fortuity | zhongchi

04

"YOU LIKE HIM DON'T YOU?"

⎯

with only about a week of school left, childe has been noticeably diligent in his studies. zhongli has been observing him from afar, and since he teaches one of his classes, he sees the amount of effort childe puts in his work. resulting in that, the two haven't been able to hang out since the time childe treated zhongli to lunch.

it hasn't been too long but it somehow felt like forever to childe. the day has ended and childe decided to look for zhongli, planning on introducing him to someone. upon swinging his head vigorously, he spotted the familiar figure from afar. "is that him..?" childe spoke in a low tone.

he sped up his pace, trying to catch the man before he boarded his train. as zhongli was about to step on the platform, he was taken back by his wrist. "ah — uh, huh? who's —" zhongli tried to release from his grip. people forced their ways in the train, afraid of missing it. zhongli was gradually pushed out the way along with childe.

"hey! let go i'm gonna miss the —" zhongli couldn't manage to escape from childe's grip, watching as the train started to move. he shook off childe's hand, frowning, "huh childe? what are you doing?" meanwhile, staring at the agitated man, childe grinned — only making zhongli more confused.

he tried to walk away but kept getting interrupted by childe, "wait up, follow me." zhongli burrowed his brows in an annoyed manner, "no, you made me miss my train and now you want me to follow you? there must be a good reason for this." childe looked at the ground, scratching his neck, "i'm sorry about that mr. zhongli." zhongli bit the inside of his lip, standing in silence.

zhongli sighed, "fine, what is it that you need from me?" childe lifted his head, his eyes glowing brightly. he straightened his back, clearing his throat, "just follow me." he walked towards the exit of the subway, zhongli not far behind. the two walked without exchanging a word, childe looking eager to arrive wherever they're going.

childe's mouth dropped open, an excited expression clearly seen on his face, "hey ningguang!" a woman with long, elegant, white hair, stood a few meters away from the two men. zhongli clearly recognized the woman, although didn't mention it. childe turned his head to zhongli, signing him to hurry along. zhongli raised one eyebrow, "and who might this be?"

the woman didn't look too pleased, "childe, seriously?" childe smirked, going behind ningguang and pushing her towards zhongli, "you two... are perfect together!" zhongli widened his eyes, inching away from the woman beside him. ningguang's expression was just the same as the man's. "don't worry, i have no such intentions." she grumbled.

zhongli sighed, crossing his arms, "childe, what is this?" the boy put his hands on his hips, "i'm just doing you two a favor! now, zhongli this is ningguang, ningguang this is zhongli." he faced both of them to each other. "i figured you'd be a perfect match, considering you two have very similar demeanors!"

the both of them looked uninterested, switching their gazes to childe. he took both their hands, "you guys, just give it a chance. let's go to the cafe we first met, i bet you'll see how compatible you guys are." as he desperately pulled them, ningguang caught zhongli's face a bit reddened, staring at his hand intertwined with childe's.

zhongli and ningguang made eye contact for a split second, only for him to turn his head away. ningguang scoffed, 'he's as clueless as ever.' thankfully, the cafe wasn't far from their uni meaning the awkwardness of childe holding their hands won't last long.

upon arriving, childe took the two's orders. zhongli and ningguang sat on a table for four and silence was the only thing heard until ningguang spoke up, "you like him don't you?" zhongli struggled to keep a poker face, "hm? why would you think so?"