Work Text:
When Feng Xin caught Mu Qing for the first time, he was halfway out of the bathroom door, his freshly washed hair dripping little droplets of water to his bare tan chest, making him freeze in his steps.
He blinked a couple of times to make sure that the water sliding down his forehead wasn't blurring his vision, causing him to see things.
His eyes really weren’t deceiving him. Mu Qing was humming a low tune in the kitchen preparing a cup of midnight coffee, dressed in his Chiefs football jersey. The official 87 Kelce jersey that he had spent an ignorant amount of money to buy was on Mu Qing’s body.
Sensing the presence of his best friend, Mu Qing turned around to greet him with a smirk plastered on his jade-like face.
If one were to squint, they could have definitely seen a slight blush that creeped up the jade-like face owner’s neck at the unexpected visual of his best friend’s well toned and bare upper body.
Only if they squinted though because that stoic face with a slight smirk showed no special reaction to the sight. “Why the hell are you walking around naked? Do you not know how to dry your hair after you take a shower? You’re dripping water all over the fucking floor. Are you going to mop it off?”
The audacity to ask all the irrelevant questions, Feng Xin thought, inwardly rolling his eyes.
Grumpily wrapping a small washcloth around his hair, he grabbed a t-shirt from the dryer and hastily put it on.
“That’s better.” Mu Qing commented before picking up his coffee to go sit in their absurdly expensive couch that Feng Xin’s dad had gifted them upon moving into their shared apartment.
“Are you not going to even bother to tell me why you’re wearing MY t-shirt? Not only is it not ‘just a t-shirt’, I spent $200 on that official football jersey!” Feng Xin didn’t know if he was mad or angry or just annoyed that Mu Qing didn’t ask first.
Would he have let him borrow it if he had asked? Of course, he would have said yes. In fact, he usually wouldn’t have given a damn if Mu Qing had worn his clothes. It wasn’t the first time a shirt of his had gone missing and he had come home to find a grinning Mu Qing in that exact t-shirt.
He didn’t even know why he was acting all bitchy right now. He thought it may have something to do with the guy Mu Qing had brought over last night that Feng Xin had never seen before.
Mu Qing had said it was a friend from his differential equations class who was there to work on a practice exam together with him. That too, he had believed him. So right now, he was just being a prick because he didn’t know how to deal with his feelings.
Mu Qing turned his head around to reveal a face that showed not an ounce of remorse. “You did your laundry last Sunday and ran the dryer on the same day. It is almost Friday now and your dried clothes are still in the dryer. Take this as a little punishment. Besides, why the fuck did you spend $200 on a football jersey when you’re not even going to go to a football game?”
As he listened to his explanation, he couldn’t help but be sorry that he had left his clothes in the dryer for that long. He really had a bad habit of never taking it out on time.
There had been times when Mu Qing had wanted to do laundry and Feng Xin’s clothes had still been in the washer. The good samaritan Mu Qing had patiently transferred them over to the dryer without mentioning a word to Feng Xin.
This was the first time he had actually brought it up. Feng Xin felt a little guilty. However, when he tried to connect the dots between his little crime and the crime of Mu Qing wearing his jersey as a punishment, he couldn’t connect shit .
Furrowing his brows, he walked to the couch Mu Qing was sitting on and sat himself right next to him. He didn’t leave even the tiniest bit of space between them.
Mu Qing elbowed him in the waist. “What is wrong with you? This is a bloody sectional sofa, why are you sitting so close to me?!” He did nothing about it though, continuing to put on a face full of disdain while sipping his coffee in close proximity to his roommate.
Feng Xin carefully grabbed the coffee cup from Mu Qing’s hand and placed it on the floor next to him. “Remove it.” He said.
“What?”
“Remove the jersey.”
“No! This is your punishment for never taking the clothes out of the washer and dryer on time!”
“Fine, I’m sorry about that. I won’t do it again, but this jersey, it’s so expensive and I just recently got it!” Feng Xin didn’t even realize that he had accidentally raised his voice at Mu Qing.
