Chapter 10 – Message

短信
（一）Hold up index fingers of both hands, indicating a ‚short‘ distance
（二）Palm of one hand faces oneself, the other hand touches it with four fingers

The end of the holidays meant that Yifan’s Basketball coach scheduled extra training hours since the first half of the season hadn’t been going too well for the PKU team. Qinghua University had crushed them the last time and the coach wanted to make sure this wouldn’t happen again, so Yifan spent a lot of time in the university’s gym or on the basketball court as soon as the temperatures allowed it. Yin Hang was a member of the ‘unofficial’ cheerleading team which worked close together with the Basketball club, so she and the other girls were around, while the guys practiced their game. ‘Unofficial’ because there was no such association around PKU, but nobody in the audience complained about a bunch of beautiful girls dancing and cheering the team on, so the administration of the university let it slide with this one.
“Hey, do you want to grab something to eat?” Yifan asked Yin Hang who had sat on the sidelines of the court the whole time with one of her cheerleading friends.
She raised an eyebrow in surprise and asked:
“You’re not going off to see that friend of yours?”
She had no clue that Yixing wasn’t just a friend, but Yifan preferred to keep it that way. As much as he liked Yin Hang, she could be way too annoying when it came to him having any serious relationship. The last time he had dated a girl, Yin Hang was all over him with questions about their relationship and he somehow had had the feeling that she had been working against it – she had seemed weirdly relieved when he had told her he was single again.
“Yeah, no, I’ll get there later, he’s sort of busy.”
Yixing was out for an excursion with one of his classes and wouldn’t be back before eight. Originally, Yixing didn’t want to join and had thought of an excuse not to go, but Yifan had talked him into it, mostly because he knew that Yixing would end up liking the field trip anyways.
“Okay, I’m the second choice once again,” she joked but then agreed on getting something at the nearby restaurant on the other side of the PKU’s west gate.
“Cool, let me get changed and we’ll meet here again?”
She nodded to indicate her consent and when Yifan was just about to turn to the locker rooms, she threw in:
“Oh, hey, Yifan, do you mind if she’s tagging along too?”
His friend pointed to the girl next to her that had been silent for the whole conversation. Something about her made Yifan stop short for a moment – she was definitely Chinese looking, but her eyes were bigger and her nose was higher than the average. She smiled and showed straight and perfect white teeth.
“She’s just transferred to PKU and doesn’t know anything around here really,” Yin Hang explained.
“Ummm. Sure, why not?”
“Nice! Yifan, this is Mali. Mali, this is Yifan, he’s a good friend of mine.”
“Nice to meet you,” she said and they shook hands.
“Mali, huh?” Yifan said because this was a rather dull name to give your daughter.
“It’s actually ‘Marie’, but well, I needed a Chinese name when I got here…” The young woman answered, shrugging her shoulders.
“Now I’m even more confused,” Yifan admitted and the girls giggled.
“I’m from Canada. My mother’s Chinese, my father’s Canadian. We just moved here because of my dad’s work,” Marie explained.
“Ooooh! That’s why your face is like…” Yifan pointed to his face and immediately regretted calling her out on her facial features – he could be such an idiot sometimes.
Yin Hang’s eyes grew wide but her new friend didn’t take it in an offensive way.
“I know, right? I’m a weird mixed breed; too white to be Chinese but too Chinese to be white at the same time.”
The comment made Yifan laugh and he left telling them to meet in five minutes again.

