Archive of Our Own

Three weeks ago, Xie Lian had been job-hunting.

Currently, he’s getting his ass reamed while bent over a mahogany desk with his hands bound by a silk tie and the CEO’s fingers down his throat. He’s almost entirely out of his mind already, but not so much that he can’t spare a second to woefully wonder how he got here. 

The answer to that is a little complicated.

❦

It starts out innocuously enough. 

Xie Lian’s CV is heavily lacking, so scoring an interview anywhere proves harder than expected. With Feng Xin’s help, he applies to dozens of places but only interviews once for a position that goes to the interviewer’s cousin. He’s growing rather despondent when he finally gets a call from Crimson Rain Enterprises, a company that mostly works in the entertainment industry, running a string of nightclubs and bars. Xie Lian had only applied for an entry-level position as an assistant in one of their many departments. He had been hoping that with his artistic background, once he got his foot in the door he could find a way to move to a position based in design and advertisement. 

Only when he shows up for the interview, it turns out he’s interviewing for the position of a secretary to the CEO of Crimson Rain - and he’s interviewing with him personally. 

Xie Lian doesn’t know much about the entertainment industry - his father has a shipping company - but he’s heard rumors about the CEO before. That he’d gone from rags to riches through dubious means. That he’s stunningly handsome and the most eligible bachelor around, but he also might be gay. That he’s a mean boss but very good at what he does. 

Most people have heard the rumors about Hua Cheng. 

Xie Lian doesn’t know about the rest, but he can certainly confirm that he’s stunningly handsome when he sits across from him for his unplanned interview. He’s so handsome it makes Xie Lian more nervous than he already is. His hair is dark and thick, bound half in a braid, and his face looks like it’s been carved from marble. The dark red and black suit he’s wearing fits his strong body perfectly. There’s something vaguely familiar about him, and Xie Lian has to pause for a moment to wonder if they’ve ever met before. But he and Hua Cheng have never run in the same circles. 

“I’m sorry,” Xie Lian blurts before they can get to introductions. “I was supposed to be interviewing for an assistant position in the media department, but they brought me here instead. Could there have been a mistake?”

Hua Cheng gazes at him across his desk with such intensity it makes Xie Lian want to squirm. It takes all his willpower to stay still, hands clasped neatly in his lap. Then he smiles, showing a flash of white teeth, and it feels even less welcoming than the rest of him. “Well, I looked at your CV, and you were too qualified for that role. And I need a new executive assistant.”

Xie Lian blinks. There’s literally nothing in his CV that could have possibly made him overqualified for anything. 

“Is that a problem?” Hua Cheng follows up smoothly. 

The CEO’s secretary most certainly makes more money than the lowly media assistant role Xie Lian had applied for. He isn’t one to look a gift horse in the mouth, and given the state of his life at the moment, he really can’t afford to be picky. He plasters a smile on his face and says, “Not at all.”

Hua Cheng smiles in return. “Excellent. Then we’ll get started. Do you have any experience working in the industry?”

Xie Lian had been dreading that question most of all. If his father hadn’t blacklisted him from anything shipping related, he might have applied to a company that he actually knew something about. Not that it would have made a huge difference - he still doesn’t have any experience. Prior to being disowned, Xie Lian was an artist. 

“I don’t,” he says honestly. “But I’m a capable worker and I’m quick at learning new things. I’ll work hard to overcome my lack of experience. I’m proficient in WPS Spreadsheet and Megi - ”

Hua Cheng nods before he’s done. “Not a problem,” he says easily. “Sometimes we have to work late. Do you mind?”

“I’m used to working late.” If running galleries where he spent most of the time drinking wine and chatting counts as working late. He’d never had to schmooze too hard, given who he was, so it never really felt like working. 

“I might need a weekend or two out of you.”

“I understand.”

“Do you plan on sticking with us for a while, or are you moving around in the future?”

Xie Lian finds it to be a surprisingly blunt question, but he answers honestly. “I would love to stay with Crimson Rain and grow my career here for as long as I can. I’m looking for stability.”

Hua Cheng smiles. He stands up, holding his hand out for Xie Lian to shake. Xie Lian hops up, surprised, and scrambles to take his hand. It’s warm and calloused - not the hand of a man who sits at his desk all day. 

“HR will get back to you within the week. But between the two of us, you’re hired.”

He winks, which is ridiculous but also ridiculously handsome. Xie Lian doesn’t even know what he manages to answer. He walks out in a daze. There’s no way he got the job that easily. On the elevator down, he realizes he hadn’t even gotten the chance to give Hua Cheng the CV folder he had meticulously prepared ahead of time. 

When he gets home that afternoon, Feng Xin is waiting to hear about the interview eagerly. Xie Lian relates it to him in a daze. 

“So you’re hired?” Feng Xin’s eyes are bright and markedly less confused than Xie Lian’s.

“I guess?”

“Knew you’d get a damn job!” he whoops. “Take that, Mr. Xie!”

He’s so gleeful about it that Xie Lian decides it’s silly to dwell on the strangeness of the entire situation. He supposes companies often forward resumes to different departments when they think a worker would be a better fit elsewhere. And maybe Hua Cheng isn’t too picky about who he hires. He’d obviously read his CV and cover letter ahead of time.

Xie Lian is overthinking. He shouldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth, after all. 

True to Hua Cheng’s word, the official job offer arrives within the week. Xie Lian is even able to negotiate a slight salary bump from their initial offer. It’s far better than anything he’d expected when looking for his first job. It makes him briefly doubtful again. He doesn’t have much - any - experience with interviews, but the whole process hadn’t been anything like the Internet had told him it would be. 

Feng Xin tells him he should stop believing everything he reads on the Internet and start looking for office clothes instead. Hua Cheng wants him to start the following Monday, so Xie Lian spends the weekend shopping. He’s forced to use Feng Xin’s meager savings to dress himself. He hadn’t taken anything with him when his father kicked him out. Feng Xin doesn’t mind, of course, but Xie Lian promises to pay him back as soon as his first paycheck rolls in. 

The worst part about being disowned had been the fear regarding money. His father had blacklisted both him and Feng Xin, and at first, finding a new job felt impossible. But all the stress had been nothing. It’s barely been a month, and Xie Lian has landed himself a much better job than he could have hoped for. 

So, just like that, he starts working for Crimson Rain Enterprises. 

It doesn’t take him long to realize that he may have been right about the hiring process being a little too easy. 

❦

It starts off with what Xie Lian can’t quite call flirting, but feels something like it - there’s tension and innuendos, Hua Cheng’s heated gaze following him around the office. Feng Xin calls it sexual harassment. At first, it seems relatively harmless. Their fingers brush when Hua Cheng hands him a file. Hua Cheng squeezes past him in the too-tight kitchen when he could have waited for him to step out first. Then he drops a pen by his desk when Xie Lian’s come in to read him his daily calendar and asks Xie Lian to pick it up. Xie Lian bends over without thinking. When he rises, he realizes Hua Cheng’s staring at him, a faint smirk on his face, and that he’d probably been ogling his ass when he bent over. 

The realization has Xie Lian’s cheeks turning pink, but he writes it off. A little bit of flirtation is normal every now and then, right? Only the next time they interact, Hua Cheng stops at Xie Lian’s desk to read a document over his shoulder, even though he never stops at anyone’s desk. He rests a hand on the back of his chair and another on his desk and leans in so close Xie Lian can feel his breath tickle the nape of his neck. It makes it hard to focus, and he stumbles over his words as he answers Hua Cheng’s question. 

“You alright?” Hua Cheng says, low voice too close to Xie Lian’s ear. It takes all his strength not to shudder. 

“Fine,” Xie Lian mutters, staring a hole into his computer screen, willing Hua Cheng to move away. 

“You seem tense.” 

Then Hua Cheng’s (large, strong) hands are on Xie Lian’s shoulders, kneading into his muscles, and Xie Lian’s mind goes blank. It’s only for a second. He lets go, already moving back to his own office, nonchalant as ever. 

“You should rest,” he calls over his shoulder. Xie Lian’s left with a strange buzzing in his ears. 

This one he writes off, too. It’d only been a second, after all - Hua Cheng had barely touched him. But when the elevator incident happens, even Xie Lian has to admit Hua Cheng is overstepping the boss-employee boundaries. 

Xie Lian steps on the elevator one morning like he always does, slightly out of breath from speedwalking to avoid being late. He’s surprised to find Hua Cheng waiting for the elevator, too, dressed to the nines as always in an emerald suit that looks more festive than professional. Xie Lian greets him politely as they step on together, wondering why Hua Cheng would ride the elevator with the peasants when he has one that goes directly into his office. Hua Cheng gives him a nod and a sideways glance, hands in his pockets. 

Shortly before the elevator doors close, a rush of employees hop on, all last-minute, frazzled arrivals like Xie Lian. The sudden crowd jostles Xie Lian into a corner with Hua Cheng until they’re almost pressed together, Xie Lian angled slightly in front of him. He can feel the heat of his body and holds perfectly still so that they don’t touch any more than necessary. The distance from one floor to the next feels like an eternity. 

And then they stop on the fifth floor for someone else to get on. 

“Sorry, sorry!” she calls as she shoves her way inside, even though there’s no room for her. “I’m late!”

Xie Lian presses back into Hua Cheng. He can feel his thigh against his ass, his chest against his shoulder. Then there are hands (large, strong) on his waist, holding him steady, and Xie Lian’s ashamed of the way he recognizes the feel of them so easily. His breath catches in his throat. 

“Sorry,” Xie Lian mumbles, not daring to glance back. 

Hua Cheng’s hands tighten around his waist. His fingers nearly meet, his hands encasing him, and Xie Lian’s heart stutters. He swallows harshly. 

“Your waist is so small,” Hua Cheng says thoughtfully by his ear, squeezing again, as if to gauge the size of him. “What size?”

“Excuse me?” Xie Lian says, and this time he does glance back, because that’s borderline inappropriate. He finds Hua Cheng’s face inches from his own, playful smirk on his lips. 

He’s saved from further interaction by the elevator finally arriving on their floor. The crowd moves out and Xie Lian springs away from Hua Cheng, tightening his bag over his shoulder and beelining for his desk without looking back. He sits down quickly and hides behind his two screens, head bowed as if he’s poring over his notepad, until Hua Cheng has mercifully walked by into his own office without saying anything. 

When he tells Feng Xin, he goes on a tirade about sexual harassment. 

“Report him to HR! What a fucking sleazeball.” 

“He’s the CEO,” Xie Lian says wryly. “I don’t think reporting him to HR is going to work.”

“Then quit!” Feng Xin insists, but of course Xie Lian isn’t going to do that . He’s ridiculously lucky to have gotten a position as high up as his own. If it’s because the CEO thinks he’s hot, well. He’ll just have to use that to his advantage. He’s not about to throw away a job like this one over a few minor incidents.

Of course, the situation escalates. 

Xie Lian’s at the copier the next time Hua Cheng corners him. He closes the door behind himself, which should be the first sign, but the door’s notoriously finicky, and Hua Cheng mutters an absent, oops , so Xie Lian chalks it up to an accident. He’s too busy trying to figure out what the hell he did to break the copier, anyway. Three weeks into the job and he still doesn’t really know how to use it. 

“Need help?” Hua Cheng asks, and Xie Lian hums noncommittally.

The next thing he knows, Hua Cheng’s pinning him against the copier, pressed against his back as he reaches around him to fiddle with the screen. It’s entirely unnecessary. Xie Lian freezes, heart thudding in his chest, because he can feel Hua Cheng’s entire body against him, his strong chest and taut muscles, the flex of his thighs. 

Meanwhile, Hua Cheng’s pressing buttons. Xie Lian’s still frozen stiff when the copier starts up, spitting out the 200 copies he’d asked it for 15 minutes ago before ruining the settings. 

“There,” Hua Cheng says, mouth still by Xie Lian’s ear. 

“Thanks,” Xie Lian squeaks, then clears his throat. “Excuse me.”

Hua Cheng waits a beat. Then he steps back. Xie Lian turns around, flushing, and then he realizes his mistake. Hua Cheng had only stepped back just enough for him to move. Now they’re face-to-face, hardly a few inches between them, a space that Hua Cheng closes almost immediately. 

“You okay?” he asks cheekily, raising his fingers to brush one of Xie Lian’s reddened cheeks. “You look warm.”

“I’m fine,” Xie Lian starts to stay, but then Hua Cheng’s leaning in and his mouth is on his neck and Xie Lian’s brain short-circuits. 

He should push him away. He raises his hands to do just that, but when he lays them on Hua Cheng’s strong shoulders, his mind goes blank again and he forgets what he’s trying to do. Hua Cheng’s lips part against his skin and he feels the wet brush of his tongue, and his mind’s buzzing, breath coming quicker, his skin tingling. 

“Sir,” Xie Lian manages, resting his palms flat against Hua Cheng’s shoulders, determined this time to push him away. 

But then Hua Cheng’s knee is pushing its way between Xie Lian’s legs and grinding up and Xie Lian lets out a quiet oh . Hua Cheng’s leaving wet kisses on his throat and Xie Lian wishes it didn’t feel so good, but it does, and his hands slip off Hua Cheng’s shoulders, giving in. 

Hua Cheng takes the inch and turns it into a mile, wrapping his big hands around Xie Lian’s thighs and lifting him right up onto the copier, sucking a mark on the side of his neck that Xie Lian’s afraid his collar won’t manage to cover. Xie Lian panics a little - he may be shorter than Hua Cheng but he’s still a grown ass man with plenty of muscle mass sitting on a copier . He’s going to break it for sure, but he can still hear it chugging away, and Hua Cheng’s mouth is growing more insistent, leaving kisses under his jaw that have Xie Lian shivering. 

Hua Cheng spreads Xie Lian’s legs a little wider to fit between them and runs his hands up his thighs to his waist, stopping there, wrapping his hands fully around him. Xie Lian’s back arches on instinct. Something about the fact that Hua Cheng can wrap his hands around him like that - he trembles, fingers digging into Hua Cheng’s arms. 

Under him, the copier slows to a stop, spitting out the last of the 200 copies. Xie Lian freezes, realizing suddenly that he’s in the copy room with his boss’s mouth on his neck. His eyes go wide. 

Hua Cheng pulls away. He doesn’t seem to have the same realization, or maybe he does, but he’s grinning, looking markedly less horrified than Xie Lian feels. He looks markedly less debauched than Xie Lian feels, too. Just brushes out his sleeves and moves toward the door. 

“Need those on everyone’s desks before lunch,” Hua Cheng reminds him, nodding toward the stack of papers, before he leaves the room with his hands in his pockets and his customary nonchalance.

