Work Text:
Cheng Xiaoshi leaned back calm, collected, and completely–
He slammed a pillow over his face and screamed loud enough to expel his soul into it.
Seven hours had passed since he started this commission! And yet Cheng Xiaoshi was still closer to throwing himself out the window than finishing all the retouches. In hindsight (maybe all-sight), he probably shouldn't have agreed to edit sixty photos in one night.
Unfortunately, the revelation didn't change anything. Now, Cheng Xiaoshi was stuck with fifteen more photos to edit and a hundred more head-slams to endure.
“Why did I do this?” Cheng Xiaoshi whispered into the pillow, letting his cushioned head fall onto the desk.
“Good question.”
“Go away, Lu Guang,” Cheng Xiaoshi muttered, refusing to lift his head from the pillow of doom.
A soft thump sounded beside Cheng Xiaoshi's ear. Curious, he turned just slightly to see what it was.
Boba.
Cheng Xiaoshi gasped. The cup was a beauty in the faint sunlight. He snatched it with the desperation of a dying man, took a massive sip, and nearly cried in joy as the sugary liquid flooded his tongue.
“Lu Guang–” Cheng Xiaoshi managed around the straw, “–you're the best!”
“You hadn't drunk anything for hours,” Lu Guang explained.
Cheng Xiaoshi paused his relentless slurping and looked up. “You've been keeping track?”
Lu Guang walked over to the bottom bunk and sat down, his expression completely blank. “No.”
What a profound way of saying yes.
Cheng Xiaoshi smiled. “You went all that way just for me-”
“After you finish that, go downstairs and get some water,” Lu Guang ordered, opening a small novel in his lap.
“You even have my entire order memorized!” Cheng Xiaoshi continued, ignoring the deflection. “Did you get one for yourself?”
“No.”
“What? Why not?”
“The less money we spend the better,” Lu Guang said.
Uh huh, Cheng Xiaoshi thought, says the guy who went out of their way to buy boba as an excuse to start a conversation.
Cheng Xiaoshi rolled his eyes, got up and walked over to the lower bunk. He took one more sip, then held the drink out. “You can have the rest.”
Lu Guang glanced at the boba, then back up at Cheng Xiaoshi. “You expect me to drink this mess of an order?”
“Yeah right.” Cheng Xiaoshi snorted. He grabbed one of Lu Guang’s hands and forced the drink into his grip. “You can fool everyone else, but I know you’ve got the sweetest tooth of us all.”
Lu Guang’s lips twitched slightly. “Says who?”
“Oh come on Lu Guang,” Cheng Xiaoshi said. “Every summer, whenever I come back from a dive, I see a popsicle wrapper in the trash. And every time we go out, you always avoid the spiced dishes and go straight for the sweet ones.” He shrugged. “I originally thought you’d be the type to go for sugarless, bitter coffee or something. Now I see you’re way more of a sugaraholic than me.’
Lu Guang raised an eyebrow. “Who knew you could be so observant?” he said, looking mildly amused as he finally took a sip.
With a heavy sigh, Cheng Xiaoshi plopped down beside Lu Guang (because he’d rip out his eyeballs if he had to look at one more un-edited photo again). The mattress dipped softly.
A few moments passed in comfortable silence. Cheng Xiaoshi watched Lu Guang read attentively, occasionally taking a sip from the dark green straw. It was the exact same straw that Cheng Xiaoshi had been using, but it’s not like they’d ever cared for that sort of thing. But that was normal, right?
…Hm.
Well, what about Qiao Ling and Xu Shanshan? Cheng Xiaoshi thought back to their previous hangouts, those which included food and drinks. He went through his memories skeptically.
Qiao Ling and Xu Shanshan didn’t usually share a single straw. They’d get two. Sometimes that wasn’t possible, and then they’d resort to sharing, which was fine.
But whenever Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang were out, did they ever get two separate straws?
No. Not once, really. Why get two when one works just fine? After all, it was just Lu Guang, so…
…but don’t couples usually do this sort of thing? Because sharing the same straw is like… like indirect kissing. So this entire time had they been kind of- uh, not really… what-?
