He lit my cigarette

Shan Ye rubbed the tip of his nose with his index finger. He had been seen through.

Fan Jin walked ahead without a word. Shan Ye watched his back, liking him more with every glance. He even liked his shadow on the ground. He loved Boss Fan's cool, aloof air, so clean and comfortable.

Fan Jin's building had no elevator. It was an old apartment block, but he lived on the third floor, so there weren't many stairs to climb.

As Fan Jin opened the door, Shan Ye peered inside curiously. The white-and-gray decor was simple to the point of feeling a little austere, but everything was spotless.

The shoes in the entryway were neatly lined up. There wasn't even any dust on the shoe cabinet.

"Nice decor." Shan Ye stepped inside, looking around. "Did you do it yourself?"

"Yeah." Fan Jin brought him a pair of slippers. "They're clean."

Shan Ye changed his shoes and went to sit in the living room. The sofa was light gray too, and a clean ashtray sat on the coffee table.

"Your place is so clean," Shan Ye said.

"I tidy up pretty often." Fan Jin poured him a glass of water and sat down opposite him.

Shan Ye scanned the walls. "How come you don't hang anything on your walls?"

"No need."

"Then I'll bring you a painting sometime," Shan Ye said naturally. He liked Corot's paintings and had quite a few hanging in his own home.

Fan Jin glanced at him without responding.

Shan Ye wasn't embarrassed. He went on, "You're impressive, Boss Fan. How come you can do everything? You even know how to fix cars."

He genuinely thought his Fan Jin was fucking amazing. Aside from having babies, the man could do anything, and he liked keeping things clean. A good man like him was one in a hundred-no, one in ten thousand.

"I spent my early years in the military and learned a lot. It's nothing special."

Shan Ye nodded. He had noticed long ago that Fan Jin carried himself differently, very much like a soldier. Besides, the way he left every place he'd been spotless was clearly a habit developed in the military.

It all made sense to Shan Ye now.

Fan Jin instinctively took out his cigarette pack, held a cigarette between his lips, and lowered his head to light it. Then something occurred to him. He lifted his eyes and asked Shan Ye, "Do you mind?"

Shan Ye waved a hand. "Not at all. I smoke too."

Fan Jin lowered his lashes. He flicked the lighter, and a flame sprang up, illuminating his shadowed features.

Blue-gray smoke curled upward. He brought over the clean, transparent ashtray and tapped off some ash.

He wasn't looking at Shan Ye, but that gaze was impossible to ignore. It stayed glued to his face.

He never hid his smoking from anyone, but this was the first time someone had stared at him like this.

It made him a little uncomfortable.

Fan Jin glanced at him and asked outright, "Why do you keep looking at me?"

Shan Ye's heart suddenly began pounding. He looked away and lowered his head to feel around for his cigarettes, fumbling for ages without getting his hand into his pocket.

He finally found them and put a cigarette between his lips. Shit. I didn't bring a lighter.

Holding the cigarette between his fingers, Shan Ye said, "Can I borrow your lighter, Boss Fan? Forgot mine."

Fan Jin picked up the lighter and cupped the flame. "Come here."

Shan Ye hadn't expected him to offer to light his cigarette. He leaned in with his head lowered. The flame licked the end of the cigarette, and he took a gentle drag. Even as the smoke entered his throat, his eyes stayed fixed on Fan Jin's face.

They quickly broke eye contact, then smoked in silence for a while.

Shan Ye leaned back on the sofa, stealing glances at Fan Jin. He looked good smoking, his brows faintly drawn together, smoke spilling between his lips. Everything about him was cool and sexy.

Shan Ye started a conversation. "How long were you in the military, Boss Fan?"

"Ten years."

He nodded. "I've always really admired soldiers."

Fan Jin raised an eyebrow. "I admire teachers too."

"You know I'm a..."

"Mr. Shan." Fan Jin's voice was low and husky around his cigarette.

Shan Ye's heart nearly stopped. Fan Jin's low, husky voice sounded so good. Shan Ye was an absolute sucker for a good voice; hearing Fan Jin call him Mr. Shan was as good as a confession of love.

"What do you teach? Secondary school?" Fan Jin asked.

"University. I teach English."

"An educated man." Fan Jin stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray.

He had only finished high school. He'd never even set foot in a university, didn't know what one looked like, yet somehow he'd gotten to know a university lecturer. He gave a slightly self-mocking smile.

Shan Ye caught that hint of self-mockery and hurried to say, "It's nothing special. Plenty of people are more educated than me."

Fan Jin said nothing. He leaned back on the sofa, lacing his hands behind his head, his eyes half-lidded.

Shan Ye felt the mood had grown a little strange. Wanting to lighten it, he smiled. "Let's not talk about work. I don't like work. Let's talk about life."

Fan Jin looked away. "There's nothing to talk about. My life is very simple."

Shan Ye's gaze suddenly turned serious. "Then do you... are you seeing anyone?"

Fan Jin frowned at the question. "What's that got to do with you?"

He watched Shan Ye's eyes drop and his shoulders slump.

"No."

Shan Ye's head snapped up, his eyes bright again.

"That's good." He couldn't suppress his smile. "I'm single too."

Fan Jin looked at him with a complicated expression but said nothing.

After a while, Fan Jin spoke. "It's getting late. The streetlights are dim at night. Makes driving difficult."

Shan Ye would have liked to stay longer, but his host had already asked him to leave. He couldn't pretend not to understand.

He stood up. "I'll get going, then, Boss Fan. I'll come by again."

Fan Jin gave a quiet "Mm" with no other reaction, and didn't turn to look at him.

On the drive home, Shan Ye couldn't stop smiling. His afternoon arranging flowers in vases hadn't been wasted. He'd found out Boss Fan was single and even visited his home. How was this any different from being in a relationship?

Shan Ye arrived home humming a tune. His mother was wiping the table in the living room. She looked at him. "Why are you back so early? Didn't you say you'd be home later?"

"Now you're unhappy that I'm home early?"

His mother ignored that. "How did it go? How are things going with that person?" All she cared about was Shan Ye's love life.

"I went to his place today." Shan Ye raised his left eyebrow, looking rather pleased with himself.

His mother's eyes lit up at once. "And? How was it?"

"Pretty good. I really like him."

His mother gave him a smack. "But does he like you?"

"He will," he said.

That night, Shan Ye lay in bed, turning the adhesive bandage Fan Jin had given him over and over. It was just an ordinary medical bandage, but he stared at it as though he could make flowers bloom from it. He stroked the wrapper, which seemed to retain a trace of warmth from Fan Jin's fingertips.

He found a square tin and put the bandage away inside it.

It was Monday, and Shan Ye had a morning class. The seats weren't very full. No one wanted an eight a.m. class, after all, even with a teacher as tall and handsome as Shan Ye.

"Everyone, look at this sentence. How would you translate it?" He pointed to "He felt something unusual when he first met her" on the blackboard.

Shan Ye looked out at the class. Someone raised a hand.

"When he met her for the first time, he felt something out of the ordinary."

Shan Ye nodded. "Anything else?"

A male student called out, "Could you say 'love at first sight'?"

Shan Ye froze, then his lips curved slightly. "Yes. That fits very well. What's your student number?"

"Are you going to give me participation points?"

Shan Ye laughed. "Then I won't."

"No, please! Number fifty-two."

Shan Ye found the student's name and added two points. The translation had taken him a little by surprise. Love at first sight-it had struck a chord with him.