Chapter Text
Some unforeseen circumstances have made them to adjust their baking plans a little but no one complained. Well, maybe only Feng Xin and Mu Qing did, just a little bit. Fortunately, He Xuan didn’t know about the cake. If he did, he would be outraged.
The cause of those plan-changing circumstances was that on Friday morning the police department where Fang Xin worked has intercepted some illegal shipment of ferrets that would probably be doomed to become luxurious furs if not for an anonymous tip. As a result, the rescued ferrets were looking for new homes and without thinking twice, Xie Lian decided to take one in, only afterward realizing what it truly meant, panicking and googling what exactly do ferrets need, what do they eat, and how should they be treated.
Mu Qing and Feng Xin came over right away, they helped him go through the supply list they found online and buy everything that was needed. Only when they came back to Xie Lian’s little studio apartment, they realized a terrible fact – the place was not even close to being ferret proof.
Instead of a kitchen with an actual door, Xie Lian had a kitchen annex, full of dangers like knives and loose cabinet doors that would be easy access for the ferret whenever it would leave the cage. Actually, the whole apartment was just one room plus a bathroom so everything was open and exposed including cables and the door leading downstairs to the workshop didn’t close properly so the ferret could sneak out at any time and hurt itself with the equipment.
It was not good. It was terrible. The chances were that with his luck instead of rescuing the ferret, he would unintentionally cause it to be gravely injured within a few days. Or killed, he had saws downstairs, what if one would fall on the ferret?
Xie Lian either had to change his whole life or give the ferret up. He was contemplating how to exactly proceed with the first one as soon as possible, brainstorming it with his friends who tried to convince him that it was not a good idea, when his phone started ringing.
It was Hua Cheng. Xie Lian felt strange relief when he saw his caller ID, the tension and stress of the day seemed a little more bearable all of a sudden.
“Hi gege, how is the animal rescue going? Would you like my humble assistance? I can come over at any time,” the boy offered in a seemingly laid-back, casual tone.
“San Lang,” Xie Lian let out a spiritless sigh, exhausted by all the shopping, the need to fix the door, remodel his apartment, and his whining friends.
“Gege? What’s up with this tone? Tell me,” Hua Cheng’s voice got more rigid, demanding the answers. It made Xie Lian happy, in a way. No one ever got so serious about his problems as Hua Cheng did, most of his friends dismissed them thinking that he was doing something unnecessary or that he tried something impossible from the very beginning and he should have known better.
Hua Cheng never undermined anything he said, just tried to help, no questions asked. And no matter what terrible thing was going on, this serious tone made Xie Lian’s lips twitch upwards in a smile.
“It’s the ferret,” Xie Lian explained with a sigh. “Rouye should be let out of the cage for at least two hours a day and I want him to be happy but... I need to change really a lot about my place until it’s safe to let him walk around. And I have no idea what to do about the kitchen... I don’t want to give him away, San Lang, but my place is too small... I don’t know what to,” he said, trying to show as little resignation in his voice as possible. He failed terribly.
“That’s hardly a problem,” Hua Cheng said calmly, his tone casual but certain. “Just give the ferret to me. I have space.”
Xie Lian blinked, struck by his words in many ways at once.
“You can’t do that. You have your own life and...”
“Gege, just bring the ferret and everything you’ve already bought. I’ll text you the address.”
“San Lang,” Xie Lian scolded him.
“What?”
“Respect your life more. Please. You can’t just... take my ferret without batting an eye about it.”
“Oh? Gege, doesn’t want it to be our ferret but only his? Selfish,” Hua Cheng teased him. “We’ll talk about it when you’ll get here, if you really don’t want to share Rouye with me, it can be just temporary until you figure something out. I’m texting you the address. Do you want me to help you move things?”
“No, no, Feng Xin is going to drive us there, the cage is still in his car anyway. Thank you, San Lang.”
At first, Mu Qing and Feng Xin were happy when he told them he has found a solution but their smiles quickly faded away when they realized it involved Hua Cheng. Gritting their teeth, muttering curses about how suspicious it was that Hua Cheng would just take the ferret in like that, how he would without a doubt use the innocent animal to tie Xie Lian down to him, they helped with packing and then set off, never seizing to complain all through the drive.
“I am telling you, it’s he’s going to use this innocent animal to tighten his evil clutches around you,” Feng Xin muttered.
Mu Qing just rolled his eyes. “Xie Lian’s an adult. He needs to take responsibility for his actions and dating a suspicious man. But I hope you realize he will do everything to keep the ferret if you break up, right?” he asked looking at his friend.
“San Lang isn’t like that at all,” Xie Lian said, knowing that with Hua Cheng’s attitude he would never do anything to upset him on purpose, even if they were broken up. There was something about the boy that made him certain about it.
As they got closer to the address from the GPS, their eyes were getting wider and wider. Hua Cheng lived not too far from Xie Lian’s workshop, if one had a car or a bicycle it would take around a quarter to get from one to another.
