Snowflakes have begun dancing their way elegantly and soundlessly down onto the pavement since the time when the people of the world were still sleeping, trapped in their own endless dreams. As usual, Yixing finds them beautiful yet sad. The coldness that winter brings about makes Yixing feel the happiness evading his being, but with the thought of the beautiful stranger-slash-customer he met yesterday brings forth so much warmth he could have thought he has been transported into the eastern coast of Africa.

Just before Yixing’s father pulls up the car by the curb, he sees the golden-haired boy leaning by the stone wall beside the door of the shop, tugging on his own red scarf and rubbing his mitten-covered hands from time to time. He sees the golden-haired boy lightly kick a stone off onto the road, then heaving his shoulders once as if making a deep sigh.

“Ba, I’m going first,” Yixing tells his father.

Hastily, Yixing opens the car door and runs towards the golden-haired boy. The other boy sees him and waves a hand at him, pushing his foot against the wall as he straightens up to greet Yixing with a playful smile.

“What are you doing here?” Yixing demands, an obvious hint of concern in his voice.

The golden-haired boy, noticing that Yixing is taller than he is, pouts, then says, “I thought I was clear that I’d come back for Our Little Paradise and that I could borrow you for a day.”

“Who is that, Xing Tuo?” a voice asks from behind them.

Yixing turns around to face his father while the golden-haired boy looks up and down at him.

“Ba, this is—“

The golden-haired boy gives a deep bow, flashes his trademark smile—a smile Yixing believes is a cross between a mischievous smirk and light mockery, but all the while gentle and friendly—and says, “Good morning, Sir, my name’s Jiaheng. I’m here to buy a book.”

“Well, that’s rather obvious,” Yixing’s father says with a laugh. He inserts the key into the lock and turns the knob open. “Come in, it’s cold here outside.”

“Thank you,” Jiaheng says politely and enters the bookstore ahead of Yixing.

The smell of books and winter and sandalwood fills the entire room. Jiaheng thinks it smells of home and memories and—

Then, he remembers cinnamon and breadsticks and cake. He looks down on his stomach and fondly rubs it with the palm of his hands.

“Now, sixty yuan,” Yixing says.

“It seems that your father is the cashier today,” Jiaheng says. “That means, I pay him not you.”

Yixing rolls his eyes. “Whatever. Just do it already and go.”

Again, Jiaheng smiles.

Why does he keep on smiling?

“Why are you always rude to me? Do you want to keep customers away by being like that? My, your business might just go bankrupt in time.”

Yixing feels the blood creeping to his face rapidly. He knows he is beet red. But not because of the pleasant fluster like what he felt yesterday, but because he is so furious right now.

“Don’t you go saying things like that!”

“Xing Tuo, your friend is right,” his father suddenly says, as he walks into the counter. “I’m sorry, Jiaheng. My Xing Tuo here is usually friendly and polite to all. And he can be especially shy. But maybe you irk him? In a way?”

“I just want to be friends with him,” Jiaheng speaks to Yixing’s father. “I just came back home from Canada, and we’re staying here in Hunan for Christmas. I thought I can make friends with anyone here. That’s why, can you please ask if Xing Tuo can give me a tour around the city?”

Yixing drops his jaw. The way Jiaheng said his nickname gives him goose bumps. Okay, his father was right. This Jiaheng dude does irk him…in a way he still doesn’t know.

“Sure! He’s been sulking at home since the first day of vacation. And I’m here today to take care of the bookstore, so… Xing Tuo, maybe you can do just that?”

Yixing purses his lips. He cannot argue with his father. There never is a way around to argue against and find an escape from his father. So he only sighs and nods begrudgingly.

Jiaheng smiles at him again. “Here, Sir, sixty yuan for Our Little Paradise.”

Yixing’s father receives the money and hands over the wrapped book to Jiaheng. “Have fun, you both!”

Jiaheng wraps an arm around Yixing’s shoulder even though he is inches shorter than the dark-haired boy. He pulls the door open, the chimes clinking above them, and steps out onto the wintry world, Yixing by his side. When he hears the door shut behind them, he turns to Yixing and says, “Stop brooding over this.”

