CHAPTER 36

My eyes cracked open to the sight of a bare milky white chest. I shift a little and look up at Kris's sleeping face; he didn't seem like he would wake up anytime soon. I roll over to my other side, slowly escaping his arms and climb off the bed. I take off the bunny ears and throw it aside, glancing at the digital clock on the bedside; 2:05 AM was glowing red in the dimly lit room.

Ugh. I bring a hand up to rub the back of my neck but instead felt leather and metal; Right... the collar. I spot a towel on the floor and picked it up, wrapping my body with it as I –by some miracle- walked into the bathroom.

I open the tap and splash cool water onto my face before closing it and took a deep breath. I came face to face with my reflection on the mirror, purple patches were scattered along my lower neck and aswell as on my collarbones. I took off the collar and set it inside the drawer of the bathroom counter.

I rummaged through another drawer and found the small bottle containing pills. I stared at it in my hand for a moment, pursing my lips together in deep thought of whether or not should I take it in or not.

Then I question myself if I was ready for whatever would come if I refuse. My eyes closed... sigh. He's leaving for China tomorrow... I suddenly remember then it occurs to me how far apart we'd be; I still had two months more to go before the finals of my class and there's no telling whether or not I'll pass and fly there.

Sigh. I open the bottle and pop a tablet into my mouth. I've decided that we're not yet ready... I'm not yet ready. But this doesn't give meaning that I would have aborted the first baby if I had known, maybe I wouldn't have been ready but because it was there I would be gladly accepting it but then things happened...

Clear your mind, Hana... clear it.

It was until a few minutes later did I only feel the soreness between my legs when I walked out of the bathroom.

... he really wasn't kidding. Thankfully, I was able to reach the bed once again and as it sank because of my weight Kris opened his eyes, frowning at me “Were you planning on making me wake up alone again?”

“I just went to the bathroom” I mumble, scooting closer to him. He tugs on the bottom of the towel wrapped around me and I frown up at him “It's uncomfortable” he says simply before completely pulling it off leaving me once again under the sheets as he wraps his arms around me once again.

We were silent and it stayed like that for the longest time but just as I had thought he already fell back into sleep, he asks

“Did you take pills?”

Suddenly, I was at a loss for words as I became unsure of how to answer but my silence seemed to have given him the clue. I felt his embrace tighten “I'm sorry”

“No, it's alright... go back to sleep”

10:38 AM; Kim Jongdae's Residence

Ugh. My head hurts... Chanyeol's eyes crack open, his face was pressed against the soft white carpet and he was shirtless. He hauled himself off the floor and looked around; everyone was still passed out.

Sehun and Tao were sprawled on the couch, Kai was lying under the coffee table –which is weird, Lay, Suho, Luhan and Xiumin were scattered on the floor aswell, Baekhyun was flying solo on the other couch, he couldn't find Kyungsoo but he assumed he's upstairs inside one of the rooms other than him, Chen was also nowhere to be found.

He staggered on his way to the kitchen but managed to get there and immediately stuck his head in the fridge for something cold to drink

“Well, good morning to you too” Chanyeol jumps at the voice and hit his head on the fridge “Ow! ...” He poked his head out and found Chen sitting on one of the bar stools of the island counter, sipping on his coffee. He chuckles “Idiot”

Tch. Chanyeol pokes his head back inside the fridge and took out a carton of orange juice before walking to the opposite side of the island counter and drank up, not bothering to get a glass to which Chen frowns upon “You owe me a new carton of that”

But Chanyeol only shrugs his shoulders at him and drinks up some more. Chen, on the other hand, shakes his head and continued sipping on his caffeine.

Last night was supposed to be spent together with Kris and his girlfriend since the chairman was going to fly back the night after but unfortunately, plans changed and they headed out clubbing instead then at around two in the morning they decided to continue the party at Chen's place since it was the nearest.

Chanyeol could remember sweet talking some ladies last night but he was unsure if he had brought them along to Chen's house or not –But considering there are no ladies here, I guess not. He thinks to himself.

“By the way, I sent the girls home” Chen informs him. Guess, I thought wrong. Sigh. “I see” “Yeah, one of them had Sehun's phone... geez, you should really pick more classy ones”

Chen reaches into his pocket and tosses the said item onto the counter.

