Work Text:
Yuan Hong walked into the bar because it was raining.
Later, when he found himself analyzing the chain of events that had led him there, that was the particular detail his mind stubbornly insisted on focusing on, because rain was a reasonable explanation, coincidence was a reasonable explanation, and Yuan Hong decidedly preferred things that could be explained logically.
It was raining.
He was tired.
The bar was on his way.
There was nothing more to it.
A simple coincidence.
He noticed nothing particularly unusual when he pushed open the heavy door and stepped inside, brushing the fine droplets of water from the shoulders of his coat. The place was small, darker than most of the establishments police officers occasionally visited after finishing their shifts, illuminated by warm lamps hanging low over the tables. The music was quiet enough not to interfere with conversation. The smell of alcohol was stronger than the cigarette smoke, although both had long since settled into the wooden walls and furniture.
It was peaceful.
That was enough.
Yuan Hong crossed the room and sat down at the bar.
Only then did he see him.
The man standing on the other side of the counter was young, probably a little younger than him, dressed in a white shirt with the sleeves carelessly rolled up to his elbows and a dark waistcoat that apparently formed part of the staff uniform. He was polishing a glass, although judging by how long he had been turning it in his hand, it had probably been clean for several minutes already.
He looked at Yuan Hong.
And smiled.
For one brief moment, Yuan Hong forgot why he had sat down at the bar in the first place.
“What can I get you?”
Of course.
Alcohol.
He had come here to drink alcohol.
“Whisky.”
“What kind?”
Yuan Hong looked at the shelf behind him.
“Good.”
The bartender’s eyebrows rose slightly.
“That’s a very precise order.”
“I thought choosing the alcohol was part of a bartender’s job.”
“Pouring alcohol is part of a bartender’s job.” The man put the glass down. “Choosing for customers is an additional service.”
“Expensive?”
“Depends on the customer.”
Yuan Hong looked at him.
The bartender was still smiling.
That was probably part of his job.
Of course it was.
Bartenders talked to customers. They were nice to customers. They smiled at customers because it made them stay longer, order more, and leave bigger tips.
Basic economics.
There was absolutely no reason for Yuan Hong to wonder why this particular bartender’s smile was exceptionally pleasant.
“In that case, I’ll leave it to you.”
“Brave.”
“You don’t look dangerous.”
The man paused.
Then his smile widened just a little.
“That’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to me today.”
Yuan Hong wasn’t sure why that sounded like flirting.
Probably because he was tired.
Zhao Shaoshang, standing behind the bar, knew exactly why it sounded like flirting.
Because he was flirting.
He hadn’t planned to.
At least, that was what he intended to tell himself.
He had seen handsome men before. He had worked here long enough to stop paying attention to customers trying to catch his eye. He knew every kind of look, every hand lingering too long on the counter, every seemingly casual question about when his shift ended. He could recognize interest faster than most people recognized their own reflection in a mirror.
This man wasn’t doing any of those things.
He sat straight, calm and slightly too serious for someone who had walked into a bar alone at this hour. His hair was damp from the rain, his coat dark, and his hands were something Shaoshang definitely should not have been staring at for as long as he was.
Nice hands.
Really nice.
Shaoshang turned toward the shelves of alcohol.
He shouldn’t be thinking about what those hands could—
No.
He should behave professionally.
He was at work.
First of all, he was at work.
Second, he didn’t even know this man’s name.
Third, the man looked like someone who could hear an invitation to have breakfast together the next morning and respond that he didn’t eat breakfast.
Unfortunately, that last thought did not help.
Shaoshang poured the whisky.
“Try it.”
Yuan Hong did.
“Good.”
“Only good?”
“Very good.”
“Better.”
Shaoshang rested his hands against the counter.
Yuan Hong once again thought that the bartender had a charming smile.
Once again, he reminded himself that it was his job.
+++
They talked for almost an hour.
Yuan Hong had no idea how it happened.
