“Yixing!” Luhan yelled, shoving past the others to catch the man escaping up the stairs. His mind was in a whir, feelings of confusion and helplessness not doing much to his inner turmoil. Yixing’s “I hope you become the biggest star in Beijing” sent a jolt through his chest because while it was true that Luhan wanted it, Luhan could tell that this wasn’t the way Yixing expected Luhan to achieve it. Yixing was far too pure to understand the reasons behind it and while Luhan normally wouldn’t give a damn, he was here now for some reason, chasing after him.

His hand circled around Yixing’s slim wrist, stopping him before he could run into his room. “Yixing!” he said desperately, “Listen to me. Bi Ren means nothing – it’s strictly business between us. Once it’s all over, we can–”

“You really don’t have to explain to me,” Yixing interrupted quietly, face turned away from Luhan. “I get it. If I had known you were trying to get to her all this time, I would have sped up the process and follow Bi Ren’s request to break up with you. I was never part of your plan, was I? You just needed me to get to her and there I was, wasting your time, thinking we were in a rela—” He stopped then and laughed, dryly.

Luhan shook his head vigorously. It was true that Yixing wasn’t part of his plan – he hadn’t intended to grow feelings for him. When he came to the house, all he wanted was for Yixing and Sehun to go, to make his mother suffer but now everything was falling apart and going out of control.

Hang on.

“What do you mean ‘Bi Ren’s request to break up with me’?” Luhan asked slowly.

Yixing shrugged at the ground. “Does it matter? You two deserve each other.”

“Of course it matters!” Luhan exploded. His mind raced. What the hell was Bi Ren playing at? Did she want him that badly or was she just trying to ruin whatever Yixing had? The entire thing sounded familiar; he bit his tongue in guilt at the realisation that he too had been there and done that. He shook his head again. No. That was in the past.

“Wait for me, Yixing,” the idol pleaded. “Once this engagement thing is over, I’ll come back for you.”

Yixing’s eyes flickered over to him and the dead expression in his shining eyes stopped Luhan’s heart. Luhan swallowed thickly, aware, for the first time, of how selfish he sounded.

“I don’t think so,” Yixing said softly. “I don’t think I can betray my family by being with someone that’s already involved with my sister.” He blinked rapidly and his lips pulled into a heartbreakingly sad smile. “It’s game over for us, Luhan.”

No. No. Luhan’s eyes widened in shock, then in disbelief and anger. Who did Yixing think he was, deciding things like this? How dare he say no before Luhan pushed him away? “You’ve got to be kidding,” snarled the idol furiously, tightening his grip on Yixing’s wrist and blatantly ignoring Yixing’s wince and his attempt to get away.

“Let go of him!”

Out of nowhere, that dark man Yixing was with appeared and shoved him; caught by surprise, Luhan stumbled back and before he could react, the man was standing in between him and Yixing. Luhan narrowed his eyes, tempted to punch the living daylights out of him. A low growl left his lips when he caught sight of Yixing escaping into his room and the stranger blocked him from following.

“Who the are you?” he snapped. “You’re not welcome in my home.”

The stranger’s full lips formed a smirk. “Kai. Better known as Yixing’s boyfriend.”  His hand came forward to grab a fistful of Luhan’s shirt but it didn’t take more than a couple of seconds for Zitao to sense the threat to the idol and appear; once he did, he yanked Kai away from the idol. Luhan was still reeling from his words – his boyfriend? – that he almost didn’t catch what Zitao said.

“... keep what you hear today to yourself,” his manager threatened Kai. “If I hear a whisper of it outside this house, you better prepare for your funeral.”

Kai laughed aloud and patted Zitao condescendingly (Luhan was amazed his head was still attached to his neck at this point). “Don’t worry. I wouldn’t want to hurt Yixing any further than you two have.” He eyeballed Luhan at that and pointedly murmured an excuse me before he too went inside Yixing’s room.

Luhan let out the breath he didn’t know he had been holding. His palms hurt from the fingernails digging into it. If he could, he’d burn down Yixing’s room door with his stare. He took a step towards it, desperate to separate the two but Zitao stopped him with a heavy hand tightly gripping onto his shoulder.

“Why didn’t you tell me you like Yixing?” his manager asked softly and sighed. “Don’t be distracted by him, Xiaolu. Remember our plan. You have to keep your eye on the target. He’s not worth destroying everything we’ve worked for. Leave him be for now.”

“Whatever did Yixing ge do to you?” a voice blurted out at the stairs. Sehun stared at them, hurt and betrayal etched on his facial expression. “I thought you were good people. Yixing ge likes you, Luhan ge... why did you lie that you weren’t together when I asked you the other day? Is it fun playing with him?” He glanced at Zitao then, disappointed. “And you... I don’t know you at all. You’re different from the Tao I know. You’re horrible.”

“Sehun...”

“Don’t Sehun me,” the youngest of three snapped. “If you’re going to threaten me to keep this all a secret, don’t bother. I will. I rather Yixing ge believe you didn’t like him than you do and abandoning him all the same.”

***

Yixing did not want to be here. Not with Luhan sitting across him at the table, intently watching him and Kai. He had an inkling what Kai told him and even though it wasn’t true, he didn’t think it made a difference to Luhan whether or not Kai was his boyfriend. He felt extremely uncomfortable but he did his best in ignoring the idol and placed all his attention on his foster mother.
 

“Ma, your cooking is still the best,” he told Qiuyue with forced cheeriness. “I missed it so much.”

Qiuyue's tender smile released the tension on his shoulders, warmth wrapping itself around Yixing like a tight hug. “Come home more often and I’ll cook for you then.”

