"I'm going out." Joreen announced to the house as she stepped out of her room wearing a long black coat, grey pant and a head warmer with gloves to keep her hands warm. It was going to be very cold so she made sure to be well covered because she didn't want Hoy to offer his coat to her because if he did, he was going to suffer from the cold without saying anything.

"Yea."

"Sure."

"Have fun."

"Come back early."

"Come back late."

"Don't return without Hoy."

Everyone at the dining answered at the same time. She couldn't keep up with all at once so she just bowed and left while the others continued their meal.

"Is there something wrong with the food?" Hoy's mother asked. She could no longer hold in her curiousity when she saw almost everyone trying to suppress a smile.

"The food? What is wrong?" Jianjun asked since he had been one to cook and got worried when she said that.

"Why is everyone suddenly excited. Did something happen that I do not know of?" She asked with a frown, causing most of them to burst into laughter.

~~

When Joreen stepped outside, she saw only Hoy standing outside with his hands inside his coat's pocket, Mr Ping was nowhere in sight.

"Where... is Mr Ping?" She asked, making her presence known. He turned around to look at her and nodded when he saw how covered she was. Last thing he needed was for her to get cold under his watch. It was a gentleman's thing to protect the ladies from cold by offering their jackets, but cold itself wasn't a gentleman. It does not give the men a discount simply because they were being a 'gentleman' so they still get very cold but have to pretend they were fine.

Take what happened to Jack and Rose for example.

Hoy shrugged, "I don't know. We should look for him first." He answered.

Joreen kept avoiding making eye contact with him because it was just this morning she kissed him beside his mouth. She didn't know why she had done that when she knew it was inevitable to avoid him.

"Let's go?" He asked, waiting for her permission before he moved.

"To... where?"

"The sea side. He is probably there."

She nodded and so they began to walk side by side.

"Are you... mad at me?" She asked after a while when the silence because quite unbearable for her.

"Why?" He asked while keeping his gaze ahead as they walked past some security personnel who were patrolling the area. Some of them were heavily guarded with weapons that fightened Joreen so she moved closer to him.

"I..." She waited until the last person walked past them before she completed it, "....kissed you."

Hoy stopped walking and turned to look at her. She blinked at him, trying to decide whether it was best to keep an eye contact or look down instead.

"I am not mad at you." He answered.

"Really?" She asked hopefully. "I mean... it was without your consent and I must have startled you—"

"That wasn't a kiss. You don't have to worry so much about it." He said and started to walk again but stopped when he realised she wasn't following him. He turned around to see her eyeing him, "That was my first time making an effort to kiss someone. You cannot just blow it off like that. If I say it's a kiss then it is a kiss."

"You really are stubborn, aren't you?" He asked in amusement.

"Just stating facts." She said and shivered slightly from the cold.

"Come here." He used his finger to signal for her to come closer.

Joreen took only a step before she stopped to look suspiciously at him.

Not having the patience to wait for her, he walked towards her and stopped directly in front of her.

Before she could ask what he was up to, his hand was already at the first button of her coat.

"Why didn't you wear a scarf around your neck?" He asked as he kept trying to fix the button but he realised the hole was still sealed.

The cold made the blush on her face visible as she stood there, looking up at his face while he got busy with what he was doing.

When he looked down at her face and realised how intendely she was staring at him, he quickly avoided her eye contact. He had to admit he was flattered she liked him. She was a very pretty and talented young lady a lot of men admired even though he made sure she wouldn't ever know those perverts that wanted her attention.

She also had a really sunny personality that put him at ease.

A lot of his relationship failed either because he wasn't patient enough, or because he was busy, or because he simply didn't like the fact that they were after him for his wealth and family so he always thought their love wasn't genuine because he had never met any genuine person.

But he knew she was genuine.

"Focus Luo Joreen. And not on me." He said in his usual aloof tone like he wasn't affected at all.

"Don't tell me what to do!" She snapped at him which caused him to chuckle.

"I probably should tell uncle Jaime you aren't following his plan. Didn't he want you to give me the cold shoulder? Your father wouldn't be happy with you."

Joreen suddenly remembered she was doing totally different things compared to what Jaime had told her. She bit her lower lip in embarrassment, not realizing the action drew Hoy's attention. He didn't need to stare too much because Mr Ping's face hologram popped in front of his eyes, telling him he was going to go to prison if he tried anything.

'I probably should fire him.' Hoy thought to himself as he began to get annoyed.

Joreen wondered what was in his mind until she felt him touch her earlobe with his surprsingly warm fingers. She stepped back in surprise and gasped when he pulled her closer with his other hand, causing her chest to almost hit his.

"What... are you...?"