Chapter Text
Zhongli finds that he stares at Childe’s mouth, more than anything else.
“Hey, Guizhong, you know the guy that Zhongli’s all hot and bothered over?” Venti asks, poking at his unwanted food.
She raises an eyebrow, then shoots a look at Zhongli. “Excuse me?”
“I’m not ‘hot and bothered’,” Zhongli protests. “Childe is just-”
“Childe? His name is Childe?”
Venti leans forward. “He’s a saxophonist.”
Guizhong gasps. “A saxophonist?”
Slamming his thermos down, Zhongli shoves his things back into his bag and gets up to leave, but Guizhong’s grip on his arm was iron-tight. “Aw, come on, there’s no need to be shy.”
“I’m not being shy, there’s nothing to be shy about,” he snaps, attempting one last time to pull away. It fails.
“Sit down, sit down. It’s okay, Zhongli, it doesn’t matter who or what you like, we’ll always accept you.”
Zhongli rolls his eyes. “Don’t be overdramatic.”
Guizhong looks at Venti, then leans over to whisper, “he’s smitten.”
Chat: bros
guizhong<3: i couldn’t find him in the yearbook
VENTI!!!!: whaaaat
Zhongli: Childe isn’t his real name.
VENTI!!!!: bitch wtf is it then tell me now
Zhongli: No.
“Where is he?” Guizhong asks while tilting side to side in her seat. She squints at the band farthest to the right. “He’s white, right?”
“Ninety percent of the people down there are white.” Venti leans over on top of Zhongli. “Where ya looking, loverboy?”
Zhongli waits one second, until he shoots to his feet, waving frantically. At that moment, he locks eyes with an orange-haired saxophonist over twenty feet away, who also stands and waves back, smiling widely.
Zhongli sits back down, completely oblivious to the jaw-dropped looks of his friends.
Venti taps Guizhong’s shoulder, then points at his phone.
Chat: bros w/out rock man
VENTI!!!!: what was that
VENTI!!!!: why is he smiling so hard
guizhong<3: he’s in love?!?!?!?!
VENTI!!!!: YEAH I SAW
VENTI!!!!: ZHONGLI, MR. NEVER BRING ATTENTION TO YOURSELF
aether B): HUH WHAT HE’S IN LOVE?!??!w>adkIAHFJ
guizhong<3: i took a picture of his face
aether B): SEND IT NOW
guizhong<3 sent an image.
VENTI!!!!: bitch he’s gone. we’ve lost him
aether B): wait who
guizhong<3: we don’t even know his name -_-
VENTI!!!!: omg wait no aether knows everyone and their mommies u can tell us who it is
aether B): yeah but who tho
VENTI!!!!: well we don’t even know what he looks like either
aether B): dude.
“Why are you two texting? It’s about to start.”
Both of them shove their phones under their legs. “Texting? Who, us? No. Never,” Guizhong lies.
“Not in a thousand years, Zhongli, of course, we care about the music of this mysterious guy who you won’t even show to us.”
Zhongli shushes them, and they all settle into their seats.
“Did you like it?”
“Huh?” Venti blinks at Zhongli, who is staring at him intently. “Uh, yeah, of course. Sounded great.”
Guizhong turns away to roll her eyes. When she turns back, she goes into fake-cooing mode. “Aww, Venti, is it past your bedtime? Are you tired?”
Venti lifts a hand, pretending not to see her. “As the mature young man that I am, I will spare you my wrath.”
Guizhong snorts. “Yeah, well, anyway, Zhong-” She looks up, to blank air in an empty seat. “Huh? Where’d he go?”
Venti jumps to his feet. “What the- Guizhong, we lost him! Physically!”
Zhongli watches Childe disassemble his saxophone and put it away, clicking the case shut. “Childe, you did well.”
He snaps his head towards Zhongli, startled. “Oh, Zhongli! Hey!” He beams, striding over, case in hand. “Thanks for coming, you really didn’t need to.”
“It was my pleasure. To be honest, this was my first time attending a band concert.”
