Humans were greedy creatures in constant need of entertainment and that was why they started with something exciting. However, too much of anything could become boring after a while, even with something as powerful as stimulation. The second episode, as some might have predicted, involved something a lot calmer and happier – charity work.

Come now, we couldn’t let the fans see these celebrities as savages from now on, could we? Time to rescue those slightly tarnished reputations with cute homeless animals!

It was still a competition but this one was about how many good deed tasks one would be able to complete by the end of the day. For every task completed, a point would be earned towards the final episode, which was actually becoming a very well kept secret. After last episode, Yixing and Luhan went for a quick but also very discreet supper. Their managers were there, as were the rest of the staff. The managers exchanged information and apparently, no one knew anything about that mysterious final episode. Yixing supposed the director wanted the final episode to be a complete surprise to everyone which could be good for getting genuine reactions but also risky since things could go horribly wrong.

Then again, this director was a high stake gambler. He’d proven that time and time again.

Perhaps he’ll make us kill each other for real. Yixing briefly mused but just as quickly dismissed the dark thought out of consideration for his mental health.

Back to the present, everyone was getting dropped off at this shelter for abandoned animals. They were dressed in bright colors to emphasize on the happy feeling this episode was supposed to create. Yixing was put in white and his hoodie had a cartoon sheep sewed in. Luhan, of course, was a deer. Zitao was a panda and he was the only whining because he wanted a cooler animal on his back like a cheetah. Yang Mi, adorable in pink, was petting the complaining peach with a comforting bunny paw (which might be from her private collection since paws weren’t a part of their wardrobe for this episode).

The shelter was huge and conveniently divided into stations. The guests were free to choose which station they started at and upon completion of the task assigned at each place, they’d get their precious point. Every station had different animals and to be honest, Yixing was certain he’d never get to them all because he was terrified of some of those animals. Perhaps the director included them on purpose. There were ducks, chickens and pigeons. People kept on accusing him of pretending to be scared of pigeons after that episode on Go Fighting but that was no acting. He was actually petrified of those creatures with their beady little eyes, unpredictably flappy wings and beaks.

One flew unsteadily over his head as a child and he never forgot the look it gave him. People thought pigeons were friendly dumb creatures that could be enjoyed in soup but Yixing knew to not underestimate them. Some pigeons, like the one that flew over his toddler form, were capable of murder. Only Yixing’s mom took him away before it could act on its evil intents.

What he also did not fake was that fainting session on Go Fighting. He’d felt the fogginess grow in his head that entire morning of filming and was telling himself to just push through it. He caught himself twice and even managed to request to go to the bathroom so he could clear his mind up. However, darkness swallowed him before he made it to the door. It made great television, of course, and caused a rather significant uproar. His fans were worried while his haters slapped terms such as ‘fake’ and ‘liar’ all over him. They said this was his ploy so he could leave EXO and the excuse he chose wasn’t even original. They said they felt sick to their stomachs, looking at his face as he pretended to lose consciousness.

To be honest, Yixing didn’t blame them – he felt a little sick looking at himself on the screen too. The fainting was real and that was why he couldn’t stand it. It meant he lost control on camera and allowed himself to be shown as fragile. It was frustrating because he used to be one of those people that could control himself really well, especially physically. He could make himself dance when his body was at its limits after twelve hours of nonstop movements. He could sing through fevers and smile with blood seeping through bandages on his hand. Even on those terrible days when sadness felt so overwhelming that it made his chest constrict in pain…even when tears dance in circles in his eyes and he couldn’t breathe properly, he’d hold it together. He’d wait until the dead of the night when everyone was asleep and then he’d bury his face in the pillow and let it out quietly.

He was older now, more mature – the trials of his life should have made him stronger than ever so why this? Why now?

The other guests were stretching, trying to figure out which station to go to first. For Luhan, it was an easy choice.

