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The birds sung happily in a beautiful and secluded patch of the Bamboo Forest—a dating spot where Shen Jiu had chased off horny teenagers with a glare and threats before Shen Yuan’s arrival—a pair of shixiong and shidi sat calmly, having a picnic.
His kindest but silliest Shixiong had a sparkle to his eyes as he talked his Shidi’s ears’ off about didactic books and mission reports. Shen Jiu couldn’t help but be entranced, hanging on Shen Yuan’s every word.
“—and then the eggs of the Red Spider Hounds hatched and tried to eat us, they were the cutest things, with those big red bulging eyes! Lots of them!” Shen Yuan commented animatedly, gesturing with his fan for effect, the one Shen Jiu had painted himself, themed after rare poisonous and carnivorous flowers Shen Yuan had gushed about in the past.
The fan had been a courting gift, gods there was a even a love poem on that fan! He spent weeks on those lines, and yet his Shixiong didn’t get the clue even as Shen Jiu had taken him to what was clearly a romantic dinner in a fancy restaurant.
“It sounds adorable, indeed.” Shen Jiu said in a flat tone, well aware Shen Yuan called all sorts of heinous creatures cute on a daily basis.
“We had to ran away before we got infected by their saliva, that by the way is very useful to cure most forms of paralysis. Unrefined, through, it’s just a strong aphrodisiac, but this Shixiong still managed to snatch the artifact from the nest, so mission cleared!”
Shen Jiu’s grip had tightened on his robes, knuckles white at the thought of a defenseless sex pollened Shen Yuan being “assisted” by any of the slobbering dogs that were his other shixiongs. When Shen Jiu became the Qing Jing Peak Lord, he will not ever allow Shen Yuan to participate in this sort of mission again. (unless it was with Shen Jiu, of course—yes, he’s hypocrite trash, what’s knew)
“Despite the laziness, Shen-shixiong is indeed very capable when it matters.” Shen Jiu conceded, fanning himself slowly. His fan featured a pair of white cats in a bamboo forest, a thank you gift from Shen Yuan that Shen Jiu scoffed about when his Shixiong said represented both of them, but that Shen Jiu never separated himself from. It was like Shen Yuan had accepted his Shidi’s courtship.
“Is that how you compliment your Shixiong, little brat?!” Shen Yuan huffed, hitting Shen Jiu on the head, which his shidi barely felt or reacted to, as usual.
The first time his Shixiong tried that playful move on him, Shen Jiu had entered in fighting mode, disarming Shen Yuan from his fan before pinning him to the ground—Shen Yuan had been stronger than him, but the surprise and lack of self preservation made him go to the grass, before he opened a grin and trickled Shen Jiu to tears, the bastard.
While any other martial sibling would be too afraid to be in his vicinity or abhorred his existence from afar, Shen Yuan, the darling of Qing Jing, willingly sought and showered him with affection and care, laughing and calling him a hissy kitten (novice Shen Jiu had bitten him for that one). It was intoxicating.
Currently, Shen Jiu just got annoyed when Shen Yuan used his fan on their unworthy, trash martial siblings. Shen Yuan should flirt only with him—not that the man realized that was how the lovesick fools interpreted his gestures.
“What little? Did you miss I got taller than Shen Yuan now?” Shen Jiu teased, looming over Shen Yuan’s form and crinkling his eyes in quiet delight when he saw how his Shixiong blushed at how close their faces got, his own heart beating wildly inside his chest.
“Quiet! A little brat is a little brat no matter the size.” Shen Yuan wisely said, looking away. “Right, it’s supposed to be a picnic, so let’s eat! What did you bring from the Northwest again?”
Shen Jiu huffed and returned to his previous place, taking out an assortment of snacks. His Shixiong was poorly trying to divert his attention, but that only meant he was affected by Shen Jiu. He could work with that. “Among others, tanghulu with local fruit.”
Shen Yuan looked relieved by the change of subject Shen Jiu conceded. He looked curiously at the snack on Shen Jiu’s hand. “Oh, it’s heart-shaped, cute. What’s the name?”
“It was called a Tender Love Fruit.”
