Winter Wind (YiZhan)

1. Crash

Quiet thankfully returns.

Xiao Zhan though can still hear the boy panting, and a few seconds later, he hears something else.

Beeps from the door's keypad.

He panics, the room spinning around him until it comes to his reminder that he has long since changed his passcode. No one, not even his mother has the code to this place so there is no way this visitor will be able to get in.

Hell, even the other residents of this building are not aware of this floor's existence. Only Xiao Zhan has the special access card that allows the elevator to ride just one floor up away from the rest of the world.

Well, only him... and this boy.

Xiao Zhan hadn't bothered taking the card back because he had not imagined that this person would even want to use it again. However here they are. Almost a year later.

Just as expected, the keypad tunes out its rejection, and once again everything goes quiet.

Despondent, Xiao Zhan turns around to leave, but then a single beep sounds.

This one beep has nothing to do with the key code, but everything to do with the device that allows anyone instant access to the apartment. Xiao Zhan has two of this, and has never given either out. It is too risky to give it out.

The gears of the lock shift, and he is in disbelief.

It can't be.

The lock completely gives way and the handle is pulled down. Xiao Zhan spins around, eyes widening as a sliver of light sneaks in from the hallway.

Hide! his mind spits out a command, but he is no longer capable of taking instructions from anyone or anything. Even his own brain.

The person on the other side hesitates for a bit, and then the door is fully pulled open.

Xiao Zhan very clearly makes out the dark baseball hat, oversized camouflage jacket and dark face mask covering half of this person's face.

He freezes.

They both do.

For quite a while.

Then the boy scoffs, a corner of his mouth lifting in a way that is dispirited and disbelieving at the same time. He moves, and Xiao Zhan steps backwards.

The door is shut, and the device slipped back into the intruder's pocket.

They are both now completely shrouded by the dark, but Xiao Zhan doesn't need the light to see... and feel this person before him.

His blood, previously cold from alarm and shock, is now simmering back to life. In no time, it will be at a full boil and then he will really be screwed.

"Leave!" he rasps.

The boy scoffs again, and then his eyes glower.

He walks past Xiao Zhan without any further acknowledgment, his shoulder bumping into his and knocking him out of the way. Xiao Zhan staggers but catches himself as he watches this person head straight to his refrigerator and jerk the door open. Bottles rattle from within, and once again there is a generous spill of light in the room.

A can of beer is retrieved, then there is a slight hiss before it is lifted to soft, plush lips. Xiao Zhan watches him drink without stopping, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down his throat. When he is done, he straightens, crushes the can, and then turns to face him.

"You really weren't going to open up?" he asks.

Xiao Zhan has long given up on his ability to form any coherent response. Him and his body are just going to watch... helplessly.

"You saw what happened didn't you?"

Xiao Zhan's heart skips a beat.

"What if I had died?"

There it is- this deadly presumption again.

Xiao Zhan refuses to acknowledge it, and more than anything it makes him furious.

"What does that have to do with me?" he asks, barely recognizing his own voice. It is low and frigid and as dark as the room. "You know it's a dangerous sport but yet you chose to indulge in it. What does that have to do with me?"

Wang Yibo glares at him.

He doesn't say a word back in response, and Xiao Zhan needs him to because no one has ever been more difficult to read than the boy standing before him.

Regardless, and from the moment they met Xiao Zhan has been gnawed with the almost desperate need to understand him.

Eventually, Wang Yibo does respond, and it is simply with a smile.

Bitter and vindictive.

And what it tells Xiao Zhan is that he is done for.

He is now truly, and completely in trouble.