visiting japan was for sicheng a dream-come-true. never had the chinese male imagined he would be able to fly there and wander across the streets of this beautiful country ever in his life.

and yet, here he was, not only doing exactly what he thought he would never be able to do but also doing it by yuta's side.

"are you hungry?" the japanese male asked, making the other blush slightly. yuta had surely heard his stomach rumbling loudly as they were walking side by side next to the meguro river, surrounded by cherry blossom trees and beautiful flowers.

"i-i'm fine." sicheng replied timidly, looking at the river as the setting sun reflected into it, giving it a nice orange-ish colour.

"that's not what your stomach says, though." yuta raised a brow. "just heard it screaming 'sicheng! feed me or i'm going to die!' a second ago." he continued in a dramatic tone before poking sicheng's side.

"hearing it rumble was awkward enough. no need to point it out." the fake-secretary replied, pushing yuta's hand away as the male kept poking his side.

"right, but i made you blush." yuta's finger now poked sicheng's cheek. "and you're cute when you blush."

"shut up..." sicheng pushed the japanese male's hand away again before accelerating his pace, hoping that yuta wouldn't be back by his side so soon and realise how his cheeks were redder than they had ever been and how his lips were curved up in a smile.

sicheng didn't recall how it had happened, but it eventually did.

the feeling of annoyance that was taking over sicheng each time yuta would be around had slowly dissipated, letting some space for other more complicated feelings that sicheng wasn't sure he understood well.

it was as if he didn't care being bothered by the ceo anymore. somehow, he was now constantly waiting for the japanese to tease him so that he could tackle back and get even more teased. it was as if it had become their little game; to tease each other endlessly. and sicheng was surprised to admit that he liked it.

"so, are you up for traditional japanese cuisine? or just a few snacks in the popular streets?" yuta asked after a while, placing his arm over sicheng's shoulders as he spoke.

"depends. are you the one cooking?" the chinese male raised a brow.

"well, i'd be happy to cook for you, but our hotel room is unfortunately not equipped with a nice kitchen." yuta shrugged.

"too bad." sicheng faked a pout. "i guess we'll have to go to a restaurant then."

"i know a nice place for that, don't worry."

the chinese male didn't question it further, letting yuta guide him in the direction of the restaurant he was thinking about, the two of them falling in a nice and comfortable silence as they watched their surroundings with birght smiles plastered on their faces.

after a dozen minutes, they had finally reached the restaurant yuta had chosen.

however, sicheng suddenly stopped in his tracks as he looked at the front of the restaurant, earning a questioning look from the japanese male.

"what is it?" yuta asked confused.

"i... maybe we can find another place to eat?" sicheng hesitated.

"why? i just want to make sure you have the best experience possible." yuta informed. "this is a very nice restaurant. they have the best traditional japanese cuisine in tokyo."

"yes but..." sicheng looked at the restaurant again before facing yuta. "i can't have dinner in a place like this."

"why, sicheng?" yuta tilted his head to the side.

the chinese male shook his head slowly, his eyes diverting between the japanese male and the restaurant. "yuta, this... this is probably a five-star michelin restaurant, inside of which people come well-dressed to eat very expensive food with silver cutlery... i can't eat in a place like this. i don't know how to behave or how to talk and i suppose there must be so many forks and spoons of various sizes and i don't even know which one to start eating with!"

yuta let sicheng vent up his worries, looking at him with adoring eyes before chuckling lightly.

the japanese male grabbed sicheng's hands into his own, warming them up instantly and catching sicheng's attention as he stopped rambling.

"restaurants can't have more than three michelin stars, silly." yuta stated with a small smile. "and concerning the forks and spoons, always start with the ones that are the furthest away from the plate."he added, tightening his hold on sicheng's hands.

"it is much more than that, yuta..." sicheng sighed, looking down at his hands that were securely clasped between yuta's larger ones. "it's... i'm not from this world... this is too much for me..."

the ceo stared into the chinese's eyes deeply, finding some kind of panic in them and making him understand sicheng's distress. sure, yuta had silently promised himself that he'll spend those two days spoiling the chiense male to hopefully go further with him, but maybe, spoiling him with money and offering him the best of the best wasn't the right thing to do. maybe sicheng was someone much simpler who would enjoy something cheaper and less luxurious, but heartfelt.

