Archive of Our Own

“Xiao, say hello to your new roommate!”

Xiao stares at the two people in his doorway before rubbing at his eyes, trying to make sure this isn’t all just a very bad dream.

“I— What?”

His face twists into a scowl. Of course it’s Childe of all people who’s disturbing him on a morning when Xiao’s supposed to be peacefully sleeping in.

“Holy shit, this place has never been so clean,” Childe comments, looking over Xiao’s shoulder. He turns to the boy next to him, “The previous tenant was really messy. Can’t blame him though. I’m just as bad. If not worse.”

Childe beams at Xiao, “Letting you move in was the best decision of my life.”

“You’re just happy because I’m paying you,” Xiao says flatly.

Childe laughs in the most Childe way possible. “Oh, Xiao, you’re hilarious, seriously.”

“But I didn’t say anything funn—”

“Oh! I forgot to introduce both of you. Venti, this is Xiao. He may seem like an asshole, but he’s nice deep down. Like waaaaay deep down,” Childe gestures. “Xiao, Venti.”

Venti chuckles, grinning from ear to ear. “Hi! Nice to meet you!”

“Okay, that’s all then, buh-bye!” Childe smiles and tries to make a run for it.

Xiao’s hand shoots out at lightning speed to grip Childe’s arm. A murderous glare washes over his face.

“You. Me. Inside. Now.” He grits out, yanking Childe into his apartment.

“Aargh—! Xiao- hold on let me go—Venti! Just—just wait outside okay!” Childe calls to him, before the door clicks shut, leaving a very confused and oddly amused Venti standing in the hallway.

Xiao forcefully lets go of his arm and whisper-yells, “What the fuck is this all about? You-You…” he trails off, and suddenly he needs a moment because there are too many things to process and he can literally feel a headache coming on. “...You didn’t even ask me if I was okay with it!”

“You know what? I take it back. Sometimes you really are an asshole,” Childe pouts, inspecting and rubbing at his arm, ignoring Xiao’s accusations.

“Childe—”

“Look, I’m… I’m really sorry,” Childe starts, and okay, at least he has the decency to apologise. “It’s just—Well…” Childe says hesitantly, “around a year ago, Venti moved in with one of my other tenants.”

Xiao nods and gestures for him to continue, “Uh huh.”

Childe runs a hand through his hair and sighs. Xiao can practically see the gears turning at the top of his head. “A few months later, he requested to move out and find another place. Since I have quite a few tenants, there was one who was nice enough to take him in. But then... recently he asked to move out again.”

There’s a silence between them before he continues, “All the times when I asked him why he wanted to leave, he always avoided answering. I never probed further, just fulfilled his requests.”

“I mean at the end of the day, he’s still paying me rent too anyway,” Childe grins cheekily, trying to lighten the mood. “Aaaaand well… this is where you come along!”

Xiao arches an eyebrow, “I haven’t agreed to this. Not to mention, he seems... really shady. Isn’t there… someone else who can take him in?”

“I’ve asked quite a lot of people, they’ve all turned me down,” Childe sighs.

“Yeah, I wonder why. He’s shady.”

“Okay well, look at it this way, your rent will literally be halved.”

Xiao’s eyes widen. “Oh…uh..”

Xiao takes the time to consider this, because he admits that an opportunity like this would be wasted if he just let it slip right through his fingers. On weekdays he’s a slave to capitalism, then on the weekends he worries that time is passing too fast and that Monday is already around the corner, and then before he knows it his weekend is gone. Occasionally, he goes out with Ganyu. He says occasionally because Ganyu is somehow constantly working overtime.

So even though over the months he’d created a sort of routine for himself, he can’t deny that splitting the rent with someone else would be insanely helpful, both to his wallet and his mental state.

“...But there’s only one bedroom,” Xiao says lamely.

Childe lights up, noticing how Xiao is slowly considering the idea. “Then make Venti sleep on the couch. I don’t know. Ooh! How about both of you share your bed?”

Xiao glares, “Go to hell.”

“Relax! I’m kidding,” Childe raises his hands placatingly and grins. “Soooo how about it then?”

“It’s just…. Doesn’t he seem suspicious to you? Moving out but not saying why?” Xiao asks, a tinge of worry seeping into his voice. “Are you sure he’s not a criminal? A murderer?”

“Jeez, you are so over dramatic. Well, in the time that I’ve known him he hasn’t caused any trouble aside from this moving out thing,” Childe ponders and scrunches his face in a thinking manner. “Nah, I think he’s fine. As far as I know he hasn’t been arrested.”

“Okay, I am so comforted at that fact right now.”

Childe laughs, then, “Well, do you wanna let him room with you?”

Room. Roommate. Xiao thinks about that word. What does it mean to share a place with someone else? To see them all the time, to share a space with them… he’s become so used to living on his own that the thought almost seems jarring.

His choices are: either live with a potential criminal but cut bills or continue to live alone and suffer with bills, although his safety would be guaranteed.

“...Fine. I’ll do it.” And even Xiao is surprised at the words that leave his mouth. He didn’t expect this little amount of convincing (from Childe, of all people) to persuade him to make such a life-changing decision. Maybe it’s his sleep deprivation talking.

“Yay!” Childe pumps his fist into the air and flashes a megawatt smile, pulling Xiao in for a hug. “Thank you thank you thank you!”

The hug barely lasts a second before Xiao shoves him off. “Okay, enough—now you owe me for this.”

“Hmmm,” Childe makes a thoughtful face. “How about I treat you to dinner sometime then?”

“Actually you know what, I’d rather die than eat with you.”

Childe sulks, “What happened to the Xiao that hugged me a minute ago?”

“You hugged me—”

Before Xiao can finish his retort, Childe turns around and twists the doorknob.

“Venti, say hello to your new roommate!”

Childe stays on for a little while longer, showing Venti around the (small) place and explaining how much he needs to pay each month, and does all those legal terms and contract jazz. Xiao quietly makes himself breakfast now that he’s up, watching the two chat animatedly, and he wonders how the hell some people can be so cheery in the morning. On a Saturday, no less.

“Well that’s all then!” Childe smiles, placing a set of keys in Venti’s outstretched palms. “If you need anything just let me know. Bye!”

The door slams shut.

Silence.

Xiao kind of wants to die.

“Uh—”

“Holy shit, is that Mario Kart?” Venti points at his console and his game discs stacked on top of each other on the coffee table.

“What, you’ve never seen Mario Kart before?” Xiao raises an eyebrow in disbelief. Don’t tell him his roommate? (oh god, that word) is this tasteless.

