Arthur practically survived the rest of the night by counting every second on the clock.
The heat of Shen Yanzi’s lips and teeth seemed to linger on his neck, and his mouth was entirely filled with the man’s overbearing scent. A mere moment of recollection sent a numbing sensation from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head.
He buried himself under the duvet, rolling back and forth one moment dying of shame and indignation, the next unable to stop himself from touching the cool sapphire necklace and giggling foolishly.
Crazy!
Truly crazy!
That iceberg “closet” flirt, Shen Yanzi, was simply not human when he lost his mind!
But… he didn’t seem to hate it. In fact… it was almost addictive. This contradictory state of mind kept him tossing and turning until dawn, when he finally drifted into a hazy sleep.
As it turned out, he had barely closed his eyes when he was startled awake by a rapid knocking on the door.
“Your Highness? Your Highness? Are you awake?” The attendant’s voice outside sounded anxious. “Emergency news from the Shen Group an unexpected situation has arisen in one part of the project, and an immediate joint video conference is required! Their team is already waiting online!”
Arthur sprang from the bed, his mind still muddled. “Now? What time is it?”
“Six-thirty in the morning, Your Highness!”
Arthur let out a groan and ruffled his nest of messy hair. Are capitalists all devils?! Do they never sleep?!
He scrambled out of bed and rushed into the washroom to splash cold water on his face, clearing his head slightly. Looking at his still somewhat swollen lips and the dark circles under his eyes in the mirror, his face heated up once more.
Throwing on a comfortable light-blue knit sweater and lounge pants, he didn’t even bother styling his hair. Carrying his two dark circles, Arthur followed the attendant in a daze toward the temporarily arranged video conference room.
At the entrance, he took a deep breath, striving to maintain his usual dignified (at least on the surface) prince-like persona, and pushed the door open.
Inside the room, the massive electronic screen was already lit, split into several windows. The core members of the Shen team appeared on screen in their suits, looking energetic against the background of their domestic office.
And on this end of the conference table… Arthur’s gaze was instantly seized by the person in the main seat.
Shen Yanzi was already there. He was actually… also wearing casual clothes! A deep-gray cashmere sweater that looked soft and comfortable, making his cold, hard lines appear much gentler. His hair wasn’t meticulously styled with gel as usual; a few black strands fell casually over his forehead.
Yet his posture remained upright, his gaze sharp, as he calmly gave instructions into the microphone. His speech was rapid and his logic clear. Hearing the door open, he looked up and swept his gaze over.
Their eyes met in the air.
Arthur’s heart gave a pathetic, violent leap. Those chaotic and scorching memories from last night attacked him instantly, and his cheeks turned a brilliant red. He instinctively wanted to look away, but found himself pinned to the spot.
Shen Yanzi’s gaze lingered on Arthur’s face for several seconds, looking specifically at his slightly swollen lips and heavy dark circles. A trace of an extremely faint, undetectable ripple seemed to cross the depths of his eyes.
But he quickly regained his usual detachment, said “Wait a moment” into the mic, and gave Arthur a slight nod to signal him to sit. It was as if the man who had kissed him until his legs were weak in the car last night wasn’t him at all.
Arthur breathed a secret sigh of relief, though he felt an inexplicable sense of loss. He hurried to his seat and looked down, pretending to organize documents, not daring to look at the screen again.
The video conference began. It was indeed a thorny technical glitch in the project that required immediate coordination. The two teams exchanged data, solutions, and potential risks at a rapid pace.
Arthur struggled to stay focused, but having had no sleep, his brain moved like rusted gears, and his reactions were always a beat behind. Several times when called upon, he froze for seconds before stammering out an answer one that wasn’t necessarily on point.
He could feel the puzzled and awkward gazes from the Shen team on the screen, and the silent, frustrated sighs from the officials beside him. The pressure mounted, Arthur’s face grew redder, and his head hung lower, wishing he could find a hole to crawl into.
Too humiliating!
Just as he gave another irrelevant answer and the atmosphere of the meeting grew stagnant
“I will supplement this issue,” Shen Yanzi’s calm voice came through the microphone, clear and steady.
He didn’t criticize Arthur; he didn’t even give him a second glance. He simply took over the topic naturally, using extremely concise language to analyze the core of the problem and propose two feasible contingency plans, instantly pulling the derailed meeting back on track.
Arthur froze, stealing a glance at the screen. Shen Yanzi was focused on the data analysis charts, his profile cold and his tone stable, as if he had just performed a perfectly normal task. But Arthur’s heart felt as though it had been lightly brushed by something.
The meeting continued. Afterward, whenever Arthur couldn’t keep up with the pace or expressed himself inaccurately, Shen Yanzi would always step in unhurriedly and unobtrusively either supplementing, guiding, or rephrasing Arthur’s thoughts more accurately. He skillfully saved Arthur’s face and preserved his dignity.
He did it so naturally that it seemed purely like professional collaboration, without a hint of intentional protection. But Arthur could feel it. That familiar warm current of being silently protected enveloped him once more, washing away his previous embarrassment and dejection.
This guy…
Is clearly such a bastard…
Yet sometimes he’s so…
Finally, they managed to endure until the end of the meeting. A preliminary solution was confirmed, and the teams went offline. Arthur slumped in his chair, letting out a long sigh of relief; it felt like he had fought a hard battle.
Only he and a few attendants remained in the room. Arthur was rubbing his aching temples, preparing to slip away, when Shen Yanzi’s voice came from behind sounding deeper than it had during the meeting:
“Your Highness, please stay. Regarding Plan B, there is a detail that needs confirmation.”
