Work Text:
Hello everyone, this is Wang Yibo.
Recently, there have been many rumors and assumptions regarding my relationship with actress Xu Nian.
I’d like to take this opportunity to clarify: we are currently in a romantic relationship.
We kindly ask for your understanding and hope you will respect our privacy as we navigate this together.
Thank you, as always, for your continued support.
— YiBo
Xiao Zhan’s lungs seem to shrink inside his chest as he sees versions of the statement all over Weibo. He’s glad he’s currently sitting in the makeup chair, waiting for someone to remove his wig, because the world is spinning off-axis.
He knew this day could arrive. Could—not would.
And… Yibo’s in a relationship with a woman? They never talked about this openly, but Xiao Zhan was fairly sure he and Yibo shared the same sexual orientation. If those gazes directed at him during the filming of The Untamed and the promotions afterward weren’t desire, then what were they?
Xiao Zhan closes his eyes and leans his head back—the vibration of his phone’s incessant buzzing pressed against his thigh is the only thing grounding him to the earth. Behind his eyelids, he watches a very unwelcome movie his brain pieced together: Yibo and him laughing together, sharing inside jokes, suffering through the scorching heat. Just… being together.
Yes, he hasn’t seen Yibo in… what? Five months?
And their texting has been slowing down? Also yes.
It's just that… Yibo was always there. Ready to join an online match. Ready to mock Xiao Zhan’s newest endorsement. Ready to taste Xiao Zhan’s weird recipes. Just— Ready. Available. Accessible. Up for grabs.
Well, it seems like not anymore.
Yibo is now laughing that beautiful, childish laughter with someone else. Sharing and creating new stupid inside jokes with someone else. Probably… not suffering through sweltering heat anymore, since their fancy, spacious, modern house must be coolly air-conditioned all the time.
Xiao Zhan opens his eyes and scans the room before discreetly wiping his tears. Fuck, he thinks as his heart struggles to beat at a regular pace. He swallows once, twice, and thankfully, the makeup jiejie shows up to finally remove the wig that now feels like it weighs a thousand pounds.
He shoves his still-buzzing phone into his pocket and just wishes to be back at the hotel soon, surrounded by his familiar mess, burrowed inside a warm, comfy cocoon of fluffy blankets. Away from his phone, his laptop, WeChat, Weibo… everything—and everyone.
When Xiao Zhan is actually inside his comforter burrito, freshly bathed, the temptation to open Weibo and search for pictures of Yibo and his… girlfriend is huge. To check if they look as good together as Xiao Zhan once looked beside Yibo.
Xiao Zhan groans and rubs a hand over his face. What in the fucking fuck, he thinks, anger rising in his blood. Yibo didn’t promise him anything, Yibo didn’t wear a chastity ring for him, and in fact, Yibo didn’t even try to kiss him when Xiao Zhan was purposely drunk (and silently begging for it).
But—
Wasn’t it implied? That they had said all those untold feelings through their gazes and lingering bro-shakes. That they matched perfectly, like it was fate they were cast together as the immortal perfect couple, WangXian. That their tacit understanding was eerie for people who’d worked together for just four months.
That… they would wait for each other until the day they could be together?
Xiao Zhan falls asleep with his face tear-wet and his heart in a million pieces inside his chest. He dreams of a vast green field filled with wisterias. A sweet, floral, and slightly musky scent wraps him in an ethereal atmosphere, like he’s inside a bucolic tale. He spins and spins, and strong arms hold him in place when he stops, swaying dangerously. As soon as he relaxes into that secure grip, the arms disappear and he falls, falls, falls… into a bottomless pit of dead flowers and darkness. There’s a loud thud echoing like it wants to swallow him whole. The thud grows insistent, louder, almost deafening. Xiao Zhan wants to scream for it to stop!
Stop! Stop! Stop—
“...Ge! Zhan-ge! Are you okay?! Xiao Zhan, open the door!”
“STOP!”
