(fanfic)-APH-Lovely Maid Yao-Chapter 25

Chapter 25

A lot of things happened ever since the first day Ivan had discovered the café that Yao worked at.

And little by little, ever since that day, Yao felt closer and closer to the other…and in some way, all these emotions were like a roller coaster. As a moment could be calm and serene, another could rapidly turn to be passionate and tense. Every time they would be together, Yao felt different emotions. However, the emotions he felt today were really extreme…

He seriously didn’t know what to think of this seemingly long day…Only this morning he was frustrated and completely angry at Ivan because they kissed. But in a few hours, during the afternoon, he suddenly didn’t mind all that had happened?

He couldn’t even understand his change of thoughts. How in the world, the fact that Ivan was on top of him and kissed him, didn’t seem to bother him now? But when he recalled Ivan and how adorable the Russian acted when he declared his feelings; all the anger and frustration he felt quickly would turn into fluster and warmth…

There were a lot for Yao to think about, to decide and to consider before his next meeting with the Russian. He also had to face thoughts that couldn’t be ignored anymore; but for now there was one thing he definitely had to face before anything else….his cousin Yong!

When he came back to his apartment, after saying goodbye to Ivan, he found Yong listening to the door… it seemed like his young cousin was trying to eavesdrop on his conversation with Ivan ….

The first thing Yao did when he came back home was to glare at his cousin. He definitely felt like he needed to have a serious discussion with Yong right now!

“Aniki! Things are serious between you and the creepy Russian da-ze!! Why didn’t you tell us? We are your family! We should know! Why are you keeping secrets?!!”

“Aiya!! D-don’t accuse me like that aru! Calm down! This doesn’t concern you anyway.” Yao said trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

“Of course it does! It explains so much about your recent comportments Aniki!”Yong continued with his agitated behaviour.

“W-what is explained aru?!”The Chinese inquired, puzzled by this statement, but also afraid of what the Korean might say.

“So much! It explains why you always wanted to stay in your room. Why you seemed anxious when that Russian guy was around. And your stomach aches. Also, why you always were complaining because I would never clean the table after eating or because I left snacks everywhere in the room and never clean them. All this time, you were simply in love~” Yong announced with a mischievous grin.

Regardless of all these strange reasons that didn’t really explain anything, Yao only acknowledge one thing…and it was the exact thing he was afraid that Yong would say…

“N-No!! I am not!” Yao replied with his face completely flushed.

“Aniki is in love with the Russian guy! Aniki is in love with the Russian guy!” Yong chimed childishly.  

“I am not in love with…”Yao started his sentence affirmatively, but didn’t end up finishing it as he wanted. His mind thought of Ivan and suddenly he wasn’t capable to say the last word.

“I am not in love aru...” He repeated, but this time much less affirmatively and with a rather hesitant tone.

“What? You are not in love?! Aniki, come on, don’t lie! I saw you two kissing on the floor da-ze!” The other said firmly unbelieving him.

Why was Yong saying these embarrassing things?! Was he pointing out this particular scene on purpose just to embarrass him?!!!

“Aiya!! Stop Yong!!” Yao snapped harshly, scaring his cousin a little. “Don’t tell anyone about it! You have to keep everything you saw a secret aru!”

Yao decided to not deny it anymore. As embarrassing as it might be, whatever happened today with Ivan did happen; it couldn’t be changed anymore. However, he wanted to have some time to think about all this and talk with Ivan before everyone would meddle childishly into their situation just like Yong was doing now. If he wouldn’t talk with Ivan first, he felt that things could get truly confusing and awkward between them.

“I can’t tell anyone about it?! Not even Kiku? Why?!”Yong asked, still a little afraid of the fact that Yao seemed angry.

“Not even Kiku! No one aru!” Yao affirmed.

“But Kiku is part of our family Aniki! And family should know! Everyone should know.”

At this instant, Yao felt a sudden wave of agony and worry invading him.

