Yao was skating in circles on the rink. He didn't have any practice that day, but often went to the rink to skate anyway, because he could think while skating.
Yao looked at his watch. It was 5.45pm. Arthur said he'd be at the ice-skating rink to pick Yao up at 6pm. Yao still had 15 minutes to skate aimlessly around.
"Bye, Yao!" Mathias waved at Yao and exited the rink. "See you tomorrow!"
Yao waved back. He watched as Mathias disappeared to the locker room to keep his skates before leaving.
Yao looked around. People were already leaving, and the rink was rather empty now. Now, Yao had space to execute some stunts he didn't dare perform with so many people in the rink. Usually, when Yao had to practice, his coach would have booked half the rink so that he had space to move around. Alternatively, when Yao practiced with Mei and needed the whole rink, they would practice when the rink was not open to the public.
Yao launched himself into a series of consecutive double Lutz jumps, just for the fun of it.
When Yao landed after completing the last Lutz jump, clapping could be heard. Yao whipped his head around to meet the source of the clapping, and came face to face with a tall blonde man with long hair that reached to his chin and a stubby beard.
"You skate very well, une beau," complimented the man. He himself had on skates, but seemed to be ice-skating around casually.
"Er, thanks," Yao replied. "I skate for performances and competitions, aru," he explained.
"I know that."
Yao was taken aback by the man's response. "How do you know…? Do you watch the shows very often?"
The man chuckled to himself. "How rude of me!" he exclaimed. "Let me introduce myself. My name is Francis. I work with Arthur." Francis held out his hand.
"Oh." Yao shook Francis' hand.
"Arthur has mentioned that he met a beautiful ice-skater who he thinks is destined to be his partner and being the curious caper I am, I had to check him out."
Yao blushed. "I'm sure he's just exaggerating, aru…"
"No, he's not," said Francis. He scooted closer to Yao, backing him up against the glass railing surrounding the ice-skating rink. Francis leaned forward so that his mouth was inches away from Yao's ear. "You are gorgeous."
Uncomfortable with Francis' proximity, Yao pushed at Francis' chest. But Francis did not budge. "Please… please keep your distance…"
"Why?" murmured Francis sultrily into Yao's ear. "Arthur is not here. We can go and do something together."
"No thanks, aru…" Yao was now trying to keep Francis' roaming hands away from him. "I'm… uh, I'm actually expecting Arthur any minute now…"
"Oh! Excellent!" Francis reached behind and grabbed Yao's butt.
Horrified, Yao slapped Francis' hand away. "Could you please keep your hands to yourself?!"
"But you're so pretty, how can I possibly do that?" said Francis, stroking Yao's left cheek.
"Bonnefoy!" boomed a voice that was unmistakably Arthur's.
Francis whipped around. Arthur was standing at the entrance of the ice-skating rink. He looked livid.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?!"
"Relax, mon ami," Francis told Arthur as he waved a hand. "I was just teasing Yao here. I just came to check out the man who had managed to capture our Arthur's heart." Francis took his hands away from the railing, where they were imprisoning Yao. Yao, on the other hand, immediately moved away from Francis.
"Well, now that you've "checked him out", you can leave now."
"Actually, I am meeting a date here, if you don't mind," said Francis.
"Then we're leaving," Arthur said coldly. He reached forward to take Yao's hand and pulled him out of the rink.
Wordlessly, Yao allowed himself to be led out of the rink. Arthur brought him to the locker room, where he could change out of his skates.
Yao moved around in silence. Arthur seemed to be very angry, and Yao didn't dare speak unless he had permission.
When Yao was done, he tugged lightly on Arthur's hand. He tilted his head, indicating that he was ready and that they could leave.
Without a moment's hesitation, Arthur grabbed Yao's hand and yanked him so that he was facing Arthur. He then ran his hands over Yao's body. "Are you okay?" Arthur asked Yao in concern. "Francis didn't do anything to you, did he?"
"I… I'm fine, aru. He just groped me, but it wasn't anything I couldn't handle…" Yao looked into Arthur's eyes. "But nevermind me, are YOU okay? You looked really mad just now."
Arthur averted his eyes from Yao. "It's nothing. I'm just mad at myself for not keeping my mouth shut and allowing this to happen to you," he said. "Francis IS a pervert, and his advances usually don't mean anything… but sometimes he can go overboard."
Yao brought his hand towards Arthur's face and placed it on his right cheek. He gently pushed Arthur's face so that he was looking at Yao. "It's okay. It's not your fault, aru. I can take care of myself."
Arthur stared at Yao.
