The Office Is Exactly What I Want. What Fun Would It Be to Watch You at Home?

The photo was the second message he had sent her after checking on her.

It had been an incredibly casual slip of the finger. He said he had sent it by accident and couldn't take it back.

If not for that particular photo, Xin Lan wouldn't have been interested in replying to him.

After all, there were already so many men waiting for her favor that she could barely get around to them all. She really hadn't thought of him for the time being, not when he was so far away she couldn't even touch him.

But since he had hinted so strongly, even going so far as to ask outright whether she would mind having another exclusive sentinel, she didn't mind going along with it and accepting him ahead of time.

She just hadn't figured out his motive.

After all, they had only met twice, and those meetings could hardly be called pleasant. Claiming it was love at first sight would have been a little too unbelievable.

Xuan Jia clearly knew such an explanation wouldn't be enough to support his actions, so after giving it careful thought, he offered an answer that Xin Lan found fairly satisfactory.

"Because your spiritual power level is very high. I don't know how you hid your true level or why you did it, but I need you."

"My Spirit Body is a Taotie. It devours everything and eats anything, which leaves my Mental Landscape on the brink of collapse all year round. No guide can leave my Mental Landscape safely, including that top SSS-rank guide."

At that point, his expression turned solemn, and a note of sorrow entered his voice.

"Mo Xiao is like me, but not quite. Although we're brothers, his Spirit Body is more obedient, so he can live away from District K1 and have the life he wants. I can't, because I'll die if I leave here."

"More precisely, without the high-level guides here regularly cleansing and soothing me, I'll go into a frenzy and undergo a complete mutation."

Xin Lan's expression remained unchanged, but inwardly she was stunned.

Hello? Xuan Jia and Mo Xiao are actually brothers?

If she had heard that anywhere else, she would have assumed it was just an unofficial rumor. She hadn't expected to hear it straight from one of them.

Shocked.jpg

"Guide Xin Lan, I don't know just how high your spiritual power level is, but your 99.99% compatibility with Mo Xiao at least shows that you're a perfect match for him in some respect. Naturally, the same is true for me."

"So I need you. I want to become your exclusive sentinel."

"In the whole world, you're the only one who can save me."

A confession like that was as good as laying all his cards on the table and staking everything on her. It was highly risky, but also highly sincere.

At least he was more straightforward than that poser Mo Xiao.

Xin Lan appreciated his honesty and tapped a finger thoughtfully.

"So, no matter what I need you to do, you'll obey me unconditionally. Is that what you mean?"

"Yes."

Xuan Jia nodded earnestly, his face flushing with embarrassment once more.

"I know you don't know me very well yet, and you may not be sure whether you can safely cleanse my Mental Landscape. Those concerns could make it hard for you to quickly decide to let me be your exclusive sentinel.

"But we can get to know each other first. For example, I can make time to contact you every day, and you can come to me whenever you want to talk or confide in me. Or, if you don't like chatting much, we can video call every day. If you want, I can also go straight to K9 District to see you..."

"An online romance?"

Xin Lan couldn't help laughing aloud.

"You want to start an online romance with me? Get to know each other online first, so it'll be easier to get down to business when we meet later?"

Her blunt words startled Xuan Jia into waving his hands repeatedly in denial.

"No, Xin Lan, that's not what I meant. You've misunderstood. I just wanted us to get to know each other better."

He paused, then lowered his voice and muttered.

"Besides, even if I can't become your exclusive sentinel later, I still want to stay in touch with you like this..."

"What?"

Xin Lan pretended not to hear and deliberately leaned closer.

Seeing her face suddenly fill the light screen, Xuan Jia caught his breath. His eyes darted away, and his heart abruptly began to race.

It was as if she wasn't looking at him through a screen, but standing right in front of him, making him suddenly flustered.

"An online romance it is, then. What are you so shy about? We're going to have a physical link eventually, so what's there to be shy about?"

Xin Lan found his serious yet innocent manner amusing.

