Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

Heya's mother had been too worried that she couldn't sit down comfortably and wait for Heya to return or for the others to find her. She wanted to find her daughter and she prayed Heya was fine. When she stood up to go search for her, Hoy's mother offered to go with her. She was also worried for Heya since she was her husband's niece. 

Logically, the first place to check was Heya's room so they head there first. But who would have thought a sight like this was going to welcome them right in front of Heya's room? 

It looked like Hoy was hugging a smaller girl who was hugging him back. They couldn't see who the girl was since Hoy's back was facing them and his bigger body covered the girl's body. 

"Hoy... has a woman already?" His mother whispered, trying not to sound too excited. They knew it was Hoy from the height, his frame, and shirt he was wearing. He had approached their table without his jacket earlier, so they remembered his shirt. But something else got their attention and that was the jacket on the floor. 

"Isn't that... his jacket?" Heya's mother whispered in surprise. 

Hoy's mother was almost looking too excited before she heard that question and noticed the jacket on the floor. 

"Joreen wore it earlier right?" She asked. 

"Is that....?"

Before an answer could come, Hoy pushed Joreen away from him. 

They still didn't see the girl's face but they saw part of her black gown and skin which confirmed it was Joreen. Both ladies were beyond surprised but were also confused. Was something going on between them? Changyu's words began to resound in their heads. 

They saw her try to touch his face but he looked away and turned towards them. 

When Hoy saw his mother and Heya's mother there, all he wanted to do was disappear into thin air. But he didn't do anything wrong right? 

Joreen had been the one to hug him. She was so innocent and naive that she didn't think about the effect of the things she said or her actions before doing them. She just said them as it came to her. 

He wouldn't blame her for any if it though. She grew up in a family where they loved and trusted each other. They were always there to help her, knowingly or unknowingly to her. Just like Hoy had done a couple of times also. The entire family was fond of her, were always worried about her and trying to make sure she doesn't get into trouble, so she didn't know that the peaceful life she was living now was as a result of the efforts of so many people to make life smooth and easy for her. She hadn't really experienced the harsh world so she didn't know what people were capable of doing to her either because of jealousy or lust. It was why she could easily give out her phone number or room number to people, or talk to some guys who she found attractive and not realise her actions could be misinterpreted as 'flirty'. 

What Song Changyu said earlier had left him distracted. Did he think no one was perfect for her except him? 

The answer was NO.

There were good guys out there, but he didn't trust the ones around or the ones his family was going to introduce her to. 

He liked her, he cared about her. And it only made sense that he felt that way about her because she had been partially under his care since she was 8 years old. He wanted to protect her. If possible, he wanted her to always be within his line of sight. 

He liked her innocence even though it was frustrating most times. He didn't want the harsh world to make her change her nature. But if he was sincere with himself, he knew he could not keep protecting her forever.

Maybe he should let her be this holiday? She was in the midst of other members of the family. They were all going to look out for her right?

As much as he wanted to keep her to himself, he didn't want to deprive her of having fun. That was why earlier, he had asked her what she wanted to do. When she said she wanted a drink, he would have said no normally, but he agreed. He asked her to wait and had gone to look for the perfect spot on deck where prying eyes wouldn't see her and probably take a photo of her. But when he returned, she was nowhere to be found. 

Maybe he should have allowed his mother find Joreen a good boy, but NO. He didn't want that. 

"Hoy?" He returned to his senses when his mother's surprise voice rang out. 

"Joreen?" Heya's mother called. 

Joreen finally saw the two mothers and greeted them. "I don't think sister Heya is here." She informed the mothers. 

'As expected!' Hoy thought to himself. She didn't know what she had done wrongly and couldn't guess why the women looked shocked. 

The two women were still shocked and confused but Hoy's mother managed to nod. 

The most important thing right now was looking for Heya. 

"Let's talk later. Come to my suite after the party tonight." Hoy's mother said to her son before she left with Heya's mother who looked at the two one last time. 

Joreen sighed deeply. "They all look sad and confused because they can't find sister Heya." She sighed again. "I hope sister Heya is okay."

Hoy opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He didn't know what to say to her. She had made him utterly speechless!

*********

Yan Shen looked from Heya to Liang with a confused face. 

"What are you doing here?" He asked Liang.

Heya was slightly relieved that Shen didn't sound suspicious but she was still on the edge. 

As Shen asked, he walked towards Heya and draped his jacket around her. 

"Sorry if you do not like this, but I think you should be well covered out here." 

He quickly explained to Heya before looking at Liang who hadn't answered him. 

Heya spared Liang a glance and noticed how rigid his facial features were. He still looked serious and now, there was a tinge of sadness in his eyes but she doubted it had anything to do with her.

"We bumped into each other out here. I remembered he is your sister's fiance so I was saying hi." Heya quicky answered with a forced smile.

She knew the kind of person Zhu Liang was. Instead of telling lies, he would simply ignore the other person or walk away. She didn't want any misunderstanding to arise because of her. It wasn't like he still liked her anyway so she didn't want to cause him any trouble for him. 

"Oh." Shen smiled at Liang. "I'm sure it was quite suffocating for you inside."

"I'll just head back in." Heya said and quickly hurried her steps. Now that Liang and Shen were both out here, she wanted to meet Suyin and take her key card from her and disappear. 

She could hear footsteps behind her and stopped walking just before she got inside the ship. 

'Please, let it not be him.' She prayed silently before turning around. 

She wasn't sure whether she was relieved or disappointed when she saw Yan Shen behind her. 

"I don't want to seem like a stalker or a pest..." He stopped walking and exchanged glances when her,

"Fristly, you are with my jacket and—"

Heya began to take it off but he quickly stopped her, raising a hand and shaking his head.

"No. You should keep it. It'll give me an excuse to see you tomorrow. I'm sure you won't want to leave your room again unless someone tries to force you out." 

"Why do you want to see me again?" She asked, raising a questioning brow. 

"Because..." He paused and ruffled his hair. He made several attempts to say something but couldn't get the words out before he finally snapped his fingers and answered, "I like music!" He declared.

"S...ooo?" 

"So... I would like to hear you play your guitar again and if you are nice enough, you can teach me how to play it." He flashed her a pretty smile. 

"I am not nice enough." She turned around and continued walking while he quickly followed. 

"I took your key card from my sister. So I'll let you decide if you want me to walk you down to your room or you want to be alone?" 

She stopped walking and turned around again. The last thing she wanted was to be troubled by anyone. She wanted to return to her room as soon as possible. Thankfully, he was with her key so she didn't need to return to the hall. 

She was about to say something but stopped when she noticed someone slowly approaching behind Shen, looking at them with an unreadable expression. It was Zhu Liang again. She quickly looked away and faced Shen. 

She really didn't want to have anything to do with Shen since he was Suyin's brother and Suyin was Liang's fiancee. Being with Shen or simply hanging out with him meant she was going to be seeing more of Liang. She didn't want that.

But for now, she just wanted to return to her room.

"If it isn't going to be troublesome for you." She shrugged. 

Shen smiled and nodded. "I'll see you to your room then. But I still won't take the jacket from you until tomorrow." He added as they began to walk.