Work Text:
Xukun scrolls through his lover’s Weibo posts for the twentieth time. He knows that they’re just friends, but he couldn’t help it but to feel jealous of how close his boyfriend was to many other guys. (He didn’t mean close like how Zhengting is with Chengstin, but close like very intimate, with lots of skinship.)
“Kun~” In came his boyfriend slipping into the room and pulling Xukun into a slight embrace. Zhengting, however, noticed how Xukun did not reciprocate his excitement.
“Kun, what’s wrong?” Asked Zhengting out of worry.
“Nothing,” Of course Xukun could not answer that question honestly. He hates that he’s jealous of this because that just shows how he doesn’t trust his boyfriend. It’s already hard enough that they’re always having work away from each other. Xukun definitely do not want to make things harder for them. And he definitely trusts his boyfriend that he’s faithful. Besides how could he question Zhengting’s faithfulness when Zhengting is here embracing him oh-so-tightly and snuggling his head against his neck? Xukun sighed a little as he looked at his adorable boyfriend and fell for his cute gesture, for the thousandth time.
Little did Xukun knew, though, that Zhengting was very much aware. Zhengting had accidentally seen what Xukun was doing a while ago when he entered the room. He felt a little apologetic for not spending a lot of time with his lover, and so he was glad that he had planned something. “Just wait a little more, babe,” he thought.
...
“Aaa! Xiao Gui!” Zhengting’s screams could surely be heard from one end of the apartment to the other end. The first thing that Xiao Gui did upon entering the apartment was to (unsurprisingly)jump on Zhengting’s back. Oh how he missed his other companies when he was thousands of miles away shooting some show by himself and Yanjun only.
“Okay, okay, get off me already!” Zhengting became a little more cautious of his boyfriend’s feelings as he quickly yet gently put Xiao Gui down off his back. Away from the chaos, Zhangjing approached Yanjun who went to place his bag in the room- their shared room- after the other guys gave him the ‘welcome back’ greetings.
“Hi, welcome back,” Zhangjing said in a soft, yet audible tone. Yanjun was caught off guard a little, however managed to display a soft smile as a reply. Words were hanging at the tip of both of their tongues, however, none of them managed to let it out.
“Justin gege!” Zhangjing called out, saving them from the thick air of awkwardness that was starting to form around them. This isn’t a new scene to the both of them, they’ve been like this for weeks. Short conversation, followed by an awkward pause and then an interruption. Ever since they started to get busier with individual schedules, their relationship slowly, but surely, became looser. They knew debuting means busy schedule for both of them, but they both thought that at least they could film that some shows together. At first, their wish was granted, however the bliss didn’t last long when some authorities decided to switch them around and separate them. “Stop being so close to each other, or rumours of you two being in love with each other will start,” said a manager of theirs some time back.
“But what if those aren’t rumours,” Yanjun thought in his head as he saw Zhangjing throwing himself and clinging onto Justin into the kitchen.
...
“Justin, could you help to take a glass of water for me,” called Chengcheng from the living room. Chengcheng was in the midst of playing a game with Xukun, to Justin’s dissatisfaction. Justin heard Chengcheng, yet he decided to ignore the elder. Chengcheng called him the second time, yet Justin still did not budge one bit. Chengcheng then groaned in frustration when he lost the game as he lost his focus while trying to call for Justin. Chengcheng came storming into the kitchen and whined, “Justin, did you not hear me just now?”
To which Justin reply coldly with, “No.”
Justin did not even spare Chengcheng a look and walked past Chengcheng to go straight into their shared bedroom. Chengcheng was confused by the growing coldness that Justin has been treating him with, however, he just decided to shrug it off. “Maybe he’s just tired since he has been very busy nowadays,” Chengcheng told himself.
Justin, on the other hand, was in disbelief at how Chengcheng could remain oblivious to his growing frustrations. Lately, Chengcheng has been spending a lot more time with Xukun, and even Yanjun through video calls and messages, sometimes even gaming. This made Justin upset especially because all he wanted to do whenever he comes back to the dorm was to spend time with Chengcheng, yet Chengcheng was always too busy with other friends. Justin was self-aware of how selfish he might be, but he just could not help it but feel seething anger inside him whenever he sees Chengcheng enjoying time with others. His lips turned into a frown upon the thought that maybe Chengcheng would never notice him since they could not even spend time with each other properly. Justin face planted into the pillow, and started screaming incoherent words into it. Just then, Chengcheng came into the room and asked, rather too excitedly for Justin’s comfort, “Hey Justin, come play with me!”
