CHAPTER 23

Hana examined the man standing behind the desk.

He wore a white suit in contrast to his dark colored office; a devious smile painted on his flawless milky white face, his eyes, like those of a cat, glimmered under the light and his gaze on her sent shivers down her spine. The room was comfortably warm yet so cold at the same time.

His intimidating aura reminded her of Kris only that unlike the young Wu, this man had such a... bright? Something like that... a bright personality. Like a little light bulb that will never go out.

“Kim Heechul, Head of... almost everything in this building” he laughs, clasping his hands together as Hana blinks her eyes at him in amusement. He gestures his hand to the chair behind her and asks her to sit down. As soon as he settles himself on his leather chair, he picks up the brown envelope she had earlier and looks at her, still with a smile on his face.

He takes out the papers from inside the envelope “Mr. Huang called me, he said you'd be coming... I see he's had these processed prior to our meeting” Hana remains quiet as Heechul's eyes continue to scan through the papers.

There were three things on her mind at the moment: One: this Kim Heechul is a sadist. Two: He and Tao know each other, business-wise. So, Kris must know him too. Three: Why am I here in the first place?

Something brushes against her leg and she looks down, her eyes suddenly sparkling and a gasp escapes her lips. She forgets everything and picks up the gray cat “Omona ~ so cute!” she squeals as she stares at it's big bright eyes.

“Aish, he got in again...” Heechul mutters “Sorry Ms. Kim, Heebum is quite the ninja... he manages to sneak into my office at the most crucial of times” he apologizes. Hana gives him a bright smile, the back of the cat as it purs and rests comfortably on her lap “It's no trouble, I happen to like pets, sir”

Heechul chuckles and fixes the papers “Ah, well, anyway...” he clears his throat “Do tell me why it's you that is here instead of the son?”

The room falls silent for a moment and Heebum scurries off of Hana's lap, landing perfectly on the floor before walking away. Hana swallows hard before finally breaking the silence to answer Heechul's question “Mr. Wu, sort of, made some changes in his last will and entitled that to me but with all honesty, even I don't know why it's me”

“Wow ~” Heechul spoke out, without much emotion to his voice, even his face was blank “You're really honest, aren't you?” he leans back in his seat, propping his elbows on the arm rests and bright his hands together. Hana shifts awkwardly in her seat as Heechul examines her.

Hm. She has fashion sense... his eyes carefully land on each piece; her white blazer, the deep dark blue crop top, black skinny jeans and black pumps. Natural pretty face... no make up. His eyes peer at her own pair then trails down to her hands that were resting on her lap. Oh my... he gives a devious smirk.

“Ms. Kim...”

“Yes?” she looks at him, blinking her eyes; he senses a little nervousness in her voice but brushes it off as he was used to getting such reactions “Who are you in the old chairman's life?”

Gulp. What do I say? She mentally panics, searching for an appropriate answer to give. Should she tell him the truth? But wouldn't it sound a little silly to say 'I'm his son's girlfriend' –to Hana, it sounded so unreasonable. Just because she was the girlfriend didn't seem so ideal that she gets such a privileged task from one of the most powerful men who once ruled the business world.

But, since he said that she's quite the honest one, she decided to go with the ridiculous –but honest- answer

“His son's girlfriend”

So, that explains the ring... a promise ring, perhaps? I thought she's the mistress. Heechul mentally laughs at his own thoughts. “I see...” that was his only reply before he fell quiet and looks around the space. Hana waits quietly for his next move.

“You know Ms. Kim” he starts “It makes me wonder... did it ever occur to you as to why you are not in a Wu company-owned bank to get something that a Wu owns?”

Now that he's mentioned it... Hana purses her lips together, biting her tongue lightly as she quietly thinks to herself. Aish. You're still a clumsy girl, Kim Hana. Heechul wastes no more time on keeping her guessing, instead, he had managed to be nice enough to explain. He got up from his chair and walked towards the left side of the room, stopping to face the empty board panel wall. He presses his palm against the panel, giving it a little push and it creaks open.

Much to Hana's amazement, there was a vault behind it. “Mr. Wu had this deposited years ago...” Heechul presses the numbers one by one, taking his time “I don't know why this is such a big deal but it's not like it's my business anyway; Mr. Wu had a specific instruction...” a click was heard and he opens the vault “His son would have no right, whatsoever, in any case unless given personal word from him, to get this”

Heechul takes the item from inside the vault and turns around, advancing towards the girl, sitting on the visitor's chair. Hana's eyes fall on the item in his hands as he holds it out for her to take. Standing up, she accepts it and smiles thankfully at the businessman.

