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It’s a concept as old as time itself – red strings, invisible connections, ties that defy death and remain over multiple lifetimes. Fated people. It’s ridiculous, really, and utterly stupid to let one’s life be defined by that fickle thing called fate. The problem is that Xie Yuchen has the grand misfortune to have grown up in a universe where soulmates are a thing. And as if that weren’t bad enough, the universe also decided to pair up those soulmates by tattooing words onto their skin.
It’s simple. One has the first words the other said to them, the other the last. But of course it would be way too easy to, don’t know, colour-code or something what are the First and what are the Last Words. No, the universe, in a fit of cruel mockery, left that for the people to find out.
Some have it easy. Like Xiuxiu. She really lucked out – there are no words anywhere on her body. Word-less people like her exists plenty. It doesn’t mean she’ll never find anyone to spend her life with, it just means there isn’t That One Person she’s destined to be with, the one who “understands her better than herself, is like a second half that finally completes her” (as some dumb guy on a dumb talk show once worded it).
Others have it easy as well. Like Wu Xie. Not because the universe favours him (though it clearly does), but because he’s an idiot. The Words are still a very new thing, so some people don’t know how to handle the revelation that they have a soulmate, and the ones who have the First Words often end up not confessing to their other part. Not so Wu Xie. As soon as Zhang Qilin finally (after weeks, really, if you’re to believe Pangzi) opened that stubborn mouth of his and actually spoke to Wu Xie, the other literally blurted out, “Oh my gods, you’re my soulmate!” and that was it.
Oh my gods, they were soulmates.
The whole thing is like a bad trope in some cliché story, honestly, and Xie Yuchen would be more than happy to stay alone his whole life than have some soulmate pushed upon him by forces beyond his control. Especially because his Words are just. The worst. The first time he saw them he had been too young to understand, but judging from the reaction of people around him he concluded that they must be something not good. And as he grew up, he realised that they are, in fact, something not good. They run from his shoulder down to his elbow, the characters bold and crooked and extremely unsightly and the reason why Xie Yuchen can never wear short sleeves.
(“Xiao Hua, do you want to go swimming?” “I don’t like swimming.” He loves swimming, but he’s not willing to humiliate himself in front of so many people.)
After a while, self-pity transitioned into anger and from there into indifference. Xie Yuchen simply decided to not like his soulmate on principle. He hopes his Words are the First, just so that he can never reveal the connection to his soulmate.
Most Words are horribly stereotypical (Your eyes are beautiful) or simply boring (I love you), some are poetic and romantic. Xie Yuchen doesn’t care for any of that sappy nonsense, but at least it would be better than –
“Five thousand for that piece.”
He stares down at the man who just said the words Xie Yuchen spent over twenty years of his life despising. And from the looks of it, he’ll despise this man as well. He’s sporting a truly horrible mullet, muddy pants that are patched up in various places and a leather jacket that has seen better days. To top it all up, the aviators that are perched on his nose have gone out of style ages ago. He’s everything Xie Yuchen hates and more. The full package, complete with an obnoxious grin and ridiculously long legs (which Xie Yuchen usually does not hate at all, but for this man, he’ll try).
Xie Yuchen decides then and there that this man does not deserve him. He simply turns around, and jumps off the roof, followed by a Xiuxiu who’s wearing a very dangerous expression.
“Did he just say what I think he said?” she asks as soon as they sit in the car.
“No,” Xie Yuchen says out of reflex, and it’s the exact wrong thing to say.
“He totally did! Oh wow, Xiao Hua! Your soulmate looks like a–”
“No. Xiuxiu, no. Just no. He’s not my soulmate. I’ve always said I don’t care for this nonsense and I won’t start caring now just because some random idiot from the street offered me five thousand for that piece. I already hate him, and I won’t see him ever again.”
Fate picks this exact moment to give Xie Yuchen another slap to the face. Xiuxiu’s eyes widen and a second later there is a tap against the window. Black glasses stare at him from behind it and before he can stop her, Xiuxiu has already lowered it.
“Let’s talk,” the man says, and his voice is just as annoying as the rest of him.
“No.”
And Xie Yuchen drives off.
“Xiao Hua, why are you like this? Others would be so excited to finally meet their soulmate, and you? Don’t you think you should give him a chance?”
“Does he look like someone who deserves a chance? From me of all people?”
“I mean…” Xiuxiu smiles at him. “Not to be superficial, but your styles complement each other pretty well.”
“You take that back.”