Xiao Zhan jolts upright in bed, his whole body drenched in sweat, goosebumps prickling his naked skin, blanket pooled at his feet. His head pounds and drives him insane; his throat is raspy from thirst and yelling. He just wants to go back to sleep forever—
“I’m going to take this door down if you don’t open it!”
What the—
Dazed, Xiao Zhan stands and walks to the door, yanking it open. On the other side, there’s a wide-eyed Yibo, hair messy and forehead glistening with sweat.
“For fuck’s sake! Zhan-ge, what the fuck were you doing? Why didn’t you—”
Xiao Zhan hurls, bracing his arm on the doorframe, spilling the sparse contents of his stomach at Yibo’s feet.
“Ge!”
Yibo hurries forward to steady Xiao Zhan and gently wraps his arm around his weak frame. He pulls Xiao Zhan inside, helping him sit on the bed. Yibo brushes sweaty strands from Xiao Zhan’s forehead and pours a glass of water from the pitcher on the table.
After Xiao Zhan drinks the whole glass and quickly cleans up in the bathroom, he finally feels like he’s truly waking up. He sits back on the bed, and Yibo, still nervously standing, studies his face for a second before kneeling in front of him, holding Xiao Zhan’s clammy, slightly trembling hand in his.
“Zhan-ge… what happened? Are you sick, ge?”
Xiao Zhan closes his eyes and sighs, removing his hand from Yibo’s hold and grabbing the pillow to his chest. He opens his eyes and clears his throat, stiffening his posture.
“I’m fine, Yibo. What… what are you doing here?”
Shouldn’t you be with your girlfriend? goes unspoken.
Yibo rises and sits on the bed beside Xiao Zhan, keeping some distance between them. He braces his elbows on his knees and hangs his head in his hands. Xiao Zhan looks at him, confused. Why the fuck does Yibo look beaten when he’s supposed to be in a fresh, happy relationship?
“I assume you saw the… statement.” Yibo’s voice is muffled behind his hands. Before Xiao Zhan can answer, he continues. “I don’t even— I don’t know how to start.”
“…From the beginning?” Xiao Zhan coldly supplies.
He’s definitely not in the mood to indulge a youngster in love, and even less to be some kind of love counselor. If Yibo came here for relationship advice, Xiao Zhan is going to lose his—
“It’s all fake, ge. I’m not dating Xu Nian.”
Wait. What—
“Wait. What?!”
Yibo throws himself back on the bed, crossing his arms above his chest. He looks at the ceiling for a long while before letting out a shaky exhale and turning to Xiao Zhan. The bed rustles and dips as Xiao Zhan lies down next to him, turning his head to face Yibo.
They stare at each other for a couple of seconds, and Yibo tentatively drags his hand to brush their pinkies together. A faint blush creeps onto his face, but he doesn’t break eye contact. Xiao Zhan closes his eyes for a second, takes a deep breath, and hooks his pinky with Yibo’s.
When he opens his eyes again, Yibo looks back with a pained expression. He fully turns onto his side, facing Xiao Zhan but not letting go of their entangled pinkies.
“Zhan-ge. I’m— I’m so sorry. I can’t even imagine… I mean, if it were me in your place, I don’t know what I’d do.”
Yibo sneaks his hand under Xiao Zhan’s and intertwines their fingers. Xiao Zhan turns onto his side as well, the distance between their bodies now a hair’s width. He gently brushes the inside of Yibo’s wrist with his thumb.
“Yibo, I don’t understand. Why would you release a statement about a fucking fake relationship? This is huge! I’m sure all your fans are going—”
“Fuck my fans, ge. I mean it. The only person I care about is you,” Yibo says with sparkling eyes, his free hand rising to rest on Xiao Zhan’s neck.
Xiao Zhan leans into the warm touch and sighs again. “Just— please, Yibo, please… explain what the heck is going on, once and for all.”
Yibo finally breaks eye contact, bashfully looking down at their entwined hands. He tightens his grip, as if drawing strength from it to speak. Suddenly, he looks up and closes the distance between them, placing a chaste, quick kiss on Xiao Zhan’s lips.
