Warning: Has not been beta'd. You have been warned!

Waking up so early every morning is more or less a habit of Victoria’s now. In the past, she could sleep in as late as she wanted knowing that Aiden would be there to prepare her breakfast and make sure she would make it to work on time. After Aiden left, she had to manage all of that on her own.

The morning breeze is cold, stinging when she takes too large of a breath, but the chirping birds and busy streets are lively and encouraging.

Victoria first makes a trip to the bank and monitors her account briefly before nodding satisfactorily to herself and heading towards the realtors.

“This flat has the best security and service, with easy access to traffic utilities and is close enough to the city to enjoy the perks but just far away enough to maintain a peaceful and quiet nightlife,” the sales agent explains to her. “Or, if you’re looking for houses, we’ve got some of the best offers going on right now!”

After flipping through several books of choices, nothing really suits her taste.

“Do you manage land property too?” Victoria asks.

The realtor nods fervently. “If you needed, we can even introduce you to some of the best local architects and construction builders!”

“I just need the property,” Victoria says, rejecting his offer, “I know a few designers myself.”

XURREAL (pronounced surreal) is a title that Xiumin and Aiden came up with together, before Xiumin met Luhan. Years later, after Xiumin was able to build a solid enough foundation to start his own business, he chose to use the very title to name his very first model agency after.

Standing outside of the Beijing branch of XURREAL is like standing beside the world that Aiden and Xiumin had created together—a little foreign, yet, also a little too familiar.

“You must be Victoria,” someone greets her the moment she steps inside the large glass doors. “Hello, I’m Xiaojie, our manager’s assistant, and Mr. Lu has instructed me to take you directly to the eighth floor once you have arrived.”

“Thank you,” Victoria smiles.

In her mind, Victoria can imagine what it must have been like for Xiumin to idealize each and every company of his own. From what Victoria understands of Xiumin, he is serious and indulges himself into each and every project that he takes over.

For him to select and use a model, that model must either be very talented or they must hold some kind of significance to him; this is why she agreed to visit with Luhan today.

Once they reach the eighth floor, where all of the executive offices are, Victoria is immediately spotted by Luhan, who is sitting and enjoying a cup of coffee. She recognizes the hiring manager to be Zhang Yixing, an old friend of Luhan’s.

“What took you so long?” Luhan interrogates.

Victoria ignores his harsh words and instead tosses her brief case into a nearby seat. Luhan then guides her to a different set of elevators a little further into the office, taking her down to level B1.

“She’s holds a special meaning to Xiumin, am I right?” Victoria suddenly asks in the cramped space.

As though expecting her question, Luhan smiles and crosses his arms over his chest. “She might be the person you and I both should be wary of most.”

“How so?”

Clearing his throat, Luhan shifts himself slightly so that he is facing Victoria. In his eyes, there is an uncertainty that Victoria has never seen before—a lack of confidence almost. “She’s the younger sister of the girl that Xiumin and Aiden both liked at one period in time, before they met us.”

“I didn’t know Xiumin was bi,” Victoria comments.

Luhan frowns. “You’re straying from the point.”

“So that makes you nervous?” Victoria laughs. “She’s just that girl’s sister and Xiumin has you now. You shouldn’t worry so recklessly and have some faith in him.”

“They say that first love is always the hardest to forget,” Luhan reminds Victoria.

Victoria shakes her head. “How do you know she was Xiumin’s first love? Maybe she was only one of his past dating experiences. Either way, it has nothing to do with her little sister.”

“Do you really not understand what I’m trying to say?” Luhan asks her, eyebrows furrowed.

The elevator comes to a stop and they both stand there silently as the doors slide open. She turns to Luhan, her expression relaxed, and she extends an arm and links it with his. Together, they step out into the training hall.

Around them, loud music is blasting and males and females of all races can be seen walking back in forth in different styles, displaying and modelling the clothing that they are wearing.

Very quietly, she whispers into his ear, “maybe Xiumin had a reason to keep in touch with her and her family; both Aiden and Xiumin are very reliable and kind hearted people, so I can understand why there would be lingering relations among them. Even if Aiden were still here today, I wouldn’t be upset.”

“That’s because you’re too lenient on him,” Luhan scolds.

She shakes her head. “No, it’s because I trust him, with every fiber of my body. I know you trust Xiumin too, otherwise, you would have kicked this girl out the moment you heard about her.”

“How do you know?” Luhan scoffs.

