Moments later, Suho was looking at the older man who just walked through his door with Seo Inguk accompanying him. The man was definitely sharing similarities with Mr. Park although he might look a little bit older, with hint of white hair strands on his hair. Don’t get him wrong; Edward Park was good-looking and wise-looking guy. But somehow, Suho thought that his hardship during his younger years had made him looking a lot experienced than Mr. Park himself.

Also, there was something that came from him that Suho became aware of him. He guessed that Edward Park might be a good negotiator. Perhaps his experiences had made him to become someone that he was now. Nonetheless, Suho felt that Edward Park could be a hard man to deal with; he would need to be careful with this man.

It also surprised him to see that at some parts, Edward Park even shared similarities with Ling. Suho inwardly heaved, silently reminding himself that Edward Park was Ling’s uncle. But no wonder if Ling was beautiful; the good genes had been running through the family’s blood.

Edward Park stopped in front of the two guys who had waited for him. One of his brows lifted as his gaze fell on the young CEO and the mischievous looking guy who stood beside him. The information that he got during these years had told him that the young CEO was Kim Joonmyeon; the guy who stood beside him was Kim Jongdae, one of the twelve bosses who handled the Legal department. He had also known that Kim Joonmyeon was his niece’s boss and the guy whom she currently dated.

He scoffed amusingly and turned to the head of security that had brought him up. “I thought I’ve told you that I want to see Miss Lu Su Ling,” he said in amusing sarcastic tone.

“Unfortunately, she’s currently on-leave, Mr. Park.” Suho replied with polite manner, making the man to look back at him. A smirk came onto Edward Park’s lips. “May I know why?” “Why don’t you sit first?” Suho curtly pointed at the sofa beside him.

On those words, Chen signaled Inguk to leave them alone. The head of security bowed and left the room; Chen accompanied him to the door, telling him to hold every call and guests for Suho. Meanwhile, Edward Park did what he was told to do; he sat on the sofa, leaning his back and crossing his legs.

“So…” Edward Park started to talk after the door closed behind the two. He fixed his eyes to the young CEO who sat across of him. “What do we need to make a deal about? Surely, if we make contracts, I will gain benefits.” A mischievous smirk came onto his face but Kim Joonmyeon only replied him with a polite smile. “There’s actually nothing to deal about, Mr. Park.”

“So why do you keep me here?”

Suho broke their eyes contact and shifted his sitting position as he leaned forward, placing his elbows on his knees. “As you see, Mr. Park, Miss Lu is currently working for me—“

“I’m aware of it.” Edward Park interrupted his words and continued with stern manner. “And frankly speaking, I’m also aware about your relation with Miss Lu.” He smirked. “But how does it feel like? Dating your secretary.”

Suho inwardly sighed. Gosh, Edward Park really knew how to be sarcastic. He also knew how to break someone’s patience. Furthermore, Suho surprised to know that Edward Park had known so much about Ling and him. But he needed to make sure that the man didn’t poke his bad side. Or else, Suho might be giving up under his pressure.

“I’m afraid that it’s a private matter between Miss Lu and me, Mr. Park.”

“But you’re tempted to bring her to your bed, aren’t you?” His smirk came again. “I know lots of guy in your status who date their secretary only for fun. Then, you must be doing the same thing. I was once like you too.” He chuckled. “And my secretary was so damn good in bed.”

Suho clenched his fist. Seriously, this man really tested Suho’s patience. Why did he put so much pressure on him?

Surely, he wanted to explode right now; Edward Park had insulted Ling’s dignity in any way and Suho would never let anyone to do that on her. If he wasn’t Ling’s uncle, Suho would love to give a punch on his face. But patience, Kim Joonmyeon; Suho reminded himself. This man might become handy if he could make him as an ally.

