Has Assistant Qian Confessed Today?

The story is complete. I may occasionally fix typos or awkward wording, but these edits won't affect the plot, so you can ignore them.

Maybe... one day, there might even be an extra chapter...

[Older, yet exceedingly pure-hearted gentle beauty top x loyal, looks-obsessed bottom who's only innocent-looking on the outside]

After his third breakup, this time on the grounds that he “doesn't understand what love is,” Du Yu drowned his sorrows in alcohol. The next morning, he woke up with the ability to hear people's thoughts whenever he made eye contact with them, and every thought he heard was about him.

Employee A: “Mr. Du is so pretty, but he doesn't smile much. Was he just born that way?”

Well, it's not that I was born unable to smile. It's just that if I smile, I won't have a boss's authority. And what do you mean, pretty? Shouldn't I be handsome? Du Yu, who had no real awareness of his own looks, replied in his head.

Employee B: “Mr. Du has such a great figure. You can tell he's very disciplined.”

Well, disciplined enough to go to the gym at least three times a week and go for a half-hour run every night. Du Yu was pretty confident about that.

Employee C: “Mr. Du is so impressive. He started from nothing and built a successful business at such a young age. I wonder if I'll ever make it that far.”

No, buddy, I really didn't start from nothing. My parents helped me go from a rich second-generation kid to a first-generation rich man. But it's good to have dreams. Keep it up! Du Yu silently cheered him on.

So far, the thoughts Du Yu heard about himself had all been fairly normal. Then he started interacting with the new assistant he'd hired for his innocent looks, and everything went off the rails.

“Mr. Du is so handsome. His eyelashes are so long, and his eyes are gorgeous. Even his beauty mark is cute. I want to kiss him. His nose is so tall, and there's a mole on the tip, too. I want to kiss that as well. His lips look so soft. I really want to kiss them!”

Come on, buddy. You're that direct? You want to kiss me right off the bat?

“Ah, Mr. Du smells so good. Is this what they call a natural scent? I love it. I wish I could stay glued to him forever!”

Thank you, but it's perfume, not a natural scent. If you really like it, I can give you a bottle. Go glue yourself to that!

“Oh, Mr. Du's voice is so nice, and he looks so good when he smiles. I want to lock him up so he only talks to me and only smiles at me...”

Stop, stop, stop! Don't think any further. That's illegal!

“Mr. Du just gets better-looking the more I look at him. I wonder when our relationship will go further, and we can do this and that...”

This and what? Please don't use that innocent-looking face while thinking such unpublishable thoughts!

Du Yu heard his new assistant's blush-inducing confessions every day. After holding back time and time again, he finally couldn't take it anymore. He pulled the assistant close and whispered in his ear, “Let me tell you a secret. I can hear your thoughts.”

Under the new assistant's astonished gaze, he added, “So when are you actually going to confess to me out loud, instead of only thinking about it?”

The assistant said nothing, but his cheeks and ears turned red, and his eyes went wide. Then a single thought rang out in his mind: “Ah!!!”

That was the last time Du Yu heard his thoughts. After the assistant fled in a panic, Du Yu never heard those thoroughly unpublishable confessions again.

Besides that, Du Yu noticed that the new assistant seemed to be deliberately avoiding being alone with him.

Watching the assistant go out of his way to avoid him, Du Yu felt as if something were missing from his heart.

What was missing?

It took Du Yu all night to figure it out. Then he stopped the assistant again and asked, “Would you... go out with me?”

A little note:

There is no cutesy, delicate character, no nursing or breastfeeding, and certainly no N-something-P, stock-buying, doormat, or similar plotlines. If that's what you're looking for, please steer clear.

If you're an extreme fan of a particular character type, please steer clear.

(The above applies to all stories in this author's collection.)

The top has romantic experience, but only romantic experience. Zero sexual experience.

The bottom used to be a top, but becomes a bottom for love, or perhaps for the handsome face. So the bottom takes the lead in their relationship (specifically in bed). If that's not your thing, please steer clear~

(The above applies only to this story.)

My new story, Love Begins with a Try, is now open for reading. If you're interested, please add it to your favorites~

* Older top, ten-year age gap, beautiful top and handsome bottom

* The top, Hua Mingyang, appears gentle and gentlemanly, but is actually a conniving, shameless flirt

* The bottom, You Chenyu, appears sunny and sincere, but is actually looks-obsessed and a wolf in sheep's clothing

* Substitute romance, but sweet and doting

* Also known as: “Open the Door, It's Your Bro~” and “Why Did My Gentle, Neighborly, Unrequited Love Turn into a Conniving Old Flirt After We Started Dating?!”