Xiuxiu shrugs. “I think he looks like a fun guy. Kind of cute, actually. Who knows, maybe you’d really like him if you actually, I don’t know, talked to him.”
“We will never know because we won’t ever see–“
Fate has truly chosen Xie Yuchen as its sole punching bag.
“Brake!” Xiuxiu yells and Xie Yuchen’s attention snaps back to the road. He barely manages to stop the car before it barrels into the person standing in the middle of the road. A second later Xie Yuchen wishes he would have accelerated. The man in the black glasses slams his hands on the hood.
“Let’s talk.”
“No.”
And now Xie Yuchen really does accelerate. Unfortunately, the man jumps to the side before the car can run him over.
“That’s the third time both fate and your soulmate himself told you to talk. Don’t you think you should give it a try?”
“I absolutely think I should not.”
Xie Yuchen would have repeated that he doesn’t intend to see the man again, but that would have just given fate another opening.
-
“Hua’er-ye.”
I hate you.
“Hua’er-ye!”
I hate you. So much.
“Your eyes have been closed for a long time. Are you dead?”
I wish I was, just so that I wouldn’t have to hear your dumb voice anymore.
“Well, maybe it’s for the best. I can just bury you in the sand. An all-natural and organic grave that will preserve you for a very long time!”
Waterdrops hit Xie Yuchen’s face and his carefully cultivated self-control evaporates in a puff of hot air.
“Get your filthy hands off me!” he snaps and pulls his scarf over his face. “I won’t die before you do.”
Not only is he stuck in the desert, weak and dehydrated (and sweaty, and that’s honestly the worst of it all), no, for some reason the rest of the crew also left him in the company of the worst person on this entire planet. He thought that if he just pretended to sleep, this human-shaped annoyance would at least keep his stupid mouth shut to let him rest, but clearly common sense is not something Hei Xiazi excels at. He also doesn’t excel at taking hints because no matter how cold Xie Yuchen is to him, he just won’t leave him alone. Like now, where he stays next to him even though Xie Yuchen is doing his best at feigning sleep and there’s an entire camp for Hei Xiazi to annoy.
Soulmate, Xie Yuchen thinks disdainfully. Absolutely impossible. Maybe it was just a coincidence. A lot of people want to buy things from me. It doesn’t have to be him.
Unfortunately as he’s getting distracted by his throughs, Xie Yuchen’s body feels the need to remind him that truly everyone and everything has turned against him. A violent cough tears from his parched throat and he has to sit up.
Immediately, a water bottle appears before him.
“Have some water.”
Hei Xiazi grins at him. He looks even more ridiculous in the night.
“It’s dark and you’re still wearing shades. Can you even see?” Xie Yuchen asks because he feels the need to be petty.
Hei Xiazi leans in (way closer than necessary, Xie Yuchen thinks as the smell of leather and smoke assaults his senses) and his voice drops to an ominous whisper. “The darker it gets, the better I see.” Then the obnoxious grin is back, and he waggles the bottle. Xie Yuchen sighs. His throat really hurts, otherwise he definitely wouldn’t accept anything from Hei Xiazi.
“Thanks,” he mutters and takes a sip, trying and failing to not think about how Hei Xiazi’s dirty mouth probably touched the bottle as well.
“May I also offer some bell pepper and pork rice?” How he picked the exact flavour Xie Yuchen hates is a mystery, but it proves yet again that soulmates are nothing but a scam.
“No thanks. I don’t like bell peppers.”
Hei Xiazi isn’t deterred in the slightest. “How about some compressed cookies?”
Another thing Xie Yuchen hates. “They’re dry.”
“Excuse you, we’re in the desert where they’re basically considered a gourmet food!”
Ah. So that’s what he’s after.
“I guess they must be expensive then?”
On cue, Hei Xiazi pulls out a credit card reader. “500RMB.”
His grin is so incredibly stupid that Xie Yuchen almost slips and grins along. He only barely manages to catch himself.
In the end, he still buys those stupid cookies. In the end, Hei Xiazi still takes them back, the sly fox. In the end, Xie Yuchen isn’t bothered by that as much as he should be.
