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Xiao Zhan sighs. It’s been a long day of making deliveries, but he’s finally, finally on his last assignment of the day. Hugging his final package to his chest, he rests the back of his head on the elevator wall, closes his eyes, and starts fantasizing about how good it will feel to fall into bed when he finally gets home.
“Hold the door please!”
Xiao Zhan’s eyes snap open to the sight of a man dashing toward the closing doors. No, more like a boy, judging by the roundness of his cheeks. He's hefting a large blue messenger bag and is dressed in the iconic bright blue uniform that marks him as an Eleme delivery guy.
As much as Xiao Zhan would really like to just let the doors slide shut, and preserve for himself a little peace and quiet for the few minutes it will take to get to this last destination, he’s not a jerk. So he steps forward and swings a long leg between the doors, which ker-chunk to a stop and then churn uneasily open again.
Eleme Guy slides into the elevator. “Ah... thanks—” he pants without meeting Xiao Zhan’s eyes. Instead, he adjusts his unwieldy bag and rummages in his jacket pockets, pulling out a phone and swiping the screen. “Floor 23,” he mumbles to himself as he presses the button and steps back.
Xiao Zhan laughs inside at the way Eleme Guy’s attention automatically fixes on the numbers flickering above the doors — because that’s what Xiao Zhan does too, to avoid having to make conversation at times like these.
It’s not that Xiao Zhan doesn’t like people — he does, most days. But he’s surrounded by them all day long and it gets exhausting, all the random conversations that he feels compelled to have out of politeness but that he’d rather not spend the energy and time on. Honestly, what would be the point? In a city the size of Beijing, when would he ever see any of those people again?
So Xiao Zhan settles his eyes on the advancing numbers too, little old-fashioned ones that light up with a soft bing! as the elevator rises, floor by floor. It shouldn’t feel this suspenseful, but the elevator is one of the older ones that Xiao Zhan has encountered, so he follows the slow progression to his floor — 18 — with a mixture of anticipation and trepidation.
Sure enough, the light for floor 13 has just lit up when the elevator suddenly shudders to a stop with a disturbing grinding noise, and then everything falls eerily silent.
Eleme Guy lets out a confused “eh?” and reaches out to press the 23 button again and again, then hammers on the button to open the door. Nothing happens. Nothing happens when he presses the red emergency button either.
Xiao Zhan observes all of this with a creeping sense of dread. “Aiyaaa, really? We’re stuck?” He checks his watch reflexively and slumps against the wall, scuffing his feet on the floor in frustration. “Just my luck!”
“Seriously, man,” says Eleme Guy, turning to face him. “This really ssss—”
Xiao Zhan looks up and finds Eleme Guy staring wide-eyed at him, mouth slightly agape. “What?” Xiao Zhan asks, suddenly self-conscious. He looks down at himself, wondering if he’s torn or stained his suit or something. “What, is there—” he pats his cheeks, “—something—”
“N-no, nothing,” stammers Eleme Guy. “Just, uh. Hi.”
Xiao Zhan blinks. Eleme Guy doesn’t.
“Wang Yibo,” he says finally, and holds out a hand. “That’s - that’s me. Yibo.”
“Ahh, I—” Xiao Zhan starts, taken aback momentarily by Yibo’s forwardness. He takes his hand. “I’m Xiao Zhan.”
Yibo grins as their hands touch. It’s a nice smile, Xiao Zhan thinks. It’s wide and genuine, lifting those round cheeks and lighting up his eyes.
“Xiao Zhan,” Yibo repeats, and Xiao Zhan swoons just a bit when he hears the way his name sounds coming out of Yibo’s mouth, low and sensual. A wave of warmth rushes through him, and he just knows his ears are turning a traitorous red.
Yibo’s face clouds over with concern. “Hey, are you okay? You don't look okay—”
“Oh, uhh… thanks?”
“No, no!” Yibo corrects quickly, “that’s not what I meant! Xiao-Laoshi looks very handsome—”
Xiao Zhan feels his eyebrows rising up into his grey cap. What is happening here?
“—but - but — what I mean is—” Yibo stammers as he starts to search through his blue Eleme bag, “—are you hungry?”
Xiao Zhan huffs a relieved laugh. “Ohhh, okay, I get it now. Very funny,” Xiao Zhan snorts, craning his head around to study the elevator ceiling. “This is all a prank, ah? Or are you filming an ad? Are there cameras in here?”
Yibo looks up, confused. “What?”
“You just recited your company catchphrase! Are you hungry? Ni e le me?” Xiao Zhan says with an elaborate eye roll as he throws up air quotes with his fingers. “You’ve trapped me in an elevator so you can sell me something?”
“Wahh — you think I did this?” Yibo laughs, and it's such a ridiculous croaky laugh that Xiao Zhan can’t help but join in.
Yibo shakes his head and chuckles. “No, no, trust me, I didn’t do this! I mean, what if the lights went out in here?” He shivers cartoonishly. “I just — you just look like you haven’t eaten and I thought—” He reaches into his delivery bag and pulls out a package of 3+2 biscuits.
