Scum Villain; Bingqiu ficlet: sugar daddy au
Title: Serendipity
Author: Akiko / dreamingfireflies on tumblr / rinsled05 on twitter
Rating: general
Warnings: none
Summary: Bingqiu sugar daddy AU. “Luo Binghe is his name, and he’s nothing like Shen Jiu described.”
Note: Written for @bingqiuweek, day four (Prompt: Modern AU). Related Liushen ficlet in the same AU is here.
Luo Binghe is his name, and he’s nothing like Shen Jiu described. Plain, Shen Jiu had said. Plain, and boring, and not worth his time, which is why Shen Yuan was sent in his place.
“You’re different tonight,” Luo Binghe says. He’s blushing, lashes dipping, dark hair falling across his forehead. His eyes glow like black gems in the candlelight, and the charcoal grey suit fits him perfectly, custom-made to his broad shoulders and trim waist.
Yes, gorgeous is the word Shen Yuan would use.
“I wasn’t in the best of moods last week,” Shen Yuan says. (Shen Jiu never is.) He prods at his hundred-dollar steak with the edge of his knife. “And I really was just happy with a salad…”
Luo Binghe shakes his head. “Oh no, I said I’d take care of you, and I fully intend to uphold that!”
Shen Yuan winces. It’s strange, hearing that from a younger man. Knowing Shen Jiu, his twin brother must have ingrained that into Luo Binghe, reading from the get-go that Luo Binghe is naïve and lonely enough to listen to his every word. (Shen Yuan feels sad, sometimes, at how well Shen Jiu knows others more than himself.)
“You’re doing a fine job,” Shen Yuan tells Luo Binghe, lips curving in a soft smile.
Luo Binghe promptly spills red wine down the front of his dress shirt.
Tutting like a mother over her child, Shen Yuan slides up to Luo Binghe in their shared booth, presses his fingers and a napkin to the spot of wine. Ignores, pulse jumping, how hard Luo Binghe’s chest feels under the layer of fabric.
Luo Binghe shifts, throat bobbing. “Please, you don’t have to—”
“Don’t move,” Shen Yuan huffs. Luo Binghe stiffens, his entire chest gone completely still. “But breathe,” Shen Yuan adds, before Luo Binghe sucks in a breath and exhales, the gust of air ruffling Shen Yuan’s hair. His cheeks darken when Shen Yuan lets out a laugh.
“Do you listen to everything everyone says?” Shen Yuan teases.
“No,” Luo Binghe says, voice going soft. “Just you.”
A-Jiu has no idea what he’s missing, Shen Yuan thinks, as he busies himself with scrubbing out as much of the wine stain as he can. Luo Binghe smells of fresh grass and pine and some tangy spice that’s just like the cologne Yue Qingyuan uses—Shen Jiu’s recommendation, no doubt. Shen Yuan makes a mental note to tell Luo Binghe that this fragrance doesn’t suit him; he’d do better with something less overpowering.
“I prefer this cologne on you,” Luo Binghe blurts out above him.
“Hm?” Cheeks warm, Shen Yuan looks up at Luo Binghe through his lashes. Are they both thinking about each other’s scent? “I’m not wearing any tonight.”
Luo Binghe’s breath catches. “Oh,” he says.
The rest of their dinner is spent without incident, save for Luo Binghe dropping his own fork when Shen Yuan offers a bite of cake on his.
He’s sweet, this Luo Binghe. So sweet. Hard to imagine that he single handedly started and sustained a massive real estate business on his own. Harder, still, when Luo Binghe shifts his feet and wrings his hands together at Shen Yuan’s front door, the very picture of nervousness.
His eyes flicker to Shen Yuan’s mouth, then back up to Shen Yuan’s eyes.
“I know you said no kisses, but…”
Shen Yuan’s teeth sink into his bottom lip as Luo Binghe flounders over his next words. Only an idiot won’t know where this is going, and yet…
“But?” he prompts, gently.
“I just…” Luo Binghe smiles at Shen Yuan, shy and soft. “…really, really want to kiss you right now.”
Shen Yuan flushes, taking in the color of Luo Binghe’s cheeks and the light in his eyes, the way his fingers curl and uncurl into his palm in anticipation of Shen Yuan’s answer.
Shen Jiu has reminded him, time and again, to follow the rules that Shen Jiu set with his clients—boundaries that Shen Jiu put in place to protect himself and, by default, Shen Yuan. The list is so long that Shen Yuan is sure that he has unwittingly broken a number of those rules.
And he’s about to break the most blatant one.
Mid-sentence, Luo Binghe’s mouth slips over his, still warm from the coffee he had for dessert. Shen Yuan sighs, hands curling around Luo Binghe’s neck, lips parting to invite Luo Binghe in. As Luo Binghe’s tongue brush against his, warm hands find their way to Shen Yuan’s waist, pulling Shen Yuan close until there’s barely any space between them, hip to hip.
It’s the best kiss Shen Yuan has ever had.
Luo Binghe ends it with a press of his forehead to Shen Yuan’s, those long lashes of his brushing against Shen Yuan’s cheeks.
“Can I see you again tomorrow?” he asks, voice low and rich as earth.
Shen Yuan shivers. “Yes,” he whispers.
Luo Binghe’s face brightens like a star in the night sky, and suddenly, just like that, Shen Yuan wants nothing more than to let it guide him home.
Shen Jiu is not going to be pleased.