It takes Xie Lian a minute to get himself together. His heart’s still beating too fast, and he has to catch his breath. Then he hops down and fixes his hair and collar and shirt, stomach swirling with a mix of leftover arousal and regret. Feng Xin would definitely call this sexual harassment. Xie Lian can’t say he’s wrong, but at the same time, he’s not sure what to call it when he’d enjoyed it. 

Mortified, Xie Lian grabs the stack of papers and zooms back to his desk, where he hides behind his screens for the rest of the day and can’t manage to focus on a thing. He’d hoped he could avoid Hua Cheng for the rest of the day, but of course luck is never on his side. He’s been working on a portfolio of potential new hires for Hua Cheng that he’d wanted him to have done by the end of today. He considers waiting until Hua Cheng has left the office to drop it on his desk and disappear, but it isn’t self-explanatory. Hua Cheng will need his verbal report to go along with it. 

Well, Xie Lian is anything but a coward, so he summons up his courage and calls in to Hua Cheng’s office near the end of the workday to ask if he can come in. Hua Cheng buzzes him in and he carries the binder against his chest like a shield when he enters, stopping before his desk. Hua Cheng is sprawled back in his seat, his legs up on the desk, spinning a pen between his fingers. He looks supremely bored, which should be offensive, considering everyone else in the office has been slaving away until the last minute with all the deadlines they have this week. 

Xie Lian clears his throat. “Sir, I have the new hire report.”

Hua Cheng raises his eyebrows at him and stops spinning the pen. 

Xie Lian surges onward. “I’ve organized it by experience level. There are two recommendations in the front from Qi Rong and Lang Qianqiu who seem to be their relatives, as neither of them have any experience.”

It becomes quite clear that Hua Cheng isn’t listening to him. He’s gazing at him intently, eye flickering over his face and body, running back up to settle on his neck. Then he stands and rounds the desk. Xie Lian takes a step backward, holding the binder up between them, his voice stuttering as he forces himself to keep talking. 

“ - and if you’ll look in the back, I starred the two applicants who seem the most promising - ”

Hua Cheng’s staring at his neck with a frown. He reaches out and shifts Xie Lian’s collar aside. “Not much of a mark,” he says, disappointed. 

“Sir,” Xie Lian says quickly when Hua Cheng takes another step closer. The binder is pressed between them. “I really don’t think we should do this. It’s not appropriate.”

“Who says?” Hua Cheng sounds as nonchalant as ever. Then he takes the binder from Xie Lian’s hands and tosses it on the desk so he can move in and kiss his neck again, right over the spot he’d sucked before. This time he sucks harder, fitting Xie Lian’s skin between his teeth, his hands going around his waist again. 

Xie Lian’s breath hitches. “Sir, please,” he says, but it’s pitchy, and it sounds like more of an invitation than a protest. 

Hua Cheng sucks until Xie Lian’s whimpering. Then he pulls back to admire his handiwork, looking more satisfied than before. “That’s better,” he says. “That’ll show up.”

“You’re my boss,” Xie Lian protests. Hua Cheng pushes him back against the desk, unbuttoning the top of his shirt so he can kiss his collarbones. “Sir, we can’t.”

Hua Cheng pulls back to look at him, and Xie Lian thinks he’s finally gotten through to him. He’s only begun to sag in relief when Hua Cheng’s hitching him up onto the desk and kissing him properly, open mouth against his. Xie Lian’s lips part from surprise and Hua Cheng takes advantage of it immediately. 

Xie Lian’s never been kissed like this before. He’s quickly overwhelmed, gasping into Hua Cheng’s mouth, struggling to keep up. Hua Cheng kisses him wet and dirty, his tongue flicking inside his mouth, sucking on his own. Xie Lian’s head spins, chest going tight from lack of air as he struggles to find his breath, kissed senseless. He distantly realizes Hua Cheng’s unbuttoning the rest of his shirt and finds himself powerless to stop him as he fucks his mouth with his tongue, driving Xie Lian out of his mind. 

Then he feels Hua Cheng’s hands on his bare skin and shudders violently, turning his head away from Hua Cheng’s merciless mouth as he pants for breath. 

“We shouldn’t,” he gasps, lips already swollen, drool on his chin. 

“But you want to.”

Hua Cheng raises his eyebrows, looking pointedly down at Xie Lian’s hands, which are fisted in Hua Cheng’s shirt, holding him close. 

Blushing hot, Xie Lian lets him go like he’s been burned.

“Too late,” Hua Cheng says with a wicked smile. “I know what you want.”

Hua Cheng’s mouth is on him again, kissing down his chest as he pulls his shirt off entirely and tosses it away. Xie Lian shivers in the cold office air and shivers again when Hua Cheng’s tongue traces the divots of his abdomen. Hua Cheng fits his mouth over his nipple and Xie Lian moans involuntarily, his body trembling from sensitivity. He leans back on his elbows, giving Hua Cheng plenty of room to suck on his nipples, one after the other. 

“Nice and wet,” Hua Cheng orders, and Xie Lian doesn’t understand what he means until he feels the press of fingers on his lips.

He parts them on instinct and Hua Cheng slips two fingers inside, pushing in until Xie Lian almost gags around them. He sucks and licks, getting them nice and wet as ordered before Hua Cheng pulls out and Xie Lian releases them with a pop. He tugs Xie Lian off the desk and turns him around, tugging his pants and underwear down and one quick move. 

Xie Lian shivers, bracing himself against the desk.

When he feels the first press of Hua Cheng’s finger against his hole, he freezes up, breath coming in quick bursts. The thing is, he’s never really done anything like this before. Xie Lian’s only ever had one boyfriend, and for a long time at that. He’s never had one night stands or experimented with strangers or slept around at all, really. But something about Hua Cheng makes him powerless to resist. 

He feels Hua Cheng’s mouth tracing the nape of his neck, kissing lightly down his spine. Instead of pushing inside, Hua Cheng uses the pad of his thumb to massage Xie Lian’s hole until he relaxes, his body beginning to tremble with desire. Xie Lian shivers, arching back toward Hua Cheng, his nerve-endings on fire as Hua Cheng touches him. 

When he pushes a finger inside Xie Lian’s hole, Xie Lian sighs with relief. 

“There,” Hua Cheng murmurs against the back of his shoulder, sending goosebumps erupting over Xie Lian’s back. “Don’t you like that?”

He does. He really, really does. His head hangs loosely between his shoulders as he struggles to focus on anything other than Hua Cheng’s finger crooking inside him, brushing his walls, searching. He adds another and Xie Lian feels him brush against his prostate, his breath hitching at the tingle of pleasure. Hua Cheng clearly notices - he returns to the spot, rubbing incessantly, until Xie Lian’s struggling to hold himself up against the desk, his legs like jelly. 

“S-Sir,” Xie Lian gasps, and then Hua Cheng’s pushing a third finger inside and it burns, but Xie Lian doesn’t have long to worry about it before Hua Cheng’s fucking him quick and hard, his fingers ramming against his prostate with each thrust. 

He moans, ass clenching tight around him, and lowers himself to his forearms, pressing his forehead against the cool wood of his desk. He’s heated with pleasure, his cock aching and heavy between his legs. He doesn’t realize he’s holding his breath until Hua Cheng pulls his fingers all the way out and Xie Lian takes a shuddering inhale. 

Fighting to keep his arms from shaking, he pushes himself back up, braced against the desk, and sees Hua Cheng grab a bottle of lube off his desk. It must have been there the whole time, but Xie Lian hadn’t even noticed. He hears Hua Cheng slick himself up, too nervous to look, and braces himself, tensing up again. Fingers are one thing, but his cock - 

“Good boy,” Hua Cheng murmurs by his ear, and Xie Lian swallows harshly. “Look at you, waiting so patiently for my cock.”

Xie Lian flushes, embarrassment making his belly swirl. 

“Aren’t you going to look?” Hua Cheng teases, and Xie Lian pointedly refuses to turn his head. 

Then he feels Hua Cheng’s fingers on his chin, forcing him to turn his head. Stubborn, Xie Lian keeps his eyes shut, so Hua Cheng kisses him instead, wet and messy until Xie Lian’s melting in his hold, tongue lolling out of his mouth for Hua Cheng to suck and lick as he pleases. 

“Well, if you won’t look.” He takes one of Xie Lian’s hands off the desk and pulls it back to rest on his lubed cock. 

Xie Lian’s breath gets stuck in his chest. His eyes widen and Hua Cheng’s grinning, giving an experimental thrust into Xie Lian’s hand. He’s huge . Thick and heavy and Xie Lian’s ex hadn’t been nearly that big. 

“It won’t fit,” is all Xie Lian manages to say. 

Hua Cheng’s still grinning. “Of course it will.” He pulls Xie Lian’s hand away and pushes him down toward the desk, hand on the small of his back, until his ass is in the air. Then he spreads his cheeks with his thumbs, and Xie Lian shivers as cold air hits his hole. “Look. Your pretty hole’s already fluttering.”

Xie Lian feels the tip of Hua Cheng’s cock press against his hole and whimpers, pillowing his head on his arms, face hidden in the desk. Hua Cheng pushes in slowly, but somehow that makes it feel worse. Xie Lian can feel every inch of his girth stretching him open, forcing him to accommodate, pushing in deeper and deeper. He can’t even spread his legs to make it easier, his pants holding his ankles together. 

“Faster,” Xie Lian insists. “‘S too much like this.”

Hua Cheng fucks all the way in and Xie Lian has to bite his arm to keep from shouting. He’d lied. It wasn’t worse when it was slow. It’s worse like this. Hua Cheng’s splitting him open and Xie Lian can’t feel anything but his cock inside him, taking up all the room he has until he can’t even get air in his lungs. 

Xie Lian sobs into his arm. He feels Hua Cheng’s fingers dig into his hips, holding him steady. 

“You like it fast?” he says thoughtfully. Then he pulls one of Xie Lian’s legs out of his pants and forces it to bend until his knee’s resting on the desk. The movement jostles his cock inside him and Xie Lian whimpers pathetically. Hua Cheng’s so big that he’s sitting right against his prostate, turning Xie Lian on without even doing anything. “I can do fast.”

He sets a pace that makes the contents of his desk rattle. 

Xie Lian’s gasping into his arm, using every ounce of willpower he has not to moan obscenely with every thrust. Hua Cheng’s taking full advantage of the way he’s stretching wide to fuck him hard and deep, his hips meeting his ass with a resounding smack every time he moves, ringing through the large office. Xie Lian’s burning with humiliation but can’t bring himself to care too much, not when his mind’s consumed by Hua Cheng’s cock pistoning inside him, driving every coherent thought from his brain. 

Hua Cheng’s fingers card through his hair and yank , tugging his head up out of his arms. Xie Lian can’t hold the moan back this time as tingles of pleasure shoot straight from his scalp to his cock. It’s loud and followed by a sob of embarrassment. He’s never been fucked like this before, like a drooling cocksleeve, rough and unyielding. 

“Good boy,” Hua Cheng croons. “You’re doing your job so well.”

Hua Cheng wraps his arm around Xie Lian’s thigh and lifts his leg off the desk, pulling him back into his chest and fucking him like that, standing straight up. Xie Lian wails, head tossed back onto his shoulder, feeling slutty and obscene and wondering with a horrified fascination what he must look like. 

His cock bounces against his stomach like this, swollen and aching with need, but Xie Lian’s hands are too busy covering his mouth to give his cock any attention. He’s dizzy and Hua Cheng’s making him dizzier with every jarring thrust, relentless, a hand pressed against Xie Lian’s pelvis to feel his cock move inside him. 

“You were made to take my cock,” Hua Cheng says proudly by his ear. “I knew you would be.”

Xie Lian takes his hands away from his mouth to gasp, “P-please, I can’t - I c-can’t - ”

“You can,” Hua Cheng says easily. He presses harder into his belly and his thrusts grow sharp and quick, his cock ramming against his prostate until real tears are leaking from his eyes. He can taste the salt on his tongue. Xie Lian reaches for his own cock but Hua Cheng grabs his hand to stop him. “Come on. Just like this.”

He wails because it’s too much and Hua Cheng won’t even let him relieve himself. He clenches around Hua Cheng’s cock to be mean but only makes him moan. Hua Cheng’s mouth finds his neck and Xie Lian gives in to the pleasure, eyes squeezing shut, mouth wide open and panting. There’s white-hot fire under his skin and he feels like clawing it off, desperate and overwhelmed as his muscles tighten from head-to-toe.

He doesn’t think it’s possible, but he’s coming just like that, spurting all the way up his chest, his body going limp as the orgasm passes through him. He might fall if it isn’t for Hua Cheng’s firm grip holding him in place as he fucks him through it. Then he’s pushing him back down onto the desk and pounding his ass until he’s coming, too, right into Xie Lian’s hole. 

Xie Lian feels the wet warmth inside him and flushes, lying limp against the desk as Hua Cheng’s cock twitches through the last aftershocks. 

Hua Cheng pulls out, and Xie Lian feels cum drip down his thighs. 

Trembling, he stands up just in time for Hua Cheng to toss a box of tissues at him. He wipes off his own cock and pulls his pants up, tossing the used tissue in the trash and returning to his seat like nothing had happened at all. 

“Toss out the nepotism applicants,” Hua Cheng says absently, shoving the new hire binder toward him. “And then pick someone to schedule an interview with.”

Xie Lian stares at him for a moment, covered in cum, his pants still down. Flushing hot with embarrassment, he cleans himself up quickly, pulls up his pants, and grabs the binder. Then he flees from the office straight toward the bathroom, too humiliated to even look in the direction of his coworkers. 

After he’s cleaned up properly, he washes his face in the bathroom sink and stares at himself in the mirror. The mark Hua Cheng left on his neck is prominent, but it’s easily hidden beneath his collar when he adjusts. Everyone’s desks are a fair bit away from Hua Cheng’s office, around the corner and down the hall. Xie Lian had done a good job of staying as quiet as he could. There’s no way they heard him. Hua Cheng probably wouldn’t be so confident about fucking him in his office if he knew they’d hear them. Or maybe he would. Maybe that’s what he wanted. 

Yin Yu steps into the bathroom and Xie Lian starts. 

“Did you hear anything strange just now?” Xie Lian asks bluntly. “From Sir’s office.”

Yin Yu stares at him, looking confused and mildly annoyed. “What are you talking about?”

That’s enough confirmation for him. “Never mind,” Xie Lian says, feeling markedly more relieved as he leaves the bathroom and returns to his desk. 

Then he tries to sit down, and the embarrassment comes roaring back. 

He ends up ordering a standing desk. The thing is, while on principle it isn’t right if Hua Cheng hired him because he wants to fuck him, in reality, Xie Lian is not about to look a gift horse in the mouth. He needs this job. Hua Cheng is objectively sexy and incredible at sex. If he has to get bent over his desk every now and then to keep his job, well, that’s a relatively small price to pay. 

Of course he can’t tell Feng Xin, who would probably call the cops, hire a lawyer, and then personally murder Hua Cheng anyway. 

