Su Xueyi is driving them into Dongyang the nearest city to Hengdian Filming Studios. They could have found something to eat in Hengdian itself, but it's a hot tourist spot, and Xi Zirui would prefer some peace and quiet.
Dongyang isn't a big city by any stretch of the imagination (1), other than a few high rise buildings, one of which is the hotel where the crew and actors are staying in, it's mostly houses and low residential buildings. Two shopping centers, and a few restaurant chains, but other than that, just a quiet city with not much to do.
And really proud of their woodcarvings, as every other banner and sign they drive by reminds them.
"There's a really nice family restaurant that some of the crew went to the other day, do you want to go there?" Su Xueyi asks, turning the wheel smoothly as they begin to enter the narrower streets of the old part of the city.
"Sure," Xi Zirui answers, a little distracted by the movement of Su Xueyi's slim muscles under his t-shirt as he maneuvers the car.
They park in a street of low buildings, built in a distinctive 70's style. Unlit neon and flashing signs in every door, and a few faded printed vinyl banners announcing all the specials and prices.
For someone like Xi Zirui who is used to either the sleekness of Chongqing's more modern establishments, or the delicious disrepute of the street food carts, this feels like an incongruent middle-ground.
He's hit with a sudden wave of homesickness. He might have been bored with the current course of his life, but he misses his city, his friends, as few as they were.
As to his family, it's best not to dwell on it.
Su Xueyi notices the sudden change in his mood. "Is everything alright? We can go somewhere else if you want?"
Xi Zirui shakes his head. "Ah no it's nothing, I was just thinking," he doesn't want to burden Su Xueyi with his morose nostalgia so he needs to find something to say quickly. He looks down at himself and notices he's still wearing Hai Yaomei's robes. "I was just thinking that I don't want to go into the restaurant wearing this costume."
"Oh, that, I have a duffel bag with some of your clothes in the back," Su Xueyi says, motioning to the backseat where a plain gym bag sits on the right seat.
"Why do you have a bag filled with my clothes?"
Su Xueyi gives him an odd look. "Isn't that normal, for a bodyguard to do?"
Is it? Xi Zirui has no idea. "Ah sure."
In any case, he really appreciates having regular clothes to change into. He'll just have to handle the wig and any odd looks it might earn him.
"Here, for your hair" Su Xueyi says, taking a hairband from around his wrist and giving it to Xi Zirui.
He really is well prepared, uh. Xi Zirui takes the hair-tie and ties up the inordinate amount of hair into a messy queue.
Su Xueyi spares him a smile. "It looks cute like that."
His dimples really are to too powerful, just one smile and Xi Zirui feels his cheeks warm up. "Thank you, uhm, do you think you could help me with the costume?"
He shifts on the seat and turns his back to Su Xueyi so that he can undo the fastenings on the back of the costume that make it hug Xi Zirui's figure more snugly.
Su Xueyi runs his fingers down his back, trying to find the small clasps tightening the robes. It's an innocent gesture, but feeling his warm hands through the thin fabric of the costume makes Xi Zirui's breath come up short.
He really needs to get laid, if he's having this kind of reaction to a man touching his back.
Su Xueyi unclasps the fastenings, and Xi Zirui can finally unfasten the sash around his waist and slide the robe off.
"Can you pass me a shirt?" he asks Su Xueyi, looking at him over his bare shoulder.
It takes some time for Su Xueyi to reply, his eyes glued to Xi Zirui's back and the constellation of moles dotting the pale expanse of it.
"Sure," he says eventually, shaking his head, and diving into the gym bag to fish out a plain white t-shirt.
Xi Zirui slides the costume all the way off his shoulders and puts the shirt on.
Now comes the biggest challenge, he's only wearing underwear under the robe's skirts.
"Uhm, can you get me shorts too, or pants? Whatever is fine."
Su Xueyi hands him some plain adidas shorts, and Xi Zirui squirms all the way out of the robe in his seat, trying not to flash any passersby while changing clothes.
He folds his costume as neatly as possible and hands it to Su Xueyi so he can put inside the bag.
He's a little red across the ears as he takes the costume from Xi Zirui but makes no comment.
---
The restaurant is wholly unremarkable, but the smell wafting from the kitchens is delicious. Xi Zirui's stomach grumbles and he realizes just how hungry he is.
Su Xueyi flags down a waiter who must recognize him, because he asks them if they want to sit in one of the booths.
The booths are cozy nooks running the length of the restaurant's east wall, with opaque privacy screens that give them a more intimate feel.
"Yes, please," Xi Zirui says, already walking towards one of them.
He doesn't want to be presumptions, but he would hate to be recognized by a fan while having a meal out in public.
Su Xueyi sits down across from him, and accepts the menus from the waiter.
Xi Zirui scans his quickly, but he knows he's far too indecisive to make a decision before their lunch break is over.
"Can you pick for me? I don't know what I want," he asks Su Xueyi, taking out his mobile to fiddle with while waiting for the food.
"Uhm, sure," Su Xueyi says. Xi Zirui notices that his ears have grown redder.
Is he being too forward? He normally lets people order food for him, because he doesn't want to be a burden by making everyone wait too long for him to make up his mind. But maybe Su Xueyi thinks he's just being a spoiled actor, who can't even be bothered to order his own food.
Shit, too late now. He'll make sure to thank him profusely when the food comes so he knows he wasn't just taking advantage of their working relationship.
While Su Xueyi talks with the waiter about their food, Xi Zirui takes the opportunity to have a look around on weibo and see what people are talking about himself and Han Yu.
