“Jie,” Lucas spoke as he walked in the living room, she looked up.

“It was a nice party, Lucas. Thank you,” She said to him, Ahee joined them with a cola in hand.

“The KFC truck is an original.” Dylan said as he appeared by the doorway, Alessa rolled her eyes at him.

“So, I already unpacked, can I stay here?” He asked as he plopped down beside the girl. Ahee paused when she saw him wrap her arms around Alessa without much thought.

“Do we have a choice?” She replied as she focused on the TV again.

Lucas chuckled and grabbed his car keys.

“You better take her home safely, Wong Yukhei.” Alessa spoke before giving Ahee a small wave. Ahee nodded back.

“Thanks for having me, unnie. And, welcome back to Seoul.” She said shyly, Dylan chuckled.

“You scare her.” He mused, Lucas rolled his eyes at him.

“I don’t.” Alessa muttered before standing up to walk the girl to the door. Lucas was about to follow them when Dylan stopped him.

“That was the guy?”

“You met him?”

“Well, I wasn’t introduced, however,” Dylan stood up and crossed his arms.

“Your however sounds a little suspicious.” Lucas said as Dylan poured himself a drink, the older male chuckled.

“You’ve noticed how your sister is around him, right?”

“It’s so amusing; you have no idea.” Lucas chuckled, Dylan nodded and his lips.

“But have you seen how he looks at her?”

Lucas paused, his brows went up, Dylan had that grin on his face. That grin that usually alarmed most people, especially Alessa.

“You’re up to something.” Lucas stated before extending his hand to him.

“I’m extending my stay.” He said before shaking his hand, Lucas laughed.

“She is so going to kill you, but do it anyway.”

“We can go with that then,” Alessa spoke as she gently swiveled her chair to the left and right, she had all the directors with her in the conference room and they were talking about their contingency plans. And she wasn’t impressed.

“What do you think you can improve with that, director Lee?” She said, the older male paused, unsure of how to continue.

“I c—can check i—if there’s something you’re n—not impressed about it, v—vice president,” The male stuttered, Alessa didn’t react, she just took a deep breath and nodded for them to continue.

Her secretary looked up from his phone, he was sitting just a few meters behind his boss and he could sense the other males’ fear from all around the room. The room turned eerily quiet, he peered down to see his boss’s face.

She had that power, one look from her could shut anyone up, it didn’t matter what was going on or how powerful the people were with her in the room, as long as they could sense that she wasn’t pleased, they would really look down and avert their gaze.

“If you don’t know what’s wrong with it,” She said in her usual cold voice while standing up, the men followed suit.

“Then scrap it,”

“Y—Yes?” The director was stunned, all head turned to the young executive.

“I’m assuming you heard me the first time.” She said before leaving the room, as soon as the doors closed, they all let out big breaths of relief. Her secretary smiled and shook his head before following his boss.

“Do I have anything else this afternoon?” She asked him while walking, she handed him the file she was holding onto.

“No, vice president.” He replied quickly, she was about to go straight for her office when she saw the figure standing by the elevators.

Chanyeol was there, clad in an oversized shirt, black skinny jean that matched his baseball cap.

Very casual, very Chanyeol.

“Vice chairman Park,” Her secretary greeted the male quickly. Alessa bit on her lower lip before walking towards him.

“Busy?” Chanyeol asked as he pushed himself off the wall, he was holding onto a box of cupcakes.

“I come bearing gifts.” He said with a playful grin. Her secretary blinked and looked at his boss.

“Let’s..talk in my office.” Alessa chuckled before gesturing for him to follow her.

Her secretary balked, his boss just chuckled.

Chuckled.

“How about a change of scenery?” He suggested as he pointed towards the elevator instead, Alessa paused and nodded.

“Okay, your call, I guess.” She mused before getting inside the elevator.

“He’s not in?” Seolah looked around, she glanced to her left when she heard the doors open.

“You’re here to see the vice chairman, director Gong?” It was Chanyeol’s secretary.

“I—I assumed he’d be in, is he in a meeting?” She asked as she sat down, the male paused briefly and shook his head.

“He asked me to clear his afternoon, have you tried calling him, ma’am?”

Seolah frowned, she took out her phone from her purse and looked at the male.

“He—He seems busy, he’s not taking my calls.”

“Ah, really? He must be in a meeting then.”

“Must be?” She echoed, a little confused. Chanyeol wasn’t the type to take on a lot of meetings in a day and he usually had his secretary posted regarding his schedule.

“Well, this morning he mentioned that he needed to talk to vice president Wong, I’m assuming it’s for that project they’re working together for.”

At the mention of Alessa, Seolah paused.

“Ah, so he went to WongShen’s office for work.” She nodded to herself.

“Probably, director but he had no appointment with WongShen today.”

Seolah’s forehead creased, she looked at the male again.

“He went to meet with Alessa?”