Yixing could not help but return the smile, feeling a lot better at his foster mother’s words. He had been worried he’d feel out of place now that he wasn’t part of this family but being around Qiuyue and Sehun felt familiar and homely. He nodded obediently, eyes crinkling in the corners when he smiled again, this time a lot more genuine.

Two bites into his food, Qiuyue calmly spoke again and Yixing nearly choked when she asked if Kai was his boyfriend because she wasn’t blind enough not to notice the other man holding his hand under the table. He was so busy coughing he didn’t notice the dark expression on Luhan’s face, nor stop Kai in time when he told her whiningly, “I’m wooing Yixing but he’s not giving me the time of the day, eomeoni.”

Eomeoni? Yixing glimpsed at Sehun turning red and felt his own cheeks warm as well. Did Kai just call Qiuyue mother? Yixing didn’t know many Korean words but he was pretty sure he knew what that meant. Sneaky, trying to get Yixing’s mother on his side.

Qiuyue gave Kai a questioning look. “Eomeoni?” she repeated, confused, until Kai explained and she laughed aloud. She frowned playfully at Yixing. “Why are you making things difficult for this nice boy, Xingtuo?”

Yixing felt flushed right up to his toes but he was cut off before he was given a chance to reply. Luhan dropped his fork  onto the plate with a loud clang and stood up, drawing the attention of everyone at the table. “I’m full,” he announced, slanting his sharp gaze at Yixing before storming off. Heart aching a little at the look the idol gave him, Yixing wondered if this meant Luhan hated him now for not giving the idol what he wanted.

His gaze fell onto Zitao by accident and he didn’t have the time to find it odd that the manager avoided his eyes when he heard the sound of Qiuyue sighing. Guess she still hadn’t been able to talk through to Luhan. He turned back to his foster mother and scrunched up his face cutely at her in the hopes of distracting her from feeling too upset with Luhan’s behaviour. “Ma, you’re giving me away without doing a check on him?” he pretended to complain, inwardly relieved when she laughed.

“If he dares break your heart, Ma will have his head,” she said lightly and even though she was joking, Yixing’s pulse quickened in delight. She still cared for him! He grinned stupidly back at her, feeling a lot less heartbroken to know that he wasn’t completely unwanted.

“I miss you, Ma,” he blurted out, not caring that they weren’t completely alone and it was really quite embarrassing to show this needy side of him to Kai and Zitao. “I miss Sehun, I miss the Attic, I miss home.”

He didn’t know if it was his imagination or if her smile really did waver a little but it didn’t matter because Qiuyue reached over for the hand Kai wasn’t holding. “I miss you too,” she said softly. “Why don’t you spend the night here? I’m sure Zhang Heng will understand.”

***

It was nearly 2am when Yixing retired to his bedroom. After Kai had left, he had spent the entire evening talking to his foster mother, then with Sehun, chatting more in the few hours than the one week at Uncle Heng’s palace. The familiarity and warmth of his old home eased the anxiety and awkwardness he had felt around his actual family, around his father and half-siblings. Why was it so difficult to recreate the relationship he had with Qiuyue and Sehun? Yixing was blood-related to them... why did it seem like mission impossible for them to like him?

Falling back onto his bed, he wrapped the blanket around his body into a tight cocoon. This was his home... not that gigantic mansion. That Palace wasn’t suited for someone like him to live in. He wasn’t suited to work in an office, as cool as Audiobeats and his colleagues were. He felt phony in this new life of his. Uncle Heng might be his father but after recent events, Yixing couldn’t help but feel he was never going to be as important as his real children.

Yixing let out a long breath and his side to stare out the window, at the starless night sky. Why did everything have to be so complicated?

Eyes feeling heavy, he was about to finally fall asleep when he heard the door creak open and quiet footsteps padding into the room. He didn’t know why he shut his eyes and pretended to be asleep; perhaps he had already guessed who the intruder would be. Yixing’s ears strained to hear any sounds that would give the other person away before he left, but he needn’t worry because his bed sunk in underneath the other’s weight. That person wasn’t about to leave anytime soon then.

“I’m sorry if I hurt you,” he whispered, the soft words floating over Yixing and easing the knots in his stomach. No wonder Luhan was such a popular singer – he had such a nice voice. The gentleness in his voice was almost enough for Yixing to believe he truly hadn’t meant for any of this to happen, for him to forgive him. Almost.

“I swear, I didn’t use you to get to Bi Ren. I was surprised too when she came up to me to become a sponsor...” Luhan trailed off and for a long moment, he didn’t speak. “I know how bad your relationship with her is and I’m sorry I’m such a horrible person for accepting it but it's the only way I can get out of my slump... I'm sorry you had to be a victim in this."

Yixing felt warm breath on his face then and without any warning, Luhan brushed his lips lightly on his forehead. The action was so gentle, so unlike the idol that Yixing's heart clenched. Why did it feel like there was a note of finality about this?

“I’ll make it up to you when it's all over,” whispered Luhan and as much as Yixing wanted to ignore him, to pretend Luhan's voice and Luhan's promise was just a figment of his imagination, his pulse quickened in hope.

But when would it all be over?

***

“Hi, you've reached Zhang Yixing's phone. I can't come to the phone right now, but please leave me a message and I'll call you back when I can!”

“Hello, Mr Zhang. This is Guo Simin, reporter of China Daily. I would like to discuss the possibility of Luhan and Zhang Bi Ren's engagement being a cover up for your illegitimate ties with the Zhang family. Please call me back.”

A/N: Meant to update earlier but distracting albums are distracting. Sob at my broken Taohun. /: Comment and upvote please?