Work Text:
“So how’s business been going lately?” Ji Li asks Xiao Zhan as he uses his chopsticks to pick up a few leaves of Chinese cabbage from the plate he’s balancing precariously in one hand, and swiftly places them one after another into the pot of boiling soup in front of them. It had been a while since the two friends had last met, since Xiao Zhan had decided to leave his job at a big advertising company a few months ago and set up his own graphic design studio, while Ji Li had been busy working on the launch of his own indie clothing label. Now that he had successfully completed the launch, Ji Li had offered to treat Xiao Zhan to dinner, both to catch up and to celebrate his launch.
Xiao Zhan sighs.
“Not too good,” he admits, dumping a few bunches of golden mushrooms into the boiling soup. “I’m starting to think I was crazy for thinking that running my own graphic design studio would ever work.”
“Oh man, really?” Ji Li asks, surprised. “But your designs are so good though! Definitely much better than some of the other crap I’ve seen out in the market.”
“Yeah, well, apparently they’re not good enough,” Xiao Zhan groans, leaning back into his chair and rubbing his hand over his face tiredly. “I’ve been getting some requests here and there, usually from people who tell me they randomly stumbled across my website and liked how low my prices were, but it’s not enough. I’m not even sure I’ll be able to make enough money to pay for my rent this month.”
“Are you sure it isn’t because you’re under-pricing yourself?”
“The reality is that no one is going to hire a nobody like me if I don’t price myself competitively though,” Xiao Zhan points out. “I was hoping that I’d be able to gradually raise my rates once I’d gotten a relatively stable stream of work, but that hasn’t worked out.”
Ji Li empties a small plate of fish balls into the pot, then taps his chopsticks on the plate thoughtfully. “Hm… sounds like maybe you just have a problem with marketing yourself then. I’m pretty sure once people have experienced the quality of your work they’d be happy to continue coming to you for jobs and even recommend you to other people.” He ponders on it for a little while more, then his eyes suddenly light up mischievously and Xian Zhan feels a sudden sense of foreboding.
"You know how some of my launch videos on Douyin went viral recently and my fashion label got more attention?" Ji Li says, waggling his eyebrows.
Xiao Zhan nods, grinning. “You mean those videos of that very buff and very good-looking man modelling your clothes?” Of course he knows about them. When they’d been uploaded, his WeChat had exploded with messages from tons of people spamming him with links to the videos and gushing over how hot the model was. Even acquaintances who hadn’t known he was friends with Ji Li had been raving about them.
“Aside from the fact that he was VERY good-looking,” at this, Ji Li pauses and gives a smug look that speaks volumes, “He’s actually an MMA fighter who's pretty popular, so that's how my videos got viral cos his fans and friends ‘liked’ the videos and helped to spread the links around.”
“So how did you get to know him?” Xiao Zhan asks curiously. “Honestly speaking, you don’t really seem to be the type to hang around regularly with MMA fighters.”
“I found him through an app,” Ji Li says casually. For a moment, Xiao Zhan thinks that maybe he sounds almost too casual, but as Ji Li continues his explanation, that thought is soon pushed away to the back of his mind.
“It’s an app for entrepreneurs to find investors who are willing to fund their businesses in return for certain exclusive products or services,” Ji Li says slowly, seeming to weigh every word carefully as he describes the app. He takes his mobile phone out from the plastic bag the restaurant had given them to protect their phones from being accidentally splashed by the boiling soup, and taps quickly on the screen a few times, then flips it around so that Xiao Zhan can see what’s on the screen.
“Yuanfen?” Xiao Zhan reads the name emblazoned across the screen. “Wow, that’s a pretty meaningful name for something that’s just a business app.”
Something flashes across Ji Li’s eyes but the expression is gone too quickly for Xiao Zhan to catch what it means.
“Well, this app is pretty different from the usual business networking apps like Maimai. Its goal is to cultivate more... meaningful and long-term relationships between the investors and the entrepreneurs that aren’t just centred purely on business, but also extends into the social sphere. Apparently the creators of this app were inspired by the patron-client relationships during Roman times, which is why they call investors ‘patrons’ and entrepreneurs ‘clients’ in the app.” Ji Li rattles off.
