Chapter Text
The electronics store was tiny and cluttered. Low ceilings had disintegrating particleboard alternating with flickering lights. Metal shelves rose up to the ceiling, blocking the light in places. The shelves were full of tiny labeled boxes of parts. As Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua made their way through the aisles, they had to dodge around boxes of all the things that hadn’t fit on the shelves.
It was a fun-filled paradise.
Shen Yuan was thoroughly tempted to get a basket and start hauling. The transistors! The diodes! Shen Yuan didn’t know what he would do with purple LEDs but he wanted them!
Busy looking at the labels, Shen Yuan almost ran into Shang Qinghua who was staring at the most marvelous toy in the store.
A PCB Fabricator.
They already had one, of course. But this one could do traces down to 3mm! With this, Shen Yuan could fit so much more complexity and elegance into an even smaller package!
Shang Qinghua was just as enraptured.
“Oh, man, we could have so many more ports…” Shang Qinghua sighed dreamily.
“We already have a perfectly good fabricator,” Shen Yuan said, without much conviction.
The fabricator they were currently using botched the occasional job, and checking the traces afterwards was a huge pain. But outsourcing the manufacturing to ShenCorp was also unacceptable–waiting in a queue? With the rest of ShenCorp’s engineers? How could Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua be expected to wait when there was engineering that needed solving! Problems that needed inventing!
“Bro…” Shang Qinghua turned pleading eyes on him.
Shen Yuan fingered the credit card linked to ShenCorp’s R&D budget. It was for a good cause, right? Shen Jiu would approve, once he saw what they could do with it, right?
“Hmmmmmmmmmmmm,” Shen Yuan made a long drawn-out noise as he wrestled with temptation.
And lost.
“Get a cart,” he said, and snagged some Pym Particles off the shelf. He had no idea how to use them, but that was half the fun.
Shang Qinghua ran off immediately. He knew when a shopping spree was imminent, and he wasn’t going to miss a second of Shen Yuan’s lapse in self-control.
Shen Yuan already had several handfuls of micro-size motors, rheostats, and some op-amps with really lovely looking specs that he couldn’t wait to try out. Did he have a project in mind for this? Not yet! But he could feel himself growing progressively more inspired as he raided the shelves.
Not a giant mecha like last time. Something small. Subtle. Elegant.
Shen Yuan grabbed a miniature servo. Yes, he could make something magnificent that would bring the world to its knees -
But he wasn’t Shizun anymore.
Shen Yuan hesitated for a moment, then shrugged off the momentary doubt. Perhaps he wouldn’t be using his inventions for world domination attempts any longer, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t play around a bit.
Shen Jiu often used the results of Shen Yuan’s work for various purposes in ShenCorp. Granted the giant mecha was not really useful, but some of the mechanisms had been repurposed to make robotic arms and such for factory assembly lines.
Shang Qinghua arrived with the cart, loading up the PCB Fabricator. Shen Yuan arranged his choices in the cart next to it, careful not to bend any pins. The cart still looked so empty. There was plenty of room for so much more!
“We haven’t even gotten to the pick-up counter,” Shen Yuan said ruefully.
“Ah, I haven’t gotten to pick anything off the shelves yet!” Shang Qinghua eyed Shen Yuan’s selections with envy.
“The pickup counter is next to the MEMS section,” Shen Yuan reminded him.
Shang Qinghua’s latest project, a hoverboard, could absolutely use some stabilizers. Perhaps Shen Yuan could convince Shang Qinghua to add more gyroscopes? Shen Yuan had seen him testing the latest prototype. It was marginally safer to test indoors because even if Shang Qinghua ended up crashing into large immovable objects like walls, he couldn’t do it at too much speed. Shen Yuan was playing the stern naysayer one this time, and not letting Shang Qinghua test it in open air until Shang Qinghua could guarantee it wouldn’t end up shooting him 50 meters into the sky.
Shang Qinghua started pushing the cart. “Right! Let’s go!”
They made their way to the back of the store, wrangling the cart through more and more labyrinthine passages. Shen Yuan pulled up the order confirmation email on his phone as he leaned over the counter.
“Excuse me!” Shen Yuan called out to get the attention of the employee working the shop in the back. He had to shout to be heard over the rhythmic thumping of her lathe.
