Give Me Some Love, for everyone
Title: Give Me Some Love
For: everyone
Word count:6384
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Yixing operates a cotton candy machine and Yifan walks around on stilts.
Zhang Yixing smiles to himself in the mirror that’s hung up on the wall in the staff room, fixing his hair and smoothing out the non-existent creases on his pink and white striped shirt. Tying a white waist apron around his hips, he heads out of the room to greet the rest of his co-workers before he moves towards his station.
Yixing is fresh out of college with a degree in fine arts. Being the enthusiast that he is, he spends most of his time outside with a sketchbook and a multiliner pen in hand. He draws nearly everything he sees; from people standing on the subway to dogs playing in the park. His sketchbook is filled with sketchy doodles and ten-minute drawings, pages folding at the edges and book so well-used that its seam is starting to fall apart. Anyone who has seen Yixing drawing outside would think that he’d become a successful artist with frequent solo shows in his own gallery, so it’s really quite a wonder why he’s currently working as the guy selling cotton candy to little kids at Universal Studios.
Nevertheless, Yixing quite enjoys his job. He enjoys putting smiles on the kids’ faces when he hands them their cotton candy and he enjoys being able to observe his surroundings when there isn’t a line of customers in front of him. The perk he enjoys most, though, is that he gets to enter the compound free every single day. Sometimes he gets on the rides when some of his co-workers drag him and other times he just walks around to enjoy the view.
One of his favourite sections of the amusement park is Ancient Egypt and the feature he likes most is not any of the rides, but the well-built men barely covered in gold Egyptian gear walking on stilts. Yixing glances around and sees the men taking photos with a group of tourists, standing tall with the most serious expression they can pull. One of the men looks awkwardly new and Yixing squints from his spot not far away, trying to put a name to the face before he comes to a conclusion that the man is indeed new.
“Yixing, stop staring.”
Yixing swiftly turns his head behind to see his co-worker Baekhyun staring at him with a shit-eating grin and a knowing glint in his eyes.
“Who’s the new guy?” Yixing asks while putting sugar into the machine.
“The one with the angry eyebrows and looks pissed off all the time?”
Yixing’s eyes shift to where the new guy is and finds that Baekhyun’s right. The new guy does have furrowed eyebrows and it seems like his face is in a permanent scowl.
“Maybe it’s the heat?” Yixing tries.
“No, it’s just his face,” Baekhyun snorts. “He’s Yifan. He came in yesterday when you were off. Doesn’t seem like a friendly guy.”
Yixing hums in response, smiling at the kid in front of him as he hands over the blue cotton candy. His heart warms when the kid’s face lights up and Yixing doesn’t regret working here at all.
“I don’t even know why they hired him. His body’s not that great,” Baekhyun comments.
“Don’t be so mean. He looks fine to me,” Yixing clicks his tongue in disapproval, working on the machine.
“Everyone looks fine to you, Xing.”
Yixing wipes down the counter in front of him with his eyes searching for Yifan, spotting him taking a photo together with his two co-workers whom Yixing recognise to be Jongin and Zitao. Sure, Yifan’s body is not as defined at Zitao’s or as deliciously tanned as Jongin’s but there’s something about him that keeps Yixing’s eyes on him. Yixing raises an eyebrow when Yifan starts walking away from the group and nearly falls flat on his face when he trips over a small rock. Falling flat on your face from that height would not be a pretty sight.
“Did you hear?” Baekhyun interrupts Yixing’s observation.
“What?”
“They finished working on the Battlestar Galactica and staff are invited to try it out tonight after the park closes. We should go,” Baekhyun suggests, clearly excited and already jumping up and down on the balls of his feet.
“Sure,” Yixing agrees and at the back of his mind, he wonders if Yifan would be there.
Yifan does turn up. Yixing sees him when he walks into the Sci-Fi City section, arms linked with Baekhyun as the two walk towards the ride. Yifan’s standing alone near the entrance of the ride and Yixing tilts his head, elbowing Baekhyun in the ribs.
“Watch your elbow,” Baekhyun hisses.
“Why is Yifan alone?” Yixing asks, gaze fixed on the man.
“He probably doesn’t have any friends yet,” Baekhyun shrugs.
Chanyeol, their friend working in Far Far Away, comes up to greet them with a bucket of popcorn in his hands. Baekhyun attempts to swipe some but Chanyeol’s quick to turn his body away from Baekhyun’s grabby hands. Nobody touches Chanyeol’s popcorn.
Yixing walks away from the squabbling pair and heads towards where Yifan is, only to stop in his tracks when Jongin and Zitao appear out of nowhere and drag Yifan away by both arms. At least he’s getting along with his co-workers although Yixing knows that Jongin and Zitao aren’t exactly difficult to be with. Yixing scratches the back of his neck as he waits for Baekhyun and Chanyeol to stop behaving like kids before the three of them walk into the entrance of the Battlestar Galactica together.
There aren’t many of them that gather and it’s probably because they’re still afraid to try out the newly-repaired roller coaster that’s the tallest in the entire world. Yixing’s not afraid. He loves the thrill and the feeling he gets when the air brushes past him as he moves at a speed he would never be able to reach anywhere else. Most don’t like the feeling of their souls leaving their body as they drop from the highest point but Yixing loves it. He loves the twists and turns and he loves being able to scream his lungs out.
He drags Baekhyun over to the Cylon track and insists on sitting in the front row. Yixing’s been on the Cylon track before and he prefers it over the Human. Their legs are dangling and there are many turns waiting for them and Yixing looks forward to it.
“I’m going to die,” Baekhyun squeaks.
“You’re the one who asked me to come in the first place,” Yixing grins.
Baekhyun’s about to open his mouth to retort when he stops and looks beyond Yixing’s shoulder. Yixing turns and his jaw drops slightly when it’s Yifan that is standing next to him.
“I hope you don’t mind. They specifically asked me to sit in the front row. Something about height,” Yifan mumbles but Yixing catches it anyway.
Yixing shakes his head and smiles up at Yifan, who doesn’t even smile back as he sits down. He frowns and Baekhyun shrugs and mouths an I told you so when Yixing looks at him, puzzled. He brushes it off when the staff in charge announce that the ride's going to start after they've double checked that everyone is safely fastened to their seats.
"Here we go!"
Yixing hears a high-pitched squeak coming from his left that's too familiar to be anyone but Baekhyun and he lets out a whoop at both Baekhyun's misery and the roller coaster car that's picking up in speed. They're at the peak and plunging down, screams filling the air and Yixing feels great with the wind messing up his hair and he throws his arms up, letting out another loud shout.
In the middle of the corkscrew turn, Yixing looks to his right and sees Yifan with his eyes shut and hands going white with the way he's tightly gripping onto the belt that's holding his upper body down. His lips are tightly sealed and he looks so afraid that Yixing automatically reaches his hand out to place it over Yifan's and give it a reassuring squeeze. Yifan doesn't open his eyes but his fingers squeeze around Yixing's palm. There's the tiniest smile playing on Yifan's lips and Yixing catches a glimpse of it before they go down in a five-metre deep hole with artificial fog and the smile is gone.
The ride comes to an end too fast for Yixing's liking. His bottom lip juts out in a small pout and Baekhyun scowls at him, legs having trouble keeping himself up. Yixing decides to be a good friend and puts an arm around his shoulders to guide him towards the exit. He throws a look behind his shoulders and sees Yifan right behind him.
"Um, thank you," Yifan starts. "For just now, even though you didn't have to."
"No problem," Yixing smiles.
Yixing expects to see the tiny smile he saw before but all he gets is a slight nod of the head before Yifan walks past him hurriedly. He frowns as his eyes follow Yifan's movement, eyebrows pulled together.
“I told you it’s no use,” Baekhyun comments.
Yixing ignores Baekhyun’s harsh remark and makes a mental note to try get closer to Yifan.
After his shift the next day, Yixing makes cotton candy for himself while ignoring the jabs Baekhyun is giving him. He’s been observing Yifan when there are no kids in front of him screaming for cotton candy and has come to a conclusion that Yifan needs to learn how to smile and socialise. He looks awkward when taking pictures with tourists and he scares children off without even trying. The eyebrows do everything for him.
