Begin Again

Chapter 03

He laid down in bed and cried. Most of it was because the burn fucking hurt like hell, but also because his husband had never yelled like that before. It scared him. What hurt the most was him calling him a girl for crying. He had no idea how we would bring up the college courses now. He decided to wait until Xuan saw the bank statements. It would be too late then to get a refund and he would have to let him finish. Eventually he fell asleep with swollen eyes and a swollen hand.

His husband came home around 7 pm. He walked into the bedroom to find Zhan fast asleep on the bed they shared. He gently sat down next to him and carefully took the small hand towel off. He took the burn cream he bought at the pharmacy on the way home and gently applied it to his hand and wrist. Zhan woke up suddenly due to the pain he felt. "Ow."

"Shh... Zhan Zhan I'm almost done. It'll make the pain go away and bring down the swelling." He put the cap back on and stood up, but Zhan held onto his hand tightly.

"Don't go...," he begged him. Xuan saw how red and swollen his eyes were and felt even guiltier. "I'm.... so..."

"Shh Zhan Zhan... don't say that. It's not your fault. I'm the one that should be sorry. I've been really stressed out especially now that we are on the next step of the surrogacy, but don't worry I talked to my boss, and he promised me that I'll be done by 6 the latest all next week." More tears began to spill from Zhan's eyes. Xuan used both his thumbs to wipe the tears from his face and then bent down to kiss each cheek. "Now get up... I brought us dinner and desert. I know it's not the type of date you wanted on a Saturday night, but..."

Zhan's eyes lit up. "It'll be perfect."

They both walked hand in hand to the living room area. From there Zhan could see a beautiful arrangement of pink, white and purple flowers wrapped in shiny purple paper and on the coffee table a charcuterie board with all his favorite fruits, nuts, cheeses, meat and wine.

"Babe! I love it," he said in tears. "I'm so sorry about how I acted all week," he went in and wrapped his arms around his husband. "I'm sorry." He kissed his cheeks over and over.

Xuan kissed him and pulled him towards the couch. He sat him down and poured a glass of his favorite red wine.

They both had an amazing weekend together after a long and exhausting week. On Sunday night they were both laying in bed naked after a few rounds of crazy sex thanks to Zhan. Zhan laid happily over Xuan's chest and with his finger gently traced the veins on Xuan's forearm.

"So when do we know if we have a baby on the way," Xuan asked as he gently caressed the back of Zhan's head of hair.

"The doctor said it takes about 2 weeks to know for sure, so hopefully the middle of next week we'll know."

Xuan gave him a chaste kiss. "A little Zhan Zhan. My little Zhan Zhan." Zhan smiled at him and snuggled closer to him.

----

The next day after Xuan left for work Zhan logged into zoom for his first class. It was a 9 am class that met twice a week on zoom. There were 50 people in the class and only about half had their cameras on. He felt very awkward with the camera on, but the professor did say he wanted the students with them on.

The professor began to call row. If the students weren't on camera they would type in the chat that they were present.

"Wang Yibo," the professor said getting to the last two names on his list. Zhan waited for the person to appear on screen or see his message in the chat, but nothing came. The professor again said, "Wang Yibo?"

WY : Here.

The message popped up in the chat. Another one without his camera Zhan thought. He counted and only 18 students had their camera on. He wanted to turn his off, but he would wait until the next class.

"Xiao Zhan," his professor finally called.

Zhan unmuted his mic and was about to say here when a loud echoing sound began to blast through the speakers. Zhan quickly muted himself and turned beet red. He tried one more time and the same thing happened again. With shaky hands he decided to type instead.

XZ : Here.

XZ: Sorry about that.

His face was really red. He could tell from the small screen that showed his face. He was even more embarrassed. He slumped down in his chair avoiding looking at himself. Then he saw that he had gotten a direct message from Wang Yibo.

WY : it helps if u use headphones. This professor is dum with tech he has his speakers really loud so anytime anyone talks that is also using speakers it makes that sound

XZ : Thank you for the suggestion.

WY : yea np

Zhan looked for his ear pods and connected them to his laptop. He felt dumb as well. He was good with computers. He basically grew up with them since he was young, but this whole Zoom thing was new for him.

For the next two hours Zhan took notes and listened to everything the professor said. There were many assignments due weekly and there would be a group project that needed to be completed by the end of the semester. 

Zhan began to think that maybe he was in over his head. It all just seemed like too much.  Last time he was in school was almost 6 years ago.  He began to bite his lip and then his nails.  

WY: y r u so nervous?

When Zhan read the message he stopped.  It freaked him out a little that Wang Yibo could tell right away how he felt, but also why was Wang Yibo staring at him and not the professor's presentation?  On the screen was the presentation the professor was going over and in the edge of the screen you could see the few cameras that were on, but they were so tiny.  How could Wang Yibo see what he was doing so clearly?

XZ :  It just seems like so much work. I don't know how I'll manage to finish it all by the end of the semester.

WY : its easy.  don't worry. i can help u. 

XZ :  Thanks!

Zhan didn't say much anymore.  He needed to be 100% focused.  Once in a while Wang Yibo would message him again either making fun of the professor or telling him that the professor was boring. It made Zhan laugh.

By the time the class finished he was already regretting it. He had a ton of homework and research that needed to be done, but it was manageable since he had nothing else to do.

Before he logged out he messaged Wang Yibo.

XZ : Thanks for helping me out. Not only about the headphones, but making the lecture a little more entertaining. See you.

He smiled into the camera and logged out.