Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Everybody loves somebody sometime
Everybody falls in love somehow
Something in your kiss just told me
My sometime is now
Everybody Loves Somebody - Dean Martin

“Hey, what are you doing for your birthday?” Gao Shi De asked.

Zhou Shu Yi’s spoon paused on its way to his mouth. “Hm?”

“Your birthday. I assume you’ve gotta spend time with your dad, but if you’ve got a free hour, I’ll take you out,” he asked, glancing at his Mom, who was smiling encouragingly between them. The spoon lowered back into the bowl and Shu Yi’s gaze had drifted to somewhere near the corner of the table. Shi Di frowned, concerned, leaning forward to try and catch his eye. “What?”

As quickly as the strange look had come, it vanished, and Shu Yi shrugged, stuffing his mouth with rice. “I’m not doing anything.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I’m not doing anything. I never do anything for my birthday.”

Shi De’s brow scrunched further. “No, you definitely do - Yuxin used to bring you cakes into school and you always made a big deal out of it.”

Shu Yi smiled fondly, and Shi De had to remind himself that he was the one he was dating, that Shu Yi didn’t have feelings for her anymore, because he really had no right to be jealous of their friendship. He wasn't, most of the time, but sometimes when he was reminded that she was there for Shu Yi in all the moments he wasn't, it made him a little sad. Shu Yi only lifted a shoulder, that nostalgic smile still on his face. “That was all her - she made the cakes, and made it into a big deal, I just let her do it.”

“You don’t care about your birthday?” Mom asked.

“It’s…” That strange look was back on Shu Yi’s face, and he seemed to be deliberately avoiding eye contact with either of them. “My mom’s memorial day is only a few days after.”

“So?” Mom asked, and Shi De elbowed her, shaking his head silently.

“My father doesn’t let me celebrate my birthday because it’s too close and he says that’s disrespectful to her memory to be so happy before we mourn her. He doesn’t like to see me in that week because I remind him of her too much, so I usually stay out of his way.” Shu Yi started pulling at his necklace absentmindedly, the way he always did when he was overwhelmed. “I haven’t seen my father on my birthday since I was a kid.”

“That’s terrible!” Mom gasped, earning another elbow from her son. “How could he let you think that?”

Shu Yi shrugged again. “Yuxin and Zheng Wen have always been enough for me - we eat cake and go places and I don’t have to be around my father; that’s the best way to spend a day.”

Gao Shi De looked at his boyfriend, trying to figure out what it was about his expression that was making him uneasy. Maybe it was just that he’d never seen Shu Yi unconfident before. He’d been wrong before, confused, frustrated, but Shi De couldn’t remember seeing him look so small. “Okay, then if you’ve got plans to eat cake with your friends next week then I’ll take you out somewhere before that.”

“Or you could just come with us,” Shu Yi pointed out, flashing a small smile at him.

“I’ll do that too.” He said, grinning back at him, and Shu Yi ducked his head and went back to eating as Gao Shi De’s mom started asking about their classes.

Shu Yi didn’t usually look forward to his birthdays, but he was excited for this one. From the moment Gao Shi De had offered to spend the day with him, he found himself realising just how much he’d been missing that in his life. He wasn’t lying about Zheng Wen and Yuxin being enough, but there was something different about knowing the person who loved him most was going to be with him on his birthday. He hadn’t had that for a long time.

It helped that the night before, Gao Shi De basically ended up inviting himself over so that he could “wish him a happy birthday at midnight” which was ridiculous, and cheesy, and exactly the kind of thing that made Shu Yi fall even more head over heels for him.

He woke up with his back pressed against his boyfriend’s chest, and it was already one of the best birthdays he’d ever had, without even having opened his eyes yet.

“Morning.” Gao Shi De mumbled into the skin behind his ear. “Breakfast?”

“Later.” Shu Yi sighed, relaxing further into the sheets, twisting slightly so he was more closely nestled in his boyfriend’s embrace.

“You, not hungry? Who are you?” Shi De feigned shock, but he didn’t make any attempts to get up, and in fact curled his arm over Shu Yi’s waist to hold him there. “What do you want to do today?”

“You didn’t plan anything?” That was unlike him.

“Actually, I planned too many things, you need to pick one.”

