Chapter 1

The morning sun peaked over the towering building of Titan Wu, one of the giants in the battle field of business, as a sleek black car came to a stop in front of its lobby. The tall man in the driver's seat stepped out calmly as he buttoned his suit jacket. Yet, he was actually groaning in his mind.
That little - ugh! - that girl!

He took out his suitcase from the car as two shorter men - one looked older than the other - ran to him. They had been anxiously waiting for him for the past 15 minutes. 

"G-good morning, chairman!" The older man greeted him and bowed as the younger one bowed too. The said chairman didn't reply and only looked at them without showing any expressions on his face before tossing his car key to the younger one. 

He walked towards the revolving door of the building with the older man, whose hair is turning grey, trailing behind him carrying a tablet in one hand.

"With all due respect, Sir, y-you're late. They have been waiting for you in the meeting room," he said as they both entered the grand lobby. A cold air brought by the chairman suddenly hung over the lobby. The staffs at the lobby stopped whatever they were doing, bowed and greeted him while he just walked past them.

"They need me. It shouldn't be a problem - no! -" he paused, "it's only right for them to wait for me," the chairman replied coldly not even turning to look at his personal assistant.

They arrived in front of the elevator and they stood behind a man—probably in his late 20s—who was standing right in front of the doors of the elevator. The man seemed anxious as he kept on tapping his feet on the floor and looking back back and forth at his watch and at the number flashed above the doors. The chairman eyed the man's worried face reflected on the doors. The man didn't seem to notice the presence of his own boss. 

One corner of the chairman's lip curled upward in a smirk and his eyes were glued on the reflection of the man standing in front of him in despise.
Late, huh?

The man pressed the button repeatedly as if it would speed up the small compartment waited to come down.

"It's no use." The chairman coldly commented. 

The man immediately looked at the reflection on the door and gasped as the chairman made an eye contact with him through the reflection. He then quickly turned around to face the chairman.

"Ch-cha-chairman!" He stuttered still in surprise. "Good morning!" He bowed. But of course there was no response from the one being greeted. 

No greeting, no smile, not even a light nod. Only an intense stare piercing his eyes that made him hold his breath.

DING.
The doors parted sliding open.

The chairman took his gaze off the man after he mentally took a picture of the man and stored it in his memory. He walked inside the compartment with his personal assistant who had been staying silent. The man entered soon after and stood in the corner in front of the chairman. He hung his head low and mentally slapped himself several times. 

You're lucky I'm late too today.
The chairman thought regretting being late for the first time today since he woke up as he stared at the back of the man. 
I would've fired you if I weren't.

Ever since he was appointed—or more likely forced into the position—as the chairman of the company he actually hated, he had fired a lot of workers whom he thought are working inefficiently. Though he hated his position, he thought he might as well bulldozed the company and run it according to his rules.

DING.
The elevator stopped at the floor of the meeting room. The chairman walked out of it and stopped in his step for a moment. 

"You better be careful next time," he said to the man without turning to look at him and walked away. If ice were a sheet, it would be suitable to describe his words as being wrapped with ice. 

The door to the meeting room opened and the chairman strolled in immediately sitting on the only chair at the end of the long table. Three men sat down on one side of the table. Two of them—the higher ranks of the company (the chairman assumed as he could recognized their branded suits and watches)—look at him in annoyance. They had been waiting for almost half an hour for this man who didn't even greet nor apologize to them for being late. The chairman leaning comfortably on his chair only stared back at them.

"Well... Aren't you going to start?" He motioned one of his hand for them to start the presentation. One of the two nodded to the third man and he immediately stood up walking to the screen at the other end of the long table.

The guy started his presentation showing charts, and then telling the unique points of what ever product or service they were offering. The chairman only flipped through the papers of the copy of the slides being presented. He grew bored after only a few minutes.

"Okay, stop!" He raised one hand stopping the man mid sentence. His bosses turn to look at the chairman in puzzlement. "Skip talking about the strengths and benefits. I can read those from these papers. Now"—he leaned his body forward and put both elbows on the table intertwining his fingers of both hands—"what are the weaknesses and threats?" 

The man standing in front was flustered at the question. He glanced at his bosses who both nodded signaling him to answer.

After hearing his answers, the chairman stood up. "Okay. Our people will contact you after I discuss this with the board. Now...if you'll excuse me, I have other matters to attend to." He gave them a light nod and walked out of the room with his PA, leaving the guests in disbelief at how fast the meeting went on compared to the time they spent waiting for him.

The chairman and his PA entered the elevator again and it ascended to the top floor. Once they arrived on his floor, he walked into his room and walked to his chair. The room was somewhat spacious and full of light as it is surrounded with floor-to-ceiling glass window almost on all sides of it. There were some sofas for his personal guests to sit on. Piles of papers are neatly arranged on his large table. Placed on the table was also a golden plate with the name of the chairman engraved on it.

