idk i was listening to the wire by haim and i got the idea for this fic shrugs
Yao really did annoy Ivan to no end. In fact, there were many things the small man did that he couldn't help but find absolutely irritating. It started with the tiny things of course, such as Ivan finding it impossible to even begin to comprehend why Yao would even want to be out of bed at 6am on a weekend. Then progressed to larger things, such as the fact Yao generally hung out with that damn Alfred a lot.
Now, now, Ivan knew they were only friends. But the American drove him up the wall with his nonsense. He wanted to keep Yao all to himself! And if he couldn't, he wanted him to at least hang around people that weren't problematic to an extent.
But, the number one thing that Yao did that drove Ivan completely crazy was the fact he would constantly avoid the possibility of saying that he loves Ivan. All he wanted was to hear the beautiful words "I love you" leave Yao's pretty little mouth. He set up so many situations where the man would have to say it, but somehow, every single time; he would make up an excuse and vanish from the Russian's arms.
Of course, he did understand that Yao was not vocal about romantic affections. Well, he was vocal about probably everything else, except love. Ivan himself was also not that straight forward about romance, and he thought he'd be able to withstand this habit of Yao's, but he was unable to.
They had been in love for a very long time, living together, rarely without each other. Ivan had not burst out saying that he loved Yao; it had taken time, like it should. When he said it though, Yao had smiled and kissed him. But he did not return the words. This caused panic to set in, worrying him. Yao realised this and seemed panicked too. But, he had patted the bigger man's cheek and told him he was very important to him.
And that had been it. No love confession from the lively Chinese man.
And so, Ivan had begun trying even harder to be the best person in Yao's life. He did everything he possibly could to get those words out of him, sadly to no avail. As mentioned previously, Yao would somehow worm himself out of the intimate situations. Ivan would then feel defeated and mope about it for a few hours. Yao didn't seem to care all that much.
Just thinking about all this stuff enraged him. How hard was it for Yao to say some simplistic words?! He buried his face in his hands, groaning and slumping in his chair.
"Something the matter?"
Ivan had forgotten Yao was cleaning the dishes from their meal a few feet away from him.
"No, nothing is wrong." Ivan replied, removing his hands from his face and frowning like a little child who was not getting what they wanted. Well, he was actually kind of like that, huh?
"I see," the conversation ended, and Yao resumed cleaning. Ivan would help him, but he was always shooed off, told that he was not doing it right. How do you not clean dishes right? Better add that to the list of annoying things Yao did.
Ivan continued to frown, watching Yao clean from where he sat at the table.
"Something is wrong, hm? I can feel your eyes on my back." Yao said, pausing and turning to face Ivan. Ivan huffed and looked away. The smaller man raised a brow curiously, finding the childish behaviour amusing.
"If something was wrong, I would tell you," Ivan grunted, shaking his head.
"You're grumpy because I'm cleaning, right? You want go cuddle and watch television, right?" Yao asked, going to remove his apron. Ivan rolled his eyes. "Hey, don't look at me like that," he stuck his tongue out at Ivan. "Did I do something to upset you?" he asked, tilting his head. Ivan sighed.
"No. I'm going into the lounge room now." he huffed, standing and pushing his chair in. Ivan then shuffled into the lounge, collapsing on the couch and switching on the television, staring blankly at the screen.
Yao finished up cleaning soon after. He sighed, pouted and looked into the hallway. To be honest, he had a feeling he knew why Ivan was being a grump. Earlier in the day they'd been cuddling and kissing on the couch, and Ivan had said that he loves him and Yao had made an excuse like he forgot to water the flowers in the garden. Ivan was most certainly upset because he never said that he loves him back. If he had it his way, he would have said it a long time ago.
But it was just an old belief he lived by. Having grown up in China, romance was quiet and subtle. Yao tried to do things that were meant to tell Ivan he loved him, but he never seems to get the message.
He needed to man up and throw away whatever it was that was stopping him from saying he loved his man! Yao coughed awkwardly, fixed his hair and slowly made his way into the hall, destination being the lounge room. As he approached the doorway, he was becoming increasingly flustered, never having said the words to anyone before in a romantic sense.
Yao stumbled into the lounge room, startling Ivan as he nearly tripped over an indoor plant they had sitting near the doorway. Ivan looked at him worriedly, narrowing his eyes in confusion. Yao coughed into his hand, clearing his throat.
"Ivan," off to a good start Yao, you said his name without your voice cracking due to the pressure of something so silly.
"Yes?" Ivan turned down the volume of the television, shifting so he was sitting upright and not lying on the couch any more.
"I have something I must tell you!" he exclaimed, probably a bit too loudly and he was pretty sure his voice went a bit high for a second. Ivan looked even more confused now, tilting his head and smiling awkwardly.
"Yes...?" Ivan murmured, creasing his brows and looking away for a moment, confused by Yao's behaviour.
Just say it Yao! It's just, like, three words! I. Love. You! See there? Simple, you said it in your head so now; say it through your mouth so Ivan hears with his own two ears! Yao opened his mouth, mouth going dry. Oh my goodness, Wang Yao just say the three words!
"I love you!" Yao cried, biting his lip as soon as he said it, looking away shyly. Ivan looked genuinely surprised before Yao had turned his head. He really hoped he had made his lover happy, even though he felt like his face was going to catch on fire because it was so warm and red by now, surely. He took a step back, going to leave the room and hide in the bath room for twenty minutes until the embarrassment faded away.
He was stopped though, feeling a hand on his wrist. He was pulled back from taking the step, falling forward and against a large chest.
"I'm glad," Ivan purred, holding Yao tightly and pressing his face into the crook of the smaller man's neck. "I thought you'd never say it, I thought that maybe you didn't love me..." he whispered, lifting his head and kissing Yao's cheek, then began to nuzzle him lovingly. Yao scoffed, pouting.
"How on earth could you assume something silly like that? Of course I like..." Ivan frowned and looked at him. "Of course I love you okay?! How could I not? Look, I'm sorry I never said it but it's never really been something I could see myself doing to bravely." he puffed, hiding his face against Ivan's chest. He felt Ivan's fingers playing with his hair, and he sighed contently. "You're so dumb for even thinking that I didn't love you..." he grunted, his voice muffled against Ivan.
Ivan just laughed.
"Well, that's one thing to take off the list of annoying things that Wang Yao does!" Ivan cooed, instantly letting go of the small man and taking off down the hallway. Yao blinked in confusion, the words slowly processing in his mind. And then he was running after him.
"What on earth do you mean annoying?!" he shouted after Ivan, frowning as he ran. "I don't do anything that is considered annoying! You're going to pay for saying something so impolite!" he exclaimed, continuing to move quickly as he tried to find where Ivan had run off to.
Maybe Yao should start a list of irritating things the big Russian man did?