“I don’t want to spend a day with a stranger.”

“We’re not completely strangers! I know your name, you know mine.”

“I never asked for yours.”

“Well, yeah, but you will anyway. By the way, I have a place I want to go to.”

Yixing frowns in confusion. “I thought you want me to be your tour guide.”

“I’ve been here countless of times when I was younger, and I have been touring the town for a week now. I know my way,” Jiaheng says confidently.

“Then, you don’t need me after all!” Yixing says, lifting his arms up in the air in exasperation.

“You lazy dude, you’re going with me whether you like it or not!” Jiaheng argues indignantly. He takes Yixing’s hand and pulls him behind him to wherever he is going. “Besides, I promised to give you a treat, didn’t I?”

“Fine! Fine!” Yixing surrenders. “I’m going with you, just let go of my hand!”

“You don’t like it?”

“Hell no!”

“You really are rude, Xing Tuo,” Jiaheng says in a sing-song voice.

Yixing flushes, and while quite not the first time around, he sees the genuine mischief and notoriety dancing playfully in Jiaheng’s dark brown eyes, his lips quirked up into his trademark smile.

Yixing bats away Jiaheng’s hand and hisses, “Don’t call me that!”

Jiaheng’s smile only turns into a grin.

“This is where you want to take me?” asks Yixing, sounding rather disappointed.

Yixing has walked side by side with Jiaheng the entire time. They turned left and right in several nooks and fork roads. While on their way, they talked about a whole lot of things, Jiaheng usually initiating the conversation, shifting from one topic to another and then back to a certain topic. Yixing has to admit that Jiaheng is rather a spontaneous person, fun to be with and definitely not a boring one. They could have talked about a whole lot of things for an eternity.

But they had to cut their conversation when Jiaheng suddenly stopped in front of this Lamian restaurant.

“Take you?” Jiaheng says, clearly amused. “You make it sound like you’re a princess in some fairy tale and that I am your prince charming who is supposed to take you away and save you from a vicious witch.” Without waiting for Yixing’s reply, Jiaheng enters the restaurant and the smell of boiling water and noodles wafts through the entire room. He takes in a deep breath, savouring the aromatic scent with his eyes closed. “God, I’m starving.”

“What makes you say that?” asks Yixing, sinking into one side of the booth beside the glass window so he could see the many passers-by and the snow and the cars and the other stores just about to open.

Taking a seat across from Yixing, Jiaheng winks at him, making Yixing lose color on his face—and to Jiaheng’s delight—then says, “Because you love reading fairy tales, don’t you?”

“N-not really,” Yixing says abashedly. All he wants to do right now is to cower into a corner and blanket himself with Harry Potter’s invisibility cloak so no one would see him.

“Come on. Just because you’re a guy doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to read fairy tales. That’s why there’s always a prince charming there, right? We’re practically heroes!”

“You’re definitely teasing me.”

“What? No! No!” Jiaheng says in between laughs. “I also read fairy tales! I swear!”

“But probably not as much as I do.”

“Yeah, not as much as you do. I find those stories stupid.” Yixing flinches. Jiaheng sees a glimmer of hurt run across Yixing’s eyes. “Well, I think unicorns are cool?”

“Oh, shut up!” Yixing lazily waves a hand at him, then props his chin on the palm of his hand and looks intently at Jiaheng this time. He has been evading the other boy’s stare the whole time because of the butterflies swimming involuntarily in his stomach. Finally, he has taken the courage to shy away those insects and focus, as in really focus, at Jiaheng. “So why did you return to China?”

“My mom’s brother’s wife’s family used to operate a restaurant in Guangdong. But that wife died and so did my uncle. Having no other close relatives, the business now falls into my mother’s hands,” Jiaheng explains to Yixing but Yixing does not get any of it, really.

“Ah…” is all Yixing could say, then nods as if in comprehension. “So you have no plans of going back to Canada?”

