TEN
Bottled Hopes and LullabiesCHAPTER TEN
Kris Wu.
How would one describe him? Tall, handsome, frightening, rich, and powerful and he fears no one… except his wife, Hana. Yes, that’s right, the oh-so-powerful chairman of one of the biggest companies in China –and possibly the world- is a kicked puppy when it comes to his wife.
It could be worse, you may say but what else was worse than Hana appearing out of nowhere in Seoul and was possibly mere seconds away from giving Kris a blow in the head because he had swayed one order that she had strictly implemented? It could have been the best surprise of Kris’s life, to have his wife back within his arms’ reach and he was happy that she was there... if only Aiden was too.
Where the is Kim Jongin?
“Honey!” he exclaims in excitement all too suddenly and engulfs his wife in an embrace –even Xiumin and Suho were shocked at his rash reaction but it was better than nothing, they guess. “When did you get here?” he asks her in a tone that was way too obvious that he was hiding something. Suho wanted to smack him in the back of the head but instead makes a mental note to advise Kris to take acting lessons. Lucky for him though, Hana can be naïve so she doesn’t notice his –too- high-pitched tone and instead smiles “I wanted to surprise you guys. Anyway, where’s Aiden?”
Ofcourse, she would ask that and it makes Kris freeze for a moment as he tried to rack his brain for good reasons –or maybe white lies.
“Aiden?” he breaks the hug, Hana nods her head with a smile “Yes, where is he?”
“Well, Aiden is –”
“Kai took him out just down the street a little while ago for some ice cream; you know how kids are” Xiumin smiles confidently and Kris looks at him in great gratification, hand it to the guy to make up something. Hana blinks, “I see...” phew. Good save Minseok! Kris breathes and offers his wife a seat then goes straight away to distracting her by questioning “How was Paris?” and followed by “did you enjoy your trip?”
Hana happily answers his entire question, expressing how grateful she was that Kris’s grandmother had given her a chance of a lifetime. He would’ve said that he could’ve taken her himself but he had to hold his tongue at the moment because he was hiding something and everything he says could be and will be used against him. He was starting to regret signing that stupid contract Tao had laid out for him.
Kim Jongin had always been known to deliver given tasks to him in a manner that satisfies everyone. Coming from a long bloodline of businessmen and women, Jongin had been trained for every possible situation in his life –with exemptions of preposterous things such as, as his grandfather quotes, ‘love and all that bat- crazy things teens do these days’; sadly, that also excluded babysitting.
But Kim Jongin was wise; he knew how to use his brain, which is why he has spent most of the hours of the babysitting job contacting his girlfriend all the way in China to give him instructions. Women seemed to be a natural at these, he affirms.
Everything had been going well during the span of his hours of duty, the chances of a disaster and whatever kind of failure occurring was ninety-nine to one.
It was ninety-nine to one, not a complete hundred.
And that one decided to rain on Kim Jongin’s parade just as the clock was about to strike twelve; he had just been gone for a few moments, he was sure that he left the sleeping boy on his couch when he left his office to deliver something downstairs, so when he returned and found the empty couch he was dumbfounded then panics the next second at the realization.
So he spends the supposed last minutes ignoring phone calls from three certain businessmen while he looks for the young boy. Unbeknownst to him, the three were in just as much panic at him.
KRIS
Note to self: murder Kim Jongin
“Which ice cream parlor did Kai take Aiden to?” Hana questions and every single time that she does that, I feel like my body is going to shut down. From the corner of my eyes, I could see Joonmyeon and Minseok exchanging nervous looks and how I wanted to smack those two because you just can’t do that especially when you’re sitting in the same room as Hana. It could set off her maternal instincts!
“Just the one down the street, don’t worry they’ll be back soon” I reassure. She looks at me for a moment, I swear I saw a glint of suspicion in her eyes and it almost made me cry but thankfully, she smiled, nodded and seemed to have bought the –petty and ridiculous- white lie. “I see,” she says “I’ll just go and use the rest room, okay?”
“Sure.”
With that, she stands up and walks off to the bathroom. We breathe out heavy sighs of relief the moment she was through the door, suddenly Joonmyeon and Minseok look like they’ve ran a marathon “Ugh. Where the is Kai?” I grunt, pulling out my phone and tried redialing his number once more but just like all my previous attempts, there was no answer thus I was left with the choice of leaving –yet again- another message.
