CHAPTER THREE

 

There are three things in this world that Aiden absolutely enjoys: his bottle, pulling his dad’s hair and all the love he gets from his mom. He gets all three on one fine morning at the Wu household during breakfast. There he was, happily giggling as he stood on his father’s lap, baby bottle on one hand and the other pulling on his father’s hair –much to Kris’s dismay ofcourse- with his mom showering him with kisses every now and then.

 

The cup of coffee and waffles remained untouched seeing as Kris’s hands were too full at the moment. For some reason today, Aiden didn’t feel like being in his mother’s arms and preferred his dad’s. Whenever he was placed on his high chair, he would cry and even though Hana would pick him up, his arms were held forward towards his dad.

 

“Aish… Aiden…” Kris groans as he gently pulls away the boy and sets him to sit on his lap but being the persistent baby he was, he whined and wiggled himself until his dad gave in to let him stand and pull on his locks again. Sighing in defeat, he turns to his wife “Baobei ~” he groans, “feed me?”

 

“What?” she raises a brow at him with a chuckle; Kris points at the coffee and waffles with his lips and does a pair of ridiculous puppy eyes much to his wife’s amusement. “I still have to get to the office, you know… now please?”

 

Laughing, she dries her hands with a towel and round the island counter to feed him as he had requested. Aiden pauses from pulling on his father’s hair and watches as his mom feeds his dad a piece of waffle.

 

“Muh… mamuh…” his lower lips tremble for a moment and his eyes watered then he begins to wail loudly, he frantically pulls on his father’s hair almost pulling of Kris’s head “Yah! Ow! Ow! Ow! Aiden! Owwwww!” “Aigo ~ baby…” Hana pulls the baby away and gently rubs his back, trying to calm him down.

 

You little devil… Kris groans in pain, rubbing his head as he peers at the baby. “One moment he likes me, the next he hates me…” he mutters; Hana turns around to meet his eyes, “he doesn’t hate you… he’s just –”

 

“Jealous… tsk” and this makes Hana laugh, “Well then… I’m not surprised; my baby is just like his daddy aw…”

 

 

Today, I feel happy… because I’m going with papa to his office! I can pull on his hair more! Yey!

 

Kris heavily sighs as Hana gives him a quick run-through manual on handling Aiden. Unfortunately, Ayi could not take care of Aiden today as she had gone to the States for the week; Hana couldn’t take Aiden to work since she goes in and out of the office so Kris has to make use of his powers just for today.

 

“—and when he cries, don’t raise your voice at him, Kris are you listening to me?”

 

“Yes Hana… don’t worry, I’ve got him under control” he says, assuring her with a firm look on his face. Hana takes a deep breath and nods. Kris rounds the driveway of CUBE and parks up front, “I’ll see you guys later,” she pauses to peck on her husband’s cheek before turning to Aiden, who was strapped in his baby carrier in the back seat, “have fun with daddy, baby ~” she coos making Aiden giggle in joy as he bites on his teether.

 

Hana exits the car and Kris drives off. He sighs, “Looks like it’s just you and me, buddy”

 

Kris was convinced that things were not going his way today. Taking care of Aiden for a couple of hours was one thing but to have him all day while attending to his duties were another. He understood Hana’s on-hand parenting reasons but with their line of work, a maid would cut them some slack.

 

They eventually arrive at Wu Prime and despite the people’s unprecedented fear of the chairman; they could not help but awe at the sight of the little heir that is Aiden Wu.

 

“Aiden!” came the awed high pitched voice of Aiden’s aunt Stephanie. She had quickly rushed towards her brother as soon as she laid eyes on the adorable bundle of joy that he was carrying in his arms. This girl… erm… baba, what’s her name again? “Let me guess, Ayi can’t take care of him today?” and Kris responds with a sigh at his sister.

 

Kris hands over Aiden to his sister. She smells nice… but mama smells nicer. “Nothing’s going right this week, Stephanie...” Kris mumbles as they enter the elevator. Oh right! Aunt Funny ~ “It’ll get better Ge; besides… don’t you enjoy taking care of this little guy” she smacks a kiss on Aiden’s cheek making the boy giggle. Kris doesn’t answer.

