Chapter 8: What a Small World

100 Cranes of Hope

"Where are you going?" Hajin asked Bora over a yawn.

"To the park, Oppa," Bora answered with a grin as she tied the laces of her shoes.

"This early?" Hajin yawned widely again as he walked to the fridge.

"Yeap. To jog." She stood up and walked to the door before pausing. "Oh! Tell Dad I'll be back in an hour. See you later, Oppa!"

She exited the house and breathed in the somewhat cold fresh spring morning air. Her smile widened as she walked to the park. Being back where she used to call home felt good.

This was the place she grew up in. This was the only place she shared memories with her late mother. This was the place where she made a lot of memories. Yet, somehow, deep down she couldn't shake the feeling that she was missing something. It was as if there was a missing puzzle piece that she still needed to find here. Strangely, she felt like that lost puzzle piece was almost found when she looked at Chanyeol.

She shook her head at the thought and started jogging when she entered the park. She smiled at the colors of the leaf, grass, and flowers. Colors of the spring. Though the air was still breezy, the colors announced that the season had changed.

After jogging for almost an hour, her pace slowed down to a walk. She smiled and stretched her arms up, feeling refreshed. She then pursed her lips as the thought of Chanyeol crossed her mind again. It bothered her that he seemed to be closing off on her when they just met.

"Out of the way! Out of the way!" Some guy on a bicycle shouted out.

Just as Bora quickly moved to the side, the speeding bicycle passed her. She gasped at how close it had been for her to be hit by the bicycle. She clucked in annoyance and shook her head.

She was just going to continue walking when she saw the speeding bicycle almost hit an older man.

"Watch out!" She shouted and the older man backed away out of surprise, but he fell to the ground.

Bora immediately ran to him. "Ya! Slow down!" She shouted at the biker who was still speeding down the road. She then crouched down and helped the man up. "Are you okay, Uncle?"

"I'm okay. Thank you." The man grunted but smiled at her as he tried to stand up.

"Aish! Guys these days!" She commented about the biker with a cluck of her tongue and a shake of her head. The man chuckled at her comment. "Are you really okay, Uncle?" She ushered him to a bench nearby.

"Yes, I am." He smiled. His feature was gentle. "Thank you again."

"Oh! Wait here." She went somewhere leaving the man blinked in confusion.

After a few minutes, she came back with two water bottles. She handed him one with a grin before sitting down beside him. The man was surprised.

"I apologize on behalf of that guy." Bora smiled and the man chuckled.

"You are very kind and polite, young lady."

She smiled at the compliment just when her phone rang. The screen flashed her brother's name and when she checked the time, she just realized that it had been more than an hour since she left.

"Oh no!" She let out a little gasp. "I'm sorry, Uncle. I have to go." She bobbed her head at the man who nodded at her.

Bora picked up the phone as she walked away. "I'm SO sorry, oppa! Yeah, yeah. I'm on the way back."

Her voice faded as she walked farther. The man chuckled and lightly shook his head.


 

"Ok, we're here!" The car came to a stop in front of a hotel. "Dad said to just go to the restaurant on the seventh floor." Hajin told Bora as she unbuckled her seatbelt.

"Got it, Oppa! Thanks for the ride!" Bora smiled back at her brother, opening the door.

After she hurriedly went out of the car, Hajin's car left and a black car appeared. She suddenly stopped in her steps when she heard a familiar deep voice. She turned around for a moment and saw the man who just got out from his car talking to the valet parking guy.

What's he doing here?  Bora quickly turned and quickly walked inside.

As Soohyuk went out from his car, the valet parking guy greeted him. "Good morning, Mr. Lee!" The man bowed his head and Soohyuk replied with a nod.

"Here." Soohyuk gave his car's key to the valet man. "Park my car."

"Yes, sir!" The man enthusiastically saluted to him.

He felt that someone was looking at him and noticed a lady standing in front of the door. But he didn't get a chance to see to the lady's face for she had turned around and entered the hotel with quick steps. Oddly, she looked familiar to him. Wait. Isn't she the caretaker who spilled water on me?

"Is there anything else, sir?" The valet man asked politely, noting him still standing there.

Soohyuk shook his head and walked in, still wondering about the girl. He found himself walking behind her toward the same direction. What is she doing here? Wait, why should I even care? This is a hotel. She could be one of the guests for all I care! He shook his head.

Does he recognize me? Why does he keep on following me? Bora tried to walk faster. When she got in the lift, she pressed the floor number and pressed the close button for a few times.

The doors almost slid to a close when a hand blocked it. They slid open again revealing Soohyuk. One of his eyes twitched a bit when he saw that the girl was indeed the one who spilled water on him. Without any words, he went in and stood behind Bora. He leaned back on the wall and crossed his arms. He couldn't forget how she disrespected him in front of a number of people back at the orphanage. He narrowed his eyes on her, boring a hole on the back of her head with his eyes.

As soon as the door closed and the lift went up, only the light sound of music in the compartment could be heard. However, Bora couldn't shake off the feeling that he was staring at her. After passing several floors, she couldn't take it anymore and turned to him. "Are you following me?!"

Soohyuk mentally scoffed and just took his eyes off her, staring at the floor numbers flashed on the screen instead.

She lightly scoffed. "Oh, so you are following me." She crossed her arms. "Why? You want my apology? Or do you want me to pay for the 'damage' I made on your shirt?" She scoffed again. "Such a typical rich kid!" She scowled.

A corner of his lips curled up in despise. He glared at her for a while before- to her surprise- approached closer and put both hands on the wall, trapping her in between his arms. He stooped a bit so he was on her eye level. Bora's eyes were immediately widened at the close distance.