Shu Yi snorted, smacking his arm playfully as he turned to face him, opening his eyes to find Gao Shi De smiling sheepishly at him. “I know you want to be back here by three to eat cake, so that gives us six hours after we’ve had breakfast to do whatever you like. I looked up places where we could compete and there’s paintball, high ropes courses near the river, an escape room place in town-”

Shu Yi cut him off with a kiss, fingers skating up his spine to land in his hair as Gao Shi De kissed him back, rolling on top of him and pinning him to the mattress.

“We’re not going to get anywhere at this rate,” Shi De pointed out, while making absolutely no effort to stop.

“They all sound fun,” Shu Yi said, breath catching as Shi De started trailing kisses down his neck.

“That’s not helping,” he replied, even as he continued to move lower, mouthing at Shu Yi’s chest and playing with the waistband of his underwear.

“And you are?”

“If you don’t pick one I’m going to stop,” he threatened lightly.

“Escape room.”  Shu Yi said, embarrassingly fast, and Shi De just looked up at him with that stupid fond look on his face.

“Why?”

“I don’t want to compete with you today, I want to win with you,” he admitted. “Losing on my birthday is not in my plan.”

“You’re ridiculous.”

“You like me that way.”

“Yes, I do.” Gao Shi De surged up to kiss him again, and yeah, they were definitely going to be late to breakfast.

Gao Shi De had been working on the surprise party for over a week, but he didn’t take into account the fact that his boyfriend was ridiculously into him, so rather than getting out of the apartment at nine so the others could sneak in before lunch, he had to text them to wait until after twelve, which was not part of the plan.

Still, he couldn’t be mad at it because Shu Yi looked happy and a happy Shu Yi was Gao Shi De’s favourite thing.

The escape room place was fun too - they made the right choice doing something where they got to work together, because much as Shi De loved competing with his boyfriend and he knew he felt the same, when they worked alongside each other they were practically unstoppable.

They finished three out of the four escape rooms in record time, and they would have broken the fourth one too but it was almost three so they decided to save it for another day.

As they walked to the bus stop, Shu Yi tangled their fingers together, keeping him close, and he didn’t let go even after they got on the bus and a pinched-faced older woman kept glaring at them.

“Maybe I should have texted Yuxin to come later,” he hummed pensively, and Shi De shook his head.

“I’m sure you’re looking forward to seeing them.”

He lifted a shoulder, “I’m looking forward to cake.”

Gao Shi De swallowed and looked away before he asked, “Are you still uncomfortable around them? Because of Yuxin?”

Shu Yi scoffed loudly and held up their joined hands. “Are you forgetting who I’m currently dating? Idiot. No I’m not still uncomfortable around them, if anything, they’re going to be uncomfortable with me hitting on you all night.”

“Hitting on me, huh? And how will that work?”

“You wait and see,” he said, a challenge in his voice, and for the fifth time that day Gao Shi De felt himself falling for him all over again.

Shu Yi knew, rationally, that the guy manning the desk at the escape room place was probably a very nice person. He also knew, rationally, that Gao Shi De wasn’t interested in anyone else, and that he probably wouldn’t even notice another person hitting on him. But when the guy flirted with Shi De as he showed them to the first room, Shu Yi couldn’t help but feel a flare of possessiveness.

And when they left, he made sure to grab Gao Shi De’s hand in full view of the front desk before the door swung shut behind them.

He didn’t let it go even when he was pressing the code into his door to let them in, and he was so hyper-focussed on Shi De’s… everything, that he almost didn’t notice that they had walked into a party.

“Surprise!”

A chorus of voices went up - Yuxin, Zheng Wen, friends from the swim team, and even Pei Shou Yi and Gao Shi De’s mother were there, all beaming at him with sparklers in hands.

Shu Yi froze, overwhelmed, and Shi De nudged him forward with the hand that was still in his.

“Happy birthday,” he grinned. Shu Yi shot him a glare and Shi De shrugged helplessly back at him. “I know it’s only a small thing, but I wanted you to feel like your birthday was worth celebrating.”

“I hate you,” he muttered, but he couldn’t help smiling as Yuxin held up the cake so he could blow out the candles.

Chapter Text

Everybody finds somebody someplace
There's no telling where love may appear
Something in my heart keeps saying
My someplace is here
Everybody Loves Somebody - Dean Martin

Zhou Shu Yi was sitting in his lap.

