[fanxing/kray/krislay] Enemies in Love (2/2)
title: Enemies in Love
pairing(s): fanxing/kray/krislay, sexing, broken!krishan, broken!leoxing, broken!sulay, broken!kaixing, hint of taohun xiuhan and lehong
length: one shot, 12.4k wc
rating: pg-15 (language, cursing, cheesy love stories between enemies lol)
genre: romance, highschool au, friendship
disclaimer: the boys belong to themselves
summary: Yifan and Yixing are enemies... or so they thought.
[part 1]
For the nth time, rain fell. And for the nth time as well, Yixing forgot to bring his umbrella. He looked outside with heavy sigh. He was thinking to stay at the library after the class ended and maybe that was the best idea. But when he checked his locker, he found an umbrella, purple colored, and a photo of him watching the rain through the library’s window was attached with it. And as expected, there was a typed letter behind it.
Please accept my little gift for you.
It might be fun watching you watch over the pouring rain through the window, but rather than waiting for the rain to stop, it will be better if you fight the rain, together with this umbrella.
I mean, I hope you can fight for your goals although many things blocking your way rather than waiting for everything to settle by itself. But don’t worry, I’ll always shield you from any disturbances.
Take care of yourself on your way home, my star.
The weather was surely cold but Yixing didn’t even know why he felt warm inside after reading the letter. Whoever the sender was, he felt thankful and wished them happiness. He put on his jacket and made sure it was warm enough for him to fight the rain under the umbrella.
-
A week after that, Sehun asked Yixing to see him at the library after school. He wanted to ask about how to write official letters. Yixing was the secretary of the student council so of course he knew. When he came to the library, Sehun had been there, waiting for Yixing. He was doing something with his laptop, maybe playing games. He smiled when Yixing nudged his cheek.
“Senior Zhang,” he greeted as Yixing took a seat beside his. “I’m sorry to bother you but I really need your help.”
“I know I know, leave it to me. So, let’s start?” Yixing suggested.
Soon, they were busy with their small discussion. Yixing taught Sehun to write official letters and Sehun paid attention to his senior. Both his explanation and his face. After all, Sehun was a clever student (whom later Yixing found out he also joined acceleration program in the middle school) so he could easily absorbed Yixing’s words although he divided his attention to two things.
Then Sehun excused himself to the toilet, leaving Yixing with the laptop. Feeling bored, Yixing decided to play games-or maybe, watching folders of pictures would be fun. So, he began clicking the folders he assumed where the pictures were kept. He found so many folders in Local Disk D, and they were arranged by date. The oldest folder was created almost three years ago. He wondered what a middle school student did with a laptop.
Yixing almost choked on his saliva when the folder was opened.
Scanning the folder’s content, he jumped to another folder. And another one. Again.
All the folders’ contents were the photos of him.
Him, Zhang Yixing.
And the photos were somehow familiar… wait…
Wait a minute…
…
Yixing gasped.
They were the photos he got from his shoes locker. Undoubtedly, they were.
So it was Sehun? But wait, the folder was created almost three years ago. Sehun was still in the middle school, so there’s no way Sehun had known Yixing back then. Then who? Who was the one that always sent his photos and wrote him typed letters?
When Sehun came back from the toilet, Yixing furiously stood up and abruptly asked, “Sehunnie, whose laptop is it?”
Sehun, being suddenly asked like that, raised his eyebrows. “It’s… Yifan ge’s laptop. I borrowed it from him because I haven’t bought my own-Senior Zhang?”
Right after Sehun mentioned Yifan’s name, Yixing gripped his backpack and left the library. Even Sehun didn’t have any time to stop Yixing from leaving.
Yifan???
-
Since that day, Yixing kept his eyes on Yifan. He tried so hard not to be so visible in spying that giant. He even spent the whole month to spy on him, and after that he realized that Yifan liked to excuse himself to the washroom whenever the class was still on. Not every day, but at least once a week. Or twice. And the day Yixing noticed that Yifan went to the washroom, he was sure he would find another photo inside his locker. And he just kept it a secret because every time he wanted to tell Yifan that he knew, Yifan would always insult him before he even got the chance to say a single word.
Seriously, Yixing didn’t understand Yifan’s way of thinking. His big question was if Yifan really loves me and calls me his star, then what’s his reason to keep being an enemy to me for almost three years? And sure, none could answer it.
Suddenly, Yixing felt really bad for Lu Han. The best friend of his was his enemy-slash-secret admirer’s ex-boyfriend. If Yifan had been doing this for almost three years, which meant that Yifan-Lu Han’s dating period was included, then at the same time, Yifan loved two persons?
Ouch. He always thought that Yifan was the complete jerk, now it changed.
So when the time came, he bravely asked Lu Han about that. They were having lunch at the cafeteria and Yixing thought Lu Han would be fine if he talked about that. Moreover, Lu Han had told him that he was dating someone from another high school named Kim Minseok.
“Lu Han,” Yixing called. “Um… may I ask something? If you feel offended with my question you have the choice to ignore it, though.”
Lu Han was still munching his snack so he just nodded as if telling Yixing to go on.
Yixing bit his lower lip before continuing, “When you were still with Yifan… were… were you guys alright? I mean, was your relationship fine without any problems?”
His best friend stopped munching for a while just to stare at Yixing.
“Again, if you feel offended you can ignore my question-”
“Why are you asking, may I know?” Lu Han cut off.
Yixing let out his shaky breath that didn’t go unnoticed by Lu Han. He smiled, putting his snack down on the table and leaned his chin on his palm and be ready to listen to Yixing’s explanation. Lu Han’s smile was somehow teasing and Yixing gulped. He wasn’t ready for this.
“You know… err… when I was with Taekwoon, he had this sort of crush on Hongbin. I knew he liked Hongbin but I was too selfish to let them unite, though in the end we broke up. I mean, although I knew that Taekwoon had a crush on Hongbin when we were together, we were okay and nothing went wrong between us. So… I wonder if your relationship with Yifan was also like that or maybe you have another story about that?”
At first, Lu Han stayed quiet but then he laughed loudly. Yixing was glad that the cafeteria was crowded so they wouldn’t be too bothered with Lu Han’s ridiculous laughter. By ridiculous he meant opening his mouth widely that Yixing was afraid if Lu Han’s jaw might break.
“I have been waiting for this day, Yixing. You would never believe me, even. But please believe me when I tell you I knew it would be happening. And it is!” he said happily while squeezing Yixing’s cheeks.
“You have predicted that the reason of my break-up with Taekwoon is Hongbin or?” Yixing asked for confirmation.
Lu Han flicked Yixing’s forehead. “Moron, I mean I knew you will finally realize something in Yifan!”
A pause. “What do you mean…?”
Lu Han needed a moment to control himself after laughing out loud and when he finally regained consciousness he started talking. “This is why I told you the other day that you’re too blind and deaf to see beyond everything you’ve seen. You’re very clever I admit but completely dumb when it comes to this matter. Yixing, my bunny, Yifan was a good boyfriend but he definitely not the best one because he had a major crush on a certain someone when he had me as his boyfriend. I knew about it since day one I met him so it was somehow bearable to date him. Not that he didn’t take care of me greatly, in fact he did, but as a person who once loved him of course I knew. He still loves this person until now. It’s just very pity that the person is really dumb to realize.”