But despite the proximity, the two neighborhoods were not similar at all. Xie Lian’s could easily fell under the category of rather shabby, it was full of old buildings, some even dilapidated, majority of the lawns were horribly unkempt. One look around, and one could guess, that there weren’t any advantages of living there, except for the low rent. In comparison, just peering from the car window at the district as they got closer to the address, made Xie Lian feel slightly embarrassed, because, apparently, Hua Cheng lived at the end of the luxurious gated community, full of mansions that reminded Xie Lian a little bit of the house he used to live with his parents, back when they were rather well-off and alive. It seemed like a lifetime ago.
With each passing second, Mu Qing’s and Feng Xin’s scowls were getting worse.
Finally, they reached a two-floor mansion at the end of a cul-de-sac, matching the adders Hua Cheng sent. The style was also matching what Xie Lian thought Hua Cheng would like from a house. The garden in front of the house was full of red and white flowers, and the building itself was quite elaborate and elegant, with small details inspired by traditional architecture, making the mansion seem like it was not a subject of the time flow but somehow suspended outside of it.
Briefly, Xie Lian wondered why would Hua Cheng spend so much time at his tiny place when he lived like that but he quickly realized that it wasn’t strange at all. Hua Cheng seemed to the comfort money gave him and was generally good at keeping his finance in check, Xie Lian noticed that. But at the same time, he didn’t care much about material things nor the money itself, treating it more like means to an end. He was always more focused on emotions. If something would make him happy, like a new red coat, he would buy it barely blinking at the price because it wasn’t important to him. He never cared how expensive something was so it was typical of him not to care about the state of Xie Lian’s place or neighborhood. He cared only about the company and it made Xie Lian feel a little flattered.
Feng Xin stopped the car, spent a few seconds staring at the mansion, and then, quite aggressively, he voiced his concern.
“What the fuck is that?”
“A house. A mansion to be exact,” Mu Qing explained with resignation. “Rich people live in those. And well, he is in a popular band so maybe he actually is rich. Probably wooed Xie Lian with gifts and we didn’t even see it.”
“He didn’t,” Xie Lian assured them, his eyes moved to Rouye who stuck his head out of the blanket he was hiding under. Despite being exhausted by the evenful day, the animal was still quite curious about the surroundings and eager to get out. “Hello, little one, ready to meet your other owner?” Xie Lian asked him tenderly.
“Are you seriously getting a pet together with him?” Feng Xin gritted his teeth. “It’s your ferret.”
“Rouye will live here so it makes sense to share him,” Xie Lian explained with a smile and opened the car door. “Can you take the cage and the bag?”
Sighing, the two agreed and followed Xie Lian to the front door. He was feeling a little hesitant as he pushed the doorbell, still having a hard time believing his boyfriend lived like this. It was only after Hua Cheng opened the door dressed casually in a worn-out half-unbuttoned shirt, that Xie Lian believed.
“San Lang!” he let out an outraged scream staring at his boyfriend’s chest. “Dress properly, you’ll catch a cold!”
Xie Lian’s free hand rushed to fix the buttons more out for care since it wasn’t too hot today and Hua Cheng actually could catch a cold than so Feng Xin and Mu Qing wouldn’t get the wrong idea. When he reached the second one he realized that it was missing, and gave up with a sigh.
“It’s an old shirt, it must have fallen off,” Hua Cheng smiled innocently. His eyes dropped to the blanket in Xie Lian’s arms and the white ferret who was curiously sticking his head out of the material. Hua Cheng raised his hand petted the animal, the fetter twisted around to sniff his wrist and rub against it. “Hi, Rouye, nice to meet you. You look very cute. I guess you take after your owner.”
“He’s ours,” Xie Lian stated, having made up his mind. “If you’re okay with that.”
The boy beamed brightly as if Xie Lian shared the best news in the world.
“Stop flirting and move aside,” Feng Xin barked, clattering the cage. “It’s heavy”
Hua Cheng smirked mischievously and moved a few steps back, letting them in. The inside of the house was as stunning as it was outside, the designs were impeccable but quite extravagant.
“That’s a beautiful house, San Lang,” Xie Lian commented, looking around.
“Thanks,” the host answered casually. “But it was already like that when I moved in, I changed very little. You can put the cage in the living room. It’s animal-proof anyway since E-Ming is a terrorist.”
“Who’s E-Ming?” Mu Qing asked suspiciously.
“My cat,” Hua Cheng replied with a smile
Like a dark force summoned on the signal, a black shadow jumped in front of Feng Xin, making him trip and almost drop the cage. Hua Cheng picked up the cat from the floor and raised him to the ferret level. The pets sniffed each other, clearly curious but at the same time happy.
Rouye seemed to love his new home. He spent some time running around the room, checking every nook and cranny, playing with E-Ming who was mostly absorbed in trying to get Xie Lian’s attention but was able to tear his eyes away eventually and take care of his new friend. Finally, the exhausted ferret fell asleep in the cage on the bed that Xie Lian hastily made this morning from some scrap material.
