Hidden Love
Han Yu Pin Yin: Cang Ai
Author: Jennifer
Source: AAE Village
Translators: Evie

Just came back to his office from the afternoon meeting. He gave John at BBC a call, asking John for help to do some research for him. The children eductional program co-sponsor by BBC which he in charge with was very successful.

He is leaving to England tomorrow for an international broadcast meeting, and will be on a week leave too after it. Since he started working in MBS, he haven't manage to get a proper rest at all. Everyday had to work till late night, even on weekend or holidays he will be in office too. He had make up his mind this time ... no matter what he will take this opportunity to go back to London for a break.

Yong Xi walked in, but he is on the phone, so she took a seat first while waiting for him to finish up but she doesn't look happy at all.

After hung up, he smiled and asked, "Why are you here, my famous MBS newscaster?"

"If you planned to hide away from me, you don't have to run all the way to England! I have a lot of suitors too you know?" She is extremely angry at him after finding out his plan to take a break at London behind her back from Xian Da. Yong Xi is always like this...kind of inconsiderate person.

"I had lunch with your dad few days ago ..." Staring right into his eyes.
"Is it?" He asked... It is something very common for him that his dad actually have lunch with Yong Xi...Their families have known each other for a long time.
"Your dad said that I'm useless...can't even tight a man heart down......"
"Is it? You should tell him that, your suitors can queue from here to the lobby of MBS..." He jokingly to end this conversation.

Actually, he understand what she's trying to tell him but other than friendship, there is nothing else that he could offered to her. He doesn't want caused any misunderstading nor even to think about hurting her... He just hoped that one day she will find her true love.

"I'm glad that you know..." Very reluctantly she answered him...

He is always like this. Everytime when she try to bring this subject to him, he will definitely find a way to avoid it. Actually she planned to settle this with him once and for all ... But she understands that it's time for her to let go already. No point pursuing a relationship that aren't going anywere ... She stood up and turned around to leave his room.

Looking her walking slowly towards the door, he felt bad to do that to her but other than sorry, there's nothing else...

Thinking back the time how his mum waited for his dad to come back to them ... He do not have any confidence at all to be able to bring happiness to a woman. He doesn't want to repeat his dad footsteps.

"Yong Xi........You....are my best friend...forever..."
Yong Xi nodded without looking back at him.

Finally he is back to London...

The 3 days conference finally ended....

Next day, He rentend a car and went back to Cambridge to visit most of his old friends and lecturers.

He stayed in England around 8 years but he spent 6 years in Cambridge doing his degree and masters. Everythings in Cambridge is very memorable to him. It took him half a day to visit everyone in Cambridge.

Before he heads back to hotel, he decided to drop by Kang He (in English is ??) first.
He walks along the river bank ... churches, chapels, colleges still looks as grand as last time.
The river view is extremely beautiful. At a particular side of the river bank ... she is standing there painting this beautiful river view.

Surprised...he couldn't lay off his eyes from that shadow...
It's her...wearing a baby pink sweater with a white pair of jeans...looks as gorgoues like the past 2 times when he met her.

He actually sees her here...all the way in Cambridge...so far away from Seoul.. (is this fate?)

It is so hard to cover up how pleasantly surprised he is...to see her here...walked straight to her..."Ms Zhen San Mei!" He addresses so easily just like a friend whom he haven't seen for a long time.

She stopped and looked over...How come there is someone calling her name...furthermore it is in Korean..?

Infront her is this young man that she met before, a face that can't be forgotten...

"Director Yin!"

She remembers him. He looks good in this casual dressing so different from that businessman look of his in MBS...

"What are you doing here...in London?" He asked while smiling sweetly at her.

"I'm here for holiday. Love the scenery here, so brought my drawing kits along. What about you? What are you doing here then?" She put aside her brush...asking him with a pleasantly surprised expression too.

"I'm here to attend a conference. It just ended, so took a week off to come back to visit my friends in my old school here." Explaining to her very happily.

"So...Director Yin graduated from Cambridge...Very surprised... " scartiscally making fun of him.

Didn't say anything at all, her drawing caught his attention...everything in her drawing... the tree, pigeons, tourists, the bridge, the river itself as though is alive in her drawing...very impressive.

"Nice drawing!" He told her and somehow he felt like he could understand and relate to her feeling in her drawing.
"Normally those that who comes here to do drawing are local people, I hardly see tourist doing it like you now." He kept on smiling at her.

"Actually I'm was here before as exchange student for a few months. I love the scenery here a lot, and since there's such opportunity now, I can't miss it, isn't it?" She asked him.

