Work Text:
“Can I please go home now?”
Aether asks with a groan as Tomo’s phone, which is mounted on a tripod—currently set in burst mode—continues to snap pictures of all five, founding members of Wangshu University’s book club. They’re in Xingqiu’s house for some kind of year-end party organized by Xingqiu himself, and Aether’s currently stuck with his fellow club officers who also happen to be his closest friends.
Aether loves his friends, but they can be a bunch of asshats sometimes. One of those times would include the current party, in which his asshat friends—who were all single when they had first formed the club four years ago—are now shoving their disgustingly sweet relationships in front of the lone single man, Aether.
As silly as it may sound, it was initially a singles-since-birth club disguised as a book club (because only Aether and Xingqiu—who are both liberal arts students—are actually interested in books, while the rest just tagged along in the name of friendship), but now the essence is all gone, thanks to his friends who’ve suddenly realized that they like each other all along, making Aether the odd, single one out.
Ever since his friends started dating, Aether had become that friend—the one who stands in the middle holding a bottle of osmanthus wine, looking single as fuck. Being single was never an issue with Aether. But it's a different story when his friends who are all in the same club as him are now dating each other.
So while Aether is standing in the middle with his lonesome self, wallowing in self-pity, his now-taken friends are cuddling at both of his sides, obviously having a great time shoving their relationships in their friend’s face.
Aether knows that his friends are just teasing him, so he makes some funny faces and expressions for the camera, but deep inside he is mentally strangling them for their betrayal and for being annoying in general.
“Just date someone, Aether,” Tomo says as he checks the pictures with a snort. “Oh my Archons, you look so funny here,”
“Let me see,” his childhood-friend-turned-boyfriend, Kazuha, chimes in and joins the devil in laughing at the pictures. Aether shoots him an I-can’t-believe-you stare, so he clears his throat and flashes an awkward smile. “I mean, you look funny...in a cute way?”
Aether only responds with a roll of his eyes. Tomo proceeds to stick his tongue out at Aether before pulling his boyfriend closer so they could laugh at the pictures more.
Kazuha and Tomo got together three months ago, just a few months after Xingqiu and Chongyun—who are also *drum rolls* childhood friends—started dating.
The four of them have always been together—growing up in the same neighborhood and all. Aether joined the squad later on—shortly after adjusting to the city and his odd, same-aged neighbors—thus turning the four idiots into five. They're a weird combination of people due to their diverse personalities, but they get along quite well for some reason. Aether had always been in the middle, since the original four idiots are further branched into two pairs who are much closer to each other than the other pair. Every time there’s a fight between any of the pairs, Aether would be the mediator. It’s a tiring job, but Aether has learned to live with it.
The fact that Aether’s in the middle of two pairs of childhood friends might’ve foreshadowed his future doom. He should’ve seen it coming. Or maybe he did; he probably just ignored the signs and the sexual tension between his friends that only got worse as time went by and convinced himself, There’s no way, right?
But Aether had found out later that love would indeed find a way. His friends really started seeing each other one after the other, and with the same cliche trope, too—childhood friends to lovers. Yay.
At first, he found it amusing. Now he’s just questioning the Archons. Why must I be the only forsaken one?! Not my fault that I’ve transferred from region to region because of my parents’ work! Not my fault that my situation had deprived me of a childhood friend who could’ve been my lover later on!
The audacity of these spawns of satan to date, Aether thinks to himself as he observes Tomo and Kazuha acting lovey-dovey for a moment, only to start shouting their lungs out at each other at the next second. Archon knows what they’re even arguing about. Seriously, how are these two even together? It’s such a mystery. They’re like cats and dogs.
Still, behind the frown of disgust is a look of fondness. Despite finding them annoying sometimes (most of the time, if he were to be honest), Aether is genuinely happy for his friends who have finally found love.
If only love will finally make its way to Aether, too. The question is, will it ever? And if it will, when? How? With who?
But Aether is already tired of asking. It’s not like he’s desperate to be in a relationship anyway. He thinks it’s such a drag; such a waste of time. He’s not even sure if he could invest his time and feelings on someone else when he’s too busy surviving college and life in general.
“Where should we have our New Year party? It’s next week, you know,” a drunk Chongyun asks, his arms wrapped around Xingqiu’s waist. He tightens his hold on his boyfriend as he shoots Aether a teasing look. “I’ll prepare another expensive bottle of wine for you in the next party’s group picture, Ae.”
Aether laughs dryly at that. “Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Yun. You’ll never know what life could give me in a week,”
“If you mean a lover, then I think a week is too short,” Xingqiu comments, his posture still as prim and proper as ever despite the obvious tints of red on his cheeks.