“No no, oh my god of course not— Just that I haven’t played in ages!” Venti grins, and this isn’t how Xiao imagines first greetings are supposed to go. “Can I load it up? You wanna play?”

Xiao has no idea what to say. His brain still hasn’t fully awoken.

Does he want to play? Not really, he’d much rather be catching up on sleep after such a long week.

“I’m good,” he says and then jabs a thumb towards his bedroom. “I’m gonna crash.”

Venti pouts, “You’re no fun.”

Xiao has to prevent himself from screaming Holy-shit-I-literally-just-met-you-an-hour-ago-who-do-you-think-you-are, so instead because he’s petty he settles on, “I’m plenty fun. Goodnight.”

He slams the door shut.

Sighing, he collapses onto his bed and shifts to make himself comfortable. His eyes fall close.

Minutes later, he hears Venti screaming at the TV screen.

I hate this guy. He decides.

Monday rolls around much faster than expected.

The commute is smooth, much much faster compared to when he was stuck taking public transport, squashed between sweaty people. It wasn’t anything that he couldn’t handle, but just like anything, public transport came with its inconveniences. Now, Xiao is able to speed through traffic and zip between cars as he pleases. It’s a blessing.

Call him a loser, but Xiao’s motorbike is by far, the most precious thing he owns. It’s black with teal highlights which matches his hair, and he knows that that makes this whole thing more loser-y but he can’t bring himself to bother. It’s something that he worked his ass off for, a big decision that he made for nobody else but himself, and he’d be damned if he isn’t going to protect it with his life.

Thank god he’d been assigned the afternoon shift today, because (1) he could sleep in a bit more, (2) Surprise, Venti’s working the afternoon shift at his job as well today, which meant that he didn’t have to leave Venti alone in the apartment. If that happened, Xiao would be tempted to call in sick just so that his flat (their flat?) wouldn’t fall prey to Venti’s hands. Yeah, maybe he’s still paranoid about him, what about it. But deep down, he knows that he can’t keep this up forever. One day he’s going to have to learn to trust Venti whether he likes it or not, but that day is not today.

“Uggggghhhhh,” Venti moans and Xiao worries that the neighbours might hear him. He glares, hoping that Venti gets the memo to keep it down. “I don’t want to go to work tomorrow.”

Same. But Xiao isn’t about to go around agreeing with him, because he’s stubbornly petty and also because they aren’t friends. “Where do you even work?”

Venti flops onto the couch, his face squished on top of one of the cushions. It’s an unspoken agreement that Venti takes the couch, because the only other bed available is none other than Xiao’s bed. For some reason, Childe’s words continue to mock him. Xiao tries to swat the thoughts away like flies, because you could pay him a million dollars to sleep in the same bed as Venti, and he’d still refuse. He’s over dramatic like that.

“At a bar,” Venti says, “It’s great. The people there are like family. The customers too, especially the regulars. Well, most customers, maybe not all. Some are plain assholes. I’ve known the owner for a while now and he’s great too. We even get employee discounts for the drinks sometimes!” Then he frowns. “He doesn’t allow me to get alcoholic drinks though. I still have to pay full price.” A dramatic sigh. “And I’m pretty sure it’s just me too, because I swear I’ve seen Kaeya enjoy a glass of champagne for half price. Like, what gives man? I think I deserve to enjoy some delicious wine on the house too.”

Recalling their conversation sort of makes Xiao cringe. The guy talks too much. Then again, he was the one who asked.

His bike comes to a slow stop outside of the store. He parks it in this exact spot so that he can keep an eye on it through the window while he’s working. Xiao knows that Hu Tao would comment on it just like she always does, calling him too overprotective, that he shouldn’t worry so much, and that no, nobody is going to steal his bike yada yada. To which Xiao would reply that he spent way too much money on it, he loves it with his whole heart, and yes it could potentially get stolen, the world is a terrible place.

Taking off his helmet, he shakes his head in an attempt to unflatten his hair. He takes a moment to breathe in the fresh air before he steps off and heads into the shop.

The bell at the top of the door chimes when he enters and he’s immediately embraced by the comforting smell of books.

“Xiaoooooooooo!” Hu Tao calls. Speak of the devil. She’s lucky there are barely any customers in at the moment or Zhongli will have her head.

“Shhhh, oh my god Hu Tao,” He shushes her, but he isn’t mad at all. He’s kinda getting deja vu though, because he’s pretty sure this isn’t the first time this has happened. “Are you forgetting where we work?”

She frowns, “I wanted to say hello.” And for some god awful reason, she’s reminding him a little bit of Venti. “Besides, this isn’t a library!” She huffs.

“I know,” he sighs, and the stupid Venti thought leaves him a bit annoyed. “Hello to you too. Now please go man the cashier before we get complaints.”

“Who says we haven’t gotten complaints already?” She says and winks, before heading back to the cash register, leaving Xiao to stand there and wonder whether she’s joking or not. He hopes she is.

After composing himself, he heads to the cashier counter and swipes his apron from underneath and puts it on, tying the knot behind. He bounds into the store room, planning to take the stock of bad poetry books that just arrived, knowing that the wannabe hipsters that shop here would have a field day once it restocked.

He can’t help the thoughts that swarm him when he’s alone. He takes the time to think, like really think, about the whole situation he’s gotten himself in, and he needs a bit of time to compose himself. It’s been a few days but it’s still a bit jarring to him; he now has someone living in his apartment. Someone who is deafeningly loud and seems like he drinks fifty energy drinks for breakfast every day.

It’s a change to his lifestyle that he hasn’t really come to accept.

“Yoohoo! Earth to Xiao?” Hu Tao frowns and waves a hand in front of him. “You good?”

Xiao jolts and feels his soul leave his body. “Holy freaking shit. When did you come in?”

“Like, just.” Hu Tao frowns harder. “Dude, are you okay? This isn’t like you.”

“It’s fine. I’m fine. Sorry.” Xiao waves his hand dismissively, wanting to change the topic as quickly as possible. “What are you here for?”

“To restock the shitty poetry.”

“Ah,” Xiao says and a hint of a smile graces his features. “They’re over there. I’ll, uh, take over the cashier then.”

“Thanks,” she says and after a moment she adds, “Xiao?”

“Hm?” He stops in his tracks and turns around.

“You know we’re friends right? You can tell me anything.”

“It’s nothing,” he says because it really is, and he’s afraid he’s just overreacting to this entire thing because in the grand scheme of things having to share your flat with someone else doesn’t really mean it’s the end of the world. “...But thanks, really.” He gives a soft smile and leaves the room.

