across this great divide
Pairing: Yifan/Yixing
Length: 1851 words
Rating: pg13
Summary: Yixing and Yifan have always been separated by a vast chasm: the Apple/Windows debate. And the hallway on the first floor of the mall.
Notes: originally posted here for kissfanxing
Available on ao3 here.
Yixing wiped down the genius bar counter for the third time in the last hour. He let out a sigh and wondered why, exactly, he’d agreed to work on Valentine’s Day. His manager had told him the place would be packed with lovebirds picking out gifts. That turned out to be a huge lie, which he probably should have seen, in retrospect, since the manager only needed one employee to come in. The store was deserted, one tumbleweed away from a spaghetti western shootout.
It was the coffee shops and restaurants in the food court that were full. Sure, the mall got a lot of business on Valentine’s Day, but none of it seemed to be for the Apple store. Couples walked right past the door, nodding at Yixing’s greeting and promptly going back to pretending the store was an empty black void. Yixing was nearly ready to scream, so he headed back to clean the already-sparkling computer screens. Again.
Spray-bottle and rag in hand, he made his way around the store. He almost hoped that the chemicals would get him just the littlest bit high. It’d be some sort of reprieve from the utter suck that was today. He could have been on a date or something.
At least there was one thing to smile about: the Windows store across the hall was just as empty as his store. Definitely grin-worthy. There was only one employee there too, but this guy was just playing on his phone in the back, not even looking at the entrance. Of course a Windows employee would be sitting around instead of keeping the store clean, Yixing snarked inwardly.
But also… that’s a good idea. With only a little bit of shame, Yixing hopped onto a stool behind the genius bar and got out his own phone. A new iphone 6, of course. Poor Windows guy probably had some crap android or something. He snickered at the thought.
A soft ding told Yixing that he had a notification. Someone had liked his okcupid profile. He wasn’t about to get excited (after all, this happened quite often) but then he saw who had expressed interest.
His face looked like it’d been engineered in a pretty-boy lab, and his hands were huge. (Yixing would never tell anyone, but he totally had a thing for hands.) Yifan, his profile said. And only a year older. He liked the guy’s profile without any further consideration. Maybe they could get together after his shift ended, and Valentine’s Day could still be saved.
While reading through boy-wonder’s about me, something caught Yixing’s eye. The location on Yifan’s profile looked weird. It said 50 feet away. But that was impossible, right? He’d have to be in this mall, maybe even… oh god.
Panic slowly pulled his head up and his gaze across the hall. His shocked eyes locked with another, matching pair of shocked eyes.
Fingers flew across his keyboard faster than he’d known he could move them. The thoughts flew straight from his head and into a series of private messages.
[12:52] Yixingle: You’re a WINDOWS employee?!
[12:52] Yixingle: You are waaaaay too hot to work for windows
[12:53] Yixingle: Tell me you weren’t reading my profile on an android
He dragged his eyes away from the phone screen and back to Yifan across the hall. He looked just as irate, and the dings from Yixing’s phone confirmed it.
[12:54] Galaxyifan: What, like apple is so much better?
[12:55] Galaxyifan: At least I didn’t pay out the ass for a phone that treats me like a child.
[12:55] Galaxyifan: And yes, I did read your profile on an android! Ha!
Yixing glared at Yifan and was rewarded by a smug grin as he waved his android phone around. Ugh.
He settled back onto his stool and took a deep breath. Maybe he could convince Yifan that everything he believed was wrong, and they could still go on a date later. He glanced at a picture of Yifan playing basketball--think of the hands, Yixing--and decided to give it a shot.
[12:58] Yixingle: You know, macs can’t get viruses ^^
[1:00] Galaxyifan: They can, actually. OS X is still relatively new so there aren’t many out there, but your precious macbook air can (and probably will) get infected.
[1:03] Yixingle: Oh. Well… I resent your tone.
He set his phone down on the counter, making a point not to look into the store across the hall.