Why on earth did Yong have to come and witness Ivan and him kissing?! Now all he could think about was Yong calling everyone—particularly his family—to tell all these news. And this was the last thing he wanted to happen!

At the exact moment that he was thinking about this horrible scenario, the phone started to rang right on cue, making Yao even more anxious.

“NO!! No one should know!!”He yelled, preventing Yong from answering the phone.

“What…but—“

“NO ONE, YONG! NO ONE!!” Yao declared.

Now Yong couldn’t hide it anymore; he was completely scared of his cousin’s panicked behaviour.

“Aniki? Why are you so secretive?” Yong questioned.

“…” Yao simply looked at the other without saying a word. The older Asian thought that his cousin looked pretty anxious right now. Of course, it was because Yong was scared of his reaction, but unaware of this reason; Yao felt more worried about it.

“Yong, you will keep this a secret, right?” The Chinese asked again. Last time he asked someone to keep a secret, that person didn’t really do a good job. He had an eerie feeling that a similar situation could probably happen again…

“…”

“Right?” Yao repeated, pressuring his cousin who absolutely didn’t knew what to say or how to react.

“…Aniki…”

“Promise aru!”

“Okay, okay Aniki…I promise to not tell anyone…not even Kiku.” The Korean ended up saying, with a very anxious expression. He was still wondering why his cousin wanted to keep all that a secret. All this seemed suspicious. Why would someone want to keep being in love a secret?! Was there something shady that was happening, like in those TV-dramas? Damn it, how he wished he could talk to Kiku about all this!

“Good.” Yao sighed, relieved.

The matter was settled and they could go back at passing their Saturday afternoon normally, forgetting about the recent events. Anyway, that’s what Yao thought, but, of course, nothing of such happened.

While Yao decided to continue to clean the dishes, hoping that it would change his mind, on the other hand, Yong decided to sit at the table and to stare at his cousin with a perplexed and troubled expression. Yong was carefully thinking about many unsolved questions concerning his cousin. All the dramas that he saw on television were making him unsure of what he should do in this situation.

However, in Yao’s opinion, being glanced like that by Yong quickly made him felt uncomfortable. In the end, no matter how much he wanted to pretend like nothing happened, things have ended being pretty awkward.

Thankfully, right at this moment, Kiku arrived home and Yao hoped that this would be an opportunity to completely change the awkwardness of the current atmosphere.

As Kiku entered his home, the Japanese only ended up being more than confused to see the situation. Yong was completely silent— a situation that was surely unusual—and he was still wearing his pyjama. Meanwhile, the fact that Yao was blankly cleaning the dishes made that scene really peculiar in Kiku’s opinion...

“Hello Kiku!” Yao and Yong welcomed him at the same time, only making things seem even weirder.

“Hello…what is going on?” The Japanese asked.

“N-nothing is going on aru.” Yao replied.

“Y-Yeah, nothing is going on da-zee.” Yong confirmed.

“…”

In the end, Kiku couldn’t help but to think that something was suspicious…really suspicious…

“S-so how was your day Kiku? Was yesterday’s storm awful at where your friend lived?” Yao inquired, hoping it would change the conversation.

“Not so much. The storm calmed down after a while, but of course Feliciano was still scared of the lightning and…”Kiku was about to continue to explain what happened, but then he noticed something entirely strange in the living room.

“...why are there so many snacks on the living room table?” He asked baffled. Usually, Yao would always scold them about keeping the living room clean…all this added up another layer of oddness to the present situation.

“Aniki had a ‘friend’ over—”

Yong stopped talking as rapidly as he started when he noticed the Chinese glaring at him.

“What?”Kiku questioned, wondering more and more about what happened.

“Nothing. I just had a friend over aru.” Yao answered, trying to sound nonchalant once again.

“Ha I see…”Kiku replied, still unsure of what to think.

“On my way here, I saw that Russian guy that is always around you.” The Japanese continued as he decided to sit at the table, right next to Yong. ”He looked so happy and was singing. It was…rather strange. I wonder what made his day…”

Yao’s heart almost stopped once he heard that. He turned around to look at his cousins and see that Kiku was obviously confused by— not only the sudden stare Yao was giving him—but also Yong’s.

