CHAPTER 32

Meifen.

Sigh. Finally, we were going home.

“Is this seat taken?” I look up and my eyes widen in surprise at the owner of the voice. Kim Jongin! He chuckles before occupying the seat next to mine. Okay... what is going on? I looked around the plane full of Chinese passengers, all of which were too occupied finding their own seats.

From what I know, they have a private jet to take them back to Seoul, courtesy of the CEO Kim Joonmyeon. “Wh-what are you doing here, sir?”

“Ah, I missed the private jet; you don't mind me sitting here the rest of the flight to Incheon, right? Because if it bothers you then I'll just go and--” he started to get up but for some reason, my hands grabbed onto his arm “No!”

He turns back to look at me “It's fine, I don't mind” I say. He grins before sitting back down and straps on his seat belt. I shuffle a bit in my seat, making my seat comfortable and strapped on my seat belts as well as the plane was soon going to be taking off.

Silence.

And it stayed like that until we took off however around fifteen minutes into the flight, he suddenly plucked off his earphones and turned to me “You want something to eat?” I was caught off-guard by the question and he didn't even wait for my answer, he just grabbed onto the stewardess that passed by and smiled

“Yes sir?” she asks; her eyes batted at him in a flirtatious manner and I had to look away, suddenly feeling uncomfortable. Well, I have to admit... who wouldn't flirt with a face like Mr. Kim's? Me. “Can I have two cups of coffee and two of the best meals you have for breakfast” I could swear that he gave her a wink as she happily smiles at him and nods then walks away.

“Um... you didn't have to, sir” I tell him. Really... you didn't have to. He fiddles with his phone, keeping his eyes on it; he smirks and breaks his mouth open “But I wanted to and I already ordered it so you have to have it”

Seriously, had I not known any better and never saw his face, I would definitely say he is Chinese. “You're so fluent... did you grow up in China or something?... erm... sir?” Never forget the formalities, Meifen. I mentally remind myself. He puts away his phone and reaches a hand past me; it made me stop breathing for a moment. It turns out that he was only pulling down the blind of the window “I hope you don't mind, it was getting bright and I forgot my sunglasses”

He leans back in his seat and I look away, hiding the blush that I know was forming on my cheeks “To answer your question: No, I was born and raised here in South Korea but considering that my family has relations in China –business-wise- my parents had me and my sisters learn the language since we were young”

Well, that explains a lot. “Besides, it beats having someone translate the language for me... if I can do it by myself, why ask someone else to do it for me?” I accidentally snort a laugh and he raises a brow at me. I never should have... but the thoughts that came to my head were funny.

“What?” he asks

“Sorry sir, it's just funny... hearing it from someone such as yourself”

“What about myself?”

“Well, surely... someone as rich as you pay people to do stuff for you; for example you pay cleaning ladies to clean for you even though you can do them by yourself, you pay people to keep your garden lavish when you can do that by yourself too, you maybe even pay people to book you a table at a restaurant and you can dot hat by yourself; you --”

“Okay, okay, I get it” he raises his hands both in defeat and to stop me; You talked too much again, Meifen! I scold myself. “I get your point but it's only because for good reason”

It was my turn to raise a brow at him “Good reason?”

He lets out a breath; the stewardess arrives with the order and we both pull down the food tray holders as she then proceeds to placing each well garnished meal infront of us along with the cups of coffee. Jongin continues to speak and I doubt she understands the language anyway “First of all, take into consideration that I'm a business man. I am one-twelfth of the bosses that run Wu Enterprise –which is, if you weren't informed- the ACE of all cards because technically, we were much more huge compared to Wu Prime before Kris was appointed chairman”

Okay... consideration honored. The stewardess finished up and gave him a one of a kind smile, Mr. Kim did so aswell and I had to look away... again. I'm not really comfortable with people flirting infront of me.

“Anyway” he turns back to me “I do pay cleaning ladies to clean up my condo but that's only because I leave early in the morning, occupied by work the whole day and go home late at night however I do clean up by myself whenever I'm home and free with time”

I pick up the chopsticks while he takes the lid off of his cup of coffee “Secondly, I don't pay gardeners or landscapers or whatever they're called, to maintain my garden because one: I don't have a garden and two: I live in a condo... but if it were still in my parents' place, I don't think I can maintain a garden that's hundreds of yards on my own”

Point taken.

