Seeing the smile Drake had been unable to hide Adrian seemed to get annoyed, puffing up his cheeks like an angry cat and looking even cute to his eyes. "I'm trying to be serious here! You-" Adrian pauses as a strange but familiar sound interrupts him. "Are you hungry?"
Drake wanted to dig a hole and bury himself because his body had cruelly betrayed him as his stomach loudly gurgled for attention.
Adrian blinks, his temper quickly diminishing and amusement coming back. "Come on, I made myself some lunch let me go get it from my bag and we can eat outside."
"I.. I didn't bring lunch or my wallet," Drake awkwardly says. Truth be told he had ordered his personal chef to send his food to him whenever he called so it would be still freshly cooked but how could he tell Adrian that?! Instead he puts on a pitiful expression and touches his stomach, "is it okay if I have a little of yours?"
Adrian couldn't stop his heart from being moved by this handsome younger man's pitiful face. He was a poor older brother who became a model, his weak points were naturally food, children and beautiful looks. Adrian had never stood a chance. "Of course," he melts.
Little does he know, because of this Drake learnt the benefits of shamelessness.
Luckily Adrian made a sizable amount of food for himself. Generally, his lunch consists of dinner leftovers or what was left after making Maddy and Monroe's school lunches however it was the weekend and Maddy had used up all the dinner leftovers to experiment with. This meant that Adrian had the opportunity to cook and eat a whole meal tailored just for himself. As a still growing twenty years old his appetite was large. Now that he has the money to afford it, he wouldn't hold himself back.
Once they picked up Adrian's backpack, they headed to a nearby park to sit and eat. Drake stares at the box of food that was proudly unveiled by Adrian.
There were nine mini burgers placed neatly in three rows of three.
Drake: ...
Enthusiastically, Adrian describes each burger. There were two normal cheeseburgers, a double bacon cheeseburger, one with spicy mayo, jalapeños and chicken, a grilled fish burger and a vegetarian burger using eggplant steak, mushroom and feta. "The best part is that from the top you can't tell which burger is which so it's all a fun surprise," Adrian excitedly explains, rubbing his hands in his eagerness. When Jia Hyson had taken over Adrian's body not only did he pick up his skillset but also his mindset including likes and dislikes.
And it turns out Adrian really, really loved burgers.
"You only listed seven burgers," Drake counts, "what about the other two?"
Adrian grins and points at two slightly lighter buns in the box, "These are my sister's idea, they're dessert burgers. We cut the tops of some vanilla cupcakes, shoved a slice of brownie in between the cake and then spread cream cheese frosting and strawberry jam inside."
Drake raises a brow, bemused and intrigued, "Interesting idea, wouldn't it be too sweet though?"
Adrian winks, "Well I haven't tasted it altogether either so we'll both have to see won't we?"
They chat about what's it like modelling as they pick at Adrian's lunchbox. Drake finds himself enjoying himself immensely. Adrian's stories were all extremely entertaining and funny, it was like he was a natural storyteller. When the topic switched over to Drake's games, Adrian proved he was good at talking but even better at listening.
"I'm naturally not a good talker," Adrian admits truthfully when Drake comments on it, "I mean, I'm good at it but it's rather exhausting, listening is really more my thing."
"I don't mind," Drake blurts out, "I, I, you... you are nice either way."
Adrian blinks before pursing his lips in an attempt to hold back his laughter. He didn’t succeed, "Pft- ahaha, how are you so cute? You should meet my little brother, he is just as cute as you," Adrian smiles widely, dazzling the eyes.
'I can be cuter,' Drake silently thinks feeling an odd mix of flattered and discontent at the compliment. Outwardly he just smiles fondly as he takes a bite of his mini fish burger. It was very good, the succulent grilled fish and herb-lemon mayo complimented each other well and the tangy salad and buttery bun only emphasized it further. Even though his refined palate can taste that the ingredients were cheap, Drake still hums in contentment at the heartwarming taste. "This is very.. homey."
Adrian proudly accepts the praise, looking smug and happy. Drake couldn't help but wonder if Adrian would be as delicious as his cooking? He subconsciously licks his lips at the thought.