Yixing wanders over the start of the queue for The Revenge of The Mummy, his favourite roller coaster in the entire park. He’s not there for the ride, however. He’s there to talk to Jongdae, the staff in charge, and waste time while waiting for Yifan to go on break. He knows Yifan will have his break soon because he not-so-secretly checked his schedule in the office earlier that morning.
“Hey, Xing,” Jongdae greets when he sees Yixing walking over.
“Hi.”
Jongdae leans over to pinch a bit of Yixing’s cotton candy and Yixing doesn’t have enough time to move it away. He glares at Jongdae playfully when he reaches over again but Jongdae only sticks out his tongue before tearing off another handful.
“Why are you not going home yet?”
Yixing chooses not to answer when he spots the man he’s looking for walk in his direction. The gold from Yifan’s gold and blue striped headdress shines as he walks under the hot sun, the intricate red and blue pattern of his gold collar also catching light. Yixing’s eyes trail down to his bare torso and while Yifan doesn’t have much of a defined body, he can still see the light lines of his abs and the v-shape of his hips as it disappears into his gold wrap skirt. Yifan looks unstable on his stilts and Yixing stifles a laugh when Yifan nearly trips over his own feet but manages to stand up right again while looking around sheepishly. He freezes when he spots Yixing looking at him and Yixing instinctively raises his hand up for a wave. Yifan stares for a moment before walking away towards the break room.
“So you have the hots for Yifan?”
Yixing jumps when Jongdae talks in his ear, the latter cackling at Yixing’s reaction. He then shrugs and starts to walk in the same direction Yifan did just before but Jongdae pulls at his shirt from behind to keep him in place. He turns and sees Jongdae looking at him with a knowing smirk on his face.
“What?”
“So you have the hots for him,” Jongdae states, not even bothering to add the question mark at the back.
“No, I’m just being friendly.”
“I didn’t get cotton candy when I first started here,” Jongdae whines.
Yixing offers to make him one as a belated welcome gift to the theme park at which Jongdae scowls and hits his arm because he did not need Yixing’s dry sarcasm to rub more salt into his wound. Jongdae, however, turns the frown upside down when he spots Yifan walking out from the back, this time on his own two feet and looking more stable than when he was on the stilts.
“Your lover boy is here,” Jongdae nudges Yixing in his side while greeting tourists.
“Shut up,” Yixing shoots back but walks towards Yifan anyway.
He doesn’t need to turn back to know that Jongdae is watching him go with that same annoying smirk on his face.
“Hi,” Yixing greets when he reaches Yifan, reaching up to tap on his shoulder.
Yifan turns around and his eyes widen when he finds Yixing standing in front of him with a wide toothy smile on his face and cotton candy in his hand. He doesn’t understand why anyone would talk to him. It’s never happened before. Sure, he and Yixing have met and have exchanged a few words but he really doesn’t expect anything else. It’s a big surprise for him to have Yixing looking at him like that.
“Hi?”
“I’m Yixing,” Yixing introduces himself with the same smile on his face, sticking his hand out for a handshake.
“Yifan.”
Yifan nods with a slight smile on his lips, but keeps his hand to himself. Yixing frowns, and then takes Yifan’s right hand in his own, forcing them to shake hands.
“That’s better,” Yixing smiles, letting go of Yifan’s hand that feels unbelievably huge in his own.
Yifan keeps quiet and stares down at his hand. It felt warm when Yixing held it. He’s never felt that kind of warmth before as he kept mostly to himself and he hardly ever has physical contact with anybody else unless it was his mother. The size difference of their hands was quite nice, too.
“I brought you something,” Yixing says.
Yifan snaps out of his own thoughts and stares at Yixing, who holds out the cotton candy he has in his hand. Yifan furrows his eyebrows at the sugary treat. He’s tried it once but he never really liked it.
“No thanks, you can have it.”
“Come on, I made this especially for you as a welcome gift,” Yixing insists.
“I appreciate the gesture, but cotton candy isn’t really my style,” Yifan tries.
“Your style?”
Yifan opens his mouth to correct himself but he finds himself with the pink floss in his mouth, Yixing’s fingers brushing against his lips as he forces the treat inside. It melts immediately and Yifan inwardly cringes at sweetness that’s invading his mouth. He would have spit it out if it wasn’t for Yixing’s hopeful look.
“Nice, right?”
“I guess,” Yifan shrugs, still disliking the taste. He figures he shouldn’t hurt his co-worker’s feelings.
Yixing hands him the rest of the treat, or rather, he forces it. Yifan takes it with an awkward bow of his head, turning to walk away when Yixing stops him with a statement.
“We should hang out with the rest one day.”
Yifan turns his head back briefly but doesn’t reply, quickly moving off. He walks until Yixing is out of sight which is difficult seeing how the park is huge and mostly open space. He ends up walking to another section of the park. He had originally wanted to grab a drink from the push cart stall in his own section because he’s been craving for the frozen cola slushie, but he settles for a bottle of Coke instead.
He walks around until his break is almost up and then makes his way back to his break room to change into his outfit and stilts. Yifan doesn’t know why they put him on stilts. He’s already tall enough anyway. He isn’t complaining however. He enjoys it sometimes, and the money is good.
Yifan looks down at the cotton candy in his hand. It’s pink and looks really fluffy and he doesn’t know where to place it. He could give it to Jongdae but he’s seen Yixing talking to Jongdae and they seem quite close. He doesn’t want Jongdae to tell on him.
By the time he has to go out and walk around again, the cotton candy is gone and the taste of sugar lingers in his mouth.
The next time Yixing sees Yifan, he’s walking around on stilts and taking photos with a group of tourists. Jongdae’s nearby, manning the entrance of the rollercoaster and looking bored because there’s no queue. The electronic board states a five-minute waiting time but Yixing is sure no waiting is required.
“Sup,” Jongdae greets when Yixing walks over.
Yixing says nothing and hands over to Jongdae blue cotton candy with a smile because he had remembered Jongdae complaining about getting none. Jongdae perks up and snatches it from Yixing’s hand, immediately devouring it and getting sugar all around his lips. Yixing pays no attention and chooses to use his eyes to follow Yifan’s movements from afar. He’s walking around and trying to scare others which is turning out to be effective because the young children look horrified.
“I swear it’s just his face and not the stilts,” Jongdae comments.
“Have you been talking to Baekhyun?”
“Yeah,” Jongdae answers.
Yixing snorts and shakes his head. He doesn’t get what’s so bad about Yifan’s face. He looks perfectly fine to him.
“Do you want to know something about him?” Jongdae asks, a smirk on his face.
Yixing raises his eyebrow and Jongdae takes it as a yes, immediately bounding up to Yifan who’s just finished posing for a photo with a group of squealing teenage girls. Jongdae sneaks up from behind, turning back to look at Yixing who’s watching from his spot and puts his finger on his lips before he tiptoes and reaches a hand up, using two fingers to poke at Yifan’s side near his waist.
The reaction is immediate.
Yifan jumps up with a howl and uses both his hands to cover the spot Jongdae just assaulted, face horrified when he looks behind him to see Jongdae cackling and running away towards Yixing. Yixing is amused, crossing his arms and trying to keep his laughter in. He’s also intrigued by the big reaction Yifan just showed and he makes a mental promise to try it himself another day. He’s pretty sure Yifan will be on the lookout for unsuspecting fingers digging into his sides for the rest of the day.
“What was that?” Yixing asks when Jongdae reaches him, still giggling.
“Yifan is ticklish there. I accidentally found out one day when my arm brushed against it,” Jongdae laughs.
Yixing files this piece of information at the back of his mind and decides that he must really try it one day.
The day comes the next week when Yixing is walking around during his break and he spots Yifan posing for yet another photo. Yixing wonders if taking photos is all Yifan needs to do in that outfit which gives him quite a nice view.
He looks around and deems it safe to approach Yifan when he sees Baekhyun still by their station and Jongdae busy telling those in the rollercoaster queue that they need to keep their belongings in the lockers provided when they insist on having their belongings with them on the ride.
Yifan is walking away and Yixing quickly catches up, walking briskly on his toes and trying not to make a sound. He comes up behind Yifan and reaches two fingers up to stroke at the same spot Jongdae poked at.
The reaction is disappointing.
