“Yes, you. Go see what’s taking him so long. Manager will be here in thirty minutes with the van and he’s been in there for the last hour.” Luhan leaned back onto Minseok’s side and gestured with his eyes for Zitao to get up.

“Fine,” Zitao grumbled, passing the bowl of grapes to Yixing to hold. He stepped over Jongdae’s outstretched legs and made his way to the bathroom. Knock. Knock. “Yifan?” He was met with silence with the exception of the distant sounds of Minseok’s cell phone game. “Yifan?” he tried again.

“What?” came an exasperated voice from behind the door.

“What are you doing in there?”

“I don’t know, Zitao - what do most people do in the bathroom?”

“You’re lying. You’re just standing there, aren’t you?”

“No.”

“Yifan, don’t lie to me.”

“I’m not lying.”

“Let me in.” He tried to turn the doorknob, but it was locked.

“No.”

“Yifan, let me in.”

“I said no, Zitao. Leave me alone!” Zitao took in a deep breath and paused, giving Yifan reason to believe he left.

“Yifan…” he whispered and this time Yifan didn’t retort. “Yifan, please, open up.” Still more silence. “You’re just nervous, aren’t you?”

A few seconds passed before Yifan whispered back, “Maybe.”

“Let me help you, baby, open up.” Zitao could hear Yifan’s heavy breathing as the door slowly opened, revealing a distressed Yifan. His hair wasn’t combed properly and showed evidence of being tousled mercilessly by his hands. His tie was lying on the counter and the corners of his mouth were twitched into a slight frown. Zitao pushed Yifan back a bit so he could cross the threshold and closed the door after himself. “So, tell me about it.”

“Tell you about what?” Yifan leaned against the wall and crossed his arms.

“Tell me what you’re so nervous about,” Zitao explained patiently as he hoisted himself up onto the counter. He waited expectantly.

Yifan struggled for words before he lamely replied, “Everything.” Zitao continued to look expectant. Yifan scowled. “What? That’s it.”

“Oh please, you can be more specific than that.” Yifan continued to scowl. “Don’t make me do it Yifan.” Zitao curled his hand into a loose fist and brought it up to his cheek. “Buing-”

“Okay fine.” He sighed. “I’m nervous because it’s our debut.”

“Well, so is everyone else. There’s no need to lock yourself up in the bathroom for that. It’s inevitable that you would be nervous about that. Now, tell me, what’s really bothering you?” The scowl reemerged on Yifan’s face. Zitao knew better though. Yifan wasn’t one to show his emotions on his face; they were always hidden behind a blank expression or a scowl. No matter what face Yifan presented to everyone, Zitao could always see through it. He pressed on. “Come on, Yifan, we don’t have forever,” he checked his watch, “We only have twenty minutes before Manager gets here and you also have Luhan on your case.”

“Fine. I’m nervous because I don’t think I’ll be a good leader. Suho is already such a great leader and then there’s me. Okay? That’s it.”

“Is that all? Really?”

“What do you mean by really? Yes, that’s it, okay?” Yifan was surprised by the sudden giggle that emerged from Zitao’s mouth.

“Come here.” Zitao waggled his fingers at Yifan, who reluctantly pushed off from the wall and walked towards him.

“What?” Zitao shushed Yifan, gently pulled him closer and wrapped his legs around him so he couldn’t move back. “Zitao, what are you doing?”

Zitao held Yifan’s face between his hands and whispered, “You, darling, are a wonderful leader. There was a reason you were chosen to be the leader, right? The company could have just as easily chosen Minseok; he is the oldest, after all. But they chose you.”

“Wait, did you just call me darling?” Zitao slumped his shoulders.

“Wow, way to ruin the moment, Yifan.” He lightly punched Yifan on the shoulder. “I was trying to be sweet and romantic but fine, if you don’t want me to call-”

“No, I like it. A little old-fashioned, arguably, but I like it none the less.” Zitao smiled and leaned in to peck Yifan’s lips.

“Good. So as I was saying, darling,” he let it roll off his tongue, “there are reasons you were chosen to be leader. Plus, how will you ever know whether or not you’re a good leader if you don’t even try?”

There was a moment of silence as Yifan looked down at their now interlaced fingers. “That’s all?”

“What do you mean that’s all?”

“That was your great and inspirational pep-talk?” He chuckled.

“Yeah, what did you expect?”

“Tell me why I make a good leader.”

“Yifan, we don’t really have time for that.” Yifan tried to move back and Zitao had to squeeze his legs to keep Yifan in place. “Okay fine, you big baby.” Yifan smiled briefly before his cheeks were squished together by Zitao’s hands. “You are very charming and charismatic. Everyone wants to meet Yifan and talk to Yifan. People literally gravitate towards you. Like myself. When I first met you, all I knew was that your name, your nationality and the fact that you were tall. But something about you made you stand out to me among the other trainees. I wanted to talk to you and get to know you. To become your friend, or maybe more if you would let me. You seem uptight but you’re actually quite easy to be around. People just like you. You don’t even have to try.” He kissed the tip of Yifan’s nose.

“You are very articulate. You always know what to say and when to say it. If our positions had been switched and I was the nervous one, your pep talk would have been far better than mine is currently for you. Remember that time when I snuck in those chocolates during dance practice for Minseok?” Yifan nodded. “The instructor yelled at me for bringing food into the practice room and that too, for Minseok, who was supposed to be dieting at the time. But you, you just said a few words calmly, and the whole thing just blew over. The instructor stopped yelling at me. He even let us eat the chocolates at the end of class.” He kissed Yifan’s forehead, smoothening out the crease that Yifan displayed earlier.

“You are very tactful. You always think things through and do whatever you do calmly and with class. You never manage to offend anyone and you’re actually quite sensitive to other people’s feelings. Like, when we were getting our ears pierced together and the lady that worked there was blatantly hitting on you. She always leaned in too close and whispered into your ear and took her own sweet time brushing your hair away from your ear and she-” Zitao scrunched his nose in slight disgust and paused to will away the upcoming tirade. “And anyway, despite her constant attempts to come on to you, you were still polite and you rejected her kindly. There were no hard feelings left behind. You know? You handled it well.” He kissed Yifan’s left cheek.

“You are responsible. Before the flight, you made sure everyone had what they needed and you even brought an extra pair of headphones because you knew Yixing would forget his. Even when we were trainees, you would be the one to make sure we stayed in line.” Yifan smirked.

“Except that one when we snuck off into that empty hallway and-” Yifan began but was cut off when Zitao slapped his shoulder.

“Don’t interrupt.” Yifan rolled his eyes and leaned forward to nuzzle his nose against Zitao’s as a signal to go on. Zitao kissed his other cheek before he continued, “Last but not least, you are our precious duizhang. Would we - Minseok, Luhan, Yixing, Jongdae, and I - call you duizhang if we didn’t think you were worthy of that name?” Yifan shook his head. “Exactly. We trust you. Now, trust yourself, okay baby?” Zitao leaned forward to brush his lips against Yifan’s. “What will you do, Yifan?”

“Trust myself.”

Zitao smiled and mouthed “exactly” against Yifan’s lips. He rested his forehead against Yifan’s and whispered, “Also, I love you.”

“I know.” Yifan kissed Zitao sweetly and chastely. “I love you, too.”