You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all, all of me
And you give me all, all of you
— John Legend, All of Me
Summary: Where a different choice was made all those years ago, and everything is different yet still the same. Their paths still cross, only this time—they never part. HanYe (韩叶)
Part 1 of Music Paves Our Destiny, Our Path to Glory
Fandoms:
全职高手 | The King's Avatar (Cartoon); 全职高手 - 蝴蝶蓝 | Quánzhí Gāoshǒu - Húdié Lán
Relationships:
HanYe; Hán Wénqīng/Yè Xiū; 韩叶; Hán Wénqīng & Yè Xiū
Characters:
Yè Xiū | 叶修; Hán Wénqīng | 韩文清
Additional Tags:
LGBT Politics; Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence; Social Media; Glory Professional Alliance | Season 4; Fluff
Bright lights flared across the screen for a moment before the image sharpened into clarity. For a moment, a sole figure was visible on stage, illuminated by the stage lights. He sat at a piano, and the crowd fell silent with a single press of a key. Bowing his head, the man poured his heart and soul out into a song that was not even of his own make.
Yet, this song spoke to him on so many levels, spoke to them on so many levels.
What would I do without your smart mouth
Drawing me in, and you kicking me out
His voice was raw, no flourishes added in or back-up singers throwing in harmonies. This was purely him. His manager had tried to fight him over this, but he was adamant.
This concert in Q City...it had to be done like this here.
Because after tonight, he would return to his arms, which he wanted to do for the rest of their lives. It had been four long years, and each moment felt as breathless as the first.
'Cause all of me
Loves all of you
Love your curves and all your edges
All your perfect imperfections
He didn't even know what he did to deserve such a perfect man, perfect in his eyes if no one else's. He didn't even know why he chose to be with him, chose to seek him out when he was at his lowest, when it felt like the world was caving in and there was nothing left for him but shattered remains.
His voice rose higher and higher with each note, his body practically singing as his fingers carefully danced across the keys.
His desire for this to be his most perfect performance to date was clearly visible to the audience, which only incited them further.
In respect for him, however, they all remained silent. Instead, phone lights lit up the stadium, each one waving back and forth to form a sea of lights.
Each dip of his voice, each note where his voice barely refrained from cracking, gripped at the audience's hearts.
Such heartfelt singing...who inspired him to sing like so?
You're my downfall, you're my muse
My worst distraction, my rhythm and blues
I can't stop singing, it's ringing, in my head for you
A smirk graced his face at that moment. Downfall...how literal and undeniably fitting; if anyone could have him falling to his knees in worship and frustration, could have him singing as prettily as a canary with just a few touches, could have him utterly unable to resist, it would be him.
The one he was singing for tonight.
The one he was always singing for nowadays, ever since that night where everything changed.
Cards on the table, we're both showing hearts
Risking it all, though it's hard
The smirk morphed into something warm, something inviting—no, it morphed into an expression of pure love and devotion.
Cameras zoomed in to capture it, straining to immortalize the beautiful and awe-inspiring sight. This man...had never shown such an expression before, not fully. Glimpses when mentioning a certain someone, yes...but not like this.
After all, this was a public declaration, a statement…
He was risking everything with this action of his.
You're my end and my beginning
Even when I lose I'm winning
'Cause I give you all of me
And you give me all of you
Slowly, the lights dimmed, so even the singer's form was barely visible on stage. The piano notes began ringing out softer with each press of the key. The man's voice trailed off, softening. Soon, he was whispering into the mic as he brought the song to a close.
The applause nearly brought the stadium down on their heads with its deafening volume, but the singer just bowed his head in silence.
Minutes passed, and the applause gradually died down. The man stood up then and walked to the center of the stage.
Everyone's attention was on him, but he only ever desired one person's gaze.
"I know you are out there, listening in," the man began, a look of hesitation flashing through his eyes.
A flurry of whispers spread throughout the audience. What was going on? A single sweep of the man's gaze silenced them all though.
"I know you are always there, listening to me, being an ear to my worries, a shoulder to lean on when the burden of the world feels too heavy to bear."
Each word hung in the air, suspended. It was not just the audience present who was listening in. Practically the entire country was watching this concert. The artist had decided to make it a charity benefit concert, after all.
"I know I don't deserve you, despite all you say. I know if you were here right now, you'd cuff me over the head and call me an idiot." He smiled, a smile so happy and pure that it stole people's breath away.
"We kept our relationship out of the public view for various reasons, yet we never hid the love we have for each other."
This nearly caused an uproar. It was true that the man on stage had a lover, as he himself had confirmed multiple times. Said lover, however, was never publicly seen at all, with any photos being altered to hide their face.
"It's been four years since you've been by my side...three since we've been together but six since we first met—an explosive meeting at that. Who would have thought we would end up together? It has been fire and sparks since then, yet I wouldn't change it for anything."