Yifan doesn’t howl or scream. Instead, he outwardly shivers and looks down at Yixing with widened eyes before he jerks away from Yixing’s touch. Yixing frowns because he expected a bigger reaction. He keeps stroking at the same spot, ignoring Yifan’s large hands that are trying to shove his away. He keeps his eyes trained on the other’s face, determined to get a larger reaction. He doesn’t understand why Yifan isn’t shrieking and running away.
“S-stop that,” Yifan stutters, trying to get away from Yixing’s fingers.
Yixing disregards Yifan’s words and persist, eyebrows furrowing with every stroke and his other hand coming up to grab at Yifan’s waist because he won’t stop moving.
“Why aren’t you screaming?” Yixing asks, half annoyed and half confused. This isn’t fun anymore.
“I wonder why,” Kris answers, plucking Yixing’s hands off his body and taking a few steps back.
Yixing finally gets the hint and stops, tilting his head up to peer at Yifan’s face. He examines it as closely as possible, not that he can do it very closely because Yifan is still on stilts and so much taller than him. Yifan has thick eyebrows, which is mostly always pulled together and Yixing assumes that’s why Baekhyun and Jongdae think there’s something wrong with his face. Yixing thinks he’s handsome. Strikingly so.
Yifan has very nice brown eyes with double eyelids and a sharp nose with a small mouth and kind of thick lips. He has smooth-looking skin that Yixing wishes he can touch and he probably could if Yifan was shorter.
“You cannot touch my face,” Yifan says suddenly, bringing Yixing out of his thoughts.
Yixing looks at his arm that’s stretched out towards Yifan’s face and sheepishly brings it down to his side.
“You have very nice skin.”
“Thank you,” Kris answers and for once, he looks smug and Yixing wants to wipe that smirk off his face because it makes him look infinitely more handsome.
“Mine’s nicer,” Yixing huffs, turning on his heel and walking away.
That surely left Yifan dumbfounded.
Yixing wipes down the counter after he finishes serving a small boy his green cotton candy. Baekhyun’s leaning against it and Yixing pushes his butt away, giggling when Baekhyun loses his balance and nearly falls over.
“Very funny,” Baekhyun scowls.
Yixing only grins in reply and puts the dish cloth aside, sighing as his eyes sweep over the park compound in front of him. He freezes in his spot when he sees Yifan, in casual clothes this time, looking straight at him.
“Is he looking over here?” Yixing asks Baekhyun when the latter comes up beside him.
“Who?” Baekhyun answers, looking at Yixing’s eyes and then redirecting his gaze to the same spot. “Ah, Yifan’s been looking over a lot lately. Did you make friends with him or something?”
“Maybe?” Yixing replies, still unsure if they can be considered friends with the way they don’t talk unless Yixing is one who initiates conversation.
“I think he’s coming over here,” Baekhyun exclaims when he sees Yifan walking towards them.
Baekhyun, being the good friend he is, leaves Yixing alone and makes his way to Ancient Egypt where Jongdae is also looking in their direction. Jongdae undoubtedly is watching Yifan watch Yixing, if the silly grin on his face is anything to go by.
Yixing locks his eyes with Yifan’s when the latter stops in front of him and leans in with narrowed eyes. Yixing honestly doesn’t know what Yifan is staring at so he keeps his mouth shut instead of saying something witty.
“Your skin’s not nicer than mine.”
Well, that was unexpected.
“I’m sorry, what?” Yixing blinks.
“Your skin,” Yifan starts, starting to pull his eyebrows in together again. “Mine’s obviously better. You have a pimple on your forehead and your nose is oily.”
Yixing stares at Yifan’s face after he’s done criticising Yixing’s skin which he never really takes care of. He knows Yifan has a better complexion. The guy probably spends thirty minutes every night applying product after product to keep his skin hydrated and healthy.
“I know,” Yixing shrugs.
Yifan pulls back at this, expression morphing into one of surprise from one of scrutiny. Yixing laughs at the sudden change and shoves a handful of cotton candy into Yifan’s mouth when he opens it because he knows what’s coming.
“You looked too good with that smirk on your face so I wanted to wipe it off,” Yixing explains nonchalantly, leaving Yifan stunned. “You look good all the time but with that smirk on your face, wow.”
“Is that a compliment?” Yifan manages to mumble out.
“Yes,” Yixing agrees without hesitation. “Look at you, you look good even when you’re in jeans and a shirt.”
Yixing gestures towards Yifan’s outfit and Yifan looks down at himself. A pair of jeans and a shirt is considered normal for him. He wasn’t even trying when he put them on earlier that morning so he’s surprised Yixing’s impressed with his simple outfit but it somehow makes him want to impress him more.
“This is considered basic for me. I haven’t even dressed up yet,” Yifan boasts.
Yixing forces another bit of cotton candy into Yifan’s mouth and rolls his eyes.
Yixing finds himself looking around for Yifan whenever he knows they’re doing the same shift. When their eyes meet, Yixing looks away because he’s embarrassed that he was caught staring. Yixing always looks away first and he always misses the look on Yifan’s face afterwards.
“You like him,” Baekhyun states rather than question one day when they’re closing up.
“Who?” Yixing asks, focusing on getting the containers of sugar back in their proper places.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Zhang Yixing.”
Yixing keeps quiet as he busies himself with making sure all the equipment are shut off and already cleaned.
“You’re ignoring me, so I’m right,” Baekhyun continues, arms crossed with a smug smile on his face.
“Yeah,” Yixing replies absentmindedly.
He’s grabbed by the shoulders and turned around to lean against the counter, Baekhyun looking at him with the same shit-eating grin that Yixing has grown to like.
Except now he hates it because he knows Baekhyun knows.
Yixing can’t even fight Baekhyun and say it’s not true because he himself knows it is. It’s obvious in the way his heart skips a beat when his eyes land on Yifan’s figure, near or far, front or back. It’s obvious in the way he thinks about him outside of work, when he’s cooking at home or doing his laundry. It’s obvious in the way that he has absolutely ridiculous scenarios of him and Yifan playing in his head all day long. Yifan has completely invaded his thoughts and no matter how hard he tries to push him out, Yifan stays.
“Why?” Baekhyun inquires, genuinely curious.
Yixing doesn’t know why. Maybe it happened after their little exchanges like Yixing forcing cotton candy down Yifan’s throat or when he had grabbed Yifan’s hand to comfort him on the rollercoaster. Maybe it happened after that time when Yixing had stroked his side and got a rather lukewarm reaction from Yifan (or so he thinks). Maybe it happened after Yifan had become comfortable enough around him to joke around. Yixing doesn’t know exactly when, why or how, but what he knows is that he has developed feelings for the taller man.
“I don’t know,” Yixing replies. “But it doesn’t matter, does it? We’re only friends.”
Yixing flashes Baekhyun a small smile but Baekhyun isn’t fooled. All he does is grab Yixing’s hand and pats it with his own, holding on tight and offering him a reassuring smile.
Whenever Yixing sees Yifan now, he smiles. Yifan always returns it and he looks glad but Yixing tells himself not to assume. They hang out a lot more during breaks and after work, sometimes going into Far Far Away to make fun of Chanyeol in the ridiculous work uniform and other times grabbing slushies and walking around the park, sharing secrets and exchanging stories. Occasionally when Yixing’s the only one on break, he goes to Ancient Egypt and pokes at Yifan’s ticklish spot which always leaves him flustered and speechless. Yixing has yet to know why because Yifan refuses to tell him even though he’s asked many times, but they chat about anything and everything else and Yixing’s glad they’ve gotten closer.
It’s a Saturday and the park is horribly crowded with queues for the rides going up to 90 minutes of waiting time. Yixing and Baekhyun are busy, little kids holding their parents’ hands and dragging them over to force them to buy some cotton candy. The machine has been working non-stop all day and Baekhyun’s clearly tired but he hasn’t complained and Yixing’s grateful.
They don’t stop working until it’s time for the parade that always takes place at the end of the day. It was nine hours of work with few breaks in between and Yixing’s feet are sore from standing around all day. His hands are covered in sugar which he scrubs off. His apron is sticky and he quickly takes that off too, folding it up to bring it home to wash. Baekhyun is sitting by the fan and wiping off his perspiration and he lets out occasional sighs and whines of how tired he is.
