A/N:Hi guys! Many thanks for your patience (although personally, I feel like I've updated enough for the next two weeks)! I didn't have much motivation or inspiration for this chapter but I pulled through! Enjoy <3
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Luo Binghe, Shen Qingqiu, and Shang Qinghua walked into the building as a group. Whether Luo Binghe could actually help wasn't debatable. He could. All he really needed was to know who Shen Qingqiu liked (and if it were someone he didn't know, their personality) to get to work. Shen Qingqiu was actually impressed. In a matter of minutes, Luo Binghe was able to come up with a pretty simple plan.
The plan consisted of more physical touch and asking for more shameless "favours." The favours could honestly be anything as long as the tone was right. Those touches though weren't just friendly. They could be borderline suggestive. He was also warned to not rush things too much, lest he scares Liu Qingge off. However, if those displays of affection weren't enough, Shen Qingqiu would have to come forward about his feelings. Of course, though, it would be hard to not notice someone suddenly clinging more and even doing things they normally wouldn't do.
Shen Qingqiu thanked Binghe and dismissed his tardiness as a reward. He felt like he was accomplished. The rest of the day for Shen Qingqiu felt like it couldn't have gone by faster. His stacks of unfinished paperwork somehow got finished because all that weight was gone.
Shen Qingqiu finished his day in high spirits. His day went so well that he decided to go all out with his reward (because he believes that rewarding yourself every so often is healthy). He decided to do something that he never thought he'd do: cut his hair.
Shen Qingqiu has never cut his hair. Ever. Not even as a child. Of course, he would get his edges trimmed occasionally, but that would be it. He's never dyed his hair, permed it, or done anything that involved harsh chemicals.
As Shen Qingqiu drove, he was slowly coming down from his high. Would he actually be okay with this? He's grown so used to his hair. He loved his hair. He'd grown his hair for years and just on a whim, he would just cut it? Of course, there were some pros to cutting his hair. Like, people would stop assuming he was a woman (though even without his hair, he still had a lot of feminine features)! And then the cons: he loved his hair. Shen Qingqiu thought long and hard before he found himself in front of a barbershop. So he was really doing this?
Shen Qingqiu didn't get out of his car for some time. He contemplated some more. Hell, it was only Monday. He didn't have to do this now. He had a whole week, his whole life to do something this crazy. He couldn't be irrational just because his day went very well! Since he wasn't going to do something that insane, the next best thing was to go contact his favourite person.
On the contrary, Liu Qingge's day had not gone well at all. Yang Yixuan's competition went wonderful, no doubt about it, but god were those people so annoying. Many people complained about Yixuan's winnings. Being the person he was, Qingge didn't allow Yixuan to hear such things, so he dealt with it alone.
The complaints were nonstop. "That's not fair!" "His father is the headmaster of Bai Zhan, they cheated!" "The ruling was unfair. They favour Bai Zhan!" And then, there were the comments about his relationship with Yixuan; "I bet he beats the child." "No wonder that child looks so exhausted and unwell. He surely isn't safe at home!" "He overworks him." Of course, those words were meant to get under his skin, but didn't they think that was too much? Going as far as to say he abused his kid?
Liu Qingge wasn't one to remain calm and collected when he was being slandered. But for the sake of his reputation, and embarrassing Yixuan, he held back. They were childish anyway. Would Shen Qingqiu be proud of that? Liu Qingge scoffed as if he needed the approval of his elder, who just happened to be a bit pretty.
"Yixuan, let's go." He said, voice rough. Yixuan said his goodbyes to the other contestants that he was speaking with, and followed behind Liu Qingge.
The car ride was especially quiet. Not because of a loss or anything like that, but Liu Qingge was in no mood to talk. Yang Yixuan thought about talking to him, but the glare he saw in the mirror made him think otherwise. It just felt so awkward. Normally, no matter what happened, win or loss, Liu Qingge always had feedback.
About halfway through the drive, Liu Qingge got a call. Liu Qingge looked at the caller i.d. Did he really want to answer Shen Qingqiu right now? He glanced in his rear view mirror to see Yang Yixuan fast asleep. He sighed, then answered.
"What could you possibly want now?"
"Is that a way to speak to your shixiong?"
"It's definitely a way to communicate for sure." Liu Qingge smirked as he put his turning signal on,
"Ah! My poor shidi~,"
"Oh shut up,"
"You wound me so," Liu Qingge didn't need to be there to have an idea of how Shen Qingqiu looked.
"But since I called you..." Liu Qingge rolled his eyes. He knew he wouldn't get out of this call anytime soon.
"Shidi, did you know I thought about you today?"
"Of course you did," Liu Qingge said half listening. It was often for Shen Qingqiu to say he thought about Liu Qingge or something along the lines.
"Do you want to know what I thought about?" Liu Qingge didn't answer. Not because Shen Qingqiu would tell him anyway, but because there was something different about this question.
"No." Liu Qingge said finally.
"Ah~ what a shame." That was strange. He didn't press on? Liu Qingge didn't put too much thought into it as he pulled up into his driveway.
"Oh, Shidi! Can I come over to yours?"
"Now?" The question caught Liu Qingge off guard. Wasn't someone supposed to send word beforehand? Liu Qingge got out of his car and went to get Yixuan. He readjusted his phone so that he could pick Yixuan up (despite his grown age). After a moment he answered.
"No."
"Why?!"
"I don't want you in my house."
"Well, that sucks. I'm already here." Qingge turned around to indeed see Shen Qingqiu's white Jeep Renegade pulling up to his house. Liu Qingge hung up immediately and carried Yang Yixuan inside.
