E2 Group Play

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "Both," Baekhyun concluded after another long gander at the table beside them. "I think the piglet ones are sweet. That kid is eating one, and the inside looks like red bean?" Once his wish for buns were fulfilled, Baekhyun let Yibo take control of the rest of their meal. For the first time that day—no, that entire month—Baekhyun finally had time to wind down and catch up with Yibo. "How are things with hyung?" he asked, always wary about how their manager was treating his best friend. "Is he acting normal nowadays?"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ While Baekhyun was gawking over the decor and ambiance of the restaurant, Yibo was much more fixated on the menu. The traditional characters on the menu were a little confusing to Yibo, admittedly, but he managed to find the items that Baekhyun was looking for anyways. Seeing the character buns that his best friend mentioned, Yibo quietly commented, "I think it depends on what kind of filling you want inside hyung. Do you want sweet or savory?" the On top of that, Yibo also noted to himself to order the Xiaolongbao that he had not had in a long time. "How about the little green men one?" he asked, scanning the menu, "I think those are savory pork and vegetables."

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ The restaurant had ambiance. It didn't even feel like they were in Disneyland, but in a high class restaurant serving the finest fares. "Hm..." Baekhyun studied the menu, looking for familiar words in English. "I want custard buns," he said, his eyes drifting to the table over. It looked and smelled /so/ good, Baekhyun almost started to salivate. "And siumai." Upon closer inspection, the next table had buns, and they were multicoloured. Baekhyun tapped Yibo's arm for his attention, taking it away from the menu. "The buns are all character themed! Which one should we get?"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ "Mm! I think so too!" Yibo agreed, knowing that Zhan was a top-tier manager who was capable of anything when it came to giving Yibo exposure. With their plan all thought out, Yibo and Baekhyn enjoyed the rest of the show and then continued on with their explorations. By now, more people had arrived at the park, and there were children bouncing alongside their parents as they tried to decide where to go first. For Baekhyun and Yibo, they had already done the first leg of their vacationing, so it was best to grab lunch before the tables were filled and the workers were too lazy to clean up after each wave of customers. "Mm, dim sum," Yibo nodded along enthusiastically. For a Korean, Baekhyun sure knew a lot about Chinese culture. "What kind of dim sum do you like hyung? I'll order it for us," he said, leading them inside and speaking in Mandarin again, "For 2 please!"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Once Yibo opened his mouth to ask Zhan, anything was possible. Baekhyun wholly believed in Yibo's powers of persuasion over their manager, and the thrill of getting to go to the Antarctic (along with the air-conditioned room they were sitting in) powered him right up into dragging Yibo to their next spot in the park. "If you ask, Zhan-hyung will definitely make it happen," Baekhyun insisted. "It's lunchtime, let's look for something to eat." They were distracted by one carousel ride before they stumbled upon a restaurant in the Fantasyland plaza that served traditional Chinese fare. "Is this dim sum?" Baekhyun asked, squinting at the English letters on the menu. "Can we eat here?"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo didn't normally think much about going on shows, since that often required more talking than he was comfortable with. But the thought of using the show as an opportunity for him and Baekhyun to do more traveling and exploring together was an incentive for him to talk more in front of the cameras. "Let's do it then!" he said, "But I don't know if its camping...it's more like you visit a city or location and then you get to do all the attractions that make the city special?" he said, "Though it'd be cool if we could go out of the country, I don't know if the show's done any episodes like that before. I'll tell Zhan-hyung when we get back!" Did he feel a little bad that he had gone out without Zhan's knowledge and was now sitting here thinking to ask his manager boyfriend a favor? A little, but knowing how good Zhan was to him, Yibo hoped he wouldn't get into too much trouble.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ On any other given day, Baekhyun would snap at anyone who was trying to speak to him during a movie, but with Yibo he could talk through the whole show. "Really? Like the traditional 2 Days 1 Night—the one where we go camping and everything?" Baekhyun didn't like camping specifically, per se. He liked daily showers and air conditioning, but above all that he liked spending time with Yibo, so of course he would agree. "Of course we should accept. It's good exposure—it airs during dinner on Sundays." The show ended and people began to jostle out the exits, but Baekhyun stayed seated to share his ideas. "Yah, we should pitch to the crew that we should go to the Antarctic."

