Work Text:
Jing Yuan sat in front of the fire to feed the flames sticks to keep it alive while his men went down by the river to collect fish. Sure they could ask for the village folks to provide them meals but they were here to aid, not take from their little supply.
“General.” He looked over his shoulder to see Yanqing waddling over due to the basket of fish he was carrying in his arms. Jing Yuan quickly stood up to take the basket but Yanqing waddled past him.
“Oh? If you didn't need help then why did you call me?” Jing Yuan patted the spot beside him for Yanqing to sit.
“So you can see how much I can carry.” Yanqing raised his flex arm to smack his muscle. “One day I'll be able to carry you.”
Jing Yuan laughed so Yanqing laughed along although it was not meant to be funny. He was serious about his goal, he wished to carry the General one day! In fact, many of his goals were tailored to impress the General so he would notice and praise him.
“I will wait for that day then.” Jing Yuan patted Yanqing's head.
Yanqing shrunk in his seat to hide his reddening ears but Jing Yuan saw the big smile on his face.
Jing Yuan opened his mouth to say more when the rest of the group returned from the river with little fish in their baskets. He sat to the side while they gasped at the amount in Yanqing's basket, then weeped to him about Yanqing stealing their fish.
“I didn't steal anything!” Yanqing guarded his basket from those who wished to increase the fish they caught.
The group turned to Jing Yuan for help but they saw he was looking out into the woods. Everyone quieted down to listen but all they heard was the fire crackling.
“General?” One whispered but Jing Yuan raised his hand.
“Someone is watching us.” He informed the group but no one could spot this person he spoke of.
“I see them!” In his urgency to chase down this mysterious person, Yanqing knocked over the basket of fish towards the flames. Jing Yuan tried to reach for him but stumbled because of the knocked over fish.
“Yanqing, wait!” The rest of the group hurried after Yanqing but it was more difficult than they hoped for.
With the moon hidden behind clouds, they could only rely on the sound of branches and leaves breaking, but that came with its own dangers. Running into each other or dead ends were the common results of running in blind yet Yanqing managed to get far ahead of them.
So if he only could catch this person, they could all rest easy for tonight.
“Get back here.” Yanqing took a shortcut by leaping over the bushes along with a slash of his sword but he overshot it.
After missing his attack, he turned to see where he would be landing, but the sight scared him. His foot landed right on the edge of the cliff but the impact from his weight made the ground crumble underneath him. He tossed his sword away because if he were to fall, he wouldn't want to go down with a sword freely falling around him.
He heard the person he was chasing after gasp and fall onto the ground along with a mix of shouting. It was all pointless because the next few seconds were riddled with smacking against rocks before falling into the lake.
Unfortunately for him, the rocks stunned his body which was a major issue as he had little air due to the unexpected plummet into the water. He did his best to hold his breath but when he looked up, he saw the surface was much further than he hoped for.
With a hand raised towards the surface, Yanqing silently prayed that someone heard him go into the water. He did not want to die here. He wished to live. To return to his dear General.
Nearing his last few seconds of air, Yanqing tried once more by waving his hand around despite the ache in his arm. Helpless in his situation, he slowly began to accept his fate by closing his eyes as the surface was far too gone for him to reach.
Then something scared him into opening his eyes. Someone had grabbed onto him from behind but rather down pulling him down in the lake, they pushed him up towards the surface. Upon reaching the surface, Yanqing began gasping for big puffs of air while the person held onto him from behind.
“It's okay! Relax! Relax.” Yanqing looked over his shoulder to see who his savior was but when he barely noticed the white hair in his peripheral vision, he began crying. Jing Yuan had come to rescue him, he was safe and well in his arms.
Arms.. the hands holding onto him were very small to be the General and that voice didn't match up! Yanqing's tears came to a pause so he could spin around to see the familiar white hair on the head of a young boy.
“General?!” This young boy did resemble Jing Yuan but just younger. The mole was the same, the eyes were bigger and full of life, but the expression was full of confusion.