“Oh, don’t underestimate me,” Aether places his hands on his hips smugly. “I am single by choice. If I want to date, then I can. It’s not that hard,”
“Says the only single one in this room,” Tomo teases. “Trust us, Aether. It’s not easy. It’s a complicated process, especially when you realize you’ve really fallen and you’re not quite sure what to do about it,”
“That was too cheesy,” Kazuha says with a disgusted look on his face, which earns him a head-rub from Tomo. They then proceed to pull at each other’s cheeks while arguing about something that Aether doesn’t want to bother himself with.
“Let’s see who’ll get the last laugh at the next party,” Aether mumbles to himself with a sigh. He pours himself a glass of wine and chugs it down. Then he wipes his lips with the back of his hand and adds, “I’ll make you all look ridiculous in the New Year group picture.”
Aether is fucked. He should’ve known better than to run his mouth while drunk. And he should’ve known that Tomo, the spawn of all things evil, would record his declaration of getting a boyfriend in a week just to spite him.
Now Aether really can’t back out. He really has to find a boyfriend before the New Year party even if it means he has to spend an entire month’s allowance. Yes, he’s willing to go as far as to pay a random person to act as his lover just to save face.
But how and where could he find someone who’d agree to that on such short notice? Should he post an ad on the internet and see if someone would be willing to take the job?
“Calm down, self,” Aether tells himself as he takes steady breaths. “First, let’s look around for someone approachable and decent, then negotiate nicely. Don’t stutter or else you’ll look hella suspicious. Give them a sweet smile, not one that looks like you’ve got murderous intentions, then—”
Aether was in the middle of giving himself some instructions while walking around the park when he spots a distinct figure in one of the swings. The figure is distinct, not because one of his leather jacket’s sleeves is lowered on one side, exposing his bare arm to the winter breeze, but because of his arm itself—beautifully pale, almost translucent—adorned with a neon-green tattoo.
He has his back turned to Aether, his head lowered like he’s immersed in something. He’s not even swinging; just sitting still with his feet firmly planted on the ground. What’s the point of sitting in a swing if you won’t, like, swing at all?
Aether stealthily moves closer to stand behind the guy from a safe distance. He looks down to see what’s got the tattooed boy so preoccupied and soon finds out that he is busy playing a game on his phone.
So he hangs out in the park on a weekend, in the middle of winter, to sit on the swing without swinging, with his tattooed arm exposed to the cold—just to play a game? This is one unusual dude.
The student has probably sensed his presence because he suddenly stands up and turns to Aether, making him take a quick step back.
“I’m really sorry for startling you! I’m not some weirdo! I was just—”
Aether’s still trying to come up with excuses for himself but the words immediately get caught in his throat as soon as Mr. Exposed Arm’s face finally comes into full view.
Despite the disheveled dark locks with teal undertones and huge spectacles that cover half of his small face, Aether can tell that the man in front of him is quite a looker. Contrary to his intimidating aura, his facial features are on the soft side, except for his sharp eyes that currently look like they’re shooting daggers at Aether at the moment.
Despite feeling a bit threatened, a voice in Aether’s head still whispers: Well, it’s not like he’s gonna kill me for real, right? And he’s cute. Maybe, just maybe—
“You’re...Aether-xuezhang?”
Aether's thoughts are cut off when he suddenly hears his name escape the tattooed boy's pretty lips. He knows me?
“Aether-xuezhang from the Liberal Arts department?” the guy repeats, his expression frigid but not hostile, at least.
Aether absentmindedly asks, “Uhm, and you are?”
“Xiao. Computer Engineering. 3rd year,” the student responds in a soft yet husky voice. Aether gives him a how-do-you-know-me look, so he adds, “Our departments are next to each other. And you are famous in your department,”
“I see,” Aether blinks at Xiao, not just because he’s still processing the fact that this handsome student actually knows him (although he can’t deny that he is quite famous in their department, after that embarrassing poetry contest that he’d participated in back in his sophomore year), but also because he is enamored by Xiao's golden eyes with cat-like pupils, which are really attractive. Too bad the junior’s huge spectacles are kinda obscuring Aether’s view.
“Do you have any business with me, xuezhang?” Xiao asks, which finally snaps Aether out of his enchanted-like state. He quickly gets his act together and puts on his best smile, hoping it didn’t turn out looking creepy or something.
I’ve got no time to hesitate. I must give this a chance!
“Yes, I actually have a favor to ask, Xiao-xuedi,”
Xiao's expression is calm as he says, “Just Xiao is fine.”