As it was getting late, Hua Cheng mentioned that they could fix some dinner, and Xie Lian offered to cook as a way of thanking him for taking the ferret in. Mysteriously, that very moment, Mu Qing and Feng Xin remembered that they had some urgent business to attend and they promptly left, leaving the couple alone.
They quickly made some sandwiches and put the kettle on the stove to have tea in the garden, as Hua Cheng suggested. They were waiting for it to boil when they heard someone enter the house.
Hua Cheng didn't seem startled so Xie Lian didn’t feel like it was anything to worry about. “Oh, so you have roommates? Makes sense, this house is huge.”
“Occasional ones,” Hua Cheng said mysteriously, grabbing a sandwich for himself before going to check the front door. Xie Lian followed. He was not really surprised to find Yin Yu taking his shoes off and putting them on a shelf next to the door, it even made him happy that despite calling them ‘acquaintances’, Hua Cheng was close enough with his bandmates to give them the house keys.
Honestly, he didn’t seem like someone to give his house keys to someone he didn’t trust.
“Hi, Yin Yu,” Xie Lian smiled at him, as Hua Cheng was busy with his sandwich.
The young man jumped up, startled.
“Oh, hi,” he said, moving his eyes from one person to another. “I didn’t know you had a date over, I didn’t want to interrupt your evening together, don’t mind me, I’ll just go back home.”
Xie Lian picked up at what Yin Yu was subtly hinting and blushed like an even deeper shade of red than Hua Cheng’s unbuttoned shirt that probably was also to blame for Yin Yu’s assumption.
“No, no, absolutely nothing indecent going on here!” he rambled.
“Of course it is not,” Yin Yu agreed but it was audible that he didn’t really believe in it, he just wanted to comfort Xie Lian.
“What did the bastard do, Yin Yu?” Hua Cheng asked, changing the subject. “Should we cut off a piece of him and feed it to He Xuan’s fish?”
Hua Cheng was smiling as the words left his mouth but it wasn’t a pleasant smile, it was nefarious. But in Xie Lian’s eyes somehow it looked cocky and adorable, and he couldn’t resist a strange urge to pinch Hua Cheng’s cheek. His boyfriend’s cool demeanor was instantly shattered into pieces, his eyes open wide in shock, and even a faint blush appeared on his face. Hua Cheng dropped his eyes to the sandwich and took another bite, pretending nothing happened.
“He didn’t do anything, that’s why I can go back home if you want me to, really,” Yin Yu sighed, choosing to ignore what he just saw. “I’m just... conducting a social experiment of a sort. Wondering how long it will take for him to notice the dishes aren’t washing themselves on their own. But I’m now on day eight and the apartment is getting less and less livable, I can’t even make a tea at this point, the kitchen was completely taken over by the piles of dirty plates and cups, it’s hard to even move around there.”
“Hm, I don’t know if I can accept that I and Xuan Xuan are still not convinced if we approve of him and if we support your efforts to make him an acceptable person to live with,” Hua Cheng toyed with his answer. He turned to his boyfriend to provide some explanation. “We still upset that he allowed him to move in without telling us. We just discovered earlier this week and our group chat is a mess.”
“San Lang is just fooling around, of course, you can stay,” Xie Lian assured the other guest wrapping his hands around Hua Cheng’s shoulder to stop any protests before they even got a chance to be voiced.
“Fine, you can stay. But first, you need to pay respects to the new member of the family,” the host demanded with a toothy grin.
“Chengzu, what did you do?” the sheer horror on Yin Yu’s face perplexed Xie Lian a little. What did he think Hua Cheng was capable of doing?
They led him to the living room where Rouye slept, exhausted by the intense day, blissfully unaware of anything around, even E-Ming company in the nap as the cat has curled up next to the cage, his back pressing against it. Yin Yu gasped quietly, immediately lowering his voice not to wake the pets.
“When did you get a ferret? When were you planning on telling me and He Xuan?”
“When were you planning to tell us that you have acquired a flatmate?” Hua Cheng smiled sweetly.
The kettle went off drawing their attention off the ferret. They quickly ran to turn it off, before E-Ming and Rouye would wake up.
“Tea?” Xie Lian offered.
“Thank you, I’ll fix one for myself later, you don’t need to bother. I have some work to do. Because you know, a band is more than cool songs,” he glared at Hua Cheng. “Please consider finding a drummer.”
“Nah,” Hua Cheng said. “Interviewing random people is too much of a hustle. I already know I won’t like any of them.”
Unexpectedly, Yin Yu turned to Xie Lian. “Do you know any drummer? Please?”
“Don’t bother gege,” Hua Cheng’s arm wrapped around Xie Lian’s shoulder protectively.
