Kidnapped by a Dragon Billionaire

The first class Zi Mei had to attend that day is comic designs that she loves. It was also the class which she had almost forgotten her assignment and which she had spent the whole night rushing through it. She was early again so she took a seat at the back of the class, in hopes of avoiding the annoying Damon King. 

She took out her portfolio of character designs that she drew in one night. It was not her best work but it will have to do. She can only hope to get a B- for the work or at the very least, a C+. She is definitely not proud of her design. The fact that she rushed through it really showed. It was not as polished as she wanted it to be. While she was busy brooding over her portfolio, someone took a seat next to her and jolted her table intentionally. 

Zi Mei looked up and it was Damon King. Why must he sit next to her again?

"Why must you choose a seat here? There are plenty of places up front!" she asked him in annoyance.

He smirked at her, combed through his unruly hair and instead of answering her, stared at her portfolio.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk…looks like someone rushed through that, it's so rough along the edges, are you sure you want to hand that in?" he asked. 

Zi Mei quickly closed the cover over her work and glared at him. 

"None of your business!" she snapped at him. Inwardly, she had to agree with him but she has no other choice. At least getting a C from a rushed work is still better than not handing in anything at all. 

Damon took out his portfolio and deliberately flipped in open. Zi Mei couldn't help but stared at his work and her jaw fell open. His character, that looked like a devil, was so real it was as if it could walk right out of the paper. 

That was an amazing 3D colouring skills there, she thought enviously. 

"You know, you need only ask and I am more than willing to tutor you on how to improve your drawing skills," Damon said condescendingly. He was smiling smugly at her. Zi Mei closed her gaping mouth and turned away. She cleared her throat. 

"Er. No thank you, I can manage on my own and with the help of the professors here," she told him icily. 

It was good timing the Professor Carson came in at that time. The professor immediately started talking about the project he had tasked the class with. 

"I expect each of you to come up front and present to the whole class your design and the rationale behind it, the colour schemes and why you design it that way," he said. 

Zi Mei's heart plunged. What is she going to do now? She had drawn her character on the fly without any thoughts on why she designed it or why she chose the colours she had used for it. 

She looked at her character. It was a hybrid of a humanoid looking dragon that looks very much like Thorin. She didn't have any idea at all last night so she decided to draw Thorin and combined it with some dragon features such as claws and scales to make it look like a fantasy creature. She added leathery wings that were often depicted in Western dragons to make it look more unique. She can't tell the professor that she drew this based on her dragon shapeshifter boyfriend. They might send her straight to the mental institution. 

"Right, I will call out the names of the students and they will come out front to present their work. Make it short, simple and easy to understand, I don't want a two-hour lecture on how great your design is," Professor Carson said. 

Zi Mei frantically think up some theme for her character and hoped she won't be called up front in the first few groups. Damon King happened to be the first group and when he sauntered up front with a few others, the girls he walked past giggled and simpered, casting him adoring glances. 

In Damon's group of five, his work stood out the most. The others' work paled in comparison and when he spoke, everyone gaped at his work in awe and listened to his every word. Zi Mei was frantically thinking up her theme, name and rationale for her colours to notice until he has finished talking and everyone clapped and cheered. Startled, she looked to the front. Even Professor Carson is smiling and clapping.

"Well done, Mr King, that is quite impressive work for a college student," he said grinning. He patted Damon King's shoulder. "Are you sure you are not a professional artist?" he asked in jest. 

Damon grinned at the professor. "Aww…you gotta be kidding me prof!" he batted the professor's arm playfully. "I still have much to learn from you," he said. 

Professor Carson actually preened at Damon's words. He grinned back at Damon. "It's good to have such a good student," he murmured. Zi Mei rolled her eyes. It is now obvious that Damon King is a suck up and teacher's pet. 

Professor Carson told the students to go back to their seats and read out another five names. Damon King came back to his seat and closed his portfolio. He turned to grin at Zi Mei as she continued to scribble on her notebook about her theme and rationale. 

"Let me help you. Just say it's a dragon shapeshifter in the process of shifting into a human shape, a Dragonszen," Damon King suggested. Zi Mei stopped scribbling and frowned at him. 

What does he know about dragon shapeshifters? 

"Tan Zi Mei? Are you here?" Professor Carson called her name. She raised her hand and went down with her portfolio but not before shooting a look at Damon King. The annoying blue haired man has now become more interesting. 

After fumbling and stammering through her presentation, feeling awkward and shy especially with her rushed art work, Zi Mei exhaled in relief when Professor Carson didn't openly criticise her work. He had thanked her group and all of them trudged back to their seats. 

Once she is back in her seat, she turned to Damon King.

"What do you know about dragon shapeshifters?" she asked him.

He raised an eyebrow at her in surprise. "What do you mean? I have read my fair share about them in fiction and manga, although your character luckily doesn't resemble any of the manga I've read otherwise, the professor might fail you for plagiarism," he said. 

Fiction and manga? Zi Mei supposed he could be telling the truth. There are plenty of manga and novels on shapeshifters so it shouldn't surprise her that there are dragons too. She should really stop jumping into conclusions over everything. 

"So, that rich guy yesterday…is he your boyfriend or some weird stalker?" Damon King asked her. 

"He's my boyfriend so you should really stop stalking me everywhere," Zi Mei told him. Maybe he will stop sitting next to her and following her after classes end for the day. 

"Ugh…why are you dating an old man?" his face crinkled in disgust. "Can't you date someone your own age?" 

"He's NOT old!" Zi Mei snapped at him. Technically Thorin is old but that's different, she thought. He doesn't look a year over 30. Damon King pushed his chair near to her and grabbed her hand. 

"Leave him and date me instead," he said, staring deep into her eyes. 

******

Dear readers,

First, I would like to apologise for the delay in updates over the past two weeks. I was supposed to update three bonus chapters too! I had to go for surgery on my hand so I was unable to type for the last two weeks. 

I am so sorry to make you wait. * bows deeply in remorse*

Now that my hand is much better, I will continue to update regularly, probably once every two days. Thank you for staying with Thorin and Zi Mei throughout the past 100 chapters! It has been one heck of a journey and yes, there is more to come!