Work Text:
Working as an assistant on a street dance show was certainly A Choice.
“Come on, you did want something new,” Xian Lu said. “What could be more new than this?”
Unable to argue with this logic, Xiao Zhan closed his eyes and took a leap of faith.
Of course, now that the first day of filming has come around and his introverted self is surrounded by hundreds of people, he is beginning to question his judgement. But what’s done is done, so he takes a deep breath and gets to work.
As he jets around the set, Xiao Zhan can’t help but notice how varied the crowd of dancers is. Some are bulky, downright jacked men, spinning around on their hands with legs up in the air. A lot are dressed in baggy jeans, baggy shirts — baggy everything, which is evidently a necessity for hiphop dancers. Some are the complete opposite, tight clothes without sleeves showcasing their toned arms. And everything in between, really.
The first time Xiao Zhan gets distracted from running errands is when people in Zhang Yixing’s street cheer wildly and then quiet down almost completely. As a former EXO-L, Xiao Zhan is still coming to terms with the fact that he is in the same building as Lay, but even so he stops to watch as a petite blond girl in a pink shirt comes alive with the music and proceeds to blow everyone away with fast-paced dancing that includes a lot of powerful arm waving, waist-bending and miraculous matching of every beat.
Xiao Zhan has to stop himself from gaping a little as everyone chants Ibuki, Ibuki, Ibuki.
This is street dance too?
After that, he pays more attention to what is going during the audition for towels. It’s a lot for someone who’s never had any special interest in dancing, but that only makes it more interesting.
So when he brings more water bottles to Han Geng’s street, it seems only natural to hang back for a few minutes and watch whoever tries for a towel next.
It turns out to be another guy in baggy clothes. Admittedly, he is prettier than most. Maybe even prettier than everyone here, but his small face is not the only reason Xiao Zhan does a double take.
“Hello, I’m Wang Yibo. I’m gonna do a hiphop routine.”
That’s all he says before an aggressive rap music makes him sway and burst into motion. There’s a certain grace in every move he makes, be it wide and full of swag or small, precise, showing perfect control of his limbs. He thrusts his hips and jumps and spins, and all the while his face changes accordingly, matching whatever the rest of his body is doing.
At one point the song turns mellow, and Wang Yibo slows down accordingly. A few people let out a loud cheer - is change of speed a good thing in dancing? - but Xiao Zhan hardly pays it any mind, too focused on the way his expression shifts too, showing naked emotion that contrasts wildly with all the coolness from before.
It doesn’t last. The song goes back to its punishing beat, and before long Wang Yibo assumes the finishing pose: legs crossed, one hand half-covering his mouth. Very hiphop, very cool.
When Han Geng awards him with a towel, he politely accepts and bows, not a trace of all that swag. It’s not the first performance that has blown Xiao Zhan away today, but for some reason the dancer’s name stays with him even as he proceeds with his errands.
He hears it again later during the battle for additional towels: the crowd chants it loudly as Wang Yibo does more outrageous things on the dance floor. He must be famous in this circle, Xiao Zhan thinks very calmly, watching as he drops to the floor and all but humps it.
A few hours later he spots him again, this time on the sidelines with another contestant.
“I really, really like you,” Wang Yibo says in English to a tall slim man that won a towel for Wang Jiaer earlier.
“I really like you too,” the man answers in an accented English. French, maybe? At least, his name sounded French earlier. “I, um, I see your videos before. KOD champion, right?”
It’s kind of funny how Wang Yibo’s eyes bulge out as he stammers through the rest of the conversation. Funny and cute, especially after all that power and sexiness he showed before. For the first time Xiao Zhan notices how full his cheeks are when he smiles. It’s cute too.
By the end of the night, however, he is so tired all thoughts of adorable cheeks are far from his mind. He gets back to Lulu’s place so late it’s early and congratulates himself on surviving the first day. All in all, he’s done well, which is enough for now. And if nothing else, the next few months do promise to be new, exactly as he wanted.
***
This job opens a gate to a whole new world. A world with its own rules and peculiarities.
