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Fingers drift across Zhi Gang’s sides, their pressure is just on the edge of being too soft. Zhi Gang seizes up and laughs into Bo Xiang's mouth at the sensation, Bo Xiang’s teeth capturing his bottom lip for a moment as their kiss finally comes apart. "Stop," he pants, twisting onto his front to escape Bo Xiang's hold. "You're going to be late."
Bo Xiang's weight settles heavily atop of him, sweater rough against the bare skin of Zhi Gang's back. "Who cares?" Those teeth attach themselves to Zhi Gang's neck, worrying a mark there. Zhi Gang gasps, arching into the heat of his mouth. He can feel Bo Xiang's smile against his skin, arms slipping between Zhi Gang's chest and the mattress to hug him tight. "I don't want to go."
He's ridiculous.
"You're ridiculous." Zhi Gang turns to glance at Bo Xiang over his shoulder. "Am I seriously risking it all on an affair with a teenager? When did this happen?"
A wounded sound whimpers out from Bo Xiang's chest, leaving him pouting in a way that has him looking all of eighteen again. "That isn't funny."
Zhi Gang manages to escape in Bo Xiang's grip, turning enough to loop an arm around Bo Xiang's neck, nails scratching against the grain of his hair. "I'm not kidding." He laughs at Bo Xiang's drawn-out groan before steeling his features, leveling Bo Xiang with a considering look. "You are pretty good looking for a kid, I'll give you that."
He gasps when Bo Xiang bites his shoulder, right where he's the most sensitive, not noticing that Bo Xiang's fingers have hooked at his hips until it's too late. His underwear is tugged down his legs with a practiced sort of familiarity that comes with three years of being together — Zhi Gang's longest relationship and counting, an achievement that Bo Xiang never fails to boast about, even though he's the only one who cares. "Sun Bo Xiang," he shouts, staring in shock as Bo Xiang grins at him from where he's dashed off to stand at the foot of the bed, spinning his prize on one finger.
"I've got to catch my train," Bo Xiang says, "but you be sure to say hi to your boyfriend for me, huh?"
Zhi Gang sits up, his arms behind him, supporting his weight. "You're insane."
Bo Xiang makes a rude expression at him. "You started it," he says, but then he's moving closer, bending in half to kiss Zhi Gang goodbye, once, twice, another time. Zhi Gang tries to be sneaky, shifting his weight onto one hand, the other inching towards Bo Xiang, but he's caught before he can steal back what's his.
"Nope." Bo Xiang's hands disappear behind his back for a second and then come back empty, free to grip Zhi Gang's cheeks firmly for one final kiss — that dissolves into five more before he finally pulls far enough away that neither of them can keep things going. "I was thinking about coming back next weekend," he suggests, distractedly, eyes fixed on Zhi Gang's mouth.
Zhi Gang grins. "Aren't exams coming up?"
"There's always exams coming up." His hand slides from Zhi Gang's neck down onto his chest, and lower still.
"Isn't Hao Ting coming down to visit you?" Zhi Gang asks, and it's a fight to keep his voice steady. "The last time you guys saw each other was New Years, right?"
"Ah," Bo Xiang tsks, dismissive. "There's always video chat." He looks like he's about to lean back in, transfixed, but then he really will be late.
They learned early on in their long-distance arrangement that nothing good came out of Zhi Gang taking Bo Xiang to the station.
"Go back to Tainan," Zhi Gang says each word slowly, as clear as possible.
Bo Xiang actually whines. "How am I supposed to leave when you're naked in our bed?"
"Who's fault is that!? Give me back my underwear!"
It gets Bo Xiang to stand up straight, walking backward a few steps, well and truly putting space between the bed and himself. "No," he says. "Alright, I'm going! I'll see you in fifty years, I guess, when I'm finally done with school! Enjoy your day off, master of the house," he delivers the title with the kind of accent he sometimes teases Zhi Gang for letting slip, polite and with perfect diction. Bo Xiang turns, leaving their bedroom for the hallway, and Zhi Gang realizes that his underwear is hanging out of Bo Xiang's back pocket.
Zhi Gang cannot believe him. "Sun Bo Xiang!"
"I love you!" The door slams, a hollow sound that echoes across Zhi Gang's small house, so much emptier without Bo Xiang's loud, gorgeous personality.
He drops back onto the bed, staring at the ceiling. A blush starts to make its way across his face; Zhi Gang is horrified with himself. He covers his head with his hands, smiling hard enough that his cheeks hurt. His phone buzzes somewhere to his right, vibrating on the nightstand. He doesn't need to look to know who it's from — in fact, he's fairly certain he already knows what it probably says.
