014

“Uncle, can you take me to McDonald’s later? Mommy said that I can’t disturb you while working but I want to go to McDonald’s. Can you take me there later when you finish your work, uncle?” Little Jiyeon innocently asked her Uncle Donghae while pouting her lips cutely.

She was hugging her Minnie Mouse stuffed toy with her like it’s going away once she let go of it while she approached her working Uncle. It was a Tuesday morning and Donghae went to work with Jiyeon. Some employees had gone confused after seeing their boss with a kid when he entered the firm and some were happy to see the cute little kid especially those who really knew that Jiyeon is just his niece.

Donghae paused what he was doing and lifted Jiyeon up to place her on his lap. She was just so cute that her Uncle Donghae couldn’t resist. He lightly pinched her chubby cheeks and kissed her hair like he would always do to his niece. “We’ll drop by, alright? We’ll buy you some happy meal! How’s that sounds, kiddo?”

Jiyeon instantly smiled upon hearing her Uncle say that. She clapped her hands in glee and jumped out of his lap and did some happy-dance she would always do whenever she’s feeling enthusiastic and happy. For an hour or two that he is working, Jiyeon remained well-behaved and quiet. She was such an obedient kid that she always follows her Mommy’s instructions. Jooyeon told her not to disturb her Uncle Donghae while he is working and since she’s a good kid, she obeyed her Mommy and followed her instructions. Donghae was really proud of her sister for raising her daughter very well. Jooyeon was able to make her daughter follow every instruction she’s instructing.

It was exactly 3 o’ clock in the afternoon when he finished doing his job. Too early to get things done but it was actually a relief for him. He’s been receiving a lot of stress lately and the only thing he could come up with is to do is to finish all his work extra early.

He suddenly remembered the meeting with the Jungs later that evening. Jooyeon told him the details about the meeting. The meeting will take place in the hotel of the Jungs and of course, he’s meeting the CEO of the Jung Co, together with his family. Jooyeon also mentioned to him that Mr. Jung’s daughter will soon be replacing him as the new CEO of their company and that she’s in a process of being trained by her Dad up until now.

Sometimes he would wonder what if it’s Sooyeon. But who is he kidding? They both know Sooyeon has no interest when it comes to business. Here he goes again, he’s thinking about her again and it couldn’t be helped for him not to recall the dream he had the other night. He doesn’t know what does that dream could mean but could there be a meaning to it? He shook his head and heaved a heavy sigh. He noticed Jiyeon fell asleep while watching cartoons in her IPad Mini that has a Minnie Mouse casing. Donghae smiled on how cute his niece looked while she’s asleep.

He waited for Jiyeon to wake up and when she finally did, the first thing that came out of was:

“Can we go now to McDonald’s, Uncle?” she innocently asked as she rubbed her eyes while pouting her lips.

Donghae chuckled at his niece’s innocence and cuteness. He nodded and gathered Jiyeon’s things before they headed out.

“Sooyeon?” Taeyeon called as she poked her bestfriend who is currently zoning out for the nth time since she met her. “Earth to Jung Sooyeon?”

Sooyeon snapped back to reality and stared blankly at her bestfriend, Kim Taeyeon. They were out in a café when actually all that she intended to do was to take a walk for a while after hearing what her Dad had said. Sure, the business world is just too small for them. That evening, their family are going to have a dinner slash meeting with Lee Jooyeon, Donghae’s older sister ─ and she knows to herself that once she sees her, she’ll immediately inform Donghae that she’s back.

It’s not like she didn’t want to see him, she wants to. She really does. But the fact that within two years, there’s no doubt that there could be changes and she’s afraid of those changes. Everything has been cleared to her before she went back to Seoul. Sooyeon’s almost feeling complete until she realized there’s still a missing piece of her that she hasn’t find yet. And it was Taeyeon who made her realize that maybe, that maybe that missing piece is where she left it.

And that’s where she realized that yes, Taeyeon was right about it. She left her heart in Seoul, right with Donghae’s. She left her heart with him because that night when he almost said that he loves her, she was actually falling for him.

