Mobei-jun was, despite his cold and confident appearance, a rather stressed man, body filled with tension most of the time. He could hardly remember when was the last time he could fully relax and not worry about anything. It was probably somewhere in his childhood until it was announced he would be the one taking over the company later on.
Everything had got stressful from there: good grade, good appearance, good relationship with people he didn't give a shit about, most of his family fake towards him, his uncle even trying multiple times to push him out of the picture, needing to deal with stressful matters and ordering people around. Never warmth and love, only distrust and anxiety that something he was doing would come back to bite him.
This is probably why as soon as he was able to get away from the main family residence he did. The calm, silence and privacy his condo could give him were exactly what he needed. This is why he wouldn't let anyone in, other than if something was wrong and he couldn't deal with it himself. Even a close friend, or as close as he would allow it, like Luo Binghe hadn't set foot in here many times. This space was his and no one was allowed, as he believed it could maybe help him relax, although it barely did, stressing matters often following him home.
Yet he had broken this promise of keeping this place private to himself rather quickly with Shang Qinghua.
There was something about the man that was reassuring, and despite his way of living more carelessly, was one of the least stressful things in his life.
The man was a writer, publishing many of his books online. It wasn't exactly the type of literature Mobei-jun would usually read, but a magazine article about his successful work had caught his eyes and he decided to look into it.
It wasn't the greatest work he had ever read, but he had kept on reading because of the notes the author would leave at the end of chapters. He ended up reading all the works the man had done, a surprisingly high amount of stories. It surprised him a bit when he realised they were helping him relax a bit more, or at least forget about work.
At first, he never left any impression, then he ended up leaving little comments here and there. At some point all he had left to read was the ongoing work of the writer, leaving him to wait for each new update. He would never admit it out loud to anyone, but it was always a small spark of joy in his stressful day to see a notification about a new update.
With this work, he ended up on the discussion forum more often, something he wasn't used to before. Talking with others was also entertaining enough sometimes, feeling a weird sense of joy when the author himself would reply to him.
His handle, NorthernKing, ended up probably as known as Peerless Cucumber, mainly due to the two often disagreeing about each other comments and critics. Some would say that, at this point, it wasn't always just a question of not agreeing, but simply needing to have the last word. But even this wasn't really stressful, he liked defending the work of an author he liked, mostly when the critics were too harsh and not true.
Then his interactions with the author ended up being more frequent, going from one or two added comments to talking in private message. He learned more about the man, when the discussions went from talking about the story to more personal, rather relieved that he wasn't too insistent on asking about Mobei-jun.
Shang Qinghua was the one to suggest they meet up since one of the conventions he was attending would be in the same city as where Mobei-jun live. He was hesitant to accept but ended up doing it, something in him really wanting to meet the man.
So they did, Shang Qinghua waiting for him in a café near the place of the convention. Mobei-jun didn't really like how busy it was, but if he could have a good time, he could power through it. He found the man sitting in a corner, hunched over a notebook, probably taking note for a later chapter?
He didn't join him immediately, ordering something for himself first, leaving him a bit more time to relax, the stress of his day still in his body, feeling stiff. While waiting he took a good look at the man, not believing how he could believe he had no charm in him. Or maybe was it just because Shang Qinghua was more his type? He was still processing the fact that he might not be as straight as he first thought he was, right now was not the time to wonder what was his taste in men.
When he finally had his coffee he walked towards the table, standing on the other side, facing the man. "Shang Qinghua?" he asked, regretting not making his presence more known when he saw him startled, making him miss in the latest character he was writing. He then saw him look up with a smile, yet when his eyes landed on him a bit better, he stopped in whatever he was going to say, looking shocked "My King?" he asked.
Then the young man blushed a deep red, seemingly not believing he had just blurted out in public the teasing nickname he had given to the man. This made the tall man smile, making him relax a little bit as he took place in the chair in front of him. "You can call me Mobei-jun," he said, finally giving out his name, pretty sure he wouldn't want to call him that all the time.
Shang Qinhua then hides his face behind his notebook, the man catching a whispered "No way" as he did so, eyes widening even more. This made him a bit unsure, some anxiety coming back in him. Maybe he wasn't what he thought and didn't like him? "The Mobei-jun, the president of BlackIce inc" he whispered loudly as if not to attract attention on them, Mobei-jun a bit surprised he knew him. Well, their company did work in the entertainment business and his name had been in more places than needed, so he supposed he might know. He hesitated before nodding, the young man still looking in awe.
"No way" he repeated again, dramatically using his notebook to fan himself, slowly going to something the man was more used to in their chatting, "How did I attract such a good-looking man?" he whispered. This did manage to make Mobei-jun smile a bit, reassured that he was maybe his type. "By being interesting and cute" he replied, making the other one blush again.
With this, they had a great evening, Shang Qinghua deciding to stay with him longer, he still had two other days of the convention if he needed, right now he wanted to stay with this tall and handsome man.
After that day, they ended up meeting more often, Mobei-jun doing the travelling more often because he could afford it a bit better than the writer. The travel time was always worth it, so he didn't mind it that much.
The first time he broke his promise of not bringing anyone home was after they went for diner in a restaurant, as they had stayed later than planned, making it hard for Shang Qinghua to go home, even more as it had started to rain. The man had seemed surprised, but still quickly accepted happily. After all, it meant more time around Mobei-jun if he did so. He probably should not have been, but he still ended up in awe at how big the man's condo was, wanting the wander around to see what was inside.
Yet he didn't, as Mobei-jun had first let the man use his shower to warm up from the rain that had suddenly hit them, leading him some clothes. When he came back to the living room, he found him sitting in his armchair near the window, looking outside while wearing his too big clothes. Something snapped in his head, quickly joining him as he kneeled down next to him. He needed to ask him something he had wanted for a certain time now.
