"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
"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.