Yixing’s brilliant brain now had a hard time to digest everything Lu Han said. He stared at Lu Han with the blank stare as if telling Lu Han that he didn’t really get what he said.
“Seriously Yixing? You’re still clueless about this?” Lu Han slapped his own forehead. “Alright, I think it’s useless to play code with you. I can only tell you the whole big problem but if you wanna seek the details please just ask Yifan and have a heart-to-heart talk with him, okay? He actually loves you, has been in love with you since you guys were in middle school.”
The dimpled guy blinked. “What?”
“No re-run show, mate,” Lu Han scoffed.
“Wait, Yifan loves me? He has been in love with me since middle school? But he’s been always cruel to me!” Yixing complained.
“About that, actually… only Yifan can explain. Why don’t you arrange some confrontation and settle the right time to have a heart-to-heart talk with him?”
Yixing bit his lower lip. Talking to Yifan was something he never thought to happen. All they did to each other was just bickering and insulting, sometimes making noise in classroom or cafeteria or maybe corridor. Yixing needed the truth and clear explanation but it was only Yifan who could give him that, so the question is can they really talk?
And Lu Han, wow, as Yifan’s ex-boyfriend he was really casual in telling Yixing that Yifan was actually in love with the dimpled guy. Maybe he really had moved on.
“Lu, were you okay?” Yixing asked. “I mean… you knew he’s in love with me yet you still accepted him as your boyfriend. If I were you, I would have punched and slapped you. I would have been really angry. But you’re still here, having a lunch with me, still saying that I’m your best friend. You know, I feel like I’m the jerk… I don’t know if I have the right to ask you an apology, but I don’t wanna lose my best friend as well…”
Lu Han smiled before gathering Yixing in his embrace. They stayed like that for five seconds and Lu Han eventually let go of Yixing. Still wearing that smile, Lu Han poked Yixing’s deep hole on his right cheek.
“Of course at times I felt like punching you in the face for two reasons; the first one is because Yifan is still in love with you and the last one is because you’re really, really dumb to read the signs. If you want to know, even a blind man can see the affection behind Yifan’s death glare towards you. A deaf man can hear the caring tone behind his insults. But you, with your brilliant brain, you don’t even know. Now that you know, I hope you can talk to Yifan about that. I believe Kevin and Chanyeol are bored to death too watching you and Yifan being eternal enemies. Don’t be too late.”
Yixing stared at Lu Han with regret and guilt. He blamed himself for being so blunt. He took a mental note to consume supplement for brain everyday from that time on.
“Actually Lu Han, you can slap me now, for everything I’ve done to you. Don’t punch me because my family would have an idea about me being rebel in school-”
SLAP!
Before Yixing could finish his sentence, Lu Han had slapped him on his cheek. It hurt, but he deserved to get that. All the attention was aimed to those best buddies after hearing the loud slap.
But later, Lu Han and Yixing laughed together because they knew they were still okay, they will always be okay. You know bros before hoes, don’t you?
-
Graduation day finally came. Jongdae, as the student’s president, represented the juniors to give the farewell speech. That day, the headmaster also announced that Yixing got the first rank, Yifan got the second (but their scores’ gap was as thin as string) and Lu Han got the third. Yixing stared at Yifan just to find that the latter was also watching him. Thinking about Yifan’s crush on him made Yixing looked away and blushed. Crap, that was the first time he blushed because of Yifan.
He headed to his locker when the graduation was over. As usual, he found letters that wishing him to enroll to his dream university, wishing him health, also saying that they would be really sad when Yixing final left the high school.
He also found a bird origami. His instinct was to open it because he thought he would find a letter inside. And he wasn’t wrong.
A typed letter said:
Fly.
Open up the part of you that wants to hide away.
You can shine!
Forget about the reasons why you can’t in life and start to try.
‘Cause it’s your time to fly.
Yixing chuckled because the sender-that he highly assumed it was Yifan-actually sent him Hilary Duff’s song. He never knew that Yifan could be so cheesy. To be honest, it was cute. I mean, the tall, snarky, intimidating Wu Yifan had this unexpected side. Yixing couldn’t help but to think that it was really cute.
“Senior Zhang,” a voice broke his train of thoughts. Yixing turned around to see the smiling Sehun. “Congratulations on your graduation and also the first rank you got.”
Yixing smiled. “Thanks, Sehun.”
“Actually, I have something to tell you. Will you hear me out?”
The best graduate nodded.
“Maybe you already know that I’ve been trying so hard to get closer to you, because the way I flirt is really obvious. Also, maybe you also know it already that I like you. And yes, I really like you that I want to make you mine,” he said, “but…”
“But…?”
“But then I found someone in my student council squad very nice… and I feel so comfortable around him. He has this intimidating look like Yifan ge’s, but actually he’s very cute,” Sehun smiled shyly. “I don’t know if you were expecting me to confess to you and if you were then I’m sorry that I think maybe we could only be good friends. I know it’s my fault to have two crushes at the same time but I’m still young and reckless. I also saw no sign of you to accept my love since the beginning, maybe you still want to be alone or you’re actually waiting for someone. Or maybe you found me not in your standard…”
Yixing blinked when Sehun was saying the two last sentences. That wasn’t true; come on, Yixing actually was about to consider him once… but realizing that Sehun is Yifan’s cousin…
“So Senior Zhang, I’ll try to stop loving you and I wish you happiness with someone you’ve been waiting for. Oh and,” Sehun mumbled, “I hope you can consider my cousin, too.”
Yixing’s blush was too red to hear Sehun’s laughter and when he came back to his sense he saw Sehun walking hand in hand with a tall boy. He was holding a wushu stick. Yixing smiled after realizing that the tall boy was Huang Zitao, captain of the wushu club.
He wished nothing but the best for the new couple.
-
The prom night was held two days after the graduation day, in a hotel. The previous student council squad was the event organizer for the prom night, so it included Yixing as well. They understood that not all of the graduates had lovers (which is a sad fact) so they made the prom night couple-free. The rules clearly stated that if they really wanted to come with their couple, then they could only bring along their couples from the same school and same year (if they had though), otherwise, they wouldn’t be allowed to come. So, the event was really about their high school.
Yixing wandered around and just enjoyed the prom by himself. He wasn’t that type to attend parties so while everyone was enjoying the loud music, he inwardly slipped his earphones into his ears and sneaked his way out of the ball room.
He made his way towards the yard and he was surprised to see Wu Yifan stood by the pool, which was near the yard. He was wearing grey suit, grey trousers and black shirt. His hair was short and black and really nice, Yixing must admit. Yixing wanted to just walk towards the yard but something stopped him from doing so. He realized that it was the last chance for him to have a talk with Yifan, but he couldn’t move from his spot.
Only when Yifan noticed his presence, Yixing flashed out his smile. Yifan stared at Yixing as the latter came closer to stand beside him. They stayed in silence for a few minutes but Yixing could feel that Yifan’s stare never broke even once.
“Not a party animal I see,” Yixing awkwardly broke the ice.
Yifan hummed. “You too.”
Again, they didn’t speak for minutes. Yixing was hesitant whether to ask Yifan about those photos and letters. If he didn’t then when would the chance come again? If he did then what would Yifan say?
“Yifan… um… I… want to talk about… the photos,” Yixing found himself saying.
