2. los angeles

los angeles, usa. the well-known city in the world. everyone dreams of visiting there, seeing hollywood stars. but for wu fan, LA was only for his job as reporter for traveling magazine. but now, it's different. he swears he will never forget LA. especially the last time he visited los angeles.

wu fan was in duty; he was asked by the ceo of the company to go there alone to collect article about hollywood since wu fan is the only person in the company who can speak english fluently, and canadian accent should be recognized by americans too, right? yeah. at least. so wu fan obeyed his boss and headed to LA.

the long flight from beijing to LA was truly nauseating. and boring. wu fan had rolled here and there, curled there and here, but he couldn't feel better. he also couldn't stand listening to the same songs over and over again although he had set it to be shuffle playlist but they were still the same songs since three hours before. not helping at all. if only he could use his cell phone, he would've texted his mom or his colleagues or yixing.

speaking about yixing, ever since wu fan got the dimple guy's cell phone number, they often texted each other; not much, just simple greetings and asking if the other was busy, and telling about the daily routine of the day. usually it's wu fan who texted first, but yixing also texted him first twice. wu fans understood about yixing being too busy with his nursing school so the thought of texting him rarely appeared in his mind.

and wu fan was stuck in a boring economy promo flight and it was still four hours to go. better be sleeping, wu fan mutterd to himself and closed his eyes.

but he couldn't.

oh .

-

LA's spring breeze greeted wu fan nicely, like welcoming him in a good way. wu fan was still wearing long sleeves shirt and he kinda regretted it because LA's weather wasn't as chill as he thought. if only he wore t-shirt or something the breeze would have kissed his skin. but well, he had to deal with it at the moment. he would change into t-shirt later after reaching the motel.

he arrived at a low-cost motel to check in. not too good-looking from outside but according to his boss who once stayed there, the rooms were nice enough. he got the room number 23, and it was upstairs. he carried his belongings to his room and he found out his boss was right. though the room was small, but it was convenient enough at least for a backpacker. he didn't forget to take a note for his article. this motel suits backpacker; low-cost and convenient, he wrote. no luxury restaurant but the owner also owned a small mexican cafe. wu fan told himself to buy taco later. later.

since he felt so dizzy because of jetlag, he took a nap for awhile (nap, yes, it was still noon in LA) without changing clothes first or even wash his hands and feet. he was too tired to do those things. he was going to, but later. later.

lateeer.

-

wu fan was awaken by a sound of the door closing from the next room. it wasn't in harsh way, but since the motel was so small, he could even hear the person next door breathing. no, he was exaggerating. but really.

he took a look of his watch and it showed him 5 pm. he rubbed his eyes and reluctantly got up. the jetlag he was feeling somehow disappeared a bit. he took off his clothes, only to change it with a white t-shirt and oh it felt nice. he headed to the shower room which was located near the stairs. simple, he just took a bath. warm weather made him feel the urge to stream water to his skin arising. he didn't tag along his skincare products to the shower room because hello what would people say regarding that. he would surely apply those later.

when he finished, he immediately got out from the shower room only to bump into someone who then fell down because wu fan was just tall and big and--

"yixing?"

-

"hilarious," wu fan couldn't hide his thought. "you came to LA just to watch justin timberlake's concert?"

yixing smiled seepishly, rubbing his nape to distract his nervousness--hey, telling someone that you're a fan of a certain singer or something is thrilling, you know. and yixing felt it too. he had to explain to wu fan about why he came to LA and it was because of justin timberlake.

"actually it was in anaheim. then i took sudden vacation to LA and yeah. here i am now."

wu fan shook his head, trying to hide his laughter.

"don't laugh," yixing warned. "after all the concert was held last night. it's all over--and he's amazing, you know. he's a great singer and dancer."

wu fan hummed, his arms were folded against his chest. "then, you like him because of that? you flew from china to usa just to see him?"

"i won a quiz, wu fan. the prize was a jt's concert ticket and also the accomodation all the way here til i get back to china. and for god's sake who would miss this opportunity?" yixing shrugged.

the reported nodded with small grin on his face. he then sat down on a chair there, facing yixing who sat down on his bed. they were in yixing's room which was located just next to wu fan's. wu fan assumed the one who woke him up with the sound of closing door was yixing and maybe he went downstairs to pick something up--his passport. the one on his hand now.

"hm? so how was the concert?" wu fan managed his tone to sound like he was interested.

and as expected, yixing suddenly became hyper. "it was fun! magnificent! jt's skill in singing and dancing is just wow. i sound a bit subjective but well he was amazing! he's my big inpiration after all," he beamed.

