The morning was quiet, Ivan woke up startled as he glanced at the light leaking through the curtains, so much light meant that he had missed his alarm, that he'd be late.

He hurried out of the bed, cursing slightly as he stood up too fast, his head dizzy while he looked around the room, trying to find his phone.

Putting aside that thought, he opened the wardrobe, taking out something to wear, tosing it to the bed and walking hastily to the bathroom.

When he closed the door, his brain seemed to register two important facts. Firstly, the room didn't look like his room and secondly, this wasn't his bathroom.

Ivan sighed, the sudden bolt of energy that had him on his feet was vanishing from his body as he reminded himself that he wasn't in his apartment, he was in Katya's house and he didn't have to work today.

The annoyance he felt, washed out after he took a shower and dressed. Boris stretched and purred while Ivan sat on the bed. Why didn't he attempt to sleep again? He hoped that his sister wouldn't notice his stupid mistake.

He wandered for a bit in the corridor, the fluffy cat following him around. Ivan wondered what he should do next. Was Katya even awake?

He decided to go downstairs and make breakfast for them. His eyes scanned the surroundings slowly, the creamy color of the curtains, the photograph hanging on the wall, and finally, his phone laying on the table. The artifact seemed to mock him, marking the hour, seven o'clock.

The working schedule had shaped his life for so long that even on vacation, he'd be up checking the clock to see if he could make it to the office on time.

He glanced at the photograph from earlier, it was a picture of Natalya, showing off her school diploma, the silver medal hanging from her neck had reflected the light, making the photograph look a bit blurry. Ivan chuckled, that picture was surely Katya's doing, she was clueless when taking photos, at least with this one, he could tell it was Natalya.

A slight prickle of guilt stabbed him, he had missed Natalya's graduation. He didn't know when it had been held, obviously last year, but he didn't know the exact date. Natalya's accusations gained sense, he had missed a lot of things lately.

Brushing off the discomfort that this realization gave him, he went into the kitchen, served some food to Boris and made some coffee for himself.

Glancing at his phone, he noticed a string of messages from Alfred.

The last one was a meme that read "Were you going to tell me you are visiting the good ol' town or was I supposed to find out myself by calling Arthur?"

Ivan couldn't help but chuckle, he typed out quickly. "Sorry, I forgot"

To his surprise, Alfred called him back, he picked up only to hear Alfred's accusative tone. "I would have returned with you!"

Ivan hummed. "You were with Mathew."

A gasp and Alfred's voice changed, muttering. "I left my nuggets in your fridge"

Ivan took a sip from the coffee, replying softly. "I ate them"

Alfred's laughter was heard. "Treason! but it's fine I'm a traitor too, I gave your number to Arthur" Alfred added quickly.

Ivan paused, waiting for him to continue. when it didn't happen, he set aside the cup of coffee, whining."Why?"

The small chuckle on the other side of the phone told him that it wasn't a mistake, "and Lien."

"Again, why?"

Ivan could distinguish Mathew's voice, it sounded distant. "I told you to ask him-"

Alfred beamed. "why not? you should have done that. Also you are on vacation, you have to get out of your sister's home more often and I assure you that each of them will likely be available to do something. Is a mere assumption but I think Yao has your number too, you know because of Lien, I totally did not give your number to three people without asking you."

"Am I on speaker?"

The american laughed "Of course you are, I had to annoy my brother this early in the morning with our rambli-"

Mathew's soft voice cut him off. "Ivan is not annoying but you are Alfred"

Ivan laughed, hearing Alfred's gasp, a loud laughter was also heard, Ivan couldn't stop himself from frowning, what was Gilbert doing there?

As if reading his thoughts, he heard Alfred whining about his phone while his voice grew further away. Gilbert's laugh stopped. "Hey, Braginsky, do yourself a favor and talk with Wang. We all know you were simping for him in highschool. You can thank my generosity later, I even gave you an excuse, ask him about his cousin Kiku." and with that he ended the call.

Ivan was left with his phone in his hands, he took the cup of coffee again and finished it. He got another message from Alfred "These are the contacts, but I'm not telling you who's who, and you have to write to them because if not I'm calling them myself, you have until tomorrow." it read and was followed by phone numbers. Ivan was sure it was Gilbert's doing.

