Father

The door to Zhou Ye's bedroom slammed shut. He flopped down onto his bed and stared up unseeingly, images of Wen Rui's bright eyes and flushed cheeks replacing the ceiling. A moment later, he clicked his tongue and slid a hand down to his waistband, where it lingered in hesitation.

He didn't often touch himself but when he did, it was always cursory, made less enjoyable because he struggled to keep Wen Rui protected from him, even in his own mind. It had always felt wrong to jerk off to thoughts of the boy who, until recent times, Zhou Ye had been convinced would never reciprocate his feelings.

But after tonight, he didn't think he could hold himself at bay for much longer. Wen Rui had given him reason to believe that he had a chance.

Just a while more.

He took care of himself perfunctorily before heading back into the showers for a quick rinse-off. It was still humid from his last round and the heat made it hard to keep a clear mind, the elation at claiming Wen Rui's first kiss headier than any alcohol he'd ever drunk at social engagements.

But it was still dampened by the knowledge that the pair of soft lips that he'd traced so thoroughly with his tongue just now was going to land on another person's tomorrow.

Zhou Ye knew better than to interfere in Wen Rui's career. He respected Wen Rui's choices wholeheartedly. That being said, he had, out of concern, used his sponsor privileges to ask for a copy of his 'good friend's' contract with the production team, just to ensure that Wen Rui hadn't been exploited behind his back. In the past, he would have been confident that a big entertainment company such as CE would have been able to take care of their artist's bests interests. But they had proven time and again that they had not and Zhou Ye was sorely tempted to nudge Wen Rui towards a new management team.

Baby steps. Wen Rui was still skittish around him, much like a fawn who was learning to trust but could still be scared away with one wrong move.

Still, he recalled that Wen Rui's contract had a clause stipulating that all intimate scenes would be filmed without direct contact.

Did Wen Rui know this or had he been misled into believing he had to go through with the actual kiss? As a member of a prominent boy band, whose fans were highly protective of their 'Brothers', it would be detrimental for Wen Rui if he had an open onscreen kiss with a female costar. That Zhou Ye was personally invested in this was only half the reason why he hurriedly turned off the rain shower, wrapped a towel around himself, and made a beeline for his phone.

An unwritten set of rules on social conduct dictated that it was impolite to call past a certain hour but Zhou Ye regularly flouted this in his line of work, forced to make calls at all hours of the night during a deal process. Thus, when Director Fu picked up with a sleepy but warily respectful, "Good evening, Little CEO Zhou, how may I help?", he didn't feel particularly guilty.

What he did feel, however, was a frisson of awkwardness when he realised exactly what it was that he was calling about. No one knew about his relationship with Wen Rui, which in Wen Rui's eyes, wasn't even real. There was no way for Zhou Ye to delicately broach that subject.

"Wallflower is a high school drama," he said stiffly.

"…yes?" Director Fu stifled a yawn.

"The target audience is wide and might include a subset of impressionable young people." Zhou Ye often forgot that he was only 21.

"…yes?"

"High school romances are widely frowned upon by our educational institutions."

"…Little CEO Zhou, what are you trying to say?"

Zhou Ye's mouth tightened and he cut to the chase. "To avoid potential media attention for being a bad influence on youths, all intimate scenes in this drama should be toned down and portrayed through camera angles."

"…yes, no, wait, I agree, Little CEO Zhou, but that has always been the case?"

Zhou Ye blinked. "You…didn't make any changes?" His heart skipped a beat as he pressed the phone closer to his ear, trying to detect any wavering or reluctance in Director Fu's tone that might indicate that he was lying.

But all he heard was a tired confusion. "No? Did someone say something? I assure you, the production team understands that our actors and actresses are mostly young idols whose reputations we need to consider, we won't breach any terms of the contract—"

"Got it, sorry for disturbing you this late at night." Before Director Fu could get another word in edgewise, Zhou Ye put down the phone, sat down on his bed, and let out a quiet chuckle.

