CHAPTER FIFTEEN

 

 

CHINA

 

The scent of waffles and freshly-made coffee wafts through the air of the household and just as the scents hits his nostrils, the sound of the alarm resonates throughout the half-empty room and he reaches out a hand to pound on the snooze button before reaching over to the other side and frowns at the emptiness because it only meant one thing: it was Monday. A yawn escapes him as he stretches his arms over his head and gives his neck a stretch, soft clicks signaling the release of stiffened muscles, then he pushes away the thick duvets and hauls himself out of the soft mattress; he makes the short trip down the hall and the chairman walks into the kitchen where he finds his wife in the midst of washing the dirty dishes while breakfast had already been set on top of the breakfast counter; waffles, coffee and a new roll of newspaper for him. He rounds the counter and presses a kiss on the side of his wife’s forehead making her smile and she greets him “Good morning”

 

Kris unrolls the newspaper and gets his daily dosage of news while Hana goes off to wake up the toddler. It seemed like nothing was out of the ordinary until his eyes befall on the article just below the headlines where he finds his wife’s photo and his grandmother’s next to each other’s and he reads the title: CUBE’S NEXT MOST PROSPECTIVE PRESIDENT.

 

Apparently, his grandmother -current president and CEO of the said company; had an interview and she happened to have told the press of her plans of retirement and named the next prospect in line to be his wife. Hana re-enters the kitchen with a half-asleep and half-awake toddler trudging behind her, Aiden rubs the sleep from his eyes and mumbles a faint “Good morning, Baba” before his mother helps him up on his chair and sets the bowl of cereal before him.

 

“Hey Hana” he calls her attention, she shuts the fridge close and takes her seat beside him “Yeah?” “Did my grandmother mention anything about appointing you the next president?” she almost spurts out the juice the coffee that she had just sipped and the reaction alone had told him that she was clueless about it. It sounded a little bit too much to her because receiving her promotion to be back as the head of the finance department was already big enough of a thing and other than that, she honestly thinks that she has not yet gained the needed experience for the senior position “That’s just too much” she mumbles and laughs at how silly it sounded, Kris clicks his tongue and turns onto the next page.

 

“By the way, I have a meeting on the other side of the city today and the nursery is holding a ‘Career Day’ so, can you make it in my place?” she informs him and he abruptly stops sipping on his coffee, “Career Day? Do the usual nurseries have that?” he was sure that these kinds of activities were only held at pre-school but Hana explains that it was being conducted since the center was teaching the little ones about what they wanted to be when they grow up. Aiden gasps and puts his tiny hands together then with his best pout, he looks at his father and pleads “Please baba!?” Hana also adds a hopeful smile and Kris is left with taking a deep breath and picking up his phone for his secretary to clear his schedule for the morning; “Yay!” Aiden laughs in triumph while throwing his arms up in the air while Hana gives her husband a grateful smile.

 

An hour later, Kris finds himself standing in front of the mirror with Hana in the process of tying his tie. It had always been like this, every morning and he would always find himself trying to slow the clock just to take in her image; she had certainly become much more lady-like than the very first time they had met and although she was still a little bit of a klutz at times, she had definitely proven herself worthy of carrying his last name but underneath it all, she is still the same woman that he found himself falling head over heels for. She pulls on the sleek black fabric and smooths her hands over the lapels of his coat before giving him a smile of satisfaction “there you go, Mr. Wu”

 

“Thank you, Mrs. Wu” he tells her and just before she could walk away to let him do his last self-check-ups, he grabs hold of her waist and tells her “and by the way, you look beautiful today” he always does and it never fails to make her laugh then just like how he says it every day, she would respond with the same thing as she had ever since “time for work, baobei”

 

Frantic knocks land on their bedroom door followed by the muffled shout of their kid, calling for his father to hurry. Hana smiles at Kris and wishes him ‘good luck’ then ushers him out of their bedroom. Aiden’s eyes light up as the door opens and he holds up his arms to his father, a gesture for him to be picked up and Kris addresses his heed then starts to head for the front doors as Hana makes last minute checks around the house just to make sure that they won’t be coming home to burning ashes later on. When all was set, she locks the door behind her and strides over to the father and son that had been waiting, “Be good, okay?” she reminds the boy and he answers with a nod and hugs his mother before climbing into the passenger seat of the car, Kris helps him into his seat and makes sure to put on the boy’s seatbelt before closing the door and turning to his wife “You know, I’ve never been to one of these things before… what am I supposed to say?”

