Work Text:
“I got it!” Wang Yibo exclaimed, lunging for the sheet of paper Yixuan was holding and darting out of the room before anyone else had a chance to react.
“What the fuck?” Wenhan asked, clearly confused, looking around the room at the other staff members still in the meeting who were trading looks of amusement, some openly giggling. “When has he ever been enthusiastic to pick up edibles? What’s so great about running an errand? What’d I miss?”
“You missed Yibo’s pining over the owner of Lotus Baked Goods in last month’s Best Buds magazine for the last few weeks,” smirked Seungyoun. “They did a two-page article on him, and Yibo thought he was pretty hot, if the drool marks are anything to go by, anyway.”
“I was thinking about getting a poster made from one of the pictures for Christmas,” cackled Sungjoo. He tossed a copy of the magazine to Wenhan, who flipped through it to find the article in question. It was a glowing writeup on the local business owner, and the picture featured an attractive man with dark hair and a brilliant smile surrounded by white flowers.
“Yibo’s been lobbying incessantly for us to start stocking them in our edibles section since he read that article,” Yixuan added with an amused smile. “So I’m not surprised he’s willing to go pick up our first order with such… enthusiasm,” he said with a chuckle. “Anyway, the rest of you, go start your shifts. Doors open for Uniq Greens at 9, and Seungyoun, take over Yibo’s budtending station. Not sure he’ll be making it back anytime soon. You can do inventory when he gets back. If he gets back…”
Yibo pulled up to the small shop in Georgetown on his bike in record time, parking on the street and searching for the correct entrance. It was a medium-sized brown brick building with two store fronts. One appeared to be a cupcake shop called Cupcake King and opened a few hours later according to the signs in the window. The other store front wasn’t labelled with hours and while there were similar storefront windows, they had fabric covering the view and they didn’t have an open/closed sign. There was a regular door with a doorbell on the side of the building as Yibo finally found the correct address to match his invoice.
Yibo rang the doorbell and took a step back, taking a deep breath to try to calm his nerves. He combed his fingers through his loose ponytail in an effort to straighten it that he knew was futile. “He’s just a guy who has the most beautiful smile you’ve ever seen and is also a really successful businessman when you only got through high school. No need to be nervous,” he thought to himself as he rolled his eyes, felt even worse and started to doubt the wisdom of volunteering to come here in the first place.
The door was suddenly yanked open by the man of his dreams- Baker Xiao Zhan. Rather than the immaculately coiffed man with the flowers from the article, this version had green icing smeared on his cheek and a red and black apron covered in splotches of flour.
“Perfect timing, you’re just what I needed!” the man exclaimed with a smile full of sunshine. “Would you taste something for me?”
Wang Yibo could only nod dumbly as Xiao Zhan quickly turned around and left Yibo standing at the open door. He followed Xiao Zhan inside after a stunned moment, entering a large commercial kitchen full of light and shining appliances. Huge colorful commercial stand mixers, shelves full of ingredients, fridges, ovens and display stands took up the large room, but only one corner was covered in assorted ingredients and colorful icing, currently in use. The tall man was standing there, beaming at him as Yibo walked slowly over to join him.
“Um, my name is Yibo…” Yibo started to introduce himself but was stopped abruptly as a small spatula was shoved in his mouth, eyes going wide as he looked at the enthusiastic tall man clearly trying to interpret his reaction.
“Hi Yibo!” the baker chirped out, “I’m thinking about using this flavor of frosting for the next round of seasonal cupcakes! What do you think? I like it, but I tend to like very sweet things."
Xiao Zhan was still holding the spatula jammed in his mouth, and Yibo stood there frozen for a minute while his brain shorted out. Xiao Zhan’s head tilted to the side. “Do you hate it? Oh, you hate it, well shoot, is it too sweet, too much vanilla?”
Xiao Zhan kept looking questioningly at the silent Yibo, his own eyes opening wide with surprise as he felt his hand engulfed by the shorter man’s long fingers. Yibo gently pulled his hand down, removing the spatula from his mouth. “Oh, sorry, I probably should have let you hold that,” Xiao Zhan said distractedly.
