CHAPTER 38

 

 

 

 

 

 

Maybe it was because of my uneasiness that I suddenly began to notice the little details –like how the lady sitting in the living room was showered in diamonds; her wrists, fingers, neck and ears were clad with expensive jewelry like the ones Kris bought me but I never wore… or maybe it’s because of the knowledge of who this lady was that made me antsy that I can’t manage to stay still and my efforts of calming myself down was failing.

 

 

I really wasn’t kidding when I said that she screamed luxury but then again, this is Kris’ family we’re talking about. It seems expected… his grandmother looks young though. Genetics… perhaps? No wonder his mom looked exceptionally beautiful.

 

 

I set down the cup of chamomile tea on the coffee table before the lady sitting on the sofa. Relax Hana… I console myself. Just do what you always do, smile. And I did; I flashed a smile before sitting myself down across her. “I hope you like chamomile, ma’am”

 

 

Honestly, I don’t really know how to address her. Madam seems to suit her though.

 

 

“It’s fine, dear…” somehow, I eased up a bit. It sounded endearing, atleast it doesn’t sound like she dislikes me. Mental sigh of relief. Expectantly, she picks up the cup and takes a quick sip as she looked around the living space, my eyes followed hers and I felt myself fluster when I realized her stare had lingered on one of the photographs of me and Kris on the side table just beside the lamp.

 

 

“Do you live alone?” she asks. I snap my attention back to her, mentally praying that my face would turn back to its normal color “O-oh, u-uhm… yes ma’am; well, actually” I should just be honest “Kris and I lived together for awhile before he got transferred to China and uhm… well, he sleeps here when he’s in town”

 

 

“So you two live together then?”

 

 

“Sort of?” ugh, Hana you’re losing it. Keep it together.

 

 

She smiles and finally puts the cup back down on the coffee table then turns to look at me. Suddenly, I felt tensed again; who wouldn’t be tensed anyway? A –no doubt- powerful woman who happens to be your boyfriend’s grandmother is looking at you straight in the eye and you’re not sure if she’s intimidating you or that’s just how she normally looks at people.

 

 

Nevertheless, I kept the small upward curve plastered on my lips.

 

 

“You must be wondering why I’m here, Ms. Kim… so I will get straight to the point of my visit”

 

 

Gulp. I give a brief nod; she crosses her legs and sits up straight and who knew that such little gestures and change in posture could suddenly make me feel so little? Then again, I’m plain Kim Hana and this is a woman coming from a powerful family line.

 

 

“First of all, I would like to apologize since I’ve, sort of, invaded your privacy and personal life without your knowledge” I blink my eyes and my smile disappears. She did that? What? Utterly confused, she continued “But understand that it was only with the best of my intentions; I’m just looking out after my grandson”

 

 

She explained to me how she had hired a private investigator and looked up at my background, honestly expressing her doubts aswell. I felt a little… well, invaded but understanding the fact that Kris Wu was not just an ordinary guy, I understood. I mean, for sure she didn’t want her grandson to end up with some gold digger or something like that… it’s understandable how people were quick to judge about the women in Kris’ life, even I would… to be honest.

 

 

Any woman would throw themselves at Kris; he’s eligible, he’s powerful, he’s rich, he can assure any woman a stable life but sadly, it’s not my reasons as to why I’m with him. He’s more than that. It worries me sometimes though.

