CHAPTER 21

“Alright class, tomorrow I'll be giving you some quiz sheets so study the characters and their placement, okay?” a chorus of yes spoken in Chinese was given and the teacher smiles before dismissing the class.

Hana quietly gathers her things and puffs out a breath, feeling exhausted the whole day since she had to make up for her week absence at Wu Enterprise and also she had some assignments to fill in for her Chinese class. “Ah, Ms. Kim” the teacher calls her as she passes his table. She turns and smiles “Yes, sir?”

Zhou Mi sets down the papers for a moment “You've been absent for a consecutive number of days, what happened?” he asks, crossing his arms over his chest. Hana blinks her eyes for a moment before giving an apologetic bow of the head “Sorry sir, I was in China and had no time to send in a notice”

“Business trip?” he raises a brow. One corner of her lips tug upwards, seeming unsure but she shrugs her shoulders and says “Sort of...” she swallows hard “I see... well, don't forget about your assignments, okay?” nodding her head, she gives one last bow and exits the classroom.

As soon as she reached her car, she strapped herself in and sat inside the vehicle for a moment. Sigh. Hana... you can do this. She thinks to herself, resting her head against the steering wheel for a moment, taking deep breaths. Her eyes glance at the piece of paper in the passengers seat and leaning back, she takes it and reads over it once again.

Her eyes reading over the fine print for the nth time. It's only been three days since she returned from China but even with all the catching up that she had to do, it wasn't enough to keep her mind off the containment of the paper. Every word seemed to have been etched onto her brain.

That's it... she decides, folding the paper.

Tao.

The week went by quietly.

I always made it a point to call Kris more often than usual to check on him; he sounded like he was doing fine and as expected, always asked about how Hana was doing though I'm pretty sure that he calls her every night or whenever possible. It relieves me that he has a girlfriend right now, atleast he has someone to busy his thoughts.

Sigh. But still, I feel sorry for his loss. I mean, take it from me, ever since we were young, I witnessed some moments which proved that the old man really did love him, despite Kris's coldness towards him. But what father would not love their son?

A light groan of exhaustion escapes my lips as soon as I enter my humble abode. It's quiet, as usual. Living alone can be so lonely sometimes... tsk.

“Baby ~” I groaned, flopping down onto my bed and hugged the stuffed animal in my arms and nuzzled my nose against its soft artificial fur, breathing in the scent of sweet strawberries. Ah, I should really thank Xiumin for drowning you in such sweetness. Unknown to many, Xiumin has a thing for cleaning stuff, I don't know how my stuffed Siberian husky ended up in his hands but one fine day, he just sort of casually walked into my office with it in his hands and told me that he cleaned it up for me.

BUZZ.

BUZZ.

Aish! My brows knit together at the sound of the door bell. Glancing at the clock, I read: 9:35 PM; who the hell would bother me at this late hour? For a moment, I decide to ignore the buzzing and hoped that whoever was at the door would just assume no one was home and leave.

BUZZ.

BUZZ.

“ing hell...” I got up from my bed and stomped to the front door, pressed the button of the intercom without even bothering to look at the small screen “Yah, whoever you are and whatever you want, I don't give a ! It's ing nine in the evening and I want to rest!”

Good lord! Seriously, people need to give me a break sometimes! The bags under my eyes are getting more and more heavy with every day that passes and most especially now that the Fashion Summit is coming up. I am ing stressed out.

“M—Sorry, Tao... I'll just g-go --” the voice made me freeze in my footsteps. .

The next second later, I dashed for the door and opened it. Hana blinked her eyes at me; I let out a breath and ran a hand through my hair “Sorry Hana...” I mumbled an apology for the fit I just threw.

She swallowed hard and bowed her head before giving me a smile “Tired?” I nod. She casts me an apologetic look “Sorry for bothering you, you should get some rest”

“No... uhm, what did you come here for?” I ask, leaning against the door frame.

