Chapter 61 - Model

Mr Ping felt like he was watching a movie. The talent show was fun, but he seemed to prefer watching his boss than the show. 

He put on a serious face and began to talk, "Joreen looks so beautiful when she smiles." 

"..."

Hoy didn't pay him attention, neither did he try to make it less obvious that he was watching the little lady. She sat far away from him. As usual, Reen was there and so were her parents. She seemed to be having a lot of fun, smiling, clapping, cheering for contestants and dancing along to the musics. She had not spared their direction a glance since she came in and as much as Hoy wanted to act like he didn't care, Mr Ping knew him better. 

She looked nothing like the girl who blew up at his boss just this evening. How did she do it? Quickly switching between emotions. 

"She is happy with everyone else except a certain someone. It must be really sad. Hmm." Mr Ping said and sighed dramatically.

This time, Hoy smirked evilly and looked down at his phone. 

"Mr Ping?" Hoy called him with his eyes not leaving his phone. 

"Yes sir!" He answered in his professional voice. 

"I thought about it... and I think I am actually paying you too much. I mean, which CEO pays their secretary the way I pay you? You will agree with me right."

"Wait.. what? When did you think about it?" 

"Just now." Hoy answered with a shrug. 

"Haha! You must be joking right? You can't be this petty because of a mere joke. Remember we are friends." 

"Joking?" Hoy raised his head to ask him with something akin to a smile on his face but it looked too evil to be a smile. "Do I ever joke?" 

"Come on, don't be mean. I left my family to spend Christmas with you. You shouldn't treat me this way." He made sure to cling unto Hoy's upper arm as he spoke. 

Hoy gave him a death glare at the sudden intimacy. "Get your hands off me!" He demanded. 

"Until you reverse it. Hmm?" Mr Ping pouted and fluttered his eyelashes. 

When it looked like Hoy was about to kill him instead of taking pity on him, he quickly let go and began to bargain, "I will do anything you want. And I promise to stop teasing you." 

"...."

"I will... introduce you to a very beautiful woman." 

"Do you have a death wish?" Hoy asked him. 

Mr Ping almost laughed, 'Of course you do not want any other woman eh?' He wiggled his eyebrows as he thought within himself. 

"I will get you the prefect gift to give to Miss Luo on her birthday."

"It's her 18th birthday. You think I'll depend on you to get a gift on my behalf for her?" Hoy asked with his eyes on his phone. 

"Really? You already got her a gift? But you never remember to get me one for my birthday!" Mr Ping said with a frown. 

"...."

"How biased." He mumbled. He was just going to rile him up the more. And a perfect opportunity came when a young boy who looked like a Kpop idol with blue hair took the mic and began to sing after introducing himself. 

"Oh, look at that.. Miss Luo is smitten by that handsome boy." 

Hoy's head snapped up immediately. He looked at the boy on stage before his eyes went to Joreen. She had the 'he is so handsome' look in her eyes as she waved both hands along to the song he was singing. 

Hoy snorted, "Teenagers. They are so annoying." 

Mr Ping had to keep himself from cracking up as he watched Hoy's reaction. He looked like he was drinking vinegar. 

Hoy's gaze darkened and at the same time, he heard claps and people hooting so he turned his attention to the stage and noticed the singer was no longer on the stage. He had dropped his guitar, took the mic with him and was offering a rose to a girl. 

Wait... was that... Luo Joreen? 

Joreen was also very surprised. How come he was giving her the rose out of everyone else there? She was confused but very excited as she accepted the rose. 

A lot of people clapped excitedly while the boy winked at her before returning to the stage.

"Oh my God! He likes you!" Reen said excitedly while shaking Joreen's shoulder. 

"You are exaggerating." Joreen tried to blow it off even though she was grinning wildly like a fool. 

"You seem happy. I didn't know that was your type." Cixi mentioned. 

"Of course, he isn't." Joreen said, the smile slowly fading from her face as she turned to look at her type. 

The so-called type was busy glaring at her... well.. not exactly at her but at the rose in her hand. His gaze moved from the rose to her face.

"Hehehe. Someone looks jealous." Reen giggled. 