“Cheng Xiaoshi?”
Cheng Xiaoshi snapped back into reality to find Lu Guang staring at him, seemingly confused.
“W-what?” Cheng Xiaoshi asked. Gosh, he sounded like a squeaky harmonica.
Lu Guang kept staring, his eyebrows furrowed. Then, his shoulders relaxed and he shrugged. “You think too loud,” Lu Guang muttered, turning his attention back to his novel.
Cheng Xiaoshi wanted to laugh at that. If Lu Guang knew that he was thinking about straws for a whole five minutes…
“Would you ever share a straw with anyone else?”
Lu Guang paused. His confused expression returned, and the pages of his book fluttered close. “What are you talking about?”
“A straw,” Cheng Xiaoshi said dumbly, his mouth suddenly dry. “Would you ever share… one?”
“...Why are you asking?” Lu Guang questioned.
Right. Yeah. Why was he asking?
“I don’t know,” Cheng Xiaoshi admitted quickly. “I just- well- if you… because if you would then, wouldn’t it be like… uh.” He shook his head and turned away. “You know what, just forget I asked. Please.”
Cheng Xiaoshi’s ears were burning. What kind of sentence was that?! He’d hardly gotten out five proper words! Lu Guang was going to think there was something wrong with him for sure.
A few beats of silence passed. The bed made a small creaking noise, as if Lu Guang had shifted, and then stopped.
“I wouldn’t.”
Oh?
“You wouldn’t share a straw?” Cheng Xiaoshi confirmed. He felt childish for asking, maybe even a bit possessive. Why should it matter if Lu Guang decided to share a drink with someone else or not?
“I would never share a straw,” Lu Guang said. “Why would I touch something that someone else’s mouth was on?”
Lu Guang sounded so disgusted it was funny. But it also brought up a wave of uncertainty in Cheng Xiaoshi.
“Then… what about me?” he asked.
Lu Guang narrowed his eyes. “What about you?”
Immediately, Cheng Xiaoshi's face heated. It was like the sun itself had blasted full-force on his back, and his neck suddenly felt sweaty.
“Well,” he said, “you share with me.”
Lu Guang’s eyes widened a bit. He looked down at the boba in his hand as if just realizing the fact.
“Yes,” Lu Guang said. “I guess I do.”
“You’re using the same straw I was using,” Cheng Xiaoshi continued.
“Yes, but…” Lu Guang looked like a caught animal. He glanced around the room as if it’d give him some words to say. “But it’s you,” Lu Guang somewhat protested.
Cheng Xiaoshi felt his hands twitch at the words. The strangest feeling of happiness sprouted in his chest. ‘But it’s you’?
“Yeah,” Cheng Xiaoshi said, oddly confident now. “What about me?”
He didn’t know what he was trying to coax out of Lu Guang. There wasn’t even a specific answer he was looking for. Cheng Xiaoshi really just wanted to hear whatever explanation Lu Guang had.
“We live together,” Lu Guang argued. “As lazy as you are, it’s not like you don’t brush your teeth. So…”
“So if someone brushes their teeth and then wants to share a drink with you, you’d agree?” Cheng Xiaoshi asked.
What kind of question was that?!
“No!” Lu Guang shook his head, cheeks blushed with faint pink. “I’m not sharing a drink with a stranger, Cheng Xiaoshi.”
“What about someone we know?” Cheng Xiaoshi countered. “Like Dong Yi, or Qiao Ling, or Xu Shanshan?”
“No.”
“Then what’s so special about me?”
Lu Guang thrummed his fingers on the novel he’d abandoned reading. He glanced over Cheng Xiaoshi’s face, then his figure, then back up as if analyzing. The action made Cheng Xiaoshi want to dig a hole and hide, but at the same time, he was curious.
“I don’t know,” Lu Guang muttered. “You just are. We share every day together. We eat breakfast, lunch and dinner with each other. We have the same bedroom.” Lu Guang waved a hand around as if trying to point out the obvious. “I don’t know, Cheng Xiaoshi. I trust you more than anyone, so I guess… I just don’t mind sharing a small piece of plastic with you.”
