Work Text:
you don't wanna take that chance,
thinking i won't understand.
but honestly, i promise you i can.
______
“Quick– he’s coming!” March hisses.
At her roommate’s urgent warning, Stelle hastily swipes at the apartment’s light switch. The entirety of the studio apartment submerges into darkness. Stelle drops to her knees and crawls on the floor carefully, wincing only when she bumps her hip inelegantly against the leg of their compact dining table.
March clicks her tongue in disapproval at the noise. She shoots her hand out and Stelle takes it, allowing her best friend to guide her to a safe spot to wait next to the wall. As soon as Stelle and March assume their usual hiding place, the ashen-haired girl pulls her knees up and wraps her slender arms around her legs.
Within the next moment, a fist pounds angrily against the door.
“I know you’re in there!” Their landlord shouts. Even though the short man is well into seventy years of age, he admonishes his tenants with the voracity of a youth half his age. “Stelle! March!” his voice rings out deafeningly. “Open the door!”
The girls stay silent. March switches her phone on. It’s the only light that glows in the place and illuminates her unruffled expression as she texts someone to help. It is no secret among their friends that March and Stelle had difficulty paying their rent on time, but they did try. It was just that this month, things had been… tougher.
March’s full-time work as a waitress and Stelle’s side hustles just weren’t pulling in the funds they needed to survive. This rundown place had been barely inhabitable when they’d signed the lease. Only March’s efforts to decorate the shabby apartment had made it seem like ‘home.’
But what could they do? Times were rough for everyone these days. Stelle feels grateful enough to have a roof over her head at all.
The knocking doesn’t stop. The voiced threats grow more intense behind the door, the landlord’s curses mixing hotly with promises of eviction. It shakes March to the point where her fingers tremble as she types desperately on her phone. Dan Heng will come, as he always does, to deal with the physical threat against them but until then, the girls were on their own.
If Stelle could get away with literal murder, she’d address the landlord in her own way. But as the girl eyes the baseball bat leaning against the doorway, March squeezes her shoulder in warning. “Do not,” she whispers, her blue eyes filled with unease. If only getting locked up wouldn’t hurt their finances more. Reluctantly, Stelle obeys March's words and relaxes back against the wall.
After ten minutes of agonized waiting, the girls hear loud, booted footsteps come to their rescue. In the hall outside, the familiar cold tone of their best friend can be heard cutting into the landlord’s angry shouts. Dan Heng is not alone, Stelle realizes with a stunning sense of relief. He has brought another with him and it is her deceptively-polite tone that causes the old man to stammer out in apology.
Himeko. Their boss, well March’s, and Stelle’s whenever the latter needed to pick up an emergency shift at the restaurant. As beautiful as she is intimidating, Himeko only needed to pierce an unlucky soul with her striking gold eyes to humble them into submission.
Stelle exhales slowly, the tension in her body easing as she hears the gruff landlord finally depart.
“Pay up before the end of the week,” he shouts one last time, “or both of you are out!”
March gingerly gets to her feet, as does Stelle a few moments after. It’s a routine they’ve come to develop after narrowly avoiding the landlord’s censure many times before: Stelle switches the lights back on while March immediately rushes to the door to greet their friends. As soon as Himeko and Dan Heng enter, the atmosphere brightens. At least on the surface.
Stelle observes silently as Himeko sweeps into the apartment and immediately heads for the coffee maker. Her experienced hands brew several cups of her famously infamous coffee as March catches her in cheerful conversation. It is as if the events of before had never happened, so quickly do the women erase its haunting aftereffects.
It is only Dan Heng who regards Stelle with an observant look. “You okay?” he murmurs under his breath. Stelle hangs to the side, a picture-perfect image of nonchalance as she toys with her phone.
“I’ll manage,” she answers absently.
“You don’t have to pretend, Stelle,” Dan Heng says quietly. “You know if you need help, all you need to do is ask.”
“I know, but it’s not fair to you. Plus, the idea of owing a friend money is straight out of the ‘things I don’t want to do’ manifesto.”
Perceptive jade eyes pierce through her. “I get the feeling you’ve actually tried to write that out.”
“Someday I will,” Stelle affirms confidently. “And you will read it and support me, right?”
“As always.”
His solid presence is reassuring in a way she and March both need. Dan Heng naturally calms them, the cool counterpart of their trio for as long as Stelle could remember. When she set foot in Astral’s campus for the first time three years ago, the girl hadn’t expected to make such deep bonds with others. She’d only had two goals then: try to attend class on time and maybe come out of there with a degree at the end of it.
The best-laid plans really did have a tendency to go awry.
As soon as she and March hit it off, she’d fallen for the sweet girl’s energetic plan for the two to move in together and save costs on dorm housing. With both working part-time and attending classes with graduation on their minds, they could easily save up and coast along until the end of four years.
Stelle had gotten fired from her job within the first six months. March soon followed, finding out she really had zero knack for secretarial work that kept her confined to a desk all day. By the grace of the Aeons did the pink-haired girl manage to snag a second position under Himeko.
And Stelle… well, she was still soul-searching. A part-time stint working as a barista, followed by a librarian’s assistant, and finally followed by a takeout restaurant’s delivery person had all ended in a vast combustion of failure. She didn’t suit anything that couldn’t keep her hands and mind occupied. She wanted so much more out of life, to do something, and yet, it felt impossible.
Still, she tried, for March’s sake. The side hustle of testing mobile games had taken some of the heat off their rent payments, but it was difficult trying to keep up with Herta’s tedious demands on top of making sure Stelle actually got to her university classes on time.
(Whoever scheduled class at 8am could go fuck themselves.)
Graduation loomed and it’s the only silver lining in Stelle’s mind. At the start of their fourth and final year at Astral, Stelle could see the way her life would change after she left the university. The world would open up to her. Maybe she’d even get lucky enough to snag an internship with Herta full-time.
Maybe she’d even get to see Caelus again.
Thoughts of her brother are neatly tucked away in the lockbox of her heart. They’d chosen to go their separate ways many years ago now. There was no point in trying to insinuate herself back into his prosperous life. Caelus would help her, if he knew. But Stelle didn’t want to tell him how their joint venture into independence had only gone well for one side of the family. Getting to watch her brother’s pro-gaming streams online was the only bright spot in an otherwise miserable day-to-day existence.
So long as Caelus was happy doing what he loved for a living, well, Stelle would make do with the rest. They’d both been through enough.
“Stelle?”
Dan Heng’s voice stills her. Stelle’s fingers hesitate over a recent text message, its polite wording having imprinted on her mind as she’d considered the sender’s invitation for over two days now.