Yifan sharpened his gaze at Yixing.
“I mean… if you weren’t the one who slipped them into my shoes locker then I’ll just go-”
“Finally you realize it,” Yifan said, cutting Yixing’s words off. “Yes, I’m the one who has been slipping them since our freshmen year.”
Yixing didn’t expect Yifan to admit that easily. And, ‘finally you realize it’? Was he that dull?
“Do you find it creepy? I’m your number one enemy, aren’t I?”
For the first time in his life, Yixing heard the softness in Yifan’s voice. He was used to hear his yelling and now he talked to him in a very soft tone. His voice was actually deep so it sounded so manly yet gentle in his ears (he had taken off his earphones). Yixing was glad to get this chance and he really hoped that the precious moment wouldn’t end so soon.
“Honestly speaking, I like your supportive messages,” Yixing answered with smile. “Whenever I’m down I like to re-read the letters you gave me behind those photos. They never fail to encourage and cheer me up so I can immediately stand on my feet again. And I thank you, by all means, thank you very much for always taking care of me from afar… yet so close,” he chuckled a bit. “Also, I’m sorry to realize it so late because you know… your behavior towards me is just…”
Yifan laughed and Yixing just realized that he fell in love with the giant’s laughter. It sounded better than his, to be honest. Another reason was that he finally could see the sincere laughter from Yifan. He really liked it.
“Do you want to know why I act harsh to you all this time?” Yifan offered.
“Sure. I want to know whether it’s your problem or mine.”
“Most likely it’s yours,” Yifan smiled-and Yixing fell in love with his gummy smile too. “I believe you remember that we used to be good friends although we weren’t that close like you and Lu Han, right? Yeah, but then you were so engrossed with your study as a student from acceleration program. You started to abandon me and at first I thought it was because acceleration program really took the most of your time, but then you dated Kim Jongin. I was really mad, too mad to realize that I was actually jealous. I thought I was mad because you abandoned me as friend but you could date someone else, but actually I was mad because Jongin could date you. Then I realized that I started liking you. I tried to find the way to steal your attention by studying hard, and somehow I made it. You started to get annoyed with my presence as the first rank in the middle school, but it wasn’t really enough to get you talking to me. So yeah, I thought… by insulting you… you could talk to me.”
Yixing snorted. “You did it. I talked to you again in different way.”
“At least I got your attention.”
“What a freak…?” Yixing frowned. “The attention I gave you was hate!”
Yifan shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what kind of attention you give me; you paid attention to me in the end and that was enough. But soon after that we were too engrossed with this enemies-relationship we have so I also had hard times to end it. Even after we enrolled to the high school we still mocked each other and honestly, I enjoy it every time you get mad at me. Your face is always fun to watch. I tried so hard not to chuckle, for your information.”
Yixing really started to think that Yifan was freak.
“And because my crush on you developed into something people usually call ‘love’, and there was no way for me to confess to you regarding our bad relationship, I got the idea to send you letters at first but I didn’t know whether it would work since you always got your secret admirer’s letters. So I thought about making my letters to you more special, that’s why I ended up sending you your photos with typed letters behind them so you won’t recognize whose letters they were. You can say I inwardly take care of you through the letters while I could continue to being your number one enemy everyday.”
The shorter guy let out a small chuckle. “Bastard,” he mumbled softly.
Yifan grinned. “I know.”
“But still you’re a coward for only sending me letters. If only you were brave enough to get closer to me…”
“I’m not Sehun who recklessly made his way to get closer to you,” Yifan said. “I admit I was jealous with his courage to get you. I was really afraid that you might accept him as your boyfriend, that’s why I…”
Yixing raised an eyebrow. “You what?”
Yifan scratched his own nape as if what he was gonna say would make Yixing angry. “I introduced Huang Zitao to him. I’m glad it works.”
The shorter male choked on his saliva. “WHAT? YOU BASTARD! SO THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS JUST SCENARIO???”
“At first yes but after Tao met him for the first time he had this… love at the first sight? Wait, you didn’t consider Sehun to be your boyfriend did you?”
“No but-” Yixing sighed heavily. “WU YIFAN THAT’S NOT COOL OKAY THAT’S CHEATING! IF YOU’RE REALLY A MAN THEN COMPETE FAIRLY!”
Yifan looked down like a child just got scolded by his mother for his mistakes. “I… I’m sorry.”
Yixing slapped Yifan’s forearm in exasperation. “Seriously, you… Do you know that you hurt Lu Han too?”
The taller guy nodded hesitantly.
“How are you gonna explain about that to me?” Yixing challenged. “Lu Han is my best friend and if anyone dares to hurt him, I swear they won’t be able to escape from me and my unbeatable punch.”
Yifan still looked at his feet. After five minutes of waiting, finally Yixing heard his voice again.
“I know it was my fault,” Yifan started. “You started dating Jung Taekwoon and it hurt me as well. I thought after you broke up with Junmyeon you would stop dating to focus on your finals preparation but I was wrong. That time Lu Han was sending positive signal to me and because I saw no hopes in you, I accepted Lu Han’s signal and you know we dated after that. But I just couldn’t stop thinking about you… maybe that was when Lu Han found it a cue for him to break up with me. Also, the fact that Taekwoon left you for Hongbin made me angry but if I confronted to Taekwoon about it, he would be curious, don’t you think?”
Yixing shook his head furiously. “No, you’re wrong. I’m the one who left Taekwoon. I knew he liked Hongbin for God knows how long. So rather than being selfish, I just let them to unite. Just like Lu Han did to you. I guess.”
Yifan eventually smiled. “Hongbin accepted Taekwoon, so will you accept me too?”
For the nth time, Yixing snorted. “I kinda miss the cocky bastard Wu Yifan who always fights with me over something stupid and silly, not this cheesy one.”
Yifan laughed out loud while Yixing had his time thinking what’s so funny with his words. He was glad that none was around so Yifan’s ridiculous laughter wouldn’t be heard.
“Then do you love me, Yixing?”
Yifan’s question caught him off guard. He stared at Yifan for a few seconds before engaged his sight to the pool. Love? Of course he had experienced in loving someone, but loving an enemy was never in his mind even for a second. He thought about others’ reaction when they know he dated his enemy-did he say ‘when’? Oh God, he must be crazy.
“I don’t know… this is still new to me. I mean I used to see you as my enemy in school and now you confess to me… it’s not easy to change the hate into love, okay?”
“Then how about this?”
Suddenly, Yixing felt two strong grips around his shoulder and before he knew it, a pair of soft substance crashed his moist lips. That was the first time his brain worked so slowly, and only when the pair of soft substance released themselves, he realized that they were Yifan’s lips.
“What…”
“I hope the kiss helps you to think, and I hope I could get a positive answer tomorrow morning. You have less than twelve hours to answer me,” Yifan said.
Yixing didn’t understand. “Why tomorrow? What’s so special about tomorrow? I can’t think that fast!”
Yifan smiled weakly while he caressed Yixing’s cheek, which Yixing found it so nice and comfortable.
“Tomorrow morning I’m going to Canada to continue my study there,” he said.
The younger male blinked. “Canada…?”
