Chapter Text
It had been roughly 2 years since Xie Lian had moved in with his roommate, Hua Cheng. The one thing that Xie Lian noted upon meeting Hua Cheng for the first time was that the man was VERY handsome.
In a non-homosexual way, of course! It wasn’t gay to notice another man was handsome.
Xie Lian knew he was straight.. He was 100% sure he was.
He quickly pushed these thoughts away, keeping himself from thinking too deep about it.
Xie Lian sighed and shook his head, silently berating himself.
After staring at his ceiling for a couple minutes, he glanced at the clock on his nightstand just to make sure it wasn’t too late. Once he checked the time, he pushed the blankets off of himself and got out of his bed. His bare feet dragged over the cold floor as he walked to his bedroom door.
As soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by Hua Cheng sitting on the couch in nothing but his boxers, presumably sketching something as he was usually doing at this time. Xie Lian’s cheeks heated up as he stared for a bit too long.
God, I’m never gonna get used to this, Xie Lian thought to himself as his eyes trailed down to Hua Cheng’s toned stomach..
Hua Cheng’s eyes immediately flickered over to Xie Lian. He quirked a brow.
“Ah, gege. I didn’t expect you to be up at this hour. What’s up?”
Xie Lian flinched and redirected his gaze to Hua Cheng’s. He shifted his weight from one leg to the other. “Oh, I’m just.. getting a drink of water.”
“Mn, I see..”
Xie Lian nodded and made his way over to the kitchen. He made sure to keep his head down to avoid any more eye contact. His poor heart couldn’t take this! It was already beating like a rabbit’s, and the last thing he needed right now was Hua Cheng’s eyes on him because he’d probably have a heart attack and combust simultaneously.
He made his way over to the fridge and began pouring water into his cup he had grabbed from the cupboard.
Ah, why did this handsome man have to be so.. well, handsome? Xie Lian had seen Hua Cheng in his boxers plenty of times, but the sight never failed to fluster him. Sometimes Xie Lian felt like he was purposely being teased by him..
Cold water spilled from Xie Lian’s cup, shocking him out of his thoughts.
“Dang it,” Xie Lian muttered under his breath. He quickly grabbed a towel and began cleaning up the mess on the floor below him. He heard a quiet snicker from somewhere behind him, followed by footsteps that were heading toward him.
Xie Lian turned his head to meet Hua Cheng’s gaze.
“Here, let me help,” Hua Cheng offered.
Xie Lian’s gaze locked onto Hua Cheng’s and suddenly the only thing he could think about was how hot Hua Cheng looked from this angle.
Xie Lian’s cheeks dusted with pink and he cleared his throat.
“Right, okay-“ Xie Lian handed over the towel to Hua Cheng, who seemed more than happy to clean up Xie Lian’s mess.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Xie Lian’s fingers diligently worked their way inside of himself. He bit down on his shirt to muffle any sounds that threatened to escape him, his breathing growing quicker by every second.
“Ngh- San Lang-“
Hua Cheng spread Xie Lian’s legs wider for him, the head of his cock lined up at Xie Lian’s entrance. He slowly began easing his way inside, the stretch unbearable.
Hua Cheng suddenly pushed his cock all the way in, having no time to waste. “Fuck, gege..” This alone had Xie Lian almost seeing stars.
“Mm,” Xie Lian moaned aloud. His hips rutted up against nothing. “San Lang!”
Hua Cheng fucked into Xie Lian faster, this time with more precision. “Ah, gege.. You’re so beautiful..” He angled his thrusts slightly, hitting Xie Lian’s prostate.
“Ah!” Xie Lian cried. His teeth clenched down on the fabric even harder, desperately trying to make sure he made no sound.
“Mm.. Yeah, keep those sounds coming..” Hua Cheng continued to pound into Xie Lian, hitting his prostate with every movement. Xie Lian’s eyes rolled back, the pleasure in his gut growing stronger and stronger.
“San Lang- ah, I’m close-“
“Fuck..” Hua Cheng thrust even deeper into Xie Lian. His thrusts were getting more uncoordinated and more frenzied by the second. Before Xie Lian knew it, he was cumming all over his stomach, his hips bucking into the air.
As Xie Lian came down from his high, this whole fantasy came crashing down too. The pleasure in his gut quickly dissolved into shame, and he felt like he wanted to be buried alive in a coffin. He quickly pulled his fingers out of himself, grabbing a nearby tissue box and cleaning up the sticky substance that coated his stomach and his fingers.
