章 4: 1.3
After every fifth outfit, Jenna kindly calls out for a break much to Jia Hyson's relief. He didn't realize modeling was this intense. It was one thing to practice with Bebe or take photos when he was still famous enough that no one really cared if the way he stood emphasized his body type or not, but it was a whole other thing when he was a poor nobody under a professional's scrutinizing gaze.
For starters the pressure over time becomes immense. Jia Hyson memorized only so many poses, and eventually ran out of ways to twist his body into attractive shapes. Even with Bebe there to offer advice and suggestions his body would still feel awkward at the unpracticed postures. There were body parts he wasn't aware had to be tensed in order to make even lying down look good. Jia Hyson had a new respect for the fashion industry.
Luckily, he had made such a good impression with Jenna's mysterious old uncle that he only received constructive, if a little overly harsh, criticism every time he did something off.
'It's probably because your learning ability is quite good,' Bebe comments mildly, 'He's never had to nag you after he tells you to do something.'
Jia Hyson smiles faintly, 'Yes, well, my short term memory is very good but my long term memory is not so tonight we have to go over all the things he's pointed out today.'
'Of course!' Bebe sounds delighted. Maybe it spoke too soon in calling it's host cheap. If it isn't too physically strenuous or monotonous, Jia Hyson seems to be naturally quite hardworking. 'Bebe has been recording everything, Bebe will naturally carefully look through it to help host.'
'Bebe...' Jia Hyson smiles coyly, 'you pervert~'
Bebe: Σ('◉⌓◉')
'Don't worry,' he teases silently, 'I like it (灬ºωº灬)♡ '
Bebe: (ノಠ益ಠ)ノ彡┻━┻ Sh*tty host! Why must you play with Bebe's feelings like this?
Jia Hyson goes through a total of fifteen different outfits of varying themes. His personally favorite was the androgynous mermaid-inspired tribal wear even if it had been very difficult to pull as he had to try to strike a strange balance of primal fierceness and elegant beauty. Bebe still liked the futuristic suit, especially when Jenna complimented at how well his bangle suited it.
'Bebe likes this Jenna character a lot,' Bebe happily tells him.
'Good,' Jia Hyson tells Bebe amusedly as he goes back to his assigned changing room to wear his old clothes, 'I'm thinking of letting Maddy interact with her. She needs a female friend and this story needs more well-rounded, likable characters like her.' In the original story, Madeline Fenwick didn't have many good girl friends that stuck around when she became poor. When she left Adrian and her brother to spend the night at a friend's place it was a male friend who was secretly in love with her. Her time on Can't Take the Heat wasn't much better. She had one female supporter who had been pushed out early by a rival's schemes leaving the fresh faced Maddy in the den of culinarily skilled foxes and vixens. Earning the attention of the hottest contestant as well as a few other attractive men that had been participating hadn't helped much either.
Having no support system in either family or friends, it is easy to become dependent on the handsome, rich and powerful male lead to the point she was would, well... as someone who now genuinely views Maddy as a sister, Jia Hyson was very unwilling to let her run from foxes and straight into the open mouth of a horny wolf. He can't even read the story without feeling disturbed. Jia Hyson is very open minded and his sexuality was just as flexible but no one wants to imagine their underage sister having vigorous sex with a man and an assortment of food products.
'I can't just make the story have no romantic subplots right?' He questions.
'Host is free to do whatever as long as it improves the plot,' Bebe sniffs, having heard this question more than a few times already, 'but the question host has to ask is if removing the romance will improve the plot. So?'
Jia Hyson sullenly stays silent as he pulls on his original shirt. They both know the answer to that and solemnly lights a candle for the main character's chastity. Jia Hyson swears that as long as he can help it, he will prevent her chastity being lost on a tv show at the very least.
Once changed, he walks out of the room to find both Jenna and her uncle huddled over the camera whispering excitedly. It takes a few minutes of him awkwardly hovering around them before Jenna realizes someone was watching them and lifts her head up with an apologetic smile. "Sorry Adrian, I almost forgot about you,"
"No worries, no worries," He replies with good natured politeness. "How are the pictures?"
Immediately Jenna bursts with enthusiasm, eyes sparkling brightly, "They're great! Oh my god, Adrian you look so good in them I cannot even, like wow!"
Jenna's uncle nods in agreement. "You have potential kid," he says gruffly, "have you ever considered being a model?"
