CHAPTER 4

Hana was freaking out.

The day had started out to be sunny but after she arrived at the shoot location, which was at a garden, the skies had turned gray and to make it worst Chanyeol had told her that they would be coming over in a few hours to see how it will all go.

“Oh and Hana, make sure you have coffee nearby, okay?” her lips quivered; she was inside the white tent where the models were being readied. She swallowed the lump in and nodded her head “Yes sir”

Chanyeol! I don't wanna do this anymore! She cried inside her head and put away her phone. “Hana!” she jumped at the sound of Jessica's voice, she turned around and smiled at her “Yes Jessica-ssi?” a look of worry washed over Jessica's face and rumbles of thunder made Hana's smile fade. “We've pulled up the equipments to shelter, raindrops have begun to fall”

A heavy sigh had escaped her lips. She tucked some stray strands of her hair away as Jessica gave her a sympathetic smile and placed a hand on the project leader's shoulder “Hey... don't worry, I'm sure the rain will pass by soon and we can begin the shoot”

Jessica guessed wrong.

It was pouring outside and Hana was nervously biting her lips as she ran around trying to find something that could make this shoot work. She looked around the wet garden outside of the tent. Come on Hana, come up with something here... she hung her head low. Sigh. I've failed... I'm gonna get fired now. “Hana! What are we gonna do?” Victoria asked, her voice full of worry and it only made the boulder on Hana's shoulder get heavier than it already was. “I'm gonna get fired...” Victoria mumbled and Hana's head shot towards her, Hana's eyes widening. She looked around her and found the rest of her team looking devastated.

She was not carrying a boulder... she was carrying a mountain and if she doesn't pull this off, the guilt of having these people fired would eat her to death. Hana frowned and marched up to the photographer of the shoot who was sitting at a side, waiting for orders.

Like they say... don't wait for the storm to pass, learn to dance in the rain.

“You” she called him, the photographer turned to her “Have you ever shot in the pouring rain?”

The photographer blinked his eyes at her; Hana's hand caught the name on his I.D., she cleared once again and asked him “Mr. Lee Hyukjae, have you ever shot in the pouring rain or not?” the photographer nodded his head slowly and broke his mouth to speak “But it has extra fees” Hana swallowed hard, her face was so dead serious “I'll pay, just make sure you give me the best shots; you have an hour”

Hyukjae turns to look out at the pouring rain outside the tent and sighed before giving Hana a small smile “You got it, Ms. Kim” Hana marched over to Jessica and Yuri and informed them that the shoot was going to go on right at that moment. At first they seemed to have disapproved “We have 3 hours before presentation time, trust me on this”

Jessica and Yuri exchanged nervous glances and turned to Hana; “Alright... I'm putting my job in your hands Hana” Yuri said before walking away to inform the models. “I'll trust you, Hana...” Jessica said before walking away. Hana took a deep breath and instructed Jinki and Minho to make sure the presentations are done while the shoot goes on. “We have three hours people! Let's get the show on the road!”

Sehun.

Finally, the meeting has ended.

I got up from my chair and gathered the folders, passing them on to my secretary. I walked over to Chanyeol who had just bid our clients goodbye; he turned to me and stuck his hands inside his pockets. “Ready to go?” I ask him and he gives me a nod. We had to check out the progress on the project Kris had made him give to the new employee. I don't really know what has gotten into Kris but hey, it's not like it's rare for him to give his employees a hard time. If it weren't for the high pay and his good looks, there wouldn't be anyone working for him.

We both exit the conference room. I feel my phone vibrate inside my pocket, I pulled it out and saw Kris's name flashing on the screen “Hello?”

“Where are you?” he asks, sounding bored. “Chanyeol and I are on our way to see how things are going with -”

“Good. I'll be right downstairs with you” I pull the phone away from my ear momentarily and raised a brow at it. Did I just hear that right? Kris is coming with to check something out? “Uh...” I press the phone back to my ear and stop on my tracks as we wait for the elevator to open “Kris, don't you have -”

Ding. The elevator doors open and reveal Kris, he put his phone away and stuck both of his hands inside his pockets “Come on...” he said. I pocketed my phone and exchange glances with Chanyeol as we got in and the lift began to descend. Geez, what's with this guy? His aura is so cold, I feel like it's winter in here. None of us were making a sound, no one at all.

“So...” I cleared my throat “How are you and your girlfr -” Kris raised his hand and I immediately shut my mouth. I saw his eyes narrow on the reflection of the wall mirror. “I might kill Kai” he mumbled and Chanyeol let out a snigger

“Yah, you really have to give time to her if you don't want her to be nagging you” Chanyeol said. I elbowed his side, he winced a bit in pain and gave me a frown. “Shut up, Yeol” Kris told him. The doors finally opened. Thank God. We got out of the elevator and walked towards the exit of the building where it was pouring outside, employees were giving their greetings here and there and while Chanyeol and I were giving them curt nods to be polite, Kris just gave them all his cold shoulder. Why am I not surprised?