To his surprise, after the first time, Hua Cheng doesn’t fuck him every which way each time he enters his office. At first, Xie Lian feels confused, like maybe the sex hadn’t been as good as it had for him, and Hua Cheng’s moved on after a disappointing taste. But he hasn’t gotten fired yet, so he can’t have hated fucking him that much. Then one evening Hua Cheng asks Xie Lian to stay late to finish up some paperwork. The paperwork ends up being tossed to the side in favor of fucking Xie Lian into the couch in his office, making him come twice in a row. Xie Lian didn’t even know he could come twice in a row. It nearly makes him pass out. 

Just like before, Hua Cheng dismisses him with another task after they’re done, and Xie Lian tries not to feel too used. 

Hua Cheng waits another week before making a move. This time, Xie Lian sucks his cock under the desk while he sits on a call. It’s embarrassing, but Xie Lian gets just as turned on as Hua Cheng just from the feel of his heavy cock on his tongue, from the knowledge that the slightest thing could give them away. He ends up rubbing one out surreptitiously through his pants as he swallows down every last drop of Hua Cheng’s cum. He tries to sneak out without Hua Cheng noticing, but he looks right at his crotch and smirks as he’s walking out, so he definitely knows. 

By that point, Feng Xin is starting to look suspicious. “How come you never complain about your boss anymore?” he asks him over dinner one night, after he’s gotten home late due to another impromptu fuck session. “He’s clearly working you to the bone, you’re always late.”

Xie Lian coughs into his rice. “He’s fine. Nothing to complain about.”

“You’re such a bad liar.”

“Only because you know me,” Xie Lian huffs. 

“Did he do something weird? If he does something weird, I’ll kill him.”

“Nothing weird,” Xie Lian squeaks. He scarfs down the rest of his dinner as fast as possible and races off to bed. 

Meanwhile, he has more to worry about at work than Hua Cheng’s interest in him. He suspects he’s being mildly hazed. People he barely knows from all sorts of departments keep dropping work off on his desk, things that are most definitely not in his job description. The worst of them is Pei Ming, who always comes over like he’s just there to chat, grinning and jovial, until somehow he’s slipped a pile of paperwork on Xie Lian’s desk with a casual, “Just get through whatever you can, I’ll be back in an hour to finish it up, they’ve called me to this emergency meeting - ”

Naturally, he doesn’t come back in an hour, waiting long enough that by the time he returns, Xie Lian’s finished all of it, and he can give him a surprised, “You did it all? You’re incredible, beer’s on me tonight!” They never actually go out for drinks.

But Xie Lian had expected this to some extent. New hires always get hazed a bit, and really it could be worse. He’ll have to deal with it eventually if it gets to be too much, but for now he takes it in stride. It’s on an evening where he’s stuck doing Pei Ming’s work that he finds himself in his current predicament (hands bound by Hua Cheng’s tie, fucked six ways to Sunday over his desk). 

He’s so engrossed in entering data into a spreadsheet that he doesn’t even realize Hua Cheng’s still in the office until he comes out, finishing a box of takeout. He raises his eyes at Xie Lian. 

“I didn’t give you that much work today.”

Xie Lian startles, straightening up and cracking his neck rather loudly. “Oh, no, someone else asked me to get a few things done.”

Hua Cheng starts to frown. “Who? I’m the only one who gives you work.”

“Ah - ” Xie Lian hesitates, realizing he’s made a mistake. The absolute wrong way of dealing with hazing is tattling to your boss. 

Hua Cheng taps his chopsticks on Xie Lian’s desk. “Don’t lie,” he orders. “I’ll figure it out.”

“Pei Ming,” Xie Lian says reluctantly. “He just asked me to help out today, it’s really not a big deal.”

Hua Cheng huffs. “Well, stop.” He stares at Xie Lian until he puts the papers down. “He’s only behind because he spends the whole day flirting from one end of the floor to the other. Pretty sure all he does is have sex on company time.”

Xie Lian can’t help but blurt, “You’re one to talk.”

Hua Cheng’s gaze sharpens, and Xie Lian immediately starts to regret it. This is the first time they’ve ever really talked about having sex. Most of the time they just sort of act like the sex thing isn’t happening until it actually happens. But then Hua Cheng’s lips upturn and his eyes twinkle with amusement. “Most of the sex we have is after hours, actually.”

“Not even 50%,” Xie Lian insists, because it’s true. They only fuck after work sometimes .

“Huh,” Hua Cheng says, and there’s a wicked glint to his eyes that makes Xie Lian suddenly nervous. “We should fix that, then.”

Xie Lian leans away from him subconsciously, gulping nervously. “That’s not what I meant - ”

Hua Cheng turns away toward his office, but not before Xie Lian sees the flash of his grin. “Come on. Let’s work those kinks out of your back.”

“I’m pretty sure you’re just going to make it worse!” Xie Lian calls after him. But then, after a moment, he gets up and follows. 

True to his word, Hua Cheng works hard to reach that 50%. He takes his time with Xie Lian that night, taking full advantage of the late hour and empty office. Xie Lian finds himself taking advantage of it, too, being much louder than he’s ever allowed himself to be. He’s always been loud, can’t help it, and the way he moans seems to turn Hua Cheng on even more. He makes Xie Lian come three times - another first for Xie Lian - before he uses his tie to bind his hands and keep on fucking him, only because Xie Lian keeps trying to push him away out of sensitivity. 

“One more time,” Hua Cheng says easily. “Four’s a good number, isn’t it?”

Easy for him to say, but Xie Lian can’t do anything but whimper, entirely out of his mind by then. When he comes a fourth time, Hua Cheng fucking him hard, his hand around his cock, Xie Lian blacks out for a minute. 

When he comes to, his limbs feeling like jelly, Hua Cheng is laying him down on the couch. He unties his hands and spreads his own discarded blazer over his body. 

“Alright?” he checks.

“Mm.” Xie Lian yawns, eyes slipping shut, his body growing heavy with exhaustion. He thinks Hua Cheng says something else but doesn’t catch it, drifting off into sleep instead. 

❦

Xie Lian wakes up in a bed.

It takes him a moment to realize it isn’t his own. The satin sheets are a giveaway, smooth against his skin instead of his usual cotton. He shifts around in them as he gets his bearings, remembering what had happened before he’d falling asleep, putting the pieces together. Slowly, he sits up. He’s wearing a robe, naked underneath. He has to be in Hua Cheng’s room - Xie Lian can’t imagine where else it could be. It certainly looks like Hua Cheng’s style: blood red sheets, curious decorations on the walls, everything expensive and fancier than anything Xie Lian’s used to. 

Hua Cheng himself is nowhere to be seen. 

Carefully, growing aware of how sore he is, Xie Lian slips out of the bed. He doesn’t see his clothes anywhere, but there’s a pair of slippers sitting neatly by the bed. They match his robe, so he puts them on and leaves the room. His legs feel like jelly, and he traces his hand along the wall for balance as he walks down a hallway lined with paintings and elegant shelves before he’s in the living room. 

Hua Cheng is sitting on the couch with his tablet out, sipping a glass of wine and dressed in a red robe. He glances up when he hears Xie Lian’s footsteps, and his gaze dips down Xie Lian’s body. Xie Lian fights the ridiculous urge to hold the robe tighter over his chest, as if Hua Cheng hasn’t seen him naked multiple times already. 

“I didn’t know where you lived,” he says, by way of explanation.

“Thanks,” Xie Lian answers, taking a tentative step into the living room. He’s almost surprised Hua Cheng has bothered to bring him home. He would have expected Hua Cheng to just leave him there. 

The white couches face a wall of full windows overlooking the city, and it’s clearly daytime, the sun shining bright in a cloudless sky.

“What time is it?” Xie Lian asks, a little panicked. He takes another step inside. 

“10,” Hua Cheng responds, the corner of his mouth lifting. “Sleeping beauty.”

Xie Lian’s eyes widen. “It’s not Saturday - ”

“I called you out, don’t worry. It’s not like it matters. You report to me, anyway.”

Xie Lian frowns. He takes a seat in an armchair at a distance from Hua Cheng. “Won’t it look suspicious, both of us out on the same day?”

Hua Cheng’s half-smile turns into a full-blown grin. “You’re so cute. Thinking everyone doesn’t already know.”

Xie Lian flushes bright pink. “They don’t know.”

“Sure,” Hua Cheng says easily. “I sent your clothes to dry cleaning. Should be back soon. There’s breakfast on the counter.”

He gestures behind him to the kitchen, with its sleek overhead lights and smooth marble counter. It looks untouched and unused, save for the takeout boxes sitting there. Xie Lian’s still stuck on everyone knowing.

“You really think everyone knows?”

“You walked into my office last week with your tie on and walked out with it off. What do you think?”

Xie Lian remembers. Hua Cheng had used it to tie his wrists together, and Xie Lian had come so hard the drops had shot all the way up to his bound wrists. “I don’t think anyone’s paying that close attention to me,” he says, but it sounds weak to his own ears. Like he’s trying to convince himself.

Hua Cheng raises an eyebrow. “What are you talking about? Everyone’s paying attention to you.”

“What are you talking about?”

Instead of answering, Hua Cheng says, “What does it matter if everyone knows, anyway? It’s our business.”

“It’s embarrassing, first of all,” Xie Lian says. “And now everyone’s going to think I only got the job because you wanted to fuck me, and if anything good ever happens for me in my career, it’ll be because I’m fucking my boss.”

“You didn’t get the job because I wanted to fuck you,” Hua Cheng says. “I picked you because I wanted to fuck you, but there are like three other people who had to vet you before you got hired.”

“Hua Cheng!” he exclaims, mortified, then claps a hand over his mouth. 

Instead of a rebuke, Hua Cheng says, “Call me San Lang.”

That’s a nickname. They aren’t on nickname basis. Hua Cheng fucks him every week and then gives him work to do like they’d done nothing at all, and now he’s brought him to his house and he’s offering his own nickname. Xie Lian stands up.

“I’m going to eat breakfast,” he mutters. He perches on one of the barstools and opens the first box to find an array of pastries. He picks one and munches on it despondently. “San Lang,” he says abruptly. “Have we met before?”

It’s been bothering him ever since the first interview. There’s a small chance Hua Cheng already knows who he is. Despite working in different industries, they could have run into each other at some point. And Xie Lian had certainly heard of Hua Cheng before.

“Why do you ask?” Hua Cheng responds smoothly, his gaze fixed on his tablet as he keys something in. 

“I don’t know. It just - seems like we might have known each other.”

“I think I would remember a face like yours.”

It’s cheesy, and Hua Cheng doesn’t look up when he says it. It still makes Xie Lian blush. But he doesn’t miss that it isn’t exactly a denial.

“Were you the one who pushed me through to the secretary interview? I hadn’t even applied for that position. I applied for an assistant position in the media department - ”

“You were too qualified to make a salary that low.” Hua Cheng waves a hand in dismissal. 

“My CV hardly has anything on it.”

“You owned and managed an art gallery,” Hua Cheng says, almost incredulously.

“Did you look me up?”

“Of course I did. You were an applicant.” 

Xie Lian supposes that’s fair. He hadn’t put the art gallery on his CV. Partly because he didn’t want anyone to ask about it - didn’t want to explain how he’d lost it.

“It’s the same job, in the end. Assistant to the idiot manager in media, secretary to me. Does it matter?”

“I was aiming for the media department because I was hoping I could eventually show off my design skills and move up.” It sounds silly now that he says it, but it’s true. He can’t really move up as Hua Cheng’s secretary. There’s nowhere else to go - there’s only him and Hua Cheng. 

Hua Cheng looks at him curiously. “Is that what you want? To work in design?”

“It’s what I’m good at.”

Hua Cheng nods. “We’ll make it happen.” He looks back at his tablet, as if the conversation is over.

Xie Lian feels a stab of irritation at his casualness. “I don’t want any favors.”

“I won’t do you any. You know how I feel about nepotism.”

By now, he does. Hua Cheng always throws out applications that are pushed through by family members. A few weeks ago he’d found out one of the department managers had gotten his son hired in a role he wasn’t nearly qualified enough for. Hua Cheng fired both of them. 

“If anything happens for your career, it won’t be because you’re fucking me,” Hua Cheng promises. “If other people choose to think so, that’s their problem. You’ll just have to prove yourself.”

Xie Lian looks down at his half-eaten pastry. Hua Cheng has never really given him any cause to doubt his word. And he’s right, in the end. Xie Lian’s business is Xie Lian’s business. So what if he’s fucking his boss?

“Pretty sure this is some kind of HR violation, though,” Xie Lian mutters. 

“If you’ve been so concerned, why do you always give in?” Hua Cheng challenges, raising his eyebrows at him across the room.

Xie Lian blushes. “You’re hard to resist.”

“Is that so?” Hua Cheng grins. He stands up, tossing his tablet carelessly aside. Xie Lian’s stomach clenches with sudden anticipation. “That’s good, because I was thinking we shouldn’t waste this opportunity.”

“Opportunity?” Xie Lian repeats, his mind going a little numb as Hua Cheng walks toward him, confidence in his steps, his red robe fluttering. There’s a healthy amount of strong, bare chest showing. 

“A whole day off. You’re in my home, where I’ve got all my toys.”

“Toys?” Xie Lian squeaks, feeling like a broken record. 

“How do you feel about anal beads?” He sounds thoughtful. He’s right in front of him now, and he leans in, caging him against the counter with his hands braced on either side. Xie Lian can smell the clean scent of his body wash. 

If Hua Cheng’s proximity weren’t making him go a little insane out of nerves, Xie Lian would probably come up with a cooler answer than he does. Instead, he blurts, “I don’t know what those are.”

Hua Cheng’s eyebrows shoot up in genuine surprise. “You don’t? Really.”

He sounds interested. Xie Lian blushes and looks away from him, too overwhelmed to keep holding his gaze. Hua Cheng doesn’t let him. He takes his chin between his fingers and turns his face back to him. 

“Have you ever used any toys before?” Hua Cheng asks. His tone is mostly neutral with a careful hint of curiosity. 

Xie Lian considers lying but then figures, if they’re going to keep doing this, he should be honest. “No.”

“Huh,” he says, then takes in Xie Lian’s expression and amends, “Nothing wrong with that, I’m just surprised. You’ve let me fuck you every which way. I assumed you were experienced.”

“I, uh, don’t normally do this sort of thing,” Xie Lian admits quietly. “I’ve only ever had one boyfriend, and we weren’t, um - ” He tries to think of how to explain that the most adventurous thing he and his ex had ever done was have sex in the shower. “ - experimental.”

Hua Cheng looks, briefly, like he’s reevaluating his entire life. Xie Lian’s so embarrassed he starts to turn away, but Hua Cheng pulls him back. “You should have told me. I would have been more - thoughtful.”

