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Right.
Okay.
This was going to be just fine. He could do this.
Why was he panicking anyways?
Of course he was going to panic! One of the few (only) people he could consider a friend had freaking texted him to come over! No asking, either! It was a dumb little command and who was he to tell his not-so-friend no?!
Mobei [4:47 p.m.]: Come over. 6 p.m. and do not be late.
God, he basically had the entire message memorized at this point. And he was running late too. How fun, right? Way to go, Shang Qinghua. Now, not only was he potentially going to lose the only person that tolerated him, but was also going to have to deal with the anger of the son, and heir, of quite possibly the most well known business in the world, Frigid North . Qinghua wasn’t too clear on what exactly the business did, he just knew that if Mobei Jun, the son, wished it, he could be permanently removed from the face of earth without a trace.
So yeah, being late was not ideal.
In his defense, he had left earlier than usual! And made sure to actually wear the sweater Mobei Jun had gifted him a few weeks ago too, to really show his appreciation, you know? He had looked up the price as soon as he got home and damn near fainted. Luckily, his mom was off with her boyfriend to who knows where that week and effectively left him alone to faint in peace. There was no way he was going to be able to pay off this gift no matter what. Not in this lifetime, at least.
He had missed the first train though. His card declined and by the time he had managed to find barely enough change to buy a ticket, his train was already clacking away missing one Shang Qinghua. Maybe he could tell him that! There was still at least fifteen minutes until the train reached his stop and then he would have to haul a ten min— oh shit ! That change was for the cab fair, how could he have been so stupid? Qinghua rested his forehead against his hands and took a deep breath to calm himself. Okay, so maybe he would be a little longer, about… 45 minutes now that he had to walk there.
Mobei Jun was going to eat him alive. He wasn’t going to let him in past the house gates. Hell, he wouldn’t even answer the intercom! He wouldn’t— oh, Mobei is calling.
Wait.
Mobei is calling?! Pay respects to poor little 16 year-old Shang Qinghua. This was the end of his life. He hadn’t even done anything cool and couldn’t even tell his drafts goodbye. He should probably answer this call.
“A-ah, hello?” Fuck, his voice was already shaking a little. Don’t cry, Qinghua.
“Where are you?”
Qinghua glances at his phone and cringes. Two minutes til six.
“I’m… on the train, my king,” The ‘my king’ thing started as a joke when they were 12 and just stuck since. It was weird, he’ll admit, but he was committed.
“I swear, I-I don’t mean to be this late! I actually left early and I, um, I totally should have been there by now but I forgot that I hadn’t put money on my train card in— oh lord, when was the last time I had money? Probably a month ago, I forgot, anyways! I missed my first train so I’m on the second, but uh.. You won’t like this but I used my cab money to buy a ticket so now I have to walk there and, oh fuck.” The more he spoke, the faster he got until he took a deep breath, feeling his throat close up as tears spilled from his eyes onto his cheeks. This was mortifying.
He takes a shaky breath to continue, unable to stop the waver in his voice that would surely indicate to Mobei that he was crying. “I-I’m sorry, I… I used my cab money so now I have to walk there, I’ll try my best to get there as fast as I can, if you still want me over. You probably don’t, fuck, I’ll try to run, I think I might be able to make out the road signs in the dark, no worries, haha! Or not, I can just stay on the train until it’s last stop and hopefully end up somewhere near my house and just walk back, not like Mom’s there to call the cops if I go missin—”
“Qinghua.”
Shang Qinghua stops his rambles and freezes, sniffling on his end of the call.
“Get off at your stop and stay there.”
What was Mobei Jun thinking?! He couldn’t just stay at the train stop, not the whole night at least. He would freeze, or get mugged, or beat up by someone homeless because he took their sleeping spot because wouldn’t that just be his luck and—
“Qinghua. Do you understand?”
He sighs, he would just have to pray to the gods above and hope this expensive sweater would hold his warmth through the night.
“Yes, my k-king. I understand, I will wait at the train stop.”
A hum of what could only be described as approval sounds on the other end. “Mn. Good.”
With that, Qinghua is left sitting on a train, tear streaks on his face and probably a few sympathetic looks from an auntie or two. Throwing all caution to the wind, he uses the sleeves of his sweater to wipe off his cheeks and sits in a small daze. He was absolutely screwed, and hurt. Was Mobei really going to make him sit outside the entire night for missing a train? That would be extreme, even from him, but Qinghua wouldn’t put it past the guy to be honest.
His thoughts are soon interrupted by the slowdown of the train and doors opening. Qinghua takes a deep breath and squeezes blunt nails into the palms of each hand, trying to school himself for what was going to be a long and miserably chilly night. He should have brought the scarf he had considered. Really regretting that choice now.