“This happens every weekend. Get used to it,” Yixing teases, kicking Baekhyun’s feet.
“Never,” Baekhyun whines.
Yixing chuckles and pushes Baekhyun’s head lightly with two of his fingers, turning around when he hears a cough from behind him.
“Help me,” Yifan pleads as he looks right at Yixing, a child by his side.
Yifan is still in his outfit and all the gear, except without the stilts. He’s panting and looks like he ran over to Yixing with the child. The boy looks terrified and Yixing’s heart warms. He bends down to get to eye level with the small boy, offering him an assuring smile as he sticks his hand out.
“Hi, I’m Yixing. You can call me Xing,” he introduces himself.
The boy examines Yixing’s face, sucking on his thumb and still looking lost and confused. Yixing knows for sure he’s lost and they need to find his motherbut it’s better for the boy to know that who he’s with is completely harmless.
“This tall man over here is Yifan. You can call him Fanfan, if you like,” Yixing continues.
Yifan makes a noise of disapproval but Yixing shuts him up with one look and he gives in.
“What’s your name, kiddo?” Yixing asks, hand still sticking out.
“Sehun,” the boy answers after a few minutes of hesitation, taking his thumb out of his mouth to shake Yixing’s hand.
He isn’t bothered by the saliva on his hand but the look on Yifan’s face lets him know that he would have been bothered if it was him shaking Sehun’s tiny hand.
“And how old are you?”
“Five!” Sehun answers, holding up a hand with his fingers spread out.
“Sehun, let’s go find mommy,” Yixing smiles, taking Sehun’s hand in his after he stands up.
“Daddy,” Sehun rectifies.
“Okay, let’s go find daddy,” Yixing corrects himself too as he walks forward, Sehun on his right and Yifan on his left. He looks behind and Baekhyun gives him a thumbs up with a sly grin and Yixing knows he can trust Baekhyun to close up properly.
“Is Fanfan going to follow? He scares me. His face scares me,” Sehun pouts as he looks up at Yixing, leaning closer to his leg and resting his head on Yixing’s thigh. He genuinely looks scared and Yixing ignores the snicker behind him.
“Fanfan is harmless, you see,” Yixing explains as he swipes a finger across Yifan’s cheek. “It’s all makeup,” Yixing shows Sehun the fingertip that’s covered with bronzer.
Yifan squirms because Yixing’s finger is wet and he knows that it’s because of Sehun’s saliva. Yixing knows that Yifan knows and there’s a playful grin playing on his lips when he looks up at Yifan after reassuring Sehun that Yifan is harmless. Yifan smiles back, his arm going up but he stops himself and pulls it back. Yixing convinces himself that Yifan wasn’t going to do anything and that there’s no reason to be disappointed.
There’s a tug on Yixing’s shirt and he looks down at Sehun, grabbing his hand tight and walking towards the main office at the entrance of the park. Yifan walks beside him, looking calm but Yixing knows he’s worried.
“What is your daddy like?” Yixing asks Sehun, trying to keep him occupied.
“He’s handsome,” Sehun starts. “He’s rich. He always buys me all the toys I want. He’s the best daddy ever!”
Yixing giggles at Sehun’s excitement and spares a glance to his left to see Yifan smiling to himself. Yixing allows himself to intertwine his fingers with Yifan’s, grinning at the taller man when he looks down at their interlocked hands and then at Yixing’s face. There’s a blank expression on his face and Yixing thinks that maybe he’s made a wrong move, but then Yifan squeezes his hand and he knows everything’s alright.
“Look, such a cute family,” someone coos from beside them.
Yixing looks over to see a pair of girls looking at them and giggling to themselves. He tilts his head down, secretly pleased that they’re giving out the family image even though Sehun isn’t their son.
Nor is Yifan his significant other.
Yixing reminds himself not to go overboard and that holding hands may not mean anything.
“That’s my daddy!” Sehun shouts, letting go of Yixing’s hand and Yixing’s shocked, running after Sehun as the young boy runs towards a well-dressed man who looks rather young.
“Sehun,” the man says, relieved. “I was so worried!”
Yixing and Yifan stand nearby awkwardly as the man envelopes Sehun in a hug, carrying him up and letting Sehun wrap his legs around his waist for a bit before putting him down and planting kisses all over his face.
“Thank you so much,” the man approaches him with Sehun holding onto his hand and beaming up at them.
“No problem,” Yixing nods.
“There must be a way I can repay you for bringing my son back to me,” the man offers, eyes shifting from Yixing’s face to Yifan’s as he reaches into his pocket and brings out a card holder. “Here’s my name card.”
Yixing takes it and the card reads Kim Joonmyun, wedding planner. Oh.
“Call me if the two of you are getting married. I’ll do it for free,” Joonmyun smiles and waves goodbye as he takes steps backwards.
“Bye Xingxing! Bye Fanfan!” Sehun calls out as he disappears into the crowd, hand waving excitedly and a broad smile on his face.
“Uh,” Yifan starts. “That was amusing.”
Yixing doesn’t say anything and pockets the name card. He intends to keep it but he doesn’t intend to use it. He looks at Yifan and shrugs, turning around and making his way back to where he’s sure Baekhyun is waiting by their station. He’s jerked back by the arm as Yifan wraps his large hand around it, stopping Yixing in his tracks. Yifan takes a step forward and stands in front of him, gazing down at Yixing with sincerity clearly portrayed in his eyes and it makes Yixing feels things.
“What was that?” Yifan asks.
“What was what?”
“The hand thing,” Yifan tries, looking unsure and Yixing swears there’s a hint of red staining his cheeks.
“Holding hands?” Yixing answers.
“Yeah.”
Yixing looks around to see that they’re surrounded by tourists and large groups of people slowly exiting the park after the parade. He grabs Yifan by the hand and wordlessly leads the both of them back to Yixing’s station where Baekhyun is waiting, but Baekhyun gets the hint and goes away to find Jongdae when he sees the interlocked hands. He sends a subtle wink Yixing’s way and Yixing’s relieved he has his friend’s support.
“Yixing?” Yifan questions when they’re alone.
“I’m sorry if you didn’t like me holding your hand,” Yixing apologises.
“It’s not-”
“I don’t know if it was just me but I felt things,” Yixing starts, taking a deep breath. “Funny kind of things. Like there are stuff flying in my stomach whenever I am around you and my heart does this funny thing where it skips a beat, I don’t know.”
“It’s not just you.”
Yixing tilts his head up in surprise when Yifan mutters those words. Yixing stays in his spot when Yifan brings his hand up to rest on Yixing’s cheek, thumb stroking the soft skin.
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Why can’t you understand? I like you,” Yifan states in a firm voice, looking directly into Yixing’s eyes.
Yixing isn’t given any time to react because Yifan is leaning in and placing his lips over his. Yifan’s hand cradles his jaw as Yifan presses into Yixing, soft lips meeting. Yixing lets Yifan lead him as they kiss with him mirroring whatever Yifan is doing. It’s messy and uncoordinated but Yixing wouldn’t have their first kiss any other way.
“Maybe some time in the future, when we’re sure, we can use that,” Yifan says after pulling away, fingers tapping at the card in Yixing’s pants through the fabric, silly wide grin on his face.
“Maybe, but now we need to get you changed,” Yixing giggles, hand running down Yifan’s torso.
His fingers stroke at Yifan’s ticklish spot and Yifan pulls Yixing in by the waist.
“Do you want to know why I didn’t scream?” Yifan says into Yixing’s ear, sending shivers down Yixing’s spine.
“Why?”
“When Jongdae did it, it was ticklish, but when you do it, somehow I’m turned on,” Yifan’s voice gets softer at the end to a whisper and Yixing giggles, pleased that he had an effect on Yifan even before he expected it.
“Maybe I should do it more, behind closed doors.”
“I wouldn’t mind that. How about now?” Yifan suggests as he drags Yixing to the changing room.
Yixing limps around the next day and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Baekhyun and Jongdae who take turns to make Yifan turn red at every given opportunity. At the end of the day, Yixing chases them away as he waits for Yifan to finish his last photo with tourists before he goes up to him and takes his hand in his own. Yixing has to strain his neck because Yifan is still on stilts but the loving smile he gets from his new boyfriend is worth it as they walk together to the changing room, hand in hand.