He put the phone aside with a groan and busied himself in the approached as he tried to make a decent breakfast, Katya's voice was soft. "You didn't have to"

Ivan turned to look at her, a sheepish smile on his face. "I'm sorry, I made weirdly shaped eggs, how do you manage to get them perfectly round?"

She giggled, taking a cup of coffee. "You've never been good at cooking, you should have made pancakes. Baking is more of your thing."

"True"

She helped him place the plates on the table, taking a seat. "I thought you had somewhere to go"

Ivan sat next to her, pausing. "Why?"

She took a bite of her food, shrugging. "Well, you woke up early and I heard you saying something about being late."

Ivan groaned, there was no way he could explain that to Katya without lying ."I thought I had to work."

Yekaterina laughed while Ivan tried to busy himself with breakfast.

When they finished Katya took the plates, Boris following her to the kitchen, meowing constantly, she patted the cat on its head. "Are you hungry? has Ivan not fed you?"

Ivan rolled his eyes."Boris is a liar, he already ate. Natalya's picture is cute, you've gotten better at photographing."

"Still, you can tell it was me who took it."

Ivan smiled softly. "Yeah, but it's better." he glanced at the window, the day was sunny, he didn't remember the sky in the city being that clear. "You know, I might go out and take a walk around the town."

Katya nodded. "If you get lost just call me."

The small town didn't offer many places to visit, he had already gone into the museum finding it to be exactly the same as when he had visited as a school excursion, the place was smaller than what he remembered but the exhibitions were kept intact.

He decided to have lunch in Lien's restaurant, though she was not present, so he had to awkwardly sit alone while the rest of the commensals were in pairs or in groups.

By the afternoon he was wandering around the park, it was a strange feeling to be by himself in such a public place, but the quietness was relieving. He sat on a bench observing the people that passed hurriedly.

Along the pedestrians closing the street, Ivan could recognize a familiar face, it was Yao, Ivan lost sight of him as he entered a grocery store.

This made him ponder the idea of entering the store too and greeting him, Ivan frowned, perhaps that'd be too weird, he didn't have to buy anything, though, he could pretend he had to.

He shook his head, why was he debating that silly idea? Why would he go and talk to Yao? he refused to acknowledge that part of him that replied "why not?" He would only end up making a fool of himself, again.

Ivan waited on the bench, fighting the urge of looking back at the grocery store, he fidgeted with his hands, perhaps he could buy some coffee, yeah, he wasted a lot of Katya's coffee, it was only logical to buy her some.

He stood up, taking hesitant steps towards the street, once he reached the glass doors of the store that opened automatically, he arranged his scarf, stepping inside.

The variety of products was overwhelming, he had to hover around looking for the coffee, when his eyes landed on said product he had to mentally slap himself, just right next to it was Yao picking up some tea.

The chinese man was holding two different brands as if comparing them.

Ivan stood still, observing the annoyed expression he seemed to have, perhaps it wasn't the best moment to approach him, he was obviously busy and Ivan had no real reason to talk with him.

The russian's heart picked up his pace as Yao's gaze almost caught him staring, almost, because Ivan's legs seemed to act before he could cast a coherent thought, turning away and hurriedly walking to the next aisle.

He stayed there for a while before checking around for a glimpse of the chinese man, finding him paying for his goods.

Ivan picked up the nearest product on his reach and made a beeline to the registers, avoiding the one Yao was in.

Every now and then, he found himself checking if the Chinese had left, until the latter finally got his change from the cashier and struggled picking up his groceries, heading towards the door.

Ivan watched him leave, hurring to pay for his… honey? Why was he buying honey? He shook his head, whatever, he focused on paying and leaving as quick as he could.

Outside he spotted Yao again, picking up his pace, Ivan called out to him. "Do you need some help with that?"

Yao flinched, pausing his steps and looking back with a glare, softening his expression after a second. "Oh, Hi Ivan. I'm sorry, I thought I was being followed and you surprised me" he let out a nervous laugh. "Anyway, what are you doing here?"

"I was buying honey." Ivan replied unsurely, he knew it was a bad idea, why did he get into this situation?

"Oh, that's nice, I could actually use some help with this" he held out a bottle of wine. "I forgot to bring another bag and I am not paying for one, it's such a waste of money."

Ivan nodded, taking a hold of the bottle carefully. From what he could see, all that Yao had bought were vegetables, maybe tea and wine, a strange combination. "What is this for?" He asked, trying to fill the silence.