“It’ll be okay,” Stelle reassures her friend with her most encouraging smile. If Dan Heng can hear the faint trembling of her voice, or can discern the very lack of confidence she does feel, he mercifully makes no mention of it. “If there’s anyone who can drag me and March out of a crippling mess, it’s me, right? I mean, besides you, of course.”
“Right,” he drawls, smiling despite himself.
“Dan Heng!” March sings out excitedly. “Did you get to see Ren on the stream yesterday? He’s so gorgeous, I think I swoon every time he comes out. Do you think you can ask him to sign my print–”
The brunette rolls his eyes. Stelle watches him stride over to March with the denial already on his lips. The other girl isn’t perturbed in the least, however, and merely clings on Dan Heng’s arm, her pretty face painted with her most charming grin. “Please, please, please?” March begs him sweetly. “He’ll do anything you want–”
“I don’t even know what a print is.”
“So, it’s all the rage lately–”
Stelle looks back at her phone. The pad of her finger traces deliberately over the opened message reflected back at her. Gold eyes read the typed offer on repeat, the same way she had every single night. If he could really change her life… then, maybe… maybe…
What if it is too good to be true?
She hadn’t told anyone what she’d done, likely because Stelle couldn’t really believe it herself.
[ ☆: How do I know you’re for real? Not that I don’t believe you but… this kind of thing is… ]
Stelle sends the text on a moment’s whim. In the next second, she feels light-headed from the way her heart pounds uncontrollably fast. What if he didn’t even answer her?
She wouldn’t blame him; Stelle hadn’t even responded to the potential client for over two days, telling herself she needed the time to come to terms with the moral decision she’d be making if she said yes.
He’d even had the presence of mind to only propose going on a date this time. A safe suggestion. Nothing too fancy.
The website’s terms and conditions allowed for Stelle to be selective. With money and companionship on the line– and possibly more, as many of these arrangements warranted– it is only natural for both her and her financial sponsor to be especially picky with their choice. While exclusivity wasn’t a requirement, this man had made it clear from the start that if she wanted this with him, he expected to be her only sponsor.
And she would be his only companion. In return, his compensation, his gifts would be hers for the asking. Whatever she wanted– new clothes, the latest games, a big house, her debts paid– he would provide it.
A mutually-beneficial exchange in return for… spending time with him?
She still couldn’t believe that.
When she’d clicked on his website profile and examined his photo, Stelle had laughed out loud at the unbelievable thought of him needing any kind of companionship. Sinfully handsome, with golden eyes that sent heat flooding through her from a mere picture, there was no way in this world that this man couldn’t have anyone he wanted.
That he wanted her, that they’d spend over a week merely texting in a playful manner to ‘get to know one another,’ still seemed like one of those lucid fever dreams.
Stelle thinks she’s pretty but surely, there were others he’d like more.
[ You intrigue me, Stelle. In a way no one has in a long time. ] he’d sent over the weekend, and that text alone lived rent-free in her dazed mind. [ If you are willing to give me a chance, will you consider having a meal with me? ]
The easy answer would have been ‘yes,’ had she and Jing Yuan met in completely different circumstances. But, Stelle’s reservations stemmed from the truth of what their potential relationship really was: a transaction. Jing Yuan was a wealthy man– he couldn’t have signed up on the sponsor website without being exhaustively verified on that front– and Stelle was… Stelle. Down on her luck and desperate.
In exchange for being his companion to call on, he promised to improve the quality of her life.
She’d told him almost everything. The way she struggled with classes, struggled to hold down a job, and could barely pay rent. Stelle didn’t want to lie to someone who, at least, seemed genuine about helping her.
She wanted his help and also didn’t. It confused her mind and her heart to agree to a date with this handsome man in exchange for money. It felt wrong in a way she couldn’t explain.
And she’d still say yes.
Because the butterflies in her stomach made their eager wishes known every time a response from Jing Yuan came. The flutter of their wings would match the unconscious smile on her face as Stelle quickly typed back a reply. Over a week, she not only shared the circumstances of her downtrodden life, but also she’d learned things about him, too.
A single father of one. No wife in the picture. Jing Yuan was a competent businessman who– well, Stelle didn’t know exactly what he did, but he certainly made enough money to keep his family (and possibly, her) more than comfortable. Someone who is nearly a decade older than her.
Which, in and of itself, is a strangely attractive thought. His experience in life– and undoubtedly the bedroom– would make things easier for an inexperienced Stelle.
Her cheeks heat up at the images that tease her mind. She hadn’t even said yes to a date yet– let alone sex. That… well, she’d figure that out later.
For now, she’d come to a decision.
[ Your natural skepticism is a trait I admire. It is always best to proceed into new territory with caution. Tell me what you desire so that I may prove my sincere intentions. ]
Stelle bites her lower lip. She glances up, her citrine eyes dwelling on March’s sparkling eyes as she chats happily with Dan Heng and Himeko. Her gaze drifts over the threadbare tablecloth on their dining table, and the worn edges of their vintage sofa. She thinks of the demanding landlord and the constant edge of fear she’d learned to live with over the past few years.
As callous as it sounds, Stelle has to try.
[ ☆: It’s hard for me to admit… :c ]
[ Take all the time you need. ]
She swallows anxiously. It isn’t as if she knew Jing Yuan in real life; if this fell through, or if she embarrassed herself, Stelle would never have to face the consequences of her reckless decision.
[ ☆: I’m late on rent this month. My landlord said he’d evict us by this week. ]
[ Your landlord’s lack of compassion reflects more poorly upon him than on your circumstances, Stelle. You need not feel embarrassed for having endured this as long as you have. Tell me how much you require to be free of your worries. ]
[ ☆: Jing Yuan, I… can’t. I can’t ask you for money. ]
[ Even if we never cross paths in this life, Stelle, I wish to help you. Allow me just this once to ease your fears of losing your home. ]
Stelle is certain that in no universe would accepting his offer not accompany a healthy dose of guilt. In truth, Jing Yuan is taking just as much of a chance on her not being a scammer. That he is willing to prove himself before she does is practically unfathomable.
And oddly, it makes her want to trust him more.
[ ☆: Jing Yuan, I want to make this up to you. Please. ]
[ How much, Stelle? ]
Her fingers tremble over the phone’s keyboard.
[ ☆: I only have to pay half. :c It’s 750. ]
The ‘sent’ notification sucks all of the air out of her lungs. She’d told him. This was all-or-nothing. Would he be good on his word?
Did she want him to be?
When the next notification pops up, Stelle’s heart soars right into her throat. Anxiety balls in the center of her stomach as she shakily checks her phone. It is not a text, she’s surprised to discover, but a notification from the sponsor website. For the sake of privacy and her reputation as a verified non-scammer, any transactions to her banking account from a sponsor were supervised by the website’s tight security channel.
