Chapter 33

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Hana’s greeted by the warm morning sun shining onto her tanned skin, penetrating through her wispy curtains. She rolls around a few times before sitting up in her bed. She can barely peel her eyes open from how swollen and puffy they are - an aftermath of her crying session last night.

After washing up, she sits at her vanity and sighs at her disheveled appearance. The dark circles under her eyes are especially prominent today, and it looks like she doesn’t have any eyelids because of how puffy her eyes are. She groans in embarrassment and covers her face with her hands. A knock ripples against the wood of her door and she frantically attempts to cover her face with her hair, “Oh, come in.”

The door opens and Hana remains facing her vanity mirror, head down. The figure scurries over and holds out two frozen spoons. Hana blinks in surprise at the object and looks up. She’s met with the knowing eyes of Miss Kim and the girl wants to cry again at the caring gesture. 

“How do you know me so well, Miss Kim?” Hana chuckles softly before taking the cold objects from her hands, placing them onto her swollen eyes with a sigh of relief. 

A motherly smile forms on Miss Kim’s face and the older woman gently Hana’s long locks, “Are you okay, dear?”

“I will be,” Hana reassures. The tired smile that forms itself on her lips makes Miss Kim unnerved. She asks, “Why are you up so early today?”

“I’m going to the office!” Hana cheers up at the change in topic, “I have a few calls to make and a few papers to fax. I should be home later for dinner, though.”

Miss Kim frowns, “You just got back yesterday, Hana. Are you sure you don’t want to take an extra day to rest? I’m sure you didn’t sleep for long last night because of the jet lag.”

Hana pauses for a minute before softly replying, “Unfortunately, business isn’t as considerate as you are for my well-being, Miss Kim.”

//

As soon as Hana steps out of the elevators, all of the workers in the building immediately bow in her direction. A uniformed “Good morning, Miss Hana!” echoes throughout the floor and Hana’s cheeks redden with embarrassment. She bows back to everyone that she possibly can, smoothing out her gray plaid pencil skirt.

She walks up to the receptionist and he grins widely, “Hey, Hana.”

She smiles at his lighthearted greeting and picks up a few files that he hands her, “Good morning, Youngjae. How are you?”

“Better now that you’re here,” he wiggles his eyebrows and Hana throws her head back in laughter. “Seriously though, you’ve been gone for months. I missed you. Your dad isn’t necessarily the easiest to deal with.”

Hana laughs while shaking her head, “I know, right? Sorry for making you deal with him alone for so long.”

“You could take me out for lunch to make up for it.”

“Maybe some other time. I have a few things to take care of today,” Hana chuckles.

“Ah, right. Baekhyun’s probably gonna take you out for lunch,” he nods in understanding. Hana plasters on a fake smile and takes the files with her as she heads into her office. 

By the third ring, a deep voice answers the call, “Hello?”

“Hello, is this Mr. Zhang Yixing?” Hana politely asks.

“Yes, it is. This is Hana, isn’t it?” Yixing asks along with the sound of papers rustling in the background.

A smile forms on Hana’s face as she twirls the pen in her hand, “Yes, it is. How is your day going so far?”

“I got into a fight with a bear at the bar,” Yixing explains.

Hana’s jaw drops, “Wait, what?”

His hearty laughter fills her ears, “Nah, I’m just kidding. I thought it’d be more interesting than telling you how my day actually went. You know, the usual business stuff.”

Hana’s silent for a second and Yixing wants to throw himself out of the window. Damn, that was kind of lame. You totally scared her away.

The girl throws her head back and laughs loudly, “Wow, you really had me there for a second. That was a very unique way to answer the question. I might just have to answer questions like that from now on.”

A grin finds its way across Yixing’s handsome face, “Well, you better give me credit for it then.”

“I will,” Hana chuckles, “I’ll make sure to trademark it every time I use it.”

Yixing rolls his eyes, “Now you’re just being sarcastic.”

The two laugh together for a few moments before the silence is restored. Hana’s mood is significantly lifted and the awkward, professional air that was once lingering is no longer present. She’s glad that Yixing has a sense of humor. She’s looking forward to working with him more.

“So, to what do I owe this wonderful call, Hana?” Yixing asks. Hana’s cheeks redden slightly at his endearing tone.

“Ah, I just wanted to finalize some things about the report. I also needed to fax over some information to you regarding the contract.” Hana answers.

He hums in agreement and smoothly adds, “Are you sending over the papers now?”

Hana stands up and walks over to her fax machine, “Yes, I’m standing at the machine right now.”

“Can you also add in your phone number?”

“Uh, what?” The girl is surprised at the sudden request. Is he joking again?

“Your phone number. Can I have your phone number, too?” Yixing repeats himself without fail.

“I thought you already had my phone number, considering that I’m calling you from my office phone right now.” Hana awkwardly points out. 

“No no, sorry, I should’ve made myself more clear,” Yixing laughs, “Can I have your personal phone number?”

Hana leans against the machine and crosses her arms, a look of suspicion forming on her face, “And why do you need my personal phone number, Yixing?”

“Well, how else am I gonna get to know you, Hana?”

The answer stuns her into silence. Why does he want to get to know me? I thought this was a purely business relationship!

As if he could read her mind, he says, “I’d like to expand our relationship to one beyond a business one, if that’s okay with you. But if you’re uncomfortable, I won’t pressure you.”

Hana’s cheeks redden at his straightforward response. Instead of responding to him directly, she simply faxes over the documents and announces, “I just sent over the papers. Did you get them?”

As Yixing stands up and walks over to his own fax machine, he pulls out the freshly arrived papers. He sees her neat handwriting scrawled at the top, a series of digits that