November 7th, 2015 (pt. II)

So they made their way to the main house, and the nearer they came, the sicker Yixing felt. He also felt how Yifan's hands got sweaty and when they entered the part of the palace where his parents and his sister resided, it needed an affirming squeeze around his hand from Yixing to make him set one foot over the doorstep.

A staff member greeted them, trying to keep up a neutral face when he saw both of them entering.

"They're in the dining room, my Prince," he said with a long look at him and Yixing and offered to take their coats, but Yifan declined.

"We won't be staying long."

He walked past the guy and dragged Yixing with him into the direction of the dining room. While they kept walking, Yixing felt his phone buzzing in the pocket of his coat, but he didn't dare to check who was calling him. His mind jumped to his boss - it was weird how he was more worried about what she had to say about all of this than what his parents or friends might be thinking right now. Probably because his family and friends were used to him dating a guy, even though this time it was a little bit different because he had never actually brought home a high ranking or famous person. With his boss, he wasn’t too sure – he wasn’t really outed to her, since the topic had never come up before between them. He wasn’t too sure how she’d react because she seemed to be an open minded person, but on the other hand, there was basically confirmation that he was ing the person who kind of was his job which seemed to be a bigger crime in her eyes. If there was one thing she couldn't stand, it was her employees being unprofessional and this clearly fell into that category.

In front of the door to the dining room, Yifan stopped for a moment and turned to Yixing. Both of them probably felt as miserable as the other one, but turning around was out of the question now. The only way was forward through the door, facing whatever was waiting for them behind it. With a last assuring nod from Yixing, Yifan exhaled a long breath and finally pushed down the door handle.

When they stepped into the room, the Emperor, the Empress, and Yili were seated at the dining table and looked up. Another guard was standing next to the door and Yixing wondered if he was usually there too or if that had been a precautious order by the Emperor. Yili was still wearing her coat, her arms crossed in front of her while she was only sitting at the brink of her chair as if she was ready to jump up any given second. Her mother was wearing simple jeans and a fluffy sweater, her hair tied up in a ponytail. She wasn't wearing any make up and suddenly looked a lot older than usual. Her eyes jumped nervously between Yifan and her husband who had one arm supported on his knee, while the other elbow was placed on the table. When Yifan and Yixing entered, he was leaning forward, dominating and aggressive in his body language. He was still wearing a set of pajamas and a bathrobe and looked like he was fighting a very bad toothache. His eyes rested on Yifan's and Yixing's interlaced fingers before he looked up to his son, completely ignoring Yixing. Yixing wasn’t too sure if that was a good or a bad sign.

"You summoned me, father."

A very uncomfortable silence emerged while the word 'father' kept hanging in the air like fog in late autumn. The longer nobody said anything, the more nervous Yifan got. It was Yili breaking the silence in the end:

"Jesus Christ, father. Stop your sick mind games and talk to your son, for 's sake! We don't have all ing day for this bull!"

"Yili!"

The Empress tried to silence her with a stern face but her daughter shot back:

"What? Should I watch my language, mother?!"

"I didn't raise you to have a foul mouth like that!"

"Both of you shut up."

The Emperor's voice was very low, which was weird since Yixing somehow expected him to start yelling the moment they'd step a foot into the room. Nevertheless, he was still intimidating, and maybe even scarier like that. With a last look at the two women next to him at the table, he turned back to his son. Being a traditional man who also kept himself away from technical devices like smartphones and tablets as much as possible, he grabbed the morning paper which, of course, had one of the pictures printed on the front page. He waved with it and said:

"Have you seen these already, son?"

He tossed the paper onto the floor right in front of Yifan's feet. The gesture was so degrading, it made Yixing's stomach turn. Yifan's grip around his hand got tighter.

"I have, yes."

"So you are also aware of what they say?"

"I am. Sort of."

Yixing felt Yifan's confidence fading, if he ever had any of the like to begin with, so he started caressing the back of his hand with his thumb, hoping it would somehow help. There wasn't anything else he could do because he felt that if he spoke up, he'd only make matters worse.

"Sort of..." The Emperor repeated, then scoffed and smashed his fist onto the table making the chinaware clatter, "Sort of, he says!!"

