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It was a long day of filming promos for RoseOnly. Xiao Zhan inwardly swore that if he saw another rose, he would hurl it into the sun. He changed in wardrobe out of the suit and white-button down into a regular sweatshirt and jeans. Just as he stepped out into the hallway and headed toward the exit where his cab awaited him, the production assistant scurried over with such an armload of RoseOnly products she was practically obscured by them. From the dozen roses in a box to the dome-covered roses to the teddy-bear figures to the smaller orbs. “For the special someone in your life!” she winked as she transferred them all into his arms. He was just tall enough to peer over the merchandise she gave him. He graciously nodded and thanked her as he walked back out and into the awaiting cab to finally head home. He’d been brought to the studio straight from the airport and was sorely in need of rest.
Once back at his apartment he dumped all the RoseOnly gifts onto the dining room table and was just barely able to make it to the bed before flopping down and descending into a deep sleep.
Xiao Zhan woke up the next morning, happy that at least his manager scheduled the day off for him. He went about his usual morning routine of taking a shower and eating a light breakfast with plenty of coffee. He was about to check his phone when he realized he had no idea where it was. Did he leave it by his bed? He stepped out of the kitchen and was about to pass through the dining room when he heard a small scritching sound, followed by a little squeal. Shit, did his apartment obtain mice while he was gone for two weeks? He’d have to get his assistant to tell the landlord. He walked away and then heard the scritching a little louder. Was that little fucker nearby?
He thought he saw movement and quickly turned his head and was shocked when he saw something move in one of the RoseOnly globes, the ones about eight inches tall. Had a mouse somehow gotten into it? The ball tipped over and rolled off the table, taking a few bounces (along with what sounded like tiny yelps). The figure trapped inside seemed to be a black and white mouse. Xiao Zhan curiously stooped down and picked up the globe.
What he saw shocked him so much that he dropped the ball. “Gege!” the tiny voice squealed before yelping an “Ouch!”
Xiao Zhan must have been exhausted from filming the commercial for hours on end yesterday. He shook his head, trying to clear the image from his head but there was no mistaking the ball rocking back and forth a little. He peered back, the rose petals now settling back on the ground.
Xiao Zhan blinked at the tiny figure trapped inside. Impossible. It was Yibo in his cow onesie, blond idol hair from when he was 17 sticking out from underneath the hood.
“Y-yibo?” Xiao Zhan stammered, still stunned.
“Gege, get me out of here!” the little figure complained in a voice Xiao Zhan had to strain to hear. Yibo looked up helplessly at Xiao Zhan.
Xiao Zhan stared down in complete disbelief. “How did you even get in there? Why are you so tiny?”
“Gege, shut up and get me out! It’s getting harder to breathe in here!”
“Right,” Xiao Zhan said, gently picking up the ball in his hands before attempting to twist the top off, like one of those plastic easter eggs he used to get as a child. It seemed really stuck. He gave it a few more tries but it wouldn’t budge. “Shit,” he cursed. “Hold on, Yibo. Might have to oil this up or something.”
“Oil? What are all those new muscles for if you can’t twist this thing open in one go?” tiny Yibo complained as he got up and stamped his little pajama-covered feet.
Xiao Zhan was taken aback by the brazenness. “Listen here, you little brat. I can keep you locked in there for as long as I want! Maybe I’ll just get a screwdriver and drill a few holes so you can breathe and keep you trapped in there forever.”
The tiny figure frowned and pounded his tiny fists on the side of the glass. “Gege! How can you be so mean? Let me out!”
“Alright, alright, give me a minute. I’ll find the oil and be back.”
He went to the supplies pantry, too focused on the job at hand to think further on the utterly bizarre situation. After rummaging past other cleaning bottles, he finally found the spray can of WD-40 and hurried back to the dining room. He definitely didn’t want poor Yibo passing out with depleting oxygen.
He crouched back down and picked the ball up but was shocked not to see Yibo inside. “What the fuck?” Did he disappear? “Yibo!” Xiao Zhan yelled, looking around the floor now. He couldn’t have escaped, the damn ball was fully intact. Before he could think any further on it, Yibo popped out from under the floor of rose petals with a tiny “Boo!”, scaring the daylights out of Xiao Zhan who once again dropped the ball. It rolled toward the kitchen, attracting the attention of Jianguo whose eyes almost doubled in size at the prospect of this new toy.
“Jianguo, no!’ Xiao Zhan exclaimed but it was too late. She playfully batted at the ball back and forth while Yibo screeched inside, knocked about this way and that with the rose petals scattering all around him like he was in a small tornado. Xiao Zhan reached over and grabbed the ball away from Jianguo who mewled back at him, reaching to try to get back her toy.