Gao Shi De was laughing at something his cousin said while Zhou Shu Yi went to the fridge to fish out more drinks, and then suddenly Shu Yi was sitting in his lap, a drink in each hand and a cracker between his teeth. He just plonked himself down there like he belonged, like some kind of overconfident house cat, and Shi De couldn’t even fault him because his arm instinctively came up to hold him there. If it didn’t matter to Shu Yi that he was doing it in a room full of their friends, then it wouldn’t bother him either.

It was sort of amazing how quickly Shu Yi had become the more affectionate one in public, the way he draped himself over Gao Shi De as much as possible, always wanting to be touching him somehow, getting in his space, driving him crazy.

Shu Yi lifted one of his hands, offering the drink in it to Shi De, and watched him sip it with an overly fond look that Shi De still wasn’t used to seeing. He blinked up at him, amused. "What?"

"Nothing." Shu Yi hummed.

"What's that look for?"

"I really like you." He said in Japanese, eyes still following his lips as he leaned away from the straw.

Gao Shi De groaned and let his head fall forward, pressing his forehead against Shu Yi's arm. "You're so cute."

"I know." He dropped a kiss into Gao Shi De's hair and wow he could just die right here, because this was as perfect of a moment as he was ever gonna get, and then-

"What do you think you're doing?!" A harsh voice barked from the doorway, and Gao Shi De felt Shu Yi's entire body tense up in an instant. Barely a second later, his lap was empty and his boyfriend was standing in front of him, left hand reaching blindly backward to grip his arm and his other hand gesturing like he was warning him to stay there.

"Dad. What are you doing here?" Zhou Shu Yi asked, voice level, and Shi De peeked around his arm to see the man he'd only ever met a few times in the more than a decade he'd known Shu Yi.

He looked pissed.

Zhou Shu Yi was on his feet the second he heard his father’s voice, moving to block Gao Shi De from his view, like somehow his father wouldn’t notice his boyfriend if he stood in front of him. Admittedly, not a particularly logical plan, but panic tended to shut down the logical parts of his brain.

Yuxin and Zheng Wen, who knew better than anyone what was about to happen, quickly scrambled to their feet as well, tripping over each other in their hurry to greet his father.

“Sir, it’s been so long since we’ve seen you - how have you been?” Zheng Wen asked, also positioning himself slightly in front of Zhou Shu Yi.

Yuxin grabbed the plate of cake and held it up high enough to encompass his whole view, “Would you like some cake? It’s homemade.”

He directed a stern glare at her, but she refused to back down, smiling widely, and glanced over at Zhou Shu Yi, checking in with him. He shook his head, trying to wordlessly tell her to give up, but she widened her eyes at him in that way she did when she was trying to support him.

“Zhou Shu Yi. What is the meaning of this?” His father snapped, looking past his friends to scowl at his son.

Shu Yi ducked his head apologetically, squeezing tight to Gao Shi De’s arm before he lifted it and looked his father in the eye. “Why are you here?”

“Is it a crime to want to see my son on his birthday?”

“It’s a first.”

He could feel some of his friends turn surprised gazes on him, but he just kept his chin held high and tried not to let the panic overwhelm him.

His father raised an eyebrow. “Excuse me?”

“I haven’t seen you on my birthday since Mom died. I don’t believe you just decided that you were going to stop by today,” he released his boyfriend, taking two steps forward but still keeping him blocked from his father, and folded his arms. “How long have you had people following me?”

“You’re my son, it’s my right to keep tabs on you.”

“So you’re here to, what? Scold me in front of my friends, embarrass me?”

Something flickered in his father’s eye. “If that’s what it takes.”

“Well you can forget it. I’m not going to do what you tell me anymore just because I’m scared of you.”

“I see.” His father said, but he knew that look, the glint of scorn, and what it meant. “Now that you’ve got yourself a boyfriend, you’ve decided to completely forsake me, is that it? Do you think that’s what your mother would want?”

“Since when have you cared?” Shu Yi asked, swallowing around the lump that appeared in his throat. “Do you think Mom would have wanted you to do what you did to me? Do you think she would have agreed?”

“Don’t you talk to me about your mother, you didn’t know her like I did.”

Zhou Shu Yi scoffed, finally breaking his father’s gaze to throw his frustrated look to the ceiling. “Whatever. Anyway, you came to see your son on his birthday, right? Well, you’ve seen me. You can go.”

“You think this kind of disrespect is funny?” His father asked, and then he stepped forward and grabbed a fistful of Shu Yi’s shirt and dragged him forward over the plates and glasses on the floor, sending food and drinks flying.