This triggered a nerve in Mu Qing. He roughly shoved the cushion he had on his lap onto Feng Xin’s chest and angrily stood up. He pointed a finger at Feng Xin in accusation before hurriedly getting rid of the jersey.
“Wait! Mu Qing-just–what are you doing?? Why are you stripping?! I didn’t mean right now?.” Feng Xin stood up as well and tried to stop Mu Qing from removing his clothes right then and there.
It was too late though, Mu Qing had already removed the jersey and stuffed it into Feng Xin’s hands. He stood there in front of Feng Xin, three inches of distance between them at most and stared at him with an expression full of disappointment mixed in with a hint of sadness.
Feng Xin’s heart tightened at that expression, his brain screaming at him to apologize for being a little bitch.
They both spoke at the same time.
“Mu Qing—”
“Really, Feng Xin? Over a fucking jersey? If you were worried that I may have dirtied your expensive little jersey, don’t worry, I showered before putting it on.”
With that, he purposely stepped on Feng Xin’s foot before turning on his heel to leave. Feng Xin helplessly watched as that muscular back faded into the other side of the living room and slammed his door shut.
He dejectedly walked into his own room and plopped onto his bed. Bringing the jersey to his nose, he smelled a rich vanilla and floral scent coming off of it. He recognized that smell anywhere, Mu Qing wore it like his second skin.
From his ridiculously pricey hair products to all of his body lotions and perfumes, everything carried a hint of vanilla and floral tones.
As the familiar scent invaded his nose, a sense of warmth settled in his heart. With that sense of warmth came a heavy feeling of guilt. He had definitely overreacted and made it seem like Mu Qing wearing his jersey was unacceptable.
The same Mu Qing who wordlessly folded Feng Xin’s laundry without him having to even ask, the same Mu Qing who always brought extra food from the college dining hall so that Feng Xin would always have something to eat during his archery game season, the same Mu Qing who would stay in the library until late at night and wait for Feng Xin to finish his archery practices just so he could drive them home had been yelled at by Feng Xin for wearing his jersey.
To make things worse, he also liked Mu Qing. He had for the longest time.
He remembered as clear as day when he saw Mu Qing for the first time in highschool and how he had felt upon meeting this feisty yet kindhearted person. Their mutual friend Xie Lian had introduced them to each other and from that day onwards, they’ve fallen into a nonstop bickering yet “cannot stay ten feet apart from each other” kind of friendship.
He didn’t recall when exactly those friendly stares and touches had turned into "wanting more" and his breath being stolen every time Mu Qing whispered something to him or engulfed him in a hug. But it had, and with it came feelings he could never voice out, for the fear of ruining their friendship.
He was also not the best when it came to reading people and so he had naturally failed to figure out if Mu Qing felt the same way about him. He had his guesses but the fear of losing his friend never allowed him to cross the line.
Regardless of his feelings, Mu Qing was still his best friend. And he dearly loved and respected him so what he did today was immature and stupid.
“Fuck, I’m a horrible person. I fucked up.” Feng Xin muttered to himself. He draped a hand over his eyes and let out a deep sigh.
He needed to make it up to Mu Qing. He’d cook him a big dinner with all of his favorite dishes tomorrow.
When the idea finally came to his head, he already felt a little relieved. He hoped Mu Qing would forgive him.
He also sent him a quick text before hugging the jersey to sleep, the lingering scent of Mu Qing soothing his anxious heart like a lullaby.
“I’m sorry, Mu Qing. I shouldn’t have yelled at you and acted so immature. I don’t know why I got so sensitive over a fucking jersey but I just….didn’t mean to. I’m sorry if I hurt your feelings. It’s not you, it’s me.”
Of course, he was rewarded with a “Read 11:55 pm”.