Jia Hyson wants to cheer at succeeding in his plan however outwardly he looks shocked, "Me? A model? I don't think.."
"It'll pay you a lot more than some of your other jobs," Jenna quickly adds.
"I'll do it." The eager Jia Hyson immediately says before blushing and coughing a few times in mortification. He really hadn't meant to say that so fast. "I mean, sounds, uh, sounds good."
The uncle and niece pair laugh at his obvious humiliation, finding this good child very sweet in their hearts. "Here, my card," The uncle hands him a pristine white business card with the name 'James Christoper, JC Photography,' imbedded in bold print along with a phone number and company website. "Text me and I'll see if I can get you some job offers kid."
Looking at the card, Jia Hyson chokes up a little. "Th-Thank you, you, this means so much to me, thank you!"
Jia Hyson: Finally! No more sh*tty retail jobs! F*ck yeah! ﾟ+.(ﾉ*^o^)ﾉ*.☆ﾟ･:*☆
Bebe: ...
Feeling moved by Adrian's emotion, Jenna hugs him and feels incredibly guilty she never asked him for help sooner. "Don't worry Adrian, once I become a famous fashion designer you'll be the first guy I'll ask to model for me!"
Adrian smiles gently at her and pats her head, "En, I'll hold you to that okay?"
Jia Hyson: Remember this, remember this okay? I need job security. If you don't I'll really hold it against you, I'll curse you to death!
Bebe: Host, why must you be like this?
Jia Hyson: Because no man can be this perfect ╮(╯∀╰)╭
Bebe: This cheap host... (◞‸ლ)
Afterwords, Uncle James Christopher really did contact him for a very generous job. It seems after grilling his niece for details he heard of Adrian's sad plight and became sympathetic on top of his already good impression toward this nice young man. While many people dislike being pitied, Jia Hyson happily lapped it up like melted chocolate. In his opinion the four best emotions to manipulate someone was pity, guilt, greed and lust. He isn't debasing his tragedy, he's merely making the best out of a bad situation.
'Bebe believes that is called exploitation.' Bebe chimes in.
"Bebe," Jia Hyson sighs as he types his acceptance to the job offer to Uncle James, "do you come with a mute function?"
'If Bebe does Bebe would not tell you.'
"Adrian?" a deep voice says in surprise.
Jia Hyson turns around and smiles softly. Monroe enters the house and his usual blank face cracks a faint smile, eyes softening as he takes in the rare sight of his older brother at home so early. Usually Adrian would still be working till midnight, and he would start working again at five in the morning so it truly had been a long time since either he or his sister had seen the man while he was awake. "Monroe, I thought you had piano lessons?"
"Dropped them," Monroe replies easily like it meant nothing to him. How on earth could he have the face to continue playing such a frivolous thing when he knows the money going into his lessons were being taken from his brother's exhausted hands? The moment he learnt how much they cost he had dropped the classes immediately and secretly deposited the money back into their shared bank account.
Adrian frowns, "But you love the piano."
"Not as much as you," Monroe bluntly says.
Jia Hyson blinks, a little stunned at the unexpected sweet words but his heart soon warms up from it. Chuckling lightly he goes up to ruffle Monroe's hair, the teenager was still so young and yet he can spout such flattery! "Such a good child," he laughs before leaning down to playfully kiss his forehead, "you really are so responsible, before I know it one day you'll be taking care of me!"
From getting a decent paying modeling job to receiving Monroe's love, today was truly a good day. Jia Hyson practically floated to the kitchen to make dinner with a heart filled with joy. Ah, taking care of kids really was very rewarding! Especially good boys like Monroe!
So happy he was he completely missed the way his beloved younger brother's grey eyes flashes darkly as he softly touches his forehead.
...
As a year passes, Jia Hyson felt that he was doing quite well for himself. He was slowly gaining popularity in the modeling industry and the pressing urgency for money was lessening little by little after every job. Monroe has been working hard at school and his grades made Jia Hyson want to kneel down and weep. His little bro was so capable! He will surely succeed in life.
Maddy, after some encouragement from Jenna has learnt that being thrifty doesn't automatically make you lame and no longer feels ashamed at her poor household. By being less defensive and sensitive about her background she managed to catch a few likeminded friends and swapped neat life hacks about various things and having fun on a budget. Adrian appearing in magazines was also an unexpected bonus to her social life. Many of the previous girls who harassed Maddy in the original story no longer dared after the one time Adrian came to school to drop off lunch for her because they all immediately fell for his handsome gentle face.
