CHAPTER 17

The sun begins to set over China.

Laughter was filling one specific hospital room, three different laughter from three different people, one weaker than the other two. Stephanie glances at the clock hanging on the wall and turns to her bed-ridden father “Papa, Hana has to go now. Yi Fan might arrive soon”

Mr. Wu nods his head in understanding and turns to the said girl “Thank you for coming, Hana” she smiles and bows her head “No problem at all, sir”

“Hana-unnie, it's time to go now” Stephanie informs her, standing up from where she sat. Hana nodded her head and got up aswell, making a formal bow at the patient and said her goodbyes. With heavy heart, she exits the room with Stephanie and they fall silent as they walked down the hallway.

Her hands felt cold, her shoulders were heavy and her thoughts were all a mess. “Unnie” Stephanie calls out to her, pulling her back to her senses “Yes?” “Thank you” the younger girl smiles gratefully at her but it only heavies her heart some more. However, being Kim Hana, she smiles back as brightly as she can manage.

Kris.

Sigh. I haven't focused the whole day but fortunately, I got through it and ended up succeeding all of my tasks. It was hard to concentrate on meetings as I always had to glance at my phone every now and then, hoping to see a message from anyone at all from Korea, telling my where the hell my girlfriend is.

Sehun had called earlier at lunch, telling me that Hana was running errands the whole day and that she had left her phone in her office with the battery drained... but even so, I was not at ease.

Something is really not right. I could feel it on the tip of my fingers and toes that something is happening and I don't think it's such a good idea that I find out but like every other person on the planet, I'm curious as .

I place my pen down and set aside all work for the day; glancing at my watch, I get up and just as I do so, the door opens and the PA pokes her head inside “S-sir?” Seriously, she always sounds so nervous around me. Stammering and her words scrambling. Tch. She seriously needs self-improvement.

“Do you need something?” I ask her, opening the left side drawer of my desk, taking a quick glance of the photo of me and Hana laid on the side, topping the rest of the items before grabbing my car keys. She steps inside “I received a long-distance call from the States, i-it's your grandmother” I haven't heard from her in a long time. I wonder what could she want “Did she leave a message?” I ask as I close the drawer and start for the door.

She tenses as I got closer and closer, perhaps intimidated; I walked past her and out of the door “Y-Yes sir, she said that you should call her as soon as possible” Sigh. “I see... is that all?”

She nods her head and closes the door of my office behind her, a clicking sound meant that it had locked up. With nothing else to be heard, I enter the elevator, leaving her.

6:03 PM.

I take deep breath as I drove down the busy streets, taking all possible routes to avoid traffic and get to the hospital. I might aswell talk to the old man and explain why I haven't visited the past days all so suddenly.

The skies slowly turned darker, the orange color slowly leaving and getting washed over by purple, stars slowly begin to appear and play their roles as diamonds in the night sky, the moon appearing aswell. I find peace when I drive sometimes, it's when I don't rush things and just take my time to get to where I have to be.

Things like these are rare since everyday, I have to go here and there, always be on time and . I sometimes question myself, where would I be? Had I not had the ambition of taking over such a powerful company.

Maybe drawing... or maybe, just driving to my heart's content. Either of the two.

My journey comes to an end, the engine dies and I got out of the car. Just as I was about to enter the vicinity of the building, I spot someone from the corner of my eyes. Stephanie? She was smiling, standing next to a familiar sleek black car that –if I remember correctly- belonged to dad.

The car drives off and she waves it goodbye;

“Stephanie” I call out, approaching her where she stood and she jumps in surprise. Her eyes widened for a moment and I raised a questioning brow at her; she looks like she has see a ghost “Y-Yi Fan! What –how long have you been here?”

“Just got here... who was that?” I ask her. She blinks her eyes at me for a moment, looking back at the direction of where the black car had drove off to then turns back to me “Oh! That was Chun!” she chimes with a right smile.

But... Chun has his own car. I peer at her, inspecting every glint in her eyes, trying to spot a lie. “Papa's waiting upstairs for you, shall we go?” Right... I guess I'll brush it off for now. Maybe he was forced to borrow one or something. Sigh.

I nod my head “Come on”

Tao.

As the fashion summit was approaching, different fashion departments from various fashion lines were shaking the ground as they prepare each of their unique lines. In the fashion industry, the fashion summit was something equal to the Olympics. Pride was the prize and you have no idea how many would be willing to kill to have this certain pride.

I stretch my arms over my head, stretching my legs aswell as they have become stiff after hours of sitting down behind my desk. Grumble. I even forgot to eat lunch. Mental tears of sadness. I press a button of the intercom “Naeun-ssi, can you please bring me some food in here?”

“Yes, Mr. Huang” came her reply. So tired. So hungry. A groan escapes my lips as I rest my head on the surface of the almost filled desk. Honestly, I want to give up but then... I also want this summit to be the most extravagant summit in history.

Wu Enterprise Seoul must leave a mark in the industry.

I take a deep breath, hauled myself off my desk and continued to work. A knock comes “Come in” I say, knowing that it was just Naeun probably with my food and drink. The door opens and closes, footsteps approach my desk “Thank you Naeu-- YAAAAAAAH!”