-.-.-.-.-.-
The second time it happened, the roles were ironically reversed. The next morning, Feng Xin had left early to catch his 8:00 am sports injury class and had accidentally put on Mu Qing’s basketball shorts.
He hadn’t even realized that they were Mu Qing’s because first and foremost, they both were of the same height and build. All of their clothes were of the same size.
Secondly, this specific short had been a gift from Xie Lian and had come in a set….of two. Each had been customized by Xie Lian’s seamster boyfriend Hua Cheng. He had thought it was the greatest idea in the world to add a little “FX” and “MQ” to the pocket areas of both of their shorts saying “for whenever you idiots finally decide to kiss and get together.”
And now here he was, sitting in class, boring holes into his shorts that had a silver “MQ” sewed onto it. He felt a cold sweat break out on his neck and forehead at the realization.
As he pretended to listen to the lecturer go on and on about a ligament injury, he quietly prayed to Buddha to not let Mu Qing find out about his shorts. It would be extremely embarrassing to fall victim to such a situation when he himself had made a scene about him wearing his jersey just last night.
He even considered running back to their apartment at a time when he knew Mu Qing would be in a class as well, to change into a different pair of shorts and come back to college.
Unfortunately for him, today was a day full of back to back classes. He had no choice but to accept his defeat.
At 5:45 pm, he was finally freed from the shackles of a full schedule of extremely boring classes. He initially had plans to visit the supermarket to pick up some groceries to make an apology dinner for Mu Qing but when he recalled Mu Qing’s Friday schedule, he realized that Mu Qing would be home by the time he came back.
The best time to change would be to head home right now and then head to the grocery store afterwards because according to his memory, Mu Qing’s last class finished at 7:00 pm.
With the rush hour traffic and the slow moving shuttle, it took him approximately 30 minutes to end up in front of the door to their apartment. Once he got off of the shuttle, he had run like a maniac, not bothering to take the elevator and rather speeding up six flights of stairs.
He stopped to catch his breath for a second before opening the door.
“Holyfuck!” Feng Xin screamed as if he had opened the door to a crime scene.
Mu Qing was startled by his unexpected yelling to the point that he accidentally dropped the tv remote onto the hardwood floor. It hit the ground with a thud and sent the batteries flying under the tv stand that was a good few feet away from the couch.
What was happening? Why was Mu Qing home already?! Feng Xin started to panic.
“Why the hell are you yelling? You’re going to get us fined for making noise!” Mu Qing spat at him as he crouched down to reach under the tv stand. “Look what you did, if the remote doesn't work anymore, it’s your fault.”
Feng Xin let out a dry laugh to mask his nervousness. “Why are you home early today? Doesn't your last class end at 7?”
Wait! Mu Qing hadn’t noticed his shorts? He hadn’t said anything yet. Did that mean he hadn’t realized it?
Feng Xin’s t-shirt definitely wasn’t covering the “MQ” and it was pretty visible to anyone within a few feet..thanks to Hua Cheng who decided to make it glow in the dark.
If he hadn’t noticed it then he could run to his room, remove his shorts and run the washer today so he could secretly put it back into Mu Qing’s closet. Thinking the path was clear, he swiftly turned on his heel and started heading towards his room.
“Stop.” Mu Qing’s voice carried an authoritative tone as he spoke.
Feng Xin, who already had a guilty conscience in the back of his mind, came to an abrupt stop.
Fuck!
Mu Qing took his sweet time walking from where he was crouching earlier to where Feng Xin was standing glued to the spot.
He stood in front of Feng Xin, his jet black hair slightly disheveled and his eyes dancing with a playful expression. He carefully inched closer to Feng Xin, close enough that the vanilla scent of his perfume was all that Feng Xin was inhaling at the moment.
Feng Xin took a step back, almost reflectively. Mu Qing took a step forward.
This went on for a few seconds until Feng Xin’s back hit the kitchen island. He inwardly cursed at the situation he had ended up in.
Mu Qing tilted his head to scan Feng Xin’s flustered face before leaning in to whisper something in his ear.
