Archive of Our Own ^beta

Everyone hated Hu Tao.

So did Yanfei.

Well, she used to, at least. Liyue was a large city, with many residents and more tourists. Rumors spread like wildfire, whether they were true or not. Nothing could stop them, no one could stop them. After one person speaks at noon, the following evening, everyone would know.

Yanfei however was one of the few people in Liyue who wasn't interested in this childish gossip at all. She stand firm, rather focus on her duties then believe the terrifyingly horrid lies many would utter.

But as she sits in Wanmin restaurant, writing some law issues as she waits patiently for her order, she managed to hear a few women nearby whispering about Liyue's popular prankster. For once, Yanfei was actually a bit curious to see what was going on.

"I heard that she went mental after being in that useless funeral business for that long." Yanfei heard one of the woman snicker and she couldn't help but grip the pen she was holding tighter. How dare they.

"My sister told me that the director doesn't even do her job. Prancing around like she owns the place. She's the type to leave an injured animal to rot." The other person giggled, like she was telling a funny joke. And Yanfei wanted to walk up to her and tell her to shut her filthy mouth.

"No wonder she chose such a bad workplace, she must be messed up in her head somewhere. I don't even know why someone as attractive as Sir Zhongli attends to that place. There's this thing going around that she doesn't even like men. How untraditio-" Yanfei interrupted them by slamming the table hardly with her fist, getting the women to become silent but also receiving concerned glances from passer-bys. She didn't know why she did it, but she couldn't handle them talking like this about Hu Tao.

"Excuse me," Yanfei spoke up, walking towards the gossipers in question. "But I'm sure that the Wangsheng Funeral Parlor provides a legitimate and necessary service and helps Liyue more than you two ever could."

She saw one of the women try to defend herself but cut her sentence. "Work is just work — there are no good and bad jobs, or lucky and unlucky jobs, just jobs that need to be done."

"If I ever catch you talking badly about director Hu Tao, I won't hesitate to do more than just a scolding." She stated, glaring at scarily as she can. Then, Yanfei turned and started to stroll away from Wanmin Restaurant, not bothering for her order anymore.

Ah, Yanfei regretted doing that. She regretted it a lot.

Because as dawn rose the next day, everyone thought she and Hu Tao were together. Not that she minded but, oh archons, what has she done to Hu Tao.

It was terrifying, really. She has never ever been involved in a rumor, not once. She did the first thing she could think of - she fled. Not that she wanted to, but the questions were stressful. Why don't people understand? No, she did not secretly marry Hu Tao in Wuwang Hill four years ago.

It was a bit hypocritical that she found herself at Wuwang Hill, near the border of Qingce Village. Although she looked relaxed, Yanfei was cautious enough to be ready if a cicin mage or a hilichurl tried to ambush her.

So, when Yanfei heard shuffling in the bushes close-by, she wasn't surprised she managed to get her weapon out immediately. She sneaked towards the source of the noise, and she was actually a bit flabbergasted.

If someone asked Yanfei to describe how it felt to have her heart flutter when she saw Hu Tao, she wouldn't know what to say. Hu Tao taking care of an injured bird, her clothes still wet from the rain that just poured. The sight was shocking, beautiful, amazing. Yanfei watched the director bandage the feathered creature's wing, lifting it up to its nest in a nearby tree. The rumors were wrong, very wrong, just like usual.

Hu Tao is gorgeous. Yanfei thinks Hu Tao is gorgeous. If only Yanfei knew the difference between those two sentences earlier.

Yanfei was mesmerized to say it short.

"Yanfei, I know you're there. You don't have to hide from lil old me!" Hu Tao giggled, staring right at Yanfei. "Maybe I should've said lil young me since you're like a super old adeptus, right? Oh! Maybe you're just a baby adeptus." She continued, rambling on and on.

Yanfei stepped forward, moving the scattered leaves and the trees blocking the path. "I want to apologize about all the rumors and trouble I caused for you." The lawyer spoke, her voice full of sincerity and guilt.

"Oh, Yanfei! I'm really used to those weird rumors. You don't have to worry!" Hu Tao replied, still giddy and joyful. Was she like this often? This was technically Yanfei's first time talking to the director. Yanfei was bolted out of her thoughts when she noticed Hu Tao looking at her weirdly.

"Yanfei, I want to thank you." Hu Tao spoke, less than a whisper for the first time the lawyer has ever heard. Hu Tao looked sad with a mixture of relief. Yanfei wanted to envelope her and ask her what's wrong but she knew it'd be too much.

Yanfei wanted to speak out an essay but all the words her hoarse voice could manage to get out was, "For?"

"For standing up to the women in Wanmin. No one has ever done that for me before." Hu Tao replied, sending a grin to Yanfei.

