AnLing was lost in thought. She forgot the world for a moment and a soft expression settled itself on her face as a melody ran wild in her mind.
The creative juices were flowing. She had been afraid that coming back home would stunt her ability to write and compose but it seemed like a muse had taken a liking to her instead.
Usually, this would be an amazing thing but what a shame that she didn't realize that she was still staring at the man, and not just anywhere... Her eyes glued to his crotch.
Passing by, many people noticed the scene. They all gave AnLing a strange look and some couldn't help but whisper amongst themselves.
"Wow, that girl has some balls. She looks like she's about to jump him."
"Do kids these days have no shame?"
"Who can blame her? He's so hot! I wish I had X-Ray vision to see how he looks like with no clothes on."
AnLing fell deeper and deeper into her delusions. A dumb smile plastered on her face as her thoughts began to take almost physical form in front of her eyes, like a movie, but, soon after she began to hear the whispers and feel the stares of the crowd.
Turning around, AnLing didn't expect to see small pockets of people scattered all around watching her; some people even gave her a thumbs up and others looked at her with disdain.
She lowered her head, wondering what happened...
She had just been daydreaming.
Was something on her face? Did she make a strange face. For a moment she wasn't sure but when she turned back to look at the man, her eyes landed in the same place it had before.
When the realization dawned on her, her face turned a bright red.
'Remember your surroundings!' She scolded.
She wanted to hit herself.
No.
She just wanted to run away.
In the end, her only saving grace was that the man hadn't noticed her stare or anyone's, for that matter. AnLing could only imagine the embarrassment she would have felt if he had.
The man just continued to listen to the person on the phone, as he looked over a few documents.
Suddenly, AnLing felt her phone buzz and her screen lit up.
She turned to look at the caller ID and instantly frowned. The words 'Migraine #3' flashed across the screen.
Without delay, AnLing picked up.
Not allowing her to speak, a man's voice assaulted her ear.
"Eldest Miss, the driver won't be able to pick you up today." Mr.Jing, her mother's secretary, said. The voice was more or less robotic. Only the words 'eldest miss' came out with a slight sneer.
AnLing looked into the distance. A wry smile tugged on her lip as she rolled her eyes. One arm was crossed over her chest, supporting the one that held the phone.
"It's fine. I'll take a taxi."
When she had boarded the plane, both her mother and Mr.Jing had told her that they would get a driver to pick her up, and they would drive her to the house.
AnLing remembered Mr. Jing's voice on the three-way call, unlike the rude and detached tone he used now, it was formal but polite.
Of course, now that they were on the same soil he treated her like trash.
Typical.
If one thing was a fact in the Lu family circle, It was that, in her mother's presence, it was best to act with respect. Even if everyone believed that AnLing was adopted, her mother would not allow anyone to disrespect a child of the Lu family.
At least not in front of her.
Small memories from AnLing's past began to flood her head, causing her stomach to sink.
It was a disgustingly familiar feeling, one she had never wanted to experience again but now that she was back in T City, she would need to get used to it. Though this wasn't the only feeling she would have to bear with...
"You see, the Second Miss's friend is getting married soon and…" Mr. Jing continued to blab.
'Did I ask?' AnLing couldn't help but internally scream.
As the man continued to speak, she pinched the space between her eyebrows and held back the urge to be rude.
After six years abroad, she would never have imagined that her patience would have thinned this much! Already, talking to Mr. Jing for less than two minutes made her want to punch his face in.
This old man still had the balls to be openly rude to her?
"It's fine. You don't need to worry about me." AnLing said softly, stressing the word 'worry'.
Even if she didn't want to cause trouble, she could at least aggravate him a bit, for the sake of her pride.
The line was silent for a moment. AnLing could imagine Mr. Jing's frown.
'Just you wait, I'll make you impotent.' It took all the strength AnLing had within her to hold her tongue.
She wasn't actually going to do it, she had awareness after all, but in her mind, she had already destroyed Mr.Jing's lower half with her foot of steel.
The thought made her smile smugly but her happiness disappeared quickly. AnLing was beginning to wonder how she would survive the Lu family.
It's true that on the phone she could control herself but she had no idea how she would handle herself when she comes face to face with them.
She really needed to practice control.
"Of course I worry, you're our miss…" Mr. Jing started.
His voice seemed to get lower and lower as he spoke. AnLing could barely hear the end of his sentence but that didn't matter because, after hearing the beginning, she was shocked he hadn't chocked on those words.
Her smile grew a bit wider.
Mr. Jing: "Oh, I almost forgot, Mrs. Lu wanted me to inform you that your room at the main house isn't quite ready yet, so it would be best to stay in a hotel."
AnLing smiled.
"Okay. I'll do that—"
Not giving a chance for her to finish her reply, Mr. Jing hung up.
AnLing felt something start to snap.
