Chapter Text
Their shoes tapped rhythmically against the stone stairs as they walked down the hill, leaving the cozy village houses behind their backs to head towards the riverbank. The glaze lilies were shining among the thousands of colorful flowers in the fields all around them, their warm hues reflecting into the chilly sunset sky.
Xingqiu took a deep breath, letting the crisp air fill his lungs. Everything in Qingce Village was peaceful, even the lingering smell— a relaxing aroma of flowers mixed with the spicy note of chili plants. He loved that place, so much he often came without a proper reason, to simply stroll around the meadows or read a book in the cool shadow of the bamboos. He had been doing that for so many years, and it never failed to cheer him up and reinvigorate his soul on the worst days…
He was so focused on his sweet memories that he forgot to mind where he was going. He stumbled on a pebble and tripped on his feet, losing his balance. But Chongyun had excellent reflexes, and promptly ditched his popsicle aside to grab him by his arm, preventing a disastrous fall.
"You shouldn’t read while you walk," he gently scolded him. "You’ll hurt yourself."
Xingqiu knew he was right. Although now he was simply spacing out, enjoying the calm atmosphere of his favorite place in Liyue, until a moment before he had been sinking his nose deep into the pages of his book, unable to appease his hunger for more content. But he couldn’t help it, he had to devour it. That was the last installment of Chang the Ninth’s saga, after all.
When he thought about it, the way he had discovered it was… a little strange. Xingqiu was an aspiring novelist himself, and had been secretly taking part into a periodic competition held by an Inazuma publishing house, sending his drafts and projects for a long time. At some point, he had found out another contestant was from Liyue, and (thanks to a truly incredible coincidence) relied on the Feiyun Commerce Guild to deliver the manuscripts all the way to the other nation.
Unable to control his curiosity, he had once taken a sneak peek at the book draft before it was sent… and fell in love with the plot. He had been even more surprised when he realized he had already met its author in person, for the short period he had traveled alongside the Outlander.
Concealing his identity as a fellow competitor, he had traveled all the way to Chang the Ninth’s house and begged for permission to read some previews. The man had accepted, probably as a belated thanks for the help he had lent him in the past, and that had been the beginning of his addiction.
Xingqiu snapped out of his thoughts back to reality, pulling his arm away from Chongyun’s grasp. His cheeks instantly turned red, and the skin where he had been touched was boiling hot, as if it had been set aflame.
He sincerely hated how self conscious he had become since their kiss at Wuwang Hill. Whenever they spent time together, his mind wouldn’t stop lingering on that moment, remembering every sensation he had felt, and keeping his calm was a hard struggle.
But what embarrassed him the most wasn’t the kiss itself (he had started teasing him first, after all) nor the unnecessarily dramatic slap he had given him afterwards. No, what deeply shamed him was the awareness that Chongyun probably didn’t remember anything about it.
Usually, when Chongyun lost control of himself he forgot everything that happened during his trance-like haze. It obviously wasn’t the same for Xingqiu, though. He was the only custodian of such a big secret, and he trembled in fear of slipping up and showing him his true feelings.
Because oh, he remembered. And his heart did too, judging from how it started a frantic race every single time Chongyun approached him, not to mention when their shoulders or their fingers accidentally met while they were walking.
From that fateful day, he did the only logical thing— he swore to never bring up the topic again, and he carefully avoided mentioning Wuwang Hill, exorcisms, or anything that could recall that kiss in any way. For three eternal weeks.
He was going to lose his mind soon, he could see it coming.
"Oh," Chongyun said all of a sudden, "There’s a leaf on your head."
Xingqiu jumped in surprise as he felt Chongyun’s finger run through his hair to gently pull a tuft aside and remove the trapped object. They were so close he could feel the warmth of his breath against his face, and his cheeks lit up once more.
"T-Thank you," he managed to stutter, his lungs completely drained of any air. He didn’t dare to take a step back but he was so tempted to run away and never come back. He knew that if he stayed too close to Chongyun, at some point he would mess up his plan and confront him about their accident, thus revealing to him his hopeless crush— the one he had been keeping a secret since childhood. That was too much to tolerate, no way.
"You’re welcome…" Chongyun whispered. "Such a spoiled princess."
Xingqiu furrowed his brows in confusion. But before he could ask for an explanation, Chongyun’s face drew closer, and closer… until their mouths met. Xingqiu’s heart skipped a beat, his hands letting go of the book till it flopped to the floor with a dull thud.
Unlike the previous time, there was no trace of rush or force in that kiss. It was a short, soft one, a simple caressing of lips, quick and gentle like a splash of water, and yet it seemed to him like everything he had ever needed in his life.
They parted way too soon, the tip of their noses still brushing against each other. Chongyun gazed at his feet, noticing the manuscript miserably laying on the ground, and sneered. "Oops," he murmured, his eyes instantly bouncing back into Xingqiu’s, "You won’t slap me this time?"
It was in that moment that Xingqiu understood just how wrong he had been all along.
"Wait," he exclaimed, and took a dramatic step backwards, "So you do remember what happened that time?!"
The lighter haired boy’s look betrayed his confusion. "Of course I do. Why wouldn’t I?"
Xingqiu’s heart sank in his chest. He shook his head, massaging his temples with his shaky fingers. "Since when do you remember the things you do when you lose control?" he asked.
Chongyun shrugged. Such a display of nonchalance enraged him— how could he be so calm when they were talking about their first embarrassing kiss that was never discussed again?!
"True, I usually don’t," Chongyun answered with a cheeky smile. "But I guess your slap helped me with that."
Xingqiu’s face heated up so much it was about to explode, as if it was trying to make up for all the held back embarrassment he couldn’t manifest before. It was simply unbearable— if he didn’t lose his memories, then what in the world had he been thinking about his fidgety reactions? Was he really so blind to not notice his uneasiness at all – and even so, why didn’t he ever discuss the topic with him? It was shocking, so much that for a single moment he thought this had all been a very complex plan from the young exorcist to toy with his feelings.
And everything about Chongyun in that moment… straight-up drove him crazy. He wasn’t able to tell if his feelings were anger or just a truly profound love. He wanted to punch him on the nose and to shower his mouth in kisses him at the same time.
Only one thing didn’t exactly check out. "Also, who are you calling princess, huh?" he teased him.
He grabbed Chongyun’s cheeks with his palms and squished them, letting out his suppressed anger in the softest way he could think of. He wasn’t used to being in this position, the one who was mocked— albeit with no evil intent. That was usually his role, and his friends were his victims. That was his very own way to show his affection, or at least everyone guessed so.
Chongyun’s cheeks turned pink as well, as he chuckled at his reaction, and Xingqiu could swear that was the sweetest sound he had ever heard in his whole life. "Secret," he whispered.
Xingqiu pouted. Well, if he had to be defined a spoiled princess, then he had undoubtedly found himself the dumbest of all princes.