The pair sat there for some time in each other's embrace. Yibo finally stopped crying and wiped away the tears from his face; his heart was still broken as always, but it felt better than before, it felt as if a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. As he was about to say something, a hand patted his head softly, and the next few words said from his father, left him shocked and frozen.
"Yibo.. I love you, son.."
• • • • • • •
Yibo sat there, stunned, looking directly at his father in utter disbelief and shock. "What..?" He muttered softly, furrowing his brows while tilting his head slightly to the right. Before his father could say anything, a knock on the dorr was heard along with a few words said.
"Yibo..? It's me, Zhan. Can I come in?" He said from the other side of the door, as Yibo replied to him soon after. "Yeah, the door is open" Shifting to a more straight and welcoming posture, he mumbled a 'hi' to Zhan as the taller male made his way in the room. Acknowledging the presense of an elder sitting beside Yibo, Zhan bowed with a gentle smile on his face and walked over to the latter's bed.
"How've you been..?" Concern and gentleness took over his voice as he caressed Yibo's hand, softly. "Fine. Just.. had a nightmare but it's fine now" He replied, not bearing a glance to Zhan, looking down at his hands; he looked as if he was in deep thoughts and arguing with his mind.
There was a moment of silence before it was broken down by the older man, clearing his throat to drive the attention of the two boys, to himself; making both of them look in his direction. "Right so, who are you?" The older said sternly, looking at the boy sitting beside Yibo.
Zhan felt his ears turn a slight shade of pink, from embarrassment, as he felt stupid for not introducing himself earlier. "O-oh right, I..um, myself XiaoZhan, I'm 25 and I'm an-" he was cut off mid sentence as the older male spoke. "I know that. I meant who are you to my son?" He asked once again, now making his question more clear and straightforward.
That's where both of the younger boys got stuck. Who actually were they to each other? Strangers? Most definitely not. Friends? They never considered each other as friends, their hearts didn't want them to consider themselves as just friends? Lovers? Who are they joking, none of them are even sure about their feelings towards the other. So, the question arises again, who are they to each other and what is their relationship?
Mr. Wang noticed how both of the boys were silent and just looking into each other's eyes for any answer; finding none. "That'll be my cue to leave. You, Mr. Xiao, take care of him for me while I'm gone. Yibo, I'll visit you again whenever I've got the time" and with that being said, he got up from the bed and out of the room, leaving two confused and speechless boys, behind.
"Yibo..." Zhan said, tightening his grip on the Yibo's hand, making the other look at him. "You said you had a nightmare last night. What.. was it about?" He asked, looking into the older's eyes, once again. "No." Yibo stated, abruptly moving his hand out of Zhan's grip, startling the other a bit.
"H-huh? What do you mean no? I mean if you-" and once again, his sentence to cut off. "I said no, I'm not telling you. Just.. Just get out, I don't wanna see your right now" he said, looking at anywhere but in Zhan's direction. "Yibo listen I-" "I said get out!" Yibo raised his voice, making the other look ar him in confusion. Zhan didn't know what got into the older, all of the sudden, but he obliged and got out of the room, giving Yibo the space he wanted.
•
ZhuoCheng walked faster, in hopes of getting away from all the paparazzo following him along with some crazy fans. Fortunately, he made it to his company building, safely. Not paying much attention to his surroundings, he bumped into someone while walking to his practice room.
"Ow! Shit.. I- I'm sorry I wasn't looking where I was going" he said as he bowed to the stranger that he bumped into. "It's fine, don't stress it" the honey-like west voice spoke; it was gentle, soft, and held such kindness it itself. "Are you okay, though? Did it h- ... urt" he spoke but paused mid sentence as his eyes stuck to the stranger in front of him.
He was tall, handsome, had fair skin, his features were sharp yet kind, his eyes were like a pool of honey; sweet and gold, 'just like his voice', his nose was so beautifully sculpted, his lips were a pinkish-red color and looked so soft, his jaw 'omg his jaw, it could cut through metal', his black hair slicked back with an undercut, his neck and those half revealed collerbones. He wore a white button up shirt, tucked in his belt, with it's two top most buttons opened, paired with a dark blue-grey colored ripped jeans and some black Chanel shoes.
ZhuoCheng was stunned by the man in front of him, and without even knowing it, he'd been staring at the taller male for quite some time; his jaw slightly opened from the sight. He gulped down as he once again looked at the man from head to toe, more like checked him out. He was practically drooling but fortunately for him, he wasn't actually doing it, else he'd die from the embarrassment.
The taller man cleared his throat, raising his brow with a smirk on his face, as he eyed the younger and shorter male. Cheng snapped out of his trance, as his ears turned a shade of pink; both from embarrassment and the visuals of the man in front of him. "I- I.. Um.. I-I'm sorry for staring it's just that.. Uh.." He nervously scratchef the back of his neck, looking around the room to avoid eye-contact and trying to find any excuse, yet he found none.
