Chapter Text
Bad Habits
*Disclaimer: I don’t own Heaven Official’s Blessing (TGCF). No money is made with this, I write out of love and not for money. Comments and kudos are more then welcome though. Enjoy!*
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Hong Hong-er was curled up in his bed, desperately trying to cry as quietly as possible. The last time he had woken from a nightmare, his father had beat him up for being too loud and waking the neighbors. He hadn’t been able to sit properly for three days, so Hong Hong-er tried his hardest to be quiet. But the things he had seen in his dream had been so scary. There was always shouting and blood, so much blood. He always saw a man in white, the man was crying while he held onto Hong Hong-er’s body, talking in a language the young boy doesn’t understand. He’s in too much pain to make sense of the words anyways, his blood drenching the other man’s white robes. There’s loud noises in the background but Hong Hong-er never gets to see who is fighting and why. All he knows, is, that it’s dangerous and that they need to leave. But they can’t, he can’t and it hurts and it’s loud and-
“Shh, it’s alright. Take a deep breath.”
Hong Hong-er jerks and presses himself further into the wall of his bedroom. There is a stranger in his room, a stranger who must have gotten in through the now open window. Fear once more crawls up his spine, but then he sees the man’s face in the light of the moon and he freezes before he can call for his father. This is the man from his dreams. Though now, he’s not crying or covered in Hong Hong-er’s blood. He’s smiling and sitting on Hong Hong-er’s bed.
“I’m Xie Lian, your neighbor,” the man explains, scratching the back of his head. “I heard you crying, so I sneaked in to help. Sorry, it’s a bad habit.”
Maybe Hong Hong-er should have questioned that, but right then, in his post nightmare state, he can’t find the energy or brain capacity to do so. The man is nice, he isn’t yelling at him even though Hong Hong-er had woken him up. Instead he’s… petting his head?
“Do you wanna tell me why you’re crying?,” the neighbor, Xie Lian, asks. But Hong Hong-er just shakes his head no. He doesn’t want to think about it anymore, he just wants to forget the bad things he had seen. He wants for it to stop. Why didn’t the dreams stop?
“N-nightmare,” he offers in explanation, and the man seems to understand, because he nods and reaches for Hong Hong-er before stopping himself in the last moment.
“Would you like a hug?,” he asks, arms spread open wide in invitation. And Hong Hong-er finds that yes, he does. He really, really wants a hug, even if it’s from someone he doesn’t know. He didn’t have a hug in a long time. All his father ever does is train him or beat him. Since his mother died, the last bit of kindness had left the Hua family. So without hesitation, Hong Hong-er dives into the open arms and clings to his neighbor, silencing his resurfacing sobbing in the other’s chest. The man is a little chilly, but Hong Hong-er is too distracted to notice.
The man holds him, rubbing comforting circles on his back. “Shsh, it’s okay. Everything will be okay. You’re doing amazing.”
The man keeps whispering sweet and kind words into his ear and slowly, Hong Hong-er drifts back to sleep in the stranger’s arms. When he wakes up in the morning, the man’s name is forgotten and when he tries to figure out which of their neighbors it was, he finds that their next door neighbor had just moved out. But that can’t be! Hong Hong-er needs to find him and thank him for his kindness! So once the young boy had made up his mind, he started on his next mission – finding his neighbor and thanking him.
~Twelve Years Later~
Hong Hong-er or Hua Cheng as he is now being called, can only blame his partially bad luck for not having found the man of his dreams again. While the nightmares kept repeating itself, the visit of the kind stranger dressed in white stayed a one time experience. And no matter how hard Hua Cheng tried, he couldn’t remember the man’s name. He also couldn’t find anything about the man, not even now, years later, when people where much more willing to answer his questions then when he had been a tiny kid.
The man appeared to be a ghost. Only that the Hua family knew how to deal with those or any kind of supernatural being, and from what Hua Cheng remembered, the man hadn’t fit into the category of ghosts. It was what Hua Cheng had been trained for all those years. He was a trained hunter, a vampire hunter specifically, yet he also knew how to fight and kill other types of supernatural species’. Not that Hua Cheng cared much about that family tradition. As soon as possible, he had cut all connections he had ever had to them, no matter how much money he could make with his admittedly quite polished abilities. He did use what he had learned to protect himself and those few he cared about, but he wasn’t actively hunting anymore. Hua Cheng also had a quite lucrative day job. He would have changed his name too, if it wasn’t for the fact that it had been his mother’s family name and it was the last thing he had of her aside from his childhood nickname and a few fond memories. There was also the faint hope that the man he was looking for would remember him when hearing of him. And no matter how small that chance was, it was still a chance.
