Shortly after the conversation ended, a third person came to their table and sat down without ceremony like he owned the place."w.a.n.g Che, you are here. I am glad." Qi Han spoke with unconcealed happiness as he looked at his friend with a smile.
"You sent a personalised invite to me. I could hardly let you down." w.a.n.g Che returned the smile.
w.a.n.g Che had always been a smart man, and he could see through Qi Han without much thought. He understood that the reason for the enthusiastic, can"t-afford-to-miss-this-party, personal invite as well as this personal greeting was a form of attempt to see Hu Lei.
After all, Qi Han could hold grudges, and he had probably not forgotten the fact that he had found Hu Lei and kept the matter a secret. It was this understanding of his friend"s psyche that had driven him to warn Hu Lei before bringing her to this party.
"I heard that you brought a couple of people with you." Qi Han did not conceal the impatient interest on his face.
"Of course, I did. I decided to take advantage of my VVIP status in the party." He indicated to the drunken Shun who had placed his head on his shoulder and leaned most body weight on him. "This is one of my guests." There was subtle ridicule in his voice because Qi Han had ignored Shun, betraying his true intentions.
"Of course, I know Furukawa Shun. Sorry for my rudeness." Qi Han felt embarra.s.sed for being exposed so easily.
Shun lifted a lazy hand and waved at Qi Han. "Great party…"
"I am glad that you could make it. I didn"t know that you two were so close." Qi Han commented.
w.a.n.g Che did not respond to the words or the hint of ridicule while Shun had already lost interest in Qi Han and returned to his happy place.
Qi Han cleared his throat awkwardly after failing to elicit a reaction from the two. "What about the other guests?" He decided to be thick-faced. He could not beat w.a.n.g Che in playing mind games.
"They are dancing. If you wait long enough, they will probably come back." w.a.n.g Che responded.
Qi Han had been waiting for that invite, however lukewarm. He called a waitress and ordered a drink, making himself comfortable. If he had learnt anything in life, it was that good things happened to those who were aggressive enough to take them. Just waiting was a complete waste of time.
He did not even mind the fact that w.a.n.g Che and Furukawa Shun did not engage him in conversation.
The wait was long, or it seemed longer than it actually was. But the moment that Qi Han had been waiting for had come. Once the K-pop performer finished her set, Hu Lei and Pierre came back to the table. And found the intruder.
"h.e.l.lo, Qi Han. This is a nice party." Hu Lei greeted him with a smile.
"Thank you. I can be sending you an invite if you like such events." He responded quickly and with an enthusiastic smile.
"Oh no, I like to have fun occasionally, but I am not that much of a party girl. My friend wanted to see how the rich and famous party in Supreme." She indicated to Pierre.
"Hi, I am Pierre." The blonde man stretched his hand for a shake.
Qi Han looked at the man critically before shaking the extended hand. He did not feel any form of good will towards this man. He could accept it when Hu Lei was dancing with Zhong Feng because they were still together. But this Pierre had no right.
"Hu Lei, will you let me have the next dance?" He smiled.
Hu Lei frowned because she could more or less guess the man"s thoughts. But still, he was w.a.n.g Che"s friend, so she needed to be polite.
"I am already pretty tired from all the dancing." She refused.
"I am sure you can muster some energy for one more." Qi Han smiled. "We wouldn"t want anyone thinking that you are discriminating."
Hu Lei"s lips pursed at the implication. "Shouldn"t I be discriminating when choosing who to dance with? Should I dance with everyone who asks?"
Qi Han was embarra.s.sed and a little angry. He felt that Hu Lei had chosen to misunderstand his words. He was obviously giving her an easy way to accept his request for a dance in case she felt uncomfortable saying yes casually in front of the rest of the group. Now, it looked like he was blackmailing her for the dance.
"Why don"t you have a drink with us instead, Qi Han?" w.a.n.g Che smiled at his friend in warning, seeing that the man was about to lose his temper.
The rest of the group agreed with enthusiasm to dispel the awkwardness, and Hu Lei was not a petty person. With that, the situation was diffused.
Still, Qi Han could not help looking at Hu Lei with both wistful longing and childish anger that demanded possession of the beautiful and powerful woman.
When Pierre and Hu Lei returned to Westend, it was almost morning. Hu Lei opened the door of the penthouse and found Zhong Feng with a travel bag at his feet. He looked tired, but to Hu Lei, he was a sight for sore eyes. She ran to him and jumped into his arms.
The man caught her and lifted her into his arms.
"You shouldn"t have come back this late." She complained into his neck as she rubbed against it like a small animal seeking affection.
Zhong Feng laughed before putting her down.
"Shut up. It seems that Pierre is more work than I remember."
"When is he leaving?" Zhong Feng asked.
"After the movie premiere… He will be my date." She responded.
"Why him?" Zhong Feng asked, grumbling.
"You said that you did not want to go with me because it would take attention from the movie." Hu Lei looked at him with a pout.
"You know it is for the best. I don"t want people to question the success of the movie."
"But I also want people to know that you are mine." Her pout became more exaggerated.
"We can put an announcement on the front pages if you would like." He kissed the pink lips. "You smell like a distillery; time for a shower."
Hu Lei blushed. "Your sweat is not any better."
Zhong Feng smiled. "Good point. Let"s save time and take a shower together."
Before she could protest, she was carried off for a very long shower.