CHAPTER SIXTEEN

 

Kris weighs in his current predicament and wonders just how angry his wife was, he has received no phone calls and no text messages had entered his inbox either, so it somewhat gives him an idea as to how angry his wife must be -honestly, he would rather have her sending him angry texts or cussing at him over the phone because at least it would be better than experiencing her wrath face to face. Although he’s usually the dominant one in their relationship, whereas he often makes most of the choices and Hana just follows along, he feared her at the bottom of his gut. Wives are scary, he had heard his friends and fellow businessmen speak of it and he never really understood until he got married; sure, Hana was a nice ball of sunshine, she was always first to say sorry even if he was at fault and she would usually be the one cuddling up to him for affection but that didn’t mean that she doesn’t know when to draw the line and trust him, if she did then it was almost equal to hell breaking loose. Like they say, the good ones usually have the worst temperament and Hana was a fine example of that.

 

Hana only had two ways of expressing her anger: the silent treatment or one hell of a fit and usually these kinds of expression would go on for weeks –months even- if he remembers the last time he had so badly pissed her off that she hadn’t spoken a word to him for nearly two months and it took him every ounce of effort that he had to make it up to her.

 

This is definitely not going to cover it, he thinks to himself as he looks at the large bouquet of flowers and ice cream on the passenger seat as he slowly drove himself home, but he guesses that it was worth a try and definitely better than nothing. Unlike the previous nights, the road was actually free from congestive traffic which he found a little nerve-wrecking because he was trying so hard to slow down his pace, he could only imagine the scenes that were about to unfold at home. Kris Wu being scared? That’s a laugh, he could almost laugh at himself because if there was ever any word that he could never be associated with, it was scared. Ah, but he was so whipped by marital ties, it’s like a disease that married men have over their wives.

 

Before he even knew it, he was already pulling up in the driveway and sure enough, he saw his wife’s car parked right beside his. The lights were on, she must be making dinner, he checks his watch then gathers the items from the passenger seat before exiting the vehicle. His feet felt heavy against the concrete even as he dragged them to the front door, he inserts his key into the hole and lets himself in with ease making as little noise as possible and when he had successfully entered the premises of their home, he hears the faint sound of the television from the living room and a sizzling sound from the kitchen. He swallows the lump in his throat and takes a deep breath, he was ready to pop his head through the archway when his wife had beat him to it and stood in the hallway with her arms crossed and an unreadable expression. It made shivers run down his spine, his throat running as dry as the Sahara Desert then his hands begin to grow cold.

 

Kris wracked his brain for words but anything he could muster had refused to come out of his mouth and Hana just stood there waiting as if refusing him further entry until he says something -preferably an apology and a damned good reason why he had done what he did.

 

Then she spoke, “Flowers and ice cream are not going to help you slip through this one, Wu Yifan.”

 

Of course, he knew that but he gambled on it anyway. Kris feels his body move, his upper part moving forward before his knees buckled and he fell to the floor doing the ultimate bow. He deserves it, he deserves her wrath because he had no excuse to have forgotten picking up his own son from school, he would accept it like a man and make up for it later on in every way possible.

 

“We’ll talk later; for now, dinner is ready…” Hana proceeds to turning on her heel and walking away then calls out for their son “Aiden, Baba is home”

 

And soon enough, the young boy is trudging on his little feet and his eyes glow in delight at the sight of his father making Kris’s gut twist in guilt. The smile that Aiden was giving him was making him feel much worse and Hana’s cold shoulder made him want to puke “Ice cream!” he exclaims upon spotting the frozen bag and immediately makes it his mission to take into the kitchen, handing it over to his mom for her to put it inside the fridge, saving it for dessert later on.

 

Aiden was lively at the dinner table and told his father all about his day including the part where his mother had picked him up “Mama said that you were busy so I understand” he grins and holds up a thumb at his dad, Hana chuckles -she was somewhat of a pro when it came to masking her anger in the presence of Aiden; “but forgetting people is not entirely correct, okay Aiden?” she quips and Kris feels an arrow driving through his chest. The bouquet rested on the kitchen counter, untouched and ignored by its recipient. Kris had tried so hard to participate, he notes himself constantly apologizing at the boy and Aiden kept saying it was okay but he was sure that his wife thought of it otherwise.

