Synergism

Chapter 8

The first morning after the holidays had Yibo hiding a smile in his coffee when Zhan, hair ruffled from sleep and eyes barely open, shuffled into the kitchen. Zhan was extremely grumpy in the mornings and Yibo found it terribly endearing.

He watched as Zhan fumbled around the kitchen, getting his coffee and making toast for breakfast. Yibo tried not to laugh when Zhan let out a groan in frustration after spilling some coffee on the kitchen counter. The thing was, Yibo would have happily prepared everything beforehand, but he knew Zhan would complain about Yibo coddling him. And he wasn't wrong; ever since their conversation with Auntie Lin, Yibo was being a tad bit more attentive. He knew Zhan was trying to hide how hurt he was by her non-acceptance and he could see how afraid he was by the way he shied away from touching him. Contact between them was already at a minimal since his sinus infection, but now it was almost nonexistent.

Yibo rose from his seat and decided to take advantage of how sleepy Zhan was. His footsteps were light as he stepped in behind Zhan and carefully wrapped his arms around him, making sure there was no skin-to-skin contact. "Morning," Yibo whispered, giving Zhan's shoulder a light peck.

At first Zhan tensed, but after a second he let Yibo take some of his weight and let out a content sigh. "Morning," he mumbled.

"How many classes do you have today," Yibo asked as he set his chin onto Zhan's shoulder.

"Two lectures and a lab," Zhan replied between sips of his coffee. "I wont be back till late."

Yibo pouted. "Should I pick up some food for you and have it waiting when you get home?"

"I'll manage. No need for you to go out of your way," Zhan said, leaning into Yibo a bit more. "Did you remember to message your parents last night that we arrived back safely?"

"Mmhmm," Yibo affirmed. He didn't ask if Zhan had done the same with his aunt. He saw the dejection on his face when he messaged and hadn't received a reply back.

Zhan told him that after his aunt asked Yibo to leave, he tried speaking to her, but she only repeated what she said earlier. When Zhan came over for Christmas dinner, his parents gave Zhan an extremely warm welcome and Yibo didn't know if it helped or made Zhan feel even worse.

Zhan set down his coffee mug and patted Yibo on his arm. "I have to get ready now."

Yibo gave him one more squeeze and another kiss on the shoulder before reluctantly letting him go. When Zhan was hurting like this, all Yibo wanted to do was hold him in his arms and shield him from the world. Unfortunately, the man he loved had an independency complex and was extremely stubborn. Fortunately, he had experience dealing with Zhan during their years in high school and thus he would continue to deal with it in the same way.

When Zhan came home that night, Yibo had a warm plate of food ready for him.

Later that week Yibo received a text from Kenneth asking to meet for coffee. As he slid into the chair across from his friend he noticed the serious expression on his face. "Something wrong K?"

The pause before Kenneth spoke was telling. Yibo knew there was something Kenneth wanted to ask him, but was hesitant to ask. In some ways he knew Kenneth still felt apprehensive talking to him, most likely because he was worried that Yibo was still mad at him for keeping Zhan's secret for so long. Yibo decided it was time to set things straight. So before Kenneth could tell him why he had asked him to coffee, Yibo said, "Hey, actually it's good you asked me out for coffee. I wanted to tell you something."