If this wasn't enough, to make sure their familial bond stayed strong, Jia Hyson insisted everyone will have dinners together at least thrice a week now that he no longer has to work an insane amount of hours. Both Maddy and Monroe had no objections to this and soon the easy lighthearted interactions they used to have before the strain of being poor returned. Jia Hyson hadn't been truly aware of this strain until it was gone and suddenly it felt like a breath of fresh air had returned to their little family of three.
Going through Maddy's new blog post, something which she has recently started after Jia Hyson suggested it to help her writing skills, he can't help but smile helplessly while reading her latest kitchen flop with their leftovers. He types a message under the post telling her she needs to clean up before he comes back home. A few people comment at this, complaining about being constantly fed dog food, completely unaware that the blogger MadCheesey and the user BurgerBunny have a completely innocent brother-sister relationship.
"Who are you texting?" His current stylist asks curiously as he stains Adrian's blonde hair with pink and silver streaks. Proud of his cute sister, he shows her the blog on the screen. "Oh! I've heard of MadCheesey, I really like her five and under ingredient recipes the best."
"En," Jia Hyson says with obvious warmth and fondness. "She's my little sister,"
"No way," His stylist claps her hands in excitement, "can you ask her if she can do more desserts? I'm really a baking-idiot and it would be nice to show people I can make a cake without using box mix," both of them laugh at that.
"I'll ask her tonight," Jia Hyson promises.
"You should've asked her to come over today," The stylist lightly scolded, "I don't know what's happening but it seems like it's bring your kid to work day for the higher ups. I've heard the one of the media bigwigs is bringing his second son over and everyone with a daughter under thirty had brought them along for a 'fated meeting'."
"Maddy's too young to date," Jia Hyson immediately says before he could even think about it. The stylist pauses for a moment before giving an 'Ah so he's like that,' face and continues devotedly drying his hair.
"Your sister is lucky to have a big brother like you." She sighs wistfully.
The smile Jia Hyson gave her in return was blinding.
....
"That's enough! Good work Adrian!" James Christopher shouts as he pulls away from the camera with a satisfied look. Jia Hyson finally relaxes and starts to cough violently. During the shoot people kept throwing pink chalk-like dust at him and it had been impossible to not breath some of it in.
Taking pity on him, James pats him on the back where the pink dust hadn't completely covered him and gestures for an assistant to hand him a bottle of water and a damp towel. Jia Hyson takes both gratefully. "The last jump shot was very good this time," James comments, "you need to try be more aware of your arms and look more intensely at the camera but since this is meant to show a playful feel that can be ignored for now."
Jia Hyson nods to show he's listening as he thirstily drinks his water. James doesn't mind it since he knows how hardworking and willing to learn Adrian is since working with him. Currently they were taking photos to advertise a fundraising event that involved participating in various brightly colored fun events to raise money for shelter and clothing toward people in need. Each model represented a color and to avoid gender stereotype criticisms Adrian, who was the newcomer, was assigned the color pink.
He didn't mind it as much as some of the other male models who had been stuck with more 'feminine' colors did but he sort of wish it wasn't so... bright.
Bebe: It looks like the lovechild of a highlighter and a glitter pen threw up on you.
'It's okay,' he comforts himself sadly, 'this is what photoshop is for.'
"Hey kid, can I ask you a favor when you have your break?" James suddenly asks looking uncharacteristically nervous. Jia Hyson immediately turns all of his attention toward this middle-aged uncle, surprised that the man was even capable of nervousness. He had the type of personality that, if Jia Hyson didn't know better, made people think he was an ex-military general or something. If he had to describe the man in three words it must be strict, strong and stable. Whatever James was worried about must be important.
"Uncle, you're my benefactor, if it's within my power of course I will happily help you," Jia Hyson seriously says, using the full power of his blue eyes and angel looks to convey his utmost sincerity.
James could not help but be moved by this young man. "It's nothing too difficult kid," he assures warmly, "it's just my no-good son is around here and I would like it a lot of you could try strike a friendship with him, maybe some of your hardworking personality could rub off him."
Jia Hyson blinks, then squints a little doubtfully at James, "You brought Jacob here for the big boss' son?" He's heard many unflattering things about James' son, Jacob, both from James and Jenna, one of which was the grudging admittance that the guy was gorgeous enough for men to bend for. The fact that James invited his kid over to work today of all days felt a little suspicious.