Come to think of it, few months ago over at the coffee house when Shi Jie told him that he finds her familiar is true. He saw her here.

"Oh..exchange student huh? Then how come I never see you before in Cambridge?" Smiling at her...

"Cambridge is so big and there are so many students studying there too, how can you mange to know everyone la?" San Mei defending herself...

"Quite true, but pretty Korean girls like you aren't many in Cambridge, you know?"

She laughed when he praised her "pretty" ....

"Finishing soon?" He asked while admiring her painting.

"Pretty much, just a little bit of touching up to go.." She nodding her head.

She continued back to finish up her painting, but realizing him standing next to her...she said "Why don't go ahead with your plans...Very glad to see you here!"

He shook his head a little, putting his hand in his pockets... "I have nothing to do. Can I stay here to see you drawing? Don't mind right?"

(PS:remember the scene in AAE where he waited her infront of MBS before heading to the amusement park? This is the exactly same kind of expression here... :> )

"As long as you don't feel bored...." She smiled.
Looking at her concentrating to finish up her drawing, she looks really pretty under the sun. Just like the saying (in direct translation from Chinese: ren chen de nu ren qui piao liang) "Woman looks the best when she is in full concentration mood.." Guess this is the most suitable phrase to use to describe her now.

"I'm done!" She looks extremely satisfied with her works. Smiling to herself looking at her drawing, he stood next to her admiring not only her drawing but her too. That bright smile of hers looks even more beautiful than Kang He (Cam River) view. He still remember her smile when they first met in MBS. Her smile had left an imprint in his heart!

"Where are you staying? Is it somewhere nearby here?" Xiang Zhe wanted to give her a ride.

"No..I'm staying in a hotel in the city...took a bus here this morning." San Mei explained.

"Oh...I'm staying in the city too. Let me give you a ride all right? I rented a car to drive here." He suggested.

She thinks for a while,and guess he is not stranger right..? Well, she nodded her head to say yes.

The journey back to the city is about an hour. Along the way, he showed her all the attractions and explained to her the history behind most of them. He have been living in Cambridge for 6 years, there aren't much things that he doesn't know. He is not sure too why he talks so much today. He isn't those talkative type anyway.

At first, she just listen quietly to him, only speak and ask some questions from time to time. But after a while, she finds that he is a very interesting person and very knowledgeable too. She starts to feel more relax and enjoyed his company a lot. All of sudden the journey back to the city seems to be short.

He stopped his car infront of Swiss Hotel.
"I stayed here, what about you? I'll send you back to your hotel."
She looked down and smiled, "I'm .... I stayed here too"
Looking at each other, what a coincedence...both of them laughed...
"Let me guess, is it because this hotel is nearer to to St. Mary Park?" He smiled while asking her...

"God! Are you a psychiatrist? Or have some kind of mind reading ability...this is creepy..." She took a deep breath.

"Do you have any plans tonight? May I take you out for dinner?"

"I...." She felt quite confused because she do not have the habit of having dinner with stranger.

"Look, I do not have other intentions..Just take it as a simple dinner only...Otherwise just take it as me thanking you for doing a great job in designing my house...all right?
That smile of him,....she just can't bring herself to say no to him.

He took her to a French restaurant located in Notting Hill's for dinner. The night life at Notting Hill is happening... For the first time, she experience the night life in London.
"This is London when the sun goes down, impressive huh?" He asked her...

Tonight she is wearing a purple color dress. She looks really different from her working look, and this afternoon casual dressing...a woman with multi looks...Along the way to the restaurant, she attracted quite of lot of attention.

He stare at her and gave a her a little smile. Is there anything on her face, she wondered. "Why are you looking at me like this?" She touched her face...
"Nothing...I find that you have many different looks ... " saying to her as if it's like a compliment but yet it doesn't feel like that...
"Many different looks ?" She is confused...
"When the first time I see you ... you are a interior designer at that time, a woman that have high confidence, a modern super career woman; when you talked to your dad that time, you looks like a 'spoilt' little girl, ... this afternoon over at the river bank that time, you looks like a young overseas graduate, and now you become a woman full of charisma only...which is the real you?" He finds it however funny to describe her like that.
"A woman full of charisma?!"
Her opened her big, dark color eyes widely, and laughed at him..

"My mind reader, my psychiatrist, if you are going to continue analyze me like this, I don't think I will be able to finish my dinner already..."

He joyfully laughed at her, and took up his wine glass, "Let's toast....firstly, thanks for joining me for dinner and secondly thanks for putting in so much effort in designing my house."

