It has already been a week since their talk and though the tension between the director and Minseok has been lifted a bit, it is still lurking near the surface, something Lu Han can sense even without the manager anywhere near him. The sensation lingers even as he lounges alone in his room, checking the scenes they have to go through the next day. A knock on the door startles him out of his thoughts, enough to make him jump from his seat and press the script to his chest. It takes him a moment to compose himself, placing the thick stack of papers on the table before answering whoever is on the door. His heart almost leaps out of his chest when he meets big, round eyes, monolids closing once before a greeting passes their owner’s lips.

“Uh, huh?” Lu Han pulls himself away as best he can from the depth he has fallen, removing his focus on those eyes to look at the other person’s face.

“I said I need to talk to you about Yifan’s upcoming schedule,” Minseok repeats, eyes blinking again before he inquires, “Or is it a bad time?”

“No.” Lu Han half-shouts, voice louder than it usually is, surprising both him and the man standing in front of his room. He internally chastises himself for sounding desperate with the way he answered but seeing as the manager is not saying anything he just shakes it off.

Nonetheless, he offers for the other to come in which the Korean declined at first. The director is going to be lying if he says that the initial rejection to his suggestion didn’t stab a small wound to his heart, he doesn’t even know why when he is the one who adamantly told the other that he is not up for being friendly which is what looks like he is doing at the moment. He reasons that he is tired and is certain that Minseok is too so he can make it look like the offer is not meant to keep the manager close to him for a bit longer than the other intended. Lately, the smaller male has been staying more in his talent’s dressing room, obviously avoiding Lu Han, so the director hasn’t been able to see him much except for when they need to talk about matters regarding Yifan such as now.

Minseok doesn’t even bother taking a seat, preferring to stand by the table as he converses with Lu Han, seemingly unconcerned by the slight furrow of the director’s eyebrows because he refused the offered chair once more.

“It’ll be quick, anyway,” the manager defends himself. Without waiting for a reply from the Chinese, he continues, “I’m just here to remind you about Yifan’s absence this coming weekend for a photo shoot and a press conference. It will be for two days and again I apologize for the delay it might cause but we’ve already made commitments with these people even before the filming started.”

For some reason, the way Minseok talks to him in a very business-like manner annoys Lu Han, missing for a moment how friendly that voice used to be. Then he reminds himself that he has brought it upon himself, that he might never hear that gentle voice of the Korean that always somehow tickles his insides.

“That’s all. I’ll be going now. Thank you.” The director starts again when he hears the other speak once more, scolding his thoughts for straying too far when he’s supposed to be conversing with Minseok.

“Wait.” Not knowing what came to him, Lu Han reaches out and clasps his fingers around the smaller one’s wrist, surprising the manager as he turns to leave. He watches as Minseok’s eyes travel from his doe-like ones to where his hand is encircling the other’s wrist. As if he’s been burnt, the director quickly lets go, not wanting the Korean to misunderstand his actions any further.

“I-is t-that all?” The director wants the floor to open up and swallow him whole or for lightning to strike him straight to stop him from stuttering. He internally winces when Minseok faces him again and places his hands behind him, confirming that he has nothing else to say. Lu Han gulps and thinks of something else to talk about within their current topic, trying to stop his tongue from asking about the weather.

“He will be good for Monday?” The taller male manages to ask, to which the Korean answers with an affirmative.

“He doesn’t have other appointments that we need to take note of?” Lu Han observes as Minseok seems to be thinking hard before shaking his head.

“None so far,” the manager finally answers verbally, “We will be sure to inform you when something comes up.”

The director is out of words so he just nods and helplessly watches Minseok walk away. His head falls to his hands when he realizes that he’s been looking at the closed door for over a minute already. Groaning into his unknowing palms, he realizes something, “What the hell am I doing?”

“Xing!” Yifan calls out to the author when he finds him wandering near the manmade lake towards the edge of the set. He looks around him afterwards when he realizes that he might have disturbed the ongoing filming. The actor hears Yixing giggle when the other walks towards him and though he wants to hear it again, it probably means that he must have looked like a complete moron just seconds ago. He straightens up once more when the smaller male finally reaches him, mirth still dancing in his eyes when his gaze meets Yifan’s.

“You’re such a dork.” A small laugh leaves Yixing’s lips after his comment and if the taller male was any less forgiving and enchanted by the sound of the author’s giggle, he would have been angered by it. Instead he just crosses his arms over his chest, looking offended as he turns his face away from the other, jutting his bottom lip out into a pout. 