It wasn't Naeun, it was Baekhyun and he was munching on a plate of sandwich that I presumed was supposed to be mine! Ugh, does he have no consideration? I am freaking hungry and he eats my only meal!

“Tasty sandwich” he compliments, chewing and taking more bites. I glared at him “That was mine” but he merely brushes off the bitterness in my voice and finishes off the sandwich, placing the empty plate on my desk. Sigh. Jerk. “What are you doing here?” I ask him.

He flops himself on the visitor's chair and crosses his legs, leaning back in a relaxed position “Just wanted to inform you that I got us the best techies for the fashion summit” Right... I asked him to take care of the technicalities. Despite of wanting to strangle him for eating my sandwich, I feel thankful “That's good to hear”

I am so determined to show our competitors just how extraordinary Wu Enterprise is when it comes to hosting events like these. “Oh and I was wondering...” he says “Why is Yookyung in Kai's department?”

So she has arrived... I snort a chuckle “Kris is punishing her for the office incident at the top floor” “The one that Chanyeol was fretting about?” he raises a brow in question and I nod. The interior designer of the project was funny, he didn't know who to follow orders from: Chanyeol or his client.

In the end, he was asked to pay a fine for failing to present certificates and other papers. Tsk. That girl really caused the guy some trouble. He almost lost his practice license.

Baekhyun laughs and comments “She's still bubbly, I see”

“Unlike her mom...” I mumble under my breath. Honestly, I don't know why the hell that girl is so bubbly when she grew up with such a strict mother. I remember back in China, years and years ago, she was always scolded for the little things. Her mom always wanted her to be perfect. Unlike Kris, the guy was barely touched when he was with his dad! Heck, he was allowed to do whatever the he wanted yet he ended up being the sour one.

“Speaking of her mom, an insider tells me that she's preparing the best line up this year” he informs me.

“Doesn't she always?”

“But she lost to the Chanel line last year” Baekhyun points out. I smirks and look up from my paper work “And to Gucci, the year before that”

It's only the third time that the Seoul branch joins the summit; in the past, most of us were to focused on keeping the company on a steady pace, making sure it stays on top that we never had the intention of drawing our attention away to bother join.

But now, times have changed.

“So what's the line called this year?” Baekhyun asks. I think for a moment then let out a sigh “I don't know yet but surely, I'll have one in mind by the end of the week”

“I see... well, office hours is nearing to an end” he says, looking at his watch and gets up “Shall I treat you to dinner?”

I laugh at the offer and lean back on my office chair “You're not too much of an afterall, huh Baek?” he rolls his eyes at me “One sandwich and you call me an , come on before I change my mind”

As we both ride down the elevator, something comes to my mind and I ask him “By the way... has Hana reported to the office today?”

“No, I don't think so... I haven't seen her all day”

Sigh. She did say that she was going to accompany Kris to the airport today but... Hm. Maybe she went with him? Nah. I mentally shook my head. Kris won't do that even if he wants to... Tsk. Where could she be? Baekhyun snorts a laugh to the side and speaks “Maybe she decided to stay in bed today, she's still probably exhausted from last night”

Well . I hadn't realize that I had spoken out my thoughts; “Maybe...” I chuckle.

The siblings sat on each chair by their father's side.

It was a pretty peaceful evening; they were sharing stories and memories, laughing every now and then. Kris even joined, though the most he did was just listen rather than share. Though he didn't say anything, he was in fact a little afraid of looking at his bed-ridden parent.

Everyday, he was growing weaker and weaker, thinner than yesterday and more pale. Despite the rough past, he was actually hurting but being Kris, he showed none of it.

“How are you and Hana, Yi Fan?” his father asks, turning to him. He gives a small smile “We're fine, dad... she's going to take exams in her Chinese class and if she passes, she's gonna be working here”

The old man laughs weakly “I see... that's good; I think she will make a good wife for you” Kris chuckles awkwardly, scratching the back of his neck “Yeah... that's still too early to say” Stephanie laughs and chimes aswell “Hana will surely keep Yi Fan happy, don't you think so, Papa?”

“I agree” Mr. Wu nods his head. Kris lets out a heavy sigh “Alright, stop teasing me”

A knock on the door comes and they turn their heads, seconds later a nurse appears by the entry way “Visiting hours are over; sir, ma'am” she smiles, a clipboard pressed onto her chest. Kris nods his head and gets up “Time to go...” he mumbles, grabbing his coat from the arm rest of the chair.

Stephanie gives their father a brief hug and smiles at him “Get better, okay Papa?” Mr. Wu laughs and nods his head. Stephanie walks off ahead with the nurse while Kris stays for a second more.

“Get a good rest, alright dad?” he nods his head at his son. Kris gives him a smile as he saw the old man lift up a fist; Kris lifts his own and bumps it lightly against his dad's.

Like the old times whenever they played basketball while he was a kid and he gets a three point shot. They would do fist bumps.

“I love you, dad” he mumbles, giving his dad a brief hug.

“I love you both”

Afterwards, he leaves. Giving his dad one last look before exiting through the door, his heart feeling heavy as he shuts it behind him.