3

Yao didn't sleep well that night... He was staring at the ceiling and worrying about how much Ivan knew... Not only that, but also how Ivan had come to know it. Was he some kind of spy? Or a stalker? Yao had no idea what was going and wasn't so sure if he wanted to know. He decided he would try and block the whole thing from his mind. Pretend it never happened and hope that Ivan decided that he was going to heed Yao's demand to stay away. He just had to make sure the other villagers knew nothing about this or it would be a frenzy! Yao had been in the town for two weeks and not only met, but had spoken to 'the big man'. Some had lived there for years and hadn't said a word to him. Yao was going to act totally normal when he got back to work or he would just be bothered all day by kids and adults.

So he did that the following Monday when he returned to work. Of course, his head was still spinning after his meeting with Ivan but he thought he was doing a pretty good job of hiding it. He just had to stay out of conversation when any Ivan gossip was mentioned and he did that anyway. He decided things were going to be alright.

"Yao!" A young girl called, "Are the buns ready?" Olga, the 21 year old town sweetheart who ran the Rosemary cafe opened the kitchen door to see Yao kneeling at the oven door and peering best he could in through the glass as he waited patiently until the current buns were the right colour.

Yao shook his head, "Another two minutes! However the fairy cakes are fully iced and ready to go if you want them!" He had tried to be diligent while working the past two weeks. He couldn't imagine Olga getting rid of him anytime soon, but Yao liked being known for his hard efforts and eye for perfection.

Olga looked to the tray where the beautifully frosted cupcakes waited until they were needed.

"Not yet." She murmured, admiring them and once again feeling a wave of gratefulness pass through her that Yao came to the cafe with his delicate decorating skills, "The kids should show up soon though and I'll give them out." She laughed, "We'll have to! Charlotte says we have to shut them up with sweets after the other night."

Yao was focused on his buns. Seldom did he get the chance to watch one of his bakes so attentively. He was usually rushing between the four ovens and decorating things that so he would leave things in or take them out minutes away from perfect. Monday was a quiet day, or so he had started to assume, no one wanted to get cakes or coffee on a Monday. Even here going back to work after a day or two off was depressing. For some anyway. Yao loved his new job.

Olga cleared her throat, expecting Yao to ask why the children had been so boisterous since that night. When nothing came from the petite man she carried on, "They said they saw The Big Man the other night, you know..." She mentioned casually, trying to start a conversation with her baker.

That got Yao's attention, "What?! When?!" Yao cried out, a little too loudly, enough to stun Olga who was preparing to accent that Yao wasn't in a mood to give in to her talkative charms.

"J-Just the other night..." Olga told him as she moved down from the seat on the counter, "They're a little excited."

Yao froze, biting down on his lip... What if he and Ivan had been seen with one another...He didn't want to be lumped with him in any way, if he was seen with Ivan people might have assumed that they were friends! Yao didn't want to be associated with him, he knew how the townspeople talked and couldn't have that happen to him, and not in a place like this that he already loved so much.

He swallowed, thinking... He would have heard already if he had been seen with Ivan, someone would have asked him about it by now... And it was late at night, no child would have seen him up and awake that late at night. Ivan had a light on then and everything, he was acting abnormally open that night. When he was pursuing Yao might not have been the only time he was out of his house. Yao reassured himself that the children had spotted Yao on a different occasion.

Olga looked over to Yao, "Did you see him? You might have. He is your neighbour." She grinned.

Yao stood quickly, it was time to take the buns out, "I haven't seen t him at all!" He lied, "These are ready!" He opened the oven door and tried to distract Olga from the Ivan talk by making a comment, "Ah...! They smell so delicious!"

She walked over, "I bet they're hot." She smiled as she looked at Yao's work, "I'll do the Vic' sponge next. I want you to do the front counter for an hour." She moved in front of the tray of buns and pinched the oven mitts, "Go."

Yao frowned, he didn't feel like dealing with people that much today. He'd rather immerse himself in baking when it was the slow day of the week and he had the time to work on it, "The buns need icing..."

"I can manage that," Olga insisted, "Off you go and serve the yummy things you made to people for once!"

