Second Male Lead to One, Male Lead to Another (Part 2)

326 Cutting-Edge Sweet-talk

Li Ming definitely wasn't looking for any grievous mistakes that Zhao Chen had committed. No, he just wanted to get a better feeling for how he was living because he felt that it was giving him some insight into what type of person Zhao Chen was. And after what had happened earlier today, he felt that he didn't know nearly enough about him. No, right now, they didn't know all that much about each other.

It probably wasn't a wonder considering that they hadn't gotten together that long ago. But that didn't mean that that wasn't something that he wanted to change. For him, knowing your partner well was the basis of a good relationship.

Especially after his experience with Mo Fang back then, he felt even more so. After all, only in this way could he see if there was something off or if he could really trust the other person. He probably shouldn't think like this but to him, it was still very important.

Anyway, as for Zhao Chen's kitchen, there wasn't anything noteworthy about it. There wasn't much standing outside and it wasn't like he would go through his drawers so it wasn't like he could get an accurate impression. What he did notice was that just like in the living room, Zhao Chen seemed to prefer a very ... clean look. Just thinking about having to polish all those stainless steel surfaces, Li Ming felt a headache though.

Zhao Chen was watching him closely and couldn't help but clear his throat when he felt like he had seen his brows twitch. "So, what's the verdict?"

Li Ming looked at him and then couldn't help but feel embarrassed. "Verdict? Did I seem like I was judging you for your kitchen? I'm sorry. That definitely wasn't what I was doing!"

Zhao Chen raised his brows and then shrugged his shoulders. "Well, maybe I was thinking of this wrong. I thought that you might have some kind of thoughts on this since you care about cooking from what I know.

"Anyway, we wanted to look at the ingredients, no? Come on, you have a look!" He went over to his fridge, and opened it for Li Ming, giving him a hopeful look after glancing inside. Thankfully, he had gone to buy a few things just two days ago so he wouldn't completely embarrass himself. While he surely wasn't the type to have much in there and he knew very well that there was more frozen food stored than fresh ingredients, there would be some things that Li Ming could cook with.

Li Ming glanced at Zhao Chen's expression and then chuckled to himself while crouching down to take a closer look. "Well, this doesn't look bad! I think I can make a dish or two with this." Saying so, he grabbed some of the ingredients, feeling quite at home doing this.

Zhao Chen almost heaved a sigh of relief and then motioned over to another cupboard. "I have more ingredients in there that don't need to be stored in the fridge. Maybe you'd also like to take a look at those?"

Li Ming gave a hum and nodded, waiting for Zhao Chen to close the door of the fridge while he put the ingredients down on the counter. He didn't move to open the cupboard and let his boyfriend take care of that, not wanting to seem too eager to have a look in there.

He didn't mind being the one in charge of food when it came to his relationships. In fact, when the other person didn't know what they were doing, he might prefer taking over. But they weren't at that stage in their relationship yet so he didn't want to get too much involved. No, he should better wait for a while to do that.

After Zhao Chen opened the door for him, Li Ming got everything together for two dishes and a small dessert. He didn't think that this was a bad result considering how Zhao Chen had looked before. Giving a hum, he glanced at Zhao Chen. "So, is it okay if I just whip something up for us?"

Zhao Chen raised his hands, clearly happy not to have to do it himself. "Of course! Tell me whatever else you need and I'll ... well, I'll consider getting you everything my contribution."

Li Ming nodded and then stopped being polite. "Alright, I'll need some knives first. What do you have?"

Zhao Chen looked up, hastily pulling one of the drawers open, and then giving Li Ming another worried look. He might not know much about cooking but he definitely knew that knives seemed to be something that people who liked to cook paid a lot of attention to. He had seen some very expensive knife sets around but had never invested in one. Now, he wished he had.

Glancing at his smorgasbord of mismatched knives, he gave an embarrassed cough. "They're not the best."

Li Ming just chuckled when he saw him this nervous. "If you don't cook anyway, the expensive ones would just be wasted on you. It's better to save them for the people who actually like to cook."

Zhao Chen nodded, somewhat relieved. After thinking for a moment, he leaned against the counter next to Li Ming, his fingers drumming on the surface. "I should probably get some better ones though. After all, how else am I supposed to lure you over here next time?"

Li Ming glanced at him and had to say that he actually felt a bit flattered by this. For him, cooking was a skill that he prided himself in, and having this interest acknowledged and taken seriously by his boyfriend was something that very much spoke for Zhao Chen. This guy definitely knew how to sweet-talk him.

As a result, he leaned over and pecked his cheek. "You know, I'm pretty sure you don't need a collection of professional knives for that. I'd come over as long as you asked me to."