One year later…
Kai's P.O.V.
We were all summoned by the devil to a meeting at 8PM. The devil being Jun Wang Wei. One of the most successful, handsome men in the business industry. Unluckily he hated me. It seemed like he knew exactly when I was leaving the office and made me do more work. I was exhausted and had gotten no sleep the night before trying to catch up with the workload he had given me.
"We have a new client Mr. Park." I typed and typed, but I could hardly keep my eyes open. I tried my best, but by the end of the meeting I had given up. I rested my head on the table, which was a big mistake and I'd given into sleep.
Jun's P.O.V.
The first time I really noticed Kai was when she collapsed in the middle of my meeting. I held her small head in my lap as we awaited the ambulance. I couldn't help but be mesmerised by her porcelain skin and perfect pink lips. She looked so small and fragile, something inside me began to wonder why I had never noticed her before. As she slowly began to awake in my arms, she grabbed a firm hold of my shirt with her small hand, before opening her eyes. She took a deep breath and suddenly fell back unconscious. I felt my heart jump harder and louder than ever before. Soon the ambulance arrived and took her away. After that day I noticed her more and more around the office. I used every opportunity to speak to her, even if it was by giving her more paperwork.
I couldn't help but notice Kai slowly drifting away throughout the meeting. I tried to speak louder, somehow keep her awake, without embarrassing her. By the end of the meeting she was resting her head on the table and had given up on her job. The meeting had ended, and everyone began to leave. They laughed as they walked past her, but I thought she looked sweet. Innocent. Everyone left and I was alone with the sleeping beauty. I collected my papers and took off my blazer, I wrapped it around her shoulders, letting her sleep while I tidied up the work room. I tried to be quiet, but it wasn't working. She jumped up from her seat mortified that the room was empty.
"Oh gosh, I'm so sorry Mr. Wang. I'll go finish these notes right away." She quickly got her things together and got up from her seat as my blazer fell right off. I looked away, embarrassed to admit that I had put it around her. "Oh…" She looked down on it and quickly picked it up. "Thank you. I will have those notes ready for you ASAP." She smiled timid and bowed her head as she took her leave.
I spent nearly 5 more hours in my office and by the time I was leaving it was 4AM. The place was empty, I thought it was. As I walked by, I found a light at the end of the hallway and found Kai sitting at her desk with her head back over her chair, fast asleep. She looked at peace. I walked over to her and couldn't help but caress her hair. She bounced up and I quickly moved away.
"Go home." I said firmly. She quickly jumped out of her seat, nodding.
"I'm so sorry! The type up…" She quickly looked over to her unfinished work.
"Get it to me first thing tomorrow." I said, quickly turning around and leaving. I took the lift down to the ground floor and my driver - Han was waiting outside. I got in and immediately he began to drive away. I caught a glimpse of Kai leaving the building in the rear-view mirror and as much as I tried to control myself, I couldn't stop myself from making sure she was alright. It was 4AM. Not a time for woman to be out all alone.
"Turn around and park up by the corner of the building." I demanded and Han quickly turned around and parked up. We watched as Kai waited for a taxi, pacing back and forth, and yawning an unhealthy amount. She looked like she was going to pass out any minute. A fancy looking taxi pulled up and she quickly got in. No taxi driver had the latest model BMW. "Follow them." I knew something was bound to go wrong. She was known for getting herself into trouble, constantly.
I'd regretted not driving myself, it was annoying me how slow Han was going. "Can you overtake them?" Han looked back at me, shaking his head at how obsessive and bossy I was being, but I had to know that she was okay. As he began to overtake them, I noticed Kai, in the back of the car, asleep by the window. That only meant that the driver could take advantage of her, drive her wherever he pleased. She was in danger. As if reading my thoughts, the taxi driver began to overtake us and drive faster. I knew that Kai lived only 15 minutes away and we had already driven for more than 20 minutes. We followed the taxi, until he pulled up to a dead end. We were surrounded by bushy trees and the nearest house was a mile away. My gut feeling was always right. Even if I didn't want it to be. We parked out of his eyesight. Han and I got out of the car and walked the rest of the way. I watched the taxi driver get out of the car and open Kai's door, he lifted her limp body into his arms and carried her down a small hill. I looked up at Han, but he shook his head, stopping me from rushing over there.
"Give it a minute." He said calmly.
"For what? For him to hurt her?" I asked annoyed and quickly rushed off to follow them. I suppose the only silver lining, if you really wanted to see it was that Kai had an existing condition of chronic fainting. I'd read her application form recently to remind myself of her last name, so I could get more information about her. So, if he did hurt her, she'd faint instantly. I could hear muffled screaming as I approached the dark trees.
