Chapter Text
Hua Cheng is peerlessly skilled at everything he puts his mind to. He's talented in athletics, drawing, painting, sculpting, carpentry, linguistics - is a genius without even studying - and is even pretty good at cooking, or at least his dishes turn out much better than Xie Lian's barely edible ones. Most of all, he's the best friend Xie Lian could ask for, the one person in Xie Lian's life that he can't do without.
The only thing that Hua Cheng is terrible at, Xie Lian supposes, is his penmanship, which still looks like chicken-scratch despite Xie Lian’s best efforts to tutor him.
There really is virtually nothing that Hua Cheng isn’t good at. So of course, in hindsight, it shouldn’t have come as a surprise that he would be ridiculously good at pretending to be Xie Lian’s boyfriend, too.
Xie Lian hadn’t wanted to return to college.
What felt like a lifetime ago, he was a high-achiever. His grades were stellar, he was president of the student council and head of various student-led projects, yet he still found time on weekends for his passion - wushu. By the time he graduated high school, he’d had a full ride to scholarships in a number of prestigious universities, and had his pick of colleges not just in his city, Shanghai, but across the nation too. Even colleges from the United States and England offered him scholarships. Everyone expected him to eventually inherit his father’s wealthy business, but after graduation he was going to work for a non-profit humanitarian organisation for children's rights, free of the influence of corporate corruption.
But everything went wrong. While studying abroad, in a cruel twist of fate, Xie Lian lost his scholarship. Following that, his father’s company was caught in a huge, high-profile scandal that ended in bankruptcy, and just like that, the Xie family lost everything. In the end, things became so awful that Xie Lian left alone to eke out his own living in another city, not wishing to be a financial burden for his parents any longer.
It was then, working three part-time jobs in Shenzhen in an attempt to simultaneously pay the rent and send remittances back to his parents, that he’d met Hua Cheng again, years after Xie Lian had moved away from Shanghai. They had both grown up, and their situations were reversed - Hua Cheng now obscenely rich from a mysterious business while Xie Lian was barely making ends meet. Yet some things remained the same.
They had been inseparable in their childhood, growing around each other like two trees whose roots had intertwined together, and when they reunited, it was like nothing had changed. It had somehow been the easiest thing to become an essential part of each other’s lives again. Hua Cheng is, and has always been, Xie Lian’s best friend in the world, and he doesn't know how he would have made it out of those dark years without the steady, anchoring presence of his best friend by his side.
It was Hua Cheng who encouraged him to give college another try, urging him not to give up on his dreams. And now, two years later, here Xie Lian is, at a small local university with a social work department, taking classes in the day and teaching tuition to children at night to pay for his education fees.
On this day, Xie Lian is crossing the campus grounds, looking forward to meeting Hua Cheng after classes to have dinner together, when a hand reaches out and grabs his arm.
He startles at the touch, and looks up to see Zhang Weiliang, a tall, broad-shouldered boy with glasses, who sits next to him in several lectures.
"Good afternoon, Weiliang!"
The other man's face split into a grin. "It’s good to see you, Xie Lian. By the way, are you free today? There's something I'd like to talk to you about."
“Sure, what is it?” Xie Lian says curiously. Zhang Weiliang shakes his head.
“Not here.” He grabs Xie Lian’s elbow again and steers him to an empty classroom, dodging a crowd of students.
When they're in the classroom, Zhang Weiliang whirls around, and then, apropos of nothing, he drops the bomb. "Xie Lian, go out with me.”
Xie Lian blinks. "What?"
"Go out with me," Zhang Weiliang repeats. "Let's date."
Ah. This again.
Shi Qingxuan, a friendly fellow first-year student who was the first friend Xie Lian made in his new college, always said Zhang Weiliang almost definitely had a crush on Xie Lian. Xie Lian had brushed it off back then, but recently, Zhang Weiliang has been getting bolder and bolder, constantly seeking Xie Lian out and brushing his arm across Xie Lian's more than once when they happened to cross each other in the hallways.
Xie Lian takes a breath. He offers an apologetic smile and tries to let Zhang Weiliang down as gently as he can. "Weiliang, I'm truly sorry, I value our friendship a lot, but I can't do that."
The other man's forehead creases. "Why?"
"I don't see you that way," Xie Lian answers. "I'm sorry.”
"Just give me a chance, come on," Zhang Weiliang presses. "What could it hurt?"
"I'm sorry," Xie Lian repeats calmly. "I'm not looking for a relationship right now."
Zhang Weiliang's eyes flash in irritation. "You have plenty of time to hang out with Shi Qingxuan and the others," he points out. "Surely you have time for a relationship.