"okay." yuta nodded after a while, letting go of sicheng's hands. "we'll go grab something else to eat, then."

"yuta, i'm sorry, i... if you really want to eat here i'll just suck it up and- "

"it's okay, sicheng." the ceo cut him. "i know some other place that might fit your taste better."

"a-are you sure?" the chinese male questioned.

"yes, i am." yuta nodded. "let's go?" he asked, holing his hand out for sicheng to take.

the fake-secretary looked down at yuta's hand, hesitating a second before reaching for it and letting yuta's fingers intertwine with his.

☏

to sicheng's surprise, the japanese male had led him to a small street in which were located lots of street-food stalls selling thousands of different types of traditional snacks and dishes.

yuta had dragged the chinese male across the crowd, never letting his hand go as he ordered a few dishes for them to taste. sicheng stayed behind the whole time, but always close enough so that they didn't have to let go of each other's hands and risk losing each other in the crowdy place. the chinese male was also silent, all of his senses focused on the ceo who was speaking in japanese to the shop keepers to order some food.

sicheng never imagined that hearing someone speaking a foreign language could have such an impact on him, and yet, hearing yuta casually chatting in japanese made him curious and caused a slight pleasant tingle to appear inside of him. the electrical engineer even started thinking of learning japanese to hear the ceo speaking more of that language because of how hot he sounded right now.

"okay, we have everything. let's go find a nice place to eat them?" yuta finally focused back on sicheng, showing the few bags of snacks and dishes he had just purchased.

sicheng nodded, diverting his eyes from the japanese male as he hoped yuta hadn't seen the redness on his cheeks.

the two men walked for a few minutes until they reached a small park decorated with fairy lights. yuta immediately located an empty bench and rushed there, sitting down before anyone could steal it from them.

sicheng sat down by yuta's side as the japanese male pulled out a variety of foods, placing them on his lap before offering them to the chinese male sat next to him. sicheng gladly accepted the food, his stomach practically screaming in joy at the sight of the yummy food. and soon, the two of them were eating the delicious japanese street-foods, mindlessly chatting about each other's lives.

the two of them may have already conversed together for hours that night in yuta's car right in front of sicheng's house, but yet, they were able to find new topics to talk about which were undeniably bringing them closer and making them fall for each other more.

"a-are you sure that you are okay eating street food? we could go to that restaurant another time if you really want to go there." sicheng stated, breaking the silence that had taken over them as they continued eating.

"yes, as long as you're happy, i'm okay." yuta nodded, using one of his hands to ruffle sicheng's hair. "and you seem to enjoy street food much more than you would have enjoyed this restaurant anyway."

"but..." sicheng bit his lip in nervousness. "i'm really sorry, it's just that... i don't feel very comfortable surrounded by riches like this. i'm not like you, i didn't grow up around those things so..."

yuta smiled sincerely at the chinese male. "my life wasn't always surrounded by riches." he admitted. "i come from a very modest background. i now have access to those things thanks to my position."

"what do you mean?" sicheng questioned, biting on a yakitori as he looked into yuta's eyes curiously

the japanese ceo sighed, leaning his back on the backrest of the bench. "well, it all started when i was young. i had this passion over cars and motorcycles and everything that could drive on the road. i was so passionate that i decided to study mechanical engineering and hopefully be able to work with cars in the future. my parents struggled to pay for the private engineering school i was in, so i found myself a few part-time jobs. my favourite was by far the one i had at a garage. i was assisting the mechanists to repair the cars and optimise them, and so, i learnt much faster and much better the mechanics of cars, engines and how it all worked." yuta explained, glancing at sicheng from time to time to make sure the younger male wasn't bored from his monologue.

