The Family Business (6)

Joann stood by her friend and that was how the issue was resolved. Lee Mu remained for the sequel. While the director could afford to fire Lee Mu, if both of his main leads left, he might as well start a new movie instead of continuing Bringing the Nation's Husband Home.

This was how Lee Mu ended up in Joann's debt. The double date was thus to thank Joann for her support.

Joann was unsure whether she should accept the invitation or not so she asked for a second opinion. Xu Jing agreed readily. The man's impression of Lee Mu and Zao Ming had a 180 turn after realizing the truth about their sexual orientation.

Xu Jing was ashamed of what he had done in the past and the unfounded suspicion he harbored towards Lee Mu. In fact, Xu Jing had a great deal of admiration for Lee Mu for taking the aggression and snide comments that he had unfairly made with such gusto. Lee Mu had been a perfect gentleman and Xu Jing felt shamed for misunderstanding him.

Furthermore, Xu Jing realized that if Lee Mu was not his competition, then he could be turned into a great ally. After all, the man was his wife's co-star. Outside of Xu family, Lee Mu was the person his wife spent most of her time with. Lee Mu could be a real influence to Joann, even if Xu Jing could get Lee Mu to sneak in a few good words about him at work, it would have been good enough.

In other words, Xu Jing could not wait to make friends with Lee Mu. Therefore, when his wife came to him with the invitation from Lee Mu and Zao Ming, he accepted it with open arms.

Joann did not quite understand why her husband was so eager to go on this double date but since he was up for it, she would oblige.

It was Lee Mu and Zao Ming who sent out the invitation, so they were tasked to find the restaurant and do the booking. Zao Ming took up the task because this was something that he was used to do in his capacity as Zao Ming's agent.

He selected a rather well known restaurant. The place wasn't that upscale or incredibly popular but Zao Ming picked it because it offered a good deal of privacy. The establishment provided private rooms for group that wished to have small-scale parties or people who wished to enjoy their meal in peace and relative privacy. They were the latter.

After all, since the meal was a sign of appreciation from Lee Mu and Zao Ming, they wouldn't want fans to interrupt them throughout the dinner. As much as they appreciated the support from their fans, it would make things quite awkward and uncomfortable.

...

The dinner was without much fuss. Everyone present had a good time. However, it was not without its drama.

Joann was glad looking at how obviously happy her friend was. After the commercial and article were released to the public, there was a lightness around Lee Mu that was absent before. He was already a tolerant person before this but now he was even more even-minded, placid and permissible. It was as if he had found his satisfaction in life so he was no longer that bothered by mundane things of the world.

Joann could see that as a mark of a truly happy and contented individual.

During the dinner, Xu Jing once more expressed his apology towards Lee Mu. Even though Lee Mu accepted it graciously, he told Xu Jing he already put those things behind them. There was no need for further apology.

Xu Jing was completely unfamiliar with Zao Ming since their paths didn't cross and Xu Jing's connection to him was tenuous at best. They got to know each other during dinner and in spite of their initial misunderstanding due to Xu Jing's previous unfair bias against Zao Ming's boyfriend, they got on well.

Xu Jing was impressed by the depth of devotion Zao Ming had towards his love, a quality Xu Jing saw reflected in himself. Zao Ming in turn also had a good impression of Xu Jing but at the same time, he also noticed something about the man that made him frown imperceptibly.

Making use of a lull in their conversation as Joann excused herself to use the bathroom, Zao Ming leaned towards Lee Mu to share this observation with him. Xu Jing did not realize what they were doing because they were being very subtle about it and the man was too busy pining for his wife. On top of that, Xu Jing could not be called an astute person when it came to people other than his wife. It was as if all of his attention and focus was so drawn to his wife that he had none left for other people, which honestly was not that far off from the truth.

Lee Mu nodded to himself after listening to what his boyfriend had to say. Similar to Zao Ming, a frown also formed on his face when he gave this observation further contemplation. He turned to Zao Ming and nodded surreptitiously. He agreed with him that this could be a source of trouble in the future if it was allowed to continue. It was definitely something worth worrying about.

However, Lee Mu was unsure whether he should broach this subject with Joann or not. Hesitant on how to proceed, Lee Mu decided to continue his observation for now. He was going to keep a close watch on the interaction between Joann and Xu Jing as the dinner progressed. Then, when he reached a firmer conclusion, he would decide once and for all, what to do with it.

To be fair, things were not as insidious as they thought. Lee Mu and Zao Ming observed something unconventional about how Xu Jing conducted himself around Joann. They did not think it was good for a relationship and since Lee Mu was Joann's good friend, he felt the pressure of warning his friend about it. However, he didn't want to be rebuffed from being too big of a busybody.