Croissant

He had only zoned out for a moment and realized he was the kind of pervert who fell for a pretty face. When he came back to himself, why had Shen Rui'an turned back into how he had been when they first met?

Su Tingbai felt a little uncomfortable. Why had Shen Rui'an suddenly become so distant with him again?

Su Tingbai could not quite describe how he felt; he only found it a little hard to breathe.

"This is a latte. I made it for you. Want to try it?" Su Tingbai adjusted his emotions and asked gently.

He sounded so cold. Did he suddenly have a problem with him? Then again, a sickly person like him was nothing but trouble. Su Tingbai had only taken on such a burden because Grandpa Su had insisted. Who could genuinely like a burden? Shen Rui'an mocked himself inwardly.

His gaze dimmed. Holding the latte in both hands, he gave Su Tingbai a polite smile that would not seem discourteous. "Thank you."

So fake! Su Tingbai did not understand why Shen Rui'an had suddenly become like this again. He was not someone who kept his mouth shut, so he asked directly, "Are you in a bad mood?"

"No." Shen Rui'an turned his face away and lowered his eyes, refusing to look at Su Tingbai.

"Then why do you look so..." Su Tingbai could not find the right word. Was he supposed to say, why had Shen Rui'an suddenly become so cold toward him?

"So cold." Su Tingbai suddenly cupped his face in both hands. He discovered that Shen Rui'an's face was not even as big as his palm. It was fair and soft beneath his fingers, though thin. Still, he was not thin enough to look gaunt; there was still a little flesh on his cheeks, not enough for his bones to jab Su Tingbai's hand.

He gently turned Shen Rui'an's face toward him and made him meet his eyes. Looking at him seriously, he asked word by word, "Did I do something wrong? Tell me, and I'll change."

Shen Rui'an lowered his eyes and puffed out his cheeks. He was still a little angry, though he did not know what exactly he was angry about. He was just angry, and Su Tingbai was still asking!

"I said no." There was not the slightest credibility in his words.

Liar!

Su Tingbai frowned. "Liars are puppies!"

"Woof!"

A bark suddenly broke the quiet atmosphere. The two turned toward the sound and saw that Baisui had somehow woken up and crawled all the way to the third floor, panting with his tongue hanging out as he barked at them.

For a puppy like Baisui, climbing three flights of stairs was indeed a bit too much. The steps were rather high, and no one knew how he had made it up.

Puppies could not take elevators.

"The puppy's here." Shen Rui'an pressed his lips together, wanting to laugh but not daring to. Come on, he was still angry!

How embarrassing would it be if he laughed at the wrong moment?

Su Tingbai noticed that Shen Rui'an seemed to be in a much better mood, so he pressed his advantage. "Then why were you angry just now? Tell me, okay?"

Su Tingbai's humble manner made Shen Rui'an wonder if he had misunderstood him. His mouth was no longer quite so stubborn as he huffed, "You were mean to me just now, so I got angry."

Huh? A huge question mark popped up over Su Tingbai's head. When had he ever been mean to him?

Heaven above, I only zoned out for a moment!

He hurriedly explained, "I wasn't mean to you! I've been wronged!"

"Hmph! I saw it. I asked whether that latte was for me, and you didn't answer. You looked especially fierce, especially impatient!"

Cats were creatures that pushed their luck. Once they realized they were adored by humans, they would proudly raise their chins, show off their noble claws, claim the human's territory as their own, and patrol it with catlike steps.

Shen Rui'an was the same right now, spoiled into arrogance.

Su Tingbai did not realize that Shen Rui'an was becoming increasingly bold with him. Instead, he felt relieved that Shen Rui'an had generously explained why he was angry.

"It wasn't like that. I just got distracted for a moment. I'm just the kind of person who..." After thinking for a while, Su Tingbai finally found an excuse he had never been willing to admit before. "Grumpy Face Syndrome. Yes, that's it."

He watched Shen Rui'an carefully, attentively observing whether he was still angry. When he saw Shen Rui'an's expression soften considerably, he inexplicably felt relieved. "Don't be angry anymore, okay?"

