Work Text:
'Thump'
Chi Cheng looked down as a younger boy fell on his butt before Chi Cheng's feet. The boy looked up at Chi Cheng with big, round eyes, his mouth half-opened in surprise. Chi Cheng's eyes automatically fell to his full bottom lip, admiring the cupid's bow in his upper lip. He didn't let any emotion cross his face, but his thoughts were screaming at him for finding a random guy so attractive. Especially such a young boy. Was he even in high school? He was so short. "Sorry, senior," the boy apologized, bowing his head slightly while he stood up. Standing up, he didn't look that small anymore, but he was still shorter than Chi Cheng, his full height only reaching up to Chi Cheng's chin. He was also wearing the school uniform, so he was indeed a high school student.
The boy gave Chi Cheng a small nod before turning around and entering the basketball court they had collided in front of. Chi Cheng watched the boy join Jiang Xiaoshuai at the benches. Chi Cheng wasn’t very close to Jiang Xiaoshuai even though they had been in the same class since entering this senior secondary school. But when Chi Cheng‘s best friend Guo Chengyu had started taking an interest in the student with the top grades in their class and they eventually even became a couple, Chi Cheng had started appreciating Jiang Xiaoshuai both as Guo Chengyu‘s boyfriend as well as something akin to a friend to Chi Cheng too.
Chi Cheng walked over to Guo Chengyu, who was standing with two of their classmates. „Who’s the boy with Jiang Xiaoshuai?“ he asked.
Guo Chengyu grinned in response, signaling Chi Cheng that he wouldn’t give a serious response. „A puppy Xiaoshuai found on the street.“
Chi Cheng just sighed and motioned for the basketball. They played a few relaxed matches with the four of them. Chi Cheng tried to focus, but his gaze kept wandering over to the boy. The whole time he was sitting with Jiang Xiaoshuai, the two of them were leaned over books and papers strewn about the narrow bench.
Most of the time they boy was frowning at the papers as if imploring them to reveal their secrets. Oftentimes he was also laughing at a joke Jiang Xiaoshuai told. His face was bright and open when he smiled. Other times he was throwing his head back with a frustrated whine. Chi Cheng chuckled at the younger's pitiful expression.
"Chi Cheng!" a loud yell pulled Chi Cheng back onto the court. His reflexes kicked in and he barely managed to raise his hand and block the ball flying right at his face. His finger hurt a little from the sudden impact but better than a broken nose.
"Everything alright?" Guo Chengyu jogged up to him.
"Nothing broken," Chi Cheng waved him off.
"You're usually never this distracted," one of the other classmates noted. Chi Cheng honestly couldn't remember the guy's name. Chi Cheng's eyes started wandering over to the boy again before he could catch himself. He was sure it had only been a minute shift of is eyeball, but Guo Chengyu immediately caught it. His eyes traced the direction until his eyes landed on the boy and Jiang Xiaoshuai sitting on one of the benches, Jiang Xiaoshuai now wildly gesticulating with his hands. They probably weren't studying anymore. When Guo Chengyu was looking at Chi Cheng again, he was sporting an annoying smirk. This fucker. Just why was he Chi Cheng's best friend?
"Let's call it a day for now. Break is about to end anyway," the other classmate interrupted. Chi Cheng couldn't remember his name either.
Guo Chengyu agreed, slung his arm around Chi Cheng's shoulders and dragged him over to the bench. It was clear he was gonna do something. Chi Cheng groaned but let himself be dragged along. He couldn't deny his curiosity toward the younger boy.
"Shuaishuai!" Guo Chengyu called out as they came near. Jiang Xiaoshuai looked up, when he heard his boyfriend. He tried to remain neutral, but a smile was tugging at the corner of his lips.
"Shuaishuai!" Guo Chengyu called again, this time draping himself over his boyfriend's back like a wet blanket.
"Ew, you're all sweaty!" Jiang Xiaoshuai complained but made no move to remove the human shaped blob hanging onto his back. Guo Chengyu nuzzled into his neck, soaking in the closeness of his lover. The boy was gazing upon them fondly. He obviously knew of their relationship already.