He’d sent something to her.
Stelle nervously clicks on the notification.
And feels her entire world implode.
He didn’t send 750 to her account.
He’d sent 10,000 credits.
Stelle whirls around suddenly, unwilling to let anyone else in the room see the way her face becomes abnormally flushed at the realization of what’s just happened.
He’s the real deal.
And she–
Confusion floors her. Stelle lifts a hand and covers her eyes momentarily, forcing herself to breathe through the dizziness pervading her senses.
She calms herself down with a slowing rhythm of inhales and exhales– something Dan Heng had taught her years ago before she sat down to her first college exam. And she calms herself by trying to multiply big number combinations in her head– March’s trick when Stelle agreed to accompany her to that one theme park during their second year. To keep the contents of her stomach from re-emerging during a particularly energetic roller-coaster ride, March advised her to stick to thinking of math multiplication tables.
(“You’ll be so busy trying to figure out what ‘124 times 124’ is that you’ll forget about your stomach!” she’d said cheerfully.)
Weirdly, that advice actually worked. As it does now when Stelle tries to think of what 78 times 78 would be. It shifts her mind out of its anxious state as she attempts to solve the problem. She frowns in concentration, moving the numbers around in her head.
Upon figuring it out, she lowers her hand and heaves a sigh. The number ‘10,000.00’ hasn’t left her phone screen. He’d really sent her the money.
And another text.
Stelle reaches for her phone and reads the message. A soft smile flickers across her lips at the way Jing Yuan always manages to comfort her, even when he’s so impossibly far away.
[ You deserve good things in life, Stelle. More than you know. Do not be afraid to rely on others when you see no other option ahead. ]
Especially when he’s still such a stranger to her.
It’s something Stelle intends to change. Just like the way he’d changed her life in mere minutes.
[ ☆: Even if they spend too much on a girl they don’t know? You’re playing a risky game, Jing Yuan. ]
[ Is there any other interesting way to play it? ]
[ ☆: Looks like dinner’s on me tonight~! That is, if your offer is still good… ] Stelle sends an embarrassed emoji along with her message, its blushing expression a twin to the one she’s sure will be permanently painted on her face.
[ ☆: I probably should have asked first. I kinda messed up, huh? ]
[ Rather, I find it reassuring. ]
[ ☆: ?? How so? ]
[ I must be your very first sponsor for you to act so cutely for so little. ]
[ ☆: A little??? You’re teasing me. >//< ]
[ Perhaps a bit. ]
[ ☆: I… ]
Stelle steals herself once more. Even if the girl found herself wavering in the moments preceding making a momentous decision, in the end, Stelle liked to think she was a decisive person. When she made a decision, she would stick to it.
[ ☆: I would like you to be… I would like to be your companion, if you’d let me. Not because of the money but because… ]
[ Because? ]
[ ☆: You intrigue me, too. ]
[ What a clever girl. Then I will gladly accept your invitation, Stelle. You will be mine and I shall be only yours. ]
A single reply should not make her feel like this. Stelle wasn’t still in high school. Surely putting on more years and weight should keep her out of the category of ‘blushing school girl’ but, undoubtedly, it is a blush she feels warming her round cheeks as she touches them.
“M-March…” Stelle calls out, unable to keep her nervousness out of her wavering voice.
The other girl looked up curiously. “What’s up?”
As Stelle turns around, her rosy face earns more than one flabbergasted look. March, Dan Heng, and Himeko all regard her with varying degrees of bewilderment as Stelle bursts out, “I’m going on a date tonight.”
March’s mouth falls open. “With who? What? Stelle? I’m missing a lot of information here!”
Himeko gingerly sets down her empty mug of coffee and gets to her feet. “This requires the utmost preparation, dear,” she tells Stelle seriously. The look of excitement glittering in her pretty eyes only makes Stelle more nervous. “I will lend my aid.”
Dan Heng stays silent but Stelle can read the worry flickering in his pale irises. She smiles reassuringly at him and then turns back to Himeko, who has already come forward to cup Stelle’s cheeks in delight. The redhead tilts the younger woman’s head back and forth, inwardly imagining the makeup she can use to highlight Stelle’s understated beauty.
“I appreciate it,” Stelle mutters.
From what she knew of Jing Yuan’s wealthy status and his handsome good looks, she’d need all the help she could get.
______
Despite her offer to pay, Stelle had insisted that Jing Yuan choose the restaurant.
If this was to be their first official ‘date’ (or outing, if the ethical part of her mind decided to be louder than the impulsive one) then she might as well take advantage of it. If the results of this night didn’t pan out, at least Stelle would get an expensive, high quality meal out of it.
When it came to choosing the best takeout places in the city, Stelle’s rival did not exist. However, when it came to high-end places, she couldn’t even pronounce most of the restaurants’ foreign names. Plans like this were best left up to someone immensely more qualified.
And boy, was he.
“Stelle.”
Stelle’s footsteps falter as she reaches the privately reserved table. The attendant had led her straight here upon learning her name, his smile polite as he bade the ashen-haired woman to follow him. She’d done so without hesitation, trusting that Jing Yuan had seen to their every convenience. Her only request was that their date take place in a public setting – something Himeko insisted upon after hearing the sparse details of Stelle’s ‘first date’ – and her sponsor had delivered.
As Jing Yuan gracefully rose to his feet, Stelle felt her mind go blank.
The picture didn’t do him justice. Not in the fucking least, she thinks, feeling a twinge of betrayal at the sight of his tall, refined figure. Snowy hair falls over his broad shoulders, the half-tied tresses appearing so soft-looking that Stelle longs to run her fingers through it.
The close-fitted, white button-up had its sleeves rolled up to the elbows, revealing a pair of corded forearms that matched all too well with Jing Yuan’s aura of casual elegance. He is well-built to perfection, she realizes in dismay, from the toned outline of his thighs to the muscular torso that flatters his dignified presence.
When he smiles slowly, his golden eyes warm with understanding, Stelle wonders if she’s dreaming.
“I fear we will not make it through dinner if you keep looking at me like that, Stelle.”
He keeps his voice low, but there’s no concealing the huskiness of it as Jing Yuan bridges the distance between them. Stelle forces herself to stay upright, fearing she might actually swoon as he comes to stand in front of her. He’s so tall that she has to tilt her head back to look at him– a rarity for her, who prided herself on being as tall as most of the men in her acquaintance. She even had heels on.
“Like what?” she asks him, in a tone that sounds far too breathless for her peace of mind.
He lowers his head and his whisper brushes against her ear like a sinful caress. “If I may say, you look incredibly beautiful tonight, as well.”