His eyes widen when he realizes they have now climbed to 3rd on the CP list, and that there have been several posts, as recent as two seconds ago, in the supertalk.
That can't be good.
With his heart in his throat, he logs in to a fake account, and braces for impact.
"Romantic break in the middle of shooting?! Xi Zirui seen walking into Han Yu's trailer, and staying there for several minutes!!! What could they have been doing there?"
Under the post there are several photos of him and Han Yu walking towards the trailer. Actually, several photos of Han Yu dragging him towards his trailer. Which looks much, much worse.
Some of the comments include:
- Wow, Han Yu must have been in a hurry to drag him like that!
- Xi Zirui looks almost scared. Has he been a bad boy and knows he's in for a spanking? hahaha
- Han Yu's expression is so intense! That's the look of a man who's filled with passion.
- I bet he xxx Xi Zirui, and then xxx him on the floor, and then xxx again up against the door.
- Guys, they can't have been doing anything that exciting if they only stayed in the trailer for 'minutes', come on, stop with the baseless speculation, and if you want to write fanfic, make a post about it.
Clearly the only person with good sense in that whole comment thread is the last poster, FlyingFrog it doesn't surprise Xi Zirui that their comment has the least amount of hearts.
"Bad news?" Su Xueyi asks suddenly.
"Uh?" Xi Zirui asks, shutting down the screen.
He's just now realizing how incredibly rude of him it is to ask Su Xueyi to order their food and then ignore him in favour of his phone. He's going to make it a point to be extra nice when the food arrives, even if it's terrible.
"Ah you were just looking very worriedly at your phone, it's all," Su Xueyi says, and rubs the back of his neck. "Is everything okay?"
"It's nothing, just work stuff."
Xi Zirui is saved from having to elaborate by the arrival of their food.
He's delighted to see that most of the dishes Su Xueyi ordered are spicy. He's even more surprised considering that Zhejiang cuisine is famous for its mellow flavours and sweet and sour sauces.
Xi Zirui serves himself a portion of hot glass noodles, and is pleasantly surprised to find that while not as spicy, or flavorful, as the one's he's used to having in Chongqing they aren't bad at all.
"These are delicious, you have great taste," he says, slurping down the noodles noisily, only stopping to compliment Su Xueyi as part of his commitment not to be an asshole.
He samples a bit of every spicy dish, and while they aren't particularly original or creative they are all good, especially considering the region isn't known for spicy food.
"Su Xueyi is amazing, he picked all of my favourite dishes," Xi Zirui says, a gross exaggeration on all accounts, but Su Xueyi's dimples make a fleeting appearance, so he decides to continue laying it on thick.
Xi Zirui's mouth is pleasantly tingly from all the spice, and he could do with a palate cleanser.
He notices an appetizing pork dish in a dark, rich sauce on Su Xueyi's side of the table and reaches forward to pick a piece with his chopsticks.
It's delicious and fragrant, and not sweet unlike what Xi Zirui's expected, instead it has a subtle wine aftertaste.
"This dish is very good! I usually prefer spicy food, but this is great too," Xi Zirui says, and to show Su Xueyi how much he means it, he takes another piece.
He's chewing his food, and looking around at the table and all the dishes he has sampled when he comes to a sudden realization.
Su Xueyi hasn't touched any of the spicy dishes, in fact other than the pork in the dark sauce and a plate of sir-fried noodles with bamboo shoots and vegetables, he hasn't touched anything.
Shit. "Ah, the pork...you ordered that just for you, right?" he asks, feeling his face heat up, and not due to the heavy spices.
Su Xueyi nods, but smiles indulgently at him. "After you didn't seem that enthusiastic about breakfast this morning, I thought maybe you'd appreciate spicy food, like the kind you're used to in your hometown. I'm more of a northern boy myself, I'm not that into spicy food."
Ah, that's incredibly thoughtful of him, and Xi Zirui repaid him by eating the only food he ordered exclusively for himself.
"But I'm glad you liked the pork, the food in this restaurant is really great."
Just then, a couple in one of the tables across from them starts having a loud argument.
"...never let me eat your food! You always act like it's the end of the world when I ask to try some of what you're having," a girl is saying while glaring at the man seating across from her.
The man sighs and throws his hands in the air. "That's because you always say you're not hungry and order very little food, but in the end you end up eating your food and half of mine!"
His reply only makes the girl grow more agitated, she points directly at Xi Zirui's and Su Xueyi's booth. "That guy let his boyfriend eat half of his food! You don't hear him complaining."
Wait, did they start fighting because of him?
Why does he keep getting himself involved in unbearably awkward situations?
The boyfriend isn't cowed by her arguments. "That's because his boyfriend was praising him and being sweet after he ordered their food! Maybe if you praised me more often, I wouldn't mind sharing my food."
Was Xi Zirui being sweet? He thought he was just being polite, now he's scared that Su Xueyi might think he was coming on to him.
"Praise you? Why would I praise you for? Maybe if you shared your food with me I'd have more reason to praise you."
Xi Zirui is just about ready to die, when Su Xueyi reaches across the table and touches his wrist to get his attention.
"Why don't you go wait in the car? I'll settle the bill."
Xi Zirui nods and gets up from the table, Su Xueyi fishes the car keys out of his pocket and hands them to him.
The last thing he hears as he's making his way out of the restaurant is the girl furiously shouting: "He pays the bill and even lets his boyfriend drive his car! Tell me again what should I be praising you for?"
---
(1) Small for Chinese standards, Dongyang has around 800k inhabitants, which in my small European country would make it a downright booming metropolis haha