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Shen Yi didn’t like talking about his past. Hell, he didn’t like talking about himself in general. He was personable, sure, but anything he told you was superficial and surface level information…nothing truly deep or to the heart. But Du Cheng…fucking Du Cheng somehow managed to worm his way under his skin and know things about him that he…never wanted people to know. But he didn’t know everything…and Shen Yi was determined to keep it that way.
~*~*~*~*~*~
It was a quiet, normal evening as Shen Yi sat at his desk in his apartment, grinding up pigment to make his make his own paint while Xiaoxuan played nearby. While he worked, there was a sudden knock at his door, making him look up in confusion.
“Who the hell is knocking at my door this late at night?” he grumbled before he pushed himself to his feet and walked over to the door, unlocking it before pulling it open to reveal Du Cheng standing outside his door, smiling.
“Evening” he greeted. Shen Yi huffed.
“What are you doing here?” he demanded. Du Cheng smiled.
“Uh…visiting you?” he replied. Shen Yi gave him a look.
“At one o’clock in the morning?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Du Cheng shrugged.
“Couldn’t sleep. And I take it, you couldn’t either, considering that you’re still up” he stated. Shen Yi huffed.
“You know I don’t sleep” he reminded. Du Cheng chuffed as he stepped into his apartment.
“Maybe you should work on that” he suggested. Shen Yi shot him a look as he closed his door after him and watched as he looked around before noticing Xiaoxuan.
“I see you still have the cat” he mused, making Shen Yi huff.
“Her name’s Xiaoxuan. And yes, I still have her. She makes sleeping at night…easier” he murmured as he walked back over to his paint making station and sat down in his chair, Xiaoxuan walking over to him and hopping into his lap.
“Oh? Do you have a hard time sleeping at night?” Du Cheng asked as he walked over to him and knelt beside him, reaching out to pet Xiaoxuan, who gently bit his fingers. At her gentle nips, Du Cheng pulled his hand away before he held it out again, allowing Xiaoxuan to sniff him and realize that he’s not such a bad guy. Once she realized he wasn’t a bad person, she nudged his fingers, making him smile and gently pet her head before he looked up at Shen Yi, who was staring at him, and raised an eyebrow.
“You never answered me” he stated. Shen Yi quickly shook his head before he cleared his throat.
“Yeah…sometimes. But I’ve always had a hard time sleeping” he murmured. Du Cheng hummed before he stood up and began looking around Shen Yi’s studio, noticing that it was full of more art than anything else.
“You know…I noticed that you don’t have any pictures of your family. Neither here nor at work” he mused. Shen Yi froze before he cleared his throat.
“Yeah…we never really…had a lot of pictures together” he murmured. Du Cheng hummed again.
“I see. Maybe you should do that” he suggested, making Shen Yi turn and look at him.
“Do what?” he asked. Du Cheng shrugged.
“I don’t know…find time to take a photo with your family. You can’t just have paintings decorating your house, you know” he stated. Shen Yi huffed.
“Did you come here to talk, or did you come here to judge my studio?” he demanded. Du Cheng chuckled.
“I guess a little bit of both” he replied before he looked over at him.
“How good are you with holding your liquor?” he asked. Shen Yi frowned.
“Liquor? Like wine?” he replied. Du Cheng shook his head.
“No. Like liquor liquor” he stated. Shen Yi blinked before he shook his head.
“I’m not really a big drinker…I’m probably a lightweight” he stated. Du Cheng hummed before he removed his backpack that he had brought and opened it, pulling out a bottle of liquor.
“That’s too bad…I was hoping you’d be my drinking partner for tonight” he declared. Shen Yi looked at him in shock.
“What about Jiang Feng? Why didn’t you ask him?” he asked. Du Cheng huffed.
“Because we’re not partners” he replied before he motioned to himself and Shen Yi.
“We are. And I wanted to drink with you” he declared before he reached into his bag and pulled out a glass, holding it out to Shen Yi.
“So. What do you say?” he inquired. Shen Yi looked at the glass, then at Du Cheng, before he sighed and pushed himself to his feet, Xiaoxuan jumping to the floor as he walked over and took the glass from Du Cheng, motioning to his bedroom.
“Come on, let’s drink in my room. There’s not really a place for us to properly drink” he stated. Du Cheng smiled and followed him into his bedroom, taking a seat on the floor while Shen Yi sat on his bed, holding out his glass. Du Cheng chuckled before he cracked open the bottle of liquor he brought and poured some into Shen Yi’s glass before pouring some into his own. He then clinked his glass against Shen Yi’s before he downed the alcohol, Shen Yi raising an eyebrow at him before he knocked back his own liquor, making a face as it went down.
“You can drink wine, but you can’t drink baiju?” Du Cheng asked, surprised. Shen Yi huffed.
“Baiju and wine are two totally different types of alcohol” he grumbled before he held out his glass.
“But I never said I couldn’t drink it” he stated. Du Cheng smiled and poured him some more baiju before pouring more for himself, both men clinking their glasses again before they downed the liquor like shots.
“I’m pretty sure we’re supposed to be sipping this…not shot gunning it” Shen Yi murmured, a slight slur to his voice. Du Cheng hummed.
