บท 35: THE MAN IN THE ELEVATOR
Xuan Tianyi had thought that by the time he was finished with his bath, Hua Zhendan would be awake. He was wrong and Hua Zhendan was still sleeping peacefully. On any other day, he would let Hua Zhendan enjoy his sleep, but not today.
Xuan Tianyi wore a short under his towel, then removed the wet towel from his waist, and threw it on Hua Zhendan's face, "Wake up."
Hua Zhendan's eyes flew open immediately. He brushed the towel away and turned to look at Xuan Tianyi. Xuan Tianyi never disturbs his sleep unless on three conditions. One, he specifically asked him to. Two, Xuan Tianyi made breakfast and wanted him to eat in bed. Three, he unceremoniously slept too long. After canceling out the first condition, he realized it wasn't the second since he couldn't smell any food. It had to be the third, "What's the time?"
Xuan Tianyi crossed his arms and stared at Hua Zhendan rather impatiently, "Sit up."
"Woah! Why does it feel like you're waking me up for a fight?" Hua Zhendan sat up lazily. "Good morning, by the way."
"Do you know where I'm coming from?"
Hua Zhendan looked at the wall clock hanging a little from his door. It was a couple of minutes past seven. Xuan Tianyi was definitely just on a run. "I'm guessing you went to a wrestling ring, got your ass beat, so you came home to take it out on me."
"Don't be sassy with me."
"I'm not being... Fine. What's the matter?"
"I was just on a run. And guess what? I was stalked by two men."
"What?" Hua Zhendan was a lot more alert now.
"Yes. The two policemen who had beat me up the other day. The two policemen you had fired," Xuan Tianyi's tone was both angry and accusatory at the same time.
"Why were they stalking you?" Hua Zhendan asked with a frown. "Did they think they were stalking their death? Because they definitely were."
"Baby, you can't do something like that."
"They hurt you. I can do whatever I like to them."
"No, you can't. It's not fair. These men have families to care for. And you just take their jobs away. They hurt me, so what? That's life. The only thing we can do when we get hurt is forget about it and move on."
"Not if you're rich. If you can afford it, you don't forget it and move on, you make people pay for hurting you. That's why this kind of people never mess with important people. Always picking on the poor. I just had to teach them a lesson."
Xuan Tianyi shook his head, "I'm not rich, Zhendan. When people hurt me, I let it go. And you doing this behind my back makes me feel like you're rubbing your money in my face."
"Why would you ever say something like that?" Hua Zhendan slapped his thigh as he spoke. It was a sign that he wasn't angry, but was very angry.
"I'm sorry, but that's just how I feel."
"Fuck you, Xuan Tianyi," Hua Zhendan stood up in anger but he was still too sleepy so he sat back down on the bed. "You know I'm not like that. I'm just saying they have to pay for hurting you. And now, for stalking you,"
"No, they don't need to," Xuan Tianyi sat beside his boyfriend on the bed and ran a hand along his thigh. "When you received that magazine last week, you told me it was going to create a buzz when it came out this week. The picture is perfect because of those bruises on my body. That was the night I remembered you. Everything worked out fine, don't you see?"
"I don't care."
Xuan Tianyi sighed and spoke softly, "You know when I just left the orphanage, I had this job as a salesperson. Then, the owner's son came onto me. After a seduction or two, I gave in and had sex with him. The idiot then went home and came out to his dad. I was sacked. And I really needed the job back then. How do you think this made me feel?"
Hua Zhendan smiled and caressed the hand Xuan Tianyi had since been running along his thigh, "Baby, if you care so much that you'll make up that crappy, unbelievable story, then I'll do what you want. Once it's bright out, I'll call the headquarters and get them their jobs back."
"Thanks," Xuan Tianyi said with a victorious smile on his face.
"Come thank me some other way," Hua Zhendan pulled Xuan Tianyi into him.
"Acting classes," Xuan Tianyi pushed Hua Zhendan away from him. "My boss's gonna scold me if I miss it."
"Your boss sounds mean," Hua Zhendan shook his head.
"He is," Xuan Tianyi said with a smile on his face.
Hua Zhendan slapped Xuan Tianyi on the ass.
Xuan Tianyi laughed before disengaging himself from Hua Zhendan, "I'll get breakfast at your office by 9. Is that okay?"
"Sure."
