Chapter 12 - A Happy Occasion

Mei walked around the lavish ballroom, taking in every little detail her eyes could fall upon. Crystal glasses in every other's hands, filled with the finest champagne. The exquisite aroma of food lingered in the air where servers carried them on trays.

The tables around the hall were a wonderful white hue and Mei couldn't stop herself from running her hands on all of them, feeling the soft velvety material graze through her fingers.

She looked at the others, laughing and chattering within themselves, quietly walking past them, exploring every nook and cranny of the room.

Unexpectedly, she heard her favorite music playing on the piano while others gathered around the middle for a slow dance.

"Oh, Mum used to love playing this song," she smiled, sitting on a chair and grazing her hand on top of the table.

Mei sighed, humming the tune along, tears welling up in her eyes. She bit the inside of her mouth as her heart thumped in her chest, recalling all that had happened to her.

"I just want to leave," she murmured, her fingers brushing past the band-aid on her palm when suddenly she felt a tap on her shoulder.

"May I have the honor of a dance with you?" a young attractive man in a fitted purple tuxedo, approached her. His emerald eyes glistened when he smiled and Mei couldn't resist saying yes.

"Are you sure? There are much prettier ladies than me here who seem to be more interested than I am," she hinted, looking behind him at the women staring at his back.

"And I'm very much interested in you." bowing down, he said, "Shall we?"

She chuckled and nodded as he took her by the hand and twirled her in his arms.

"That was smooth," a smile spread across her beautiful face when Mei remembered how Jian pulled her in close to his chest before.

'Why can't I stop thinking about that?! I shouldn't even be doing this, I know everybody will be staring at us.' She flinched while the man led her to the middle of the ballroom, where every other couple danced along with the tune.

Mei looked around at them and took a deep breath, "Maybe just this once." His hand pulled her closer as uncontrollable feelings surged through herself, her body tingling in excitement. No chains held her back from this pristine utopia, feeling at ease within his arms, her mind soaring with the thoughts of the previous incident and Jian's touch. Slowly losing her worries along the notes of the song that once reminded her of her mother, she set her head on his shoulder and they continued to dance, too lost in the nostalgic tune to halt. Time passed as their feet moved on their own.

As the song ended, Mei took hold of herself, creating some distance from the man.

"I should head back to my father but please don't stop because of me, I'm sure the others would like a chance too," she smiled, stepping backward.

"You didn't even ask for my name," he called out to Mei as she looked back and asked, "May I know your name?"

"Yun," he answered, "Yun Kang."

"I'm sorry, Yun? As in the vice president of Liu Entertainment, Yun Hyson?" she sputtered, stopping in her tracks with her eyes wide in surprise.

"I'm surprised you didn't realize that till now. I thought everyone knew me here as the Yun's second son." Kang chuckled, "It's refreshing knowing that not everyone sees me like that."

"I should be leaving now but it was very nice meeting you." Mei bowed and hurried away while her mind kept clashing with the feeling of overwhelm she faced.

'First the Liu's son and now this? When will this end? Why couldn't I ask him before, just why did I have to agree to dance with a complete stranger? I really hope no one saw us.'

Yet in the back, some of the ladies noticed the pair's intimate moment and started gossiping about it, enough for it to reach Jian's ears.

To confirm the rumors, he went to assure them himself, when he saw Mei's lively face giggling alongside Yun Kang.

Not waiting for another second Jian returned to his father and Feng and after some small talk, he took a decision. Having heard what he had to say, Chen patted his son on the back and Feng gave him a one-arm hug while offering a glass of whiskey to Chen with the other. Jian looked over at Mei, who was walking towards her father, then proceeded over to one of the lavishly decorated tables and took out his phone, and started typing something with his slender fingers.

Mei blinked her eyes and looked back at the two fathers gabbing as she stood next to them, looking down.

Feng turned around to look at her and chortled,

"Why are you here with the old folks' Bao Bao, go and talk to the people and get to know them." while saying this, he slurred a little and Mei understood that her father already had quite a bit to drink.

'Bao Bao? Thought that nickname was long gone. It's been years since he called me that,' she thought, a slight smirk forming on her lips.

She framed an awkward smile and responded in an ironic tone, "Easy On the drinks now. Looks like you want to wake up with a horrible headache tomorrow morning Dad."

Feng roared with laughter, babbling, "Why not? It's such a happy occasion." Leaning on his arm, his eye facing Mei, Cheng jabbered in, "It would be a shame to not drink now."

Rubbing her forehead with her fingers, Mei sighed, "Tomorrow is a weekday. Do you want to arrive late at your own meetings again?"

Looking at each other with a whiskey glass in their hands, her father replied, "I'm sure we can make an exception this once, Can't we?."

As both fathers chorused, "It's not like your only child decides to get married every day."