 

 

“Now, Yi Fan has no idea of my visit here, Ms. Kim”

 

 

“So, I… I can’t tell him about this, right?” I ask with caution. She chuckles “He’s not forbidden to know, tell him if you must; I won’t stop you, it’s not like I’m breaking you both apart”

 

 

Mental sigh of relief. Atleast she made that one clear, phew. I quietly breathed out as she continued to speak

 

 

“When I heard about you, I can’t say that I was exactly please but you understand, right? You’re a stranger after all and you were in no way connected to any family that ours would know so I was doubtful of your true purpose really”

 

 

I pursed a smile on my lips, nodding my head in understanding. “I talked to a lot of people about you –a lot except for Yi Fan and his friends; however, the way his sister had talked about you made me decide to personally see you… meet you, myself” she smiles “Stephanie talked about you as if you were sunshine on a cloudy day”

 

 

She laughed, I stifled mine. “Stephanie is just really sweet like that, ma’am”

 

 

“Is she? I’m pretty sure that people don’t just mindlessly give out comments like that because of their traits; believe it or not, Ms. Kim, we earn the words that others say about us and you have definitely earned every good thing that Stephanie has said about you”

 

 

For a moment, my heart seemed to have skipped a bit at her words. I never really saw it that way. “Hana…” I look up from my hands and look at her, finding sudden calmness with her calling me by my first name; she smiled warmly “I don’t know personally what my grandson had seen in you; maybe it’s your warmth, your calm nature or brightness but whatever it may be, I know for sure that it’s special for him to keep you in his life. I have no objection to the relationship, Yi Fan and you are clearly old enough to decide for yourselves but I do have one concern”

 

 

“W-what is it?” Idiot, you shouldn’t have asked. Shut up, subconscious.

 

 

“Don’t take it to heart but you should know that boss and employee relationships are not openly welcomed in the business world. Every promotion you get, be it through personal effort, will always be seen as a biased decision and if I’m not wrong, you’re getting transferred to China… right?”

 

 

I nod my head, lips pursing together in a thin line “But it’s not really sure yet, Mr. Huang has yet to decide”

 

 

“Either way… did you have any idea that some people are frowning upon you and Kris?” it made me shift in my seat, feeling uneasy about the conversation. I didn’t know.

 

 

I mean, I got weird stares from my office mates but I always tend to overlook it, shrug it off and I got used to it, I expected it anyway. “Ofcourse, ma’am… it’s expected” I awkwardly smile, rubbing my arm to ease myself off.

 

 

“The media is feasting upon your every move, did you know that?”

 

Now my eyes widened. That I definitely did not know. It’s always been quiet between me and Kris, it always felt private and never once had I heard about it in the media then again I’m not really a fan of the public gossips, I was too reimbursed in work and Kris. She seemed to have noticed my look of surprise thus she continued “Did you never notice how there’s no news channel on your television or the lack of newspapers and magazines in this home, Hana?”

 

 

“Kris never reads the papers and… he never really seemed interested in the news, so…” I trailed off my reasons. All we ever did watch were movies plus he had his phone and I’m sure he has a News app so having newspapers in the house was unnecessary. The lady scoffs “Kris is a businessman, Hana… the news provides him updates of the business world but did it really not make you wonder that public information was lacking here?”

 

 

I shook my head. Now I feel little, I feel naïve and I feel like I should have known all that. “Didn’t you know that your name was on the headlines, for four weeks straight? Every move you make and everything you do with or without Kris?”

 

 

There was silence between us both for the longest time and never once did I attempt to speak because of two reasons. One: I don’t know what to say and two: I’m afraid I might blurt out something incoherently stupid. I might aswell keep mum for now. It’s the best option at the moment.

 

 

“But maybe…” she starts off, her tone much gentler now “It’s his way of protecting you”

 

 

I look up and meet her eyes; my heart pounded in my chest and the moment I met her loving gaze, I almost choked on tears. Maybe it was because despite how I am –how utterly clueless and clumsy- she made me feel accepted.

