Work Text:
“We can be friends.”
The freshly folded T-shirt slips from his hands.
Jiang Tian feels his face tense, tremble, turns his head and looks at Sheng Wang.
Shen Wang keeps his head down, his right hand holding his left arm, looking small. In another moment, Jiang Tian would have smiled at how sweet his boyfriend looks… now ex-boyfriend? stepbrother? friend?
Friends?
“We can be friends?”
Jiang Tian repeats the other’s words, not expecting confirmation, only trying to make sure of their meaning, because everything feels surreal right now.
“I’ve been talking with your mother and my father, and I think it’s for the best and—”
Suddenly, he wants to hit Sheng Wang.
And the feeling is new. Not even when he had just met him had he felt this way. In fact, from the very first moment their eyes met, Jiang Tian had fallen for Sheng Wang—though that was something the other never needed to know.
Jiang Tian cups Sheng Wang’s face and forces him to look up.
Sheng Wang stops talking and stares at him, startled. His hands, usually warm, are cold now as they cover Jiang Tian’s, trying to push him away, but Jiang Tian doesn’t let go.
“We can be friends?”
He repeats it, this time in pure disbelief.
Sheng Wang tries to lower his gaze, and Jiang Tian keeps his face in place.
“Look at me.”
He knows he’s being rough, but his mind is racing. The plane ticket lies on the table; his flight leaves in a few hours. Sheng Wang can’t be joking about something like this right now.
The suitcases he had been packing for his trip to the university campus watch them from the bed.
Just minutes ago, Jiang Tian had been organizing them when Sheng Wang walked into the room, looking unusually shy even for him.
“I’ve been thinking, and… I think it’s better if we stop this here and—”
What Jiang Tian had been listening to with hopeful anticipation turns into a nightmare.
“I think we can be friends.”
“Are you trying to joke somehow? You know I don’t like jokes.”
Sheng Wang at least looks hurt. He looks at Jiang Tian with those puppy eyes he usually uses when he wants a kiss—but now they say let go, silently, painfully so. Jiang Tian lets him go.
Sheng Wang immediately lowers his gaze.
“I want to break up with you. That’s all.”
“No.”
“I’ve already decided and—”
“Well, I didn’t decide anything.”
It feels like a childish fight, like the ones they had when they were just getting to know each other.
Sheng Wang looks at him, frowning now, clearly wanting to say something back—but then his father’s voice comes from downstairs.
“Boys! Dinner time.”
Jiang Tian is too slow to stop Shen Wang before he leaves the room.
He replays the scene in his head: Shen Wang’s look, his words, his movements.
We can be friends.
But they couldn’t. From the beginning, Jiang Tian had known it—he could never be friends with Sheng Wang, and especially not now.
Jiang Tian could still feel the memory of Sheng Wang’s skin beneath his lips, far too fresh for that stupid label.
“Jiang Tian!”
He had lost his appetite, but Sheng Wang was already downstairs, so he quickly answered the call.
During dinner, his parents kept giving advice about university. Jiang Tian nodded without listening; his mind was focused on only one person, and that person was eating his noodles as slowly as possible.
Did Sheng Wang no longer love him?
Jiang Tian tried to be logical, not emotional.
The day before, they had gone out just the two of them, aware that their time together was running out. Jiang Tian replayed every moment. Sheng Wang had seemed happy, with smiles that definitely didn’t feel fake.
“You have to make sure you check your room carefully on the first night.”
Jiang Tian nodded at his mother’s advice.
They had eaten together, then walked and talked—about the future, especially—and Shen Wang had looked sad, but nothing out of the ordinary… nothing catastrophic.
Jiang Tian could clearly remember kissing him in his room while his parents watched TV in the living room. . .
The change in Sheng Wang had been too recent.
“I’ve been talking with your mother and my father, and I think it’s for the best and—”
Talking about what?
“And if you find a girlfriend there, make sure to tell us, okay?”
Jiang Tian nodded automatically.
Sheng Wang stopped eating and looked at him angrily.
That’s when he realized the words.
