CHAPTER 34

“I'm sorry for the abrupt call, Ms. Stephanie but we couldn't contact Ms. Wu” a secretariat explains as Stephanie walks out of the elevator. The young Wu was just as equally nervous as the female walking next to her on the way to Kris's office “No, it's okay... have you contacted Yi Fan?”

The distance from the elevator to Kris's office door felt more distant than the usual. The female shook her head, a look of dismay on her face “No ma'am, Mr. Wu's phone can't be reached and we also tried calling his condo in Seoul but no one was answering”

Sigh. Yi Fan, where are you? “I see... well, I'll take it from here” the female nods and bows before stopping on her tracks while Stephanie kept walking. Every step she took suddenly went heavy, her heart pounded and as her hand held the cold knob, her breathing just stopped. Gulp. Slowly, she twists it open and enters the dim room; she walks in and the leather chair swivels around.

There sat a woman –she looked old but nevertheless elegant. Stephanie doesn't recognize the face but gets the feeling she someone who is of big deal “G-good morning... madame” she greets along with a bow, not really sure of how to address the person.

“Stephanie... am I correct?”

She looks up and meets the lady's eyes; she nods her head. The lady smiles warmly at her “It's pleasing to finally meet you, my dear... I am Yi Fan's grandmother” she introduces herself, rising from her seat and walks around the desk “His mother's mother”

“I... it's n-nice to meet you” it was all she could manage to say. Stephanie suddenly felt like she was an intruder; here, standing before her, was the mother of the woman's who's husband her mother had an affair with. The lady chuckles “Don't be scared my dear, the past remains in the past and you have no fault whatsoever”

She wishes that the words would have made her relax a little but they were of no help. Stephanie remains quiet “You must be wondering why I'm here... I heard about what happened at the fashion summit involving your aunt and a certain Kim Hana... do you know her?”

“Y-yes” she nods “She's Yi Fan's girlfriend...”

For a moment I wished that I didn't tell her... I wish I lied but a moment later... I'm glad I told her. I'm glad I did.

Seoul, South Korea

A tired breath escapes Kyungsoo's lips as he enters his pad. He was quick to toss aside his luggage and flop himself down on the sofa in the spacious living room. It was quiet and the afternoon was just settling in the busy city.

How are you? |

Sigh. He erases it and exits the messenger on his phone before tossing it aside. A lot has happened this week, he had managed to come across his first love and just as he was about to seal his feelings, tides turned and he found himself by Hana's side. The worst part: he was concerned about her... much more than he should be. He ran a hand through his hair.

Ring. Ring. Ring. He doesn't move from his spot, he just lets it ring. Ring. Ring. Ring. Beep. The call goes straight to voice mail and Kyungsoo sits there in silence, ready to listen to whoever is on the line

“Kyungsoo-yah, it's me, Jongin. I can't contact your phone so I called you here but it seems you're not home yet” he hears Kai let out a sigh “Anyway, I'm at home and I have nothing to do so if you arrive, I was thinking we could get some drinks... I need to talk to you about something”

He checks his phone and saw that it was still on airplane mode. Rolling his eyes, he gets up from the sofa and walks to the phone, he presses a button and picks it up just before the call ends

“Kai”

“That was quick... good timing, eh?” he chuckles. Kyungsoo smiles, rubbing the back of his neck “Come over to my pad, I have two bottles of scotch that I have to get rid of”

Hana.

Kris hasn't told me anything, he didn't talk to me about the phone call and when I asked about it, he just smiled and told me not to worry about it because it wasn't a big deal. I had my doubts but I let it go, he was sort of right, I needed to relax a bit and what better way to do that than to embrace the cool breeze on the balcony of the study room.

The house is unbelievable, really. Sigh. Almost like a castle in those books umma used to read...

“Ms. Hana” a voice pulls me out of my train of thoughts; I turn around and smiled seeing Nana Dabin, a tray of pastries in her hands. I give a bow of the head, she sets down the tray on the table at the side and I mumble a quiet thank you before turning back to the view “It's really pretty here”

A deep breath escapes her lips “We like to keep things the way they were before so that when young Mr. Wu visits, things are as if his mom is still here... I haven't seen him smile for so long” when I turned my head, she was smiling at me.

“He's handsome when he smiles” I comment, pushing myself off the railing and walked over to a chair, sitting down and picked up a cookie from the plate. Nana Dabin walks over and sits across me “Thank you, Ms. Hana” for some reason, I found myself flustering at her words “W-why?”

She reaches out a hand and grabs mine, giving it a squeeze “For making Yi Fan happy again, my dear... it's all I've ever wanted for him”

Creek. “Hana?” Nana Dabin gets up and Kris appears “There you are” the elder excuses herself –saying something about checking what was to be prepared for dinner- and leaves the premises thus Kris and I were left to be alone. He occupied the seat next to me, moving it closer. He takes the cookie away from my hand and eats it making me pout.

“You could've gotten one from the plate” I tell him, snagging another cookie from the plate “I know but I wanted one from your lips”

“You're so cheesy” I poke his forehead, chuckling.

The afternoon starts to settle down as the sun slowly goes down, it's rays painting the sky a cool shade of pinkish orange. He drapes a hand on the back rest of Hana's chair as she leans her head on his shoulder. The silence was peaceful, not deafening but rather the kind of silence that people needed once in a while.

“You should meet my mom” he mumbles out of the blue.

