Work Text:
Shi Qingxuan liked walking with Xie Lian after class because Xie Lian never made anything feel strange.
Shi Qingxuan had been born male, and they did not hate that. Some days they liked being seen as a man. Some days they wanted soft skirts, platform boots, pretty hair clips, glossy lips, and glitter at the corners of their eyes. It changed with their mood, natural as breathing, and they had stopped trying to force it into a shape other people would understand. They were not trying to become someone else. They were only being themself, and some days that self wanted to feel beautiful in a different way.
Xie Lian had never judged them for it. They had met during their first semester at university, Xie Lian in psychology and Shi Qingxuan in fashion, and being around him had always felt easy. He never stared too long, never asked weird questions, never made Shi Qingxuan feel like they had to explain themself. Not the skirts, not the platform boots, not the makeup, not the soft peach blush dusted over Qingxuan’s cheeks, or the glitter shining faintly at the corners of their eyes, or the thin white blouse layered under a fitted black dress just because it made them feel pretty that day. Xie Lian had only looked once, smiled, and said, “You look really cute today,” in that warm voice.
It was late afternoon, and the whole campus was washed in that tired golden light that somehow made even the ugliest grey concrete buildings look almost pretty. Students poured out of lecture halls in noisy little groups, bags slung over their shoulders, phones already in hand, talking far too loudly about assignments they were absolutely not going to start tonight. The path to the cafeteria was busy but not unbearable, and for once, Shi Qingxuan had actually been in a good mood.
They had done well on a quiz they were sure they were going to fail, so at least Shi Wudu would be pleased and not lecture them to death later. More importantly, their very handsome boyfriend of three years had texted them half an hour ago with a simple, 'done yet?'
Shi Qingxuan had grinned at their phone and typed back, 'almosttttt. don’t miss me too much.'
He Xuan, being He Xuan, had replied with a single period.
Which, in boyfriend language, obviously meant: yes, I miss you. Hurry up.
Honestly, Shi Qingxuan thought that was romantic!
Shi Qingxuan had laughed so hard Xie Lian looked over and asked what was funny, and they, grinning, had said, “My boyfriend is so romantic, A-Lian! He is the cutest!”
Xie Lian had smiled in that slightly helpless way people always did whenever Shi Qingxuan talked about He Xuan like he was the sweetest and most romantic boyfriend alive. In reality, He Xuan was sharp-tongued, rude to most people, and generally the kind of person who looked like he did not care about anyone at all. Xie Lian had long suspected that Shi Qingxuan was looking at him through very rose-colored glasses.
Everything had been fine until they were halfway to the cafeteria.
At first, Shi Qingxuan did not even realize the voices were meant for them.
There were three guys near the bike racks, all wearing engineering department jackets, talking with the kind of loud, performative confidence people had when they wanted an audience. Shi Qingxuan only caught a few words at first. Something about “that guy” and “makeup.” They would have ignored it and kept walking if one of them had not laughed and said, loud enough for everyone nearby to hear, “Bro, pick a gender. This campus really lets in anyone now, huh?”
The world did that awful thing where it somehow kept moving and stopped at the same time.
Shi Qingxuan’s steps slowed.
Beside them, Xie Lian’s expression changed at once. The brief surprise on his face disappeared almost immediately, replaced by something tighter, sharper, and worried as he looked at Qingxuan. His mouth straightened. His shoulders went still.
The second guy looked right at Shi Qingxuan this time.
“Oh, he heard,” he said with a snicker.
One of his friends laughed. “He? Or she. Or whatever. What a fucking weirdo.”
The others laughed too. One of them even gave a low mocking whistle, like this was all just some funny show put on for them.
Shi Qingxuan felt everything hit at once. Heat rushed up their face beneath the makeup they had spent too long getting right that morning. Their chest tightened. Their stomach dropped in that ugly, familiar way. It was not even that they had never heard things like this before.
Maybe that was why it hurt so much.
Because it was not new; Because they were tired. Because five seconds ago, they had actually been happy.
Xie Lian stepped forward before Shi Qingxuan could say anything.
“Hey. That’s enough.”
His voice was sharper than usual, and there was real anger in it now. He started moving toward them, but Shi Qingxuan grabbed his shoulder quickly, fingers tightening just a little.
“A-Lian, A-Lian, it’s okay,” they said, even though their voice was already starting to shake. “Don’t.”