James blanched, "What? No! I wouldn't let my son anywhere near the young master of the Lanzoni family. I'll be finished if that happens," he shudders at the thought. Jia Hyson really wants to meet this Jacob character whose incompetence strikes so much fear into this stoic uncle's heart. But then he recognizes the name of the family.
"Oh damn I didn't know it was Lanzoni," he mutters. Since he wasn't going to meet the male lead anytime soon Jia Hyson never bothered to read up on him, he only knew the man was practically a son of heaven- rich, influential and handsome with a secret love of cooking.... And a pervert with a disgustingly large sex drive.
After spitting a few curses for the future lover of his sweet sister, Jia Hyson ponders about it for a moment before deciding to ignore this unexpected event. It's not like he can do anything to the male lead anyway. Right now he's just a cute little model who needs his paycheck ╮(╯∀╰)╭
"Mn, yes I heard the young master was dragged here in an attempt to coax him to think of seriously taking over the family businesses." James says, "When I heard about it I thought it was a great idea to do the same with my Jacob, at the very least the models will interest the boys into coming."
"You want Jacob to be a photographer like you?" Jia Hyson prods.
James shrugs helplessly, "It would be nice, but as long as it isn't completely daft I'll support him no matter what. The problem truly lies in the fact that he's got good eyes but no vision." He heaves a heavy sigh, "I don't know what I'm going to do with that brat if he doesn't get himself together."
Jia Hyson silently observes the stress lining the older man's face before he quietly tells him, "You're a good father, don't beat yourself up too hard. Jacob is fifteen? Sixteen? He still has a lot of time to grow up."
"I suppose," James sighs again, his worries for his only son clearly weighing on his mind, "anyway, Jacob should be hanging around somewhere here, probably surrounded by some of the less... tasteful women. You have two hours before your next shoot with the orange and yellow models."
"Sunset colors, nice," Jia Hyson compliments with a nod before leaving with another bottle of water. Scanning the area for signs of this unruly son of his benefactor he starts to walk out of the studio and into the slightly busier halls. He hasn't seen any photos of him but from the description he should be tall for his age, straight dark brown bangs and exceptionally handsome to the point it would not be surprising that a flock of women would gather around him.
Personally Jia Hyson had some doubts about that last part. After all, some models may be unscrupulous and it wasn't uncommon to hear about those in the industry violating the unspoken rules (sleeping their way to the top) but Jacob was an underage teenager. Sure Jia Hyson has a rather limited and flexible moral conscious but he would never think of sexually taking advantage of a young child just for some material benefits!
Of course if he himself transmigrated into a world where he was a sixteen year old gorgeous young man that would be totally different.
Bebe: ...How?
Jia Hyson: Because I, as a fully consenting adult in mind and soul, would like to try seduce someone to the depths of hell.
Bebe: wtf
Much to his system's disgust, Jia Hyson can't help but feel his mouth water and his body tremble in excitement as he briefly indulged in his fantasy. The inner turmoil, the self hatred of a good person realizing they're nothing more than a depraved beast that wants to defile someone they shouldn't. Would they drown themselves in guilt? Would they blacken themselves? Ah, he wants to see them tremble as they try restrain themselves from pushing him down and tying him up...
Bebe: WTF
##My promised top level host is secretly a depraved man what to do## I think my host is a sadist but also wants to get tied up what does this mean?? ## Is it too late to switch hosts?##
"Ah, that must be Jacob," Jia Hyson suddenly says as he notices a group of beautiful woman all swarming at the end of the corridor like ants to a piece of candy. "Okay so maybe Uncle wasn't exaggerating about his looks."
Taking another swing of water, Jia Hyson thickened his skin and began pushing through the sea of women. Thankfully, because of his dusty appearance, everyone quickly learnt to avoid him lest their skin and clothes get stained. This was even more true for the models who were currently wearing their assigned designer outfits as they waited for their next shoots to start. Some had even looked at Jia Hyson in horror like he was carrying the plague. It was quite demoralizing.
Finally, at the heart of the swarm, Jia Hyson saw Jacob. Despite being exposed to models daily, Jia Hyson couldn't help but admit that he was a little stunned at the sight of the young man. Having barely stepped into adulthood and being that handsome had to be some sort of heavenly-defying sin. Despite scolding all the older models for eying up young meat just a minute ago, Jia Hyson ashamedly felt his heart skip a beat.