What were the odds of Kiku talking about this? It was almost as if he knew! But since the Japanese had a puzzled expression, Yao was a little relieved to see that this must have been a coincidence.

“…Did I say something strange…?” Kiku inquired.

“No…but I think Aniki knows what made his day da-zee.” Yong commented silently while looking at the Chinese with a small grin.  

“A-aiyaa!!!” Yao snapped, blushing several shades of red.

He was now wondering how long this secret would be kept considering how Ivan was acting and the fact that Yong knew about it...

☆☆★☆☆

It was already Monday. And sadly, the exams were about to start in a very few weeks. As the days would pass, it was obvious that students appeared to be more and more stressed about their exams.

 “Aww, exams are coming too fast!! I don’t want to study da-zee!”

Ever since this morning, Yong didn’t stop complaining over and over about his upcoming exams. Although it started to become really annoying, Yao thought that—at least— while he was complaining about his exams, he wasn’t mentioning or questioning about the situation concerning Ivan…

“If you have so much to do, you should start to study now.”Kiku suggested wisely. He didn’t wanted to sound rude, but he had to admit that he was starting to also get pretty much annoyed by Yong’s complains. He simply hoped that this one would listen to his suggestion.

“Aww, but I don’t want to!!” Yong kept on complaining childishly.

“When will you listen to me Yong?” The Japanese sighed tiredly.

Meanwhile, Yao only remained silent.

Ever since Saturday, the Chinese tried to avoid spending time with his cousins. He thought that the subject of his relation with Ivan will have more chances to stay a secret that way. Recently, a lot of things were on his mind, and as much as he disliked confessing it; most of the things on his mind were more about Ivan than about his studies…When studying; his mind was completely daydreaming of the Russian and thinking about what he should tell him.

But for once, the stress of exams was a good thing because his cousins were completely focused on their studies instead of on the way he was acting. If it weren’t for that, Yao was sure that Yong would have said something already and Kiku would have questioned how strange he was acting sometimes.

 “We are going to study at the library before Yong decides to avoid studying again.”Kiku said, snapping Yao out of his thoughts.

“What?! You are not going to have lunch before that aru?” Yao rapidly asked, shocked to suddenly hear that. Usually, they would always have lunch together and eat before starting their homework.

“Lunch can wait for later. The priority for now is to study.”

“Aiyaa! But it’s not good for you to skip lunch aru. How will you focus on studying if you are hungry?” The Chinese complained. “You two should eat first and then study. Food will give you the energy to focus.”

“If we do that, I think Yong will get distracted even more, that’s why we are going now...”Kiku added, still deciding to follow his initial plan.

Of course, once again, no one was listening to Yao’s wise suggestion…

“…So are you going to stay here?”Kiku asked, deciding to ignore his older cousin’s dark glare.

“I am not skipping my lunch aru!”Yao simply commented.

“Okay…see you later then…”

“Bye Aniki…Wish me good luck da-zee!” Yong told him, before following Kiku.

“…”

…Well Yao was left all alone then…Not that he minded… much…

The Chinese thought that he could simply eat in the study room and use this opportunity to start studying there at the same time; that was a way better plan!

After all, he knew that several exams were coming and he sincerely needed to focus on his studies. Ivan was still on his mind, but he needed to forget about him for now. He concluded that it would be better to focus on the exams and then, after it, he could focus on his situation with Ivan.

It was a logical and smart plan. Of course, for his plan to succeed, he had to avoid being with Ivan for a while…he rapidly felt bad about this thought; especially since he promised to help the blond Russian to study…

However, as he had this small dilemma in his mind, wondering to focus on Ivan or the exams first, he noticed the exact person he wanted to avoid! He saw Ivan sitting alone next to the lockers in the empty hall.

“Ivan? What are you doing here alone aru?” Yao hastily questioned, absolutely forgetting about what he was thinking about.

