Work Text:
Mu Qing crossed his arms and cursed under his breath. When he accepted Feng Xin’s invitation to a dinner party with Xie Lian, he had not anticipated one thing.
Hua Cheng would obviously be there.
Xie Lian’s boyfriend, who was the weirdest person Mu Qing ever met. Other than Feng Xin. Hua Cheng always came unannounced to gatherings that were simply for Xie Lian, Feng Xin, and Mu Qing. He was practically glued to Xie Lian’s side.
And now they were making out. Right in front of him. Mu Qing huffed soundlessly and prodded his salad lazily with a fork.
Really? Mu Qing thought. Right in front of my salad?
Feng Xin and Mu Qing exchanged a disgusted look. Mu Qing spoke to Feng Xin with his eyes. Let’s get outta here.
Feng Xin shook his head. He nodded to Xie Lian. We came to talk to Xie Lian. Mu Qing rolled his eyes. He’s too busy giving that Crimson Rain a dental check up.
Feng Xin closed his eyes and sighed. Let’s just go to a different room. Satisfied, Mu Qing pushed himself out of his seat and did everything in his power not to look at Hua Cheng and Xie Lian.
But how could he not? His eyes shot over momentarily, and Hua Cheng, without returning the look, stuck up his middle finger.
Despite having sharp senses, Xie Lian didn’t seem to notice Mu Qing grab Feng Xin’s wrist and drag him out of the room. Mu Qing marched to the living room and sat on the couch. He made a point to take up as much of the couch as possible to piss off Feng Xin.
Feng Xin just sat on Mu Qing’s legs. Mu Qing took notice and his eyebrow twitched. “I can’t believe that Crimson Rain! He always tags along to events he wasn’t invited to. And we always have to watch him practically inhale Xie Lian.”
“Xie Lian likes him though. Shouldn’t we be glad he’s happy?” Feng Xin countered. Mu Qing stuck his tongue out. “Why would I be happy watching him mack on that fucking whore?”
Feng Xin was adamant on defending Xie Lian’s honor. “The people Xie Lian date are none of our business!” After a pause, he added, “At least he isn’t fucking lonely like you.”
Mu Qing pouted. “Whatever. What do we do now? There isn’t fuck in Xie Lian’s apartment.” Feng Xin pondered for a moment, before abruptly standing. Mu Qing cocked a brow. Feng Xin walked to the table at Mu Qing’s back, with a small drawer.
He rummaged in the drawer for a while before pulling out a deck of cards. Mu Qing squinted at the box and registered Uno. “You want to play fucking uno? How old are you?”
Feng Xin dropped the small, black box on Mu Qing’s head. “What else is there to do?” Mu Qing picked the box off the floor and hurled it at Feng Xin, who was on his knees at the coffee table now.
“How did you even know that was there..?” Mu Qing asked, mildly curious. Feng Xin closed his eyes. “Me and Xie Lian play sometimes. Shut up. Are you playing or not?”
Mu Qing shot up from the couch and pointed at Feng Xin. “Maybe. Only if we make it more interesting.” Feng Xin narrowed his eyes. “Interesting how? Like a bet?” Mu Qing resigned his pointed finger to put a hand on his hip. “Obviously.”
Feng Xin contemplated, and said, “How about whoever loses..has to say he loves Xie Lian in front of Crimson Rain?” Mu Qing and Feng Xin collectively shuddered. They did not crave death.
Mu Qing sat on his ankles, opposite of Feng Xin, bearing an unimpressed expression. “Do you feel like dying? Also, that’s just weird.” Feng Xin shrugged. “Just an idea. As if you could think of anything.” Mu Qing didn’t think for a second before blurting, “Whoever loses kisses the other.”
Feng Xin appeared impassive. Mu Qing thought he noticed traces of blush on Feng Xin’s ears, but that very well could have been his imagination. Mu Qing realized his offer was a lose/lose situation, they would kiss each other either way. Maybe that actually made this a win/win.
“Fine.” Feng Xin mumbled, throwing in a shrug. Mu Qing was slightly flushed, and this was easily seen because of his pale complexion.
Feng Xin threw seven cards at Mu Qing’s face and pulled seven for himself. Mu Qing blew a strand of hair from his face pointedly. He gathered the cards and examined them. Lots of blues, one or two reds, and one green.
Obviously this meant that Feng Xin was going to have zero blues and seven greens. Mu Qing pulled a card off the top of the deck and placed it. Red.
Feng Xin tried to put a card, but Mu Qing interrupted. “Wait. Who said you were going first? Doesn't the youngest go first?” Feng Xin raised an eyebrow. “We’re the same age.”
Mu Qing sneered. “Hah. You’re literally ancient.” He chose a red card from his topdeck and tried to put it down. Feng Xin slapped his hand. “Piss off!”