 

 

“The world is cruel after all. Kris knows that… he knows how ruthless people can be towards anyone linked with him and it’s not often that he goes through the trouble of protecting these certain people; being with my grandson is like having a crown on your head, pretty as it may look like, people would still judge you… how you got it, how it came to be yours, it’s endless actually”

 

 

She picks up her neglected cup of tea and takes a sip. I’m at a loss of words, not really sure of how to react to the information. “Don’t be mad at him, he’s not blinding you to the world, he just doesn’t want you to be hurt… his intentions with you are as clean as yours is with him”

 

 

I forced a smile on my face “I see… he’s probably hesitant if I can handle the criticisms” I laughed. For the first time since she came, it was the most easy-going laugh I emitted. She laughed along with a nod “Perhaps but don’t belittle yourself, Hana dear… I may have misjudged you”

 

 

A sigh of relief comes out of my lips. Atleast, she wasn’t here to tell you to ward off her grandson like in those dramas. Shut up, subconscious.

 

 

“So… about your possibility of getting transferred”

 

 

Kris.

 

 

Ugh. Home.

 

 

I drop the briefcase on the carpeted floor before flopping myself down on the couch. I waved off the maids before they could even utter a word; I needed some peace and quiet at the moment. Work has been much more hectic than usual, maybe it’s because of the setbacks I made or some minor changes in the different departments –specifically the fashion department- but it could also be because of another expansion in Europe. Why did I even insist on expanding? Tch.

 

 

Not like I’m running out of money anytime soon anyway.

 

 

Loosening my tie, I kicked off my shoes and lied down on the couch, pulling out my phone from my pocket I pressed a number on speed dial and waited patiently for the other line to pick up.

 

 

“Hello?” And God knows how much I missed hearing the voice.

 

 

Ever since the bombardments in my schedule, I haven’t properly given my girlfriend some time, our calls always were cut short and my call backs consisted of apologizing and promising to make it up to her. She always just laughed and insisted it was okay though –which for me is not- but Hana was Hana.

 

 

The loving and understanding: Kim Hana.

 

 

“Hey beautiful” it came out as a grumble. Tch, that is so unattractive.

 

 

She chuckles “Tired?”

 

 

“Very… how was your day?”

 

 

“It was…” she breathed out “interesting, actually… I took a day off today”

 

 

“Hm…” I laid my free arm over my eyes “You taking a day off, that’s interesting”

 

 

And I could picture her rolling her eyes at me, her plump lips parted just slightly before she bites down on them. Kris, you are one sappy motherer. Funny what love does to people… even the smartest people go stupid. I chuckle at the thought “So, what did my baby do all day?” “Ey ~ don’t baby me, it sounds sappy but anyway, I bet you’ll be interested in what I have to say”

 

 

“Try me”

 

 

“I’m starting to think twice about our little… deal” I took my arm away, my brows scrunching at her words “What?” “Hey, calm down chairman ~” she coos although it doesn’t exactly do me good right now “I found out some things today, like how you’ve been blocking the news channels and stuff… I didn’t know that people were buzzing about us, suspecting things and all”

 

 

I frowned; someone told her things.

 

 

“People said bad things about you and me; about us” she sounded calm, almost as if it didn’t bother her “I read a lot of articles too… why’d you do it?”

 

 

“Do what?” Keep your cool, Kris. No need to get into a fight with her. I sat up “Kris, you know what I’m talking about”

 

 

Silence. I may or may not have a hint of what she’s pertaining to; oh it, I do know. Someone definitely told her about the news blackouts and if this ends up in a nasty argument, I swear I will ing kill the tattletale! Sigh. “Alright… what do you know?”

 

 

“You know I can very much fend for myself… I can face the harsh comments; I already expected that when I began to date you” I don’t know if she’s feigning calmness or if she really is calm about this but it’s better than lashing out… then again, Hana doesn’t lash out “I just think it’s better if you don’t know at all… some can be out of line”

 

 

A giggle rings on the other end; I rub the back of my neck trying to loosen up some stiffened muscles due to having my eyes on papers all day. “Well, aren’t they all? But… I guess I have to thank you though; you’re such a softy” she giggles again. I get up from the couch, grabbing the briefcase and made my way upstairs to my room. In case you missed, I currently reside in the Wu household, though I still go home to my condo every now and then.

