Hydrophobic ¦ Xingqiu x Reader [Genshin Impact]

Silk Flowers And Deception [30]

You give him a faint smile, still processing what you had heard from the person standing in front of you.

Xingqiu had just said—no, he had just suggested that the two of you start dating in light of the unexpected situation you were both caught in.

"Are you out of your mind?!" You let out a yell that was a little louder than anticipated. "I might as well just jump off a cliff without a glider or get crushed to death by a meteorite!"

"That seems a bit too specific." He chuckles—and that's what only took you to make the atmosphere light again by his reaction. "But please let me explain first."

"You are so—" annoying. You stop yourself from replying to anything unnecessary.

This wasn't good. Your emotions were starting to get ahead of you again.

You cross your arms and sighed in defeat. "Alright, but the reason better be good."

"I'm not suggesting that we should go ahead and fall in love with each other. What I'm suggesting is that we should date each other and make them think we're in love. Our true feelings aren't included here."

"But you're just contradicting my plan in finding a new fiancé, and you agreed that I'm allowed to find someone else in secret even though we're technically already engaged."

Your words almost slipped. He doesn't know about your blind dating plan, and you don't really plan on letting him know about it just yet.

"I know, I'm sorry. But right now, we're going to have to delay our current plans and improvise a new one. Once the whole thing blows over with Mei, you're free to continue yours. We just have to convince her and the others that we're dating so she doesn't get to have a say in our engagement."

"This isn't happening." You mumble to yourself, trying to keep your calm.

A rival? For someone you don't even want? And you have to feign the others into thinking you and your "fiancé" are head over heels for each other?

This was some next-level cheesy romance novel that a certain hopeless romantic acting grandmaster would be (secretly) dying to read.

"I'm not looking for an answer right now. You can take all the time you need to think about it—not until she arrives, of course."

"Is there another way to do this?"

"I'm not quite sure but if there was, it probably won't be as effective as this one." He starts pacing back and forth, taking your question seriously. "Well, I could fake my own death."

A playful scoff escaped from your lips. "Yeah, we're not doing that."

"Huh, you actually smile and find it elating when I talk about my death."

If he were to "die", it would just leave you free from the engagement but it would be an inconvenience to find other fiancés that would most likely stick with your current attitude.

It doesn't really feel good when things take a turn and it doesn't favor you, but at least there was this person standing beside you who gives the most bizarre solutions.

"You're just so weird." You shake your head in disbelief as you let out another sigh. "Fine, I'll go along with your plan but you have to make sure it's going to run smoothly."

"The sooner we complete it, the sooner you can leave me." He smiles and you roll your eyes.

"We're going to set out a few rules but can we continue this talk some other time? I still have a commission to complete and I want to ask the traveler about the meteors."