She bows “Thank you, Mr. Kim”

A heavy sigh escapes the lady's lips, her hands gripped onto the arm rest, legs crossed, her back leaned back, eyes staring blankly at the closed door. She sat in the confinements of her dark office, the window blinds were shut, no light was .

Her son hadn't spoken a word to her ever since the funeral. Whenever she tried to come near him, he would either turn away or make up an excuse to go somewhere; Chun... does not understand.

She questioned herself the past few days if she was a bad mother for thinking of her children's future. If only they knew how hard she worked to keep them where they were, if only her son could understand perfectly why she was like this. They did not know Kris the way she did.

The door opens and light makes its way inside “Ms. Wu?”

She doesn't respond. The secretariat walks inside, closing the door behind her and walks up to the lady's desk “The fabrics have arrived, would you like to look over them?”

The lady's look falls on the folder in the girl's arms and she extends her hand out; the employee hands her the folder and without a word uttered, she dismisses the girl with her other hand. The employee bows and exits her office, leaving her alone once again.

She slaps the folder onto her desk and return to her previous position.

Dage... why did you leave me? An angered tear falls from her eyes. Her lips quivered and her grip on the arm rest tightened, it was as if, if she pulled on it, the leather would get torn off the foam. Why did you leave us?

“It's stated here, Ms. Wu: Wu Yi Fan, only child of Mr. & Mrs. ****** Wu, is entitled to inherit ALL the Wu family wealth. Your father himself had personally stated this” the attorney tells her.

Her brows knit together “What does that mean? Yi Fan is the sole heir?” the lawyer nods his head. She blinks her eyes, trying to consume the information for a moment. Something must be wrong, Kris could not possibly be the only one to inherit the properties.

“What about my shares?” she asks.

A sigh escapes the attorney's lips as he puts back the documents inside his brief case then closing it, the click stating that it had been locked. “Ms. Wu...” he clasps his hands together “you have no shares... remember?”

“No... my brother gave me shares”

“Ms. Wu, your brother still owns them... now, should anything happen to him, everything will go to his son and no one else... your brother's shares are still in accordance to your father's will and your father's will states that you are not entitled to anything”

“What about Chun and Yookyung?”

The lawyer shook his head “Nothing... I'm sorry, Ms. Wu but everything that's stated on paper, is what goes... good day” and he leaves.

She could remember the conversation three years ago as if it was just yesterday. Her eyes lay upon the folder and with a heavy breath, she opens it.

Get yourself together... you look pathetic. Her subconscious tells her and with it, she does. Show them... show them just how much this company needs you. She picks up her phone and dials a nubmer before pressing it onto her ear.

“Yookyung... Mama needs to talk to you”

Hana.

“ING HELL! I SPECIFICALLY ASKED FOR THE ING GREEN 8! ARE YOUR EYES BROKEN THAT YOU CAN'T TELL GREEN 8 FROM GREEN 6?!”

I almost jumped at the yell when I exited the elevator. Tao... Sigh. I was going to tell him that I already took care of the little matter but now seems like not such a good time. “GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT BEFORE I ING FIRE YOU!” Gulp. A few seconds later, the door opens and a female employee rushes out with her head hung low.

Do I dare get inside his office?

“Yah”

“GAAAH!” I jump at the voice coming from behind me and Sehun laughs; he pockets his hands and gives me an amused look “So jumpy... it's just me, Hana” he continues to laugh.

I place a hand over my fast beating heart and breathe in and out respectively to even the oxygen coming in and out of my lungs “You scared me... aigo, you shouldn't do that” I half-heartedly scold him and he gives me a roll of his eyes “You're no fun, Hana... what happened to the bubbly girl?” he asks.

A smile creeps onto my lips and I reach out a hand to pinch his cheek “Ah ~ !” “Mr. Oh, I cannot be bubbly if you keep scaring me” releasing his cheek, he quickly brings up a hand to the area and rubs it as he gives me a disapproving look.

