"Bian Huan! You have some nerve calling me after what you did today. Do you really think I want to talk to you right now? I already told you weeks ago that you’re not to bother my boyfriend. Why did you still go and sneak up on him at work? Are you deliberately trying to piss me off?!"

There was some whining from the other end but Mo Fang wasn’t inclined to listen.

"I don’t care for your excuses! We made a deal when I asked you about this and you agreed. You can’t just turn around and suddenly expect more from us. I told you that Li Ming isn’t a model and you’ll have to live with that. Even if I had been inclined to help you out before, I definitely wouldn’t do it now. You’ve done nothing but cause trouble."

At this, Bian Huan couldn’t help but try to defend himself. "I didn’t do anything! I just wanted to hear his opinion from himself."

"You wanting to hear his opinion is the problem in itself if you go and tell him about everything!"

Mo Fang wasn’t talking loudly. Li Ming’s apartment was just a two-bedroom — or more like a one-and-a-half bedroom — apartment with a small room as his bedroom and a slightly bigger one as his living room. And the kitchen was right next to the living room which was next to the bedroom so if he talked any louder, Li Ming would definitely hear. He didn’t want to risk that so he kept his voice down even though he really wanted to yell at Bian Huan.

What he didn’t know was that Li Ming actually hadn’t managed to make it back to the kitchen. After seeing that caller ID, he had had a sinking feeling again and it had gotten worse when he handed over the phone. So after walking out, he slowly made his way back to the couch, just sitting down and staring into space because he didn’t know what else to do. His mind had been blank and preparing anything for breakfast had seemed like a stupid idea because he would just make mistakes.

Right now, Li Ming could hear every word. And every single one told him that he was an idiot.

He hadn’t gotten it wrong in the beginning. No, he had gotten it wrong in the end: Mo Fang had lied to him. And he hadn’t just lied to him before, he had still lied to him today when he asked him to clarify. So in other words, nothing he had said about this whole situation had ever been true. Not even after he gave him the chance to explain things. And that inevitably begged the question: What else was a lie?

His head seemed to be spinning when he thought of that and he could hardly focus but Mo Fang’s hissing was still loud enough to be able to hear the rest of the call.

Right now, there was a short break in his tirade, probably because Bian Huan was talking but the response didn’t let him wait for long.

"Well, everything! I didn’t tell him that you contacted me. He had no reason to know. In any case, there would have been much better opportunities to make use of the photos. Why did you have to run to him and tell him that they were already done? You almost caused my whole plan to become impossible! A fine friend you are."

At that, Bian Huan whined some more. "How is that my fault? In any case, you weren’t willing to work with me. What was I supposed to do? I could only go to your boyfriend."

"How about leaving him alone? And how about leaving me alone as well? In any case, I already told you no!"

"Yes, but your boyfriend is much more polite than you are. I thought that if I asked him face-to-face, he wouldn’t be able to say no anymore."

"My boyfriend will even say no to sleeping with me, what makes you think he wouldn’t say no to having his photos published? In any case, I’m still angry at you. You’ll have to make this up to me!"

Bian Huan kept silent for a moment but there was a flicker of hope in his heart. "Make it up to you?" He paused again, not sure if he could trust this. "How?" Because if he could make up for whatever blunder he had apparently committed, then maybe Mo Fang would still be open to renegotiating everything. It was worth a try.

"Well, you have to go back to him and apologize. Just tell him you made everything up. I’m sure he’ll believe it." In any case, he had done a pretty good job at reassuring Li Ming this evening. If Bian Huan now told him that everything had just been a misunderstanding, it would be even more believable.

"But I didn’t lie. I was telling the truth?"

"Who cares about that? Just tell him it was a misunderstanding or something. We can come up with something that matches what I said. Anyway, don’t you feel like you owe me?"

"Well, if I do this, can we talk about the publication again?"

"Are you still going on about that?" Mo Fang groaned, feeling that Bian Huan was really being too difficult. "Let’s see about that after the fact. Anyway, I can’t talk any longer. I’m at Li Ming’s apartment. I’ll call you back tomorrow if I have some time to myself. Don’t do anything until then. Just wait until you get my okay."

Bian Huan grumbled but, in the end, he still agreed. In any case, he was currently the one who wanted something from Mo Fang so he’d better agree to everything. "Fine. But don’t wait too long to call me! I’ve already waited so long. I don’t want to add another month on top."

"Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes! Now, stop bothering me! I still have some plans for tonight." With that, he ended the call, threw the phone to the side, and didn’t bother about it anymore. On second thought, he picked it up again, turned it on silent, and then put it away.

He definitely couldn’t let anything else disturb them tonight. No, now, he just needed to wait for Li Ming to come back, and then, he could move on to part two of his plan of seducing his boyfriend.