Childe chuckles. “Well, then I’m glad! I like my group a lot more than I expected I would.”
Zhongli nods politely. “That’s good.”
They walk away from the band room together. Zhongli says, “I haven’t heard about you getting into any fights recently.”
Childe snorts. “Yeah, I got scolded last time and they told me I would have to sit out today’s concert with detention if it happened again. And concerts are a big part of my grade, and I can only disappoint my parents in one way, so,” he laughs.
“I’m glad, Childe. If you stumbled into the library one more time with a bruised face, I wouldn’t know how to react.”
"Hmm… probably the same way you’ve reacted the last five times, eh? Sounds like you’re getting tired of me.”
Shaking his head furiously, Zhongli says, “I would never. I’m just tired of seeing you… hurt.”
Childe smiles. “My mom says that about me all the time.” He roughly pats Zhongli’s shoulder. “No need to worry! I’m pretty resilient.”
“There you are!”
They jump to see Venti and Guizhong, Venti, in particular, pointing right at Zhongli.
“We looked everywhere for you!” he shouts.
“Not really,” Guizhong says, crossing her arms. “Still, running off the instant you can just to see… this guy? I see how it is.”
Zhongli sighs. “Childe, this is Venti and Guizhong. Guizhong and Venti, this is Childe. He’s the saxophonist I’ve told you about.” He glares very pointedly at them, and they choose to ignore him and look at Childe, who was scratching the back of his head.
“Hi. Sorry if Zhongli dragged you here just to see me.”
“No, no, it was our pleasure.” They step closer, not-so-discreetly inspecting him.
Venti waggles his eyebrows. “Saxophone, huh? Can you play Careless Whisper?”
Childe snorts, a bit louder than necessary. “Of course, but that’s going to cost you five dollars.”
Guizhong shoves Venti out of the way. “What kind of saxophone?”
“Alto. Tenors a bit bigger, and it looks a little different at the top.”
“How long have you played?”
“Eh, a few years now?”
“Are you any good?”
Childe laughs. “I sure hope so!”
Zhongli grabs Childe by the shoulders and turns him away from Guizhong and Venti’s eyes, which are still dripping with curiosity. “Childe, aren’t your parents waiting? I don’t want to hold you up and worry them any more than I already have…”
“Huh? Oh, well, they’re patient people, no need to worry about that!”
Zhongli’s abandoned friends watch as Zhongli pushes Childe out of the school, not even glancing behind him.
Chat: bros w/out rock man
guizhong<3 has renamed the chat to ‘zhongli is in love’.
VENTI!!!!: bitch he hates us now
guizhong<3: i wouldn’t put it like that
VENTI!!!!: AETHER HE HATE SUS
aether B): lmao sus
VENTI!!!!: lmao sus
guizhong<3: his nickname is childe btw
aether B): HE LIKES CHILDE!?!?!?????!?
VENTI!!!!: i knew he knew him
aether B): guys childe is always hanging around my sister T_T
guizhong<3: WHAT
VENTI!!!!: WHAT
aether B): YEAH ONE SECOND
aether B) is video calling…
“Hello?” Guizhong, alone in her room, quickly turns on her headphones and picks up her phone. “Hello?” she asks again.
“Hello?” Aether replies.
“Hiii!” Venti sticks his tongue out.
“Hold on, I’ll ask Lumine about this mysterious dude.” Guizhong watches as Aether strides across his room and out into a hallway. “Lumine!”
Off-camera, the flattest voice known to man answers. “What.”
“You know this guy named Childe?”
“Yeah.”
“What’s he like?”
“Weird. I beat his ass every week to get free homework. That’s pretty much it.”
“No way. Tell me more.”
“Uh, he’s a dumbass? And he goes around fighting people. He’s fucked up, how’s that?”
Aether rolls his eyes. “Right. You know Zhongli?”
“Of course I know Zhongli.”
“Apparently he’s all over this guy.”
“What? Zhongli likes Childe?”
“Yeah.”