The giant nodded. “If you come to the airport tomorrow and tell me to stay, I’ll stay. If you don’t, then I’ll leave right away. The choice is yours. As much as I want you to ask me not to leave, I can’t and I won’t force you to do that.”
Yixing bit his lower lip and Yifan chuckled seeing that.
“I hope you realize that you have that habit to bit your lower lip whenever you think really hard of something,” he said, poking Yixing’s lower lips.
Yixing scoffed. “Don’t tease me,” he retorted. “I… I’ll just go home.”
“I’ll take you home, then. I’m bringing my dad’s car.”
“No, you don’t need to-” and suddenly, a sound of thunder greeted their ears. “-I guess you need to.”
Yifan smiled. Actually a sincere smile which Yixing forgot. He once saw that when they were in middle school, and since it had been almost five years he kinda forgot that. Usually Yifan threw smirk on him and he was used to that. But now, although Yifan looked funny with that gummy smile, he thought that maybe he liked it. Probably. Even when the tall guy took him by the hand to the car, when they headed to Yixing’s house, he never let go of that smile. Yixing wondered if his cheeks hurt.
And to think that Yifan was leaving made his heart ache. He didn’t even know what magic Yifan had spelled on him so he liked the idea of Yifan staying. But Yifan said that he was leaving for Canada to continue his study there, didn’t he?
Seriously, it was much easier to reject an acceleration program that was offered to him than to decide whether to let Yifan go… or stay.
“Have a nice dream and sleep tight,” Yifan said when they had arrived in front of Yixing’s house. Because the rain began to fall, Yifan walked Yixing to the front door of his house with the familiar umbrella.
“Do you really think I’ll have nice dream and tight sleep after you gave me choices?” Yixing retorted. “Well, you too.”
Yifan smiled. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
(Yixing kinda hoped that Yifan would grip his wrist to stop him and just kiss him but that didn’t happen.)
-
In fact, Yixing couldn’t sleep and he believed anyone else who was given hard choices wouldn’t be able to sleep well. He rolled here and there only to get his heartbeat to increase. He constantly looked at the clock and his stomach crumbled. The fact that Yifan might or might not leave made him uneasy. And it’s funny to think that he suddenly thought about Yifan.
He took out the box inside his closet and he opened it when he was back to his bed. It was the box where he kept the letters from his secret admirers, including Yifan’s. He kinda regretted why he didn’t place Yifan’s photo-letters in separate box but he surely placed them on the side so it was still easy for him to take them out from the box.
Yixing smiled as he looked at those photos again. When he said that the letters could encourage and cheer him up, he wasn’t lying. At times he felt so down, like when he got bad score (Yifan used it as jokes and they fought again afterwards) or when his parents were against Yixing’s idea to enroll into an art college, but then a photo-letter eased the pains and worries away. Rather than saying about how much Yifan admired him, the giant opted to encourage him to do something for his own good. Still remember when he gave the umbrella? He wasn’t only giving an umbrella to shield Yixing from the rain; he also encouraged him to fight for his sake although so many things blocking his way to get his goal. And don’t forget that Yifan said he would always shield Yixing from any disturbances. That time when he hadn’t known it was Yifan, he thought about how the sender would do that to him but now he wondered how Yifan would do that if he really left.
Somehow, he had decided but he wasn’t so sure it would be the best choice.
Yixing took out Yifan’s last letter, the bird origami one, from his purple backpack and re-read the typed letter again and again to make sure that his decision wouldn’t suck him up in the future.
He closed his eyes and let out his breath. He was ready to give Yifan his answer and smiled brightly in his sleep.
-
Yifan still stood by the entrance gate, spreading his gaze around to see if Yixing had come. His flight would be really soon and he started to think that maybe Yixing’s answer was a no. But he’s not Wu Yifan if he immediately gives up.
His parents were already in their offices while Sehun was on a trip with his student council squad, so only Chanyeol and Kevin were there for him. They had been told about the choices he gave to Yixing and they wanted to see if Yixing came or not.
“He’s not coming, buddy,” Kevin said in English. “Maybe it’s his answer: no.”
“Saying no is actually better than oversleeping…”
Yifan and Kevin stared at Chanyeol while the latter gave them a ‘what, did I say something wrong?’ but actually Yifan thought it was most logic probability. He still had this confidence with Yixing’s answer. He was almost sure that Yixing would come and tell him to stay.
His deduction was getting stronger after he saw Yixing walking towards him.
And he was ready to stay.
“No,” Yixing pushed Yifan slightly by the chest when the latter was about to welcome Yixing in his embrace. He stared at Yifan who also stared back at him, and eventually he smiled. “I come here to tell you my answer. I have to tell you directly or I’ll regret it. Promise me to hear me out, carefully?”
Yifan was hesitant at first but in the end he nodded.
Yixing inhaled a big amount of air before talking.
“You said that you’ll stay if I come here and will leave if I don’t, right,” he said and he got a nod from Yifan as the answer. “Yifan, you have to know that I have no right to tell you whether to stay or leave, and I also have no right to block your way towards your dreams. If going to Canada is the best for you, then go for it! Find what you’ve been looking for and grow up well. I’ll always wait for you to come back here.”
“But Yixing… it will take years for me to come back again,” Yifan complained.
Yixing shook his head; smile didn’t leave his lips. He took Yifan’s hand and intertwined with his. He stared at Yifan dreamily and Yifan fell in love again. Yixing was still the same with the one he remembered since in middle school. The one who made him fall in love for the first time.
“I know, and you still have a plenty of time to ensure yourself whether it’s really me you ever wanted. Same with me, too. Take it as a marathon competition where you have to run so far, and when you almost arrive at the finish, there will be me who smiles at you. If we trust each other, we will really reach the finish together. For now, you’ve already got me. We might be in long distance relationship after this but we live in 21th century, don’t we?” Yixing said with that wide smile, exhibiting his deep dimple on his right cheek.
The smile Yixing flashed affected Yifan. He smiled weakly while caressing Yixing’s cheek.
“I understand,” he said with nod.
“Good,” Yixing rubbed Yifan’s hand with his thumb. “I believe your flight will take off soon, now hurry!”
Yifan gathered Yixing in his embrace and he could inhale the creamy scent from the younger male. He had never held Yixing this close so he just found out that the one he loved actually had that addictive creamy scent. He wondered what soap Yixing usually used, or how many times in a day Yixing usually bathed. His hair’s scent was like apple shampoo and Yifan found it cute that a guy used apple shampoo. Or he found it cute because it was Yixing. If it was another person, he might or might not think the same.
Ah, it didn’t matter at all. All that mattered was that his love wasn’t an unrequited one.
Yifan kissed Yixing’s forehead for ten seconds (Yixing counted it) before letting go and ruffling the dimpled guy’s jet black hair. He really loved his hair because it looked good on him.
“Good luck, Yifan. I love you.”
Oh how Yifan wanted to tear up hearing those three sacred words from Yixing’s moist lips. He pecked Yixing’s corner of the lips and whispered softly, “I love you more than I should.”
“Oh my God, can you guys not abandon us…” a deep voice coming from Chanyeol broke the romantic scene between Yifan and Yixing. “I kinda miss the moment where you guys always fight and shout to each other…”
“Yeah I think them fighting is better than being all disgustingly lovey-dovey like this, eww,” Kevin added.
Yifan and Yixing blushed but eventually they laughed.
