Chapter 40：The Man and His Secret

Since the shoot was wrapped up, Lee Mu was busy collecting his stuff and throwing them into his backpack. Normally, his agent, Zao Ming a gnome of a man when standing next to the physically large Lee Mu, would do that for him but he was down with a serious flu.

While Lee Mu was thinking about the man, an innocent, girly voice came up from behind him, "Brother Lee Mu?"

Lee Mu turned towards the voice and saw Qing Qing smiling sweetly at him.

"Oh, it's you, Qing Qing. How can I help you?" Lee Mu asked with the kindness of a big brother.

Qing Qing answered, "Brother Lee Mu, it is like this. You know we have this dinner party in a bit right?"

When Lee Mu nodded, Qing Qing continued, "Do you mind giving me a lift there? I did not drive to work today."

"Of course not," Lee Mu answered in reflex before frowning and asked, "But aren't you going with Joann? I heard you girls talking about it earlier? Is she not going?"

"No, it is not that. She has something emergency to attend to and so she told me to go with you because according to her, you have something you wish to tell me, but she did tell me to reserve a seat for her," explained Qing Qing.

She did not bring up the missing purse because she was afraid Lee Mu might be kind enough to volunteer to stay back to help Joann. That would seriously ruin her plan. For her plan to work, she needed to arrive early with Lee Mu in tow or for Joann to arrive late. In this instance, she had opted for the latter because she was not that close to Lee Mu to be able to effectively manipulate the man yet… although she did hope that would change soon enough.

"Is that so?" Lee Mu hummed contemplatively before breaking into a bright smile, "Alright, then, come with me. I suppose we should depart now so we would not be late. We can talk in the car on the way there."

Qing Qing followed Lee Mu closely as they reached his car. Unlike the man who always took good care of his appearance, the condition of his car left much to be desired. It looked perfectly fine from the outside because the windows were heavily tinted but once inside, the mess was quite unmistakable.

There were used paper napkins that littered every corner and a pile of clothes was lying on the backseat.

Lee Mu laughed embarrassingly when he realized how untidy the interior was. He had forgotten completely about the state of his car because it did not look like that for most of the days.

With an embarrassed smile, Lee Mu said, "I am so sorry about the mess." He leaned in to clean the passenger seat as best as he could, grabbing the larger trash out of the car and dumping them in a nearby trashcan.

He then turned back to Qing Qing and said, "I understand if you wish to order a taxi."

"Brother Lee Mu, what are you talking about? It is just a little mess, nothing to worry about." Qing Qing opened the passenger side door and climbed into the car.

When she got in, Qing Qing realized the place was actually cleaner than it appeared. Other than the napkins and the pile of laundry, the car was spotless.

The mess felt like a one-time thing rather than a constant fixture, which felt right because Lee Mu did not seem like that messy of a person.

As Lee Mu started the engine, and they pulled out from the parking lot, he began, "Qing Qing, actually I wish to talk to you about the incident that happened during my birthday party. I did not mean to do what I did. The alcohol had taken over me that night. I hope you don't mind…"

Qing Qing slowly tuned the man out and other than replying with "Of course not, Brother Lee Mu," at necessary intervals, her focus was completely directed at the pile of clothes sitting on the backseat. Her inner voice told her this was something she should focus on and it contained information that would be valuable to her in the future.

Soon enough, she did discover something interesting. Lee Mu was a hulk of a man from his intensive gym regime but some of the clothes on the backseat were entirely too small for him to wear. They could belong to a friend of him but just how close should the friend be for him to leave his underwear in Lee Mu's car?

Qing Qing's eyes narrowed with interest because the style of the shirts and pants did remind her of someone close to Lee Mu. At the same time, the rumor she had heard through the industry grapevine drifted into Qing Qing's mind. 'Could the rumor be true? If it is, then this is something I can definitely use to my advantage,' thought the young woman.

Lee Mu probably caught Qing Qing watching because at a red light, he suddenly turned back in his seat and reached to the backseat to move the clothes out of view. When he turned back, Qing Qing was smiling innocently at him.

'Am I being overly cautious?' thought the man.

…

They soon arrived at their destination. They were quite early, only a few members of the crew were there.

Lee Mu nodded at the friendly faces and was about to walk towards one of the cameraperson he was familiar with when Qing Qing pulled on his sleeves and pointed at the other end of the table, "Brother Lee Mu, let us go sit over there. Those seats offer a better view of the city and the night sky. I am sure Sister Joann will like that."

Lee Mu acted like a perfect gentleman and obliged. He smiled apologetically at his friends before turning to follow Qing Qing.

Qing Qing chose a seat right next to the window and saved one extra for Joann.