When Guo Chengyu had enough of annoying his boyfriend, he directed his annoying schemes at Chi Cheng again. „Xiao Wu, have you met Chi Cheng already?“
Wu Suowei looked up at Chi Cheng curiously. Chi Cheng was practically melting under those big, round eyes. He was seriously cute. Like a small bunny. Or a hamster maybe.
Chi Cheng kept an indifferent expression, but the gaze he focused on the boy’s face was intense. That in turn made the boy squirm. Even slightly intimidated by an upperclassman, the boy was still cute. Like a wary bunny.
„You know, Xiao Wu, Chi Cheng is quite smart. He can tutor you when Shuaishuai is busy with his own studies.“
„I have time to tutor Xiao Wei!“ Jiang Xiaoshuai immediately protested but stilled at Guo Chengyu‘s insistent look. He couldn’t tell what it meant, but had enough trust to listen to Guo Chengyu.
„You need to focus to keep your grades on top. Chi Cheng can just help out sometimes,“ Guo Chengyu explained.
Jiang Xiaoshuai only shrugged. „We study everyday after class at Guo Chengyu‘s house. Sooner or later Chi Cheng would have joined anyway.“ He was a little miffed at having his cute junior being taken away. But Guo Chengyu was right that he needed to keep up his grades. He was aiming to study medicine at a top university. And Jiang Xiaoshuai and Chi Cheng were not close, but due to their proximity to Guo Chengyu, they had become something akin to friends.
„Perfect, we’ll pick you up after class, Wu Suowei.“
„I told you to forget that name! it was just a spur of the moment thing!“ Wu Suowei complained again. Guo Chengyu only ruffled his hair with a bright laugh.
Chi Cheng kind of envied Guo Chengyu for already having such a close relationship to the boy.
After class Guo Chengyu ushered all of them to pack their bags quickly and hurry over to the other side of campus. Chi Cheng had never been to this building. Even as a first year, his classroom had been elsewhere as Wu Suowei was in a regular class while Chi Cheng, Guo Chengyu and Jiang Xiaoshuai had been in the same key class since first year. The three were at the top of the school when it came to academic rankings. The key class especially prepared students preparing for top schools. Anyone who was able to enter this school was considered smart though. The three of them walked down the corridor in search of Wu Suowei‘s class. All of them were quite tall, towering over all the first years in the hallway.
They finally reached Wu Suowei‘s class. Chi Cheng and Jiang Xiaoshuai stopped in front of the door as the teacher was still present even though he was already putting away the lesson materials. Guo Chengyu, the shameless bastard, sauntered into the unfamiliar classroom without a second thought.
"Wu Suowei!" he called loudly, going directly for Wu Suowei's desk at the front of the classroom.
"Senior, I told you not to call me that!" Wu Suowei whined once again. He was the center of attention right now, with three third years coming to see him. Moreover, they were three very handsome third-years.
"Come on, gotta study hard for exams. Do you have all your stuff?" Guo Chengyu rushed him and even began packing Wu Suowei's things himself. When the desk was empty, he ushered him out the door, Jiang Xiaoshuai and Chi Cheng quickly following behind them.
"Wu Qiqiong! Wait!" a shrill voice called out just as they had exited the building. The four of them turned around and looked back. Four girls from Wu Suowei's class were approaching behind them, the one who had called out to them tall and pretty with long, wavy hair.
"Yue Yue." Wu Suowei called her and Jiang Xiaoshuai and Guo Chengyu immediately stiffened. Chi Cheng's eyes shifted slightly, picking up on his friends' animosity towards the girl.
"Wu Qiqiong, I didn't know you had such friends. Aren't you going to introduce us?" she asked sweetly, twirling a strand of hair around her finger coquettishly. While she was asking Wu Suowei for a favour, she was clearly mustering his companions. Her gaze stopped on Chi Cheng, her interest in him palpable.