Yuxin and Zheng Wen both rushed forward, hands up placatingly, talking over each other as they attempted to get his father to let go, but Shu Yi knew better than anyone that that wasn’t going to happen.

“Sir, please-”

“-it’s his birthday-”

“-this isn’t fair-”

“-leave him alone-”

“-sir-”

“-please stop-”

“It’s okay,” Zhou Shu Yi said, turning his head just enough to see them both, and they faltered, looking at him with worry. He could see Gao Shi De on his feet behind them, and he jerked his chin towards him, sharing a look with Yuxin. She nodded hesitantly and tugged on Zheng Wen’s hand, moving to stand in front of Shi De, who looked horrified and immediately tried to push through them. Zheng Wen put a hand on his shoulder, trying to keep him there, and Shu Yi turned his head back to face his father.

“What did I tell you would happen, if you disobeyed me like this again?”

Shu Yi’s hands balled into fists at his sides. “Don’t touch him.”

A sharp pain rocketed behind his eye and it took him a moment to realise that his father had smacked him around the face. He stumbled, reeling from the blow. The only thing keeping him standing was his father’s fist still gripping the front of his shirt.

He heard gasps from behind him, and an unmistakable pained noise from Gao Shi De, but there weren’t any sounds of movement, and he was relieved to know that his friends were keeping his boyfriend safe.

“You think I’m someone you can disobey?” His father growled. “I told you what would happen. Your little friends too, hiding this from me.”

Shu Yi blinked the reflexive tears from his eyes and shook his head defiantly. “You can hit me as much as you want, just leave everyone else out of it.”

Another blow clapped against his ear and his father let go of his shirt, sending him slamming into the ground. His knees throbbed and his elbow hit the floor too hard, but when he looked up, his father was turning towards Gao Shi De, who was being held back by four people at once and alternating between glaring daggers at his father and looking concernedly towards Shu Yi, and suddenly the pain didn’t matter.

Shu Yi scrambled to his feet and moved between them.

His father narrowed his eyes. “Move.”

“No.”

“Don’t make me punish you again.”

“What’s wrong with you?!” Gao Shi De managed through gritted teeth, still trying to fight his way out of the grip his friends had on him.

Shu Yi’s father looked over at him in disgust. “Me? You’re going against nature. It’s despicable.”

“Stop it.” Shu Yi said, and his father turned back to him.

“Shameful.” He grabbed his hair and yanked it back, turning Shu Yi’s face into the light. “This is what you choose? Over your own family, your flesh and blood?”

Shu Yi swallowed the pain and managed the tiniest nod. “Yes.”

“Then you’re no son of mine.”

A fist rammed into his chest, expelling all the oxygen from Shu Yi’s lungs, and he barely had a chance to react before there was a massive commotion and then his father’s hand was forcibly removed from his hair. It was the only thing stopping him from collapsing to the ground, so he expected to find himself hitting the hard floor, but strong arms encircled his waist from behind and he was gently manhandled over to the couch.

He let his head fall into his hands, trying to catch his breath and ignore the noise to his left, right up until the sound of the door latching, which sounded absolutely deafening in the sudden silence left by his father’s forced departure.

He turned his head slightly, propping it up on one arm when he was hit with a wave of dizziness, so he could look over at Gao Shi De, whose arm was still around his back and who was looking at him in panic and worry and horror. “You’re not hurt, right?”

Gao Shi De’s mouth fell open.

When Zhou Shu Yi’s father grabbed him and yanked him across the room, Gao Shi De had instinctively leapt to his feet, but Yuxin and Zheng Wen seemed to be prepared for it already, both of them rushing forward before the last glass had fallen.

They were pleading with him, talking in fragments over each other, and Shi De felt frozen to the spot. He’d never seen anything like this from them before.

Shu Yi turned his head slightly, shaking his head at them. “I’m okay.” His gaze travelled further back to where Shi De was standing but it didn’t quite reach his face before it returned to his friends and he jerked his chin and shared a meaningful look with Yuxin. Within seconds, Yuxin and Zheng Wen were standing in front of Shi De, as if to block him from interfering.

He blinked in surprise, horrified, and tried to get around them, but Zheng Wen pushed him back and held him there, shaking his head.

“It gets worse if we interfere.” Yuxin whispered, reaching down to squeeze Shi De’s hand.

Shi De didn’t get to ask what the hell that meant, because Shu Yi’s father barked at his son, “What did I tell you would happen, if you disobeyed me like this again?”