“I don’t need to be coddled.”

“I know.” He frowns, as if he’s at a loss for words, which probably doesn’t happen very often. “Do you want to?”

“Want to what?”

“Use a toy.”

Xie Lian might not know what anal beads are, but the thought of Hua Cheng doing anything to him fills him with heat. “Um. Maybe.”

Hua Cheng nods, considering. “I have the perfect one. Wait for me on the divan.”

Xie Lian’s belly knots with anticipation as Hua Cheng disappears down the hallway to his room. Breakfast abandoned, Xie Lian perches on the edge of the divan, white and edged with gold, that sits before the window. He’s only had a moment to fidget before Hua Cheng comes out with a box, which he proceeds to slice open with a knife in the kitchen. The device he brings forward is small and purple, with two ends, one slender and one thick and curved. There’s a small remote in Hua Cheng’s hand, along with a bottle of lube. 

Xie Lian squirms at the sight of it. It’s obvious that the thing will go inside him. And the remote means it probably vibrates - he squirms again, squeezing his legs together. 

“Lie down,” Hua Cheng orders. 

Xie Lian lies down on his side, facing him, his back to the window. He feels oddly exposed like this, even though he’s still wearing his robe. The way it slides on his skin, satiny smooth, makes his breath catch. The sun is shining bright on his back, and somehow that makes this feel illicit. 

Hua Cheng crouches by the divan, slicking the toy up with lube. Then he reaches out and pushes the hem of Xie Lian’s robe over his ass, copping a feel when he does. Xie Lian shivers as cool air hits his bare skin. He uses his thumb first, pressing between his cheeks to massage his hole until Xie Lian begins to relax, his lashes fluttering with arousal. Then he lifts Xie Lian’s leg and rests his thigh on his shoulder, exposing his hole to the air. Xie Lian turns over a little onto his belly to help. 

He’s looking at Hua Cheng when the toy presses against his hole. Hua Cheng’s expression is coldly satisfied as he watches Xie Lian’s hole suck the toy in the deeper he pushes it, until Xie Lian’s ass is stretched full and the slender edge rests against his perineum. It’s not as girthy as Hua Cheng but it’s a little cool, and that makes Xie Lian squirm with discomfort. He tenses a little, expecting Hua Cheng to use the remote, but he doesn’t yet. He fiddles with the toy, shifting it inside him. Xie Lian’s cock begins to swell. 

He squirms, and then he feels the curved edge of the toy press against his prostate, and he shivers with sudden pleasure. 

“There we go,” Hua Cheng says, satisfied. 

Then he turns it on. 

Xie Lian makes a noise that he can’t even name, and it embarrasses him so much he immediately claps a hand over his mouth, even as his eyes go wide and his hips lift off the divan. The toy vibrates right against his prostate, the vibrations traveling to the edge of the toy against his perineum until he’s a shuddering mess of pleasure, stimulated in a way he’s never experienced before. 

Hua Cheng kisses his thigh then lifts it off his shoulder, resting it back on the couch. He reaches out and pulls Xie Lian’s hand off his mouth, holding him in place by the wrist. “My neighbors are never home,” he tells him. “Be as loud as you want.”

When he turns the vibrations up, Xie Lian cries out. It’s almost a wail, his entire body jerking off the divan from the assault of pleasure. He doesn’t know what to do with himself. His veins are white-hot, his nerves alive and tingling, and his mind turns hazier and hazier. The toy pushes incessantly against his prostate until he really is wailing, face pressed into the cushions, hand flexing in Hua Cheng’s hold. 

“P-please, sir - ” he sobs, legs flexing, toes clenching. 

“San Lang,” Hua Cheng corrects.

“San Lang !” Xie Lian wails. His cock is aching hard and he can feel the muscles of his body tensing with the telltale sign of orgasm. He works his hips into the divan and comes with a cry, ass clenching tight around the toy until his cock’s milked of every last drop of cum. 

Hua Cheng slows the vibrations down, then turns them off completely. 

Xie Lian lies panting, shivering against the cushions, his heart thudding hard in his chest. His legs are shaking. 

“You did so well,” Hua Cheng croons, kissing along his bare leg. “Looked so pretty, losing yourself like that.”

Xie Lian can’t answer, still panting. Hua Cheng’s lips on his skin are making his nerves tingle with oversensitivity and need, as if he hadn’t just cum. Surprisingly himself with his own desire. He pushes himself up to his elbows, trembling, and looks back at Hua Cheng. 

“Again,” he says.

Hua Cheng raises his eyebrows, leaving a last, lingering kiss on the back of Xie Lian’s thigh. “Are you sure?”

“Please.”

Hua Cheng doesn’t need more urging than that. He turns the vibrator back on and Xie Lian whimpers, his oversensitive cock stinging in protest. After coming so soon, it’ll take him more urging to come again this time, but he wants it so bad that he’s dizzy with desire. So he sits up, groaning when the toy pushes deeper inside him from the pressure. Clutching the arm of the divan, Xie Lian leans back and starts to ride it, forcing the toy to move inside him as he rocks his hips, doubling the sensation. 

He hears Hua Cheng swear, and then he’s between his legs, kissing him, licking desperately into his mouth while Xie Lian fucks himself on the toy. The movement coupled with the vibration is too much and there are tears on Xie Lian’s cheeks. He can taste them when they kiss. 

He lets go of the divan and holds onto Hua Cheng instead, fingers digging into his back as he slams his hips down, crying out into Hua Cheng’s mouth each time. Hua Cheng sucks on his tongue, his hands tight on his hips so he can feel the way he moves. 

“San Lang,” he moans, rocking frantically, his cock hard again, close to completion. 

Hua Cheng reaches between them and tugs on Xie Lian’s cock until he’s coming, tensing up so tight it hurts, cum splattering between them. The vibration starts to hurt and Hua Cheng’s pulling him off the divan and into his lap, legs straddling him, as he finally turns the toy off. Xie Lian lies limp against him, chest heaving, his face wet with tears. He feels Hua Cheng reach behind him and slowly pull the toy out, and Xie Lian shudders against him. 

“Good boy,” Hua Cheng croons, kissing his tear-streaked face. 

“What about you?” Xie Lian mumbles, barely intelligible. He can feel how hard Hua Cheng is underneath him. 

“Don’t worry about me,” Hua Cheng says easily, a wicked note in his tone. “We have all day.”

The thought of being at Hua Cheng’s mercy for the entire day fills Xie Lian with a jolt of eager anticipation. 

❦

Xie Lian is squinting at Hua Cheng’s calendar of meetings for the week, trying to find room to squeeze in one more, when an alert pops up reminding him of one in about ten minutes. He picks up the phone to let Hua Cheng know. Hua Cheng answers sounding distinctly like he just woke up from a nap. 

“I’ll need you taking minutes,” he says before he hangs up, so Xie Lian shrugs back into his blazer and gets his laptop ready. 

When Hua Cheng emerges, running a hand through his hair that only succeeds in making it messier, Xie Lian hops up to follow him down the hall to the conference room. Most of the department has already assembled, and Xie Lian takes his usual seat off to the side so he can set up his laptop and notebook. By the time the meeting has started, he’s already busy taking minutes. 

The meeting dissolves into a back-and-forth fairly quickly, as they often do. They’re discussing the fate of one their nightclub groups, which has consistently been performing badly. The debate is over whether they’re worth continuing to push, or if the group should be dissolved and the resources redirected elsewhere. When they start arguing, Xie Lian has learned to only take down the pertinent points. Most of the time, it’s just the same points that get recycled over and over as everyone refuses to concede. 

“The numbers don’t lie,” Pei Ming insists. “My report spells it out clearly. They’re losing money, every one of them. They’ve been a wasted investment. No one wants vampire-themed nightclubs anymore. That’s so 90s.”

“Secretary Xie,” Hua Cheng cuts in suddenly. He’s been mostly quiet up until now. Xie Lian startles and nearly drops his pen, not expecting to be called on. 

“Yes, sir?”

“What do you think?”

“What do I think?” Xie Lian repeats, blinking. The entire conference room turns to look at him. “About the clubs?”

Hua Cheng nods, perfectly serious. “Should we scrap the idea, or should we persist?”

“Oh.” Xie Lian falters. He doesn’t have to think too long; he’s had his opinion made since the beginning of the meeting. “Oh, well, I don’t think we should give up on them yet.”

Everyone who had sided with Pei Ming looks annoyed, Pei Ming most of all. 

“Sir - ” Pei Ming starts to say, but Hua Cheng cuts him off. 

“Can you explain your reasoning?”

“Um, yes, sir.” He clears his throat a little nervously. Everyone’s looking at him, but he tries to focus on Hua Cheng, as if they’re just chatting. “I think we have to take context into consideration. If you look at the locations of all four nightclubs, they’re all pretty busy areas. I don’t know if you’ve ever been to Houhai, but there are more nightclubs than convenience stores. I wouldn’t say they’re set up for failure, but you can’t judge their profits in comparison to a club like Red Moon, which is in an exclusive location.”

Pei Ming turns around to look right at him. He’d used Red Moon as an example in his presentation. Xie Lian refuses to be intimidated. Now that he’s started talked, he feels less nervous. His reasoning is fairly obvious, after all. 

“Additionally, I don’t know if it’s my place, but - ” He hesitates, and Hua Cheng raises his eyebrows, urging him onward. “I’ve heard that the vampire group has been a dumping ground for underperforming club managers.”

A few of the employees in the room raise their eyebrows at his boldness. 

“It seems like a lot of employees feel the same way as Department Head Pei, that vampire-themed clubs aren’t that cool anymore. So managers are being assigned there unwillingly. They’re underperforming, and as far as I know, they aren’t receiving any sort of mentorship. So it only makes sense that all four clubs are doing badly. Someone clearly liked the idea of vampire clubs - if someone with that sort of passion managed one of them, I suspect they’d do better.”

He stops talking, feeling like he’s rambled, and the faint hint of a blush colors his cheeks. 

“Hmm,” Hua Cheng says. 

“Thanks for your input, Secretary Xie,” Pei Ming says smoothly, his eyes ice cold. He turns back to Hua Cheng. “Forgive me, but Secretary Xie hasn’t exactly been crunching the numbers like the rest of us have.”

It’s a nicer way of saying he’s completely unqualified to be making these kinds of judgements. Honestly, Xie Lian can’t even argue with that. He sinks back in his seat and focuses on his computer, wondering why Hua Cheng had bothered to ask him in the first place. He suspects he only did it to make the rest of the room uncomfortable. He likes catching his employees off guard, especially when he’s annoyed with them. 

“I beg to differ,” Hua Cheng says coolly. “I suspect Secretary Xie is in a much better position to be giving input, considering he’s been doing most of your job for you.”

The room goes silent. Xie Lian’s almost afraid to breathe for fear of it being too loud. He stares at Hua Cheng, eyes wide, and then at Pei Ming, whose face is rapidly reddening. Some of the other employees look distinctly like they’re trying not to laugh - or maybe cry out of sympathy. 

Pei Ming sits back and says nothing, jaw twitching. The rest of the meeting is comparatively subdued. In the end, they don’t even vote on the issue of the vampire clubs. It gets deferred to the next meeting. 

Xie Lian gathers up his things and scrambles to leave the room after Pei Ming, chasing him down before he can get too far. 

“Department Head!” he calls. Pei Ming gives him a cold look. 

“Come to gloat?”

Xie Lian skids to a stop next to him. “To apologize. I swear I didn’t say a word to CEO Hua. He saw me working on the spreadsheet one night - I didn’t know he was even still in his office. I really wasn’t trying to get you in trouble.”

Pei Ming turns around to face him, eyes narrow. He leans in, and his voice is like ice. “Do you think you can get away with anything because you’re fucking the big boss?”

Xie Lian freezes, his face going hot.

“Well, you’re just as replaceable as the rest of us. And when he’s done with you, you’ll have nowhere to go. Last I checked, you can’t put sucking cock on your CV.”

He turns around to join the group waiting for the elevator. Xie Lian can’t move for a moment, frozen in place, blinking quickly. 

“Secretary Xie.”

Hua Cheng is standing in the doorway of the conference room, hands in his pockets, watching him. When Xie Lian looks at him, he raises his eyebrows. 

“I have another meeting,” he reminds him.

“Right.” Xie Lian comes to life, moving to join him. Hua Cheng looks at him discerningly as they walk back toward his office. 

“Pei Ming had something to say?”

“Now he hates me,” Xie Lian says, sighing. “You didn’t have to do that.”

“Do what? All I did was ask for your opinion.”

“What CEO asks for their secretary’s opinion during a meeting?” Xie Lian complains. “No one does that.”

“I can do whatever I want,” Hua Cheng says arrogantly. “I asked because I wanted your input. Is that so wrong?”

“You embarrassed him.”

“Well, he should have done his job, then.”

There’s no arguing with him. Xie Lian huffs and sits down at his desk. The calendar is still open on his computer. “Wait,” he realizes. “You don’t have another meeting.”

“I know,” Hua Cheng says, tossing him a sideways smile. “If I didn’t say something, you’d be standing there like a statue for the rest of the day.”

He enters his office and closes the door behind him. 

❦

Xie Lian is marveling at the sudden realization that he’s been Hua Cheng’s secretary for three entire months when he gets a call from the front lobby. 

“A Feng Xin is here to see you.”

He frowns. “I’ll be right down.”

He doesn’t bother putting his blazer back on and heads to the elevator, wondering what Feng Xin could possibly need in the middle of the day. When he pulls out his phone, he sees a series of text messages from him. 

u forgot ur lunch

check ur phone

omg turn around u forgot ur lunch idiot 

ur looking right at ur phone and getting on the bus anyway??????? xie lian???????

COME GET UR LUNCH 

ugh i’ll drop it off 

And then, two hours later - i’m dropping it off and i hate u . Xie Lian smacks his forehead in dismay as the elevator doors shut behind him. He didn’t even realize he hadn’t checked his phone all day, engrossed as he’s been in work. Hua Cheng has a million meetings this week, and he’s traveling the week after, so Xie Lian’s been poring over schedules and hotels and all sorts of nonsense since he got here. 

Xie Lian finds Feng Xin waiting in the busy lobby of their building, arms crossed over his chest and tapping his foot impatiently. He’s dressed like he’s on his way to train, sweats and a t-shirt that fits across his broad shoulders. Xie Lian picks up on more than one interested glance his way. Xie Lian’s lunchbox is hanging from his wrist. 

“Feng Xin!” he calls, waving sheepishly. Feng Xin’s expression is positively stormy. 

“What if I was dead?” he demands as soon as Xie Lian stops before him. “You can’t look at your phone once in the entire day?”

Xie Lian rubs the back of his head. “Sorry. I lost track of time. I didn’t even realize I’d forgotten my lunch.”

“I can tell,” Feng Xin snorts. “Is your creep boss working you that hard?”

