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“Why did I even agree to this?” Wuxie sighs as he pulls his hat down to cover more of his face.
Wang Pangzi chuckles while slinging his arm around Wuxie’s shoulder, “You should relax a bit! It’s not every day that we can avoid Wang Meng and sneak out like that.” Using his thumb, he gestures to Wuxie, “And even Xiaoge joined us, so don’t be a spoilsport.”
Following Pangzi’s thumb, Wuxie looks at the man that is dressed like him. A bucket hat and mask covering up most of his face (Wuxie wants to roll his eyes because Xiaoge’s fringe is long and usually covers most of his face. Wuxie wonders how does Xiaoge walk when he only has one clearly visible eye) .
Shrugging Pangzi’s arm off, Wuxie walks over to Zhang Qiling. “You didn’t have to agree if you didn’t want to tag along, you know that right?”
Zhang Qiling looks at Wuxie in the eye, before nodding.
Wuxie then tilts his head, a silent question asking why Zhang Qiling even agreed in the first place.
“Pangzi said that it’s to celebrate your birthday.”
That isn’t a reply that Wuxie is expecting Zhang Qiling to say.
“Tianzhen, Xiaoge, quick! The shop is around the corner,” Pangzi looks down on his phone, comparing the surroundings with the map on his phone. “Tianzhen, you forgot that you told me that you wanted to try that coffee from this shop? Just when Pang-ye is feeling generous about treating you on your birthday.”
SIghing, Pangzi gestures for them to follow.
Wuxie stops in his tracks, looking at both Pangzi and Xiaoge. He is eternally grateful that he agreed to join his current company when he was scouted on the streets. If it wasn’t for his sudden entry into the entertainment industry, it wouldn’t have led to him going for a survival show, and then making such great friends in such an unexpected place and debuting with them in the same group.
(Wuxie remembers how his uncles thought that he was being scammed and were both very determined to sue his company. Who knew that his third uncle would end up going back into the entertainment industry to become their manager once they debuted.)
“How are we supposed to drink this?”
Pangzi shrugs and quickly whips his phone out, ready to take a few photos that he can post online when they get back.
Wuxie follows suit, wearily looking at the cotton candy that seems to be ready to drip at any time. He quickly chose a preset filter, adjusting the angle to take a nice photo (although Pangzi will definitely share the photos he has taken, but Wuxie doesn’t trust Pangzi’s photography skills) .
Zhang Qiling just watches them while sipping on his iced americano, his mask hanging loosely on his ear.
The paging buzzer suddenly goes off, and both Pangzi and Wuxie quickly left to grab the cakes that they’ve ordered, leaving Zhang Qiling to tend to their table alone.
When they come back with their cakes in hand, they did not expect to see Zhang Qiling having a slightly panicking expression while trying to make sure that the cotton candy that is hovering above both of their americanos is going to drip into their drinks and not onto the tray.
“Not even a last-minute memorisation of dance steps can make Xiaoge panic,” Pangzi muses.
Wuxie nods in agreement, a smile lingers on his lips while he pulls out his phone to capture the moment.
He knows that Zhang Qiling doesn’t express his feelings and thoughts often, but he is extremely observant of the surrounding. Wuxie thinks that beneath his tough and cold exterior is a really soft-hearted man. Zhang Qiling doesn’t express his feelings with words, but with his actions.
“Xiaoge, just leave it. It’s supposed to melt.” Pangzi chuckles, placing his cake on the table before he adjusts the cotton candy.
Wuxie pushes his own cake towards Zhang Qiling, a silent ‘Do you want a bite?’ , in which Zhang Qiling shakes his head in reply.
Removing his mask, Wuxie happily bites into his cake, his mouth filled with the burst of yuzu and osmanthus.
Pangzi stares at his cotton candy that is melting slowly but horribly into his coffee. “All this trouble just for a photo?”
“It’s not called an internet-famous drink for no reason, Pangzi.” Although he says that, Wuxie has no idea what to do with the cotton candy right now.
Zhang Qiling looks on at them in amusement. He will not tell them that he is satisfied with his iced americano and that the joy of this drink is probably not ordering it but looking at people ordering it.
Pangzi shoves a bite of his cake into his mouth, before nodding as if he had just made an important decision. “I’m eating the cotton candy just like that. I can just add normal sugar into the coffee later,” And he quickly tears a big piece of the melting cotton candy down and pops it into his mouth.
Wuxie frowns at that, not wanting to deal with sugar-covered fingers later.
“Why not push everything into the coffee?” Zhang Qiling suggests, seeing how Wuxie doesn’t want to touch the cotton candy with his fingers like Pangzi.
Picking up his fork, Wuxie tries to pull the cotton candy into his coffee with his two-pronged fork. Zhang Qiling picks up a spoon and tries to help him as well.
