Chapter 71

"Right, that's it. What the hell do you mean he has no reason to be here? No capability to understand? As far as everyone from the business sector is concerned, he is the most welcomed guest here. Henry is literally one of the major players behind this series of conferences and shifted focus to sustainability. Next to him I look ignorant on the matter. If anyone has no reason to be here, it is the person who started running his mouth without knowing one of the articles being referenced today was written by the very person he's trying to denounce."

Henry cursed under his breath, quickly moving across the hall, he did not expect Joshua to suddenly blow a fuse like that. When he thought about it, the assumption was a little too lax considering it was only a week ago he went off at the same group. It seemed like he was too focused on avoiding insults to realise he was holding some high expectations. But then again, in his eyes Joshua was still a perfect human being, so these petty 'faults' constantly escaped his mind. 

"And seriously, how many times are you going to call him ugly? I am starting to think there's just something wrong with your head at this point. Henry is many things, but he is not ugly."

The words almost made Henry trip, face blazing. In the background you could hear a muffled giggle, coming from none other than Penelope. She thought her older brother was exaggerating when saying it was funnier the second time, but it seems he was right.

"What the hell are you saying" Henry whispered harshly, even though the silence meant everyone could hear him. "Why do you get stuck on that point so much, I don't get it."

"Because it is the most nonsense I've heard to date. Even a blind person would know you are not ugly. How stupidly brave do you have to be to keep insinuating otherwise?" As Joshua spoke, his words got more heated, eyes glaring at Daniel Gwane. He only forced himself to calm a little when he felt a hand on his wrist. Now was not the time to blow up, the man knew he had already let things get a little out of hand. 

But at the same time, there was no way Joshua could have stayed silent much longer, the insults were getting more and more preposterous. Not to mention, now that he had looked into the work Henry had done while abroad, he could not bear the hear someone say he did not deserve to be here. Of all those in their generation, Henry was by far the most concerned on the matter.

Joshua thought about what to say next but found his brain grinding to a halt. What was he supposed to say after nearly blowing up at someone calling Henry ugly? Especially when the man in question is the one keeping him calm.

Henry sighed, seeing the light signs of growing embarrassment on the other man's features. It seemed like his words were slowly catching up on him meaning there would not be another outburst without another aggressor being thrown at him. This meant that the blond man had one thing left to do, shut up this group of useless, mooching elites once and for all. 

"I don't know why you look so smug," the words pointed at Daniel Gwane. "Why do you think annoying Joshua is a win? You gain absolutely nothing from it and instead are making yourself look like an idiot. And it wasn't something I was advertising, but why don't you look at the list of recommended literature on the back of the pamphlet sticking out of your pocket. Why even bother come as a representative when you haven't even read what the seminar is about?"

There was a relatively tense silence throughout the room, yet the irritating group seemed to not notice it. Henry saw this and came to the realisation that this group of people were more of a lost cause than he had expected. It was starting to dawn on him that he was perhaps a lot more selective with the people he hung out with than he had already thought because the people he considered to have a screw loose looked like the pinnacle of society compared to the group in front of him. Did the Q Groups corrupt ways only attract stupid families? Even that thought did not feel particularly harsh.

Henry did not realise that while the majority of the reason behind his heavy criticism was due to the conduct he was faced with, a sizeable amount was due to how much they had irritated them. And rightly so, not only were they insulting him in broad daylight but also gaslighting Joshua to demonstrate some sort of power over them. 

"I am not even going to waste my time on the group of you, it is not remotely worth it if you're all blind to your own mistakes. Keep going with the unwarranted gossip for all I care, but quit troubling Joshua for your own entertainment and don't drag everyone else into this nonsensical farce. Most of us have more reason for attending outside of repping their family businesses for publicity gains."

All the onlookers were in shock. Not because of what Henry said, he was completely right and the majority found it quite amazing that he had only chastised them despite all the dirt they were throwing at his image. It was the fact that the ridiculous group of young adults still seemed to not get the message. 

But Daniel's group could do nothing because Joshua was pulled away by Henry, not far enough for it to seem like they cared, but enough to distance to show they were not going to be entertaining them any longer. This was definitely a loss for this faction of the Q Group, not that they realised that. 

Seeing the spectacle was over, most went back to their earlier conversations, only the couple members of press furiously sending back prompts for the new big break: Henry Reyes and his influence as abroad as a student. Some had tried to dig up things about his personal student life abroad in an attempt to sully the Reyes's reputation, but always hit a wall, but none had considered that his academic career was related to one of the biggest environmental movements in the modern world. If it is referenced work, it means it is public, hidden in plain sight. Good or bad, this was the scoop of a lifetime, and it was a race to see who could publish the story first. 