Let him sweat.
Zhi Gang rolls back over onto his front, determined to go back to sleep for at least a few more hours.
☀️
His phone chimes again a while past lunchtime, just as Zhi Gang's finally found the will to get out of bed. He’s reheating the leftovers from last night's dinner, settling himself down on the floor in front of the television. It always takes an active effort for him to return to his usual routine after Bo Xiang has left, Zhi Gang finding it difficult to think of anything between the next time they've arranged to see one another.
He knows he's in for trouble when he realizes that it's Hao Ting calling.
Zhi Gang doesn't even manage to get a greeting in, Hao Ting shrieking across the line the minute he thumbs across the screen to connect the cal., "What kind of couple are you!?"
"Huh?" The video is a shakey blur, lagging a second behind the audio of Hao Ting's question. He's got Bo Xiang's bag clutched to his chest, his other hand extended out in front of him, holding the phone.
"Sir," he says, cackling, "This is a strange gift to send your husband off with."
Zhi Gang's face goes red in an instant. "Bo Xiang," his voice sounds far away to his own ears, blood rushing through them, "you did not."
The noise of the restaurant is loud behind them, but Zhi Gang can tell that theirs must be the rowdiest table. Bo Xiang darts into the frame, snatching his bag from Hao Ting as Hao Ting laughs out something about him not even being shameless enough to do what Bo Xiang's done. Bo Xiang, to his credit, seems to be doing everything to keep from looking at the screen of the phone where Zhi Gang stares at him.
"How could you!?" His question is mirrored across the tinny speakers of the phone, his betrayed tone echoed by Bo Xiang's enraged one, cutting Hao Ting's obnoxious laugh off as he traps the other in a headlock. The video goes blurry again, Hao Ting's phone dropping onto the table in their scuffle.
Someone picks it up, the feed freezing for a moment before Xi Gu comes into focus. His face is bright red, which just leaves Zhi Gang feeling even more mortified. "Not you too!" he groans.
Xi Gu bows his head to the screen, wincing. "I'm so sorry, Brother Zhi Gang." He sounds it too, cupping his hand around his mouth and speaking low. "I'm the one who found," his voice trails off, lingering in the air, "it," he finishes, lamely.
"He stole them," Zhi Gang says in a rush.
"Hey, hey, hey!" Bo Xiang's voice is loud off-camera, then his face comes into view. "Don't make this seem weird!"
Zhi Gang cannot believe him. "How is it not weird?" Bo Xiang pouts across the screen. "No. I'm not doing this," Zhi Gang decides. "I don't even understand why they're there, and I don't care. Have fun. Bye!" He hangs up and sets his phone face-down on the table before unmuting the TV and picking up his plate.
Bo Xiang sends him increasingly frantic messages as the night passes, each of them more nonsensical than the last. It isn't until Zhi Gang has returned to bed that he finally feels bored enough to respond, his embarrassment abated.
👺📵
i'm sorry!!!!
😒
His phone begins to ring, screen flashing a photo of Bo Xiang grinning wide around the kiss he's placing on Zhi Gang's hand, teeth shining brighter than the gleam of the ring on Zhi Gang's finger. Zhi Gang swipes across the screen to answer and tells himself that his heartbeat doesn't pick up when the real Bo Xiang blinks onto the screen.
"I was wrong," is the first thing Bo Xiang says, as serious as Zhi Gang has ever seen him, formal words flowing easily from his tongue.
For all that he enjoys teasing Bo Xiang about his age, and for all that he sometimes feels insecure of the years separating them, there’s nothing quite like watching this kid that he loves further settle into the man he's going to be. To be someone contributing to that, just as Bo Xiang inspires Zhi Gang to be better.
Zhi Gang feels moved despite himself. And — turned on.
"Um," Zhi Gang stalls, beginning to feel mortified.
Bo Xiang grins. "That was good, right?"
Zhi Gang tries to remember what he's meant to say. "Uh."
Leaning further into the camera, Bo Xiang squints at him. "What's the matter with you?" he presses. "Why are you blushing?"
"It's nothing," Zhi Gang hurries to say.
"Oh my god!?" He looks devastated. "Did that do something for you?! Lu Zhi Gang, you are not allowed to be turned on when I'm not there to take advantage of it!"
"Stop shouting!" Zhi Gang buries his face into the pillow, wanting to die. "You better be alone."
"What?"
He turns, one eye looking at the camera, just enough so that his mouth is uncovered and he’s able to speak without it being a muffled mess. "What were Xiao-gu and Hao Ting doing there?"
"They're doing some experiments further south. I was texting that bastard Hao Ting on the train and he didn't even tell he was in town!"