“General?” The boy slowly let Yanqing go. “In no ways am I close to that.” He mumbled. “But you.. who are you?”
“Yanqing. I'm Yanqing.” He raised a hand to hold his head as he recalled the previous events. He remembered running then missing the target he was supposed to capture but how did that explain him ending up here?
“Take it easy. You probably had a bad fall.” The young boy placed his hand on top of Yanqing's head. “Let's get back on shore.”
“Okay.” Yanqing didn't want to reveal he was thinking of other things and simply went along.
With assistance from the boy, the two arrived on shore, but Yanqing paved around to see if there was anything to explain the situation he was in. He barely got to leave from the shore before the boy grabbed his hand.
“Don't go too far, it’s not safe here. There are too many abominations of the Abundance in this area so we must return to camp. Perhaps your family will find you there.”
“... okay.” Yanqing didn't have the heart to reveal his past to the boy.
The boy walked ahead while Yanqing was a step behind him which surprised the boy. He thought Yanqing would be lost yet he walked like he knew where the camp was.
“Who is that?” The knights asked the boy while looking at Yanqing. He was huddled up in blankets by the fire to warm up while the boy left him to fetch some clothes of his to share.
“His name is Yanqing.” The boy answered them. “I found him in the lake-”
The camp fell silent when someone new arrived.
“Who are you?” Yanqing turned around to receive a scare! First he happened to meet a younger version of his General but now he was sitting in front of the former Sword Campion, Jingliu.
Yanqing stuttered so the young General came to his rescue!
“I found him in the lake.” Jingliu narrowed her eyes at Yanqing. “He's most likely a boy from the town. I'll help return him home tomorrow morning.”
“Give him your tent to change in, while you come to mine for a quick talk.” Jingliu kept her eyes on Yanqing for a while longer before leaving them.
The young General let out a sigh as he handed Yanqing the clothes.
“You can go in there to change, I'll meet you later.” The boy smiled.
“Oh okay. Thank you, G- Jing Yuan.” Yanqing lowered his head because it felt weird calling his General by his name. He imagined saying his name in a more loving way rather than with an awkward smile to leave.
Jing Yuan stood there for a while with his head tilted to the side.
Yanqing carried his wet clothes out with him to lay them by the fire. Once it was all set, he sat down with his hands in between his knees, and began waiting for Jing Yuan's return.
Enough time passed that it was dinner time but Yanqing was hesitant to join the line. Would they even give him a portion? What if he was to wait until last to go? How should he approach the line?!
“What's with that face?” Yanqing jumped in his seat. “Scared you?” He looked at Jing Yuan who was laughing at his reaction while holding two bowls of hot food.
“Is one for me?” Yanqing asked.
Jing Yuan stopped laughing to look at him with a deadpan expression as he said, “No.”
Yanqing gulped.
“Just messin with you!” Jing Yuan held the bowl out to Yanqing.
“Thank you.” Yanqing quietly said as he took the bowl. Perhaps it was all the anxiety now washing away but he was really hungry so he wasted no time eating.
“So are your parents in town?” Jing Yuan stirred his food around before eating.
Yanqing slowed down to a halt. How should he explain it? If this was his Jing Yuan but in a younger version along with a non Mara struck Jingliu then this meant he was somehow in the past. So he was not to be born yet but were his parents around during this time?
“Sorry.” Yanqing looked at Jing Yuan with a confused look. “I didn't mean to pry like that. I just wanted to make sure your parents wouldn't miss you if you were gone for the night.”
“Oh.” Yanqing slouched down in his seat. “I don't have parents..”
“You don't?” Jing Yuan gasped and Yanqing nodded.
“Never got the chance to meet them so can't say I have something I don't know.”
Jing Yuan uncomfortably let out a “Oh.” sound. How was he to reply to that? Could he even bring up another topic right off the bat?
“So do you want an excuse to head into town?”
