Synergism

Chapter 3

            If people didn't think they were inseparable before, now they swore that Zhan and Yibo were attached at the hip. In the weeks following their experiment in Yibo's bathroom, Yibo was never far from his side.

The weather turned colder and Zhan took to wearing gloves most of the time. This allowed him a little more freedom while he was outside. It wasn't as if he was a tactile individual before this happened, well other than with Yibo anyway, but now he was extremely cautious and tried not to touch anyone at all, especially if Yibo was not around. Kenneth had warned him how he couldn't possibly know if someone was sporting some sort of unseen injury that he would accidentally heal if he touched them.

He stared down at his hands cradled in his lap and wondered if this was going to last for the rest of his life.

"Zhan?" Yibo wrapped an arm around him. "Are you feeling okay?"

He didn't look up, but he nodded.

"I'll come get you from class. Then I'll take you to work," Yibo said.

He sighed and nodded again. When he met Yibo's eyes he could see his concern. "Will you be staying through my shift again?"

"Are you kidding me? Of course, man. I get free cake," Yibo grinned.

Zhan couldn't help but smile. "All the employees are using their perks to give you cake," he said. At first, when Yibo started coming into work with him, he didn't know if Yibo would be allowed to stay for his whole shift. However, the other employees seemed extremely happy that he was there. None of them told the owner and he swore even the manager was charmed by Yibo. They'd use their employee points to buy him cake, a pastry, or a drink. So to anyone that came in, he looked like a paying customer.

Before, Yibo always avoided talking to the other employees, especially the ones that flirted with him. However, now he was friendly with all of them and to Zhan's surprise, sometimes he flirted back.

The first time it happened, Zhan felt a deep resentment towards the girl that was on the receiving end of Yibo's eyelash batting and lopsided smile. Emily was the same age as Yibo, but she attended a different school. Now she was leaning her hip on his table and flirting with him again, and Zhan couldn't help but let out a small huff in annoyance. Still remaining professional, he brought the bill to a table of customers and smiled courteously at them, even making a bit of small talk as they paid for their dessert. He backed away to give them space and as they stood to leave, he bowed thanking them for coming. He was about to start tidying the table when he saw Emily take Yibo's phone and type something into it. Realizing it had to be her phone number, his stomach curled in revulsion. He leaned against the table and placed a hand over his stomach in surprise and tried to quell whatever he was feeling.

"Zhan?" he heard Yibo's concerned voice from where he was sitting. He didn't look over, afraid that he would feel worse seeing Emily still at his side. A second later a hand was pressing into the back of his neck. "Did you touch someone by accident?" Yibo whispered into his ear.

Zhan shrugged and was about to reply he was okay when Emily came over. "Zhan, I'm sorry. It's my fault for neglecting my duties," she said sweetly. "You're probably hungry. You missed taking your break."

"I'm fine," he bit out a little more harshly than he intended.

Her eye's widened in shock at his tone and Yibo reached out to pat her on the shoulder. "He's probably hangry," he said with a little laugh.

Zhan moved his hand to his chest feeling it clench.

Yibo looked at him worriedly, "I'll just take him to the break room and make sure he eats."