Chapter 7: Blackmail me out of my pajamas

"What's been going on with you, Li Jun?"

"Nothing."

Li Jun and Tian Yu were leaving the classroom for their last subject of the day. All throughout the class, Li Jun had been staring out the window, barely even registering when the teacher noticed his absentmindedness and called him out, to the point where Tian Yu had to elbow his side to get his attention.

"Don't you dare tell me it's nothing! You have been looking like a zombie this whole week. Did those bastards do anything?"

Knowing that he was referring to his relatives, Li Jun denied it with his head.

"No, they didn't do anything other than arranging another meeting with that girl."

Tian Yu scowled.

"Again? Don't they understand that you're not interested? Are they trying to force you into this?"

"My uncle probably is. But it doesn't matter, she already knows my opinion on the subject, so going to another dinner doesn't really affect anything. At best it's a free meal."

"Damn it. Only you would look at this so positively. They are trying to force you into marriage! Does that not ring enough alarms in your head? Don't you remember what happened-"

Li Jun stopped in his tracks, piercing Tian Yu with a warning look. Regret flashed through his face, making Li Jun sigh.

"Sorry."

"It's alright. Anyway, you know I cannot go against them right now. What use is there in stressing over it?"

With this, Tian Yu finally fell silent. He was well aware of Li Jun's situation, and he knew he was right. In the long run, it would be better if he actually stayed put.

"Fine. Just call me at the first sign of danger. I'll go and beat them all up!"

Tian Yu punched the air a few times, showing off his physical prowess. Li Jun chuckled, finally showing a semblance of a smile on his tired face.

"Alright, alright. Thank you, oh Great Tian Yu, for protecting this poor damsel in distress. What would I do without you?"

"Hmmm. You know? Sometimes I wonder about that too. How would you be able to face this cruel world without me, such a valiant man, by your side? You are so lucky, Li Jun."

Any appreciation for his friend faded in an instant, specially after said friend began staring at his own brave pose on the reflection from a window.

A poor freshman girl sat inside, completely unprepared for the ball of awkwardness that was Tian Yu, who did not even notice she was there as he was too absorbed changing from stance to stance to find which suited him better. Li Jun couldn't help but sigh.

"You're a lunatic."

"You are only saying that because you're jealous."

Li Jun stared at this strange specimen with the same confusion as the poor girl on the other side of the glass, both amazed and disturbed by the strange spectacle.

"You know what? I give up. I am going to take a nap at home before I leave for this appointment."

Tian Yu finally stopped posing, turning to look at Li Jun with an uneasy gaze.

"Fine, if you're really sure about this then go. Just remember to call me if anything happens."

"Nothing will happen. Not now at least, so don't worry."

He said his goodbyes and took the bus back home. Hours later, he emerged from his small bathroom in a smart suit that accentuated his long legs while holding a phone to his ear.

"Remember to be at the venue at seven and meet us at the door. We can't be late!"

"I thought you said this was another arranged meeting with Miss Qin. Why is it suddenly at an event, aunt?"

"We thought it would be good for you to... Mingle with more people your age. You barely do anything besides working at that small café, so take this opportunity to make some friends."

The guilt was palpable in her voice. She had never been a good liar.

Ever since he had made his posture clear to Miss Qin, the insistence from his uncle to develop their relationship had increased. Li Jun had been forced to dine with her two more times, and he was now being called out to some mysterious event with the intention to present this empty courtship to the rest of high society. If he escorted Miss Qin to a large gathering, the relationship between the Li and Qin families would be of public knowledge, coercing him to give in by peer pressure.

This wasn't the first time they tried this, so the idea wasn't new to him, but he still felt irritated at being used as a tool for the union between two conglomerates.

Li Jun fixed his collar as he watched a sleek black car stopping outside the raggedy building's entrance. The drive was long so he chose to rest his eyes since his nap hadn't replenished his lack of sleep.

A couple of hours later, he was being fussed over by his aunt while his uncle and cousin mingled with the other attendees.

It turned out he was brought to a charity ball.

"The Qin's will be here any minute! Did you wear the perfume I sent you?"

"Yes, aunt."

"Good. That fragrance was made by Madam Qin's godson. He's very famous in the perfume market. Remember to praise it if they notice."

The woman kept fumbling with the lapels of his jacket as she spoke, making her heels clack and her big diamond earrings sway when she moved. Being a good head taller than Feng Lan, Li Jun drowned out the sound of her voice and surveyed his surroundings.

The ballroom was massive, with crystal chandeliers hung across the ceiling and large windows on either side. A stage had been set up, decorated with beautiful flowers and surrounded by tables that remained vacant since the event had yet to begin. Waiters paced through the groups of elegantly dressed people, offering cocktails and silently retreating to their rounds in order to avoid disrupting the social scene.

Every recognizable face was here. The top of Huisu's corporate world had gathered, making this an excellent place to find connections and discuss business. Construction, electricity, mining, real estate, medicine, fashion and entertainment, every big industry was here, but the common topic in most of everyone's mouth was a name that had silently spread through the crowd.

