When Lin Hui woke up, it was already broad daylight.

He groggily opened his eyes and found himself nestled in a warm embrace, his head resting on He Jianshan’s arm as he held onto him. He Jianshan’s hand was wrapped around his waist. The two of them were naked, their bodies pressed snugly against each other.

Over the years, Lin Hui had maintained a very regular routine. No matter how exhausted he was the day before, his biological clock would always wake him up on time on weekdays, even more reliably than an alarm clock. However, at this moment, when he realized what the situation was, he wanted nothing more than to just knock back out again. Thankfully, He Jianshan hadn’t woken up yet. Otherwise, Lin Hui really wouldn’t know what to say first thing in the morning. He was still struggling to extricate himself without waking He Jianshan when the phone suddenly rang.

It was He Jianshan’s phone. Lin Hui was so startled that he immediately closed his eyes.

The phone rang for a few seconds, and Lin Hui felt the person beside him move slightly. It seemed that He Jianshan was trying to reach the phone while staying in that position, but, alas, it was a futile endeavor. After a bit of trying, he gently pulled his arm out from under Lin Hui, and his warm palm left Lin Hui’s back. As he moved, a small breeze brushed against Lin Hui, who instinctively shrunk his shoulders. Seeing this, He Jianshan tucked the blanket around him again.

“Hello?” It might’ve been his having just woken up, but He Jianshan’s voice sounded a little vague and unclear, lacking his usual deep and resonant tone.

“Jianshan, are you still not up? Shouldn’t you be jogging by now?”

The room was very quiet. Xue Pei’s voice faintly trickled out of the phone. Lin Hui could hear everything quite clearly.

He Jianshan lowered his voice, perhaps to avoid waking up the person beside him, and whispered, “I’m up. What’s up?”

“Don’t forget to come by my place for dinner tonight. Seriously, you’ve been away for way too long. My restaurant’s already open, and you’re only just now getting back.”

“Oh, got it.”

“I’ll send you the address later. I’ll also message Lin Hui on WeChat—”

“No need,” He Jianshan interrupted him. “You don’t have to trouble yourself. I’ll tell him.”

“…Alright, whatever you say. Anyway, it’s at 7:00 PM. Get there early. Bye.”

He Jianshan hung up the phone and wrapped his arms around Lin Hui again. Lin Hui tried to keep his breathing steady, still pretending that he was asleep. However, within just a few seconds, he heard a soft laugh coming from above his head. He Jianshan’s teasing voice soon followed, “Need me to call in sick for you?”

Lin Hui completely froze, stubbornly playing ostrich and refusing to answer the question.

Assistant Lin was simply too cute, what with the way he was burying his head in the sand. He Jianshan couldn’t help but lean over and kiss him. Afterwards, he got up and left Lin Hui, who was blushing furiously, to continue hiding under the covers. Once he’d left the room, Lin Hui opened his eyes and began listening to the movements coming from the other room—He Jianshan brushing his teeth, He Jianshan washing his face, He Jianshan taking a shower, He Jianshan in the kitchen. Later, the person in question returned to the room fully dressed. He sat down next to Lin Hui, gently stroking his hair, and said, “I’m going to drop by my place first, and then I’ll head straight to the company.”

No response.

“Take today off, okay?”

Still no response.

He Jianshan chuckled and was about to get up when Lin Hui suddenly grabbed him, clasping their hands together. He Jianshan looked over to see that Lin Hui was still facing away from him, his head buried in the blanket. After a while, a voice came from under the blanket, “I’ll go to work in the afternoon.” As if trying to cover something up, Lin Hui quickly changed the subject, “What did you make for breakfast?”

He Jianshan smiled and replied, “I couldn’t find the rice, so I just warmed up some milk and boiled some eggs and corn. Make sure to eat when you get up.”

Lin Hui didn’t say anything, but he continued to hold He Jianshan’s hand, refusing to let go. “You’re not…going to disappear, right?”