 

“You just tell the kids about what you do for a living, that’s all and they will probably ask you questions, so try to answer those.” She pecks a kiss on lips before turning around to her own vehicle and straps herself onto the driver’s seat, Kris puffs out a breath and waves a hand at his wife before entering his own car. Unlike the usual, where they’re on each other’s tail, Hana had drove off to the opposite side while he took the usual route only that he would be stopping by Aiden’s Nursery for today to attend to some agendas that his wife had asked him to. The boy was excited; he was bouncing on his seat while singing an unfamiliar rhyme and Kris steals amused glances at him, Aiden was surely growing at a fast pace and his facial features were slowly refining, he definitely had Hana’s eyes and personality but the rest was all his, he won’t even be surprised if the boy grows to be taller than him someday. Aiden turns to his dad and calls out for his attention as they stopped before a red light, “Baba”

 

“Hm?” he sneaks a quick glance at him and sees him pouting, his brows narrowed together as if deep in thought.

 

“Why are you hurting mama?” Aiden gives him a full out frown. Kris a brow up at him in confusion, when did he ever? More importantly, what had gotten into this boy’s mind for him to think that Kris was hurting -as the child claims- his mother? “I would never hurt your mother” Kris frowns, he could never imagine himself hurting Hana in any way at all. He practically owed her a lot but Aiden doesn’t seem convinced of his father’s answer and presses on further at the subject, “I heard mama shouting once, she kept calling baba’s name”

 

Shouting? Did Hana ever shout amidst their home? The boy was confusing him much more, “When?”

 

“Yesterday” he pouts and Kris recounts the events of the day before that led to this child’s suspicion, it was the weekend yesterday and they went to the local park then had lunch and went home for dinner, nothing much happened at home except for the usual cleaning then by night time, they had dinner and… Kris could feel his face burn up, it couldn’t be, right? There was no way that that was what Aiden was referring to because he made sure that the boy was sleep beforehand and he was very positive that the kid was tucked in and deep into dreamland.

 

He asks the boy the question just to be sure, “Are you sure?” and Aiden nods with vigor because he was absolutely sure that it was his mom’s voice that he heard, “Last night! I woke up for milk but mama was shouting so I went back to bed!”

 

Crap! Kris feels himself burn up in embarrassment and regrets that he had not specified for the architect to make the room soundproof. So, just how was he going to explain it to the three-year-old that he was not hurting his mama but rather loving her? Aiden was far too young for the talk but he supposes that he needed to get things under control and put it the simplest way possible for the boy to understand; however, he needed to choose his words well. The sound of the car behind them blowing its horn cuts him off his thoughts, the light had turned green and Kris quickly pressed on the pedal.

 

“I was not hurting mama, kid” he begins, “she was having a nightmare”

 

He mentally kicks himself for the lame excuse but the enlightened face of the kid had made him feel some sort of relief, he guesses that it was believable enough reason. Although, Kris was very confident that last night was more of a dream come true than a nightmare and Hana’s face of ecstasy was more than enough of a proof for him that he met her expectation, if not, exceeded them and for that, he smirks to himself.

 

“Oh!” From enlightened, his face transitioned into sadness “Poor mama… did baba hug mama?”

