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When Yibo opened the door to his home, he expected to hear music playing like it usually does when his lover was home—scratch that, he expected his lover to be waiting for him by the door to give him the hugs and kisses he didn't get during his birthday due to their busy schedule, what greeted him, however, was silence.
“Zhan-ge?” Yibo called out, brows furrowing when no one answered, “Baobao?”
He made his way to the living room, face falling when he didn’t see his Zhan-ge.
“Ge! Are you home!?”
Yibo pulled out his phone and was about to call his boyfriend when he caught sight of a large box occupying the space where the coffee table used to be. Yibo grinned brightly, excitement coursing through his body as he practically ran towards his gift, wasting no time in unwrapping it. When he pulled off the lid, the box turned out to be one of those exploding ones except unlike those given to him by sponsors, no balloons came flying out as soon as it was opened, instead, the box opened to reveal an extra large suitcase, a flat rectangular package leaning against it with a shiny new matte black modular helmet next to it.
Yibo squealed, picking up the helmet to inspect it. The design was simple (like his gege) and handrawn! He can tell in one glance that it was his boyfriend’s own work. On the back of the helmet, his black panther was sitting on its bum, head tilted down to watch a bunny put band-aids on his knee.
“Zhan-ge is so talented,” the young idol muttered, running a thumb against the detailed drawing. He stared at it for a few more seconds before gently placing the helmet on the couch. Turning his attention back to the rest, Yibo opened the card attached to the rectangular package and read the note out loud.
“‘Open last’”
Yibo shrugged and carefully moved the package to the side. Now faced with the suitcase, Yibo laid it on its back and snapped it open, eyes nearly bugging out upon seeing the contents. A Nike bag, a medium sized drawstring bag, a gift box, on the other side, the huge space was taken up by a cloth, a small drawing tube squeezed to the side. Attached to all of it was a card with numbers; 2, 9, 11, 12, 13-14, respectively.
“The helmet must be 1,” Yibo mused out loud, “Zhan-ge really went all out.”
Yibo’s eyes soften. He picked up the Nike bag, brows furrowing slightly when he felt it wasn’t empty. He unzipped the bag and pulled out a small green jewelry box. 3-6 written on the card attached to it. The younger gasped when he opened it, revealing three different kinds of silver lace hanging on the hook attached to the lid, four pendants nestled between the pillows with a note tucked in each. A daisy, a star, a bone, and a bunny.
A Daisy symbolizes purity and innocence. Despite everything that’s happened to you, all the things you’ve lived through, all the challenges you’ve faced, you never lost who you are. Thank you for being Wang Yibo.
A Star for being the brightest star in my life. Always shining so, so brightly. Continue to shine, my star.
A Bone, because you’re a puppy, my most adorable puppy. Always begging for my attention, always asking for affection. I will never get tired of giving you what you ask for, gouzaizai.
A Bunny, because I’m your bunny. Bunnies are high maintenance, they need constant care. The constant care you never failed to give me.
Yibo looked up, biting his lower lip to stop the tears from falling. “You’re no fair, Zhan-ge.”
After making sure he wasn’t going to start crying any time soon, he placed the jewelry box beside the helmet and felt around the bag, unearthing two boxes numbered 7 (big one) and 8 (small one).
He opened the big one first, smiling at the Lion head necklace inside.
My brave, thrill-seeking baby lion, here’s my new proxy. When I can’t be there to protect you, when I can’t be there for your important days, this will be my replacement.
“Silly Zhan-ge, nothing can ever replace having you beside me,” Yibo muttered, taking the necklace out of its box and putting it around his neck, fingers brushing against the charm. He opened the small box next, choking back a sob at the silver ring nestled inside. It was a simple band with Yibo’s birthstone gleaming in the center, an XZ & WYB in bold letters engrave inside.
Xiao Zhan and Wang Yibo. You and Me. Us against the world, didi. Always.
This time, Yibo couldn’t hold back, tears streamed down his face as he clutched the note and the ring to his chest, sobbing loudly in the quiet space. It took him a few minutes to calm down. Fingers trembling as he slid the ring down his left ring finger.
