Chapter Text
day 7: and what comes after
“Jia-er, Xie-er, are you ready?” Yibo calls from the living room. He’s ready to go, all dressed up in his best suit. His shoes have been buffed to a shine, his hair pushed back with wax.
As usual, he’s the first one who’s ready, a few minutes ahead of the appointed time. He glances at the clock above the dining room table. They have to leave soon or they’ll be late for the ceremony.
“Here, baba,” Jia-er says, coming out the door in a pretty black dress. Xie-er follows behind in fitted pants and a turtleneck. “Sorry, I couldn’t find my bracelet.”
“Not a problem,” Yibo says, kissing them both gently on the cheek. “You look wonderful, my girls.”
Now at fifteen, both Jia-er and Xie-er have grown almost as tall as their brother. Yibo and Xiao Zhan have started reminiscing about the days when they were all chubby and small to their childrens’ perpetual dismay.
“It’s just a-die now,” Xie-er says, sing-song. She pulls on her boots at the little stool next to the doorway, and Jia-er slips on her flats. “A-die, we have to go!”
“Coming, baobei!” Xiao Zhan’s voice travels out from their room, muffled from the door. Then the door slides open, and Xiao Zhan steps out.
Yibo’s lost for words, staring open mouthed at Xiao Zhan. Jia-er and Xie-er are screaming the house down in the entryway, but Yibo’s struck dumb.
Xiao Zhan’s dressed in a floaty white silk shirt, the front cut of it down his chest. It’s tied at the neck with a trailing bow, tucked into high-waisted, tailored pants that make his legs look terribly long. There are pearls at the neck of his shirt, at his wrists.
Yibo’s husband looks divine and completely, completely edible.
It feels like someone’s clobbered him over the head.
“Haha, baba is frozen in shock!” Jia-er laughs, and both she and Xie-er start giggling at him. That’s enough to break him out of his reverie as Xiao Zhan approaches him, eyes shy.
“Yibo, do you like it?” Xiao Zhan asks, spinning around slowly for Yibo to see. Yibo swallows continuously at the sight of Xiao Zhan’s trim waist, the flashes of skin at his chest, and the translucency of his shirt. His ass is much, much too round and obvious.
“I- You look- You’re so beautiful,” Yibo manages, and his daughters start making “aww!” noises in the corner.
Xiao Zhan leans in for a kiss that Yibo savours for too long, his palms smoothing down Xiao Zhan’s sides and back before their daughter’s noises start turning into retching.
“Baba, a-die, we have to go already! Come on!”
With a sigh, Yibo pulls aways reluctantly from Xiao Zhan, leaving a firm hand on his hip. As they drive to the school, Yibo forces his hands to keep from wandering up Xiao Zhan’s knee. Xiao Zhan gives him amused looks that don’t match the deep flush on his cheeks.
Yibo parks the car, finding the last lot in the school parking compound. Given that they’re at Suo-er’s high school graduation ceremony, the noise and cheers outside are deafening.
“Girls, please run ahead,” Yibo says quickly, passing Jia-er and Xie-er the tickets. “I need to have a word with your a-die.”
“Okay,” Xie-er groans as Jia-er giggles. “Don’t be too long!”
They hop out of the car, and soon they’re blending in with the rest of the crowd headed into the auditorium.
“Hi,” Yibo says, turning to Xiao Zhan, who’s watching him with a smile.
“Hi,” Xiao Zhan murmurs, and that’s all Yibo can take before he pulls Xiao Zhan towards him and lays soft, seeking kisses on his plush lips.
“Why are you so, so-” Yibo groans as Xiao Zhan taps his wrist gently, reminding him of the time. “So perfect?”
“Don’t be silly,” Xiao Zhan demurs, but his eyes tell Yibo that he’s satisfied with the attention Yibo has lavished on him. Before they leave the car, Yibo takes off his suit jacket and requests that Xiao Zhan pull it over his shoulders.
The cold is reason enough, but the sly look in Xiao Zhan’s eyes as he accepts tells Yibo he sees right through him. Of course it is to also block any unwelcome gazes at Xiao Zhan, who looks like royalty.
They enter the auditorium and take their seats next to their daughters quickly. They’re in the front row, with a good view of the stage. Yibo had battled for tickets so competitively at the parents’ forum that the other parents still look at him warily when they see him.
