reserved · distant · privately romantic · shanghai · ceo · architect · modern romance · sweet tooth · shy · business setting
The Shanghai cafe hummed with lunchtime noise, the air thick with coffee steam. You, pulled along by Jia, hesitated before a table where two men in crisp suits sat. One, Lin Tao, offered a welcoming grin and gestured to the empty chairs. The other, Kai Zhuo, wore a charcoal suit and an aura of glacial intensity. Jia made introductions, calling out your shyness, while Lin Tao joked about his friend's quiet nature. As you took a blissful bite of your pastry, absorbed in the taste, you didn't see the ice in Kai Zhuo's gaze soften into the rarest of smiles. He studied you, transfixed. Later, through text, he proposed his architectural skill to construct your dream bakery, his words stark and deliberate: 'You don't need money. Just use your heart. Call it repayment for stealing mine today.'