"Would you go out with me?" he asked, something in him wanting to see this sight every day, needing to have this every day. Plus he was pretty certain the man was also feeling the same way about him, at least from all the flirting he seemed to be doing. The question seemed to have taken Shang Qinghua aback and his lack of answer suddenly made him worried.
Maybe the man wasn't feeling the same, maybe he shouldn't have assumed. He then felt warm hands cupping his cheek, making him look back up at him. "A-are you really asking me out?" he asked, Mobei-jun only nodding as he was a bit too nervous to answer. "Yes!" he nearly yelled, making the taller man clearly relax in his grip, "I can't believe someone as handsome and bright as you would ask me out" he admitted. With this Mobei-jun stole a kiss, looking happy that he was accepting him and hadn't really read any of Shang Qinghua wrong.
It wasn't really long before the man suggested he move in, having thought deeply about it. After hours of deliberation, he knew he wouldn't mind sharing his private living space with his boyfriend. After all, when he could he did stay at the young man's apartment for a couple of days and everything had gone well. Plus, it wouldn't be much of a difference as since he had asked him out Shang Qinghua had been over many times, moving in wouldn't be bad either.
Some would probably say he was rushing, but after months of flirtatious exchange via dms and another couple of months of basically going on dates, he thought it wouldn't be too bad letting him in after two months, making it easier to see each other.
But living with each other meant that Shang Qinghua would see how he was every day. He soon picked up on how much of a stress ball the man actually was, something surprising had he always had been rather fine with him. Sure, he had picked up on anxious tic the man might not know he had, but it wasn't as bad as when he was back from work, body full of tension and looking about to break down.
He tried helping him relax, which did often seem to work, but wouldn't function when work was getting too much for the man. After months of it, he ended up asking him, rather than sneakily try to relax him. At first, it only made Mobei-jun tense, as if expecting for this to be something Shang Qinghua to hate. He was quickly reassured, the writer making it clear he was going to help as best as he could, he just wanted to know what could be so stressful about work.
It was a bit hard for him to open up at first, as everything had always been so stressful in his life since he was young. And of course, he would never have been able to open up, otherwise, it would probably have been used against him, so he simply lived with it. He went over pretty much everything, feeling himself shaking a bit from opening up so much, yet the reassuring look and soothing touch of Shang Qinghua were enough to make him continue.
He helped him the best he could, as Mobei-jun seemed afraid of therapy and forcing him would probably do no good. But there was only so much he could do if the thing was about work being too stressful and always extremely demanding.
"Would you like to just give control to someone else and follow orders?" he ended up asking as he watched the man cooking, Mobei-jun turning towards him with a raised brow, not understanding where he was going. Shang Qinghua cleared his throat, looking to the side a little bit "You know, we could try something newer tonight, maybe you would like it" he said, the man still not seeing where he was going, making him blush as he finally put it more clearly "I was suggesting taking control and be the dominant one this time".
He turned back, only seeing a slightly doubtful Mobei-jun, not seeing what it had to do with his problem. It was a bit harder to explain how he may or may not have tried BDSM in the past, knowing he did enjoy it. His rambling was getting messier and messier as he tried explaining how maybe getting in a more submissive place would make him feel less stress as he wouldn't be the one who needed to think much. He was stopped in his quick and panicked rambling when he felt arms circling his waist, a kiss placed on his temple "If A-Hua wanted to try something new he could have said so, I don't mind... trying being submissive" he said, sounding a bit confused as to how he was supposed to do that.
And they went with it, Shang Qinghua making sure many times that he remembered the safe word, red, before they could start. Mobei-jun had been surprised by the shift in the man personality when he took on his dominant role, some weird feeling building inside of him. For the first time, Shang Qinghua decided not to go too hard, trying to water first to see if the man would like it.
After a couple of sessions, they both realised with surprise just how into it Mobei-jun was. There was something really good about not being the one in charge, following orders given to him, even pushed to beg once because Shang Qinghua wouldn't give him what he wanted despite his teasing. The writer would have never thought him to be such a sub, not with how he was like and act in his everyday life.
Neither of them would complain about how thing turned out, rather happy even as it pleased the both of them very much. They sat down once, creating a list of what would be hard limits, although Mobei-jun was unsure what to expect of many things, so a lot was on the 'maybe' list.
Some of their session had become a good way for him to unwind, feeling much better when they were done, Shang Qinghua cuddling close to him. There was something really good in knowing the man was trusting him this much, ready to give himself up to whatever Shang Qinghua would ask and say. Shang Qinghua hadn't exactly expected it to work, but seeing his boyfriend in a subspace just completely relaxed and stress-free was always rewarding, overjoy to be able to help him in such ways while they could both enjoy it.
They even noticed how it followed Mobei-jun around, his mood better than it was in the past, even when Shang Qinghua wasn't with him. His work experience was better, as he heard people say he look less scary and intimidating than he did before, looking more approachable too. This then led to people doing their work better, as they weren't as scared of what he would do if they didn't do it right.
Mobei-jun would have never expected that submitting to his small and fidgeting boyfriend would help, but he was glad he hadn't let the doubt stop him from trying.
He truly had done well by letting Shang Qinghua enter his life so easily. He had never felt this happy before.
I somehow imagine Mobei-jun the first time being like "Aftercare is not needed" because he tried to be tough despite having just been submissive five minutes ago and you just have Shang Qinghua having none of his "am a though guy" bullshit, insisting on aftercare, scared that his partner might just force himself to act tough once they are done. Later on, Mobei-jun enjoys the aftercare just as much, especially when it is more needed after rougher play.