Mo Fei locked the door to his apartment.
He was dressed in purple shorts and a long-sleeved white shirt, a small bag slung over one shoulder. Dark boots completed the outfit.
He checked the time on his wrist. "Oh, good. I've still got time before they close."
"Time for what?"
The voice came from behind him.
"Uuwahhhhhh!" Mo Fei leapt backwards, clutching his fragile heart.
Zhang Yichen stood there, dressed elegantly in black trousers and a black shirt. Tall, polished and completely unapologetic, he looked down at Mo Fei with a faintly puzzled expression.
"You!" Mo Fei pointed at him. "Don't ever do that again!"
Who would have known Yichen had a talent for scaring people half to death?
Icy prince, my arse.
More like almost-a-grim-reaper.
Yichen looked him up and down. "Where are you going?"
"None of your business."
Mo Fei straightened his shirt.
He had been on his way to a café and would have been long gone by now if this brute had not appeared out of nowhere and scared him shitless.
"That's rude," Yichen said.
Mo Fei stared at him. "Look who's talking."
Yichen gave him a cocky smile. "Are you going on a date?" He pointed at Mo Fei's outfit. "Dressed like a bum?"
Mo Fei's face twisted in horror. "How dare you? This is a standard qualified outdoor chilling fit. Don't ever mess with my fashion sense."
Yichen shrugged. "Whatever. So where to?"
"A café," Mo Fei said, his mood recovering at once. "They have this limited ice cream cake they make only once every month."
"Can I come?"
Mo Fei froze. The question baffled him.
Yichen?
The Zhang Yichen wanted to come along with him?
Why?
He stared at Yichen suspiciously, searching his face for some hidden motive. Seeing nothing except that usual arrogant calm, Mo Fei waved it off.
"Sure, I guess."
The moment the words left his mouth, Mo Fei could have sworn he saw a halo and two fluttering wings appear behind Yichen.
He blinked.
Then scrubbed his eyes.
No.
Hallucination.
Yichen? Wings of an angel?
Never.
"I'll grab my jacket," Yichen said, turning back towards his door.
"Wait." Mo Fei stopped him.
Yichen paused.
Mo Fei looked him up and down slowly. "Tut, tut, tut."
Yichen glanced at his own clothes. "What?"
Mo Fei smiled.
A sinister, evil smile.
A few minutes later, two men stood in front of the café.
One was smiling brightly, practically glowing with joy.
The other stood beside him, radiating darkness so intense that a storm cloud gathered over his head.
Mo Fei glanced at Zhang Yichen and smiled.
"Happy?" Yichen bit out.
Mo Fei nodded. "Cheer up. You look good."
Yichen gave him a smile that had never once met sincerity.
He looked down at himself.
Grey sweatpants. A black compression shirt, black hoodie Mo Fei had picked out for him and a black cap pulled low enough to cover half his face.
Mo Fei's excuse had been simple. Yichen was far too popular. If anyone recognised him, chaos would erupt. Therefore, he needed a disguise.
After that, Mo Fei had made Yichen drive them, claiming his own car had not arrived yet.
Beside him, Mo Fei stood beneath an invisible rainbow.
In truth, hiding Yichen's identity was only part of the reason.
The other part was that Yichen was too handsome. If he walked beside Mo Fei looking like his usual expensive, untouchable self, all the beauty and attention in the area would naturally drift towards him.
Mo Fei could not allow that.
So he had dressed Yichen down.
And now, voilà.
As for himself, Mo Fei had simply worn a grey cap for disguise.
A reasonable, fair, beautiful arrangement.
Mo Fei glanced at Yichen again. Then frowned. Even dressed like this, the bastard still looked good.
What an unfair world.
They entered the café.
Yichen pushed the door open, letting Mo Fei step in first before following behind him.
The place was crowded. People filled the tables, and a long queue curled around the counter.
They found an empty seat near the side and sat down.
Mo Fei looked around.
His expression slowly fell.
At this rate, he would not be able to get the limited ice cream cake he had come here for.
He slumped onto the table.
Yichen adjusted his cap and watched him for a moment before glancing around the café.
It was nice. Fairly decent. Warm lighting, soft chatter, too many people and the smell of coffee in the air.
In all his years, Yichen had never really come to a place like this.
Not casually and definitely not with someone who looked as if the possible loss of dessert had personally ruined his bloodline.
He looked back at Mo Fei.
Mo Fei's violet hair was slightly ruffled under his cap, loose strands brushing his cheek as he shifted restlessly over the table. His fingers tapped once, twice, then stopped.
His mouth had turned down at the corners in a way that made him look younger than usual.