The man paused here, his smile disappearing as his eyes glimmered with sadness. He repeated himself, "Yes, I wouldn't change it for anything."
In that stadium, across the entire city, not to mention the country, everyone was holding their breaths in anticipation.
"Through sickness and in health, you have been there for me, like I have for you. When I was at my lowest, when I felt as if my entire world has ended in one unfortunate night, you came calling the next day and dragged me back to life. You are my whole world. If I needed to, I would give up everything I have built for myself, just to stay by your side, to be with you. My glory, my fame, my singing...all of it is nothing without you.
You were there for me every step of the way...and damn is this emotional of me," the man broke out into laughter here, hysterical yet incredibly breathtaking all at once. This was the man known for his remarkably enchanting features, whose charisma and personality—both larger than life—made an average appearance captivating to all that took a second look.
"Only you can break down my walls, the only one that has since I erected them." The man paused and bent down on one knee.
His shaky breath could be heard clearly through the mic headset he wore. From his pocket, he took out a small box, his intentions clear to all.
With a flip, he opened it, and everyone could see—on megascreens, television screens, and computer monitors through the country—a simple gold ring, with a barely visible engraving on the inside.
「榮耀」 — Glory
Done so the characters would be faintly red in color and lined with a burnt charcoal shade of black, the engraving seemed to glow beneath the stage lights.
"Glory; you are my everlasting glory, the one I cherish above all. My darling kitty, the love of my life, the one I cannot ever imagine not meeting nor ever imagine not having you in my life, the one I want to spend the rest of my days with, the one whose future I wish to be forever intertwined with mine…
"And though I already know your answer to this, because neither of us can imagine a life without the other...you're my other half, the missing part of my soul, the one who holds my heart and I yours.
"Will you do me the honor of marrying me, love?"
With these words, it seemed as if the whole world fell silent.
"And there you have it, folks! Last night, the famous singer, XIU, proposed live at his charity benefit concert here in Q City!" A young woman in her mid-twenties, with long black hair kept loose and curled to her mid-back, smiled at the live audience. She rifled through her papers and continued on with the story.
"Now, not much is known about this mysterious lover of his. XIU appeared in the limelight five and a half years ago, actually, at the age of fifteen—how young! He began as a simple guitarist and singer, but his soulful singing drew nationwide attention. Not to mention, he is a cutie, isn't he? Too bad he's already taken, even back then it seems." The talk show hostess sighed before adopting a conspiratory look. She sent a secretive glance at the viewers before adding, "Even if he claims he was single for that first year of his singing career, you can see from his song selections that he was very much in love then...except it wasn't the same person he just proposed to!"
She gasped, a look of complete shock crossing her face. "Can you believe it?"
A series of images appeared behind her on the screen. Several were simply lyrics and song titles, but some were photos taken from Weibo, with a man with light hair circled in all of them.
"Take a look, everyone." She gestured at the screen. "This man disappeared all of a sudden four years ago, and that is when XIU's song selections drastically changed. The originally calm, melodic pieces that spoke to your soul...suddenly decided to pull your heart from your chest and crush it with heartbreak and sorrow."
The images rearranged themselves into a timeline. "From his proposal last night, it's evident that this man played a major role in XIU's life before his disappearance...before his death, pardon me. Quoting word for word from last night's declaration:
'When I was at my lowest, when I felt as if my entire world has ended in one unfortunate night, you came calling the next day and dragged me back to life.'"
The woman paused here and grabbed a tissue to dab at her teary eyes.
"This is when XIU's love story began, from a night of tragedy and ruin most likely. Yet something beautiful has blossomed in its wake, like life budding after a fire. We see from here on out a different man appearing in XIU's life, one more muscled and dare I say it, better eye candy." She winked at the audience. "Hey, don't blame me; I'm just admiring the view." The live audience burst into laughter.
At this, an image popped up and dominated the screen behind her. It was clearly a candid shot, of a man at the gym. His well-muscled form is stretched taut and bent sideways, midway through a stretch. His arms reached over and held onto his right leg, his head even touching his knee.
The hostess couldn't help but wet her lips in admiration. "I don't know who is the lucky one of the two, XIU for landing such a hot guy or said hot guy for landing, well, XIU, one of the most, if not the most, popular male artist in our China."
She beamed at the camera and signaled for a text box to appear beneath the photo.
「He dragged me out with him on his daily routine when I came over for a visit; can you believe this guy? 『shakes head』『joy』」
"Are they not just adorable? Even if XIU is complaining, we can see just how happy he is just to spend time with his lover." She flicked her hair to the side and tilted her head at the audience then, a look of contemplation crossing her face.