The Empress and Yifan jumped at the noise while Yili bit her lower lip in frustration as the tea in her cup spilled over its saucer. She looked up and crossed Yixing’s gaze, then she rolled her eyes as if she was trying to say: Here we go, kids. Buckle your seatbelts.

"So you are telling me that you sort of know what this actually means to us? That you sort of know about the consequences this has for our family? Our country?! Do you have ANY idea?! Your mother and me are scheduled to meet the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia next month how am I supposed to look that man in the eye after THIS?!"

"So what, did I finally make you lose your face?! Like, taking drugs and almost choking on my own vomit wasn't bad enough but kissing a guy is?!" Yifan snapped.

“He’s got a point,” Yili chipped in but got silenced with one glance from her father.

"Yifan, that had no influence on outer relations..." The Empress spoke up, but Yifan cut her off right away.

"Oh yes, right, because we bribed the hospital that took care of me after I almost died to not leak anything to the outside. You couldn't control this though so now you're mad!"

His mother didn't have anything to say to this anymore so she fixed her eyes on the table.

"Yifan, I am sick and tired of your games! Our whole lives have revolved around fixing you, we've done nothing but to pull your out of scandals and bad situations and THIS is how you treat us in return! This is not how an heir and my son is to behave!"

The Emperor threw another look at the paper spread in front of them and the picture facing him made him so angry he grabbed his teacup and smashed it onto the floor. The porcelain smashed and Yifan jerked at the sound while the tea that was still left in the cup stained the floor and the newspaper with their picture.

"You disgust me!"

Even if that sentence wasn't directly meant for him, Yixing felt like someone had slapped his face. This wasn't what you should tell your child ever. Especially not in a situation like this. Not even his own father had reacted in this manner when he had come out a few years ago – he’d been angry, yes, because he hadn’t understood anything about this, but he had come around very quickly. Alarmed, Yixing turned to Yifan who kept his eyes fixated on the floor and the smashed pieces of the teacup, blinking heavily as if trying to hold back tears.

"Father," he finally managed to say and looked back up, "Sorry for being such a disappointment.”

“That’s what you say over and over again, Yifan,” The Emperor said in an icy tone.

"I know. I mess up over and over again."

Yifan standing in front of his other family members looked more like a trial and it made Yixing's heart clench. Yili shifted her weight nervously in her seat, the only evidence to her discomfort about the whole situation. Yixing sensed she wanted to help, but couldn't think of anything to do so. The Empress had her two elbows supported on the table while she kept fiddling with a necklace, not daring to look into either the direction of her husband or her son. Her eyes were kept on the table.

"But this time... I just... I don't feel like this is messed up, you know? He's... I mean, I'm surprised myself, and I didn't plan on liking him in the beginning at all. It just happened, father, and I don't want to fight that. I don't want to fight anything anymore. And I also don't want to fight you, or mother, or Yili. I just hope that you can accept this, because this is probably the first time that I feel like it's supposed to be this way. "

His mother finally reacted and looked up as if she wanted to say something, but she stayed silent. Yifan heaved a heavy sigh and lifted the hand that was holding on to Yixing's.

"I apologize. For everything I've done. You probably won't believe me, but I am trying so hard to be better - and Yixing helps me so much. I know this sounds awful, and ungrateful for everything you have been doing for me, but I think he's what I needed all this time."

When he ended, the room was filled with silence. Yili showed a smile, and even the Empress' lips curled up. Yixing felt that if it was for them, the whole thing would take a different direction, but they were not the ones to be making the call. It took a while until the Emperor reacted again and he lifted his right hand to snap his fingers. The guard at the door stiffened his shoulders and lifted his head, as if someone had pushed a power button.

"Show Zhang Yixing out," he said when the tall man in his suit asked what the monarch wanted him to do.

"Father..." Yifan started and even Yili lifted herself from the chair in protest.

“Father, banishing Zhang Yixing won’t make any of this situation better!” She said, but her father ignored her and turned to the guard instead:

"And make sure he's not getting access again. I can't have him around here."

"Are you kidding me?!" Yifan cried out, but when the guard neared them, Yixing sensed it would be best to not make a scene.

"Yifan, let it go," he said, "I'll catch up to you, okay?"