"Dinner." Yao laughed. "Thank you for helping me, that thing is so delicate, I swear that this is the last time I'll follow Francis' recipes. Leon would make fun of me eating this fancy stuff."

"Francis' recipes?"

Yao nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, you've heard of Francis Bonnefoy? The actor? He was a college friend of Arthur, he used to come for our gourmet club but nowadays he is abroad, so we chat through a video call and such, he gave me his 'special recipe' and ushered me to serve it with wine."

Ivan nodded slowly, Arthur and Yao seemed to have a lot of friends.

"I'm sorry, this conversation must be so weird." Yao said, offering an apologetic look.

Ivan shook his head, did he look disinterested? "No, It's not. I like when you talk about this."

Yao paused, lifting an eyebrow. "You do?"

Why did he say that? Ivan felt his cheeks burning, laughing nervously. "Yes, you are interested in food, right? Like in gastronomy and such, you are passionate when you talk about it, it's... nice."

Yao smiled, pausing his steps. "Yeah, it's like a hobby that is not a hobby because I hyperfixate on it, and there aren't' any other hobbies for me."

"I might need one of those."

"A hobby?"

Ivan nodded, taking a few steps forward but stopping when Yao didn't move. "Yes, I focus way too much on my work, and it hasn't paid off the way I wanted."

Yao frowned, shifting from one foot to the other. "I am very sorry to hear that, uh.. my house is here so…"

Ivan glanced at the house, it was smaller than Mathew's house but it gave the same familiar air, it had a small garden with roses. "Oh, sorry, I thought you lived further from the store."

"No… but if you want, I can offer you a treat, for helping me." Yao offered, motioning to the house.

The russian falthered, the heat returning to his face. "That's not necessary."

"Please, Dinner is almost ready, I made a bit too much and it's less weird to eat that fancy stuff with someone."

Ivan pondered on the idea, he was sure it would be the opposite of less weird with him getting flustered and clumsy.

Yao pressed, smiling at him. "You could tell me more about the things you are interested in, perhaps we can find you a hobby."

The russian nodded, following Yao into the house, perhaps he'd be awkward but wasn't this the point of wanting to approach Yao back in the store in the first place? To befriend him?

A warmth feeling overtook him as he chatted with the chinese, watching him serve the plates with such care as if he were performing the finest form of art.

Perhaps he was, Ivan thought when he took a bite of the glorious boeuf bourguignon he made. At least his french classes were useful here too and nor only on his work.

"Do you want some more?" Yao asked. He hadn't lied when he said he made too much food.

Ivan found himself nodding eagerly, he didn't want to taste anything else in his life if it didn't come from Yao. When he finished he was beyond satisfied.

Francis was right, the wine was the perfect accompaniment and it eased his nerves a bit.

He managed to keep up a fluent conversation, refilling the glasses every now and then, until he realized they had actually finished the bottle.

Ivan sighed, glancing at Yao, he was blushing a bit, probably the wine's doing.

The warmth feeling he experienced yesterday was present, Ivan would be lying if he said he didn't know what it was, the russian leaned forward gaining Yao's attention, before Ivan could stop his words, he simply stated. "I like you."

Yao's eyes widened a bit before smiling softly. "I like you too Ivan, it was a nice dinner but you seem to be a bit tipsy, shall I call your sister?"

Ivan glanced at the empty bottle of wine, nodding. "Probably."

He couldn't help but feel a little disappointed when he left with Katya.

"You didn't tell me you had a date." Was what Katya had told him in the car.

She kept teasing him the whole way back while he dismissed her assumptions, they were not even close to a date because it was just a friendly talk.

Just when he was about to reply to Katya the sudden realization hit him. Yao wasn't rejecting him, Ivan had told him that he liked him and he had said he liked him back. Was he making assumptions now?

Why was he even thinking about it? But... why not?

Ivan looked back at Katya with a serious expression, fidgeting with his scarf.

She paused her teasing, a sheepish smile on her face. "Don't get mad, it was a joke."

Ivan shook his head, sharing an unsure glance to her before muttering "Can you give me Yao's number?"

"Of course, I thought you had it." Yekaterina let out a short laugh. "I can't believe you didn't ask him."

Ivan laughed too. He had been really slow.