"I can even remember the exact moment when it was revealed that XIU was dating a man. The uproar and havoc that spread through the nation when its beloved rising star was revealed to be batting for the opposite team is still incomparable. He has since then become an icon for LGBT rights since his reveal in late 2017, two years ago. Well, his unexpected reveal—I don't think XIU intended anyone to catch him like this."
The hostess waved her hand at the screen behind her to reveal a fuzzy, dark photo of the male artist hugging a man from behind, nuzzling his face into the other's neck. A second photo revealed him actually kissing the unknown man's neck.
"This was taken two years ago backstage by a fan with a VIP pass. It circulated throughout the nation and created chaos until XIU held a press conference a week later and confirmed his sexual orientation as well as his current relationship."
She bit her lip and then continued her history review. "After that press conference, many may remember his infrequent concerts and appearances for the next year as the chaos settled down. His fans, both old and new, love him too much to allow him to be suppressed like many other outspoken characters in today's society, such that he came back into the spotlight last year like a blazing sun, lighting up a path for all others to follow."
A moment of silence pervaded the talk show studio, with its live audience also honoring such a history-changing event. "Since then, he's been topping the charts constantly, even throwing in foreign songs like John Legend's All of Me from last night's benefit concert or his signature cover song, Jason Mraz's I'm Yours, which he had been singing since three years ago. Before that...I believe his English song of choice was Hallelujah, a song from 1984 by Leonard Cohen and a classic one at that. Both of these recent ones, as you can see, are love songs of a kind, professions of devotion and love. Isn't he such a little heartbreaker? A whole new ocean of tears must have formed after that press conference."
She then glanced around before lowering her voice and admitting to the audience, "I admit that I was curled up watching old recordings of XIU with tubs of ice cream after that revelation." She then straightened and continued, "Except he is just too adorable with his lover. Look at them!"
All across the screen behind her, photos of the two men appeared, from when they were teens to their current young adult status. In each of them, XIU's lover face was hidden, but the love from just his body language made everyone want to sigh in admiration. Wrapping a scarf around XIU's neck on a cold winter morning, a backshot of the two eating breakfast in what was probably the apartment of XIU's lover, their hands held together with a backdrop of the city streets below as they looked down from a balcony...their love was practically screaming in everyone's faces.
"It's a pity we still don't have a clear shot of this mystery lover's face, or a name in fact. I believe XIU's fanbase has been calling him 'kitty' since that nickname slipped from XIU's lips since then. Hehe, kitty, isn't that cute? Though, I think we all remember the retaliation XIU faced after that slip." At this, the audience began laughing again, well half of them did. The other half glanced around in confusion.
"Hmm, I see some of you out there are newer fans of XIU's? Here, for clarification." The hostess had a new image tossed up, which drew gasps of shock from the ignorant.
In this photo, XIU was unwrapping his scarf behind stage as he was getting his makeup done. He essentially had a collar of love bites, declaring for the entire world how exactly his relationship with his 'kitty' worked. XIU did not look even slightly embarrassed, even posing for his makeup artist as she snapped the photo.
「Look at all the work this darling's kitty is making me do, and this handsome guy's not even ashamed! #ShamelessXIU #KittyXiu #DyingOfCuteness」
"I think the makeup artist's comment made all of our days back then, right? Ever since, it hasn't been unusual to glimpse XIU with some sign of his love life, be it flowers appearing for him mysteriously wherever he goes, love bites declaring to the world who XIU belongs to, and even songs! I know right? Apparently Kitty has a voice to him as well, and he can hit those low notes to match XIU's softer, lighter voice. Nothing professional, mind you, but it's still something we can all appreciate. Here, let me play their impromptu cover of Song Dongye's Lillian for you all. This actually came out just a few days ago."
The sound of rain filtered through the studio's sound system, followed by clear piano playing. Near the end of the brief interlude, a man began singing. While not the best, it was enchanting in its own way. And then XIU joined in with his vocals, and it seemed as if the world was bright and cheery, world peace had been achieved, and everything was right with the world. The harmony at the end of the short two minute clip left everyone stunned.
The hostess shook her head, a smile on her lips. "It's unbelievable. I can't wait for when XIU and his kitty break the silence and go fully public. Now that XIU has proposed, on national television too, that day may be sooner than we believe. Either way, I wish these two the best—and hope to get some confirmation on Kitty's response. It's ten in the morning, and we still have no response from the couple; though I think that's forgivable, don't you?"
The audience laughed and nodded, all of them with a knowing look in their eyes. XIU was probably in bed still, enjoying his night home with his kitty before going on tour for the next month.
"Anyway, next up, we'll be talking about the...hm...now why does Glory ring a bell? Either way, the most popular game of this decade, Glory, has just finished its fourth season, with Tyranny being the victors and ousting three-year reigning champion Excellent Era from their throne, ending the 'Excellent Era Dynasty' just last Friday! We've even managed to grab hold of the manager of Tyranny and a couple of experts on the game to give us a rundown of this season's finale."