"No," Yifan protested and his grip around Yixing's hand got tighter, "No, I can't have that."

"I said: He needs to go," the Emperor said one more time in a roaring tone and even the guard flinched and hurried to grab Yixing's elbow.

"Mr. Zhang, if you please."

"No, he doesn't please!" Yifan cried out, then turned his gaze back to his father, "I've never begged you for anything in my life..."

"Because I gave you everything when you asked for it!" The Emperor interrupted his son with an angry look on his face, "Maybe that was the mistake - it's time you learn that you can't have everything you set your eyes on, starting from today! So now! Show Zhang Yixing out, at once!"

"Yifan, I'll get in touch with you, it's better if I leave..."

Yifan clung to his hand but it was so sweaty Yixing's fingers slipped out the farther he got dragged away by the guard.

"No, Yixing..."

"I'll call you..." Yixing mumbled, hoping Yifan would hear him while he was shown out of the room like a child out of class to receive a scolding from his teacher.

The guard didn't even give him a chance to gather his stuff and walked him right to one of the side entrances. While Yixing got dragged out, he felt the tight grip around his arm and said:

"Ouch! Seriously! I will follow, no need to be so brutal!"

There was no reaction from the other man and Yixing grunted.

"For real though, I still have stuff in Yifan's room, I need that."

"I'm sure the Palace will be sending your belongings to you," the guard answered matter-of-factly when they reached the exit.

Another guard opened the small gate and Yixing got pushed out onto the street.

"You heard the Emperor. Coming back won't be any use, we won't let you in again."

He didn't look too happy about his words either, or Yixing just misinterpreted his hard face.

"Oh come on, we both know it's bull."

"You better take your leave now, Mr. Zhang," he said without responding to his remark, "Before the Paparazzi that are lurking at the main entrance find out you're here."

Yixing stood put like a stubborn kid, not because he wanted to provoke the other one, but because he just felt so lost. He didn't really know how to get home because his wallet was still in Yifan's room. All he had was his phone and his jacket, and he didn't even have any spare change for a taxi, let alone a subway ride home.

"Leave the property before I call security," the guard said finally.

"Aren't you supposed to be the security?"

"Go. Now."

"Jesus Christ, fine!" Yixing barked, utterly pissed about the nonsense the guy was spilling and turned around for the main street.

He grabbed his phone and dialed Luhan's number while he tried to catch a taxi.

"Oh my god, Yixing!" His roommate greeted and a car stopped in front of Yixing to take him in.

"Hi Luhan, listen, I'm taking a taxi home and I have no money, can you maybe help me out?"

"Ummm... sure... what exactly is going on, boy? Everyone is going crazy!"

"I know... ... wait..." Yixing held his phone away and gave the driver his address who looked at him with squinted eyes for a second, before he turned his attention back to the street and rolled the car down the main road east wards, "I'll try to explain later, okay? I just need your help to get me some change... I think the drive will cost around 20 Yuan."

"Sure, I'm home and I have some spare change with me, I'll cover for you."

"God. Thank you. You're my lifesaver."

"Rough day, huh?"

"Shut up."

"I'll see you!"

Luhan kept his promise and even waited at the entrance door to their compound to jump right to the driver and pay the bill. Then they got into their apartment as quickly as possible since Yixing had gotten so paranoid, he thought everyone eyeing them just knew. He even tried to hide his face in the collar of his coat, just in case.

“Man, , what happened?” Luhan asked the moment the door fell shut behind them and Yixing threw himself onto the couch, not even bothering to take off his shoes.

“I... ugh...” Yixing grunted and rubbed his face with his hands.

All of a sudden, it was like the extend of this horrible thing going on finally reached him. He felt the exhaustion from the night before, and tears shot up his eyes that threatened to roll down his cheeks any given second. Luhan squealed and jumped to his side.

“Yixing, are you okay?”

“Do I look okay to you?!” Yixing snapped, throwing himself to the side before he buried his face in one of the pillows.

“Wow... ...” Luhan mumbled and started patting Yixing’s shoulder, clearly not knowing what to do. “I mean... umm...”

“You’ve seen the pictures, right?”

“Yeah, sure, I mean, it’s everywhere... I actually tried to get around them, but it‘s impossible. My friends have even sent me some and asked if that is my roommate making out with the prince.”

