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The heavy door of their suite swung shut, and Gong Jun wasted no time pulling Zhang Zhehan into his arms, and held him tight. “I’ve missed you for too many days,” he murmured into his hair, breathing in deeply. “You need to tell me about your case.”
“It was too sensitive to discuss over the phone. You know they’re watching us. Especially you,” Zhang Zhehan reminded him. Taking a step back, he reluctantly pulled away with a small frown. “Why did you stop me from paying off the man downstairs? He has photos of us checking in.”
The Ritz-Carlton Beijing was known for their privacy. The renowned and infamous could wander in and out beneath the eyes of the world if the high cost of privacy was a price they were willing to pay.
Gong Jun walked further in their suite, taking note of the large bed and floor-to-ceiling glass windows overlooking the city. They were high enough where no one could see them even if he had them pressed up against the glass. “Let him leak it. You’re proceeding with the next step soon anyway. Those photos won’t mean anything.”
Gong Jun turned back when Zhang Zhehan didn’t reply and saw that the look on his face was grim.
“We spoke about this. You have to–it’s the only way.”
“You’re asking me to denounce you. To destroy us . To push away all the fans that have stood by our side throughout this,” Zhang Zhehan said, and made a disgusted face as he sat down heavily on the bed, pressing his head into his hands, hiding his beautiful face from view. “You’re asking me to become a persona. Framing you, and selling merchandise for the sake of…buying my way back. I could always–”
Gong Jun pulled his hands away to hold them tightly, rubbing at his knuckles gently. “You can always do something else. Put that teaching license to use. But acting . That is what makes you happy. And I want to see you happy. Nothing will give me more joy than seeing you behind the camera again.”
“Junjun…” Zhang Zhehan said helplessly. “No matter how this ends, they will come after you. This will paint you as the target and they will smear your name. They’ll accuse you of using me to climb your way to fame.” They won’t recall his years of hard work, his growing talent. Everything would be overshadowed by this.
“They already do that. Whatever can be said, they’ve already said. I can handle it. I still have selling power, and they have not found anything strong enough to drag me down. If they have, they would’ve used it already.”
Zhang Zhehan still looked pained. “You’re asking me to draw the line between us. Once..” he swallowed. “Once I take this step, we can’t go back. We can’t be seen together. I will accuse you of the most heinous act–” Zhang Zhehan couldn’t escape those eyes. “--you can’t look at me like that.”
“Like how?” Gong Jun leaned closer.
Zhang Zhehan looked into his puppy-dog eyes, full of marvel and wonder–as if Zhang Zhehan was the only source of light in the room, and he was a flower desperate to be in its presence. “Like…” Like you love me, he thought.
Some words don’t need to be spoken to be heard.
“It will be very, very hard. I’ll have to practice my acting to be as good as yours.” Gong Jun said cheekily. He blinked and his face seemed to transform in a split second. Once there was a cute samoyed, was instantly replaced by a Doberman, all sharp edges on high alert. Dropping his voice, he said, “I’ve improved a lot in the last few months, Zhang-laoshi. All thanks to you.” Gong Jun gave a little smirk, and it exuded a confidence that could weather any storm.
Gong Jun continued, “They’ll never let you come back while you and I are still tied together. As long as you and I have even a hint of a close connection, they’ll associate you with the fantasies of the CP fans. They’re not ready to accept this reality, so they would rather destroy it.”
Zhang Zhehan clenched his fists over his knee. “I thought I wouldn’t care about needing their acceptance. I thought I could handle the judgment, we never should have had to hide. It’s never bothered me before but…”
“But they attacked your mother, and disrespected your family. And we cannot let them get away. There is nothing they would hate more than for you to rise from the ashes. Everything they invested in order to tear you down? Gone. All that money wasted, and you will still continue to shine!”
Gong Jun’s chest rose and fell, his words were full of passion and his eyes spoke of danger, and Zhang Zhehan had to swallow because his Junjun was so devastatingly beautiful. He would no longer be able to lean close and touch him with carefree ease like he wanted to at this moment. He couldn’t tease him anymore even though nothing brings him more joy than riling him up. “Is this price worth it? This is our future. Sneaking into hotels, dodging cameras….never able to stand by your side.”
“It’s not so different from now. It must be done so you can come back. If our fans find nothing else to pair us together, then we would have succeeded.”
Zhang Zhehan gave him a pout. He liked throwing a bone to his fans. He liked it when they read between the lines, connecting the dots and looking for mosquito bites following a rendezvous. And he knew Gong Jun liked it too–why else would he spend all that energy on the timing of a social media post. Kadian king indeed.
Gong Jun stood up and walked towards his duffel bag. He wanted to wipe that disappointed look from Zhang Zhehan’s face, and he had the perfect distraction. Digging through, he pulled out a baseball cap with a very obvious logo. “Look what I managed to buy!”
Zhang Zhehan groaned. “Don’t remind me. You need to stop wearing my clothes. In order to dispel the couples’ outfit candies, I have to orchestrate a whole clothing line.”
“Do you think they’ll fall for it?”
Zhang Zhehan rolled his eyes. “Would I care more about divorcing you and selling merchandise than overturning my case? The people who already hate you will believe it.” He tried to grab the cap but Gong Jun placed it onto his head, adjusting the fit. “You cannot be seen wearing this or the whole plan will be ruined again.”
Gong Jun pouted. “I like it when we match.”
Zhang Zhehan scowled. “You don’t even look good with caps. Give it to me!”
He lunged for him but Gong Jun danced just out of reach, and slipped into the ensuite bathroom. There was a very large tub. They should put it to use. Holding his Zhang-laoshi was nice, holding him naked in a hot tub was even nicer.
Leaning against the doorframe, he peered back at Zhang Zhehan with a cheeky grin, and said, “I guess you’ll just have to take this off me yourself.”