Suho silently sighed before cracking a small smile. “With all due respect, Sir, I’m afraid that you’ve misunderstood my relation with Miss Lu. I won’t deny that we’re dating. But I love her, I do. And I also respect her in private way and also professionally. She’s a brilliant and respectful woman despite of who she really is.”

For a moment, Edward Park gazed at the young man before him. Somehow, the look on Kim Joonmyeon’s face had reminded him to his brother years ago when Mr. Park told him if he had fallen for a Chinese woman yet their mother forced him to marry another woman; it had made him desperate. But Edward Park could see that his brother truly loved Li Fei; it was something that he envied from his brother, to love a woman so dearly and determination to make her happy for the rest of his life. And today, he also saw the same look from Kim Joonmyeon’s face; that, and something else.

Edward Park scoffed amusingly as he lowered his gaze. “I can’t believe that I’ve been defeated by two determinate guys in love.” He heaved and looked back at Suho in more serious yet gentle look. “But it seems that you’ve already known her background.”

Suho nodded and smiled. “I’ve known it for a while, even before I date her. And I’ve investigated a little about her family.”

“And you’ve known who I am, right?”

Again, the younger guy nodded. “Yes, I have.”

Edward Park uncrossed his legs and leaned forward. “And you might have also aware what her father’s wife is trying to get her away from Park Family in any ways.”

This time, the younger guy heaved before nodding and leaning back on his seat while still maintaining his professionalism. “Unfortunately, yes.”

But nothing could escape from Edward Park’s sharp eyes. He had worked as a security officer before and he learned to read people through their expression, their vocal tones and their body languages. So when the young CEO Kim Joonmyeon replied, he immediately knew that something had happened. Honestly, he feared the worst had come to her and it might become the reason of her absence today.

“Did something happen to my niece?”

Suho lifted his gaze. Somehow, his sternness had been gone. He had known that Edward Park was Ling’s uncle and he had somewhat convinced that he meant no harm for her. “Someone attempted to hurt her last Friday. So I asked Ling to stay away from the office for a while because of it.”

Edward Park leaned back and crossed his arms on his chest. “Do you know who did it?”

“I have guessed. And I just got report to confirm about it earlier.”

So Kim Joonmyeon was quietly a smart guy, he thought. Edward Park himself had somehow guessed who was behind it all; he had known it would be happening soon or later. “So where is Yoori?”

“Somewhere save.” There came a short reply from Suho and Edward Park knew that the guy wouldn’t say anything anymore. Perhaps, it was better to leave the girl on his care for now. With a guy with big influence such as Kim Joonmyeon and the Wu Enterprise, Edward Park was certain that his niece would be safe.

He heaved. “Actually, I wanted to see Yoori to ask her whether she wants to leave everything behind and go to the State with me. But it seems that Yoori has a new reason not to leave right now.”

Patting his knees, he stood up; Suho followed. “Just keep her safe, okay. Even though, she may not know about me, she’s still my niece.”

A brow lifted as Suho heard the words. “Have you never seen her?”

A soft reminiscing smile came to the man’s face. “Just once. My brother brought her to the State when she was still one year old toddler. But I’m sure that she might not remember about it. She was a beautiful little girl.”

“Do you want to meet her? I can call her if you wish to speak with her.”

The man shook his head. “No. Keep her location for your own, Mr. Kim. I guess it’ll be better if I have never known. I’m sure that there will come a time for her to know me.” And Suho decided to respect the wish. “Alright, Sir.”

“But…” The man slipped his hand to the inner pocket on his suit and took out a white envelope. “There will be a stock-holder meeting at JYJ Enterprise by the end of this week. And I’m sure if my brother is up to something on that day.” He looked at the envelope before looking back at Suho “And if anything happens, this can be handy for Yoori or even you.” He cracked a smile at Suho then put the envelope down on the table.

“It’s very nice to meet you, Mr. Kim Joonmyeon.” He offered his hand to be shaken, in which Suho did. “My pleasure as well, Mr. Edward Park.” “Perhaps, when the time comes, we can enjoy doing discussion for partnership.”