“Actually, my cousin is a drummer. Quite a good one, I think. But I have to warn you he has a strong character...” Xie Lian let out awkward laughter, thinking about the last time he and Qi Rong took Guzi out to Disneyland and Qi Rong enforced his method of terrifying or disgusting everyone around to make them leave the line for the rides. It was very effective but some things Xie Lian would rather erase from his memory.
“Have you met Hua Cheng and He Xuan?” Yin Yu raised his eyebrows. “Another strong character will fit well. Please, Chengzu, let me organize an interview, please.”
“Well, since it’s gege’s cousin, I guess we can make an exception,” Hua Cheng said, his arm dropping to Xie Lian’s waist.
“Finally,” Yin Yu relaxed. “Thank you so much. Now, I’m going to work a bit, will it bother you if I take the living room? I can go upstairs too.”
“Watch over our ferret,” Hua Cheng commanded. “I want to show gege something in the garden.”
That something turned out to be a wooden swing under a canopy, large enough for them to half-lay on it resting on the mountain of pillows. The tea mugs rested safely in the holders by their side, Hua Cheng wrapped a warm red blanket around them so the slowly dropping temperature as the evening got colder wasn’t a problem.
“So how did you meet your bandmates? College?” Xie Lian asked casually, shifting a little his boyfriend’s embrace so they could look each other in the eyes.
“Nah~” Hua Cheng smirked. “How about gege keeps on guessing?”
“Hm... Prison! Orphanage!” Xie Lian took his chance, knowing well that with his luck, he wasn’t going to guess correctly anyway.
“... I wish I would have ended up in an orphanage, it would have been better than my scum sperm donor,” Hua Cheng tightened his grip on Xie Lian for a second. “Go on, gege.”
He moved away to have a better look at Xie Lian. He put his elbow on the armrest, cheek resting on one hand, fingers of the other caressing Xie Lian’s wrist. His eyes were sparkling a little mischievously making Xie Lian sure, that there was some engaging story that Hua Cheng was already getting ready to tell.
“Hm...” Xie Lian pondered. “You all read a lot, I think? So maybe a library?”
“I’ll give you a hint, I met He Xuan first, and then we run into Yin Yu.”
“San Lang!” Xie Lian groaned. “I’m not going to guess two!”
“I am willing to trade the information for one fun gege fact,” the boy grinned. “If gege’s willing.”
“I don’t really have fun facts...” Xie Lian sighed but then he remembered all the strange things he did before he could afford to but the workshop. “Oh, wait! I worked as a golf ball diver for almost a year.”
“As a what?” Hua Cheng blinked.
“The person who finds golf balls when they fall into the pond. Pays surprisingly well,” Xie Lian explained.
In an instant, Hua Cheng turned into a bowl of peals of laughter. Xie Lian smiled upon hearing the sound, it was wonderfully pleasant. It warmed his heart and made his head feel lighter.
“Gege is such an amazing person. My stories are nothing compared to this. I met He Xuan in my therapist’s waiting room. She runs the office with her friend who takes care of kids’ mental issues and because of that, there is a ton of toys in the waiting room. So one day I was putting together a really huge jigsaw puzzle as I waited for my appointment. And I see this gloomy guy who just came there to pick up his prescription for antidepressants but, on the way to the exit, he saw me with that jigsaw puzzle and scoffed with disdain. He Xuan claims it was because he disapproved of my puzzle-matching method but I felt like he was looking down on me as a grown man putting together a puzzle, an unacceptable offense. But then he realized the picture was from Little Mermaid and he immediately got down to help. Later, I got him a snack bar from the vending machine, and this way his life in my debt has begun.”
Xie Lian didn’t bat an eye on the mention of the therapist. He was already expecting it and was glad his suspicions weren’t wrong. It was good that Hua Cheng moved on from being a lonely teenager to someone who knows when to seek help.
“That’s so sweet. And how did you meet Yin Yu?”
“Oh, we met Yin Yu in a bar fight.”
“A bar fight?” Xie Lian gaped at him with his eyes wide open.
“Yes, a bar fight,” Hua Cheng grinned, happy to have picked his interest. “So one night we were having a beer with He Xuan. There was one guy who was so loud and annoying that I decided to steal his house keys from his pocket when I was passing by and then I dropped them on the floor in some dirty corner so it would take time before they were found. The guy got tipsy and pissed as he was looking for them, and eventually, he bumped into a person holding two beers making them spill the beer over their clothes. The person was Yin Yu and the guy didn’t even apologize, he just said it was Yin Yu’s fault because he’s so easy to miss.”
“I feel so bad because I know what he meant by that,” Xie Lian sighed.
“We all do. But I keep telling him it’s a perfect face for some secret agent or a spy,” Hua Cheng grinned devilishly. “Or a serial killer. Or the right hand of a mafia boss. Especially since he trained karate for years, he would make a spectacular mobster.”
“...I’m not sure he’s happy with those compliments, San Lang,” Xie Lian suggested gently.
