Luo Binghe's anticipating smile is going to haunt him in his nightmares.

Shen Qingqiu stared back at him blankly.

A moment of silence had passed.

"..."

Luo Binghe cocked his head to the side. Why wasn't Shen Yuan saying anything?

"Shen Yuan? Shen Yuan?"

GASP

Luo Binghe brought Shen Qingqiu back to reality.

"Y-yeah?"

Luo Binghe's face turned to concern. "Are you okay, Shen Yuan? You look sorta pale."

"Oh, I'm, uh, fine."

"Are you sure?" Luo Binghe's eyes became rather round.

Shen Qingqiu began to sweat.

"Well, actually," Shen Qingqiu said. "You know how your pen-friend's name is Shen Qingqiu?"

Luo Binghe nodded. "Yeah," he said. "I told you that."

"Okay... And have you ever thought that it was kind of weird that your penfriend and I have the same surname? Has that maybe passed your mind before-?"

Luo Binghe bobbed his head so hard, Shen Qingqiu thought it was going to snap off and roll away.

"Oh, yeah!" he said. "Of course, I thought it was a strange coincidence."

"Well... Perhaps it may be more than just a coincidence?"

Luo Binghe's eyes widened. "What do you mean?"

Shen Qingqiu looked at him. "There's a reason we have the same surname."

Luo Binghe let out a little gasp. "You mean..."

Shen Qingqiu nodded. He looked away. "I'm sor-

"You guys are brothers?"

"..."

.

.

.

An imaginary gust of wind whoosh by.

Shen Qingqiu wants to lower himself onto the floor.

WHY?

CAN YOU NOT UNDERSTAND?

Luo Binghe: "Are... are you guys really brothers?"

"No!" Shen Qingqiu practically screamed in his face.

Luo Binghe made a noise. A wronged expression appeared on his face.

Shen Qingqiu sighed and rubbed his forehead. "Sorry. The thing is, I am Shen Qingqiu. Shen Qingqiu is me."

...

Ding!

Luo Binghe: "What?"

。。。

。。。

。。。

"Shen Yuan-ge! Shen Yuan-ge! Are you mad at me?"

Luo Binghe hurried toward Shen Qingqiu as the two walked out of the gym.

"Why would I be- no, why are you calling me that?"

"Oh. Because you said in your letters that you were older than me."

"Yeah, by like, a few months. You don't have to call me that."

"But I like to!" Luo Binghe blurted out.

Shen Qingqiu stared at him. "..."

Luo Binghe hastily says, "It's sorta like calling you bro."

"Don't even call me bro."

"Okay..."

Shen Qingqiu changed the subject. "You are taking it very well," he commented. Shen Qingqiu opened the exit door and the two walked out of the school, heading to the dormitory building.

"Well, I was very surprised, but not in a bad way. In fact, I'm quite happy! Turns out Shen Yuan-ge is Qingqiu-ge! Is this what people call fate?" Luo Binghe exclaimed, squinting at the sun.

Shen Qingqiu: "Uh, not really."

Luo Binghe: "So, Shen Yuan-ge, you are going to show me my dorm room and then can we go see Xiao Jiu before heading there? I think Xiao Jiu misses you, you never went back to see him...." Luo Binghe sighed, looking away wistfully.

Shen Qingqiu: "..."

Shen Qingqiu: "Heading where?"

Luo Binghe turned his head around so fast that Shen Qingqiu thought he was going to break his neck and said, "Shen Yuan-ge, did you forget?"

"Forget... what?" Shen Qingqiu had a bad feeling about this. The last thing he needs is another thing to add to his guilty conscience toward Luo Binghe.

"To the book signing event!" Luo Binghe cried. "Maybe Shen Yuan-ge wasn't as excited as he sounded in the letter..." Luo Binghe looked away sadly.

Crap. "Hey, wait, I'm sorry- I just had a lot on my mind and I forgot- look, we can go see Xiao Jiu! Then we'll go to the book signing event!"

"And then, Shen Yuan-ge has to treat me to lunch!" Luo Binghe finished for Shen Qingqiu.

"Huh? Alright...?" Well, it wasn't like Shen Qingqiu was broke like everyone else. If it's lunch Luo Binghe wants, then Luo Binghe will have lunch.

"Okay! Let's go to the dorms now!" Luo Binghe said happily, hurrying off, leaving Shen Qingqiu half confused and half feeling like he was somehow tricked.

。。。

。。。

。。。

Xiao Jiu was licking his paw when an annoying but expected voice called.

"Xiao Jiu! Guess who's here to see you?"

You, who else?

A human peeped out its head at the alleyway before stepping out. Luo Binghe walked towards him with another boy in tow. The two walked over to Xiao Jiu.

