Victoria was spending her free time baking cake when the doorbell rang. She enjoys cooking and baking especially after she came to Seoul to study at a young age. Whoever tried her cooking praised her. She looked through the peephole to see who her visitor is. After realising that it is someone she is familiar with, she opened the door for her visitor.

“Geng ge,” Victoria greeted the man happily.

“Qian,” The man is Victoria’s cousin, Han Geng. His father and Victoria’s mother are siblings. He moved to Seoul when he was still in elementary school. Though both of them didn’t have much chances meeting each other when they were young, he is still close to Victoria who grew up in China and only moved to Seoul in high school. After all, his father only has one younger sister.

Han Geng owns a magazine company and is one of the editors. His magazine, Amore, is one of the top-selling magazines in Seoul. It didn’t only capture the heart of females in their early twenties, but also those in their thirties. He is the prince charming of his readers but his heart is already filled with someone else.

“Are you baking?” Han Geng smelled the scent of butter.

“Yes, almost done,” Victoria walked into the kitchen.

Victoria’s apartment has three bedrooms and two bathrooms. She e of the two guestrooms into her home office. The theme of her apartment is dark-coloured. The black television is flat-screen and built into the wall. A wooden table is placed in the middle of the living room with an L-shaped black leather sofa leaning against the wall. The kitchen is opened-style and a bar is built to separate the kitchen from the living room. On the balcony, there is a small round table and two chairs. On the round table is a flower pot with cactus planted in it.

Han Geng followed her into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of plain water. He sat down at the bar and waited for Victoria to finish baking. Victoria took out the baking pan from the oven and placed it in front of Han Geng. She took out two glass plates from the cabinet to put the cake she just baked. After that, she poured herself and Han Geng a cup of green tea.

“Are you going back to China next week for uncle’s birthday?” Han Geng ate a small piece of the cake with the fork. “It’s his sixty birthday.”

“I’m still thinking about it,” Victoria answered. She was afraid of going back because she knew that her father is organizing a dinner to celebrate his sixty birthday. Although she is a designer and always has to communicate with other people, she hates to talk to people who she isn’t close too. She finds it hard to have a topic to talk about with them.

“I’m going back. I can help you,” Han Geng understood why Victoria didn’t feel like going home. “It’s a once in a lifetime stuff.”

“I know,” Victoria sighed. “When are you leaving?”

“Saturday afternoon,” Han Geng told her. “The dinner is at night.”

“I’ll take the same flight with you then,” Victoria said. “And when are you coming back to Seoul?”

“I’m staying in Beijing for a week,” Han Geng raised one side of his eyebrows.

“Then I can’t go back immediately after the dinner,” Victoria couldn’t use Han Geng as an excuse to leave Beijing after the dinner if he is going to stay in Beijing for a week. Her father would definitely ask her to stay in Beijing for a longer period of time, especially when the last time she went home was seven months ago.

“Yah!” Han Geng took the magazine on the bar and hit Victoria’s head. “He’s your father. Appreciate the time with your family.”

“I know,” Victoria sighed and continued eating the cake.

***********************************************************************************************

Kyu Hyun was tapping his fingers on the desk while Hyuk Jae stood beside him. The invitation card on the desk is wide opened. The date and venue is printed on the card.

“Book the air tickets,” Kyu Hyun told Hyuk Jae.

“Araso,” Hyuk Jae responded.

After Hyuk Jae walked out from Kyu Hyun’s office, another visitor walked in without knocking on the door. Kyu Hyun looked up from the laptop screen. A smile appeared on his face when he saw the visitor’s face. It is Shim Chang Min, Kyu Hyun’s best friend since high school. Chang Min is a food lover. He first opened his own restaurant, Eternal four years ago. Now, Eternal has six branches in Seoul, two branches in Taiwan, three branches in Japan and four branches in China. Chang Min saw the invitation card on Kyu Hyun’s desk and picked it up to read it.

“Song Han Min? CEO of The Pearl?” Chang Min looked at Kyu Hyun. “Why did he invite you to his birthday dinner? I don’t remember that Dynasty has any joint projects with The Pearl.”

“He wants me to marry her daughter to help me overcome Dynasty’s financial crisis,” Kyu Hyun told Chang Min.

“Financial crisis?” Chang Min used the invitation card in his hand to hit on Kyu Hyun’s head.

“Yah!” Kyu Hyun was too slow to avoid getting hit by Chang Min. “What are you doing?”

“Yah Cho Kyu Hyun! Do you even think about me as your best friend? Financial crisis? Why didn’t you tell me? I can help you with it,” Chang Min crossed his arms.

“I don’t want to burden you,” Kyu Hyun told Chang Min.

“How is that a burden?” Chang Min questioned Kyu Hyun. “So you rather sell yourself off than asking for my help?”

“I didn’t plan to sell myself,” Kyu Hyun rolled his eyes at Chang Min’s used of words. “I’m still considering it.”

“Considering? Just reject him! I can help you,” Chang Min responded.

“Chang Min-ah, I want to solve this myself,” Kyu Hyun told Chang Min. “You’ve helped me a lot back then. This time, I want to protect Dynasty myself.”

Chang Min didn’t say anything in respond to Kyu Hyun’s words. He knew how much Dynasty meant to Kyu Hyun. It’s not only a family business, but everything his father had. He didn’t want it to end in his hands. If Kyu Hyun didn’t want him to help, he’d respect Kyu Hyun’s decision.

“Let’s not talk about this anymore,” Chang Min changed the topic. “Let’s go, I’ll buy a dinner.”

“You don’t have to spend time with your girlfriend?” Kyu Hyun asked him.

“She is having a good time with her friends,” Chang Min’s lips curved upwards when he spoke about his girlfriend.

“Stop it,” Kyu Hyun said.

“Stop what?” Chang Min asked Kyu Hyun.

“Stop making that ‘I’m happily in love’ face, you look stupid,” Kyu Hyun .

The two of them continued teasing each other as they left the company. This is how they treated each other. This is their friendship.