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“Boss, have you ever worked as a model yourself?”
The question was sudden, breaking the stillness of the comfortable silence in which they had been sitting for the last few minutes during Xia Fei’s break, spent (otherwise peacefully) in Vein’s car, parked somewhere in the vicinity of the agency. The model gulped, a growing feeling of regret making him almost forget about the biàndāng his boss ordered him for lunch, the food still sitting on his lap, lukewarm and nearly untouched. Vein turned to him with a puzzled expression, raising an eyebrow.
“Why the interest?”
Xia Fei should have known that Vein would ask. Although his boss was not the type to blatantly lie, he tended to avoid questions, often only disclosing information if it was to his advantage. Whether he did it out of habit or excessive caution, Xia Fei was unsure.But Vein had nothing to worry about, of course — never did with Xia Fei, whose question had been as harmless as were most of the ones he ever made.
Unlike his usual inquiries, however, this one hadn’t been just as innocent, and part of him feared his boss’s reaction upon learning about his genuine, enthusiastic opinion on his physical attributes.
Seeming to catch on to the possible meaning of the lingering hesitance, Vein’s growing smile acquired a hue of mischievous amusement at his employee’s struggle to explain himself.
“ Well ?”
Vein was not being impatient, not quite. He knew by experience that Xia Fei could be nudged into revealing his honest thoughts if only his boss showed a little persistence.
Of course, if the blonde were to avoid a sensitive topic for the sake of his well-being, Vein would let him. Xia Fei’s safety was his priority, after all.
Nevertheless, something told him that this silence had little to do with such matters, so Vein’s unyielding gaze freely savored the delightful mix of embarrassment and awkwardness imprinted on Xia Fei’s face in the form of a faint, rosy-pink flush until he decided to speak.
“You know, I was just wondering where the idea for the model agency came from. It’d make more sense if you had experience in the area, and,” — he swallowed nervously before continuing. — “You’re… Good-looking.”
The blonde knew right away he’d said exactly what Vein wanted to hear when he responded with a cocky grin and a low, pleased hum, the sound reverberating lavishly in his broad chest.
Xia Fei wished he found this reaction less brutally attractive than he did, but his fallible, guilty eyes went straight to Vein’s defined torso as he shifted in the dark leather seat, missing his signature coat to conceal the toned muscles that his tight black inner-shirt emphasized so sinfully.
“Why, thank you. I might’ve done something like that in the past. Not my thing though.”
The red-haired man chuckled, following Xia Fei’s gaze. His answer was vague, of course it was, leaving Xia Fei with more questions than answers.
Even worse, the idea that someone, somewhere might have pictures of Vein as a model made him waver in silent jealousy while his mind tried to picture what they would’ve looked like. His expression must’ve given away his interest, because Vein continued.
“How funny. My Felix has given me many compliments before, but I don’t recall him ever calling me handsome.”
“I…!”
Xia Fei could claim that that’s not what he said, not what he meant — but he knew better than that, both of them did. Besides, Vein was not pressuring him, per se. His demeanor was relaxed but inviting, gaze beaming with cautious curiosity. If Xia Fei knew anything about flirting at all, he would take the hint and believe that his boss was indeed flirting with him.
And was he into that?
Yes. God , yes.
Yet Xia Fei only knew how to flirt with a camera, an abstract audience with no face or name, and although he adored the attention, the impersonality was what made it easy. But this was Vein , their relationship anything but impersonal.
His boss had driven all the way there to meet him during his break, bought him some of his favorite, healthy food, and parked far enough so that Xia Fei didn’t have to worry about the unpleasant gossip that could transpire if someone from the agency saw them, while allowing him to eat inside his expensive car. Their bond had never been strictly professional.
“Um, yeah. I guess… Sorry about that, boss.”
He finally responded, the words followed by an awkward laugh as he fidgeted with the longer black hairs on the back of his head, unsuccessfully trying to relax. He took another bite of the food and avoided looking Vein in the eye, as if he were to scan his emotions in a glance if their eyes met.
Vein leaned in, uncrossed his legs.
“Pray tell, what about me makes you think I’m so handsome?”
His tone was shamelessly flirty. And yes, of course, under most circumstances, this would be seen as unmistakable flirting indeed. But everything always seemed different when it came to Vein, the man who called strangers “tasty” and claimed to “want their bodies” within a day of meeting them, all in a supposedly professional, platonic manner. There was a chance that interpreting this as flirting, when directed to himself, was only Xia Fei’s wishful thinking or giving the agency’s rumors undue credit, so he decided to treat it as the mere teasing he assumed it probably was.
“Boss, you’re just being cocky.” He said with a light pout on his lips.
Vein laughed, the sound warm and rich.
“Maybe so. Or maybe I just want to know in which ways I’ve piqued my Felix’s attention.”
What do you mean , Xia Fei could have asked, but he never had the chance, because the moment he raised his eyes to meet Vein’s, they were much closer than he remembered — looming over him, his boss’s hands finding purchase on each side of his seat. He was smirking, his expression bold and playful while still transparent in its sincere fondness.
Yet Xia Fei’s gaze did not linger there for long, not when Vein also had his muscular torso so close, and more visible than ever thanks to the lack of layers. He gasped, and stared .
None of these reactions went unnoticed by Vein.
“You’re making me think that you really like what you see. Am I right, Felix?”
Vein grinned, voice low and provocative. He was savoring the blonde’s reactions, feasting on his cluelessness, playing with his food at last before pouncing — and Xia Fei was thrilled to realize so, electricity coursing upon his skin, leaving goosebumps in its wake.
Fuck it.
“I-I do.”
“Hm? What was that?”
This was not how he planned to confess to being attracted to Vein, or whatever it was that he was doing right now. He never planned on saying anything to begin with.
They had been playing a game of chase with no winners or losers for months, the tension between them almost palpable. At any time, the frail walls between them were destined to crumble.
Xia Fei gulped. He swallowed his pride along with any remaining fears of rejection. Whatever the outcome was, there was the consoling factor that his boss would probably be mindful of his feelings. His Vein had always been kind to him, after all.
And he happened to be an extremely attractive man as well.
“ I do like it! ” He blurted out, his voice louder than he would have liked.
A pleased smile was sitting on the corners of Vein's lips. Although he didn’t seem to have anticipated the hasty confession, the hearty laugh that followed was not one of mockery, but of unmistakable delight —proof that he very much welcomed it.
“Haha! You truly are something else.”
He hummed, bewildered with content, before his right hand captured Xia Fei’s chin in a motion that felt both brusque and tender. The carmine blaze of his eyes seemed to glow brighter, burning through ocher ones, its flame vivid and all-consuming.
Xia Fei shivered. He tentatively parted his lips, only to seal them shut again. The sight of Vein close by, attention focused solely on him, the sharp, yet balanced (and perfectly handsome) angles of his face affected by emotions that Xia Fei couldn’t quite name, but that he knew he had caused — it was dizzying.
Vein knew what he was doing. Carnivorous plants attract insects, their main source of food, using the luxuriant, vivid red lining of their leaves. An attractive method, a visual cue . When touched, these leaves will snap shut and the interlocking teeth will seal the trap shut, catching the prey.
Xia Fei leaned in and sealed their lips with a kiss.