“No, Jianguo, this is not for you to play with!” He picked up the ball and the WD-40 and went to his bedroom and shut the door, keeping Jianguo out. If he managed to get Yibo out of the ball, Jianguo still might think of him as a small rodent to attack and he couldn’t take that chance.
Yibo lay in a crumpled little heap on top of the rose petal bed, rubbing at his head where he probably got knocked a few times.
“Yibo, are you okay?”
Yibo frowned, looking helpless. “Why do you keep dropping me?”
“Hey, that time it was your fault! Why were you trying to play a prank when I’m trying to get you out of there?”
Yibo pouted and looked like he was about to talk back when he settled down on the bed of roses again. He yawned and said, “Ge, I think I’m getting sleepy.”
Shit. Was he finding it hard to breathe? Xiao Zhan inwardly panicked. “Hang on, Yibo. Just a few more seconds and I’ll have you out of there,” he said in a voice that hopefully conveyed confidence. He grabbed the WD-40 and sprayed along the edges of the middle seam and turned again. Of course, now the ball felt slippery so he quickly went to the ensuite bathroom and got a towel for better grip. Still no luck. He noticed Yibo was laying down on the rose petals now, curled up in a ball and not speaking. “Yibo!” Xiao Zhan said. “Please, stay awake, I almost have you out!” His heart felt like it was seizing in his chest and with a strong twist, he finally popped the ball open. Rose petals scattered on his bed but Yibo remained a little prone figure. Gingerly, Xiao Zhan scooped him up in his palm. He ran a finger over his shoulder, trying to shake him awake.
“Yibo!” Xiao Zhan said, unable to hide the panic in his voice. “Wake up!” He had no way of knowing whether Yibo was unconscious or even breathing. It was hard to tell if his chest was rising and falling. He gently placed his fingertip under his tiny nose to see if he could feel air when there was an almost imperceptible pinch. Yibo had abruptly bitten at Xiao Zhan’s fingertip. This time the scare didn’t make him drop Yibo and instead he wrapped his hand around the little brat, trapping him like King Kong to Fay Wray.
“Yibo, you almost scared the shit out of me! I thought you had died!”
“I just wanted you to put more urgency into getting me out of there! And it worked, didn’t it?” the little figure snappily replied.
Xiao Zhan gripped him a little firmer in his fist and Yibo squealed and wriggled.
“Ge stop, you’re going to hurt me! Let me go!”
“Only if you promise not to play any more of your little games,” Xiao Zhan admonished.
“I promise, I promise!”
Xiao Zhan sighed as he let Yibo down on the soft bed. Surely he wouldn't cause any more trouble. Yibo gazed up at him, his eyes wide as he stared open-mouthed. “Wow, you’re so big, ge.”
Xiao Zhan looked down at the tiny Yibo. The last time Yibo said that to him was… well, now was not the time to think about that sort of thing. As a blush rose to Xiao Zhan’s cheeks, Yibo seemingly caught on to what he was thinking because he grinned and took a few steps further to Xiao Zhan’s knee, trying to scramble up.
“Yibo, what are you doing?”
“I just want to sit on your lap,” Yibo said, grabbing onto his thigh before Xiao Zhan plucked him off and placed him back on the bed.
“Yibo, you’re being ridiculous. We need to figure out how you shrank, why you look like your 17 year old self and how on earth you got inside that RoseOnly orb.”
Yibo said nothing as he took the hood off his head, fully revealing his blond head. Another idea seemed to occur to him as he started unzipping himself out of the cow onesie.
“Yibo, what the hell are you doing?”
“What? I just want to make sure I don’t have any bad injuries! I was knocked around pretty badly in that ball. Can you inspect me, ge?”
Xiao Zhan blushed a shade of red that matched the rose petals scattered about his own bed. Surely this little minx was up to something. He had no idea why Yibo wasn’t nearly as panicked about being made four inches tall. A strange curiosity overcame Xiao Zhan as he watched Yibo wriggle out of his cow pajamas. Luckily he was wearing a white tank undershirt and plaid boxers underneath. He turned in a 360, arms spread so Xiao Zhan could inspect him. If he had any bruises they were too light to see. Yibo was in the middle of lifting his tank off when Xiao Zhan leaned over and poked his pale stomach, near where his cute mole was. The force had been a little much because Yibo fell backward onto the bed with a little “oomf!”
“Oh sorry!” Xiao Zhan laughed. “I didn’t mean to poke you that hard!”
Yibo winced and glared up at him. “What was that for?”
“Well, you know the Pillsbury Doughboy? I thought you would giggle if I…” When Yibo stared blankly at him, Xiao Zhan shook his head. “Nevermind.”
“Just for that, you owe me.” Yibo crossed his arms, pouting.
