not my brain immediately thinking of this as a bjyx au https://twitter.com/redditships/status/1316080727780360193

update: i could not stop my brain from thinking abt this as a bjyx au where xiao zhan has graduated from school and started work as a graphic designer, and wang yibo is still in school (as a dance major).

xz doesn't usually do fwbs but he is increasingly stressed over a project he's working on for a particularly indecisive and picky client (the worst combination), so when his friends invite him out for friday night drinks he goes.

and his alcohol tolerance has never been particularly high. he's maybe had 1 beer too many when a rowdy group of college students enter the bar. he and his friends trade glances that say 'ah, to be young college kids again.'

he's preparing to finish up his beer and head home (jianguo gets tetchy when he stays out late. this is maybe the only reason he has any semblance of a work-life balance right now) when one of the rowdy college kids detach from the group and heads over to where he's sitting.

the kid is... very attractive, up close. he's long and lean and moves with grace even just walking across the sticky floor of the bar.
xz is distracted by his friends saying they want to start bar-hopping, and tells them he's going to head home after he finishes his drink.

when xz turns back to the bar, there's another beer in front of him, and the Attractive College Kid is sitting on the stool next to him.
Attractive College Kid introduces himself as Wang Yibo, and xz is buzzed enough that his inhibitions are down and they just. start talking.

and then they keep talking. xz's beer goes from cold to lukewarm. wyb is shameless and calls him 'zhan-ge' and has devastating combination of Very Nice Hands that xz has a hard time not staring at and actually being fun to converse with.

and xz has been stressed for a month, ok!! so when wyb finishes off his own glass of beer and clearly propositions him, he thinks. why not. why not?
and takes wyb home.

and, of course, jianguo is tetchy, because he's home late and her food bowl isn't filled to the brim anymore. she's yowling at the door when he unlocks it, wyb already pressed behind him, a hot line of heat at his back.

(and here's the thing. his last relationship literally ended because jianguo Hated the guy, and at one point literally drew blood clawing at his ankles when they were in bed together. so xz is a little worried as he apologizes to wyb that he needs to take care of jianguo first)

when he goes to retrieve jianguo's wet food (to bribe her to play nice), wyb is left on the end of a very long and assessing stare from jianguo. when xz returns, he finds wyb. sitting cross-legged on the ground. with jianguo purring in his lap.

(this is another devastating combination of Very Attractive Boy and Cute Purring Cat Whom He Adores. xz brain short circuits a little bit). when jianguo is pacified by wyb's petting & her can of wet food, wyb seems to immediately snap back to who he'd been in the bar --

-- that is to say, completely shameless and forward, and he's pulling off his shirt (what the fuck are those abs???? xz's brain short circuits for an entirely different reason than before) and kissing xz as soon as he comes within arms-reach.

wyb Picks Him Up (again, what the fuck??) and xz directs him to his bedroom in between kisses.

Needless To Say, the sex is Very Good. wyb puts his money where his mouth is, or rather, his mouth where... uh. you understand. and xz goes to sleep definitely not stressed anymore.

and, even more amazingly, the morning after is not awkward! xz wakes up to the sounds of faint murmuring in the kitchen and walks out, still half-asleep, to the sight of jianguo once again curled up in wyb's lap.

he's talking to her too softly for xz to hear, but he sees him lean down and nuzzle his face against jianguo's head. xz clears his throat. wyb looks up, smiling.
'I had a fun time, zhan-ge,' he says. 'I didn't want to leave without saying goodbye. I wrote my number down for you.'

xz doesn't kiss him goodbye, that's not the kind of relationship they have, but it's a close thing when he sees wyb flick one last soft glance towards jianguo before he clicks the door shut behind him.

and then, it somehow becomes a habit xz can't seem to break. it's not a Bad habit, he reassures himself. wyb is funny, and surprisingly insightful, and jianguo loves him like she's never loved anyone xz's brought home before.

they don't text incessantly, but they do text. xz learns wyb is in his senior year, that he's majoring in dance, that he'd like to maybe travel around and compete and also work as a back-up dancer before establishing his own dance studio.

xz finds himself sharing small tidbits of his life too. if he was shocked at the rising prices for tomatoes at the grocery store. if he had taken on another frustrating client. and, of course, anytime jianguo did something particularly cute, he sent pictures or video.

so: they're not dating. they're never together in a public space again since the time they met at the bar. but they do become friends, and wyb keeps coming over -- when xz's stressed, when wyb himself is stressed -- and the sex keeps being amazing.

xz thinks he has landed upon the mythical unicorn of a true friends with benefits. there's none of the stress he's come to associate with relationships. there's a ton of good sex, and laughter, and plying jianguo with treats and toys together.

sometimes he thinks he catches wyb staring at him from his peripheral vision. sometimes he wonders if this could be more, if the next morning they woke up together xz could roll over and ask wyb where he'd like to go for brunch. but he's too scared of ruining a good thing.

mostly, he convinces himself that they become Good Friends who happen to mutually de-stress together, and that wyb is young and has dreams to chase and clearly not looking to settle down anyway. and besides, he continues to be too busy with work to think of much else.

this continues until in the blink of an eye, it's nearing halloween, and wyb has been coming over to his on a near-weekly basis for almost half a year. it's now become routine for xz to have dinner cooked for them before wyb arrives, a chance for him to eat a home-cooked meal.

and halloween isn't even really a thing in china, not really, but wyb arrives carrying a small gift bag in his hands. it's the first time he's brought anything over besides himself. he coughs a bit nervously when xz tears into the bag, too curious to wait until after dinner.

what's in the bag turns out to be. a pumpkin costume. for jianguo.

'ah, she really doesn't like wearing accessories,' xz tries to tell him. really, the last time he'd tried to put her in a little sweater she'd nearly clawed his eyes out, and hadn't let him pet her without slinking her back down and away from him for three days.

but maybe jianguo, the little traitor, also has a thing for wyb's admittedly Very Attractive And Skilled Hands bc she stays docile and still for him, as well-behaved as she's ever been, as he puts the little pumpkin on for her. small hat included.

and it hits xz, all of a sudden, that he hasn't touched any of his dating apps since wyb appeared in his life. that wyb's friday evening visits are what gets him through the work week. that his phone lockscreen is a picture of wyb curled up in bed with jianguo on his chest.

recently, when wyb leaves saturday mornings, jianguo has started yowling plaintively after him like she does when xz leaves for work in the mornings. jianguo even runs to the door when she hears wyb's key click in the lock friday evenings.

(fuck, wyb even has a key to his apartment. how did xz not realize how deep in over his head he was until now.)
'zhan-ge?' wyb is staring at him, like he's called his name several times. xz blinks back to awareness.

jianguo is looking very very cute in her pumpkin getup. next to her, wyb looks just as sweet.
'you bought a halloween costume for my cat,' xz says slowly.
'i-- i thought of you -- i mean, jianguo -- when i saw it. i'm sorry if i overstepped' wyb says. he looks a little nervous.

'my cat, who jumps on you the second you're in the door, and who misses you when you leave,' xz continues.
wyb blinks at him, a little confused. 'are you saying you're mad i'm stealing jianguo's affection from you?'

'i'm saying, maybe jianguo isn't the only one who misses you when you leave,' xz says, and because he's a coward, breaks eye contact to stare down at his hands twisted in his lap.
'hey,' wyb says. his voice is very soft.