“Not really in the sipping mood” he replied as he poured himself another glass before holding out the bottle to Shen Yi, Shen Yi sighing as he held out his glass, Du Cheng pouring him some more. As Du Cheng knocked back his baiju, Shen Yi opted to sip on his, starting to feel a little lightheaded from the alcohol.
“Could you really not sleep, or do you have some ulterior motive?” he murmured, making Du Cheng look over at him before chuckling softly.
“No, I really couldn’t sleep and felt like drinking. So here I am. Drinking” he explained as he placed his glass down and opted to drink straight from the bottle.
“I guess we should be glad it’s Friday then and not a weekday because your hangover is going to suck” Shen Yi declared. Du Cheng laughed again.
“Yeah, probably” he agreed as Shen Yi took a sip of his baiju and sighed.
“You know…you said that I didn’t have a lot of photos of me with my family…” he started, making Du Cheng look over at him as he sighed again.
“The reason I don’t have a lot of photos of my parents is because…I don’t know them. I don’t have any parents. Laoshi was the only father figure I really had” he explained. Du Cheng looked at him in shock.
“What…were you an orphan?” he asked. Shen Yi shrugged.
“I guess so…I don’t remember much of my childhood. I must have come from somewhere…but from as early as I can remember, I was out on the streets, drawing murals or street art. I don’t even remember my old house, other than the one I lived it with Laoshi. And those years…those were good years. I was happy. I enjoyed doing art. It made me realize that I didn’t need to have a family to…have a family, you know?” he asked, looking at Du Cheng, who nodded. Shen Yi then sniffled as he knocked back his baiju, sighing again.
“That’s why I don’t have any pictures of my family…and the picture of my teacher I gave to his son…so it’s just me here” he murmured, just as Xiaoxuan padded into the room and walked over to the bed, hopping up onto it. Shen Yi then let out a laugh as he gently pet her head.
“And Xiaoxuan, of course” he added as tears suddenly came to his eyes and he began to cry, making Du Cheng look at him with wide eyes.
“Ah! Shen Yi-ah!” he exclaimed, quickly pushing himself to his feet before slightly stumbling over to the bed, sitting down beside Shen Yi.
“Shen Yi. A-Yi. What’s wrong?” he demanded, reaching out to cup Shen Yi’s face in his hand, gently wiping away the tears that was streaming down Shen Yi’s cheeks. Shen Yi sniffled and shook his head.
“Nothing. It’s just…I have no family. I don’t have any parents; I don’t have my teacher…I don’t have anyone” he croaked. Du Cheng looked at him before he scoffed and gently pinched his cheek, making him cry out in surprise and look at him with wide eyes.
“What the hell?!” he exclaimed.
“You silly boy, saying you don’t have anyone. You have me. You have our team, our kids. You have Xiaoxuan…you don’t have anyone, my ass” Du Cheng chided. Shen Yi looked at him, his eyes still wide and doe like, before he let out a wet laugh and leaned against Du Cheng, Du Cheng wrapping his arms around him.
“You have people who love you, you idiot. And just because you don’t have a biological family…you still have a family. Didn’t you say that with your teacher, you realized that you didn’t have to have a family to have a family?” he asked. Shen Yi hummed as Du Cheng huffed.
“That applies here too” he declared. Shen Yi smiled and chuckled softly as he leaned against Du Cheng, letting himself relax and even fall asleep. Du Cheng looked down at him and smiled softly as he reached up and gently pet Shen Yi’s hair before he carefully scooped Shen Yi into his arms and stood up, carefully pulling the covers back before he placed him down and tucked him in, Xiaoxuan quickly making herself comfortable on top of him. Du Cheng chuckled before he began to clean up, putting away the alcohol and glasses back into his bag (he would clean them up at his apartment later) before he looked towards Shen Yi and the bed, humming softly.
‘I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if I just…stayed the night’ he thought to himself before he walked over to the bed and carefully sat down on it, making sure that Shen Yi was still fast asleep before he laid down, letting out a soft sigh as he shut his eyes, sleep nearly taking him in an instant.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, when Shen Yi woke up, he let out a soft groan and squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stop the headache that was pounding in his head.
“This is why I don’t drink” he grumbled, just as he heard a soft snoring coming from in front of him, making him blink before he slowly looked up to see Du Cheng fast asleep in front of him, his arm draped over his waist. At their closeness, Shen Yi’s eyes widened and he quickly shot up, shocked as all hell. What the hell was Du Cheng doing in his house, in his bed more specifically?! He then remembered earlier that morning, with him and Du Cheng drinking some pretty strong liquor, and let out a soft hum of realization.
‘Right…we were drinking’ he thought to himself before he looked at Du Cheng, remembering how…safe his arms made him feel after he had talked about his past. He then sighed softly and slowly laid back down, carefully snuggling up to Du Cheng, who immediately wrapped his arm around him again, pulling him close. Shen Yi blinked in surprise before he chuffed softly and buried his face in Du Cheng’s chest, smiling mentally at the realization that he fit quite nicely in Du Cheng’s arms, almost like they were missing puzzle pieces who had found each other.
“A few more minutes couldn’t hurt…it is the weekend anyways” he murmured, almost immediately falling back asleep, safely and securely wrapped in Du Cheng’s arms.