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It maybe took five seconds for everyone to start losing their collective shit.
Sha Hualing started running around, yelling, nails not even dry. Meiyin snapped at her to calm down, even as she herself is obviously frazzled. Only Mobei Jun is sipping his melted tea in the middle of it all, seemingly impervious to the utter pandemonium breaking loose at Binghe's truth bomb session. Zhuzhi Lang pokes out his head from the kitchen, asking what's the ruckus is about, then Sha Hualing drop the bomb on his head as well, for solidarity and shared suffering.
"Introduce him to us!" Binghe's cousin chirps, like everything will go right with that suggestion.
"What," Meiyin gapes, as Binghe frantically whispers a quick denial.
"Why not," Zhuzhi counters. "I want to know what he looks like. And you can just say we're all friends. It's not like you're proposing to him."
Binghe immediately vetoes that idea, because he feels like it might jinx his future chances of a proposal lest it will come earlier than expected along the courting scheme. Who knows? He's very superstitious when he's nervous. Sue him.
"Not a bad idea," Meiyin points her talons at him. "Bring the boy, Luo."
He pouts at her. "Don't tell me what to do."
"You're right. I'm so sorry. Don't bring the boy. I'll bring him," she amends, fully intent on bringing the Mystery Crush Boy in, at whatever the cost. "Guess you'll just have to die either way, Luo."
He whines and slams his head onto the back of Mobei's shoulders, moaning bloody murder.
"Can we kill him?" Mobei's voice rumbles.
"Not until we get a look at lover boy in the face!" Sha Hualing chirps.
Mobei Jun only grunts and shoves Binghe off, sipping his tea.
---
This particular friendship group holds some notoriety among the wider community as one fraught with crimes and drugs and the hedonism of self-confidence and all things deemed wrong by the older generation. They are scorned by their society, reputations besmirched until there is no more demeaning that can be done at their current status of vagabonds and criminals of society, therefore they simply exist, uncaring of opinions.
It is Luo Binghe, baby of the group, that seemingly flew under the radar for a while during his youth, taken in and cared for by a kind washerwoman who had no children and loves him just as fierce as he loves her. Binghe holds the curse to grow up too well and to stand out too brilliantly in comparison to other children that people began ostracising him, denouncing his good name, where he had done nothing wrong.
It was during those trying times that Binghe made the acquaintance of two separate groups of people who would soon cement themselves in his life and brought him the recent predicament.
One of them is the gang of unruly youth from all walks of life, banded together because they all share a joint distaste for everything living, but also because they are of mixed blood and told that they don't have a right to be where other more pure blooded individuals hold blood rights over. This motley assortment is a collective menace wherever they go, but they welcome Luo Binghe with open arms, accepting him even if he may have possibly nearly put a guy in the hospital, up there with Sha Hualing and her record of property destruction. It helps that his long lost cousin, Zhuzhi Lang is among the mix as well, so that was nice. Zhuzhi occasionally invites Binghe over to his home since he's an adult with a mortgage and pays taxes and owns a fucking property he purchased with his own money and a home loan, so that's also nice to have.
The second is the more precious bond veering into one beyond friendship, of a lovely soul named Shen Yuan.
It is where the present predicament lies.
Shen Yuan tutored Binghe in high school and became his personal cheerleader and teacher throughout his treacherous academic journeys. Through such an ordeal, two souls would inevitably emerge as bonded individuals, who have seen each other at their literal worst, so therefore they hold brothers in arms solidarity. That being said, Shen Yuan irrevocably stole Binghe's heart from the beginning, scraping him off the concrete where he was almost trampled over by the horde of excited high schoolers on their first day of school to swarm the Big (Hot Shot) Three - Shen Qingqiu, Yue Qingyuan and Liu Qingge. The trio of perfection, of accomplishments, intelligence and athleticism. Truly a sight to behold!
But Shen Yuan cared naught for the splendour of his three brothers and carried on as usual, before he backpedalled and helped Luo Binghe up from where he was shoved and nearly ran across, true Prince Charming style with the halo and everything.
Luo Binghe was smitten right off the bat. He probably would have taken any bat in the face, metaphorical or otherwise, if it meant Shen Yuan would smile at him like that again. Please, be gentle on this boy's maiden heart! He only has one!
