Days at Teyvat University || Modern AU Xiao x Reader

Ch 2. Jade Parcels

"Room 314, 315, here it is, room 316." You stop in front of the door labelled 316, giving it a tentative push. Despite already falling behind in some of your classes, you decided you still had some free time in your schedule, and impulsively signed up for cooking class before you could change your mind. You were told by friends and upperclassmen that it was an easy class and could help raise your GPA. Plus, it was a great opportunity to learn a much needed and necessary life skill. You had left the dorm a bit early just in case you had trouble finding the class, but it took you less time than you had expected. The classroom was empty, two stools positioned at each station pointed towards the front of the classroom, which was filled with writing and illustrations. The windows were left open, inviting the afternoon light to shine through and pool onto the speckled floor. It was still early into September, the cool breeze coming in signaling the chilling weather to come.

You quickly scanned the room before choosing a station at the back of the class. It was still a bit early before anyone would come in, leaving you alone with your thoughts.

You were snapped back to reality at the sound of several footsteps in the hall. The door opened, and students started to come in  some of which you've seen around campus, but none you were close with. You felt your heartbeat quicken, as you fumbled for your bag in search of your phone. What if no one sat by you, and you had to make the dish yourself? It's not like you haven't cooked before, but you were nowhere near qualified nor confident that you could pull this off without making a fool of yourself. Mindlessly scrolling on your phone, you heard your name being called out.

"y/n? Is that you?" You looked up, relief immediately rushed through you.

"Xiangling!" You got up and was immediately enveloped in a hug by the black haired girl. "I'm so glad to see a familiar face. Do you take this class"

Xiangling shook her head. "Nope! I'm the teacher's assistant for this class, my dad's the teacher." She replied, shooting you a wink before taking the unoccupied seat next to you.

"Wow, I didn't know!" You replied, sitting back down.

"Yeah, he's been declining the offer to work at the University for years, but our restaurant has been doing really well recently, so I finally convinced him it would be okay to take some time off each week to come teach here. The students love him, especially since they get discounts if they come to eat at Wanmin's." You giggled at the last part of Xiangling's explanation. Wanmin's Restaurant  was a particularly popular place to eat on campus by students and staff alike. The food was always amazing and would sometimes feature limited menu items created by Xiangling herself.

The two of you chatted a bit more as students began to trickle into the classroom. As the bell rang, Xiangling's father entered. Immediately there was an uproar of "hellos'' and "good mornings." Chef Mao smiled as he stopped behind the podium in front of the classroom. "Good morning everyone! Glad to see a lot of familiar faces. Just because you're here to cook doesn't mean you should stop coming to Wanmin's, okay?" A couple of giggles and chuckles rippled through the room as Chef Mao motioned for Xiangling to come to the front.

"Sorry y/n, talk to you later!" Xiangling said in a hushed voice before getting up from next to you and making her way over to her dad. Chef Mao hands her a stack of papers, which she begins passing a copy to each station.

"This is what we will be making today. My goal is for you to require as little assistance from me or my daughter as possible. So don't be afraid to make mistakes here and there. It's all part of the process to get better!" Chef Mao proceeded to point to a door in the back of the room. "Through that door is a room with prepared ingredients for each pair to bring back to their station. When you're ready please head back there. If there are any other questions feel free to ask me or Xiangling. Don't forget to wash your hands before you begin cooking!" Immediately after Chef Mao finished his speech, the room filled with chatter and the scraping of stool legs as some pairs got up to retrieve their ingredients. You locked panicked eyes with Xiangling, who gave a slight shrug, mouthing "sorry." You sighed with dread, your fears coming true. Of course Xiangling wasn't allowed to cook as part of the class, it's practically cheating to have her as a partner. You looked to the empty stool next to you before picking up the piece of paper holding the cooking instructions.

"Jade parcels, huh." You jumped at the sound of a deep voice behind you. "U-Um!" You turned your head, about to speak when you were met with a pale face, striking gold eyes mere centimeters from yours. You jerked back and averted your eyes, a warmth reaching your cheeks. Too close!

"Xiao, how nice of you to join us."  The boy you assumed was Xiao straightened from his crouched position as Chef Mao walked over to the two of you. "I think y/n would appreciate it if her partner would so kindly grab the ingredients for today's dish from the back." Clearly understanding the situation he was in, Xiao let out a small sigh, before setting his bag on the floor and headed to the back.

"I-!" Before you could protest Chef Mao had already walked away to attend to another station . You picked up the recipe page again, smoothing out the parts that got crumpled in your fingers at Xiao's sudden appearance. Now that you have Xiao as a partner you could stop worrying about being alone and finally get started on the assignment. Your hands stopped mid-smoothing as a realization hit you. Wait. PARTNERS?! WITH XIAO?!

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Hi! Thank you for reading chapter 2! I've been having fun brainstorming how I could incorporate Genshin characters into college life! I hope they don't seem too OOC.