“I don't know..” Jing Yuan looked towards Jingliu's tent. He turned back with a big smile, “Okay!”
“Hopefully my clothes will dry by then or I'll be tripping over your pants.” The two looked down to see Yanqing had to roll up the pants to his knees for a practical look.
“Sorry, I'm mostly all legs.” Jing Yuan stretched his leg out but Yanqing rolled his eyes with a chuckle.
His General was very playful when he was younger and had such a beautiful smile. No, his General only gained more beauty as he aged.
Yanqing was spacing out as he compared his General to the younger version of him and the differences were huge. Such beauty only grew while the playfulness dulled out a bit. However that could be excused because his General looked stunning when he was serious.
Jing Yuan raised a brow at Yanqing's random giggling.
The night continued as any night would apart from the fact that Yanqing most definitely traveled back in time. He read many novels that had a storyline like such so he assumed he must be experiencing the same thing!
However while laying in bed, Yanqing wondered how he was to return back to his time. He looked over at the sleeping Jing Yuan with a worried look. What if this was to be his new life?
All worries from last night were washed away after a night of good sleep because Yanqing woke up alone. He wanted to believe it was all a dream but the anxiety came back when he saw himself in young Jing Yuan's clothes still.
“Why am I still here?” Yanqing curled up in bed with his pillow tightly hugged against his chest. He wished to return back to his time.
“Wakey wakey.” Jing Yuan shook the tent. “Master said we should eat before we go into town.”
“Okay.” Yanqing quietly said.
It was so quiet that Jing Yuan had to poke his head in to make sure Yanqing was awake and well. Since Yanqing was very much awake and well, he was at the door when Jing Yuan popped his head in.
“Careful.” Yanqing was quick to fall back before they had a face on collision.
“Oh sorry.” Jing Yuan looked down at Yanqing for a while before leaving to get in line.
Yanqing returned to the fire pit to check on his clothes which someone had folded for him. He happily took his clothes and returned back into the tent to change.
Unfortunately -or not- for him, he underestimated how long the line would go so upon not seeing Yanqing, Jing Yuan returned to the tent. He opened the door because he believed Yanqing went back to bed but rather he revealed an eye widening sight.
In his hurry to change back into his clothes, Yanqing took off everything so Jing Yuan caught him in an embarrassing state. Yanqing laid frozen on the bed because he was in the middle of pulling up his pants which would be the only article of clothing on him minus his underwear.
“General?” It was an accident to call him that title but the tone made Jing Yuan gulp.
Jing Yuan’s eyes moved up from his lap, to his bare chest, then finished off at his beet red face. Perhaps it was the color of his face or his expression that snapped Jing Yuan out of it and sent him into a panic to close the tent door.
“Sorry! Sorry!” Jing Yuan was gripping the tent’s door as he tried to calm his mind. They had just met the previous night yet he had seen more skin than anyone on a first date could have seen.
A few knights looked at Jing Yuan with a smirk and laughed at how red his face was. He hurried over to the log by the fire pit to begin eating his sorrows away but every few seconds, he got flashed by the sight he saw.
Jing Yuan had his head in his hands and didn't look up even when he knew Yanqing sat beside him.
“Thanks.” Yanqing awkwardly took the bowl Jing Yuan for him but the silence made eating so painful.
Neither knew how to talk about the tent incident or if they should even talk about it. Embarrassment floated around the air while Yanqing ate.
If it wasn't for Jingliu's pushing, the two would have stayed where they were for the whole day. They honestly wished for the world to swallow them up but knew that was from possible.
“About earlier-”
“I'm sorry!” Jing Yuan cut off Yanqing. “I didn't mean to do that to you. Sorry.”
“You didn't know, it's okay.” Yanqing rubbed the back of his neck to help with the nerves but Jing Yuan's panicked face did little reassurance.
Awkwardness remained in the air which made their walk to town very silent. Whenever Yanqing tried to talk, Jing Yuan turned away as if he was still naked.