Xiao Zhan learns that Zhang Yixing is actually pretty shy around his dancers at first and that Ibuki is hardworking and demanding, someone who pushes her temporary team to strive for perfection. Boubou, that tall French man, had turned out to be somewhat of a legend - or a god, according to some - of the street dance world.
He gets to know better more dancers, sees what hides behind baggy clothes and all the attitude they show on stage. He learns about locking and waacking, talks to contestants and watches them enough to know the difference between poppers and b-boys, even finds out that the chosen style is not what’s the most important when it comes to dancing.
“The most important thing is the atmosphere you create. You can use one style or mix them, but you have to do it in a way that speaks to the audience,” explains Xiao Ji, waving sunglasses in his hand.
Xiao Ji has taken a shine to him after Xiao Zhan laughed at his shenanigans in one of the rehearsals. They even followed each other on Weibo, which gave a push to some other contestants to befriend “the handsome and helpful assistant”.
Unfortunately, the nickname has become a thing by now, much to Xiao Zhan’s chagrin. Aside from the sheer embarrassment of it, it’s also plain stupid: being helpful is literally his job, there’s nothing special about it. He rolls his eyes a lot, but never is the nickname as annoying as it is on Friday of his second week here.
The thing is, he’s seen Wang Yibo in passing a few times since that first day but never really interacted with him. Which isn’t a problem or even something that bothers him; still, no matter how many dancers Xiao Zhan befriends he doesn’t forget that name or the face behind it.
On Friday he’s about to walk into one of the rehearsal rooms when the door opens and almost hits his face.
“Oh, sorry!” Wang Yibo says, eyes wide and apologetic.
“Ah, it’s okay,” Xiao Zhan smiles automatically, thrown a little. Not by the close call but the sudden handsomeness of Wang Yibo’s face up close. There’s a little mole next to his eyebrow. His hair has blue streaks in it.
“I’m sorry anyway. Um,” he licks his lips and wipes a few beads of sweat from his forehead, “are you coming in? Have you seen Captain Han Geng on your way here?”
“He was the one who sent me. Wang Chenchen and Director Lu are talking to him and the other captains, so he wants you to go ahead and start the rehearsal without him.” Xiao Zhan looks him up and down. “But I guess he didn’t need to send me for that.”
Wang Yibo nods and dabs his sleeve on his neck next. “Yeah, we started a little early today.”
“Want some water?” Xiao Zhan offers him one of the bottles he’s started carrying in his pack since he noticed how fast the contestants go through stashes in rehearsal rooms.
“Wow, you really are helpful.” Oh no. He braises for it, but can’t prepare himself for the smirk that Wang Yibo gives him. “And handsome too.”
“And annoyed. I do have a name, you know.”
Wang Yibo shrugs. “Not really, I don’t think we’ve been introduced.”
Right. What are the odds he recognises “the handsome and helpful assistant” (just how much do these dancers gossip?) but doesn’t know his name?
“Well, I’m Xiao Zhan. Nice to meet you.”
“Wang Yibo. I’d shake your hand but I’ve been dancing for an hour, so you probably wouldn’t want me to do that.”
He seems to really mean it, stepping from one foot to another as if nervous about having sweaty palms.
As a revenge, Xiao Zhan raises an eyebrow and says, “How could I not want to shake hands with a popular, handsome dancer?”
It makes Wang Yibo huff out a laugh, which leaves Xiao Zhan smug for reasons he doesn’t want to waste time thinking about.
“Handsome, helpful, annoyed and petty. Alright. Well, if you like dancers so much… Do you mind coming in for a minute? We could use someone’s opinion while Geng-ge is busy.”
They have people whose actual job is to give an opinion about these things, but who is Xiao Zhan to refuse an invitation like that?
“If anyone calls me anything but my name, I’m giving you guys the worst evaluation.”
He points his finger for emphasis and enters the room, leaving Wang Yibo to trail after him.
***
After that they bump into each other more often, enough for him to go from “the handsome and helpful assistant” and “Xiao Zhan” to “Zhan-ge”.