What was WRONG with him?! He just masturbated to some stupid sexual fantasy of his that included his roomate, who was right in the living room, all because he couldn’t handle seeing him in his boxers! Not to mention, there was a huge possibility that said roommate heard him!
Xie Lian smacked himself on the head multiple times.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” Xie Lian mumbled to himself.
God, how could he ever face Hua Cheng after this? He was absolutely convinced he was the world’s biggest pervert. He felt like he was about to simultaneously start laughing and crying.
He also felt super tired all of the sudden. This was a problem he could deal with tomorrow..
With a yawn, Xie Lian rolled over and fell asleep.
As soon as he woke up, he was immediately blinded by sunlight coming in through his window. He mumbled something incoherent and rolled over once again. Running a hand through his hair that was tousled from sleep, Xie Lian slowly sat up in bed. He took a moment to stretch his stiff limbs out before finally getting out of bed and walking to his closet. He picked out a decent outfit for the day and then turned around and made his way to the bathroom to get ready.
Xie Lian hastily brushed his teeth and got changed, the sound of fabric rustling filling the small bathroom. He stepped back to look at himself in the mirror.
“Good morning, gege.”
Xie Lian immediately whipped his head around. “Ah, San Lang! I’m so sorry, I didn’t know you were standing there-“
Hua Cheng looked quite amused at Xie Lian’s sudden distress, letting out a quiet laugh. “Mn, don’t worry about it. You look nice today..”
Xie Lian froze for a moment, caught very off guard for a second. Once he came back to Earth, he quickly averted his gaze from Hua Cheng’s. “Ah, shut up.. Don’t tease..”
“I’m not teasing, gege looks nice.”
Xie Lian awkwardly cleared his throat, desperate to change the topic. “Uhm, anyway, I should probably get going, I have plans with Shi Qingxuan today..”
Hua Cheng hummed in acknowledgment. “Alright, I’ll get out of your hair. Although, I had a question..?”
Xie Lian tilted his head to the side - a silent gesture for Hua Cheng to go on with his question.
“Well, I was wondering if you’d like to come to an upcoming art exhibition I’m hosting?”
Xie Lian immediately perked up at the offer. He loved seeing Hua Cheng’s art, it was one of his favorite things to look at! He often found himself mesmerized by the artwork.
Xie Lian flashed a bright smile at Hua Cheng. “I’d love to come, thank you for inviting me!”
Hua Cheng seemed oddly flustered all of the sudden. “Yeah, of course.. Uh, I’ll let you leave now, sorry for holding you hostage-“
Xie Lian let out a quiet chuckle. “I’ll see you later!”
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
Xie Lian and Shi Qingxuan sat quietly at a table outside of a cafe, catching up on life.
“Oh please, he totally likes you,” Shi Qingxuan said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.
“Wha- no he doesn’t! I don’t stand a single chance, plus, I’m straight, and so is he,” Xie Lian replied.
“Girl, that closet is glass.”
“Closet? What does that even mean?-“
Shi Qingxuan let out a loud cackle, fanning their face with their hands. “Ahah, you’re so oblivious, Xie-Xiong.. Also, what makes you think he’s straight?! He’s like, so gay! It’s so obvious!”
Xie Lian sputtered. He was at a loss for words for a moment. “Well, I mean, you can’t deny that he’s incredibly handsome, so he could probably pull any girl he wanted. I don’t know why he'd wanna date me out of everyone, I mean, I suck at cooking, I have horrible luck and bring chaos everywhere I go. There’s literally nothing good about me! Also, once again, I’m not..”
Xie Lian’s thoughts began wandering back to last night. Had he really fantasized about his roommate fucking him?.. Okay, maybe that was a little gay.. But that didn’t mean he was gay, right?..
Seeing that Xie Lian seemed lost in thought, Shi Qingxuan raised an eyebrow and immediately began suspecting something. “Hey, Xie-Xiong. Heeeeey. Whatcha thinking about?”
Xie Lian looked like a deer caught in headlights.
“It’s nothing!”
This seemed to make Shi Qingxuan even more suspicious. “You,” they raised a finger and pointed it at Xie Lian, “are lying. You dare lie to ME?”
Xie Lian was silently panicking now. “Ok, ok, listen.. You can’t tell ANYONE about this, okay?”
Shi Qingxuan nodded.
Xie Lian let out a sigh. “So.. I kinda.. Err..”
Shi Qingxuan studied Xie Lian’s now very red face. “You what?”
“I.. may or may not have fantasized about him fucking me..”
…
Shi Qingxuan’s jaw dropped and they slapped a hand over their mouth to keep themselves from laughing. They took a deep breath and tried their best to respond to Xie Lian without cackling. “You know, that’s not what straight people do, right?”
