"Hey, fly to New York."

"Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"If I do, I would have considered it. I don't, so fly to New York."

"And why should I?"

"Because it's me. And I have two months paid leave."

"Ah, so it was that time again, huh?"

"Yeah. See you later?"

"Yeah. That is why I hate New York."

"You don't hate it entirely. I'm here."

Click.

-----

"That's why I told you to move back to L.A." Yifan sighs as he takes a sip of his coffee, hoping that he can be kept awake for the day.

Tao scoffs and glares at Yifan, "Nothing ever happens in L.A.. In New York, Captain America comes to save the world when aliens go invading the city."

Yifan rolls his eyes and it actually hurts, "You saw him on TV when huge aliens attacked and instead of thinking that New York is dangerous, you actually moved here. What is wrong with you?"

"Nothing. I think he's hot."

"Go back to L.A. with me. Hollywood is there, a guy named Chris Evans is the spitting image of your captain."

"I want the real captain, idiot."

"If not for your captain, your building won't be destroyed."

"Mind you, it was The Hulk's fault. I hate the fact I was on a business trip when it happened. I thought I'd see Captain America upclose."

"How many were injured in your office?"

"Twelve? Irrelevant. Jacqueline from HR said Hawkeye was in front of her and that Latino janitor said Black Widow was múy caliente or something."

"Twelve and you could have been one of them!"

"And Captain America would have saved me and maybe fall in love with me."

"What makes you think he's gay?"

"Who didn't turn gay because of me?"

Yifan finishes the rest of his coffee and thinks that even though he runs his own business, it is not worth closing for the sake of hearing Tao gush about Captain America.

"Come on, let's go home. I mean, you are staying at my apartment, right?"

Yifan nods and takes his suitcase. They step outside the coffee shop and the debris from the incident are still evident in the streets of New York. According to Tao, The Hulk went berserk and The Avengers had to be called.

"How do you feel confident living here when a huge green monster is just a few feet and floors away from the city?" Yifan asks as he looks at the Avengers HQ towering over New York.

"The Captain." Tao smiles and looks at the HQ longingly, "Sometimes I just look at that building at night and wonder when I will ever meet him."

"Do you really like him that much?"

"I love him that much. He's my superhero."

"You're not even American."

Tao scoffs and hits the back of Yifan's head, "You racist non-Canadian Canadian."

Yifan laughs and continues walking down the pavement.

They reach Tao's apartment less than 20 minutes later and Yifan resents the fact he has to stay on the couch while he's here. He has his own house in Downtown L.A., damn it.

"You know, you should smile Yifan. You haven't smiled at me ever since you arrived."

"First of all, I didn't get any sleep after your call since I had to book a flight ASAP. Then, New York is a mess, and all you ever--" Yifan stops because Tao is pouting already, he sighs and smiles. "I'm sorry, I'm glad to see you again."

Tao smiles and jumps on him for a brief hug, "That is why you are the best ex-boyfriend ever." The younger giggles and Yifan rolls his eyes.

"If you wanna catch some sleep, you can use my room for now. I'm heading out again after a shower so I can prepare our dinner."

"We could have gone out to buy groceries already."

"I'm not heartless. I want you to rest. Go." Tao smiles and pushes Yifan into his bedroom. He makes sure the taller of the two is lying on the bed before Tao gathers his stuff and heading out to take a shower.

Yifan turns from the door and sighs. Right. They were exes. Only because they were too young to handle the pressure of being in a gay relationship. They were neighbors in Beijing, and they were best friends. They were the only two people they know who were gay when they were 13 and 15 and they were frustrated. Next thing they know, they were making out on Tao's tree house.

They were young, they were surprised and that was how they ended up as boyfriends. By the time they turned 15 and 17, after they first had and Tao cried a lot, they decided it isn't for them. More like it was Tao's decision that he cannot have with Yifan again because it hurts and besides, they weren't really as intimate as they should be. Sure, they eat ice cream in the summer, and make snow angels during the winter, they jump on leaves in autumn and watch the flowers bloom in spring but no, for Tao, they weren't boyfriend-y enough.

"You're not a superhero, you won't be able to save me."

Yifan grunts at the memory. That was 10 years ago and they've had flings left and right (no boyfriends, because Tao wants a superhero and Yifan wants a world to save even if he's a mere mortal) but for Yifan, he still thinks it's a little stupid that he let Tao decide on everything.

So they never said the L-word, and 17-year old Yifan may have been scared and unsure, but 27-year old Yifan knows he loves Tao, but he can never be enough. The fact that they moved to L.A. together and shared an apartment for 2 years gave Yifan false hopes from time to time, but it dies just as often when Tao leaves the apartment to go on another date, so he goes on dates too. But let's not elaborate on that.

"Still awake?" Tao asks and Yifan's breath stills in shock. Yifan hums and Tao walks around the bedroom in his robe, "Do you have anything you wanna eat?"

"Pasta. Any kind but no to carbonara. Tomato-based."

"Okay. Got it." Tao starts putting on his clothes and Yifan turns away from him. Tao laughs, "Yifan, don't you want to look? This is far from what you saw 10 years ago."

Yifan covers himself with a blanket, "All I remember 10 years ago is your snot all over your face."

"You shoved your up my !"

Yifan laughs from under the blanket, "You sound as if you didn't like it."

"Shut up. I was 15, I could have had you arrested."

"You should have. Or maybe you should have called for Captain America."

"We were in Beijing."

"Captain China."

Tao laughs and Yifan gets a slap on the arm, "Idiot. I'm heading out now."

"And also, I've seen them when you were still in L.A., can't say there were any difference."

Tao laughs heartily and Yifan can hear it fade slowly, "I work out whenever I'm on paid leave. Anyway, see you later!"
-------

The days that follow end up with the both of them people watching from Tao's balcony. They watch workers clean the mess these superheroes left. Tao would stare at The Avengers HQ for minutes and would exclaim excitedly when he catches Ironman fly out.

"Why won't these superheroes clean up after their mess?" Yifan asks a week later ever since they've been people watching. "It's their mess, after all."

"Tony Stark is already paying the dues, why should they clean up?"

Yifan grits his teeth in annoyance, "It's their mess."

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