“The app also tries to prevent scammers from signing up by restricting new sign ups to only people who have a referral from an existing user. Here, why don’t I send you an invite now so I can walk you through the process of setting up an account? There’s no pressure to continue using it if you find it’s not really your thing.”
Xiao Zhan nods his assent and within minutes they’re both peering intently at the screen on Xiao Zhan’s phone as Ji Li explains the features of the app in more detail.
“So how it works is that clients can list the products and services they’re willing to offer on their profiles together with their prices or rates. Normally patrons and clients can’t send private messages to each other, but if a patron finds a client he’s interested in investing in, he can send that client a connection request. Once the client accepts the request, the private messaging feature will open up so that the two can message each other to discuss the terms of their arrangement.
Also, since the app tries to encourage people to form not just business relationships but also, uh, friendships, you’re encouraged to write a bit about yourself on your profile too, like your interests and preferences, though it’s really up to you what you want to put there. You can upload photos too, but due to the app’s strict privacy rules, you can’t upload any photos that show your face in the albums that are accessible to all users. If you want to do that, you can add them to a locked album instead that a patron can access only after paying a minimum fee of 500 yuan.”
“Isn’t having a locked album that’s only accessible to paying users kind of odd?” Xiao Zhan wonders aloud, frowning. “And wow, 500 yuan is pretty pricey.”
“Well, the idea is that if a patron pays for the photos, there’s a record of it, so if the photos are ever leaked outside the app, it’ll be much easier to trace who leaked those photos. Though of course, if users want to exchange their photos through private messages, that's up to them. And the app’s main goal is to promote talented entrepreneurs who deserve to be paid fairly for their services, which is why the minimum price has been set pretty high, to discourage opportunistic patrons who just want to exploit cheap labour.
Also, since the locked albums aren’t limited to just photos of clients and clients can set the price of each individual album, some clients use this feature to upload certain types of... exclusive content for different patrons depending on their pay tiers.”
“Nice,” Xiao Zhan comments, impressed. “Sounds like the founders really took great pains to consider the needs and concerns of freelancers and small business owners when designing this app.” Strangely, Ji Li almost looks like he wants to laugh for a moment, but before Xiao Zhan can ask what’s so funny, Ji Li says, “Anyway, once you get home you can start working on your profile. Let me know if you have any more questions on how to use the app. But for now I think we’d better dig in before our food gets overcooked!”
After the two friends have had their fill of both food and gossip, they say their goodbyes to each other and part ways, Xiao Zhan buzzing with excitement at the thought of exploring the app further.
==================
"You did WHAT?" Yizhou asks, dumbfounded, as he steps out of the bathroom in Ji Li’s apartment, pausing in the midst of toweling his hair dry. He’s clad in only a pair of pyjama bottoms, and Ji Li nods approvingly as a rivulet of water trickles down Yizhou’s very buff and very well-defined chest. He reaches over to grab the towel and pushes the latter to sit down on the bed, picking up a hairdryer and starting to dry Yizhou’s hair.
“You heard it right the first time. I signed up Xiao Zhan for an account on that sugar baby app,” Ji Li replies nonchalantly. Yizhou twists his head around to look at Ji Li in horror, but Ji Li simply places his fingers on the crown of his head and turns him back around to face forward.
“And Xiao Zhan agreed to this?” Yizhou asks in disbelief.
“Well… I might have left out some details. Nothing too significant, of course,” Ji Li replies airily.
“Ji Li,” Yizhou says warningly.
The younger man pouts. “Ok, fine. He may have been under the slight misunderstanding that the app is for entrepreneurs who are finding people to invest in their businesses.”
“How did Xiao Zhan not even realise what the app is actually for?” Yizhou asks incredulously. “I mean, you’ve seen some of the profiles on there. Even with the app’s photos policy, it’s pretty obvious what types of services most of the clients there are offering.”