, you better get my son here in the next 5 mins.
Or so help me, I’ll drag you to hell and back with me.
I am not going to go down alone in this hell hole.
Sent: Friday, 1:03 PM
“I think I’m gonna puke” Minseok groans, wiping away the cold sweat that had formed on the side of his forehead. Ugh, even my armpits are sweating like a sumo wrestler under the blazing heat and Joonmyeon wasn’t taking it so lightly either, “I think my brain just went dead…” he sighs, rubbing his temples.
KIM ING JONGIN.
WHERE THE ARE YOU?
Sent: Friday, 1:09 PM
A sigh catches the three gentlemen’s attention; they all turn their heads and see Hana had returned. She sits back down and checks her watch, “are they still not here?” she asks and Kris just wants to slam his head on a nearby wall. The guilt is slowly consuming him and for some odd reason, lying to his wife makes him wanna puke, he just wants to get it out of his system already!
Ugh! it! He mentally screams, “Hana, listen –”
“Mama!” an adorable voice echoes throughout the quiet restaurant. Everyone turns their heads as Jongin enters with a composed smile on his face; Minseok would’ve fainted from the relief if Suho had not been so kind as to slap the back of his neck before he could even close his eyes. Hana’s eyes sparkle in excitement and joy as she sees her son and wastes no moment later to stand up and gather him in her arms, which the boy excitedly goes into.
I missed you so much, mama! Aiden happily snuggles into the warmth of his mother’s embrace; one that he had missed so much for it was unlike any other. Meanwhile, Kris stands speechless in the background in complete utter disbelief at how fast things had just happened. He doesn’t know if she should gratify or punch Jongin in the face but the wink that the said guy sends him makes him want to do both.
“I’m surprised you’re here, what’s with the sudden arrival?” Kai casually asks. His face void from any suspicious aura that could set Hana’s meters off. She smiles then answers “There has been some changes; my boss can’t be in two places at the same time so here I am”
“I see…” Jongin drifts off.
“Did my baby enjoy eating with uncle Jongin?” Hana coos at the baby boy in her arms and he giggles happily, cupping her cheeks with his little hands as he presses a sweet kiss onto the tip of her nose. Kai scratches the back of his neck and chuckles, “Oh yeah, he really liked the mashed potatoes down the block”
The three palm their faces in the background; Kris hangs his head low at Jongin’s idiocy while Suho and Xiumin try so hard not to lunge at him. Hana smiles so sweetly that it’s almost creepy and turns around to meet Kris’s eye “Is that a new flavor of ice cream, baobei?”
Note to self: Double murder Kim Jongin. Kris tells himself.
Fr: SUHO
To: KRIS
Hey Kris, how’s your wife?
Is she mad?
Sent: Friday, 5:36 PM
Fr: KRIS
To: SUHO
I don’t know? She’s not ignoring me though.
So... maybe not? It’s creepy.
Sent: Friday, 5:37 PM
Fr: SUHO
To: KRIS
Why? That’s a good thing!
Sent: Friday, 5:37 PM
Fr: KRIS
To: SUHO
I sense something much bigger is coming.
my life.
I will kill Jongin tomorrow. I have to go now.
Hana just got out of the bathroom. Fck.
Sent: Friday, 5:38 PM
Fr: KRIS
To: SUHO
Kalsihsje jdfnje9343 3jfmdmfsmdksnfs;
Akndjdsidashue
Sent: Friday, 5:55 PM
Fr: SUHO
To: KRIS
Aiden. -.-
Sent: Friday, 5:56 PM
Kris sets his phone aside as he hears the bathroom door opening, Hana exits in her pajamas with her hair covered with the towel to keep it from dripping; Aiden manages to grabs his phone in the background but he pays no heed to it as he was too busy pondering what exactly was his wife thinking. For her to be not mad was a strange thing because knowing her –and especially when it involves Aiden- she can be a real beast and not the one he conceptualized in his dreams which involved a bed.
So with caution, he gets up from the carpeted floor and approaches the bedroom.