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ "I think so," Yibo said. He hadn't seen the whole movie to have the entire context. "Hyung, maybe we should watch this movie together sometime," Yibo said, "I really can't keep up with this shortened storyline." According to Baekhyun's recount and the animations though, Yibo could easily agree that the two of them had much more fun. "Definitely," he agreed, humming with a smile as he leaned back to watch the rest of the show. "Hyung, speaking of fun," he suddenly piped up, leaning in close again so they wouldn't distract the other viewers in the auditorium, "Remember when we talked about doing a travel vlog show? Zhan-hyung said that the 2 Days 1 Night program producers reached out to him. We should accept it, right?!"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo's voice was low and baritone, vibrating against the shell of Baekhyun's ear when he spoke, It was so reassuring, so warm, and Baekhyun was surprised he didn't fold on the spot. Truth to be told, and to his own great relief, he didn't have those feelings for Yibo anymore. He could lean up against Yibo without feeling guilty, knowing he wasn't doing it with ill intentions. "Ah... so the adventures they had growing up?" Luckily, they were seated high up in the bleachers without anyone sitting immediately around them, so Baekhyun could lean back in to whisper without worry. "Looks fun. We've had better, though?"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ There were very few people who Yibo got touchy with, and Baekhyun was one of the few exceptions. Hell, their first meeting had been cuddling each other in bed. This was nothing new to him as he hugged Baekhyun against him. He laughed as he trained his eyes on the screen, "But my Korean isn't good enough to translate that fast," he told the older. Yibo had not been much of a cartoon watcher when he was younger, so he just shrugged and agreed with Baekhyun, "I think I know that one. What's the one that plays at the beginning of the movie? That one sounds funny." Soon enough, the lights turned off completely, and the screen began to play. Yibo quickly realized this wasn't the actual movie that was playing, but rather a director's cut of sorts. "It talks about the friendships of Simba and Timon and Pumba," he dutifully reported to Baekhyun, speaking with his lips right against the smaller's ear.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "Then obviously, you have to tell me what's going on," Baekhyun said, leaning into Yibo's side and waiting for the younger to sling an arm around him and hug him close, as if they were lovers watching a movie. Of course, even if Yibo couldn't translate on time, Baekhyun vaguely knew enough of the story anymore. Enormous floats featuring a giraffe on one, an elephant on another, and pride rock on the last one lined the aisles. Seeing them, Baekhyun thrummed in excitement. It wasn't every day that he just got to sit in a dark room and relax like this. "What's your favourite song? Mine is 'Can You Feel the Love Tonight'."

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ "You're right!" Yibo said, eager to appease his bes friend no matter what his will was. Yibo ran after Baekhyun, letting the older choose where they wanted to go next. It was almost as if the older was the child between them, and Yibo didn't mind humoring him at all. Their next attraction was to watch the Lion King show. Yibo felt like he was going out on a date, with the screens and the dimly lit room that reflected the ambiance of a romantic evening out. "You like the Lion King, hyung?" he asked, "What happens if they only do it in Chinese?"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "I'll take a rain check," Baekhyun said. Truth to be told, there was nothing Baekhyun wanted from Yibo except for his company, and Yibo was already doing that—even lying to his boyfriend and running away from their management team to go to Disneyland with Baekhyun. "Come on. Next ride! We don't have time to waste before Zhan-hyung finds us." Instead of another ride, though, they stumbled upon an auditorium next. People streamed in, and, not being one to miss out, Baekhyun took Yibo by his hand to join the crowd as well. It was refreshingly cool inside the circular theatre, and screens above the stage advertised the show: The Lion King. Baekhyun pulled Yibo to an emptier aisle near the top of the theatre, sitting flush against him as they waited for people to settle.

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo was competitive, but he was also a good sport. When he realized that he had lost by a mere ten points, he jumped up and down and groaned in despair, "I was so close!!!" he whined. But since Baekhyun had arranged a deal between them, and Yibo had only just processed what the terms of the agreement were, he knew that he was now in debt of a wish to grant to his best friend. "Ohh alright hyung," he said, throwing his arm around Baehyun, peering down to look at him with a smug smile, "What should your dongsaeng do to appease you, hm?"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "I know, I know!" Baekhyun yelled, fully focused on his game. By the time the ride came to an end, his trigger finger had cramped up, the muscle spasming as he shook his hand out and bounded with Yibo to the scoreboard. "Nuh-uh. If you win I'll grant you a wish." Just before they located their cart number, Baekhyun gripped Yibo's face toward him for his attention. "And if I win, you'll grant me a wish." With that, they searched for their scores. Baekhyun found it first—55,080 and 55090. Baekhyun had been sitting on the right. "I won!" he crowed, even if it was by a measly ten points. "I won, I won! I told you I'm good, right? Now you owe me a wish!"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ "Nuh uh! I wouldn't be so sure if I were you!" Yibo countered back at Baekhyun's challenge. Yibo knew that his best friend was an expert when it came to shooting games, but he was no beginner himself. He readied himself up when their cart began to move, resting his finger over the gun trigger. As the instructions were announced, he heard an important piece of information that he had to share with Baekhyun, "Hyung the red lights are regular points, and green lights are double points!" he said, though that was the last piece of advice he gave to Baekhyun as he also started aiming at the different lasers that popped up as they traversed through the ride. Each cabin had many targets, but between himself and Baekhyun, each light disappeared almost as quickly as they had shown up. After what seemed like ten whole minutes of shooting in the darkness, they finally arrived back to the starting point. As they were shown off the ride, Yibo pointed to Baekhyun, "Scoreboards are over there hyung! Let's go see! I bet I won!"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo was an expert at getting shot. His theatrics drew giggles out of Baekhyun before he angled the gun upward and blew away imaginary puffs of smoke from his laser gun. "Just giving you a taste of my fury. I'm going to get top score for today." After the ride went through the introductory videos in languages Baekhyun could barely understand, the real fun began. Baekhyun was going to crush all the kids on this ride, Yibo included. His mother always said playing all those video games would do him no good, but they were certainly handy now. Baekhyun squinted one eye shut, his wrist rested against the top of the cart in front to keep a steady hand as he hit the light indicators whenever they popped up, determined to make good on his word.