“Well, I may have turned on the ‘SFW profiles only’ option on the app. Didn’t want to spook a first time user after all.”
This time, Yizhou doesn’t even bother to reply, and turns around again to level his lover with a look.
“Oh don’t be such a party pooper, Da-ge,” Ji Li says breezily as he switches off the hairdryer and places it aside, satisfied that Yizhou’s hair is sufficiently dry and floofy. He quickly runs his fingers affectionately through the other man’s hair to comb out the tangles before settling himself down on Yizhou’s lap. Yizhou automatically wraps his arms around the other man’s slender waist and pulls him in closer just in case he leans back too far and falls over.
“Didn’t you agree with me the last time when I said that it’ll be nice if Xiao Zhan could get a boyfriend who’d pamper and take care of him instead of him having to worry about other people all the time?” Ji Li continues as he wiggles into a more comfortable position in Yizhou’s arms. “And not to mention that things worked out really well for us, didn’t it?”
“Well yes,” Yizhou admits grudgingly. “But the fact is that you KNEW what the app was for when you were using it and you knew exactly what you wanted. Whereas thanks to YOU” - and here he pinches Ji Li’s nose - “Xiao Zhan is going into this like a clueless rabbit walking into a den of wolves.”
“Oh it’ll be fine,” Ji Li dismisses his concerns. “Xiao Zhan and I prank each other all the time. Also, with how strict the app is with its referral system and its emphasis on protecting its users’ privacy and security, it’s highly unlikely that Xiao Zhan will encounter a weirdo who’ll force him to do anything he doesn’t want to do. After all, whenever I met up with a patron and ended up not wanting to enter into an arrangement, they always backed off very respectfully.”
“You are taking this FAR too lightly,” Yizhou grumbles, but Ji Li has wrapped his arms around his neck and is currently placing feather light kisses along his neck. He knows it’s a tactic to get him to give in, but he’s a sucker for it every time.
“And you, my dear, are too much of a worrywart. Trust me, it’ll be fine. Anyway, don’t you have more important things to think about right now?” Ji Li smirks as he leans forward, and Yizhou allows himself to be toppled backwards onto the bed, his concerns over his boyfriend’s prankish behaviour disappearing into a proverbial cloud of smoke as their bodies entangle with each other.
==================
"Wait, let me get this straight," Wenhan says in disbelief, eyes wide. "You mean you've never dated before?"
Yibo scowls at him as he wipes sweat off his brow and takes a gulp of water from the bottle he’s holding. They’d been practising their latest dance choreography for the past two hours and a particularly tricky bit had been frustrating him, so he wasn’t exactly in the best of moods. "Well, considering the fact that I've been in the idol business since I was 11, I thought you would know that's not unexpected."
"But you're a member of UNIQ! You’re one of China's most eligible celebrity bachelors! Somewhere along the way you must have found SOMEONE you were interested in enough to date. It’s an open secret that even though we’re officially prohibited from dating, as long as you make sure to keep it on the down low and never get found out, then it’s all fine. Not to mention, pretty much everyone is doing it."
Yibo shrugs. "I was just never really interested, I guess. Work and my hobbies already take up so much of my time."
“True. You did basically announce publicly that you’d rather date your motorcycle than a real living, breathing human,” Wenhan laughs, referring to the tongue-in-cheek video that Yibo had uploaded a while back of himself tucking his motorcycle into bed and hugging it to sleep. “But anyway, why bring this up so suddenly? I mean, you just said that you’ve never been interested in dating before, so why are you mentioning it now?” Wenhan asks as he leans his back against a nearby wall with his usual boneless grace.
Yibo sighs heavily. “Director Ng said that my acting in the flirting scenes with Li Ying isn't convincing enough. He says I need to exude more of a ‘seductive aura’, whatever that means. And apparently my smile seems too fake.”
“I’m not surprised,” Wenhan chuckles. “I mean, I have seen that horrendous Colgate advertisement of yours.”
Yibo glares at him. “Thanks, I really appreciate how you’re always so supportive,” he says sarcastically, reaching over to kick Wenhan in the shin.
