My Best Friend (complete)

Chapter 1

Please note: This is a YiZhan fanfic and contains explicit content.

Just last night, it was raining cats and dogs but this afternoon was almost unbearably hot. Wang Yibo sat outside, shaded by the leaves of a massive oak tree which stood proudly in the field, just beside the school building.

It was a Friday and school closed early, 3 hours earlier than the rest of the week. Yibo had been sitting here for close to 2 hours, completely lost in his thought while a 5 year old student played all by herself.

Being a class teacher, he could only leave after all the students had left. The school building was now empty, save for the teacher-student duo waiting for an irresponsible parent to come pick up her child.

Yibo looked at his watch, it was now 3:20pm. He was eager to leave, his weekend had already been cut short but that was not what bothered him. It was Xiao Zhan's birthday today.

Yibo had planned out the day perfectly; after work, he would go home to take a shower then head back to the restaurant not too far from Xiao Zhan's office, where Yang Zi had asked them to meet. It seemed she was secretly planning a surprise for Xiao Zhan, she didn't even let Yibo in on it.

He planned to stop along the way, pick up the gift for which he had been saving up for the past few months and hand it over to Zhan. After that, he would summon up all the courage he could afford and do it. Yes! It had to be today.

Xiao Zhan and Yibo had been friends for such a long time but Yibo's feelings had long turned from that of friends to something more. He was in love with this friend of his and he could not hold it in any longer. He decided to go all out today.

Everything was going on well, except for this little delay.

"I'm so sorry Mr. Wang, I slept off. You see, I worked all night last night and....", a female voice roused Yibo from his thoughts. The parent went on and on, trying to justify her reason for coming late but Yibo knew better, this happened every week and it was the same excuse every time.

"That's okay, you're here now. Have a lovely weekend". The parent thanked him for his kindness and left with her daughter.

It was now past 4pm, Xiao Zhan had already rounded up for the day by 4pm and they were scheduled to meet by 4:30. Even if Yibo went there directly, he would arrive late so he brushed off the idea of going home for a bath.

When he arrived at the bus stop, he found out he had missed the bus. He had to take a taxi. About that, Yibo was on a budget and he had gone slightly overboard to get Xiao Zhan a gift barely befitting of his status. Spending money on a cab meant further straining his pocket but... he looked at the bigger picture. Today was the day he told Xiao Zhan how he felt.

He didn't bother to discuss his intentions with Yang Zi. Yang Zi and Xiao Zhan met at work and quickly became friends. She got to know Yibo as Zhan's best friend. They had each other's contact both only spoke if it was important, like when she asked him to come over to celebrate with Xiao Zhan.

Yibo flagged down a taxi and took his leave. He noticed the weather had changed slightly. He could tell it was going to rain later in the day. Good thing it was weekend, he planned to stay in bed all day the next day and if things went well, he was going to be spending it with his boyfriend.

The thought of confessing to Xiao Zhan made his heart shake slightly and his palm sweat. He and Zhan had been friends for so long and there was no awkwardness between them. He knew Xiao Zhan was either going to say yes or no. Even if he said no, he was sure that was not going to change their friendship, after all, they'd been through a lot worse.

It took almost 30 minutes before the car finally turned into a familiar street. Yibo paid his fare, walked into a shop and handed over a receipt. He asked for the gift to be wrapped, which took less than 5 minutes and then he exited the shop.

The restaurant was about 10 minutes away so Yibo decided to go by foot. Along the way, he passed by a flower shop. Xiao Zhan sometimes loved to keep flowers and Yibo could not fathom what triggered his interest in keeping certain flowers. Xiao Zhan simply told him the flowers he kept called out to him. That was why he could walk past a bunch of fresh flowers and pick up the dying one just to preserve it.

"Do you need flowers for your special someone?", Yibo had been standing by the window, deep in thought, waiting for one flower to 'call out to him' but the voice that called out to him was that of the shop keeper.

