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Yunli came over that morning to spar with Yanqing like they normally do.
Yanqing had no idea how they ended up spending the rest of the day together.
After they sparred, they went inside and found their way to Yanqing’s room. Yunli immediately threw herself on the cold floor and Yanqing cranked up his window fan. He laid down next to her and rested the back of his head on his hands. It was silent for a moment, save for their heavy breathing and the whirring of the fan.
“I totally kicked your butt out there,” Yunli said, elbowing Yanqing’s side.
He flinched. “No, you totally didn’t. It was obviously a draw.”
“Ha!” Yunli cackled. “Yeah right. You had to take a knee to catch your breath. And, both parties have to agree that it’s a draw when it actually is one. Nice try.”
Yanqing sighed. “You can never admit defeat, can you?”
Yunli sat up. “It’s not ‘defeat’ if it’s supposedly a ‘draw,’” She said, emphasizing her words with air quotes. “But it wasn’t a draw, so give it up already.”
“ You give it up!” Yanqing sat up this time. “ You’re the one who can’t just agree that we tied. Do you hear me boasting about beating you? ”
“Nope,” Yunli snickered. “I guess that just means you suck either way. Better train harder.” She stood up, walked over to the window fan, and knelt in front of it.
Yanqing watched as Yunli’s bangs got blown to the side and how she smiled as she cooled off. He tried not to think too much about it as he stood up to grab his water bottle off his nightstand. It wasn’t much of a big deal to him.
-
Hours passed, and Yanqing noticed that the sun had been going down.
He and Yunli had been watching TV in his room. He sat on his bed leaning against his headboard, and Yunli lay next to him about a foot away.
“The general should be home any minute now,” he said, nudging Yunli. “I’m sure he wouldn’t mind if you stayed for dinner.”
Yunli scoffed and hesitated for a moment before answering. “If you insist,” she mumbled. Something in her gut told her to say yes, but she didn’t know why. After all, she found Yanqing insufferable. She just liked having a sparring partner. That was it.
Yanqing looked back at the TV. He wasn’t insisting on anything, but he didn’t have the energy to have another argument with Yunli. Plus, this was the quietest he had ever seen her. It was kind of nice not to have her in his ear belittling his every move.
There was a knock at the door, to which Yanqing allowed them to come in. General Jing Yuan stood in the doorway and gave the two a warm smile. “Good evening Miss Yunli! It’s a pleasure to have you here.” He leaned against the doorframe and crossed his arms.
“Nice to see you General,” she said politely while sitting up. “Thank you for having me.”
“Of course,” Jing Yuan nodded. “I assume you two spent the day sparring?”
“Yup!” Yunli perked up. “And the lieutenant here had his butt handed to him on a silver platter.” She said, gesturing to Yanqing.
Yanqing groaned. “I told you, it was a draw.”
Yunli grinned and waved Yanqing off. “He’s just saying that because he lost.”
“I am not! And no I didn’t!” Yanqing glared at her.
“Oho!” Jing Yuan laughed. “Well, I suppose you’ll just need to have a rematch tomorrow. Speaking of which, Yunli, your grandfather messaged me and said that you could stay over if you wanted since he knows you’ve been here all day. And I’m sure Yanqing here would like to get his revenge tomorrow morning.” He winked.
“ What?! ” Yanqing and Yunli blurted out in unison.
“Only if you want to,” Jing Yuan started. “Yanqing could walk you back to where you’re staying if you’d like. It’s quite a walk, but every bit of exercise goes towards training, no matter what. So it’s up to you.”
Yunli blinked. Yanqing just stared at the general.
Jing Yuan chuckled. “You can let me know after dinner,” he said before he softly shut the door.
Yunli whipped around to face Yanqing and stuck a finger in his face. “If I say yes, it’s only so that I can kick your butt again tomorrow.”
“Whatever,” Yanqing shrugged. “Except I’ll be the one winning.”
Yunli smirked. “Oh, you are so on.”
