CHAPTER 33

Her fingertips graze the edges of the frame of the photograph set on the table beside the closed down Macbook; her eyes graze over the people in the picture and she smiles to see the image of a handsome blonde young man smiling as he looks at the female he was with –who was also looking back at him with a bright smile on her face. Idiotic young man... she thinks with a chuckle. He tells me nothing anymore.

Lining the one of the off-white colored walls of the spacious office were large framed photos of the previous chairmen of the company. The current chairman's large photo was placed on the wall right behind his chair. A gold name plate was on the table and engraved on it was:

吴亦凡

CHAIRMAN

“You certainly have reached your goals, young man...” she says as she rounds the expensive wooden table before walking to the large glass windows. She pushes the thick curtains aside letting sunlight peek into the dim office while she grazes over the vast city.

Indeed, what a sight it was and she could only picture out Kris Wu's face as he overlooks this view. Perhaps, a sparkle of power in his eyes.

“Excuse me ma'am” came a voice. She turns around and smiles at an employee, her hand leaving the curtain as it closes again and dims the room “Hello” she greets the young woman with a smile.

“You're not allowed to be here, ma'am... Mr. Wu gives strict orders not to let anyone into his office when he's not around” the employee explains. His PA, maybe? “Sorry... you are... who?” she questions the employee, still a smile on her face. The girl is a bit taken back but answers the question –she introduces herself as one of the people on the front desk downstairs- then retaliates “And you are... who, madame?”

She could almost laugh heartily but chooses to stifle it. Maybe a newbie... the girl notices a playful glint in the eyes of the woman. She breaks her gloss-tinted red lips and answers

“I am Yi Fan's grandmother”

Kris.

It's a fine day today, the others must feel like it's a waste given the fact that they go back to Seoul today but work awaits tomorrow and no one –yes. Not even the employees of Wu Prime- are allowed to be absent tomorrow.

I glance over to the person sitting in the passenger seat right beside me. Hana's attention was focused outside of her window, perhaps she was too engulfed with watching the buildings and views we sped through by and I didn't bother to tear her attention away. The more distracted she is, the better... atleast, she could get surprised.

We're close. I think to myself as the buildings slowly disappear and trees dominate the sides of the road. She turns off the AC and rolls down the window, her hair dancing in the wind as she holds out her hand a little and her fingers play in the air “Don't hold it out too far” I tell her. She smiles at me and nods her head; I roll down my window aswell and prop up my free arm.

I make a turn leaving the asphalt road and into a road of expensive old bricks. The sides were lined up with cherry blossoms and up ahead, into the far was a large black gate, securing a large house behind it.

“Where are we?” Hana asks as I slow the car down a little; she had poked her head out of the window, her eyes sparkling with wonder and adoration. As we get closer, people in uniforms begin to get visible and the gates opened. “Back in your seat, Hana” I tell her and she obeys.

I hear a greeting coming from the familiar old man who had opened the gate and I give a quick nod of the head before driving forward, rounding the large fountain in the middle of the circular driveway and parked up the car infront of the steps.

“Wow...” she says as she looks at the grandeur. Fascinated.

I unbuckle my seat belts and reach over to her seat to do it for her. Hana turns to me and asks me again, a previous question “Where are we?”

“My house” ...or atleast, the house I grew up in. she seemed dumbstruck for a moment but I just smile and peck on her lips before getting out of the car and running around to open the door for her “Come on, Hana”

She holds onto my hand like a little kid who just entered a mall for the first time in forever and was afraid to get lost. Cute. I chuckle as she continues to look around. “Welcome back, sir” came the bright voice of an old woman in uniform. She smiled brightly at me, like she always did whenever I came to visit.

“It's been awhile...” I mumble. She looks past me and asks “And who might this pretty woman be, sir?” “Oh...” I pull Hana close; she tears her attention away from her surroundings and smiles upon meeting the old lady's eyes “Hello” she says with a polite bow. I introduce her “This is Kim Hana. Hana, this is Nana Dabin... she takes care of the house”

“It's very nice to meet you” Hana chimes. Bright as the sunshine... it's hard to believe that a girl like her has been through so many rough patches. Nana Dabin smiles brightly at her and bows her head before turning to me “Sir, I didn't know that you got married already”

I chuckle at the statement and glance at Hana –she was as red as a tomato and not to mention very surprised “She's not my wife, Nana... atleast not yet” I give her a playful smile.

