"You're just a body

I can smell your skin

And when I feel it

You're wearing thin"

Writer by Ellie Goulding

It was like waking from a hazy dream when Yixing opened his eyes and saw Andy in front of him, half illuminated and staring back at him.

It was strange, having dreamt of something and then for it to be right in front of you when you wake up. It was disorienting, but not unpleasant. He could hardly tell at first if he even actually was awake or if he was still dreaming. Then reality slowly set in, and he bolted up from where he was laying, scaring the cat off the bed from his sudden movement. Andy, startled as well, jumped back and bumped into the open drawer of her dresser.

Yixing immediately got out of bed, concerned. However, layered over that concern was complete and utter joy at seeing Andy again. Without thinking, as soon as he was close enough, he reached out to her and pulled her into a tight hug, squeezing her body close so he could feel it.

All of his earlier plans of seduction were thrown out the window. Not that they were that great. He had intended to start chipping away at her resolve by having her see him lying on her bed shirtless when she got home, but he had fallen asleep. That was a problem for later. Currently, Andy was here, in his arms, and that was all that mattered.

~

Andy stood still, frozen, petrified.

A half man she barely knew was currently hugging her in her semi-dark bedroom when it was just the two of them in the apartment. She didn’t care who he was, it was weird, and she didn’t like it, especially with how tightly he was holding her. She may be used to seeing topless guys because of her parent’s pool, but she wasn’t used to them touching her.

She lifted her hands up, unsure of what to do with them. She wanted to push him away, something she didn’t usually like doing when someone hugged her (she hated being the first to pull away, you never really knew how badly someone might need a hug at any given moment), but she didn’t want to touch his torso nor his hips (which were mercifully covered). Her hands flailed in the air for a moment, opening and closing as she contemplated what to do. Finally, balling her hands into fists, she decided words might be a good option.

“Um, Lay?”

“Yixing,” he breathed in her ear, sending shivers down her spine as she felt his breath on her ear and neck. He held Andy tighter, causing her to stiffen even more. Not that he seemed to notice.

“Yixing,” Andy repeated, “Could you, uh, the drawer is digging into my back,” she said, sliding inexplicably smoothly back into Mandarin with a not so smooth lie.

It worked, though, as he immediately released her and backed away, apologizing, a look of intense worry on his face.

“It’s okay.” Andy slid the drawer shut, leaning back against the dresser to create more space between them. She had already been so nervous to talk to him earlier when she imagined it all happening in normal circumstances, but the current accidental situation only served to make it all even worse for her. “I’ll just-” she began after a moment, moving to head towards the bath.

Courage wasn’t exactly a trait people would associate with her.

“Wait!” Yixing called with slight desperation in his voice, his hands darting out to grab her arms, hold her in place.

He wanted to keep talking to her, wanted to stay by her side now that she was here, and Andy could clearly see his brain working to come up with something to say as fast as it could.

“How-” he sputtered before an idea could be seen fully forming in his mind from the look on his face. “How was work?”

The words came out smooth as he rested his hand on the dresser behind her, leaning against it, inadvertently (or maybe not so inadvertent, Andy thought to herself) leaning in closer to Andy. His body language sliding into being more suave and charming.

“Work was good,” Andy shrugged.

“Good, good,” Yixing repeated back to her, nodding his head. He slid his hand up a bit so he was closer, making Andy press herself more firmly against the dresser. “You must be tired.”

Andy couldn’t tell if he was making the comment sincerely or if there was another meaning behind the words. With his current state of undress and nearness, it was hard to tell what he meant, especially considering he was under the influence of Nilah’s magic.

“Could you put a shirt on?” She asked, hoping that would answer if there was anything else in the statement, and get him away from her. Being so close to a shirtless guy wasn’t as bad as being hugged by one, but it wasn’t much better. At least, not when he was looking at her like that. And nothing was going to be coming from it.

“I don’t like sleeping with my shirt on.”

He tilted his head, his face took on a stubborn look, and something about it was weirdly cute.

“You can put it back on until you go to sleep.”

“Then I’d be having to take it right back off again.”

He kept the same look, tilting his face in the other direction. Andy got the feeling he was teasing her, but his resistance to follow her request bothered her a bit.

Just then, they heard a knock on Andy’s front door and she remembered that Christine was supposed to be coming back over so Andy could explain to her who Lay, or, Yixing was. She also remembered that she still hadn’t come up with an explanation.

“That’s Christine,” Andy said as she slipped out from between Yixing and the dresser before heading towards the front door.

When she opened it, Christine stood on the other side, dressed much more casually than she had been earlier having apparently canceled or ended early her original plans for the evening. She had recently showered so her hair was still a bit wet, but she had no make up on or shoes, just walking around in her sweats and a t-shirt.

