Work Text:
To Sungjoo: You better hurry back, I’m not staying here one minute longer than I have to.
Sungjoo and Wenhan had ditched Yibo to scout out the other vendors at the artisanal fair as soon as Yibo showed up.
“C’mon, Yibo, you can represent Uniq Sauces just fine. You just need to say that we make them ourselves, all local ingredients, Korean-Chinese fusion, different levels of spice, and let people try some but not too much,” Sungjoo had wheedled as Yibo crossed his arms, refusing to be left alone at the table not ten minutes earlier.
“I don’t know what even goes in this stuff!” he huffed, the other man laughing as he grabbed his hoodie and started walking away. “We’ll bring you back some snacks!” Wenhan called out, “It’ll just be a few minutes, cut up some cucumbers if the plate runs out and we’ll be back in no time, then you can leave if you want.”
“Don’t burn the place down!” Sungjoo called out teasingly, Yibo’s eyes widening. “Wait, that could happen?” he thought, biting his lip in concern. He looked over at the plate for samples after the two men left and saw it was empty. “Of course it is," he sighed, picking up a knife and a cucumber after sending a grumpy text to Sungjoo.
“Um, I’m pretty sure you’re not supposed to dice the cucumbers,” Yibo heard as he carefully pressed down with the knife, crushing the green vegetable into mushy, small pieces.
“Why not?” he asked, sticking his tongue out in concentration as he tried not to cut himself. “How did people do this? Was it supposed to be this flat? Why was it so hard to cut? Is the cucumber bad?”
“The blade is upside down, that’s why it’s not cutting,” the helpful voice added as Yibo put down the knife and sighed. “And I think people are supposed to dip the cucumber in whatever you’re selling. And I don’t see that you have spoons for diced cucumber so I think maybe slices might be better?”
Yibo’s shoulders drooped. “Oh, that makes sense,” he said glumly, taking the cutting board and throwing the mess into the small trash can to the side of the booth, joining all the tiny emptied sample cups. He picked up another cucumber and stared at it in frustration.
“Can I help?” asked the kind voice, sounding closer. Yibo turned to decline but found himself silenced by the beautiful face in front of him, a taller man with dark hair and sparkling eyes offering him a gentle smile as he forgot anything he’d been about to say.
The man waved a hand in front of his face and he jumped, the other man jumping as well at his sudden reaction.
“Phew, you okay?” the man asked, hand on his chest as he took a deep breath. “You seem jumpy.”
“Uh, too much coffee, I think,” Yibo said dazedly, wondering where this man had appeared from other than his dreams. “Yeah, I could, um, use the help?” He watched the man take a few steps over from the booth next to his, stepping over assorted cords and plugs carefully. The tall man removed the knife cautiously from Yibo’s hands, quickly slicing up several cucumbers and laying them out in a spiral on the plate Yibo had been given for samples.
Thankfully, since the two men had left Yibo alone at the table, there hadn’t been any customers. He had just walked up to them when they’d ditched him at the booth and had not mentioned that their table was next to an angel’s, or he might have shown up sooner.
“Do you think that’s enough?” Yibo heard, quickly leaving his reverie to see that the older man had assembled a Martha Stewart level spread of cucumbers in assorted spirals and shapes, with toothpicks displayed throughout for easy access.
“Um, yeah,” Yibo said, cursing his inability to find anything to say to this handsome man.
“Are you selling cucumbers?” the man asked, eyes sparkling, and Yibo shook his head, the moment stretching on until it was broken by the tall man’s laughter.
“I’m Xiao Zhan,” he offered, holding out his hand, Yibo trying to shake off his stupor and taking it while saying, “Yibo.”
“Pleased to meet you, Yibo,” Xiao Xhan said with a sweet smile. “You should probably open whatever you are actually selling so people can sample it with those slices.”
Yibo wanted to melt into the ground. Well, after he punched Wenhan and Sungjoo in the face for leaving him to look like such an idiot in front of the most handsome man in the world.
“That… makes sense,” he said slowly, frantically looking for jars that were meant to be open and not finding any.
“Oh!” Yibo exclaimed, finally spotting a box underneath the table and grabbing some jars with various labels, finding some wooden single-use spoons to accompany the samples. He unscrewed the caps and set them out, but there was still a lack of any customers.
“Where is everyone?” he wondered aloud, Xiao Zhan walking back to his booth a few feet away.
“There’s a milking demonstration going on outside right now,” Xiao Zhan said with a sunny smile. “The parents all dragged their kids to watch, I think. It should be over soon.”
“Oh,” Yibo said, surprised. “That’s, that’s cool, I guess. Not a lot of cows around here.”
“My partner’s actually running it,” Xiao Zhan offered, Yibo dying inside at the mention of his partner.
“Oh. You both… own cows?” he asked stupidly. “What the fuck are you even saying?” he screamed internally.
Xiao Zhan nodded eagerly. “Yes, we own a creamery on Vashon Island. We make cheese!” He picked up one of the signs facing outward from his booth and turned it towards Yibo.
“Yiling Creamery,” Yibo read aloud.
Xiao Zhan smiled again, his entire face lighting up. “Yup, I founded it with my best friend, Meng Ziyi. She’s out running the demonstration. It’s Christmas themed, actually,” he admitted with a laugh.
Yibo tilted his head, “Green and red milk?” he guessed, Xiao Zhan making a vomiting face.
“Ugh, that’s gross, Yibo,” he groaned, Yibo laughing. “We were going to bring six cows, but the organizers suggested we bring eight,” Xiao Zhan said expectantly, as if waiting for Yibo to understand.
Yibo shook his head, not getting it.
“Eight maids a-milking,” Xiao Zhan said with a giggle, Yibo groaning this time. “Ugh, that’s awful.”
“Isn’t it?” Xiao Zhan said with another laugh that did strange things to Yibo’s insides. “It’s not eight maids either. I mean, Ziyi brought her girlfriend, but generally, we have a very diverse group of employees. I wondered if they would try to say something, but the organizers had enough sense of self-preservation to not try to dictate the gender of volunteers to Ziyi.” He giggled again, and Yibo couldn’t stop staring at the human embodiment of sunshine.
“Girlfriend?” Yibo asked, focusing on the most important part of Xiao Zhan’s speech.
Xiao Zhan’s smile dimmed. “Yes,” he said with a small frown. “Is there a problem with that?” he asked with a quirked eyebrow.
“So she’s your business partner then?” Yibo clarified, smiling broadly as Xiao Zhan let out a surprised laugh, smirking at the younger man.
“Yes, she’s my business partner. You’re right, I did say partner earlier, didn’t I?” he said with a grin. “I see the confusion.”
Yibo beamed at Xiao Zhan, who looked amused as he took a sip of his kombucha.
“Thanks for your help, Zhan-ge,” Yibo said cheekily to the older man, “I would have been completely lost without your skillful hands.” Xiao Zhan choked on his drink, eyes widening as Yibo took a few steps over to lean on his table.
“So how long are you working here today?” he asked innocently, running his hand through his hair and giving Xiao Zhan his best smoldering look. He smiled internally as Xiao Zhan suddenly looked like a frozen bunny.
“All day,” Xiao Zhan croaked, ears turning pink as Yibo darted his tongue out to wet his lips, gleefully noting how it had drawn Xiao Zhan’s gaze.
“What a coincidence,” Yibo hummed while shooting off a text to his absent friends. “Me too! Interested in sampling something?” he asked with a sly grin. “I’d be happy to let you taste anything you’d like, Zhan-ge,” he purred as the other man bit his lip.
To Sungjoo: Take your time, I’m not going anywhere.
One year later: My Darling Evergreen