Hualian AU Spin-offs

The Mean Treatment

ShiQingxuan's giving him what he deserves

Saturday night, not even ten o'clock and Gamblers' Den was that packed! All thanks to its resident DJ, Xie Lian – who Shi Qingxuan was friends with, and was enjoying a vip moment with him at the DJ booth. While sipping his honeyberry martini and chatting coolly, he spotted a face he knew among the crowd. He narrowed his eyes,

"What is he doing here?"

Xie Lian followed his gaze: pale, with slick black hair and all dressed in black, Ming Yi, Shi Qingxuan's former best friend at The Heavens, or He Xuan, his true identity. He seemed totally out of place there, holding a beer and looking around – a deliberate look, as if looking for someone.

"What's with the mean treatment", Hua Cheng, who dropped by to bring Xie Lian a beer, asked, "You know why he's here". Shi Qingxuan looked awkward.

"Wait, what's going on, what did I miss?", Xie Lian asked.

"It's a long story", Shi Qingxuan replied, "Your break is in ten minutes, right?"

He nodded, and Hua Cheng, turning to him, said, "I'm gonna tell security this guy's here. Gege, I'll be right back", and disappeared in the crowd.

Xie Lian looked at Hua Cheng for a moment, then looked at him; Shi Qingxuan sipped his drink, then kept his eyes at He Xuan. Well he did want to tell Xie Lian everything at some point anyway. Xie Lian lined up a few more songs just to finish his setlist with a bang.

•

Shi Qingxuan felt bad for making Xie Lian take his break in Gamblers' Den back office – it was still noisy but at least they could talk without having to shout to each other – so he asked Hua Cheng to stay, but Hua Cheng clearly wasn't happy.

"The guys are keeping an eye on that weirdo", he said, sitting with Xie Lian in a battered sofa, while Shi Qingxuan, still holding to his honeyberry martini, sat on the office chair. Hua Cheng added, "Anyway, spit it out already".

Damn, Shi Qingxuan thought, one can't even do a little drama before starting a story!

"Alright. Ahem! Well, it all started just the other day..."

•

Shi Qingxuan was happy: his proposals for the redesign of the college's website were approved by the Trustees, and they even found someone to do it: a volunteer, the principal said, with a top-notch CV. He'd meet this guy after class hours to explain his concept, he didn't even mind the overtime.

He walked in the staff room brightly: he was in charge of the project, it would be fun! But as soon as he saw who was waiting for him, he jumped, as if he had seen a poisonous snake. It was He Xuan!

He hissed, "What are you doing here?"

He Xuan got up from that sofa, and replied, "Hum, I came here to meet you and redesign a website together?"

To his credit, he looked like he was expecting Shi Qingxuan's reaction, and was super well-mannered – more well-mannered than Shi Qingxuan had ever seen him in fact.

"Excuse me? Are you fucking mad?", Shi Qingxuan hissed again, "That's it, just go. I'll tell the principal it's not possible for us to work together and – "

"Shi Qingxuan", he replied, his face impassive as ever, "You can't tell you principal we know each other, let alone why we can't work together".

"Excuse me? Don't tell me what I can or can't do – "