Wenhan merely laughs. “Well, sounds like you might need to get some practical dating experience to help you with your role. Why not try out this dating app called Yuanfen?” Wenhan suggests, whipping out his phone and showing it to Yibo as he explains how it works.
“... Sounds more like a sugar baby app than a dating app to me,” Yibo comments after Wenhan is done with his explanation.
“Wow Wang Yibo, how do you even know what a sugar baby is?” Wenhan asks, impressed. “But yeah, it is a sugar baby app actually. I just called it a dating app because I wasn’t sure you’d understand what I meant if I used the term sugar baby.”
“One does pick up certain things through osmosis after being subjected to a ladies’ man like you for years,” Yibo says drily. “Why else do you think I came to you for advice on this?” Then he stops short. “But wait, what the fuck? Are you seriously recommending me a sugar baby app!?”
“Wait, just hear me out,” Wenhan says as he waves his hands placatingly. Yibo raises an eyebrow skeptically and crosses his arms as he waits for the other man to continue.
“This isn’t your typical sugar baby app. It’s actually really popular in the entertainment industry because it has very strict privacy and security standards. Which would be perfect for you because then you don’t have to worry about getting found out.
“Not to mention, you need to gain practical experience as soon as possible because you only have a few more months before the filming for your drama wraps up, right? If you use a normal dating app, it’ll take a long time to get to know the other party and it’ll be hard to move on to the… uh… more intimate stuff quickly. But with a sugar baby app, both parties know exactly what they want from the outset so that makes things easier.”
Yibo can see the logic in Wenhan’s persuasion, but he’s still hesitant. “Well, the thing is… you know I’m not exactly comfortable with girls,” Yibo says awkwardly. He knows Wenhan already knows this, but the environment he’s been brought up in has always made him really uneasy about saying such things out loud, even to the people closest to him.
“Well I didn’t say you have to match up with a female client, did I? There are lots of male clients on this app too,” Wenhan grins cheekily at him.
After a few more minutes of back and forth, Wenhan finally manages to convince Yibo to set up an account on his phone and wrangles a promise out of him to match up with at least one person by the end of the week.
"You can stop using the app if that match up doesn't work out. But you need to at least try once," Wenhan wheedles and Yibo grudgingly agrees just to get him off his back. It’s not as if Yibo has any better alternatives, and he figures that even if things don’t end up working out, at least he’d tried.
Once he’s home, Yibo starts browsing through the profiles on the app, but quickly gets overwhelmed by the sheer number of them. He decides it would just be easiest to go to the tab that says “Newest signups” and start looking from there.
Suddenly, an unusual profile with the username “Daytoy” catches his eye. Despite (or perhaps due to) the app’s restrictions on posting photos showing the subjects’ faces, most clients tended to post photos of themselves in the most outrageously sexually suggestive poses, presumably so as to catch the eye of patrons more easily. But the profile he’s looking at now just seems to have lots of photos of artwork on it. If it’s the client’s intention to stand out by creating a profile that’s so drastically different from the rest of the other profiles on the app, Yibo thinks he’s certainly succeeded. And these artworks are actually really good. A quick glance at the client’s bio shows that he’s a graphics designer who runs his own studio.
Yibo is intrigued, and decides to pay to unlock the client’s album to see if the client has uploaded any photos of himself.
Once the photos have loaded, he’s amused to see that the artwork theme continues. The album consists mostly of photos of “Daytoy” posing as he holds up photos of his artwork. There is a particularly adorable montage of him contorting his face into all sorts of weird expressions, which mirrors the series of drawings he’s holding up. It’s captioned “In case you were wondering what kind of research goes into the drawings I make.” There are also some photos of T-shirts that have been apparently designed by the client.
Yibo is immediately charmed at how cute and endearing the photos are. Not to mention that the client has one of the most blindingly bright smiles he has ever seen. The entire feel of his profile is just so different from what he expected to find on a sugar baby app that Yibo decides that this is the one he’s going to go for. And well, Yibo has never been good at making small talk, particularly over text messaging, but it looks like he’d at least be able to make conversation by commenting on the other guy’s art if all other attempts at striking up conversation fails.
