Chapter 104 - 104: You Are Warmer Now

"Well, you have given me no choice but to resort to this." He immediately admitted as he patted the dust off his but.

"Stop pestering me will you? You are already engaged to someone. You should act appropriately." She said but Kim Eunji thought that something was off with her words. Why did she sound like they were a thing and was having an affair behind Jin Li Rong's back. A passer by would clearly misunderstood her words.

"But it should have been us. Not me and her!" Ling Bao stubbornly insisted.

"If you think that having that scar on your forehead would make me turn my back away from you. That it would make me be discouraged, you're wrong!" He added.

(A/N: Oh boy! Ling Bao's in love. Nathan hurry up!)

"Huh! I already told you that I don't want to get involved with that silly stone-aged agreement between families. And firstly, you're asking the wrong person to fulfill that. I'm no longer a Jin when my great grandparents decided to stop looking for my grandmother." She insisted.

"Then...why did you come back? Isn't it to get what's yours? What originally belonged to you? I can help you with it."

"My reason for coming back was definitely none of your fucking business. And lastly, I don't need your help. I can get it back myself if I really wanted to." She did not hold back when she said that.

What she was telling him was the truth anyways. J already told her that he would be taking care of the Jin family in her behalf. Had she wished to take over the Jin family in the future, he would gladly step-down and let her to take over.

"I love how confident you are. Maybe that's why I'm so attracted to you?" Ling Bao tried to flirt with her  but Kim Eunji's heart had already turned into a hard stone for people like him.

"However, you should know that the Jin would never survive without us the Ling. Can you dare to let it happen? Hmm?"

"Well, as I said, you are barking the wrong tree. And don't underestimate my cousin's talent. He's more than capable than what you think he is." Kim Eunji said.

"You're all that I wanted. I don't care about that marriage agreement either. And I swear I would make the life of the students close to you here miserable if you won't agree to date me!" He threatened.

"You're such a pathetic and crazy person Mr. Ling! Go and have yourself get checked." Kim Eunji's face then turned sour as she stepped closer to him. Intimidating him in a way.

She grabbed his collar and slammed his back against the wall.

"You could try and touch them. Tell me, what are you so proud about? The backing from your grandfather? Huh! Such a coward!" Kim Eunji mocked him.

"Don't be too arrogant when facing me Mr. Ling. I admit, you're so full of yourself because you are still sheltered by your family as you're the potential successor of the Ling. But if someone stripped that title away from you, you're nothing but a spoiled young master whose words could not even harm a fly." Kim Eunji harshly said as he released his collar.

In Kim Eunji's eyes he's a kid who was throwing tantrum. Kids should be adorable and cute. Not naughty and stubborn. He clearly needed some beating.

And as someone who could be his sister, she felt the need to discipline him. And her ways should always be way harsher. The Ling should be thankful to her for doing that for free.

"Are you threatening me?" Ling Bao's tone became serious and quite intimidating. He hated when someone threatened his authority. After all, he's someone who wouldn't easily back down to challenges. Something that he and Nathan had in common.

"My words may sound like an empty threats to you now. But, mind you, you would regret it a million fold if you'd ignore them." Kim Eunji said in all seriousness not denying his accusation.

'Geez! This kid would make me go bald if he would keep doing this.' She thought.

But the young man had his pride either. He would never dare accept defeat. It was still too early to say the least.

"Is it because of your man? Is he really that amazing? Give me a chance to prove to you that I'm more than worthy to be with you than him!"

"Amazing? Describing him as an amazing person is an understatement. He's more than that!" She boasted. She's proud of Nathan's achievements and as his wife, she should be proud and shared his achievements to her friends and family.

But Ling Bao was not discouraged. He had to see the man for himself in order for him to believe.

"Please! Let me. Give me just one chance to prove that I'm worthy. Let me court you. He's still your boyfriend right? The ring that you're wearing now doesn't mean a thing. I'll change for the better if that's what you want. Just please. Please give me one chance just to be with you."

"Don't change yourself because of me. Change because you wanted to. And besides, I'm already married. I can't give you any chance at all. And I'm not by any chance would be sorry to you." Kim Eunji decided to walk away after she saw the hurt that was on his eyes. Before she could even step further, Ling Bao yelled.

"I want to meet him. I want to see who's this old guy you're married to. Until then, I won't give up!"

Kim Eunji didn't know whether she should laugh or cry upon hearing that. But she decided to not mind him as she continued to walk away from the place.

She was glad that this time he did not stop her or else she would definitely punch him on the face.

***

Night time finally came and Kim Eunji was sulking at the corner of her bed watching her phone from time to time.

Nathan had not messaged him since yesterday morning.

So, she decided to call Marco this time.

Picking up her phone, he decided to look for his number on her contact list.

In just one ring, the call got connected. Well, it's still 11:00 PM there so he should still be awake.

"Lady Boss." Marco answered her.

"How's Nathan? Did he eat his meal today?" Kim Eunji could no longer hide her worry for the latter.

"He's fine Lady Boss. Yes, I made sure that he'll eat on time just like instructed. Master Boss was just super busy that he could not give you a call. Please be patient Lady Boss. Master will call you if he would have time."

"Really? Okay. I'll hang up now. Don't tell him that I called to check on him." Kim Eunji said.

After the call ended, she tossed her phone on the bed and she lay down.

Iris and the girls were still out.

It was already passed the time for dinner. Kim Eunji had no appetite to eat at all.

But since she had to eat or else Nathan would be disappointed at her, Kim Eunji decided to go out to look for something she could eat.

Wearing her oversized shirt, her short sweat pants, eye glasses, baseball cap and her white slipped on shoes, she went out of the dorm. Of course she did not forget to bring her camera with her.

