Her boots tapped against the sidewalk as she walks past the London Eye. The wind blew against her face gently, yet with freezing temperatures. She reminisced the past 9 months, which she filled with guidance and love. She immediately left after Lu Corp. Gala Dinner; her emotions could no longer be suppressed.

…thanks to my dear friends and the love of my life, Kim Min Ha.

She had a meeting beforehand hence, she had no time to proof-read Luhan’s speech for the event that is formally introducing him to the business world as Lu Corp.’s future CEO. To think she gave her everything to make sure he was comfortable assimilating himself into his family business; helping him with his daddy issues, getting him to understand meetings, proposals and even making opportunities for him to meet up with his friends. All to have her heart shatter into millions of pieces. The elders had already planned for their engagement, but her being nice she knows he wouldn’t be completely comfortable with it so propose for it to be put on hold till he is ready to be introduced to the world.

All of her effort completely flushed down when he ended his speech. Lucky for her she managed to keep her smile steady, one that even signified that she was proud of him. Her father and Mr. Lu next to her gave her a questioning look when they heard it, she assured them by placing her hand gently on her father’s arm. Acting as if it was part of some big surprise she had known about becasue she knew that if she had reacted shocked, rumours would arise resulting in even more catstrophic results. She could feel tons of eyes digging into her back. She was sure two of those pairs would be from Nick and Shanon. rumours regarding merging of  Choi Ent. and Lu Corp. through marriage had always been around seeing as the CEOs were best friends. However, seeing as the Lu’s heir has just professed his love publicly to someone else, clearly this rumour has just been proven false.

Haneul took a seat at an elevated bench as it provides an unobstructed view of River Thames. London had always been her escape. The first time was when she was supposed to be engaged with Nick, but failed as she found out he and Shanon were actually together secretly even before the arrangement. Exactly like the previous time, she had Daehyun ready everything as according to the protocol she had given him. Her disappearance would be untraceable, she made sure of that. Having business dealings with the underground has its perks. Luckily she didn’t teach Luhan any dirty business tricks.

She loved London. The people, the scenery, the weather, it just made time pass by fluidly. Deciding she is cold enough, she stands up to head back to her penthouse. Right then she heard a distinct Korean accent calling her name. No!, she thought, nobody found you the first time, heck, daddy couldn’t even find me there is no way anyone else could! Just ignore it! She hurried down the steps, proceeding to hail a cab.

“Haneul! Choi Haneul!”

Cold fingers wrapped themselves around her wrist just as she was about to enter the cab.

“Choi Haneul”

The voice emphasized each syllable. Of all people! Why him? She screamed internally, not having a choice she turned eyes completely cold.

“What do you want Xiumin-ssi?” Haneul asked coldly, causing Xiumin to visibly flinch.

“It’s j-just that, you disappeared completely after the dinner 11 months ago. You didn’t come to the café, Luhan never see you at meetings even your dad didn’t know where you went. W-we just wanted to know if something-“

“Had it not crossed your brain that I obviously don’t want to be found?”

“Umm…well….”

“Seeing as you have nothing of grave importance to say, Goodbye”

She takes a step into the cab but froze, when he continues.

“Chanyeol and Baekhyun misses you cuz there’s no one to laugh at their stupid jokes. Chen misses asking for your comments on his singing. Kyungsoo and lay miss their professional food taster. Kris and Suho had wanted to ask for business tips. Tao misses his shopping buddy. Even Sehun has been asking about you when Luhan comes by and I…. i-I j-just couldn’t g-get you out of my mind”

Haneul proceeds into the cab, and slides in to make space.

“Get in before I change my mind”

Xiumin complies and they head of to her apartment.

Upon reaching the top level penthouse, Xiumin felt that the silence was still as suffocating as ever. Haneul took off her coat, throwing it on the couch and went to sit by the window sill. On the other hand, Xiumin stood awkwardly in the middle of the living room, not knowing what to do. He felt as if he had turned back into a child, when he was caught taking cookies from the cookie jar before dinnertime. After what felt like hours, in reality was 10 minutes, Haneul broke it.

“Why are you here?” she asks, still looking out the window.

“Well, I accidentally stumbled across your beach moment” he noticed that she immediately stiffened, he continues “I heard your cries and I don’t know-“

“Get out”

“What?”

She turned around eyes filled with anger; she started stomping over and forced him around and out of her apartment, “I said get out!”

“W-wait! What did I say?”

“I don’t need your pity! My heart has been played with enough and I refuse to go through it again!”

He was quick in turning around and grabbing her wrist, to stop her from pushing him.