"at that time, people started to speak more about climate change and to become eco-conscious, and lots of bad things were said on cars polluting the planet and creating oil penuries. that's when i had for the first time the idea of creating cars fuelled by nature. i presented the project at my engineering school and had a lot of support from my teachers who convinced me to participate in innovation congresses to present my idea. i was only 20 years old at that time, and i remember the jury being stunned by my presentation and coming to see me personally afterwards to congratulate me and advise me on what could be done." the ceo continued his story as sicheng looked at him with wide eyes, drinking his words as if yuta was a god.

"long story short, my professors helped a lot and i was registered for a double degree in mechanical engineering and business. i had to work my part-time jobs harder to pay for the business and the engineering schools without indebting my parents, but this was only beneficial because each day i spent at the garage, i learnt more about cars and their functioning. i worked very hard, trying to sketch out the cars of the future and how everything would work, and thankfully, with the support of my parents and my professors, i was able to build the first prototype."

yuta paused a second to sigh again, a small smile decorating his lips as he looked into the void, letting the memories of those hard years resurface.

"i presented the prototype to more congresses and people started investing in it. by the time i had completed my double degree, i had been able to surround myself with amazing engineers and we had been able to create more of those cars. and so, years after my first innovation congress and still thanks to the support of all those around me, i founded nakamotors and started massively creating these cars. and so, here i am now, known worldwide for this idea that i had back when i was a kid, and surrounded by all of those riches ceos of big companies are surrounded with..."

sicheng stayed silent for long seconds after yuta's speech. by then, he had finished eating and his stomach was completely full. but he kept his mouth shut for a while, slowly processing everything yuta had said and thinking back on his first impression of the ceo.

the few first times they had met, sicheng had thought of yuta the same way he was thinking about all ceos. for him, ceos were rich people who had done nothing but get their degree paid by their overly rich parents as they attended classes that taught you nothing but how to become the biggest jerk and care about nothing but money. he even had spat it to yuta's face on their first encounter, considering that yuta's case must have been the same as all the other old ceos around them.

but damn, how wrong had he been...

in fact, instead of just waiting for his parents to step down from the business game and give him the title of ceo, yuta had built the business, created it from scratch by working his ass off and developing his own ideas. he wasn't like other ceos sicheng had met.

"w-woah..." sicheng let out after a while, completely bewildered by yuta's words. "i-i... i had no idea you had gone through all of that before arriving where you are now..."

"to be honest, that's how i'm trying to make it seem." yuta answered with a shy smile. "the less people know where i'm from, the better it is for me. they may think i have a very influential family which put me up here and invested massively in my company."

"so... you're predending to be like all of the other ceos, when you know very well that you aren't." sicheng let out. "you're doing all those things people would expect a ceo to do instead of being content with the simple and much cheaper things that your family raised you with."

"the business world is a cruel one, sicheng." yuta sighed. "if i acted like the kind and humble man that i really am, people wouldn't hesitate to step on me and use me. that is why i protect myself with this provocative and arrogant façade. to scare others off, and make them believe that i could be as ruthless as they all are."

sicheng nodded slowly, thinking for a few seconds before speaking up again. "that must be so hard... you're basically pretending to be someone you're not..."

yuta chuckled at the chinese male's words, reaching for the boy's head with his hand to ruffle his hair. "aren't we all?"

sicheng didn't answer.

he was in no position to. not when he himself was pretending to be someone he wasn't.

if he was there, talking with yuta, it was because he was supposed to be jaehyun's secretary. but in reality, he wasn't. he was just a mere electric technician who was paid barely enough to live.

and yet, here he was, lying to yuta's face as the male had just uncovered his true self in front of the chinese male.

"it's also the reason why i stay in luxury hotels, travel in premiere and go to fancy restaurants." yuta spoke again when he realised sicheng wasn't about to start talking. "otherwise, i'd be happy enough to just take the bus home or eat street food, like we're doing now. but that's not what people expect from a successful ceo."

"i'm sorry..." sicheng apologised, lowering his head.

"what are you apologising for?" the japanese male chuckled at sicheng's cuteness.

"i'm basically... inciting you not to do all of this rich businessman things and risking you to bust your cover. and that, just because i don't belong to this world..." sicheng explained, feeling even worse as he spoke the words out.