That sounds about right. "Are they still there?"
Bo Xiang shakes his head. "Their train left at eight," he says. "We had enough time to have dinner, which he used to ruin my life."
"I thought you said it was your fault?"
It's fun to watch Bo Xiang fly from one emotion to another. Petulant and whiney one moment, serious in the next. "It was, but I don't regret it." He pulls the phone away enough that Zhi Gang can see that he's in bed as well, shirtless and with the wall at his back. He reaches for something out of camera, and Zhi Gang can't pretend that he isn’t expecting it when Bo Xiang holds up Zhi Gang's underwear to the camera's view. "These have officially become my most cherished possession."
"That's disgusting." His dick jumps to attention when Bo Xiang drops them onto his face. "Stop."
Somewhere along the line, Bo Xiang's eyes closed. He opens them slightly, gazing across the camera beneath the long fan of his lashes. "I will if you really want me to," he says. "But I don't think you do."
Zhi Gang prides himself on having a reasonably advanced awareness of the workings of his own mind. He realized very early into their relationship that the reason he constantly highlights Bo Xiang’s being younger than him is precisely that Zhi Gang is meant to be the adult. The one with experience, the one with a solid head on his shoulders, thinking with something beyond his heart and the passion that exists between his thighs.
The problem's always been that, at least where Bo Xiang is concerned, Zhi Gang’s little more than a teenager himself.
He's never cared for anyone this much, never desired anyone this much, and it would be terrifying if Bo Xiang didn't seem to make it his entire life's purpose to make sure Zhi Gang knows he feels exactly the same, all the time.
"It hasn't even been twelve hours." It takes effort to make himself sound chastising rather than despondent.
"Eight hours, twenty-four minutes." His underwear slides down Bo Xiang's face as he speaks, dropping down onto his neck. He's starting to look tired, the day catching up with him. Zhi Gang can't decide if he's thankful or disappointed.
"That's an average workday," Zhi Gang reasons, keeping his voice soft, smiling when he sees Bo Xiang's eyes fall shut. "Even after you graduate and come back home, we'll be apart that long."
Bo Xiang shakes his head, not much more than a slight rocking of his chin. "I'll have lunch with you every day."
Zhi Gang wants to laugh, but the thing about Bo Xiang is that he likely means it.
☀️
The property is close to the university campus. Zhi Gang knew this, from the start but it always felt more theoretical than fact — Taiwan isn't that big of a country to begin with, so technically everything is close. He keeps glancing out the windows lining the front of the building, half-listening to the agent as she explains the benefits of the location. As if it isn't obvious.
As if Zhi Gang doesn't have his own reasons.
"It seems great," he says, cutting the woman off. "I'll sign for it now!"
"Wonderful!" She beams at him, returning to the briefcase she'd left on the counter. "It won't stay empty for long, so it's best to act now." Zhi Gang hums in response. "Are you going to be in town long?" she asks.
"No, just needed to see the property before I signed."
She's good at what she does, continuing the conversation easily all by herself despite Zhi Gang’s glibness. "Sometimes a weekend trip is best! Have you already got a manager in mind?"
They carry on like that, small talk that she plays the main role in carrying. After he’s finished signing the lease agreement, she’s explained the rest of the process as if he hasn't done this a dozen times before, they go their separate ways. Zhi Gang wonders what to do with himself, skin itching.
Someone comes running past him. They stop on a dime, turning to look straight into Zhi Gang's eyes.
It's Bo Xiang, because that's just how Zhi Gang's luck is.
"It is you!" he shouts.
It's not the first time Zhi Gang's come down, this particular expansion has been on his to-do list for a while now, but he's never actually told Bo Xiang about his trips, having promised himself that he'd refrain from visiting Bo Xiang while he was at school. He felt it was important for Bo Xiang to have something of his own, outside of Zhi Gang's influence, a chance for him to come to his senses and fall for a boy his own age, maybe, even though Zhi Gang didn't let himself dwell on that particular fear.
Zhi Gang has a second of wondering if he might be able to pass himself off as a particularly convincing lookalike, if he can claim to have no idea who Bo Xiang is, but it all comes to nothing when Bo Xiang flings himself into Zhi Gang's arms and kisses him with all his being, licking into Zhi Gang's mouth.
It's so good that Zhi Gang can't get himself to pull away, letting Bo Xiang kiss him silly against the wall of his newest shop as college kids filter past them along the sidewalk.
So much for pretending not to know him.
Bo Xiang bends down, burying his nose in Zhi Gang's neck. "Is this why you didn't want me to come up this weekend?" he asks.
