Joreen stepped out of her room in the morning and looked at the door to the room opposite hers. ROOM 074. It was Li Hoy's room. As much as she wanted to avoid him during this trip, she also liked seeing his face. For some reason, seeing him always made her happy. He rarely smiled but whenever he did, it was so pretty and it revealed the dimples people didn't know he had because his face was always straight. She really wanted to see him laugh or at least smile genuinely at her one day. But no matter how much she smiled, he rarely smiled back. He only liked to smirk at her.

She tiptoed to his door and was about to turn the knob when she heard giggles coming from inside his room. A frown formed on her face when she realised the giggle was from a girl. Why was a girl inside Li Hoy's room? Who dared enter when she had never entered his room?

The giggle was heard again followed by a loud laugher.

WHAT!!!! Did uncle Hoy just laugh right now? Is he laughing with a girl?

She reached for the doorknob and opened the door immediately. Two pair of eyes looked at her immediately the door opened.

Joreen was panting from anger when she saw the girl from the party inside the room. It wasn't enough that she obstructed her view earlier, now she was here?

They were both sitting on his bed but his legs were on her laps while she was clipped his nails.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF HIM!!!" Joreen demanded angrily.

"Who are you? He is my man!" The girl said and stood up to stand in between Joreen and Hoy.

"You have no right to be here. He belongs to me."

"I am her man!" Hoy suddenly appeared beside the girl and held her waist before looking at Joreen again,

"Who are you?" Hoy asked Joreen whose eyes were red from anger.

"What? You don't remember me?" Joreen asked in disbelief before rushing to the bed to pick up a pillow.

"How dare you forget me? After chasing every man away from me you dare forget me?" She began to use the pillow to hit him violently. When the girl tried to stop her, she pushed her with force which caused the girl to hit her back on the wall and lose consciousness.

"Now no man wants me anymore but you are laughing with a woman here? I will kill you! I will kill you!"

Reen watched Joreen who kept repeating 'I will kill you' in her sleep. She considered waking her up but a better idea formed on her head so she took out her phone and began to make a video of her.

Joreen kept hitting the air and promising to kill someone. Reen felt bad for whoever it was that was pissing her off in her dream.

To Reen's surprise, Joreen began to smile.

Meanwhile, in the dreamworld, Joreen had stopped hitting Li Hoy.

"Fine! I promise to never be with any woman. I will protect you for the rest of your life and smile for you forever!" Hoy declared before flashing her a dimpled smile that made the pillow fall from her hands weakly.

He broadened the smile and Joreen finally smiled back before hugging him.

"Alright enough! Wake up!" Reen used the pillow to hit Joreen repeatedly until she opened her eyes groggily.

"Why did you wake me up?" Joreen complained while rubbing her eyes.

"The smile on your face looked creepy. I had to wake you up. Besides it's already 6 in the morning already."

"You are an early riser, not me." Joreen complained as she sat up before asking,

"I was smiling?" When Reen nodded, she wondered why she was smiling in her sleep. When she remembered her dream, she sprang up from the bed immediately.

"I... need to check something."

"Where are you going to?" Reen asked when Joreen began to head towards the door.

Joreen suddenly changed route and hurried to the bathroom. She used a mouth wash, washed her face, dried her face with a towel before running out.

"Where are you going to?"

"The opposite room. I'll be back shortly— I hope." She added as an afterthought before leaving the room.

Reen only tsked at her before heading to the bathroom but she winced slightly when she felt a slight pain on her left ankle.

~~

Just like in her dream, Joreen tiptoed to the door and pressed her ear to the door, waiting to hear any sound. She hadn't had the chance to listen properly when she heard someone clear his throat behind her.

She twirled around in shock and saw Mr. Ping who was giving her a curious look, holding a cup of coffee in hand which probably belonged to Hoy.

Joreen smiled embarrassedly and thought about how to explain her action just now.

"Good morning Miss Luo." He greeted her with a smile.

"Good... morning Mr Ping." She bit her lower lip before asking,

"Is... uncle Hoy inside?"

"He is. You could have just knocked and he'll let you in."

