Can I go with you?

Long Yat-sen accompanied Shao Lin to a bakery that specialized in wedding cakes.

The head baker made them look at different designs of cakes and made them test-taste a long list of different flavours. Long Yat-sen watched as Shao Lin tried each of them and ate all of what she seemed to like most from her expression.

Shao Lin ended up loving most of them that it became too difficult for her to decide what she wanted. Long Yat-sen was patient and silent with her as she contemplated the choices she had out loud. "The lemon cake seems classy…but the vanilla one seems like something everyone would enjoy. But the coffee flavour was good too…" Her face twisted visibly at her indecisiveness, overthinking her decision.

Long Yat-sen then grabbed her chin, tilting her face up suddenly. Her eyes widened as he gently shoved a spoon of cake in her mouth. Shao Lin chewed slowly, savouring the burst of the fruity flavour as she watched him take a napkin, dabbing it over her mouth, wiping some of the cake icing from her face.

"Strawberry it is," Shao Lin said to him. Long Yat-sen said nothing, but she caught the ghost of a smile on his lips at her reply before it disappeared.

Shortly after, they settled on a simple design for their wedding cake together before they left the bakery.

On the way home, the car ride was silent. Shao Lin stared out the window when Long Yat-sen said. "Is there anything you want from your family estate? We can go together, or I can pick it up for you."

Shao Lin thought about it. She wondered if the inside of her family estate had still been destroyed or if her service workers that she still employs to care for the house had repaired it. Either way, the estate felt hollow to her now.

She looked at Long Yat-sen, shaking her head. "There's nothing there I want at the moment. There's nothing there for me anymore. So I don't want to go back."

Long Yat-sen glanced at her with something like worry, but he kept silent.

When they arrived home, they stepped onto the elevator. Shao Lin knew they would head their separate ways after this, so she tugged at Long Yat-sen's jacket once the doors closed. He turned his head slightly to look at her. Her face was flushed when she said, "Can I go with you...?" She suggested that she wanted to go back to his apartment with him.

Long Yat-sen's gaze flickered toward her. He reached for her then, one hand resting gently on her hip, the other on the side of her throat, stroking it. Shao Lin unconsciously titled her head, arching her back, baring more of her skin for him. Her body often responded to him this way, and she didn't understand why.

His gaze darkened as he glanced between the side of her throat, her half-lidded eyes, and the narrow parting of her lips. Shao Lin watched as his expression shifted between something like pain and desire. She could not tell if he wanted her or if she repulsed him. But it seemed like the former.

She was curious about what he was thinking and what he was feeling, which is precisely why she asked to return with him to keep this unspoken thing going on between them. Long Yat-sen often anticipated what she felt and how she behaved. Earlier proved it when he noticed her indecisiveness and helped her by shoving a piece of the cake she enjoyed most, which was the strawberry one. How he was able to catch that detail, she didn't know. But it also meant he was not one to ignore her even when he acted like it. He was observant of her, and she was aware of it.

Shao Lin licked her lower lip as Long Yat-sen neared, his hand slid to her cheek, inching so closely their breaths deepened; it became the only sound they could hear within those four small constricted walls.

Shao Lin was unsure what she would do if he kissed her, but she couldn't help but want it. That never happened with Zhong Bai. Wanting the kiss, anticipating it so badly that the part between her thighs ached and her stomach pooled with heat. It was a thrill she never felt before. Long Yat-sen thrilled her tremendously, even when he scared her at the beginning.

The elevator doors opened, startling the both of them caught up in the moment.

A man Shao Lin had never seen before had found them in a compromising position. His eyes were wide, but his expression was amused. His lips curved into a smirk that suggested he knew the man that was up against her, and he appeared as if he was returning from the direction of Long Xia's apartment.

"Yat-sen," the man said with a smile.

Shao Lin took him in. He was handsome; dark hair, amber eyes, a wicked smile that often meant mischief.

Long Yat-sen stepped away from her, giving the man a dark look. "Go ahead," was all he said to her. Shao Lin gave him a wary glance before she stepped out and headed back to Long Xia's apartment, leaving the two of them alone.

…

Long Yat-sen wanted nothing more than to strangle the man standing before him, but he could not help but be thankful for his best friend stopping him from doing something stupid such as kissing Shao Lin, inviting her to his apartment, and worshipping her body with his on hers if she wanted it—

"Your timing is impeccable," Long Yat-sen finally said to him.

Yuan Bojing's smile widened. "Didn't know you were up to secret things in a public elevator?" he began. "Say. Don't you have a fiancée?"

Long Yat-sen throat bobbed. "That was my fiancée."

The elevator opened again when they reached his level, both of them stepping out. "That was the person that is going to be your wife?" Yuan Bojing said next to him, surprised.

"Yes," Long Yat-sen responded curtly.

Yuan Bojing gaped at him. "Never did I think I'd see the day you'd show interest in anyone, let alone a woman your father arranged you with. You were against marriage for as long as I remembered."

"I don't need to explain anything to you," Long Yat-sen countered as they stepped into his apartment. Yuan Bojing was silent, following Long Yat-sen to his living room. Long Yat-sen found mail on the table and flipped through them when he asked, "Did you see my sister?"

Something in Yuan Bojing's jaw flickered, his face tightening. Finally, he swallowed thickly, "Yes."

"What happened?" Long Yat-sen questioned.

Yuan Bojing smiled, but no warmth touched his mouth, only something like bitterness. "Just the usual. She hates me. Can't stand to be in the same room, but circumstances always force us to meet."

Long Yat-sen knew what he was referring to.

Yuan Bojing was of the Lion Syndicate, one of the fiercest and strongest organizations who rode next to the Dragon. Long Xia was an influential person within the Dragon Syndicate, and she was often patterned with him for some assignments. For others, they competed against each other. It depended on the mission.

Long Yat-sen knew Yuan Bojing all his life, as a brother, and as his sworn brother, Long Yat-sen knew him well. He also knew that Yuan Bojing had been in love with Long Xia for as long as he remembered, even when he stubbornly denied it, even when he pretended not to feel hurt when Long Xia would not give him the time of day.

But from what he knew, Yuan Bojing did give her reasons to hate him, and that was something he had in common with him by the way he was treating Shao Lin. But the relationship between his best friend and sister was between them, and it was more complicated than simple rivalry.

"I want you two to behave at my wedding. She's my sister—the maid of honour to my fiancée, and you are my best friend as well as the best man."

Yuan Bojing placed a hand over his chest. "I promise to be my best self. It's your sister that might react by throwing a shoe at me or something."

Long Yat-sen couldn't help but chuckle at the thought. That was when Yuan Bojing threw an arm around him and said, "Well, speaking of weddings. Now is the time to celebrate your final days as a single man. Don't you think?"

Long Yat-sen knew what he meant by that, and he wanted to punch him.