“Are you planning on going in there?” he asks, changing the subject and gesturing his chin to Tao's door. Actually, it feels like going on a suicide mission going through those doors. It's the very first time that I've seen Tao like this; he's giving out his whole heart into the project –which is good- but the stress that he has to bear seems to be thrice than normal.

It's only recently that it has occurred to me just how serious the fashion world is. It's more than just runway shows and seasonal fashion shows. It's a scary world.

I start for the door “Hey, I don't think that's such a good idea” Sehun says as he grabs hold of my wrist and pulls me back, almost causing me to crash against his chest. A door opens and we both turn our heads to the direction of the sound, there stood Chanyeol and Lay.

“Sehun-ah” Lay utters his name, their eyes falling on Sehun's hand that was holding my wrist “Do you want to get killed by Kris?”

A shade of crimson gets painted on my cheeks and I pull my hand away just as Sehun lets it go. Chanyeol snorts out a laugh and pockets his hand, he turns to me and raises a brow “Hana-ssi, is Sehun the one bothering you now?”

“N-No!” “Don't be ridiculous, Chanyeol...” he tells his friend, keeping a blank look on his face “I merely saved her from the wrath of the Kung Fu Panda”

The two of them walk closer towards us. Lay steals a glance at Tao's door “What's so bad about visiting Tao?” Lay questions, turning to Sehun, who then rolled his eyes at the blank headed guy. Chanyeol casually rests his arm around my shoulders “The panda's the most harmless guy, I know”

I agree with Chanyeol. Tao can't even hurt a fly... but then again, his temper these days seem to be... well, rather bad.

Sehun raises his index finger “Besides the fact that he knows martial arts, trains atleast six hours a week and not to mention that he's overstressed... sure, he's harmless”

“You're exaggerating things, Sehun... If there's anyone in this company who knows how to deal with stress, it's Tao” Lay chuckles. Sehun crosses his arms over his chest and smirks “Prove it then, go inside that office” he challenges. Letting out a yawn, Lay rolls his eyes at him before starting for the door.

As he walks, Sehun sniggers and leans a bit towards Chanyeol and I “Fifty thousand won says that he'll get hit”

“Tao ~” Lay calls out his name in a sing-sang voice as he pushes the door open and walks inside “Oomf!” a sound escapes Lay's lips as he soon finds his eyesight going green. Only then does he realize that he had been hit by a ball of green fabric –which was now hanging over his head and shoulder.

“DO. NOT. DISTURB. ME.” Venom oozes out of every word that came out of Tao's lips. His hair was disheveled, his white inner shirt's sleeves were rolled up to his elbows, his eyes fixated on the papers on his desk, his hand busy scribbling while the other was clenched to a fist.

In the background, Sehun holds out his palm to the two people. Chanyeol grumbles incoherent words under his breath as he and Hana hand Sehun his prize.

Kai.

“Hana?” I poke my head inside her office but only to find that she wasn't inside. Hm... where could she be? I checked my watch to see if I was early than the scheduled time but it clearly said that it was two forty five.

I exit her office and just as I close her door, another opens. Suho blinked his eyes in surprise upon seeing me “Oh... Kai” he places his pen on the chest pocket of his suit “What are you doing here?”

Raising the cups in my hands, he gives me an understanding nod “I see...” he glances at Hana's door then turns to me “Hana's not in, she said that she had to go somewhere” Tsk. Ofcourse, ever since she became Suho's EPA, she's been spending less time inside her office and went around the building. She probably walks more than a thousand steps in a single day compared to me.

“I see...” I let out a sigh “Well, would you like to have this instead, hyung?” he gives me a chuckle before accepting the cup and thanks me. He took a quick sip “Mm. By the way...”

“Hm?”

“Can we talk?” he asks.

And no sooner, I find myself sitting across him in the little lounge area on the almost-empty office floor. Considering that is has been a while since I got together with Suho, this seems like a nice chance to catch up. I mean, even though we stay in the same building almost everyday, we don't really have all the chances to actually just talk.

“Jongin...” he calls my attention. “Hm?”

“You can't...” he gives me a smile which confuses me, all the more. What do you mean? I raise a brow at him, looking at him as if what he had just told me was funny “What?”

“Hana” and that name alone suddenly brings me to the sole reason of this whole talk. A heavy sigh escapes my lips “Hyung, look... I know what I did, okay? But believe me when I say that I am not gonna come between anyone... Kris is my friend”

Suho looked away for a moment and was silent.