"Good evening, Aunty." Kim Eunji greeted the cleaning lady on the hallway.

"Going out? Be sure to be back before eleven okay?" The cleaning lady reminded her.

"I will Aunty. Thank you for reminding me."

Kim Eunji entered the elevator and punched the G button.

As the elevator chimed and opened, Kim Eunji walked out of the elevator and headed out.

The lobby was quite empty.

In this time of the day, some students were out hanging out mostly outside of the dorms but within the vicinity of the school.

Some were also out fan-girling for the celebrities who had come over to film the drama.

Kim Eunji did not mind that though.

She decided to wander around and then found herself inside a Korean samgyupsal restaurant.

As she walked inside, the aroma of the grilled meat welcomed and evaded her nostrils.

There were not many diners inside the restaurant though. Only a few South Korean students were there.

Those who had recognized her this past few days stood up and greeted her.

"Annyeonghaseyo!" Kim Eunji returned the greeting a smile on her face.

She looked around and found an empty table near the window to eat. She decided to take an order and the waiter grilled the pork for her.

The waiter excused herself and let Kim Eunji to grill the meat on her own.

She had only eaten a few bites but she was already full. She tried to text Iris to see if they were up for it. Hoping that they would join in.

Her phone buzzed and she smiled when she saw that they were coming.

The group didn't get the chance to eat properly at dinner since they had to eat in a hurry.

The casts had arrived and they had to at least to welcome them. Helping them with the moving and stuff.

Ten minutes after, Guo Xiaolan, Iris, Wen Zhen, Yun Mei and Marie came inside the restaurant. But someone also came along with them.

They saw Kim Eunji idly spinning the melting ice inside her glass.

She looked like she was lost. When she saw them entering the restaurant one by one, her mood lightened up a bit but her eyes widened even more when she saw someone very familiar.

"Alice?!" She called out and the girl with blonde hair smiled back at her.

"Hey EL!" Alice greeted her nervously. Afraid that Kim Eunji might get angry.

(A/N: The conversation between Alice and Kim Eunji is in English since she didn't know how to speak the language yet.)

Kim Eunji immediately stood up and rushed to hug Alice which caught her and everyone by surprise.

Alice never expected this to happen. The last thing that Kim Eunji gave a hug to her was when they parted on the airport.

Everyone was puzzled as the girl that Kim Eunji was hugging was the author of the novel that would be having an adaption drama.

"Oh my gosh! It's you. What are you doing here?" Kim Eunji asked as she broke the hug.

Alice who was in a daze immediately snapped out of it and cautiously smiled.

"Well, I know that I'm supposed to come over here next month together with Magnus and the rest however, Dad approached me and asked if I could supervise the opening of our branch here." She explained.

Alice's family owned a chain of casino all around the world. Being described as the daughter of World Gambling Lord was an understatement as she herself was almost the gambling queen if only Kim Eunji did not show up and beat her in a match.

Don't worry, their business was pretty legal.

Everyone was looking at them with their curious eyes.

"Wait, you guys are acquainted? You've known each other?" Guo Xiaolan curiously asked.

"Yes. I worked as her assistant when she's still -hmmm." Kim Eunji covered her mouth before she could even continue.

"Enough. It was just one time. She happened to be there and I asked for her help." Kim Eunji briefly explained.

"It's really not like that!" Alice protested earning a glare from Kim Eunji.

"Sorry." She immediately act pitiful as she bowed her head and pouted.

Kim Eunji sighed but as she looked at Alice who acted pitifully, she patted her head and said, "It's okay." Then she lean on her ear and whispered, "Don't call me EL, it's Eunji or EJ this time. I don't want the others to know that I'm EL, the well-known photographer."

Alice nodded and said, "No problem. I got it. I'll tell Magnus and the rest, too."

"Alright. I bet you're all hungry? Let's eat?" Kim Eunji diverted the topic as she knew Alice might say something that would give her a headache to explain.

"Yeah sure!" Guo Xiaolan said and found a seat to get comfortable with. The rest followed her.

Kim Eunji called on the waitress and asked for more meat and vegies to grill and plates and chopsticks.

They also ordered some drinks for themselves. Of course, the resto offered non-alcoholic drinks since this restaurant is inside the school premises. This was also to avoid minors to be tempted from ordering alcohol.

"So, what are you really doing here?" Kim Eunji asked Alice as she grilled the pork belly and vegetables on the grilling pan.

Since she invited them and she took the role as their host and volunteered to grill the food for them.

"Here in IU? Well, I was invited by the director to be the head screen writer since it was my book which they were making an adaptation with." Alice replied nonchalantly.

"Really? Since when did you start your career as an author?" Kim Eunji asked as she had no idea that Alice had ventured into Literature writing. She knew Alice had this artistic talent in her.

"Well, you were not always with the team. I've been writing for a while. Mostly when there's no projects to handle." She honestly answered hoping that her answer was not offending her in a way.

"I'm happy that you found another purpose in life." Kim Eunji said in relief as she stuffed the cooked grilled meat to her plate.

"Yes. At least there are things that I know I can defeat you this time." Alice said showing off her competitive spirit.

"It's not always a competition kid." Kim Eunji said as she patted on her head.

Alice was surprised to see this affectionate gesture from Eunji.

She's her boss so she should act appropriately in the past.

Who could not blame her? Kim Eunji always wore a poker face and sometimes gave a cold shoulder to the team. They didn't mind though since she had always been like that since they met her.

"You changed. Something had definitely changed in you Eunji." Alice pointed out. Then she saw the ring that's in her finger.

She wondered on who was the hot guy who had managed to melt Kim Eunji's ice walls.

"What do you mean?" Kim Eunji asked curiously.

"You're warmer now." Alice honestly answered.