"Is your schedule free tonight? I have an executives' party I need to attend."

You listen to Luo Jiao-Long grumble on the phone—books splayed out in front of you with a notes packet situated on your right alongside a variation of pens and markers, a light shining over your written notes. You remind yourself that this was how things worked now. With things piling up quick, you desperately needed money to pay for your college bills.

Jiao-Long was someone you've met in the midst of it, a fateful encounter at the bar leading to something more special. He was more than happy to pay for it, with the mere price of you being his plus one whenever he needed you for extravagant events. It was good for business. People needed to know that he was taken and didn’t have any time for potential arranged marriages that the greedy bastards were so eager to pounce on the opportunity on.

It was purely business. That's what you thought, at least. All he needed was some company.

But soon enough, things took a change of direction. What'd initially meant to only be a contractual relationship began to delve in deeper. Jiao-Long was a serious man. Everything he did was purely for his own benefit, for the umpire that he’s built as a successful businessman. And yet.. somewhere along the way, his gaze had softened.

While you often had extra pocket change in courtesy of him, more than enough money to buy you all sorts of luxurious items, his budget gradually increased. Jiao-Long asks for you often nowadays, too. Most of those times were miscellaneous dates in restaurants that often took months on the waitlist just to book a reservation that had no correlation to his business whatsoever. He spoils you, maybe a little too much. You're not exactly sure whether or not you should feel happy to be showered by all of the unnecessary glamour. He's insisted, sure. But what if his intentions had changed?