“Damn. I thought he’d have better taste. I mean, he’s a ginger.”
Guizhong covers her mouth to hold in her laugh. Venti, on the other hand, is very obviously losing it while muted.
“Well, thanks.”
“No, you can’t just leave. Who’re you talking to right now?”
“Bye!” Aether turns around and dives back into his room, locking the door. “So that’s that.”
Venti unmutes himself. “So he’s a fight slut?”
“I wouldn’t say it like that,” Guizhong says. “Lumine would do anything to get free homework. Maybe he’s just a masochist?”
“Ew,” Aether says. “I don’t want to think about that.”
“Why don’t we just ask Zhongli himself?” Guizhong asks.
Before either of them can say yes or no, she opens up the chat.
chat: bros
guizhong<3: ZHONGLIIIIIIIII
Zhongli: Yes?
guizhong<3: what’s childe like. tell me more
guizhong<3: like rn
The three of them watch as Zhongli has a typing bubble for about forty seconds.
Zhongli: He’s very considerate, and often pays for me when I forget my money. He’s also very family-oriented, and he’s told me that he tries to get good grades to impress his parents. I’ve heard he’s good at cooking and cleaning, and he started playing the saxophone because he thought it was cool looking. Additionally, he swims for fun but refuses to join the swim club. I greatly admire his persistence to get the result he wants, and his ability to take losses in stride.
Zhongli: I believe there are things I missed, but that’s the majority of what I know right now.
“Holy shit,” Aether says.
“Oh my, Aether cursed. This is serious.”
“No, I think it was serious the second Zhongli sent an entire paragraph about this dude. Over a text message.”
Childe groans, shifting his saxophone case from his left hand to his right. “It’s so hot out today.”
Indeed, the sun is bearing down on the two of them heavily, and the lack of wind has Zhongli sweating, but Childe looks like he’s about to collapse. “Childe, are you alright? We can sit down somewhere if you’re feeling ill.”
“No, no, I’m just fine. It’s just… awful… isn’t it supposed to be spring? If I was in Snezhnaya, there would still be snow on the ground.”
“Really?” Zhongli tries to imagine that. In Liyue, snow barely came, and when it did, it was considered a miracle of sorts. “This type of weather is normal this time of year.”
Childe sighs, furiously fanning himself. Then he forces himself to stand up straight, even under the unrelenting heat. “Don’t worry, Zhongli! I’m always up for a challenge, even if my enemy is the weather.”
Zhongli smiles. “First, chopsticks. Now, the weather. It’s like Liyue has a personal vendetta against you.”
“Yeah, no kidding. I’m surprised some masked man hasn’t come out and tried to mug me with a knife.” He shrugs. “No matter, I have a clean-faced man here to mug me with a smile.”
Zhongli, pointedly ignoring Childe’s side-eye, brushes his bangs out of his face. “You’re right, though. Despite being used to it, it really is hot out today.”
“Oh, thank goodness. I was worried about your extreme stoicism—I thought I was alone in this suffering.”
They stop in their tracks once they find a bit of shade, and Zhongli takes his hair out of his ponytail to retie it into a bun. Childe shoves a hand up his hair and reveals a pale forehead with a scar to the side, and groans again. “So! Hot! I’m telling you, Zhongli!”
“I hear you.”
“Agh! I just want to strip right here, right now!”
Zhongli blinks at him. “I cannot protect you from the police, Childe.”
Childe snorts. “No, I won’t actually strip, don’t worry.” He touches his forehead. Childe, you fucking idiot. Please think of something to say that isn’t related to the weather. Clearing his throat, Childe scratches at a red spot on his arm. “Oh, uh, you know, I don’t think we can hang out this weekend.”
Zhongli looks up from his untied shoelaces. “Oh?”
“Yeah. Sorry. Stuff to do.”
Frowning at his vague response, Zhongli thinks of what he was planning on doing for Childe this weekend. Was it playing the violin for him? He did seem pretty curious about it. “You’re… busy?”
Childe nods.
