(Figured I made a mistake in the previous chapter which I have corrected. Yan Shen is the basketballer while his sister Yan Suyin, lives in the room across Heya.)

********

Hoy normally didn't like meetings like this, but it was something he had gotten accustomed to from a young age. Meetings like this was inevitable since he came from a family who were more or less like the modern day aristocrats.

He recognized a few people there but they were some he didn't recognize and after a few minutes into a conversation, he figured they probably haven't been in the country for a while. He paid everyone attention to all of them because it was very important for a businessman to at least try and socialize in occassions like this. One can never tell where they will be meeting a potential client. So to him, everyone here was either a potential client or potential partner.

"Hey! Look over there."

Hoy had a voice beside him. It belonged to a teenager whose family he just finished speaking with.

The boy was pointing at the entrance, trying to show his twin brother something.

"Wow! They are gorgeous." His twin brother said in awe.

Hoy wasn't interested in conversations like this and he found it annoying especially because he didn't like the boys. Only a few minutes of speaking with the family, he realised how spoilt and cocky they were.

He was about to turn when his eyes caught sight of the entrance and he noticed the ladies. Actually, something made him notice the ladies and it was when the first twin said,

"The dark one looks really sexy as hell. I'll take that one."

Hoy noticed Reen and Joreen by the entrance. They were looking around as if searching for a familiar face.

"You take the other one. I want the dark one. Her skin is really smooth and she looks innocent." The other twin said.

"You really should calm down. You look like you're about to strangle them." Hoy suddenly heard his secretary's voice beside him, but he didn't look at him. He still looked at the ladies and noticed how their eyes lit up. He followed their gaze and saw a familiar boy. It was the same boy Joreen as blushing for that morning.

"A glass of wine?" A young waiter asked Hoy and Mr Ping.

Seeing how the men he was serving were looking elsewhere, he followed their gaze and noticed the two ladies.

At the same moment, Kyle took Reen's hand and kissed the back.

"Damn it! That one already has a man? I guess there's no lady for you since I'll be having the dark one." The first twin said at the side.

Mr Ping was tempted to shut them up, but he didn't have any right to do so.

"No! He isn't about to...." Mr Ping wanted to deny the obvious, but they watched as Kyle took Joreen's hand and kissed the back of her palm.

"Oh! There's wine." Mr Ping said to distract Hoy whose facial expression had changed slightly but he still tried to keep a straight face.

Mr Ping picked a glass and wanted to give one to Hoy but Hoy decided to pick his glass instead.

When he finally looked at the waiter who looked young and handsome, he noticed how his gaze was locked at the same direction and he had a slight blush on his cheeks before he looked away and resumed his duty.

Hoy sipped a little from his glass and began to head towards the entrance where the ladies and Kyle was standing.

"Where are you going? You should let her have fun and socialize." Mr Ping tried to stop him but Hoy walked away from him.

He thought he could understand how Hoy felt. Hoy practically watched Joreen grow from a little girl into a really beautiful woman, so he was still finding it difficult to accept the fact that she was now a woman and would naturally receive advances from the other gender. Hoy believed it was his duty to protect her from the vile creatures in the world that were trying to take advantage of her. Because whether she liked it or not, there would be people like that that would want to hurt her. And he was going to protect her from those people.

When Mr Ping saw Joreen's facial expression when Hoy got to them, he chuckled. "I don't even know whether he should let her be or keep protecting her."

He heard the twins beside him now complaining about Hoy who was with Joreen and smiled even more.

Li Hoy– 1

Every other guy— 0

*******

Li Heya checked her reflection for the last time. She finally made up her mind to go join the others. She was just going to go there, let the family know she was present, smile a little and return to her room with the excuse of having a running stomach or something.

She wore a royal blue lace dress. It was bodyfitted and accentuated her figure. The gown was modest but beautiful— three quarter sleeves, a round neck and the length of the dress was up to her ankle.

She touched her belly and sucked in air to make her belly look flatter than it was. She was already used to it so it wasn't a really big deal for her, neither was it very uncomfortable.

She reminded herself to not drink more than a glass of wine or eat too much unless she wanted her belly to shoot out and say hello to everyone. Normally, she would have worn a waist girdle under her dress, but she didn't want to stress herself especially when she wasn't interested in this in the first place.

She wore a simple earring but left her neck bare, and didn't bother to wear make up. She wasn't even pretending like she wanted to be there.

After picking up her purse, she left her room and saw Yan Suyin walking towards her direction while trying to clean off a big stain from her white dress. Heya guessed she had been unfortunate with a glass of wine.

"You don't look okay." Heya said instead of asking the usual 'Are you okay?' Because it was obvious she wasn't.

Yan Suyin raised her head and saw Heya. "I bumped into a waiter. Clumsy me." She said with an embarrassed laugh.

"Sorry about that."

"It's fine. I feel bad for him instead. His uniform looks even worse. I just hope they do not get to fire him. I guess they won't right? They can't just throw him out of the ship." She said with a light laugh that made Heya laugh too.

'She is really nice.' Heya thought to herself.

Most girls would blame it on the waiter but not her.

"Your brother came to look for you a while ago."

"My brother? You've met my brother?" Suyin asked before opening her door. "Sorry, I really need to change out of this. Please come in, I guess you're going to the hall, we'll go together." She went in and left the door opened.

Heya wanted to decline but on a second thought, she followed her inside even though she was a bit uncomfortable.

"Your brother was searching for you earlier. He came into my room but I let him know the opposite room was yours." She explained to Suyin who was already stripping out of her dress, revealing her white pant and bra and a perfectly flat stomach.

Heya wasn't used to girls getting naked in front of her since she had never had any close friends, but she tried to think it was normal.

"I was with my Fiance earlier. Figured he isn't staying in this floor." Suyin replied as she took out another white dinner dress from her wardrobe and lifted it, "Always be prepared." She smiled.

Heya smiled back. She really was prepared. Heya had taken only a dress with her for this trip. If her dress got ruined, then the night was over for her.

"I guess there's another floor for the singles? I haven't really gone through the full brochure."

"There is. But he isn't staying there either." She replied as she got into her dress. "He stays in the VIP lodge."

"VIP lodge?" Heya asked in surprise. She wasn't sure she had heard about that.

"His family's company is a big sponsor and partner of this project. Those kind of people are given better suites. Imagine a suite which looks better and bigger than this." She marvelled, "I'm glad I'm here."

'She talks a lot.' Heya noted as she watched Suyin move around while trying to dress up and also speaking at the same time, without sparing Heya any glance.

Suyin moved over to the mirror to touch up her make up before looking at Heya. "You are just going to leave your face like that?"

"What's wrong with my face?" Heya touched her face self consciously.

Suyin stood up from where she was seated in front of the dressing table and turned to look at Heya with her hands folded across her chest.

"I know you are already pretty, but come on. You should touch up your face a little." She advised.

"Pretty?" Heya murmured in a low voice. This pretty girl thought she was pretty? She knew she was pretty, but hearing a really pretty girl calling her pretty was on another level. It was even better than hearing a girl call you that.

Suyin obviously heard her and said, "What? Of course you are pretty and have the perfect shape. I am surprised you are here alone without a partner."

"....."

"I have always wanted to add weight, but no matter how much eat, it's always impossible."

Heya tried to find any insincerity in her but she couldn't find any. The girl looked honest. Was she being serious right now?

Suyin held out the chair for her, "Come sit here. I'll help you touch up your face a little. Trust me, you are going to get the attention of every single guy there. But make sure you do not appear in front of my man." She said jokingly and winked at Heya.