 

DING.

 

“Good morning, Mr. Wu, Ms. Wu –” Meifen pauses in surprise at the sight of a baby. Aiden Wu? The heir? Certainly, it was a surprise to see the boy since he’s not often seen in public. “Ms. Peng” Kris cuts her off from her daze, “…my schedule?” “R-right, sir…”

 

The group enters the chairman’s office; Kris takes his seat behind his desk, Stephanie settles on the couch with Aiden while Meifen stands beside the big boss to relay his schedule.

 

“Ms. Wei? Who is this?” Kris asks his assistant.

 

“She claims to be the daughter of Mr. Wei… the one about the… debt?” she whispers the last word. Kris closes his eyes for a brief moment and shakes his head, he approves of all the other schedules except for one. “Would you like me to reschedule this one, sir?”

 

“No, tell her I’m busy for today…” he pauses to think for a moment. His eyes wander around the office for awhile, he sets his eyes on Aiden for awhile and then at the screen of his laptop, he moves his eyes to the side and settles on the picture frames; an idea springs onto his head “…and tell her, I’ll be in Seoul for the weekend”

 

 

Thankfully, Aiden was being a good boy. While his dad was busy solving things on his table, he was busy crawling around the large space, exploring the little environment of his father’s office. He would sometimes sit himself up and stare up at the large framed photos of the previous chairmen of the company –in other words: his grandfathers. They look funny… kekeke… he giggles, clapping his hands aswell.

 

Kris looks up from his paper works in wonder as he hears Aiden’s laugh, “What’s so funny?” he asks. Aiden continues to laugh; taking a deep breath; he leaves his paper work for a moment and walks towards Aiden.

 

“Baba buh wo la pap pap nub ~” he babbles on, as if trying to tell his dad something. Will you be like that one day, baba? I’ll laugh at you too! He giggles before grabbing hold onto his father’s slacks and pushes himself up to his feet to stand; Kris pockets his hands and he sighs as his eyes land on his father’s portrait.

 

Why do you have this dad?

 

He couldn’t even fathom any possible why his father had such a great amount of debt left behind. For all Kris knows –ever since he was in his mother’s womb- his family was too well off to owe anyone money because if anything… it’s other people who owe them money.

 

“Your mom is gonna kill me if I don’t pay this off by the time you get old enough to run this freak show” he mutters. Aiden looks up in wonder to his dad, Mama will kill you? But… that’s bad. Kris looks down at the kid and scoops him up, “one day… your portrait will be up here too” he says, taking a few steps and turns to a different frame, “right next to mine”

 

Aiden stares in behold at his father’s image, “handsome, right?” Kris asks and he laughs, he smiles thinking it was Aiden’s way of agreement. Baba looks like the funny guys.

 

 

“Hana, I’m sure they are fine” Hyorin says, trying to calm down her worried friend.

 

“So why isn’t Kris calling me? I really feel like there’s something wrong” Hana yields; it’s not that she didn’t trust Kris on taking care of Aiden but there were certain things that she got used to that she used as a warning sign whenever there was something wrong… such as her beloved husband not calling.

 

Hyorin rolls her eyes, “oh I don’t know… maybe because they are fine?” she suggests rather sarcastically. Making up her mind, Hana takes a deep breath and fishes her phone out of her bag, “That’s it… I’m calling them”

 

However, just before she could hit the call button, her phone rings thus signaling an incoming call but unfortunately, not from someone she expected.

 

“Yes ma’am?” she answers upon her boss’s call. Hyorin keeps quiet and finishes off her salad while her colleague takes the call; Hana’s eyes widen all of a sudden “U-uh… are you sure about that?”

 

“What is it?” Hyorin mouths at her.

 

“Y-yes ma’am… I’ll get to it –yes, yes ofcourse… I’ll tell him” they then exchange goodbyes and Hana collapses back on her seat after she puts down her phone. Growing a little concerned at her friend’s sudden blank expression, Hyorin waves a hand infront of Hana’s face and asks “Hey… are you okay? Hana?”

