Begin Again

Chapter 04

The week went by without any more issues.  Zhan logged into all his classes throughout the week and would use the few hours he had until he had to prepare dinner to work on his assignments and turn them in. Xuan would come home a little past 6 and they would both have dinner together and watch tv. By the time they would go to bed Zhan was exhausted and would fall asleep before his husband would get out of the shower. Xuan didn't mind either. He had been working really hard as well.

Most of the classes were dull. The professors were boring, or they wouldn't know how to share their screen or unmute their mics. There was always an issue. It was even more boring because there was no Wang Yibo to entertain him during the boring lectures. It was something that he looked forward to. Too bad it was only one class that he had him in. 

When the class with Wang Yibo met again Zhan was ready with his air pods, so when the professor would call his name it wouldn't sound like a helicopter crashing into his room. This time he noticed about 75% of the class now had their camera's off. Was it something the younger kids did? Did they not listen to their professors? He debated whether to turn it off, but then roll call started. Name after name appeared on the chat. "Wang Yibo?" the professor asked monotonously. Zhan perked up.

WY : Here.

"Xiao Zhan?"

XZ : Here.

Since he was the last student on the roster due to his last name, the anxiety built up and when it finally came to be his turn he panicked and backed out. He typed his name and turned off his camera. 

The professor began the lecture and Zhan began to write notes in his notebook. 

WY : y did u turn ur cam off

XZ : No one else has it on! I felt weird.

WY : what am i supposed to look at now

XZ : The professor. Duh.

WY: hes old and ugly

XZ : LOL

Zhan was used to getting attention from others. When he was in college with Xuan, both boys and girls would flirt with him which led to many fights between him and Xuan. Xuan hated it, but Zhan reassured his boyfriend that he only wanted him. Zhan always ignored the flirting and never cared about it.

Halfway through the class the professor began to give information about their project that would take all semester to complete. He told the students he would randomize the students into groups of 2 and those students needed to come up with a management plan for a business of their choosing. Zhan accepted the breakout room invite and to his surprise his partner for the rest of the semester was Wang Yibo.

Both screens were black. 

WY : Turn on ur cam

XZ : You turn yours on first.

WY : Nope u first and then i promise I'll turn mine on.

XZ : Pinky promise?

WY : cross my heart

Zhan laughed. He turned his camera back on and unmuted his mic. He cleared his throat and softly said, "Your turn."

Wang Yibo did in fact turn on his camera, but the lights were off wherever he was. You could only see a little bit of the glow of the laptop on his facial features, but it was very distorted. "You could at least turn on your light or something. I feel like I'm still talking to a black screen. No fair." Zhan pouted. 

Wang Yibo's mic turned on and he cleared his throat. With a husky voice he said, "I can't turn it on."

Zhan rolled his eyes and turned his camera back off.