"Ah..." She gave him an embarrassed smile before biting her lower lip again.

"You can come in." He opened the door and waited until she entered before he followed suit and locked the door behind him.

The room was very similar to theirs. In fact, it was identical but it gave off a manly vibe. Maybe because it was being occupied by two men.

She saw Hoy on the bed with his sole focus on his macbook. Even when Mr Ping handed him his cup of coffee, he didn't raise his head, he just took a sip from it dropped it on the bedside drawer beside him.

Joreen was greatly relieved that it was only a stupid dream. There was no way he would be giggling with a woman inside his room right?

She suddenly realised her actions and thoughts were beginning to contradict.

She had planned to not bump into Hoy during this trip and also planned to find him a girlfriend. But now, she was taking the initiative to find him and didn't want him to have a girlfriend.

'It's not like I do not want him to have a girlfriend, I just don't like that girl.' She said convincingly.

Mr Ping was about to inform him about Joreen's presence when she suddenly jumped on the bed beside him.

Hoy was shocked and almost spilled his coffee when she suddenly jumped on his bed like that.

He didn't even need to turn his head to see who it was because her smiling face was right in front of his eyes.

"Good morning uncle Hoy."

"What do you think you are doing? You can't just jump on my bed beside me like that!" He looked horrified and startled at the same time.

How did she get here and what was she doing inside his room so early? When did she become an early riser? And why was she looking so beautiful in the morning????

She wore a yellow pyjamas with butterly prints all over it. At least she was properly covered this time.

"Oh.... I'm.. sorry." She apologized, also looking startled by his outburst. He had never yelled at her like that before. Maybe it was because she interrupted his work?

"I'm really sorry. I promise you, next time, I'll make sure to climb your bed slowly.." The reply ended with a sweet, innocent smile.

"Hahaha..." Mr Ping could not help but laugh especially when he saw the look of disbelief and frustration on Hoy's face as he stared at her.

When Hoy glared at him, he cleared his throat and quickly picked up his coat. "I think I'll go... count the number of rooms on this ship." He gave a lame excuse and quickly made a run for it, leaving the two of them inside.

"Did you sleep well?" She asked when he looked at her. "I had a dream about you."

"...." What was it this time?

"You smiled at me and showed me your dimples. Then you promised to smile at me like that forever."

He scoffed. 'She really doesn't know this can be considered as flirting.' He thought to himself and looked at her face which was looking at his expectantly.

"What is it?" He asked.

"Smile for me." She kneeled on the bed and patiently waited.

"Do not disturb me. I'm busy."

"You shouldn't be too busy for me!" She pouted.

"Why? Are you my girlfr–" He suddenly choked and reached for his cup of coffee.

He avoided her gaze as he took a sip from inside. When he raised his head, she snatched it from him and also took a sip before he could stop her.

When she pulled her lips away, she had a big smile on her face. "This is my first time tasting your coffee. I always thought your type was bitter. Didn't know you liked sweets." She grinned and took another sip before using her tongue to lick round her lips when she felt some drops there.

Hoy was pretty much embarrassed by everything and he was beginning to feel very uncomfortable around her which had never happened before. Why couldn't he just directly tell her to stop all this and remember she was a woman while he was a man!!!

When she noticed he wasn't willing to take the cup from her, she decided to drop it on the drawer beside her.

"You should return to your room now." He said before standing up. He wasn't always this uncomfortable around her. He blamed it on everyone's silly imagination. Now, he had to be extra careful because he was beginning to see her less as a ward.

"Why?" She asked and looked at him curiously when he began to wear his shoe. "Are you going somewhere?"

"Yes."

"Can I come?"

"No."

She frowned. "I didn't want to go with you anyway. I am sure it's going to be a boring business talk."

"Yea." He replied curtly.

********

NEXT EPISODE ON HML: THE CHRISTMAS TRIP.

"I think he has finally met a woman!"

"Who met a woman?"

"Hoy of course! I saw him with my own eyes. They look like love birds. And I am certain his attention is going to move from you to her. And you'll finally enjoy your trip. Hehe!"