Mina's POV~

I woke up the next morning thinking I'd see Baekhyun asleep next to me, but he wasn't there. I slowly rose up from my position and rubbed my eyes thinking I saw it wrong, but he really wasn't there. I took a deep breath and looked around the room as if he'd be standing somewhere, but nope, he was no where to be seen. My guess was that since today was his first day as CEO, he headed out for work early to get a head start on many things.

I looked at the end of the bed where Bacon was staring right at me with tired eyes. I smiled and crawled over to him giving him a good morning snuggle. He gladly accepted the hug and I laid down with him for a few seconds. I kissed him on the top of his head and finally got out of bed, heading to the bathroom with Bacon following behind me. I pulled my hair up into a messy bun and just stared at my reflection, but my attention was on my lips. The memory of what happened last night in the car made me instantly flush at the face and I gently brushed my fingers against the area where Baekhyun kissed me.

"A first kiss...he said he wouldn't count it as a first kiss, but why does it feel like one?" I talked to myself then sighed. "But I don't even know what a first kiss is like? How it feels like?"

I sighed again and looked down to Bacon as he sat silently next to my feet, looking up at me.

"What do you think a first kiss is like? Is it nice?" I asked and he ignored me and trotted out of the bathroom. "You don't like talking about it either, huh?"

"Talk about what?" I heard Baekhyun's voice and I gasped, turning to the door where he stood with crossed arms and his hip leaning against the door frame.

"H-How long have you been there?" I asked, hoping he didn't hear everything I said. He chuckled and walked into the bathroom, my body following his. He stopped in front of me as my lower back was pushed against the sink. He placed his hands against the edge of the sink, trapping me in between his arms and he leaned forward with a sly smile.

"All I heard was 'kiss'," he said in a low voice that always seemed to make my heart race. Just at the word "kiss" itself made my heart race. "What was it you were saying about kisses? Were you disappointed that I didn't steal your first kiss?"

I widened my eyes and pushed him away, turning my head away from showing him my embarrassed face.

"As if I'd have you steal my first kiss," I said and he snickered. "I wasn't even talking about anything relating to 'kiss'. You heard it wrong."

"Whatever you say, if it makes you happy," he said and we stood in the bathroom in silence, but then I realized why he was suddenly home.

"I thought you left for work early?" I asked and shook his head.

"I couldn't sleep, so I decided to go for a run to clear my mind," he said and I finally noticed the sweat on him and the odor of sweat.

"But don't you have to be in the office soon?" I asked and he smiled.

"I have to shower first though, right?" he asked and I mentally face-palmed myself. "But you're still in the bathroom, so I can't necessarily wash up."

"I haven't washed up myself-"

"Then we'll do it toge-"

"I'm out!" I said before he finished and ran out of the bathroom as quick as possible, slamming the door shut behind me. I heard him laugh and I couldn't feel any hotter at the face as I've ever felt. I decided to feed Bacon his breakfast first while I wait for Baekhyun.

"Remind me never again to talk to myself or to you like you're going to reply to me," I said as I set down his dog bowls and frowned. "Damn, I'm already talking to myself."

I sighed and sat by the dining table just watching Bacon eat while waiting for the bathroom to become available. It wasn't long when Baekhyun came out of the bathroom with only a towel wrapped around his lower body. This is considered normal now that we've been living together "forever", but back then when he first came out with only a towel wrapped around his waist, his body wasn't built at all and my heart didn't skip a beat.

"You can use the bathroom now," he said as he walked by and I was quick to get up to wash up.

After a few minutes or so, I finished my morning wash and got out of the bathroom with Baekhyun already putting on his shoes.

"You're leaving already?" I asked and he nodded. "What about breakfast?"

"I'll grab something on the way to work," he replied and fixed his tie. I just stood there looking at him, wanting to say something else. He saw and smiled.

"Did you want to give me a goodbye kiss?" he teased and I rolled my eyes.

"I'll give you a goodbye slap," I said and he laughed. "Seriously though, did you want me to pack you any food? A quick breakfast or lunch?"

