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“They’re running overtime. You will all have to go out together.”
Xiao Zhan perked up from where he was sitting on a folding chair, getting a last touch-up before his walk on the red carpet. He was supposed to have some time to prepare left, but the Weibo staff-member impatiently tapped her foot on the ground as she motioned for him to line up.
“Wait,” he said to his assistant, who was following along, almost stumbling over his long legs. “That means…”
She silenced him with a wide-eyed glare from over her face mask and Xiao Zhan snapped his mouth shut, cautiously scanning the room.
As expected, most eyes were on him and a few photographers had lifted their cameras.
Right, he told himself. Concentrate. Act normal. You know the drill.
But still, as soon as his eyes caught the lean and handsomely dressed shape of one Wang Yibo, his face almost did a thing. Like look completely enamored. Or maybe drool.
Quickly, he scolded himself internally.
You’re an actor, Xiao Zhan. A damn good one. It’s time to give one of your best performances.
After slipping on a confident expression, he stepped up to the other waiting actors. There were six of them now, and he nodded in greeting to Huang Xiaoming, who approached him.
“I think we should keep some of us separated,” he whispered and eyed Zhao Liying and Yibo subtly.
Xiao Zhan was screaming internally but kept his stoic features in place, taking a page out of Yibo’s book.
He nodded stiffly, even though it pained him.
“You’ll be on the left. Then I’m next. After that, Yibo, Ma Li, Shen Teng, then Zhao Liying.”
Xiao Zhan nodded again and almost got a freight when he noticed Yibo was standing with them now, his lips pressed firmly together and hard eyes gazing into the distance.
Almost, Xiao Zhan reached out to pat his back and reassure him. The action so completely natural, it took him a monumental effort to not raise his hand and break the internet in the process.
A quick looked passed between them and Xiao Zhan lost the plot for a moment. Yibo was still mad about the seating arrangement. Having to sit four seats away from Xiao Zhan, in number 227. He remembered the conversation they’d had about it earlier, in the safety of their dressing rooms.
“I’m going to rip it off! I’m not sitting there!”
“Yibo, calm down,” his manager tried soothing him, but Xiao Zhan could see that she was also very unamused.
“I can’t calm down! That’s an attack on us. Both of us! They know everything this stupid number stands for…”
“It’ll cause mayhem,” Xiao Zhan’s manager added and typed away on her phone, eyes slightly wide and panicked. “You could ignore it and stay backstage?”
Yibo shook his head vehemently, and Xiao Zhan put a comforting hand on his thigh. It was soon covered and squeezed by Yibo’s bigger hand, but his boyfriend had still not calmed down. And damn, he could relate. The moment he had seen the arrangement, his face had fallen. The number dragging up an onslaught of unpleasant memories that left a bitter taste in his mouth. He wanted to punch something and scream.
But he also knew that they had to keep a clear head about it.
“I’m going out there and then I’m going to eat it,” Yibo declared stubbornly and Xiao Zhan let out a very high-pitched giggle, t hen covered his mouth with his hand.
“Sorry,” he mumbled behind it. “The image of you standing out there all cranky, munching on a piece of paper with your… cheeks all bulging…”
He giggled again.
Yibo hit him.
“Is it starting, ah?”
In the end, they had agreed to make a statement. Staff would remove the number as Yibo didn’t want it anywhere near his name. But he also stubbornly insisted on not wanting to sit in the seat at all, so they reached out to his seat neighbour and arranged a swap.
Weibo was panicking about it, but Xiao Zhan didn’t care. They brought this onto themselves.
They both knew someone was messing with them, someone who envied their success and wanted to watch them fall. Maybe even someone who envied their love. It was a close-kept secret, but Xiao Zhan wasn’t naive and knew that some people would have connected the dots or jumped to the right conclusion.
He steeled himself and followed the others.
Only, when they lined up, Huang Xiaoming wasn’t next to him.
“Yibo,” he hissed, hidden in the darkness behind the stage. “Is that wise?”
“Don’t care,” Yibo whispered back, eyes straight ahead. “I’m mad, ge. We’re doing this.”
Xiao Zhan couldn’t help but huff. “Whatever helps you let off steam, didi.”
“I could tell you another way-”
Before he could finish, the platform they were standing on started turning, and the red carpet came into view.
Momentarily blinded by the bright lights and the busy camera flashes, Xiao Zhan took a second to compose himself. Then he put on his business smile and went along with the others.
They stopped, and suddenly Xiao Zhan felt a hand reach for his own. Naturally, his fingers intertwined with Yibo's, as they had done a thousand times before. Xiao Zhan’s heart skipped a beat, and he was glad for the support and Yibo pulling him along. It was hard to move in a straight line, somehow. Even after all those years, Yibo still managed to take his breath away (and his balance).
At least they wouldn’t be incriminated. They were all holding hands, so it was only natural to go along with it.
The small gremlin smile on Yibo’s face showed Xiao Zhan that he was immensely pleased to parade around in front of everyone’s eyes, with no one the wiser.
Infected by Yibo’s silent delight, he suppressed a grin and waved pleasantly at the cameras.
Their contact broke when they had to put down their signature, but Xiao Zhan was very quick to snatch Yibo’s hand up again when they were lining up for more pictures.
He smiled brilliantly and even missed the tiny gasp Yibo let out, as the cameras went wild in front of them, flashing madly. People crowded right in front of him, shouting in excitement and almost falling over each other in their haste to get the best view.
Xiao Zhan laughed softly to himself. It never ceased to amaze him. Although it was a bit confusing that all the attention was on him. With the sheer star-power on stage.
He shrugged it off and was eventually pulled off the stage by Yibo, who gave him a small, secret grin on the way, his eyes a little shinier than normal.
God, he was stunning.
Xiao Zhan wanted to pull him into the dressing room and have his way with him. Maybe he would. Later. Would kiss and bite those plush lips until they were bruised and red and he was unable to hide what had happened.
But before he could get lost in his little fantasy, he found himself in the backstage area, where his whole team was staring at him mutely.
He blinked, faintly registering Yibo cackling gratingly next to him, his whole body shaking.
“What…?”
“Xiao Zhan!” Yibo wheezed and rested his hands on his shoulders, facing him with a shit-eating grin on his face. Out in the open! Xiao Zhan pulled in a sharp breath of air, his eyes darting from left to right nervously. “No one else was holding hands when we were lining up for pictures. You were… We were the only ones holding hands!”
He bent over, wheezing, as Xiao Zhan's eyes widened in realization.
"We can still save this... I think," Yibo's manager said and immediately put her head together with Xiao Zhan's, talking animatedly.
"Well," Xiao Zhan said and shrugged, scratching his head sheepishly as people around them threw him either curious or knowing looks. "I guess no one will talk about your seat number anymore."