FORTY SEVEN
XOXOCHAPTER 47
Breathe, Hana... breathe.
The door to the passenger seat opened and Kris held his hand out for her to take. She took one last breath before taking his hand and stepped out of the car. There were a lot of people outside the hotel, there were people from the media: reporters, photographers and the like. Gulp.
This looked like the big leagues and Hana did not feel like she should be here at all but then again, all of Wu Enterprise's employees were invited. They both walked inside the grand and luxurious venue, hand in hand. Businessmen, women, guests all turned their heads as soon as Kris walked in.
Everyone seemed surprised to see the young CEO enter. He looked sharp in his black tux and white bow tie, his once reddish-black hair was now dyed back to golden blonde. “You dyed your hair?” Hana asks, looking straight ahead. He lets go of her hand and transfers his on her lower back, gently holding her hip. “Does it look good?” he asks, keeping a blank face. She smiles “Yeah, everything looks good on you”
As they were about to get inside the ballroom, a man in a white tuxedo approached with a smile. “Kris, didn't think you'd make it” the guy chuckles. “I changed my mind” he mumbles. The guy diverts his attention to Hana who blinked and gave a courteous bow.
“PA?” he asks Kris; the young CEO smirks “Girlfriend” a surprised look paints over the guy's face, he blinks his eyes and chuckles “Really? Well, congratulations!” he takes Hana's hand and shakes it making Kris frown. He swats away the guy's hand. “Aish... so envious. Anyway, nice to meet you, I'm Henry, Henry Lau”
“Kim Hana” she smiles and bows once more. “Anyway, I heard that someone's --”
“Mr. Lau!” came Xiumin's voice; Kris quietly sighed in relief, for a second there he thought the whole place would stop and go silent. Henry turned around and greeted Xiumin “Mr. Park Jungsu is looking for you, he's inside”
Puffing out a breath, Henry gives the couple a smile and excuses himself. Xiumin turned to Hana “Wow, looking beautiful tonight, Ms. Kim” he chuckles as Hana flusters.
“I agree” Sehun says approaching the group. Hana clears and greet him with a small bow; Sehun chuckles “Chairman has been waiting for you” he tells Kris, taking a sip of his glass of wine. Xiumin takes a piece of cupcake from a passing waiter and takes a of the icing “Stephanie's here too”
Kris raised a brow at him “Yeah, I heard she's your date” Xiumin chuckles “Hey, I needed a date”
Hana clears and the three take notice of her presence once again “I'll go look for Stephanie” she announces then excuses herself, she walks off leaving the three. Kris takes a glass of wine from another passing waiting and downs it all in one go, he needed something to relieve the churning feeling in his gut.
“Nice save, Xiumin” he hands Xiumin the glass and gives him a pat on the shoulder before walking off. “What was that about?” Sehun asks, sipping his wine; Xiumin takes a bite of the cupcake and smiles at him “Henry almost spilled the beans on that fire thing”
“Oh...” he takes a sip once again “Well, she's gonna find out about it some time tonight, anyway” he sighs “I don't know why can't Kris just tell her, already”
“Me neither but you know, he has his reasons even if he doesn't wanna tell” he takes another bite of the cupcake and hands over the empty wine glass to a passing waiter. “Shall we go inside?” he asks Sehun and the young man nods his head.
Hana.
Gulp. Breathe Hana.
I remind myself as soon as I enter the grand ballroom of the hotel where everything was much more... well, grand. I remember the first time I went to a party like this, I organized it but... this one is just so many times grander and larger. I feel so small compared to all of the people in the room, the females all look so beautiful. I look around and finally spot the person I was looking for.
Stephanie Wu wore a gorgeous shade of pink cocktail dress with pink gems embroidered on the corset top. No doubt, beauty really runs in the Wu bloodline.