“I see. I understand.” If it was the violin, thank goodness because I feel unprepared.
Childe shoves his shoulder affectionately. At least, Zhongli hopes so. “Thanks.”
That Saturday, Zhongli stares at the assortment of picture frames sitting on the shelves of a local store. Would a 4x6 or a 5x7 be better?
Guizhong, Venti, and Aether sit around a wobbly table next to him, staring at their phones. Zhongli picks up a frame, seeing no scratches, but the color of the frame was neon pink.
He shows it to the three. “Yes, no?”
They all look up simultaneously.
Guizhong, “No.”
Venti, “Yes.”
Aether, “No, unless you’re insane.”
“How rude!” Venti whines, “Aether has something against me, I just know it.”
Guizhong cut that possible argument short, gasping loudly. She leans forward, causing the entire plastic table to shift. “Guys, wait, is that Childe?”
Zhongli doesn’t turn around. He picks up a black frame littered with scuffs.
“No, that can’t be him,” Venti says dismissively.
“No, that is him!” Aether whisper-shouts. “Look, same hair! Fish eyes! That’s him!”
All three of them go silent, then gasps in unison.
Guizhong rockets herself over, teetering on her seat precariously as she grips Zhongli’s jacket. “Zhongli! Zhongli!”
He doesn’t break his focus off of the frames. “What.”
Venti follows suit, leaning over and grabbing Guizhong’s shirt. Aether did the same with Venti’s hoodie; they made an odd jacket train.
“Childe! He’s with a girl!”
No reply. Zhongli picks up a 5x7 picture frame. Perhaps these have better frames.
They all release each other, crowding into a blob of peepers. Aether squints. “She’s way short. Maybe some sort of relative?”
“They don’t look related in the slightest! And Zhongli has said that his siblings look like carbon copies of him.”
“What the- oh my lord they are totally dating Zhongliareyouseeingth-”
Zhongli, thoroughly annoyed by Guizhong shaking his jacket, finally relents and turns around. “What.”
They all point in the same direction, straight ahead of them. “Look!”
Zhongli looks down the aisle, and he sees a very distinct Childe, laughing with who looks to be a young foreigner. Childe dances around her, patting her head, saying something that Zhongli couldn’t hear. The girl reciprocates, leaning into his space and replying.
“If they are related,” Venti says, “that’s weird as fuck.”
“You don’t know, all families are different,” Aether reasons.
“Well, yes, but that’s weird even if they are joking and Zhongli should give up on him right now.”
Guizhong hushes them both. “They’re probably just good friends. Good friends do that sort of thing all the time, don’t they, Zhong…?”
His face is the same as ever.
The glass in the frame he's holding looks like it’s about to break.
Chat: zhongli is in love
guizhong<3: i cannot handle the pain and suffering that zhongli is going through right now
lumine: don’t be overdramatic.
guizhong<3: WHEN DID YOU GET IN HERE
lumine: aether added me.
lumine: he can’t be that heartbroken over such a small thing, right?
guizhong<3: girl you don’t even know
His math textbook is already open, and Zhongli isn’t reading a word.
Four of his friends crowd together behind him around Guizhong’s desk, whispering as if he can’t hear them easily.
“Are you sure that girl was Childe’s girlfriend?”
Zhongli bangs his head against his textbook.
“They seemed pretty close, so-”
He wraps his arms around his head.
“What else could they be?”
He groans.
The four behind him pretend like they don’t hear him. Instead, they keep chattering until the sound of recognizable footsteps makes them go quiet.
“Hey, guys! Specifically, Lumine, Zhongli’s friends.”
Pause.
“What’s up with Zhongli?”
He tries his best to tighten his arms, in a hopeful attempt to hide the growing flush that he knows will reach his ears.
Guizhong says, “he’s feeling a bit sick today, that’s all. How’re you?”
“Oh, I’m fine. Played for the jazz band this morning, so that was fun.”
Zhongli jolts at the feeling of Childe’s hand rubbing his back. “Zhongli, try to get through the day, okay? I’ll buy you lunch!”