With a defeated sigh, Yao exited the kitchen out into the quiet cafe. All but two tables were empty, an older man seated at one that Yao knew not by name but by the man who owned the butcher, who would always leave his younger helper in charge at this point in the say while he came for his tea. The other table was slightly more lively, a heavily pregnant woman and her lover. Yao didn't know these two and knew immediately that they weren't local. More likely on a long journey and were passing through. The two tables didn't fraternise with one another.

Though it was quiet Yao had learned better than to sit back, soon Charlotte would be stopping by with the children she took care of and despite that there was only seven of them Yao had already learned that they could be a handful. For him and Olga, the most stressful part of the day was about to come- luckily they had enough cakes today to give them out to the kids. That usually subdued them for all of two minutes.

He leaned forward on his elbows on the glass showcase and watched the door for any sign of life in the slow flurry behind it. What bothered him was that some of the children saw Ivan the other night and they probably now all knew of the sighting. Whoever first saw would have told the others as if he had spotted a rare animal. He had been spoken to enough about being Ivan's new neighbour, he had a feeling he wouldn't hear the end of this. As if he was supposed to be interested in what that guy did, just because they lived next to each other.

Jeeze.

Yao closed his eyes for a moment and sighed. He did like living in such a sleepy old town. He loved the peace and quiet so much that he worried that he was becoming an old man.

He didn't have long to contemplate this thought. The bell jingled as new customers entered and Yao straightened as Charlotte held the door open for the beeline of kids that streamed in.

"Yao!"Already was Abram, the boy who he had met on his first day in the village, running to him, "Yao! We saw The Big Man!" He said, rushing his words, unable to hold them in any longer.

"I know you did." He crossed his arms and quirked a brow, "You shouldn't be spying like that."

Abram totally ignored this piece of advice and carried on, "He was huge! And so creepy..." He lowered his voice, "I think he saw me!" He hissed.

Diane had appeared next to Abram, "He saw me too! He saw me too!" She exclaimed. Yao had learned that these two were cousins.

Yao huffed, he didn't like to encourage their fixation on Ivan, "I bet he did, he has eyes too y'know."

Abram was quick to leap to his own defence, "But we were hiding! We were up in our room, watching through the window and he was walking and he turned and smiled right at us!"

Yao faked a smirk, "See? He's friendly." He pretended he didn't already know how unnerving it was under that smile.

Olga came through then, with the tray of fairy cakes that Yao had made that morning, passing it to Charlotte, "Give these out for me?" She smiled as she turned back to the kitchen and left Yao to deal with the children who had now invaded the tiny cafe the space that in no way was built for parties larger than five.

Charlotte sighed, "Thank goodness for cake, huh?" She gave a small laugh and nudged Yao, "They've been talking my ear off about their little 'sighting' all morning. They told you right?"

Yao curled his lip in a small smile, "They jumped at the chance."

Charlotte rolled her eyes semi-affectionately, "I said to stop even looking for him, they should really keep away from that guy but oh no... They just love it!"

Charlotte didn't wait for any sort of agreement; she took her tray and started to hand out the cakes that Yao had worked so hard on to make cute to the kids who showed no kind of appreciation for his aesthetic and launched right into eating it.

A small voice came from his side as he leaned forward on the glass again, stretching his short body, "Did you see The Big Man?" it asked, and Yao looked to see that it was young Oleg by him, looking up with those strange glassy eyes of his.

Another boy that Yao didn't know the name of caught wind of the conversation and joined in right away, "Yeah! You live right beside him!"

The girl beside him gasped at the notion spread that Yao too, may have laid eyes on The Big Man.

He snorted, "Of course not! How ridiculous!" He felt as if he was overdoing his lie of denial so he paused and cleared his throat, "I was in my own house!" This was true. Yao hadn't seem Ivan on the same occasion he children had, at that point, he really was at home.

"Hey, you must have seen him around some time..." Even Charlotte was asking now, "Come on, and tell us what he's really like."

Yao could feel his face grow hot as he started to worry that he was going to give something away, he looked at his hands, and "I have never met him. I don't even know his name." Yao thought each word through before speaking it.

"But you live right next door!" Came a child's voice.

"You've been there for ages!" Came another.

Yao looked up at the pale moon like faces all directed towards him, "Listen we've never met okay! I'm no different from any of you!" They had indeed met, but Yao really didn't want to be singled out as the one who now knew everything about Ivan. The second part was true, he really was no different!

What happened next was something that nobody had anticipated.