Sighing heavily, Hua Cheng stood on his balcony, sipping his first cup of tea. He had recently moved into a new flat. It was a small place but not as small as the place he had grown up in. While looking out into the garden below and at the beautiful roses his neighbor had planted out there, Hua Cheng found himself once again questioning if he shouldn’t give up. It was a silly game he played with himself from time to time. He knew he wasn’t going to stop looking for his former neighbor, no matter how long it took. It didn’t matter that his family and fellow hunters had called him insane and obsessed. He could admit that he was, no problem. And while he didn’t quite understand it himself, he also couldn’t see any harm in following that path. Maybe it was because that man had helped him during that hard time in his childhood, maybe it was because it was a speck of kindness in the darkness of cruelty, it didn’t really matter. Hua Cheng was going to find him and he was going to repay that kindness thousand times worth. And maybe, maybe, he would also find the answer to why the man kept haunting his dreams since Hua Cheng could remember, even before they had met for the first time. Because while the kindness was one thing, Hua Cheng also was beyond curious. And no matter what book he read or what fortune teller, oracle or even supernatural being he had asked (read interrogated), nobody had been able to give him a satisfactory answer yet.
~*~
“- need to leave! They’ll kill you!”
The voice was desperate and haunted and in so much pain it almost overwrote the pain his body was in.
“No,” he found himself answering without meaning to. Hua Cheng could feel the blood drain out of his body at a worryingly fast pace. It was drenching the man’s white robes at this point, created a beautiful contrast of red and white.
“I’m sorry, Dianxia. It’s too late for that. But don’t worry, I won’t be gone for long. I’ll find you again, no matter how long it takes.”
The words were spoken in a language that still sounded foreign and unfamiliar, yet Hua Cheng knew exactly what to say and what it meant. It was as if his body was following a script without his mind knowing what was going to come next.
“San Lang!” The man was crying now, his strong arms shaking in despair while he held onto his dying body. “I won’t leave you, not again!”
“You have to. If they kill you too... please, Gege.”
The yelling and the sounds of a fight drew closer and closer and Hua Cheng knew that it was only a matter of seconds before they would be found.
“Go, my love.”
The man’s crying eyes were full of pain and heartbreak as he bent down and kissed him softly. It looked like it was killing the man, but then he finally let go of Hua Cheng’s dying body and stood, a black sword covered in blood appearing in his hand. He took one last look at him and forced a smile.
“I’ll find you again, San Lang.”
“As will I, Gege.” Hua Cheng’s voice was barely audible, yet he smiled up at his beloved. And then, the man was gone.
~*~
Hua Cheng bolted upright in his bed, panting and pressing a hand to his chest where the bleeding wound had been just seconds earlier. His eye flickered through the darkness of his bedroom, only lit up slightly by the light of the full moon and the glowing streetlamp outside. That had been new. He had never before understood the words his dream self and the man with his neighbor’s face had said.
“Gege,” Hua Cheng whispered, tasting the name on his tongue. It felt right. Like an affectionate nickname with history, something private and cherished. It wasn’t a real name but it was something.
Hua Cheng leaned back in his pillows and looked up at the ceiling while his breath evened out slowly.
“I’ll find you, Gege,” he whispered, a soft smile forming on his face.
~*~
Xie Lian got out of the car and waved to the driver one last time in thanks for taking him here. He was glad they had let him ride along with them for the last few hours, saving him a lot of walking. Not that he minded walking, not at all, but it was a rather sunny day and for a vampire like him, the sun wasn’t the kindest companion. Especially not for such a long time. But that didn’t matter, because here he was, standing at the first building of the city he had left over ten years ago. Usually, he wouldn’t return after such a short amount of time as to not get recognized by acquaintances or old friends and having to answer questions he couldn’t answer without revealing his secret. But something was pulling him here. Something inside him urged him to come back, and over the countless years and centuries, Xie Lian had come to trust that gut feeling.
Next to the road stood an old Chinese white pine tree and Xie Lian reached out, out of habit, to give it a pat to it’s bark.
‘For good luck, Gege.’
The memory used to make his heart ache, but over time he had come to appreciate them again. Everything about his beloved San Lang was part of him and his beloved wouldn’t want for it to be painful to be remembered. So Xie Lian smiled at the pine tree they had found there so long ago when the now bustling city had been nothing than a few shacks by a river. They kept visiting again and again, watching the little plant become the tree it was now. It was a small miracle nobody had cut it down until now, but the Chinese white pine tree was still there and its sight once more filled Xie Lian with hope.