He smiled and there was a warm expression on his face. He walked over to me and set his work bag down to hug me. I'm still not good with unexpected skinship, but I hugged him back anyways.

"I'm okay, love," he said against my ear. "I'm running late anyways, but you can make me dinner once I get back home."

I nodded and we released each other. He gave me a kiss on my forehead and smiled, "I'll see you then."

"Stay warm since it's getting colder out and don't work too hard," I said and he nodded. It was weird hearing myself say these sort of things because it's not like me to be this "sweet".

He waved bye to me and I did too, then he was out the door. I stood there and sighed, "Gosh, he's growing up. He's becoming an adult."

I snickered and thought of how ridiculous I must have sounded, speaking like a mother sending off her son, but unfortunately he's my fiance. I walked away and started making my own breakfast.

Baekhyun's POV~

I arrived at work and every single employee greeted me as their new CEO. It was weird and I awkwardly returned a smile to them as I made my way up to my father's office. Secretary Moon joined me in the elevator and rambled on about my schedule for the day. I thought my work life was stressful, but being CEO was a thousand times worse; no room at all to take a break, not even a minute.

"I know it's a lot to take in on your first day after taking over your father's position, but this is the reality of owning the Byun Group," Secretary Moon said, almost feeling apologetic.

"It's okay, I'll manage," I smiled, reassuring him. "Good practice for me, right?"

He gave a faint smile and the elevator dinged open. We walked out and made our way to the office. Secretary Moon opened the door and the room was filled with wreaths and welcome gifts. My eyes widened in shock and I couldn't help, but look around amazed.

"It hasn't even been 24 hours yet since I became the CEO" I said and read some of the things that was written on the wreaths. "Wow, they're ahead of the game."

"It was like this for your father too," Secretary Moon said and I finally made my way to the desk. It was weird not seeing my father sitting here working so passionately. I ran my fingers along the surface of the desk and deeply exhaled; it was surreal to be the CEO of the Byun Group even though this day was to come eventually.

"Baekhyun-ssi," Secretary Moon said, pulling me out of my thoughts. "You have a meeting in 10 minutes, please prepare yourself."

"Ah, yes," I said and set my things aside.

Minutes turned into hours, long hours. I went from meeting to meeting; signing papers and answering calls non-stop. It's amazing how my father could do this kind of work without exhausting himself. I wasn't even close to done with my work hours and my mind was already going all over the place, but I had to compose myself for my father and for Mina. I don't want to return home and faint again or worry them.

I pulled out my phone and wanted to give her a quick call, but Secretary Moon had walked in with his folder of more papers.

"I know it's your first day and it's overwhelming, but hang in there," he said as he set the pile of paper on the desk. He saw my phone in my hand and smiled, "If you want to give her a call, you can. But make it quick, I have to bring back these letters to the original senders by tonight."

I smiled and thanked him. He was out the door and I dialed Mina's number, hearing it ring on the recieving end. It kept ringing and I wondered why she wasn't picking up. She lost her habit of ignoring my calls, so it didn't feel right to have her not answer. I called a second time and no answer. Just what was she doing that she couldn't answer my calls?

I sighed, disappointed, and set my phone in a side drawer. I opened the folder filled with papers and letters and read the first one, followed by another and another one. Once again, minutes went onto hours and my eyelids were growing heavy. I yawned and stretched my arms up, then resumed to looking at the papers when there was a knock at the door.

"Baekhyun-ssi, you have a guest," my father's recieptionist, now mine, said on the other side of the door.

"Let them in," I said and stood up to greet them, thinking it was a businessman. As soon as the door opened and stepped in a foot, I knew right away that it wasn't a man...it was a woman; not just any woman though, it was my woman.

Seeing Mina walk into the office made me smile from ear to ear. She had a lunchbox in one hand and carefully walked to me with an embarrassed look.

"What a surprise," I grinned and she couldn't look me in the eyes. "Is my fiancee bringing me a late lunch? Or possibly an early dinner?"

