“Jie?”

Alessa looked up from her desk, Lucas was standing by the doors of her office. Dylan gave him a sleazy smile and a small wave.

“What’s this? You’re allergic to being here.”She said lightly as the younger Wong walked into the office.

“I saw the news, pa called me to check on you. He was worried you might go on a killing spree or something.” He replied as he sat down on the leather sofa. Alessa smiled and sat down beside her sibling.

“Nope, she hasn’t killed anyone..yet.” Dylan chirped, Alessa sent him a look.

“You’re alone.”She said. Dylan looked up from his phone, he and Alessa were just talking about Mrs. Wong being a little sensitive with regards to Ahee.

More like, the elder was being unwelcoming and it worried the eldest Wong.

“Ahee has another class, so, I decided to come by and,” Lucas took out a white box that was filled with cronuts.

“Cronuts?”Alessa chuckled, Lucas nodded before handing her one.

“I read the articles before they were taken down, people are thinking that you were trying to~”

“Don’t say it.” She muttered, Lucas closed his mouth.

Lucas wasn’t liking the articles either, although it did give the project extra PR, people were still focused on about how Alessa was trying to sabotage the engagement between Chanyeol and Seolah, some were even calling her a home wrecker.

And that didn’t really sit well with the younger Wong, now that he knows what Seolah did to his sister.

“What are we gonna do about it?” He spoke, Alessa turned to him.

“We?”

“Yeah, we. Since they’re trying to mess with you, they’re messing with me too.”

Dylan grinned at his words, Lucas still had no idea that Seolah caused a scene earlier. And he was itching to give the lady a taste of her own medicine. Dylan caught the younger male’s eyes and mouthed,

Let’s talk later. Bring Ahee with you, dinner’s on me.

Lucas gave him a quick nod and grinned.

Alessa chuckled, touched by her sibling’s words. She playfully mussed his hair before finishing her cronut.

“You are not going to do anything; I already have it under control. All you have to do is protect Ahee. And be nice to her.”

Lucas snorted and rolled his eyes.

“But, jie, you and Chanyeol hyung….it’s..it’s..different.”

“I agree.”Dylan nodded, Alessa sighed at the two.

“What are you talking about?”Alessa sighed, knowing her brother, he was going to again.

“I don’t know if you notice this, but, he’s different around you.”

“You mean, I’m awkward around him?”She muttered before kicking off her heels and leaning against her brother.

“That’s common knowledge, but, it’s him, jie. He…He’s different…I mean, he looks at you. Really looks at you.”Lucas said softly.

“Of course, he’s not blind, Wong Yukhei.”

Lucas shook his head; his sister’s can be dense at times.

He looks at you as if you’re the sun, jie.

Which is ironic, because you’re an ice princess.

Chanyeol chewed on his lower lip as he faced his parents, his father had remained quiet ever since they started eating dinner.

“What’s happening, son?” His mother broke the silence, Chanyeol looked up from his plate.

“I was just out with some friends, Kai got in a~”

“We know what happened with Kai and Baekhyun, what I want to know is why..” Her mother trailed off, his father finished his drink and looked at his son.

“Why are you in a scandal with the WongShen lady?”

“We’re friends, abeoji.”

“I’d love to meet her actually, she’s very pretty.” His mother chimed in, Chanyeol didn’t know what to do expect to nod back.

“I know that you two are friends, however, son, but have you seen the photo? It doesn’t seem like it.” His father said carefully, Chanyeol exhaled and looked away.

“Actually, I wanted to talk about…Seolah, abeoji.”

Mrs. Park grew concerned, she glanced at her husband worriedly.

“What is it?” Mr. Park spoke, Chanyeol straightened up on his seat.

“I…I don’t think I can do it, abeoji.”

“Is it because of miss Wong?”

“No, actually, I’ve been thinking about it for quite some time now. I just…don’t see myself settling down with her, abeoji. And I know that this will cause a lot of problems not just for me but also for the Gongs.”

“You..can’t do it?” His mother echoed, Chanyeol nodded and chewed on his lower lip.

“I don’t see myself being with her, eomma. If that’s what you want to know.”

The elders turned quiet, Chanyeol grew tensed on his seat.