"There's no need for him to introduce his friends to his ex-girlfriend, is there?" Jiang Xiaoshuai shot back snappishly. Guo Chengyu had protectively stepped in front of Wu Suowei as well, his height towering over the first year girls.
"What do you know? It's none of your business! We're just on break!" Yue Yue protested, her tone arrogant and indignant, no trace left of the sweet tone from earlier. It had sounded fake anyway and surely not convinced anyone. "Maybe I was going to take him back soon. Right, Wu Suowei?" She turned her nose up at Jiang Xiaoshuai. Chi Cheng scoffed. She had neither any respect for her classmate Wu Suowei nor for Jiang Xiaoshuai who was clearly her senior.
"So what? He never agreed to get back with you. You can break up with him any time you like, but to get together with him, he has to agree." Jiang Xiaoshuai argued reasonably despite his obvious disdain for her words.
"He always wants to get back with me! He's the one alway clinging to me! I'm leagues above him! He would do well to get back with me!" She cried out, her shrill voice hurting Chi Cheng's ears.
Jiang Xiaoshuai looked as if he was about to slap the girl, and honestly, Chi Cheng wouldn't have stopped him. Luckily for her, Guo Chengyu stepped in and pulled Jiang Xiaoshuai back before he might do so.
"Xiaoshuai, let's just go. Don't argue with a child." Never mind that they were still children themselves.
Guo Chengyu looked at Yue Yue once more. He didn't look about to snap as Jiang Xiaoshuai did, but his disdain for her was clear on his face. "You shouldn't speak to a senior with such a tone. And you should not think of yourself as better than your peers. An attitude like that will be disregarded at best and punished at worst. I hope for you a teacher won't hear you talk like this. To anyone." With that he walked off. Jiang Xiaoshuai begrudgingly followed behind.
Wu Suowei was slowly following the two, his head hung low, his shoulders hunched in disappointment. Chi Cheng's heart hurt a little for him. Was she really his ex-girlfriend? He had such a horrible taste in partners.
At the university‘s exit two cars were already awaiting them. The outside polished to shine, the windows tinted for anonymity. „Xiao Wu, why don’t you ride with Chi Cheng? He’ll be all alone otherwise.“ Guo Chengyu helpfully suggested. Wu Suowei only nodded along, still affected by the earlier encounter. Chi Cheng had no problem with the arrangement either, but the mischievous grin on Guo Chengyu‘s face was unsettling.
Chi Cheng led the younger boy to his family‘s car. He even opened the car door for him. Wu Suowei was a little bit flustered that this handsome senior was even giving him a hand to hold and carefully shielding him from hitting his head on the car door frame. Chi Cheng got into the backseat on the other side and told the driver to take them to the Guo mansion. Wu Suowei‘s eyes were darting all around, trying not to blatantly stare at the handsome senior. He was so embarrassed by the ordeal he had indirectly caused. Jiang Xiaoshuai and Guo Chengyu knew all about his dilemma with Yue Yue. But he had only met Chi Cheng today.
„Um… I’m sorry for my girlf- I mean my ex-girlfriend,“ he said, feeling like he had to explain himself and started rambling. „That’s… um… we break up often. I mean, she always breaks up with me. She tells me that something’s wrong with me and when I fix that, we get back together. Like my hair style or clothes or food taste or being athletic. But last time when we broke up, Xiaoshuai-ge walked by. And he talked to me and persuaded me not to take her back and not to fix what she asked for. She wanted me to get better grades. She said she didn’t want a dumb boyfriend. So this time I decided to make her regret. With Xiaoshuai-ge’s tutoring, I’ll get first place in my year and when she asks to get back together, I’ll tell her that I didn’t do it for her! Um… something like that.” His voice petered out at the end.
Chi Cheng was looking at the younger boy with his usual poker face. Then the mask broke. First a small chuckle, then a big smile took over his face and finally he broke out into full-bellied laughter. He was laughing all the way to the Guo mansion. He was even still suppressing laughter when got out to open Wu Suowei’s car door for him.
“You’re quite interesting,” Chi Cheng said, the corner of his lips twitching upwards every few seconds as if he still couldn’t fully rein in his laughter. It had been a long time since he had met such a genuine and pure person.
