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❥ 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘎𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳: 𝘕𝘦𝘶𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘭
❥ 𝘞𝘢𝘳𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴: 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦
❥ 𝘊𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘰𝘳𝘺: 𝘍𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧
❥ 𝘈𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦: 𝘕𝘰𝘯𝘦
╰──➤ 𝙏𝙍𝙊𝙐𝘽𝙇𝙀𝙎𝙊𝙈𝙀 𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙆
You sighed as you placed another book on the shelf of Mondstadt's library. Lisa forced you to take over the place for a day, along with Xingqiu, who had gotten you in trouble in the first place. While you were staying in Mondstadt, you frequented the library. But one unlucky day, you walked in and saw Xingqiu. One thing lead to another and an entire bookshelf ended up falling.
"That doesn't go there," he said.
"Then where does it go?" You groaned in annoyance.
He took the book you just put away and set it somewhere else, causing you to roll your eyes. Why did he have to be so annoying?
"Why are you here, anyway?" You asked.
"I decided to see what they have in the library here. I've read all the ones in Wanwen Bookhouse," he stated.
"It seems like you just keep following me to annoy me," you grumbled, to which he chuckled at.
"I would never!"
"Well, it's your fault we're in this situation, y'know!" You snapped.
"My fault?"
"Yes! You were the one who let go of the book, so I fell!"
"What else was I supposed to do? Let you rip it in half?"
"You know I would never rip a book."
"Maybe not on purpose."
You ignored him from then on, focusing on putting away all the books and wiping off the shelves. Re-organizing bookshelves was more of a taxing job than you anticipated. You were drained after only an hour. Thankfully, though, the library was closed for the day because of the disaster, so it was only you and Xingqiu. Actually, maybe that wasn't a good thing.
"We should take a break," Xingqiu suggested after two hours of work.
"There's still a lot left, though, we might not finish it in time."
"Y/n, you need to relax. Lisa isn't going to kill us if we don't get all of it done today."
"You never know."
He sighed and sat down at a table. "Fine, then."
You noticed a book cover that stood out to you and picked it up from your cart of books.
"A Legend of Sword...?" You mumbled.
Xingqiu tensed as he heard the familiar name, and he watched as you opened the book. You mindlessly took a seat across from him, immediately entranced by the book in your hand. He watched your eyes sparkle as they glided across each page. And then you began to notice something.
"The author of this book has your writing style," you muttered subconsciously, not meaning to say that out loud.
"How do you know my writing style?"
Your eyes shot up to meet his as you realized what you said. "Um, you left a draft at our place a while ago when you came to hang out with Chongyun..."
"...You read a draft I wrote?"
"Maybe."
He sighed. "That's embarrassing..."
"Did you write this?" You questioned. "It seems like the draft was one for this story."
You figured it out in two seconds.
Xingqiu could barely believe it. "Well, I... yes..."
Surprisingly, you acted nonchalant about it. "You made a lot of changes from draft to final product... It's good. Better."
Internally, you were cursing yourself for being so invested in a book Xingqiu wrote. Still, you continued reading it. After a while, you noticed him staring at you while you did so.
"What?" You spat, keeping your eyes on the pages.
"Hm?"
You looked up at him. "Why are you staring at me?"
"I'm not."
"You were."
"No, I wasn't."
"Yes, you were."
He didn't reply, only averting his gaze, so you stood up and decided to keep working.
"We should get back to it."
"Right."
While working, you noticed Xingqiu glancing over at you on multiple occasions. Why was he acting so weird? You couldn't figure it out. After the fifth time meeting his gaze from across the room, you walked over to him. He could feel his heart rate speeding up as you approached.
"Why are you acting so weird?" You demanded, narrowing your eyes at him.
"What do you mean?"
"Why do you keep looking at me?"
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Xingqiu, we just made eye contact for like the tenth time."
He didn't bother to correct your counting, but he loved when you said his name.
"Hm."
"...Are you really not gonna answer me?"
"Y/n, do you hate me?"
"What? No."
"Then, may I tell you something?"
"Yeah...?"
Suddenly, he gently pressed you against the bookshelf against the wall. His hands were trapping you, resting on either side of you on the shelves. You sucked in a sharp breath, startled by his actions.
"Xingqiu, what are you doing?"
"The real reason I came here was so I could see you. I missed you. And, if I'm being honest, I'm glad I was given the opportunity to be alone with you for a significant amount of time."
You could feel your face heating up. "X-Xingqiu... What are you saying?"
"What I'm trying to say, Y/n, is that I'm deeply in love with you."
"This is so out of nowhere... Y-You... love me?"
"Yes," he spoke softly, taking a step back. "Apologies for cornering you. I wasn't thinking clearly. Anyway, feel free to deny my confession. I'm well aware that even if you don't hate me, you're not exactly fond of me either. So-"
You cut him off by grabbing his shirt and pulling him closer, smacking your lips against his. He stood in shock as he tried comprehending the situation. Once he did, he closed his eyes and wrapped his arms around you, kissing back. After pulling away, you took a deep breath.
