“I’m sorry, Xing, I’m sorry, I really didn’t know it would—”

“Goddammit, Kris! I told you to quit! You said it was a one-time thing—”

“It was! It was, I swear. I told him I didn’t want it anymore, but he insisted I try this new — I’m sorry… I’ll tell the police it was me.” The determined blond stands up abruptly, the chair falling over at the sudden impact. Yixing stands too, his hand shooting out to grasp the tall man’s wrist. There is an expression of worry and fright on his face but he nonetheless struggles to smile.

“No, Kris, you can’t.” He tugs at the latter’s hand to make him sit. “You’ve just debuted for a year – you would be ruined if you get such a scandal.” Yixing bites his lower lip hesitantly, and glances up to meet the wide-eyed look of disbelief on the other man’s face. “Let me take the blame.”

“Xing – have you lost your marbles?” he splutters in alarm as he tightens his grip on Yixing’s wrists. “You can never debut if you have this in your record. Why would I let you do something this idiotic when you weren’t the one using?” He swallows. “I should take responsibility for my mis—”

The flying punch comes out of nowhere and lands squarely on the rookie actor’s face. Yixing stares down at the seated Kris and shakes his head slowly.

“No. Listen to me, Kris. You’re getting there. Manager hyung says you’ve been receiving a ton of calls ever since that drama came out. Don’t you see? You’re finally making it.” Yixing sits back down and folds his arms determinedly. “You said it was a mistake, wasn’t it?” The actor nods slowly. “Then I won’t regret taking the blame.”

“Xing –”

“Listen,” Yixing interrupts. “It will be fine. Maybe they’ll just give me community service since it’s my first offence. But you have to promise me something.”

The tall blond nods, uncertainly, as if not totally convinced he should be part of this scheme. “Anything.”

“No more drugs. You can’t use anymore. That way I know this was worth it.” He forces a smile on his face, patting Kris’ hand reassuringly. Belatedly he finds it almost amusing how he is the one comforting Kris instead of the other way round. “You can’t tell anyone about this too. Not even your manager. Promise.”

Kris nods again, turning his hand so that his palm faces up and tightly holds onto Yixing’s hand. “I promise,” he murmurs, guilt laced in his voice. “I’ll make it up to you, Xing. I-I’m sorry. And… thank you.”

“I’ll find you the best lawyer, Xing. Promise,” Yixing remembers Kris saying as his hand slips from his. “I’ll visit you every day. I’ll… see you later.”

* * *

Later comes in two months but it doesn’t change how delighted Yixing is at the sight of the familiar blond giant. He stifles a groan as he sits onto the hard chair and grips the sides of his chair as he carefully pushes himself back to lean on it. Yixing continues to smile as pain shoots up his spine, his back screaming for a cushion.

“Busy with schedules? I heard you got casted in some melodrama,” Yixing says conversationally.

“Yes…” Kris mumbles distractedly, sneaking a guilty glance at Yixing’s face. “I meant to visit earlier but there’s always script reading, photoshoots, rehearsals… Sorry, Yixing.”

Yixing laughs lightly. “It’s okay. I gather as much.”

“How are you? In… in prison?” Kris flinches at the word and Yixing tells himself that it is because they were in a prison hence Kris looks as if he wished he were elsewhere.

“Fine. Better than I thought actually.” Yixing taps Kris’ hand lightly and wills the latter to look at him. “Hey. I don’t blame you. Your lawyer did the best he could. It’s just two years. It will pass in a blink of an eye.”

Guilt and worry register on Kris’ facial expression when he finally glances up at Yixing. Yixing feels an overwhelming desire to reach over to hug him but he figures the prison guards won’t be too happy and the last thing he needs is to be smacked around again.

“So tell me, Kris, what’s going on out there?” Yixing leans in interestedly as if they were having this conversation in a coffee shop instead of a cramped, dreary room without windows. “Did Luhan tell you he came a few days ago?”

The look of alarm on Kris’ face surprises Yixing. “He did?” Kris’ adam apple bobs in his throat as he swallows (Almost nervously, Yixing thinks). “What did he say?”

Yixing’s smile fades slightly. “Nothing much…” he trails off. “I actually get the feeling he’s hiding something from me… is something going on, Kris?”