“No, why don’t you just go play with your best friends Kunkun and Yanjun and leave me alone!” Justin subconsciously shouted at Chengcheng. Chengcheng was definitely taken aback by Justin’s sudden reaction and felt quite hurt too as Justin never pushes him away like that before.
“What’s wrong with you?” Chengcheng tried to ask the younger nicely.
“Why don’t you ask that yourself?” Unfortunately, Justin felt way too upset and retorted in a rather rough tone.
“No, I don’t think there’s anything wrong with me. But there’s definitely something wrong with you. Tell me, Justin,” said Chengcheng with a hint of growing exasperation.
“Everything’s wrong with you! Now leave me alone!” Right then, Justin covered his face under the pillow and curled himself up into a ball. His tears were threatening to fall, and his heart aches. He felt instant regret for screaming at Chengcheng. He felt guilty for hurting Chengcheng and pushing him away, but he felt even more guilty about how his heart pounds thousand times faster whenever he sees Chengcheng. But at the same time, it hurts his poor heart too whenever he sees Chengcheng with someone else. He hates this possessive feeling but he could not help himself.
“Fine,” replies Chengcheng and he slammed the door to the room, startling everyone around. Chengcheng played his game in distressed as he thought about how Justin had harshly pushed him away. He just couldn’t understand why Justin was angry at him. In Chengcheng’s opinion, shouldn’t he be the one angry at Justin because Justin was always out and about accepting offers here and there and being so busy that they could not spend time with each other? He saw Justin on the bed immediately turning to his side when he went into the room. Chengcheng’s tears were threatening to fall as he looked at the back of his loved one. Oh how he wanted to give Justin a back hug, but he was too mad at the moment. And so was Justin.
From then on, Chengcheng and Justin remained cold and distant with each other, not even uttering simple greetings. It was definitely not an issue for both of them as they both have their own individual schedules. Even though they were roommates, they acted as if they were strangers to one another, ignoring the other’s presence even when they were in the same room.
...
Zhengting and other members could feel the tension between Chengcheng and Justin too, however, he thought that it would be best to not meddle with it yet as long as it does not gets too heated up or affect their work. Zhengting trusts that both of them could settle this on their own. Besides, Zhengting had been busy with his own relationship too.
“Tomato and eggs, check. A glass of warm milk, check. A bowl of fruits, check. Scrapbook, check. Bunny hat, check. Movie downloaded, check!” Zhengting heaved a sigh of release as he checked all of the things needed on his to-do list. He slowly opened the door to Xukun’s room, and saw that Xukun was still deep in his slumber. To Zhengting’s relief, Xukun was the only one in the room as Ziyi had gone out to the gym to spend their off day this New Years Eve. Zhengting then placed the tray filled with scrumptious food on the bedside, and sat at the side of the bed for a while, staring adoringly at his boyfriend’s angelic sleeping face.
“Kun, wake up Kun. I made breakfast for you,” he leaned and whispered into Xukun’s ears, while patting on Xukun’s hair too.
Xukun’s eyes fluttered open to the sight of his god-tier handsome boyfriend, he thought he was in heaven for a second. The next second he felt Zhengting’s lips against his. The lips that he had been waiting for months. It was soft at first, but their hunger for each other grew more intense, gradually taking over their souls as they succumb into the sweet taste of each other. They looked into each other’s eyes lovingly, once they broke the kiss, conveying how much love they have for each other, and how much they missed each other.
“Today, we are going to laze together in bed,” Zhengting, of course, did not forget whatever he had prepared for Xukun. He took the tray and placed it on Xukun’s lap and looked at his boyfriend’s face to see what his reaction was. It was definitely worth the wait and effort as he saw a huge grin on Xukun’s face and how his eyes had turned into crescents. Xukun felt touched as he saw how much Zhengting had prepared for him, and in that instant, he engulfed Zhengting in a hug and whispered a ‘thank you’ into Zhengting’s ear.