“Use your hand, Tianzhen. You can wash it later,” Pangzi shakes his head while he pulls another piece of cotton candy out, but this time he drops it into his coffee instead of eating it straight.
“Don’t do that. You are a public figure, or did you already forgot about it?” Wuxie rolls his eyes as he continues to tug on the cotton candy. Both Xiaoge and him have already pulled a large chunk of the melting cotton candy into the coffee, but there is still a small chunk left on the stick.
As if on cue, a small click can be heard.
All three of them turned towards the direction of the sound, but don’t see anyone there.
“Maybe it’s our imagination,” Pangzi tries to convince himself as he pulls all his cotton candy into his coffee. He tries to reach out to hold Wuxie’s fork to steal a bite from Wuxie’s cake, only to be hit on the hand by Wuxie.
“Get your sticky hand off of my fork,” Wuxie frowns. All of the cotton candy has successfully melted into his coffee after Zhang Qiling helped him with pulling them down, so now he can finally take a sip of his coffee. “Use your own fork.”
“The flavour will mix though,” Pangzi grumbles but uses his own fork anyway.
Zhang Qiling looks at both of them and warns, “Let’s go back soon.”
What wasn’t said is that he feels someone looking at them, and chances are that it is the paparazzi.
Knowing what he is hinting, both of them nodded, albeit unwilling on Pangzi’s part since he wanted to go shop around.
(“It’s been so long since we can walk around without Wang Mengmeng being around us!”
“Stop making Wang Meng’s job hard.”
“Says you who always threaten to cut his pay, Tianzhen.”)
Quickly finishing their coffee and cakes, Zhang Qiling and Wuxie both put their masks back on. And that was when things happened.
They can hear the clicks getting louder and more often, and that is when they can confirm that they’ve been spotted by the paparazzi. Soon enough, a man approaches them shoving his phone near their faces, “What are the three of you doing here? Is there any news for the Iron Triangle’s new album?”
Zhang Qiling quickly pulled Wuxie on his arm, making sure that he doesn’t lag behind. Meanwhile, Pangzi uses his broad back to cover the three of them.
“Why are you running? Is it because the rumours are true? That the votes are rigged?”
Pangzi knows that the rumour is about how his votes are rigged, that he can’t be the centre of their trio. Just when he is about to argue back, he feels a hand covering his mouth and dragging him back.
“Tianzhen!” His voice is muffled, and Wuxie’s hand moved a little with how Pangzi is struggling, leading to his hand covering his nose.
Pangzi’s steps are closely following Wuxie’s (he has no choice, he is being dragged) , and Wuxie is being pulled by the arm by Zhang Qiling. He quickly hits Wuxie’s arm, trying to let Wuxie know that he is about to pass out from being out of breath.
“Shut up and don’t say anything unnecessary,” Wuxie whispers under his breath. Only when Pangzi nods aggressively that Wuxie lets him go.
With the paparazzi close behind them, Zhang Qiling still manages to hail a taxi, and the three of them quickly piled into the car, successfully making their escape.
“Ah, I can see San-ye having a huge fit,” Pangzi wipes his sweat with his sleeve, shuddering at the thought of Wu Sanxing screaming at them for at least an hour.
“I just sent him a message,” Zhang Qiling states, and even Wuxie can hear the slight nervousness in his tone. “He told us to meet him at the meeting room once we arrive at the company.”
Wuxie can see his impending doom when he faces his third uncle later.
Trying to calm his nerves, he scrolls his social media and felt that dying will probably not appease his uncle any more.
“Iron Triangle’s Wuxie attempts to suffocate Iron Triangle’s center, Wang Pangzi. Is this his attempt of murder so that that he can claim Center? Iron Triangle’s Zhang Qiling is likely Wuxie’s accomplice.”
“I’m now a murderer, Pangzi.” His tone is in despair as he passes his phone to Pangzi to share the news.
A scoff escapes Pangzi’s mouth, “But really, Tianzhen, were you trying to suffocate me just now. I think I almost ascended.” His tone is joking and Wuxie knows it very well because of the smirk on his lips.
Pangzi then passes the phone over to Zhang Qiling. “But really if Xiaoge is your accomplice, both of you would’ve gotten away.”
“True,” Wuxie nods.
After seeing the photo of Wuxie’s hand covering Pangzi’s nose, Zhang Qiling lets out a soft chuckle as he shakes his head. A slight smile lingers on his lips.
Seeing how both of them aren’t as bothered as him with the news, Wuxie finds himself relaxing, a smile creeping onto his lips.
“At least when we face San-ye, the three of us will be together.”
“Mnn.”
Wuxie lets out a hearty laugh, nodding.
Every time he is afraid, thinking about the two of them gives him courage.
Moreover, this time they are just by his side.
