Chapter 11 – The Immortal Realises Who Is Important to Her

After lunch, I got ready to meet up with a potential business partner. They had expressed interest in joining us for a long time. Hyun Syik and Seo Joon will join me in the business meeting as well so it was a very important client. I took a shower, choosing to take my time in lathering my skin with soap and I came out of the bathroom squeaky clean.

I dressed sharp; choosing a matching pant suit in baby blue that makes my icy eyes pop out. I put on my accessories; necklaces that accentuate my neck, bracelets, rings and a watch. Accessories done, I put on a thin layer of make-up and slapped on killer lipstick.

Checking my reflection on the mirror, I put on a pair of heels and grabbed a matching handbag from the closet - throwing my items in there including my laptop and my tumbler. I headed downstairs to make myself coffee - pouring the contents down the tumbler and grabbed a black fleece coat.

Outfit ready, I left the loft and headed down to the basement car park where my Maserati was waiting eagerly. I had Nathan drive out the Maserati and park it there so I don't drive in with my Honda. Nathan had chosen the bold red one, with matching leather seats and I couldn't contain my smile as I got into the car.

The meeting with the business partner was situated in his building.

It took me fifteen minutes, earlier than I had planned so I stopped by the side of the street - along the shopping area. I might spend some time here before I enter their building. I didn't want to be too early either. Seeing the jewelry store in the distance, I grabbed my handbag and got out of the car.

Happy with my purchase, I thanked the sales person and left the store with the bag in hand. Checking the time, I began making my way back to my car. I have fifteen minutes until the start of the meeting. I ought to get back to the car and head to the building straightaway.

"Alice!"

Hearing my name being called by a familiar voice, I turned around to the direction of the voice. It was Jiminie of course. I saw him with a few friends that I've recognised from the same university he goes to and I noticed he was with an immortal. I had never seen him before. Was he new here? He noticed me watching, and he stiffened.

I might need to talk to Sebastian about a new immortal being coming into our turf.

As far as I knew, there weren't any new immortals in the clan. Most of them have been with me for the last few centuries, and none of them had left the country either to warrant such a new being. So, who was this fellow and why was he here without introducing himself to me?

"Jiminie," I said as I waved him over. "Come here."

Hearing questions from his friends asking about me, Jiminie ignored them as he went towards me obediently. I knew it was time. This would be my third secret. Wordlessly, I brought out a necklace with a nightingale charm on it and clipped it around his neck. I ignored his sharp intake of breath and I righted the charm, looked up at him.

His eyes were wide. "You got me a present," he said softly as he touched the charm.

"Yes," I said.

His cheeks tinged red and so did the tip of his ears. "I – is today the twenty-fifth?" he asked in a panic, taking out his phone to check the date and he let out a soft sigh of frustration when he noticed the date. "I'm sorry, Alice. I didn't notice the date."

I patted his cheek and smiled, not wanting him to feel bad or guilty about it. "Have fun with your friends, little one," I said gently and ruffled his hair. "I have to go. I have an important business meeting to attend."

"Okay."

Tilting my head to the side, I caught the looks of his group of friends behind who was busy staring at us. Noticing that I was looking back at them, they quickly averted their gazes. Bidding them goodbye, I waved and smiled at Jiminie once more before I left the area.

The meeting with the potential business partner went well. It went better than I had planned and I was grateful that I had Seo Jun at the helm. Choosing the humans to front the company was a good thing, and I was glad that I had chosen the right people for this work.

Thanking them for their time and their desire to be our business partner, we ended the meeting on a jovial note and they were very eager to show us their potential. As we needed time to settle the finances and contracts portion, we decided to have another meeting to officiate the partnership. We left the meeting with smiles on our faces and I thanked Seo Jun for helming the project.

I excused myself after we split at the basement carpark as I headed to my car and I took out my mobile phone to call Sebastian, who picked up at the first ring.

"Yes boss."

"We have a new immortal being in our midst," I said. "He's friends with Jiminie."

"I'll get the boys to locate him," he replied. "And once we figure out who he is, we'll bring him to you."

"Good, thanks."

Later in the evening, I came to find Jiminie inside the apartment watching a movie with the speakers booming out loud. He was fully focused on the television screen, munching on popcorn that he didn't hear me come in and as I plopped myself next to him, wrapping my arms around his torso did he realise my arrival. He lets out a confused sound and then lets out a laugh when he sees me cuddling into him.

"Did you miss me, Alice?" he asked in amusement.

"No," I lied.