Two words.
“Remove it.”
If Feng Xin wasn’t unconsciously holding onto Mu Qing’s shoulders, he sure would have dropped to the floor, dead, because of the way his knees buckled.
Mu Qing’s breath was warm as it hit the side of his neck, tickling him. He was already soaked in sweat from running up the stairs and his hot breath was only making him sweat a fresh round.
Feng Xin thickly swallowed before organizing his thoughts. Mu Qing had figured it out, he just had waited for this opportunity. What a snake, Feng Xin thought to himself.
“Remove what?” He pretended to not know as he played dumb. He hoped his voice didn’t come out as a squeak as he couldn’t quite hear it over the loud pounding of his heart. He was certain that Mu Qing could hear every single beat of his heart.
He instantly regretted playing dumb the moment he felt Mu Qing grab him by his hips. The action was so rough that both of their bodies ended up flushed against each other.
A sound of shock combined with a light gasp escaped Feng Xin’s mouth, his brain miserably failing to catch up to his body’s reactions.
At his reaction, Mu Qing’s hands that firmly held Feng Xin by the hips gave him a slight squeeze. This was what finally helped his brain process the situation.
His eyes went wide in disbelief, the hands on Mu Qing’s shoulder slightly trembling. “Mu Qing…what are you doing?”
His voice was barely above a whisper this time around.
Almost as if he was suddenly hesitant, Mu Qing shifted a little to give Feng Xin a way out. He deliberately stepped back about half a foot to create some space between them. Having done so, he lifted his eyes to gaze at Feng Xin.
He observed the way Feng Xin’s throat bobbed with nervousness, the way his lips were slightly parted letting out small puffs of air, the way his pupils were the tiniest bit dilated, the way his cheeks were painted an inviting shade of red, and finally the way he stood there in front of him not taking advantage of the exit Mu Qing had made for him.
That was all it took for Mu Qing to quickly retrieve his confidence. Hoping that he had calculated correctly, he lifted a hesitant hand to trace the line of Feng Xin’s jaw with his fingers.
Caught off guard by the sudden touch, Feng Xin fought off a shudder that threatened to run through his entire body.
Unsure of what Mu Qing was up to, he held him by the wrist. “Mu Qing, what exactly are you doing? Wearing your shorts was an honest mistake, I only noticed that it was yours once I was already in class. Please don’t be mad.”
The fingers continued to rub against his jaw. He gritted his teeth and endured the scorching touch of his best friend, the person he had secretly liked for a painfully long time.
The hand around his fingers trembled a little. “You could have walked away just now. Why didn’t you?” Mu Qing asked.
Feng Xin had a feeling about where this was heading and his brain jumped into full panic mode. His gaze shifted from Mu Qing’s eyes to his bright red lips back to his eyes. He scrambled to find an answer to his question only to come up with the most pathetic one ever.
“There wasn’t enough space.” He said.
Unexpectedly, Mu Qing bursted out laughing at his words. He leaned forward, his head ever so gently falling against Feng Xin’s chest, like a dragonfly skimming through water. The vibrations of his laugh sent a pleasant shiver down his spine.
Unknowingly to him, his hands had wrapped themselves around Mu Qing’s slender waist, pulling him closer. That sweet laughter came to a halt and obsidian eyes stared into his own golden orbs.
As he gazed into those eyes, the answer he had been searching for years presented themselves on a silver platter to him.
“Feng Xin?” Mu Qing called his name.
“Mhm?”
“You’re so stupid, you know that? Did you think I would be like you, screaming at you for accidentally wearing my shorts?” Mu Qing said with a mocking tone.
Feng Xin was ready to get on his knees and apologize for being an asshole. “I don’t know why I acted like that but I’m sorry. Would you believe me if I said that I was going to run to the grocery store to get some stuff to cook you a big dinner as an apology?”
