Work Text:
Zeren has been shaking since the moment he was able to go to his room, according to the ranking the teachers had given him before. He is being careful with his actions because he knows if the staff notices he is shaking they can make him look like he is having a panic attack because the teachers were hard on him, because he misses home or because he is already done with the program. And none of those statements are true at all.
The teachers were nice to him, they had given him a B ranking, and he was honestly surprised it was Chengcheng the one making a mistake instead of him, considering his situation, but it was okay because all his company mates were well ranked too. And they ranked… the issue… F, so he is not going to have to worry about that.
He is a Yuehua boy, home didn’t exist for him. Yuehua is home, Yuehua is family, there is nothing he can miss because he has his family with him. Zhengting, Wenjun, Xinchun, Chengcheng, Justin and Quanzhe, they are all here with him. He will be probably missing the little kids and the rest of the company when weeks passed by, but he is fine with that now. No, missing his people is not the problem.
Being done with the program? No, that is not the issue. Or, at least, he is not done with the hardness or the program itself. But he could say he is done. Because he never thought he would be seeing him again.
When he and all the Yuehua boys came into the big room with all the chairs from 1 to 101, the first person he saw was him. It was as if he had a big light on his face, no, on all his body, that was trying to make him noticeable. He of course didn’t have a light or anything similar, but Zeren was able to spot him really quickly, even if he didn’t know there was something to spot. Yanchen had grown up, and for the better, if that was possible. He looked stunningly beautiful and Zeren almost went breathless. He couldn’t believe Yanchen was there and he almost pinched himself. But then he saw him turning around and laughing while making a joke, and it was like having him closer again and stealing a secret kiss from him in a empty practice room again.
Zeren’s heart hurts so much he doesn’t think he can handle it. He locks himself in the bathroom, the only place he can reason where there can’t be any cameras. He is overwhelmed. He knows he can’t stay too long there because Zhengting will start looking for him soon, but he just needs a moment to breathe. Someone knocks at the door.
“I’m okay, Zhengting, I’ll be out in a second,” Zeren answers.
“It’s not Zhengting,” a painfully familiar voice sounds.
Zeren exhales and starts hyperventilating.
“Go away, Yanchen.”
“No. Open the door.”
Zeren knows he will have to do this sooner or later. So he does it. Yanchen comes in. They stare at each other carefully, with an intensity only they know what it means. Their eyes say so many things, yet their mouths stay silent.
“Zeren…,” starts Yanchen.
“No," he cuts him off. “Don’t even say anything. How dare you come here? Seriously, Yanchen? Didn’t you have enough? You left me and now you have to come here and ruin this competition for me? Will I have to see you all day and suffer every day because of you? This is not fair. We were supposed to leave SM Entertainment together, to have a future together, and one day I woke up and you were gone. You left me and I’m never getting over that, Yanchen. You know I loved you. Did you really have to come here and ruin everything, too? Didn’t you have enough?,” Zeren snaps out, sobbing at the end.
“Zeren, I-... I didn’t know you were coming here,” Yanchen answers, tears on his eyes.
Zeren shuts up and stares at him, confused.
“I seriously didn’t know. I was as confused and overwhelmed as you. And my parents made me leave SM, they picked me up with no discussions allowed. They found out about us. I tried to tell you, but I was back in China. I know I might not have suffered the same you did but I have suffered too. And the only thing I wanted to do when I saw you coming into that room was to kiss you and to tell you how much I have missed you.”
Zeren can’t stop crying, but the exact moment he listens to those words, he pounces on Yanchen’s arms and starts making out with him fiercely. The kiss is nothing like the ones they used to have, innocent and sweet, but desperate and passionate.
“I won’t go anywhere now, baby,” Yanchen says in the middle of the kiss.
Long time no see.