[1:05] Galaxyifan: I resent your brand choices, but your face might convince me to look past that.
[1:05] Galaxyifan: Arms too. Those look nice.
After that, Yixing couldn’t really help but blush and look over. Yifan had another smug look on his face--maybe that was just how he looked all the time?--but this one looked softer. Somehow, Yixing found it in his deep and soulful (and always right) heart to accept this man and his deplorable brand loyalties. Why, his heart grew three sizes that day.
[1:10] Yixingle: Alright. Can we agree to disagree here? I’ve never conceded on this before but you’re just cute enough to make me consider it.
Anxiety kept him from glancing up this time. He liked Yifan’s attitude. It almost rivaled his own… almost. And he really enjoyed the thought of spending Valentine’s Day wrapped up in those lanky-ass arms.
A small ding went off again and Yixing nearly dropped his phone trying to read the message as fast as he could.
[1:12] Galaxyifan: Agree to disagree. Any chance you’d like to meet up later? :)
[1:13] Yixingle: I’d love to. When do you get off?
[1:13] Yixingle: I mean off work. When do you get off work?
[1:15] Galaxyifan: 6. I hope you’ll be getting off sometime today, but when is your shift over?
Did he actually just say that? Dumbstruck, Yixing struggled to type out a reply. The blood seemed to have rushed out of his face and headed... further south. His fingers shook a bit. This guy was forward.
[1:17] Galaxyifan: Your surprised face is just as cute as I expected. No pressure about any of that stuff though.
[1:19] Yixingle: Jeez. Warn a guy before you get him all psyched up.
[1:19] Yixingle: My shift ends at 5 though. Maybe I could come over there and you could explain why the internet lied to me about macs getting viruses.
[1:21] Galaxyifan: It’d be my honor :)
The rest of Yixing’s shift passed in a flurry of okcupid messages. They covered everything from favorite movie to where they’d grown up, and they actually had quite a bit in common. Yixing was a bit more extroverted, but Yifan turned out to be just as sharp as him, with even faster wit. He found himself beaming over at the taller man with every new reply. No matter how hard he tried to outdo Yifan’s sass, he could never seem to stop giggling fast enough to send a good response back.
At one point they tried to throw paper airplanes across the hallway, but that had turned out to be a bust. Yixing had had to explain to a (rather old) man that the note saying “I want you to wrap your arms around me and never let go” was actually not for him. Yifan’s guffaws carried all the way to the back of the Apple store, where Yixing had sat slumped in embarrassment for a solid fifteen minutes.
Eventually, five rolled around, and Yixing wouldn’t even have noticed if Yifan hadn’t pointed it out. He sent back a kissy-face emoticon (his heart sped up a little) and started to close up. Displays cleaned, floor swept, and door locked, he headed across the vast divide that separated Apple from Windows. It only felt a teeny bit like defecting.
He’d never admit it to Yifan, but his breath did stop in his throat when he walked up to the Windows store’s entrance. Yixing had never been inside (of course), but he’d also never been this excited about a guy he’d met online before. It was weird, how his heart beat a little harder when he imagined kissing this guy. Hadn’t really happened for a while, and certainly not with someone from okcupid. Not many people had the same sense of humor as him, though, and even if they did they weren’t fast enough to keep up. So Yixing liked that about Yifan. They were similar in all the good ways and different in all the fun ways.
“What are you doing out there?” Yifan called.
“Contemplating the effects of my defection,” came Yixing’s easy reply. That was a blatant lie; he was trying to gather the nerve to approach the tall blonde. Yeah, he was hotter up close. It was a problem.
Finally, he huffed and stepped into the store. It was warmer than the Apple store, he noted, and not as clean. Point one for Yixing. Yifan must have known he’d have no business and not have bothered to polish the screens. (Half-point for Yifan.)