Annoyingly dramatic. Annoyingly easy to read.
Annoyingly…
Yichen looked away.
"Ugh," Mo Fei groaned, sitting up. "When will it get to our turn?"
Yichen leaned back. "Do you come here often?"
Mo Fei nodded without thinking. "Yes. I grew up not far from here. I used to drop by whenever I didn't have classes in school."
The words escaped before he could catch them.
Mo Fei's body stiffened. He stared at Yichen.
Yichen showed no reaction.
Nothing.
Mo Fei slowly relaxed.
Luckily, Yichen either had not noticed or knew nothing about him.
He had almost made a mistake.
"Mm." Yichen looked around.
Shouldn't a waiter or something have come over by now?
"Hello, sirs!"
"Eeeeek!" Yichen flinched.
Mo Fei. "..."
The waiter. "..."
Yichen cleared his throat. "He took me by surprise."
Mo Fei and the waiter exchanged a look.
The waiter recovered first, smile returning to his face.
"Welcome to Café Café."
Yichen paused. "Wait. This place is called Café Café?"
"Pretty interesting, right?" Mo Fei said brightly.
The waiter's smile held. Professionally and Painfully.
"So, what would you like to order? Sorry it took so long to attend to you. As you can see, we're in the middle of a rush."
Please order quickly so I can go and rest my back. It is dying.
His fake smile shone brighter.
"Oh, that's not a problem," Mo Fei said. "We'll have the Triple Deluxe Limited Edition Ice Cream Cake."
"And how many would you like?" The waiter wrote it down on the small notepad in his hand.
"Two, please."
"Two, right…" The waiter smiled. "It's finished, sir."
Mo Fei. "…"
Yichen said nothing.
Mo Fei blinked. "Eh? But you literally just wrote down my order."
"Yes," the waiter said. "Disappointment appears better when you think your case is being paid attention to."
"What?" Mo Fei said.
"What?" the waiter said back, snapping to reality.
He didn't even mean to say it out loud. His soul leaked and his customer-service mask cracked for one second and the demon inside spoke.
Yichen looked between them.
"How can it be finished?" Mo Fei cried. "I just got here. Besides, don't you usually sell them until three?"
"Yes, sir, we usually do. But we recently changed the timing and the amount being made." The waiter pointed towards the crowd. "That's why so many people came early."
"But…" Mo Fei's voice weakened. "But…" He had been so excited to taste the Triple Deluxe Limited Edition Ice Cream Cake. He had timed the date, checked the hour, dressed himself beautifully and left home early.
After all the stress he had survived recently, he had only wanted to treat himself to something nice.
"Is there no way another one can be made?" Mo Fei asked, leaning forward. "You see, I brought a friend here. It will be quite disappointing for him too."
"No, sir. It's impossible. Please order something else."
"We came a really long way."
"Still can't do it."
"I'll pay double."
"The couple at table twelve offered triple," the waiter said. "Still nothing."
"This is unfair. How was I supposed to know it would run out by this time?"
Well, maybe next time you can plan better. The waiter tightened his grip around his notepad.
Out loud, he said, "Sir, if there's something else you want, please place an order."
"I just want the ice cream cake." Mo Fei's eyes were dangerously close to tears.
"It's unavailable," the waiter said. "Pick something else."
"What if I say it's his birthday?" Mo Fei pointed at Yichen.
Yichen looked at him.
The waiter exhaled.
He had not slept well all week. He had spent the whole day attending to difficult customers, and now the universe had decided to bring him this one.
"Listen, sir... "
"It's actually my birthday," Yichen said.
Mo Fei turned to him as Yichen held out a black Amex card.
The waiter turned. "Sir, I really don't care if it's your fu—"
His words stopped as his eyes landed on the card.
Yichen did not even look at him. His gaze remained on Mo Fei.
He had watched the whole exchange in silence, and seeing Mo Fei so close to tears over some ice cream cake was, amusing.
That was all.
Definitely.
The waiter's entire spirit changed.
"Sir, why didn't you say so?" His smile bloomed into something almost holy. "Happy birthday!"
He collected the card with both hands and bowed politely.
"How many would you be needing, sir?"
"Just two is fine," Yichen said.
Mo Fei's eyes widened.
He looked from Yichen, to the card, then to the waiter who had been entirely unmoved a few seconds ago.
"Of course, sir. Just give me a few minutes."
The waiter bowed again.
Mo Fei blinked. "Huh?"
The waiter turned and disappeared with frightening speed, slicing through the crowd like a man reborn.
"Coming through... Give me way... Hey, move out of the way, fatty."
The crowd stared after him.
Mo Fei slowly turned to Yichen.
Yichen looked away.