“And lastly, I do pay people to book a table for me at restaurant but just so you know, I can also do with home made dinner... especially if it means having it with my girlfriend” he sips on his coffee.

“If you had one” I breath out.

He pauses from almost picking on the food on his plate and gives me an amused look “What makes you think that I don't have a girlfriend?” Was that even necessary to ask? They say that a woman's instinct is... well, unquestionable. We seem to have been gifted with sensitivity but other days, I feel like it's more of a curse. Picking up my cup of coffee, I take off the lid and blew on the hot liquid to cool it down a little.

Jongin waits for me to speak but I never do. I just sipped on my coffee and ate the food on my plate. Good lord, expensive food tastes... expensive. I bet this is first class food.

“Well, are you gonna say something or am I gonna have to force it out of you?”

Do I really dare to tell him? Sigh. I give him a glance “The way you look at Ms. Kim Hana tells me so” “Pftt, the same way you look at Kris?” I fell silent.

I have to steer the subject away “Why did Mr. Wu suddenly fly back to Seoul, anyway?”

“He didn't tell you?”

“I never questioned...”

He chews on his food for a moment before speaking “His girlfriend –Hana had a miscarriage, he thought it was best for her to be back in Seoul to rest and... perhaps cope with the loss”

Silence engulfed us both once more. I didn't know what else to say; hearing about it felt so unreal, as if it was all just a big joke and for a second I didn't want to believe it but then... who jokes about miscarriage? It makes me wonder about what Mr. Wu is feeling... he doesn't seem like the type to cry so easily;

He never left Ms. Kim in such a crisis though... God she's so lucky.

Guangzhou, China.

“I don't care... find a way” she ends the call and exits the car as the chauffeur opens it for her. The maids immediately rush towards her, taking the bag and coat that she handed them and one of them opens up the front door for her to enter. Greetings of welcome fill the air as she does so.

However, a surprising sight greets her as she enters the living room. Her eldest son got up from his seat, his face looking displeased; opposite to him on the single seat sofa was her daughter.

“Chun... you missed the fashion summ--”

“Do you realize what you have done?” he hisses, his voice oozing out with venom as he speaks.

The lady frowns; she glances at Yookyung –who only looked away, as if refusing to meet her eyes- before diverting it back to her upset son. “What?” she speaks in dry sarcasm “I'm the bad guy again?”

“Mama, she was pregnant! Why the hell would you trip a pregnant girl?!”

Silence. Her eyes trailed to her daughter –who still refused to meet her gaze; for a moment she was confused as to where such things were coming from. Pregnant? The word seemed rather absurd to hear. Chun slapped down a Chinese newspaper onto the table and she picked it up, reading the caption of the headline.

There was a photo of her and a soaked Kim Hana. Chun ran a hand through his hair in frustration “This has gone too far, mama”

“Hana... had a miscarriage” Yookyung speaks for the first time since her mother had arrived.

And just like that, the temperature in the room seemed to have dropped enormously. Not another word was spoken as the previous ones registered into the lady's thoughts; her hands suddenly grew cold and her head seemed to have spun. She didn't know what to say, what to do, what to think.

“Chun... Yookyung...”

The eldest child turned away, refusing to even spare her a glance “This is your mess, mama... you fix it”

Seoul, South Korea.

“Smile”

She turns her head away from the television and immediately does as she is told, even flashing a peace sign. Kris snaps a photo with the Polaroid camera and within seconds, the photo comes out. He waves it in the air for a moment then looks at it as the picture appears “Beautiful”

It was Sunday and work starts again tomorrow.

“Aren't you going back to China?” she asks him, taking the camera and takes a candid photo of him. I took out the photo and smile at it; Every angle of him is perfection. Kris shook his head before snagging away the photo from her hand and compares it with hers “No, I need to stay here... for awhile”

She raises a brow at him and Kris was quick to catch on; he had come prepared “Wu Enterprise needs to be reviewed so I have to stay”

“You're not doing this because of what happened to me... are you?” she trails off.