Normally, he didn’t talk to strangers without a specific reason. Conversation was an exchange of information, and information ought to serve some purpose. And yet, after an hour, he knew that the bartender considered people who drank cognac with ice to be barbarians, hated rain but liked the smell of the city after a storm, had a disturbing number of opinions about modern education, and apparently considered police officers to be people entirely devoid of imagination.
He hadn’t told Shaoshang he was a police officer.
Which made that last part particularly interesting.
“Have you met many police officers?” he asked.
“Enough.”
“And all of them lacked imagination?”
“No.” Shaoshang tilted his head. “Some of them were simply stupid.”
Yuan Hong snorted with laughter.
Actually.
Snorted.
Shaoshang froze.
Oh.
That was unfair.
The man was already handsome when he looked serious. He did not need that small smile as well, the one that completely transformed his face and made him look younger, softer, and far too interesting.
Shaoshang poured him another drink.
On the house.
Technically, out of his own pocket.
But the beautiful stranger didn’t need to know that.
“What’s your name?” he finally asked.
“Yuan Hong.”
Shaoshang repeated it silently.
Yuan Hong.
It suited him.
“And you?”
“Shaoshang.”
“Just Shaoshang?”
“For a first meeting, that’s enough.”
Yuan Hong looked at him over the rim of his glass.
First meeting.
An interesting choice of words.
“You’re assuming there’ll be a second?”
Shaoshang smiled.
“I’ll leave that decision to you.”
That was also part of his job.
Yuan Hong had to remind himself of that twice more before he finished his whisky.
When he finally stood up, the rain had almost completely stopped. He placed some money on the counter, nodded to Shaoshang, and left before he could find another reason to stay.
Shaoshang looked at the banknotes he had left behind.
Then counted them again.
“Fuck.”
The tip was absurd.
He looked toward the door through which Yuan Hong had disappeared.
Maybe there would be a second meeting after all. If it had been up to him, the first could easily have turned into a second, but the man had left too quickly.
+++
There was.
The next morning.
And it could not possibly have been worse.
Yuan Hong was standing by his desk in the investigative division, going through a crime scene report, when he heard the commissioner’s voice.
“Captain Yuan.”
He looked up.
“This is the consultant I mentioned. The Zhao family has agreed to let him work with our division for a while. Psychology, behavioral analysis, interrogations. He worked with Captain Zheng before Zheng was promoted. Apparently, he’s good at what he does.”
Yuan Hong looked at the man standing beside the commissioner.
The man looked back at him.
The silence lasted exactly two seconds.
Shaoshang recovered his ability to speak first.
“Oh.”
Yuan Hong closed the file.
“Shaoshang.”
The commissioner looked between them.
“You know each other?”
“We met last night,” Yuan Hong replied.
“Captain Yuan came to me for a drink.”
Yuan Hong slowly turned his gaze toward him.
Shaoshang looked innocent.
Far too innocent.
The commissioner, meanwhile, simply nodded, apparently noticing nothing unusual.
“Excellent. Then I don’t need to introduce you. Zhao Shaoshang, Captain Yuan Hong.” With that, he gave them both a short nod, satisfied that his duty had been fulfilled.
Zhao.
Of course.
Zhao Shaoshang.
Yuan Hong knew that name.
He looked at him again, more carefully this time, trying to reconcile the image of the son of one of the most influential families in the city, an educated psychologist and the police department’s new consultant, with the man who had spent ten minutes the previous evening explaining why the way Yuan Hong ordered whisky revealed personality problems.
Shaoshang smiled at him exactly the same way he had the night before.
Yuan Hong felt something unpleasantly close to relief.
“Captain Yuan.”
“Consultant Zhao.”
“Please.” Shaoshang placed a hand over his chest. “After everything we’ve been through together?”
“I drank two whiskies.”
“Exactly.”
“I wouldn’t call that a shared experience.”
“You left me a very generous tip.”
