CHAPTER 50

Following last night's party until three in the morning, everyone in the conference room didn't look so good. Despite successfully staying on both feet until they headed home from the club, getting home at three in the morning and having to show up at nine-thirty in the morning wasn't ideal; which explains the haggard and sleepy looks on their faces.

That is... except for one pea in the pod that had a pretty good morning. Name him: Kris Wu

Other than the fact that he's been declared the new chairman, he had a pretty good start to his morning following the –if he should say- wonderful sleepover at his girlfriend's humble abode. Speaking of her, she quietly enters the room, neat, prim and proper as always, tailing behind a pleased Kris.

The new chairman sits down as his PA –until he leaves for China- stands a foot away beside him.

The room was filled with thirteen people including Hana. Kris takes his seat on the big chair at the end of the table; on his left side sat a bored-looking Sehun who was busy with his phone, Xiumin who kept rubbing the sleep away from his eyes, a groggy looking Suho, Lay who was dazed and the usual proper looking Kyungsoo. To Kris's right was a sleep-deprived Kai, Chanyeol who was busy tapping on his phone aswell, Luhan busy with his Rubix cube, Chen who was just mindlessly staring off to nowhere –probably still sleepy; Tao who was having his cup of coffee and there was Baekhyun who was probably busy playing Temple Run on his phone.

“Well someone had a nice morning” Chen mumbles under his breath as he glances at Luhan –who was sitting beside him and smirks “Morning ?” he whispers over to Chen and the two snort a laugh.

“Who had morning ?” Chanyeol asks out loud, overhearing what Luhan had whispered. Everyone turns to him and the two mentally palm their faces. “You and your ing huge ears” Kai grumbles, leaning back in his seat and tries to soothe the headache that was about to come by massaging his temples with his fingers. Hana flusters but maintains composure.

Kris clears his throat and everyone shifts in their seats to sit properly except for Kai, who refuses to do so.

“Since we're all here... it's time to pick out the new CEO” he starts and everyone shares looks with each person sitting around the table exempting Kris and Hana. Tao turns to the superior one sitting at the end of the well polished long dark oak table “I'd pick Suho”

Surprised by the nomination, Suho turns to Tao and raises a brow as he animatedly scoffs a laugh “What?” he says as if it was the most absurd thing he's heard today. Tao leans back on his chair, his arms resting on the arm rests as he then crosses his legs “I think he'd be a great CEO”

“Tao, please...” Suho starts and looks at Kris then begins to reason “Someone else can do better than me”

Chen rolls his eyes “Suho, stop the humble bull, you'll do great” he smiles brightly but Suho finds his remark rather ridiculously irritating than funny. It was no joke to be CEO, afterall. “I agree” Lay voices out before Suho could utter a protest against Chen's words “I honestly think, Joonmyeon's fit to be the next CEO...” Lay looks at him and smiles “You've earned it, if you ask me”

Suho falls quiet amidst it all. Kris turns to Xiumin “What about you?”

The adorable child-like businessman presses his fingers altogether and speaks “I go for Suho but I also think Tao fits the role”

“Minseok” Luhan sighs “We are not filming a movie”

“Hmm, but he does have a point... Tao's also been working hard” Baekhyun agrees, leaning his arms on the table and smiles in interest as he looks at the unamused panda-looking man sitting beside him “CEO Huang Zi Tao sounds ideal”

Suho – three; Tao – two. Kris mentally notes. “I go with Tao” Chanyeol says, reaching for the glass of water. Tao sighs “Really guys?”

“But you are good and equally deserving” Suho says.

Suho – three; Tao – four.

“Luhan?” Suho asks him and he rolls his eyes at him “Call it betrayal but I actually root for you, Joonmyeon” and cue Suho's head hanging low in defeat as he groans. The score evens out. “Sehun?” Kris calls out to the one sitting beside him on his left. The young man looks at the rest for a moment before turning to Kris “Ofcourse... Joonmyeon”

Tao smirks and turns to Kyungsoo “What about you, D.O.?”

He merely shrugs and states a name “Joonmyeon” no reason to be asked. It was down to Kai; he continuously rubbed his temples, closing his eyes and soothes himself. “Kai” the sound of Kris's deep voice makes him pop one eye open “What?”

“Joonmyeon or Tao?” Chanyeol asks. Jongin looks at the two and closes his eye “Joonmyeon”

And the question was certainly answered by unanimous votes. Hana places down the folder containing some papers and everyone claps as if they've just elected a president. Though Suho thought it was too much of an opportunity for him to be CEO, he couldn't help but feel responsible enough to be one given the votes that were for some reason, a sign of trust.

“Sign here, CEO Kim” Kris said, checking the line on the bottom of the page above the word 'Wu Enterprise Seoul CEO' and slides the folder over to Joonmyeon. Tao raises his fists in the air in a victorious manner as Suho signs, sealing the contract.

The newly appointed CEO gets up from his chair and hands the folder and pen to Hana. She takes it with a smile and returns to Kris's side. Everyone clasp as if it was an awarding ceremony and to make things official, Kris gets up and shakes his colleague's hand.

“Congratulations” he tells him with a devious smile “Looks like you'll be busier than ever”

Suho smirks “No , Sherlock” and everyone else then proceeds to do the same.

Hana.

I turned the door knob and pushed it open; I popped my head inside with a smile. “Hello” Sonya greets; she was packing up some things since she was due to come back to China the day after tomorrow while as Kris's dad and Stephanie were to leave first flight tomorrow morning.