He knew that she won't allow it. She would scold him to no ends and tell him to go back to China because work is a priority; she was not gonna allow him to stay in Seoul to keep a watchful eye on her and be in her aid. Hana had always insisted that she was very capable of handling things on her own thus he didn't need to worry about her and just focus on building up –or keep- Wu Prime on a steady pace.

“Hana, I know you won't allow it”

“Ofcourse I won't” she pouts “You're chairman; Wu Prime needs you”

“Sometimes I wish you'd need me” he mumbles under his breath and gets up from the couch to walk to the kitchen; “What did you say?” “Nothing” he turns to look at her over his shoulder and smiles “I'm just gonna get myself a can of beer, you want anything?”

“Cola, please” she shouts, turning back to the television.

Kris rummages through the refrigerator for a moment, chanting the word 'cola' in a mumbling voice as he searches for the can “Here...” he says, picking it out. He sets the cans down on the counter then searching the wall hung cabinets for two glasses.

Ring. Ring. Ring.

“Hello?” Hana answers the phone “Who is this?”

Hana blinks her eyes at the question; shouldn't she be the one asking that? The voice sounded intimidating though and she knew better than to mess with people whose voice sounded like diamonds and gold coins. She clears “Uhm... Hana... Kim Hana”

“And you are who in Yi Fan's life?”

“G-girlfriend... may I know who this is?”

All of a sudden, the call was cut off. The other line had put the phone down. She stared at the phone for a moment, a little confused before placing it down. Thoughts began to cloud up her thoughts, assumptions of who it could have been: a relative? A business associate?

Or maybe an ex-girlfr-- “Who was one the phone?”

Kris came back with two glasses in hand, the one filled with the black liquid being her drink. She shrugged her shoulders, biting her lower lip and bringing her finger up to poke her chin “I'm not sure...”

“Must be a prank caller” he says, sitting down on the couch and puts down my drink on the center table while he sits back and sips on his. Maybe... maybe. She settles down next to him, picking up her drink aswell and cuddled onto his side.

He flips the channel and she whines “Yah ~ I was watching that”

“That was boring; what's so interesting about people talking about ways to cook chicken?” he stopped at a channel featuring animals; just a bunch of lions eating other animals. Hana pouts “I was planning on cooking chicken tonight” “But chicken isn't my style... you know that”

She squints her eyes at him and pokes his cheek. Kris sips on his beer, keeping his eyes glued onto the television “Don't lie, I remember you eating chicken clearly the last time you came”

“Stop poking me”

Poke. Poke. Poke. Tsk. He grabs her hand and gives her a warning look, his brows slightly narrowing together but she looks least affected by it. He turns back to the television, loosening his grip on her hand and sips on his beer. Hana stays still for a moment and turns to the television slowly.

Poke. Kris sighs heavily “Alright, come on... get up...” he tells her, hauling himself off the couch. Hana looks up at him with a questioning look “Why?”

“We...” he finishes off his drink then places it down on the center table “are going somewhere”

“Where?” her eyes lit up in interest. Kris smirks –they needed to get out the house and just in time that he thought about a certain place that he knows she might like. It has been awhile since the last visit anyway. Sensing that she was not going to get up any time soon, he takes her free hand and pulls her up to her feet; he pecks on her lips and smiles “A happy place”

Meifen.

Finally arrived in Incheon.

I unfastened my seat belt and gathered my things, making sure that I won't forget anything. Mr. Kim was first to get up and grab his hand carried bag from the compartment. “Um... sir” he looks down at me, putting on his sunglasses as he double checks his bag “Hm?”

“Thank you... for everything” I tell him. He smiles at me –or more like a cocky smirk “You're welcome... and thanks too, booking an earlier flight and exchanging seats with your co-worker was worth it”

Wait... what? He chuckles before walking off ahead, leaving me a little dumbstruck in my seat to ponder on the words that I didn't understand. Sigh.

Meanwhile...

A smile comes across her face as she enters the building. It's good to be back.