Work Text:
It was a cold afternoon when the English major was sleeping in his friend's bed. He heard the door open and shifted in his sleep before actually sitting up to meet with the other.
"Xiao... I told you not to wake me up..."
"It’s 2 in the afternoon. It's snowing outside, you told me you had two assignments due tonight, and you haven't eaten yet."
The business major yawned as he sat next to the sleeping figure, hugging him as the raven laughed and hugged him back. He really should be up though, the research was almost done and his part of the project was practically complete.
"Come on, Venti. Get up."
Venti yawned as he pushed the blanket off him, feeling the cold hitting his skin almost immediately. His eyes widened as he jumped back to the bed. Xiao, noticing such actions frowned.
"Just walk a little and you won't feel cold. I even had the heater on."
The other just gave a weak smile as he tried to walk his way to the bathroom without shivering too much. Xiao, leaning against the doorframe, decided to rummage through his wardrobe before Venti walked out.
And right as the shorter walked out, he was shoved with a face of... Sweater? Venti's groans were muffled before he took it off his face, looking at Xiao with a face full of confusion.
"You said you were cold, wear this over your shirt."
Xiao said stoically as he walked out of the room, which made the other frown. Venti decided to wear it over him first before running towards the other.
"But, shouldn't you be keeping this? It looks good and the texture is amazing as well!!"
"It was too big on me, you know how I hate oversized outfits. Besides, it looks better on you anyway."
Xiao replied as he put a plate of spaghetti in front of Venti. The other's eyes lit up as they quickly dug in, the business major only chuckled as he continued to type away on his laptop, finishing the project that he was working on.
The raven would slow down on his chewing as he slowly observed the other. He always liked it when Xiao pushes his glasses back to its position. He always liked it when Xiao focuses on his work, too immersed to notice what Venti does around him.
He always liked Xiao, in more ways than one.
A normal person would see the both of them and think, 'They're a close pair of friends!' A close friend would tease, 'So when are you both dating?'
What hurts Venti was Xiao’s reply to that question, and it never changes.
"We're just really close friends. Get back your work, Kaeya.."
Whenever that happens, Venti could only laugh. He didn't want to give his input, so all he could do was to just stay silent.
"...-ti? Venti?" He was pulled back to reality as he heard the other call him. His eyes regained focus on Xiao, and god did he look real good with those round glasses. "You've been staring into the air for a while, you alright?"
"Yeah! Just been thinking how I should wrap up my research..." He lied as soon as the question dropped, and finished his plate. He would go off to the sink and wash his dishes, then go to do his work.
Venti could only sigh at this hopeless romantic, as he didn’t dare to confess.
-
The day came crashing down, as bad, worse, and worst.
First, Venti got his favorite coffee mixed up with another person's coffee. So now his drink has only two shots of espresso rather than his usual cup of six.
Second, it was pouring. Heavily. And he had forgotten his umbrella. So he had to walk into the campus like a drenched cat.
Third, was when he noticed the shine in Xiao's eyes when a certain senior walked past. Venti realized how Xiao looked exactly like him when he was staring at the other. He realized how he looked exactly like when he fell in love with the other.
Xiao likes Ganyu. And it was already a given fact.
"Xiao, you look like you’re shooting lasers into my senior." Keqing pointed out as she took a bite into her food, with the business major glaring into her deepest soul. "What? I wouldn't say that if your little crush wasn't apparent. It's been like... Approximately two weeks?"
Yeah, two weeks of having to see him question himself if he really likes Ganyu.
Venti just kept working on his assignment besides the two bickering friends. He did leave an ear open, just to hear if they have said anything significant. And sure enough, they did.
"I'm partnered up with her for our accounting course, so-"
"That gives you a lot more reason why you should go after her when you get the chance."
Venti felt a pang in his heart.
It was as if Keqing had intentionally said it loud enough for him to hear it. But Xiao had hit him hard once again.
"Quiet, not everyone has to know about this."
That's how the conversation ended, and Venti had to leave first due to his class being up next. But he couldn't stop thinking about how Xiao had a small smile on him whenever they were talking about Ganyu. He couldn't stop thinking about the blush that came out of Ganyu when they were talking about date plans.
He couldn't stop thinking. This was indeed a hopeless romantic from this point onwards.
-
"Can I kiss you?"
Huh?
Venti almost dropped his coffee when the question came out of Xiao’s mouth. He had to do a double-take to make sure he DID say it. Or maybe it was his countless nights without sleep that made him hear-
"No, like. Sigh... Why is this so hard..."
The English major gulped as he stopped to save his file and turned towards Xiao. His expression was so serious that he thought the other would (somehow) finally laugh at his jokes for once. But the other was equally serious, so there's that.
"We've been dating for at least two months now and we haven't even kissed yet."
Yeah. Venti knows about that too. Ganyu, being as smart as he's been told by Xiao, isn't exactly the brightest star in the night sky. Even as an Economics Major, she was still somehow inadequate in moderating her timetable, ending up overworking herself more so often. And maybe that was the reason why she needed someone like Xiao who is a business major to be around her. But that isn't the issue right now.
