CHAPTER 1:  Take Flight

〈Five Years Later〉

With all due respect, the fashion world is always, constantly moving at a fast pace, where does it start?

Ah Ben jaws drop when he stole a peek at his Rolex to catch the time. He personally flew to Milan in hopes of meeting Vi Wu but because the fashion industry was notorious for constantly moving and changing. There was no way he could’ve known that Vi Wu retired, leaving her legacy to her only daughter, Emma Wu.

Ah Ben and his assistant hop into the car and watch the airport terminal disappear from his line of sight, they were no longer in Taiwan anymore. They are in the city of fashion and beautiful culture―Milan.

Ah Ben looks over to his attendant beside him knows claims he knows some Italian words to get them by (enough to engage in a simple, short conversation) so he took him along with him. Ah Ben was totally relying on him when his boss told them to come to Milan together. He wasn’t so sure if his assistant was going to be able to keep up with him but it’s nice to know that he tries his best right?

“Even is going to kill me if she doesn’t have the dress she requested by the end of this week! Oh goodness, why does the gala have to be so close? If only it we can push it back, then we will have lots of time to prepare for it!” Ah Ben deeply let out a long sigh as his assistant look up from his Italian dictionary. “Let’s go.”

Milan, known for its beautiful architecture, people, land and culture and above all, Fashion was on a whole new level. One of it is due to the fact that this city was known to be one of the biggest fashion capitals in the world. It was beyond beautiful so when Even drop the message to him that he was going to be take a small trip out of Taipei to go to Milan, he patted himself on the back when Even finally notices the hints he repeatedly kept dropping. With everything that has been happening around the company, the best thing was a trip. Even was months from getting married to her famous singer, songwriter, actor fiancé of hers. It’s a miracle that he even succeeded in getting her to agree to giving this task so he can’t let this opportunity go to waste.

Not long after, after taking a moment to marvel how breath-taking Milan was, “This is the place.” Their car came to stop.

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Her Story

Xiao Gui drops his magazine and lift his head up when he heard the sound of giggling in the room. He came in at the break of dawn to review some notes but who knew that time flies by so fast? Without knowing, he turns to his side to see the time reads: 8:52 p.m. Instinctively, his lips curve into a grin when he looks over at this lady chasing after her son around the room. Her light pink chiffon dress naturally flows along her body in a way where it created that beautiful editorial image.  

If only she knew how hard she worked to get to this point in time. He still remembers how she looked when she came to Milan three years ago... she was a disaster, a mess. But that’s all old news now, isn’t it? Three years have passed and she looks like she recovered―well, on the outside it seems to be true. But what on the inside… how long does the pain have to be there?

He looks at her son running around the room and laughs. He can’t get all the credit now. The one who managed to strengthen her back up was this little guy: Kris Wu.

Xiao Gui stares at the article in the magazine and smiles. Gui is now a public figure known for stepping up and continuing her mother’s legacy, strengthening Vi Wu’s collection. A busy mother and a famous designer all in one department, it’s a shame her ex-lover isn’t here to marvel at the sight. 

“GOTCHA!” Gui reaches over and picks up the little boy, twirling around. The sound of the two laughing mesmerized Xiao Gui as he tossed the magazine on the table. He leans back and laughs. Her brunette curls drops to her shoulder as she stare into her son’s eye, the same mischievous shimmer was still visible when the little boy’s smile to her. She knew that whenever Kris would smile at her, it would remind her of him. But rather than seeing it as a pain, it as a gift. She carried him down after snapping out of her trance when she heard her mother's voice.

“Mommy~ grandma's here!”

“It’s time for me to hang out with my grandson! Come here little one~”

“I’ll see you guys later!” Vi Wu turns to look at Xiao Gui. “Even Wu’s assistant Ah Ben will be coming over to pick up the dress for the gala. It’s a shame we aren’t able to go after-all, it will be nice to go back to Taiwan.” Vi Wu smiled, dropping the invitation card on the table before leaving the room, hand in hand with her grandson.

How does one forget the pain? Xiao Gui wraps his arms around her, bringing her into an embrace. “Every time I look at his eyes, it reminds me of him; it reminds me of Aaron’s... He is going to grow up looking like him...”

“It’s okay, I’m sure you’ll be able to get through this.” Gui steps back and smiles. He burst into laughter as they peel their attention away from each other to see their store manager at the door. “Our guest has arrived Alien Huang, he is waiting in the VIP room.”

