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

“You like green tea, right?”

She’s pulled out of her trance, fingers clasped tightly in her palm, and when she glances up at the gentle face peering down at her she can’t help but smile. “How did you know?”

Kris simply smiles back.

“I haven’t had green tea flavored ice cream or drinks in a while,” she admits. “My boyfriend used to buy it for me all the time whenever I seemed too stressed.”

It’s really hard to forget someone who treated her so well.

“I understand how Tao feels right now,” Victoria continues, “I really do. Yet, I don’t feel confident in being able to make up for everything that he is lacking; I’ve never been a sister and I’ve never had to take care of anyone but myself.”

“Are you afraid?” Kris asks.

Victoria shrugs. “Maybe I am. I feel like a coward, honestly, but I can’t help it. A part of me is telling me it is because I have never believed in anyone but myself and Aiden.”

“You can believe in me,” Kris tells her.

He watches as she drinks out of her cup of iced green tea latte, her shoulders relaxing as pictures flash through her eyes. “We’ve met before, right? I know we have. Was it in Paris?”

“I stayed with your aunt for a while when I visited with a friend,” Kris admits.

Finally, she breaks into a small smile. “That’s right. I took the two of you to watch a fashion show, didn’t I? How is she—your friend?”

“Good,” Kris tells her, “she’s a magazine editor now.”

Victoria nods, “Very nice.” She notices that Kris has a drink that is identical to hers and she asks, “Is green tea your favorite too?”

“It wasn’t always,” he shakes his head, “but I came to really like it.”

An email populates in her inbox and Victoria quickly sets her drink down to click it open. As her eyes focus on the French text, Kris’s voice intercepts her reading.

“I really do hope you can think about staying.”

“Mhm,” Victoria mutters.

Kris gathers all his courage to speak these words. “Not just Tao but I also really want you to stay here in Beijing with us.”

He can’t tell whether or not Victoria had heard him or was even listening because her eyes not once leave the screen. Momentarily after, she begins typing away, fingers fast on the keyboard.

With all his patience, he sits for a while longer.

Victoria can see how unsteadily he’s seated, the tips of his fingers drumming along the side of his cup in rhythm with her typing, and something strikes in her head, like the arms of a clock—a subtle ticking. Kris has always made her feel comfortable, despite being quiet a majority of the time they are together.

In his silence, there is a sense of security.

After she’s finished with her work, she packs up all her belongings and smiles at him. “I think I know what to tell Tao now.”

While they are walking out to his car that is parked alongside the street, Kris waits for clarification.

“It’s not the responsibilities of being a sister than I’m afraid of, it’s Tao, because he’s so much like our father.” Victoria says. “His personality is extremely different from mine and I understand—he was brought up differently, after all. I’ve been thinking it over really hard lately and Beijing really isn’t my kind of city.”

The streets are too busy, the people are too rushed; it almost feels like there’s no time for people to slow down and take a moment to look at the flowers.

“I’m willing to try though,” Victoria concludes. “Maybe I can accustom to life here if I try hard enough.”

Once they reach the car, Kris opens the door for her and places her briefcase in the back seat. His heart is fluttering, excitement boiling in his blood at the thought of Victoria staying here in Beijing—beside him.

As if taking a first step, Victoria says, “I have a lot of love but I don’t know how to share it.”

And as though he understands Kris smiles and nods at her, answering slowly. “There’s no rush. We have plenty of time to test the waters.”

Beyond her lips she can still taste the light fragrance of green tea and milk on her tongue, both relaxing and very soothing. She leans her head back against the seat and closes her eyes, finally allowing herself to rest after a long morning.

The rest of the ride home is in silence, however, the two of them feel like they understand each other more than they ever have before. When they arrive, Kris hesitates before patting her shoulder gently, attempting to wake her from her brief nap.

Victoria stirs a little but doesn’t quite wake up.

