“Eomeoni~!” Jessica sang as she skipped into Mrs. Kim’s office, promptly closing the door behind herself. She crossed the room with a slight bounce in her step and sat down in the burgundy, cushioned chair in front of her desk.

“Well you seem quite happy today,” Mrs. Kim mused with fake interest. She didn’t necessarily care about her happiness or the reason why. What she really wanted was for the bubbly blonde to leave her to her work.

“I am thanks to you,” Jessica smiled. She was practically squirming in her seat from being so happy.

Mrs. Kim looked up from her paperwork with a raised eyebrow. “Thanks to me?”

“You know…” Jessica pouted her lips cutely before breaking into a huge grin, “Whatever you said to Kai worked! You said he actually loved me and you were right.” She lightly touched her lips subconsciously still thinking about the kiss from earlier that afternoon.

Mrs. Kim forced a smile. “Of course I was right; did you suspect I was lying? I know my own son very well.” Lies on top of lies.

“Well… no, but I did doubt you,” Jessica mumbled dejectedly and bowed her head, “I’m sorry.”

Mrs. Kim chuckled while shaking her head slightly. She was amused by Jessica’s childish mannerisms and it almost reminded her of herself at one point in time. “No need to feel sorry.” She put down her pencil and clasped her hands together, leaning forward slightly. “He’s treating you right, yes?”

Jessica nodded ‘yes’ fervently with a slight blush playing on her cheeks. “He even talked about marriage!”

“Marriage?” Mrs. Kim gasped. The gasp, of course, was fake. “You two are already considering marriage?” She inwardly smirked knowing why Kai was doing all this. ‘Such a good boy to his real mother,’ she thought.

“I’d marry him today if I could,” Jessica said in a dream-like voice while gazing at an empty space daydreaming of the day where she would finally walk down the aisle and say ‘yes’ while gazing into Kai's eyes - the man she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. She couldn't even begin to explain the joy the thought brought her.

“Well aren’t you two quite the lovebirds,” Mrs. Kim mused, “you know, Kai called me talking about the marriage as well.” She tapped her chin while suppressing the mischievous smirk wanting so desperately to show itself. “You both seem so eager to want to get married.” The faster she rushed this marriage, the better.

“He is?” Jessica beamed. “Omo! Eomeoni, that’s great news!” She was clutching her handbag unknowingly tight.

Mrs. Kim nodded. “Think we can set up the wedding by the end of this week?”

Jessica blushed profusely and shook her head yes.

"Then how about we start that planning, huh?" Mrs. Kim asked and brought out a notebook to take notes on what Jessica wanted at the wedding. She recorded everything from the colors down to the kind of cake they would have. She occassionally added her own thoughts on the wedding and collaborated with Jessica on the details - not that she cared about the detail so much but the wedding had to be grand after all the drama Kai created. Not only that but she had to restrengthen the merger - and this wedding was the only way to do it.

---

Jen’s POV:

She sat in the school’s coffee shop in a little booth by herself. It was getting late in the afternoon but she couldn’t bring herself to leave the coffee shop. Something about it comforted her and brought her happy memories – like when Kai caught her here with Hakyeon. She smiled sadly as she ran her finger slowly around the rim of her coffee mug.

She missed the cute look of jealously on his face and the even cuter way he tried to deny it. She sighed and looked at her reflection off the coffee’s surface. She even missed her crazy best friend, wondering why he left so suddenly without even telling her goodbye… again that lonely feeling was beginning to creep up on her. Even her parents were doing better as her mom managed to find a job at a florist shop and her dad found a job as an accountant – his dream job. Things were going right for everyone else but her.

She looked up when she heard cup being placed on her table and a voice said: “You look like you could use some company”.

Jen looked up at the mystery person and blinked several times in disbelief as if her eyes were playing tricks on her. “L-Luhan?”

A small smile tugged at the corner of his lips and he sat down in the booth sitting across from her. “Miss me?”

“I… you’re here…” Jen said breathlessly. She rubbed her eyes and blinked again still not able to believe it.

He looked down at his coffee and stirred it with his spoon before hitting it on the side of the mug to knock off the droplets still clinging to it. He placed the spoon on a napkin lying on the table and took a sip of his coffee, peering at Jen from above the rim. He set the mug back down and fidgeted awkwardly in his seat. “I…” he cleared his throat before continuing, “I wanted- I just… I’m sorry. I’m sorry Jen-ah.”

Jen already felt tears prickling the corners of her eyes as he spoke. “N-No… I should be the one apologizing, I-,”

“I had no reason to be angry with you,” Luhan interrupted, “Don’t apologize to me. You couldn’t love me… I understand.”

Jen looked back down at her coffee and stirred it even more while trying to think of how to respond – but her mind was completely blank. She never meant to lead him on in any way and hated herself for hurting him.

“Yah, stop looking so sad,” Luhan half smiled, “I told you-,”

Then suddenly a loud swooshing noise was heard from back in the kitchen and Xiumin screamed “CHEN!”