I made myself smaller, slotting myself in between his legs while I rested my chin on the crook of his neck. It was my current favourite position, now that he was big enough to be the big spoon. I didn't want to tell him this, but I think he knows. He laughed and patted my back, wrapping an arm around me as he made himself comfortable on the sofa. The bowl of popcorn has migrated next to the sofa.

"Hey, I'm sorry that I've forgotten what today is," he said softly. "I'll make it up to you."

"How are you going to do that?" I asked. I was curious but I didn't want him to feel obligated to return the favour as it was my favourite day. I wanted him to be happy and I loved to pamper him with gifts. It started off simple, but since he was getting older, I didn't know what I ought to get him to commemorate the day that we met.

"How about we go watch a movie together?" he asked. "There's a new movie that's coming out and I want to watch it with you."

Was that … was that a date?

"Okay," I replied and wrapped my arms around his neck, sliding my legs along his waist so I sat on his hips. "I'll look forward to that."

"You're so cold, Alice," he murmured as he rubs my back. "Do you want me to make you a cup of hot chocolate?"

"No, I'm fine like this," I said.

"Okay," he murmured softly.

I closed my eyes, sensing him against me. His warmth, his heartbeat and the rising of his breathing. I could hear him laugh as he watched the movie, and I could hear the popcorn crunching as he ate them. I could feel his hand on my back, rubbing in soothing circles as he tried to keep me warm against him.

This is why being with him is my favourite pastime.

.

Alice, are you coming over for dinner?

I don't think so, little one. I have work.

What time will you be done with work?

Probably ten in the evening, but I am unsure. Why?

Send me your office address & your office floor.

Okay.

I usually do not question why Jiminie wanted the information and I realise that I ought to ask him when I see him appearing in my office carrying a bento box in one hand. At nine in the evening, I hear a knock on the door, and I said that the door was unlocked so I looked up when a familiar vanilla scent filtered in. I glanced up in surprise at him, my mouth dropping open and I grew flustered.

"Jiminie, what are you doing here?" I asked in surprise.

"Alice, you're so gullible. Didn't you wonder why I asked for your office address? Didn't you think I'd visit you?" he questioned as he lets the door shut and made his way further inside my office, setting the bento box on the table. "Come and eat, mum cooked today."

"H – how did you get past the security?" I asked in confusion as I got up from the chair and towards the table, sinking into one of the empty seats opposite him. "Did you get into trouble with them?"

"Not really," he said as he opened the bento box and started pulling sections out of the tower, setting them down on the table around us. "One of them saw me and knew who I was. Did you tell them about me, Alice? I was surprised though. He even gave me a pass with my name on it."

I glanced at the pass he was given; it was around his neck and I took hold of the card hanging in front of me. I saw his photo – it was a recent one and his name printed out onto the card. Below the name, where we add their department, it was printed CEO's HUSBAND. My eyes went wide with horror and my mouth dropped open in shock.

"Did you … did he write this?" I asked, my throat tightening in a lump. I couldn't find my voice.

"No, I did," he said.

I looked up at him, and we locked eyes. "Huh?"

"Did you think I'd forget the promise I made you?" he asked quietly as he pried the card off my hand and sat down on the chair opposite me. "Granted I was seven years old."

"You were six," I corrected.

He gave me a smirk. "Eat," he said. "I brought them all the way here for you to eat them and no one will disturb us while you eat. I've made sure of it."

Wow, he was hot when he gets dominating like that. I nod and took the chopsticks to start eating – knowing that he'd be watching me. He didn't come all the way here for me to say no and I wasn't about to get him angry at me. If my dead heart could beat again, I would've flushed red from how hard he was staring at me.

And the fact that he had called himself my husband, this was a territory I wasn't ready to step in yet.

But I'll have to address it later.

So embarrassing.

At ten o'clock, we made our way down to the basement where my car was parked. Jiminie was yawning and I felt bad, knowing that he had school tomorrow. Guiding him to my Maserati which was parked at the CEO lot, I unlocked the car – the lights lighting up and that made him stop abruptly as he realised that I had another car.

"How many Maserati do you own?" he exclaimed.

"Enough," I replied quietly as I guided him to the car, opening the passenger door for him. "Get in. I'll get you home quick."

"This is incredible!"

I shut the door for him, and headed to the other side, opening the driver's side to see him still exclaiming about the car. Apparently, his exhaustion was forgotten as he grew excited about the car. I had never seen him this happy before. Starting the car up, I ensured he got his seat belt on before I drove out of the building carpark.

"What other cars do you own? Can I drive one?" he asked.

"Do you even have a driver's license, Jiminie?" I asked.

"I do!"

"Then no."

