Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

Nothing much happened for everyone that morning. Everyone except Heya and Hoy. When Hoy went to pick up his things from the resort, he bumped into none other than Long Xi. Once again, he made it clear he wasn't free to chat with her and she finally broke character and threw a tantrum. 

He didn't understand what was wrong with some of these ladies and why it was so difficult for them to accept that he wasn't interested in them. So far, he had met three kinds of women. The first type usually made their interest very obvious. They do not mind throwing their pride away and flirting with him, even in public. Seeing them flash their 'assets' in front of him disgusted him and got him angry a couple of times. He had seen this group more than the other two. The other type showed interest but they do not make it as obvious as the first. They try to get his attention in a subtle way while also acting like they are not interested, hoping that he would take note of them since they were not being cheap and throwing themselves at him. He had also met many in this category and Long Xi was a perfect example. This group was mainly filled with rich and spoilt brats who also had a huge ego. Then the third, he had only met one person. She dressed the way she likes, could be a baggy outfit or revealing outfit, clumsy, clueless, innocent. She openly shows she liked him and wanted nothing but a yes as an answer. She was actually the first of this kind that he had seen. She didn't dress with the mind to seduce him, seeing her alone did the job. She wasn't asking him to sleep with her just like a bunch of the other girls had asked, she wasn't even thinking in that direction. She was quite persistent and he knew that it was only going to take a matter of time before the wall around him completely crumbled.

With his mind fully occupied, he didn't know when he got back to the house. He saw the other luggages in the living room and kept his there before going to retrieve the one inside his room.

When he entered inside his room, he was surprised to find Queen inside, sitting on his bed. It wasn't strange to see King since he usually slept with him most time but seeing Queen there was a different issue.

King was trying to get his sister to leave but she refused, saying she wanted a sister–brother time since he was always avoiding everyone. 

The kids looked at Hoy when they saw him enter. Queen simply grinned at him while King gave him an apologetic look.

Before Hoy could say anything, Muchen appeared behind him. Since his door was still open, he didn't know when he walked in. 

"Queen? What did you do to Vik?" Muchen asked his daughter while giving her a suspicious look.

"Who is that?" Queen asked in confusion. 

"Vik. My friend." King reminded her while looking at his father and at Queen curiously, wondering what happened. Although he wasn't very social, he had a friend from school who he talked with once in a while. 

"Oh... that Vik?" Queen stressed when realization dawned on her. "I did nothing. Why?" 

"His mother said you were mean to him and he has been crying since yesterday."

"What did you do?" King asked, frowning at his sister. 

"When was I mean? He wanted to know if I liked him and I only told him I do not like him. What did I do wrong? I even said it politely daddy." She looked at her father who nodded to show his support.

"Why would you tell him that? Are you better than him?" King asked while glaring at her. 

"Of course I am! How can you even ask that?"

"He is better than you, I'm sure his room is never messy and he doesn't jump on people's beds!" 

The two adults watched the kids banter. Hoy had never seen King say so many words at the same time. He looked really angry at his sister. 

Queen stood up and began to storm out and he followed while they continued their bantering. They passed by Minde who looked at them in confusion before entering inside the room. 

"What is with those two?" He asked, but Muchen only shrugged. He was proud of his daughter.

Hoy was deeply lost in his thought until he felt a hand on his shoulder and snapped back to his senses, "Hoy?" Minde called.

Hoy couldn't believe what he had just been thinking about. Had he actually just imagined having kids who bantered like Queen and King? That had not been the surprising part. The surprising part of it was the fact that the kids he had just imagined had beautiful brown skins and dark afro hair. 

"Are you okay? I have been calling your name." His older brother asked. Muchen was also looking at him and giving him a worried look.

"I... am fine." He said. 

"No, you are not." Minde shook his head. "What's wrong with you? You just zoned out." 

Hoy knew how stubborn his older brother could be especially when he was curious about something. Even Muchen looked like he wasn't ready to leave the room until he knew what was wrong with him. 

"Come on, you should share with us. We are your big brothers and would always help you settle whatever is bothering you." 

To show they really weren't going to leave until he said something, Muchen closed the door.

Hoy knew they were expecting him to say something but what should he say? That he had just imagined his future kids and they all looked like Joreen? 

He looked at their faces, they were genuinely concerned about him and he really didn't want to blow off their concern. 

He sat on his bed and buried his face in his hands. He had to tell them. They were his family. Maybe they would tell him things that would make him return to his senses. His father loved him and would always support him so he had showed support for whatever he was going to have with Joreen, Joreen's parents adored her and so they gave their full support. Talk about Changyu. But his brothers would tell him the truth. They won't try to mince their words or support him blindly. 

"I... like Joreen." He forced the words out and mentally braced himself for whatever bashing he was going to receive. "And I don't mean like... like, the like you are thinking, I love her and I swear it's driving me crazy!" He rushed the last part. They had to know it was something that just happened and he had no power over it. That something had almost made him kiss her last night. His heart had felt like it was going to explode at that moment. He had taken a lot of self control and will power he had no idea he had in him to not do anything inappropriate. 

He feared to look up especially when he heard Minde literally yell out "WHAT?!" 

Minde left his front and went to the dressing table. "You had this candy here all this while and didn't think to let me know? Are you for real?" 

Hoy frowned. He raised his head and looked at Minde. He was picking the candies from the table and dropping them inside his pocket. 

"We were having a serious conversation!" Muchen reminded his ever childish cousin. 

"You sure you don't want?" Minde asked Muchen before throwing two at him. Muchen caught it and kept it inside his pocket. 

"Oh! Back to the topic, sorry." Minde grinned at his brother before he moved to sit beside him on the bed. 

"I will be honest with you..." Minde started. "You are actually one of the dumbest people I have met." 

"W..hat?" Hoy asked in disbelief. He looked up at Muchen who nodded. 

"I mean, we've been literally teasing you with it since God knows when but you didn't even figure it out." 

"Because you've always liked to tease me!" He spat out. 

"I only started when I realised you liked her."

"I think you have been doing that since the beginning of the last year." Hoy reminded him.

"That's the point!" 

Hoy looked confused now. "That's... not true." 

"I think it is." Muchen finally said.

"Look, if you do not believe me, we can ask the people closest to you. I'm sure they must have known but said nothing since they know how dense you were."

"Hey!" 

"Don't hey me. I can call Quincheng right now and ask him just so you can confirm." 

"What does he have to do with this?" Hoy asked. He didn't like when they involved Mr Ping in anything because that man was a crazy person who would make everything worse. 

"I only started to like Joreen recently." Hoy said stubbornly.

The door flung open and all the eyes went to the door immediately. 

"Like... who?" Hoy's mother asked with a surprised look.