Suho only smiled to hear it. “I’ll look forward for it, Sir.”

“See you for now. And you don’t need to walk me out.” He then pointed at the office table that was filled with documents. It made Suho cracked a chuckle, “Yeah.” “I’m also a CEO of a company. So I understand.” The man patted Suho’s arm. “Take care. And see you.”

Suho bowed at him as he walked toward the door and left the room. When the door had closed, Suho took the envelope.

At first before he opened the envelope, he thought that it contained an invitation. Or perhaps, it filled with her stock-share as part of Park Family. Or worst, her father’s will was in it. But when he had taken out the papers inside and read it, he realized how complicated the matter had become. He then heard the door opening and he didn’t have to lift his gaze to see who was coming.

“Did you hear the conversation?”

Chen stopped across of Suho. “Yeap.” He popped the ‘p’. “I can hear it clearly from Ling’s office. I’ve told you that the conference call device might become handy someday.” He pointed at the black oval speaker-like device on the middle of the coffee table.

Suho remembered perfectly that Chanyeol had insisted to install the device so he could have conference call in speaker-phone mode. And today, Chen connected the device to the phone on Ling’s office so he could overhear the conversation. So he could come to rescue Suho when the latter was in emergency situation was the reason that Chen gave him earlier; Suho was mentally rolling his eyes with his reason. But he admitted that the device had become handy today.

“But I surprise if he didn’t notice the trick,” Chen added.

Suho heaved. “Perhaps he has noticed. But he decided not to say anything.” He then offered the papers to Chen. “Here. You might want to know about it.”

Chen received the papers and read it while Suho walked to his own chair behind his table. Just as he had thought before, he heard Chen’s amused laughter breaking.

“Awesome,” the guy turned to the CEO with amusing look. “Yah, Suho.” He approached the CEO. “Do you realize how important this thing is?”

Suho only gave him a look. Of course, he had known though he wasn’t sure if he or Ling had the guts to show it around.

“It’s a checkmate.”

“I know.”

“Then what will you do?”

Ling was sitting at a chair of a picnic table in the backyard of a house while looking at the view around the vacation house. It had been two days but the view still kept her in awe. Perhaps, if she could save more money, she would buy a house like Suho’s and live with her mother there.

Yeap, she was staying at Suho’s house for now. He told her that he actually bought the house for building a family with Kim Hyejin. But with her death, he kept the house empty and occasionally used it as a secret place where he could go whenever he wanted to be alone. Besides, no one knew about the house so it was a perfect place for hiding.

Honestly, it was so relaxing to be away from work. Suho had forbidden her from going to office. She knew that he had meant to protect her. But in the same time, Ling was so itchy to go back to work. So it was why she had a laptop opened in front of her. She was actually working at a report that Luhan asked her to do while having video conference with the guy to talk about the work. Ling only smiled inwardly. Perhaps, if Suho knew what she did right now, he would scold her.

“So when will you come home, little sis?” Luhan asked her as he leaned back on his chair; he had just finished briefing her about the report.

“I don’t know about it yet, Ge. I actually agreed to take a week off but I’ve promised Joonmyeon that I will stay away as long as the things are still…,” She tilted her head, trying to find the right word, “…bad.”

Luhan only nodded understandingly. For these past four days after Kim Hyeri came to his place for giving him Ling’s message and food supplies, he had tried to understand Suho’s will to keep her hidden. But that guy was so secretive and even never told him about where she was. Luhan often thought to take her away and bring her back to China. He had even tried to keep himself for not beating up the CEO in order to get information about Ling’s whereabouts. But in the end, he realized that it might be the best for him not to know where she was. And he was lucky enough because Ling contacted him on the second day.

“You know… I miss seeing you at home.”

