“When did you..transfer here?” Aeyoung asked as Kun held the door for her.

“About two years ago. It was something pa decided on.” Kun replied as he walked with her, the two had somehow ended up at a nearby mall.

"Hmm, of course, we're all nothing but slaves to the family empire." She hummed jokingly, Kun gently steered her to the left before she could bump into an elderly male.

“You? Where did fly from?”

“New York. I know, save the all the city never sleeps jokes for later. But I was training there.” She said to him, Kun smiled.

“You don’t even like being outside Asia.”

“Well, someone had to be sacrificed.” She joked, Kun chuckled and shook his head. They got inside the elevator and Aeyoung puffed her cheeks.

“What’s bothering you?” Kun asked, and then he noticed the cut across her palm.

“It’s…just..this whole thing feels..wrong, Qian. I mean, my mother and this new person. It doesn’t feel comfortable.”

“You have doubts.” Kun said, she nodded back. His eyes were still on her palm, his forehead creased.

“Where were you this morning?” The doors pinged open, Aeyoung walked first and turned to him.

“At home, why?”

“Let’s get that cleaned.” Kun said before gently holding onto the sleeve of her blazer and pulling her along with him.

“Kun, this is fine. I already~”

“It wont take long, miss Lee. Just come with me.” Kun stated, Aeyoung pursed her lips, knowing it was smart not to argue with him. And then she hooked arms with him.

“After this, can we get breakfast food instead? Like bacon and eggs?”

“Yeah.” Kun nodded as he looked around, in search for a pharmacy.

“Waffles too.”

“Aeyoung,”

“What?” She sighed as she let the male pull her along.

“It’s okay to have doubts with your mother’s fiancé. You don’t have to feel bad about it.”

She paused, her brows went up briefly.

“I understand why you’re doing this. So, don’t worry, I wont tell anyone.” Kun met her gaze and he smiled.

“Does this translate that you still got my back? Because, I’m not sure if I can put up with you, my plate’s kinda full right now, Qian.” She blinked at him, joking. Kun rolled his eyes at her and they got inside a pharmacy.

“How do I do this? Aeyoung…Aeyoung’s so hard to reach.”

The secretary looked at his boss, miss Jing was gazing at a photo of her two children.

Kim Jiwook put his phone down and leaned back on the couch, they were inside the executive’s office.

“How about you arrange a dinner, ma’am? You mentioned that.”

“I did that. But do you think she’ll really come? You’ve seen what she did.” She said, her brows furrowing together.

“You can ask the young master to talk to her.”

“I did that, but Jeno..Jeno’s mad at me too. Kids.” She sighed.

“Honey,” Jiwook stood up, the lady looked at him.

“Maybe this dinner will help us, and, being together will allow the children to get to know me, and I will also have the chance to talk to them.”

“I know that, with Jeno, it’s not much of a problem. But, you don’t know Aeyoung, Jiwook-ah.” She explained, the secretary nodded along.

“Times like this, it makes me miss that young man.” She smiled, Jiwook paused.

“Young man?”

“There’s this person, probably the only person who could reason out with my daughter, anyway,” She looked at her secretary again.

“Finalize my reservation at the Fairmont. I’ll call Aeyoung myself. Hopefully, she picks up.”

“Yes, I will, chairman.” The male nodded before leaving the room.

“Who were you talking about? Aeyoung’s friend?” Jiwook asked as he sat across the woman.

“I don’t know if you’re familiar with him, he used to be your boss.”

Jiwook halted, a little taken aback.

“My boss?”

“Yes, Qian Kun. Aeyoung’s Kun.” The elder smiled fondly, Jiwook tilted his head and he nodded.

“Oh, yes. Him.” He stood up, miss Jing looked at her.

“I have a meeting in a bit. I’ll see you tonight at Fairmont.” He smiled before leaning in to kiss the top of her head, the lady nodded and gave him a small wave.

Kim Jiwook closed the doors behind him and he discreetly took his phone out, he made his way towards the elevator before dialing.

“Yes, sir?”

“The thing I asked you, go on with it.”

“Looking into the young miss Lee’s information?”

“Yes. I want to know all the relations she has.” He said before ending the call, Jiwook exhaled and leaned against the metal wall.

“Well connected, I see.” He smirked to himself as he crossed his arms.

“How long has it been since you were last here? This is your father’s home, right?” Kun asked as their food was being served.