“Alright then, Xiao,” Aether clears his throat. He doesn’t know how to ask for this favor in a way that doesn’t sound weird so he just goes straight to the point without a pause. “Our club will be having a New Year party next week and I need a fake boyfriend to accompany me to that party so would it be okay to ask you to be my fake boyfriend?”
Xiao shoots Aether a look, cat-like pupils narrowing, whole body going stiff like a board. It’s the first reaction that he manages to draw out from this robot-like game maniac, but Aether figures the junior is probably taken aback by the odd favor, which is completely valid. He’d be shaken up, too, if he were asked by a stranger to suddenly be his fake boyfriend.
Aether forces out a laugh as he tries to make sense of his words. “Ahahaha…well, you see, I’m definitely not the type to just randomly ask a guy out. I’m asking because I’m in a pinch, and you look like my type—” Shit! “No, I mean, someone whom I’d see myself dating—” Fuck! “Wait, that’s not it! I mean, someone whom I could get along with! Someone who looks kind enough to understand my situation and help me out!”
By the time he’s done, Aether's already catching his breath like he’d just run a marathon. Who would’ve thought that trying to find excuses would tire him out that much?
Tomo was right. Getting into a relationship, albeit a fake one, isn’t easy.
“And I’m that someone?” Xiao asks after a few seconds of awkward silence.
Aether is surprised that Xiao hasn't run off yet, but he takes that as a sign that he might still have a chance. He slowly nods, trying his best to ignore the blood rushing to his cheeks from embarrassment. “Yeah, I guess you could say that?”
Xiao is quiet again. Aether gives him a look and notices the junior's expression, like he’s deeply contemplating something. A rush of shame comes over Aether as he sighs in surrender.
“I’m sorry. I know I’m being shameless and absurd. I’d totally understand if you’d turn me down. It’s just that when I saw you, I don’t know, I felt like I had found the right person—I mean, the answer to my problem. Anyway, if you do accept, I’ll make sure to properly compensate you—”
“I’ll do it.”
“—for your time—” Aether snaps his head up at Xiao. “Wait, what?”
“I’ll do it,” Xiao repeats, eyes unwavering as he looks at Aether. “I’ll accompany you to that party. As your fake boyfriend.”
“Huh?” Aether asks again, just to make sure he wasn’t hearing things. “You what?”
The corners of Xiao's lips go up in the slightest of curves, which brings Aether’s sanity back from Celestia, only to send it flying again to some other dimension because dang , he’s smiling, and he looks infinitely times better when he does.
“That’s quite the reaction, coming from the person who asked for this favor,” Xiao says, his face looking devoid of emotions again after flashing that small smile which probably only lasted for a split second. “Xuezhang, I said I’ll go to that party with you as your fake boyfriend.”
When it finally sinks in, Aether could only let out an ‘Oh’ sound, followed by more blinking.
After the initial disbelief, he finally gives Xiao a relieved and thankful smile. Perhaps it’s the compensation that finally made the junior take the bait? Whatever the case may be, Aether is saved for now.
He reaches out a hand towards Xiao, which the latter stares at for a while, before slowly taking it in for a handshake.
“Thank you for accepting this deal, Xiao. I’d also like to ask for your full cooperation this week so our...uh...fake relationship...could proceed smoothly.”
Xiao only nods. “Yes, you have my full cooperation, xuezhang. I’ll be in your care this week.”
Truth be told, Aether almost called the deal off with Xiao as soon as he got home after meeting the junior in the park. He felt like he just got splashed with an ice-cold bucket of reality, realizing he might have gotten himself and an innocent student into something chaotic, to say the least.
Since he had already exchanged numbers with Xiao, he thought he should just text him and apologize for wasting his time and ask him to pretend the interaction never happened.
He had already prepared the message in the drafts—something along the lines of, ‘Hey, it’s me. That weird senior from the park earlier. Listen, I am going through things at the moment which often makes me talk before I think. The thing is, I want you to forget about the favor I asked for. I hope we can just meet again under better circumstances, you know, when I’m not being weird and all that shit,’— and he was about to press send, when Xiao’s name suddenly popped on his screen along with his phone’s default call ringtone.
Long story short, Xiao called him. They talked about the fake boyfriend thing and how they’re supposed to go about it. Xiao sounded really serious as he asked how they should go about the whole thing while Aether was half laughing and half drenching in cold sweat in the middle of winter as he proceeded to come up with more bullshit.
Still, Aether did try to find the right timing to call the whole thing off, but as the minutes passed by, he found himself slowly getting immersed in his conversation with Xiao. Aether found the junior's monotone voice as he clarified the details regarding their relationship cute and, oddly enough, comforting.