At the Guo mansion, Guo Chengyu was surprised by how familiar Chi Cheng was acting with Wu Suowei already. Even though he had been the one to push the two of them together and was planning to do more of that. Obviously, he'd immediately clocked his friend’s interest in the younger boy. Although he had thought that it would take a while longer to get Chi Cheng to admit to it. But Chi Cheng already seemed all in.
Wu Suowei, obviously, was nothing like the usual girl or guy who threw themselves at Chi Cheng for his money and status. He was pure and innocent, selflessly giving his all to a girl who neither appreciated nor deserved his heart.
The whole afternoon Chi Cheng was happily tutoring the boy, putting an arm around the younger boy’s shoulder and leaning close into Wu Suowei’s personal space. During breaks he asked about his interests and showed him photos of the snakes he was planning to raise. It was truly the first time Guo Chengyu had seen Chi Cheng get close and trust someone this quickly.
As soon as the teacher ended the lesson, Chi Cheng jumped up from his seat and was out the door.
“I’m picking up Wu Suowei. See you guys at the gate,” he managed to call out to his friends before he was gone. This was the way it had been the last few weeks. As soon as the bell rung, Chi Cheng was out the door to fetch Wu Suowei at his classroom. Jiang Xiaoshuai and Guo Chengyu would meet them at the school gate later.
“Aren’t you going after him?” Jiang Xiaoshuai asked Guo Chengyu even though he knew the answer.
“Why would I? Wu Suowei would also find the way to the gate even if no one picked him up.” Guo Chengyu shrugged.
“That first day you were practically dragging us there.”
Guo Chengyu grinned at his boyfriend, an excited glint in his eyes. “I wanted Chi Cheng to see Wu Suowei again. But since he’s already so eager himself, there’s no need for me to force him.”
“Eager?” Jiang Xiaoshuai had a thoughtful expression on his face. Then his eyes became wide, surprise coloring his face. “Do you mean Chi Cheng likes Wu Suowei?”
Guo Chengyu raised his eyebroww in disbelief. “You didn't clock that yet? Shuaishuai, you're becoming slow.”
“Do you think it’s such a good idea? I don’t want Wu Suowei to get hurt. Chi Cheng doesn’t exactly have a good track record when it comes to relationships.” Jiang Xiaoshuai frowned, worrying about his cute and innocent junior. During the time, he and Guo Chengyu had been together, Chi Cheng had never taken a serious interest anyone. When someone he found attractive enough, approached him, he allowed for a small tryst but nothen that lasted longer than two days.
“That’s because he’s never been seriously interested in a relationship. Don’t worry, Wu Suowei is important to me too. If I get even the slightest inkling that Chi Cheng is not being upright with Wu Suowei, I’ll make him stop myself. I won't let Xiao Wu get hurt." Guo Chengyu vouched for his friend. He knew Chi Cheng better than anyone. He was sure Chi Cheng was serious this time around.
Jiang Xiaoshuai smiled up at his boyfriend. He only knew Chi Cheng through Guo Chengyu. If his boyfriend thought that Chi Cheng and Wu Souwei would be a good match, he'd trust him on that.
In front of Wu Suowei’s classroom, Chi Cheng was being cornered again. It was the girl from last time. Yue Yue. Wu Suowei’s ex-girlfriend. The girl who kept breaking up with Wu Suowei for ridiculous reasons. Chi Cheng had only known Wu Suowei for a short time, but he already knew that she was actually the one who was not good enough for Wu Suowei. Sure, she was pretty, but that was pretty much it. And it wasn’t like she left people in awe by her looks. She was just that. A good-looking girl.
“Um… you’re Wu Qiqiong’s senior, right?” she said softly as if Chi Cheng hadn’t seen her act all pathetic and arrogant already.
“I’m his friend,” Chi Cheng answered. He was definitely more than a senior to Wu Suowei. At least he hoped so.
“I see. I didn’t know Wu Suowei had such a handsome friend. He never told me.” She was twirling a strand of her hair between her fingers again, the same way she had done back then.