=end=
pairing(s): fanxing/kray/krislay, sexing, broken!krishan, broken!leoxing, broken!sulay, broken!kaixing, hint of taohun xiuhan and lehong
length: one shot, 12.4k wc
rating: pg-15 (language, cursing, cheesy love stories between enemies lol)
genre: romance, highschool au, friendship
disclaimer: the boys belong to themselves
summary: Yifan and Yixing are enemies... or so they thought.
[part 1]
For the nth time, rain fell. And for the nth time as well, Yixing forgot to bring his umbrella. He looked outside with heavy sigh. He was thinking to stay at the library after the class ended and maybe that was the best idea. But when he checked his locker, he found an umbrella, purple colored, and a photo of him watching the rain through the library’s window was attached with it. And as expected, there was a typed letter behind it.
Please accept my little gift for you.
It might be fun watching you watch over the pouring rain through the window, but rather than waiting for the rain to stop, it will be better if you fight the rain, together with this umbrella.
I mean, I hope you can fight for your goals although many things blocking your way rather than waiting for everything to settle by itself. But don’t worry, I’ll always shield you from any disturbances.
Take care of yourself on your way home, my star.
The weather was surely cold but Yixing didn’t even know why he felt warm inside after reading the letter. Whoever the sender was, he felt thankful and wished them happiness. He put on his jacket and made sure it was warm enough for him to fight the rain under the umbrella.
-
A week after that, Sehun asked Yixing to see him at the library after school. He wanted to ask about how to write official letters. Yixing was the secretary of the student council so of course he knew. When he came to the library, Sehun had been there, waiting for Yixing. He was doing something with his laptop, maybe playing games. He smiled when Yixing nudged his cheek.
“Senior Zhang,” he greeted as Yixing took a seat beside his. “I’m sorry to bother you but I really need your help.”
“I know I know, leave it to me. So, let’s start?” Yixing suggested.
Soon, they were busy with their small discussion. Yixing taught Sehun to write official letters and Sehun paid attention to his senior. Both his explanation and his face. After all, Sehun was a clever student (whom later Yixing found out he also joined acceleration program in the middle school) so he could easily absorbed Yixing’s words although he divided his attention to two things.
Then Sehun excused himself to the toilet, leaving Yixing with the laptop. Feeling bored, Yixing decided to play games-or maybe, watching folders of pictures would be fun. So, he began clicking the folders he assumed where the pictures were kept. He found so many folders in Local Disk D, and they were arranged by date. The oldest folder was created almost three years ago. He wondered what a middle school student did with a laptop.
Yixing almost choked on his saliva when the folder was opened.
Scanning the folder’s content, he jumped to another folder. And another one. Again.
All the folders’ contents were the photos of him.
Him, Zhang Yixing.
And the photos were somehow familiar… wait…
Wait a minute…
…
Yixing gasped.
They were the photos he got from his shoes locker. Undoubtedly, they were.
So it was Sehun? But wait, the folder was created almost three years ago. Sehun was still in the middle school, so there’s no way Sehun had known Yixing back then. Then who? Who was the one that always sent his photos and wrote him typed letters?
When Sehun came back from the toilet, Yixing furiously stood up and abruptly asked, “Sehunnie, whose laptop is it?”
Sehun, being suddenly asked like that, raised his eyebrows. “It’s… Yifan ge’s laptop. I borrowed it from him because I haven’t bought my own-Senior Zhang?”
Right after Sehun mentioned Yifan’s name, Yixing gripped his backpack and left the library. Even Sehun didn’t have any time to stop Yixing from leaving.
Yifan???
-
Since that day, Yixing kept his eyes on Yifan. He tried so hard not to be so visible in spying that giant. He even spent the whole month to spy on him, and after that he realized that Yifan liked to excuse himself to the washroom whenever the class was still on. Not every day, but at least once a week. Or twice. And the day Yixing noticed that Yifan went to the washroom, he was sure he would find another photo inside his locker. And he just kept it a secret because every time he wanted to tell Yifan that he knew, Yifan would always insult him before he even got the chance to say a single word.
Seriously, Yixing didn’t understand Yifan’s way of thinking. His big question was if Yifan really loves me and calls me his star, then what’s his reason to keep being an enemy to me for almost three years? And sure, none could answer it.
Suddenly, Yixing felt really bad for Lu Han. The best friend of his was his enemy-slash-secret admirer’s ex-boyfriend. If Yifan had been doing this for almost three years, which meant that Yifan-Lu Han’s dating period was included, then at the same time, Yifan loved two persons?
Ouch. He always thought that Yifan was the complete jerk, now it changed.
So when the time came, he bravely asked Lu Han about that. They were having lunch at the cafeteria and Yixing thought Lu Han would be fine if he talked about that. Moreover, Lu Han had told him that he was dating someone from another high school named Kim Minseok.
“Lu Han,” Yixing called. “Um… may I ask something? If you feel offended with my question you have the choice to ignore it, though.”
Lu Han was still munching his snack so he just nodded as if telling Yixing to go on.
Yixing bit his lower lip before continuing, “When you were still with Yifan… were… were you guys alright? I mean, was your relationship fine without any problems?”
His best friend stopped munching for a while just to stare at Yixing.
“Again, if you feel offended you can ignore my question-”
“Why are you asking, may I know?” Lu Han cut off.
Yixing let out his shaky breath that didn’t go unnoticed by Lu Han. He smiled, putting his snack down on the table and leaned his chin on his palm and be ready to listen to Yixing’s explanation. Lu Han’s smile was somehow teasing and Yixing gulped. He wasn’t ready for this.
“You know… err… when I was with Taekwoon, he had this sort of crush on Hongbin. I knew he liked Hongbin but I was too selfish to let them unite, though in the end we broke up. I mean, although I knew that Taekwoon had a crush on Hongbin when we were together, we were okay and nothing went wrong between us. So… I wonder if your relationship with Yifan was also like that or maybe you have another story about that?”
At first, Lu Han stayed quiet but then he laughed loudly. Yixing was glad that the cafeteria was crowded so they wouldn’t be too bothered with Lu Han’s ridiculous laughter. By ridiculous he meant opening his mouth widely that Yixing was afraid if Lu Han’s jaw might break.
“I have been waiting for this day, Yixing. You would never believe me, even. But please believe me when I tell you I knew it would be happening. And it is!” he said happily while squeezing Yixing’s cheeks.
“You have predicted that the reason of my break-up with Taekwoon is Hongbin or?” Yixing asked for confirmation.
Lu Han flicked Yixing’s forehead. “Moron, I mean I knew you will finally realize something in Yifan!”
A pause. “What do you mean…?”
Lu Han needed a moment to control himself after laughing out loud and when he finally regained consciousness he started talking. “This is why I told you the other day that you’re too blind and deaf to see beyond everything you’ve seen. You’re very clever I admit but completely dumb when it comes to this matter. Yixing, my bunny, Yifan was a good boyfriend but he definitely not the best one because he had a major crush on a certain someone when he had me as his boyfriend. I knew about it since day one I met him so it was somehow bearable to date him. Not that he didn’t take care of me greatly, in fact he did, but as a person who once loved him of course I knew. He still loves this person until now. It’s just very pity that the person is really dumb to realize.”