He used the bottom of his shirt to wipe his face, letting out a breath before opening the drawstring bag, chuckling at the Lan Zhan and Wei Ying plush dolls he found inside.
Best. Summer. Ever. Being Wei Ying to your Lan Zhan. Being in A-Ling with you. It will always be one of my greatest pride. This humble being will forever be grateful for having had the chance to work with the great, amazing, dance king, Wang Yibo!
“Zhan-ge is the amazing one,” Yibo declared in the empty room. He put the plushies side by side on the couch before upending the bag, shaking his head when another small box fell. 10. “My baobao is spoiling me. Keep up, Wang Yibo.”
When he opened the box, what greeted him were a pair of studs and a single dangling earring.
“How did you get Gucci to do this?” Yibo mused out loud, holding up the box to inspect the earrings. His black panther made out of palladium metal, the details and designs made from shining crystals matching its colors. The studs were simple compared to the panther, his 85 logo, one green with black accent and one red with yellow accent.
Gucci asked if they could release this, I said no of course. This is yours, just yours. I made it only for you.
Yibo nodded, “That’s right. This is mine.”
After putting the earrings on, he unwrapped the gift, eyes widening in shock at what he saw. A Millenium Falcon Lego Set.
This was so hard to find, Bo-ge. But not impossible. I’ll do anything to make you happy, baobei.
“Zhan-ge... Zhan-ge...” Yibo felt another wave of tears threatening to fall, “how dare you make me cry when you’re not even here to comfort me! So mean, gege!”
Yibo took a deep breath and moved to the other side of the suitcase, grabbing first the drawing tube. 13-14. The first drawing was a sketch of him building legos, seated cross-legs on the floor with his legos scattered neatly on the coffee table, the look of concentration perfectly detailed on his feature.
My baby playing with his toys.
Yibo pouted at the caption written below. When he saw the second drawing, the tears fell for the second time. It was a sketch of their hands, fingers interlaced. There were two versions of it drawn side by side, a youthful-looking one and an old-looking one.
One day, we’ll both have wrinkly hands, and when that happens, I know we’ll still be holding hands.
“Fuck, Zhan-ge...” Yibo sobbed into his hands.
It took longer for him to calm down, so overwhelmed with feelings. His love for Xiao Zhan, how grateful he is for meeting him, being loved by him. All the emotions that’s been piling up since he started opening his presents came pouring out in every tear he shed.
“Yibo!”
He looked up and sobbed louder. “Ge!”
Yibo threw himself on the man, almost toppling the older backwards, sobbing harder against his neck.
“Baobei. Baobei, shhhh. I’m here. I’m here, baobei,” Xiao Zhan comforted, rubbing soothing circles on his back.
“This is all your fault!” Yibo wailed, thumping his back repeatedly.
“Yes, yes, it’s my fault.”
“You made me cry!”
“I did.”
“Take responsibility!”
“I will.”
“Hug me tighter!”
Xiao Zhan hugged him tighter.
“Kiss me!”
Xiao Zhan kissed him on the forehead.
“My lips, ge! Kiss my lips!”
Xiao Zhan grabbed his face and kissed him deeply, thumbs caressing his cheeks.
When they pulled back, the older wiped his tears off with his sleeve. “Ok?”
Yibo nodded, face scrunching up as Xiao Zhan cleaned his face.
“Do you want me to go while you open the rest?”
Yibo glared at him. “Don’t you dare.”
Xiao Zhan held up his hands and sat down, pulling the younger between his legs. “Finish then.”
Yibo settled himself against his lover. “Where were you hiding?” he asked while reaching for the cloth, blinking in surprise when it turned out the cloth was used to cover a red, hand-knitted blanket.
Xiao Zhan wrapped his arms around him, head resting on his shoulder. “I was in the balcony.”
Yibo hummed, rubbing his cheek on the blanket. “It’s soft.”
“It better be.”
Yibo kissed his cheek soundly. “My Zhan-ge is so talented.”