He sends Daytoy a connection request, then locks his phone and places it by his bedside and goes to sleep.
==================
The next day, Yibo wakes up to a notification on his phone from the app. He sits up and swipes his phone open immediately to tap the icon eagerly, and feels a little jolt of excitement at seeing that Daytoy has accepted his connection request and has even sent him a few messages.
Daytoy : Hi, thanks so much for sending me a connection request! :D I’m really looking forward to working with you from now on! Was there anything in particular that caught your eye, or do you have any specific requests? If you need any more photos, feel free to ask!
Yibo stares at the message quizzically. ‘I look forward to working with you’? Was he making this sound so business-like in order to make it clear that this was going to be a relationship purely based on money? Also, requests? Was he asking Yibo if he had any kinks or something?
Tracer85 : Nothing in particular just yet. Maybe we can get to know each other better first before discussing such things?
Daytoy : Sure! ^_^ I always work better after I get a feel for my clients.
Yibo quirks an eyebrow. Guess Wenhan really was right after all when he said that things moved faster on a sugar baby app.
Tracer85 : Cool, me too.
Yibo waits for a response, but nothing seems to be coming. Was he being too impatient by expecting an answer straight away? Should he wait a little longer for a reply? Or should he be the one to continue the conversation by sending another follow up message? Why was making small talk so hard?
Yibo frantically rummages through his memories of past conversations with friends who had liked boasting about their dating conquests to see if he can recall whether they had mentioned the kinds of things they talked about on their dates. He’d never thought the day would come when he would regret not paying more attention to what they’d said instead of just rolling his eyes and plugging his fingers in his ears as he told them to shut up.
The first thing he can remember is that one of them had mentioned, “When in doubt, compliment.”
Ok. Compliment. Right. He can do this. He can compliment Daytoy’s art.
Tracer85 : I really like your T-shirt designs.
Immediately after pressing the enter button, Yibo worries that his follow up is too abrupt, but he’s relieved when he gets a reply almost immediately.
Daytoy : Thanks! Would you like me to design one for you?
Yibo is surprised by the unexpected offer, but also somewhat touched. They’ve barely just started talking and the client was already offering to make him a personalised T-shirt? How cute.
Tracer85 : Sure.
A few more minutes tick by as Yibo stares at his phone expectantly, but again no answer seems to be forthcoming. Hm. What else could he talk about? Then he remembers another comment his friend had made. “Chicks love talking about cute animals. Especially if it’s their own pet.”
Daytoy wasn’t a chick, but maybe he’d like talking about cute animals too. Yibo remembers seeing that he’d mentioned that he owned a cat in his profile.
Tracer85 : By the way, you mentioned that you have a cat? I like cats. Can you send me a photo?
Daytoy : Sure! Give me a moment.
When the photo loads, Yibo nearly chokes. From the angle of the photo, Daytoy had obviously tilted his phone camera down from chest height to take a photo of his cat, who is lying sprawled across his lap. But the thing that catches Yibo’s eye is not the admittedly very cute and fluffy cat, but the fact that Daytoy seems to be wearing a pair of very short shorts - so short, in fact, that the cat almost covers them entirely, making it look as if Daytoy is naked from the waist down. A pair of very long and very shapely legs stretches out from behind the cat, and Yibo has to quickly pinch his nose to prevent a nosebleed.
Daytoy : Sorry for the ugly picture of my hairy legs! 🙈 But Jianguo (that’s her name!) refuses to move from my lap so I can’t take a better photo of her.
Yibo feels like he’s been shot through the heart with an arrow. How can someone be this cute and sexy? He doesn’t know how to respond without sounding like an utter pervert, so he just opts to go with a very safe “That’s really cute.” To be honest, he isn’t talking about just the cat.