Himeko had pulled out all the stops, ensuring Stelle’s enthusiasm to impress her date lived up to expectation. Tamed ashen hair had been washed, combed, and confined in an elegant plait to fall down Stelle’s back. She’d borrowed one of March’s clubbing outfits– a slinky, short black dress that flattered every bit of her subtle curves. The skirt itself was a risk, considering how Stelle’s long legs shortened the length to be just shy of too-revealing.
But, from the way Jing Yuan’s appreciative stare lingers on the tops of her thighs, Stelle believes it’s a risk well-taken.
“I…”
Another rarity, she discovers, is to find herself at a complete loss of words in his presence. And his knowing smile only makes the matter worse.
“I– thank you. I had a friend help me,” Stelle admits with a sheepish smile. “She’s a genius, really. Oh, and I also borrowed the dress. I don’t think it suits me, if I’m being honest, but I didn’t have anything else remotely suitable for…”
She gestures to the undeniably luxurious atmosphere of the restaurant. A quick glance at the white tablecloth confirmed her assessment: the decadent cloth looked so pristine. She didn’t even mention the polished silver silverware that was probably made out of real silver.
Would anyone notice if she slid a couple utensils into her clutch?
Stelle sucks in a deep breath to steady her nerves. “She doesn’t… know about you either. Or the exact details of this kind of date. I mean–”
Fuck, she hadn’t meant to call it a date.
“Stelle,” he interrupts in a gentle tone.
She glances at him, feeling taken aback by the amused expression he bestows upon her. The smile dancing on his lips reaches all the way to his eyes. “If you want a dress of your own, I am more than willing to give you one. A dozen, in fact. However…” His hand hovers just above the small of her back. Stelle’s breath catches at the warmth that she feels even through the thin layer of her clothes. “...I tell you with the utmost sincerity that it is you who looks splendid. The origin of the dress is inconsequential.”
Jing Yuan pulls back then and Stelle wistfully wishes he wouldn’t. It is a mercy that his hand lingers, serving as a gentle guidance as the handsome man brings her over to their table.
Round and delicate, the table is perfectly situated in an eave of the utmost privacy. While they may look out and see the rest of the restaurant’s guests at their leisure, it would be difficult for the others to see them in return. Did the wealthy always receive a nook carved out for intimacy? Rather than individual chairs, the private table boasted of a cozy booth in which they could sit closer together. Stelle slides into the plush seat and couldn’t help but gasp as the soft material teased her bare thighs.
“I think I could live here,” she murmurs, only half in jest. Jing Yuan’s mirthful laugh is enchanting as he waits for her to get comfortable before joining in next to her.
He keeps a slight distance out of politeness and Stelle appreciates the demonstration of kindness, even if it isn’t exactly what she wants.
(At least one of them had to stay rational tonight, she supposes.)
“You like cozy, dark places?” he teases.
“I do,” Stelle answers honestly. The skirt of her dress hikes up with her every shift in position and she finds herself suddenly regretting the choice of attire. One wrong move and she’d flash the waiter, she’s sure. “Nothing better than holing up in a place no one can ever find you or bother you. It’s actually pretty relaxing.”
“Is that so?”
It’s hard to look anywhere else but at him. No matter how hard Stelle tries to resist, she cannot help her gaze from sliding back to Jing Yuan’s warm features.
“Jing Yuan…” Stelle says softly. “...why did you pick me?”
Surprise alights his eyes for the briefest instant. In that moment, the waiter comes to attend to them, forestalling any answer that Stelle might have hoped to hear. Instead, she lets her appreciation hone in on the way Jing Yuan welcomes the waiter with ease, and the patient way he waits for Stelle to listen to the restaurant’s specialities before she can choose one for herself.
“You can have as much as you want,” he encourages her with a smile, when Stelle ends her mental struggle by choosing something with rice and vegetables.
“Jing Yuan, you’re spoiling me.”
“That is indeed the idea, darling.”
Stelle does not linger on how the quietly-voiced endearment makes her feel. But she certainly notices the change in her body: the way the dress she wears feels suddenly too-tight, and the way the dull ache between her thighs begins to make itself known.
“You’re cruel,” she admonishes, unable to keep from returning his amused grin. “I’ll take advantage of you, you know.”
“That sounds like a challenge we might enjoy no matter the outcome.”
Another pleasant shiver ripples down her spine. He’s too good at this. Too good, especially for someone as inexperienced as Stelle is. She wills herself to calm and orders two more dishes to try just for the hell of it. The way Jing Yuan’s pleased expression doesn’t change tells Stelle he’s far too aware of her thoughts. Of how she’s unforgivably distracted by him.
The waiter pours two glasses of a vintage red wine Stelle is unfamiliar with. When the man tells them of the name and its year of creation, such unimportant information goes in one of Stelle’s ears and comes out of the other. For the girl finds herself far too fascinated with the way Jing Yuan reaches for the wine glass. His long fingers enclose over the delicate crystal stem as he brings the rim up to his lips.
Without taking his gold eyes off hers, he drinks.
“Jing Yuan,” Stelle calls softly, and it’s more of a croon as she finds herself leaning involuntarily closer.
“Yes, dear?”
She whispers. “Can I taste it, too?”
He doesn’t bother to look at her untouched glass. No, he discerns her true intention in an instant, as Stelle suspected he would. The game they play may prove himself to be the victor but Stelle was nothing if not honest with her desires.
Jing Yuan inclines his head and it’s all the permission she needs. The skirt of her dress slides provocatively over her thighs as she shifts over and climbs onto his lap. His thighs part instinctively to make a comfortable cradle for her to settle into. The moment she perches on his lap, Stelle slips her arms around his shoulders.
“This is why, Stelle,” he murmurs, and she feels the low timbre of his voice vibrating all the way through her. “I wanted to meet the woman who intrigues me as much as you do.”
He sets the glass down on the table as Stelle brings her head closer to him. She brushes her lips teasingly against his own, faintly tasting the wine still lingering upon them. “So bold,” he growls, and the sound coaxes her into pushing for more.
Testing his boundaries. Moving the goalposts of her own.
“You like bold women?” she whispers, then kisses him– a soft peck on the lips that sends lightning sizzling through her veins.
His hand curls around her nape and Stelle utters a quiet moan for the way the possessive touch humbles her. She is liquid fire shifting on his lap, wanting to combust but held back merely by the way Jing Yuan’s dominant hold keeps her in place.
“Just you,” he corrects. The confession ignites something within her and Stelle whimpers as Jing Yuan peppers soothing kisses down the side of her face. One to her temple, one to cheek, another to her nose.