“Oh! You really shouldn’t—” Xiao Zhan interrupts, leaning away, but then he stumbles back a bit, suddenly lightheaded. His stomach makes an embarrassingly loud grumbling noise. Okay maybe I am a little hungry.
Yibo grabs Xiao Zhan's arm with a surprisingly large, strong hand. “I was right! Here, sit down.” Yibo sets his bag down, helps Xiao Zhan take a seat on the floor of the elevator, then settles next to him. “When was the last time you ate?” he demands, pressing the package of biscuits into his hands.
“Oh… I, uhh—” Xiao Zhan stammers, caught off guard by Yibo’s interrogation. “I was really busy today with work, and—”
“Aiyaa, Zhan-ge, you—”
Xiao Zhan does a double-take at Yibo. “Did - did you really just call me Zhan-ge? What are you… are you always this shameless?”
Yibo shrugs, a sheepish smirk on his face. “Actually, I’m usually quite shy.”
“I don't believe you.”
“No really, I am! I, umm, don’t know why, but I feel - I just feel at ease around you.” Yibo takes in Xiao Zhan’s incredulous stare, then looks down at his lap and starts to wring his hands. “I-I’m sorry if I’m making you uncomfortable… I—”
The worried look on Yibo’s face actually hurts, so Xiao Zhan places a reassuring hand on his arm. “No, no, Yibo, you didn’t,” he says kindly, and he realizes that he actually means it, that he’s not just saying it to be polite. Yibo’s been nothing but kind, and okay, maybe Xiao Zhan is not used to people being so open with him, especially a stranger he’s stuck in an elevator with, but it’s surprisingly nice.
And Yibo is… adorable. He turns his face towards Xiao Zhan and his bright smile returns, those rounded cheeks of his rising in relief. He eagerly reaches into his bag. “So here — I’ve got this peach Zhenguoli yogurt drink and some Lay’s chips… you like chips? And also—”
“Wait, wait!” Xiao Zhan giggles, grabbing Yibo’s hands to stop him. “You can’t give me food you’re supposed to deliver! You’re gonna get yourself in trouble!”
“I won't,” Yibo insists stubbornly. “These aren’t the things for my next delivery — I’ll tell the dispatcher I’m stuck here and have them send someone else out for the other ones—”
“But then—”
“Don’t worry about it, Zhan-ge. I insist,” he says with a grin as he tears open the bag of chips and offers it to Xiao Zhan.
Xiao Zhan narrows his eyes at Yibo playfully, then pops a chip into his mouth because, honestly, he’s starving — and he’s… intrigued by this cute boy who is so intent on spoiling him.
“And here,” Yibo says, handing Xiao Zhan the Zhenguoli drink — then snatching it back so he can take a huge, cheeky swig of it first. “Ahhh,” he sighs dramatically, pink tongue licking over plush lips that Xiao Zhan suddenly can’t take his eyes off of. When he’s done, he passes the bottle to Xiao Zhan with a lift of his eyebrow. “Now you can have it.”
“Aish, Yibo — are you even human?” Xiao Zhan scoffs as he shoves Yibo’s arm. He considers the bottle, then stares Yibo down as he puts his lips where Yibo’s had been and gulps the rest of the drink.
Xiao Zhan feels his pulse jump at the way Yibo blushes, and suddenly feels a little self-conscious that he’s playing this game with Yibo. As a delivery boy, he’s gotten used to being invisible, being just a means to an end, someone who makes people happy for what he delivers to them, not for who he is himself.
Yibo, though, has managed to make him feel seen. He had known even before Xiao Zhan did that he was famished. That has to mean something, doesn’t it?
And maybe it does, because they fall easily into conversation after that.
Yibo tells Xiao Zhan that he’s a dance instructor, working for Eleme on his days off to make a little extra cash, to save up for a new motorcycle to replace his old motorized bicycle. Xiao Zhan knows nothing about motorcycles, but it’s charming, the way Yibo’s eyes light up as he talks about the motorcycle he hopes to get.
“That's really cool—” he enthuses, and then his happy smile fades when he casts his eyes around the elevator and sees how many things they've eaten out of Yibo’s delivery bag. There are food wrappers all over the floor. They’d even shared a Kai Xiao Zao, one of those fancy self-cooking meals with some handsome idol on the package.
“Aiyaa, Yibo,” he frets as he starts to collect the trash. “This is going to cost you so much when Eleme—”
“Don’t worry about it, Zhan-ge—”
Xiao Zhan can't help but worry. “No, no! Let me pay you back—” and he reaches into his pocket for his phone. It’s the right thing to do. It's also, he realizes, a convenient way to get Yibo’s WeChat.
But Yibo swats at Xiao Zhan’s hand as he holds his phone out. “No, don’t. I don’t want it,” he says firmly.
“Yibo—”
“Let it be,” Yibo urges, and Xiao Zhan’s face falls. So being stuck in the elevator with Yibo for the last hour will be just another fleeting encounter in a day already full of them. It's not what Xiao Zhan wants, not at all, but it seems clear that’s where Yibo intends to leave it.
