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for @rubbishgod
[ It's the first day of classes, and Hua Cheng couldn't be more excited. He's got a full schedule meticulously planned to revolve around a certain member of the student body, and he's pulled lots of strings to get that achieved.
Right now, however, was one of his classes that didn't involve one Xie Lian, ray of sunshine come to life, god amongst boys, and the singular point of all of Hua Cheng's dreams and aspirations. Hua Cheng had an art class to take, after all, and unfortunately that wasn't one of the things that Xie Lian wanted to take as well.
He busies himself setting up an easel, a canvas, ready to paint whatever freshman student they'd roped into posing for the class and getting paid in lunch money. He's so busy doing so that he doesn't notice until he sits down and looks up and over his canvas and sees, like a dream, the most beautiful boy alive.
Hua Cheng pinches himself and smiles dopily, like the lovestruck sap he is. ]
There's a seat over here, gege.
[ He has definitely mistaken him for a fellow student. ]
Right now, however, was one of his classes that didn't involve one Xie Lian, ray of sunshine come to life, god amongst boys, and the singular point of all of Hua Cheng's dreams and aspirations. Hua Cheng had an art class to take, after all, and unfortunately that wasn't one of the things that Xie Lian wanted to take as well.
He busies himself setting up an easel, a canvas, ready to paint whatever freshman student they'd roped into posing for the class and getting paid in lunch money. He's so busy doing so that he doesn't notice until he sits down and looks up and over his canvas and sees, like a dream, the most beautiful boy alive.
Hua Cheng pinches himself and smiles dopily, like the lovestruck sap he is. ]
There's a seat over here, gege.
[ He has definitely mistaken him for a fellow student. ]
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[Xie Lian couldn’t help but beam with pride, as if somehow he had attributed to this success at all when it had been San Lang’s talent alone. Mostly, he was just proud that San Lang was already succeeding with his art, and that other people would get to have a glimpse at how great his skill was.
He reached out as if to grab San Lang’s hands, stopping himself only because San Lang was packing away his things. So instead he twisted his hands behind his back, barely restrained energy. This sort of announcement should be met with Xie Lian taking to him to one of the nicest restaurants in town, but all he had were meat buns or-]
We can go for some meat buns or I can cook something for you. What good news!
[He did laugh at how easily San Lang said he would sell his paintings, nodding.]
En. I hope you sell them all.
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Even if he didn't know it, Xie Lian had been with Hua Cheng on his journey to discovering himself and his talents the whole time, especially while he had been gone. ]
Ah, whichever gege likes better.
[ He knows gege likes to eat meat buns, but he could also never say no to a little bit of his cooking. Most people didn't like it for some reason, but San Lang never complained. It wasn't going to be served in a restaurant or anything, but as far as he was concerned, nothing was as satisfying as eating a meal cooked with love by Xie Lian. ]
Ready?
[ He shifts his bag up on his shoulder and shoots gege a little smile. He's so kind, so positive, and so lovely. Hua Cheng is usually jealous whenever he sees gege around with others who don't deserve him, trying to win their approval. He reaches over as if to take his hand, but catches himself, brushing his index finger gently over the back of Xie Lian's palm before letting his arm fall back to his side. ]
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Cooking for him would show a bit more effort, and since Xie Lian took careful stock of his food and perishables at all time, he was sure he had enough ingredients for mapo tofu. Not that it was flashy, either, but perhaps San Lang would let him treat him again when he was a bit more prepared and had saved up to buy ingredients that were more extravagant.]
En, let’s go to my place then. Does mapo tofu sound good?
[If not, they could stop along the way and buy a few more ingredients to make something better like hotpot.
When he felt San Lang’s finger brush against his own, he felt his hand tingle where their skin had touched, his face flushing. He glanced up at San Lang curiously, holding out his hand as if to show him it was empty. Did he want something from him?]
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That sounds great, gege.
[ Plus, going to gege's room was just exactly what he wanted in order to celebrate. He always wanted to spend time with him, and to be invited into the space he called his own, personalized with his own decorations, put only the things he loved most in? Yes, he'd been invited more than once, but every single time felt like the same amount of elation as the first.
When they head out of the building, Hua Cheng looks down at gege's hand and wishes so much to reach out and touch it, to hold it. But he catches himself, and makes his hand stay to the side as if anchored by a rock. ]
What do you have later today?
[ He asks as if he doesn't already know, but he feels like it's way less creepy to ask. ]
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When and where is the gallery going to take place? If San Lang doesn’t mind, I’d love to come.
[Maybe it was a bit much for Xie Lian to invite himself along, but he couldn’t help but be curious. Even the sketch for today was amazing, so he could only imagine what sort of pieces San Lang had deemed good enough to display to the public.
As they walked across campus, the well kept green lawns and well maintained buildings falling away to the more worn dorms, Xie Lian considered San Lang’s question thoughtfully.]
I was going to do delivery for a few hours then homework. What about you San Lang?
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[ He did that, whenever he didn't have too much work to do. He was ahead on everything, which annoyed his professors greatly. He was such a brilliant mind, always debating with the professors, usually coming out ahead: and yet, he pursued art. If he had pursued linguistics, his mathematics professor would find it a waste, and if he had pursued mathematics, his science professors would try to cajole him over.
What he loved... what he really loved, was standing in front of a canvas or in front of a stone, and finding Xie Lian or the things that reminded him of Xie Lian within that blankness, and bringing it into the world to witness it, to show everyone else its glory. ]
And gege, I'd be honored if you could come see my opening. It's the second Saturday of next month, at Ling Wen's gallery downtown.
