After speaking, she walked up to Ace and told the handsome young man who was singing with him, "Hey, do you mind scooting over a little? The place beside him belongs to me."
The young man looked like he was only in his early twenties, but he had a pretty imposing attitude because he was the most popular singing escort in this karaoke bar.
"You'll have to get in line," he told Joanna. "I was here first, so why the hell should I let you have my place?"
Joanna held her head high and confidently replied, "Because I'm his ex–wife."
The young man was taken aback for a while. He didn't become the most popular escort in this karaoke without going through a lot of experience.
"So what?" he snapped more confidently than Joanna. "Even if you're his current wife, I still won't let you have my place. If you're unhappy, then you can go outside and complain to our manager. I should warn you, though, that our establishment has some powerful backers."
"You…!"
Joanna was left momentarily speechless. The young these days were just too bold and shameless for her to handle. She watched helplessly as the handsome young man proudly sat beside Ace as if his butt was stuck to the couch. It was clear that he had no intention of giving in to her at all. Joanna suddenly realized the laughably absurd situation she had gotten herself in.
The young man beside Ace then spoke in a very effeminate manner, "We're having a lot of fun with him until you get here, sis, so why don't you just go home, wash up, and go to bed? You're only spoiling the atmosphere here. We're only trying to sing with this man in peace!"
The tone in which he spoke was so feminine that he sounded like a eunuch. It really threw her off and gave her goosebumps.
She had really never seen such a thing!
Almost at her limit, she turned to Ace, who had been silent all along "Aren't you going to say anything, Ace Moran? If you keep ignoring me like this, then I won't care about you anymore. Don't blame me for not helping you!"
Ace was indeed completely inebriated at that point. His mind spun wildly, and he was seeing double. Ever since Joanna appeared at the bar, his eyes never left her for a single second, as if he was trying very hard to ascertain whether the woman before him was just an illusion.
He then stood up unsteadily and staggered towards Joanna, as if approaching some food that he had been craving for a long time.
Joanna gulped hard and stepped away from him. "What… What are you trying to do?" she asked in a panic.
Ace said nothing. He merely lifted up both of his scorching hands and firmly held Joanna's face. Then he started to knead her face as if it was dough.
"What the hell, Ace?! Let me go!"
Ace squished Joanna's delicate and lovely face until she looked chubby. He found her heartachingly adorable like that.
"Okay," he nodded with satisfaction. "You're not an illusion. You're really here."
He then turned around and coldly ordered the young man who had been arguing with Joanna. "Give her the microphone."
The young man, intimidated by Ace's imposing aura, obediently handed over the microphone to Joanna and quietly moved away from his seat to make space for her.
"What's going on here?" asked Joanna as the microphone was stuffed into her hands, looking befuddled.
"I remember hearing you sing," Ace plainly answered. "You sang beautifully. Sing for me again."
Although he was totally plastered at the time, he could still vividly recall the song that Joanna had sung a long time ago.
"A long, long time ago, you were mine, and I was yours."
"A long, long time ago, you left me and soared into the sky…"
Ironically, those lyrics from the past accurately described their reality. She had belonged to him back then, but he had now lost her. She was about to spread her wings, flying away into the big blue sky, far away from him.
Ace selected the song and insisted that Joanna sing, before kicking out all of the young men from the private lounge.
Only the two of them were left inside now.
The title of the song, "The Outside World," appeared on the screen, and it began to play.
Ace kept staring at Joanna, his drunken face looking innocent and childlike.
"Go on," he softly urged. "I want to hear you sing "
The rare, gentle side he was showing slightly entranced Joanna. She remembered how he was exactly this gentle one night. when he was also drunk, how he gently murmured "I miss you," to her.
She was overwhelmed by a convoluted compound of emotions.
Was this guy trying to seduce a naive woman like her with his old tricks again?
Joanna pushed Ace away and looked into his eyes, asking him, "Ace, do you still remember what happened that night when you were drunk?"
Joanna and Ace were so close that they could feel each other's breath.
The warm air that Ace exhaled reeked of alcohol. Misty–eyed, he gently lifted her chin with his lanky fingers and asked, " What happened that night?"
