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There's a muted noise behind him as the lock clicks shut and Mi Jin has no time to brace himself before he’s being pushed against the hotel room door, insistent lips ambushing his almost instantly.
It doesn’t come as a surprise, by any means.
Their fingertips had been “inadvertently” brushing against each other all the way up the elevator and along the terribly long hallway, which dragged on like it was specially designed to torture him, as if the commute from the train station to the hotel wasn't enough already.
If his lips weren't preoccupied right now, he'd definitely tease this guy about how flippantly he'd waved goodnight to his assistant, but as a nimble tongue expertly slides between his lips, he can only be grateful that his Zhexu-laoshi wasted zero time in getting to the point.
Finally. He's waited enough.
Mi Jin's grip on the handle of his suitcase slackens as he begins to move his lips in tandem, happily sighing into the passionate kiss. His hands move of their own accord, going to the back of Zhexu's head, fingers weaving through the soft, unstyled hair. He can faintly smell the shampoo that Zhexu always uses and it makes him giddy to think how it's a familiar scent now. A steady hand is wrapped around his waist and another is wedged between the door and his shoulder, crushing his body into an embrace that is so comforting and grounding after an entire day spent traveling that he practically melts into the touch.
Zhexu must be tired after a long day of filming as well but he doesn’t act like it, pressing one sloppy kiss after another to his mouth, swallowing all the little giggles that he cannot help but let escape.
Eventually, they have to break apart for air and Mi Jin laughs outright at the sight of Zhexu flushed red and panting hard, even though he knows he must look the same.
"Missed you," Zhexu whispers in the tiny space between them, still caging him within his arms. His stare is so achingly ardent that it is now Mi Jin's turn to feel his face grow hot.
That won't do.
"I missed you more,” he asserts. “After all, I came all the way here just for–"
He's silenced with another kiss before he can finish the sentence. Not that he's complaining.
He's incandescently happy to be in this moment, so very happy to be with him again.
“You didn't even kiss me goodbye the morning you left so you better kiss me some more now to make up for it. And don't forget that you also have nine days of deficit to compensate me for.”
“I just didn't want to wake you up at that time. You looked so cute while sleeping that I couldn't bear to.”
“Hmph, all I hear are excuses.”
A moment's silence as Zhexu grumbles while grinning fondly at him. Then:
“You made me miss you so much, Zhexu.” He's expecting another quip in reply, but a little too much honesty must've slipped into his voice just then because Zhexu's eyes soften before he presses a kiss to his cheek and then wraps him up in a super tight hug.
“I've missed you too. I've been smiling nonstop since you told me you booked the ticket yesterday. Even on set. Everyone was giving me strange looks. Ah, I'm so glad you actually came, you have no idea,” Zhexu murmurs into his ear, rubbing circles onto his back.
Mi Jin wants to reply but, embarrassingly enough, he finds that his voice is caught in his throat.
He can't help it.
He's really, really missed him. Twelve days apart was really not a long stretch of time by any margin and he'd almost made it too; it was just a matter of waiting three or four more days but it had felt unbearable, being home alone while Zhexu was busy working and could only respond to his messages properly once he got back to his room, usually late at night. Mi Jin has always been someone prone to overthinking, and spending the night browsing all the garbage spinned by the rumor mill on Douban when left to his own devices had decidedly put a damper on his spirits, obvious enough to every single viewer of their last livestream as well. Most importantly though, of course Zhexu had ended up catching a cold on the very first day that he'd arrived in Yancheng. Mi Jin had been worried sick as soon as he heard about his condition, which had deteriorated to the point of requiring a hospital visit and the consequent IV drip. Texting gave him little comfort, he absolutely had to go see him.
"Jinjin?"
"Mm. Let me hug you some more.” He really can't help how sticky sweet his voice comes out, just a little wobbly at the edges. Zhexu tightens his arms in response. They are pressed so close together that he can hear his quick heartbeat, heart thump-thumping away. He's probably doing no better either.
After what feels like an eternity, they finally part slightly to look at each other's faces and Mi Jin knows that his own eyes must be glassy and a little red at the corners.
"My baby," Zhexu tells him, swiping under his eye with the pad of his thumb and placing a gentle kiss on the spot.
"Don't you think it's ridiculous that we became like this in only nine days?”
“Aiyo, how can you say so? Nine days away from my wife was like trying to survive without oxygen. Every single breath that I took was painful; I swear I only kept alive by thinking of you all the time. Now I truly understand how Zi'ang felt in those five–”
“Get out, what are you saying!” Mi Jin laughs, playfully shoving him away.
“I'm serious. Missed you sooooo much that it physically hurt.” Zhexu faux-coughs a few times while clutching his chest for dramatic effect but it only makes Mi Jin narrow his eyes at him.
"Did you remember to take all your medicines on time?"
"Yes, Jinjin-laoshi," he drones in an obedient voice.
"Really?"
"Of course I did, I even drank warm water every day like you told me to and carried it everywhere with me so that I could get better quickly enough to kiss you right now.”
"I'd still kiss you, cold or not. But your cough truly has improved,” Mi Jin relents.
“Yeah, I feel better because the cure to all my problems is standing right in front of me.”
Mi Jin moves to smack him again but Zhexu manages to grab his hand in time.
“It's getting late, you must be tired after the train journey.”
“Hmm,” Mi Jin hums, not moving an inch. He glances inside the room to see that the bed has been made and it looks so cozy and inviting that he just wants to drag Zhexu under the covers at once.
"The bed's small so it's going to be a tight fit."
"Good. I don't want any more distance between us." Mi Jin smiles, eyes curving into crescents.
Zhexu stares at him, a little helplessly.