There’s a short silence, but Zhongli nods. He feels their burning stares. His breath feels hot against the textbook’s waxy pages.
“Well, class is going to start soon, so I’m gonna go now.”
Aether, Lumine, and Childe leave. Venti returns to his seat near the front of the class, although reluctantly. Guizhong, who taps Zhongli when Childe is gone, whispers, “you might still have a chance, methinks.”
Zhongli marches out of the school, feeling lonely at the surprising lack of Childe at his locker by the end of the day.
Venti and Guizhong are by his side, as always, and he’s wondering if people associate them together as much as they associate Kujou Sara and Baal. Except he’s not thinking about that the second he sees Childe, with his saxophone out, serenading the same girl from the store.
“Whoa,” Venti says, “don’t go blowing a fuse on us.”
“I have no idea what you mean,” Zhongli snaps.
He takes a deep breath. Calm down, he tells himself. “I’m going to go say hello.”
He ignores their overdramatic cheers as he walks down the gentle slope that leads from the school to a convenience store.
Childe stops mid-note when he sees him. He waves widely. “Zhongli! Over here!”
The girl eyes him, dragging her gaze up and down his body.
Childe remains unaware, and he grabs Zhongli’s arm once he’s in reach. “Come here,” he says and drags him over to the girl, who seems to have a self-satisfied smile on at all times.
“This is Skirk, she’s an old friend from Snezhnaya. She’s visiting right now. Skirk, this is Zhongli, he’s my best friend here!”
Zhongli’s stomach flips at best friend, and Skirk makes a fake, exaggerated pout as she crosses her arms. “So you move to Liyue, and already pretend like what we had never happened?” She stands up, walks over, and shoves a hand up Childe’s shirt, feeling over his belly. “Even after the baby I put in you?”
“Oh my, Miss Skirk, it’s your fault for knocking me u-” Childe looks at Zhongli, clearly panicked. “Uh, I mean. Zhongli, she’s just joking.”
Zhongli blinks. “I know.”
Skirk raises her eyebrows. “So… best friend? Tell me what juicy embarrassing stuff he’s already done over here.”
Childe slaps a hand onto her head. “No, there’s nothing.”
“He can’t use chopsticks,” Zhongli says.
Childe grabs Zhongli’s shoulders, shaking him intensely. “You weren’t supposed to say anything!”
Zhongli laughs, and Childe complains as Skirk prods him for more.
So it’s just a friend thing. Zhongli understands that every friendship is different. He understands.
Two days later, he reaches out and grabs Childe’s arm on the way home. Childe jolts, stopping, but Zhongli shoves his short-sleeve up, revealing a bruise.
“Childe,” he says, in a half-scolding half-lecturing voice.
“Zhongli,” Childe answers.
“Are you still fighting people?” He doesn’t know why he said it like that, like he specifically asked Childe not to do so, even though he didn’t. He grips Childe’s arm harder. “Not that you… can’t… I’m just worried.”
Childe pulls his arm away. “It’s fine, Zhongli! Not a big deal. See, it wasn’t on school grounds, so my band grade isn’t in jeopardy.”
“That’s not what I meant.”
It’s nearing the end of spring, the sun was especially bright behind Zhongli’s face. Childe looks away.
“Um.”
Zhongli waits. He’s an arm's length away, which feels like too far and too close at the same time. The cracked concrete Childe stares at doesn’t help him in the slightest.
“You know, Snezhnaya… Skirk was one of my only friends there. I wasn’t really the kind of kid lots of people enjoyed being around. Always dreaming of a life bigger than the one I had, and starting fights and stuff. Skirk and I… she’s only a little bit older than us, but we think the same way. Me and her, I mean.” Childe reaches behind him, scratches his nape.
“I like it here. In Liyue. It’s really pretty, and it’s fun to walk without having to trudge through the snow. The people here are super nice, and my whole family is with me still.” Childe purses his lips. “It’s just… the past three weeks or so… I’ve been feeling like I missed something. It wasn’t fighting, because I fought someone that day. It wasn’t my family, because my family was right there. I couldn’t figure it out.
