Li Ming gulped. "Wow. I guess he didn’t take that too well?"

Mo Fang just laughed at that. "Well, I guess he didn’t. The others did though. You bet the guy I complimented was happy with what I said. After all, even though I’m gay, it’s still telling him he’s super manly. There are a ton of guys who like hearing that type of thing.

"I mean who wouldn’t? It’s just about complimenting the right person on the right thing." He inched a little close at that, his fingers trailing the length of Li Ming’s chest. "You know, I absolutely wouldn’t mind hearing how beautiful you think I am."

Li Ming gazed at him, feeling a little unsettled. He absolutely had no problem telling Mo Fang how beautiful he was either but right now … it seemed a little strange. He gulped, trying to put on a casual smile but failing spectacularly. "You are. You definitely are." Surprisingly, his voice sounded a bit hoarse. Apparently, he couldn’t deal with that kind of gaze from Mo Fang too well.

His boyfriend just smiled and then leaned back, taking his hand back as well as if he hadn’t meant anything else with it. "Thank you. There are some things that I really can’t hear often enough. It’s not that I don’t know that I’m good-looking. I mean I’m a model for a reason. There has to be something special about my looks for me to be considered for that, right? But it’s a different thing to know and to be told by the person I like. Don’t you think so?" He blinked his eyes, somehow managing to seem a little innocent while he was clearly seducing him.

Li Ming rubbed his neck but still nodded. "Yes. If it is something said by the person we like, it feels different from when it is said by anyone else. It just feels much more impactful, doesn’t it?"

Mo Fang nodded and then moved back again. "That’s exactly what I meant. Anyway, didn’t you want to tell me a story? I’m sorry I distracted you so much."

Li Ming shook his head, not angry in the least. "It’s alright. Isn’t this so we can get to know each other better? Even if we get sidetracked, it will still serve the same purpose so I’m happy with it." He flashed him a smile before turning serious again. "Anyway, where was I?" He slightly furrowed his brows until he finally remembered. It seemed he hadn’t gotten past the introduction … "Ah, right. I was just starting to tell you when it happened. In any case, back then, it was in the summer just like now and my parents had sent me to a camp for extracurriculars."

Mo Fang was intrigued by that. "What did you do?"

"Swimming mostly. My parents always tried to balance sports and academics since I didn’t seem that gifted with music or arts at that time but that specific camp was mostly swimming."

Mo Fang raised his brows, once again interrupting the story even though Li Ming had just gotten one sentence further into it. "You weren’t good at art? I mean I guess I can understand music but I would’ve thought you were but good at art with how good of a cook you are."

Li Ming chuckled at that, secretly happy at the praise of his culinary skills. It seemed Mo Fang had been right: As long as you complimented the right person on the right thing, it would naturally make them happy. And that had to be especially true if they had tried to impress the other person with that skill before.

He needed a moment before he could curb his smile and give an explanation. "Well, I’m quite a bit older now. Growing up, I wasn’t really good at it. I was quite good at sports and I was obedient enough to do quite well in academics too but art just wasn’t really my thing. And I guess by the time I became a teenager, my parents had already stopped trying. So until the end of school, it stayed that way. And they just went with what they were sure I would be doing well in."

"I see. Anyway, what happened then?"

"Well, the day I arrived, I saw this guy and I don’t know, I guess it was love at first sight." He gave him an embarrassed smile now that he remembered it. This really was a bit awkward. Especially since he was telling it to his current boyfriend. "I hope this doesn’t count as talking about my exes or something. I know that’s not the kind of conversation you should have when you just start dating."

Mo Fang raised his brows at that and tilted his head. "No? I feel like I’ve talked about nothing but my exes the last week. I hope you didn’t mind that."

Li Ming was at a loss for words when Mo Fang mentioned that. Right. They had had conversations like this before so it would hardly have been the first time. "Ah … No. I didn’t mind at all. I just wanted to say that it doesn’t mean anything. You know, not that you’d …" He really didn’t know how to continue. He didn’t want to accuse him of getting jealous since Mo Fang hadn’t shown that he was the jealous type before. He just somehow felt awkward mentioning it. In fact, thinking about how he had talked about Su Yan before, he felt really bad. That wasn’t the type of thing somebody who had a crush on you should hear.

Mo Fang just smiled and patted Li Ming’s chest. "Don’t worry about it. I know it’s one of those Don’ts for the first couple of dates but I’m not like that. I think it’s alright to talk about exes. In any case, it’s also a big part of our life before getting together, isn’t it? As long as we’re not always comparing each other to somebody we had a relationship with before, it shouldn’t be a problem. This is just sharing details about our lives. I think that’s a nice thing to do. It just means that we can be completely honest and open with each other."

Li Ming sighed with relief when he heard that. "It’s great that you can see it that way. If you feel like I’m talking too much about it though, you can tell me. I’ll shut up about it then." He smiled and leaned closer, kissing the corner of Mo Fang’s mouth.

"Well, what about his story now? You still haven’t even told me the real beginning."

Li Ming laughed at that. "True. Looks like I’m not a good storyteller. Then, let’s get into it now. I promise I’ll tell you everything."