The rest of the day passes agonisingly slowly, but Xiao doesn’t mind that much because there’s peace and quiet, an escape from his flat (again, their flat?) which is now all-too-loud, courtesy of Venti. The shop becomes even quieter once Hu Tao clocks out, who sends him a bright smile his way before leaving the shop. Their shifts today overlap since she was here since morning, with Xiao taking care of closing.

Working at a bookstore isn’t something that Xiao expected himself to be doing, but he’s glad nonetheless. Honestly if you ask him, there are many pros:

It’s quiet (Most of the time, especially when Hu Tao isn’t around).

He doesn’t have to wear any specific kind of attire except for the apron.

The customers are nice, bearable at most. Almost none of them have had unreasonable demands (so far). He doesn’t think he’s had any outstanding negative encounters, even with him working here for so long. Now if you put him in F&B, that’s a totally different story. He thinks he’d get so mad that he’d kill everyone there and then himself.

Here’s the best part: minimal social interaction. He can spend the entire time taking note of stocks and stocking items without having to actually talk to anyone. Even if he’s at the register, it’s minimal talk. Nothing he can’t handle. See, he isn’t exactly required to talk to the customers unless he wants to, unlike other jobs in the service industry. Again, bringing up F&B.

All in all, it’s a pretty good choice and he’s content. Or well, as content as he can be while working. It isn’t that he dislikes his job, in fact it’s the opposite really, but just like the rest of the world Xiao doesn’t enjoy working. But hey, his bills aren’t going to pay themselves.

The day comes to an end and he turns off all the lights and locks up, shoving the keys into his pockets. Zhongli trusts him enough to leave the spare set with him instead of Hu Tao, because the last time she actually lost them and Zhongli made a huge fuss about having to get the lock and keys replaced. Xiao wonders how she hasn’t been fired yet.

He gets on his bike and speeds home.

“What are you doing.”

Venti’s on the couch, face drenched in tears and hugging a cushion to his chest like his life depends on it. There’s a movie playing on the screen, a woman is crying and there’s sombre music in the background. Well, it seems like Venti ended work much earlier than him.

“Xiaoooooo!” Venti wails. “Holy shit, this is so fucking sad.” His voice breaks. “Have you seen this before?”

“No.”

“Well you should, it’s great— like the story and cinematography is amazing but holy shit it is so sad, I can’t believe they—”

“I’m… I’m going to shower. Then sleep.” He can’t be bothered to deal with this right now. Thinking about how he has work again tomorrow makes him all the more annoyed. He starts taking off his shoes and placing them neatly in the corner.

“Xiao!” Venti frowns, but his voice comes out funny so he takes a tissue from the tissue box and blows his nose. “Xiao, wait!” Venti sounds more serious this time, so Xiao actually looks at him.

“Ha—Uh… Have you eaten?”

Xiao realises that he hasn’t. He just wanted to get home as quickly as possible that he forgot to buy something back home.

“Uh no, but—” His stomach rumbles. He and Venti stare at each other.

Xiao feels his cheeks heat up and he averts his gaze. “It’s fine, I’m just gonna—”

“I can make something for you if you want!”

Xiao looks incredulous. “You can cook?”

“You can’t?” Venti shoots back, but it’s hard to take him seriously when his nose is full of snot.

Xiao doesn’t really take offence to that. Honestly, he can’t. “...Not really.”

Venti laughs, “I kinda figured. Your fridge was basically empty when I got back.” He holds up an empty plate with food scraps. “Soooo I took the honour of going to the grocery store and buying some things! I made something for myself before you came back, anyway. I wasn’t sure if you were gonna eat outside or—”

Xiao nearly yells “You touched my kitchen?!” in true Gordon Ramsay fashion but then he remembers that Venti is paying half rent per month so he figures he deserves the kitchen. And maybe the fridge. At least.

“—Anyways, okay, you go shower. I’ll whip something up for you. Okay, shoo! Jesus, you’re all sweaty. Go!”

“Am not,” Xiao frowns, and looks down at himself self consciously. Then he adds, “There better not be snot in my food.”

“Oh my god, go shower!”

And the next thing he knows, he’s being shoved into his room to pick out a fresh pair of clothes.

Maybe Venti isn’t so bad after all.

“How is it? How is it?”

Xiao can’t look Venti in the eyes. It’s delicious.

It isn’t even anything fancy, just a simple ramen, but it tastes so… so home-cooked and comforting, not like those cheap instant ones that reek of misery, that Xiao is at a loss for words. He can’t remember when was the last time he had something like this.

“It’s delicious,” he blurts. Okay, he didn’t mean to say it out loud.

Venti whoops in celebration. “I finally got you to say something without you looking constipated.”

“Hey—” Venti bursts into a fit of giggles.

“Th-” Xiao starts, then clears his throat. “Thanks. You didn’t have to—”

“Hey, don’t worry about it!” Venti grins. “Take this as a thanks from me, for letting me room with you. I.. I really, really appreciate it.” And he gives a genuine smile.

And like that, they’re left staring at each other. Xiao is in shock that Venti could be so…nice, so he just stares at him, with a towel draped over his shoulders and the fan blowing at his semi wet hair, chopsticks halfway to his mouth.

Venti clears his throat after a moment. “Wanna continue the movie with me?”

“Oh hell no.”

They do end up continuing the movie. Venti cries all over again and continues even after the credits roll. Xiao still has no idea what the hell is so sad about this film.

Coming back from work, Xiao stops in his tracks just outside their apartment door, hearing the faintest bit of singing coming from inside.

He’s not one to judge, everyone does their own things when they’re alone, but it’s just a bit surprising to him. Xiao’s lucky that he’s even managed to catch Venti in the act, so now he can barge in and tease Venti about his terrible singing.

He’s just about to insert the key into the door and barge in when Venti’s voice grows a bit louder.

“I can't call you a stranger, but I can't call you. I know you think that I erased you,” Venti sings, and Xiao’s entire being is frozen in place, hand gripping his keys too tight. Turns out, Venti’s singing is not terrible, but the complete opposite. “You may hate me but I can't hate you. And I won't replace you.”

“Tell me how to feel about you now. Tell me how to feel about you now.” His voice is so different, so haunting and melancholic. Xiao has never heard this side of Venti before, and he doesn’t know why but his heart aches. “Oh, let me know. Do I suffocate or let go?”

Venti doesn’t seem to continue after that. Although muffled, Xiao hears him sigh and after a few moments, he pads to the toilet.

Xiao is at a loss, he’s almost never felt like this. He doesn’t even know if he wants to open the door and go in anymore. Venti wasn’t singing just for the sake of singing. Anyone with ears would know that Venti was clearly singing about someone… and that someone probably meant a lot to him.

Xiao decides then and there to rip the bandaid off. He inserts the key and twists the knob.