-
In hindsight, he never should have done it. Because from that moment on Hei Xiazi sticks to him like they’re actually connected by a red thread. Xie Yuchen can feel his attention on him like a physical touch and he’s at all times uncomfortably aware of how little Hei Xiazi cares about things like personal space or decency. His arm constantly finds its way around Xie Yuchen’s shoulders, his hands are always somewhere around his wrist or on his back, and the worst thing about it is: Xie Yuchen doesn’t mind. And he absolutely should mind. He hates physical contact, he hates stupid people, and he especially hates Hei Xiazi. So why isn’t he bothered? He tries his best to be, he really does, but it becomes harder with each day he spends next to the man who definitely can’t be his soulmate, considering the amount of times he proved that they’re on very different ends of a spectrum.
Which is why he shouldn’t have embarked on the journey through the desert with the alleged other part of Xie Yuchen’s soul.
“Hua’er-ye.”
He should keep his distance. It’ll be way too embarrassing to admit to Xiuxiu that maybe, sometimes, if one turns both blind eyes (hah) to Hei Xiazi, he can be somewhat bearable.
“Hua’er-ye.”
It’ll be even worse to face Wu Xie, who’s probably going to say something very stupid but very real, one of his worst traits.
“Hua’er-ye!”
“What?” Xie Yuchen snaps. “Can’t you shut up for one second?”
“We have such a long way to go, why don’t we make some friendly conversation?” Hei Xiazi strides up to Xie Yuchen with those ridiculously long legs of his and then leisurely strolls beside him even though Xie Yuchen walks extra fast. Tall people are the worst.
“Give me 100RMB and I’ll talk to you,” Xie Yuchen says. Money is what Hei Xiazi loves most in the world (his actual soulmate is probably a banker), and there’s no way he’ll voluntarily give some of it up.
“I know something even better! I give you 150 and you answer one of my questions.”
Xie Yuchen looks at him suspiciously. This has to be a trap. What would he even want to know? But Xie Yuchen is a lot cleverer than this towering idiot, so he can get both the satisfaction of taking some of his precious money from Hei Xiazi and make him look stupid.
“Whatever. Sure.”
Hei Xiazi’s hand lands on his shoulder and he turns Xie Yuchen around to face him. “You can’t lie.”
“Just ask your stupid question.”
The smile on Hei Xiazi’s face is all edge. “Do you have Words?”
Xie Yuchen’s brain turns into a supercomputer as he goes through all possible answers and their consequences in .5 seconds. No would be too obviously a lie, Yes would invite follow-up questions, None of your fucking business would be an obvious confirmation.
“Yes,” he finally settles on.
“Which ones?” Hei Xiazi asks immediately and predictably.
“I’ve answered your question.”
“300 for another one.”
“No.”
“500!”
“I’m already rich, I don’t need your money.”
“Hua’er-ye!”
It feels good to have Hei Xiazi scramble after him, begging for another answer. But their little exchange also made a thought appear in Xie Yuchen’s head: Which Words does Hei Xiazi have?
-
Once it took root, the question grew and grew until it took up way too much important headspace. Even now that they stand inside some huge underground oil pipe that is blocked off by sand on both ends, Xie Yucheng can’t help but wonder: If we die now, will Hei Xiazi know first because he has my last Words on his body?
Hei Xiazi seems entirely unperturbed by their impending doom. “It’s okay if we can’t get out. At least we’re together. Our ghosts can keep each other company.”
“If you want to die, fine. Don’t drag me down with you.”
For the next indefinite amount of time, Xie Yuchen does his best to dig a way out of here while Xia Heizi does his best to be a pain in the ass. On which he sits, comfortably, and eats a pack of fried rice with bell peppers whose smell alone is enough to annoy Xie Yuchen.
“Hei Xiazi.”
He continues to eat just stupid food.
“Hei Xiazi!”
No reaction.
“HEY! Look at me!”
Hei Xiazi’s head snaps up and the container clatters to the ground, spilling food across the dirty floor. Less than a heartbeat later Hei Xiazi is in front of him and pulls him into his arms, curling his body around Xie Yuchen’s as if he wants to shield him from something.
“Wh- what the fuck you absolute madman, let go of me!”
Xie Yuchen pushes him away and it’s a lot easier than expected. Hei Xiazi stumbles back, breathing heavily. He tries for a grin, but it looks strained.
“Ah, sorry, Hua’er-ye. I…I heard a strange noise. Sounded like something was carving in.”
“I didn’t hear anything.”
“Didn’t I tell you? My hearing is a lot better than yours. There was definitely a noise.”
There was no noise. But there is now. And if Hei Xiazi’s hearing is as good as he claims, he certainly hears the rapid beat of Xie Yuchen’s heart. Looks like he just found out which words Hei Xiazi has tattooed somewhere on his body.
