CHAPTER FOUR

A million things were running through Kris’s mind at the moment, Hana kept waiting for him to answer her question because should he cry and say NO, she would certainly back out of the business trip. Gulp, Kris swallows hard and puts on a smile

 

“Ofcourse, I can handle Aiden for a week”

 

 

“I can’t handle him for a week…” he mutters, softly slamming his head on his office table. Chen laughs and so does Chanyeol and Luhan –they were currently having a conference via Skype after Kris had called for it as soon as he had arrived in the office that day. Aiden was present in his office yet again and was currently on the floor with papers and crayons and babbling nonsensical words to Ace as the alpaca sat infront of him.

 

Suho shushes his friends and speaks, “I think you’re overreacting… you’ll do fine, Kris” Lay quietly sighs and leans towards his left to whisper at Xiumin “I’ll get you a helipad if he gives up on the first day after Hana leaves” Xiumin smirks, “I’d get you a helicopter if he gives up a few hours after Hana leaves”

 

Kyungsoo overhears the two’s conversation and butts in, “He’s already giving up now, that bet is pointless” the two pout and straighten back in their seats.

 

“You don’t get it…” the chairman sighs and raises his head, he leans closer to the screen –eyes squinted and voice turning into a hiss “he’s evil”

 

“Well, I can certainly see where he takes that attitude from” Chen snorts the remark and sniggers erupt –except for Suho and Kyungsoo, they were always serious when it came to conferences. Kris glares at his colleague but Chen merely rolls his eyes and waves a dismissive hand at him.

 

Tao adjusts himself in his seat and asks, “Gege, it’s just for one week… you know, I would take care of the kid if I could but then I’m in Seoul so I can’t”

 

“…and tell her, I’ll be in Seoul for the weekend”

 

Kris’s own words from yesterday springs back into his mind and his eyes sparkled with life all of a sudden as he looked at his colleagues sitting around the conference room back in Seoul on his laptop’s screen. “That’s it…” he says, sounding as if he had found the cure to AIDs.

 

“What’s it?” Sehun asks and the chairman smirks.

 

 

She sighed dreamily as she flipped through the magazine. She would occasionally bite her lower lip and smile whenever she settles on a certain page then moves along, her manicured nails would lightly draw invisible letter Ks on every page as her eyes would linger on the photos of such an attractive man.

 

He was young, fresh at twenty-eight years old; he was powerful, handsome, intimidating, manly, responsible and driven by great ambition –he was definitely her type of guy. He was…

 

“Wu Yi Fan…” she smiles as she dictates the name.

 

 

“Hey sweetie” he smiled and greeted his wife with a soft kiss on the lips as he arrived at the restaurant with Aiden in his arms for lunch. Hana chuckles and presses a kiss on the little boy’s cheek making him giggle happily before his father had set him down on the high chair that he had asked the restaurant to prepare prior to booking.

 

The couple sat down, Kris takes the honor of choosing lunch and send the waiter away to get their orders, giving them some alone time. “You seem to be in a good mood today, baobei” Hana remarks, she smiles as she takes note of his bright smile. Kris chuckles –something that his employees at Wu Prime have never heard- making his wife’s heart flutter, “Who wouldn’t be happy to see their beautiful wife?”

 

“Cheesy idiot” Hana laughs, “so tell me, really, what has gotten your mood up?”

 

Kris takes a deep breath; “well…” he starts, “I forgot to tell you but I’m also leaving for a business trip to Seoul. Same day as you are” Hana’s face drops a little at the news as she grows worried, “What? Are you sure?” Who’s gonna take care of Aiden? Aigo… “Yup” Kris nods.

 

“Then what about –” I’m hungry… Mama, feed me? Aiden begins to babble incoherent words but was ignored as his dad had spoken, “Right… I’m taking him with me” he smiles, turning to the boy and ruffles his baby hair. Aiden grumpily slaps his hand away and babbles more. I am hungry, Baba! Do you understand? Feed me!

 

Her eyes widen in surprise, “You’re taking Aiden with you? –is that allowed?”

 

“Ofcourse” he says confidently. Their food arrives and is set on their table, Aiden babbles louder at the sight and smell but his parents are too caught up with their conversation to notice his unknown pleas. “I’m chairman, remember?”

