Chapter Text
“It’s been nearly two hours, surely you’re not still reading that same book?”
”Just wait a little more, I’m nearly finished.”
”But that’s what you said thirty minutes ago, and you’re still-“
”Five more minutes and then we’ll leave. Promise.”
Chongyun let out a small grumble as he slid back down onto the couch, his arm and foot lounging off the side as he stared up at the ceiling in frustration, irritated by his friend’s insistence. They had been there in the library for almost three hours since it had closed at 8PM, and somehow for that entire time Xingqiu had stayed in place, his attention fixed on just one book that Chongyun swore had an infinite amount of pages.
He couldn’t say that he wasn’t surprised at his friend’s intense focus on the book of course, it was just part of his daily routine. Heck, it was more uncommon for Xingqiu not to be lounging around in the library at the late hours of the night, the key to the place passed over to him by the staff that had learned to accept his overstaying. It wasn’t too much of a bother, since he always locked up the place before leaving, but Chongyun could just not wrap his head around how he could come back to the same place every night without getting bored.
When Xingqiu had first approached Chongyun and requested for him to accompany him to the library that evening, Chongyun was unsurprisingly reluctant to go. The idea of being cooped up in a seemingly endless maze of dust filled shelves adorned with rows and rows of ageing books was not as appealing to him as it was to his friend. In fact, he probably wouldn’t have even considered going if it weren’t for the fact that Liyue had recently been hit by an unusually cold winter. There had even been some snow that had begun to fall on the beautiful harbour, decorating the buildings with specks of shimmering ice.
This didn’t bother Chongyun of course, in fact he might’ve been a bit pleased about it. It’s not like he wasn’t used to it, but the absence of the usual Liyue heat meant that he didn’t have to worry about his congenial positivity being as much of a problem, which he considered a wonderful thing. But he was well aware he was one of the few that didn’t find it as inconvenient as anyone else. It was impossible for anyone to not notice the rapidly plummeting temperatures as the days passed by. And yet, for some unknown and illogical reason, it didn’t seem to even hinder Xingqiu’s routine of reading into the late, chilling hours of the night. In the past week, on multiple occasions, Chongyun had caught his friend coming home from the library, trudging through the snow and breathing out a cloud of fog that dissipated in the freezing air. A different book firmly clutched in his grasp each time.
So when Chongyun had heard the bookworm’s request for company, he figured this may be his chance to to convince, or more likely drag his friend away from the library soon enough to avoid the icy sting of the night to come. He didn’t expect it to be easy, but he didn’t expect it to be impossible either.
He had since decided that he should work on resetting his expectations, especially for Xingqiu.
When they had first arrived at the quaint little library around 6PM it was admittedly better than Chongyun had expected. Maybe even a little pleasant with the quiet, peaceful murmurs of other readers over the sound of the clock ticking. From the outside, the place had appeared large and looming, but inside he found that there wasn’t really that much space at all.
Almost as soon as they had stepped in the door, Xingqiu had unexpectedly grabbed Chongyun’s hand, which caused the latter to let out a surprised squeak that embarrassingly caused a few heads to turn. Xingqiu either didn’t notice or didn’t care, and had proceeded to pull him along to a spot near the back of the building, hidden by a nearby shelf of books. Once they reached it, Chongyun saw that it was a cozy corner with a couch and a cushioned seat placed opposite to one another, a small coffee table placed in the middle of them with a few books stacked on it. Chongyun could recognise some as ones that he had spotted Xingqiu hauling home the past nights.
Without a word, Xingqiu let go of his hand and walked over to the cushioned seat, sitting down before gesturing at the couch in silence, to which Chongyun proceeded to take a seat on, looking around at the decor of the library. His attention was turned back to the boy across from him when he heard the sound of a page flip, his friend having started his reading session.
For a few minutes it was almost completely silent aside from the recurring sound of a page being turned before Chongyun decided to interrupt.
”So, uh...what exactly am I supposed to be doing here?” He inquired, confusion present in his voice.
Looking up from his book, Xingqiu met his gaze with a small smile
“Ah, I just wanted your company for a bit. I thought it’d be nice.”
Chongyun blinked
”...That’s all?”
”Mhm. Feel free to leave anytime if you get bored, I just thought it felt a tad lonely sitting across from an empty couch.”
”Well- I won’t leave, but is there really nothing to do here?”
”I could read to you, if you’d like.” Xingqiu offered with a cheeky smile as Chongyun snorted
”No thanks, last time I let you do that you wouldn’t let me go until the book was finished. 689 pages. I couldn’t even think properly without you butting in with some cryptic passage.”
”That’s a shame. This one is only 680, if that would change your mind.”
”Definitely not.” Chongyun finalised with a cross of his arms, to which Xingqiu only grinned at.
”Worth a shot. Do whatever you’d like then, I don’t mind.” Xingqiu said, turning his focus back to the book as silence settled in again.
Chongyun returned to observing his surroundings for a bit before shifting his body to prop his feet up on the other end of the couch so that he was laying across it, his arms crossed over his chest in a way that let him feel the steady beat of his own heart. It was strangely peaceful. Usually, his interactions with his friend were action filled, with Xingqiu’s mischief landing them in trouble more often than anyone would expect. Anyone apart from Chongyun, who found himself a common victim of his friend’s measly little pranks. But this was different. It was... calm, and still. Not nearly as interesting or exciting as other things they had done. But Chongyun found that it was actually quite comforting to be in his friend’s silent company. He felt... rather tranquil, really. He shifted his head to take a glance at Xingqiu, still immersed in his book.
