Secret Love - chapter 1

Xia Yan swore that he really didn’t mean to open that wallet.
It was a soft, dark brown lambskin that he had picked up in the pantry when he was leaving work. It looked familiar, so he wanted to open it to see if he could find some identification and return it to its owner. As a result, he found the identification, and with it was a bareheaded two-inch photo.
“…” Xia Yan stared at his photo in disbelief. It was taken more than a year ago. He had worked at his previous company for three years and had accumulated enough experience to feel confident about jumping to the company with the best reputation in the industry. He valued this first interview and took the time to have a new two-inch photo taken. He remembered that he was so nervous at the time that he accidentally shaved his chin when shaving in the morning, leaving a small red scar near his lips in the photo.
Xia Yan had not been without experience of unrequited love, but when faced with the pure and obscure feeling of putting the photo of the person he liked in his wallet, he was at a loss for the first time.
Carefully slipping his photo back into the wallet’s lining, Xia Yan, with mixed feelings, took out the other person’s ID. When he saw the ID photo, which was comparable to an artistic photo, Xia Yan had the illusion that his head had been cracked by a hammer…
No wonder he looked familiar when he saw the wallet! Mu Hengguang! One of the company founders, Mu Hengguang! The “most beautiful Virgo” (…), voted for by the entire company! Boss! Xia Yan has been following him for a year and is most familiar with Mu Hengguang’s two nostrils… His recent LOL signature status is still: “It’s been a year, and I’ve finally counted how many nose hairs my boss has!” (…)
Xia Yan was stunned by the image of nostrils and nose hairs that filled his head. He shivered as he put away the other person’s ID documents, holding the wallet like a hot potato. He couldn’t throw it away or leave it, and was torn between what to do. Suddenly, someone came rushing in.
Mu Hengguang’s face was cold and indifferent. He was a full head taller than Xia Yan, with broad, hard shoulders, giving the impression of cold arrogance.
Xia Yan’s expression was blank. He looked up at the other person and said blankly, “I, I found this…”
Mu Hengguang frowned. He extended two fingers and gracefully took his wallet from Xia Yan’s hands. Without opening it to check, he directly stuffed it into the pocket of his overcoat.
“…” Xia Yan opened his mouth, hardening his resolve and saying, “Boss…”
Mu Hengguang stared at him coldly and suddenly said, “Did you open it?”
Xia Yan reflexively denied, ‘No!”
Mu Hengguang nodded, and although his expression did not change, Xia Yan still noticed that the lines of his tense shoulders suddenly relaxed.
“Go home early,’ Mu Hengguang said, raising his chin, and then returned to his usual habit of looking at Xia Yan through both nostrils, impatiently saying, ‘If you can’t finish your work every day and have to work overtime, what can you do?”
Xia Yan: ’…”
Every day at lunch, Xia Yan habitually cooked and brought his lunch to the office. His cousin Zhang Mengmeng happened to be in the building next door, so Xia Yan usually prepared two portions and the two of them ate together in the common area at noon.
“If someone puts your ID photo in their wallet, what do you think it means?” Xia Yan asked his cousin.
Zhang Mengmeng bit her chopsticks and stared with wide eyes in amazement, ‘Who hates me that much that they would put such an ugly photo of me in their wallet?”
“…’ Xia Yan was silent for a moment, ”What if it’s not ugly?”
Zhang Mengmeng: “No way, only the ID photos of real gods are not ugly. If you don’t believe me, go find out. Apart from Mu Hengguang, whose ID photos are not black history? !”
Xia Yan: ”My ID photo is pretty good too. The day before yesterday, you said it looked good when you saw the two-inch bareheaded photo on my work ID.”
Zhang Mengmeng said disdainfully, “That’s because there’s no comparison with the male god. If you were put together with just any guy, you’d definitely stand out. But if you were put together with Mu Hengguang, he’d be 1080p and you’d be a bootleg.”
Xia Yan didn’t understand, ‘???
Zhang Mengmeng said compassionately, ’You look like you’re in a daze.”
