Lost in Lies

Chapter 7

The private launch party, Nile had explained the public launch would be held tomorrow, was held in what only could be described as a large ballroom. The space was huge with high ceilings, tables lining one wall complete with food and drink, a stage on one end which was equipped with sound equipment and rows of comfortable chairs in-front of it, not to mention the largest light in the centre of the ceiling that Chay had ever seen. Everything seemed so vibrant and rich, designed to show off wealth and power. The world seemed so alien to him, even after all this time with Kim, that he began to imagine if someone was going to run out in a hurry just before midnight leaving a shoe behind, or maybe some masked maniac would appear out of nowhere and make the large light fixture fall on their heads! This place was far too alien to be real. It belonged in the realm of stories. It had to! If it didn't then it meant that people actually lived like this, came to places like this all the time, and that was something he couldn't quite wrap his head around. Chay was a struggling student who often went without meals and wore the same clothes because they were all he could afford. Even though WIK was his idol, the impression he had gotten of Kim was of someone who was more at ease in his own apartment than somewhere like this, more comfortable in his leather jacket or sweatpants than the outfits these people had on, more comfortable eating cheap noodles than...........whatever the hell that was on the table here that looked more like sculptures than actual food! Chay not only couldn't figure out how people could live like this in general, but specifically how KIM could live like this.

Luckily, as he wasn't currently anywhere near Kim, no one was paying him any notice and he was able to meander around the sides of the room unobserved. People were stood, some in small groups, some in larger ones. The guests where easy to tell apart from the press as the press where huddled in one specific area with lanyards around their necks and looked dressed more for business than pleasure. The guests were the opposite, they were dressed in expensive looking suits or long, floating dresses, with a wide variety of similarly expensive looking jewellery on wrists and necks, he didn't know much about jewellery but he could guess it would be a safe bet that some of the larger pieces would be able to pay off the mortgage Porsche had been struggling with for years.

Chay looked down at the outfit Kim's team had chosen for him and winced. Compared to what he normally wore the outfit was fantastic, but compared the others in the room where wearing..........he......he looked like what he was.......a boy completely out of his depth.

The outfit consisted of dark shoes with matching dark trousers, somehow fitted nicely to show off his form. His shirt was white, the top 3 buttons undone to show his collar bones and a necklace with a letter W hung from it. A black, almost dinner style, jacket finished the ensemble, giving him the look of wearing a suit but without the formality. Next to the men in the room, who were wearing actual suits, ties, the works, Chay had to admit he looked rather unkempt.

There was one woman he had noticed in the group of press who had a lanyard but wasn't wearing a work outfit, rather she was wearing an outfit similar to the women guests. Far too fancy to be working in. If he had to guess Chay would guess that the woman was the Li Na Kim had a problem with. Before he could think any further on the subject though, the man himself walked through the main doors and into the room. If Chay had any feelings about Kim not belonging in a world such as this, they vanished the second Kim strode into the room and completely commanded it. All the rich looking men and women turned and stared at Kim, so did the press, and Chay couldn't fault them.

This was WIK!

Kim's aura was one of complete ease but command at the same time, completely at home with all these strangers around him, staring at him, wanting things from him. If Chay didn't know the real Kim he would have believed the display himself. Kim's outfit only further served to draw the people in like moths to the flame, and where as Chay looked unkempt in his outfit, Kim looked.........outstanding.