1 Chapter 1 – Real People

"Son, in this industry, real people are hard to come by. People will always approach you with ulterior motives. They will use you for their own gains and will throw you away like rubbish afterward."

"But that doesn't mean everyone is fake. There are some people who chose to remain clean and real."

"But mom, dad, how will I be able to tell who's who?"

"Hmm, it's hard. But you could tell immediately by looking what's inside their hearts."

"So, son. May you find someone who's real and have no ulterior motives. Someone who'll accompany you not because they're after your wealth and fame. Someone who you'll want to grow old with. A partner for a lifetime."

"Like what you are for mama?" Zhao Sean smiled at his mom who was playing with his hair.

"Like I am for your mama, and like what your mama is for me." His dad nodded and smiled. Zhao Sean beamed.

***

Starlight Gala, Beijing, China

Zhao Sean exited the limo he had boarded, turning and bowing first as a multitude of cameras started flashing in every which direction, almost blinding him. They let him take their photos, it doesn't really bother him anymore. Ever since he was a child, his life is already laid before the media and the public. He was the child of a famous actress and a painter, so of course, he was turned into an instant celebrity the moment he was borne into this world. It doesn't help that his grandfather is none other than Zhao Fang Lei, the man who had established Sapphire Entertainment—now one of the biggest companies in the industry who had produced countless stars who rose to the ranks from being C-listers to A-listers. If one artist came from Sapphire, you could expect great performances from them as they never disappoint. They are considered elites of the elites in this industry.

"ZHAO SEAN!"

"PRESIDENT ZHAO!"

"OMG SEAN!"

After a few minutes of posing for the camera, Zhao Sean bowed politely once more, before turning back to the limo and extending a hand to help his date for the night. A slender and fair-skinned hand shot out gracefully, taking Zhao Sean's proffered hand before a figure exited the same limo that Zhao Sean had boarded.

Everyone held their breath.

Who could that be?

Zhao Sean held the person and guided them to face the crowd—once more—with Zhao Sean who had given the media his photos first.

There was a collective and audible gasp before the flurry of camera's flashes came on again and the crowd goes wild.

Zhao Sean attended another gala.

With a date.

And his date is Qin Yuer or widely known as Mary Qin.

Gosh!

This is big news!

Was Zhao Sean seeing this actress from Orange Entertainment?!

He's been taking her out more and more often and the media and public have been going crazy!

Are they a thing?

What does it mean? Are they going to marry?

What happened to that Miss Yao he was with when he attended Primrose Gala before?

Zhao Sean led Qin Yuer and they both walked down the red carpet and towards where the gala's emcee was. They were both handed a marker to sign the wall for attendance at tonight's gala.

"Welcome to Starlight Gala, Mr. Zhao, Ms. Qin!" The host had greeted them when they finished signing their names on the wall.

"What a pleasant surprise! I have a few questions from the people here if you guys don't mind?" The emcee had asked politely. Zhao Sean was so tempted to tell the emcee a firm 'no', but he has no choice. He smiled and nodded instead. Qin Yuer also nodded with a smile.

"What is your relationship with each other?" The emcee asked bluntly. The side of Zhao Sean's lips had curved ever so slightly with a smirk (he doesn't want to answer and say that yes, they are a couple now and that they are about to marry—he doesn't like to be labeled, and doesn't want to do this especially when he is being forced by his grandfather), so he just remained silent and let Qin Yuer answer.

"Yes, we are dating." Qin Yuer answered, smiling shyly and she blushed prettily.

The media and the public gasped, before erupting with cheers and 'Congratulations'. They thought that they looked cute and sweet, that their CP had been finally confirmed, and that they are a perfect match for each other. If they only knew.

Zhao Sean immediately schooled his face into that of adoration even if he is anything but. Qin Yuer sounded so shameless in his ears now, announcing that they are dating when they're not. He time and time again declined the marriage proposal from her side of the family. It's just business, and he can do it without having to marry her. They are—technically selling their daughter to him, for business.

He was smiling so sweetly to her, but deep inside, he's filled with contempt. He doesn't want to be used for her and her family's own gains, but his grandfather had insisted he marry her, that the first thing he has to do tonight is to announce they are dating. If not for his grandfather's friendship with the Qins, he would not have agreed.

"Congratulations to both of you! So President Zhao, are you attending as our guest of honor tonight or are you attending as Ms. Qin's boyfriend?" The emcee asked again, gushing along with the crowd about how cute they are, and how sweet of him to attend tonight to accompany Ms. Qin.

"I'm attending tonight as both the guest of honor and as Mary's boyfriend." Zhao Sean answered, still smiling. No one noticed how disgusted he was about the 'boyfriend' thing when he said it. No one ever does, because Zhao Sean is a good actor.

The crowd goes wild again at what he had said and there were some more questions before they were ushered in by staff.

"They're loving our CP, Zhan-Zhan." Qin Yuer said, pleased at being able to snatch everyone's attention. They are surely going to talk about them for days to come.

"Don't call me that," Zhao Sean whispered, tucking Qin Yuer's hair on her ears—aware of how many eyes are on them.

"But honey, you'll have to get used to it now," Qin Yuer said, linking her arms with Zhao Sean's.