“Well, at least being plain-looking isn’t as bad as being gruesome looking,” Hua Cheng shrugged it off as a joke that on the surface could be easily shrugged off but Xie Lian knew better than to do so.
He leaned over and placed a small kiss on his boyfriend’s temple. “San Lang is perfectly beautiful. Objectively. Read your fans’ comments on Instagram if you are not sure.”
Amber eyes still looked at him restlessly. Once again he found himself fighting the urge to just kiss Hua Cheng and keep on kissing him until nothing else would matter for either of them.
But he stopped himself. They were in the middle of a story. He cupped Hua Cheng’s cheek and pressed one single kiss against his lips.
“You don’t have to worry about anything like that when you are with me, San Lang, really,“ he said softly, in a voice so quiet it was more a whisper than speaking. Still, saying those words out loud made Xie Lian feel so embarrassed he averted Hua Cheng’s eyes. He cleared his throat. “So what happened after that guy offended Yin Yu?”
“Yin Yu’s idiot himbo got angry, punched the man, making him fall on He Xuan. He Xuan dropped a fry and one should never make He Xuan drop his food or he’ll get really, really angry. He pretty much started a bloodbath in the bar. I almost died from laughing too hard. And the funniest thing is that at some point He Xuan bit Quan Yizhen with the enthusiasm of a human-sized piranha and well, he got his leg broken in retaliation. Don’t ask me how, it was wild.”
“And the asshole guy?”
“Beaten up with a shovel. The first hit on the head knocked him out immediately.”
“Good,” Xie Lian was satisfied. “A shovel?”
“The bar had a small garden, it looks like they left it laying around. He Xuan picked it up. Anyways, He Xuan was really mad about the fry and his broken leg. But he still doesn’t know I kind of provoked it all so shhh, gege,” he hushed him, pressing a finger against Xie Lian’s lips.
“I’m not sure, I might consider telling him under grave circumstances,” Xie Lian announced solemnly, fighting back a laugh.
“If gege deems it necessary than fine,” Hua Cheng gave him a candid smile. “I trust you.”
“So Yin Yu and his boyfriend took you to the hospital and that’s how you became friends?”
“Not really. Quan Yizhen didn’t apologize but he said it was a good fight which is a huge compliment from him. Yin Yu felt guilty about the whole thing so he kept bringing He Xuan food, the boyfriend got jealous, and since they actually had problems before, it was the final nail to the coffin. I don’t want to go into details because that’s not my place but both Quan Yizhen and Yin Yu fucked up each in their own way, Yin Yu broke things off with him and spent the next half a year depressed on my couch.”
“Should they really get back together? If they’ve hurt each other this much,” Xie Lian asked with worry.
“If it was you and me, I would jump on any chance to get back together,” Hua Cheng stated sincerely. “About Yin Yu and Quan Yizhen... Well, they both went to therapy while broken up. And well, it turns out the idiot really cares, he’s just really... unobservant and heedless. He actually got an appointment trying to figure out why Yin Yu left him because he didn’t get it when it happened. But they’ll be okay now, I hope. As much as I and He Xuan mock their relationship, they care about each other a lot. As someone who cares a lot myself, I can somewhat relate. But still, I would rather Yin Yu hit him with a shovel like He Xuan did to the asshole in the bar.”
Xie Lian chuckled.
“I am serious. Look,” he pointed to a garden shovel resting against the house wall. “I keep leaving those around so maybe someone will take a hint. Ever since I bought the house with a garden I’ve been doing that and I’m still waiting.”
“When did you move here?”
“Not a long time ago, it was quite spontaneous. Our producer lives close, one day he invited us over for a party, I saw this mansion on the way, I liked it, I bought it,” the boy shrugged. “I have the money and the inflation is terrible these days so it’s not good to keep money lying around. And also...” he hesitated for an instant before continuing. “I thought that maybe you would like this garden. And that it would be nice to spend evenings together here on the swing, drinking tea.”
Xie Lian felt really overwhelmed with feelings at this moment. His eyes dropped, finding it hard to confront Hua Cheng’s. He looked around the garden, full of white and red flowers, with a few tall trees providing shade. Under one of them, E-Ming had his own wooden playhouse.
“You were right, I like it a lot,” he admitted.
Suddenly, the backdoor opened wide with a loud clatter. Their eyes jolted to the exit, freezing at the ominous sight of He Xuan in a black floor-length skirt, a family box of vanilla ice cream in one hand, and a bottle of whiskey in the other.
He approached them with a grim expression, followed by Yin Yu who was holding a spoon that it seemed He Xuan has forgotten. Hua Cheng and Xie Lian used this short moment to get more decent and sit up properly, however, still under one blanket.
“Hua Hua,” He Xuan deadpanned seriously, completely omitting all the greetings. “There is a situation.”
Instead of treating his friend with concern, Hua Cheng leaned over to whisper into Xie Lian’s ear, “He calls me ‘Hua Hua’ when he wants something, terrible habit, please gege, don’t pick it up, ever.”