Of course, after seeing Joshua's bold threats at the engagement party couple with Henry's clear intolerance to unwarranted rumours and lies, not a single soul dared to write an article on this powerful couple.

Henry turned to Joshua, face unamused. "Seriously, the second I let my guard down you started arguing back. And what the fuck about them calling me ugly is irking you?" It looked like it was Joshua's turn to be chastised.

"Um… it's the withdrawal?"

The younger man's eye twitched as he looked at the other. There was not even a drop of certainty in his expression. 

"And I have two heads. Me getting this worked up is withdrawal symptoms. You though, that is the third time you got so focused on it, smoking or not." 

It was not until Henry had said it, but Joshua quickly realised that the slightly uncharacteristic telling off was a lasting effect of them quitting. It had not been as apparent when they were tired the last couple of days, but Henry's mood was a little erratic. That and there was no winning this argument now. With a sigh, he let his own face drop a little, letting out a low whine, "You know about my aesthetic appreciation; I hate them trying to sully that." 

The only response Joshua received from Henry was a sharp kick to his ankle. The uninjured one, obviously. Despite his doctor having given the all clear, Joshua had noticed that everyone, including Henry, were still mindful of it.

Apparently, Henry was feeling more highly strung than he realised, because when he could no longer think of a response, he turned his attention to the burning, bleary gaze that had been trained on his for some time now. "What? Did you have something cleverer to say than your dumb cousin's posse?" 

The one to be called out was none other than a tipsy Reynold Gwane. To his side was still Melissa, who was trying to hide her amusement at how her friend's incapability to respond having been called out, not after emptying her flask of hard liquor dry. The most he was capable of while his body was adjusting to the sudden chemical imbalance was a bewildered look and slack jaw. The silence only irritated Henry more.

Joshua, unsurprisingly, was also holding back a laugh. Henry's snappy patience was only an issue when directed at him; now that it was someone else's misfortune, it was quite funny.

"Are you going to answer or just stand there like an idiot?"

Luckily, it seemed that the tension was not so bad that it attracted other people's attention, meaning the only ones who were watching were Adam and Penelope. 

Melissa truly wanted to leave Reynold to waste; that was the type of shallow friendship that tied the pair, for the sake of benefit, anything was possible. Amusement, without doubt, was considered a plus, this ideology going both ways. However, just like the smarter Gwane cousin, she was also used her family's superficial desires to attend for her personal gains. Wholeheartedly she believed that sustainable technology and green ideologies were the path to follow, such movements in trends will only grow more popular especially when considering how conscientious most teenagers and young adults outside the elite corporate population were. Where long-term popular trends lie, that is also where the money is. This seminar and conference were part of an integral step in the young lady's 40-year business plan.

Overall, what this meant was that she could not abandon her environmental geek friend to his embarrassing social demise. As such, she decided to diffuse the situation, of course keeping things interesting. Amusement is amusement. 

"Don't mind him. He obsessed over your work during university so when Daniel started shitting on your relevance, he dried my flask in seconds. Reynold'll be unresponsive for another five minutes minimum." Did she lie? Of course not, why would she when the cold, hard truth brought on such a perplexed expression on Reyes's face.

Henry's brain could not compute. His head stopped working as soon as he realised this other man had been following his work as it was published. The young man's mind was fraught with confusion, disbelief, and embarrassment. 

Meanwhile, Joshua Lore was in a slight predicament, because he immediately recognised that Melissa Kwon was the exact type of friend he had in university. But despite her alignment with the treacherous Q Group, he could not help but feel a sense of familiarity as they shared an amused smirk at their respective friends' expressions. The two sadists may be on opposing sides, but they both immediately clicked. It was clear this would not be the only occurrence of such a scene. 

The door to the auditorium was finally opened, the guests all slowly making their way over to find their seats, the only ones who showed no sign of movement were Henry, Joshua, Melissa and Reynold. It was not until Penelope went over to her brothers, face now red from held back laughter, asking them if they were going in now. 

Thankfully, the young pianist's presence was just the right change in atmosphere needed for the oddly well-suited group to move on from the previous interaction.

In hindsight, Joshua and Henry will both find everything following the nonsensical verbal attack at Henry seemed to be lacking in even a smidge of logical flow.