Work Text:
“Gege, your birthday is in two weeks,” Hua Cheng mentioned as they snuggled in bed after a lazy love making session that lasted the entire Sunday morning.
“Oh, is it?” Xie Lian laughed innocently.
Hua Cheng rounded his waist with his hand and tickled his stomach. “Don’t play dumb, gege. What do you want?”
“Like, to do? I’m not really in the mood for a party, so a nice dinner with San Lang would be nice,” he smiled warmly.
“But as a gift? What do you wish for?”
“I just told you, dinner is enough,” Xie Lian shrugged.
Hua Cheng threw his hands in the air in frustration. "It's so hard giving you gifts, gege! You need to be more materialistic, for my sake."
Xie Lian laughed, dropping a light kiss on his boyfriend's chest.
"It's my third birthday with you, you should be used to it by now," he sighed.
But he actually wanted something he couldn't request just like that. He had to be subtle, he couldn't include it in a wishlist.
So that night, when they were picking up a movie to see, he suggested "The Proposal".
"I don't know, gege, I don't think I'm in the mood for something so… straight," Hua Cheng complained mockingly. Xie Lian sighed but agreed, and they ended up watching that new TV series about pirates instead.
Still, the seed was planted, and Xie Lian had two weeks to water it with more clues of what he wished for.
The next Tuesday, when Hua Cheng came home from work with take out dinner, Xie Lian carefully timed the song "Wishin' and Hopin'" by Dusty Springfield to blast from the speakers when he arrived, and danced happily around the table while setting the dishes.
"Don't you love this song, San Lang?" he giggled when his boyfriend went to him, held him tightly and started to sway them to the rhythm.
"I love everything my gege loves," he whispered to his ear.
"All you gotta do is hold him, and kiss him and squeeze him and love him/ Yeah, just do it/ And after you do, you will be his," Xie Lian sang. It was a subtle hint. Very subtle. Too subtle. Because during dinner, Hua Cheng broached the topic of the birthday again.
"So, your birthday gift, thought of anything? Please tell me now if you did."
Xie Lian just rolled his eyes as one of his best friends usually did, and changed the topic. He had to be more upfront with the hints, then.
Friday night and they were so tired after the work week that they couldn't even move from the couch to do anything. They just layed there, Xie Lian's head on Hua Cheng's shoulder, and Xie Lian could only think about how to drop another hint about his birthday wish, when Hua Cheng spoke up.
"Gege-" he started, but Xie Lian interrupted him.
"If you're going to ask about my birthday again, I swear to gods that you're sleeping on the couch… without me!" Xie Lian threatened, but he was smiling so his boyfriend knew he wasn't really mad.
"Oh. Okay. Then… pick a movie?" Hua Cheng said, doubtfully.
Xie Lian nodded then reached for the remote, knowing it was his chance. Just like that, one of his favorite rom-coms, "Four Weddings and a Funeral", was on.
"Don't you love weddings?" Xie Lian sighed while laughing with the second wedding and Hugh Grant's funny expressions.
"They are unnecessarily expensive, gege," Hua Cheng said in a cold tone.
"But you're rich!" Xie Lian protested. "And it's a happy moment for the people involved. Not that I've ever thought too much about it, of course," he rushed to add, trying to be subtle but failing epically.
"Never thought much about it but it seems like a waste of time. If the people already love each other, what's the need to sign a paper?"
"You're impossible!" said Xie Lian, and Hua Cheng dropped a kiss on his neck that tickled and made him smile despite his exasperation.
"You still love me like that," Hua Cheng smirked.
"That is true," Xie Lian grinned, then focused his attention on the movie, ignoring Hua Cheng's hands trying to start something. And when that movie ended, out of spite, he put on "27 Dresses". If the guy in that movie got over his cynical attitude and succumbed to love and marriage, there was hope for Hua Cheng, who was already in love, right?