Shu Yi’s hands became fists but he didn’t move, just kept staring defiantly at his father. “Don’t touch him.”

And then Shu Yi’s father hit his own son across the face with such force that Shu Yi would have dropped like a stone if it weren’t for his shirt.

Gao Shi De cried out, trying to get to him, but Yuxin and Zheng Wen both held him there, and Pei Shou Yi put a hand on his other shoulder too, keeping him from breaking through. It was like everyone was frozen to the spot, scared to get closer in case it somehow made it worse.

“You think I’m someone you can disobey? I told you what would happen. Your little friends too, hiding this from me.” Zhou Shu Yi’s father snarled at him.

And then Shu Yi said the worst thing that Gao Shi De had ever heard.

“You can hit me as much as you want, just leave everyone else out of it.”

It didn’t even have time to sink in before Shu Yi was hit again, with more force this time, and he hit the ground, hard. Gao Shi De flinched at the impact, torn between looking Shu Yi over for injuries and trying to get through their friends to reach his father and kill him.

The man himself was walking towards him, seemingly unfazed by the army of people it was taking to hold Gao Shi De back.

Shu Yi stumbled to his feet and planted himself between them, palms down and back like if all else failed he could stand like a wall between them.

“Move.”  His father snapped.

“No.”  Shu Yi said, swaying slightly.

“Don’t make me punish you again.”

“What’s wrong with you?!” Gao Shi De blurted out, trying to yank his arm from Shi Zhe Yu’s grip.

“Me?”  It was like it was trying to make the disgust on his face as obvious as possible and it made Shi De’s blood boil. “You’re going against nature. It’s despicable.”

Shi De actually felt a few people’s grip on him falter slightly.

“Stop it.” Shu Yi said, regaining his father’s attention.

Shu Yi’s father grabbed a fistful of his hair and yanked it back, forcing his son to look up at him, and gestured between himself and Shi De, eyebrow raised. “This is what you choose? Over your own family, your flesh and blood?”

“Yes.”

Shu Yi’s father nodded, curt. “Then you’re no son of mine.”

Without warning, as if to punctuate his point, he punched his son in the stomach.

Gao Shi De surged forward but the friends who had previously been holding him back beat him to it.

Zheng Wen, Zhe Yu and Bing Wei all shoved at Shu Yi’s father, while Shou Yi yanked his fingers from Shu Yi’s head one by one, twisting his wrist painfully back towards himself and helping the others walk him towards the door, making sure he stayed in a considerable amount of pain while they did. Yuxin ran to the door to unlock it and held it open while Shu Yi’s father fought against them, attempting to scold them over their yelling.

Gao Shi De barely saw any of that, because the second Shu Yi’s father was no longer touching him, he dove forward to catch him before he hit the ground. He lifted him enough to walk him over to the couch and sat him down carefully, sitting down at his right but refusing to move any further away or take his hand off his boyfriend for even a second.

He had no idea what to do, he just knew that he would do anything to fix whatever this was.

Shu Yi turned his head slightly where he was leaning, enough that he could see Shi De, and blinked slowly. “You’re not hurt, right?”

Shi De felt his jaw drop. “Me?! Zhou Shu Yi-”

“As long as you’re fine, I’m fine,” Shu Yi muttered, closing his eyes and turning his head back towards the floor.

“Does anyone wanna tell me what the fuck is going on?!” Shi Zhe Yu’s voice cut through the silence, and any other time Shi De would have been the one telling him to calm down, but this time it echoed his own thoughts exactly.

“That’s my dad.” Shu Yi said lightly.

“We noticed.” Pei Shou Yi deadpanned, earning a glare from Gao Shi De.

“He’s strict.”

“That’s not strict, that’s abuse.” Gao Shi De’s mother said, looking more furious than Shi De had ever seen her.

Bing Wei made a move like he was going to run out the door after the man, but Zhe Yu snagged his arm before he could.

Yuxin crouched down on Shu Yi’s other side and clasped his free hand. “Are you okay? Do we need to go to the hospital?”

“I’m fine.”

“Why are you so calm? That’s your best friend and you just watched him get hurt. You even stopped Gao Shi De from stepping in.” Zhe Yu snapped.

“So did you.” Zheng Wen pointed out, sitting down on the arm of the chair and squeezing Shu Yi’s shoulder comfortingly. “There’s no point in interfering. Whenever we tried it only made it worse. Yuxin tried to get between them and it only made him angrier. He sent Shu Yi to the hospital once.”