"Mm? Mm?" Mi Jin tilts his head a couple of times and relishes the immediate exasperated smile it draws from his boyfriend for a few seconds, before said boyfriend leans in to kiss him so hard that he can't help but gasp against his lips, giving him better access to thoroughly explore his mouth to his heart's content. He can never grow tired of this. He's read some of the comments online praising Zhexu's kissing skills onscreen but if only they knew.
Just when he's about to slide his hands inside his shirt, his paws get slapped away unceremoniously and Zhexu steps back with a satisfied little smile on his face.
So unfair.
And so unfairly handsome. Mi Jin had noticed the effort Zhexu had put into dressing himself tonight as soon as he spotted him in the crowd back earlier and it's truly a travesty that he's way too tired to let his thoughts wander in the direction they want to.
“Go freshen up in the washroom, I've laid out everything for you.”
“I'm tired. I don't want to unpack,” he whines, upset at the loss of contact.
Zhexu picks up his big suitcase easily and lays it out on the coffee table, shooting him an unfazed look.
"Obviously I'll do it for you. Quick, get ready for bed."
"No, no, cut. You were supposed to say something else here. Let's do a retake."
"What else can I do? You've already reduced me into a henpecked husband so what's left now?"
"Zhang-laoshi claims to be the romantic one between the two of us but doesn't understand why the clichés are the classics sometimes. Right now, you're supposed to tell me not to worry because I can just wear your clothes instead. Preferably nothing else but your shirt.”
Zhexu, predictably, reddens again and splutters wildly as he tells him off for being too shameless. He's really going to explode one of these days if he keeps this up. Taking some pity on him, Mi Jin simply laughs and shrugs out of his jacket, throwing it down on the back of the chair on top of Zhexu's windbreaker, and makes his way to the washroom.
-
Once he's clean and warm and dressed—in a set of Zhexu's cute animal print pajamas, because his boyfriend cannot deny him anything—he really can't bring himself to stop yawning, even though he wants to keep talking and do so much more tonight.
It's truly a case of “the mind is willing but the flesh is weak.” Mi Jin sighs as Zhexu hauls him into bed and tucks the blanket around him before he goes to wash up himself.
"We should've just taken a shower together. It would've been economical, you know. We're still poor!" Mi Jin yells loudly and is rewarded with another coughing fit, muffled by the sound of running water.
Once they're both cuddled up under the covers, Mi Jin pillows his head on Zhexu's chest, exactly like how they'd started sleeping every night before this abrupt separation. He inhales the blend of mild soap and something uniquely Zhexu from the pleasantly warm skin beneath him and and knows that he'll finally sleep soundly tonight, at long last.
Zhexu yawns too but he keeps the hand on his back moving, petting him gingerly. It's a habit he's developed ever since the freezing days on set—back when they were Zi’ang and Shuhe, both needing constant comfort from each other—and one that he's never quite fallen out of. Mi Jin is very grateful for it.
"I'm so happy, Zhexu,” he whispers, breaking the quiet. "Even though I couldn't hug you at the station because it would probably get us blacklisted, I think, before we even make it to Chongqing.”
That gets him a chuckle.
“It's okay. Everything about this new fame is so uncertain right now but I have you and you have me. That's all that matters. You don't have to worry about anything useless, okay? We'll deal with everything as and when it arrives, together."
Zhexu's voice is so unwaveringly steadfast that it settles the rickety feeling in his heart too.
Mi Jin's gaze falls on the bedside table where their matching bracelets sit side by side, the crystal beads glinting in the darkness: a pair, a couple. Just like them. Suddenly his chest feels even more light and buoyant.
“Okay. But you're stuck with me now, is that okay?”
“More than okay. If it were up to me, I'd brag about it everyday.”
Mi Jin snickers. “Like when you said you wouldn't be spending your birthday alone to our entire audience on the livestream? How are you getting so bold everyday, huh?”
He feels the chest below him shake from suppressed laughter.
“Can't help it. And it's the truth, isn't it? I'm the luckiest person in the world. Who wouldn't show off in my position?”
“You're going to get us in trouble one of these days. Saying that thing about beauty and glory too, now the fans have made placards out of it. I can't even put the blame on them when it's verbatim what you said with your entire chest.”
“You can't blame me, I was just expressing my true emotions. And don't tell me that it doesn't make you happy to hear me say it and that you weren't smiling at all the comments I left you yesterday.”
“It doesn't and I didn't.”
“I don't believe you.”
“Say something slightly less cheesy and I might consider it.”
“Hm…but the peerless beauty of my gorgeous wife does, in fact, bring glory to me–”
“Shut up already!”
They dissolve into giddy laughter again and Mi Jin doesn't open his eyes this time as his eyelids droop down once more. Zhexu arranges him into a more comfortable position, as he always does when they're about to fall asleep, letting Mi Jin rest his head on his arm even though it's sure to be numb in the morning and wrapping the other one around his waist securely, pressing the line of his back against his own chest.
“Sometimes, I wish I was the only one who got to see your beautiful face. Sorry to our Lagogo-jia ren men and the rest of the world but I really don't like to share.”
“You're impossible.”
Mi Jin doesn't believe in astrology but he can't help but agree with some of the comments their fans leave: Zhexu always proves true all the ridiculous stereotypes floating around about possessive Scorpio men.
“It's okay though. They don't get to see this Jinjin in my arms, after all. The cutest version of you is reserved only for me.”
He can't help but smile despite himself. They're both being insanely silly and sappy tonight but he doesn’t want it any other way. He clutches Zhexu's hand around his middle, helping to fasten his hold on him even further.
Mi Jin remembers nodding off with the slight brush of lips against his shoulder and one final thought in his head.
They'll be fine.