{Leo's Office}
[Leo's PoV]
It's her right? It's been so long and she has long forgotten about me and the promise she made to me... How many years have it been? 15 years?
"Mr Kouen. Mr Kouen? Mr Kouen!" My secretary waved his hand rapidly and called out to me bringing me out of my deep thoughts. "Oh, I'm sorry. Please carry on." I waved my hand motioning for him to go on. "You have a meeting with the manager of Leafrich Bank after lunch at 2pm and another meeting at 4pm with the other shareholders (his company, Kouen Group). Do you need any changes?" He questioned, patiently waiting for a reply. "I- Help me change the meeting with Leafrich Bank from the manager to the team leader of the L.L. project." I pondered carefully before informing my secretary. "Okay, Mr Kouen. I'll leave for now." He bowed before leaving my office, closing the door behind him.
{Luna's Office}
[Luna's PoV]
"Hey Luna, let's go get lunch!" Rei Yi rolled her seat nearer to mine and tried to drag my ass out of my seat. "Okay, Okay. Give me a moment to save this documents and we can go." I took her hand off my arm and turned back to my laptop to finish the saving before shutting down my laptop. "Alright, let's go. Hey! Stop pulling me! I'm going to fall!" As soon as I stood up from my seat, she grabbed my arm and rushed out of the office, dragging my slow ass behind.
We ordered our meal and bought a drink at the cafeteria before searching for an empty seat. Smack! "Ouch! What's that for?" I rubbed my smacked-red arm to soothe the pain. "Look at how full the cafeteria is now! Now where do we seat..." She complained, frustrated from needing to stand with her already sore feet. Suddenly, her eyes lit up and she grabbed my arm once more. Oh no... she's going to pull me agai- "HEY, that actually hurts." I shook her hand off, only to witness her sitting comfortably in her seat waiting for her food. I sighed and took my seat opposite from hers.
"Here's your food, enjoy!" The robot placed our tray of food and drinks with provided cutlery in front of us and left to give another pair their food. "Rei... you know it's not good for your weak stomach to eat cold soba. Let's swap." I suggested with puppy eyes, pleading with her to swap with mine. "If you prefered my cold soba to your hot one... why did you still order the hot one... This is the last time I am swapping my food with you." She pulled mine over and I pulled hers over and we swapped our drinks. I smiled and thanked her profusely.
"So, how was your lunch meeting with Mr Kouen that day?" She nudged my shoulder curious to know the tea. Cough! Cough! I choked on the noodles and quickly opened the drink bottle and drank some green tea. "N-nothing happened. Just some normal questions about the project." I quickly responded and continued eating my noodles, nudging her to continue before her noodles turn cold. I turned and saw her smirking with a tinge of amusement twinkling in her eyes. She couldn't have found out, right?
"Luna! Ms Luna! The manager called you to go to the meeting room as soon as possible for the meeting which started a minute ago." My colleague, Alison breathlessly ran over to us and pointed to the exit of the cafeteria. "Meeting with who?" Why is it so last-minute?" I quickly took my purse and stood up, anxiously asking her. "It's- It's Mr Kouen." She replied still breathless, but blushing just from saying his name. I stumbled and knocked over my seat. Him? Again? I thought he was supposed to meet the manager today? Why is it me now? Hurriedly, I rushed towards the exit, leaving my seat still toppled over on the ground and Rei still eating her Soba. "You can eat my remaining hot soba! Oh! And help me pick up my seat too, thanks!" I shouted across the cafeteria and rushed towards the elevator, tapping the button several times. Quick! If I let him wait, I'm so dead. Omg! How slow can this elevator be? Finally, it's here! I rushed in and clicked the 26th floor, nervously waiting for the elevator to go up. Luckily it was still lunch break and no one was taking the elevator, so it went straight to the 26th floor uninterrupted. I ran out of the elevator as soon as the doors of it opened and nearly knocked into a few people, repeatedly apologising throughout the entire corridor.
Tidying the hems of my skirt and shirt, I knocked on the door of the meeting room, waiting for a response. "You can come in." Instead of my manager's voice, I heard his voice commanding me to go in. I took a deep breath and tapped my card and entered the room. The smell of him wafted throughout the entire room, enticing me. I took a seat across him and my manager left us to start the meeting. There was an awkward silence before he broke it with his husky, commanding voice.
"What took you to be 3 minutes late from the time we were suppose to have the meeting? We were suppose to start the meeting at 2pm and now is 2.03 pm, do you know how precious my time is?" He tapped his branded watch and glared at me with his piercing eyes, as if he could see through my soul. He was different. So much more different from that day at the cafe, you could say it was kind of unexpected. But, what did I expect from him, Leo Kouen, the youngest businessman in our country who built his own company from scratch at the age of 20. And in just 5 years, he already made his business the best in the country!
"This is ridiculous! You decided to change this meeting so last-minute and now you are blaming me for being late when I didn't even know this would take place?" I tapped my fingers on the table and rebuked him. Just because he is such a young, handsome businessman doesn't mean he can do this! "Forget it, let's start." He took out some documents and we started discussing about the project.