“Stephanie!” I called out to her; she was standing all alone, looking around looking nervous. She turns her head and a smile lights up her face as she sees me “Unnie!” she then quickly strides over and gives me a warm embrace. “Wow, I didn't recognize you” she chimes. I chuckle and lightly pinch her cheek “You look beautiful; I heard your leaving for China”
She nods her head with a bright smile “Yeah, I tried to call you but you were in London; I was really surprised when Dad came to see me” I give her a small smile. To be quite honest, I'm a bit jealous of her and Kris; I just wish the other one would warm up to his old man. “Was he nice?”
Her smile softens as she nods her head “Appa really has changed, unnie” I chuckle; I wouldn't question it. No father could ever want bad things for their children. “Found you both” came a cheerful voice; Suho. He wasn't alone, Chanyeol and Chen were with him.
“Wow, Kyungsoo does have good taste” Chanyeol laughs, obviously pertaining to my dress. I give the three a bow and greet them. “Did he break the bed in London?” Chen questions with a playful smile, Chanyeol starts to laugh but Suho elbows him to the side making him stop. I felt my cheeks turn red and Stephanie was giggling at the side. “Eherm...” Suho clears his throat as he pockets his hands “Anyway, the party is about to start --”
A hand lands on my lower back and a gasp escapes my lips “There you are...” and there's only one person that that voice belongs to. Kris Wu. “Yi Fan!” Stephanie chimes with a bright smile; Kris pockets his other hand “I see the Chairman's been spending on you” he remarks, probably pertaining to her overall look. She did look pampered.
“Dad's looking for you” she said; I turn to him, how can someone not greet their own father on his own birthday? Aish. I suppress the frown and bit back my tongue. “I'll go see him later”
The tapping on the microphone made everyone stop and turn.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen, please take your seats and we will begin with the program” the female emcee said; Xiumin appears beside Stephanie and smiles at the rest of us before turning to his date –I presume.
“Let's all take our seats” Chen says. We all make our way to a certain table where the rest were sitting; Kai got up from his seat as soon as he saw me and gave me a half embrace “Wow, I didn't recognize you!” he chuckles. Kris let's out a sigh and takes my hand unexpectedly. Right, envious Kris Wu. Tsk. “Don't you have your own date?” Kris asks him. Kai chuckles “I do but she's not sitting with me, don't worry I'll find another one tonight” he winks.
Kris pulls up a seat for me and I give him a smile as I sat down, he took his seat next to me and Kai to my other side.
The round table was filled up by twelve of Wu Enterprise's prime runners, Hana and Kris's half sister. The spacious room was filled up by so many people, the table nearest to the stage was occupied by the Chairman, Sonya, Chun, Wu family relatives.
CEOs, executives and other chairmen from different companies also came to the gathering. Power and luxury filled the air of the grand ballroom but no one was as intimidating as the Wu family and the other families that composed one of the largest and most powerful company in the industry.
“Good evening ladies and gentlemen and welcome to the grand birthday celebration of Wu Enterprise's beloved Chairman Wu” the female host welcomes everyone earning her applause at the mention of the celebrant's name. “We all hope you stay until the end of the party because the Chairman will be making a very special announcement by the end of the night”
The boys of Wu Enterprise Seoul exchange looks; Hana didn't have the slightest clue as to what was about to happen, Stephanie turned to her from across the table “Unnie” she calls and Hana turns to her “Hm?”
“You're staying until the end of the night, right?” Kris overhears and turns to his half-sister; Hana opened to speak but Kris cut her off “Hana has to be home by ten” the boys all turn their attentions to the CEO. Hana raises a brow at him but he simply ignores the stares and looks back to the emcee on-stage. The program goes on and on, dinner was served and afterwards people began to mingle, some danced on the dance floor.
Kris got up from his seat and held a hand out to her “Huh?” she raises a brow, setting down her glass of champagne “I'll introduce you to someone” he says. Surprised, she blinks her eyes and gulps down the whole glass of champagne, she takes a deep breath afterwards and grabs his hand and he gives her a small smile “You'll do perfectly fine”
Hana closed her eyes and nods her head, she takes one last breath and they finally waltz in to the crowd. Yes, the sea of people who had money, power, people who had something, anything, everything under the palm of their hands. The kind of people that Hana, one day dreamed to be one of. Kris guides her through the mass sea, making sure to never let go of her hand.