Victoria looks up into his eyes. “I know you,” she smiles, “you’re no less of a kind person as Xiumin and Aiden. You just need a little bit of a push to acknowledge the lengths of your own leniency and willingness to believe in others.”

They eventually stop in front of a closed door, Luhan lifting a hand to the doorknob. Once the door is slid open, a young girl with a very pure but cold face greets them on the inside. Across from her sits a stylist who is lecturing her on fashion mix and match rules.

Upon seeing Luhan, the stylist stands and greets him enthusiastically.

Shyly, the young girl also stands and steps aside without saying a word.

Her skin is pale and her features are all very prominent; a tall nose, sharp eyes and a small mouth that all decorate a perfectly v-shaped face. Her long, black hair sits over her shoulder and extends down to her waist, accentuating the curves of her skinny but well maintained figure.

If Victoria were a man, she imagines this would be the type of girl that she’d fall for.

“Victoria, this is Krystal. Krystal, this is Victoria.” Luhan introduces.

With her name being called, the young girl rushes forward and shakes Victoria’s hand very politely, cheeks flushing a light red. Her eyes are momentarily frozen on Victoria’s face, every muscle in her body tensing with her lips slightly parted.

It seems as though her manners are well taught but she seems to be lacking a little in confidence.

“I hope I’m not interrupting your session,” Victoria smiles gently at the young girl named Krystal, “I heard that Xiumin personally appointed a new model and grew incredibly interested in his enthusiasm for work, so I asked to come take a look at his office. I hope you don’t mind.”

Krystal shakes her head, continuing to stare at Victoria with a look of confusion. “Of course not.”

They exchange a few more words and Victoria and Luhan hang out for a while more, observing some other trainees, before they return to the eighth floor.

“What do you think?” Luhan asks.

Victoria shrugs. “She’s very beautiful; I think she’d make a great artist.”

An assistant immediately approaches them once the elevator doors open and inform Victoria that her bag has been ringing quite a few times for the past six minutes or so. Perplexed by who it could be, Victoria opens her briefcase and pulls out her cell phone. There is one missed call from Yunho, two missed calls from Kris and another missed call from Sehun.

She decides it’s probably best to prioritize the Wu brothers and dials back to Kris.

“Is something wrong?” She asks once he picks up and greets her.

Kris clears his throat. “Tao has been pretty upset today. He’s been throwing tantrums non-stop and we were just thinking that maybe it’s best if you could come back and speak to him because he’s refusing to speak to me and Sehun.”

Victoria takes a deep, calming breath.

“Do you not like Tao?” Kris suddenly asks.

Victoria sighs. “That’s not it. I’m just not used to having to answer to a… young brother. I’m too accustomed to living on my own.”

“Ah…” Kris nods.

She glances at a nearby clock and then switches her gaze over to Luhan, who’s staring right at her. “I’ll be back soon, after I finish some business. There’s something I need to discuss with Tao anyways.”

“Okay,” Kris answers. “Um… do you need a ride?”

That might not be such a bad idea, Victoria thinks. “I’ll give Anthony a call if I do.”

“If you need a ride, call me,” Kris tells her, “I need to pick something up from the city anyways.”

Thinning her lips, Victoria agrees and tucks the phone back into the briefcase.

“The brother?” Luhan smirks.

Victoria nods. “It’s odd.”

“No doubt,” Luhan laughs. “You’ll get used to it if you stay here long enough. I’ll only be here for another two days or so before I have to make my way back to Paris. Should I book you a ticket, too?”

“I’d really appreciate it,” Victoria smiles at him. “Yunho called me too. He’ll probably need me back at the office soon.”

“Or maybe he’s firing you,” Luhan grins.

Victoria frowns. “If he is, then you’ll have to tell Xiumin to hire me. I can’t afford being unemployed right now. I just put a down payment on property.”

With eyes widened comically, Luhan presses closer to her. “Here? In Beijing?”

She nods. “Yup.”

“But why?” Luhan asks. “I thought you’re planning on returning to Paris.”

“My brother will need a place to live and call home,” she tells him, “he can’t live with the Wu Family for forever; they’re a close family friend but they’re not family after all.”

Luhan shrugs. “I guess. It just sort of sounds like a waste of money, I suppose. I mean, you and your brother aren’t even that close; you live in an apartment back in Paris but you’re buying him a house.”

“We’re family,” Victoria says, “and Beijing is my hometown after all.”

The other boy nods. “Yeah, I get it. Home sweet home, right?”