“It’s just one of those days.”

Feng Xin looks doubtful. “Well, here. I know you could have just ordered out but you spent two hours making this yesterday.”

Xie Lian takes the lunchbox, smiling. Not for the first time, he wonders how he got so lucky as to have a friend like Feng Xin. “Thank you, Xinxin.”

He clears his throat, clearly embarrassed at Xie Lian’s sincerity. “Anyway, your dad called.”

Foreboding fills Xie Lian’s chest immediately. “Oh boy.”

Feng Xin seems to share his sentiments. “The usual. ‘If he’d just decide not to be gay, he can come home and have all my money again,’ blah blah. Then he told me he’d give me a promotion, too. Instead of your bodyguard, I could lead his security team.”

If it were anyone else, Xie Lian would be worried. But Feng Xin is the most loyal and principled person he’s ever met. He can see clearly on his face that he views the lucrative offer with nothing but disdain. 

Still, Xie Lian has to offer. “That’s a good opportunity. I wouldn’t blame you if you went back.”

Feng Xin gives him an irritated look. “Not a chance. Anyway, the offer only stands if I bring you back with me. And you know I’m not making you go back.”

“This is stupid,” he complains. “This would all be so much easier if he just gave up. He’s the one who kicked me out, why does he keep begging me to come back?”

“Fathers,” Feng Xin says, shaking his head sympathetically.

“Fathers,” Xie Lian agrees, then groans and drops his head on Feng Xin’s shoulders. “Maybe he should decide not to be straight. He’d probably be way less of an asshole.”

“Dude in a red suit coming our way,” Feng Xin warns him. Xie Lian can hear the frown in his voice without having to look. “No way, is that your boss? He looks like a dick.”

Xie Lian unearths himself from Feng Xin’s shoulder and turns around to check. Sure enough, Hua Cheng is walking towards them, hands in his pockets, smiling his usual disarming smile. “Secretary Xie,” he says cheerfully, stopping right next to him. “You’re going out to lunch?”

That must be where he’s off to. He holds up his lunchbox. “Forgot my lunch at home.”

Hua Cheng’s disarming smile alights on Feng Xin. Xie Lian wonders if he’s imagining it, or if there’s something a little cold about it. “You came all the way here to bring it to him? How nice of you.”

Feng Xin, who is absolutely terrible at playing polite when he doesn’t want to, scowls at him. “Well, I wasn’t going to let him go hungry.”

“I could have bought you lunch,” Hua Cheng says, smiling down at him. His hand comes to rest on Xie Lian’s back. It isn’t low enough to be inappropriate, but it lingers longer than it should. 

Xie Lian laughs nervously, wondering at the suddenly awkward air between the three of them. “This is my roommate, Feng Xin. Feng Xin, this is my boss Hua Cheng.”

Feng Xin and Hua Cheng smile at each other, and neither smile looks very polite at all. 

Xie Lian clears his throat. “Well, uh, I should probably get back upstairs…”

“Of course,” Hua Cheng says smoothly. “I’m off to lunch. I’ll see you later, Secretary Xie.”

He nods to Feng Xin and then heads for the exit. Feng Xin barely waits for him to be out of earshot before he growls, “He’s a creep .”

“He’s not that bad,” Xie Lian says awkwardly. “He can be really nice sometimes.”

Feng Xin looks at him like he’s grown three heads. “He looks like the kind of guy who’d fuck his secretary behind his wife’s back.”

Xie Lian chokes on his own spit.

Feng Xin thumps him on the back. Then it hits him. His eyes widen, and he stares at Xie Lian in horrified disbelief. “No, Xie Lian, you can’t be serious - ”

“Gotta go back to work, thanks for lunch, bye!” Xie Lian exclaims, spinning on his heel and running back toward the ID card readers. 

“Xie Lian!” he hears Feng Xin’s furious shout behind him, but Xie Lian swipes and card and bolts for the elevators before Feng Xin can even think about coming after him. 

❦

That evening, when the rest of the office has emptied out, Hua Cheng fucks Xie Lian like he has something to prove. He’s brutal and relentless and Xie Lian spends the entire time a limp mess of tears and cum. At the end of it, he’s forgotten how many times he came, and Hua Cheng has to take him home again - where he runs him a bath and lets him sleep like a log, well past the morning work hour.

Xie Lian’s dreading returning home to Feng Xin - after essentially giving away that he’s fucking his boss, he spends the night out. It feels a little shameless. 

But as sated as he feels, despite how sore he is, he can’t bring himself to regret it. 

❦

When Hua Cheng calls Xie Lian into his office to give him the details about a business trip he needs him to schedule, he tells him to buy two tickets. 

“You’ll come with me,” he says nonchalantly, engrossed in what very clearly must be a mobile game. 

Xie Lian blinks a few times, unsure if he’d heard correctly. “Come with you? To Tianjin?”

“I’ll need you taking minutes and managing my schedule, doing minor research, that sort of thing.”

“Oh.” Xie Lian hesitates. He doesn’t know why he’s hesitating. It’s a fairly normal thing to do, bringing your executive secretary on a business trip with you. 

Hua Cheng finally puts his phone down, giving Xie Lian his full attention when he realizes he hasn’t left yet. He raises his eyebrows at him. “Yes?”

“Nothing,” Xie Lian decides, turning toward the door. 

“Have you ever been to Tianjin before?”

“A few times,” Xie Lian says vaguely. 

“Book us those rooms with the doors.” Hua Cheng waves his pen in the air to illustrate. “You know, connecting.”

Xie Lian blushes and feels a little petulant for no reason he can discern. “What if I don’t want connecting rooms? I have to sleep, you know.”

Hua Cheng picks his phone back up. “Don’t book them then.”

Xie Lian frowns at him. He’s fully engrossed in his game again in under a minute. Xie Lian waits, then huffs, then turns toward the door. “Fine, whatever.”

He glances back because he can’t help himself. Hua Cheng’s gaze flickers from his phone up to Xie Lian’s face, and a telltale smirk quirks the corner of his mouth. Xie Lian huffs again, blushing, and leaves. 

He’s too easy, he decides as he sits down to book the tickets and hotel. He has to start saying no to things, even if he has no good reason for saying no. The problem is that Hua Cheng just has to look at him and all of Xie Lian’s inhibitions fly out of the window. He does want connecting rooms. Of course he wants connecting rooms. He doen’t even want separate rooms, if he’s being honest, but for optics, he’ll settle. 

But as it is, Xie Lian’s on his knees for Hua Cheng at the drop of a hat and he probably shouldn’t be that easy. He should probably have boundaries or something. Feng Xin would kill him if he knew exactly how much he was letting Hua Cheng take advantage of him. 

But the problem is Xie Lian really doesn’t mind being taken advantage of. 

Xie Lian spends the next few hours getting everything booked and ready. Feng Xin is going to have a fit when he tells him about it. He’d had a fit when Xie Lian had finally summoned up the bravery to face him after he found out about Hua Cheng. But Xie Lian doesn’t mind too much; he knows Feng Xin is just worried about him. And he can’t deny that he’s right. Fucking the big boss is never really a good idea. 

While Xie Lian’s in the middle of planning, Hua Cheng messages him on DingTalk and tells him to book a dinner reservation for two the night they arrive. He recommends a few restaurants. You pick , he says, and Xie Lian, intrigued, calls the one that looks the best to him first. He wonders if Hua Cheng’s going on a date with someone. 

To his surprise, the thought of it makes him more than a little irritated. 

By the end of the workday, he’s a mess of conflicting feelings. He’s too easy. He wants to be easy. He’s jealous. He’s excited. He’s nervous. He ends up ducking out five minutes before it’s time for him to clock out, just to avoid the risk of Hua Cheng asking him to stay. He doesn’t think he can deal with his own weird feelings and being around Hua Cheng at the same time. 

He grabs dinner for Feng Xin and himself on the way home. Feng Xin’s already home when he gets there, fresh out of the shower, probably from another day of training. Xie Lian feels a pang of guilt. Ever since he left his father’s company, Feng Xin hasn’t been able to find steady work. He picks up security gigs where he can, but they’re usually for one or two nights at a time. Xie Lian is pretty sure his father is blacklisting Feng Xin, too.  

“Do I smell meat?” Feng Xin says, pouncing on the takeout. Instead of joining him at the counter, Xie Lian tosses aside his messenger back and drapes himself over the couch. Feng Xin eyes him as he starts eating. “You’re back on time today.”

Xie Lian sighs, contorting himself so that he’s half upside-down, dangling off the couch. “I’m going on a business trip next week.”

Feng Xin narrows his eyes. “Please tell me you have your own hotel room.”

“I have my own hotel room,” Xie Lian assures.

“Is it too much to ask that you also not fuck your boss on this business trip?”

Xie Lian sticks his tongue out at him.

“I’m just saying! He seems like a sleazeball, Xie Lian, I don’t like him.”

“I can take care of myself, Feng Xin.”

Feng Xin looks seriously doubtful. “Yeah, but you never do this kind of thing.”

“What, fuck my boss?” Xie Lian says wryly. 

Feng Xin scowls at him. “Just be careful. You’re so… innocent.”

Xie Lian huffs, offended. “I’m not innocent .”

“Okay, you’re not,” Feng Xin acquiesces, still frowning. “But you also are, you know what I mean?”

“Oh, yeah, you’re being crystal clear.”

Feng Xin flips him off and goes back to eating his dinner. Eventually, Xie Lian rolls off the couch and joins him at the counter. He starts feeling less dramatic once he gets some food in his stomach. 

“I know you’re right,” he says abruptly. “This is dumb. But also I don’t want to stop. So.”

Feng Xin gives him the most exasperated look he’s probably ever seen him wear. “Hopeless,” he mutters, shaking his head. Then he straightens, something suddenly occurring to him. “Wait, do you think he knows your dad?”

Xie Lian considers it. “I don’t think so. Dad didn’t have a lot to do with the entertainment business. I think he signed a contract to ship curtains to concert halls once, but that’s about it.”

“That’s probably why he hired you,” Feng Xin muses. “Your dad probably never got to him.”

“I know he looked me up,” Xie Lian says, mulling over it. “He saw that I used to have the gallery. But Dad had them wipe me from anything company related, so he probably doesn’t know who I am.”

“Hmm.” Feng Xin doesn’t seem convinced. “You always seemed to know everyone, though.”

Xie Lian shrugs. “Well, if he knows me, he hasn’t said anything.”

“I’m going to investigate,” Feng Xin decides. “Not like I have much else to do with my time.”

“Have it your way. No jobs turn up lately?”

He shakes his head.

“I’ve been keeping an eye out on the postings at Crimson Rain, but there’s been nothing for security,” Xie Lian says regretfully. “I was thinking I could ask Hua Cheng?”

“Absolutely not,” Feng Xin declares. “I don’t want any handouts from the boss you’re fucking, thanks.”

Xie Lian rolls his eyes. “Trust me, he won’t do you any favors.”

“Nope. Not a chance. There’s an opening at this club nearby, though. I’m going to put you down as a reference.”

Xie Lian nods enthusiastically. “That’s great! I’m sure this one will work out. It has to.”

Feng Xin looks doubtful, but he manages a smile anyway. 

❦

They arrive in Tianjin on a Tuesday afternoon. Xie Lian retreats to his hotel room shortly after they get there, once Hua Cheng confirms that he doesn’t need him for anything. He finishes up Hua Cheng’s schedule for the trip and then falls asleep with his clothes still on, lying on top of the covers. He’s woken up by insistent knocking on the door. When he stumbles out of bed, rubbing his eyes, he realizes the knocking is coming from the connecting door - the one to Hua Cheng’s room. 

He unlocks it and pulls it open. Hua Cheng crowds the doorjamb, dressed handsomely in a more daring outfit than the one he’d worn that morning - his collar’s open, his hair loose. 

“What’s the point of a connecting door if you lock it?” He smiles charmingly. “Were you napping? I’ll call the restaurant and tell them we’ll be a little late.”

Xie Lian frowns. It takes more than a minute to register. “Oh! The dinner reservation. But what do I have to do with - wait. I’m the other guest?”

Hua Cheng looks thoroughly amused as he watches Xie Lian work through it. “Who did you think I was going with?”

“I don’t know. I thought it was a date or something.” He sounds more petulant than he means to.

Hua Cheng leans in, his smile growing a little more wicked. “Were you jealous?”

Xie Lian leans back. “I’ll go get ready.”

“Dress up,” Hua Cheng calls after him before closing the door. Xie Lian doesn’t lock it. 

He’d packed an extra outfit, a nice one, just in case something came up. You could never plan for everything on a business trip - every time Xie Lian’s been on one, he’s gotten invited to an extra dinner or an extra party. He puts on the silk shirt and slim pants and pops his head through the door. Hua Cheng’s lounging in a chair with his phone glued to his face. 

“I’m ready,” Xie Lian calls. Then he closes the door and goes to wait in the hallway. 

Hua Cheng emerges, and his gaze drags from Xie Lian’s head to his toe. “Pretty,” he says, his eyes dark, and the intensity of his gaze makes him flush.

Xie Lian turns away, speeding toward the elevator. “Let’s go.” His heart is beating abnormally fast, his body heating up. 

The elevator, thankfully, arrives right away. But when the doors slide shut, Hua Cheng is crowding him, hands encircling his waist, pressing him against the wall. Xie Lian’s breath hitches and he avoids his gaze, staring at his shoulder. 

“You have such a small waist,” Hua Cheng muses. Xie Lian puts his hands on his chest, as if to push him away. He doesn’t follow through. “What’s the matter?” Hua Cheng’s nose brushes his cheek. “You’ve been playing hard to get. You keep running out of the office before I can catch you.”

Xie Lian flushes. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he mumbles. 

“Xie Lian.” Hua Cheng says. “Gege.” 

Xie Lian’s eyes flash up to his in surprise. Hua Cheng takes the opportunity and kisses him, and Xie Lian loses all his inhibitions, like he always does. The way Hua Cheng kisses him is always so intoxicating; it snatches away Xie Lian’s power to resist. He’s never been kissed the way Hua Cheng kisses him. Never thought he would be. 

“S-San Lang - ” Xie Lian gasps. Hua Cheng licks fervently into his mouth, fingers digging into his waist.

The elevator announces the rooftop. Xie Lian turns his head away abruptly, Hua Cheng’s lips brushing his jaw, trying to catch his breath. Hua Cheng lets him go reluctantly, just in time for the doors to slide open. Xie Lian pulls away from him and zooms out onto the rooftop, willing the blush on his cheeks to die down and hoping he doesn’t look like he was just making out in the elevator. Self-consciously, he smooths down his hair as they walk up to the hostess. 