“You’ve been spacing out for like, five minutes,” Taeyeon mentioned as she got Sooyeon’s attention. “What’s up? Why do you have to call me at my nap time and make me go here?” she asked, checking out her nails.

Sooyeon sighed. “You know Dad’s really serious about me being next CEO that I studied again for two years in a business school. I just don’t think I can handle the job, you know. It’s a big of a deal and it’s a heavy task to run a company. What if I disappoint them? What will happen now? Should I quit now that there’s still a way out?”

Taeyeon sat up straight and patted her bestfriend’s shoulder. “You can handle it, Sooyeon. Believe in yourself. It takes a little courage and confidence to do so, so please don’t look down of yourself. You’ve been through a lot and believe me, those just made you what you are right now. You’re stronger and better. You can handle the job, Jung Sooyeon, trust me when I say so.” She gave Sooyeon an assuring smile.

“And one more thing, though,”

“Hm?” Taeyeon asked as she took a sip of her latte macchiato.

“Remember Donghae? The one I’m always talking about to you?” Sooyeon hesitantly asked while Taeyeon’s eyes were fixated on her.

Taeyeon nodded repeatedly. “How could I forget that name? You keep on saying his name every damn time, every damn day and every damn night even in your sleep.” Taeyeon replied.

Sooyeon’s eyes widened. “WHAT?!” she yelled and asked, “What are you talking about?”

“Aside from telling stories about him, you actually say his name a lot during your sleep. Is that an enough explanation to you, Miss Jung?” Taeyeon flashed a playful smirk as she tried to tease Sooyeon in which she succeeded, obviously by just looking at Sooyeon’s red-blushing face.

“I-I-I do that?!” Sooyeon asked, stuttering.

Taeyeon nodded with a playful grin on her face. “Well, not every night, there are really just nights where you call his name. I bet you really miss him. What’s up with him, by the way? Does it bother you that the both of you are now breathing the same air?”

Sooyeon gave Taeyeon a look. “I’m going to see his sister tonight in a dinner. Well, business meeting slash dinner actually. You know what does that mean, right?”

It was Taeyeon’s turn to sigh and her face turned serious as she looked at Sooyeon once again. “How many times do we have to talk about this, Sooyeon? Change is inevitable! Of course, there are things that will change. Ask me what, the problem with you is that you always look at the negativities and never bothered to look at the bright side. Why don’t you consider the positive stuffs, as well?” she sounded like a big sister when they’re just in the same age. She was the one who always tells things to her that actually makes sense.

“And if you’re going to tell for the nth time since I met you that you’re afraid of the changes that have might occurred, well honey, don’t be. Face the reality, Sooyeon. Every damn time, something changes and there’s no doubt that there could be some changes that happened to him too but what if among those changes, what if there’s only one thing that remained the same?” Taeyeon said as she looked at Sooyeon’s eyes. She was honestly feeling uneasy and all and the thing they’re talking about frustrates the hell out of her.

“What is it, though?” Sooyeon asked with her usual questioning eyes and having one eyebrow raised.

Taeyeon sighed out of her frustration that she actually lost count of how many times she had sighed that day. She leaned back to the chair and crossed her arms as she looked at her bestfriend straight to her eyes.

“The fact that he still loves you,”

Sooyeon shook her head. Is there a possibility that he could still be in love with her after two damn years of being away? She has her eyes on him. She watched everything he does even if she’s away. She knows what is happening to him for the past couple of years and seeing him growing successful as the years go by, she couldn’t help but to ask herself if ever he still thinks of her the way she’s thinking of him. She doesn’t know and she’s scared to know the answer. What if he’s not in love with her? What if he realized that his feelings way back then wasn’t enough for him to conclude that he’s indeed in love with her? There are so many what if’s running through her mind that neither Taeyeon or her could answer.

“There’s nothing to lose if you’ll ask, Sooyeon,” Taeyeon shrugged and put her attention to her IPad and took another sip of her macchiato.

Sooyeon was left thinking really deep.

