Step one. Break up with Zhixiang. The idea of it made Yixing’s skin crawl as he laid in bed that night, his window cracked open to let in the fresh breeze of spring air. He clutched the blanket closer to his chest as he stared into the darkness of his bedroom, finding the red numbers of the alarm clock angrily telling him it was too late for him to still be awake. He wanted to sleep, but every time his eyes shut, he couldn’t help but think of Zhixiang. He was beginning to feel guilty for having those thoughts of breaking up with the elder in his head, but he needed to listen to his heart. His heart told him that Zhixiang wasn’t the one, and he wanted his heart to tell him that was okay. It was his mind, however, that was screaming at him. Yixing was too passive of a person to cause any harm or unhappiness for anyone.

***

    Yixing felt his heart skip when he walked into the offices Zhixiang worked in. He expected it to be done up, but he wasn’t expecting a waterfall to greet him in the reception area. The perky girl at the desk greeted him with a paper white smile when he questioned what floor Luo Zhixiang would be on, and she gleefully answered, pointing down the hall in the direction of the elevator. His hands felt clammy as he pressed the button to call for the lift, but he definitely felt as if his new bomber jacket made him look like he knew what this place was all about. The ding of the doors opening sent him immediately into the rather large elevator, and up to the sixth floor.

    “Oh, Yixing!” came a cheerful voice when he walked onto the floor, the glass doors before him etched beautifully with cursive that read WO CHEN DESIGN. He had his hand on the gold colored handle when he turned his head, finding a colleague of Zhixiang’s he had met long ago. He put a smile on his face and bowed to the older man. “Hello, Hong Lei.”

    “I haven’t seen you in so long! How have you been?”

    Yixing took the hand offered to him and let the elder lead their handshake with a smile. “I’ve been good. I heard you got the promotion you really wanted?”

    The man smiled, and Yixing couldn’t help but follow when he saw the way his thin eyes lit up. “Finally superior to Piggy. Feels good.”

    “Seems like everyone’s making their way past Zhixiang,” he sighed. He did realize that his boyfriend’s job wasn’t like that of his coworkers. While most of them were finding clients and endorsing their products, Zhixiang and his team were actually designing the clothes. The only way Hong Lei was superior to him was in his title; his job wasn’t anything compared to Zhixiang’s. “I’ll see you some other time,” Yixing said with a smile, bowing his head to the other before opening the door.

    His first instinct was to disregard everyone else and venture out into the floor in search of his beau. He felt foreign in the offices, surrounded by abstract art and furniture he was sure cost more than his parents’ home. The seating area at the entrance of the floor offered him two directions, on the wall in gold text. He could go left for conference rooms and offices, or go right for workplaces and supply rooms. He was at a standstill, not knowing where to go. He hadn’t expected the floor to be so large, but he guessed that was the way architecture worked; buildings always tended to seem smaller than what they actually held within. As he heard footsteps, dull on the carpeted floor but still prominent, he felt his heart rush, acting as if he was interested in the complementary cucumber and raspberry water that waited in the seating area. His breath caught in his throat when he heard a very familiar voice behind him. “Yixing? I didn’t know you were coming today.”

    Yixing turned around with a smile, the small plastic cup he was holding almost freezing his hand. The flavored water was refreshing to his desert-like throat. “Thought I’d stop by.”

    It took him a few moments to realize that Zhixiang was not alone in front of him, and it also took him a moment to realize, wow. Yifan really was tall. The elder man didn’t look like he had at the dumpling shop, his hair put in place with gel once again. He wore a smart dress shirt with black slacks that hugged his long legs well. The gummy smile on his lips made Yixing down the rest of his water. “Yifan was going to take some pictures of the work rooms, do you want to come?” Zhixiang asked.

    Yixing nodded, and he couldn’t help but feel awkward as he walked in between the two, his fingers intertwined with Zhixiang’s even though he longed to have contact with Yifan.

    Yixing couldn’t stop his eyes from drifting to Yifan almost every second. The moment he would look away, he found himself already staring again. The taller man had a Canon camera in his large hands, gripping it gently as he held it up to his eye. Yixing didn’t care to look at the subject of his photos, instead opting to admire the photographer. The way his lips curled up with the shutter of the camera, his eyebrows arching when he looked down at the screen, Yixing was falling hard and he didn’t want to. He watched as Zhixiang approached Yifan, looking over his shoulder to preview the photos before giving him a smile. “Come look at these, Yixing. You have an eye for composition,” the eldest said.

    Yixing pushed away from the wall and looked at the small screen on the camera, seeing the photos were of the drafting tables before them in the room, cluttered with magazines and fabric. He nodded his head. “It looks natural, I guess,” he glanced up at Yifan, then pried his eyes away to look at Zhixiang, “It doesn’t look like you’re trying to show off something that isn’t real.”