When they sat in the small restaurant Yin Hang threw in:
“Did you know that Yifan’s from Canada too?”
Marie’s eyes grew wide and she turned to the guy:
“Really?!”
“Hold on a second Yin Hang. My parents moved there two years ago. I’m from Guangzhou, I’ve been to Canada once in my life to visit them,” Yifan explained but that didn’t seem to cloud the mood of the girl who was seated opposite of him.
“Where do your parents live?”
“Vancouver.”
Marie nodded knowingly and said:
“Too bad, I’ve never been there. I grew up in Quebec.”
“And you’ve never went around your country?” Yin Hang asked while the waiter brought their food.
The other girl looked at her as if she had lost her mind.
“Canada’s even bigger than China. It would take you two days to get to Vancouver from Quebec by car. And there are also no direct flights.”
“Ooooh, I see,” Yin Hang went while Yifan had already started snatching the chicken off the plate, because he was almost dying of hunger.
“Quebec is the French speaking part, right?” Yifan asked more out of politeness than out of real interest.
“Yes, that’s right. But my father made sure I’d learn English too.”
“Wooow, that means you speak three languages!” Yin Hang gasped, but Marie didn’t seem to see this as a great achievement since she grew up with the languages and didn’t have to learn them like Yin Hang who was still struggling with her English sometimes.
They went on about life in Canada and other rather unimportant things while clearing the plates with food. Marie was actually very funny and nice, even though she might come off a little stuck-up in the beginning – their table was the loudest in the restaurant and filled the room with a lot of laughter.
“The worst thing is that no matter how hard I try, my Standard Chinese will never be good,” Marie was just whining while Yin Hang put some of the empty plates together, “My mother talked to me in her Shanghai dialect, so how would I know how to talk the standard form?”
“I think it’s good,” Yin Hang said and tried to comfort her.
“Tell me about it, Marie. I used to talk in Cantonese until I got to school where the first thing my teacher told me was that I spoke in a wrong way.”
She leaned over the table to pat Yifan’s arm and said:
“I found my fellow sufferer.”
“Oh come on guys, it’s not THAT hard,” the other girl threw in but earned judging looks by the other two.
“You’re from Beijing Yin Hang, you speak Standard Chinese already!”
Yin Hang pouted and stuck out her tounge at Yifan. Marie giggled.
“But you don’t have any accent,” she then stated.
“Oh dear lord, Beijing dialect is the most ugly sounding thing I’ve ever heard in my life!” Yin Hang said in horror, before she turned to Yifan, “Doesn’t Luhan have a thick accent?”
“He did. When we met in my first semester I didn’t understand him most of the time,” Yifan admitted, “It was hard, but he got rid of it – he slips up sometimes, but I forgive him on that.”
“Who’s Luhan?” Marie asked and absent mindedly played with a string of her light brown hair.
“A good friend of mine, but we’re not majoring in the same subject.”
The Chinese-Canadian sat up straight and asked with a wide grin:
“Is he cute?”
Yin Hang snorted into her glass of water and Yifan did the same. Marie didn’t quite understand why the others found her question funny so the only man explained:
“I guess he is rather cute. And gay.”
Marie stopped playing with her hair and then said:
“Well, asking doesn’t do any harm, right?”
Yifan’s phone which was placed next to him on the table chimed and a Wechat conversation popped up on the screen. It was Yixing who told him that he just came home and Yifan opted out of the conversation to answer him.

                I’m still out for dinner, but we’re almost done. Have you already eaten? I can get you something from here before I leave.

“You know, when I message him, he takes hours to answer,” Yin Hang teased, but Yifan didn’t really care – he already had a comeback about her comment up his sleeve, but Yixing was the priority right now.

                Since you’re offering, I won’t say no to that. I’ll be waiting for you then. :)

