What was going on? How did Luhan become Bi Ren’s boyfriend? The smile on Yixing’s lips felt strained and artificial but he kept it on anyway. He had told Bi Ren he broke up with Luhan… was that why she went after him? But Luhan said he liked him. They were together, weren’t they? Why was he Bi Ren’s boyfriend now?

Did Luhan use him to get to Bi Ren?

He muttered a quiet “good morning” and turned to stare out the window through his blurry vision. Luhan really should be given more credit for his acting skills. Yixing almost believed it when he was jealous about Kris and jealous about his female colleague at lunch. It was all an act and Yixing was merely a chess piece in whatever game Luhan was playing. Luhan really had him fooled.

The 20-minute ride to the office felt like 20 hours to Yixing. He felt overly aware of what was going on and when Bi Ren shifted closer towards Luhan at a red light, he looked down onto his lap and shut his eyes tightly, heart pounding loudly in his chest. 

The Porsche hadn’t come to a complete stop before Yixing yanked open the door and stumbled out after an equally quiet “thanks for the ride”. His insides twisted painfully as he staggered towards the building and to the Audiobeats office.

It hadn’t even been a full minute since Yixing sat down at his cubicle before Tingting, the colleague Kris had set him up with, appears with a catlike smile and another too short dress, looking very much like she wanted to pounce on him there and then.

“Yixing! You left me at the restaurant the other day,” pouted Tingting, who sat down at the edge of his table with little concern with how her short dress was riding up. “Aren’t you going to make it up to me?”

He really wasn’t in the mood to indulge her but it wasn’t in Yixing to be outright rude. He struggled to smile.

“Of course,” he told her politely. “I’ll buy you lunch tomorrow.”

Tingting looked satisfied with the answer because she moved on to a topic Yixing did not want to touch at all. “I didn’t know Luhan’s your foster brother. Isn’t his mother that singer? Qiu something? So are you adopted?”

She had way too many questions and all of her questions revolved around Luhan, the last person he wanted to think about right now. It was suffocating him so much he let out a sigh of relief when his office phone started ringing.

“Kris wants to see me in his office,” he said, trying not to sound too eager to escape. “I’ll talk to you later.” Yixing hurried into the manager’s office and nearly slammed the door in his haste to get away from her. He glared at Kris in annoyance, his thumb pointing over his shoulder at the clear glass behind him.

“If the rest of them can’t look into your office, I’ll be strangling you right now,” Yixing told him through gritted teeth. “And if you ever set me up on a blind date, I will go to your house and murder you, Kris Wu.”

 Kris at least had the decency to look guilty but the expression on his face was gone in seconds. Yixing plopped down heavily onto the chair across Kris irritably and stared at the tiny imperfect hole on the wall behind his best friend. Anger and annoyance were very much welcomed emotions for him right now – anything better than the hurt he felt for being used in a relationship he thought was real.

“In my defence,” Kris started to say, “I thought she was a very nice girl. Until I saw her sitting at your desk and trying to flash you with what’s under that dress.” Kris’ lips curled up in amusement and he leaned forward. “You know, most guys would totally take the opportunity to get together with her. Why didn’t you?”

Yixing shrugged, suddenly feeling a little uncomfortable with the direction the conversation was taking. “She’s just not my type,” he muttered.

“So what’s your type?” Kris in. “Luhan?”

The abrupt mention of the idol’s name stopped Yixing’s heart momentarily. Things were suddenly so complicated – did Kris know he wasn’t straight? Did Kris know he once had a crush on him? Did Kris know he was briefly with Luhan?

“I don’t think we should be discussing this right now, Kris,” Yixing said instead. “I should be going back to work.”

His hand s out to grab Yixing’s wrist before the younger man could stand up and leave the office. “I’m your boss,” pointed out Kris. “If I say you stay, you stay. Yixing, I just want to help. Are you… and Luhan…?”

The question was phrased awkwardly but it was enough for Yixing to tell that Kris was straight and would never like him in the same manner as he did. He knew as a best friend, Kris would accept him, but it was so obvious he didn’t have much experience with gay relationships. He smiled wanly and shook his head.

