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Shen Yi was like a cat. No, literally, ask anyone at the Beijiang Sub Bureau and they would tell you that Professor Shen was like a cat in that he kept to himself, he preferred to be alone (if he wasn’t working a case), and he could sleep anywhere with no problem. This last fact particularly bothered Du Cheng the first time Shen Yi rode in his Jeep to a crime scene, mainly just because he could not comprehend how someone could so easily fall asleep while someone was talking to them. It was honestly just rude, in his opinion. However, as he got to know Shen Yi better, Du Cheng realized that the reason that Shen Yi kept falling asleep in his Jeep was that his sleep schedule was atrocious; like the man hardly ever slept unless he could catch a few z’s in his office or in Du Cheng’s car.
“Why don’t you sleep?” Du Cheng asked one day when it was just the two of them in Shen Yi’s office, Du Cheng sitting at Shen Yi’s desk while Shen Yi sat at his drawing table, working on a sketch. Shen Yi shrugged.
“I usually use the time I should be sleeping to paint. It’s the only time where my brain feels…creative” he answered. Du Cheng frowned.
“You know that’s not healthy, right? What with you working here and as a part-time professor at the university” he stated. Shen Yi chuckled softly.
“I’ll be fine. I’ve been doing this for a while, I know what I’m doing” he assured. Du Cheng huffed.
“It’s gonna come back and bite you in the ass, I just know it” he grumbled. Shen Yi looked over at him and raised an eyebrow.
“Captain Du, are you worried about me?” he asked. Du Cheng looked at him with wide eyes before he scoffed.
“Of course not. I just don’t want your lack of sleep to negatively our cases, that’s all” he answered. Shen Yi smirked.
“That sounds like worry to me” he teased. Du Cheng narrowed his eyes.
“I’m not worried” he snapped before he stood to his feet and pointed to him.
“Let me know when that sketch’s ready” he instructed before he turned and walked out of the room, leaving Shen Yi to stare after him in bemusement before he went back to working on the sketch.
~*~*~*~*~*~
Hours later, after Shen Yi had submitted his sketch and they solved the case, Du Cheng was ready to head home as it was late, and it had been a long day. However, as he walked out of his office, he noticed out of the corner of his eye that the light in Shen Yi’s office was still on, even though it was almost 9:00 pm.
“What’s the idiot doing?” he grumbled before he walked over to Shen Yi’s office, throwing open the door.
“Shen Yi—” he started, his voice loud and obnoxious, before he suddenly paused and frowned, noticing a pair of legs. He stared at the legs for a moment before his eyes widened.
“Oh god, Shen Yi” he whispered, quickly running into the office, only to find Shen Yi curled up on the floor, pencils and sketches surrounding him, a peaceful look on his face as his chest rose and fell evenly. Du Cheng stared at him in shock for a moment before he scoffed.
“He really is like a cat” he murmured as he knelt down, reaching out to shake him awake when he paused and looked at Shen Yi’s peaceful face, frowning.
‘God, he’s so young’ he thought to himself before he sighed and pointed a finger at Shen Yi’s face.
“You better not wake up if I do this” he grumbled before he reached out and carefully scooped Shen Yi into his arms, blinking in surprise.
“You’re a lot lighter than I was expecting” he murmured. Shen Yi, however, didn’t answer and just shifted so that he was snuggled up against Du Cheng, his head resting on Du Cheng’s chest. Du Cheng blinked before he chuffed softly and shook his head as he walked over to Shen Yi’s desk, grabbing his satchel before he headed out of his office, turning off the light on the way out. He then headed out of the police department, the desk guard giving him a strange look before he went back to his work, never saying anything. Du Cheng smiled slightly as he continued out of the police department and headed over to his Jeep, carefully and quietly opening the passenger side door before carefully depositing Shen Yi onto the seat, buckling him in. He then placed his satchel at his feet and quietly closed the door before he walked around to the driver’s side and got in, turning on the car before he shifted the car into drive and drove away from the police department, heading for Shen Yi’s apartment.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The drive to Shen Yi’s apartment was quiet and Du Cheng can’t help but glance over at Shen Yi every now and then, chuffing softly as he watched his chest slowly rise and fall with each quiet breath.
‘He really sleeps like the dead’ he mused before he turned his attention back to the road, since it was dangerous to drive distracted. He then continued to drive alone until he came to the entrance of the alley that led to Shen Yi’s apartment, immediately stepping on the break and putting the car in “park” before he looked over at Shen Yi and let out a soft hum. He could wake the young man up, but he looked so peaceful that Du Cheng immediately waved the idea before he sighed heavily and unbuckled himself, reaching over to grab Shen Yi’s satchel. He then began digging through it until he finally found Shen Yi’s keys, quickly placing Shen Yi’s satchel across his body before he got out of the car and made his way to the passenger’s side, quietly shutting the door behind him. He then opened Shen Yi’s door and carefully unbuckled him before scooping him into his arms, shutting the door with his foot. He thought the slam would have alerted Shen Yi or at least caused him to stir, but nope, Shen Yi was still dead to the world, making Du Cheng huff softly.
