"Haaaaaa!."
Mo Fei leaned back in his chair, legs sprawled beneath the table, one hand patting his stomach.
"That hit the spot."
Yichen, "…"
You alone ate two bowls of this Triple Deluxe Limited …
Ah, whatever.
He could not even remember the full name.
Mo Fei clicked his tongue noisily. "You don't know what you just missed."
"Nah. I'm good."
There was no way in hell Zhang Yichen was going to eat a full bowl of everything sweet and nothing good.
"Meh. Your loss." Mo Fei patted his stomach again, looking unbearably satisfied. "I can't believe I ate both bowls."
"I can," Yichen said. "You wolfed them down with no restraint."
"It was simply too delicious." Mo Fei shrugged.
Yichen looked at him. Then, suddenly—
"Pfft."
Mo Fei paused.
Yichen covered his mouth, but it was useless, the laugh slipped out.
"Pfft—hahaha."
He tilted his head back slightly, laughing properly now.
Mo Fei stared.
Yichen.
Zhang Yichen. Was laughing?
"You should have seen your face while you were eating," Yichen said, still laughing.
Mo Fei wanted to be annoyed.
He really did.
This man was laughing at him. Openly. Shamelessly.
But for some reason, Mo Fei only sat there watching him.
He had never seen Yichen laugh like this before. Not the cold smile. Not the arrogant way he'd curve his mouth.
A real laugh.
It made his whole face look different.
"You have a little…" Yichen's laughter softened. "There's ice cream on your cheek."
Mo Fei quickly scrubbed his left cheek.
"No. The other one."
Mo Fei dabbed the other side.
Still nothing.
Yichen exhaled through a smile and stood. "Here."
Before Mo Fei could react, Yichen leaned across the table and cupped his cheek.
Mo Fei froze.
Yichen's thumb brushed gently over his skin, wiping away the small stain of ice cream.
His hand was warm. Too warm against his cheeks
Mo Fei looked up.
Yichen's attention remained on his face, focused and quiet, as if cleaning ice cream from Mo Fei's cheek was suddenly the most important task in the world.
Then Yichen sat back down.
The warmth left Mo Fei's skin and heat crept into his face.
He quickly covered both cheeks with his hands.
Yichen noticed at once. "Are you alright?"
"Yes," Mo Fei mumbled behind his palms. "Just give me a moment."
He had no idea why his body had reacted like that to a man's touch.
Yichen's touch, of all people.
"Did I scratch your skin?" Yichen asked, frowning slightly. "Are you sure you're okay?"
Mo Fei shook his head and slowly lowered his hands.
"No, I'm fine. I just…" He stood quickly. "Sugar rush, I guess. Should we go?"
Yichen watched him for a beat, he stood too.
"Sure. Let's go."
They left the café together.
The cool afternoon breeze brushed across Mo Fei's face, slowly returning his colour to normal.
He inhaled.
Better. Much better. He still did not understand why he had reacted that way.
Quietly, he glanced at Yichen beside him.
His expression had returned to normal.
Cold. Empty and unmoved. But back inside, Mo Fei had seen him laugh.
At that brief moment, he had thought Yichen looked quite handsome smiling like that.
If he laughed more often, or smiled more, maybe Mo Fei could consider being friends with this brute.
"What are you staring at?" Yichen asked.
"Nothing!" Mo Fei whipped his head away.
"Then should we—"
"Ah! Zhang Yichen-gege?" A girl's voice rang out ahead of them.
Yichen went still.
"What? Where?" someone else asked.
In an instant, people passing by began to stop.
Heads turned.
Mo Fei's heart dropped. "Oh no."
Yichen calmly adjusted his cap and turned slightly away from the gathering attention.
"It is him!"
"Oh my God, no way!"
"Yichen-gege, what's he doing here?"
Phones came out at frightening speed.
Yichen gripped Mo Fei's arm without thinking, half shielding his face from the growing crowd.
"Time to go," Mo Fei said, he grabbed Yichen and ran.
Together, they sprinted down the street.
"Hey! Wait!"
"Don't go yet!"
"Yichen-gege!"
"Who's that beside him?"
The crowd surged after them.
Yichen was dragged behind Mo Fei, their hands tangled together as they ran faster.
"Faster! Come on!" Mo Fei yelled.
"What do you think I'm doing? Ballet?" Yichen snapped back.
They rounded a corner together.
"Fuck! How can this even happen?"
Mo Fei pushed himself faster, sprinting down the pavement with Yichen beside him.
A small barricade came into view. Mo Fei jumped over it. Yichen followed.
"Where are we going?" Yichen asked.
Mo Fei glanced back. The crowd had multiplied.
"What the fuck! Boy, run faster!"
"Ahhhhhhhhh!"
Mo Fei screamed as they tore down another narrow path.
Both of them stopped.
A dead end.
In front of them stood a high fence, they stared at it, looked back.
The sound of footsteps was approaching fast.
Mo Fei turned to Yichen, breathless. "I'm shorter. Toss me over, and I'll pull you up."
Yichen nodded without argument. He lifted Mo Fei with ease, helping him climb onto the fence. Mo Fei scrambled up, balanced himself on top, then stretched his hand down.
"Come on. Be quick!"
Yichen reached up.
Mo Fei grabbed his hand and pulled.
Yichen caught the top of the wall with one hand, hauled himself up and swung over.
Behind them, the crowd rounded the corner.
"Wait, where did they go?"
"There! On the wall!"
Mo Fei looked down at them, he smiled and raised two fingers in a mock salute. "Byeeeee!."
He dropped backwards. Straight into Yichen's arms who caught him easily.
Mo Fei blinked once, then quickly jumped down and dusted his clothes, panting hard.
The two bowls of ice cream had not even digested yet, and life had forced him to run what felt like three kilometres.
"Argh, my back."
Yichen stood beside him and pulled off his cap. He ran a hand through his hair, breathing heavily, they both looked at each other.
"Bwahahahaha!"
Their laughter tore through the quiet alley. Mo Fei bent forward, clutching his stomach.
"Did you see their faces?"
"I thought we were going to get caught," Yichen said, still laughing.
The tension broke between them, it did not feel sharp.
It felt easy.
Mo Fei smiled, breathless and bright.
"I haven't run like that since Paris," Yichen said.
"Really?"
Yichen nodded. "It was crazier than this."
Mo Fei's eyes lit up. "Oh?"
Yichen glanced at him, for the second time that day, he smiled like he had forgotten to stop himself.
"Luckily, I don't think anyone recognised me," Mo Fei said, still catching his breath. "Would this exposure be a problem for you?"
Yichen shook his head. "I don't think so. It's not like anyone is going to see it. I doubt they got a clear shot of my face."
Mo Fei nodded.
What he said was reasonable.
Two hours later…
ZHANG YICHEN SPOTTED ON THE STREETS OF LINTHOUSE
SUSPICIOUS PERSON SEEN HANGING OUT WITH SUPERSTAR ACTOR ZHANG YICHEN
COULD THIS BE THE START OF SOMETHING NEW? ACTOR ZHANG YICHEN CAUGHT ON A DATE WITH HIS NEW LOVER
Mo Fei, "…"
Zhang Yichen, "…"
Outside the apartment, Louis and Nil stood in front of them like two disappointed parents.
Mo Fei and Zhang Yichen stood quietly side by side.
Louis lowered his phone and looked straight at Mo Fei.
"You, young man, are in big trouble."
Nil turned to Yichen, his face dark. "Of all the things you could have done, Yichen."
Mo Fei and Yichen slowly looked at each other. Then swallowed.
They were toast.