Xiao Cheng was wearing his pajamas, lying beside his pillow.
One hand pressed against his headphones as he listened to music.
His other hand...
A silver handcuff secured his wrist to the railing of the headboard.
A black tie was fastened over his eyes, too.
Jiang Chiyan was instantly wide awake.
Fuck! (A kind of green plant.)
"Xiao Cheng, what are you doing?" Jiang Chiyan narrowed his eyes, his voice impossibly hoarse.
His warm breath brushed against Xiao Cheng's ear.
It flushed even the base of Xiao Cheng's ear red.
He looked even more delectable.
"I'm trying to make you happy." Xiao Cheng's voice trembled badly as he asked, a little awkwardly, "Do you like it?"
It was his first time doing anything like this.
Jiang Chiyan took two deep breaths. "Baby, you're not trying to make me happy. You're trying to kill me."
Xiao Cheng's face was scarlet, and even his neck was flushed red.
Baby...
Xiao Cheng rolled over and buried his head in the pillow.
But even the pillow was steeped in Jiang Chiyan's fir scent.
Jiang Chiyan gripped his shoulders and turned him back around, amusement in his voice. "You had the nerve to come into my bedroom, but not to face me?"
Jiang Chiyan reached out and removed the tie covering Xiao Cheng's eyes.
He used it to bind both of Xiao Cheng's hands together.
Xiao Cheng watched him quietly, neither dodging nor struggling, good-naturedly letting him do as he pleased.
Jiang Chiyan looked at him with a smile and gently rubbed his thumb over Xiao Cheng's lips.
"Has anyone... kissed you here?"
Xiao Cheng licked his lips and shook his head honestly.
Jiang Chiyan asked again, "Do you coax other people like this when they're unhappy?"
"Only you," Xiao Cheng said.
He shifted a little uncomfortably. With his hands bound above his head, his arms were going numb.
Jiang Chiyan reached out and undid the tie and handcuff for him.
He got up, about to head to the bathroom for a cold shower.
He was still too softhearted.
Jiang Chiyan had barely taken two steps when Xiao Cheng caught his wrist.
He tilted his head up slightly to look at Jiang Chiyan, as if asking, Where are you going?
Using his height advantage, Jiang Chiyan gave Xiao Cheng's shoulder a gentle push, backing him into a corner.
"You don't mind me touching you?" Jiang Chiyan asked.
He gently stroked Xiao Cheng's back, soothing his slightly trembling frame.
Xiao Cheng gave it serious thought, then shook his head. "I don't. I came to you myself."
"Then... would Best Actor Xiao, who came to me all on his own, tell me why he wants to make me happy?"
Xiao Cheng was easily embarrassed. He didn't know Jiang Chiyan's phone had died and assumed Jiang Chiyan already knew the answer and was teasing him.
So, with his neck stiff and his face red, Best Actor Xiao forced out a thoroughly haughty, defiant reply. "No reason. I don't want to anymore."
"I've spoiled you rotten!" Jiang Chiyan held Xiao Cheng even more tightly. "Best Actor Xiao, do you think I'm Tang Sanzang or Liu Xiahui?"
His hands gripped Xiao Cheng's waist and tightened.
Xiao Cheng was ticklish.
Without meaning to, he burrowed into Jiang Chiyan's arms.
Jiang Chiyan was terribly wicked.
Whenever Xiao Cheng drew closer, he pulled back.
Until Xiao Cheng wrapped both arms around his neck and hung from him like a koala.
"If you don't tell me the truth, I'll... discipline you." Jiang Chiyan said it utterly shamelessly.
The thought of how he would discipline him made Xiao Cheng blush even harder.
He confessed everything about wanting to be Jiang Chiyan's assistant, and even asked what he needed to prepare for the interview.
Jiang Chiyan chuckled. He simply loved teasing Xiao Cheng, and deliberately said, "Your interviewer is right in front of you. Take a little initiative, and he'll pull some strings for you."