Work Text:
“Dude, there’s no one here. Are we in the wrong theater?”
“We just got here,” Shen Yuan said, rolling his eyes. “Relax.”
Shang Qinghua flopped into his seat and huffed, “It was full when we booked tickets.”
Shen Yuan sighed and dropped into the seat next to Qinghua and looked at the blank movie screen. After all their outings and activities, there was finally something worth watching in theaters. So after a discussion about going to see the show, what time they could make, which seats they wanted, and preferred snacks, everything was set and ready.
Shen Yuan even made sure they arrived to the theater ten minutes before the official start time, which was probably why the entire room was empty. Probably.
“Are you sure we’re in the right place?” Shang Qinghua asked. “Theater four, right?”
“Yes,” Shen Yuan said. “I checked when we came in. We’re probably just early.”
“We better be.” Shang Qinghua mumbled. “Or I want a refund.”
“You didn’t even pay,” Shen Yuan rolled his eyes. “If anyone’s getting a refund, it’s me.”
Shang Qinghua snickered at that and began rummaging in his bag for a bottle of water. Even though Shen Yuan purchased an extra large popcorn to share, Shang Qinghua insisted on sneaking in a few snacks of his own to share.
“Are you trying to get us kicked out?” Shen Yuan asked as he swatted Shang Qinghua’s shoulder.
“Bro! They’re not going to kick us out over water. Maybe the candy, but that’s why I don’t take it out until after the lights go down.”
Shen Yuan sighed at the reasoning but accepted the second bottle of water Shang Qinghua pulled from his pack.
The two continued to chat for a while. Every so often Shang Qinghua checked his watch, and Shen Yuan reassured him that they were indeed in the correct place at the correct time.
It was strangely unnerving to be the first people in an empty movie theater.
Then, almost as if to tease the two, the screen lit up with motion and sound boomed through the room as the previews began.
“See!” Shen Yuan exclaimed, shaking Shang Qinghua’s shoulder. “I told you we were in the right place! You were overthinking things.”
“You can’t blame me!” Shang Qinghua cried, grabbing a handful of popcorn from the bucket on Shen Yuan’s lap. “We were on time and no one was here!”
“We’re ten minutes early.” Shen Yuan corrected, knowing full well Shang Qinghua wouldn’t care. “Obviously they aren’t going to play previews for people who are fifteen minutes early.”
Quietly the two bickered, only to quiet down when someone walked into the theater and promptly found their seat.
Shen Yuan tried not to stare. Really he tried, but he couldn’t help but nudge Shang Qinghua and whisper, “He looks really good.”
“Right?” Shang Qinghua agreed, his voice just as hushed as he watched the man sit down a few rows in front of them.
“He dressed up like that for a movie? He looks so good. I wish I looked like that”
Shang Qinghua raised an eyebrow and simply looked at Shen Yuan as he whispered, “You could look like that if you wanted to. Lazy. You’re the one with the new wardrobe, you could dress nicely if you tried. I’m a natural born schlep.”
“Oh knock it off,’ Shen Yuan said as he bumped his shoulder against Shang Qinghua’s. “You look fine.”
Tossing his head back and running a hand through his hair, Shang Qinghua wiggled his eyebrows and grinned, “Oh I know I’m fine.”
Shen Yuan huffed a laugh and relaxed as more people began trickling into the theater. There was a low chatter between the different groups of movie goers, which made it easy for Shen Yuan to discuss the parts of the show he was most excited for with Shang Qinghua.
Finally, after twenty minutes of unnecessary previews and commercials—all of which Shang Qinghua had to comment on, and most of which Shen Yuan was interested in seeing for himself—the lights dimmed and the show began.
And oh boy was it good.
Between the show itself, the quiet remarks they shared between each other, the raucous laughter from the large party a few rows behind them, and the ridiculous amount of candy Shang Qinghua managed to fit into his shoulder bag, Shen Yuan had an absolute blast.
When the credits finally rolled across the screen, Shen Yuan watched in fascination as Shang Qinghua expertly repacked his snacks—the two water bottles, an orange drink, several bags of gummy candy, a ziplock bag of chocolate chips, and a small container of roasted melon seeds—while he nibbled absently at the remaining popcorn kernels in his popcorn bucket.
“You didn’t say it was going to be that good!” Shang Qinghua crowed as they followed the other people leaving the theater.
The excited conversations flowed past Shen Yuan as he focused solely on his friend, who waved his hands around animatedly while he spoke about his favorite parts. Shen Yuan couldn’t help but join in, pointing out aspects Qinghua didn’t notice and highlighting the parts they both enjoyed best.
Unable to hold back a smile at how much fun the night had been, Shen Yuan fished his phone out of his pocket and asked, “Want to get a picture in front of the poster?”
The answer was yes, if Shang Qinghua’s whoop of excitement was anything to go by.
Outside the two took turns posing ridiculously in front of the poster, laughing a bit too hard at each other while simultaneously trying to get a good photo.
“Should we do a selfie?” Shang Qinghua asked as he peered over Shen Yuan’s shoulder.
They had been looking over the pictures they took, some were admittedly better than others, but Shen Yuan intended on keeping all of them.
“If you want,” Shen Yuan said.
Neither of them were very good at selfies, which made it hard to get a picture of both of them at the same place unless they asked a passerby to take one for them.
“Yeah, yeah!” Shang Qinghua grinned.
Fine then. With little warning Shen Yuan threw an arm over Shang Qingha’s shoulders, pulled him closer, and raised his phone to snap a few shots of them.
The pictures kind of sucked. The poster was hardly visible, Shang Qinghua looked silly and confused in the first couple pictures, and Shen Yuan was looking a little too far to the left in all of them.
But it was fun, and a nice outing activity. If the other movies were half as good as the previews made them out to be, Shen Yuan might be dragging Shang Qinghua back for another movie night sometime in the future.