 

Hana snaps out of her thoughts and looks at Hyorin, she asks “how do I tell him?”

 

“Tell him what?”

 

 

It was loud, it was unpleasant and it was making Meifen very desperate. Due to a very important meeting that Kris was having, Aiden was left under her care. Everything was fine when he left given the fact that the boy was asleep when his father left his office, Kris –and her aswell- was hoping he would stay knocked out until his meeting was over for fear that the boy might look for him and cry his heart out until he sees him; however, just around forty-five minutes after Kris left, the little boy woke up and was now crying in his assistant’s arms as she continuously tried to shush him.

 

Amidst the crying and shushes, the phone rang. Meifen presses the button for the loud speaker and answers rather loudly incase the caller couldn’t hear because of Aiden’s wailing, “Mr. Wu’s office, this is his assistant speaking, how may I help you?”

 

“Meifen? Ow…” she recognizes Kai’s voice, “What’s with the wailing?”

 

“J-Jongin! S-sorry, Mr. Wu is in a meeting and I have to take care of Aiden”

 

“Aiden? Kris brought him to work? I thought they leave Aiden to his aunt?” Aiden’s cries get louder, I WANT MY TALL BABA! UNCLE DOLPHIN NOSE, TAKE ME TO HIM PLEASE! “Ow… okay, that hurts…” “His looking for his dad” she groans desperately, whispering words of comfort to the boy, “Then why don’t you take him to him?”

 

“He’s in the middle of an important meeting, that’s why… tsk, listen Jongin, I’ll call you later okay? I have to get this little guy to calm down”

 

“Uh alright… good luck with that babe”

 

“Shut up, idiot” Meifen puts down the phone.

 

DING.

 

The elevator doors open and Stephanie steps out, she grows immediately worried at the sound of a loud cry and rushes away from the lift to Kris’s office. She opens the door and spots Meifen, “Ms. Wu!”

 

“What’s wrong with him? Why is he crying? Aigo… come here baby” Stephanie questions as Meifen hands him over to his aunt. “I’m sorry ma’am but he’s looking for Mr. Wu and I can’t take him there, he’s in the middle of an important meeting”

 

Stephanie sighs, she rubs Aiden’s back to soothe him but the boy wouldn’t stop crying. AUNTIE FUNNY! TAKE ME TO MY BABA! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE! It was heartbreaking to hear the baby’s cry, in fact… Stephanie couldn’t stand hearing it so she followed her instincts and began to exit the office, much to Meifen’s horror because worst case scenario would be Stephanie taking the boy to his dad which was not to be an option because the meeting was far too important.

 

“M-Ms. Wu, wh-where are you going?” she asks in panic. Stephanie doesn’t turn and keeps walking, heading for the elevators “To Kris”

 

“But Ms. Wu –”

 

“Ms. Peng, don’t worry… I’ll take this one”

 

“But Ms. Wu, the meeting is very important and Mr. Wu –”

 

“Ms. Peng, just trust me… hush now baby, we’re gonna go see daddy, okay?” the elevators close in on Stephanie and the lift begins to descend leaving behind Meifen to sigh in defeat and worry.

 

Meanwhile, the meeting room was quiet as two employees were presenting something up front. Kris was sitting on his chair, listening well along with some other board members to the proposal of a project. It was somewhere in the middle of a discussion already when a knock came on the door and a secretary came in; as the door closed, the faint sound of a baby crying entered Kris’s ears causing him to sit in alert all of a sudden.

 

“Mr. Wu,” the secretary whispers, “Ms. Stephanie Wu is outside… and Aiden is crying”

 

“What?” he stands up from his chair, much to the board members’ surprise and alarm. The presentation comes to an abrupt halt as the lights in the meeting room come on and Kris exits.

 

“Buh-buh…” Aiden cries as soon as he sees his dad emerge from the meeting room. Kris quickly takes him in his arms and rubs his back to soothe him, thankfully he then stops crying. Kris sighs, “Stephanie, I was in the middle of an –” “I know,” Stephanie interjects, crossing her arms as she does so “but can you really stand Aiden crying while you’re in there?”

 

His brother falls silent.

