Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Where do you think you’re going ? The ceremony will begin soon. Father and I are expecting you to be there.”

Xingqiu froze in his movements as he heard his brother’s voice piercing through the air from behind, the usual strict undertone to it. Slowly, he turned around, careful not to make any noise that could be heard from downstairs, and pulled himself out of the windowframe, that he had been going to leave through.

“Uhm,” he started, faking a smile. “I was just going to… pick some last things up from outside, you know… I was going to be back in time, though !”

His brother lifted an eyebrow, arms crossed. “Is that so ?”

Xingqiu nodded and tried to explain further, but his brother’s voice cut him off before he could.

“To me, it looks like you were going to escape through the window, jump onto the tree right there,” He pointed to a big branch that almost reached the windowsill. “Climb down, walk until Wanwen Bookhouse, and hang out there until the meeting is over.”

Xingqiu could feel cold sweat at his forehead and nape.

“That’s not-” he began, but the strict and judging look of his brother’s shut him up.

“I know you too well, little brother. Now come downstairs to dinner or you’ll have to deal with some big trouble tomorrow. Father is waiting.”

Uncrossing his arms and letting his shoulders drop, his brother added : “I mean it, Xingqiu. This is important. You can’t just run away from your duties like you always do. You’re his son and his heir, so do what you need to. One day, you’ll regret not coming to the meetings.”

Xingqiu wanted to protest, to tell his brother he was wrong, that he wasn’t the heir and that he didn’t need to worry, but the words refused to leave his throat and his brother began to walk away.

“I hope I’ll see you at the conference, little brother.” he said, before shutting the door behind himself.

Xingqiu’s eyebrows went down, followed by his whole head, which he dropped to look at the floor. His hands clenched into fists as he felt hot tears form in his eyes. Pressing his teeth togther, he tried to stop them, but for some reason, they wouldn’t. His shoulders started shaking and suddenly, the ground felt as if it were going to collapse. In panic, Xingqiu’s knees gave in and he fell to the floor on his stomach, arms in front of his face.

Shit, he thought. Why am I so goddamn emotional.

After he hit the ground, it took him a few minutes to realize what he was doing. He had shut his eyes and almost fallen asleep, but the shock of realization that he was still in the hellhole he called home hit himtoo painfully to be ignored.

Usually, the only real, restful sleep Xingqiu got, was when he was outside. Either under a bridge, with a blanket, or at Wanwen bookhouse during the day. He rarely spent the nights at his real home, avoiding it whenever he could.

In the morning, starting before sunrise, maids would come into his room and start cleaning up, preparing his clothes, or bringing him breakfast so loudly that he could barely keep his eyes closed. In the evenings, he was usually forced to stay up late due to either classes or conferences, and when he wasn’t, then his parents and brother would discuss important matters loudly enough to still keep Xingqiu awake.

Once, he had explained the matter to a friend of his, Xiangling. She lived as a commoner, although the amount of mora she possessed wasn’t anywhere near small. “Why don’t you just ask them to be quiet ?” she had asked, and he had laughed. It hadn’t been a genuine laugh, it had been one that said ‘You can’t actually be serious, right ?’.

She had looked at him, confused, and he had explained. “You see, Xiangling, I am the third most important person of the household. My parents would murder me if I were to interfere in their matters. Not even my older brother would dare to do such a thing, and his rank is way higher than mine. Maybe it’s hard to understand for someone who doesn’t live with things like these every day, but it’s just not… acceptable for me to ask them something for my personal interest. They don’t care if I get good sleep, they care if I’m going to make good money. I’m an object to them, Xiangling.”

He had laughed at himself. “Can you imagine that ? Second son, not even the real heir, standing in the doorway, hair mussed, in his nightgowns, asking his parents to calm their voices down ? Even asking a servant to do so would be considered improper. I can’t do things like that, you know. It’s impossible.”

I hate being rich, he had thought. I want to be like the others.

So he pushed himself up from the floor, ignored the hair falling into his eyes, and with trembling muscles, walked back to the window.

“Fuck these conferences,” he muttered to himself, swinging the legs out of the window, onto the thick branch. “They can do that without me.”

The walk until Wanwen bookhouse wasn’t long. About five minutes, if you glided down from the hill that the Feiyun Commerce Guild mansion was built on.

When Xingqiu got there, the owner, Jifang, was starting to bring the books back inside, closing the shop up slowly.

When she saw the blue haired boy approach, her eyebrows went up. “Master Xingqiu ?” she asked. “You’re not supposed to be outside right now, are you ? A maid from the Guild told me about an important meeting your brother and you would have to attend tonight-”

Xingqiu’s forced laugh cut her off in her sentence. “This isn’t my first time coming here without permission.” he smiled. “I’m a loyal cutomer, aren’t I ? There’s no need to worry about my private life, as long as I pay properly, am I right ?” It had been a rethorical question that Jifang couldn’t have answered. “Anyway, do you have The Legend of the Shattered Halberd number three here ? I’d like to borrow it for the night.”

Jifang, nodding, turned around to the half empty table, looked around for a bit, and then extended her arm to grab a specific book on a pile. “There you go,” she said, turning back to him. “But do you really think it’s a good idea for you to skip those meetings, young master ?”

Xingqiu resisted the urge to roll his eyes. “I’ll be very fine, thank you for your concern.” he smiled, taking the book and leaving a small pile on mora in Jifang’s hand instead. “See you tomorrow.”
__________________________________________________________________________

Clenched jaw and narrowed eyes, he held onto the book strongly enough to make his knuckles turn white.

Why do they all care more about business than about what I like ?, he thought. Just let me be, Archons damn it. How is it any of her business what I do in my life ?

Angry thoughts filling his mind, he walked throught the peaceful, empty streets of Liyue Harbor where, after sunset, only the Millelith were still awake, guarding the doors and passages.

