Work Text:
My love,
Wrap me up in all your—, I want ya
In my arms, oh, let me hold ya
I'll never let you go again like I did
Oh, I used to say
It was sundown, and most of the students from the high school already left for home. Past by the golden tints and shades in the sky was the black Chevrolet that belonged to a young man with brown eyes and messy, wavy blonde side-part. He wore a studded black leather jacket over his usual collared white shirt and black slacks.
From his expressive eyes and cheeky grin whenever he smiled, anyone can bet that he was Huang Shaotian.
Huang Shaotian was what everyone considered a homme fatal, a womanizer. The fathers of the female students always warned them to not go with him for they found him to be a wild thrill ride at best and a love traumatizer at worst.
Alas, despite the best intentions of their fathers, the female students still could not help, but to fawn and wish that they were Huang Shaotian’s girlfriends. Some did succeed, but they always ended up getting their hearts swindled by the high school’s resident playboy.
Apart from his infamy with the girls, Huang Shaotian was one of the few experts in the recently released card game called “Glory.” It was said that girls wanted to be with him, and boys wanted to be him. To have the luck and audacity that Huang Shaotian naturally had and to be the king of the high school like he did.
Then, he learned of the new student. She had gorgeous, long orange hair and a gentle smiling face.
One of Huang Shaotian’s best friends, Yu Wenzhou, nudged at the back of his shoulder as he continued to stare at the new student and a group of other female students with her looking for a table to eat lunch.
“Shaotian?”
Huang Shaotian was brought back to reality.
“Huh, what?” Huang Shaotian asked back in confusion.
“You seem to be interested in the new girl, don’t you?” Yu Wenzhou smiled, seemingly to notice how Huang Shaotian looked at her longingly.
“Me? Her? Pfft, it’s just another thought,” Huang Shaotian tried to deny it. “It’s not like I’m really in love with her! She just came here only today, what do I know about…”
“Don’t lie, Shaotian. You never look at the other girls the way you stare at the new student.”
Then Huang Shaotian realized that Yu Wenzhou was right all along. He even imagined being wrapped around the new girl’s embrace.
Now the only problem being he did not know her name.
"I would never fall in love again until I found her"
I said, "I would never fall unless it's you I fall into"
I was lost within the darkness, but then I found her
I found you
It was in the last class for the day when Huang Shaotian learned about her name from hearsay. She was none other than Su Mucheng. The girl that had been in his mind for this entire day, the girl that put his other ‘girlfriends’ to shame.
After lecturing the class on the topic of acids and bases, the chemistry class teacher continued by pairing the students in groups of two for the upcoming experiment.
“Su Mucheng,” the teacher called Su Mucheng’s name. “You will be paired up with Huang Shaotian.”
“Alright,” Su Mucheng nodded as she went towards Huang Shaotian, much to his delight.
Even though Huang Shaotian tried his best to downplay his smile, he just could not help being cackling a chuckle around her. After wearing the lab glasses around their heads, they were then introduced to a page of litmus paper and beakers filled with various acids and bases.
“Su Mucheng,” Huang Shaotian sheepishly whispered, causing his lab partner to take a glance at him.
“What is it?”
“You want to hear something?”
“I’m listening.”
Huang Shaotian haphazardly tore the litmus paper into small irregular strips before randomly dipping some into the beakers. Some of the papers turned red due to the acidity and others turned into shades of blue of varying intensity.
Su Mucheng looked confused of what he did, “Wait, I thought we should come up with a,,,”
“Hypothesis, you might say?” Huang Shaotian laughed.
“Yeah, we are…” Su Mucheng was about to say something before Huang Shaotian placed one of his fingers near her lips.
“Shh… acids are red, bases are blue. Peaches are orange, and I never thought I would find a beauty like you.”
Su Mucheng’s eyes widened upon hearing that. She tried to hold in a giggle, but it was a failure in the end.
“Hahaha, very funny.”
“I’m serious!” Huang Shaotian attempted to be firm.
“I mean, given your popularity here!”
“Like, I really…”
BBBRRRIIINNNGGG! BBBRRRIIINNNGGG!
“We gotta go!” Su Mucheng blurted out.
“Oh, shoot, right…”
Su Mucheng packed her things up and rushed towards Ye Xiu and Su Muqiu, who were waiting for her by the classroom’s door. Huang Shaotian shot a weak smile at her, dejected that the school bell ruined his moment to shine.
“At least I finally found her…”
Heaven
When I held you again
How could
We ever just be friends?
I would rather die than let you go
Juliet to your Romeo
How I used to say
Days passed by and weeks passed by. It quickly turned into a month since she had been in this high school. Huang Shaotian seemingly still went with his ‘girlfriends’, yet many students could point out that he was doing so simply because it was just another ‘chore’ to him.
