A Thousand Cranes

The Stubborn Lad

Chapter Two: The Stubborn Lad

Mackenzie felt chills down to his spine. His heart rate became abnormal and his throat was dry. Flashbacks freely ran around his mind as his eyes were locked on the person who called him by his buried name.

"Yuan, is that really you? Goodness, it's been years." The tall, uptight person showed off a genuine smile for the first time, making his friends to scowl in confusion.

Lucoa and Adelheid also scowled with their heads, looking at the representative and then at their friend who was as stiff as a tree.

Mackenzie almost wanted to burst into tears. His eyes were full of trauma, his pupils shaking in both anger and fear.

"How are you? You look good in your new hair."

However, he reminded himself that they were in a business setting, and he chose to abandon his former life. And thus, he heaved a sigh to exhale all of his frustrations and looked at the familiar person in front of him with a polite smile on his face. "Sir. You've mistaken me for someone else. I am not the Yuan that you speak of."

Past is past. He can't cause a scene, and he will never cause a scene. It took him a lot of effort to be where he was currently in, and he couldn't afford to lose it.

The tall man, on the other hand, knitted his eyebrows and shook his head violently before he replied in an almost raised tone of voice. "You're kidding, right? It's not funny."

Although he was not loud enough, Mackenzie still flinched and looked away with a pained expression as he bit his lower lip. He thought that he would be fine after all these years, but it seemed like he was still mentally traumatized and will continue to be one.

The others noticed that their friend was putting Mackenzie in a difficult and awkward position, so one of them, specifically Lucoa's lover, stepped into their conversation. "Bro, that's enough."

With that being said, the lad scoffed as he shook his head. "No, no. I know him. We were very close back then. Yuan, tell them."

When the tall lad shifted his gaze towards Mackenzie, Mackenzie could not help but to feel the pressure once again. This time, he was hesitant to speak up. "Sir..."

Lucoa had enough. Her friend was caught up in a bad situation, which was why he pulled Mackenzie beside him and announced in a cold tone of voice. "He is Mackenzie Tatiana, Sir. Please watch your behavior in this collaboration meeting."

"What are you talking about? He is Noah Larson. Yuan, tell them. I'm not mistaken, right?" But the lad was naturally a hard-headed person. He was persistent in letting Mackenzie out himself, and his eyes were sure of who he was recognizing.

Mackenzie was silent. He doesn't want to look the lad in the eye as it would just remind him of his dreadful past. But how is he gonna fight for his new identity when he's like that?

Lucoa silently held his hand as if supporting him on what he would do next, and that made Mackenzie to once again heave a deep sigh before looking at the lad straight up in the eye. "Sir, how long are you going to keep this up? I already told you I am not the person that you are looking for."

That's right. He worked hard to gain a new identity. He promised to himself that he would forget about the past and heal. So he will also try his best to face the person who gave him the trauma that he's been fighting with.

"Bro, cut it. Maybe you really did mistake him for Noah." One of the representatives also stopped him from making a scandal amidst a partnership meeting.

Finally, the lad agreed with a scowling expression. "Fine. My apologies."

Silence enveloped the whole room. Because of the recent catastrophe, no one was so sure of who would speak up first.

Hence, Adelheid cleared her throat and prepared the presentation with a smile. "Soooo. Can we proceed to our meeting agenda now?"

"Yes, let's do that."

"A pleasant day, we are the representatives of the company. I am Adelheid Berkowitz, the first speaker. This is Lucoa Stravinsky and Mackenzie Tatiana, who will be speaking later." The three of them stood up in front and dipped their heads a little to introduce themselves while extending their arms.

Shortly after that, the three representatives of the ABO company also stood up and reached each of their hands whilst also introducing themselves. "I am Leandro Martinez, and these are my co-representatives Brant Walker and Ivan Grace."

When it was time for Mackenzie to shake hands with the lad, the lad's grip was tight and suffocating. "I am. Ivan. Ivan Grace."

"Pleased to meet you, sir. I am Mackenzie Tatiana." Mackenzie gulped down his anxiety and nervousness as he showed off a business smile.

The meeting went by smoothly, and there were no issues. It was as if there was never a commotion in the first place. They had an equivalent exchange of ideas, and everyone was very professional. Mackenzie was worried that the presence of Ivan would once again make him uncomfortable. The good thing was that Ivan's focus was solely on the meeting, and thus he had a chance to have a breather inside the suffocating meeting room.

Time passed, and they finally reached the end of the presentation. Mackenzie turned off the projector as he compiled the paperwork while concluding the meeting. "Okay, so that concludes the meeting. For our project collaboration, we will visit your company very soon."

With that being said, everyone started to stand up and once again shook hands with each other. "We will wait for the good news. Thank you." Brant smiled.

The first one to exit the meeting room was Mackenzie, rude as it seemed, but he did not exchange goodbyes with Ivan. Instead, he just bowed slightly before reaching for the door.

"Hey, hey. Yuan." Of course, Ivan brazenly followed him outside and blocked his way.

"Sir, it's Mackenzie Tatiana." Mackenzie heaved a sigh as he was preventing himself from rolling his eyes heavenward.

Seeing that, Ivan cleared his throat and went directly to the point. "Right, Mackenzie. What time do you usually clock out?"

"At six, why?" Mackenzie hastily replied. He just wanted to go back to his desk. Why was Ivan asking such a question?

After hearing what he wanted to hear, Ivan shamelessly dropped the bomb with an unwavering expression. "Can I take you out? For dinner, perhaps?"

Unbelievable!

Utterly shameless!

It was not enough that he pestered him at the start of the meeting and now he's shamelessly asking him out for dinner?!

This time, Mackenzie could not maintain his neutral expression. His brows were immediately knotted towards each other as he openly looked at Ivan with discontent. "Are you seriously hitting on me just because I look like the Yuan guy?"

Seeing the look on his face, Ivan expressed his dismay and looked away with a raging sigh before he looked at Mackenzie with red eyes. "Look, I am familiar with your scent. I don't know why you left me, and I badly want to know."

"Excuse me?" Mackenzie was dumbfounded.