They put down two reds at the same time. Mu Qing groaned and was about to lecture Feng Xin about the rules, but Feng Xin simply placed another card down and waited for Mu Qing’s move.
Mu Qing glazed over his cards. Only one red left. He decided to switch the color to blue, putting a blue eight over Feng Xin’s red eight. Feng Xin narrowed his eyes challengingly and immediately set the color back to red using a plus four wild card.
Mu Qing was seething. He snatched four cards, and was delighted to see they were fairly good. He put his new wild card down. “Blue,” he said plainly.
Feng Xin plucked a blue from his deck and placed it. They went back and forth placing blues until Feng Xin and Mu Qing were down to two cards.
Mu Qing had two wild cards. Feng Xin had god knows what, most likely greens. So Mu Qing placed a wild card and said, “Red.”
Then he froze. He caught his mistake. “U-” he began, but Feng Xin was faster. “YOU DIDN’T SAY MOTHERFUCKING UNO! TAKE A CARD BITCH!”
Feng Xin tossed a card at Mu Qing, which he caught in mid-air. It was green. He cursed inwardly. Feng Xin placed, unexpectedly, a plus four wild card. “Uno. Green.” He said.
At least one thing went well for Mu Qing. He reluctantly took four cards. Feng Xin had a shit-eating grin on his face. Mu Qing had six cards, Feng Xin one.
Every card in his hand was green, plus a wild card. He might be able to win. Mu Qing placed a green card. So did Feng Xin. They went back and forth until Mu Qing held only a wild card. Feng Xin, presumably, had a green card. It was Mu Qing’s turn.
With an extremely pleased expression, he placed his wild card. He stared at Feng Xin. Feng Xin was still for a few moments before flipping the coffee table over.
“Wow. How mature.” Mu Qing blandly commented. Feng Xin was practically shaking and mumbling nonsense, thinking of no good remark to snap back. He just said a bunch of curses.
Mu Qing pushed himself up off the ground and looked at the wreckage of Feng Xin’s rampage. “Tsk tsk, A-Xin. Xie Lian won’t be happy about this.” The loving diminutive just added to the harshness.
Feng Xin walked over to Mu Qing and shoved him. Mu Qing fell back on the couch. “What the fuck?! It was just an Uno game.”
“Where do I kiss you?” Feng Xin asked, as if it was such a normal question. Mu Qing turned an interesting shade of red immediately. “What?!”
Feng Xin sighed. “Remember the bet we made? Whoever loses kisses the winner.” Mu Qing mindlessly nodded. “Right. Right. Uhm..I don’t know. The cheek.”
Feng Xin grabbed the back of the couch and straddled Mu Qing. The latter had nothing to say. He sat silently, and waited. Feng Xin leaned in, and kissed Mu Qing’s cheek quickly and swiftly yanked away.
But that was not enough for Mu Qing. He yanked on Feng Xin’s collar and pulled him to his face, and pressed his lips against Feng Xin’s. He did not dare to open his eyes.
Feng Xin didn’t seem involuntary. In fact, he put his hand on Mu Qing’s neck to hold his face there. Due to Mu Qing’s quick movement, it was very sloppy. Feng Xin pulled back to fix the placement of his lips.
That gave Mu Qing an opportunity to sharply draw in air. Feng Xin placed his lips back in place. His hands found their way to Mu Qing’s hair tie, which he pulled off gently but with haste.
Mu Qing’s hair fell from the ponytail but he did not stop. He braced himself with a death grip on Feng Xin’s shoulders. Mu Qing was long gone. When a thought popped into his head, he acted upon it immediately.
He pushed Feng Xin’s shoulders. Hard. He stumbled backwards. “Mu Qing?!” Feng Xin said breathily. Mu Qing stood and pounced on Feng Xin, pinning him to the ground.
Feng Xin squirmed under Mu Qing’s grip, but when Mu Qing declined his head to kiss Feng Xin, he put up no more protests. Mu Qing grabbed Feng Xin’s waist. Feng Xin’s hands found Mu Qing’s shoulderblades, which he pulled down on, pressing Mu Qing closer to him.
Feng Xin then parted their lips to flop over, pinning Mu Qing down. Feng Xin held Mu Qing’s waist down with two hands, pressing firmly. Not a word had been exchanged this entire time, but Mu Qing felt the need to pipe up. “Wait. Feng Xin. FENG XIN-” he was cut off by Feng Xin biting his neck. “Feng Xin. We need to stop.”
Feng Xin was a bit taken back. “What? Do you want to stop?” Mu Qing genuinely thought about it, and said, “No. But..” he pointed to the kitchen, where Hua Cheng and Xie Lian were, supposedly, still making out. Mu Qing did not want his best friend to see him in this state, nor think differently of his relationship with Feng Xin.
And if Hua Cheng happened upon them..well let’s just hope that doesn’t happen.