He Xuan gave him a scornful look.
“Hua Hua sounds cute,” Xie Lian chuckled. “I don’t know, San Lang, it’s catchy.”
Yin Yu brought over two garden chairs, placing one next to his friend. As soon as He Xuan had a place to seat, he did so, opened up his box of ice cream, flavored it generously with whiskey and dug in. He ate a few spoons before committing to the social context again.
“Hua Hua,” he insisted again, staring at his friend intensively.
“Is it from my kitchen?” Hua Cheng asked.
“When it is not?” Yin Yu just sighed.
“Fuck off, I was hungry and sad so I took it,” He Xuan glowered.
“Fine, what’s ‘the situation’ you were so shaken by?” Hua Cheng cocked his head curiously, a smirk playing on his lips. “Is it you wearing a skirt?”
“Are you offending my skirt?” He Xuan frowned. “How dare you offend my skirt?”
“Nah, I am not,” Hua Cheng snorted. “I was just throwing bait to see if you would take it and you never disappoint. So, what’s the real problem?”
He Xuan sighed heavily. He put the ice cream box down with resignation.
“Remember how a few years back I really wanted that beautiful Angelfish from the pet store by the station to be mine? I took two jobs and worked my ass off for a month to get at least half of the money on my own and begged you for the rest, only to find out some rich guy has bought it already. And that scum knew I wanted this fish, I had a deal with the previous owner but the rich scum paid double.”
“How could I forget?” he replied with a sigh. “He pissed you off so bad you wanted to use the money to buy a deserted island so you could live there all alone with your fish, as far away from rich assholes as possible. And you plotted xiaxia-style revenge.”
“I found the fish and the guy. It’s time for revenge,” He Xuan announced solemnly.
“Oh my,” Hua Cheng’s eyes lit up. “Tell me more. Sorry, gege. I promised He Xuan years ago I would help.”
“Just please be careful,” Xie Lian replied squeezing his forearm under the blanket. “Don’t do anything bad or reckless.”
“It’s a xiaxia revenge plot, gege, of course, it’s going to be sinister and full of drama,” Hua Cheng smirked.
“We are not doing xiaxia plan,” He Xuan said, before taking another spoonful of the ice cream with whiskey. The ice cream was disappearing at an outstanding speed but the room in the box was quickly replaced with the alcohol.
“Shame,” Hua Cheng pouted in disappointment. “Why not?”
“Where will I get a skeleton fish that will guard the island?” He Xuan said. “I was drunk when I came up with this.”
“Give it a moment. You will be drunk again soon enough,” Hua Cheng chuckled.
“There’s another reason why we cannot send an army of skeleton fish to eat him. Except for realism,” He Xuan said. “The asshole is Shi Qingxuan’s brother.”
They all gasped.
“That’s so your luck,” Hua Cheng didn’t refrain from the comment. “How did you find out?”
“I was at Shi Qingxuan’s house just now, he showed me his older brother’s fish and it was there,” He Xuan cringed. “And then that scum came back from work and I saw his attitude and now I know I’m going to destroy him. And not only for that, for the way he treats Shi Qingxuan too.”
Xie Lian didn’t know Shi Qingxuan very well, his friend also didn’t talk much about his brother, mostly throwing around some compliments about how capable he is but at the same time it was no secret they often disagreed to the point that Shin Qingxuan would stay at Xie Lian’s place to avoid him. But he didn’t know any details.
“That rotten capitalist is so terrible he makes me want to become a radical leftist just to piss him off,” He Xuan frowned, his voice was flat but one could feel the anger boiling somewhere deep down. “And he’s so fucking intolerant. He assumed I’m a girl because I’m wearing a skirt and he congratulated Shi Qingxuan for giving being straight a chance because of course, he treats Shi Qingxuan like a guy and not a non-binary person. Yup, he called it ‘a cross-dressing phase’. So,” he announced solemnly. “So, the revenge plan consists of three bullet points.”
“Go on,” Hua Cheng encouraged him, a shadow of a smile playing on his lips even when he tried to remain serious.
“First, we are going to be an extremely queer band to piss him off. Chengzu, you are now allowed to use the band’s SNS to spam everyone with your love. Yin Yu, can you get your celebrity boy toy out of the closet?”
“I am not sure Quan Yizhen is even aware of the concept of the closet,” Yin Yu sighed with resignation. “And we’ve been keeping it secret in case we break up again, not because either of us is ashamed.”
“Well, do you want to break up with him?” He Xuan asked. “Because when I was walking here he spammed me with questions if I know what he did wrong this time and why are you pissed at him because he loves you and he wants you to be happy but he doesn’t know what to do because he sucks, blah blah blah,” He Xuan rolled his eyes. “So make up your mind because it looks like he already has.”
Yin Yu’s eyes shot open only to drop on the ground, thinking. Xie Lian noticed that his lips were curving up a little.
“Did he really say that?” he asked.
