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Xie Lian is a senior in high school, he went to a genuinely nice and prestigious school, everyone there loves him. Hence, he’s nicknamed the “school prince”. He’s a great student, always on time. His grades are nothing but good. The students like him as well, he’s kind and beautiful. He’s respected by those around him, not only because his family is well off but also because of how he is while in school. Helping people who need it, however he can, whether that is by helping them study or find something or somewhere.
Xie Lian has many friends, but his main friends are Feng Xin, Mu Qing and Shi Qingxuan. Feng Xin and Mu Qing would often argue, they would be quite loud while doing so. Even though they would argue all the time they liked each other, it was painfully obvious to everyone else, the two barely noticed their own feelings so naturally they didn’t notice each other's but everyone else certainly knew and if they didn’t, they had never seen the two together before.
Shi Qingxuan was a Beauty, she would often look in the mirror and do touch ups on her makeup, she appreciated looks. She would often talk about people in school and outside of school who she thought were beautiful or handsome. A target of her appreciation recently was some guy called He Xuan, Xie Lian wasn’t too sure of who he was but one thing that Xie Lian did know was that if Shi Qingxuan was talking about his handsomeness, he certainly was handsome. Xie Lian wasn’t sure, but he almost thought that Shi Qingxuan had a crush on that guy.
Xie Lian would spend a lot of time in the library, hence he became friends with the librarian. The librarian was named Ling Wen, Ling Wen always seemed to be tired, having strong eyebags under her eyes, always present just sometimes it was barely noticeable and other times it was more noticeable.
Xie Lian was almost never alone. While in class at least one of his friends would be there with him and even if they weren’t it wasn’t like anyone was mean towards him. Feng Xin and Mu Qing would always walk home with him and occasionally Shi Qingxuan would join them.
One day as school came to an end and they were on their way out of the classroom, when Feng Xin and Mu Qing regretfully had to inform him, they were uncapable of accompanying him home. Xie Lian didn’t think much of it and wished them luck with the reminder of the day. Shi Qingxuan had already left on her way home, missing her brother.
As Xie Lian finished all he had to do in school, he left for his home. But just to his luck Xie Lian ended up going wrong somewhere and he ended up in a bad neighborhood. While trying to find his way back home he was cornered by some thugs hoping to rob him. While he was getting ready to protect himself and get out of there someone got to it before he could.
A handsome black-haired youth, seemingly the same age or younger than himself. The youth wore a black eye patch over his right eye. The youth was noticeably taller than himself, perhaps 10 centimeters (about 3.94 in) or so. Xie Lian didn’t know who the youth was but nonetheless he was grateful for his help.
“Are you alright” The Youth asked, unbeknownst to Xie Lian the youth had taken a liking to him, hence causing the soft and kind voice so unlike to what he normally was like.
“Yes, I'm fine. Thank you for helping me” Xie Lian answered the question, he smiled after he finished talking, he didn’t notice the slight blush on the Youths face.
“That’s good, you shouldn’t be around this neighborhood, it’s dangerous” The youth said, looking away for a moment before directing his eyes back to Xie Lian.
“Ah, sorry I got lost. I was just trying to get home, but it seems luck wasn’t on my side” Xie Lian said slightly embarrassed about his bad luck.
“If it would help, I could walk you home, to make sure you get there safely I mean” The youth offered. Xie Lian thought the offer was nice but didn’t want to burden the youth, so he opened his mouth to decline but almost as if reading his mind, the youth beat him to it.
“It won’t burden me to do it” Xie Lian contemplated it the youth had really read his mind or if he took too long to respond, and while taking so long the youth guessed the reason behind his inner conflict.
“You really don’t have to, I can get home myself” Xie Lian tried to refuse but the youth insisted and eventually Xie Lian agreed.
“Oh, I didn’t catch your name, my name is Xie Lian” Xie Lian said as he noticed that small detail. As the youth registered what Xie Lian said, his eyes widened in surprise.
“The name is San Lang” Answered the youth...San lang. He recovered from his surprise fast deciding to tell a little white lie. Not wanting the pretty gege to get scared off.
While walking to Xie Lian’s house the two talked a lot. Mentioning things like School, friends and hobbies. While walking they found out more about each other and they became closer. Xie Lian had mentioned where he goes to school while they were talking however San Lang didn’t say too much about his opting to listen to Xie Lian instead.
As they neared Xie Lians house and hence also the end of their journey. San Langs mood got a bit worse realizing that but not so much as for Xie Lian to notice. San Lang enjoyed being in his geges presence and didn’t want to leave him alone, but there was nothing to do about it, sometimes you must do things you don’t want to.
The house was big, perhaps it shouldn’t be called a house but a mansion, it was no surprise as it’s a well-known fact that the Xie family is wealthy. But even knowing that some people would still be surprised, some of the lower classes might even call the mansion a castle really befitting that of the school's prince. The house was elegant, it looked modern. There were multiple cars parked outside, the wall surrounding the area was high yet elegant, it by no means took away from the beauty of the place. The gate was rounded and locked. On the pillars holding it up there was a keypad and a camera, a security system to identify everyone who entered.