They talked and ate until only the dessert burgers were left. After both taking a bite of it, Drake and Adrian each made identical faces of disgust and laughed at each other with their mouths still full of overly sugary dessert. By the end of the the two hours, Drake could confidently say they were friends and he felt very reluctant to leave this new friend of his.
"Do you really have to go now?" Drake whines knowing he sounded like a sticky child. "I can get someone to push back your schedule?"
Adrian ruffles his hair affectionately, "I can't inconvenience your father like that, Jacob," he chuckles, thinking the teenager looked like an abandoned dog, "but hey, Uncle will be really happy if you visit the studio more so you can come over to meet me here whenever I've got a shoot. See? Two birds one stone."
Drake stiffens. He had almost forgotten Adrian didn't know who he was. "Maybe," he smiles weakly. Luckily Adrian didn't notice his visible discomfort as he was checking his phone with a frown.
"Damn, I have to go, most of the other models are already there." Adrian curses. Packing up his stuff, he turns to Drake and ruffles his hair again. "I'll see you around okay?"
"Wait!" Drake calls out as Adrian turns to leave, "Can I, I, uh, your number?"
Adrian smiles, "Your dad has my contact, get it from him later!"
"Ah..." Drake deflates a little. "Right, my father. Who's James Christopher. The photographer."
... F*ck
With Adrian gone, Drake Lanzoni's warm eyes immediately turn icy as he pulls up his phone.
He needs to make a few calls.
...
Jia Hyson spent the next four years in relative peace. His popularity as a model soared after that colour fundraising advertisement, more than he really had expected. Every magazine he was in, always had an increase in sales no matter where he was placed or which magazine it was from and job offers rolled in from almost everywhere. Both he and his little family were baffled by his sudden fame out of nowhere. Especially Jia Hyson and his system who both know very well that his modelling skill could not possibly warrant such adoration.
Little did they know, somewhere else in A country, a certain wealthy second son of the Lanzoni family had a whole floor of his apartment dedicated to Adrian Marshall's work. Stacks of magazines packed the rooms and products Adrian had advertised filled the shelves. On the walls, various posters of the gorgeous man were plastered everywhere. It was enough to make the toughened Lanzoni family bodyguards shudder every time they had to go in with their arms full of the newest magazine featuring this model. Adrian Marshall has become a special name in this powerful household that not even Samuel Lanzoni, the head of the family, would speak of lest he accidentally summons his son and is forced to endure an hour listening to what Adrian Marshall had done today.
Witnessing firsthand how far the Drake Lanzoni's unprecedented obsession went, the family could only cry. Who cares if their most promising and (previously) sensible son was gay? Let him do whatever. They had three other children to pop out babies for and at least they weren't half as crazy as this son turned out to be! QAQ
Anyway, thanks to his newfound popularity, Jia Hyson had decided to follow his favourite phrase and kill two birds with one stone by involving himself in some acting. Learning how to act better and getting acquainted with different roles will only reap him benefits in the future after all. Still, he only took a few gigs at a time, unwilling to lose his time spent with Monroe and Maddy who had become busier with their education.
Monroe had grown into a tall and mouthwateringly handsome man that Jia Hyson can't help but stare greedily at whenever he had the opportunity to and had received a scholarship for a prominent university for finance. Maddy has flowered into a sweet-faced girl with a strong will and the ability to make a custard puff so good that it could make your legs go soft. She had somehow developed a more fiery and almost delinquent-like temper than the original story but Jia Hyson wasn't too fussed about that. She was independent and strong, a good example of any main character, not to mention her boyish attitude soothed his brotherly worries somewhat as well. He even pushed her for fortnightly community self-defence lessons.
See if that f*cking scum male lead can defile her so easily now!
Bebe: I feel like host's intentions have strayed slightly.
As told by the plot, the television show, Home-cooked Miracle has become a household hit in the past two years. Jia Hyson had to admit that it was very addictive to watch and he had learnt a few new cooking tricks along the way as well. It appealed well to a wide audience, there was enough cooking to be considered educational, enough drama to get the blood boiling, interesting twists and anything too raunchy was censored for the children.
Maddy as expected loved watching it. She would remind everyone half an hour before it starts to get ready to watch it with her and then happily comment about everything while stuffing her face with her dinner. It was hard not to catch her enthusiasm and even Monroe, who was a spicy chicken when it came to cooking had slowly gotten interested over time as well.
