douyin au

Fail

hello! just so you know, from now until it's made official, this collection will include preslash (baiyang x lu xia). you can, of course, pretend that it isn't there as long as you do it respectfully! thanks everyone <3 also, all of these drabbles are part of a larger series revolving around douyin. ily all <3 (song of the day: Knife in my Back by Alec Benjamin)

Baiyang couldn't sit there any longer. What was he going to do if he failed any of the exams? He wouldn't be able to play, and so what would he do? Tennis was the only thing that he was good at. He had to get some fresh air.

"I'll be right back." He said. His teammates told him not to take too long, and he rushed into Lu Xia's garden. He could hear the stream rushing to his right, but he could also hear his heartbeat, loud and strong in his ears. What was he going to do if he failed?

He was going to fail, he knew it.

He kept walking, hoping to calm down. His eyes clouded over and he started running. No, no you can't cry. What would Ba think?

I am going to fail. I am going to fail. I am going to fail. It was a mantra and all he could hear. Suddenly his knees felt weak and he collapsed into the ground somewhere in Lu Xia's garden. What are you doing, dumbass, you should be studying. You'll fail because you're here slacking off instead of working.

That thought brought a new wave of tears to his eyes and he tried to wipe them away as soon as he could. What would Ba think if you failed?

Meow.

Baiyang looked up and shook his head to both sides. Was he hearing things?

Meow.

There it was again. "Meow," he replied softly. His heartbeat had started to calm down and he could breathe properly again.

Meow. He heard a rustle of leaves to his right and turned his head slowly in the direction.

"Meow," he replied again. Where was the cat?

Meow. The cat was on the left of him now. He turned his whole body, slowly, in it's direction.

"Meow," he said. He knew that often animals thought him threatening and that he needed to be slow and quiet. "Meow," he said again, the softest he had gotten. The cat moved out of the bushes and toward him. "Meow," he said again. The cat must be a house cat, because when it got close enough it let him pet it.

He pet the white cat for a while, slowly calming down. Eventually the cat let him pick it up and set it on his lap. "Meow," he said again.

"His name is Karubin," a voice said from behind him. Baiyang almost jumped in surprise, but remembered that he had a cat, Karubin, the voice said, on his lap.

He slowly turned around. Lu Xia was standing a few feet away. "He's my cat, but you can hold him."

"Sorry, I didn't-"

"It's fine, he likes you." Silence lapsed for a few moments. "The others are wondering where you ran off to."

Baiyang looked down at Karubin, then up at Lu Xia. "Will you-"

"I'll tell them that you were on your way to the bathroom when my dad pulled you aside to try a dish of his." Silence filled the area again. "We should get going now."

"Okay."

True to his word, Lu Xia didn't tell anybody about his love of cats. However, he now took it upon himself to send him a douyin of Karubin every day, which was nice.