Nodding to each one of them, Xingqiu made his way to the docks, to a specific place he knew. On the very east of the docks, there was a ship in construction ; it had been there for about four months, and Xingqiu had witnessed in all details how it had become a splendid work of art and function, simply by spending his days next to where the materials were stored. At first, visiting the same place all over again just to read hadn’t been a serious intention, he had just come there because the wind was the weakest yet the freshest over there, and he had refused to get better clothing from home when he had been warm, but he had gotten attached to the evolution of the ship, making the reading spot one of his favourites in the harbor.

So, naturally, this was where he was headed.

The book still in his hand, the other one placed carefully on the pile of wooden blocks to assure not to fall into the water, he walked under a few shelves and over boxes, just to finally reach his favourite place.

Uh, he thought, as he looked at the head of light blue hair sitting where he wanted to, a popsicle in one hand, a book in the other. Who the heck is that ?

Waiting for a few seconds, hoping that the other boy would notice him, Xingqiu stood there, shifting from one foot to the other. Then, he cleared his throat, which finally caught the boy’s attention.

“Excuse me,” Xingqiu said. “That is my spot.”

The boy turned around and Xingqiu got a glance at his overly soft features, with big eyes, smooth skin, and blue bangs that covered his forehead.

“Oh, sorry.” he stated, in a tone as soft as his skin. “I didn’t know this was yours. I can leave now, if you want me to.”

However, before he could start pushing himself up, Xingqiu had stepped forward and walked past him.

“It’s okay,” he stated. “As long as you move over a bit, you can stay.”

The boy immediately nodded, taking his book and moving about one and a half feet to the right. Xingqiu took the sign and sat down next to him, legs dangling down over the water surface.

“Why are you out here so late ?” the boy asked with the soft voice, and Xingqiu shivered slightly. “Long story. Why are you ?”

“My father is at a conference or something, and he didn’t want me there. He just sent me to explore the area a bit.”

Xingqiu nodded, understanding. “I see. So you’re not from here ? I figured. I’ve never seen you around, and I know a lot of people who live here, if not all of them. I’m Xingqiu, by the way.”

He extended a hand to the other boy, who took and shook it with his own. “Chongyun.” he said, smiling softly.

After that, they stayed in silence, each one of them reading peacefully, with only the sounds of the water against the stone walls filling their ears.

“So ?” Chongyun asked after a while, and Xingqiu looked up from his book. “Why are you out here so late ? You have time to explain now, right ?”

Xingqiu sighed, amused, but he nodded. “I guess I do. So basically, I’m the second son of a pretty rich, pretty important family in Liyue Harbor. Don’t get me wrong, though. I’m not like… bragging about the money I have. I’d rather be a commoner, if I’m honest. Being treated like a noble just doesn’t have only positive sides… Anyway, my Father, Mother, older Brother, and I are supposed to attend some type of important meeting about alliances or whatever, but I figured it’d be boring anyway, so I just skipped it. I always do that, when I don’t feel like attending. It’s just that, if I had stayed home, my brother would definitely have come into my room to drag me out into the conference hall, or he would have sent a servant to do so. And since I didn’t feel like going, I just escaped through the window. Almost got caught this time, too. I swear, it’s a struggle…”

Chongyun released a little giggle at Xingqiu’s rant, and Xingqiu himself couldn’t hold back his laughter either.

“Really ?” Chongyun asked. “Through the window ? Don’t you have, like, back doors or something ?”

Xingqiu chuckled. “Oh, we do, definitely ! About fifteen, I’d say. It’s just that they’re all guarded, for the sole reason of keeping me inside the mansion. Now that my brother caught me on the tree by the window, though, I doubt they’re going to leave the windows free to access for me.”

They laughed a bit more, and Xingqiu leaned his head back. “It’s been a while since I’ve had someone my age to talk to. I forgot how fun it is.”

Chongyun looked at him with those big, blue eyes. “So you don’t have many friends ?” he asked, and Xingqiu shook his head. “Not really.” he answered, and his bangs were shook out of his face, before getting shoved behind his ear. “I mean, I have one friend who’s two years older than me, and one whose age I don’t know. I think she might be a witch or something, like a thousand years old. No idea, really. The others aren’t real friends, just acquaintances of my father’s, or people I had to meet through business. What about you ? Where are you from, anyway ?”

Chongyun smiled and looked into the distance, putting his weight on his hands on the ground behind his back. “I’m from Mondstadt.” he said, and Xingqiu’s mouth opened in surprise.

“No way.”

“Yeah !”

“I’ve never been there ! What’s it like ?”

“It’s beautiful, in my opinion. The architecture is very different from Liyue, and the foods too. My dad is Mondstadtian, but my mom is from Liyue, that’s why my name doesn’t sound like I’m from there. I arrived here with the boat this morning, and jeez, it was a mess. My dad was fascinated by everything he saw, and my mom just wanted to get going. I kind of had to find a way to please them both, so we went to eat first. None of us can think straight with an empty stomach. I almost died, by the way. I can’t handle spicy food at all, and they had nothing to match my tastes there. And the girl there just kept trying to force me to eat weird stuff…”

Xingqiu laughed out loud again. “Was it Wanmin restaurant ?” Chongyun nodded. “Then the girl’s name is Xiangling, that’s the friend I told you about. Come to think of it, how old are you ?”

For a second, Xingqiu thought Chongyun was ignoring him, but when he turned to look at him, he realized the boy was just busy counting in his fingers. “Uh…” he made. Then, he came to the conclusion : “Sixteen ! ...I think.”

And once again, Xingqiu laughed at his new friend. “Interesting.” he said. “I’m fifteen. I’ll be sixteen in a few days, though.”

Chongyun smiled into the distance, nodding faintly. Both of them enjoyed the silence for another while, with Xingqiu reading his book, and Chongyun staring into the dark ocean water as the sun set.