“Zhan-ge, do you have those little patches? Bouboo has to cover up his tattoos, but he ran out.”
It’s skin patches, ice packs, drinks, questions about scheduling, what do you think about our routine, and everything else Yibo is suddenly in need of whenever Xiao Zhan comes around. And if he starts coming around that particular street more often than is strictly necessary, well, he is helpful after all.
One time he comes to the practice room just in time to see Yibo hunched over in the corner inspecting his knee. It’s all banged up, covered in fresh bruises and even a few open scratches.
“Wow, that looks bad,” Xiao Zhan grimaces. All kinds of injuries are an unavoidable evil when it comes to dancing, that much is clear to him by now. But it feels like this particular problem is less unavoidable than others. “Don’t you use knee pads?”
“It’s fine.” Yibo pulls down his pant leg to cover the evidence of his bold-faced lie. “And knee pads are lame.”
“Lame?!” Xiao Zhan cries and spins around in search of the nearest dancer. “Dian Men, do you wear knee pads?”
Dian Men looks up from his own little corner when he is rehearsing new steps and pats his knees to show the bulge the pads make.
“Traitor!” Yibo points at him but quickly turns his menacing finger on Xiao Zhan. “Shut up.”
It’s really difficult to not be smug. “And Dian Men is a popper, he doesn’t do nearly as much knee stuff as you hiphop dancers.”
“Look at you being all knowledgable about poppers and hiphop dancers. Zhan-ge is so wise now when it comes to street dance, and it’s only been a few weeks.”
Xiao Zhan bares his teeth at the brat and kicks his foot before rummaging in his pack in search of antiseptic and bandages.
“Zhan-ge, it’s really fine, I don’t need this stuff.”
“Aiya, you young people are so careless.”
“You make yourself sound so old. Gege is as youthful as I am!”
“I’m old enough to know how to take care of myself.”
“That’s not fair. I do wear knee pads when it’s necessary, but it’s only one simple move this time, I don’t need them.”
“I beg to differ. Be more careful with yourself, Wang Yibo. And take these,” Xiao Zhan throws him the antiseptic and the bandages. “If I find out you didn’t use them, I won’t bring you your lunch.”
“Aw, aren’t you gonna treat my battle wounds yourself?” Yibo wiggles his eyebrows.
“Are your hands not working?” Xiao Zhan lifts his chin and turns to leave, accompanied my Yibo’s cackling.
During filming of the next episode Yibo’s pants are almost wide enough to conceal the knee pads he’s wearing, but Xiao Zhan pays close enough attention to not miss the tell-tale signs. Everyone else is jumping and shouting as Yibo obliterates his battle opponents one after another, so Xiao Zhan’s glee is left unnoticed. Which is just as well, since he’s not sure what to do with how good it feels.
***
“Whose team are you going to choose?”
It’s the day before captains have to recruit contestants to their teams, which means there’s an excited and nervous buzz all around the set.
“You mean which captains are going to choose me?” Yibo scratches his cheek and raises a bottle of water to his lips before gulping it greedily.
It’s… a sight for sure, but Xiao Zhan is more or less immune to it by now. He’s seen Yibo in both simple rehearsal clothes, sweaty and disheveled, and in full costume - make up, carefully styled hair, sometimes very form-fitting clothes, the whole shebang. He knows Yibo is lean but well-muscled and has actual abs, can do incredible things with his body and—
And maybe Xiao Zhan isn’t all that immune.
Struggling to get his mind out of the gutter, he returns to the topic at hand. “You know full well everyone wants you. So who are you going to choose?”
Yibo grins, because he does know just how valuable an asset he is to any captain. “I’m not sure yet.”
“Really?”
The grin softens and shifts into something almost serious. “It’s gonna sound bad.”
“What?” Xiao Zhan puts a blue bottle in the fridge and doesn’t take the next one from Yibo. He needs to stock the fridge completely for the commercial that will be filmed later, but there’s still time.
Yibo fidgets with the bottle. “I’m not… I’m not sure where I fit.”
Xiao Zhan sits down next to him on the floor and nudges him with an elbow, encouraging him to go on.