Wen Rui…had made it all up. He hadn't needed to practice kissing, not actual kissing anyway.

Zhou Ye had never been gladder to be lied to.

——————————

"Cut! That's a wrap for today!"

Wen Rui backed away from Yu Siqing, retreating to a polite distance the second he heard the cue. Her face fell a little but she covered it up straight away with a smile.

"Much better this morning," she teased, "did you get a lot of practice done yesterday night?"

The kiss he shared with Zhou Ye flashed unbidden before his eyes and he knew without looking that he was impersonating a beetroot again. Yu Siqing stared at him in surprise before laughing quietly.

"I guess you did, huh?"

Wen Rui mumbled an excuse and fled. He was unable to maintain his composure in matters that concerned Zhou Ye, never had and never will. He didn't want to have a conversation about him. Even without mentioning names, it would be too obvious to everyone in his immediate vicinity just how much of an effect his new crush had on him and he wasn't confident he would survive the good-natured ribbing that would undoubtedly ensue.

Just as he was heading into the makeup trailer, his phone buzzed in his pocket. Wen Rui had already become used to handling his schedule without a personal assistant and Manager Qu seemed to have forgotten completely about his existence, so he assumed it was Zhou Ye or maybe Xu Mushen because he couldn't think of anyone else who would call. His other friends weren't so close as to need something urgently from him, a WeChat message usually sufficed.

But when he saw the number, his face changed. It wasn't saved in his phone, just a long string of digits that would mean nothing to anyone, but Wen Rui had it memorised because his mother had taught him when he was younger to do so in case of an emergency.

He answered it with shaking fingers. It would be tempting to ignore it, block it, pretend this bastard didn't exist, but Wen Rui needed to talk to him. There were some things he deserved to know.

Wen Rui didn't greet the caller but it didn't matter because the man on the other line wasn't interested in niceties anyway. His voice was just as Wen Rui remembered, stern and distant, with an elevated sense of self-worth that he had once mistaken to be admirable confidence.

"Come back home this Saturday for dinner," Wen Guoyan said. He was used to speaking in imperatives and Wen Rui had accepted his role as a father in the past and had given it the due respect it'd deserved but now, he couldn't help but wonder if this was the tone Wen Guoyan took with his new family too.

At any rate, that woman and her son could listen to Wen Guoyan boss them around if they wanted, Wen Rui had moved on.

"Let me know once you confirm the timing, I will attend if I am free," he replied. "I have work scheduled." Director Fu had added some scenes and had called them back this weekend.

"…" There was silence on the other end but Wen Rui could tell that it was displeased. Wen Guoyan had an intimidating aura and he had struggled very hard as a child to conquer his fear of him and approach him for hugs. Thankfully, this urge to be close to him was no longer present anymore, washed away by disappointment.

After not contacting Wen Rui for so long, even after all the ups and downs that he'd faced on Weibo and his clashing with his new stepmother, Wen Guoyan didn't see a problem inviting him home for a meal now?

Wen Rui wasn't so foolish as to think that Wen Guoyan was intending a friendly catch-up session.

"I'm not asking you, I'm telling you that you are expected home on Saturday."

Not asking, telling. Wen Rui was suddenly glad that he'd lost all memories of recent times, including his father's remarriage. No doubt he hadn't bothered asking his grieving son whether he would mind a new mother shortly after losing the one who had given birth to him.

Wen Rui smiled. It seemed like Zhou Ye truly was his only family now.

"I'm your son, Father, not the bitch sitting in the kennel you've given her waiting for you to remember to go home," he heard himself say, pleasant tone discordant with the words coming out of his mouth. "If I go back this Saturday, it's because I found the time to, I wanted to, I decided to. Not because you called. I don't have a tail to wag at you but I'm guessing your new puppy does if he's anything like his mother, contact him for validation instead. If there's nothing else, I'm putting down now, have a good week ahead."