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danhoemei · 3 years

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Some time ago I felt like doing something for someone so I messaged the last person who followed me to ask for any writing requests lmao. I’m happy it was you, @panem-et-circenses89, thank you for you patience and open-mindedness 💚 You gave me inspiration with mentioning the weather getting colder ;D

This is set in my reincarnation au in which wenzhou reincarnated until it’s the modern world. The only context you need for this part is that wkx remembered their past lives and found zzs, while zzs hasn’t and is just trying to live his life.

[cw: one small paragraph which describes something that may look like an assault or robbery, but isn’t]

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Zhou Zishu pulled out his phone to check the hour. It was getting late, and with the sun gone for at least a few hours – it was also getting cold. Unusually strong, chilly wind blew incessantly, forcing people all around to search for covers or wobble against its force, leaving only a few of the unlucky ones standing still while waiting for their rides.

Zhou Zishu scrolled through his bus’s schedule, eyes glued to the shining screen which illuminated his face and the subtle steam coming out of his mouth, while fumbling with his jacket until his fingertips closed around the zipper and pulled it up almost to his chin. Another gust of wind ruffled his messy hair and made him shiver before he retracted his head even more between his shoulders.

Suddenly, a dark shadow fell down right in front of his face and loosely wrapped around his neck. His free hand instantly shot up to grab the rope while the other tightened around his phone and lowered in preparation to elbow the attacker. He took half a step back, bumping into a solid tall object, and twisted his body to the side to make way for his merciless elbow.

There was a short sound of air escaping someone’s lungs in a painful groan, which still didn't stop the attacker from wrapping his arms around Zhou Zishu to keep him in place.

"It's me, Ah-Xu, calm down!"

Still pumped with adrenaline, Zhou Zishu almost short-circuited upon hearing the familiar voice which flipped his inner switch from “danger” to “fine”. Without moving, he looked down at the soft material which got thrown around his neck, now clutched tightly in his hand, and noticed that the rope was actually a deep blue scarf.

He turned around like lightning, throwing off the grabby hands and taking a step back from Wen Kexing.

“Do you want to be punched that bad?!” he yelled.

Instantly, he remembered where he was. His eyes darted to the sides, briefly locking gazes with passersby who quickly turned as if they noticed something very interesting just behind them or on the sidewalk.

He took a deep breath in to calm down his heart and shifted his angered stare back to the offender.

Wen Kexing’s face bore a smile, his hands hovering up in the air in an apologetic gesture.

“Sorry, Ah-Xu, I didn’t know this would scare you so much.”

“Then what did you expect? Assaulting someone out of the blue, making it seem as if you were about to strangle them?” Zhou Zishu snarled in response.

There was a second-long pause during which Wen Kexing’s eyes fogged over, as if he briefly went somewhere else in his mind. The sight which Zhou Zishu had seen many times but never could tap into, considering how sudden and short these instances were and that the man always quickly deflected. Exactly like now.

“Haha, my bad, my bad,” Wen Kexing laughed and put his hands back into his pockets. “I’ll keep in mind that your sixth sense is still lacking.”

“Yeah, sure, whatever.”

Gradually relaxing, he decided to ignore Wen Kexing’s nonsense and glanced at his phone again.

“Shouldn’t you ask what I’m doing here?” the other man chattered while slowly scooting over to Zhou Zishu.

“I don’t care,” he answered in an impassive voice, groaning mentally when he noticed that his bus had driven away during the commotion.

“I was just accidentally passing by and saw your poor silhouette shivering in the cold, I couldn’t have possibly ignored a beauty in need, could’ve I?” the velvety tone continued uninvited, sounding even closer than before. “And so I thought of warming you up.”

Zhou Zishu finally lifted his head and looked at the flirty grin and a wink of the other man with the utmost unimpressed expression. He held the gaze in silence for a moment before his eyes shifted slightly down to the uncovered neck which looked almost out of place. Something probed him to look down at the scarf, still mindlessly held in his hand, and his mind connected the dots.