...1 and a half hour later
"Mr Kouen, why did you change the meeting from my manager to me instead?" I started pondering about it and asked him curious to know his reply. He looked away and for a moment I saw him turned red before turning back and replying me, "You are placed in charge of this project, of course I should discuss about it with you rather than you manager. And call me Leo instead. Let's get back to work now." He cleared his throat and we got back on track. I nodded in agreement and we got back to it.
Knock! Knock! "Mr Kouen, may I come in?" His secretary knocked on the door before Leo allowed him to enter. "Mr Kouen, you have a meeting in half an hour's time, we should get going if not we would be late." His secretary reported formally to him. I looked up at him and he just waved his hand, signalling for him to leave. The secretary bowed and left us.
"Mr Kou- Leo, you should get going or you would be late. You are a busy man, I do not want to hold you back, we can always discuss this another time." I suggested that he should leave now, in case he would be late for his next meeting. "Oh, so now you are helping my secretary do his job? I don't need your reminder, if you really want me to leave you as soon as possible, just tell it straight to me. I'll leave now." He stood up, anger and frustration burning in his eyes. I immediately stood up trying to explain to him, "I- I don't mean it that wa-" He put his hand in front of my face to stop me from continuing. He wore his jacket, took the documents and left. Somehow, I felt disappointed that he thought of me like that. Him leaving just like that without my explanation. No! I have to explain to him what I really meant. I dashed out of the office, and flagged down a taxi for a ride. "Go to Kouen Group as fast as possible, thanks!"
4.05, my watch showed. Oh crap, has his meeting started? I took out a $50 dollar note and passed it to the taxi driver, "Keep the change!" I rushed towards the building towards the reception. "I'm here for Leo, uh I mean Mr Kouen." "Did you make an appointment?" "No, no. I didn't but I need to get to him before his meeting starts, I'm from Leafrich Bank." I tried to rush the reception lady, only to be stopped by the security guards. "You are not allowed to enter unless you have made an appointment."
[Leo's PoV]
While walking towards my personal lift, I saw a commotion at the reception desk and the security restricting someone from entering the building. "What's going on there? Is the reception and security guards not paid enough to stop such a commotion? Go check what's happening." I frustratedly shouted at my secretary. He went to check what was going on before running back to me to report. "It's- It's that lady from Leafrich Bank you were having a meeting with earlier... Do I go and stop her?" What was she doing here? I better follow her to see what this petite little girl is up to. "Ask the receptionist and security guards to go back to do their work, I'll handle her. Oh and off the lift security system, let her enter without a visiting card." I ordered my secretary before walking towards the common lift where she was rushing towards.
Everyone stopped what they were doing and greeted me with a bow and I just waved them off. "Woah what happened today? The president is going to take the common lift!" "He just let that girl barge in, who's that little girl?" Gossips were buzzing behind my ears and I couldn't stand them anymore and shouted, "Those who continue to stand here not doing your work, you can leave now!" And everyone ran back to do their jobs. My secretary caught up to me and we took the next lift after her.
[Luna's PoV]
I'm not sure what happened but they suddenly just let me in like that, making it really suspicious. Well, let's not think about that for now. I quickly rushed towards the lift and saw that I had to tap a office worker card or a visiting card. I tapped the highest floor, knowing that it leads to his office and meeting room, hoping that it would work. And like a miracle happened, the button actually lit up, signalling that the lift would be going to that floor. Wasn't this going all too smooth? Is there something wrong with the Kouen's Group security system today? I should tell Leo about the problems with his security system.
Once the lift doors opened, I dashed out almost knocking over people holding coffees and documents at the corridor, apologising along the way which seemed endless. And... I'm finally here. I heard whispers coming from within the room I suppose was the meeting room. "What's the commotion?" I knocked on the door a several times before someone helped me open the door. "Mr Kouen, why were you late?" A much older man, around his 50s asked before he lifted his head and shocked that the person who stood at the open door was me and not Leo. "I-I am here to find Leo! I need to clear a misunderstandin-" I realised he wasn't here yet... "Call the security." "Why is the security management so crap? How can this random girl call Mr Kouen by his first name?" All the different people sitting around the meeting people whom I assumed were important people in the company all commented on my sudden appearance. It was at this moment I realised what I had just done. I was barging into another company's meeting!
"I.. I'm so so so sorry! I'll leave first!" I bowed and turn my head, smacking my face onto something hard. Ouch. Who's that? Why did everyone suddenly turn silent? I looked up and stumbled back a little, "L-Leo?"
[Leo's Pov]
I saw her dashing towards the meeting room and I followed her, keeping a distance behind. What does she want to do now? Ruin my meeting? The next moment I heard her say my name. She came to the meeting room just to clear a misunderstanding? Was it really that important to her? For a moment, my heart skipped a beat, knowing that she cared what I thought.
