Chapter Text
“Gege, let’s go on a vacation.” Hua Cheng looked up from his phone, peering over the couch towards where Xie Lian was making dinner.
“Vacation? Where would we go?” It wouldn’t be their first vacation with each other, but Hua Cheng wasn’t the type to suggest such a thing without having a destination in mind.
“I just bought a new property, I want to show gege.”
Xie Lian tasted his food before throwing in much more ginger than the recipe called for. Surely this time his experimentation wouldn’t go wrong… and even if it did, his roommate was sure to eat it anyways. “Where is it?”
“Our hometown.”
Xie Lian was surprised to hear it. Though they had both grown up in the same town, they hadn’t become close until later in life. Still, from what Xie Lian knew, Hua Cheng’s childhood hadn’t exactly been full of fond memories he was eager to revisit.
“Why did San Lang buy property there?”
“Gege doesn’t want to go?” Hua Cheng asked, clearly sidestepping the question.
“No I do. It’ll be a bit before I can get time off work though.” Unlike his roommate, Xie Lian didn’t work for himself and he wasn’t in a position to demand time off.
“There’s no rush. Gege just has to let me know when he’s free.”
Xie Lian nodded, dumping in half a bottle of oyster sauce. “Does San Lang have any plans when we get there? It’s not really known for being a tourist location.”
“This one was hoping gege could help him furnish the property? Enjoy the fresh air perhaps?” Hua Cheng stood, getting up and stretching like a cat.
Without even needing to look back, Xie Lian’s mind conjured the image of his roommate reaching up, lazy but possessing a natural grace; probably a bit of his shirt riding up. The image prompted a small smile. “That sounds fun. Does San Lang want to buy or do some upcycling?”
“I like when gege refurbishes things, but he need not worry about doing all of it. It’s a big property.”
Xie Lian felt his smile slip. “Is San Lang perhaps… moving?”
“Not unless gege likes that property better than our apartment.”
And just like that his smile was back, stupidly simple for his stupidly incredible roommate. “San—“ he turned his head, seeing Hua Cheng face much nearer than he’d previously realized. Freezing, he held his breath as he watched Hua Cheng’s gaze trail down to his lips. Was this…?
Xie Lian had been in love with his roommate probably for a couple years now, but he’d only realized it when Hua Cheng had gotten drunk one night about a year back.
”He’s wasted. Keep a bucket near him.” He Xuan had grunted as he passed the staggering Hua Cheng over.
”Gege! I missed you,” Hua Cheng had given himself over to Xie Lian’s hold without any argument, seemingly overjoyed.
”Hi San Lang. Thank you, He Xuan, I’ll get him to bed.” Xie Lian had easily swooped up Hua Cheng, amused by his roommate’s giddy laugh and the way He Xuan had rolled his eyes as he closed the door.
He’d set Hua Cheng up with water and pain killers for the morning and a bucket just to be safe. Loose and happy from the alcohol slowly lulling him to sleep, Hua Cheng had reached out for Xie Lian just as he was leaving the room. Of course, Xie Lian had given over his hand easily, finding it a bit funny how openly needy his usually cool and reliable roommate was being.
But then Hua Cheng had kissed Xie Lian’s hand and looked up at him, clearly having a bit of trouble focusing but still so oddly intense and full of love and sighed out: “Beloved.”
And like an arrow shot through his heart, Xie Lian had realized he was completely and utterly gone for his roommate.
They hadn’t talked about it. Xie Lian doubted Hua Cheng even remembered or had realized who he had been talking to. But it didn’t stop Xie Lian from hoping. It didn’t stop him from becoming a bit too aware of every flirtation Hua Cheng sent his way (which were an awful lot now that he was paying attention!)
And since that incident, which was firmly burned in Xie Lian’s mind, they’d had a few moments like this. Moments where Xie Lian could swear Hua Cheng was about to kiss him.
Hua Cheng’s hand reached out, nearing his face and Xie Lian squeezed his eyes shut, hoping he didn’t look stupid. He felt cold, gentle fingertips dance along his cheek and suppressed a shudder. This time. This time. A thumb ran over his lips, and Xie Lian couldn’t help but part them slightly, heart racing in anticipation.
The hand pulled back. Xie Lian opened his eyes a bit, watching as Hua Cheng brought his thumb back up to his own lips and licked it.
“Gege had some dinner on his face. I wanted to try,” Hua Cheng explained, voice calm and gaze steady and Xie Lian burned with embarrassment.
“Ah, San Lang, try some normally.” He held up the spoon, hoping his blush wasn’t obvious.
Judging by Hua Cheng’s amused smirk it definitely was.
And of course the teasing couldn’t be over that easily as Hua Cheng slowly leaned forward and let Xie Lian feed him the soup. Shameless! Truly his roommate was too shameless about such things! He should have a bit of pity on Xie Lian, he really wasn’t used to such handsome men flirting with him. Sure he had been able to laugh most of it off at first, but all his composure and the past four years with Hua Cheng had done nothing to build his immunity after he’d realized his own feelings. Maybe it was less the flirting and more the everything about Hua Cheng. Still, Xie Lian thought his roommate should go easy on his poor heart.
Hua Cheng pulled back, leaning against the counter. “Could use a bit more water.”
“You think so?” Xie Lian took another taste before nodding and moving to dilute the concoction he’d made. “San Lang is always so helpful.”
“And gege is always so kind cooking for this one.”
He shook his head. “It’s the least I can do since San Lang doesn’t let me split the grocery bill.” Xie Lian also had a strong suspicion that their rent was higher than Hua Cheng had told him was needed to pay his fair share.
“This one could never let Gege’s creativity be limited by budget.”
Xie Lian shooed him, rejecting the flattery. It was exaggerated and even if Hua Cheng was genuine— no even more so if he was genuine— Xie Lian didn’t think he could handle facing it after their not-kiss. “Go get the bowls.”
Always the diligent helper, Hua Cheng turned to fetch them and hand them over.
Eager to steer the conversation into safer waters, Xie Lian turned back to the original topic. “How long did San Lang want the vacation to be for anyways?”
“Could gege get a full week off?”
Xie Lian considered it. “After this job finishes I think I could. We have about two, maybe three weeks left at this site if San Lang really wants to wait for me.”
“Of course. It wouldn’t be any fun without gege,” Hua Cheng assured, seductively sweet as ever.
“He Xuan might go with you,” Xie Lian said, partially to ignore the line and partially because he knew it would rile his roommate up.
As expected Hua Cheng made a face. “Gege.”
Unable to help himself, Xie Lian laughed as he went to sit down to eat. “I’m honored that San Lang wants to go with me. I’ll make sure to ask my boss tomorrow.”
“We’ll leave as soon as gege is ready.” Hua Cheng smiled.