“Haha, it must be very soft and sweet then.” Shen Yuan snatched it from Shen Jiu and busied himself with it, getting his fingers all sticky and a bit on the corner of his mouth. Shen Jiu stared at it, wishing he could just lick it clean, and his heart skipped a beat when Shen Yuan stuck his tongue to get the rest of the candy. “Don’t just keep watching, eat some too! And tell me more about your mission.
“This shidi’s mission wasn’t so exciting, more of a diplomatic mission where we exchanged music cultivation techniques with Tian Yi Sect.”
“Don’t say that, it’s awesome Shizun trusts you to lead a mission like that, it’s a sign he’s really considering to make you Head Disciple.” Shen Yuan said with a smile. He didn’t look completely happy, but Shen Jiu could see it came from a place of worry.
Everyone else in the peak was gnashing their teeth in envy and claiming nepotism seeing the “sour spoiled young master” catching their masters’ attention. Shen Jiu wanted to laugh histerically at how wrong they were.
“Don’t doubt me, I can do it.” Frankly, he wasn’t a teenager getting bullied by his shixiongs anymore! He also never took it down in the first place, making their life hell as much as he could with his meager cultivation but dirty tricks.
“Shixiong knows you can, Shen-shidi is very smart and dedicated, it’s just—” Shen Yuan cut himself, complex emotions passing on his face before he settled on his Dependable Shixiong Face. “That’s right, my Shidi will be a great and righteous Peak Lord, and this Shixiong will be by his side to help taking care of the little ones.”
“That’s appreciated.” He never had patience for dealing with spoiled children after all, so he would rather leave it all to Shen Yuan before Shen Jiu did something that would make his Shixiong hate him. “Shixiong will not leave my side.” He said it like a threat rather than realization.
“That’s right! Shidi will have to bear with me.”
I will not allow you to abandon me. In life or otherwise.
Before Shen Jiu could let his inner ugliness show, he sighed. “Shen-shixiong could have easily attained the Head Disciple rank if he so wished.” It had been a sore spot for Shen Jiu at the beginning and try he took every opportunity t o learn under the older disciple even when he thought him annoying and spoiled beyond repair.
Shen Yuan just waved away the idea with his fan. “Too much paperwork. This Shixiong will leave the honors for my genius shidi, Shen Jiu.”
His name sounded nice coming from that mouth, less like a wretched number and more like a precious stone.
Shen Jiu must have being staring, for Shen Yuan turned anxious again and stuffed a sickeningly sweet cake into Shen Jiu’s mouth. “You have to taste this, Shen-shidi!”
He had missed this. They had been assigned to night hunts in opposite directions, so each brought local treats to share. Some time ago after the semester’s tests ended, they planned to commemorate they passing for the next stage. Shen Yuan suggested a restaurant down the mountain, but Shen Jiu wanted something more private this time, so they settled for a nice picnic. In the end, Shen Jiu’s plans were delayed for 2 weeks because of the surprise missions, but that also meant he had more time to prepare.
In turn, Shen Jiu reached out to slowly feed Shen Yuan a small fruit covered in syrup, letting his finger linger on his shixiong’s plush lips a little more than necessary.
Long before Shen Jiu joined Qing Jing, someone had set a powerful silencing array in that spot, so after a short distance one couldn’t hear any screams (or eventual moans), no matter how loud. The picnic spot had been carefully thought, but suddenly Shen Jiu got anxious about all this ordeal.
Shen Jiu cleared his throat, hoping his racing heart didn’t reflect in anything on his face. “I want to you to listen to my new song. It’s for you. I finally completed it.”
“Oh, the one you’ve spent months on? Yes, please!” Shen Yuan said excitedly, leaning even closer.
Taking out his wooden guqin from a qiakun pouch, Shen Jiu poured took a deep breath and pulled on the strings poured all feelings bubbling inside that song, a melody that started intense and angry, and yet softening at the edges as the time went, gaining a dreamy quality to it.
With stars in his eyes, Shen Yuan hugged his shidi tight, “It was incredible, Shen-shidi! You’ll certainly win the contest with that song! Uwahh I’m so happy to be able to hear it first!!
“—only one.”
Shen Yuan blinked. “Sorry, what was it?”