 

Kris nods in assurance, “Just like how we hug you when you have nightmares” Aiden finally smiles in content while his father mentally pats himself in the back for getting through the needle hole. The drive was quiet for the next few minutes up until they had reached their destination, Kris unbuckles his seatbelt and leans over to help the boy out of his own. Outside, the teachers were busy welcoming the children and their parents and almost all had stopped to stare at the shiny black car that stopped; Kris had only been to Aiden’s nursery school a couple of times but even so, he was quite the talk among the staff especially the females, even the mother’s couldn’t help but fawn over him the very few times that he had been there to either drop off the kid or to pick him up. He never stayed for longer than three minutes thus no one ever had the chance to actually talk to him but today, it seemed that it would not be the case and it happened to be that he was there for his son’s activity which meant that everyone would be given the chance to linger in his presence, much to the females’ delight.

 

Aiden hopped out of the car as soon as his dad had opened the door for him and after locking the vehicle with a press of the button, he grabbed hold of his son’s hand and let himself be dragged into the small building. It had the child-friendly theme to it, with its bright colored walls and murals just like how he imagined nursery schools to be, Aiden was greeted by the teachers with bright smiles on their faces before turning to his all-too-attractive father.

 

“This is my Baba!” he proudly introduces his dad to his teachers and the females were more than delighted to welcome him, Kris mumbles a ‘hello’ and flashes a small smile before he is led away by Aiden into the hallways before reaching the classroom. Other parents were surprised to see the chairman, although some could not recognize him, he was dashing enough to catch the attention and even the kids had stopped and turned causing Aiden to grin with great pride. Kris bends down to the boy’s level and meets his gleaming eyes and he smiles before telling him “Go and sit down, Baba will be right behind here” and with a nod, Aiden sprints off to his seat while Kris takes the empty seat near the door before whipping out his phone, a bit conscious of the whispers around him.

 

The teacher had eventually walked in and began with the typical greetings before welcoming them all before getting down to business -at least that’s how Kris perceived it to be. They were going by order of a draw lots where the names of the students were written down on individual papers and whoever was picked out, their parent would be the one to present. Aiden kept stealing glances of his dad behind and every time Kris caught him, he would gesture for the boy to keep his attention up front and listen to the person in front. There was a doctor, a firefighter, an accountant, a nurse, a variety of professions; men and women alike and then there was Kris.

 

“Mr. Wu” the teacher smiles as she calls him before offering him the front of the classroom, Kris stands up and buttons his coat before walking up front, patting Aiden’s head as he went before eventually turning to the small audience and the students looked at him eagerly, he started it off with a simple greeting before introducing himself “My name is Wu Yifan but my friends call me Kris, I’m Aiden’s dad and I am a businessman” Aiden grins at him, “I am the chairman of Wu Prime”

 

A little girl raises her arm, “Yes?” he turns to her and she retreats her extended arm back to her desk “what does that mean?” Kris clears his throat and offers her a small smile as he answers “It means that I own the company. We do a lot of stuff like selling clothes, technology, stock exchange” he wonders if they’d understand that but none of them seems to wonder so he goes on “we also do magazines and we buy small companies to grow big; I make sure that everything is in order and that things keep going on”

 

“I saw you on a billboard, sir!” a young boy shouts and Kris chuckles “Ah, yeah…” “So, you’re also a model?!” another girl questions with glee and she almost flusters when the man in a suit smiles at her, “No, people just ask me to do that but I’m not a model”

 

Several arms had been raised afterwards and he swears he spent more than twenty minutes in front before the teacher had to cut in to let the other parents have their turn. When everyone was done, the bell had rung for recess and they all began to file out of the room; parents had accompanied their children into the back where the playground, Kris and Aiden were the last ones out of the room and the young boy’s smile was so big that he was worried the young boy’s cheeks might hurt “You were great, Baba!” he tells his dad and Kris pats his head before stooping down to his level and holds him by the shoulders, he gives him a small smile and an apologetic look “Unfortunately, Baba has to go now… I still have work”

 

“Oh…” Aiden’s smile fades for a moment but quickly makes its way back “Alright then! Do your best, okay?!”

 

Kris couldn’t help but notice, Aiden definitely copied Hana’s bright smile; the boy wraps his arms around his father’s neck before stepping back and gives him two thumbs up. Kris chuckles “I’ll pick you up later for ice cream, how does that sound?” “Really?!” Kris nods his head and gives him one last hug before literally shoving him away.