“I wonder how much longer it will take until we meet again, San Lang,” Xie Lian whispered and then, after one last touch to the bark, he carried on, following the road into the city. Briefly his thoughts wandered to the kid he had met on his last night here. Well, met was a stretch, and maybe it hadn’t been his smartest idea, sneaking into the living space of one of the upcoming vampire hunter clans, but the child’s muffled cries and sobs had broken his heart. He doubted he was even remembered after all those years. Maybe the child had even already forgotten him the following morning. Shaking his head, Xie Lian smiled at the memory of the child falling asleep in his arms. It had been a nice way to leave the city. Doing one good deed before being on his merry way. Looking up at the high skyscraper, he wondered what adventures were awaiting him here now.
~*~
“A Chinese White Pine tree. They are considered a symbol of longevity and immortality,” Hua Cheng rattled down, while his Gege examined the tree at the side of the road they were currently traveling. Strolling over, Hua Cheng reached out and gave the bark of the young tree a firm pat.
“For good luck, Gege,” he said with a smile, looking at his beloved. Gege shook his head, but he was wearing a fond smile on his beautiful face.
“San Lang really knows everything, doesn’t he?,” the man in white asked and Hua Cheng shook his head no.
“I merely know some things.”
“Always so humble,” Gege chuckled but placed his hand next to Hua Cheng’s, gently touching the pine tree’s bark as well.
“Very well. For good luck then. Not that I need any from a tree when I have my San Lang,” his Gege said and Hua Cheng found his cheeks flushing.
“Don’t tease me, Gege,” he said, hiding his face in his hands, red robes effectively covering everything. His ears still caught the soft laughter of his beloved. His heart fluttered at hearing his favorite sound in existence.
“Come on, San Lang, it’s almost dawn.”
~*~
This time, Hua Cheng didn’t bolt upright as he woke up. Instead, his eye simply blinked open. For a moment, he felt disorientated, confused even as to where he was. One moment, he had been outside, walking down a somehow familiar looking path with Gege and then… ah. It had been another dream. But this was new. As long as he remembered, Hua Cheng had always gotten the same dream of him and the man in white, hurt and bloody, about to loose each other to a force he didn’t know and couldn’t fight. This fragment of a dream though? It had been… domestic. It had been like a glimpse into their story past the final battle which had separated them. It felt… different, for the lack of a better word. Nice. For a short time, Hua Cheng had felt loved. His sole eye burned and he blinked against the tears. He had never felt that way before. But it could also be that the fever he was currently having was making him overly emotional.
Hua Cheng sighed. He would not be able to return to work the following morning, that much was already clear. So he took his phone and send a quick text to Yin Yu, informing his personal assistant that he wouldn’t be in for the next few days, before he dug out one of the scrolls he had acquired during one of his latest search for answers. It had taken a one week trip to get to the abandoned vampire hideout in the mountains and another week back, but those scrolls had been mentioned in one of his other promising sources and if Hua Cheng was going to be stuck in bed, he might as well try and do something that was productive.
Maybe staying up and reading had not been Hua Cheng’s smartest idea however, because the next day, the man felt worse than he had before. The contents of the scrolls had thrown him for a loop though and Hua Cheng didn’t understand how he hadn’t developed this new theory before. New to him only, because he had just dug it out the night before. And Hua Cheng didn’t understand. It was so obvious. How had nobody, none of his clan, none of the others he had asked, pieced it together. The repeating dreams, the feeling of familiarity… could it be that those were memories of his previous life? That he had reincarnated? But if that was the case, then the man he was looking for, his Gege, he wasn’t human. Because the clothes they had worn were centuries old, yet the man hadn’t looked older then twenty. Not to mention his face. It was a perfect replica and from what Hua Cheng had learned, reincarnation didn’t work that way. While it was possible that there would be similarities, looking the exact same was unheard of. So his Gege had to be something not human. So if Hua Cheng’s theory was right, then he had died during that battle which haunted his dreams. And he remembered his life now, more bits and pieces, because he reached the point of where he was… what? Hua Cheng didn’t know. But maybe fate would be so kind as to let them meet again. And then Hua Cheng would be able to keep the promise he had made short before dying. Finding his Gege again.