She has no idea if she’s ready to talk to him. Why do things have to be so complicated now that it is clear to her that she’s in love with him? Did he wait? People would say true love waits and what if he didn’t and eventually just gave up? She didn’t keep in touch for two years! What if he’s dating somebody now? Was he really just in love with the fact that he loves her just like how it used to be with Jaekyung?

She clearly doesn’t know how to answer these damn questions in her mind.

It kept on ruining her sleep and her job.

She couldn’t focus well because of these questions.

“Since you’re going to a dinner with his sister, why don’t you ask her where on Earth her brother is and talk to him?” Taeyeon suggested, interrupting her thoughts. “Kill those questions down and stop pressuring yourself, Sooyeon. Just talk and it will all die down.”

Sooyeon heaved a heavy sigh.

“You love him, don’t you?” Taeyeon said in a questioning tone. “There’s nothing wrong with saying it to him, honey. If he doesn’t love you anymore then, the important thing is you told him what you truly feels for him and if he happens to still love you, lucky you.” Taeyeon gave her an assuring smile.

“Everything’s going to turn out fine, Sooyeon.” Taeyeon tapped Sooyeon’s back. “Keep calm and carry on as they say.”

Sooyeon returned her smile and nodded.

“But seriously, I don’t know what I’m nervous about.” Sooyeon told nervously. The fact that she’s going to a family dinner together with Donghae’s sister makes her nervous as hell. She didn’t know why but she’s going to dinner with a Lee and a person who is related to Donghae.

“Cut that off, Jung Sooyeon. It’s just your future sister-in-law and besides the talk will just be about business, you know? Apparently, there’s nothing to be nervous about and if you’re nervous about something, maybe that’s because you want to have a great impression from your future sister-in-law.” A playful and teasing smirk form on Taeyeon’s face as she air-quoted the sister-in-law stuff at Sooyeon.

The both of them headed out to the café and went directly to Sooyeon’s new condominium unit and for girls, being sartorially challenged is really a big deal when it comes to formal events and actually, at all times. Taeyeon was picking up dresses in Sooyeon’s closet while Sooyeon, herself, is busy being bothered while sitting on the edge of her bed.

“There’s really nothing to be nervous, I swear. You’re just pressuring yourself that makes you like that. Relax, okay? Tonight will go well and besides, you’ll just ask her if you could talk to her brother. There’s nothing to be worried about that, though,” Taeyeon replied as she chose between the pink cream dress and white lacey dress that would look best on Sooyeon for the dinner.

“Go fight for your love,” Taeyeon turned her back to look at Sooyeon and smirked as she continued, “Beautiful stranger.”

Sooyeon threw a throw-pillow towards Taeyeon’s direction. Thanks to her fast reflexes, she caught it on time.

“Fine, I’ll stop!” Taeyeon gave up and gave Sooyeon the white lacey dress. “The dinner’s in two hours and we both know how slow you are when it comes to preppin’ up. Go and start now.” She pushed Sooyeon towards the bathroom.

When the clock strikes 7:30, Donghae made it in the hotel just before he gets late. As usual, he and Jiyeon dropped by to McDonald’s before he dropped her to his parents’ house just to attend the business meeting dinner that his sister assigned him to do. He was told about the other details and the only thing he has to do is to seal the deal with the Jungs. He was walking towards the restaurant that the Jungs have in their hotel and when he reached the place, Mr. Jung’s secretary headed towards his direction and led him to where the Jungs are.

And Lee Donghae just got the biggest surprise in his entire life.

A/N: Tomorrow's Saturday and I have classes to attend tomorrow after three days of suspening the classes because of the heavy rains and the typhoon. But before our classes resume, I made an update for you guys since it may probably take me a long time before I could update again. Bear with me, it's our exam next week so I will be busy. I hope you guys liked this chapter and thanks for reading =))) Comments are appreciated, just leave it down in the comment section below. Lots of love <3 

P.S.: Thank you guys for the subscriptions and upvotes! You know who you guys are! =))) Oh, and sorry if the update's kind of short(??)