Office Diaries - Chapter 161

“You’re so silly. I already know that.”

Yanee was now so relieved. She had thought it was some other huge secret that would shock her.

“You do?” Tohru looked surprised.

“Why are you so shocked? I may be slow most of the time but I’m not entirely stupid,” she told him matter-of-factly.

“When did you find out?” This time, when relief had also washed over him, his curiosity took over.

He had thought he’d been very careful to hide his real identity not just to her but to everyone. He was curious to know how she found out.

“Back in Kyoto when you told me that your family is Arcus. But I only have suspicions then. But little by little it became clear,” she said and he was curious again.

“How?”

“Well, who’s going to let someone randomly buy an entire company just to get a girl?” she asked teasingly making Tohru’s lips twitch in amusement. “It’s either you’re a spoiled rich son or someone in the position to do so.”

This time, Tohru laughed. “So how did you know I’m not just a willful rich boy?”

“Are you a willful rich boy?” she countered making him pout.

“I asked the question,” he reminded her.

Yanee gave him an unimpressed look before answering. “I did your interview, right? How can a low-key person like you who worked so seriously be a willful rich boy?”

Ah…

Tohru totally forgot about that. He didn’t start at a high position at Niji after all. Even with his background, he started from the bottom up.

“When you told me that Niji took over Clover so you could get close to me, I already had an idea,” she said. “But I confirmed it this morning when you were talking with Ami.”

“My conversation with Ami?” he was confused.

It appeared that he couldn’t remember saying anything that might have given him away.

“Which part? I just said that I’m free at the moment,” he said as he tried to remember. “And I’m not that busy since I already settled what I need to do at Arcus…”

His voice trailed off in a confused tone. It seemed until now he couldn’t find anything strange with what he said. He didn’t know how Yanee found out that he was not a mere substitute but the actual boss.

Yanee grinned. “Don’t think too hard. Just who in the world could change his working schedule like you do? Most people had to submit something and wait for approval before he could do something else. But you, you just decide and do what you want on the spot as if you don’t have to answer to anyone. People who can do that are the ones on top.”

“Ah… but if I’m substituting for my dad that can be the case too. Why did you think otherwise?” He was curious.

This time, Yanee laughed. “Marian mentioned Papa has retired and just hanging on for another year,” she confessed surprising the other.

“My sister has a big mouth,” he commented as his lips twitched in amusement. “But it’s better this way, I feel.”

Yanee nodded. There’s no need to agonize about unspoken truths from now on. The two of them finally had a clear slate. However…

“Tohru…”she called out suddenly making Tohru look at her seriously.

Yanee hesitated a bit but not because she was thinking of whether to tell him something or not but because she wanted to find words that could express her thoughts well. She might be good at writing, but when it came to spoken words, she was not that articulate. She appreciated how Tohru looked at her, waited for her patiently until she could speak.

“I think I will return to Nagoya,” she finally said and he sighed but smiled as he took her hand in his and gave her a squeeze.

“If you want. I will go with you,” he told her softly and she smiled.

Yanee knew that he already heard about her trauma, the real reason why she ran away from Nagoya. Aside from being cheated on, her ex had harassed her, at first calling her a social climber when he saw her attending a party, and then accused her of tricking him when he found out that she was a rich man’s daughter.

He had twisted everything. He told people that he was sincere to her but she dumped him since he was nothing but a normal office employee which was laughable since people in the circle knew he had been engaged a while. Still, even if that did not leave a bad impression of her to the people, it had left a scar in her heart and mental state. She could no longer find the heart to stay there even if she loved Nagoya.

“You’re going to meet my parents in three days, you know,” she told him and he laughed.

Tohru pulled her into his arms so she could lean against him. At this position, she could clearly hear the rumbling in his ċhėst as he laughed and it felt comfortable.

“Actually, I already met your dad and mom a couple of years ago,” he said and Yanee’s brow arched as she waited for him to elaborate. “It was at a dinner party of one of their common business friend. My dad took me there so I could meet his circle.”

“You mean your face is already known in the business world?” she asked and Tohru shrugged.

“It’s an inevitable thing. The purpose of my attendance there was so people would know my face.”

“But when I did your interview I still couldn’t find anything personal about you,” she told him. “If you had your debut in the business world shouldn’t your background already be known? I cried tears of blood doing research but found nothing on you.”

Since Yanee had trouble interviewing him before since he didn’t seem to want to cooperate with her, she was forced to sneak and do a background research on him but found nothing about his family.

As if remembering that time she interviewed him and he was too love-struck to talk, giving her a hard time, Tohru’s smile became apologetic. But he was not worried since he already told Yanee the reason why he couldn’t talk to her properly that time.

“It’s normal. I was only known to the business circle. In public I still maintain anonymity so I could continue to work comfortably. I had someone maintain the internet and he deletes all information leaked about me or pictures of me that’s connected with Arcus.”

Yanee was surprised. “That extreme?”

“I love my privacy,” he said. “I only care about family and friends. Other people don’t have to know me personally and I hate it when people approach me because of my family.”

Well, she could understand that. It was why she did the same and didn’t tell people she was the daughter of a rich businessman and the sister of celebrated events coordinator Ami Lee.

“You have a year left before you go public?” she asked.

“Hmmmnn…” Tohru inclined his head. “Not going public per se. I don’t really have to present myself to everyone on television and the like. But yeah, I will be exposed to more people in the identity of the new Chairman of Arcus Iris International and there will be times I will be attending functions where my photos and videos could be taken by the media. When that happens, I can no longer erase it so I cannot remain as Niji’s editor-in-chief.”

That Tohru James would retire for good.

“It’s why I’m giving my all in this last fight— to get my wife and to take a shot at the Ai Awards with the project we’re working on together.”

“Who’s your wife?”Yanee countered and Tohru grinned unabashedly as he shifted her in his arms so they could look at each other face to face.

“Who else? You— you’re my honey and would-be-wife. I don’t want to marry anyone else,” he told her stubbornly before leaning forward for a kiss.

They had kissed before but those were just quick pecks before he left. This time, their lips met slowly. At first, the both of them did feathery kisses as if they were shy and just getting into the mood. But soon, the hesitant and shy kisses gradually deepened. Their tongues intertwined as they held onto each other, savoring each other’s’ tastes.

It was their first real kiss.

But before the two of them were consumed by passion, Yanee pushed him away; and Tohru, understanding her ended the kiss albeit reluctantly.

“S-Sorry…” she apologized, her heart beating fast against her ċhėst from the kiss but at the same time scared that he would feel upset since she pushed him.

But Tohru was not upset or angry. He smiled at her and tweaked her nose with his fingers. “Why are you apologizing, silly?” he asked and Yanee was surprised.

“You’re not angry I pushed you away?” she countered and he laughed as he shook his head.

“We have forever. Things like this, we don’t have to rush. I’m already happy that you accept me and let me stay with you and kiss you like this,” he told her softly as he shifted his fingers and played with the strands of her hair. “I love you, Yanee Lee…