A/N: I think I have to clear some things up. First, their age. At the present, Leeteuk, Heechul and Han Geng are all 29. Kangin’s 28 but he finished school together with Kris, Yixing and Sehun. Kris and Yixing are both 27. And Sehun (since he’s a genius) is 25. Luhan is also 27 but she’s older than Yixing by a few months. And second, Baekhyun is also a she in the story. But minor character only so….yeah, enjoy! LOL!

Present

Hotel Victoria's grand ballroom was abuzz with people preparing for the fashion show that night. It will be the last show and it will showcase LAY's collection of haute couture pieces. Yixing was there, personally overseeing everything. And everything had to be perfect. The fashion industry had both been kind and harsh to the young designer. She maybe famous in Europe and America but she can't relax knowing there were people waiting for her to just slip and mess up. 

The first two nights were pure successes. Each hosted different collections--the Casual Outdoors and the Chic Corporate. Tonight was an invitation-only event and prominent people already confirmed attendance. Including Leeteuk. And if she'll be honest, she's more nervous in meeting her friends again after five years than the actual show where her life's work will be judged. 

She was inspecting each table's centerpiece when Luhan approached her. However, she was busy yelling through her phone as Yixing watched in utter disbelief.  "I told you I'm not interested! How on earth did you get my phone number anyway?!" Her usual fluent Korean was faltering due to rapid s(creech)peaking. "I'm hanging up! Some people actually have to work to earn a living!" Yixing eyed her friend slash assistant in amusement as she turned the phone off for good measure. 

"Who was that?" Luhan jumped in surprise, realizing that Yixing had seen her in her brightest. 

"Uh, uhm, no one." She stuttered. 

"I hope that wasn't a client though." Yixing kept her face straight but Luhan discerned the mischief in her eyes and tone. "That's a very good way of throwing away our chances here before we even started." 

Luhan smiled lightly by her boss' use of 'our'. "Isn't that a good thing?" She grinned. "Don't you want me to just take you home?" Without another word, she wrapped her arms around her friend and they stayed in a comforting hug for a while; with Yixing getting all the warmth that she could. Luhan maybe her employee but she's also the only friend she made since she left Korea.   

"Can we?" She asked in a small voice. 

"One word and I'll wrap this up. You don't have to do this if you don't want to." She sounded like she was jesting but she’s as serious as she can be. Luhan knew how important this stint was for her their company but Yixing's well-being was more important. Though the other won't say anything, Luhan knew how much of a struggle for Yixing to even set foot in Korea after several years. 

"No. I got this. Stop giving in to my every whim, ok?" Yixing pulled away and made a face. Luhan chuckled, poking her left dimple. 

"Ms. Zhang, delivery for you." It was the hotel security with the familiar guy in brown overalls from UPS lugging a medium-sized box. Luhan signed for her and inspected the box, guessing what's inside. 

The older lady had always been protective of Yixing, so without a word, she whipped out her trusty Swiss Army knife and opened the box the moment the guard and the UPS delivery man were out of sight. 

Curiosity got the better of Yixing when Luhan let out a soft gasp. She froze though when she saw what's inside the box. In a bed of white hydrangeas were bulbs of hundreds of yellow tulips. "So beautiful." She heard Luhan mutter in awe. She felt her fingers itching to feel each petal but held herself. She didn't see any card but she knew exactly who it was from. But she didn't know why that particular person would bother.

***

Sehun played with the marble paperweight absently, eyes on the floor-to-ceiling glass wall of his home office. But his mind was not in the stunning view of Seoul skyline. It was wandering elsewhere; to a certain red-haired woman he met days ago…

[Flashback]

He got out of the executive elevator at a random floor and rode the express elevators to the building lobby. There were two people inside but nobody paid any attention to him. Looking at him, nobody would think he’s Oh Sehun anyway—the President and CEO of Oshwiz, a gadget building company.  Well, at least not in what he was wearing. But he always took extra precaution. He would neither ride the executive elevator all the way to the lobby nor drive a fancy car to work.  It’s just less complicated that way. And people tend to treat you honestly when they don’t know who you were.  Most of his employees didn’t even know what he looked like and he enjoyed the anonymity to some level.

He’s not very social. The friends that he had were the same friends he gained when he was in pre-school and that made him very awkward with people. He does bulk of his work at home and most paperwork were sent there by his assistant. He can perfectly run his company without being physically present in the office but today was the annual board meeting and he begrudgingly got up in the wee hours of the morning (it was actually 8AM) and went to his company in his ripped jeans and shirt that says “I Can See Why You ” to the surprise of his directors. His assistant Baekhyun almost had an apoplexy because of it but he dismissed it with a smug, “I own the company, don’t I?”

The moment the elevator dinged at the lobby, he heard the familiar whistle of Hyuna’s Troublemaker. He fished his phone out of his pocket. “Yeh?”

