When Rose's Thorns Attack my Sides (But my Eyes Stay Trained on You) (Xingyun)

Ch. 17

"Really? Thanks, I appreciate it!"

Chongyun leaves Xingqiu to stand alone in his room, a torrent of butterflies swarming in his stomach.

"Maybe I should get out of the house for a while..."

-

After a bit of contemplation, he decides to go see Xiangling. His feelings about her were unwavering, and that helped him not to worry - she was his friend. Chongyun on the other hand...

He shoos the thought away and goes up to the window to say hello.

"Oh hi Xingqiu! No Chongyun today?" She asks, propping her elbows up on the counter.

"Afraid not. He had something else to do." He explains.

"Alright then. I was just a little surprised since you two are so close!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" He looks at her skeptically while that all too familiar feeling of blushing comes around.

"You two have a thing for each other. That what it's supposed to mean." She shrugs.

"Chongyun does not have a thing for me! And I don't have a thing for him! What does that even mean anyways?" He defends himself quickly.

"It means that you liiiike hiiiiim~" she giggles, pushing away from the counter.

"Like him? I don't like him. Besides I-" he looks away and shifts his weight around. "I can't."

"So you do like him!"

"What? No I don't!"

"I'm not dumb Xingqiu." She narrows her eyes at him before poking him in the chest, suddenly growing serious. "You. Have. A. Crush."

For some reason, saying that he 'liked him' felt like an understatement. Almost like it was too vague of a description.

...but saying he has a crush on him?

Shit.

"S-so what if I do? It doesn't matter and it shouldn't change our relationship with one another." He mumbles.

"It matters because if you don't tell him, then you're not gonna wake up from that stupid curse!" She hisses.

"That doesn't matter if he's not my 'true love'. He doesn't like me the same way, so it wouldn't wake me up anyways."

"Even if he doesn't right now, at the rate you two are going, he's not gonna be oblivious for much longer." She sighs.

"If I were you, I'd hurry up and tell him before it's too late."

"It's so much more complicated than that though..."

"Whatever you decide to do, just know that if you fall asleep, then I will tell him. Because it would be pretty different without you around, Xingqiu. And I'm confident Chongyun feels the same way."

"I know..." He sighs.

They wrap up their conversation and Xingqiu heads off to his house to find a book to distract himself with, the day not even half over with.

While he's thumbing through the pages of an adventure novel, he eyes the edge of his bed and slowly reaches for a book with a blue cover with a picture of a girl fast asleep with a rose in her hands.

He'd liked the book ever since he was young because the princess in the story had a curse similar to him, and it brought him comfort that it would be broken one day.

His mood improves while he reads it, and after a while he has a little revelation.

He has no doubt that he's been acting off around Chongyun and that he has noticed it, and he didn't want to fall asleep with Chongyun thinking he flat out didn't like him at all anymore.

So why not, he proposes, shower him with as much of his love and affection as possible within reason? It sure beats moping around while his birthday looms over his head.

He smiles to himself at this better alternative.

Maybe, for just a few months, he'll indulge his little crush. He'd fallen hard for him anyways, why bother getting back up? After all, maybe there was a slim chance Chongyun could fall for him too.

It's too bad Chongyun watches his step.

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I'm getting on a plane soon so I posted this a lot earlier than I usually would. Hope you guys enjoyed!

Written: June 10th. 2023

Finished/Published: July 25th, 2023

(Word Count: 1,325)