“Of course, we do. My dad is still working there, and he lives alone. Every night, he calls us or vice versa. But he has promised that he will be with us on Christmas.”

“That’s good then!”

“Yeah, I know. I don’t want to celebrate Christmas without either of my parents. I mean, I’m an only child. Are you?”

Yixing nods. “And sometimes it’s lonely, you know, being an only child.”

“Well, I’m sure you have something that keeps your mind busy,” Jiaheng says, and his lips start to find its way up to his cheeks. Yixing could only think how that smile is different from his trademark smile. It makes him feel cosy and at home.

“I do. I read books, watch movies, play video games, etcetera.”

“Aren’t we the same?” Jiaheng says in amusement, his eyes lighting up like fireworks. “You know, we should really become friends!”

Yixing just shrugs.

A moment later, their order arrives and they spend the next hour chatting and laughing and teasing each other.

After the Lamian restaurant, Yixing finds himself standing in front of a dull-looking door with a red FIRE EXIT sign hung just above it. He looks at Jiaheng questioningly.

“Now what are we exactly supposed to do?” Yixing asks the shorter boy.

“We’re sneaking in.”

“What?!” asks Yixing, disbelief and fear washing over him at once. “No! I’m so not gonna do this, Jiaheng!”

“Yes, you are. I tell you what to do, and you follow me without questions.”

Yixing makes a sound, looking up at the sky.

God, help me please!

He does not know whether he should be upset or if he should laugh at Jiaheng’s own incredulousness. Over the past hour, he has observed that this golden-haired boy is naughty, witty, that they have a lot of similarities, and has a superiority complex. Never has he expected that Jiaheng’s brain nerves are this crazy and ridiculous.

“Scaredy-cat,” Jiaheng utters, pulling Yixing back into the real world.

“What did you say?”

“Come on, just follow me!” Jiaheng points at the door with his dark eyes, then his head. He pulls Yixing by the hand since he knows that the other boy would run towards the opposite direction, but Yixing is taller and stronger and frees himself from Jiaheng’s grip. Jiaheng looks at him, wide-eyed.

“I told you,” Yixing begins, then continues saying, enunciating each word, “I. AM. NOT. GOING. IN. WITH. YOU.”

“We’re not gonna get caught!” Jiaheng argues, opening the door before him. “I’ll sneak in with you no matter what I have to do. Now come!”

Determinedly, Jiaheng grabs Yixing’s hands with both hands and starts dragging him through the open door. Yixing starts screaming at him, but when Jiaheng won’t let go of him, he starts screaming for help. He starts screaming how he is being molested by another boy.

Jiaheng gapes at him, dumbfounded. He lets a string of profanities escape his mouth before covering Yixing’s mouth with his hand. Because the other boy is taller than he is, he finds it with great difficulty to make the other one submit to his over-domineering authority.

“Shut up, Xing Tuo!” Jiaheng hisses behind his ear.

The ear! Yixing’s sensitive part.

Yixing’s feels himself melting as Jiaheng’s breath caresses the skin just below his earlobe. It’s ticklish but pleasant. Just an access to his sensitive part, just the close proximity he has with Jiaheng, just the warmth of the other boy’s body against his own, just the sound of his nickname being spoken by Jiaheng’s husky voice make Yixing weak and submissive. Jiaheng’s confidence, arrogance, and determination altogether topple over his weak personality foundation.

Then Jiaheng opens another door, and they find themselves in the dark. Yixing holds Jiaheng’s hands tighter. He’s never been a person of the dark. In fact, night has always been his enemy.

“Let’s sit at the very back,” Jiaheng urges, leading the way.

Jiaheng smiles in the dark. He likes it when Yixing clings to him like this. He likes it that Yixing follows him. He likes it when he does naughty things with Yixing. He likes it when—

Suddenly, Yixing bumps into his back. Jiaheng stumbles a little but catches his balance as he grabs an arm of the nearby chair. “What happened, Xing Tuo?”

“I-I-I tripped. I’m sorry.”