KRIS WU

His PA read him his schedule for the rest of the day from the tablet on his hand as the black haired man opened his laptop. Kris was going to have another arranged meetings after lunch. 

Meeting some more vipers and some -kissers in the business world.
He thought and sighed.

"Okay," was the only word that came out of his mouth after his PA finished reading the schedule. Kris made a hand gesture dismissing him.

"Oh! I almost forgot!" His PA exclaimed turning back to the chairman who raised an eyebrow at him. "Mr. Ahn asked me to ask you if you want to buy anything for your wife because—"

"Mr. Lee...," Kris sighed deeply cutting his PA. "How long have you been working here?"

"P-Parson me? Well... I've worked for years for your late father and have then worked for you for more than a year now."

"And have you ever heard me asking you to buy anything for that girl this past one year?" He asked with a tone that gets colder at every word as the image of the girl he hated crossed his mind. Mr. Lee shook his head weakly to answer him.

"Exactly!" Kris turned his attention back to his laptop.

"B-but sir—" Kris raised his hand to stop Mr. Lee and gestured him to be dismissed. The old man bowed and left the room.

Kris sighed and leaned back on his chair once the door was closed. "Wife?" He scoffed.

He turned his chair around and faced the glass window. The city of Seoul with its tall buildings came to his view.

Why should I buy anything for that girl? Is it her birthday today? Not that I remember of.
He thought.

I wouldn't care if it is anyway. 

He dismissed his thought and took out his phone. Pushing the single button, his locked screen came to view flashing a picture on it.

He caressed the screen of his phone with his thumb then sighed. "It could've been you."

"Hufft...Hufft..." She panted as she ran with all her might across the wide field.

Ugh. Why does the building have to be far away from the gate?! She complained in her mind. Rich people school!

"Kang Minhyuk?" 

"Here."

"Kim Haneul?"

"Here."

The teacher called the student one by one as she always did before class started.

"Kwon Yeojin?"
No response.

"Kwon Yeojin?"

Another silent response greeted Mrs. Han and the other students started to look to their left and right.

"Kwon Yeojin?" She called her once again.

"Here! Here!" The door of the classroom opened abruptly as the said girl came into the class sweating and panting. The teacher looked at her with a raised eyebrow and glanced at her watch.

"You're 10 minutes late, Ms. Kwon!"

"I know... I'm sorry, Mrs. Han. It won't happen again." She bowed several times.

"Okay," she sighed. "I'll only let you off this time. Now go to your seat."

"Thank you, ma'am!" She bowed one more time and went to her seat with a sigh of relief while Mrs. Han continued the roll call.

"Psttt. Psttt." Her best friend who sat a row in front of her on her right side tried to call her. Yeojin turned her head to her and raised both of her eyebrows. Her best friend, who went by the name of Hong Sunhee, pointed to her own ring finger. 'Your ring' she mouthed. 

Ah! She realized what Sunhee was trying to tell her when she looked at the ring encircling her finger. She took it off and put it inside the pocket of her blazer.

"So... Why were you late?"

Yeojin put her books in her locker and leaned her back on the locker after closing it. "Because of that tall ice block!" She crossed her arms and pouted. Her friend giggled while putting her books.

"What is it this time?" 

"He just insisted on staying in his slumber when I woke him up. If it weren't for the bucket of water, he wouldn't get his off the couch!"

Sunhee laughed as she closed her locker. "You poured a bucket of water on him?!" She laughed again.

"Yeah." Yeojin shrugged and chuckled. "With a bucket of cold water actually."

"What?!" Sunhee laughed harder. "You sure are brave enough to annoy him. But seriously though, isn't he supposed to be this cold chairman?"

"I know right. I guess that childish side of him always takes over in the morning." Sunhee chuckled, but Yeojin's smile slowly disappeared. "Like the guy he used to be," she mumbled and slowly hung her head down.

Realizing her friend's disappearing smile, Sunhee gradually stopped chuckling and sighed. "Come on! Let's go to the cafeteria!" She smiled sweetly and grabbed the brunette's arm locking it with hers making her smile again.

"By the way, why do you always wear your wedding ring even to school? People will be suspicious if they noticed." She asked as they walked to the cafeteria.

"I don't know... A habit, maybe? Or just because I feel like I must, I guess."

"Tsk. Tsk." Sunhee shook her head. "Just be careful next time. You don't want anyone in this school to know you're married to the chairman of the all powerful company their parents have been wishing to be partnered with their companies, right?"

"Yeah." 

Of course, Yeojin didn't want anyone to know that she was married at all. Actually, she never wished to get married at her age and be treated coldly by the one she married. She never wished to get enrolled to this school full of heirs and heiresses of various companies (though she was glad she could meet her best friend). She never wished to wake up early every morning to get herself ready for school and wake her so-called husband. But above all, she never wished for her supposed life-long friendship to be broken.