Leaning over the gear shift, Kris strains his neck a little to look into her face; her skin is more pale than usual, probably because she’s been waking up too early in the mornings, and her eyelashes are far longer and thicker than he thought them to be.

Extending a hand, Kris brushes aside a few strips of hair hovering over her face.

How long has he wanted to inspect her up close like this? He doesn’t even really know anymore. All he knows is that ever since the first time they met in Paris, he’s wanted her.

A hand reaches up and her slim fingers wrap around his. By the time he searches for her eyes they are already staring back at him, as though reading through his mind.

Victoria smiles, a smile that he’s never seen before—too gentle, too much like she can see into his soul—and he feels his breath leave him. Very softly she whispers, “The first one to fall in love is always the loser.”

“I’ve never lost at anything before,” Kris answers wittily.

Laughing, she releases his hand and sits up, straightening out her clothes. Kris also retreats to his own seat, clearing his throat as he pulls his keys from the engine and opens his door.

He might have been the one to fall first, but Kris is not going to lose. Just like the ambition and confidence he has in his career as a lawyer, Kris is intent on winning this battle against Victoria. Nothing has really stopped him before and he won’t let anything stop him now.

The current Victoria Song isn’t exactly looking for romance.

However, despite the fact that Tao is her little brother and Sehun is like a little brother to her, Kris is neither her little brother nor does he act like a little brother.

After discussing purchasing and modeling a new house for just the two of them with Tao, Victoria has already been contacting her architect friends and planning for them to visit the plot in Beijing. From the sidelines, Luhan pops in every now and then to give some advice, but he never hangs around for long before he’s off to another organizational meeting for his events.

Very quickly, it comes time for Victoria and Luhan to make a trip back to Paris.

“You’re coming back, right?” Tao confirms with her.

Victoria smiles into his eyes very earnestly. “I will. I’m not sure how long I’ll have to be gone yet, but I’ll definitely be back. While I’m in Paris, you need to keep thinking about how you want your room modeled, okay?”

Like a little child, Zitao nods and hangs his head low in a sulking manner.

Sighing, Victoria allows Luhan to take her small baggage from her and slip it into the trunk as she lowers herself into the back seat. Tao continues watching her as the car drives off into the distance.

“He has attachment issues,” Luhan comments.

She hums in agreement.

“Are you really going to settle in Beijing?” He wonders aloud.

“Is there something wrong with that?”

Luhan’s round eyes glance around sluggishly as he slurs his reply. “Beijing’s not our type of place.”

“You’re kind of from Beijing,” Victoria reminds him.

He laughs. “So are you.”

“Sort of,” Victoria agrees, “but not really, if we both had to be completely honest with each other.”

Somehow, it feels like the sky in Paris is more blue than in Beijing.

People here keep safe distances with each other; most people are reserved and enjoy smiling when they meet eyes with a stranger. Everything in Paris seems to be in slow motion and it’s really not so much a bad thing, Victoria thinks.

“You don’t seem to have changed much,” Yunho compliments.

She walks into his office with an air of indifference. “I was only gone for a little over a week.”

“Point made,” the man nods at her. “How was the hometown?”

“Different,” Victoria deadpans. “Not entirely a bad thing but I still prefer Paris.”

Yunho smiles at her helplessly. “I’ll miss you when you’re gone.”

“There’s still a while more before you can get rid of me,” she says, narrowing her eyes. “Have you looked into finding a new assistant yet?”

“Any suggestions?” Yunho asks in turn.

Victoria thins her lips. “Tiff already got hired and Ara is preoccupied with her masters degree… I’ll keep an ear and eye out for you, though.”

Her boss simply nods.

“Aren’t you being recommended for a chairman position, anyways?” Victoria asks. “Maybe you’ll be upsold a new assistant.”

“How did you know?” Yunho wonders.

Victoria laughs. “I know everything, like how you just bought a new sports car two days after I left Paris. I have access to all of you accounts, boss, and my job is to manage and monitor them.”

