Chapter 32: Annual Dinner Part 3

Jin-Rae closed his eyes and felt cold sweat sprout from his forehead. He clutched on to something and composed his breathing.

All the memories from when the company is going downhill resurfaced. His father did everything he could to save everything he worked hard on. The time he wanted to be in the same college as Rose was, but couldn't because it was too far away and his father needed him. How he saw his father suffer from depression because of a mistake Ling Xialo made. One risk that took everything and blamed it on his father. Mo Corporations was on every front page of the news indicating its downfall and bankruptcy. The Ling family offered a condition, a condition that was created by the ancestors to make the families bond stronger, however in this case, to help the company.

Jin-Rae was against it, his father, who was still suffering from depression, agreed immediately. The discussion brought his tight relationship to his father to break. His mother was the only person his father would listen to, she took him out of the country and there he found investors to start branching the company outside of North City. It was then that Jin-Rae put up with the company and held it from the thin line it was hanging. Only three months in, Mo Corporations prospered and it was once again prospering. He did everything he could even while studying.

in his head, the Ling family is dead.

The silence broke when he heard his phone buzzing from his coat pocket. He glanced at the number and answered right away.

"Hello?" The soft voice from the other line made Jin-Rae hold his breath. He looked blankly at the greens from the garden before taking a deep breath. "Are you okay?"

The call was unexpected, but it made his mind at peace. "Yeah. I'm glad you called."

"Is everything alright?"

Jin-Rae looked around and saw not one soul with him. "I don't think I am... I'm where I don't want to be."

There was a shuffle from the other line, "do you want to hang out?"

His lips curled upward abruptly, "where?"

"Here, in my apartment. Bella's not around, she went out partying." The sound of Rose's voice was a little too relieved to be left alone. "Bring food if you come, though."

A low chuckle escaped from his lips, "I'll be there by eleven. I still have to take my mom home, she's with friends."

"Why didn't you say so! I'll hang up now, say hi to aunty for me."

"Yeah, I will and Yu Yan... I'm really glad you called."

there was a muted silence from the other line, "yeah whatever."

Jin-Rae tidied himself and combed his hair. Taking another look at the garden and saw bushes of red roses, he looked at it for a while and smiled.

"I didn't know roses could make you smile."

His smile faded, returning to his cold and distant aura. The look he gave to Lady Ling made her stop on her tracks. "Relax, I'm just here to inform you that dinner is starting."

Jin-Rae put his hands on his pockets and started walking, brushing past Shirley. Inside, he found his mother already seated talking with someone on the table. When she met his son's eyes, she already knew what happened, that's why when Jin-Rae sat next to her she put her hand on his asking silently if he's okay. He responded only with a light tap on her fingers and smiled, the gesture made Mo MeiXiu relax her features.

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Rose woke up to the sound of the doorbell and u hurriedly went down the stairs to open where she saw a man who looked like straight out of a fashion shoot She completely forgot she had asked Jin-Rae to hang out.

"Sorry, I should have called first."

Rose could barely open her eyes, "no it's fine." she yawned.

"I'll leave now if you want." Jin-Rae started and patted Rose's hair, and then she took his hand and pulled him inside her apartment and led him to her bedroom.

"You once told me before that when you feel like you're in a place you're not supposed to be, you want to escape. Stay here until you're okay." Rose told him as she laid back on her bed, pulling the quilts and even moving to the side giving Jin-Rae some space.

Jin-Rae stood quietly at Rose's bedside looking at her. She quickly got back to sleep as soon as her head hit her pillow. Jin-Rae sat next to Rose and stared at her sleeping figure. Back in their high school days, sleeping in the same bed wasn't new to them. Rose would always be the first to fall asleep whenever she finds her comfort, but he thought it was different now. He only smiled and caressed her mahogany locks and pulled his legs up to her bed and reclined his back on the bed's headboard. Jin-Rae took out his phone and silently snapped her a photo.