 

MAMA, NOTICE ME! A cry suddenly erupts and Hana gasps, finally noticing her son and immediately gets up to tend to him. “Aigo ~ sorry baby… tsk, baobei, can you hand me his bottle? He must be hungry” Kris sighs as he reaches for the bottle in the baby bag, always stealing the scene. Hmph.

 

Lunch breezed by and Kris parted ways with his wife after he dropped her back at CUBE then made his way back to his office with his son. The afternoon slowly settles in, Kris was busy with his usual paper work and Aiden was fast asleep on the couch, hugging his brother Ace.

 

He sighs; this cannot go out in public. With that thought in mind, he picks up the phone and calls the one person he knew could handle this well. The one person that could shut the press people’s mouths with a smirk on his face… “Hello?”

 

“Chen, are busy?”

 

“What kind of question is that? ofcourse, we’re always busy” he snorts on the other line. Yep, Chen was that guy that could shut the media’s mouth with his skills –a.k.a. blackmailing. For some reason, even though it’s usually a nuisance for Kris especially with him snooping around for information, it came in handy on certain situations such as this one. “But on another note, I’m surprised you called… what do you need?”

 

Ofcourse Chen would know, it wasn’t everyday that Kris called his direct line.

 

“I need media control about this whole debt thing”

 

“Let me guess… you need them to shut their holes?”

 

“Everything –papers, television, web news… everything”

 

Chen chuckles on the other line and Kris rolls his eyes knowing what it meant, “What do you want in exchange? Let me guess… you want my yacht?” “That would be good but I brought one over the weekend so I need something else…”

 

“Then what do you need?”

 

“Butter… lots and lots of butter” Chen grins on the other line.

 

Kris arched a brow at the odd request but agreed to it anyway, if butter was the way to get Chen to do the job then so be it. he had a bad feeling about it though, Chen and whatever the hell he gets his hands on usually smells trouble but at the moment, whatever idiocy his friend was planning he didn’t care.

 

“Baba…” he turns his head to the side and saw Aiden standing there, one hand holding onto his seat to steady himself on his feet and the other holding Ace. “Hey kiddo, why are you awake?” Kris asks his son and picks him up, setting him on his lap as he leans back to rest for awhile.

 

Are you tired, Baba? Kris pressed his lips in a firm line, “please be good to me when mama goes away” Mama? Where is mama going? “Will you be a good boy for baba?” Kris rubs his back but Aiden doesn’t seem to be listening as he had instead pressed Ace on his dad’s chest, Hyung should go with mama so he can look after mama! Aiden babbles nonsensical words, trying to tell his dad his thoughts.

 

Sigh… “Ace, help me out here”

 

 

“Hana?” Kris calls out to his wife as soon as he enters their house with Aiden in his arms, she appears awhile later from the kitchen and like every night after a long day at work she greets him with a hug and a kiss. A little thing that Kris had been so fond of, it was the one thing that Aiden couldn’t take away from him.

 

“Mama!” Aiden grins, his first tooth still not halfway into growing out. He holds his arms out to his mom and Hana takes him away from his dad into her embrace. Mama’s hugs are the best, Aiden giggles, rubbing his cheek on his mom’s shoulder as he tightens his hug on her, “Aw ~ did you miss mama, that much?”

 

“Mama!” he giggles, holding his mom’s cheeks with his two little hands and earnestly pecks a kiss on her lips making her laugh while his dad stares in surprise.

 

Aiden hugs his mom again; Hana chuckles and turns to her awestruck husband, “Dinner, honey?”

 

Kris sat across Hana, quietly observing Aiden as the young boy happily ate what his mother had brought to his table. “So, how was work today?” Hana asks, tearing away the silence upon the dinner table, as they say… dinner time is family time.

 

“It went a little smoother today. Suho said he’d help me out with the debt thing…”

 

“That’s good; I also… found a way to help you out” she says. Kris pauses from eating and looks at her with uneasiness, “Hana…” he groans at his wife. He had specifically told her and constantly reminded her not to get involved in anything regarding the debt. “My parents forgot to tell me that they left something behind for me and I was thinking of selling the land”

 

“Mama, wawa ~” Aiden says, pointing at his water bottle. Kris reaches for it first and hands it over to him before turning back to his wife, “Hana, I know you’re trying to help but trust me that I can handle this. You can save that for Aiden, okay?”

 

Hana takes a deep breath and flashes a small smile at him, “alright… but if you need any help, I’m here okay?”