-
He sees them mere hours later. His plan to get out of the pipe was very good in theory, but as already established, fate really doesn’t like Xie Yuchen. He doesn’t know what’s worse – that he was proved wrong or that Hei Xiazi, who so easily proclaimed his trust in Xie Yuchen even without knowing they are soulmates, gets hurt because of it.
Xie Yuchen comes back to consciousness slowly. There is a still loud ringing in his ears, and he can feel the residue heat of fire on his face. The explosion threw him into the dirt and he’s covered in dust, but all that fades into the background when he sees a familiar piece of black leather lying on the ground not too far from him. He pushes to his feet despite his body’s protests and drags himself over. A cold wave of dread washes over him as he picks up the torn leader and sees no trace of its owner. He looks around frantically, searching for light reflecting off black glasses. Then he sees him.
Hei Xiazi lies in the in the shadow of a large rock, covered in soot and dirt and ash, and doesn’t move. Xie Yuchen stumbles over and falls to his knees next to him.
“Hei Xiazi. Hei Xiazi! Hey!“ he shakes the other‘s shoulders but gets no reaction. Hei Xiazi’s head merely tilts to the side, drawing Xie Yuchen’s attention to his neck and then lower to where his shirt is singed and torn and exposing…black marks that don’t look like soot at all. Xie Yuchen carefully reaches out and peels back the tattered cloth to expose Hei Xiazi’s chest. There, right above his heart, it says in somewhat familiar writing, Look at me. Turns out that seeing it is a lot different from simply suspecting it. Xie Yuchen’s fingers shake slightly, but before he can pull them away, a hand closes around his wrist.
“Like what you see?”
It’s only thanks to Xie Yuchen’s lifelong cultivation of self-restraint that he doesn’t let out the very embarrassing shriek that tickles in his throat. Hei Xiazi grins his trademark I-Want-To-Make-Hua’Er-Ye-Mad-grin.
“Hua’er-ye, if you wanted to feel me up you only had to say the word. I’d be more than happy to – ouch!”
“You’re the worst. Did anyone ever tell you that?”
“If I got 1RMB each time someone did, I could retire now.”
“Gods. I hate you so much. I can’t believe I was worried about you. Clearly the King of Diyu would send you back immediately if you died.”
Hei Xiazi only continues to smile and the longer he looks at it, the more annoying Xie Yuchen finds it. He should do something about it. It isn’t too far of a distance between them anyway, so if he just leaned in–
The lips he has been staring at for the past ten seconds suddenly move.
“I knew I wasn’t going to die. You didn’t tell me to look at you.” He points at his chest and the words that are painted on it.
Xie Yuchen huffs. “What makes you think I’m your soulmate?”
“Oh, come on, Hua’er-ye. I don’t need to see some dumb Words to know that. I only need to see your pretty face and hear your wonderful voice and feel this special connection between us and I know it has to be you.”
Xie Yuchen stares at him.
“That, and Wu Xie told me your Words after I made puppy eyes at him.”
“Puppy eyes. You.”
“I might also have told him I’m in love with you and so very afraid that we’re not destined to be together, after which he took pity on poor old me. So. Can I see as well?”
“Can you see what?” Xie Yuchen asks, highly irritated by everything and busy mentally strangling Wu Xie.
“Can I see the Words! What are they again? Four thousand for that piece?”
“Five.”
Hei Xiazi grins triumphantly.
“You-!” Xie Yuchen punches his chest, exactly where he knows his last words to Hei Xiazi to be written. Then something crosses his mind. He grins and leans closer, bringing his face close to Hei Xiazi’s.
“Hey,” he says, dropping his voice to a whisper. “Hei Xiazi. Look at me.”
Hei Xiazi reacts immediately. He grabs Xie Yuchen’s shoulders and flips them over, covering Xie Yuchen’s body with his own to shield him from non-existent danger. Xie Yucheng laughs loudly.
“Say something else! Hua’er-ye!!!”
Xie Yuchen keeps his mouth firmly shut, grinning up at Hei Xiazi.
“Hua’er-ye! I’m not getting up until you say something!”
It’s the worst way to get him to speak, really, because Hei Xiazi’s weight on top of him doesn’t feel bad at all and Xie Yuchen really likes how warm he is in the middle of the desert night. And so he doesn’t speak and lets Hei Xiazi lie on him for a while longer.
Contrary to all expectations, maybe fate doesn’t hate Xie Yuchen after all.