Xie Lian turned back to them at once, his expression softening for only a second when he saw how close they were to crying.
One of the guys rolled his eyes. “We’re just joking, man.”
“Then get better jokes,” Xie Lian said coldly.
Usually, Shi Qingxuan would have fired back.
They would have said something sharp enough to make the other person look stupid, then laughed like none of it mattered before it could turn into anything worse. They were good at that. They had years of practice turning embarrassment into a performance, making people laugh with them before anyone could laugh too hard at them.
But for some reason, it hurt more today.
Maybe it had just built up for too long. Maybe they were more tired than usual. Maybe they had been too happy only a few minutes earlier, and that made the drop feel worse.
The first guy looked them up and down again, slow and obvious.
“No offense,” he said, grinning like that made it better, “but if you go around looking like that, people are gonna talk.”
And that did it.
Shi Qingxuan felt the sting before they could stop it. Their eyes burned at once. They looked away immediately, horrified, because crying there in the middle of the walkway would have been the worst possible thing that could happen, and of course that only made it worse. Now they were trying not to cry and very clearly failing.
And crying would make everything more humiliating.
The guys would only laugh harder. They would think Shi Qingxuan was oversensitive, pathetic, too weak to take a joke. As if this was a joke. As if being picked apart in public was supposed to be funny.
“Qingxuan,” Xie Lian said, softer this time.
“I’m fine,” Shi Qingxuan said, in exactly the voice that made it painfully clear they were not fine at all.
Then they turned and walked away before their face could get any worse, wiping quickly at their tears with the back of one hand. They could still hear the laughter behind them, low and mean, followed by another mocking comment that made their chest hurt even more.
Xie Lian moved immediately.
He stepped between Shi Qingxuan and the voices behind them, shielding them from sight as best as he could, then gently guided them forward.
“Come on,” he said, soft but steady. “Let’s go to the restroom first.”
By the time lunch break started, the campus cafeteria was already too full.
It was always like that around noon. Too many people, too much noise, too many trays clattering against tables, too many groups trying to squeeze six people into four chairs. Hua Cheng had already claimed a table near the back while waiting for his boyfriend, sitting there with three of their other friends like he had no intention of giving the seats up to anyone else. Feng Xin had gone to get drinks. Mu Qing was standing near the table with his phone in hand, already looking annoyed before he had even properly read whatever was on the screen. He Xuan was sitting down with one arm resting on the table, expression flat, an untouched iced coffee in front of him as he waited for Shi Qingxuan.
Then Mu Qing’s phone buzzed once.
And then again.
He looked down, frowned harder, and suddenly looked genuinely angry.
Feng Xin had just come back balancing two cups and a bottle of water when he caught sight of Mu Qing’s face. “What?” he asked, setting the drinks down. “Why do you look even more miserable than usual?”
Mu Qing did not answer right away, ignoring Feng Xin completely. His mouth tightened. He looked up from his phone, then at the table, then at He Xuan. For a second, it was obvious he was deciding whether to say it out loud or not.
Hua Cheng noticed first. One eyebrow lifted slightly. “Did something happen?”
Mu Qing let out a slow breath through his nose. “Xie Lian said they’ll be late.”
Feng Xin sat down, frowning. “Did something happen to him?”
“I asked that too,” Mu Qing said shortly. His face was still dark when he added, “It’s not Xie Lian who has the problem.”
That got He Xuan’s attention immediately.
He looked over. “What happened?”
He already knew Shi Qingxuan had gone to pick Xie Lian up after class. His lover’s quiz had ended earlier, and they had planned to head to the cafeteria together after Xie Lian was done.
Mu Qing held his gaze for a moment, then said flatly, “Xie Lian texted that some asshole on the way here mocked Qingxuan’s appearance. They’re crying in the restroom right now. Xie Lian’s with them, trying to calm them down.”
The table went silent.
Then He Xuan’s chair scraped sharply against the floor, loud enough that people at the next two tables turned to stare.
He was already standing.
His face had gone still in that way that was somehow worse than anger, but the fury was still there, clear and cold and real.
Mu Qing looked up at once. “Wait.”
He Xuan was not looking at him. “Who.”
Mu Qing knew better than to play dumb. “Xie Lian said it was some guy from engineering. Third year, maybe. Near the bike racks. There were three of them. He Xuan, wait—”
But He Xuan was already gone.