“Nothing wakes you, huh?” he murmured as he turned and began walking through the dark alley that led to Shen Yi’s apartment. As he walked through the alley, he frowned slightly; he wished that there was a streetlamp or some sort of light illuminating the alley. It was dangerous for anyone walking through it and Du Cheng didn’t like the idea of Shen Yi suddenly getting jumped as he headed home (not like he’d actually say that out loud to Shen Yi’s face though). He then shook his head and continued towards Shen Yi’s home, quickly unlocking the door before heading inside, Xiaoxuan walking over to greet them with soft meows. Du Cheng looked at her in surprise before he smiled softly.
“Hey kitty” he greeted, Xiaoxuan chirping in reply. Du Cheng chuckled softly before he turned and headed into Shen Yi’s bedroom, placing the young man down on his bed. He then removed Shen Yi’s satchel from around him and placed it on the ground beside the bed before he looked at Shen Yi and huffed.
“This is why we have stable sleep schedules” he murmured before he carefully removed Shen Yi’s shoes, placing them beside the bed before he tucked the young artist in.
“Get some sleep” he murmured before he turned and headed out of Shen Yi’s bedroom, quietly shutting the door behind him. He then walked out into Shen Yi’s studio and looked around at all the different paintings that were on the different easels, humming softly.
“Must be nice to artistically gifted” he murmured, just as Xiaoxuan padded over to him and nudged his leg with her head, making him look down at her and smile.
“You’re quite the attention seeker, hmm?” he asked as he sat down in the middle of studio, Xiaoxuan immediately crawling into his lap, causing him to huff softly before he began to stroke her back absently as he looked around the studio again, his eyes soon settling on the skeleton sitting on one of Shen Yi’s shelves. He stared at it for a moment before he huffed.
“That thing better not be real” he grumbled, just as Xiaoxuan butted her head into his chest, causing him to “oof” softly and look down at her.
“Alright, alright, I’m sorry, I’m sorry” he apologized as he laid down, Xiaoxuan immediately taking up residence on his chest. Du Cheng chuckled and began petting her again until he could feel his eyes growing tired and he let out a yawn. He knew he should probably head home, since it was late, but he also knew that it was dangerous for him to drive home tired (he had been to enough scenes of people accidentally falling asleep at the wheel to know just how dangerous it was). And since he was pretty sure that Shen Yi wouldn’t mind if he just…stayed the night, he just let out a soft hum and stretched himself out, making himself comfortable before he shut his eyes and before he knew it, he was passed out on the floor of Shen Yi’s studio, Xiaoxuan contently loafing on his chest.
~*~*~*~*~*~
The next morning, when Shen Yi woke, he blinked a few times before he looked around, noticing that he was…definitely not in the police department.
‘What the hell?’ he thought to himself before he slowly sat up and realized that he was back in his studio and actually sleeping on his bed, which was weird because he didn’t even remember…coming home.
“Good grief, I must have been exhausted if I can’t even remember how I got home” he grumbled as he slipped out of bed and walked over to the door, opening it to find Du Cheng still asleep on the floor of his studio, Xiaoxuan fast asleep on top of him. Shen Yi stared at the two of them, mainly Du Cheng, in shock, before he huffed.
“Now that makes more sense” he murmured before he stepped out of his room and walked over to his chair at his paint mixing station and sat down, spinning around to watch Xiaoxuan and Du Cheng sleep. He watched them for a few moments before he quickly grabbed the nearest sketchbook and a pencil, pushing himself to his feet as he walked over and sat down beside Du Cheng, beginning to sketch. He would have stayed in his chair and sketched from a distance, but he wanted to make sure that he got all the details of Du Cheng’s sleeping face (since he had never seen the man look so peaceful before). As he sketched, getting lost in the details, he didn’t realize that Du Cheng was waking up, blinking slowly before he looked over to see Shen Yi sitting so close to him, his brow furrowed in concentration. He stared at Shen Yi and his furrowed brows before he hummed softly.
‘I wonder what it would be like to kiss those brows’ he thought to himself, continuing to stare at Shen Yi before he let his intrusive thought win and he sat up slightly, leaning over to press a soft kiss to Shen Yi’s furrowed brows. As soon as his lips Shen Yi’s brow, Shen Yi’s head shot up, his own lips accidentally touching Du Cheng’s (since the idiot hadn’t moved his head back like a normal person). Both men then stared at each other with wide eyes before Shen Yi finally pulled away, covering his mouth with his hand.
“What…why did you—” he started when Du Cheng shrugged.