He slid the phone into his pocket and when he looked up he said:
“Yin Hang, I take so long to answer you because you spam me with stupid voice messages that I first have to translate into proper Chinese to understand what you even want from me.”
Yin Hang’s mouth dropped open and Marie giggled. Yifan turned to the waiter and ordered a take out portion of Lazijiding with noodles.
“You’re still hungry?” Marie asked.
“No, it’s for my friend. He just came back from a field trip and I’ll bring something over.”
“So nice of you!” Yin Hang scoffed.
“Little girl, you better watch your mouth today!”
“Yeah, make me.”
Yifan lifted one chopstick to threaten the young woman in front of him.
“Do you think I won’t?”
“I’m shaking in fear,” Yin Hang yawned.
“You guys seem to be close,” Marie stated.
“Closer than we even want,” the other two shot at her in unison – they stopped short and looked at each other, then Yin Hang cried out:
“High Five, baby!”
When their hands met in the air, Marie concluded:
“You two were dating, right?”
“You’re pretty clever,” Yifan stated, but Marie responded:
“I just watched a lot of Sherlock recently…”
“Well, you’re right, but we didn’t get really far. The whole thing was over after two weeks.”
“Four,” Yin Hang corrected, “I have endured you as my boyfriend for four weeks.”
Marie giggled but before Yifan could respond to it, the waiter came along with the food for Yixing and asked for twelve Yuan. While he paid for the take out, Yifan asked:
“How much was the rest?”
“Oh, I’m paying!” Marie threw in, “I’m inviting you guys.”
“No, you don’t need to, I’ve already taken out my purse.”
“I’m paying!”
Marie shot Yifan an earnest look and he silently gave the waiter twelve Yuan, while Marie passed the man in his forties a one hundred Yuan bill for the rest of the food. The waiter excused himself to get some change.
“Thank you, Marie!” Yin Hang sing songed and promised to pay for their dinner next time.
“You’re welcome; it’s nice to be out with friends!”
Yifan raised an eyebrow, because he didn’t think Marie and him were really friends (for now at least), but he figured to better not say anything. Instead, he got up.
“Is it okay if I leave first? I want this to get to Yixing before it gets too cold.”
“Sure, no problem!”
“Thanks girls.”
He put on his jacket and sent Yixing a message stating he’d be leaving the restaurant now.
“Hey Yifan,” Marie said and gained back his attention, “Do you mind if we exchange Wechat accounts? I’m still new here and barely know anyone.”
She tilted her head to the right and smiled slightly, as if hoping her request wasn’t too much.
“Umm, sure,” Yifan mumbled and let her scan his QR-Code.
When she had added him, she smiled brightly.
“Merci, Yifan!”
“Umm, yeah, whatever?”
“Jesus, Yifan, you’re such an uncultured potato, that’s ‘Thank You’ in French,” Yin Hang scolded him, “Even I know that!”
Yifan only sighed and felt that it was about time to leave, so he took the food off the table and left with a short ‘Bye bye!’ – the girls responded with the same phrase and waved until he got out on the street. The air was rather good today and around this time, the streets were filled with people looking for a place to eat. The restaurant was located at the edge of a big market and some people that passed Yifan carried around big bags filled with vegetables and other groceries. Restaurant owners tried to lure customers into their establishments by shouting their specialties out of the entrance and the smell of roasted lamb on a barbeque made by an older Uighur guy filled the air. While Yifan got on his bike, he thought to himself that this side of Beijing wasn’t even that bad.