“I mean… Geng-ge is cool, but his style is different from mine. Zhang Yixing seems like an obvious choice, but he’s hell-bent on exploring traditional style. It’s interesting, but I don’t think I want to do it that much. Wang Jiaer is also a hiphop dancer, but he’s experimental, not exactly old school. Ugh. I sound so ungrateful. They are all exceptional dancers, I’d be honoured be on any of the teams, it’s just… I told you it sounds bad.”
Yibo rakes a frustrated hand through his hair. He does look guilty, wide eyes trained on Xiao Zhan. For all his coolness, he sometimes resembles a very cute puppy — a sight Xiao Zhan gets to witness more and more often these days.
“It doesn’t sound bad,” he says after mulling it over. “There’s nothing wrong with knowing what you want. If you were a captain, what kind of team would you assemble?”
Yibo snorts. “Me? A captain?”
“Sure, why not?”
“Well, for one—”
“Focus,” Xiao Zhan snaps his fingers, “the team?”
“So demanding.” Yibo slaps his hand away. “Alright. I guess I’d want an old school team. Bouboo, Yang Kai, B-boy No Name, Xiao Ji, Dian Men, Hilty & Bosch. And Jr Taco, I love him. And I’d try to steal Da Ting from Captain Jiaer. We’d need a choreographer too, maybe someone like Taotao.”
“… wow, you didn’t even have to think about it.”
“I do know what I like.” Yibo shrugs. “But it’s not up to me, so we’ll have to see what happens tomorrow. If I really get the offer, I think I might just go with Geng-ge. He’s got the most experience and really cares about his dancers. And he bought us food a few times, I guess I’m easily bought.”
Xiao Zhan laughs outright. “So cheap, Wang Yibo! I’ll remember it if I ever need anything from you.”
“Aw, you don’t need to bribe me. Zhan-ge is so good and handsome and capable I’d do anything for him for free!”
“Can you shut up for me?”
“Okay, maybe not that.”
“Oh my god. Then hurry up and help me restock the fridge. But make sure all the labels on the bottles are facing the front!”
In the end, Yibo does go with Captain Han Geng and is doubly happy with his decision when Bouboo joins the same team.
***
“Freeze!”
Lips already twitching, Xiao Zhan puts his hands in the air and oh-so-slowly spins around. Yibo is just a few steps behind, not in the loose circle of FKM dancers stuffing down their hefan lunch boxes.
“Yes?”
“Where is your lunch?”
“Already ate it,” Xiao Zhan tries.
“Bullshit.”
“Fine, I’ll eat later.”
“Yeah, no. Grab your food and join us right now.”
“Wang Yibo, are you still trying to feed me?” Xiao Zhan lowers his arms only to cross them, going for grumpy and annoyed. “I’m supposed to assist you, not the other way around.”
“So assist me by getting yourself some food.”
Xiao Ji, who is sitting closest to them, snorts, not even trying to cover it up. He gears up to say something but changes his mind when Xiao Zhan makes the I’m watching you sign.
“Yibo, I can’t just take a break, I need to go see Wang Chenchen first, he wanted to talk about tomorrow’s Let’s Chat episode.”
“Okay, go do that, but come back right after. I won’t start eating without you.”
“That’s stupid. Are stupid?”
“No, I’m hungry. And I do need energy to keep rehearsing, so you better hurry up.”
“You can starve for all I care.”
Despite all his big talk, Xiao Zhan finds Wang Chenchen in record time. He dutifully notes down to the instructions for tomorrow and doesn’t immediately leave after the man is done.
“Laoban, do you mind if I take a break now?”
“Sure,” Wang Chenchen nods right away but then pauses, glancing at his watch. “Is Yibo bugging you again?”
“How did you—”
“You better go,” he pats Xiao Zhan’s shoulder consolingly, “he is very persistent when he wants something.”
Seriously, how bad is the rumour mill here if even the show’s script writer knows about Yibo’s new habit of making sure Xiao Zhan eats on time?