“Twice.” Shu Yi muttered.

Gao Shi De felt his heart drop into his shoes, and even Yuxin and Zheng Wen looked surprised.

“Twice?” Zheng Wen asked, looking around at the others as if they would know. Everybody just looked at Shu Yi in concern, waiting for him to explain.

“Mm.” He sat up, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment before he blinked them open and glanced around at them all. He seemed to be pointedly avoiding Gao Shi De’s gaze. “When I was fifteen.”

“Wh- but you never… you never said anything?”

“What’s the point in telling you? You couldn’t do anything about it, and I handled it fine on my own. I’ve had enough practice.”

“Don’t say that.” Yuxin looked on the verge of tears.

Shu Yi smiled sadly at her before directing his gaze at their interlocked fingers. “My father caught me kissing a boy I’d brought home. He wasn’t even supposed to be home, he only came back because one of the staff called him. He kicked the guy out and… anyway, it doesn’t matter. When I left the hospital the next morning, he told me that if he ever caught me doing anything like that again, it wouldn’t just be me who’d get hurt.”

“Zhou Shu Yi.” Shi De reached over and lifted his chin, gently holding his face as he turned his gaze towards him.

“I’m fine.” Shu Yi said, looking down towards the floor.

“Zhou Shu Yi,” he repeated, stroking a thumb lightly over the red mark on his temple, “is this why-”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you say something?”

“Like I said, I’ve had enough practice dealing with this on my own. I like women too, so I just figured I could pretend I didn't feel anything for men. And then you... you said you liked me and that went out the window. I thought it would be fine if I just didn’t like you back. We could stay friends, I wouldn’t have to lose you or put you in my father’s sights; if I just didn’t have feelings for you, we’d be fine.” Shu Yi finally lifted his gaze and his expression reminded Gao Shi De of that day on the bridge when he’d told him his first kiss was in the pool. It was lost and sad and so full of love that it broke his heart. “But of course that didn’t work. You stopped being around and I couldn’t avoid the feelings anymore. I couldn’t help liking you back. Because it’s you.”

“If I’d have known-”

Shu Yi pulled Shi De’s hand from his cheek and held it in his lap with both of his own, looking at him imploringly. “Then what? You’d have confronted him? That would only hurt you. Broken up with me? That hurts both of us. I don’t care what that old man thinks anymore. I’m not doing what he says just because he wants me to.”

“Do you think you’re really disowned this time?” Zheng Wen asked.

“Probably.” Shu Yi shrugged. “Anyone got a couch for me to crash on?”

“Don’t be stupid, you’re always welcome with us,” Gao Shi De’s mother said sternly, and all their friends chimed in with their own agreement that he could stay with any one of them.

Shi De felt like crying, and he squeezed Zhou Shu Yi’s fingers tight, reminding himself that his boyfriend was okay. “How is it possible that I didn’t know about this?”

He only waved his free hand, noncommittal. “Nobody knew, it’s not their business.”

Shi De shook his head. “I should have known.”

“Stop beating yourself up - then what was the point in getting beaten up for you?” Shu Yi complained.

“Oh my god, you’re not funny,” Shi De pulled Shu Yi into his arms, hugging him tight, pressing his nose into the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Zhou Shu Yi huffed, sliding his palms up his spine and gripping onto his shoulders.

“It’s my fault, if you hadn’t-”

“I had no choice.” Shu Yi reminded him. “It’s you. If my father doesn’t know that, then I don’t care about his opinion. You were the one who was always there. All he ever did was leave me alone.”

“I’ll kill him.” Bing Wei tried to make another break for the door and was stopped by Zhe Yu again. The role reversal would have been funny if Gao Shi De wasn’t busy fighting the urge to run after Shu Yi’s father himself.

“Sorry, I guess I ruined the party.” Shu Yi said lightly when he finally pulled away, turning to look at everyone.

“You didn’t ruin anything,” Gao Shi De’s mother said, crouching down to pick up some of the plates. “All we need to do is a bit of tidying and everything will be right as rain. We’ve got hours left before your birthday ends. Unless you’re going to kick us out?”

Shu Yi blinked in surprise.

“What, you thought we were leaving because of that?” Zhe Yu jerked his thumb towards the door even as he bent down and righted a glass. “There’s still cake left.”