She squeezed her hand into a fist, letting all her anger drain out into the palm of her hand. She wanted to punch a wall but couldn't help but laugh slightly instead.
It was only the first day here and she already felt like she couldn't take it anymore. In the past, AnLing remembered feeling anger but never to this extent. But in all fairness, she had been a different person. She was calmer, kinder and more patient with others than she was now. It was most likely because she was experiencing these situations on a daily basis, but now, it was different.
"Fucking Asshole."
Sometimes it felt good to swear. At that moment, those few words brought calm into AnLing's soul.
She knew her family quite well, and that wasn't always a good thing. When she had decided to come back, she never had the intention of staying in the Lu House. She had always planned on staying at a hotel— hell, even a motel was better.
AnLing took a moment for herself just to breathe and then she glanced at the man beside her. He was still on the phone, though it seemed like all he was doing was listening now because he had been quiet for a while.
A part of her worried that he had heard her whole conversation.
She wasn't sure how she felt about that, but she knew she had to leave, quick.
AnLing knew that if she allowed her mind to wonder again, it would be the death of her. She began to push herself up from the bench with both hands.
"No." The man's voice came down like a hammer.
The tone of his voice was harsh and sharp. The emotion it bore was like a brick wall, stopping any and all mortal in its path.
Mesmerized, AnLing's body stopped moving and she sat back down.
She began to become curious about his conversation.
She didn't consider this eavesdropping because if the man wanted to have a private phone call he would have moved to a more private location. She was sitting there first, and so she had no reason to leave.
"Come on, just marry someone they chose. It's not a big deal. Then you can do what you want. No one ever said you have to be faithful, they just want you to be married."
Disgust filled AnLing as her face darkened.
The man from the phone was trash!
'Are all men like this?'
Quickly, AnLing pushed herself up from her seat, not waiting to hear the man on the benches reply, and then hailed a taxi.
Before boarding, AnLing put her luggage in the trunk and sneakily turned to glance at the man's face. She wanted to have a face to associate with her memory, but too bad for her, he had gotten up, leaving her to stare at his broad back.
Upon laying her eyes on him, she felt her jaw slightly drop.
The man stood at around 187cm's tall, with a head of styled silky black hair. He wore an expensive charcoal grey suit and his back exuded a cold expression.
A normal businessman? No way! He was most likely a CEO. The Scion of an extremely huge company. AnLing could only assume.
The way the man dressed screamed money, but the way he looked from behind held a type of regality about it. One that only certain people were born with.
AnLing felt her body heat up by the sight of him, but then, she sighed.
Any woman would be glad to marry him.
Unless he had an ugly face, that is, but if he agreed with his friend on the phone then she wished any woman who married with him lots of luck, because unhappiness would be waiting in their future.
Without noticing, AnLing had been staring at him for a long time, even up until he was out of sight. She had almost bored holes straight through his suit.
Meanwhile, inside the taxi, the taxi driver had long ago started the meter and watched the distracted AnLing stare at the unknown man.
"Kids these days…" He began to say, however, he himself couldn't deny the mans attractiveness. And unlike AnLing he had actually seen the man's face. If he was a lot younger he would have been doubting his sexuality. Though a thought tugged at his mind...
He had seen that man before. He wasn't sure where, but he had.
He thought about it as he stared at the meter.
Not being able to come up with any satisfactory guesses, he brushed the thought aside and then glanced at the meter. Feeling a wave a guilt wash over him, the driver stepped out of the taxi and hollered at AnLing.
She immediately snapped out of her trance and then slammed the trunk shut.
"Take me to the nearest, cheapest hotel or motel."
The driver gave her a worried look, "A motel?"
AnLing: "Yeah. I don't plan on staying long."
The driver glanced at AnLing and sighed but he didn't say another word. The meter had been counting for a long time now and he was beginning to feel worse by the minute, so he turned it off and drove.
AnLing stared out the window watching the people and cars pass by. She was searching for the man she was sitting beside earlier but she had no luck.
She didn't want to fall in love again.
She really really didn't, but sometimes, her hopeless romantic heart wanted to feel as if fate existed; the type of fate that would bring two people together because alone they were a little flawed and empty but together they were perfect.
AnLing continued to stare outside until the taxi stopped at an intersection. A black car with tinted windows stopped beside them, blocking her view.
Looking away, she sighed.
In that car, the man who she was searching for sat looking over documents. He gazed out the window and gave a small smile.
His driver, Mr. Long, looked at him from the rearview mirror with a confused expression.
Mr. Long: "President Kang... is everything alright?"
Kang Jun's expression hardened before turning his head towards Mr.Long. He didn't answer, instead, he gave him a look that said: 'don't ask useless questions' before turning to look back out the window.
Mr.Long turned back to the road in front of him, shivers going down his spine. He didn't dare look at the back seat for the whole drive. Only one thought crossed his mind:
'My boss is a strange man.'