 

 

“Ugh, disgustingly soft when it comes to you, Ms. Kim” I laugh, pushing the door open and walked into my safe little haven “But really though, who told you?”

 

 

She was silent for awhile and I had to call out her name a few times just to see if the line had been cut off “Hana? Hey, you there?” the sound of soft breathing told me the call was still on so I waited.

 

 

“Your grandmother did” I raised a brow “My… grandmother?”

 

 

 

 

NEXT DAY

 

 

It was a rather hectic day at Wu Enterprise today. Suho puffed out a breath, leaning back on his chair to take a quick break from all the paperwork. Ever since the glitch changes at Wu Prime, Wu Enterprise had to adjust the tables too. The door opens and his smiley EPA enters with a glass of cold iced tea in one hand, folders in another.

 

 

“Need a break, sir?” Hana asks, walking over to his desk and gives him the tall glass that he happily takes. “Ugh, yes… thank you, Ms. Kim”

 

 

“No problem, sir” she smiles, fixing the folders that he had finished signing and picking up some stray papers on the floor placing them back on his table. As she was picking up more of the fallen pieces, she couldn’t help but notice one in particular that caught her eye. Request for transfer… from Yookyung? “What’s that, Hana?” Suho asks cutting her off from her thoughts.

 

 

Hana blinks her eyes “Oh um…” she hands him the paper. Suho puffs out a breath and runs a hand through his hair as he had set his eyes on it “Oh yeah, this”

 

 

“Yookyung’s going back to China?”

 

 

“Apparently so, she ends her internship with Kai next week; I think she’s gonna take over something and Stephanie will be formally welcomed to Wu Enterprise”

 

 

Hana’s face scrunches a bit, she lightly runs her tongue on her upper lip and takes some folders that Suho had handed out to her, pressing them close to her chest “Does Xiu –erm, Mr. Kim Minseok know about it?” Suho snorts to the side “Should he?”

 

 

“I think?” she smiles then soon after giggles. Suho raises a brow at her but then turns back to his work, pulling himself and his leather chair closer to his desk and fiddles with the messy papers that are yet to be reviewed and signed “Seriously, people in this company have got to stop falling for each other”

 

 

“Hey ~” Hana pouts “Don’t be like that, you sound like a bitter grandpa besides, don’t you take a liking for Ling-ssi?” a wide grin spread across Hana’s face as she catches her boss blushing, his eyes wide yet he tried his best to keep his head down on his work “Pft” he goes “Don’t be ridiculous, Ms. Kim”

 

 

Hana laughs, teasing her boss all the more “But you like her, yes?”

 

 

“I like everyone in this company” He says flatly, picking up a pen and starts to sign some papers. Hana sighs and shakes her head “Is there anything else you’d like, sir?”

 

 

Suho stops writing for a moment, he brings his hands together and looks up at her, tucking out his lower lip in quick thought before asking “Oh, how are your studies going?” “So far, so good, I hope I pass…” she says in a hopeful tone. Suho smiles “I hope you do, so all your hard work pays off” he pumped a fist at her “Fighting!”

 

 

Hana returns the gesture with an equally enthusiastic grin “Fighting!” he chuckles. She bows before turning on her heels to leave, stopping for a moment at the door “Ofcourse you’d want me to pass, then Ling-ssi can take over my position as your EPA and you’ll be more than happy to go to office everyday” she laughs, quickly slipping out of the door as Suho looks up with wide eyes.

 

 

Aish… he continues to look at the closed door. Since when was Hana fond of teasing? Sigh.

 

 

CHINA

 

 

The room was quiet, as always, the walls and floor were cold… almost as cold as the heart of the only person who was occupying it. The chairman’s aunt sits in her usual place, her eyes fixated on the desk before her, a single piece of paper on top. A heavy sigh escapes her lips as she quietly questions herself

 

 

Where have I gone wrong?

 

 

Two months ago.

