Chapter 44

ICE: Thaw the Frozen Heart [EDITING]

Chapter 44

 

Marriage is something sacred. Marriage is not a game.

Yeojin had always been taught that way ever since she started hitting puberty. Her parents didn't want her to make the wrong choice in a relationship. That was why even without that kind of romantic feeling starting her marriage, she always tried to be the good wife. If not, the good friend. Though knowing they would end their marriage soon anyway, she wished not to taint her marriage with Kris.

Yet her heart had been wavering every time she saw Sehun. She might have been in an affair since the time she struck the deal with him, but she never took their relationship seriously until recently when she figured she liked him as much as she liked Kris. Or was it more or lesser?

She still didn't see much of Sehun at school, but she often see him in front of the Wu's mansion instead. Sehun had been giving Lin a ride home almost every day for the past two weeks since that night. Yeojin would stay in the living room around the time of Lin's arrival and would only watch him through the window. But when Lin started inviting him in, she would avoid the living room at all cost.

Months ago, she would not admit this. But now she was jealous. It didn't help that Lin would often speak dreamily of him, adding salt to her wound. Yet guilt was growing inside her heart too for feeling that way toward her sister slash best friend. She was, after all, the one who had promised not to fall for Sehun. She wouldn't made that promise if she knew she would grow a feeling for him, but it was all too late now. Besides, Lin deserved him more. Lin had liked him first before she did. Sehun might not feel the same way toward her either. And she was married. To another person she also liked. What would Kris think of her?

She was such a bad wife to Kris. Yeojin was sure of that. She didn't deserve both of them. She was just such an awful person.

"Are you sure?" Kris asked back when Yeojin came to his room one morning and told him she wanted to go back to their own house.

She couldn't bare to see Sehun and Lin together anymore, and she didn't want to feel any more jealous of Lin. She silently nodded to Kris.

Putting his tie around his collar, Kris eyed her in suspicion before finally nodding. "Alright. Do you want me to pick you up after school or are you going to walk home?" He asked while fixing his tie.

Yeojin realized that she had been so used to being given a ride home by Sehun that she felt a little offended by the question. "I'll walk. I'll be dismissed early and you won't be done with work by then anyway." She watched Kris nod while fixing his tie in haste and approached him. She was intending to help him with the tie, but Kris took a step back.

"Don't," he stopped her then a lopsided smile grazed his lips. "Friends don't do that," he reminded her. "And my heart is weak for you." He winked then proceeded to pull the thin end of the tie.

Yeojin scoffed. "You're becoming cheesier these days. How annoying!" She playfully pinched his waist. Reacting to that, Kris was quick to grab her wrist and pulled her toward him. Yeojin stumbled forward bumping to his chest and looked up annoyed. "Ya-"

Smirking, Kris leaned down, and shivers went down her spine when he spoke, "I told you not to tempt me, buddy."

The door swung open and Lin casually entered. "Eonni, let's go! We'll be late- Oh!" She stopped and stared back and forth between the two. "Sorry. I didn't know. I'll give you two some time. I'll be waiting in the car." She quickly closed the door again.

Kris chuckled amused as he let go of Yeojin. "Go on," he told her with a nod then added, "before I do something else."

Yeojin clicked her tongue and grabbed her bag. She exited his room and before closing the door, she heard him say, "I'll see you at home, buddy!"


 

Once the door was closed, his smile faltered, and he exhaled a deep breath. Pretending he was okay with treating her just as a friend wasn't easy when he wanted to treat her more than that. Despite wanting to go back to their house too, Kris knew Yeojin decided to go back because she wanted to avoid seeing Sehun and Lin coming home together.

He wondered if he had lost his chance to gain her heart and thought that he indeed had. He couldn't understand why Sehun was suddenly giving his siter a ride home so often though. It was clear that Lin liked him, but what about him? Although he would like it if Sehun stayed away from Yeojin, he wouldn't go easy either if the guy did anything to his sister. To him, Lin was still his baby sister.

"Thinking about Yeojin?" Suho asked as he waltzed into his office.

Kris straightened up on his chair. "So does your friend want to help?" He diverted the topic.

Suho sat down on the chair across his. "Yeah. Said he talked to his father already, and his father is more than willing to help. He invited us to dinner tonight."

Kris slowly nodded. "Alright." He looked up when his friend sighed. "What?"

The friend lowered his gaze as if in shame. "You shouldn't have stood up for me. You're now jeopardizing your position."

"Yeah, you're such a pain in the !" Kris focused back on the document he had to sign.

"You love me that much you can't let me go?" Suho back.

"Nah! I just want to enslave you longer."

Suho laughed then shook his head. "Seriously though. You're putting your position on the line here."

