87 87_

"Now, ladies and gentlemen. Let us welcome our new vice president. The former vice president's son who has just returned from abroad with his sister, junior master Ji Ke Mu!" the emcee stated in high spirits, indicating that the real event was beginning to unfold.

People started to clap their hands, awaiting the new vice president to appear on stage. Their chatter died down from the anticipation.

Not longer than a minute later, From the high podium came two figures walking side by side. One was a woman in a high low dress and another one was a man in a casual business suit without a tie.

The woman wore a yellow dress in fitted size which accentuated her slender waist and caused her milky white skin to blend in together. Her hair was in a simple updo with several strands falling to her shoulder. She was beautiful. Just second after Bai Yulin.

The man appeared quite laid back, but everyone could see that the way he brought himself was like he was above others. It made it seem as if he held a very unique characteristics to himself. He was also good-looking, his smile could melt people into a puddle.

When others stared closely, these two people actually held some similarities in their faces. Thus, marking them as twins. These two were Ji Xia and Ji Ke Mu.

They walked towards the center of the podium and Ji Ke Mu took a microphone from the excited emcee. He cleared his throat and faced the crowd under him. All of the employees present stopped clapping and began to pay attention.

Ji Xia never let go of her twin's arm even for a second. She was smiling sweetly towards the crowd but her eyes only focused on the two figures who sat at the VIP front table. If there were love and care in her eyes, she didn't show them.

"Good evening, everyone. I'm your vice president, Ji Ke Mu. It's my honor to be here today for my welcoming party. And I hope you enjoy yourselves. But don't get too drunk because we have work tomorrow." people laughed at his last sentence but began to clap again. Then he gave the microphone back to the emcee without prolonging his speech.

Ji Ke Mu and Ji Xia walked down the podium and went straight towards where Ji Haishan and Bai Yulin were. Others parted ways for the two of them and instinctively held their breaths. It was hard not to stare because Ji Xia and Ji Ke Mu were both famous children of the Ji family.

They were always low-key but their academic achievements were on genius level, especially Ji Xia. The two were Harvard's students and youngsters of other prominent families looked up to them.

Ji Haishan saw his cousins approaching and he stood up in reflex. He stared at Ji Xia but stood still. Bai Yulin also followed and she held his hand to provide some support. For some unknown reason, she got a feeling that Ji Haishan was distressed.

Ji Ke Mu grinned towards 'Ji Haishan' as he greeted him happily. Whereas Ji Xia stopped in her tracks and stared at 'Bai Yulin'. She knew it was Ji Haishan. She knew their bodies were swapped. But she couldn't expose them.

Her eyes which held deep longing quickly returned to normal. Her emotions as a mortal Ji Xia and as a goddess Athena which were blurred slightly were now back to their places. They were quick to come and fast to go away. Even Ji Ke Mu didn't realize the change.

Ji Xia sucked in a deep breath as she greeted "Nice to meet you. Can I call you by your name?"

Ji Haishan thought for a second before he answered "Of course.."

Then suddenly, he was hugged by Ji Xia in a tight embrace. He became still and his eyes gradually draped low. He still remembered that time when he had shoved her away.

It was right after that incident happened 10 years ago. Ji Haishan hated women since then and he didn't want to associate himself with any. But he especially harbored unbridled feelings towards Ji Xia who looked almost identical to her aunt, Ji Ye Ran.

He knew it wasn't her fault. Hell, she never did anything wrong to him. In fact, she was always there for him as a friend. But he ruined it just by a single reaction when she came forward to give him a hug.

And ever since then, things became awkward. Ji Haishan apologized and Ji Xia accepted it. However, it was never the same anymore. He stopped talking to her and would only converse with Ji Ke Mu.

In the deepest corner of their heart, they both knew that they were already reconciled. But for some reason, Ji Haishan couldn't make himself forget that expression on Ji Xia's face when he had pushed her away.

Guilt was eating at him.

While for Ji Xia, she couldn't stop blaming herself and the situation that made Ji Haishan become the way he was.

Ji Haishan's mouth were tightly sealed as he slowly adjusted his emotions. He returned the embrace with the same intensity.

Inside his head, he was thinking of what ifs. If only he could be frank with Ji Xia, if only he could look her in the eye again. If only he could smile to her and give her meaningful answer. Then, he would want to apologize again. He wanted to hug her for real once again.

After some time, Ji Xia was the first to let go. She smiled and asked for 'Bai Yulin' to call her by her name too so that it wouldn't be awkward.

"Yulin, please enjoy the party." said Ji Xia in a real, genuine smile before she went towards 'Ji Haishan' and gave him another brief yet strong hug.

Her eyes twinkled with something unexplainable but Bai Yulin thought it was just her imagination.

The event officially began when fellow directors came forward to congratulate Ji Ke Mu. People started to surround them and they chatted about random things before they shifted to something more serious, or precisely regarding business.

Bai Yulin who liked to eat greasy food had her eyes on the buffet table. She was especially interested in filling her stomach but alas, she had to maintain her image as the stoic 'Ji Haishan'.

But when Ji Ke Mu took her hand and led her towards the table full of food, Bai Yulin stopped caring. He accompanied her to eat and they talked with just the two of them.