As An Yubei met Ji Shang's eyes, he felt inexplicably flustered. His heart beat faster and faster, as though it might leap out of his chest.
Ji Shang drew closer and closer, his features coming into sharper focus. An Yubei could even see the fine hairs on his face.
Closer still. Ji Shang's hot breath brushed his face, and An Yubei instinctively held his breath.
At this distance, it's either a kiss or a fight.
A kiss is definitely impossible. He's my older brother. Is he going to fight me?
At the thought of a fight, An Yubei nervously clutched Ji Shang's shirt.
"Brother?" he asked in a quiet, aggrieved voice.
He had no idea what he had done wrong, but acting cute was bound to work.
Ji Shang came back to himself. He raised a hand and wiped the corner of An Yubei's mouth. "There was something on your mouth. There, it's gone now."
His lips tingled slightly where Ji Shang had brushed them, and An Yubei sat up straight, the tips of his ears faintly red.
His heart was still racing. An Yubei's gaze darted away, not daring to look at Ji Shang, and he said softly, "L-let's eat!"
Ji Shang's lips curved in a smile. He set An Yubei on the sofa beside him and began eating.
As he ate, he thought he had been too hasty. Xiao Bei still couldn't accept the change in their relationship.
But that was all right. He could take his time.
After lunch, Ji Shang had an important meeting, while An Yubei was free to do as he pleased.
Just as he was about to go home, he heard Zhao Ze talking to someone. Their voices sounded rather exasperated. It wasn't quite an argument, but they kept hovering on the verge of one.
Zhao Ze walked over, sighing repeatedly, and An Yubei went up to ask what was wrong.
"That was You Zhi," Zhao Ze said. "He's quitting."
"No matter what I say, he won't listen. I'm out of ideas."
You Zhi wanted to leave, and Zhao Ze couldn't keep him. He had no idea how he was going to explain this to Ji Shang.
An Yubei was surprised. "He's quitting when he earns that much?"
If An Yubei could have earned that much in his previous life, he would have stayed at the company until he died.
Then again, he hadn't earned even a fraction of what You Zhi did, yet he had still died at the company.
An Yubei knew how important You Zhi was to the Ji Group, so he volunteered to take on the task. "Leave it to me!"
With that, An Yubei chased after him and stopped You Zhi, who was waiting for a car downstairs.
"Mr. You, wait!" An Yubei said breathlessly, sweat rolling down his cheeks.
You Zhi turned and saw a sweet, adorable young man standing before him.
The young man had large, lively eyes, and every little expression brimmed with youth.
You Zhi couldn't help staring, a little entranced. This was his type. He liked boys just like this.
"Were you looking for me?"
You Zhi studied An Yubei. He wasn't wearing an employee badge, so You Zhi wasn't sure whether he worked at the company.
An Yubei nodded vigorously. "Could we talk? I'd like to speak with you on the company's behalf, Mr. You."
Had it been anyone else, You Zhi would have turned and left, but the young man before him was so good-looking that he agreed.
An Yubei smiled happily, then glanced around. Spotting a milk tea shop, he suggested, "Mr. You, let me buy you some milk tea."
The young man spoke pleasantly, his voice playful and infectious. Hearing him speak, you couldn't help feeling happy too.
"Sure."
Once they were seated in the milk tea shop, An Yubei sipped his drink and asked, "Mr. You, why do you want to leave? Are you unhappy with the salary or some other conditions?"
You Zhi took a sip of milk tea and frowned. It was too sweet, but seeing that An Yubei liked it, he forced himself to keep drinking. "Don't call me Mr. You. Just use my name."
"Are you even an adult? The company isn't hiring child labor, is it?"
An Yubei pouted in displeasure. "I am an adult, okay?"
"Enough about me. Let's talk about you first. Why are you leaving? Do you know how many people envy your salary? Quitting just like that is way too rash."
You Zhi rubbed his milk tea cup. "Money means nothing to me. Making money is easy for me. What I'm missing is fun, passion, a challenge."
You Zhi turned the conversation back to An Yubei. "What's your name? How old are you? Do you have a boyfriend?"