“Ugh!”

“Oh come on, it can’t be this bad. I mean. Okay. He’s the prince and all that but are we seriously going to burn you at the stake? It‘s not like this is the Fifties or something. We‘re living in 2015, come on!“

Luhan didn’t really help with his rambling about LGBT matters and his appeal to the enlightened people of the 21st century. Yixing knew that he was just trying to lift his pretty ty mood, but nothing he would say in this very moment could make the situation any less tier.

“I got kicked out,” Yixing interrupted Luhan’s speech and his roommate looked at him in confusion.

“Kicked out?”

He didn‘t make any sense of the words. Yixing took a deep breath when he felt the anger and a good portion of sadness swamping his body, then he explained:

“The Emperor kicked me out. I’m not allowed to return. I’m not allowed to see him again.”

Luhan’s face froze in disbelief for a second before he shook his head and said:

“Wait WHAT? What kind of cheap-drama-bull is this?!”

Yixing didn’t know what to say so he just shrugged his shoulders and hugged his pillow while the tears that have been gathering in his eyes started to roll down to the sides over the bridge of his nose and his temple. Oh yeah. Oh . The dam broke. All the emotions bottled up inside of him that he tried to cover with his sassy attitude threatened to finally break out of his system.

“ the Emperor, like... seriously!”

Luhan laid down next to Yixing and threw his arms around him.

“Yixing, don’t worry.”

“How can I not worry, Luhan?! I’ll probably get fired the second I step into my office, and Yifan, he’s... ugh! Just kill me please!”

"No, come on. This will be resolved."

"Yeah, probably only if I disappear!"

His roommate clicked his tongue in disapproval and snuggled a little closer to him.

"Don't say that. I don't think he would want you to."

"But... what if that's the only solution?"

Yixing really didn't want to, but at this point, he just kept crying when thinking about Yifan. Not only because he really didn't see how this could ever get right again, but also because he had looked so severely hurt when Yixing had to leave the palace. How his father had reacted the way he had reacted was absolutely beyond him. Surely it probably wasn't the best news to wake up to, and surely it would be a little awkward when meeting certain kind of politicians. But it had felt like the Emperor had put political matters and the reputation of his family before the feelings of his son and had deliberately stepped on them. Yixing wished he was able to reach out to Yifan and make sure he was okay - it didn't matter to him that he got basically prohibited to ever near the palace again. He just wanted to make sure that Yifan wouldn't fall back into old habits because of this.

"Yixing, really, I'm sure Yifan will find a way. You don't need to disappear or something. Ugh, I wish I knew how to help you..." Luhan whined and Yixing shook his head, his face all wet from his tears.

"It's okay... not your fault anyways..."

"I think you should sue that person who uploaded those pictures. I mean. They invaded your privacy!"

"Yeah sure, I'm going to sue OMG!Mag for doing their ing job..." Yixing scoffed and sniffled, "... we were both pretty stupid to think nobody would notice."

"Hey... don't beat yourself up, Yixing."

Luhan was helpless, Yixing knew that, but he was also glad he stuck around to comfort him, even to a very small extend. He ran out of positive vibes that seemed to bounce off Yixing's negativity infesting his mind though and eventually stopped talking altogether, letting Yixing cry and complain about the situation.

Suddenly, right when Yixing was still being spooned by his roommate and crying angry tears, someone knocked at the door.

“I swear to god...” Yixing grunted but Luhan was up already.

“I’ll go check!”

Yixing sat up again and rubbed the tears off his face while he listened to Luhan’s footsteps nearing the entrance door. With a click of the lock, he greeted the person at the door.

“Oh! Hi!”

“Hi darling!”

Yili’s voice carried over and within seconds, she stood in the doorway of the living room, putting down a black bag next to her.

“I brought your stuff!” Right when she had put the bag down, Yifan rushed past her – he was still wearing his coat and almost literally threw himself over Yixing, and she added, “Oh yeah, and your boyfriend.”

“Baby! I’m so sorry about all of this!” Yifan exclaimed against Yixing’s shoulder who didn‘t even have a chance to react and only managed to throw his arms around Yifan's waist.