“Chairman...” he finally stops. The old man turned around and his face lit up upon seeing Kris “Yi Fan! I thought you were not gonna come again” he chuckles, giving his son a pat on the back. He takes notice of the female beside his son and chuckles “I see you brought your girlfriend along”
“Hello, Hana” Sonya smiles. Hana puts on a nervous one and bows her head, greeting everyone in general politely. “She told me to come” Kris says. His father's smile falters for a moment but soon returns as he turns to the young woman “Then you have my thanks, Ms. Kim”
Hana flusters and gives a small bow of acknowledgment to the Chairman of the company. “Ehem...” someone clears their throat. Kris rolls his eyes at the sight of one member in the family; his aunt. “So, she's the girlfriend, huh?” she speaks, a brow raising as she inspects Hana up and down.
“Future wife, if you'd like” Kris snorts to the side and the lady frowns. “You've got to be joking, Yi Fan” Sonya's husband gives a sigh and turns to the lady in red “Mama, please... it's shūshu's birthday” Chun tells his mother in Chinese thus Hana could not understand. The lady turns to her son with a stern face –Hana felt intimidated by her- “Chun, our family name is at stake, look at her, do you think she's capable of carrying such responsibility? You think she can do what Sonya does?” Kris frowned, his grip on Hana's hand tightened and she turned to him in a questioning manner. “Aren't you rude, auntie?” he speaks, finally.
The chairman let's out a sigh, he places a hand on Kris's chest and turns to his sister “Let's not do this here, please. Mèimei, she's a guest here, my guest”
The lady gives Kris a dirty look before walking off with her glass of expensive drink. Chun puts on a smile “Sorry about that, Hana... anyway, I'm Chun, Kris's cousin” he holds out a hand to her and she shakes it with a smile. Sonya casts her an apologetic look; Kris puffs out a breath and grumbles “And you wonder why I don't wanna go home to you guys”
Chairman clears his throat “Anyway, Sonya tells me you're quite exceptional Ms. Kim” he smiles at Hana. But Kris wasn't gonna buy it at all; You really think you could fool me with that act, old man? Tch. Hana chuckles, suddenly relaxing to keep herself from stammering; Sonya smiles and turns to him “Very exceptional, Chairman. I was guilty to take the position, actually” the young girl in question flustered “I... I never imagined, s-sir” she swallows hard.
“Yi Fan!” Kris let's out a low groan at the sound of the high pitched voice. Did he dare turn around? No. he didn't want to turn around, he wanted to pretend that he didn't hear anything. “Yi Fan ~” two arms wrap around his waist from the back and he finally sighs “Yookyung” he grumbles the name.
Hana blinks her eyes as the girl by the name of Yookyung releases Kris and goes around, standing infront of them and looks at Hana, up and down.
Gulp. She was beginning to think that the Wu's are more intimidating that she previously imagined. Yookyung leans in and Hana leans back “Who are you?”
Yookyung leans back and crosses her arms over her chest; Kris rolled his eyes at the girl “Yookyung, not tonight...” he tells her. She gives him a pout and turns back to Hana “Yah, you didn't answer my question” she said, ignoring Kris's warning. Hana swallows the lump in and answers “K-Kim Hana” she bows.
The girl's eyes widened and she turned to Kris, she points at Hana “Your... she's... her?!” she shrieks, the others chuckle in amusement while as Kris looked irritated and Hana's face was red.
She dramatically gasps, a hand to her heart as she animatedly falls back but catches herself. She stands up straight once more and gestures her hand towards Hana “You...” she says “The one who has warmed my dear cousin's heart, I must know you well!”
Kris slaps his palm to his face. “Yookyung, don't”
But Yookung doesn't listen, instead she just abruptly grabs Hana's hand and pulls her away from the Wu family to their table at a distance. Unable to protest anymore –not like she gave him a chance to do so- he runs a hand through his hair and grabbed a drink from a passing waiter.
