Upon hearing Kay's answer, Zhongshu didn't ask anymore. He looked at Kai, whose face was expressionless and nodded in approval.

The slight weakness shown earlier was excusable due to Kai's young age. However, Zhongshu would only allow one moment of weakness. If Kai showed anything more, then …

Kai, meanwhile, cursed himself.

He had been careless. Too careless.

No matter what, his Mentor was Grandfather's man, not his. Thus, everything that was being done was to ensure his rise to the top would go smooth. Deviating it for a moment wouldn't do.

Kai felt nothing for the girl, truly. She had just been someone he found interesting and fascinating but nothing else. It was mere curiosity.

At that moment, a new resolve started to take root in his mind and heart. He had to be strong. If he showed any sort of weakness, they could use that to bring him down.

It must not happen.

Still, Kai did have a romantic part in his heart.

Even though his mother's love life hadn't exactly been great, he couldn't deny the depth of her feeling for his father. It was the purity and depth of that love that he craved for himself, but … unlike his mother, he was going to be extremely careful about who would capture his heart.

Rather, who he showered his love to.

Anyone in his world would definitely be out as they were too scheming. Anyone not in his world would have to be strong enough to withstand any attacks that may come their way.

Any woman that ended up with him, must be confident of his love for her. Otherwise, it would never work. Before that, however, he, himself must be standing at the pinnacle so that he could protect her from other external factors and dangers.

Kai wasn't stupid nor naive anymore.

One may think that this was something a 12-year-old wouldn't think about, but Kai had already been through a lot in his life. It wasn't to say that he didn't make mistakes, he did.

But he learned quickly.

And he knew, the older he got, the fewer mistakes he should make.

He focused back on the task at hand, pushing the thought of that girl out of his mind completely. She was relegated to one of those 'interesting but unable to pursue' box in his mind.

As Kai was getting back his focus, so was Lianne.

As she walked to the cafeteria, her mind was in a bit of a buzz.

When that boy had walked into view, her mind went blank for a second.

He was so pretty!!

How could any guy be so pretty?

And he was right in front of her, in the flesh.

Even worse … or was it better? … he was dressed up, looking so formal and serious. So cute and yet, so mature. No, that wasn't the right word to describe him since he was so young. Not immature? Not childish.

Yes, that's it.

In short, perfect.

Lianne quickly reigned in her fandom moment, and the entire inner turmoil had not shown on her face at all.

Lianne was calm now and took the meeting to be a lucky moment. Like a fan, meeting her celebrity crush. Lianne knew the boy moved in different circles and they wouldn't ever meet again.

So, she pushed him out of her mind and chalked him up as just one of those 'see hot guy' moment. Buying a drink, Lianne settled herself in some obscure corner of the cafeteria and got lost in her game.

As Lianne was engrossed in her game and Kai Sheng fully focused on work in front of him, both were completely oblivious to the fact that this slight interest of theirs towards the other had already begun.

A low spark had been created when the two met and was smoldering unseen underneath. It would become a raging fire that burned far more brightly in the future when their paths crossed again.

A roaring fire that neither could contain. One which Lianne tried hard to extinguish, but which Kai constantly fanned.

But, that is a story for another day.

(A/N: Rather, in the subsequent novel i.e. 'Courage to Love')

✿ Author only posts on w.e.b.n.o.v.e.l. ✿

Joseph was shocked.

Okay, what just happened?

It was already evening and he was waiting for Lianne and Kay to get back in order to have dinner. So, he checked his TokTik account out of boredom.

The views he got from his video was higher than he thought ever possible

That … that was not right now, was it?

After spending a few hours on his blog, he then started on the TokTik video after lunch.

He was basically just fooling around, after most of his confused thoughts were cleared up by him pouring it out in the blog. So he had fun doing the video.

It was a short one, in which he started off with serious exercise movements, then it switched into a dance routine.

The views had already reached a few hundred?!

In a couple of hours?!

He read the comments.

Most were good, though there were a couple of derogatory comments about his looks and how could he possibly have any real results from working out. That he would stunt his growth.

Joseph smirked at those comments.

With Kyle being the one that gave him tips and trained him, did they really think there were no results?

It wasn't much yet, but he was only 12, for goodness sake.

Instead of bringing him down, those comments only fueled his desire to prove them wrong.

Joseph lifted his shirt to look at his non-existent six-pack, but could see that it was forming. The flab was gone, the muscles firmer, and it just required a few more weeks of training.

He flexed his arm muscles and was satisfied with the little bump there.

Joseph looked at his TokTik account again

"Challenge accepted," Joseph said with a grin.