No matter how long ago since the attempted confession, Su Mucheng still mused over the ‘sweet nothings’ and ‘honeyed’, yet sincere words that Huang Shaotian tried to convey. She only laughed at their frivolousness, but deep inside her heart, she treasured them.
The next day began with gym class in the morning. The students all started out with a lap or two around the gymnasium court. Su Mucheng was running side by side with Chu Yunxiu, her best friend.
“Mumu,” Chu Yunxiu called.
“Yeah,” Su Mucheng gasped as they both ran to the finish line. “What is it, Yunxiu?”
“You bet you didn’t know this, but that bad boy hottie is really into you!”
“Are you kidding me?” Su Mucheng giggled. “He is a sweet talker.”
“No, like I meant it. He is into you.”
“What?”
Both girls stopped at the finish line and walked up towards the bleachers to sit down and relax.
“Like how?” Su Mucheng asked curiously.
“How!? Mumu, how could you not know?”
“He probably does it to other girls, so I just did not take it too seriously.”
“Oh no, Mumu. You got it all wrong… Huang Shaotian is really into you.”
“Shaotian is a friend of mine, just that. We never went outside of school together.”
“How could you two be only friends? Are you trying to hide something?”
“Yunxiu, relax. Plus I want to challenge him in Glory this afternoon.”
Then some of their other friends, Dai Yanqi and Zhong Yeli, joined the two.
“Mumu must really like Shaotian!” Dai Yanqi chirped in.
“Yanqi,” Su Mucheng’s cheeks grew pink.
“Oh, don’t tickle her pink, Yanqi,” Zhong Yeli playfully chastised Dai Yanqi.
“But Yeli, we need to know if Mumu really likes Shaotian,” Chu Yunxiu bemoaned.
“Okay, I like Shaotian too…” Su Mucheng wished that Huang Shaotian was not around during all these ‘accusations.’
Only that, unfortunately, Huang Shaotian heard all of this… He smirked at her saying that she loved playing the same card game he also enjoyed..
She was really something, he thought to himself.
"I would never fall in love again until I found him"
I said, "I would never fall unless it's you I fall into"
I was lost within the darkness, but then I found him
I found you
Lunch time was the time to be. Students came up and down, scurrying to get their meals and hang out with their respective friends. Today was no different.
“Mumu, you really want to challenge Shaotian in Glory?” Dai Yanqi looked at Su Mucheng with wonder.
“You said it yourself earlier,” Chu Yunxiu said, remembering what Su Mucheng declared in gym class earlier.
“Uhh… yeah. Why?”
In truth, Su Mucheng could not wait to play Glory with Huang Shaotian. To top it off, she was pleased that she got the chance to learn more about the resident bad boy that was him.
“You know, Shaotian is very good at playing that card game,” Zhong Yeli warned, worried about her friend. “He is quite cunning and ruthless when playing out those cards.”
“But you yourself are also doing great at this game!” Chu Yunxiu urged. “I mean, you often played it with your brother and Ye Xiu, so you should be all good!”
“Okay…”
Then Su Mucheng sensed someone nudging on her back shoulders. She looked back and her heart skipped a beat.
“Shaotian!?”
Huang Shaotian chortled as he exuded his swagger.
“Mumu, you said you want to challenge me in Glory?”
“Wait, I don’t…”
“Just go with me, Mumu!”
Su Mucheng quickly scanned her surroundings. Despite not saying a word, her girl friends’ faces spoke of support and excitement. Afterwards, she got off her seat and followed Huang Shaotian all the way to the library.
“Shaotian, why are we here?” Su Mucheng asked, bewildered as to why Huang Shaotian brought her to the library.
“Of course, you said you want to challenge me, Mumu! How did you forget!? Is it because you keep thinking about me?”
Su Mucheng was even more confused as she tried to process Huang Shaotian’s chatter.
“Is it because you keep thinking about my handsome face? My bad boy appeal? My prowess in Glory? Is it because you are in love with me, Mumu?”
The moment Su Mucheng heard ‘Glory’, she realized what he really meant. A one-to-one Glory challenge with Huang Shaotian. Something that not many who played Glory want to do lest they got humiliated with his fiery trash talk.
“So what if I win?” Su Mucheng asked.
“Then take me on a date wherever you want!” Huang Shaotian responded. “And if I win, you will be my girlfriend. Deal?
“Deal! Let’s do this, Shaotian!” Su Mucheng beamed as both took out their Glory playing cards. While she drew the card containing the character “Lord Grim”, Huang Shaotian got “Swoksaar” on his card.
“What a coincidence! We chose our best friends’ favorite Glory characters!” Huang Shaotian remarked.
Su Mucheng could only giggle as she took out a card from the action cards’ pile.