“Ah, hey Xiao!” Venti smiles, walking out from the bathroom. And if Xiao didn’t know better, he would’ve thought that nothing happened and everything was okay. Xiao takes off his shoes and places them by the door, closing it behind him.

“Hey Venti,” he says in a tone much gentler than his usual tone towards him and Venti looks at him utterly confused, taken aback even.

Perhaps... he’d been too quick to judge Venti. It isn’t that Venti’s sad song made me feel sympathy for him, but more so that... it helped him realise that he didn’t really have a concrete reason for actively disliking Venti anyway. And the whole thing that Childe mentioned at the beginning about Venti hopping from place to place, he trusts that Venti has his reasons for it. Whether he will ever find out those reasons is a different story.

“I’m taking it that you had a good day at work today?” Venti chuckles with a hint of uneasiness, maybe because he’s not used to Xiao like this, and plonks himself on the couch, switching on the TV.

“Eh, not really. The usual.” Xiao says, eyeing Venti for a little too long. Now he’s starting to wonder if he just imagined Venti singing all along.

“You… okay?” Venti asks with an eyebrow raised.

That’s Xiao’s line. He wants to ask Venti that.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?”

Venti nods like he’s not really buying it but he seems to decide to drop the topic. He flicks through the channels and stops when he reaches one he’s interested in. “Ooh! This one. Wanna watch it together?”

Xiao thinks about bringing up the singing fiasco (not in a nosy way but in more of a “Dude are you okay” way), because if he doesn’t do it now he doesn’t know when the next opportunity will come. But then he sees Venti smiling up at him, and he doesn’t really want to be a mood killer.

“Yeah, you can watch first. I’ll shower then join you.”

Well, looks like he’ll just have to keep this to himself for now.

Xiao is struggling to keep himself awake.

The show playing on TV is falling on deaf ears and his eyes are shutting on their own accord. It feels like he’s melting right onto the couch and moving an inch seems almost impossible. He’s just about to turn to face Venti when there’s a sudden weight on his shoulders.

It takes everything in Xiao not to scream.

If he was going to fall asleep earlier, he’s wide awake now. Venti and him are shoulder to shoulder, Venti fast asleep and drooling a little bit. Xiao doesn’t even have time to think that it’s gross when his mind is going into overdrive.

He carefully takes a quick glance at sleeping Venti, feeling like it’s illegal to look at him like this.

I wish I could kiss him. And then immediately mentally slaps himself.

His heart starts pounding like crazy. It must be his drowsiness talking, yeah, that’s it.

He sits there for a few minutes going absolutely insane with his spiralling thoughts, TV still running and all, before he finally collects himself. Grabbing onto Venti’s shoulders as gently and softly as he can, he slowly stands up while setting Venti down into a lying position, bracing himself and praying to all his lucky stars that Venti doesn’t wake up. As much as he didn’t even dare move when Venti landed on him, he also doesn’t want to confine himself to sleeping in a sitting up position. He knows he doesn’t want to wake up sore in more places than one, coupled with that weird funny feeling in his legs. Not only that, he also doesn’t know whether he would be able to even sleep at all given his racing heart and mind.

When the deed is done and Venti is lying on the couch (although his legs are still dangling off the couch, there is no way in hell Xiao is going to lift them up and place them on the couch, his heart wouldn’t be able to handle that), Xiao quietly turns off the TV. Taking one last look at Venti’s sleeping form, he admires how peaceful he looks, a contrast to his singing from earlier. His messy hair falls onto his closed eyes, braids coming undone, chest rising and falling to his breathing.

Xiao pads into his room and flops onto his bed. He buries his face in his pillow.

What really is Venti to him?

The next time he regains consciousness, it’s because he hears noise coming from the kitchen. He groans a little and rubs at both of his eyes, staring straight up at his ceiling. Even though his mind is still a bit fuzzy, he vaguely remembers last night’s events. He sits up and stretches his arms before making his way to his door frame.

“Morning,” Xiao says sleepily, his voice raspy. His throat is all dry and he makes a face showing his discomfort, shuffling into the kitchen to get some water.

“Oh, you’re up!” Venti muses, looking ready to cook with the ingredients lined up on the counter. “Sorry. Did I wake you?” He looks sheepish.

“No, it’s okay. Agh. What time is it?”

“Eleven something. Perfectly normal time to get up on a Saturday.” Venti replies.

“I guess,” Xiao agrees and gulps down his water. “Were you making something?”

“I was going to make breakfast- or lunch, okay well brunch. Figured you’d be hungry when you woke up.” Venti beams. “I took a gamble because I wasn’t sure when you would wake up but well,” He gestures up and down at Xiao. “Looks like it all checked out.”

“Oh shoot, thanks.” Xiao says, feeling a tinge of guilt that Venti is always cooking for him due to his lack of culinary skills. A yawn escapes from Xiao’s mouth and Venti rolls his eyes playfully.

“How about you go wash up to wake yourself up,” Venti signals to the toilet. “Then we can eat.” A pause. “And then, we Mario Kart.”

“You’re on.” And Xiao doesn’t hide his smile.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that he starts to act differently around Venti.

Lately, everything that Venti does makes him feel a weird tightness in his chest, and in all honesty it’s scaring the shit out of him.

There was that one time that Venti dragged him to an arcade because “The only time we leave the house is for groceries. We should do other things!” and Xiao couldn’t exactly argue with that. That day, Venti somehow fell prey to those rigged claw machines, nearly crying because of how cute one of the reversible squid plushies were. Xiao couldn’t really blame him, they were pretty cute, but he didn’t think it was worth all the effort. However, since Venti kept trying and trying but to no avail, he started to plead with Xiao to help him out.

Normally, Xiao would've dragged him out of the arcade and reasoned that it was all just a scam for the arcade to milk as much money from poor souls. But for some reason, Xiao tried to win it for Venti. So, after some time and a bit too many arcade coins spent, Xiao finally caught the stupid plush for him. And when Venti practically jumped into Xiao’s arms, Xiao breathed in Venti’s scent and wanted them to stay like that forever.

Then there was that other time where Venti dragged him to a park for the exact same reason. This time, Xiao was a bit more reluctant given he wasn’t the biggest fan of the outdoors or nature in general, but he found that sitting with Venti on a patch of grass while they ate sandwiches wasn’t the worst thing in the world. In fact, he actually enjoyed himself. He enjoyed listening to Venti ramble on and on about his job and his friends more than he thought he would.

So, what does he really feel towards Venti? Aren’t they just friends?

Venti comes out of the bathroom, startling Xiao from his thoughts. He physically jolts and quickly glues his eyes to the TV screen, acting like he’s been paying attention.