Yao giggled softly. "If it makes you feel any better… if you hadn't turned up and he had continued harassing me, I would have kicked him in the balls."
Arthur let out a guffaw. "That's my Yao!"
Yao grinned smugly. "I'm a man too – I know where it hurts most in men, aru!"
"That's what I love about you." Arthur wrapped a hand around Yao's waist and drew the Asian man closer to him. He kissed Yao lightly on the head.
"What? That I can kick guys in the balls?"
Arthur laughed. "Well, yes," he said. "But I guess it's the fact that you can defend yourself. And the fact that you have such a good sense of humour too helps a lot."
"You flatter me."
"Okay, let's get out of here. Should we pick Hong Kong up from uni or from home?" asked Arthur. Hong Kong had no plans for dinner, and was going to have dinner alone. Until Arthur invited him to join them for dinner. Initially, Hong Kong had rejected the idea – he didn't want to be a third wheel on their date. But Yao had told him that this wasn't going to be a date, so if Hong Kong was going to be alone, he might as well join them.
Yao looked thoughtful. "He told me he was going to be in the library completing an assignment, so I think uni. But I better give him a call to confirm, aru."
"You do that. Meanwhile, I'll bring my car around. Just wait at the porch."
"Okay."
Arthur was in a bad mood, Yao could tell. When Yao had rung he doorbell, Arthur had answered the door without a word, but only with a small smile. He had ruffled Yao's hair affectionately and kissed him on the forehead, but didn't say anything. After that, Arthur plopped himself down on the sofa, clutching his mug of tea and staring at the television, even though it wasn't switched on.
Yao tidied up the mess Arthur had made in the kitchen. When he came out, Arthur was still in the same position, but he had placed his mug of tea on the coffee table and now had his hands clenched on his lap.
Yao sighed silently. It was very depressing when Arthur was in this sort of mood. And as Arthur's boyfriend, it was his duty to make Arthur feel better.
Yao quietly approached Arthur. He wrapped his arms around Arthur's chest from his back. Yao rested his chin on Arthur's shoulder. "What's wrong, aru?" he asked softly.
Arthur was shaken out of his trance. "It's nothing," he replied distantly.
"Come on," Yao prompted. "You know you can tell me. I don't like seeing you like this."
"It's nothing," Arthur repeated. "Francis just said something…"
"What did he say?" Yao nuzzled the side of Arthur's face.
There was a moment of silence. Yao wondered if Arthur had heard him. Nevertheless, he remained still and waited for the Englishman to respond.
Arthur finally let out a puff of air. "He said that you didn't really like me for me… he said you were with me only because of my money," he said quietly.
Yao rolled his eyes. Trust Arthur to be so unsure of himself. "For your information, I didn't know how rich you were when we started dating, aru. I never thought to ask, because it wasn't important to me. What matters is that we love one another," Yao told Arthur. "I love you for who you are, not how much money you have, aru," whispered Yao tenderly into Arthur's ear.
Arthur's eyes widened. It was the first time Yao had told him that he loved him. With all his might, Arthur grabbed Yao's arms that were around his chest and yanked them forward so that Yao's entire body was pulled onto the couch.
Yao let out a startled cry as he felt his body lurch forward into a somersault over the back of the sofa, and he landed on his back on the couch.
Arthur was hovering over Yao, looking intently at Yao as Yao struggled to get his bearings. "You… you love me?" Arthur asked breathlessly.
Yao blushed visibly. "Yes. Yes, I do."
Arthur smiled like an idiot and lowered his head to kiss Yao on the lips. "I love you too."
Yao reached out to stroke Arthur's cheek tenderly. "Feeling better now, aru?"
Arthur nodded and turned his face to kiss the palm of Yao's hand. "Thanks."
"Don't listen to Francis," Yao told Arthur. "He just wants to annoy you."
Arthur chuckled. "You'd think I know to do that after knowing Francis for so long, but his words just got to me, you know?"
The Chinese man smiled in understanding. He felt guilty that he hadn't assured Arthur of his love for him even after dating him for so long, thus making Arthur doubt him. It was just the way Yao was brought up didn't allow him to show much affection. But now that Yao had confessed his love for Arthur, it didn't seem so hard saying it another time.
A/N – With regards to Yao being unable to show affection due to the way he was brought up, it's a Chinese thing. I'm Chinese, myself, and I have observed that we aren't very open with our feelings. I think it's a cultural thing – Chinese people value logic and practicality, and their culture believes that allowing one's emotions to show openly inhibits logical thinking and therefore, honour and strength of character.