"No...not for my special someone...", he stressed the 'my'. "... I mean he isn't mine yet but soon...hopefully, that's if he says yes but if not...he would still be my special someone anyway..."

Yibo was rambling and he didn't notice. Looking at the gift he held and the way he rambled on, the shopkeeper could vaguely guess the situation of things.

"You should come in then...we have a lot of flowers you can choose from".

"What exactly does this person of yours like, do you have any ideas?", the shop keeper tried to get a little more information so he could suggest something to this handsome man who looked like he was lost.

"Well, he likes to preserve dying flowers in resin. He has a bunch of them already but I've never seen him preserve roses".

The shopkeeper had seen a lot of people preserve flowers in that way and he knew exactly what to suggest. He pointed towards a single flower. "You should get this then".

Yibo had his eyes on a bunch of roses, it has 1000 pieces in total but the price tag on it was way more than ½ of his monthly salary. He decided there and then that he was going to save up and get this for Xiao Zhan as soon as he had the money fully saved.

Yibo was not a flower lover so he had no idea whether flowers should have a smell. This flower he carried emitted a mild soothing fragrance. He almost could not stop sniffing. He couldn't wait to present it to Xiao Zhan and watch his face light up. He only hoped Xiao Zhan could find this flower worthy of preservation. Besides, he had heard from Xiao Zhan that you only give a red rose to someone you truly loved. He was sure Zhan was going to understand his intention even before he said anything.

The closer he got to the restaurant, the slower his pace got. It was now past 5pm. He felt his phone vibrate in his pocket several times but he didn't bother to check. He had something on his mind, something that made him unable to think of anything else. He had made up his mind to confess today or else he would have abandoned the idea all together.

His palms were all sweaty, he had rehearsed a speech but right now, he couldn't even recall a single word of the well thought out speech. He held his hand in a fist, almost snapping the stalk of the flower which he carried.

He stood in front of the restaurant, watching two familiar figures through the glass window. Xiao Zhan still had on his work suit and as usual, he looked breathtaking. This dinner was supposed to be for 3, why were they sitting on a table for just 2?

He watched as Yang Zi waved over to a certain direction and a huge cake was pushed over. The staff gathered around and sang the happy birthday song for Xiao Zhan. Zhan couldn't help exposing his beautiful pair of bunny teeth as he smiled, made a wish and blew out the candles. Another staff member secretly passed Yang Zi a bunch of roses, Yibo could tell it was the exact type he saw not too long ago, with 1000 roses. She said something and he watched as Xiao Zhan's look went from happy to shocked to embarrassed, embarrassed in a good way, more like shy. He also watched some of the female staff blush on the side. Xiao Zhan smiled and nodded his head while the staff members erupted in a series of claps. Yang Zi threw herself at Xiao Zhan who held her in a hug.

Yibo was not dense, he could tell that Yang Zi liked Xiao Zhan and she had been waiting for him to make a move. He just didn't expect her to be the one to make a move, he didn't expect her to be faster than him and from the look of things, Xiao Zhan had agreed.

What made him think Xiao Zhan would agree to date him in the first place? Being close friends with a gay man didn't necessarily mean he would also like men, did it? Yibo's whole day was ruined. In his chest, he felt a void where his heart was located. All his plans, all his imaginations, the little world he had built up in his head all vanished with a 'poof'. He was slapped in the face by reality. Xiao Zhan, his Xiao Zhan was no longer single.

He doubted if he wanted to go in. As he was about to turn around and leave, Xiao Zhan lifted up his head; which had been buried in Yang Zi's shoulder all this time, and their eyes met.

Xiao Zhan's face revealed a smile, one of joy and relief, he motioned excitedly for Yibo to come inside. Yibo took a step then paused. The flower which he held, he couldn't bear to give it anymore, he couldn't make a fool of himself. He dropped the flower on the window sill as the bin was too far away, took a deep breath, concealed his hurt with a smile and walked into the restaurant.