When we got out, four black umbrellas had opened up and sheltered us as we made our way to the car that was waiting. I quietly thanked the two people who held the umbrellas to keep us dry while they got wet and entered the car after Chanyeol and Kris. “Think she can pull this off?” I ask Chanyeol as I look out the window and notice how bad the weather was. Garden shoots are pretty hard to pull off in the rain; Chanyeol let out a sigh and shows me his crossed fingers “I hope so”

Sigh. Please don't let anyone get fired today. I don't wanna look for more people.

Hana.

Do I dare look at my watch? I think we have an hour or so before our bosses arrive and there's only a little more left to finish, I can almost cry out in joy because I think we can actually pull this off.

“Hana!” I was cut off my thoughts by the sound of Hyoyeon's voice, calling out to me. I left Minho and Jinki for a moment and run over to the other side of the tent but only to be horrified as I arrive. One of the models was wet and she had sprained her ankle. A wet Hyukjae came into the tent, his camera dangling around his neck and he was panting hard “Ms. Kim, where's the next model?”

Aigo, I spoke too soon.

I bit my lower lip as we all fell in silence and the only thing that could be heard was the rain pouring outside the tent. What do I do now? I turned to the model, she gave me an apologetic look.

“Hana, you do the last one” Hyoyeon said and I swear that if it was possible, my eyes had popped out of its sockets. She's kidding, right? “Y-you're kidding, right?” but Hyoyeon had only answered me with a serious look on her face. So the next thing I know, I was in another set of clothes.

The dress was simple: it was a faint pinkish-orange color, tubed top and its skirt was made up of layers of thin randomly torn up pieces of the same colored fabric and stopped just above my knees. I breathed deeply before running out into the rain “Just follow my instructions okay?” Hyukjae said and I nodded. Do it for the team Hana.

The rain had finally stopped and they were almost done with the presentation. Only a few more photos were to be printed out.

Gasp. Jinri's eyes widened and her breathing hitched when she saw a black car pulling up. She swallowed hard before running off to the others; “Where's Hana?” she asked frantically, Victoria told her that Hana was still changing from her wet clothes in the changing tents. “Why?” Taeyon asked her “Mr. Park and Mr. Oh are here!” a gasp escapes the team's lips and Victoria had made a dash for the other side of the tent while the others rushed to finalize everything.

“Hana!” Victoria entered the covered tent and saw the said person passed out on a chair, still in the wet clothes. Victoria rushed towards her and shook her awake, she placed a hand on Hana's forehead and hissed when she felt the heat rising. “Hana, Hana...” she softly patted the girl's cheek and her eyes opened “Victoria?” she gave Hana a small smile “Wake up and hurry change, Mr. Park and Mr. Oh have arrived”

And as if she was instantly cured, Hana shot up from her seat and ran towards the curtained area and frantically changed her clothes. Once done, she walked back to the other side of the long tent with Victoria only to be surprised when she saw that it wasn't just Chanyeol and Sehun. Her heart began to race. Kris Wu... he's here.

“Ms. Kim!” her view was blocked by Chanyeol, who had given her a bright smile. Hana blinked her eyes before giving him a bow. Sehun appeared beside Chanyeol and gave her a smile aswell; the team gathered behind Hana, the presentation laid out on the table where Kris was standing by with his back to them.

“Are you okay, Ms. Kim?” Sehun asked her, noticing that she was turning red and he didn't mean her cheeks alone but her face in general. Hana gave him a smile and an assuring nod. Kris wasn't touching anything but he was looking over the presentation table, making sure that his eyes goe very single thing that was on top of the flat surface.

“How much did you give them as the budget?” Kris finally spoke and Hana's body had frozen. Sehun and Chanyeol turned around, facing his back; Sehun stated the a “₩ 14,000,000”

“How much was used?” he followed up the question and Chanyeol nudges Hana's side. She clears and breaks to speak “₩ 13,500,000 in exact amount, sir”

Kris raises two of his fingers and gestures Chanyeol and Sehun to come forward; soon, the three of them were looknig over at the presentation table, discussing something among themselves as the nerve-wrecking atmosphere built up above the team standing behind their bosses, waiting for their fates to be judged.

Chanyeol and Sehun's eyes shot to one set of photos in particular as they realized just who it was. Sehun chuckled and picked up one of the photos; it was Hana, sitting on an old swing and it looked like she was resting, her eyes closed, body leaned on one side and rain kissing her. “Well would you look at that?” Sehun mumbles. Kris takes the photo from his hand and looks at it for a few seconds before handing it over to Chanyeol “Put this on a two-page spread on one of our magazines for the next issue”

“O-kay?” Chanyeol says and puts it on the folder where all the approved photos would be placed in; Kris handed him over a few more photos, a total of twenty photos. Finally, he turned around and walked over to one of the seats, Chanyeol and Sehun following. “Let's get on with the presentation” he says; Minho and Jinki open up the laptop and the projector as Hana walks to the front. She was a nervous wreck and not to mention... sick.