“Then Skirk told me she was visiting, and now she’s here, and I… don’t know, it’s just so much relief?” He brushes a hand through his hair. “She smells like Snezhnaya. I don’t know. I don’t know why I felt so homesick when everything from home is here.”
Childe swallows. Zhongli’s stare felt like it was searing into his skin.
“I understand,” Zhongli says, and Childe’s heart spins. “Sometimes I find myself missing my family when they are downstairs.” Childe looks at him, and Zhongli tilts his head.
“I think… the definition for ‘home’ changes every day.”
Childe swallows, again.
“That didn’t explain your bruise,” Zhongli says, and Childe flinches.
“Ah, that, well. Sorry. Like I said, Skirk and I think the same way.” He rubs his hand with the other. “It’s easier to express things with our fists instead of our words.”
“Oh.”
Childe shrugs. “All the fighting is consensual, I guess you could say. We’ve fought ever since we met, essentially, so that’s how our friendship works.”
“I see.”
The wind blows, and they feel the sweet relief of cool air for only a moment.
Conversation over. Childe turns around and continues forward again, Zhongli only a little bit behind.
Flirting and Fighting, Zhongli thinks. Sounds like a knockoff of Pride and Prejudice.
When they arrive at Childe’s house, Childe turns around. “Are you hungry?”
Zhongli blinks. “Yes, a little.”
Childe beckons him over. “Come in.”
Childe has a big family. The table matches, and so does the number of plates.
Halfway through the meal, his mother asks Zhongli which dish he likes the most.
Zhongli thinks through it for a moment.
“Ah, the borscht,” he says, pointing at the beet-red soup.
Suddenly, Childe stands with a clatter. “Sorry. Excuse me. I have to use the bathroom.”
They all watch him as he leaves, and only continue after he’s left the room. Childe’s mother smiles at Zhongli.
“Haha, he must’ve been embarrassed. After all, he’s the one who made that borscht.”
Zhongli swallows his bite, almost too quickly. “Really?”
Tonia nods. “You should try his special version! His special version is the best!”
“Do we have octopus in the house?” Childe’s father asks. Zhongli suddenly feels a bit ill.
“Of course we do,” Childe’s mother says. “Yesterday, when he made this, he insisted on making the normal one. Apparently one of his friends doesn’t like seafood all too much.”
“Ah.” Zhongli chews carefully, then swallows. “That’s me.”
“Oh, really?” Childe’s mother smiles again. “He must’ve really wanted you to try this, then.”
“Yes,” Zhongli says. “He must’ve.”
His head feels a bit lighter with each bite.
In the bathroom, Childe urgently fans his face, hoping for his blush to just go away already.
Chat: zhongli is in love
VENTI!!!!: has anything even happened ;/
aether B): probably and he just hasn’t told us
VENTI!!!!: THAT’S SO RUDE OF HIM
The last music-related thing before school ends that Zhongli attends is Childe’s band concert.
When Childe stands up and begins an improvised solo, Zhongli records it all, and Venti, Guizhong, and the twins side-eye him.
Even though just the other day, Childe had complained about how his only black pants were getting a bit too tight, Zhongli had no choice but to thank whoever chose the idea of the band concert outfits needing black pants.
Anyway.
Before the concert had begun, Childe asked him to meet him at his locker afterward. Zhongli bids his friends goodbye and goes to the second floor.
He gets a little distracted on the way (plus nearly getting trapped in the crowd), but when he finally arrives, Childe is not there. Instead, a girl is crouching in front of the locker, frantically trying to shove something into the grooves.
“Hello?”
She flinches, looks at him, opens and closes her mouth without saying anything, then runs away, white envelope falling to the floor. Once she’s gone, he realizes that she was sitting next to Childe during the concert. Oh, he thinks, his stand partner.
Zhongli walks over and picks up the envelope.