Xie Lian closes his eyes, his patience beginning to wear thin. "Listen, I value our friendship a lot, but I'm really not looking for a relationship right now," he repeats.
The buzz of his phone in his pocket offers him a handy distraction. He checks the screen, and sure enough, it's a notification from Hua Cheng:
Gege, I've arrived. I'll meet you at the bus stop.
Xie Lian turns back to Zhang Weiliang and forces another apologetic smile. "I’m sorry, I have to leave now. I'll see you later."
He does not, in fact, actually want to see Zhang Weiliang later, but he doesn't want to offend the other man either. He takes a step forward, making for the doorway - however, Zhang Weiliang has other thoughts. The man bristles, expression changing in an instant as he steps in front of Xie Lian, blocking his path.
Xie Lian looks up to Zhang Weiliang’s eyes burning with fury, glaring at him, and for the first time, fear starts to coil in Xie Lian's gut.
"Weiliang, please let me pass," he says quietly, carefully keeping his voice civil and calm.
"I will if you go out with me," Zhang Weiliang replies, persistent, and Xie Lian's patience is seriously running thin.
"Please. Let me pass."
Zhang Weiliang takes another threatening step towards Xie Lian. He's taller and broader than Xie Lian, crowding in on him, and Xie Lian is forced to take a few steps back, panic slowly but steadily rising in his throat.
He's contemplating using his old wushu training skills to temporarily stun Zhang Weiliang and give himself a chance to make a run for it - though he's definitely rusty, out of practice. He lost his wushu sword because he'd had to pawn it off when his father's company stocks crashed, and he hasn't had the chance to practice wushu since. Still, his body probably retained enough muscle memory to make it worth a try.
"Gege?" A familiar voice calls, cutting through the tense air.
Xie Lian closes his eyes in relief, sucking in lungfuls of air as his heartbeat finally steadies itself again.
"San Lang!"
He has never been so glad to hear the familiar jingle of chained boots approaching. Soon enough, Hua Cheng steps into the empty classroom, clad in his familiar red leather jacket and expensive black jeans. Hua Cheng must have noticed that Xie Lian neither replied to his Weixin message nor showed up at the bus stop, and come to look for him.
Zhang Weiliang’s brows furrow irritatedly, turning to glare at the newcomer.
"Gege, what's going on?" Hua Cheng asks.
His single eye travels from Xie Lian to Zhang Weiliang, expression darkening. In an instant, he’s pushing past Zhang Weiliang and to stand at Xie Lian's side, angling his lanky frame between the two, a subtle shield.
Xie Lian hesitates. "Nothing, San Lang. Weiliang was just about to go, right?"
He turns pointedly to the man, whose hard eyes narrow, jaw tightening with fury again, unfortunately looking like he has no intention to leave.
Instead, he tilts his chin, gaze landing on Hua Cheng, giving him a contemptuous sweeping glance, taking in the chains on his jeans and the messy scrawl of the tattoo on his arm. "Who the hell are you?"
Hua Cheng lifts his own chin, holding Zhang Weiliang's gaze coldly. "I could ask the same of you."
Turning to Xie Lian, Hua Cheng's tone softens a little. "Gege, is he bothering you?"
Xie Lian slowly shakes his head, yet he hesitated for a fraction too long. In his hesitation, Hua Cheng reads his answer.
Hua Cheng steps in front of Xie Lian.
“If you don’t leave gege alone - “
His voice is a growl, low and dangerous, a warning and threat in one - and Xie Lian hurries to grab Hua Cheng’s arm, pulling him back.
“It’s okay, San Lang,” he says gently, pitching his voice low to calm his best friend, squeezing Hua Cheng's arm. “Let me handle this."
Hua Cheng is still glaring at Zhang Weiliang, but at Xie Lian's words, the tight line of his jaw relaxes, his features softening.
He nods, taking a step back.
Xie Lian turns back to Zhang Weiliang. Steeling himself, he looks the latter straight in the eye. “I’m sorry, Weiliang. I can't go out with you because I... Am already dating someone else.”
And then before he can regret it, he grabs Hua Cheng’s hand again and interlocks their fingers.
"This is my boyfriend, San - Hua Cheng."
He feels Hua Cheng next to him stiffen perceptibly, slender fingers tightening in his. But those fingers slowly relax again, and readjust their grip on Xie Lian's firmly.
"That's right," Hua Cheng nods, and his tone is challenging now, a warning edge to it. "I'm his boyfriend. Who the fuck are you?"
Zhang Weiliang’s eyes narrow, darting from Xie Lian to Hua Cheng to their intertwined hands and back again, the crease between his forehead deepening further. "What? You're dating him? This fucking weirdo who looks like a gangster or something?"