Those dark irises instantly brightened. They practically glowed in the dimly lit kitchen. He cracked a sheepish smile before hugging Feng Xin tightly and burying his face on the crook of his neck.
“You’re an idiot! Why do I even like you?”
What?
Feng Xin’s breathing grew labored at those words. His face was flaming and he was sure that Mu Qing could feel the warmth radiating off of it. He tightened his grip around Mu Qing’s waist almost in a form of acknowledgment.
“You like me?”
He received a low hum and a small nod against his shoulder as an answer. Feng Xin’s heart was in his throat as he hooked his arms underneath Mu Qing’s thighs to lift him and place him on top of the kitchen island.
Mu Qing let out a surprised yelp at being lifted, his long legs loosely wrapping around Feng Xin’s waist. Once he was on the counter top, Feng Xin hurriedly placed himself in between Mu Qing’s dangling legs. He wasted no time cupping Mu Qing’s face and bringing his own near his.
There was a small smile hanging on his lips, one that was so genuine and full of affection. Mu Qing melted at the smile and the intense gaze set him on fire.
He burnt underneath his gentle and watchful eyes, dissolving every confession he had imagined coming out of Feng Xin’s mouth. Nothing he had ever imagined compared to this moment.
HIs heart screamed in serenity, wanting to give all of himself to the man in front of him. The only person who would ever know Mu Qing like the back of his hand. The only person he had ever wanted to call “mine.”
His favorite person, his best friend.
Feng Xin watched the expressions change on Mu Qing’s face in amusement. He gave a light squeeze to his cheek before planting a small kiss on the tip of his nose.
Mu Qing blushed like a highschooler who had a crush on his classmate. “Stop!” He said, halfheartedly.
“Oh? And here I had other plans.” Feng Xin teased him.
Mu Qing looked at him unblinkingly. “What plans?”
“Well, I was actually going to ask you something, if you don’t mind.”
“Okay, you can ask.”
Feng Xin moved one of his hands from his face to his thigh. It sat on top of it and pressed down with a good amount of pressure, earning a startled groan from him. Feng Xin was instantly gratified. His other hand remained on his face, fingers tightening on his jaw.
“Mu Qing, can I kiss you?” Already knowing the answer of his best friend, he still asked.
Mu Qing could only dumbly nod his head. His heart was beating at an ungodly speed and he felt like he was in a daze.
In a second, soft lips covered his own in a gentle and an almost inexperienced kiss. The pressure was just right but there was uncertainty written all over it. At that thought, his heart was set ablaze.
In the process of their sweet entanglement, lips melting together to find a steady rhythm, Feng Xin’s hand slipped underneath Mu Qing’s shirt. Or dare he say, Feng Xin’s shirt.
Calloused fingers from years of practicing archery grazed the smooth skin on Mu Qing’s waist. If a touch could intoxicate one, Mu Qing surely fell victim to it. His mouth parted at the sensation, allowing for Feng Xin to slip his tongue inside the warm space.
Soft breaths lingered on his jaw as that tongue explored all of his insides, grazing against his teeth and the roof of his mouth.
The kiss deepened as Feng Xin pressed his weight against Mu Qing causing him to lean back, his body hitting the tap of the sink.
Mu Qing’s hand flew over to Feng Xin’s slightly long hair that was tied up in a messy bun. Without breaking the kiss, his long fingers undid the hair ribbon holding his hair together and let the bun loose.
Dark brown hair fell against his cheeks, the texture making him smile into the kiss. Feng Xin tilted his head to further deepen the kiss and suck on Mu Qing’s tongue. At the heat and wetness of the tongue that was exploring his mouth, Mu Qing felt a wave of pleasure surge through him.
Feng Xin continued to kiss him, sometimes gently and sometimes roughly. The hand that was rubbing at his waist traveled upwards to pinch at his nipple coaxing a loud moan out of Mu Qing.
Mu Qing’s fingers around Feng Xin’s hair tightened, unknowingly pulling at it as a reaction to his nipple being touched. The pleasure from his hair being pulled resulted in a low moan from Feng Xin himself.