-
The nighttime came quicker than Yanqing would’ve liked. He had never had a sleepover before, whether it be at someone else’s house or his own. He didn’t have that many friends in general. Maybe that’s why he didn’t mind Yunli’s company too much.
The two walked into Yanqing’s room after spending some time downstairs with the general after dinner. Yunli sat on the floor and leaned against the wall. “I don’t know why I agreed to this. I don’t even have pajamas.” She said quietly, fidgeting with one of the tassels on her outfit.
Yanqing thought for a moment as he sat down on his bed. “Um… You can borrow a shirt of mine if you want,” he suggested, “and some shorts.”
Yunli turned to face Yanqing. “Huh?”
“I don’t mind,” Yanqing said, standing up. “I’m gonna go take out my contacts and brush my teeth. My shirts are in this drawer and my shorts are in the one below it.” He gestured to one of his dressers, grabbed his glasses case, the case for his contact lenses, and his contact solution, and left his room for the bathroom.
Yunli didn’t move for a moment. Instead, she pulled her knees to her chest. She had that same feeling in her gut from earlier, and this time it was making her stomach hurt. Something about the thought of wearing one of Yanqing’s T-shirts made Yunli’s face feel hot. She sighed and shook her head, stood up, and went over to the drawers Yanqing directed to her.
Pulling a big, white T-shirt over her head and a pair of black shorts up her legs, Yunli stared at herself in the mirror. She hated that she looked comfortable, and she also hated the fact that his clothes smelled good too.
I’m wearing Yanqing’s clothes, Yunli thought. This was the last thing I expected when I came to the Luofu.
A soft knock at the door made Yunli flinch and snapped her out of her thoughts. “It’s me,” the voice on the other side said. Yanqing was back.
“You can come in,” Yunli said in a monotone voice. “I’m done changing.”
“You look cozy,” Yanqing said, shutting the door. “I’m not even that much bigger than you, yet my shirt almost swallows you whole.”
“Shut up!” Yunli scowled at him. Her face felt hot again and she hated it. When she got a good look at him, she realized that glasses suited him very well, and he looked so nice with his hair down.
Yanqing laughed as he put his things away. “I’m not making fun of you or anything—”
“For once,” Yunli said, cutting him off.
“Oh be quiet, you’re one to talk! And last I checked, you’re the one always making fun of me! ” Yanqing rolled his eyes. “Anyway, like I was saying, I’m not making fun of you. I’m just stating a fact. Look, the shirt’s almost at your knees.”
Yunli looked down.
Ugh, he’s right! That idiot!
“Whatever. I’m gonna go brush my teeth too.” Yunli said, snatching the pack of spare toothbrushes that Jing Yuan had prepared off Yanqing’s desk. She stormed out of the room, and even though she wanted to slam the door, she didn’t. She may have been frustrated, but she wasn’t going to disturb the general and place that burden on him.
Yanqing sighed and sat down on his bed. He still couldn’t believe that he and Yunli had spent the entire day together. They were just supposed to spar, like usual, and that was it. But now she’s in the bathroom brushing her teeth with his T-shirt on because she’s staying over his and the general’s house.
A couple of minutes later, Yunli returned. After quietly shutting the door behind her, she stared at Yanqing with a blank face.
“What?” Yanqing asked.
No response.
“ What? ” He asked again.
“Where am I supposed to sleep?” Yunli shot at him.
Yanqing blinked. He hadn’t thought about that. He looked around his room, trying to think of something, anything , and finally said, “I can take the floor. You can have my bed if you want.”
This took Yunli by surprise. “Wait, what?”
“It’s not a problem,” Yanqing started. “I have a ton of blankets I can fold up to make it kind of like a futon mattress type deal. And I can use my sham pillow while you use my normal one.”
“A-are you sure? This is your room, after all…” Yunli trailed off. She awkwardly twirled her hair as she stared at the floor, internally cursing herself for being so polite.
Yanqing shrugged. “You’re the guest. I really don’t care.” He started to fold some blankets and lay them on the floor beside his bed. He grabbed his sham pillow off his bed and attempted to get comfortable.