The smaller giggles some more at the sight however, tapping the actor’s cheek, the one that is not facing him, while he adds, “Such a child too.”

As if to prove Yixing’s words, the elder stomps his feet on the ground in reaction to the other’s statement, pouting his lips harder when the smaller one keeps patting his cheek like he really is a child. When the hand is removed though he wishes it had stayed there, quickly missing the warmth it had, especially since the temperature has been going down lately in preparation for fall.

After a few beats of silence and of them just watching the filming from across them, Yixing is the one who breaks the quiet, inquiring with his eyes still on the bright lights meters away from them, “You were looking for me?”

“Yeah,” Yifan answers, pulling his jacket around himself and wondering if the author doesn’t feel cold with nothing but a light cardigan on top of his shirt. For a brief second he debates whether he should remove his jacket and offer it to the other. However, when a colder breeze wheezes past them, he finds himself pulling the collar of his jacket higher to cover his neck, his actions answering for himself.

“Why?” Yixing closes his eyes as the wind caresses his cheeks, his question almost swallowed by it.

“Oh, uh, we’re going back to the city now. I was wondering if you wanted a ride.”

The author seems to be thinking about it, his eyes still closed as he hums. When he opens them again, they are as bright as Yifan remembers them to be and he can’t move his gaze away from them.

“Sure.” The smaller male smiles as he turns to the actor to give his answer, taking the first step so they can leave the premises early. Yifan doesn’t even bother asking if the other isn’t going to say goodbye to the director, having found out that the best friends don’t like disturbing the other when they are working.

Minseok greets Yixing from the driver’s seat when he boards the van after Yifan, the author happily returning it as he hasn’t been able to talk to the manager the whole day. The actor allows the two to catch up as the Korean drives them out of the premises of the set, interjecting his own comments every now and then. He’s just glad to hear his manager talking more after what felt like forever. Minseok is still tight-lipped about a few things but he seems to be slowly regaining his old self, though Yifan isn’t quite sure if that is a good sign seeing as the other didn’t unload any sort of baggage to him during his period of lonesome.

Somewhere halfway through the ride, silence falls inside the van. Although it isn’t quite comfortable no one is particularly keen on breaking it either, preferring the quiet instead of having awkward tension fill the air. Instead of saying anything himself, Yifan pulls out his phone and decides then to check his Weibo account that he hasn’t opened in a while because of filming. He scrolls through his feed and comes across a photo of himself for the makeup brand that he is endorsing, the post reminding everyone about the actor’s press conference that coming Sunday. Then an idea flashes through his head. The tall male looks towards Yixing who has also chosen to battle the boredom brought by the quietness of his surroundings by taking his own gadget out, the white glow coming from his phone illuminating his face and parts of his neck. He looks so much like a startled koala when Yifan reached for his wrist that the elder can’t help but laugh at his expression, earning him a few smacks on his arm.

“Because of you I died in the game,” the author grumbles as he returns his attention to his mobile device while the actor massages on the area the smaller one assaulted just seconds ago.

“Sorry,” Yifan quickly apologizes with an excuse, “I didn’t know you were playing.” Yixing just gives him a look that says nothing but “Really?” with both his face and shoulders lax as he keeps the expression on for the taller male.

“What did you want anyway?” The actor knows the other meant to snap at him but the author’s words don’t really have much bite especially not when Yixing has a mischievous smile on his face.

“Tomorrow, I have a photo shoot and on Sunday there’s a press conference,” Yifan shows the screen of his smartphone to the other, allowing him the time to read through it before drawing his hand back to continue, “I was wondering if you wanted to come.”

Even though slightly, he sees the pink dusting the smaller one’s cheeks when he glances up to the author’s face. He realizes what this sounds like so he stammers an excuse for his sudden offer, “I just thought, you know, it’ll help you with your future writing? Only if you have nothing to do, I mean.” 

The volume of the taller male’s voice decreases as he finishes, reflecting his lack of confidence towards the end of his sentence.

There is a moment of tense silence when the elder doesn’t even dare look at Yixing, afraid of what he will see on the author’s face but the other’s reply makes him look up surprised.

“Okay.” There’s a small, shy smile on the smaller man’s face and Yifan can swear in court that he felt his heart skip a beat just then. “I was planning on going to the set tomorrow but I think that would be better and like you said it can inspire me for my future works.” The actor can’t help but mirror the smile on the author’s lips, he can even feel his cheeks and the corners of his lips quivering because of how wide the stretch of his lips have grown.