And after that, the rest was history. They met the next day to discuss their act further, which turned into five minutes of planning and five hours of talking about Aether's adventures and misadventures with his chaotic friends, the poetry contest from his sophomore year which had become the most embarrassing moment in his life, and other nonsense topics that he never thought he’d ever share with someone he’d just met.
And then one meetup led to another, until they finally got to the day before the New Year party.
So here they are now, in their usual meeting place near the park in their neighborhood, at their usual table, with their usual drinks—Aether with his cup of Americano with double shots of espresso and Xiao with his iced almond latte topped with extra whipped cream (quite a surprising taste from a guy with such an intimidating presence). Funny how Aether thinks of all those things as usual when they’ve only been meeting in that café for five days now.
“Okay, okay! Back to the matter at hand,” Aether says as he taps on the table with his palm after taking a sip of his coffee. As usual, they only managed to talk about the fake dating plan before their conversation quickly diverted into the unknown. “So, we’ll just say we matched on Tinder last week and we clicked right away,”
Xiao nods as he adjusts his thick-rimmed glasses. His frightening impression from their first meeting now feels like ancient history, since Aether had learned that beyond the sharp gaze is a gentle guy who is obsessed with sweets and coding. “I saw your profile, then I swiped left—”
“Right.”
“—right,” Xiao repeats, his expression aloof as he scribbles on his tablet. He said it’s essential to take notes so he could review them later and make sure he won’t mess things up tomorrow.
“Then we matched,” Aether continues. “I messaged you first, we found out that we go to the same university, we exchanged numbers, then we met the next day, then we talked about our interests, then we developed feelings because of that, then we started dating the day after. And tomorrow would be our 5th day as a couple—”
Aether stops to snort, and Xiao stops scribbling to look up at him. The junior raises an eyebrow, and Aether tries to suppress a laugh as he explains, “The more I listen to it, the more ridiculous it sounds. I mean, my friends are a bunch of annoying idiots, but they would definitely know right away that this is all just a setup.”
“Then,” Xiao places his pen down and leans back on his chair. “What should we do?”
Xiao's expression as he deeply contemplates on a solution—sharp eyes downcast, lips pursed together, and hands folded across his chest, looking very serious—puts a tender smile on Aether’s face. Cute.
But he quickly brushes away his thoughts, because it’s not appropriate to have such thoughts for a guy he just met, right?
Aether throws his hands in the air in frustration. He is already in a huge dilemma because of the fake dating thing, but now he has to think about his budding feelings for the cute geek that he found in the park just five days ago? “Ugh, screw it. Let’s just go with what we’ve come up with so far. There’s no time to revise,”
Xiao suddenly removes his glasses, his eyes now in full view, as he stares at Aether like he’s studying a very interesting specimen. All that staring makes Aether want to mentally stab the rioting butterflies in his stomach. Yo, butterflies. Please calm the fuck down!
“Gege,”
Aether's eyes widen at that honorific . He ends up inhaling a shitton of air through his nose and somehow forgets how to exhale. Damn. He was the one who had asked Xiao to just address him that way instead of xuezhang (like a term of endearment to make the relationship sound convincing), but now he’s the one suffering because of it.
There’s something about the way Xiao says it—and about the way Xiao looks at him when he says it—that makes Aether weak in the knees.
He quickly takes a sip of his coffee and looks around the café to avoid Xiao’s gaze. “Y-Yeah?”
“Do you want to make it look convincing?”
“Pfft. Is there even a way? They’ll catch us right away no matter what kind of sob story we put out.”
“If we don’t want to get caught, then let’s just tell the story as it is. Let’s make it natural,” Xiao shrugs. “We met at the park, exchanged contact info, met up a few times, and now we’re dating while still getting to know each other.”
That definitely sounds like our current status minus the dating part, Aether thinks, his brain denying the fact that he’s a tad bit disappointed.
“That could work,” Aether agrees after a few seconds of pondering. “But you know what, if we get caught, it’s all on me. I won’t blame you, and I’d still fulfill my end of the bargain, so don’t worry.”
Xiao gives him a confused look. “Your end of the bargain?”
Aether returns the look of confusion. “The payment? I told you I’d pay you for your time and effort, remember?”
For a second, Xiao's expression darkens—well, his expression is usually dark, but this is a different kind of dark—although it quickly reverts to the usual, aloof one before Aether could even figure out what that look was all about.
Despite that, Aether still can’t help but feel uneasy. “Isn’t that why you agreed to help me?”
Xiao studies Aether’s face again for a while, then he heaves out a sigh. “You’ll get the answer to that tomorrow, gege .”