“I’m not with Luhan,” he said quietly, the words breaking his heart all over again. An image of Bi Ren leaning towards Luhan flashed in his mind, twisting the knife deeper into his chest. “But I’ll really appreciate it if you quit matchmaking me, Kris.” He removed Kris’ hand from his wrist firmly. “I’ll be going back to work now, if you don’t mind.”

He spent the rest of the day avoiding Kris, pretending to look as if he had a pile of work to complete even though Kris knew he really didn’t have much to do. Thankfully, the Audiobeats manager left him alone, but on the downside, it gave him way too much time to think about Luhan and his half-sister. He should have known it was too good to be true, that Luhan would fall for someone like him.

Not wanting to go home so quickly after work and face Bi Ren, Yixing agreed to his colleague Chanyeol’s plea to hang out with a bunch of his university friends. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kris flash an apprehensive glance his way from inside his office, as if worried Chanyeol would corrupt him. That thought made Yixing smile a little and he made a mental note to send his dumb best friend a text message later.

“You’ll like them,” Chanyeol said cheerily, his eyes sparkling so brightly Yixing briefly wondered if he should have brought a pair of sunglasses along. Why was Chanyeol always so happy? He felt like a dark thunder cloud next to the dazzling sun.

“This is Kyungsoo, Junmyeon, Kai. And Baekhyun,” his colleague introduced when they reached the pub, smiling extra widely at the last name. Yixing couldn’t help but return that smile, particularly when he saw Chanyeol oh so casually drape his arm around Baekhyun’s shoulders to pull him closer.

“I’m Yixing,” he murmured and let Kai usher him into a seat next to him. Kai passed him a bottle of Qingdao beer, thick lips crooked into a lazy smile that would have stopped his heart if it were still working after Luhan broke it.

“Nice to meet you,” Kai drawled, touching their beer bottles together with a soft ‘clink’. “You’re the first person from Chanyeol’s workplace that he ever introduced us. What makes you so special?”

The question came out of nowhere. Yixing flushed slightly and took a huge gulp of beer while his colleague tried to convince Baekhyun he had no interest in Yixing. He shrugged, a little embarrassed, and almost breathed a sigh of relief when Kyungsoo smacked the back of Kai’s head and told him to behave.

In between a dozen beers and a dwindling stream of customers, Yixing soon found himself alone with Kai. The other man turned out to be 2 years younger than him and was on an exchange program in one of Beijing’s top universities. It just so happened that Kai had a much higher alcohol tolerance than Yixing and by the time 4am rolled about, Yixing was half asleep on Kai’s lap.

“Xing… wake up. It’s time to go home.”

Yixing responded sleepily by turning the other way. A chuckle escaped from Kai, who then slipped his hand into Yixing’s pocket to take his phone out. Just as his finger hovered over speed dial #1 (“Home”), it started ringing.

“Hello?” Yixing bleakly heard Kai say. “Sorry, Yixing can’t come to the phone right now. He’s drunk… Who is this? Oh, his brother? … That’s really not necessary… why don’t you give me your address and I’ll send him home. Mmhmm. Sure.”

It was how, an hour later, a drunken Yixing, barely able to stand by himself, was draped all over Kai outside his old home with a livid Luhan pacing at the gate. He was rudely awakened when another pair of arms pulled him away from Kai and the silly smile on his lips disappeared when his eyes opened to see the idol glaring at him.

“Why are you so drunk?” Luhan hissed. Instead of answering him, Yixing peeled his hands away and stumbled backwards into Kai. Even with alcohol was clouding his mind, Yixing wasn’t stupid enough to pretend everything was fine. He grabbed hold of Kai’s arm to steady himself and shot his new friend a beseeching look.

“Why are we here, Kai?” he slurred, completely ignoring Luhan’s presence. “I don’t want to be here.”

Kai’s gaze flicked from Yixing to Luhan and back again. “Isn’t he your brother? Isn’t this your home?”

“Yixing, stop fooling around,” Luhan snarled but Yixing shook his head. If Yixing were more sober, he would have seen the furious sparks flying from Luhan’s glare.

“Noooope. I got kicked out,” Yixing said brokenly, and clung to Kai’s arm. “Can you take me somewhere else. Please.”

