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She hates his beard.
Max doesn't have an explanation for it, it just wasn't her thing.
And always, subtly or not, hints that he should shave. More as a joke than anything, of course, because she knows he can't, not yet.
Vinh was doing this play, a story set in the 17th century and the beard was not only a nice addition for his character, but it was necessary for him to look old enough to the role.
Max tries not to complain too much, she loves the play and loves seeing how happy Vinh is working with his art. So she'll accept his beard and be very happy about it.
Vinh likes to make things easy, always rubbing his bearded chin on her neck when they hug because he knows it will tickle her and he loves to hear her laugh. It was good to realize the power he holds to always make her feel happy and loved is still a constant, with or without a beard.
Max quickly notices that the extra facial hair does something to his smile. She's always loved Vinh's smile, but now there's a kind of added emphasis to it. As if the beard was a frame for the painting that was the many types of smiles he directed at her. She has to admit, it looks good on him.
As the vain man that he is, Vinh takes care of the appearance of his beard as much as his hair, trimming the lines, keeping uniform and using products with amazing scents that Max wouldn't mind smelling it while hugging and kissing him.
Max has learned the magic of holding him by the tip of his goatee and pulling him in for a kiss and learned the sensation of stroking his face as she did so to feel the frizzy texture between her fingers. Her whole body knows the feeling by now and she has to admit it brings a little spice to the nights they spend together and she can definitely get used to it.
Even drawing him with the beard was easy because the distinct feature helps to compose the rest of his face and she never got it wrong again. While taking pictures of him like this also became a fun puzzle game of light and angle to make his beard and expressions stand out.
She still subtly insulted his beard, and joked about counting down the days until he could shave, but honestly she could draw and take 100 more portraits of him with a beard and never get tired of it.
Today was the last day of the play, after six months the theater group was finally going to move on to the next project and Vinh didn't need a beard anymore.
It only hit Max when she saw him buy a new shaving kit that night - probably to shave in the morning - and the idea of waking up to her boyfriend with a clean chin made her realize then:
Oh, she loves his beard.
She doesn't know how to pinpoint when she started or what changed, she just knows that she likes it now and doesn't want to lose that, not yet.
"Do you really need to shave?" She asked once they got home.
"Hmm?"
"You know, what if the new role ask for a beard?"
"Well, any role I get will give me time to grow it back if necessary."
"Still feels like a lot of work if you already have a good one right now."
"'A good one'?" Vinh smiled at that. "I thought you hated my beard."
"I do."
Okay, she could have pretended to be a little more confident in that, she admits to herself as she watches Vinh approach with a smile.
"Oh yeah."
"But I don't mind if you still need or want to use it."
"Really?"
Vinh comes even closer, hugging her around the waist, their faces mere inches apart. Max doesn't mind, smiling as he kisses her cheek, enjoying the tingling sensation his beard makes on her skin.
"I mean, I can make this humble sacrifice for you. And for the sake of your job," she almost stumbled over her words.
"Yeah?"
"And for the best of your theater group IF need it."
Vinh pulled back to look at her with an amused smile, and Max sighed at his gaze, already knowing she had been caught.
"So I WAS right. Artsy types really can't resist a beard."
"What can I say? It has its own charm," her hand goes to his face, curling her fingertips into the thickest part of the beard on his chin, loving how he reacted to it. The sweet realization that she is affecting him as much as he affects her.
"All right." Vinh said. "The beard stays on until further notice."
"Yeah?"
"Hmm.
Max gently pulls him towards her, their lips crushing together for a delicious kiss. And his beard brushing against her lips, soon warming her face, and gradually moving down to tickle her neck, and send shivers down her spine as it touches her collarbone and even lower... And Max decides right then and there that she is truly loving all of it.