YueRui

@Shen Quanrui Having shocked himself out a nap, Ricky seemed more interested in playing on his phone for the rest of the drive rather than nitpick at Xingyue. It was surprisingly refreshing for them to just cruise down the night streets together. Once they arrived at the tea spot, Xingyue left Ricky in the car to pick up the drinks, even going so far as to pop the straw into the cup before bringing it back out to maintain the quiet in the car. "For you," he said, handing over the cup of strawberry green tea to the younger. He made a deliberate show of sipping on his own honey green tea as well, since Ricky had often complained about Xingyue not getting a drink to sip on with him. "Let's go home now."

@Wang Xingyue No, Ricky was not fine. Nothing was fine in life, and he didn't know what to do to fix it. Looking down at Xingyue's arm barred over his chest, Ricky stiffened. Did Xingyue do that so he wouldn't pitch forward? Did Xingyue care about him that much? Something chest stirred, and he gingerly pinched Xingyue's sleeve and pulled it aside. His heart had been feeling stuffy all weekend, but it was only now that he thought he knew what it meant. He pulled out his phone and sat on an angle so Xingyue wouldn't be able to see what he was typing. Although Zhengting didn't reply to him anymore, Ricky had largely accepted that, so it wouldn't really matter if he texted Zhengting this: 'I think Ah Yue likes me. I think I like him too. Wish you were around so you could help me with it.'

@Shen Quanrui If there was one thing Xingyue could be thankful for, it was that Ricky's tea spot of choice was close to his home, which meant that they would only have to go in one direction that night. Once they were back in the car, it was like Ricky had been put into an induced coma again, falling asleep without any inhibitions. Xingyue took the time to enjoy the peace, but also to think about what he'd report back to Victoria, when she called for him once more. Ricky's sudden cry startled him enough that he stepped on the break as he was driving down the highway, and Xingyue quickly held an arm out to Ricky's chest, just in case the younger was falling or hurt. "Wh-what's wrong!? Are you okay?" he asked, then frowning when he heard the reason, "Maybe sleeping in a moving car isn't the best for you. We're almost at the green tea place, you'll be fine."

@Wang Xingyue "I'll go, then I'll sleep," Ricky decided, not even bothering to check if Xingyue picked up his wallet. He would never, /ever/ skip an opportunity to get strawberry green tea, even if he was bursting at the seams and fighting unconsciousness from whatever illness he had contracted that day. With Xingyue as his crutch again, Ricky returned to his seat and promptly fell asleep, trusting Xingyue to know where he wanted his tea. Reality blended with dreams, and Ricky ended up with visions of a dark figure trying to choke him to death. He woke up kicking, which meant his injured foot now throbbed from all that action. He cried out and reached for Xingyue, shaking him by his arm, never mind that the car was still moving. Ah Yue! I dreamt someone wanted me dead!"

@Shen Quanrui Xingyue honestly thought that Ricky would abandon his plan to have strawberry green tea after stuffing himself with the roast duck and the bottle of coke that he had. But of course, the younger was full of surprises and he continued to insist, though his eyelids were drooping. Xingyue looked down in surprised when he felt a weight in his crotch, his mind jumping to the worst possible scenario, but was instead presented with the rare sight of Ricky's wallet. "You're paying-" he noted, finding it rather comical. Well, he was not one to turn down free money if the opportunity arose. Opening the leather wallet and pulling out the first credit card he saw, Xingyue used it to pay, not once batting an eyelash at the huge numbers on the bill since it finally wasn't his own hard-earned money. "Ready to go?" he asked once the bill was paid. "Or are you sleeping already?"

@Wang Xingyue Ricky was feeling stuffed already early on, but he made an exception for this duck since it was so fatty, so tender, so juicy. Besides, Xingyue just kept wrapping them in the most perfect little packages for him, and Ricky could not stop putting them in his mouth. By the time they were finished, Ricky felt like he was going to burst or throw up, but his head was feeling a lot better, at least. he moaned softly, leaning against Xingyue as he sipped at the last of his coke. "Strawberry... green tea..." he wheezed his reminder to Xingyue between breaths. Reaching into his pocket, Ricky dropped his wallet into Xingyue's lap and promptly closed his eyes for a rest, letting Xingyue handle the bill.