Luhan tried to pull him back again but this time Kai smacked his hand away. Yixing briefly registered the two men arguing before he out, head falling unconsciously into Kai’s shoulder.

***

A pair of lips brushed over Yixing’s, waking him up from a pounding headache and a restless sleep. When his nose twitched at the unfamiliar scent of cologne and shampoo, Yixing’s eyes fluttered open to meet a ridiculously handsome face. Two things hit him: he was in bed and Kai was sitting on him, arms pressed down on the bed on each side of his face.

“Morning, sleeping beauty,” he said with a crooked smile. Yixing shoved him off the bed in panic.

“Did you just kiss me?” Yixing asked incredulously, furiously rubbing his lips with the back of his hand as he took in his surroundings. No, this definitely wasn’t his home. Not with the bright green walls with splattered orange paint that was supposed to look artistic but wound up looking more like art vomit. He cringed, head throbbing even more with the rude splash of colours, and gratefully accepted the two aspirins Kai held out.

“It was the only way I could think of to wake you up.” Kai shrugged, not at all bothered that he just kissed someone he knew less than 24 hours ago. Kai looked up at Yixing from the floor. “You don’t remember anything, do you?”

Yixing’s eyebrows furrowed as he tried to think. Chanyeol had taken him to a pub where his university friends were gathering. He had been having quite a nice chat with Kai here, with several bottles of beer involved. After that… after that…

Kai took pity on Yixing and tossed a mobile phone onto the bed. “I switched it off because your brother kept calling,” he told him as Yixing powered it on again. His eyes widened at the notification of 20 missed calls – 2 of which were from Uncle Heng and 18 of which from Luhan. “I don’t want to pry, but did you run away from home? You seemed very unwilling to go with that Luhan person when I brought you back.”

Hang on – Kai took him back to Qiuyue’s house? He was starting to remember bits and pieces of it. It was only then his eyes fell on a bluish bruise on Kai’s cheekbone.

“Did Luhan do that to you?” he blurted out guiltily. Kai waved it off casually, muttering a “this is nothing you should have seen his face” that bothered Yixing more than he cared to admit. Grimacing, Yixing ran his hand through his hair to tidy it up a bit and scrambled out of bed. “I should go. Uncle H – my father is going to be worried.”

Kai looked confused but he didn’t try to stop Yixing. “Can I at least see you later? Tonight?”

“What for?”

The tanned younger man shrugged. “You owe me a date. For getting punched in the face for you.”

How could Yixing reject him when he put it that way?

“I’ll call you!” Kai yelled cheerfully.

***

There was a huge commotion outside the Palace when Yixing finally reached his destination. At least 20 people were milling outside, some with huge cameras, some with notepads, and all of them looked serious. A quick scan told him there were about 2 camera crews there with their bulky video cameras. The whole scene reminded him of how the reporters ambushed Luhan outside the Book Attic weeks ago, and the sudden thought of the idol left a sour taste in his mouth.

There was no way Yixing could enter the Palace without getting their attention. He was still the unknown illegitimate child of Zhang Heng. Oh no – did they find that out? He swallowed anxiously, his fingers tightly gripping on the hem of his shirt. Were they in trouble?

Some words drifted into his ears. … hotel… sleeping around… Blood rushed to his cheeks as Yixing turned to find the sources of the conversation. They weren’t talking about his mother, were they?

“Hi,” he said politely to the two older women whom he recognised as residents of the neighbourhood. “Do you know what’s happening there?”

Thankfully they didn’t seem to be aware of who he was, considering he had been living in the same neighbourhood for a week or so. Instead the older women looked delighted to be able to gossip and they gleefully showed him the tabloid magazine they were holding.

“You know that gay idol, Luhan? Apparently the Zhang heiress is sleeping with him!” one of them said excitedly. Yixing’s blood ran cold as his eyes flickered hesitantly over to the magazine cover.

LUHAN AND HEIRESS ZHANG BI REN CAUGHT TOGETHER IN HOTEL

A/N: Dammit, I just realised I wrote Uncle Heng as Uncle Zhang in previous chapters. The problem with writing too many fics at one time...