“Yah! You moron! Don’t you have any manners?!” His head throbbed instantly because of Heechul’s booming voice.

“Annyeong hasseyo, Noona. How can I help you?” He pressed the bridge of his nose to block an impending headache.

“I just want to remind you of Saturday.” Her tone was much lower this time much to his relief. “Bring a date or whatever but you have to be there, Sehun-ah.”

His face hardened. “Why?” He can sense Heechul didn’t expect that one-word question from him so he reinforced it. “Why do I have to be there?”

“Sehun-ah. . .”

“Who is she anyway? We are not even friends.” He scoffed.  It had been five years since she abandoned them. No phone calls, no emails, no nothing! And now, she will saunter right back to their lives with an invitation to some show of women in skimpy clothing? Did that even qualify as an apology? That was, if she’s even sorry at all.

“Oh Sehun.” Her tone held a warning. “We don’t even know the reason why Yixing left so don’t be so quick to judge.”

“Exactly my point. She didn’t even say anything. Not a word for the last five years.” Heechul was silent for a moment that he thought she already hung up.

“Have you made an effort to contact her first? To look for the person who would drive for several hours to Boston to tidy up your apartment or to make sure you have enough kimchi on your fridge? The person who would take care of you when you’re sick? If you can tell me that you’ve done everything to reach out, I’ll let you off the hook. Otherwise, I’m expecting you to be there.” And she hung up.  He held the phone tightly against his ear. There was no winning against Heechul. But hell will freeze over if he’ll come to that event as expected. He was too distraught by their conversation that he hadn’t noticed someone was trying to get his attention.

“Hello?” A woman was waving her hand in front of his face.

He took a frightened step back in surprise. “Huh?” How dumb must I look? He thought in despair. That despair grew to a whole new level when he took a good look at the woman in front of him. She must be Helen of Troy incarnate—her red hair was enough evidence.  Her unusually large eyes mirrored impatience due to his lack of coherent response. “Uh, you were saying?” Congratulations, neurons. It’s about time you get to work.

“I was wondering if you know where the admin office is.” She swiped her gaze through the whole lobby. The Lobby, as it’s fondly called, technically wasn’t. It was a slew of designer shops, themed cafes and five-star restaurants.

“I can take you there if you want.” She raised an eyebrow. “Uh, my name’s Sehun.” He extended a hand and smiled his so-called megawatt smile. She ignored it flatly and his smile fell.

“I can probably find my way there. Thanks anyway.” She moved briskly towards the elevator bank, like she was dying to get away from him. He frowned at the thought. Did he look like a creep? He looked down discreetly and almost face-palmed himself when he realized he looked like a pauper as opposed to her. She looked so posh and put-together in her beige tailored suit.

“No! I mean, you have no access to the other floors.” She eyed the turnstiles tentatively.

“Uh, yeah. Okay. If it won’t take so much of your time.” She bit her lip and he found himself tongue-tied. It was bad enough that he wasn’t really good with normal people. But with someone as godly as this one, he stood no chance.

“Not at all. I have all the time in the world.”

“I can see that.” What’s that supposed to mean? He frowned but let it pass. “Don’t you have a dress code here?” He heard her ask while they were waiting for the lift. Same old, same old. He fought the urge to roll his eyes. He was so tired of people who judge others based on how they look or what they wear. He didn’t know why it angered him so much when he commonly won’t give a damn.

He pressed the button to the top floor the express elevator could reach instead of the second floor where the admin office was. “The boss is very flexible. He cares more about what’s between your ears.” He gave her a once over and he could sense her discomfort. She could easily be the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on and that’s saying something because he grew up with Heechul no less—who, after three kids, still looked like she stepped out of some fancy fashion magazine. But he would like to think that more than anything, character was important.

When the elevator dinged at the Power Floor, as they call it (since it housed all the executive offices), he led the way to the executive elevator. “The admin office is on the top floor.” To answer the query in her face. He scanned his thumb over a censor and the lift doors opened right away. Since the top was occupied only by his own office, they were welcomed by a stunned Baekhyun.

“I thought—“

“Baekhyun-ssi, she’s looking for the building administrator and I forgot Mr. Oh, uh, wanted me to deliver some files to, uh, Mr. Han! Right, that’s it.” Both her assistant and the stranger eyed him weirdly. But Baekhyun, already used to his antics, played along. 

“You can go right in. He’s waiting for you.” She smirked and he scurried off to his private office without sparing the woman a glance. He ran to his desk and picked up the interphone. Baekhyun answered within the first beep. “If you say a word, you’re fired.”

“Definitely, Mr. Oh. I’ll get to it right away.”

“Good. Get her name and contact information and make sure we’ll see each other again.”

[Flashback ends]

Her name’s Luhan and she work for Yixing. Maybe Heechul’s right. Maybe he should grace the fashion show with his presence after all.

A/N: Will you leave more comments this time? Hehe

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