Yuan Hong fell silent.
Several people at the neighboring desks began listening.
Shaoshang, of course, noticed.
And, of course, had absolutely no intention of stopping.
“I should be offended,” he said. “I thought you gave it to me because of my charm.”
“I gave it to you for the service.”
“Even worse.”
“Zhao Shaoshang.”
“Captain Yuan.”
The commissioner cleared his throat.
“Can I leave the two of you alone without worrying that I’ll have to call a patrol?”
“Of course,” Yuan Hong said.
“I’m not so sure,” Shaoshang answered at exactly the same time.
Yuan Hong closed his eyes.
It was going to be a very long day.
+++
It turned out that Shaoshang really was good.
Yuan Hong discovered this approximately two hours later, and it was exceptionally irritating because ignoring Zhao Shaoshang would have been considerably easier if his only virtues were a pretty face and an unbearable personality.
Unfortunately, he also had a brain.
A very well-functioning brain.
He noticed details others missed and could take several seemingly unrelated behaviors and draw a conclusion Yuan Hong initially considered absurd, only to check the evidence and be forced to admit that it was correct. He asked people questions in an apparently careless manner, let them talk, laughed, joked, made himself seem completely harmless.
And then he walked out of the room and told Yuan Hong exactly where they had lied.
Yuan Hong liked competent people.
That was a problem.
He also liked listening to Shaoshang.
That was a bigger problem.
The biggest problem, however, was that Shaoshang very quickly discovered that Yuan Hong had absolutely no idea what to do when someone flirted with him.
And took it as a personal challenge.
+++
Three weeks passed.
Three weeks of Shaoshang sitting on the corner of his desk despite there being perfectly good chairs in the room.
Three weeks of stealing Yuan Hong’s cigarettes only to immediately announce that he didn’t smoke.
Three weeks of leaning over his shoulder to read reports from a distance considerably closer than necessary.
Three weeks of constant:
“Captain Yuan.”
“No.”
“I haven’t said anything yet.”
“I know.”
“That’s deeply hurtful.”
Three weeks during which Yuan Hong discovered something even more troubling.
He liked having him around.
Not the jokes.
Not the teasing.
Not the moments when Shaoshang deliberately moved his documents a few centimeters to the side simply because he knew Yuan Hong always arranged them perfectly straight.
Him.
Just him.
He liked it when Shaoshang walked into the office in the morning and looked at him first. He liked listening to him talk to suspects. He liked his irritating comments during investigations and the way he stopped joking at precisely the moment a situation became serious.
He had started recognizing his footsteps in the corridor.
It was absurd.
He had no intention of analyzing it.
+++
“We’re going out for a drink tonight.”
Yuan Hong didn’t look up from his report.
“Is that a question?”
“No.”
“Then I don’t understand why you’re telling me.”
Shaoshang leaned over his desk.
“Because you’re coming with me.”
Yuan Hong looked up.
Mistake.
Shaoshang was decidedly too close.
“Where?”
A smile.
That one.
That damn smile.
“I know a good place.”
+++
Yuan Hong realized they were going to the same bar only when they turned onto the familiar street.
They weren’t alone. One of the younger officers, Xiao Chen, had come with them and had spent the entire walk talking about the case they had closed that afternoon.
Shaoshang opened the door.
Xiao Chen stopped.
Literally.
One foot was still suspended in the air.
“What?”
Shaoshang looked back at him.
The young officer turned red.
“I… think I’m going to go home after all.”
“Five minutes ago, you said you were thirsty.”
“I’m not anymore.”
Yuan Hong frowned.
“Are you feeling unwell?”
“No! Captain, I’m fine.”
“Then come in.”
Xiao Chen looked at the entrance.
Then at Yuan Hong.
Then at Zhao Shaoshang.
Then back at Yuan Hong.
His expression became that of a man who had just discovered information he absolutely should not possess.
“Captain…”
“Yes?”
