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Aether stifles a yawn with one hand, his pen stilling across the page of his notebook as the undeniable urge hits him. Blinking, he peeks at his cell phone to check the time. Only forty minutes into his incredible boring lecture and he’s really itching to get out, but the rational part of his brain reminds him that these notes will become important later when he needs to review for the test.
It’s no use, he thinks to himself morosely. He sets his pen down beside his notebook, leaning back on the uncomfortable bench and stretching his arms over his head. The hall is sparsely populated with fellow students, some diligently jotting down notes while others stare down into their cell phone screens, not bothering to pay attention. Aether can’t really blame them for not being engaged; the professor’s monotone voice leaves much to be desired if he wants to keep their attention for longer than half an hour.
Having all but given up on taking notes, Aether props his head up in his hand and lets his gaze wander around the hall, bits of movement catching his eye as he waits for the hour to be up. He recognizes a handful of faces from other classes or fleeting group projects, but a majority of his classmates are unfamiliar to him entirely, their faces lost to him amidst the daily monotony of lectures and study groups.
Today, however, someone new catches his eye. Sitting in the back corner of the hall, listening intently, is a man Aether’s never noticed before. Which is silly, now that he thinks about it, because he seems to stand out among the sea of standard college kids preparing for midterm exams.
There are bright teal highlights in his dark hair, for one, and while it isn’t uncommon to see dyed hair on a campus full of twenty-somethings striking out on their own for the first time, it still manages to catch his eye. Not only that, but this particular student is suspiciously empty-handed; he has no laptop, no textbook, just an old-looking backpack and a cheap spiral-bound notebook that he occasionally jots down notes in.
He looks more invested in the lecture than half of his classmates despite not owning the source text. Aether can’t imagine how he’s keeping up with the coursework without being able to do the daily readings. He frowns thoughtfully.
Suddenly, the man pushes himself to his feet, and Aether realizes belatedly that the lecture has just ended. He hastily shoves his notes and his laptop into his backpack and hurries out of the lecture hall, but he can’t get the other student out of his head. When he catches sight of him among the crowd of students filing out of the building, he finds himself picking up the pace to catch up with him without really thinking.
Aether has always been a friendly guy. He has very few qualms about striking up a conversation with a stranger when the opportunity arises, and now is no exception. Mustering up his best charismatic smile, he comes up on his classmates’s left side. “Hey! You’re in Professor Zhongli’s history class, right?” he greets, catching his attention.
The boy casts him a sideways glance, expression impassive aside from a minute quirk of his eyebrows in response to being suddenly approached by a veritable stranger. “I am,” he confirms. His voice is deeper and gruffer than Aether had originally imagined. “You’re the one who was staring at me during the lecture.”
Aether winces; he’d hoped that his classmate hadn’t noticed, but it would appear he’s more perceptive than Aether originally gave him credit for. “You noticed that, huh? Sorry, I promise I’m not a creep,” he says, attempting to stay lighthearted. “My name’s Aether. I’m a sophomore.”
The man is silent for a few seconds before he says, “I’m Xiao.” Thankfully, it seems that Aether has avoided being labeled as someone unsavory, at least this time. “Did you need something?”
Aether shakes his head. “I just wanted to say hi, since we’re classmates, y’know?” he attempts, but even he can tell his reasoning is weak. Still, he presses on. “I got distracted waiting for the professor to get back on track, and I guess I just noticed you. You were taking lots of notes for the lecture, but you didn’t have a textbook with you. Did you forget it at your dorm or something? That class can be pretty tough without it.”
This particular professor is well known for long-winded lectures that stray far from the material intended to be covered. Because of this, trying to get by without doing the daily reading is nearly impossible, since there’s no guarantee it would be covered during the lecture proper. This trend has made Zhongli fairly infamous on campus, though his former students are hard-pressed to say they hate him regardless.
Xiao blinks, taking each of Aether’s words in stride and considering them. It gives Aether a chance to finally get a good look at his mysterious classmate. He’s about the same height as Aether is — that is to say, shorter than average — but he carries himself confidently despite the height difference between himself and many of the other students. He has an effeminate face, young-looking and soft around the edges.
Aether has the sudden and inexplicable thought that his classmate is very pretty, long hair framing his face and drawing attention to his bright amber eyes.