Christine walked in with her arms crossed, surveying the room.

“Is he still here?” she asked.

At that moment, Yixing appeared in the doorway to Andy’s bedroom, thankfully with a shirt on. Christine arched an eyebrow at her, asking why he had been in that room in the first place, which Andy ignored as she headed to the kitchen expecting to find a mess to clean up from Christine or Lay. She was surprised to find there wasn’t one, so instead just started wiping everything down with a disinfectant wipe.

“You’re hiding something from me,” Christine observed, arms still crossed. “You clean when you’re nervous.”

“I always clean,” Andy said back, which was true. Andy liked everything to stay clean and organized.

“Yeah, but you only clean things that are already clean when you’re nervous.”

Andy didn’t bother responding as she continued cleaning, knowing Christine was right but also still trying to think of an explanation for Yixing.

Christine looked back at Yixing again, who had approached the kitchen bar where Christine had stationed herself.

“Who is she?” Yixing asked Andy in Mandarin.

Andy glanced at Christine before looking back at Yixing.

“She’s my friend, Christine. She lives next door,” Andy said in Mandarin as well.

Christine looked at Andy like she had suddenly grown a second head.

“What did you just say?”

“I told him who you were,” Andy explained, switching back to English for her.

“Since when do you speak a second language?” Christine demanded, the look not leaving her face.

“I’ve been practicing.” Andy shrugged.

“For how long? When I asked you last week if you knew any other languages you said ‘yeah, Pig Latin’ and then I had to hit you for making such a horrible and dated joke!”

“Well, I’m not confident in it yet.”

“Whatever, the most important thing is you explaining who this guy is and why he’s here.”

Andy hesitated, still not sure of how to answer that.

“I’ve been practicing my Mandarin with him for a while now.”

“A while? Why haven’t I seen him before?”

“Because it was all online before.”

“You guys met online?”

Andy shrugged again, now cleaning the cabinets.

“Andy!” Christine said, then lowered her voice, glancing at Yixing. “Do you know how dangerous this is?”

“Yes, but he’s okay, trust me.”

Andy glanced at Yixing as well as she answered, and if she hadn’t been so stressed out about lying to her best friend, she probably would have laughed at the idea of someone thinking Yixing was dangerous. As it stood, Christine did have a point, at least she would if Yixing really had been some random guy on the internet she had practiced Mandarin with. So how was Andy supposed to explain that Yixing was harmless without giving away who he really was? And from the look on Christine’s face, it was definitely going to take more convincing.

“Christine,” Andy said, finally stopping cleaning to stand in front of her on the other side of the kitchen bar. “This is me we’re talking about. Do you really think I’d do something that stupid?”

“I don’t know, you’ve never had a rebellious phase and I’m sure you’re repressing a lot,” Christine said, still a little flustered.

“What do you mean by that?” Andy asked, confused and unsure if she should be offended.

“Nothing,” Christine sighed. “Just promise me that you are 100% sure that this guy is completely safe.”

“I promise.”

“Okay, then I’ll trust you. But what is he doing here anyways if he can’t speak English?”

Andy hesitated, trying to think fast. She glanced at Yixing, who was looking back at her clearly lost but a smile spreading across his face when they’re eyes locked. Andy found herself smiling back reflexively, then stopped herself.

“He’s having family problems,” Andy began. “He needed to get away.”

“Mandarin is spoken in China, right?” Christine asked, thoughtful.

Andy nodded her head.

“So to get away from his family he flew to the other side of the world?”

Andy bit her lip and nodded.

Christine stared at her thoughtfully for another few seconds, then nodded her head as well.

“Sounds about right.”

Andy allowed herself a small sigh of relief.

“What are you guys talking about?” Yixing asked.

This switching between languages is going to get old fast, Andy thought.

“She was asking who you were and why you’re here,” Andy replied, of course, in Mandarin.

“It’s so weird to hear you speaking another language,” Christine commented.

“It was weird for me at first too,” Andy replied. Turning to Yixing, she said; “I told her you were having family problems and just needed to get away, and that we know each other because I was practicing Mandarin with you online.”

“It would be really dangerous for you to let me in here if that was the only way we knew each,” Yixing commented seriously.

Andy couldn’t help but smile and roll her eyes at that.

“What?” they both asked at the same time in their own respective languages. Andy laughed again at that.

“It’s nothing. Look, it’s getting late and I have class in the morning,” Andy began.

“Fine. But I expect more information eventually,” Christine said looking like she was about to leave before she had a thought. “Where is he staying?”

“Here,” Andy said.

“Here as in here in your apartment?”

Andy nodded.

Christine stared at her incredulously.

“Where is he going to sleep?” She asked in a quiet voice despite the fact that Yixing wouldn’t have understood what she said no matter how loudly or quietly she asked it.