“Do you… know what kind of place this is?”
Yuan Hong looked at the sign.
“A bar.”
Shaoshang made a strange noise.
Xiao Chen looked as though he were praying for immediate death.
“Yes. I mean… yes. Of course. A bar.”
“Xiao Chen.”
“Captain?”
“What is going on?”
The young officer looked pleadingly at Shaoshang.
Shaoshang immediately looked away.
Traitor.
“It’s…” Xiao Chen swallowed. “It’s a bar for… men.”
Yuan Hong waited.
“I see.”
“No.” Xiao Chen became even redder. “For men who… like men.”
Silence.
Yuan Hong looked at the door.
Then at Shaoshang.
Shaoshang pressed his lips together.
He was trying not to laugh.
He really was trying.
Yuan Hong stared at him for several seconds.
Suddenly, a great many things about that evening began falling into place.
Men sitting together at the tables.
No women.
Several looks he had noticed but ignored.
A bartender flirting with him for an hour.
First meeting.
I’ll leave that decision to you.
Yuan Hong closed his eyes.
“You didn’t know,” Shaoshang said.
It wasn’t a question.
“No.”
Shaoshang lost the battle.
He burst out laughing.
“Don’t you dare.”
That only made it worse.
Shaoshang leaned against the wall, laughing so hard he had to press a hand over his mouth.
Xiao Chen looked as though he wanted the ground to swallow him.
“Captain, I won’t tell anyone.”
Yuan Hong opened his eyes.
“About what?”
“Well…”
“Xiao Chen.”
“Yes?”
“Go home.”
“Yes, Captain.”
Never before had he obeyed an order so quickly.
Yuan Hong watched his subordinate practically run down the street.
Beside him, Shaoshang was still laughing.
“Are you finished?”
“No.”
Yuan Hong sighed.
“That explains a few things.”
“A few?”
“Yes.”
Shaoshang finally managed to catch his breath.
“So you really didn’t know?”
“No.”
“You accidentally walked into the only bar like this in the entire city?”
“It was raining.”
Shaoshang started laughing again.
Yuan Hong waited.
He was a patient man.
He knew how to wait.
When Shaoshang finally raised his head, amusement still sparkled in his eyes, but there was something else there now as well.
Something more cautious.
“So…” he began.
Yuan Hong knew what question was coming.
He should have answered immediately.
He should have said no.
He had never considered himself a man interested in men. He hadn’t hidden it from himself, hadn’t fought against it, hadn’t denied anything. He simply had never looked at another man before and thought that he wanted to hold his attention a little longer. He had never found himself thinking about another man’s smile the next morning. He had never recognized a man’s footsteps in the corridor and automatically raised his head before the door had even opened.
He wasn’t gay.
At least, he didn’t think he was.
But apparently, it wasn’t a question that could be answered quite so simply when Zhao Shaoshang was standing in front of him beneath the glow of a streetlamp, his hair stirred by the faint breeze and remnants of laughter still lingering at the corners of his mouth.
Yuan Hong looked at him.
“What?”
Shaoshang tilted his head.
“Nothing.”
“You were going to ask something.”
“I changed my mind.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m the psychologist here.”
“And I’m the police officer.”
“That has nothing to do with—”
“You wanted to ask if I like men.”
Shaoshang fell silent.
This time, Yuan Hong allowed himself a small smile.
“I don’t know.”
Shaoshang blinked.
Clearly, that wasn’t the answer he had expected.
“You don’t know?”
“I’ve never thought about it before.”
“Never?”
“No.”
“Yuan Hong, you’re almost thirty.”
“Thank you for informing me.”
“How can someone go almost thirty years without thinking about who they’re attracted to?”
Yuan Hong genuinely tried to find an answer.
Work.
Studies.
The academy.
Responsibilities.
There had always been something more important in his life, something more urgent, something demanding his full attention. Women had sometimes been interested in him. He knew that. A few times, he had even tried to return their interest because it seemed to him that this was simply how things were supposed to work.
