Made of Stone [WenZhou]

10. Champagne

Zhou Zishu stood at the end of the buffet table, gulping one glass of champagne after the other, glaring the endless line of people queuing up to talk to his Lao Wen and get his autograph. He never thought Lao Wen would have so many 'fans' and admirers, yet the longer he stayed with him, the more he realized how big the number of people who try to approach him every day was. And Zhou Zishu was a ticking time bomb on the verge of exploding any minute.

He didn't really feel jealous before, or maybe he did and wasn't aware, but this time he was burning, the jealousy felt like molten lava on his skin and he was so close to losing it. He took another glass and tried to sip it slowly, calming himself down so he wouldn't ruin the event.

Wen Kexing had been working on this for over a year and today was the opening ceremony of his outdoor gallery. He had chosen the garden by the bridge in Hangzhou to display his work, the bridge where they supposedly met. The sculptures were all lit up with colorful outdoor lights, and Zhou Zishu somehow felt awkward to see so many incredibly accurate copies of him, but deep down he felt fortunate and proud to have someone who loved him as much as Wen Kexing did, someone who'd carve a hundred sculptures of him and display them for the whole world to see.

And then he couldn't help but still feel guilty for the times he told him to destroy his work and ripped his sketchbooks with his own hands. He hadn't forgiven himself for the pain he put Wen Kexing through despite his countless assurances that 'it doesn't matter'.

"Zishu!" Jing Beiyuan called, walking alongside Wu Xi towards Zhou Zishu, "Why are you standing here alone? We were looking for you!"

Zhou Zishu sighed, putting the champagne down, pointing at Wen Kexing. "Look at him, so popular."

Jing Beiyuan and Wu Xi glanced in the same direction and smiled at each other, "Of course, he's a great artist." Wu Xi said.

"They're all over him." Zhou Zishu said, toneless, "It's not like I'm jealous, I just think it's inappropriate to leave certain guests to talk to other guests."

"You mean, leave you to talk to other guests?" Jing Beiyuan teased.

"Look at that-" Zhou Zishu exhaled angrily as a tall, sexy blonde stood beside Wen Kexing to take a picture, "It's nice to see you here, thank you for coming, excuse me." Zhou Zishu pushed in between Jing Beiyuan and Wu Xi, storming angrily towards Wen Kexing.

"A-Xu!" Wen Kexing grinned unknowingly. "Is everything okay?"

Zhou Zishu looked at him threateningly, turning his eyes to the fake blonde. "You like taking pictures?" He asked her.

"Ahh... yes." She said, "You're the person in the sculptures? Wow, so accurate! Wenwen is such a good artist!"

"Wenwen?" Zhou Zishu shot Wen Kexing a fatal look, and if looks could kill, Wen Kexing would already be six feet under. He faked a smile and turned to the girl, pushing her away from Wen Kexing and taking her place, "since you like taking pictures, take one of me and my boyfriend."

"A-Xu..." Wen Kexing laughed nervously, "Calm down."

Zhou Zishu pulled Wen Kexing closer to him, "shut the hell up and smile for the camera. Do not annoy me."

"Yes, yes." Wen Kexing smiled and placed his arm around A-Xu, bringing his head closer to his chest, "My boyfriend is beautiful isn't he?" He said to the girl, "that's why all the sculptures look perfect."

The girl smiled uncomfortably and snapped few shots, giving Wen Kexing the phone back and strolling away quietly without a word. Zhou Zishu snatched the phone from Wen Kexing's hand, scrolling through the photos, smiling contently. "These are good..." He whispered, "Let's change our profile pictures." He looked up at Wen Kexing to see him gazing at him in an unfamiliar way. "Lao Wen?"