Xia Yan: “…”
Mu Hengguang has only Xia Yan as a special assistant, responsible for all the details of official business, daily scheduling, and sorting through the information reports submitted by his subordinates. In any case, everything Mu Hengguang handles will first be screened by Xia Yan.
In fact, if he didn’t do all this, Xia Yan would have been competing for the position of financial director. He had previously worked in a bank and was very good at compiling financial statements. He was meticulous and careful, and would avoid risks. All uncertain income and expenditure would go through his hands for assessment and planning, and he would finally decide whether to do it or not.
Originally, the previous financial director of this company was about to retire, and Xia Yan was also very confident that he could get the position. However, the boss suddenly sent a personnel change notice, directly promoting him to become Mu Hengguang’s special assistant.
Mu Hengguang had never had an assistant before, and Xia Yan was the first.
There was several times more work to do than there had been before, and although Xia Yan was meticulous and hardworking, he was not good at socializing. At first, he was really overwhelmed with work. He called the bosses of other companies, made appointments here and there, and played tai chi when necessary. He even said such unintelligent excuses as, “President Mu is in the toilet…” Often at this time, Mu Mu Hengguang would look at him with an expression of “how stupid can you be?” but never really blamed him for anything. Although he looked down on people with contempt, was arrogant and meticulous, and always used imperative sentences when giving Xia Yan orders, he never transferred Xia Yan no matter what mistakes he made. He wiped Xia Yan’s ass while resenting his uselessness.
After working for six months, Xia Yan has basically figured out all of Mu Hengguang’s habits. He probably has a natural talent for serving people. Except for Mu Hengguang’s private life, Xia Yan can arrange everything related to work in an orderly manner. Unfortunately, communication is still a weak point. At most, it has been upgraded from “President Mu is in the toilet.” to “President Mu has sudden gastroenteritis.” This level…
In Xia Yan’s heart, Mu Hengguang is actually a pretty good boss. Before she got to know his personality, she might have thought that he was a difficult person to get along with, but after working together for a long time, she realized that Mu Hengguang is actually easier to read than many other leaders.
However, Xia Yan still finds it hard to believe that Mu Hengguang has a crush on her.
After that, Mu Hengguang never mentioned the wallet again. If he didn’t say anything, Xia Yan wouldn’t have asked, but she was still concerned about it and couldn’t help but keep an eye on him, whether she meant to or not.
Xia Yan was a little surprised when she received a phone call from Zhang Mengmeng at noon the next day.
“You’re not coming to eat?“ Xia Yan’s cooking was delicious, to the point that Zhang Mengmeng said it was so good that she would ‘die of obesity if she didn’t eat it,’ and that ‘it was like the saying goes, ’you have to capture someone’s stomach before their heart. ‘”If it were in ancient times, I would have married you no matter what.” Zhang Mengmeng’s voice was weak on the phone: ”There are more serious things than dying of obesity now… I have to accompany a client to dinner, and if I don’t do a good job, dying of obesity won’t help.”
“…” Xia Yan could only comfort her: ”The food in the restaurant is also pretty good.”
Zhang Mengmeng seemed so desperate that she didn’t even have the strength to speak, and she hurriedly hung up the phone.
Xia Yan looked at the two bento boxes in front of him with some difficulty, sighed helplessly, and sat in the pantry to slowly eat them.
When Mu Hengguang came in, he saw Xia Yan with his mouth full of food, his cheeks bulging like a hamster.
Xia Yan probably didn’t expect to see him and stared with wide eyes in a surprised expression.
Mu Hengguang frowned. He was standing while Xia Yan was sitting, and the height difference was even more obvious, giving him a very oppressive sense of superiority.
“Why are you eating alone?” Mu Hengguang’s voice was cold. ‘Where’s your girlfriend?”
Xia Yan looked at his boss’s two nostrils, his thoughts wandering everywhere. He thought to himself, ’What small nostrils! No wonder his nose is so straight and beautiful…”
Mu Hengguang’s face darkened when he saw him in a daze. With patience and restraint, he said, “I asked you a question, what are you thinking about? !”