He Jianshan, holding his hand, sat back down again and reassured him, “Assistant Lin, I’ll be waiting for you at the company.”

After a long pause, Lin Hui softly responded, “Mn.”

That afternoon, Lin Hui arrived at the company five minutes late, as expected. After their intimate encounter last night, He Jianshan had carried him to the shower for a quick wash. However, his lower back was still sore, so he stayed in bed all morning, letting the time pass by. As soon as he got out of the elevator on the twelfth floor, he immediately heard An Ni and Zhao Xiaoxiao chatting. Seeing him, An Ni quickly grabbed a stack of documents and hurried after him, laughing as she did so. “Assistant Lin, I caught you being late for the second time.”

Lin Hui laughed at the remark. He had taken a shower before leaving, so his hair was a little damp and his eyes had a mistiness about them. He appeared a little less formal than usual, adding a unique sort of charm.

An Ni immediately began oohing and aahing. “Something’s different about you today!”

Lin Hui paused as he opened the door. “What’s different?”

An Ni thought for a moment. “Spring must be in the air!”

“Manager An, it’s winter.” Lin Hui mimicked An Ni’s tone, walking into the office with a smile.

“Tsk, tsk, tsk. I definitely have to share the news. Wanzhu’s second most eligible bachelor might be off the market.”

This comment made Lin Hui laugh. “Who’s the first?”

“President He!”

“…Oh…” Lin Hui was momentarily at a loss for words. “Is he in the office right now?”

“Yeah, he just had lunch with the people from the bank and arrived back about ten minutes before you got here.”

Lin Hui was speechless. Didn’t that mean He Jianshan would’ve heard everything he and An Ni had said just now?

Originally, Lin Hui had planned to discuss a few recent projects with He Jianshan as soon as he arrived at the office. However, He Jianshan had a sudden appointment that morning, prompting one of their routine meetings to be rescheduled for the afternoon, so he decided to discuss it with him after that meeting. At 2:30, Zhao Xiaoxiao notified Lin Hui to head to the conference room. Upon entering, Lin Hui found that he was the only one they were missing. All around the room, there were people in twos and threes, some chatting, some on their phones, and some preparing for the meeting. As for the man who’d been in the same bed as him just a few hours ago, he now sat upright at the head of the table, a beautiful curve to his lips as he watched him walk over and take his seat.

The meeting officially began.

It must be said. Meetings had to be one of the most boring inventions in human history. In all his years at Wanzhu, Lin Hui had attended countless meetings—monthly, quarterly, project meetings of all sizes—and he still couldn’t manage to stay focused throughout, especially since the distraction was often sitting at the same conference table. Lin Hui thought, “If meetings can be considered an occupational hazard, then I guess meetings with He Jianshan can be considered my compensation.”

Today was no exception. As the meeting progressed, Lin Hui couldn’t help but glance at He Jianshan. However, every time he looked over, he found that the other was also looking back at him. After locking eyes one too many times, Lin Hui finally decided to just prop his head on his hands. He wasn’t going to look anymore. It was baffling. He didn’t know if He Jianshan had become more observant or if his movements were just too obvious, but He Jianshan seemed to catch him every time.

Meanwhile, He Jianshan couldn’t help but laugh after catching Lin Hui looking at him several times. However, on top of this, he also had to wonder. Had Lin Hui always looked at him this frequently during previous meetings? In any case, Lin Hui’s unconcealed gaze softened He Jianshan’s heart. He hesitated for a moment, but, in the end, he couldn’t resist picking up his phone and sending Lin Hui a WeChat message.

He Jianshan: [What are you looking at?]

When Lin Hui saw this message, He Jianshan was discussing the next stage of operations with Vice President Sun Qing, his serious expression showing no sign of having slacked off just ten seconds ago. Lin Hui felt a little embarrassed about being found out, but he was also a little worried that he’d disturbed the other’s work. He flipped his phone over, deciding to reply once the meeting was over.

