THE CANDLELIGHT DINNER

Wang Zi drove past the gate into the car park at Hua Zhendan's residence. He brought the car to an halt and waited for Hua Zhendan to go down. In the past, he would go around to open the door and let Hua Zhendan out, but Hua Zhendan had stopped him from doing that. Hua Zhendan had said, "I just don't like it."

Hua Zhendan made no attempt to come down from the car, but stared at his phone intently. This worried Wang Zi because the phone Hua Zhendan was staring at was in sleep mode. Professionally, Wang Zi announced to him, "We're home, sir."

Hua Zhendan nodded his head, then sighed. From a distance, anyone could tell he was unhappy.

"Is everything fine with you, sir?" Wang Zi inquired.

Hua Zhendan looked into Wang Zi's trustworthy eyes through the rearview mirror, then nodded. "Everything is fine."

"About this morning. You didn't ask, but I did what you asked me to do."

Hua Zhendan cocked his head slightly. "I hear you took my car apart."

Wang Zi laughed nervously. "It was the only way I could think of to stall him like you asked. The car repairer put everything back together like they were before."

"Next time, please don't take that kind of chance with my car. It's the only one I've got."

"Yes sir," Wang Zi nodded.

Hua Zhendan sighed again, then opened the car the door to get out.

"Sir," Wang Zi called out to him, stopping him in his tracks.

"Huh?"

"That boy said he was trying to woo you. Did he succeed?" Wang Zi asked with a stupid smile plastered on his face.

Hua Zhendan shook his head. "He's an idiot."

As he walked towards his apartment, he still fiddled with his phone. The idiot had totally disappeared after he had agreed to date him earlier. No calls, no nothing. Was this some kind of joke or was Xuan Tianyi expecting him to call first? Why did he feel so empty inside?

When Hua Zhendan entered his apartment, the lights were turned off and a familiar aroma wafted into his nostrils. It was the aroma of Egg Fried Rice.

Was that his takeout? He didn't remember making any orders though. Perhaps he had become so used to the routine of ordering food to his house for dinner, he had done that subconsciously.

As he turned on the light, what he saw made his heartbeat accelerate as he walked towards the dining table. There were two plates of egg fried rice on either side of the table, with chopsticks and forks arranged beside either. A bottle of champagne and two empty glasses were set to the left of the table. Between both plates, was a small red heart-shaped candle which stood right beside a glass vase with a mixture of lilies and roses in it.

When Hua Zhendan realized that this wasn't a takeout, he smiled. Xuan Tianyi had disappeared all day and not called because he was busy setting this up. Xuan Tianyi's voice interrupted Hua Zhendan's train of thought.

"Do you like it?" Xuan Tianyi wrapped his arms around Hua Zhendan's waist from behind as he spoke.

Hua Zhendan's heart filled up with warmth. He ran a palm along the arms wrapped around his waist and said, "You forgot to put on the candle."

Xuan Tianyi gave a small, embarrassed laugh. "I didn't forget. I got just one candle and it seems there's something wrong with it. It keeps going off after some seconds."

Hua Zhendan chuckled.

"God, is it okay? I'm so shy. I've never done something like this before." Xuan Tianyi nestled his head on Hua Zhendan's back out of embarrassment.

Hua Zhendan laughed, then pulled Xuan Tianyi to his side. He wrapped his arms around his shoulder and said, "It could not be more perfect."

Xuan Tianyi blushed. "You didn't eat my noodles or the food I got you from the tea shop. Was scared you would look for an excuse to reject this one too."

Hua Zhendan observed something else that made him raise an eyebrow. "What restaurant did you get this food?"

"I... I made it myself."

Hua Zhendan chuckled. "Telling lies again. Pretty sure you told me just this morning that the only thing you know how to cook is noodles."

"It's true. I learnt how to make this off YouTube. I can show you the videos if you want."

Hua Zhendan shook his head at Xuan Tianyi. "I believe you."

"Fine. Let's eat."

Hua Zhendan held Xuan Tianyi's hand to stop him from walking to his side of the table. He bent over and gave him a deep kiss that made the receiver tremble. "I'm sorry about how insensitive I was this morning about both the noodles and the food you got from the tea shop. You weren't my boyfriend then and I want you to know that I would never treat my boyfriend that way."

Hua Zhendan ran a finger along Xuan Tianyi's chin.

Xuan Tianyi smiled. "Actually, I'm not used to you being nice to me. It feels good, but it's strange."

'Let's eat." Hua Zhendan said and they both sat down and ate in silence. Xuan Tianyi wearing a big smile on his face the whole time, Hua Zhendan wearing one in his heart for the same period of time.

After dinner, Hua Zhendan took his bath, then relaxed on the couch with Xuan Tianyi nestled in his arms. They both pretended to watch a movie.

Hua Zhendan was the first to break the silence. "For something you've never prepared before, that egg fried rice was pretty good.

Xuan Tianyi blushed. "Thank you. I'm glad you liked it."

The couple fell into silence again.

"This morning," Xuan Tianyi said, "You talked about my elegant nose. And dimples. I didn't know you liked anything about me."

"You're spending the night here, aren't you?" Hua Zhendan changed the topic.

"Emm... No. I'm going back to my dorm a little later." Xuan Tianyi mumbled.

"Why?" Hua Zhendan asked.

"Oh! I... I thought you didn't want me here." Xuan Tianyi said.

Hua Zhendan kissed his head. "I do. If you're not here, what am I going to do with this hardon you've given me?"

Xuan Tianyi buried his head in Hua Zhendan's chest in embarrassment. Eliciting a laughter from Hua Zhendan.

"I... I... I have something for you, Zhendan." Xuan Tianyi said when he finally sat up.

"What's it?" Hua Zhendan asked with interest.

"I didn't... I got paid for that photoshoot today. The one for The Men Issue. You're aware of that, right?" As Xuan Tianyi spoke, he averted Hua Zhendan's eyes.

Hua Zhendan nodded.

"When I went to the mall to shop for groceries, I saw something I liked, so I got it for you. Think of it as... As a thank you. For... For agreeing to be my boyfriend."

Hua Zhendan smiled. "I was of the opinion that people only celebrated anniversaries and not the day they got together. I... Didn't get you anything."

"You're the best thing you could ever give me."

"You're corny."

"And you still love me."

"Shut your face."

Xuan Tianyi smiled, then pulled a small box out of his pocket and handed it over to Hua Zhendan.

Hua Zhendan took it, opened it and came face-to-face with a Rolex.

Hua Zhendan sighed, closed the box and gave it back to Xuan Tianyi. "Return it."

"What? Why? Don't you like it?" Xuan Tianyi asked in dismay.

"It's too expensive. You can't afford it."

"I can."

"No, you can't. How much do you have left in your bank account? How can you spend this recklessly?"

"I bought my boyfriend a gift. Just don't be an ass and accept it. Is that too much to ask?" Xuan Tianyi stood up, walked to Hua Zhendan's bedroom and slammed the door.