Chapter 10

Mo Cheng was quiet for a second before he tilted his head to the side (very cutely) and asked, "You're serious?" He sounded doubtful and Sun Fang puffed up out of reflex. He stood up straight, smiled charmingly and said, "Of course. I never say things I don't mean."

Well. Sometimes he implied them, but he didn't say them outright.

"I don't even know you," Mo Change very reasonably pointed out.

"So?" Sun Fang shrugged. "What's the worst that could happen? We go on a date, I'll pay for it; at most you've have wasted a couple hours on me and gotten a nice meal and hopefully also a movie evening out of it. And it you hate it, we'll simply not go out again."

"You make it sound so easy," Mo Cheng muttered.

Sun Fang shrugged again. "Isn't it?"

Mo Cheng sighed. He cocked his hip against the counter and leveled a calm stare at Sun Fang, his eyes piercing. They dragged over every inch of Sun Fang that could be seen and he sighed again, shaking his head a little. There was a slightly amused slant to the man's lips that meant sun Fang had no reason to give up and so Sun Fang asked, "No good?"

"If it doesn't work out, will you keep pestering me?"

"No."

"Fine then, let's go get dinner tonight."

Sun Fang raised an eyebrow. "Tonight?"

Mo Cheng was downright smirking when asked, "What, no good for you?"

"I've got nothing but time, baby," Sun Fang said, enjoying the startled look this action summoned to Mo Cheng's face.

Mo Cheng swallowed his surprise quickly enough and said, "I get off at four." When he saw Sun Fang's questioning look, the beta answered the unasked question, "It's a Sunday. We close earlier today."

Sun Fang nodded in understanding. "Alright. Give me your number and I'll text you the details, sound good?"

Mo Cheng agreed, and Sun Fang set off into the big, wide world again, this time with satisfaction curling in his belly. It was only a little after two in the afternoon, so he had plenty of time to kill. Not enough time that he thought there would be any use in going back home, anyway. Instead, he checked the cinema's theater; his favorite movie had very nice timing, there would be an airing starting at 4:35. Just in time.

He texted the details to Mo Cheng, along with a reminder that he'd take the man out to dinner after. The movie was just over two hours long, so he reserved a table at a fairly fancy, but not so fancy that it intimidated people, restaurant. And once he'd notified his butler of his delayed homecoming, it was merely a matter of wasting time.

So Sun Fang went to a message therapist.

He spent the next hour-and-a-half in heaven, becoming so relaxed that he was at the edge of falling asleep multiple times. It had been way too long since he'd last done this, and what an absolute shame that was.

By the time he left, he was so relaxed and in such a good mood that it felt like he was walking on clouds. He found a café with tables outside protected by parasols from the unrelenting blistering sunlight, and decided that it was a good a place as any to waste time. He sat himself down on one of the rickety metal chairs and got some water from a bypassing waiter. Drinking it from a straw just because it made him feel more fancy, he popped his head on his hand and stared out silently at the view.

There were plenty of passersby on the street. Some walked with purpose, other just kind of meandered around with a clear goal, looking at whatever shiny thing caught their interest. The square he was facing was large, with a gigantic fountain in the middle spewing water from three different figures. The brickwork was uneven; the predominate style from around five hundred years ago when it was all the rage to mimic the artistic styles and architecture of earth's industrial age.

When time started inching closer to his agreed upon meeting with Mo Cheng, Sun Fang finally deigned to leave the surprisingly comfortable chair. He adjusted his sunglasses, as they had slid down his nose slightly, and rose from his seat.

He carelessly slung his bag over his shoulder and wandered back over the square, around a couple of corners and down a side road. Sun Fang thoughtlessly adjusted his hair as he walked, gathering it at the back of his neck and tying it together. He fiddled a little with it to make sure that it was secure and then let it go, the hair swinging a little in time with his movements.

Sun Fang reached the café where Mo Cheng worked easily enough, and right on time. He waved slightly at Mo Cheng, who was standing outside by the front door, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

He was in normal clothes now, and Sun Fang couldn't resist looking him over. "Hey," Sun Fang said when he was close enough that he needn't yell. "Closing went well?"

Mo Cheng smirked at him, "I'm leaving that for my employee to deal with." Sun Fang furrowed his eyebrows. Mo Cheng said, "We still have to clean up and put everything in order after we close. I don't actually get off work the minute it's closed."

Sun Fang simply took the rebuke for what it was and nodded, "Noted. Ready to go?"

Mo Cheng only pushed off the wall in response and walked over. Sun Fang spun on his heel and faced the direction he'd come from, feeling Mo Cheng joining him soon enough. The cinema wasn't far from here and Sun Fang had reserved prime spots—not that he expected it to be full.

He glanced at Mo Cheng's expression out of the corner of his eyes, feeling his lips twitch in response. Mo Cheng was looking hilariously bored, like this date was a chore he just wanted to get over with. Sun Fang would enjoy changing his mind.