"inspiration?"

yixing smiled. "i'm dancing too. sometimes singing. i'm composing songs as well. but this dancer, singer, and composer ended up being a soon-to-be nurse."

wu fan looked surprised. "hey, i'm composing too. but usually i rap so... yeah."

"you rap? that sounds cool!" yixing clapped his hands. "do you know jt's song? 'my love'? i can be jt, you can be t.i," he said.

wu fan chuckled. "yeah, yeah whatever."

"seriously, sometimes we should compose songs together."

"someday," wu fan corrected, causing yixing's face fell so he quickly continued, "i mean, you know i'm a reporter of a traveling magazine so i will always be busy. every month i have to go traveling. after that, deadline of the article. so yeah."

yixing then giggled, and wu fan could witness his dimple once again. and oh, how much he missed that dimple? it had been months since they first met in thailand. it had been months; wu fan had been dreaming of that dimple.

"it's funny but," yixing cleared his throat, "why do i feel like... you take it seriously?"

that, yixing caught him off guard. wu fan suddenly felt nervous and he didn't know how to answer. yeah. why did he take it seriously?

"i... thought you were serious about that. no?"

when yixing laughed, wu fan didn't feel angry or something. otherwise, he enjoyed watching yixing laugh. his prominent dimple was showing off and his eyes crinkled.

"oh fine, you weren't serious, were you?"

"hey, you haven't listened to me," yixing tried to control his laughter. "i do want to collaborate with you. even though our projects will be just for fun. but," he smiled, "i didn't expect you'd want to compose songs together with me. i'm happy because you want it too."

wu fan could feel his face became hotter. he inwardly prayed to god that yixing wouldn't notice his obvious red cheeks. but imagining him and yixing composing songs in front of piano or something made him feel really good.

-

the next day, wu fan woke up early to prepare his equipment like camera and notes for the day's journey. he had charged his camera battery so it was safe. phone, too. he was about to get off of his room to yixing's and tag him along, but the younger guy had another plan; he knocked wu fan's door first.

"good morning," yixing greeted. "are you going to collect your article?"

"yeah, i was about to invite you. of you don't mind, of course," wu fan scratched his nape nervously.

"cool! i'm going!" and he got back to his room like a lightning. later, wu fan found out that yixing was picking his purple backpack. he came back with wide grin. "let's go now!"

"yeah, let's go," wu fan replied with smile, clinging his backpack to himself and lock his door.

-

because his article would be just about hollywood, today's journey was only to hollywood, at first. yixing was still happy, hoping he would see some actors and actress. he followed wu fan like a kid following his mom or even a little chicken following mother hen. while wu fan was busy taking photos with his dslr camera, yixing took photos with his iphone. well.

hollywood was really beautiful. the weather was also nice and the sky was truly blue without clouds blocking it. the letters of hollywood were just big; yixing could see them from afar. they climbed the hill just to take photos of LA and god, LA was just cool even in the morning. yixing looked at wu fan who spread his gaze to the town down there. he looked very happy, very excited. he couldn't hide his smile as well when wu fan took the photos endlessly with his wide smile. yixing had to admit, wu fan became more good-looking if he smiled. just expressionless, he's already handsome. yixing somehow envied him because when they were in thailand and even in LA, everyone seemed unable to look away from wu fan. he's handsome and tall and perfect and. and so on.

"have you done?" yixing finally asked.

wu fan just replied with a simple 'not yet' but his stare was locked to his camera, checking the photos he had just taken. he shook his head, a bit disappointed with the result and took photos again.

"i'm bored," yixing whined.

"please wait," wu fan responded. he checked his photo again and he looked pleased. he lifted his face to see yixing. "where do you wanna go to?" he asked.

yixing frowned, thinking about what he should suggest. "i don't know much about LA..." he said in low tone.

"well i quite do. mention one and we'll get there later."

"later," yixing repeated with scoff. wu fan chuckled seeing that. "i think every country has its own chinatown, don't you think?"

"old chinatown it is," wu fan said. "it's not too far from here. that's near echo park, too."

"whatever wu fan, i just want to travel around LA. so when will we get there?" yixing tugged wu fan's sleeve. he just grinned when wu fan threw him an annoyed look because he knew wu fan didn't mean it.

"later," wu fan smiled slyly.

yixing grunted.