“You should’ve seen him once you got dragged off by that guard,” Yili said with a smile on her lips, leaning against the doorframe, “It was better than in any drama.”

Yifan grunted but still clung onto Yixing, as if fearing that he would be gone again if he let go of him.

“Oh why, what did he say?” Luhan asked as he had joined them again and stood next to the princess.

“I quote: 'Why do you have to destroy everything good in my life?! Do you really hate me that much?!‘ - Oh, and my absolute favorite was his statement: 'If he needs to go, I‘ll leave too!‘“

"You‘re an idiot,“ Yixing mumbled into Yifan‘s shoulder, but hugging him even tighter.

"He truly is, my brother. Because he clearly didn‘t mind eventual consequences like father making him choose between his boyfriend of a day or the family.“

"Oh my god, please tell me you didn‘t chose the first,“ Yixing stated and looked back up to Yifan who inhaled sharply through his teeth and tried to avoid an answer - luckily, Yili was so eager to share this family drama, she gladly told the other two guys what Yifan‘s decision had been.

"Of course he chose you. Which now kind of makes him homeless, because father said if he walked out the door with that decision, he best never come back again.“

"And he walked out!“ Luhan concluded, which caused Yili to nod.

"Strode right out of the room without looking back, that really gave me chills!“

"Are you ing kidding me?!“ Yixing cried out and felt his eyes water immediately again - so much for thinking the crying would‘ve stopped.

Yili giggled and Yixing didn't see why she would be so amused about this matter. She turned back to the hallway and returned with another travel bag, much bigger than the other one containing Yixing‘s stuff and placed it next to it.

"We kind of hoped you‘d offer him a roof over his head until the old man calms down enough.“

"Will the Emperor ever calm down though?“ Luhan asked, “Like, I mean it. It sounds like he‘s disinherited him.“

"Ooooh, yeah, no,“ Yili responded, "After all, Yifan is his son and he cares about his family. In his very special, tyrant way, but he cares. I just think he needs to calm down, I mean the pictures appeared out of nowhere. We usually get hints from our PR people in the palace when another scandal is coming our way but this hit us all like a train on the track. Just... let some time pass, and he‘ll come by. Until then, Yifan needs a place to stay. And I mean, we could also rent a hotel room for him, but I thought why not bringing him here?“

"Well, I surely have no objections as long as these two lovebirds keep their noises down,“ Luhan said and shrugged his shoulders.

"Wow, really Luhan?“ Yifan asked and frowned, “That‘s your biggest concern?“

“Yeah, my beauty sleep is holy to me!“

"I mean it works,“ Yili said and tapped Lu Han‘s cheek with her finger, "Your skin is making me jealous!“

"Oh, I have this great skincare routine, I‘ll show you if you want!“

While the two started rambling about skincare and skin types, Yifan faced Yixing again and rolled his eyes. Yixing had long started to cry again, something he found very embarrassing, but he also couldn‘t just make it stop. It had always been like that, once he started to cry, there would be no end in sight for the next hour or so.

"Baby, why are you crying?“ Yifan asked and wiped Yixing‘s tears away with his thumb.

"I can answer that, Yifan. Yixing is hiding behind a very very thick wall of sarcasm and sassy attitude but sometimes, all his bottled emotions need to get out of his system which then leads to him being this mess,“ Lu Han explained, "He once had a breakdown because he found cilantro in his food when he clearly had told the restaurant owner to not put it into his dish. He just downright put the bowl down in our living room and started bawling like a baby.“

"Listen, I had a very rough week back then and I hate cilantro, okay?!“ Yixing tried to defend himself while he put Yifan‘s hands down and wiped his own over his eyes.

"To be fair, cilantro is disgusting,“ Yili said.

Yifan showed a weak smile before he placed one hand in Yixing's neck and pulled him close again. With their temples touching, he said:

"I got you, Yixing. We can get through this."

Yixing's answer was a sniffling sound and he nodded, even though right now, everything just seemed horrible. Not only the impact this mess had on his life but also on Yifan's. The fact that he's been kicked out of his own home broke his heart. He did not really want other people to suffer because of him, yet Yifan was paying a rather high price to be even able to sit with him on this couch in this very moment. The whole room fell silent for a moment, then Yili sighed and said:

"Luhan, let's go."