“I’m not wanting to fuck you for the money,” Stelle confesses and, far from her honest words causing him to feel anger, she’s surprised to see amusement dancing within his lion’s eyes.
“Even should you want to, there would be no judgment on my end.”
Stelle frowns. “I don’t understand it, Jing Yuan. Why are you even doing this? You could have anyone you want,” she points out reasonably. “Why go so far just to… just to…”
She’s jealous at the thought of this man entertaining other girls like her. Other girls down on their luck who need a helping hand– and his specifically. Just thinking of Jing Yuan having met the others, or if he hadn’t met her at all, causes an unpleasant feeling to twist in her chest.
“While it may be hard to believe, darling, it is hard to find genuine companionship when a man gets older,” he explains, not unkindly. “Especially when there are children involved. There are plenty who do not care to become entangled in such affairs.”
“Mmm…” It is a fair point, Stelle reasons, yet it is on the tip of her tongue to point Jing Yuan out as a very obvious exception to this mindset.
Still on his lap, she relaxes and cradles his cheek in the palm of her hand. Stelle’s thumb traces along his lower lip, enjoying the unexpected softness she finds. “If I had met you at any other place, or at any other time,” Stelle says quietly. “I would have fallen for you just the same.”
“Your confidence does wonders for a man’s ego, Stelle.”
“I mean it!” she insists.
“I know you do.” His other hand lifts and he brushes away the loose strands of hair that have fallen free of their confines and tease her temples. “I merely sought someone who… wouldn’t mind spending time with me. Even just as a friend.”
Stelle leans into his touch, her wide citrine eyes resting upon Jing Yuan’s face as she considers his words. She’d thought from the beginning that he was unlike most sponsors, the glorious title merely used as a legitimate way to justify the procurement of sexual favors. He’d been too considerate of their developing bond, too considerate of her as Stelle wrestled with this unfamiliar foray into grey morality.
“I can be your friend, Jing Yuan,” Stelle responds after a moment. “But I'd be lying if I didn't admit I’ll wish for more eventually.”
“It is expected between two who are naturally attracted to one another,” he concedes, smiling. He turns his head briefly to press a soft kiss into the center of her palm. “Be that as it may, I would ask you to be patient with me, Stelle. I have not dated someone in a long time. And I… want to take things slowly between us.”
“Before or after the sex?”
“Stelle,” he scolds, laughing.
“We can go on as many dates as you want but…” Stelle leans even closer, hiding none of her body’s desire for him as she presses against him. The taut peaks of her breasts scrape against his firm chest as she grinds her bottom lightly against his lap. “...You don’t want to? Even a little?”
He cocks an eyebrow. “What does ‘a little’ mean to you?”
“A kiss. A touch.”
When the waiter returns, he doesn’t even bat an eyelash at the way Stelle captivates every bit of Jing Yuan’s attention. As soon as the bread and new bottle of wine is placed on the table, the man disappears as silently as he’d come.
Perhaps the wealthy are typically indecent, Stelle thinks, or else she fits into this environment far more than she’d expected.
Jing Yuan’s gaze sharpens with the heated look of a hunter as Stelle adjusts herself more boldly in his lap. She brings her lips to his ear and whispers softly, “I just know that… anything you want of me, you can have.”
His hands drop to her waist and Stelle gasps in surprise as his fingers dig into her firmly. “You play a dangerous game, Stelle. Have care of your promises,” he mutters, and it’s the silkiest, most sinful voice she’s ever heard. A velvety warning that beckons her with an addictive allure.
“Is that a yes?” she purrs teasingly. She sinks her fingers into his gloriously soft hair and tugs.
Jing Yuan is hers. They’d only known each other for a week but it felt right. The way a puzzle piece slides effortlessly into place upon meeting the jagged edges of its other half. Stelle’s soft curves mold into his firm lines as she closes the distance between them.
A heady kiss is pressed to his lips. He does not stop her, holding Stelle preciously close as their lips part to drink the other in. It’s a stronger temptation than any vintage alcohol could ever wish. Stelle feels herself getting drunk on the way he invites her in even closer. She hasn’t kissed very many people and never, not even once, had she ever been kissed like this.
He takes his time with her, a leisurely swipe of his tongue coaxing her rosy lips to surrender to his advance. She melts to his call with ease, a willing enemy turned beloved captive as he steals his way within. Stelle is lost in the way he tastes her: slowly, savoring, if every bit of her will be committed to his memory long after they have parted.
She breathes in the scent of him. And moans as he rocks in rhythm against her, the outline of his cock sliding tantalizing against the curve of her bottom in promise of what’s to come.
“Jing Yuan,” she whimpers when the need for air pulls them apart. His mouth does not leave her as he trails hot, needy kisses down the slender column of her throat.
“Well-played, Stelle,” he murmurs, and she glances at him with confusion that’s soon allayed by his teasing words: “It appears you have chosen the most effective strategy to convince me to choose your way of doing things.”
“We’ll go on lots of dates. Lots and lots of them,” Stelle promises him eagerly, and she’s rewarded by a heartfelt smile that sends her own heart soaring in reply.
“Let us eat first then, darling. I can tell you were eager at the prospect.”
She can’t say no to an expensive meal– especially one she’s paying for, but the ache inside her is so unmercifully unfulfilled that it hurts.
“Then what?” she presses. She grinds against him unconsciously, in hopes to relieve the pressure.
Jing Yuan’s groan is as sensual as the way he admonishes her in a low growl, “Stelle.”
“Then what?” Stelle repeats meaningfully.
“Then, we shall see where the night takes us.”
He gently eases her off his lap and Stelle can’t help but feel a small sense of victory. Even if she couldn’t have him now, even if he made her wait, somehow, she couldn’t feel disappointed in the least.
“Yes, sir,” she whispers, and the gleaming satisfaction she sees in his eyes is reward enough.
______
In her long period of having to ‘make do’ with the bare minimum, Stelle had forgotten what luxury felt like. The hotel sheets beneath her feel like silk to the touch, so soft and gentle beneath her seeking fingers.
The long-awaited pressure had been building. For hours since dinner, Stelle had yearned for release from it. From the moment Jing Yuan had brought her here, his calloused hand smoothing over the curve of her hip, she’d ached for him.
Still, he made her wait. Torturously so; he built up the anticipation until Stelle thought she might burst.
“You look like you have something to say, Stelle.”
Stelle's hungry gaze drinks in the sight of Jing Yuan’s long strides towards her. A large smile is strewn across his handsome face as he observes her deliberate way of sitting. All stretched out, Stelle props herself up half-way on the downy pillows. Her skirt had raked up as she’d claimed the comfortable spot and she hadn’t bothered to readjust it, leaving the sight of her black lace panties completely to his view as she raises her knees slightly.