 

Aiden finally stops crying. Kris wipes away Aiden’s stray tears with thumb, “Aigo… Baba was in the middle of an important meeting, kiddo” But I wanted to see you, I thought you left me. Stephanie sighs, “Yi Fan, I have to go now”

 

“Wait,” he turns to Aiden then to his sister, “can’t you look after him for a little more?”

 

“Yi Fan –”

 

“This meeting will be over before –”

 

“Then take him…” “What?” “You heard me… he’s your son, he’s the heir of all of this and those people inside that room have nothing to say because whether they like it or not, Aiden is technically their boss… future boss” Kris sighs and Stephanie smiles, “You are a father and a husband before you are a chairman… remember that”

 

Stephanie then leaves, leaving Kris no choice but to take the boy inside the meeting room. He was greeted with surprised looks from the people inside but nevertheless, no one spoke against it, still too afraid of who he was. He sits down on his chair and places Aiden on his lap, the boy looks around the room in wonder before spotting some papers on the table and looks up at his father, he babbles some false words as if asking his dad if he could write on them.

 

“No, they are important…” Kris tells him. He sighs and asks the secretary for some papers and crayons to which she quickly complies to; when all was set –meaning Aiden being busy with scribbling on the papers- Kris clears his throat “Continue with the presentation”

 

The dazed employees snap out of their trance and continue as the chairman had asked.

 

 

They day finally ends.

 

Kris takes a deep breath and silently thanks the heavens for getting him through it before unbuckling his seatbelt and exiting the car. He rounds the vehicle upfront and opens the passenger seat to get Aiden out; the boy smiles at his dad, happily wrapping his arms around Kris’s neck and babbling incomprehensive words as Kris tries to talk to him, “Did you enjoy today, kiddo?”

 

He closes the door and locks up the car, “You really stepped up your game on baba, didn’t you?”

 

Aiden giggles and babbles some more. Kris opens the door to the house and announces their arrival as they were greeted by the sweet scent of dinner. Hana had insisted to go on ahead home since she wanted to make him a nice dinner as a thanks for taking care of Aiden bravely for the day.

 

“Did you guys have fun?” Hana asks as her husband and baby emerge in the dining area.

 

Hana gives each a kiss before finishing off setting down the plates on the table. Kris sets down Aiden on his high chair and sits down his wife as they finally eat dinner.

 

“So, how was your day?” she asks; Kris takes a deep breath and forces a smile, “It was great… Aiden was…” he glances at the boy who was happily enjoying his mashed potatoes, “he certainly entertained a lot of people at the office”

 

Hana chuckles, “I’m sure he had fun with you, baobei”

 

I enjoyed a lot, Mama! Baba even gave me paper and crayons! “I’m sure he did” Kris agrees.

 

Hana sighs and begins to grow quiet, and it certainly didn’t take Kris much to notice it. He pauses from eating dinner and looks at his wife –who still at keeping something, in his opinion. “Alright, what is it, Hana?”

 

“H-huh?”

 

“You and I both know that you didn’t go extra all out on this dinner just because I volunteered to take care of the little guy… so what is it?”

 

Busted… figuring that this might aswell be the right time, Hana takes deep breath and looks at her husband straight in the eye. She quietly hopes that he takes it well.

 

“I’m leaving on a business trip”

 

Kris raises a brow, “Is that it?” Hana nods, “Alright then” Kris says and resumes eating dinner as his wife mentally jumps in joy for him taking it so well.

 

“Oh thank heavens… I thought you were gonna flip the table or something” she speaks out loud and laughs. Kris chuckles, “it’s just a business trip, and surely you’ll be back by night time”

 

“Well, um, not exactly…”

 

Kris felt his world stop for a moment. He slowly looks up at his wife, “What?” Hana keeps the smile on her face, “There’s a summit in Paris and I have to be there, so I won’t be back by night time…”

 

All was silent except for Aiden’s laughter at his dad’s face that he found funny, “It’s just for a week, and you can handle Aiden… right?”

 

I’m ed… Kris didn’t know what to say. Aiden laughs and claps his hands, YEY! More time with Baba!