[ Having gege as his plus one... that seemed like a dream. ]
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It wasn’t envy Xie Lian felt as he looked at San Lang, but warmth and affection. San Lang only deserved the best things.]
San Lang is so hard working. It’s only the first day of classes and I’m sure he’s already ahead in all of his courses.
[Whereas Xie Lian was still struggling to believe all of this was really happening and he was back on campus.
As San Lang mentioned the date of his gallery, Xie Lian fished around in his backpack to get out his planner to jot it down quickly.]
The honor would be all mine! Should I see if some of the others want to come?
[He wanted as many people as possible to see San Lang’s work, but only if he was fine with it. He punched in the code to his dorm building, ushering San Lang in, heading to his dorm room.]
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[ But then, very quickly, he adds: ]
The opening is invite-only, and we're all supposed to dress up for it. But I can see if I can get more invitations.
[ There's just mostly going to be a lot of very wealthy people there, people in Ling Wen's contact book. And there are multiple artists - Hua Cheng's still in school, after all, so it's rare he would even get such a large space to showcase his work.
Anyway, they can think about that later. They can go over to gege's right now instead, and he likes the idea of that a lot more.
He waits for gege to finish writing in his planner - gosh, how is he so cute - and tries to remain cool, hanging out by the wall. ]
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[He should have known if it was going to be at Ling Wen’s gallery, it would be exclusive and invitation only. It must have been a slip from his old life, when he could just ask for whatever he wanted without a second thought and people would rush to fulfill his every need.
It was a far cry from now as he went up the dubious cement steps to his second floor apartment, unlocking the door that probably didn’t even need to be locked since there was nothing but furniture he had found on the curbside and had cleaned off generously. Sometimes Shi Qingxuan would donate things to him, supposedly secondhand, but even if they were gently used, due to the quality they gleamed like they were straight from the box. So his apartment was a mix of old and new things, with at least all of his cooking utensils being relatively new.
He ushered San Lang in and closed the door behind him.]
Do you want water or tea?
[It was all he had to offer for drinks, but it was offered cheerfully enough as Xie Lian put down his backpack and rolled up his sleeves to start preparing food. More worrisome than the invitations was:]
What are you going to wear San Lang? Do you have a suit and tie?
[It would be a nice sight to see, he was sure San Lang would somehow manage to be even more handsome in such a getup, but it created a problem for him. If it really was so exclusive, he wasn’t sure if he had anything up to Ling Wen’s standards. Maybe he could borrow something from Shi Qingxuan but their sense of style was a lot more… adventurous than Xie Lian was.]
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[ Hua Cheng was used to Xie Lian's place by now, and they were friends. Maybe Hua Cheng wanted more than that, but he was grateful to have this, and be welcomed into Xie Lian's life and his home. He poured them both glasses of water, both because he felt like he was welcome to do it, and also because to do so, he had to lean over Xie Lian just so and press his chest into Xie Lian's back as he reached for the cups.
Oops.
He also makes sure to hand it to him in a way where their hands will have to touch the barest amount. But if anyone asks, he hadn't meant to do anything. ]
It's white tie. And... Ling Wen's renting me a tux for it.
[ Hua Cheng is just starting out in the business, so he has a little bit of extra cash - not to mention, his stocks in Gamestop are doing pretty well right about now - but the problem is that everything about his wealth is new and volatile. So, it's more stable if Ling Wen fronts him for the tux and brings him to schmooze with the clientele, make himself known. After all, and Ling Wen knows this better than Hua Cheng does - he's not going because he's the artist. He's going because he's the artist and he's got enough charisma when he wants to put it on to last him an entire career. She's willing to part with the two hundred dollars it costs her to make this investment.
Hua Cheng, not knowing any of this, not knowing that Ling Wen had only extended a +1 as a formality and hadn't expected Hua Cheng to bring anyone, takes a seat on gege's couch feeling like a cat who snagged a whole canary. ]
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[Xie Lian was just about to get the cups out of the cabinet to hand over but- oh. San Lang was right behind him, pressing his broad chest against his back, warm and inviting. Xie Lian felt his face start to burn as he tried not to think of how tall San Lang was, how long his legs were, how lithe he was, but how he had also watched San Lang heft around heavy art supplies like it meant nothing. Now was not the time to think such things, especially when San Lang was here to celebrate something innocuous and innocent.
Internally, Xie Lian said a few quick prayers to whatever gods might be listening before accepting the cup of water, gulping it down quickly so that he didn’t have to speak or make eye contact.]
Thank you, San Lang.
[He fished out the ingredients from his fridge, started to dice things up as well as he could, which was a rather slow process and meant that a lot of the vegetables would be misshapen. Just when he thought he was safe, the image of San Lang in a tuxedo overcame him, and he had to take a few breaths before speaking, voice light and cheery.]
San Lang will look so nice in a tuxedo! I’ll have to find something to wear that is just as fitting then!
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[ He thinks about Xie Lian in a tuxedo as well and - oh, wow. He bets that gege would clean up so nicely. Not that he wasn't nice already, and wasn't beautiful even when he was covered in dirt and grime - but when he was dressed to the nines.... maybe inviting him was a mistake. On the one hand, it would be hard to hide how attracted he was to him.
And on the other, people would surely be flocking to gege, to get his number, to try and flirt with him.
San Lang would have to make sure he stood behind him and gave the impression that gege was absolutely taken. ]
I'll help you look for something.
[ He smiles sweetly, and then puts down the cup and comes over. ]
What are we making?
[ He's not about to disparage Xie Lian's cooking, but on the other hand, he does enjoy this as a pair activity. It's all the sweeter that his partner happens to be someone whose hands need to be held to make even cuts. ]