"Let me go!" A clear scream echoed, and Han and I quickly descended towards them. Han flashed his flashlight in front of us and in the distance, we could see two people lying on the cold, damp floor. "Get off!" She screamed loudly and I quickly ran over and pulled the disgusting man off her. I couldn't help myself. I wrestled him to the floor and began to punch him repeatedly. The coward covered his face and I climbed off, rushing to get Kai out of there.
"Take care of him." I said to Han, leaving him with the cab driver. I bent down next to Kai, who was in shock and had crawled up into a ball. I lifted her cold body into my arms and carried her into my car. I laid her down in the back seat and waited for Han. The deafening sound of the gunshot echoed, and Han came walking through the dark trees. He sat down in the car like nothing had happened and I sat down beside him before we drove away.
"Where to?" Han asked as I looked back at Kai who was lying still with her eyes shut. Her shirt was torn, and she held her arm over her chest defensively.
"Home." I replied, sitting up straight, and looking down to my bloody knuckle.
I felt out of touch with the world all my life and had never felt so strongly for someone I hardly knew. Instead of being an adult and approaching this by asking her on a date, I did the opposite. I gave her more work, I made her stay in the office late and do special tasks just for me. That's not how you show someone you like them? What was I thinking? Worst of all, due to my instable emotions, I had gotten her into this mess. I'd built up a wall so high to protect myself and my business, I forgot how to be human.
After the eventful morning and three hours of sleep, I got up and drove myself to work. I asked Han to stay in my penthouse with Kai, just in case. I tried to get on with my day and not think about Kai or what happened the night before, but I had hardly made any progress in my work all morning and had already texted Han three times. The wait for Kai's awakening was stressing me out more than the piles of paperwork on my desk. My tie was slowly choking me, and the room temperature was warmer than normal. I removed my tie and blazer and sat in my chair, just waiting. It was nearly 12PM when Han rang me.
"Han? Is she awake?" I asked immediately. Why else would he call?
"Yes, she's wide awake." He said hesitantly.
"What's wrong?" I knew Han well enough to know his tone of voice.
"She's awake… she's in front of me," he paused for a second. "with a knife." He whispered into the phone. Shit. I picked up my tie and blazer, quickly leaving my office.
"I'll be right there." I hung up the phone and got into my car. Unfortunately, I lived nearly an hour away and by the time I got there, I could have walked into a blood bath. Driving nearly a 100m/ph. I tried to get there as quickly as I could. I was halfway there when Han rang again.
"What do you want me to do with her Sir?" I was terrified that he had already done something to her. I never had guests over and I certainly had never given anybody enough time to pull a gun or a knife on me. I guess you could say that Han wasn't just my driver. He was more of a security guard. He took care of people that I didn't feel like dealing with. Like the taxi driver.
"What did you do? Did you do something to her?" I asked panicked.
"No, she is still here. I tried to remind her of what happened last night, but she won't let me talk to her. She thinks I'm him and that I've kidnapped her." I exhaled a deep breath. I couldn't blame her for being overprotective. She was almost raped and potentially murdered.
"I'll be there soon, just don't be hostile and keep her calm." I hung up and continued my never-ending drive. I'd never realised how tedious it was to drive all that way. I should have taken her to her apartment.
I never trusted the valet to park my car, but I didn't have much of a choice as I pulled up to my building. Han was certainly unavailable. I got into the elevator and took the time to put my tie back on and straighten out my shirt. I knew it didn't matter much what I looked like, she had way bigger problems to worry about, but I still brushed my hair back and folded my sleeves to look cleaner. The elevator doors opened and there in my living room, in front of a beautiful view of the city, there they were. Han was sitting down on a futon and she was standing in her ripped, dirty shirt and skirt with her knife pointed at him. They both looked over to me as I began to walk into the room. As I came closer, her eyes glassed over and suddenly she seemed to remember everything that had happened the night before. She slowly lowered the knife, before it began slipping out of her grip. Han quickly lunged to catch it, as she fell back, collapsing into my arms.
"Nice catch." I said, lifting Kai properly into my arms and carrying her back to bed.
"You too." Han laughed, following us. "What now?" He asked, watching me pull the covers over her.
