Hualian AU ~ 12. May All Taboos Be Shattered

Part 6

Those two weeks Hua Cheng was supposed to be away easily became almost six months; that Lang Ying guy kept pushing project after project, so not wanting Hua Cheng to miss opportunities, Xie Lian kept convincing him to stay for a little bit longer. The summer holidays passed – Xie Lian not going anywhere in the end –, the new term started, and Christmas break was coming soon.

They texted and called each other, more as friends – although Xie Lian's heart raced every time Hua Cheng called, and felt light chatting to him, and a tightness on his chest every time they hung up. He didn't want to go naughty; they never had the chance to start anything, so he felt he'd be giving Hua Cheng expectations he couldn't live up to, and Hua Cheng would get disappointed. 

But it was hard, specially when Hua Cheng had that sexy, sad voice. Sometimes they'd fall into a silence, and Hua Cheng would say, "Hey... I miss you". Xie Lian would just feel his face burning, and down there... But he'd reply "Awww San Lang, hahaha, I miss you too!", just not to make it more painful than it already was. Then every time he hated himself for sounding so... not caring.

The different time zone didn't help either; he didn't want to bother Hua Cheng during the day, wanting him to focus on work, get stuff done and get back as soon as possible. So Xie Lian just put on a brave face and chatted lightly about school, about day-to-day stuff. 

Weeks went by. Feng Xin and Mu Qing tried to keep him company, other people too, always inviting him to things; only it wasn't the same, they weren't the one he wanted to be with, his mind was miles away. Most of the time he'd give some excuse and go home, to be alone with his own thoughts – thinking of Hua Cheng was the second-best thing, at least in his dreams he'd have his company.

It was a Wednesday, almost the end of term, and Xie Lian couldn't help but be dragged to a party at the Student Union Bar. It was the "unofficial" end of term party, but of course there would be at least another one or two. He'd have classes early next day and he hated being sleepy, but ended up going – it wasn't like he was depressed or anything, and it'd be good to go out and see people. 

... or so he thought. He tried to join in the fun, but all he could give were empty, half-hearted laughs, and all he could think of was if it wasn't too early to go home, or if he could go unnoticed. Somebody posted a picture of him sitting somewhere, lost in thoughts, nursing a beer; the caption: The life of the party. This sure made people laugh, but most of them knew why he looked that sad.

•

"See you guys on Monday then... Only one week to go, then break! Can't wait", Xie Lian sighed heavily.

"You're not coming to the end of term party?", his classmates asked.

"Nah. Can't wait to get home and have an early night. Shouldn't have gone out on Wednesday..."

"You won't miss much anyway, I heard this year's gonna suck", one of them said.

"The admin team must be a bit stretched", Xie Lian pointed out sympathetically.

Shi Wudu "being ill" had shaken The Heavens to the core; now without Jun Wu and Ling Wen, it was as if that high and mighty uni sitting on the clouds had caught fire and crumbled down to earth, totally destroyed. Some people stepped in to help out in some management positions – Mu Qing being one of them for what Xie Lian knew – so the end of the term party wasn't really a priority.

"Well, it's free booze anyway isn't it", they laughed, and added, "and smoked salmon canapes". One of them said, "Xie Lian, how come you didn't submit a project to The Battle of The Lanterns? You won big last year, and it was only your first year, wasn't it?"

"Yeah well", Xie Lian shrugged, not really answering. "Anyway, you guys take care!"

As he walked away, he still could hear bits and pieces of chatting; one of his classmates just had said, "Why would he submit anything, Hua Cheng isn't around, doh!". They were right, and wrong; it wasn't as if he counted on Hua Cheng to win, it was just that Hua Cheng not being around made him a bit down, so he didn't bother submitting a project, simple as that.

He sighed; it was a good thing he still had at least half an hour bike ride home, that'd clear his mind, he'd get home so tired and sweaty it'd be shower, dinner, then straight to bed. He'd buy a family size lasagne on the way, so he wouldn't have to cook, and have food for the next day too, plus, it was cheaper, he'd just put some veggies on the side...

He stopped briefly at a supermarket, then home; he was extra tired that Friday, feeling his shoulders tense and achy, and even his back hurt. He dismounted his bike, wheeling it through the gates; the sensor light by his door was lit, probably because of some bird or something. He saw a moving shadow, and froze; there was somebody there! 

Then he saw who, and sucked in a breath: a tall, black haired, super hot guy, wearing a red jacket, with a big smile on his face; the one he knew so well and had been waiting for so long! It was Hua Cheng. Was he hallucinating? He didn't know what to do, so he started to run to him, 

"San Lang!" 

"Gege", Hua Cheng replied, opening his arms, his smile getting even bigger. 

Xie Lian threw himself on him, and Hua Cheng immediately wrapped his arms around him, and they stayed like that, hugging, laughing, sighing, feeling each other's scent and warmth; after a while they slowly kissed. Xie Lian remembered it was good kissing San Lang – but he needed a reminder it was this good, and didn't want to stop! With some effort, he broke the kiss, and asked,

"San Lang, when did you come? Why didn't you tell me?" 

Hua Cheng tilted his head towards his luggage by the iron stairs, "I arrived this afternoon, I came straight from the airport. I just... decided to get the fuck back to you", he brushed Xie Lian's hair out of his face gently, not able to stop smiling. 

"Oh? You were waiting here for HOURS then? Oh San Lang", he shook his head, caressing Hua Cheng's face, "You must be so tired, come, let's get inside".  

By the Heaven Official, Hua Cheng IS BACK!!!

So... how badly do you want the smut after this part? Hmm? 😈