And he felt the beat of his heart speed up just a bit.
But this realisation only appeared for a second, before it was washed away by the feeling of his thoughts becoming muddled and foggy. He turned his head back to the ceiling as he felt himself sink further into the couch, his eyelids becoming heavy as the welcoming call of rest beckoned to him. He made a small attempt to push himself up to resist it, but quickly gave up. It wouldn’t hurt to indulge in this new feeling of serenity for a little while, he decided as he let his eyes shut.
And as his surroundings began to fade, Chongyun heard a soft, familiar beat somewhere far away. It was a little faster than usual.
———
“It’s awful cold out there tonight. Are you sure you’re okay with staying?”
Xingqiu looked over to where one of the staff members of the library stood, a warm coat wrapped around her to protect her from the ever chilling breeze that awaited.
“Yes, I think I’ll be alright, thank you for your concern though.” Xingqiu replied with a respectful smile.
”Alright then. Be careful on your way back, the snow has started to build up quite a bit. Why, the roof is covered! I’m not sure how we’re going to clean it off,” She mused, looking towards the ceiling of the building
“Oh yes, I’ve also left a blanket in next to the front desk in case you do end up getting too cold in here,” She announced, gesturing to the checkout table “Usually the lights are enough to keep the place warm, but ever since the temperature dropped they’ve been dimming. We really must get some candles... But anyway, I’ll be off now. Stay safe!”
Xingqiu smiled and gave a small wave to the woman as she left, a gust of frigid air blowing through the library as the heavy door closed.
The ticking of the clock echoed across the now almost empty library, only accompanied by the frequent sound of a page being flipped. It had been about two hours since he and Chongyun had arrived, yet he was barely halfway through the book. He couldn’t help it, he was constantly re-reading sentences, paragraphs, even whole chapters to analyse them the best he could. It was one of his favourite things to do, to observe and analyse even the tiniest of details to see how they effected everything else. Even the smallest word, the slightest change in tone could have an impact on what followed after-
“Ugh...”
Xingqiu looked up from his book, his train of thought having been interrupted, and glanced at his formerly sleeping companion whom was now awake, propping himself up on his elbows with his legs still laid across the couch. Blinking wearily, Chongyun shot a drowsy and tired look over to Xingqiu, before looking around at the now dimly lit, almost silent library.
”Geez... What time is it..?” He yawned out, rubbing one of his eyes as they tried to adjust to the lighting, even if it was quite faint.
”About 8PM, the staff just closed up.” Xingqiu answered, looking over to the door before going back to his book as if it was normal to be staying somewhere past closing hours. Which for him, it was.
It was not as normal for Chongyun
“Shouldn’t we be going then? It’s probably best we do before it gets any colder.”
“It’s fine, I’ve walked through it before. It’s okay once you get used to it.”
Chongyun narrowed his eyes
“Yeah, I know. I’ve seen you trudging your way through the snow. You always look freezing. It’s really weird.”
“So that is the reason you decided to come with me today.” Xingqiu smirked as Chongyun’s eyes widened
“You knew?”
“It was a guess. But now I know it was right.” Xingqiu chuckled, amused at his friend’s less than pleased expression
“I’m not going to be able to get you out of here before you’re done, am I?” Chongyun sighed, defeated, but not enough to leave Xingqiu at the library by himself.
”Nope.”
“How long will you be?”
“Hmm,” Xingqiu hummed, glancing over to the still-ticking clock “Give me another thirty minutes, and then we’ll go.”
And so thirty minutes passed by.
And then it became an hour.
And then it became two hours.
And then the clock hit twelve once more, announcing the third hour had passed.
That was how Chongyun had ended up in a position like this. Stuck in a dingy, silent library, with his best friend glued to a book and nothing but the ticking of the clock to keep him sane.
Tick
If only he hadn’t fallen asleep
Tock
Maybe he would’ve been able to get out before the place closed like he’d planned
Tick
He shook the thought off with a small smile that was a mix of irritation and amusement
Tock
Of course he wouldn’t have been able to. He should’ve known his dear Xingqiu was too stubborn for that.
Tick
...His dear Xingqiu?
Tock
...Where on earth did that come from?
Tick
...Why did I-
The unfinished thought was interrupted by the sound of a book snapping shut, and Chongyun turned his gaze from the ceiling to see the focus of his thoughts had stood up from his seat, and was finally putting the closed book down and onto the table before looking back at him with a satisfied smile
”All done. Let’s go now, I have to lock up.”
Xingqiu snickered at Chongyun’s sigh of relief as he pushed himself up from the couch, stretching his arms out. Walking over to his friend, the two boys began to make their way towards the entrance of the place, only slightly exchanging in tired, but petty banter about how late they had stayed.
However, it came to an abrupt stop as Xingqiu pulled open the door to exit the library
...Only to be met with a large pile of snow falling into the building, with him directly in range of it.
Both boys let out a squeal of alarm, though Xingqiu’s quickly became muffled as he was covered by a blanket of frost, and Chongyun’s cut off by his lurch to slam the door shut before any more could get in.
Turning back around, Chongyun leant down to pull his now freezing friend out of the pile, hauling him up and draping Xingqiu’s arm over his shoulders as the boy began to shiver.
“Thank... thank you..” Xingqiu mumbled drearily, bringing a shaky hand up to brush bits of snow out of his hair before turning to look at the door along with his friend, who gave it an uncertain grimace
”We’ve been snowed in.”