Chapter 7 - The Immortal has Two Worries

Seeing his name plate, I knew I was at the right place. Shaking my head at the characters he had used for his name, I opened the doors and stepped into his office, "Hey Jaemin," I greeted, closing the doors behind me. It was a rather big office – filled with bookshelves on both sides of the walls and his accolades on glass shelves behind him.

"What's up, Alice?" he greeted without looking up from his desktop. His hands were busy typing over the keyboard. "You're rather free today to drop by and visit me. Don't you have a few companies to take care of?"

"Shut up," I said as I wandered around his office. "I'm picking up Jiminie."

"Aren't you two getting cosy?" he asked as he raised his head to look at me. "Do you like him or something, Alice?"

I inspected the books on his bookshelf. He had a wide range of topics – mostly collected over time and some were hardcover limited editions that didn't exist any longer. Some were in a language that none could read. I recognised some of them as I had read them before and also, because I had helped him purchase them.

"Was that a rhetorical question?" I asked. My finger tracing the outline of a book's spine. I stared hard at the name inscribed on the cover with ink. "I still have yet to understand them."

"I was joking."

"Hmm," I hummed and added, "But I am worried."

"What would The Great Alice be worried about?"

I turned to stare hard at the immortal being before me. He withered a little. "He hasn't asked why I haven't aged," I replied. "He might think it's rude to ask so. I've been with him since he was a child. It's been almost twenty years; I should be aging a little. I'm worried about that."

He let out a sigh and ruffled his hair. "How long more are you going to keep that a secret from him?" he asked.

"He might run away."

"You know that you can't keep on hiding that fact from him. He's been with you the longest and he knows you as much as you know him," he said softly and gently. He knew it was a sensitive topic for me. "Besides, you own a few companies. Your job is a dead giveaway. You should've taken a job like mine, less inconspicuous."

I gave him a blank stare. "I hate teaching," I stated flatly.

"You're impossible."

"You can hardly blame me. I hated school with a passion."

"I know," he answered with a laugh. "I remember I had to drag you to school because you were too preoccupied with learning how to play an instrument. I'm surprised you even completed school and currently hold multiple degrees. You can be a professor with your PhD."

I sighed. "Enough with this, Jaemin."

"But you really can," he prompted again. "I know you have the experience and the accolades, the credits as well as the papers. If you wish to, you can even start out as a part time lecturer. I doubt the University will turn you away. You are the owner of a few successful companies."

I sighed again. "I'll think about it," I said as I glanced at my watch. "I'll have to go; he's done with his classes."

"See you, Alice."

"Stay safe, brother."

"I will."

I left his office and wandered out of the building – heading towards a place where we agreed to meet up as he knew I was dropping by to visit Jaemin in his office. I knew the layout of the school by now, so I was able to find my way around. I walked past other college students who were either going home or heading to their club activities or to more classes.

I stopped by outside the Green Space – located halfway across his building and the office building. It sits in the middle of a long sloping hill that leads up to the English Block and I leaned against a planter box – tucking my hands into my jacket pockets as I waited for him to arrive. My car was parked at the bottom of the hill.

"Alice!"

Turning to where Jiminie's voice was, I saw him bundling over with a broad grin on his face as he threw his arms over me – wrapping them around me. My face was obscured by his shoulder. He's getting taller! Yelling a goodbye to his friends behind us, he began pulling me away from there before I could speak a word.

"What are you doing?" I asked grumpily, he was dragging me down the hill by the wrist. All I could see was the back of his head. "Why aren't you letting me meet your friends, Jiminie?"

"You wouldn't want to meet them, they're a bunch of weirdos."

I looked at him and relented. "Okay."

"Let's get food!" he declared. "What do you want to eat?"

"I'm fine with anything, little one."

"Okay, it's decided then!"

Chicken and soju were what he wanted to eat.

"Isn't it too early to be drinking?" I asked curiously as we sat down inside the restaurant. I thanked the waitress as she handed a menu over to me. "Are you excited to eat with me, little one?"

"It's never too early to drink, Alice," he pointed out. "Let's order half and half."

"By all means," I said, not understanding what he meant.

He grew excited when I agreed to his decision and he ordered the food and drinks for the both of us. The restaurant he has chosen was one of the popular outlets and rather a popular choice amongst the children like himself. This was the first time I had ever eaten in one, and as I looked around – I could sense it's popularity.

"What are you thinking, Alice?" he asked.

"I was wondering if I should buy their stocks," I answered as I looked around the interior design of the restaurant, noting their many seating options and their posters on display for the customers to see. "I need to check with my finance team first and get them to do a proper research before I decide to do anything though."

"Why are you thinking about business when we're about to eat dinner?" he asked in surprise. "Is this how business owners work? Is that why you shot up so quickly in such a short time?"

I didn't have the heart to tell him that I didn't shoot up 'quickly'. It took me decades of hard work and sacrifice, with the best loyal team that supports me in the ways that I lacked. It wasn't just me alone doing the work, to tell you the truth, and I was proud to have them on my side – eager to expand in whatever ways that we lacked.

"Sorry, it's a bad habit of mine," I said.

"It's alright, Alice."

I shook my head. "No, there's a proper place and time to talk about this," I said.

"Hey, I said it's okay," he replied as he held my wrist. "I did ask you what you were thinking about and I just wanted to know what was on your mind."

"Okay."

He smiled. "Come on, don't pout," he said. "We're here to eat and enjoy the food and drinks."

"Okay."

As soon as I said it, the waitress came forth carrying a tray of our orders and set the plates, drinks onto the table. I eyed the amount of food that Jiminie had ordered and I was taken aback at how much he had ordered. Was he that hungry? I knew he was still growing but this is amazing.

"Are you sure you're able to finish all of those?" I asked as I took a piece of drumstick from the plate. I eyed the red sauce and bit into it, making a sound when I tasted the sauce. "This is really sweet. I thought it would be spicy."

"Don't worry about it, it's more than enough for the both of us. I can finish them all if you can't. I'm a growing boy I can eat a lot," he said in assurance as he bit into one drumstick with gusto. "This sweet flavour is my favourite one. I can eat this every single day for a year."

"Don't grow any taller, Jiminie," I said with a frown. "You're an inch taller than me already. I want you to be my little one forever."

He looked at me in amusement. "I am your little one," he said. "Just not 'little' anymore."

I pouted at him. "Stay little, okay?"

He burst into laughter. "I can't possibly do that!"

"Aww, please?"

He made a face