Shit , he thinks to himself, mentally cursing his poor timing. Of all the ways to realize you find someone attractive, a dodgy first meeting isn’t high on his list. He pushes the thoughts down by force. He’d really like to avoid going into full on gay panic before he’s even had a chance to befriend the guy.
“It was too expensive, so I couldn’t get it,” Xiao finally says, after several seconds of quiet have passed. He tears his gaze from Aether’s as he speaks. “I… might drop the class, try again a different semester.”
Aether blinks, shocked but not all that surprised. Indeed, his history textbook had taken up the majority of his book bill this semester after he’d been forced to buy the new edition instead of finding a used copy of a previous one. “Ugh, tell me about it. It’s criminal how much the school can be allowed to charge for just one book,” he grumbles. “I was only able to pick it up because I got a scholarship to cover the cost, but that didn’t make the final price hurt any less.”
He grimaces just thinking about it. The idea that a stupid little book could be the difference between passing and failing a required course grates on his nerves, but his annoyance is short-lived as an idea suddenly pops into his mind. “Hey, what if you share mine?” he blurts before he can fully think it through.
“Share?” Xiao echoes, obviously caught off-guard by the proposal.
Aether himself is surprised at his own boldness. It’s not an offer he’s overly inclined to make, though he’s always had a helpful streak. “Sure! I mean, I already own the book, so you could just, you know, share it with me during lectures.” He shrugs his shoulders with a lopsided grin. He’s vaguely aware that he may be making a complete fool of himself, but he’s nothing if not honest about it. “You can even take photos of the reading pages if you want, since they’re so necessary for keeping up with the professor.”
For a long moment, Aether holds his breath. Xiao looks like he wants to refuse, his eyes glancing from Aether to the textbook in his hands and back again. Then, his stiff shoulders relax just a touch. “I will… consider it,” he finally says, voice soft and surprisingly timid. He breaks eye contact with Aether, a dusting of pink on his face giving away his embarrassment.
It takes everything in Aether not to turn red himself, because while he’d certainly found Xiao attractive at first glance, he hadn’t expected that his classmate could also be this cute . He swallows thickly.
I am in so much trouble, he thinks to himself helplessly; he can practically hear Lumine’s delighted laughter and the sound of her never-ending, insufferable teasing in the face of what has to be the fastest and hardest hitting crush he’s ever developed. Once she finds out, she’ll never let him live it down, and he knows it won’t be long before she does. Lumine’s gossip network is certainly something to be feared.
Still, even that sobering thought can’t seem to dampen the rush of happiness he feels that his offer is at least being considered. “Great!” he exclaims, perhaps a bit louder than is necessary. “I’ll, um, save you a seat next class. If you show up after me, that is.” He does his best not to stutter through his half-thought-out sentences and hopes he’s not coming across as too terribly forward.
To his relief, Xiao seems to find his behavior amusing rather than uncomfortable. The smallest of smiles tugs at the corners of his lips, a detail that does not go unnoticed by Aether. “The back rows are always empty. If I show up first, there probably won’t be anyone sitting next to me anyway,” he says.
Aether reads the silent invitation in Xiao’s words, relaxing in the face of his acceptance. His face splits instinctively into a wide grin. “I’ll keep it in mind,” he chuckles. “Then, I’ll see you later?”
Xiao gives a small nod of his head, and just like that, the two of them part ways. On the way back to his apartment, Aether has a skip in his step.
---
When he enters the lecture hall two days later for his next class with Xiao, he slips into the back row instead of taking a seat in the middle like he would on a normal day. He flips open his textbook to the previous night’s reading and opens his notebook to a fresh, clean sheet for taking notes, but when the professor starts right into one of his long-winded lectures, Xiao is still nowhere to be seen.
Aether frowns, concern and doubt creeping into his good mood. Perhaps he isn’t feeling well? Or maybe something had come up that had kept him from coming today? Either way, it doesn’t sit well with him. He hopes beyond hope that he hadn’t scared Xiao away with his overbearing personality the other day.
His worries are dispelled when, five minutes late, Xiao slips in quietly through the back door, his own notebook clutched in his hands. Aether doesn’t even notice him at first until Xiao slips onto the bench beside him. He jumps in surprise, nearly dropping his pen, but his surprise is almost immediately overwhelmed by his relief. A smile breaks out on his face as he turns to glance at his companion. “You’re late,” he teases under his breath.