Joanna frowned, suspicion written all over her face.
"Have you genuinely forgotten, or are you just evading any responsibility?"
"Why don't you tell me?" Ace replied in a husky voice, though it was unclear if he was serious when he added, "Only after you tell me will I find out what I remember and forgot."
"That night…" Joanna almost blurted out the truth, but in the end, she still chose to remain silent about it.
After all, even though she rarely got drunk, she would still have the impression of what she said and did the night before when she did. She would never cleanly forget everything. So, she found it hard to believe that Ace did not remember anything.
Unless… he deliberately chose to forget!
Since he intended to forget it, she would only make things awkward for them if she brought it up.
"That night, you went completely insane, like a rabid dog."
Joanna's face was beautiful as ever, but her expressions were icy cold as she mocked him, "You shouldn't be so cocky and know your own limits next time. Don't drink too much if you can't hold your
liquor. Otherwise, you'll just use the excuse of being drunk to do something weird and then pretend that you don't remember anything. That's just so pathetic!"
Those words perplexed Ace. Although he couldn't tell what she was angry about, he could sense that she harbored a lot of… resentment towards him.
But that made no sense to him because she was clearly the one who humiliated him in front of everyone that evening! He didn't even blame her for that, yet for some reason; she actually got angry at him. Were all women this unreasonable?
Seeing that Joanna was about to leave, Ace quickly pulled her into his arms to stop her, thanks to the influence of alcohol. He then whispered in her ear, "Please don't go. Stay with me."
This again, thought Joanna. He did not even bother to change his line!
But Joanna was no longer the naive girl she was, where she'd fall for his old tricks. Right now, her heart was as still as water. She had become completely numb to his advances.
"Let go of me," she demanded, her icy voice devoid of emotion.
But Ace remained unmoved. In fact, he held her even more tightly.
"I said, let me go, Ace Moran!"
"If you don't let go of me right now," she warned, "then don't blame me if I resort to violence!"
But Ace still did not budge, nor did he say anything.
Just when Joanna was about to get forceful, she heard the sound of Ace's even breathing. It was then that she realized this guy was… asleep?!
But that was not the problem–the real problem was that his arms were like thick ropes that tied her up so tightly that she could hardly move.
After several failed attempts to break free, Joanna's frustration had simmered to the boiling point, and she began cursing angrily.
"Stop faking it, Ace Moran! I don't believe that you're actually sleeping! Let go of me, or else I'll bite you!"
She had the urge to sink her teeth into the arms around her and bite him hard, but just as she was about to do it, she found herself hesitating…
Amid her dilemma, Jack showed up fashionably late.
"Ah, forgive me!"
He covered his eyes with his hands and peeked through his fingers to see Ace and Joanna bound in a compromising position.
"Please forgive me," he said awkwardly, "Mr. Moran, Madam! I came at the wrong time. I really shouldn't be here! Please continue! I'll leave you to it."
Joanna felt as if she had finally met her lifesaver. She quickly shouted for Jack to come back right before he was about to leave.
"Thank God you're here, Jack! Hurry up and get over here! Tear off your boss's arms from my me… NOW!"
"Your boss just fell asleep standing up," she added, "and he won't let me go! This man is clearly insane!"
Jack turned around and carefully observed them. Only then did he realize that his boss seemed to really be asleep. But still, would he hold someone so tightly as he was if he was actually sleeping? This left him to suspect that Ace might just be faking it… but if it was all an act, then his boss must be a natural actor!
Jack stepped forward and pretended to tear Ace's arms that were glued around Joanna's body. However, when he discovered that his efforts bore no fruit, he spread out his arms helplessly and said, "Well, you might not know this, Madam, but my boss always ends up like this whenever he's drunk. He'd grab a pole or a pillar, hug it, and fall asleep. That's how he got the nickname "The City Koala." Say, could you endure it a little and stay like that while I send you both home?"
Outrageous! Simply outrageous!
Joanna was so mad her face had gone dark. She gritted her teeth and said, "You're trying to make a fool of me again, aren't you, Jack? Can you explain how I'm supposed to stay in this position until we get home?!"