"What pro? Is it a guy or a girl? Is he handsome? What's your relationship with him?" Clara could smell gossip from a mile away, and her eyes lit up immediately.
Joanna smiled mysteriously. "It's a guy, and yes, he's very handsome. You know him."
"A guy?'' Liam wasn't too happy to hear that. "Who is he to you?" He asked, unable to hide the jealousy in his voice.
Joanna didn't answer him. Instead, she made a call.
"Yes, just keep walking…" Joanna said after a while on the line.
At that moment, a tall, handsome man appeared at the bar's entrance. He had a black mask on, and his eyes were dark and calculative.
Joanna quickly stood up and waved at him. "Over here!"
Liam, Clara, and even Christopher and Ethan, all looked in the same direction.
The man walked to where Joanna was, then removed his mask.
Clara was momentarily stunned. "Isn't he… a younger version of Ace?'
"What do you mean? He's nothing like that jerk. This guy's name is Julian, and you introduced him to me as a gift. Have you forgotten?" Joanna said in annoyance.
She asked Julian to sit next to her. "Was it a long drive? Are your hands sore? I hope they'll be okay when you play later. The four of us will have to take down the enemy's crystal, and these two are hardly useful. It's up to the both of us!"
Julian sat down, a cool expression on his face. Calmly, he retrieved his phone and unlocked the screen. "That's easy."
"Alright then, let's cut the small talk and get to it!" Joanna said excitedly, and ushered everyone into the gaming zone.
Liam was initially a little jealous of this handsome guy who looked like Ace, but seeing Joanna focusing entirely on the game with no romantic interest in the guy whatsoever, Liam didn't ask any questions. He entered the gaming zone.
"I have to show off my skills and win her over!" Liam thought to himself determinedly.
The four of them, each holding their phone, began playing as if nobody else was around. It was a pretty odd sight in a bar…
Christopher and Ethan couldn't look away from Joanna and her friends.
"Julian?" Christopher frowned, a little surprised. "The guy rarely appears in public, but he actually knows Joanna?"
Ethan was confused. "Who is Julian? Why does he look like Ace? It's obvious that Joanna still can't get over Ace, so she found someone who looks just like him."
'Of course he'd look like Ace, Ace is Julian's uncle," Christopher explained.
Ethan's jaw dropped. "I never knew Ace had a nephew. He even looks so much like him! Why hasn't Ace ever mentioned him?"
"That's because the Moran family kicked Julian's family out. They don't acknowledge them. However, Julian is very capable, and is a genius in developing chips. The famous chief engineer and the largest shareholder of KCL, Mr. X, is Julian!" Christopher said softly, his eyes gleaming.
"So he's the famous Mr. X!" Ethan's eyes were wide in shock.
There were plenty of rumors that Mr. X had an 'unusual' relationship with Ace. In fact, some even claimed that they got married abroad.
Surprisingly, this 'unusual' relationship was actually a familial one.
That explained why KCL Group only supplied their chips to Moran Group.
These two companies had a complementary relationship. Without KCL's chips, Moran Group wouldn't have been as successful, but without Moran Group's financial support, KCL wouldn't have been able to make the technological breakthroughs they always did. Thus, they were inseparable.
"The dude looks like an extreme nerd though. He's actually playing games with Joanna. Huh, I always thought Mr. Y was a sophisticated elite. I bet he's only taking the credit of being KCL's chief engineer… He probably hires someone else to do the work." Ethan watched the four of them, still unable to associate Julian with Mr. Y.
"A chief engineer is still human. He'd also have to eat, sleep, and do all the things we usually do. Besides, science freaks are normally gaming addicts. I'm sure you'd be surprised by his other identity…" Christopher said cryptically.
"What do you mean?" Ethan asked curiously.
"He's the most handsome member of SK Group, a new idol group. People even call him 'Mini Ace Moran'," Christopher said with a grin.
"Pfft!" Ethan almost spat out his drink.
Ace's nephew was a chief engineer, a gamer, and the most handsome member of an idol group? Julian really was an interesting person!
"If he's a member of an idol group, why is he still developing chips?" Ethan asked.
"How am I supposed to know? Maybe he got sick of researching and wanted a different lifestyle." Christopher observed Julian from afar, admiration in his eyes.
He and Ethan could only dream of living this kind of life, where one did whatever they wanted and chose their own lifestyle.
Ace was dancing with the girl in the white dress, but he was distracted. He had noticed Joanna and the others as soon as they walked in. In the beginning, he felt a little guilty. He was worried Joanna might misunderstand his relationship with the girl, so he intentionally kept his distance from her. However, to his surprise, Joanna didn't even look at him. She walked past him as if he was invisible.
Her nonchalant attitude pissed him off, but the most annoying thing was that she had somehow become acquainted with Julian.
Ace was angry enough with Liam's presence, and now, his nephew had somehow joined the mix. Joanna certainly was having a good time with two men by her side! He felt that if he approached her
and questioned her now, he would look crazy. Left with no other choice, he just continued dancing with the girl in the white dress.
Ace recalled the rule Ethan taught him about pursuing women: After getting your way with a woman, it was time to let her go.
Therefore, Ace shifted his focus away from Joanna and paid attention to the girl in front of him.
"What's your name?" He asked in a deep voice.
'M-My name…"
This was the first time he said something to her after they had danced together for so long, and the girl was so nervous that she couldn't speak without stuttering. "My n-name is Shirley White."
"Shirley White?" Ace looked at her fair skin and couldn't help but laugh." You certainly are fair."
The two began chatting aimlessly, but under the bright lights, it seemed very intimate.
"Hey, Boss, why aren't you moving? Watch out! Behind you!" Everyone was shouting. Their team lost because Joanna's champion was killed.
Panic-stricken, Joanna looked away from the dance floor. She tried to calm herself down and apologized to the rest. "I'm sorry. I got distracted earlier."
"We almost won. You're the best of the best, so how could that happen?" Clara looked confused.
Julian's expression was contemplative. He glanced at the dance floor, and then looked at Joanna, putting down his phone. "Would you like to dance?"