“No, no…” Xia Yan reacted, he hurriedly stood up, the food in his mouth still hadn’t been swallowed, afraid of spitting it out, he didn’t dare speak loudly: “I don’t have a girlfriend…Mengmeng is my cousin, I couldn’t eat together today because I had something to do…”
Mu Hengguang gave a disgusted expression: “Swallow your food before you speak.”
Xia Yan shut up, and he desperately chewed, nodding to indicate that he had swallowed after a while.
Mu Hengguang, however, was not about to let him off lightly: ‘Open your mouth and show me.”
“…’ Xia Yan was utterly baffled. He hesitated for a moment before slowly opening his mouth, his face turning a little red.
Mu Hengguang stepped closer, reached out his hand, and lifted his chin up: ”Open it wider, I can’t check it otherwise.”
Xia Yan had no choice but to open his mouth wider. He didn’t understand what Mu Hengguang wanted to inspect, and he always felt very ridiculous and embarrassed with his mouth wide open in front of his superior.
“Okay.” Mu Hengguang seemed to have finally seen enough. His expression was indifferent, and he lightly patted Xia Yan’s cheek: ‘Wipe your saliva.”
“…’ Xia Yan hurriedly covered his mouth. He had kept his mouth open for too long, and some saliva had uncontrollably stuck to the corners of his mouth.
Mu Hengguang seemed in a good mood. He pretended to be looking for something and swept the pantry, his gaze falling on Xia Yan’s lunchbox.
“You made it?” Mu Hengguang asked with interest. He repeated, as if to confirm, ”You said the woman you had lunch with was your cousin?”
Xia Yan nodded. He really wanted to continue eating, but he was embarrassed to do so in front of his boss. How could an employee eat while his leader watched?
“Mr. Mu,” Xia Yan tentatively asked Mu Hengguang, ‘have you eaten yet?”
Mu Hengguang crossed his arms and said noncommittally, ’Not yet.”
Xia Yan didn’t really believe him, but he didn’t dare to really question anything, so he could only invite him with a stiff upper lip, ‘Well, if you don’t mind, try my cooking…”
Before he could finish speaking, Mu Hengguang had already readily agreed, ’Sure.”
Xia Yan: ‘…”
Mu Hengguang asked again, ’Where are the chopsticks?”
Zhang Mengmeng usually brings her own, and Xia Yan only has one pair. He quickly washed them and handed them to Mu Hengguang. After handing over the chopsticks, he remembered that Mu Hengguang hadn’t washed his hands. The other party usually has a serious cleanliness complex, and sometimes it’s not just an ordinary fuss. Xia Yan didn’t think much about it, and naturally took out a wet paper towel to wipe Mu Hengguang’s hands.
After wiping one hand, he wiped the other. Mu Hengguang held the chopsticks in one hand, looked down at Xia Yan, who was carefully wiping his fingers one by one, gently, without even leaving the nail gaps.
“Drink the soup first,” Xia Yan said. Once he entered the mode of serving, his attentiveness and politeness began to stack up: ”I stayed up until this morning last night, the chicken fat is not greasy, drink more.”
Mu Hengguang’s expression became a little intriguing after he drank the soup. He looked at Xia Yan, tasted a few more mouthfuls of the food the other person had picked into his bowl, and then his chopsticks couldn’t stop moving. He finished the bento almost before he realized that Xia Yan hadn’t eaten anything, just watched him from the side.
“You eat some too,” Mu Hengguang said with no expression as he picked up a mouthful of food on his chopsticks and brought it to Xia Yan’s mouth.
Xia Yan was startled and, flattered, politely refused, “I’ll eat it myself, Mr. Mu, you can leave it.”
Mu Hengguang didn’t say anything, but he didn’t put down his hands either, clearly taking a firm stance of feeding him. Xia Yan had no choice but to open his mouth and eat it.
Mu Hengguang fed almost the entire bento into Xia Yan’s mouth. He seemed to particularly like seeing the other person’s cheeks puffed up like a hamster’s. At the end, he couldn’t help but reach out and pinch Xia Yan’s cheeks, saying lightly, “Good boy.”
“…………” Xia Yan’s mouth was full of food, and he couldn’t even cry.