*Story blurb: When he was ten, You Chenyu met Hua Mingyang, whose excessively beautiful face left a deep impression on him.

After You Chenyu was bullied at his new school, Hua Mingyang showed up in place of his older brother and calmly stood up for him against the unreasonable parent of one of the bullies. You Chenyu felt grateful, but also began to admire Hua Mingyang, hoping that one day he could become a gentle and strong adult like him.

When Hua Mingyang's face appeared in a blush-inducing dream during puberty, You Chenyu finally realized that his admiration and yearning had quietly changed into something else.

By chance, You Chenyu discovered Hua Mingyang's secret crush on his older brother. He planned to bury his own feelings, knowing they could never come to anything.

But years later, at his brother's wedding, You Chenyu saw Hua Mingyang drinking himself into a stupor over his heartbreak. Unable to suppress his selfish desire, he took Hua Mingyang home, then, as if possessed, kissed him.

He never expected Hua Mingyang to wake up. What was meant to be a secret, fleeting kiss became impossible to stop when You Chenyu said, “You always say my brother and I look alike, so why can't you treat me as if I were him?”

“Do you want to try being together?”

Just before they fell asleep in each other's arms, the words slipped out in a moment of impulse.

You Chenyu expected Hua Mingyang to reject him, but Hua Mingyang gazed at him for a long time, then gently nodded. “Sure. Let's give it a try.”

He didn't care whether Hua Mingyang agreed out of drunken guilt or a passing sense of responsibility. He only wanted to seize this rare opportunity and see this relationship, which had started as a trial, through to the end.

But as they tried, You Chenyu gradually realized that Hua Mingyang seemed to have become a completely different person.

When faced with one of You Chenyu's admirers, Hua Mingyang deliberately provoked him until he threw a punch. Then Hua Mingyang put on a wounded expression and said, “Sigh, Xiaoyu, I don't know what I did to upset your friend. Don't blame him. He had every right to hit me. Maybe I'm just too unlikeable...”

You Chenyu: “...”

My dear brother, did you think I was deaf and didn't hear how nasty your words were?

Or did you think I was blind and didn't see how easily you dodged his punch?

Even if you hadn't dodged, he was aiming for your left cheek. What are you covering your right cheek for?

Enough with that tea-soaked act of yours, it's practically overflowing!

After they started dating, Hua Mingyang still treated him like a child.

You Chenyu complained, “Stop treating me like a kid. I've grown up.”

Hua Mingyang looked him up and down, then gave him a meaningful smile. “Mm... You've definitely grown quite a bit~”

You Chenyu: “...I meant my age. What are you looking at?”

Hua Mingyang: “I meant your age too. You're the one imagining things, aren't you?”

Fine, fine. You flirt shamelessly and then turn it around on me. You're really something.

You Chenyu couldn't for the life of him understand how his sweet, gentle, neighborly big brother had turned into a conniving old flirt after they started dating!

Whatever. Let him change. This conniving old flirt really was gorgeous.

You Chenyu was perfectly happy to fall for Hua Mingyang for the rest of his life.

*Bonus scene: One day, Hua Mingyang suddenly remembered a topic You Chenyu's brother had brought up. He asked the person curled up in his arms, eating watermelon and watching a movie, “Your brother once said that you only liked me because of my face. Is that true?”

Caught up in an exciting part of the movie, You Chenyu scooped up a spoonful of watermelon and popped it into his mouth, answering casually, “What else would I like about you, your age?”

Hua Mingyang: “Then, putting my face aside...”

You Chenyu: “I can't put it aside at all.”

Hua Mingyang was speechless for a moment. After a long pause, he pressed on, sounding unconvinced. “So besides my face, you don't like anything else about me? Is it because I'm not good enough in bed, or because I, mmph...”

Before Hua Mingyang could finish, You Chenyu turned and stuffed a spoonful of watermelon into his mouth. “Old Hua, try this watermelon. It's so sweet. Here, have another bite.” When he saw Hua Mingyang about to speak again, he scooped up a bigger spoonful and thoroughly plugged his mouth.

With his mouth full of watermelon, Hua Mingyang couldn't speak. But seeing You Chenyu's ears turn bright red put him in a much better mood.

At that moment, Hua Mingyang decided that whether You Chenyu liked him only for his face didn't matter. It was enough that he liked him.

He also decided that the watermelon You Chenyu had just fed him was genuinely sweet. So when You Chenyu scooped up another spoonful and put it in his own mouth, Hua Mingyang kissed him without warning, just to taste that sweetness again.

Theme: Only sincere love can win sincere love. Don't resort to crooked methods.