Shakey steps lead him off the train, onto the platform, and to the side of the stop where some bare benches were. He was a little off to the side, but if a car turned down that road he would be spotted. How fun, right? Maybe some kind soul will see his shivering and tear stained self and take him home, or at least close to it.
Shivering, Qinghua sits at the bench and shoves his hands into the sleeves of his sweater, curling in on himself. Before he could even realize it, he’s crying once again. A sniffling, shivering, sad little mess. He squeezes his eyes shut and wills back his sobs, hiccuping softly and making crying hums as tears rolled down his soft cheeks and down past his chin. He doesn’t bother to wiping them away. He was bound to cry again later, what was the point?
He is unaware of the expensive car that pulls up on the road near him, nor is he aware of the large male that steps out and walks over. The male pauses at the sight of Qinghua’s shivering and crying form that wasn’t as quiet as he had thought, not noticing the quick and heavy footsteps that hurried over and the man taking his own jacket off his shoulders.
With a jolt, Shang Qinghua startles at the heavy warmth that is wrapped around him, blinking past tears as he looks up and his face pales. It’s Mobei Jun, wearing just a black turtleneck. Was this his coat on him? Yep, black and way too large for Qinghua’s form, it had to be his.
Hurriedly, he opens his mouth to apologize and to offer the coat back, to tell him he felt awful for the inconvenience but before he could even begin to let out a word, strong arms pull him off the seat and into a tight and heated grip. Qinghua is shocked into silence, shivering still but soon allowing himself to melt into the hug and grip the front of Mobei Jun’s sweater. The arms around him tighten as he feels Mobei Jun hunch over slightly, chin pressed against the top of Qinghua’s head.
“You utter fool.” Mobei Jun whispers, pulling away just enough to make sure his jacket was properly wrapped around Qinghua and to brush his thumbs unconsciously across the smaller’s cheeks.
“I— My king! R-really, this is a lot, y-you.. You don’t have to do—”
“A-Hua! Stop talking, you’re freezing!” He yells. His voice is layered with worry but Qinghua still flinches, he hadn’t heard that tone before.
With little room to protest, Qinghua follows Mobei Jun back to his car, surprised as the passenger door is held open for him and he's nudged until he is sitting comfortably. Mobei walks around the front and gets in the driver’s seat, starting up his car and blasting the heater.
Qinghua didn’t know what to do. He didn’t know how to feel. He definitely did not expect all of this. Mobei Jun, now that he was warm and could properly think about it, seemed concerned about him. Qinghua really didn’t know how to feel about that.
He looks over at Mobei and jolts, finding piercing blue eyes staring right back at him with an unreadable expression. His fingers play with his sleeves and he shifts to take off Mobei’s coat only to have a firm hand stop him.
“Put it on.”
Shang Qinghua can only stare, “Ah?”
Mobei bites the inside of his cheek and furrows his brow in frustration. Qinghua could tell he was having an issue expressing himself and just sits there to wait it out, anxiety nipping at his insides.
“Just— Ugh, come here.” Mobei says after a moment of silence, pulling Shang Qinghua by the arm and closer to himself. He takes both sides of his black jacket and maneuvers Qinghua’s arms into the sleeves so he was truly wearing it.
Qinghua looks down at the sleeves that quite literally made him feel like he shrunk in size. He softly flaps his arms and feels a lopsided grin spread on his cheeks as the sleeves flapped too. He looks back up at Mobei with the smile still on his face and was once again shocked into silence.
Mobei’s cheeks are dusted pink and his eyes slightly dazed as he watched Qinghua play with the sleeves, a look of pure and fond admiration on his features.
“Ah, th..thank you, my king. It means a lot to me.”
Mobei blinks and goes back to his usual stoic appearance, turning his head away, almost flustered. He gives a short hum and holds his hand out in Qinghua’s direction. Shang Qinghua stares for a moment before hesitantly shimmying the large sleeve up his arm, putting his very small hand in Mobei’s.
Apparently that is the right thing to do as Mobei’s hand intertwines their fingers together and somehow manages to still shift the gear stick to pull the car back onto the main road. Shang Qinghua looks at their hands and softly squeezes his hand, getting a firm squeeze back that makes his stomach do nervous flips and his face heat up.
Is it too cliché to say that he had a crush on Mobei for years and even planned to base a strong and sexy king off of him in one of his future novels too? Because that’s exactly what it is. Sure, they may have kissed a couple times throughout the years as what Qinghua had disguised as “practice for the real deal”, but obviously that had meant nothing! It wasn’t like Mobei Jun had liked him during all that! It was just Qinghua and his own desires that he hoped would go away after a kiss or two but never did! Mobei simply was too good at kissing, that had to be it.