Xiao Zhan bared his teeth before pecking him on the lips just because he can. “There’s more.”
Yibo’s brows furrowed, looking back at the suitcase, he saw a plain looking gift bag, 18. Two black envelopes beside it, 15-16, 17.
Xiao Zhan waited for the younger to process what he was reading, smiling widely when Yibo turned his whole body to face at him, eyes wide in disbelief.
“We’re going on two trips this December!?”
Xiao Zhan nodded. “We’re spending four days in Taiwan with our parents, they’re flying in on our second day though. Then the two of us will fly to Jeju, we’ll stay for five days and celebrate new year’s eve there, around noon we’ll fly to Seoul, we only have two days though before we have to fly back home.”
Yibo continued to stare at him. “Two weeks? How did you get us two weeks off?”
Xiao Zhan rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. “I’ve been planning this for a while now. I made sure both our teams left two weeks off of our December schedule. It wasn’t easy, they had to work out a plan with the management team on both our upcoming dramas, but they managed to get it done.”
“Two weeks...” the younger muttered, still trying to wrap his mind around it.
Xiao Zhan pulled him closer and pressed their forehead together. “You deserve the break, Bo-di.”
“We deserve the break,” Yibo corrected. “We deserve the damn break, ge.”
Xiao Zhan nodded in agreement.
Yibo twisted around to pick up the last envelope, this one heavier and larger than the first. He raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend when he felt him stiffen. “Ge?”
Xiao Zhan shook his head and motioned for him to open it, watching him silently as he does so.
Yibo turned to his boyfriend, a confused look on his face. “Tourist brochures on Ontario, Canada? And our passports?”
“Look inside.”
Yibo blinked, flipping through the pages of his passport until he landed on his Canadian Visa. “You had my Canadian Visa updated... and upgraded it into a travel one and it’s... a ten-year visa!?”
“It’s a good thing you already had a visa, having all those done didn’t require your presence.”
“You still needed my signature,” Yibo pointed out.
“You sign everything I hand you without reading it, which by the way, you should really stop.”
“Zhan-ge will never make me sign anything that can harm me in any way.”
Xiao Zhan stared at him. Yibo pecked him on the lips before waving the brochures on his face.
“So we’re going to Canada?”
“Yeah...”
Yibo titled Xiao Zhan’s face until they were eye to eye. “What’s wrong?”
“Open the next one...”
Yibo pursed his lips. “But—”
“Gouzaizai.”
The younger sighed, “Alright. But this is not over.”
“Hm.”
Yibo grabbed the bag and peeked inside, brows furrowing as he pulled out the white cloth he saw inside. When he got a good look of what it was, he dropped the cloth in shock.
“Zhan-ge... Zhan-ge, this is...”
Xiao Zhan let out a huge breath before maneuvering the frozen man to face him. “Some day in the next ten years... we’re going to Ontario... and say our bows.”
For the third time that night, tears fell from Yibo’s eyes.
“It doesn’t matter if even by then it’s still not recognized in China. We’re going to get married, Wang Yibo. In some country, you’re going to be my husband and I’m going to be your husband.”
Yibo sobbed harder when Xiao Zhan placed the baby-sized Lan robes on his trembling hands.
“And one day...” Xiao Zhan bit his lip as tears ran down his own face, “one day we’re going to adopt and have our own A-Yuan.”
Yibo wrapped his arms around his neck, pulling him in a deep kiss. Both sobbing and laughing into each other’s mouth.
“Zhan-ge,” Yibo hiccuped, “baobao, I love you very much. Do you know that?’
Xiao Zhan chuckled. “Of course I know. I love you very much, too.”
“We’re gonna be married one day.”
“Yes, we are.”
“You’re going to be my husband.”
“Yup.”
“I’m going to be your husband.”
“Obviously.”
Yibo grabbed his hand and laced their fingers. “We’re going to have our own little one.”
Xiao Zhan nodded, face impossibly soft as he stared at his lover.
“We’re gonna be parents one day, ge.”
Xiao Zhan grinned. “That’s right. One day, cool guy Wang Yibo is going to be a dad.”