@Shen Quanrui "Huh, I didn't know social media manager was another word for servant," Xingyue muttered under his breath. He had accepted this undercover job knowing what to expect, so he really shouldn't be complaining, but it was still off putting to think that someone actually had this as their normal, full-time job with no end in sight. Once Ricky was nibbling at his own and sipping his cola, Xingyue made quick work of preparing his own piece, since he wanted to get his money's worth. His handler had not reached out to him in a while, which made him wonder if there was any updates that he had to know about. The sooner they closed this case, the sooner they would be off on their own. By that time, if Zhu Zhengting still wanted to come back, Xingyue would just pity the poor man. For the rest of their dinner, Xingyue alternated between making wraps for Ricky and then eating it on his own. Eventually he figured out the younger's ideal proportions, and he had it prepared just on time as Ricky finished his previous one. For such a small eater, Ricky ate a good amount that night, and they were able to polish off the entire platter together.

@Wang Xingyue When Xingyue held the roll out to him, Ricky made a face and pointed at his plate, indicating for Xingyue to put it down. Then, rather than pick up the oily and flour-coated roll with his hand, Ricky picked it up with his chopsticks. It was heavy, and biting it into small pieces was harder than just shoving the whole thing in his mouth. "What are you talking about?" Ricky shot Xingyue a withering stare from the side. "Of course they didn't. It's not their job to, it's the servant's job. Also, they would usually make it smaller for me, too. It's hard to bite it apart." The cola arrived, and Ricky was quick to stick the straw in it so he could refresh his palette between bites, /without/ his lips touching the can's lip. "What are you sitting there for? Hurry and eat one yourself so you can prepare the next one for me."

@Shen Quanrui When their food arrived, Xingyue expected that Ricky would just dive in and eat because how supposedly hungry he was. But then a thought him him as Ricky started ordering Xingyue around to prepare a duck for him: Did Ricky see him as just a manager? Or was there something more to it? Xingyue knew that lots of personal assistants would do little things like this for their boss, but Ricky had not been so needy until these past few days. And 'should be'? There was no 22 year old Xingyue knew that required around the clock attention like Ricky did, though Ricky was a pampered heir which set him apart of course. Xingyue wordlessly prepared a bun and a piece of duck for the younger, though before he handed it over to Ricky, he just had to ask, "Do your parents prepare your food for you like this too?" Perhaps this was just Ricky's cry for attention, since his parents seemed to be the least likely to ever humor him like so.

@Wang Xingyue "Well, yeah, that's what you should be doing," Ricky said, his eyes still half-lidded as he tried to focus on the chef cutting up the duck before them. Once it was prepared, the plate, along with a steamer basket of paper-thin dough, was placed before them. The duck was arranged in the shape of a rose, which Ricky perked up to admire before he looked expectantly at Xingyue. "Don't destroy the flower. I want to start with this piece. I need one cucumber and two pieces of scallion. The sauce needs to be inside /and/ outside."

@Shen Quanrui Even though Ricky was probably putting a good portion of his bodyweight on Xingyue, it honestly didn't feel that heavy to him. The younger seemed to have melted against him, ready to fall back asleep with just the right amount of silence to lull him back in. Xingyue almost entertained the idea of canceling their order and getting Ricky back to bed so that he could save some money that night, but the duck arrived before the idea could come to fruition. As they watched the chef prepare the dish for them on a large, circular plate, Ricky continued to rest his head on Xingyue's shoulder. He probably thought he was speaking loud and clear but Xingyue had barely (luckily) caught his order for a coke. Flagging a waiter down, he placed the drink order before tapping Ricky's arm, "Alright, alright, sit up. You're still that tired? It's like your practically asking me to hand-feed you at this point."

