Xin Hulei peers deeply into Yao Shen\'s eyes, looking as if he\'s trying to read something in them.

He\'s so close that Yao Shen can feel the steady puffs of his breath against his skin, making the translucent peach fuzz on his cheeks stand on end from each exhale.

Yao Shen\'s eyelashes have fluttered closed in anticipation of a kiss by the time Xin Hulei speaks:

"This yin yang eyes of yours, they\'re very unusual."

Without preamble he touches Yao Shen\'s eyelid gently and slides it upwards towards his eyebrow so he can continue looking into the eye.

Sputtering, Yao Shen pulls away from his touch, his cheeks flaming with indignation.

The worst part is that his heart is still racing.

"What are you doing, getting so close to me in just your underwear, go put something on," Yao Shen says, closing the fingers of his right hand over the material of his tshirt, wishing it was a jacket he could pull together tighter.

Xin Hulei reaches into the pile of clothes on which Heimao is sleeping and pulls out a slinky black robe.

The thin silk clings to his shoulders and arms. He does a poor job of tying it around his waist and the two ends leave most of his chest exposed.

He looks no better than if he was still in his underwear.

"Nevermind," Yao Shen grumbles under his breath, averting his eyes.

"I don\'t think it\'s your eyes that allow you to see demons," Xin Hulei says, his gaze steady.

"What else, then?" Yao Shen asks, doing his best to keep his tone even.

"I don\'t know, but I think you do," he says, his smooth voice tinged with amusement. "I think it\'s tied to the reason why you were snooping around in my room."

"It\'s not!" Yao Shen says, denying it vehemently. "I just wanted to get back at you. You said it yourself it was only fair!"

He pauses, looking down at his feet. "Besides, I\'m curious about some things."

Xin Hulei hums. "Maybe you can tell me all about it over dinner."

---

For some reason Yao Shen didn\'t expect Xin Hulei to cook. He\'s sitting on the counter swinging his bare feet back and forth as Xin Hulei adds ingredients to a large wok.

It feels oddly intimate. Yao Shen doesn\'t know what possessed him to sit on the counter but now he feels too awkward to get down.

Yao Shen is distracted by the shift of muscles under Xin Hulei\'s thin robe. He wonders if he worked out more if he would look like him, too.

It\'s unfair, how wealth attracts wealth. Xin Hulei is not only beautiful, talented, successful, but apparently he can cook as well.

Compared to him Yao Shen feels inadequate.

"Dinner is ready," Xin Hulei says, turning off the portable stove top. He splits the fragrant noodles into two bowls and then gives one to Yao Shen.

"There\'s more soy sauce in the cupboard if you want." He opens a drawer and takes out chopsticks for him and Yao Shen.

He leans against the counter in front of Yao Shen and starts eating his noodles without preamble.

Yao Shen follows suit and does the same, feeling like they\'re being too casual for coworkers who have known each other for only a little over a month.

"What are you curious about?" Xin Hulei asks, all of a sudden.

Buying himself some time with a mouthful of stir-fried noodles, Yao Shen thinks over how he\'s going to pose the question.

"The events of \'Shizun, this disciple will have to kill you\', did they really happen?"

Part of him still thinks all of this is crazy, and that Xin Hulei will tell him as much. Something along the lines of \'just because demons are real you think cultivators are too?\'.

"Yes."

Yao Shen\'s fingers still on the chopsticks.

Uh, alright then.

"So, you met Yan Shuyi?"

Xin Hulei nods.

"Did you love him, like in the novel?" Yao Shen asks, looking up at Xin Hulei\'s sharp profile.

It takes him a moment, but eventually Xin Hulei nods again.

It\'s a lot to take in.

Yao Shen\'s mind swirls. Yan Shuyi is a real person, he\'s someone who actually existed.

A peal of laughter makes its way past his lips. "I\'m acting in the world\'s first xianxia biopic."

Xin Hulei meets his eyes briefly, and lets out a chuckle of his own. "I guess so."

If Yao Shen wasn\'t so distracted by Xin Hulei\'s revelations, he would have been more shocked about hearing him laugh so freely.

"What happened to him? Yan Shuyi, I mean?" Maybe it\'s because he\'s playing him in the drama but Yao Shen is more curious about him than any of the other characters.

Slowly, the amusement dissolves from Xin Hulei\'s face, his features assuming their usual stoicism. "It\'s getting late, you should sleep here."

Yao Shen is considerate enough not to push the issue.

---

He could remind Xin Hulei that it takes less than a second for him to take Yao Shen back to his hotel room, but he\'s interested in snooping around more too, so he doesn\'t bring that little fact up.

Xin Hulei offers to let him shower first, but Yao Shen insists that since the house is his, he should go first.

It gives him the opportunity to look into Xin Hulei\'s things some more. Opening the drawers in his bedroom\'s desk doesn\'t reveal anything besides more mess and old receipts.

He\'s considering the benefits of booting up his laptop when a familiar voice reaches his ears.

"What are you doing touching Master\'s stuff?" Jincan asks from his little terrarium, the golden spikes along his spine standing up in alert. "Master! Master, come quick there\'s an intruder in our house."

Yao Shen smirks and crosses his arms. "I\'m your master\'s guest."

"Master doesn\'t have guests!" Jincan says, his small voice creaking. "This house belongs to Master, Jincan and Heimao. No one else has been here, or in Master\'s other house!"

Yao Shen smiles a little to himself. This little caterpillar thinks very highly of himself.

"How long have you known your Master?"

Jincan gets up on his multiple hind legs and puffs his chest. "Jincan has known Master for 600 years. Master has been helping Jincan with his cultivation. Very soon Jincan will have cultivated enough to achieve a human form."

Amused by Jincan\'s bragging Yao Shen can only nod along. "Uh-uh, and then what?"

"Then Jincan will marry Master, of course."