Really.. really not good (♡﹃ ♡)
Bebe: ಠ_ಠ
....
Drake Lanzoni was having a bad day. First, his father wanted him to follow him to one of the companies they own to observe how business is conducted. Second, his father threatened him to follow him to one of the companies they own to observe how business is conducted. Third, after finally threatening and dragging him there he was promptly ignored for an hour and a half before he finally gave up and left the meeting room. The fact everybody was too busy talking business to notice him gone irked him even more.
In the end, after hiding in the corner to play games on his phone, someone recognized him and soon all the money hungry crows had flocked around him with simpering voices and greedy eyes. Already in a bad mood it took a lot of restraint not to shove them all away, he'd already gotten into trouble for being too violent earlier, it wouldn't be good if one of these shallow vases dares to complain to his father and demand money for their silence. Drake tried to focus on his gaming, though that somehow attracted even more people to speak to him, coming closer to him to the point he felt claustrophobia as he becomes tightly surrounded.
Somebody finally couldn't take being so blatantly ignored and snatched his phone from his hands, "Ah, ah, don't you know it's rude to play games when so many people want to talk to you?" She playfully scolds but she couldn't hide the irritation in her overly sweetened voice. "If you're feeling overwhelmed why don't you let this big sister show you around instead?"
Clenching his fists, Drake was just about to yell at this bitch when a pink hand plucked the phone out of the woman's claws. "Big sister, don't you know it's rude to just take what doesn't belong to you? Stealing is wrong," a warm voice chides, loosely throwing the lady's words back at her. Drake looks up to see a handsome blonde man with a clean cut, friendly demeanor that contrasts greatly with his alluring peach blossom blue eyes and the... bright pink powder that seem to be sprinkled on him from head to toe.
"Who are you?" The woman who snatched the phone originally demands, her pretty face twisting and reddening unattractively. The man wryly smiles in her direction but from Drake's angle he could see the faint flicker of disgust in his eyes. He gives her an obvious once over before pointedly ignoring her in favor of handing the phone to Drake.
Drake reaches out for it dumbly but unexpectedly the man's other hand grabs his wrist. With only a sly wink as a hint to what will happen, Drake suddenly gets pulled off his seat and finds himself running with the handsome pink stranger through the crowd. Bursting out from the group, he noticed how much fresher the air was away from those stifling people. Intrigued, he picks up speed so he's no longer being dragged by the man.
Upon seeing Drake's sudden enthusiasm the man laughs as they continue to run. Drake felt his blood rushing and heart thumping even harder when he heard such a pleasant carefree sound. Suddenly he felt very aware that this man was still holding his wrist.
It was very warm.
Once they reach a lift, the man doesn't hesitate to press the button for the ground floor and heartlessly lets the door shut in front of some of the more stubborn women that had been chasing them. Panting for breath both of them look at each other and burst into disbelieving laughter.
"Hah, I really felt like some hero saving you from a horde of beautiful zombies," the man giggles childishly, eyes curving up with amusement.
"You.." Drake felt his face heating up. The man's carefully styled hair was now messily unrestrained, with his flushed face and wet lips it gave the already beautiful stranger a rather seductive and ambiguous air. "I, thank you,"
The stranger waves it off easily with a shrug, "Ah, no worries, no worries, oh right, here," he tosses the phone to Drake, "want to have lunch? I've got two hours free." The man looks at him expectantly.
Despite the fact he should be used to being the center of attention, being stared at so intensely like that with those eyes made Drake feel flustered. He fiddles with his phone as he helplessly says, "I don't even known your name,"
The man blinks, a little taken aback, "Your father didn't mention me?" He asks confused.
At the mention of his dad, Drake's mood immediately sours. "Why on earth would be mention you?" He scowls, cursing himself for being so naive, of course his father wouldn't trust him to be alone and sent people to watch over him.
The man squints his eyes looking genuinely confused and a little hurt, "I'm Adrian Marshall? Uncle James talks a lot about you so I assumed..."
"Oh, uh," Drake's mind was whirling. He quickly understands the situation after a moment of thought. He has met James Christopher and his son before and while he doesn't like him very much he is reluctantly aware that they share some similar traits. "I must have not been listening. Now that I think about it your name does sound familiar."