Zhi Gang struggles to contextualize the words, brain oxygen-starved and most of his blood rushing to his groin. "A-hao was meant to visit, remember?"
Fingers come up between their chests, Bo Xiang undoing Zhi Gang's topmost button. Zhi Gang realizes instantly that Bo Xiang is looking for the mark he left there, still stark against his skin with not even a full week has passed since Bo Xiang worried it into existence there. "But you know he moved it up early," Bo Xiang sing-songs.
Zhi Gang gets his hands on Bo Xiang's shoulders, his wits coming back. He pushes Bo Xiang away, giving himself space to breathe. "I just bought this shop," he says.
Bo Xiang blinks. "What?" He pulls back, one hand tangling with Zhi Gang's fingers. "This store?" He grins at Zhi Gang. "Can I be the manager?"
Zhi Gang feels like he's tripped even though he isn't moving, the earth shifting at Bo Xiang's gall. "I've met your parents," he says, "And so I can’t do anything but struggle to understand who raised you — how do you have no shame?!"
Nothing sends his heart racing like the full force of Bo Xiang's grin. He fights back his own smile when Bo Xiang uses their joined hands to pull Zhi Gang into him, the soft prickle of Bo Xiang's hair running across his jaw as Bo Xiang makes a home for himself against Zhi Gang's chest. "C'mon," he whines. "I'd be a great employee."
"You would be the absolute worst." Zhi Gang means it. "There would be a line of customers down the street because you're too busy texting your boyfriend to serve them."
Bo Xiang stands up straight. "I guess that's true," he agrees, completely devoid of any shred of embarrassment. "Plus, if I had to manage the store, I couldn't visit you as much."
Zhi Gang blinks at him. "Your mind never ceases to amaze me."
"Thanks, baby."
It's awful, horrible, embarrassing, shameful, ridiculous, and something that Zhi Gang will never admit to — but his dick twitches at the wink Bo Xiang sends him, his face heating up.
"How long are you here for?"
"My train leaves tomorrow morning,” Zhi Gang answers, slightly dazed.
Bo Xiang cries out in agony. "One day!" He stretches his arm out, jacket shifting so he can see the face of his watch. "It's almost noon!" He squints suspiciously, standing at his full height, which gives him about a centimeter on Zhi Gang. "Were you going to tell me you were in town?"
"Ah," Zhi Gang stalls. He leans in and kisses Bo Xiang's nose, his face. He can feel Bo Xiang's smile against his lips, Bo Xiang's cheeks going firm, and knows that he's in the clear.
"Classmate Sunbo!" It's shouted across campus. Bo Xiang stays exactly where he is, failing to even flinch. He whines when Zhi Gang turns away to see just who is calling after them. "Get a room!"
Bo Xiang pulls away, looking in the direction of their heckler, recognition spreading across his features. "Ah, Senior Xiao Licheng, please attend to your own matters!"
Zhi Gang fights down the dread that threatens to grip his heart, reminding himself that this isn't that big of a deal. Things have changed since he was in university, and even if they haven't, Bo Xiang isn't one to love quietly from the shadows.
Bo Xiang is nothing like Zhi Gang's senior.
He gathers up his nerve and nods toward's Bo Xiang's friend. "Should we go say hello?"
“Um,” Bo Xiang looks at him like he's grown another head. "Absolutely not?! What kind of question?"
Zhi Gang frowns. "Why not?"
"Because Licheng is a demon," he scoffs. "That bastard has a new girlfriend every week! I don't trust him around you."
The frown twists into a smile, Zhi Gang shaking his head. "Didn't you just say he was a lady's man?" he asks. "How am I in danger?"
"Because if anyone could make him go for a guy, it's you," Bo Xiang says it with such certainty, even as Zhi Gang looks at him like he’s a complete idiot. "Why would I introduce you to someone who would become my rival? Don't you know there's a reason I never asked you to come visit me down here?"
Zhi Gang blinks, expression blank for a few seconds before a large grin blooms across his face. He scratches at his nose, embarrassed with how pleased he feels. "Ah," he says. "So that's how it is?"
Bo Xiang nods, "That's how it is." He points at Zhi Gang, retaking his hand. "And don't think I've forgotten that you just weren't going tell me you were in town! You've got until your train leaves tomorrow to convince me not to be mad." He starts walking, dragging Zhi Gang along. "I hope you can think of a way to make it up to me."
"Where are we going?"
"My apartment," Bo Xiang answers. "I don't want to waste any time."
Zhi Gang doesn't think he's going to have any trouble coming up with ways to regain Bo Xiang’s favor. Maybe he’ll even manage to get his underwear back.