Chapter Text
Having everyone fear you has its perks. Ren found out about this in elementary.
If you just scare them a little, they’d surrender and give you anything you want. If they resist, all Ren had to do was throw a few punches, a kick here and there, and they’d stay as quiet as a mouse. If a teacher sees them, they would barely bat an eye because it’s just a “harmless skirmish between children.”
He just needs to avoid leaving bruises as that got him into unnecessary trouble last time.
Obviously, to no one’s surprise, Ren had been crowned the king of the playground by the end of the month. He would call this his great ’conquest,’ and Yingxing had to profusely apologize to multiple parents for his younger brother’s actions.
In third grade, the rules got a little stricter. If he had gotten into a fight, or any sort of trouble, he will be put into timeout and isn’t allowed to go outside during break time. The teacher was especially stricter on him given his records of getting a little too violent, but it wasn’t Ren’s fault the other kids didn’t want to share the toys they had brought. And he didn’t cause someone’s nose to bleed either.
Except for that one time.
It ultimately led to Yingxing taking away TV time for Ren as a form of punishment. It had made him miss an episode of Quintet☆Rangers, which he wasn’t too keen on having it happen again. Although instead of teaching the boy that violence is never the answer, it ended up making Ren be a bit more discreet with where he punches, and taught him how to control his strength so it’d hurt but not leave an ugly bruise.
When he entered middle school, his awful reputation followed him. Despite some people clearly disliking him and fearing him—he did meet his best friends there. Kafka was an odd woman, to say the least. She looked like any other girl Ren had come across, just someone going through puberty and being a little too sensitive, but her way with words often makes Ren feel like she knows everything about him. Not to mention how she stares at him as if she knows what he’s thinking, even right now.
She’s one of those popular girls, yet she always goes out of her way to find Ren, even if it’s in a secluded spot behind a school’s building. What started as her following him now turned into a routine, and not long after, they even exchanged numbers. And that’s the story of how Ren made his first ever friend whom he invited over.
It was enough to make Yingxing cry tears of happiness; Ren had called his older brother cringe and practically shut the door on his face when the older man tried to pry more out of him.
Second year arrives and it’s the same routine, same reputation, with the added addition of a new friend to their group—Silver Wolf. Yes, that’s her name, and no Ren doesn’t know her real name either. He was under the assumption that she’s suffering from the ‘middle school second-year syndrome’ but even until high school started, she still goes by Silver Wolf.
Ren decided not to question it.
And so with a group of three, a few friends he made through an extracurricular, and a reputation that somehow turned good because bad boys are the rage nowadays—Ren became the embodiment of a high school delinquent in movies.
And to be completely frank, it’s nice. As long as Yingxing doesn’t find out.
So with his now gaining popularity, good looks, and his quite gangster-like attitude at school; no one dares to mess with him. And it gives Ren a peaceful yet still fun school life, with no one brave enough to tell him off or challenge him.
Except for two people. The first one is obviously his older brother, and as for the second—
“Ren,” the male calls. Pretty pink lips curled downwards with his brows slightly furrowed—the perfect picture of a ‘pout.’ If they ever give Ren another assignment where he has to read a book, he can at least imagine how a pout would look like now. Only if he visualized the main character as the beauty that is currently talking to him.
Oh my god.
He’s talking to him. To Ren.
He doesn’t know what good deeds he had done to even deserve this but he will be thanking all the Aeons that had given him this chance. Ren is indeed a lucky man.
“Are you done having your inner monologue?”
Red eyes blinked, finally snapped out of his thoughts as Ren tilted his head to the side coyly. “Whatever do you mean?” He asks, a lilt to his voice, his mind filled with nothing but clouds and sunflowers. And lotuses. But that might be because he can smell the scent of lotus from the male in front of him.
The male—green eyed, fair skin, with the looks of an angel—merely mused. “You do this thing where you stare at me with a lovesick look in your eyes and say nothing,” he states plainly. “It’s creepy.”
That managed to pull Ren out of his reverie completely. “What?”
“You’re staring at me like a creep, Ren. A pervert.”
“I’m not a pervert,” Ren argues, feeling particularly offended. Yet before he could continue to say more the male sitting beside him had broken into a fit of laughter—mainly a chuckle, but that’s still a win in Ren’s book—and looked at the man with the sweetest and most adorable face Ren had ever seen.
