Work Text:
“Wake up, shithead!”
The words barely registered before a weight crashed down onto Mu Qing’s sleeping form. He jolted awake, his bleary eyes catching sight of Feng Xin’s grinning face above him. The apartment was supposed to be empty after his mother left for work. However, he woke just in time to see Feng Xin’s ass drop on him again.
"Wake up! Wake up!" Feng Xin’s loud demands were punctuated by the obnoxious bounce of his ass on Mu Qing’s chest. “First day of summer! Time for the waterpark!”
“Get off me!” Mu Qing shoved at Feng Xin with all the strength his groggy limbs could muster. “It’s too fucking early for your bullshit!”
Feng Xin froze mid-bounce, clutching his chest with mock offense. “Mu Qing! You kiss your mom with that mouth?”
“Fuck you, Feng Xin!”
“Well since you asked so nicely—”
Mu Qing’s eyes widened in horror as Feng Xin leaned toward him, his lips puckered in an exaggerated kissy face.
“No, no, no!” Mu Qing screeched, shoving at Feng Xin’s approaching face with desperate hands, but Feng Xin gripped his wrists and tore them away. A slobbery smooch planted on his cheek, and a loud kiss sound ripped through the room.
“EUGH! Feng Xin!” Summoning all his strength, Mu Qing shoved him off, sending Feng Xin sprawling onto the floor. Sitting up, he glared daggers as he wiped the spit off his cheek with the hoodie Feng Xin left the last time he spent the night. If he was wearing the hoodie while he slept, well that was no one’s business. “What the hell is wrong with you?!”
But Feng Xin was still grinning excitedly as he sprang to his feet. “Come on! It's summer break!”
“Which means it’s time to sleep in, you gigantic idiot!”
“Geez, you’re really not a morning person, huh, QingQing?”
The nickname instantly caused Mu Qing’s face to go from scarlet blushing to covered in threatening shadows in seconds. “Don’t. Call. Me. That.”
“What, QingQing?” Feng Xin’s grin widened, knowingly provoking the beast.
With an inhuman growl, Mu Qing lunged at him, tackling him back onto the floor. The two grappled like feral cats, limbs flailing and laughter mixing with curses. But Feng Xin hit his high school growth spurt first, owning a few pounds on Mu Qing, and quickly gained the upper hand. He pinned Mu Qing beneath him with infuriating ease, straddling his hips and flashing a victorious grin.
“We’re going to the waterpark,” Feng Xin declared. “Get your swim trunks!”
“What?! No!”
“Yes.” Feng Xin wiggled his hips, drawing attention to his orange swimsuit as he sucked in a breath and gathered spit in the back of his throat.
Mu Qing’s eyes rounded. He thrashed and tried throwing Feng Xin off him to no avail.
“Get off! Get off! GET OFF!”
Speaking around the loogie in his mouth, Feng Xin threatened, “Agree to the waterpark or I’m painting your face.”
“Fine!”
Triumphant, Feng Xin swallowed the loogie with an exaggerated gulp, grinning as Mu Qing gagged and visibly cringed. “That wasn’t so hard, was it?”
“You’re a disgusting ass!”
“You love my disgusting ass,” Feng Xin quipped, casual as ever.
Mu Qing froze. His mind raced, alarm bells blaring. Did Feng Xin know? No, he couldn’t. He was too oblivious to pick up on Mu Qing’s pathetic little crush.
And that’s all it was! A dumb crush, nothing to panic over. It wasn’t like he was in love with Feng Xin. He would get over the infatuation soon enough.
“Hate your disgusting ass,” he mumbled.
A smirk stretched across Feng Xin’s lips as he gathered another loogie in his throat. Hearing the telltale sound, Mu Qing threw his hands up to shove his assailants face away and screeched, “Fine! I love your stupid, disgusting ass! You stupid, disgusting ass!”
Feng Xin’s laughter echoed through the room as Mu Qing buried his face in his hands, mortified.
Once freed from under Feng Xin’s weight, Mu Qing reluctantly yanked his black swim trunks and a red t-shirt from his dresser and turned to dress, but Feng Xin sat on the bed and wiggled his brows like he was expecting a show.
“Get. Out.”
“Fiiine.” He rose with a pout and sauntered to the door, “You’re no fun, QingQing.”
The shorts slammed into the back of the door as Feng Xin rushed to close it behind him.
Mu Qing grumbled under his breath as he reluctantly picked the shorts up and yanked them on with more force than necessary. First day of summer after sophomore year, and Feng Xin couldn’t leave him alone long enough to sleep in like a normal person.
Since their forced truce almost four months prior, his new found friend latched onto him like a lost puppy who imprinted on the first person to give him a ham bone. Like the extrovert he was, he dragged Mu Qing everywhere, volunteered them for school events, and appeared in Mu Qing’s apartment whenever he felt like annoying him. It didn’t help Mu Qing’s traitorous mother showed him where she hid the spare key so he could sneak in whenever he wanted.
Feng Xin had unfettered access to Mu Qing whenever he desired, and that desire seemed to grow exponentially each passing week. After their huge blow up the day before Valentine’s Day, a fight that almost resulted in their expulsion, they finally, slowly started becoming friends.