Yixing’s brilliant brain now had a hard time to digest everything Lu Han said. He stared at Lu Han with the blank stare as if telling Lu Han that he didn’t really get what he said.
“Seriously Yixing? You’re still clueless about this?” Lu Han slapped his own forehead. “Alright, I think it’s useless to play code with you. I can only tell you the whole big problem but if you wanna seek the details please just ask Yifan and have a heart-to-heart talk with him, okay? He actually loves you, has been in love with you since you guys were in middle school.”
The dimpled guy blinked. “What?”
“No re-run show, mate,” Lu Han scoffed.
“Wait, Yifan loves me? He has been in love with me since middle school? But he’s been always cruel to me!” Yixing complained.
“About that, actually… only Yifan can explain. Why don’t you arrange some confrontation and settle the right time to have a heart-to-heart talk with him?”
Yixing bit his lower lip. Talking to Yifan was something he never thought to happen. All they did to each other was just bickering and insulting, sometimes making noise in classroom or cafeteria or maybe corridor. Yixing needed the truth and clear explanation but it was only Yifan who could give him that, so the question is can they really talk?
And Lu Han, wow, as Yifan’s ex-boyfriend he was really casual in telling Yixing that Yifan was actually in love with the dimpled guy. Maybe he really had moved on.
“Lu, were you okay?” Yixing asked. “I mean… you knew he’s in love with me yet you still accepted him as your boyfriend. If I were you, I would have punched and slapped you. I would have been really angry. But you’re still here, having a lunch with me, still saying that I’m your best friend. You know, I feel like I’m the jerk… I don’t know if I have the right to ask you an apology, but I don’t wanna lose my best friend as well…”
Lu Han smiled before gathering Yixing in his embrace. They stayed like that for five seconds and Lu Han eventually let go of Yixing. Still wearing that smile, Lu Han poked Yixing’s deep hole on his right cheek.
“Of course at times I felt like punching you in the face for two reasons; the first one is because Yifan is still in love with you and the last one is because you’re really, really dumb to read the signs. If you want to know, even a blind man can see the affection behind Yifan’s death glare towards you. A deaf man can hear the caring tone behind his insults. But you, with your brilliant brain, you don’t even know. Now that you know, I hope you can talk to Yifan about that. I believe Kevin and Chanyeol are bored to death too watching you and Yifan being eternal enemies. Don’t be too late.”
Yixing stared at Lu Han with regret and guilt. He blamed himself for being so blunt. He took a mental note to consume supplement for brain everyday from that time on.
“Actually Lu Han, you can slap me now, for everything I’ve done to you. Don’t punch me because my family would have an idea about me being rebel in school-”
SLAP!
Before Yixing could finish his sentence, Lu Han had slapped him on his cheek. It hurt, but he deserved to get that. All the attention was aimed to those best buddies after hearing the loud slap.
But later, Lu Han and Yixing laughed together because they knew they were still okay, they will always be okay. You know bros before hoes, don’t you?
-
Graduation day finally came. Jongdae, as the student’s president, represented the juniors to give the farewell speech. That day, the headmaster also announced that Yixing got the first rank, Yifan got the second (but their scores’ gap was as thin as string) and Lu Han got the third. Yixing stared at Yifan just to find that the latter was also watching him. Thinking about Yifan’s crush on him made Yixing looked away and blushed. Crap, that was the first time he blushed because of Yifan.
He headed to his locker when the graduation was over. As usual, he found letters that wishing him to enroll to his dream university, wishing him health, also saying that they would be really sad when Yixing final left the high school.
He also found a bird origami. His instinct was to open it because he thought he would find a letter inside. And he wasn’t wrong.
A typed letter said:
Fly.
Open up the part of you that wants to hide away.
You can shine!
Forget about the reasons why you can’t in life and start to try.
‘Cause it’s your time to fly.
Yixing chuckled because the sender-that he highly assumed it was Yifan-actually sent him Hilary Duff’s song. He never knew that Yifan could be so cheesy. To be honest, it was cute. I mean, the tall, snarky, intimidating Wu Yifan had this unexpected side. Yixing couldn’t help but to think that it was really cute.
“Senior Zhang,” a voice broke his train of thoughts. Yixing turned around to see the smiling Sehun. “Congratulations on your graduation and also the first rank you got.”
Yixing smiled. “Thanks, Sehun.”
“Actually, I have something to tell you. Will you hear me out?”
The best graduate nodded.
“Maybe you already know that I’ve been trying so hard to get closer to you, because the way I flirt is really obvious. Also, maybe you also know it already that I like you. And yes, I really like you that I want to make you mine,” he said, “but…”
“But…?”
“But then I found someone in my student council squad very nice… and I feel so comfortable around him. He has this intimidating look like Yifan ge’s, but actually he’s very cute,” Sehun smiled shyly. “I don’t know if you were expecting me to confess to you and if you were then I’m sorry that I think maybe we could only be good friends. I know it’s my fault to have two crushes at the same time but I’m still young and reckless. I also saw no sign of you to accept my love since the beginning, maybe you still want to be alone or you’re actually waiting for someone. Or maybe you found me not in your standard…”
Yixing blinked when Sehun was saying the two last sentences. That wasn’t true; come on, Yixing actually was about to consider him once… but realizing that Sehun is Yifan’s cousin…
“So Senior Zhang, I’ll try to stop loving you and I wish you happiness with someone you’ve been waiting for. Oh and,” Sehun mumbled, “I hope you can consider my cousin, too.”
Yixing’s blush was too red to hear Sehun’s laughter and when he came back to his sense he saw Sehun walking hand in hand with a tall boy. He was holding a wushu stick. Yixing smiled after realizing that the tall boy was Huang Zitao, captain of the wushu club.
He wished nothing but the best for the new couple.
-
The prom night was held two days after the graduation day, in a hotel. The previous student council squad was the event organizer for the prom night, so it included Yixing as well. They understood that not all of the graduates had lovers (which is a sad fact) so they made the prom night couple-free. The rules clearly stated that if they really wanted to come with their couple, then they could only bring along their couples from the same school and same year (if they had though), otherwise, they wouldn’t be allowed to come. So, the event was really about their high school.
Yixing wandered around and just enjoyed the prom by himself. He wasn’t that type to attend parties so while everyone was enjoying the loud music, he inwardly slipped his earphones into his ears and sneaked his way out of the ball room.
He made his way towards the yard and he was surprised to see Wu Yifan stood by the pool, which was near the yard. He was wearing grey suit, grey trousers and black shirt. His hair was short and black and really nice, Yixing must admit. Yixing wanted to just walk towards the yard but something stopped him from doing so. He realized that it was the last chance for him to have a talk with Yifan, but he couldn’t move from his spot.
Only when Yifan noticed his presence, Yixing flashed out his smile. Yifan stared at Yixing as the latter came closer to stand beside him. They stayed in silence for a few minutes but Yixing could feel that Yifan’s stare never broke even once.
“Not a party animal I see,” Yixing awkwardly broke the ice.
Yifan hummed. “You too.”
Again, they didn’t speak for minutes. Yixing was hesitant whether to ask Yifan about those photos and letters. If he didn’t then when would the chance come again? If he did then what would Yifan say?
“Yifan… um… I… want to talk about… the photos,” Yixing found himself saying.
Yifan sharpened his gaze at Yixing.