“Hana?” he calls out before poking his head through the opening and sees her sitting infront of the dresser, drying her hair quietly with the towel. He couldn’t even see her reflection in the mirror and the quiet aura was giving him the chills. Ugh, is this how she felt when she first met me? Damn cold.
“Baobei?” he calls out again and stops midway from approaching her after hearing her sigh, “Baobei, there’s no need for caution…” she turns around and meets his eyes, “I figured something was up the moment Xiumin’s expression faltered when I asked about Aiden”
He breathes out a heavy sigh of disappointment and approaches her, he gets down on his knees infront of her and takes her hands, resting his head on her lap “Sorry… I don’t even know why I did that but Tao really wanted to watch over him and the others just went with it” “I thought so…” she chuckles, his hair before cupping his chin and brings his face up to meet hers “so, you’re not hiding anything else… are you?”
Kris bites down his lower lip, he lifts his face off her grasp and seethes air through his teeth, and his face scrunches a little as he confesses “Yeah… would you be mad if I told you that I almost lost Aiden?”
Her smile disappears.
“You… WHAT?”
SMACK! “Ow!” Kris shouts in pain after his wife’s palm meets the skin of his neck –it almost knocked his soul out of his body. “I’m sorry!”
“WU YI FAN! HOW CAN YOU ALMOST LOSE OUR SON? ARE YOU KIDDING ME? HOW IS THAT POSSIBLE? YOU HAVE ONE JOB, DO YOU HEAR ME? ONE JOB; YOU PROMISED ME YOU WOULD TAKE CARE OF HIM”
“I-I know… but –”
“NO BUTS, HOW THE HELL CAN YOU ALMOST LOSE AN ADORABLE BABY BOY? I SWEAR… DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH EFFORT IT’S TAKING ME NOT TO SLAP YOU RIGHT NOW? UGH… OH MY GOD, I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU WOULD EVEN ASK ME THAT, OFCOURSE I WOULD BE MAD IF YOU LOST AIDEN, WHAT THE HELL? THAT’S OUR SON!”
Kris quietly sighs, keeping his head hung down as Hana continues to rant on. This was the scolding that he had been looking for; he shouldn’t have pressed his luck.
Fr: KRIS
To: SUHO, XIUMIN, KAI
I’m on a drinking ban.
my life.
Sent: Saturday, 12:13 AM
Fr: XIUMIN
To: KRIS, SUHO, KAI
your life indeed.
Sent: Saturday, 12:14 AM
Fr: KRIS
To: SUHO, XIUMIN, KAI
STFU, she said she knew because your
face gave it away. So you man.
Sent: Saturday, 12:14 AM
Fr: KAI
To: KRIS, SUHO, XIUMIN
I was going to invite you guys out
for drinks because of the dilemma
I caused but since you’re grounded...
Oh well :)
Sent: Saturday, 12:15 AM
Fr: SUHO
To: KRIS, XIUMIN, KAI
OHMYGOD GIVE ME A ING BREAK
I’M TRYING TO SLEEP HERE.
Sent: Saturday, 12:17 AM
Fr: KRIS
To: SUHO, KAI, XIUMIN
...what a .
Sent: Saturday, 12:18 AM
When Kris’s phone alarm rang the next day, he was a bit disappointed to wake up with an empty space beside him on the bed but he tries his best to understand given that his wife was pretty pissed off last night. Although he did try to come into good terms with her, she seemed to have ignored him the rest of the hours until such time they both got drowsy and fell asleep. As much as he was glad that they slept on the same bed –and that he thinks he felt her hug him some time in the night- he was hoping to wake up beside her and maybe apologize once again with a morning kiss but to his dismay, that was not the case.
Heaving a deep sigh, he sits up in bed rakes his hand through his hair to push it back then pushes away the covers and gets out. He quietly makes his way to the bathroom to wash his face and brush his teeth; he tries to think up of ways to make it up to his wife.
Maybe a date? He spits out the foam, she probably won’t show up.
He rinses his mouth with water, I should get her jewelry! He almost smiles but frowns after he spits out the water and wipes off his lips “she’s not feigned by them… tsk.” He mutters to himself. He eventually leaves the bathroom after deciding to go with the direct approach as he has always been so good with it, even though the results sometimes aren’t the best. But hey, atleast he was trying.