“What pity?”

“You heard what I said at the beach! So now you just pity for the foolish heiress who did everything for the guy she got engaged with yet still got left behind! Not just once, but twice!” by then tears were already streaming down her now red face, “Don’t even try to blackmail me with it! You know the kind of power I have Xiumin!” she shouted, panting angrily.

“You poor, poor thing, love”

He dropped her wrists, but she didn’t expect him to pull her immediately into a hug. She struggled in his hold, eyes wide in panic as she could feel the emotions she had always yearned for from others; care, concern, assurance and dared she say love.

“Don’t fight it” he whispered in her ear. Immediately, she went placid in his hold. For once in her life while being in the presence of another, there was no need for her to put on a poker face when all she wanted to do was cry, no need to for her to pull it together when all she wanted to do was fall apart, no need for her to be the way she was expected to be by everyone else. For once, she felt relaxed with somebody else. Once he felt, her posture giving away, he deemed it safe to continue.

“After that incident, I decided that there was more than meets the eye about you. I realised that you weren’t as perfect as the heiress that stepped into my café so poised, so confident and, might I even say so flawless. You spoke to Luhan with such a tone that I immediately concluded that you were just another snobby heiress flaunting her wealth and power. Then when Luhan told us he decided to take over his dad’s business, I blamed you. I thought you manipulated him into doing it, that thought turned my dislike into hate” he let out a sigh, “I’m sorry”. Haneul carefully wrapped her arms around him whispering a soft “it’s okay”.

“But then you invited us to the mansion because you wanted Luhan to spend time with us despite his new life. That turned into regular weekly visits to the café for Luhan to have some downtime, then I thought maybe you weren’t that bad. I started noticing little things about you, every single time you come in. You try your best to laugh politely so as to not dishearten Chanyeol and Baekhyun. After commenting harshly, you try your best to placate Chen offering advice on areas to improve on. You bring desserts from other patisserie from all over the globe upon coming back from your business trips, to share with Yixing and Kyungsoo in hopes of providing them with inspiration for new dessert ideas and let’s not forget your peptalk with Sehun and giving Kris and Suho business tips” he chuckled, “and I swear you are spoiling Tao too much! Limited edition bags? He’s going to be an even worse shopaholic than he already is”.

Xiumin heard her giggle and smiled.

“So all that, plus the incident just made me realise my feelings for you. But then Luhan started saying how you were never at the office anymore nor at the meetings, I got scared something happened to you. So I went to your father’s office and he also didn’t know where you were. He said about this not being the first time and that it helped you heal hence there wasn’t any need to find you. I guess I got a bit depress after that. I felt so useless, after knowing what you’ve been through yet you were alone somewhere out there. The kids forced me to take a vacation, seeing me down for months, to get my mind off of you, Luhan even offered to pay for everything so I just chose to the first thing that came to mind”. Xiumin sighed; it felt great to finally get all that off his chest. He pulled away from the hug to look at her face. Haneul’s expression told him that she was deeply contemplating something in her mind, thinking he was going to be rejected he shoulders slackened. That was until he realised that Haneul was pulling him somewhere, he raised an eyebrow but complied with her wishes. She led him to the second floor, to the door on the left. Upon entering he realised that it was her bedroom which was as huge as his living room, and that Haneul had led him towards the bed. She gestured him to get on to which he replied with a shocked expression. She rolled her eyes and decided to push him on the bed, getting on as well. He entire being froze when he felt her arms circling his waist in a firm hold, face against his chest. He waited for any type of advancement. After a while, he opened one eye to peek at her, realizing he thought wrong he loosened his posture wrapping his arms around her as well.

“Do you mean it?”

“What?”

“Everything you said”

“Yeah, every single word”

“I don’t want you regretting on what you’re getting into”

“I haven’t start regretting and don’t plan on it”

“I sometimes get very emotional”

“You wouldn’t be human if you didn’t”

“I get very needy for affection and am a skinship monster”

“I’m completely ready to shower you with huge amounts of love and all the kisses and cuddles you want”

“I’m not always so poised and perfect”

“I don’t expect you to be, all I want is my precious Haneul”

Letting out a deep sigh, Haneul finally lifted her head, opening her light brown eyes to look into Xiumin’s, her eyes a little watery.

“You promise to catch me?” she whispered in a tiny voice so broken.

“Every single time” he replied, with a gaze filled with so much sincerity. She smiled at his reply, a smile so rare and genuine he couldn’t help but mirror with his own gummy smile. She snuggled into his chest as he placed a kiss in her hair and both fell asleep feeling happier than ever in a long time.