Nuocheng laughed, picking up the fork she offered him, already leaning in to inspect the dish with genuine excitement written across his face.
"It’s called Braised Short Rib in Black Garlic and Citrus Glaze. Over a black garlic purée, finished with a citrus glaze and crispy shallots on top."
"Sounds incredible already." Nuocheng eyed the plate, already impressed. "Let’s see if it lives up to the name."
"The name’s not the important part." She gestured toward the fork still resting in his hand. "Taste it first, then tell me what you think."
He cut into the short rib, watched it fall apart easily under the fork, and took his first real bite. The meat practically melted, rich and deeply savory, cut through by the sharp brightness of the citrus glaze in a way that kept the whole dish from feeling too heavy. The shallots added just enough crunch to make each bite interesting.
"This is incredible." Nuocheng didn’t bother hiding his enthusiasm, already going in for a second bite. "The balance is perfect. Rich but not overwhelming, and that glaze cuts through beautifully."
Komi’s whole face lit up, pride chasing away some of her earlier nervousness. "You really think so?"
"I know so. This might be your best work yet." He set his fork down for a moment, considering it properly. "It’ll still need to go through the full tasting panel and the critics before we can move forward with approval, you know that. But as far as I’m concerned, this deserves a spot on the menu."
"That means a lot, coming from you." She wrung her hands slightly in her apron, working up to something, before finally letting it out in a rush. "If it does get approved, would you maybe want to go on a date with me?"
Nuocheng blinked, caught briefly off guard by the directness of it, though he recovered quickly, offering her an easy smile. "Sure. As long as I’ve got the time for it, why not."
Komi’s answering smile could have lit the entire kitchen.
"Great." Nuocheng stood, straightening his jacket, already glancing toward the door where Chenxi waited. "I’ll let you get back to it, then. Have a good day."
He left the kitchen with Chenxi trailing behind him, the door swinging shut on Komi’s still-beaming face.
"Why’d you agree to that?" Chenxi asked once they were out of earshot, brows furrowed. "You do know she’s been into you for months, right?"
"I know."
"You know?" Chenxi stopped walking entirely, staring at him. "Then why say yes?"
"Because if it does get approved, she’ll probably use the date to confess properly." Nuocheng shrugged, unbothered. "I’ll just let her down easy when she does. Better than rejecting her out of nowhere with no context. This way she gets her moment, and I still get to say no with a clear conscience."
Chenxi stared at him a beat longer, something shifting behind his expression. He’d genuinely believed, this entire time, that Nuocheng simply hadn’t noticed Komi’s feelings, too wrapped up in his own dramatics to catch anyone else’s. Apparently that wasn’t quite true. He’d noticed. He’d just chosen, for once, to be kind about it instead of blunt.
"Huh." Chenxi shook his head slightly, almost impressed despite himself. "Didn’t think you had that much awareness in you."
"I contain multitudes, Chenxi."
"Sure you do." Chenxi pulled up his tablet as they walked, scrolling to the day’s remaining schedule. "Next up is the warehouse inspection, then you’ve got a meeting with the CEO of the raw goods company after that."
Nuocheng’s easy mood evaporated instantly, his expression hardening. "Cancel it."
"The warehouse inspection?"
"The meeting. With that bastard." His jaw tightened, old anger surfacing fast and sharp. "I told you to cancel that partnership entirely. I’m not meeting with a man who tried to drug me and put his hands on me at a company dinner. Find us a different raw goods supplier. I know you heard me the first time I said it."
Chenxi’s expression sobered immediately, guilt flickering across his face. "Right. I’ll handle it today, I promise. I must have missed canceling it somewhere in the transition."
"Handle it." Nuocheng exhaled slowly, forcing some of the tension out of his shoulders. "Let’s just get through the warehouse first."
The drive over was quiet, Nuocheng staring out the window while Chenxi worked through emails on his phone beside him, the earlier warmth from the kitchen slowly returning as the anger faded.
The warehouse stretched out before them once they arrived, a massive space of tall steel shelving packed floor to ceiling with product, forklifts moving steadily between the aisles under bright overhead lighting.
The site manager met them at the entrance, already launching into a rundown of the week’s inventory numbers before Nuocheng had even finished walking through the door.
"We’re running slightly ahead of projections on the new snack line," the manager said, leading them down the main aisle, tablet in hand. "Shipment delays have dropped to almost nothing since the new carrier contracts went through. I can pull up the exact numbers if you’d like."
"Send them to Chenxi. He’ll get them to me tonight." Nuocheng scanned the shelves as they walked, nodding along more out of habit than genuine attention, the earlier warmth from the kitchen still lingering pleasantly at the edges of his mind.
They turned down the third aisle, passing rows of boxed inventory stacked higher than his head, workers moving briskly between pallets with the kind of practiced efficiency that came from repetition.
Nuocheng half listened to the manager’s continued update on quarterly turnover rates, his attention drifting toward the far end of the aisle where a small crew worked to load a shipment onto waiting pallets.
Then his gaze caught on someone stacking boxes near the back, sleeves pushed up, sweat clinging faintly to his temple under the fluorescent lights.
Nuocheng stopped walking completely, the site manager’s voice fading into background noise.
Is that— no way.
Was Han Sicheng working another gig here?
The universe really did want them together, that’s why it kept handing him this golden alpha on a silver platter.
His face broke into the widest, most delighted grin Chenxi had seen on him all week. Without a word of explanation, he abandoned the inspection entirely and took off down the aisle at a near-jog.
"Han Sicheng!"