This shop, which held the means to achieve science dreams of any kind, was run by three triplets who each specialized in a different field. This one, who identified herself simply as “Mei” was the most terrifying of the bunch. Ai ran the business and could talk logistics supply lines until you wanted to die just to escape the conversation. Yun knew enough chemistry to dissolve a body and would tell you so to your face. But Mei’s maniacal enthusiasm for all things engineering was intimidating even to Shen Yuan and Shang Qinghua, who really should have been immune to that sort of thing. After all, they had extensive exposure to insane engineering binges through each other.
Mei let the lathe spin to a stop and gave Shen Yuan a broad grin. The triplets liked to reinforce the concept of each having a distinct identity. Mei had done this by dyeing her hair pink and putting it into dreadlocks. The intensity of the pink matched the intensity of her spirit. Behind her enormous safety goggles, her eyes were a little crazed.
“Hey! Shen Yuan, good to see you! I was just finishing up a little something for a personal project, heh heh…”
Shen Yuan did not ask about her project. What he could see of it in the lathe as it spun to a stop somehow defied Euclidean geometry. To ask her about it would be to invite madness.
“I’m here to pick up Order number 100072A,” Shen Yuan told Mei.
“One moment! Let me see…” she said, and bent over to flip through her files. Then she went off to the side, and got a pallet cart.
Shen Yuan got a foreboding feeling. It intensified as she began loading box after box onto the pallet cart from the shelf at the far side of the machining area. The shelf with a lot of identical looking boxes.
“Airplane, how many microcontrollers did you order?” Shen Yuan called out nervously.
Shang Qinghua didn’t respond. Shen Yuan turned to look. Shang Qinghua was studiously eyeing the miniature arc reactors, flipping through the documentation pinned to one of the shelves. His shoulders were hunched and his ears were turning red.
“Shang Qinghua!” Shen Yuan barked.
He turned back and yes, Mei had piled the boxes taller than she was, and she was now going for another cart.
“Okay, so, you use a lot of microcontrollers,” Shang Qinghua said defensively as he sidled up to the counter with a handful of gravitronics.
Shen Yuan snatched them out of his hands and smacked them on the counter. “Did you blow our chip budget?”
“Look, the bulk rate is cheap and you go through a lot of them anyway!”
Shen Yuan gritted his teeth. “How many, Airplane?”
Mei had finished loading the second cart. “One hundred thousand P207E-M microcontrollers, as ordered!” She chirped cheerfully. “What a project you must be working on! Go Plus Ultra!”
“AIRPLANE!”
“There was a bulk discount! You should have seen what the unit price came down to!” Shang Qinghua shrilled.
“That’s because there’s a new model coming out next month!” Shen Yuan seethed.
Shang Qinghua waved his arms. “Well, do you really have to have the latest and greatest?”
Shen Yuan reached into the cart and pulled out the PCB Fabricator.
Shang Qinghua grabbed Shen Yuan’s arm. “Noooo, not my babyyyy,” he cried.
Shen Yuan pulled it out of Shang Qinghua’s reach. “If we’re buying 100k microcontrollers, we can’t afford this!”
Shen Yuan wobbled as Shang Qinghua glomped on to him, a feeble attempt to stop Shen Yuan. But there was a reason Shen Yuan was the public face of Shizun and Shang Qinghua was the sidekick! It wasn’t entirely nepotism!
Shen Yuan was taller. He had that villainous height. The same villainous height allowed him to hold the fabricator out of Shang Qinghua’s reach, no matter how the man jumped and tugged and wriggled.
And then a hand came out of nowhere and dragged Shang Qinghua away.
“Only I can bully Qinghua,” Mobei-jun declared, clutching Shang Qinghua to his side.
Shang Qinghua and Shen Yuan both stared at him.
Mobei-jun was even taller than Shen Yuan, and easily snatched the fabricator away, then handed it to Shang Qinghua, who sniffled and looked pathetically up at Mobei-jun with a watery but grateful smile.
Mei sighed dreamily, “You guys are my favorite customers.” Mei eyed Shang Qinghua in Mobei-jun’s arms wistfully, blushed, and giggled.
Shen Yuan did not want to know what she was thinking. Mei’s mind was twisted and depraved, and Shen Yuan had formed that opinion purely from looking at her design schematics.
Mei’s thoughts on Shang Qinghua and Mobei-jun’s appalling PDA habits were not universal, and Shen Yuan put extra menace into his glower to make sure they knew it. Unfortunately, Shang Qinghua didn’t even spare him a glance.
“What are you doing here?” Shang Qinghua said, gazing deeply into Mobei-jun’s eyes as though they held the key to understanding the Speed Force.
“Driving Junshang,” Mobei-jun replied. As usual, he used minimal words to convey minimal information.
