Worship. (Genshin Impact x Creator! Reader)

Chapter 7: Escape?

-Flashback-

It was late in the night, Venti stared at your door, letting out a soft breath as he knocked on the door. But... Why did the door just...? Oh. It wasn't closed... Nor locked... "Does that mean..." he muttered... He was too late. You had already left... How... Unfortunate.

He was... so excited to finally meet you, to finally be able to talk to you but... Haa... You just had to slip away yet again... Why are you avoiding him anyway...?? What were you even afraid of...? If only he had arrived quicker...

-Flashback End-

You stared at the ground, thinking... What if Venti caught you...?? Fuck... That meant you'd have to deal with a bunch of the archons... You'll get exposed as the Creator and... You wouldn't even have any more freedom... That was not a life you fucking wanted for yourself. A Mitachurl was pushing your cart while two Hilichurls were by your side, walking with you.

You snap out of your thoughts as you notice the Hilichurls staring at you. "Oh... Sorry, did I look weird??" they only stared at you. "Sorry... I was just thinking..." you sighed. The Hilichurls seemed to whisper about something before one of them pulled out an... Sunsettia...??

The hilichurl handed it to you, as if trying to cheer you up. You let out a small giggle, "Thanks." you thanked them. Your laugh... Oh... It was musics to their ears. The Hilichurls soon did some sort of... excited dance...?? Well... It was cute in its own weird way. "I didn't even last long on Mondstadth... I hope I have some luck in Inazuma... " you muttered.

"Thanks for helping me by the way... It's so late in the night too..." You turned to the Mitachurl pushing your cart, and the Mitachurl gave you a small nod in response. You then let out a small yawn, "Haahh... Too bad I can't sleep... If I go to the port in the morning I might get caught..." you muttered.

After hours of walking, it was almost sunrise when you arrived near Liyue Harbor. "Thanks for accompanying me." you thanked the Mitachurls and Hilichurls as you gave them a hug. They seemed pretty giddy about it. You let out a deep sigh as you started pushing your heavy ass cart.

"Maybe it won't hurt to rest right...?" you mumbled as you headed towards a tree. You were just so tired... Tired of hiding... Being caught... You just didn't want the attention... All you wanted was freedom... Freedom to do what you liked and that was cooking... Being all high and mighty like royalty...?? That life wasn't... Built for you...

"I probably shouldn't... Zhongli might catch me... Just being in Liyue Harbor is already a risk..." you mumbled as you continued on to the harbor. You approached one of the men shouting for passengers, "How long before you leave for Inazuma?" you asked the man. "Hmm... In about... 15 minutes miss." he replied. Well... That's just perfect! You soon talked to the man and paid for your fare, as he started loading the ship with stuff from your cart.

"You're free to roam around a little." the man let out a grunt as he continued loading the ship, "This is going to take a while." he added, you only nodded in response. 'Well... It doesn't hurt to look around and see what the vendors are selling...' you thought.

You were about to go to the stalls but a hand that grabbed your hand stopped you. "What the fuc...k..." you froze as you looked at Zhongli eye to eye. "Your Grace..." he muttered, almost as if he was breathless... His facial expression... He looked as if... Glad...??

Your breath hitched as it took you a moment before your body finally moved, your other hand tried to remove his but his grip only got tighter. Before you could even do anything, he pulled you into a hug. Your eyes widened, "Haa... I finally got to you..." he mumbled but you didn't understand it. He laid his head on the crook of your neck as if wanting to just feel even closer to you.

You don't even know how long he held you, you only snapped out of your panicked thoughts when the captain of the ship you were riding shouted for all of the passengers to come inside. Your hands scrambled as you tried to remove yourself from his hug. "Zhongli... I-I need to go..." you stuttered.

Your eyes looked to the captain of the ship, and your facial expressions twisted into a little bit of relief as the captain of the ship started walking up to the two of you. "Miss, we're about to leave." he spoke as his eyes landed on Zhongli.

"Oh. I get that the two of you are lovers but the ship is ready so please wrap up the goodbyes." he spoke out as he turned around and just left.

Zhongli soon pulled away from the hug, "Where are you even headed...? Why are you running from me again?" he asked. "I-I can't say..." you replied. There was a moment of silence. 'This wasn't how I imagined our reunion to be...' he thought. He cursed at himself for acting like a lovesick puppy when he had a burning hatred towards you for leaving him... He cursed at himself at how much you had an effect on him.

Zhongli seemed to be deep in thought so you took this as an opportunity to push him off. His eyes widened as his arm held out to grab you but it was too late... He didn't even bother chasing you as his hand slowly dropped down in defeat.

As you arrived at the boat, despite the crowd you could still see Zhongli staring right back at you, with a hurt facial expression.