“Want to go for the cat one with me?” He asked William, who agreed without any hesitation. “Maybe it’ll make my cats angry when I go home tonight but that’s alright. I can win them back with a can of food, cats are like that.” Luhan was flipping through his phone for pictures of his personal felines. The guests circled around him to see but left space for the cameras. Surely the fans would also love to see pictures of those cats. Since announcing their existence and making them models on his social media accounts, Luhan attracted quite a few cat-lover fans. There was talk that he only showed that much love to his cats for the sake of popularity but Yixing knew that wasn’t true.

Luhan’s love for cats was real and he’d known that for a very long time.

xxx

The sky was dark and rain came down in waves. The pavement was wet and so was the bottom of Yixing’s trousers. The strong wind made him abandon his crappy cheap umbrella a while ago and now, he was just trying to make it back to the dorms as fast as possible. There were too many puddles to run and he couldn’t afford to lose another pair of sneakers since he was drawing dangerously close to a negative balance and the next allowance distribution was in four days. So instead, he speed walked and maneuvered around the tiny ponds to the best of his ability.

Yixing was just a block from the dorms when he saw him through the silver sheets of rain. It was such a beautiful sight that for a second, he thought he’d walked into a painting.

A young man crouched over a calico cat, red umbrella over them both. His features were partially concealed by the umbrella and what the umbrella did not cover was a blur due to the steady downpour from the scarlet polyester fabric. But even with all that distracting the view, Yixing could still see the slenderness of the man’s neck and that soft, but defined jaw line. The cat was meowing, its slightly wet tail swishing lazily from side to side as it leaned in to sniff at the hand it was offered. 

“Luhan?” He called out.

The other turned; umbrella tilting back to reveal a pair of pleasantly surprised eyes framed by thick lashes. “Yixing!” Luhan greeted back. “Come here, come here.”

Yixing did as he was told but approached extra slowly for the sake of not startling the cat. Animals didn’t usually like him but it was perhaps because they could sense his internal fear. Even now, though it seemed docile enough as it pawed Luhan’s shoe, Yixing remembered that cats had claws. Sharp ones, too, that could hurt someone if they chose to attack. Cats were also finickier than dogs and there was no real way to tell if they were in a decent mood.

“Don’t be scared, he won’t hurt you.” Yixing’s toeing around must have been obvious if Luhan started reassuring him like this.

He did not want to be embarrassed by a third beckoning so Yixing manned up and crouched down next to Luhan. The cat looked at him for a second when he first showed up but soon lost its interest and turned back to Luhan. See, even the feline knew who the better looking one was. But that’s okay – Yixing was long past the point of being jealous of his fellow trainee’s handsomeness.

“This one is a fighter and I’ve seen him chasing off dogs. He’s only being sweet like this because he’s feeling vulnerable now that he’s wet,” Luhan explained, brushing his index finger lightly over the cat’s forehead, earning from it another satisfied mewl. “He likes the umbrella and my body heat. It is very cold today and I think if I want to, he’ll come home with me.” Luhan’s lips curved in a smile, a hint of mischief entering his eyes as he imagined sneaking the cat past everyone and into the dorm room.

“Do it, then!” Yixing blurted out without much thinking, and only afterwards did he remember he was encouraging something that was against the rules. “I mean, I won’t tell anyone…” Their other roommate was also going to be away for a few days in the hospital due to an injury. They’d be alone and no one really visited unless asked so technically, the cat could stay for the night and the chance of them getting away with it was fairly high.

His small outburst had Luhan chuckling.

“I thought you were a good child, Yixing.”

“I am a loyal friend first,” Yixing replied and couldn’t help but feeling a little indignant at the word ‘child’. “It’s not like breaking the no pet dormitory rule once in a while would hurt anyone.” Unless someone was allergic and started sneezing all day…in that case Yixing would actually feel really bad.

Luhan raised a brow as if considering his words. “Loyalty is under appreciated in today’s society.”