Hearing this, the officials and attendants tactfully and quickly retreated, thoughtfully closing the conference room door behind them. In the vast room, only the two of them remained.
The air instantly became quiet and ambiguous. Arthur’s body stiffened; the heart he had just settled leaped into his throat again. He turned around stiffly. “Is… is there something else?”
Shen Yanzi had already stood up from the main seat and was walking toward him step by step. He was tall with long legs, and even in casual wear, he carried an invisible pressure.
He stopped in front of Arthur, his gaze landing on Arthur’s tired face. His brow furrowed almost imperceptibly. “Didn’t sleep well?”
Being looked at like that made Arthur’s scalp tingle. Memories of last night attacked him again, and his cheeks heated up. He muttered irritably in a low voice, “…Thanks to a certain someone.”
Shen Yanzi acted as though he hadn’t heard the complaint. Instead, he reached out, his fingertips lightly touching the dark circles under Arthur’s eyes. The cool sensation made Arthur shiver slightly, wanting to dodge.
“Your performance in the meeting,” Shen Yanzi withdrew his hand, his tone unreadable, “was a bit terrible.”
Arthur’s face fell instantly, grievance and shame surging up. “It’s all because of you—” He cut himself off halfway, glaring at the man huffily.
Looking at Arthur’s bristling yet aggrieved state, a trace of an extremely faint smile seemed to flash in Shen Yanzi’s eyes. He suddenly leaned down, bracing both hands on the armrests of Arthur’s chair, trapping him between himself and the seat.
The distance closed instantly. Arthur could clearly see the fine texture of the cashmere sweater and smell the fresh scent of toiletries mixed with a faint cedar base note.
“So,” Shen Yanzi’s gaze locked onto him, his voice dropping to a unique, magnetic tone, “you’re blaming me?”
Arthur’s heart drummed like thunder. Trapped in that small space, unable to move, he spoke stubbornly: “…Isn’t it obvious?”
“Mm.”
To Arthur’s surprise, Shen Yanzi actually admitted it. He nodded, his gaze slowly moving down to land on the collar of Arthur’s knit sweater. Because of the morning rush, the top two buttons hadn’t been fastened properly, revealing a stretch of delicate collarbone and… an extremely faint red mark that might have been left accidentally last night.
His eyes darkened several shades.
“Then…” he began slowly, his finger seemingly by accident hooking onto the top unfastened button of the sweater. His fingertip brushed almost-but-not-quite against the skin of Arthur’s collarbone.
“…how shall I compensate you?”
Arthur’s entire body went rigid. Blood rushed to his head with a “whoosh!”
Compensate?!
He’s saying ‘compensate’ in that posture and that tone?!
“Who… who wants your compensation!” Arthur’s voice was trembling. He wanted to push the man away, but his hands had no strength.
Shen Yanzi’s finger, however, followed that button and slid slowly down to the second one, his fingertip lightly toying with the small mother-of-pearl disc.
“The meeting minutes,” he said unhurriedly, his gaze fixed on Arthur’s increasingly red face. “I had my assistant organize the key points. I’ll send them to you later.”
His fingertip was still playing with the button, as if he might undo it at any moment.
“No… no need…” Arthur’s breathing grew rapid, and his body trembled slightly.
“The follow-up coordination for the project,” Shen Yanzi’s finger slid down another button to the third position, where the fabric curved slightly over Arthur’s chest. “I will follow up on that.”
His fingertip paused there, applying a light pressure.
Arthur sucked in a sharp breath. His body shook violently, and the rims of his eyes grew moist. “You… don’t…”
“Or…” Shen Yanzi finally lifted his eyes to meet Arthur’s panicked, shimmering gaze once more. He leaned in even closer until their noses nearly touched, their hot breaths intertwining. His voice was as low and raspy as a spell:
“Does Your Highness want a… more direct form of compensation?”
His gaze finally landed on Arthur’s trembling, still-swollen lips. His intention was unmistakably clear.
Arthur’s brain went blank, his heart ready to jump from his chest. He looked into Shen Yanzi’s nearby eyes so deep they could swallow a person whole and at those lips that were about to kiss him again…
At that critical moment
Knock, knock, knock! The conference room door was struck.
The attendant’s voice sounded cautiously outside. “Your Highness? Her Majesty is on the line asking if the meeting has concluded. She would like you to come over.”
The heated, ambiguous atmosphere was shattered instantly!
Arthur snapped back to reality as if pricked by a needle. Using all his strength, he shoved the nearby Shen Yanzi away and scrambled to stand up. In a flurry, he fastened the loose buttons of his sweater one by one, his cheeks red enough to bleed. He didn’t dare look at Shen Yanzi again.
“Coming… coming!” he shouted toward the door, his voice shaking.
Shen Yanzi, having been pushed away, wasn’t angry. He simply straightened up unhurriedly and adjusted his perfectly neat cashmere sweater. Watching Arthur’s panicked state resembling a rabbit being chased by a wolf the corner of his mouth curved into an almost imperceptible arc.
In his eyes was a dark, determined glint.
Arthur fastened the last button, his heart still thumping wildly. He kept his head low, trying to brush past Shen Yanzi.
As he passed, Shen Yanzi suddenly reached out and gave Arthur’s scorching earlobe an incredibly swift, light squeeze.
Arthur nearly jumped out of his skin!
Shen Yanzi had already withdrawn his hand, his tone returning to its usual flatness, as if the person who had just cornered him to offer “compensation” wasn’t him at all:
“Go on.”
“Tonight,” he paused, then added, “the compensation will continue.”