Happens to be Zhang

chapter 3

Xiaochen meant dawn. It was a gender neutral name with a pretty meaning and a fairly common usage, but the school Xiochen attended had five more Xiaochens. They were all girls. Pretty ones at that. He often looked at one, sitting right across him in his homeroom. She was interested in colours, and he in her hair. 

He could never copy down those wild curls no matter how hard he tried. They seemed to dance with a mind of their own, scheming and plotting with an evil ease to trap the mind of a simple being. 

"Hey." Xiaochen looked up when his desk rapped. "Why the fuck are you stalking her, man?" 

It was Ji Donghan, the absurdly tall desk partner. He wasn't a hard boy to describe. Xiaochen was sure prototypes of Donghan existed in every single classroom of every single school in every single country of the world. Tall, first in the entire class, athletic and just as if God had decided to be extra generous, granted with the looks of Adonis. 

"I'm trying to sketch her." Xiaochen snatched his precious 300 gsm pad back. 

"Why?" Donghan snorted. "Do you have a crush?" The boy was direct to a fault. 

"No." The tips of Xiaochen's ears went red. "I… don't." 

"She’s pretty. You're pretty. And there's no girl who'd reject you. What's the problem?" 

"Can you shut up, please?" 

Donghan held the pad high above his head, grinning like an absolute fool with not a single care in the world. His laughter struck Xiaochen— the way his perfect white teeth shone and glinted, nose casting an oblique shadow on the right half of his face. Brown hair glittering in sunlight and his infectious smile making Xiaochen's heart stop. 

I like you. Goddammit, why was it so hard to say? 

//

It's him again. 

"Americano. Five shots." 

"Coming right up, Sir." Xiaochen turns away, the hairs on his shoulders prickling up in sensation of being under a piercing stare. 

"Say," the man begins, shifting his gaze to the phone as soon as Xiaochen faces him. "What's your name?" 

"Our services include bakery and beverages, Sir. I am afraid it doesn't include your entertainment." 

The man snaps up. His hair is loose today, strands falling apart yet so meticulous it looks designed. A smile quirks his lips up. "That," he says, pointing in the direction of a heart shaped lollipop. "I'll take that." 

Xiaochen pulls the candy from the stand after closing the lid on his drink. It's a paper cup, made by God knows how many layers and gsm quality, but they never bleed. The artist has tried using all sorts of pens to write the customer's name— ah, he skips that part this time. 

"For you," says the man with a tired midnight settled on his lashes. He slides the candy back on the counter and winks, turning away with his shoulders squared. The black woollen coat looks great on his back, and Xioachen might just use one of those pens to draw a quick sketch. Too bad those pens bleed on a tissue paper. 

"Xiao baby," Weiwei drawls with a nasal twang. 

"Hm?" Xiaochen hasn't yet hit the upload button and it's seven hours past midnight. His phone is silent, and he knows what will happen if he unlocks the screen. 

"LinFeng jie was complaining that Xius missed the midnight update." 

"Xius is a little busy." 

"Busy getting lollipops from pervy corporate men that look like they dabble in sadistic bondage?"