One More Month
At a certain barbeque restaurant, where the atmosphere was pretty much lively in the middle of lunch hour...
Min Yujin entered the bustling place and looked around, ignoring few curious glances aimed her way as she stepped further inside.
Finding no familiar faces, the beautiful young woman who by now attracted quite a lot of stares from other customers unhurriedly walked to the nearby stair and headed straight to the second floor of the restaurant.
This time, her search wasn't in vain. Yujin instantly spotter her little brother. "Shijin!"
Min Shijin almost choked on his tea when he saw his sister streading toward their table. Yujin wasted no time to greet the others then took the empty seat next to Lu Qiu.
Cheng Anrong was surprised by her sudden appearance. "Senior, when did you arrive? Shijin said your flight back is not due until this weekend."
Today was Thursday.
Shijin still busily coughed out the rest of the tea that was stuck in his throat. Cheng Anrong patted his back to calm him down.
"I finished my preparation earlier so I rescheduled my flight sooner. The view there was very cool, but I already miss the taste of local food. Compared to the food here, many of the dishes there tasted almost plain, except for some desserts. When I travel again, I will make sure to bring my own chili sauce next time."
"You can order some fast food," Cheng Anrong suggested.
Yujin grimaced. "Going as far as America only to order hamburger in a fast food restaurant? Ugh, it's no fun." Her face suddenly brightened. "Anyway, congratulation guys! I heard you landed the big project."
"Senior, here is your tea," Lu Qiu extended his hand to offer a cup.
Yujin happily accepted. "Aw, you are always a dear, Lu Qiu. How have you been?"
"I'm well, Senior."
"Good, good."
Shijin finally recovered to ask. "Sister, how did you know about the project? And how did you find us here?"
"I went to the studio first, found it unlocked but no one was there. When I was about to send you a chat, I bumped into Xiao Jun who barely said 'hi' before he ran away somewhere. One of his friends who remained in the room told me."
Shijin frowned. "You met Xiao Jun? Why isn't he back yet? And which friends?"
Yujin sipped her tea before answering. "One question at a time, please. You haven't even said 'hi' to me yet, little brother. How rude."
"Maybe Xiao Jun still has some business with his friends. If it's urgent or takes too long, he will surely send us a chat in the group," Cheng Anrong added.
Lu Qiu was actually curious which 'friend' of Xiao Jun senior Yujin happened to meet. After all, the both of them were from the same year. It was likely Lu Qiu would also recognize this 'friend' of Xiao Jun.
However, the talk quickly shifted to another topic and Lu Qiu eventually forgot about his question.
* * *
In one corner of the building that also served as an ideal hiding spot, Xiao Jun breathed a sigh of relief when he spotted Aoning and Yuelin exited the studio room.
He originally thought Aoning won't easily give up tracking him down. Thank God, she let him off. It had been awhile from when he last exercised.
Xiao Jun slowly walked back to the studio half crouching, with one hand holding his slightly pained stomach.
He shouldn't provoke Aoning. At least, he better not do that until he resumed his exercise routines which was put on hold since the last month of holiday.
Two weeks staying in small island can do that to you.
Hawkeye Visual's latest project was to create a promotional video for a remote island near S City that has the potential to be the next travelling destination.
His fit body suffered a lot from laziness during his time there.
The view of the island was really beautiful. The wind often blew gently, making him sleepy. After hours of work, he was already tired and preferred to directly go back to the inn to sleep.
Another day and the next, the same cycle repeated.
They had the chance to relax and truly enjoy the island only on weekend. Back then, it felt like there weren't any right moment to do the exercise.
If Lu Qiu ever heard this from Xiao Jun's mouth, he would say they were all just excuses.
Poor Xiao Jun finally reached his club's studio then checked one last time to make sure nothing was amiss before securing the lock.
* * *
West Area of S city, inside one of its high-rise buildings.
A gangly man in his mid thirties solemnly studied the stack of documents in front of him. The last three months were probably the most intense and important period in his entire career.
Today's morning meeting was finished by 10 am. After everyone was dismissed, the man locked himself in his office bringing all those paper reports. Each division's report was thoroughly examined with some handwritten notes added by the man here and there.
Two hours had passed since then.
Around thirty minutes before lunch hour officially ended, the sound of someone knocking instantly pierced the silence in the spacious room.
The man finally looked up from the scattered papers on the table.
A woman wearing dark business attire with her hair tied in a graceful low-side bun entered. Her left hand held a blue thin folder while the other carried a medium-sized meal box complete with a set of chopstick and utensils.
Seeing the meal box, the man quickly gathered all papers into one pile then shoved it in the furthest corner of the table.
"Good afternoon, Manager Bai. I bring your lunch and the document you inquired," said the woman.
The woman approached the table and pretended to ignore the soft rumbling sound from her boss's stomach as she put down the meal box first then the blue folder next to it.
"I booked the flight ticket to J City for tomorrow afternoon at 1.40 pm sharp and you are due to return to S City again on Monday morning at 9.15 am. The details have been sent to your email, sir."
Opening the blue folder, the woman continued on, "Files regarding the rest of the group, including their portfolios, are here. Most of them have confirmed their availability. I scheduled the meeting as soon as you returned to S City on next Monday at 3 pm. After that, you are going to dine with the sponsors in 'The Garden Pavillion' at 7 pm. Chief Executive Zhang from the capital might directly attend, but it's not confirmed yet."
The man called Manager Bai remained sitting with hands clasped under his chin, listening attentively. He nodded several times without voicing any comment.
When the woman was done with her report, Manager Bai thanked her and let her leave the room.
The serene demeanor surrounding Manager Bai seemed to dissipate the moment the door was closed with a quite 'thumb' sound.
The manager's originally clasped hands moved so fast to tear open three-tier meal box and dive into the food with so much ferocity as if the sky is going to fall any minute now and he won't have the chance to devour all his meal by then.
The woman, who actually hadn't left and secretly peeked through the small tint glass outside the door, sighed at this sight.
At least, his boss didn't plan to miss his lunch.
The nearer the date of the big event, the more pressured his boss was. Not just his boss though, their entire department which was in charge of the event also more or less felt the same pressure.
The woman encouraged herself. One more month and this heavy burden will be lifted! Just one more month!
Stay strong boss and fellow coworkers!
The woman truly left the premise this time.
Unaware of his subordinate's thought,
Manager Bai managed to clean the whole meal box in record time.
He glanced at the open folder beside him and read the name printed on the first page.
"Hawkeye Visual... from S University, is it?"
* * *
~ Crossover Corner ~
Last update's note said, "...I will be shameless and start voting for my own work now, because I love my work! Vote with me?"
Male lead: "That was really smooth.."
Author: "Hehe.."
Male lead: "..And really bold, if you are aware of when was the last time you updated the story."
Author: !!!! (I'm sorry reader, no excuses for my laziness here, I know my wrongs. I'm sorry! I'm sorry! _ _ ')
Author: (Stole a glance at male lead with furrowed brows) "Why are you here? Did you decide to appear now?"
Male lead: "My line in the synopsis is too short."
Author: (So you are here only to complain orz)
Author: "Male lead, I will work hard to make you appear quickly ok ;--;)"