“I have some more prepared, wait,” said Zhengting as he put on the bunny ears hat and started singing cutely for Xukun. Zhengting immediately cringed hard and hid behind his boyfriend’s shoulder after he finished his little performance, while Xukun laughed so hard till his stomach hurt and he almost choked on the food. Zhengting knew that his boyfriend loved when he acted cutely, and that was why he had prepared the short performance even though he wasn’t really fond of acting cute.
The next gift Zhengting presented was a scrapbook which he had personally created from scratch. Each page was filled with photos of them, and little notes about how Zhengting felt about Xukun. Zhengting’s face became flushed red as he could not stop cringing at every cheesy note he wrote for Xukun. Xukun too chuckled at every page and reminisced the times they had fun together. On the last page, however, a long letter had been written. Xukun started reading out loud.
“... I know we may not have spent a lot of time together recently, but I hope you will still continue to trust me. Trust me that I still love you with all my heart.
I’m really grateful to have you as my boyfriend Cai Xukun. Out of all the stars that lightened my dark sky, you are the biggest and brightest one. You are the Sun, that lights up my day.
Love,
Zhu Zhengting💓”
At this point, both of them were already on the verge of tears. Zhengting had poured all of his sincere feelings into the letter. At that moment, Xukun felt lighter as his concerns were no longer. Indeed, in their long-distance relationship, it was often hard for them to share their thoughts and feelings to each other, and so the both of them felt glad that this gave them the chance to understand about how the other felt about them better.
The day continued with them going on a movie marathon while cuddling on Xukun’s bed. For busy idols like them, this is already enough to call it a romantic date. Spending time with each other as a closure to not only the year, but also a closure to all their doubts and worries.
...
“Get wrecked!” screams Xiao Gui while running around the dorm with a nerf gun on his hand. Xiao Gui, Linong, Justin and Chengcheng were apparently spending their last night of the year playing Nerf Gun together. However, a few minutes into the game, Xiao Gui realized how Chengcheng and Justin were only targeting and shooting at each other.
“Don’t you think, the both of them are being too aggressive to one another?” whispered Xiao Gui to Linong as the both of them put down their Nerf guns and observed the other two. Chengcheng and Justin were not as noisy as they usually were whenever they play together. Instead, they were just continuously aiming and shooting at each other silently, with only occasional sighs of frustration. They were obviously not enjoying themselves.
“There’s definitely something going on between them. Thinking about it, they have not talked to each other in days right?” commented Linong, to which Xiao Gui nodded in response. A ‘eureka’ moment then stroke Linong. He shared the plan with Xiao Gui, which made Xiao Gui high five him excitedly.
“Hey Chengcheng, Justin. We’re both tired, let’s play another game. It’s called 'Talk and Listen'. Sounds simple but it’s a very fun game trust me,” called Xiao Gui from their balcony with Linong at his side. Chengcheng and Justin then immediately put down their Nerf guns and took quick steps towards the balcony. The four of them squeezed themselves together into the two small sofas in the balcony, with Chengcheng and Justin ended up on the same sofa.
“Hold on, Linong and I are going to get the materials,” said Xiao Gui as he also motioned Linong to follow him out of the balcony. Justin felt skeptical with Xiao Gui and Linong however decided to ignore it and immediately shift himself to the empty sofa. Both Chengcheng and Justin fall into a long silence until suddenly, they heard the glass door behind them shut closed.
On the opposite side of the door, Chengcheng and Justin saw Xiao Gui and Linong locking the door from inside. Both Chengcheng and Justin then started banging on the door, screaming at Xiao Gui and Linong to unlock the door and let them in.
Linong merely said, “You are going to be stuck there until the two of you made up with each other.” Meanwhile, Xiao Gui started laughing hysterically and then pulling the curtains closed, leaving poor Chengcheng and Justin locked outside the house and exposed to the cold weather. Justin continued on banging on the glass door and screaming, threatening to break down the door. However, Chengcheng then said, “There’s no use in banging the door anymore, now sit down and talk.”