For: everyone
Word count:6384
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Yixing operates a cotton candy machine and Yifan walks around on stilts.
Zhang Yixing smiles to himself in the mirror that’s hung up on the wall in the staff room, fixing his hair and smoothing out the non-existent creases on his pink and white striped shirt. Tying a white waist apron around his hips, he heads out of the room to greet the rest of his co-workers before he moves towards his station.
Yixing is fresh out of college with a degree in fine arts. Being the enthusiast that he is, he spends most of his time outside with a sketchbook and a multiliner pen in hand. He draws nearly everything he sees; from people standing on the subway to dogs playing in the park. His sketchbook is filled with sketchy doodles and ten-minute drawings, pages folding at the edges and book so well-used that its seam is starting to fall apart. Anyone who has seen Yixing drawing outside would think that he’d become a successful artist with frequent solo shows in his own gallery, so it’s really quite a wonder why he’s currently working as the guy selling cotton candy to little kids at Universal Studios.
Nevertheless, Yixing quite enjoys his job. He enjoys putting smiles on the kids’ faces when he hands them their cotton candy and he enjoys being able to observe his surroundings when there isn’t a line of customers in front of him. The perk he enjoys most, though, is that he gets to enter the compound free every single day. Sometimes he gets on the rides when some of his co-workers drag him and other times he just walks around to enjoy the view.
One of his favourite sections of the amusement park is Ancient Egypt and the feature he likes most is not any of the rides, but the well-built men barely covered in gold Egyptian gear walking on stilts. Yixing glances around and sees the men taking photos with a group of tourists, standing tall with the most serious expression they can pull. One of the men looks awkwardly new and Yixing squints from his spot not far away, trying to put a name to the face before he comes to a conclusion that the man is indeed new.
“Yixing, stop staring.”
Yixing swiftly turns his head behind to see his co-worker Baekhyun staring at him with a shit-eating grin and a knowing glint in his eyes.
“Who’s the new guy?” Yixing asks while putting sugar into the machine.
“The one with the angry eyebrows and looks pissed off all the time?”
Yixing’s eyes shift to where the new guy is and finds that Baekhyun’s right. The new guy does have furrowed eyebrows and it seems like his face is in a permanent scowl.
“Maybe it’s the heat?” Yixing tries.
“No, it’s just his face,” Baekhyun snorts. “He’s Yifan. He came in yesterday when you were off. Doesn’t seem like a friendly guy.”
Yixing hums in response, smiling at the kid in front of him as he hands over the blue cotton candy. His heart warms when the kid’s face lights up and Yixing doesn’t regret working here at all.
“I don’t even know why they hired him. His body’s not that great,” Baekhyun comments.
“Don’t be so mean. He looks fine to me,” Yixing clicks his tongue in disapproval, working on the machine.
“Everyone looks fine to you, Xing.”
Yixing wipes down the counter in front of him with his eyes searching for Yifan, spotting him taking a photo together with his two co-workers whom Yixing recognise to be Jongin and Zitao. Sure, Yifan’s body is not as defined at Zitao’s or as deliciously tanned as Jongin’s but there’s something about him that keeps Yixing’s eyes on him. Yixing raises an eyebrow when Yifan starts walking away from the group and nearly falls flat on his face when he trips over a small rock. Falling flat on your face from that height would not be a pretty sight.
“Did you hear?” Baekhyun interrupts Yixing’s observation.
“What?”
“They finished working on the Battlestar Galactica and staff are invited to try it out tonight after the park closes. We should go,” Baekhyun suggests, clearly excited and already jumping up and down on the balls of his feet.
“Sure,” Yixing agrees and at the back of his mind, he wonders if Yifan would be there.
Yifan does turn up. Yixing sees him when he walks into the Sci-Fi City section, arms linked with Baekhyun as the two walk towards the ride. Yifan’s standing alone near the entrance of the ride and Yixing tilts his head, elbowing Baekhyun in the ribs.
“Watch your elbow,” Baekhyun hisses.
“Why is Yifan alone?” Yixing asks, gaze fixed on the man.
“He probably doesn’t have any friends yet,” Baekhyun shrugs.
Chanyeol, their friend working in Far Far Away, comes up to greet them with a bucket of popcorn in his hands. Baekhyun attempts to swipe some but Chanyeol’s quick to turn his body away from Baekhyun’s grabby hands. Nobody touches Chanyeol’s popcorn.
Yixing walks away from the squabbling pair and heads towards where Yifan is, only to stop in his tracks when Jongin and Zitao appear out of nowhere and drag Yifan away by both arms. At least he’s getting along with his co-workers although Yixing knows that Jongin and Zitao aren’t exactly difficult to be with. Yixing scratches the back of his neck as he waits for Baekhyun and Chanyeol to stop behaving like kids before the three of them walk into the entrance of the Battlestar Galactica together.
There aren’t many of them that gather and it’s probably because they’re still afraid to try out the newly-repaired roller coaster that’s the tallest in the entire world. Yixing’s not afraid. He loves the thrill and the feeling he gets when the air brushes past him as he moves at a speed he would never be able to reach anywhere else. Most don’t like the feeling of their souls leaving their body as they drop from the highest point but Yixing loves it. He loves the twists and turns and he loves being able to scream his lungs out.
He drags Baekhyun over to the Cylon track and insists on sitting in the front row. Yixing’s been on the Cylon track before and he prefers it over the Human. Their legs are dangling and there are many turns waiting for them and Yixing looks forward to it.
“I’m going to die,” Baekhyun squeaks.
“You’re the one who asked me to come in the first place,” Yixing grins.
Baekhyun’s about to open his mouth to retort when he stops and looks beyond Yixing’s shoulder. Yixing turns and his jaw drops slightly when it’s Yifan that is standing next to him.
“I hope you don’t mind. They specifically asked me to sit in the front row. Something about height,” Yifan mumbles but Yixing catches it anyway.
Yixing shakes his head and smiles up at Yifan, who doesn’t even smile back as he sits down. He frowns and Baekhyun shrugs and mouths an I told you so when Yixing looks at him, puzzled. He brushes it off when the staff in charge announce that the ride's going to start after they've double checked that everyone is safely fastened to their seats.
"Here we go!"
Yixing hears a high-pitched squeak coming from his left that's too familiar to be anyone but Baekhyun and he lets out a whoop at both Baekhyun's misery and the roller coaster car that's picking up in speed. They're at the peak and plunging down, screams filling the air and Yixing feels great with the wind messing up his hair and he throws his arms up, letting out another loud shout.
In the middle of the corkscrew turn, Yixing looks to his right and sees Yifan with his eyes shut and hands going white with the way he's tightly gripping onto the belt that's holding his upper body down. His lips are tightly sealed and he looks so afraid that Yixing automatically reaches his hand out to place it over Yifan's and give it a reassuring squeeze. Yifan doesn't open his eyes but his fingers squeeze around Yixing's palm. There's the tiniest smile playing on Yifan's lips and Yixing catches a glimpse of it before they go down in a five-metre deep hole with artificial fog and the smile is gone.
The ride comes to an end too fast for Yixing's liking. His bottom lip juts out in a small pout and Baekhyun scowls at him, legs having trouble keeping himself up. Yixing decides to be a good friend and puts an arm around his shoulders to guide him towards the exit. He throws a look behind his shoulders and sees Yifan right behind him.
"Um, thank you," Yifan starts. "For just now, even though you didn't have to."
"No problem," Yixing smiles.
Yixing expects to see the tiny smile he saw before but all he gets is a slight nod of the head before Yifan walks past him hurriedly. He frowns as his eyes follow Yifan's movement, eyebrows pulled together.
“I told you it’s no use,” Baekhyun comments.
Yixing ignores Baekhyun’s harsh remark and makes a mental note to try get closer to Yifan.
After his shift the next day, Yixing makes cotton candy for himself while ignoring the jabs Baekhyun is giving him. He’s been observing Yifan when there are no kids in front of him screaming for cotton candy and has come to a conclusion that Yifan needs to learn how to smile and socialise. He looks awkward when taking pictures with tourists and he scares children off without even trying. The eyebrows do everything for him.
