Xia Yang could hear the pounding of his own heartbeat. His mind went blank for a moment.
When he came back to his senses, he found himself lying on Han Yi’s broad, firm chest. Warmth spread through his body, and his lower back involuntarily trembled.
He stayed in that position for a few seconds, then tried to prop himself up on his arms. But before he could move, Han Yi’s large hand held him close, pressing him even tighter against him.
“You… you…” A blush spread across Xia Yang’s face, turning from his ears down to his neck. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before squeezing out a few faint words, “What if someone walks in and sees us like this!”
“They won’t,” Han Yi’s deep voice came from above him. “This is a private area, only accessible to insiders.”
Xia Yang: “…”
Xia Yang: “But what if?”
“There won’t be a ‘what if.’ No one except you would dare come in here.”
“Just let me hold you for a while,” Han Yi said, stroking Xia Yang’s back gently with his broad hand. “Lie down next to me.”
“Uh, better not,” Xia Yang mumbled, lying on Han Yi’s chest like a little cat. The steady heartbeat he felt through his chest seemed to sync with his own, rising and falling together.
It felt quite comfortable, and he didn’t want to move.
“I’m fine lying like this. Your sponge pillow looks too soft, not good for lying down. I prefer something firmer,” he said, squeezing the pillow beside Han Yi’s ear.
“Alright.” Han Yi pulled him closer, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
Before long, Xia Yang fell asleep. When he woke up, he found himself on Han Yi’s large bed, unsure of how he had ended up there.
The spot next to him was empty but still warm. The pillow bore faint creases. He blinked, rolled over, and suddenly realized something, jolting up in bed.
At that moment, the door opened from the outside.
“You’re awake.” Han Yi walked in, already dressed in a black business suit.
“What time is it? Did I sleep until the end of the day?” Xia Yang asked nervously, looking around for his shoes.
“There’s still ten minutes left until work starts. No rush,” Han Yi said, retrieving Xia Yang’s shoes from the shoe rack by the door and handing them to him.
“And the production team? They haven’t, uh, come in yet, have they?”
“No, they haven’t.”
“That’s good, that’s good. You scared me,” Xia Yang said, clutching his chest with relief as he got out of bed and put on his shoes. He muttered to himself, “Can’t let them know that the assistant and the boss spent the night together on the first day of filming.”
Han Yi looked at him, his gaze flickering. “Even if they knew, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.”
Xia Yang: “…”
—
The entire afternoon was spent in a flurry of work.
By the time the workday ended, Han Yi was still in a video conference. Meanwhile, Xia Yang had managed to organize more than half of the documents, making impressive progress.
The production team’s two supervisors had to head back to the station for a meeting, and the cameraman left with them, leaving only two cameras in the office to capture footage.
At six o’clock, the company employees began to leave. Xia Yang received a message from Owen.
[Model Owen]: Off work, off work, idol, want to grab dinner?
Xia Yang thought for a moment, then took a picture of the two large stacks of documents in front of him and replied:
[Xia Yang]: Still not done organizing, probably have to work late.
[Xia Yang]: Maybe another time.
[Model Owen]: [Shocked! Man silent, woman tears]
[Model Owen]: Idol, are you addicted to being a corporate slave~
[Xia Yang]: No, I’m just striving to be a better me [fist bump]
[Model Owen]: [Impressed] Alright, then, I’m leaving. Don’t forget to ask Mr. Han for overtime pay.
Ending his chat with Owen, Xia Yang switched to his conversation with Han Yi and sent him a message.
[Xia Yang]: You seem busy, so I’ll head to the cafeteria to get dinner.
After sending the message, he stepped out of the office, and his assistant, Xiao Jun, who had been waiting in the adjacent reading room, hurried over.
“Bro, are you leaving?”
“No, just heading to the cafeteria.”
“Huh?” Xiao Jun quickly followed behind him. “Bro, leave getting dinner to me. It’s not convenient for you to go into the employee cafeteria.”
“Oh, it’s fine. The people here are busy with their own work and probably won’t recognize me,” Xia Yang smiled, patting his assistant on the back. “You don’t know Han Yi’s preferences; I’ll handle it myself.” Xiao Jun trailed behind, wanting to say something but unsure how to start.
He finally just gave a thumbs up, praising, “Bro, you’re like the perfect wife! Han Yi probably laughs himself to sleep every night with you around.”
Xia Yang, the perfect wife: “…”
The employee cafeteria of Yunding Group was on the first floor. Since it had been half an hour after work ended, Xia Yang thought it wouldn’t be crowded.
However, he was proven wrong.
As soon as he opened the door and approached the meal counter, he heard a sudden flurry of chair movements behind him.
He jumped, startled, and turned around, thinking it was because some highly anticipated dish had just been served.
Xiao Jun was also startled, instinctively pulling Xia Yang back and positioning himself in front.
But in the next moment, they found themselves surrounded by a crowd.
“Oh my god, it’s really Xia Yang! I’m so excited; thank goodness I stayed late!”
“Xia Yang finally showed up! We thought we’d never see you; we’ve been waiting all day!”
“Xia Yang, how long will you be filming at our company? Is there a special meet-and-greet?”
“Hey, handsome, my daughter loves you. Could you sign an autograph for her?”
“Big brother, I want an autograph too! I’ve been your fan for so long!”