 

Kris has been added to the group

Chanyeol: Waaasaaaaaaaaaap? _{Sent 8:04}

Kris: Now is not the time. I kind of ed up. _{Sent 8:05}

Luhan: Do tell. _{Sent 8:05}

Xiumin: Enlighten us, oh, married one. _{Sent 8:05}

Kris: I was supposed to pick up Aiden today and take him out for ice cream… _{Sent 8:06}

Suho: So? What’s so bad about that, I think that’s kind of sweet of you to be thoughtful enough to spend time with your son. _{Sent 8:06}

Kris: But then you see, Wei came over at the office earlier and we somehow ended up drinking a lot of wine and I sort of forgot. _{Sent 8:06}

Tao: WAT. _{Sent 8:09}

Tao: OH NO YOU DIDN’T. _{Sent 8:09}

Tao: OHMYGOD I COULD STRANGLE YOU, YOU ! _{Sent 8:09}

Chanyeol: That’s just wrong, man =_____= /judging you hard/ _{Sent 8:10}

Lay: See, that’s just horrible. _{Sent 8:10}

Chen: I can tell you one thing, if you’re looking for some sort of comfort, you ain’t finding one here. Shame on you, Kris Wu. _{Sent 8:10}

Suho: WHY WOULD YOU EVEN DRINK, LET ALONE WITH HER? _{Sent 8:10}

Xiumin: I can’t even. _{Sent 8:11}

Tao: you, Kris. your . _{Sent 8:11}

Kris: Hey, I’m doing everything I can to make up for my fault, okay? Seriously, I came here to seek advice from you fools. _{Sent 8:11}

Kai: her. _{Sent 8:11}

Kyungsoo: KIM JONGIN! _{Sent 8:11}

Kris: Are you ing kidding me? =_= _{Sent 8:12}

Kai: I meant make love to her, I guarantee you that she will forget about it. Make sure she comes harder than you’ve ever made her. _{Sent 8:12}

Kyungsoo: KIM JONGIN, YOU ARE NOT HELPING. _{Sent 8:12}

Sehun: Good luck with that. I doubt that she’ll even let hyung lay a finger on her but it’s worth a try! :D _{Sent 8:12}

Baekhyun: Did you try flowers? _{Sent 8:12}

Kris: Yes, and she ignored them, she’s giving me the worst silent treatment. She won’t even look at me! _{Sent 8:12}

Baekhyun: Figured. I mean, if I were you I would never forget anything especially if it involves my son, my own flesh and blood. I would NEVER trade him for some other girl, especially someone who is NOT my wife. _{Sent 8:13}

Kris: Now you’re just adding salt to the wound. I get it, okay? I ed up big time, now will any of you please suggest something to help? _{Sent 8:13}

Tao: Here’s an idea, why don’t you grab a pole and shove it up you’re a-hole? _{Sent 8:13}

Kris: =.= _{Sent 8:13}

 

“Kris,” the cold voice made him turn away from his phone immediately and stood up from the bed to meet his wife’s cold stare “put Aiden to sleep, I have to wash the dishes.” She then shuts the door behind her without another word while he listens to the retreating footsteps, she was pissed off on so many levels and he had to hold up the other end of the rope; so, he does as he is told like a kicked puppy and heads off to his son’s room. When he enters the boy’s room, he finds him on the floor with Ace beside him while he busied himself with drawing.

 

“Hey buddy,” he calls for the boy’s attention and shuts the door behind him gently. Aiden lifts himself off of the floor and picks up his Ace-hyung then walks over to his dad that had sat on his bed, Kris sets him on his lap “Baba wants to say sorry for not picking you up from school earlier”

 

“It’s okay” the boy replies with a yawn “Baba came to school in the morning so it’s okay. Mama said that Baba works hard so I can have nice things, so thank you” Kris feels his heart crack a little and he unconsciously pulls the boy into a tight embrace which Aiden returns without hesitation then pecks his cheek to say goodnight, Kris proceeds to tucking him in, he pulls the blankets up to the boy’s cheek then presses a kiss on top of his forehead before finally leaving the room.

 

Now, it was time to face Hana.

 

He slowly made his way to their bedroom and finds her already in bed, reading a book with the same cold and neutral expression on her face, she quietly flips the page as if not noticing that her husband was already there standing whilst waiting for her to speak first but when Kris senses that she would not let up any time soon, he decides to freshen himself up and get ready for bed. Once done, he spots Hana in the same position with the same look; he sighs to himself and advances towards the bed but instead of crawling on his side, he crawls on top of her and ducks under the book to nuzzle his head on her chest.

