China x Reader x Russia: I Can't Decide [Ch.1]

Another day, another world conference.  You smiled at the nations as you passed by each other and many of them greeted you with high spirits.

"_________, bella!  Buon giorno!"

"¡Buenos días, _________!  You look even more beautiful today than usual!"

"Yo, _________!  Good morning!  Want to get some McDonalds after the conference?"

You were aware that all those greetings were meant to be flirtatious, but you responded to them politely nonetheless.  It was kind of cute when the male nations did it anyway.  But, flattered as you were, you had eyes for only two men out of the whole group: Ivan Braginsky and Wang Yao.

When Yao greeted you before the conference, he smiled warmly and bowed his head.  "早上好, _________, it's been a while since I last saw you, aru.  How have you been?"

You smiled back and returned the bow.  "I've been great, Yao!  Yourself?"

He gave a nod of his head.  "I've been doing well, thank you."

The two of you continued to chat about recent events until you were interrupted by none other than Ivan, who looked at Yao with his usual doll-like smile.

"Conference will be starting soon.  You should not dally here, Yao." he said.

You took notice that he only scolded Yao and not you.  Yao's lips twitched once, obviously from annoyance since you also saw him narrow his eyes at Ivan.  When Yao returned his gaze to you, however, his expression became cheerful once more.

"It was wonderful to talk to you again, _________.  Hopefully we can meet a second time before I leave New York." he said gently.

You nodded your head and smiled at him, though that smile soon disappeared when you saw Ivan and Yao exchange looks as the latter entered the conference room.  Yao's expression was bitter as he glared up at the taller man.  Ivan was still smiling, even though his violet eyes returned Yao's glare.  Thankfully, you didn't have to suffocate from the heavy tension for too long as the two men only held that glare for five seconds before Yao broke it and went into the conference room.

With Yao gone, Ivan turned his attention to you.  The piercing look in his eyes softened almost instantly as he walked towards you.  "Доброе утро, _________.  A fine day today, da?" he greeted you as though the interchange with Yao never happened.

You smiled nervously.  "Y-Yes, there's not a cloud in the sky."  Normally, you weren't this nervous around Ivan, but after witnessing that silent hostile moment between him and Yao, you couldn't help yourself.

The Russian man seemed to notice, for he smiled apologetically at you.  "I am sorry you had to see that." he spoke softly.

You blinked a few times before shaking your head.  "You don't have to apologize...  I should have paid attention to the time." Your (e/c) eyes were staring downwards as you twiddled your fingers.

Ivan looked like he was about to say something, but then you heard Ludwig calling you two.  "Ivan!  _________!  The conference is about to begin!"

You lifted your head, blushing.  "C-Coming!"  Your eyes landed back on Ivan as you smiled sheepishly at him.  "We'd better get in there now." you told him.  He only nodded in return.

You then entered the conference room, followed by Ivan.  Your seat, however, was between the Italy brothers while Ivan's was on the other side of the long table and further down.  Ludwig was the first to speak and you tried to pay attention to him, but your mind kept wandering back to Ivan and Yao.  It didn't take long for you to start staring at them.  You watched as their gazes would make contact with one another every now and then, exchanging glares.  You also felt sorry for Matthew as he was caught right in the middle of it all, literally.  He was seated between Ivan and Yao, but the pair didn't seem to know he was there.  Poor guy...

You knew that Ivan and Yao had a shaky friendship.  One moment they would be best pals then in the next one, Yao would be wary of Ivan as the latter would threaten him by saying he would "become one with Russia" someday.  You'd seen them engage in plenty of arguments before and you would always try to lessen the tension between them, but things seemed to be going downhill recently.

In the past, Ivan and Yao's usual arguments were never about anything serious and it was actually kind of comical to watch.  But now, they were hardly speaking to one another and when they did there would be few words.  You were hoping that this would all clear up within a week, but then a week became two months.

You were also hoping to invite Ivan and Yao to join you for dinner after the conference, but not if they were still acting like this, for you didn't want a repeat of last month in which you invited the two men over to your country for a few days to spend time with them.  You thought it would have been fun and enjoyable, but it turned out to be quiet and thick with tension at every meal as Ivan and Yao didn't speak the majority of the time.  Then whenever you tried to start a conversation, the pair would respond, but their tones were so icy that you could practically feel the icicles hanging off their words.

You wondered to yourself: just what has been keeping those two angry at each other for so long?  You closed your eyes and felt a small sigh leave your lips.

"Ve?  What's wrong, _________?" you heard Feliciano whisper to you.

You opened your eyes and looked at him; he seemed awfully worried about you.  It was so sweet that you couldn't help but offer him a tiny smile.

"I'm alright, Feliciano.  I've just got a bit of a headache right now.  Thank you for asking, though." you spoke in a quiet voice.

He didn't seem to be convinced by your answer and looked troubled, but then his face suddenly lit up as though the light bulb over his head went off.  "Hey, why don't you come with Fratello and me during break?  We could all get ice cream~" he continued to whisper as the other nations continued on with the conference.

You were rather surprised by his suggestion, but after giving it some thought, you liked the sound of it.  As much as you cared about Ivan and Yao, you needed some time to take a step back and breathe a little.

"I would love to." you beamed at Feliciano.

Out of reflex, you glanced back at where Ivan and Yao were sitting with Matthew, only to be startled when you saw both Ivan's violet eyes and Yao's brown ones staring at you in return.  Flustered, you quickly diverted your own eyes to stare down at the table instead.  Fortunately, you didn't have to stay that way for long because two minutes later, the call for recess was made and everyone rose from their seats.  As the nations began leaving the room, you felt someone tug at your arm.

"Come on, _________!  Let's go get some ice cream~!" chirped Feliciano.

"Stop pulling on her arm, you're annoying her!" Romano snapped at him.

You chuckled as you rose to your feet.  "It's okay."

Together, you and the Italy brothers made your way out of the conference room, into the elevator, out of the UN Headquarters, and in the direction that would take you three to the nearest ice cream parlor.