Mu Qing shuddered at the sound. Feng Xin moaning sounded so fucking good. He wanted to hear more. He wanted to hear Feng Xin moan his name over and over again.
After what felt like an eternity, Feng Xin finally pulled away from the kiss. Borrowing the light from the refrigerator, he took in the sight of Mu Qing who was out of breath from all the kissing, his red lips swollen and wet.
He couldn’t stop himself from leaning in and licking the wetness off of his lips. He lightly bit his bottom lip but not enough to draw blood and chuckled when Mu Qing jolted at the pain that was mixed in with pleasure.
Feng Xin stared at him for a long time before engulfing him in a bone crushing hug.
“You’re wearing my favorite t-shirt, you know? You really didn’t care at all, when I was being a bitch last night.” Feng Xin laughed.
Mu Qing playfully bit his shoulder. “Well, you did text me an apology so I thought why not wear it to piss you off as a reply! My 5:30 pm class was canceled and I knew you’d come home around this time so I went to the living room to greet you with your favorite t-shirt. But you were preoccupied with the thoughts of you wearing my shorts that it took you until now to notice it. How silly!”
Truly, he had only realized it a few seconds ago when he had been kissing Mu Qing. He should have recognized his own smell on his t-shirt but Mu Qing’s perfume and scent had infiltrated all of his senses that he had nothing but Mu Qing in his mind. Hence, he had failed to realize.
“You’re really something else. And here I was running home in full panic mode thinking that you were going to end my life for wearing your shorts when I had caused such a big deal out of it yesterday. Also, I must confess. I was jealous of the guy who visited you so late at night and that was part of the reason why I was rude yesterday.” Feng Xin said as he placed a trail of kisses all over Mu Qing’s neck as an apology.
“You’re so–f-fucking stupid, Feng-Xin-” Mu Qing attempted to speak.
The kisses on his neck felt too good. The pleasure was inexplicable and he felt goosebumps rise all over his body. His grip around Feng Xin’s waist unconsciously tightened, letting Feng Xin know that he was enjoying this.
“You like that, baby?” Feng Xin muttered against his neck, changing his kisses to light bites. He nipped at the skin, his tongue graciously sucking on the spots that he bit.
“A-Xin! That feels really good– nngh–ah!” The stimulation was altering his brain chemistry and he felt tears pooling at the corner of his eyes. He was sure that he could come undone by just Feng Xin kissing, touching, and biting him.
Feng Xin went completely still at the nickname. He jerked away from Mu Qing, his eyes flashing with tender affection. He felt as if he could achieve anything in the world if he could hear Mu Qing call him that with his angelic voice.
“A-Xin? Why did you stop?" Mu Qing raised a brow, knowing all too well what had caused Feng Xin’s brain to short circuit.
“Fuck, you have to stop saying that or I would actually lose my mind.” Feng Xin said as he ran his fingers through his hair.
Mu Qing was struck blind by Feng Xin’s beauty. He was too damn handsome and he had just been kissed by this unfairly handsome man.
“I know you love it. Besides, I might have just learnt how to drive you up the wall. That being said, would you like to go from being best friends to boyfriends, my dear A-Xin?” Mu Qing teased him as he claimed his lips for a short kiss.
Feng Xin could only accept defeat as his now boyfriend took the lead and made himself look like the one who had a school boy crush. He couldn’t stop the dumb smile that forcefully appeared on his face.
Everything felt just right. The person in his arms had always belonged there. Nothing would change, only his love for him would increase everyday. He thought he could wake up to a sleepy Mu Qing every morning, feel his warm breath against him as they passionately entangled with each other, hold hands on the sidewalk, and go on a lifetime full of adventures together.
All that with his favorite person, his best friend, his lover.
I’ll love you forever, Feng Xin silently promised him.
And of course, that sentiment was mutual.
-The End-