Jiaheng could imagine Yixing’s face become red as he apologizes. He has observed that since yesterday. No, actually, Yixing’s mannerisms seem familiar to him. This incident is familiar to him. But he doesn’t know why. He shrugs the rising thought off his head and focuses on Yixing instead. “Are you alright?”

“I suppose so. I mean, I can’t see in the dark,” Yixing says.

“Okay, we’ll sit in this area then.”

Jiaheng sits on the nearest chair and motions Yixing to sit beside him—obviously. When they are comfortably seated in their chairs, Jiaheng turns his full and undivided attention to the film. It’s an action film and he’s always wanted to watch it since he arrived in Changsha but his mother won’t let him because she hates action movies. He’s sulked about it and sometimes purred to her just so she would agree to watch the movie with him but to no avail. Just as how unyielding Jiaheng can be, his mother is quite more so. Jiaheng thinks fondly, Maybe stubbornness runs in the blood of the Wu Family.

But to his despair, Yixing keeps asking him questions.

“Are you sure we’re not gonna get caught?”

“I told you. We’re not gonna get caught.”

“Anyway, how long is this movie going to last?”

“I don’t know! That’s why we’re watching it.”

“But I’m not interested in it! It’s action!”

“Why? What do you like?” Jiaheng asks desperately this time. He’s gotten so exhausted and exasperated just by answering Yixing’s endless queries.

“Something that has unicorn in it.”

“Fantasy! Uh-huh, nice one, Yixing,” Jiaheng remarks sarcastically.

Yixing does not miss it. All the hours they’ve been together, Jiaheng has never sounded so annoyed and has never called him by his real name.

“I told you, you should’ve just let me go,” Yixing utters as he turns his head towards the screen.

Then, he feels Jiaheng’s stare boring into his head as if he was drilling a hole into a wall. But Yixing ignores it.

“We’re partners in crime. Wherever I go, you go.”

“Actually, I’m more of a follower than a partner.”

Jiaheng slaps Yixing’s forearm, making Yixing yelp in pain. “Oh, just shut that big mouth of yours, sit back and relax. We’re getting nowhere with this!”

Yixing does as he’s been told—much to his anger and resentment. Why does he have to follow everything Jiaheng says anyway? He was just a customer who happened not to have twenty more yuan, making him come back to the store and drag him away like some slave. They’ve walked around town, eaten noodles together, and sneaked in together. They’ve known each other for just a few hours, and here he is—slumped in a chair, watching a boring movie beside another kid who is so absorbed in the entire thing, and being glued to an almost-stranger person because he is obliged to. As to why he’s unfortunately ended up like this, he thinks he has already forgotten.

“That was great!” Jiaheng says as he crouches down on his knees, huffing clouds of breath in every split of second.

On the other hand, Yixing’s knees give way and he heavily slumps himself down on a nearby bench. He’s never been much for sports and running as fast as lightning is already taking its toll on his flimsy body. He splays his arms along his sides and looks up at the sky, letting the winter breeze play with his cinnamon-colored hair. The park, usually packed with people, suddenly seems huge and tranquil and uninviting, save for the rows of poplar trees lining the sides of the stone pathways and too much snow around his feet.

 “Yeah, so much for your ‘We’re not gonna get caught.’,” says Yixing, impersonating Jiaheng as he quotes him.

Jiaheng laughs at him. “It’s your fault! You were so loud.”

“That was half an hour before we got caught!” Yixing argues. “Don’t just go blaming me all the time!”

“What, this is the first time!”

“It’s good that you admit you’re blaming me. Now, apologize!”

“Hey, what’s suddenly gotten to you, huh, Xing Tuo?”

“I am so annoyed right now. You don’t have the right to call me by my nickname!”

Jiaheng looks baffled. How is it that the world has suddenly turned upside down? Just a few moments ago, he was the one giving Yixing orders. Not the other way around!

“Look, it’s good that we escaped. But don’t you think it’s fun?”

“No, I don’t!” Yixing replied not a single heartbeat later. “What we did was the stupidest and most ridiculous thing I’ve ever done in my life!”

“Wrong,” Jiaheng says as he sits beside Yixing. “It’s not uncommon for people to sneak into a place when they want to.”

