onto the ground before directly going to the bedroom and flopped myself forward onto the soft mattress. So tired... I close my eyes, feeling my whole body relax upon hitting the clean white sheets.

Maybe wasn't such a good idea –PFFT. Absurd. I find myself snorting a chuckle at the preposterous thought. I don't get any action for the next five months or so, to hell with it not being ideal.

I laid still for a good five minutes or so before hauling myself off the bed; as good as a good rest sounds, I have to get to Wu Prime and continue where I left off. The perks of being a chairman at my age. God, I sound old.

Sigh. Then as I enter the closet, I remember a task. Quickly, I fished my phone out of my pocket, pressed call and held it to my ear.

“The number you have dialed is outside of the coverage area” I raise a brow at the automated voice; How could it be out of coverage area? I re-dial once more and wait for a few seconds but instead of getting a different response, I get the same. Perhaps... her phone is turned off; I glance at the digital clock on the top side of the screen of my phone.

It's around working time in Seoul so I called the direct line to her office instead; it rang.

And rang. And rang. Until such time, it just beeped. Perhaps, she's at home. I called another number; “Hey, it's Hana! I'm out right now but please leave a message ~”

A frown appears on my face as worry starts to settle upon my shoulders. Something is not right here.

Luhan.

I quietly sigh to the side as I sat alone inside one of the meeting room's of Wu Enterprise with three representatives from another company –they were new and were presenting some stuff about their specialties and such, hoping to get a spot somewhere in here.

One of them continues to ramble on infront, a presentation projected behind him with grid lines and tables showing how good their stocks are and telling me stuff about potentials of good business if we were to accept them.

But let's face it, even if it was merely a boring rock for a product, with the connections this company has, I will one hundred percent guarantee that it will still sell. How we will do it, no one will ever know and why people will buy, will be a mystery.

BRRT. My phone lights up as moves a bit as it vibrated against the glass surface of the table, the little sound interrupted the person in front and he paused. I picked up my phone and looked up at the three people, getting up from my chair “Excuse me for awhile but the chairman is calling, let's take a five minute break” I smile and go to a corner.

I was getting tired of his yapping anyway.

“Hello?”

“Luhan, do you have any idea where Hana is?” “Yeah, hello too” I sarcastically remark before puffing out a breath “No, I'm at a meeting right now... are you in China, already?”

I hear a heavy sigh on the other line and I could picture him pacing around the room, running his hand through his thick and unnatural blonde hair “Yeah... can you check her office? I can't contact her phone”

“Sure but later, I'm in a meeting right now...”

“Tell her to call me or if you know her whereabouts, call me as soon as possible”

I can almost laugh at how worried he sounds but I'm going to be a good friend and keep it in “Alright, stop being such a worry puss” he ends the call. I turn back around to the people in the room, flashing a nifty smile “Where were we?”

“The prod --” Right. I break my mouth to speak, cutting him off mid-sentence “Ofcourse... eherm” I clear my throat “Well, gentlemen, I've heard about enough. I'll talk it over to the other heads, we'll call you as soon as board gives the go signal... good day”

I give a small bow of the head and exit the room. And by 'we'll call you' I mean: never.

The elevator door opens and employees exit, bowing in courtesy as I pass. I enter the four walled compartment and press for the ground floor, the doors were about to close when a hand emerges and it opens once again.

“Oh... Xiumin” I say, a little surprised by his sudden appearance. He flashes me a smile and chimes “Hey Luhan!” his gums showing as he does so and joins me. “Aren't you supposed to be in Canada, right now?” I ask him.

I clearly remember that he's supposed to do something important there “Nah, I had my secretary move my flight schedule to tomorrow, the conference is for three days anyway” I see... unlike them, I don't travel a lot but I can't also be the same as Kris, compared to him when he was CEO –he almost never travels.

Besides, it's not that I don't want to, it's just that my work field is a little more here than somewhere else.

[EDITED PART]

"By the way, Kris called..." I said, smirking as I turned to him. He puffs out a sigh and digs his pocket before handing me bills of KRW50,000 and hands it over to me; Bets are good. I mentally chuckle to myself and place the money in the inside pocket of suit.

“What did he say?”

“Oh you know...” I press the button for the ground floor “Looking for his girlfriend... I was tempted to tell him, you know... just to put him out of his misery” I teased and Xiumin pouted, glaring at me –I think... he's too cute though.

The compartment begins to descend. Xiumin's face turns serious “Yah, Lu Han, you promised” “Just teasing you...” I puff out a sigh. A promise is a promise and I'm not a promise breaker; However, it does bother me that I'm lying to one of my friends.

In my opinion, I don't see how it's such a big deal. I don't think Kris would mind if Hana visits his father, what could possibly be wrong with that? So the only logical reason I could come up with as to why this visit was kept a secret is because it's not going to be ordinary.

Knowing Mr. Wu... it's never ordinary. For him to call for her secretly, I sense something big.

“Minseok...” I call him. He turns to me, raising a brow “What?”

“Don't you find it, intriguing?” I turn my head to look at him and he stares back at me in question; I swallow hard and speak further “...that Mr. Wu went through such a trouble to get her to China?”

A sigh escapes Xiumin's lips “Ofcourse it bothers me why... but perhaps because she's Kris's girlfriend?”

No... it's more than that. “What if... it's not just a talk, he wants?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean...” I pause for a moment “It's all so odd and out of character for Mr. Wu to go such troubles for a simple visit... I have a feeling she won't come back empty handed”

Ding. The doors opened and we both stepped out. Xiumin puffs out a breath and pats me on the shoulder “You think too much, just go with it for now... no secret is kept forever, remember?” he smiles at me reassuringly. How ironic. Smirk. “You should be careful then, Kris will find out too... soon enough”

“Aish! Stop that and keep your promise!”

I laugh at his reaction but nevertheless nod my head “Ofcourse”