There were figurative ants in his pants as they moved from location to location. Yixing could not stop fidgeting behind Kris and Chanyeol the entire day, from the press conference in the morning to the set for the interview for Star Date to the recording studio. There were several questions at the tip of his tongue that he was dying to ask but seeing Kris with Chanyeol had him bite his tongue and keep it in.

The interaction between Kris and Chanyeol appeared to be normal but Chanyeol seemed a little less smiley around Yixing. He wondered if Kris told Chanyeol about the kiss and that thought made him panic. He didn’t want to break up a couple.

It kind of confused him though. If Kris and Chanyeol were a couple, then why would Chanyeol be okay with Kris getting engaged with Jessica? Or did Chanyeol play a part in the breaking of engagement? Yixing scowled, and pressed his fingers to his temple. Why did Kris’s life have to be so complicated goddammit.

Feeling the need to have some space, Yixing slipped out of the recording studio when Kris and Chanyeol got into yet another debate with the producer. He padded over to the vending machine and dropped a coin into the slot, blankly staring at the machine while it spat out gross black coffee into the paper cup.

“Hey – is that Yixing?”

Yixing started at his name and looked towards the source of the voice. Oh! That lady who hired him. He bowed slightly and flashed her a tentative smile. “Hello… how are you?”

“Not too bad.” She patted him on the shoulder lightly and smiled broadly. “You’re doing well, I hope?”

Yixing nodded.

“Good, good. I must admit I initially had a couple of doubts about hiring you… but then since you were recommended by Chanyeol…” She shrugged sheepishly. “Kind of hard to say no to him.”

He blinked. Chanyeol recommended him? “Wait—”

She glanced at her watch then. “Oh, I got to run. Talk to you another time? Work hard, Yixing!”

He waved her off perplexedly. What did she mean Chanyeol recommended him? He had never met Chanyeol before that day at Kris’s place. Maybe it was him who picked up Yixing’s call when he asked about the interview?

Still mulling over the conflicting sentences, Yixing reached down to pick up the paper cup, forgetting that it was hot – “Be careful!” – and instantly dropped the cup as the unbearable heat stung his fingers. Without looking up, he allowed Kris to take his hand and blow at his scalded fingers.

“What are you thinking of that you forgot what you were doing again?” Kris admonished him, the gentleness in his voice surprising Yixing. Yixing turned away, but didn’t remove his hand from Kris’s grip. It that every time he resolved to hate Kris, the actor had to do something completely like his old self and send his resolutions tumbling into the dark pits.

“I read about your engagement,” Yixing said instead, flicking a gaze at Kris’s face to observe his reaction. “Are you okay?”

A smile tugged at Kris’s lips and he nodded. “Were you jealous?” he asked softly, idly Yixing’s fingers. “Sica and I… it was a mutual work relationship. She needed to promote her drama and I… needed a concept for my debut album.”

Oh. Oh. Understanding dawned on Yixing’s face. That was why Kris was going down the R&B route? Heartbreak was his concept?!

“Wow,” Yixing said stupidly.

Kris seemed to find his reaction amusing, judging from the slight grin on his face. “Yixing. I really, really missed you,” he murmured, “I know you probably regret taking the rap for me – since you didn’t write me back at all – and you’re mad I didn’t pick you up the day you were released but I couldn’t just leave the award show. What do I have to do for you to for—”

“KRIS!” a voice bellowed down the hallway. Chanyeol. Yixing immediately jerked away from Kris, tumbling back into the vending machine with his eyes wide. He looked away uncomfortably when Chanyeol shot him a piercing glare and yanked Kris to his feet.

“The producer wants to discuss the track you recorded yesterday,” Yixing heard Chanyeol tell Kris. “Go and stop wasting his time.”

There was a long pause of silence as a pair of footsteps left them. Yixing slowly got up to his feet and prayed that the guilt didn’t show on his face, although technically he didn’t do anything… did he?