Curiosity, though, had finally gotten the better of him as he looks over at Mobei fully, watching him drive. Even his side profile was needlessly attractive— Off topic, off topic!!
“Um, my king, why did you want me over in the first place?” Qinghua asks, tilting his head slightly to clear hair from his eyes.
Mobei glances over him for a second before looking back at the road, pulling into his neighborhood.
“To show you something.” He pauses though, and seems to think for a moment. “Qinghua, I have been wondering…”
The car pulls into the driveway, getting put into park but left on for the heat. Qinghua was nervous, what the hell could he have been thinking about?
“Yes..?”
Mobei inhales and shifts in his seat to look at him. “On the call, and many times before this too, you’ve mentioned a lack of funds and parental supervision. Naturally, I don’t have total supervision either, but… Have you even had much at all? And I have never been invited over.”
Qinghua freezes and looks down at his lap, chewing on his bottom lip as he thinks about what to say. He didn’t think Mobei was that attentive, that he cared enough to remember. He wasn’t even sure if he was ready to out how poor he truly was. It was mortifying in day to day life when he had to dig around couch cushions for the 3rd time in one day, just hoping he had enough to buy the cheapest things he could find at a convenience store that would last him a couple days. He hated to admit it, but he never turned down an offer to eat out with Mobei simply because he knew he didn’t have to pay and could take the leftovers home.
“I… You’re right,” He sighs and takes a shuddering inhale, might as well get it all out there. “I don’t have a lot of money. Or much at all. Everyday is a constant wonder of ‘oh, I hope I’ll be able to have a meal today!’ Just one meal isn’t even assured. My parents are divorced and don’t even acknowledge when I’m there, they probably wished I managed to die in middle school! Did you know that? I almost died in middle school. Countless times. Some by my own attempt, others by students I knew, even negligence from my family! I really don’t have anyone looking out for me, Mobei Jun, and honestly all this has been really freaking me out. I don’t know if, or when, you’ll be leaving me and there goes the only joy I have in life!”
He’s panting and shaking again, on the verge of tears spilling as Mobei quickly turns off the car and gets out, hurrying over to Qinghua’s side to pull the door open and pull him into a crushing grip. He’s kneeling next to the car, holding Qinghua so so tight with his head pressed against his chest.
“Never.” Mobei says against him, looking up at him with a determined glare. “You will never be left alone. I will not allow that.”
Qinghua didn’t know what to say, his arms are hesitant to rest on Mobei’s shoulder from the hug and suddenly he's being carried up, causing him to shriek and laugh a little, smacking Mobei’s shoulder.
“M-My king!! Be careful, don’t drop me I’m heav— PFTHAHA, MY KING! PLEASE PUT ME DOWN, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?”
Mobei ignores his cries and carries Qinghua into the large house, kicking off his shoes at the door and pulling off Qinghua’s, padding through the halls now just in plain socks.
He adjusts his hold on Qinghua, making him sit against his hip like a glorified baby, a hand under his butt and around his back, as he walks up stairs and down halls to get to his bedroom. Unceremoniously, Mobei dumps Qinghua onto his bed and tosses a blanket over his head.
“Stay here, don’t leave.”
By the time Qinghua manages to pull the blanket off his head, Mobei is already long gone down the hall. He can only sigh and flop backwards, holding the blanket close as he closes his eyes and lets his senses get filled with Mobei’s scent— mainly mint. Qinghua is still confused by it all. Mobei didn’t seem to be mad at him at all for being late on the train, he wasn’t mad when he found him crying at the train stop, he was a little mad at the comments he made about his life, but Qinghua was pretty sure that anger wasn’t necessarily directed at him exactly. Really, all of this was so sudden and confusing, and with nothing better to do he laid there obediently and waited for Mobei to return, which didn’t take long at all.
Shang Qinghua immediately sits up at the smell of food, his eyes widening at not only the bowl of food in Mobei’s hand, but also the black bunny in his other hand.
“My king?! What is all this for?”
“You.” Mobei gently places the bowl of food, congee now that Qinghua could see it, on the nightstand and settled next to him on the bed, gently placing the bunny in his lap.
“I wanted you to see them. She’s a little tired though, I had to wake her up.” Mobei explains, gently petting the bunny’s soft fur.
Qinghua gently lets her sniff his hand before petting her too, gasping as she hops around his lap before getting comfortable and laying down. He practically has stars in his eyes, happily playing with her little paws. A couple minutes pass as he happily holds the bunny before his stomach growls reminds him of the perfectly delicious bowl of congee that had his name all over it.
“That’s for me, right?” He asks, holding out his hands for it, careful not to jostle the bunny.
Mobei nods and grabs the bowl, not giving it to him though. He lifts the spoon and carefully holds it out for Qinghua, causing the latter to flush entirely red. With little choice, Qinghua leans forward for a bite, humming happily at the taste and warmth of it all.
