Work Text:
“Achoo!”
That was the seventh tissue paper that Lu Guang tossed into the bin. Yes, Cheng Xiaoshi counted.
He frowned and placed both hands on his waist. “Wow. Not a good way to start the new year, Lu Guang.” His voice was muffled by a mask that Lu Guang forced him to wear.
“You don’t have to tell me,” Lu Guang said, voice thick and scratchy. He readjusted his position beneath the covers.
Cheng Xiaoshi climbed down the bunk bed with a sigh. “Well, at least we’re still closed. You just go to sleep. That photoshoot must have tired you out. I mean, you were wearing next to nothing.”
“Don’t phrase it like tha—achoo!”
“Am I wrong, though?”
Yesterday, Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang hiked a mountain for another photoshoot for the anime club. Lu Guang’s cosplay of choice was so beautiful that it was impossible for Cheng Xiaoshi not to sneakily ogle, but it was too breezy for the winter air.
Once they arrived back at Time Photo Studio, Lu Guang pretty much collapsed on the couch, and Cheng Xiaoshi had to force him to bed. Threatened to carry him if he refused to get up, even. Lu Guang immediately got up and walked to their bedroom after that
Cheng Xiaoshi secretly wished Lu Guang had resisted for a bit longer, just so he could actually carry him like a princess. But he wouldn’t admit that to a soul.
“It’s a good thing you always stock up on medicine,” said Cheng Xiaoshi, reentering the bedroom with a packet of over-the-counter cold medicine in one hand and a glass of water in the other. “Otherwise I’d have to run to the drugstore and—Lu Guang, are you even listening?”
As a reply, soft breathing traveled across the room.
Cheng Xiaoshi scratched his head as he stared at Lu Guang’s sleeping face. He looked tired, though not too uncomfortable. His lips were parted slightly, possibly because it was hard to breathe through a blocked nose, and his eyelashes fluttered gracefully. Cheng Xiaoshi didn’t have the heart to wake him up, but…
He put on his fiercest tiger mom stance—furrowed brows, shrill voice, arms akimbo. “Lu Guang! Wake up and take your medicine.” He almost ended his sentence with a “young man.” Suddenly, he felt like he had aged twenty extra years.
Lu Guang grunted softly, not stirring one bit. Cheng Xiaoshi placed the glass on the table and climbed up the bunk’s ladder. The railings were in his way, but he wasn’t deterred. “Lu Guang! Say something, I know you’re awake.”
Lu Guang huffed. His lips were slightly pursed, and the light flush on his skin drew attention to his puffy cheeks. Cheng Xiaoshi was ready to swoon and fall off the ladder.
Before he could do that, though, Lu Guang said, “I thought you’re a non-believer in medicine.”
“Hey, I’m not that extreme!”
But he wasn’t exactly wrong. Qiao Ling, and later Lu Guang, always insisted he stock up on over-the-counter medicine, but Cheng Xiaoshi always turned a deaf ear. Medicine was a pain in the ass. He fell and scraped his knee? Clean the wound and slap a band-aid on it. He got into a fight with the bullies around the neighborhood? Press some ice on the bruises. He caught a cold after walking around at night without a jacket? Bah, so weak. Just drink some warm water and sleep it off.
If he were the one who caught a cold, he’d do what Lu Guang was currently doing—sleep it off. And yet, Cheng Xiaoshi rummaged through the medicine kit for the first time in what felt like ages at the first sign of Lu Guang being under the weather. He was so reckless in taking care of himself, but he became extremely fussy and worried when it came to Lu Guang.
Maybe it was because Cheng Xiaoshi was paranoid. The last time Lu Guang was sick, he freaked him out by collapsing in the shady alleyways of Yingdu. Cheng Xiaoshi had to run to their hotel while carrying an unconscious Lu Guang, fought through a jumble of feelings while changing his clothes, and force-fed him medicine. Don’t ask how.
Then, he stayed by Lu Guang’s bedside all night and practically threatened to tie him there. Cheng Xiaoshi couldn’t wrap his head around what Lu Guang was thinking sometimes. For all of Lu Guang’s calm demeanor and logical calculations, he was so careless of his own well-being. And Cheng Xiaoshi was supposed to be the childish and immature one here.