"It's fine, it's fine" the taller man chuckled. "Myself Haikuan, Liu Haikuan" following up to his sentence, he extended out his hand with a small and sweet smile decorated on his face. "It's a pleasure meeting you.. I'm Wang ZhuoCheng but you can just call me Cheng" he said as he shook the older's hand, returning the smile.
'Wait..'
"Wait a minute.. How did you get here? Are you like, a guest or something? Why haven't I seen you before? Are you new here? Or are you here for a collaboration or something that? Wait but then how have I never seen you or heard of you in the entertainment industry before? What-"
Cheng's panicking sentences were cut off in the middle by a laugh; a very sweet and melodic laugh which felt like music to his ears. Haikuan then regained himself and put his hand on the very awestruck boy's shoulder. "Calm down, I'm not even from the entertainment industry. Your company's CEO called me to take care of all the security of the idols and the company itself" he spoke with a reassuring smile.
Seeing the relieved expression on the shorter male, Haikuan chuckled slightly and was about to leave when the younger suddenly stopped him by grabbing his arm. "Uh- Um.. If you're not in a hurry to somewhere, would you um.. Like to have lunch here? I can't really go out because of the paparazzo and I'm always alone here so it would be nice to have someone accompany me.." Cheng said, looking down at the floor, before looking back up at the taller male for some sort of answer.
Upon seeing the the other being so nervous yet polite, Haikuan smiled before agreeing to have lunch with him. Cheng's face lightened up as he lead the other male to his dorm room.
He opened the door to his dorm, with his key card, as the two figures entered the vast yet cozy dorm room. The older's eyes wandered around the room as he admired the interior; wooden polished furniture, soft carpets decorated the floor, a big black sofa set was displayed in room with a table in front of it, as a wide display smart TV hung on the wall facing the sofa set. An open kitchen was attached to the living room, and a small hallway which lead to all the other rooms; two bedrooms with attached bathrooms, a music studio and a walk-in closet room.
"Make yourself at home, I'll go make something to eat" the younger said, flashing a small smile, before heading to the kitchen and putting on his apron to start preparing for lunch. Haikuan sat down on the sofa and sunk down immediately due to the soft and comfortable material. As he was looking around the dorm, he noticed that literally all of the interior was just tones of black, white and brown, yet it still looked pleasing a nd settling to the eye.
Haikuan went on his phone to kill time but his wandered back to the beautiful boy who was cooking in the kitchen. He looked so focused yet pretty at the same time. The way his hands sliced the vegetables oh-so-delicately, the way some of his hair kept moving in front of his face, the way his long lashes went full on display when he blinked, the way his lips parted a bit when he was focused, the way his body moved when he walked from place to place; Haikuan's eyes were stuck to the boy.
At last, ZhuoCheng was done with the food and moved it to the table in front of the sofa where Haikuan was seated. As he set down the plates of spaghetti and the utensils, Haikuan noticed how delicate the younger was, with everything that he did. Haikuan smiled at his thoughts, making the younger look at him with a confused expression. "What..?" "Nothing nothing, the food looks delicious" he said, trying not to stare too much at the boy.
"Then what are you waiting for? Dig in" Cheng said with a sweet smile before they both started eating. First bite in and the older male was already shocked by the younger's cooking skills. "This is so delicious!" He exclaimed as he looked at the younger who was now blushing and mumbled a small 'thank you' to Haikuan.
As they both ate, they also engaged themselves in small talk and got to each other a little more. As soon as they dinsihed the food, Cheng took the plates and eating utensils and put them in the dishwasher, before going back to sit on the sofa and continue their conversation. They talked and talked, laughing and smiling, until Haikuan's phone screen lit up with a message.
Yibo-di:
4 messages from Yibo-di
Opening the notification, he read what Yibo had written to him, making him look at the top of his screen suddenly, to check the time; and to his dismay, he was late. Heaving a sigh, he turned off his phone and pocketed it before standing up from the sofa.
"Hey so, I just got a text from my friend and I'm actually late to somewhere.. it was fun hanging out with you, but I'm gonna get going now" Haikuan said with smile, to which Cheng nodded before taking out his phone and handing it to the older. "Put in your number, let's hang out more, you're a great person!" He flashed a bright smile, making the other look at him in awe, putting in his number in Cheng's phone.
"I'll text you later, bye! Have a safe ride, home" "Hm I will, you take care of yourself as well! Bye" They waved each other as Haikuan left the room, closing the door behind him, upon which, Cheng flopped down back on the sofa; looking at his phone and smiling to himself about all the events that happened today.
'Today was great..'
• • • • • • •
~End of Chapter 12~