"Wait, what? Why me?"
"I can’t ask Kaeya about it, he'll just tease me and tell me about his incidents with the people he’s been with. And we've been friends for so long, surely you won't feel at least a bit awkward with it."
Venti frowned and crossed his arms as he fell into deep thought. Where would Xiao come up with the idea of kissing his own friend before kissing his girlfriend? This is so very much confusing to Venti.
“But, I’m sure it’s alright to just, go for it!”
“I need practice.”
Not sure where he came up with that idea of practicing to kiss, Venti looked back up at the guy in front of him. He looked embarrassed and frustrated, it was as if he wanted to get this over with. Venti, not wanting to annoy him, nodded and agreed with it.
He wished that Xiao doesn't feel the sorrow in his heart, but rather the feign happiness for the other.
-
It wasn't long until Ganyu joined the group. And Venti was observant enough to notice that Ganyu was wearing one of Xiao’s favorite sweater. No one pointed it out of course, as they thought it was one of Ganyu’s outfits.
The sweater wasn't as good as the one Venti still kept in his closet, but it was probably significant to Ganyu. It looked like polyester, and he was not going to judge Xiao for giving him that. At least give her the comfiest sweater he has in his closet!
Venti chuckled to himself softly, his expression down and sad as he continued to ignore the conversation. His brain went to when they both had kissed. Why would Xiao ask for it? He could've just delved in, it wasn't as if Ganyu would break up with him if he failed his first kiss miserably.
The emerald eyes of his glanced at the said senior and that was when he noticed. Her stance was even more graceful than his own, and the way she talks was more professional. No wonder Xiao likes her. There were probably more reasons, like how her purple eyes shine whenever she talks about her favorite topics, or how she laughs whenever something funny was mentioned.
Venti looked back at his assignment with a frown. Why would Xiao ever kiss him, he's not even half as pretty?
He laughed at himself as the song he's been listening to for the past three months sang the same thought he had to himself. His brain was telling him how pathetic it was to have a crush on his friend, even though he was already dating someone else? It's a sad reality, and Venti just had to accept it.
-
It was somehow cold in the middle of March, transitioning from winter to spring. Venti was walking down the street, holding his hot mocha and drinking it. Originally, he planned for him and Xiao to come out for a friendly meeting. The latter mentioned that he was busy, so they didn't get to meet up at the end.
So right now, he was alone on the streets. His eyes looking around, as if he was looking for something to write about in his next assignment. Drinking a mouthful of mocha, he turned towards a cafe that looked cozy.
He shouldn't have.
His eyes widened in shock as he noticed a certain best friend. He was sitting shoulder to shoulder with the person next to him. They were laughing at a certain video on the shared laptop. Venti’s grip on his drink tightened as he stared at the couple in disbelief.
Technically, Xiao was right. He was busy indeed.
Venti laughed at himself and paced away from the Cafe as quickly as possible. He swore he also noticed that Xiao had his arm wrapped around Ganyu’s shoulder, but that was the least of his problems. He had to get away. He had to run.
When he reached his dorm, he threw the mocha on the ground in frustration. Venti locked the door behind him as he slowly sat down leaning against it. His hands gripped his face as he tried to stop his wails. His breathing quickened as he couldn't stop thinking about what he saw.
He felt abandoned. He felt replaced. He felt... Lonely. He could go to Kaeya, but this was different. It was his fault for not confessing first, but then would Xiao understand how he felt?
The empty room was echoing with sniffing and sobbing, he slowly laid down on the ground as he continued to cry. Venti felt himself losing his consciousness as his eyes slowly closed.
The last thing he remembered, was that he was covered in his tears, spilled mocha on the floor, and he was smiling.
-
"Venti!"
The second-year turned around to see Xiao running up to him. He tilted his head in confusion.
"You've been avoiding me... What's going on?"
"I'm not, I just had even more assignments than before."
"Even when you had 6 assignments due the next day, you would still answer my calls. You would still answer my texts. You would still open your door up for me. What happened?"
The atmosphere was tense between them both as Xiao grabbed Venti's wrist. This caused the English major to look at his best friend. This was indeed his fault, so he gently pushed his hand away from him.
"Don't need to worry too much about it, plus, it seems like your girlfriend is waiting for you."
Venti wanted to get out of here as fast as possible, seeing how Ganyu was looking around at her surroundings. He managed to get her attention, so she waved at Venti with a smile. He waved back at him and looked at Xiao.
"You go spend time with her, alright? I'll go now!" He said with a cheerful tone as he ran off, almost bumping into Ganyu.
“Oh, watch your road, Venti.” She said with a caring smile, holding the other back up. But Venti only nodded as he muttered thanks, before running away without looking at either of them.
He just hoped that neither of them noticed the tears falling down his cheeks as he was running away.
-
Days after days, months after months.
Nothing has changed.
Xiao was still dating Ganyu.
Venti was still a lonely bystander.
But it's alright.
The love of his life was happy with another person.
But it's alright.
At long as he's happy,
Venti doesn't mind.
Not anymore.