“Most probably, do you want me to try calling him for you?”

Seolah stood up and chewed on her lower lip before replying.

“No, he’s probably having fun with her now.” She said under her breath before leaving the room, Chanyeol’s secretary was stunned at the girl’s reaction.

“Ani, wait,” He murmured as he looked around Chanyeol’s office.

“He does seem to like hanging out with WongShen lady.” He murmured to himself before closing the door behind him.

“This is kind of unhealthy, but still kind of okay.” Alessa said before taking a small bite from a cupcake as they strolled around the park.

They were at a children’s park just a few blocks from her office, Chanyeol nodded beside her, he was holding onto the box as they walked.

“So, how bad?” She said, glancing at him. Chanyeol’s left brow furrowed before meeting her gaze.

“She said that…all the efforts made for the engagement would go to waste, the elders would be really disappointed and~”

“Well, duh. Wasn’t it announced a few years back? There will be repercussions, your parents will kill you.” She stated, Chanyeol eyed her warily.

“Wow, I feed you and you still wont take my side.”

Alessa closed and blinked at him.

“Carry on, sorry for interrupting.” She muttered her under breath, Chanyeol chuckled, she felt his palm on the small of her back, giving her a slight push to walk forward.

“I don’t think she likes the idea of thinking about it first.” He finished, Alessa paused.

“She wants to go through the wedding even after hearing what you thought about it?” She asked him, Chanyeol gave her a small nod.

Wow, why am I not even surprised?

Guys really do run away from her.

She looked around them and found a bench, she made her way towards it and sat down.

“How do you walk in those?” Chanyeol murmured as he sat down beside her, he was looking at her heels. She smiled and shook her head.

“So, what do you want me to say? Good luck, Yeol? Best wishes, bro?” She asked him, Chanyeol shook his head at her, already used to her dry humor.

“How do I…How do I get out of this?” He murmured, Alessa looked at him, thoughtful.

“Have you tried reaching out to your parents? Will they understand?” She spoke carefully, Chanyeol gave her an unsure smile while looking at the ground. He was fiddling with the strap of his watch, clearly not knowing how to continue.

“I’m sorry, I’m usually useful when it comes to work. I’m not the person for this.” She sighed and leaned back on the bench, Chanyeol shook his head at her.

“No, no, it’s just that you’re actually making sense.”

“Wow, I’m offended.” Alessa shot back, she finished her cupcake and crossed her legs.

Chanyeol chuckled and looked around them.

“Do you want something to drink?” He asked her, Alessa shook her head at him.

“You’re right, I should talk to my parents about this one. Come on, let’s get something to drink.” He urged her to stand.

“Please don’t tell them I was behind it.” She joked, Chanyeol smiled and just placed his palm on the small of her back as they walked.

“Thanks.”

She turned to him, confused.

“For taking some time off just to talk to me.” Chanyeol said to her softly, Alessa chewed on her lower lip before giving him a small nod.

Look at me, progress.

I don’t even have the urge to flee anymore.

Way to go, Alessa.

Now, you’re his personal Dr. Phil.

“Well,…what are friends for, right?” She said awkwardly, now that amused the Park heir.

“Do you need to go back?” Chanyeol asked her as they reached the vending machine. Alessa took out her wallet, but he shook his head at her and asked her to choose.

“No, not really.” She replied, distracted by how he was jamming coins into the machine.

“You’re not really into soda, huh?” He said to her, she nodded.

“Then, grape juice?” He faced her again.

“Yeah, but at least let me~”

“Not, this is on me.”

“Chanyeol,~”

“You already called me Yeol, there’s no going back.” He winked at her before handing her the can of grape juice.

Okay, Alessa, now you can run.

“You want me to~” She froze when Chanyeol suddenly leaned over to brush something off her head, she felt his fingertips on the side of her head for a brief second and he pulled back.

“It was a leaf.” He said with his usual sunny smile.

“T—Thanks, for that and the juice and..the cupcakes.” She stuttered slightly, Chanyeol shrugged at her and they began to walk.

“Ah, right, we okayed the project proposals for the architecture firms regarding the center, when do you think we can announce it? It’s going to be a big project, they will need time.” She said to him, Chanyeol nodded, he glanced behind them, there were incoming cyclists on her side.

“We can discuss that with our teams by next week,” He said as he gently pulled her to his side, Alessa paused just as the group of cyclists buzzed by her.

“You’re just trying not to talk about work, huh?” She glanced at him, Chanyeol nodded quickly, honest.

“So, now that we’ve had dessert, wanna go for some burgers?” He offered.

“Wow, you are impossible.” Alessa muttered back, Chanyeol shook his head unthinkingly took the girl’s hand to pull her with him.

Dylan, help!

“I’ll drive us there, come on.” Chanyeol announced as they reached his G-Class Wagon.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

This is Dylan Wang, guys.