“Hey,” Venti says, smiling, a towel draped over his head. He’s practically swimming in his oversized shirt.

Xiao turns around and immediately feels his ears turning red. Fuck, it should be illegal to look that cute.

“Hey,” He replies and prays that his voice doesn’t waver.

Venti hops onto the couch, immediately getting absorbed into the show. After a few moments, Xiao turns to look at him. The TV screen is reflecting in his eyes, and his mouth is slightly open as he watches in concentration.

Xiao’s eyes wander lower to Venti’s lips. He wonders what it would be like if he just reached over and kissed him. The thought itself is enough to scare the living shit out of him. What the fuck, get ahold of yourself, Xiao. Kissing Venti. Seriously?

“Everything okay?” Venti must’ve noticed his staring and turns to him, face full of concern. Xiao feels like a child that’s been caught taking forbidden cookies from the cookie jar. “Something on my face?”

Xiao quickly faces the TV, finding the show very interesting all of a sudden. He laughs awkwardly. “No, no. It’s nothing.”

He has no idea what to do with himself.

“Okay so… pasta done, tomato sauce done, chicken done… Ooh! Okay okay, let’s get cereal. They say breakfast is the most important meal of the day.” Venti beams and pockets his phone, while Xiao reluctantly pushes the shopping cart.

Xiao frowns. “Isn’t it your turn to push? You said we’d take turns.”

“Ah, my dear Xiao,” Venti teases. “My job is to tick things off our list and get things from the highest shelf. I’m not sure you can reach them, you see.”

“We are the same fucking height,” Xiao deadpans.

“Keep dreaming, babe,” Venti says and then panic fills his eyes when he realises what he’s just said, or more specifically what word he used.

Catching him off guard, Xiao’s heart twists at the nickname. Even if it was a joke, it made him feel something, and he’s absolutely terrified of that.

Venti clears his throat, only adding to the now-kinda-awkward atmosphere. “Aha… okay, onto the cereal aisle, my servant!” Xiao pushes the cart in the general direction of the aisle.

“I will punch you.” Xiao says, not really meaning it, but quickly embracing the familiarity of their banter, wanting to pretend the past minute did not happen.

“Hmm okay,” Venti says, putting his hands on his hips and staring at the various cereal boxes in front of him. “Which do you want?”

Xiao raises one arm from its position on the shopping cart handle to grab one of the boxes. “Raisin Bran.”

“You’re kidding. You’re a menace to society.” Venti gawks. “I’m getting Fruit Loo-”

“Xiao?”

Xiao nearly drops the cereal box he’s holding. He recognises that voice, and he sure as hell knows it isn’t Venti’s. He turns around, coming face to face with a young lady with sky blue hair.

“Holy crap. Ganyu?” Xiao says in shock, he hasn’t seen her in forever. “What are you doing here? You don’t live around here.”

“I was visiting a friend and then came here to get some stuff,” Ganyu says with that signature soft smile on her face. “I was actually going to drop by your place after this. I tried to text you.”

Xiao fumbles and pulls his phone out of his pocket, seeing a missed call and a few unopened texts from her. “Oh shit, I’m so sorry.”

“No, no it’s okay! It’s all quite last minute anyways. And here we are anyway!” Ganyu fumbles. “Ah… and who is this?”

“He’s-”

“I’m Venti, Xiao’s roommate!” Venti beams, coming up to sling an arm over Xiao’s shoulder.

Ganyu’s eyes nearly bulge out of her skull. “You have a roommate?”

“I know. It’s a long story,” Xiao lets out a long sigh. “I’m stuck with him forever.”

Venti jabs him in the side and Xiao yelps, not reacting fast enough to block it. “You better be grateful. I cook for you, you know.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Xiao says, and then he straightens up. “Venti, this is Ganyu. We were friends in high school.”

“Were?” Ganyu says pointedly.

“I mean, we still are,” Xiao corrects, and then his tone becomes teasing. “And we could meet more often if it weren’t for your stupid job.”

Ganyu actually looks a little guilty. “I know. I’m sorry.”

“Nice to meet you, Ganyu,” Venti smiles, reaching out his hand for her to shake it. “It must’ve been hard dealing with Xiao all these years.”

Ganyu chuckles, “I like him, Xiao.” To which Xiao rolls his eyes. Venti and Ganyu meeting each other might’ve been a mistake, but Xiao knows that what he absolutely cannot allow to happen is Venti and Hu Tao meeting. Ever.

After a moment, Venti adds, “Okay, how about I continue shopping while you two catch up. I shouldn’t disturb both of you.”

“Are you sure?” Xiao asks.

“Yep! It’s okay, you two look like you need the catch up.” Venti smiles and takes over Xiao’s job of pushing the shopping cart. Xiao throws his cereal box into the trolley. “I’ll text you and you can come find me.”

“Okay,” Xiao says. “Bye.”

“Bye loser,” Venti replies and Xiao narrows his eyes and shoos him off.

Watching Venti leave and turn around into the next aisle, Xiao turns around and is met with Ganyu and her all-too-knowing eyes.

“You two seem close,” She says.

“Ah- uh-” Xiao fumbles and clears his throat. “Honestly, not really. It’s just his personality, he’s friendly with everyone. I.. still feel like I don’t know much about him.” And that is a whole other can of worms that he isn’t going to address.

“How long has he been living with you though?”

“Around six months,” Xiao answers. “Feels like it’s been longer though.”

“I’m happy for you, Xiao,” And Ganyu gives a genuine warm smile. “You seem different. Happier.”

Xiao doesn’t really know how to react to that, but it makes him feel a little warm and fuzzy that someone he’s known for a while mentioned that. Perhaps there has been a change that he didn’t even notice.

“How about you? How’s work? Is Ningguang still giving you a hard time?”

“She never gave me trouble to begin with,” Ganyu defends her boss in typical Ganyu fashion. Xiao rolls his eyes. “It’s just that I like completing things as soon as they’re given.”

“You keep telling yourself that,” Xiao teases, but then his tone drops to something more serious, because he knows Ganyu has always had this problem even when they were in school. “But seriously, please take a break every now and then. We’re all human. And if there’s anything, you can always come talk to me.”

“I know, Xiao,” She smiles, appreciating his concern. “Thanks, really.”

Because Xiao suddenly feels a bit evil, he asks, “How’s Keqing?”

This catches Ganyu off guard. “Aah! She.. she’s great!” Ganyu falters. “She’s as good as ever.”

“Well, I don’t really mean how is she doing but more of… how are you and her doing?” Xiao asks smugly. “If you know what I mean.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” Ganyu shrugs and looks in the other direction in a joking manner, but Xiao knows that she knows exactly what he’s talking about. Her face gives everything away.

