TIAN GUAN CI FU Fan fic stories

COFFEE AND CINNAMON

- CHAPTER 1 -

Xie Lian was hit with the strong fragrance of coffee when he walked through the door of his favorite cafe. He was glad. Last time, it smelled of coffee and agitated alpha, due to some dispute or another. Xie Lian is an omega, and is particularly sensitive to alpha pheromones, especially when it is near the time of month that he gets his heat. He is on suppressants, but they can only do so much.

That is why when he walked in and smelled nothing but the bracing bitterness of fresh roasted coffee, he let out a sigh of relief and smiled. It caught the attention of the patron in front of him; a tall, dark, and handsome stranger -very obviously an alpha- dressed in a scarlet red turtleneck, black pea coat, and black slacks that fit him oh-so-well (not that Xie Lian would admit to noticing).

The stranger smiled and turned to him asking "Having a good day, gege?" Xie Lian noticed his striking black eye and the eyepatch covering the other. He was momentarily stunned. He snapped out of it and replied, "Yes, thank you. Just grabbing coffee on my way to class. We have a very exciting lesson today." The stranger raised an eyebrow and smiled, replying "Oh, is gege a student?"

Xie Lian hurried to correct the assumption. "No, I'm a teacher! I teach second grade, and my name is Xie Lian."

"My name is Hua Cheng but you can call me San Lang. Is it alright if I call you gege?"

Xie Lian flushed and ducked his head. "En." He replied.

Xie Lian and Hua Cheng chatted more while waiting for the line to clear. Finally, Hua Cheng was at the front and was able to place his order. Xie Lian was lost in thought until the barista called for him to order. He quickly told her what he wanted and was very surprised when she told him that Hua Cheng had already paid for his order.

Hua Cheng smiled when Xie Lian looked over at him. He flushed (again) and walked over to where Hua Cheng was waiting for his drink. "Thank you San Lang, you didn't have to do that." Hua Cheng looked down at him and smirked. "It's no problem gege, it's the least I could do for your company and conversation."

Xie Lian hurriedly replied "No, thank you! It was very nice to talk to you. I really appreciate it. I would love to chat with you again sometime." He realized he was basically asking a stranger -and an alpha at that- to meet up again and flushed even darker.
Hua Cheng leaned in and smiled softly. "If you'd like, I can get your number and we can meet for coffee again?"

Xie Lian noticed how wonderful Hua Cheng smelled, a bit smokey and almost earthy, but with a hint of cinnamon. He was momentarily stunned and nodded his head. Hua Cheng gave him a brilliant smile and took out his phone. He handed it over to Xie Lian who quickly put in his number and handed it back.

Hua Cheng looked at his watch. "Gege, I'm sorry but I need to get to work myself. I'll text you later?" This snapped him out of his trance and he checked the time. He jolted "Oh, I'm going to be late! Thank you San Lang. See you later!" and he ran out the door.

He made it to class with mere minutes to spare. The kids were good that day, it was a fun lesson. He made it home to his small studio apartment and shrugged out of his coat. As he was clearing out his pockets, he noticed he had a notification on his phone. It was a message from an unknown number.

Unknown number: 7:23 AM
[Hi gege, it's San Lang. I hope you have a great day at class]

Xie Lian quickly saved Hua Cheng's number and replied.

Me: 5:36 PM
[Hey San Lang! Sorry about taking so long to reply. It was a very busy day today, but it was so much fun. The kids were so excited, it was cute. I hope you had a good day too!]