“Excuse us” Chun speaks and walks off with his wife leaving the distant father and son alone.
Chairman Wu smiles at Kris, the young boy whom he once fondly played with was now grown up and successful. He had become somebody that any father could be proud of.
“She's quite a nice young woman, Kris” the chairman finally speaks, pocketing one hand as the other holds his glass. Kris snorted a sarcastic laugh “Seriously?”
The old man gives a sigh and turns to look at him “I know I haven't been the best father and I know how angry you are with me, I'm not expecting you to forgive me so easily because I know that I've hurt you and your mom”
Kris was quiet for awhile. His grip on the wine glass tightened, he pursed his lips together in a firm line; he swallowed hard turns to the old man. He was about to speak when he saw the softened look on his father's face. One that he hadn't seen for a very, very, very long time.
He places a hand on Kris's shoulder
“I'm proud of you, Kris... you have grown up to be a good man”
Kris.
Suddenly, no matter how much I want to frown... to yell at him, to punch him in the face... I can't. My feet felt like it's been rooted to the ground, my vocal chords twisted and my whole inner being just shut down. For the very first time in a long time. Mom, are you listening?
This man, this man who had done my mother and I so many wrongs for the past years, this man whom I never looked up to ever since his walls crumbled, this man that I loathed for so long... I recognize him. He's my dad.
“Well, I have to go greet other guests... stay until the end of the party, son” he smiles at me once more then walks off.
Mom... it's him. It's dad.
“Kris?” I snap back to reality; as I turn my head, I saw Hana with a worried look on her face; she gives me a smile “Are you okay?” How long have I been standing here? I look around me and turn back to Hana. I swallow hard “I-I'm fine”
Looks like Yookyung has let her off. Hana's smile softens and she reaches out her hands toward me, gently she grabs my white bow tie and fixes it; a wash of ease pours down on me and I smile down at her “Thanks” she lightly pats my chest and chuckles “You're always welcome, Mr. Wu”
Hana sat down alone. All of the boys were too busy mingling around and Stephanie was with her father being introduced to so many people. Soft music was playing as some guests were on the dance floor dancing to sweet slow and luxurious music, a band playing the delectable tune at the sides of the stage.
Atleast I can rest my feet. Sigh. She thinks to herself and picks up the glass of champagne, taking little sips as she slowly gets used to the drink.
“Bored?” she looks up and sees Tao with a smile. He takes a seat next to her, she chuckles and shook her head “Not at all, Mr. Huang” he returns the action and asks a waiter for a glass of wine. He turns back his attention to her “Thanks for convincing him to come, Hana”
Hana smiles “He needed it” she sighs and looks at her glass “I don't want him to have 'what if's' in the future”
Tao smirks in amusement, he lets out a breath and looks afar where his friend was standing, too busy talking to other guests but occasionally taking glances at his girlfriend.
“You really love him, don't you?”
Hana blinks her eyes as her cheeks turn red. What kind of question was that? And to think that it came from Tao. He sips on his drink and turns to her, swallowing “He's not the most expressive person, Hana”
She swallows hard.
“But I know the look in a man's eye when he truly loves someone” the shade on her face darken further more and Tao chuckles. “But you know...” he sips on his drink before continuing “The longer you stay, the harder it gets” Tao gets up from his seat and gives her a wink “Good luck”
And he walks off.
Gulp. She was speechless.
Happy Birthday to everyone's favorite artist and also mothereffin' CEO! :D
Hi guyth! the next chappie will be up by tomorrow! Sorry if I am unable to satisfy you ~ mianhe! anyway, have you greeted CEO Wu on twitter? Kekeke ~ he's been spilling a lot of beans there! Aish, that guy. @KrisEffingWu you are killing @HanaStrawberrie!
P.S. thank you to my unnie: SANDYCHUEH! for letting me use Yookyung! <3 thank you for your patience everyone and your upvotes and comments and subbies! I will continue to work hard! Kamsa ~ <3
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