Hua Cheng coughed and closed his eye. He would have to wait until he had gotten over his flu, before he could do more. Until then, hew was left with this mind blowing theory and even more determination to find the man of his dreams.
~*~
“I’ll find you again, San Lang.”
“As will I, Gege.” Hua Cheng’s voice was barely audible, yet he smiled up at his beloved. And then, the man was gone. Hua Cheng listened to the barely audible footsteps and prayed to whatever deity that was listening that his Gege wouldn’t try and return to rescue him. It was futile. He couldn’t feel his limps anymore at this point, having lost too much blood already. Hua Cheng knew he wasn’t going to survive this, but he was going to make them regret hurting his Gege. With the last of his strength, he summoned his wraith butterflies.
“Do you plan on fighting me with your little pets?,” a foreign yet familiar voice asked. With great effort, Hua Cheng turned his head to face its owner.
“Jun Wu.”
Of course it was Jun Wu, the man who had been suspicious to him right from the start yet his Gege had insisted that he meant no harm. That they could learn from each other. Now his blood stained sword and the victorious grin on his face told Hua Cheng everything he needed to know. The man was a hunter, had betrayed them and had corrupted the few people Hua Cheng and his beloved held dear.
“I’m glad you’re still coherent enough to recognize me, Crimson Rain,” Jun Wu replied, looking down at him, lazily twirling his sword. “You shall know who will eradicate your cursed kind from this earth. I will destroy you all, starting with you and your beloved Xie Lian.”
Jun Wu stepped closer and Hua Cheng was barely able to focus on the name of his beloved before dread and pain washed over him as the sword was thrust deep inside his heart, then got twisted and turned. Hua Cheng gasped for air but couldn’t breathe. And usually, he didn’t need too, but right then, the pain was so overwhelming and he couldn’t find the energy to do anything other then stare up. With one last effort, he send his butterflies at the man, but Jun Wu waved them away as if they were nothing but flies. They blinked out of existence upon contact.
“Good riddance, Crimson Rain Sought Flower.”
~*~
Xie Lian’s first day back in town was cloudy and he appreciated it greatly. Apartment and job hunting was easier when he didn’t have to worry about having to explain a massive sunburn in late November. His first priority was finding a place to stay. Nowadays, getting a job and earning money was almost impossible without an address. And while he technically didn’t need much money, he liked having something to do and somehow support society. If he was taking their blood, he might as well pay it back in one way or another. Not that his victims remembered his approach or their donation aside from maybe a strange dream or a feeling, but he certainly did.
It took until evening for Xie Lian to find a place to stay. It was just a tiny hotel room, but he had a few places in mind that he had applied for, and appointments with landlords and -ladies, so he was optimistic. It would have been a miracle for him to find a room or an apartment within the first day and while Xie Lian’s luck had gotten better over the decades, it wasn’t that good.
Setting himself up in the tiny room, Xie Lian debated whether or not he should go out again. He wasn’t particularly thirsty at the moment, so there was no need for him to go and look for blood. But maybe he could see if anyone around here was hiring? Decision made, he grabbed his coat and left the hotel room once more, stepping out into the cold night air.
“San Lang would surely tease me for this,” Xie Lian muttered to himself about two hours later when he stood in a totally different neighborhood, being absolutely lost. He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at that. All he had done was following that cute cat which hat let themselves be petted by him. Xie Lian had always had a soft spot for animals, but it was rare that they trusted a vampire like him to come close. So the cat? Yeah, of course he had to follow and make sure they had a save place to return to. And if the cutie had allowed for Xie Lian to pet them a few more times along the way…. Well, he had considered himself blessed. That is until the cat slipped through the gates of a forecourt and he noticed that he had gotten distracted.
Sighing, Xie Lian looked up at the night sky. The moon was half-full and hung between a few stars. He knew that if he would be out in the country, he would be able to see many more of them without all the light pollution. For now, the moon and the few street lights would be enough to aid him back to the hotel. Or maybe he should try again with this maps app, his friend had suggested? Not that his phone usually cooperated with him, but it was worth a try, right?
Xie Lian had just reached into the pocket of his coat when a piercing cream caused his head to snap up. Well, it was piercing to his ears. A male voice, screaming hoarsely, obviously in pain. The sound was coming from the building on the other side of the street. Without thinking, Xie Lian rushed over and used his vampire abilities to climb up the building and to the right story from where he could now hear pained huffs. The person wasn’t screaming anymore, but he also couldn’t hear anything else. Were they being attacked? Reaching the balcony, he climbed on and briefly checked if anyone was around. Focusing on his senses, he could only hear heartbeats coming from what were most likely tenants of other apartments in the building. The person who had screamed was seemingly alone, but maybe they had hurt themselves? Xie Lian needed to check.
