He Jünle does not take the hand, merely glancing at it, before crossing his arms in front of his chest and raising his chin at Murong Jihua, asking, “so?”
The man in question does not look embarrassed either; he expected the reaction. It was a show of formality on his side, and they’re both grown men here. If He Jünle doesn’t mind, neither should he.
Stopping his probe off him, Murong Jihua takes out two cigarettes, handing one over to He Jünle after lighting one in his own mouth, saying,
“A pretend-boyfriend should act like one; if you’re also so cold to me outside, Her Highness would surely notice. ——Want one?”
He Jünle chuckles, and puts the cigarette in his mouth, merely holding it, saying with a fuzzy tone, “don’t worry, I’ll act like one outside…”
And he adds, “you’re the employer, so it’s on you to set up everything. I’ll cooperate, and be done with it, right?”
——So, He Jünle, is handing him the initiative?
Murong Jihua couldn’t say a ‘yes’ before He Jünle leans over and, skipping the lighter in Murong Jihua’s hand——He is borrowing a flame from Murong Jihua’s lit cigarette.
A… a straight man’s natural gayishness?
Murong Jihua couldn’t help taking half a step back. He Jünle, thus missing his target, is looking at him oddly. It is clear what his face is saying,
What’s wrong, bro?
“…”
What’s wrong, indeed.
Murong Jihua wants to laugh at his own oversensitiveness. This is all merely impromptu, and some mere insignificant impromptu act it was; he might lose his initiative at this point.
Thus, he quickly clamps down on He Jünle’s chin, and he is rubbing his own cigarette’s head almost brutally on the young man’s cigarette, turning the white into a dim red soon enough.
They are too close.
Their breaths are puffing over each other.
Murong Jihua can clearly count the number of eyelashes on the young man’s face. He can see the starry night mixed deep into the dark-coloured pupils.
He Jünle takes a deep breath, and very impolitely lets his smoke out all over Murong Jihua’s face.
He says,
“Your technique’s abysmal, huh. Do you and your bros not light cigarettes this way?”
“…”
Right now, should he show his respect by getting mildly jealous?
——You damned man!
Neither has slept well last night, nor has He Jünle had an opportunity to wash the alcohol away, so they tacitly decide to postpone checking out of the room.
Most importantly, Murong Jihua wants his official CP declaration to brew a little more, so he pulls his blankets open without hesitation to sleep back in.
Love hotel? Whatever. The five star rating isn’t just for show.
Half a day later, considering how he and his ‘beloved’s declaration has been playing on loop for a whole fifteen hours——Murong Jihua needs to hide no longer. He removes his sunglasses and tall hat and finally reveals his handsome face to the world once again.
・
The hotel lobby seems strangely depressed——The anguish from the women is almost physically manifesting.
Staff A “sob… this is impossible! I can’t believe it! My son-in-law, he’s only 20. Why does he already have a little vixen before my daughter grew up…”
——Then her mobile screen cracks into several pieces.
Staff B “Ptwoo! Son-in-law? He’s my hubby——Ah! My Prince Charming, you’re so cruel, do you not see how genuine my feelings for you are?”
——Then her electronic terminal is smashed into pieces.
Staff C “I’m going to die not being able to marry Mr Murong, sob, if only I could see him once again before he marries for good, I’ll pass away with no regre——Eh? He’s…?”
The ladies’ gaze follows C’s along and——That is the head of the Christine Corporation, the number one man of the Murong family——CEO Murong is! Checking! Out! Of! Their! Hotel! Right! Now!
The! Person! In! The! Flesh!
Seeing Murong Jihua about to leave already under the frightened gaze of the receptionist, the women finally seem to awake from their trance and screams to rush over.
The Murong family bodyguards, already expecting such a scene to erupt, quickly comes forth for crowd control, and form a chain of men firmly keeping the crowd at least seven metres away from CEO Murong.
・
People finally begin to take stock of the man standing next to Murong Jihua this whole time.
He is in a casual white shirt, with Murong Jihua’s black trenchcoat draped over him. He is outrageously handsome, and his looks can certainly be said to be at least on equal footing with that of Murong Jihua!
Naturally, He Jünle is uninterested in all the screams erupting around him, and so is Murong Jihua.
The man extends his left hand, showing the ring without restraint, and holds He Jünle’s right hand tightly, saying,
“Keep the face up. The moment we leave, we have no choice but to be locked dead to each other.”
“Don’t worry,
Mis.ter. Em.ploy.er.”
Murong Jihua pulls the door to his two-seat sports car open and sits on the driver’s seat, asking He Jünle, “where to?”
“Anywhere works,” says He Jünle in the passenger’s seat.
Murong Jihua is about to propose when his terminal suddenly begins ringing. It is a new number trying to video call. The royal-exclusive ‘Starcrown’ icon in front of the number makes Murong Jihua furrow his brows. He gestures towards He Jünle.
The young man makes an expressionless ‘ok’ gesture.
The call is accepted, and soon enough, a young lady is visible on the floating panel in front of them.
Her Highness Elizabeth, since the moment the call has connected, has fixed her gaze right on He Jünle, for a whole half minute.
The rays she cast from her eye are so obscenely inquisitive that even Murong Jihua, who is merely bearing witness to this scene, finds his hair standing on end. Thankfully, He Jünle is entirely unfazed, not even blinking, and merely stares right back at the Princess, as if she is but a skeleton in nice clothes.
“… Ah, apologies,”
She suddenly shows a big, big——smile,
“¡Entonces! Usted are el amor of Mu-dage~! You are certainly upstanding, dignified and magnificent, hehe! I am just not so sure if usted really are tan perfecto como what Mu-dage said? I’m super super looking forward mucho to seeing you~ Let’s tea party when free love you xoxo~!”
“… …”
It sure is rare to see a look of surprise on He Jünle.
“How——e——ver~”
Her Highness Elizabeth’s smile has suddenly turned frozen. The cherry-red mouth begins to stretch and stretch and stretch——The call has veered off into horror territory,
“He is… a male. That… would not do, Mr Murong. He and you… will be unable to complete the crossbreeding experiment. If a perfect seed cannot be nurtured thusly… It would not do. Oi… Mr Murong,”
Her Highness Elizabeth’s eyes are changing. Her pupils have suddenly shrunk in size to that of the sharp end of a needle, before suddenly exploding outwards. Soon enough, her iris is merely a solid blue colour as opposed to blue with a dark pupil. She continues,