“There was actually another bunny, but he is a little sick.” Mobei said, feeding him another bite. “He reminded me of you, very small and.. Yeah. He’s resting now though.”
Qinghua hums and kept taking bites when provided to him, watching Mobei carefully. Mobei is more focused on the bowl though, so he just watches his king’s face.
“You are going to spend the night. Then tomorrow we are going to your house.”
Sputtering, Qinghua coughs lightly into his elbow for a moment. “What?! Why?”
Mobei frowns and looks up at him. “To grab your things. If your parents do not care, then you shall just live here. My uncle cannot complain, there is more than enough room.”
Qinghua feels lightheaded and holds up a hand to stop Mobei from feeding him another bite. He had to process this. Moving in and living with Mobei Jun? Living with and being more closely related to such a powerful company? Just having him around was bound to ruin their reputation!
“While I appreciate it a lot, I really do, what about Frigid North ? Wouldn’t having me around really ruin news and—“
“That is of little matter. You will be staying here, that is final.”
Shang Qinghua sighs and nods, opening his mouth slightly for another bite. What he doesn’t expect though are warm lips pressing against his own and a large hand resting against his cheek.
Qinghua squeaks and tenses up but soon falls into the slow rhythm of their kiss, his eyelids fluttering closed as he reaches a hand up to cradle Mobei’s cheek too. This was fine, this was nice. Even if Mobei didn’t really like him, he would happily accept a kiss when presented.
A little lost in the kiss and his own drifting thoughts, he unconsciously opens his mouth more and swipes his tongue against Mobei’s lips, gasping when he feels a tongue press against his. Mobei hums into their kiss and slowly pulls away, nipping at Qinghua’s bottom lip.
Breathless, Qinghua looks up at Mobei and sees red dusting his cheeks, a similar blush probably on his own.
“The.. The bunny,” Mobei says, gently taking her from Qinghua’s lap.
Qinghua flushes more and nods, looking down at the bed embarrassed. Mobei quickly leaves the room and Qinghua promptly grabs a pillow to scream into. That. Was. So. Hot!!!! He couldn’t believe he was so bold as to deepen the kiss, he can’t even believe he got a kiss!! Lord, his mouth probably tasted like the congee but Mobei didn’t seem to mind so maybe it wasn’t that bad. Next time he would definitely have a mint— Wait, next time? No, no, there couldn’t be a next time! His heart can’t handle it.
He groans into the pillow and lays there, lamenting in his own kissing sorrows as Mobei Jun comes back into the room and watches Shang Qinghua for a moment, smiling to himself as he shuffles around his room to grab a spare shirt and pair of shorts to let the other borrow.
Mobei interrupts Qinghua’s little sad party and rolled him over, dropping the clothes on his stomach.
“Go change, then come back here.” He tells him, going back to his own closet to probably change too.
Qinghua nods and grabs the clothes, scrambling off the bed and into the bathroom connected to Mobei’s room. Very hurriedly he undresses, first carefully taking off Mobei’s jacket and hanging it up, before shucking off the rest of his clothes. He pauses, only in his underwear, and gently plucks the loose binder on his chest, not really wanting to take it off but… sigh, there were too many issues that would come if he left it on. Without looking, he pulls it off and bundles it in his old clothes, quickly throwing on the ones from Mobei and is very delighted to see that he was given a long sleeve shirt to sleep in. Before he leaves the bathroom, he folds up his clothes and places them on top of Mobei’s laundry basket lid, opening the door slowly to see if Mobei is still changing.
Much to his relief, and slight disappointment, Mobei is already in bed in just some loose pajama pants and a tank top, idly scrolling on his phone. At the sound of the door opening, he looks up at Qinghua and nods, gently ushering him over to the bed.
“Come here.”
Well with an offer like that, who was Shang Qinghua to complain? He nods and hurries over, climbing onto the bed and under the lifted covers to settle next to him. Mobei seemed to visibly relax now with Qinghua at his side and reaches over him to shut off the bed light, putting his phone on his nightstand too.
Shang Qinghua squeaks at this, holding his breath as not only Mobei Jun settles next to him in bed, but also wrapping an arm around his waist to pull them closer together and so he could press his face into Qinghua’s hair. He was once again glad he showered before leaving. After a few moments of making sure this was all real, Qinghua lets himself relax and turn towards Mobei’s body, slotting himself against the larger form and tucking his head under his chin, which Mobei seemed to like as he held him tighter in response. This was fine, this was nice. Qinghua didn’t even know why he was so scared earlier as his body was filled with warmth and the unusual amount of love, slowly drifting off in time with Mobei Jun’s slow breaths.