“What was that?” Shen Yuan said, suddenly very interested. Was Luo Binghe here?
And then Luo Binghe himself sidled casually out from between two shelves. He was dressed in his hero costume as though he’d just gotten back from a rough day of hero work. But Shen Yuan was a professional Luo Binghe watcher. From the luster and delicate curl of Luo Binghe’s hair, Shen Yuan could tell Luo Binghe had been spending the day off-duty and primping.
Shen Yuan wondered who Luo Binghe was planning to seduce this time (the end result was, of course, a foregone conclusion). Would it be Ning Yingying, his on-again-off-again childhood lover-friend? The mysterious and beautiful Liu Mingyan? Hopefully it wouldn’t be Qin Wanrong, she had been so insufferable to Shen Yuan in the discord server, sharing all kinds of intimate details about lovemaking with Luo Binghe that Shen Yuan wasn’t ready to hear. He still wasn’t sure why he’d read through her entire screed. Perhaps it was the same fascination that drove people to watch train wrecks.
Shen Yuan tried not to think about what Qin Wanrong had said about Luo Binghe’s lips. Even though they were so distracting, right there in front of him.
Luo Binghe waved awkwardly. “Hello, I just happened to be in the area.”
“Oh, I didn’t know you had an interest in electronics design,” Shen Yuan beamed.
It wasn’t every day he discovered new and previously unknown Luo Binghe information. And they shared a hobby, how exciting!
“Yes, I am very interested in-” Luo Binghe looked at the labeled bag in his hand, “-potentiometers.”
Shen Yuan peered down at the plastic bag where it lay in the palm of Luo Binghe’s hand. “Oh, that one’s not a very good one, the dial tends to slip and the resistances vary pretty wildly from unit-to-unit. You should get this one.”
Shen Yuan reached over Luo Binghe’s head, standing on tiptoes and bracing himself on Luo Binghe’s shoulder to get to the better model. Luo Binghe’s carefully coiffed ringlets brushed his cheek. Shen Yuan came back down and handed the bag to Luo Binghe.
The only sound was the buzzing of the lights overhead. If this was a danmei, the way their gazes locked would probably have been described in flowery terms and purple prose. Their crimson and vermillion orbs locked in a gaze neither could bear to part from. Each felt the first stirrings of love, though neither was ready to recognize it as such. sh*t like that.
This wasn’t a danmei. This was a story of a hero and his evil nemesis. Was Luo Binghe trying to figure Shen Yuan out? Did he suspect Shen Yuan’s criminal past as Shizun? Shen Yuan was sure his fake death was airtight. That chapter of his life was supposed to be closed.
Most likely, Luo Binghe was staring because Shen Yuan had done something unspeakably strange. Well, Shen Yuan was used to those looks and knew the best way to deal with bewildered staring: pretend you saw nothing out of the ordinary!
“Here you go!” Shen Yuan chirped.
Luo Binghe snapped out of his daze. His hands gripped Shen Yuan’s waist and pulled him close. Just to avoid bouncing off Luo Binghe’s impressive chest, Shen Yuan was forced put out a hand and push against one very plush pectoral.
“You owe me coffee,” Luo Binghe declared with an ominous growl.
Shen Yuan shivered in response. He was suddenly aware of Luo Binghe’s hands gripping tight at his hips, fingers so long they reached around to caress his lower back. Heat pooled there, as though Luo Binghe was prepared to set him on fire as he had the Vermillion Vine Hydra not too long ago.
“There’s a bakery next door,” Shang Qinghua supplied, completely oblivious to Luo Binghe’s threatening aura.
Shen Yuan glanced over, then regretted it. “Public decency laws, Airplane! Respect the public decency laws!”
“Ignore the fuddy-duddy, he’s no fun,” Shang Qinghua told Mobei-jun. “He still thinks he’s straight.”
“I am straight!” Shen Yuan argued as he eyed an infrared transmitter/receiver pair hanging next to Luo Binghe’s ear. He could use one of those! Maybe combined with the Pym Particles, or…
Shen Yuan leaned forward to get a better look at the specifications. His chest pressed against Luo Binghe’s and he could feel Luo Binghe’s lungs expand as he inhaled, squeezing out the air between them.
“I’m straight as a beam of light!” Shen Yuan insisted.
“In a prism!” Shang Qinghua insisted. “You’re bent and full of rainbows, just admit it and move on!”
“Never,” Shen Yuan growled. “And put that fabricator back. If we go over budget, my brother will come around asking questions.”