As Xie Lian opened the gate and stepped inside onto the yard, he thought of something and suddenly stopped. San Lang looked at him confused, his gaze asking what’s up? Though no words were muttered.
“Could I get your number? So, we can be in contact, you seem nice.” Xie Lian voiced out what was on his mind. Happy to have hopefully made a new friend.
“Of course, how could I possibly refuse you Dianxia” San Lang said after having recovered from the shook form his gege wanting to keep in contact with him. They exchanged numbers as a car drove up to them. Xie Lians parents were home. They stopped the car nearby as they rolled down the window.
“A-Lian what are you doing?” his mother asked from the passenger seat. Xie Lian looked towards his parents. San Lang contemplated if he should say goodbye and leave, he got his geges number and he knows what school he goes to, so they’ll meet again.
“I was about to go inside but I wanted to get San Langs number first” Xie Lian said. Looking between his parents and San Lang.
“Oh, is he your new friend?” His mother asked, looking towards San Lang. Looking him up and down, evaluating him as her son's new friend.
“Yes, he helped me and walked me home after I got lost” Xie Lian explained, gratefulness present in his voice, something his parents noticed.
“What happened to Feng Xin and Mu Qing” His father asked instead. Wondering why they hadn’t walked him home like usual.
“They had to do something” Xie Lian answered. At this point San Lang was close to leaving but a voice stopped him.
“Do you want to come in and have dinner with us” Xie Lians mother asked him. San lang was quick to answer.
“There’s no need for that, I should probably get going. See you around gege” San Lang said. Turning to leave and starting to walk away. Waving to Xie Lian as he did so.
“He seems to be nice” Xie Lians mother commented as she watched him as he walked away. Realizing he was blocking the way Xie Lian moved aside as he opened the gate wider to let his parents drive inside.
They had dinner later in the evening, talking about their day. Staying seated at the dinner table even after finishing just to continue talking, joking and laughing. Eventually moving to the living room, after running out of topics to talk about, they turned on the tv and watched a movie, just having some family bonding time. When it got late, they all got ready for bed and slept well that night.
On San Langs end
As he got back to his house his roommate was waiting for him in the kitchen.
“What took you so long?” The male asked.
“None of your business” He answered, walking past the kitchen with the intention of going up to his room.
“Did you beat up some people, I saw them running away whispering about you” The male asked instead.
“And what does that have to do with you” San Lang retorted as he continued up the stairs.
“Nothing really, you just don’t usually let people go so easily, it was a bit unlike you Hua Cheng.” The male said irritated.
That’s right, he had lied to his gege earlier. He was Hua Cheng not San Lang, or well they were both him simply different names for him. He acted a lot different around his gege too though. The soft and kind San Lang is so different from the bad boy Hua Cheng, the guy that most people feared. The Hua Cheng that all the rumors warned about, warned people not to get on his nerves, not to annoy him or there would be consequences. The rumors caused most people to not approach him, too scared that he would beat them up for being too close to him or for talking to him.
As he reached his room, he laid on his bed and quickly went to sleep. All earlier thoughts had gone from his head as he fell into a peaceful slumber. As he went into some of the deeper stages of sleep, he didn’t get bothered by his hungry stomach caused by having fallen asleep without having eaten dinner. Afterall his annoying best friend/roommate had been in the kitchen, and he didn’t feel like talking to him more than what was necessary.
The next day
It was a normal school day, having lessons, getting praised by teachers and talking to his friends. There was nothing special about it all. When it came to the last lesson, the teacher told them that they could leave when the assignment was done. It was the final thing in that chapter of the book. They would soon be starting the next one hence this assignment was an important part of the final grade.
Xie Lian had already finished the assignment on the last lesson, there was nothing for him to improve. He also didn’t have anything left to do from any other teachers or any test coming up that he had to study for. Knowing all that he raised his hand.
The teacher got to his desk and asked what he needed. Xie Lian explained that he was done and had nothing else to do. The teacher had nothing extra for him to do so she let him go an hour early. Xie Lian packed his things and left.
When he reached the school gate, he saw San Lang there waiting for him. He thought it weird why all the other students seemed to avoid him but didn’t think much of it as he walked towards San Lang. Xie Lian didn’t notice the looks of surprise thrown towards him by other students as he approached San Lang.
“Why are you here?” Xie Lian asked smiling towards San Lang as they started walking towards Xie Lians house.
“To walk you home” San Lang answered, Smiling slightly towards Xie Lian. He wanted to protect Xie Lian, to make sure no one would try to do anything to him. He knew no one would dare do anything to Xie Lian after the last time but he won’t risk it. He could also use the excuse of not wanting Xie Lian to get lost. He could also spend time with him this way, so there wasn’t anything bad with this predicament.