The day before his birthday, Xie Lian started the day posting a selfie on his Instagram stories of himself with Hua Cheng in bed and the song "Marry you" by Bruno Mars. Because it couldn't be more straightforward than that. But Hua Cheng reacted to it with a fire emoji and moved on about his day like nothing happened. Xie Lian's friends, on the other hand, reacted with disgusted emojis and called him "horny" and "corny" at the same time.
That afternoon, after he got home from work, he played "Mamma Mia", and took a short video of him at the wedding scene with Pierce Brossnan and Meryl Streep, lip syncing to "I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do" like an idiot, losing face in front of the whole internet. His friends, again, were scared for his mental health, but Xie Lian had decided that he would gladly be a man without any pride if it meant he was happily married to the love of his life.
And when Hua Cheng arrived later, he said nothing and just kissed Xie Lian with all his might, taking him to bed and making love to him until they fell asleep without even eating dinner.
It was July 15th. D-Day. Also known as his birthday. But he still had a working journey ahead of him before dinner with Hua Cheng.
Still, his boyfriend woke him up with breakfast in bed, which he was thankful for after skipping dinner to… do things… the night before.
"Happy birthday, gege," Hua Cheng said, dropping a quick kiss on Xie Lian's cheek.
"Thank you, San Lang," he smiled like the fool in love he was, and just then and there, decided that if he didn't propose that night, Xie Lian would have to propose instead, because there was no way he could spend another birthday without being Hua Cheng's husband.
"Gege, about your gift…" Hua Cheng doubted, and Xie Lian had to swallow his disappointment.
They were in a private booth in a fancy restaurant. Their dinner had been effortlessly magnificent, as every date with Hua Cheng always was, and the mini cake they were sharing now was the yummiest thing Xie Lian had ever tasted. But no big romantic gesture had occurred, no romcom moment, no absurd proposal, no ring in the cake, nothing of the sort. So yeah, he couldn't help being a little disappointed, and was already thinking about how he was going to propose, ideally within the next week because he was done with waiting.
"Oh, this dinner is gift enough, I already told you, San Lang!"
"No, gege. Here," Hua Cheng said, handing him a small piece of paper. A receipt, Xie Lian noticed.
"What is this?" he asked, confused.
"Look at the date, gege," Hua Cheng said, and Xie Lian did.
"It has today's date?"
"The year, gege."
Then, Xie Lian looked with more intent. It was July 15th, yeah, but two years ago. His first birthday with San Lang. And it was from…
"A jewelry?" he asked, looking up to San Lang, but didn't see him. Then, lowered his gaze, just to find his boyfriend kneeling in front of him, a small crimson velvet box in his hands.
"Gege. I bought this two years ago. I wanted to do this then, but I chickened out. We had only been dating for three months, everyone would say it was too soon and I didn't want to rush you into anything, even if I was already sure I was going to spend the rest of my life by your side. Then, last year, I also was about to do it. But your friends organized that big party and I didn't want an audience, I wanted it to be just us.
"Now, you must be wondering, why didn't I do this on a different occasion, any other day of the year. The thing is, once, before we started dating, you mentioned how much you wished to be proposed on your birthday, how it would be the perfect birthday gift. You never talked about it again, but I never forget anything gege says. So here we are."
Hua Cheng opened the box and Xie Lian gasped. A silver ring with a little butterfly on top and four small rubies on each side was revealed, and it was just perfect. He wanted to reach for it, but needed to hear what his boyfriend wanted to say before that. So, he looked at him again behind teary eyes and smiled for him to continue.
"Gege. This past two weeks you tried to hint me into this, but I played dumb and pretended to by cynical about it. You must know, I'm not cynical. I want this as much as you. I think. I hope. Just…
"Xie Lian. Love of my life. My sweet lover. The man who gives my life meaning, who makes me want to keep living, to be a better person. Please, gege, will you marry this stupid San Lang?"
Xie Lian couldn't talk. Tears were now falling freely from his eyes, and he couldn't and wouldn't control them. He was just so damn happy, he only managed to nod and mumble, "San Lang is not stupid!"
Then, he threw his arms around his boyfriend- no, his fiance now, and kissed him deeply. His birthday wish had finally come true.