 

“Get off.” She commands but he refuses to move thus she sets the book aside before deliberately shoving him off of her and he falls onto the floor with a thud “What the hell, Hana?!” but she had already turned her back onto him and closed her eyes. He didn’t get, weren’t they supposed to talk? “Hey, don’t sleep on me” he grumbles as he shakes her frantically, finally she pushes off the covers and sits up in bed, she looks at him with a frown “Well? Are you going to explain yourself or not?”

 

His throat runs dry again and his tongue gets tied which only makes Hana’s frown grow deeper “Don’t think that I didn’t notice the smell of liquor on you earlier; so what, you went for a few drinks and forgot about Aiden?” he remains quiet and by the way that he had hung his head low, she knew that it was the case and oh how she wanted to strangle him but instead opts to send a smack over the back of his head causing him to lurch forward and smack his face onto the mattress but he didn’t complain, he just couldn’t because he deserves it after all “The fact that you think it’s okay to drink before picking up your son is just as infuriating!” she had begun to raise her voice and Kris moved deliberately to kneel on the floor with his head down whilst letting her continue “How could you forget your own son, Yifan?! Can you even imagine how panicked I was when the teacher called and told me that Aiden is still in school because apparently no one had gone there to pick him up after the last bell and when I got there, he had practically fallen asleep because he was so tired after such a long day and added that he had to wait for no one?!”

 

Hana fell into silence after that and as he had dared to look up at her, he is thrown into sudden panic because his wife had started crying.

 

“You have no idea how disappointed I am right now, Yifan”

 

---

 

Waking up the next day was terrible, his wife was not by his side as she had decided to spend the night in their son’s room because she couldn’t be near him otherwise she might say something she would regret later on, and he figures that it would be best to let her temper subside and give her her space to think and gather her wits. He wasn’t left with much choices so he gets up from bed; unlike the other days, there was no scent of breakfast lingering in the air and he guesses that it would be cold cereal for today, when he reaches the kitchen he sees his wife quietly washing the dishes while Aiden eats his breakfast on his high chair, he greets him with a big smile on his face then resumes eating.

 

Cold cereal, he looks down on the bowl set beside his news paper and with a silent sigh he takes his seat and gets started on his cereal just as he hears the tap being closed and his wife walks out of the premises. He doesn’t complain nor does he make any move of going after her because he was sure as hell that she was still pissed as .

 

She hadn’t helped him fix his tie either so he settled for none today and after Aiden kissed him goodbye, he was left to be the last one in the house. She hadn’t even spared him a glance even as his were practically boring holes onto her back, he’s sure that he’s really done it this time. Kris also notices a few other things like on his way to work where he almost ran over a dog, then when he arrived at the office his parking slot was taken by some idiot who obviously didn’t know how to read and he makes note of firing him later on -because he can, that’s why; when he made his way up the elevator, the power went off and he had to wait for ten whole minutes before it resumed operation so, by the time that he had arrived in his office, a storm cloud was on his trail sending Meifen some ugly shivers down her spine. He was not having a good day.

 

“G-good morning, Mr. Wu; I have your schedule ready for today” Meifen speaks with caution as she enters his office.

 

Kris ushers her away with his hand as he flops himself down on his chair, Meifen bows in understanding and leaves. A few moments later, the door opens and he groans “I really don’t want to be disturbed right now.”

 

“Well too bad,” came his sister’s voice “because I need your signatures otherwise Yookyung will have to put these on hold”

 

Kris throws his arms up in defeat and swivels his chair around to meet his sister’s smile while he responds with a scowl, Stephanie tosses the papers on his brother’s desk which he takes with a low grumble “You certainly don’t look like you’re having a good day, did something happen at home?”

 

“You don’t even want to know... You’ll probably cuss at me”

 

“Psh!” she waves her hand at him in dismissal “How bad can it be? Come on, tell your sister all about it -”

 

“I forgot to pick up Aiden yesterday”

 

“You motherer”

 

Knew it. He thinks to himself, sighing as he finishes looking over the papers and sign in at the very bottom “Hana-unnie must be very pissed off at you! How could you do that?!” Kris slides over the papers towards the edge of the table and Stephanie snags them with an accusing look “Seriously, how could you?”

 

“I know, I know, can you please just leave for me to think?”

 

With a huff, Stephanie takes the papers and starts heading for the doors although halfway she stops and turns “Why don’t you try getting her, her favorites?” Favorites? That made his ears spark up in interest and suddenly his brainwaves are thrown off balance as he racks it for the said favorite.

 

Elsewhere, Hana is drowned in stacks of paperwork.