Hana lifts her head to look at him, she raises a brow “When?” he gets up to his feet and lends out a hand to her; Hana was confused for a moment but takes his hand. Kris wastes not another minute and pulls her along.

Kris was like a little boy again, pulling my hand and running along the halls of the house, down the flight of stairs, his face eager to show me something, like a discovery he had made in the backyard. If only your dad could see you right now, Kris... he'd be so happy.

“Slow down, Kris!” I laugh as he continues to pull me along. We got out of the house and ran around, he brought me to the back where the garden was just as breath taking as the one in the front. Trees were scattered here and there, different colored tulips and different kinds of rose bushes were everywhere “Come on” he tugs me along once more.

We walk past some lamp post, following a trail of rocks serving as the pathway until Kris comes to a stop. When I look, I saw a tree, a swing hanging on its branch and beside it was a gravestone and on it was a name.

His mom.

“Mom, this is Kim Hana... that weird personal assistant I told you about”

I don't know but maybe it's the sparkle in his eyes or the way he softly smiled, maybe even the fact that he's been trying hard to act like nothing's wrong lately, the effort he puts into making sure that everything is okay. I don't know but I've never been so sure until now just how much I've found someone right for me. He's far from that cold guy I knew Back then but I know he's still the same Kris Wu.

Ding Dong. He dries off his hair with a towel, making his way out of his bedroom and answers the main door. Kai smiles, holding up a box of fried chicken as Kyungsoo steps aside to let him in. the guest directly makes his way to the kitchen, putting down his gift on the island counter before opening the fridge and sticking his head inside “Yeah, hello to you too, Jongin” he settles himself on the bar stool and continues to dry off his hair.

Kai ignores his sarcastic welcome and pulls his head out of the fridge, a carton of milk in his hand “You know, I'm surprised you accepted my invitation” he tells Kyungsoo, putting down the carton on the counter aswell before opening the freezer and took out some ice.

“And why is that?” Kyungsoo asks. Kai gives a shrug, plugging on the standby blender “For one: you're not much of a drinker” he takes off the lid, pouring milk and ice into the container “Second” he takes the bottle of scotch that had been sitting on the side and pours some into the container making Kyungsoo raise a brow “You don't really invite anyone here for a drink”

The sound of ice being crushed fills the room, slowly fading into a sound of annoying buzz that makes Kyungsoo's face twitch a little. Eventually it stops and Kyungsoo takes the chance to speak “You make the weirdest milkshakes”

“I have weird tastes” he chuckles, pulling out two glasses and pours his made drink into each then hands one to his friend. A snort escapes Kyungsoo “You have weird taste on everything”

The two quietly sip on their drinks for awhile before Kyungsoo finally pops up a question “What did you wanna talk about?” “Mm!” Kai holds up a finger as he finishes his drink in one gulp. DO keeps mum for a moment; Kai finally speaks “I met a girl”

“A girl?” Kyungsoo raises his brow, one corner of his mouth tugged up in a smile “You met a girl?”

Kai nods his head.

“You met?” Kyungsoo adds emphasis and Kai nods his head once again “Met” he repeats the word. It was silent for a moment then the next, Kyungsoo just falls into a fit of laughter.

Jongin frowns “What?” Kyungsoo continues to laugh. He wipes off a fake tear from the corner of his “WHAT?” Kai repeats, a little agitated and somewhat annoyed.

“Sorry but I just got so used to you telling me 'I ed a girl' instead of 'I met a girl' that it sounds funny hearing it”

The laughter dies down and Kyungsoo takes a deep breath, sipping on the milkshake that his friend made as Kai rambles on “For your information I don't go up to a girl and say 'what up? I got a big ' and expect her to have with me” he snaps his fingers “Just like that... where's the classy gentleman in that?”

“Yeah yeah” DO waves at him dismissively “So who is this girl that you met?” the tip of the glass meets with his lips again and he continues to drink.

“Kris's PA in China”

PFFFFTTTTTT! Milk sprays out of Kyungsoo's lips “WHAT?!” “ing hell, Kyungsoo! This was my favorite shirt!” Kai curses as he wipes off some of the white substance from his face. DO wipes off the liquid from the corners of his mouth; he slams down his glass “Do you have a thing for Kris's PAs or something?”

“No” Kai says in a defensive manner “And you're jumping to conclusions... geez, let me finish will you? Anyway...” he walks around the counter and settles himself on the bar stool next to Kyungsoo, bringing along the bottle of scotch “She's pretty...”

“What?” Kyungsoo utters in ridicule. Kai nods “Yep, she has a pretty face... my efforts of sweet talking her friend to switch seats with me was worth it” he chuckles.

Ugh. Kai calling someone pretty is one thing but for him to go through the trouble of booking an early first class flight and to switch seats with someone just so he could sit next to this certain girl is another and it certainly is unlikely of him. Unless... Kyungsoo looks at him suspiciously “Kim Jongin...”

“Hm?”

“Are you inlove with this girl that you just met?”

Kai glances at Kyungsoo from the corner of his eyes before smirking “Don't be ridiculous, Kyungsoo” “Well are you?” a heavy sigh escapes Kai's lips, he chugs down some of the scotch straight from the bottle before answering “Nope... not with Peng Meifen”

Sigh. Kyungsoo rolls his eyes at him. He snags the bottle of scotch and takes a sip.

“So anyway...” Kai turns in his seat to face him “What's with you?”

AUTHOR'S NOTE

* GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH. Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been having writers block lately and got a little carried away by sleep but here's chapter 34 for ya \m/