Yixing thought that was such a strange thing to say, especially coming from someone as young and successful as Luhan. Out of the trainees he’d seen, Luhan was the one he really had his money on debuting. Look at him – handsome, smart, beautiful vocals and capable of following the dance routine without putting in many hours like Yixing had to.  On top of it, Luhan was already popular with the other trainees. The awkwardness that accompanied Yixing for the first year of his time in Korea seemed to have bypassed Luhan completely. He wasn’t really bullied or shunned by the native Koreans and in fact, seemed welcomed when he walked among them.

It was more than his good grasp of the Korean language. Yixing thought Luhan possessed something he’d never be able to learn and that was charisma. Even he, who thought he didn’t need to make any more friends after finding Yifan, was drawn in by this deer’s charms.

“Sorry, what I meant was, let’s do it!” Luhan was smiling again, the somber expression that briefly flashed past his face completely dissipated as if it never existed in the first place. “Here, hold the umbrella for a second.”

Yixing nodded and held the umbrella over all three of them as Luhan scooped the cat into his arms. The creature initially wiggled in bewilderment but calmed when he was placed into the front of Luhan’s zipped jacket. “Come on,” said Yixing’s roommate as he positioned a hand over the cat bump sticking out from his middle. It was a hilarious sight but Yixing supposed they couldn’t just walk through the gates with a bundle of fur in their arms. None of them brought a back pack and the grocery bags in Yixing’s hands were transparent. Hopefully the cat won’t kick up too much of a fuss in Luhan’s jacket and they could sneak past everyone without any trouble.

Their luck held. The hallway was emptier today – perhaps everyone decided to sleep earlier due to the freezing rain. Luhan and Yixing sneaked to their room, tidied things up quickly before letting the feline loose. It seemed shocked by its new environment and promptly began sniffing around. Eventually, though, it found itself a nice nap spot on Yixing’s bed, right by his pillow.

Such good taste the cat had, Yixing mused. The pillow was actually brought from China by his mom and the casing was sewed by his aunties. It didn’t look fancy but was extremely soft. He always fell asleep on it like a tiny baby carried and rocked by the clouds.   

“I think I’ll name him Lan Lan.” That meant ‘lazy lazy’ in Chinese, which Yixing thought was an appropriate name considering how the first thing the cat did was to nap. Luhan had followed Lan Lan to Yixing’s bed, now sprawling himself out into a more comfortable position. He was the cat’s back and getting a steady purr going when he noticed Yixing was still standing by the door. “Come and pet him too.”

“I have to go,” Yixing said. The cat, now that it was asleep, seemed safe to approach and extra adorable. He was tempted to linger for a while but knew he had another, much more important task on hand. “I have to take these to Wu Yifan.” The grocery bags, now soaked just like the rest of him, were lifted for Luhan’s examination.

“I think you bought too much,” Luhan commented, side eyeing the containers of meds in one of the plastic bags.

“I know. I just didn’t know what worked better so I asked the lady for recommendations. She couldn’t decide either so I just got all of them.” And after the drug store he stopped by the supermarket so he could pick up some fruits and ready-made sandwiches.

“You really are a good friend,” Luhan complimented, giving Yixing an air pat on the head. “Kris must be important to you.”

Yixing nodded in agreement, pausing as he searched his mind for the right words. “Yifan was my only friend for a long time…I was really lonely in the months I spent here before meeting him.” He didn’t know why he felt like explaining himself to Luhan but perhaps he just wanted someone to know how grateful he was to find another Chinese trainee.

When Yifan spoke to him in Chinese that day, Yixing almost felt like bursting into tears. He just missed home so much – his parents, relatives and even the neighbors. When he dreamt, he heard their voices, soft and familiar in his mother tongue. When Yifan spoke, though his dialect was different from the one featured in Yixing’s dreams, the familiarity of the Chinese language still felt like a balm that soothed the wound his home sickness left. For being the first person that made his trainee life in Korea less unbearable, Yifan managed to wiggle himself into a special place in Yixing’s heart.

“He’s my best friend.” That was Yixing’s final declaration before fleeing the room in embarrassment.