Xie Lian buried his face into his hands.
“I know! And that’s the problem!”
“Maybe you could try to seduce him-”
“Qingxuan!”
Shi Qingxuan cackled again. “Who knows? It could work!”
Xie Lian sighed and dragged his hands over his face.
-ˋˏ✄┈┈┈┈
It was later in the day in which Xie Lian came home. He reached for his keys in his pocket and unlocked the door.
Hua Cheng was sitting on the couch with his sketchbook in his lap, and he looked up as soon as he heard the door open.
“Welcome back, gege.”
Xie Lian smiled warmly at Hua Cheng. He then walked over and took a seat next to him, his eyes immediately drawn to his diligent fingers wrapped around the mechanical pencil he was holding. “Ooh! What are you drawing?”
Hua Cheng casually shut his sketchbook, keeping his attention focused on Xie Lian. “Mm, nothing important. How was your time with.. was their name Shi Qingxuan?”
“Oh! It went really well, we just caught up on some things, and I found out they got a boyfriend, his name is He Xuan. They said they think you guys know each other."
Hua Cheng clicked his tongue. “Ugh, that asshole. I don’t like him.
Xie Lian tilted his head in confusion. “Hm? Why?”
Disdain seeped through Hua Cheng’s tone as he continued speaking. “He’s always so gloomy, like, he never smiles, EVER. His art is also wack. Everything about him is wack.”
Xie Lian barked out a laugh. “San Lang, that’s mean! Don’t say that..”
“Oh and he’s also a certified fatass. He eats everything in sight.”
Xie Lian smacked Hua Cheng’s arm. “Stoooop, don’t be mean!”
Hua Cheng snickered. “I’m not being mean, it’s the truth-“
The two laughed together for a bit, the sounds of glee filling the room.
Xie Lian was incredibly lucky to have Hua Cheng as his friend. He didn’t deserve someone as kind and considerate as him. Sure, Hua Cheng wasn’t the nicest to others, but he sure was nice to Xie Lian.
Growing up, Xie Lian had 2 loyal friends; Mu Qing and Feng Xin. The two of them had always been oddly protective of Xie Lian, and they fought a lot. Xie Lian, being the peacemaker he was, resolved all of their fights whether they were big or small.
Hua Cheng did not like Feng Xin and Mu Qing. Xie Lian was pretty sure it was safe to say he despised them. From time to time, Hua Cheng would give snarky remarks, ones that outraged Feng Xin and Mu Qing, and then Xie Lian would have to step in before it escalated into a real fight.
Sometimes, Xie Lian felt like he was taking care of petulant children that never learned no matter how much berating they got.
Highschool was a whole different story. 10th grade in particular. It was the worst year of Xie Lian’s life. At just 16 years old, he lost both his parents and his friends. Well, to be fair, he never stopped being friends with Mu Qing and Feng Xin, they had just.. stopped talking to him. Luckily, a few years later, their friendship was rekindled. He didn’t hold a grudge by any means, he was just confused. Though, he never questioned it, because it wasn’t his place to ask.
Losing his parents hurt the most, of course. At first, he didn’t know how to cope with it. He felt so empty. He.. didn’t remember anything from that period of time, to be honest. All he remembered was getting hit with a wave of grief on a random Tuesday, and then he was finally able to accept it. His parents were dead. His mother, who once held him with such tenderness, who comforted him through every nightmare, who kissed his tears away whenever there was any minor inconvenience, was gone. He wasn’t as connected to his father as he was with his mother, but it still hurt just as equally.
And now, he had someone who actually cared for him again. Someone that was able to fill that empty void deep inside of him.
Xie Lian glanced at Hua Cheng’s face. He studied every feature, determined to engrave them into his mind.
Hua Cheng looked right back at Xie Lian. He smirked. “Mm, do you like looking at me that much? You look like you’re trying to explode me with your mind.”
Xie Lian froze upon being called out. It probably did look like he was trying to explode Hua Cheng with his mind with how intensely he was staring at him. He let out a nervous laugh and looked away. “Heh, sorry-“
Hua Cheng’s smirk grew softer. “Don’t worry about it. You don’t need to apologize, I was teasing.”
Xie Lian gently nudged Hua Cheng with his elbow. “Of course you were, I should be used to it by now..”
Hua Cheng stared at Xie Lian with unexpected gentleness. He stared at him like that for a few moments before speaking up. “You down to watch a movie?”
Xie Lian stared right back at Hua Cheng, almost like he was in a trance. It was like he couldn’t look away. “Yeah, sure..”