Jin Chonglin looked surprised by Lin Dong's question, but he made a quick recovery and chuckled.
"Of course, I like her. She'll become my sister-in-law. I have no choice but to like her or my brother will give me hell. Besides, I admire her as a fellow musician. So of course, I like her," he replied, his eyes dancing in amusement.
Lin Dong sighed in exasperation. "That's not what I mean."
"What do you mean then?" Jin Chonglin asked, pretending not to understand what Lin Dong was trying to say.
"I'm asking if you like Iris Long as a woman. I know you already mentioned before that she isn't your type when she was chasing you before, but that was when she was just a teenager. She was like a totally different person that time. She has changed so much since then. Now she has become so much more desirable. If your brother, CEO Jin, isn't already in a relationship with her, would you pursue her?"
Jin Chonglin's playful smile dimmed a bit. His lips might still be smiling, but his eyes certainly weren't. They looked serious.
"Hmm… You just said it yourself. She has become so much more desirable now," he said in a soft voice, almost a whisper. "Who wouldn't want such a beautiful, captivating and talented woman? I know that a lot of men desire her even after knowing that she's already engaged."
Lin Dong frowned, not liking the implication of Jin Chonglin's words.
"Too bad she's already taken by my brother. It might not seem like it to other people because they have never seen my brother in a relationship before, but he's actually very possessive as you've witnessed when I took you to their mansion. He would probably have gouged out our eyes if we looked at Sister Xiulan a few seconds longer than he would allow. He would never let her go, much less allow other men to steal her away from him," Jin Chonglin said.
Then his eyes dimmed even more, but the smile remained on his lips. He continued, "Besides, why would Sister Xiulan want another man when she already has my brother? My brother was the most eligible bachelor in the country before he got engaged. He could give her almost anything and everything she'll ever want in her lifetime."
"So? Do you like Iris Long as a woman or not?" Lin Dong asked again.
Jin Chonglin's smile completely disappeared, replaced by a deep and serious expression. However, this only lasted for a second before he flashed his killer smile at his manager.
"Of course not! I don't see her that way. She's my sister-in-law. We're going to be family once my brother marries her. My mom and grandma also adore her. They'll all kill me if I do anything indecent to her. Not that I'm planning on doing anything like that," he quickly added. "I just like her as a fellow musician, as a person, and of course as a future sister-in-law."
Lin Dong stared at Jin Chonglin for a long time, trying to determine whether he was lying or not.
No luck.
Once Jin Chonglin made an effort in concealing his real emotions, nobody would know about them. Not even the people closest to him like Lin Dong. In addition to being a skilled musician, Jin Chonglin was quite talented in acting as well.
He had starred in many blockbuster movies and TV dramas throughout his showbiz career. However, he wasn't such a phenomenal actor to win serious acting awards. At the end of the day, he was still a musician. But at least he could act and be believable. This was one of the reasons why he became a superstar in the country, not to mention that he was such a naturally charismatic person and could charm the pants off of almost any person.
Lin Dong could only sigh and tried to toss out his misgivings about the nature of Jin Chonglin's feelings for his future sister-in-law. It was just a very dangerous area to explore, as it could destroy not only the showbiz careers of both Jin Chonglin and Iris Long but also the relationship between flesh and blood brothers.
"Just be careful, Chonglin," he couldn't help but warn.
The two headed to their own dressing room where the rest of Jin Chonglin's entourage were already waiting for him.
###
A palpable excitement and anticipation ran through the hyped audience as the second to the last performance and its subsequent interview finally ended.
Many thought that this episode of "MusicFest Tonight" would all be about Jin Chonglin and Iris Long, but surprisingly, many of the other artists shone in their performances. They gave their all. A few of them even performed their best tonight.
Even though the audience consisted mostly of the Black Stars and Jin Chonglin's army of fans, they still gave enthusiastic reactions to the other performers. Despite this, not one of them forgot the grand finale performance of the evening.
The show went to a commercial break first, eliciting a groan from the impatiently excited audience, despite knowing that it always happened before the finale act no matter who was performing.
"Uwah! I'm so excited, Big Sis! Soon we'll get to watch Boss Iris perform with a superstar like Prince Lin Lin," Ming Li, a.k.a. LittlePhoenix, bounced on her seat.
"Yes," Zhou Mei'er, a.k.a. CaptainBlackStar, nodded. "Someday, our boss will definitely become a superstar like Jin Chonglin too. No, she'll become an even bigger superstar than him."
The two grinned at each other, feeling like their Boss Iris' successes were their own as well.