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It’s a beautiful day.
The sky is a vibrant, azure blue, the sun is warming, but not blazing - so Xiao Zhan for once isn’t sweating - and he carries a bag of groceries in his arms to the building where his new apartment is located.
He’s a graphic designer and mainly works from home since he moved, at least until he is going to have the money and clients for a real office. It’s possible that it will take some time, though; and that’s okay. Working from home is fine for now, especially when it grants him flexible breaks under a bright, azure sky.
When he nears the front door of his building, he notices a little boy hiding behind a corner.
“Hey there,” Xiao Zhan smiles, and the boy looks up. He has big eyes, round and dark, and an overall adorable face.
“Hello,” the boy greets back in that simple, innocent way children have.
Xiao Zhan would leave it at that, still smiling and heading to the door, when the boy pipes up again.
“Are you living here, too?”
Shifting his bag of groceries from one arm to the other, Xiao Zhan turns to him, surprised about the boy’s openness. “Ah, yes, I just moved in!”
“Ahhh, so you, you just moved in,” the boy repeats, coming closer with a curious expression. He runs his hand along the wall while he walks, feeling the rough surface. Xiao Zhan still remembers that he used to do that, too, as a child.
“Yeah,” he agrees, nodding for emphasis. “I live on the second floor.” It’s been a fortunate coincidence that this apartment was freshly free when Xiao Zhan looked at the one on the twelfth floor, and even though it’s a little more expensive, he immediately went for it. Now he looks into the branches of the few trees planted next to the asphalt backyard instead of having a view of grey, towering buildings.
“We, we, we live on the third,” the boy continues, smiling up at Xiao Zhan. The child has dimples, and Xiao Zhan can feel himself melt. What a cutie. “I’m Bojing.”
“I’m Xiao Zhan, nice to meet you!”
They stand in front of each other for a few moments, Xiao Zhan unsure what to say or do, and when Bojing doesn’t do anything more than staring at him, Xiao Zhan smiles again and opens the door. “Maybe we’ll see each other around,” he says, giggling when Bojing exclaims happily at that, and watches over his shoulder as the boy leaves for his corner again.
Nice. Xiao Zhan has already befriended a neighbor. A five year old, maybe six year old neighbor that lives on the third floor. Lulu will be elated when Xiao Zhan tells her how great he’s doing.
“Kiddo? Where are you?” Xiao Zhan hears a man call out a few days later, when he is bringing down his laundry for the regular Saturday washing. Old habits die hard, and he doesn’t see why he should change this one just because he lives in a different city now.
“JingJing? A-Jiiiiiing,” the voice keeps calling, coming closer. “Bojing! Answer me, we’re not playing Hide And S-”
Words and steps coming to an abrupt halt when the man - quite young, actually, and handsome - notices Xiao Zhan in the staircase, they stare at each other for a surprised second.
“Oh, hi!” Xiao Zhan finally comes to his senses as the man stutters out a flustered, “I’m sorry.”
Giggling - why, oh why the giggle, lord -, Xiao Zhan shakes his head. “It’s fine! You’re searching for Bojing, the small boy?”
The man’s eyebrows shoot upwards, and he surveys Xiao Zhan with intensified scrutiny. “You know Bojing?”
“I saw him hiding behind a corner yesterday when I came home with groceries. I just moved here,” Xiao Zhan says, yet again shifting the laundry in his arms. It is getting heavy. “I’m Xiao Zhan.”
“Nice to meet you, Xiao Zhan,” the man says, expression relaxing. “I’m Wang Yibo. Did you see Bojing anywhere? We have an appointment at the hairdresser in a bit, but he escaped me. Probably trying to play Hide And Seek again.”
The gears in Xiao Zhan’s head turn, taking in that new information. That man, is he… is Bojing his son? No, that… Wang Yibo seems way too young for that. How old is he, twenty? Twenty-one? Although, Xiao Zhan guesses, not everything in life goes as planned. He’s the perfect example for that: twenty-nine, single as a Pringle, freshly moved to Beijing, and in dire need for friends besides Xuan Lu. Nothing against Lulu, of course, but with most of his other friends back in Chongqing and Lulu in a relationship, there definitely is room for other social contacts.
“I’m sorry,” Xiao Zhan catches himself just before it gets awkward. “I haven’t seen him today. I’m heading down to the laundry room, though, I can send him your way if I see him.”
Wang Yibo seems to ponder that for a moment, before he starts walking down the floor, almost passing Xiao Zhan, who hurries to keep up with the suddenly determined man without losing a dirty sock on the way.
“I’m coming with you. The laundry room is one of his favorite hiding spots because of the many nooks.”