Xiao Zhan’s eyes go impossibly wide when Yibo retreats, smiling softly.
“I love you, Zhan-ge. And I’m a fucking dumbass. First, for never telling you. And second, because I tried to tell you this so many times, ge, and I never did. I—” Yibo’s blush intensifies. “…I wrote you a ton of letters on my phone. Confessing, saying how much I love you, describing when I first fell for you, and even… uhh, some— some wet dreams I had.”
Yibo’s eyelashes flutter on his cheeks as he looks down, utterly embarrassed.
“And then… someone hacked my phone and threatened to leak all of those letters. And my manager panicked! Before I had any say, she released that fucking statement and, ge! I went batshit crazy! I thought about you reading that out of nowhere and… A-and— I had some hope that you felt the same for me before, but then… then…”
Yibo swallows down a sob, shutting his eyes tightly. “I thought it was all lost. That I had lost you forever…” he says in a quiet, shaky voice. “I sent you a fucking million texts and you never read them, ge… I was so afraid that I flew here to see you.”
He presses his forehead against Xiao Zhan’s, their breath mingling in the narrow space between their faces. Xiao Zhan places his hand on top of Yibo’s on his neck and tilts his head forward to meet Yibo’s lips.
The kiss is feather-like at first; both men afraid and cautious of the other’s reaction. As Xiao Zhan moves his lips to slot better with Yibo’s, the kiss becomes increasingly sloppy. At the first brush of tongues, Yibo rolls on top of Xiao Zhan.
Yibo devours Xiao Zhan’s mouth, who can only respond in kind to the onslaught. When they finally pause to resurface for air, Xiao Zhan tucks a strand of hair behind Yibo’s ears and looks at him with so much fondness that Yibo’s breath hitches.
“Yibo, you’re so— Fuck. I love you, Yibo. I’ve fucking loved you since… I can’t even tell anymore. I’ve been in love with you for so long, Bo-ge.”
Yibo hides his face in the haven of Xiao Zhan’s neck, inhaling the familiar scent of Xiao Zhan’s soap and something saltier that has haunted his (wet) dreams ever since their The Untamed days. He wraps his arms tightly around Xiao Zhan’s shoulders, as if he lets go, Xiao Zhan will disappear into thin air.
Xiao Zhan can feel Yibo’s wide smile on the skin of his neck, and he smiles to himself. “Aiyo~ Yibo, what a fucking mess!” He tsks and shakes his head, amusement lacing his voice. “And now what? You can’t disappoint Xu Nian.”
“She’s gay too,” Yibo mumbles into Xiao Zhan’s neck. “That’s why my manager and hers thought it was a good idea to tie us together. You know, kill two birds…”
Xiao Zhan drops his head back on the mattress and laughs out loud. “Shit! Don’t tell me she’s dating her co-star, too.”
“...”
“Fuck!” Yibo shakes with the force of Xiao Zhan’s cackling. “This is crazy…”
When Yibo finally leaves the safety of the crook of Xiao Zhan’s neck—not before pressing a wet kiss there—he rests his head on top of Xiao Zhan’s heart, caressing his sides.
“Zhan-ge, I love you so much.”
Xiao Zhan pulls Yibo against his chest, kissing the top of his head. “Hello everyone, this is Xiao Zhan…” he begins, and Yibo lightly smacks his arms. “I’m here to announce that I love a fucking brat, and now he’s stuck with me forev—”
Xiao Zhan’s final words are swallowed by Yibo’s needy, hungry mouth.
After they kiss and kiss and kiss, and make love holding each other closely, staring into each other’s eyes the whole time, they lazily lie on the bed in the afterglow.
“So…” Xiao Zhan whispers into Yibo’s ear—who is being spooned by him from behind—“How much do I need to pay this hacker to read those spicy letters?”
Xiao Zhan and Yibo’s smacking battle and loud laughter echo through the walls of the hotel room until late hours.