"Both," she said and set the lunchbox on my desk, then looked around the office. "Wow, your father's office is much cleaner and more spacious than yours."

"I guess that's the perks of being the CEO of the Byun Group," I chuckled and opened the lunchbox to see what she had packed. There was a variety of food; sandwiches to stir-fried dishes and fruits. "Why don't you join me?"

She looked at me and made her way to the desk. I let her sit in my seat while I sat on the edge of the desk and we ate in silence. I noticed her expression had a lot of worry in it; she wasn't just worried about me though, she also worried for my father. I know it's only been a day since the incident, but we both haven't heard anything about him and sometimes, all it takes is a day to lose someone...I'm sure that's what was going through her mind. She's lost her father, I know she doesn't want anyone else losing theirs because she doesn't want others to feel the pain she felt, even if it's a reality you have to overcome.

She looked up at me and tilted her head, "Why are you staring at me like that?"

"Just thinking," I said and she furrowed her brows.

"About what?" she asked and I smiled with a shrug.

"Nothing much," I said and ate a mini-sandwich. "I'll be done in another three hours or so. Do you mind waiting for me? Maybe we could stop by to visit my father?"

"That's fine with me," she said and I gently ruffled her hair.

"I'll try to not make you wait too long," I said and she nodded. Just then, the door opened and walked in Secretary Moon. He saw Mina and they both bowed to one another.

"Baekhyun-ssi, you have a conference call in 20 minutes. Please prepare for that," he said and I nodded, then he was out the door with one last bow. I sighed and slouched my shoulders. Mina stood up and patted my back.

"Just three hours left, you can do it," she said and I looked up to see her sweet smile. "I'll be roaming around in the building while you work."

I smiled and pulled her in for a tight hug. Who would have thought that this woman here was such a sweet one? It's almost hard to believe that she's the same person I first met in the hotel. Rude and always cursing, but now she hasn't said a single curse word and she's been nothing but supportive and nice, which is something I love about her; although, I do miss arguing with her.

I let her go and she left my office while I prepared for the conference call.

Mina's POV~

I walked down to the cafe and got myself a warm cup of hot chocolate as I waited for Baekhyun, but I knew I wasn't going to be able to wait for three hours here in the cafe. I drank my hot chocolate when I saw a newspaper on an empty table. I'm not the type to read newspapers, but if it helped pass time, then I didn't care. I switched my seats and grabbed the newspaper, reading whatever was on it. It was all about politics or current events, which was boring to me. I flipped to the next page of my current page and saw Baekhyun's name in the title. I was automatically pulled into the article and read through it.

It started off with Mr. Byun being hospitalized after the incident at the resturaunt and how Baekhyun was now taking over the Byun Group, but what bothered me was how this article was questioning Baekhyun's abilities as the new CEO. They brought up past events, where they almost went bankrupt, this was way before he and I met; not to mention, the most current one where their project almost failed because of my mother. The author of the article must have been an anti-fan of Baekhyun because he believed that the Byun Group would not survive with Baekhun in control. It angered me how quick this person was to jump to conclusion after not even a full day of Baekhyun being the CEO; like give him a chance, why don't you?

I flipped to the next page and there was a photo of my mother happily smiling with a foreigner. I read through the article focused on her, also written by the same author of Baekhyun's article, and this person was praising her for her success. It went on about how she created a contract with a popular businessman from France and how she's expanding her business in foreign soil. This article made me laugh in disbelief and raise suspicion that she must have paid this publisher to make Baekhyun look weak with the lack of leadership skills in the public's eyes.

"Do you really think Baekhyun's going to drag his father's company down?" I overhead a woman say a few tables behind me.

"That can't be possible. He was the one who made their project in Japan a success-"

"But we can't guarantee that he'll be as successful as his father," a man said, cutting off another woman. "We'll just have to wait another few weeks to see how he holds up."

My heart pounded at their short conversation, but I wasn't angered at what they were sayng...I was more saddened at their words. I decided to leave the cafe and started walking around the lobby like a lost child, I even had people ask me if I was lost. I managed to waste half and hour, but I didn't know what to do next. I took a seat on a bench in the lobby and called Junior since he was watching Bacon again while I was out of the house.

