This was an undesirable outcome. Not only did Baozi fire off the wrong spell during their spell practical, he had also missed the target completely. Instead of harmlessly hitting the training dummy, the spell had zipped right across the room and hit Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing dead-on. Consequently, they were stuck together.
They tried pulling away their bodies from where they were stuck side by side, but then their feet would stick and they'd trip over. And when they tried pulling away their feet, their foreheads would crash together and they'd be left staring into each other's eyes.
Their instructor called for a five minute break. He stared helplessly at the two of them. "I have no clue what spell Baozi used. I think he may have just... created a new spell? But uh, I'm not sure I can reverse it until I figure out what exactly he did."
"Sorry, boss! I don't know what I did, haha!" Baozi laughed, ever cheerful.
Han Wenqing's gaze hardened at the thought of being stuck to this insufferable idiot indefinitely. The instructor flinched.
Ye Xiu grinned. "Guess we're stuck like this for a bit, Old Han."
In the end, they decided that for the most part they would hold hands since that was the most inconspicuous and offered the most mobility. Luckily they had all the same classes together, but it would sure be awkward when it was time to bathe or use the bathroom.
There were rumors floating around the school even by the next period.
"Here come the two fags," sneered Tang Hao as they came hand in hand to their next class.
Han Wenqing frowned.
Ye Xiu rolled his eyes. He suddenly snagged Dai Yanqi who was walking by, spun her around with his free hand, and kissed her right on the lips. When they pulled apart, the girl was red in the cheeks. Ye Xiu wiped away a bit of spit from his lips. "Don't just assume something about another person because of a stupid rumor. Isn't it you who's unsightly for spreading such a thing?"
Tang Hao's cheeks flushed. He stormed out of the classroom.
Ye Xiu turned to Dai Yanqi. "I'm really sorry about that. I don't actually have feelings for you. I hope I didn't steal your first kiss or anything. I hope you'll forgive me, but I just wanted to shut him up."
"I-it's fine!" the girl squeaked. "I already heard from Su Mucheng, that you're - um..." She looked down to where the two of them were still holding hands.
Ye Xiu nodded. "It's okay. I'm not hiding it, just trying to keep it on the down-low."
He tugged Han Wenqing by the hand to one of the lab tables. They sat down and Ye Xiu hooked his ankle around Han Wenqing's. "There, now we can both write comfortably." Ye Xiu let his fingers loosen from the other boy's. Han Wenqing gripped his hand tighter. "Uh. You can let go now."
Han Wenqing let his hand drop. Ye Xiu looked at him puzzledly. Han Wenqing silently ripped out a sheet of paper from his notebook and wrote out a note in ballpoint pen. When he was done writing, he creased it neatly down the middle and shoved it at Ye Xiu.
Why did you kiss her if you were gay?
As he read the note, Ye Xiu raised an eyebrow. He wrote out a response and slid the paper back over.
Why do you care?
Han Wenqing's brows furrowed as he wrote out another response.
Just answer the question.
I already said it was to make Tang Hao shut up.
There are plenty of ways to shut someone up that don't involve kissing.
Not everyone can be a musclehead like you.
You could've let me handle it.
Okay, fine. It's fine if there are rumors spread about me, but I couldn't stand if someone spread hateful things about you. If you had gone after Tang Hao, it would've fueled the rumors more. Plus I am attached to you. I have a sense of self-preservation here.
For someone who has a self-proclaimed sense of self-preservation, you sure don't have a lot of pride.
Nope. That's why they call me Shameless Xiu ;)
The professor then came in with Tang Hao trailing behind him, refusing to look at either of them, nor the other students who snickered at his guilty gaze. Han Wenqing, who turned to glare at Tang Hao as he walked in, looked back to Ye Xiu. The dark haired mage was still looking at Han Wenqing, with that same lazy grin on his face, not at all caring about Tang Hao. Han Wenqing sighed, and opened a fresh page in his notes.
They sat with Su Muqiu and Su Mucheng for lunch. They had to lock elbows in order to hold their lunch trays, and it was quite difficult to maneuver around the cafeteria as a mass of two people without spilling their food. Then when they had to sit, it was quite awkward trying to lower their trays at the same time, as Han Wenqing was a little taller and needed to bend over further to avoid spilling. When their food was safely on the table, Ye Xiu sighed in relief. He crossed ankles with Han Wenqing, and unhooked their elbows. He slumped down on the table, only to realize that they had forgotten forks.