On the front, To Childe. On the back, a tiny heart sticker.
The message is overtly clear, and Zhongli stumbles out of pure shock. He clutches the envelope tightly, a moment away from crumpling it, and his mind spins.
Before he can do anything more, he hears the squeak of too familiar shoes, and he hides the envelope behind his back in a panic.
“Zhongli! Sorry to make you wait.” Childe jogs towards him, saxophone case jostling in a way that made Zhongli twitch.
Zhongli shakes his head. “It’s fine.”
They chatter about family, friends, music for a few meaningless minutes as Childe packs up his things. Then Childe looks at him out of the corner of his eye.
“What are you hiding?”
“Nothing.” Zhongli swallows. “I mean, what are you talking about?” Too late. You blew it.
“You’re totally hiding something!” Childe stands up straight, walking closer. “Lemme see.”
Zhongli steps back, turning when Childe does. “I’m not…” Why am I like this? Just give it to him! It’s not my business.
“I saw you talking to Baal,” Zhongli blurts.
Childe, as cutely dense as he is, nods, but rolls his eyes. “Ugh, I swear… even though she’s first chair, that doesn’t mean she can be rude and tell me what to change right before a concert. If you looked up the term ‘control freak’ in the dictionary, her face would be the picture.”
Zhongli listens politely as Childe complains about Baal and her condescending nature, and about how Kujou Sara was always backing her up even though she plays trombone and what the heck do trombone players know about the alto saxophone-
What do I do? I have to give it to him. Or else he’ll never know, and the girl won’t get an answer, and he’ll seem like an asshole.
“-and it’s just like, she needs to chill out. That’s it. Maybe if she stopped following Baal around like a puppy, she’d be a bit more tolerable. You know?”
Zhongli nods. He shoves the envelope into Childe’s hands.
“Huh?”
Zhongli swallows. “For… you.”
Childe looks at the envelope, then flips it over, and his face colors a deep red. A lot like the borscht he was so good at making. “Wh… This…” He points at the envelope, then looks straight at Zhongli.
“No,” he says quickly. “Your stand partner. She tried to put it in your locker, but when I saw her, she dropped it and ran away.”
“Oh. Oh! Oh.” Childe awkwardly scratches his shoulder as he looks over the envelope again.
“She’s cute,” Zhongli tries.
Childe sighs. “I have to reject her.”
“You have to?”
“I don’t want to date someone I’m not interested in… not when…” Childe goes quiet.
Zhongli waits for him to finish, but he never does.
“Childe, your parents are probably waiting, we should go.”
“Oh! You’re right!” Childe grabs his arm and pulls him down the hallway. “They really like you, you know.”
After school ends, Zhongli doesn’t see Childe for two weeks. They text every day but not once does Zhongli go out and meet up with him in person.
Eventually, he gets lonely, so he decides to visit him as a surprise.
He gets to Childe’s house swiftly and knocks. When Childe’s mother answers, she jumps in surprise.
“Oh, wait, you’re… Zhongli?” At his nod, she smiles. “Zhongli! Hello. Sorry, Childe is feeling a bit ill at the moment.”
Zhongli frowns. “Ill? What happened?”
“Nothing serious. Come in, come in, it’s burning today.”
He follows her inside, and up the stairs. He walks into Childe’s room to see Childe laying face up on top of his bed, with two fans pointed straight at him.
“He fell asleep while his vents were closed, and then he overheated. I couldn’t get him to come downstairs, so I just opened the vents and gave him a couple of fans.”
Childe groans, and his mother sighs. “Can you watch him while I get him something to drink?”
“Of course.”
She leaves the room, and Zhongli steps closer, closing the door behind him.
“Childe?” he asks.
“Wh…wha-” Childe attempts to sit up, but Zhongli pushes him down by his shoulders.
“It’s fine. You should rest first.”
Childe mumbles something incomprehensible, but he closes his eyes again and relaxes. His face is flushed, and Zhongli could see the sweat through his white shirt. He reaches out, and lifts Childe’s bangs, revealing a sweaty and hot forehead.