“Oh, for fuck’s sake,” Feng Xin muttered, springing to his feet.
Hua Cheng stood too and let out a quiet sigh. “This is going to be bad.”
The nearest restroom was in the humanities building lobby. Thankfully, it was almost empty.
Xie Lian took them straight inside and into the accessible stall area where it was quieter, then turned and pulled them into a hug without hesitation.
Shi Qingxuan broke almost immediately.
It was not graceful crying either. It was the ugly kind, shoulders shaking, face buried, breath catching so badly they could barely get words out. Their makeup was definitely ruined by now. Their nose was starting to run. Every attempt to stop only seemed to make the next wave worse. Xie Lian just held them and rubbed a steady hand up and down their back, not rushing them, not talking too much, just staying there and letting them fall apart for a minute.
“It’s okay,” Xie Lian murmured. “It’s okay. Let it out.”
“It’s so stupid,” they managed eventually, voice breaking as they pressed their face harder into Xie Lian’s shoulder. “They’re so stupid. I know they’re stupid, I know I shouldn’t care, I know people like that shouldn’t matter to me, I know, I just...” They sucked in a shaky breath. “I hate that it still gets to me.”
“That’s not stupid,” Xie Lian said at once.
Shi Qingxuan let out a miserable little noise. “I probably look insane right now. Ugh, my makeup is definitely ruined. I spent so long on it today too.”
That made Xie Lian smile a little, soft and helpless. “You’re still pretty without it.”
Shi Qingxuan made another wounded sound, which only made Xie Lian rub their back more gently.
He adjusted his hold so his friend could lean against him more comfortably, one arm around their shoulders, the other still moving in slow, steady strokes along their back. “Do you want tissues?”
Shi Qingxuan nodded, still sniffling, and felt another rush of grateful affection for him. Xie Lian had never made them feel embarrassed for this, never made them feel like they were too much or that their tears were an inconvenience. He was simply kind, quiet and steady, and in that moment Qingxuan thought they might actually die without someone like him in their life.
“I’m going to message the others that we’ll be late,” he said gently, Mu Qing had already texted asking where they were. Xie Lian glanced down at the screen, then looked back at Shi Qingxuan. “I don’t want San Lang and the others to worry.”
Then Xie Lian’s phone buzzed again.
And again.
He looked down at the screen, and the gentle little smile he had been wearing faded almost immediately. His expression shifted into something startled, then uneasy, his shoulders tensed with worry, even though he was clearly trying not to alarm anyone.
Across from him, Shi Qingxuan had finally started calming down. Their eyes were still swollen, but at least they had stopped hiccuping. They were fixing their makeup in the mirror now, dabbing carefully under their eyes and trying to make themself look a little less wrecked.
Xie Lian looked at them for a moment before speaking.
“Qingxuan...” he said carefully, “don’t panic, okay?”
Their friend glanced back at him through the mirror, still sniffling a little but much steadier now. “Hm? Why? What happened?”
Xie Lian lowered his phone slightly. “Well... I told Mu Qing why we were late.”
That made them pause.
“Oh,” they said, blinking. “That’s kind of embarrassing, but okay. I just hope Mu Qing doesn’t go beat that guy up. Just tell him I’m fine now.”
Xie Lian gave them a strained little smile.
“Right,” he said slowly. “The problem is... it’s probably not Mu Qing we need to worry about.”
Shi Qingxuan turned around fully this time.
Xie Lian lifted the phone a little, as if that would somehow soften the blow. “He Xuan was there when Mu Qing read the message, and Mu Qing told him what happened, and—”
“Oh no,” Shi Qingxuan said immediately.
Xie Lian did not even get to finish.
Their eyes widened, and they bolted out of the restroom without even stopping to listen when Xie Lian called after them. “Oh no! He-xiong!”
By the time Feng Xin and Hua Cheng caught up, there was already a crowd.
Apparently, news traveled very fast on campus when violence was involved.
The area near the bike racks had turned into a complete mess, students gathered in a rough circle with their phones out, people yelling over each other, some shouting, “Stop him!” and “Someone call security!” while others were just yelling, “Move, move, move!” A few people had already recognized him too.
“Holy shit, is that He Xuan from biology?”
And, because campuses were full of idiots, there were even a few people half-cheering him on while he beat the hell out of three guys at once.
In the middle of it all, one of the engineering students was already on the ground, and He Xuan was on top of him, driving punch after punch into him with a level of cold focus that made everyone around him back off in fear.