 

 

“Y-Yi Fan…”

 

 

Fear crept up her fingers as she saw the boy. Kris stays standing by the door looking back at her with a blank look on his face yet his eyes were more than enough to give off a murderous stare. Her knees suddenly felt wobbly as if it was going to naturally fall onto the floor at any given moment. “It’s pretty cooped up in here” he comments on the room’s atmosphere.

 

 

She doesn’t speak. Her tongue tied by his presence alone.

 

 

“How are you doing, auntie?” it was a simple question yet it brought a shiver to her spine. She couldn’t answer him; her eyes began watering up instead. “Probably… not good, right? Guilt eating you up yet?”

 

 

“Yi Fan… I didn’t know” she breathes out in a mere whisper. His brows rose a bit but nevertheless, his looks were blank “But it doesn’t really change anything now, does it?”

 

 

Then, it happened, she got down on her knees but his gaze never faltered; his brows knitted together and his hands enclosed to fists. She repeatedly apologized, even so lowering her head before him but the young Wu’s anger empowered over all other emotions.

 

 

Kris was still Kris, he still had the same heart. The same cold heart. He sighs heavily.

 

 

“I always thought of apologies as a waste of time…” she keeps her eyes on the ground, afraid to look at him as he continues to speak “They never change the past, they don’t undo the mistakes… they don’t bring back lives”

 

 

Her eyes open and she reaches for the pen at the side, pressing on its bottom with her thumb and presses the inked tip down on the surface of the paper, scribbling her signature on top of the thin line where her name was printed below. Perhaps, this was a way to make it up to Kris… it was the only thing she thought was best to be done.

 

 

She swallows hard and runs her eyes to the bolded words on top:

 

 

LETTER OF RESIGNATION

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was the night before the exams.

 

 

Lay, Xiumin, Chen and Luhan were in Hana’s condominium; the highly respected bosses of Wu Enterprise Seoul were not in their usual image as they were currently sitting around the coffee table filled with study materials to help Hana review. Chen closes a book and puffs out a tired breath

 

 

“Let’s take a break”

 

 

It had been three hours; Chen flashed some cards with Chinese words and sentences that she had to read aloud and translate in Korean, Lay practiced her conversational Chinese –some of her words which she got wrong or confused with but nevertheless still passable, Xiumin was in charge of helping her with her writing –and she, in Chen’s opinion, wrote better than the baozi- and Luhan was in charge of helping her with her business conversations.

 

 

“I need a drink…” Xiumin mutters, getting up and leaves for the kitchen. Hana takes a deep breath and leans back on the foot of the sofa as they all were sitting on the carpeted floor. Lay lies down, spreading his arms and closing his eyes “I’m confident you’ll pass” he mumbles.

 

 

She gives off a nervous smile “You think so?” Luhan stretches his arms over his head “You’ll do well, Hana… trust us”

 

 

Chen snorts to the side “You studied the whole book, I mean…” he turns to Luhan “Who the hell even studies a whole book? I don’t even think I’d last a chapter”

 

 

“No wonder your Chinese ” Xiumin laughs, joining them once again but this time flops on the couch. Out of the blues, a ringing sound filled the room and as Xiumin looks at the laptop on the table his mouth goes into a shape of an O “Kris is calling”

 

 

He clicks the answer button and Hana shoots up, sitting straight “Kris!”

 

 

“Hey babe” the young Wu peers his eyes at the screen “Is Xiumin with you?”

 

 

The latter puffs up his cheeks “Damn right, I am” “And so am I!” Chen says, sitting beside Hana. Luhan takes his place on her other side while Lay joins Xiumin on the couch, squeezing themselves to fit and be seen. “What are you guys doing there?” “They’re helping me review, my exams are tomorrow”

 

 

“Help? Then why is Chen there? His Chinese ” she gives him a warning stare and the said guy frowns “Ey! My Chinese is better than yours! Atleast be thankful that I’m helping your girlfriend!” Kris rolls his eyes. Hana giggles “You look tired, are you on overtime again?”

