BL - One Night In Pingjing

The boy he met at The French Red Wine Pub who would neither spend the night with him nor give him a call.

The boy who had made him feel so cheap and worthless, he was sure he now hated him.

The boy Hua Zhendan now hated so much that he couldn"t bring himself to stop thinking about him.

The boy whose name Hua Zhendan didn"t know.

The girl sitting across from Hua Zhendan didn"t remind him of the boy because she looked like him, which he would soon find out she did, she reminded him of the boy from that night because—like that boy—her face gave him a déjà vu.

Hua Zhendan stared at the girl sitting across from him thoughtfully and noted that although she was plain-looking, she was quite pretty.

She was so pretty that describing her as "as pretty as some of his models" would not be a lacking description. Perhaps, she was even more attractive than some of them. Sc.r.a.p that. Yes, she was more beautiful than most of his female models.

Although her big bright eyes, ample red lips, and long hair were all equally alluring, what had struck him about her was her long beautiful legs which he couldn"t take his eyes off of when she had walked into his office. If he weren"t expecting her, he would"ve mistaken her for an aspiring model.

As beautiful as she was, it was quite a shame that she didn"t seem interested in modeling. Hua Zhendan could imagine her having one h.e.l.l of a career.

He played with the thought of asking her to consider modeling but quickly pushed it aside. There was no need to force it if she wasn"t interested. He could easily find another girl with these qualities anyway. If however, perhaps by a stroke of luck, Hua Zhendan saw a guy he could adequately describe as the male version of the beauty sitting across from him, he would do everything in his power to make him a star.

Hua Zhendan opened the portfolio in front of him and stared at it. He was personally interviewing her because Shen Rui had personally recommended her to him.

He knew Shen Rui was particularly hard to please, so he had been surprised when she had given him a call and recommended the girl for the recently vacant position of a makeup artist.

Flipping through the pictures in the portfolio she had handed him, Hua Zhendan was impressed. Although most of the photos looked like there were personal projects, they were all quite good, from simple makeup to complete transformative ones.

"What"s your name?" he asked her.

"Xuan Tianmei," she replied, tense.

He shut the file of the portfolio and handed it over to her. With an expressionless face that made Xuan Tianmei skeptical about her chances, Hua Zhendan said, "Welcome to Shenhua"s modeling."

Although Xuan Tianmei"s showcase was alright, her portfolio had no concrete experience she could write home about, so she been doubtful about her chances, most especially as Hua Zhendan had been extremely cold to her from start to end. Needless to say, she was surprised that he had indeed hired her.

While smiling, she clutched the file that held her portfolio to her chest, she then bowed slightly, and said, "Thank you."

Staring at Xuan Tianmei"s somewhat familiar yet unfamiliar face, Hua Zhendan"s hand lingered over the buzzer that was usually used to call the attention of his secretary.

Deciding against that, he withdrew his hand from the top of the buzzer and propped himself up from his chair. "Come with me. I"ll show you to your office."

"I have an office?" Tianmei"s big bright eyes widened in surprise as she stood up to follow him, increasing her cuteness to a heartbeat-stopping level.

As far as she knew, even models didn"t have offices, but somehow, she did.

"Of course, you do," Hua Zhendan said, feeling abused. "This job is a nine to five job. You need an office."

Xuan Tianmei nodded in understanding.

Hua Zhendan strolled along a path that led to Xuan Tianmei"s new office with her walking beside him.

Hua Zhendan continued, "Actually, makeup is a whole department here. A functional department, just like Accounting, or Marketing, or Finance."

He stopped at the front of a closed door and continued, "The only difference is you"re currently the only person in this department. The body, head, and tail. If you need something, don"t hesitate to ask."

Xuan Tianmei nodded, excited.

Hua Zhendan pointed to the door and said, "HR will have a plaque with your name put on the door within a week."

Xuan Tianmei nodded again.

As Hua Zhendan held the k.n.o.b of the door, he hesitated and said, "There"s also one more difference between your department and the others..."

Xuan Tianmei listened attentively, but Hua Zhendan was done talking. He opened the door and stepped aside to let her in. Just then, his phone rang.

He removed the cellphone from his pocket and after staring at the caller ID for a while, hesitantly picked up.

"h.e.l.lo ma?" he spoke into the phone, waved Xuan Tianmei a goodbye out of politeness, then turned to walk away.

As Xuan Tianmei watched Hua Zhendan leave, her face fell.

Hua Zhendan"s call had reminded her of how she"d gotten this interview in the first place. Through Shen Rui herself. Did she get the job because she deserved it or because of her connection with Shen Rui?

Deciding she wouldn"t dwell on her misgivings about her new job, Xuan Tianmei pushed open the door and stepped into the office. Her jaw dropped to the floor in amazement. She could now see the difference between her department and the others.

While those other departments had offices with wooden tables and office chairs, her office had a mirror on the east side of the wall with a counter underneath it. There was a black sofa to the north of the room, and a piece of furniture that looked like it couldn"t decide if it were a chair or a bed to the southwest. A bright baby pink color adorned the wall, and the floor had a soft, luxurious rug on it.

In Tianmei"s eyes, this was no office. It was a beauty parlor. And the start of a new beginning Xuan Tianyi and herself deserved.

It was the start of a new beginning, just not the one Xuan Tianmei thought it would be.