She stands there for a moment; a hesitant look on her face and curiosity bangs me in the back of the head like a bullet train. I really regret yelling earlier. Stupid mouth.

“I was just wondering if you could help me with something...”

China

It's cold. It's quiet. The walls are oozing with gloom.

But one naïve girl was not noticing it at all. She fixes the papers that her boss asked for before leaving her desk and walked up to the double doors that served as the only way in and out of the devil's lair. Lightly, she knocks her hand against the wooden panel before turning the knob and entered.

“Good morning, Mr. Wu; I have the papers you asked for” she chimes. Oblivious at the dark aura that was lingering in the air. That or she just chose to purposely ignore it.

Kris didn't utter a single word and just kept scribbling down, trying to get whatever he was working on, done. Meifen sets down the papers on his desk and waits. Seconds later and still without a hint of acknowledgment from Kris, she takes a quiet inward breath and bow.

Cold as ice, Meifen. Cold as ice. She thinks to herself as she heads for the door.

“Ms. Peng” she stops abruptly and turns around, looking eager that he called her name when she shouldn't be “S-sir?”

He pauses from writing for a moment and holds out a piece of paper. Meifen quickly strides back to his desk and takes the paper, reading over what was written in a swift manner.

“Make sure it gets there within this day only” it was all he said before he waved his hand at her in a dismissive manner and she leaves. She leans back against the closed door and bites her lower lip, her eyes trailing on the name: Kim Hana.

Who is this? She asks herself, her eyes fixated on the name that was imprinted on the piece of paper. Pushing herself off the door, she makes her way back to her desk and picks up the phone.

Lunch passed.

Kris Wu still remained inside his office, no one daring to even make a single knock. An employee exits the elevator and stops at the secretarial desk, clearing to catch the attention of the busy Meifen that was fixing up her things before she goes out for lunch.

“Oh, hi” she chimes, smiling at her co worker “Shall we go out for lunch?” the other female asks and she nods in response. Meifen snatches her wallet from inside her bag, walking around her desk and heads for the door of her boss “Meifen, where are you going?”

“I'll go see if Mr. Wu wants to have --” not waiting for her to finish her sentence, her friend pulls her by the arm, going the opposite way “Are you crazy? Just leave him be”

Meifen pouts “Eh? But he might be hungry or something”

“No, trust me, I've worked here far longer than you and this is one of the times where you shouldn't even go near him. His buttons are mixed up and you might lose your job if you push the wrong one”

Sigh. Meifen gives in “Fine”

Kris.

“It's lunch time, aren't you going out?”

I guess this is as good as it could get. I puff out a sigh and my face scrunched up a bit at the question; I shrug my shoulders “I'm not really hungry” I mumble, leaning back on my chair as my eyes drifted away from the screen for a moment. “Wu Yi Fan, do not starve yourself! That's bad” I chuckle at the pout she gives me.

“Don't give me that face... I might fly there the next second” I joked... well, partly.

A week. That's how long it has been... only a ing week since Hana left to go back to Seoul. If only I had my way, she would be here by tomorrow and then I wouldn't have to deal with that six-month . Tch. I don't even know why I keep listening to her pleas when I could very well do whatever I want since this is business-related after all...

I'm the freaking chairman of one of the leading and powerful group of companies, for goodness sake.

Tsk. But... maybe it's because of the fact that she's my girlfriend –the one I took seriously, for that matter- that I have this urge to respect her and her decisions at all times.

If only I had my way Hana... if you only let me have my way. Her laugh cuts me off of my thoughts and one corner of my lips hike upward in a small curve.

“You have to work, Mr. Wu and you flying over here every second you want is not appropriate” she talks as if she's my mom. I roll my eyes at her and she laughs some more “Mr. Wu, you are acting like a child” “Only because you treat me like one”

“Aigo ~ but really, you need to eat now”

“If you go out for lunch with me, I will”

“Kris” a warning tone. I chuckle.