@Wang Xingyue "Of course you're moving out of the shot," Ricky said, leaning generously against Xingyue when the older joined him in the booth. He pillowed his head over Xingyue's shoulder, immediately sinking into warmth and coziness reminiscent of Zhu Zhengting's shoulder. Since Ricky couldn't see Xingyue from where he lay, he relaxed when he let himself pretend. Their duck arrived quickly on a table-side cart, and the chef began to prepare it before them, slicing out pieces of skin and meat with precise, practiced skill. Ricky's stomach rumbled, and he hit the back of Xingyue's hand for his attention. "I want a coke."

@Shen Quanrui Their meal had not even started yet, but Xingyue was being thrown in for a loop again. "Oh? Something wrong?" he asked, hesitating to get up and sit on the other side of Ricky. He wasn't used to dining with another person in public very often, and in his previous espionage missions, he had only dined with a partner face-to-face, never side-to-side. But since Ricky was always full of surprises, Xingyue didn't question it as much as he would've before. He got up and rounded the table to sit on the other side of Ricky, only turning his head enough to look at the younger's figure, but not in the face. "You want to eat like this?" he asked, "You could ask me to move when the food comes, if you wanted to take a picture without me in it, you know?" he jabbed lightly.

@Wang Xingyue "Yes, we have to drink tea," Ricky said, taking his head out of his hands so Xingyue knew how serious he was. Sitting alone on his side of the booth, with no one to lean on, Ricky realized he had no choice to but enlist Xingyue's aid again. Oh, how he missed Zhu Zhengting. Ricky squinted at Xingyue's face. If the people in the restaurant thought they were a couple, or someone recognized Ricky, Xingyue wasn't the worst person to be spotted with—as long as Xingyue didn't do like try to kiss him again! Perhaps Xingyue only deflected that he was 'only' Ricky's manager because he was ashamed Ricky rejected him. "Ah Yue, come sit with me..."

@Shen Quanrui Both relieved and surprised that his piece of advice had actually worked, Xingyue quickly put his own menu down so Ricky didn't think he was a hypocrite for trying to stop the younger from ordering anymore. Ricky still looked and acted very groggy, which told Xingyue just how potent the sleeping pills were. Had he gone a little lighter with them over the crepes, maybe Ricky wouldn't have ended up so heavily drugged up. But in the moment, Xingyue couldn't have taken any risks, which was why he was paying the hefty price now. "Mm, you can rest all you want after the meal. Sleep in the car if you want to," he tried to comfort the younger, "Do you still want to drink tea after though? Do you think that'll ruin your rest?"

@Wang Xingyue "Sigh," Ricky said aloud, reluctantly putting the menu back down. Xingyue was right they wouldn't finish the duck—it wasn't even a guess, but a certainty at this point. Ricky stilled needed stomach space for strawberry green tea afterward. "I guess... you're right," he admitted, still a little too sluggish to argue for long or eat very much. He rubbed his eyes before resting his heavy head against his hands, sorely wishing he had Zhengting's warm body to lean against. "Sleepy."

@Shen Quanrui "Hey, hey, hey," Xingyue scolded Ricky across the table when his shin was brutalized by the younger's foot, "Only one of us needs to be crippled right now, you got that?" He didn't know where his manners had gone with Ricky, but he figured that after saving Ricky's life and getting scolded for it, then proceeding to use the following week to care for the younger had taken a toll on him. He did raise his hand to call the waiter over though, placing the order as Ricky had asked (demanded). Once that was being sent off to be prepared in the kitchen, Xingyue glanced down at the menu in front of him. The prices had him grimacing. "You won't even be able to finish the entire duck," he quickly chimed in again, "Are you sure we need anything else? The prices here...are kind of steep."

@Wang Xingyue Xingyue's heavy arm around Ricky's waist was solidly reassuring, so Ricky accepted it and let Xingyue help him hobble to their table. He didn't like that it was kind of obvious Ricky's leg was useless, though—Xingyue could at least work on making it look more natural, like a romantic gesture. But then again, Ricky wouldn't want that. It was hard to win in this world. The moment they were settled, Ricky gave Xingyue a kick under the table with his good foot, simultaneously pulling the menu toward himself. "Order the whole peking duck, quickly. I'm going to see what else we should get."