“What? Why tomorrow?” Aether asks, but Xiao is already packing up his things while glancing at his wristwatch. “Xiao, I won’t be able to sleep tonight unless I get an answer!”
Instead of answering, Xiao only spares him a mysterious glance before getting up. “I have a meeting in an hour. See you tomorrow, gege.”
Aether can't count how many heart attacks Xiao had given him with the nonstop ' gege 's. He's starting to think that the junior is actually teasing him.
Oh, the cute geek turns out to be a cheeky little devil, huh?
“Meeting? What meeting? Wait, Xiao!” Aether gets up from his seat in an attempt to stop the cheeky little devil, but Xiao is already scampering out of their spot. “Hey—ah, whatever! Don’t forget to dress up tomorrow, okay?” he reminds, loud enough for the junior to hear. Xiao gives an okay sign with his fingers before completely exiting the café.
Aether plops back on his seat and tries not to think too much about what Xiao said. He’ll get an answer tomorrow, anyway.
But I really don’t think I’ll be able to sleep tonight.
“Haha! A boyfriend? You’re totally bluffing, Ae,”
“Shut up, Chongyun. I’m totally not bluffing,” Aether scoffs, his foot lightly tapping the floor as he checks his phone every second to see if Xiao had replied to his ‘When will you get here?’ messages which he’d been spamming nonstop for ten minutes now. “And he’ll be here! Just got caught in a traffic jam,”
Aether prays that it really is just a traffic jam, and not Xiao deciding to ditch him at the last minute. The junior's last text to him was that he’ll be a bit late since he had to pick up his suit, but that was an hour ago.
From which fucking side of Teyvat did he pick his suit up?!
“Aether, it’s okay,” Tomo fake-cries as he wraps a hand around Aether's shoulder. “You didn’t have to go this far just to get back at us for teasing your single ass. We’ll be more considerate from now on.”
Aether shakes Tomo’s hand away and stomps his feet in frustration. It’s true that he’s faking his relationship, but now he’s too pissed to admit defeat. “Just wait and see! My boyfriend exists and he’ll be here!”
“Fine, let’s say that you do have one,” the calmer one among the crazies, Xingqiu, suddenly interjects “What kind of person is he? You literally haven’t told us anything about this boyfriend of yours yet.”
Aether freezes for a second—his brain trying to come up with the description of a typical, swoony, lead character from a romance novel—but then he suddenly remembers Xiao's words:
“If we don’t want to get caught, then let’s just tell the story as it is.”
And since he has no time to think further, he decides to just heed Xiao’s advice and go with the natural flow.
“He’s…a junior from our university,” Aether begins as he tries to control his expression. “He's aloof and looks intimidating at first, but once you get to know him, you'll start to see his charms. Turns out that his personality isn’t as dark as his clothes. He's cute and somehow reminds me of a cat. Even though he doesn't say much, I like spending time with him, you know what I’m saying? He—"
“Aether,” Kazuha interrupts, his face ashen like he’d just seen a ghost. “Are you sure that's how you're supposed to describe Xiao?”
“What are you talking about? I’m describing him perfectly—” Aether pauses, then he grabs Kazuha by the shoulders and yells, “You know Xiao?!”
“Yes. We know each other somehow,” a familiar voice says from behind, making Aether jump in place. He holds his breath as he turns around, but the air gets knocked out of his lungs as soon as he sees the man in front of him.
It’s Xiao, of course, but not the usual Xiao dressed in black from head to toe, but Xiao who is wearing a blue velvet suit, dark locks styled in a top knot, with a few strands of teal streaks hanging loose, golden eyes donned in clear contacts, the thick eyeglasses nowhere to be seen. Needless to say, he looks divine. He looks amazing in black, but him in a blue suit could give the Archons a run for their mora.
“Xiao…?” Aether’s voice fades out, his head still trying to wrap around the holy sight of his fake boyfriend. Still, he’s able to find the strength to keep up his act. “You made it!”
“Of course,” Xiao reveals a rare smile as he pulls Aether into a semi-hug before leaving a kiss on his temple. Aether freezes, his mind and heart currently short-circuiting. “Sorry for being late. I got caught in a traffic jam on my way back from the tailor.”
His suit is tailored?! Aether manages to think despite the drumming of his heart. He looks gorgeous but damn, do I have to pay him extra for that?
“Hey,” Aether says in a whisper, loud enough for only Xiao to hear. Fortunately, the music is blasting in full volume in Xingqiu’s backyard and he is still in that semi-hug position with Xiao. “Why do you look so… extra?”
Xiao leans down a bit and brings his lips close to Aether’s ear, which sends shivers down his spine. “But you told me to dress up, gege.” And the cheeky brat even enunciated the honorific , adding fuel to the fire.