“I see,” Xiao Zhan nods, unable to help himself and eyeing Wang Yibo from the side. That face is really handsome, so symmetrical that Xiao Zhan is sure that drawing him would be easy. His fingers itch for a pencil.
They make their way down mostly in silence, Xiao Zhan because he doesn’t know what to say, and the other man probably doesn’t either.
Bojing isn’t in the laundry room, and Wang Yibo sighs.
“See you around, Xiao Zhan,” is all the older man gets, and then he’s alone with the laundry pile and a dozen washing machines.
His fingers keep itching.
Unbelievably, Xiao Zhan gives in and attempts to draw Wang Yibo later because his features are just calling to him. He doesn’t get the shape of the younger man’s face right, and the nose is too dominant - but the eyes. He actually nails them.
Maybe because they’re so expressive, Xiao Zhan thinks, staring down at the paper. He doesn’t remember many people who have such expressive eyes, dark and strangely magnetic.
Shaking himself out of it, he puts his sketchbook away, and stands up to cook dinner.
It’s not good to think about Wang Yibo’s gaze too much. If that kid is really his, all possible interest in the man is inappropriate. It’s bound to end in heartbreak, and Xiao Zhan really has enough of that. He’s just stopped singing bitter love songs, and no amount of rebound sex to get over it makes this suffering worth it.
He has been walking home from the subway station, just about to open the front door of the building, when he hears a high yelp of pain from the backyard.
Immediately, sirens are ringing in his head and alarm shoots through his veins, and he hurries to look what the reason is.
It’s Bojing, and judging from where he sits on the ground and prods at his bleeding knee, he’s fallen off the skateboard in front of him.
As soon as Bojing sees him, he starts crying.
“Shhh shhhh, it’s okay,” Xiao Zhan rushes to his side, kneeling down. He has flashbacks to the numerous times he has done that for his cousin’s daughter and instantly switches into Soothing Voice Mode. “You’re fine, it’s alright.”
“I fell-ll,” Bojing sobs, and Xiao Zhan reaches out to help him up.
“I see. Did you fall from the skateboard? That’s a pretty cool one,” he adds, solely to distract the boy. Xiao Zhan doesn’t really see the appeal, and he’s very sure he’d break at least one bone if he should ever try to stand on such a hellboard.
Bojing nods under tears, rubbing at his eye with a fist. “Gege gave it to me. H-he can r-ride so well.”
“Can he,” Xiao Zhan murmurs, gently trying to blow the dirt away from the wound. This needs to be cleaned. “Where is your gege?” Why would anyone leave a primary school child and a skateboard unsupervised?
“He’s just- just gone ins-s-side,” Bojing hiccups, watching Xiao Zhan with hawk eyes. “He’s coming b- hicc- back soon, but he forgot to bring water.”
Thankfully, the crying has stopped for now, even though the knee is still dotted with bloody spots.
“Shall we go inside to clean it up?” Xiao Zhan asks, straightening up and taking Bojing’s hand. He’s not about to leave him a choice, but the boy nods dutifully, another crocodile's tear making its way down his cheek.
“I,I just wanted to try,” he explains, staring at the skateboard, and Xiao Zhan realizes that ‘gege’, who might as well be Wang Yibo, hasn’t actually left Bojing alone to ride or die.
“That wasn’t such a good idea, was it?” Xiao Zhan gently admonishes, mildering the scolding by stroking over the boy's head.
“We need to take this,” Bojing says and points to the skateboard, and - sigh - alright. Xiao Zhan bends down, taking the skateboard under one arm, the child on the other hand, and makes his way through the back door, slowly, slooooowly, in Hobbling Child Speed.
He is contemplating if he should carry Bojing up the last stairs because the boy is wincing and looks like he’s about to cry again, when the apartment door directly in their line of sight opens, revealing Wang Yibo.
The surprise on his face quickly morphs into worry and then panic, and he almost jumps towards them. “A-Jing? What happened?!”
“I f-f-fell,” the boy, now crying again, throws himself into Wang Yibo’s arms.
Helplessly, the young man hugs Bojing, looking up at Xiao Zhan with eyes that beg for an explanation. They almost look like children’s eyes, too, in that moment.
Xiao Zhan’s fingers are itching again.
“Didn’t I tell you to wait for me?” Wang Yibo, too, gently admonishes the boy, but he also buries his nose in his hair and presses a kiss to his temple. “Let’s go inside.”
“Here,” Xiao Zhan then chips back in, grimacing sympathetically. “The skateboard.”