“Hana?” he calls out his wife’s name as he exits the bedroom only then to be surprised at the sweet scent in the air, one that made his stomach growl. Confused, he walks towards the kitchen where the smell seemed to only be getting stronger as he got nearer “Hana?”
“Baba!” came the voice of a happy little boy, holding his arms up in the air –one hand holding onto a plastic spoon- with a bib around his neck and apple puree scattered around his little mouth. The small clank of porcelain landing on a marble surface catches Kris’s attention and a she turns his head, he sees his wife had just settled a plate of waffles and strawberries on the breakfast counter with a small smile on her face then greets him “Good morning”
Kris blinks his eyes in confusion and he thinks about slapping himself in the face just to make sure it wasn’t a dream because the last time he had checked, Hana was pissed off at him beyond limits.
“Aren’t you going to eat? You might run late and I have a scheduled meeting too, so hurry” she tells him in the most calm and normal way that Kris really wanted to bang his head against the wall. He blinks his eyes once again but makes no move to sit down on the barstool, “Aren’t you supposed to be mad?” he questions. Hana blinks her eyes at her husband then takes a deep breath, “Do you want me to stay mad?” she calmly asks, turning her back onto him to put the dirty dishes in the sink.
“Ofcourse not!” Kris answers all to quickly and sits down on the barstool; his wife chuckles and turns back around to meet his eyes, “I am a bit disappointed though… for someone who runs a multi-billion company, you sure lose it when it comes to Aiden” she tells him, the dismay in her voice was quite obvious and he feels a pang of guilt hit him.
A happy giggle resonates through the air. Kris turns his head to the side and sees his son, happily eating his apple puree by himself –although he still needs to practice a lot with the spoon. He grimaces a little at the untidiness and turns back to his wife, “I honestly don’t know what to do…” he confesses. Hana takes a deep breath and tosses him a clean cloth “Practice…” she says in a commanding tone.
The chairman looks down at the cloth in his hands then at his son, for a moment he was confused but then slowly got what she meant by her words. So he gets up from his chair and approaches the young boy, he takes the cloth and wipes off the scattered puree around the boy’s mouth; Aiden looks confused for a moment and stays unusually still as his father wipes off his mouth with the cloth, when the latter was done he looks at him for a moment then laughs before swinging his little arm up and accidentally hits his father in the eye.
“Ow!” Kris exclaims, stumbling back and falls to the floor on his back after tripping over his own feet. Hana shakes her head and sighs but atleast, he was trying. Atleast.
“Am I still on the drinking ban?” Kris questions.
“Yes.” Hana answers with finality and he groans, lying on the floor while sulking because with all the stress that he’s been dealing with, he needed a cold beer at the moment.
From: [email protected]
Subject: Schedules & Notices
Dear Mr. Wu,
I have attached your schedule for your return in China on Monday. Also, there have been many calls for you over the past days and I have managed to categorize them on an important/first priority basis.
A certain Ms. Wei has also called in a couple of times and has been asking me for your personal contact information which I did not provide as per your orders.
I hope you enjoy your time in Seoul, sir.
Peng Meifen
PA
HANA
To be quite honest, the matter about the eleven other guys signing a contract to babysit Aiden came as no surprise for me. I don’t blame Kris either because the moment he announced his sudden trip to Seoul, I have already expected such a scenario because I knew that his uncles love him far too much to resist him, most especially a certain man named Huang Zitao. It was quite amusing to know that he went through all the trouble to make it official with papers.
I’m surprised with the term that I was not to be informed either, Kris was fully aware of how much I discouraged hiring babysitters hence that certain part in the contract. I guess he misunderstood me a bit though; it’s not that I have anything against other people taking care of our child, I just thoroughly believe in the positive effects of on-hand parenting. Can you blame me if I want my son to grow up with two parents that put him first before business? To some it may sound albeit ridiculous but for me, the idea of Aiden growing happy with his parents present throughout his growing years is my top priority.
“Mrs. Wu?” a soft voice pulls me out of my thoughts and I realize that the car had stopped infront of an unfamiliar building; right, I have a meeting with a client. You can do this, Hana… it’s a Korean businessman, it should be easy! I comfort myself as I get out of the vehicle and follow the lady in uniform inside the building.