Jacob also enjoyed the show, and more often than not Jia Hyson would exchange messages with him during the episode. While the number of times they had met during these years could be counted with one hand, they were constantly in communication. Jia Hyson found that he unexpectedly really liked the young man. How could he not? Jacob was handsome, intelligent, awkwardly cute and a little spoilt, not to mention handsome...
Bebe: 'You said handsome twice.'
Jia Hyson: 'Because he is twice as handsome as normal men, almost as good as my Monroe.'
Bebe: 'How handsome is Monroe?'
Jia Hyson: 'Three times handsome!'(。•̀ᴗ-)b✧
Bebe: ...this sibling complex idiot...
Even the usually oblivious Maddy had noticed something was up.
"Are you talking to Jacob again?" She asks with faked casualness as she dices up some vegetables while Adrian absentmindedly cooks the handmade meatballs with one hand while tapping on his phone with the other.
"Jacob sent me a gift," Adrian primly replies. Curious, Maddy leans over to sneak a peek but soon her face were full of black lines.
Isn't that just a game gift? How boring!
"Since when do you play? You don't even like games," Maddy complains, feeling a little jealous at how this newcomer was stealing her beloved big brother.
"I don't like games that require actual skill and dexterity so Jacob recommended this one to me." Jia Hyson explains with a smile, pushing his new phone toward Maddy, eager to show off, "Look, aren't my characters very cute? I only have one super rare one which is very ugly but powerful." Truth be told he only managed to pull out the super rare character from the lottery once he got impatient and asked Bebe to put all his remaining skill points into his abysmal luck. Unfortunately not only was the character ugly but its main job was a priest so his team's attack power was still embarrassingly low. As someone who believes offense is the best defense in games it was a very sad sight.
Maddy stares at the offered phone wordlessly. Is this still the same brother who nagged her and Monroe about the terrible power of gaming? That old fashioned brother who had never even played P*kemon or Mar*o? Who doesn't even use the internet that much? Was this the power of love? "En, very cute," She helplessly says before quickly moving on, "so when do we get to meet Jacob? I've already met Jenna and Uncle James."
Jia Hyson frowns slightly, his face which has become even more attractive over the years twisting in disappointment. "I don't know, he says he's very busy. Every time I ask Uncle he tells me that his son is always out working." Ever since he first met Jacob, apparently he had suddenly gotten a job opportunity of a lifetime and was whisked away to J country to work. Uncle James was overjoyed for his son. He hadn't even known that the boy had been secretly sending out job applications all this time.
Upon seeing her brother's downtrodden expression, Maddy wisely lets go of the topic and starts to chat about how Jenna had invited all her friends to model some of her new designs. Jenna mainly focuses on menswear but now that she's making a bit of a name for herself she had decided to try branch out to do more female fashion. It wasn't really Maddy's thing but she looked up to Jenna like a big sister and was excited nonetheless.
Jia Hyson, acting as a good big brother listened attentively, nodding and making noises at all the right times as he occasionally stirs the meatballs in the pan but inwardly he was still thinking about Jacob.
At the time Jia Hyson was also happy for Jacob attaining a job but now after getting to know him further, he felt a little conflicted. It had been a long time since he genuinely liked someone for more than a few months before getting tired of them. He'd even had periods of time when he had gotten sick and tired of Maddy and ignored her for several days before forcefully mentally pulling himself back into his brotherly love mindset. Monroe was more aloof and wasn't around as much so he didn't have the same problem with him but Jia Hyson was sure that if they weren't family and this wasn't a mission he probably would have slowly pushed them away in favour of more interesting things.
Jia Hyson wasn't stupid. The fact that he still actively kept in contact with Jacob for years, may not say much for others but for him, it was worth seriously considering pursuing a long term romantic relationship for.
Jia Hyson: I wonder how he would look wearing a green hat? He's so cute, do you think he would cry? Or maybe punish me and lock me up?
Bebe:
Jia Hyson: I'm okay with either but both would be best really ♡(/ω\ )
Bebe: You're the worst 凸ಠ益ಠ)凸
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