“Thank you, Xiao Zhan,” Wang Yibo sincerely thanks him. The way he says it makes something flutter in Xiao Zhan’s belly, something he would rather ignore.
“Yeah, sure. Ummm, I just,” he awkwardly stammers, wanting to hand over the skateboard and then realizing that Wang Yibo had Bojing and a water bottle in his hands.
“You can just lean it against the wall,” Wang Yibo decides, and actually turns away to vanish into the apartment.
Very unsure, Xiao Zhan takes a step inside, leaning the skateboard against the wall, making sure it stands secure.
“Umm, I’ll be, I’ll close the door!”
Maybe more social contacts will teach him how to behave when confronted with people like Wang Yibo, too.
“Yup!” comes the reply, called out from where Xiao Zhan suspects the kitchen. He doesn’t see much from the apartment, but the space is clean and bright, full of light wood and glass shelves.
He closes the door as quietly as possible, pondering whether Wang Yibo being the ‘gege’ means that he isn’t the father of this child, or if it just means that he’s young enough to feel weird being called ‘baba’.
Weeks pass, and Xiao Zhan quietly works on commissions from home, sometimes grinning when he hears Bojing’s high-pitched screeches and laughter from directly above his head, sometimes sighing. He isn’t sure how it’s possible that the tiniest humans make the most noise, but that’s how it has always been.
One day, when he has all his windows open as he is deep-cleaning his apartment, he hears a voice waft inside, singing an emotional ballad about long-lost love.
Xiao Zhan has swiped half of his living room floor when he realizes that it’s Yibo singing.
They’re on a first name basis now, after Yibo rolled his eyes and puckered his lips. “Call me Yibo.” Then he proceeded to give Xiao Zhan a heart attack by teasingly adding, “Zhan-ge.”
It has stuck, apparently, and Xiao Zhan continues to get heart attacks and belly flutters when Yibo greets him in the staircase like that.
Despite his curiosity and alarming reactions to the younger man’s rare, but mind-blowingly beautiful smiles, Xiao Zhan hasn’t asked him if he lives alone yet - or if he is single, for that matter. He just... the child. How high is the chance of such a young man being a single parent? Usually, children stick with the mothers if their parents separated. And even if Yibo is actually Bojing’s dad and raises him alone - he probably doesn’t have any time and desire for an almost thirty-year-old getting belly flutters for him, then.
This all doesn’t stop Xiao Zhan from humming along to the heart-wrenching song Yibo is crooning, though, and eventually, he sings the song together with him, exactly one octave higher, inhaling the lemon fragrance of his cleaning products and allowing himself to feel happy and soft.
It’s laundry Saturday yet again, and when Xiao Zhan comes down with his basket, he sees the most surrealistic scenario unfold in front of him: Yibo, a blanket tied around his shoulders like a cape, kneels on the beton floor next to a washing machine in a corner, and Bojing, a dramatic expression on his boyish face and a wooden stick in hand, stands before him imposingly with the tip of the stick pointed to his heart.
Both of them turn at Xiao Zhan’s entrance, and before he knows what’s happening, Bojing has skipped towards him, pointing the stick at him now. Yibo stays kneeling where he is, the corners of his lips ticking up, eyes glittering.
“I captured him!” Bojing crows happily, piercing Xiao Zhan with his gaze. “And now you’ve come to rescue him, right?”
“Uh… sure!” Xiao Zhan plays along, setting his laundry basket down on the next washing machine and pointing his finger at Bojing, who almost spontaneously combusts with joy of Xiao Zhan joining the game. “You can’t hold that poor man captive without a reason!”
“I have a reason!” Bojing yells excitedly, brandishing his stick. “His food wasn’t yummy!”
“His-” Xiao Zhan nearly chokes on his attempt to swallow his laughter, watching with glee as Yibo scowls.
“And I don’t need a reason! Not all heroes win!” Bojing adds in such a volume and high pitch that Xiao Zhan's head throbs.
“Oh? So you’re the villain?”
A proud nod. “And I’ll defeat you, too!”
With that, Bojing swivels his stick more - a wand, of course - and pokes Xiao Zhan into submission.
Dramatically, Xiao Zhan yelps and begs for mercy as he sinks down next to Yibo onto the ground. Ugh. His poor knees. His poor- ugh, no.
He shifts, sitting back on his butt with as much grace as he can muster, and raises his hands in surrender.
During the whole exchange, Yibo has only watched them, but his face looks soft, quietly happy.
The itch. If Xiao Zhan had his sketchbook in reach now… he wouldn’t draw Yibo because he is kneeling right beside him and it would be idiotic.
“Now we’re both held captive,” Xiao Zhan sighs, leaning back against the wall.