“Well, you wanted it. I didn’t. Now, apologize.”

“It’s never coming. I’m not someone who gives away the word sorry that easily.”

“Even though you should be?”

Jiaheng recognizes the rise in Yixing’s voice. He’s definitely angry at him and he needs to do something to appease the other boy’s mind. But he’s never ever going to say sorry to him. It goes against his earthly principles.

“Xing Tuo, I honestly don’t see why I should be. I guess—“

“I’m going home.”

Yixing suddenly stands up and glares at Jiaheng. Jiaheng draws his brows together and he’s running out of his wits. He doesn’t want Yixing to go. Not yet. Just as Yixing takes his first step, Jiaheng tentatively but impulsively reaches out and grabs Yixing’s arm—which surprises him.

Yixing gives him a sharp look and says in a low voice, “Let go, Jiaheng.”

Jiaheng gulps. For a moment, he’s lost as to what he is supposed to do. How can he convince this boy to play with him for another six hours? Then, he finds the courage along with his voice, and says, “I am not letting you go like this. At least, let me apologize in other ways.”

Yixing’s brow quirks up. “Oh, really?”

“Yeah. As payment. So will you come with me?”

“Make sure we’re not gonna get chased out again.”

Jiaheng smiles. “Absolutely not.”

“Fine.”

And with that, Jiaheng could feel his heart leaping for joy inside his chest.

Jiaheng opens the door to their hotel room. Yixing follows suit.

“Where’s your mom?” Yixing asks, his eyes scanning over everything that he could see.

“I told you earlier, she’s doing business,” Jiaheng replies, sitting on the bed. He pats on the space beside him, motioning Yixing to sit beside him.

But Yixing walks towards the walls where paintings hang on the wall. “This hotel’s good.”

“Yeah, right. But that’s not actually the best part. Come here,” Jiaheng beckons Yixing to come again, but the other boy walks toward a small shelf of books.

“These are all self-help books,” Yixing comments. “Whoa, you think maturely.”

“Yeah, right. Not like some other kid I know who still loves reading fairy tales and who is obsessed with unicorns despite his age.”

Yixing throws him a death glare. Jiaheng feigns flinching, arms up in the air to show surrender. “My preferences. Not yours.”

“I know, I know. Now, would you just come over here?”

Still not listening to a word that Jiaheng is saying, Yixing turns towards the racks of CDs displayed adjacent to the small shelf. Jiaheng sees a smile form on Yixing’s angelic face, and for the first time, he notices his dimples.

“Hey, that’s unfair!” Jiaheng suddenly bursts out.

Yixing turns around curiously only to see Jiaheng pout at him again. “What?”

“You’ve got dimples.”

“Ah… So?”

“I’ve always wanted to have dimples. I blame the genes because I don’t have one!”

“Now that is a childish comment coming from some mature kid I know,” Yixing remarks sarcastically, flashing his vengeance smile.

But Jiaheng does not allow himself to fall back and retaliates. “My preferences. Not yours.”

“Copycat.”

They both laugh.

Yixing runs his index finger through the CD cases interestedly, and stops abruptly when he sees a whole bunch of Lin Jielin’s CD albums stacked one after another.

“You’re a Lin Jielin fan?” Yixing asks excitedly.

Jiaheng lies down on his belly and props his head on both his hands. “Yeah, why?”

“You never told me! I’m also a Lin Jielin lover!”

“Really?” Jiaheng sits up straight, his ear perking up just like a dog’s. But he realizes that somehow there is something wrong with Yixing’s sentence. “Do not interchange lover with fan.”

“Whatever!” Yixing brushes him off, takes one of the CDs, and sits beside Jiaheng. “This is his latest album, right? My, I still haven’t gotten my hands on it.”

“I can let you borrow it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

Without thinking, Yixing gives Jiaheng a hug attack. Jiaheng falls down on the bed, Yixing still enveloping his smaller body. He doesn’t know what to do—whether to remain an unresponsive pillow-like creature or to hug Yixing back. He chooses the latter option. His arms find their way just below each of Yixing’s scapula, hugging him tight. When Yixing is satisfied, he lets go of Jiaheng and glues his eye to the CD, signed by Lin Jielin.