He was unsure how to start this whole interacting in person thing--Do I hug him? Kiss him? Shake hands, maybe?--but thankfully Yifan took action. He unfolded himself from behind the counter--holy fuck he’s so tall--and walked towards Yixing with purpose. Before he really knew what was going to happen, Yifan had placed his hands around Yixing’s waist and leaned down. There was short puff of breath on Yixing’s face before he found his lips pressed against Yifan’s.
They were surprisingly plush. In all his appreciation of Yifan’s hands and build, Yixing had overlooked the pair of lips that was gently kissing him right now. (Another point for Yifan.) His face felt warm and the kiss deepened oh-so-slightly. Sweat threatened to break out on Yixing’s forehead, and he felt the chemistry between them buzz through his body like a current. He wanted to melt into Yifan, then and there.
Someone whistled outside and they broke apart. “Oops,” fell out of Yifan’s mouth and Yixing was tempted to kiss him again. He was so cute but so painfully sexy. Yifan seemed to know what he was thinking, and apparently suffered from the same problem. They stood there awkwardly for a bit, alternately shuffling their feet and twiddling their thumbs.
Yixing’s breathless well hi broke the silence before they started laughing. Still close, they gravitated towards each other and ended up in a hug. Yifan looked down at Yixing’s face and said, voice going a little rough, “I think I can end my shift early today. Wanna go get coffee?”
“Would love to,” Yixing replied, and stretched up to plant a small kiss on the taller man’s mouth. His eyes roved up and down Yifan’s body, as well as they could when he was so close. “Did you know you’re tall? Like, really tall.”
Yifan looked confused. “Uh… yes?”
A sly smile curved Yixing’s mouth up at the corners. “Did you know I’m into that?”
Pink spots flushed Yifan’s cheeks and he pushed away, clearly flustered. “Jesus, Yixing. Let’s go get some damn coffee.” He grinned, though, as he took Yixing’s hand and led them towards the escalators.
(Maybe Yixing tucked himself under Yifan’s arm, and maybe it was even better than he’d imagined. Maybe.)
Length: 1851 words
Rating: pg13
Summary: Yixing and Yifan have always been separated by a vast chasm: the Apple/Windows debate. And the hallway on the first floor of the mall.
Notes: originally posted here for kissfanxing
Available on ao3 here.
Yixing wiped down the genius bar counter for the third time in the last hour. He let out a sigh and wondered why, exactly, he’d agreed to work on Valentine’s Day. His manager had told him the place would be packed with lovebirds picking out gifts. That turned out to be a huge lie, which he probably should have seen, in retrospect, since the manager only needed one employee to come in. The store was deserted, one tumbleweed away from a spaghetti western shootout.
It was the coffee shops and restaurants in the food court that were full. Sure, the mall got a lot of business on Valentine’s Day, but none of it seemed to be for the Apple store. Couples walked right past the door, nodding at Yixing’s greeting and promptly going back to pretending the store was an empty black void. Yixing was nearly ready to scream, so he headed back to clean the already-sparkling computer screens. Again.
Spray-bottle and rag in hand, he made his way around the store. He almost hoped that the chemicals would get him just the littlest bit high. It’d be some sort of reprieve from the utter suck that was today. He could have been on a date or something.
At least there was one thing to smile about: the Windows store across the hall was just as empty as his store. Definitely grin-worthy. There was only one employee there too, but this guy was just playing on his phone in the back, not even looking at the entrance. Of course a Windows employee would be sitting around instead of keeping the store clean, Yixing snarked inwardly.
But also… that’s a good idea. With only a little bit of shame, Yixing hopped onto a stool behind the genius bar and got out his own phone. A new iphone 6, of course. Poor Windows guy probably had some crap android or something. He snickered at the thought.
A soft ding told Yixing that he had a notification. Someone had liked his okcupid profile. He wasn’t about to get excited (after all, this happened quite often) but then he saw who had expressed interest.