They both shuddered at the memory of the last time that had happened.
Mobei-jun straightened up from where he had been bending over Shang Qinghua’s shorter form to do unknown things to Shang Qinghua’s neck.
“I will buy it,” Mobei-jun declared, fingers teasing through the strands of Shang Qinghua’s hair. “For Qinghua.”
“You will?” Shang Qinghua gasped, delighted. His face lit up like it was Christmas and there was a bazooka under the tree.
Shen Yuan groaned.
Shang Qinghua scoffed at him. “You’re just jealous I have a sugar daddy and you don’t!”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Shen Yuan said, but couldn’t hide a rising blush.
“I will buy the fabricator,” Luo Binghe announced, apropos of nothing.
“There’s a few more on Aisle 3,” Shen Yuan informed him helpfully. Luo Binghe must be really involved in the electrical engineering hobby-space, to be fabricating his own circuit boards. Shen Yuan couldn’t wait to trade notes with him. “What design software do you use?”
Luo Binghe looked at him blankly.
“Apparently Mobei-jun is buying us this one,” Shen Yuan said, giving Luo Binghe a reassuring smile. “So if you like you can come over sometime and you can try out this fabricator before you buy it. And then maybe I can show you some of my projects, too? I’d love to get your opinion on them.”
The ones that weren’t related to world domination or mass-destruction, anyway. Shen Yuan made a mental note to stuff those in a closet ASAP. If Luo Binghe decided to take Shen Yuan up on his offer, Shen Yuan needed to be prepared! Butterflies fluttered in Shen Yuan’s stomach at the thought of getting Luo Binghe’s feedback on his designs. Luo Binghe was probably as excellent at electrical engineering as he was at everything else.
Shen Yuan stepped away from Luo Binghe to take the cart and head for the register. No sense in dawdling–he didn’t want to wait until Mobei-jun changed his mind. Which he might, once he saw the price tag.
“Right. Coffee, was it?” Shen Yuan said when they had finished checking out and paying for everything.
Shen Yuan had dignity and was carrying the shopping bags full of parts himself. Shang Qinghua used his wiles to convince Mobei-jun to take the microcontrollers in his car, although Shen Yuan wasn’t certain why Luo Binghe had gone along with it. He’d seemed ready to object until Shen Yuan added his two cents to the plaintive begging Shang Qinghua was performing.
Still, a win was a win, and there was no way they were getting that much stuff home by train!
Luckily Luo Binghe had parked his very fancy sports car (painted the same distinctive shade of red as his huadian) in front of a nice looking bakery. Shen Yuan had been meaning to try it for a while, but they generally spent enough money at the electronics store that Shen Yuan felt too guilty to spend more on even a mini-croissant.
This time they might have blown their budget, but not by as large a margin as usual. Shen Yuan could afford this! And it was worth getting a little spendy to buy something nice for Luo Binghe. Who knew when Shen Yuan would get another opportunity to show his appreciation?
“Thanks again for helping us get all those parts home,” Shen Yuan said, as he held the door open for Luo Binghe.
Luo Binghe stepped into the bakery a little hesitantly, with a confused look at Shen Yuan. Did people not normally thank him for things? No, that couldn’t be it, not with the screaming hordes that descended after every battle he fought.
Shen Yuan followed after, breathing in the scent of fresh baked bread as he did. The Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie wasn’t one of those modern places shiny with metal and white paint. The lights were low and there was an odd hush to the room. The seating that was provided was largely empty at this time of day; too late for lunch, too early for dinner. The walls of the bakery had dark wood paneling all around, and the glass display cases were full of treats. The pastries in their cases almost seemed to glow. They called to Shen Yuan: Eat me. Eat me.
Shang Qinghua rushed forward and plastered his face into the glass, Mobei-jun trailing after. Shen Yuan ignored his undignified friend and his frosty beau. Shen Yuan was trying to look cool for Luo Binghe, here!
Shen Yuan gave the pastries a casual glance as though they didn’t look enticingly delicious. “What do you like? My treat!”
“But… I’m rich?” This was absolutely true, but Luo Binghe said it like a question.
Shen Yuan waved off Luo Binghe’s objection. Who didn’t like getting treated to delicious food? And indeed, Luo Binghe smiled at him.
“I can afford some pastries! … Though maybe not too many of the macarons,” Shen Yuan admitted as he spotted the price tag on the delicate cookies.
“Are cream puffs in your price range?”
