Shen Qingqiu woke up the next morning to a panda staring at him in the face.

It was a stuffed panda.

Somehow it made its way to his bed and onto his face. Shi Qingxuan has a nasty habit of kicking when he's asleep.

Speaking of stuffed animals, there's something extremely wrong with Xie Lian's. The stuffed fox was practically an elf on the shelf, appearing in a different spot every morning.

Today, it was on the wall of the bathtub and it almost gave Shen Qingqiu a heart attack when he gazed through the mirror this morning to brush his teeth. He wasn't quite awake at first, but thanks to the fox, he definitely was.

Shen Qingqiu's just hoping that one day the stuffed fox will become clouds of stuffing while being washed in the washing machine.

The boy was having a headache as he stayed too late last night reading novels. He can barely pour the milk into the bowl properly. Thank god, he woke up too late to make up for it. It was almost noon.

Oh. Did he miss the brunch?

"No, you didn't," Shi Qingxuan announced, coming (twirling) out of the bathroom. Shen Qingqiu lifted his head and looked up with tired eyes. Is it just him or Shi Qingxuan is sparkling?

"That's just you and the sunlight playing tricks in your eyes, Shen-xiong," Shi Qingxuan said as he pulled up the blinders to let in even more light.

Shen Qingqiu blinked slowly, head drooping, his arms on the table, a spoon pointing up at the ceiling in one hand. Ugggghhggg. Feeling sluggish. Did he turn into a zombie last night?

"No, you didn't. Anyway! Where's Xie Lian?" Shi Qingxuan said, clapping his hands. "Shen-xiong, you should get up earlier, and do some exercises, it'll be good for your body."

These, my friends, are two types of people in the morning (technically noon). And I'm Shen Qingqiu. Just look at him, he's about to faceplant into his bowl of soggy cereal.

Xie Lian walked out of their bedroom. He tried stifling a yawn behind his hand. "Morning, guys," he said sleepily.

Shen Qingqiu and Shi Qingxuan looked at each other. "Uh, it's noon, Xie Lian," they said simultaneously.

Xie Lian's closed eyes flew open. "Ah, really?" he exclaimed. His face turned worried. "Did I miss brunch?" he asked.

"Noo, you didn't. Actually, considering how nice the weather is when I went out for a run this morning, we should totally have a picnic in the park instead," Shi Qingxuan said, moving close to the window and peering out. "I'll go text the others about the change of plans."

Shi Qingxuan went to the bedroom and closed the door. Then he opened it and poked his head out and said, "And you two, I want to see you both awake and alert when I finish. Go drink coffee or something."

Xie Lian and Shen Qingqiu looked at each other. "There's a bit of cereal on your shirt," Xie Lian told the latter.

Shen Qingqiu hastily took a napkin and wiped his shirt. "What were you doing so late last night? I thought you were asleep."

"Oh, I was chatting to a friend. We had so much to talk about that I lost track of time," Xie Lian said. "They were very good at conversing just about anything." A small smile appeared on Xie Lian's face.

...

It took them an hour.

One extremely rash hour that seems to be longer than an hour. Shi Qingxuan made Xie Lian change twice. Okay, it wasn't Xie Lian's fault that he wasn't as 'fashionably knowledgeable' as Shi Qingxuan.

They almost forgot about the food. Good thing Shi Qingxuan's two mysterious friends also offered to bring food. Shi Qingxuan dumped everything he could find into a portable cooler. Mostly drinks.

When the three boys arrived at Puqi Park, they found a spot on the vibrant verdant grass to set up their lovely picnic.

"Wow, it's a very nice day today, perfect for a picnic," Xie Lian said happily, enjoying the sun's heat.

"Or a wedding," Shi Qingxuan piped up. "Like a very nice outdoor wedding with a very nice person," Shi Qingxuan said dreamily.

"..." Shen Qingqiu begs to differ. It was hot. Shen Qingqiu took out a fan. It was one of those fans that you will see in historical dramas except it was cheap and made out of paper rather than silk.

Shi Qingxuan glanced over and snorted. "Shen-xiong!" he said. "Why are you using that, it's not ancient times now! Here, I have a gift for you." Shi Qingxuan handed his friend something.

"..." Shen Qingqiu was amazed. It was a... mini electronic handheld fan.

It was way more effective than the paper fan. Shen Qingqiu smiled and thanked Shi Qingxuan, setting aside the paper fan.

"Oh, look, are those your friends?" Xie Lian asked, staring off into the distance.

"Hm?" Shi Qingxuan squinted his eyes. "I think so! Nie-xiong, Wei-xiong!" The boy waves both his arms.

All this time when Shi Qingxuan talks about his two 'mystery' friends, Shen Qingqiu always pictures two dark human-shaped silhouettes.

Turns out it was just Nie Huaisang and another boy. Both boys were wearing t-shirts and shorts.

"Hi again," Nie Huaisang greeted them.

"Hi," All three boys said in unison.

Wei Wuxian looked at them all. "Oh, you all know each other already? That's not fair! I'll make sure you guys know me! I'm Wei Wuxian!"

Xie Lian and Shen Qingqiu glanced at each other in surprise. Strangely enough, they heard that name before.

Lan Wangji's pen pal wasn't it?? From Chapter 6?

How small is this world???

✨

(so I don't have to think lolol)

💀

😆

(I totally didn't make this up on the spot but hey! It makes sense)

Ever wonder what if answer D happens?!😱

Well, a dear friend and reader of mine decided to make a book on this, all based on what could happen in Home Away From Home and Pen Pals. Just small and hilarious scenarios!

Shout out to !

Do check it out, please!

The cover basically looks like this and you can check out the book by clicking this username

Or you can go to my reading list and find it!!

Let's all go there and have fun reading it!

Thank you for reading!

('▽')/✨

Comments and votes will be (highly) appreciated! As usual!

Word Count: 1284