“Great!” Yifan doesn’t know what to say after that, the words pushed down his throat by his inexplicable excitement of seeing Yixing in a different environment in the following days. He tries to sit still in the following minutes as the younger directs Minseok on how to go to his apartment, thankful that there is something to distract the other from continuing the conversation with him, allowing him time to recover and compose himself again. When Yixing relaxes in his seat again, however, the actor is still blank of what to say that when the smaller one looks towards his direction he splutters.

“T-tomorrow.” The slight tilting of the author’s head has him choking on his own saliva again, resulting in the other to concern himself over Yifan but the actor easily waved him off after a few gulps of water that his makeup artist gave him.

When he has calmed down, Yixing inquires, “What about tomorrow?”

“We can pick you up before going to the shoot location but it’s going to be quite early since call time is at eight in the morning.” The taller male gives himself a pat on the back for successfully pushing the words out of his mouth without stuttering or choking on any of the syllables. But then he sees Yixing shaking his head lightly with an apologetic smile on his face and he takes back the praise he just gave himself. Before he can even ask why the author is rejecting his proposal though, the smaller one is already explaining himself.

“That’s nice of you but you can just give me the address of the place and I’ll get there by myself.” Yifan can’t even find words to support his proposition, not when the younger adds, “I want to know how to get there as well especially if I haven’t been there before. I mean, it’s for my story so I have to work for it as well.” The way the stretch of Yixing’s lips shows the dimple on his right cheek doesn’t allow for the elder to deny him of his own request, nodding dumbly as they finally enter the area of the author’s apartment. Minseok promises to send the author the site of his talent’s photo shoot after overhearing their agreement, the younger giving his gratitude for the Korean manager.

When they reach Yixing’s apartment, he offers for them to come up but it is Yifan and Minseok’s turn to reject it, telling him they need to get going so that the actor can rest. The smaller one doesn’t seem to take it to heart, however, telling them that he’ll see them the next day before waving good bye to the team as they drive off. The actor’s eyes linger on the window as their van pulls away from the entrance of the building, sighing as the author’s figure becomes smaller as they drive farther, wishing that tomorrow comes faster so he can be with Yixing again. He pushes the small voice asking him why he feels so to the back of his mind, in favour of thinking of his weekend schedule, trying to remember when the last time he anticipated photo shoots and press cons was.

As they have agreed on, Yixing arrives at the studio by himself although a bit later than the actor. The author surprises Minseok when the manager comes to fetch him by the lobby of the building.

“What are all of these?” The manager points to the paper bags on the author’s hands, offering to take even just one of them as he ushers the Chinese to where the elevators are after telling the receptionist that Yixing is with them.

“Cupcakes.” The author answers as he opens the bag left with him to show the other what is inside. Minseok hums when he sees an assorted colour of cupcakes from the plastic window on the lid of the box the sweets are placed in. “I thought I can at least do this since I will be bothering the people up there.”

“That’s nice of you but you didn’t really have to.” The manager states as they emerge from the elevator. After looking into the bag in his own hand, Minseok felt compelled to ask, “Did you make these?” When the other male nods with a smile he lets out a sound of amazement which the author waves off.

Yixing can feel the atmosphere change right when he steps into the studio, everyone is walking around placing props here and there, removing the ones that are not necessary anymore. He apologizes to Minseok in passing, for bothering him when he knows that the manager should have been with his talent instead of getting him downstairs.

“Yixing, please, if I don’t do that I’ll lose my job,” the elder jokes as they move further into the studio. The author’s eyes linger on the simple set placed by the far wall of the place, silently looking for a tall familiar figure.

“Besides, Yifan doesn’t need me since he’s having his makeup done.” The Chinese only removes his gaze from the deep red background when the other nudges him to enter the room they have stopped in front of. He hesitates for a beat when he sees a bunch of people inside but with a slight shove, his feet finally step into the space.

“He’s here.” Minseok announces when he closes the door and for a moment it’s as if the whole place stops and the time pauses when he meets eyes with Yifan on the mirror, the yellow light on the frame of the reflective object making the actor’s golden skin glow with its warmth. Yixing gulps as they hold each other’s gazes, not knowing what to say or whether he has to say something. He feels another push on his back towards the tall male’s sitting figure, the women surrounding Yifan parting for him after the other asks them to make way for the author. 