“Yeah, okay,” Xiao Zhan nods, trying to keep the disappointment out of his voice. “Thanks, Yibo. That’s really kind of you.”
Yibo cocks his head at Xiao Zhan. “You don’t need to worry about me. I’m not a kid, Zhan-ge,” he assures him, a little defensively. “I do alright, you know.”
Xiao Zhan waves his hands at Yibo. “Oh, that’s - that’s not why—” he starts, but the mood seems all wrong now to say that he’d at least like to get his number. “It’s just — money’s tight for me, so I assumed that if you’re also delivering stuff…” He shakes his head. “I don’t want to trouble you.”
Yibo raises an eyebrow at Xiao Zhan. “Also delivering stuff? You’re—”
“Eh? You didn't know I'm a delivery boy too?”
“No?” He gives Xiao Zhan an appraising look. “It's the suit. Makes you look classy and expensive,” Yibo smirks. “Figured that was a gift for your... girl,” he teases, inclining his head towards the grey gift box in his hands.
Xiao Zhan startles and looks down. “Oh no, this - it's someone else's Qixi gift! I don't have a—” He feels his face flush. “I mean, this is just my uniform! Roseonly needs me to look the part… In reality, I’m a starving art student,” Xiao Zhan laughs nervously. “I need this job to pay for tuition.”
“Well,” Yibo drawls, “then I’m glad I could do my part to make sure Zhan-ge didn’t actually starve tonight.”
Xiao Zhan isn’t really sure what to say to that, and there’s a weirdly charged moment when Yibo stares a little too long and Xiao Zhan can't help but wonder if maybe— But his thoughts are interrupted by a sudden whirring noise as the elevator starts up again.
“Oh! Finally!” Xiao Zhan exclaims with both disappointment and relief, then he blurts out oh no! as he realizes just how messy the elevator is. He hurries to gather the last of the wrappers and things from around them, the soft pinging of the elevator counting out the moments he has left with Yibo.
“Let me,” Yibo says. Xiao Zhan bites his lip when he feels Yibo’s warm hands on his as he takes the collected trash from him and shoves it all into a plastic bag.
All too soon, the elevator reaches the 18th floor. “Ahhh,” Xiao Zhan sighs, as the door chugs open, “this is my floor. I gotta… make my delivery,” he says awkwardly, holding his grey gift box aloft.
“Yeah, uhhh, me too.”
“So… I’ll see you around?”
“Yeah,” Yibo nods with a hesitant smile.
Xiao Zhan turns to walk down the hall, risking a quick peek back just in time to catch the look of disappointment on Yibo’s face as the doors close.
He’s halfway to apartment 1823 when it hits him that he’s an idiot. He doesn’t want Yibo to be just another random person he met once and then never again. And he needs to let Yibo know, somehow.
Maybe he’ll make a fool of himself, but if that happens, well... then Yibo (and Xiao Zhan’s embarrassment) can fade away into the mass of anonymous people in Beijing. At least Xiao Zhan won't always wonder.
First, though, he needs to make this delivery. Usually, this is Xiao Zhan’s favorite part of the job: getting to see the happy smiles of the people he delivers gifts to. But this time, all he can think about is how this squealing young woman is keeping him from catching up with Yibo.
“Thank you, thank you!” she cries.
“Yes, yes… no problem,” he replies politely and bows, his mind elsewhere, imagining Yibo finishing his own delivery and heading back down the elevator, away from him.
As soon as the apartment door closes, Xiao Zhan races to the elevator and impatiently taps the call button. Surely Yibo is already in the lobby, striding out of the building, but maybe, just maybe—
The elevator arrives and the doors open… to an empty car.
Xiao Zhan shifts his feet anxiously in the elevator, his eyes following the descending numbers, willing them to just change faster. After what seems like forever, the elevator doors open into the lobby. He dashes out, and… nothing. Yibo’s not there.
Gone.
Xiao Zhan closes his eyes and exhales, defeated. Perhaps they’ll cross paths again someday, but realistically, in a city the size of Beijing…
Reluctantly, Xiao Zhan pushes open the front doors of the building and steps into the evening light.
He turns and—
“Zhan-ge?”
Xiao Zhan's heart leaps into his throat. “Yibo? I-I thought I'd missed you—”
Yibo’s face splits into a wide grin. “You were looking for me?”
“Yeah. I—” Xiao Zhan takes a deep breath to steady his nerves. “I wanted to know if... if I could get your WeChat? And maybe... maybe we could, y’know… get a proper meal sometime?”
Yibo looks affronted. “What was wrong with the meal we had?”
“Oh! Nothing, but—”
“I’m kidding, Zhan-ge,” Yibo teases. “How about now? I mean, you - you probably have Qixi plans already, but… my next delivery got cancelled because it took too long for me to show up, and—”
“I don't have plans,” Xiao Zhan blurts out, trying to contain his happy smile.
“Well then—” Yibo’s grin turns shy as he reaches into his bag and pulls out a small bouquet of flowers. “I’m sorry they’re not as fancy as your Roseonly flowers—”
Xiao Zhan leans in and plants a soft kiss on Yibo’s cheek. He smiles. “This is exactly what I would have ordered.”