"Godsdammit." Ye Xiu sprawled out dramatically across the table.
Muqiu chuckled and magicked over two sets of utensils. "I don't know why you guys didn't just levitate your trays."
Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing looked at each other. ""Ah.""
Mucheng giggled. "Don't tell me you forgot!"
The two boys in question looked at her helplessly. "We would have, if we'd thought of it."
Their afternoon classes went without any hitches. Everyone had already heard how Tang Hao had been humiliated earlier for teasing them, and no one wanted to be that sort of cannon fodder.
For dinner, they sat with Zhang Xinjie. Ye Xiu kept trying to make conversation, trying to chat about some unconventional uses of spells in battle, but was ignored as Zhang Xinjie chewed and swallowed. Only when Zhang Xinjie had finished his meal did he finally start answering the previously ignored questions. Zhang Xinjie and Ye Xiu actually got into quite the heated debate, though you wouldn't have been able to tell from the relaxed and calm way they talked. All the theory talk kind of flew over Han Wenqing's head, but somehow he was glad that those two were getting along.
Finally, the dreaded moment. They sat on the bed and hooked ankles as they pulled off their shirts, and awkwardly held hands as they shimmied out of their pants and covered themselves with towels.
Han Wenqing spared a glance at his shower companion's bare chest. Without his thick sweater and robes, Ye Xiu's body looked actually quite slim, sloping shoulders and long neck contributing to an almost effeminate type of beauty.
Ye Xiu, on the other hand, unabashedly admired the view. "Hm," he hummed approvingly, "Did not expect that you were this ripped, Old Han."
"Tch." Han Wenqing averted his eyes, "And you're so scrawny, I could bench press you with one hand."
"Betcha 10 gald that you can't."
"I'll be 10 gald richer then."
"You're on." Ye Xiu smirked up at him. "...But perhaps later when we're more clothed."
They managed to shower one at a time with only a few awkward moments, and both boys were glad that Ye Xiu's shower curtains were opaque instead of translucent.
They chose to bathe and sleep in Ye Xiu's room, for the sole reason that it was bigger. His parents having a seat on the council may have had something to do with it.
They climbed into the covers of Ye Xiu's king-sized bed hand-in-hand. Han Wenqing thought it was a little bit hot being underneath the covers with another person.
Ye Xiu rolled over so he was facing his bedmate. "Mmmm. Toasty."
Han Wenqing flinched as he felt something cold touch his ankle. "What was that?"
"My foot. You're so warm, Old Han." The dark haired boy grinned.
Han Wenqing frowned. "Keep your cold feet away."
"Fine, fine. Good night then." He curled up into a little ball on his side, hand still interlocked with Wenqing's. He blinked his amber eyes closed, and was out like a light.
Wenqing watched the other's breath slow. Ye Xiu was a lot less aggravating asleep than he was when awake. Han Wenqing's thumb instinctually rubbed small circles along the soft skin of Ye Xiu's hand. He fell asleep looking at Ye Xiu's long lashes.
He woke up in the morning with his nose in Ye Xiu's hair and the realization that he was practically spooning the shorter male. He scooched away awkwardly.
Ye Xiu scooched closer again, searching for the missing warmth. Han Wenqing let out a huff of air. "Ye Xiu." He shook the other's slender shoulders. "Get up. I need to use to bathroom."
"Ngh. Sleepy..."
After finishing their business in the bathroom, they grabbed their clothes and sat on the bed to change with their hips touching. Ye Xiu had a bad case of bedhead, his dark locks sticking up in strange ways. He sleepily pulled on his pullover.
"You've got it on inside out."
Ye Xiu blinked at him, still half-asleep.
Han Wenqing sighed. "Here let me do it. Arms up."
Ye Xiu's head lolled to the side as he obediently raised his arms, and Han Wenqing pulled it off him, turning it right side out before pulling the sweater back over the other's head.
Ye Xiu threaded his arms through the armholes. "Thanks," he said with a half-lidded smile. "You didn't have to do that. That was nice of you."