His face looked like it’d been engineered in a pretty-boy lab, and his hands were huge. (Yixing would never tell anyone, but he totally had a thing for hands.) Yifan, his profile said. And only a year older. He liked the guy’s profile without any further consideration. Maybe they could get together after his shift ended, and Valentine’s Day could still be saved.
While reading through boy-wonder’s about me, something caught Yixing’s eye. The location on Yifan’s profile looked weird. It said 50 feet away. But that was impossible, right? He’d have to be in this mall, maybe even… oh god.
Panic slowly pulled his head up and his gaze across the hall. His shocked eyes locked with another, matching pair of shocked eyes.
Fingers flew across his keyboard faster than he’d known he could move them. The thoughts flew straight from his head and into a series of private messages.
[12:52] Yixingle: You’re a WINDOWS employee?!
[12:52] Yixingle: You are waaaaay too hot to work for windows
[12:53] Yixingle: Tell me you weren’t reading my profile on an android
He dragged his eyes away from the phone screen and back to Yifan across the hall. He looked just as irate, and the dings from Yixing’s phone confirmed it.
[12:54] Galaxyifan: What, like apple is so much better?
[12:55] Galaxyifan: At least I didn’t pay out the ass for a phone that treats me like a child.
[12:55] Galaxyifan: And yes, I did read your profile on an android! Ha!
Yixing glared at Yifan and was rewarded by a smug grin as he waved his android phone around. Ugh.
He settled back onto his stool and took a deep breath. Maybe he could convince Yifan that everything he believed was wrong, and they could still go on a date later. He glanced at a picture of Yifan playing basketball--think of the hands, Yixing--and decided to give it a shot.
[12:58] Yixingle: You know, macs can’t get viruses ^^
[1:00] Galaxyifan: They can, actually. OS X is still relatively new so there aren’t many out there, but your precious macbook air can (and probably will) get infected.
[1:03] Yixingle: Oh. Well… I resent your tone.
He set his phone down on the counter, making a point not to look into the store across the hall.
[1:05] Galaxyifan: I resent your brand choices, but your face might convince me to look past that.
[1:05] Galaxyifan: Arms too. Those look nice.
After that, Yixing couldn’t really help but blush and look over. Yifan had another smug look on his face--maybe that was just how he looked all the time?--but this one looked softer. Somehow, Yixing found it in his deep and soulful (and always right) heart to accept this man and his deplorable brand loyalties. Why, his heart grew three sizes that day.
[1:10] Yixingle: Alright. Can we agree to disagree here? I’ve never conceded on this before but you’re just cute enough to make me consider it.
Anxiety kept him from glancing up this time. He liked Yifan’s attitude. It almost rivaled his own… almost. And he really enjoyed the thought of spending Valentine’s Day wrapped up in those lanky-ass arms.
A small ding went off again and Yixing nearly dropped his phone trying to read the message as fast as he could.
[1:12] Galaxyifan: Agree to disagree. Any chance you’d like to meet up later? :)
[1:13] Yixingle: I’d love to. When do you get off?
[1:13] Yixingle: I mean off work. When do you get off work?
[1:15] Galaxyifan: 6. I hope you’ll be getting off sometime today, but when is your shift over?
Did he actually just say that? Dumbstruck, Yixing struggled to type out a reply. The blood seemed to have rushed out of his face and headed... further south. His fingers shook a bit. This guy was forward.
[1:17] Galaxyifan: Your surprised face is just as cute as I expected. No pressure about any of that stuff though.
[1:19] Yixingle: Jeez. Warn a guy before you get him all psyched up.
[1:19] Yixingle: My shift ends at 5 though. Maybe I could come over there and you could explain why the internet lied to me about macs getting viruses.
[1:21] Galaxyifan: It’d be my honor :)
The rest of Yixing’s shift passed in a flurry of okcupid messages. They covered everything from favorite movie to where they’d grown up, and they actually had quite a bit in common. Yixing was a bit more extroverted, but Yifan turned out to be just as sharp as him, with even faster wit. He found himself beaming over at the taller man with every new reply. No matter how hard he tried to outdo Yifan’s sass, he could never seem to stop giggling fast enough to send a good response back.