“Hello Yao-Yao!” Ivan said with a complete cheerful smile. ”I am eating alone today da! I decided to stay away from my friends for a while.”

Upon hearing that, Yao couldn’t hide a troubled face. It felt so peculiar and sad to see Ivan sitting there all alone, he wondered if something happened between him and his friends…

“Did something bad happened aru?”

“Oh no…I just think it would be better if I ate alone…besides they are all worrying about their exams and studying…”Ivan replied.

This actually reminded Yao of the similar scenario with his cousins…

“So you are going to stay here alone?”

“I wanted to go to the study room, but it was too crowded. I think that everyone is doing their projects at the last minute da?” The blond explained.

…well it looked like Yao’s recent “lunch and study” plan was ultimately ruined. If it was too crowded in the study room, he definitely didn’t want to have lunch there…knowing his classmates, it was probably obnoxious and disastrous. However for now, he knew that this wasn’t what was the most important.

“Don’t you have siblings that you can have lunch with instead of being there alone aru?” Yao inquired Ivan once again.

The only sibling Ivan had at this school was Natalia…and he absolutely didn’t want to have lunch with her.

“NO!!!” Ivan automatically answered, at the same time shocking Yao with this serious and scary tone.

“Well…”Yao started. “…Do you want to eat lunch with me then aru?” The Asian proposed, avoiding looking directly at Ivan in the eyes. He disliked how he had a mixing feeling of anxiousness and excitement by only asking this simple question…

“Oh?”

“I also had intentions to study aru… but since you say it’s crowded in the study room, I will probably eat outside.” The Chinese explained with more assurance.

Outside was cold and Ivan really didn’t like the cold. But if he would accept this proposition, he would be with Yao…and with Yao it was better and warmer than being alone…

“Yes~ I would absolutely want to!” Ivan replied with great enthusiasm.

Yao could only blush at the cute smile Ivan gave him. He rapidly remembered that a couple of minutes ago, before meeting up with Ivan, he was wondering if he should focus on his studies or Ivan first…Now, he didn’t believe that avoiding Ivan is an option…

☆☆★☆☆

When they arrived outside, Ivan could only feel a small, but cold wind, rapidly freezing him. The sky was full of clouds and the weather wasn’t so great. It was probably for that reason that nobody else were outside. In some way, this gave the area a really tranquil atmosphere.

Yao sat at a picnic table and Ivan quickly did the same, deciding to sit by his side.

“I think it’s the first time I come to eat here da?” The Russian commented, still surprised about the fact that there weren’t any soul around here.

Actually, it was the complete opposite from inside where many people were screaming and talking about exams. Outside, the weather was colder, but except from the sound of the wind passing through the tree’s branches; there weren’t any noise. It was completely tranquil.

“It’s so quiet.”

“Yes. That’s why it’s a great place to study aru.” Yao added. Plus, it was the perfect place to relax and focus, in his opinion.

“…and to kiss.” Ivan automatically added, without a second thought.

“What?!”The other questioned, wondering if he heard correctly.

“Nothing.” The blond replied rapidly, with a small chuckle.

It was true that their relationship wasn’t clear yet…

Were they dating or not? What did Yao thought of the feelings Ivan admitted yesterday?

All those questions only made Ivan realise that his current situation with Yao was completely confusing… Yao didn’t say much about his feelings or about what happened yesterday. However, he promised to finally have a date with him, eventually. What did all this meant?

No matter the meaning though, Ivan still couldn’t help but to want to spend more time with Yao and to think of him. He could daydream of a positive answer from him all the time. But for now, he could only hope that Yao would give an answer about his feelings soon.

Now that he thought about it more though, there were three options of answers that Yao could say to him. The first would be the positive one; Yao would accept his feelings, agree to be his boyfriend and kiss him. Of course, they would become an official couple and they would confirm that with kissing, all day.

The second option would be absolute worse; Yao didn’t accept his feelings and didn’t wanted them to be a couple…this situation was a catastrophe in Ivan’s mind since it would mean that their relation would be awkward after that.