 

The teachers had sighed dreamily as they watched the father and son from afar, their gazes followed the businessman up until he had entered his car and drove off.

 

“The things I would give up to walk in Mrs. Wu’s shoes for one day” one of them says and the other nods in agreement, “His wife is so lucky… such a charming man he is” “And how he cares for his son” the third glees, they had been unaware of Aiden’s presence until the boy tugged on one of the teacher’s skirt and they all turn, faces turning red as if they had been caught stealing a cookie from the cookie jar, the boy looked at them sullenly before speaking “Baba is only for Mama.” He says with such affirmation; it seems that he had also taken a lot from his father.

 

Meanwhile, on the other side of town.

 

Hana was escorted to the meeting room where her boss was along with some other investors -as she had been told; she had thanked the as they had reached the door of the room before walking in but only to be surprised to find another familiar face sitting on the table along with her boss. It was Vanessa, as she could remember. The girl smiled at her and she smiles back before taking the empty seat close to her in-law, maybe it was her imagination but she swears she saw a glint unpleasantness in the lady’s eyes.

 

“Shall we start the meeting?” one of them spoke and they all agreed, soon the room began to get dim as one of them had walked upfront and began with the presentation. It was a wonder why Vanessa was here though, this was supposed to be a meeting among the people involved within the company and the last time she had checked, this female was not associated with them.

 

After the presentation, there was a long discussion among the members of the meeting eventually being adjourned by the lady sitting at the end. “Hana, I’ll be off first… drop by my office later on, I want to discuss something with you” her boss told her before leaving without another word, she certainly looked unwell today and Hana knew better than to mess with her when she was having a bad morning.

 

“Hello” came a voice from behind, Hana turns around and immediately smiles at Vanessa “Oh hey”

 

“It’s been a long time since I last saw you, Hana” Vanessa smiles back before they begin to walk to the elevator, it’s been two years since they last saw each other although Hana was aware that Kris have had a couple of meetings with her; however, she was not informed that she was the one that he owed money to and Kris had strongly deemed it be best if she were left out of it. The last thing he wanted was to get his family tangled up in the mess, he didn’t trust the girl enough thus he had his guts extra keen on detecting if there was something up her sleeve. Hana chuckles “Well, I’ve been busy” “So I’ve heard… you’re the head of the Finance at CUBE now, correct?”

 

Hana nods her head, “and what about you?”

 

“Oh, you haven’t been informed yet?” she smiles at Hana’s confusion before telling “I have become an official shareholder of the company”

 

Maybe it was the surprise in the thought itself or perhaps it was the way that Hana never expected it but something deep in her gut told her that this wasn’t the most pleasing revelation. Vanessa looked like a nice girl but Hana could not brush off the feeling that there was something wrong with her; however, she was not one to judge so easily so she lets it off with a laugh “Ah, really? Congratulations! I must have missed the news” the elevator stops and they both step out, Vanessa waves her hand and as Hana turns her head, she feels a tingle run down her spine because she had been praying to the heavens that she never encounters the human again. There, standing in the lobby, was Cho Kyuhyun and a smirk played across his face upon spotting his half-brother’s wife.

 

Hana swallows hard and drags her feet across the vast space, she kept a smile on her face as she approached the unavoidable but made sure to leave enough ample space between them to keep Kyuhyun from pulling on any tricks.

 

“Ah, Hana” Kyuhyun acknowledges and holds out a hand to shake but Hana refuses it by doing a polite bow instead “Hello, Kyuhyun” “Hey Hana, why don’t you join us both for a meal? It’s close to lunch time” Vanessa offers but Hana is quick to decline, “No, thank you… I have to get back to the office and it’s quite a long drive with the traffic and stuff, so maybe next time”

 

“That’s a promise” Vanessa chuckles before Hana excuses herself and quickly leaves. Kyuhyun watches the female retreat away, he was quite aware of her uneasiness around him and it was quite annoying; he needed her as comfortable as possible otherwise the tasks he had in mind would be difficult. Noticing the lingering stare, Vanessa clears “Take a picture, it will last longer”