“I hope not,” he replied, “I wouldn’t want to date a pervert.”
The angel currently sitting right by his side is none other than his childhood best friend, crush, sweetheart and now a boyfriend of one year—Dan Heng. They met when Yingxing had to take Ren with him to his office since there was no one to babysit him, and whilst there, he met a little boy who had such a blank look on his face Ren couldn’t help but get curious.
He ended up enjoying it whenever Yingxing had to take Ren with him, always eager to meet Dan Heng and spending time with him whenever his older brother had to be stuck in a meeting for hours. Shortly after, he found out that both of their brothers were friends, which led to scheduled play dates with a babysitter hired by Dan Heng’s older brother. It would be the most fun Ren has ever had and part of his core memory.
Despite their blossoming friendship they never attended school together due to Dan Heng’s background, which means being enrolled into prestigious private schools that Ren could never imagine himself attending. But that’s fine, all he needed was to spend time with Dan Heng anyway.
Even if he had to take a three hour train ride due to Dan Heng moving to Yaoqing for the middle school he was registered in. It’s always worth it every time. Especially when he could see the cute face of Dan Heng frowning at him—wait he’s frowning?
“A-Ren,” Dan Heng calls whilst tugging at his sleeves to pull Ren out of his inner monologue once more. It’s such an adorable little gesture that almost made Ren want to go back to his daydreaming, but unfortunately he doesn’t want to disappoint his lover any further so he zeroes in his focus on the male before him.
The frown is still there. So cute. “Ren.”
The aforementioned man only smiled, “yes, honey?”
“If you keep staring at me like that I’m breaking up with you.”
Ren froze. Processed the words. Smiled. And then watch as his world crumbles right in front of him. “Babe,” he practically whined to Dan Heng as he snuggled closer to the male. All hail this park bench they’re sitting on, it makes the perfect spot to be lovey-dovey with his crush now boyfriend of one year. “how do you expect me not to stare at you? You’re just so breathtaking.”
A flick to his forehead. “Flattery will get you nowhere, now move back a few inches.”
It was Ren’s turn to frown as he did what his lover had commanded, looking like a puppy being denied treats by his owner. What Dan Heng says is absolute, and Ren swears to follow it to a T. Even if it means he can’t get closer to bask himself in the scent of water lily. “You’re so cruel,” Ren says dramatically, clutching at his chest as if Dan Heng had broken his heart to a million pieces and nothing could ever piece it back together.
Unless Dan Heng allows him to get closer.
The male merely rolled his eyes at his boyfriend’s antics, as if he was annoyed, but the faintest curl at the corner of his lips betrayed him. And Ren noticed instantly. Of course he did, there’s no way he wouldn’t. If he hadn’t then may Lan strike him down for being oblivious because that microscopic smile might as well have been a neon sign that flashes you still have a chance, Ren which means Dan Heng isn’t tired of him yet.
He would never be, obviously, Ren will find a way to entertain him any way he could. Let him be that one gif Silver Wolf wouldn’t stop sending of a jester clad in black and red entertaining a princess. That’s Ren right there, and he’s right where he wants to be. No questions asked.
He scooted back—only a couple inches, mind you—leaning just enough that their shoulders brushed. “You know,” he starts, voice a murmur, “most people would kill to be stared at with this much devotion.”
“Most people,” Dan Heng replies dryly, “doesn’t include me. And I’d rather have my boyfriend listen to me than continue to stare at me like a creep.”
Ren laughed, low and warm as he easily placed his arm around Dan Heng’s shoulders. Instinctively pulling him closer and planting a kiss on the male’s lips before Dan Heng could voice out his protest. It was short and sweet, nothing too indecent or risqué, because as unfortunate as it sounds—Dan Heng dislikes pda. So Ren tries to keep it simple and casual most of the time when they're outside.
They parted with the tips of their ears tinted in pink, and a cherry red blush blossoming across Dan Heng’s face. “You’re impossible,” Dan Heng said with the cutest furrow of his eyebrows Ren has ever seen. It makes his heart melt and now no one can literally put it back together unless they get ahold of a Dan Heng shaped mold and manage to freeze his melted heart back. Only then would he accept his new heart in his body.
