In Between: a Diyue fanfic collection

Deer vs Cow vs Shen Yue

After a long day of filming in Arxan, Yue was heading back to her room when she heard an all-too-familiar voice calling her name.

"Shen Yue..."

Instead of turning around or stopping, she hastened her footsteps.

"Shen Yue... Shen Yue!"

She had no intention of slowing down or waiting for him. But despite her fervent brisk-walking, he soon caught up. Damn those long legs of his.

"Didn't you hear me calling you?" Didi asked, falling into step beside her.

"No," she replied innocently. Spotting the roaming deer in the distance, she pointed at it. "Oh look - there's September. Why don't you go and talk to it instead? Since you prefer deer."

One corner of his mouth curved upwards. "I chose cow, not deer."

"Pfft - cow... deer... it's all similar-looking animals anyway."

He cut into her path and whirled around to face her, halting her in her tracks. She looked up involuntarily.

Their eyes met.

"Shen Yue... do you want to trend on Weibo with me?"

Somehow, coming from those lips, coupled with that perpetually intense gaze, the words sounded vaguely suggestive. Like a proposition.

"If I had said I choose you over deer and cow, we would be on the hotsearch the minute the episode airs," Didi continued. "They wouldn't care that the other two options aren't even human."

Of course, Yue knew this. She was only half-pretending to be offended; bickering with him had become their habit.

"I trend on Weibo all the time anyway," she responded playfully, brushing past him. "For being too short, too fat, too ugly..."

He followed after her. "You're not fat, you know that right? You don't have to diet if it makes you unhappy. Also, you're good-looking - don't listen to other idiots who say otherwise."

After a moment of awkward silence, Yue turned to him. "I notice you didn't say anything about me being too short."

"That one I really can't refute - it's the unequivocal truth." She shoved him and he nudged her back, laughing when she hit him again.

"I still haven't gotten back at you for your earlier remark," she retorted, glaring at him.

"What remark?"

"The one where you announced to everyone that kissing me made your waist hurt!"

"It did - anyway, do you really want to get into this now? Okay then let's start from the beginning, shall we? Remember when you insulted my body..."

"Wang He Di, why are you bringing up things from one year ago?? I said you are perfect. Please go and rewatch the recording..."

Without realising, they had reached the steps leading up to her cabin. She headed up first, turning around when she reached the top step. He stayed two steps below her, which put them at eye level.

As they stood facing each other, their breaths came out like wisps of white smoke in the cold night air. Everything was quiet, and amidst the stillness and uncertainty, a familiar tension started to build.

If they were still filming Meteor Garden, this would be the moment where they would embrace, or kiss. But Didi had to tamp down on the urge or reflex - he couldn't hold her or kiss her anymore.

The ambiguous feeling couldn't be explained. No matter how professional they tried to be, that person he had already buried deep inside, that part of him that would always be Dao Ming Si, still hadn't forgotten his Shan Cai.

Sensing his hesitation, Yue broke the silence. "Do you... do you want to come in?"

His mind went blank.

Then, it was flooded with a million things. The CCTV, Chai-Jie, his agency's warnings... also, what did she want to do with him inside her room? Play shark game? Share body heat like Dao Ming Si and Shan Cai in the woods? Or...

"... Can I come in?" He asked, directing the question at himself more than her.

This must have been the response she was waiting for; a triumphant smile spread across her face. "No, you can't." She dashed inside her room and slammed the door in his face.

Shaking his head, he couldn't help but chuckle to himself as he walked away, back to the room he shared with Kido.

In Chinese, there is a saying. 拿得起，放得下。(Na de qi, fang de xia). It means, whatever you can pick up, you must be able to put down. But then, if it is something you cannot hold onto, maybe it is better not to even begin.

Perhaps, it was better this way. Given the overwhelming public scrutiny, the immense pressure on him to succeed, it wouldn't be fair to any woman who walked into his life now.

Turning around once more to glance at her door, he made up his mind.

When the time was right, he would come back for her.

__________

Author's Note:

This is inspired by episode 6 of the inn, where they were teasing Wu Yi about Shen Yue being his ideal type, and they asked who would he choose between deer, cow and Shen Yue. Wu Yi said he would still choose Shen Yue, and Didi said he would choose cow (although no one asked him haha).

I relayed parts of this hallucination to @thumbekil months back; she was the one who encouraged me to write one-shots. In my mind, I imagined them arguing about cow and deer and him saying "你要和我一起上热搜吗?" (Ni yao he wo yi qi shang re shuo ma? Do you want to trend on hotsearch with me?) It sounded sexier in my head in Chinese haha. Oh well.

Anyway, as usual, I am writing to "unstuck" myself, so I can continue writing other stories. Please don't mind me.