“So, your dad seems to be kind of possessive, no ?”
Chongyun’s voice glided through the air with the soft flow of petals falling to the ground, and, not specifically listening to what it said, Xingqiu could feel his cheeks heat up and the sound of it.

“Sorry ?”

“Your dad. Isn’t it kind of possessive of him, to force you to stay indoors and to attend meetings ?”

Xingqiu shook his head. “No. I mean… In a way, I suppose. But it’s for the good of the family business. I’m the second heir, so I suppose it’s natural for him to be like that. As for me… It’s not like I behave to his liking, anyway.”

Chongyun chuckled and his head leaned back, revealing a jawline sharper than his other facial features.

“I see. So, what is that family business ? Is it something I should have heard of before coming to Liyue ?”

Xingqiu shrugged, simply. “I don’t know. Feiyun Commerce Guild’s the name, and I know that we have some partners in Mondstadt, but I don’t know if we’re famous there.”

Chongyun’s eyes had widened at the mention of the name, and his head had turned to Xingqiu, who in return, turned around as well.

For a brief seconds, they stared at each other, before Chongyun spoke.

“Feiyun Commerce Guild ? I’m pretty sure that that’s the place my dad had to attend the conference !”

Xingqiu’s smile faded and his face went into confusion.

“Wait.” he said. “My father did mention that there were guests-”

A moment passed where none of them said a thing, before both broke into laughter.

“No way !” Xingqiu called. “There’s no way you’re the son of that important guy Father was talking about ! You guys have some sort of paper industry, right ?”

Chongyun nodded excitedly, eyes big and mouth opened a bit. “Yeah ! Archons, this is way too funny-” He choked on his own laughter. “And my dad… My dad even mentioned how the second son is quite rebellious, and how the first son on the Guild leader keep complaining about him openly ! I can’t believe I didn’t link that before…”

Xingqiu snorted at the statement, crossing his arms comically. “Excuse me ? My family complains about me openly ? How does that not ruin their reputation-”

“It does.”

Both Chongyun and Xingqiu turned around abruptly, as the sudden deep voice pierced through the air from behind.

Xingqiu’s eyes widened and his smile immediately faded as he tried to move further from its source, but he found himself only a few inches away from the water at the docks.

“B-Brother-” Xingqiu’s voice was cut off with fear and his hands started to tremble on the book.

Chongyun, in confusion, looked from one brother to the other, noticing how alike they looked. The one standing behind, however, had shorter hair and smaller eyes, and a bit of hair growth covered his chin in the same color as his and his brother’s hair.

“You’re coming with me, Xingqiu. We’ve had enough of your nonsense. Be prepared to face the consequences of it now.”

With a not quite gentle motion, the man bent down and forced a strong hand around Xingqiu’s arm, dragging him upwards, away from Chongyun.

“O-Ow ! Brother, you’re hurting me, let me go-”

“Shut your mouth, Xingqiu. Father is already mad enough at you as it is now. Don’t make it any worse.”

With a desperate look and half open mouth, seemingly trying to force out some words, Xingqiu gazed back at Chongyun, whose face showed the same amount of confusion. But before he could say anything to the boy, he had already been forcefully dragged away by his brother.

Chapter Text

Chongyun had met a beautiful boy at the docks.

Originally, Chongyun had just been strolling around Liyue Harbor, exploring the unknown streets, and noting all the closing shops he’d wanted to visit the next day. He’d climbed a few random stairs, until he had reached ‘Wanwen Bookhouse’. The lady there had looked at him, confused but with a smile, and called him over.

“You’re not from here, are you ?” she’d asked, and he had shook his head. “In that case, pick whichever book you’d like. Your very first purchase is free of charge.”

He had looked at her with big eyes, and she had continued smiling, so he had picked the first volume of a series that he didn’t know yet. He had thanked the lady, who had introduced herself as Jifang, and then continued his wander.

After a while of walking, he had found himself hungry and slightly overheating. He sure wasn’t used the the warm air of Liyue. In Mondstadt, it was way cooler.

Then, remembering the restaurant he had gone to with his family earlier, he saw the image of a few blue popsicles on the menu in his head. Right, he had thought to himself. They sold stuff like that. Why didn’t I pick that, earlier ? Then, praying that the place was still open, he made his way back to Wanmin restaurant quickly, just to find the chef close the windows right in front of his eyes.

“No…” he whined, and had started running towards the man. “Sir ?” he had called, and the man had turned around. “Oh, hello there, son. I’m sorry, but we’re already closed.”

Chongyun let his head drop backwards, sighing. “Okay. Thank you anyway.”

When he had turned to leave again, the chef had put a hand on his shoulder. “Wait.” he had smiled. “What is it that you need ? Maybe I can cook it up quickly for you.”

Chongyun had explained, and the man had nodded, with the friendly smile on his lips, and in the end, had laughed.

“You’re incredibly lucky, son.” he had answered. “I have nearly ten popsicles left over. They don’t sell too well, you see.” He had handed two of them to Chongyun, but when the boy took his money out to pay, he quickly pulled his hand away. “Don’t worry, son.” he said. “I’m glad I could help. You don’t have to pay.”

With a deep, thankful bow, Chongyun had gone, that time making his way to the ocean. There was no real beach he could have gone to, so he figured he’d just go to the docks. He had walked along them, trying to find a place where the wind wasn’t too strong but fresh enough to cool him down. And after a while of searching, he had found the perfect place.

It was comfortable, had a nice view, and the salty air tasted amazing. In Mondstadt, he rarely went to the beach, because it was quite far from where he lived. His home was not in Mondstdat city, but on the western outskirts, near Dawn Winery. His parents were close friends with Elzer, and at some point, Chongyun had managed to befriend the grumpy winery owner, Diluc Ragnvindr, too.

