Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

To say that Heya froze on her seat was an understatement. Her eyes widened to the fullest as she stared at Shen. 

She tried and failed to say something while he patiently waited for her until she could manage to ask in a stutter.

"W...what... are you... talking ab-out?" She swallowed nervously and removed her hands from the table to hide it when she noticed how much it was shaking from anxiety. 

"I don't know whatever is up between you and Zhu Liang, but Suyin is my sister and I know it is going to affect her badly if she gets to find out about this on her own." 

'Oh my God!' Heya screamed in her head and began to panic. He knows! He knows! But how? How did he find out? When did he find out?

"Calm down Heya. Take a deep breath and relax." He said calmly when he noticed she was hyperventilating and her body was shaking. 

"Wait here. I'll get you a cup of tea. I heard there's a nice relaxing tea sold here." He said and stood up. 

He returned a few minutes later with a mug in his hand which he kept in front of her on the table.

Heya's shaking hands reached for it and when she finally got a hold of the mug, she held it like her life depended on it before sipping from it very slowly.

Shen didn't say anything else at that point. Instead, he just allowed her relax until she looked better before he asked, 

"Do you feel better now?"

Heya had been looking down the entire time. Hearing how worried he sounded, she looked up and met his eyes. His eyes didn't hold any malice or anger. How come? Wasn't he mad at her? She had turned him down even before he made any advances, only for her to attach herself to his sister's fiance, yet he looked worried. 

"I... feel better. Thanks for the tea." She placed the mug on the table and looked at him. 

She couldn't run away from this no matter what since it was always going to be waiting for her. So instead of running away, she asked, "How.. long have you known?" 

He relaxed his back on the chair and folded his hands across his chest. He looked pleased that she wasn't trying to lie or deny it. 

"You know, one thing about being a successful athlete, is the ability to be very observant. When you are observant of everything, you can be able to tell the best move to make, understand your opponent's strengths and weaknesses and also understand yours."

"...."

"I think being an athlete for so long ingrained that in me." He explained. 

She didn't care about the long epistles. She was tensed and wanted him to get it over with.

"The first night on the ship..." He started. "It wasn't difficult to notice you both knew each other the moment you saw him with my sister. And I'm sorry to say, but you aren't a very good actress and liar." 

Heya looked at him in shock. He had known for that long? Why did he remain quiet? Why did he still get close to her? Probably because he wanted to pull her away from Zhu Liang so his sister's relationship wouldn't have any trouble? 

Heya's hyperactive mind wondered. 

"And then, meeting you two outside that same night, I didn't think it was mere coincidence—"

"It was." Heya swore. "We bumped into each other by chance... I can swear it." 

"That's not what I meant." He explained. "If you were strangers, the tension between you two wouldn't have been there. It also wasn't hard to notice." 

"...." She looked down in guilt.

"And then the next day– the party night. I noticed how he looked at you. How uncomfortable you were and how nervous you looked when you sat down beside him." 

"Think about it, anyone who is observant would have suspected it. You weren't so covert with your reactions."

Heya began to hyperventilate again so she reached for the tea and took a really long sip. 

"Suyin..." 

"I can't tell whether she knows or not." He answered, guessing Heya's fear. 

"I bumped into you two a couple of times to not suspect something was going on. Remember I also saw him coming out of your room even though you claimed he thought it was Suyin's? And on the day your family was searching all over the ship for you, I guessed you were with him. It was just a guess but I worked with it and when I arrived, I saw you leaving his room."

"Oh God!" Heya gasped aloud and began to panic. How come he knew all this? Hadn't she been discreet enough? What was she going to do?

"I figured.. you are the ex he couldn't get over." 

"And I also guessed he's the guy you haven't been able to get over." He concluded with a long sigh. 

"Look, I know I do not have the right to tell you what to do, or even to interfere in your business. But this is my sister we are talking about here. I cannot just keep pretending like I do not know what is happening. She would hate me if she finds out I am aware." 

"I... cannot tell her." Heya's head was down but she shook her head as she spoke. "It'll get worse if I do." 

Shen didn't say a word. Instead, he picked up his own mug to sip from it but realised he was out of coffee. 

"I'll stay away from him. At least... for now." She bit her lower lip guiltily. 

"Heya—"

"I... do not intend to let him go. I am sorry and also sorry to your sister, but... I.. really can't. I'm sorry." She stood up abruptly but didn't turn to leave immediately. Instead, she had an uncertain look on her face as she spoke, 

"You... won't..."

He sighed before shaking his head, "I won't tell her about it." She was about to sigh in relief when he added,

"For now, at least." 

******

Suyin was inside her personal room inside the resort. She couldn't stop reminiscing about her conversation with Liang no matter how hard she tried to push it out of her head. 

"I just returned from speaking with your parents." Suyin said when Liang locked the door behind him, after she followed him inside his room last night. 

"We were talking about holding the engagement party earlier." She continued. 

He was about to take off his coat but paused and looked at her. They were still talking about the engagement? 

Seeing him frown, Suyin confirmed it had really been his intention to call it off. 

"Why did you do it? Why did you want us to call it off?" She asked. Her voice was calm the entire time and she was trying to not show any emotion but it was not working. 

''I told you before Suyin. We canno—"

"WHY?!" She asked loudly, startling him a little since he hadn't been expecting an outburst from her. 

"You were okay with the idea the entire time but you no longer want to?" She closed her eyes and took in a really deep breath to control herself. 

"I will apologize to you and to your family because I was wrong. Accepting everything was wrong of me."

"What?" She asked in mortification. 

"You... aren't calling it off completely, are you?" Without waiting for him to answer, she continued. 

"Okay, I understand. This is just temporary right? We won't get engaged here but we can do it after the vacati—"

"Come back to your senses Yan Suyin!" He raised his voice at her in frustration, causing her to flinch. 

"Nothing is going to happen between us! I am sorry I led you on and I will keep apologizing for as long as you wish but there is no engagement and no wedding." He reduced his voice as he said, "I am truly sorry." 

"HOW CAN YOU JUST MAKE PLANS LIKE THAT WITHOUT CONSULTING ME FIRST?" She barked at him as tears began to flow down from her eyes. 

He wanted to remind her about all the times herself and her parents did things without his consent. He also wanted to remind her they hadn't planned to do this in the first place but as usual, they hadn't asked him before going ahead with the plans. Maybe he agreed to everything before, but they should have at least asked him!

"You should have talked to me about how you felt and if you needed space, I would have given you that."

"This is more than just needing space. We won't be happy with each other. And I... am tired of being unhappy." 

"Is this about your ex girlfriend? Are you doing this because of her?" 

Liang watched her face carefully, trying to see whether she knew more than she was letting on. 

"Why can't you let go of your past love and move on? If it failed before, it will fail again!" 

"I didn't want to do this earlier... but...." 

"Stop it!" She said amidst tears. 

"I am sorry Yan Suyin."

"I said stop it!" She raised her voice higher but it didn't stop him. 

"I am sorry... but it's over."