"I heard that Miss Zhou from Seren is coming today."

"Yes, I was hoping to talk to her and pitch our new project."

"I thought she didn't like to attend social functions?"

"She appears on TV all the time, even giving interviews to people posted outside her house. Wouldn't it be weird for her to be a recluse?"

"Maybe she's giving the Qin's some face?"

"Hah! No way! The Qin's may have organized the charity ball, but they are not even comparable to Seren. If it weren't from the backing of the Gwan's and Namgung's not even I would be here."

"Well, whatever the reason, I'm glad I'll finally be able to see whether that rumor about her having plastic surgery is true. Do you think it will be noticeable?"

Hearing Iris was coming made Li Jun's heart rate pick up. If he had known that fact beforehand he wouldn't have come at all. Their last conversation didn't end on good terms, and as much as he enjoyed spending time with her, for their relationship to go further than it already had was practically impossible. He was relieved it had ended, but it didn't make meeting her any less uncomfortable. Specially if he's escorting someone else.

Li Jun's eavesdropping was interrupted by Feng Lan who pulled his sleeve.

"They're here! Remember to smile at them. Your uncle and Mr. Qin have only began their business, we can't afford to mess it up."

An elderly man dressed in traditional clothes walked ahead of the Qin family. Li Jun recognized him as the head of the group, parallel to his own grandfather for the Li's. Behind him many faces were familiar, he had met them in similar occasions before, and among them he immediately found Qin Hee, who was stabbing him with her gaze.

Li Qiang and Li Wei had stopped their discussions to come and greet their hosts.

"Elder Qin! How nice it is to see you!"

The old man's face didn't change much as he extended his hand towards Li Qiang, almost making the latter's smile falter.

"Mr. Li! I'm glad you could attend today."

"Oh, Mr. Qin! How could I ever miss such an event?"

Brushing off his father's reluctance, Qin Junfeng, the CEO of the Qin company, extended a handshake towards Li Qiang while the rest of the families finished their greetings.

"Li Jun, you have grown from the last time I saw you! I heard things are going well with Qin Hee."

His voice was raised so that the surrounding people could hear.

"Oh, it seems there is a courtship between the Li's and the Qin's."

"That collaboration should be quite profitable."

"Maybe we should propose a joint venture as well?"

Satisfied with the ongoing conversations, Qin Junfeng looked at his brother Qin Lingyun, Qin Hee's father.

"Li Jun! I'm glad such a fine gentleman has caught our Qin Hee's eyes. She's always telling me about how kind and chivalrous you are."

'Chivalry? Is that really the best compliment you could muster?', thought Li Jun.

Qin Hee quickly made her way to his side, almost looping her arm through his. Li Jun subtly sidestepped her stretching hand and plastered a polite smile on his face. Her cheeks reddened at the sight, painting the image of a smitten young maiden.

"Thank you for escorting me tonight, Li Jun."

Her gesture spurred the gossip further, but he could only grit his teeth.

"It is my pleasure, Miss Qin."

Having proved enough, Li Qiang and Qin Junfeng quickly moved the subject towards their new projects.

"We should go to our seats, the ball is going to begin soon."

Qin Junfeng led them to their seats, standing up to listen to his assistant.

"She hasn't arrived yet?"

"No, Sir. What should we do? The guests are already being seated."

"Delay the opening speech. She will probably arrive shortly. I don't believe she dares to discard her competition like this."

Little did he know Iris was just now stepping into her elevator and would take some time to arrive at the venue.

"Okay, okay, I'm putting my seatbelt on right now, you can hang up now."

"Boss, with all due respect, you said the same thing half an hour ago."

Iris rolled her eyes as she reached with her free hand to ruffle her now styled hair.

"Cut me some slack, Marco. If it were for me I would be lying in bed watching movies and eating chicken wings."

"You are offending the hosts by arriving late."

"I have no care whatsoever for these snobby Qin's who use charity donations to blackmail me out of my pajamas. Go nag your husband, I am a grown woman."

Marco went silent for a couple of seconds. His voice held back laughter as he asked.

"Boss, if I hadn't called you, would you have gone to the charity event at all?"

"Hey, Marco, I'm going to the parking lot right now and I won't have any signal so I have to hang up bye."

She could only hear her assistant begin chuckling before she ended the call. He would probably tell David straight away about how he had to call his boss every five minutes to force her to get out of bed and still be late.

Iris sighed and walked to her cars, choosing to go with the more ostentatious one this time. She had bought it after everyone told her that if she insisted on driving herself everywhere she should at least own a car that could stop at a red carpet and not look ridiculous in comparison to every other one present.

After speeding the whole way, she ended up arriving half an hour late. Thankfully, the place was close to her neighborhood downtown. Smiling at the valet as she handed him the keys, she finally strode up to the main door of the ballroom.