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The doorbell rings. Yin Yu finishes tweaking his bangs, ensuring they fall just so over his forehead, before rushing over to answer the door.
In the interim, it rings three more times. Yizhen is not exactly known for his patience.
“I’m coming, I’m coming!”
The first thing he sees when he opens the door is a mass of yellow. It’s — oh, it’s sunflowers, a massive bouquet of them. Yin Yu didn’t even know flower shops sold sunflowers.
“Where did you get those?”
Perhaps not the ideal first question to ask someone on a date, but the flower situation is doing nothing to calm Yin Yu’s already frayed nerves.
Should he be this nervous on a date with someone he’s known for over ten years? It’s fine, he decides. Nerves are good, they’re a sign that he cares.
Yizhen lets himself into Yin Yu’s house, motioning for him to step aside so he can carry the massive bouquet to the kitchen.
“I obtained them legally,” says Yizhen cheerfully, which means that not only did he definitely steal them, he’s also making fun of Yin Yu, who has used the phrase “legally obtained” in front of Yizhen several hundred times (for good reason, he might add. Yizhen has a very casual relationship with the law).
“Very funny,” Yin Yu mutters, but he readily steps into Yizhen’s arms after the latter puts the flowers down and reaches over for a hug.
Yizhen smells like the outdoors, like earth and cold. He disengages after a brief moment.
“Do you have anywhere to put them?”
Yin Yu contemplates the narrowest part of the bouquet, wondering whether it will fit in one of the two vases he owns (both gifts, neither particularly beloved).
“I have a jug,” he decides eventually.
“How come you decided to bring sunflowers of all flowers, anyway? You know a flower shop could have given you a perfectly good bouquet of —” he chokes on the word roses; it makes the situation a little too real all of a sudden.
“Never mind, sunflowers are great.”
Sunflowers do a much better job of not reminding him that he’s going on a date with Yizhen, that they’re not just hanging out like on any other day. If he starts thinking about dates again he’s just going to get more nervous.
“I thought they’d brighten up your living room, shixiong,” Yizhen shrugs, “I saw you looking at them and smiling when we were taking the train the other day, so I thought you’d like to have some in your house.
Yin Yu blinks. He remembers the trip Yizhen is referencing. The sunflower fields, to him, are tangential. He was thinking about his newfound feelings for Yizhen on that trip, allowing himself to imagine a future where he acted on them and things turned out all right.
And now Yizhen has brought him sunflowers. It feels somehow fitting. Before they leave, Yin Yu puts them on the desk in his combined living room and kitchen. There’s not many flat surfaces in Yin Yu’s flat, or all that much space, but the sunflowers add cheer without feeling overwhelming.
Their first date, as it turns out (because Yizhen insisted on planning it himself and making it a surprise), is a shopping trip.
“I need to get a suit for the party, and I thought you’d like to help because you always look upset about how I dress. Also, you need to get some new clothes, shixiong. The ones you have all have holes in them.”
Yin Yu blinks at the double whammy of brutal honesty.
“I don’t — I’m not upset about how you dress,” he says, as they wander aimlessly into a casual wear shop that very much doesn’t sell suits, “and I don’t need new clothes, the holes are on purpose. It’s fashion.”
He thinks about Yizhen turning up to the company party, where he’s most likely going to be handed the “developer of the year” award, in sweats and a t-shirt, and sighs.
“All right then, fine. Although —” he stops himself.
A first date is not the time to be complaining; next time, he’ll just insist on planning the date himself, or at least having some input.
“Although what?”
Yin Yu shrugs.
“Nothing.”
Yizhen narrows his eyes.
“No, you were going to say something.”
“It’s fine.”
“You always said that before, shixiong.”
It’s a low blow, even if Yizhen didn’t intend it to be. True, Yin Yu didn’t tell Yizhen how jealous he was of Yizhen’s success at his job, when Yin Yu was struggling to keep up. What should he have said, though? Yizhen’s influence got him assigned to the American project, by far the most interesting one their employer had scored in a while, and the one you had to be on if you wanted a chance at a promotion. How much farther would Yizhen have gone if Yin Yu had openly admitted he was struggling? How much more could he have embarrassed Yin Yu?
What would he have even done about the knowledge that Yin Yu was jealous of him?
Anyway, they resolved that incident; no need to bring it up now. Yin Yu has apologised for his part in the incident, even if it was Jian Yu who tried to delete all of Yizhen’s work. Yin Yu is committed to being a better person, etc, even if he’s not sure how yet.
“Sometimes there’s no point in telling someone you’re not fine, Yizhen. It’s just the polite thing to say,” he says, falling back into mentor mode and regretting it immediately.
He isn’t Yizhen’s mentor; hasn’t been in a while. Yizhen might be offended if he keeps treating him like a kid.
“I don’t care. Shixiong, you were going to say something.”
Yin Yu takes the path of least resistance.
“It’s just… most people wouldn’t consider shopping much of a first date, you know?”