At one point they tried to throw paper airplanes across the hallway, but that had turned out to be a bust. Yixing had had to explain to a (rather old) man that the note saying “I want you to wrap your arms around me and never let go” was actually not for him. Yifan’s guffaws carried all the way to the back of the Apple store, where Yixing had sat slumped in embarrassment for a solid fifteen minutes.
Eventually, five rolled around, and Yixing wouldn’t even have noticed if Yifan hadn’t pointed it out. He sent back a kissy-face emoticon (his heart sped up a little) and started to close up. Displays cleaned, floor swept, and door locked, he headed across the vast divide that separated Apple from Windows. It only felt a teeny bit like defecting.
He’d never admit it to Yifan, but his breath did stop in his throat when he walked up to the Windows store’s entrance. Yixing had never been inside (of course), but he’d also never been this excited about a guy he’d met online before. It was weird, how his heart beat a little harder when he imagined kissing this guy. Hadn’t really happened for a while, and certainly not with someone from okcupid. Not many people had the same sense of humor as him, though, and even if they did they weren’t fast enough to keep up. So Yixing liked that about Yifan. They were similar in all the good ways and different in all the fun ways.
“What are you doing out there?” Yifan called.
“Contemplating the effects of my defection,” came Yixing’s easy reply. That was a blatant lie; he was trying to gather the nerve to approach the tall blonde. Yeah, he was hotter up close. It was a problem.
Finally, he huffed and stepped into the store. It was warmer than the Apple store, he noted, and not as clean. Point one for Yixing. Yifan must have known he’d have no business and not have bothered to polish the screens. (Half-point for Yifan.)
He was unsure how to start this whole interacting in person thing--Do I hug him? Kiss him? Shake hands, maybe?--but thankfully Yifan took action. He unfolded himself from behind the counter--holy fuck he’s so tall--and walked towards Yixing with purpose. Before he really knew what was going to happen, Yifan had placed his hands around Yixing’s waist and leaned down. There was short puff of breath on Yixing’s face before he found his lips pressed against Yifan’s.
They were surprisingly plush. In all his appreciation of Yifan’s hands and build, Yixing had overlooked the pair of lips that was gently kissing him right now. (Another point for Yifan.) His face felt warm and the kiss deepened oh-so-slightly. Sweat threatened to break out on Yixing’s forehead, and he felt the chemistry between them buzz through his body like a current. He wanted to melt into Yifan, then and there.
Someone whistled outside and they broke apart. “Oops,” fell out of Yifan’s mouth and Yixing was tempted to kiss him again. He was so cute but so painfully sexy. Yifan seemed to know what he was thinking, and apparently suffered from the same problem. They stood there awkwardly for a bit, alternately shuffling their feet and twiddling their thumbs.
Yixing’s breathless well hi broke the silence before they started laughing. Still close, they gravitated towards each other and ended up in a hug. Yifan looked down at Yixing’s face and said, voice going a little rough, “I think I can end my shift early today. Wanna go get coffee?”
“Would love to,” Yixing replied, and stretched up to plant a small kiss on the taller man’s mouth. His eyes roved up and down Yifan’s body, as well as they could when he was so close. “Did you know you’re tall? Like, really tall.”
Yifan looked confused. “Uh… yes?”
A sly smile curved Yixing’s mouth up at the corners. “Did you know I’m into that?”
Pink spots flushed Yifan’s cheeks and he pushed away, clearly flustered. “Jesus, Yixing. Let’s go get some damn coffee.” He grinned, though, as he took Yixing’s hand and led them towards the escalators.
(Maybe Yixing tucked himself under Yifan’s arm, and maybe it was even better than he’d imagined. Maybe.)