Luhan stared at the door long after the other Chinese male disappeared, brows knotted. The cat, noticing his lack of movement, meowed to prompt its renewal. And so he did, rubbing gently into the soft fur.

A best friend, hm? Luhan propped up his elbow, rested his chin against his palm and thought over the words. It had been a long time since he considered anyone that. Sure, he made friends easily and had a way of bringing fellow trainees into his social circle. But how many of these friends considered him as their top priority? How many of them would run into the icy rain to get him enough fever medicine to last three years? How many would forgo comfort and push aside competitiveness, ditch responsibilities so they could take care of him?

For once, jealousy between the two Chinese roommates flipped in direction and Luhan wished he had a best friend who could see him as Yixing saw Yifan. A friendship of such purity had value within itself and was worth its weight in shiny dollar bills.

xxx

The bunny station’s task was simple and all Yixing had to do was to chop up some vegetables and add it to the oversized feeding bowl. He sliced away, slow but well practiced with a knife. It would appear he had not forgotten his cooking skill, though it’s been a while since he had the opportunity to use it. The last meal he cooked was…a little over a year ago when he was in Korea. The hotel they were staying at had a fully equipped kitchen and upon request, he made some fried rice and grilled pork belly for his hungry roommate Jongdae. The savory aroma ended up reaching out of the door and spreading into the hallway and soon, two more hungry critters by the name of Jongin and Sehun wandered in. Yixing pulled up chairs for them and dumped a plateful in front of each. Their content expressions made him feel happy because it reminded him of the EXO dorm days when he was known as the EXO-M’s ‘cooking mom’.

Wu Yifan was at the bunny station too, communicating enthusiastically with the camera as he held a small, fragile looking creature in his massive hand. It looked really cute in front of the camera and after some good editing, would be even better on the actual television. In reality though, Yixing could tell the bunny was trying to wiggle away. Perhaps it didn’t actually like the humans, after all, they must seem like massive beings of unlimited strength to the little ones. If a giant showed up in Yixing’s world and tried to pick him up, he’d want to run too.

“It must miss its mother.” Yifan eventually noticed the bunny’s attempt to escape and set it back down, allowing it scurry off to a rabbit’s side.

Yixing subtly raised a brow, his eyes drawn to the taller male against his desires. Yifan’s eyes had turned gentler unknowingly, likely because of the word ‘mother’ – the one person Yifan truly loved in this life time.  

xxx

Yixing crouched by Yifan’s bed, testing his forehead to see if the fever had gone down. Unfortunately, it had not. “Don’t worry, I got meds,” he said, though he wasn’t certain if Yifan could hear him.

At the sound of his voice, the eyes that had been squeezed shut fluttered open. Yifan looked confused and tired but managed to follow Yixing’s movements around the bedroom with his eyes. “Mom?” He called out.

“No, it’s your Xing ge,” Yixing replied, sorting through the stack of medication he bought.*

“Mom!” Yifan insisted, brows knotting with stubbornness as he made a snatch for Yixing’s hand.

Somehow, Yixing managed to find the strength to hold back his laughter. He shouldn’t find this situation entertaining but he rarely seen Yifan with his child mode activated like this. “Alright fine, I am mom.” Another wave of laughter threatened to push past his lips with that word but Yixing made himself swallow it back down. “Now be a good son and put your arm back under the blanket, alright? Mom needs to decide which meds to give you.”

For the first time ever, Yifan nodded and obeyed. Yixing felt his chest swell with pride for himself for getting this guy to listen to him. He also felt trusted, which meant he had to take care of this guy extra well. Unfortunately for Yifan, his Xing ge wasn’t actually an expert at taking care of people. He was, after all, just eighteen and barely even remembered to feed himself. The Korean labelling on the medicine was confusing and since he bought too many, he couldn’t remember which one was for which.

He pressed his hand against Yifan’s forehead again. It was definitely not going down on its own. “Okay, we are going to try the red package here. Here’s to hoping I won’t accidentally overdose you. If I do, though, please don’t hold any grudges and rest in peace. Possibly even consider protecting me when your soul enters heaven because at least I gave it a good go.”

