Dating
Chen Chao's walk-in closet was mostly filled with formal wear, with very few casual outfits besides a few sets of gym clothes. Steve searched for a while before finally finding two casual cotton T-shirts and trousers. The T-shirts were off-white, without any pattern, and even the brand logo was hidden in a discreet corner, very understated. The trousers were khaki, made of a loose and soft material, and very comfortable to wear.
Steve changed his clothes and looked at himself in the mirror. His muscles were a size bigger than Chen Chao's, and the cotton fabric clung to his body, outlining his alluring muscle curves. Combined with his blond hair and blue eyes, he looked somewhat like a delinquent street kid who was into hip-hop.
The eldest brother would probably look like a college student if he wore this outfit, right?
As Steve thought this, he packed another identical set of clothes.
Chen Chao has too few casual clothes; he simply can't find two sets that are different in style.
Because it was the weekend and Steve was there, Chen Chao didn't notify the driver to be on standby. At four o'clock in the afternoon, Steve drove to Tean to pick him up. He habitually opened the back door and sat in the car, immediately noticing the bag of clothes on the seat.
“Boss, wearing a suit on a date is such a turn-off, let’s change into something else,” Steve explained before Chen Chao could even ask.
Chen Chao smiled, but didn't answer. He simply loosened his tie and started changing his clothes.
The car windows of the Tean were all one-way glass, so you couldn't see in from the outside. Chen Chao didn't care and quickly stripped naked. Steve saw his boss's fair skin in the rearview mirror and couldn't help but feel a surge of desire, almost driving the car into a ditch.
"How do you want to go on a date?" Chen Chao changed his clothes and hung his shirt and jacket on the clothes rack behind the car.
"Drinking, eating barbecue, and singing."
Chen Chao rolled his eyes after hearing this. That's it? It sounds so boring.
"Boss, don't make that face. I admit it's a bit vulgar, but have you ever really done these things recklessly?"
"No, there really isn't," Chen Chao couldn't help but smile.
He had been secretly protecting the country's everyday life, but he himself was almost completely detached from it.
He has neither the time nor the freedom to do these things.
Steve parked his car at a shopping mall and then called a ride-hailing service, saying that parking was inconvenient at his destination.
Chen Chao let Steve do as he pleased, without asking where they were going, since Steve wouldn't sell him anyway.
The ride-hailing car took them to a very busy intersection and stopped. Steve paid the fare and then pulled Chen Chao out of the car.
As soon as he got out of the car, the noise and the pungent smell of barbecue made Chen Chao involuntarily take a step back.
In the twenty-eight years of Chen Chao's life, he had never set foot in such a place. The places he frequented were always clean and orderly.
Even when you occasionally have to go to a nightclub for business, the hostesses in the private rooms are very considerate and won't make you feel noisy or annoyed.
The place Steve chose was a narrow street lined with numerous restaurants on both sides. In the middle of the street, groups of two or three young people huddled together, moving slowly with the flow of people, chatting and looking for food. It was a chaotic pedestrian street.
"You've got guts, dragging me to a place like this," Chen Chao couldn't help but complain.
Security is simply impossible to maintain in such a noisy and chaotic place.
Steve smiled somewhat sheepishly: "With me here, nothing will happen to the boss. Besides, we're in the capital, so it should be fine. I definitely wouldn't dare to do that anywhere else."
Chen Chao glanced at Steve, but didn't reply. He simply stepped forward and merged into the crowd.
This was a novel experience for Chen Chao, with strangers brushing past him on the street. These people weren't separated by bodyguards, nor did they curiously scrutinize him. It seemed that at this moment, he was truly one of them, nothing special at all.
As his ears gradually adjusted to the noise of the crowd, Chen Chao no longer felt annoyed. Instead, he felt a strange sense of relaxation from being immersed in the flow of people.
At this moment, he wasn't carrying the weight of responsibility that required him to stand upright at the forefront; he was just an ordinary person. An ordinary person trying to relax on a weekend amidst delicious food and bustling crowds.
His back relaxed, his muscles inch by inch, and he looked around at the novel snacks on the street. He turned to Steve and asked, "What do you want to eat?"
Steve looked at him, his eyes full of smiles.
“There’s a famous barbecue restaurant up ahead, but we can pack two servings of Grandma’s Tofu Pudding here to eat together.”
“Okay.” Chen Chao was unfamiliar with everything here, so he was happy to follow Steve’s arrangements.
While waiting in line, Steve was secretly checking something on his phone. Chen Chao glanced over out of the corner of his eye and saw that Steve was checking a travel guide on a website. He couldn't help but find it a little funny. Come to think of it, he wasn't familiar with this kind of place, so how could Steve be? Neither of them were people with a lot of free time.
There are countless places in this world they've never been to, countless experiences they've never had. Their lives are almost entirely different from those of their peers, and they've never experienced the joys that their peers should have.
The image of teenagers running in the sunlight, the playful banter with classmates skipping classes, and spending university afternoons without classes with like-minded friends in clubs.
On a rainy evening, he hesitated before confessing his feelings to the girl he liked. This kind of youthful arrogance was something they were never allowed to possess.
"That's probably why Steve wants to go on a date now," Chen Chao suddenly thought.
The donation surgery is coming up soon. After the surgery and he recovers, Steve will no longer be able to have a long vacation, and therefore will no longer be able to stay by his side for long.
Steve is T'A's ace; he must be there where T'A needs him most, carrying out the most difficult and dangerous missions.
Now, these are some of the few remaining times they can be together without any worries.