The guy under him was trying to shield his face, shouting something that got swallowed up by the noise. One of the other two was already down too, blood running from his nose as he curled in on himself. The third had tried to pull He Xuan off at some point, only to get hit hard enough to stumble back and give up completely.
“He Xuan!” Feng Xin shouted. “Enough! It’s not worth it!”
Nothing.
“He Xuan,” Hua Cheng called, his voice sharper now. “Enough. Don’t kill him.”
Still nothing.
That was the scary part, honestly. It was not just that He Xuan was fighting. Most people who knew him knew he had a temper. He could be cold, harsh, and mean when he wanted to be. But almost no one had ever seen him like this, completely out of control and beyond listening.
Feng Xin forced his way through the crowd and grabbed for his shoulder. “Hey!”
He Xuan shook him off so hard Feng Xin nearly stumbled.
His eyes never left the guy pinned under him.
“What did you say to them?” He Xuan asked.
The guy spat blood to the side and tried to twist away. “Are you fucking crazy?”
He Xuan hit him again.
By then Hua Cheng had finally gotten close enough to catch He Xuan by the arm. “He Xuan. Calm down. You do not want to get expelled over this guy.”
He Xuan’s breathing was rough. His jaw was tight enough to hurt.
“They cried.”
Hua Cheng’s grip tightened. “I know.”
“Qingxuan cried because of this piece of shit.”
“Yeah,” Hua Cheng said sharply. “And if you kill him, Qingxuan is going to have a whole different problem.”
The guy on the ground made the mistake of saying, “He’s a fucking freak, man, look at how he dr—”
He Xuan moved again so violently that even Hua Cheng lost his hold for a second.
This time it took both Hua Cheng and Feng Xin to drag him back, one on each side, while the crowd erupted even louder.
“He Xuan!” Feng Xin barked, straining. “Get a grip!”
“Let go, I'm going to kill this guy,” He Xuan said.
“No.”
“Let go.”
“No!”
Then He Xuan heard his name.
Not from Feng Xin. Not from Hua Cheng.
From Shi Qingxuan.
He looked over immediately.
And there they were, pushing through the crowd toward him, makeup still visibly smudged. Their eyeliner had been wiped away unevenly under one eye, and the blush they had put on so carefully that morning was a mess now. Normally, Shi Qingxuan would not even leave a restroom if a tiny part of their makeup looked off. He Xuan knew that. He knew how much they hated being seen before fixing it properly.
“Stop! Stop, stop, stop, He-xiong! He Xuan!” Shi Qingxuan shouted, voice breaking a little as they rushed closer. “What are you doing?!”
They grabbed at his wrist with both hands, not caring that his knuckles were bloodied.
He Xuan stared at them. Up close, he could still see the redness around their eyes. Their lashes were clumped from tears. Their face still looked hurt.
His chest twisted.
“He made you cry,” He Xuan said, like that explained everything.
When they finally reached the quieter edge of campus, far enough from the noise and the crowd, Shi Qingxuan slowed down.
Their eyes were stinging again, but not for the same reason as before. Shi Qingxuan figured that later, they should let the others know that both they and He Xuan were fine. They had run off without saying anything to the crowd, and the last thing they wanted was to make everyone worry.
“You really scared me,” they admitted.
He Xuan’s jaw tightened. “Sorry.”
That made Shi Qingxuan laugh a little. They could only imagine how wrecked they looked right now. Their makeup was still a mess, their eyes were puffy from crying, their hair had definitely been ruined by running, and they were probably sweating too. Very glamorous. Very dignified.
He Xuan looked away almost at once, but some of the tension in his face eased when he saw that Shi Qingxuan had calmed down enough to laugh. He still looked irritated, maybe at the situation, maybe at himself.
“I’m not sorry for hitting him, though,” he said.
“I know.”
A brief silence passed before he added, quieter, “I’m sorry you had to see it.”
Shi Qingxuan stared at him for a second, then let out another soft laugh, tired and fond and still a little shaky. “He-xiong, that’s such a you answer.” They squeezed his hand lightly and gave him a look from the corner of their eye. “For the record, you looked kind of hot doing it. But you still shouldn’t beat up other students on campus. You could get into serious trouble.”
He Xuan said nothing to that.
