My Boss Always Flirts With Me - Chapter 8
Chapter 8: Tenderness
Fang Ci remembered the first time he saw He Chi. He was an intern at an old-school tech company, helping the product manager by making copies and pouring tea.
In a meeting, everyone was discussing the latest trends in the tech industry. The senior experts had a keen sense for groundbreaking technology. Five years ago, the phone industry was stuck at a critical bottleneck, with companies competing on cameras and memory, and little innovation.
A senior colleague brought up the latest technology in the industry, mentioning Zhiyun Technology’s multi-module curved screen and AR projection.
It was on the large screen in that meeting room that Fang Ci saw He Chi.
He was wearing a black suit, giving a speech at a European smart technology conference. A silver watch glittered on his wrist. His hair was slicked back, revealing the sharp contours of his face.
The audience was filled with senior executives from European and American companies, and he was the only Asian person there. Their reception was far from enthusiastic, but he stood on stage with a powerful presence, dominating the room.
He spoke effortlessly without notes. The room went from silent to roaring with applause in just ten minutes. Zhiyun Technology officially entered the public eye, and the senior colleagues talked about He Chi with the phrase, “a formidable young man.”
Fang Ci was genuinely captivated by He Chi.
The result of this admiration was that he gave up a major company’s offer and went to work for the startup, Zhiyun Technology.
At that time, Zhiyun Technology had already completed its B-round of funding. He wasn’t a founding member or anyone remarkable, just a regular graduate who started from the bottom and worked his way up.
When he first joined the company, he was also taken aback by He Chi’s pickiness and pursuit of perfection, thinking of him as a precise machine, an unreachable idol. When he chatted with colleagues after work, he learned that everyone was more or less intimidated by this CEO.
Fang Ci wasn’t scared but understood the distance between them.
The He Chi driving seriously in front of him now overlapped with the He Chi on that projection screen years ago. Fang Ci felt a little daze. If his personal journey had notes, his understanding and evaluation of He Chi seemed to need some revision.
He Chi was meticulous at work, but in life, he was a very gentle person.
He had caught a glimpse of his tenderness.
He was captivated by those simple words.
Perhaps he could raise his expectations for this marriage. Before, the sense of fantasy had outweighed the expectation, always feeling like he had won the lottery. Now, he felt a sense of security.
The other party was serious about this marriage.
Fang Ci quietly curled the corners of his mouth.
It was too late, so they didn’t go to the supermarket. He Chi said, “Let’s go buy groceries if we get off work early tomorrow.”
Fang Ci nodded. He Chi added, “If you get off early on a normal day, you can call Assistant Shang and have him pick you up and take you home first.”
In addition to his business assistant, He Chi had another operations assistant specifically for helping with personal and company operation matters. Fang Ci had heard about him.
“I can get home on my own.”
He Chi: “I’m paying him. Feel free to use him. Or you can pick a car to drive.”
“Forget it,” Fang Ci had a driver’s license, but he had pretty much forgotten how to drive. So he accepted He Chi’s arrangement.
After getting home and showering, Fang Ci started to feel sleepy, but he was on edge. He had been a restless sleeper yesterday, so he deliberately moved to the side today, maintaining a normal sleeping posture.
The other side of the bed sank slightly. He Chi looked at the large empty space between them, big enough for two more people. He raised an eyebrow and asked, “Won’t you fall off?”
Fang Ci glanced at the floor, moved half an inch to the middle, and said, “No.”
He Chi sighed helplessly. “Come here.”
Fang Ci was startled and turned to face him. He Chi was against the light, his expression unclear, but he heard him say, “Your sleeping posture is fine. Don’t be nervous.”
Fang Ci: “Huh?” The CEO must be lying through his teeth right now.
But since he said so, Fang Ci took him at his word and returned to normal.
“Goodnight.” This time, Fang Ci heard it clearly. He Chi’s voice was low, with a hypnotic magic.
Before closing his eyes, Fang Ci was still thinking, I hope I can maintain this sleeping posture tomorrow.
It turned out his worry was justified. He couldn’t shake his habit of hugging something. Early in the morning, he woke up feeling breathless, realizing in a daze that this time he had buried his head directly against He Chi’s chest, hugging him so tightly he almost couldn’t breathe.
The only difference was that this time, when he tried to move back, he couldn’t. An arm was wrapped around his waist. He didn’t dare to move, his mind a blank, listening to He Chi’s heartbeat.
He thought He Chi went for a run in the morning, but he seemed to be a deeper sleeper than him. His hair was a bit messy, and he looked several years younger than usual. The sense of distance had weakened.
He reached out and felt for his phone by the pillow. He took a photo of He Chi’s profile. His good looks were flawless from every angle, enough to live off. What did people on the forum say? Their CEO could be a celebrity if he changed his clothes. They couldn’t understand why he was working so hard on technology.
There was no shortage of perfect, professionally edited photos of him online, but the one he took himself was different.
Just as he was admiring the photo, his mother’s avatar appeared at the top of his phone screen, sending several photos: [This is the kid Auntie Qi introduced to you. Let’s see if you have time to meet him sometime.]
Fang Ci looked at the photos on the screen and quickly texted back: [Mom, you and Dad are back home?]
His mother replied: [Just got off the plane.] Followed by a selfie of the two of them.
Fang Ci’s parents loved to travel and were usually out and about. Fang Ci hadn’t dared to tell them about his flash marriage, planning to ease them into it. He wanted to wait until they came back to tell them he was dating, to prevent them from setting him up on more blind dates.
So he typed out: “Mom, you don’t have to introduce anyone to me. I’ve been dating someone recently.”
His mother was visibly surprised and called him right away.
Fang Ci used a bit of force to get out of bed and ran to the living room.
“When did this happen?” his mother asked after he picked up the phone.
Fang Ci: “After the last blind date. You guys weren’t in the country, so I didn’t get a chance to tell you.”
His mother sounded happy. Fang Ci had been single all his life, from college to work. Now that the iron tree had suddenly bloomed, his parents were indeed delighted. The floodgates opened, and their curiosity grew.
“What does your girlfriend do?”
Fang Ci was silent before explaining, “Mom, it’s a boyfriend.”
“…” His mother fell silent.
The same-s3x marriage law had just been passed a couple of years ago. People’s acceptance of same-s3x relationships was slowly increasing, but the older generation was still more traditional and needed time to process.
“Oh, why did you find a man?” Fang Ci heard his father grumble on the other end, but his mother quickly interrupted him.
His mother was still on the phone: “Do you have a photo?”
Fang Ci of course didn’t dare to send a private photo. He found a professional PR photo online and sent it to his mother.
“The young man is quite good-looking,” his mother said with a hint of admiration.
Fang Ci thought to himself, Of course he is. A lot of people were after him. It’s a miracle he ended up with me.
“Bring him home for a meal sometime.”
Fang Ci: “I’ll see. He’s… pretty busy.” He didn’t dare to bring him home yet, since they were only in a contractual marriage.
On the other end of the phone, his mother said she had brought some things back from abroad and was putting a share aside. “Bring some for your ‘little friend’ too. I’ll mail it to your house.”
Fang Ci was amused by his mother’s new term. “Okay.”
After hanging up, he turned around and saw that He Chi was awake, getting water from the dispenser. He was in his pajamas, his clothes a bit disheveled, only held together by a single belt. From the back, he had a perfect broad-shouldered, narrow-waisted physique.
He’s a big guy, not a little friend at all, Fang Ci thought.
He’s my big friend.