“Childe… are you alright?”
Childe shakes his head. Zhongli wipes the sweat off of his forehead.
After five minutes, Childe’s mother had already brought a glass of ice water, and Childe wrenches his eyes open.
He sits up, looking dazed. “Ugh. I hate it when that happens.”
“You’ve overheated before?”
Childe stretches, almost like a cat. “When I first moved here. I feel so gross.” He smiles. “Hi, Zhongli. What brings you here?”
“I…” missed you. Wanted to see you. “Hi. I thought we could hang out today. I should’ve texted beforehand, shouldn’t I?”
He shakes his head. “No, it’s fine. I’m free today.” He lays back down. “In ten minutes, we’ll leave. How’s that?”
Zhongli hands him his water. “Okay.”
After Childe drinks half of it in one go, Zhongli chews his lip before asking, “Have you gotten into any fights recently?”
“Mmm… nope, actually. Why?”
“I was just wondering.”
Zhongli stares at his hands, at the wrinkled blanket Childe was laying on top of.
“Um, if you… if you get into a fight anytime soon…”
Childe blinks owlishly at him.
Zhongli swallows. “Tell me.”
“Are you going to come and stop it?”
“No. I’ll come and back you up.”
Zhongli understands him, now. Hopefully. After a moment of bracing himself, he looks at Childe, who is staring at him with unreadable eyes.
“You can fight?”
“Yes.”
“We should fight! Right now.”
“No.”
“Why?”
Zhongli frowns. “Childe, when was the last time you fought with someone, not against them?”
Childe doesn’t reply. Perhaps that was the wrong thing to say.
But, Childe smiles. “Thanks.”
In a burst of impulsivity, Zhongli grabs Childe’s hand before he can change his mind. “Of course.”
The silence is thick. Childe stares at him, he stares at Childe’s wall, their hands clasped together.
“Childe… I’ve been having some doubts.” Zhongli looks down from the wall to their hands.
Childe doesn’t pull away. Instead, he tilts his head. “About what?”
“I’m thinking about quitting violin.”
Beat.
“Wait,” Childe snorts, then apologizes. “Sorry. Didn’t mean to laugh. I totally forgot you played the violin.”
“You did?”
“You hardly talk about it! I know I went to your last concert and all, but you’d rather talk about rocks and stuff, than your freaking instrument. Of course, I’d forget.”
“Oh.”
Childe pauses, then continues. “Why would you want to keep doing it?”
Zhongli sighs. “As a kid, I picked up the violin and… I was very committed. I put in a lot of work. I made mistakes, I learned from those mistakes, and I continued to shine. Even when things were irritating, or difficult, or even despairing, I would persevere.” He frowns. “It’s odd… to want to throw away that hard work. But the strings don’t mean anything to me anymore. I’m unsure.”
Childe hums. “I get it. Sort of. I mean… as a kid, all I wanted was to go out there and become some sort of grand adventurer. Then Skirk came and beat my ass. I keep fighting and getting better, but I don’t know if it’s for me or me as a kid. You know?”
Zhongli nods.
Childe frowns. “Childhood dreams… sure can shatter easily, huh?”
Zhongli bites his lip.
“Indeed.”
After a moment, Childe squeezes Zhongli’s hand. When he looks at him, Childe grins.
“It’s okay, Zhongli. You’ll figure it out. I know it.”
Zhongli felt his face grow warm. For no reason, he tells himself, because it’s true. Childe hasn’t done anything other than smile. And yet, his mind is filled with thoughts on how to get around to kissing him.
“Thank you.”
“Ah, it’s nothing.”
Zhongli leans over him and kisses Childe’s sweaty forehead.
Childe pushes him away. “Hold on, you’re going to make me overheat again.” He smiles, and he sits up. “Zhongli, uhhh… Thanks. Too.”
“For what?”
“Coming over, I guess.”
“I just wanted to see you.”
Childe laughs. He still hasn’t let go. Zhongli leans in again.