“I wasn't that drunk, was I?” Chanyeol questions. Chen snorts a laugh “You were drunk as , idiot”

Kyungsoo enters the kitchen with a yawn catching the two's attentions before he takes his seat beside Chen. Chanyeol continues to drink up the orange juice whereas Chen finishes off his cup of coffee before turning to his friend beside him and laughs “Damn, you really let it go last night, DO”

“Ugh. Shut up” Kyungsoo tells him as he lays his head on the counter and closes his eyes. Chanyeol gulps down the last of his morning drink and wipes off the side of his lips with the back of his hand before speaking “So, what are the plans for tonight?”

“Kris is flying out tonight, right?” Kyungsoo asks and Chen nods. Another person appears into the kitchen; it was Baekhyun –and like DO, he didn't seem to happy about the morning. Hangover. Chen thinks as he watches Baekhyun make his way to the fridge, shoving Chanyeol in the process making the taller guy frown.

Baekhyun was never a morning person anyway.

A ring resonates in the kitchen and everyone –except for Baekhyun, who was still busy rummaging through the fridge- turns to the phone resting on the counter which happened to belong to Sehun.

Kyungsoo lifts his head off the counter after sensing that no one was going to pick it up and does it himself “Hello?”

“Hello? Sehun?” Kyungsoo raises a brow at the sound of Hana's voice “Hana? It's Kyungsoo” “Oh, good morning, Kyungsoo-ssi; what are you doing with Sehun's phone?”

He mouths Hana's names to the others before putting the call on loud speaker “He's still asleep... why'd you call?”

“I see; I was actually trying to call Chen but he wasn't answering” she informs. Chen shrugs and speaks up “I left my phone in my room, sorry” “Eh? Are you guys together? Where are you?”

“We're at Chen's place, Hana” Chanyeol says, leaning his elbows on the counter “No wonder” she chuckles “Anyway, I found out how Kris rejected Chen's offer for dinner last night so I was wondering if you would all like to have lunch with us today”

The kitchen was silent for a moment as they all exchange looks to come up with an answer;

“We'll go!” Baekhyun shouts, shutting the fridge with an orange in his hand. He yawns and strides over beside Chanyeol before he starts peeling the orange “Great! I'll see you guys at twelve at our place”

“Araso ~” Baekhyun sang and the call ends.

Chen turns to him and points at the orange “You owe me a new orange”

“I'm gonna go wake up the others” Kyungsoo announces, hopping off the stool and disappears.

Hana.

“Hey Hana?”

“Yeah?” I respond to the call in a shout from the kitchen as I was still busy cooking and couldn't leave the stove. Kris was busy packing his luggage for his flight back to China later on since he'd been lazing around all morning and didn't want to get out of bed but since I invited the boys for lunch, he had no choice but to get up.

He was reluctant though and insisted that we just spend the day together but I thought otherwise and insisted he spends it with his friends considering it will be long before they get to do something like it again.

Kris appears in the kitchen and in his hands was Ace, he had a frown on his face; I felt my cheeks burn up upon remembering last night. I turn back to the chicken on the frying pan avoiding the stuffed animal –there's always been something about Ace that makes me think as if he actually does exist, perhaps it's the way that Kris treats him like a real kid.

“What is it?” I ask him; he walks around the island counter to stand opposite as me “Can I bring Ace with me to China?”

What an odd question. I look up at him and raised a brow “Uhm... sure? You know, he belongs to you technically” “But who's gonna keep you company then?” Geez, he's such a kid sometimes. I couldn't help but laugh at his question thus making him pout cutely at me.

He's very far from the powerful chairman as of this moment. I take out the pieces of chicken from the pan and placed them on a plate one by one “I'm very much occupied with work besides, my finals are just around the corner”

“Right... I guess I'll take him then” he says before walking around the counter and unexpectedly kisses my cheek “Less than two months before judgment day, Ms Kim... pass your tests, okay?”

I turned off the stove before turning to him and gave him a peck on the lips “Will do, Mr. Wu”

He laughs a little before walking away to continue packing up. I checked my watch for the time and began to prepare the table since the guys would be here at any minute.

Chinese class finals are gonna be in less than a month and a half, I'm very much glad that I was able to catch up despite the occurrences that happened. It's been hectic actually, passing several homework everyday for the past two weeks and aswell as make up tests; Zhou Mi seemed rather worried about me, he's been questioning my whereabouts and other stuff that could have happened to me but I assured him I was alright and said I was just busy with work.