That's why Steve wanted to use this time to experience the lives of ordinary people they risked their lives to protect, and to see how normal people fall in love.
Steve left something behind for their relationship.
In this way, when they need to look back in the future, their memories will not only be filled with work, nor with the helplessness and compromises they were forced to make.
They can also reminisce about strolling along the pedestrian street at sunset, queuing up to buy popular tofu pudding, eating skewers together, drinking together, and carefully holding hands in the crowded streets.
They live a life where they don't know what tomorrow will bring, so they must seize the time to leave something behind.
"Two servings of their signature tofu pudding, to go." Steve ordered two servings of the signature tofu pudding as soon as he reached the front of the line.
"After researching for so long, you ended up choosing this signboard?" Chen Chao couldn't help but laugh; it was too ridiculous.
Steve was taken aback and offered a somewhat forced explanation: "I doubt you'd like those weird flavors that people talk about online. It's safer to stick with the signature dish."
As they spoke, the shop assistant handed over the packaged tofu pudding, which Steve reached out to take. The two held hands and squeezed through the crowded queue.
It was completely dark by then, and the streets were even more crowded. Hands pressed together, shoulders touching, it was impossible to move. They also risked being separated in the throng.
In the crowd, Chen Chao pulled Steve's hand and placed it behind his waist, whispering in his ear, "Protect me, don't let them separate us."
"Yes, boss." Steve tightened his grip on Chen Chao's waist slightly, his eyes sparkling.
They were lucky; when they arrived at the famous barbecue restaurant, there were only two seats left in the last corner. However, the previous table had just finished eating, and the table had just been cleaned, so it wasn't very clean. Steve grabbed a few tissues and wiped it again before letting Chen Chao sit down.
"What would you like to eat?" Steve handed the menu to Chen Chao.
The menu is a piece of paper; you just check off what you want to eat.
"I don't care, you choose."
Chen Chao looked at Steve, completely indifferent to what they ate. For him, the only important thing about this date was whether he could meet Steve's expectations.
It was a dreamlike day, in which they pretended to be ordinary people and enjoyed the life that only ordinary people have.
He hoped that everything left behind in this dream would be sweet.
Steve ordered draft beer and over a hundred skewers in total.
The barbecue restaurant was constantly filled with the sounds of gongs and drums. One minute, people at the next table were playing drinking games, the next minute someone was confessing their love at the door, and later on, a group of students even started singing.
Chen Chao couldn't help but laugh out loud, infected by the atmosphere. He squinted at Steve and said, "If you hadn't been adopted by Te An back then, you would probably have been the school's most handsome guy."
He was so cool playing basketball during breaks that the girls on the sidelines screamed. After evening practice, he'd have a barbecue with his school team friends. On weekends, he'd go shopping with his girlfriend and play claw machines. He'd be just as happy as these people are now.
"But they might also be discriminated against and bullied by classmates because they have no parents, and be forced to drink toilet water during breaks."
Chen Chao paused for a moment, looked into Steve's eyes, and said after a moment of silence, "No, it won't happen."
How could anyone bear to bully you? Not even me.
Steve peeled a skewer of grilled shrimp and handed it to Chen Chao: "When Mom was still alive, she didn't always have time to cook because of work, so she would often take me to eat out at small shops on the street."
Sometimes it was ramen, sometimes wontons—all cheap and simple things. Eating with my mom at these shabby little shops was the happiest time of my life; I could enjoy anything there.
Hey bro, the reason I invited you here today is because I suddenly felt nostalgic and wanted to eat here again to recapture that old feeling.
I'm not actually envious of those kids singing. If I hadn't joined Te'an, I would never have met you. Eating at a place like this without someone you like is meaningless to me.
Chen Chao thought Steve was the most romantic person in the world, catching him off guard and leaving him utterly defeated time and time again.
Chen Chao reached out and touched Steve's hair: "Sometimes I really wonder what they taught in the training camp. How come you're so good at seducing people?"
"I'll only seduce you, boss."
Chen Chao glanced at the bustling storefront, making sure no one had noticed their corner. He shifted, using Steve's body to block most of the view, then quickly planted a kiss on Steve's lips. After the kiss, he gently lifted Steve's chin and asked, "You said you'd drink, eat skewers, and sing karaoke. Now you've had the drinks and the skewers, where are you planning to sing karaoke?"
Steve couldn't hide the satisfied smile in his eyes. He waved to the proprietress to settle the bill, then pulled Chen Chao out of the store: "I was just kidding about karaoke. I wouldn't dare take you to an unfamiliar place. Let's go see a movie."
"good."
The movie was randomly picked from an unknown movie theater on the street. It was a campus romance film, and Steve even bought a huge bucket of popcorn to take with him when he entered.
The film was boring, and many plot points seemed utterly mindless to them. But neither of them minded; the movie showed them the beauty and impulsiveness of youth, and that was enough.
It was late at night when the movie ended, and neither of them seemed willing to go home so early. So they held hands and strolled slowly towards the shopping mall where they had parked, enjoying the evening breeze.
The city's hustle and bustle subsided into the night. Once outside the night market area, the surroundings became so quiet you could hear a pin drop, and even the lights seemed to dim. But Steve's hand remained on Chen Chao's waist, as if he was still afraid that a huge crowd would separate them.
They walked side by side through a dark alley when Steve suddenly heard a child crying. The crying was faint, but it was especially clear in the quiet night. Steve and Chen Chao exchanged a glance and cautiously peered into the alley.
In the dark alley, a man was kicking a pair of women lying on the ground.
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