Wufan is so desperate and so clueless and so helpless and so broken-hearted. That night, he goes to the place he hates most.

LA CAFELETTE. The ugly sign, lit up in full blast neon lights in different bright colors, sparks back into life as the clock strikes ten o’clock in the evening. Wufan hesitates for a moment, but if this is his only chance towards reconciliation, then he’d better grasp the opportunity while he still can.

Wufan pushes the door open and enters the club. Packs of bodies, dancing and sweating and stirring against one another, fill the huge dance floor. The music keeps booming and pounding Wufan sends his hands flying up to cover his ears and to protect them from exploding. Just being in this place makes his head reel and he wishes for his bed to magically appear so he could lie down and fall asleep and quietly slip into his own dreamscape.

Wufan squeezes himself through the crowd every now and then, as he makes his way to the bar, which is located in the farther corner of the room. Thankfully, the area is much quiter and there are less people. Once he gets there, he takes a seat on a stool and orders a shot of tequila from the bartender.

“Long time no see!” the bartender beams at him as he slides a shot glass of tequila towards Wufan’s direction.

Wufan grins at him. “I haven’t expected to come here after for so long.”

“Yeah, I haven’t expected you to come here either. At a place like this? No, never,” the bartender chuckles, as he wipes a bottle of wine and then placing it back down on the rack. “So…Kyungsoo told me everything…”

Wufan gulps down the entire shot and looks up at bartender with a sly smile plastered on his handsome face. “Are you sure he told you everything, Kai?”

“No,” Kai replies, refilling the shot glass with tequila. “Kyungsoo always likes to keep things…mysterious.”

“He’s always like that,” Wufan says, gulping the second shot. “Can you just give me the entire bottle? I’d like to bottle everything up.”

“You sure? ‘Cuz I’m so sure it’s not gonna be wise. You’re one of the worst drinkers I know.”

Wufan extends his hand and demands for the bottle of tequila Kai is holding in his hand. Kai purses his lips, not knowing what could be the better option.

“Just give it to me, Kai,” Wufan says eagerly, an edge to his already husky voice.

“Fine.”

Kai hands Wufan the bottle. To Kai’s surprise, Wufan really does bottle up everything! Wufan’s already drunk about more than half before Kai stops him and snatches the bottle from his hand.

“Wufan, you’re crazy!” Kai exclaims. “You wanna get your throat burned?”

“I don’t care what happens.”

“Yes, you do. How the hell are you gonna explain everything to Yixing if you damage your throat? Don’t you want to speak anymore? Wufan, look. You can’t take this, okay? Enough. That’s enough for tonight. You’re not a heavy drinker, and I’m worried for you. You’re so health conscious and you’re usually not like this. Oh, Wufan! I don’t know what I should do with you!”

Wufan smiles. He finds Kai eerily funny. He keeps on babbling and babbling. He seems to be delivering a speech but he couldn’t grasp exactly what Kai is trying to tell him.

Maybe because he feels dizzy? Maybe because he wants to sleep?

No.

All he could think about right now is Yixing.

To be with Yixing.

To sleep with Yixing.

To wake up the next day with Yixing cuddled in his arms.

Zhang Yixing.

He’s who Wufan needs right now.

Then, Kai dials something in his phone. Wufan does not know who he’s texting. But, as usual, he’s probably texting Kyungsoo. Not like it matters to him anyway.

“Show Kaaaaaiii, I reallly t--thought you could help me tooooooooooooonight,” Wufan begins, his speech a slight slur.

“Of course, I could!” Kai exclaims, still punching icons on his Galaxy S3. “Wait, this will take a moment.”

Kai turns his back to Wufan.

What could Kyungsoo be texting him?

Wufan wants to know. But then he doesn’t want to know.

Kyungsoo likes to be mysterious after all. He wouldn’t appreciate it if Wufan knows something about him more than just what is written in his personal profile.

“Hey, Kai, are you and Kyungsoo…together?”

Kai blushes. Wufan laughs absent-mindedly, pointing a teasing finger at Kai’s pink-tinged face. “I kneeeeeeew it! Were you just texting him?”

“Y-yeah…” Kai replies hesitantly. “But we’ll talk about us next time. You’re more important.”

Kai then takes a seat in front of Kris.

And the interrogation starts.

“So, what actually happened with that lady? Why did you kiss her?”

Wufan looks at Kai, his eyelids drooping.

God, they feel heavy.

He wants to sleep.

But maybe Kai can help him.

He’s Kai after all.

“CORRECTION!” Wufan exclaims all of a sudden, his voice a couple of octaves higher. Then, he hiccups. Kai laughs. Wufan frowns at him, then says in his normal voice, “I…jid not kishha. SHE kished meeeeeeee.”

Kai nods. But deep inside, he’s summoning all the patience he’s going to need so he could understand what this crazy Wufan is trying to tell him.

“Go on,” Kai urges him.

Wufan shakes his head, as he feels his body starting to sway.

Don’t fall asleep, Wufan, he tells himself.

He blinks away the sleepiness and rubs his eyes. Then, he clears his throat and locks gazes with Kai, focusing his vision and his thoughts. He is about to speak again, when he hiccups, and Kai laughs again. Wufan slightly pounds on his chest and clears his throat again. When he speaks, his voice comes out in its most serious tone, the slur in his speech temporarily gone, much to Kai’s delight. He speaks in  his normally beautiful baritone, his voice seeming to resound from the depths of the sea.