Lastly, the third option would simply be that Yao would prefer them to remain friends…

Wondering about all this was driving Ivan puzzled. If he considerate the fact that Yao seemed to avoid talking about their situation, the two last options seemed to be the most likely to happen… This later idea made him sad…

“Ivan, you don’t want to eat aru?” The charming voice of Yao stopped the other’s thought. His purple eyes looked at the Asian. He wanted to know Yao’s answer so much right now that it made him feel anxious to the point of not being hungry.

“I don’t want to eat right now…I feel nauseous.” Ivan answered plainly, looking at his lunch made him feel even more uneasy.

“Aiyaa! Ivan, don’t skip your lunch aru. Try to eat at least something or else you will feel even more nauseous.”

The Russian simply replied with a faint sigh. If only Yao could know that the reason he felt anxious was because he was thinking about them and their situation. He looked once more at Yao, hoping that by some chance this one would question his situation, but this time, he paid attention to the nice meal that the Asian had. The lunchbox of dumplings and rice seemed so good! Plus, the delicious smell of the meal made him forget about his nausea.

“Yao, are these dumplings? They seem so delicious da?” The Russian chimed. He remembered the delicious taste of the dumplings that Yao shared with him last time.

“Yes…”Yao mentioned slowly.

Compared to his meal, the dumplings seemed so perfect! Ivan wished he could have nice meals for lunch like Yao’s.

“Do you want one aru?” Yao inquired, seeing that Ivan seemed fascinated by his lunch.

“Oh! Can I?!” Ivan asked with a big smile.

“Here.”

With his chopsticks, Yao offered a dumpling to the Russian. To be honest, the Asian was certain that Ivan would take the chopsticks from his hands to eat. Though, instead the blond simply ate them automatically when Yao was still holding the chopsticks, giving the impression that he was feeding him...

“Hmm~” Ivan chimed happily. Not only the dumpling tasted so good, but the fact that he was fed by Yao gave him the impression that they were much more delicious. He wished that he could have all his meals that way!

Yao was still shocked about Ivan’s action, but ultimately he didn’t say a word, and only continued to eat the rest of his meal quietly.

After that moment, none of them talked and Ivan wondered if perhaps Yao wasn’t content about his recent action. In the Russian’s mind, they had done so much more sudden situations than what just happen, so he didn’t understand why Yao was so silent. In fact, that silence felt so out of place –as if he wasn’t supposed to be there—and it started to make Ivan a little nervous again.

It was exactly after Yao finished eating his last dumpling that the silence was broken; finally making the blond a little relieved.

“I-I am going to study for maths. Do you want to study too aru?”

Ivan nodded and approached closer to the Chinese. He needed to be close to Yao to read the mathematic problems on the notebook, but for him it was also the perfect opportunity to try to make a move on him. He could already feel that being close to Yao was much warmer.

“My cousin, Kiku, actually had the math exam a few days ago. I don’t think our exam will be the same, but he gave me some hints on specific subjects that might be in our exam.”

“That’s great!  I am sure it can help us.” Ivan replied.

Yao went page by page, telling Ivan what his cousin noted that could be important for their exam. Ivan had to admit that he wasn’t completely paying attention to what Yao was telling him. The Chinese was explaining way too fast, but he was certain to remember most (or some) of the notes he was talking about.

However, in Ivan’s opinion, he had more important things to focus on right now!

Slowly the Russian moved his hand closer and closer to Yao’s, until he finally decided to grab the smaller hand. Yao didn’t move from an inch, he also didn’t move his eyes from his notebook, but he certainly stopped talking.

The first thing Yao noticed was how cold Ivan’s hand was. He knew that Ivan was sensitive to the cold, but it almost felt like his hand was absolutely icy.

“Ivan…are you cold aru?”Yao simply asked, still starring at his notes.

“No, it’s fine da?” Ivan said. “…Yao-Yao is really warm.” He pointed out, slowly laying his head on Yao’s.

“I-Ivan…”Yao commented, hesitantly deciding to lay his head against Ivan’s shoulders.