Yizhen looks at him with big, surprised eyes.
“Oh. I thought you’d enjoy it, shixiong. Never mind, we can do something else.”
Yin Yu feels warm despite himself.
“No, it’s all right. Just, you know. Be aware that it’s not the first date most people would expect.”
Yizhen shrugs.
“That’s fine,” he says cheerfully, “I’m not planning on having any more first dates!”
He walks away, leaving Yin Yu spluttering behind him.
They try three different menswear shops before Yin Yu calls a snack break. While they munch on buns on a bench in a nearby square, Yin Yu asks Yizhen:
“How come you didn’t like any of the suits you tried on? I thought the pinstripes suited you.”
Yizhen shrugs.
“I don’t really care about how I look.”
“Then why not pick one at random?”
Yizhen finishes off his last bun in a single bite.
“They itch,” he says as he chews.
Yin Yu blinks. He remembers this from when they were younger: Yizhen would always complain that any but the softest fabrics were itchy, and that the seams and tags on his clothes dug into his skin.
“I didn’t know that was still a problem,” he says.
“I found a shop that sells seamless clothes, so I don’t have to deal with it any more” Yizhen replies, absently wiping his fingers back and forth over his sweats, “they don’t do suits, though.”
Yin Yu sits back on the heels of his hands.
“Right. I don’t see how you thought you were going to find anything here, though. None of those shops we went to specialise in seamless clothes, it’s all regular menswear.”
Yizhen shrugs.
“I brought you,” he says, “I knew you’d know what to do, shixiong.”
His words make Yin Yu blush despite himself. He did more than his fair share of caretaking for Yizhen when they were both in the basketball team at school, and later university — it’s not like the staff at the orphanage was any help, and Yizhen had no other friends. Yin Yu was the one to take him clothes shopping, to make sure he had all the right materials for school, to organise pickups from the orphanage on match days. When they both graduated and stopped playing he’d started trying to distance himself from that role. Yizhen was succeeding at work without need for any support, and Yin Yu was worried Yizhen would just get annoyed if he kept hovering around like a worried parent.
Yin Yu has always liked being needed, though; he can admit that much to himself. He suspects Yizhen has realised it too.
“It’s probably easier to check online, I don’t think the local shops will have what we need,” says Yin Yu, “we have time until the party, anyway, it’s in June.”
Yizhen nods.
“What do you want to do, then, shixiong?”
“Why don’t we go for a walk?”
They hold hands as they walk down the street, enjoying the warmth and the sights. Jing’an may not be novel to either of them, but it’s still a beautiful area. They wander into a park Yin Yu has never been into before and walk past all the grandparents exercising.
Yizhen takes the lead and Yin Yu assumes he’s just wandering, until Yizhen stops in a fairly secluded corner and sits on a bench, patting the space beside him.
Yin Yu sits. They’re surrounded by neatly trimmed bushes and flowerbeds in full bloom. The path to their bench snakes around a tree, hiding the rest of the park and the street beyond from view. Nearby, Yin Yu can hear a fountain burbling.
“Look, shixiong,” Yizhen says, pointing up, “isn’t it beautiful?”
Yin Yu looks up. There is a tree over them, cherry or plum most likely, covered in light pink flowers like a shower of icing sugar. He can see the bright blue sky through it. A few petals float through the air.
“It’s lovely,” he says honestly.
Yizhen grins broadly.
“I’m glad you like it, shixiong,” he says, leaning into Yin Yu. His body is warm and solid against Yin Yu.
“Yizhen!” Yin Yu exclaims, scandalised, “we’re in public!”
Yizhen laughs.
“Relax, shixiong. We’re the only ones around, see?”
It’s true — although the park is fairly full of families and couples taking advantage of the sunshine, the corner they’re sitting in is empty save for them.
“Still,” Yin Yu whispers furiously, as if someone were listening in.
“I’m sorry, shixiong,” Yizhen says, not looking apologetic at all.
“You used to be such a sweet child,” Yin Yu sighs, “what happened?”
Yizhen laughs again, lacing their fingers together.
“You’ll have to teach me how to be sweet again,” he teases, “but it’s going to be hard, shixiong. We’ll have to spend lots and lots of time together so I can really learn from you.”
Before Yin Yu can protest that he’s not sweet at all, Yizhen points up again.
“Oh look! Ducks!”
Sure enough, a pair of (possibly quite lost) mandarin ducks (one male, one female) has landed on a branch above them, their arrival showering Yin Yu and Yizhen in petals.
As soon as he looks up, Yizhen dives in and pecks him on the lips before Yin Yu can react.
Yin Yu splutters.
“Yizhen!”
Yizhen laughs at his shock.
“I couldn’t help it, shixiong! You looked so handsome, I had to kiss you!”
Yin Yu can’t help but laugh as well. It’s a lovely day, he’s on a date and Yizhen is looking at him with stars in his eyes.
“If you’re going to kiss me, do it properly, Yizhen” he says, and leans in for their second ever kiss.
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