The man, Adrian, nods and accepts the excuse. Apparently he is somewhat aware of Jacob Christopher's personality then. Drake feels somewhat torn about this. On one hand, he's very happy to not be treated as the Lanzoni family's second young master for once, on the other hand he's being mistaken for James Christoper's idiot son...
"Well, your father is my benefactor who introduced me into modeling," Adrian explains straightforwardly, looking at Drake with an earnest face, "he asked me to see if we can be friends and talk some of the stupid out of you."
Drake Lanzoni: ...Such a nice looking face said something unexpectedly rude just then.
"Ah," Adrian looks a little embarrassed, "Sorry, your dad said that much nicer than that."
Drake Lanzoni: .....So those were your true thoughts then?
Finding it a little funny and enjoying Adrian's straightforward friendliness, Drake shrugs it off. "Ah, don't worry about it, at least I don't look like a walking advertisement for strawberry flavored bubblegum," he teases though since he's never really been so casual with anyone before it comes off a little awkward.
Adrian thankfully seems to have enough social skills for the both of them and plays along. He pouts, putting on an exaggerated wounded look as he clutches his chest like he'd been shot, "How cruel!" He gasps, "And here I thought we could be friends!"
Helplessly Drake's mouth curves into a smile, "You, you take a shower first then we can talk about friendship."
Adrian laughs again, it's not a very loud laugh, quite soft and gentle but still a little husky. Drake reaffirms to himself that it really is a laugh that is pleasing to the ear. And the smile as he laughs is pleasing to the eyes. Really, everything was just, quite.. pleasing. "You're very different to what uncle says,"
Drake stiffens a little. After all he may be the intelligent but he was still only seventeen and has been a more or less obedient if rather sullen child. He's never had to lie so thoroughly about something to this extent and was already feeling not a small amount of guilt for tricking this person he finds he really likes. "Uh, Mhmmm," he noncommittally hums before mentally slapping himself.
Adrian gives him a weird look but immediately shakes it off with a muttered 'Maybe there is just something wrong with his brain'. Feeling a little wronged but unable to protest, Drake quickly changes the subject. "So.. how exactly did, um, father introduce you to modeling?"
Luckily it seems Adrian doesn't have the best attention span and after only a moment of hesitation decides to give him some face and briefly recount how he met James Christopher's niece and in turn, James Christopher himself. Even though he didn't outright say it, Drake could read between the lines and see that Adrian's life hadn't very easy. Feeling a bit embarrassed about his own lavish lifestyle and not wanting to make Adrian think he was some ungrateful spoiled rich second generation, Drake quickly makes up a story about being teased and looked down on for his father's work in school.
Adrian looks at him sympathetically and the guilt inside him grows a bit bigger even as Drake inexplicably preens silently under Adrian's attention and the way he tries to encourage him. "Those kids are idiots," Adrian says seriously, before gently poking Drake's forehead, "but you're not much better! You're dad is working hard for your sake you know? Even if he's busy he still constantly worries about you, how can you dismiss such genuine fatherly love for some words spouted by shallow strangers? Understand?"
"En," Drake says, flushing a little at the scolding but his mouth was curving upwards in a pleased smile. Wasn't Adrian a little too... cute when he was worked up about something?
Seeing the smile Drake had been unable to hide Adrian seemed to get annoyed, puffing up his cheeks like an angry cat and looking even cute to his eyes. "I'm trying to be serious here! You-" Adrian pauses as a strange but familiar sound interrupts him. "are hungry?"
Drake wanted to dig a hole and bury himself as his body cruelly betrayed him as his stomach loudly gurgled for attention.
Adrian blinks, his temper quickly diminishing and amusement coming back. "Come on, I made myself some lunch let me go get it from my bag and we can eat outside."
"I.. I didn't bring lunch or my wallet," Drake awkwardly says. Truth be told he had ordered his personal chef to send his food to him when ever he called so it would be still freshly cooked but how could he tell Adrian that?! Instead he puts on a pitiful expression and touches him stomach, "is it okay if I have a little of yours?"
Adrian couldn't stop his heart from being moved by this handsome younger man's pitiful face. He was a poor older brother who became a model, his weak points were naturally food, children and beautiful looks. Adrian had never stood a chance. "Of course," he melts.
Little does he know, because of this Drake learnt the benefits of shamelessness.