“I’m gonna be a cool dad,” Yibo boasted.
Xiao Zhan sighed dramatically. “Our kid is going to be so spoiled.”
A huge smile lit up across the younger’s face. “Our kid,” he repeated.
Xiao Zhan matched his smile, leaning in to press their lips together.
The two traded one, two, three, four kisses before the older of the two pulled back, pursed lips pointing at the last gift. “You still have one more to open.”
Yibo pouted, “I don’t think I can handle anymore...” he dropped his head on Xiao Zhan’s shoulder, “I’m drained, Xiao Laoshi.”
Xiao Zhan nudged his head gently. “Come on, Lao Wang~”
Yibo groaned, pouting at the older before grabbing and opening the gift.
“Wow...”
The painting was a canvas, three panels separating each portrait. A single white peony in a glass. A lion sitting on a podium, looking majestic but broken and exhausted. And last, A black panther standing on its feet, head held high.
Xiao Zhan knelt beside the stunned man, smiling softy as he tracing each portrait with a finger. “You started out as a white peony. So young and delicate. People threw hate at you for that very reason. People annoyed you for thinking that, for treating you like that. You were so precious, people couldn’t keep their hands off you. The white peony was so beautiful, a beautiful flower trapped in a glass, admired and seen by people for its beauty.”
“And then came the lion. The lion who appeared because the white peony got tired. He wanted to be seen for who he really is, not the way other people dictated him to be. He wanted to be seen as a cool guy, a talented dancer. He wanted people to see he wasn’t a delicate flower, but a wild, untamable beast. A Leo. A lion. But the lion was still trapped, his potential trapped inside because there were still people who thinks they can control him, who thinks they can make him obey, using their words as whips to make him jump.”
“And now here you are. A black panther. Free to do as he wished, free to be who he wants to be. Now he knows how to fight back, no longer afraid of any whip. He’s more confident, so sure of himself, so comfortable in his own skin because it’s his own. You are the Wang Yibo you want to be.”
By the end of his speech, Yibo was a crying mess.
Xaio Zhan pressed his lip against his forehead and whispered, “Happy Birthday, baobei.”
“I can’t believe you made me cry so much...” Yibo whined, pressing his wet face against the older’s neck.
Xiao Zhan giggled, pulling him on his lap and hugging him tighter until there was no more space left between them. “That’s a gift for me. You’re adorable when you cry.”
Yibo pinched his waist in retaliation. “If your aiming for 23 gifts, you’re missing 4.”
Xiao Zhan hummed contentedly, swaying their body back and forth. “I arranged a romantic dinner for us out on the balcony, all your favorites laid out. After that, we’re going to take a long romantic bath with roses, candles, and bubbles.”
Yibo kissed his shoulder. “That’s 21.”
“I’ll fuck you. On the balcony,” Xiao Zhan whispered against his ear, tongue brushing lightly against the outer shell.
Yibo shivered, fingers clutching at the back of his shirt. “Mark your words.”
“This is a one time thing, baobei. I’ll take the risk for you, but we’re not making it a hobby.”
Yibo nodded and gave the man a huge peck on the lips, pulling back and whispering seductively, “It’s gonna be so good, baobao.”
“As for you last gift. I took two days off. You can do whatever you want with me tonight. Use any toys you want. Wreck me as much as you want.”
Yibo’s eyes flashed.
Xiao Zhan grabbed his wrist before it can slide down his pants. Ignoring the younger’s protest when he pulled him off his lap and stood.
“Dinner first. Then balcony sex. Then bath. And then you can have your fun.”
Yibo stood, looking at his scattered gifts with soft eyes before running towards Xiao Zhan, hugging him from behind just as he was about to open the door leading to the balcony.
“Thank you for everything, Xiao Zhan. You are by far, the greatest gift I’ve ever received in my life. I love you so much. I’m going to make you so happy. I promise.”
Xiao Zhan met his earnest gaze and smiled softly. “I’m already happy, Yibo.”
“I’ll make you even more happy!”
Laugher echoed around the room, followed by an insistent babbling.