"Why not?" he argued, a whine leaving his lips. I swear there was a pout on his lips. "I can drive! I promise I won't crash the car! I'll drive it safely."

"My answer is still no."

"But why?"

"I won't have reason to fetch you from school," I said. "And I won't be able to spend more time with you, Jiminie."

He fell silent. I was worried it made him upset so I stole a glance at the younger boy, seeing him pouting at me but he was fighting to stop the smile from reaching his lips. Relieved that he wasn't upset at my statement, I turned to look ahead at the traffic. We were stopped at a red light, surrounded by other cars.

"You're being unfair, Alice," he whined.

I let out a laugh. "Maybe after you finish college," I said. "Then I'll think about it."

"Really?" He sounded hopeful. "You sound like my mum."

"Hey, I'm just looking out for you," I said.

Seeing the traffic light ahead turning green, I pressed the accelerator and we moved forward – passing by the last white line as we headed into the T – junction. The mood was good, everything was fine. I had my little one next to me, and the day has gone great. I was in a good mood, and I was enjoying the moment.

I think the Almighty above disliked seeing his creation enjoying the life he has given us, especially me – a cursed being of his. A car on the opposite right lane blew the red light, made a sharp right turn and slammed head first into us. I saw it coming but I couldn't do anything about it without revealing who I was.

I did what anybody would do.

I slammed on the brakes hard – throwing my left arm towards Jiminie to protect him as the car jerked to a complete stop, the wheels screeching. The car slammed into the corner of the hood and we were knocked back as hard – the air bags bursting out. Panting hard, I checked on Jiminie – to see that he was conscious and visibly shaken.

He was the most important thing to me right now.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

He nods.

"Alice, you're hurt!"

"It's fine. Your wellbeing is more important," I said, brushing it aside as I tried to loosen his seatbelt but it was jammed. Pulling out a switch knife from the overhead flap, I sawed my way through the seatbelt and released him from the hold so I turned to my own seatbelt, sawing it out as best as I could.

Trying to open the door to find it jammed, I had to kick it open before I could get out and join Jiminie who was worriedly hovering by the driver's side. Telling him to stay put, I went to check on the other driver who had hit us. There were other passers by littering around and I told one of them to call the ambulance.

Prying open the driver's door, I came to find the driver knocked out cold, leaning against the steering wheel and blood pouring from a deep gash on his head. I tried to rouse him, calling for his attention but was unconscious so I checked for his vitals – his heartbeat and his breathing. I decided not to move him since his vitals were okay.

"Have you called the ambulance?" I asked the passerby.

She nods. "They'll be here in another ten minutes," she said. "Is that guy okay?"

"Yeah he's alive," I replied and turned towards my little one, who was pale and shivering with fright. I brought him close to me, wrapping an arm around his back to stop him from shaking. "It's alright. I'm right here."

"I won't ask you to let me drive anymore, Alice," he said softly.

"Hey, it's fine."

.

As soon as we arrived at the hospital and directed to the A&E ward, Taeyeon arrived looking for us with a worried expression on her face and she looked like she had been crying. It was the hospital she was working at. She saw us sitting on the bed being patched up by a doctor and turned relieved when she saw the extent of the injuries.

"Alice! Jimin!" she cried as she hugged the both of us. "I'm so glad you're safe! I was so scared when you called me."

"I told you it's just a scratch," I said. "I got it under control."

"The doctor said she needs twenty-six stitches, it wasn't a scratch," Jiminie added with a whine. "She protected me, mum."

Taeyeon held her son in one arm, rubbing his back in comfort as she turned towards me with a concerned look on her face. She held my other hand with her free one, rubbing a thumb across the skin. I looked at her, knowing that she was finding the right words to tell me but we were interrupted with Jaemin coming in all noisily.

"Alice? Jimin? Where are you?"

"Over here!"

Jaemin came over, saw me being stitched up and made a face before he went to check on Jiminie who was still in his mum's arms. I looked at the two humans and looked down at my own arm. There were various scratches on the skin, and being an immortal, it ought to heal up by now but since I am me, the healing was taking some time.

It worries me.

As the two humans wandered away to fill out the application forms, Jaemin came near. "Why aren't your wounds healing?" he asked quietly. "Are you not feeding properly?"

"Don't say it like that," I scolded. "It sounds strange."

"Alice."

"I will later."

"If you keep starving yourself like this, you're not going to last very long," he argued, keeping his voice low. "You need to feed or you'd lose control and Jimin will be in trouble. You wouldn't want that to happen, right? I know you. Don't be an idiot."

"You're always using him as leverage, Jae," I murmured.

"Or you won't snap out of it, Jesus Christ."