~*~
Hua Cheng knew two things when he woke up. One, he had had one of those nightmares again. Two, he wasn’t alone in his apartment. Even before he pried his eye open, he could see the flickering light of candles. What kind of burglar lights candles?
“Ah, you’re awake,” a voice said and Hua Cheng hat never sat up this fast in his life. There on a chair next to the bed, dressed in casual white clothes sat the man of his dreams, his Gege, his Xie Lian. It seemed he had been reading a book, because now he closed it and put it aside, face full of concern.
“How are you feeling? You were screaming bloody murder earlier and you had a very high fever,” Xie Lian said, pressing a cold hand against Hua Cheng’s forehead to check his temperature. He could only gape like a fish while the man he had been looking for all those years apologized for entering without permission.
“It’s a bad habit,” he said and stood. “Please don’t call the police, I promise I won’t do it again.”
Somehow, that got Hua Cheng out of his shocked state. He huffed a laugh. “You said that the first time too.”
The man, his Gege, tilted his head in confusion and stared. Then, his beautiful gold brown eyes widened.
“The little kid! Oh goodness, I… I don’t know what to say.”
Hua Cheng was sure if the vampire in front of him could have blushed, he would be bright red now.
“I didn’t recognize you at all.”
Hua Cheng sat up some more, facing him properly. A damp towel dropped into his lap. Looks like the other had tried to lower his temperature with cold towels. Hua Cheng’s heart fluttered in his chest.
“And yet you took care of me again. Thank you.”
“Ah, it’s nothing, really,” Xie Lian said, stepping back and scratching the back of his head sheepishly. “I really should stop breaking into other people’s places though.”
“I don’t mind,” Hua Cheng was quick to answer. “I’ve been looking for you, you know?”
“Huh? Looking for me?”
Hua Cheng slowly got up and stood before the man. Suddenly he was glad that he indulged himself in what Yin Yu called ‘fancy sleepwear’ because now he didn’t have to worry too much about what he looked like.
“Yeah. I’ve been wanting to thank you for last time. You were so kind and it means a lot to me,” Hua Cheng said and felt his eye burn with gathering tears. He forced them down again. He wasn’t going to cry, he had so much to say! But he also didn’t want to scare the man off.
“I also… I also wanted to ask you something…,” he started, then stopped himself again.
“You can ask me anything… Hua Cheng, was it, right?”
Hearing his name from Gege’s lips made him frown and without further thought, he replied: “Please call me San Lang.”
Xie Lian flinched so hard as if Hua Cheng had slapped him.
“W-what?”
His beautiful voice broke and Xie Lian stared at Hua Cheng in shock.
“I’m sorry, that’s… I didn’t mean to…,” Hua Cheng was panicking. “Please, don’t run away, Gege!”
And thankfully, he didn’t. Instead, the vampire froze once more. “… what did you just call me?”
There was hurt in his voice and Hua Cheng hated himself for putting it there, but there was also something that sounded like… hope? At least he was desperate for it to be hope.
“Please, let me explain,” Hua Cheng said and took his hand instinctively. “You know I have nightmares, that’s how you keep finding me.”
He saw a tiny smile on Xie Lian’s face and quickly kept talking. “It’s actually only one nightmare, lately I’ve been getting different ones, nice ones too. They have one thing in common though.”
Hua Cheng looked deep into those honey brown eyes. “They all have you in it.”
“Me?”
“Yes, you. At first, I didn’t know who you were. Then, I met you and I was confused as to why I’d dream of my neighbor. So I kept researching and lately, I dreamed of more details… I think… I think those dreams are less dreams and more… memories.”
Hua Cheng inertly cursed himself for being this inadequate. He wanted to make sure Xie Lian understood, that he believed him, but he hadn’t exactly planned this conversation with how recently he came upon that reincarnation theory.
“You mean… you…,” Xie Lian swallowed and then, he squeezed Hua Cheng’s hand tightly.
“I’m back, Gege,” Hua Cheng said softly, pulling him closer, slowly enough to let Xie Lian pull away if he wanted. He didn’t pull away and Hua Cheng counted that as a small win. He wrapped his arms around his beloved and held him as tight as he could. And it only took a second before Xie Lian hugged him back, his body shaking slightly.
