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Gao Yingjie’s chopsticks clatter to the floor for the second time that evening. Qiao Yifan instinctively grabs him another pair from the box at the end of the table, eyes filled with concern.
“Yingjie, we don’t have to stay if you’re not feeling well. We can take it to go.”
Gao Yingjie shakes his head and tries to eat a few bites of his food to prove that he’s fine. His hands are trembling so much that the noodles keep slipping out of his chopsticks, splashing right back into the bowl.
He should have never let it slip to Su Mucheng that he was thinking of proposing to Qiao Yifan, and he especially should have never listened to her and Chu Yunxiu’s ‘brilliant’ idea of proposing at the location of their first date. They’d made it sound so sweet and romantic - like something straight out of a drama (and honestly, that’s probably where they got the idea in the first place).
But now that he’s actually here, he realizes how utterly unromantic the ambiance is. It’s not a nice restaurant. It’s a hole in the wall beef noodle soup shop they’d stumbled upon while wandering around City B! The chairs are ripping at the seams, the air conditioning only works half the time...
“You really don’t look well.” Gao Yingjie snaps back to reality as Qiao Yifan touches the back of his hand to his forehead.
“I’m fine, really!” Gao Yingjie says in earnest to his soup. “I was just…”
He’s captain of Tiny Herb. The fiercest witch in the Alliance. Fans and fellow pros alike praise him for his steady hands and cool head.
And yet.
Somehow after all these years, Qiao Yifan still manages to make him feel like that shy, nervous kid on their first date.
“I was just remembering the first time we came here together.” Gao Yingjie feels his entire body turn to jelly as he looks up to meet Qiao Yifan’s gaze.
“Our first date!” The worried crease on Qiao Yifan’s face crinkles into a smile. “Well, at least you only dropped your chopsticks twice tonight.” He leans in to playfully poke Gao Yingjie’s cheek.
“Hey, I was really nervous, okay? Kind of…Kind of like right now.”
“Right now?” Qiao Yifan props his head on his hand, giving Gao Yingjie his full undivided attention. It’s one of Gao Yingjie’s favorite things about him. Even in the middle of this noisy, crowded restaurant, Qiao Yifan makes him feel like he’s the most important one in the room. Like every word out of his mouth is worth listening to.
Gao Yingjie carefully balances his chopsticks on top of his bowl and fishes around in his pocket for a tiny box.
“Yifan, um,”
He actually has a little something rehearsed. (Liu Xiaobie could attest to that after Gao Yingjie made his poor vice-captain listen to his speech about half a dozen times)
But now his mind is completely blank!
“You’re my best friend, and I really feel like I can rely on you and trust you with anything. I mean, except when you lure me into your ghost boundaries…”
Qiao Yifan quirks up an eyebrow, amused.
Oh, God. Gao Yingjie nervously combs his fingers through his hair. This is going great.
“B-but even then, you just pushed me to become a better version of myself. So, anyway, what I’m trying to say is, Qiao Yifan, will you marry me?”
Now it’s Qiao Yifan’s turn to be flustered.
“What!?” Qiao Yifan slams down both of his hands. The table teeters, sending Gao Yingjie’s chopsticks rolling off the edge of his bowl.
“A-are you serious?”
“Of course I’m serious.” Gao Yingjie fights to keep his hands steady as he opens the box to reveal a pair of matching gold rings. “So? Will you?”
“Yes.” Qiao Yifan breathes. “Yes. Of course I will.”
Gao Yingjie watches Qiao Yifan blink back tears as they slide the rings on each other’s fingers. A lump forms in his throat and he feels his own eyes start to well up.
Su Mucheng had warned him that Qiao Yifan would probably cry, but Gao Yingjie hadn’t believed her at the time. Qiao Yifan is hardly the same soft, timid boy from their days at Tiny Herb. Today’s Qiao Yifan is sharp and cunning. A master tactician of their generation.
It’s rare to see him so caught off guard.
They’ve caught the attention of a few servers and neighboring tables. A phone flashes. A few people’s Weibos ping. They’re ending up on the cover of the next edition of Glory Weekly, aren’t they?
Stomachs too jittery to finish eating anyway, they leave their half-eaten bowls of noodles and exit the restaurant. Gao Yingjie decides it’s a good thing he didn’t book a nice, expensive place after all.
They haven’t even been out of the restaurant for 5 minutes when Qiao Yifan grips Gao Yingjie by his shirt collar, yanks him into a nearby alley, and pulls him into a bold, fiery kiss. One that leaves them both breathless and red-faced as if they haven’t done this countless times before.
“Hey, Yingjie?” Qiao Yifan runs his thumb over the metal band on his partner’s finger. “Is this why the lady boss kept weirdly measuring my fingers a few months back? She said it was for a costume for a commercial...”
“Um…”
“And why everyone kept giggling and giving each other these secret smiles when they thought I wasn’t looking the other day?”
“Uh, maybe...?”
*
And that would explain the cryptic heart stickers Su Mucheng sent him this morning, Qiao Yifan bites back a laugh.
The entire team had known he was getting engaged hadn’t they?