Ganyu seems eager to change the subject. “You should get back to Venti, I’m sure you have other things to do.”

“Nono, it’s fine,” He says, but then he takes his phone out and sees a new message.

Venti

> done, paying up at the cashier! no. 8 ╰(▔∀▔)╯

When he looks back up, Ganyu gestures for him to go. “We can meet properly another time. Go out for tea or something.” A pause. “It was really nice to see you again, Xiao.”

She pulls him in for a tight hug before he can do so first. “You too, Ganyu.” And he squeezes her like his life depends on it.

They part, and Ganyu sends him a little wave before she disappears around the corner. He lets out a sigh and starts heading towards the cashiers.

You two seem close.

Xiao can’t help the sigh that he lets out when the warm water hits his body.

When he’s done, he draws the shower curtains and steps out of the cubicle, reaching for his towel and drying his body off. Taking a glance at the closed toilet seat, he notices something should be there but isn’t. And that’s when he realises.

“Ah, shit.” He forgot to bring a change of clothes.

Well, it isn’t the end of the world. He’s pretty sure Venti is in the living room so he can just shout and ask him to get it from his room.

Bangs on the door. “Venti!”

He waits a few beats. Silence.

Bangs on the door with more urgency. “Venti!”

More silence.

And suddenly, he feels really naked. Both literally and figuratively.

“Son of a bitch,” Xiao mumbles to himself, leaning down and pressing his ear against the door to listen to what Venti is doing. At first, it isn’t clear but then he hears the faint noise of Venti humming to music, meaning he has his obnoxious, stupid cat headphones on.

“Yeah, okay, fuck it,” Xiao says, because he’s getting cold and he can’t sit here waiting for Venti forever, wrapping the towel around his waist. He pushes the door open.

And it is at that exact moment that Venti turns around to stand up, presumably to head to the kitchen.

“Ack!” Venti turns his head so fast, arm reaching up to practically fling his headphones away from him. “Aha… heyyyy Xiao! Why don’t you have any clothes on? Haha...”

“I forgot to bring clothes in,” Xiao crosses his arms over his (bare) chest and pouts a little, desperately trying hard to ignore the fact that Venti actually looks kinda cute in those headphones. “Okay but, I literally banged on the door and shouted your name. You didn’t respond.”

“Oh shit sorry,” Venti says, slowly turning around to maintain eye contact but then he gets a 0.001 second glance at Xiao’s chest and suddenly he’s looking at the wall again. “Oh my god, okay okay, please just- please go put some clothes on.”

Is Venti blushing?

“Okay,” He says, but then suddenly his cheeks are warming at the sudden dawning realisation that Venti has fucking seen his bare torso. Sure, Venti is his roommate but they’ve crossed a new boundary with this. He quickly turns around and heads into his room, shutting the door with a little too much force.

He sighs, opening his closet door to pick out new clothes.

What was that all about?

The bell at the front door chimes.

“Welcome-” Xiao starts to say as he’s restocking some books, but then he turns around and his heart drops to his stomach. “Oh my god. What-”

“Xiaooo!” Venti flashes a smile and waves, stepping into the store and looking around in awe. “Woaaaah, that’s a looooot of books.”

Xiao can practically feel Hu Tao boring holes into the back of his head from where she is at the cash register, and he knows that if she wasn’t she would be all up in their faces asking who Venti is and promptly teasing and possibly embarrassing Xiao in front of Venti.

“What are you doing here? Don’t you have work? Wait, how the fuck do you even know this place?” Xiao frowns, desperately trying to not let his surprise show. His thoughts are all jumbled and words can’t even describe what he’s feeling right now.

“It was pretty easy,” Venti grins. “I just had to Google for bookstores in our area, and there are barely any. You should be glad you don’t have competition.” A pause, and then he seems to remember that Xiao asked multiple questions. “I took off today. I think I deserve it, you know! I’ve been working sooo hard.” A cheeky smile.

Xiao doesn’t know whether he wants to punch Venti or evaporate into thin air out of embarrassment.

“Uh-”

“Oh, yeah! These are for you.” Venti beams and thrusts a nicely wrapped box into his hands. Was he carrying that behind him the whole time? Maybe. Maybe Xiao was so stunned by Venti coming over that that he didn’t even notice. Wait… why is Venti so red?

“For… me?” Xiao says dumbly and accepts it with both of his hands.

“There are pastries inside, uh,” Venti explains, not entirely looking at Xiao in the eyes. “In case you get hungry. I know you rushed out of the house this morning because I heard you fumble and yelp and rush out the door, so I assumed you didn’t eat anything. S-so I decided to make something… and I thought you would like them because that other time I made dessert and you seemed to really like it, I figured you had a sweet tooth so-”

“Venti, Venti,” Xiao says with a quiet laugh, because he’s never seen Venti so flustered before. To be fair, Xiao thinks he’s equally as red. “Thank you, really. I’ll eat them later. And uh- sorry for waking you up this morning. Didn’t mean to.”

“It’s fine,” Venti says reassuringly. “Okay, well then I better get going, no time to waste on my precious day off!” He smiles and then pulls out his phone and shoves it in Xiao’s face. “Look at this long ass grocery list, for some reason we keep running out of ingredients.”

“Yeah because you eat too much,” Xiao points out.

Venti makes a face. “You literally eat as much as I do.”

“Yeah, yeah, okay I need to get back to work.” Xiao says because he really has a job to fulfill.

“Okay then, see you later!” Venti waves, turning around and heading towards the door. “Uh… and Xiao?”

“Yeah?”

Venti pauses before his next sentence, like he’s thinking about something very serious. “You..uh.. You look pretty cute in your apron.”

A good ten seconds pass where they simply stare at each other.

“Okaybye!” Venti says a bit too fast and speeds off like his life depends on it. The door closes with a violent thud and the chime tinkers too loudly, the ringing echoing in Xiao’s head.

Oh.

What the fuck.

What the fuck just happened.

And just when he thinks he can get some peace and quiet, Hu Tao sneaks up from behind him and shakes him violently by the shoulders, forcing him to turn around and face her.

“Hu-”

“Xiao!” Hu Tao shrieks and Xiao winces. “Who the hell was that?!”

“My…uh... roommate.” He says, still a bit dazed from his encounter with Venti.

“You have a roommate, and you didn’t tell me about him?!” Hu Tao gasps, offended. “Are we not friends, the fuck? I thought you lived alone!”

“We are, just that I didn’t think it was important-”

“This is important!” She all but screams. “That was singlehandedly the gayest exchange I’ve ever seen in my life! Holy fricking shit, he likes you! And you like him!”