Daytoy : By the way, could you send me a photo of yourself too? I prefer to at least know the face of the person I’m working with before we meet up for the first time. It’ll make it easier for me to recognise you too at our first meeting.
For a brief moment, Yibo hesitates. What if Daytoy recognises him and makes a big deal out of the fact that he’s matched up with one of the hottest idols in the entertainment industry? But he’s been emphasising the business nature of this arrangement, so maybe it’s intended as a pre-emptive hint to let Yibo know that he’s intending to keep things strictly professional. And well, he supposes that Daytoy will know the truth once they meet up in person anyway, so maybe it would be better to be upfront from the start.
Yibo turns his phone around and switches on the selfie camera. He notices some stray strands of hair sticking up and tries to smooth them down. Next he tries to smile for the camera, but the resulting attempt looks even worse than his infamous Colgate advertisement. He can already almost hear Wenhan’s howling laughter in the background. After a few more attempts, Yibo resigns himself to the fact that he’s just not made to smile and gives up, takes a selfie with his usual grim expression and sends it off to Daytoy.
Almost immediately, he gets a reply.
Daytoy
: Thanks! ^_^
Daytoy
: Are you free to meet up this weekend? I feel like it might be easier to discuss the terms of our arrangement in person rather than over text. We can also discuss what designs you might like for the T-shirt.
That’s it? Yibo wonders. He’d been expecting Daytoy to at least comment something along the lines of how he’s really excited to “work” with someone famous. Can it be that Daytoy really doesn’t know who he is? Well, maybe that would be better since he can avoid any complications if Daytoy turns out to be his fan or something. But he has to admit that he does feel a little bit of a blow to his pride. Also, why is Daytoy so weirdly obsessed with designing him a T-shirt?
After some back and forth, they agree to meet up on Saturday at a cafe that is run by one of Wenhan’s friends. Yibo suggests it because from the few times he’s gone there, he’d really liked how quiet and private it was. On the surface, the cafe marketed itself as a “respite” for people to escape from the hecticness of modern life, so customers were actually prohibited from using their mobile phones inside the cafe and had to keep them in lockers on the cafe premises, but Wenhan had explained to Yibo that it was well-known in the entertainment scene that the true purpose of the cafe was to provide a venue that celebrities could frequent without having to be worried of fans or paparazzi sneaking in to take photos of them and posting them on social media.
After exiting the Yuanfen app, Yibo opens his WeChat app to catch up on his messages. There’s an unread message from Wenhan.
Wenhan : So? You match up with anyone yet?
Yibo rolls his eyes. Wenhan had just introduced him to the app yesterday and here he was already nagging him for updates? Though well, at least this time Yibo did indeed have something to update him about.
Yibo : Yeah. I found someone pretty cute and we’ve arranged to meet at your friend’s cafe this Saturday.
Wenhan
: What, already!? I just sent you that message to heckle you, I wasn’t actually expecting you to say yes!
Wenhan
: Wang Yibo, you’re on FIRE. 🔥 Now you’ve got me really curious about who this person is who's managed to capture your heart so quickly. Maybe I should just conveniently “drop by'' the cafe on Saturday when you’re having your date to take a peek.
Yibo : Don’t you DARE. And stop exaggerating. We’ve just decided to meet up, I’m not even sure if we’ll be going ahead with this.
Wenhan : LOLLLLLL. Ok ok fine, I won’t intrude. But so anyway, what’s he like?
Yibo : He seems nice. And cute. Just that he seems very weirdly obsessed with art and apparently he really wants to design me a T-shirt.
Wenhan : ?????????
Yibo : Yeah, I don’t know either. But he seems to own his own graphics design studio, so I guess maybe he’s just really passionate about his job. It’s kind of endearing, actually.
Wenhan : Dude, as aesthetically pleasing as it may be, discussing art all day is not going to bag you that experience you need for your acting role. You need to cut to the chase and let him know what you’re really looking for.
Yibo : I know, I know. But I just don’t know how to bring it up without sounding like a total pervert.