At first, Feng Xin would politely acknowledge him in the halls instead of outright glaring and flipping him off. Before long, he started passing Mu Qing notes during their classes. Then he somehow acquired Mu Qing’s number and started texting him around the clock. Eventually, he started showing up at Mu Qing’s apartment and didn’t resist when Mama Mu invited him to spend the night.
And now they’re here, Feng Xin attacking him and dragging him out of his own bed before any sane person would wake because he wanted to go to the waterpark.
Is this what he should expect his summer to look like when they weren’t busy with their respective jobs?
Fucking hell.
It wasn’t as though Mu Qing hated the company. Actually, enjoying the company was the whole problem. Specifically, the problem was the ridiculous crush he’s been trying to squash since Shi Qingxuan’s Christmas party. That crush was a migraine inducing parasite, embedding itself deeper every time Feng Xin looked at him with those gold lost puppy eyes, or sent him a meme so stupid that it circled back to being funny.
He especially hated those memes because it meant Feng Xin thought of him. Why does Feng Xin think of him so much?!
A knock at the door jolted Mu Qing out of his spiraling thoughts. Feng Xin’s voice came through, obnoxiously cheerful for the hour. “Hurry up!”
Mu Qing scowled at the door. “Patience is a virtue, idiot!”
“Yeah, and with you, it’s just stalling.”
He was tying his swim shorts when the doorknob twisted. Panic flared. “Ready or not, we’re heading out!”
“Don’t you dare—!”
The door flew open. Mu Qing yanked his shirt to his chest, glaring as if he could set Feng Xin on fire with his mind. “Get out, you perv!”
Feng Xin leaned casually against the frame, crossing his arms with a smirk. “Why are you covering up like a girl? We’re both boys. We're allowed to be shirtless in front of each other.”
Right. That was the other issue with his crush. Feng Xin was apparently straight, clueless, and thoroughly enjoyed pushing all of Mu Qing's buttons.
“Some of us like privacy when we’re changing!”
Feng Xin nonchalantly shrugged as if Mu Qing wasn’t one step away from homicide. “You know we’ll be shirtless at the park, right?”
Mu Qing briefly considered strangling him with his shirt but decided against it. Bloodstains were a pain to wash out. Instead of gifting Feng Xin a one way ticket to hell, he shouted, “OUT!”
Finally, Feng Xin rolled his eyes and wandered off.
When Mu Qing emerged minutes later, his bag with his towel and sunscreen slung over his shoulder, he found Feng Xin sprawled on the couch, glued to his phone. His eye twitched at the sight. “Are we leaving, or should I sit down and wait for you to finish scrolling through Candy Crush cheat guides?”
“Geez, you’re cranky without your coffee.” Feng Xin stood from where he made himself at home on the couch and made his way out of the door, Mu Qing demanding he pay for coffee the entire walk to Feng Xin’s car.
Twenty minutes and a coffee stop later, they walked through the gates of the waterpark. Feng Xin paid for their tickets, checked out a locker, and shoved everything inside except for the sunscreen.
Mu Qing sighed, already regretting letting Feng Xin drag him here, but he dutifully squeezed lotion into his hand and began rubbing it on his now uncovered chest and arms. He was mid-application when he felt the unmistakable weight of Feng Xin’s gaze on him.
“What?” he snapped, not looking up.
“When did you get muscles?”
He paused, unsure if he’d heard right, and mumbled, “Somewhere between kicking your ass and training with Xie Lian after school.”
“Oh…” Feng Xin said almost silently, but added, “You look good.”
And that made Mu Qing’s head snap up. Heat bloomed in his ears, spreading down to his neck like wildfire. Feng Xin thinks he looks good?
“Y-you… what?”
Feng Xin had the audacity to look confused, pausing in the middle of applying sunscreen to his face. “What?”
“Don’t play dumb. You said I look—”
“What? Good?” Feng Xin blinked, as if he didn’t understand the big deal. “You do look good. Am I not allowed to compliment you?”
A series of garbled sounds tumbled from Mu Qing's mouth, none of them resembling coherent speech. Not only did his crush think he looked good, but Mu Qing liked that Feng Xin thought he looked good.
“Are you having a stroke?” Feng Xin teased as he finished applying his sunscreen. “Turn around, I’ll get your back.”
Before Mu Qing could process what was happening, he found himself turning around as if under a spell. Then he felt Feng Xin’s calloused archer hands rubbing lotion across his back with all the casual ease in the world.
Mu Qing’s nerves lit up like fireworks, hyper-aware of every point of contact. His senses numbed everywhere except where Feng Xin touched him. His brain was screaming at his body to stop reacting, but his treacherous body wasn’t listening.
This is what he gets for being a hormonal, perpetually aroused teenage boy.
If only he could skip the teenage years completely and go right to the part where he’s a mature adult married to another mature adult.
“Done!” Feng Xin smacked his palm between Mu Qing’s shoulder blades and then handed him the lotion. “Here. My turn. ”
To Mu Qing’s horror, Feng Xin turned around and waited.