Immense fondness laced with exasperation filled Cheng Xiaoshi’s chest at the memory and at the current sight of Lu Guang in front of him. Just what am I gonna do with you?
Fine. If Lu Guang didn’t care about his own health, then Cheng Xiaoshi was determined to do so for both of them. Lu Guang was the same to him, anyway.
This resolution was what compelled him to cajole Lu Guang again. “Come on, Guang Guang. Take some meds. Just one small pill. Don’t be a big baby.” Mockery wouldn’t work on Lu Guang the way it did on himself, but it was worth a try.
Lu Guang finally opened his eyes. “You’re so troublesome…”
Guilt rose in Cheng Xiaoshi’s chest. He knew he should just let Lu Guang sleep, but! “This is for your own good!” Goodness, he was starting to sound like his mom. Or Qiao Ling. Ha, he knew that witch was an old soul at heart. “Now take your medicine before I resort to force.”
Lu Guang grimaced at the way Cheng Xiaoshi was treating him like he was seven. “Force, is it?” His eyes were heavy with sleep, but he looked at Cheng Xiaoshi with a challenging stare.
Oh, this was an argument Cheng Xiaoshi was gonna win. “Try me.”
Lu Guang rolled his eyes. He could be so stubborn, but hey, Cheng Xiaoshi fell for the whole package. “How exactly are you planning to do that?”
Cheng Xiaoshi scoffed. “How did you think I made you drink medicine when you fainted in Yingdu, Lu Guang?”
Silence.
Lu Guang’s face was frozen and unreadable. Cheng Xiaoshi’s mind ran a mile a minute, cursing himself while coming up with a way to backtrack.
But the damage had been done. What did he do in his past life to deserve humiliating himself like this?! He wanted to throw himself off this bed’s ladder, except it would earn him nothing but more embarrassment because the fall wouldn’t even bruise. Billions of years of human evolution, only for Cheng Xiaoshi to end up being so stupid. Oh, his ancestors must all be laughing at him right now. Look at kids these days, ah. He’s already a cutsleeve living with another guy, but he still manages to mess it up. What has our family become…
Cheng Xiaoshi didn’t know whether to be relieved or horribly embarrassed when Lu Guang was the one who broke the silence. Though his words didn’t make him feel better.
“…I’ll take the medicine.”
“O-oh… you will?” Cheng Xiaoshi cleared his throat and ducked his head. “I mean, of course you will. See, Lu Guang, it’s not so hard.”
While avoiding Lu Guang’s eyes, Cheng Xiaoshi shoved the packet of medicine to his chest, then hopped off the ladder. He had no more face to climb the bunk bed, so he raised his hand high to pass the glass of water. The room was blanketed with thick silence and the soft sound of Lu Guang drinking.
When Cheng Xiaoshi looked up, an empty glass was extended to him over the top bunk. He accepted it with fumbling hands.
“I’ll refill this.” His words were so quiet and slurred that he didn’t know if Lu Guang heard. “Then, uh… I’ll start lunch.”
“…Mn.”
There was a rustle of sheets, and everything was silent again.
At times like these, Cheng Xiaoshi really wished he had Qiao Ling to listen to his woes.
The landlady was off with Xu Shanshan on winter vacation, leaving Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang to spend their first winter holidays together by themselves. Just earlier this week, Cheng Xiaoshi was determined to make Lu Guang fall for him, but look at how quickly he messed up.
If only Qiao Ling were here. She’d laugh at him, first and foremost, but then she’d give some sound advice and not let Cheng Xiaoshi spiral into paranoia about how Lu Guang would surely feel the ick, pack his bags, and walk out the door…
Some people baked when they were stressed, but Cheng Xiaoshi had no proper kitchen and equipment to afford that luxury. Instead, he was stirring instant hotpot broth in a pot. He watched tiny bubbles floating to the surface of the clear liquid before popping. He sipped the broth and numbly smacked his lips, as if trying to guess a lacking ingredient. He idly moved his ladle clockwise, then counterclockwise, then in messy diagonal motions that reflected his convoluted state of mind.