Yixing wanders over the start of the queue for The Revenge of The Mummy, his favourite roller coaster in the entire park. He’s not there for the ride, however. He’s there to talk to Jongdae, the staff in charge, and waste time while waiting for Yifan to go on break. He knows Yifan will have his break soon because he not-so-secretly checked his schedule in the office earlier that morning.
“Hey, Xing,” Jongdae greets when he sees Yixing walking over.
“Hi.”
Jongdae leans over to pinch a bit of Yixing’s cotton candy and Yixing doesn’t have enough time to move it away. He glares at Jongdae playfully when he reaches over again but Jongdae only sticks out his tongue before tearing off another handful.
“Why are you not going home yet?”
Yixing chooses not to answer when he spots the man he’s looking for walk in his direction. The gold from Yifan’s gold and blue striped headdress shines as he walks under the hot sun, the intricate red and blue pattern of his gold collar also catching light. Yixing’s eyes trail down to his bare torso and while Yifan doesn’t have much of a defined body, he can still see the light lines of his abs and the v-shape of his hips as it disappears into his gold wrap skirt. Yifan looks unstable on his stilts and Yixing stifles a laugh when Yifan nearly trips over his own feet but manages to stand up right again while looking around sheepishly. He freezes when he spots Yixing looking at him and Yixing instinctively raises his hand up for a wave. Yifan stares for a moment before walking away towards the break room.
“So you have the hots for Yifan?”
Yixing jumps when Jongdae talks in his ear, the latter cackling at Yixing’s reaction. He then shrugs and starts to walk in the same direction Yifan did just before but Jongdae pulls at his shirt from behind to keep him in place. He turns and sees Jongdae looking at him with a knowing smirk on his face.
“What?”
“So you have the hots for him,” Jongdae states, not even bothering to add the question mark at the back.
“No, I’m just being friendly.”
“I didn’t get cotton candy when I first started here,” Jongdae whines.
Yixing offers to make him one as a belated welcome gift to the theme park at which Jongdae scowls and hits his arm because he did not need Yixing’s dry sarcasm to rub more salt into his wound. Jongdae, however, turns the frown upside down when he spots Yifan walking out from the back, this time on his own two feet and looking more stable than when he was on the stilts.
“Your lover boy is here,” Jongdae nudges Yixing in his side while greeting tourists.
“Shut up,” Yixing shoots back but walks towards Yifan anyway.
He doesn’t need to turn back to know that Jongdae is watching him go with that same annoying smirk on his face.
“Hi,” Yixing greets when he reaches Yifan, reaching up to tap on his shoulder.
Yifan turns around and his eyes widen when he finds Yixing standing in front of him with a wide toothy smile on his face and cotton candy in his hand. He doesn’t understand why anyone would talk to him. It’s never happened before. Sure, he and Yixing have met and have exchanged a few words but he really doesn’t expect anything else. It’s a big surprise for him to have Yixing looking at him like that.
“Hi?”
“I’m Yixing,” Yixing introduces himself with the same smile on his face, sticking his hand out for a handshake.
“Yifan.”
Yifan nods with a slight smile on his lips, but keeps his hand to himself. Yixing frowns, and then takes Yifan’s right hand in his own, forcing them to shake hands.
“That’s better,” Yixing smiles, letting go of Yifan’s hand that feels unbelievably huge in his own.
Yifan keeps quiet and stares down at his hand. It felt warm when Yixing held it. He’s never felt that kind of warmth before as he kept mostly to himself and he hardly ever has physical contact with anybody else unless it was his mother. The size difference of their hands was quite nice, too.
“I brought you something,” Yixing says.
Yifan snaps out of his own thoughts and stares at Yixing, who holds out the cotton candy he has in his hand. Yifan furrows his eyebrows at the sugary treat. He’s tried it once but he never really liked it.
“No thanks, you can have it.”
“Come on, I made this especially for you as a welcome gift,” Yixing insists.
“I appreciate the gesture, but cotton candy isn’t really my style,” Yifan tries.
“Your style?”
Yifan opens his mouth to correct himself but he finds himself with the pink floss in his mouth, Yixing’s fingers brushing against his lips as he forces the treat inside. It melts immediately and Yifan inwardly cringes at sweetness that’s invading his mouth. He would have spit it out if it wasn’t for Yixing’s hopeful look.
“Nice, right?”
“I guess,” Yifan shrugs, still disliking the taste. He figures he shouldn’t hurt his co-worker’s feelings.
Yixing hands him the rest of the treat, or rather, he forces it. Yifan takes it with an awkward bow of his head, turning to walk away when Yixing stops him with a statement.
“We should hang out with the rest one day.”
Yifan turns his head back briefly but doesn’t reply, quickly moving off. He walks until Yixing is out of sight which is difficult seeing how the park is huge and mostly open space. He ends up walking to another section of the park. He had originally wanted to grab a drink from the push cart stall in his own section because he’s been craving for the frozen cola slushie, but he settles for a bottle of Coke instead.
He walks around until his break is almost up and then makes his way back to his break room to change into his outfit and stilts. Yifan doesn’t know why they put him on stilts. He’s already tall enough anyway. He isn’t complaining however. He enjoys it sometimes, and the money is good.
Yifan looks down at the cotton candy in his hand. It’s pink and looks really fluffy and he doesn’t know where to place it. He could give it to Jongdae but he’s seen Yixing talking to Jongdae and they seem quite close. He doesn’t want Jongdae to tell on him.
By the time he has to go out and walk around again, the cotton candy is gone and the taste of sugar lingers in his mouth.
The next time Yixing sees Yifan, he’s walking around on stilts and taking photos with a group of tourists. Jongdae’s nearby, manning the entrance of the rollercoaster and looking bored because there’s no queue. The electronic board states a five-minute waiting time but Yixing is sure no waiting is required.
“Sup,” Jongdae greets when Yixing walks over.
Yixing says nothing and hands over to Jongdae blue cotton candy with a smile because he had remembered Jongdae complaining about getting none. Jongdae perks up and snatches it from Yixing’s hand, immediately devouring it and getting sugar all around his lips. Yixing pays no attention and chooses to use his eyes to follow Yifan’s movements from afar. He’s walking around and trying to scare others which is turning out to be effective because the young children look horrified.
“I swear it’s just his face and not the stilts,” Jongdae comments.
“Have you been talking to Baekhyun?”
“Yeah,” Jongdae answers.
Yixing snorts and shakes his head. He doesn’t get what’s so bad about Yifan’s face. He looks perfectly fine to him.
“Do you want to know something about him?” Jongdae asks, a smirk on his face.
Yixing raises his eyebrow and Jongdae takes it as a yes, immediately bounding up to Yifan who’s just finished posing for a photo with a group of squealing teenage girls. Jongdae sneaks up from behind, turning back to look at Yixing who’s watching from his spot and puts his finger on his lips before he tiptoes and reaches a hand up, using two fingers to poke at Yifan’s side near his waist.
The reaction is immediate.
Yifan jumps up with a howl and uses both his hands to cover the spot Jongdae just assaulted, face horrified when he looks behind him to see Jongdae cackling and running away towards Yixing. Yixing is amused, crossing his arms and trying to keep his laughter in. He’s also intrigued by the big reaction Yifan just showed and he makes a mental promise to try it himself another day. He’s pretty sure Yifan will be on the lookout for unsuspecting fingers digging into his sides for the rest of the day.
“What was that?” Yixing asks when Jongdae reaches him, still giggling.
“Yifan is ticklish there. I accidentally found out one day when my arm brushed against it,” Jongdae laughs.
Yixing files this piece of information at the back of his mind and decides that he must really try it one day.
The day comes the next week when Yixing is walking around during his break and he spots Yifan posing for yet another photo. Yixing wonders if taking photos is all Yifan needs to do in that outfit which gives him quite a nice view.
He looks around and deems it safe to approach Yifan when he sees Baekhyun still by their station and Jongdae busy telling those in the rollercoaster queue that they need to keep their belongings in the lockers provided when they insist on having their belongings with them on the ride.
Yifan is walking away and Yixing quickly catches up, walking briskly on his toes and trying not to make a sound. He comes up behind Yifan and reaches two fingers up to stroke at the same spot Jongdae poked at.
The reaction is disappointing.