He looked at his father, startled.
“A girlfriend?”
“You’ll meet lots of people, so a girlfriend is—”
“I’m already in a relationship with someone.”
His mouth moved before his brain, as always when it came to Sheng Wang.
Three people started coughing at once, but Jiang Tian only looked at the one beside him. He leaned toward Shen Wang, immediately offering him water, patting his back, watching him with concern.
Sheng Wang’s face was red—very red—but he wasn’t coughing anymore. He was just looking at Jiang Tian, lips trembling, saying nothing.
“Son, are you dating someone already?”
Jiang Tian understood the weight of his words immediately, feeling his own face heat up. Under the table, Sheng Wang took his hand.
“Jiang Tian, that’s great news. When are you going to introduce her?”
Jiang Tian didn’t answer. He drank from the water he’d given Sheng Wang and avoided everyone’s gaze.
His parents started laughing, but Shen Wang stayed silent beside him, gripping his hand.
“Shen Wang, do you know her?”
Jiang Tian turned and saw him nod.
“You have to make sure she treats Jiang Tian well, okay?”
Sheng Wang nodded again. Jiang Tian wanted to confront him right then for what he’d said earlier, but Shen Wang let go of his hand, and his parents began asking questions.
Jiang Tian focused on them to avoid making another mistake.
Jiang Tian doesn’t waste time once dinner ends.
He watches his parents head to their rooms and quickly follows Sheng Wang. Luck is on his side—he reaches the door just in time to stop it from closing.
Sheng Wang looks surprised, then annoyed, pushing back to close it, but Jiang Tian is set on what he came to do.
He leaves the next day. He won’t leave this unresolved.
He opens the door and shuts it behind him.
Sheng Wang whispers sharply;
“What are you doing?”
Jiang Tian doesn’t answer.
He steps closer, takes Sheng Wang’s face again, and kisses him.
Sheng Wang resists, pushes him away, glaring—angrier than before—but Jiang Tian is angry too.
Remembering Shen Wang’s words makes his blood boil.
He keeps his grip and kisses him again.
Shen Wang isn’t easy. He struggles, tries to push him away… but then his hands clutch Jiang Tian’s sides, hold him, and he kisses back in desperation.
Jiang Tian sucks on his lips, doesn’t stop even as he runs out of breath, walking until his legs hit something—he guesses it’s the bed—and falls back, still holding Sheng Wang.
He breaks the kiss but not the contact, settles Sheng Wang over him, lifts his thighs to lock around his waist, and hugs him tightly.
This feels more like a goodbye.
His heart aches when Sheng Wang hugs him back. He hears his breathing against his ear, feels his weight—a reminder of what he’s leaving behind.
“Sheng Wang, you’re running away again.”
He swallows a sob and breathes deeply to ease the knot in his throat.
“Stop trying to leave without me.”
He pulls back slowly, still feeling Sheng Wang’s breath, now slow. Red eyes meet his. This time, he doesn’t ignore the puppy look and kisses him softly.
Jiang Tian doesn’t know how to tell Sheng Wang what he feels—how much he’s willing to do for him.
Because if Sheng Wang asked him to stay, Jiang Tian would.
He can hold on for both of them now, beg if he has to. But if Sheng Wang chose to leave him once they were miles apart, he might lose his mind. Like the first time Sheng Wang was left behind.
“You need to stay away from girls… and boys.”
Sheng Wang says it in the same tone their parents used when giving advice, but this time Jiang Tian listens twice as closely.
“And if they flirt with you, you have to say you have a boyfriend…”
His voice breaks, and Jiang Tian allows himself a smile.
“Actually, give me your phone. I’ll put a picture of us as your wallpaper.”
Jiang Tian ignores the request and hugs him instead.
There are a thousand cheesy things in his mind, but none feel right, so he just holds him tightly.
He feels Sheng Wang kiss his head, and the knot in his throat tightens.
Sheng Wang cries first. And Jiang Tian cries with him.
They sleep holding each other, and at dawn they share a long kiss before leaving the room.
And for now, that had to be enough.