"Eh? Where are we going?"

The princess rolled her eyes, then she turned to the other one.

"We're going to have some coffee."

"But I don't drink coffee?"

"Then we'll have tea."

"Umm... I also don't really drink tea..."

"Jesus Christ, what kind of Chinese are you? Then I'll take you out for cake or whatever else, even a bottle of beer is fine by me!" Yili snapped and when Luhan still didn't get what she was up to, she nodded into the direction of her brother and his roommate.

It took a few more beats until Luhan understood and his face lit up.

"Ooooooh! I see! Just let me change my pants!"

When he left the room to exchange his grey sweatpants for something one could wear when hanging around with the princess, Yili looked at Yixing and asked:

"Is he always this slow?"

"Actually, his IQ is pretty high..." Yixing admitted.

"Huh!" Yili was clearly processing that information, then her attention snapped back to her brother "Okay, Yifan. So you'll stay here for a while. I'll talk to father. And we'll figure the rest out. I think mother and me will hold a press conference or something of the like about this matter."

Yifan nodded and mouthed a 'Thank You' before Luhan came back, this time wearing a pair of black jeans.

"Nice! So, see you guys around!" Yili cried out, grabbed Luhan's elbow and dragged him away.

When they had left and the door was closed behind them, Yifan leaned back and pulled Yixing with him, who just went with it and snuggled into the other's chest.

"This is so embarrassing," he then said with an annoyed huff, meaning his crying.

He was pretty sure his face was puffy and red and his eyes kept itching from all the salty tears surfacing. He'd probably be feeling totally drained and exhausted for the rest of the day.

"I think vomiting all over oneself because of drugs and alcohol is a little more embarrassing, so you're good."

Yifan's attempt to cheer him up made Yixing indeed chuckle for a second, before he buried his face again in the fabric of Yifan's coat.

"Yixing, listen," His voice vibrated in Yifan's chest and Yixing made an affirmative sound to indicate he was listening, "I'm sorry this happened."

"It's not your fault, why are you apologizing?"

Yixing looked up again. There were at least three or four people that came to his mind that might had to make the apology - starting from whoever the took those pictures and sold them to a magazine, to the person who actually posted those pictures online, to the Emperor who abandoned not only him but his own son. Yifan wasn't in that list of people.

"I don't know, I can't help but to feel sorry. I should've been more careful yesterday. Yili was right, I should've checked if anyone was around."

"We both thought nobody was around. And whoever did this invaded our privacy. So I don't see why you should be apologizing!"

"Just let me, please." Yifan said and intertwined their fingers only to give Yixing a kiss on the back of his own hand. When he looked back at Yixing, he added, "I really want to make this work, Yixing."

These words felt like soothing balm for his soul. Yixing finally managed to show a soft smile that only indicated his dimple before he squeezed Yifan's hand and said:

"So do I."

"You know, when you're actually being nice and sort of romantic, my heart does this little weird thing where it skips a beat..."

"Jesus Christ!"

Yifan's comment did the trick though and finally, a faint laughter broke from Yixing's lips but he immediately shot up and bumped Yifan's shoulder.

"Get rid of your ugly coat, I'll see if I can make some space in my closet for your stuff."

While Yixing walked to his room, he heard Yifan shouting:

"I love you, baby!"

"Don't throw that phrase around like that!" Yixing shouted back while he started to move his clothes around so Yifan could put his into one drawer and the left side of the closet.

"Oh come on, don't be like that after what we just went through!" Yifan said when he came into Yixing's room, without his coat but carrying his travel bag.

"Still. You can't say you love me when we've been together for not even 24 hours."

"Suit yourself. I'll repeat my words later then."

Yixing rolled his eyes that were still burning and stepped aside when he had made some space so Yifan could put his clothes in. Watching him hanging his dress shirts into his closet felt weird, but besides that weird feeling, he also felt at peace in some sort of odd way. Yifan was here with him, and he had made the choice to be with him, not minding the current situation. Yixing decided to leave him for a while and went back to the living room to check on his stuff that Yili brought over - his wallet, his camera, and his laptop. When he checked his wallet if he had enough change to repay Luhan for the taxi, his cellphone went off again. To his surprise, it was his mother calling him, and not his boss. He heaved a sigh, because he didn't really know if he wanted to actually talk to her, but answered nevertheless and put her on speaker because he usually understood her thin voice better like that on the phone.