From then on, the two of them grew only closer and closer, more or less to the knowledge of everyone else. While the Gang knew of Shen Yuan, they simply assumed it was a close senior-junior dynamic, not thinking too deeply into a dynamic that is not their own.
It's not until later on that Binghe had his whole realisation that the Friends want to meet the Crush.
It is all very simple - this is a communist regime and everything is no longer your property, it is our property. In some ways, communal living is truly a blessing, but in this way, it feels truly invasive. Luo Binghe wants Shen Yuan to get along with his maybe delinquent friends, but the Friends also want to see if this Shen boy is just as shallow-minded as his brother who called the cops on them on no less than four separate occasions. It's a test either way and Binghe is stressed out on two counts that he had let slip about the Crush and had let the Friends bullied him into whining gege into meeting them.
The chain of bullying doesn't stop with Binghe, because he may be a pushover to his friends but Shen Yuan is a pushover to him. It takes about three seconds of his lips trembling and shaking voice for gege to fold like a sheet of paper in the rain. Shen Yuan is normally cautious and reserved about meeting new people, his friend circle sparse and has long been beside him for a number of years. But part of friendship and forming relations stem from meeting new people and Binghe is important to Shen Yuan enough for him to put a pause on his life principles, therefore he acquiesces.
It doesn't have anything to do with how bright Binghe beamed at him when he said yes.
Luo Binghe had been jittery the entire time he walked the two of them to the door of the Mobei mansion, wide expanse of grass and commissioned statues looming before the imposing doorway. Shen Yuan had permitted the slow crawl towards a koala climb onto his shoulder and back, as Binghe increasingly vibrated in place, frazzled and nerves on edge. Usually Binghe is a self-assured, bright, bubbly boy who smiles a lot and loves to make Shen Yuan happy. Right now nobody is happy. It's only for the good of the whole that the usually reserved Shen Yuan allowed the manhandling and cuddling.
The door throws open from someone falling onto it from the other side, as Binghe shifts in front of him, arm out to hold him back.
There is a girl, decked in red and gold and enough jewellery around her wrists to start up a pawn broker shop with her arm alone, beaming as she gestures for them to enter.
"Sha Hualing," she grins, introducing herself with the hand that isn't decked out in bangles and precious stones. "You must be Shen Yuan."
He shakes her hand back, showing no reaction to her right grip on his palm, courteous and pleasant. "It is very nice to meet you. May we come in?"
She allows him in, immediately clinging onto Binghe's side. "Xiao He, why are you so late ~?"
Barely able to shake her off, Luo Binghe scowls, extracting himself from her tentacle grip and siddles close to Shen Yuan's side, sweet and simpering before scowling over his head to the girl with the impish smile.
"None of your business. Come, gege, the library is this way. Mind nothing of what this witch says."
Sha Hualing breaks into a litany of wailing, rivalling even Binghe at his most childish, bemoaning the injustices of this world.
Shen Yuan can see where Binghe got the crybaby and dramatic streaks from.
He then vaguely got introduced to Mobei Jun, who was more furniture and wall art than human, staring like a mascot at him from behind the slithering creature that is Meiyin. She smiles with half her mouth closed, sharp teeth and perfectly coiffed up hair, slinking towards him like a predator on the prowl for fresh meat and a good ol’ meal of dumbass idiot boys.
“Shen...Yuan,” she purrs, a lilt to her accent. She’s not local, because the language sits like a frog in her mouth. “Hello.”
He doesn’t rear back, which he congratulates himself for, smiling, genial and courteous, at the girl. “Yes. May I know who you are?”
She flashes him another sharp grin. “Meiyin. Please, have a seat.”
Only Zhuzhi Lang is the sane one among the group of frankly bonkers group of ostracised kids from decent society, asking Shen Yuan to have a seat and asking him about his life, schooling, whether he had food, would he like to have a snack. The guest wanted to decline any true-hearted offering of food in fear of being stuffed like a chicken and then grilled, Hansel and Gretel style, but Zhuzhi Lang had already rolled out dishes of food and people are shoving each other out of the way for a bite, so in the spirit of not being rude to the hosts, Shen Yuan grudgingly partook in eating.
It is good food, but Binghe’s visibly agitated energy staves off all the delicious elements in the traditional snacks.