"hey, sicheng..." yuta used his finger to push sicheng's chin up and make the chinese male look at him. "you have nothing to apologise for."

"but just tonight, we ate street foods when we could have gone to a fancy restaurant and- "

"sicheng." yuta cut the chinese male's words, making him look at yuta with a pout. "if eating there and getting noticed by people really mattered to me, i'd have eaten there and ordered a delivery for you to eat outside. but this didn't matter. what truly mattered to me tonight was to share a nice dinner with you and to make you happy." the japanese ceo truthfully said, smiling at the chinese male. "so, did i succeed?"

the chinese male gulped, his eyes staying locked with yuta's as the japanese still had his finger keeping sicheng's head staright.

"y-you did." sicheng admitted, his cheeks tinting red, causing yuta's smile to widen.

"good." he said simply, leaning forward and placing a peck on sicheng's forehead. "let's go back to the hotel now, it's getting late."

and well, sicheng didn't pronounce a single word on the way back. it was physically impossible for him to do so. why?

well, perhaps the fact that he was sure his words would be coming out stuttery after what yuta had just done. and definitely because right now, as yuta was holding his hand and leading him back to the hotel, sicheng could hear nothing but the erratic beating of his heart.

☏

it took only half an hour for the two males to get back to the luxurious hotel they would be staying in. sicheng shyly followed yuta as they entered this world of riches, his eyes scanning his surroundings in amazement as he kept in a corner of his mind the information yuta had shared while they were eating.

the chinese male wasn't sure he'd ever be able to start living in such a luxury, even if he became famous from one day to another. yuta must be someone very strong mentally to give up on everything he had been raised with to surround himself with such luxury.

but well, at the same time, staying humble and coherent with his persona was something sicheng valued, but it wasn't necessary the case of many people. in this world, who would refuse living as a wealthy businessman and being surrounded by riches? right, probably no one except sicheng.

"i'm going to have a shower." yuta informed as they entered the bedroom. "or would you like to go first?"

"n-no, it's fine, i'll go after." the chinese male stuttered, suddenly feeling shy now that he was in a private room with the japanese ceo.

"okay." yuta smiled at him. "you can watch something on my tablet if you'd like in the meantime." he added, grabbing his tablet that had been placed on the bedside table. "the tv isn't working. i'll ask for someone to come and fix it tomorrow."

"it doesn't work?" the electric technician frowned, taking a few steps towards the big screen and moving it slightly so that he could check the back of it.

"yeah, i couldn't make it work." yuta replied. "why? do you think that you'll be able to make it work magically?"

the chinese male was quick to take a step back as he recalled that to yuta, he was just jaehyun's secretary and not an electrical technician from nano electronics.

"i-i don't think so." he cleared his throat, approaching yuta again and grabbing the tablet he was holding out. "i'll find something to watch on your tablet, then."

"all right. i'll be quick." yuta smiled at the chinese male. "just scream if you need my help."

sicheng snorted as yuta headed towards the room's dressing where he grabbed his pyjamas. "i can take care of myself, thank you." the chinese male said.

"well, you never know what could happen." yuta replied with a shrug and a smug face before disappearing in the bathroom and making the glass of the shower opaque so that sicheng couldn't see him showering.

sicheng waited for a few seconds, and once he heard the sound of the water running inside the shower, he stood up from the couch on which he had sat down with yuta's tablet to check the tv once again.

the electrical engineer frowned at all of the wires connected to the tv before checking if they had been correctly plugged. after testing a few times to unplug some wires and switch the tv on, the chinese male's eyes fell on a small connector that he hadn't noticed before.

sicheng turned around quickly, checking if yuta was still in the shower before taking the connector in his hands and examining it. he didn't need long to realise that the connector was dead.

since the water was still running in the shower, sicheng rushed to his suitcase, opening it quickly and pulling out a plastic bag in which he had stuffed all of the various electronic pieces that he had purchased in japan during his week of vacation.

the chinese male grabbed two small bags of connectors waking back to the tv to check which one would be more appropriate in this case. once he had found it, the chinese male tore the sachet open, pulling a brand-new connector out and replacing the dead one behind the tv.

sicheng then grabbed the remote control, pressing the on/off button and smiling in victory when the tv screen lit up, signalling that it had switched on.

at that exact moment, the water stopped running in the bathroom, making sicheng gasp at the sight of his suitcase open with all of his electrical technician stuff on display.

the chinese male threw the dead connector in the bit before putting back his new connectors in his plastic bag and hiding it under his pile of dirty laundry. he also took this opportunity to get his pyjama out and throw it on the couch which was next to him before closing his suitcase again.