 

Kyuhyun scoffs, “shut up… Hana is a very essential puzzle piece and besides, someone seems to be on our trail and I’m guessing that it’s Kris’s minion so, I suggest that you be very careful with your actions if you don’t want to get caught; you know what will happen, right?” he whispers the last set of words causing the female to frown, I am not going back to that life. She thinks to herself before flashing Kyuhyun a glare, “Yes. I’m not dumb, Kyuhyun… in fact, I’m doing everything in my power to keep together”

 

“Good because if I’m going to go down, you’re coming down with me”

 

 

Hana could not be more relieved to get away from the place, the amount of uneasiness that Kyuhyun sends down her spine is unbearable; it was bad enough that he was connected to the very company that she worked at and far worst that he turns out to be her husband’s half-brother. As much as she wants to treat Kyuhyun like family and perhaps even convince Kris that he should be the better one, Kyuhyun was the one making it difficult.

 

And the thought that he was so close to Vanessa makes Hana doubt some matters about the female.

 

When she had reached the office, Hyorin was the very first female to greet her and had subsequently invited her for lunch, she didn’t decline and soon after found herself sitting across her at the restaurant down the street. It has been awhile since she has had some time alone with her friend given the hectic schedules that she has been constantly attending to ever since she got promoted. Hyorin lets out a contented sigh after placing down her drink feeling refreshed from sitting all day in front of her computer “I finally caught you after so long!” she flashes Hana a smile and the latter returns the gesture with a bit of a sorry look “Yeah, sorry… it’s just been so busy lately”

 

“Tell me about it…” she groans at the thought of her own workload “it’s also been awhile since I saw your little bundle of joy, how is he?”

 

Hana laughs at the thought of her son “For some reason, he’s been extremely close with his father these days” “It’s probably because Kris no longer has to get up in the wee hours of the morning although, he does grow at a pretty fast rate for a three-year-old”

 

He was and the parents couldn’t be more proud, Hana remembers how Kris had been so happy after their regular visit to the doctor after they had been informed that Aiden’s rapid growth rate were signs of the child being gifted. The way he had begun speaking in understandable sentences at such a young age and his knack for choosing his toys well but he was still a child and every now and then, he would sneak into his parents’ room to sleep in between them because he would be too afraid of sleeping alone or if he just felt like it. Either way, the father and son had been much more in sync these days and Hana was glad for it.

 

“By the way, did you hear the rumor about Madame Li selling CUBE?”

 

Selling? That was an alarming thought seeing as her boss hadn’t spoken word of it and just this morning, Kris was telling her about how his grandmother had plans of choosing a new president. Hana shakes her head “No, why would she even sell CUBE in the first place?” “I don’t know, I only heard about it a few weeks ago but I suppose it is just a rumor” for sure, it wasn’t because of bankruptcy because as far as Hana is concerned, the finance of the company was going at a steady rate. However, Madame Li did once mention to her about retirement and about how she would be possibly passing on the company to her grandson seeing as she trusts Kris enough to know what to do.

 

SEOUL

 

A knock lands on the door and a voice calls for the person to come in, the female turns the knob and pushes open the panel then smiles at the man sitting behind the desk “Yes?” he asks her without looking up from his laptop’s screen and the female speaks “Mr. Kim, I received a parcel for you”

 

Jongdae raises a hand and gestures for her to come and she does so carrying a brown envelope in her hands, she hands it over to the businessman then bows and makes her leave. Once alone, Jongdae opens the envelope and is greeted by papers and photos of an unfamiliar female then some photos of Vanessa Wei. It surely took a while for the investigator to get back to him but it seems that he did an extensive surveillance on the case and Jongdae could not complain, he would have to be reminded to prepare a nice wad of cash to reward the man’s efforts. He continues to look over the documents but was interrupted by the ring of his cellphone.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Did you receive it?” it was the investigator, Chen smirks “Yeah… it took you a while” “I told you that it would take me some time…” “Doesn’t matter… so, what am I looking at right now? Who’s this female in the picture?”

