This wasn’t in Luan Nian’s plans.

He had rejected Shang Zhitao, intending to have nothing more with her. But when his fingertips touched her warm, soft earlobe, he suddenly wanted to do something with her. Urgently, with destructive force, wanting to crush her.

Just yesterday, Shang Zhitao had been thinking she would never be intimate with Luan Nian again. Today, hearing his invitation to go home with him, she froze, looking at him, speechless.

Luan Nian’s fingers caressed her earlobe: “I suddenly think your proposal wasn’t bad,” he said.

“What?”

“The proposal to be regular sex partners.” Luan Nian reminded her. He started the engine and said nothing more. The car drove rather fast, so fast that Shang Zhitao felt they didn’t need foreplay; just this strange silence in the car was enough to arouse her.

She couldn’t explain what was happening to her; desire surged within her, frightening even herself. She pressed her lips tightly together, the words “stop the car” on the tip of her tongue, but she couldn’t say them no matter what. More than getting out, she wanted to stay by Luan Nian’s side. The one who falls in love first drops their shield and armor, utterly defeated—this principle she now understood.

Later, she didn’t know how it happened, but Luan Nian swept her away again, in his garage, in his car. Shang Zhitao later wondered, how did it become so urgent that they couldn’t even get out of the car?

Luan Nian’s tongue enveloped her earlobe, then deeply explored it. Shang Zhitao’s hair carried a faint fragrance, her small, urgent breathing sounds very much like her usual humble self. Luan Nian deliberately applied pressure, forcing that light moan to break through her throat. He whispered in her ear: “Beautiful sound.” Her voice could no longer be contained, soft and gentle, with occasional sounds that made one’s bones go soft.

From the car to the bedroom to the bathroom, Luan Nian grew increasingly vigorous, and Shang Zhitao collapsed, not knowing east from west. She didn’t even have time to consider whether this was right or wrong; she only knew that this week, every time she closed her eyes, she saw Luan Nian. Once a young woman opens the floodgates to desire, they cannot be closed. Others might not do, but she felt she hadn’t had enough of him, as if she needed to devour him whole before she could move on to someone else.

Water poured over her shoulders, washing away her sweat and his scent, but it was far from over. Shang Zhitao thought they were done, but they weren’t. The temperature in the shower was high; she was almost suffocating. His scent was washed away, then returned—he simply wouldn’t let her go.

At her most vulnerable moment, she craved his kiss. Holding his face in both hands, she kissed him deeply.

This time was truly complete, with every pore filled with pleasure. After who knows how long, their breathing finally evened out. She instinctively reached for the blanket but accidentally touched Luan Nian’s hand. Though they had just made love, she quickly withdrew when touching his hand, as if holding hands were more unforgivable than sex.

Luan Nian handed her the blanket, and the two each kept to their own side of the bed, just like last time.

I’ve gone crazy, thought Shang Zhitao.

Luan Nian, have you fucking lost your mind? Thought Luan Nian.

Neither spoke, not knowing what to say. One had just decided yesterday not to do this again; the other had rejected her proposal to be regular sex partners a few days ago. Both had betrayed their initial intentions.

“I don’t think Sunday is a very good time,” Shang Zhitao finally said after a long while.

“Hmm?”

“We have work on Monday, and the marks on my body are still obvious.” During intimacy, she couldn’t care less, but afterward she realized Luan Nian liked to leave marks on her: “The marks won’t fade by the next day. If it’s Friday night, there’s time for them to fade… Or perhaps next time you… could not leave hickeys?” What she was thinking was that Sunday was too disruptive—she still needed to study English on Sunday! Friday night, she could come to his place from the office, leave him the next day, and not disrupt her weekend plans.

Hearing Shang Zhitao seriously discuss with him when would be convenient in the future, Luan Nian found the scene somewhat comical. He had dated two or three times but never had a regular sex partner. He never imagined that in this matter, it would be Shang Zhitao leading him. Were young women so open nowadays?

He said nothing, put on his clothes, and left the bedroom. Downstairs, he poured himself a glass of ice soda and drank it in one gulp, instantly clearing his head. He strongly disliked the feeling of being led by others, even in matters of little importance. He also poured a glass for Shang Zhitao. She gulped it down, finding it refreshing.

“Sobered up?”

“Yes.”

“Then you should go home. Don’t you have work tomorrow?” He was telling her to leave. This became awkward. Shang Zhitao didn’t know that her words had made Luan Nian uncomfortable. He was eager to spar with her a bit, perhaps to see who could be more casual about this matter.

“Oh, okay.” Shang Zhitao got up to dress, and heard Luan Nian making a call: “Master Liu, could you help me send someone home…” Shang Zhitao jumped over to grab his phone. Luan Nian locked her against his chest, then raised the phone high, tilting his head to speak into it: “Yes, at my home.”

“…” He hung up and released Shang Zhitao: “What’s wrong?”

“The company doesn’t allow employees to date internally.” Shang Zhitao was a bit anxious, mainly because she couldn’t face Liu Wu.

“We’re friends with benefits, not dating.”

“…” Luan Nian tossed those words at her.

“That’s still not okay… ask Master Liu not to come.” She hurriedly went to find her phone, preparing to leave hastily. Luan Nian, quick-eyed and quick-handed, snatched away her phone: “Beg me.”

Damn.

“I beg you.” Shang Zhitao bowed to him, asking him to let her off, to leave her some dignity.

Having achieved his goal, Luan Nian called Liu Wu: “Master Liu, no need to come, the person is leaving on their own. Please rest.” He still held Shang Zhitao’s phone, not giving it back to her.

Shang Zhitao reached out to him: “I need to go.” Luan Nian, like someone with hearing impairment, stuffed her phone under his pillow and closed his eyes to sleep.