I've already made up my mind. I am determined to move on because I know fully well that there's no use holding onto someone who doesn't even have the slightest idea that I'm here, grasping at them. But just because I'm doing this does not mean that I should also give up my friendship with her.

“Kris asked me to keep her away from you...”

Silence.

“It doesn't surprise me” I sip on my coffee. “I'll stay away if that's what's necessary but hyung... if she needs me, I can't promise to still keep my distance”

Suho looks at me, a small smile tugs on the corner of his lips “Reasonable enough”

“Did you have dinner?” Hana smiles at the question and nods her head as she presses the phone onto her ear “Yeah... what about you?” “I did... I'm pretty tired”

She falls silent and his words just pass through her ears. Her eyes were fixed on the small box on top of her dresser;

As hereby stated, Kim Hana is given full authorization to claim my properties kept and vaulted at PTL Bank, Seoul, South Korea.

She could still remember the words printed on paper.

“...na? Hana? Hana. Are you there?” the deep voice on the other line pulls her back to reality “O-Oh, uh, yeah... sorry, I was just thinking” “About me?” he smirks. She lets out a giggle “I always think about you”

Hana finds herself blushing at her own words, upon realization of how cheesy and sappy it had sounded. Kris laughs on the other line “Aigo!” she shook her head frantically, whining in the process. Kris could only picture the embarrassed look on her face as he was lying down on his own bed on the other line.

“Get some sleep, Hana. I'll call you again tomorrow”

Puffing out a breath, she nods her head “Okay. Goodnight”

“Night”

Silence.

Her eyes turn to slits. He's seriously not gonna say it first? Kris, on the other hand, was also having the same thought. A few more seconds pass.

“Goodnight” she repeats.

“Night” he says the same line.

“I'm hanging up now”

“Really?”

“Goodnight”

“Night”

Neither still make a move to end the call. Say it. Say it. Say it. The two of them quietly chant in their thoughts. “Goodnight, Kris ~”

“Night, Hana”

She pouts but this time, hangs up.

Kris stares at his phone in disbelief as he sees that the call has been cut. Tch. “Did she really hang up on me?”

Ring. Ring. “Hello~?” Hana answers in a playful tone. “Wo ai ni” she laughs heartily at his defeat “What? Nothing for me?” “Saranghae, Wu Yi Fan ~”

The call officially ends and Hana turns her attention back onto the box. Taking a deep breath, she snaps the locks open and lift the cover and inside she finds...

A red envelope and a small notebook.

Eh? This is... his treasured item? She takes out the red envelope and carefully opens it up; Hana had never felt so anxious in her life, even as she was taking out the content of the small envelope, her hands were shaking. Calm down... she tells herself, heaving a deep breath.

She unfolds the paper and reads:

To whoever is reading this,

By the time you read this letter, My wife and I are probably gone already. If you are reading this letter, it only means one thing. I have left my son, Wu Yi Fan, under your care.

Yi Fan is someone who needs a special kind of care. He is not like all the other boys, he is rather much of an introvert but he will open up to you, eventually. I know and understand fully well that he will grow up and become a man, a man who would no longer need supervision but you are wrong.

My son needs all the help he can get. Even after he grows, even after whatever success he may achieve in his life, he will still need help. Yi Fan will always be a boy with a scarred heart and only time can tell when it will heal. I know the favor I am asking is not as easy as poking a hole on paper because there will be times that you will have the thought of giving up on him.

Please don't.

He will push you away, he will get angry, he will give you cold shoulders and cold remarks but please don't give up on him. Yi Fan is someone who loses his way that is why he needs someone to guide him. Walk beside him, hold his hand and let him know that he is not alone. He grew up in such a rash environment, he witnessed such bad things and I regret that I had not covered his eyes and ears.

So please, cover his eyes and ears for me. Do the tasks that my wife and I have failed to fulfill, make him feel loved, make him smile, make him happy, keep him away from harm, support him when he needs it, wipe his tears when he cries... never let him go.

You may find a red notebook along with this letter, it contains everything you need to know about him. I listed it down myself. His likes, his dislikes, his favorites and such. I hope it will make the task easier for you.

Yi Fan will fully give himself to you if he chooses and when he does, accept it because when he gives himself to someone, he gives his all and leaves nothing for himself.

Sincerely,

His father.

Hana smiles.