"Did you miss me?"
Yunlan approached him from behind and whispered those words in his ear.
Wei literally jumped in surprise, he had been lost in his own mind: after gathering all his coworkers' numbers now it was Yunlan's turn and he had been wondering the best way to ask him, but Yunlan had startled him out of his thoughts.

Yunlan tried to suppress a laugh with blatantly bad results, and Wei looked at him scornfully.
"I'm sorry." Yunlan struggled to get out the words, he covered his mouth to stifle the laughter but Wei's frown made him giggle even more.

Wei thought that an appropriate reaction would be to turn the other way and leave, but what he really wanted was for Yunlan to stop making fun of him because people were beginning to stare and he felt uncomfortable being at the centre of attention.
Between walking away in anger and pouting like a child he stood frozen in internal conflict, then murmured a pleading, "Yunlan, stop it please."

Finally, Yunlan noticed that he was embarrassing him, maybe he had gone too far, so he shut his mouth, wiped away the tears caused by the excessive laughing, and stood up straight again: he had been curled up in half up until now.
Wei's eyes were shifting from left to right in embarrassment and he had moved a few steps aside pretending he had nothing to do with him.

Yunlan didn't seem bothered at all, at that moment Wei looked so cute that Yunlan just felt overwhelmed with the need to get closer, so he did. Now he had a serious expression, when he held his hand and slowly leaned closer.

Wei snatched his hand away terrified and walked away as fast as he could, hoping nobody noticed.
Wei avoided him for the rest of the day, but as work ended he intentionally met his gaze and slightly nodded his head hoping he would understand and sure enough Yunlan stayed behind until all the others were gone away, so they left together.

Wei was a puzzle that Yunlan was struggling to understand, one second he was so nice, the other he was avoiding him; one moment they were kissing tenderly, the other he was running away. He hadn't yet understood where they were or how to behave with him, but he really wanted to find out, so he was glad when they met at the door.

Yunlan wanted to talk to him, to apologise fearing he had ruined his chances.
"I'm sorry for before, I..."

"I'm sorry too," Wei interrupted him. "But this is my workplace and I don't wish for people to gossip about me."
Yunlan nodded. He couldn't care less about people gossiping, but if it was important for Wei he'd try and be more discreet.

They remained silent for a while, then Wei took a deep breath and said, "I'm free tonight."
Yunlan stared at him open-mouthed then his usual smile came back to lighten up his face.
"Take away and we can eat at my place?"

Wei nodded with a soft smile, and they walked side by side.

"What would you like to eat?"
Wei hesitated, wondering what would people think if they bought it together, then he said, "Anything is fine, you can surprise me. I'll wait outside and you choose for both."

Yunlan grinned and went to buy food for two, then they reached his house and stepped in. In their own different ways they were both nervous, and both were trying to hide it.

They set the table and Wei offered to help, he was too restless to sit quietly.
They ate in silence, grateful that they had at least something to do to keep away the awkwardness. They exchanged a few words about the food and finished everything.
Wei saw that Yunlan was about to speak and could easily guess what he was thinking, so he spoke first.

He fought against himself to hide the internal quake and keep his voice steady.
"I'm glad that we're getting to know each other, but I don't want to rush things too much."

The message 'I'm not sleeping with you tonight" was clear and he waited for the verdict.

Would Yunlan's interest die down because of it? Wei was internally terrified because he liked Yunlan, but the alternative was even more terrifying. What would he do if Yunlan were to lose interest after they slept together? He would lose it, he knew it, it would break him.

The whole thing caused such a turmoil inside him that he had trouble breathing.

Yunlan's wishes for the night had suffered a harsh blow at those words, but they kept playing in his head: glad to know him better... not rushing... he saw no definite refusal in there, on the contrary there was almost a promise in the way Wei's eyes looked expectantly into his own.

Wei was really cute, beautiful even, and the idea of getting to know each other more wasn't at all unpleasant, it meant spending time together and Yunlan would certainly enjoy that.
Could he give up so easily?

"I promise to behave at work, and I'll give you your space," he said and Wei thanked him with a feeble voice, not yet sure of what those words meant.

They cleared the table then Yunlan walked him to the door.
"I'll see you tomorrow then," he said, and Wei nodded with a faint smile.
Yunlan was looking so intensely at him that he couldn't resist the pull and motioned to lean closer. Yunlan didn't miss it, and was quick to act on it.
Their lips met and their eyes closed.

Wei tilted his head on one side and they moved their lips against the other's tentatively: one not wishing to push it too far and maybe scare him away, the other wanting to enjoy the moment but fighting to keep his dreamy imagination in check to not complicate further his already complicated life.

Deep down Wei knew how desperate he was for love, he knew how much he wanted to believe that Yunlan loved him for real and would love him forever, but he also knew he couldn't let himself see things that weren't there, he had to think clearly and keep his sanity in check.

The kiss was slow and sweet; neither of them pulled back for a long time, their lips dancing softly together.
When Yunlan broke the kiss, he leaned his forehead against the other to calm down his raging heart and his awakened desires. "See you tomorrow," he said at last, and Wei smiled a smile so beautiful that his heart almost stopped.

"Tomorrow," Wei whispered, and with that he left his apartment to go back home.