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Finally, there was a rare opportunity that Yibo stood up to speak on Baekhyun's behalf, instead of it being the other way around. He was pleased when they were handed their warm churros, the green color almost glittering under the light. Yibo took a big bite of his snack, feeling the sugar crystals dissolve on his tongue. "Mm!" he nodded in agreement, flashing Baekhyun a thumbs up. They made quick work of their snack and proceeded on to the next game, which Yibo personally felt he'd do great at. "What are the targets again?" he asked Baekhyun as their turn approached. He laughed when the older pretended to shoot at him, popping his chest a few times, "Ah ah ah!! Hyung you shot me!! How could you!"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Baekhyun was so glad he had Yibo with him, because he wouldn't be able to navigate the park nor place orders on his own otherwise. Since it was Yibo's job to order, then it was Baekhyun's job to pay. Once their churros were handed over, they rejoined the line for the laser blaster ride, chewing happily on their green churros. "It's so fluffy," Baekhyun chirped, tilting his head to at the side of the churro. "I didn't know amusement park food could taste so good! I wanna try the other stuff they have here later!" They finished their churros just before they reached the front of the line, and once Baekhyun collected their wrappers to toss, it was their turn. He slid into the moving cart first, picking up the laser gun and pointing it at Yibo. "Pew!"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Since they were both 'sick' and couldn't attend their schedule, Yibo had let his hair fall down naturally that day. There was no gel or mousse to hold his hair in place. He laughed as Baekhyun ruffled his hair, fitting the headband back on. "How do I look?" he asked his friend, bending down to examine his reflection in Baekhyun's eyes. After he was satisfied, they headed towards the next world. Yibo loved superheros, and of course a green churro rest-stop was the perfect first food to have in Disneyland. "Let's get it!" he agreed with Baekhyun, practically dragging the older to get into the line with him. "Hi!" he chirped in Mandarin, holding up two fingers, "Two Hulk Churros please!"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "Hahaha... well so do you!" Baekhyun reached out to muss up Yibo's hair before he handed his headband back to him, which he had been safekeeping for Yibo during the ride. He definitely wouldn't be able to take two of those intense rides in a row, so he pulled Yibo toward a more tame-looking ride as they headed into the Marvel section. On the way to the ride building, Baekhyun spotted a stand with churros—green churros! "I need a snack after this," he said, joining the end of the simple blaster ride line with Yibo. "It's a Hulk churro! I need that."

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo loved a good thrill ride. The flashing lights that simulated hyperspace were mesmerizing, and it made him feel like he was going even faster than if they were riding an outdoor rollercoaster. Yibo yelped every time they took a sharp turn, and he laughed madly in excitement as they were flung around in the cart. The entire time, he made sure he could feel Baekhyun besides him, wanting to reassure his best friend even if he were scared. As their ride came to a half, Yibo was still laughing as he got out of the cabin together. "Come here hyung!" Yibo called, pulling Baekhyun to lean against him. He laughed and adjusted Baekhyun's flying strands of hair, "You look like you got up by a tornado!"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "Eung, ready!" Baekhyun chirped, raising his arms for the lapbar. Once they were safely strapped in, Baekhyun clutched Yibo's hand. Flung backward from the sudden departure, he screamed with everyone else. They were sitting right in front, which made everything much more thrilling and terrifying. Being jolted this way and that made Baekhyun realize he was getting a little too old for this, but he wasn't going to stop today—he was the one who dragged Yibo out here. By the time they stumbled off, Baekhyun's hair was windswept, and he jammed his headband over his head while giggling like a madman. "I'm so dizzy!" he exclaimed. "Hold me!"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo was as hyper as Baekhyun was, simply because he didn't get to go to many amusement parks in his life, and now they were doing a special trip that didn't have any strings attached. Yibo held onto Baekhyun's hands, which were significantly smaller than his own, and he grinned in excitement, "No it's going to be okay hyung!" he reassured the younger, "I'm right here next to you!" And since they were here so early, the wait time was under five minutes. Only two groups were ahead of them before it was their turn to get into the cabin. Yibo let Baekhyun go first, and he took the seat on the outside. "Ready hyung?!" he exclaimed, pulling the lapbar over them. "Wahooo!!!" he cheered in his anticipation.