Xiao Jiu watched them with an unimpressed expression. Why does he have to deal with them both at the same time this time?

Luo Binghe squatted on the floor and Shen Qingqiu sat down too.

Luo Binghe picked up an unsuspecting Xiao Jiu.

"MeOw?!"

"See, Shen Yuan-ge, Xiao Jiu misses you very much," Luo Binghe said, holding the cat out to Shen Qingqiu so the cat was three inches away from Shen Qingqiu's face.

Xiao Jiu took the opportunity to swat Luo Binghe with his tail while looking at Shen Qingqiu with a face that clearly reads, I just saw you last Friday.

Xiao Jiu then rolled his eyes back toward Luo Binghe and said, and I saw you yesterday.

"Uh, yeah, haha..." Shen Qingqiu said as Luo Binghe stared at him. "I... I really miss you too, Xiao Jiu," Shen Qingqiu petted the cat on the head.

Xiao Jiu: Yeah, right.

Shen Qingqiu thinks he saw the cat smirk.

Shen Qingqiu: "..."

Shen Qingqiu: "Luo Binghe, give me the cat. I think I missed him more than I thought I would have."

"Huh? Okay..." Luo Binghe passed the cat to Shen Qingqiu and Xiao Jiu was so ready to meow animal abuse.

They are passing him around like he's an object now huh???

"You know, Shen Yuan-ge... It wasn't only Xiao Jiu who misses you... I missed you too."

"Oh, well, you see me now," Shen Qingqiu said distractedly, his attention on Xiao Jiu, trying to see how to make Xiao Jiu suffer without Luo Binghe being the wiser.

Should he hold the cat upside down by its hind legs and claim that studies show it makes them live longer?

He felt Luo Binghe burning a hole in his head with his stare and Shen Qingqiu suddenly felt uneasy. He looked up.

Luo Binghe was staring at him with the saddest puppylike eyes Shen Qingqiu has ever seen anyone muster. Even Xiao Jiu's mouth hung open.

So Shen Qingqiu did something he wanted to do ever since the first time that he met Luo Binghe.

He patted Luo Binghe on the head.

While doing this, Xiao Jiu was able to slip out of Shen Qingqiu's hold and shoot up to the lid of the recycling bin. But no one paid him any attention.

"I'm really sorry, Binghe. I didn't know, but I'm here now and I promise you'll see me more often."

"Shen Yuan-ge promised?"

"Mhm."

Luo Binghe scooted a bit closer, smiling.

Shen Qingqiu would choose to pet Luo Binghe over Xiao Jiu on any given day.

"..." Xiao Jiu swatted a paw around. What's with all the hearts floating in the air?? Xiao Jiu was disgusted.

。。。

。。。

。。。

"Ah, Shen Yuan-ge, come on! We don't wanna wait a long time for the book signing."

"I'm coming, hold on, Binghe."

Shen Qingqiu walked to Luo Binghe from a nearby food stall. They were outside of Cang Qiong Shopping Mall.

Luo Binghe was wearing his signature black leather jacket (Which he made sure that Wei Wuxian won't be 'borrowing' this certain day) and some black jeans. Shen Qingqiu was wearing a simple shirt and pants with a black mask on.

"Here take this," Shen Qingqiu handed Luo Binghe a hawthorn stick.

"Oh, I love these! I used to share these with my friends all the time!" Luo Binghe exclaimed. "Even though my friend, Wei Ying, eats most of them..."

"Mhm, you told me that, yeah?" Shen Qingqiu said. "Let's go now." Luo Binghe allowed himself to be dragged inside by Shen Qingqiu.

The book signing event was on the second floor, in a bookshop.

"Wow, there's quite a lot of people! This book sure is popular," Luo Binghe commented.

"Yes, yes, Binghe, quick, let's grab a spot in line."

And so they did.

It was a long line, however.

Luo Binghe didn't mind much, he gets to eat his sugar-coated hawthorn and look at Shen Yuan-ge's face at the same time.

Shen Qingqiu on the other hand was thinking something between the lines of; UGH I KNEW WE SHOULD HAVE COME EARLIER. (he didn't)

"Qingqiu-ge?" a surprised voice called out.

Luo Binghe and Shen Qingqiu turned around.

There standing out of the line was a boy with short hair and rimmed glasses. He was holding a couple of books in his arms.

"Ah!" Shen Qingqiu exclaimed. "Luo Zhuzhi?"

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.

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(Oh, welcome back, Wenxin!! :D)

POV: I finally found out what brand of noodles I had been eating the past two days.

Thank you for reading!

('▽')/✨

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

Word Count: 1686