"I refuse to do so. By the way, A–Yue will contact you afterward, you get to choose ten items and ten items only," Zhao Sean said, already feeling suffocated. He tried to remove Qin Yuer's arm that was linked with his as inconspicuous as possible.

"Awe, you meanie! How about twenty?" Qin Yuer pouted, trying to be cute but to no avail.

"Ten, that's final. End of conversation." Zhao Sean said.

Qin Yuer tried to protest but was stopped when a few businessmen approached Zhao Sean. They started talking about business and money, and Qin Yuer stayed there by his side the whole time, wanting to hear more about money talks.

They were congratulated once again, and some people also approached her to chat about their relationship.

"OMG, you're so lucky to snag Mr. Zhao! Every man and woman here would kill to have your place, we included," Ling Wei said—Qin Yuer rolled her eyes inwardly. She knows this. It's why they hit the jackpot when Xiao Fang Lei insisted they be married.

"I'm sure you are always being showered with gifts! You really hit the jackpot, huh?" Another actress said whose name Qin Yuer couldn't for the life of her remember.

"Are you kidding me? Of course, Zhan-Zhan always sends me gifts, after all, we are to be married so why wouldn't he?" Qin Yuer boasted.

"Are we expecting an invite now?"

"If I were you, I wouldn't just announce that we are boyfriends-girlfriends! I would immediately tell them we'll be married the very next day!"

Meanwhile, on the other side of the room, near Qin Yuer and her friends were chatting about, Wang Leo and the UNIQUE boys were seated.

Wang Leo and the guys could clearly hear everything that Qin Yuer was spouting. Zhou Yi shook his head. This is why he hates girls. Always spouting bullshits.

The party is in full swing and Zhao Sean had just finished sealing a business deal that Mr. Xu was offering. He shook Mr. Xu's hands.

"It's a pleasure doing business with you," Mr. Xu said. Zhao Sean shook his head, a polite smile plastered on his face.

"The pleasure is mine," He said.

He reached for a glass of champagne and was barely had the chance to take a sip before someone gestured to him and a group of five boys.

"Mr. Zhao, this is the boy-group UNIQUE that was set to receive their awards for tonight," a staff said bowing politely to him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Zhao Sean," Zhao Sean said, bowing to them. He was stopped by a guy who he thinks was the leader.

"N–No need for that Mr. Zhao. I'm Zhou Yi," He said before bowing lowly, lower than what Zhao Sean's used to.

"I'm Li Wen," Another guy introduced, and Zhao Sean barely managed to suppress a delicate brow to raise. There was an air of arrogance around the guy and Zhao Sean isn't liking this guy anymore than Qin Yuer.

"I'm Choi Seungyon, Mr. Zhao." Another one said, also bowing politely.

"I'm Song Joo," The guy smiled before bowing politely.

"I'm Wang Leo," said the blonde guy before also bowing.

Zhao Sean shook everyone's hand before smiling. "Congratulations, I'm presenting your awards later, I am so proud of you guys!" Zhao Sean said because it's true. It's hard promoting a boy-group band that was based in Korea and China. It must have been very tiring, promoting in two countries while also training.

"Thank you, Mr. Zhao!" They all bowed again, smiling widely and proudly—which they should be. But Zhao Sean's attention was caught by Wang Leo.

"Congratulations! You're going to receive another award, right?" Zhao Sean asked, looking at Wang Leo whose ears had turned red at being the receiving end of Entertainment Emperor's attention.

"Y–Yes, thank you," Wang Leo stuttered cutely, to which Zhao Sean had chuckled. Zhao Sean received a glare though from Li Wen but he didn't mind. He was curious about this Wang Leo. He wanted to know more.

"Enjoy the party," Zhao Sean said before taking a sip of his champagne and he turned to leave. He couldn't stay and chat with them for long, he had to present the awards soon.

He is sad that he needs to leave, but he still has things to do, places to be. He had to make the most of this night so he could secure more deals, socialize and make sure Qin Yuer wouldn't cause him any more trouble than she already did by opening her mouth and spouting nonsense about them for anyone who cares to listen. He gave them a curt nod and was immediately surrounded by countless other socialites, never staying too long in one group.

It had been like this. Zhao Sean and Wang Leo meet at such events, being introduced time and time again as if they've never been introduced to before and them saying brief pleasantries before moving on to other conversations.

Sometimes, Wang Leo is with his UNIQUE boys but after China and South Korea's political problem, they started pursuing independent projects and Zhao Sean had always been invited as the guest of honor to present awards at a gala or different events that the two of them had started getting used to meeting each other.

Zhao Sean couldn't even begin to count how many times he had seen Wang Leo at an awards show or formal events in the industry, he is not easy to miss, but sometimes there was an air of indifference and coldness around Wang Leo–making him seem so unapproachable. It's so strange, that Zhao Sean felt intrigued about this man who he only met at such events. He suddenly craved to know more about this guy who was donned as "Ice Prince" by antis.

But Zhao Sean knows. Wang Leo is rare. He was the first most real person Zhao Sean had ever met, and Zhao Sean knows how real people are hard to come by.