“Fine, okay. What do you want?”
“A kiss,” Yibo said smugly.
Xiao Zhan narrowed his eyes at Yibo. “Come on, Yibo, that’s-”
“No, you come on! This whole time you’ve put me in some form of torture in one way or another. It’s time you showed a little more care to me.”
Xiao Zhan shook his head. He couldn't believe he was about to capitulate to this actual half-pint. “Fine, but put your cow pajamas back on.”
“No, you put it back on me,” Yibo pouted.
Xiao Zhan sighed. This brat really was something. He picked Yibo up and inserted one pale leg into the onesie and then the other before zipping him up. It was like dressing a little doll. A very, pretty doll… Xiao Zhan scooped him up in his cupped palms and raised him up before kissing the top of his blond head. “There. Happy?”
Yibo practically seethed. “That’s not a kiss!”
“You never said where!”
Yibo stamped his little feet on Xiao Zhan’s palm, barely making dents. “Zhan ge,” he whined. Xiao Zhan had to laugh at this little gremlin’s persistence.
“Okay, okay. It’s probably going to be like getting licked by a huge dog though. I don’t think you’ll find this as sexy as you think.”
“I’ll be the judge of that. Now shut up and kiss me.”
Xiao Zhan bent down and pressed his lips very gingerly against Yibo’s tiny mouth, not wanting to knock him over or anything. He felt the slightest pressure back, even as Yibo leaned fully into him. When Xiao Zhan pulled away he saw Yibo had a pleasing blush on his rosy little cheeks. It sent a thrill to Xiao Zhan seeing Yibo so satisfied. Before he could lean down for another kiss, Xiao Zhan heard the almost muted sound of his phone going off somewhere.
“Shoot. I gotta check on that, might be my assistant. Stay put and don’t get into any trouble, okay?”
“Yes, Zhan ge,” Yibo nodded, sitting down primly on one of the many rose petals on Xiao Zhan’s bed.
Xiao Zhan stepped out of the bedroom, immediately closing the door so nosy Jianguo wouldn’t terrorize Yibo. He went in search of his phone, honing in on the sound coming from the living room. It was somewhere nearby but he couldn’t see it. As he approached the couch, the sound was a little louder. Dammit, it probably went between the seat cushions. He leaned down and searched, poking his hand everywhere, stretching his arm and burying half his face in the cushions. When he finally retrieved it, it stopped ringing. A missed call… from Yibo?
Before Xiao Zhan could call the number back the front door opened and Yibo stepped in, his regular full-sized self and after taking his cap off, revealing his shorter dark hair. “Hey, Zhan ge. I tried calling you but you didn’t answer. You must’ve nodded off from that crazy long shoot with RoseOnly.”
Xiao Zhan, stunned, got up from the couch. He felt a little woozy but tried to compose himself as he had to tell Yibo what was going on. Yibo greeted him with a kiss on the lips but cut it short when he noticed Xiao Zhan’s expression. “Something wrong, ge?”
“Yibo, you’re never going to believe this. Come, follow me.” He grabbed him by the hand (his beautiful long fingers intertwining with his) and was about to bring him to the bedroom when he paused at the dining room and saw Jianguo pawing at the ball on the floor. What the… he’d taken that RoseOnly ball apart in the bedroom! They definitely didn’t give him more than one of these. He grabbed the ball and inspected it. The gold cow was there with the roses underneath. But then… what happened to tiny Yibo?
“Zhan ge!” Yibo called out from the bedroom.
Oh god, he found his tiny doppelganger! Xiao Zhan rushed to the bedroom. “I can explain!”
Yibo turned and smiled at Xiao Zhan. “Rose petals on the bed? You sappy romantic.” He pulled Xiao Zhan toward him as they fell backwards onto the bed. Alarmed, Xiao Zhan looked around, afraid they would crush tiny Yibo.
“Yibo! Where are you?” Xiao Zhan said, looking around.
Yibo looked at him oddly. “I’m right here, Zhan ge.”
“No, you don’t understand! There was a tiny blond version of you going around in that cow onesie and…”
Yibo smirked. “Clearly, you’ve been having some weird dream. Kinky. If you want I can buy one of those cow print pajamas and...”
Xiao Zhan shook his head. The whole thing had felt so real. But Yibo was right, it must have been a dream. But for good measure he inspected every corner of the room and under the bed, Yibo looking on in amusement. Xiao Zhan rubbed at his temples. No, clearly he was overworked and had imagined or dreamed the whole thing. Without further delay he sank back onto the bed next to Yibo. It had been more than two weeks since they last saw each other.
“You okay, ge?” Yibo asked.
“Yes. Much better now that you’re back. And full-sized.” Xiao Zhan kissed him.