The applause of the audience heralded in the next segment of the morning talk show.
"Mnn...what time is it, kitty?" Ye Xiu murmured, patting at the chest beneath his head.
A half-asleep, low voice replied from above. "After eleven o'clock at least. Now go back to sleep; we didn't return home until past two o'clock in the morning."
Ye Xiu's eyes shot open at this. "Crap! I forgot to post an update about last night. My manager is going to kill me." He was about to escape his lover's embrace, only for said lover to begin stroking his hair.
"Relax, just take a photo of us like this. Leave my face out of it though." Amusement dripped off his lover's voice.
"Oh right, you're just as shameless as I am, just with your toned body instead," Ye Xiu poked in fun. He groped around for his phone and found it carelessly lying atop a stack of notebooks. Thumbing it open to the camera function, he went back to lying on his lover's six-pack abs. Angling the camera just so, he crossed his thumb and index in the rapidly trending 'fingerheart' symbol.
He tilted his head this way and that, trying to find that 'perfect angle' his manager had coached him in endlessly. Honestly, being a celebrity was such hard work. Why did he accept the contract all those years ago? Oh right, providing for his little makeshift family...even if he did have to contact his actual family half a year after his disappearing act.
At least they approved of his lover, though the memory of how that meeting had played out could still leave him out of breath from laughter by just thinking of it.
Ye Xiu examined his reflection in the camera screen and frowned. He tilted his head back and sent a glare into those dark brown eyes, telling him to be cooperative because the rings were not visible at all from this position.
Huffing, the slightly older male rearranged Ye Xiu so that the brunet laid on his chest to his left, making it easier for him to thread his left hand through the brunet's longer hair. Ye Xiu settled himself in and then frowned. "You take it; I need to show off my ring too, or else who knows what the fans will conjure up."
Ye Xiu could feel the laugh bubbling in the chest beneath his ear and smacked his lover's sun-kissed skin. "Stop and just work with me here, kitty."
"Do I get a prize?" The words echoed in his ear, causing Ye Xiu to shiver and his toes to curl in anticipation and remembrance of those same exact words just hours before.
"You aren't tired from last night? I don't think I can move out of bed at the moment," Ye Xiu complained.
"I'll never get tired of you." These were spoken simply, sincerity ringing in each word.
"You…" A moment of silence passed. Ye Xiu sighed in resignation and conceded, handing his phone over.
Smirking, Han Wenqing adjusted the phone and snapped a photo of them. With just a few taps, throwing a bare minimum amount of filters on the photo to compensate for the lighting, he posted it on XIU's Weibo and then casually dropped the phone back on the nightstand.
"Now, about my prize, sweetheart," Han Wenqing murmured before rolling Ye Xiu off him and pinning the smaller man to the bed. An expanse of ivory skin lay before him, just begging to be touched and marked some more. His eyes drank in his lover's fine bone structure and those gorgeous whiskey-gold eyes, darkened with lust.
Ye Xiu stared back and smirked. "Bring it, kitty."
That photo—broke the internet.
Sunlight streamed through white linen curtains, illuminating the bedroom with a soft glow. The black bedsheets complemented sun-kissed and pale ivory skin sharply, of which the latter has blooming red marks along the collarbone and neck, as usual. XIU had a radiant, breathtaking smile on his face, one so full of love that it left anyone seeing it stunned. His right hand cradled his slim face, accentuating his jawline and bringing even more notice to the love bites decorating his neck. His left hand, meanwhile, was crossed into the somewhat popular 'fingerheart' sign, but the highlight of that gesture was how it showed off the gleaming gold ring on his finger, one that matched the one on the larger hand threading through XIU's hair.
Ruffled black hair fell into XIU's amber eyes, which were gazing straight at the camera, but anyone not blind could tell that he was more focused on the reflection on the screen than the fact that a photo was being taken. With the way the camera was angled, looking top-down, XIU's lover was partially visible, the lower half of his face being in clear view for the very first time. His strong jawline was only softened by the loving smile on his lips, though there was a slightly mocking tilt to his lips—as if he was bragging about something, or about capturing someone. His six-pack abs were shamelessly on display as well, a fact that had the internet brimming in adoration and jealousy.
The comment attached to the photo clinched it, however.
「Morning, everyone! Our love rings eternal even in the face of death. Now back to celebrating 『wink』」
Notes:
*sends hearts to Acnologiafire*
Ty for being my beta~!
Haha, this is the first in a long series of fics about HanYe, where YX is a popular singer and HWQ is his mysterious lover...except both still play Glory! It's basically rewriting canon with a secret HanYe relationship behind-the-scenes and a famous YX (because I am salty af at EE for what happened in the beginning still)
Gifting to Synoshian and thethirtyeightwin~!
Thank you so much for here in search of your glory