“Why? Did something happen? Did you and Seolah get in a fight?”

Chanyeol shook his head and set his utensils down, he knew there was no backing out now.

“Something did happen, eomma.” He said carefully, his father leaned on on he table.

“What happened?”

Chanyeol exhaled before opening his mouth and telling them what he had witnessed a few years back.

The Wong siblings were seated at the back of the Rolls Royce Phantom, they were on their way to the location for the groundbreaking.

“You and Dylan were out late last night. What were you two up to?” She asked as she leaned back on her seat.

“Oh, I just gave Dylan ge a tour around, he wanted to eat some authentic Korean food, so I took him out.”

Alessa nodded, she faced the window and realized that they were just a few minutes away from the location.

“The articles were gone this morning. Did you do it?” She asked him, Lucas blinked in confusion.

“No.”

“You didn’t do it?” She said as the car pulled over a glass pavilion, Lucas nodded before sliding down the vehicle. He opened the car for his sister and took her hand in his.

“Then, who did? Surely, not Dylan. He liked that I was getting publicity.” She muttered, then they noticed a helicopter descending meters away from them. Lucas’s brows rose as he noticed the logo on its tail.

Lotte Holdings.

“It must be Chanyeol.”

Lucas’s lips quirked up. Dylan was right, there was a very high possibility of the Lotte big boss being interested in his sister.

Genuinely interested.

“Noona, let’s get inside.” Lucas nudged her, Alessa walked with him and got inside the pavilion, they were greeted by crew from their company as well as Lotte’s.

Alessa walked towards the glass walls, she was watching the helicopter, her brows rose up when she saw the middle-aged couple descending from the aircraft.

“Hmm, the Parks are here.” Kai was grinning as he joined her, Alessa glanced at him.

“Parks? His parents?” She asked him as she straightened the hem of the Bottega dress she was wearing.

“Yeah, they rarely attend public events, kind of like you and your family, but seeing them here now,” Kai said with, a huge devilish grin started to appear across his handsome features.

“It must be because of the scandal; they want to meet their son’s alleged other woman.” He chuckled, Alessa slapped his arm.

“I swear to god, if we weren’t doing business together, I will~”

“Oh, come on, Alessa. They will like you, everyone’s already impressed that you run WongShen on your own.” Kai said while rubbing his arm.

“I’m not thinking about that.” She hissed before padding away from him. Kai chuckled, he saw Lucas speaking with his sister’s secretary and the younger male grinned back at him.

“So, Dylan told you everything.” Kai said as he sat down beside Lucas, he saw Baekhyun arriving and he waved the older male over.

“Yes, hyung. How could..someone do that? Did she want to kill her too?” Lucas spoke, there was a harshness in the younger male’s tone that worried Kai for a bit.

“Just because of a guy, really. Women are scary.”

“Just please don’t do anything, alright? Your sister asked us not to talk about it.”

Lucas shrugged and leaned back against his seat, Baekhyun joined the two and ed his coat before sitting down.

“I’m glad I’m not late.” The Byun heir murmured, and then he paused as he saw Seolah walk in to the event, Kai paused and he looked at Lucas.

The younger male just smirked before standing up to get his sister.

“Should we be worried that he knows?” Kai asked his friend, Baekhyun turned to him.

“What?”

“He knows everything now. About what Seolah did.”

“We should just be happy that he doesn’t have Alessa’s temper. But…he might do worse, let’s just watch.” Baekhyun chuckled before asking the waiter for some water.

Alessandra chewed on her lower lip as the Park elders joined their table, she stood up.

“Ah, vice president Wong, nice to meet finally meet you in person!” Mr. Park said as he extended his hand to her, Alessa bowed politely before taking the elder’s hand.

“Chairman Park, Mrs. Park.” She said with a smile, Mrs. Park was staring at her. Alessa blinked, not knowing what to do.

“Yeobo,” His husband nudged her, Mrs. Park blinked and then she smiled back at her.

“I’m sorry, I’ve heard rumors that you were really pretty, but seeing you in person. Wow.” She chuckled before opening her arms to the girl. Alessa nodded awkwardly before hugging the woman.