It’s so stupid, really. Xiao Zhan eat perfectly well. There may have been some days when work got hectic and he forgot about food, but it only happened a few times. But somehow, even busy with rehearsals as he is, Yibo noticed and has taken it upon himself to rectify the situation.
Xiao Zhan still doesn’t know whether to be annoyed or reluctantly charmed.
When he gets back to FKM’s practice room, Yibo is sitting with the team, but his hefan box is still unopened.
Stubborn kid.
Xiao Zhan joins them as quietly as possible, and Yibo moves to make space for him and gets to unwrapping both his and Xiao Zhan’s food.
He’s smiling, as if it truly makes him happy, and Xiao Zhan is once again left wondering how exactly he managed to land himself in this situation.
***
Two months into filming the whole set feels like a well-oiled machine. A lot of dancers have been eliminated, but the ones that are still here have become real teams, working together seamlessly and somehow enjoying the challenge even though the stakes are getting higher and the pressure keeps growing with each episode.
All that tension must be contagious. This morning, Xiao Zhan tosses and turns but can’t get back to sleep. Despite ‘morning’ being a generous word for four a.m., he gets up and goes to work. There’s always something to do there and a lot of times someone is there late into the night or comes very early in the morning, so it’s not like he’s going to be the odd one out.
When he gets there at five, music does blare out of some practice rooms. Xiao Zhan heads straight to Captain Han Geng’s part of the set, having an inkling who may be practicing at this ungodly hour.
Sure enough, Yibo is going over his breaking routing, legs doing something Xiao Zhan would not be able to repeat for all the money in the world.
“Wang-laoshi,” he says when the song ends, “just how early did you get here?”
“Uh. Right. Because I left. Obviously.”
That makes Xiao Zhan look closer. Yibo is tired, dark circles prominent under his eyes, but the eyes themselves are alert and sharp, as if he wasn’t practising all night.
“Yibo, you can’t…” Xiao Zhan shakes his head. Yibo gives his everything to every stage, and if his performance doesn’t meet his own high standards, of course he can and will stay up all night to get better. Nothing Xiao Zhan says can change it, so he tries a different approach. “I planned to give you something today, but then you go and do something stupid like this, so I won’t.”
Yibo’s intense focus finally snaps and his attention shifts to Xiao Zhan fully.
“A present? For me?” he asks with a grin.
“Not anymore.”
“You can’t do that, it’s my present.” His eyes trail down to the bag in Xiao Zhan’s hands. “Is that it? Gimme!”
“No! You don’t deserve it!”
After a brief fight that Xiao Zhan lets him win, Yibo unpackages a huge water bottle.
“Wow, that’s a lot of joy for one bottle,” he says, reading the logo. “What’s this? Lemon water?”
“Yeah,” Xiao Zhan admits, suddenly a little shy. “You’ve been an annoying mother hen lately, I thought that as a gege I must return the favour. You’ve been coughing kind of a lot, and the usual water bottles are too tiny considering how much you exercise, so when I saw this monstrosity of a bottle I thought it might be… Well, it’s all yours. I mean, it’s new, I just unpacked it to bring you lemon water. It’s. It’s good for your throat. Yeah.”
Okay. That was a little less smooth than Xiao Zhan hoped for.
Yibo is looking between him and the bottle, his big hands now wrapped tightly around it.
“Thank you, Zhan-ge,” he says at last, “that’s very thoughtful.”
“No need for thanks. As long as you’re happy with it.”
It’s slightly awkward, but Yibo saves them by taking a few sips, and then a few more.
“Ooh, that’s very good. Zhan-ge’s magical water has cured my fatigue and now I can go a few more times.” He actually sets the bottle down and goes to turn on the music again.
“Wang Yibo, are you human?” Xiao Zhan all but shouts. “Go home!”
“Nope. A few more times, okay? I’m so close to getting it right. A few more times and then you can scold me.”
“Oh, I will.”
As Yibo gets back to it, Xiao Zhan sits down on the floor by the wall and takes out his iPad. There are schedules to check, probably a few errands forgotten from yesterday, but it’s still early and he doesn’t want to leave the room, so he lets Procreate occupy him for the time being.