Wenhan
: May I remind you that this is a sugar baby app? It was specifically created for horny people to satisfy their horny desires with other horny people. 🐂💋🐐
Wenhan
: Though if you’re really so reluctant to be direct, you can just mention that you want to meet up at a hotel for your next meeting. He’ll know what you mean.
Yibo : ... Isn’t that moving things too fast?
Wenhan : Again, this is a sugar baby app. There’s no such thing as too fast. And you’re on a pretty tight schedule, remember? The best way to get the experience you need is to just go for it straight away.
Yibo can’t rebut any of Wenhan’s points, but somehow the thought of jumping straight into having sex with someone he’s just met over an app doesn’t really sit that well with him, particularly as he’s not even normally that comfortable being touchy feely with people he’s close to. Plus, from the little he’s interacted with Daytoy, he seems like a genuinely nice person, if a little bit of an oddball, and Yibo really would like to get to talk to him more to get to know him better before they move on to... other things. But Wenhan’s right that he’s running out of time, and this arrangement with Daytoy is basically a business transaction anyway...
Sighing, Yibo decides to stop thinking too deeply about it. He’ll just see how things go at the meeting on Saturday.
==================
As Yibo makes his way to the cafe, his phone’s notification sound goes off. It’s a message from Daytoy saying that he’s reached the cafe early and is already sitting at a semi-private booth near the back. Yibo quickens his pace, heart pounding in anticipation at finally getting to meet the client in person.
“Hi, it’s so nice to finally meet you in person!” The man stands up as Yibo approaches the booth and Yibo is surprised to see that he’s actually quite tall. Taller than him, in fact. Yibo finds himself a little irked by that fact. But that prickle of annoyance is immediately washed away when the other man breaks out into a smile and reaches out a hand towards him. His smile is even more blinding in person.
Yibo grasps the other man’s hand and is pleasantly surprised to receive a firm handshake in return. After they settle back into the booth and wave over a waiter to take their orders, Daytoy takes a small name card case out of the bag beside him and hands it across the table to Yibo.
“Nice to meet you. I’m Xiao Zhan from NED Design Studio.”
Yibo takes the name card and places it in front of himself awkwardly.
“Ah, thank you. I’m Wang Yibo from UNIQ. And sorry, I don’t have a name card,” he says. “People in my line of work don’t really tend to have one.”
“Oh, is that so?” Xiao Zhan asks, surprised. “What line is that?”
Here it comes, Yibo thinks. As he’d suspected, Xiao Zhan hadn’t recognised him. It hadn’t even seemed to register with him when Yibo had mentioned the name UNIQ.
“I’m an idol.”
“A what?” Xiao Zhan stares back at him, as if he hadn’t quite understood what he’d just heard.
“I’m an idol. Here, let me show you,” Yibo says, taking out the UNIQ photobook he’d brought with him precisely for this purpose, cringing internally at how embarrassing this must look. He hadn’t wanted to resort to this, but he’d belatedly realised only after agreeing on the meeting venue that this was the only way he could prove his identity, since he wasn’t allowed to use his phone to access his profile on his agency’s website. He hands the photobook to the other man, who accepts it from him with a quizzical look, then starts flipping through it. Xiao Zhan’s jaw drops.
“Oh wow!” Xiao Zhan looks embarrassed and at a loss as to what to say, and has evidently chosen to go the polite route by pretending to sound impressed. “That’s really cool that you’re an idol! I’m so sorry that I didn’t know who you were. To be honest, my whole life has been pretty much just work for the last few years, so I haven’t really had time to pay much attention to the entertainment scene.”
“No worries,” Yibo replies, in a voice he hopes sounds casual enough to mask the slight disappointment he feels. He doesn’t know why it bothers him so much that Xiao Zhan didn’t know who he was. It’s not like he usually cares about such things, and in fact sometimes he even prefers it that way because dealing with overly ardent fans can be pretty tiresome, so why does he care so much this time? In an attempt to get rid of this weird feeling he can’t quite figure out, he turns the focus of the conversation to the other man instead.
“Why have you been so busy with work the last few years? I don’t know much about the graphic design industry, is it really competitive?”