“Yes, t—thank you.” She mumbled as she pulled away, Mr. Park gestured for them to walk together.

“I have to say, I thought we would be dealing with just your managing director here in Korea.” He started.

“Yes, well, something came up and I decided to take over. It would be embarrassing to send someone and not come personally.” She replied. Mrs. Park smiled and looked at the girl, it was quite obvious that most males in the room had their eyes on her and yet no one was daring enough to actually introduce themselves.

“I’m actually here because of my brother, he’s studying at SNU and I figured out that I should watch over him, make sure he doesn’t cause any trouble.” She added softly.

“That’s good, I heard from Jaehyun that Lucas is quite the charmer.” Mrs. Park said jokingly, Alessa chuckled and shook her head.

“Which is ironic because..of what happened with Chanyeol, I have to apologize for that, sir and~”

“Eomma!” Chanyeol was making his way towards them, he was dressed in his usual get up. Dark tapered denim jeans, a nicely fitted gray v-neck shirt and a pair of sneakers. His hoodie hung around his left shoulder as he reached them.

“Alessa,” He automatically smiled as his eyes went to her. Alessa gave him a small shrug and before anyone could speak, Mrs. Park slapped her son’s arm in harsh manner.

“Eomma!” He complained as he clutched on his arm, Alessa was stunned.

“What are you wearing? We’re at a formal event!”

“Eomma, it’s a groundbreaking, not a ball.” He reasoned with her as he tried to hide behind the Wong young lady.

“You’re wearing that in front of vice president Wong?” She balked at his son, Mr. Park shook his head and slowly stepped away from his wife.

“Uhm, Alessa will do, actually.” Alessa murmured, but Chanyeol just laughed and promised his mom that he’d change before the event starts.

“Let’s go before she kills me.” Chanyeol chuckled, Alessa gave the lady a polite bow before letting him pull her.

“I am going to assume that it was you behind the articles and some gossip sites closing down?” She asked as they were far from the group, Chanyeol shrugged at her before burying his hands in his jean pockets.

“Thanks, Yeol.”

He smiled at the mention of his nickname, Alessa sighed before tucking her hair behind her ear.

“Fine, I’m going to tell you the truth.” She sighed at him, Chanyeol pursed his lips.

“What she said…was it all true?” He asked her, Alessandra shook her head before wrapping her arms around her self.

“In a way, yes. I mean, I agreed to helping him out. Her boyfriend.”

Chanyeol grew confused, but he had this urge to touch her, to take her hand in his. And so, he did. Alessa didn’t seem to mind as he drew small circles on the back of her palm.

“Because she was choking him, you know. And he was a good friend of mine, so I did. I helped him out.”

“I thought…She claimed that you took him from her.” He said carefully, Alessa shook her head.

“He broke up with her and we pretended to be together after that, and..she couldn’t take it so,” Alessa paused, not knowing how to continue.

“That’s how she ended up hating me.” She finished, Chanyeol’s frown deepened.

“Well, I don’t know what she’ll tell you, but that’s my side of the story. So,” She faced him. Chanyeol paused.

“When are you going to get dressed?” She sighed at him, Chanyeol chuckled before letting go of her hand.

“Don’t worry, I believe you.” He said, Alessa looked at him, trying to assess his reaction.

“Why would you lie, right?” He said before gently cupping her cheek, Alessa carefully pushed his hand away.

“Seolah’s here, Yeol. I don’t want to cause more trouble.” She said as she took one step from him, Chanyeol looked around and he spotted Seolah, she was watching them.

“Alessa, I~”

“It’s fine,” She said as she gave his hand a small squeeze before letting go.

“She’s still your fiancé, at least respect her and don’t make her look bad to the press, okay?” Alessa smiled before walking back towards their table.

Chanyeol exhaled and watched as the girl sat down across his parents, Lucas joined them and he introduced himself.

“What are you doing, oppa?” Seolah spoke as she approached him, Chanyeol’s forehead creased and he faced her.

“For once, why wont you listen to what I have to say, Seol?” He asked her quietly, Seolah’s eyes widened.

“You want her.” She said accusingly.

“What if I do?” As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he turned away from the girl to join his friends.

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