"Take your clothes off or bring his in." Seemed like a simple enough choice. Chenglei didn't bother looking out the window, he just waited to see what would happen. Hopefully, one of the things that would happen soon would be Yihao letting go of him, because that was starting to get a little weird. "What'd you steal his clothes for, huh? You want to see him naked?"
Begrudgingly, the one who was Yihao's size took off to get them, shoulders slumped and clearly embarrassed. The ringleader glared at Yihao, who tried his best to merge into Chenglei for protection. There was a silent promise there that he would get back at him. God, it sucked.
"You're the one who wants to see him naked. Faggots."
Yihao soon found his clothes thrust into his arms and he let go of Chenglei. Finally. He bowed, unsure what else to do and looked at Chenglei with relief. "It's okay, I have them now. Thank you."
"Just get dressed." Chenglei rolled his eyes, honestly just glad he got out of this without having to fight anyone, because he didn't need the hassle that could come with that. He was also glad that he could move without being clung to again, definitely an improvement. Made breathing a lot easier. "What class do we have now, Yihao?"
Because, not so surprisingly, he wasn't really feeling class.
"We have woodwork. It'll be nice, I promise. We can sit together, it's just sanding mostly but you don't have to do a lot." Yihao promised as he walked beside Chenglei and followed him over to his locker instead - his own was still a bully hotspot. He swiftly pulled his boxers on and took the towel away, happy to get his shirt on too - his chest wasn't good enough to display that much. He was scrawny, not all muscular and cool like Chenglei.
"If you stay until the end of the school day, I'll treat you on the walk home. Do you want some bao?" He just wanted to try and keep his friend attending as much as possible.
"You don't have to treat me, Yihao. You can't buy people." If he did stay, it wouldn't be to get a few bao or whatever. But he supposed he'd have to stay, because Chenglei did understand that the stance he'd taken today did put Yihao into even more jeopardy. Stupid, really, but he'd been annoyed. His parents were whispering among themselves again. He bet they'd be moving soon. Always the same. Did they even believe it mattered if he finished high school?
Whatever. Not as if he cared. "I don't mind woodwork. We can hang out after, if you want."
"I wasn't trying to buy you, I just like to share. I don't really buy much anyway, this is more fun. Food with friends tastes better." That and he just liked to feed Chenglei - he always seemed to sad and he wanted to make him happy. He wanted to see Chenglei smile. He always had this body language of someone who was so defeat and tired, he clearly needed a boost to keep him going.
"Do you want to go to the arcade again after school? Today is the day, I can feel it. I'm going to win that baby panda!" He had sunk a lot of pocket money into the claw machine but he wanted that adorable baby panda and he'd keep trying.
"I've told you, those machines are all rigged." Not that he didn't think it was kind of fun, watching his friend, yes, use the claw machine and get so into it. He was very emotional and those emotions always showed right on the surface, it was very interesting to Chenglei, who kept his own emotions subdued. Or maybe he just didn't have that many, he felt that was a definite possibility too. "Maybe today is the day."
Maybe one day he should give it a try. Might be nice to give Yihao something, while they could still hang out.
"I hope so." Once he was all dressed, he made sure he was all set and had everything before looking at Chenglei and waiting for him to lead the way - he knew where he stood and it was not great, he was very reliant on Chenglei right now. Sure, if he left, he'd cope again because he always did but his hope was for Chenglei not to leave. He liked him a lot. "I read a new manga yesterday, you might like it."
He purposefully read one that looked boring and manly just so he could get closer to Chenglei's taste. "It's called Trigun and it's awesome. Lots of badass action scene." Unlike Fruits Basket.
"Uh-huh. I didn't think that would be to your taste." It was pretty transparent why he was reading it then, because generally Yihao wasn't subtle about that. He still had traumatic flashbacks to the time Yihao tried to talk cars with him and he could not find a way out of the conversation. He really didn't want to be stuck in that loop again. "It's good, Trigun. But, y'know, cute manga can be fun too. I like... I dunno. Oh, You know Ouran High School Host Club? That's funny."
"Oh, I really like that one. I love the anime more though, the manga is a bit dramatic. I love to watch that one when I'm sad." Yihao agreed readily, happy to change the subject from the very dull manga he'd read. He was just so determined to appear cool, he'd rather torture himself than admit to what he liked. He didn't want to be laughed at or hated by Chenglei, he would do nothing to risk the progress he'd made. "You're the cool type. If you were a host club member."
He blushed, realising how dumb that sounded. Damn it, you dumb gay! Stop it.
"I don't think I'd be charming enough to qualify." Not that he wanted to, but honestly? Girls were scared of him more than anything these days. Not that he really minded that either, honestly, he remembered when it hadn't been that way and in retrospect, that seemed like a real pain in the ass.
"You'd be the cute type." That much was obvious. "Eating strawberry cupcakes." Seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
"I do love strawberries. They're just objectively the best fruit." Yihao insisted as he walked next to his friend, bouncing along happily and feeling safe, secure and unlikely to get hurt. As they reached class, Yihao noticed that people whispered when they saw them but Yihao just took a seat at his table and checked to make sure that Chenglei sat next to him.
The teacher explained what they had to do and it was mostly tedious but he liked that he could doodle cute animals and fun messages on paper and flick them at his friend.
