Chapter Text
“Motherfucker!”
Luo Binghe, having been attempting to fall back asleep, reluctantly opened his eyes. His phone showed that it was just after 1am: a normal time for college students to be still awake, he assumed, but his morning shift at the bakery started in threehours, and fuck, he was so tired.
“No, I gave the wrong gift – Airplane you fuck. That’s my boyfriend!! Get the fuck away!!”
Luo Binghe had not seen his neighbor once since the semester started. His door decorations said his name was Shen Yuan, but they seemed to have opposite schedules. The only time Luo Binghe even knew his neighbor was alive was at night, when Shen Yuan began… doing whatever he did at night that caused so much cursing.
Usually, Luo Binghe tried to ignore it. He wanted to be a good neighbor, he wanted to make friends, he wanted–
“MARNIE, WHY THE FUCK AREN’T YOU HOME?”
–to get some goddamn sleep.
Grumbling, a headache forming behind his temples, Luo Binghe slid out of bed and shuffled out to the hall. He knocked on Shen Yuan’s door hard enough to rattle the frame.
“Ah! Fuck. Hold on, I think someone’s knocking.”
A clattering noise from behind the door. What sounded like a body hitting the floor. A muffled curse. And finally, the door opened.
Behind Shen Yuan’s door, at ass-o-clock in the morning, was the most beautiful man he’d ever seen. Dark curls cascaded down his shoulders, which were bare - the man was wearing black-and-red flannel pajama pants, and nothing else. His abs looked actually sculpted. Like, there was no way real living people looked like that.
The man was just staring down at Shen Yuan. His eyes were a peculiar shade of brown that almost looked more red in the fluorescent hallway lighting, and combined with his long lashes, he reminded Shen Yuan of a deer. But like, in a positive way! A very handsome deer! Not that Shen Yuan thought he was handsome – he was handsome, objectively, but –
Oops, the handsome deer man was speaking (with a very nice voice, deep, a little growl-y but maybe that was the time of night) and Shen Yuan absolutely did not catch any of that.
“Aha, sorry, can you repeat that? I was, uh… lost in thought.”
“There was a lot of yelling,” Handsome Deer Man said, “and I was trying to sleep.”
Oh! “Oh, shit, sorry,” Shen Yuan’s hands began fluttering as he laughed nervously. “I was playing a game - you know Stardew Valley? Maybe you don’t, you look like you probably play sports or go to the gym instead of gaming, which is good, exercise is great–” What the fuck am I saying?!
Handsome Deer Man cut him off, for which Shen Yuan was immensely grateful. “It’s alright. I work mornings, though, so I’d appreciate if you could yell a little quieter.”
“Absolutely. Only very quiet yelling from now on.” Shen Yuan’s voice was approaching a not-very-quiet yell, and he tried to reign in his nerves to avoid blowing out Handsome Deer Man’s ears. “Sorry again. Are you one of the rooms next door then?”
“Yes, I’m to your left. Luo Binghe.”
“Oh, hi! Yes! I’ve been wondering who you were. I mean, I see the name on your door every day but haven’t seen you at all, so it’s nice to put a face to the name! I’m Shen Yuan. But you probably saw my door, haha.”
“I did,” Luo Binghe said with a small (absolutely devastating, put that thing away!) grin. “But likewise. I need to go back to sleep, but maybe one day you can show me your game?”
“Oh sure! Any time! You know where to find me, haha. I’m really sorry again for keeping you awake!!”
“It’s no problem. Nice to meet you, Shen Yuan.” With that, Luo Binghe gave that little grin again and a wave, and retreated to his own bedroom.
Shutting the door, Shen Yuan leaned against the back of it, his heart beating oddly fast. Probably just from the shock of a social interaction when he wasn’t expecting it. He tried to take a couple deep breaths, then picked up his chair from where he’d tripped over it in his haste to get up and put his headphones back on.
“Hey, I’m back. …Yeah, I woke up my neighbor. Well maybe I wouldn’t be yelling if you’d keep your hands off my crops!”
“Our crops, comrade,” said the tinny voice from his headphones. “So, this the neighbor you’ve never seen?”
He gave one last look at his door before picking the controller back up. “Yeah. He seemed nice. He probably hates me now, though.”
Luo Binghe’s only thought, as he walked away from Shen Yuan’s door, was: “I want to be that man’s wife.”
This was an entirely new thought for him. If you asked any woman on campus, Luo Binghe was a player. A heartbreaker. He was always down to clown, so to speak, but he was in it for a good time, not a long time. Rarely had he been seen with the same girl for longer than a week, and never longer than a month.
Now in his second year of university, Luo Binghe didn’t mind his reputation. If anything, it made his life easier; people knew him, knew of him, and it was clear what they expected from him. To other guys, he was someone to envy: his good looks, his full ride scholarship as an athlete, his perfect grades that seemed effortless. To women, he was the ideal boyfriend: hot, attentive, excellent in bed. To teachers, he was the perfect student, a pleasure to have in class. No interaction was a surprise to Luo Binghe; he could read people as easily as any book, and he always knew how to present himself as exactly as he wanted to be seen.
Somehow, the cute little nerd next door had scrambled his brain. He noticed how Shen Yuan looked at him, and yet during their entire conversation, he could only think of how badly he wanted Shen Yuan to never look away. He could see behind the smaller man how messy his room had been; Luo Binghe wanted to clean it. He wanted to tidy up the clothes from the floor so Shen Yuan wouldn’t trip over them, wanted to make him a nice meal to put some meat on those bones and go on walks outside so Shen Yuan wouldn’t be quite so pale. Yes, he wanted to fuck Shen Yuan, but he also wanted to kiss him gently and wrap him in a blanket and snuggle up together to watch a movie.
These weren’t urges Luo Binghe had really had before. Sure, he’d cared for others before – when his mother was undergoing chemo, he’d happily helped take care of her, but he didn’t feel the urge to do so like he did now. That was a need; this was a want .
Well. Luo Binghe was nothing if not adaptable. He’d figure out how to make Shen Yuan see him as wife material, mold himself into the perfect man to fit at Shen Yuan’s side. How hard could it be?