“I heard about your kiss with Kris yesterday,” Chanyeol said coolly, glowering at Yixing. “Look, I don’t know what your relationship is with him but I’ve been through hell with Kris. You better get professional if you want to keep this job.”

Yes. Chanyeol was right. He needed to keep his distance from Kris. So what if the engagement was fake? Kris was with Chanyeol now.

“Just out of curiosity,” Yixing began, just as Chanyeol was about to turn away, “Do you know a Byun Baek Hyun?”

Were his eyes playing tricks on him or did Chanyeol just flinch? “None of your business,” he snarled, and stomped off.

It appeared that Yixing now had even more to think about.

***

Kyung Soo’s café was thankfully quiet when Yixing arrived that night. Sitting down in his favourite corner table with a large cup of Hoji tea latte while he waited for Luhan to arrive, Yixing’s mind could not help wandering back to the incident earlier.

Chanyeol recommended him for the job when they did not know each other. Even if he was the one Yixing spoke to on the phone to ask about the interview location, one minute of conversation did not justify the reason behind the recommendation.

He also clearly knew Baek Hyun, but obviously things weren’t fantastic between the two. Yixing glanced up from his tea latte to look at his friend behind the counter talking to Kyung Soo, suddenly upset that Baek Hyun’s The One wasn’t quite the one after all. Funny, the two of them wrote letters to each other so frequently when they were in prison; how did it end up like this?

And letters. Yixing’s eyebrows furrowed. Kris… said something about him not writing back. Why would Yixing write back to him if Kris didn’t send him any letters in the first place?

“When were you going to tell me, Xing?”

The thoughts dispersed into the back of his mind when Yixing heard the familiar voice of his best, no, boyfriend. A smile broke onto his face but it faded quickly at the sight of Luhan’s displeased face.

“Tell you…?” he trailed off, baffled. “Tell you what?”

“That you are working for Kris,” Luhan snapped, suppressed anger evident in his voice. “Since when do we keep things from each other?”

Yixing inhaled sharply. “How did you…” he started to ask but shook his head quickly at the frightening look on Luhan’s face. Rather than cowering at his fury, Yixing was more afraid of hurting Luhan. “I didn’t mean to keep it from you. I just didn’t think it would matter.”

“Why wouldn’t it?” Luhan said infuriately, “My boyfriend spends more time with his ex than me every day. How could it not matter?”

“Xiaolu…” Yixing reached over to hold Luhan’s hand, hoping that doing so would calm him down. “Don’t be mad at me. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, okay? I don’t want you worrying over something as trivial as this.”

“How is this trivial!?”

“It is if I want it to be,” Yixing said determinedly and shot Luhan a tentative smile. “Kris’s presence doesn’t bother me anymore… doesn’t this mean I’m over him?” A little white lie wouldn’t hurt. “Plus they are paying me a ridiculous amount of money that I definitely wouldn’t be able to get if I work elsewhere with my criminal record.”

Luhan contemplated Yixing’s words silently, the anger vanishing from his face much to Yixing’s relief. “It doesn’t bother you anymore?” he asked in a small voice. Yixing could not resist getting out of his chair to hug the older man tightly, his heart squeezing at the idea of hurting Luhan.

“Nope. Not at all,” Yixing lied, pulling away slightly so he could kiss the uncertainty away from Luhan. “Still mad at me?”

“Maybe,” muttered Luhan, the half smile on his lips betraying him as he playfully nipped on Yixing’s lower lip.

“How did you… find out about Kris anyway?”

Luhan shrugged, wanting to put the conversation behind them. “Baek Hyun told me,” he said off-handedly as he tugged Yixing down back onto the chairs and leaned over to steal his latte.

Strange.

Yixing never told Baek Hyun.

A/N: What is this mindeffery~ I hope this isn't too confusing. Tell me what you think. 

SO 2 chapters today... can I get double the comments please? n____n