“So should I stay or go?”

“Sleep in the guest room.”

“Oh.”

Shang Zhitao climbed onto the bed, reached under Luan Nian’s pillow to retrieve her phone, then turned towards the door. After a couple of steps, she stopped: “Then how will I get to work tomorrow…?” She was genuinely pondering this question.

Luan Nian ignored her, keeping his eyes tightly shut without speaking, but his stomach betrayed him—he was hungry. After playing basketball all afternoon and then engaging in such prolonged activity with Shang Zhitao, he hadn’t eaten anything! So he opened his eyes, put on a T-shirt, and saw Shang Zhitao still standing there like a big fool.

“Hungry?”

“…” Shang Zhitao wanted to say no, but she was too hungry to maintain her pride, so she nodded.

“Then go cook.”

“I only know how to make noodles.” Shang Zhitao’s limited noodle-making skills were developed in her college dormitory.

“Fine, that’ll do.”

The two took the elevator, and Shang Zhitao suddenly asked Luan Nian: “Why don’t you have a housekeeper?”

“Not used to it.”

“What?”

“Not used to being with strangers.”

You certainly didn’t seem uncomfortable being intimate with a stranger, Shang Zhitao thought to herself. Reaching the first floor, Luan Nian indeed played the idle boss, pouring himself a small glass of red wine, sitting on a high stool, and raising his chin at Shang Zhitao: “Go ahead.”

Fine, I’ll go.

Shang Zhitao found tomatoes, eggs, and some vegetables in the refrigerator, along with noodles. She washed the vegetables and turned on the stove, looking like she knew what she was doing. She poured a little oil into the pan, then began to look like a complete novice. In college, she had used a small electric cooker to make noodles; she had never used an open flame. When she sprinkled in the green onions, oil splashed out, and the pan caught fire. She jumped back half a step in fright.

Luan Nian almost spat out his wine and hurried over to turn off the stove. He frowned at Shang Zhitao: “You know how to make noodles?”

“Ah…”

“What else do you know how to do?” Luan Nian would never again believe Shang Zhitao when she said she knew how to do something. She said she knew how to drive and crashed his car; she said she knew how to make noodles and almost burned down his house. He pushed Shang Zhitao aside and efficiently made vegetable noodles.

Last time it was beef pasta, this time vegetable noodles—Luan Nian knew how to cook. Shang Zhitao was a bit surprised, standing to the side watching him busy himself, feeling somewhat at a loss.

“You know how to cook.”

“I’m picky about food.”

Luan Nian had been picky about food since childhood. When he was in kindergarten, he didn’t like the food there and would rather go hungry. Later, when he followed his parents to the United States, he didn’t like Western food during his school years, and takeout wasn’t good either, so he occasionally cooked for himself. Though his cooking was terrible, it was still his own, and he could stomach it. Gradually, he learned to cook a little.

Shang Zhitao wasn’t picky at all; she liked eating everything, including the bowl of noodles Luan Nian had condescended to make for her. As she stuffed a mouthful of noodles into her mouth, she suddenly thought: If Kitty knew that her dear boss slept with me and made noodles for me, would she flay me alive? Extract my tendons? Scrape my bones? She already didn’t like me.

She ate her noodles while her mind wandered, even playing out an entire TV drama in her head. After they quietly finished their noodles, Shang Zhitao asked him with some embarrassment: “Do you have an extra toothbrush?”

“Yes.” Luan Nian took her upstairs and retrieved a spare toothbrush and toothpaste from a drawer in the bathroom.

“What about towels? Bath towels? Pajamas? Contact lens cases…?” Shang Zhitao suddenly thought of many things: “If I’m going to come here every Friday night to sleep, I’ll need all these things.”

“Have we decided on meeting every Friday night?” Luan Nian asked her.

…Shang Zhitao was stumped by his retort, and before she could think of how to counter, he continued: “Can’t you bring your own?”

“Do I have to carry them each time? Or is there somewhere here I can keep them?”

Luan Nian understood what she was asking: Is it appropriate for me to leave things here? Would your other girlfriends mind? He didn’t answer her, not bothering to waste words, and picked up his toothbrush to brush his teeth.

Shang Zhitao stood there thinking, then asked: “Do other female colleagues from the company come here?”

Luan Nian spat out a mouthful of toothpaste foam and coldly asked her: “What? Want to acknowledge sisters?” He neither confirmed nor denied.

“Not at all, not at all.”

Shang Zhitao was sensible in this regard; she simply didn’t want to be a third party. So she directly asked: “You’re not dating anyone right now, are you? If you have a girlfriend, what we’re doing isn’t very appropriate!”

Luan Nian was genuinely a bit angry now. Did Shang Zhitao have rocks in her brain? If he had a girlfriend, would he fucking bring her back to his home? He tossed his toothbrush into the cup, turned, and entered the master bedroom, closing the door, shutting her terrible questions outside.

Shang Zhitao pouted, went to brush her teeth and wash her face, then went to the guest room. Luan Nian truly had taste; the bedding he chose was extremely comfortable. She hadn’t examined it carefully last time, but today, lying on it and truly experiencing it, she felt the difference between Luan Nian’s bed and her own. She was a bit tired and fell into a deep sleep in Luan Nian’s guest room after turning off the lights.

The next morning, she woke up early to find that Luan Nian’s bedroom door was already open, but he wasn’t there. After brushing her teeth, Shang Zhitao saw him come upstairs, drenched in sweat—he worked out every morning.

Shang Zhitao glanced at the time. So this guy got up at six? My goodness. Luan Nian took off his workout shirt, his robust upper body bare, and entered the bathroom. Seeing Shang Zhitao’s gaze lingering on his abs, he grabbed her by the collar, pulled her out, and closed the door to take a shower.