The woman entered the room where she had heard someone sobbing. She sighed when she saw little Kyuhyun in tears and went to hug him.

“Umma…” the little boy cried.

“Kyuhyun, you should never cry. Men don’t cry. What would your dad do if he caught you crying?”

The little boy froze. He knew too well that his dad would slap him and yell at him.

“I… I won’t cry anymore.”

He knew he had already said that a few times in the past months, but it was difficult not to cry when your father is very strict and doesn’t let you do anything a normal 4 years old boy would do.

“Don’t forget, little Kyuhyun. Men never cry.”

*********************************

Twenty years later.

The new president of the biggest entertainment company in Korea walked from his car to the building under a rain of flashes and microphones. Journalists wanted his first impressions, his projects for the future. But he passed by them, not even looking at them, with neutral eyes and face, just like usual, and entered the building.

Cho Kyuhyun was the son of the last president of the company. He never got angry, never cried, and never smiled. He never showed any emotion, not even after his father had died in a car accident a few years ago. Kyuhyun, who was also in the car, managed to survive by some miracle, but his father had died on the spot. The company had been president-less for a few years, but now everything was okay with the arrival of this new president.

 He was very handsome. Tall, dark hair and eyes, beautiful face, long fingers. He could be even more handsome if he knew how to smile. But he never smiled.

The vice-president welcomed him in his office and bowed.

“President!”

Kyuhyun didn’t even look at him and went directly to the papers in his desk to start working. The vice-president smiled. A bright sunny smile.

“President, I am your vice-president, Zhou Mi. I’ll be helping you in your…”

“Go away. I have work.”

A simple command. Not angry, not annoyed. Just a command. Zhou Mi bowed again and left the office. But he was a persistent person. He went to brew some coffee and brought it to Kyuhyun.

“President. Coffee?”

Kyuhyun didn’t look at him and didn’t answer. So Zhou Mi just walked to him and left the cup of coffee on the desk before leaving.

Days went by, just like that. Zhou Mi welcoming him, Zhou Mi bringing him coffee, Zhou Mi pointing out something important for the company, and Zhou Mi always smiling at him with that bright smile of his. So bright it even started to bring some light in the emotionless eyes of the president. But Kyuhyun still never showed any emotion.

Zhou Mi started to get desperate he could ever bring the boss to smile. Plus, he never received any “thank you” when he did something for Kyuhyun. Was it all in vain? Maybe he should just stop trying.

But when his birthday arrived, a nice surprise was on his own desk. A CD, with a little paper with it. “Thank you”. Curious, he put the CD into his computer, and opened huge eyes when he heard the song. A song Kyuhyun had sang, he was sure of it. He hadn’t heard the president’s voice a lot, but he knew it was very soft and beautiful.

It was a song of thank you. Because the president could never show his emotions openly, and didn’t know how to express himself, so he had written a song and recorded himself singing it. Zhou Mi smiled. Maybe there was hope after all.

************************

Weeks went by. Zhou Mi started to talk to the president more and more. He could even consider both of them as friends, if someone who doesn’t smile and can’t show his emotions can be considered as a friend. They started going out to eat somewhere after work, and he little by little learned about Kyuhyun and his past. The reasons why he couldn’t show any emotion.

“Zhou Mi.”

The vice-president loved to hear Kyuhyun’s voice. Especially when he said his name. Because that meant he would talk a bit more about himself than when Zhou Mi asked him questions.

“Yeah?”

“Thank you.”

Wow. That was a first. Zhou Mi froze for a moment, and then smiled. One more step. Before, the president couldn’t even say that.

“It’s my pleasure, president…”

“Kyuhyun. Just call me Kyuhyun.”

Aouch. He had difficulties with a few Korean pronunciations because he was Chinese. The president’s name itself was a headache for him.

“May I call you Kui Xian? I… have difficulties saying your name.”

“That’s okay.”

And Zhou Mi smiled again. That was one of the longest continuous conversations he had had with the president.

Maybe there really was hope after all.