“I can’t believe it. Is it true? Are you… are you really…?” Xie Lian’s voice broke before he could finish his question but he didn’t have to.
“There is a lot I don’t remember, I think. But I am certain. You keep calling me San Lang in those dreams and I promised I would come back…”
Xie Lian hummed and pulled back enough to look at Hua Cheng. “You’re taller.”
Hua Cheng chuckled. “Yeah? Do you like it?”
Xie Lian’s hand came up to cup his cheek and Hua Cheng froze, very much aware of his lost eye and the scar on his face. He had lost it on one of the hunting trips while protecting his partner at the time. He didn’t mind then, but now… he remembered having a full field of vision in those dreams, meaning that he had had both eyes in his past life. What if Gege was disgusted by the sight? It wasn’t healthy to sleep with his patch and there usually wasn’t a reason for him to do it, so. If he had known-
A gentle tap of fingers against his skin pulled Hua Cheng back into the present moment. “I very much like it. San Lang is always the most handsome for me.”
It was clear that they weren’t talking about their height differences anymore. And if Xie Lian’s words hadn’t already taken Hua Cheng’s breath away, the blinding smile that accompanied them certainly would have. Of course his sick body decided to give up just then and Hua Cheng’s knees buckled. Xie Lian caught him and helped him sit back down on the bed.
“I’m sorry, I forgot you were sick!,” Xie Lian exclaimed, hands flailing a little. “Are you in pain? Do you have medicine around? Do you-”
“I’m fine. Just a little flu, Gege.”
This time, Xie Lian didn’t flinch, Hua Cheng noticed.
“Alright then. But you should probably get some rest,” Xie Lian said, a small frown on his face. He then pushed against his shoulders and Hua Cheng let himself be tugged back into bed by his beloved.
“If I sleep, will you be there when I wake up? Because if Gege makes me wait another twelve years…”
“I’ll be there. There’s… a lot of things we should talk about.”
Hua Cheng hummed in agreement. He was right. “Okay then…”
He watched as Xie Lian made an attempt to get back to the chair he had been occupying before, before grabbing his wrist.
“Can you… stay?”
“Stay… where?”
Hua Cheng looked away, feeling his cheeks heat up. “I… here. With me? Please?”
At this point, he really didn’t mind begging. He was still reeling from finally, finally having this man with him. It was silly, but the thought of him being gone again once he went to sleep was… upsetting. Then, a thought occurred him and he looked into those honey-gold eyes.
“Unless the scent makes Gege uncomfortable? When was the last time you ate?”
Xie Lian sputtered and flailed some more. “W-what are you talking about?”
Hua Cheng looked at him, one eyebrow raised. “Don’t tell me you don’t know the Hua family is part of the active hunter clans around here.”
“Ah… so San Lang knows…?”
“If you looking exactly like the man of my dreams wasn’t a dead giveaway, your body temperature certainly is, Gege. I may be a bit feverish, but you’re certainly colder than the average person.”
“And… you don’t mind?”
“Why would I?”
At that, Xie Lian laughed softly. “I guess some things never change… you said the exact same thing the first time we met.”
Nostalgia filled Xie Lian’s eyes and for a moment, he was deeply engrossed in his memories. Hua Cheng wondered if he too would remember all of their time together at one point. He hoped so. While Hua Cheng didn’t know much about Xie Lian yet, he felt very drawn to him. He wasn’t naive to call it love yet, but there was something that made him want to be as close as possible to this man.
“Alright. I’ll stay right here then,” Xie Lian said, smiling softly while one of his cool hands pressed against his admittedly still hot forehead. “Might as well make good use of my temperature, hm?”
Then he yanked his hand back as if a bee had suddenly stung him. “I’m sorry, I should have asked! It’s-”
“- a bad habit?,” Hua Cheng teased and gently took Xie Lian’s hand, putting it back onto his forehead, sighing softly as he closed his eye.
“I don’t mind, Gege. You can touch me however you want. I promise I would tell you if I didn’t want something.”
“…”
“Is Gege thinking naughty things?,” Hua Cheng asked after a moment, cracking his eye back open to grin teasingly.
“N-no, of course not!,” came the flustered reply.
“I see how it is. Gege must be really pent up after all this time too. This one understands. I’d still like to recover first though, so my performance will be good enough to please Dianxia.”
Xie Lian’s breath hitched at the title, but he didn’t seem to mind. Instead, he slapped Hua Cheng playfully. “Enough of that. Sleep now, or you won’t get better!”
“Yes, Gege.”