-

by 'near from here,' yixing couldn't believe they had to take a bus from hollywood hill to the chinatown because he thought it could be reached with five-minutes walk. but it didn't matter then, after all they finally arrived in the old chinatown. they saw a lot of chinese there, and yixing felt he was home. everyone spoke chinese (although some spoke in english) but at least he could read and understand the names of the shops and foods. wu fan still remembered about yixing who couldn't eat spicy food very well, so he purposely teased yixing when they passed a hunan-ish restaurant. yixing slapped wu fan's arm playfully. wu fan asked yixing whether he wanted to buy souvenirs for his family, but the younger guy said no. he just wanted to sight-see there, since everything in the old chinatown could be found in china.

they dropped by at a restaurant there. as always, yixing didn't order spicy food and wu fan didn't order seafood. although they were counted as new friends, but they seemed to understand each other's preference. as their together-meal, they chose peking duck.

yixing watched wu fan as the tall guy ate the peking duck with chili sauce happily, while he ate it with soy sauce. wu fan seemed to notice that, so he asked, "what's wrong?"

yixing shook his head. he just continued on his own meal.

"you want to try eating chili sauce?"

"no way in hell!" yixing yelled, but it wasn't loud so everyone near them weren't bothered by him.

wu fan chuckled. "yeah, yeah."

"i just can't think of why people like spicy food? what makes it tasty in your tongue?" he asked all of sudden.

for a while, wu fan was dazed.

"i just can't think of why people don't like spicy food? isn't it good?"

wu fan recalled it. yixing made him recall it.

someone--an angel.

"wu fan?"

and when wu fan looked up, there was him. with his soft voice, angelic face, the one he had been forgetting from long time but--

but it's not him.

it's yixing.

"you're okay?" yixing asked with worried face.

wu fan shook his head with small smile, nervously continuing to eat his meal up.

-

echo park was just wide. wide, literally wide. but beautiful. the lake reflected the blue sky, and yixing took a while to admire that. he bent down to touch the lake's surface--or more like he was washing his hands there. for free. yeah, backpacker.

without yixing knowing, wu fan had been staring at him from behind deeply, like yixing was the only one to see in the world. he decided not to miss the chance; he secretly took photos of yixing. there's something different everytime wu fan looked at yixing but no, wu fan couldn't be in love with yixing. yixing is not him. he's never been him. and he's never been a 'replacement'. wu fan personally wasn't ready to call his recent feeling towards yixing 'love'; too fast to jump to the conclusion.

but it's true when he told his heart that he wanted to know more about yixing. it's true that he wanted to get closer to him.

"wu fan how dare you taking photos of me without me knowing???" yixing yelled, bringing wu fan back to reality.

in a second, water was being splashed to wu fan's face and wu fan held his camera as high as he could so the water didn't affect it.

"hey!" wu fan yelled back, only to earn laughter from yixing.

ah, how wu fan loved the sound of him laughing... no, this one was different from the ex-lover's laughter. yixing sounded calmer, and he liked that.

after bickering about the splashing water, they walked around the echo park. wu fan couldn't miss the chance to take photos there because echo park was just pretty. yixing also seemed so happy being there. he took selcas with his own iphone and wu fan, again, secretly took his photos. he tried his best not to let yixing find out about that or else yixing might kick his balls or something. that's scary.

and then, they decided to visit the beach in santa monica. not so many people were there, so yixing could freely run here and there like a kid. it was getting dark actually but since their motel was near the beach, it didn't matter.

yixing dragged wu fan to the ferish wheel and the older hesitantly followed him because he was too tired but he agreed in the end. they entered a gondola and yixing looked so excited. he reasoned he wanted to see the town as well as the sea, and wu fan also wanted it too, anyway. after all he's fan of every beautiful scenery so he wouldn't miss it.

in the gondola, they sat across each other. wu fan was already busy taking photos which made yixing tsk-ed.

"hey wu fan," yixing called. "can i ask you something?"

wu fan stopped snapping photos and turned to yixing. "yes?"

"hm... why did you choose to be reporter of a traveling magazine?" yixing hesitantly asked, afraid if his question hurt wu fan in any way.

but wu fan just smiled and asked back, "may i know why are you asking that?"

"just curious... i mean, look at you. you can be a model or something with that face and body, but you chose to be someone who collects articles and photos of the world instead... so i'm guessing that it's really your dream. if it isn't offending, may i know why?"

wu fan studied yixing's face instead of answering. yixing was too honest and straight-forward in his own unique way so he didn't feel hurt or anything. but his question made him recall the reason why he took the job as traveling magazine's reporter and photographer. did he have to reveal the reason? wu fan did not take liking to share his personal life story to someone he had just met, including yixing; although wu fan believed yixing was nice.