If he had had a little more time, Yifan would’ve taken a small detour through the side streets, but delivering Yixing’s dinner was more important, so he took the main road and maneuvered between scooters, cars and busses until he reached Wudaokou and the building complex Yixing lived in. When he finally arrived at his boyfriend’s place, his heart was still beating heavily because of the last encounter with a big Benz that had cut off his right of way at the last crossroads, which had almost resulted in Yifan crashing together with the car.
“Yayyyy, you’re home!” Yixing greeted him when he had opened the apartment door.
Rather than greeting him properly, Yixing snatched away the food and whined:
“I’m starving, I haven’t eaten the whole day!”
He plopped down on the couch and opened the plastic bag. When he saw the dish, he squealed and fished out the chopstick that had come with it. He then proceeded to take out the paper bowl and opened the lid. Without saying anything else, he started to shove down the spicy chicken dices, chillies and noodles. The whole thing had taken place in such a short amount of time, Yifan hadn’t even gotten the chance to take off his shoes. When he sat down next to Yixing, the smaller one turned to him, but his mouth was so full with food, he couldn’t say anything. With his stuffed cheeks, he sort of looked like a hamster.
“Thank you, Yifan, for this delicious dinner! You are the best boyfriend, because you delivered this dish to me and risked getting killed in the crazy Beijing traffic!” Yifan snorted and Yixing made a sound as if he understood where he was going.
He put down the bowl and the chopsticks, took a moment to swallow down what he had just been eating and leaned over to give Yifan a kiss on the cheek.
“Thank you, best boyfriend!”
“That’s better.”
He earned a thankful smile, before Yixing turned his attention back to the food. It took him roughly ten minutes until the bowl was empty and he leaned back with an expression of satisfaction on his face.
“Did it taste good?”
Yixing nodded.
“Even better than the Lazijiding we usually get. Where you at a different restaurant?”
“I was in some restaurant near the West Gate. It’s closer to the gym,” Yifan explained, while Yixing snuggled into his chest.
“Hmmmm, I see.”
“How was the trip?” the other one asked when Yixing had found a position that was comfortable and still allowed him to see Yifan’s hand movements.
“It was okay. The art was amazing, but I don’t really know anyone of my class, so it was a little boring.”
“Do you want to go there again?”
“You don’t need to sacrifice yourself for this everytime. I know you’re not interested in art. I’ve seen the exhibition now, it’s okay.”
The common known ringtone that set off with every Wechat message made Yifan sigh and he started considering to turn it off. When he opened the window, Marie had sent him a selfie of her and Yin Hang, both of them holding flower shaped cotton candy into the camera. The caption was 'Look what Yin Hang and I found on our way home~! ★❤'
In this moment, Yifan slightly regretted to have given his ID to Marie, but it was too late to back out now. He typed a fast and short answer (“Don’t eat too much, or both of you will become too fat for the cheerleading team.”) but in that moment Yixing snatched away his phone.
“Who is this?”
“Argh, nobody.”
Yixing got up again and inspected the picture.
“You just added that girl to your Wechat!”
“Yixing, really, it’s nothing.”
He claimed back his phone, held the picture up and said:
“The right one is Yin Hang, I have told you about her.”
“Yeah, the one you dated.”
“Yes. A long time ago. I was out for dinner with her and she brought the left girl with her. She’s new in town and she asked me for my Wechat.”
Yixing leaned over to take a look at the photo one more time. Both of the girls were beaming into the camera and Marie had obviously edited it a little to make it look brighter. She had also put a filter on it so the girls’ skin was lighter and smoother.
“They’re really pretty,” he admitted with a sour look on his face.
“Well, there are a lot of pretty people on this planet,” Yifan said, closed the messenger and put his phone on mute, before he tossed it onto the living room table.
Yixing still seemed to be taken aback and he eyed Yifan’s phone with a thoughtful look on his face.
“Ey,” Yifan said and tapped his knee to get his attention, “Are you really jealous of a girl I met like five minutes ago?”
“She’s a pretty girl, okay? I can’t keep up with pretty GIRLS,” Yixing explained, making Yifan squeal.
“You’re so cute Yixing!”
“Screw you.”
“Babyyyyy,” Yifan purred, “You don’t need to keep up with anyone. If not, other people have to keep up with you.”
Yixing’s mood shifted a little and there was something like a smirk creeping on his face, but then he yelled:
“You’re so cheesy! Disgusting!”
The taller one burst out into laughter while Yixing continuingly shook his head in disbelief.
“No, seriously, you have nothing to worry about.”
To give point to his words, he placed a kiss on Yixing’s temple, hoping it would convince him. Marie may be a beautiful and charming person, but she was nothing like Yixing – and Yixing was the one Yifan liked and wanted to be with. His boyfriend sighed.
“It’s just… well… whatever.”
“Huh? What do you mean?”
“Noooo, nothing!” Yixing tried to wave aside his comment but Yifan wouldn’t let it slide.
“What’s going on?”
Yixing hesitated, but he knew well enough that he wouldn’t be getting out of this situation until he’d explain what had been going on in his head for several days now, so he sighed heavily before he signed:
“Okay, so what if one day you’re tired of this?”
“I don’t understand.”
“Tired of ME, Yifan!”
“Why would I be?”
Yixing grunted in frustration and mouthed something like ‘You idiot!’ but then answered:
“I’m a guy AND I’m deaf.”
“Okay, and you think that I’m going to meet a hearing woman and I’ll fall in love with her immediately?”
“Could be!”
“Yeaaah, no. I don’t see that happening,” Yifan responded.
“You say that now. But everybody gets tired of me sooner or later, because it’s just harder with me.”
“I see where you’re going with this, but I still don’t see it happening.”
“Are you even taking me seriously?!”
“Oh, sweetheart, I do,” Yifan responded and placed his hand on Yixing’s thigh, “But you really don’t need to think that way. I’m not going anywhere with anyone. Don’t worry too much about the future, I mean, I can’t even decide on what to eat tomorrow, I sure as hell don’t think about what is going to happen in a few months or years.”
Yixing didn’t respond but the way he looked at Yifan told the other one that he was caught between being relieved and continuing to worry, even though he had just been given the reassurance that nobody was getting tired of anyone.
“I missed you a lot today,” Yifan therefore said.
Yixing snorted.
“We’ve been separated for maybe ten hours…”
“See? That’s a two digit number! I’m not used to this!”
Yixing’s eyes locked with Yifan’s phone again.
“You’ve got a new message.”
“Sweet Jesus! I’m turning this thing off now!” Yifan groaned and grabbed the device.
He was prepared for another Marie-and-Yin-Hang-shove-disgusting-sweet-things-down-their-little-throats-selfie, but it was Sehun with a voice message.
“Oh, it’s just Sehun… why is everyone so obsessed with the voice messages? I’ll never understand!” he muttered and pressed play.
Sehun’s voice was distorted and Yifan had trouble to understand what he wanted, but after the third replay he finally got the message.
“He asks if we want to come over for some Majiang with him and Suho.”
Yixing thought about it for a little while and then asked:
“Can we just stay here today please?”
“Anything you want. I’ll tell him.”
Yifan sent a quick voice message back and declined the offer politely, then he turned the device off.
“I don’t want to be spammed with any more selfies and voice messages.”
When he leaned back, Yixing placed his head on Yifan’s lap and looked up to him.
“To be honest, I kind of missed you too.”
Yifan grinned victoriously.
“See? Ten hours are way too much.”
“I guess.”
Yifan started to play with Yixing’s hair, while the other one closed his eyes and enjoyed the movement. Yifan thought about what Yixing had just said a few moments ago and couldn’t help to imagine how many people must have left Yixing behind before when he spoke of people getting tired of him this easily. It made him feel angry, but he also felt sorry for Yixing, because he was a great person but just didn’t see it that way. In that moment, while his fingers ran through strings of Yixing’s black thick hair, he swore to himself that he wasn’t going to leave him behind ever.

