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Puqi used to be a small farming village. Now, it housed one of the most prestigious universities. Students had to go through rigorous entrance exams, and teachers were hand picked, the finest in their field.
Hua Cheng, also known as Crimson Rain Sought Flower. He rose in the underground art scene, renown for his carvings and paintings. His art could sell for thousands of dollars, and yet he remained hidden beneath a red shroud of anonymity. That was until he made an announcement he would start teaching at the University of Puqi. From then on, students flocked to his class to glimpse even a shred of the famous one eyed artist.
Mu Qing, a poor child from the slums of Xianle, graduated at the top of his class due to his mathematical prowess. He was an uplifting story for news sites to spread. Eventually settling to teach at the University of Puqi, he was the teacher students who were “at-risk” were shoved too. However, he was one of the strictest, with the highest fail rate in the department of mathematics.
He Xuan, one of the lowest profile professors. He came from a long line of engineers, but his father’s company fell when he was only a child. Not only that, there had been a cheating scandal a couple years back involving him. The administrators who gave the gaokao had swapped his results with other student’s, resulting in false scores. But it was a quiet case, only coming to light because of the attempts to keep it behind the curtain. Known for appearing during class and disappearing right after, students rarely turn to him for help. But at the end of his semester, he always got good evaluations. He was revered as one of the fastest professors to get tenured.
✦✦✦
Mu Qing had his computer set up with slides on the board, but was scribbling away on the whiteboard. His students stared in wonder.
“What are you gaping for? Take notes, I won’t go over it a third time,” he snapped. His students bowed their heads and scribbled messy notes.
All of a sudden, a loud ping! rang through the class.
“Who’s phone is that?” Mu Qing demanded. He held a very strict no phone rule in his class — any student stupid enough to get caught would get a firm, public, lecture.
Three more dings filled the classroom, before a student gathered enough courage to mutter, “Sir…it’s your computer…”
Mu Qing turned around to see four new text messages, displayed for all to see on the whiteboard.
“Oh.” He said.
But his face grew red when he realized who it was from.
A-Hei <3 Tuesday, 9:18 am
Did you feed the cat?
A-Hei <3 Tuesday, 9:19 am
He looks really needy right now.
Hong’er <3 Tuesday, 9:19 am
Yea, i think a-qing did
Hong’er <3 Tuesday, 9:19 am
He’s teaching rn, i’ll ask him after
The class was silent. Student’s eyes darted around, wondering if they should make a run for it or stay still. Mu Qing finally shattered the quiet glass.
“I want to see a proof for Brun's theorem by next class. If you can’t finish it, turn in what you did, or drop my class.” With that, Mu Qing disconnected and shut his computer. His ears were tinged red with embarrassment, but no one would dare point that out.
The second he dismissed class, he could hear the rumor mill kick into overdrive. He was the professor that kept his personal life hidden, going to great lengths to separate the two. He had constructed many shields, many walls, to keep them from ever mixing. And now they were crumbling before his very eyes, mixing the toxic chemicals. Before he knew it, it would explode and his reputation would be tarnished.
✦✦✦
Mu Qing overreacted to even the smallest things. He’d complained last week about Hua Cheng texting, but both He Xuan and Hua Cheng laughed. Sure, Mu Qing didn’t speak to them for six hours, but how was it Hua Cheng’s fault? Mu Qing was the one who not only synced his messages to his computer and turned notifications on, but forgot to turn it off before class.
“Hong’er, what are you working on?” Mu Qing asked.
Hua Cheng looked up from his canvas, “Oh, nothing big. I just wanted to do a small painting.”
The “small” painting was currently black with blue undertones, lines of gold running through like lighting. In the center, thin white lines cracked through. The rolling, deep, blues were reminiscent of the ocean, evoking a feeling of drowning peacefully beneath the waves. Hua Cheng, satisfied with his work, finally set his brush down.
“You’re not going to believe this,” He Xuan snorted as he walked into the room. He flopped onto the couch.
Hua Cheng’s art room wasn’t by any means small. It provided enough room for him to work on multiple projects at once, and still have both his lovers accompany him.
“What is it?” Hua Cheng asked.
“Check your instagram. The comments are going wild,” He Xuan said. He stifled a laugh as Hua Cheng wiped his hands off and grabbed his phone.
“What exactly am I looking for?”
“Just check the comments on your latest post.”
Hua Cheng’s brow furrowed. That was, until he followed He Xuans’s instructions. His eyebrows shot up.
“Whoops,” was all Hua Cheng said.
You see, after his first week of teaching, his students had tracked down all his socials. It was a tradition for the newbies to scavenge the internet to find where he posted his art. This also meant he had to be careful what he posted – but only on his art account. God knows what was on his private twitter.
He’d posted a photo of his new sculpture a couple days ago, it wasn’t his best work. It had been of Mu Qing and He Xuan, even if Mu Qing claimed it didn’t look like him.