So Chongyun had been sitting there, alone, the slight wind in his hair, breathing in the ocean air. His thoughts were drifting off reality. He imagined himself on one of the big ships, as a captain, leading a crew into battle. He’d give them orders, he’d save them, he’d beat whatever enemy he’d have to. With all those imaginary scenarios, he had almost fallen asleep, the book long forgotten in his hand.

But then, someone had cleared their throat behind him. Chongyun had turned around at looked up, where a boy was standing. And Barbatos, was he beautiful.

He had long, dark blue hair, tied in a high ponytail that reached his mid-back, with uneven sideswept bangs that ended over his eyebrows. He was wearing a combination of dark blue and golden silken clothing, with shining black shoes, and knee-high white socks.

“Excuse me,” he stated, with an angelic light voice. “That’s my spot.”

Chongyun’s mind had gone blank. What the hell. The beautiful guy just talked to me. Wait, no. I’m in the way. I’m bothering him.

So he had pulled himself together, trying to force the shyness out of his voice, and answered “Oh, sorry. I didn’t know this place was yours. I can leave now, if you want me to.”

The boy had shook his head and walked past him, shooing him aside with one hand. “It’s okay. Just move over a little.”

They had started talking for a while, Chongyun had explained where he was from, and the boy, Xingqiu mentioned that he was the second some of a quite important business. In just the short time they had spent together, about thirty or fourty minutes, Chongyun had felt himself overheat whenever he thought of him. But before he could have asked Xingqiu if he wanted to hang out with him again, someone had interrupted them – seemingly Xingqiu’s older brother, given that they looked quite alike – and had dragged him away, yelling and cursing at him. Chongyun had wanted to yell something, like ‘Let him go !’ or ‘Wait ! Will we meet again ?’, but the desperate look on Xingqiu’s face had completely thrown him off course.

And so, he was back at being alone on the docks. But now that he had become friends with the other boy, it didn’t feel as freeing, or as comfortable as before. Now he felt lonely, as if something had been taken from him – which was the case, after all.

Unmotivated to stay at the docks any longer, Chongyun pushed himself up, and sighing, climbed back to the main road. His parents’ conference would probably take about another hour at least, so he wouldn’t be able to discuss their next travel plans with them – an activity he loved, because it gave him opportunities to choose where he wanted to go next.

It wasn’t like he couldn’t go back to the house they were renting for the days they were spending in the harbor ; he had the keys and access to all the rooms. But it was boring alone, and they was nothing to do in the first place.

Chongyun ended up sitting on a random flight of stairs, like the ones that led to Wanwen bookhouse. By now, the city was dark, and only the guardians (Millelith ?) were still outside, mostly standing under the lanterns. The air had cooled down a bit, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. On the contrary, Chongyun appreciated the colder aspects over the loud, light ones of the day. There were so many people, more than he was comfortable with. Liyue Harbor was simply bigger than Mondstadt, after all.

Crossing his arms over his drawn-up knees and resting his head on them, Chongyun closed his eyes. When he focused, he could pretend to be sitting on top of the Favonius Church, a place he liked to climb because from there, the view over Mondstadt city was by far the best. Sometimes, someone would join him, for fun. Klee, Amber, or Bennet. Sometimes, when he was free, even Kaeya.

He could practically feel Amber’s head rest on his shoulder, like she did when she was exhausted from climbing all the way up. Chongyun would chuckle at her, poke her bunny-ears, and tell her to get off him.

Then, the feeling of pressure on his shoulder got stronger, strong enough for him to tense his muscles.

In confusion, Chongyun opened his eyes.

Hold on a minute. There really was someone leaning onto him !

“Excuse me ?” he asked, gently moving under the person’s touch, and leaning his head forward to see who was hiding under the hood.

“Hey.” he repeated. “Hey !”

Suddenly, the person jerked up and jumped away from Chongyun, turning their head to his direction. Chongyun finally caught a glampse from what was under the hood.

“Wait, you’re the girl from the restaurant-”

The person sighed, and, with a nod, removed the hood.

“Well,” she said with her high-pitched voice. “Looks like I got caught.”

She leaned her head back and chuckled to herself, before turning back to Chongyun and extending a hand.

“I’m Xiangling.”

Confused, Chongyun extended his hand as well, softly shaking Xiangling’s.

“...Chongyun.”

She smiled and, with only a few motions of her free hand, released her hairstyle, so that her brown curls fell down her back. Shaking her head a bit to loosen them, she said : “You’re probably wondering why I did that.”

Chongyun nodded. “I was indeed going to ask you.”

“Listen, you’re going to find this funny, but I have a friend, you see. His name is Xingqiu and he’s our age. If you’re around sixteen, I mean. And he struggles to make friends in Liyue because of his family’s position.”

Xiangling’s voice was too cheerful for a subject like this, but Chongyun had stopped minding it from the second she had mentioned Xingqiu’s name.

“So, when I met you at the restaurant, earlier, I figured making you become friends with him wouldn’t hurt anyone ! You’re new here and don’t know anyone, and he spends his days lonely ! So I tried to set you guys up, but I couldn’t find Xingqiu anywhere… So I figured I’d just convice you to come with me to see him tomorrow !”

Chongyun stared at her, and she stared right back.

His mouth opened and closed as he contemplated explaining to her that he had already met Xingqiu, and that he had also already developed a crush on him, but the only thing that his throat managed was “I know him.”

Xiangling continued staring at him, this time, with bigger eyes.

“You know him ?”

Finally, out of his trance, Chongyun shook his head, and nodded. “Yes. No. I mean-”

And while Xiangling laughed at him, he explained the situation, trying not to get his words confused – which didn’t work all that well.

But in the end, Xiangling had understood the situation, and while she kept mocking Chongyun in a friendly way, he found himself glad that he had managed to make another friend.

Chapter Text

“Brother, you’re hurting me, stop-”

“How many times do I have to tell you to shut up ?! You’re in big trouble, young man, so just behave for once !”