“Hey” I walk in, closing the door behind me “How are you?”

She gives me a bright smile and sits down on the leather chair behind the desk “Pretty good, can I tell you something?”

I nod my head and take a seat in the visitor's chair.

“Chairman never intended to let me replace you, you know” I blink my eyes. What? “Don't tell Kris” she chuckles “Ever since he heard from Chen that his only son was seriously dating someone, he couldn't pass up the chance to a bit”

Okay. I'm quite confused right now, does she mean to say that Chen informed Kris's father about... erm... us? I fluster at the thought. “He was testing the kid; the day he came here, he purposely announced within his son's presence that I'd be taking over your position and” she laughs momentarily; perhaps remembering the scene of the day. Suddenly, I wish I wasn't absent that day. “Kris just snapped”

“Wait... Chen told him? A-and how can he say Kris is... serious?”

Sonya crosses her legs “Because, my dear little Hana, Kris Wu is not one to get mad over a replacement of his employee” my cheeks go numb all of a sudden. Her smile soften as she gazes at me “You're very lucky, Hana”

And my heart just skips a beat. You have no idea.

I've never felt so lucky in my life... never until now. This is more than winning the lottery because Kris alone is so much more than a million and all the things he has given me, everything that he has made me feel and the movie-like moments he's made me a part of, these are all priceless. Simply worth more than what anyone else could offer.

“Too bad he's going away” I mumble mindlessly.

I hear the sound of the chair's leather and the tacking of heels. Sonya bends down infront of me to meet my eye level; she smiles “Not forever and not permanently”

Right. Breathe. Not forever.

Six months. I'll bear with it.

Kris was out of the office and for some reason, he told me that I have to stay for reasons that I needed to fix up some files for him to bring along to China in a few days time. Suddenly, his dad's offer of me being transferred in China sounded ideal. Sigh. You know, you can just go to China without learning Chinese. Just say so, Hana. My subconscious tells me but... No. I have to make an effort. Yes, call me stubborn if you must but I actually want to earn my promotion to work for the new chairman in China.

You see, I draw a fine line –though Kris often fails to see it- between work and personal relationship; Me tagging along to China just because he said so is like I'm tolerating his –if I should say wrong and over- use of power.

I mean, I understand he wants to be close and I do too but this is work and I have always lived by earning the blessings and opportunities given to me. Because for me earning it means that I deserve it and that way anyone can say that 'Ah, she took advantage of this and that' yet I won't feel guilty nor bothered because deep in me I know the truth.

Knock. Knock. “Come in” I call out, not looking up from the papers.

The door opens and someone walks in; the smell of warm coffee fills my nose and I look up expecting to see Kai –and I do, he wasn't alone though. Tao was with him, holding his own cup of coffee and smiles at me. I immediately get up and greet the two with a bow. “Chill, Hana” Tao chuckles, sitting down beside Kai.

“Sorry, I just...” I breathe and sit down “Thanks for the coffee, Kai”

He gives an acknowledging wave of his hand while he sips his coffee “It's a miracle you're not with Kris” he says after pushing the cup away from his lips. It's been a long time since we've had coffee... I sip my drink. Cappuccino, perfect.

“How's your headache?” I ask him, dropping the subject about Kris. “It's gone”

“I heard you're not going with you-know-who to China” Tao says “May we know why?” Sigh. Ofcourse, Kris would tell him. I put down my cup, my cold hands aching for the liquid's warmth “Did he tell you anything else?” I ask. Kai speaks “He said something about a six-month deal”

I swear if he's using his superiority on Tao, he can kiss that deal goodbye. I turn to Tao “Did he threaten you or anything at all?” I ask once more, this time I have earned a chuckle from the said person “No, Hana... don't worry, Kris will play fair” he states giving me a reassuring look.

I take a deep breath “Well, he already told you almost everything, what else do I need to explain?”

“Why?” Kai states as if saying 'duh'

“I just want to earn my place there, you know... that way, people won't talk about it much” I reason. “But people will talk nonetheless so why should you wait six months?” Kai voices out once again.

“Six months is still not sure, Tao has the final word to it and...” I look at him sternly “I trust you to make a fair and honest decision” he raises his hand and nods his head. Kai sighs and shook his head at me, probably frustrated at my stubborn insistence of earning my place “I don't get you, Hana”

“She's a stubborn one, huh Kai?” Tao laughs. Kai sighs and shakes his head; I really wish they would just understand me.

Ring. Ring. “Hello?” I pick up the phone frantically and look at the two, mouthing an excuse me and they turn to each other, conversing in an almost mute volume. “Ah, Hana-ssi” my cheeks suddenly fluster at the sound of the voice.

“C-chair--- I mean, sir!” it was Kris's dad. He chuckled on the other line, perhaps amused by my reaction “Kri –I mean Chairman Wu is not in, he went out” I explain.

“I know but it's you whom I want to speak with”

Gulp. “A-about what?”

Hello everyone.

In behalf of my fellow countrymen who are facing one of the most hardest struggles in our country's history, I would like to extend my sincerest thank you for all of you of who have prayed for our country, for the departed souls, for the missing and for the people who are continuously stuggling to overcome this great challenge.

Thank you so much for your prayers and for your donations. You don't know how thankful my country is for the help that you have all extended for these times of great need. Everyone here is doing what they can to see to it that the goods reach the people as soon as possible, for the countries who are also helping and trying to speed things up thank you. Let's all continue to pray not only for the Philippines but for those around the world who are also in great need and facing struggles as well.

Kamsahamnida.