Chapter 11 Welcome to the Cruise

"Are you sure about this, boss? I mean… appearing in front of the girl you obviously had a crush on; in a very dull and unattractive way…" Tony looked at his best friend with a skeptical look on his face as Han was getting ready in front of the full-length mirror in his dressing room.

"Really? Am I being too obvious?" he raises his brow at Tony's reflection in the mirror.

"Honestly it quite looks obvious that you're head over heels with this Miss Erica."

"Well, it's too late to deny it then."

"See; not a single sign of denial!"

"… I can't keep denying, you know?" Finally the man turns to face his friend before taking a seat across him.

"...But, are you being serious about her?"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He sit back on his chair as he exhale hard.

"You knew she was a Qin, right? Are you sure you don't have other intentions for approaching her?" Han stops at Tony's words as he turns his gaze towards him with a serious look.

"Han?"

"I can't say that; I'm sure about it." Han lowers his tone than usual.

"I thought so… but, just in case…how about; if I tag along with you on the cruise? I promise I'll stay as low as I can." Han was silence for a while; obviously he was thinking about something.

"Why; you thought I will eventually hurt Miss Erica if I knew she got something to do with the incident?" Tony sits straight as he starts to feel some tense in his friend's voice.

"Well… that's not what I actually mean…but…"

"Ok… you'll come along then. Just make sure to watch your manners; don't attract too much attention. We need to be as low profile as we could if we want to help Miss Lana with her plan." Before Tony was about to finish with his words; Han cuts in with a smirk on his face.

"Sure… I'll even go invisible if you want me to."

"Pfft… Do me a favor and do that for once in a while."

"Ah, your best friend's heart aches by your words, Han." Tom bites his lips as putting one of his hands on his chest with a painful expression.

"Stop fooling around or you'll be in pain for real."

"You're being boring, again… don't worry too much… you won't be even noticing my presence." he puts his hands on Han's shoulders as smirking.

"That's good enough… And make sure you came to me whenever needed; same goes for Miss Erica." He looks determined with his words as he turns towards the full length mirror again with confidence in his eyes.

"Yes, sir!"

As planned; both of them get on the cruise a few hours earlier than Erica did.

"Man, this is the life!" Tony seems to enjoying the cruise as he looks really excited about it since they step inside the big ship.

"Enjoying the view, I see?" Han saw Tony's eyes were focusing towards a group of ladies in their 20's just entered the cruise with pure excite expressions on their faces.

"Sure I am; why wouldn't I? Enjoying this trip was supposed to be part of the plan, anyway." Ignoring his friend's sharp glare, Tony smile cheerfully as waving at the same group of ladies.

"…." Han just smile as shaking his head at his best friend's behavior.

"What about you; Mr. Elevator? Aren't you looking forward to this too?" Tony finally shifted his focus to Han after the ladies have been out of their sigh for now.

"Pfft… where did you got that from?"

"Thanks to your big-mouthed uncle, I got most of the details out of him with just a tiny price. You know; he's really bad with secrets whenever there's money, somehow that was supposed to be his biggest weakness. You can almost see it all over his face."

"…though so." Another sigh left him as he stare at the open see just in front of them.

"So, back to the topic… aren't you looking forward to this trip?"

"What are you trying say? That I'm looking forward to see her again?"

"…" instead of answering, the man kept his silence as he waited patiently just by the cruise entrance. His eyes were focusing on every passenger that was walking by the cruise's entrance; like he was searching for something or someone.

"You DID miss her, didn't you? For a while there you're hoping it was her who was walking through the ship's entrance." A smirk forms from the corner of Tony's mouth as he glares slyly at his expressionless buddy.

"…" again, Han just stood there without any intention of giving Tony a respond; his gaze shift eventually from the ship entrance to the sea view.

"Oh, it's her!"

"What? Where?" Tony's sudden voice makes Han turns towards the main entrance by reflects.

"Gotcha!" The man laughs as he caught his best friend off guard for a second there.

"You scum! You've got the nerve…"

"Chill, will you? I was just testing you, there… eh, there she is!"

"I'm not going to fall for that same trick again."

"No, it's her… its real this time."

"You never saw her before; how could you know it was… her." Unexpectedly, Tony was telling the truth this time when he finally turns his head. He saw Erica was being escort by Miss Lana and Nick towards the entrance of the cruise in a business like outfit.

"Yeah, but I do somehow when I accidently saw her photos in one of the document you've got from our beloved Jenny... eh?" He was expecting a scold or a smack from Han after that; but to his surprise, Han was smiling at the same direction Erica was.

"This…is new…" The man looks amused at his so-called cold blooded boss looking less cold now. Slowly he follows Han's gaze towards Erica that looked dull in his eyes.

"That's your Erica, right?"

"…" Han keeps his silence as he still focusing on them.

"What's with that outfit? I mean… I know she though that she was going to be attending a business trip… but for god's sake. We're going to be on a cruise; in an open sea for almost a month, can't she looked more casual and ladylike than that?" for some reason, Tony does sounds a bit overreacting than he usually does.

"What's with your sudden inner Tyra Banks? She looks good in anything even if it looks like… that."

"See? You're not denying it either…"

"…and I'm not saying you're right too."

"Then, you're saying THAT's okay?" Tony points towards Erica that was wearing a long dark blue coat over a black and white stripe fit suit.

"Yeah… why not? She did catch MY attention; so that's good enough."

"Seriously? I think I REALLY need to help your girl here." The man looks determine as he steps starts to walks away from Han.

"Wait, what are you talking about; and where do you think you're going?"

"Remember the promise you made me agree on; the one that state I will help you and your Erica whenever needed? I'm doing it now, for her part."