"Ma, hi," he greeted.

"Yixing. I'm going crazy!! You haven't answered any of my calls!"

"Wait... you've been calling me the whole morning?" Yixing asked with a surprised squeal and slipped into his local accent.

"Of course I have! I got up around nine today and our neighbor has been sending me some weird pictures on WeChat that look like Wu Yifan is kissing you! What is going on?!"

"Ummm..."

"I swear to god Yixing, you better answer me right now!"

"Ma... you know that I've been writing about him, right?"

"Yes."

"Yeah. So. I don't know. Yeah. That is me on the pictures..."

There was dead silence on the line and Yixing didn't even hear his mother breathe for a second. When he was about to ask if she was still there, she yelled into the phone:

"You better NOT BE KIDDING YOUR MOTHER!"

"I'm not! He's... my boyfriend."

Saying those words out loud was easier than he had thought and he felt the corners of his lips curling into a smile. Maybe that was the only good thing coming from this - to be able to openly call Yifan what he was. His boyfriend.

His.

"I need to sit down," his mother babbled, then she said, "How, Yixing? I always thought that this man is only into girls..."

"I know. I was surprised too, Ma. But... he's really different from what everyone thinks. He's got a lot of good sides."

She sighed and Yixing heard her shuffling around in the room, even though she had claimed to take a seat prior.

"Have you any idea how many people have knocked on my door and asked me if this is true?"

"I'm sorry you're being dragged into that... that wasn't planned."

"I figured. It doesn't look like you two were aware of any of your surroundings," she said dryly, reminding Yixing who he got his sassy attitude from, "I just... okay, listen, boy. I'm not shocked that you're seeing a man. It's just... who it is. He's trouble."

"He's..." Yixing started and tried to find a way to defend Yifan, but he realized that no words would ever make her change her mind for the time being.

In the end, Yifan was known to play with people, to party hard every day of the week and being good for nothing. It was clear why his mother, who had only met one of his boyfriends ever, was reacting this way. If he wasn't involved in this matter like he was, he'd probably not understand either.

"I just want you to be happy, love. I don't want anyone to hurt you."

"I am sure he's not trying to hurt me."

She didn't respond to that and sighed once more.

"God, when your grandmother finds out, she'll surely go into cardiac arrest... and if she'll ever survive, she won't stop bothering us until you bring that prince down to visit us."

"Please, don't. He's already hinted he wants to see her in our village."

"Can you IMAGINE? She still lets all her chicken run freely in the house, he'd probably die of shock... or, I don't know... the thought of Wu Yifan setting foot into our village is just so weird..."

"It really is," Yixing snorted when the image flashed in front of his inner eye.

"Oh boy. When you came out to us I never thought we'd end up like this..." His mother whined and kept walking up and down in the room.

"I didn't think so either, really."

"What did... oh my god... do the Emperor and the Empress know?!"

"Oh Ma, that didn't go that well... and I don't really want to talk about it."

"Where they mean to you?!"

"Let's just say a lot of things happened and I'm still trying to wrap my head around this. Everything is weird. I'm also not sure if I can keep my job, Ma. I'm just... so confused about everything."

"I see. But honey, no matter what's going to happen, you've got our whole support, you know that, right?"

"I know. And I'm thankful for that."

Yixing's mother didn't know what else to say and right when another moment of silence broke out between them, Yifan peeked into the room with a grin on his face as if he had overheard the whole conversation.

"Ma, I think I need to hang up now."

"Oh. Sure."

"Hello, Mrs. Zhang!" Yifan then cried out as he let himself plop down next to Yixing on the couch.

"Yifan!" Yixing scolded and his mother let out a squeal.

"He's WITH YOU?! Has he heard what we said?! Oh my! Oh my! Why didn't you TELL ME HE WAS WITH YOU?!"

"He wasn't in the room when you called!" Yixing defended himself with an angry look shot towards Yifan who kept grinning and said:

"I just kind of busted into the conversation, Mrs. - I'm rude like that, excuse that behavior please!"

