Read to me ~ Xingyun

2

Chongyun POV:

I woke up to the feeling of a tap on my shoulder,

"Not now, Bennett. The bell hasn't gone yet.." I Mumbled sleepily,

"Chongyun. What do you think you're doing sleeping in my class?" Mr Diluc said sternly.

I sat up, startled, and suddenly awake,

"I- sorry sir I didn't realise I fell asleep!" I spoke, stumbling on my words,

"Hm. See me after class."

For the rest of the class, I could feel myself getting nervous. I needed to stay calm but I couldn't eat in class. This could be bad.

The bell rang, and I stayed seated as everyone else left.

"Chongyun, how are you feeling?" Mr.Diluc asked,

"I'm fine." I spoke, trying to level my emotions.

"Will you follow me to the principals office, please?" Diluc requested," I nodded nervously, and we walked over to Miss jeans office. "I took a seat, and the questioning began.

"Hello Chongyun, I'd like to ask you, is everything ok at home? You have seemed really tired for the past few weeks, and multiple teachers have told me you have been sleeping in class." Headmaster Jean asked,

"T-they have? I haven't been in trouble for it before this, though!"

"Yes, we like to let our students rest if they need it, but you have been sleeping in most classes, and we are worried about you." She continued,

"Well, yes, everything at home is fine. I have just been tired because it's been difficult to sleep lately. You know about my condition, and it seems it gets worse at night, so I am up all night trying to calm down.." I responded.

"Ah, I see. Not much we can do then..." Jean muttered,

"Maybe we could get you in touch with the school councillor. They may not be a doctor, but they might be able to help you with emotional things." Diluc spoke up,

"Hmm, maybe.." Jean agreed, "But nevertheless, you have missed out on a lot of work because of your sleeping habit, so we would like to request that you come to the library after school to do some catch-up studies."

I took a breath and nodded. That did seem fair, after all.

So after school, I made my way to the library and took a seat. The librarian, Lisa, came up to me and gave me a pile of books to read through,

"These are all of the things that the teachers believe you have missed; just take notes in your books, and when you are done, you can go." She smiled before walking off,

I huffed and began my work when, in the corner of my eye, I saw someone looking at me. I looked up to see who it was, but I was caught by surprise,

"Xingqiu?" I spoke."What are you doing here? And... Why are you staring at me?"

Xingqiu seemed to start blushing before stuttering out an excuse,

"I- uh- I was just- You know - I usually sit on that table, and I didn't want to - uh- interrupt you... I guess...." he kind of trailed off at the end. He was clearly nervous, so I decided to give him a friendly smile,

"You can sit with me if you want? I'm just studying!" I offered,

"Uh- are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude.."

"Yes, of course, here come sit!" I gestured at the seat next to me,

He moved towards me nervously and took a seat,

"Thanks," he smiled, his eyes glued to the book. I think he was... blushing?

"Anytime!" I smiled before returning to my studies. There were about 15 minutes of comfortable silence before a question came to my mind,

"Hey Xingqiu, how come you're in the library so late?" I inquired,

"Oh, I just.. I like to read here most days- well, every day.." he laughed nervously before asking me a question, "How come you're studying here? I haven't ever seen you set foot in the library before."

"Oh, I have a habit of falling asleep in class, so Master Jean made me stay after school to catch up."

"A detention?"

"Well... Yeah, I guess."

Suddenly, Xingqiu burst out laughing. I was a bit confused, but he looked so pretty doing it; when he finally calmed down, he wiped a tear from his eye,

"Sorry, it's just - I never thought a guy like you would get a detention!" He said before bursting into hysterics again,

"Hey! It's not that funny! Plus, what do you mean by 'a guy like me'?" I scowled,

"I mean, you just seem so disciplined and quiet, definitely not the sort to get in trouble... sorry.."

"Don't worry about it." I smiled,

We continued quietly chattering until about 5 pm when lisa came over to us and told us the library was closing,

We stood up and left the room together, still talking,

"What way do you go home?" I asked,

"Oh, I live in liyue, so I'm gonna have to catch the bus back."

"Wow, how convenient, me too!"

He looked at me slightly surprised,

"Oh- well, wanna... uh, if it's not too weird to ask, wanna go back together?" He questioned, tapping his fingers nervously,

"Yeah, of course!" I responded, trying to hide how happy I was that he asked,

We walked to the bus stop and sat down. Since it was winter, it had started to get dark already; the street light was the only thing lighting up the street, and we sat on the bench in silence,

The atmosphere was beautiful, but we had run out of all conversation starters, so we just sat there, looking at the sky together...

When it started to rain.

I saw Xingqiu shiver and cross his arms; he was wearing a shirt and shorts, so he must've been freezing,

"Uh, hey.. Do you want my jacket?"