“This way please” she directs me towards a long hallway and quietly follows after me. We stop at the end of the hall and she takes the lead once again, she knocks on the door and gets inside, leaving me standing there. A few seconds later, she steps out and keeps the door held open for me “Mr. Cho will see you now”
With a small nod of the head, I enter the office and she leaves. The door closes behind her and my eyes linger a second too long before it gets torn away by the sound of someone clearing their throat, as I turn my head I meet the eyes of a man and his aura –just slightly- resembled that of something like Kris’s and Jongin. His hair was a shade of dark brown, his skin of fair white, his eyes were deceivingly cunning and charming and his lips twitched up in a cocky smirk.
“So… you’re the subordinate that the chairwoman sent” he quips. My eyes blink at his bold confident attitude, he gets up from his seat, buttoning his coat as he approaches me and extends a hand “Call me Kyuhyun and you are…?”
Snapping myself from the trance –if you would call it that- I reach out my hand to him and accept the shake “Ki –I mean, Wu Hana” “Ah…” he goes “the wife of the dragon; no wonder your face looks familiar”
He suddenly brings my hand up and places a chaste kiss on top which gets me caught off guard, heat spreads on my face and I immediately pull my hand away while he looks at me in an amused manner. “Shy type?” he quips, he sits down on one of the guest chairs then gestures his hand to the opposite chair that was behind me “Please, have a seat”
“Thank you…” I mumble as I sit down. The door opens and the lady from earlier returns with a tray of drinks in her hands, “Coffee, tea or lemonade?” he asks me and I answer “Lemonade is fine”
His secretary places down two lemonades on the table then makes her leave. Kyuhyun waits until the door is closed before he begins to speak “So, shall we get down to business?” he asks and I nod. True to his words, we begin to discuss things and I stated the important things as ordered by my husband’s grandmother. We ranged from proposals, current events and future possibilities; it seemed like the C&C Company and CUBE was very much affiliated with one another and they seemed to be in good terms too –luckily.
We had spent a good two hours talking all about business despite the man’s attempt of steering the subject away.
“Well, I think we’ve talked about business long enough, I’m sure you already have all the information you need to get back to your boss” he smiles and I nod in agreement. He gets up from his seat and stretches his arms over his head, puffing out a tired breath “I never believed in rumors…” he mumbles.
“Huh?”
He smirks and looks at me, “and I take it that you have been blinded from them as well or… you just chose not to hear them?”
“I honestly don’t know what you’re talking about, Mr. –” I start but he cuts me off, “Please, I insist you call me Kyuhyun. I’m talking about the rumors about Kris Wu dating his secretary –which I guess is… you?”
There were rumors? I feel my cheeks burning up again “Well… that’s…”
“But I have to say… I now see why Kris has taken much interest in you because to be quite frank, I, myself, would fall for a beauty like you, Hana” he smiles and walks towards me. Suddenly, he slams his hands down on the arm rests of my seat, trapping me as he inches forward towards my face and stops a few centimeters away which sends chills down my spine “You are very much an ideal woman. Strong, empowered and independent; a rare kind you are”
My heart was thumping quite rapidly inside my chest and I was mentally panicking because one: he was too close for comfort and two: his smirk tells me that he is up to no good. For some reason, my hands had moved and pressed onto his chest with force that sent him stumbling back a bit “I-I’m sorry, Mr. Cho!”
He blinks at me in utter surprise and shock, “But with all due respect, sir… I’m a married woman and your recent advances have made me very uncomfortable; so, I’m very sorry to cut this short but I have to leave now”
Without another word and glance, I left his office. I went straight to the elevator and pressed for the ground floor numerous times hoping that it would speed up the lift. My heart was still racing and my mind was getting fuzzy as I tried to go over the events that had just happened not long ago.
I’m just glad I’m out of there… and I hope to never see Cho Kyuhyun again.
So anyway, eherm....
As you may or may have not heard, I've been doing some sort of secret project which is another fanfiction that revolves around OT12 --and is Kris-centric because he's my bias; and this will not be published anywhere online nor here on asianfanfics but it will be given to random people. so if you guys are interest, just click on the button ~
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