"i see that the sicheng magic worked on the tv..." a voice stated, making the chinese male look in yuta's direction, only to have his cheeks turning bright red at the sight of yuta in his pyjama pants and in the process of wearing his t-shirt. this left sicheng enough time to gawk over the ceo's flat stomach, his defined abdominals, his thin waist, but mostly his bellybutton piercing – and damn, had piercings always been this hot? or was it just the fact that this piercing belonged to a smoking hot man?

"w-well, it's just that you're too dumb to figure out how to switch a tv on." the chinese male stuttered, turning around to hide his cheeks.

"yeah, you must be right... i'm dumb." yuta hummed, plopping on the king-size bed with his arms behind his head. "good thing i'm hot, then. it compensates my stupidity."

sicheng didn't answer, simply rolling his eyes at yuta's comment. of course, he wouldn't deny it, yuta was hot, and seeing him shirtless a while ago had definitely not helped sicheng think something else of him...

"i'm going to have a shower." he declared, grabbing his pyjamas and heading in the direction of the bathroom, throwing the tv remote to yuta on his way there.

"all right." the ceo replied, his eyes following sicheng.

the chinese male sighed once he reached the bathroom, lightly slapping his red cheeks in embarrassment. he then started undressing himself, removing his shirt and unbuttoning his trousers, only to gasp when he realised that the glass of the bathroom was completely transparent and that he could see what yuta was watching on tv as well as the view of the lit-up buildings outside.

it was very beautiful, and sicheng definitely wouldn't mind showering with such a wonderful view if the japanese male wasn't lying in the bed which was located against the glass wall of the shower.

"y-yuta, i-is there a curtain or something to hide the glass of the shower?" sicheng questioned, frowing as he looked at his surroundings.

"no, there's no curtain. so it's all free for me to watch."

sicheng's eyes fell on yuta who had turned around on the bed and sat up to look through the glass, allowing him to catch a sight of sicheng without a shirt and with unbutonned trousers.

"yah! don't look!" sicheng protested, his cheeks reddening as he tried his best to hide his torso with his arms.

"stop being effortlessly cute..." yuta muttered before turning around again to look at the tv. "there's a button outside the bathroom, on the right."

sicheng followed yuta's indication, pressing the switch and gasping as he saw the glass wall become completely opaque to the point he couldn't see the inside of the bedroom anymore.

"woah..." he let out, pressing the button again and smiling as the glass became transparent. and with a few more seconds of playing with the button, sicheng undressed fully and got into the shower, appreciating the lukewarm water after a long day.

his eyes then fell on the bottles of soap, shampoo and conditioner which had been placed inside the shower by the hotel staff.

"no way... is this really balmain soap?" he questioned, studying the bottle carefully and recognising the luxury brand's logo. "unbelievable..." he muttered before squeezing a bit of product in his hand and washing himself with it.

sicheng was fully done with his shower after a few minutes. he got out of the shower box, drying himself with a towel before covering his body with the balmain body lotion that the hotel had placed by the sink in the bathroom.

he chinese male then got dressed in his pyjamas before brushing his teeth and walking back into the bedroom him and yuta would share.

"i'll sleep on the couch." sicheng declared, catching yuta's attention as he was sitting down on the sofa.

"huh... no you won't." yuta immediately protested.

"i'm already staying in your room. i don't want to be more of a bother." sicheng informed.

"yeah, well, you're absolutely not a bother." yuta snorted. "come sleep on the bed with me."