Luckily Adrian made a sizable amount of food for himself. Generally his lunch consists of dinner leftovers or what was left after making Maddy and Monroe's school lunches however it was the weekend and Maddy had used up all the dinner leftovers to experiment with. This meant that Adrian had the opportunity to cook and eat a whole meal tailored just for himself. As a still growing twenty year old his appetite was large. Now that he has the money to afford it he wouldn't hold himself back.
Once they picked up Adrian's backpack, they headed to a nearby park to sit and eat. Drake stares at the box of food that was proudly unveiled by Adrian.
There were nine mini burgers placed neatly in three rows of three.
Drake: ...
Enthusiastically, Adrian describes each burger. There was two normal cheeseburgers, a double bacon cheeseburger, one with spicy mayo, jalapeños and chicken, a grilled fish burger and a vegetarian burger using eggplant steak, mushroom and feta. "The best part is that from the top you can't tell which burger is which so it's all a fun surprise," Adrian excitedly explains, rubbing his hands in his eagerness. When Jia Hyson had taken over Adrian's body not only did he pick up his skillset but also his mindset including likes and dislikes.
And it turns out Adrian really, really loved burgers.
"You only listed seven burgers," Drake counts, "what about the other two?"
Adrian grins and points at two slightly lighter buns in the box, "These are my sister's idea, they're dessert burgers. We cut the tops of some vanilla cupcakes, shoved a slice of brownie in between the cake and then spread cream cheese frosting and strawberry jam inside."
Drake raises a brow, bemused and intrigued, "Interesting idea, wouldn't it be too sweet though?"
Adrian winks, "Well I haven't tasted it altogether either so we'll both have to see won't we?"
They chat about what's it like modeling as they pick at Adrian's lunchbox. Drake finds himself enjoying himself immensely. Adrian's stories were all extremely entertaining and funny, it was like he was a natural storyteller. When the topic switched over to Drake's games Adrian proved he was good at talking but even better at listening.
"I'm naturally not a talker," Adrian admits truthfully when Drake comments on it, "I mean, I'm good at it but it's rather exhausting, listening is really more my thing."
"I don't mind," Drake blurts out, "I, I, you... you are nice either way."
Adrian blinks before pursing his lips in an attempt to hold back his laughter. He doesn't succeed, "Pft- ahaha, how are you so cute? You should meet my little brother, he is just as cute as you," Adrian smiles widely, dazzling the eyes.
'I can be cuter,' Drake silently thinks feeling an odd mix of flattered and discontent at the compliment. Outwardly he just smiles fondly as he takes a bite of his mini fish burger. It was very good, the succulent grilled fish and herb-lemon mayo complimented each other well and the tangy salad and buttery bun only emphasized it further. Even though his refined palate can taste that the ingredients were cheap, Drake still hums in contentment at the heartwarming taste. "This is very.. homey."
Adrian proudly accepts the praise, looking smug and happy. Drake couldn't help but wonder if Adrian would be as delicious as his cooking? He subconsciously licks his lips at the thought.
They talked and ate until only the dessert burgers were left. After both taking a bite of it, Drake and Adrian each made identical faces of disgust and laughed at each other with their mouths still full of overly sugary dessert. By the end of the the two hours Drake could confidently say they were friends and he felt very reluctant to leave this new friend of his.
"Do you really have to go now?" Drake whines knowing he sounded like a sticky child. "I can get someone to push back your schedule?"
Adrian ruffles his hair affectionately, "I can't inconvenience your father like that Jacob," he chuckles, thinking the teenager looked like an abandoned dog, "but hey, Uncle will be really happy if you visit the studio more so you can come over to meet here whenever I've got a shoot. See? Two birds one stone."
Drake stiffens. He had almost forgotten Adrian didn't know who he was. "Maybe," he smiles weakly. Luckily Adrian didn't notice his visible discomfort as he was checking his phone with a frown.
"Damn, I have to go, most of the other models are already there." Adrian curses. Packing up his stuff, he turns to Drake and ruffles his hair again. "I'll see you around okay?"
"Wait!" Drake calls out as Adrian turns to leave, "Can I, your number?"
Adrian smiles, "Your dad has my contact, get it from him later!"
"Ah..." Drake deflates a little. "Right, my father. Who's James Christopher. The photographer."
... F*ck
With Adrian gone, Drake Lanzoni's warm eyes immediately turn icy as he pulls up his phone.
He needs to make a few calls.
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