Yixing was sat in class, completely conflicted, the teacher was late again and Yixing was sat at his desk staring holes into the whiteboard. And just as luck would have it, Yifan walks in, looking as handsome as ever. There was something about the way Yifan looked at this specific moment that had Yixing catching his breath in his throat, nothing was particularly special about him, the uniform hadn't changed, maybe Joonmyeon 's confession had changed the way he looked at Yifan. It only made his feelings even stronger. 

The teacher finally arrived after three agonising minutes of trying not to be caught staring at Yifan, at least Yixing could try and take his mind of that day's events. 

The minutes were slowly ticking by but Yixing found himself wondering desperately what was written on the note Yifan had given him earlier. He couldn't wait any longer. He reached inside his blazer and locked his fingers around the neatly folded piece of paper. He paused for a moment, this was risky, Yifan had told him specifically not to open it before he got home, but he couldn't help himself! He would die of curiosity otherwise! 

Yixing was careful to check both the gazes of the teacher and Yifan to make sure he wasn't being watched before quietly unfolding the paper under his desk. 

I'd like to say sorry properly. We never spoke before when I wanted to apologise. 
Meet me outside the school gate tomorrow at 11, don't be late ^^ 

-Yifan 

Yixing was being asked out...by Yifan? 

"Yixing, are you paying attention?" Yixing looked up and saw the whole class staring at him which only made his blush even more prominent. 

"S-sorry" Yixing took a quick look over to Yifan who was...smiling ever so slightly at him. Yixing couldn't help thinking that Yifan's smile was gorgeous, just like him. Yifan must have known Yixing was reading the letter. He wouldn't be smiling at him otherwise...right? 

Yixing couldn't concentrate for the rest of the afternoon, his mind was fleeting between Joonmyeon's confession and Yifan's confusing note. He couldn't decide which one was more surprising. Yixing couldn't believe how quickly all this had moved. Only a few days ago, he had only dreamed about talking to Yifan but in the past few days, he had been hit in the face with a bread crust and a fist by him...and now he was...being asked out. And Joonmyeon was just as confusing. How long had he felt like this? Did he really mean what he said? Yixing found it really hard to imagine that anyone could have those types of feelings towards him, especially from someone he admired. 

Yixing was so busy thinking things over that he didn't realise he was on severe auto-pilot and found himself unlocking the door of his flat. 

Yixing swung the door open to find Yu slouched in front of the TV. 

"Xing!! You're home!" Yujin turned off the TV and leant her head on the back of the sofa to look at Yixing. "Did you see Yifan today?" Her smile sent daggers through Yixing's heart. 

"No, didn't see him" Yixing lied. He couldn't tell Yujin anything about the day's events, he wouldn't hear the end of it. Yixing quickly evacuated the situation and escaped to his room for some peace and quiet. 

Yixing didn't leave his room again that day, he couldn't eat because of all the things that were going through his mind. How was he going to be able to look Yifan in the eyes tomorrow? Yixing started to panic about what to say, what to do, how to act- what the hell should he wear? 

-~-~-~- 

Yixing had spent so much time the next morning deciding what to wear (which in the end was just a pair of jeans, an old t-shirt and a zip-up hoodie) that he was running 10 minutes late. 

It was raining today, but Yixing felt so bad about making Yifan wait that he forgot to grab an umbrella. When Yixing arrived at the school gate, he saw a tall, lean figure hugging his chest, shivering and leaning against the rails of the school. Yixing ran over as quickly as he could to apologise. 

"I-I-I" Yixing was panting so hard from his run here that he could hardly speak.

The figure was turning his head to meet the almost-stranger and even though he looked cold, Yixing could see that his eyes were warm. 

"I'm so glad you came" Yifan was clearly struggling to say these words as his teeth were chattering the whole time. Despite this, at that moment, Yixing saw the most beautiful smile he'd ever see, the smile of the man he loved. Yixing didn't really have time to gather his thoughts before Yifan was talking again. "Can we go and sit somewhere? There's a cafe around the corner if that's alright with you?" Yixing couldn't help the sting in his heart, Yifan was making him feel even more guilty about being late. Seeing him soaking wet here, his leather jacket clearly making himself uncomfortable. 

"Yeah, that's fine" Yixing couldn't even look at him anymore, the guilt was eating up at his heart. 

The cafe was small but pleasant, it only had a couple of tables and because it was such a horrible day outside, there weren't many people in there. Both boys sat down at the table, and after a few seconds of awkward silence...

"What do you want for drink? I'll pay?" Yifan was looking at Yixing with genuine interest in his eyes but Yixing still couldn't lift his gaze. 

"J-just a cappuccino please..." Yixing trailed off his sentence as he was hurriedly taking out his wallet and trying to pass money to Yifan. 

"Don't worry about it, take this as part of my apology," Yifan took Yixing's hand in his own and closed his hand around his own money. Yifan flashed that adorable smile and this time Yixing couldn't help but to look up and stare into his eyes for slightly too long. Yifan left to get the drinks as Yixing tried to make himself look busy by staring out the window and checking his phone for messages every now and again. 

Yifan came back a few minutes later with the drinks, he rested the tray on the table as he took both saucers off, putting the cappuccino in front of Yixing and an espresso in front of his own place. He sat down in his seat opposite Yifan before putting the tray on the floor out of the way. 

"I'm sorry if I made you go out of your way, I just felt like I really needed to apologise for the last couple of days" Yifan rubbed the back of his neck while looking out of the window. 

"It's fine, you don't need to apologise, I understand." Yixing replied as honestly as he could, Yifan would never have to apologise for anything as far as he was concerned. 

"No really, I do. I felt so bad for throwing that crust," he laughed slightly before taking a sip of his espresso, "it was all Sehun's fault, he doesn't seem to realise that I'm not the same as him" Yifan said this with a certain amount of remorse in his eyes. 

"What do mean by that?" Yixing was taking a big risk here. 

Yifan sighed and stared down into his cup. 

"I can't really be bothered to argue with him anymore. I'm not like them at all, I don't want to hurt others" he looked up at Yixing, "I don't want to hurt people like you." 

Yixing tried hard to make his blush less noticeable but couldn't so turned away to look out the window. 

"Why do you still hang out with them then?" Yixing couldn't help his curiosity now. 

Another sigh from Yifan. 

"I guess I don't want to be alone," Yifan pulled a half smile, "anyway, enough about me! What about you? How was that guy you were with yesterday? I didn't recognise him" Yifan's half smile turned into a smirk very quickly. 

"No one, he's just moved, he plays violin," Yixing started thinking about Joonmyeon 's confession again, his eyes darted about to try and get his thoughts straight. 

"Yixing...you don't look okay..." 

"It's just..." Yixing swallowed and took big gulps from his cappuccino. "Something happened...I-I don't really want to talk about it." 

"You've got to tell me now" 

"No! I can't trouble you with it" 

"You're not troubling me, I want to help, it's the least I can do."