“I mean… if you weren’t the one who slipped them into my shoes locker then I’ll just go-”
“Finally you realize it,” Yifan said, cutting Yixing’s words off. “Yes, I’m the one who has been slipping them since our freshmen year.”
Yixing didn’t expect Yifan to admit that easily. And, ‘finally you realize it’? Was he that dull?
“Do you find it creepy? I’m your number one enemy, aren’t I?”
For the first time in his life, Yixing heard the softness in Yifan’s voice. He was used to hear his yelling and now he talked to him in a very soft tone. His voice was actually deep so it sounded so manly yet gentle in his ears (he had taken off his earphones). Yixing was glad to get this chance and he really hoped that the precious moment wouldn’t end so soon.
“Honestly speaking, I like your supportive messages,” Yixing answered with smile. “Whenever I’m down I like to re-read the letters you gave me behind those photos. They never fail to encourage and cheer me up so I can immediately stand on my feet again. And I thank you, by all means, thank you very much for always taking care of me from afar… yet so close,” he chuckled a bit. “Also, I’m sorry to realize it so late because you know… your behavior towards me is just…”
Yifan laughed and Yixing just realized that he fell in love with the giant’s laughter. It sounded better than his, to be honest. Another reason was that he finally could see the sincere laughter from Yifan. He really liked it.
“Do you want to know why I act harsh to you all this time?” Yifan offered.
“Sure. I want to know whether it’s your problem or mine.”
“Most likely it’s yours,” Yifan smiled-and Yixing fell in love with his gummy smile too. “I believe you remember that we used to be good friends although we weren’t that close like you and Lu Han, right? Yeah, but then you were so engrossed with your study as a student from acceleration program. You started to abandon me and at first I thought it was because acceleration program really took the most of your time, but then you dated Kim Jongin. I was really mad, too mad to realize that I was actually jealous. I thought I was mad because you abandoned me as friend but you could date someone else, but actually I was mad because Jongin could date you. Then I realized that I started liking you. I tried to find the way to steal your attention by studying hard, and somehow I made it. You started to get annoyed with my presence as the first rank in the middle school, but it wasn’t really enough to get you talking to me. So yeah, I thought… by insulting you… you could talk to me.”
Yixing snorted. “You did it. I talked to you again in different way.”
“At least I got your attention.”
“What a freak…?” Yixing frowned. “The attention I gave you was hate!”
Yifan shook his head. “It doesn’t matter what kind of attention you give me; you paid attention to me in the end and that was enough. But soon after that we were too engrossed with this enemies-relationship we have so I also had hard times to end it. Even after we enrolled to the high school we still mocked each other and honestly, I enjoy it every time you get mad at me. Your face is always fun to watch. I tried so hard not to chuckle, for your information.”
Yixing really started to think that Yifan was freak.
“And because my crush on you developed into something people usually call ‘love’, and there was no way for me to confess to you regarding our bad relationship, I got the idea to send you letters at first but I didn’t know whether it would work since you always got your secret admirer’s letters. So I thought about making my letters to you more special, that’s why I ended up sending you your photos with typed letters behind them so you won’t recognize whose letters they were. You can say I inwardly take care of you through the letters while I could continue to being your number one enemy everyday.”
The shorter guy let out a small chuckle. “Bastard,” he mumbled softly.
Yifan grinned. “I know.”
“But still you’re a coward for only sending me letters. If only you were brave enough to get closer to me…”
“I’m not Sehun who recklessly made his way to get closer to you,” Yifan said. “I admit I was jealous with his courage to get you. I was really afraid that you might accept him as your boyfriend, that’s why I…”
Yixing raised an eyebrow. “You what?”
Yifan scratched his own nape as if what he was gonna say would make Yixing angry. “I introduced Huang Zitao to him. I’m glad it works.”
The shorter male choked on his saliva. “WHAT? YOU BASTARD! SO THEIR RELATIONSHIP IS JUST SCENARIO???”
“At first yes but after Tao met him for the first time he had this… love at the first sight? Wait, you didn’t consider Sehun to be your boyfriend did you?”
“No but-” Yixing sighed heavily. “WU YIFAN THAT’S NOT COOL OKAY THAT’S CHEATING! IF YOU’RE REALLY A MAN THEN COMPETE FAIRLY!”
Yifan looked down like a child just got scolded by his mother for his mistakes. “I… I’m sorry.”
Yixing slapped Yifan’s forearm in exasperation. “Seriously, you… Do you know that you hurt Lu Han too?”
The taller guy nodded hesitantly.
“How are you gonna explain about that to me?” Yixing challenged. “Lu Han is my best friend and if anyone dares to hurt him, I swear they won’t be able to escape from me and my unbeatable punch.”
Yifan still looked at his feet. After five minutes of waiting, finally Yixing heard his voice again.
“I know it was my fault,” Yifan started. “You started dating Jung Taekwoon and it hurt me as well. I thought after you broke up with Junmyeon you would stop dating to focus on your finals preparation but I was wrong. That time Lu Han was sending positive signal to me and because I saw no hopes in you, I accepted Lu Han’s signal and you know we dated after that. But I just couldn’t stop thinking about you… maybe that was when Lu Han found it a cue for him to break up with me. Also, the fact that Taekwoon left you for Hongbin made me angry but if I confronted to Taekwoon about it, he would be curious, don’t you think?”
Yixing shook his head furiously. “No, you’re wrong. I’m the one who left Taekwoon. I knew he liked Hongbin for God knows how long. So rather than being selfish, I just let them to unite. Just like Lu Han did to you. I guess.”
Yifan eventually smiled. “Hongbin accepted Taekwoon, so will you accept me too?”
For the nth time, Yixing snorted. “I kinda miss the cocky bastard Wu Yifan who always fights with me over something stupid and silly, not this cheesy one.”
Yifan laughed out loud while Yixing had his time thinking what’s so funny with his words. He was glad that none was around so Yifan’s ridiculous laughter wouldn’t be heard.
“Then do you love me, Yixing?”
Yifan’s question caught him off guard. He stared at Yifan for a few seconds before engaged his sight to the pool. Love? Of course he had experienced in loving someone, but loving an enemy was never in his mind even for a second. He thought about others’ reaction when they know he dated his enemy-did he say ‘when’? Oh God, he must be crazy.
“I don’t know… this is still new to me. I mean I used to see you as my enemy in school and now you confess to me… it’s not easy to change the hate into love, okay?”
“Then how about this?”
Suddenly, Yixing felt two strong grips around his shoulder and before he knew it, a pair of soft substance crashed his moist lips. That was the first time his brain worked so slowly, and only when the pair of soft substance released themselves, he realized that they were Yifan’s lips.
“What…”
“I hope the kiss helps you to think, and I hope I could get a positive answer tomorrow morning. You have less than twelve hours to answer me,” Yifan said.
Yixing didn’t understand. “Why tomorrow? What’s so special about tomorrow? I can’t think that fast!”
Yifan smiled weakly while he caressed Yixing’s cheek, which Yixing found it so nice and comfortable.
“Tomorrow morning I’m going to Canada to continue my study there,” he said.
The younger male blinked. “Canada…?”
The giant nodded. “If you come to the airport tomorrow and tell me to stay, I’ll stay. If you don’t, then I’ll leave right away. The choice is yours. As much as I want you to ask me not to leave, I can’t and I won’t force you to do that.”