Kris made me feel better anyway so I didn't loath as much as I thought I would. If ever, I actually felt happy he stayed by my side for some time.

Done. I smiled satisfactorily at the table and rushed off to the room to get changed; Kris had just zipped up his suitcase when I came in with Ace sitting on top of it “Done already?” I ask, walking past him to the walk in closet “Yeah, didn't have much to pack anyway” he says.

I settle for a pair of pants and a plain white v-neck; once changed, I got out of the closet just in time that the door bell rang. Kris was just buttoning up his red shirt infront of the wall mirror of the bedroom “I got it” I announce, walking past him to answer the door.

“HEY!” they all chorus, walking inside greeting with warm hugs and laughter. Chanyeol's voice was booming as soon as he saw Kris coming out of the room; “I brought wine” Kyungsoo grins handing me the bottle before giving my hair a ruffle as I laughed. Everyone piles up in the dining area, taking their seats around the table and immediately began to dig in while I momentarily left for the kitchen to get a bucket of ice for the wine before finally sitting beside Kris.

“I can see you both are feeling better already” Tao chuckles, picking up his glass of wine to take a sip.

The table was quite lively, the conversation exchanged was nice and no one was feeling out of place; Chen snorts a laugh and points his chopsticks at the couple whilst turning to Tao “Ofcourse they are, they had mind blowing last night”

“Jongdae!” Suho calls his attention in a scolding manner but he ignores the CEO and instead laughs at Hana's flushed face. Kris rolled his eyes at him as he continues to speak “Kris even threatened to kill me if I showed up at the doorstep” “Well, you are the biggest blocker in here” Sehun laughs at him.

“Yeah, talk about walking in on me while I was having the time of my life back in college” Chanyeol pipes up, taking another bite of the chicken leg in his hand and from there everyone just began to throw college memories at each other. Lay was too immersed in eating to give a care about Luhan spilling his embarrassing moments and Kai was on his own little mission to finish all the chicken there was on the table. Tao soon began talking about his days with Kris, babbling on about how so many of the women population the blonde had rejected.

Kris rose from his seat and announces that he was going to get dessert. The conversation continues to flow through eventually ending up with work “So, Hana... a month and a few weeks more before your finals” Tao smiles at her from across the table.

“I'm gonna miss you if ever you go” Xiumin pouts cutely.

Out of all the people Hana came across in her life, Xiumin was undeniably unlike any other. It's like his face was made only and only for him; she didn't even know it was possible for someone to be that cute at such an age and he didn't look like he was going to look old any time soon.

“What happens to Kris's PA in China then?” Kai questions and Kyungsoo smirks and asks him in a teasing manner “Why are you so concerned about Kris's PA?”

“Could it be that you have a liking for her?” Chanyeol adds, tipping his glass of wine at the victim. Hana laughs and eyes Kai playfully “Ah ~ Meifen; you know she's pretty” “I haven't gotten the chance to actually examine her face” Sehun says, sipping on his wine.

Kai rolls his eyes “Yeah, yeah, she has a pretty face... everyone who works for Kris has a pretty face”

“Right ~” Suho mocks “Because it's just like every other day that you change flight schedules for a girl with a pretty face” teasing laughter came from all around the table. Kris returns with a tray of mochi rice cakes and sets it on the table before sitting down “What's this talk I hear about my PA?”

Lay reaches out and takes one of the desert and blankly states “Kai likes your PA... the Chinese girl”

“Meifen?” Kris looks at Kai with a raised brow. Jongin reaches for the treat and takes a bite “Incase she hasn't told you, she spilled my iced chocolate on my favorite shirt back in Jeju”

“Hey let's play a game!” Lay pipes up out of nowhere. Everyone turns to him “What game?” Hana asks, clasping her hands together as she rests her elbows on the table. It was a little odd that Lay suddenly thought about it but at the same time interesting “I downloaded a dare app that I really want to try” he says fishing his phone out of his jacket's inside pocket and starts up the so-called app.

By accident, Lay taps onto the screen thus a dare is given “Omona...” he reacts. Luhan peers over his shoulder from the side and reads it out loud “Give a love wink”

An outbreak of 'whats' break around the table; Chanyeol rises from his seat and gestures his hands for everyone to settle down “Let's do it one by one” he points at Hana “Hana, you will be the judge but no biased decisions, araso?”