They awkwardly stayed silent for a moment till Hu Tao decided to ask. "Do you want to go pick glaze lilies with me? Actually, I won't take no as an answer!" The director grabbed Yanfei by the arm and ran towards the bunds of unopened flowers in Qingce village. Yanfei couldn't help but follow.

Apparently, someone saw them together. Of course, it'd be a bit difficult to explain why you were out with the person everyone thinks you're dating but you're not while all the gossip was going on.

The following day was worse than the last. The questions got more personal. More pushy. And overall, more horrendous.

Yanfei found herself sitting behind the law firm, hiding from the unbelievable crowds surrounding the building. She didn't have any law requests, not since the incident at Wanmin. Today was going to be a horrible day.

The lawyer supposed that staying hidden wouldn't be a great way to pass the day but she didn't have a choice. A few moments after, Yanfei found Hu Tao, climbing out of one of the vents beside her. "Psst! Yanfei, follow me if you don't want to get interrogated! Let's go get more glaze lilies."

Yanfei smiled. Maybe today wasn't going to be that bad.

The day after was similar. So was the day after that. And the day after that one. Yanfei didn't mind though. Hu Tao was an interesting person, fun to be around too.

Sometimes, Yanfei wonders about the mass amount of glaze lilies that Hu Tao needs. The lawyer didn't want to question though.

"Hey Tao, why do you need so many glaze lilies?" Yanfei asks on one of the days, twirling one of the flowers in her fingers.

"Ah, I'm gifting them to someone." Hu Tao replies, fairly quickly that Yanfei can't help but be suspicious.

"Is it a love problem?" Yanfei jokes - she's been doing that a lot recently. It's nice to loosen up once in a while.

"You could say that!" Hu Tao giggles, plucking another opened flower from the ground. And Yanfei felt her heart drop. She didn't know why or how. But it felt painful, the mental type of way.

"Who is it?" Yanfei finds herself asking, her voice suddenly sounding sterner than she wanted it to. The lawyer fiddled with her shirt sleeves, huffing a bit. This feeling is weird to her, she's never seen anything like it before, and she doesn't want to ever again. She also doesn't want to explain to Hu Tao though in case it troubled the director.

"It's about Mr. Zhongli but shh! You can't tell anyone!" Hu Tao laughs it off, putting her finger onto Yanfei's lips as a manner to keep it secret. And if Yanfei started disliking Zhongli after that interaction, Hu Tao would never know.

To Yanfei's dismay, the rumors died down and now, she didn't have to pick flowers with Hu Tao as often as she used to. She missed the times they used to have, she wouldn't deny it.

But now, she and Hu Tao were closer than ever. Nothing new happened. And no rumors she was involved with.

Since the first time she ever lost her composure, Yanfei finally stepped foot into Wanmin restaurant. She was greeted with Xiangling, waving her hands in the air. "Yanfei, Yanfei. It's nice to see you again! Your next order is on us. You never took the last dish!"

Yanfei didn't really have the heart to deny, so she accepted the free food placed in front of her. "You look a bit down today. Did something happen? Was it those nasty rumors?" Xiangling questioned, looking worriedly at Yanfei's expression.

Xiangling was a great kid, talented, smart, weird but in a good way. Yanfei trusted her. So she told the chef about the tinge in her stomach when Hu Tao talks about Zhongli, the hatred she has for him and the painful ache in her heart.

Xiangling laughs, apologizes about it but laughs more. "Oh, Yanfei! That-" She keeps grinning and smiling, pausing and stuttering her sentence.

"-That is jealousy. It's the type of thing Ganyu feels for me whenever Keqing comes by. You're jealous of Mr. Zhongli because you- you love Hu Tao. The rumors were actually true this time, woah!" Xiangling managed to state, gasping for breath from the amount of laughter she's going through, and Yanfei was left taken aback.

Yanfei. Love Hu Tao? Impossible!

Of course, Yanfei wanted to hug her and caress her hair. She wanted to hold the director and kiss her. Plus, wake up next to her everyday of her life. But Yanfei loving Hu Tao? That's outrageous.

Oh.

Oh...

In that few seconds of her thinking process, was Yanfei hit with the thought that she did love Hu Tao.

Archons, she messed up.

The following days were difficult. Yanfei couldn't look at Hu Tao without blushing or avoiding eye contact. She had a hard time just speaking to the director. She tried her best to stay as far away as she can from Hu Tao, no matter how much it hurt both of them.

Yanfei lay on her bed, alone with no one but herself. She stumbled to her window, opening it for fresh air when a neatly written letter flew into her room, landing straight in her hands.