Especially when she remembered that photo and saw how shy he was now, unable even to look straight at the camera, she became even more excited.

"Don't be shy. Look at the camera and let me see whether your body is really as good as it looked in the photo."

Xuan Jia's ears instantly turned so red they looked ready to bleed.

He cleared his throat awkwardly and shyly caught hold of his collar. "Do you really want to see it now? I'm still in the office. How about waiting until I get home tonight?"

At the mention of the office, Xin Lan's expression grew even more mischievous.

"The office is exactly what I want. What fun would it be to watch you at home?"

Xuan Jia looked even shyer. He even turned to glance at the large floor-to-ceiling window behind him, making sure he was high enough up and that no one would pass by outside. Only then did he nervously begin to unbutton his uniform.

To be fair.

District K1's white-and-gold uniforms really did have style.

Not only did they look expensive, they also came with an aristocratic aura. Anyone even moderately good-looking who put one on would acquire a noble air of sacred inviolability.

That went double for a handsome man like Xuan Jia, with his naturally aristocratic hair color and face.

Just watching him unbutton it unhurriedly made Xin Lan feel a little excited, let alone the fact that he was in the office where he handled national affairs, with an entire floor-to-ceiling window behind him.

Oh, wow.

Was this the atmosphere unique to an office?

She hadn't understood it before. Now, all she could say was that it was such a pity.

A pity she wasn't there.

"Hurry up. You're moving so slowly. Aren't you afraid someone will come looking for you and see you having an online romance in your office with your clothes in disarray?"

She couldn't help urging him on.

Xuan Jia's movements faltered. Even his neck burned red at words that amounted to teasing, and he looked even more like a peach.

Soon, he shyly took off his top, putting his entire upper body on display in the light screen.

He casually draped the white-and-gold uniform, a symbol of nobility, honor, solemnity and justice, over the leather chair behind him. This unsmiling, solemn and dignified administrator, with the face of Aphrodite, goddess of beauty, and a perfectly proportioned body, leaned against the chair and displayed himself, nervous yet bold.

His large hand slid all the way from his neck to below his abs. Xuan Jia tilted his head back slightly, his peach-blossom eyes shimmering, shy and full of affection. His lips, however, remained pressed together a little unnaturally; he still couldn't quite let himself go.

"Xin Lan, is this enough?"

He was terribly nervous, worried that someone might suddenly visit his office. After all, it was still his working hours.

He thought seeing this much in the office was enough. Even if someone came in and saw him, it would be easy to explain: he could say he had suddenly felt like exercising.

But Xin Lan didn't hesitate for a second before refusing.

"Of course not. If you're going to show me, you should show me everything."

"Besides, the photo you sent me before showed more than this. Surely you're not going to wear more on a video call than you did then? That would be a little too boring."

Xin Lan looked him over. He was still neatly dressed, even the creases in his uniform trousers meticulously pressed, and she was clearly beginning to lose interest.

Xuan Jia clenched both hands. After a moment's thought, he got up and locked the office door first. Then, all of a sudden, it was as if an honest man had thrown caution to the wind.

"Wow, so you have a wild side too. I really couldn't tell."

Xin Lan's impression of Xuan Jia had always been that he was meticulous and serious, and she had always considered him a very conventional person, just like his position and his sincere confession moments ago.

But after he locked the office door, his whole manner changed.

"Xin Lan, there's a lot you don't know. We can take our time getting to know each other in the future."

Xuan Jia braced both hands on his desk and leaned forward to look at her.

Only then did Xin Lan notice that much of the shy flush had faded from his face. His formerly misty peach-blossom eyes had regained their usual sparkle, looking affectionate even when gazing at a block of wood.

"Is that so? Then how about letting me get to know you a little better today? For example..."

She looked at the one piece of fabric he had left on and raised an eyebrow.

"You know."

(Sisters, guess which of the male leads who've appeared so far will be the first to get a seat at the table and eat? Anyone you're especially rooting for? '͜')