This should have been the obvious next step, but Mu Qing hadn’t considered Feng Xin asking for his help.
Taking a deep breath, he forced himself to focus. They were just friends. Friends did this sort of thing all the time. It was nothing to panic over. In fact, if he wasn’t crushing, he would seize this opportunity to torture Feng Xin just a little bit.
As that realization set in, Mu Qing smirked. Payback for dragging him out of bed was his for the taking.
Calmly, Mu Qing squirted the lotion in his hands and began strategically rubbing it into the center of Feng Xin’s back. That’s when he noticed tiny brown dots adorning his shoulders. Seeing an opening to distract Feng Xin while he drew incredibly mature art with the sunscreen, Mu Qing asked, “You have freckles?”
“Yea? Oh… right. I guess you wouldn’t have noticed them before considering… well, considering we didn’t get along last summer.”
“I see…cute.” Mu Qing quietly completed his elegant masterpiece by signing his name, ignoring how he categorized Feng Xin’s freckles as cute.
Because they weren’t cute.
Not at all.
They especially weren’t cute on his muscular shoulders or his defined back…
…Ugh.
Pointedly ignoring the way Feng Xin’s archery built back muscles felt under his palm, Mu Qing threw the lotion into their locker like it was an unpinned grenade.
“Alright, let’s go,” he muttered, refusing to look at Feng Xin as his heart tried to punch its way out of his chest.
And if Feng Xin noticed the subtle redness creeping up Mu Qing’s neck, he didn’t comment. Instead, he laughed and grabbed his arm, dragging him toward the nearest water slide.
“Perks of coming early, QingQing! No lines!”
At the sound of the nickname, Mu Qing didn’t hesitate. He shoved Feng Xin into the lazy river without an ounce of remorse.
Feng Xin resurfaced with a sputter, water dripping from his hair as he stood in the shallow current, the water level just below his shoulders.
“Stop calling me that!” Mu Qing shouted, his glare sharp.
Feng Xin wiped his face with a hand and smirked. “Fine, then I’ll call you… hmm…” He tapped his chin theatrically, his grin widening. “Qing’er.”
Mu Qing froze, his eyes rounding, his cheeks flaring with heat. The nickname caught him so off guard that Feng Xin managed to grab him by the wrist and yank him into the river without a fight.
When Mu Qing surfaced, coughing and slicking his hair out of his face, he was met with Feng Xin’s infuriating laughter. Mu Qing threw his hands forward, splashing a wall of water toward him in retaliation.
Immediately, Feng Xin sent a tidal wave right back. Within seconds, the lazy river turned into a battleground of splashing, shouting, and drenched lifeguards glaring in their direction.
A shrill whistle cut through the chaos. “Stop splashing or take it to the wave pool!” a lifeguard curtly barked.
Still grinning, Feng Xin raised his hands in mock surrender and turned to Mu Qing. “Well, Qing’er, should we do the slides first or relax in the river for a bit?”
Mu Qing glanced at the slides, the lines really were almost nonexistent this early. It would be stupid to wait. “Slides.”
“Let’s go!”
Without a moment’s hesitation, Feng Xin was dragging Mu Qing to the nearest slide once again. It wasn’t a large slide by any means, but it had three tunnels so multiple riders could go down at the same time. They dashed to the top of the stairs and jumped into awaiting tunnels.
Mu Qing shot down the enclosed slide, twists and turns making him gain speed until it ended in a smooth stop at the bottom where he rejoined Feng Xin. The boys grinned wildly at each other from their respective slide’s small pool and darted back to the top of the stairs without uttering a word.
The rest of the morning passed in a blur of stairs, rushing water, and excited shouts. They shot down twisting slides, raced to see who could reach the bottom first, and even tried the zipline over the wave pool. Mu Qing purposefully dropped too close to Feng Xin just to see him scramble and flail to get out of the way in time. Feng Xin retaliated by dunking him under the next wave.
Admittedly, the waterpark was one of Feng Xin’s better ideas. Though Mu Qing would deny it if asked.
By the time the sun reached its peak, they stood before the park’s main attraction, a towering behemoth of spiraling chaos that seemed to sneer down at the rest of the attractions.
This slide was the mother of all waterpark slides, a local legend. It ominously loomed over the other slides with more twists and turns than should be reasonably allowed. An enclosed section briefly cast the rider into complete darkness as it spiraled in tight coils before sloping up and shooting back down in a nearly vertical drop. At the end, the slide tilted upward, sending each brave rider hurtling through the air at thirty miles per hour before they crashed down into the massive pool below.
It was the kind of local legend parents pointed at while muttering about liability waivers.
Stories surrounded it, uplifting its legend to an almost godlike status; an unlucky few who lost their swimsuits on the drop, a girl who claimed her stomach was still in one of the loops, a friend of a distant cousin who swore they went airborne so long they had time to scream twice.
“Closed?!” Feng Xin whined as a waterpark employee hung closed the sign in front of the stairs.
“It should be open later this afternoon. They’re just cleaning the pool at the bottom. First kid who went down it this morning ralphed and lost their shorts.”