“Have you not seen someone naked before?” Yanqing asked while following Jing Yuan from behind.
“Of course I have!” Jing Yuan was very defensive but his behavior made him look like a young teenage boy stumbling upon porngarphic material for the first time. “The knights bathe together at times so I have seen it all.” He huffed.
“Haha okay, I believe you.”
“Believe me? I am telling the truth!”
“Okay, enough yelling.” Yanqing raised his hands up in surrender but Jing Yuan continued huffing.
With his cheeks puffed out like that, Yanqing stared at them with a small smile. His General was so cute when he was younger.
“Hello boys~” The two jumped back by an older woman popping out from her shop. “Are any of you interested in buying candy?”
Yanqing knew this fairy tale so he grabbed onto Jing Yuan to run away with him.
“I do!” Jing Yuan gasped which shocked Yanqing.
His General was also irresponsible?!
“What if she's an evil witch luring us into her oven to eat us?” Yanqing whispered to Jing Yuan as they walked into the shop.
Jing Yuan stopped to stare at Yanqing for a good minute.
“Perhaps that fall messed up your brain real good.” Jing Yuan flicked Yanqing on the forehead.
Yanqing whined as he rubbed his forehead and held onto Jing Yuan to follow him through the store that had candy along every wall. The old lady showed them a range of sweets that Jing Yuan was excited to try while Yanqing was wary of everything.
“Try it, it's good!” Jing Yuan raised the piece of candy to his lips when he saw Yanqing was still hesitant to unwrap it.
“Mmph!” Yanqing looked at Jing Yuan with wide eyes because he had just shoved the piece of candy into his mouth.
“Sweet is it?” Jing Yuan took the candy out of Yanqing's fingers to eat it himself. The joyful smile on his face as the sweetness watered his mouth was contagious.
That or because his smile was very beautiful.
“Now spit it out.” The lady held out two plates in front of their mouths.
They shared a glance before agreeing to do it together. She quickly brought the places to her eyes to examine them very closely which disgusted the boys.
“I see, yes, yes.” The two tilted their heads to the side. “You!” She pointed to Jing Yuan. “Are destined for many glories that people will be shouting your name with praise. Based on your clothing, I assume you boys are from the squad that came to fight off those abominations, so you will come to be a great General one day!”
General… Jing Yuan looked over at Yanqing because he had called him that a few times by now.
“And you!” The lady paused to check Yanqing's plate again. “.. this is weird. The candy can not read you.”
Yanqing began holding his breath. What if she realized he was not of this time? Would she or even Jing Yuan believe him to be an abomination of the Abundance? What should he do if they believe that?!
“Can you chew it for a little while more?”
Yanqing looked at the piece of candy with a disgusted look.
“It won't hurt you.”
“But it's cold and slimy now.” Yanqing leaned his head back.
The lady sighed as she went to get him a new piece of candy. With a fresh piece, Yanqing awkwardly chewed on the candy in front of the two before spitting it on Jing Yuan's plate.
The lady looked at his candy specifically then at their candies together. She began chuckling which creeped the boys out.
“You too should face the same fate as he but you will not receive as loud praises.” She looked so proud of herself but Jing Yuan sighed.
“Okay. Thanks.” Jing Yuan began dragging Yanqing out of the store with him.
“Do you not believe me child?!” She gasped and Jing Yuan nodded.
“Our fates sound too similar. You probably are a scam artist.”
“A scam artist.” The woman's voice trembled.
“Jing Yuan..” Yanqing now felt bad for the lady. “Can we get some more candy?” That made the lady smile.
“Of course!” She happily walked down the aisles to fill a basket worth of goodies for them.
Jing Yuan pulled Yanqing closer, “Do you even have money on you?” He whispered.
The smile on Yanqing's face told him all he needed to know.
Jing Yuan and the lady were having a tug of war over the money while Yanqing smiled fondly down at the basket. Even in this time, his General would spoil him.