“You know, you remind me of one kid I met six years ago in Guangzhou,” Jiaheng starts saying. “He looked like he has the same obsession with Lin Jielin as much as you do, somewhat the same demeanor… I think? And guess what! We collided into each other and we swapped CDs!”

Jiaheng has been waiting for Yixing to ask why, but he sees that whatever splendour the other boy had earlier, it’s completely gone now. Yixing just keeps staring at him blankly. He wonders what could have gone wrong, what he could have said wrong.

“Are you all right, Xing Tuo?”

“No, let me see the CD. Do you still have it?”

“Yeah. Wait, let me get it.”

Jiaheng gets off the bed and searches for the said CD. It doesn’t take him too long to find it. He opens the case and is about to hand Yixing the disc when suddenly—

“Wait a minute! You’re that Zhang Yixing?”

“And you’re Kevin Li?” asks Yixing.

“Yes!”

“Yes!”

“Whoa, what a coincidence!” Jiaheng says, running a slender hand through his golden hair.

“Hey, give it back to me!” Yixing demands, reaching his hand out.

Jiaheng gives the CD to Yixing and watches the other boy read everything that Lin Jielin has written on the disc six years ago. He could see that as Yixing’s eyes move from right to left and up and down, his smile turns bigger and bigger, as if big enough to let the whole world fit in it.

“I thought I’d never get to read Lin Jielin’s personal message to me!” Yixing utters ecstatically.

“Well, you just have. Thanks to me!”

Yixing blushes. “Right. Thank you, Jiaheng. Oh, I remember everything that happened that day. It’s all thanks to that darn teenage boy who tripped me!”

Now, it’s Jiaheng’s turn to blush. Not so many people manage to thank him anyway, especially with his notorious attitude playing a façade over his otherwise personality.

“Can I have it back?” Yixing asks him.

“No. Not until I have mine back.”

“Now this scene is rather familiar.”

“I know.”

And they laugh again. Then, they find themselves lying on the bed, staring at the ceiling. “Why was your name Kevin?”

“Stupid Xing Tuo,” Jiaheng says, poking at Yixing’s nose. “That’s my English name. Haven’t I told you? I was born in Guangzhou. Cantonese is my mother tongue. When I was four, we went to Canada. But when I was six, I returned to China. A few months after, we returned to Canada. And it’s only last week that we returned here, and that I don’t know for how long we’re gonna stay here this time around. That’s why I want to be friends with you.”

“Why? You haven’t told me.”

Jiaheng pinches Yixing’s cheeks and props his head on one hand so that he’s in a side-lying position, facing Yixing. When Yixing turns to look at him, he says, “How stupid can you be, Zhang Yixing?”

Yixing rubs his cheeks. “I am not as stupid as you think.”

“Then, don’t act like one.”

Yixing punches him on his side. Hard. Jiaheng winces in pain and makes a really pained expression.

“If you think I’m gonna pity you, you’re wrong.”

“Fine. My fault. But… I’m really happy now.”

“Why?”

“Because I only have a few friends in Canada and none of whom can speak Chinese.”

“That must be lonely.”

“It is lonely. At least, not until I met you. Zhang Yixing, we’re going to be friends for life. I promise you that.”

Yixing smiles. The idea enlightens him but that does not prevent him from feelings his guts being tied into a thousand knots like countless of times.

***___***

[A/N: Hi, guys! Here it is! I'm sorry if it's long. I just got carried away while writing it. Anyway, right now I prefer it if they give off the vibes of friendship first. :) I'll be updating next week. Please continue reading/subscribing/supporting this fanfic! Thank you! Saranghae yo! Oh, and please don't forget to leave your comments. Much appreciated!]

P.S.: I'm thinking of writing a romance story between a girl and an EXO member. I'll probably make it a love triangle or whatever. I've been having selfish fantasies and I thought I should write about them. What do you think?