 

“She’s an associate of Cho Kyuhyun although they are not related in any way at all but if I’m correct, she and Vanessa Wei are the same person.” Chen frowns, the female looked far too different to be Vanessa Wei not unless ofcourse she has undergone extensive surgery “As far as my research goes, the Wei family owns no birth records of Vanessa Wei, not even adoption papers so, wherever it is that she came from or how the late Mr. Wei has incorporated her into the company is still a mystery… also, for the past years since his passing someone else has been running the company but I’m sure it’s not her”

 

“There’s someone else?”

 

“Correct… I’ll keep looking into it and I’ll get back to you as soon as I can; please have my payment ready”

 

Chen chuckles “Ofcourse… you deserve it.”

 

 

Kris had just gotten off the phone from a rather long phone conference, he plucks off the Bluetooth from his ear and tosses it onto the table feeling the relief wash over him to finally get the damned thing off after almost two hours. He was just about to call his personal assistant to get someone to run down the street for a large cup of espresso when a knock had landed on the door and Meifen’s head popped in the crack with a nervous look on her face “Mr. Wu, you have a guest”

 

“Who?” he arches a brow as he questions and she answers him in almost a mumble “Ms. Wei”

 

Great, he rubs his temples for a moment because the last thing he needed was another long discussion with this woman. She had been seeing him quite often than necessary and he doesn’t know why because it’s not like he was running away from what he owes her; in fact, he’s already paid off one-fourth of the amount. Kris sends her a wave and Meifen nods in understanding before opening the door wide enough to let the other female inside, afterwards she bows and leaves the two to their business.

 

“Yes, Ms. Wei?” Kris stands up from his chair to grab a bottle of water from the built in mini-fridge on the side, “your visits are quite frequent than necessary… is something wrong?” he asks her, returning to his seat and flops himself down while she remains standing before his table with a smile “No, Mr. Wu… I’m just here because I’ve nothing better to do at the moment”

 

He twists the cap open and takes a sip of the water before setting it aside on his table, Vanessa sits herself down on one of the chairs as the chairman leans back on his own and crosses his legs then bringing his fingers together with his elbows resting on the arm rests “Unfortunately though, I have things that I need to get done so I’m afraid I won’t be able to amuse you” she laughs “Is that so?” “Yes…” he deadpans, beginning to turn his attention to the screen of his laptop “I run this company after all…”

 

“Can I at least stay? I won’t be a bother… right?”

 

Kris hums, blunt and uncaring as to her choices although he would like for her to leave “Suit yourself…” he mumbles and concentrates on scanning his eyes through the screen. Vanessa just sits there inspecting her nails, checking her phone and after a while tries to strike up a conversation “Does your wife know about us?” he arches a brow at the confusion -and moreover, the term she had used “Us?” he echoes and she clarifies “I mean about our meetings regarding the transaction?”

 

“She’s aware of the transaction but she does not know with whom I transact with” and it suddenly felt as if those words that slipped out of his mouth were just what she wanted to hear because she smiled the kind of smile that gave Kris an unsettling feeling at the bottom of his gut, it was small but it wasn’t innocent “You’re a man of secrets, I see?” “I’d rather keep her out of my business affairs” and that sounded just downright wrong, he clears his throat “my wife” he emphasizes hoping to get the message to her crystal clear “and I know our bounds regarding work; she knows enough about what I do on a daily basis as I do too”

 

“But she does not know everything” she stands up and walks over to his desk, for a second his guard is raised but is quick to turn into one of confusion as she takes some papers from the side and begins to look over them, he shakes away the thoughts from his head for he was treading into dangerous waters. Vanessa’s smile disappears and her face contorts a bit in concentration “With this amount of money, you can easily pay me off…” she puts down the sheets back onto his table and walks back to her seat “what is it that’s keeping you from doing so?”