The two continued around town and learned about the customs of this planet. At some point, the two were mistaken as a guard and a young lady because of their attire.
“I'm not a girl.” Yanqing huffed while stuffing his mouth with candy.
“Well you're quite pretty for a boy.” Jing Yuan confessed, which caused Yanqing to choke.
Yanqing was too stunned to speak so he simply stared at Jing Yuan.
The two were away from the town folk so Jing Yuan began approaching Yanqing. Yanqing leaned away but Jing Yuan only kept getting closer to him until it ended with him trapping Yanqing against the wall.
“Hey Yanqing..”
“Yes?” He stuttered.
“Are you an abomination?”
Yanqing's blood ran cold. The look in Jing Yuan's eyes was so full of seriousness that it froze him in his place.
“No.”
Jing Yuan narrowed his eyes as if he didn't fully believe it.
“I'm not! I swear.” Yanqing pushed for his innocence.
“Then why did you and that lady say the same thing about me? Me being a General?”
How could he explain he was of the future?
Yanqing kept repeating the word “I” but his mind was coming up blank for an explanation.
It only worsened when Jing Yuan kept getting closer that Yanqing shut his eyes to spare himself from this tragedy.
But the tragedy came in the form of a kiss.
What type of interrogation is this?!
Yanqing's eyes shot open to see the reason behind the kiss.
“You're cute when you're confused.” Jing Yuan was smiling as if he wasn't accusing Yanqing of being an abomination a few seconds ago.
“Huh?!”
Jing Yuan pushed himself back to give Yanqing space to breathe.
“I know you're not from here.. or of this time.”
“?!”
“Well first giveaway was you knowing my name without anyone saying it. Second was the whole General slip ups. And third was the candy lady mentioning the General glory so it was easy to guess you're from the future.”
“So why did you kiss me?!”
“Because I thought you were cute?”
Yanqing's face flushed red.
“Do you know how to return home?” Jing Yuan further stepped back.
“No.” Yanqing slumped down against the wall until his butt touched the ground.
Jing Yuan crouched down to lift Yanqing's head up by his chin, “We'll find a way to get you back. I'm sure future me is missing you.” He smiled.
Yanqing didn't have the courage to confess there was nothing going on between him and future Jing Yuan. He never had an opportunity to confess and feared that he would get sent away if it went wrong. Young Jing Yuan could not speak for future him.
“I'm sure he is.” Yanqing pouted.
Another kiss.
“You're cuter with a pout.” Jing Yuan chuckled.
Yanqing tried to hide his face behind his hands but Jing Yuan pulled them away to keep kissing him. Yanqing didn't understand why Jing Yuan was kissing him so much but he wasn't complaining either.
Perhaps this was his only time to receive kisses like such from his General.
Jingliu was surprised to see Jing Yuan returned in hand with Yanqing. Further to her surprise was the shyful expression on Yanqing's face while Jing Yuan looked so proud of himself. She watched them walk by the camp and into the woods.
She trusted Jing Yuan knew what he was doing and allowed the boy to venture off.
“So think it'll work?” Jing Yuan looked down at the lake then at Yanqing.
“Well they always did it in books and usually returned back home.”
“Usually?!”
“I'll be fine. I hope.”
Jing Yuan grabbed onto Yanqing's hand to stop him from jumping.
“It'll be okay. Just trust me.”
Slowly Jing Yuan let go of Yanqing's hand with a heavy heart. He was worried it would not succeed and did not know until his body floated up to the surface.
Jing Yuan shook his head to get the negativity out of his head.
“Okay. Please return home safely.” At this point they had let go of hands entirely.
“I will.” Yanqing turned to face the lake.
"But do me a favor.”
“Yeah?”
He was once again yanked from behind but this time it was for a kiss rather than a push of support. The kiss was so deep and out of nowhere that Yanqing could not kiss back properly.
“When you get back, do not be afraid to tell him.” Jing Yuan placed his hands on Yanqing's chest. “I'll be waiting for your confession.”