 

She sips on her cup of coffee and glares at the paper that she currently had in her hands, it’s no use, she sighs as she puts down the papers and leans back on her chair. It was frustrating to have to resolve to this but Kris had pissed her to the depths of hell that she couldn’t bear to face him without cussing every profanity there is, even though it broke her heart bit by bit to stay mad at him. No, Hana. He needed to learn to prioritize, he needed to see the gravity of his fault, he needed to realize that he is a father.

 

“Knock knock” Hyorin sings as she opens the door to the office and lets herself inside “It’s lunch already and you’re drinking coffee?”

 

Hana rubs her forehead “I’m not having such a good day” Hyorin waltzes over a set and flops herself down “Does it have anything to do with that happened yesterday?” “Likely...”

 

“This is why I never settle for relationships” her co-worker sighs “but you can’t stay mad at him forever, you know”

 

Hana sips on her coffee with a groan, of course she knew that but he wasn’t going to get it so easily this time. Hyorin checks her watch and turns to the woman across her, asking her if she would want to grab a bite just down the block and the latter decides a nod, she places down her cup of coffee and stands up to leave the premises of her office. Upon passing by her secretary’s desk -yes, she has one of her own now; the lady in the tight bun looks her way and informs her “Mrs. Wu, Madame Li would like to see you after lunch break”

 

“Alright” she nods and bids her secretary goodbye before leaving with Hyorin.

 

As promised, the restaurant was just down the block and the two had settled themselves by the window before ordering their meals. Of course, being the closest to a best friend that Hana had in China, Hyorin was not late especially when it came to details and although she greatly discourages fights, especially between married couples, she does not deprive Hana of her right to be. A fee days tops would probably do the trick and if Kris presses all the right buttons, then he just might score himself some for the make up part.

 

“So, did he bring you flowers last night?”

 

“Yes and ice cream for Aiden”

 

“And he said sorry?”

 

“Of course...” she bites onto the meat “but I’m still upset”

 

Hyorin rolls her eyes “Sheesh, cut your husband some slack, Hana; I know it’s a grave offense to forget your own son at school but he’s trying to make it up somehow and if flowers and ice cream don’t do the trick, I don’t know what the hell will” the wife of the chairman sighs deeply and shakes her head at her friend “You don’t get it, Hyorin; Kris needs to understand that some lines are not meant to be crossed”

 

SEOUL

 

Jongdae breathes out a sight of contentment as he rubs his full tummy whilst they made their way out of the restaurant with Luhan and Lay following close behind, “I hope Kris is doing well” Yixing says as he looks up at the clear skies, today was a rather beautiful day and in fact, it was too beautiful to spoil; Luhan scoffs “Tough luck, Hana’s probably still on with the cold war”

 

“Regardless,” Yixing sighs “I’m sure she’s bound to forgive him”

 

“Of course”Jongdae agrees “they’re husband and wife, so -” however his sentence was cut off by the sound of his phone going off and he quickly excuses himself to take the call, it was an unknown number so he guessed that it was the private investigator although it seemed far too early for him to be calling and if it was about the money then Jongdae was sure he had already made the necessary arrangements for the payment, he surely works quick though “Hello?”

 

“Mr. Kim Jongdae” but no, it was not the investigator “Who is this?”

 

If this was some kind of prank call, he will have Chanyeol trace down this little er and beat the out of him “Relax, you don’t have to know who I am because that won’t be necessary... However, I don’t appreciate the fact that you’ve been snooping around lately” Jongdae swallows hard, he has a hunch as to who this caller was or at least for him he was working for, “Enlighten me”

 

“Take this as a warning, Mr. Kim; if I were you, I would not do so much as spend another cent... Wu Enterprise is set for bankruptcy soon enough”

 

Jongdae could not help but smirk “Really now? That would be a waste... Considering how much a certain person wants his hands so badly on the company” the person on the other line chuckles “We are on to you, Mr. Kim; the efforts of a little rat like you will only go to waste so why exert effort? If you really want to know then that debt is as real as reality could get”

 

“I’m not interest in the debt,” by now Luhan and Yixing had taken note of how serious Jongdae looked from the distance “I’m interested as to who we are paying to and as far as I’m concerned this person has quite the shady background and nothing interests me more than a lab rat doing the dirty work”

 

“Watch yourself, Mr. Kim... And good luck”

 

“Yeah, tell Cho Kyuhyun that too”

 

CHINA

 