“I’m just needy. You’ve been making me wait.”
Her soft croon entices him. Stelle is satisfied by the way his pupils dilate at her provocative words. “Patience often rewards those who find peace with it,” he murmurs huskily.
“I’m not a patient girl.”
“I can tell, darling.” He’s amused by her, his confidence natural as he begins to strip himself of his shirt. One button at a time is loosened until his chest is bare to Stelle’s longing gaze. She swallows at the vision before her, her fingers twitching from the urge to stroke all over the ridged planes of muscles.
At the same time, Jing Yuan could not keep his own eyes from wandering over her. From the swell of her breasts beneath that too-thin dress and down to her exposed thighs. Stelle could tell by the strict way he held himself that his composure is just as shaken as her own.
Jing Yuan takes a step forward. “You are a merciless tease but not dishonest.” His shirt falls to the floor, and Stelle’s rational thoughts collapse along with it. She moans softly as Jing Yuan pats the front end of the bed. “Come here, Stelle,” he orders her hoarsely. “Let me get a good look at you.”
"Hmm...?" A flirty, drawn-out note is hummed out of pretty pink lips. A coy Stelle is all shy confidence as she rolls over and gets up onto her knees. She crawls to him, her light weight sinking into the mattress as she obeys him without question. His gold eyes are ambrosia to her and Stelle greedily drinks her fill of such a heavenly gaze. “Should I give you the whole show? Or just a taste, sir?”
A pink tongue is caught and held between her teeth as Stelle smirks. She rises up onto her knees, balancing her weight on them as she reaches for the straps of her borrowed dress. It’s beyond wrinkled now, unsalvageable as she peels them down her round shoulders. “Anything you want, you can have,” she whispers to him.
He smiles indulgently at her. “Careful what you wish for, darling. You might just get it.”
Jing Yuan lifts his hands. Gentle touches caress her trembling body, each one more titillating to Stelle than the last. He teases her with a brush of his finger behind her ear. Touches his thumb to her cheek to rub sweetly. And yet, the other hand dips even lower.
He tugs on the back zipper of her dress and frees her from it in a single motion. Stelle moans as his first hand finds the curve of her nape; firmly, he envelops it in his hold and pulls her even closer. The taller male leans in, his larger frame eclipsing hers as Jing Yuan tilts her head back.
He brushes his lips over hers to mark the occasion, as well as his will imposed possessively over her own. Every word Jing Yuan speaks rubs his soft lips against her own. “Whatever shall I do with you, my Stelle?”
With another small tug, the bodice of her dress slips over the soft swells of her breasts. She’d gone without anything underneath and Stelle relishes the way Jing Yuan’s gaze darkens in pleasure at the discovery. She presses herself against him, the tight peaks of her nipples scraping against his bare chest to encourage him even more. Every hard plane of his torso meets the soft curves of her belly. The heat of their bodies melt into each other and Stelle moans as Jing Yuan’s hand begins to explore her.
He marks his way down Stelle’s body through nails and pressure. All the way down to the hem of her panties, where his seeking fingers slip beneath the lacy edge. Jing Yuan seals his lips to hers, stealing away any breathy words and Stelle’s needy moan as he kisses her.
She’s on fire, shaking, as he finds the slick folds awaiting him beneath the lace. A single finger trails up and down along her entrance. Teasing her, tormenting her.
It comes to rest right over the hood of her clit. He applies only a slight amount of pressure, drawing out a needy whine from Stelle’s lips. She moans sluttishly loud against his mouth as he works over her swollen clit. No shyness touches her movements as Stelle grinds against his fingers, riding the tips feverishly as heat bubbles up inside her.
Jing Yuan’s teeth hook into her bottom lip and he suckles on it, relishing the way Stelle shudders beneath him. He presses his palm flat against her, his expert hand there to guide her through every step closer to trembling relief. He coaxes her closer to it, waiting until Stelle’s soft, needy whimpers arouse him to a feverish height.
He stops right before the point of breaking. Stelle gasps as Jing Yuan flips his hand and grasps at her underwear, driving his nails into cloth and pulling harshly. Her panties snap against her in a painful bid goodbye before the tattered remains fall, discarded, to the floor. One moment of silent farewell is given before Stelle thinks no more of them. Why would she, when the tantalizing heat of Jing Yuan's fingers stroking her below, and cupping her around the throat, beckons all of her attention?
His roughness, so at odds with his gentle manner, unlocks something inside Stelle she cannot possibly fathom. He keeps her at bay with an expert grip around her neck and Stelle's eyes bend a coquettish look of approval his way.
“You have no idea, Stelle, how badly I have wanted you.” His hold squeezes around her neck, robbing her of air and her sanity as Jing Yuan’s free hand begins to work away at his trousers. Only a single button keeps the two apart and, the moment it is undone, the entirety of this attractive man is revealed to her. His heated breath spills against her lips as he captures her eager mouth once more in a devastating kiss.
Her skirt bunches against her waist as Stelle finds herself falling backwards, her back hitting the soft sheets below. She groans for him, writhing beneath him as Jing Yuan digs his fingers into her thigh and lifts her leg up as high as she can manage. His hard length drags against her folds and Stelle is melting. Feverish as she grinds helplessly up against him.
The size of him would fill the whole of her, even deeper, until she’d feel nothing but him. Its girth would stretch her out until he alone would know the feeling of her heat shaped around him.
“How long I have been craving you…”
Her response is surely revealed to him by the wetness glistening between her thighs. Stelle wants him just as badly, and the girl shivers in pure anticipation as Jing Yuan slips naturally in between the cradle of her thighs. As if he belongs there.
She calls out to him, his name a sweet song on her lips as he positions the tip of himself against her wet entrance. Stelle shivers as Jing Yuan tilts his hips forward, pulling her up against his cock as he slowly pushes himself inside her. Any resistance he meets is quickly dealt with. It is a sinful, gradual possession that takes her over completely until Stelle is left trembling with an onslaught of feelings.
“Jing Yuan…” she whimpers, needy. Unfulfilled, even as his cock sinks to the hilt inside her. He gives her a few moments to adjust herself to his bigger size. Every bit of him stretches her out, forcing Stelle to know only him as her pulsing walls flutter around him. Because the moment his cock had entered her body, his length buried deep inside her hot, slick cunt, she’d become his.
“You like it, baby?” He hovers over her, his muscled shoulders an anchor that Stelle clings onto. Her nails dig into flesh as she mewls out her pleasure. “Louder, darling,” he goads her. Jing Yuan swings his hips against her, in a sudden show of force to let her know how much of her submission he craves. He owns her with his cock and she knows it.