“Sucks,” Wang Yibo smirks, and Xiao Zhan nearly gasps.
“I’m the supervillain!” Bojing continues to flaunt his victory, jumping and swirling through the room.
“How long are we held captive?” Xiao Zhan murmurs lowly, and when he looks at Yibo, he catches his gaze darting to Xiao Zhan’s lips.
Xiao Zhan’s belly flutters again, and this time it is accompanied by his heart missing a beat. Could he… has that been intentional?
“For a while. He’s pretty persistent, like his mother.”
“His...” Discreetly, Xiao Zhan clears his throat. “Is she living with you, too?”
Yibo stares at him for a moment, and Xiao Zhan can’t help but think that he has misstepped. Well, if the man doesn’t like that question, he shouldn’t mention her! Right?
“No. His mother- she’s in a mental health facility at the moment. A-Jing is my official foster child for now.”
“Oh,” Xiao Zhan makes, feeling his heart stop and then break. “I’m sorry.”
“Mn. She’s my best friend.”
Best friend?!
He’s sure he is gaping, but he really didn’t expect that. Snapping his mouth shut, he licks his lips, trying not to wriggle in place. His butt is cold and hurts.
“I’m really sorry. I hope she’ll get better soon.”
Yibo hums, regarding him thoughtfully. “Do you want to come over for dinner?”
Blinking forcefully, Xiao Zhan tries to sort out his thoughts. Has he just gotten invited for a meal with his handsome neighbor? How did that happen? It did, though. Apparently. Surprisingly. With a man that is actually fostering his best friend’s child that is still holding them captive, although Bojing slowly seems to lose interest.
“Sure!” Xiao Zhan bursts out as he notices Yibo glancing away in embarrassment, then lets his face break out into a radiant beam. “Sure, Wang Yibo, I would be honored,” he adds theatrically to make it seem less significant.
Yibo snorts, hitting him on the arm, and Xiao Zhan grins. “Shut up, Zhan-ge.”
Ugh. The belly flutter.
“Can you treat me more kindly?” he mopes, throwing a pointed look at Bojing. “A child is present.”
Yibo just shrugs, standing up, reaching out a hand to pull Xiao Zhan to his feet. “He’s heard worse. Not from me,” he quickly clarifies at Xiao Zhan’s shocked face, and grimaces. “His father isn’t a kind man. This is why A-Jing is with me and not him. He’s… not suitable for parenting.”
“Goddamn,” escapes Xiao Zhan’s mouth, too low to be overheard by Bojing, but loud enough for Yibo to catch it.
The younger man doesn’t say anything, but it’s clear that it breaks his heart; his throat bobs a few times, and he blinks. “I care for him. And make sure that he’s safe and happy.”
Don’t cry, don’t cry, Xiao Zhan chants to himself, and fucking hell, he feels his insides turn into mush for this man with that smooth, handsome face and a blanket cape around his shoulders.
Xiao Zhan tugs at it. “So you’re really a hero, Wang-laoshi.”
Yibo huffs out a laugh, and then his mouth stays pulled into a very attractive, crooked smile. “Sure am, Zhan-ge. Watch me save the day. I can do everything except cooking.”
Laughing out loud, Xiao Zhan trudges up the stairs next to Yibo, the still full basket in his arms. He’ll simply do laundry tomorrow. “Don’t worry, Wang-laoshi. I can be the sidekick today and serve the meal.”
They chatter until Yibo chases Bojing to the apartment, the boy’s loud giggles ringing through the staircase.
“See you later, Zhan-ge,” Yibo grins as Xiao Zhan unlocks his door.
He smiles back. “I’ll knock in half an hour.”
Surprisingly for him, but maybe unsurprisingly for the overall situation, Xiao Zhan falls in love with Wang Yibo - although, no, that isn’t the surprising thing. The surprising thing is that Yibo falls in love with him, too, and his tender kisses are all Xiao Zhan can think about when he immortalizes the younger man’s lips in his sketchbook.
There’s one sketch that Xiao Zhan likes especially, and he enhances it until it is a real pencil drawing. He puts it into a frame and gifts it to Yibo and Bojing, and while Bojing announces his joy and approval through the entire apartment, Xiao Zhan sees the wet shine in Yibo’s eyes.
The picture shows Yibo and Bojing hand in hand, capes waving behind them, smiling happily. At the bottom of the picture is written, ‘From the sidekick to the real superheroes.’
“Thank you,” Yibo whispers into Xiao Zhan’s ear, pressing a kiss behind it onto the tender skin. It takes all of Xiao Zhan’s discipline not to shudder. “But you’re a hero, too.”