"Weiliang!" Xie Lian says sharply. He doesn’t care if Zhang Weiliang insults him, but he hates it when someone makes a rude comment about Hua Cheng’s appearance.
Hua Cheng scoffs. "Certainly better than dogshit like you."
"You - !" A nerve jumps in Zhang Weiliang's jaw.
He turns to Xie Lian instead. “Please, you can do so much better than him! Besides, you said earlier that you weren't looking for a relationship. So how do you explain this?"
He gestures at their interlinked hands suspiciously.
Crap.
"Ah, I only said that earlier because I didn't want to hurt your feelings," Xie Lian replies quickly. "But it's true, the real reason I can't go out with you is because I'm already with Hua Cheng."
Fearing that their act will be seen through, Xie Lian coughs lightly, deciding to lay it on thick. He lets go of Hua Cheng's hand to slip his arm around Hua Cheng's waist instead, pulling him close.
Zhang Weiliang crosses his arms and scowls at the sight. "When did you two start dating, anyway? How come I’ve never heard about it? Or even seen him around?”
"You’re not entitled to every detail about me," Xie Lian replies calmly.
Yet, Zhang Weiliang’s words prompt the realisation that Xie Lian hasn’t yet thought of a cover story for how he and Hua Cheng met and began dating, and he bites his lip, afraid that Zhang Weiliang will see through the flimsy lie.
He’s just about to blurt out something to buy them more time, when Hua Cheng beats him to it.
"Have you considered that you don’t know everything about gege? We grew up together, and have been close for years. You, on the other hand, barely know him. Besides, I often pick him up after his classes to take him out for dinner - to not have seen us together even once, you’re too unobservant, that's all.”
Xie Lian’s cheeks warm. It’s true. He did grow up with Hua Cheng, and he does frequently meet Hua Cheng after both their classes end, and grab dinner together if Xie Lian doesn’t have tuition that day, but Hua Cheng’s words have made their casual dinners sound like romantic dates now.
Zhang Weiliang’s jaw tightens in anger, a vein twitching at the insult Hua Cheng lobbed at him. “You - !“
“I?” Hua Cheng prompts smugly.
Zhang Weiliang seethes with rage, but can find no retort, aware that he’s lost.
Hua Cheng snorts and turns to Xie Lian. "Gege, don't waste your time on an idiot like him. Come, let's go. I'll take you to your favourite restaurant.”
And then they’re leaving, Hua Cheng’s arm wrapped securely around Xie Lian. Xie Lian half-expects Zhang Weiliang to follow them with more enraged demands for Xie Lian to dump Hua Cheng and date him, but mercifully, he doesn’t.
The minute they're safely out of campus and Zhang Weiliang’s earshot, Xie Lian drops Hua Cheng's hand, turning to his best friend guiltily.
“San Lang, I’m sorry. I don't know why I told him that we’re dating - “ Xie Lian can’t say the words without heat rushing to his face. “I don’t know what I was thinking. I should have discussed it with you first."
"Gege, don't apologise, it's nothing," Hua Cheng answers gently, gaze soft. Then, his expression darkening, "Tell me, how long has that moron been bothering you?"
"Ah… He usually isn't so bad, I don’t know what got into him today,” Xie Lian says.
Hua Cheng scowls. “Gege, you don’t have to make excuses for a creep like him. The way he treated you just now was completely despicable. I’ll walk you from class again tomorrow, in case that creep tries anything again.”
True to his word, Hua Cheng shows up at Xie Lian’s campus to pick him up the day after that, and then the next, and the next. Xie Lian doesn't want to trouble Hua Cheng like that, but Hua Cheng insists that he wants to personally make sure Zhang Weiliang doesn't harass Xie Lian again, and besides, he's free anyway, so why not drop by.
The good news is that it succeeds in getting Zhang Weiliang to keep his distance. Every time he's about to seek Xie Lian out again after school, he runs into Xie Lian already leaving the campus with Hua Cheng, their fingers tightly linked, and Zhang Weiliang is forced to turn away with eyes flashing in obvious displeasure.
The bad news is that Xie Lian and Hua Cheng are spotted by way too many of Xie Lian’s schoolmates, and soon, word begins to spread down the grapevine that the weird social work major in the threadbare sweater and worn-out jeans is dating some weird rich tattooed dude. It isn’t long before the whole school knows.
Xie Lian isn’t a stranger to rumours, and he does his best to ignore the whispers and stares when he walks around campus, but guilt churns in him at the fact that he involved Hua Cheng in this mess.