And also if the one putting it back is none other than Dan Heng. He can’t have anyone random touching his figurative heart that has melted.
Ren leaned closer as the tips of their noses brush, utterly in love and smitten with the male before him. “I’d pluck out the stars for you,” he says, and he means it.
“And I’ll step on your foot right now if you don’t move back in three seconds.”
Ren blinks once. Then twice. Processed the words. And before he could move a stinging pain shot up his foot. “Ow—! Dan Heng,” Ren yelped, scooting away instantly as he clutched his now stepped-on and hurting foot. “You said three seconds,” he says with a devastated look as if he couldn't believe his lover just did that.
“I said if,” Dan Heng replied ever so calmly, already retracting his foot as if he hadn’t just committed a targeted act of violence. “You were still leaning.”
Ren stared at him. Betrayed. Heartbroken. And stupidly in love, too. Silver Wolf would call him insane. “That wasn’t even three seconds,” he exclaimed dramatically.
“It was, I counted.” Dan Heng said, arms crossed over his chest. “Internally, that is.”
“That doesn’t count,” Ren shoots back.
Dan Heng shrugs. “It does, to me.”
The man slumps back on the bench as he groans. “I bare you my soul and offer you the stars, and you repay me with assault. How cruel, Dan Heng.”
And how cruel indeed, because this interaction made Ren realize he’s a genuinely, crazy man for Dan Heng. If the male had punched him, Ren was sure he wouldn’t even bat an eye nor avoid it. The Ren who had gotten into multiple fights and wouldn’t take disrespect from anyone—would take a beating from someone if it’s none other than his boyfriend.
Ren watches as his lover scooted closer this time, composed as ever, though his blush betrays the expression on his face. He leaned his head on Ren’s shoulder as he spoke. “You offered theft,” he corrected Ren's statement, “astronomical theft.”
Ren merely snorts. “That doesn’t even make sense.”
“And me moving back this year wouldn’t really make sense either, huh?”
That caught Ren’s attention faster than the warning he got before being physically assaulted by his boyfriend. His head snapped to the side almost instantly to catch a glimpse of Dan Heng’s face. “Are you serious?” He asked, voice above a whisper.
Dan Heng looked up, jade eyes meeting crimson before he added thoughtfully. “Gege agreed to enroll me back in Luofu if I managed to be first in the class ranking.”
“And?” Ren urges him to continue, eyes twinkling with excitement.
“Well.. Let’s say I went a little overboard and got first in the overall school ranking.”
It didn’t even take a second for Dan Heng’s view to be changed instantly—turning into a blurring streaks of gold and green as he finally registers that he’s currently being spun by none other than Ren, who seems to be the happiest man alive right at this moment. “Ren—!” Dan Heng tried to scold, but there was no bite into it, which only made Ren even more cheeky as he spun the man even faster before finally slowing down into a stop.
“Does that mean I don’t have to take a three hour train ride to see you anymore?” He asks, and Aeons, if Ren were to have a tail, it’d be wagging extremely fast right now like a dog excited at going out for a walk.
Dan Heng merely sighs at his boyfriend’s actions, although the smile on his face betrayed his supposed annoyance. “Yeah, now you can see me any time you want. Without the three hour train ride.”
He pulled the shorter man into a hug as he buried his face in Dan Heng’s hair. Which also smells as amazing as the entirety of him. Ren can’t believe this. After an agonizing almost four years of long distance, he can finally have Dan Heng all to himself.
“Which school is it?” He asks, his nonexistent tail still wagging. “Could it be Pearlkeeper Academy? They’re one of the prestigious schools near the area. Or is it Starskiff High? The location is pretty close to my school so we can walk home together and—”
“Cloudford,” Dan Heng states.
Ren pauses. “What?”
“I’m enrolling in Cloudford,” Dan Heng says as he lifts a hand to straighten Ren’s creased collar. “I wouldn’t be able to get into the same class as you, but you can at least see me anytime at school now.” And Dan Heng flashes him a smile, such a sweet, genuine smile, that Ren feels like he would betray the shorter man’s conscience if he ever finds out what kind of reputation Ren is housing at his own high school.
Shit. Ren curses. Dan Heng can’t ever find out. Ever.