"You actually think I'm following you?" He scoffed to the side. "Why would I do so? Why did you think I would follow an insignificant girl like you? I have my own business here." His eyes bore into hers. "Now that I think about it- aren't you the one following me around? You must've known who I am and looked for me here, huh? Why? You wanna spill some more water like you did?" He saw how she glared at him, but her eyes were shaking a bit too. "'Typical rich kid' you say? Don't make me loose my temper, lady!" He looked down at her from head to toe before his eyes landed on hers again. "I might do something to you if you keep on bothering me." He threatened and Bora gulped at his words.

DING.
The elevator arrived at the seventh floor. Soohyuk smirked at her before he pushed himself away and stood up straight.

When the door opened, he walked straight to the restaurant. Bora had to take a moment to breathe out. She didn't realize she had been holding her breath. She then stomped out of the elevator and walked behind him a few steps away.

"Tsk. See." Soohyuk briefly glanced back at her. "You're the one who's following me." He took long strides to the restaurant.

What?! She came to a stop and her jaw dropped in disbelief. "I'm not! I also have my appointment here." She replied and walked past him.

As they arrived in front of the restaurant, the waitress at the door bobbed her head. "Good morning ma'am! May I-" Her eyes landed on the CEO and rounded for a bit before she suddenly bowed. "Good morning Mr. Lee!" Soohyuk nodded and gave her a smile.

"The chairman?" Soohyuk asked gently, somehow making the waitress blushed and Bora rolled her eyes.

Before the waitress could answer, his personal assistant appeared behind her and hurried to show him the way. "The chairman is waiting, sir."

The waitress turned to Bora again. "I'm sorry, Miss. How may I help you?"

"I have an appointment with Mr. Nam and Mr. Park." Bora told her. The waitress' eyes were momentarily rounded, but she then showed her the way.

When Bora got to a private meeting room, she thanked the waitress and proceeded to enter the room. Upon opening the door, she saw three man sitting around the table. Two of them had their backs on her while her dad was facing her. Her eyes were rounded in surprise when they landed on the personal assistant she just saw earlier, standing at a corner.

"Bora!" Her dad beamed, standing up from his chair. "Come here." He rounded the table and came to her side while she was still a bit dazed. "This is the hotel's chairman, Park Chansoo, one of my best friends!"

The said man stood up and turned around. Bora couldn't count how many times her eyes had rounded today, but she would have to add this moment to the count.

"Uncle!" She blurted out and the man chuckled.

"Oh my! What a small world we're in! Hello there, young savior." He chuckled, shaking her hand. Chansoo then turned to his bewildered friend and gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Your daughter saved my life just this morning. I almost got hit by a speeding bicycle!"

"Ah, I didn't really do anything." Bora bashfully replied.

Her dad chuckled and then turned to the young man who was silently scoffing. "Oh! I almost forgot. Bora, this is Chansoo's son, the CEO of this hotel. Lee Soohyuk."

Bora felt her heart dropped when she turned to look at the man, finding him already narrowing his eyes on her. He's the CEO?!

He stood up and scrutinized her with his eyes. If it weren't for the presence of both fathers, she swore she would've gouged his eyes out with her own hands.

He raised his eyebrow at her tauntingly. "If this meeting is some kind of a match-making or arranged date, I'm not interested in her." He told the chairman though his eyes were still on hers.

"Tsk." Bora scoffed to the side. "I'm not interested in you either. Thank you very much."

Both dads laughed at the two.

"Have you two met or something?" Kihyun asked over a laughter.

"No!" They answered in unison.

"Doesn't sound like a 'no' to me." Chansoo chuckled. "But don't worry. Why don't we sit down first?" He gestured for everyone to sit and dismissed Soohyuk's assistant. "This isn't an arranged marriage if that's what you two are worried about. Although I regret not making such arrangement with my friend, this is strictly business." He grinned.

Bora and Soohyuk complied to sit down after a little glaring battle.

"So what is this business we're talking about?" Soohyuk immediately asked.

"Well, you know how we've been doing social responsibility by planting trees and also funding some beneficiaries working on children's health and education." Chansoo paused when a waitress came in bringing them cups of teas. "Thank you." He bobbed his head and let the waitress went out before he continued. "Anyway, this dear and kind young lady here," he smiled to Bora, "has a dream to make a school for homeless kids. And she dreamed it to be a green school. An eco school. Right, Bora?" The older man smiled and Bora nodded hesitantly.

Somehow, she felt uneasy about where this conversation was going. But she wasn't the only one who unfavored where this was going.

"And?" Soohyuk prodded.

"We'll be the one funding her project!" Chansoo exclaimed excitedly.

Soohyuk breathed a sigh of relief. So we're only going to fund it.

Bora was speechless for a moment at the revelation of the news. "R-really?" was agape and her eyes twinkled. This had been her dream for a long time. This was her mom's dream and she was going to make it come true.

"Yes, it's true." Kihyun patted his daughter's back. "And you and Soohyuk are going to work together to make it happen."

"Wait, what?!" Soohyuk almost slammed his hand on the table out of surprise.

"You and Bora are going to personally work together on this project," Chansoo replied.

Bora's initial smile fell and her jaw dropped.

WHAT?!
"With him?!" 
"With her?!"

"Yes, you both will be GREAT business partners!" Both dads grinned from ear to ear.


 

Just like my brother, you are very important in my life too. I wish to have a long life with you both by my side. I know you two will get along well.

 

Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
PwoperSeth #1
FINALLY! YOU POSTED IT HERE! Yay~ I dont like wattpad as much as I like aff. There are a lot of plagerized works that I see in wattpad that it puts me off from reading... Anyway, thank you!
Alexandra26
#2
Chapter 11: I love the half bro relationship XD makes me anticipate whether they're ever gonna meet in real life. For one, they're both freakin giants! I also love the fact that you name their dad Chansoo, like am I missing something? XD