 

POOT. Aiden laughs and claps his hands as he releases some foul air thus breaking the moment yet again, “Augh, Aiden!” his parents exclaim to their dismay. “Couldn’t you wait until dinner is over? Geez” Kris says, getting up with his wife and takes Aiden away from his high chair, following his wife to the powder room.

 

10:45 PM

 

Hana tucks in Aiden inside his crib, giving his forehead a kiss before she leaves his room and returns downstairs. She finds Kris sitting in the living room, typing something on his laptop and folders scattered on the coffee table. It had been a typical scene for her to find him; he had worked twice as hard since the debt and had she known earlier she wouldn’t have wondered so much. Come to think of it, it has been a while since they had their personal moments together.

 

Aiden had been a handful so she hasn’t been able to make much time for Kris, sometimes she even thinks he sulks because of it. She approaches her husband slowly and wraps her arms around his neck from behind the couch.

 

“Is Aiden asleep?” he asks, his eyes never straining away from his laptop’s screen. “Yes and you should be too”

 

“You go on ahead, I have to finish this…” he mumbles with disinterest. Hana chuckles and playfully bites his ear causing him to exhale very slowly, now seeming bothered. “Hana…” he spoke with a shaky voice and she smiles knowing she’s got him under the net, “You know, I think I’ve been neglecting you lately…” she says and Kris couldn’t agree more. He smirks, “So you finally realized that?”

 

His wife chuckles and releases him before jumping onto the sofa, grabbing his arm and cuddling next to him. She certainly missed these kinds of things wherein she could just sit down and relax with him after a long day’s work but given certain circumstances now, they barely had alone time. Ofcourse, don’t get them wrong, Aiden is a big blessing yet he also meant that they had to give up certain things.

 

“I missed you, baobei” she pouts and cuddles much closer to him. Kris decides to set aside his work and puts away his laptop; he adjusts himself on the sofa as Hana lies down with her head on his lap.

 

He begins to her hair, much to his wife’s delight.

 

“Your birthday’s coming soon, what do you want to do?” she asks and Kris laughs, “I thought you forgot my birthday, honey” he pinches her cheek making her frown, “Ofcourse I remember your birthday! Why would you even say that?” “Because you’re too busy with Aiden, that’s why”

 

“He’s a baby” she states as-a-matter-of-factly causing Kris to roll his eyes, I saw that one coming. “But honestly, what are your plans for your birthday?”

 

He hums for a moment. Truthfully, he’s clueless as to what he wants for his birthday since being a powerful chairman and having all the wealth in the world meant he didn’t need to wait for his birthday to get what he wanted, heck he didn’t even need to wait for Christmas. For Kris, he had everything he could ever want.

 

“Hm… birthday ?” and his wife’s sudden expression of disbelief causes him to laugh once again as she quickly sits up to hit him repeatedly on his forearm, “Idiot! I’m serious!”

 

“I’m serious too!” he says, continuously laughing as he tried to shield himself from his wife’s attacks. It went on like that for some time until eventually he managed to capture Hana’s arms and pull her into one hell of a long kiss. After pulling away for air, he pecks a quick one on her forehead and smiles at her, “A kiss would be just fine”

 

Or maybe a miracle that that debt would somehow disappear, but ofcourse he would never tell his wife that.

 

 

It was a fine Monday morning at Wu Prime.

 

There was the usual buzz on the lobby, the busy employees going to and fro on every floor of every department and all was in place except for one factor. Unlike the usual days, the dark, cold and intimidating aura that surrounded the company seemed to be of absence today.

 

“Hello…” Meifen answers the ring of the telephone, “Mr. Wu’s office, this is assistant speaking, how may I help you?”

 

“This is Ms. Wei; I’d like to speak to Mr. Wu”

 

Meifen’s brows jumped a bit at the name because for some reason, she found the voice to be weird, “M-Ms. Wei?” “Yes, may I speak to Wu Yi Fan, please?”

 

“I’m sorry, ma’am but Mr. Wu is not in his office today”

 

“B-but why? I thought my secretary scheduled us for a meeting?”

 

Meifen became much more uneasy by every second that passed, she just refused to believe that she was in fact talking to the person everyone might believe would be Ms. Wei, “I believe I informed your secretary that Mr. Wu cancelled the meeting due to certain circumstances and he would not be able to meet with you as he is out of the country for the week”

 

“Where is he going?” honestly, she felt like she was talking to a brat, “That’s confidential, ma’am. Mr. Wu implies strict orders to keep his whereabouts unknown whenever he is not in his office” “Can I atleast have his direct contact?”