Well, she dropped the L word. There’s no going back from this now.

“Wha- No-” Xiao fumbles and shakes his head a bit too defensively. Does he like Venti? Maybe, because that would explain his weird actions for the past month. And now that Hu Tao has put a name to it… yeah, he really doesn’t want to think about it. “I don’t fucking like him, no no no-” But then he remembers the other thing that she mentioned. “Wait… he… likes me?”

“I’m no love connoisseur but,” she says, her voice more calm and toned down from before and Xiao is grateful for that, because he’s not sure if he has the mental capacity to deal with more screaming, when the voices in his head are already yelling at the top of their lungs. “I’m pretty sure he was flirting with you. And Xiao, I don’t know what is going on in that pea sized brain of yours but he literally made you food. And came here on his day off to pass you said food.”

“He’s just being a nice friend-”

“Oh my god,” Hu Tao throws her hands up in disbelief, her voice inching higher. “I don’t even know what to say. You… you keep thinking like that, Xiao. But I’m telling you, he likes you. You can see it in his eyes.” And with that, she decides to end their conversation and get back to work. And Xiao should too, but he’s going to have to deal with Hu Tao’s information dump and pretend that he isn’t going through the biggest crisis of his life.

Needless to say, he spends the rest of work in a daze. And not the good kind.

Ganyu has always been someone that he can rely on, like a big sister that he never had. Someone that he can turn to when he needs to vent to someone. Which is how he finds himself on a video call with her one night, yelling about Venti.

“Ganyu, what do I doooo,” Xiao whines like a little child in his chair, laptop open on his desk. “I’m screwedddddddd.”

“Well at least you finally figured out that you like him,” Ganyu smiles teasingly.

“First of all I do not,” Xiao immediately defends out of habit, knowing that both of them aren’t going to believe that. “And second of all, what do you mean… finally?”

“That time we bumped into each other at the supermarket,” Ganyu explains. “I don’t know how to explain it, but I knew there was something going on between you two. At least, it was really obvious with you. Call it your best friend’s intuition.”

Xiao groans louder and sinks into his chair. “He’s just… he’s just so… Ack- I can’t say it. It’s too embarrassing.”

Ganyu laughs, “I haven’t seen you act like this in forever.” She’s referencing from when both of them were back in highschool and had crushes in other people. Sure, he used to but they were all… superficial. Nothing like how he feels around Venti.

He’s about to retort when he hears the front door unlocking and his heart sinks to his stomach. “It’s Venti,” he whispers, panicking. “I’ll call you back another time.” And then he ends the call and shuts his laptop forcefully. He’ll have to message her later to apologise for ending so abruptly.

In the dead of the night, Xiao’s tip toeing to get snacks from the fridge when he hears Venti stir from the couch. He doesn’t really think much of it until he’s about halfway to the kitchen just as Venti starts making more noises, like he’s in distress. Like he’s in pain.

Xiao’s mission to get food is instantly scrapped, he makes his way over to the couch and sees tears pooled at Venti’s closed eyes while he squirms uncomfortably.

He’s having a nightmare.

Xiao’s arm instinctively reaches out to Venti but just as he’s about to shake him Venti curls up into a ball and sniffles. Xiao’s heart breaks.

“Venti…” Xiao’s voice cracks, shaking his shoulder. When he doesn’t get a response, he shakes him harder. “Venti, wake up. I’m here.”

No response. Xiao’s this close to punching him if that means he’ll wake up. He gives a final hard shake.

Venti’s eyes fly open and his chest heaves up and down. Xiao’s heart has never hurt like this. Venti looks like a dishevelled mess, his face is all red and he stares at Xiao with watery eyes.

Xiao doesn’t think. He pulls Venti close to his chest and strokes his hair, not caring if this breaks boundaries between them. It just feels right.

“It’s okay, I’m here,” Xiao reassures. “I’m not going anywhere.”

He lets Venti take all the time he needs until Venti pulls back and rubs at his eyes.

“Fuck-” He starts and his voice comes out all twisted. “Fuck, I’m so sorry.”

“Don’t you dare apologise,” Xiao says firmly. “You don’t need to be sorry.”

“Sorry,” Venti says again and he lets out a dry laugh despite the situation. “No but really, I’m sorry. What I went through... the… the whole thing is really just- stupid.”

“If it’s making you upset then it’s not.” Xiao says, because it’s true. And suddenly, a thought crosses his mind. Does this have anything to do with that time he “caught” Venti singing? Is now a good time to bring it up?

“Venti… argh…” Xiao starts nervously. “I don’t know whether this is a good time to bring this up but,” he takes a deep breath. “There was one time when I came back home, I heard you singing. Is this… is this related to that?”

Venti looks at him with an indescribable look in his eyes. “Ah… I kind of figured you heard me but I just wasn’t sure how much you really heard. You were acting weird that night, you know. You were being too suspiciously nice.”

Xiao averts his eyes and stares into the darkness of his living room. “I’m sorry. I really didn’t know how to bring it up.”

“Now it’s your turn to not apologise,” Venti says softly. “Ah well, I’m glad you didn’t bring it up during that night. I probably would’ve gotten mad.”

After a few beats of silence, Venti says, “I want to tell you. But it’s a long story and I kinda wanna leave out the details.”

He takes in a breath, “My ex cheated on me. Twice.”

“What?”

“Yeah. And the really fucked up thing is that I kind of miss him. Or well, at least miss who he was before.” Venti laughs dryly. “Well, to tell you from the start, we met through mutual friends, and I.. I really, really liked him. Looking back, I was so stupid.”

“I never imagined that we would click so well but we did and honestly it kind of scared me. We hung out a lot as if we were glued to each other at the hip, and even at night we would have late heart to heart talks. If we couldn’t meet, we video called until both of us fell asleep. It was disgusting.” Venti scrunches his nose. “Over the months he became one of my closest friends and I ...developed feelings, and one night I couldn’t take it anymore so I confessed. Not even in real life, but on video call because I was a wuss. He... said yes and I probably nearly cried from happiness then.”

“We started dating and he was a lot of my firsts, but most importantly we were happy. I felt like he was my soulmate and I was born in this world to find him.” Venti fake gags. “Uegh… gross. But it’s true. I really felt that way at one point.”

“One day, he wanted to do it. I… I knew he was the right person but in my heart I knew I just wasn’t ready. He... “ Venti looks away. “I told him.. I just needed time, then I would let him know when I was ready. He told me he understood, and I was so, so grateful because I thought he would leave me. I believed he would be by my side. I trusted him.” Venti’s voice breaks.