WHACK! “Ow!” I rub the sore spot behind my head. She just whacked me! Jesus Christ, I swear, if only she wasn't my girlfriend and if only I didn't treasure her so greatly, I would've sent guys to bury her into the ground. Geez, she can give a hit.

Hana laughs nervously and clasps her hands together “Please don't mind him, I'm his girlfriend”

“I was kidding, Hana!”

Nana Dabin laughs and shook her head “Well, I got the rooms ready for your stay here, sir... should I show Ms. Hana to hers?” Ugh... forgot to specify some things. Tsk. I click my tongue and shook my head “I forgot to tell you, we'll be staying in the same room”

“But, I don't mind --” I snake an around her back and pull her close by the waist, her own surprise cutting off her sentence. “She gets night terrors”

“Oh you poor child...” Nana Dabin does a sign of the cross and casts her a sympathetic look; Phew. She bought it. “Well, anyway... lunch is waiting in the dining hall; I will have your things brought into your room, sir” “Great” I smile at her before dragging Hana along into the dining room.

Nana Dabin smiles as she watches the couple disappear into the hall. My dear Mrs. Wu... it has been awhile since I've seen him smile like that... it's been so long. The old lady couldn't remember the exact last moment that she has seen the young man smile brightly. For all she knows, the boy had become gloomy ever since his parents parted ways up to the point that it had become impossible to make him smile.

Even more so when he came home one day to his mother's deathbed. Nana Dabin could still hear his cries of pain in her head that very day. Yi Fan was broken.

But it seems... she smiles at the thought of the female he had brought with him and chuckles to herself. Someone has managed to fix him.

Baekhyun.

You would think that a private occupied by ten grown and rich , powerful men –yes, it includes myself- who is on their way home from a very exhausting summit, would be quiet, peaceful, serene and/or have that intimidating aura. My dear, you are very... oh so very wrong.

“I'm gonna pop some tags, only got twenty dollars in my pocket ~” it blasted through the speakers and I swear that the inside of the place could be mistaken for a club.

Chanyeol was practically singing along to the song with Xiumin, Suho, Sehun, Chen and Luhan as they waved their glasses of champagne around. Me? I'm just recording this whole thing and laughing at these idiots stupid antics. Lay has really bad hangover due to over-partying last night so he's asleep but as the rule says: never pass out or you befall a victim. So currently, Tao is drawing all over his face while giggling like a brat.

“We got the mothering contract, es!” Chanyeol shouts and the whole room just bursts out into chaotic wolf whistles and cheers and Lay is still passed out.

“There's no need for profanities, Chanyeol” Kyungsoo voices out.

He was just playing on his phone in his seat, having his fair share of champagne aswell but nevertheless he's the only one who's not turning the place upside down. The giant seems to have ignored him thought and discards of his empty glass, instead he just takes a whole bottle of champagne and chugs on it.

Well, we have every reason to celebrate anyway! Wu Enterprise's Spring collection bested Wu Prime's. Score for the bad boys! “Speaking of es, where are the ladies?” I ask. Suho presses on a button and moments later the stewardesses appeared. And did I mention that Suho's private jet has one of the most fine flight attendants?

“Yes Mr. Kim?” asks one of the three. Sehun hooks his arm around her shoulder and sips on his glass “Darling, show me a good time” he slurs and it doesn't even take a minute for the girls to get wild.

I ing swear that Kai will regret booking an earlier flight! The chorus to the song came again and everyone –except Kyungsoo and Lay, ofcourse- just busts out into singing “I'm gonna pop some tags, only got twenty dollars in my pocket! I-I-I'm huntin! Looking for a come up! This is ing AWESOME!”

“You know, I don't know how you guys can manage to celebrate... did you forget about what happened?” Kyungsoo asks, his eyes never leaving his phone. I flop down next to him, hooking an arm around his shoulder and bring him close a bit but he shrugs off my arm “Chill, Kyungsoo-ah ~”

I sip on my drink “After we get off of this plane, party's over! Besides, we already sulked enough, loosen up or you'll go crazy”

The tapping on the phone stops and I found him staring at me –or glaring rather. Gulp. I slowly retreat my arm away as he speaks “Kris and Hana lost their child... get that through that thick skull of yours” he then got up and walked to another side of the plane, a part much quieter.