The hotel’s rooftop restaurant is supposedly one of the best in the area, and Xie Lian had liked their menu the most out of the various options Hua Cheng had sent him. He feels a stirring of excitement at the realization that he’ll be able to try the food after all - he’d felt a little despondent looking at the menu, thinking someone else would be having dinner with Hua Cheng. It’s not like Xie Lian’s salary could pay for a place like this. 

The hostess confirms their reservation and leads them to a table by the edge of the roof, overlooking the city. It’s a breathtaking view. 

“Menu?” Hua Cheng offers. 

Xie Lian shakes his head. “I already know what I want,” he blurts, distracted by the view. Then he blushes. He probably shouldn’t have admitted that.

Hua Cheng raises an eyebrow. “You looked at the menu already?”

“You asked me to pick the restaurant,” Xie Lian defends. “So I looked at the menus.”

“What are you getting, then?”

Xie Lian’s about to answer when he hears his name. He looks around, surprised, and finds Mu Qing approaching their table with a woman he doesn’t recognize. He and Mu Qing had been acquaintances before Xie Lian got kicked out. The woman nods to them before moving on to their table without stopping to chat. 

“Fancy seeing you here,” Mu Qing says, his usually cold expression showing distinct interest today. “CEO Hua,” he greets, reaching out to shake his hand. “I’m meeting with you tomorrow, I believe.”

Of course. Xie Lian should have expected that he might run into old acquaintances on a business trip with Hua Cheng. They hadn’t been in the same sectors, but still, the pool of wealthy businessmen isn’t infinite. 

“You know each other?” Mu Qing asks, glancing between them. 

Xie Lian sees no point in lying; he isn’t ashamed of where he is. “I work for Crimson Rain. I’m CEO Hua’s secretary.”

Mu Qing’s eyebrows rise so high Xie Lian worries they’ll disappear into his hairline. “A secretary? Really? The rumors are true, then?”

Xie Lian smiles stiffly. “I couldn’t say. There are always so many.”

Mu Qing has never been the type to avoid a jab. “That your father disowned you.”

Xie Lian can feel Hua Cheng’s eyes on him, which is the only real reason he feels uncomfortable. Mu Qing he can handle. “Unofficially.”

“So now you’re CEO Hua’s secretary,” Mu Qing muses. He glances between them. Then his eyes rake Xie Lian’s outfit. “Didn’t you have an art degree?”

Xie Lian gets the insinuation. He can’t possibly be qualified enough for the role he’s in; clearly, he and Hua Cheng are on a date. Before Xie Lian can answer, Hua Cheng cuts in. 

“This has been such a riveting session of small talk, but we really do need to put our orders in,” he says coolly. “As we did come here to eat.”

Xie Lian knows Mu Qing well enough to tell Hua Cheng has annoyed him. But he’s probably conscious of whatever meeting he has with him tomorrow because he only smiles stiffly and moves to walk away. 

“Have a good date,” he calls over his shoulder on the way. 

Well. Maybe not overly conscious. 

The waitress takes his place as soon as he walks away, clearly waiting for the chance to jump in. They put in their orders, and Xie Lian tries to play off the awkward encounter, hoping Hua Cheng will just move on and forget about it. 

No such luck. “Disowned? You have such an intriguing past.”

“Hardly,” Xie Lian mutters, taking a sip of his drink just to feel busy. “It’s not as exciting as it sounds, believe me.”

“Hold on. You’re not Xie Jin’s son, are you?”

Xie Lian doesn’t usually drink, but he considers ordering alcohol. His mocktail isn’t going to cut it. “That’s me.”

“What a small world,” Hua Cheng says, and when Xie Lian dares to look at him, his eyes are sparkling with mischief. Xie Lian begins to get the sense that he already knew. 

Xie Lian sighs. “Don’t tell me that’s why you really hired me.”

Hua Cheng laughs. “I already told you why I wanted to hire you. Why did he disown you, then?” A moment too late, he adds, “If you want to say.”

Xie Lian doesn’t really see any reason to lie. It doesn’t make a much of a difference whether Hua Cheng knows or not. “He found out I was gay, told me to stop, I said no, and, well. Here we are.”

The appetizers arrive just in time. Xie Lian busies himself with them so that he doesn’t have to look up and see pity in Hua Cheng’s gaze, if there is any. He doesn’t want to be pitied. He’s over it. Xie Lian has made his decision about how he wants to proceed with his life, and he’s content with it. 

“You’re doing very well for yourself,” Hua Cheng says, and there’s only the barest hint of gentleness in his tone. It makes Xie Lian look up. He can see it in his eyes, too. No pity. Just that touch of gentleness. It makes his heart clench.

“Thank you,” Xie Lian murmurs. 

“So you studied art and opened a gallery?”

Xie Lian nods. “It ran successfully for a while, but my life was so mixed up with my father’s that afterward it was impossible to keep it going. So I closed it and started looking for a more sustainable career.”

“And Feng Xin is a roommate you met, or?” Hua Cheng’s voice is carefully even as he helps himself to the appetizers. 

Xie Lian feels a hint of amusement and decides to milk it. “He was my bodyguard.”

Sure enough, Hua Cheng’s smile stiffens. “Your bodyguard.”

“We ran away together.”

Hua Cheng stares at him. “I see.”

Xie Lian can’t hold it for too long. He starts laughing. “What are you thinking? You should see your face.”

Hua Cheng, to Xie Lian’s surprise and great pleasure, sounds a little petulant when he answers. “You have a mean streak.”

“Were you jealous?” Xie Lian teases, revenge for earlier. “He’s my best friend. He helped me out a lot after Dad kicked me out. Got fired for it, too.”

It looks like it takes him a great amount of effort to offer, but to his credit, he offers. “If he’s looking for a job, I can put a word in.”

Xie Lian smiles. “If he doesn’t have any luck, I’ll let you know.”

By the time the rest of their food arrives, they’ve transitioned into easier topics. Xie Lian realizes they’ve never really sat down and talked like this before. He also realizes that this really does feel like a date, and that he can’t imagine why Hua Cheng had wanted to do all this. 

But he can’t deny that it’s kind of nice. Really nice, if he lets himself think about it. 

Mu Qing leaves before they do. He nods to them on his way out, and Xie Lian turns to Hua Cheng thoughtfully. “He loves gossip,” Xie Lian tells him. “Tomorrow the whole world will know the ex-heir of Xie Corp is fucking the CEO of Crimson Rain for a job as a secretary.”

Hua Cheng looks at him with amusement over his glass of wine. “Is that what you’re doing? Fucking me for a job?”

Xie Lian shrugs. “It gets a little mixed up that way, doesn’t it?”

“Fair enough,” he allows. “I don’t mind rumors. They don’t bother me.”

Xie Lian feels a sense of relief. Still, he checks, “Won’t ruin your prospects or anything, will it?”

“What prospects?”

“Don’t pretend,” Xie Lian admonishes. “You must be one of the most eligible bachelors around. You must have plenty of marriage prospects.”

Hua Cheng’s answering smile holds a secret. “Maybe. But I already have someone in mind.”

His stomach clenches briefly. He banishes the feeling and smiles. “Oh?”

“I don’t think they mind rumors, either.”

“Well, that’s good,” Xie Lian forces himself to say. He suddenly regrets bringing up the topic. That’s what he gets for talking about marriage with a guy he’s fucking. He looks down at his dessert. In his defense, he really isn’t used to this sort of thing. 

“Come on,” Hua Cheng says, setting his napkin down and standing up. “If you’re fucking me to keep your job, we’d better put in some work, don’t you think?”

Xie Lian can’t help but blush. When it comes down to it, he’s still a little shy. Hua Cheng rounds the table and holds his hand out, eyebrow raised in question. “What if I want to get some sleep tonight?” 

The corner of Hua Cheng’s mouth lifts up. “Do you?” His voice is indulgent and a little condescending. 

Xie Lian looks up at him, framed by the rooftop lights, handsome face aglow. No. No, he absolutely doesn’t. With a sigh, he reaches out and takes his hand. 

❦

Xie Lian wakes up in Hua Cheng’s bed. Well, the hotel room bed, but it’s Hua Cheng’s hotel room, not his, and he feels a stab of regret. He can almost hear Feng Xin’s voice in his ear. But at the same time, he feels so sated, his body sore and content. He stretches languorously and yawns. Hua Cheng’s side of the bed is empty. 

He closes his eyes again, enjoying the moment of peace, and doesn’t want to check the time. He hears the bathroom door open and looks over to see Hua Cheng emerge, fully dressed for a day of work. That lights a fire under his ass. 

But before he can panic, Hua Cheng says, “Stay in bed. You don’t need to join me yet. An impromptu breakfast meeting came up.”

“Oh. Are you sure?”

“I’m sure. Sleep in. Go to the pool. I don’t need you until 7.”

Xie Lian stretches again, rolling onto his side, and sighs in contentment at the thought of a day to himself. “That sounds nice.”

It takes him a moment to realize Hua Cheng is staring at him. 

“What?” he says, suddenly self-conscious. In the beginning, he’d been shy showing skin around Hua Cheng if they weren’t actively having sex. But he’s grown more comfortable around him without realizing. His leg is out, half his chest bare. 

“Are you trying to seduce me?” Hua Cheng asks very seriously.

Xie Lian puffs out a laugh. “No. Are you feeling seduced?”

Hua Cheng makes it to the bedside in a few short strides, leans down, and kisses him. Like always, it’s a kiss that makes his toes curl. The kind that makes all his inhibitions float away. He winds his arms around Hua Cheng’s shoulders and lifts off the bed so their chests are flush. Hua Cheng’s fingers curl into his long hair, his tongue moving in a way that has Xie Lian’s brain feeling hazy and disoriented. 

“S-San Lang - ” he gasps between kisses, before Hua Cheng licks the roof of his mouth. 

Hua Cheng sits down on the bed and tugs Xie Lian into his lap, sheet and all. Xie Lian’s knees widen on instinct, straddling his waist, as close as he can get. Xie Lian’s morning wood sits very obviously between them. 

“I’m going to be late,” Hua Cheng complains, even as his mouth drags down Xie Lian’s throat. 

“You’re going to leave me like this?”

Hua Cheng laughs, and the puff of breath against his neck makes Xie Lian shiver. “You’re getting bolder, gege. I like that.”

He reaches past him toward the side table and Xie Lian hears him uncap the bottle of lube still there from last night. Xie Lian tries not to squirm too much in anticipation as he kisses along Hua Cheng’s jaw. Hua Cheng tugs him more securely against him, then his finger slides against Xie Lian’s rim. 

Xie Lian shivers again, turning his face just in time for Hua Cheng’s mouth to catch his, tongues winding together. Hua Cheng massages his hole with the pad of his finger until Xie Lian really does squirm; he takes pity on him and pushes inside. 

“Gege,” Hua Cheng says, breaking their kiss, his voice silky smooth. Xie Lian wants to chase his mouth, dizzy, and buries his face in his neck instead, pushing his ass back onto his finger. Hua Cheng promptly adds another. “You’re making me late. You owe me.”

“Didn’t - didn’t make you do anything.” Xie Lian’s breath hitches when the pads of Hua Cheng’s fingers brush his prostate. He unearths himself from Hua Cheng’s neck so he can sit up and arch insistently. “You’re the one who can’t keep it in your pants.”

Hua Cheng laughs again, sounding delighted. “My dick’s not even out, gege, you minx.”

“Who said you could - could call me gege, huh?” Instead of fucking him with his fingers, Hua Cheng has decided to stay on his prostate, massaging, and Xie Lian can feel himself slowly losing control. His cock throbs and aching pleasure winds through his limbs. It makes him feel desperate, makes him want more, for Hua Cheng to ram into his prostate until he’s in tears. 

“I did,” Hua Cheng says, wicked. The press of his fingers grows more insistent and Xie Lian’s hips twitch, his fingers digging into Hua Cheng’s shoulders. “Hold still,” Hua Cheng admonishes, gripping his hip with his free hand, but the more his fingers work, the more Xie Lian can’t help but squirm. 

“San Lang,” Xie Lian almost wails, caught between pushing his hips forward to give his cock some much-needed friction against Hua Cheng’s stomach, or pushing back so he can fuck Hua Cheng’s fingers deeper inside him. He does a mixture of both and presses his forehead against Hua Cheng’s, gasping for breath. 

Hua Cheng’s fingers crook against his prostate, over and over, before he returns to circling. Xie Lian’s shuddering by then, can feel his cock leaking onto the sheet between them, his eyes rolling back into his head. Their mouths are nearly pressed together but Xie Lian’s gasping too much for a kiss. Hua Cheng flicks his tongue inside instead, sneaking a taste. 

“C-Close - ” Xie Lian gasps.

Hua Cheng promptly picks up the pace. He flicks his wrist with enough force and speed to make Xie Lian moan into his mouth, his entire body tightening with pleasure as his orgasm draws near. His fingers dig into Hua Cheng’s back and the pleasure grows so intense he has to bury his face in Hua Cheng’s shoulder and bite. His entire body is flooded as he comes and Hua Cheng’s fingers finally slow to a stop before he pulls out. 

Xie Lian flings himself back onto the bed, pushing Hua Cheng away from him, even as his body’s still twitching and shuddering through the aftershocks. His legs jerk and he’s panting, sweat beading his forehead, lashes fluttering as he struggles to keep his eyes open. 

“What?” Hua Cheng complains, leaning over him. “I was going to kiss you.”

“Your - your clothes,” Xie Lian manages to explain before he closes his eyes, flinging an arm over his face. He can still feel the sweet afterache of pleasure all the way to the tip of his toes. He’d never known he could come just from his prostate until Hua Cheng. 

“There was a sheet,” Hua Cheng huffs. He sounds genuinely put-out. “I could have changed.”

Xie Lian cracks an eye open to look at him. “What?”

“I wanted to feel you come.”

Xie Lian covers his face again, laughing breathlessly. “Go to your meeting. You’re late.”

Hua Cheng pulls his hands away by the wrists. He’s leaning close enough that Xie Lian can almost count his lashes. Certainly close enough for Xie Lian to see the mischievous glint in his eye. Hua Cheng’s tongue slips out from between his teeth, sensual, and Xie Lian tracks it helplessly. He flicks it between Xie Lian’s parted lips before pulling back, teasing. 

“You owe me,” he reminds him. “Tonight, I’m going to collect.”

“My cock’s going to dry up.”

His tongue flicks between his lips again, and this time he lets it linger, tracing the roof of Xie Lian’s mouth. “I’ll just have to milk it as long as I can, then.”

“San Lang, go away. You’re too much.”

He tries to turn his face away but Hua Cheng doesn’t let him, holding his chin between his fingers. He licks into his mouth once more, kisses him, and then he finally pulls away. 

“I’ll make you come three times in exchange for the one you just robbed me of.” He stands up, straightening his clothes and brushing his hair down. 

“I didn’t rob you of anything. I was trying not to come all over your twenty thousand yuan suit.”

