A bad situation can always get worse, which is what happens when the photographer says:
"Pull down his lip with your thumb, Xin laoshi."
Xin Hulei wavers in place for a moment, clearly reluctant, but finally he drags his thumb down Yao Shen's lip.
Yao Shen can feel the grooves of his thumb catching on the smooth skin of his lower lip. A part of him is screaming at him to bite Xin Hulei's thumb and draw it into his mouth.
He looks up at Xin Hulei, and finds his eyes stuck on his mouth, Xin Hulei's own lips open on breathless exhale.
He's looking at Yao Shen as if he's debating whether to push his thumb past his lips.
An ambiguous charge passes between the two of them, until it's broken by the photographer telling them to change positions.
"Now Yao laoshi please lie on the bed. Xin laoshi, put one knee up on the mattress as if you're going to climb on top of him."