The smaller one feels his mouth go dry even further when he stands by Yifan’s chair, the actor moving his body to face him fully, showing him his face half done and his hair – that has grown due to Lu Han’s insistence on it not being trimmed – simply pulled up in a ponytail that allows anyone to see the lines and curves that meet to produce his god-like face. Yixing can’t stop himself from swallowing again, hoping to somehow wash his parched throat and stall him some time to think. Thankfully Yifan saves him from having to open the conversation.

“Glad you didn’t get lost.” The actor voices out as he maintains eye contact with Yixing, the younger unable to answer aside from a nod as he sees a hint of the elder’s collarbones since he is only wearing a robe over his torso. The woman on the taller one’s left informs him that she will be back to do the remaining parts of his face and do final touch ups before the shoot begins. Suddenly, the hair and makeup team disperses when Minseok tells them that Yixing brought cupcakes, crowding around the manager to get their hands on the treat after thanking the author who removed one box from the bag in his hands before giving it to the Korean.

“You didn’t have to bring anything.” Yifan tries to scold him but there’s no sting that comes with his word so the younger knows he’s safe so he just shrugs, still unable to articulate anything in front of the male god.

“That’s what I told him,” Minseok interjects as he walks closer, planning to offer one of the younger Chinese male’s homemade sweets but when he sees Yifan reach out he quickly draws back his hand, even going as far as stepping back so his talent can’t reach him. Yixing holds in his laughter at how comical the actor’s face looked when he was rejected of the food. 

“It that you can’t taste Yixing’s yummy cupcakes right now but I see you have your own there for later.” The manager raises his eyebrows as he eyes the box on the table in front of the actor. Yifan turns his head towards the container, his lips when he finds an assortment of treats through the window. Yixing almost combusts as the actor swipes his tongue over his upper lip slowly before swallowing, the obvious movement of his adam’s apple urging the younger to do the same as well.

“Did you seriously make these?” The taller one breathes out with inquisitive eyes, sparkling at the thought of eating. The author is unable to answer coherently once more, just nodding his head to confirm. “I didn’t know you can bake.”

“I learned it once for a story I was writing.” Yixing surprises himself by answering, and even more because he didn’t croak or stutter. Yifan hums at the information before turning his attention to the box of sweets again, his face etched with despair and longing as his fingers drum over his knee cap.

The women who were doing the actor’s hair and makeup return after a while with their bellies still asking for more and their lips praising the author’s baking skills before finally painting more cosmetics on the talent’s face. Yixing excuses himself to get out of the way and allow the people to work on Yifan, taking the space beside Minseok on the couch to pull his eyes away from the actor and focus on his surroundings instead. He takes everything in: the atmosphere, the way everyone moves around him, the sounds, the words he needs to take note of, glad that he has something else to do other than look at Yifan’s face.

After a few final touches on the actor’s face and when the photographer’s assistant comes in to inform them that they are going to start in ten minutes, Minseok pulls Yixing out of the room and everyone follows after them to give the talent space with the styling team for him to change to what he’s going to wear for the photo shoot. The author doesn’t mind being separated from the taller male, if it means shielding his eyes from seeing the other’s body when he has barely held through seeing a bit of his flesh.

The manager introduces him to the photographer and his staff, telling the team that he’s an author and a good friend of Yifan’s who came to observe their work. Luckily they’re all friendly and were kind enough to teach Yixing what are some of the things they’ll be using for the photoshoot, even letting him in on the theme they are going for and he makes sure to write down notes so as not to forget them. He even takes photos for future reference after being given permission by the staff. 

The author swallows when the photographer tells him that they are going for a provocative shoot, that’s why the background they have decided on using is a deep crimson one, the colour verging on maroon. 

When the door to the dressing room opens, his eyes land on Yifan’s figure, eyes bulging out when he finds the tall and lean body walking towards him. As his eyes rake down the golden skin spanning the elder’s chest he is reminded that the actor is doing an ad for an international clothing brand widely known for their denims, especially their pants which is the only thing covering his friend’s body at the moment. When he meets eyes with Yifan, he is startled by the intensity swirling in those deep brown orbs. He turns his head after realizing that he’s had his eyes locked with the elder’s for a while now, pretending to look at the monitor where the talent’s photos will be shown. Even with his face turned to a different direction and his eyes darting from the set to the desktop in front of him, he can still sense the other’s eyes watching his every move, the heavy gaze making the blood rush to his cheeks and he knows fanning himself won’t help with how hard he is currently blushing.