Is he trying to seduce me? ‘Cause, it’s definitely working! “Yeah, but warn me, at least?” Aether says as he tries to put some distance between them so he could breathe. “I almost lost my cool back there!”
Xiao raises an eyebrow like a smug little devil, his arm still on Aether’s waist. “Is that another way of saying I look good?”
“I—” Aether swallows as he slowly removes the junior’s hand from his waist . “Well, you do, but I guess you could say I didn’t expect you to appear like this?”
Xiao takes a step back and places his hands on his pockets, then he chuckles—an actual chuckle. “First of all, thank you for the compliment. Second, I do dress up every once in a while. Of course, I dress up comfortably whenever I’m not at school or at work.”
Aether's head spins. What is this? Who is this suave dude in front of me and what did he do to Xiao?
“So, you’re telling me—” Aether shakes his thoughts away and eyes Xiao from head to toe. “—that you normally look like this at school?”
“Not specifically in a velvet suit, but yes, I dress up at school, too.”
“What about work? You never told me anything about you working.”
“Ah, that,” Xiao scratches his head, looking unusually shy. “I think your friend knows something about it.”
“Kazuha?” Aether turns to look at his friends, who are all giving him amused looks as they stand at a safe distance away from them, waiting for Aether to introduce his boyfriend.
“Well?” Chongyun calls out, his eyebrows raised. “Care to introduce your friends to your sweetheart?”
“Shush, Yun. Let’s not be impatient,” Xingqiu says with a nudge. “Can’t you see they’re still having a moment?”
Kazuha still has that stupefied expression from earlier. “My eyes must be deceiving me. Xiao is really here, and he’s dating Aether?”
“Hey, you really believe that they’re dating?” Tomo gives Kazuha a baffled look. “You were the one who kept insisting that Aether probably hired someone to act as his boyfriend.”
“You don’t understand,” Kazuha shakes his head dramatically. “That’s the Xiao of the Yakshas. He’s not the type to get hired to act as someone’s fake boyfriend. He doesn’t have the time for that kind of nonsense!”
Aether, who had overheard his friends’ conversation, thanks to them being a bunch of loudmouths, is now very intrigued. Xiao of the Yakshas? What kind of person am I fake dating, exactly?!
“Guys!” Aether quickly drags Xiao with him towards his friends. He puts on a rehearsed smile and hesitantly takes Xiao's hand into his, although his heart almost jumps out of his chest when the junior suddenly squeezes his hand back, holding it tighter.
Aether coughs before facing his friends again. “This is Xiao, a junior from the Computer Engineering department. Xiao, these are my friends. I’ve already told you about them.”
Xiao greets them all with a polite bow before giving them a handshake one by one with his free hand. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you all,”
Kazuha, in particular, seems very thrilled (despite still being in a state of disbelief) to meet Xiao. “Xiao, it’s such an honor to have you here. If Aether ever does anything stupid, please feel free to contact us so we could drag him away from you right away.”
Aether wheezes at that. “What? Hey—”
“That won’t be necessary,” Xiao smiles as he gives Aether’s hand another squeeze. “I like having gege around.”
Chongyun almost chokes on the wine that he was in the middle of drinking. “Oh, Archons. You’ve only been dating for a week but you already sound too whipped. And gege ? Really now?" he asks as he eyes Aether with an I'm-so-judging-you look.
Aether wants to hide somewhere because his face is probably red as a tomato now. For someone who is faking it, that was very natural.
In a feeble attempt to change the subject, Aether quickly asks, “So, Kazuha, how do you know Xiao?”
“Oh, that’s because he's one of the Yakshas ,” Kazuha responds, his eyes looking at Xiao with respect and admiration. “He’s one of the developers of the game that's been really popular these days. I was chosen as one of the game’s beta testers, and that’s when I met Xiao.”
“You mean the game that you’ve been playing all day recently?” Tomo asks, dumbfounded. “Wait, Aether is dating a big-time game developer? No way!”
Aether gives Tomo’s foot a light kick. “Hey, stop low-key dissing me.” He then turns to Xiao. “So you’re a game developer? How come you’ve never told me?”
“We’re still in the getting-to-know-each-other phase, remember?” is Xiao's nonchalant response. “Besides, we were too busy talking about important things, so I thought I should just leave the game developer thing for later.”
Dude, what important things? I only talked about a bunch of random nonsense and you just listened!
“Ahaha, well that’s that. At least I know now. What else are you not telling me? You’re full of surprises, you—” Aether looks up at Xiao and playfully pinches his cheek as revenge—but also to put up a lovey-dovey act, of course. “—sexy, mysterious man.”
