the long way round by swans
âWell.â Ten lifts his chin, haughty, defiant. âIâm here now, arenât I?â
Heâs here now in a rural area of China bordering Tibet with no work, no cats, no distractions. Heâs here now, trying to figure out why it still feels like Kun is lying to him. Heâs here now with Kun. For Kun.
I missed you, Kun had said, even when they were an armâs length apart. That part, Ten thinks, is true. And suddenly, and even though heâd been thinking about its impossibility, about its ridiculousness, all Ten can think is I missed you, too.
Maybe Kun senses it. Maybe he doesnât. Either way, Kun looks at him for as long as he dares to keep his eyes off the road, and Ten sees an expression he doesn't recognise cross his face before Kun turns away, eyes fixed firmly ahead.
âYeah,â Kun says. âYeah, you are.â
(or: Kun and Ten make it to Sichuan after all.)
Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Road Trip, Relationship Study, Explicit Sexual Content, kunten-typical emotional constipation about each other
Opinion: Okay, Iâm just going to say it â this fic made me feral in the most lowkey way possible.
Itâs slow burn, yes, but not in a boring way. Itâs the kind where youâre reading and you keep thinking, âoh they are so stupidâ (affectionate), because everything is right there. Every joke feels like itâs hiding something. Every slightly-too-long look feels intentional. The tension isnât loud, it just sits there and simmers.
And the road trip setting? Evil. In the best way. You take two people who already have years of history, stick them in a car together for hours with no distractions, and just let them marinate in their own unresolved feelings. No members around. No schedules to hide behind. Just silence, scenery, and vibes that are getting progressively more intense.
What I love most is that nothing feels forced. The emotional progression makes sense. It builds in a way that feels natural to them, not just convenient for the plot. So when things start shifting, youâre not shocked â youâre just like, âyeah. This was coming.â
Itâs messy, itâs tender, itâs frustrating in that delicious way, and it absolutely earns its payoff.