By means of voting, the board decided to replace Suho just two weeks ago. Kris tried to reason with them, but in the end it was the seemingly supportive Park Changsun whose proposal could save Suho. He proposed to make both Suho and his son the head of a project the company had been planning to do. Since Titan Wu had been planning to open new branches of hotel, Changsun suggested for both rivals to lead one construction project each. Although the construction would take a long time, the board could judge Suho's and Chanyeol's performance through the presentation they would have to prepare.

Out of his own initiative, Kris offered to help oversee Suho's project. Some of the board members protested against his involvement. He silenced their protest by revealing he knew that some of them were planning to find reasons to impeach him. Now they did not have to go through the trouble. If they did find the project he overseen as a failure, then he would step down from his position, he promised, creating murmurs amongst the board.

Signing the document he had been reading, Kris sighed then leaned back on his chair. "They'll start finding other reasons to replace me anyway. And Park Changsun is Chanyeol's father. You believe he would leave his son to take care of the project alone?" He shook his head. "He would backup his son while you'll be left to fend for yourself."

"And if we fail?" Suho worried.

Surprisingly, Kris smiled. "Then I'll just have to keep my word. I'll step down." While Suho was left baffled, he looked down at the ring encircling his ring finger imagining living a quiet life with Yeojin.


 

"So Lin is the girl in the picture?" Yeojin heard one from the group of girls standing near her locker ask with surprise. Pretending not to hear them gossiping, she proceeded to take out a notebook and the book she had borrowed from the library.

"Yeah. I saw Oh Sehun and her going home together a lot lately."

"I thought he's dating the gold digger," another chimed in and Yeojin paused, feeling their eyes on her.

The first one scoffed. "Why would Oh Sehun date her? Even if he did, he probably dumped her when he knew she's a gold digger. She's leeching off Kris Wu's money, ain't she?" She snickered and the others joined. "Lin is a better match for Sehun anyway."

Yeojin rolled her eyes and closed her locker. She wanted to put them in their place so bad, but thought it would be a waste of her time and energy.

She was going to walk away when one of them spoke a little louder for her to hear, "But Lin's brother is so stupid if he still let the gold digger cling on him. I met him once, and he's such a smart guy. But I guess he's stupid when it comes to choosing a girl."

Yeojin halted. That did it for her. She didn't care if they insult her, but not if they're insulting Kris. He was indeed stupid for liking her, but they had no right to insult him. She had stepped on his heart enough. He did not deserve to have his feelings be insulted more by other people. They could point a finger at her for being such an awful person because she did think she was so, but she did not like it if they talked about Kris.

Taking in a deep breath to calm herself down, she briefly closed her eyes before turning around to them. Calmly she spoke, "You guys should really stop talking about stuff you don't know. Are you, by any chance, jealous of me?" She faked a smile and cocked her head to the side.

One of them snorted. "Jealous? Of you? Who do you think you are?"

"I'm sorry if you can't even get close to the guy you have been eyeing." Yeojin wasn't meaning to taunt them, yet she was too irked at this point. "But pretending like you know him by badmouthing him behind his back is a little pathetic, don't you think?"

They scoffed loudly in disbelief. "As if you know him better! His money is probably the only thing you know. What a joke!" They walked past her, intentionally bumping her shoulder.

Lowering her head, Yeojin heaved a deep breath when they were gone. Those girls were seriously draining her energy. And mood. When she liftef her head and raised her gaze, her mood just plummetted. But more than anything, she felt struck by lightning.

Just a few feet away, Sehun had his arms around Lin. Yeojin suddenly felt breathless and numb. Emotions building up inside her stung her eyes. Slowly releasing Lin, Sehun turned his head and suddenly looked frozen when his eyes met hers. Yeojin was quick to break their gazes as she turned around and hurriedly opened her locker to take out her bag. Earlier, she planned to study in the library after being dismissed early, but home seemed a lot more appealing now. She heard Lin called her name, but didn't dare to look back. Hurrying out the school, she let out a shaky breath.

Had he really moved on form her? Why? How?

Deep down, she knew she had to do so too. Yet while it looked so easy for him to move on from her, it was not to her.
 

The sound of the ball bouncing on and shoes squeaking against the floor filled the court. Sehun sat at a corner quietly after his class was dismissed. When Lin smiled his way, he merely bobbed his head. He wasn't one who likes watching basketball match, but this was the least he could do for Lin. He had used her as an excuse to see Yeojin and he honestly felt bad about that. Watching her play wouldn't do any harm, he decided.

Once the game ended, he walked out of the indoor court seeing Lin busy talking with her friends. He wouldn't be able to visit the Wu's mansion today, but he wanted to at least see Yeojin go home.

Home.

He scoffed to himself. It felt so weird to know that a guy's home was also hers. And he had been there. He had met her family. The other guy's family. Their family.

"Sunbae! Sehun sunbae!" He heard someone called and saw Lin running toward him when he looked back.