Shen Yuan puffed his cheeks in hopes of hiding how hot they were getting. He was probably turning ridiculously red! Shen Yuan wished he’d mastered his facial expressions like his older brother Shen Jiu; instead, Shen Yuan turned into a traffic light in front of his idol. “Yes, yes, I can afford cream puffs!”
“Then I’ll have a chocolate-dipped cream puff, and a coffee black,” Luo Binghe told the baker, who began preparing his order.
“Vanilla filling cream puff and a mocha for me,” Shen Yuan said, pulling out his phone and tapping it on the payment screen.
Unlike at the electronics store, he was definitely not going to be expensing this to his brother. He would have to pay for it out of his actual salary from working at the museum. It would cut into his Luo Binghe merch fund, but this was for Luo Binghe himself! It would be worth it.
Although Shen Yuan resolved that if he could get away with it, he was definitely taking Luo Binghe’s cup home with him. An actual cup that Luo Binghe had touched with his actual lips! The lips that could–oh, f*ck Qin Wanrong, seriously. The things she had said were such brain-worms.
“I’ll have-” Shang Qinghua piped up from behind Shen Yuan.
“Not you! Pay for yourself and your boyfriend,” Shen Yuan said with a haughty sniff.
“Oh, is that the guideline we’re following now? We’re paying for our own boyfriends?” Shang Qinghua never missed a chance to heckle Shen Yuan. What were best friends for? Really. Shen Yuan wanted to know.
“Yes-no! I’ll pay for Luo Binghe, and if you want you can pay for Mobei-jun,” Shen Yuan corrected himself. “You get money from writing that webnovel, right?”
“He acts like he doesn’t know, but he’s my top Patron,” Shang Qinghua said in an aside to Mobei-jun, who was watching them talk carefully. “All the advance subscriptions.”
“It’s trash,” Shen Yuan said darkly.
He still wasn’t over the disappointing cop-out Shang Qinghua had used in his latest chapter. What had been the point of all that dramatic tension if Shang Qinghua was just going to throw it all away with a two-bit solution he’d pulled out of his ass? Everyone all helpless to stop the monsters and save the day, and then the hero swans in and solves everything in five seconds? Just like that? So unsatisfying.
Shen Yuan had told Shang Qinghua as much. And then when Shang Qinghua had failed to give his properly cited and extensively researched rant the credence it deserved, Shen Yuan had used his theater-kid skills to read it to him with an appropriate amount of passion and volume.
“You’re my favorite reader!” Shang Qinghua insisted.
“Hate-reader!”
“Potato-tomato-potato-tomato,” Shang Qinghua sang.
Luo Binghe had to drag Shen Yuan away to sit at a table before he strangled Shang Qinghua.
“Sit over there,” he commanded Mobei-jun, pointing to the furthest corner of the bakery.
Mobei-jun nodded solemnly, as though obeying a general on the battlefield who was ordering a particular maneuver. Mobei-jun snagged Shang Qinghua and pulled him over to the blackboard advertising sandwiches as Luo Binghe dragged Shen Yuan into a tactical retreat.
Shen Yuan, for his part, let himself be towed by Luo Binghe to a quiet corner. Admittedly, Shang Qinghua was a lot, and Shen Yuan couldn’t blame Luo Binghe for wanting time away from him. Shen Yuan often needed breaks from Shang Qinghua as well! Shang Qinghua grew on you like a fungus and sometimes you just needed to feel clean.
Shen Yuan, knowing of how Shang Qinghua got when around Mobei-jun, very pointedly took the seat facing away from them.
“I caught your fight the other day, against the Long-furred Freshwater Crab,” Shen Yuan enthused. “It was so cool, the way you tangled it up in its own hair to slow it down!”
“Yes,” Luo Binghe replied with a suave smile. “It tried to trap me, but it was no match for me. It was doomed the moment I arrived.”
Luo Binghe leaned forward and placed a hand on Shen Yuan’s. Shen Yuan enthusiastically pulled it closer to look at his fingertips.
“Your claws are retractable?” Shen Yuan asked, poking gently at Luo Binghe’s nails.
Luo Binghe fluttered his eyelashes at Shen Yuan. “It makes it convenient when I want to be gentle with delicate things.”
“That does sound better than scratching everything you hold,” Shen Yuan grinned back at him.
“Order for Shen Yuan!” The person operating the register called out.
Shen Yuan released Luo Binghe’s hand and stood. “I’ll get it!” Shen Yuan insisted, motioning for Luo Binghe to stay seated.
