Loud music pounded from the speakers of Yixing’s locked room. The volume masked the worried knocks of his two other housemates but Yixing knew they were outside, yelling at him to open up. He knew it wasn’t fair to Luhan but he needed time alone. The day had been too eventful for him and it was taking a toll on his emotional state.

Against his better judgment, Yixing opened and read every single one of the letter, his chest tightening until it felt like he was going to combust. Heartbroken tears coursed down his cheeks unhindered and his breath hitched each time he picked up a new letter.

Kris had been religiously writing him every week after that one time he came to visit. Yixing learnt that he had to lie to his manager that day because the agency (the very same that Yixing had been training in) was adamant that they cut off all ties. His popularity had skyrocketed through the roof since his breakout role in some romantic comedy drama and the share of stalker fans he got on a daily basis made it tough for him to go anywhere without being watched.

He learnt that with popularity, secrets were also dug out by the minute. His managers were changed frequently because selling his secrets made them more money than working for him, which led people to think he was mistreating his staff.  

And every letter, without fail, would declare how much he missed Yixing and how he couldn’t wait for Yixing to come home.

But then Yixing came across a letter that mentioned that he made a friend who used to be a trainee in a rival agency. The amount of space dedicated to said friend grew with each subsequent letter. That friend, although unidentified in the letters, had to be Chanyeol.

Yixing should have known. Just when he had been receiving hope from the letters he had found and had been tempted to give Kris a chance, he was rudely reminded of the steamy make-out session and how Kris was attached to him. Because even though Kris might still have feelings for him (and vice versa), Yixing did not want to come between him and Chanyeol.

He looked at the CD on his bed and without a second thought, Yixing bent it and broke it into pieces.

It was all too late.

He needed some space.  

He had to quit.

Pulling a jacket from his wardrobe, Yixing crawled out of bed and lifted the hood over his face. He knew he pretty much looked like crap now but he wanted to get his resignation over and done with.

His housemates were nowhere to be found when he left his room. Relief crept up at him. At least he could postpone explaining himself.

It was a long walk from the apartment Yixing shared with Baek Hyun to Kris’s house but he welcomed it. He tightened his jacket around him and fixed his eyes to the pavement in front of him when he heard Kris’s name on the radio from one of the shophouses.

“Kris Wu’s debut title track will only drop next week but for all you lucky listeners, KBS Cool FM has been given permission to play ahead of its release date!”

It only took two seconds for Yixing to recognise the familiar guitar strains. It was the track he had done backup vocals for! Despite wanting to distant himself, he could not help lingering on the sidewalk, having broken the CD Kris gave him earlier and not yet heard the final product.

The little excitement he had burned down to nothing at the end of three minutes and fifty-two seconds.  

His vocals had been completely stripped off the track.

It was so ludicrous Yixing couldn’t help but laugh bitterly. Exactly what point was Kris trying to make, getting him to sing backup then giving him a CD that didn’t even have his vocals? Was he supposed to be the bigger man and be happy that Kris was releasing his debut album?

“Yixing!”

The excited voice pulled him out of his reverie. Yixing turned to the person who called his name and met the gaze of Kyung Soo and a slightly taller, tanner man attached at his hip.

“How are you? How’s work? I haven’t seen you at the café for a long time,” Kyung Soo rambled on, clearly thrilled to have bumped into Yixing. His energy was so contagious Yixing couldn’t help smiling back at them.

“Sorry. I’ve been really busy at work,” he apologised, and arched an eyebrow at Kyung Soo before nodding at the stranger next to him. “On a date?”

The tips of Kyung Soo’s ears turned red as he nodded. “Um. Where are my manners,” he said sheepishly. “This is Jongin, my…”

“Boyfriend,” Jongin supplied with a roll of his eyes and offered Yixing his hand to shake. “He’s in denial of our relationship but he’s very much taken.”

A much-needed chuckle left Yixing’s lips as he gripped Jongin’s hand in a handshake. “I’m Yixing.” He clucked his tongue at Kyung Soo. “Jongin seems like a good catch – don’t you want to claim him before some else’s does?”

“He drinks too much!”

“Jagiya, I just smell that way,” Jongin argued childishly, and to Yixing, he added, “I own a pub.” He paused and waggled his eyebrows. “You have a pretty face. I happen to need staff. Want to join me?”

He blinked in surprise at the sudden question. Before Kyung Soo could cut in and say he already had a job, Yixing nodded resolutely. “I think I will.”

***

It was late when Yixing finally reached Kris’s neighbourhood by foot. There was an odd atmosphere that normally wasn’t there when Yixing left Kris’s house after work. Only when Yixing reached his ex-lover’s house that he realised what the reason was.

“What have you done to Yixing!?” Luhan yelled, the sheer volume of his voice breaking the silence of the otherwise serene neighbourhood. “Yixing locked himself in the room since he came home!”

“I—”

“If something happens to him, I swear I will kill you,” he spat. “He’s too good for you.”

The words seemed to cause something to snap in Kris as the taller of the two grabbed the other man by the collar and stood up to his full height. “And you think you’re the right person for him?” he snorted. “Don’t make me laugh!”

“You can’t give him what he wants—”

“Does he know what you did?” Kris continued furiously. “That you were the one who called the cops that day?”

“That’s only because—”

“Yes, yes, that’s only because you want me arrested,” he spat dismissively. “But thanks to your brilliant move, you caused him to go to prison.” Kris laughed darkly. “You act like you care for him so much but you didn’t even dare to tell him what you did because you know, don’t you? That if he found out you were trying to take me down, he’d break off all ties with you?” He shoved Luhan hard and fixed him a deathly glare. “You were the one who ruined his life.”

Yixing froze and stepped out of the shadows to stare at them from the gate. “What the is going on?” he whispered, his eyes wide with perplexity and shock. Luhan knew Kris had been using drugs and called the police on him? Luhan knew Yixing had gone to jail when he was clean – and still called him a druggie?

The two men looked like deer caught in the headlight. Yixing stumbled backwards in disbelief.

“Yixing!” they said at once.

“Let me explain–”

“—It’s not what—”

“I think it’s exactly what I think,” he interrupted, hurt. “Am I some puppet for you to play however you want it? Or an object to be claimed?” Yixing looked at the two of them incredulously. “I cannot believe this.”

He held up a hand when Kris and Luhan stepped towards him. “I-I can’t look at the both of you now,” he whispered, backing away before he darted back when he came from.

He had spent 2 years in jail for possessing drugs because of Luhan. Luhan had wanted Kris arrested for drugs but he hadn’t realised Kris’s stuff would be with him. A few days ago, Luhan apologised for not visiting him – would it be because he was guilty? Hell, maybe he didn’t even go to China like he said he did.

Predictably, his phone started ringing. First Luhan, then Kris… the two of them were obviously competing to see who could reach him first. Yixing violently jabbed the Ignore Call button and scrolled through his list of contacts.

“K-Kyung Soo? Can I crash at your place?”

A/N: I feel so bad for Yixing. Anyway.

Thank you all so much for your subscriptions and comments. I have to emphasize that if it were not for your rants on each character, I might have missed out certain plot points, or worse, lost motivation to continue. ;___; Yeah, sudden flash of insecurity.