Yibo swallowed, lips streaked green. “It is very sweet,” he agreed, giving the other man a half-smile. “I don’t tend to like sweets as much, so it’s not to my taste, anyway,” he said, watching the baker’s face fall. “But that doesn’t mean it isn’t good!” Yibo cried out, “I have terrible taste, you never should have asked.”
He let out a surprised yelp as Xiao Zhan slapped his arm. “Don’t be silly. Your taste is as good as anyone else’s, Yibo, and I asked for it. I was worried it was too sweet too. Do you taste too much vanilla?”
Yibo licked his lips, trying to get the flavor again. He noticed Xiao Zhan’s eyes flicker at the movement, biting his own lip in his very adorable bunny teeth and quickly turning around, ears pink as he started creaming more butter and sugar. “Oh my god, I have been so intimidated to meet the human equivalent of a cute bunny!” Yibo thought to himself, starting to smile as his nervousness fled in the face of such unbearable cuteness.
“I don’t think it’s too much vanilla,” Yibo offered, moving closer to the baker, curious to see what he was doing. The baker quickly and efficiently combined a variety of ingredients with the creamed butter and sugar, then a few drops of color, dipping in another small spatula. Xiao Zhan turned and jumped to find Yibo directly behind him.
“Fuck!” Xiao Zhan yelped, almost dropping the spatula as he leapt, but Yibo grabbed his hand, closing it firmly around the spatula to keep it from falling. They both looked at each other for a minute, stunned, then both hopped in opposite directions, Yibo releasing his hand.
“Sorry!” Yibo exclaimed.
“No, no, Yibo,” Xiao Zhan said with a giggle as he calmed down from his shock. “Did he just giggle? I think that’s the cutest thing I’ve ever heard,” Yibo fanboyed internally, trying not to let his feelings be too obvious as he watched the taller man, managing to keep his utter enthrallment to a small smile.
“That was my fault, I was just surprised, that’s all. I get really focused,” Xiao Zhan said, shining another sunny grin at Yibo that stole his breath. “Ready to try this one?” Xiao Zhan waved around the other small spatula, and Yibo grinned at his cheerful demeanor. “SO FUCKING CUTE!” Yibo exclaimed to himself.
“Sure, Zhan-ge,” he said cheekily, no longer intimidated but completely charmed. Yibo opened his mouth obediently and watched the baker’s cheeks flush. Xiao Zhan tried to offer him the stick so he could hold it himself this time, but Yibo just smirked, leaning his head forward to slowly lick up one side of the spatula while Xiao Zhan’s eyes widened. “Mmmm,” Yibo hummed. “I like it more, but still too sweet for me, I’m afraid.”
Xiao Zhan appeared in a daze for a moment, but shook it off at the criticism, frowning. He tapped his finger on his chin and contemplated how to cut down on the sweetness while Yibo watched him talk to himself with an amused smile.
“I cut the sugar in half there, and I don’t think it’ll be the right consistency if I cut it more,” he pondered. “Maybe if I added more…” Xiao Zhan kept muttering as he went back to his counter, starting to measure out again, mixing and stirring until he got to the right consistency and turned around with another green frosting covered spatula. He didn’t see Yibo anywhere until he heard a cough in his other ear, turning and again jumping as Yibo was in the same spot that he’d been last time but on the other side.
“You are very quiet!” Xiao Zhan exclaimed, doe eyes wide.
“I’m sorry!” Yibo replied, not appearing very sorry as his dark eyes laughed at the baker. “You really do get very focused.”
“Need to get you a bell or something,” Xiao Zhan huffed at him. “How about this one?”
Yibo opened his mouth again and Xiao Zhan’s cheeks turned bright red but didn’t move forward to feed him again, the older man appearing frozen. Yibo engulfed the other man's hand in his own rather than taking the spatula from him, holding Xiao Zhan’s hand in place within a firm grip as he leaned his head forward. “Fuck, he has big hands,” Xiao Zhan thought to himself, trying to keep his thoughts professional.