“Yeah, there are just too many talented designers out there and not enough clients who are willing to pay us properly for our work. Some clients think we can somehow magically whip up a design in an hour, without understanding that sometimes these things can take days, especially if the clients aren’t very clear about what they want or describing what they want, and we end up having to revise the design constantly. So yeah, it can get pretty intense. Probably not as intense as being an idol, though,” Xiao Zhan laughs, and Yibo’s mood lifts immediately at the sound. He has such a pretty laugh, Yibo thinks, a smile twitching at the corner of his mouth.
“I was actually working in a pretty big advertising company for a few years after I graduated from university, and although it was a really great experience and the pay was pretty decent, the constant all-nighters eventually wore me down and so I decided to jump ship and set up my own graphic design studio,” Xiao Zhan continues, lightly tapping his fingers on the name card in front of Yibo. He has such pretty hands, Yibo thinks as he gazes down at them. “Though I’m kind of regretting that now because things aren’t going too well,” Xiao Zhan smiles ruefully.
“But enough about me!” Xiao Zhan suddenly aims his megawatt smile in Yibo’s direction again, and for a moment Yibo feels almost like he’s being blinded by the sun. He has such a pretty smile, Yibo thinks for a third time, before he catches himself and internally groans. Good god, since when had he turned into a broken recorder?
“We should probably get started on discussing the terms of our arrangement,” Xiao Zhan continues, unaware of the turmoil he was currently stirring up within the man across the table from him. “I brought my portfolio with me today, would you like to see it?”
“Portfolio?” Yibo is momentarily confused, but then he remembers that Wenhan had mentioned that clients would sometimes offer to show photos of the more.... risque variety to their patrons once they had entered into an arrangement.
“Nah, that’s fine,” Yibo says hastily. Even though they are in a semi-private booth, he doesn’t think it would be appropriate to look at those kinds of photos just in case the waiter comes back with their drinks. “I’ve already seen enough on your Yuanfen profile.” He suddenly recalls the very-short-shorts photo Xiao Zhan had sent him, and feels the tips of his ears turning red. He leans back into his seat casually, hoping that Xiao Zhan doesn’t notice.
Thankfully, it appears that Xiao Zhan doesn’t.
“All right then, so do you have any specific requests or anything in particular that you’d like me to do? You mentioned in our chat that you’d prefer to discuss this after getting to know each other better, and I’m guessing we’ve now fulfilled that condition?” Xiao Zhan asks as he smiles disarmingly. “I know we’ve pretty much only just started talking, but somehow I get the feeling we’ll work pretty well together.”
“Same here,” Yibo says. God, he could stare at that smile all day. “I don’t really have any specific requests in mind though. I’d be happy to just go with whatever you want to do.”
“Nothing at all?” Xiao Zhan seems rather taken aback, and Yibo isn’t sure why. Maybe Xiao Zhan was used to patrons taking the lead in setting the terms of their arrangement? But that’s impossible to do for someone like him with absolutely no dating experience, so he decides it’s probably best to let Xiao Zhan know about this upfront.
“This is my first time being a patron, and I have to admit that I’m not very experienced in this area. So I’m happy for you to take charge and do whatever you want.”
A slight look of confusion crosses Xiao Zhan’s beautiful features and Yibo can practically see the gears turning in his head, before something seems to click and his expression clears.
“I see! Ok, I understand now. It’s a little different from what I’d originally anticipated, but that works for me too!”
They are momentarily interrupted by the waiter who has finally come to serve them their drinks. Once he’s left, they continue their discussion. They agree to try out the arrangement for a few visits first to see how things go before deciding whether they want to continue with a monthly arrangement. Yibo also nervously brings up the suggestion for their next meeting to be at a hotel, and he’s surprised but elated when Xiao Zhan readily agrees.
Things have gone better than Yibo expected, and he feels almost like he’s floating on air as he bids goodbye to Xiao Zhan at the entrance to the cafe and heads home. Their first meeting has only just ended and he’s already looking forward to their next one.