Around noon, Lu Guang came down to the sunroom by his own initiative. He was wearing a mask, but what was visible of his face showed a mild expression. At least this meant he wasn’t disgusted. Hopefully.
“Hotpot?”
Cheng Xiaoshi smiled awkwardly. “I know this is usually dinner food, but whatever. There’s a lot of ingredients, so we can still have them for dinner.”
He gestured to the coffee table, now laden with a colorful array of hotpot ingredients. Thin slices of meat, chewy fish balls, fried crispy tofu, plates of bok choy and napa cabbage, another plate of enoki and shiitake mushrooms, clear noodles, and a handful of finely cut green onions.
“Also, soup is good for a cold.” Cheng Xiaoshi scratched his head and looked away. That was the main reason why he cooked hotpot today, but Lu Guang didn’t need to know that.
Lu Guang quietly grabbed a pair of chopsticks and added pieces of meat to the sizzling broth. The mushrooms, tofu, and greens followed. A mouth-watering smell wafted through the sunroom, and Cheng Xiaoshi silently lamented how Lu Guang could barely smell this delicacy.
Cheng Xiaoshi stared at Lu Guang next to him. He was quiet as he blew on his broth and munched on round fish balls. His eyes remained affixed to the pot, where Cheng Xiaoshi kept adding and taking out ingredients.
Cheng Xiaoshi sipped his own broth. He could barely taste the soup on his tongue. Lu Guang looked calm, but there was clearly an air of awkwardness between them.
“Lu Guang, have more meat," Cheng Xiaoshi said, taking out a thin slice of beef and putting it in Lu Guang’s bowl.
“Mn.”
A few moments later, while chewing on rich enoki mushrooms, Cheng Xiaoshi’s hand moved again. “Do you want more mushrooms?”
“Sure.”
And later, “Lu Guang, this tofu’s really good, give it a try.”
“Get some of the cabbage, too.”
“Have you had the noodles yet?”
“Is the broth too salty? Wait, can you even taste it, or is your cold that bad…”
Lu Guang sighed, not unkindly. “You should eat too, Cheng Xiaoshi.”
Cheng Xiaoshi looked down at his own bowl. It was almost full.
“You’ve only had a few sips,” Lu Guang continued.
Cheng Xiaoshi turned to look at Lu Guang’s expression, calm and collected as always. He was only stating a fact, but… did Cheng Xiaoshi hear concern lacing his voice, or was he imagining things?
Slowly, Cheng Xiaoshi felt himself smiling. Warmth bloomed in his chest, and it was not from the hotpot. “You’re the one who’s sick, so you should eat more.” Even so, he obediently slurped his noodles. Through his full mouth, he said, “Also, you might just grow taller.”
“Hmph.”
Ignoring Cheng Xiaoshi's snickering, Lu Guang leaned forward. He scooped up more noodles and placed them in Cheng Xiaoshi’s bowl silently.
Cheng Xiaoshi was full-on grinning now. “How did you know?”
“What?”
“That the noodles in hotpot are my favorite. Aside from the meat, of course,” Cheng Xiaoshi paused to slurp the noodles Lu Guang just scooped up for him. His cheeks were warm, and he hoped he wasn’t also coming down with something. “This is our first time having hotpot. How did you know?”
Lu Guang was silent as he looked at Cheng Xiaoshi in thought. Cheng Xiaoshi dared himself to look into those grey eyes but couldn’t decipher a thing. At least Lu Guang didn’t point out how sentimental he was being. First time having hotpot, seriously, Cheng Xiaoshi?
“I just do.”
And then he scooped up more noodles for Cheng Xiaoshi.
Cheng Xiaoshi inhaled slowly. He’d throw his hands up to circle Lu Guang’s neck and pull him into a kiss, if only his hands weren’t occupied. And if only Lu Guang weren’t sick. And if only he actually liked him back…
But as Cheng Xiaoshi filled his stomach with tender meat and savory noodles that he could finally appreciate the taste of, his heart filled with hope.