Clearly, his students noticed.
Hey, isn’t that Professor He?
Yeah, the other guys looks like Professor Mu!
I didn’t know they were friends
If you look through CRSF’s past art, it shows the two of them a lot
👀
“That doesn’t look like me at all!” Mu Qing exclaimed. He must’ve opened the comments as well.
“A-yin, clearly they think it does,” He Xuan remarked. He patted the top of Mu Qing’s head in sarcastic sympathy.
“Well, I don’t think so,” Mu Qing grumbled. Hua Cheng sat down on the couch next to him, and went to pull Mu Qing over.
“Ew! No, your hands are covered in paint.” Mu Qing jolted away. He Xuan laughed as Hua Cheng looked down, defeated. Getting up to wash his hands, he glanced over at his phone. It’ll be fine, people will just think they’re friends.
✦✦✦
He Xuan stood at the front of the class. It was a small class, so he forced everyone to the front.
“I want you to discuss how decisions – or lack of – affect Hamlet’s fate. Arrange your desks into a circle. You’ll be graded on both contributions and listening.” With that, he stepped back and let his students do the work.
The season’s had begun to change. The air was growing warmer and more humid. He rolled his sleeves up to his elbows, and turned the fans up. His students huffed as it began to blow the pages around, but otherwise silently thanked him.
As their discussion began to come to a close, He Xuan shut his notebook. The students turned at the sudden loud noise.
“Professor He, what does your tattoo say?” Ahhh crap.
“It’s just a saying.” Lies, all lies. But that would have to do.
A butterfly was perched on a long sword, with the characters 红 (hōng, red) and 银 (yín, silver) scrawled in calligraphy around it. Hua Cheng had done it for him.
One student frowned. “It doesn’t-”
“Isn’t that Professor Hua’s handwriting?” God dammit, why did his students have to be so perceptive?!
“I-”
“Yeah, it’s his art style too. See?” One student had pulled up Hua Cheng’s twitter and was showing it to the class. She turned her phone to face He Xuan. He pinched the bridge of his nose.
“I’m fully aware of who he is, yes.”
His students stared up at him expectiantly. Well then.
“I want an essay on what you just discussed, due next thursday. If you have any further questions, feel free to come to office hours.” He Xuan uttered nothing else, but grabbed his bag and left the classroom.
✦✦✦
Qi Bei banged her head on the table. Professor Mu had been pissed and assigned the class extra work. It wasn’t even their fault!
“What’s wrong?” Xi Song asked. Su Yan looked up from her textbook at her friend’s chatter.
“Professor Mu accidentally projected his text messages on the board, and then got mad at us! We didn’t do anything!” Qi Bei exclaimed. She threw her hands in the air in defeat.
“What, was it some raunchy drama?” Xi Song asked.
“Not even, just “Hong’er” and “A-Hei” asking if anyone fed the cat,” Qi Bei wrinkled her nose.
“Oh, that reminds me. Did you see Professor Hua’s insta? Look!” Su Yan pulled up the comments of one of his posts. It was filled with chatter about Professor Mu and Professor He.
Xi Song barked a laugh. “Yeah, Professor He has some tattoo, I think it was done by Professor Hua. You think they’re friends?”
“I think they’re lovers,” Su Yan grinned.
“You read too many yaoi novels,” Xi Song grumbled.
✦✦✦
Xi Song knocked on Professor He’s office door. This essay was going to kill her.
The sign on his door said he was available, and she’d emailed ahead of time. Knocking again, Xi Song began to grow impatient.
“Professor He?” She said as she pushed the door open.
Oh. She was going to have to pay Su Yan so much.
Professor Hua was sprawled on a couch, with Professor He leaning against him. Professor Mu was lying across their laps.
“Hello,” Xi Song’s professor said. His face was just as expressive as a stone.
Xi Song watched as Professor Mu bolted upright. “It’s! I-”
Professor Hua just laughed.
“I thought you said no one was coming today!” Professor Mu turned to Professor He.
“I said no one usually does.”
Professor Hua peeled himself off the couch. He pulled Professor Mu up with him, and dragged them out the door.
“Goodbye!” he said, his one eye shining with what could only be described as mischief.
Once the door shut behind Xi Song, she turned to Professor He.
“So. Is it true you’re married?”
Professor He shrugged and moved to his desk. “Yeah. What do you need help with?”
Xi Song plopped into the chair across from him. “Ok, so…”
✦✦✦
Rumors don’t spread like wildfires. They spread like snails. Slowly inching along, before they get picked up by a kind passerby and throw into the nearest bush.
Xi Song told Su Yan. Su Yan, one of the most social people Xi Song knew, told everyone she knew. From there, it seemed like everyone knew of the three professor’s relationship.
But, just like snails, no one cared. Sure, there was an odd glance every once in a while, but people simply went on with their day and ignored it.
At least they weren’t crushed into smithereens like a snail. Mu Qing would kill He Xuan for that.