…Wow.
Cheng Xiaoshi leaned on the pole of his bunk, heart beating absurdly fast for someone who was sitting completely still.
“You trust me more than anyone?” he croaked out.
Lu Guang rolled his eyes, clearly exasperated. “Obviously.”
Cheng Xiaoshi’s gaze fell down, unable to look Lu Guang in the eyes any longer.
Obviously. Like there was no other option. Like there wasn’t any room for argument. As if it was a fact woven into the very fabric of reality.
“Right. Okay,” Cheng Xiaoshi breathed. It was like all the air in his lungs had been vacuumed out. Which was absurd! How was he so defenseless over Lu Guang trusting him? He already knew that!
“What about you?” Lu Guang asked.
Cheng Xiaoshi peered up. “What?”
“This whole straw thing,” Lu Guang said. “Would you ever share a straw with anyone else?”
Cheng Xiaoshi actually thought about it. Had he ever even shared a straw with anyone other than Lu Guang?
He thought about Qiao Ling. All of those years they’d spent together as children, sharing snacks and drinks all the time. They never shared a straw. He supposed they never really needed to. But even then, it was Qiao Ling. As a kid, he wouldn’t care.
Even now, if Cheng Xiaoshi had to share a straw with Qiao Ling, so what? She was basically his sister. But Lu Guang was talking about choice.
“Willingly?” Cheng Xiaoshi said. “No.”
“Really?”
Cheng Xiaoshi crinkled his nose. “No. Why would I share a straw with someone if I don’t need to? It’s like you said, why touch something someone else’s mouth was on? What if I catch a disease or something?”
Lu Guang huffed a quiet laugh. “I don’t think any of our friends have diseases.”
“You never know. Qiao Ling might.”
“She’ll murder you if she hears that.”
Cheng Xiaoshi smiled despite himself. He let his body fall back onto the mattress, laying down and gazing up at the upper bunk. “Yeah.”
Lu Guang nudged his knee with the novel. “Then what’s so ‘special’ about me?”
Ah. Boomerang question.
Cheng Xiaoshi traced the lines of the wooden bed-ceiling with his eyes. There were a million things he thought were special about Lu Guang. From the way his partner’s white hair made him look like a snowy angel to the old man's knowledge that somehow blessed his quick brain.
“You just are,” Cheng Xiaoshi said softly. “Again, it’s like you told me. We live together, eat together, exist together. You’re basically my other half. We’ve fought criminals and defeated fraud organizations and both have suffered the wrath of the auntie next door.”
Lu Guang pretended to shudder. “She’s ruthless.”
Cheng Xiaoshi chuckled, a warmth blooming in his chest. “I’d give my life for yours. So… I think I could spare sharing a straw with you, too.”
The room quieted. Lu Guang didn’t say anything in response, so Cheng Xiaoshi gave him a playful kick with his leg. “Besides, I wouldn’t mind putting my mouth on something your lips have touched.”
Lu Guang jolted, whipping around to face him. “You-”
“-are the most charming person you’ve ever met,” Cheng Xiaoshi finished. He grinned and sat back up to properly look at his partner. “I know.”
The dark flush creeping across Lu Guang’s face was almost as beautiful as the scowl on it. Cheng Xiaoshi laughed and leaned over, dropping his head onto Lu Guang’s shoulder.
“Most annoying person I’ve ever met,” Lu Guang mumbled.
“Nah, you adore me.”
Cheng Xiaoshi let his eyes slide shut. He’d have to finish editing those photos, and would really rather do it before nightfall, but for now… he could stay here just a little longer.
A hand touched the back of his head. Cheng Xiaoshi swallowed a laugh as he realized it was Lu Guang’s, threading across his hair gently.
Lu Guang, aka his number one straw-sharer. Cheng Xiaoshi felt ridiculously, absurdly happy at that thought, and he didn’t stop himself from smiling.