The door opened again with its little tinkle and heads turned to see the face of the newcomer.

Then there was silence and Yao gripped the edge of the showcase so hard his knuckles turned white and his jaw tightened.

Standing in the doorway was Ivan, looking no different from when Yao last saw him from the pink scarf to the strange smile playing on his lips.

He didn't greet anyone as he let the door swing shut behind him and started to cross the room, parting the small crowd of kids in his was effortlessly as they all backed away like he was toxic.

He didn't stop until he was at the counter and looking at Yao who knew better than to hope that Ivan was here simply to order cake.

Ivan reached for Yao's wrist and in his shock and horror Yao forgot to resist and Ivan managed to grip it and pull Yao's floppy hand up to where he could clasp it.

"Hello~" Ivan winked, "I did say we would do this again."

Blinking Yao came back down to earth and ripped his hand from Ivan's grasp. He took in all the slack jawed mouths, hanging open at Ivan's immediate friendliness with Yao. He swallowed. Couldn't lie now. And everyone would know he stupidly hid the truth.

He hissed, "What are you doing here?!" leaning close to Ivan , trying to get some kind of privacy when talking to the other man with all the spectators.

Ivan closed his eyes and looked peaceful for a second, "I missed you... I thought that you were so wonderful to watch from afar but I'm so glad I decided to meet you. Now I can't get you off my mind!" He opened his eyes again as playful cheer flickered through them.

Yao looked at Ivan, biting his lip wishing that Ivan was joking around with him, "I told you to keep away from me!" He was having trouble not raising his voice to a sharp shout, "You should not have come!"

"I had to." Ivan replied, showing no signs of intimidation at Yao's snappiness, "I had to ask a question."

Yao looked over his shoulder so he could take a second to calm down, "And what the heck would that be?"

"I would like for you to go on a date with me."

It took a moment for the confident words that came from Ivan's mouth to sink in. Yao looked at him blankly, before the cogs in his mind slowly started to creak and turn.

There was no way that Ivan could possibly expect him to say yes.

Yao was quickly throwing all decency aside as his face crinkled into an expression of horrified disgust.

He stepped back, away from Ivan, "Absolutely not." He replied, "I said to you already- I don't want you getting close to me!"

He expected Ivan to crumble, even a little at that point but Yao was surprised to see that his rejection hadn't discouraged Ivan in the slightest.

"It will be lots of fun," Ivan told him, "And you are very beautiful so I would really love to go out with you!" He grinned, "I'm in love with you!"

Yao felt his face burn with embarrassment... How could Ivan just ask something like that in front of all these people? He tightened his fist, feeling a lump in his throat from frustration,

"Leave me alone!" He yelled out, louder than planned, "I hate you! I never ever want to see you again!"

"But, Yao-"

"No! Shut up! You're a creep and I want you to stop following me!" He bit his lip as he looked at Ivan- at least he had gotten that creepy smile off his lips. He took in a breath to say something else but he realised that he was just going to get upset in front of the children. He just fled back to the kitchen.

.oO0Oo.

He didn't know why it had made him so angry.

Yao knew that Ivan's proposal and his presence had just filled him with rage and frustration. Maybe it was that he was bothering Yao at work, or maybe it was that he had totally ignored Yao's demands when they first met to keep away. After the incident Ivan had left in the same care free manner than he came in and he had been told by Olga with some sympathy that he 'couldn't deny meeting that guy now' which he knew was very true. He sighed he made it to his front at glanced at the dark house beside his. Why did his coming here have to be dominated so much just by who lived next to him? Now there would be questions from everyone- news spread fast when there were so few people to tell it to and Yao knew he would be known as the one the big man told he loved. He didn't even understand why Ivan had suddenly come out with an' I love you'. It made Yao nervous... He loved him... That meant Ivan was thinking of him... Dreaming of him... Wanting him... It didn't even bear thinking about.

Yao stopped half way up his path and looked at the other house properly, with its discoloured exterior and ominous way about it. He looked it up and down, sighing. Why did Ivan have to live next to him of all people? He just came here for some peace.

He made in inside and just threw his jacket to one side and went to lie back on the couch. He had had better days.