Hana cleared and everyone turned to her, including Kris. She bit her lower lip and took a deep breath before beginning; all throughout her presentation, Kris had kept a steady and firm gaze on her, he was listening to every single word that came out of and for Hana, it seemed like he was waiting for her to slip and fall so he could fire her.

But she was not letting that happen. “Questions?” she asked as the screen behind her went blank. Kris shifted in his seat and cleared his throat “Do you think you deserve the promotion, Ms. Kim?”

Don't say 'what'; don't say 'excuse me'; don't respond with a question. Please. Please. Victoria silently prayed inside her thoughts as they watched from the sidelines. Hana swallowed hard and Kris waited for her answer. Finally, she broke to speak “No”

Quiet breaths of relief escape her team's mouths yet seconds later, after absorbing what she had just said, they were confused. Sehun smiled at her answer while Chanyeol's eyes widened. The big boss sitting in between Chanyeol and Sehun was taken by surprise but he had maintained his blank face successfully. So you're Kim Hana, huh? “Why?”

Hana pursed her lips together for a moment then gave him a reply “Because I haven't worked hard enough yet, s-sir”

Kris sat in his seat quietly, intently looking at her. Hana looked down on her own two feet; Chanyeol turned to Kris and asked “So, what's the decision?”

Kris got up from where he sat “I expect you to be at my office first thing tomorrow, Ms. Kim”

Hana looked up and met his gaze; she gulped “S-sir?”

“Sehun, make sure her desk is clean by tomorrow” Kris said; Hana felt like crying. Sehun nodded his head, he and Chanyeol got up from their seats. Kris turned to the rest of the employees standing on the side “As for the rest of you, I expect you all to go back to your usual routines in the office”

Chanyeol flashed a Hana a worried look but what could he do? Kris always has the final word. Everyone bowed as their bosses had left. Once they had seen the car leave, they all walked over to their team leader. Everyone was doing their best to encourage her, it wasn't like Kris had told her she was fired and she was still expected at the office tomorrow morning.

“Hey, for what it's worth, you did a great job leading us Hana-ssi” Taeyon told her with a bright and thankful smile. Hana returned a weak one, all of a sudden she felt like she was going to pass out. Victoria noticed her tired expression and had volunteered to take her home just in case she would pass out.

Kris.

I quietly sat inside my office, taking my time to relax before starting my day. I heard a knock on the door and groan a bit in annoyance; It's too ing early. Damn it. “Come in” I mumbled and the door opens. I swivel my chair around and came face to face with Kim Hana. So which part of you, has Kai taken interest in? She wasn't a looker. Heck, I bet she couldn't even pass for queenka when she was still in highschool, she looked too plain and simple but I'll assume that it's her body. She's curvy, I'll toss my hat to that. Wait a minute, what am I even talking about? , would you focus idiot? You're thinking like a ert. She gives a bow and looks down at her own two feet.

“Were your things removed?” I ask and she gives me a nod, fear written all over her face. Yes, that's right Kim Hana, be terrified because I'm going to see just where your breaking point is. “Mr. Wu...” I lean back on my seat “What?” She bit down on her lips and my brows narrow on its own accord. What the -

She smiles brightly at me “I wanted to thank you for the opportunity, sir; I'm happy that even for a short while, I got to work for one of the people I admire the most” I raised my brow at her set of words. It's funny, she sounds like she's saying her goodbyes. She gives me another bow before turning on her heel and only then does it occur to me.

“Ms. Kim, where the hell do you think you're going?” she turned around and blinked her eyes looking confused “I-I was just leaving, s-sir” Did you hear that Kris? Pfft. I frowned, is she trying to make me laugh because if she is, she's failing miserably.

“Do you want to get fired for walking out on me?” I growled at her; opens in agape “I-I thought, I was... S-sir, I... W-what?”

“Your things are inside your office” her eyes widened a bit more; if I were to hit the back of her head, I think they would pop out. “O-office?” I thought this girl was smart? Geez. “The door at the end of the hall, 5 floors beneath this office...” I pushed myself off of my chair and walked towards the mini bar. She stands still on her spot, perhaps trying to absorb everything that I had just told her. She's pretty slow for someone who's good with financial work. I run a hand through my blonde locks of hair and pick up my glass of rum. “You'll be the head of the financial department Ms. Kim, your responsibilities are much grater than the work you have started here days ago however...”

I look at her and she looks back at me “Since you said that you don't deserve the promotion because you haven't worked hard enough, I'll lend you a hand just so you won't feel guilty about being promoted with such a title” She gives me an understanding nod. I turn back around to the bar and reach for some ice cubes in the small fridge below then add “In order for you to work hard enough, you'll also be my PA until further notice. Is that understood, Ms. Kim?”

“Yes sir” Sigh. Good. “Then you may le -” I was cut off mid-sentence when I felt two arms snake around my waist and something warm pressing against my back “Thank you sir!”

She pulls away while I freeze in my spot. “I won't let you down Mr. Wu! I'll be off now, have a nice day sir! Don't forget to smile!” I could picture a smile on her face as she leaves. I heard the doors close and I slowly turn to look at it.

What the actual ?