“Did you have to wait long?” Xie Lian asked in return.
“No, I arrived just a bit earlier than you.” San Lang told Xie Lian reassuringly, not wanting Xie Lian to feel bad for him (San Lang) waiting by the gate for him (Xie Lian).
“If you're going to pick me up from school and walk me home then you should know my schedule, so you don’t need to wait” Xie Lian said almost jokingly, not expecting San Lang to come and pick him up from School and walk him home every day.
“That would be great, I can make sure you don’t get lost again” San Lang said, causing Xie Lian to send his schedule to San Lang. After that they talked about their day, although Xie Lian did most of the talking.
This continued for some time. San Lang would come to his school and pick him up to walk him home. They would have fun talking about their day and memories, for the most part it was Xie Lian who talked though San Lang did to. In the time they spent Xie Lian found out about San Langs best friend and roommate He Xuan, who apparently owed San Lang a lot of money. Xie Lian never met said roommate. Feng Xin, Mu Qing and Shi Qingxuan hadn’t had the time to walk with the two, when they did walk with Xie Lian, San Lang was busy and unable to come. However, after a month they met.
Xie Lian was talking with his three friends and walking towards the gate, hoping to see San Lang. He had really been getting close to San Lang under the time they’ve spent together. San Lang had come in for dinner a couple of times, they had also hung out on the weekend. He really liked his company. He would feel a strange feeling in his stomach whenever he saw him, Xie Lian didn’t know what it was, but he didn’t hate the feeling, rather he thought it was kind of pleasant.
As they approached the gate Xie Lian noticed San Lang waiting for him. Xie Lian instantly got happier, the change of mood didn’t go unnoticed by his friends. However, they didn’t have much time to ponder as they noticed San Lang standing there, looking towards them.
“Why is Hua Cheng in front of our school and why is he looking towards us” Feng Xin and Mu Qing exclaimed loudly. The students around barely reacted to it, used to the two being loud.
“Oh! That's San Lang! I told you about him, He is super sweet” Xie Lian said smiling and waving towards San Lang/Hua Cheng. San Lang/Hua Cheng waved back to Xie Lian smiling but looked towards Feng Xin and Mu Qing and glaring at them.
“I don’t completely approve of this, but his best friend is hot, so I'll let it slide” Shi Qingxuan said. As the group got closer to San Lang/Hua Cheng, he called out to Xie Lian.
“Gege” he said, Xie Lian quickened his pace and as he arrived by San Lang/Hua Cheng he went in for a hug, San Lang/Hua Cheng instantly returned it.
While Feng Xin and Mu Qing were still freaking out no one else was. After all the rest of the students had already seen the two together. They had already had their panic. Thinking about things like ‘what is he doing with our school’s prince??’ ‘Is he going to kidnap him?’ ‘Rob him?’ All the other students had already been concerned. But having seen as the two had been meeting for a month and nothing had happened, they weren’t concerned anymore. They had also seen how differently Hua Cheng would act with Xie Lian compared to everyone else.
“Shall we go Dianxia?” San Lang asked holding out his hand for Xie Lian to take, slightly bowing as if he (Xie Lian) was royalty.
“Of course, San Lang” Xie Lian answered taking San Langs outstretched hand. He looked back towards his three friends, Feng Xin and Mu Qing were shocked, it showed on their face, not only that you could also see their faces morph into something mixed between shock and anger. The anger more directed towards San Lang/Hua Cheng than Xie Lian. Shi Qingxuan’s expression turned out to be happy and supportive as she showed him a thumbs up.
Saying goodbye to his friends Xie Lian left towards his house, walking together with San Lang/Hua Cheng. Still not letting go of his hand. As they walked further away from the school they engaged in conversation.
“Do you want to eat dinner with us today” Xie Lian asked along the way. Glancing at San Lang/Hua Cheng, noticing that Xie Lian was looking at him, San Lang/Hua Cheng looked towards Xie Lian. Xie Lian was smiling brightly towards him, seeing that smile San Lang/Hua Cheng smiled back towards Xie Lian.
“If I'm welcomed” he answered. He felt warm inside, knowing Xie Lian liked having him around. He didn’t care if Xie Lian loved him back, he wasn’t expecting him to love him back not now and not ever, he was simply happy to be by Xie Lians side and having Xie Lian enjoy his company. If he could be around Xie Lian everything would be all right.
“of course, you're welcomed, my parents love you” Xie Lian said, his voice was very reassuring. He really didn’t want San Lang/Hua Cheng to feel bad about himself like he sometimes did, other people would never be able to imagine all the insecurities that San Lang/Hua Cheng had. It warmed Xie Lians heart knowing he was one of few to know these things. Even if Xie Lian hadn’t realized at first, he figured out under the time they’d spent together just who he was but to him it didn’t matter. Hua Cheng or as he liked to be called by Xie Lian San Lang was a wonderful person especially towards Xie Lian.