Yixing bit his lower lip and Yifan chuckled seeing that.
“I hope you realize that you have that habit to bit your lower lip whenever you think really hard of something,” he said, poking Yixing’s lower lips.
Yixing scoffed. “Don’t tease me,” he retorted. “I… I’ll just go home.”
“I’ll take you home, then. I’m bringing my dad’s car.”
“No, you don’t need to-” and suddenly, a sound of thunder greeted their ears. “-I guess you need to.”
Yifan smiled. Actually a sincere smile which Yixing forgot. He once saw that when they were in middle school, and since it had been almost five years he kinda forgot that. Usually Yifan threw smirk on him and he was used to that. But now, although Yifan looked funny with that gummy smile, he thought that maybe he liked it. Probably. Even when the tall guy took him by the hand to the car, when they headed to Yixing’s house, he never let go of that smile. Yixing wondered if his cheeks hurt.
And to think that Yifan was leaving made his heart ache. He didn’t even know what magic Yifan had spelled on him so he liked the idea of Yifan staying. But Yifan said that he was leaving for Canada to continue his study there, didn’t he?
Seriously, it was much easier to reject an acceleration program that was offered to him than to decide whether to let Yifan go… or stay.
“Have a nice dream and sleep tight,” Yifan said when they had arrived in front of Yixing’s house. Because the rain began to fall, Yifan walked Yixing to the front door of his house with the familiar umbrella.
“Do you really think I’ll have nice dream and tight sleep after you gave me choices?” Yixing retorted. “Well, you too.”
Yifan smiled. “Good night.”
“Good night.”
(Yixing kinda hoped that Yifan would grip his wrist to stop him and just kiss him but that didn’t happen.)
-
In fact, Yixing couldn’t sleep and he believed anyone else who was given hard choices wouldn’t be able to sleep well. He rolled here and there only to get his heartbeat to increase. He constantly looked at the clock and his stomach crumbled. The fact that Yifan might or might not leave made him uneasy. And it’s funny to think that he suddenly thought about Yifan.
He took out the box inside his closet and he opened it when he was back to his bed. It was the box where he kept the letters from his secret admirers, including Yifan’s. He kinda regretted why he didn’t place Yifan’s photo-letters in separate box but he surely placed them on the side so it was still easy for him to take them out from the box.
Yixing smiled as he looked at those photos again. When he said that the letters could encourage and cheer him up, he wasn’t lying. At times he felt so down, like when he got bad score (Yifan used it as jokes and they fought again afterwards) or when his parents were against Yixing’s idea to enroll into an art college, but then a photo-letter eased the pains and worries away. Rather than saying about how much Yifan admired him, the giant opted to encourage him to do something for his own good. Still remember when he gave the umbrella? He wasn’t only giving an umbrella to shield Yixing from the rain; he also encouraged him to fight for his sake although so many things blocking his way to get his goal. And don’t forget that Yifan said he would always shield Yixing from any disturbances. That time when he hadn’t known it was Yifan, he thought about how the sender would do that to him but now he wondered how Yifan would do that if he really left.
Somehow, he had decided but he wasn’t so sure it would be the best choice.
Yixing took out Yifan’s last letter, the bird origami one, from his purple backpack and re-read the typed letter again and again to make sure that his decision wouldn’t suck him up in the future.
He closed his eyes and let out his breath. He was ready to give Yifan his answer and smiled brightly in his sleep.
-
Yifan still stood by the entrance gate, spreading his gaze around to see if Yixing had come. His flight would be really soon and he started to think that maybe Yixing’s answer was a no. But he’s not Wu Yifan if he immediately gives up.
His parents were already in their offices while Sehun was on a trip with his student council squad, so only Chanyeol and Kevin were there for him. They had been told about the choices he gave to Yixing and they wanted to see if Yixing came or not.
“He’s not coming, buddy,” Kevin said in English. “Maybe it’s his answer: no.”
“Saying no is actually better than oversleeping…”
Yifan and Kevin stared at Chanyeol while the latter gave them a ‘what, did I say something wrong?’ but actually Yifan thought it was most logic probability. He still had this confidence with Yixing’s answer. He was almost sure that Yixing would come and tell him to stay.
His deduction was getting stronger after he saw Yixing walking towards him.
And he was ready to stay.
“No,” Yixing pushed Yifan slightly by the chest when the latter was about to welcome Yixing in his embrace. He stared at Yifan who also stared back at him, and eventually he smiled. “I come here to tell you my answer. I have to tell you directly or I’ll regret it. Promise me to hear me out, carefully?”
Yifan was hesitant at first but in the end he nodded.
Yixing inhaled a big amount of air before talking.
“You said that you’ll stay if I come here and will leave if I don’t, right,” he said and he got a nod from Yifan as the answer. “Yifan, you have to know that I have no right to tell you whether to stay or leave, and I also have no right to block your way towards your dreams. If going to Canada is the best for you, then go for it! Find what you’ve been looking for and grow up well. I’ll always wait for you to come back here.”
“But Yixing… it will take years for me to come back again,” Yifan complained.
Yixing shook his head; smile didn’t leave his lips. He took Yifan’s hand and intertwined with his. He stared at Yifan dreamily and Yifan fell in love again. Yixing was still the same with the one he remembered since in middle school. The one who made him fall in love for the first time.
“I know, and you still have a plenty of time to ensure yourself whether it’s really me you ever wanted. Same with me, too. Take it as a marathon competition where you have to run so far, and when you almost arrive at the finish, there will be me who smiles at you. If we trust each other, we will really reach the finish together. For now, you’ve already got me. We might be in long distance relationship after this but we live in 21th century, don’t we?” Yixing said with that wide smile, exhibiting his deep dimple on his right cheek.
The smile Yixing flashed affected Yifan. He smiled weakly while caressing Yixing’s cheek.
“I understand,” he said with nod.
“Good,” Yixing rubbed Yifan’s hand with his thumb. “I believe your flight will take off soon, now hurry!”
Yifan gathered Yixing in his embrace and he could inhale the creamy scent from the younger male. He had never held Yixing this close so he just found out that the one he loved actually had that addictive creamy scent. He wondered what soap Yixing usually used, or how many times in a day Yixing usually bathed. His hair’s scent was like apple shampoo and Yifan found it cute that a guy used apple shampoo. Or he found it cute because it was Yixing. If it was another person, he might or might not think the same.
Ah, it didn’t matter at all. All that mattered was that his love wasn’t an unrequited one.
Yifan kissed Yixing’s forehead for ten seconds (Yixing counted it) before letting go and ruffling the dimpled guy’s jet black hair. He really loved his hair because it looked good on him.
“Good luck, Yifan. I love you.”
Oh how Yifan wanted to tear up hearing those three sacred words from Yixing’s moist lips. He pecked Yixing’s corner of the lips and whispered softly, “I love you more than I should.”
“Oh my God, can you guys not abandon us…” a deep voice coming from Chanyeol broke the romantic scene between Yifan and Yixing. “I kinda miss the moment where you guys always fight and shout to each other…”
“Yeah I think them fighting is better than being all disgustingly lovey-dovey like this, eww,” Kevin added.
Yifan and Yixing blushed but eventually they laughed.
=end=