Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

It was a day to Joreen's birthday. She wasn't sure she had looked forward to any birthday like she was looking forward to this particular one. She didn't mind the gifts, texts, wishes and calls, she didn't even care if they were going to throw a party for her. The fact that she would be turning 18 was what excited her. 

But there was something else which was making her slightly uncomfortable. And she was sure she wouldn't be able to stop thinking about it if she didn't ask the right person. 

So she went to the room which wasn't very far from hers and knocked on the door once. 

"Come in." Hoy said in a nonchalant tone. He was expecting it to be Mr Ping or his mother. Or maybe not Mr Ping since he usually barged inside his room like he owned it. The last person he thought he would see was Joreen. 

What was she doing inside his room? What if the others saw her? He became quite uncomfortable but stopped to ask himself why he was feeling uncomfortable. 

The vacations before this, she usually spent a lot of time inside his room and he he didn't even think much about it. He also went to see her once in a while just to be sure she was okay since she always liked to get herself into trouble. So why was he suddenly getting all jittery now?

And then, he remembered why. 

"Are you busy?" She snuck just her head inside and asked. 

He looked around him. He was busy. He had a pen, jotter, documents, phone and laptop all around him on the bed. There was no way he wasn't busy every second unless he wanted his company to fail. 

"I was just about to take a break. Is there something you need?"

She finally entered inside the room and closed the door behind her gently.

"I... want to ask you something." 

He noticed she looked serious as she went to sit on down by the vanity table which was directly facing him.

He nodded gently for her to go on. 

She kept staring intensely at him before she asked,

"Do you... like anyone?" 

He looked at her in surprise. That wasn't the question he had been expecting. The way she was serious to get him to like her was making it difficult for him by the day. 

"If you don't want to answer.... just try to give me an hint or something. Actually, I'm asking because or your mother."

"My mother?" He asked curiously. 

She nodded. "She told me a few days ago that she suspects you have a thing with one of those two ladies, Aishu and Long Xi." 

Hoy frowned when he heard that. 

"She wanted me to know who you liked between the two. I have also heard from people that you always act nicely towards the two of them." She said with a frown. 

"That's not true." He refuted that calmly. He thought it was best to correct that before she misunderstood. 

"What's not true?" She asked in a quiet voice.

"I do not treat them nicely. Neither do I like any of the two." 

"But your mother told me last night that she had figured out who you liked. She said it was probably the reason you went to the resort because you wanted to spend the day with her because you didn't want to bring her here." 

His frown deepened. How come his mother was confidently saying what she didn't know? Who did he like? Certainly not Aishu nor Long Xi and he had returned to the resort because of Joreen. 

He sighed and used a hand to rub the bridge between his nose before he stood up. 

"Aishu, Long Xi... I do not care about them." 

Joreen didn't say anything for a few seconds before she asked,

"Then who do you care about?" She asked and stood up just like he had done. 

"I... care about a lot of people. You know that." He answered casually and shrugged. 

"I am not stupid, Li Hoy."

His gaze quickly went to the door. "Don't address me that way in the house."

"But I can call you that somewhere else? When we are in a secluded place? Aren't you being an hypocrite?" 

"You came to fight with me this morning?" He asked with a raised brow. 

"No. I only wanted to know something and also tell you something." 

"I'm listening." He folded his arms across his chest and looked directly at her. 

It was a bit strenuous for her neck as she tried to look him in the eye, but she managed to lock gaze with him. She looked serious and Hoy could swear he had never seen her look this serious before. 

"I am going to turn 18 tomorrow." She reminded him about the obvious. 

"After today, I have the liberty of doing all I want to do... legally." She waited again. The look on her face turned to a challenging one. 

"If you still aren't interested in me by tomorrow, it's fine. I'm sure there are a lot of men who would be interested in me. Like... Mr Wei Yong for example..." 

Hoy's face turned rigid immediately. 

"Are you... trying to taunt me?" He asked with a dark look in his eyes. She would have been scared, but she didn't let his look intimidate her. 

"This is the last time I would be having this conversation with you. You cannot continue to sit on the fence. I won't let you continue to play with my feelings. If you like me, go ahead and tell me quickly because by the time you are ready, I will play hard to get." She assured him and was about to walk away from him when he grabbed her hand and pulled her back. He exerted a lot of force because he was pissed after she mentioned that psycho's name to him, so the force made her to hit her chest on his hard body which made her wince at the impact.

One hand went around her wait to hold her in place while the other hand was used to raise her chin so she would look directly into his eyes. 

He was surprised to see she still looked really bold and didn't feel like running away. The intimate way they were position was the last on his mind because he had something else to think about. Something more important.

"If I see you anywhere around that Wei Yong guy, I... will kill him." He warned in a dark voice.

He saw fear flash through her eyes and noticed goosebumps rise all over her skin at the threat, so he believed he had passed the message across.

"I am sorry for scaring you." His gaze turned soft and he brushed his thumb along her jaw bone as they looked into each other's eyes. "But I meant it."

They continued to look at each other and his eyes trailed down to her little lips. It was the first time he was paying attention to it from this angle. It looked really small that he wondered how a spoon got inside. 

The image from a few days ago suddenly flashed before him and he closed his eyes to brush it away.

When he opened his eyes again, he noticed her facial features had relaxed which made him smile.

"Your heart...." She whispered in a very low voice. "...it is beating so fast. I can hear it." She said while still looking at him. 

The corner of his lips curved up slightly before he answered, "That's the usual rhythm." 

She shook her head. "I have hugged you a lot of times to know the rhythm." 

"Then maybe... it's because of something else?" 

They were both speaking in whispers and with every sentence that left their lips, their voices reduced. 

"Something like what?" She asked, still looking innocently at him. 

He cocked his head to the side slightly touched the side of her face. "Maybe it got jealous?" 

"Of what?" She asked curiously. 

The door was suddenly pushed open from outside. 

"Are you bus—" Li Han stopped in his track and his eyes widened when he saw the scene before his eyes. 

Hoy's brain suddenly registered how he was holding her. Anyone who saw them would definitely misunderstand. A hand around her waist, another lifting her chin, their bodies pressed together and they were looking into each other's eyes. 

Joreen was the first to jump away from him. At the same time, his father quickly muttered an apology and hurried out of the room, closing the door behind him. 

"I... will just leave." Joreen said quickly and ran away from the room.

"Why don't people knock!?" Hoy mumbled in annoyance. He knew the sight must have startled his father and he probably would have imagined something else so there was a need to make some explanations before he misunderstood and thought he had been taking advantage of her. 

A quick advise, do not involve yourself in romance if you are sharing a house with your family!