When the photoshoot starts, he isn’t quite sure if he should be thankful that the other’s gaze is removed from him because he can still see them through the monitor as the photographer starts snapping test shots. At first the set is bare with nothing but a stool for Yifan to sit on and even though he is slouching a bit, Yixing can still feel something stir in his gut as he takes in the actor’s whole figure. The way he’s slumping allows for the lines of his abs to become more defined with the help of the lighting. Yixing’s mind supplies him the things he was taught a while ago, eyes landing on the bulb strobe lighting with reflective umbrellas and the disc reflector held by the photographer’s assistant that helps reflect more light to the talent’s body. 

However, it is nothing compared to when the shoot officially starts and the photographer asks Yifan to start with his facial expressions as he is still sitting. The author can’t help but his lips when he sees the first photo with the actor’s eyes intense as he meets the lens of the camera, the pink flesh of his lips bit between his teeth. Yixing’s gaze traces the lines of Yifan’s arms down to the veins that pop on the back of his hands, his legs open and his ankles close to each other. What catches the smaller male’s attention the most is, however, is that the elder’s pants are undone, showing a hint of his black boxer briefs. 

Before his being can ascend to some higher dimension, the author is brought back down to earth when the photographer calls his name.

“Want to try it?” The photographer, which he remembers to be named Huang Lei, offers him the expensive-looking DSLR, urging him to take it by saying, “This should be good writing material too.”

Yixing gives the other a tentative smile as he carefully takes the offered gadget, following Huang Lei’s instructions to look into it and point it to Yifan. What he sees makes him grip the camera tight, afraid that the sweat covering his palms will make him drop it. He doesn’t know if the elder is just really good at what he does or if he’s doing it on purpose to tease Yixing because his eyes are half-lidded now and his mouth is slightly agape as he makes eye contact with the author through the lens. 

The smaller endures it for however long the photographer wants him to keep taking the photos with his inexperience. Good thing, Huang Lei stopped him after taking five shots because he’s not certain how much else he can take. For the small period of being behind the camera, he felt as if it was just him and Yifan in that studio, that the actor was conversing with him with the slight changes in his facial expressions and the way he moved his body in order to put the lighting to good use. Yixing doesn’t really want to read too much into it so he tries to extinguish the thoughts that clouded his mind for that brief moment as the photo shoot continues, the set changing as Yifan takes a rest to check the pictures he taken earlier. Photographer Huang promises Yixing that he will be sending Minseok the photos he took of Yifan even though the author adamantly said he didn’t really need them.

The smaller male had to endure the whole day watching the set shift and the actor change into different trousers, parading his upper half for most of the time, only covering them when he was given a break which he spent mostly napping or playing games on his phone because he can’t eat much or else his abs will disappear and that’s what the shoot needs the most at the moment other than his face. Yixing wonders how he is able to stay in the same room as Yifan when he knows – even if he will never admit it openly – that he has an itsy bitsy teeny weeny crush on the actor. He puts it down on his efforts to focus on what is happening in front of him instead of the person in the middle of all the chaos and how more than admiring Yifan’s body and modeling prowess, he appreciated the actor’s work ethic more. There’s also the fact that the taller male kept pouting and acting cute in front of him about wanting to eat the cupcakes already – which Yixing still doesn’t know if he did intentionally or he’s just really adorable without having to try.

When the actor offers him a ride home, he doesn’t reject it this time, feeling exhausted even though he didn’t do much that day other than bake in the morning. He wonders, as he allows the water to run down his body what kind of thing he has to withstand from the elder again the next day. At least, he thinks, Yifan will not be for a press conference so he’s safe. With that reassurance he lies supine on his bed to try to get some sleep after writing the actor a good night and thank you message. It proves to be hard, however, as his mind is invaded by images of a half- Yifan, his arm outstretched to offer a hand to Yixing. The author rolls on his stomach and screams into his pillow, cursing how good the elder’s body looked and how much he makes the smaller male feel by just existing. Yixing realizes then that that itsy bitsy crush might not be so tiny anymore.

Giving up on the lost cause after his admittance, he allows his hand to travel down to finally relieve himself knowing it will not go away without him doing anything. He buries his face into the pillow when his cold hand wraps around his heated flesh and he grumbles to the soft cushion, “Curse you, Wu Yifan.”