Mrs. Zhang grimaced and nagged.

Song LIHSA rushed.

She ran like the speed of lightning.

But she was already gone.

Mrs. Zhang sighed.

____

taehyung charged towards the University gate and the moment she stepped inside, her knees gave out.

She checked the time.

There were only five minutes before the seminar would start.

tae started with her marathon again but this time it wasn't a smooth road as before. Her head was only focussing on reaching the seminar hall and she realized a second late that she had collided with someone.

The file she held flew open and all the papers that she had orderly stuffed inside rained down like a violent storm.

tae went blank.

Her presentation file had a thick bunch of thesis papers and right now, she saw her doom.

Organizing all of it again for an unorganized girl like her would take forever. Hardly four minutes weren't nearly enough.

Today's seminar was extremely important for her job hunting and unfortunately, she was the first in line to present. Her professor had strictly warned that no lateness would be tolerated and if you missed your chance, you won't get to present again.

tae had worked late last night just for today's seminar until she couldn't even get decent sleep, making her forget to set the alarm.

And right now, she could see her hard work go all down the drain.

She collapsed on her knees, feeling defeated, yet the papers were continuing to pour down.

The other students passing by were busy snickering at her. tae clearly heard them. At least help me instead of sneering at me! So heartless.

tae quickly began to collect her thesis papers and tried to sort them out. But her confidence was diminishing fast. It was a near-impossible task. Her eyes slightly stung in tears as she thought of the worst that could happen and her shoulders drooped.

My job… Suddenly, somebody took the papers out of her hands.

But the rest of her words never left her mouth as she saw an extremely handsome man bend down on his one knee. Her jaw dropped wide open.

Time seemed to stop at that moment. She felt that even in this crowd, they were the only two here alone. tae saw the Godly handsome man pick up the papers with a stoic expression. He was doing something unbelievable that she found it impossible to do just a minute ago herself.

He simply glanced at her papers once and like a magic trick, he was shifting and shuffling the papers around in his hands. His movements were so fast and fluid that tae found it difficult to keep up with them. In just a matter of a few seconds, the thin set of papers that she had held grew into a full-stack. There were no messed up and fallen pages on the floor anymore.

The man stared at her and she straightened up. He calmly handed her the papers back. tae took them back in a daze. She checked and her eyes popped out of her sockets. She quickly flipped through the pages in utter shock. All one hundred and seventy-four pages of her thesis were orderly stacked with the correct page numbers one below the other.

The man didn't respond.

Silence. He was just staring at her.

The man looked down at her hands shaking his but there was no change in his expression. tae wondered.

tae leaned a bit and patted his shoulder.

The man was unfazed by her comment and was still staring at her with an unreadable expression.

tae dashed away like the wind, making the Mafia King, who never once looked back in his life, turn around for the first time to see her go.

Inside the seminar hall, jimin waved her hand.

tae breathlessly sat on the chair next to her.

But taehyung seemed to be thinking something else. Her eyes were starry and sparkly.

jimin pinched her cheeks.

The door opened and the professor entered. He had that strict and stern gaze as always.

The professor stood at the center of the podium and said, "Students. I hope you are ready with your presentations. There is a judging panel seated on the other side who will watch your presentations. The panelists are a mix of executives from different companies. If they like your thesis and performance, they would offer you a job contract. If any student receives more than one offer, he or she is free to choose the company they would want to work with. Results will be announced after lunch."

Everybody nodded. "Any questions?" "No, Sir." "We are going to start. As of this moment, no late students are allowed into the hall."

Lihua gulped.

The lights dimmed and the projector started.

"Pfft…" the other students whispered and laughed at her clumsiness.

She nodded. taehyung began her presentation as she also showcased her thesis side by side.

On the other side through a glass panel, the Godly handsome man was quietly watching her. As she waved her hands on the stage, highlighting the important points in the slides, his gaze shifted to his own hands. He remembered how she had shaken them hard. He took out his phone and typed a message on Wechat to a certain someone.

J - I met her. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - You see my status and username? J - Yes. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - What does it mean? J - No disturbance or else die. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - So why do you 'still' have the galls to message me? J - I want one answer. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - Get lost. He typed nevertheless. J - She shook my hands. She patted my shoulder too. No response. One minute, two minutes, three minutes, five minutes...he patiently stared at his screen. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - Why are you informing me that you cut off her hands? I don't care.

J - I didn't cut off her hands. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - So, you killed her. Great. Bring her body to me. I wanna do some experiments. J - I didn't kill her. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - Come. To. The. Point. J - I want to know why I didn't kill her. Silence on the other end. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - Who do you think I am? J - Doctor. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - Are you kicking the bucket to hell right now? J - No. DoNotPingYMandLiveLonger - So, get lost. If you ping again, the next body I am gonna dissect is yours. And then that someone went offline.

The Godly handsome man put his phone back. Since he didn't get his answer, he went back to watching taehyung's presentation.

On taehyung's side, she was finally done with her presentation and thesis. Everybody was silently impressed. She might be ditzy and careless, but she always performed flawlessly when she was serious.

One by one, everybody's presentation got over and it was time for the lunch break.

Some of the executives wanted to address the students after the lunch was over so everyone gathered back in the class. Most of the executives and managers praised the students for their efforts and presentations and explained their company policies in general. The students expected that some of them may personally call out those names who are selected, so everyone was extra eager.

But they didn't particularly mention any name and disappointment hung in the air. As they whispered among themselves, the door opened. There was complete silence as the last man stepped inside. Everybody's breath almost stuck in their throats

The Mafia King calmly stepped on the podium and stood in front of the mike.

He instantly found taehyung in the crowd and his gaze locked onto her. Then he raised his hand, pointed his finger at her, and slightly parted his lips.

taehyung, who was leaning her elbow on the desk, slipped and she almost stumbled from her seat. Her mouth tremblingly opened in a wide O as her eyes widened in shock. The Godly handsome man s-spoke?

But he didn't say a word after that. He just uttered her name and that was it. Everybody thought that perhaps taehyung badly screwed up and was about to get humiliated. A few minutes passed by but nothing happened. The professor's brow twitched.

He didn't respond. The silence was eating taehyung from inside. His attention was completely focused on her but he wasn't saying anything else.

Suddenly, the door opened and a man entered huffing and puffing. "Sorry, boss! I am late."

The Mafia King didn't comment.

No, it isn't, everybody thought, including the professor.

taehyung froze. She blinked her eyes several times.

Couldn't he have added just one more line saying that? The students seriously thought.

taehyung finally looked straight at him with utter disbelief etched on her face.

Silence.

The Mafia King looked at her unblinkingly.

Lihua collapsed on her seat, feeling completely drained and exhausted as if she just won a war.

______

After completing some formalities, taehyung happily whistled a tune and was practically hopping in happiness.

Suddenly, taehyung widened her eyes as her foot tripped into something. She stumbled and crashed on the ground.

"Tch, tch taehyung. Can you not even walk properly now?" "Don't go near her Jie. Her silliness has no cure. What if you catch it?" Lu jiwon and her friends mockingly laughed.

Ow, ow taehyung furrowed her brows as the bruises on her knees and elbow stung in pain. As she raised her head, she saw a pair of tall and lean legs greeting her eyes.

She unreservedly clutched the man's coat, pulled it towards her, and taking its support, she got up. Without looking properly at the man, she grabbed his hands and shook them hard.