The bakery employee passed Shen Yuan a tray with ceramic plates of cream puffs and mugs of coffee. Shen Yuan made a mental note to ask about paying for Luo Binghe’s mug as a keepsake, rather than just stealing it from the bakery. He was a model citizen now, after all! No more committing crimes, not even for Luo Binghe memorabilia. Even if it was tempting sometimes.
Shen Yuan brought their orders to the table, passing Luo Binghe the coffee and chocolate cream puff before sitting down to indulge.
Shen Yuan bit into his cream puff with a loud and blissful moan. This bakery was amazing, how had he never been here before? This cream puff was so high quality, Shen Yuan foresaw a great deal of temptation every time he went electronics shopping in the future!
The warm flaky crust was crisp against his lips, but gave way easily to airy pastry. It was like chewing on buttery fluff. So soft, so delicate, easily crushed between Shen Yuan’s teeth to produce more sweetness. And then the second bite! With the pastry torn away, Shen Yuan could get at the vanilla cream. Sweet chilled filling ran thick and smooth in Shen Yuan’s mouth. The vanilla made mellow bursts of flavor as specks of vanilla ran over Shen Yuan’s tongue.
More cream oozed towards Shen Yuan’s fingers where he held the pastry. Shen Yuan licked his lips, then dove back in to catch the filling that was threatening to fall, flicking his tongue and making appreciative noises as he did.
Luo Binghe dropped his coffee. It spilled across the table and dripped into his lap.
“sh*t!” Luo Binghe hissed, and grabbed at his napkin to stop the spread.
It was woefully insufficient. It quickly turned dark and wet with the coffee, hardly managing to soak up any of it. Shen Yuan hastily put down his cream puff and darted back to the counter to retrieved more napkins.
When he returned, Luo Binghe was bright red, covering his lap with one hand and keeping more coffee from dripping onto him with the other. He must have gotten a lot of coffee spilled on his hero suit–how unfortunate!
“Are you all right?” Shen Yuan asked, wincing in sympathy as he placed more of the napkins on the table.
“I’m fine,” Luo Binghe said weakly, looking quite pitiful and embarrassed.
Shen Yuan passed him a stack of the napkins and Luo Binghe used them to mop himself up under the table. In the meantime, Shen Yuan made quick work of the mess on the table, soaking up the remaining coffee spill. He swiped sodden napkins through the mess and dumped them in the trash can by the wall.
“I’ll get you another coffee,” Shen Yuan offered.
“No, I think I’ll stick with water this time. Ice cold, please,” said Luo Binghe, face still a fetching shade of pink.
Shen Yuan got Luo Binghe the water as requested, but still. Had Luo Binghe even gotten to taste the coffee? Shen Yuan had been distracted by the most amazing cream puff ever, and had missed what Luo Binghe was doing. But Shen Yuan’s mocha smelled great, and if it was anything like the cream puff, Luo Binghe was missing out. Luo Binghe should get to try it, at least, even if he didn’t want a new cup!
“Here,” Shen Yuan proffered his mocha carefully. He didn’t want to spill even more coffee on Luo Binghe, after all. “It’s good, try a bit!”
Shen Yuan smiled encouragingly. Luo Binghe stared at him nonplussed. But after a moment, he took Shen Yuan’s cup, hands placed over Shen Yuan’s. He guided it to his mouth to take a delicate sip.
“Thank you,” Luo Binghe said, and his smile was different now. A little bit more small and delicate. A little bit more real.
Shen Yuan had always liked the cool grins Luo Binghe wore after battle, in news articles and fan photos.
But he liked this smile better.
Luo Binghe released Shen Yuan’s hands and the cup of mocha, and Shen Yuan returned to his seat. They both finished their cream puffs and traded the mocha between them. Even after every crumb was finished and every drop was drained, Shen Yuan didn’t want whatever this was to end.
He could practically feel Shang Qinghua glaring at the back of his head. They had plans for the evening, and really shouldn’t have been spending this long getting coffee. Shang Qinghua, just focus on your boy-toy and leave me be!
Shen Yuan cast his gaze about for an excuse to meet again, and spotted a flyer in the window. Well, that might get Shen Jiu off his back about Shen Yuan not exercising. It was worth a shot–and meant spending more time with Luo Binghe! He could explode two birds with one bomb!
Motioning towards it, he asked Luo Binghe, “Do you want to try taking a dance class together?”
“I’d love to,” Luo Binghe said.
Luo Binghe smiled again and it was like the sun dawning on a new day. Shen Yuan wanted to shield his eyes from its brightness, but how could he ever look away?