He shoved the scarf back to Wen Kexing.

“It’s yours.”

“Take it,” his hand got gently pushed back.

“I don’t need it.”

Another strong gust of wind blew directly at them, and he involuntarily retracted back into himself, trying to keep as much warmth as possible. His fingers instinctively tightened around the soft material, feeling so pleasantly warm that just a thought of losing it made goosebumps spread over his skin again. He glanced at the elegant coat of the other man, comparing it to his worn-out leather jacket, and considered how ridiculous he would look with the elegant scarf wrapped around it.

Ah, whatever. He threw the scarf around his neck and fastened it tightly, his body almost singing at the additional barrier keeping the cold away. A familiar fragrance of coffee and chocolate filled his nostrils.

“…Thanks.”

“No need!” Wen Kexing smiled widely, not even attempting to tone down his obvious satisfaction.

Zhou Zishu’s narrowed eyes regarded him once again.

“What about you?”

The man waved his hand dismissively.

“It’s fine, I’m quite resistant to cold weather.”

Zhou Zishu looked at the man standing in front of him in the middle of the windy street, hunched people rushing past them to their destinations while this person stood casually as if there wasn’t even a small inconvenience for him. Something about this man felt not entirely right but Zhou Zishu could never put his finger on it, and apparently now was not the time for his breakthrough.

He shoved his phone into his pocket and took a step to the side.

“Well then, I’ll be going.”

“Wait.”

His arm was grabbed, stopping him in his tracks, and he turned back around.

“Do you want a lift? Your bus ran away.”

Truly shameless. Thoroughly sly.

“I’m good, I’ll just walk on my feet.”

“Your home must be far away though, isn’t it? Walking in this awful weather won’t be good for your health. At least let me call a cab for you, as an apology,” and if you don’t want me to know where you live, was an unspoken but obvious part.

You probably already know my address anyway, you stalker, thought Zhou Zishu.

“Okay.”

“Okay to which part?” the man’s eyes brightened.

“It’s your fault. You drive.”

“Sure!” he exclaimed and tagged Zhou Zishu’s arm in the opposite direction.

Zhou Zishu tore his arm away but followed the energetic man until they approached an exclusively looking car in a color of dark red, so deep that it was almost black. The lights blinked and Wen Kexing opened the door on the passenger’s side.

“After you.”

Giving him a side-glance, Zhou Zishu got inside and fastened his seatbelt, noting how the car was still quite warm and couldn’t have stood there for long.

“Where to?”

“Why do you even ask.”

A small chuckle escaped the other man as he turned the engine on. Zhou Zishu propped his arm under the window, wondering what he had done in his previous life to get such a troublesome karma in this one. As he absently looked out, he felt his tight muscles gradually relax with each bit of warmth slowly seeping through his clothes. The passing city lights morphed into colorful streaks, a low off-key hum of Wen Kexing trying to follow the melody playing from the radio filled the silence. The ride started almost lulling him.

It felt like just minutes before they arrived at the destination and parked under his apartment. Zhou Zishu exited the car, turned to the man sitting inside and watching him with a content smile, and he paused for a moment with his hand on the door. He considered pros and cons, seeing a chance to interrogate the man in a safe environment and on his own terms, but at the same time feeling as if he was about to make a deal with the devil.

He sighed.

“Do you want to come in?”

#wenzhou #wen kexing #zhou zishu #faraway wanderers #tyk #tyk reincarnation au #that au is not dead yet xd #I haven't updated it in a long time but I'm very much going to continue it #this part is gonna be somewhere in the future after they finally meet & zzs suffers his fare share of stalking and trying to figure wkx out #will add it to ao3 when i get there i guess #yzzwriting #requests #panem et circenses89 #thank you love 💚#you are a sweetheart #it turned out less soft than I initially thought because when I started writing it kinda fit to me to place it pre-relationship #i hope you like it at least a bit xd

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