“Business accounts,” Yunho corrects her, “you’re only supposed to have access to my business accounts.”

“You’re the one who asked me to file for your annual taxes and then keep an eye on your funds,” Victoria grumbles. “Anyhow, I’ll get all of your paperwork and personal documents gathered and organized before I leave.”

“No rush,” Yunho tells her. “I trust you.”

“So, is it a thing for people in China to date models?”

After being back in Paris for almost two weeks now, Victoria is a little thrown off course by the sudden question that the receptionist is asking her. “I’m sorry?”

The young girl grins at her, handing over a few expedited envelopes to Victoria, and says in very smooth French, “handsome young man waiting for you at the lobby. All I could make out of his French was your name but no matter how horrible his language skills are, he’s still a looker.”

“I didn’t know you had a thing for Asians,” Victoria teases her, “Yunho is really good looking, too.”

Sticking out her tongue, the receptionist pinches Victoria’s arm and struts back towards the elevator. Before Victoria heads downstairs herself, she finishes up some work in the office.

When Yunho is out for a meeting, she likes to prepare his evening contracts for the start of the next day. Old habits die hard, they say.

“Look who I ran into downstairs!”

Victoria jumps back in surprise, eyes widened in shock, and hisses under her breath. Yunho laughs at her, approaching her quickly to smooth his palm over her back to help coordinate her breathing.

“Jung Yunho! How many times do I have to tell you not to do that?!” Victoria grumbles.

Her complaint only makes Yunho laugh a little harder. “I’m sorry, I should have knocked before coming into my own office, my bad,” he drawls sarcastically. “This kid was waiting for you downstairs so I brought him up with me.”

When Victoria glances towards the door, Kris is staring at the hand that is still on her back.

“You and your brother don’t look alike,” Yunho says.

She laughs. “He’s not my brother, he’s a family friend.”

“Oh,” Yunho replies, clicking his tongue, “I just assumed he was your brother since he’s Asian, doesn’t speak any French, and looked quite lost—you kind of have that same look when I tell you to do things you don’t want to do.”

Victoria glares at him.

“Do you need the rest of the day off?” Her boss asks.

His question makes her wonder. Turning to Kris, she asks, “Do you have business here in Paris?”

Kris shakes his head.

“Are you here because of me?”

Kris nods.

She thins her lips together and crosses her arms over her chest. Yunho takes this as a hint and kindly returns to his seat where a new stack of files have been neatly organized.

“I didn’t expect you back so early. Do you want coffee?” Victoria asks him.

Yunho shakes his head. “I’ll have Francis help me out for the rest of the day. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“See you tomorrow,” Victoria nods. She grabs her purse from the bottom drawer of her desk and tucks some folders into Yunho’s cabinet before pushing Kris outside with her.

“Did I come at a wrong time?” Kris asks.

Victoria furrows her eyebrows. “You shouldn’t even be here at all, to be honest.”

“Tao started to worry,” Kris excuses.

She sighs. “I still have some things to take care of here before I can go back. Are you staying here for long?”

“Sehun told me I’m not allowed to show my face at home again unless you’re with me,” Kris shrugs.

Well, that makes things hard. “Have you had anything to eat?”

Kris shakes his head.

“Do you want pasta?” Victoria asks. “Or do you prefer burgers? Fries? Pizza?”

He bites down on his lip. “Can you cook for me? I want something a little more bland. It’s been a while since I’ve been on a plane for so long…”

“Are you feeling sick?” She grimaces, worried laced in her expression.

Kris nods.

“Alright,” she sighs, “we’ll make a stop at the supermarket first then and I’ll make you some congee. I don’t have any groceries at home right now.”

-----

A/N: Miss you guys! Real life has been a little hectic lately but hopefully I'll return to a normal routine soon. I miss Victoria like crazy T_T Enjoy the update~ ♥Xue