"I'll wait till she awakes and then I'll take her home I guess." I replied sitting down in the chair beside the bed. Han bowed his head and made his way out. She looked so soft and innocent. I felt awful. If I hadn't been so tough on her the last few weeks, she would've been fine. Nothing would have happened. I spent nearly an hour in that chair. I'd never felt so calm, just watching somebody sleep. Her head slowly began to move from side to side as she was waking up. I felt my mouth go dry, just at the thought of talking to her. Her eyes opened and she stared at the ceiling as she blinked the sleep from her eyes. I cleared my throat and she slowly turned her head to me and sat herself up in the bed.
"Uhm… I'm not sure…" She began to say, but she seemed lost.
"I'd like to apologise for making you stay late last night and getting you in this situation. I want you to know that the man has been taken care of and you are perfectly safe." I tried my best not to be a robot, but by the blank expression on her face I could tell I wasn't making things any clearer.
"Where am I?" She spoke softly, avoiding eye contact.
"My penthouse. I can take you back home if you'd like?" I got up from my seat swiftly and she flinched just at that.
"Uhm… yes, please." She replied and pulled the bed covers closer to hide her clothes. "I'm sorry to be an inconvenience, but could I borrow something to wear, my clothes are …" She was so innocent and sweet. How have I never noticed her before.
"Oh yes of course." I quickly walked out of the room and walked over to mine. I looked through my walk-in closet and picked up a pair of my jogging bottoms and a grey zip up jumper. I placed it on her bed and turned to leave. "I'll give you a minute." I said, leaving to find Han. He knew I hated the valet parking and had gone down to repark the car. I picked my phone out of my pocket, pacing back and forth in my living room. "She's ready to go. Can you bring the car around?" I asked, not waiting for an answer. "Thanks." I said, before hanging up the phone. I wanted to go back and check on her, but I didn't want to be invasive. I sat down on my futon and waited patiently.
"Thank you, Mr. Wang." She said, quietly tip toeing into my living room. She held her heels in her hands; they didn't match my oversized jogging bottoms and jumper.
"I don't think I have any footwear to borrow you." I smiled, trying to lighten the mood a little bit. She smiled, finally looking me in the eye. "The car is ready if you are." I added on and she nodded, slowly walking over to the lift. We both got in and she walked to the corner of the lift to be as far from me as she could. She nervously bit down on her bottom lip and fidgeted with the end of the zipper. I wanted to reassure her, but I didn't know how to put that into words. The elevator doors opened, and we walked across the lobby to the exit. I could see my car through the glass doors and as we approached them, I realised she wasn't wearing any shoes. I couldn't possibly allow her to walk onto the pavement in her socks. She seemed to have come to the same dilemma as we got to the doors.
"Here," I said extending my arm and coming closer to lift her into my arms. She swallowed hard and smiled weakly, before agreeing. I carried her across and Han opened the car door. She seemed eager to get away from my touch as she sat down in the back seat. I didn't want to invade her space even further, so I sat in the front passenger seat. We were all mute the entire time.
We approached her little building and stopped outside. She quickly got out of the car and rushed off. I followed after her to make sure she was okay and to know which one was her apartment. For safety reasons of course. We stopped by her door and she slowly turned around with her head down.
"Thank you, so much Mr. Wang and I am so sorry for causing so much…" She began apologising. She was the sweetest and most selfless person I had ever met.
"You didn't cause anything Kai. I'm glad I could help." She looked up at me for a split second with a smile.
"I wish I didn't have to ask this, but what happened to the man… you know… from last night?" She asked timid. She bit down on her bottom lip, so innocently, but so seductively.
"Han and I took care of it. He won't be bothering you or anybody else, ever again." I tried to reassure her, but she didn't seem very assured. She nodded agreeing and began to unlock her door. "Perhaps you should take a couple days off work. I'll take care of it." I insisted and she turned around and nodded agreeing.
"Okay." She smiled, before shutting the door behind her. I continued to stand there for another minute. Wondering what I was going to do with myself, to stop myself from obsessing over her, when I noticed a man with a clipboard exiting the apartment next door to Kai's. He looked up at me with a smile like he knew me.
"Eric?" He asked staring at me.
"No, sorry." I said, ready to walk away, before glimpsing at his clipboard. "Is this apartment available?" I asked.
"Are you looking?" He asked excited.
"Can I take a look inside?" I asked and he agreed. We made our way inside and I couldn't believe at the size of it. It was tiny. It had two bedrooms, but they could both fit into my living room. I walked around for nearly 10 minutes, before agreeing to buy it. It was up for rent, but I talked the guy into selling it to me. It seemed like a perfect idea at first. Close to work and close to Kai, but after an hour I realised how crazy I was. She's going to think I'm a stalker. I took myself back to work to make up for the time I lost babysitting Kai and buying a useless two-bedroom apartment. I sent all my workers home early that day.