MIMI

"Here you go. I"m not sure how you like it, so I just made something simple."

Tobias hummed and received the steaming cup of coffee. Tucking her skirt beneath her, Lina Tong sat across Tobias, her eyes curved up.

"So, what"s been bothering you lately?" She asked, her tone no longer as formal as before.

If she were to handle this like a friend venting, she didn"t mind dropping formal pretenses. Tobias"s eyes, which have never left the attention of his hands, turned to look at her with a pause.

"How do you cope with rejection?"

Lina Tong, who was sipping her coffee nearly choked and spat it out on the handsome man"s serious face.

Holy h.e.l.l, this was not what she expected!

"Ah, rejection? Like a romantic one?"

Tobias looked at her and nodded with a serious expression. Lina Tong swallowed. She never knew he had such a side to him. Maybe she did. But it was hard to tell. He was expressionless most of the time, cold. It was hard to know when the man ever had feelings that didn"t involve work.

She awkwardly scratched her head. "Well, I have never been rejected before, so I don"t…"

Before she could finish, she saw the man"s expression reach its darkest point. Realizing the gravity of her words, she nervously shook her hands.

"Uh, but while I"ve never been rejected, I have had my share of heartbreaks."

Tobias was silent, waiting for her to speak.

She continued. "I"ve dated a few men in my college days, but one, in particular, I was with for over four years. When I was with him, I could see a future, you know?"

Her eyes lowered and she smiled with reminiscence. "Then one day he suddenly called me out, and while I thought it was to take me out on a date, it was actually to break it off with me. He wasn"t into marriage as much as I was, so we ended it. At the time, I felt so numb I couldn"t properly move on, and I admit I did some things I"m not too proud of."

She suddenly looked up at Tobias, a bitter smile on her face. "Even when we were no longer together, I was still in love with him for almost an entire year before I moved on. But, I guess the best way to deal with it is to let yourself feel everything you need to feel."

When everything grew silent, she glanced up at Tobias. He looked so deep in thought. For just a moment, she caught a glimpse of something in his eyes that shook her down to her toes.

It was heartbreak.

Did that mean...Tobias was in love with someone?

She put a hand on her pounding heart and was wondering if she was having some sort of breakdown.

"Thank you," Tobias said in a low voice.

A little dumbfounded, Lina Tong hesitated to answer before she laughed.

"No problem. Though I feel like in the process of making you feel better, I just made myself feel depressed. I guess I should work on my cheering up skills."

Tobias"s smile deepened, pushing intriguing dimples into the corners of his nicely shaped mouth.

He chuckled. "Maybe so."

Her throat unexpectedly tightened, her hands beneath the table clenching. All she could do was respond with a kind smile.

These feelings she had were not meant to be. From the previous look in his eyes, she was certain of these thoughts. She could fall in love, but they were not meant to be together.

His love would never belong to her.

...

Sitting in his large office chair, Henry Hirogori stared at the man standing across from him with narrowed eyes.

"Are you certain it"s him?"

The smiling man nodded. "Based on all the evidence I"ve found, it appears to be so."

Henry Hirogori stared at the files on the table and fell into deep thought. From the information in the doc.u.ments, Tobias Itou had been the one responsible to get rid of Yu Feng after the incident at Lux Nightclub.

What"s more, the last bit of evidence of the security footage of that night was sent to his email from a private sender. While they didn"t know who had sent it to him, Henry Hirogori could confirm Tobias was sent the footage.

The reason?

He could think of nothing else apart from him being involved in some way. Even if he wasn"t the mastermind, he was a threat.

Henry Hirogori looked at the man with a cold grin, not a trace of anger could be seen. However, his eyes were filled with cold, murderous intent.

"In that case, we shall carry out pests like we always do. Send the men."

The man with curved eyes and lips chuckled. "As you wish, sir."

…

Late that afternoon in his apartment, Tobias received a sudden call. Looking at the caller ID, his entire being stiffened.

It was Mimi.

It had been three days since he confessed his feelings to her. Three days since he last saw or heard her voice.

Nervously, he ran a slightly quivering hand through his dark hair before he answered the phone.

"h.e.l.lo?" He said, his rough voice low and apparently quite calm.

Only he knew how much his heart was shaking.

"Toby~" Mimi"s soft, silken voice sang on the other end.

Tobias"s brows drew together. "Mimi? What"s wrong?"

"I"m starving! I haven"t had a proper meal in days! Come out and meet me at Starling Café at 4:30. Don"t forget your wallet!"

Before he had the chance to respond, the call ended. Tobias stood and stared at the phone, dumbfounded.

What was that?

Was she not ignoring him after what happened? What suddenly changed?

Tobias looked down at the time on his phone and silently cursed.

It was 4:15 P.M.

He had fifteen minutes!

Completely forgetting all his original plans, Tobias paced around his apartment before he grabbed his keys, shrugged on his trench coat and left the house – not before grabbing his wallet.