“About..six years? It was during his…”

“Aeyoung, I’m sorry.” Kun blurted out, realizing his mistake. Aeyoung gingerly shook her head before meeting his gaze.

“It’s fine, you were there.” She said, the male’s forehead creased.

“How..do you find it so far?”

“Air’s cleaner, I don’t feel the need to disinfect my hands every five minutes or so.” She said as she looked at her burger, she paused.

“This one’s yours.” She stated as she noticed the cheese, Kun nodded and switched plates with her.

“I don’t know if I should tell you this, but I don’t really have a lot of friends here,”

“You can tell me anything, Aeyoung-ah.” Kun said as he picked up the ketchup.

She looked at her now bandage hand, her forehead creased.

“Aeyoung, you don’t need to use a filter around me, it’s fine.” Kun looked up with a small grin.

“It just doesn’t seem right, Kun. He’s way too young for her, and my mom’s acting strange.”

“What do you mean?”

“It bothers me how she let that guy move in, you know, without discussing it with me. Kun, Jeno lives with her. My younger brother has been a witness..to all their..” She trailed off, Kun looked at her before speaking.

“Do you want me to dig deeper?”

“It’s fine, I already asked Ten to do that for me.”

“But I can do that too.”

“At this point, I’m just worried about what I’ll find out.” She murmured.

“Hey, lighten up. It’s been a while since we last had a meal together.”

“Sure.” She rolled her eyes at him, he laughed.

“But, what do you think of this shirt? Jeno says the neckline is way too low. But they make my s look good.” She shimmied her torso, Kun grimaced.

“Aeyoung~”

“But, this is the trend now. Plus, it gives me a slimmer neckline~”  Aeyoung started to adjust her top, Kun could only sigh.

“Aeyoung-ah, stop touching~”

“Noona. Ge.”

They both looked up, Kun smiled as Jeno reached them.

“Whoa, seeing you two dining together, how nostalgic.” He joked as he sat down.

“Have you been well?” Kun asked him, to which the younger male nodded.

“If you’re here to pester me about the dinner, I already said yes.” Aeyoung sighed before digging in, Kun smiled to himself.

Jeno’s eyes went to the two and his lips curled up.

“How did you two end up being here?”

“I needed to talk to the ex-boyfriend.” Aeyoung replied bluntly.

Kun was about to speak when his phone started to ring, the two Lees were looking at him.

“It’s work.” He said softly, unsure.

“It’s fine, you can go. Thanks for the burger.” Aeyoung raised her fist at him, Kun grew amused and bumped fists with the girl.

“See you around, ge.” Jeno said politely, Kun patted his shoulder before excusing himself. Aeyoung watched as the male’s two guards followed him towards the escalators.

“Jie, you two,” Jeno leaned in.

“What?”

“How are you so comfortable with each other? You guys were lovers.” Jeno joked.

“We were good friends before all that, Jeno. That’s the secret. And friendship wins over everything.”

Jeno tilted his head, he glanced at Kun again.

“Friends? You two will never be just friends, jie.” He whispered to himself before taking out his phone.

Kun stepped down from the car and walked towards the doors, he was about to get inside the lobby when his phone started to ring again.

His eyes widened when he recognized his mother’s number.

“Ma,”

“Where are you?”

“I’m on my way to a meeting, is something the matter?” He asked, his secretary discreetly handed him a file.

He took it and his eyes went to an older photo of Kim Jiwook, back to when he was still working for the airline. Along with the papers were his old resume, bio data and other personal information.

“Did you forget about dinner already, son? I called you last week!”

Kun turned to his secretary and handed the file back.

Send to Aeyoung. He mouthed.

The male tilted his head, confused. Kun blinked back at him.

Have this sent to director Lee of ShangLi Group. Lee Aeyoung.

The latter nodded back and put the file back in his bag.

“Dinner? That’s tonight?” Kun cleared his throat as they got in the elevator.

I want you to look more into Kim Jiwook. Kun mouthed to his secretary again, the male nodded back and took out his phone.

“It is. How could you?” His mother nagged again, the Qian heir winced and looked away.

“Ma, it’s been a really busy week for me.” Kun reasoned with a small smile.

“We were busy too, and besides, we need to set the date already, son.”

That made Kun pause, his forehead creased deeply.

“She’s already on her way to the hotel as we speak, please be nice to her later, okay?”

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