“Y-Yes, Jing Yuan…” Stelle moans out, her cheeks flushed as Jing Yuan’s mouth caresses over the curve of her pulse. “I like it… you–” she gasps, as he twitches inside her, “I like you so much…”
“Good. Because you are mine, Stelle.”
Her mind goes blank as he begins to move, arching his back just enough to allow himself to slowly pull out. Just enough before he thrust all the way back in.
It's too hard to keep quiet like this. Jing Yuan should have clamped his hand entirely over her mouth if he didn't want to hear Stelle's ringing tones now. As his thick cock thrusts inside her soaked cunt, she is breathless, gasping with pleasure, as he fucks her senselessly against the sheets. Stelle clings tightly to him, no longer knowing where Jing Yuan begins and she ends as the older male molds her to fit him.
“Say it,” he orders huskily, and her body responds far quicker than her thoughts possibly can.
“Yours… mmh… yours–!” His root inside her is exactly what Stelle craves– this union of his cock pumping inside her slick pussy until she's moaning nonstop. Stelle's vision dances before her eyes. Their lips cling in a messy fuse, biting and suckling between gasps as she rocks back against him.
The lewd sounds of their sex fill the room: wet 'pops' of flesh meeting flesh, of muffled moans, of sweat-slicked skin smacking in tandem. Oh, how she longs to be fucked. How shamelessly she enjoys the way Jing Yuan spreads her and ruts into her as hard as he wants. "Please..." Stelle forces out kittenishly, unable to help herself, "...please, don’t stop–”
She wants to feel his load explode inside her, wants to cum all over his cock as he finds his pleasure inside her. Stelle kisses him back passionately, biting and clinging until her own marks are embedded in the bruises covering his shoulders and back. She squeezes her inner walls enticingly around his length and is rewarded with Jing Yuan’s guttural growl.
“Stelle...” Again and again he’d say it as they both grew closer to each other, closer to the edge of their pleasure. “Fuck, darling...” When she begins to pulse around him, her body contorting to bring him to peak, it’s all he needs. Jing Yuan pushes himself firmly against her, entrapping his cock against her walls and holding himself rigidly in place as his pelvis tilts against her.
Every time he hits that one spot, every time his pelvis grinds against her swollen clit, Stelle swears she sees the heavens bursting behind her eyes. She isn’t going to last long, she could feel the heat surging in her stomach and the way her breath seizes in anticipation of release, but every moment with him feels so wonderfully eternal.
Her heart dances behind her golden eyes as she looks down to see the way his cock plunges inside her. As if her body was made for him. Stelle wishes it desperately to be true. Just the thought of Jing Yuan’s cum filling her up, his cock twitching inside her as he spills within, causes her toes to curl.
Stelle moans, arching her back and crying out loud as finally-- finally, she peaks. Lightning sparks in her blood and she sobs in bliss, shuddering uncontrollably as she surrenders to her climax.
"So good, so fucking good..." she whispers, over and over. The waves don't cease even as her body clenches around his cock, squeezing relentlessly around his length. "Hnnng..."
Her every movement prods him even further to the edge of bliss. Jing Yuan can’t resist her, and in that very moment, he lets himself go. Rope after rope of his seed spills inside her, filling up her walls with the heated proof of his claim on her, until it spills over between her thighs.
Swimming on the high of bliss, the fucked-out, too happy Stelle wraps her slender arms around his shoulders in a tight embrace. Jing Yuan is mindful of his greater weight, mildly protesting the thought of squishing her, but Stelle doesn’t care. She presses her lips to his and murmurs soft words of denial.
She wants him right here. Always.
______
“Stelle. You look…” Dan Heng’s voice tapers off with uncertainty. He studies his friend closely as she spins around in her seat and props her chin on her palm.
“What?” Stelle asks curiously. “What’s up?”
“You look happy, ” March interjects, her eyes sparkling as she types rapidly on her laptop. “Ever since you started going on dates with that guy– who, by the way, I want to meet immediately – you look like fireworks are going off every morning!”
The ashen-haired girl blinks. “What does that even mean?”
She looks to Dan Heng for interpretation, but the male only shrugs. As March grabs the reins of the conversation, he flips back open to the book page he’d been reading prior. An action that normally wouldn’t bother Stelle, except that she observes the way his eyes don’t move as they scan over the page. Something is worrying him. Enough to distract him from submerging fully into reading.
Had they noticed?
“It means that things with you and the boyfriend must be poppin’ off, that’s what!” March pipes up energetically. “Does that mean I get to meet him soon?”
Anxiety spikes in her stomach. “Yeah,” Stelle lies easily, “I’m sure he’d be down for it.”
March is easy to fool; Dan Heng is not. Jade eyes flit upwards to pin her with a suspicious look. Stelle doesn’t give in however, only fortifying her walls of deception as she stretches out lazily. The lunch break between their afternoon classes is the only time she can catch up with her friends during the day. There is no way she’s going to spoil it with the truth.
That Jing Yuan isn’t her boyfriend, as much as she wishes he would be.
Oh, they spent plenty of time together. As she’d vowed to him on the first night together, Stelle honored her promise to go on lots of dates with him. In between a college student’s hectic schedule were outings to the seaside, amazing dinners to fancy restaurants, and often even dates at fun places Stelle wanted to try herself. Like the gaming arcade, in which Jing Yuan proved to be extraordinarily gifted at the crane game and won for Stelle a large lion plush she cherished (and kept by her bedside.)
They were companions. They were friends. They’d talk late into the night about anything and everything. She learned about his work (a senior head of security) and about his son (a hot-headed, gifted boy about to enter college soon.)
The latter had shocked her. When she’d pressed him on the age difference between herself and his son, Jing Yuan had laughed in an adoring way that had sent the butterflies in Stelle's stomach fluttering like crazy.
Yanqing was his sister’s son, he’d told her, adopted by Jing Yuan after she’d passed away many years before. As Jing Yuan had raised him since he was a boy, the distinction between ‘nephew’ and ‘son’ seemed meaningless to maintain. Stelle observed the fond way he spoke of Yanqing and felt the way her heart expanded in reply.
She was falling for him. Hard. For his kindness, for his intelligence. For the way his eyes glittered with understanding as they met her own yearning stare. Stelle loved the way he undid her, the way he'd splinter every bit of her control every time he took her hard and fast, soft and slow, and heady and deep upon their favorite hotel room's silken sheets.
The terms of their contract was simple: in exchange for spending time with him, he would financially provide her with everything she could possibly want.
Venturing to anything more than that was… difficult.
No matter how badly she wanted it.