With a hard push, Yanqing fell back into the lake without hitting any rocks, however he was stunned from the impact. Thankfully this time he had time to breathe in as much air as possible before going under.
Just the issue was that no matter how hard he tried swimming to the surface, he would not move. He checked if anything caught on his leg or body but there was nothing holding him down!
Panic began to set in as Yanqing was trapped in the water with a limited air supply. He tried pushing himself off from the nearby rocks but the surface remained the same distance away.
He kicked the rocks in frustration but he miscalculated how hard they would be and let out some air in reaction to the pain. He covered his mouth to keep the rest in but the shock left him struggling to calm himself down. If he continued like this, he would lose his control, and let the air escape.
However more air slipped out until a whole crowd of bubbles escaped through his fingers. Yanqing squirmed around to push himself to the surface but no one was coming.
Alone.
Afraid.
Cold.
Hurting.
Yanqing believed he would die.
If it wasn't for the sudden pair of hands that grabbed him from the sides and zoomed him up the surface.
Unlike before, Yanqing did not thrash around gasping for air, and remained still. He was dragged to the shore where he received CPR and hair to the face.
“Come on.” Some knights mumbled under their breath whIle they watched Jing Yuan do his best to bring Yanqing back.
The fear was settling in everyone's stomach with each compression that Jing Yuan had to make. They were begging for him to wake up!
“Please, please.” Jing Yuan was becoming frantic himself.
He could not lose Yanqing.
And he wasn't going to.
Yanqing coughed up the water he inhaled which was immediately responded by being rolled over onto his side. The knights gasped in joy and felt like their hearts were about to burst.
All were sounding their joy but Jing Yuan showed it by sitting Yanqing up once he was done coughing. He pulled the boy into a tight hug and cradled the back of his head as he let out heavy sighs of relief.
“General?” Yanqing's voice was hoarse.
“Save your speaking.” Jing Yuan squeezed Yanqing in the hug before pulling away to look at him. Thankfully for him no one could tell if it was just water or tears on his face.
Yanqing smiled fondly at Jing Yuan, “I love you.”
Jing Yuan's eyes widened while the knights fell silent to listen in.
Everyone knew, even Jing Yuan himself, but what a time to make a confession!
“So do I.” Jing Yuan pulled Yanqing in for a hug again. “Please do not leave me again.” He whispered.
Yanqing nodded as he rested his head on Jing Yuan's shoulder. The two had their sweet moment viewed by the small group of knights and culprit they captured although it was the culprit who helped them.
After Yanqing fell into the lake, the culprit tried to catch him, but failed to so they informed the knights that caught up to them. While a few were hesitant to jump in because of the rocks, Jing Yuan ran off the cliff without a second thought.
“Cold.”
“I know.” Jing Yuan stood up with Yanqing in his arms. “Let's hurry back while three of you go into town to get the doctor.”
“Yes, sir!”
All good news was delivered by the doctor so all worries of a late drowning was cleared. Jing Yuan waited until it was just them in the tent to hug Yanqing again but this time he was the one with his head on Yanqing's chest.
“Do not run off like that again.” Jing Yuan clutched the back of Yanqing's shirt.
“Sorry.” Yanqing patted the top of Jing Yuan's head.
Jing Yuan took the minute to listen to both Yanqing's breathing and heartbeat to ease his nerves from the whole ordeal. Once he calmed down, he sat up just enough to kiss Yanqing for a brief moment.
He didn't want to make Yanqing struggle for air again but Yanqing looked at him with those puppy eyes. Rather than giving in as usual, Jing Yuan kissed his cheek.
“I'm happy you're back.” Jing Yuan hugged Yanqing with a hand cradling the back of his head again.
“Me too.” Yanqing replied with a smile. Sure he wished to tell Jing Yuan all about the cuteness of his younger self but he was tired nor wanted to interrupt their sweet peaceful moment by sounding crazy.