Yifan doesn’t howl or scream. Instead, he outwardly shivers and looks down at Yixing with widened eyes before he jerks away from Yixing’s touch. Yixing frowns because he expected a bigger reaction. He keeps stroking at the same spot, ignoring Yifan’s large hands that are trying to shove his away. He keeps his eyes trained on the other’s face, determined to get a larger reaction. He doesn’t understand why Yifan isn’t shrieking and running away.
“S-stop that,” Yifan stutters, trying to get away from Yixing’s fingers.
Yixing disregards Yifan’s words and persist, eyebrows furrowing with every stroke and his other hand coming up to grab at Yifan’s waist because he won’t stop moving.
“Why aren’t you screaming?” Yixing asks, half annoyed and half confused. This isn’t fun anymore.
“I wonder why,” Kris answers, plucking Yixing’s hands off his body and taking a few steps back.
Yixing finally gets the hint and stops, tilting his head up to peer at Yifan’s face. He examines it as closely as possible, not that he can do it very closely because Yifan is still on stilts and so much taller than him. Yifan has thick eyebrows, which is mostly always pulled together and Yixing assumes that’s why Baekhyun and Jongdae think there’s something wrong with his face. Yixing thinks he’s handsome. Strikingly so.
Yifan has very nice brown eyes with double eyelids and a sharp nose with a small mouth and kind of thick lips. He has smooth-looking skin that Yixing wishes he can touch and he probably could if Yifan was shorter.
“You cannot touch my face,” Yifan says suddenly, bringing Yixing out of his thoughts.
Yixing looks at his arm that’s stretched out towards Yifan’s face and sheepishly brings it down to his side.
“You have very nice skin.”
“Thank you,” Kris answers and for once, he looks smug and Yixing wants to wipe that smirk off his face because it makes him look infinitely more handsome.
“Mine’s nicer,” Yixing huffs, turning on his heel and walking away.
That surely left Yifan dumbfounded.
Yixing wipes down the counter after he finishes serving a small boy his green cotton candy. Baekhyun’s leaning against it and Yixing pushes his butt away, giggling when Baekhyun loses his balance and nearly falls over.
“Very funny,” Baekhyun scowls.
Yixing only grins in reply and puts the dish cloth aside, sighing as his eyes sweep over the park compound in front of him. He freezes in his spot when he sees Yifan, in casual clothes this time, looking straight at him.
“Is he looking over here?” Yixing asks Baekhyun when the latter comes up beside him.
“Who?” Baekhyun answers, looking at Yixing’s eyes and then redirecting his gaze to the same spot. “Ah, Yifan’s been looking over a lot lately. Did you make friends with him or something?”
“Maybe?” Yixing replies, still unsure if they can be considered friends with the way they don’t talk unless Yixing is one who initiates conversation.
“I think he’s coming over here,” Baekhyun exclaims when he sees Yifan walking towards them.
Baekhyun, being the good friend he is, leaves Yixing alone and makes his way to Ancient Egypt where Jongdae is also looking in their direction. Jongdae undoubtedly is watching Yifan watch Yixing, if the silly grin on his face is anything to go by.
Yixing locks his eyes with Yifan’s when the latter stops in front of him and leans in with narrowed eyes. Yixing honestly doesn’t know what Yifan is staring at so he keeps his mouth shut instead of saying something witty.
“Your skin’s not nicer than mine.”
Well, that was unexpected.
“I’m sorry, what?” Yixing blinks.
“Your skin,” Yifan starts, starting to pull his eyebrows in together again. “Mine’s obviously better. You have a pimple on your forehead and your nose is oily.”
Yixing stares at Yifan’s face after he’s done criticising Yixing’s skin which he never really takes care of. He knows Yifan has a better complexion. The guy probably spends thirty minutes every night applying product after product to keep his skin hydrated and healthy.
“I know,” Yixing shrugs.
Yifan pulls back at this, expression morphing into one of surprise from one of scrutiny. Yixing laughs at the sudden change and shoves a handful of cotton candy into Yifan’s mouth when he opens it because he knows what’s coming.
“You looked too good with that smirk on your face so I wanted to wipe it off,” Yixing explains nonchalantly, leaving Yifan stunned. “You look good all the time but with that smirk on your face, wow.”
“Is that a compliment?” Yifan manages to mumble out.
“Yes,” Yixing agrees without hesitation. “Look at you, you look good even when you’re in jeans and a shirt.”
Yixing gestures towards Yifan’s outfit and Yifan looks down at himself. A pair of jeans and a shirt is considered normal for him. He wasn’t even trying when he put them on earlier that morning so he’s surprised Yixing’s impressed with his simple outfit but it somehow makes him want to impress him more.
“This is considered basic for me. I haven’t even dressed up yet,” Yifan boasts.
Yixing forces another bit of cotton candy into Yifan’s mouth and rolls his eyes.
Yixing finds himself looking around for Yifan whenever he knows they’re doing the same shift. When their eyes meet, Yixing looks away because he’s embarrassed that he was caught staring. Yixing always looks away first and he always misses the look on Yifan’s face afterwards.
“You like him,” Baekhyun states rather than question one day when they’re closing up.
“Who?” Yixing asks, focusing on getting the containers of sugar back in their proper places.
“Don’t play dumb with me, Zhang Yixing.”
Yixing keeps quiet as he busies himself with making sure all the equipment are shut off and already cleaned.
“You’re ignoring me, so I’m right,” Baekhyun continues, arms crossed with a smug smile on his face.
“Yeah,” Yixing replies absentmindedly.
He’s grabbed by the shoulders and turned around to lean against the counter, Baekhyun looking at him with the same shit-eating grin that Yixing has grown to like.
Except now he hates it because he knows Baekhyun knows.
Yixing can’t even fight Baekhyun and say it’s not true because he himself knows it is. It’s obvious in the way his heart skips a beat when his eyes land on Yifan’s figure, near or far, front or back. It’s obvious in the way he thinks about him outside of work, when he’s cooking at home or doing his laundry. It’s obvious in the way that he has absolutely ridiculous scenarios of him and Yifan playing in his head all day long. Yifan has completely invaded his thoughts and no matter how hard he tries to push him out, Yifan stays.
“Why?” Baekhyun inquires, genuinely curious.
Yixing doesn’t know why. Maybe it happened after their little exchanges like Yixing forcing cotton candy down Yifan’s throat or when he had grabbed Yifan’s hand to comfort him on the rollercoaster. Maybe it happened after that time when Yixing had stroked his side and got a rather lukewarm reaction from Yifan (or so he thinks). Maybe it happened after Yifan had become comfortable enough around him to joke around. Yixing doesn’t know exactly when, why or how, but what he knows is that he has developed feelings for the taller man.
“I don’t know,” Yixing replies. “But it doesn’t matter, does it? We’re only friends.”
Yixing flashes Baekhyun a small smile but Baekhyun isn’t fooled. All he does is grab Yixing’s hand and pats it with his own, holding on tight and offering him a reassuring smile.
Whenever Yixing sees Yifan now, he smiles. Yifan always returns it and he looks glad but Yixing tells himself not to assume. They hang out a lot more during breaks and after work, sometimes going into Far Far Away to make fun of Chanyeol in the ridiculous work uniform and other times grabbing slushies and walking around the park, sharing secrets and exchanging stories. Occasionally when Yixing’s the only one on break, he goes to Ancient Egypt and pokes at Yifan’s ticklish spot which always leaves him flustered and speechless. Yixing has yet to know why because Yifan refuses to tell him even though he’s asked many times, but they chat about anything and everything else and Yixing’s glad they’ve gotten closer.
It’s a Saturday and the park is horribly crowded with queues for the rides going up to 90 minutes of waiting time. Yixing and Baekhyun are busy, little kids holding their parents’ hands and dragging them over to force them to buy some cotton candy. The machine has been working non-stop all day and Baekhyun’s clearly tired but he hasn’t complained and Yixing’s grateful.
They don’t stop working until it’s time for the parade that always takes place at the end of the day. It was nine hours of work with few breaks in between and Yixing’s feet are sore from standing around all day. His hands are covered in sugar which he scrubs off. His apron is sticky and he quickly takes that off too, folding it up to bring it home to wash. Baekhyun is sitting by the fan and wiping off his perspiration and he lets out occasional sighs and whines of how tired he is.
“This happens every weekend. Get used to it,” Yixing teases, kicking Baekhyun’s feet.