Red in the face and neck, Shen Jiu pushed out the words, grabbing Shen Yuan’s hand and dropping honorifics. He wanted to be closer and closer. “Shen Yuan is the only one I want to hear it. This song was made for you, with all my feelings given form.”
Shen Yuan laughed a little, suddenly red in the face as he tried to take it all in stride. He didn’t let go of Shen Jiu’s hand, just used the other hand to cover his face with the fan. “That’s a shame, though! Shixiong is sure Shen-shidi would win if we entered with that piece. Such an adventurous tune, by the second part this Shixiong could swear he was hearing a love ballad haha, how silly.”
It had been Shen Yuan who helped Shen Jiu get the jest of love songs for classes. Was his Shixiong really that oblivious, or just trying to convince himself? Was Shen Jiu being too subtle for that thick head?!
“The title is Road to Eternal Love.” Oh gods, he could still hear the gears on Shen Yuan’s mind trying to somehow turn everything into love between friends.
“So… Shen-shidi really consider us brothers? This Shixiong is hono—”
Shen Jiu couldn’t take this anymore, taking the fan away as he dragged Shen Yuan forward by his jade pendant—Shen Jiu had gifted him in another failed courtship attempt—and proceeded to shut him up with a kiss that was more like a crash of mouths, clumsy but fiery.
“You really are impossible, making me retort to such brutish methods to get my point across… Surely, that can’t be misinterpreted by your crafty mind, right? It’s also not a joke, and I’m not under any mind altered state either.”
Eyes wide and flushing to his ears, Shen Yuan cursed in that strange language he would let slip only when horribly shocked or when he thought Shen Jiu couldn’t hear his mumblings.
Finally.
“Wha—How?! It’s not supposed to happen at all…!” Shen Yuan cut himself as his eyes got unfocused, face slack, as is he was in a trance rather than deep thought, like he got a few times in the during missions or when he thought no one was looking—Shen Jiu was always looking—but it suddenly made a chill run up his spine, the thought of his most precious person getting far away from his reach.
“A-Yuan!” The sudden nickname took Shen Yuan from his trance.
“What ‘A-Yuan’? If anything you should call me Yuan-ge, A-Jiu.” Shen Jiu sighed internally and Shen Yuan teased, and frankly, was Shen Jiu not supposed to find that endearing?
“A-Yuan-ge” Shen Yuan made a funny face that Shen Jiu felt the visceral need to kiss, but stopped himself for now. “is very knowledgeable but maybe he doesn’t know this: If one eats a Tender Love Apple, like the one you were happily tasting before, the person will be soul bound to the first person they kiss twice. That’s how serious your A-Jiu is.”
There was an inscrutable expression on his Shixiong before he turned away his face, and an irrational part of his brain sett off alarms that he fucked up after all. He reluctantly backed away.
“The effect will fade if you don’t do it after a shichen, though, so Shixiong doesn’t need to worry about this beastly Shidi.” Shen Jiu raised a fan over his nose like a shield. Fuck, had he chosen a wrong time? Would Shen Yuan be wary of him because of this? Grow to hate him?!
“What beastly? Shen—I mean A-Jiu is the picture of grace! No, no! I knew it. But I thought you didn’t so I wanted to save you face. I actually—Ugh!”
Shen Jiu took a moment to notice Shen Yuan had suddenly came forward with his eyes closed, but his pursed lips only met the fan Shen Jiu had raised between them.
Shen Jiu let out a loud snort.
“Don’t—!”
It was so random, so silly, that Shen Jiu couldn’t hold back a fit of laughter, in such a free and unnatural way for him that made his facial muscles start to ache. He dropped his fan at some point, and there was small tears at the corner of his eyes.
Shen Yuan was stunned. “Damn, you’re so beautiful.”
Warmth bloomed in Shen Jiu’s heart. He knew it already, but hearing it from his loved one was another matter altogether. “This A-Jiu is also smart, loyal and have great prospects, will Yuan-ge take him?”
Shen Yuan huffed good-naturedly. “Who would be the fool to pass up the chance of being the partner of a peak lord?”
“Indeed, my Yuan-ge is also very smart.”
This time the kiss didn’t have a barrier between them and was much more gentle, soft but with no less emotion for it.
Shen Yuan tasted sickly sweet, and Shen Jiu could never get enough of him.