“That woman is my cousin-in-law. The wife of my cousin. She used to love me. You won’t believe it but I was her first love and she really wanted to marry me. Once, our parents had our marriage arranged. When I found out about it, I ran away from home. I was gone for a year. When they thought I was not coming back, they broke the engagement. She was then forced to marry my older cousin who was so head over heels in love with her. They got married eventually, and I went back home. My parents were mad at me, of course, but I explained to them about my right to choose. The right to choose my own life. Fair enough, they understood. Then, I went away again to start a new life. A life on my own. That’s when I met Yixing. I never would’ve imagined I’d turn out to be gay, but that’s what happened. I fell in love with the wrong person. I fell in love in a lot of wrong ways. I strayed from my path and took the wrong direction. Everything about Yixing is wrong, but that’s why I love him. We’re both so wrong but perfect. Can you understand what I’m trying to say?”

“Go on, I’m all ears,” Kai tells him.

“So, last month I went back home. It was the week after Yixing and I celebrated our six months of being together. I know I want to be with him for the rest of my life. It’s him I want to grow old with, have kids with. Yixing is the one person I want to love with all my heart until the day I die. He’s the only one for me and I hope he feels the same way about me too. So I went back home, as I said earlier. I gathered the courage to go back home and tell my parents the truth. That I am gay, that I am living with my boyfriend, that I plan to marry him, that I love him with all that I have. Now, guess what happened when I poured my heart out.”

“I think I know.”

“Of course you do. They kicked me out of the house. They disowned me as their child. They said they don’t have a child like me and that they don't ever want to see me again. Ever. It hurt. Everything hurt. The first family I knew gone in an instant. How can the truth hurt so bad? But I told myself everything’s gonna be okay. I had Yixing. I went back to my home. Yixing. Yixing’s been my home, and he’s the only home I have now.”

Then, Wufan starts heaving and sobbing. Kai reaches out to rub his shoulders and his back, giving Wufan the comfort he could offer to ease the pain in Wufan’s heart.

If only time could tick faster…

Kai offers Wufan a clean handkerchief. Wufan uses it to wipe his tears and to blow his nose. When he feels more relieved after crying, he continues:

“So last week, that woman found out about what happened at home and came all the way here to Korea to see me face to face. She visited me while I was doing work. I was surprised to see her after such a long time, of course. She’s four months pregnant with her first child, by the way. We walked along the hallways, and she kept asking me questions about my life. About Yixing. About what I want to do. And if it’s true that I’m gay. I told her it’s true. I told her every single thing. I didn't leave any single detail out. But she didn’t believe me. Imagine what she did to me. She grasped my elbows, pushed me back against the wall, stood on her toes and kissed me! She kissed me! For goodness’ sake, she kissed me! Why? You know what she said afterwards? 'So you really are gay. Is that why you didn’t want to marry me?' I told her I didn’t know I was gay then and that I really didn’t love her in any case. She just smiled at me and bid me goodbye. Then, she left. I wouldn’t have expected Yixing to know what happened.”

Kai waves his fingers in the air, then says, “So basically it was a confirmatory kiss?”

“It was. A kiss can say everything you can’t say.”

“A hug can.”

“Maybe she wants firmer evidence. She’s like that.”

“Ah...” Kai says, the words hanging in the air.

Wufan stares eagerly at Kai, waiting for what he is about to say next, but Kai’s vision, however, is fixed at something else. Wufan deliberately follows Kai’s gaze, and amidst all those useless bodies on the dance floor, he sees him.

Wufan is directly looking at Zhang Yixing, whose cheeks are illuminating under the disco lights. Yixing runs towards Wufan, who is so stunned to even move a muscle. When Yixing comes closer, his phone clutched in his hand, Wufan knows why he’s there. Why his face seems to be glinting.

Yixing is crying.

Wufan then gives Kai a questioning look. Kai shows Wufan the phone in his hand.

“Yixing heard the entire conversation. I called him just in time and he came just in time,” Kai says, winking at Wufan.

“Thank you, Kai,” Wufan utters.

“What are you waiting for, lovebird?”

“Remind me to give you a hundred bucks next time,” Wufan tells Kai, who gives him two thumbs up.

Wufan stands from his seat and runs towards Yixing. Their arms find each other and they drown in each other’s embrace. Wufan quickly kisses Yixing’s forehead and cheeks, kissing away all those tears he’s cried.

“Wufan, I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!” Yixing says in between sobs.

“Sshh… It’s none of your fault. I should’ve explained earlier. I’m sorry,” Wufan says, his hand running through Yixing’s fluffy hair.

Yixing in his arms.

Yixing’s scent.

Yixing’s touch.

Everything fits. Everything is right.

“I should’ve listened to you this morning. If I'd known your family... I should have—“

Yixing is interrupted by Wufan’s kiss. That kiss he’s been longing for days. Gentle, warm, and full of love. It is Wufan’s kiss. Wufan’s lips. The only lips he would ever want to kiss.

Yixing kisses him back.

“I’d never leave you, Wu Yifan. I love you,” Yixing tells Wufan, their noses touching.

Wufan leans his forehead against Yixing’s, his hands wrapped around Yixing’s smaller waist. Then, he whispers, “Are you willing to have me forever?”

Yixing closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and says, “Wufan, are you proposing to me right now?”

Wufan smiles slyly, which later turns into a foolish grin. “No, I’m not. I just want an insurance.”

Yixing pinhes Wufan’s nose. “Trickster! Just so you know, forever is not enough.”

And they laugh at each other. The night ends. And a new tomorrow comes.

If only they knew what tomorrow actually holds for them.

***To be continued***

[A/N]:

NEXT CHAPTER Summary:

After several months of denial and refusal to Wufan's advances,

Yixing finally lets loose and lets himself be trapped in love.

It's their first time together.

It hurts, but everything hurts because they love everything about each other.

It's nothing compared to the joy their love brings forth to them.

Vows made. One night. The moon as their witness.

Finally, their journey towards the completion of their love begins.

They've taken the next big step.