Mu Qing grimaced. “Disgusting. I’m not swimming in that.”
“Don’t worry, it didn’t get in the water. But it is protocol to shut down and treat the pool whenever someone gets sick near it. Give it an hour or two.”
Feng Xin smirked. “Come on, Qing’er, let’s grab some lunch and wait for it to open.”
“Very well,” Mu Qing muttered, following him to the concession stand.
They ordered hot dogs and sodas, then claimed a shaded table beneath a wide umbrella. The park was busier now, and the low hum of conversation surrounded them as they sat.
Feng Xin nudged Mu Qing with his elbow, a familiar smirk playing on his lips. “Admit it. This was a good idea.”
“It wasn’t your worst idea,” Mu Qing replied with a casual shrug.
“Hah! Can’t you give praise like a normal person?”
Mu Qing sneered—half vicious, half amused. “No.” To punctuate his point, he tore into his hot dog with an exaggerated bite as if he was ripping apart Feng Xin instead.
“You’re such a shit,” Feng Xin huffed a laugh, completely unbothered, and took a big bite of his own hot dog.
For a while, they ate in companionable silence, the sun glinting off the water nearby. Then Mu Qing noticed Feng Xin’s attention drifting. He grew quiet and that constipated far off look he gets when he’s considering something took form.
Truthfully, Mu Qing didn’t believe Feng Xin was dumb at all, but when he made that face, Feng Xin was practically begging for him to take a jab at his intelligence. So he did.
Often.
“Thinking isn’t a good look on you. Should leave it to the professionals.”
“Guess that excludes your dumbass,” Feng Xin bit back and glanced at him briefly before hurriedly looking away again as though he’d been caught thinking something he shouldn’t.
“Can’t read your mind, idiot. Whatever you’re thinking is between you and your one brain cell.”
He went back to his hot dog, but almost choked on it when Feng Xin suddenly blurted out, “Can I ask… how did you know you’re gay?”
Mu Qing’s throat seized mid-bite. He coughed violently. Feng Xin, alarmed, slapped his back until he managed to swallow. Mu Qing grabbed his soda, guzzling it down in desperation before gasping for air.
Finally, he sputtered, “W-what?!”
“Geez, no need to yell. I’m right here,” Feng Xin said, though his voice carried a nervous edge.
He looked at Feng Xin incredulously and waved his hands in front of him. “Back up. Why are you asking me that?”
“Um…” Feng Xin’s gaze fell and he shifted uncomfortably, something unspoken lingered in the air even as he quietly explained, “I don’t have anyone else I can ask.”
“What about Xie—“
“No!” Feng Xin interrupted, his voice sharp and panicked. He looked around quickly, as though someone might overhear. “I mean… no. His parents are close with my dad, and my dad—he can’t find out.”
Find out? Find out what, exactly? Mu Qing frowned, Feng Xin’s words spinning in his head. Was Feng Xin questioning?
Carefully, he asked, “are you… saying you’re gay?”
Feng Xin shook his head immediately. “No, I definitely like girls. I was just wondering…” whatever courage he possessed to ask his original question evaporated. “Nevermind. It’s stupid. Forget I asked, alright?”
“Alright…”
The air around them felt awkward and tense. Mu Qing didn’t consider himself an expert on sexuality just because he’s gay. He didn’t have a questioning phase. He merely developed a crush on a boy in class one day and that was it.
Trying to guide someone through their questioning process felt like walking through an unfamiliar minefield that would eventually blow up in his face.
But Feng Xin looked like something weighed on him, something he had been thinking about for a while but didn’t have the courage to confront quite yet. The comment regarding Feng Xin’s father didn’t sit right with him either.
Feng Xin’s father was still a mystery. Mu Qing knew he ran a private security business that Feng Xin was intended to take over one day, but beyond that, Feng Xin avoided the topic of his family entirely. He only knew Feng Xin’s mother had passed when he was young and he was an only child.
Still… As Feng Xin polished off his hotdog, Mu Qing quietly muttered, “Sixth grade. He Xuan. He shared his lunch with me after mom lost her job. It wasn't some earth shattering revelation. I just knew I liked boys after that. And if you repeat that to anyone, I will throw you off a mountain.”
The weight on Feng Xin seemed to lighten, sitting up straighter he shook his head. “I won’t. And don’t tell anyone I asked.”
“Please. You’re not interesting enough to gossip about.”
A smile spread across his face despite the insult, causing Mu Qing to roll his eyes. Idiot. Can’t he at least look like he had been insulted? That stupid puppy dog grin only made things worse.
“Can I ask you about this again sometime?”
“Absolutely not.” Mu Qing stood abruptly and tossed his trash in the nearby bin, purposefully ignoring Feng Xin’s even though it sat right next to his. “Go find someone who cares.”
“Aww, but Qing’er, you care so much.” Feng Xin stood and pinched Mu Qing’s cheek, earning a smack against his arm. “Why would I find anyone else?”
“Shut up. I don’t care. In fact, I hope you drown while we’re here.”