After the meeting, Lin Hui followed He Jianshan into his office.

Although he’d come in with the intention of ​​discussing work, he couldn’t help but feel his face heat up the moment the door closed. Mustering up all his professional composure, he began to speak, his tone businesslike, “I read the investigation report on Pan Xinnian’s project. I believe it ultimately depends on the willingness of the local government. However, Fengcheng is a small city without any significant industrial advantages. It seems a little challenging at the moment. President He, what do you think?”

He Jianshan leaned on the edge of the desk, his hands casually resting on the surface. He looked at Lin Hui for a while before suddenly saying, “I want to kiss you.”

Lin Hui’s face instantly turned bright red.

It took him a long time to just barely regain his composure. Stammering, he said, “…Y-you can’t be like this…”

He Jianshan argued, “You asked me what I thought.”

Lin Hui tried to quash this inappropriate behavior. “President He, these are working hours, and this is a workplace. You can’t do this. It’s not appropriate.”

Lin Hui was very serious, but his expression, his voice, his slightly furrowed brows, every movement of his lips, even the slope of neck as it dipped into his collar—all of it captivated He Jianshan.

He simply couldn’t take his eyes off him.

“Call me He Jianshan. It’s just the two of us here. Call me by my name.”

Lin Hui paused for a moment and whispered, “He Jianshan, this is wrong.”

He Jianshan straightened up. He locked eyes onto Lin Hui, slowly making his way towards him. His fervent gaze made Lin Hui feel like a startled animal, causing him to instinctively retreat until his back was pressed against the door.

There was nowhere left to retreat.

Lin Hui couldn’t help but think, “No, I’m right, I won’t waver on this.” He then raised his head, his lips slightly pursed, and stubbornly met He Jianshan’s gaze.

He Jianshan laughed, his voice both tender and resigned. “Assistant Lin…”

His gaze shifted from Lin Hui’s eyes to the corners of his lips, then back to his eyes. When Lin Hui was serious, his eyes always seemed to shine with an inexplicable brilliance, making it hard for anyone to look away. He Jianshan couldn’t help but lower his head and kiss the corner of his eyes, whispering.

“You should know that even the CEO can’t help making mistakes.”

Although he had spent a wonderful night with Lin Hui, He Jianshan still felt that it was far from enough—an entire morning apart was far too long. If it wasn’t for that appointment he had, he probably would’ve skipped work to stay in bed with Lin Hui.

This was a truly unimaginable development.

He Jianshan hadn’t even expected this himself. He’d never imagined that one day his concern for Lin Hui would surpass his dedication to his work. This wasn’t the result of a single accident or a few short days. This was the culmination of several years worth of feelings.

They were intensely drawn to and yearned for each other.

No more words needed to be said, and they didn’t want to hear anything more be said. All words seemed to pale, seemed a waste of time. He bit Lin Hui’s throat, licked the mole on his shoulder. His hands roamed over his ears before dropping to his back, his waist. Lin Hui held him tightly, whimpering as he endured He Jianshan’s outpouring of love, leaving marks of his own in return.

Infatuation, desire, possession, need—endless and unceasing.

Love was like a spark, igniting every desire within his heart and body. From the moment that He Jianshan realized his feelings for Lin Hui, he knew that, in his story, there was destined to be only one ending and that was “Lin Hui”. Now, he wanted to add the annotation of love to every page of that story.

“Compared to the project that you mentioned, I’ve got this new project that’s much more interesting, and you’re the only one who’s fit to be in charge of it. You have to personally manage it, keep track of it, and monitor it in real time. Can you do that?” He Jianshan said earnestly.

Lin Hui’s expression immediately became serious. “What is it?”

He Jianshan looked at Lin Hui’s face and leaned in for another kiss.

“It’s dating He Jianshan.”

The Author Has Something To Say:

Confessing isn’t enough, I need an official request to begin dating.