"i-i..." sicheng stuttered in shyness. "i-it's fine. i can sleep on the couch. plus, i move a lot when i sleep so, i might wake you up if i sleep on the bed."

yuta sighed, focusing his attention on the chinese male. "sicheng, do you know why king-sized beds were created?"

the chinese male frowned, not really understanding what this question had to do with their conversation.

"h-huh... for couples to sleep together?" he raised a confused brow.

"wrong." yuta immediately replied. "couples often seek the other's body when sleeping, and so, they don't need such a big bed to sleep. they'd rather sleep on a simple bed, on which they'd have to cuddle to fit."

sicheng stared at yuta, a frow still present on his face.

"king-sized beds were created for people who aren't a couple a would need to sleep in the same bed. the size of the bed is so big that two strangers would be able to sleep without touching each other."yuta explained. "so, it's no big deal if you move around in your sleep. the bed is so big that i probably won't be disturbed."

sicheng blinked a few times, trying to process yuta's words.

"i... i'm not an expert on king-sized beds, but i am certain that this is complete bullshit." the chinese male said, a brow raised at yuta.

"yeah, you're right." yuta nodded. "but maybe it convinced you to sleep next to me?"

sicheng heaved out a sigh, standing up from the sofa to walk towards the bed. "yeah, it did."

yuta smiled brightly as sicheng pulled the covers and got underneath them in the bed by yuta's side. the chinese male settled comfortably on the mattress, his body so far away from yuta that two other people could fit between the two of them.

"so, what do you want to watch?" yuta asked, showing the chinese male the remote control.

"i don't know. whatever you'd like."

yuta hummed, switching through the channels to see if there wasn't a programme interesting to watch. a loud squeal left his mouth after a minute, making sicheng jump in surprise.

"what the hell?" the chinese male asked, placing his hand on his racing heart.

"it's an episode of wheeler dealers!" yuta replied excitedly, his eyes glistening in front of the tv like a kid. "they do car restoration and a lot of cool things with cars!"

sicheng chuckled at yuta's excitement, finding the way he suddenly had transformed as a kid cute.

"o-oh, but you'd probably find this boring." yuta stuttered out, changing channels to find something else to watch.

"no, leave it." sicheng protested. "i'd like to watch it."

"really?" yuta frowned. "but it's like... cars, and repairing and... it's not very interesting."

"well, that's not what your smile was saying a while ago." sicheng shrugged. "let me watch an episode to make up my mind about it."

and as per sicheng's request, yuta switched channels to put wheeler dealers back.

inevitably, he got immersed in the show immediately, a bright smile appearing on his face as anything the people said in the show.

sicheng stayed silent, observing the show for a while before diverting his eyes to the japanese male who seemed to be in another world. he often spoke up, guessing the exact model of the car before the presenter even had the time to say it or suggesting ideas on how to repair the damaged cars that were brought in.

he truly was passionate and sicheng really admired this. it made him think again about what yuta had told him; how he had reached the top of the automobile sector. in fact, contrarily to most ceos, he wasn't born in the right family and inherited from the business. no, yuta had paved his way to the top, working his ass off and developing his passion a bit more every day.

and sicheng admired him for that. he truly did.

the room was almost silent, the only sound being the one the tv was making as well as the occasional guesses that yuta spoke out. all the lights had been turned off as well, the tv being the only source of light left.

yuta was still as engrossed in the car show as he had been an hour ago, when he had switched the tv on. and so, when the show was cut by an advertisement page, the japanese ceo whined before diverting his attention on the chinese male by his side to ask him what he thought of the show.

however, he was surprised to find sicheng on his side of the bed, with his eyes closed and his breathing slow and regular.

"you fell asleep..." the ceo muttered, a smile appearing on his face as he studied the chinese male's ethereal features.

yuta carefully crawled on the bed, getting closer to sicheng and pulling the covers over his body so that he didn't catch a cold in the room because of the ac.

and with a small smile, yuta brushed away the chinese male's hair off his face before leaning forward and lightly pecking the boy's forehead.

"good night, sicheng..."

and after rolling back to his side of the bed and watching a last episode of his show, yuta switched the tv off and fell into a deep slumber as well, joining sicheng into dreamland.