Chenglei, as per usual, mostly ignored Yihao's notes, getting lost in his own thoughts instead. He did like woodworking, it always kind of put him into a zen state and he didn't properly look up until the teacher was suddenly there, questioning him about something to do with what he'd done.
Probably because instead of what they were supposed to make, he had ended up making a wooden panda. Huh. He shrugged and pushed it over to Yihao. "There. Keep it."
"... That's not a bookcase. Woah. How did you do that?" Yihao stared at it and he wasn't alone. With him, staring just as baffled, was his teacher and a few nearby classmates. Why hadn't he made a shelf and instead, he'd made a really cute little panda. Yihao blushed as he took it from Chenglei and smiled, amazed by how cool it looked. He was so putting his in a prime spot in his room.
"Check it out, princess piggy is getting a gift from his boyfriend."
The classroom was full of immature laughter but for once, it didn't bother Yihao. He just smiled at Chenglei. "Thank you!"
"Whatever. You are like a cute panda." So he might as well have one, while he couldn't win one from a rigged claw machine. Chenglei shrugged his shoulders and then noticed that everyone in class was just staring. Why did that keep happening? And then they wondered why he kept taking off. This wasn't a school, it was like a weird social experiment. "If I'm done with my project, can I leave now?"
"I suppose you can if you feel you must. Feel free to take your boyfriend with you." The teacher was very dismissive and clearly not interested in his students as much as he pretended to be. He wished he could be more surprised but by now, Yihao had truly understood how little his teachers cared. After all, they were the ones who did things like encouraged his bullying and name calling - and they really didn't notice when he skipped either.
Standing up, he hugged his panda close to his chest and waited for Chenglei to finish up, happily leaving the class. "... I can't believe we got to end already."
"It's okay, I got it. It's not too heavy." He felt his heart race as he stuffed his panda into his bag and slung it back on, adjusting it a little on his shoulder so it wasn't too heavy. All the cool kids had shoulder bags and he wished he had one but his mom was worried about his back so he had to use the uncool rucksacks. So embarrassing!
"Do you want to go to the mall on Saturday?" He knew it was a longshot and they only hung out after school at most but he wanted to try. He liked the idea of having weekend plans, it had never happened before.
"I don't really want to go to the mall ever." If he was being honest here. But he saw that hopeful look on Yihao's face and it wasn't easy to just turn him down, even if he knew that it rightly should be what he did. What was the point of this? He wouldn't be around much longer and he already liked that kid just a little bit too much. "We can do something, I guess. If you really wanna."
"Well, the mall is just a place people hang out. We don't have to do much there but we could get something like milktea and then go on a walk." He did love milktea and he knew just the place to go to get it. That and maybe he could show him where the best manga store was. He knew from all the intense googling he'd been doing to ensure that he could hold a conversation on the topic. "Once we've been there for a few, we can just head back to the manga cafe. I like it there... even if it's a bit sad sometimes."
"Because there's a lot of losers like me there?" Chenglei snorted and held the door open for Yihao to walk through, then he fell into step next to him. He looked around, having that feeling of being watched. Now he was getting paranoid too? He really was doing just great. "You need to find some other friends, Yihao."
There. At least he was kind of admitting that he was his friend.
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
no subject
"You're the one who wants to see him naked. Faggots."
Yihao soon found his clothes thrust into his arms and he let go of Chenglei. Finally. He bowed, unsure what else to do and looked at Chenglei with relief. "It's okay, I have them now. Thank you."
no subject
Because, not so surprisingly, he wasn't really feeling class.
no subject
"If you stay until the end of the school day, I'll treat you on the walk home. Do you want some bao?" He just wanted to try and keep his friend attending as much as possible.
no subject
Whatever. Not as if he cared. "I don't mind woodwork. We can hang out after, if you want."
no subject
"Do you want to go to the arcade again after school? Today is the day, I can feel it. I'm going to win that baby panda!" He had sunk a lot of pocket money into the claw machine but he wanted that adorable baby panda and he'd keep trying.
no subject
Maybe one day he should give it a try. Might be nice to give Yihao something, while they could still hang out.
no subject
He purposefully read one that looked boring and manly just so he could get closer to Chenglei's taste. "It's called Trigun and it's awesome. Lots of badass action scene." Unlike Fruits Basket.
no subject
no subject
He blushed, realising how dumb that sounded. Damn it, you dumb gay! Stop it.
no subject
"You'd be the cute type." That much was obvious. "Eating strawberry cupcakes." Seemed to fit the bill perfectly.
no subject
The teacher explained what they had to do and it was mostly tedious but he liked that he could doodle cute animals and fun messages on paper and flick them at his friend.
no subject
Probably because instead of what they were supposed to make, he had ended up making a wooden panda. Huh. He shrugged and pushed it over to Yihao. "There. Keep it."
no subject
"Check it out, princess piggy is getting a gift from his boyfriend."
The classroom was full of immature laughter but for once, it didn't bother Yihao. He just smiled at Chenglei. "Thank you!"
no subject
no subject
Standing up, he hugged his panda close to his chest and waited for Chenglei to finish up, happily leaving the class. "... I can't believe we got to end already."
no subject
He was pretty weak.
no subject
"Do you want to go to the mall on Saturday?" He knew it was a longshot and they only hung out after school at most but he wanted to try. He liked the idea of having weekend plans, it had never happened before.
no subject
no subject
Lots of homeless people and horny weirdos.
no subject
There. At least he was kind of admitting that he was his friend.