Chapter Text
As mundane as it was, Hè Zhāo thinks to himself, looking at the scenery unfolding before him — not so much of a pleasant one, an entire group of kids who made a big deal out of a small matter — with a slightly exasperated expression, this is how life ought to be.
Picking fights in the middle of summer for stealing video game loot? Not that it was at the very top of the list, but he should’ve expected that the moment the entire team he happened to be playing with simultaneously agreed to Hè Zhāo’s offhand comment.
He wouldn’t know it, but maybe in a few years’ time, he’d look back at this memory and maybe be a lot more grateful than he should be for that offhand comment of then pick an offline fight with them.
Xiè Yú’s an amusing person. He’s silent, apparently “scary,” does things unprovoked, and he’s sexy. This is a factor that you can’t take out, Hè Zhāo swears to himself. You know, like crush me with your arms kind of sexy, and Hè Zhāo has mad respect for people like Xiè Yú.
The black nail polish was the last straw. Xiè Yú did not give two fucks and Hè Zhāo is practically living for it. He loves annoying the shit out of Xiè Yú, and though his reactions are really... not too different from each other, much to his disappointment, Xiè Yú’s very colorful insults and how his voice is tinged with a hint of amusement and familiarity are more than enough. Especially when he tries to brush his awful grades off.
They’ve sorta hit it off. Xiè Yú doesn’t punch him in the gut when he hangs an arm around his shoulders, nor does he headbutt Hè Zhāo on his chin when he ruffles his hair, so it should be good for him to continue doing those, right? Because Xiè Yú, aside from being very sexy, also has no business being very adorable. It’s illegal, and is extremely bad for Hè Zhāo’s heart.
After a much tiring day of arranging their seats for a class activity for tomorrow’s first period, the two have silently made an agreement to just chill outside on the school fields under the shade of a tree, and dammit, this entire scenario is too similar to that otome game Hè Zhāo just downloaded a few days ago.
So, as far as all the things he’s learned from high school otome games are concerned, and as far as all the romance manhua he’s consumed are accurate, he pushes his luck.
“Hey, are you interested in boys?”
“???”
Hè Zhāo stares at Xiè Yú with what you’d call a borderline scandalized expression. “How the fuck did you make that sound?”
“How the fuck did you come up with that question?”
A part of him says that this is a border that he’s free to step on, and he stomps his feet all around the line without stepping inside of it. Like the heroine who just underwent a five-second flashback of all the moments she’s interacted with her love interest, which lasted for ten fucking minutes in the donghua, he persisted with the question. “I asked you if you’re interested in boys. Like, kissing boys. Holding hands with boys. Fucking—“
“I get what you mean, you hag.” Xiè Yú cuts him off, but his expression is serene and nothing new. Not one of disgust, not one of iciness, not one of confusion. Hè Zhāo feels relieved.
“So...?”
“Were you actually serious about that?”
“When am I never serious?”
“Probably all your life.” Xiè Yú laughs, but he turns his head away and places his chin on his hand.
“You don’t have to answer it, Old Xiè. It’s fine either way.”
“I don’t have a preference.”
Hè Zhāo whips his head back to turn to look at Xiè Yú, almost breaking his neck in the process. “Ouch?”
This is it. The cherry blossoms are falling, the wind is blowing the hair on his face, and I—
“What’s that late reaction? You’re literally impossible.”
Hè Zhāo almost snorts. What was he thinking? This was him and Xiè Yú, not some romance manhua with thought processes that don’t abide by the laws of physics.
“You are more impossible.”
“Keep it up and you’re going to be incorrigible with your horrible speaking skills.”
“A garbageable what?”
Xiè Yú launches an attack and shoves Hè Zhāo down on the field with him, and his world turns upside down. Literally.
The sky is their floor, the grass is above him, and maybe this is his real, first love in his arms, all the dumb things he’s ready to do to make him act like this again flashing through his mind right at this very moment.
Maybe the flashbacks were a realistic part of manhuas.
“...So you like boys?”
Hè Zhāo misses the way Xiè Yú spares him a glance, a rather furtive and shy one, at that, but he does feel the way Xiè Yú holds him tighter.
“Yeah. I like boys.”
“So do I.”