“You don’t have to stay, I’m fine-”

“We’re not staying because we feel obligated, we’re staying because we’re your family and it’s your birthday.” Yuxin said, patting his head before she joined the others in cleaning up.

“I… I don’t…”

“Gao Shi De, you’re not going to help?” Pei Shou Yi teased as he started mopping up the spilled liquid, gesturing between the mess and the couch.

“I am helping.” Shi De retorted, curling one arm around Shu Yi’s shoulder and tangling his free hand with his. “It’s my boyfriend’s birthday and I’m taking care of him. You keep doing manual labour, it’s what you deserve.”

“Sap.”

“Insensitive.” Shi De shot back.

“I’m staying, aren’t I?”

“Thank you,” Shu Yi said quietly, and Pei Shou Yi froze, taken aback.

“What?”

“You didn’t have to stay.”

“You’re my favourite cousin’s boyfriend. Plus I don’t like bullies,” he glared darkly towards the door. “If he shows up again, call me; I’ll break his legs so that he needs surgery before he can get a cast.”

“Doesn’t that go against some kind of oath you take as a doctor?” Gao Shi De asked, just to be difficult.

“Don’t you have a boyfriend to take care of? Do your job.” Shou Yi shot back, gathering a trash bag and heading towards the door to take it outside.

Shu Yi leaned into Gao Shi De’s side, nuzzling at his shoulder, and without thinking much, Shi De tugged him over until he was in his lap. That seemed to relax him slightly, and he sank into his embrace and sighed like he’d been holding his breath since his father entered the apartment.

“Are you okay?” Gao Shi De asked.

“I love you.” Shu Yi said in Japanese.

“That’s not what I asked.”

“But that’s my answer,” he hummed, hugging him tighter.

Chapter Text

Everybody loves somebody sometime
And although my dream was overdue
Your love made it well worth waiting
For someone like you
Everybody Loves Somebody - Dean Martin

“So you’re telling me you never noticed that Gao Shi De was just, stupidly in love with you, like, the entire time?” Yuxin asked, her third drink in her hand and a slightly tipsy grin on her face.

Shu Yi blushed, turning to bury his face in his boyfriend’s shoulder. “Shut up, neither did you.”

“I noticed before you did,” she pointed out, grinning playfully at him.

“You’re forgetting that I was actively trying not to be interested,” Shu Yi tossed a cracker at her.

“When did you realise you were interested?” Gao Shi De asked, playing with the hem of Shu Yi’s shirt.

“Before I knew you liked me.” Shu Yi admitted, taking a swig of his drink.

“Really?!” He sat up straighter, interested.

“Duh.” Shu Yi rolled his eyes. “Do you know how annoying it is to maintain a rivalry with someone as hot as you? I think it was half the reason it made me so angry.”

Shi De snorted.

“I realised it was impossible to fight it after you disappeared, but in hindsight I’d been trying to ignore it for a long time.” Shu Yi tangled their fingers together, tugging him closer on the couch, which was ridiculous because they were already pressed up against each other and had been for the last hour.

“What about you?” Zheng Wen asked suddenly. “When did you know you liked Zhou Shu Yi?”

It was Gao Shi De’s turn to blush in embarrassment, gaze suddenly darting everywhere but at their friends. “Uh. I think I really worked it out about ten years ago, but I liked him before that. Like Shu Yi said, in hindsight I definitely liked him longer than I thought I did, but I’ve been aware for a long time.”

“So since when?”

“Since he met him.” Pei Shou Yi answered for him, earning a kick to the ankles from Gao Shi De.

Shu Yi’s eyes widened in surprise as he stared at his boyfriend. “What?”

“Don’t look at me like that, I told you it’s been… long.” He said sheepishly, but Shu Yi wasn’t about to drop the issue now.

“What do you mean from the moment you met me? In school? I don’t even remember our first meeting!” He wracked his brains, genuinely trying to recall their first encounter, but all he could remember was the first time Gao Shi De had beaten him in class. He felt like a bad boyfriend for not knowing what Shi De had been feeling for so long.

“Actually, uh, we met before that.”

“What?!”  A whole bunch of them said as one.

“After my parents got divorced, I was hiding somewhere and crying and you found me.”

“What?” Shu Yi said again, barely managing to get the word out, because he remembered that.

“You told me you’d take care of me if I needed, and what school you went to. And when I transferred there you didn’t remember me, so I started trying to compete with you so you’d pay attention. I think it took me a few years to realise why I was so interested in what you thought of me, but looking back it was always because I liked you.”

