I really want to cheat...

Secretary Zhou stepped out of the front passenger seat and took the initiative to open the door for the dazed Xu Shi.

His gaze happened to catch the paper bag in Xu Shi's hand. The dark red tie inside looked so familiar.

He cast a meaningful glance at his boss, who sat upright in the car.

He said nothing.

Turning back, he said respectfully, "Please get in, sir."

Only then did Xu Shi come to his senses.

He nodded and said, "Thanks," then bent down and climbed into the car, pretending nothing was amiss.

Inside the cramped, enclosed car, the Alpha's faint woody scent instantly curled around him, very familiar.

Like fir.

"..."

Xu Shi pressed his lips together and glanced sideways, openly sizing up the perfectly composed Xie Yanci beside him.

In the dim light, the Alpha's burgundy shirt was fastened impeccably. He had changed into another black suit jacket, still looking refined and elegant.

His brown tie had a slight pattern, though Xu Shi could not make it out.

He had changed clothes.

Xu Shi had originally wanted to catch him before they went home and see whether he still had his tie, only to find that someone had changed everything from head to toe.

"Where are your glasses?" Xu Shi casually picked a related topic to ask about.

At the same time, he tossed the paper bag onto him as if by accident, then curled up in his seat and quietly watched his reaction.

Xie Yanci was a neat freak and disliked having his clothes creased.

His long fingers picked up the paper bag, ready to set it by his feet.

Lowering his eyes, he spotted the dark red tie inside without fail.

"..."

His gaze paused for a second, then he straightened again as though nothing had happened.

"I'm not nearsighted. I put the glasses away," he explained.

His voice was as steady as ever, betraying no emotion.

[Strange.]

[Why isn't he reacting?]

[I knew a certain aloof ascetic couldn't possibly be that good at kissing!]

[I really want to cheat...]

"Tsk." Xu Shi still felt something was off.

He shifted into a reasonably proper sitting position and raised his chin. "This is an Alpha's tie. Aren't you going to ask me where I got it?"

His own wife had another Alpha's tie, and he wasn't even jealous?

Xu Shi had his doubts.

Xie Yanci had his head lowered, unhurriedly smoothing his creased suit jacket.

At the question, his fingers merely paused for a second. His face remained unreadable. "Where did you get it?"

"..."

Xu Shi could not understand.

[What exactly are you pretending for?]

[Is kissing your own wife really that hard to accept?]

[It doesn't mean you like me!]

Click-

Xie Yanci's hand tightened as he adjusted his sleeve, and his cuff link came straight off.

The red diamond fell onto the carpet.

He froze, actually forgetting to pick it up.

[What's going on?]

[Why such a big reaction all of a sudden?]

[Did I say something?]

He clearly had not said anything.

Xu Shi realized their previous conversation was not over yet.

He snatched the bag back, took out the tie, and threw it straight onto Xie Yanci. "Isn't this yours?"

The same scent, the same style.

How else was he going to deny it?

What exactly was so impossible to admit?

It was only a kiss. It wasn't as though they hadn't done it.

"..."

Xie Yanci did not answer.

He leaned against the seat back, his fingertips gently rubbing the silk tie, an inscrutable trace of emotion in his eyes.

That probably counted as a tacit admission.

Annoyed with him, Xu Shi spoke in an icy tone. "Blindfolding someone and forcing a kiss on them. I really never imagined you'd be into that."

He had been so rough when he kissed him that Xu Shi had thought someone really was sexually assaulting him.

Although afterward, he had been completely won over by his kissing skills...

But those were separate matters.

He was still angry that Xie Yanci had forced a kiss on him and then refused to admit it.

Was he really that unpresentable?

[Too much.]

[I want a divorce!]

[Tomorrow.]

[And I'll order a whole bunch of muscular men who'll greet me with smiles every day. I hate men who give me the cold shoulder most of all!]

"..."

Xie Yanci sighed.

After considering for a few seconds, he folded the tie and, for the first time, tried to start a conversation himself. "I didn't see you on the red carpet earlier."

The interview should have ended before the red carpet event, so the schedules should not have clashed.

Secretary Zhou had told him at short notice that Xu Shi was on the official red carpet invitation list.

It was Xu Shi's first time walking the red carpet, so he had made a point of watching.

Yet he had not seen his wife appear, even by the end.

Just mentioning it made Xu Shi angry. He snorted. "What's so surprising about that? Is this the first time you've learned that your wife is such a nobody that anyone can lord it over him?"

Xie Yanci frowned. "Did they bully you?"

The words slipped out almost immediately. His voice was no longer as cool as usual, sounding somewhat stern instead.

Xu Shi froze.

Unused to such a serious atmosphere, he hurried to explain. "I wouldn't call it bullying. It's normal. I'm not a big enough name to deserve it anyway."

Better to avoid trouble.

He had long since grown used to being bullied, and no one had ever stood up for him.

"..."

Xie Yanci said nothing more. His dark eyes narrowed slightly, and he lowered his gaze, idly turning the wedding ring on his ring finger.

A faint sense of pressure instantly filled the cramped, sealed car.

Xu Shi did not notice.

Secretary Zhou, however, stole a glance through the rearview mirror from the front passenger seat.

There would be more work to do tomorrow.

When Xie Yanci came out after his shower, Xu Shi was still soaking in the master bathroom.

The bedroom was not particularly bright, making the dark red tie laid neatly in the middle of the large bed especially conspicuous.

"..."

Xu Shi was far too mischievous.

He had thought the matter was over.

Xie Yanci sighed helplessly. Wiping his still-damp hair with one hand, he reached out with the other and pulled the tie away.

He was just about to toss it into the trash.

But the scene of their kiss surfaced in his mind at that inopportune moment.

Those glistening lips, that slender waist, and the intense, wet sounds of kissing...

It had been his first kiss.

And his first kiss with Xu Shi.

His long fingers gripped the offending dark red tie tightly. After some thought, he did not throw it away after all.

He casually stuffed it into the second compartment from the bottom of the wardrobe.

"I love bathing, it makes my skin so nice~~"

Xu Shi came out of the bathroom humming, his gaze instinctively moving to the bed.

As expected, the tie was gone.

He whistled and deliberately asked Xie Yanci, who was trying hard to look composed nearby, "Honey, where's the tie I left here?"

Xie Yanci put away the hair dryer without even daring to raise his head. "I don't know."

With that, he strode out of the bedroom and returned the hair dryer to the walk-in closet, setting it neatly in place.

Xu Shi raised an eyebrow.

He burst out laughing and crouched on the floor, laughing so hard he could not straighten up.

Teasing a stuffy, straitlaced old prude was such fun.

It was his first time seeing the lofty Mr. Xie, always so refined and aloof, at such a loss.

Hadn't he even blushed just now?

After laughing for a good while, Xu Shi poked his head out to look through the doorway, but there was no sign of a certain someone.

He coughed, forced back his laughter, and called out:

"Honey, if you don't come to bed soon, I'm closing the door~"