A/N: OH GOD IT'S SO CHEESY WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME. /shoots my brain against the ceiling
Btw sorry for the long update, uni life has taken its toll and I'm working on a project that's due Friday and it's really a lot and it takes up most of my freetime.
I'm also not sure about the accuracy of the CSL in the beginning, I couldn't find any information on how to sign "message" (it's almost like deaf people in China don't use messages but that cannot be the case, and I only found one guy loading up videos of him using CSL but he never explained anything and I was like 'whaaaat are you trying to tell me dude???' while he was ranting away, so yeah, I kind of put that together from how to sign 短 and 信, I have no idea if that is correct). 
ALSO I hope nobody gets offended because of that "mixed race" comment - social justice warriors are everywhere nowadays, and I asked my Beta if it was okay, and she said that it's clear it's meant to be a joke & not to be taken seriously, but I want to be clear about this one more time - I'm not trying to be racist in any kind of way, I also don't want to offend anyone (but well, I've met a person that had Chinese & American parents and he dropped comments like this all the time, so I thought I could throw that in, too. Don't hate me pls). 
That's it. See you around, maybe not on Friday (def. not on Friday tbqh), but I'll make sure to update next week!

AND THANK YOU TO ALL THE SUBSCRIBERS AND PEOPLE WHO COMMENT ON THIS I LOVE YOU.