Bing Wei whistled into the silence left by Gao Shi De’s confession, and Shu Yi realised that he was probably supposed to respond to this revelation somehow but he couldn’t come up with the right words off the top of his head so he did the only thing he knew would get through to him.

Shu Yi grabbed Shi De’s face with both hands and yanked him closer, kissing him with everything he had. He forgot their friends were there, forgot that Gao Shi De’s mother was a few feet away, forgot that his father had almost ruined the night - the only thing consuming him was his overwhelming love for his boyfriend and his desperate need to express it.

Gao Shi De pulled away first, eyes darting all over Shu Yi’s face, and panted, “What was that for?”

Shu Yi stroked his thumb across Shi De’s cheek. “I remember you.”

“What?” Gao Shi De said, dumbfounded, not so much a question as a blanket noise of surprise.

Zhou Shu Yi was wearing that look again, the one that made his heart break from all the love in it, and he was still holding his face and this was a lot.

“My father was angry at me about something so I ran off, and I found you and it made me feel bad. I used to do that when my mom died - hide and cry - hell, I still do it now. I told you you could rely on me and I told you where to find me, and then my father came looking for me and I had to leave.” Shu Yi pressed his lips together like he was trying not to cry. “Why didn’t you ever say something? I would have made good on my promise.”

“I tried to tell you when I moved schools, but you didn’t recognise me.”

“You never told me your name! And your face was all puffy from crying! How was I supposed to know?!” He complained, dropping his hands from Shi De’s face and squeezing his knee in comfort.

“Oh! You’re that kid?” Yuxin asked, looking wide-eyed between them both.

Shi De blinked over at her. “What kid?”

“Shu Yi talked about you. A few times.” Zheng Wen said.

“What?”

Shu Yi huffed and rolled his eyes at them. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“I think it is.” Pei Shou Yi said, just to be difficult.

“Like I said, that day my father was angry at me. My mom hadn’t been gone for long and he wasn’t coping well; he couldn’t handle his own grief let alone mine. He started to see me as a burden and nothing I ever did was good enough. Made me feel like my mother would be ashamed of the person I was becoming. It didn’t matter that I knew rationally that wasn’t true, that sort of thing sticks,” his hand tightened over Shi De’s knee. “But on one of those days where I felt like nothing I did would be good enough, I did something good. I made one kid stop crying.”

Gao Shi De was stunned into silence.

“The first time we ever got drunk he told us that story,” Yuxin added, once it was clear that Shi De was without words. “We were trying to cheer him up after a fight with his dad. He said he would have told that kid anything he wanted if he thought it would take his mind off his problems. He said he used that day to remind himself that he was a good person when things were bad.”

“Oh sweetie,” Gao Shi De’s mom said sympathetically, reaching over to pat Shu Yi’s shoulder. “You know you can always come to me when you need a pep talk - you’re a good kid, you know.”

Shu Yi’s ears went red and he nodded awkwardly.

“Shu Yi doesn’t like to talk about his feelings if he thinks they’re going to bother someone else,” Zheng Wen chimed it, “so the only reason we even know he felt that way was because we got him drunk enough to spill it.”

“You guys are like a k-drama I swear to god,” Zhe Yu grumbled, but there was a smile in his eyes even as he shook his head in exasperation.

“I can’t believe that you remember that.” Gao Shi De said, still in shock.

“I can’t believe you remember that!” Zhou Shu Yi laughed, smacking him in the chest lightly. “You’re such a sap.”

“I’ve been saying that for years.” Pei Shou Yi raised his hand lazily.

“Nobody asked you.” Shu Yi said pointedly, and Shou Yi chuckled and lifted his other hand to join the first in a gesture of surrender.

“Who’d have thought, after all that time, you’d end up like this,” Yuxin said, a touched expression on her face as she looked up at them.

“It was worth the waiting.” Shi De said, earning a few grossed-out looks from their friends.

Yuxin, however, only looked more invested. “That’s so romantic.”

“It’s ridiculous, is what it is.” Shu Yi said, shaking his head in amusement.

Shi De reached for his hand and tangled it with his own. “Yeah, but I like you that way.”

Their friends erupted in a chorus of playful boos, tossing empty wrappers and crackers at them, as midnight ticked over into a new day, but it didn’t faze them - after all that time, after all the hardships they’d been through, they had each other and it was utterly ridiculous, and completely and totally worth it.