@Shen Quanrui At first, Xingyue thought that Ricky was doing something rather commendable. He was going to bite through the pain and make his way in and out of the restaurant without a big scene that night. The next words from the younger had him immediately dropping all thoughts about Ricky being rational though. "No, we're not ordering a wheelchair for a one-time use," Xingyue said, swathing his arm around Ricky's waist and pulling him against his side. "You can lean on me if you need help walking. Put your weight on me," he said, slowing down his own gait to make sure that Ricky was able to keep pace with him without tripping. It was only a few paces to the restaurant entrance, and from there, he sat Ricky down in a chair in the waiting area while he went to get them a table. Only after Xingyue was sure that the table had been completely cleared, the chairs were placed with enough space for Ricky to move around, and there was a direct, short path for the younger to walk did he go back and inform Ricky, "Come on, our table is ready." And for the second time that day, he pulled Ricky against him, hugging him like a ballroom dancer would their tango partner.

@Wang Xingyue Ricky heaved a sigh. Xingyue 'forgot' things so easily that Ricky was beginning to wonder if he was doing it on purpose at this point. Although Ricky enjoyed being carried around, how could Xingyue do that to him inside a nice restaurant that Ricky might frequent? He would never be able to show his face in the city again. "I'll walk..." he mumbled, throwing his feet to the side and reaching up to grip Xingyue's arm. He put all his weight into his good foot when he rose, wincing when his swollen ankle rotated. He whimpered, clutching Xingyue's biceps of steel for balance. "You didn't bring my wheelchair... I should order one to be delivered while we eat."

@Shen Quanrui Xingyue wouldn't have minded, or perhaps he even expected, a barrage of insults from Ricky about his drink of choice, so he supposed the younger was just too hungry to think of something to complain about in the moment. He glanced over to the passenger side to check on Ricky a few times, and it seemed that the last of the headache was going away, judging by how peacefully the younger was resting. When they arrived, Xingyue got out first, rounding the front of the car so he could help Ricky out. "Uhhh...no?" he answered. Clearly they had gone straight out of the house into the car, with no idle time for him to pack up the wheelchair in the back. "It's flat ground...do you want to try walking? Or I can carry you again." he offered.

@Wang Xingyue "That's..." Ricky had some choice words for a person whose favourite drink was a latte, but after a while of selecting a kinder word, he said, "That's boring..." Maybe he could introduce Xingyue to the peach green tea with cheese cream at his favourite store after their dinner. Since it was going to be a little of a drive, Ricky closed his eyes for the rest of the journey, only opening it when it was time to get out and eat. "Did you bring my wheelchair?" he asked, unsure of if he wanted Xingyue to carry him directly into a busy restaurant.

@Shen Quanrui Ricky's comment made Xingyue even more certain that this boy had never had to go to a restaurant and order food on his own. After all, what need was there for him to go on his own when he had his whole social media crew out running errands and ordering his food deliveries for him? That being said, he decided to hold off on the disappointing news that their food would have to be ordered before anything could be brought to the table. Xingyue wove through the slight traffic that was still on the road as the last of the working class citizens were trying to get home for the night. "Huh?" he repeated, thinking he'd heard wrong when Ricky had actually asked about /his/ preferences. "What do I like..." he stalled, trying to think back to all the things that he enjoyed eating. He didn't really have a favorite food, solely because he was never the picky type to begin with. "Hm...I like anything spicy," he finally settled on his answer, "And I like to drink...lattes." It was just the easiest thing to pick up, since every coffee shop had to have that basic drink.

@Wang Xingyue Xingyue's face got a little too close to Ricky's when he decided to be a good boy and put on Ricky's seatbelt for him. Ricky leaned the other way, frowning at the fact that he would have to wait another twenty more minutes for food. "When I sit down, they better put something out right away," he said, rubbing the top of his thigh in his impatience. "Ah Yue, what else do you want to eat? What do you like to drink?" In all their time together, Xingyue never really revealed much about his personal preferences. Even when Ricky suggested Xingyue join him for a drink, he always refused. Today, Ricky was going to find out. "We should get one together."

