Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip - Chapter 122

Earlier when Reen was still at the resort, her mind was occupied with the conversation she had overheard. She thought back to the first day she saw Zichu. It was inside the ship and she was getting out of the bathroom not knowing he was inside the room, he had seen her in her lingerie and she noticed from then how uncomfortable he was whenever she was present and he tended to avoid eye contact with her.

All those times, had he just been pretending? There was obviously some kind of thing between him and his brother that involved her family.

She felt so disappointed and heartbroken. Why was she attracting these kind of men? First, it was Kyle and now it was Zichu. Who else?

She had just stepped out of the building when she heard someone call her name.

“Reen?”

It was a gentle masculine voice. A voice she recognized. She didn’t want to look at him. She didn’t know what she was going to do if she saw his face. Would she hit him? Demand an explanation? Tell him she overboard his conversation with his brother? Apologize to him for being assaulted by Kyle because of her? What was she supposed to do?

She turned around to look at him eventually. Just like the girls had said earlier, his face was bruised. He was wearing a black baseball cap but it didn’t properly hide the bruises.

“What… are you doing here?” He asked.

She noticed the guilty look in his eyes and now that she thought about it, he always looked at her that way.

“I came to check up on you.” She said, trying to not show her real emotion on her face.

“Wanted to apologize for the way Kyle treated you earlier today. But it was difficult finding you. This is the third time I’m coming here today.” Reen could almost feel herself crying. She wasn’t the type to easily like people or be friends with them. So why was it the people she became close to that was hurting her?

She had been looking for him all day to apologize but he hadn’t been sincere with her from the onset?

“It’s… fine. He just misunderstood my presence there and got mad.” He said gently.

Yea, she had even invited him to join her family! Maybe she wasn’t as smart as she thought she was.

“How does it feel? Your face?”

“Good! Thanks.” He said quickly. It seemed like he was trying to get away from her quickly.

“Is there… anything.. you have to tell me?” She asked, looking at his face seriously. “Anything at all?” She asked hopefully.

From his conversation with his brother, she could safely assume he was not into whatever his brother was doing. He was only aware but not involved in it. If only he would open up and tell her, maybe she would forgive him.

She hoped he would say something and so she waited.

He gave her a confused look and opened his mouth to say something but he closed it without saying any word.

When he opened it again, he simply said “Happy New Year” and forced a smile.

That was it. She managed to smile at him and turned around immediately. She returned to the house without looking back. She was never going to forgive him when she eventually finds out about what had been going on.

******

Joreen looked at Reen who was sleeping on the bed. With the other couples choosing to spend the last night on the Island in the resort, Sara had changed the sheets of her bed and asked for Heya to move into their room instead.

It was unusual for Reen to act like this. Especially considering the fact that she had been looking forward to her 18th birthday and was even more excited about it than her.

She changed into her pajamas and was about to join her sister on the bed when she recieved a message on her phone.

‘The Balcony’

The message had said.

Hoy wouldn’t have just texted her that for no reason. So she wore her slippers and began to slowly head there. She could hear faint voices as she walked towards the balcony but she didn’t know who it belonged to or who was still awake.

Before she got to the balcony, she was assaulted by the aroma of different dishes. She couldn’t tell what exactly it was but she continued to approach there until she got to the top.

She always thought the view was beautiful, but it was even more beautiful tonight. She gasped when she saw the table there was filled with different dishes. The place wasn’t very dark since there were some street lights around the area so it helped illuminate the balcony but not too bright.

There was a bottle of wine with two glasses and also some cakes.

“Are you just going to stand there?” Hoy asked. She hadn’t seen him standing there since she was busy admiring the table.

“You… really cooked for me?” She asked in surprise. She knew he hadn’t used the kitchen here so how did he do it?

“I promised. So…” He shrugged before pulling out a chair for her.

She excitedly went to sit on it. If there were candles, it would have been a perfect candlelight dinner. It felt like they were on a date except, she was wearing her pajamas while he was still in a formal shirt and trousers.

“Where did you make all of this? It wasn’t here right?”

“I have my ways.” He said in his usual ‘I am pretending not to be proud’ tone.

“I cannot believe you really did this for me!” She looked up at him with shiny eyes. “Thank you. This is my best birthday gift ever!”

“Birthday gift?” He asked.

“Yes.” She nodded. Hoy cooking for her, what more could she ask for?

He snorted but said nothing. He poured a little wine into her glass and urged her to eat.

“I am surprised you are not drunk from the wine earlier.”

“The percentage of alcohol in it wasn’t much. If I can get drunk from that, it would be a shame!” She said seriously making him smile.

“You should be careful with this one. You can get drunk from half a glass.”

“I don’t mind.” She grinned. “We are here so if I get drunk, you’ll just take me to my room and tuck me in bed.”

He ignored her and filled his own glass. It was easy for her to say.

He helped her cut her steak into smaller pieces before pushing the plate back to her. When she ate one, she closed her eyes and moaned. “Hmm… tastes even better than I imagined.”

She stuck out her tongue to lick the sauce off her lips before she smiled at Hoy who quickly looked down at his plate of food.

“Are you cold?” She asked him.

“I’m not.” He answered, busy slicing his own steak without lifting his head.

“Your face… why does it look red?” She asked, voice filled with concern.

“It’s the wine.”

“Really? But you only just drank a little.” She asked, looking at him with eyes wide with innocence.

He looked up at her and she noticed his face had returned to normal.

“Here!” He picked up a large envelope which he had left on the chair beside him and handed it over to her.

She looked at it curiously before taking it from him.

“What is this?” She asked, looking at it and then at him.

“Open it.” He urged her.

“Be careful so that the sauce doesn’t get into it.”

She gently opened it and took out a document from inside.

Hoy watched the different reactions on her face and just as he expected, she looked confused. He smiled at the confusion evident on her face.

“A building?” She asked, finally looking up at him with a confused look. “What is this for?”

Hoy gently put down his cutlery before giving her his full attention, “You are a big girl now. You shouldn’t be depending on your parents anymore or on the little stipends you earn from the industry—”

“I earn a lot!” She interrupted him with a frown.

“Doesn’t matter. That….” He pointed at the document in her hand. “Is yours.”

“It’s… mine?” She asked in confusion.

“It’s a six-storey building downtown. The sixth floor has a well furnished apartment. You can decide to move into it if you like or just go there once in a while if you wish to be alone. And do not worry, it’s soundproofed from whatever is happening outside the room.” He explained.

“Why… are you giving me this?” She asked in disbelief.

“I want you to earn a lot and stop wearing cheap jewelries.” He said casually.

“There are a lot of big business owners queuing up to rent a space from the building– yours. If you decide to charge them yearly, you’ll be getting rent payment every year. You’ll never run out of cash.” He concluded with a smile. “I’ll have a few people assist you with everything when we return.”

When he noticed how lost she still looked, he looked deeply into her eyes and smiled, “I want you to always be independent Lady Jo. Happy 18th Birthday.”