"Alright," I said softly. "I'll feed."

"Good," he murmured. "And you gotta take those damn stitches out later. It's gonna be a pain. How are you going to explain to the doctor?"

"He said it's the dissolvable type," I said. "I don't need to come back."

"Wow technology has advanced greatly," he answered.

"You're just slow."

"Shut the fuck up."

"Rude."

.

Jiminie must've felt guilty about the accident even though it wasn't in his control. He stuck close to me the entire time. As I had to call Sebastian to let him know that my car was being towed for investigation, I could sense him hovering around me and keeping close to me.

Taeyeon eventually had to leave due to her work exigencies and it was just us three. After we were cleared by the doctor, we went to the pharmacy to get the prescription, MC and to pay for the bill. It took us another twenty minutes so while we waited, I decided to start arranging for transport to head back home.

"Do you want to head home or do you wanna go back to mine?" I asked Jiminie.

"I'll take a cab," Jaemin added.

"I know you will, Jae," I pointed out and turned to the younger boy. "Well? What's your decision, little one?"

"I'll go with you," he said. "I don't want to be alone."

I nodded and held his hand in mine as I made a call. "Sebastian, get the driver over here," I said as soon as the call was picked up. "And I want another car."

"What car do you want, boss?" he asked.

"Anything inconspicuous," I replied. "Easy to drive, and smooth. No sports car please."

"It was ten years ago! Stop bringing it up!"

"Well it was horrifying," I pointed out. "We'll be waiting outside the A&E doors."

"Okay, Nathan is on his way," he replied. "He'll be there in twenty minutes."

"Okay thanks."

I kept my phone in my pocket. I sense Jiminie looking over at me and I squeezed his hand to comfort him. "Are you shaken from the accident, Jiminie?" I asked softly as I turned over to look at him. "Will you be okay?"

"I'm fine, Alice. Stop worrying," he replied. "Why did you say a sports car was horrifying?"

Ah. "Sebastian got me a sports car when my car broke down on the highway," I explained. "It was the racing kind, and I was taken aback at how fast it can go. It was terrifying to drive and I had it sold not a moment later."

"You have no regards for fast cars," Jaemin pointed out.

"The Maserati is only for show," I grumbled. "Sebastian insisted for me to own such a car when I drive in for work. He doesn't want the CEO to drive in a normal car. What's so wrong about driving that kind of car? It might give off a wrong image to the employees."

"No but it will get the attention of the paparazzi and they'll start camping outside the company again just to take photos of you driving in that Honda," Jaemin added. "Isn't that why you stayed far away from the company?"

"Wait, are you that famous?" Jiminie started.

I let out a sigh and turned to glare at the bestfriend who looked guilty for bringing an old topic up in front of the young one. He had promised not to bring up such incidents in front of Jiminie and now what happens? I'd have to reassure the younger boy not to fret about it and then I would make Jaemin suffer.

"Yes," I replied softly. "I am a young CEO of a profiting company, and I have a powerful team working for me. It catches the attention of the paparazzi and news reporters and rival businesses. They will try to find news and scoops about my private life, and one being my desire to drive in inconspicuous cars."

"That … that's scary."

"Don't fret, little one," I said. I didn't want to make him fearful but I knew that the traffic accident might appear in the news and in the newspaper. They might find out about Jiminie and they might dig into his presence. I hoped my PR and Legal team would clamp on them before it gets leaked to the press.

I don't want him to worry about these.

"But Alice, how can you tell me not to worry when they're doing these things to you? Aren't these illegal? A breach of privacy?" he asked in worry. "Why didn't you tell me about this either?"

I glanced over at the younger boy, seeing the frown creasing on his brow and I pulled him close to me, wrapping an arm around his waist. "There's nothing to worry about, Jiminie," I said, trying to keep my voice light and soft despite the heavy topic. I scanned my eyes on his face, memorising his delicate features. "I have my PR and Legal Team that handles the press. They are very efficient when it comes to squashing annoying bugs."

I felt Jiminie's cheek resting on my temple as he wrapped his arms around my waist. It feels like he was sheltering me from the scariness of the world – not the other way round. God, he's grown. It's aggravating me. I ought to be the one to protect him. Despite my inner desire, I liked being protected and wrapped like this.

It made me feel safe.

His answer was so soft that I didn't catch it at first. He lets go of my waist to wrap them around my shoulders, pulling me in further and I rested my cheek against his chest as I patted his back. We were trying to comfort the other. It was a scary thing to know, I knew and I was glad that he understood what it means, what it feels.

I ought to be more careful, I mused.

.