A gentle and beautiful (?) man who is gay. Interestingly, he is the young master of a rich family who disappointed his father by going into art so his father went to find an illegitimate child who turned out to also be gay. Actually hilarious. The other child seems to be the protagonist of the author's other work, and has a good relationship with our MC. MC basically was kicked out of the house by both parents after he came out to his family. MC was previously only in one other relationship with a man who was also in the art field, but found out that guy was cheating due to low self esteem and broke up with him. MC feels like a super gentle guy who is very comfortable to be friends with but isn't that easy to get close to, and we see him being pursued by multiple people though they were all s*umbags lol.

We get a bit less detail about the ML. He starts off as a pure straight guy who managed to become a successful businessman from a poor countryside guy. However, his previous relationship back when he was more down and out left him when they were about to get married to be with a rich man, and his desire for love fizzled out after that. Despite lacking appreciation for art and thus getting off to a bad start with the MC, he tends to be a truly honest and sincere guy, good at socializing and making friends.

you could tell that the MC would never try to actively seduce his straight friend, and left the initiative to the ML to pursue him. His attitude of resignation mixed with genuine love that was willing to simply be his close friend was quite heartbreaking. But then the ML also misunderstood that the MC was in love with a married straight man of their mutual acquaintance, and it was "mutual unrequited love" for a short time lol...

that he actually commited crimes by corporate theft and abducting the MC and a side character

In the extra, the MC was asked if he wanted to travel to anywhere besides Mongolia. This is their convo:

"'I've already been to all the places I wanted to go... can't think of anywhere else.'

'Take your time, ' Zhou Yanchuan continued, 'So... did you enjoy this trip?'

'Of course.'

Lu Yunchu had seen vast plains in Europe, but the grasslands in China had a different kind of majestic beauty."

What I find weird about this convo is that it reflects the absolute lack of diversity in Chinese novels as a whole. You basically only ever get to hear about Chinese protagonists that live, study, or travel to Europe or America (or perhaps in Korea, Japan or limited nearby nations) if they study and travel during the course of the book. However, this does not reflect the reality of the Chinese experience. I know for a fact that many Chinese people have immigrated to places in Latin America, to the extent that there are countless mixed race people of both Latino and Chinese descent. China has a strong business relationship with many African countries and there are actually quite a few mixed race families who have African and Chinese parents. But I've read hundreds of these types of books and never once did an author feature a mixed race character (not just main characters but also side characters) with Latino or African heritage. I find it strange that the MC Lu Yunchu had zero desire to travel to anywhere besides Europe or China. I guess many people are homebodies that dislike travel, but the impression this author gives is more like "only Europe and China have interesting places to travel to" which seems weird and even narrow minded.

The interactions and circumstances between the MC and ML felt natural, sometimes even reflective of real life. While the ML is wealthy, he isn’t the typical over-the-top CEO seen in some novels. His lifestyle remains simple, at times, I even forgot he owned a successful company.

What I loved most was the progression of their relationship: from strangers to client, enemies, acquaintances, friends, and finally lovers.