“I… overslept,” Xiao mumbles in reply, averting Aether’s gaze as he hastily flips open his own notebook.
Aether just nods and scoots the textbook over so it’s situated between them both in case Xiao wants to reference the text during the lecture. The smile lingers on his face as he listens half-heartedly, propping his head up in one hand. He sneaks occasional glances at Xiao as he does, fascinated to see that he is once again fully engrossed in whatever tangent professor Zhongli has gone on this time. It’s quite endearing, seeing the look of concentration and interest on his face, the thoughtful frown his lips turn down into.
Lumine had, at this point, thoroughly hammered the fact into his head that he does, in fact, have a big gay crush on his classmate, and with the way his heart rate picks up in reaction to the little things he’s started to notice about Xiao, he’d be hard-pressed to deny it. There’s something about Xiao’s quiet personality that draws Aether in, like he’s simultaneously trying to keep his distance but also constantly searching for a friendly face.
Briefly, he lets himself wonder if Xiao would allow him to become that friendly face, the kind of person he could smile at when he spots him in a crowd. The thought makes him feel suddenly warm and sets his heart off again.
Completely and utterly whipped, he thinks to himself in amusement. The thought, suspiciously, comes to him in Lumine’s distinct voice. When Aether had admitted to his situation, she’d been all too clear with her mock disgust and disbelief, immediately and mercilessly wheedling him for information to use as ammo for her teasing later. He’d have to be sure to get her back the next time she approaches him for romantic advice.
The lecture ends sooner than expected with all the thoughts Aether has circling in his mind, and he blinks in surprise when Zhongli announces that they’ll be disbanding until the next class period. He stifles a yawn into his hand and stows away his notebook while Xiao sneaks some photographs of that night’s reading assignment.
“Thank you for letting me use your textbook,” he says quietly as he does, clearly still a little embarrassed about the arrangement.
Aether flashes him a kind smile. “No problem,” he assures, “it’s no extra effort on my part. I’m just glad I can help.” He pauses for a moment, feeling uncharacteristically nervous, then blurts, “If it’s not too strange to ask, do you want to swap phone numbers? We could text each other for questions about the homework or something. It would give me a way to let you know if I won’t be at a lecture, too, you know?” Aether doesn’t often miss class, so it’s somewhat of an excuse to get Xiao’s contact information, but he likes to think it’s a good excuse nonetheless.
Surprisingly, Xiao doesn’t hesitate. “Sure,” he agrees immediately. He fiddles with his cell phone for a moment before holding it out for Aether to take, glancing up at him expectantly.
Aether really can’t believe his luck. Lumine is going to lovingly make fun of him for being so elated about something so small, but, well, it’s just what she does. Doing his best not to grin too widely, he enters his name and phone number into Xiao’s phone and saves the contact for him. “Just, uh, drop me a text and I’ll add you,” he says as he hands the phone back to him, offering up a small, lopsided grin.
“I will,” Xiao assures, slipping his phone back into his pocket. He offers up another small smile, something Aether is quickly coming to understand is a rare treat. He burns the image of it into his mind and decides that he’s going to do everything he can to make Xiao replicate it in the future.
“Okay. Then, I’ll see you later?” Aether slings his bag over his shoulder.
Xiao nods in response and raises his hand in a quiet farewell before turning to head for the back of the lecture hall, disappearing through the far door at the top of the stairs
Aether watches him go for a moment before turning to head out the opposite door, a skip in his step. He weaves between fellow students on his way out of the building, stretching his arms over his head when he’s hit by the cool, refreshing spring breeze outside. As he does, his phone vibrates in his pocket, its familiar pattern letting him know that he’s received a new message.
He starts along the path back to his apartment complex, slipping his phone out of his pocket to see who’s texted him, and sees that it’s from an unknown number.
“This is Xiao.”
Aether can’t help but grin again. It’s exactly as stiff and polite as he’d anticipated, given Xiao’s quiet, standoffish personality. He hastily saves the number to his contacts and types out a quick response. “Added you!”
Slipping his phone back into his pocket, he heads for home in good spirits. Lumine can tease me all she wants, he decides, still smiling, nothing can bring me down now.