When Rose's Thorns Attack my Sides (But my Eyes Stay Trained on You) (Xingyun)

Ch. 22

Chongyun couldn't possibly bring himself to go see Xingqiu the next day. How could he? He fucking kissed him!

He decides to go see Xiangling instead and go bring his problem to her, hoping that she could give him some insight into his problems.

"Xiangling? Can I talk to you about something importa-"

He peeks his head into the kitchen but sees her talking to Xingqiu, and immediately he starts to back away.

"Y'know what, maybe I should go-" Xingqiu avoids meeting his eye.

Xingqiu quickly heads out of the kitchen and leaves the other two behind to figure out what just happened.

"This really is bad." Xiangling mutters.

"What is?" Chongyun asks her cautiously.

"I know that you two kissed each other and now it's awkward." She winces.

Chongyun sighs and leans on the doorframe before trudging inside.

"Hug?" She asks.

Chongyun's nods and gives her a big hug before sitting down and resting his head against the wall.

"What am supposed to do? I can't just kiss my best friend! Doesn't that make us...not best friends?!"

"Calm down, calm down! That doesn't make you guys anything more or anything less than you both want to be. It might change a few things if you like him though..."

"Of course I like him. He's my best friend." He states bluntly.

"Not like that Chongyun. I mean as in you like-like him. You know what that means, right?"

"I know what that means, but I don't like Xingqiu that way! I mean, I'm pretty sure, anyways." He says quietly.

"Maybe you should reflect on your feelings and then revisit this conversation. But first things first, Xingqiu doesn't hate you or anything over the kiss. You just need to talk it out with him."

"You sure?"

"I'm positive."

He thanks her and leave to go find the bookworm in question, brushing his hand against the tassel in his belt and trying to ignore the fuzzy thoughts in his mind.

"I don't like-like him..." he mutters to himself. "Right?"

-

Xingqiu was curled up in the corner of his bed when he heard knocking at his window. He knows it can only be one person, so he pushes aside the blinds and gives him a gentle wave.

"I assumed you wouldn't want me coming in through the front door in case your family was here." Chongyun says, slipping inside and carefully hopping over his desk.

"Thank you for being so considerate. You certainly didn't have to do all that..."

"Look, is there a way we can move past what happened?" Chongyun asks softly, sitting on the edge of the bed. "I've been thinking about my feelings about you, and I don't want to ruin our friendship just because I messed up by doing this. More than anything...I want to help you confess to the person you like so they can wake you up."

Xingqiu hadn't said a word but he already seemed more quiet, making himself smaller and smaller in his little corner. "We can ignore what happened, sure, but I still can't tell you who I like yet."

"Can I at least help you tell them? More than anything, I just don't want you to fall asleep and you can't wake up."

"Don't worry, I'll figure it out." He gives him a half smile. "When do I ever let things not go my way?"

Chongyun doesn't comment on his words and instead moves back to lean against the wall against his bed. Despite telling Xingqiu he'd help him, he still felt that weird jealously in the pit of his stomach.

He'd only be jealous if he wished that that person was him, but he didn't like him like that.

Right?

"My family is still being incredibly pushy about this whole true love thing...I wish it didn't exist in the first place..." Xingqiu rests his head against the wall.

"I wish it didn't either. Then things could just be normal without having to worry about that stuff."

"I'm not too sure I'd have to complete stop worrying about it..."

"Huh?"

"Nothing, nothing. Anyways, I'm glad we're back on speaking terms so fast. I think I'd miss you a lot otherwise." He laughs.

"I'm glad too. Can I have a, um, y'know?" Chongyun holds out his arms.

"Course you can."

Chongyun lays his head on his chest and closes his eyes, hugging him while Xingqiu keeps his hands on his back securely.

That fuzzy feeling is still there in Chongyun's heart, but he tries to shrug it off.

"It must be a friendly feeling. There's no way it could be anything more."

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Written: June 13th, 2023

Finished/Published: July 30th, 2023

(Word Count: 785)