Standing Right Next To You - Chapter 447

At a short distance away from Obsidia’s building,

Reuben Ming sat with his back straight and a frown constant on his lips.

Trigger was standing a few feet away from him but could not figure out what had gone wrong.

‘He was just fine earlier.’ He recalled the meeting they had just attended but his Master had not displayed any signs of dissatisfaction back then.

The Directors were overjoyed that they had been praised by the Emperor which implied that they had done a good job with the task assigned to them.

Therefore, Trigger could not decipher what could have taken place in a matter of minutes to have shifted his Master’s mood to the other end of the spectrum.

Reuben did not lift his head and was focused on the screen of his laptop which was not visible to Trigger from his current position.

Thus, the temporary assistant had failed to glance at what his Master was viewing right at this very moment.

‘Which one would Kitten prefer?’ He alternated his gaze between the two items on the screen.

The poor assistant was trying to figure out what had gotten his Master in a bad mood but he had made the wrong assumption.

Reuben wasn’t mad at anyone or anything, instead, he was confused and indecisive on which step to take right now.

Ever since he had come out of the conference room after his routine meeting with his Directors, he had recalled something important which made him turn on his computer and land on the page he was currently on.

However, no matter how hard he tried to choose, he could not find the right answer.

*Ring*

Breaking the severe tension in the room, the Emperor’s phone rang which made him finally avert his eyes from the computer’s screen.

His eyes rolled when he saw the name displayed on his phone but answered it nonetheless.

Holding it to his ear, he continued glancing at the computer as he waited for the other person to speak up.

“Boss, our men did not hear from you so they reached out to me.” A familiar voice came through the speaker of the phone.

Sitting on the couch before the TV in the comfort of his home, Assistant Mathew Kim, the man who had taken a paternity leave had called his Boss for the first time since his leave of absence had begun.

The Emperor had given their men a task but when they could not get in touch with him, they had called Assistant Kim, not knowing that he wasn’t at work right now.

However, the faithful Eunuch took some free time from his busy schedule and hurried to call his Emperor and inform him of this matter.

These men were not acquainted with Trigger and neither were they in the country right now so they contacted the one who always mediated between the Boss and them.

Therefore, it was Mathew Kim who had called the Boss to discuss this matter with him.

“The auction begins in a few minutes but they haven’t received their orders yet, Boss.” Mathew’s cheerful voice reminding him of his dilemma only made Reuben glower at him.

A month ago, news of a secret auction in a different country had reached the Emperor and the man who was dating someone for the very first time in his life wished to give something special to his beloved Kitten.

From the twins, he had learned that Lina’s birthday was fast approaching and he wished to be well prepared for the grand celebration.

‘I know that her family will have something planned but even if they don’t, I can arrange something special for her.’ Reuben decided and thus was on the quest of finding the perfect birthday present for his Kitten.

This auction had two items that had caught his eye but he still could not decide which one to go with.

Therefore, he had been taking such a long time and wasn’t able to inform his men about the finalized item they needed to bid on.

While he was explaining his dilemma to Mathew over the phone, Trigger too was able to overhear their conversation and thus was left stunned at this discovery.

He had been under the impression that his Master was struggling with something serious that was related to Ming Enterprises but to hear that his Master was unable to decide which item to bid on was baffling to him.

This worked as a reminder to the Head of security that Miss Lina Yang was a special existence in his Master’s life and she deserved the respect he was already giving her.

‘And I should make sure that the rest do the same.’ He decided to warn his subordinates to never underestimate Miss Lina’s position in their Master’s heart.

While Trigger was mulling over this matter, Mathew finally had a solution to his Emperor’s problem.

“Boss, why don’t you just get them both?” He shrugged while suggesting the best route to be taken.

After all, the Emperor had enough money to spare and two was always better than one.

“I’m sure Lina would be extremely happy to get them both.” He added to strengthen his case.

Reuben was nodding along with him in the beginning but as soon as he heard Mathew calling his Kitten by her name, indicating that they were close enough to be on a first-name basis, his face sank.

“Do that then!” He spat out before hanging up on the call.

Glaring at the phone in his hand, he tossed it back on the table and decided to focus on his work this time.

However, he was bound to be distracted by what had just taken place.

Thinking of a time in the past when Mathew had easily gotten close enough to Lina and had become friends right away was still a sore spot for him.

He had struggled to get closer to her but his foolish Eunuch had done it so effortlessly.

This made him grumble every time he saw them talking as though they were close friends who knew each other for years already.

‘I am the one who has known her for many years!’ He sneered but no one was aware of this part of his past.

Sighing in dismay that even his Kitten had no memories of that time, all he could do was slump his shoulders and return to the work at hand.

After all, it was still work hours and there was a lot to complete before he could leave.

For the last few days, he had been heading back as soon as working hours came to an end so that he might spend time with his Kitten in their hotel room.

However, this had caused his work to pile up.

Now that they had checked out of the hotel this morning, he would have to stick around for longer to ensure that everything was taken care of.

While he hadn’t been slacking these past few days, it was undeniable that he was cutting just a few corners to return to the hotel on time to have dinner with Lina.

Therefore, today, his workload would be heavier in order to look through the files he had been stalling until now.

Without even taking a break for his lunch, Reuben was diligently trying to complete his job as he had handled the complication with the auction taking place abroad.

___

Far away from the area allocated to the commercial buildings where most of the companies dominating the economy were present was a tranquil and homely residential area.

In one of the many small villas available here lived a couple, a doting husband with his pregnant wife.

“Olly, is the water still warm?” The husband inquired while glancing at his wife who sat right next to him.

The heavily pregnant lady waved her hand, gesturing to stay silent and not disturb her while she was watching he4 favorite show.

Mathew Kim zipped his lips then dipped his finger into the tub of water placed before his wife.

Finding that the water was still warm, he nodded and let her soak her swollen feet in it to relieve some of the pain in her ankles caused by the excess weight she had been carrying for many months now.

Olive Kim smiled when she noticed her husband’s caring and observant actions from the corner of her eye.

Her due date was close and she could go into labor soon which made Mathew too protective and overly paranoid about matters concerning her.

He had been hovering around her all day long, trying to make her feel better and relaxed so that she might be happy, healthy, and prepared for the birth of their firstborn child.

While she was glad that he was around to support her, sometimes, she just wanted to watch her daily soap operas in peace while snacking on a big bag of chips.

Thankfully, the phone call which had arrived earlier had kept him busy for some time but he had returned as soon as he was done with whatever it was that had taken up his attention.

‘Well, at least he is as obedient as ever~’ She giggled while munching on her chips.

Mathew was confused to hear her chuckle as the TV screen displayed a heartfelt yet tragic scene at this moment.

‘Hormones…’ He shook his head, inferring that her strange behavior was because of the hormones jam-packed in her body due to her pregnancy.

While he may not be wrong about the hormones, he was incorrect about the reason for her chuckle.

However, that was a mystery to the young man just like the mystery of how his wife could dip her chips in pickle juice and eat them as though they were some kind of a rare delicacy.

‘Hormones…’ He cringed at this sight but quickly put on an appeasing smile when he saw his wife turn in his direction.