Three bites into their food - Mobei Jun had devoured an entire plate of sugar-dusted sweets all by himself - Sha Hualing turns to Shen Yuan, wide smile on her face.
“So, Shen Yuan,” she says, a tilt to her head. “Like Shen Yun, the cult?”
Luo Binghe barely has time to shove his friend out of the way and apologise for her lack of restraint and inability to read the Mother Tongue, leaving her to only remember what the language is based on sounds alone.
Shen Yuan, who is thankfully not a cult or is himself in one or about to start one, answers back, stilted. “Similar, but not quite. I can’t dance.”
Sha Hualing crashes back into Mobei Jun’s side, sighing audibly. “What a shame. I was about to ask to join your dance troupe.”
“I think they’re always recruiting, aren’t they?” He points out, because he had heard about it from Liu Mingyan. “If you don’t value your organs all that much, I guess you can always call and audition for the next few shows.”
Zhuzhi Lang pauses, teapot in hand. Luo Binghe’s mouth is hanging open, eyes unblinking.
Meiyin steps in next, to save the atmosphere from collapsing in on itself. “So why did you decide to stick by our Xiao He’s side?”
At Binghe’s profuse protests and where she shoves the boy bodily aside, leaning closer to grin at Shen Yuan. Sha Hualing’s hooting in the background of - “We don’t need your opinions, Luo” - only makes Binghe’s indignance spikes.
“No asking us how we met?” Shen Yuan reasonably asks.
Mobei Jun sips, loud and long. “We already know. No need to rehash known details.”
“Yeah,” Sha Hualing nods. “He fell, you swept him off his feet - sorry, picked him up from the ground like the Prince Charming that you are, now you’ve come to us. Now, tell us shit on Xiao He. We don’t have enough.”
It’s like a premonition for worse things to come. Luo Binghe wails as Shen Yuan shows screenshots of the boy falling and yawning in between classes for Sha Hualing to cackle at and send them to herself.
---
At the end of it all, when Luo Binghe is being sent off home, that things go awry.
By awry, it is customary, as habits and reflexes are the true enemies of the human self.
Bidding goodbye to the Friends, Binghe lingers by each friend to drop them a kiss, as is the custom. Because habits did not quite account the presence of Shen Yuan as a non-kissing Friend member, Luo Binghe also kissed him on the forehead, palm coming up to brush aside his bangs and pressing his mouth onto smooth skin.
It takes about half a second for Shen Yuan to change colours
Panicking, Luo Binghe begins to bluster out an explanation, but the Friends act quick, closing in to kiss Shen Yuan goodbye too, as is newly established in the Bro Code.
“Is this a thing you all do?” He questions as Meiyin kisses his cheek hard enough for it to bruise.
She lets him go, sharp row of teeth gleaming. “Yes, little Shen. Come see us again and I’ll kiss you on the mouth next time.”
Luo Binghe screeches at her to unhand gege, you hag, and tosses Shen Yuan to his cousin, whispering help help help. Zhuzhi Lang smiles, all warm and crescent eye smiles, whispering for Shen Yuan to come again, waving as he is picked up by his brother, conveniently whisked away before he can question the entire Kissing the Homies Goodnight Act, definitely not part of the Bro Code.
The car pulls away, not without Shen Qingqiu making a rude gesture to Sha Hualing, before the Association of Delinquents sags with visible relief, with Sha Hualing crowing Good job, team, it was a group effort, let’s not do that again.
“No shit, mate,” Luo Binghe cringes, as he extracts himself away from Mobei Jun’s grip on the back of his collar. “Thanks for covering for me though. My Gay just acted on impulse.”
Meiyin smirks at him. “And here I was, thinking you just wanted to kiss the boy.”
“Meiyin!”
Mobei Jun still hasn’t unhand him. He is staring down at Luo Binghe, contemplating something.
“I haven’t even kissed the guy I’m seeing and I had to kiss yours,” he distastefully comments, frown etching on his brows. “Now pay the favour back.”
Binghe thrashes for a while, whaling bloody murder. “What do you want then? Me to kiss you back?”
Zhuzhi Lang pretends to think on it for a while. “What would make you squirm, Xiao He?”
Binghe then would scream actual bloody murder as the Gang crowds him, all squeezing him for exaggerated kisses with slathered on lipstick, on loan from Hualing.