At six in the morning on a Friday, Silver Wolf wakes up to the sound of her doorbell ringing. More than once, at the speed of one ring per second, accompanied by a loud banging at her door.
The door slams open in annoyance. “What is i—”
A pregnant pause. Silver Wolf scans the person in front of her from head to toe. Ren, whose hair is usually a wild mess of strands, is combed to the back neatly. His shirt, which was usually unbuttoned at the top and creased, is now smoothened and well, buttoned. Silver Wolf’s eyes zeroes in on the tie around his neck that’s most of the time absent until a teacher forces Ren to wear it.
In conclusion, something is wrong with Ren.
Silver Wolf puts on the face of a concerned friend as she pats his shoulder. “Hey, talk to me man, is everything okay at home? You’re not planning to take a swan dive off the rooftop are you?”
Ren isn’t sure if he should feel offended or concerned that his own best friend had assumed the worst of him. “Yes, everything is okay and I need your help.”
That caught the girl off-guard. “...okay, What is it?”
“Help me fix my reputation.”
“Yeah,” Silver Wolf takes a deep breath, “no.” And the door was shut right in front of Ren's face.
A series of even more doorbells and knocking followed suit that ultimately led to Silver Wolf having to let Ren in unless she wanted to get another noise complaint from her neighbors. At least the man was kind enough to let her prepare for school first.
So now, as she munches on her breakfast consisting of a sandwich and tea, she listens in on her friend’s dilemma. “I need you to delete everything bad about me that’s shared in the school community.”
“Define ‘bad.’”
“Anything that paints me as an asshole.”
Silver Wolf’s face visibly scrunched up. “That’s like,” she munches, “almost five years worth of whatever it is people have of you, you know.” She took another bite, “sorry, not possible. I have a raid tonight.”
“I’ll buy you that stupid battle pass you wanted if you do this.” Ren pleads.
“What even is the reason for this?” Silver Wolf rightfully questions, and she watches as Ren’s face morphed to that of a troubled look. Just what is it that made Ren this unsettled? She swallowed down the last bite of her sandwich before downing a cup of jasmine tea.
“My boyfriend is coming back to Luofu.”
“Wow, congrats.”
“He’s enrolling into Cloudford.”
“Uhuh.”
Ren now stared at her as if she had grown two heads. “Are you not seeing the problem?”
“No, not really. And are you eating that?” Silver Wolf points to the sandwich she had made for Ren. “If not, I’m taking it.”
“Silver Wolf,” Ren scowls, resting his forehead on the palm of his hand as he groans. “He comes from a distinguished family, is wealthy, and his older brother is the boss of my older brother.”
“That last part was not needed.”
Ren’s eye twitched. “Look, the point is, he had only ever attended those prestigious private schools and now he’s going to enroll in Cloudford. A public school. Full of wild animals with zero self-decency,” Ren finishes. “And I’m the center of those people.”
Silver Wolf snorted. “Wow. Self awareness. Happy for your development.”
“I’m serious,” Ren insists with a hiss. “I can’t let him know that I’m like—” he gestures vaguely, Silver Wolf looks at him like he’s a dementia patient, “that. A guy who skips class, gets into fights, and whatever else I did that I don’t remember. If he hears even half of it he’ll—”
“—think you’re hot?” she supplies.
“This is not helping.” Ren deadpans.
Silver Wolf leans back on her sofa as she contemplates, arms crossed and her gaze no longer drowsy. “Okay, real talk. Dan Heng likes you. Not because of your shitty reputation, or your looks—wait, maybe it is your looks.”
“Silver Wolf.”
“Okay, okay. I’m joking. What I mean is he likes you for who you are and not for the delinquent version of you at school.”
“That’s exactly the problem,” Ren groans. “He likes the version of me that behaves, holds the door open for him, and helps an elderly cross the road. Not the guy who—”
“—punched a senior for calling Cloud Knights ‘rent-a-cops’?” she finishes for him.
Ren merely averted his eyes on the statement. “In my defense, he deserved it,” the man helpfully adds. “And also if it wasn’t me then Yanqing would’ve landed a hit on the guy.”
“Yeah, you’re right,” Silver Wolf agrees. “But that’s my point. You’re not secretly evil. You’re just…loud. And dumb. Like most men. And also chronically allergic to authority.”