"Director Yin..."

He stopped her all of a sudden.

"Let's make a deal,ok? Can please don't address me as Director Yin anymore? Just address me as Yin Xiang Zhe."

She looks around and make another suggestion, "Why don't I address you as Xue Zhang? Will that be better? Both you and I attended the same university right? and come to think of it, you much older than me too so we'll do it this way, all right? "

He thinks about her suggestion for a while,....Xue Zhang sounds quite nice too.

"Director...Xue Zhang, truthfully all right? I don't feel quite good at all about the discussion we had over your house design. You see, I do expect mutually respect between me and my client. I like to discuss and get to know more about my client preferences, their needs and wants in their house and upon completion of the project, to see how pleased they are with my design is something like a reward to me. But in your case, you didn't even gives me any feedback at all ...very disappointed..." She complained to him and looking at her angry face, he...for the first time he actually that she is so even much more cute when she is angry.

"No wonder you said so angrily: As if I'm the one going to stay in that house!"

"You heard all of it?" She kind of embarrassed over her on behavior.

"I'm not deaf or blind to realize that you are angry... I just think you have excellent taste and talented designer so I wanted to give absolute freedom in it. Furthermore, I believe an art lover will have an excellent taste, isn't it?"
He even noticed that she was reading at Art Gallery magazine on that day while waiting for him.

"But still I owes you an apology for keep you waiting for so long on that day. It just that there was something urgently came up.."

"All right, I believe you! However, I still prefer to have a proper discussion with my client"

"I'll remembered that."

"Ha! There won't be a second anymore. I have decided to black list you from my client accounts." She jokingly said it but her expression tells him that she isn't.

"Are you serious about this or you are just joking?"

"Hmmm....half...half..Actually I designed offices only....As for your case, I was just helping out my friends only...But if your office wanted to do renovation, I'll be glad to be at your service!"

"What if I make special request that I want to be my designer?" He can't just give up like this...

She just kept shaking her head...indicated there's nothing can be done. "But if the day when you getting married, this Xue Mei (little sister) of yours, will definitely help.

"That....I don't think you will have that chance. I have decided to be a bachelor for rest of my life." He said it to her very disappointly.

"I don't believe you at all" Smiling and looking into his eyes.
She don't understand how come such a good looking man doesn't want to get marry, he must be joking. Furthermore, that day in his office, there's that Liu Yong Xi....

"I'm very serious about this..."

She stare at him...pouted her lips...and give that cheeky face of hers....and he just couldn't help it but laughed at her...

Like this...they started finding out more about each other bit by bit.....

Just like that, both of them begin chatting.......

After a long chat, he finally understand that she is here for a short modern architecture course sponsored by her company. She had to fought really hard to get this opportunity from her company to do so and will have to stay here for the next 3 months.
Before the course start, she took the opportunity to go around London.

"Your boss must think highly of you, otherwise he won't send you all the way here to study isn't it? In MBS, only those outstanding performer will have such opportunity to go to England as a special correspondent".

Listening to what he said, she was proud of herself, and jokingly said to him, "It's not like this at all, he just think that I'm the youngest in the company so sent me here to 'suffer'. According to my senior, this course is very tough. There are many lectures to attend, tons of assignment to do and there's a final presentation project to do at the end of the course."

The whole night she just enjoyed being him very much. He told her so much about the night life in London .....something that she is so unfamiliar with. When she was here as exchange student, she didn't have much chance to go around London to enjoy the nightlife, because she was younger at that time, people that she hang around with are classmates only...

They left the restaurant around 10pm. The weather was quite cold at late night. Although she had her scarf around her, she still put her arms around herself to keep herself warmer.

Knowing that she is cold, he took off his jacket and put around her....

"Xue Zhang, no need...I'm fine..." She smiled while shaking her head.

"Put it on...What if you fall sick? I'll feel very bad then..." She understands his intention and accepted the offer.

It's so weird, although both of them just got to know each other not long ago, but she felt really close and safe with him.

Back in the hotel, he walks her to the lift...."Xue Zhang, thanks for the dinner. I have a great time".

"I think I should be the one who said thank you ... I had such an enjoyable night. Hopefully you are no longer angry with me about the last meeting we had". He smile at her.

She laughed at him.

He took back his jacket from her.....and "Zhen San Mei, Good Night!"

"Good Night, Xue Zhang..."

He stood there, smiling at her as the lift door closes slowly.....

Looking out from his room window, tonight.....London is so much beautiful..........