Victoria chuckles and waves Luhan goodbye, reminding him to call and confirm details with her once more before he purchases the plane ticket for her, and she’s on her way out of the company. The streets are now packed with tourists and locals, people of all shapes and sizes filling the once open space.

Finding a nearby café, Victoria settles inside comfortably and makes a call back to Yunho. Only, it forwards to Yunho’s voice message and only then does she realize that he must be in the middle of a meeting right now.

After leaving him a brief voicemail, she retrieves her laptop from her bag and begins browsing through several different templates of house layouts on a web surf as she waits for Yunho to return her call.

She checks her emails every now and then and replies to a few financial companies regarding Yunho’s project budget that she handled before she left, jumping back and forth between different duties.

Eventually, she remembers about Tao and Kris.

“Hello?”

“Hi, it’s me again, Victoria,” she says, “It might be a while longer before I can go back.”

Kris sounds a little impatient on the other end. “Where are you?”

Her voice sort of catches in ; she glances outside of the café window and reads out a street sign to him before repeating the name of the café. Kris is silent for a moment before he answers with a hum and concludes the barely existent conversation they were holding.

That was definitely awkward, Victoria thinks.

She returns to checking out different housing designs and about half an hour later Yunho finally returns her call.

“Where did you place the Tailor Contract?” He asks hurriedly.

She blinks. “In the file cabinet beside your desk, third drawer; it’s all in alphabetical order in there.”

“Are you sure?” Yunho confirms with her while filing through the documents. “Oh, here it is.”

“I also pre-approved two budget deadlines for you just now and forwarded the confirmation over about an hour ago. The sponsors have agreed to delay the first due date another sixteen weeks, so that should be enough time for you to come up with another action plan,” Victoria tells him.

Yunho nods. “You’re the best.”

As she takes a sip of her coffee and scrolls down another legal document page, she feels footsteps advancing towards her. When she glances up, Kris is already sitting in the seat directly across from her. Smiling at him, she waves and continues her conversation with Yunho.

Even though Kris does not understand a majority of the French language, he can catch on that she’s speaking business with her boss. This irritates him a little because he knows she’s on break and she should be resting right now.

With his fingers tapping on the table surface, Victoria can tell that Kris is losing his patience.

“I’ll call you back another time,” she says, interrupting Yunho, “something just came up.”

Yunho raises an eyebrow. “Oh, about the CAE position—“

“I received their offer,” Victoria tells him, “I’m just still deciding. They gave me two weeks to consider.”

“Good,” Yunho exclaims. “It’s a good chance for you, even if you’ll be dearly missed.”

“You’re not being very convincing right now,” Victoria laughs.

On the other end, Yunho scoffs and gives her a little bit of a hard time before he finally lets her go. After she hangs up, she meets eyes with Kris, who is watching her with a hard stare.

“What?” She asks.

Kris breathes evenly. “What are you planning for Tao?”

 “I have no intentions of changing his environment,” Victoria answers honestly. “Tao is old enough to decide for himself what he wants of his future. All I can, as a sister and his guardian, is to provide for him all that he will need for his decision.”

The moment he sat down, Kris saw the paperwork that Victoria had piled neatly beside her laptop. There are leases, statements, and legal documents for transfer of possession of property. Despite her young age, she seems to know a lot more than others amongst their peers.

“You’re really not considering staying?” Kris asks.

Victoria sighs. “Can I buy you coffee?”

He glances up towards the front at the menu hanging on the wall behind the counter. “I’ll buy you a drink.” He says instead.

She smiles. “I already have one.”

“Too much coffee makes you bitter,” Kris accuses, “I’ll be right back.”

With Kris’s attention diverted, Victoria uses the opportunity to take a very good look at him. From the moment she first saw him at the airport, she thought he looked very familiar; however, she couldn’t quite place a finger on where she’d seen him before.

Her cup of coffee has turned cold from sitting on the table for so long and when she takes another sip, the taste is almost bland on her tongue. She remembers how Aiden loved brewing coffee for her some mornings, when the sun was nice and the skies were clear; Aiden would always tell her to enjoy the coffee for him since he couldn’t have any.

Memories of Aiden flood her and she runs her thin fingers through her hair, taking a deep breath when that familiar pressure forms in her chest. It doesn’t hurt anymore when she thinks of Aiden, but the memories are still heavy in her heart.

Maybe it’s just Aiden that weighs a little too heavily in all aspects of her life.

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A/N: Just in case any of you are worried, I've already completed writing Maybe We Won, so don't fret over it not being written due to the fact that I'm working on 3+ stories at the same time ^___^