Meet at Jueyen Karst, 10 PM today
Bring no one
And let no one follow you

- Chil anonymous

So, Yanfei found herself standing in the cold of the night, shivering from the light blows of the wind homed in Jueyen Karst. She made her way towards the designed location, sledging her tired feet along till she spotted a table with a few seats in distance. She would say she was alone, but she wasn’t and she knew that. She managed to see four silhouettes nearby, most she recognized very well.

She could make out Ganyu, an important adeptus – or human – for all of Liyue. Ganyu was hard-working and sweet. She helped people often, even being an important person to Yanfei. And of course, Yanfei has repaid her with the same amount of friendliness, assisting her with a number of law issues. Ganyu barely had any time for herself so Yanfei was a bit surprised to see her here.

There was the lone Yaksha of Wangshu Inn, or Yanfei at least thought it was him. Spear in hand, clothes tainted and torn, a mask hiding the expressions he bore. Yanfei couldn’t think of anyone who could fit that description more than Xiao himself. She hadn’t met him before but from the sounds of it, he was loyal, closed-off and cautious. And that’s just enough for her to know not to mess with him. She wondered how the person managed to invite him in the first place.

As she trailed closer, Yanfei assumed it was Shenhe, the Divine Damsel of Devastation, seated down in one of the provided chairs. She doesn’t know Shenhe that well – She doesn’t know Shenhe at all. She’s heard the rumors and the stories but other than that, Yanfei understood nothing about the other. How did the host get such powerful beings to accept their proposal to meet?

Yanfei collapsed herself onto the stone hedge, her eyes glancing confusedly at the hazel eyes gawking right at her. Yanfei knew who he was but decided to ignore his gaze, instead trying to get more comfortable. Yanfei didn’t think much of it at first but then it hit her right in the face. Zhongli, the funeral consultant. In a meeting. Only for adepti.

Oh.

Zhongli is an adeptus.

Yanfei’s first thought process was that she was right. Something was off about him but now that it’s cleared, she felt more relieved. The lawyer couldn’t help but believe that maybe Hu Tao taped herself onto Zhongli because he was an adeptus, a powerful one perhaps. She couldn’t help but feel a little tinge in her stomach, but this time, she knew exactly what that feeling was – jealousy.

When all four of the other adepti placed themselves at the table, they all shared unamused glares at each other – especially Xiao. Similar to Yanfei, they probably didn’t know who brought them here at such a late hour in the night.

“You’re wondering why I got you all to come here today.” Zhongli started, immediately silencing everyone so he could continue. “Since I retired this day exactly, six months ago, I have been pondering to tell most about who I am.” There were some confused faces surrounding him but he didn’t really pay mind.

“Some may have already known,” Zhongli sent a small look at Xiao. “But others I suspected have not a clue.” He sent a short, but terrifying glare at everyone else.

“In case you are wondering, I do not regret giving away my gnosis.” Once those words were spoken, Yanfei heard choking beside her, probably Ganyu and the lawyer found herself rubbing the Qixing’s secretary on the back gently. Shenhe seems frozen in place, trying hard to keep a straight face while Xiao just somehow looks annoyed.

Yanfei would’ve passed out, just from shock but she couldn’t seem to process anything, for once in her life. She just sat there in confusion, with a bucket of questions. Archons, she did not expect this.

The night went a bit more smoothly after a few awkward talks. It wasn't a while till almost everyone loosened up - emphasizing on almost. Watching them all open up, even if it's only just a few words, assisted Yanfei into a change of heart.

With much hesitation, Yanfei found herself at Wangsheng Funeral Parlor the next day, hoping to apologize to Hu Tao for the many times she ignored the director. Instead, Yanfei was met with Zhongli as soon as she opened the door.

She immediately turned around to exit but she had no choice but to stop when she heard Zhongli say, "Apologies Yanfei but I can't stop myself from assuming that we haven't gotten along that well these past few days."

She would've dashed out if it was before, but knowing that he was Morax affected her reasoning way more than she wanted it to. "I suppose we could settle with a cup of tea?" He asked, but it sounded more like an order and Yanfei knew she had no right to deny.

In a matter of minutes, Yanfei and Zhongli were leaning against the wooden chairs of a popular teahouse. The lawyer tried her best to stay silent, which was unusual for someone like her.

"So, I suppose this is because of Hu Tao?" Zhongli stated, firmly and straight-forward, surprising Yanfei a bit. Was she being that obvious?

Yanfei slumped a bit, nodding her head slightly to which Zhongli hummed in response. "Do you know why I invited Xiao to our get together yesterday, even though Barbatos already told him who I was?" He continued, staring absently at the lawyer.

Yanfei didn't know how this talk was connected with Hu Tao but just chose to listen instead. Zhongli grabbed a teacup, bringing it up to his lips. "I told him that I was thinking of settling down."