That was quickly a lost cause as Yibo slowly closed his lips in a very deliberate manner around the top part of the utensil, directly staring into Xiao Zhan’s wide eyes as he pulled his mouth off the now clean upper half of the spatula, teeth dragging on the tip as he pulled off. He swallowed, Adam’s apple bobbing, and noted with satisfaction Xiao Zhan’s eyes flickering to the movement.
“I, uh, can get you a napkin,” Xiao Zhan offered distractedly, clearly just staring at his mouth, and Yibo gave a small smirk before slowly licking his lips clean of most of the frosting. “Did I get it all, gege?” he asked innocently, smear of icing still at the corner of one side of his pink lips.
“Um, it’s,” and Xiao Zhan tried motioning to the same spot on his mouth, Yibo moving his tongue slowly on the other side, completely missing it with each swipe.
Xiao Zhan lunged towards a paper towel dispenser desperately and held one out to the younger man, unable to keep watching. “I’m not sure where it is, Xiao Laoshi,” Yibo said with a pout, “Could you help me? I don’t see a mirror handy.”
Xiao Zhan took a deep breath and nodded, completely flustered. He leaned forward, wiping off the man’s soft lips with a careful swipe, then a second, finally pulling his hand away with the dirty napkin, looking stunned.
“Thanks,” Yibo said, beaming. “I really like it. Zhan-ge is the best baker.”
Xiao Zhan grinned back, cheeks flushed. “Thank you, Yibo.” They looked at each other for another minute, then Xiao Zhan abruptly straightened as he seemed to have a sudden realization.
“Wait a minute, who are you?” he asked quizzically, Yibo bursting into laughter.
“I told you- Yibo. Wang Yibo if you want the full name,” he replied with a cocky grin, Xiao Zhan slapping his shoulder as he cackled.
“Yes, yes, but why are you here, at my bakery? Are you selling something?” Xiao Zhan asked curiously. “I’m probably not interested, but I can listen to your pitch since you put up with me for so long already.”
Yibo laughed again. “I’m with Uniq Greens, we have an order of edibles to pick up,” he confessed, pulling the invoice out from his pocket, Xiao Zhan nodding with a smile of recognition. “Oh, yes, the new dispensary that reached out to me last week! I have the gummy squares and the cookies, they’re just over here.”
He led Yibo over to a set of shelves, grabbing a stack of boxes and bags, opening them for Yibo to inspect and check against the numbers on his paper.
“But, there’s only 40 boxes of the gummy squares and we ordered 70, it looks like,” Yibo said, pointing to the line on the invoice.
Xiao Zhan made a face. “Oh, shoot, that’s right, you’re the ones I needed to call this morning. Sorry, I got really busy working on the, um, frosting,” he said, cheeks turning pink as Yibo gave him a sly smile.
“I didn’t mind helping, Zhan-ge,” he said guilelessly as the other man clearly tried to buy himself some time to compose himself by straightening some other items. "I'll taste anything you want, ge," Yibo added with a wicked smile.
“Um, yes, thanks!” Xiao Zhan said quickly. “Very helpful. So I was going to call and offer this new product I’ve been working on as a substitute. I made them for the season, since it’s December and people are looking for gifts. Normally they’ll cost more but I’ll keep the price the same as the others because I ran out of the other kind. You know, goodwill and all that,” he said with a sweet smile.
“As long as my manager doesn’t have an issue, it sounds reasonable,” Yibo said with a shrug. “What do you have to show me, Xiao Laoshi?” he asked, biting his lip and wishing he could pounce on the cute bunny who kept watching him with wide doe eyes.
“Um,” Xiao Zhan stammered, trying to look away from Yibo as the younger man started slowly licking his lips. “Rings!” he shouted, Yibo jumping in shock at the sudden volume. “I mean, um, gummy rings,” Xiao Zhan said in a lower voice.
“Sorry, I’m having trouble focusing today,” he shook his head, avoiding Yibo’s laughing eyes, and walked over to another set of boxes. Xiao Zhan reached in to pull out a bag with five separately wrapped gummy rings inside. “I’m calling them ‘Five Golden Rings,’ what do you think?” he asked Yibo.