Sehun stopped and waited for her to reach him. Lin was just merely two steps away when she tripped on her shoelace. Out of reflex, he reached his arma to catch her and swiftly pulled her to him. He heaved a breath of relief while Lin, still panting, stared at him with rounded eyes. 

"You okay?" He softly asked.

For a second, Lin only blinked at him and he furrowed his brows confused. "Y-yeah," she stuttered and he slowly released her. "Thanks." She gave him a smile.

Sehun nodded once and looked away. His world seemed to stop when he caught sight of Yeojin standing a few feet away. For a brief moment she stared at him, and he wished he could pause the time. He wished he could just approach and take her with him- maybe to the street food stall they used to visit often. But she looked away very soon and hastily grabbed her bag from the locker.

Lin noticed where he was looking at and grinned. "Isn't that Yeojin eonni?" Then she shouted lifting a hand to wave, "Eonni!"

Yeojin didn't even look back and scurried away. His chest tightened and he took a step to chase her but then halted. If he chased after her now, people would badmouth her again. He would not let that happen. His selfishness to have her would only harm her.

"Oh?" Lin sounded a little disappointed. "What's wrong with her?" Her frown morphed into a smile pretty quickly when she turned to him again. "Anyway-," she touched his arm and he finally turned to her, "Thanks for keeping your promise to watch me play."

"Mm." He nodded. "You did well," he tried to compliment her.

She shyly smiled and lowered her head. Bitting down her lip, she spoke, "Say, will you stay for dinner today?" She glanced up at him while he blankly stared back at her. "I-it's my mom!" She cleared . "My mom told me to invite you for dinner. She felt sorry for always letting you go home with empty stomach after giving me a ride home."

"Ah. Sorry. I can't today." He rubbed his nape. "My dad wanted me to join him for a business dinner."

"Ah..." Lin nodded looking disappointed. "It's okay then. It can't be helped." She tried to muster a smile. "But do join us some other time." Her smile grew wider when he nodded.

A dinner with their family? He wondered what it would be like. Would he be willing to see the girl his heart was longing for sat down with her family and her husband's family? Would he witness how the husband could do things to her he couldn't and had no right to?

Sehun didn't need to wait for another time to sit with someone of Yeojin's family. When he arrived with his brother and their dad at the restaurant for dinner, luck was on his side, it seemed. Or was it bad luck?

Standing before him was the husband. Kris Wu.


 

The world is a small place, he always heard people say. Never did he imagine his world would be this small.

Though he tried his best not to show it, Kris was surprised to see both Luhan and Sehun standing before him along with a man. Suho introduced the man as Oh Jaehan, the one who would help them for the project. It hit him then that this man was the father of Luhan and Sehun. Of his ex-girlfriend's fiancé and of the guy his wife seemed to have feelings for. What a small world it was!

Before the older man could introduce the younger ones beside him, Luhan grinned and suddenly moved forward to put an arm around him and pat his back. "Why didn't you tell me your boss is Wu Yifan?" Luhan nudged Suho.

"I told you he's Kris Wu. I didn't know you know him as his Chinese name." Suho shrugged but then furrowed his brows. "You guys know each other?"

Oh Jaehan chuckled. "I was going to ask the same thing."

"Dad, Yifan is Areum's college friend," Luhan proudly told him.

"Wait," Suho interjected. "Don't tell me Areum is your fiancee."

"She is!" Luhan laughed while Suho threw Kris a worried gaze. "She told me she knows you too. Let's hangout together the four of us some time, shall we?" With an arm still around Kris' shoulder, he grinned at Kris.

"Yes, you youngsters should do that and be good friends." Oh Jaehan nodded then turned to Sehun who had been awfully quiet. "Oh! And this is my youngest son-"

"We know each other." Kris cut him off finally opening his mouth to speak. He did not want to pretend being friendly with the guy who had stolen Yeojin's heart. "Sehun, if I'm not mistaken."  He glanced at the younger guy and heard Suho let out a little gasp. 

"You know each other?" Luhan asked surprised looking back and forth between him and Sehun. "How?"

Sehun seemed reluctant to answer, so Kris did. "He's been giving my sister a ride home."

"He has?" Luhan's eyes only grew wider while Sehun sighed and briefly closed his eyes.

Oh Jaehan gave his younger son a pat on the back. "So that's why you've been going home a bit late these days?" He chuckled. "You should treat her well." Then he clasped his hand. "Well then, let's sit down and eat."

The meeting went longer than Kris expected though he understood it was necessary. Even with the cheerful mood the others were creating, there was an inner cold war between him and Sehun throughout dinner. Why did his world has to be so small? He couldn't bare being in one room with Sehun. The only thing that he was glad of with Sehun's presence was the assurance that Yeojin was not with the guy right now.