“I don’t really want to mention how I found out because it gets ugly, but let’s just say I found out he cheated and I was... fucking devastated. We got into a huge fight and honestly I should’ve listened to my friends and left him then and there, but I was young and stupid and in love. I thought I was the problem. I thought I had to change myself to be with him. You aren’t going to believe this, but I stupidly forgave him because I thought I was at fault. I thought I wasn’t good enough.”

“Even though we didn’t want to, obviously our relationship changed after that. He said he wouldn’t do it again, because he seemed so genuinely apologetic and I believed him. I gave him a second chance when I really shouldn’t have because he went and cheated again.”

Venti needs a moment to compose himself. “Even though I’m mostly over it now, saying it still makes me feel-” he makes some weird gestures, “-bleh. And after that, I really left for good, much to everyone’s relief. But I felt so lost.. like.. like, I was missing someone from my life because in reality I really was. Although we ended on a bad note, and looking back I obviously still don’t forgive him, there were happy moments when we were together.”

“Mentally, I wasn’t in a good place for a looong time. So my friends told me to go for therapy. Naturally, I wasn’t the biggest fan of it, but I decided to go for fun because I didn’t think it would help anyways. Shit changed my life. It was something I really needed at the time, and although it may not be for everyone, it really helped me. I think my therapist got sick of me going on and on about how heartbroken I was, like a broken record.”

Xiao’s heart twists in pain and he wants nothing more than to keep the boy in front of him safe. Venti didn’t deserve to go through any of that.

“I… I’m pretty sure Childe told you this but, when I started apartment hunting I didn’t room with people for long. There was no way I was going to let a repeat of the past happen so, I purposely cut short my time with people so I wouldn’t grow attached to them. I began hopping around from place to place, and to be really honest I didn’t mind it because it gave me a sense of change in life, like it wasn’t stagnant.”

“And that’s why, Xiao, I am going to move out.”

Xiao’s jaw drops and his entire world slows to a stop. “You’re…you’re ….what?”

“I’m moving out,” Venti smiles sadly. “It’s what you’ve wanted all along, right?”

Things are suddenly moving too fast. “Wait wait wait, Venti-”

“I heard you the very first time Childe brought me here, you know. Both of you weren’t very quiet.” Venti explains, looking Xiao dead in the eye. “I know you were only willing because of lower rent.”

There are so many things that Xiao wants to say but he feels like the air is suffocating him and he can’t speak. Sure, he admits he did only room with Venti because of the rent, but now… now it’s totally different. He doesn’t give a flying fuck about the rent anymore. All he cares about is the boy right in front of him, someone in his life that has come to mean a lot to him. What comes out is a seething, “So you’re going to leave, just like that. After everything?”

Venti is resolute in his answer. “Yes.”

Xiao thinks about how far they’ve come. It’s pathetic, and he’s pathetic, but he’s shared a lot of irreplaceable memories with Venti that even thinking of how quiet the apartment is going to be makes him feel an indescribable emptiness.

“After everything.” He repeats.

There’s a bit of hesitation but he receives the same answer. “Yes.”

Xiao’s eyes blaze with anger. “I won’t allow you to.”

“That isn’t your choice to make,” Venti scoffs.

“As your fellow roommate who means nothing to you,” Xiao seethes, his sentence dripping with venom. “I have a say in this too. And I say no.”

If this is what they mean by hitting a nerve, Xiao has done it. He notices the exact moment Venti’s facade breaks. “You mean too much to me,” Venti cries. “You mean so fucking much. That’s the thing, Xiao. It’s too late. I… I fucking caught feelings.”

The room falls silent. They stare at each other in the darkness, both breathing hard.

Venti lets out a quiet, humourless laugh, his eyes full of pain. “Don’t you get it? I need to le-leave. I’ll.. I’ll be gone by tomorrow morning.”

The world is crumbling around him and Xiao can do nothing but sit there and watch.

Xiao doesn’t understand why Venti’s suddenly looking at him like that until he notices his vision becoming blurry and a wetness around his eyes.

“Xia-”

“Fuck,” Xiao curses, because holy shit he’s crying. “Fuck, fuck. You’re so fucking stupid. Asshole.”

“I fucking like you too.”

One month later

The bell at the front door chimes pleasantly, and when Hu Tao sees who entered, her face lights up. “Venti!”

Venti smiles, “Hi Hu Tao!”

She walks closer to him and pulls him in for a tight hug. To Xiao’s dismay, the two quickly became rather good friends given that now Venti drops by the store more frequently. Also given how the major thing they had in common was teasing Xiao to no end.

“Xiao! Your boyfriend is here!” Hu Tao calls out to him when they part.

Xiao emerges from the back room, untying his apron and collecting his things. If his movements are bouncier, more happy, he tries to not let it show. “He’s not my boyfriend.”

Hu Tao rolls her eyes. “Yeah, yeah. You aren’t fooling anyone.” She pauses then adds, “Have fun! But not too much fun though!”

“Hu Tao!” They both shriek.

She shoos them out the door. “Have a good night! See you tomorrow, Xiao!”

The door clicks shut and they both come face to face with each other. Venti is the first one to make a move. He brings Xiao in for a hug and quickly kisses his cheek.

“I missed you,” Venti says. “How was work?”

“I missed you too,” Xiao says earnestly and his hand lingers on Venti’s waist a little longer before dropping it. Everything is still so new to him that he isn’t used to it. They’d only been dating for like two weeks now, and even then they didn’t really do couple-y stuff. But Xiao doesn’t mind, in fact, he wants to take it slow with Venti. And given Venti’s past, Xiao all the more wants to make sure Venti is comfortable at all times.

“It was alright, a bit more bearable with Hu Tao around.”

“Aww, so you do have a heart! And here with the number of times you scowl around her I thought you hated her.”

“She’s a good friend,” Xiao says honestly. “When she isn’t teasing me.”

“I don’t think she can help it. You’re just too easy to tease.” Venti laughs and then boops Xiao’s noise.

Xiao’s about to let out a yelp at the sudden physical contact when the door opens with an exasperated Hu Tao behind it. “You know I can still see you guys right? The door has a transparent window.”

“Aren’t you supposed to be working?” Xiao questions and he feels Venti intertwine their fingers together, about to tug Xiao to his bike so they can head home.

“It’s called multitasking. Now, goodnight. And please get a room.”

Xiao flushes. “Bye Hu Tao. See you tomorrow.”

She smiles a genuine smile, not one of her evil ones, and closes the door and heads back to work. Xiao feels Venti squeeze his hand and motions for him to get on his bike.

Xiao smiles at him and squeezes back, and he thinks he can put up with Hu Tao’s teasing if it meant he could hold Venti’s hand like this.