Work Text:
And We Meet Again
*Disclaimer: I don’t own The Scum Villain's Self-Saving System (Ren Zha Fanpai Zijiu Xitong). No money is made with this, I write out of love and not for money. Comments and kudos are more then welcome though. Enjoy!*
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If you asked Shen Yuan’s classmates about him, they would probably say that he was a little strange. For one, he wore his black hair long and tied up into an old-fashioned style, two, he always carried a fan with him and sometimes he would talk like he was an old man rather then a 17 year old teenager. But he got along with most of them and since he was also quite smart, he was popular when it came to tutoring or copying homework.
Shen Yuan blamed it all on the system. It had to be the fault of the system that he was like this. The life he had been forced to live in Proud Immortal Demon Way’s world had messed with him, with his soul, that much had been clear from the start. But to see to what extend this experience had influenced him was a little frightening.
Shen Yuan didn’t remember when he had died exactly, just that it must have happened while he was trying to prevent the merge of the realms caused by Tianlang-Jun and Luo Binghe. His memories of that event are fragments at best, but that doesn’t matter. What matters was that he had died and now Shen Yuan had reincarnated into the modern world, a world where Proud Immortal Demon Way was just a web novel (looking it up had left him with nightmares and anxiety attacks but it had to be done). Shen Yuan was once more a normal human being born into a normal family.
💮
One would think that Shen Yuan had learned his lesson during his time as Shen Qingqiu, but after living almost two decades free of the system, any weird notifications or meeting any other person from that part of his life, forgive him for becoming carefree. So when their homeroom teacher announced a new student joining the class, he didn’t think much of it. Until a teenager walked in that had so much similarity with Luo Binghe that it was painful. The only thing amiss were his dark eyes and the missing demon mark on his forehead. Aside from that, it was like copy paste.
“Hello everyone. I’m Luo Binghe and I hope we can all get along. Please take good care of me.”
Needless to say that Shen Yuan almost fell off his chair. He tried to hide behind his calculus book, but those dark eyes were already settling on him, lightening up in joy and recognition. Just his luck, really.
💮
Luo Binghe waited until lunch break to approach Shen Yuan. As soon as the bell ring, the other got up, left all his things on his desk and strolled over to Shen Yuan’s place, smiling brightly at him.
“So we meet again, shizun,” Binghe said, smiling happily.
“Huh?,” his desk neighbor asked before Shen Yuan could react, looking at the newbie in confusion. “Why do you call Shen Yuan ‘shizun’? Shen, Do you know this guy?”
Shen Yuan shook his head quickly, ignoring the confused and pained look on Luo Binghe. “I do not. I’ve never seen him before.”
And technically, this was true. He hadn’t seen this Luo Binghe before. But his heart still ached at the sight. But Luo Binghe didn’t have any proof that Shen Yuan, or rather his shizun, had reincarnated with his memories as well. So maybe if he pretended not to know him, not to recognize him, then maybe he would get to live his life in peace?
“Ah, this one must’ve made a mistake then. Excuse me.” And with that, Binghe stormed out of the room.
“Wow… you know Shen Yuan? His way of speaking is pretty similar to yours,” Shen Yuan’s classmate said thoughtfully. And once again, Shen Yuan was back to cursing the system.
💮
The events of the day didn’t leave Shen Yuan’s mind and when he lay in bed that night, he still saw Luo Binghe’s sad and disappointed expression in front of his eyes. He had done it again. He had pushed him away, abandoned him, lied to him. Gritting his teeth, Shen Yuan clutched the bed sheets. Maybe he had already given himself away the moment their eyes met for the first time, maybe he would slip up later. It was impossible to pretend not to remember something, not with the way Shen Yuan had been living. And doing a 180 degree character twist would only arouse more attention. No, the best thing he could do was approach Binghe, apologize and maybe ask for him to… what? Get to know each other? Maybe that was a good idea. After all, the other had lived in this modern world for quite some time too now, right? He must know that things were different, that history didn’t have to repeat itself. That’s right.
Sighing deeply, Shen Yuan closed his eyes and prayed to whatever deity cared to listen that history was not going to repeat itself. Because all he wanted for the both of them, was a peaceful and happy life. Was that too much to ask for?
💮
The next day, Luo Binghe ignored him completely. He was friendly with their other classmates, but he didn’t even look into Shen Yuan’s direction. It stung and just like the day before, Shen Yuan found it impossible to pay attention in class. When break time finally arrived, he abandoned his seat and walked over to Binghe, snapping his fan open on the way.
“Luo Binghe,” he said once he stood in front of the other’s desk. “May this one speak to you outside? Please?”
Various emotions washed over Binghe’s face – surprise, confusion, sadness, hope. After a long moment of hesitation and awkwardness, Binghe nodded slowly and got up, ready to follow Shen Yuan.
They walked out of the room in silence and kept quiet until they had reached the destination Shen Yuan had picked for this conversation – the school’s roof.
Since it was a short break, nobody else was up there, just as Shen Yuan had hoped. Holding back a sigh, he snapped his fan shut and turned around to face Luo Binghe. The other stood with his hands in his uniform’s pockets, his expression carefully schooled. It was clear that he didn’t know what to make of this situation.
“I’m sorry.”
Luo Binghe blinked and tilted his head. “What are you talking about?”
“I lied to you yesterday and I’m sorry,” Shen Yuan explained. “I will be honest, I did not expect to ever see you again. I panicked and I lied. But I regret it and I wanted to apologize. Because I didn’t mean to hurt you. But I also don’t want to pretend to be Shen Qingqiu, because that’s not who I am anymore. I am Shen Yuan, 17 years old and a student. I’m no longer your shizun and I’m no longer that person. I hope you understand?”
For a moment, there was once again silence between them. Then, Binghe nodded. “I understand and I accept your apology. I too am a different person now and no longer your disciple. But when I saw shiz-… Shen Yuan yesterday, I hoped that you too would remember and that… I honestly don’t know. I… I guess I was lonely?”
Oh.
Oh Luo Binghe.
“As long as you promise that you won’t confuse me with the person I was in my past life, I… I guess we could get to know each other? Be friends?,” Shen Yuan found himself saying, feeling all sorts of emotions. He understood the loneliness Binghe had just mentioned. It was hard being the only one, being an old man in a child’s body, no longer the powerful cultivator he used to be but once more a teenager in school, expected to do homework. And really, what was he scared about? If he was meant to fall for Luo Binghe again, then he would. If not, then he wouldn’t. Binghe was right after all. He too was a different person now and not the mentally unstable half-demon from Proud Immortal Demon Way. Who knew how things would turn out in this world, in this life? And who was he to pretend that he knew already? There was only one thing Shen Yuan knew – he didn’t want to either hurt or lie to Binghe again.
Luo Binghe stared at Shen Yuan for a while, stunned. It was clear that he hadn’t expected this turn in events. Then, the bright smile he had worn in his days as Shen Qingqiu’s white lotus appeared on his face, lightening up his whole expression and chasing away the darkness from before.
“I would like that,” Binghe said, holding out his hand for Shen Yuan to shake. “To getting to know each other then.”
Smiling softly, Shen Yuan took Luo Binghe’s hand and shook it. “To being friends.”
*End*