Feng Xin seemed to have the same thought. He froze. “Oh..” He furrowed his brows. “Wait. Aren’t they doing the same thing right now?” Moments ago, Mu Qing was completely out of it but speaking to Feng Xin pulled him back to reality, and he covered his face with his hands.
“Hhh..”
“Mu Qing.” Feng Xin said, clearing his throat quietly. Mu Qing nodded. “Maybe we should stop.”
“Mhm.” Mu Qing replied. Feng Xin peeled himself off Mu Qing. He moved to sit up, never once taking his hands off his face. He crossed his legs and peeked from between his long fingers. Feng Xin righted the coffee table and collected the cards that were strung across the ground.
When Feng Xin finished, awkward but somehow companionable silence hung in the air. He sat on the ground next to Mu Qing, who finally pulled his hands off his face. Unsure of what to do with his hands, he ran them through his hair and worked out the knots that formed from that interaction.
Feng Xin looked around the room for a few moments. “We should uhm, we should probably go back to Xie Lian. We came here to visit him.” Mu Qing nodded. The pair walked back to the table in the kitchen. Hua Cheng chatted quietly with Xie Lian, an arm wrapped around his shoulder.
He narrowed his eye at them before turning back to Xie Lian. Xie Lian looked away from Hua Cheng for a moment, much to Hua Cheng’s dismay.
Xie Lian pointed at Feng Xin, then at Mu Qing. “Where did you two run off to? I didn’t notice you leaving.” Of course you didn’t, Mu Qing thought. He gritted his teeth. “Oh. No where,” he assured. “You two seemed..busy so we left for a moment.”
Xie Lian blinked a few times. Hua Cheng sneered. Feng Xin’s head snapped over. “Say something, Crimson Rain?” Hua Cheng shook his head, a faint smile tugging at his lips. “Nope. It’s just that you two look very odd.”
Mu Qing gritted his teeth so hard they might have disintegrated. The odd one here is you! He thought. He kept this to himself, however, out of respect for Xie Lian. “Odd? How so?”
Hua Cheng smacked his lips. Mu Qing had a rather noticeable bite mark on his neck, and his hair was no longer tied. “What exactly did you two do?” Hua Cheng smirked.
Mu Qing cast a glance at Feng Xin, who looked irritated and, barely, nervous. “That’s not exactly an answer, Crimson Rain.” Hua Cheng shrugged. Xie Lian laughed a little. “Whatever.” He said. “Let’s not fight, and just talk for a while.”
So they did. Mu Qing and Feng Xin conversed nicely with Xie Lian, without too much intervention from Hua Cheng. They talked until it grew late into the night.
Feng Xin and Mu Qing said goodbye to Xie Lian, and a few hushed, awkward byes to Hua Cheng. Naturally, since Feng Xin and Mu Qing too shared an apartment, they were riding home together.
Feng Xin had two hands on the wheel, making a sharp veer right. Their apartment complex was at the end of this road.
The entire time, not a word was said. Only did Feng Xin speak when they reached the front door of their apartment. “I’m sorry.” Feng Xin said. Mu Qing fiddled with his keys. “Sorry? For what?”
Feng Xin rubbed the back of his neck. “For tonight.” A pause. “I..I just feel a little bad. Sorry.” Mu Qing scoffed. “Why feel sorry? I said I didn’t want to stop.” He cast a glance over his shoulder. “If that’s what you meant.”
“Well, uhm, that kind of made me realize something. About you.” Mu Qing pushed open the door. “About me?” Feng Xin walked in after Mu Qing. He shook his head. “No,no. Not about you, how I feel about you.”
Mu Qing understood. “Oh.” He kicked off his shoes. “I think I realized something too. How I feel about you.” Feng Xin’s face lifted a little. “Really?” Mu Qing nodded.
Feng Xin took a step toward Mu Qing. “Qing-er.” Mu Qing met his eyes. “I love you. Not in a friend way. I really love you.”
Mu Qing blushed vividly. He tried to speak but the words wouldn’t come out. He opted for sending a glance that could not be misinterpreted. Feng Xin grabbed Mu Qing’s hands. “Don’t worry. If you can’t say it back, I still know you do.”
Mu Qing nodded. Another step closer. “Can I kiss you?” Mu Qing said. Feng Xin snorted. The tension dissipated. He nodded. Mu Qing planted a kiss on Feng Xin’s forehead, then his cheek, then his lips.
Then he stopped. “Wait.” Feng Xin raised an eyebrow. “Did we just confess because of Uno?” Feng Xin was stumped. “Oh my gods. Mu Qing. We just fucking confessed because of Uno.”
Mu Qing started giggling, and it turned into an ugly laugh quick. Feng Xin scratched his forehead, and started laughing too. “I’ll never underestimate Uno again,” he said.
Mu Qing pressed his forehead against Feng Xin’s. “You’re an idiot.”