It was already a bit late, so they grabbed croissants and coffee from the cafeteria and ate on the way to their morning class. There was a free period after lunch, so Ye Xiu dragged Han Wenqing back to his room.
"What's this strange device?"
"Haven't you ever seen a computer, Old Han?"
Han Wenqing's eye twitched a little. "Of course, I know what a computer is. I'm asking about the thing attached to it."
"Hehe." Ye Xiu booted the computer as he explained. "It's for a game called Glory. You insert a card like this," he pulled out a silver colored plastic card from his pocket and inserted it into the slot in the middle of the device, "and it loads your account. It's a fun game. You might like it."
"It doesn't use magic?"
"Nope. Just the wonders of modern technology."
Han Wenqing inspected the opening trailer as it started to play on the screen. It did look pretty cool, despite not being magic.
"Come on, we don't have forever until class starts again. Hurry up and sit."
"But you only have one chair?"
"I'll sit in your lap. I'll need both hands after all."
Han Wenqing looked at him incredulously.
"Hahaha, it was a joke, Old Han. When I play with Muqiu, we take a chair from his room. He won't mind if we borrow it for a while."
Once the chair was obtained, Han Wenqing watched Ye Xiu deftly control the avatar, killing both monsters and other players alike. It did look interesting enough.
Ye Xiu noticed his contemplative look. "Wanna try?"
Wenqing was surprised. "You sure?"
"Yeah, why not? I trust you." The dark haired boy smiled and poked his companion in the side. "Just don't die, 'kay?"
He harrumphed in indignance, but they scooted over in their chairs so that Wenqing could be closer to the keyboard.
"Teach me."
The dark haired mage leaned in closer. "So it's like this..."
The last class of the day was the same practical class that Baozi had zapped them in the day before. The two of them checked in with their professor. It seemed that the instructor, with the thought of Han Wenqing's glare yesterday, had come up with several ideas to undo the spell.
The air crackled as the instructor gathered up magical energy to sever the spell. The students could feel their hairs stand up and their skin tingle. They began to get excited to see the workings of a high level spell.
"Wait, uh..." the energy suddenly dissipated.
"What's wrong?"
The instructor scratched his head. "Uhhhh... The spell is... already gone. It must've worn off already."
"Oh."
Ye Xiu and Han Wenqing tried separating their hands. They came apart easily.
Ye Xiu looked up at Han Wenqing. "When did that happen? I didn't notice at all. Er, I guess we didn't think to check again."
They went back to their seats, the same ones where yesterday they had gotten into this whole mess.
Han Wenqing had yet to say a word about the ordeal. His face was in a silent scowl as he looked down and clenched and unclenched his empty palm.
Ye Xiu concernedly waved a hand in front of Han Wenqing's face. "Hello, anyone in there? Old Han? What are you thinking so hard about?"
Han Wenqing snatched up the waving hand. "Ye Xiu."
"Er, yes?"
Han Wenqing took his wrist and tugged him so that they were facing one another. He scoured Ye Xiu's face with an unflinching stare. The other boy's expression was confused and concerned.
"Spending the day with you was not as irritating as I thought. Would you like to do it again sometime?"
Everyone in the room was speechless.
"Are you... asking me out?"
The taller mage avoided the question. "Teach me to play that game again. And there's still our bet."
Ye Xiu's mouth slowly curled up in amusement. "Yeah, sure. I'd love to spend the day with you again."
"I CAN STICK YOU GUYS TOGETHER AGAIN!" shouted one Baozi from across the room.
Han Wenqing glared. Ye Xiu sweatdropped.
"Unnecessary, but thank you, Baozi."
"No prob, Boss!"
Their instructor coughed awkwardly, trying to wrest back control of the class to begin the lesson. "Sooo... onto defensive spells..."
Everyone reluctantly turned to where the instructor began writing on the whiteboard. As he started droning on, Ye Xiu felt something warm take his hand.
He turned his head to the taller mage beside him. The other was looking straight ahead at the notes on the board. He felt the hand enveloping his squeeze and rub circles with his thumb. Ye Xiu turned back to the lesson with a slight smile on his face. He turned his palm over and squeezed back.