“You wanted to see me?” Hana enters the premises of her superior’s office and takes a seat on the free chair, Madame Li smiles at her presence and nods “Yes, there is an important matter that I wish to speak to you about”

 

Hana grew nervous all of a sudden and Madame Li seemed to be extra keen of her surroundings, she even looked past Hana’s shoulder to the door as if to make sure it was sealed shut and that no sound would escape the room, when she seemed to content she turned her full attention to her granddaughter-in-law “I’m sure you’re well-aware that Vanessa Wei has been made a member of the board seeing as she has bought some shares of this company” there was no smile, she was dead serious and Hana could feel herself stiffening in her seat for she had never seen the lady as serious as she was right now; she nods “I heard that you’re selling the company, ma’am”

 

“No,” Madame Li is quick to interject “But I am stepping down from presidency soon and every member on that table are potential candidates including Vanessa Wei”

 

She didn’t get it, what was it about Vanessa Wei? She seemed like a decent woman but perhaps the way that Madame Li’s way of speaking about her tells Hana that she is not everything she thought she is. Who is this Vanessa Wei? “Madame Li, I don’t know what you have against Ms. Wei but she seems decent to me” “And that is where your weakness lies, Hana” the said female falls silent as the elder continues “The business world -our world is a world of eat or be eaten, we cannot trust anyone not even our partners, Hana... You may have innocent intentions but Vanessa Wei, the other board members, they will all take advantage of you especially now that you are a Wu”

 

Hana remains quiet. Madame Li was right, she needed to be much more cautious of her surroundings now, she needed to be keener than ever and uphold the family name that she had been bestowed “Your last name is your ace card” she looks up and meets the woman’s eyes “the board is likely to choose you over anyone else”

 

“Wait, what?” she could not possibly be talking about her being the next president for CUBE, was she? No, Hana could not just be the next in line, she simply lacked too much and controversy is sure to follow “Hana, as the Head for the Finance Department of CUBE, you are a member of the board which makes you a candidate eligible for presidency and more than anything... You have to be president”

 

Hana sat speechless, “Vanessa Wei must not take over my place”

 

Hana

 

A heavy sigh escapes my lips as  I pulled up into the driveway upon arriving home; next president, huh? I could almost laugh. With a shake of the head, I turned off the car and got out whilst gathering the groceries from the passenger seat, I’m sure Aiden would love to know that I bought potatoes. The double beep signals that the car had been locked and so I began my journey towards the front door, I notice Kris’s car was already there so I sense that he’s already home with Aiden, seeing as the teacher told me earlier that he had picked him up. At least, he’s learning.

 

Fishing my keys out of my pocket, I slide it into the hole and open the door only to be dumbfounded by the dark house. The lights had not yet been but I swear I could smell a faint scent of something sweet lingering int he air, other than that where were the occupants of the house?

 

“I’m home!” I announce into the darkness but receive no response making me wonder even more, did they build a fort again? Kris must be really determined into this making up thing. Taking a deep breath, I navigate my way around the darkness towards the kitchen before finally opening the light, “Surprise Mama!” the groceries slip off from my hands, not because of my typical clumsiness but because of surprise, shock and awe. There were my two boys with bright smiles on their faces, Aiden holding one of the many baskets full of fresh strawberries and Kris holding a video camera in one hand and a huge bouquet of pink flowers on his other arm.

 

The whole kitchen was filled with baskets of strawberries and flowers.

 

Aiden runs up to me and stops just before my feet, he looks up to my eyes with the most adorable smile and says “Baba said that we should surprise you because he did something bad and hurt mama’s feelings, so we did this! Mama loves strawberries, right?” I could feel tears on the brink of my eyes and I hadn’t even know they were there until one fell from the edge; quickly, I wiped it away and bent down to my baby boy’s level so I could meet his eyes “Yes, strawberries are mama’s favorite”

 

“Baba said that if you really love a person, you would know their favorite” he continues to babble as he sets down the basket and picks up one of the fruits to feed it to me; Oh, how I loved him so much, I would give the world for him “thank you, baby” I peck his cheek and he giggles before turning to the person behind him, he made me look as well. Kris gave me one of those awkward smiles of his, it was the kind he gave whenever he was at a loss for words or something, it was the rare kind of smile which made it special; I wave him over and he hurries like a puppy before behind down and hands me the flowers “You know that I’m sorry, right?”

 

I laugh and wipe away the stray tears “You’re forgiven... Just don’t do it again”

 

“Hugs!” Aiden shouts before pulling on our necks, our lips landing on his chubby cheeks instead of one another.