“The living room. I have a lock on my bedroom door. Don’t worry.”

Of course, Andy was planning on letting Yixing take her bed at this point, feeling that bad about everything that had happened. Plus, her couch wasn’t very long, so while the cushions were comfortable it wasn’t so great to lie on if you were too tall. Andy may not be that much short than Yixing, but it would still be more comfortable for her than him.

On top of that, she wasn’t really scared of him trying to take advantage of her in the middle of the night or anything.

This answer seemed to satisfy Christine, though, as she left just after. Andy shut and locked the door after her. When she turned back around, though, she was brought up short.

“Yixing! What are you doing?”

The moment Andy had shut the door, he had begun pulling his shirt over his head. At the sound of her voice, he paused and gave her a confused look.

“Getting ready for bed,” he said innocently.

Andy stared at him slightly exasperated; was he joking or being serious?

“Whatever, I need to shower,” Andy said, walking past him back to her bedroom. “Actually, are you going to need it? You should probably use it before me if you do, I take a while.”

“No,” Yixing said from where he’d stationed himself in the doorway between her bedroom and living room. He was leaning on his arm, very obviously posing while giving her a seductive look. “I’m fine.”

Andy pulled up short for a second, initially flabbergasted as to why he would be behaving this way. Then she remembered the extent of the spell, why he was here, why he didn’t want to leave; that he was magically in love with her now. She hadn’t really given much thought to what that would actually mean for his behavior other than the doting looks he had been giving her since they met earlier. Looking at him now, though, she realized there was going to be a lot more to it than that.

She steeled herself to the idea and to what was right in front of her. She resolved not to be moved by anything romantic Yixing may do while he was under the spell, because it wouldn’t be real. So in response to his words, Andy just nodded and walked right past him to get to her bathroom where she shut the door without another glance at him.

~

As soon as Andy shut the door Yixing relaxed from his pose slightly miffed by the fact that she seemed entirely unaffected by him. He wasn’t so vain to think that every girl he met would fall head over heels for him, but he had gotten used to most people thinking he was handsome. Plus, she was the one who had made the wish for him to fall for her, she had to like him. She must be holding herself back. She was trying to be responsible about helping him get out from this spell and get him back home, and he respected that she was concerned about that, he respected it a lot, but it was getting in the way of him wooing her.

Yixing decided to give his old plan another try and lay down on her bed and waited for her to finish showering. As he laid there, his mind began to drift as he wondered about what he would do tomorrow while Andy was gone at classes and work.

He didn’t have a schedule anymore; no T.V. shows, no modeling shoots, nothing. He couldn’t practice any of the dances here, either, since there were no mirrors. He could probably find a dance studio and rent out a room, but he wouldn’t have any way to get there.

Yixing almost wished that Nilah hadn’t transported them to Andy’s school the moment he had landed; he could have rented a car at the airport. Sure, it would have taken longer to drive to her, much longer, but it would have been worth it in the end. Yixing had already looked up how far they were from the airport, a couple of hours, so it would require pretty much taking an entire day to drive there, get the car, and then drive back.

Aside from Yixing not wanting to inconvenience Andy with that kind of trip, there was also a small, irrational side of him that was scared that if they drove all the way to the airport, Andy would just want him to go ahead and fly back to China. Leaving wasn’t an option, not right now. Spell or no, he was sure he and her were meant to be together, something in him just told him so.

~

When Andy walked back into the bedroom after finishing up with her shower, she saw Yixing had fallen asleep on the bed again. She wasn’t really all the surprised by it. He had just flown halfway across the world to see her. Plus, it was generally known he, just like most all of the other K-Pop idols, were always incredibly busy with their work. Of course he’d fall asleep easily.

The light was still on in her bedroom, and she couldn’t help herself from walking over to stand by the bed and look down at him. She felt a little creepy looking at him while he was sleeping, but she felt she kind of had to. She still had trouble believing he was here. She had been such a big fan of his for so long, it all just felt so surreal.

And she wanted to get her fill of looking at him before he went back. She still wasn’t sure how she was going to get Nilah to break to spell or if her and Yixing could find another way, but it had to be broken no matter what. Yixing was basically here against his will, away from his friends and family and ignoring his work. Andy couldn’t let this go on any longer than it already had. The only problem was going to be finding the time to figure it all out.

Andy sighed before she pulled herself away from Yixing. She couldn’t let herself think too much about it because if she did, especially now when she couldn’t actually do anything, she’d just stress herself out. If she made herself too stressed, then she wouldn’t be able to sleep, and if she didn’t sleep she’d just be even more susceptible to stress tomorrow from lack of sleep, and then she’d just keep getting worse. She had to stop that before it even started, she needed to stay in control.

Or at least, she needed to pretend like she was still in control.