Yunli figured Yanqing wasn’t going to change his mind. He was already stubborn enough in her eyes. She huffed, laid down, and pulled the covers up to her neck.
“I call being in charge of the TV though,” Yanqing said. “Mind handing me the remote?”
Yunli snatched the remote off Yanqing’s nightstand and tossed it on his lap. As he flipped through what to watch, Yunli tried to relax. Her face felt hot for probably the millionth time just within the hour, and the fact that Yanqing’s sheets smelled like him didn’t help.
Well, it did a little bit, but not enough to get her train of thought back on its course.
-
The two ultimately ended up watching a movie Yanqing loved watching with the general from his childhood. Afterward, Yanqing had Yunli turn off the light on his nightstand so they could go to sleep.
“G’night Miss Yunli,” Yanqing said quietly. “Thanks for indulging me.”
“It’s nothing,” Yunli replied, rolling over so she wasn’t facing the side Yanqing was on. “Goodnight.”
And then it was silence. The only sound was coming from the window fan, just like earlier that day.
Yunli rolled onto her back and stared at the ceiling. She wanted so badly to sleep and fast forward to tomorrow, but she was incredibly restless. As she paced her breathing for a little while, her eyes started to feel heavier and heavier. She rolled onto her left side, and the next thing she knew, she was fast asleep.
Yunli’s sword clashed with Yanqing’s, and after a brief moment of him pushing back, Yunli was able to knock it out of his hands.
“Yes!” She jumped up and cheered. “I win!”
Yanqing lay down on the grass. “Yeah, yeah, good for you,” He said, breathing heavily. “I’ll get you next time.”
“Unlikely,” Yunli said as she took the spot next to Yanqing. “I’m just better than you at everything.”
Yanqing rolled over to face Yunli. “You wish.”
Yunli giggled. “Can’t wish for what’s already true!”
Yanqing playfully shoved Yunli’s arm. The two of them broke out in laughter.
“It’s so nice to finally have someone to spar with,” Yanqing told her. “It gets so lonely around here sometimes.”
“You have Sushang, don’t you?” Yunli asked.
“Well yeah, but she and I don’t spar or anything,” Yanqing replied. “I enjoy your company. I guess it’s cause we’re kinda similar… in a way.”
Yunli blushed. “I-I don’t wanna be similar to you. You don’t even care about your swords.”
“I do care about my swords,” Yanqing said, looking at Yunli straight in the eyes. “But I care about you as well.”
Yunli sat straight up in bed. Steam could practically come out of her ears; she was livid that Yanqing was haunting her mind even in her dreams!
She didn’t dare look at the clock; she knew it was ridiculously late. The two of them had been out cold for hours. Yunli leaned over to check on Yanqing, who was sprawled out on the floor.
He must move around a lot in his sleep, Yunli thought. I can’t believe an idiot like him slept on the floor . Maybe he’s uncomfortable…?
Yunli sighed and nudged Yanqing.
The only response she got was a twitch of his fingers.
She nudged him again.
“Mmm,” Yanqing groaned and rolled over.
“Yanqing. Wake up.” Yunli whispered.
To this, Yanqing’s eyes slowly opened, but not much. He moved his head a little to face Yunli.
“Uh… you could… um… come up here, if you want…” Yunli said quietly. She mentally kicked herself at first, but she doubted she would regret her decision.
Yanqing thought for a moment. “Are you sure? I don’t wanna invade your… personal space.” He whispered back.
“Yes, I’m sure, so hurry up before I change my mind.” Yunli whacked his shoulder with a small pillow.
Yanqing briefly hesitated, but he decided it would be okay if Yunli was okay with it. He got up from his makeshift bed and took the spot to Yunli's left after she shuffled over.
It was a little awkward at first, but after a moment, Yunli found herself cuddling into Yanqing’s chest. “You better not tell anyone about this,” she whispered.
“I won’t,” Yanqing said as he softly chuckled and put an arm around her back. “Goodnight Miss Yunli.”
“Goodnight Yanqing,” Yunli mumbled. “And by the way, you can drop the ‘Miss.’”