"Oh! By the way, I'm going to the mall after school. Wanna come with me?" Yeojin asked.

"Sure!" Sunhee gave Yeojin her eye smile. 

One of the things Yeojin was grateful of with herself being married is the fact that she could spend more time with this girl she had been friend with since middle school. Sunhee was actually more introverted compared to her who was easy going and could make friends with anyone, but weirdly, Sunhee smiled a lot more than her. But their differences made it possible for them to complete each other.

She smiled widely as she put down the plates of jajangmyun on the table for her customer. Her eyes formed crescents. Her long black hair was tied into a pony tail.

He watched through the window from outside. Hiding in the corner. 

I've finally found you.

His lips curled into a smile - the warmest smile he had ever shown for the past two years. His warm smile might even melt down the ices he surrounded himself with.

You've made it!

He couldn't take his eyes off her. Her smile, her long black hair, everything about her had not changed a bit for him. If he were to point out a change in her, it would be her becoming even more beautiful. His moment of admiring her was disturbed by his ringing phone causing him to groan as he took out his phone from his pocket.

Mr. Lee
The screen of his phone flashed the name.

He then swiped his screen to answer the call.

"What is it, Mr. Lee?" He almost shouted because of annoyance. "Isn't the next meeting going to be after lunch? This is still lunch hour!"

"I-I'm sorry, chairman, but Mr. Wu Huan is here in your office." Kris straightened his back hearing the name. "He wishes to have a lunch with you," Mr. Lee continued.

He sighed and looked back at her who was talking with a customer. "Tell him I'll be there." He said as he walked away crossing the street toward his car.
 

"Your jajangmyun is the best!" The customer exclaimed as he gave her two thumbs up.

"Thank you!" She smiled and slightly bowed. "Please enjoy!" She turned around when a figure outside her restaurant caught her eyes. She could only see his back as he crossed the street with a phone held close to his ear. But though it was only his back, she was familiar with it. She cocked her head to one side and squinted her eyes.

Is that... Yifan?
She thought.

"Which one do you think is better?" Yeojin held two ties in her hand one was red, the other was deep blue.

"I think the deep blue one is better."

"Just as I thought!" Yeojin smiled and gave the chosen tie to the one of the employees. "I'll take this one," she said. The employee took the tie and walked to the cashier as the two girls followed behind.

"Have you guys reconciled or something?"

"Huh?" Yeojin laughed. "Have you forgotten that I splashed him with cold water this morning?! How is that a reconciliation?!"

"Right." Sunhee nodded and her shoulders slumped.

"I'm buying the tie today not to celebrate it, but as a...a...an offer of friendship." She paused and paid for the tie.

BRRT BRRT
Yeojin's phone vibrated in her pocket as they walked out of the store.

She fished her phone from her pocket and immediately face-palmed herself after seeing the name of the caller.

"Ah! I forgot to tell him," she mumbled under her breath before swiping the screen of her phone to answer the call.

"Hello?"

"Miss Yeojin! Thank goodness! I thought something happened to you!" A deep voice from the other end of the line spoke with tones of both worry and relief.

"Hehe. I'm sorry. I forgot to tell you I was planning to go to the mall." She forced a smile feeling guilty. Sunhee raised her eyebrows asking her who the caller is. 'MR. AHN' she mouthed and Sunhee nodded as formed an 'O'.

"It's okay, young miss. Are you still at the mall? I'm going to pick you up there."

"Yes, I'm still at the mall."

"Okay, miss. I'll pick you up there."

"Thank you, Mr. Ahn!" She ended the call.

"Private lesson?" Sunhee nudged her fried.

"Yeah," she sighed. 

Ever since she was married, she was obliged to get some private lessons on etiquette, ballroom dance, make up, and even basic business lessons. She didn't really understand why she had to have these lessons knowing how their marriage was even hidden from the public. She was just told that it's necessary for her as Kris' companion and it will be useful in the future once their marriage is publicly announced. 

Thus, she had to go the Wu's house every Monday and Thursday after school. The hard life of a chairman's wife, Yeojin always thought. But at least, she could meet her mom and little brother who had been living in that house ever since she was married.
 

Tall buildings soon were out of sight and were replaced by trees whose slim trunks stretched out reaching for the sky. The Wu's house—or more exactly the house of Kris' parents—was located far from the busy city life. If it wasn't for that fact, Kris and Yeojin would be living there too. 

They did live there for a year after their marriage, but Kris insisted on buying a house just for the both of them. And it certainly wasn't because he wanted to spend time with only her. Instead, it was because he couldn't stand seeing how his family members adored her. Plus—he reasoned—the house was too far from both the office and the school. Based on this reason, his mom approved of his idea. And of course Yeojin did not dare to disagree with him. Marrying him had destroyed a relationship they once had. Disagreeing would only make it worse. Besides, she saw it as a chance to mend their broken friendship.