Ling smiled gently. “I miss home too, Ge. But…” She shrugged and didn’t continue her words. Luhan only cracked a small smile. “I understand. Just stay low for a while. If I have to describe how the office right now, it seems that Suho is up to something lately. Seriously, he seems to tense up lately. Do you know why, little sis?”

Ling shook her head and grinned apologetically. “Sorry, Ge. He never tells me anything about work out of office hours.” “Ah, that’s too bad.” Luhan seemed disappointed.

He looked away for a while then back to Ling with serious face. “But tell me, Little sis.” A playful smirk came to his face afterward. “Has he taken away your ity?”

What the— “Ge!” Ling scolded him with blushing face, causing the guy to laugh. “Seriously, Ge, we’re sleeping in different rooms here. So why are you asking that silly question?”

“Well, you should know that Suho is not as innocent as you think he is.”

Ling heaved. “I know. He has told me.” “Oh, he did?” And Ling only nodded to the question. “Are you not jealous? Or even angry at him?”

Ling propped her chin. “I might be jealous. But I’m not angry at him. Every guy has their own adventure in life, even you.” “But to tell you the truth, little sis, I haven’t slept with any girl.” Ling only facepalmed because of it. Seriously, she think that Luhan didn’t need to look proud about it. “And it's quietly interesting to know that Suho has become a hermit lately.”

Meaning, Ge?

Ling only glared at him, causing Luhan to crack an awkward smile at her. He then continue, “But do you never think that he might have ended having an illegitimate child like your father?”

Ling went silent. Yes, she had told Luhan about her real identity. Luhan seemed to be surprised when he first heard it. But he had quickly accepted it. He told her that it wouldn’t change the fact that she had become his sister. And somehow, Ling understood Luhan's worry but she had believed that Suho wouldn't be that reckless. “I believe that he has been careful so far.”

Luhan scoffed. Somehow, he could see love sparkling around her. He rolled his eyes. “Oh please, Ling. I don’t really need to see you rattling off your romance with our boss.”

“Ge,” Her voice suddenly filled with warning tone and she squinted her eyes on him. “Let’s see when you have found someone. I’m going to say the same thing by then.”

“In your dream, Little sis.” Luhan diverted his gaze for a while and back to her. “It seems that my appointment for 3 o’clock has arrived. I’ll be checking on you again tomorrow, Little sis. See you.” He then waved and leaned forward.

The conversation screen went blank afterward. Ling heaved and went back to the report. While she was working, she suddenly felt thirsty. She reached out for her mug but then she realized that it had been empty. So she left her work to get water on the kitchen. But when she had almost reached the kitchen, she heard the chirping sound from the door. It seemed that someone had entered the wrong code.

It made Ling becoming alert. She really didn’t know who was coming. Suho was the master of the house and the one who changed the code; so it eliminated him as the one who came. Besides, it was impossible for him to input the wrong code. And Suho had told her that no one knew the house. So who was coming?

Ling put down her mug and came to the door. She could hear the chirping sound again. That was the second failed attempt so she thought that she might need to open the door before the third attempt had done and the security company notified the police due to attempt of breaking in. Troubles were something that she wanted the least to happen lately so she tried her best to avoid them.

But when she opened the door, she silently gasped and her heart quickly raced in panic. In front of her, there was a familiar older woman with surprised look as she didn’t expect to see Ling there. And seriously, Ling didn’t even think that the woman would show up. So please don’t blame her if she acted nervous and slightly panicked.

“M-Mrs. Kim.”

I've promised you another update, right? So here it is. And actually, this chapter and the previous one are supposed to be one chapter. I splitted them into two chapters because I was in hurry to release the previous one. Sorry about it *bows*

As usual, un-beta-ed chapter so please excuse any grammar errors and mistakes.

Thank you very much for all the readers, the subscribers, the upvoters and all of you who left comments for this story. I can't thank all of you enough for reading and loving this story. I really appreaciate every each of you from the bottom of my heart.

Sincerely,

Alize Sakura