***

    Zhixiang’s office was as clean and pristine as his home. The wide windows showcased the city below them, and invited April sunshine inside. Yixing hadn’t expected to be eating greasy fast food in such a richly decorated place, nor did he expect to be doing so with both Zhixiang and Yifan. The low table in the center of the office was spread with wrappers and boxes, Yixing and Yifan sitting on the ground across from each other while Zhixiang sat on one of the leather couches. Yifan’s long legs tapped gently against Yixing’s, and he glanced towards the other as he bit down on an overly salted French fry. “Thanks for getting lunch, Yifan,” Zhixiang said from above them, “I honestly don’t know the last time I ate food like this.”

    “No problem. Can’t eat lobster and caviar every day,” Yifan joked.

    Yixing had to smile at that. Yifan wasn’t snobby, like some of the others working for the company. He knew how to joke around, and it wasn’t like he had a stick perpetually shoved up his . It was a fresh change. “Do you like that jacket, Yixing?” Zhixiang asked.

    Yixing glanced down at himself, the purple bomber sitting on him snuggly. The white, one-eyed face on the of it stared back at him, the English phrase on the other side, “World Gone Mad”, made him nod. “Yeah, I was planning on getting it for myself. Thank you.”

    “Does your job pay well, Yixing?” Yifan then questioned.

    “I’m a teacher. You’ve probably heard enough about teachers complaining about their income.”

    “Money’s not your motivator, huh?”

    He stopped eating at that, dropping his hands to his lap. He was definitely right. Money wasn’t his motivator at all. “I guess not. I’m glad to be teaching people. I love dancing, so seeing other people loving it makes me happy.”

    That smile on Yifan’s lips made Yixing melt into the floor. “You could probably be in some cool dance company, but you’d prefer to help others.”

    Yixing caught Zhixiang looking at the two of them, and he felt the heat of his cheeks creep down to his neck. He shouldn’t be getting so affected by Yifan. He was dating Zhixiang, after all. And dating Zhixiang was the reason he wasn’t in a big dance company. He was given the opportunity, by a company in South Korea, but turned it down when he met Zhixiang. He regretted it, in a lot of ways. But he never dared to say that Zhixiang was hindering him. It was his own choice to stay in China. Zhixiang stood up then, walking towards the door, assumingly to throw away his trash. He pressed a kiss to the top of Yixing’s head when he passed him, and then he was gone.

    Yifan laughed at Yixing’s flustered expression, pulling one knee to his chest. “You guys are cute.”

    Yixing didn’t know how to respond to that at all.

    “How long have you been dating?”

    “Two years,” he muttered, wanting to drown in the bitter soda he swallowed down.

    The taller one smiled again, and Yixing didn’t have enough of a clear mind to realize his words as they were falling out of his mouth. “I think I want to break up with him.”

    “Really?” the surprise in Yifan’s voice made him realize what he had said, “Why is that?”

    Yixing leaned against the loveseat behind him, his shoulders dropping. Because I have my eyes on someone else. “I feel like the spark is gone.”

    “Well, that happens to couples often. Don’t worry about it,” the other said, looking at him from across the table.

    Yixing nodded his head and released a heavy breath, looking away from Yifan to prevent anymore unwanted words from spilling. The door opened again, and Zhixiang popped his head in. “We’ve got to get back to work, Yifan. You can stay here for awhile, if you’d like, Xing,” the eldest said before disappearing again. Yifan stood up and stretched his long limbs above his head before gathering the empty bags. Yixing stood as well, only to migrate to the couch behind him. “I get off at three, if you want to talk about anything. You have my number, too,” Yifan stated, giving Yixing one last smile before leaving the office. Yixing wanted his body to melt away when he felt his eyes lingering on the other through the glass door, long after Yifan had left his line of vision.

***

    Yixing almost spat out his water when Luhan approached him after practice was over, his wide eyes traveling over the elder’s body like he was a circus animal. “What the hell is that?” he asked, capping his bottle of water and using it to point at the shirt his friend was wearing.

    Luhan looked down at himself, stretching the shirt so he could admire it, too. “Isn’t it awesome?”

    The white jersey was covered in teal text, and the giant number seven on the back of it promptly gave away whose jersey it was. “How did you get the money for that? Who have you been selling your body to?”

    “I haven’t been sleeping with someone. Minseok bought it for me, he said it was an early birthday present,” Luhan stated gleefully, grabbing Yixing’s water bottle, which was still being pointed at his chest.

    “Wait, you haven’t slept with him yet?”

    “Nope. I’m surprised with myself, too.”

    Yixing crossed his arms over his chest as Luhan gathered his duffle bag and exited the field with him. Luhan, as Tao had very colorfully told him, wasn’t one that settled down very easily. If he wasn’t able to get into someone’s pants on the first couple of dates, he dropped them. He had been going out with Minseok for weeks. It came as a huge surprise to the dancer. “Why haven’t you?”