They kept walking hand in hand toward the small park near campus, the one with the old benches under the trees and the cracked path no one bothered fixing. The afternoon had gone quieter here. No shouting, no crowd, no phones pointed at them. Just the sound of traffic from farther away and leaves moving in the breeze.
Shi Qingxuan glanced at him again.
He still looked angry. He still looked like, given another chance, he might go back and do it all over again. Somehow, instead of frightening them, it made their chest feel warm and tight all at once. It was insane, probably. A little unhinged, even. But right then all Shi Qingxuan could think was that He Xuan had heard they were crying and lost his mind over it.
They squeezed his hand again.
This time, He Xuan squeezed back.
Then Shi Qingxuan noticed the state of his hand.
“Oh my god,” they said, stopping short. “Your knuckles.”
The skin across his hand was split in places, the blood half-dried by now. Shi Qingxuan frowned immediately and tugged him toward the nearest empty bench. “Sit down. Right now.”
He Xuan gave them a look, but sat.
Still muttering under their breath about violent idiot boyfriends, Shi Qingxuan dug through their bag and pulled out tissues, then took his injured hand carefully into both of theirs. Their own fingers were still a little shaky as they started dabbing at the blood as gently as they could.
“We need to stop by a pharmacy,” Shi Qingxuan said, still fussing over his hand. “You probably need antiseptic, bandages, maybe ice too. God, your knuckles look awful.”
“Okay.”
“And oh my god,” they said suddenly, eyes widening, “what if those jerks report you?”
“Don’t care.”
“You should care!” Shi Qingxuan shot back. “You could get expelled, He-xiong. Don’t do that again.”
He Xuan did not even look guilty. “Hm. Can’t promise that.”
Shi Qingxuan stared at him. “What?”
“If some idiot runs their mouth like that again,” He Xuan said flatly, “I can’t promise anything.”
“He-xiong~!” they whined, half scandalized, half exasperated.
That finally made the corner of He Xuan’s mouth twitch, just barely.
Shi Qingxuan caught it immediately and pointed at him with the blood-stained tissue in hand. “Don’t smile! This is serious.”
“I’m not smiling.”
“You literally are.”
“I’m not.”
“You are a terrible liar.”
“And you cry too easily,” he said, voice lower now.
“Hmph. Let’s go to the pharmacy first,” Shi Qingxuan said, still holding his injured hand carefully. “And then I’ll treat you to that ramen place you mentioned before, the one near the west gate. And then maybe, if you behave, I’ll even forgive you for causing the biggest scandal on campus today.”
He Xuan looked at them.
Their makeup was still smudged. Their hair was a little messy from running. Their eyes were still swollen from crying. They were trying very hard to sound bossy and put-together again.
“Okay,” he said.
Shi Qingxuan blinked. “Wow. You’re really obedient right now.”
He Xuan ignored that.
They stood up first and tugged lightly on his wrist, already chattering again, half to him and half to themself.
He Xuan stood.
Shi Qingxuan looked up at him, still talking, smiling brightly, and for He Xuan, that was enough.
Epilogue
That night, Shi Qingxuan told Shi Wudu everything.
Absolutely everything.
They sprawled across their brother’s sofa with a blanket over their lap, phone in hand, hair finally brushed out, makeup long gone, and complained in full detail about the disaster on campus. The comments. The crying in the restroom. He Xuan losing his mind and beating up three engineering students near the bike racks. The security guards. The running. The whole thing.
And, most importantly, they whined very seriously about Shi Wudu needing to make sure He Xuan did not get into trouble for it.
Usually, Shi Wudu wanted nothing to do with He Xuan, whom he still referred to, with deep contempt, as baby sibling’s “useless and unfriendly boyfriend.”
But tonight, that was not the part he cared about.
No, what had Shi Wudu furious was the fact that someone on that campus had dared to make his baby sibling cry.
By the time Shi Qingxuan finished talking, their brother was already cold with rage.
“Who were they?” Shi Wudu asked.
Shi Qingxuan, who knew that tone very well, blinked. “Gege?”
Shi Wudu picked up his phone. “Names. Department. I want all of it.”
After all, he was one of the university’s biggest donors. When Shi Wudu spoke, people listened. His voice carried more weight than most faculty members, and definitely more than some third-year engineering idiots with too much free time and too little sense.
So in the end, Shi Qingxuan got exactly what they wanted.
He Xuan stayed safe.
The other three, meanwhile, were very much not.