When he finally got home, it was almost eleven, but he found Yeojin still up. She was sitting at the living room on the floor with laptop and opened books on the coffee table. Final thesis paper, she told him. Though he was already tired, he chose to sit beside her. 

Yeojin protested and told him to go to bed because he looked so drained of energy. Being close to her was what he needed and wanted most however, so he insisted on accompanying her in case she needed help. This was what friends supposed to do, he reasoned; and thus, Yeojin finally relented with a roll of her eyes. He smiled as he saw her work on her paper.

Funny, he thought, how he was the one craving for her attention now when months ago he was the one who had been pushing her away for over two years.

 

"Kris, do you understand this part-" Yeojin stopped and sighed when she saw him asleep leaning back on the couch. "Geez. So much for helping me." She clicked her tongue then gently shook him by his shoulder. "Kris." He didn't wake up and she tried again. "Kris? Kris!"

He finally stirred and slowly opened his eyes with a groan. He looked disoriented for a moment. "Sorry. I fell asleep, didn't I?" 

She pursed her lips. "You should change and go to bed."

He shook his head with a yawn. "No, I'll stay with you." His voice came out gruff.

"You won't be of help if you're tired like this," she reprimanded him but then tried to smile. "Change and go to bed. I'll be done soon anyway."

Kris stared at her with his droopy eyes for a long time before nodding. He relented and, with another yawn, disappeared to their bedroom with slumped shoulders. Yeojin had never considered how hard it might be for Kris to be the chairman of a big company until he shared it with her on his birthday. She felt responsible for putting him in such position and wished she could ease his burden. Deep down she knew what Kris wanted most was her heart and everything would be alright to him. But a half heart would only hurt him more. And yet, that was all she could give.

It was a little over midnight when Yeojin finally decided to continue the paper tomorrow. Kris had fallen deep asleep, and after brushing her teeth, she joined him on the bed. Though tired, sleep didn't find her as fast as she hoped it would. For a long time she stared at the ceiling, mind drifting everywhere. Kris suddenly shifted and his side to face her. Yeojin turned her head and found him still asleep with mouth agape. She softly giggled at that.

Turning her body to the side to fully face him, she brought a hand under her pillow and reached another hand to his hair. She smiled feeling the soft strands as she ran her hand through them while listening to Kris' steady breathing. Her thumb briefly his thick brow, and the little wrinkles on his forehead eased. He looked so peaceful, she couldn't help but feel content. Her hand then slid to the back of his head then under his ear, and her fingers grazed the line of his jaw. Her gaze turned somber and the smile slowly disappeared when she rested her hand below his jaw while the pad of her thumb caressed his cheek. When she caught sight of the wedding ring encircling his finger, there was a sudden twist in her heart. She bit down her lip as her eyes trailed to his face and took in every detail of his feature. She was scared.

Love drives out fear, she remembered Grandpa once say.

Then why do my fear of losing you grow the more I feel your love? She blinked back the tears threatening to escape her eyes while her thumb continued grazing his cheek. After a while, she pulled back her hand and scooted closer encircling her arm around his waist. Resting her head close to his chest, she whispered, "I'm sorry."


 

Sigh. Love is complicated. (Or maybe just this story ;P) And Yeojin still can't decide where her heart belongs.

Anyway, Kris met both Luhan and Sehun! One had taken the ex he left, the other had stolen his wife's heart (or part of it). Oh by the way! If you remembered in chapter 38, Areum mentioned Kris as Kris to Luhan. But here Luhan knows him as Yifan. I'm sorry, it's supposed to be Yifan in chapter 38 too lol. I forgot that Areum had always called him that and she even introduced him to Luhan as Yifan too before. So I've edited that chapter. Sorry. My bad haha.

 
Like this story? Give it an Upvote!
Thank you!
Exo880408
190506 ICE: Chapter 72 updated!

Comments

You must be logged in to comment
krisxoxo23
#1
Chapter 82: Missed the story, been few years already, hoping there'll be an update 😭😭😭
Emily345 #2
Chapter 82: Ohh how I miss this story... ?
Will you be updating again ??
2407briana #3
Chapter 82: Whoa whoa whoa I was not prepared for that
mznary #4
Chapter 82: WHAT?!! NOOOO NOO! Yifannnnn!!
miyoonji #5
Chapter 82: So, who is Yeojin going to choose?
tutialawiyah #6
Chapter 82: I was thinking Kris want to step down from his position to protect Yeojin. But what now? Is he seriously wanna give up on everything?? Cmon, atleast you should have one whether it's yeojin or your company T.T
gogogirl26 #7
Chapter 82: Aishhhh.. kris :(
chichiba #8
Chapter 82: Kris is ready to let Yeojin go... im sad?
chonanay
#9
Chapter 82: :'((
Shinhye-ssi
#10
Chapter 82: Are they breaking up?