 

A brat –who wouldn’t give up, until she gets what she wants. “No, ma’am. Only Mr. Wu can provide you with that contact” without another word –not even a goodbye, the phone on the other line get’s slammed. Well… that certainly was… unprofessional.

 

Meanwhile, this certain Monday meant different for Kris.

 

His wife woke up extra early for today to prepare everything Aiden would need. Unlike her, their flights were scheduled around ten while hers was at seven in the morning. It only had dawned upon Kris when he woke up that morning that he was to be without his wife for a week.

 

KRIS

 

One week… she was going to be gone for one whole week, a full seven day, away to Paris to attend a summit with my grandmother which means I’m stuck with the little devil until then.

 

“You and Aiden will be fine… right?”

 

NO, I wanted to say but… “ofcourse, you have nothing to worry about” and I wanted to laugh at myself because heaven only knows how much hell the next seven days are going to be without my wife around. With a confident smile and a kiss goodbye, she was gone, leaving me in the silence of our home as I take the time to pray that the waters be calms for the next seven days with our bundle of joy.

 

I look around the quiet house for a moment and try to think of all the positive things. Aiden has been a pretty good boy lately, maybe the odds would be in my favor and he’ll behave like he does in the office.

 

But it, who am I kidding? Taking care of him for a couple of hours? That I can do, but a whole week? That’s similar to suicide because as far as I am concerned, he is unpredictable.

 

With heavy steps, I make my journey up to the baby room –also known as Hades’ throne room- and there I see him.

 

“Aiden Wu…” I close the door behind me, “so we meet mano-ah-mano” and he responds with a giggle, the sound of evil as he happily stands inside his crib, hands holding onto the railing. Behold our greatest creation… the next Hitler.

 

 

If anyone other than Hana was glad to see Aiden, it would be his uncles and more specifically, Tao. Ever since the fancy jet, with the words WU PRIME printed on its exterior in gold font color, had arrived –which marked the arrival of the chairman and the heir, Tao has not stopped squealing in excitement.

 

“Tao, calm your or security is going to force you down” Chen tells his overly excited friend but the said friend doesn’t seem to heed his advice, as he had just smirked and rolled his eyes, “Over my dead, flawless body, I am Huang Zitao”

 

“Who carried a life-sized panda to the airport?” Luhan questions in ridicule and Tao quickly defends himself, “It’s for my nephew, you heartless gorillas in suits!” “Look who’s talking…” Kai snorts. Tao was about to fire back at him when the sound of an excited giggle rings through his ears and his head whirled around to see Aiden exiting through the double doors with slow steps with his dad following close behind.

 

“AIDEN!” he squeals in joy like a pig as he makes a run towards the young boy. Aiden sees his uncle and immediately runs to his father’s arms, slightly afraid of the sudden scene unfolding before his eyes.

 

He cries and Kris picks him up. BABA! Protect me from the angry panda! I did nothing but he wants to hurt me! Aiden wails, his grasp around his father’s neck tightening. Guilty, Tao pouts as Kris glares at him because the last thing the chairman wanted was for Aiden to cry.

 

“Boo, you made him cry” Chen hollers as he and the others approach the newly-arrived people. Xiumin goes around Kris and tries to comfort the boy by making faces but instead, it makes him cry louder. It's a walking onion! BABA! “Xiumin, you’re not helping…” Suho sighs; the latter pouts in disappointment.

 

BABA! Where are my uncles?! Who are these weird people?! Kris rubs the boys back in hopes to ease his cries but it only seemed to go louder, Aiden kept squirming in his arms as if he was trying to get away from something or someone –or all his uncles if his dad understood him. Unknown to them, Aiden had a different perspective of his uncles.

 

Tao was an angry panda and Xiumin was a walking onion –and Aiden very much knew that onions were not supposed to walk. “He probably got shocked…” Kyungsoo explains and carefully takes Aiden away from Kris’s arms and like a mother; he rocks the boy back and forth which for some miracle silenced his cries.

 

“Hey! You’re a natural mother, dude! You know… for a guy…” Chanyeol said, clearly amazed. “Now that Aiden’s clear… welcome back!” Baekhyun greets with a grin and Kris rolls his eyes, “Now you notice me”

 

One whole week in Seoul and twelve guys to babysit, Kris was confident this was gonna be a breeze.