“Don't let Kris win, be honest” Tao speaks out, reaching over the table to grab a mochi. She laughs and nods her head in understanding. Chanyeol claps his hands and sits back down before pointing to Suho “Big boss is first!”

“But Kris is the big boss” Suho protests, picking up his glass but everyone goes against him and tells him to get it over with. Having not much to argue about, he takes a deep breath before turning to Hana and picks up his glass

“ARRRRRGH!” Chanyeol gets up from his seat and walks over to Suho and grabs the CEO by the neck, shaking him as the table rumbles up in a mix of laughter and groans and whines while Sehun acts as if he's barfing. Chen's face scrunches up “Yowaa ~ what the hell”

Hana was covering her reddening face, her body shaking in laughter and embarrassment at Suho's act. “If I were Hana, I'd splash you with that water” Chanyeol adds as he returns to his seat while Kyungsoo seemed to be the only one applauding his colleague. Next in line was Baekhyun; he proudly announces to do it in the most adorable way possible thus he faces Hana and with a last clear of his throat he moves

“Aegyo ~” Hana squeals and the rest seemed to have had the same reaction. He claps his hands together in confidence at her reaction. Chanyeol was covering his face, laughing behind his palms but Kris didn't fail to see the red color that tainted his cheeks though he was amidst wondering if he found the loud boy's act as adorable or annoying.

Annoying... he decides, eyes staring at his girlfriend who looked at his friend with such awe.

Sometimes he wonders to himself if he's been better or worst. There were utmost times during his stay in China when he thought ill of his friends in Seoul, often wondering if they were taking care of his girlfriend as he instructs them to or if they are hitting on her. Taking advantage of the situation... he always thinks but whenever he realizes his thoughts seem rather sick, he would do his best to shake it off.

Hana has made him better; his alcoholic trait died and so did his night life, not that clubbing was really his thing but before her, he had his fair share of coming home in the wee hours of the morning sometimes wasted.

“Chanyeol, you go next” Sehun points, drinking his wine. Kris subtly stretches his arm, casually placing it on the back rest of Hana's chair and turns his attention to Chanyeol. The second tallest of the bunch runs a hand through his hair adjustng himself in his seat to look at the only female amidst. Kai makes the count “One, two, three –”

“What the hell?!” Jongin bursts into laughter whereas Sehun chokes on his drink.

Hana could feel the hairs on the back of her neck stand on it's ends. Chanyeol was charming, in fact, his tall stature and unique brightness had always been such a great impression in her book and to have him wink at her like that honestly made her cheeks burn.

But ofcourse, who wouldn't be flustered to have such attractive men wink at you even if it's just a game.

“Alright, Kris, your turn” Chanyeol chimes “show us how a wink god does it”

“Why Winx Club?” Lay questions. Everyone turns to him in utter confusion before Tao slaps the back of his neck and makes him flinch “It's wink god, deaf unicorn”

“Oh ~” he smiles rather sheepishly, still a little lost in thought. Anyhow, they all turn back to Kris “I'll show you what Suho did” he takes the wine glass, slightly leaning himself on the table and his girlfriend moves her chair back to get a good look. He lifts his free hand, curling two of his fingers as if coaxing her to come closer –but ofcourse, she doesn't

Silence.

And the whole table just explodes in laughter, excluding Hana who had just buried her face in her arms afraid that if she stared at him any longer, her head would explode. Baekhyun complains about how he wouldn't understand Kris' words but the chairman waves off his comment.

“Is this how you used to hit on girls at the bar?” a curious Hana asks, peeking through her fingers.

“Ofcourse not, I never winked at girls at the bar”

“Liar!” Chen protests.

The game goes on for a few more minutes and as everyone had finished, Hana made up her mind. Unexpectedly and also to Kris' great disbelief, she chooses Xiumin as the winner because honestly, his wink just made him the new wink god

Lunch was good, it was lively, it was fun, it was something that Kris suddenly realizes he would miss.

Maybe letting Hana invite them wasn't such a bad idea. Although, somewhere deep within him, his preference of spending the remaining hours of the day with her alone still remained. It's never that Kris didn't like spending time with his colleagues, in fact he misses having them coming in and out of his office and entering a board room to sit down and chatter with them sometimes drifting off the agenda of a meeting to talk about how Chen switched Luhan and Sehun's underwears secretly or how Tao's obsession with Gucci is getting out of hand and maybe, even how Lay managed to make such an outstanding PowerPoint presentation with his eyes closed and cluttered mind. It was nothing like that anymore, there was nothing like that at all in Wu Prime.