“Hah!” Feng Xin released that loud laugh he does that never failed to catch Mu Qing off guard. No matter how mean he was to Feng Xin these days, he laughed like Mu Qing told the funniest joke even though all he did was wish him bodily harm.
It was cute.
It was obnoxious.
It made Mu Qing’s chest ache just a little.
“If I drown, I’m taking you with me, Qing’er,” Feng Xin declared, his grin as unshakable as ever.
Mu Qing sipped his drink with deliberate nonchalance, shooting a side-eye at his friend. “I’d like to see you try.”
Feng Xin smirked again, clearly pleased with himself. “Come on, let’s float on the lazy river while our food settles.”
“What, you don’t want to hurl when the big slide opens?”
“If I do, I’m aiming for you.”
“Disgusting ass.”
“Mhm.” He agreed, tossing his cup in the trash and then reached over to ruffle Mu Qing’s hair. Before Mu Qing could swat his hand away, Feng Xin dashed toward the lazy river, throwing a taunt over his shoulder as Mu Qing chased after him.
When they arrived at the river, only one tube float remained. Naturally, Mu Qing claimed dibs. Naturally, Feng Xin shoved him aside and tried to steal it.
An inevitable scuffle set off a mix of shoving, splashing, and cursing before Mu Qing emerged victorious. Sprawled comfortably on the float, he drifted down the lazy river, arms dangling off the sides while Feng Xin clung to the outer edge like an oversized barnacle.
As the slow current carried them in a huge loop through the park, Mu Qing closed his eyes, letting the sun warm his face. He was just starting to relax when he felt a burning sensation of being watched.
He peeked one eye open. Sure enough, Feng Xin’s golden eyes were locked on him, studying him with unnerving intensity like he was some great riddle to solve.
“I’m going to regret asking, but what?” Mu Qing scowled.
Feng Xin tilted his head, smirking slightly. “So… have you and He Xuan ever—”
“No!” The tube wobbled precariously as Mu Qing jerked upright, water sloshing against the sides. “Why the hell would you even ask that?”
“It makes sense,” Feng Xin said, shrugging. “He’s your type, and you’re one of the few people he doesn’t seem to hate—”
“My type? You don’t know what my type is.”
“Sure I do,” Feng Xin replied, raising a brow like it was obvious. “You’re not as subtle as you think, Qing’er.”
Heat rushed to Mu Qing’s cheeks and he prayed it was just the sun. Not subtle? Did Feng Xin know about his crush? Did everyone know? Was this some giant joke, and all of his friends were secretly laughing behind his back?
A sudden splash of water hit him square in the face, breaking him out of his spiraling thoughts. He glared at Feng Xin who was already glaring back.
“Stop it. Whatever you’re thinking,” Feng Xin said, voice firm.
Mu Qing huffed and crossed his arms after he reclined once again. “So now everyone apparently knows my type?”
“Everyone?” Feng Xin squinted. “I see, that’s where your twisted thoughts went. No. Just me. I know your type.”
Still feeling something too close to hurt, Mu Qing glared and curtly demanded, “Go on then, what do you think my type is?”
Feng Xin leaned his elbows against the tube, grinning as if he’d been waiting for this. “Well, there’s He Xuan, who gave you half his lunch once. Then there’s that guy freshman year who sent you candy canes for the school’s Christmas grams fundraiser, and the other one who gave you chocolate hearts on Valentine’s Day—”
“Feng Xin, get to the point.”
“Your type is thoughtful people.”
Mu Qing’s heart stilled. Is that really his type? It would explain his crush on Feng Xin who was the exact opposite of the dark and brooding type like his previous infatuations.
“Whatever. You’re wrong, but that’s more creative than where I thought you were headed.”
“Oh yeah?” Feng Xin leaned closer, “Where did you think I was going?”
“All three of those examples involved food.”
Feng Xin burst out laughing, his whole body shaking. “You know, I actually thought your type was food—until your crush on Xie Lian.”
The words struck like an electric shock. Mu Qing bolted upright so fast that the float flipped over and dumped them both unceremoniously into the water.
Both of them spluttered to the surface, clinging to the overturned tube. Mu Qing shoved his hair out of his face, his eyes wild with indignation.
“What the hell are you talking about?!” he barked. “I’ve never had a thing for Xie Lian!”
Feng Xin, now half-draped over the float, blinked in confusion. “You don’t?”
“‘Don’t’?! As in present tense ‘don’t’?!”
“… Yes?” Feng Xin’s voice wavered slightly, his brows knitting together.
Mu Qing stared at him, dumbfounded. “Xie Lian? Me? Seriously? He’s just a friend! That’s all he’s ever been! I don’t have a thing for him at all!”
“Oh…” Feng Xin frowned, looking genuinely perplexed. “Huh. Could’ve sworn… My mistake.”
“Your mistake? Feng Xin! What the hell made you think I have a crush on him?”
“I guess… It just seemed like there was someone in our friend group you have a crush on. You’ve been getting flustered easily lately and it usually happens when Xie Lian’s around.”