Justin, like a few days ago, ignored Chengcheng and continued his banging and screaming. Chengcheng could no longer hold in his frustrations and finally snapped at Justin, “Justin! Can you just listen to me for once!” Justin was startled upon Chengcheng’s raised voice and stopped banging on the door. He then sat back on the sofa, and then curled himself into a ball, hiding his face in his arms which were wrapped around his knees. His tears were threatening to fall, and he did not want Chengcheng to witness it.
...
On the other side, Zhengting and Xukun heard the commotion all the way from Xukun’s room, hence decided to check what was going on. Xiao Gui and Linong gulped at the sight of Zhengting, the mother figure to the Yuehua kids, and Xukun, their leader, as they thought that Zhengting and Xukun would get angry at them.
“You guys... are geniuses! I honestly don’t know what to do with them,” Zhengting instead started laughing like a seal, to their relief.
...
A few minutes past, both Justin and Chengcheng were still engulfed in silence. It was not long before they both started feeling cold and shivering too as the temperature drops at every second passed. Fortunately, Zhengting made a quick visit, however, unfortunately, he only toss one jacket and a scarf before quickly locking the door again. “Quickly make up and you two can come back in,” said Zhengting, who was growing frustrated.
Chengcheng took the scarf and jacket and wore it, while Justin was still in his curled up position. Justin never raised his head even when Zhengting had passed them the scarf and jacket. This made Chengcheng concerned as Justin also started shivering and hugged himself tighter. Chengcheng’s heart softened at this sight, and decided to give the younger the jacket. He took off the jacket and quickly wrapped the jacket around Justin’s figure. Justin felt warm fabric that surrounded him and raised his head in confusion, for the first time during that period.
Chengcheng’s heart broke when he saw Justin’s swollen eyes and runny nose. Justin almost never cries even when he faced hardships, so this worried Chengcheng a lot. Chengcheng then quickly kneeled in front of Justin, feeling very worried and asked softly, “Hey, what’s wrong?”
“You,” Justin answered in between his sniffs. Chengcheng was very frustrated by the fact that Justin replied similar to the way he had replied him days ago, however, he took a really deep and slow breath and tried his best to calm himself down.
“You have to tell me what’s wrong with me. I will never know what’s wrong with me unless you tell me,” said Chengcheng in a matter-of-fact tone. Justin’s heart raced even faster and pound harder as Chengcheng brought his face closer to his and started patting on his head. Justin’s gulped as he stared right into Chengcheng’s soft, doe-eyes. his eyes then scanned down his face, and landed on the other's bright, red, captivating lips. He hesitated for a moment.
...
“Hey, why are the curtains closed! It’s almost midnight the fireworks display is about to start!” A wild Zhangjing came out of the room and went straight to open the curtains to the glass door of the balcony. And they(Zhangjing, Zhengkun, Xiao Gui and Linong) were greeted by an unexpected sight.
“Wow,”
“Looks like someone’s got game,”
“Finally!”
...
Action speaks louder than words, they say. Hence, Justin gave Chengcheng a quick and light peck on his lips, before quickly turning around and back facing Chengcheng. Justin swore he could feel his cheeks turning extremely red. Without a second to calm his heart, though, Justin felt a pair of hands that turned him around, and then the same pair of lips rammed into his almost immediately.
“Happy New Year!” cheered everyone else from the room as the clock strikes midnight. Bright colours lit up the dark and cold night, accompanied by the sounds of explosion to liven up the once silent night. A brand new year, a brand new chapter. Needless to say, Chengcheng’s and Justin’s new chapter started with each other, with their own colours and their own explosion of emotions, as they immersed themselves in each other’s touch. Both were flushed red as they looked into each other’s eyes after they broke the kiss. They still have not realized the presence of the other members, however.
“You should have told me, dummy,” chuckled Chengcheng.
“You are the older one, you should have made the first move. Hmph,” retorted Justin. Chengcheng’s heart was about to combust(in uwus) when Justin showed him a little pout. Then Chengcheng held Justin’s face in his hands and said, “Fine. I love you dumbass,” followed by a round of soft pecks on the forehead, the cheeks, the nose, and lips.
“Hmph. I love you too,”
...