But Kris liked the power he had. It wasn't much different to being CEO except maybe that he needs to have eyes on all operations and see to it that everything is smooth sailing for the company.

If only it were possible to make Wu Enterprise the main head of the hydra.

He once had this crazy idea of moving the main office at Wu Enterprise or if not, just have every single one of his colleagues switch with the heads of Wu Prime but then again... it was just an idea. A crazy idea.

“You're gonna drown in your ocean of thoughts, Mr. Wu” he turns his head and sees his girlfriend standing by the doorway of their bedroom, arms crossed with a smile on her face.

Kris responds with a smirk “You know CPR, I'll just have you resuscitate me back to reality”

“Is that some kind of pick up line?” she jeers as she enters the room and walks over to the bed, sitting down on the edge just beside his folded trench coat and suitcase. Kris sits down next to her “Pick up lines are not my style, love” he pecks her cheek.

Hana felt disheartened by the gesture. By morning tomorrow, it would be another long wait before she could have another one of his kisses.

She sometimes wonders if it's bad for her to keep her feelings aside. She's never expressed her true feelings of missing Kris and she wonders if he notices but Hana was Hana, her thoughts of Kris as a chairman were always on top of Kris as her boyfriend.

His priorities and duties to his business always came before their relationship.

Hana always pushed herself to be reminded of that, everyday she would think of that and every moment she feels the longing, she would remind herself of it... but sometimes, she would think if it's all she will ever think of.

She would wonder if it would be the same if ever they were to be wed. Would she still be able to understand that reason? Would she still have the patience? Would she still be second? There was so much she wanted to ask him but could never bring herself to do so.

“You'll be fine on your own, right?” he asks, a little unsure of the question himself. She nods “Ofcourse”

He heaves a sigh and nods aswell, mentally assuring himself that Hana was a fully capable person and that he should treat her less fragile otherwise it would be a problem.

“You still have to visit the doctor, make sure you don't miss an appointment, okay?”

“I won't” she purses her lips together. Touched by his reminders “And don't forget to take your vitamins and eat right, I don't want you looking unhealthy when we talk to each other on Skype, is that understood?”

“Very clearly, sir” she teases him.

“I won't be around to make sure you do everything, Hana” Now he's just stalling the conversation. She chuckles at the thought, nodding her head at his statement. With a bite of her lip, she subtly leans in and places a chaste kiss on his lips hoping that somehow, it would make her worries fade.

But to her dismay, it only made her miss him more... and he hasn't even left yet.

“I'm going to ace my exams and prove that I'm worthy of transfer” she tells him with such determination and hope in her eyes that it made him chuckle “Ofcourse you will, you're Kim Hana”

“I really will... I promise”

“Hana, it's not like we'll never see each other again if you don't get transferred” he informs her, feeling that she would probably pressure herself too much with passing the test and that if she fails, she would not be able to take it so lightly.

Kris wanted to assure her that it wouldn't be the end of the line if that happens.

“I just really want to wake up next to you every morning” she confesses and he couldn't help but feel a little giddy inside; oh heavens, how he wished he was prepared right now. It somewhat gave him the idea that maybe, just maybe, Hana was much more ready for the next step than she thinks.

The faint buzz of his phone breaks off their eye contact; he reaches for it and shuts the silent alarm as it reminded him that it was time to go. He stood up and she almost pleaded him to stay –how she wished she had the courage to do that. “Come on” he holds out his hand to her “The sooner I leave, the sooner you'll miss me”

She pouts at him but takes his hand anyway as he then pulls her up to her feet “You evil little ”

“Watch your words, Ms. Kim” he teasingly warns “Or I may have to miss my flight and punish you for saying such dirty things”

A blush creeps onto her face, the reminder of the night before flooding her memories again. You should just miss every single flight you have –Hana! She mentally scolds herself. With a scoff, she heads for the door “Maybe next time”

Kris laughs, picking up his suitcase and follows her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE

* Chapter 36 ~ nothing much happened neh? Well, I will most probably do a time skip to get things flowing. are you ready? Drama rama lalalala llama <3