Still clutching the tube, Mu Qing stared at him incredulously, chest heaving. He didn’t know if he was more insulted by the assumption or the fact that Feng Xin was completely, obliviously unaware of who Mu Qing’s actual crush was.
Of course he got flustered when Xie Lian was around! His boyfriend was always attached to him, and Hua Cheng definitely figured out his humiliating secret. He dropped suggestive hints about it whenever he found an opening which seemed to be every second of every day.
Mu Qing clenched his jaw, clamping down on his bottom lip to stop himself from saying something dangerously revealing. But Feng Xin’s gaze remained on him, sharp and inquisitive, as if trying to piece together a puzzle.
“You do have a crush on someone in our group!”
The words hit like a cold splash of water. Mu Qing tried to maintain his composure, but his body betrayed him. His head dipped in a single, reluctant nod.
A satisfied, triumphant smirk lit Feng Xin’s face. He pulled himself further onto to the tube so he could lean in closer. “I knew it. So? Who is it?”
“No.” Mu Qing’s voice came out strained and fractured. “I—he… n-no.”
“Oh, come on, Qing’er. We’re friends now. That means you’re bound by the friend code to tell me who you’re into.”
Mu Qing’s expression flattened into a deadpan. “The friend code? That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.”
“Whatever, dude. Just tell me,” Feng Xin waved him off. “I could be your wingman, help you get together.”
With a bitter laugh, Mu Qing sunk deeper into the water until only the float kept him above the surface. His voice was distant and resigned. “No way. He’d never be into me.”
The change in tone must have caught Feng Xin off guard, because the teasing in his expression faded. He hauled himself on top of the float, leaning over to get a better look at Mu Qing’s averted face. He laid across the tube on his stomach, arms crossed under his chin and head tipped to the side.
Softly, Feng Xin murmured near his ear, “Hey, who wouldn’t be into you? You’re a pain in the ass, but… I don’t know, it adds to your charm. Like a feral kitten.”
The words were a knife to the gut, cutting too close to a sore spot Mu Qing wasn’t aware had been forming. Mu Qing’s heart stumbled.
“Plenty of people, Feng Xin. It’s just a crush, it’ll go away eventually,” he muttered, his voice taut. “So just drop it.”
Feng Xin didn’t respond right away. Instead, he studied Mu Qing with an intensity that made his skin prickle, like he was trying to uncover all of Mu Qing’s carefully buried secrets.
Just as Mu Qing opened his mouth to snap at him, to yell at him to stop staring, Feng Xin suddenly smiled. Not his usual cocky smirk, but that maddeningly adorable, puppy-like grin that somehow managed to stop him in his tracks. Before Mu Qing could process what was happening, Feng Xin reached out and lightly booped him on the nose.
“I’d date you if I was into guys.”
Time seemed to freeze as silver eyes darted to golden ones, wide and disbelieving. His heart somehow managed to swell and freeze, skip a beat and hammer wildly.
No way. There was no way he heard that right.
His mouth opened, a demand to repeat himself forming on his tongue, but the words wouldn’t come. He couldn’t ask when Feng Xin was looking at him like that. With his head tilted slightly to the side, his dopey boyish grin softening into something gentler, and his golden eyes practically glowing with platonic affection.
He couldn’t ask when Feng Xin was so close his breath brushed against Mu Qing’s cheek. They were so close, easily blamed by the single float, but Mu Qing couldn’t breathe.
Mu Qing’s saving grace came when the river carried them near the monstrous slide and the “closed” sign was nowhere to be found. Clearing his throat, Mu Qing tried to regain some semblance of normalcy.
“T-the slide is open…”
Feng Xin looked up and then smirked back at Mu Qing. “Well, what are we waiting for?”
He ditched the float and pulled himself over the side edge, Mu Qing following close behind. They ran up the steps, remnants of the lazy river water and their conversation spilling off them as they climbed higher and higher.
Somewhere near the top, Mu Qing’s courage started to waiver as the park seemed to shrink below them. Screams echoed through the slide and disappeared well before they witnessed the rider hurtle out of the slide and into the pool.
The small line moved while Mu Qing desperately tried to smother his anticipation. However, his nerves did urge him to ensure his drawstring was securely tied, taking no risks of accidental public indecency.
Feng Xin noticed Mu Qing checking his shorts and snorted. “This slide doesn’t actually undress people, Qing’er. It’s just a rumor.”
“The lifeguard literally said a kid lost his shorts this morning.”
“Yea, when he hurled. Probably just got it on his shorts. You’re panicking over nothing.”
Mu Qing glanced at Feng Xin’s untied strings. “You’re an idiot.”
The employee motioned for Mu Qing to go down the slide next. Feng Xin waved, “See you at the bottom, scaredy cat.”
Then, suddenly, Mu Qing was hurtling through the slide at speeds no human should ever reach outside of a moving vehicle. He twisted and turned, and he could swear he went upside down more than once. Water jets blasted against his back, forcing him to gain momentum as he neared the end and then he shot into the sky. Limbs flailed briefly and then suddenly, he was falling.
