All That We Held Dear - YiZhan (COMPLETED)

Arc I - Going Home - Part 1

Xiao Zhan got close to the door of his room, phone in hand. Over the few days of his stay, he'd figured out that if he stood perfectly still and got the angle just right, he could catch enough of the small hotel's wifi to send and receive messages. It wasn't ideal, but it beat sitting downstairs in the musty lobby and having the owner fawn over him. As a general rule, he didn't mind fans and was happy to interact (albeit to a point), but he was used to more decorum from the service industry. Thinking it would be the extent of the interaction, he'd made the mistake of allowing her to take a picture with him on the first day. Over the following days, a parade of relatives and friends had been waiting for him in the lobby for more pictures every night. Exhausted from long days of shooting in the sun and the heat, he surely would have been forgiven for declining, but he hated confrontations, and so he'd given in, hating himself for it a little more each time. Now that he was finally about to leave, he was afraid of what she might have in store for him. He'd resolved to stay in his room for as long as possible.

"Come on!"

He took half a step closer to the corner of the doorframe and the wall. Suddenly, two bars showed on the screen.

"Good. Good," he said, slowly sitting down on the rough carpet while doing his best to maintain the connection.

The phone suddenly emitted a burst of short buzzes as messages came in. He opened WeChat. There were four messages from his mother, which he quickly read.

Was the weather in Thailand holding up? Was he eating well? Kuai (her teacup poodle) had eaten something he shouldn't have and had been rushed to the vet. Again. When was he coming back?

He typed a short answer to all her questions lest she got angry that he was "leaving her on read" again.

A few other messages were from his manager and gave him pick-up details for his arrival in Beijing the next day. There were also some ads, one of which featured a picture of him. He deleted it. He wasn't a fan of seeing himself photoshopped. After getting all that business out of the way, he finally allowed himself to look at the messages he really wanted to see. He tapped on "DiDi."

Yibo had sent him a few messages since morning. He'd wished him a good shoot, sent him a picture of a lounging cat he'd seen on the way to work with a caption that read "That's you," and a snapshot of his lunch which, according to the message that followed, hadn't been as tasty as it had first appeared. Last came a few pictures taken while on a photoshoot for an expensive Korean perfume brand, a contract he had landed just before Xiao Zhan had left for Thailand. They'd done an excellent job with the makeup, and since these were shots of the shoot itself (no doubt taken by some member of staff,) Yibo still looked close to his natural self, albeit enhanced by the lighting. He had a serious look that made Xiao Zhan chuckle.

"So fierce," he remarked.

He zoomed in the picture to get a closer look at his face and couldn't help but feel excited that he would get to see him the next day. Their schedules hadn't aligned recently, and they hadn't been able to meet for over a month.

"Yibo," he said to the last picture, this one a candid shot of the man laughing. "I'm coming home."

The phone suddenly buzzed. It was Yibo. His heart lurched, and he couldn't help but smile at the screen as he read the message.

I hope the last day of the shoot went well. I assume you're done?

Xiao Zhan quickly replied.

All done. I'm tired. Going out for dinner with everyone tonight. Should be fun.

A reply came immediately.