Xingqiu’s eyes widened at the tone his brother used, it had almost been a growl, driven by anger and fury.

“B-But-”

“No buts, goddamnit ! Can you imagine how mad Father is ? He sent me out to get you, because he’s sick of the servants failing to bring you back ! You’re so stubborn, we’ve all had enough ! If you don’t close your mouth right now, I’m stitching it shut myself, and I’ll make sure you’ll never be able to speak again !”

That time, Xingqiu understood. His lips closed, and his eyes narrowed down from their widened state, into a gaze of guilt and despair. Sorry, he thought.

He was dragged through the long, illuminated hallways, with his and his brother’s footsteps echoing on the walls, through the main living room, through the inner courtyard, until they reached the conference hall on the other side of the fountain.

Before the doors were pushed open by a few servants waiting, Xingqiu whimpered slightly, earning a death glare from his brother, colder than ice.

And then, the doors were opened.

In the conference hall, all the lights were lit, and the tables arranged in their usual U-shaped form, with Xingqiu’s father at the front end, and his mother next to him. They were discussing something, as expected, with a man whose hair color reminded Xingqiu of Chongyun’s.

“Father,” Xingqiu’s brother called, turning all the present people’s attention onto him. “I have brought him back.”

Their father lifted his head in acknowledgement, and, pushing his chair back, stood up to welcome his elder son properly.

“My dear son,” he said. “You shall be rewarded properly for having fulfilled such an… exhausting duty. As for you, Xingqiu…” He used my real name, Xingqiu noted, sweat forming at his nape. He doesn’t think of me as someone worth a title.

“As for you, Xingqiu,” his father repeated, insisting on the pronounced name. A humiliating action for Xingqiu. “You will sit down in the back, and once this conference is over, you shall meet me in the yard. The one by your room, in fact.”

Xingqiu knew where this was going, yet he swallowed down his protests, nodded and bowed deeply, before saying “Yes, Father.” and marching in shame, all eyes on him, to the back of the room, where the least important meeting members were sitting.

The conference carried on for another fourty minutes, and in the end, Xingqiu had no idea what had been the subject. He had been busy preparing himself mentally for the punishment he was going to have to endure, and it for sure wasn’t only a little one. The only ones he had ever gotten for sneaking out had been small, like having to help the servants clean the mansion, or like being locked in a room for a few nights in a row so he could think about his mistakes. This time, however, he sensed that he wasn’t going to get away with such light measures.

And he had been right.

__________________________________________________________________________

“The tree will be removed.”

“...I beg your pardon ?”

Xingqiu’s voice was full of disbelief and his eyes had narrowed in confusion.

“You heard me. The tree will be removed, bars will get installed over your window, and your presence will constantly be tracked by bodyguards. You have by now lost your privilege of choosing when you want to leave. This has gone on for long enough, and now is the time for you to face the consequences. I would like to tell you that I am sorry, Son, but I would be lying to you.”

Xingqiu could only stand there in shock, his mouth opening and closing as if he wanted to say something, but no sound left his throat. His shoulders went up and he froze as his father approached him, suddenly holding a rope he had seemingly gotten from one of his pockets.

Xingqiu’s eyes followed his father’s movements, and he tried to protest, to back away, but his body felt numbly paralyzed, and he found himself unable to move.

Before he knew what was happening, his father had taken Xingqiu’s right wrist and tied the rope around it with a tight knot, too quickly for Xingqiu to see the technique.

“W-What are you-”

“I have to make sure you’re not leaving the mansion before tomorrow. The bars in front of your window will be installed during your sleep, and to make sure you don’t escape while the servants are taking breaks, you will be tied to your bed. If you object, you’ll be moving into the broom closet next to my chambers.”

Xingqiu tried to say something, to protest, because this was clearly a theft of his liberty, but he knew his father too well. Once he had said something, he wasn’t getting back on his word.

__________________________________________________________________________

It turned out that sleeping while people worked on your window with bright candle light and your wrist felt like it was cut off from the rest of your body, was quite hard. But Xingqiu had seen that coming.

And he was so glad he had been smart enough to ‘forget’ a pair of scissors, hidden in his bedside-table, from when he had been working on another project, a few days ago.

In reality, it had simply been a lucky coincidence that the scissors were still there, but Xingqiu was more relieved than ever that they were and that he hadn’t brought them back to the kitchen. And, which probably had used up his luck for the whole year, they were hidden in one of the hollowed-out books he had used for reading fiction in math class – where no one suspected them.

The only problem was, that he had no idea how to cut through the rope discreetly while all those servants were practically hanging out in his room for the whole night.

So he waited. And waited. And waited a little more.

By the time the sun rose again, Xingqiu had not closed an eye. He had stayed up the whole night, pretending to be asleep, while the servants had worked on his window, hoping for a brief second of privacy. But there had always been at least one servant in his room, constantly.

Come on, Xingqiu had whined in his head. Just leave already.

But they hadn’t. They had kept working all night long, giving him not a single second of time for his plan.

The morning came, the curtains had stayed opened anyway, so the sun streamed in, when the servants finally left. But of course, now wasn’t the time for Xingqiu to either sleep or execute his plans, because now, other servants marched in, claiming for him to wake up and let them dress him.

Xingqiu would have loved to just refuse, kick them out of his room, and let himself rest peacefully for a while, but he was in too much trouble already, and he doubted that he was ever going to leave mansion again if he caused more now.

So he obeyed. His tiredness was killing him, and his wrist felt like it had been cut off from his arm, but he obeyed.

He obeyed as the servants stripped him of his nightshirt, replacing it with the traditional Commerce Guild’s uniform. Xingqiu avoided wearing it whenever he could, because when he did, it became even more obvious where he was from, and frankly, he hated the attention it got him. Because it increased the distance between him and the normal people of Liyue. And because it was damn uncomfortable.