An Yubei choked. A boyfriend?
"What boyfriend? I'm a boy. How could I have a boyfriend?" An Yubei said indignantly, his cheeks flushing with anger.
"Stop changing the subject. Hurry up and tell me why you want to leave!"
An Yubei's attempt at fierceness was utterly adorable, making You Zhi burst out laughing.
"You're so cute. Did you grow up eating Cornetto?"
"...!" Now he finally understood why Zhao Ze had gotten angry.
An Yubei rolled his eyes at You Zhi angrily, thinking that this man really was difficult to deal with. He kept talking in circles and never got to the point.
"Just tell me. What would it take for you to stay?" An Yubei didn't want to keep going in circles with him.
You Zhi leaned back and languidly lifted his eyelids. "Be my boyfriend, and I won't leave."
An Yubei: "...!"
What kind of demand was that?
"I'll say it again. I'm a boy. I can only be a girl's boyfriend, not a boy's."
"If you keep this up, I'm leaving. I won't try to persuade you anymore."
An Yubei thought he would stop trying. At worst, he would work for his brother himself.
He stood up and was about to leave when You Zhi stopped him. "Okay, okay. I'll stop messing around. Let's talk business."
The young man really was quite appealing. You Zhi didn't want to anger him into leaving, so he began finding himself a reason.
After some thought, he said, "Actually, the main reason I'm leaving is that I'm unhappy with the work President Ji assigned me."
Seeing that You Zhi was finally getting to the point, he sat down quietly and listened.
"What work?"
You Zhi resumed his casual air. "Product reviews for electronics. We even have to write review reports."
"I'm number one in the Honker Alliance, and this is what you have me doing? Isn't that looking down on me?"
"What do you mean, product reviews for electronics?" An Yubei asked. "I don't really understand."
You Zhi raised an eyebrow. "You didn't get assigned this work? As far as I know, every department has assignments."
"I'm an intern," An Yubei said guiltily.
"No wonder." You Zhi continued, "President Ji's younger brother is apparently going to school, so President Ji bought a huge batch of daily necessities and school supplies and asked everyone to write review reports."
"You know what? Even a single pen needs a report explaining its performance, strengths, and weaknesses."
You Zhi snorted. "Tell me, isn't that insane? Is all this necessary just to go to school? There are plenty of pens that cost a few yuan. Just buy a bunch and use them. Why write review reports?"
"If you ask me, President Ji really spoils that kid. He looks like someone who could accomplish great things, but it turns out he's just a foolish older brother who mindlessly dotes on his little brother."
You Zhi kept complaining. "You know what? The most ridiculous part is that even the toilet paper needs reviewing. The administration department is going crazy. The person reviewing the toilet paper has practically wiped the skin off their ass testing how soft it is."
"Tell me, if that isn't a tyrant, what is? Even King Zhou back then was no worse."
An Yubei thought about it. If his brother was King Zhou, didn't that make him Su Daji?
An Yubei knew Ji Shang was preparing school supplies for him. He just hadn't known he was taking it so seriously.
Having the entire company write review reports was making far too much of a minor matter.
"Actually, if you don't want to do it, you don't have to," An Yubei said quietly. "I'll talk to President Ji."
Quitting over this really wasn't justified.
"There's no need," You Zhi said. "I've already decided to quit. A leader like that isn't worth following."
"Hmph. Making me write review reports? I'll have to destroy him."
"Who are you going to destroy?" An Yubei asked in surprise.
"I'm going to toy with An Yubei," You Zhi declared confidently. "I'll toy with him until he's finished."
At present, You Zhi was more interested in An Yubei. After all, An Yubei had easily dealt with the hacker attack.
He had tried it himself, but he was always a few minutes slower than An Yubei.
Those few minutes were his shame. If he couldn't surpass his enemy, he would destroy him and make himself number one.
What kind of grudge was this?
An Yubei blinked and said innocently, "I'm An Yubei. How are you going to destroy me?"
You Zhi: "...!"
Quick, give me a crack in the ground. I need to crawl into it.