Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

"That is not important." Hoy said seriously, "I am only worried about you, Luo Joreen. How you feel is more important." 

Joreen looked at him quietly, trying to figure out whether he was being sincere right now or not.

"You... aren't mad at me?" She asked.

"I actually thought... you were mad at me." Hoy confessed, pinching the bridge between his nose.

"Why would I be mad at you?" She asked in confusion. 

"Well... you know..." He paused and frowned in confusion. It was only now that she asked that he realised he didn't know why he had come up with the conclusion that she would be mad at him. It had been her who got drunk, same her who went to spy on him during his date. All he did was help the drunk and cold Joreen to her room on both occasions and when her room was locked, he took her to his room.

Not knowing what else to say, he stopped talking and looked at her. Surprisingly, she was smiling. 

"What's amusing you?" He asked coldly. 

"You look adorable when you are confused." She said with a wider smile.

"Wwwhat? Adorable?" He asked in disbelief and horror. Never in his life had he thought he was adorable. That was weird and absurd and outrageous! 

She nodded before turning serious again. "I'm really sorry for dragging you into this mess—"

"I told you that isn't important." He reminded her with a sharp glare that made her shut up. 

A heavy silence fell in the room. Since he brought her the fruit and had given it to her, she was expecting him to leave now but he still stood there. 

"You... are not leaving?" She asked carefully. 

"Are you chasing me away?" He asked with a frown. He was feeling relieved earlier because it seemed Joreen was back to speaking with him but it seemed like she wasn't still very welcoming. What did he do to her by the way? 

"Of course not!" Joreen immediately denied wanting to him leave but when she realised how eager she had sounded, she grimaced and bit her lower lip. If her father was here, he would have smacked her head. He had warned her to never let Hoy know what she was thinking until he was ready to return her feelings. 

"I'll wait here until you are done eating, then I will leave." He strolled to the couch and sat down there, crossing a leg on top of the other and resting his back on the couch. He looked so relaxed like he owned the place. 

"You are waiting here?" She asked in surprise as her eyes followed him. 

Why was he being so nice all of a sudden? 

First of all, he hadn't chastised her after the rumour began to circulate on the internet. He had come here with fruits and now he wanted to wait until she was done eating? 

"Why are you staring at me like that? You should be eating." He used his chin to point at the bag she had dropped on the dressing table before crossing his hands across his chest. 

"It feels... strange whenever you are nice to me." She confessed without taking a step. 

"What? I am always nice to you." He reminded her.

"Not always." 

"I always am. You are the only person I treat nicely." 

"You call... all of that nice?" She asked in surprise before going to sit beside him on the couch. 

When she sat down, Hoy stood up and went to take the bag with the fruits before handing it to her. "Why are you so eager to have me eat it... by chance..."She narrowed her eyes to look at him.

"You think I poisoned it?" He asked, also narrowing his eyes just like she had done. 

She shook her head, "Not poison. Maybe... a love portion?" 

"Ha! That's silly." He said after a short laugh. 

After she accepted it, he sat down beside her and watched her eat. 

Joreen was a little bit uncomfortable as she ate. She wasn't looking at him, but she knew he was staring at her, she could see him through the corner of his eye. 

Just like she had said earlier, it was really strange whenever he was nice to her, or giving her his full attention like he was doing now. 

She was used to him giving her only a bit of his attention. Most of the times, he listened to her, but he was also doing something else like going through his phone or going through a magazine from his company or even a document. But now, he wasn't doing anything, just staring at her. 

Even though she felt uncomfortable, she was also a bit excited and self conscious. 

She wasn't very fond of bathing early. Sometimes when she didn't have anywhere to go to, she could stay until noon before bathing. So she hadn't showered and was still wearing her pajamas by this time! 

"Why haven't you showered yet?" He asked, making her flinch. She raised her head to look at him with round eyes. How did he know what she had been thinking about? 

"W...wwho said I haven't... showered?" She stammered. 

He cocked his head to the side slightly and raised a brow, "Have you?" 

"I..." She swallowed before answering, "...haven't. But... that doesn't mean you should ask me that. How embarrassing!" She eyed him and stood up to go sit on the bed instead with her plate of fruit salad in hand. Although she was feigning anger, she had actually separated herself from him for a reason best known to her. 

"Are you leaving because you think you smell badly?" He asked, looking a bit amused. 

When he saw her give him that particular look which he always interrupted as 'how did you know that?'

He laughed.

She tried to deny it while looking away from him in embarrassment. 

"You shouldn't worry about it. You always smell nic–—" 

He stopped talking when he realised what he was saying and decided to look towards the window instead. 

"You think I smell nice?" She asked eagerly. 

He turned to look at her and noticed how intensely she was staring at him, waiting for him to answer her. 

Hoy blinked lazily before shrugging, "You do. Why?" 

A smile began to creep up her face so she looked down and used the plastic fork in her hand to play with the fruits inside the plate. 

Joreen felt a lot better than she had since they started the trip and she knew it was because Hoy was here. She wished they would at least go back to the way they were before even though he wasn't going to like her back.

But this moment right now, wasn't meant to last. He had said he was going to leave once she was done eating. She wished she had eaten it a bit slower. She made up her mind to take her time to eat the remaining ones. But before the mischievous smile on her face could bloom, a knock came on the door. 

Joreen frowned deeply. She looked at Hoy who stood up from where he was seated, ready to leave. 

"Wait!" She said in a harsh whisper and tiptoed to the door to check who was outside through the tiny peephole. When she saw her parents, her eyes widened and she turned around immediately. 

"What is—"

"Shhhhh" Joreen shushed him and hurried towards him to pull him with her to the bathroom. 

"What are you doing?" He asked in a quiet voice. 

"Jo? Open the door." Cixi said loudly while knocking repeatedly.

"I promised my parents I wasn't going to be seen alone with you. They'll scold me if they see you here. You need to hide. Please." 

As she said the 'please' she pushed him inside the bathroom and gave him an apologetic look. 

"I'm sorry. Please do not make any sound. Please. Sorry again." She spoke in a hurry before she locked the door and looked around the room to be sure Hoy didn't drop anything. Then, she went to open the door.

"Why did you take so long? Were you sleeping?" Jaime asked as he entered inside with his wife.

"Ehm... Yes...?" Joreen answered uncertainly since she didn't know if Reen had seen them and said anything to them.

"Are you done arranging your luggages? Where is Reen?" Cixi asked as she went to sit on the couch where Hoy had been sitting. 

'Why is she sitting?!!!!' Joreen screamed inside her head. She wanted them to leave immediately.

"We have. Reen stepped out a little while ago." She answered all their questions quickly, hoping they would go away. 

"Have you seen Hoy today?" Jaime asked. 

She tensed up and tried not to look towards the bathroom. "Eh... I... haven't." She answered, praying Reen hadn't told them about it already and this was a kind of test her parent were giving her. 

"Good. You really should avoid meeting him personally for now." Jaime advised. 

"She shouldn't even meet him at all." Cixi hissed. 

"It's okay. You don't have to start acting like this just because you fought with his mother." Jaime said to his wife. 

Joreen began to feel very uncomfortable. She desperately prayed they wouldn't say something embarrassing since Hoy could obviously hear them.

"You don't have to look so uncomfortable Jo. Do not worry, these things are bound to happen when people fall in love. So do not feel bad because your mother fought with your potential mother in-law oka—" 

"DAD!!!!"