***
Xuan Tianyi walked out of his acting class absentmindedly. He was busy thinking about what to get his boyfriend for breakfast. Right in front of the elevator, he walked into the side of a middle-aged man carrying a stack of office files. At that moment, the law of inertia came into effect, and the stack of office files the man had been carrying hurriedly fell to the floor.
"I'm sorry," Xuan Tianyi apologized. He bent down to gather the files which he then handed over to the man.
The man who seemed to be transfixed accepted them from him in a daze, "It's... It's you. From the magazine. Isn't it?"
Xuan Tianyi flashed the man with a beautiful smile. He then brushed his hand through his hair and arranged his bangs.
"I'm a big... Fan," the man mumbled then pressed a button on the wall to summon the elevator.
"Well, I'm elated to meet a fan," Xuan Tianyi replied with a broad smile.
After his reply, in awkward silence, both men stood an arm's length apart.
"Err—" the man started to talk, but just then, the elevator arrived and opened its doors to welcome both men.
"Can I get... Your autograph?"
"Of course," Xuan Tianyi nodded with a smile. He was almost pissed the elevator was empty. He met a fan and there was no one to witness it.
The man touched both his pockets, after which he pulled out a pen and handed it over to Xuan Tianyi.
"Where do I sign?" Xuan Tianyi asked. Needless to say, he was overwhelmed about signing his first autograph.
The man unbuttoned his shirt to open a white singlet. "Here."
Xuan Tianyi's first thought was that the man was flirting with him. Quickly though, he dismissed the thought. He placed his left hand on the man's chest to steady himself; he then wrote the three characters of his name on the man's singlet.
As Xuan Tianyi wrote, the elevator came to a halt. Xuan Tianyi disengaged himself from the man, turned around and came face to face with someone giving him a black look. The person who gave him the black look was none other than his boyfriend.
While the other man scurried out of the elevator on seeing his boss, Hua Zhendan walked into it.
For a split second, Xuan Tianyi was confused about what to do but instinctively stayed in the elevator.
When Hua Zhendan didn't say anything, Xuan Tianyi decided to break the ice, "I was just about to get us breakfast. What would you like to eat?"
Hua Zhendan still said nothing.
Xuan Tianyi didn't need a prophet to tell him Hua Zhendan had misunderstood the situation. "You won't believe what happened. As I came out of acting classes, I bumped into that guy. And, he saw me in the magazine. Apparently, he's a big fan. He even asked for my autograph. I just gave out my first autograph. Very exciting."
Hua Zhendan didn't reply.
Xuan Tianyi was confused about what to say next. After a while, he sighed. "Baby, I promise. There was nothing going on. I was just giving him my autograph."
The elevator stopped and Hua Zhendan strolled out of it towards his office. Xuan Tianyi hurried after him, and into his office.
"You seriously can't be mad at me for giving away my autograph, can you?"
"No, I can't," Hua Zhendan finally replied. "But I can be mad I saw you caressing another man's chest."
"That wasn't what happened."
"You were flirting with him, Xuan Tianyi. Your lips inches from his. With one of your hands on his body, you wrote on his chest."
"I know what it looks like but it really—"
"The man had a whole stack of papers on his arms and you chose to write on his chest."
"He asked me to."
"Isn't that convenient?"
"He asked me to, I swear. I didn't want to."
"I don't care."
"Hua Zhendan. I didn't do anything wrong. You can't seriously be mad at me about this."
"I'm not happy about it. And I don't want to see your face right now. Because the more I see your face, the more I recall it and the more angry I get."
"Are you asking me to leave?"
"Yes, I am."
Xuan Tianyi opened his mouth in surprise. All the times he and Hua Zhendan had fought, Hua Zhendan had never before asked him to leave his presence. He was dismayed, to say the least. "Baby."
"Please leave, Xuan Tianyi."
Xuan Tianyi walked towards Hua Zhendan, "I can't leave. I want to, but I can't. Not when you're like this."
"Just go," Hua Zhendan said. His words were icy and unfeeling.
Xuan Tianyi stood where he was for a moment. He was so eager to beg for forgiveness; he almost forgot he had done nothing wrong. The more he thought about it, the more he recalled all those times he had apologized when he wasn't in the wrong. Thinking about it, a wave of anger flooded his emotions. "Whatever you want," he announced before leaving Hua Zhendan's office.
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