Sean Holt laughed and chided,
"Everyone, quiet down. I just barely got her to look up. You're going to make her shy again. I told you, she's a bit bashful."
Muttering about how well President Holt treated women, the crowd's jeering gradually died down.
Julian Sterling, who had been sitting silently in a corner of the private room, suddenly let out a derisive snort. All eyes fell on him.
His gaze swept over the girl in Sean Holt's arms before settling on Sean himself. He asked unhurriedly,
"I hear President Holt has a girlfriend in Meridia. They say your business trip three months ago was just to see her. I wonder, does your girlfriend know what you're doing right now?"
After speaking, he seemed to remember something and slowly added another sentence.
"But that's just what I heard."
He seemed to know exactly how to walk the line.
His tone made it sound like a casual question, not meant to be taken too seriously, but it instantly chilled the room.
I stared at him, stunned. 'I can't believe a friend Sean described as such a player would have such a strong moral compass.'
Sensing the tense atmosphere, the others tried to smooth things over.
Sean Holt stared coldly at Julian Sterling. A storm was brewing.
Suddenly, Sean Holt laughed, and the tense atmosphere immediately dissipated.
He handed the girl a glass of water and said nonchalantly,
"What girlfriend? She's just a 'little sister' my family elders asked me to look after."
"My only girlfriend is my Hannah, of course. She wasn't easy to win over. I hear Mr. Sterling used to like her, too. Of course, that's just what I heard."
As Sean Holt spoke, he leaned back, pulling the girl named Hannah against his chest.
Hannah poked Sean Holt's chest coyly. He caught her hand in his, and only then did she stop her playful giggling and say,
"Stop being so jealous for no reason. Julian and I are completely innocent. Besides, Julian takes good care of his reputation; he's never seen with any girls around. Unlike you."
"Hey, I was just joking. Why are you getting jealous again? I'm behaving myself these days, you can ask them if you don't believe me. Besides, even if I'm such a bad boy, you still like me, don't you?"
Sean Holt said, tapping Hannah on the head with an indescribable intimacy.
"You're right, who knows why. I guess I just fell for your sweet talk."
Hannah said, pressing herself affectionately against Sean Holt's chest.
From a distance, Julian Sterling suddenly raised his glass and took a large gulp of his drink.
'This is quite a show.'
'It would be even more entertaining if I had nothing to do with it.'
A wave of suggestive laughter rippled through the onlookers.
"That's our President Holt for you! Aren't you going to comfort her some more? Give her another kiss!"
The jeering grew louder. As if to declare his ownership, Sean Holt leaned in and kissed Hannah fiercely.
Thankfully, his need to stake his claim was so blatant that it gave me plenty of time.
I took out my phone, opened the camera, and selected video mode.
The lighting was too dim, and the auto-fill light unexpectedly turned on the flash.
Sean Holt threw a hand up to shield the girl's eyes and stopped kissing her. He asked irritably,
"Which clueless idiot turned on their flash? Are you sick in the head?"
His followers, the ones closest to me, started walking over, spewing obscenities as they came.
One of them, moving especially fast, made a move to snatch the phone from my hand.
I slapped his hand away. A loud CRACK cut through the air.
The air went so still it was as if everyone had held their breath. They finally realized something was wrong.
"Go on, keep kissing. The camera's rolling."
"It would be rude to stop now, wouldn't it?"