Chapter Text
With a towel, a pair of shorts and an oversized shirt, Po trotted into their little bathroom. Fan Hai had pointed him vaguely in the direction of it, thoughtlessly as he joked with Wu Cong. He placed his things on the lid of the toilet and closed the door with a snap. Doing a little circle, he examined his surroundings with an eager eye.
Po had still not taken the time to process the situation he was in.
He was in the house of the Furious Five! The mysterious group whom he’d had an unhealthy obsession with for two years. All those nights spent staying up at ungodly hours of the morning trying to find their identities were reaching their satisfying repercussions. He’d never given the possibility of the Five hiding right under his nose a possibility. Their cover was undeniably good, and Po could easily see how he was the first person to gain that knowledge. Even if it was by… unconventional means.
The guilt of having followed Ying became prevalent again. It was obvious she was put off by their unfortunate first meeting. Po hoped that she wouldn’t hold that against him, it was extremely out of character for him anyway.
Stepping into the shower he shivered at the first streams of cold water. There was a mirror opposite, and through the steamed glass he could see the round outline of his reflection. He sighed deeply and turned away. Now more than ever he was desperate to get into shape. The three guys made him feel incredibly inadequate. Po had never had too many qualms with his image, obviously he wanted to someday turn his fat into muscle, but he wasn’t too bothered about it since his hatred for exercise had yet to leave. But Fan Hai hid his impressive build under loose shirts and jackets. And Wu Cong never used his entrancing agility in public. Jia’s height leant to his slim silhouette, one he almost squashed down with those hats of his.
While Po still held onto his baby fat. His dad always thought it was cute, but he was about to turn twenty for god’s sake, surely a glow-up would appear soon?
He showered quickly and pulled on the clothes Wu Cong dug out for him, thanking his luck they were a decent fit. He opened the door and stepped out to a silent, empty hallway. Their house didn’t exactly seem like a maze, but he still hadn’t been shown around enough to know where to go. Tapping his foot nervously, he struggled against just venturing round or calling out for help.
“Did they not tell you where anything is?”
Po turned round and Yu Ting was standing at the end of the hallway, looking at him with sympathy. Her long hair dripped water droplets on the carpet and her face was shiny with a recent skin routine. By the looks of it, she’d just stepped out of the shower herself, wearing a set of satin pyjamas with patterns of oriental birds printed across the fabric.
“No… they just told me where the bathroom is.” Po responded slowly, pointing behind him.
She rolled her eyes. “Honestly, Fan was supposed to show you round!” She huffed. “Never mind, I’ll do it.” She outstretched her hand and beckoned him closer.
He edged towards her hesitantly, though she didn’t scare him like Ying initially did. Her whole appearance was much more friendly and almost comforting amongst the current uncertainty of the situation he was in. But remembering that she was one of the Furious Five was… more than intimidating if he had to be honest. The knowledge that this short, kind-faced girl could quite literally stick him in an early grave put him on edge a little.
If Yu Ting noticed his hesitation, she was kind enough not to mention it. “The bathroom you were in is for the guys, which is why it’s so… empty.” Po looked behind him and had to agree with her. The only objects on display were toothbrushes, toothpaste, a hair comb and a stray razor. Certainly not enough evidence of five people using the same bathroom. “The one me and Ying share is here.” She lead him along the hallway and across the landing to another door. “You can take a look if you want.”
Po, despite feeling he wasn’t welcome to, opened the door and peered inside. And sure enough, it was a girl’s bathroom. Makeup was strewn around the sink and hairbrushes poked out from the windowsill. Their bathroom was certainly larger (he wondered who made that decision) and filled with little overflowing baskets holding various items he couldn’t even identify.
“Okay it looks messy,” Yu Ting said from behind him. “but we haven’t had the chance to clean up recently.”
“I can’t talk,” He confessed, closing the door on his only experience with a girl’s world. “my room is pretty similar.”
“But it’s not like I’ll be seeing it any time soon.” He added sadly as a muttered afterthought.
Yu Ting took his arm sympathetically and lead him away and across to the landing. “I know this is hard, and the situation is not ideal, but it’s really complicated right now.” She said, voice sweet like honey. “I’d let you go home if I could, but I’m sorry sweetie, it’s out of my hands.” Though Po never had a maternal figure in his life, Yu Ting certainly felt very reminiscent of one. With nothing but kindness shown to him he felt himself warm up to her personality immediately.
“Over here we have our rooms.” She pointed towards a long hallway with six identical doors sitting either side of the walls, facing each other with familiarity. “On the right, Fan, mine and Ying’s, then on the left, Cong and Jia’s.”
She appeared to have missed one.
“What about the last room? Is that Shifu’s?” He asked innocently.
She turned to him with an odd look, fiddling with the ends of her damp hair. “Shifu doesn’t live here,” She said abruptly. “that’s just a… spare… room.”
Po nodded slowly. “So is that where I’m staying then?”
“No! No, it’s like a – a storage room… thing.” She seemed a little alarmed at his questions, and quickly started to make her way down the stairs. “You’ll probably be sharing with one of us.”
Po’s stomach dropped. “But – but I don’t think they like me!” He hissed at her over the banister as she was already halfway down.
“It’s fine Po! You can share with me if you want!” She reassured him with a smile over her shoulder.
He skidded down the bend and ran after her with worry. “Wait, Yu Ting –“
But she was already nearing the kitchen. “Hey guys, where is –!” She called out.
“Jia lost rock-paper-scissors!” Fan Hai’s triumphant voice interrupted her. “So he’s the one who has to share with Po!”
Wu Cong whooped in the background and Jia simply groaned. “It’s not like this game is fair anyway.” He grumbled.
“Guys!” She hissed angrily. “You are being very – loud!”
Po creeped down the rest of the stairs and peeked at them from behind her. They froze comically at the sight of him. No one said anything and the awkwardness just increased from there.
Yu Ting tutted loudly at them and turned back to Po. “Ignore them, you’re sharing with me.”
“No, no, no.” Fan Hai shook his head and went to whisper in her ear. Though his version of whispering was still incredibly audible to Po. “He followed Ying, I don’t trust him so you’re not sharing a room with him.”
Po couldn’t find it in him to defend his reputation.
“Are you kidding me? I could beat you up if I wanted to.” She retorted at normal volume.
“Wait, let’s just compromise,” Jia stepped between them. “how about I share with Yu and Po takes my room.” He shrugged as if he’d found the solution to all their problems, and Po couldn’t deny it sounded like a good idea.
“No!” Wu Cong interjected and Jia deflated with a sigh. “You lost rock-paper-scissors!”
“Oh come on, it’s just a game!”
“But the reason we did that game is because we still don’t trust him so he can’t be left alone!”
For being spies, they certainly weren’t subtle.
Po waved a weak hand. “I’m – I’m still here.”
Jia and Fan Hai visibly winced. “Shit I’m sorry.” Wu Cong apologised quickly, surprisingly sounding very genuine. “It’s not you – really, it’s not – it’s more what we’ve been instructed to do, if you know what I mean.”
Po raised an eyebrow, unimpressed.
“Don’t look at us like that.” Wu Cong chastised jokingly. “We don’t mean any harm.”
Jia gave him a disbelieving look and simply gestured to Po with resignation. “Come on, I’ll show you my room.”
Following him resolutely, he could hear their hushed whispers from the others.