Okay... that was... “Scary” Xiumin says before drinking up his glass of champagne.

Nevertheless, the party continues. I smell something fishy about you, Do Kyungsoo. Kkaebsong ~ tsk.

Hana.

Everything looks priceless, aged with memories that make me curious, every carving seemed etched with specific happenings, the paintings on the wall looked expensive. Everything just screams special about this place.

I walk back into the place where we were earlier, two spiraling staircases met at the top, hanging on the ceiling –directly above a round table with a vase full of fresh flowers- was a large crystal chandelier. Wow. My hands fall on the smooth wooden railing of one of the staircases and I slowly make my way up, loving the feeling of the wood beneath my fingers. Eventually, I reach the top and the first thing that greets me is a large portrait of a beautiful woman.

She looked awfully familiar, almost as if I've seen her somewhere before but search as I may in my memory, nothing came up. Strange...it suddenly dawned upon me that this house belonged to Kris. So what is a large portrait of a woman doing here? Maybe she's his ex-girl –

“She's pretty, isn't she?”

A gasp of surprise escapes my lips; I place a hand over my surprised heart and turn to the side, Kris was coming up. Keys twirling around his forefinger; I turn back to the portrait “She's beautiful”

“Ofcourse she is” he chuckles and stand beside me “Where else would I have gotten my good looks from?”

Wait... what? I look at him for a moment then back at the portrait, back and forth, to and fro, the third time I looked at him, he was looking at me with a smug smile on his face. Heat rushes to my cheeks as I realize that for a moment... I was jealous of his mom. Mental face palm.

“Why are you blushing?” he snorts a laugh. Seriously, Hana? Shut up, subconscious “A-am not... so, this is your mom?” for a second, he didn't seem to take my denial but –thankfully- lets it go.

He nods his head “Yeah... she's as beautiful as the first bloom of a flower in Spring, as bright as mid-Summer day, as gentle as the last leaf dancing in Fall and...” he takes a deep breath “I always look forward to seeing her like the first snow in winter”

I couldn't help but giggle. He turns to me and raises a brow then asks me “Too poetic?”

“Very... but it's nice to hear though” for someone so cold back then –and maybe a little still is- Kris had a pretty warm choice of words. Hearing them only made me wonder how much he cherishes and admires his mom. “She would have loved to meet you, Hana”

“You're really sure about that?” I raise a brow at him, a questioning smile on my lips.

He smirks “Ofcourse, who would not be pleased to meet someone so similar to them?”

“I doubt we're similar, Kris” I highly do. She looked far more worthy and prestigious compared to me both physically and mentally. I'm comparable to a silly little chicken crossing the road, clumsy. I could feel him rolling his eyes at me “Trust me, you really are... personality-wise and not to mention the smiling habit”

The corners of my lips tug upwards but just as I was about to speak, a voice rung out calling Kris's name “Master Wu” I burst out laughing at the address and he gives me an annoyed look, muttering something under his breath about 'I told them not to call me that'

“I'm up here” he half-shouts.

One of the housekeepers appear and bow before speaking “There's a call for you, sir” “Who?” “Ms. Stephanie Wu is her name”

Kris sends her off before turning to me “That's odd...” he says. We both begin our descend and enter –what seemed like- a family room “How so?” I ask him as I sat down on one of the couches and he takes the seat next to the phone.

“Because only one person other than me knows the number to this place...” he says before placing the phone against his ear.

“Yi Fan” came his sister's voice. It sounded a little off and he suddenly begun to feel uneasy “How did you know the number to this place?” it was his first concern.

There was silence on the other line for a moment and his worry slowly began to change into annoyance and anxiousness; he didn't like it when people gave answers such suspense “Stephanie, spit it out”

“You're grandmother's here... in China”

It certainly made his brow raise.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

* Hello children... you all should really not jump into so many conclusions, I thought I already taught you a lesson on XOXO? Kekeke ;)