“I think I’m gonna barf,” Tomo comments as he looks away. “I can’t believe this day has come.”
“Come on, now. Let’s not interrogate him this early,” Xingqiu steps in between and points at the buffet table. “Let’s fill our stomachs first. We’ll get to know him as we eat.”
Thank the Archons for Xingqiu, Aether chants mentally as they all proceed to the buffet table, relieved that he can finally escape his current predicament. For now, that is.
It’s been five minutes already but Aether still can’t stop looking at the group picture they just took earlier. He and Xiao were in the center, looking like legit boyfriends, if he must say so himself.
“Can you send that picture to me, gege?”
Aether almost yeets his phone off the balcony at the sudden appearance of Xiao and the sudden gege attack, which Aether just can’t get used to. He’s a bit tipsy from all the drinking, but still sober enough to save his phone from its demise. “When did you get here?” he asks Xiao after collecting his senses.
“Just now,” Xiao replies as he takes the seat next to him. Aether had excused himself a while ago to get some fresh air, which is highly questionable because it’s winter which means it’s freezing outside, but his friends are fortunately too wasted to mind the details. “I was worried you’d freeze to death.”
“I’m fine. My coat is thick enough to withstand the cold,” Aether laughs. “But I appreciate the concern, and—” He turns to the junior beside him and smiles. “—everything that you’ve done tonight. I couldn’t have pulled this off without your help. I think my friends are now convinced that we are dating, thanks to the natural skinship that you’ve initiated, along with all that smooth talk.”
Aether recalls how Xiao would naturally hold his hand, or how he’d gaze affectionately at Aether, or how he’d say things as if he meant them—all of Xiao’s words and actions made Aether’s heart flutter that he ended up drinking a bit too much earlier, which was also why he excused himself for a slap of cold air. He wanted to sober up, as well as get his fake boyfriend out of his mind. Because Archons forbid, Xiao has been living in Aether’s mind rent-free ever since their first meeting in the park.
But now, the person that he tried to run away from is right in front of him again. At this rate, he’s probably just gonna excuse himself from the party itself so he could go home and get things over with.
“Your friends do seem convinced,” Xiao says after a while. “What about you, gege?”
Aether just blinks at him, his thoughts suddenly all over the place. “What about me? And you can stop it with the gege,” he says as he gives Xiao a light nudge. “It’s not like my friends are here, you know.”
“Do you dislike it?” he hears Xiao ask with a low voice.
“What?” Aether wants to laugh, but when he turns to Xiao and sees the wistful look in the junior’s eyes, he swallows the laughter back. “It’s not like that, but…” he turns his head away from Xiao for a moment to get a hold of himself, then he looks back with a resolute expression. “Why are you this cooperative? It’s not like you have a lot of time in your hands. Why exactly did you go along with this ridiculous shenanigan? You could’ve just turned me down.”
Xiao stares at him for a while longer, then he suddenly lowers his head and snorts. “I guess I wasn’t obvious enough.”
Aether blinks. “What?”
“I thought you’d somehow find out,” Xiao explains.
A few seconds pass by in silence, until Aether finally manages to process Xiao’s words. Shock is written all over his face—eyes nonplussed and mouth slightly parted.
Aether himself is quite aware that he’s naive. But he’s not that naive. He has read tons of novels so he knows what Xiao is implying, although it does take a while to sink in. So for a while, Aether just blankly stares at Xiao, who also stares back without saying a word. Xiao just sits there, amber eyes unwavering as he patiently waits for Aether.
And when it finally sinks in, Aether feels all the blood rush up to his face. He feels even more intoxicated now compared to when he was drunk earlier.
“Since when?” Aether huffs out a chuckle to feign calmness. “Haha, don't tell me it's love at first sight or something,”
“Yes,” Xiao says without hesitation, his face unperturbed.
The junior’s bold response completely throws the remaining calm out of Aether’s system and he stammers, “You—what—I mean—was it...in the park?”
“Three years ago. During my freshman year,” Xiao replies as a matter-of-factly, his tone composed. “In the university auditorium. The poetry contest.”
“What?! That far back? And that event?!” Aether exasperates. He can’t believe that Xiao had actually witnessed that embarrassing moment. Moreover, he developed a crush on him on that day of all days? “But I—why would you even—towards me—my piece was a mess and I even forgot some lines—”
“But you still delivered until the end. Your sincerity was admirable,” Xiao smiles—not the usual, small curve that Aether would sometimes catch for a rare second, but a full one. It takes his breath away, rendering him speechless as Xiao continues, “You looked beautiful that day, Aether. You still do.”