“Don’t worry Justin, I will drink orange juice with you so I won’t get drunk,” reassured Chengcheng, which earned some compliments from the others for being such a sweet boyfriend. The group decided to have a New Year party at 2 am in the morning, with some alcohol that they had (apparently) stored. They played some games, played some music and killed it on the dance floor, just letting loose and enjoying their time. It was indeed one of the rare time for them to be able to take a break and enjoy themselves.
At the side though, Yanjun was silently looking out for Zhangjing. Apparently, Zhangjing cannot hold his alcohol well, and only Yanjun knew this. Zhangjing was well out of his mind only a few minutes later. At that moment, Yanjun really only wanted to reach out to Zhangjing and stop him from drinking some more, however, he also did not want to attract attention from others. Hence he stayed put in his spot, letting Zhangjing drown himself in more alcohol.
“I love Lin Yanjun so much, it’s not even a rumour. It’s the damn truth why can’t you understand!”
The entire room became silent upon Zhangjing’s sudden loud cries. Yanjun was as much shocked as everyone else with Zhangjing’s sudden confession. Though embarrassing, Yanjun could not contain his happiness and smiled sheepishly as he made his way towards Zhangjing, with everyone’s eyes focused on them. Even though Zhangjing was drunk, it was as if Zhangjing could immediately tell Yanjun’s scent apart from others as he started giggling and repeatedly saying “I love you Yanjun” with his arms immediately wrapped around Yanjun’s torso the moment Yanjun came close enough. Yanjun hopelessly stared at his adorable Zhangjing who was also staring back at him with heart eyes.
“Let’s get you to bed,” whispered Yanjun as he ruffles Zhangjing’s hair, earning him another giggle and a nod. Yanjun then carried Zhangjing bridal style, and excused themselves.
Yanjun gently placed Zhangjing on his bed and sat on the bed, next to the lying Zhangjing. It’s been so long since Yanjun was able to observe Zhangjing like this up close. Yanjun leaned downwards, wanting to place a soft kiss on Zhangjing’s forehead, however, Zhangjing’s hands suddenly cupped Yanjun’s face, and the next second he felt Zhangjing’s soft lips against his. Yanjun was taken aback by the sudden attack and wanted to retreat himself, he never wanted to take advantage of drunk Zhangjing, however, Zhangjing’s arms were already wrapped tightly around Yanjun’s neck. Yanjun became a nervous wreck however was surprised by how Zhangjing’s lips lead the both of them into a synchronized movement. Yanjun then slowly relaxed, and savour the kiss. The kiss felt right and perfect in so many ways, it was as if they had practiced it many times, and then it hit him. This was their first kiss. And their first kiss happened when Zhangjing was drunk. “Will Zhangjing even remember tonight?” He thought.
Yanjun wanted to detach himself from drunk Zhangjing, however, to no avail as Zhangjing quickly pulled on his hands as he was about to stand, making him land lying on the spot next to Zhangjing. Zhangjing then embraced Yanjun’s waist and snuggled his head in Yanjun’s neck, rendering Yanjun helpless and unable to move. Hence, Yanjun gave up and decided to enjoy this rare time that they get to be affectionate with each other, even if Zhangjing won’t be able to remember tomorrow.
...
Zhangjing woke up with a sudden regret of whatever that had happened last night. If there was one thing that Yanjun does not know about Zhangjing, it’s the fact that Zhangjing could actually remember the night he was drunk in full details. It was just that Zhangjing never really found his skill to be useful, hence he never showed that trait of his. Zhangjing turned to his side to see Yanjun, on the same bed as him and was still fast asleep. The innocent-like face of his loved one seemed to have instantly pushed away his worries as Zhangjing brushed his fingers on Yanjun’s soft, baby-like textured face.
“I love you, Yanjun,” Zhangjing whispered.
“I love you too, Zhangjing,” At that moment, Yanjun’s eyes fluttered open, which made Zhangjing’s eyes turn round and his cheeks burning red. Zhangjing then immediately sat up however he was pulled back down by Yanjun. Drunk Zhangjing may seem stronger than Yanjun, however sober Zhangjing was too weak to fight against someone who he’s so in love with.
And so they laid there, just staring into each other’s eyes, enjoying the warmth and comfort in each other’s arms.
“Oh and Happy New Year,” chuckled Yanjun, making his dimples deepen, to Zhangjing’s delight as he pokes them.
It was a happy new year indeed.