"well, i hope you can bear with a long explanation," wu fan said eventually after a long pause. "i want to see the entire world. i want to reassure myself whether this world is really big and wide or small and tiny. and i want other people to see another side of this world through the photos i take or the articles i write. i want everyone to believe that someday they'll reach the places they've been dreaming of. i want everyone to get a lot of experiences and their own stories about this world."

yixing was speechless. he lost his words so he just let wu fan continue.

"about why i didn't choose to be a model, well... many of my friends have told me that, so no surprise when you asked me about it. and my answer is simple; i'm not interested. i don't think model is a bad job, but i don't like endorsing a product that made people become consumtive without knowing about the real essence of clothes. they'll buy new items over and over again when season changes, won't they? but becoming a traveling magazine's reporter, i feel like i report my own experiences to the others and they can take it as new knowledge, new kind of education. yeah... like that."

yixing, with his amused look, clapped his hands to appreciate wu fan's goals. yixing liked the older guy's ideas because wu fan really dedicated his job for others' sake, not only for himself. wu fan blushed when he realized he had told yixing too much about his intention for educating people with his articles and he scratched his nape.

the ferrish wheel started to roll in slow motion when wu fan asked yixing, "so... what made a dancer like you choose to be a nurse? of course, kindly tell me if it's not offending you."

"of course it's not," yixing said. "maybe my reason will be sounded cliche but... i want to help people. i want to... redeem something."

that, wu fan caught something interesting.

"my friend passed away when i was about to enroll to a university. that time, my parents were going to disown me because i chose art college but when my friend passed away, i suddenly thought that i want to look after him... and i asked my parents if i could take this major and they said yes."

"i'm sorry for your friend," wu fan sent his condolence, without wanting yixing to know that he knew what 'loss' is.

wu fan knew better.

"thank you," yixing smiled. "if only he was here with us, i think he would've been a really good friend for you, too."

they both smiled, inwardly wishing the person they had been missing to get a very good place at god's side.

soon after they finished riding the ferrish wheel, they took some time to play at the beach itself. wu fan, as usual, wouldn't forget to snap some photos because the scenery was truly excellent. the sun was going down, making the blue sky change into orange sky and it was beautiful.

wu fan didn't realize it but since when did yixing's silhouette appear in front of his camera? wu fan looked up to see yixing stood there, back facing him, his arms were opened widely, welcoming the wind to blow his hair and shirt. without him knowing, wu fan couldn't even blink and in the end it hurt his eyes but he seemed can't let go.

right when yixing put his arms back and was about to turn around, wu fan had the chance to snap a photo of his silhouette. but just one, because he was afraid yixing would scold him again for taking candid photos.

"wu fan, let's get back to motel. i'm tired," yixing said. "i have to take some rest before this midnight flight."

"you're leaving tonight?" wu fan asked. "funny, it was you too to leave first when we were in thailand."

yixing smiled seepishly. "sorry. but i've been here longer than you have, right? and i still have classes on the day after tomorrow. so. yeah."

"i see..." wu fan nodded understandingly.

yixing poked wu fan's chest, which made the older guy flinch a bit. "take me to airport?"

"of course," replied wu fan. "now, let's get back to motel."

yixing meant to walk first but wu fan grabbed his wrist and intertwined their hands, taking the lead all the way to motel. yixing was startled and he couldn't stop staring at their hands. just when he noticed wu fan tightened the grip, he dared to look up to see wu fan's smiling face.

"wu fan?"

but wu fan just looked forward without breaking his smile. there, yixing tried not to bother.

-

later that night, wu fan took yixing to LAX. still, with their hands intertwined. yixing was ashamed because of his eventually sweaty hand but wu fan didn't mind at all. they didn't talk at all, just silence and listening to the sound of footsteps of the people around them. sometimes wu fan would chuckled a bit when he heard people there said something funny, but yixing even had no idea what they were talking about, so he just shut his mouth up.

"there, i should enter the gate," said yixing after they heard the announcement about his flight. "see you, wu fan."

soon, yixing could feel a pair of lips on his forehead. and he froze.

"w-wu fan..."

wu fan let go of yixing's forehead and he smiled to the younger guy. "see you. have a safe flight," he said, ruffling yixing's hair.

and yixing left with so many feelings--make that so much--in his heart regarding the goodbye kiss wu fan planted on his forehead.

-

after reaching the motel, wu fan his laptop to begin typing his article. at least he should type half of his article so when he get back later, his to-do list had decreased.

he exhaled and typed.

Los Angeles, the city of angels...

a/n:

sorry if this chapter disappoints you because i kinda struggled when writing it so i'm sorry >.<

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