But Hua Cheng has clearly already made up his mind. “Order room service if you want. I’ll meet you in the lobby at seven.”

Xie Lian sticks his tongue out at him. Hua Cheng leaves the room grinning. He waits until he hears the door shut before Xie Lian rolls over and buries his face in the pillow. He means to scream into it but instead he finds himself laughing, helplessly, breathlessly.  

It hadn’t been like this with his ex. It hadn’t been like much of anything with him. They’d dated for two years, but Xie Lian had gone along with it more out of a sense of obligation than real desire for a relationship. He had only just started to come to terms with being gay when they’d met. It was the first time a man had been open about his interest in him. He’d been nice, decently good-looking. Xie Lian had thought that was enough. He’d thought he ought to give it a try, and so he’d made it through two years of lukewarm feelings before he finally realized he needed to end things. 

But with Hua Cheng, Xie Lian feels like someone has buried their hands inside him and twisted until all his insides are scrambled up and struggling to untwist. It doesn’t sound pleasant but it feels electric. 

He rolls back onto his back and stares at the ceiling. His laugh fades into a frown. 

“Oh,” he says aloud. “Oh, fuck.”

The thing about fucking your boss is that it can absolutely never, ever, ever involve feelings. 

❦

At first, Xie Lian had been nervous about going down for the evening dinner knowing Mu Qing might be there along with other people he used to know. But while he’s getting dressed, he realizes he doesn’t really care. It’ll be awkward, sure, but nothing they say or think has the power to humiliate him. Xie Lian simply doesn’t care enough to be embarrassed. So what if they mock him for his fall from grace? He happens to think he’s doing quite well for himself. 

Hua Cheng meets him in the lobby as decided. 

His gaze rakes Xie Lian shamelessly as he approaches. Then he puts his hands in his pockets and falls into step beside him without saying anything. Xie Lian had wondered if he would feel differently upon seeing him after his morning realization. He finds that he doesn’t. Something about being around Hua Cheng feels natural. 

The dinner is being held in one of the hotel’s event rooms. As expected, Mu Qing is there, along with a few other familiar faces. Mu Qing hardly waits for them to take their seats before he starts. 

“See,” he tells Quan Yizhen. They both happen to be sitting across from them. “I told you our own Xie Lian is working at Crimson Rain now.”

Quan Yizhen smiles awkwardly at Xie Lian. “Good to see you again. How have you been?”

“Xie Lian?” someone from the down the table calls in surprise. Xie Lian peaks over to see Shi Qingxuan, who he’d gone to high school with. His family works in shipping, too, and they’d always been close to his father. “I thought you’d disappeared off the face of the earth. Is that really you?”

“It’s me,” Xie Lian calls back, laughing uncomfortably. “How are you?”

“Oh, I’m fine, just great. What about you? What are you doing here? I thought your dad - ” He pauses, finally realizing that whole table is listening. Everyone laughs, and Shi Qingxuan sheepishly sits back. “Never mind!”

Xie Lian can’t hold it against him. Shi Qingxuan had always been kind of heart, if a little reckless. 

“Well, what’s the story?” A woman sitting three seats away from them asks, who Xie Lian doesn’t recognize. “Now we all want to know why this Xie Lian is so famous.”

Xie Lian laughs again, waving her words away. “Oh, it’s nothing, really.”

“Don’t be bashful,” Mu Qing says, and Xie Lian tenses. “Xie Lian is Xie Jin’s son.”

“Xie Jin? The shipping tycoon?”

“I hadn’t realized he was involved in our deal this evening.”

“Didn’t he decline the offer to invest?”

Everyone’s talking all at once. Xie Lian clears his throat. “I work for Crimson Rain,” he interrupts.

Everyone’s eyes go to Hua Cheng, and then to him. There’s an ah of understanding. Hua Cheng had probably mentioned he’d be bringing his secretary. Some of the others have brought theirs, too. Now everyone’s starting to connect the dots. 

“That’s a big change,” a man at the end of the table says. His tone is neutral, but his eyes are sharp. “Shipping to nightlife, I mean.”

Xie Lian gets what he’s really trying to say. It’s a big jump, heir to secretary. “Nothing unmanageable.”

“How the fates toy with us,” an old woman with a necklace of large pearls says regretfully. “You can lose everything in a heartbeat.”

Xie Lian’s smile stiffens. “I don’t think I’ve lost anything, actually.”

“I would say Xie Lian’s career shift is a positive change for you, Madame Fei,” Hua Cheng suddenly says. It’s the first time he has spoken. Xie Lian resists the urge to look at him. He doesn’t want to give the others more fodder. “He’s the one who caught the pricing error in the contract you sent us last month, just before I signed.”

The woman’s expression sours almost immediately. 

“It’s a good thing he noticed, otherwise I’d have to had to sue you. Given that the lawyers had already looked over everything.”

Hua Cheng’s tone is light, his smile wicked. Someone laughs nervously, then stops when no one else joins in. Xie Lian has to bite back his own laugh. 

“Well, anyway,” Shi Qingxuan diffuses the atmosphere quickly. “It looks like our first course is coming.”

Once the food is served, the previous conversation is forgotten. Xie Lian tries to focus on eating and pretending like he’s listening politely to everyone around him. Under the table, he feels Hua Cheng’s hand settle on his knee. He glances over at him and finds Hua Cheng looking back, his gaze soft. 

Xie Lian finds it hard to stop smiling for the rest of the dinner. 

❦

Xie Lian doesn’t even bother pretending to go to his own room when they return upstairs. Hua Cheng starts kissing him before they’re all the way in the room, and after that it’s mostly a blur. Xie Lian blows him by the door and Hua Cheng fucks him once in the jacuzzi and again in the shower, just for good measure. Then he orders them so much room service it’s as if they didn’t eat dinner at all. 

“We just ate,” Xie Lian says in amusement when he sees the trays of food sitting outside the door. He helps him bring them inside. 

“The dinner was subpar at best, and you know it.”

“Dinner and room service are both from the same hotel restaurant, you know.”

“Yeah, but I didn’t order caviar .” He makes a face to show what he thinks of that. Then he uncovers one of the room service trays. “I ordered fried chicken.”

Xie Lian has to admit - the sight of the fried chicken has his stomach grumbling, too. 

He sits across from Hua Cheng in his robe and starts to dig in. The food is exactly what he needed after the night they’ve had, the awkward dinner included. He fills up and hardly notices that Hua Cheng keeps pushing more food his way until he realizes he’s eaten more than his fair share. 

“You eat, too,” Xie Lian insists. 

“I’m eating.”

“You’ve given me nearly all the chicken.”

“You’re hungry,” Hua Cheng says easily. “And I ate plenty of it, don’t sell me short.”

Xie Lian looks at him doubtfully for a moment before accepting it. “You’re spoiling me.”

Hua Cheng looks pleased at the thought. 

“So what’s your story?” Xie Lian asks after a few moments of silence. “Now that you know mine.”

“Do I?” Hua Cheng asks, an eyebrow quirked. “I think you told me the bare minimum.”

“That’s still my story.”

“I don’t have much of a story.” Hua Cheng uncaps a bottle of beer. He offers one to Xie Lian, who shakes his head.

“Everyone has a story.”

Hua Cheng shrugs. “Grew up poor. Self-made. The usual.”

“I’m sure there’s more to it than that,” Xie Lian admonishes, picking up the last piece of chicken.

“Not much more.”

“You know all about me. I hardly know anything about you.”

“You’re more interesting than me.”

“Now that’s definitely a lie.” Xie Lian finishes eating and cleans up their dishes, leaving them outside the hotel room door. He makes a noise of irritation when he discovers the damp spots all over his robe from his wet hair as he washes his hands. “Even before I was hired, I’d heard about you.”

He grabs a towel and tries to wring it out as much as possible. Hua Cheng watches him in amusement, already half-done with his beer. “And what did you hear about me?”

“Oh, you know,” Xie Lian says vaguely, suddenly embarrassed to admit exactly how many rumors he’d heard of Hua Cheng before.

“Let me guess. I’m really only rich because the real business is drug trafficking. I’m a mean boss who fires people left and right.”

“Well.” Hua Cheng’s guesses aren’t exactly far off.

Hua Cheng grins. “Come here.” He drags a chair into the bathroom and gestures for Xie Lian to sit in it. Xie Lian hangs up his towel and sits, blinking at Hua Cheng curiously through the mirror. Hua Cheng pulls a blowdryer from the cabinet and plugs it in. 

“You don’t have to - ” Xie Lian starts, realizing, but Hua Cheng turns it on and drowns him out. 

Even if it weren’t for the blowdryer, the sensation of Hua Cheng’s long fingers carding through his hair would have shut him up anyway. Xie Lian goes still as Hua Cheng tends to him with a surprising gentleness. He’s thorough, combing through Xie Lian’s locks and working on the ends. Xie Lian watches him through the mirror, his handsome face set in concentration, his robe barely covering his chest at all, and feels a pang of something . It makes it hard to look at him. He stares at his hands instead, swallowing harshly as the pang of something grows until it’s drowning out everything else. 

When he finishes, he leaves the bathroom and returns with a small bottle of hair oil. He squeezes a few drops into his hands and runs it through Xie Lian’s hair, down to the bottom. Xie Lian dares to steal a glance in the mirror. He looks thoughtful. 

“My mother was a maid,” Hua Cheng says, startling Xie Lian, who hadn’t expected him to speak. “She was - unkind. But I was giving the opportunity to go away to boarding school and make something of myself, so I did. It was pure luck. Everything since then has been luck, too.”

Xie Lian’s chest clenches. He hadn’t thought Hua Cheng would really share anything personal. Now that he has, with the intimacy of his hands in his hair, he thinks it feels like too much. “It sounds like there must have been a lot of your hard work involved,” Xie Lian murmurs. “Not just luck.”

“I suppose. But there’s hard work involved with everything, isn’t there?”

“Give yourself some credit.”

Hua Cheng flashes him a smile. “If gege insists.”

He finishes his task and moves aside to wash his hands. Xie Lian gets up, dragging the chair out into the room again. He hesitates, glancing back at Hua Cheng.

“Thank you,” he says. 

Hua Cheng acknowledges it with a smile. For a moment, Xie Lian stands there, looking between the door to his own hotel room and Hua Cheng. 

“You may as well stay,” Hua Cheng says with careful nonchalance. “The night’s almost over.”

They’ve fallen asleep together before, but that was always after sex. The sex has already happened. They’ve showered and eaten. There’s no reason for Xie Lian to stay, but he looks at the bed and he looks at Hua Cheng and he wants, so badly, to stay. 

“I support you’re right.” He matches his careful tone. “I’m tired.”

He moves toward the bed, holding his breath until he hears Hua Cheng move behind him and begin to flick off the lights. Xie Lian gets in first. He realizes he’s holding his breath again as Hua Cheng climbs in next to him. He’s wondering whether or not to shift closer, if that would be too much, when Hua Cheng grabs him by the waist and pulls him against his chest. 

“Goodnight, gege,” he says, and Xie Lian can feel the words rumble through him.

“Goodnight,” Xie Lian whispers in return. 

❦

The day Xie Lian returns home, he gets a call from an unknown number while he’s in the middle of unpacking. Expecting spam, he answers with an absent, “Yes?”

“Xie Lian.”

He recognizes the voice from the very first tone and freezes over his suitcase.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing, working for someone like Hua Cheng?”

Xie Lian hasn’t heard his father’s voice since the day he kicked him out. It’s only Feng Xin who has been bothered by calls from him. His father hasn’t contacted him once. Xie Lian had been hoping to keep it that way. 

“Good afternoon to you, too, Father.”

“Don’t play with me. I thought I raised you with some sense of respect. You’re throwing all of that away to work in the nightclub business?”

Xie Lian sits down slowly on his bed. He hasn’t quite decided if he should be upset or just bewildered. “You’re contacting me for the first time in months to tell me you don’t like my job?”

“What else am I supposed to do when everyone is calling me left and right to ask me why my son is some shady bastard’s secretary ?” His father scoffs in pure disbelief. “A secretary! I hardly believed it myself.”

“Well,” Xie Lian begins, his tone measured. “In case you’ve forgotten, you kicked me out with nothing but the clothes on my back. I was eventually going to have to get a job if I wanted to eat.”

“Better you work in a damn coffee shop than this. Do you have any idea how this makes me look?”

“You kicked me out,” Xie Lian repeats. He’s not sure whether to laugh or to cry. “You told me you never wanted to see my face again. What I’m doing with my life should be completely irrelevant to you.”

“Well, it isn’t, is it? Not when you’re having dinner with half my associates.”

This time Xie Lian does laugh. “I didn’t have money to eat, Father. I was lucky enough to get a job that’s keeping me alive. Your opinion on it makes absolutely no difference to me. I care a little more about putting food in my stomach than I do about what your associates think of me.”

“Why do you think I disowned you?” His father’s voice has cooled. “It’s clear to me you don’t give a rat’s ass about how you look. At least have the decency not to make me look bad.”

Xie Lian massages his temples and realizes he isn’t even that angry. He’s just tired. “You know, you sound like you’re confused about what you want. You kick me out, but you call Feng Xin to negotiate your way into bringing me back. You tell me you don’t want anything to do with me, and now you call me to tell me you don’t like my job.” He sighs, standing up to resume unpacking. “I’m going to make it clear to you. I don’t want anything to do with you either. Please don’t ever call me again.”

He hangs up and tosses his phone on his bed. Then he stares at it for a long moment. It hurts more than he thought it would, and it hurts less than he thought it would. It’s gratifying to realize that he’s moved on. That he’s alright without his father and his father’s money. That he can make something of himself without him. 

But at the same time, he’s still his father. A father who has made it clear how little he will ever respect who his son is. 

Xie Lian doesn’t know what to do with all that. But he supposes no one ever does. All he can do is carry on doing what’s best for him. All he can do is survive and hope to find happiness along the way. 

❦

“I figured it out!” Feng Xin shouts, bursting into the apartment where Xie Lian is cooking noodles for dinner. 

“Figured what out?” Xie Lian asks, bemused and too tired from work for the energy Feng Xin clearly has right now.

“Who Hua Cheng really is.”

Xie Lian blinks, slowly beginning to focus. He’d forgotten Feng Xin had said he would investigate. He hadn’t really thought he would follow through. “What are you talking about?”

“His mother used to work for your father. She was a maid. You probably grew up seeing her.”

Xie Lian leans against the counter, taken aback. They’d had so many maids throughout the years. It’s quite plausible that Hua Cheng’s mother had been one of them. But then he thinks about the story Hua Cheng had told him. But I was given the opportunity to go away to boarding school and make something of myself . And then he starts to remember.

“Your father paid for Hua Cheng’s schooling all the way through high school. He got a scholarship for university on his own after that.”