@Shen Quanrui Ricky was nitpicky, but he wasn't very good at safeguarding important information. Xingyue had seen the alarm code in full view: 052004. Not the easiest combination of numbers to remember, but Xingyue made sure to quickly bring them out to the car so he could write the code down. Ricky seemed to be lost in his own world though, and when Xingyue looked down at the younger's hungry expression, he felt his stomach squeeze tightly for some unexpected reason. "Oh- well, we're going," he said, setting Ricky down once they reached the car, "Here, let's get inside first. Can you sit well?" he asked. Once Ricky had gotten into the car, Xingyue reached in to grab the seatbelt, bringing it over Ricky's chest to click into its buckle. He got into the car, and under the guise of looking up the restaurant address again, input the code into his memo pad. "Alright, we're about twenty minutes out," he said, starting to pull of Ricky's driveway.

@Wang Xingyue Pleased that Xingyue seemed to read his mind and not make Ricky walk to the alarm himself, Ricky gladly inputted the code to arm the system. "Okay, leave quickly before we set it off." Despite being upset at what Xingyue said to him earlier, Ricky kicked his good foot in his high spirits. The thought of having crispy peking duck was making him salivate, and he nearly drooled all over Xingyue imagining biting into the thin wrapper drenched with sweet sauce. "Ah Yue, hurry," he said breathlessly, swallowing hard when saliva pooled in his cheeks. "I can't stand it anymore."

@Shen Quanrui Xingyue was trying to get into the mind of Zhu Zhengting as he went through the ordeals that Ricky put him through. What in the former manager's right mind could've convinced him to keep such a taxing job? It wasn't as if the pay was so amazing that he'd never find something better either. Once they reached the bottom of the stairs, Xingyue turned his eyes to the direction to the alarm that Ricky pointed out. He didn't immediately put the younger down, wanting to use this as an opportunity to see how the alarm was set, and so he could disarm it in the future if needed. Walking up close to the system, he stopped right next to it, flicking his chin at it, "Go ahead."

@Wang Xingyue Xingyue said he was caring as Ricky's manager, but the only manager who had carried Ricky like this before was Zhengting. Naturally, Ricky draped his arms loosely around Xingyue's shoulders, studying his face carefully. Xingyue was all angles, unlike Zhengting's softer demeanour, but Xingyue was still good looking enough to be allowed around Ricky. Besides the lips, but that was easily fixable with a couple injections. "Set the alarm before we go out," Ricky reminded him, gesturing for Xingyue to carry him to the alarm on the first floor. He had no intention of walking with his own two feet to the car, of course, since he was so comfortable in Xingyue's strong, steady arms.

@Shen Quanrui Caring for Ricky was like going through an intensive obstacle training course, except every target was moving and the next step was always unknown. Xingyue could barely keep himself steady once Ricky almost sent himself crashing down the stairs. And rather than trying to watch the younger give his best (yet still lacking) effort to make it down the stairs on his own, Xingyue jumped on directive given to him, more than happy to carry Ricky down the stairs if it meant protecting his own life. “Come here,” he said, steadying himself before bending to pick Ricky up bridal style. Ricky was so light that it made hefting him up almost effortless, and Xingyue slowly descended the stairs, more assured of their combined safety this way.

@Wang Xingyue Ricky eyed Xingyue's arm dubiously. He initially planned on using his crutch, but a crutch would be extremely unsightly in public, especially if he was spotted with it. "Okay," he said reluctantly, reaching out to grip the sleeve over Xingyue's elbow. Just the shirt wasn't enough for Ricky to maintain his balance, though, so the first step down, he nearly rolled down the staircase and wiped Xingyue out with him. He yelped, his fingers digging into Xingyue's upper arm, which felt like it was made out of steel. "Ah Yue! Carry me down!"