Wei Wuxian entered the ancient supermarket near his condo to stock up on supplies for his night out with his best friends. This place was his go to ever since he started his business, and he was very friendly with the old couple who owned it. 

The supermarket–no, more like a traditional shop where they sold everything from plain milk to the more suspicious snake wine, from traditional Chinese herbs to the more exotic dried seahorse–was smelling familiar and it brought back memories from Wei Wuxian's childhood. His mama often took him to a place similar like this and let him choose one treat for himself, and that was one of the fondest memories that he had of his childhood.

He picked a lot of snacks that his friends liked, like dried cuttlefish, crispy chicken feet skin, pork floss, haw flakes, rice crackers, fishnacks, senbei, shrimp chips, pocky, and instant ramen. He knew they were kids' snacks but all three of them were very fond of them, and they always stocked up at each of their homes.

He went up to the cashier and saw the old lady was there. She saw Wei Wuxian and his face brightened up, as she usually did.

"Xianxian! Long time no see!" She took the first item and started to scan them. "Still fond of these snacks I see…" she grinned at him. She knew that Wei Wuxian always bought a lot of snacks, as did his two other friends.

"Yes auntie, by the way where's uncle? Are you alone here?" Both of them were usually together, he rarely saw them alone.

"Uncle is feeling a little bit under the weather, so I told him to stay upstairs." Their upstairs was also serving as their humble home ever since their only daughter moved out to be an actress. "But don't worry, I got help from the neighbor's son." She gestured vaguely to the back where a large young man was carrying a stack of huge boxes. He smiled at Wei Wuxian and put the box down at the storage room and then came over.

"Hey, Xianxian, long time no see. I've been meaning to go to your bar for some time now but you see that I'm a bit occupied lately." He laughed and touched Wei Wuxian's shoulder intimately, making the latter raise his brow in question. He wasn't this friendly in all those years that he knew him, more like… passive aggressively avoiding him and he didn't even know the reason why, they were not that close.

"Uhm, hey…" he tried to remember his name, "Wen Ning, right?" Wei Wuxian took a step back and paid for his groceries. 

"Yeah, you can call me Ning though." He winked and Wei Wuxian took another step back while reaching for his paper bags and nodded at the auntie who gave him a handful of White Rabbit candies like he was a kid.

"See you around, auntie… Wen Ning." He nodded at the strange young man and quickly left the store. After he was outside, he took a deep breath and started to walk back to his car, while checking his surroundings because of that creepy Wen Ning.

What the hell was that?

Wei Wuxian shivered from the sudden cold that was creeping on his back, and quickly unlocked his car and drove away.

Lan Wangji couldn't believe his ears. He thought that Wei Wuxian was going to publish his cookbook, not replacing AJ as a sex blogger, and he was stunned for a few seconds while Xie Lian was blushing when Hua Cheng asked him that blatant question. 

The silence was palpable and nobody seemed to have words to say when suddenly Shen Qingqiu came out and delivered food to their table with a bang.

"Well well well, if it isn't someone that had been kicked out for misbehavior last time." He sat beside Xie Lian and glared at Luo Binghe–who sent heart eyes to Shen Qingqiu, who ignored it. Instead he slapped Xie Lian's back to bring him out of his reverie. 

Yeah he heard what the devil in long hair said to his best friend, just when he approached the table, and he didn't like it one bit. Those three men were dangerous to the women around them, but not a tell of what they would do to his friends. And falling in love was out of question. Not with those… predators.

"Shizun…I–" Luo Binghe was trying to speak when Shen Qingqiu glared at him.

"Unless you're about to order some more food, I suggest you think twice about what are you going to say, dear customer." Shen Qingqiu's voice was icy cold, and it snapped Xie Lian out of his daydream.

"Ah, Qiuqiu, be nice please…" He forced out a smile and then he turned to face Hua Cheng–who looked at him with a smirk on his face. "Ah, Mr. Hua Cheng… isn't it?" Xie Lian smiled and turned on his poker face. "No, I didn't see anyone at the moment," he cleared his throat. "May I know why you ask me that question?"

"Please, call me San Lang." Hua Cheng gave Xie Lian his most dazzling smile and Xie Lian was almost blinded by it. 

God, be still my beating heart… 

"I asked you if you're seeing anyone at the moment, because I am interested in courting you–gender aside. I think you are beautiful, and I want to know you better." Hua Cheng grinned and Xie Lian almost melted by the handsome face. God, he was so weak to a pretty face.

He was very interested to tell the truth, but it was all so sudden and added how Shen Qingqiu was ready to spit fire, he would calm himself down and think about Hua Cheng's words. It was… unconventional at best. 

Xie Lian always prided himself on being an open minded person–a must if he worked in the entertainment industry, with all the open relationships and one-night-stands regardless of gender–but this offer really surprised him.

Oh, he knew about every detail of everyone who slept with someone, after all it was his job to keep track of them for the sake of the gossip column in his magazine. The bad news was, he also knew whom Mr. Hua here had been fooling around with, and that went the same with his boss–Lan Wangji–and the whining puppy–Luo Binghe. They were no angels, to tell the truth.

So why did Mr. Hua tell him that he was interested in… courting him? That was so absurd. He was just an ordinary man, not rich or powerful like the ones those three often seen with. That man could have anyone he wanted in the whole world, so… why him?

"Don't think about the reason too much," suddenly Hua Cheng was already by his side and touched his face gently. There was a gentle look on his face that told him that the man meant every word. "I just want to get to know you better…" Hua Cheng's thumb stopped at the lower part of Xie Lian's lips and he pressed it lightly, making Xie Lian almost moan. 

But Xie Lian quickly caught the almost escaped moan back and swallowed hard before he looked at Hua Cheng in the eye. He could see that the man knew exactly what he had done, and it made him blush. He didn't even know that a simple touch could make him so… aroused. From another man nonetheless. That was not good. He needed to leave before he embarrassed himself further.

"I–I think, I better go. I need to finish my job before meeting my other friend at his house." Xie Lian suddenly stood up, surprising Hua Cheng. "I'm going back to the office first, boss." He nodded to Lan Wangji, who nodded back and looked at Hua Cheng with an irritated look on his handsome face–which the man ignored. Then Xie Lian half ran out of the bar, leaving Shen Qingqiu alone with the three wolves. He saw what happened to his friend, and he couldn't help himself. He decided to warn those chaebols to stay away from him and his friend. It was not their scene to play around like that. They just couldn't afford the consequences.

"So, after you," he pointed at Luo Binghe, "showed everyone that you're interested in me, now your friend did the same to my friend too?" He scoffed while looking at the nonchalant Hua Cheng. "Don't tell me that you're going after my Xianxian too?" He directed his words at Lan Wangji–who hid his smile behind the bottle of beer he drank.

"Who? Moi?" Lan Wangji smiled at Shen Qingqiu and the latter cursed quietly. Damn those three hotties. "I haven't even met your… Xianxian yet, how would you propose that I should court him?" 

Shen Qingqiu squinted his eyes in suspicion at the nonchalant act. Then he decided to take the leap. This had gone far enough.

"Why don't you three find some rich socialites to play with? We couldn't afford to pay the price for your ignorance. We are just a bunch of normal people who tried to live our life quietly. Being with you three is just like… jumping from the plane without parachutes, you know. You guys could easily move on after you're done playing, but have you thought about how it would affect us? Our lives? I don't think our society is ready to see people of the same gender being together for more than just friendship. Please think about it."

Shen Qingqiu then bowed his head to the three of them and turned around to get back to the kitchen without waiting for their response.