The Story of Us (Hiatus)

4

Though the bookshop was closed today, Xiao Zhan was in taking inventory and restocking. Xuan Lu, Zhou Cheng, Zi Yi, and her brother Yubin were in to help. Zhan informed them that Yibo and Haikuan would be stopped in to look around. They will have a few people with them. As Xiao Zhan was in his office taking care of the last of his financials, Yibo and his group arrived. Xuan Lu greeted them and said that Xiao Zhan would be out shortly.

In the meantime, Yibo and Haikuan began to look around. Haikuan brought his sketchbook to draw out some ideas while he was in. He had a liking towards design and architecture so he always took part in that field within the company. Haikuan was actually the head of the design team and everything had to run through him before anything is final.

"This place is so cozy," Haikuan's assistants Fanxing said.

Fanxing was actually still a bit younger than most of his colleagues. He started off as an intern and impressed Haikuan with his hardwork and dedication to the company. Later Haikuan took him in as his full time assistant. Fanxing also has an interest in architecture and design so he is always helping Haikuan and giving options and ideas to help him out.

"Xiao Zhan said it's been in his family for five generations," Haikuan said.

"It looks as if it has been properly taken care of even though a lot of the design work is out of date," Fanxing said, "but the vintage look is what gives it a cozy feel. Maybe we should stick to that but had a modern twist to it."

"That was an idea Yibo and I discussed," Haikuan said, "it would definitely keep the charm of the place alive."

"I know it's a bookshop but there is a reading nook?" Fanxing pointed out.

"Yes," Xiao Zhan said joining in on the conversation, "it's a place for students to come and study. The books over at the reading book were supplied by the university and they can either be rented out or purchased. A lot of the time they would come to research for a project or paper."

"That is cool," Fanxing said, "has that been a big part of the business?"

"It started when I was in University," Zhan said, "I would come here just to look for books to help me with my assignments. My mother and grandparents thought it would get a new group of customers if we added the nook."

"It should be something that we keep then," Yibo said walking over to them, "it would be a shame to take away something that is already popular here."

"A lot of students do use it," Zhan said, "and you guys talk as if I already agreed to this. I thought we said three months?"

"We did," Yibo said, "we are just asking questions about the current design."

Zhan nodded, "I am going to get back to my work," and with that Zhan turned and went over to the front desk. There he was starting to take count of the sales he made within the last week.

Yibo wanted to get closer to Zhan but he was not sure if Zhan was into men. Yibo had not really thought about his preferences but when he was walking through the area of the bookshop one day, he saw Zhan through the window and he felt something inside of him he never felt before. He couldn't get himself to stop staring at him. He thought Zhan was so beautiful and he was an angel from the heavens.

While at his office, he has had to fire countless people, mostly women, for trying to make advances on him. It was to either get a better position in the workplace or just to have a fun time with him because they thought he was sexy and wanted to know what it was like to fuck him. Yibo was the CEO, and he has had his brother help him numerous times with those issues.

Now he refuses to have a female assistants within his department. There are women who work for the company but just not on Yibo's floor. He hated having to be the bad guy and have others think he was sexist for his decisions on the matter. His company had a good reputation other than that one topic that goes around his company. A lot of investors who were women were hesitant to work with him because of this rumor about his company.

Haikuan held several press conferences to talk about the matter as to why there was such a rumor. Many people were divided. Some say it is because Yibo was young and handsome and maybe there was something he does to persuade the women. Then there were those who were getting political by saying that Yibo's situation is the reason women shouldn't be working.

Haikuan addressed that immediately. He stated that it has nothing to do with women working or not. It has to do with men and women being respectable people and mindful of their actions. Sexual harassment is a serious problem in many countries and jobs. It shouldn't matter if a man was harassing a woman or a woman harassing a man, both of those situations are wrong and Haikuan and Yibo don't want that happening in their company.

It isn't all that serious now, but for a little while, there was a time where Yibo thought he'd just either give the company to his brother or sell it. He didn't want to continue with his job if he was having these issues. He just wanted to be happy and not have to worry about such situations. To make things better, Yibo now has a good team working with him and they are not the type of people to take advantage of him.

Thinking about his past issues in his company, he wondered if Zhan's company has ever had any similar issues. Yibo decided to go over to him and try to work up a new conversation with him.

"May I ask you a question?" Yibo asked.

Zhan smiled, "was that your question or is it a different question?" He teased.

Yibo chuckled, "it is a different question."

"Then ask," he said.

"I'm only asking because I had this issue happen in the past but, have you had any problems with staff members?" Yibo asked.

"No, a lot of people who work for me I knew at one point. Plus I do a thorough background check before hiring," Zhan replied, "what kind of issues are you concerned about?"

"Some things like staff not getting along or sexual harassment or anything like that," Yibo said.

Zhan's eyes widened, "gosh, no," he said, "nothing like that happens here...if that happened at your company I am sorry you were struggling with that."

Yibo shook his head, "it's long been dealt with."

"Was that all you wanted to know?" Zhan asked.

Yibo smiled, "I actually to have another question, and if it's too personal you do not have to answer."

"Okay," Zhan said.

"Are you in a relationship?" Yibo asked.

Zhan giggled, "no," he said, "I wasn't interested in dating when I was in high school or university. I have always been single. I have had people try to ask me out but I just decline because I either had to work or I just didn't want to be with that person."

"Oh," Yibo said.

"Are you?" Zhan asked.

"No, I am not," Yibo answered, "do you have a preference?"

"I...haven't actually thought about that," Zhan said, "I suppose I do not. As long as they are kind and understand my work then I guess anyone can be good."

Yibo nodded. He was already trying to think of ways to win Zhan's heart. Even if he doesn't get to help with his bookshop, he would still like to be able to date him.