I walked up behind her and her face smacked right onto my chest. She looked up and stumbled a little after noticing it was me. Pfffttt... I could not help but started laughing to myself softly after seeing how cute she was when she's so clumsy. What a klutz... "L-Leo?" She was like a cat asking for a light pat on her head. I nearly patted her head, but Mr Heize cleared his throat and I realised what I had nearly done. My face turned a little red from embarrassment and I turned to my secretary and told him to postpone this meeting to another free day. I turned my back towards them and held her small hand which I once held the same way too and brought her out of the room into my personal office. I waved my secretary off, telling him to leave us alone for now.
[Luna's PoV]
He grabbed my hand without warning and i once again felt his big, warm hands which nearly covered my entire little hands. He brought me to his personal office and signalled to his secretary to leave us alone, or at least that's what I thought. "Leo... you-your hand..." I looked at him then looked at his hand still grabbing onto mine. "Oh OH, I'm so sorry. I-I just wanted to get you out of there, quickly." He let go of his hand when he realised what I meant and we both looked away from each other, flushing red in embarrassment. "Oh my gosh! How about your meeting?! You should get back there immediately!" I was in such a shock I forgot that he still had that meeting going on and tried to chase him back. He put his hands on my petite-sized shoulders and told me to stay calm. I took in a deep breath and exhaled.
"I've already postponed the meeting, so Luna, everything's okay now. And by the way, what did you come here for?" He bent down and used his curious eyes to look deep into mine. "I... came to explain what I meant. I don't know why but I feel a need to make things clear and I don't want you to leave while misunderstanding me, so I-" He pulled me into his chest and held me tightly as he lightly whispered against my neck with that husky voice of his that make my legs go weak. "Don't let go... just let me hold you... for a while." I lifted my arms and wrapped them around him. I could feel his tensed muscles as he slowly relaxed them and we stayed like this for a few minutes before a knock came to interrupt us. We came back to our senses and let go of each other before Leo called his secretary in.
[Leo's PoV]
"and I don't want you to leave while misunderstanding me, so I-" I cut her short and pulled her in. I held her tightly against my chest and whispered against her neck, "Don't let go... just let me hold you... for a while." I couldn't help but blush at my own words. But what made me go full on red was her sudden reaction of wrapping her arms around me back. I tensed slightly before relaxing a little and we stayed like this, silently for a few minutes before my secretary knocked on the door and called me. I should cut his pay for disturbing such a moment. We let go of each other before I called him in and she turned away from me, not daring to look me in the eye.
"Mr Kouen it's your brother. He's at the lobby. He called to meet you at the lounge." Axel, my secretary informed me and signalled that he would lead me out. "Bring Luna back, make sure she gets back safely. I'll go meet my brother now, Luna go back to Leafrich with Axel." I tapped Axel's shoulders before leaving for the lounge.
[Luna's PoV]
I left with his secretary following behind him, walking towards the common lift which would pass by the lounge. I glanced over to peek at how his brother who does not have much information of him on the internet. I saw a side view of him and at that moment, time seemed to slow down as he glanced towards me as well. Is- Isn't that... It can't be right...? I stumbled a little and Leo called out to him causing him to turn away and enter the lounge with Leo. "Ms Luna?" Leo's secretary, whom I assume is called Axel called out to me. I turned back and followed him towards the lift. As the lift closed, I saw him turned back to look at me once more before the lift doors shut.
[Leo's PoV]
Why is brother here today? He usually keeps a low profile and not come to my office at such an hour of the day when everyone is soon getting off work... Something must've happened or he wouldn't be here. "Leo Kouen, I'm still not used to the sound of your name, Mr Kouen." He sauntered towards me with both hands in his pocket his secretary holding his jacket, following behind him. Abraxxos if I'm not wrong. "Oh look it's his brother, Mr Mizu. It's my pleasure to have you here at my company's lounge at this hour." I sarcastically remarked back at him. We do this whenever we met, it practically became a habit already.
While Luna passed by us, she turned to look at him and to my surprise he turned towards her too. For a slight moment, I saw a tint of surprise and relief in his eyes and then an element of disappointment covered his eyes. "Hey, get in already, I don't have all day." He turned away from Luna and walked into the lounge avoiding my eyes. For a second, I turned to look at Luna and saw the same look in her eyes as his. I entered the lounge and asked Abraxxos to close the door, but he just stood there waiting for him to sit first and stood beside. I shall assume he take orders only from him then. I closed the door and when I was about to take a seat across from him, I saw him look through the glass panel at Luna before her lift doors closed and he turned back to me.
I took a sip of water from one of the two cups placed in front of us and started the conversation. "So, what are you here for toda-" and he interrupted me with a question which I was hoping he wouldn't ask as it confirms my suspicions that they met before. "Who was that girl who left with Axel?" He asked it with a very serious tone making me hesitate to tell him more, but I gave in and I regretted so much after that. "Ms Hikari, Luna Hikari. The Leader of the L.L. project who works in Leafrich Bank. Why does brother want to know?" But it seemed that he couldn't hear my words after I just said her name. "She- she is Luna? Luna Hikari?" I nodded my head slowly only to see his stunned expressions with so many feelings showing on that pale face of his.
And the next moment I knew. He fell to his knees.