The tall double gate opened and the car entered. The car passed the vast garden and rounded the circular water fountain in the middle stopping right in front of the house. The two-story house, painted with broken white color, was very big, but it would be an exaggeration to say it was as big as a castle. It wasn't as big as that, but big enough to show wealth and power. 

Once Yeojin entered the house, she could see the stairs leading to the second floor standing a few feet away from the door. On her right was the dining room and on her left was the doorless carpeted living room. 

"Noona!" A boy jumped off the couch and ran to her immediately hugging her waist and leaning his head on her chest.

"Jinho!" She hugged back the eight year old and ruffled his hair. 

Soon her mom and Kris' mom came out and hugged her too.

"Hi, Eonni!" A girl about her age came down from the second floor. 

"Hi, Lin!"

"Hoho! Who do we have here?" A plump white haired man came out from the living room as Yeojin's eyes widened in excitement.

"Grandpa?!" She ran towards him and hugged him tight. He is Kris' grandfather. The one who founded the Titan Wu empire. He always treated Yeojin as his own grand daugther.

"I thought you're supposed to be in China."

"I was bored living alone there, so I decided to come here." They both laughed.

"Ready for the lesson?" Mrs. Wu asked her with a smile. "Your business tutor is waiting in the library."

"Yes, Mother!" She nodded lightly with a smile.
 

After the long hours of studying, she joined the family for dinner. They conversed warmly as laughter filled the room. This was why she loved living in this house. Not because of how big it was, or the facilities, or the maids, but because of the warmth she could feel in the midst of her cold marriage. No, she did not wish for Kris to love her because she herself did not believe in love anymore—not after that horrible night. She just wished he would treat her the way he did then.

Time quickly passed by and it's time for her to go back to the cold house she shared with her husband.

"Mom! Can I just go with Yeojin eonnie and live with her and Gege?" Lin asked hugging Yeojin's arm as she stood in front of the door. "Pleaseee...," she begged her mom protruding her lower lip like a little girl though she was actually only a year younger than Yeojin.

"Ey! No, you can't!"

"Whyyyyy?" She sulked and Yeojin giggled at her. "We go to the same school, but I have to wake up early everyday because the school is too far away from here," she continued to whine.

"Still no! You're going to bother their marriage life. Also... You are still my responsibility, so you have to live with me. Yeojin is now your brother's responsibility. Besides, you know there is only one bedroom in their house."

Lin slowly let go of Yeojin's arm and pouted. Actually, deep down in Yeojin's heart she wanted Lin to live with her too. They always teamed up to bother Kris when they were kids.

"Oh!" Yeojin's mom suddenly remembered something. "Have you bought anything for Kris?" Mrs. Kwon asked her daughter.

Mrs. Wu's eyes widened as she realized what her in-law meant. "Ah right! Today's your second wedding anniversary, right?!" Yeojin nodded and forced a smile. She wished they didn't ask. It wasn't something to be celebrated anyway.

"Yes, Mom. I have bought him something." 

"As expected, my sister-in law!" Lin chimed. "Wait. You didn't buy a lingerie to give him any special treatment tonight did you?" She and Yeojin felt her cheeks suddenly burning.

"Ya!" She slapped Lin's arm. "You seriously need to dip your head in holy water to cleanse your mind!" She joked and the others laughed.

"That's not what you bought right? Since you didn't say no." This time Grandpa and the moms laughed some more as Yeojin's jaw dropped in surprise.

"Grandpa! Not you too!" She whined. "Of course not!" She exclaimed.

Kris' mom then pulled her into a hug and her back several times. "Thank you, Yeojin," she softly said. "Thank you for being patient with Yifan," she pulled away from the hug and looked at her daughter-in-law in the eyes as she cares her cheek. "I know he always treats you coldly, but thank you, Yeojin."

Yeojin gave her a smile. "You don't have to thank me repeatedly, Mother. It's...what I have to do." She gave her a quick hug before hugging the rest and finally parting with the family.

Yeojin arrived at her house, the place she never really thought of as a home. Her house was like a place she tried to avoid coming into. 

The house was not big, but it was located at an area where only wealthy people live. The premise was surrounded by a high wall hiding the one-story house from view. It was overall still a very decent house with a small space of garden in front of it. One problem with it was that it only had one bedroom (which Kris complained to his mom about). Given the fact that Kris hated her, he of course refused to sleep in one room, on one bed with her. Thus, he always slept on the couch.

She didn't see Kris' shoes in front indicating he had not come from work. She put down her bag on the island in the kitchen then took a glass of water and drank it. She sighed as her mind traveled else where.

Will we ever go back to what we were?