It had never been bad.
It simply had never been good enough for him to want to keep anyone beside him.
And then Shaoshang appeared.
Shaoshang, whom he wanted to listen to even when he was talking complete nonsense.
Shaoshang, whose presence had begun to feel like a natural part of his day.
Shaoshang, whose smile he remembered after a single evening.
Shaoshang, whom he had tipped so generously that he had spent the following three weeks listening to jokes about it.
Yuan Hong frowned.
This did, in fact, require analysis.
“But I like you.”
Shaoshang went completely still.
Yuan Hong watched as, for the first time since the day they met, Zhao Shaoshang had absolutely nothing to say.
It was extraordinarily satisfying.
“What?”
“I like you.”
“I heard you.”
“Then why are you asking?”
“Because…” Shaoshang opened his mouth. Closed it again. “You can’t just say something like that.”
“Why?”
“Because people don’t do that.”
“You were just accusing me of never thinking about my own feelings. I thought about them.”
“For fifteen seconds!”
“It was enough.”
Shaoshang stared at him.
Yuan Hong stared back.
And suddenly, he understood something else.
For the past three weeks, Shaoshang had flirted with him in front of witnesses without the slightest difficulty. He leaned over his desk. Teased him. Smiled at him. Delivered double entendres with such an innocent expression that Yuan Hong sometimes needed several seconds to understand what he had actually heard.
But now, when Yuan Hong said something directly, Shaoshang was blushing.
Fascinating.
Yuan Hong took a step closer.
The blush deepened.
Even more fascinating.
“I’m not sure whether I like men,” he said calmly.
Shaoshang swallowed.
“I understand.”
“I also don’t think I particularly like women.”
“That complicates things a little.”
“No.”
“No?”
Yuan Hong shook his head.
In fact, for the first time in several minutes, everything seemed remarkably simple.
He didn’t need to know whether he liked men.
He didn’t need to know whether he liked women.
At that moment, neither of those questions interested him.
He was interested in one particular person.
“I like Zhao Shaoshang.”
Silence.
Shaoshang turned red all the way to his ears.
Yuan Hong felt a sudden, profound sense of satisfaction.
“Oh.”
“Oh?”
“Shut up.”
“I’m not saying anything.”
“Your face is.”
“You’re the psychologist here.”
Shaoshang glared at him.
Yuan Hong smiled.
And apparently, that smile was what finally betrayed him, because Shaoshang suddenly stopped looking embarrassed.
He stepped forward.
Now they were standing decidedly too close for it to be considered accidental.
“So you’re Shaoshang-sexual?”
Yuan Hong sighed.
“Don’t call it that.”
“Too late.”
“Shaoshang.”
“I like it.”
“Of course you do.”
“It sounds very exclusive.”
“There’s only one Zhao Shaoshang.”
“Even better.”
Yuan Hong looked toward the bar door.
Then back at him.
“Are we going in?”
Shaoshang raised an eyebrow.
“Now you know what kind of place this is.”
“Yes.”
“And you still want to go inside?”
Yuan Hong looked into his eyes for a moment.
This time, he didn’t need to analyze anything.
“I came here with you.”
Something in Shaoshang’s expression softened.
Only slightly.
So little that anyone who hadn’t spent the last three weeks watching him probably wouldn’t have noticed.
Yuan Hong noticed.
Of course he did.
Shaoshang opened the door.
“In that case, the first round is on me.”
“Why?”
“For the tip.”
“I thought it was for the service.”
Shaoshang stopped in the doorway.
He turned his head.
That same smile.
Exactly the same one that had made Yuan Hong forget why he had sat down at the bar three weeks earlier.
“No,” Shaoshang said. “It was for my charm.”
This time, Yuan Hong didn’t try to remind himself that it was only part of his job.
It wasn’t.
And he was decidedly fine with that.