roesslyng | Snowfall, Sunrise [Guang Hong/Leo]

Title: Snowfall, Sunrise
Fandom: Yuri on Ice
Characters/Pairing: Guang Hong/Leo
Rating: 0+
Length: 1.4k
Summary: They said that they wouldn't take this relationship anywhere, but they can't deny that they have feelings for each other. Nothing is ever easy, is it?
Other: Quick fluff - just because. (Setting detail inspiration thanks to anon, after a brief but nice conversation that boiled down to "Well, why not...")

Snowfall, Sunrise

It was cold outside, but still, Guang Hong took pictures.

Frosty branches. The broad Songhua River, frozen solid, sturdy. Later, when the sun set long before evening, he captured the city, nestled in the northern dark, glittering with its many coloured lights.

His breath fogged the air as he waited for the bus in the winter's blackness.

Once he was safe in the bus's warmth – better, at least, than outside – he uploaded most of the photographs without thinking twice. But he hesitated about one of them, trying to decide whether to share it with all the rest. Not that it hadn't turned out; it was clear and crisp. It was only that –

It was the one he had taken of himself, with his scarf pulled down to show his face, his cheeks pinched pink by the cold. It had turned out so nicely, and he really liked the way he looked in it, and maybe, Guang Hong thought, maybe he could...

Maybe just this one could be special.

In the end, Guang Hong sent it to Leo, and to Leo only.

i wish you were here! it's so nice out

They had been messaging each other privately more and more for the last while.

There were some skaters who intimidated him, but Leo wasn't one of them. He was so friendly, and warm, and he was always so encouraging toward everyone. Even being friends with him, only friends, was wonderful. But things had... changed. A little. Not in a bad way. But it did mean that Guang Hong found himself second-guessing what he said to Leo more than he'd ever thought he would.

There was no reply from Leo while Guang Hong was on the bus, and nothing still as he walked home, and nothing when he arrived, either.

Guang Hong sighed. Kicked the snow off his boots. Stepped inside his door. Inside it was warm, and the scent of his mother's cooking wafted toward him from the kitchen. For a moment he stood in the entryway and breathed in the heat and the smells and the warmth, while the frost that had built up on his fringe melted and dripped onto his cheeks.

He counted the time zones. Or tried to.

What time would it be over in America, again? He wasn't sure, not quite.

Some day, Guang Hong thought, I'll know it by heart.

In the meantime, he hung up his coat, and slipped off his boots, and checked his phone.

It was early morning on America's west coast.

A little too early, then. Leo probably wasn't even awake yet. Maybe he wouldn't reply until much later in the evening, when Guang Hong was in bed. And that's fine, Guang Hong reminded himself. There wasn't really anything wrong with having to wait. He could be patient, of course he could!

Guang Hong told himself that, and then repeated it as he made his way to his bedroom, and repeated it again as he flopped down onto his bed and put on the playlist that Leo had sent him.

Things between the two of them had changed so much after the Cup of China.

Guang Hong closed his eyes. No matter whether or not they wanted it to be different, everything had changed, and he was the one who had started it. All it had taken was one decision during a moment they'd shared on the second night, one moment together after the free skate. The sight of Leo's reddened eyes had startled him – the results were so disappointing, he'd been crying. And Guang Hong couldn't blame him for that, because his own results had made him cry a little, too.

He offered all the kind words and comfort he could, but it didn't feel like enough. It wasn't enough.

Somehow, Guang Hong gathered up the nerve to kiss him, just as he'd wanted to for days.

After that, Leo wasn't crying any more.

Later that night, when they met in Leo's hotel room, they agreed that they probably shouldn't take things any further than that. Even if it would have been nice. Even if they wanted to.

"I like you," Leo had said, his head resting on Guang Hong's shoulder, his long fingers trailing down his back. "But, you know... We both have so much going on in our lives, and it's a really long distance, and it would be hard to make this work. I'm not sure –"

"It's okay," Guang Hong had said, because it was. "We can still be friends, right?" And he gave him the most reassuring smile that he could manage.

But the next day, he could still feel Leo's mouth against his lips, and he wished that instead, he'd said something else. Anything else. Even something like "Do you want to try it anyway?" would have been better.

After the Cup of China gala, they only had a little bit of time in private, a little sliver of time. They went to Leo's hotel room together for a second time, joyous and laughing and exhausted. And that time, against the door, in the dim light, Leo had kissed him first.

It was kind of silly to pretend that nothing was going to happen after that, Guang Hong thought, scrolling through the pictures from that evening: Leo with Phichit, himself with the same, Yuuri with Victor, himself with Leo, and another one with Leo, and a third with Leo. And another, and another, and another, all of himself and Leo.

And one picture that wasn't of their faces, but of just their hands, the fingers linked gently together.

His phone buzzed. A reply to his message.

I wish I could be there with you. It looks nice.

The message came with a photo. Leo in the early morning light. The picture wasn't taken face-on; his head was turned away from the camera, looking toward the sunrise.

it would be better if i was with you. it's cold here

Guang Hong nibbled his lip and added, did i wake you up?

I don't think I'd mind the cold.
No, it's OK. I got up early to go for a run.
I don't mind when you wake me up anyway.

Except if I wake you up at three in the morning, Guang Hong thought, holding back a laugh. Leo hadn't been impressed with him that time.

that's good
i miss you

I miss you too.

Guang Hong felt his chest tighten. He pressed his face into his pillow and took a deep breath. It was just one sentence. I miss you too. But as little as it was, it felt like so much more.

What else? He carefully thought about what else he could say, scrolling from the message to the image, from the words to that picture of Leo. He took in the shadows of his face against the brightness, the way his hair fell to brush against his cheek. Guang Hong remembered touching those cheeks, brushing Leo's hair out of his face. Leo's skin had felt so warm against his fingertips.

He thought of the way it had felt to run his fingers through Leo's hair, and sighed.

Another buzz. Another message.

I'm glad you changed your mind about cutting yourself off from the internet. I would miss you too much if you did that.

i wouldn't do that to you, don't worry

Another photo. Leo again. Sunlight on his face. His hair in his eyes. The warmest of smiles.

I can't wait to see you again.

Guang Hong thought about the next competition. The Four Continents. Their next chance to see each other.

What would it even be like to see him again?

He thought of Leo's hands, the way it felt to link fingers with him. The way it had felt to hold him close. How warm his body had been. How it had felt when Leo rested his head against his shoulder.

There were so few things that he had ever wanted so much.

Maybe, Guang Hong thought, we can make this work. Somehow. If we try our best. If we try really, really hard.

Maybe.

it'll be worth the wait
you'll see

It wouldn't be easy, even if writing it out like that made it seem so simple. But nothing ever was as easy as it looked, right?

Outside in the dark, illuminated by coloured lights, the snow was falling. And somewhere, across the ocean, the sun was rising.

We'll do our best, Guang Hong thought.

Together.