He’d asked her to take it slow and Stelle knew she must honor her promise to him. Over the past few months, they’d gone on every date imaginable. They’d gotten closer. But, to her, it simply wasn’t enough. Did she truly look as ‘happy’ as her friends believed her to be?
It certainly didn’t feel like it to Stelle.
The first semester of the year hadn’t been as easy on the upcoming graduates as much as Stelle would have hoped. Assignments were intruding on her personal time, let alone work time, and if it hadn’t been for Jing Yuan’s financial help, she and March would have been kicked out of their apartment ages ago.
That fact alone is what triggered Dan Heng’s initial suspicion. When he’d pressed Stelle on it, she’d hedged on the truth. That she’d gotten 'back in touch with Caelus’ is a lot easier to swallow than to admit she’d become a sugar baby to a wealthy older man.
Especially when Stelle wanted said ‘wealthy older man’ to be her boyfriend already.
“Ren got a call from Caelus today,” Dan Heng murmurs presently. It instantly rocks Stelle out of her reverie as heat rushes to her cheeks. Dan Heng is nonchalant as he slowly turns the pages of his novel. He doesn’t look at Stelle but the girl can feel it: the way his words are meant for her to chew over. To overthink.
“Oh?” Stelle hums lightly. Casually. “Hope he’s doing alright.”
“You should already know that, shouldn’t you?”
It’s too easy bait, and both of them know it. Stelle closes the lid of her laptop and turns fully in her seat. She extends the length of her long legs across Dan Heng’s lap and rests her elbow on the table. Gold eyes are a vision of serenity as she cups her cheek in her palm.
“So I do,” she sing-songs cheerfully. “But not about what he wants with your roommate. Do tell us the gossip, won’t you?”
“I want to hear!” March agrees enthusiastically.
“He brought up the gaming convention this weekend. Asked if Ren was going.”
“Asked if you were going,” Stelle teases. To that, Dan Heng frowns.
“He asked what our plans are,” the brunette corrects. Jade eyes rest directly on Stelle’s nonchalant expression. “He wants to see you, Stelle. Said it’s been too long since you last spoke.”
She stills, for a fraction of an instant. Just like that, a careful lie she’d prepared had gone up in smoke. Caelus would not have said such a thing unthinkingly. What had Dan Heng thought, she wonders, the moment he’d discovered her ruse?
Where was her money coming from?
Dan Heng knew her life as intimately as she knew his. He knew she had no time to pick up extra shifts on the side of her classes, and knew that March’s financial situation hadn’t improved so drastically over these past three months.
His knowing gaze pierces through her like a lance, daring Stelle to lie.
She takes him up on it. “He’s just having fun with you, Dan Heng, lighten up. I’m sure Ren will protect you from any unwanted attention.”
Stelle may not be a natural actress but neither is she a coward. Citrine eyes don’t waver from the penetrating stare bent on her. She smiles slowly, challenging her friend to press the matter even more. She knows Dan Heng only asks because he cares but once, just once, Stelle wants to figure this out for herself.
It is between her and Jing Yuan, no one else.
“So are we going or not?” March asks, glancing back and forth between the two of them. She’s quick to pull out her phone and seek out her schedule for the upcoming weekend. “I bet I could ask Himeko off for Sunday night shift, if that’s okay? Stelle–”
“Hm?”
“–why don’t you ask your boyfriend to come? That’ll be a great time to meet all of us!”
Stelle drags her gaze away and offers March an apologetic smile. “I think he’s busy, unfortunately. But I’ll ask–” Lie. “–or maybe I’ll be busy, too. If you’re taking off, then Himeko might need an extra person to cover you.”
“If you’re not there, what’s the point!” March gripes, glaring at her. “We’re all going! It’s a friends’ date.”
“What is it that your… boyfriend,” Dan Heng says, pausing deliberately on the word, “does for a living anyway?”
Stelle’s lips tighten into a thin smile. “He’s a consultant.”
“For what?” the male presses.
“It’s confidential.”
Far from discouraging her friends’ interest, the vague answer only excites March’s interest more. It’s not a bad tactic, however, as soon her pink-haired friend becomes engrossed in coming up with theories that are more extravagant than the last. It distracts her and Dan Heng, too, who cannot prevent becoming roped into March’s imaginings.
“Excuse me, um…”
A youth’s courageous voice interrupts the latest of March’s theories. All three look up to see a blonde male regarding them with a contrite expression. “I was wondering if I could ask you a question,” he asks politely, and Stelle finds herself captivated by the maturity in his round, golden eyes.
“Sure, what’s up?” Stelle responds easily. Dan Heng shoots her a curious look.
“You go to school here, right?”
“We’ve been here for four years already,” March tells him with a long-suffering sigh. It doesn’t damper her enthusiasm in the younger however, as her blue eyes widen with interest. “Are you a freshman here?”
She shoves her phone aside and sidles closer to the youth. “Oh, I, um–” His cheeks flush a rosy pink as March inspects him closely. “Not yet,” he hedges. “I’m just on tour at the moment. It’s one of the places I’m considering.”
“Astral is amazing!” March announces, practically jumping out of her seat as she approaches the boy. “Okay, well, the teachers are hard asses and I could use with a longer lunch break–”
“March,” Dan Heng scolds mildly.
“Better than any tour, why don’t we show you around?”
“March.” This time it’s Stelle who calls her, the serious quality of the girl's tone halting her sweet friend's energy in her tracks. Three gazes swing to Stelle in surprise. But neither jade, nor blue, nor a youthful gold gaze is the target of Stelle's hyper-focused attention.
Rather, it’s the familiar sight of a tall, handsome man striding towards them that causes her mouth to go dry. Designer sunglasses are perched elegantly on the bridge of Jing Yuan's nose, her sponsor looking as alluring as ever even when dressed in a simple black tee and well-fitted jeans. When he comes up behind the young blonde male and claps a hand on the boy's shoulder, Stelle feels her heart plummet to the floor.
"Yanqing." The husky voice she dreams about, the one she's heard often in her ear whispering her name, or laughing in delight as he hugs her close after a well-fought crane game victory, fills the air. "Why don't you introduce me to your new friends?"
Even behind the opaque shades, she can feel his gaze upon her. But, Stelle is too used to playing pretend. She ignores the excited coos March makes about the handsome looks of the new arrival, as well as the embarrassed whine of complaint Yanqing utters. She ignores the way Dan Heng glances silently between her and Jing Yuan, his stoic expression cracking at the edges.
No, Stelle looks Jing Yuan directly in the eyes and puts on her sweetest smile. "I'm Stelle," she introduces brightly, and savors the warm chuckle that escapes his lips at her unspoken challenge.
One that he answers without hesitation, his growl of satisfaction causing every one of Stelle's nerves to sing.
"Jing Yuan."