He watches, perplexed, as Kris pastes a smile on his face. Of the four years they have lived together, he has learnt to read the various expressions on Kris’ face and the ability to tell whether the latter is lying comes to Yixing easily. It has come to the point where Yixing can practically hear the cogs in Kris’ head turning as he makes up lies before he has even said a word.

Kris knows this, and yet he is attempting to do it right now.

“No… of course not,” the blond says smoothly, which causes even more suspicion from Yixing. “I actually haven’t seen him for a while… how is he doing?”

“He… came to say goodbye,” Yixing replies slowly, “His parents are making him return to China so he can’t visit anymore.”

Almost immediately he sees the relief flashing across Kris’ face. “Oh. I’m sure Luhan’s fine. Nothing to worry about,” he is quick to assure. Kris glances at his watch and clears his throat uncomfortably. “I have to go. There’s a recording in 3 hours and it takes a while to get there.” Kris stands up hastily. “I’ll come again another time.”

***

“So how was it?” his cellmate asks from his bed when Yixing drags his feet back to the prison cell. “How was your big date? You’re back earlier than I expected.”

“It’s not a date,” Yixing says immediately, this time not holding back his groans as he lowers himself onto the bed. He frowns as he recalls the brief conversation and looks to his cellmate rereading the same letter since morning. “I think he’s hiding something. He keeps avoiding looking at me.”

Baekhyun scoffs into his letter. “I hate to say this to you, buddy, but you’ve been here, what, 2 months, and he only visits now? There’s something strange about this guy. He should at least write to you if he’s busy right?”

“Like your lover boy there?” Yixing teases lightly, amused to see the faint colouring on the tips of Baekhyun’s ears. “He barely has time so sleep… I’m not going to make him write me letters.”

“Chanyeol’s a busy man too,” Baekhyun argues with a sniff, carefully folding the letter. “But he makes the effort anyway. What did your boyfriend say about you being beaten up?”

“I didn’t tell him,” Yixing murmurs, lifting his shirt over his head to look over his shoulder at the large purplish black bruises on his back. “I don’t want him to worry.”

Baekhyun stands up disapprovingly, looking like he has something to add but decides to keep it to himself. A slight smile forms on Yixing’s lips as his bed sinks with the addition of his cellmate’s weight. Yixing passes Baekhyun the ointment silently, squeezing his eyes shut as the latter carefully applies the balm on Yixing.

“Surely he knows a prison isn’t a hotel,” Baekhyun mutters under his breath, but his voice is loud enough for him to hear. “I don’t know why you’re trying to hide from him.” Baekhyun pauses, before letting out a snort. “Hey, seems like he isn’t the only one hiding things.”

***

“Which rock have you been living under? That guy can’t act at all!”

“Hey, it beats yours. That dude can’t act and had tons of plastic surgery… I bet he was a real ogre.”

“Look at all the arm candy he gets photographed with. You think they would be seen with him if he was really ugly?”

“Please. They just like his money. You want to bet? 20,000won if they break up end of the week.”

Yixing glances up from his book and nudges Baekhyun, who whimpers at him for making him draw a streak across the letter he was composing. “What are they talking about?”

“The new drama airing on MBC,” Baekhyun mutters crankily, pulling out another piece of paper to copy his letter over. “They casted some rookie as the lead.”

Yixing perks up considerably, leaning forward in his chair as if that will help him eavesdrop better in the small common room. “Oh? Who?”

A crease appears between Baekhyun’s eyebrows as he copies word for word onto the new piece of paper. Yixing is half-tempted to nudge him again for kicks but he decides he really does not want to be a recipient for silent treatment from his only friend here.

“Christian or Christopher? Chris something. He debuted about a year and a half ago?” Baekhyun murmurs distractedly.

Yixing’s eyes lit up. Kris? Ignoring the warning bells in his head, he toddles over to the group to listen in to their conversation, while keeping a safe distance between them. He hears Baekhyun’s worried whispers behind him but pays no attention to it.

“He’s got a total of 2 expressions. How did he ever become the lead? He’s ing the PD, isn’t he?”

They laugh.

“Wasn’t he one of those stuck-up celebrities against the whole gay movement or something? I thought he was homophobic.”

“Oh nah, he’s got himself a really rich sponsor.  Apparently the other guy is worth as much as Samsung’s heir—”

“Are you talking about Kris Wu?” Yixing blurts out with wide eyes, unconsciously stumbling into their conversation. He barely blinks as the largest of the group stands up to his full height and stares down at him.

