48 Peck

Earlier Stephen had reached Obsidia before lunch even began, but was caught by an annoying fly who wouldn't stop buzzing around him. He tried talking to her politely but she kept following him all the way to his floor.

His elder sister had warned him not to create any more troubles that would affect the family. Therefore he tried following the mantra that his older sister had given him if he meets stupid people. 

 *Tolerate, don't humiliate*

He repeated this mantra and walked into his room thinking that she would not follow him any further.

Just because he kept tolerating her, she felt that it was okay to enter his workspace and this snapped his final thread of patience.

He finally yelled at her and chased her away.

The interns witnessed their boss's anger and tried to minimize their presence. Manager Tim bravely went forward and relayed Lina's message to Stephen and saw his anger turn to joy.

After finding out which department she worked for, Stephen dashed to her floor.

----

Seeing all the workers staring at Steph and her, Lina felt a little uncomfortable with all the attention and whispered.

"Let's talk inside." She opened the door and the other three followed.

This was Julia's and Stephen's first time entering her office, so they were amazed at how cool the place looked.

"Noona, this place is so awesome! You even have a mini fridge here!" He opened the fridge and saw everything that was inside, just like a curious child.

Julia looked after the office and then saw Leon happily sitting on the couch. She too took a seat and observed how Lina and Stephen chatted. They were discussing which snack would be perfect when.

"Did you know that they were close?" Julia whispered and Leon shook his head as he too did not have any idea about it.

"Right! The reason I came to meet you was to drop off my present for you." She handed over Stephen's box of cupcakes and immediately felt the intense stare from the two people on the couch.

'I still have two boxes left. One is for Wade and the other for the lady that did not come.' She decided what to do and opened one of those boxes and offered them to Leon and Julia which they accepted gratefully.

Lina was full after her lunch and so she did not touch the remaining cupcake in the box.

"Noona these are yummy!" Steph said with an adorable voice which melted Lina's heart.

"Aww Steph, you are such a sweetheart!" She pulled his cheeks lovingly.

*Knock*

Someone knocked and the door opened to show Asst Kirk Douglas.

When Lina saw him, she ran to him and gave him a big hug.

"Big Brother Kirk! I've seen you after such a long time! You never came back!!" She spoke to him in English and complained like a little girl.

"Still a spoiled child, I see. How could I come back when Wade dumped all his workload on me?" He rubbed her hair and she slapped his hand off, glaring at him.

Seeing him chuckle, she too laughed.

'Who is this guy who's hogging my Noona's attention?' Steph glared at Kirk.

Noticing the others staring at them, she felt that this needed an explanation.

"I've met brother Kirk when we were in America. His brother is a close friend of mine." What she said was true but not completely.

Julia and Leon nodded in understanding while Steph who knew that she was related to Wade did not bother.

Kirk saw the cupcakes  that everyone was raving about and remembered the task his boss had given him.

"Lina, I've actually come here to pick up that." He pointed to the cupcakes.

"Apparently, the boss saw the posts and now wants to try them." He cooked up a story to hide the truth that Wade wanted to show off his baby sister's baking skills to his friends.

Lina chuckled and gave Wade's box to him and smirked.

"You love my cupcakes don't you?" She waved the other box that had one cupcake in it and Kirk swiftly grabbed it.

"Oh Lina you don't know how I missed these!?" He smiled in contentment while eating them.

He wiped his mouth and went back to the serious persona that the people in Obsidia knew about.

"I better get back to work. Let's catch up soon." He left after giving her a peck on the cheek. Shaking her head, she giggled. 

She felt someone touching her cheek and turned around.

Stephen stood in front of her with a tissue, seriously wiping the side that Kirk had just kissed.

'?' Lina just tilted her head.

"There's something stuck to your cheek." Steph lied flawlessly.

'How dare that man just casually kiss my Noona! Even I haven't done that yet!!' Though he was burning on the inside, he calmly wiped her cheek and sat back in his seat.

The clueless Lina just shrugged at his actions and sat down. Julia and Leon, who were the spectators, shared a look and smiled mischievously.

Soon they all went back to their own respective offices and Lina was left all alone. Finding things to waste her time with, she surfed the net, texted her dad and friends and played DTD till office hours came to an end.

She received a call from Wade asking her to wait for him as he would be joining her on her way back home.

Because there was not much work to do, all the employees on her floor left right on time and hence no one was there when Wade came to pick her up after he had completed his work.

When they had safely reached the parking, Derek was there waiting for them to arrive. Lina smiled at him and boarded the car.

"What took you so long? I almost fell asleep waiting for you." She interrogated him because he was 20 minutes late.

"I had some files that needed my immediate attention. Sorry, I'll text you if I'll be late." He said sincerely.

'It's all because of that Ming bastard! He came in unannounced and disrupted my work.' Wade cursed Reuben in his mind.

[Back in Ming Enterprise, Reuben Ming who had plans of working overtime, sneezed hard.

"It must be that ass Wade who's abusing me." He thought and rubbed his tired eyes.]

"Fine. How's preparation going?" Lina was asking about the preparation for releasing 

info about the auction.

"It will be out on Monday and we can have the auction after two week's time." He said about his plans.

"We will be having a meeting tomorrow to discuss the details. Make sure you are on time." He reminded.

"Hmm. Did you like my cupcakes?" She asked excitedly.

Lina loved how her brothers were her #1 fans, whatever she did they supported and encouraged her wholeheartedly.

Wade's smile fell when he remembered how he had to share the cupcake with that Kim.

'That asshole thinks he's really an Emperor because people call him that? Who the hell eats others' desserts without permission? That's even worst that murder!' He ranted in his mind.

"Nana you know what?" He retold exactly how he was deprived of her delicacy and made a sad face.

"What an asshole! There were three in the box, he could have eaten one and left the others for you two." Lina was angry that someone bullied her brother.

'What a greedy guy! I know I make awesome stuff but that doesn't mean that he can just eat them all.'  Lina shook her head.

"Exactly! He's so mean to me, Nana!" Remembering all the times Reuben had bullied him, Wade wiped his imaginary tears.

"Next time he's mean to you, just send him to me. I'll kick his ass!" She gave a karate pose and they both laughed.