Ren lets out another groan as he stares at the table, looking defeated. Dan Heng would say he looks like a kicked puppy, and he practically was. Silver Wolf merely gazes at her long-time friend who frankly looks quite pathetic, and lets out an exhausting sigh as she rubs her temple. “You’re impossible, you know that?”
“He says that too,” Ren said, sadly.
Silver Wolf’s eye twitched. “Of course he does,” the girl says, shaking her head in frustration as she clicks her tongue. “Fine. I won’t erase five years of whatever shit you got yourself into that was posted online—that’s insane—but I can bury it.”
Ren’s eyes lit up almost instantly. “You can?”
“I’ll flood the forums. Old posts get pushed down, tags get rerouted, keywords cleaned up. People forget fast when something more interesting appears.” She explains as she grabbed her phone, checking Cloudford community tab as she did. “Just don’t get angry at me for whatever it is I’ll be doing”
The last sentence had gone in and out of Ren’s ears as he grabbed the girl’s free hand so suddenly like she was the savior of his life. “Silver Wolf, you’re a saint.”
“I’m practically a criminal,” she corrects. “And this costs you one battle pass and five hundred gems.”
“Consider it done.”
Silver Wolf pulls her hand away almost instantly as she continues to scroll. “When is he enrolling again?”
“Next week, he said there’s still some paperwork that needs to be done.” Ren informs and Silver Wolf merely hums, acknowledging the information.
“Okay,” she starts, “I can do that.”
And all of Ren’s troubles melted away right at that moment. Who knew befriending the girl who looked like she’s not out of her eight grade syndrome would become so helpful? Not to mention her talent in hacking, it helped Ren dig out information of the guys who pissed him off at school.
With his worry out of the way he can now attend school with Dan Heng without being nervous his dark past might crawl back and kick him in the arse.
“But,” Silver Wolf suddenly adds, “You’re also doing your part.”
Ren stiffens. “Define ‘my part.’”
She shuts off her phone before stuffing it in her pocket, popping a gum into her mouth as she speaks. “No more getting into fights, skipping class, or terrifying the first-years for fun.” She pauses, “and if you have to do it, do it discreetly.”
“How the fuck am I supposed to do that?”
The girl shrugged, uncaring of whatever it is her best friend gets up to. “Dunno. Just find a place with no people?”
“Everyone at school practically broadcasts wherever I go.”
“Your problem, not mine.” She said as she blew a bubble, before the pink gum pops on her mouth. “Remember, clean slate. You want to be boyfriend material? Then act like it.”
Ren’s face hardened at the statement, contemplating the things he’d have to stop doing if he goes through with this. It’s not that hard to stop skipping classes, but what is he supposed to do if a random senior asks him for a fight because he somehow, someway, ‘stole’ his girlfriend? And what does he do if the man swings his fist first? Just stand there and take it? Ren would rather sit through detention than let himself be punched.
After a few seconds of dwelling, the man exhales slowly. “...Okay, fine. I’ll do it.”
Silver Wolf practically snorts. “Wow. Love really did a number on you.”
It did a number on him in ways Ren still hasn’t fully wrapped his head around, but since it’s Dan Heng, Ren knows it’d be worth it. It was then that he sees Silver Wolf standing, slinging her bag over her shoulder as she heads over to the door. “Alright, Lover Boy. I’ll clean up what I can online. You,” she points her finger at him, “behave offline. If you mess up—”
“I won’t,” Ren cuts her off. Back straightening, shoulders squared and looking as if he is extremely sure he wouldn’t mess up.
Silver Wolf merely raises a brow. “If you mess up,” she continues pointedly, “you’re buying me another pack of five hundred gems.”
Ren stared at her incredulously. “How does that even make any sense?”
“Penalty fee for putting me through all of this just for you to fuck up,” she replies flatly.
The man groans, finally standing up as he makes his way over to the door as well before Silver Wolf stops him in his tracks.
“Oh, yeah,” she starts, turning on her heels as if she had just forgotten something. “You’re not eating that, are you?” Ren follows where her finger points at—which is the sandwich left untouched at the coffee table. Ren merely rolled his eyes as he let his best friend take the food, having bigger things to worry about than two pieces of bread spread with peanut butter and jam.
Like how to get Caelus to shut up about his upcoming fight next Thursday.