Work Text:
"9pm at the usual place."
He Jiajia stares at his phone. Something must have happened. Their last fastfood night had been only two days ago. Bai Xiaoxiao might splurge on unhealthy stuff sometimes when her other friends weren't looking, but she did not do it that often. Sometimes she even got a salad. Once, when he had pointed out that all the add-ons and the dressing were probably just as deadly as his burger, she'd just laughed.
"Sometimes I just have to trick my brain into thinking I'm doing something healthy, otherwise I'll feel bad later."
There is a reason he likes her. He doesn't like many people.
How a disconcerting number of those people constantly have a weiqi board on their mind will forever be the biggest mystery of his life, but oddly enough he and Bai Xiaoxiao barely talk about the game. It's there, still the string that connects them somehow, but it doesn't play the same role in their friendship as it does in the ones he has with Shi Guang or Wu Di. Every time after meeting them, he feels the need to play a game of xiangqi to cleanse his brain.
Bai Xiaoxiao and he just hang out. Some days they go shopping for clothes or CDs. Other days they just sit on the floor of her dorm room or at his apartment and listen to music or watch some trashy tv shows while he gives her tips on how to style her hair and she recommends him some skincare stuff.
Of course they do talk about weiqi sometimes. Kind of inevitable when her boyfriend is a new rising star player, but most days go by in ignorant bliss.
They don't meet up every day, but they spend enough time together to be called good friends - a fact that confuses Shi Guang to this day, which is honestly a bonus.
"He Jiajia and Bai Xiaoxiao? How did that happen?”
"Hey, Shen Yilang has Hong He and you. I claim this one!"
She'd grabbed his arm and dragged him away from them to talk about ideas for her next haircut and that had been that.
A brown paper bag plops down next to him on the bench that is their usual meeting spot.
"Here, it's my turn today."
Bai Xiaoxiao sits next to him, a burger already in her hand. She bites into it as if she's starving.
He Jiajia opens the bag and liberates some fries from their packaging.
They eat in silence for a few minutes.
"Okay, so what's going on."
Shockingly, she wipes her mouth with her sleeve and throws the burger wrapping into the bin next to her.
"Do you know that bar in the side street next to the old music store with that unfriendly looking clerk we went to that one time? I think it's called the-"
"I know what bar you mean. It's not exactly a good place. What were you doing there? Are you in trouble? Do I need to beat someone up?"
Her mouth twitches into a half smile, calming the sudden flare of worry in his stomach a bit. Still. No one messes with his friends. Ever.
"Well, some friends took me there today. Don't ask me why. I think it was part of a bet or something and there were these old guys playing weiqi..."
She tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and takes a deep breath.
"... and they were bragging about how they're better than actual pro players..."
"And because you've been friends with Shi Guang and Hong He for too long, you decided to correct them, I assume? Their influence will do that to you. It's a curse, honestly. Ask Wu Di. We should avoid them at all cost!"
She snickers and hits his arm.
"Yes, kind of. Well, long story short, I maybe kind of sorta challenged some creepy old men to a weiqi game tomorrow and wanted to ask if you would come with me."
"Why don't you ask your boyfriend? I'm sure Shen Yilang would be happy to defend the honor of weiqi or something like that."
That earns him another hit, but no snicker. Bai Xiaoxiao seems suddenly quite shy, ducking behind her hair and squirming a bit.
"... don't want him to see me like that."
"What? Playing weiqi against assholes? I'm sure he's seen that before... or are you planning on wearing a mini-skirt to distract your opponents cause while I'd admire your tactical skills, I don't think y-ouch!"
Okay, he'd definitely deserved that hit.
"No! Me, in some kind of seedy bar! You know how he is. He'd probably just try to protect me, without appearing to do so and it would be very distracting."
"Ah. Yes. Standing behind you. Clenching his fists. Oozing silent disapproval for the general situation."
"Exactly. Obviously I can't ask Hong He and none of my girlfriends care much about weiqi. They'd come of course, but it just wouldn't be the same."
"Shi Guang?"
The look she's giving him now could melt glaciers and he has to admit that it was a dumb question. Shi Guang would likely strut in there, lecture everyone about the sanctity of the game, proceed to eviscerate them one after the other or possibly at the same time and then lecture them again before either leaving in a huff or becoming friends with half of them. He never thought he'd be thankful for Yu Liang, but it's really a good thing Shi Guang is quite occupied these days.
"Okay, fair."
"So you'll come?"
"Of course."
As if there had been any chance of him saying no. He Jiajia might not be overly fond of weiqi, but he always shows up for his friends.
--------
In the end it doesn't even take two hours.
"Oh my god, that was so much fun!"
Bai Xiaoxiao is practically glowing when the door closes behinds them and He Jiajia can't blame her. He's beaming just as hard. There is something uniquely satisfying about old grouchy men being put in their places.
Despite He Jiajia's insistence that she should be fashionably late to show those old geezers that she didn't care, they'd arrived right on time because Bai Xiaoxiao apparently didn't believe in rattling her opponents prior to the game.
They'd met in front of the door to the bar, nodded at each other as greeting like they were in some kind of movie and ready to beat up some faceless mooks - even if his smile had been a little lopsided and her shoulders had slumped a bit in relief the moment he'd arrived.
He'd told her that if she lost even once, she'd have to allow him to cut her hair into a bob.
She'd snorted, winked at him with a twinkle in her eyes, taken a deep breath, straightened her back, pushed the door open and walked into that bar with a confidence that had told him everything he'd needed to know about her chances of winning tonight.
He'd followed her in with the kind of grin on his face that dared anyone in there to comment on his presence and sat down at the bar, not too close to the weiqi board already waiting for Bai Xiaoxiao, but close enough to see everything.
Close enough to see Bai Xiaoxiao's face completely change as soon as she sat down.
Close enough to see her place the weiqi pieces on the board with a certainty that only comes with years of practice.
Close enough to see the grin of her first opponent be wiped off his face after only five minutes.
Close enough to see some of the men surrounding the players slink away, clearly knowing that they wouldn't have a chance.
Close enough to see the men bow to her afterwards, some grudgingly, some with admiration in their eyes, asking her if she'd come again to teach them.
"I really missed playing weiqi like that."
There is a certain spring in Bai Xiaoxiao's step and a hungry glow in her eyes that He Jiajia hasn't seen before. It reminds him a little bit of the time when Shi Guang had stopped being useless and started to win his games. Of course he is no stranger to post-win euphoria, but really, it's a tiny bit terrifying.
"I do wish they'd been better, though. Like, I knew they weren't all that good from the beginning, but it was over so soon. Oh well, I'm a bit out of practice so it was good to know that I haven't lost my edge."
She raises her fists and mock-punches him lightly in the shoulder.
"What did you think?"
"Oh, it was fun seeing the old geezers almost piss their pants. I can't believe they thought they could rag on pro players with that kind of skill level. I probably could have beaten them."
"Oh?"
He does not like that speculative glint in her eyes.
"No. Absolutely not."
"Come on. We've known each other for how long now? And we've never played a game together!"
"And that's why we're friends."
"You're just afraid you'll loose."
"That doesn't work on me, cause I know my skill level and have no pride when it comes to weiqi. I'm good, but not that good. You'd win, I have no problem admitting that."
He shrugs and he means it. You don't always automatically love the things you just happen to be good at.
"Okay, how's that: You play weiqi with me sometimes and in return you can show me how xiangqi works. That way, we'll both have someone to play whom we'll mostly likely beat once in a blue moon and still have fun?"
He offers her his arm.
"Hm, I'll think about it. Burgers?"
She takes it with a smile.
"Oh, yes."