Work Text:
He was sure of exactly two things:
a) He was in Guangzhou.
b) He was completely and utterly lost.
Dropping his bags onto the ground, he collapsed onto a park bench, pulling his mask further up as he stared up at the clear sky. He didn’t even know how he had managed to get as lost as he had. The team visited yearly, he himself quite a bit more often, but somehow he had managed to find himself amidst greenery and buildings which he had never seen.
And his phone was dead. Jiang Botao would be so smug when he learnt Zhou Zekai actually had forgotten his charger, even after the repeated reminders. Maybe he should’ve checked one one last time before leaving the dorms for the offseason.
Granted, he probably could find his way to Blue Rain’s stadium, and from there he could make his way to the team’s building and from there the apartment, but no one knew he was visiting. Really, only two people on the team even knew that he visited the city more often than for matches … and one of them only knew because the other was incapable of keeping secrets from him.
And this trip was supposed be a surprise, he couldn’t call and ask them for directions. So, here he was, sitting on a park bench in the middle of Guangzhou with no idea of how to get where he needed to go.
He stretched, cracking his joints as he rose. He was in the city center, he realized: internet cafes were not in short supply. The hard part, of course, would be picking one with workers who wouldn’t recognize him on sight or by name. He walked out of the park towards the bustling streets into what he hoped were the busiest parts of the area. He passed by parlors, food stalls, banks, and stores as he walked through the streets but somehow, did not see a whisper of a single internet cafe for half a kilometer.
Suddenly, as he was crossing an intersection, in the corner of his eye he saw bright lights coming from a building, an anomalous occurrence in the middle of the afternoon. He walked towards them, and was greeted by the sight of three internet cafes one after another. The first had pictures and figurines of Troubling Rain and Swoksaar scattered all around the cafe, and maybe he would’ve gone in if they weren’t likely to recognize him. But again, to his dismay he couldn’t, as much as he wanted to see if they had any unique memorabilia of Troubling Rain he could perhaps purchase as an impromptu gift. The second internet cafe was decked out in Samsara colors as far as he could tell — he inched back from that one near immediately. The third internet cafe looked to be primarily focused on DOTA; he saw posters of several of their champions.
Figuring that it was the safest bet of the three, he stepped forwards to open the door. Yet, before he could do so, someone raced out and crashed into him … a very recognizable someone.
“Shaotian?” he asked, rather amazed by this turn of events. He held the man tight, holding his shoulders firmly to help regain his balance, his bags hanging on his forearms. To be fair, the man hadn’t yet looked up or spoken, but he would be able to recognize him anywhere, anytime. Said man blinked a few times, keeping his eyes closed for a few seconds with each blink as he reentered himself. Zhou Zekai waited calmly for the eventual eruption, while calmly pulling them both away from the center of the walkway.
Huang Shaotian looked up towards Zhou Zekai’s face, “No, it can’t be … wait, how … why? …. YOU.” A smile adorning his face, Huang Shaotian wrapped his arms around Zhou Zekai, resting his head in the crook of Zhou Zekai’s neck, “You, you, you, why didn’t you tell me you were coming? How are you even here? I thought you said Samsara was releasing you for the summer next week? I was going to visit you in Shanghai. But still, it’s so great to see you here Zhou Zekai. I missed you so much, so very much.” He trailed off, letting himself collapse into Zhou Zekai’s steady arms.
“Surprise,” Zhou Zekai said, a slight smirk playing across his lips.
In the end, he did manage to make it to Huang Shaotian’s apartment. Not in the manner he had expected, for sure, but he was here and that was all that mattered. He sat on the couch, relaxed, as Shaotian puttered around the house, tidying things up.
“Help?”
“No, no, no sit down xiao Kai. Do not get up, stay where you are,” said Huang Shaotian distractedly, unaware that Zhou Zekai had already risen.
And he stiffened for a split second as he felt arms wrapping loosely around his neck, a chin lightly resting upon his shoulder, a soft voice murmuring, “clean enough.”
Huang Shaotian loosened, twisting his body around, his voice light as he spoke: “it might be clean enough, but for you xiao Kai it needs to be perfect. Why, look at this side table, don’t you see all the specks of dust, I need to – ”
Zhou Zekai’s lips came crashing onto Huang Shaotian’s, stopping any further words with his mouth. Huang Shaotian, subconsciously melted into the kiss, his eyes closed and his body lax.
With his eyes glimmering with undisguised mirth and his voice surprisingly steady, Zhou Zekai asked, “calm?”
“… yes.”
Said side table, by the way, was glistening.
Seated at the island, empty plates around them, Huang Shaotian spoke, “you know, we’ve kept this relationship secret for so long. Have you told anyone? Yu Wenzhou walked in on us that one time, so I at least have him to talk to about this, but you’re alone. Please tell me you’ve at least told Jiang Botao.” But, upon seeing Zhou Zekai’s rather shifty eyes, he sighed, pushing Zhou Zekai’s now charged phone at him, “text him, now. You’ll want someone to talk to once the season starts back up. I thought you of all people would be aware that you can’t stand keeping secrets from those you’re close to. It’ll hurt you the longer you keep this a secret from Jiang Botao … do it.”
Zhou Zekai begrudgingly lifted up his phone, opened WeChat, and texted Jiang Botao. Then he put his phone down and pouted at Huang Shaotian.
Within a minute, he heard a buzz from his phone. It was a response.
Oh, he’s the one you’re dating? Thank you for finally telling me, Zekai. Now I’ll be able to help you both meet when we’re all in the same city.
“See, easy,” Huang Shaotian said, smirking at Zhou Zekai’s still pouting face, “now, help me with the dishes.”
Zhou Zekai tossed one last betrayed look at his phone before getting up, dishes in hand, smile on his face as he started washing up.
In the end, even after all the chaos, it had been a good day. And he knew, as certainly as the fact that the sun rises in the east, that it would be a good summer to come.