His stomach lurched upward while his body dropped down, crashing into the middle of the enormous pool with a colossal splash. He dunked beneath the surface and quickly gathered his senses to resurface. He gasped for breath as he swam over to the edge at the end of the pool. As he checked his swim trunks, he thanked his good senses for tying his shorts securely. They were a little loose from the slide but still in place, saving his dignity.
However, as he was praising himself, a pair of bright orange shorts wildly flung into the sky above the pool and disappeared without a trace. But no one was watching the shorts when a completely nude Feng Xin was hollering at the top of his lungs, star fished ten feet in the air, every unmistakable inch of him on full display, leaving nothing to the imagination. Arms flailed in a desperate attempt to cover himself as he crashed down into the pool. His shouts drowned with a gurgle.
The impact threw a massive wave across the pool. Feng Xin slowly resurfaced, using only his legs to kick himself over to the edge while his hands were desperately covering him from view. Gasps rippled through the crowd, followed by muffled laughter. Mu Qing heard one lifeguard sigh audibly while another tried, unsuccessfully, to stifle a giggle.
“Fourth one today,” the giggling lifeguard muttered.
“I thought the guy up top was supposed to tell them to tie their shorts,” the other replied.
“Hey, kid!” the lifeguard called out to Feng Xin, who was now clinging to the edge of the pool with one hand. They tossed him a red and white striped towel which he immediately pulled into the water and wrapped around his waist. “Didn’t the slide operator tell you to secure your swimsuit?”
The answer was obviously no, but Feng Xin nodded anyway as he climbed out of the pool, blushing furiously from scalp to chest.
Mu Qing could barely look at him. The secondhand embarrassment was overwhelming, so acute it felt like it was happening to him instead. Gods, if he had been the one to lose his shorts, he would’ve run off into the wilderness, never to be seen again.
But then, to his shock, Feng Xin started laughing.
Not a nervous chuckle or an awkward attempt to play it cool. Feng Xin belly laughed so hard he doubled over, clutching his sides. His shoulders shook, his breaths came in ragged gasps, and tears streamed down his face as unrestrained laughter echoed across the pool.
Mu Qing froze, staring at him. What kind of person laughed like that in the middle of the most humiliating moment of their life?
But as Feng Xin’s laughter rolled on, Mu Qing found himself staring for an entirely different reason. The golden afternoon light danced on the water droplets clinging to Feng Xin’s skin, illuminating him and his stupid, wide-open smile. It somehow made the entire situation feel less surreal and more infectious.
It ignited something in Mu Qing’s chest to see him laughing himself to tears while the lifeguard’s sopping wet towel covered his bare ass.
Odd, what the hell was that feeling?
It felt like a little sliver of Feng Xin found its way into his chest and then set him ablaze, but the crazy thing was, it didn’t hurt. Like he was set alight without being burned.
And he liked it.
Why did he like it?!
Feng Xin sat on the pool edge, falling over onto Mu Qing. “Qing’er!” But that was the only word he could squeeze out between fits of laughter.
The lifeguards eventually joined in and Mu Qing chuckled lightly as well, the moment quickly became contagious until everyone in the vicinity was voicing their amusement.
Eventually, Feng Xin’s laughter slowly subsided, and he glanced around the pool, a sheepish grin still lingering on his face. “Did—” he snorted, “did you see where my shorts went?”
Mu Qing deadpanned, “The fucking moon.”
And that sent Feng Xin into another round of giggles.
“You’re probably right,” he wheezed, shaking his head. “Shit. What do I do now?”
One of the lifeguards pointed toward the gift shop while studying the strange sunburn settling on Feng Xin’s back. Their face contorted with restrained amusement. “Go buy yourself a new pair. And for everyone’s sake, tie them next time. Alright, ‘Ju Yang’?”
Feng Xin blinked at the lifeguard. “Ju Yang?”
A smile crept across Mu Qing’s face as the lifeguard snapped a picture of Feng Xin’s back with their phone and showed him. He gaped at the lobster red burn sounding a lightly tanned phallic sunscreen doodle titled ‘Ju Yang’ and proudly signed by ‘Mu Qing’.
“Mu Qing!”
Feng Xin turned to throttle Mu Qing, but he was already gone, racing toward the gift shop while hurling insults over his shoulder.
One purchase, a thousand condescending snickers and insulting jabs later, Feng Xin and Mu Qing stumbled into the Mu apartment in a tangle of limbs. Wrestling and rough housing, falling through the door and landing hard on the ground in a noisy heap, echoing “oof!”
They landed mostly parallel to each other, Feng Xin sprawled on his back with Mu Qing draped halfway on top of him, Mu Qing laughing harder than he had in ages. He mumbled something about Ju Yang which sent him spiraling into another fit of derisive giggles. Mu Qing only stopped when he felt a warm palm gently cup his cheek.
Mu Qing’s breath hitched as he glanced down at his friend, still half-pinned beneath him. Feng Xin looked up at him—half smiling, half confused, a strange charged tension thick in the air. Gold eyes shifted over his features, questioning something but still jovially glittering.
