This is Us

Chapter: 十一

"So you're the manager of the volleyball team?"

Mother Xia asked with a mouthful of food.
Zi Xuan swallowed and flashed a charming smile. "Yes, I am."

"So you're... how much older?"

"Only a year." He replied, picking up his chopsticks again. Yu Hao ate in silence, listening to his mother question his boyfriend, and silently thanking Zi Xuan for every calm answer. He wouldn't have lasted this long if it was the other way around.

His mom looked up from her food, squinting at Yu Hao's neck. He remembered the bruise he had grazed his fingers over in the mirror this morning, slightly proud of it, slightly wishing it wasn't there. Now, he panicked as his mom opened her mouth to say the next words.

"Where did you get that bruise from?" She asked, making Zi Xuan turn to him with a smirk.

"Ah." He smiled, rubbing the back of his neck. "At the party, someone brought a paintball gun, and I was like-"

"Okay, stop there. I know where it's from." She looked between the two of them observingly, her eyebrows raised. "I really hope you two did it safely. And why didn't you tell me earlier?" She sighed, looking at Yu Hao, slightly concerned. "I planned a whole talk and everything for this."

"Ma." Yu Hao whined. "I was going to, but I didn't know how to say it." He looked down in shame.

"Okay. I understand. But next time there's something big like this, please tell me." Yu Hao nodded in response. "And Zi Xuan. You are welcome to stay with us for as long as you need. I can set up a air mattress in Yu Hao's room, or..."

"We could just... sleep together?" Yu Hao said, smirking slightly at Zi Xuan.

"If that's going to be the case, no more funny business." She looked sternly at the two of them. "And you know what I mean."

"Yes, ma, I understand." Yu Hao replied, standing up and taking his dish to the counter. Zi Xuan followed. They both placed them in the sink, Zi Xuan following Yu Hao back to grab his bags.

Zi Xuan stopped him, talking in a quiet voice. "Yu Hao... thank you, for letting me stay here with you." He touched Yu Hao's waist softly, pulling him close, but not forcefully. Yu Hao moves his face so that their foreheads were pressed together, touching his nose to Zi Xuan's carefully.

Yu Hao's actions said infinity more than words, their bodies moving together to speak to each other in the language they had created, hands smoothing over curves in back and along waists. Zi Xuan leaned in, completing the distance between them and kissing Yu Hao.

Yu Hao's hands moved up to thread in Zi Xuan's hair, but the passion was cut short when his mom walked into the kitchen, sighing loudly.

"I said no funny business!" She shook her head, almost teasingly. "You boys... never listen... you make me feel lonely." She punched the red Yu Hao with a smile, making him laugh slightly.

"Let's go get your stuff." He said to Zi Xuan, taking his hand and heading towards the front door.

•••

Zi Xuan laid staring at Yu Hao, his love, his boyfriend, his volleyball star. How long had they laid like this? An hour? Ten minutes? It felt like forever. He must've had heart eyes by now. They weren't even touching, hands below their faces, just gazing at one another.

Yu Hao examined his boyfriend's eyes, the curve of his cheekbones, and the sharp point of his nose. He trailed his eyes down to thin pick lips, to a soft chin, and down to a prominent Adam's apple, then back up again.

Zi Xuan adored the way Yu Hao looked at him. His brows slightly creased, as if he was concentrating on him. His lips opened and closed with tiny movements, breaths quiet, his eyes blinking sometimes to keep them fully open.

They weren't touching, not physically anyway. Both the boys could feel each other's presence rooted deep in their own.

Zi Xuan broke the obvious tension, reaching out and brushing his fingers first against Yu Hao's jaw, then up to his ear. He smiled sweetly as Yu Hao closed his eyes, a sign of trust between the two. Zi Xuan moved his hand, smoothing his thumb over an eyebrow, brushing his fingers over an eyelid. He moved down, down the bridge of a nose as he moved closer, separating his bottom lip from the top one and stealing his mouth in a kiss a moment later.

Wow.

Fuck.

Yu Hao kissed back, cuddling closer to Zi Xuan. The kid was sweet, too sweet to become passionate, but they both eventually parted, Yu Hao pressing his face into Zi Xuan's neck.

They didn't talk. There was nothing to say with words. Tomorrow, they would go to school and pretend everything was normal, when it was most certainly not.

A/N:
Sorry guys. I meant to publish last night but I was in a bad mood.
Anyone else see Crazy Rich Asians? I totally recommend seeing it if you haven't yet.
Vote/comment 💖💖