“Felt like it” he answered. Shen Yi blinked a few times, surprised that Du Cheng didn’t even seem apologetic of kissing him, before he cleared his throat.
“Um… thank you” he murmured, making Du Cheng raise an eyebrow as he slowly pushed himself to a sitting position, Xiaoxuan letting out a soft noise of annoyance as she flopped off of his chest and into his lap before padding away, allowing Du Cheng to look Shen Yi in the eyes.
“For what?” he asked. Shen Yi huffed.
“For taking me home. You didn’t have to do that” he murmured. Du Cheng scoffed.
“And leave you passed out on the floor of your office so you could give some poor custodian a heart attack? Yeah, I don’t think so” he replied before he gently flicked Shen Yi in the head, making him flinch and look up at him with wide eyes as he smirked.
“Besides, we’re partners. It’s my job to look after you, even if that means taking you home so you actually fucking sleep” he declared. Shen Yi narrowed his eyes at him.
“I get enough sleep” he grumbled. Du Cheng scoffed.
“Sure you do” he replied sarcastically before he looked down at the sketchbook and held out his hand.
“Can I see?” he asked. Shen Yi looked at him, then down at the sketchbook, before he handed it over, Du Cheng looking at the sketch with a small smile.
“You always were good at capturing my likeness” he mused. Shen Yi smiled slightly as Du Cheng looked at him.
“Are you going to do anything with this?” he asked. Shen Yi blinked before he shook his head.
“I was just…planning to keep it in the sketchbook. Why? Do you want it?” he replied. Du Cheng nodded.
“I’d like to put it with the other drawing you did of me” he explained. Shen Yi huffed before he shrugged.
“Sure, if you want it, you can have it” he declared. Du Cheng smiled and carefully tore the sketch out of the book before he carefully folded up said sketch and placed it in his pocket. He then looked at Shen Yi and smiled.
“Thank you, Professor Shen” he thanked, leaning forward to press a kiss to Shen Yi’s head. Shen Yi looked up at him with wide eyes again.
“You…what was that for?” he demanded. Du Cheng smiled and tilted his head.
“What, you don’t like it?” he asked. Shen Yi blinked before he huffed.
“I didn’t say I didn’t like it…it’s just throwing me off guard” he grumbled. Du Cheng laughed.
“You’re cute” he murmured, making Shen Yi pout.
“Am not” he grumbled. Du Cheng smiled as he reached out and gently pinched his cheek.
“The cutest” he declared. Shen Yi narrowed his eyes before he huffed.
“You’re insufferable” he murmured. Du Cheng chuckled.
“Unfortunately, Professor Shen, you’re stuck with me” he declared. Shen Yi hummed.
“Lucky me” he murmured, causing Du Cheng’s eyes to widen before he pounced on him, causing Shen Yi to let out a cry of surprise as he fell back, Du Cheng landing on top of him, pinning him down. Shen Yi stared at him with wide eyes before he smacked his shoulder.
“Get off of me, you giant golden retriever” he exclaimed. Du Cheng looked at him before he chuckled and let himself relax on top of him, making himself comfortable.
“No” he replied. Shen Yi’s eyes widened.
“Du Cheng!” he exclaimed.
“I’m comfortable” Du Cheng declared, making Shen Yi huff.
“Well, I’m not! You’re heavy!” he exclaimed, giving Du Cheng a push, only to have Du Cheng settle more onto him, almost like a large, weighted blanket.
“Too bad” he replied. Shen Yi lifted his head and glared at him before he let out a groan and lowered his head back onto the ground, letting out a heavy sigh.
“You’re not getting off of me, are you?” he asked. Du Cheng shook his head, a rather proud smile on his face.
“Nope” he replied. Shen Yi sighed heavily again.
“Good thing it’s the weekend, I guess” he murmured. Du Cheng hummed in agreement as he turned his head and rested it on top of Shen Yi’s chest, letting out a hum as Shen Yi huffed.
“Good grief, you are like a dog” he mused. Du Cheng chuckled and Shen Yi swore he could feel the vibration in his bones.
“And you’re just like a cat” he replied. Shen Yi hummed as Du Cheng shut his eyes, soon falling asleep again from how comfortable he was on top of Shen Yi. Shen Yi, meanwhile, just laid there, slowly getting acclimated to having practically all of Du Cheng’s weight on top of him before he lifted his head to look at Du Cheng, sighing softly as he reached out to run his hand through Du Cheng’s hair, surprised by how much he…didn’t hate…whatever this was. He then laid his head back down and sighed softly again as he shut his eyes, continuing to run his fingers through Du Cheng’s hair until he fell back asleep himself, comfortably squished under Du Cheng’s body. As he and Du Cheng slept on the floor of his studio, Xiaoxuan padded over to them and sniffed them for a moment before she curled up beside them, the studio filling with a comfortable silence and the soft sound of Du Cheng and Shen Yi’s breath.