Chapter 6 - Bully

Every step Luo Joreen took screamed 'anger'. She knew Li Hoy was still following behind her, seeing her off to the beach but she didn't turn to look at him. 

"Do not think about sneaking to the club. I have people watching you." He called after her once they got to the beach. 

She turned to glare at him and 'humphed' before walking at a brisk pace. He watched her back for a few seconds before his lips curved up slightly. 

"They all keep treating me like a child. Thank God I'm finally going to turn 18 soon. I'll get myself a boyfriend and rub it on their faces." She continued to grumble until she got to where the crew members were gathered. 

"Oh! Miss Luo. Thank you for coming back." 

She was immediately surrounded by half of the crew members. 

"We heard you pleaded on Mr Han's behalf." 

Joreen was a bit uncomforrable with the attention she was receiving. She smiled sheepishly and only nodded a bit, hoping they would eventually leave her alone. 

"He is a good actor. He deserved another chance." She said humbly. 

"You are too modest Miss Luo." Han Yu's manager said, his face filled with gratitude. "I cannot thank you enough." 

When did Li Hoy call to let them know she was coming back, and they were going to shoot the final scene? Perhaps, it was when they were returning to the beach and she was walking ahead of him?

"We should get you ready to shoot the final scene." Joreen's manager said to her. 

"Oh! The dress. Were you able to retrieve it from the store?" She asked. 

Although Li Hoy had asked her to forget about it and leave it there, she couldn't just let it go to waste so she had texted her assistant to retrieve it from the store. 

"We did. We better hurry now so we can leave here soon." 

Her assistant appeared and began to lead her towards the tent to retouch her make up. Joreen sighed in relief once she left the group of people. 'That was awkward.' She thought to herself.

"Is this CEO Li's jacket?" Her assistant asked as she carefully touched the expensive suit. 

Joreen suddenly remembered she was still wearing his jacket and looked down at it. 'He must be cold. Why didn't I return it?'

CEO Li Hoy was nice sometimes. And annoying the other times, but she still cared about him. She would just have to return it in the morning. 

Once they approached the large tent, her assistant was about to Zip it open when they heard Joreen's name inside. 

"Who does she think she is? I'm so pissed right now!" 

"I can't believe she kept all of us here. So what if Han Yu kissed her? Was she the first to be kissed on site?" Another girl said bitterly. 

Joreen's assistant blushed from embarassment and looked at Joreen whose facial expression didn't change. Her face was still straight like she hadn't just heard the same girls who had invited her to go clubbing with them, badmouthing her. 

"She obviously thinks she is something. I heard recently that when she was younger, her family was thrown out of their house into the streets. Because her life suddenly changed for the better, she began to act all cocky."

Joreen noticed her assistant was about to react but before she could stop her, the girl zipped it open and stomped inside. 

"What do you all think you are saying? She is not like that!" She yelled at the three girls. The tent was big enough to contain up to ten persons so there were the three ladies who were badmouthing her, their make up artists and Joreen's assistant inside. Joreen stood outside so they had no idea she was present. 

"If it isn't her dog. No one expects you to not take her side." A lady spat out with contempt evidence in her voice. 

Joreen recognized the voice. It was An Mengli. She was the supporting character in the drama who played Han Yu's character's obsessive ex girlfriend. And it had been her who invited Joreen to party with them. She had been right to say a lot of them in the industry didn't like her. And Li Hoy had been correct to tell her not to go clubbing with them. Sometimes, it hurt her ego that he was always right. 

She was lost in thought until she heard a slap, and a wail from her assistant. That was when she hurried inside. 

Once they saw her, they looked visibly taken aback and all took a few steps back while her eyes scanned the room.

Everyone there where older than her with at least 3 years but they were smart enough to know they weren't supposed to annoy her. 

Her assistant was standing very close to An Mengli and it was obvious she had been the one to slap her. 

When Joreen's gaze landed in Mengli, "Apologize." She said in a quiet voice that pierced through the silence inside the tent.

"Apologize? Why? It was her who suddenly came here and started spouting nonsense." Mengli said, raising her chin stubbornly. She was from a rich home and had really good sponsors so everyone could understand why she had the guts to stand up against a Song-Wang-Li. 

Joreen smiled gently. "You know, you all were almost making sense." She started as her eyes travelled around the tent. 

"I should have considered your feelings and not just leave when we weren't done shooting. But then... you all stopped making sense from the moment you mentioned it wasn't a big deal that Han Yu kissed me without my consent." 

She took a step closer to Mengli. "You also stopped making sense when you started talking about my family." 

She took another step until she was standing in front of her. "And you stopped making sense when you slapped Xiao Fei." 

She locked gaze with Mengli who looked like she wanted to take a step back but her ego wasn't letting her move. After all, she was 4 years older than Joreen and couldn't let the girl intimidate her.

"Since we now hit people for spouting nonsense, I guess we shouldn't leave anyone out of it."

Joreen smiled again. The smile immediately disappeared and she raised a hand to deliver a sound slap to An Mengli's face, shocking everyone Including Mengli who hadn't expected that. Loud gasps escaped from everyone's lips as they watched.

Joreen stepped back and went to sit in one of the chairs. She looked at reflection on the mirror and touched her hair, "I want to change. Everyone, get lost." She said gently. She must have learnt how to keep her composure from Li Hoy. 

They began to scurry away quickly and Mengli wasn't an exception. Her friends held her and began to help her out but Joreen suddenly stood up and stopped them, "You know what? You all can remain here and continue what you were doing." She began to leave the tent but stopped and turned to look at them one more time. 

"Did you all see that?" 

They all looked at her in confusion.

"I can be a bully if I want to... and none of you would be able to say a thing." She pointed out to them. 

"So if you all think I am not something, try to piss me off and see what I can do." With one last smile, she left the tent with her assistant behind her. The smile quickly disappeared from her face when she stepped outside.