Much to his pleasant surprise, she was a natural at this card game. Now not only had she had the bodacious beauty and the pleasant personality, but also the mind of a maestro.
After a while, the Glory match between Huang Shaotian and Su Mucheng just got more intense by every minute.
“Grasping Ghosts!” Huang Shaotian yelled as he slapped action card after action card.on the carpeted floor whenever Su Mucheng ‘attacked’ him with her cards. “Control Spell! Hexagram Prison! Soul Slice! Ghost Bind! Death’s Door!”
Then Su Mucheng simply placed her last action card. “Here you go.”
The action card said” “Rising Dragon Soars the Sky.”
“What!?” Huang Shaotian screamed, realizing that he had lost to his crush. “I thought…”
“You are not too bad yourself,” Su Mucheng praised him to calm him down. “Anyways, you said you want a date with me?”
Huang Shaotian became all smiles again upon catching what she just said.
“Oh yes,” he chuckled. “Where do you want to go?”
“The drive-ins of course! And I hope we also catch today’s sunset!” Su Mucheng suggested.
“Alright! So meet me at Mister Softee by five in the evening!”
Then the warning bells rang, signaling that lunch time was ending soon.
"I would never fall in love again until I found you"
I said, "I would never fall unless it's you I fall into"
I was lost within the darkness, but then I found you
I found you
The day went by rapidly, and it was the same contrasting golden and lilac hues all over again. Lights began to flicker on dimly like fireflies illuminating the twilight sky. It was an evening like any other as most were already in the comforts of their homes.
Su Mucheng walked across the road to a neon sign named “Mister Softee.” A sweet tooth to the core, she could not wait to try the range of flavors provided by the ice cream parlor.
Her eyes got lost in the myriad of choices that she could choose.
‘Should I go for vanilla? Or should I…’
Something interrupted her focus.
“A twist, eh?” Huang Shaotian smirked.
Su Mucheng looked back at him as her eyes became as wide as saucers.
“Shaotian!?”
“I am. Now let’s order a twist.”
“A twist, what do you mean?” Su Mucheng laughed. “Are you trying to twist my heart by bribing my sweet tooth?”
“No, no, no, no, no! What I mean is that we could share our favorite flavors together!”
Su Mucheng nodded as Huang Shaotian ordered a twist of chocolate and vanilla ice cream.
After paying the cashier, they walked back into Huang Shaotian’s black Chevrolet and drove away into the concrete lanes.
Minutes passed by, and the warm tints of the sky gradually gave way to the cool shades of night. The sun slowly sank into the horizon as Huang Shaotian and Su Mucheng felt the breeze caressing their skin and hair. Meanwhile, the crescent moon and crystalline stars appeared on the ultramarine side of the surroundings.
“Shaotian,” Su Mucheng called her boyfriend.
“Hmm? What is it?” Huang Shaotian’s lips curled up a smile.
“This is so beautiful.”
“But not beautiful like you.”
“Oh please, the sunset is definitely radiant.”
They then stopped at a drive-in movie, featuring black noir romance film called Evangeline on screen. The man and woman were enjoying an intimate moment together, sparking desire and hormones within Huang Shaotian and Su Mucheng.
“That woman is beautiful, but you are fucking out of this world!”
“That man looks like you… Are you sure you are him?” Su Mucheng teased.
“Of course, not! I am just a ragdoll of that distinguished gentleman! I am nothing like…”
Su Mucheng laid a finger on Huang Shaotian’s loud mouth. “Shh, watch and listen…”
They gazed upon as the man on the screen ravished the woman with much roughness and tenderness simultaneously. The woman returned the advances made by the man.
“Do you reckon we should do the same? I mean I wanted to taste your lips so badly. Why would someone like you be on my mind all the time!? I only got to kiss you in my mind, but thanks to…”
Su Mucheng guffawed, interrupting any thoughts running in his mind, “Well, at least this moment is it!”
“Really? This moment must be really it!”
It looked like Huang Shaotian finally had a moment of eureka! Seeing her simper and her hands on her laps, he then approached her before his face leaned over hers.
Su Mucheng surprised him by quickly placing her lips on his. One by one, the weight of romantic frustration was lifted off his shoulders. This was really the moment that Huang Shaotian had been waiting for.
Su Mucheng curled her arms around his neck as she deepened the embrace, while Huang Shaotian gripped her waist. As their mouths latched on one another, the echoes of fireworks could be heard from miles away, paralleling their heated desire and passion for one another.
Upon breaking off the sudden kiss, Huang Shaotian could only utter, “Damn… that is…”
Huang Shaotian was speechless, grinning like a child. After processing what happened, he gave her another peck that soon turned passionate.
As they both were deep in heated desire and passion for one another, fireworks continued to blast off to the sky. Colorful displays of art and awe repeatedly exploded in the pitch black skies until the night eventually died down.