Two tablets went down and seemed to have gotten the job done. Yifan’s fever disappeared sometimes during the night and by the next day; he was feeling a lot better. Yifan woke up to soft whirring of machinery and realized soon it was Yixing, who was fiddling with the portable rice cooker. “Hey…” His head felt foggy but he was no longer confused. “What are you doing here?” It was early afternoon, which meant Yixing should be in classes.

“I am making you congee,” said Yixing in a matter-of-fact voice.

“What about classes?”

“I took the day off.” Since he was usually so good with his attendance, the instructors didn’t give him hell over it, only warned to not make it a habit.

It would be a lie if Yifan said he was not touched by these simple words. Here was Yixing, the legendary trainee who danced morning to night. This was Mister Hardworking, who never took time for himself and pushed his body until it threatened to fall apart. Look at him now, taking a day off and skipping all of his classes just to take care of a friend who didn’t even treat him all that well. A part of Yifan wanted to tell Yixing he was the best and how thankful he was for the care he received…but his manly pride didn’t allow it.

So instead, he said “I owe you one.”

Yixing smiled through his panda eyes, dimple sweetening away the exhaustion. “Oh yeah, you do. Better think of a good way to pay me back or I’ll collect lots of interest.”

 A dinner was not going to cover this one, was it?

Yifan returned the smile, the gesture hurting a little due to his dry lips. “I will treat you better from now on. As your best buddy.” It was a bit of a cheesy promise but Yixing brightened at it.

“I am holding you to it! Now sit up, let’s try to get some of this congee in you.” Yixing was fetching a bowl and scooping a glop of questionable white material in it. “I think I cooked it for too long and didn’t add enough water. Sorry, it won’t taste good but you need to eat something…”

“Zhang Yixing.” His rambling was interrupted.

“What?”

“Friends for life, I mean it. First we’ll train together and then we’ll debut. Afterwards we’ll do concerts, interviews and reality shows…”

“And when we are old we’ll retire and buy houses next to each other. Get pretty wives and try to get our kids to marry each other?” Yixing flashed his teeth at the thought of him and Yifan grey and wrinkly, waving their canes at grand kids. It was a nice thing to think about stuff like that, especially during this stress period. “Sure.”

“It’s a promise then.”

Back then, they honestly thought they could make it happen. Everything did go according to plans for a few years and the promise they made to each other expanded to include more people like Luhan and Zitao. Eventually, the other EXO members became part of their wish too and for the first few glorious months after debut, Yixing imagined twelve houses next to each other. Then, the longer they worked as idols and the faster their popularity grew, the more he realized his dream was just that – a fantasy that cannot be achieved. He really was too young, too naive and too foolish as to think promises like the one Yifan made with him could be held for life.

Reality gave him a harsh lesson but Yixing was thankful to have the truth hammered into him early – lies were made to be kept and promises were made to be broken.

notes; next chapter is zitao heavy & i have something exciting planned. :3c it's about time we get some extra drama in this fic. ;waves fists

anyway, thanks for reading, everybody. i think i am updating too fast and should wait at least a week or two in between each new chapter to give more people a chance to subscribe & comment. but tbh, i can only write when inspiration hits and if i wait, i risk losing interest and i really want to complete this fic. it will have 15 chapters and if we end up blowing through everything in two months, so be it. 

subscribe & comment, upvote if you want lol. encourage my inspired but also semi-lazy bum. 

* ge means older brother in Chinese. Yifan is older than Yixing so usually Yixing would call Yifan 'ge'. At this part of the story though, he's using 'ge' playfully. He doesn't actually believe he is older than Yifan and is merely teasing. <3

side note;; i've been informed calico cats are mostly ladies - this is not something i was fully aware of. i think i'll leave the chapter as it is for now and make the excuse that perhaps luhan, like me, did not know that calico cats are mostly female and automatically assumed it was a boy since it was so savage on the streets. :)