The lawyer's mind went blank, "Settle down? As in marriage?" Yanfei wanted to ask if it's Hu Tao he's going for but no words could sputter out.

"Of course. Xiao was a great assistance with ideas. He surely doesn't look like it but he's been courting Barbatos for decades. However-" Zhongli paused for a moment, probably from Yanfei's terrified expression after learning about the Yaksha and his love affairs.

"-However, he wasn't very accepting about my relationship with Childe." Zhongli continued, Yanfei hoped she misheard. How ironic, really. But under all those surprises, the lawyer was extremely relieved. She still had a chance.

The conversation flew quickly and Yanfei discussed many topics with Zhongli, aside her liking for Hu Tao. Maybe Zhongli wasn't as bad as she thought he was.

The days blurred by in a blink of an eye. Everything went well, too well. Yanfei's friendship with Hu Tao was going amazing but she couldn't help but want more.

Be careful what you wish for. Yanfei wished she knew that before it was too late.

The sky was clear and Liyue was as bustling as ever. Yanfei and Hu Tao walk side by side, discussing and laughing about a conversation the director had the other day. They knew everything about each other, they were closer than almost anyone else in Liyue. But as Hu Tao silently twirled a flower, hiding the action behind her back, it showed that there was indeed something Yanfei didn't know.

It was when they were in front of Wanmin restaurant, the place where it all started. Hu Tao stopped a few steps behind Yanfei, taking a few deep breaths that the lawyer noticed something was going to happen. She was not ready.

"Yanfei, I know this is random but I have something important to tell you. If I don't say this now, I think I might never have the confidence to do this again. The last few weeks, they've been amazing. Do you know why? It's because-" Hu Tao laughed a bit, looking straight at Yanfei. She bent down one knee, taking out some jewelry from her pocket.

"-because I'm with you, Yanfei. I enjoyed every moment, every word, every single second I had with you. I'm doing this, cause Yanfei, I-" Yanfei stands there, frozen from shock, gaping right into Hu Tao's eyes. The lawyer wanted the director to finish her sentence. She wanted to beg Hu Tao to continue. She's delighted to see what happens next.

But instead, Hu Tao stands up, shoving the jewelry back into her pocket, smiling. "Yanfei, that- that was a great prank, right?" The director put her hand on the lawyer's shoulder, giggling with delight.

Everything shattered.

Her hope. Her delight. Her happiness. Her dreams. Her heart.

They all smashed right there in front of her, and there was nothing she could've done.

"You-" Yanfei stuttered, lost for words. She pushed Hu Tao away as harshly as she can. "Was this all a joke to you?" Yanfei screamed, her hands balled into fists.

"No, no Yanfei. I-" Hu Tao was left speechless, scared by the lawyer's actions.

"I thought had a chance. I really did." Another tear dropped from Yanfei's cheek. When had she started crying? She didn't even care anymore.

"Hu Tao, you don't understand. This is funny to you, isn't it? But I fucking- I loved you, Tao. Don't you understand?" Yanfei doesn't usually swear, but whenever she did, it was not a good thing. And it showed Hu Tao that she really messed up.

"If you ever talk to me again, I'll sue you. I'll do way more than just that." Yanfei sobbed, walking away, not even looking back. She would never do that ever again.

If anyone saw the lawyer passed out from alcohol that evening, they didn't bother her. It was a tough day, after all.

Yanfei writes a letter, voicing every thought she ever had, every confession she ever needed and every feeling she ever felt. She places it on Hu Tao's doorstep. The reply never arrived.

No one saw Hu Tao after the confession. Yanfei didn't care. She didn't care about the rumors nor did she care about Hu Tao. She lied.

A letter was placed on Yanfei's doorstep a week after her own. She read it, then she ran. She ran past Wanmin restaurant, past the merchants and through the bushes of Wuwang Hill till she reached the outskirts of Qingce Village.

On a ledge was Hu Tao, Yanfei thinks she's gorgeous. Her clothes drenched from the rain that poured a few hours ago. In her hand, was a necklace, carved into the shape of a bird. The jewel shimmered, just like her eyes.

"I never finished my sentence before." Hu Tao begins, walking closer to Yanfei, swinging the necklace around the lawyer's neck.

"I'm doing this cause I-" She takes a breath, grabbing both of the lawyer's hand with both of her own. "Yanfei, I love you. I always had, always have and I always will."

Yanfei doesn't reply.

Instead she presses a chaste kiss on the director's lips, bringing her near, swarming her hands onto Hu Tao's back. Yanfei smiles during the kiss, soft and sweet.

Yanfei sighs in a happy manner, looking at Hu Tao genuinely the first time after the 'prank'.

"Tao, you're gorgeous."

Hu Tao's letter