“Oh,” Xie Lian says blankly. “Oh. Well. I think I remember him now.”

“Remember him? You met?”

When Xie Lian was in elementary school, one of the maids had a son a good deal younger than him. They weren’t allowed to bring their children to work, but she would sneak her son in sometimes, presumably when she couldn’t find anyone to watch him. He was quiet and extremely well-behaved. Xie Lian would stumble on him hiding in different corners of the gardens or the house, doing his best not to be seen or heard by any of the family. 

Xie Lian hadn’t been sure if his parents knew or not, but he’d decided to play along. He used to help little Hua Cheng find hiding places. Sometimes he’d bring him games or books. He had the biggest eyes and the floppiest mess of hair Xie Lian had ever seen - he’d been endeared to him almost immediately. Then he’d walked in one his mother beating him black and blue one afternoon because he had almost broken a vase. She had stopped when she saw Xie Lian, but Xie Lian had run straight to his father to tell him. 

His father had fired her with the excuse of not wanting to expose his young son to violence. Then he’d sent Hua Cheng off to a boarding school where he didn’t have to deal with his mother any longer. It had been a surprisingly magnanimous act. But Xie Lian’s father has always been full of contradictions. Sometimes he could be very kind.

“I can’t believe I didn’t realize,” Xie Lian murmurs. Then he grabs his phone, noodles forgotten, and looks for Hua Cheng’s number.

“What are you doing?” Feng Xin asks suspiciously. 

Hua Cheng doesn’t answer. Xie Lian turns off the stove and snatches up his wallet before running to the door to tug on his shoes. By now, he’s fairly familiar with Hua Cheng’s apartment. He thinks he can make it there on his own. 

“You’re not going to see him, are you?” Feng Xin says in disbelief. “Did you not hear what I just told you? He must have known who you were all along. That’s shady as hell.”

“That’s not it.” Xie Lian has finally figured it all out. “He wasn’t being shady. I think - I think he remembered me.”

Feng Xin looks at him like he’s an idiot. “Exactly.”

Xie Lian waves him off and pulls on his coat. “You don’t get it. I’ll be back.”

He races out of the door.

Taking the bus to Hua Cheng’s building is much slower than being driven there in Hua Cheng’s car, but he makes it there eventually. The doorman recognizes him and waves him on in without asking any questions. The elevator operator recognizes him, too, and Xie Lian feels a flash of embarrassment when he realizes he’s been coming over a lot more than he thought.

When he steps out onto Hua Cheng’s hall, he has a moment of hesitation. What if he’s busy, or he has someone else over, or he isn’t even home? But he’s already here. He steels himself and steps up to Hua Cheng’s door to knock. The intercom turns on. Xie Lian waves at the camera. 

“Gege?” comes Hua Cheng’s confused voice. He shuts it off without waiting for an answer, and a second later, the door opens. 

He’s wearing sweats and a t-shirt that hugs his chest nicely. Xie Lian doesn’t think he’s ever seen him dressed so casually. His hair is loose, cascading around his shoulders, his feet bare. He blinks at Xie Lian in surprise, but he doesn’t look displeased. 

“Is everything okay?”

Now that he’s in front of him, Xie Lian suddenly doesn’t know what to say. “Um. Are you busy?”

Behind Hua Cheng, he sees the living room with a coffee table full of drinks. Someone steps into view - a tall, handsome man with ears pierced from cartilage to lobe. He peers at Xie Lian curiously. 

“Ah, sorry,” Xie Lian blurts. “You’re busy. I’ll come back another day.”

Before he can turn around, Hua Cheng reaches out and grabs his wrist. “I’m not busy.”

The man behind him looks faintly amused. “I was just leaving,” he says, stepping up to grab his coat and slip on a heavy pair of combat boots. Xie Lian shifts out of his way, still unsure. 

“You must be Xie Lian, the new secretary,” the man says. Xie Lian nods politely. The man slips out next to him. Before he heads for the elevator, he gives Xie Lian a sharp, sideways grin. “He talks about you all the time.”

He’s off before Xie Lian can even react.

“Ignore him.” Hua Cheng mutters. “Come in, gege.”

Xie Lian steps inside and takes off his shoes. “Who was that?”

“He Xuan. Old friend. He stops by to annoy me sometimes. Mostly because he can drink half my liquor cabinet for free.” He gestures to the messy coffee table for proof. 

Xie Lian follows him inside and has a seat on the couch when Hua Cheng gestures toward it. He bounces his knee nervously. 

“What’s going on?” Hua Cheng asks. “You’re making me nervous.”

Xie Lian decides to cut straight to the point. “I remember you now.”

Hua Cheng’s expression shutters. “Ah.”

He rushes to get the words out. “I’m sorry I didn’t before. I can’t believe I didn’t. But I remember now.”

“I see,” Hua Cheng says carefully. He doesn’t say anything more.

“Is that why you really hired me?” 

“I told you already. The committee had to vet you. I didn’t give you an unfair advantage.”

“I know. But you said you picked me because you wanted to fuck me. You didn’t, did you?”

Hua Cheng looks away. His expression is blank, but Xie Lian can see his jaw working. “I don’t know what you want me to say.”

“Did you hire me to pay me back?”

Hua Cheng’s gaze shifts sharply back to him. “I didn’t. It’s nothing like that, gege, I swear. I’m not - I didn’t do this out of a sense of obligation.”

“Then?”

It takes him a minute to respond, as if he’s deciding what to do. Then he sits back with a sigh. “If you insist on knowing, I had a silly crush on you as a kid and wanted to see you again. There. Are you happy?”

There’s a lump in his throat. He swallows past it to whisper, “Yes.”

Hua Cheng’s eyes focus on him. He frowns. “Gege. What are you thinking?”

Xie Lian suddenly feels like crying. “I used to call you San Lang back then, too. I can’t believe I didn’t remember.”

Hua Cheng’s face softens. “You can’t be feeling bad about that. Gege, please. I would never have expected you to remember me.”

“But you remembered me.”

“That’s different.”

Xie Lian rubs his nose, taking a deep breath to center himself. “San Lang, why did you pretend you hired me to fuck me?”

Hua Cheng looks down at his hands. “Does it matter?”

“Well, it matters because when we went to Tianjin, I realized I have a crush on you, too. And not a little kid crush. A proper, grown-up crush that might not even be a crush at all. And yesterday my father called me and I realized that my life is never going to be the same as it used to be, but that maybe I’m okay with that, because I think - I think I could be happy. And I’d really like to know if you still have a crush on me or if we’re just going to keep fucking, which is fine, too, I just - I just want to know.”

Hua Cheng is staring at him with an intensity that makes Xie Lian nervous. He can’t hold his gaze any longer and drops it to his hands. “Gege,” he says quietly. “Do you mean it?”

Xie Lian laughs. It’s a little watery. “If I didn’t mean it, would I show up at your door at 9pm on a worknight with my hair in a bun?”

“Gege, I - ” He stops and tries again. “It’s just that I - ”

It’s clear that whatever he’s trying to say is difficult for him. Xie Lian swallows the lump in his throat away and pats the seat next to him. “Come here,” he says gently.

Hua Cheng comes. He sits next to Xie Lian, their knees touching. At first, he doesn’t say anything. Xie Lian waits patiently, watching his expression change as he struggles through whatever he’s struggling through. Then, finally, he begins to talk.

“You have to understand that from a child’s perspective, you and I lived in different worlds. You were - like a prince to me, and I was nothing.” Xie Lian winces. He fights the urge to comfort and listens quietly. “I didn’t want to think of myself through your eyes. You walked in on my mother beating the shit out of me.” Hua Cheng laughs dryly. “I felt like an ant. And then I went away and made something of myself. And I never forgot you, but I never forgot that feeling, either. So when I saw your application, I didn’t think I would ever have a serious chance with you, even now.”

He shrugs hopelessly. “But I thought maybe I could have you close another way. I didn’t think you’d grow to care for me, not like I wanted. But I know I’m a good fuck. And I figured you wouldn’t remember me. So I decided to stick with what I was good at. If I could have anything of you, no matter how little, it would be enough.”

He falls silent. Xie Lian’s heart has swollen into his throat. He waits, just in case Hua Cheng has anything more to add. Then, “You’re good at a lot of things,” Xie Lian says quietly. “You always joke about being a mean boss, but you’re only mean to the people who deserve it. Like when everyone in the finance department was taking advantage of Yin Yu for being an intern, so you starting piling extra work on them until they were too busy to harass him. Or when you humiliated Pei Ming in front of everyone because he was taking advantage of me. And you’re good at looking for what people really need. You saw that Banyue’s heart was in IT but she was stuck in marketing, so you starting sending her applications to IT openings until she finally got one. You keep pushing me into design meetings even though you know I don’t really need to be in any of them.” 

Hua Cheng isn’t looking at him, hair falling into his face. Xie Lian pushes onward, his voice growing more and more earnest. 

“Every time we have to go out to some stupid event like golfing with another company or that time we had to play baseball with that jerk from Pier One Industries or when we did pottery with the club managers - you’ve been good at everything.” Xie Lian finds himself smiling at the thought. “You learn so fast you make everyone jealous. I was born the heir of a business that was already thriving. I can’t imagine how much talent and hard work it took to start with one nightclub and turn it into a multi-million dollar company. And yes, you’re good at sex, too, and you know it. But that’s not all. San Lang, there’s so much more.”

Hua Cheng turns his face away. His shoulders are tense. He holds himself like he’s afraid to move. 

“I’m not the little prince I used to be,” Xie Lian says wryly. “But you - you make me feel like I’m still that boy. Like I’m still worth something even when I don’t think I am. San Lang, how could you ever think I couldn’t care for you?”

Hua Cheng finally looks at him. His eyes are dark. “You’ll always be worth everything to me.”

Xie Lian leans in and kisses him.

Hua Cheng’s hands cup his face. Xie Lian’s heart swells until he feels fit to burst. He threads his fingers through Hua Cheng’s hair and kisses him until he’s breathless, until he feels like he’s floating and wonders if he’ll open his eyes to realize this was all a dream.

Hua Cheng pulls away first, pressing his forehead against Xie Lian’s. “Now what?” he asks, and he sounds as breathless as Xie Lian feels.

Xie Lian laughs a little. “I think we should go on a date. Like the dinner, but official.”

“Official?” Hua Cheng laughs with him. “I can do official. We can go now, even.”

“It’s nine PM, San Lang.”

“Tomorrow, then.”

Xie Lian smiles, his heart soaring. “Tomorrow.”

❦❦❦

“Why is your boyfriend always late?” Feng Xin grumbles as he enters their apartment, kicking his shoes off and removing his coat. “He was supposed to be here before me.”

Even though it’s been five months, Xie Lian still goes a little pink when Feng Xin calls Hua Cheng his boyfriend. “He said he was on his way. You’re back early, anyway. Mu Qing being nice today?”

At the name of his current employer, Feng Xin’s expression sours. He tosses his bag on the sofa and collapses after it. “Don’t talk to me about Mu Qing.” His voice comes muffled by the couch cushions. 

“That bad?” Xie Lian asks. The job offer from Mu Qing had been a total surprise to the both of them. Not long after Xie Lian met him in Tianjin, Mu Qing called him and asked if Feng Xin had gotten a job yet. He was in need of a new bodyguard and had always heard good things about Feng Xin. 

Apparently Xie Lian’s father’s blacklist hadn’t extended as far as he had wanted it to. Or maybe his father had finally given up and backed off completely. He supposes he’ll never really know. 

“I’m gonna kill him. One day, I’m just gonna kill him.”

Xie Lian stifles a laugh and nods seriously. “Oh, yeah, of course. Remember last week when you said his smile was so pretty it made you want to punch him in the face?”

“You know what I meant! Pretty like in a gross way.”

“Uh-huh.”

Feng Xin flings a cushion at him. It falls short, and this time Xie Lian does laugh. 

“Tell that asshole to hurry up, I’m hungry.”

The front door swings open just as Feng Xin makes his declaration. The asshole in question steps inside with a grin, stripping off his trenchcoat and hanging it neatly on the rack by the door. He’s holding two bags full of takeout. There’s a flower bouquet tucked under his arm. 

“That asshole didn’t bring anything for you, actually,” Hua Cheng says cheerfully. Xie Lian goes to help him and leans up for a kiss.

He takes the flowers and asks, “Are those for me?” 

“They’re obviously for me,” Feng Xin snarks, finally unearthing himself from the sofa. He joins them at the counter while Xie Lian puts the flowers in a vase. “You really didn’t get me any food?”

Hua Cheng rolls his eyes and pushes a bag of takeout at him. Feng Xin unpacks it gleefully. 

“What’s the occasion?” Xie Lian asks, burning with curiosity as he has been since Hua Cheng first texted him asking if they’d be home for dinner that night. 

Hua Cheng glances at his phone. Then he smiles. “Check your email.”

Xie Lian frowns. It takes a minute for his brain to catch up. He pulls out his phone and refreshes his email. A new one pops up right away from ArtEx, the company he’d applied to for a job a month ago. Welcome to the team reads the preview. That’s as far as Xie Lian gets before he whoops in surprised glee. 

“I got the job?”

“You got the job,” Hua Cheng says happily. 

“You got the job!” Feng Xin echoes, looking markedly less surprised than Xie Lian. “Of course you did.”

“How did you know?” Xie Lian demands, looking at Hua Cheng suspiciously. 

“Don’t you know me by now? I didn’t have anything to do with this. I just told He Xuan to warn me if you were selected.”

Hua Cheng is the one who had told him about the job in the first place. He Xuan worked fairly high up in ArtEx, a company that ran a number of galleries and art exhibitions across the city. They were always hiring, and Hua Cheng had been keeping an eye out when the position as manager of a new gallery opened up. This time, Xie Lian didn’t leave his true experience out of his resume, his father be damned. 

“I got the job,” Xie Lian repeats, a little less disbelieving this time. “I got the job!”

He flings his arms around Hua Cheng, who spins him around them sets him down with a laugh. “I guess I have to find a new secretary.”

“Thank god,” Feng Xin mutters. “This has all been weird and creepy, you know.”

“No one asked you. You’re a bodyguard in love with your client.”

“Fuck you, I am not in love - ”

“Alright, alright,” Xie Lian interrupts. “Weren’t you hungry? Let’s eat. And I want a cake to celebrate.”

“One step ahead of you,” Hua Cheng says. “I already ordered one.”

When they settle down at the table to eat, Xie Lian feels a sudden rush of warmth. It’s been almost exactly a year since his father disowned him and vowed to never see his face again. Back when he first left, he could never have imagined that he would be here today, landing the job he wanted, alongside his best friend and the man he loves. 

In the end, it had taken a full restructuring of his life to truly find happiness. 

“Alright?” Hua Cheng checks, pushing a box of food over to him. 

“Perfect,” Xie Lian says.