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ Baekhyun refused to let Yibo pay, and he was even happier when Yibo didn't fight it. They skipped down the Main Street, pausing to take photos in front of the iconic castle before rushing to the space-themed section. They were both hollering for no reason as they joined the line, whooping for the people in the coaster who flew by their heads. It was truly and exciting start to their day, and he only put his restlessness on hold for a moment to turn his phone off so Xiao Zhan would not be able to find him. "I'm going to be scared!" Baekhyun exclaimed, jumping up and down in his spot, clutching Yibo's hand tightly. "Hold my hand!"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo was happy with anything that Baekhyun chose for him, and of course being his best friend, Baekhyun went for a character with the perfect complement to Yibo's green headband: Baby Yoda. Yibo scouted for another mirror to check his appearance, standing up straight and smirking when he saw how cute the Baby Yoda plush was. "It's perfect," he said, turning back to see that Baekhyun had also chosen a very well-matched shoulder plush for himself. "You are! Hyung looks like you're a Disney character now!" he chirped, following after Baekhyun so they could pay for their merchandise. Now that they were fully looking the part, it was time to start their fun. "Where should we go first hyung?" Yibo asked, pointing to all the different signs. "That one is...Hyperspace Mountain...and this way is to the RC Racers!"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ As soon as he was caught in the frame of a camera, Baekhyun posed naturally, putting up two fingers into a ‘V’. Yibo didn’t take pictures often, and it made Baekhyun extra happy to know he was amongst one of the few people who took up storage space in Yibo’s phone. Once Yibo had taken his fill, Baekhyun shuffled them along to the shoulder plushies. There was an enormously large collection, rendering Baekhyun frozen with all the choices he was given. Of course, picking for Yibo was always easier than picking for himself. He sat a Baby Yoda plush on Yibo’s shoulder before perusing for himself a chipmunk whose reddish-brown fur that somewhat matched the look of his headband. “What do you think?” he asked, posing cutely. “Am I ready for the day?”

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo stood obediently still while Baekhyun fitted the headband over his head. He examined his appearance in the mirror, and then lowered his knees so that he and Baekhyun were level to look in the mirror together. After these years of performing on stage together, they had learned to use their height difference as a way to appeal to their fans' shipping fantasies even more, and it admitted became natural for Yibo to just lower himself whenever he was posing with his best friend. "Wait!" he said before Baekhyun could run off to look at the shoulder plushes. It was a rare move on his end, but he took his phone out and the camera selca mode. "Hyung! Smile!"

@✵ wang yibo ²⁰/²⁰ "The one with a bow suits you," Baekhyun said with a giggle, plucking the deep green one off the shelf to slip onto Yibo's head. He had to stand on his toes to reach, with how tall Yibo had grown. He picked up an identical one, only in red, to put on his own head, checking his fringe in the mirror and pulling out strands of hair from beneath the band to frame his forehead. He didn't want to tell Yibo that they really didn't need to save money like that—Baekhyun would buy anything for him no matter the price—but it was coincidence that the ones they wanted happened to fall under the sale category. "You're so good at looking for deals," Baekhyun praised, stroking Yibo's head before helping him with his bangs as well. "Let's get these, and a shoulder plush!"

@✵ byun baekhyun ²⁰/²⁰ Yibo grinned for the camera as he and Baekhyun started off their morning with pictures of their forbidden getaway. Then, when Baekhyun took him by the hand to look through the different headbands that they could choose from, Yibo eyed each style fervently, narrowing it down to their favorite colors. "How about this green one and that red one?" he asked Baekhyun, "I like the dark green style hyung, it looks special!" He wasn't normally a fan of wearing headbands, but if they were going to do a trip at the Happiest Place on Earth, he wanted to look the part of the happiest visitor there. "Hyung!! Look!" Yibo exclaimed, pointing at the words above the display, "It's Buy 1 Get 1 50% off!" he translated for the older. "These are the ones!"