A familiar, invisible pull tugged at Mu Qing’s senses, urging him closer. Butterflies swarmed his stomach, and for a reckless moment, he thought about leaning in, about feeling Feng Xin’s lips against his own. And he was almost certain Feng Xin might not push him away.
But just as his body tensed to move, a throat loudly cleared from deeper in the apartment, shattering the moment. Mu Qing’s gut dropped as he looked up and Feng Xin angled his head toward the source.
Mu Qing’s mother sat serenely on the couch, knitting, pretending not to notice the boys laying on the floor just inside the open door.
“Um,” Feng Xin’s face turned scarlet as he scrambled to sit up. He rubbed the back of his neck while sheepishly acknowledging Mu Qing’s mother, “Afternoon, Ayi!”
“Afternoon, XinXin. Are you staying the night?” She glanced over her knitting, a knowing smirk barely hidden behind her needles.
“Yes, if that’s alright?”
“Of course. Why don’t you get cleaned up. Dinner will be finished cooking in the oven soon.”
At the mention of dinner, Mu Qing finally noticed the savory scent wafting through the air. He carefully stood without meeting his mother’s piercing gaze that effortlessly peeled away his layers to expose the truths he buried.
Quietly, he muttered to Feng Xin, “You should shower first.”
With a nod, Feng Xin quickly grabbed some spare clothes he left in Mu Qing’s dresser and disappeared into the bathroom.
Mu Qing pointedly avoided his mother’s gaze like a dog who chewed a beloved pair of shoes. He turned toward his bedroom door and hurried to his escape.
He sat cross legged on his bed and hugged a pillow, reeling over the fact he would have kissed Feng Xin if his mother hadn’t stopped him. What the hell was wrong with him?!
First it was that weird nameless feeling after he saw Ju Yang that had yet to go away, and now this?! He’s acting like he’s lost his mind, like he’s not afraid to get punched, like he’s some love drunk fool—
Realization struck him. Love…
Oh no.
Oh no oh no oh no ohnoohnononononooooo.
He smashed the pillow against his face. That's what this feeling was, wasn’t it? He’s in love with Feng Xin? And all because he saw his di—
OH, THAT'S WORSE!
THAT’S SO MUCH WORSE!
He was NOT in love!
He was NOT in love with Feng Xin after witnessing Ju Yang hurtling out of a water slide at thirty miles per hour!
He was not!
The bedroom door opened. Feng Xin stepped into the room after showering and flopped onto Mu Qing’s bed fully dressed. He gave the pillow a tug and teased, “Trying to suffocate yourself, Qing’er?”
“Yes.”
“Why?”
“Because I hate you.”
Chuckling, Feng Xin ripped the pillow away and then smacked Mu Qing hard with it. If only it had smacked some sense into him instead of sending him falling onto his back.
His friend smirked above him. “Whatever. You love me.”
And fuck.
Mu Qing did.
·༺𓆩❀𓆪༻·Epilogue·༺𓆩❀𓆪༻·
Mu Qing and Feng Xin sat at the kitchen table, groggily existing much too early in the morning. Mu Qing was already dressed for work in a freshly laundered polo and khakis. Meanwhile Feng Xin lounged in a tank top and shorts, delaying getting ready until the absolute last minute as usual.
Both of them were bent over bowls of cereal, the only sounds in the kitchen was the occasional crunch of cereal and the soft clink of spoons. It was one of their rare moments of silence, too early for their usual noisy antics.
Mu Qing’s mother walked into the kitchen in her seamstress uniform, poured herself a cup of coffee and glanced over to the boys. Worry lines formed on her face as she noticed the raw edges of bright crimson sunburn peeking around the edges of Feng Xin’s tank top.
“XinXin, did you wear sunscreen at the park yesterday?”
Both boys froze mid-chew, locking eyes across the table. For a brief moment, they stared at each other. Then Feng Xin’s lips curled into a mischievous grin, vengeance with grasp.
He quickly chewed and swallowed to answer, but before he could speak, Mu Qing threw down his spoon, bolted out of his chair, and clamped his hand over Feng Xin’s mouth.
Undeterred, Feng Xin licked Mu Qing’s palm. He recoiled in disgust, yanking his hand back and furiously wiping it on Feng Xin’s shirt.
“Gross!” he yelled, his voice echoing off the walls.
But Feng Xin just batted his lashes innocently at Mama Mu. “Yes, Ayi. Why? Did Qing’er miss a spot when he got my back?”
Without waiting for an answer, he tugged his shirt up and turned his back toward her, revealing an angry red sunburn stretching across his skin except for where Mu Qing colored in an enormous dick and wrote his name under the title of his masterpiece.
Mama Mu gasped, nearly dropping her coffee, splashing some onto the floor. “MU QING!”
For a moment, her son froze, his eyes wide and heart hammering in his chest. Then, without a word, he bolted out the front door, fleeing before she could throttle him.
Feng Xin snickered with a hand over his mouth. Justice. He quickly grabbed a cloth to help clean the spilled coffee, but asked more seriously this time, “Do you have aloe, Ayi? It really does hurt.”
“Of course, XinXin,” she said, her tone exasperated as she shook her head and removed a green bottle from the refrigerator.