Yixing's mother let out a stammer when she fully recognized Yifan's voice.

"I... My prince..."

"No no no, please, I'm just Yifan! And I know that you're worrying about your son and I totally understand. But... I'm asking you to trust me that I would never dare to hurt him. I promise!"

"You... I... I need a moment to process that..."

"I'm serious. I see why you are rather skeptical. But... um... actually... my parents do not really approve of him and me. And it would be great if you gave your son and me your blessings. It would make it easier... knowing that at least his family supports him."

"They don't?" She asked and Yixing heard that certain tone in her voice when a thing hit her hard.

She's never been a very affectionate woman when it came to physical things like hugs or kisses or cuddling. Yixing had never looked for her arms when he had been feeling sad. Kisses between them had always been rather awkward. They had never had that deep and profound bond since he spend most of his childhood with his grandparents. Yixing has the theory that because of him spending his childhood away from her, both of them missed a lot of opportunities to bond like a mother would with her kid. Despite all of this, she was a very emotional woman that would do anything for her son and she would never dare to disapprove of his choices.

"No. They don't. It's messy," Yifan said and Yixing patted his shoulder when he realized that admitting that his parents failed him seemed to be harder than he had imagined.

"... I'm sorry to hear that, dear," she said, "... that must be hard for you."

"Yeah, we had a rough morning, Ma," Yixing chipped in, hoping she'd get his hint.

A moment passed in which his mother seemed to be thinking, then she said:

"Very well then. Yifan. I've decided to take any of Yixing's boyfriends in as one of my own kids, I'm not going to make an exception for you. Just make sure to treat him well."

"I will do my best."

She let out a noise that sounded like she was approving of Yifan's words, then she cleared and said:

"Well. Maybe it's best if I check on your grandmother, Yixing. See if she's still alive or if she's died already because of all the things that happened over night."

"I hope she's fine!" Yifan yelled and Yixing smacked his thigh.

"Stop trying to play perfect son-in-law," the younger muttered and shut him up with those words.

"Yeah, I hope she's fine too..." Yixing's mother mumbled, then she added, "Okay, I'll hang up now. You two... um... well... go ahead with whatever you wanted to do..."

Yixing rolled his eyes because his mother was clearly trying too hard to be 'the cool mom', but when they hung up, Yifan said:

"She's lovely!"

Yixing didn't answer and looked at Yifan whose spirits seemed to be lifted after this call. He showed a crooked smile, then Yifan voiced his thoughts:

"It's nice to see that she supports you. I mean. We've seen the total opposite just a few hours ago."

"Ugh. That was really horrible, actually."

"Hm."

They leaned back into the couch again and Yixing leisurely threw one leg over Yifan's knees.

"What now?" Yifan asked and started to run his fingers over Yixing's thigh.

"I think I really need to write something. Like. A blog entry. Or that article. And hand that in, even though the deadline is long over."

"Do you think that would pacify your boss?"

"Absolutely not," Yixing responded, "But it would keep me away from Twitter and Weibo."

Yifan chuckled, then he leaned over and gave Yixing a kiss on the cheek.

"Then go ahead. I'll just watch Netflix or something until you're done."

The fact that he didn't try to be a prick made Yixing smile and he kissed Yifan's lips before he said:

"If you promise to not bother me you can also just stick around."

So just like that, Yixing had gotten out his Macbook and his camera to get the deed done, while Yifan fetched his iPad, put earphones on and continued watching the next Orange is the new Black episodes he needed to catch up on, sitting next to Yixing and leaning against him with his back turned to him. Completely ignoring how all hell broke loose around them felt oddly comforting to Yixing who tried to be as professional during his work as possible. When he was done with his article about the party and sent it to his boss, who still hadn't tried to reach out to him, Yifan was done with two more episodes. Yixing decided to give him another hour for the next episode and dared to check his blog. The comments were a cluster of all sorts of people telling him to either go kill himself or that they were happy for him - it was all sorts of extreme opinions. Maybe because he was used to the discourse on the internet and he knew how media, and especially social media, worked, the very crass and negative comments didn't bother him too much. He started another entry and decided to write down some sort of explanation, hoping it would help to settle the situation.

A/N: Sorry for the long update I'm really bad at this chaptered fic thing.
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