But it’s worth it, because from here, Suo-er’s face as he steps up to make his valedictorian speech is so much more visible. Xiao Zhan’s leaning into Yibo’s arm and he makes sure his shoulder is the right height for him. With his other hand, Yibo’s holding steady their video camera. He makes sure to capture every bit, filming Xiao Zhan and the girls too.
Jia-er and Xie-er have to pass Xiao Zhan tissues by the end of Suo-er’s speech, particularly when he thanks his family by name one by one. Xiao Zhan’s still crying when the ceremony ends and Suo-er runs up to them, giving his sisters a big hug each.
“Ba, a-die,” Suo-er turns to Xiao Zhan and Yibo, giving them a low bow. “Thank you for guiding me and raising me up. I love you both so much.”
He’s so tall now, taller than both Xiao Zhan and Yibo that when they hug him, his long arms envelop them both. Xiao Zhan presses kisses to Suo-er’s cheek, ruffling his hair.
Yibo feels like he might burst from the pride he feels. It feels like only a few years ago that they were still teaching Suo-er how to talk, how to hold his chopsticks properly, and now, he’s almost full-grown and doing so well for himself. This is everything he and Xiao Zhan ever wanted for him.
Then Suo-er’s friends come up to greet him, pulling him into rough hugs and clapping him hard on the back. Yibo wraps an arm around Xiao Zhan’s waist as they watch him cheer along with his friends, their vision misty.
To Yibo’s surprise, a shy boy taps Suo-er on the back, stammering and holding a flower out towards him. He’s also dressed in graduation robes, his hair styled and his eyes nervous and hopeful.
Suo-er is frozen, the wild chatter of his friends around him dying down.
Xiao Zhan and Yibo’s eyes meet, their daughters whispering furiously behind them. This must be Zi Hao, one of Suo-er’s newer friends. He moved here from Shanghai in his final year, and Yibo had encouraged Suo-er to make friends with him.
It reminds Yibo very much of how he met Xiao Zhan, where Xiao Zhan had desperately needed someone at the time. Yibo supposes Suo-er could be that friend for Zi Hao.
Recently, Suo-er’d shared with them that he thought he might like Zi Hao, but he hadn’t been sure if his feelings were reciprocated. He cried a little; Xiao Zhan had wrapped him in a big hug and they’d had a family movie night with popcorn and Suo-er’s favourite sweets.
Well, it seems like Suo-er’s fears were unfounded.
Suo-er looks to Yibo and Xiao Zhan, eyes panicked.
Simultaneously, Yibo and Xiao Zhan nod encouragingly at him, their hands finding each other’s. Yibo jerks his head in Zi Hao’s direction, grinning widely. Heaven knows he needed all the support he could get to build up the courage to confess to Xiao Zhan.
Suo-er looks back at Zi Hao, nodding hastily as he takes the flower and pulls him in for a hug. There’s a dead silence around them, Suo-er’s friends staring blankly at him and Zi Hao. Then, everyone breaks out into loud whoops and cheers, forming a tight ring around them.
Yibo looks to Xiao Zhan and finds Xiao Zhan already gazing back, a heartfelt, tender expression on his face. He knows what Xiao Zhan is thinking—that it wasn’t so long ago that that had been the two of them, falling over each other every day and slowly realising that they were falling in love too.
Life goes by so fast sometimes. While he and Xiao Zhan make it a point to find time out of their busy schedules for each other, it’s been a while since Yibo’s had a chance to just look contentedly at his husband’s face and catalogue the changes.
Twenty years on, and still, the warmth and love in his heart for Xiao Zhan and their little family grows stronger with every passing day. He doesn’t understand how he got so lucky, how he got everything he ever wanted on the first try.
People used to tell him that his first boyfriend wouldn’t be his last. That he would tire of him, or get bored, or long for the taste of someone else.
But Yibo has never once felt this way. The very thought of being parted from Xiao Zhan is an aching wound, never to heal. He’s been by Xiao Zhan’s side since he was sixteen, and that’s where he’ll stay.
Even though more lines have appeared on Xiao Zhan’s face, and small streaks of grey are starting to settle in his hair, Xiao Zhan’s eyes are still the same ones he fell in love with. Deep brown, filled with kindness and hazel when touched by the light. There’s still the same beautiful mole under his bottom lip that Yibo kisses every night before bed.
And as a furiously blushing Suo-er leads Zi Hao over to meet his sisters and his parents, with Xiao Zhan’s fingers threaded firmly in his and his children by his side, Yibo is entirely, entirely, content.