The kiss between Hoy and Joreen was chaste and gentle. There was no mouth prying or tongue twirling or lip nibbling. His soft lips were gently pressed to hers for a minute before he slowly opened his eyes to see her watching him in shock. Her eyes were very wide and she looked stiff.

He was still holding her face as he slowly pulled away, looking quite uncertain.

He had only meant to give her gentle pecks, he didn't know when he lost it and touched her lips with his. He had always thought she had a small mouth, but he hadn't expected it to be very soft. He wanted to feel it again but it seemed like it was a bad idea since she still looked so shocked.

They were both quite so the only sound they heard was of a pounding heart. He was confused since he couldn't tell if it was his or hers. Or maybe the two was pounding in sync?

"Jo?" He called her name softly.

"Hmm?" She finally snapped to her senses and looked at him with the same wide eyes before she began to look composed.

They simply stood there, looking at each other before he saw her smile.

"You kissed me!"

It finally kicked in.

He was expecting her to run away or something but she was just smiling at him.

He didn't think her question required an answer but he answered, "I did."

The smile disappeared and was replaced with a confused frown,

"What... does this mean then?"

"It means... we should go eat dinner. It's late." He picked up his coat from the floor where Joreen had dropped it in a angry fit and carefully placed it on the bed. Since he wasn't planning to go to the deck tonight, he settled with just the tshirt he was wearing.

He turned around to leave but she was standing in front of him, blocking his path.

He sighed. Why did she always want him to spell out everything to her?

"So...?" She asked impatiently.

He dipped his hands inside his trouser pockets and looked pointedly at her. "So you won't be going on a date with any other guy..."

She was about to protest when he added, "... and neither would I."

She grinned. "So my patience finally paid off huh?" She asked excitedly.

"Your stubbornness did actually." He said matter of factly. He sure would have still been slacking off if she wasn't very stubborn and persistent.

"But... what about the others?" She remembered. How were the others going to see this? Her parents were okay with it, Changyu and Jianjun were, but what about the other people?

"Are we going to keep it a secret from the others?" She asked thoughtfully.

Every member of the family practically knew about it but he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable by telling her that just yet.

He walked towards her and despite already standing in front of her, he still took a few steps towards her. She kept moving backwards until her back was to the door and he was hovering over her like a tower.

She swallowed nervously and looked up at him. Maybe they had kissed just a few minutes ago and she liked it, being overpowered like this was intimidating. He was quite tall and literally covering everywhere.

He smirked down at her before taking some locks of her braids in the front of her face and gently throwing them to the back.

"You don't have to tell the entire family just yet. After this trip..." He looked deeply into her eyes and continued, "...I'll officially ask you out."

Her heart stopped for a second before it began to beat again rapidly.

He smiled at her and bent to briefly kiss her chee— her lips!

She had thought he was going to kiss her cheek again but he actually went for her lips.

He dropped a quick kiss and pulled back a little to smile at her before he delved back there to lock his lips with her once more. He pulled back again and looked into her eyes, "I love your lips."

He said softly while using his thumb to graze her lower lips. "It's soft... little, kind of pinkish–red." While he was analyzing her lips, he kept his gaze there and continued to touch it. "I have always wanted to taste them."

Her eyes widened for the umpteenth time that evening. She was sure her face was already burning from embarrassment. Why was he saying things like this? She didn't know he had this naughty side.

His eyes flickered from her lips back to her face. "Do not think I am going to hold back again Luo Joreen, you made me like this." He said with a smug smile before he went in for another kiss.

Hoy wondered when the shock was going to wear off for her to return his kiss. He had gone in a couple of times and whenever their lips met, her eyes widened even further than it was the previous time. He would have stopped the first time but he kept being greedy for more.

He thought it was best to let her go for now but just as he was about to pull away, he felt a shy movement of her lip which made him stop for a second.

She was making an effort to kiss him back but it was either she was too shy or didn't know what to do. Or maybe she was just shy and inexperienced.

He could not help the smile that creeped up his face. He tried to be very gentle so he wouldn't scare her away. And as much as he would like to move his hands away from the door where it was resting to touch her, he didn't move his hands.

His tongue slowly parted her lips and he took her lower lip into his mouth, gently sucking on it. When he opened his eyes to gauge her reaction, he smiled again when he saw she was not looking at him with wide eyes this time but her eyes were closed and she seemed pretty much into it.

She was the first person to wrap her hands around him, bringing their bodies even closer than it already was. His hands finally slipped from the door but he reminded himself not to grope her even though he desperately wanted to. So he settled for her face instead and cupped it while he deepened the kiss.

When he noticed she was desperately trying to kiss back but was failing woefully, he stopped leading and just allowed her explore his mouth. She was quite lousy at it until she gave up and left his lips to kiss his cheek and then his earlobe and then his neck. He made sure to let her reach wherever she wanted to reach even though his back was beginning to ache from arching too much to meet her height.

"Jo?" He called her in a tight voice when she began to suck the left side of his neck. His hands were awkwardly lying beside him since he couldn't cup her face anymore and he didn't want to touch her indecently.

She was so into it that she didn't hear him the first time and just continued. It was as if she had planned to mark him and didn't want to let go.

"I... love the... way you... smell." She literally moaned out the words before she continued what she was doing.

He closed his eyes before he snapped them open at once.

"Jo?" He called even louder in a ragged voice and she stopped abruptly, raising her head to look at him.

When the realization dawned on her about what she had been doing, she looked away from him and gulped. Her face was surprisingly very red and she had an almost terrified look on her face.

"I'm... sor..ry.." She quickly turned around and opened the door. Without waiting for him to say anything, she ran out of the room.

"Hey!" He called, following her outside. Before she could open her room's door, she saw Reen close by. Reen looked like she had been crying so hiding from Hoy was the last thing on Joreen's mind as she looked at her sister.

Reen also looked at her and took particular note of how flushed she looked and how slightly swollen and puffy her lips were.

Reen's eyes went to Hoy who was standing behind her. His neck was quite obvious so she noticed a hickey. When he noticed what she was looking at, he remembered and raised his hand to touch it self consciously.

"What is wrong with you?" Joreen asked in worry, oblivious to anything else or the man behind her.

"Something... happened." Reen said in a choked voice.

*****

As much as the Wang and Li family tried to move quietly in other not to arouse suspicion from others, seeing them together while walking behind two young employees who were shivering didn't escape anyone's eyes.

"Uhm.. Sirs.... Madams.. is something the problem." The head of security asked them.

"Nothing to worry about. This is just a little family issue." Muchen's mother tried to blow him off but the middle aged man didn't budge.

"I am just doing my job madam. It seems something happened and if you don't mind, you can share it with the security team to handle it." He said politely while looking at the brothers.

"That's her." Zichu said quietly, cocking his head ahead. At that moment, Hoy appeared with Reen and Joreen. Hoy was now wearing his coat which covered his neck properly.

All eyes went to the two young ladies chatting as they approached their direction.

The two ladies were Aishu and Long Xi.

They both stopped in their tracks when they noticed everyone around looking at them.

"Which of them?" Hoy's mother asked impatiently.