 

Kris scoffs “You flatter yourself too much, Ms. Wei”

 

 

The final bell had rung and afternoon had settled over the city, Aiden sits on the bench by the nursery school’s front yard while hugging his lunchbox as he watches his classmates walk off with their parents, a few were still playing around but soon said their goodbyes and left. It went on until he was the only one there, his teacher could not help but notice and walked over to sit beside him “Hey Aiden” she greets him with a smile and he bows his head politely while returning the gesture “who’s picking you up today?”

 

“Baba is,” he answers with gleaming eyes “he’s taking me out for ice cream before we go home!”

 

His teacher chuckles at his excitement and ruffles his hair, “That’s good then but why don’t we wait for them inside the classroom? You can draw your mama a picture to show her later” he liked the idea and as the image of his mom smiling at him had crossed his mind, he hopped off the bench and obediently followed behind the lady.

 

 

“Finally…” Hana breathes in relief, rubbing her neck to relieve the stiffened muscles as she slowly makes her way out of the building’s lobby. Hyorin smiles at her as soon as she spots her and waves her arms, calling her over to where she was standing at; Hana approaches her and they walk out of the doors together “You look like you need a drink” her friend comments and laughs, seemingly agreeing with the statement “It has been awhile since I’ve tasted alcohol” not that she liked it but it was nice to have one every once and a while.

 

Hyorin extends her arms out and presses a button, her car sounding is response and turns to Hana with an invitation “Shall we go get one?”

 

“Well –” she was cut off by the sound of her phone going off with an unregistered number calling “Just a second… Hello?”

 

Elsewhere, Kris was far too deep into laughter and leisured conversation to be aware of the time and he made another toast of strong wine with the female sitting across him; it had been a long while since he had talked to someone about things that did not involve work and he would be lying if he said that it wasn’t nice, even though he would have preferred someone else but Vaness would have to do for the time being. His friends were too far in Seoul, too busy running things there and his wife was too succumbed in house work, taking care of a baby and juggling her senior position at his grandmother’s company.

 

It wasn’t until his secretary had knocked onto his door that he was made aware of his darkening surroundings “I’m leaving now, Mr. Wu” she says after excusing herself to interrupt their discussion. Vanessa was in the process of pouring him some more wine, he raises a brow at his secretary “Already?”

 

“Yes, sir… it’s already past five and –”

 

Kris cusses and shoots out from his chair, suddenly rushing to grab his phone and car keys from his table; he leaves the room without goodbyes and literally pounds on the elevator button to take him to the underground parking lot. He checks his watch and feels himself go pale, he silently wishes that he’s not too late; as soon as he got to his car, he drives off like a mad man trying to beat the father of time even though he was fairly aware that he could not.

 

At the nursery, the teacher greets the frantic looking mother at the driveway and leads her to the halls whilst listening to her apologies of having to have troubled them.

 

“His father told me that he would be picking him up, I don’t know what happened…” she explains and the teacher nods in understanding “I’m sure there’s a reasonable explanation; he is a busy man…” but still, that was definitely no excuse and knowing her husband, he was always punctual when it comes to these things. “He’s in here” the teacher tells her and opens the door to one of the classrooms, Hana’s heart melts and some sort of relief washes over her as she spots her baby boy hunched over one of the tables sleeping while still holding a blue crayon “he must have been exhausted” the teacher explains.

 

Hana rushes over to him and shakes him lightly to wake him up but to no avail, so she opts to pick him up instead with the teacher helping her with the boy’s belongings including the drawing that he had been so previously busy with. Once he was safely tucked in the back seat of the car, Hana thanks the teacher and makes one last apology for the trouble before leaving.

 

Thirty minutes later, a black car pulls up onto the side of the road with a screech and Kris hops out of the vehicle but only to be greeted by the security guard at the gates, he asks him of his son’s whereabouts only to confirm that he had, in fact, lost to father time.

 

“Teacher Liu just sent him home with his mother, sir” the guard informs “he was the last kid out of the school”

 

Kris wanted to bury himself six-feet under the ground because he was sure that he would be eating his wife’s fit for dinner later on.