He obeyed as the drew a few brushstrokes through his long, blue hair, as they tied it into a low ponytail – a hairstyle all the members of his family sported, and as they pulled a pair of black socks up to his knees.

Though the rope and been taken off without leaving too big of a mark, Xingqiu could feel the blood flood back into his fingers, too slowly and painfully for it to be healthy.

The servants, after founding themselves satisfied with what they had done to the boy, pushed him out of the room and down the corridors, indicating for him to go to the breakfast hall. And of course, he obeyed.

__________________________________________________________________________

When he entered the hall, suddenly, all eyes lay on him.

His brother, father, and mother had been sitting at the head of the table, while the man from the night before – the one with Chongyun’s hair color – and another lady were sitting on the sides.

“Good morning.” Xingqiu bowed slightly, before walking up to his usual place, the last seat at the head of the table, but before he could get there, his father lifted a hand and made him stop.

“Son,” he said, and Xingqiu turned. “For the rest of this day, you will be joining our guests at their seats. The seat at the top will be granted back to you when you show yourself worthy of it.”

Clenching his jaw, faking a kind smile, with a vein pulsating at his forehead, Xingqiu nodded and bowed. “Understood.”

In the same walk of shame than the night before, Xingqiu walked up to the guest he had seen before.

“Good day to you,” the man stated, with a deep yet gentle voice, and with another bow, Xingqiu sat down next to him. “Hello.”

Breakfast was a quiet, peaceful time, where no one argued and everyone enjoyed the morning. The man, who had introduced himself as Karl, had asked Xingqiu all types of questions, without holding back – it showed that he didn’t consider Xingqiu of someone with a higher rank.

Putting up his calm and collected persona, Xingqiu answered all of them kindly, sometimes even asking things back to keep the conversation going.

“Did you often sneak out, before ?”

“I suppose that is a way of calling it. I prefer to call it… unauthorized strolling.”

Karl had laughed at many of Xingqiu’s answers, too many times for it to be genuine. Or maybe, it was. Xingqiu couldn’t understand what was going on in the man’s mind.

__________________________________________________________________________

After breakfast came the first classes of the day.

For Xingqiu, these were finance management and handwriting practice.

Oh, how much Xingqiu hated the latter.

The teacher kept yelling at him to hold his brush correctly, without giving Xingqiu any instructions on how to actually do so. Then, he forced him to copy a few letters, with the best writing he could manage, and when it didn’t please him, he’d have to do it all over again, until it was about acceptable.

The first time Xingqiu had wrote something that someone else could actually read, the teacher had replaced literature class – Xingqiu’s favourite -, by his handwriting one, claiming ‘That the effort should not be lost now’. Saying Xingqiu was mad would have been the understatement of the year.

And so Xingqiu forced himself through it. It took all of his slef-control and composure, but he managed. Though the free window next to his seat was quite appealing, if he was honest.

___________________________________________________________________________________

When lunch time came, Xingqiu was finally granted a bit of free time. Well, of course, while he would sleep – which he had told his father he would, explaining the situation – someone would guard the door to assure he wasn’t leaving.

No one suspected anything when Xingqiu went up to his room to get a book, before being led into the appropriate room for daytime-sleeping (because of course they needed a special room for that).

The place consisted of a few bunk beds, a closet and, to Xingqiu’s pleasure, a big window (His father truly was stupid for letting his son use a room with an accessible window freely). Normally, it was the only room where Family members and servants were permitted to rest in the same room. Though, since the room was usually full of servants, no member of the Family bothered to go there.

In any case, Xingqiu was more than glad when he found the room completely empty, free for him to use.

Putting the book – the hollowed out book with scissors inside – on a bedside-table, he pretended to shuffle into the bed, so the guard outside his door wouldn’t suspect a thing.

And then, Xingqiu escaping plan began.

Tip-toing, to pretend he was still in bed, Xingqiu went to get the hollowed-out book and took the scissors from it.

Releasing a relieved sigh that a mirror was still behind the door, he turned around and, quietly, walked up to it.

Then, lifting his hands to his low-tied ponytail, he frowned at himself. He looked way too much like his brother, like this. But it wasn’t going to stay that way, anyway.

So the scissors came up to his hair, and with only a few quick snips, detached it from his head.

___________________________________________________________________________________

Xu had gotten the exhausting task of having to watch over Xingqiu while he rested.

The youngest son was quite a lot of trouble, and Xu was aware – he had avoided this task for as long as he could, but with the other servants busy taking care of the guests, he had gotten no choice.

P atiently watching the wall clock, he decided after half an hour of waiting that Xingqiu must have had rested enough, and that it was time to wake him up again. So, knocking on the door, he breathed in and prepared himself to face the moody teenager.

“Master Xingqiu,” Xu called. “I’m coming in.”

The door creaked open, to reveal nothing but a quiet room, as normal as it could be.

So Xu approachd the bed where a head of blue hair was sticking out from under the blanket, and, sitting on the side of it, reached out to gently shake the boy’s shoulder.

To his surpise, however, his hand touched the bed, instead of a body, and nothing under the blanket moved. Indeed, there didn’t even seem to be any breaths.

Immediately alarmed, Xu jumped up and pulled the blanket back with all his strength, and his eyes widened as he identified what he was looking at.

“No.” he hissed, cursing himself for not having paid enough attention. “No.”

Under the blanket lay a small pillow to pretend to be a head, and right next to it, the long tresses of blue hair that were supposed to be attached to Xingqiu’s head, cut off and thrown messily as if to mimic Xingqiu’s typical bedhead under the cover.

And suddenly, a gust of wind blew through the room and Xu’s head snapped over, to the window, whose lock had been broken and left on the windowsill.

“Oh fucking god.”

Chapter Text

Xingqiu was running away.