Shen Qingqiu watched the latter carry that boy into his home and it was a sight to see. If he remembers, the boy's name was Yang Yixuan. He smiled fondly, his shidi was such a caring parent! Although, Yang Yixuan was a bit old for that... Shen Qingqiu got out of his car and walked up to the front door and knocked. Then it hit him. He just walked up to his shidi's house! The shidi that he slept with! It was a bit late now, he already knocked twice and was waiting outside the door! His shidi already knew he was here. How could he forget something like this? Was it just the rush of adrenaline? He started playing with his hair as he anxiously waited.
When the door finally opened, it was not Liu Qingge, but Liu Mingyan.
"Oh, Shen-Shishu," she said bowing slightly. "Gege didn't say anything about guests, but do come in." She moved to the side and allowed Qingqiu to walk in.
"Mingyan, who did you let in?" Liu Qingge said as he walked up to the door. The visible annoyance was there.
"I hope you don't mind," Shen Qingqiu said, giving an apologetic smile.
"Well I do-"
"It's not a problem at all," Liu Mingyan said, covering her brother's mouth.
"Gege, please make Shishu feel welcomed." Liu Mingyan said glaring at her brother. Liu Qingge huffed before motioning for Shen Qingqiu to come in. Shen Qingqiu smiled wide and took off his shoes.
Shen Qingqiu was amazed. He'd only been at Liu Qingge's house once or twice. His shidi was very adamant about no guests. He doesn't know why, but his house, his rules. But why Shen Qingqiu remembered his exact address, would forever be his secret.
When he crashed Qingge's house, he didn't expect much. Maybe just a bit of conversation here and there. Not to be completely ignored! Liu Qingge quite literally said "Just do what you want. Don't make a mess," and then left! So here Shen Qingqiu was, sitting in the living room, on the couch watching TV. How terrible of a host his shidi was! Granted, he did just drop by, but still! Then, he got an idea.
Shen Qingqiu turned the TV off and got off of the couch. He walked around the house for a while until he found who he was looking for. He poked his head into the office-like room. This room had a window that was on the left wall. Angled toward that window was a monitor, that was placed on top of an L-shaped desk. There was another monitor that was in the middle but shifted more to the left. The rest of the desk was filled with pictures, paperwork, and a laptop. Behind the desk were two dark wood bookshelves. One actually filled with books and half of the other was filled with awards and whatnot. Seeing Liu Qingge there in that office made him look so handsome and businesslike.
"Shidi?" Liu Qingge glanced over from his screen to Shen Qingqiu, rolled his eyes, and then went back to the screen. At that moment, Shen Qingqiu thought he would pass out from his hotness. Of course, it was unintentional of Liu Qingge, but god was it so attractive. The attitude, the way his eyes glided, his facial expressions (and just his face in general), everything made Shen Qingqiu fall deeper.
"Da-ge, did you need something? I'm really busy," Liu Qingge said, not sparing another glance towards Shen Qingqiu. There it was again the nickname!
"Oh, of course, I was just looking around. I hope you don't mind," Of course he would mind. Shen Qingqiu thought as he walked into the room. He walked in as if he stepped too loud he would be caught. Liu Qingge didn't bother saying anything and let Shen Qingqiu do as he pleased. According to the headmaster of Bai Zhan's logic, Shen Qingqiu is no different than an animal. Not in a bad way! But in the sense that if you let it do what it pleases, it'll eventually leave and move on.
Shen Qingqiu had already made it behind Liu Qingge's desk and was looking at the books on the bookshelf. Most of them were technique books, binders with lesson plans or records, and...a poetry book? Shen Qingqiu recognized it right away. It was the book he gave Liu Qingge for his birthday several years back. Upon seeing this book, Shen Qingqiu was elated! He took the book off the shelf and flipped through the pages.
"Shidi, I didn't think you kept this," Shen Qingqiu said softly. Liu Qingge turned around to see what Shen Qingqiu was talking about. Once he saw the book in his hands, he pieced two and two together.
"Yeah, Mingyan enjoys it a lot." Liu Qingge said, turning back around.
Shen Qingqiu smiled softly as he looked over the book one more time before putting it back onto the shelf. Then, another idea. Shen Qingqiu glanced over at his shidi and grinned a malicious grin. He walked up to the chair and put his arms over the back of the chair. Luckily the back wasn't too high, making his little idea go smoothly. He put his hands onto Liu Qingge's shoulders and leaned down. Now, they were practically cheek to cheek. Shen Qingqiu then slowly slid his arms down Liu Qingge's chest.
"Qingge, do you know how happy that makes me?" He whispered. It definitely was seductive. Seductive enough to cause Liu Qingge to pause whatever he was doing. Now, Shen Qingqiu's arms slid dangerously low on Liu Qingge's body before he removed them.
Liu Qingge was at a loss. He didn't take his eyes off of Shen Qingqiu's hands since they reached his chest. He watched as they got lower and lower, and then they stopped. When Shen Qingqiu whispered his words, Liu Qingge's face felt heated and his breathing hitched. What was this nonsense? What exactly was Shen Qingqiu's motive?
"Ah, I think I should go," Shen Qingqiu said, as he stood up. He started to walk over to the door in a seemingly rushed manner.
"Wait," Liu Qingge mumbled under his breath. Shen Qingqiu turned around. Liu Qingge noticed that Shen Qingqiu's face was slightly pink. Was he alright?
"N-never mind," Why did he stutter? Why was he nervous? Shen Qingqiu chuckled.
"Alright." And then he left.
Liu Qingge was left dumbstruck. How could Shen Qingqiu be so...beautiful? No, there had to be a stronger word for it, for him. He was enchanting and just so confusing. Liu Qingge just couldn't define what he felt about Shen Qingqiu. But then again, no one could explain how they felt after they had an experience with Shen Qingqiu.