He only snaps out of it when Yibo plops down next to him.
“Has it been a few time already?”
“Yeah,” Yibo pouts, “not as fun when you aren’t paying attention.”
“Narcissist.”
“Maybe. What are you doing?”
Xiao Zhan titles the iPad for him to see the logo better.
“Did you draw it?”
“Yep.”
“Wow, so cool! Zhan-ge can draw?”
“Yibo, I’m a graphic designer. Well, was.”
“What?? Why did I not know this?”
Xiao Zhan huffs. “This set doesn’t exactly allow people much time to discuss each other’s life stories.”
“There’s time now.”
Yibo is looking at him with genuine interest, and so Xiao Zhan tells him about growing up in Chongqing, going to the university and working a stable well-paying job that slowly started sucking the soul out of him.
“There was not much creativity left in the process. Just clients’ demands and long hours hunched over the computer. And I just… I didn’t want that. Don’t want that. I quit and picked up a few freelance jobs to last me while I figure out what to do next. I came here to visit Lulu - my friend, I think I’ve mentioned her before - to get out of the slump. She kindly offered me her couch and even told me about this job. I thought, why not? I desperately needed something new.”
Yibo listens carefully and at the end bumps his knee against Xiao Zhan. “If nothing else, I’m glad you decided to take the job.” He stays silent for a few beats. “Have you figured out what you want to do next?”
“Not yet,” Xiao Zhan shakes his head, keeping his knee exactly where it is. “I’ve been thinking about singing.”
Here it is. Something he’s never said out loud but kept coming back to in his head ever since quitting the firm.
“I’ve heard you sing, I think you are amazing.”
“Yeah, right.”
“Really! You sing all the time, haven’t you noticed? It’s beautiful.”
“Shut up. It’s just an idea, nothing too serious yet.” Xiao Zhan lets his head fall back against the wall and turns to see Yibo do the same. In this quiet early morning bubble Xiao Zhan feels safe enough to ask a quite possibly silly question. “Why do you dance, Yibo?”
Yibo blinks but doesn’t break eye contact. “Because I like it. I don’t think I’ve ever loved anything as mush as dancing. I wanna do it every day so I do.”
Xiao Zhan smiles, slow and almost involuntary. Such a simple answer. Simple in theory and so difficult in practice.
“I’m sure whatever it is you decide you want to do will make you happy too, Zhan-ge.”
“Thank you,” he nods, content and calm despite the uncertainty of the future. It almost feels like he could fall asleep right here. Either that or kiss Yibo — he is tantalisingly close to not think about it once the hush settles over them.
He is freed from making a decision by Xiao Ji’s arrival, loud and oblivious. But judging by Yibo’s looks, Xiao Zhan wasn’t alone in thinking about it, so that’s something.
***
“Xiao-laoshi, can you please come to our rehearsal room?”
Xiao Zhan looks up from his clipboard and squints at the interruption. “Why?”
Dian Men very obviously tries not to smile. “Yibo is sulking.”
“So? He’s your teammate, what does it have to do with me?” Xiao Zhan has pride, so has to grumble even as he starts following Dian Men.
“I think he won’t last much longer and will try to practice with us.”
“He would, wouldn’t he? Idiot.”
Yibo is still staying put when they enter the room and Xiao Zhan makes a show of handing out sponsored iced tea before coming up to him.
“What’s that? A sulky puppy?”
“You’re a puppy,” Yibo flips him off.
“So rude. How is your ankle?” Xiao Zhan flicks his fingers over the bandages.
“Fine. Did the team tattle on me?”
“They wouldn’t have to if you behaved yourself.”
“I did. I haven’t danced all day, what more do you want?”
“For you to not dance for the rest of today and tomorrow. The doctor said two days.”
Yibo can’t argue with that so he doesn’t say anything, but he does look upset. It understandable: semifinals are just around the corner. Saying it could be much worse than two days of rest is useless, that much Xiao Zhan is certain of.
“Wanna play rock-paper-scissors?”