Yibo took the bag and looked at the candies. They were gummy rings covered in gold glitter. “Are you sure they’re edible, gege? I was told to not actually eat the glitter back in kindergarten,” he asked dubiously, cackling as the baker slapped his shoulder again.
“Of course it’s edible glitter, you gremlin,” Xiao Zhan grumped before throwing his hands over his mouth. “Sorry, sorry, I shouldn’t have called you that and I shouldn’t have slapped you. I don’t know why I’m being so unprofessional today,” Xiao Zhan said abashedly, shaking his head as if trying to clear it. “It just feels like we met before or something,” he said, tilting his head and looking at Yibo curiously.
“We haven’t met before, but I don’t mind you touching me or calling me anything you want, Zhan-ge,” Yibo said with a smirk that grew wider as Xiao Zhan’s cheeks flushed again.
“Um, great!” Xiao Zhan said lamely, turning around to grab some boxes. “Great? What the fuck, Xiao Zhan,” he screamed to himself internally. “How did this man you met just 15 minutes ago get so under your skin? And why can you do nothing but stare at his lips like a psycho?” Xiao Zhan took a deep breath as he counted out the appropriate number of bags, calming himself down before he turned to face the source of his inner turmoil.
Xiao Zhan let out a shriek at finding Yibo directly behind him, throwing the boxes in the air.
“A BELL!” he shouted. “You need a bell!” and Yibo kept cackling as he helped Xiao Zhan pick up the strewn boxes and gather the assorted bags. One of the bags had burst open, and Yibo stood, holding the retrieved boxes in his hands while Xiao Zhan handed him the bag with four wrapped golden rings inside.
“One minute,” the baker hummed, crawling around on the floor while Yibo waited, looking on in bemusement at the strange, adorable man. “Found it!” he heard exclaimed from under a table and he walked over after setting down the boxes, Xiao Zhan holding up the remaining ring to him.
“For me, Zhan-ge?” Yibo asked coyly, fluttering his eyelashes as he clapped his hands on his cheeks in faux-shock, “But it’s so soon!”
Xiao Zhan’s jaw dropped at his shamelessness just as the door to the kitchen opened. "Zhanzhan, we brought you tea and…” Xuan Lu stopped speaking abruptly as she and Wang Zhuocheng took in the view. Xiao Zhan was on one knee, holding up what appeared to be a shining gold ring wrapped in plastic to another man who’d thrown his hands over his face in surprise.
“Should we come back?” Zhuocheng asked curiously as Xuan Lu’s eyes sparkled.
“Oh, you have to introduce us!” Xuan Lu gushed as Xiao Zhan quickly jumped to his feet and Yibo’s whole body shook with laughter.
“No, it’s not, he’s just, ugh, later!” Xiao Zhan burst out, face on fire as he grabbed the boxes and yanked Yibo over to the other side of the room as the other two watched them with wide eyes.
“So you have everything, I think,” Xiao Zhan said, avoiding Yibo’s eyes and initialing his invoice at his workstation.
“I’m missing initials right there,” Yibo pointed to a spot on the paper and Xiao Zhan nodded, quickly initialing.
“And your phone number right there,” Yibo indicated and Xiao Zhan nodded, writing it down and then pausing. He set the pen down and finally met the shorter man’s gaze. “That wasn’t for your job, was it?” he asked suspiciously.
“Nope,” Yibo said with a smirk. “You free Saturday night?”
Xiao Zhan just stared at him, then barked out a laugh, shaking his head incredulously. “Are you even human, Wang Yibo?” The younger man just beamed at him.
Xiao Zhan shrugged and smiled helplessly, “Sure, why not.”
Yibo headed out of the shop to the sound of Xuan Lu and Wang Zhuocheng firing questions off in the background to an increasingly flustered Xiao Zhan. He paused at the door to loudly call out, “Thanks for letting me taste your sweet frosting, Zhan-ge!” and waited just long enough to see the baker start sputtering before smiling smugly and finally leaving.
One year later: Get Higher (Than the Angel on Top of the Tree)