Chi Cheng now actually turned to look at her. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Wu Suowei approach them. He smirked, then said loud enough for everyone to hear, “I didn’t know Wu Suowei had such a bitchy ex-girlfriend. He never told me that either. Stop wasting his time. You’re a waste of his time.” Satisfied, he watched as the color drained from the girl’s face, her expression undecidedly flickering between shock and anger. It was actually a lie. Wu Suowei had talked plenty about how Yue Yue had mistreated him and was just the worst girlfriend overall.
“Wu Suowei, let’s go. Guo Chengyu and Jiang Xiaoshuai are waiting.” Chi Cheng reached for Wu Suowei and slung an arm around the boy’s shoulder to pull him along. The boy was really short. Chi Cheng had to lean down a little to reach him.
“Chi-ge, thank you.” Wu Suowei spoke up as they left the building.
Chi Cheng stopped to face the boy. He was looking down shyly, but his eyes were shining with unshed tears. Then he looked up. “Thank you for standing up for me.” His glistening eyes expressed the gratitude he felt for Chi Cheng.
“Wu Suowei, are you crying?” Chi Cheng called out in disbelief. Surely, this was not something to shed tears over.
“I’m just so happy. My mother always told me to avoid conflict and just be kind to people without question. And I always did that. Which is why I always tried to please Yue Yue. When she didn’t like my style, I bought new clothes and got a haircut. When she said I wasn’t cool enough, I practiced Basketball. When she said I was stupid, I really wanted to study harder. I thought that I wasn’t good enough for her.”
Chi Cheng’s heart melted at the sight of the younger boy. He abruptly pulled him into his arms. “She’s the one who’s not good enough for you. Don’t try pleasing her. anymore She’ll never be satisfied. That’s just how people are. No matter how hard we try.”
He pulled back to wipe the tears the younger boy had started to cry. “But don’t worry. You’ll always be enough for me. You'll always be more than I could ever hope for.” Chi Cheng couldn’t help but be moved by this boy who was willing to give everything for the people he cared for. He had only known Wu Suowei for a short time, but he already knew had the purest and kindest heart of anyone Chi Cheng would ever encounter in his life.
The younger boy's head was pressed into Chi Cheng chest and he only hoped Wu Suowei couldn't hear Chi Cheng's heart pounding with excitement, his feelings going haywire inside his body.
“Wow, it’s so small.” Wu Suowei exclaimed in awe as the newly hatched snake slithered and coiled around his arm. Chi Cheng smiled at the wonder in the younger boy’s eyes.
He had been a little wary of Chi Cheng’s snake raising hobby at first but had curiously looked through all the snake egg pictures on Chi Cheng’s phone. In the end, Wu Suowei readily agreed to go see the young snakes when Chi Cheng offered to take him to his private snake breeding facility. And now meeting them, there was not even a speck of fear or hesitancy left in his body. Instead he was happily playing around with a small black spotted snake, raising the animal to his eyes and holding eye contact playfully.
Chi Cheng's father hated his newly found passion for raising snakes, thinking it a waste of time and a whim that would pass. His mom immediately shuddered at the sight of one. Most people in general feared snakes because they didn't understand them. But Wu Suowei was willing to go see the snakes, hold one and was now playing with it like a normal pet, enjoying its slithering movements across his palm. Chi Cheng was overjoyed to have found someone to share in his hobby.
"What's its name?" Wu Suowei looked up at Chi Cheng, his eyes big and bright.
"It doesn't have a name." Chi Cheng shrugged.
"You can't do that!" Wu Suowei protested. "Every pet needs a name so it knows you love it."
"Xiao Wei."
Wu Suowei looked up confused. "That's my name."
Chi Cheng minutely shook his head. "Its name is Xiao Wei. I like the name."
"It's my name." Wu Suowei insisted again, confused where this conversation was leading them.
"That's why I like it," Chi Cheng insisted.
"You like my name?" Wu Suowei asked.
"I like you, Wei Wei."