    “Wow, you sound hypocritical. I thought relationships weren’t about .”

    “For you, they are,” Yixing muttered as he unlocked his car, letting Luhan put his stuff in the back. The elder got into the passenger seat with a smile and cranked up the radio immediately. Yixing started the engine with a sigh, glancing over at Luhan. “Are you really that into him?”

    “Minseok’s different than other guys I’ve been with,” Luhan announced over the loud music, then decided he made a mistake in turning it up, his fingers lazily finding the knob for volume, “I’m so used to guys seeing me and going, ‘Wow, you’re so pretty. Can I have your number?’ Minseok’s never called me pretty. And I’m the one that asked for his number. I feel like he sees me as more of a person, rather than a guy with a pretty face and a high drive.”

    Yixing couldn’t help the way his lips drooped, deciding in pulling out of the parking space rather than seeing the sad look on his friend’s face. “I guess I never thought of it like that. You really don’t like to be called pretty?”

    “Being called pretty makes me feel like a girl. Do you remember that one Korean guy? I felt like he was forcing this, this feminine role on me whenever he called me pretty. I guess that’s kind of affected me, too.”

    The younger nodded his head, glad that he had to focus on the road. Luhan’s last relationship was something he didn’t like, none of their friends did, and he knew it affected Luhan a lot. They couldn’t even mention his ex’s name without Luhan’s body tensing up. “Well,” Yixing started, clamping a hand down on Luhan’s knee, “I’m glad Minseok’s treating you right.”

    “Anyway,” Luhan said, as if their conversation hadn’t happened, “How are you and Yifan going? Have you asked him out or anything?”

    “I accidentally told him I want to break up with Zhixiang,” he said with a shrug of his shoulders, pulling into his typical parking space in front of his apartment building. He knew his nonchalant reaction would elicit an ecstatic one from Luhan. As they both got out of the car, Luhan definitely let the rest of the street know his presence when he exclaimed, “Step one, done!”

    “What are you talking about? What step one?”

    “My list of plans for you to get with Mr. Wu Yifan.”

    “Oh, Luhan, come on,” he whined as they walked into the apartment complex, Luhan being the first to get to the elevator and push the button for the right floor. “That really isn’t necessary.”

    “You like for things to be planned out. Afterall, who was the person to get you to talk to Zhixiang?”

    “Tao was.”

    “And Tao and I made this elaborate plan to get you two alone and talking. We’re your matchmakers made in Heaven, Yixing. Trust me on this.”

    “I really don’t want to,” he muttered as they stepped out of the elevator, Luhan stealing his keys and going to unlock his door on his own. Luhan dropped his bag and kicked off his shoes in the threshold, then neatly placed them when he felt the glare radiating from Yixing. “Step one,” he continued, plopping himself onto the couch as Yixing entered the kitchen, “was to tell Yifan you didn’t want to be with Zhixiang. This way, Yifan sees that you’re going to be on the market again soon. If he’s into you, then he’s going to try and court you,” Luhan shuffled on the couch, looking over the back of it and at Yixing, who was standing in the middle of the kitchen, smiling at his phone. “Are you even listening to me?”

    Yixing’s smile faded as his bubble popped, looking over at the elder as he pocketed his phone and opened the fridge. “Yeah, I am.”

    “Did someone text you?”

    “No,” he lied, but then smiled into the cool air of the fridge. Yifan had texted him, saying that he was off of work. He followed it up with one smiling emoji, and that made Yixing’s face split into a grin. He never expected Yifan to be the type to use emojis.

    “Anyway,” Luhan grunted, turning his attention around again, “Step two is to actually get you out on a date with Yifan.”

    Yixing closed the fridge and made his way to sit next to Luhan. The elder had already invaded the television, putting on some mindless comedy movie. “That would be cheating on Zhixiang, wouldn’t it?”

    “Not really. It can be like, a friend date. Just to get to know each other.”

    “What’s step three?” Yixing questioned.

    “You break up with Zhixiang, only if you know Yifan wants to date you.”

    “I was right that I wouldn’t like this plan,” he deadpanned, pulling his phone from his pocket. He really wished he was alone, so that he could discuss this with Yifan rather than Luhan. Afterall, Luhan wasn’t involved with the problem. A little smile floated onto his lips when he saw Yifan’s text again. He felt rude for not responding, so he quickly tapped on his screen: I’ll have to talk to you about it later. Luhan’s a handful. Nosey.

    “Step four, you get with Yifan, him, have a fairytale wedding, the end. I’ll be your best man,” Luhan said triumphantly, his arms stretched above his head.

    “What if I want Tao as my best man?”

    “I can’t believe you would even think that. Especially when I’m going to be the reason you’re getting married.”

    “So, no matter who I’m getting married to, you’re going to take credit for it?”

    “Come on, Xing. You know that’s the truth.”