 

 

Kris sighs and sits back on his leather chair indicating that he was still indeed in his office “You should take it easy, Yi Fan” Lay says, a little worried about his friend looking stressed. “I’m fine… how are things there?”

 

 

“Good, progress is good, everything is good” Luhan says flashing two thumbs up “Don’t worry about a thing here but seriously man, get some rest, you look like ” Xiumin laughs.

 

 

He waves a dismissive hand at Xiumin “Yeah, yeah, will do… just wanted to check on Hana really, I didn’t know you were having a study party” “I smell” Chen pauses, holding his palm up at the screen then smirks “Envy” to which, Kris rolls his eyes and Luhan reaches behind Hana to smack him behind the head, almost making him hit his forehead on the table “Lu-ge! Not cool!”

 

 

“Well, good luck on your exams tomorrow, Hana” he smiles at her and she does the same “I’ll do my best, you know that” “I know you will… well” he breathes “I gotta go now…”

 

 

“Araso” she says.

 

 

Awkward silence. Neither was attempting to end the call the four boys around Hana were looking at Kris with lemon smiles, waiting for him to say certain words. Hana bites back her lips, too conscious of the boys around her to speak. “Aren’t you forgetting something, hyung?” Chen teases

 

 

Kris brings a hand to his face and wipes it down and looks straight at Hana making her cheeks burn all of a sudden

 

 

“I love you, Hana”

 

 

“Augh! Oh God! I’m gonna barf cheese!” goes Chen, holding his neck with both of his hands as he pretends to maul on the side. Lay laughs to himself at his colleague’s cheesiness; Xiumin collapses back on the couch and brings a hand to his chest clutching the area where his heart was “Oh my heart!”

 

 

“This is the last time I’m going on skype with Hana around, augh” Luhan announces, getting up.

 

 

Hana tries her best to smile still and quietly replies with the same words before ending the call.

 

 

---

 

 

Chanyeol pulled up at the front of the institution; Sehun –who was sitting in the passenger’s seat- latched off his seatbelt and turned to the female sitting in the backseat, her eyes fixated outside the window.

 

 

“Hey Hana” the blonde kid calls out to her, successfully capturing her eyes; he smiles “Good luck”

 

 

For some reason, the two ended up driving her to the school. Her exams were today –in other words: judgment day. Originally, Tao was the one who offered to accompany her here today but then he had to attend something in Belgium and had to fly out of the country yesterday so he asked Chanyeol and Sehun just wanted to tag along to escape office work.

 

 

Hana smiles “Thanks, I’ll do my best… and thanks for accompanying me here today, though you really didn’t have to”

 

 

“No problem! Now, off you go before you get late!” Chanyeol says, pressing a button to unlock the doors. Hana pumps a fist before scrambling out of the car, rushing up the steps. The two exit the vehicle; Chanyeol props his arms ontop of his car’s roof and eyes the blonde kid’s back “Wanna bet?”

 

 

“Pft” Sehun snorts unattractively and turns around to face Chanyeol “About whether or not she’ll pass? I’d rather not”

 

 

The giant pouts and mutters an almost inaudible ‘’ under his breath. Sehun rolls his eyes and fishes out his wallet, taking out the black card that had Chanyeol’s eyes twinkling. The younger of the two holds up the sleek piece of plastic between his fingers “I will give this to you to own for one whole week if she fails”

 

 

“Alright” the giant grins and drums his fingers on the shiny roof of his black car “And I will give you this car if she passes”

 

 

Sehun eyes the vehicle for a moment and smirks “I was panning of buying a Lamborghini but I guess your new Jaguar will do for the mean time” to which then, Chanyeol rolls his eyes.

 

---

 

Author’s Note:

 

                Still no laptop. Huhuhuhuhu. At this late hour, you may ask where I am. I’m at my cousin’s house, sleeping over huehuehue and currently using his laptop yehet <3

 

                I may buy a new one next week. I dunnow.