Now that makes Yibo look marginally more alive. “You are willing to surrender your dignity for this?”
“That would be playing video games with you. And hey, you never know, I might win this time. I won’t use scissors even once.”
“Uh-huh. Sure.”
Xiao Zhan genuinely tries but loses two out of three games, then four out of five and it’s all downhill from there. No matter how stupid it is, Yibo seems cheered up. He does love winning, must be a Leo in him.
Soon Bouboo joins them. Under Yibo’s questioning look, he shrugs and says, “Tired.”
They play a few more rounds of rock-paper-scissors and then the hand-slapping game. It’s nice. And more importantly, by the time Xiao Zhan has to go Yibo swears up and down he won’t move a muscle until Xiao Zhan’s next break.
He does keep his promise and in a day and a half jumps back into the fray without any problems. Back to full power, he resembles some kind of predatory animal sinking its fangs and claws into a prey — the prey in this instance being his dance routine for semifinals. Needless to say, he crushes it.
It’s amazing to see. Honestly, every single dancer here is amazing, from contestants and captains to staff choreographers and directors. The whole crew burns with passion for street dance, and this love creates the kind of atmosphere Xiao Zhan has probably never been a part of.
A lot of people talk about following their dreams, but how many of them actually do?
These dancers all have various levels of success: some are able to make a living with their art, but many don’t. Yet each of them persists and stays true to their original intention, dancing purely out of love for it, just like Yibo said.
Working in an environment like this for months leaves Xiao Zhan brimming with inspiration. If his last job sucked the soul out of him, this one gave it right back. All those vague ideas that only weeks ago seemed impossible today seem important and very much within reach — if only he dares to reach out and work hard.
Of course, Yibo is another matter entirely. During these months he’s done a complete breaking routine with other b-boys, half-willingly tried waacking with AC, very unwillingly danced a girl-group dance and still took care to make every move perfect, danced locking with locking legends, delivered a heart-wrenching, vulnerable modern dance performance that left Xiao Zhan and half the audience in tears. He’s showed so much talent and creativity in battles, defending his team and himself and still having fun.
He’s just… done so much. Whenever Xiao Zhan watches Yibo dancing, he feels incredibly alive and full of joy. And lately he also thinks, no wonder it’s him.
For the final performance, Yibo chooses to do a very old school routine.
“I’ve learned a lot here,” he explains, “but if I need to showcase myself, it’s gotta be classic hiphop.”
He struts out to the stage decked in baggy pants, an orange hoodie, a big black jacket and a cap and proceeds to light up the whole stadium. Xiao Zhan watches and understands two things very clearly.
One, he’s gonna go for it. No need to stress about finding a new direction: he wants to follow his dream, so that is exactly what is going to happen.
Two, he’s in love.
Simple as that.
The final round of battles is intense and tiring, but Yibo handles it like a champ — literally. The stadium explodes when he gets the towel and says how awesome street dance is. There’s so much screaming, so many hugs both on stage and off. Xiao Zhan gets dragged into a puppy pile with some of the other assistants who’ve not so secretly been rooting for Yibo.
It’s a complete chaos that lasts for a good while, but when they are finally alone in some changing room, Xiao Zhan feels like it’s only been a second.
Yibo looks exhausted and drunk on happiness, glowing in the most beautiful way.
“I won.”
“I know,” Xiao Zhan beams at him.
“Winning wasn’t even really the point, but it feels fucking amazing. I love winning.”
“I know.”
Yibo's handsome face and a heart-shaped grin are suddenly very close. “Zhan-ge, I won,”
Instead of repeating the same answer, Xiao Zhan kisses him. It’s stupidly easy, like everything else they’ve shared in these three months.
“Wow,” Yibo mutters against his lips, “almost as good as getting my champion towel.” He cackles when Xiao Zhan hits him and hurries to correct himself, “No, no, at least as good as getting my champion towel.”
“That’s better!”
And, well, Xiao Zhan thinks while leaning in to kiss Yibo again, if he is at least on the same level as dancing in Yibo’s ranking, that’s not bad.
Not bad at all.