“What’s it to you, you Chinese piece of trash?” he snarls, shoving Yixing so hard he nearly falls over. He smacks the side of the smaller man’s head, eliciting a whimper from him. “Are you asking for another beating?”

“Sorry, he’s a bit delirious,” Baekhyun says quickly, jumping over to grab Yixing’s arm and deliberately presses down on his cellmate’s neck to make him bow. Baekhyun keeps his eyes on the ground, fear bubbling in his throat when Yixing speaks again.

“Are you talking about Kris Wu?” Yixing repeats stubbornly, “Kris is not that sort of person. He’s too talented to sleep around for a career—” He lets out an unexpected cry when another inmate hauls him away from Baekhyun by pulling onto his shirt and kicks him hard enough that his legs give way.

“Just because you have a mouth, doesn’t give you the right to have opinions, Chinese trash,” the first inmate says mockingly, bringing his foot down hard on Yixing’s hand and twisting it until Baekhyun swears he could hear a crack. A raw cry escapes Yixing’s lips as pain shoots up his arm like a thousand needles jabbed in at the same time.

 “Hey, hey, hey! What’s going on over there?” A yell rings out across the common room, dispersing the group within seconds. Baekhyun takes the opportunity to help Yixing up instantly before the guards can notice he is injured and hurriedly lugs him back to their cell.

“You stupid idiot, haven’t I told you to avoid them?” Baekhyun mumbles furiously. Guilt washes over Yixing when he glances over to his friend trying to choke back a sob.

“I’m sorry, Bacon,” he manages to utter, his eyes glassy from the pain. “But they were talking about Kris.”

“Since when are you interested in celebrities?” he retorts, “I’ve never heard you talk about a single one of –” Baekhyun breaks off with a swear word. “. That guy who visits you. It’s him, isn’t it? Kris Wu?”

Yixing doesn’t reply.

Baekhyun swears again. “He doesn’t – even – why…  I hate to say this but there’s—”

“Don’t.” Yixing lets out a shaky breath. “Don’t say it.”

***

The next time Yixing sees Kris, they aren’t bound by four walls and a table between them.

It is worse.

The hot August heat beats down on the small group of inmates picking up rubbish by the beach as part of community service. Yixing is amongst them, face damp with perspiration, as he bends down to take what looks like a diaper buried in sand, with his tongs and drops it into his black trash bag. He works in silence, content to ignore and be ignored by the rest of them after being enclosed in the same area with them for nearly a year.

He doesn’t even realise he has spaced out until he hears a commotion near the sea and his eyes follow their line of vision. In that instant, Yixing thinks he has stopped breathing, because the last person he expects to see standing less than a kilometre away is right there filming for a CF.

He doesn’t even realise his feet seemed to have a mind of their own as they stumble in the direction of Kris Wu and his entourage and his hand somehow lifts itself from his side to wave at Kris.

He doesn’t even realise his throat has gone dry as the female models around Kris scream at the sight of him and runs to hide behind Kris as if Yixing will attack them with his metal tongs.

But he does notice the flicker in Kris’ expression as his eyes scan him from top to toe (He is only aware now he is in his dull grey prisoner outfit). He does notice the laughter on his lips as he assures the girls Yixing is not going to hurt them. He does notice Kris turn away as his manager threatens to sue the guards for letting their prisoner get away and causing him emotional distress.

Most of all, he does notice Kris feigned not knowing him.
 

And he finally does notice the crack in his own heart has dissolved into a gaping hole.

***

The iron door shudders close behind the petite man as he steps out of one of the darkest, coldest places (figuratively and literally) in Seoul. It is already winter – just as cold as the day Zhang Yixing had been sentenced to prison 2 years ago.

The breeze sends a chill down his spine as he adjusted his bright red scarf to cover his neck, taking extra care to smooth the invisible creases on his bright new shirt that his best friend insisted he wore because this was supposed to symbolize a new beginning or whatever. He stuffs his hands deep into his pockets and glances down the street peppered with only a handful people.

Of course he isn’t here.

Yixing looks at the two paths in front of him, a grim smile on his lips.  

A/N: So I've decided to make this a one-shot... It leaves a few questions unanswered, but they will be in the sequel. Subscribe to be updated when I have it up? ^^