It was true that it felt warmer like this… with Ivan being close to Yao. The weather was still cold, but Yao felt at peace like that next to Ivan. He felt like it was perfect…

After a few seconds, Yao slowly moved his head away and looked at the other in the eyes. Gradually, he approached Ivan and pressed his lips against the other’s. This kiss was a little short, but Ivan thought that despite that detail, this kiss was enough to warm him all up. He hardly felt the cold after that.

Both of them looked into each other’s eyes; both of them felt their cheeks turning red, but also both of them were absolutely fine with that.

 “Hum, s-so did you note everything I told you about the exam aru?” Yao asked, rapidly changing the subject.

“Yes…” Ivan’s understanding of mathematics was better than what it was before, that’s for sure. However, now what confused him was his relation with Yao. He felt that it was so strange that all these things would happen between them, but Yao still didn’t bring up the subject of their current relationship. What did all that mean?

“It’s with practice that you will remember maths. So try to practice every day until the exam aru.”

“Thanks Yao.”

There was another quiet moment between them, though this time the silence felt more comfortable.

Yao realised that this was a good time to talk about their relation…at first; he really wanted to keep this discussion after the exams, afraid that it would distract him. However, now he accepted that he definitely couldn’t ignore the situation between them for that long! Besides, the situation was already distracting him; in fact it was even distracting both of them! It would probably be better if he would tell his feelings to the Russian as soon as possible.

“Y-You know Ivan…” Yao started his sentence but quickly he felt like he couldn’t continue. A lot of things were on his mind, all of them concerned Ivan, but none of them could get out of his mouth in reasonable sentences.

He had to think of a way to say his answer; what did he thought of Ivan’s declaration and what he wanted to do? Eventually he had to tell Ivan something...and fast! The other was looking at him with curious eyes, waiting for him to say something.

“… Maybe after school we can meet up again aru! I don’t have to work today…”

“Yao, it’s so kind of you to help me study da? I am sure that with your help, I will pass the exam greatly.” Ivan chimed with a happy smile, content to have another opportunity to spend time with Yao.

The blond was certain that Yao was suggesting another time to study. Though, he was a little surprised to see that the Chinese was only replying to him with a blank stare and a small embarrassed expression.

“… a-actually, I thought we could do something else than study aru…like going somewhere…”Yao proposed with a blush.

“Oh! Like a date?!” Ivan automatically replied. And seeing, Yao’s face even more red; he noticed that he guessed correctly.

 “Yes! Of course I want to da!” He affirmed, feeling so enthusiastic! Yao was the one who brought the subject suddenly! Ivan hoped that it must mean something positive. “So where are we going, Yao?”

“What? I don’t know aru! Weren’t you the one who was planning for us to have a date last weekend? ”Yao questioned.

“Hmm I see…” Ivan said with a smirk, satisfied that Yao trusted him to find a nice place for their date.

“W-what are you thinking about aru?”The other inquired feeling a little suspicious, as soon as he saw Ivan’s smirk.

“Nothing! I am sure you will adore the place I have in mind da!” Ivan reassured with a smile, grabbing Yao’s hand again.

The other simply gave back a nice smile. In the end, the Asian decided to trust Ivan...

As the lunch break was almost over, Yao started to prepare to leave and Ivan waited for him.

“I am very happy that we are going on a date Yao…” The blond added. He had to admit that ever since the Yao confirmed that they would have a real date eventually, he could only be thinking about that! “I always feel happy when I am with you Yao…”Ivan added again.

“I know Ivan…” Yao replied, silently and gently. He knew what Ivan meant; he could remember Ivan’s confession of Saturday very clearly…and he also wanted to tell him his answer about this. He thought that tonight, on their date, would be a good opportunity for that.

“…later, I will tell you something too aru…”

“What?” Ivan asked, confused by Yao’s unclear answer.

“Don’t worry, you’ll understand later.” Yao replied, deciding to keep hold of Ivan’s hand as they walked back to school.

To be continued!