“Alright, I’m coming.” The store manager nods, walking back to the store.

Xiao Gui got up, straightening his clothes. “Another busy day, I’ll be back.”

When Xiao Gui walks out of the room, Gui walks over to her desk to pull out a bunch of sketches. “Let’s go to work!”

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Xiao Gui came down to the second level of the store to see two men sitting on the couch, looking at some magazines. Knowing who the two gentlemen were, Xiao Gui grinned widely as he made his way over to him.

“Benvenuti a Milano! Welcome to Milan!” The two boys got up and shook hands with him. “It’s great to be here!”

“I bet it is.”

Xiao Gui walk over to his assistant who stepped in, bringing the dress that Even had her heart set on. The beautiful white with gold embellishment chiffon Grecian dress that left a huge impression during their Gods and Goddesses Collection was going to be Even Wu’s dress for the annual 44rd charity Gala this year. When the dress made its runway debut, all eyes were on it. All the eyes were on it, requests from million stores desired it―needless to say, the collection was the talk of the century.

Xiao Gui gently put the dress on the mannequin and smiles. This was one the first dresses in the collection he had designed with Vi Wu and to say, it’s going to be hard to part with it. Nonetheless, Even Wu is a respected client of theirs so even if it’s not displayed in their store; he knew that she was going to cherish the dress.

“Thanks for coming all the way here to pick this dress up.” Xiao Gui stated as he watch Ah Ben smile. “Anything for my boss.”

“Looks like you guys have a deep connection with each other.”

“We do since we are best friends at work and outside of work so I can’t help it. If I need to say something, then I will say it. That’s what best friends do; after all, I am pretty bad at keeping secrets...”

“Whoa, Even sure know how to keep you close to her!”

“Well, you and Emma are pretty close too, considering how you guys are partners now.” Ah Ben smiled as he watches the store manager pack the dress. “Ah before I forget, Even said that it’s a shame that Emma will not be able to attend the gala but she will like to extend the invite to you.” Ah Ben hand the envelope to Alien. “Taiwan will greet you with open arms.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Anyways, we should be going, I want to sight-see before I have to go back to Taipei.”

“This is a beautiful city, you will get lose in it for sure.”

“Hah! I have this guy with me, it’ll be fine. If we do get lost, we will call you.”

Ah Ben waves goodbye with his assistant and left the store with the dress in hand. Alien stare at the invitation and made his way upstairs to find Gui’s back facing him. He can tell that she was looking down at her sketches for the next collection to know that he came back in. Looking back at how she came back to Milan with Vi Wu three years ago, time surely have a funny way of connecting people.

Alien walk over, peering over her shoulder to take a sneak peek at the designs but Gui was keen enough to see through his actions so she turn around to see him smile. He shakes his head and leans against the desk with a huge smile. She watch him flash the invite card in front of her and her eyebrow rose

“Are you going to go? You personally got invited to the gala by Even Wu herself.”

“And leave you here? I wouldn’t think it!”

“No one is going to hurt us here.”

“I’m not talking about security, I am talking about this.” He point to his heart. “It will be painful to leave, leaving you and little man here. Alone, without me, oh~ the thought is devastating! Let’s not talk about—”

“—You have always wanted to go back, so why not take this chance and go back? I’m sure Taiwan will open up new possibilities.”

“Gui, haven’t you been listening to a word I have been saying?”

“I’m not ready to go back (to Taiwan) just yet, but you are rea—no, you have always been ready to go back. So don’t let me stop you, Alien.”

“I will go back to Taiwan whenever you are ready, I am in no rush, and I can wait.”

“Well then, come and look at this design, tell me what you think of it!” Alien looks over and smiles. “It looks like a unicorn.”

“I was aiming for a peacock!”

“Oh what did I say again? OH, I meant peacock!”

Gui eye him suspiciously as he smiled widely, trying to get away from such accusations. “C’mon you know me, I always mix animals up!” She sighed as they look at each other and smiled. “I guess you will be taking my little man to the zoo again. I’ll let you in on this little secret about unicorns, they don’t exist.”

“In fairy tales they do.”

“OH gosh, you sound like you’ve been hanging around my son for far too long!”

“Can’t help it, he likes the idea of dragons and unicorns so the only way out for me is to indulge in his fantasy. Not all of us need to grow out of our fairy tales Gui, you and I both kn