It felt good, freeing, that he had found a way to get out of his father’s ‘obsessive behaviour’, as Chongyun had called it, although so many measures had been put up to stop him from it . He felt like he finally had control over himself again – he hadn’t been in the total lockdown for more than a few mere hours, but it had felt like forever, and the worst type of forever.

It was around lunch time, the city’s busiest time of the day. And Xingqiu loved it. He liked the empty streets in the evening, for sure, but the busy and freely happy athmosphere was way better.

Of course, Xingqiu’s first destination was Wanmin restaurant. It was practically obvious that Xiangling would be there at such a busy hour, and he looked forward to seeing her, having not done so for a few days.

To his surpise, however, when he got there , Xiangling was not alone with Chef Mao. Instead, behind the counter, at the cooking places, stood Chongyun, chatting with the girl, a smile on his face.

Then, by coincidence, he turned, and for a brief second, he and Xingqiu held eyecontact. Then, Chongyun’s smile faded, and without turning back to her, he gripped Xiangling’s sleeve and pointed at Xingqiu in the crowd.

Without hesitating, the latter stepped forward, pushing his way through the mass of hungry people waiting at Wanmin restaurant, and escaped to the back of the house, where the backdoor led to the cooking area.

And of course, Xiangling and Chongyun were waiting for him there.

“What. The fuck. Happened to your hair.” Xiangling stated as Xingqiu snuck in, smiling nervously.

“I cut it…?” It was almost a question.

Meanwhile, Chongyun was staring at it, mouth open by a few centimeters. Then, he managed “H-How ?”

Before any of them could ask or answer any more questions, Chef Mao came to the back, and with his typical smile, said “Guys, get out of the way , will you ? Xiangling, you can leave your shift for today.”

So they ended up on the docks. Again.

“Now, explain, young man.” Xiangling’s voice had gone deep, a stark contrast to her usual, cheery high pitched voice. Xingqiu knew she was joking, of course.

“Listen,” he defended himself. “I had to. It was the only way I’d get enough time to escape from home. My dad is obsessed with keeping me in there, by now. I had to take bigger measures, okay ?”

“And so you chop all your hair off ? Just like that ?”

“Yeah ! I mean… I’ll have to get it fixed eventually, but at least I’m out of that hellhole now !”

“How about we make that ‘eventually’ now ?”

To both Xingqiu’s and Xiangling’s surprise, it had been Chongyun who had spoken.

“You know how to fix that mess ?” Xiangling asked, pulling on one of the chopped strands.

“Kind of. I mean… It can’t be much worse than what it is now, right ?”

Xingqiu snorted and crossed his arms, but he knew Chongyun was right. So, even if it was reluctantly, he nodded.

“Fine, then. Does any of you have scissors ?”

Both Chongyun and Xiangling shook their heads, and a silent conversation filled the air between them. Their gazes said everything. Xingqiu sighed desperately.

“So what do we do now ?”

“The place where I’m staying… I think there’s a few things for haircutting, there. Should we go check ?”

___________________________________________________________________________________

It turned out that there were, indeed, a few things for haircutting. Three different combs, weird looking types of scissors, and a whole shelf full of products. It looked intimidating.

“Uhm, actually…” Chongyun whispered, trying to identify which one of the pairs of scissors was the ‘normal’ one. “I don’t think I’m cut out for a job like this.”

In the end, it had taken some convicing of Xingqiu, because he definitely didn’t trust Xiangling with scissors, but they had agreed on letting her do the job, given that Chongyun had chickened out and they didn’t really have any other options . Except for going to one of Liyue Harbor’s numerous barbers, but… Where would the fun be, in that case ?

So, in the middle of the bathroom of Chongyun’s rented apartment, they had dragged a chair and ordered Xingqiu to sit on it, a towel draped over his shoulders and his hair now wet, thanks to the movable sink tap.

“Xiangling, you’re way too excited about this. You’re supposed to be helping me, remember ? I feel like I’ll end up bald if I let you do whatever you’re trying to do.”

The girl laughed at loud, stroking her hand over the blue strands, lifting a few of them up with one hand, snipping the air maniacially with the other . “So what ? It’ d grow back ! And also, I’m sure you’d look pretty damn good...”

“Xiangling, please.” Chongyun’s collected voice contrasted to hers, but it made her calm down effectively.

“Okay, okay. Jeez.”

And so, she had begun. Pieces of blue hair fell to the ground and Xingqiu could feel himself freeze whenever he heard the snipping noise of the scissors, but he did his best to hold still appropriately.

“It’s longer on that side.” Chongyun had remarked at some point, pinching a strand of hair between his fingers, and it had simply encouraged Xiangling’s sloppy working.

“Uh, Xiangling, it’s getting really short over there…” Chongyun’s voice had now a worried undertone to it, and Xingqiu was not enjoying it.

“What ?” he groaned, backing away from the girl.

“It’s okay !” she exclaimed as an answer. “It’s okay ! I’m doing a great job. You look just fine.”

With some reluctant grumble, Xingqiu shut his mouth again, and even Chongyun stopped giving advice.

It took about another thirty minutes, and while Xingqiu had just stared holes into the air, Chongyun had actually used the free time to read a book, and therefore had not focused on what ever crimes Xiangling was commiting.

“I’m done !” Xiangling called, then, and both of the boys flinched at the sudden loud voice. Chongyun looked up, and his eyes widened as he saw the other boy, who was looking at him with a desperate gaze, and Chongyun could swear that Xingqiu had quietly mouthed “Please tell me it’s fine.”

“Wow, okay. It sure is… different.” was all Chongyun could manage, shock written all over his face.

Pulling the towel of his shoulders, Xingqiu got up and moved to the mirror, running a hand through his hair. And even before he could catch a glance, he already knew It’s really fucking short .