Xia Yang was stunned by the crowd in front of him, taking a couple of steps back. Xiao Jun stood protectively beside him, taking the opportunity to correct his earlier mistake.
“See, bro? What did I tell you? You’ve severely underestimated your popularity!”
Xia Yang hadn’t expected to be this popular. Seeing more and more employees, from young people to middle-aged cleaning ladies, flock into the cafeteria, all holding little notebooks for autographs, he realized he might not make it back upstairs for another two hours…
As he pondered how to handle the situation, a deep and authoritative male voice came from the door.
“What are you all doing here?”
As soon as the voice spoke, the room fell silent. Not a single sound could be heard. Everyone’s eyes turned to the door, then quickly averted, careful not to make eye contact.
Gasp! The big boss himself had come to the cafeteria!
Xia Yang craned his neck, looking through the crowd towards the door. Han Yi’s handsome face met his gaze, stern and expressionless as ever.
Xia Yang was momentarily stunned but quickly regained his composure, tightening his metaphorical “mask” and slipping back into the role of assistant.
“Mr. Han, your meeting ended?” he greeted, then respectfully added, “I didn’t want to disturb you while you were busy, so I came down to get dinner.”
“Mm.” Han Yi walked over with his hands in his pockets, the crowd parting to make way as if afraid of being swept away by his aura.
Once close, he turned to the gathering crowd and said, “Xia Yang hasn’t eaten yet. He won’t be signing autographs today. The company has an annual meeting in a few days; we’ll find another opportunity then.”
He then signaled to the cafeteria staff at the window, “Three sets of nutritious meals.” With that, he led Xia Yang out of the cafeteria.
Xiao Jun stayed behind to wait for the food, while the rest watched the two leave, sharing a silent thought—
Was their boss worried about Assistant Xia Yang getting mobbed and thus came down to protect him?
There seemed to be a faint scent of dog food in the air. Wasn’t there?
Out of the cafeteria, they took the elevator back to the 37th floor. While waiting for the food, Xia Yang mentioned wanting to tour the CEO’s floor. He had spent most of the day in the outer office and hadn’t explored the other areas.
Han Yi nodded and led the way, “The innermost area is the lounge, the second last is the gym, and next to the office is the reading area.”
“Wow, this is like a mini-home setup,” Xia Yang marveled as he entered the gym, taking in the room full of equipment.
He walked around, touching the ab wheel and patting the arm exerciser, then turned to Han Yi with a raised eyebrow, “With everything you need for daily life here, don’t you sometimes forget to go home when you’re busy?”
“No,” Han Yi shook his head, looking down at him. “No matter how busy, I have to go home when the other half is there.”
Wow, Xia Yang’s heart skipped a beat. Another direct confession!
He looked down, trying to avoid Han Yi’s heated gaze. As he turned away, he accidentally kicked a dumbbell.
The sudden obstacle caused him to stumble forward, his ankle hitting the cold, hard bar of the dumbbell with a thud.
Just when he thought he was going to faceplant, closing his eyes in despair, a strong arm wrapped around his chest, pulling him back into a broad chest.
“Are you treating this place like a runway? Watch where you’re walking,” Han Yi chided, steadying him with a deep voice.
Xia Yang grinned sheepishly, “There are no tripping dumbbells on runways.”
Han Yi: “…”
He took a deep breath, not wanting to argue over something trivial. His gaze shifted to Xia Yang’s ankle, “Does it hurt?”
“A bit, I guess,” Xia Yang said, lifting his pant leg to check his ankle, then waved it off nonchalantly. “It’s fine, not broken.”
Han Yi: “…”
Han Yi: “You have a pretty laid-back attitude.”
He knelt down, inspecting the young man’s ankle more closely, lightly touching it.
“Probably just a sprain.”
“Hiss,” Xia Yang winced. “Don’t touch it, it does hurt.”
Han Yi stood up, looking at him. Without saying a word, he suddenly lifted Xia Yang into his arms.
“Hey!” Xia Yang exclaimed, startled. Before he knew it, Han Yi was carrying him towards the office.
“Wait, wait! What if the production team’s cameras are around?” He widened his eyes, looking around nervously.
“Covered. They were covered before we came out,” Han Yi pointed to the spot above the office door, where the camera was draped with a piece of cloth.
Xia Yang relaxed, tightening his arms around Han Yi’s neck, a smile slowly spreading across his face.
So this is what they call a princess carry. It feels so… surreal!
“Ding,” the elevator door opened behind them. Xiao Jun, carrying three large takeout boxes, walked out, panting heavily.
He looked up, his eyes widening in shock, almost dropping the takeout.
Oh my god! What is this inappropriate scene? Han Yi just carried his little wife all the way into the office!
He even covered the cameras and locked the door. And this is in the office! It’s not even dark yet!
Just as he was letting his imagination run wild, the door suddenly opened again. Xiao Jun quickly snapped out of it, pretending he hadn’t seen anything or that nothing had happened.
Han Yi saw him and walked over to take the takeout boxes from his hands.
“Go downstairs to the pharmacy and buy some safflower oil.”
“Huh?” Xiao Jun’s mind was filled with a forbidden question, and after a brief pause, he couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Han, are you sure you need… safflower oil?”
The intended application of that oil… didn’t quite fit.
“Why, what else would you suggest?” Han Yi looked at him, pressing his lips together.
Author’s Note:
Xiao Jun: My god, such an open-minded Mr. Han!
Is that something you can recommend?
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