"Hey, what's up?" he answered.

"How's Bacon?" I asked, not particularly worried about him at all.

"Your son is doing great! He ate nicely and pooped," he said and I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, I didn't need to know that last part," I said and he replied, "Just letting you know he's healthy. So, how are things going over there?"

I stretched my legs out and asked, "What do you mean?"

"I read the newspaper, the author had quite a bit to say about Baekhyun," he answered and my heart sunk again.

"So you read it too," I quietly said. "There seems to be mixed feelings going around with the employees, but with Baekhyun, I'm not quite sure. I don't think he's seen the paper since he's been too busy."

"Well, if and when he does, you know you're the only one who can encourage him to continue to do well," Junior said and I could already see his gentle smile in my head.

"I know," I said and sighed. "Well, I just wanted to check up on Bacon and to let you know that we'll be coming home late again."

"That's okay," he said.

"Thanks again, Junior," I smiled. "I mean it."

"Anything for my friends," he softly said and I felt a warm feeling in my chest. Friends...it's still hard to believe that he considers me his friend when I'm not friend material, but it does make me happy.

We hung up after our last words and I continued to wait for Baekhyun as I played a few games on my phone. It turned out to be longer than expected for him to finish his work and if we were to make our way to the hospital, visiting hours would be over already. So, we ended up just going back home to release Junior of his dogsitting duty.

During our drive home, Baekhyun and I didn't speak to each other. There was no argument prior to our drive home, it was just that he was extremely exhausted and I wasn't sure what to say to him after reading the article in the newspaper; I wasn't even sure if he was aware of it. I glanced at him and turned away to look back at the passing buildings. We then got home and he parked the car on the side of the street. We got out and just when I was heading towards the building, Baekhyun grabbed my wrist. Surprised, I looked at him and he frowned at me.

"What's wrong? You've been looking worried this whole day, from morning to night," he said, concerned. "Did something happen?"

I breathed in sharply and my heart started pounded; I can't tell him about today's newspaper, but he looked really concerned.

"Mina?" he said my name and I forced a smile.

"Nothing happened," I said. "I've been worried this whole day only because it's your first day as CEO. I thought you'd overwork yourself and faint again, that's all."

He sighed, unsure whether to believe me or not. He moved his hand from my wrist to my hand.

"I'm fine," he assured with a faint smile. "Like you told me, I should continue to do what I've always been doing and to hold on. If I follow your advice, then I'll be fine."

My heart clenched at his words and I looked down to my feet.

"Mina," he softly said and I couldn't look at him in the eyes. "If I have you, then I'm fine. No article is going to bring me down or tell me I'm not fit for the job."

I widened my eyes and looked up at him, shocked. He chuckled and grabbed my other hand with his, now holding onto both my hands.

"You're so easy to read," he snickered and I was at a loss for words. "Secretary Moon told me about that article. I did question my ability for a minute, but then again it's only been a day, I can't judge my own ability so quick. Besides, I have people who are rooting for me...people who believe in me. I can't let them down all because of an article, can I?"

I smiled and replied, "I guess I was just worrying too much about you."

He lightly laughed and shook his head, "I don't necessarily hate it when you worry about me. It's your way of showing me you care."

I felt my heart hit against my chest and I snickered under my breath.

"Is this how it's like when you care about someone?" I asked and he nodded with a warm smile.

"Sometimes, it's a way of showing someone you love them too," he said, pulling me closer.

"Love...?" I whispered as I stared into his eyes. "I don't believe in that."

His eyes slightly widened and I pulled away with a sigh. I know I crushed him on the inside, but what could I do? Love is something I can't give....

"Let's head inside, Junior's waiting," I said and walked away without looking back.

We both got to the apartment and paid Junior before he left. There was a silence between us, but it was different from the ones we've had throughout the day. I did feel bad for what I said, but I only spoke the truth. Love between a man and a woman...it would never last.