'San Lang, are you sure you’re okay with all this?" he asks his best friend over dinner that day. "Being mistaken for a couple, pretending to be dating me? Zhang Weiliang is already backing off, I could… I could tell the others we've broken up - "
“No,” Hua Cheng says immediately. “There’s no need for that, gege. Don’t worry, I could hardly care less what a bunch of idiots think. If this is what it takes to get that creep to back off from you, I don't mind at all."
"Besides," he adds, "it’s not like pretending to be a couple is hard. All I have to do is hold your hand and pick you up every day. It’s not like gege’s hand is hard to hold, or like I’d complain at the chance to see gege more often."
He says the last part with a smile, light and teasing, and for some reason heat crawls up Xie Lian’s neck, although he knows that Hua Cheng is probably only joking. Still, he can’t quite look his best friend in the eye all of a sudden. He stares at his dinner instead.
“But it can get messy,” Xie Lian presses, still apprehensive. “We don’t know what we’re getting ourselves into. This could all blow up in our face - ”
Hua Cheng flicks Xie Lian's forehead lightly with a slender finger. "Gege," he says gently. "You worry too much."
"Ow," Xie Lian pretends to complain.
Hua Cheng's hand is immediately on Xie Lian's forehead, rubbing in apology. “Sorry. Did that hurt?”
"You know it didn't."
Hua Cheng is always nothing but gentle with him. Sometimes, Xie Lian thinks it’s more gentle than he deserves.
Still, Hua Cheng gives Xie Lian's forehead another apologetic caress. "Gege, don't worry so much. We'll figure it out. Whatever happens, you won't be facing it alone. You have me. You always have me."
He gives Xie Lian an encouraging smile, and Xie Lian's hand a reassuring squeeze, his palm against Xie Lian's warm and comforting.
He's right. He and Hua Cheng have faced so much together, from Hua Cheng's abusive parents and Xie Lian's early days trying to pick himself up after his burn out, and gratitude blooms in Xie Lian's chest to have his best friend by his side for this, too.
The tension finally leaves his shoulders, and he returns Hua Cheng's smile. "San Lang, thank you," he says sincerely. "For everything."
"Anything for gege," his best friend replies, leaning down to press a kiss to Xie Lian's forehead.
Yet unfortunately, an ever bigger problem soon rears its head. It turns out that word has even spread to the few new university friends Xie Lian made, because the next time he meets Shi Qingxuan, they're grabbing Xie Lian and exclaiming with wide eyes, “Xie Lian, there you are! I've been looking everywhere for you. Is it true you have a rich tattooed boyfriend?”
Xie Lian doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Qingxuan, why do you have to put it like that…
He rubs his forehead, groaning inwardly. He wants to deny it vehemently and yell, No, we’re not dating! but he can’t tell Shi Qingxuan the truth in case it somehow gets back to Zhang Weiliang. Xie Lian adores Shi Qingxuan, but they are not always the best at keeping secrets, bless their heart.
Instead, Xie Lian says, “Where did you hear that from?”
“Everyone’s talking about it! Why didn’t you tell me? They say he’s hot, too.” Shi Qingxuan giggles into their hand. “Holy shit, you have to let me meet him. Do you have a photo of him?”
Xie Lian does have plenty of pictures of Hua Cheng on his phone, though not as many as Hua Cheng probably has of him. Hua Cheng dabbles in photography on the side, and is often fond of using Xie Lian as his muse, to Xie Lian’s embarrassment.
Xie Lian pulls up a picture from his camera roll at random. It's a picture they took recently, Hua Cheng proudly wearing the horrifyingly misshapen sweater that Xie Lian knit for him, arms around a mortified Xie Lian who’s trying to hide his scarlet face in his hands. Xie Lian tries hastily to swipe to a better photo, but Shi Qingxuan, leaning over behind his shoulder, has already caught sight of it.
“What on earth is that abomination of an outfit - “ They start to exclaim, but their words are swallowed by a gasp, their eyes growing comically wide. “Wait. Oh my god?? Hua Cheng?? Did you say Hua Cheng??”
“Yes...? Do you know him?”
Shi Qingxuan shakes their head. “Not personally, but my boyfriend’s good friends with him! He Xuan mentioned him before, they have photography class together.”
A light bulb seems to turn on in Shi Qingxuan’s head. Their face lights up like a candle, and they grab Xie Lian’s hands excitedly, beaming. “Xie Lian, this is amazing! “You’re dating Hua Cheng, I’m dating Ming-xiong, the two of them are friends, the two of us are friends… We could totally go on double dates!”
Their eyes glitter with delight, and Xie Lian wishes he could share in his friend’s excitement, but instead dread is pooling in the pit of his stomach. This could go very, very horrifyingly wrong. Catastrophic levels of wrong.
What on earth has he gotten himself and Hua Cheng into?
He’s in so, so much trouble.