Aether could only stare unblinkingly at Xiao. Hearing gege all night was already hard enough, but hearing Xiao utter his name while calling him beautiful is the deal-breaker. Aether’s pretty sure that his face and ears are flushed red by now. He covers half of his face with the back of his hand in a futile attempt to hide his flustered state, even though he knows it’s no use.
“So, all that smooth talk? They were for real? Were you always that smooth?” he mumbles as he steals glances at Xiao.
“No, I—” Xiao pauses, then he suddenly looks away. Aether’s not sure if he’s seeing things right or it’s just his imagination going wild because he can somehow spot a tinge of red on the junior’s earlobe. “I’m not really sure how flirting works, so I asked my friends for help. I hope I—” Xiao suddenly turns his head back, startling Aether, who had unconsciously scooted closer earlier to get a better look at the junior’s ears. They’re now close—so close that Aether could see his own, golden orbs reflected in Xiao’s amber ones. Enchanting. He feels the way Xiao inhales a mouthful of air before he mutters, “—did it properly?”
Aether finally blinks after what feels like an eternity of staring into Xiao’s eyes. He looks away and tries to laugh things off with a wave of his hand. “So...that’s why you reacted like that yesterday when I talked about paying you?”
“Yes. I didn’t need any compensation. It’s enough that I could...do something for you,” Xiao reveals with a gruff voice that contrasts his currently flushed face. Aether gushes internally at the sight.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to treat you like an escort. I just thought I should give you something in return for your, uh...kindness?” Especially since your net worth is a million times bigger than what I could offer for this fake dating job, Aether thinks after remembering the results of his Yaksha google search earlier.
“It’s okay. If it weren’t for your offer, I wouldn’t have been able to spend time with you like this.”
Aether coughs out loud, his face heating up even more despite the cold breeze of the winter night. “You’re really something else,”
“I hope that means you find me interesting?” Xiao asks with what looks to be a smug grin on his usually placid face, which puts Aether in another coughing fit. All that coughing makes Xiao’s grin disappear. He gives Aether a panicked and worried look as he says, “Sorry. That was too presumptuous of me,”
“No, it’s—” Aether pauses to stare at Xiao’s face for a while, feeling sorry for making the junior look like a sad kitten, although he does look adorable. He flashes a shy smile as he finally reveals, “Not gonna lie. I’ve been secretly crushing on you these past few days, and if I knew there was someone like you around campus much earlier, I probably wouldn’t have been single for this long.”
Xiao’s eyes widen, and for a while he says nothing. The quiet makes Aether think of his own words, realizing they came out bolder than intended. The shame finally gets to him, so he crouches down and buries his face in his hands.
“Aether,” he hears Xiao call out to him softly. “Look at me.”
“I need a moment,” Aether says, voice muffled. “Or you can just pretend that I’m a drunk as fuck college student and ignore my existence for now.”
He suddenly feels a pair of hands on his shoulders, gently pulling him up to meet the gaze of their owner—the moonlight perfectly catching their orbs, giving them the perfect shade of gold. “There’s no way I can ignore you.”
Aether’s breath hitches, and all he could do is weakly utter, “Xiao—”
“I like you, Aether,” Xiao confesses, a serene expression on his face. When Aether doesn’t say anything, he slowly retreats his hands from the senior’s shoulders. “Am I...moving too fast?”
When it dawns on him that this is really happening, Aether finally learns how to breathe again. He looks at Xiao, and Oh, Archons , it’s not every day that he’d find someone who could make him feel the way Xiao does, so why must he hesitate?
“Not fast enough.”
And before Xiao could ask him what that means, Aether suddenly cups the junior’s face in his hands and leans forward to press their lips together. It’s more of a peck—soft and innocent—yet the feeling of Xiao’s lips against his own lingers after the deed, putting Aether’s face on fire again.
“H-How about that? Was that too fast?” Aether asks jokingly, his eyes darting all over Xiao’s face, not knowing exactly where to look.
Xiao, on the other hand, looks dumbfounded . But there’s a stupid grin on his face so he somehow looks pleasantly dumbfounded, if that’s even a thing. His cheeks are flushed with a faint pink hue, going all the way to his ears. Still, his voice is low and calm as he says, “Not at all. I like it.”
“I like it, too.” Aether snorts, amused. “And you, of course.”
Xiao smiles at that, looking relieved. “I’m glad.” He suddenly takes Aether’s hands into his and boldly scoots closer. “But I think that kiss needs a do-over.”
Aether gives him a bemused stare for a second, then he laughs as he closes the distance between them. “I was just thinking about that, too.”