“Never,” Baekhyun whines.
Yixing chuckles and pushes Baekhyun’s head lightly with two of his fingers, turning around when he hears a cough from behind him.
“Help me,” Yifan pleads as he looks right at Yixing, a child by his side.
Yifan is still in his outfit and all the gear, except without the stilts. He’s panting and looks like he ran over to Yixing with the child. The boy looks terrified and Yixing’s heart warms. He bends down to get to eye level with the small boy, offering him an assuring smile as he sticks his hand out.
“Hi, I’m Yixing. You can call me Xing,” he introduces himself.
The boy examines Yixing’s face, sucking on his thumb and still looking lost and confused. Yixing knows for sure he’s lost and they need to find his motherbut it’s better for the boy to know that who he’s with is completely harmless.
“This tall man over here is Yifan. You can call him Fanfan, if you like,” Yixing continues.
Yifan makes a noise of disapproval but Yixing shuts him up with one look and he gives in.
“What’s your name, kiddo?” Yixing asks, hand still sticking out.
“Sehun,” the boy answers after a few minutes of hesitation, taking his thumb out of his mouth to shake Yixing’s hand.
He isn’t bothered by the saliva on his hand but the look on Yifan’s face lets him know that he would have been bothered if it was him shaking Sehun’s tiny hand.
“And how old are you?”
“Five!” Sehun answers, holding up a hand with his fingers spread out.
“Sehun, let’s go find mommy,” Yixing smiles, taking Sehun’s hand in his after he stands up.
“Daddy,” Sehun rectifies.
“Okay, let’s go find daddy,” Yixing corrects himself too as he walks forward, Sehun on his right and Yifan on his left. He looks behind and Baekhyun gives him a thumbs up with a sly grin and Yixing knows he can trust Baekhyun to close up properly.
“Is Fanfan going to follow? He scares me. His face scares me,” Sehun pouts as he looks up at Yixing, leaning closer to his leg and resting his head on Yixing’s thigh. He genuinely looks scared and Yixing ignores the snicker behind him.
“Fanfan is harmless, you see,” Yixing explains as he swipes a finger across Yifan’s cheek. “It’s all makeup,” Yixing shows Sehun the fingertip that’s covered with bronzer.
Yifan squirms because Yixing’s finger is wet and he knows that it’s because of Sehun’s saliva. Yixing knows that Yifan knows and there’s a playful grin playing on his lips when he looks up at Yifan after reassuring Sehun that Yifan is harmless. Yifan smiles back, his arm going up but he stops himself and pulls it back. Yixing convinces himself that Yifan wasn’t going to do anything and that there’s no reason to be disappointed.
There’s a tug on Yixing’s shirt and he looks down at Sehun, grabbing his hand tight and walking towards the main office at the entrance of the park. Yifan walks beside him, looking calm but Yixing knows he’s worried.
“What is your daddy like?” Yixing asks Sehun, trying to keep him occupied.
“He’s handsome,” Sehun starts. “He’s rich. He always buys me all the toys I want. He’s the best daddy ever!”
Yixing giggles at Sehun’s excitement and spares a glance to his left to see Yifan smiling to himself. Yixing allows himself to intertwine his fingers with Yifan’s, grinning at the taller man when he looks down at their interlocked hands and then at Yixing’s face. There’s a blank expression on his face and Yixing thinks that maybe he’s made a wrong move, but then Yifan squeezes his hand and he knows everything’s alright.
“Look, such a cute family,” someone coos from beside them.
Yixing looks over to see a pair of girls looking at them and giggling to themselves. He tilts his head down, secretly pleased that they’re giving out the family image even though Sehun isn’t their son.
Nor is Yifan his significant other.
Yixing reminds himself not to go overboard and that holding hands may not mean anything.
“That’s my daddy!” Sehun shouts, letting go of Yixing’s hand and Yixing’s shocked, running after Sehun as the young boy runs towards a well-dressed man who looks rather young.
“Sehun,” the man says, relieved. “I was so worried!”
Yixing and Yifan stand nearby awkwardly as the man envelopes Sehun in a hug, carrying him up and letting Sehun wrap his legs around his waist for a bit before putting him down and planting kisses all over his face.
“Thank you so much,” the man approaches him with Sehun holding onto his hand and beaming up at them.
“No problem,” Yixing nods.
“There must be a way I can repay you for bringing my son back to me,” the man offers, eyes shifting from Yixing’s face to Yifan’s as he reaches into his pocket and brings out a card holder. “Here’s my name card.”
Yixing takes it and the card reads Kim Joonmyun, wedding planner. Oh.
“Call me if the two of you are getting married. I’ll do it for free,” Joonmyun smiles and waves goodbye as he takes steps backwards.
“Bye Xingxing! Bye Fanfan!” Sehun calls out as he disappears into the crowd, hand waving excitedly and a broad smile on his face.
“Uh,” Yifan starts. “That was amusing.”
Yixing doesn’t say anything and pockets the name card. He intends to keep it but he doesn’t intend to use it. He looks at Yifan and shrugs, turning around and making his way back to where he’s sure Baekhyun is waiting by their station. He’s jerked back by the arm as Yifan wraps his large hand around it, stopping Yixing in his tracks. Yifan takes a step forward and stands in front of him, gazing down at Yixing with sincerity clearly portrayed in his eyes and it makes Yixing feels things.
“What was that?” Yifan asks.
“What was what?”
“The hand thing,” Yifan tries, looking unsure and Yixing swears there’s a hint of red staining his cheeks.
“Holding hands?” Yixing answers.
“Yeah.”
Yixing looks around to see that they’re surrounded by tourists and large groups of people slowly exiting the park after the parade. He grabs Yifan by the hand and wordlessly leads the both of them back to Yixing’s station where Baekhyun is waiting, but Baekhyun gets the hint and goes away to find Jongdae when he sees the interlocked hands. He sends a subtle wink Yixing’s way and Yixing’s relieved he has his friend’s support.
“Yixing?” Yifan questions when they’re alone.
“I’m sorry if you didn’t like me holding your hand,” Yixing apologises.
“It’s not-”
“I don’t know if it was just me but I felt things,” Yixing starts, taking a deep breath. “Funny kind of things. Like there are stuff flying in my stomach whenever I am around you and my heart does this funny thing where it skips a beat, I don’t know.”
“It’s not just you.”
Yixing tilts his head up in surprise when Yifan mutters those words. Yixing stays in his spot when Yifan brings his hand up to rest on Yixing’s cheek, thumb stroking the soft skin.
“Really? Are you sure?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“Why can’t you understand? I like you,” Yifan states in a firm voice, looking directly into Yixing’s eyes.
Yixing isn’t given any time to react because Yifan is leaning in and placing his lips over his. Yifan’s hand cradles his jaw as Yifan presses into Yixing, soft lips meeting. Yixing lets Yifan lead him as they kiss with him mirroring whatever Yifan is doing. It’s messy and uncoordinated but Yixing wouldn’t have their first kiss any other way.
“Maybe some time in the future, when we’re sure, we can use that,” Yifan says after pulling away, fingers tapping at the card in Yixing’s pants through the fabric, silly wide grin on his face.
“Maybe, but now we need to get you changed,” Yixing giggles, hand running down Yifan’s torso.
His fingers stroke at Yifan’s ticklish spot and Yifan pulls Yixing in by the waist.
“Do you want to know why I didn’t scream?” Yifan says into Yixing’s ear, sending shivers down Yixing’s spine.
“Why?”
“When Jongdae did it, it was ticklish, but when you do it, somehow I’m turned on,” Yifan’s voice gets softer at the end to a whisper and Yixing giggles, pleased that he had an effect on Yifan even before he expected it.
“Maybe I should do it more, behind closed doors.”
“I wouldn’t mind that. How about now?” Yifan suggests as he drags Yixing to the changing room.
Yixing limps around the next day and it doesn’t go unnoticed by Baekhyun and Jongdae who take turns to make Yifan turn red at every given opportunity. At the end of the day, Yixing chases them away as he waits for Yifan to finish his last photo with tourists before he goes up to him and takes his hand in his own. Yixing has to strain his neck because Yifan is still on stilts but the loving smile he gets from his new boyfriend is worth it as they walk together to the changing room, hand in hand.