“I can show you the texts. But he sounded a little like a whiny baby so I get why you would want to ditch that and no one here would blame you. But if you’re keeping him, come out.”
“... Okay,” Yin Yu agreed, “We’ll talk about it. But to be honest, it’s not that it matters much, I’m only a temporary member and your manager.”
“This is not a valid argument, you’re a part of the band,” He Xuan said earnestly giving his friend a fierce pat on the back before moving on. “Bullet point number two; the money. We need to become stupidly rich so we can look down at Shi Wudu and I can have more expensive fish tanks than he does. Chengzu, it requires capitalist means, and I have just become a radical leftist so you take care of that.”
“Like you could have the money and not use it immediately to buy food. But I have an idea, leave it to me,” Hua Cheng smirked.
“Third point,” He Xuan said, chugging the bottle of whiskey as there was already no ice cream left. Xie Lian was taken aback by how fast he devoured everything. “I am going to steal Shi Qingxuan from him because Shi Qingxuan deserves to be respected as a person and loved for who they are. So I’m going to steal them and later we will only occasionally invite Shi Wudu to our queer household to throw our happiness, love and acceptance in his arrogant face.”
“What a great idea!” Xie Lian approved with a smile. “Please make my friend happy!”
“Oh, so gege agrees with the revenge plan?” Hua Cheng said.
“Well, it’s not violent and He Xuan wants to help Shi Qingxuan so...” Xie Lian explained.
“Great,” Hua Cheng grinned. “Yin Yu, give me access to our social media.”
“I would rather not. Don’t take it personally but I feel like you would post a hundred pictures of Xie Lian a day.”
“Fine, just post this one today, we’ll negotiate later,” Hua Cheng said, scrolling through the phone. He picked one taken earlier that day, a selfie of both of them playing with E-Ming and Rouye. “Okay, gege?”
“Yes, it’s a good picture,” Xie Lian smiled. “Can you send it to me too?”
“Of course,” Hua Cheng said, quickly forwarding the picture to both him and Yin Yu.
“Okay,” Yin Yu agreed, judging the picture. “You can write the text too, Chengzu, I’ll edit it before posting.”
“This is going to be great,” Hua Cheng beamed. “Good thing you are so vengeful, Black Water, else you would never agree to me posting daily gege appreciation picture.”
“I didn’t agree to that,” He Xuan frowned. “Let’s settle on weekly with possible adjustments.”
“I like how you’re keeping an open mind about it.”
“Whatever pisses off Shi Wudu the most.”
“So actually... what kind of fish caused all this?” Xie Lian asked hesitantly.
He Xuan tapped his fingers on the bottle, clearly wishing that it was still full. He sighed with nostalgia.
“This was the most beautiful fish in the city with a pattern that looked like a moonless sky in winter when...”
“Get comfortable, gege,” Hua Cheng whispered, wrapping an arm around him and making Xie Lian lean on his side. “He can talk a lot about his fish.”
By the time they managed to somewhat switch the subject from fish, there were two other empty bottles on the grass, all drunk by He Xuan alone, safe for a few shots he managed to convince Yin Yu to take. The latter seemed to be exhausted by managing two jobs and everything else that was going on with his life, so he eventually fell asleep, lulled by He Xuan’s bedtime stories about exotic fish.
His two friends used this occasion to send a picture of Yin Yu with all the bottles to Quan Yizhen along with a hastily-made crossword puzzle. The password 6-letter word pointing to what he did wrong this time.
An hour and a half later the answer came, along with the picture of a clean kitchen, no dirty dishes in sight. Quan Yizhen came himself soon after in person, ready to pick up sleeping Yin Yu and take him home, he turned out to be a young boy, probably a year or two younger than Hua Cheng, handsome but a little rough. Effortlessly, he picked Yin Yu up without waking him up and thanked all of them for taking care of him. He Xuan saw an opportunity and forced the young boy to give him a ride home.
That meant that Xie Lian and Hua Cheng were left alone.
“Are you tired, gege? Let’s sleep.”
A while later, Xie Lian emerged from the bathroom in one of Hua Cheng’s red pajamas that had too long sleeves which made the owner smile. Initially, Xie Lian didn’t think that he would stay over but the change in plans seemed to have come naturally and didn’t bother Hua Cheng in the slightest so Xie Lian didn’t linger much on it, just decided to stay. Especially since Hua Cheng’s happy grin would be enough to make his day on its own.
“You look so cute in red,” the boy said, his lips curving in such a breathtaking smile.
Xie Lian chuckled, slightly embarrassed.
“If you say so... Where can I put my clothes? Should I have left them in the bathroom?” he said, bringing up the pile of clothes in his arms to Hua Cheng’s attention.
The boy’s eyes lit up mischievously.
“Come here,” he said and pulled Xie Lian’s sleeve towards the master bedroom.