He barely had a moment before there was a call for him in the knock at the door. On any other day he probably would have been pleased to hear that someone had come to visit. It had been a rarity since the end of all the welcoming from the other villagers but after the incident at the cafe with Ivan's arrival he wasn't especially in the mood. And he especially wasn't into mood for anyone pestering him as to what had gone down.

He swung his body back of the couch with some reluctance, muttering assorted Mandarin curses under his breath as he stormed back to the door. He didn't bother with the peep hole to find out what it was; he just pulled the door open.

He was met with the sight of Ivan standing there.

"You!" Yao exclaimed and stepped back, "I told you already-" Yao was preparing to fire up again... But he stopped, "Come in."

There really was nothing else for it- Ivan wasn't listening to him; he might as well hear Ivan out.

Even Ivan himself looked surprised at Yao's sudden change of attitude, showing that he had been listening as Yao yelled at him every time he approached.

"Thank you." He said softly and stepped past Yao inside the house, looking around, "It's very pretty in here."

Yao shut the door and stood against it, "Probably the same as yours." He shrugged, "They were built together right?"

"Who knows?" Ivan asked and smiled. Yao avoided looking at him.

Yao cleared his throat, "Should I offer tea?" He moved the conversation on quickly.

Ivan nodded.

"Would you like some tea?" Yao asked trying his best to be kind.

"No thank you." Ivan replied.

Yao creased his brow, "Then why did you- Ugh! Never mind!" He stopped himself, electing to not even try to start figuring Ivan out, it would be useless.

Ivan looked around the room again, "Very pretty, da?" He repeated.

Yao bit his lip, "Why don't you sit?" He motioned to the couch before moving to sit on it himself.

Ivan followed and chose to sit as close to Yao as he could possibly manage, their sides touching. Yao squirmed.

"Move over..." He nudged at the other man who was as firm and large as a rock next to him.

Ivan did as requested to an extent, moving only a few inches... But Yao accepted it.

Ivan looked at Yao affectionately, "You have very soft skin."

Yao huffed, "Just tell me why you came here."

"I would like to go out with you."

Yao closed his eyes for a moment, "I told you to keep away! Ivan... You're a creep. Why do you follow me around like that?!"

The larger Russian put his hand on his heart, "I've fallen so deeply in love with you."

Yao stood, "No! You can't have, we only just met!"

"I want to go on a date with you."

"You don't even know me. You know stuff about me..." He looked up at Ivan coldly, "But you don't know who I am."

Ivan gripped his knees, "I know that I'll love you forever." He looked at Yao intently, "You are beautiful... So sweet, pure and soft." He spoke the words like they were so close to his heart.

Yao fixed his attention to the window beside him, "You're crazy."

Suddenly Ivan's voice turned sharp, "I am not crazy." His faced darkened as he stood, "Don't you ever call me that, Yao." He stepped closer to Yao as Yao's attention turned to Ivan and his expression turned from disheartened to afraid. Ivan grabbed Yao's shoulder with a grip tight enough to make him wince, pushing him back to the wall.

"Ivan!" Yao gasped as he stumbled back until he hit the wall, bumping his head on the wall, "Stop!" He flailed, accidently sweeping the ornaments off the mantelpiece and listening to them clatter to the floor.

Ivan's face was a totally different from the childlike picture he had seen on Ivan on all other occasions, "Don't you dare say I'm crazy." He hissed and gripped tighter, making Yao yelp.

"Let me go!" Yao almost shrieked and fell to the floor when he was let go, "Ouch..." He whimpered rubbing his arms where Ivan probably bruised them.

He watched Ivan slowly walked back to the couch and sat. He looked back to normal all of a sudden.

"My picture!" Yao exclaimed and grabbed one of the fallen items. A picture frame, a picture of him and Hong from the one time they went travelling together had smashed.

But Ivan paid no heed to Yao's request, "Let's go out."

Yao sat against the wall, his knees up and picture to his chest, "No... I'm not going out with you. Ever." He tried to give Ivan a chance to explain himself but Ivan had just hurt him more... "Go away."

"Yao..." Ivan seemed hurt.

Yao looked at him, "Listen, you've been stalking me and it's creepy. I don't think I'll ever see past that. Sorry Ivan. No."

Ivan stood and without another word opened the door and left. Leaving the door wide open.

Yao swallowed and ran his thumb over the cracks in the picture frame, rolling his sore arms and shoulders.

Had Ivan finally listened?