• frozen • a xinyun story

1. House at the End of the Block

Xingqiu woke up in a sleeping bag next to his best friend on the bedroom floor, his t-shirt drenched in sweat. He winced as his eyes met the sun rays peeking through the dark blue window curtains. There were early morning birds on the trees, their sweet song mixing with the sound of buzzing cicadas. A perfect summer morning.

He pulled himself off the floor and trudged his way to the bathroom across the hall. His eyes focused on his face in the mirror, eyes puffy and dark blue hair in a tangled nest. Before he could admire himself any longer, his reflection was blurred by the steam from the shower.

As he hopped in and began to clean himself, his mind began coming back from its sleepy state. Today is the last day of summer vacation. The last day of running barefoot in the backyard creek, the last day of enjoying sweet popsicles on the beach, the last day of fun. He rinsed the suds out of his hair, imagining it was the ocean's salty waves crashing over him.

-

"Chongyun? Chongyun!"

Xingqiu softly nudged the sleeping boy with his foot.

"No. Still sleepy."

Xingqiu thrust his wet towel on him, causing Chongyun to grunt and sit up wearily.

"Do that again and I'll kick you."

Xingqiu laughed to himself looking at his grumpy face. He picked up his towel and finished drying off his hair and went to go pick out a shirt from the closet.

Xingqiu and Chongyun had been best friends since they were 5. Chongyun was the quietest kid in our class, and Xingqiu was quite the opposite. They sat next to each other one day and the rest was history. Their childhood was spent going to the park and having playdates, and through middle school they had to witness each other's awful preteen emo phases. Nowadays they still spend all their time together, except now instead of biking everywhere, they can take Xingqiu's brother's car. Instead of staying up late playing on their DS, they stay up late studying or sneaking out. And the best part about it all- they were next door neighbors. And even if one (or more often than not, both) were grounded, their bedroom windows faced each other.

Xingqiu sighed deeply and flopped onto his empty bed. He looked around his room, walls lined with photos and band posters, his tv with two well worn bean-bags placed directly in front. He thought about all the summers they've spent together, having the same sleepover on the same day and having the same wonderful time they always did.

"What's with the sigh?"

"I think we have the perfect life, Yun."

The lighter haired boy flopped down beside the other, turning to face him.

"I think you smell."

Xingqiu pushed him off the bed.

"HEY!"

From the floor, Chongyun grabbed the other boy's ankle, pulling him down with him.

"STOP, YOU FIEND!"

Xingqiu attempted getting back up onto the bed, but the other grabbed the neck of his shirt and dragged him down, pinning him to the floor.

"Never."

Chongyun sat triumphantly on top of him, tickling his sides and neck. Xingqiu shrieked and tried to wiggle out of his firm grasp.

"NO!! STOP!!"

"You're laughing, so you're obviously enjoying this."

Xingqiu grabbed one of Chongyun's hands, attempting to push him aside through frantic screams and laughs.