“I just miss you, Hana”

Her look softens “You're handsome when you smile, baby-yah ~” she coos, half-breaking the moment. I really expected a different response. Different she gave me but not the one I wanted to hear.

“I miss you just as much” I return my eyes to the screen and met hers. If only it was possible to make out right now. Sigh. “I'll see you next week”

“Next week?” she blinks her eyes, obviously questioning herself if what she's thinking about is what I meant to convey. I nod my head and she gives me a dejecting sigh “Kris, the fashion summit is only a few weeks away, can't you just wait until then?”

“Do you not want to see me?” I frown. Seriously, it hurts me sometimes when she gives me responses like these. Sounding disappointed rather than happy whenever I say I come for a visit; “It's not that...” she says “It's just that, wouldn't it be more efficient if you just finish what you have to do there first? When fashion summit comes, you can stay here for as long as you please without worrying about how things run there”

Okay... I see her point. Defeated, I raise my hands “Alright... fashion summit it is, I'll see you in a month” Smirk. “You'll miss me”

“Don't get to cocky, Mr. Wu” she chuckles. I glance at the time on the lower half of the screen and saw that it was nearing the end of lunch. “Did you eat already?” I ask and she nods her head. Phew. Thank God. “I see...” “But I have to leave now because Suho has a meeting with and I need to be there”

I envy that dwarf sometimes.

“I see... I'll call you tonight, then?” “Yes” she gives me a thumb's up. “Alright... don't stress yourself” “I won't; keep smiling, okay?” she brightly curves her lips and I nod my head before giving her a salute.

She pushes her chair back and does a heart sign with her arms curving over her head “Saranghae ~”

A chuckle slips off my lips and without even having the slightest thought, I found myself forming a heart with my hands “Saranghae”

The call ends and she disappears from the screen of my computer. A month... just a month. Fashion Summit.

The office cafeteria was buzzing.

Meifen quietly chews on her food, a dazed look on her face. Her co-worker's face scrunches a bit and the person lets out a sigh before calling out her name, bringing her attention towards the other female.

“Why are you so dazed?” she asks; Meifen swallows the food in before speaking “A-ah, I was just thinking...” “Of Mr. Wu?” her co-worker snorts.

A blush crosses her cheeks and all of a sudden, she felt like a large ball was stuck inside .

“N-No!” she answers “I was just thinking about... something”

“Eh, Meifen” her co-worker points her chopsticks at her “I'm telling you, don't even get your hopes up... Mr. Wu is off-limits”

Meifen puffs out a sigh and turns to her food, poking the pieces of chicken with her chopsticks “I told you, it's not that... I'm just...” she looks up to her co-worker “Who's Kim Hana?” the girl almost chokes on her noodles upon hearing the name. Her eyes widen in disbelief “You don't know Kim Hana?!”

The whole cafeteria seemed to have suddenly come to a stopping silence as everyone beamed their eyes on the two of them. Meifen looks around before hanging her head low; her co-worker looks around and bows her head, flashing an awkward smile. Everyone goes back to their own business.

“You don't know Kim Hana?” she asks again in a whisper, leaning forward a bit. Meifen raises a brow “Should I?”

Her co-worker leans back on her seat and looks at Meifen with a face that screamed duh “Kim Hana is like... no, she's the EPA of Wu Enterprise Seoul's CEO” “Is that why I should know who she is?” Meifen asks, propping her elbow on the table, her chin resting on the back of her hand.

“Nope” her co-worker shook her head “Kim Hana is Mr. Wu's one and only girlfriend”

And Meifen's face fell blank, her color seemed to have drained.

So that explains the flowers. I honestly thought I was wrong.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

Hello, hello ~

Well, unfortunately I didn't go on the trip because well... personal family issues and stuff happened. /SIGH/ ohmygoth, I must not be gloomy! I must think of positive thoughts! YEAH! No use crying over spilled milk. Anyway, here's an update :)

I'll post the other one in a few hours.