Once Shen Rui'an learned that he had not done it on purpose, he gave a generous humph and stubbornly said, "I wasn't angry in the first place!"

Shen Rui'an could not help secretly studying Su Tingbai. He found the man remarkably handsome, though he looked a little fierce whenever he was not smiling, like some kind of villain. But now that he had a smile in his eyes, he instead resembled a silly, foolish big dog.

He was a little annoyed at how sensitive he had been. Belatedly embarrassed, he simply stopped looking at Su Tingbai, completely forgetting how intimate their movements had been just moments ago.

Su Tingbai had no other thoughts at the moment. He only wanted Shen Rui'an to be happier. He held up the croissant eagerly. "I made this croissant. It has filling. Try it."

He had made a salted egg yolk lava croissant. The salted egg yolk had been mashed finely and mixed with seasonings like cream and white sugar, so it did not taste solely of salted egg yolk. It also had a hint of milkiness, with a mildly sweet and salty flavor that was not as cloying as pure sweetness.

"You're not allergic to eggs, right? Try it?" Su Tingbai picked up the croissant for him and asked cautiously.

Shen Rui'an huffed, glanced at him, and nodded reservedly. He took the croissant and bit off a small piece. Since he had bitten the tip first, he had not yet tasted the egg yolk sauce filling. All he tasted was the crisp, savory croissant with its milky fragrance.

It's delicious!

Shen Rui'an's heart was won over by Su Tingbai's croissant. His initial cautious taste turned into a hearty bite. Opening his mouth, he took a huge bite at last and finally tasted the egg yolk sauce. The flowing sweet-and-salty filling elevated the plain, one-note croissant and added layers of flavor, making it impossible to stop eating.

"Try the coffee too." Su Tingbai picked up the latte and held it to Shen Rui'an's lips. Seeing Shen Rui'an's satisfied expression, his heart felt like an inflated balloon, inexplicably full of contentment.

Shen Rui'an held the croissant, which was nearly half the size of his face, in both hands and did not want to let go. So he tilted his head slightly, and Su Tingbai brought the latte closer to his mouth. Shen Rui'an parted his rosy lips, closed them around the straw, and took a small sip of coffee.

The rich coffee entered his mouth. It was not as bitter as Shen Rui'an had imagined; instead, it carried a hint of milkiness. He thought it tasted good and took another sip.

His peripheral vision swept over Su Tingbai's iced Americano. "Um, I want to try that too."

Su Tingbai immediately brought over the iced Americano. It had ice in it, and he carefully reminded him, "It's very cold. Are you sure?"

To Shen Rui'an, that sounded no different from a refusal. Whenever the Shen Household would not let him eat so-called junk food, they would also first tell him about its dangers until he refused it himself.

But his father and mother were not here right now, and no one could control Shen Rui'an. He pouted. "Of course I want to drink it!"

Then he leaned over and took a sip from Su Tingbai's iced Americano.

So bitter!!!

Shen Rui'an scrunched up his face and swallowed it with difficulty, then said with utter disgust, "I don't like it! Take it back!"

How was this any different from drinking traditional medicine?

Shen Rui'an thought of those horribly bitter herbal medicines. Looking at the iced Americano, it was not much different from them. Oh, except herbal medicine was hot, while this was cold.

Su Tingbai laughed and quickly handed him the latte. "Drink this instead. The one with milk tastes better."

Shen Rui'an did not refuse. He took a huge gulp, then bit into the croissant again before finally suppressing the bitter taste.

The two had made up completely.

Baisui looked from one to the other. His little head could not make sense of what his two owners were babbling about, so he eagerly circled around their feet instead, his tiny tail wagging furiously.

Su Tingbai looked at Shen Rui'an and found him delectable. He lifted his coffee and took a sip, then paused as his gaze fell on the cup.

Just now, Shen Xiaoyao seemed to have drunk from this spot...

Su Tingbai could not resist licking his lips.