Xiumin charged out of the kitchen area, looking around with wild fury in his eyes yet… he couldn’t be taken seriously. He was covered with flour from head to toe.

“When I find him, he’s so dead!” he looked around the coffee shop until he came upon Chen’s hiding spot under a dining table.

“Ahh! That wasn’t me!” Chen wailed as Xiumin drug him to the back of the kitchen by pinching his cheek.

“We’re the only ones who work back here! If not you, then who was it, huh?!” Xiumin raged. He drug Chen to where the mess of flour was. “Now clean it up! It better all be clean before I get back.”

Xiumin started for the door and Chen stuck his tongue out at Xiumin while he had his back turned.

“I saw that,” Xiumin said before heading out of the coffee shop, leaving Chen to clean up the mess with a dumbfounded look on his face. It’s not that he necessarily “saw” Chen do something but Chen was just that predictable. They had been friends for years after all.

Luhan and Jen shared a good laugh over the two barista’s quirkiness and were soon talking like things were back to normal.

“Were you okay in Korea though?” Jen asked with genuine concern, “I sent Kai to look for you…”

“Well just… yeah, thanks to someone,” Luhan answered and blushed faintly. He cleared his throat again and looked down at his coffee trying to avoid Jen’s teasing looks.

“And who is this ‘someone’?” Jen teased and poked his arm from across the table. She noticed his faint blushing and wanted to know who was making Luhan happy.

Unknown to her, that someone had came to California with Luhan and was watching them from outside the coffee shop – and he wasn’t very happy.

“Just someone…” Luhan answered vaguely and sipped his coffee.

“Aniya! You have to tell me!” Jen pouted and grabbed his arm, gently shaking him, “tell me!”

Sehun put on his shades and stood up, having seen enough of him flirting with the girl who broke his heart, and walked off down the hallway. He had been the one to suggest that they go to California so Luhan could wrap up his feelings but seeing them together just… he felt it was a bad idea now. He knew Luhan still loved her – it was obvious – but he figured that apologizing and such would help him to let go. ‘Was I wrong?’ he though sadly as he headed out to his car, ready to head back to the hotel where he was really supposed to be but he couldn’t help but follow Luhan to see how things went with Jen. If only he had stayed at the hotel and spared himself of feeling this way…

Luhan chuckled. “Fine, fine… he’s at my hotel now but you can meet him sometime if you want.”

“Good, I want to see this mystery guy,” Jen smiled and finished off her coffee with a relieved sigh. “You know… I’m glad you’re back.”

“I’m glad to be back,” Luhan replied with a faint smile and finished off his coffee as well. “I should get going though… I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“Off to see your boyfriend?” Jen teased and laughed when Luhan’s face turned bright red.

“Y-Yah! He’s-,” Luhan stuttered.

“I’m just teasing you,” Jen interrupted with a smirk and slid out of the booth, “I’ll be going first.”

Luhan stood up as well and stuck out his hand for a handshake. “Goodnight Jen-ssi.”

“Ssi? A handshake? What are we, business colleagues?” Jen pushed his hand away and hugged him, “Goodnight Luhan.” She let go and smiled briefly at him before leaving the coffee shop.

Luhan shook his head and laughed a little to himself. Now he knew exactly why he fell in love with her and he also knew that part of him still loved her… but it wasn’t his place to love her anymore. And now that he came to terms with this, he could begin to truly let her go and possibly even devote himself to Sehun.

---

Kai’s POV:

He stealthily snuck into his stepmother’s office after dark and looked through her desk. He shuffled through useless files and came up empty handed. ‘I know she has to have something here…’ he thought and stood up, looking around her office.

He shined his flashlight around the room and noticed an odd looking piece of wall. ‘What is that?’ he thought as he walked closer. He lightly touched it and began to peel away at the wallpaper covering it. He did it neatly so he could easily tape it back up without it being noticeable that someone tampered with it. He put the flashlight in his mouth, making sure to keep it pointed at the wall so he could see what he was doing.

He worked diligently and once he got the wallpaper off, he saw that it was a safe built into the wall. ‘What is this safe doing here?’ he thought and pondered on what the password could be. He tried putting in the entire families birthdays and even the date of her marriage to his father – nothing.

‘What is the most important day to her?’ Kai thought and tapped his chin. Aha! He typed in the date in which she was finally elected as CEO of Seoul Enterprises and he was granted access into the safe. He took out all the files and sealed the safe back up with the wallpaper.

He snuck out of her office and headed down the hallway quickly to avoid being seen by any of the security guards. To be even more careful, he was wearing a disguise in case he was seen. Thankfully he previously memorized the routes the security guards take and was able to make it out of the building without being seen by a single person. He made it to his car and got inside, immediately breaking open the files once he sat down. He the inside car light and shuffled through the files – Bingo, this was everything he needed.

I feel the ending of this story being soon. Just a heads up ^^ If you've made it this far, thank you for being so loyal! *sends hearts and cupcakes*

I hope you enjoy! <3