The room wasn’t too extravagant but comfortable. Xie Lian wasn’t surprised by the red covers in the slightest, nor by the E-Ming who was soundly sleeping on them. By the bed, there was an unorganized pile of books that Hua Cheng seemed to be reading at the end of the day, picking one depending on his mood. Next to the window, there was a shelf with what seemed to be Hua Cheng’s treasures – some drawings, a small figurine of a crown prince that looked handmade, Xie Lian also recognized a candle holder he crafted for Hua Cheng in his own workshop a while ago. He felt somewhat flattered that it had found its place there.
The boy led him to the door at the side of the room which turned out to be an enormous walk-in closet. At first, Xie Lian got nearly blinded by the mixture of bright reds, black and white clothes, and some insane number of silver jewelry pieces hanging on the wall. Hua Cheng gently touched his shoulder, drawing Xie Lian’s attention to the side.
“I cleared out a few shelves and drawers for you,” he said, pointing to the empty ones in the corner close to the door. “Unless you would rather have your own room? One is free, you can take it,” he offered.
“No, no, no,” Xie Lian immediately blurted out. “Here is good, very good.”
“Great,” the boy smiled. “I’ll organize my clothes a little better so you have more space next time, don’t worry.”
“You don’t have to,” Xie Lian looked around. “To fill those few shelves up, I would have to bring half of my closet here. And it looks like you definitely need far more space for clothes than me, San Lang. Those few shelves are far more than enough for me.”
“Well, you can of course use the hangers too,” Hua Cheng said. “And maybe I do want you to bring half of your closet here?”
For a moment they gazed at each other, both a little taken aback by what Hua Cheng abruptly said. The boy was the first one to drop his eyes, maybe feeling as if he has taken a step too far.
“I will clear more shelves anyway, you are going to need space for winter sweaters eventually. We’re both tired, let’s go sleep, gege?” he suggested.
Xie Lian put his things down on the shelf, turned, and wrapped his arms around Hua Cheng’s waist, pressing his cheek against his chest.
“Thank you for always assuming we are going to last. To be honest, not many things in my life were ever permanent so... it means a lot,” he said.
He felt one of Hua Cheng’s hands on his back and the other in his hair. They were caressing him gently.
“Gege, I’ll always be there, as long as you want me to be,” he whispered back. “I would marry you tomorrow if you would let me.”
Xie Lian laughed, assuming it was only a figure of speech. But where he looked up at Hua Cheng, he wasn’t so sure anymore.
“I feel like Yin Yu would have a heart attack if we got married tomorrow.”
“Okay, then someday,” Hua Cheng said calmly.
“Someday,” Xie Lian agreed.
He stepped on his toes and gave Hua Cheng a quick kiss.
“Let’s sleep.”
Hua Cheng nodded with a smile. A moment later they were under covers pressed closely together, partially out of their own will, partially because E-Ming sprawled himself on half of the bed and Xie Lian had no heart to push him up.
In the morning they were woken up by Mu Qing and Feng Xin banging on the door because Xie Lian forgot his phone somewhere around Rouye’s cage and never replied to their worried texts.
They were loud and came up with a bunch of reasons why they needed Xie Lian to leave with them immediately, and, eventually, Xie Lian agreed to come with them but not because he actually believed them that there was some odd order in the workshop and he needed to check the materials and if needed order new ones as soon as possible. It was simply because Hua Cheng definitely wasn’t a morning person and he looked as angry as adorable with his bed hair and drowsy eyes. Xie Lian kissed him and told him to go back to sleep, promising that they would meet up later. Hua Cheng nodded and reluctantly let him go.
Later, when Xie Lian got to his own front door and reached for his keys, he felt that there was something wrong, the set seemed a little heavier than it used to be. He took a look down to find a new ring with a small silver butterfly charm attached to it along with unfamiliar two keys. He immediately understood which doors they would open and that Hua Cheng must have slipped them in when he wasn’t looking.
Xie Lian couldn’t but smile at the keychain with joy sparkling in his eyes so visibly, it made Mu Qing roll his eyes with an exasperated groan.
“Fine, date the simp king if he makes you happy, I don’t care!”
“Traitor,” Feng Xin glowered at him.
END.
SMALL BONUS:
He Xuan picked up a shovel that fortunately happened to be randomly lying around Hua Cheng’s garden. He solemnly passed it to Yin Yu as if it was a sacred weapon.
“Here. Next time he doesn’t do the dishes, hit him. He will learn.”
Yin Yu looked back at this drunk friend with some resignation and accepted the gift, only to put it back on the ground.
“Thank you but as much as I appreciate your advice and I have to admit there were times when I would have thought about going through with it,” he said hesitantly, “I don’t want to explain at the ER why I hit my boyfriend with a shovel.”
Hua Cheng let out a scandalized gasp. “Oh my god. You called him your boyfriend. You did it! You love the bastard!”
“Yes, I do, leave me alone,” Yin Yu groaned and He Xuan poured him another glass of whiskey as a reward for honesty.