"Look away Jo. Look at the stage instead." Jaime said to Joreen while still looking ahead so it wouldn't seem like he was talking to her. 

Joreen didn't even smile at Hoy. She turned to look at the stage and smiled at the boy there.

Cixi rolled her eyes before saying, "You are really having fun riling him up, aren't you?" She asked her husband. 

"Of course. Since he is super slow, we need to wait until he blows up." 

"Let's hope it isn't going to be a volcanic eruption when he finally blows up." She said. 

~~

Mr Ping wanted to tease Hoy about how Joreen ignored him but he knew it was a bad time to joke especially when the aura around Hoy had changed. 

He couldn't understand Hoy's possessiveness with Joreen when he didn't want to admit to himself that he had been in love with Joreen for two years now. He had eyes and a brain so he knew the moment when Hoy shifted from being her guardian to being a possessive man in love but his boss with a low EQ knew nothing. How was he even a part of the Li family when everyone from that family was usually very smart? The only thing he was good at was business. Nothing else. It perfectly explains why none of his relationships lasted. 

"I will make sure miss Luo has nothing to do with him. So my salary and bonus is still safe right?" He asked with a sheepish grin. 

~~~

"Wish me luck!" Reen said as she left her family to the back of the stage since it was almost her turn to perform. Since Joreen's turn was after hers, Joreen followed and watched from the screen at the back. 

When the music started, Reen appeared on stage with a ball in hand and danced around with it. Joreen had to admit her sister was a talented dancer. She really wished she was as gifted as Reen was but the girl had refused to join the entertainment industry. She preferred to be famous playing basketball than be famous as a dancer so doing both now, she had a happy smile on her face. Anyone and everyone could tell she was doing what she loved. 

Everyone clapped soundly by the time Reen was done. 

"Good luck baby sister." Reen said, kissing Joreen's cheek.

~~~~~~

If Li Hoy was drinking right now, Mr Ping could swear that he would have choked on his drink when Joreen appeared on stage. The trousers and shirt Joreen was wearing earlier was nowhere to be seen. She wore a white fur coat jacket which stopped midway in her thigh and a black thigh high boot. Her make up was also very beautiful and gave off a 'sexy' vibe. He hadn't taken note of it until this moment. She looked like a goddess especially in that white fur coat.

She simply stood there with her hands on her hips while looking ahead with a raised chin. People whistled, some clapped. In general, she got everyone's attention. Without looking at Hoy, Mr Ping could tell he wasn't in a good mood.

When Beyoncé's "Who run the world" began to blast from the speakers, Joreen began to catwalk. That was when everyone realised she was doing a little runway show. 

She had the 'model face' on as she walked back and forth, turning around, blowing kisses to the crowd and posing in different styles. 

The men especially were cheering loudly, except one.

"I will kill every single one of them." Hoy swore. 

Mr Ping would have laughed if he also wasn't enjoying the show. "Damn! She is a model after all." Mr Ping said as he watched. 

Joreen stood at the centre of the stage and touched the first button of the jacket. She undid it. When she did same to the second, the crowd became every excited as they urge her to continue,

"How did they allow a lot of perverts on this ship?" Hoy asked, expecting any answer from Mr Ping but the man was busy watching the show with keen interest. That even made Hoy angrier and he had the urge to slap him.

Joreen on the other hand was having the time of her life. The crowd kept cheering for her to undo all the buttons, "Dirty perverts." Joreen thought within herself but tried not to let her irritation show. 

The last one was undone and she held each side of the jacket to reveal her 'body' which the perverts were expecting to see.

"Awwwn" Many of them slumped back in their seats in disappointment when they saw the teeshirt and short she was wearing inside. 

A mocking smile tugged on Joreen's lips as she looked at their crestfallen reactions. 

Since she climbed the stage, she made sure not to look at Hoy's direction. Now, she decided to look at him.

Was he indifferent? Was he also excited just like the other men? She didn't mind if he was excited like the others. That had been the plan anyway. Reen had said being 'sexy' would get his attention.

But when she looked at his face, she saw him glaring at her. There was only one message she could get from the dark look in his eyes, it was,

"I will kill you Luo Joreen." 

She looked away and ran out of the stage while the oblivious audience gave her a big round of applause for her performance.