Chapter Text
There’s a certain restlessness that consumes summer days. From the fidgeting of his classmates as their history teacher drones on about World War One, to the humidity filling the room with the sweltering rays of the summer sun. The arrival of June means that everyone’s desperate to go outside and enjoy the nice weather, but a month remains until the summer holiday begins. This is the time of year Shang Qinghua usually checks out, but his grades this year actually matter if he wants to get into any university, thus he is resigned to his fate of slaving away over assignments and homework in his upper-level classes which he is way underqualified for.
The school day feels endless, he’s been repeatedly checking the clock and clicking his pen, the latter getting occasional glares from Shen Yuan, who looks back at him with his evil, pretty face like he’s planning a murder. Shang Qinghua responds in kind by sticking out his tongue, causing an ever more irate Shen Yuan to threaten to kill him in silent movements before returning to his perfect pretty boy self like he isn’t a serial killer. Shang Qinghua doesn’t have proof yet, but he swears the moment he finds it he’s going to ruin his best friends life.
He watches the trees from his desk by the window as they sway from the slight wind: no doubt it’s way cooler out there than it is in their humid, un-air conditioned classroom. He chose this desk initially so he could feel like the protagonist of a slice of life anime, but really its just caused him to daydream like one: as he imagines getting ice cream or doing anything else except being here. He sighs, putting his pen down so Shen Yuan can get a little bit of respite as he attempts to listen to his teachers drabble like a good student and not the B-average one he really is.
Really, there seems to be no end in sight, until finally, finally the bell rings and he rushes to pack his things before bolting out the door to meet Mobei. The person in question is, as usual, standing menacingly outside of Shang Qinghua’s classroom; refusing to enter yet somehow always arriving before Shang Qinghua is leaving.
Shang Qinghua, of course, does his daily mindless babbling on their walk home. From the most recent news about some k-pop idol drama, to explaining the latest insane thing one of his classmates did without managing to get expelled.
“Oh wait! I went to this really cute coffee shop with Shen Yuan last weekend do you wanna see the pictures I took?”
“Mn.”
Qinghua dutifully pulls out his phone, opening the photos app before shoving his phone in Mobei’s face as per usual.
“Y’know, if you’d reply to your messages I could just send it there.”
He snorts then nods at the photos, “You look cute.”
Shang Qinghua puts his phone away and snorts “Yea, yea I know. Ooo do you wanna hear about…”
Mobei, as usual, nods along, and from there they part ways at Shang Qinghua’s door as Mobei heads next door to his mothers house.
Overall, nothing eventful happens. The day is as normal as can be, yet something unusual hangs in the air, something Shang Qinghua cannot pinpoint. It’s like the start of a bad omen. He shudders, ignoring the feeling, before turning back to do his homework.
—
It starts on a day just like any other, with an overly humid classroom and Shang Qinghua’s usual distracted thoughts during another boring class. Nothing is special, Shen Yuan glares the way Shen Yuan does, the teacher gets distracted midway through and the students attempt to keep her distracted by asking about her marital troubles, really nothing stands out.
Except, Mobei-jun is not waiting outside for Shang Qinghua, he double checks and looks around just to be sure, even waits to make sure Mobei didn’t have to use the washroom. He’s not to be found in his classroom either, odd, since Shang Qinghua and him walked to school together that morning
About five minutes after his attempts at searching and ten minutes after the lunch bell has rung he finally receives a message from Mobei simply saying “ Busy today. Sorry.”
The first time, Shang Qinghua smiles in the awkward way one does when their feelings are hurt but theres no actual harm done, typing back “ No Worries! 🫶” before moving on.
He sees Mobei later that day and waves, partially so he can get an explanation as to the sudden ditching of their usual rock-solid lunch plans and partially because as always he has news to share, they stop and have a small chat before the bell signalling they’re going to be late rings and Shang Qinghua runs off, satisfied this is just a fluke in their otherwise perfect friendship.
Except, it starts becoming a repeat occurrence, starting with Mobei ditching lunch more than half the week. Then, he skips out in his weekly visit to Qinghua’s house.
So, Shang Qinghua spends lunch alone, again, then again, then again.
Each attempt to seek out Mobei feels more futile than the last, until they’re no longer walking home together because Mobei has things he’s doing with other friends, and then they’re barely walking to school together and he doesn’t wait for Shang Qinghua at the door anymore.
He tries time and time again to stop Mobei in the hallway, but nothing ever works. Mobei just looks at him and gives him a half-hearted smile, or at least as close to a smile as he’s ever been able to get and mouths later, before hurrying off with Luo Binghe and Sha Hualing.
It, of course, feels like another stab to the chest, another mark to add onto the first one. He tries to reassure himself, even if they’ve been best friends since they were children that doesn’t mean Mobei can’t have other friends.
In a last ditch attempt to repair their crumbling friendship, Shang Qinghua decides on baking some cookies for Mobei, the recipe the one he knows Mobei really likes.
The opportunity cannot come soon enough. His history teacher releases them ten minutes early for once, and Shang Qinghua is bolting out of there like his life depends on it, hoping that Mobei hasn’t left yet. He’s about to slam open the door to Mobei’s class when he hears two voices, Mobei and the voice of Sha Hualing.
“Y’know I’ve always wondered: that chipmunk you hang around, you call him cute all the time. Do you actually think that? I mean to me.. he’s just ...”
He can’t deny that the comment stings, it’s one of the few compliments Shang Qinghua has always gotten, one of the few he believes. Shang Qinghua pauses, because now he’s curious too, what does Mobei think? Is his entire self-worth built upon a lie regurgitated so often by his best friends, his family, the people around him; that he foolishly believed it? Surely, after ten years it can’t be. Except..
“Of course not. He’s just average, but he believes it so...”
Qinghua pauses, takes a breath, and shatters.