Joshua's father arranged a position as a sales assistant for his just graduated son.

The sales department has eight teams, each with six salespersons underneath. Every two teams have a manager and an assistant. The assistant's work mainly involves answering phone calls, printing drawings, and handling documentation, which is not too complicated, but there are many projects.

Originally, there was already an assistant name Lily in the same team. And everyone's attitude towards the boss's son, Joshua, was the same, respectful on the surface but actually unwelcome. No one had the free time to teach him about business.

Joshua was idle, sitting at his desk all day long. Combined with his reserved and introverted personality, he rarely even went to the restroom.

Everyone in his team treated him like he didn't exist, except for his father, who would occasionally drag him into the office to scold him, believing that the main cause of this situation was his own passive character. After entering society, no one could wait for the teacher to spoon-feed knowledge like in school.

He understood the logic, but the actual situation did not improve.

It wasn't until Stephen took a stack of drawings and came to him.

"My assistant left. Do you have time? Can you help me make copies of these drawings?"

Joshua hurriedly stood up and almost nodded gratefully, but then he hesitated a bit and said, "I'm not very good at using the copier for the large drawings."

As he said this, his face turned completely red, and he nervously stirred his fingers. Stephen looked at this inexperienced, shy, and helpless man and felt a strange emotion.

"That machine operates a bit differently from a regular copier. I'll show you."

Joshua followed him, holding a notebook in his hand. Stephen demonstrated once, and he quickly jotted down each step.

Looking at the messy but graceful notes, Stephen suddenly smiled.

"If there's anything you don't remember, feel free to ask me."

For the first time, Joshua lifted his head and looked directly into Stephen's eyes. "Thank you."

"You give it a try."

Stephen stepped aside, and Joshua successfully made copies of the drawings. Some of his nervousness faded, and he smiled too.

Stephen stacked the entire batch on the table and patted it. "Thank you for taking care of all these. I'm in that office, and my name is on the door. After finishing, please take them to me. " He pointed to the office at the far end, separated by a glass wall.

Joshua nodded.

Before meeting Joshua, Stephen had never considered romantic relationships. He knew early that true love was hard to find, so he didn't have any fantasies about it. However, wealth and reputation were attainable. As long as one was willing to invest energy and time, there would be returns.

But upon meeting Joshua, he felt a slight desire to get close to another man for the first time. It was also the first time he willingly helped someone without expecting anything in return.

(back to current)

The car had entered the city, and Stephen, in the passenger seat, opened his eyes.

He had rested with his eyes closed for a while, and the drunkenness had dissipated to a large extent. It seemed like he had briefly dreamt, and the dream was vaguely related to his husband, Joshua, but without any specific details.

"Awake now."

"Mhm."

"We'll be home soon."

Stephen was still very tired, but his mind was clear.

He pondered for a moment, licked his slightly dry lips, and suddenly spoke up, "Dad got a bit drunk at lunch, and he asked if we had any plans for having a child..."

He paused, waiting for Joshua to continue it, but his husband was focused on driving, as if he hadn't heard.

"Josh, I believe you like children."

The man responded with a faint question, "Do you like them?"

In truth, Stephen was not a fan of children, but if it was necessary, he could accept having one. If Joshua wanted one, he planned to adopt a girl.

"It would be nice to have a couple of children at home keeping you company."

Joshua fell silent for a long time. It wasn't until the car entered the parking garage and they entered the elevator, one after the other, that Joshua finally provided the final answer.

"Children aren't pets."

Stephen opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but ultimately refrained.

Not long after arriving home, he received a phone call, needing to attend to some work matters. With a heavy head, he turned on the computer, sorted out the work, and then returned to the bedroom. His husband was already sleeping with his back turned to him.

The transmission of body heat has its limits, especially on this overly spacious two-meter bed. The dividing line in the center of the bed separated this couple, with Stephen's side covered by a chilly quilt.

Stephen turned off the light and slipped into his own cold and chilling covers. Perhaps he had sat for too long in the study and caught a chill, as he slept for a long time but didn't warm up at all.

"Are you married? Married and still trying to flirt, you have no shame?" The man stood up abruptly, holding a glass of alcohol in his hand.

He was tempted to throw that glass of alcohol in the Stephen's face, but Stephen's gaze was too calm, to the point that he didn't dare to do so.

In the end, he tilted his neck back and downed the entire glass of alcohol, slamming it heavily on the table, and angrily exclaimed, "What a bunch of rotten people!" He then stormed off.

Stephen furrowed his brow, took a sip of whiskey from his glass, and didn't react much. This situation wasn't surprising.

This was a high-end same-sex online club that required a considerable membership fee every year. Besides verifying each other's income, education, and ensuring that their profile pictures were genuine, they also provided a discreet offline meeting place,a bar that exclusively served its members.

The club's slogan was "Encounter Quality Love."

In fact, whether the Quality is high or low, the Love you could encounter is few. In the end, you would discover that the majority of those you could encounter were just seeking adventure or money.

The people running this business clearly understood this, so their services did not include checking the other person's marital status. And if there had to be an additional investigation, the first priority would undoubtedly be the size measurement.

Stephen rarely logged into this app, yet he received numerous chat invitations, but he rarely paid them any attention.

The man he was meeting today had persistently greeted him for three months on the app, and claimed that he was his ideal match.

At the beginning of the new year, the man sent him a self-edited video, in which he said hello and sang for him... regretfully mentioning that he had intended to send it on the first day of the new year, but editing the video was not as simple as he had imagined, taking several days to complete.

Stephen couldn't help but be somewhat moved, so he replied and agreed to meet in person.

This kind of outcome was also expected. People's expectations were always too high.

As the glass became empty, he also intended to leave, but at that moment, a new glass of whiskey was delivered to him.

Another man who brought the drink took the opportunity to sit down on the empty chair opposite him, pressed his glass to his lips, took a gentle sip, and didn't immediately put it down. The glass didn't completely cover his lips, which formed a hint of a smile.

The two locked eyes for a moment, and Stephen also lifted his glass and took a small sip.

"Blue label? It's really extravagant," he remarked.

The man put down his glass, a bright smile curving his lips. "The quality of the drink matches the quality of the man. Besides, when initiating a conversation, I can't be too insincere."

Stephen smiled and reached across the table, extending his hand. "Stephen."

The man playfully shook his fingertips, making a show of restraint. "Chris."