The mirror didn’t say otherwise. In fact, it agreed with the statement. Xingqiu’s hair was short. And while it wasn’t cut in a common style that was easily found amongst normal people of Liyue, it didn’t look bad.

The bangs had stayed, because Xingqiu hadn’t cut them in the first place, but the rest of his hair hadn’t been ignored.

On the left side of his head, a section had been left longer than the rest, while on the right side, it was cut at his cheekbone. The rest, in the back, was simply short, nothing special about it, reaching his ears for the longest part of the layers.

“It’s different, indeed.”

But it didn’t bother Xingqiu. It was different in a good way. In a way that he didn’t feel like he was attached to the Guild by every element of his body. Well, the point that he was wearing the uniform stayed, but it wasn’t what he was focusing on. He liked his hair like this, because he felt like it was him, Xingqiu, and not ‘the second heir of the Guild’, ‘The boy that never behaves’, ‘The disgrace to the family name’.

“But I like it.”

There was a smile on Xingqiu’s face, and when he turned to Chongyun and Xiangling, there was one on theirs, too.

“I like it too. It looks good.”

“I’m glad.”

The rest of the afternoon, the three of them kept hanging out in Chongyun’s apartment – his parents weren’t there, given that they were still at the Feiyun Commerce Guild, and since he didn’t have any siblings with whom they could have shared the place, they had all the rooms for themselves.

And they had ended up playing truth or dare.

Which, to be fair, was dangerous, knowing that Xiangling was there and that there was a perfectly functional kitchen right down the corridor.

“Truth or dare, Xingqiu ?” Chongyun had begun, and without any hesitation, the younger boy had answered “Truth.”

It took Chongyun a short while to come up with an appropriate question, but after those few moments, he looked Xingqiu in the eyes, and said “What’s it like to be rich ?”

Xingqiu snorted and he rolled his eyes. “I wish I didn’t know.” he mumbled quietly enough for the others not to hear. So, instead, he answered “Uh, I guess it’s nice I never have to worry about things I’d like to have. Of course, I don’t have my father’s money, though. He gives me a little fraction of it every month for me to spend on things I personally want, and other than that, I don’t have that much more than other people. Sure, I live in a big home, and I have servants and maids waiting in every room, but from the furniture, or the food, or whatever, it’s all just average. Maybe that’s because my father doesn’t want to invest in ‘useless’ things, though, I don’t really know. In any case, if I’m allowed to be frank with you, I wish I wouldn’t have to live the life my father wants me to. He only cares about mora, and it just doesn’t make anyone except for him happy. Honestly, once you have tou much money, you become greedy, and you never spend it again. Or, when you do, you feel immense guilt after. It sucks.”

Chongyun and Xiangling just stared at him.

“That was… detailed.” she stated, and he agreed.

“I’m not sure what I’m supposed to say now, so… How about we just keep going ?”

Xingqiu chuckled lightly and nodded, this time looking over to Xiangling.

“Truth or dare ?”

“Truth.”

“How did you get all those – I’m sorry – weird food ideas ?”

Xiangling stared at him, mouth open in outrage.

“They’re not ‘weird’ ! They’re interesting, you passionless moron !”

Xingqiu rolled his eyes, leaning back onto his hands. Chongyun, discreetly, turned to him.

“So ?”

“I don’t know. I saw a slime in the harbor when I was small, and since it wasn’t supposed to be here, I captured it. And then I cooked it.”

Silence filled the room as the boys stared at her in disbelief.

“I’m sorry ?” Chongyun’s tiny voice sounded unsure.

“You captured a slime.” Xingqiu started, lifting an eyebrow. “And then you cooked it. Just like that. No second thoughts.”

Xiangling nodded, rubbing her neck in embarassment. “Yeah, that’s how it went. But, to my defense – you cut your hair just like that, too ! You didn’t think twice either !”

Again, Xingqiu snorted and looked back at her.

“I saved myself from that hellhole. You just… You cooked a random innocent slime ! Maybe it had a family waiting for it at home ! Have you ever thought of that, Xiangling ?!”

They all broke out in laughter at the outraged statement, and before Xingqiu could throw in more unsincere insults, Chongyun cut him off.

“Okay, okay, calm down.” he said, holding back another laugh. “Let’s say Xiangling didn’t know better, alright ? She was hungry and the slime looked tasty. That’s how it all started. End of story. Kay ?”

Xingqiu, his shoulders shaking from his silent laughter, nodded and held up a thumb. “Kay.”

Xiangling, turning to Chongyun, smiled friendly and bowed slightly. “Thank you very much.”

“It’s nothing.”

The game kept going, and going, and going, until they all either cried, laughed themselves to death, or both.

It finished after Chongyun had needed t w o cold buckets of water over his head in the bathtub after being forced to eat a plate of pure Jueyun chilis by Xiangling, Xingqiu had gotten his nails painted black, Xiangling had curled her hair, Chongyun had answered the question “Do you have a lover in Mondstadt” with a choking sound, and Xingqiu had falled down the last two steps of the stairs.

In the end, they were just all lying on the floor, their bodies shaking soundlessly as they laughed, and everything felt so, so incredibly much better than at the Guild.

But of course, Xingqiu had to go back eventually. He hated the thought of it – he had way too much fun with Chongyun and Xiangling, and getting back home sounded like Hell’s worst punishment.

But Xingqiu’s escape had exceeded every single one before, and he was lucky if his father would let him see the light of the day ever again once he got home. He doubted it.

But he pretended not to care. He had ranted before, at the beginning of the game, and he didn’t need to bother the others with it again. So, after a while, he got up, dusted off his clothes, and bowed in front of his friends.

“Thank you for having me over. I’ll have to leave now.”

Though they were confused, Xiangling and Chongyun didn’t object as Xingqiu went to get his coat, put on his shoes again, and opened the front door.

“See you later !” Chongyun called, and Xingqiu smiled.

"Yeah."