Chapter Text
Shen Yuan stares down at his half-finished pancakes, trying to ignore the commotion outside, even as everyone else in the restaurant stares out the windows, some press against the glass. Shen Yuan has already seen this countless times.
His boyfriend is fighting the Waffle House cook right outside.
Over eggs.
It started, almost a month and a half ago like this.
They were visiting a nearby, newly opened waffle house with bizarrely good reviews, because Liu Qingge needed to eat a shit tonne of eggs for his ‘bulk’, Shen Yuan didn’t want their whole apartment to smell like boiled eggs and neither of them were particularly talented cooks. There Shen Yuan ordered a stack of pancakes, bacon and oolong tea, while Liu Qingge ordered bacon, black coffee and a plate of ten hard scrambled eggs.
As the waitress leaves, Shen Yuan teases him mercilessly, just to see Qingge blush while he insists he needs the protein, saying something about macro nutrients that goes completely over Shen Yuan’s head, but does serve as further ammunition for teasing.
Halfway through a joke about calory counting, they’re interrupted.
“Y-Yuan-ge?”
Approaching their table and bringing their drinks, instead of the waitress that took their order, is a person Shen Yuan hasn’t seen in years. Taller and broader than Shen Yuan remembers him, struggling to fit his dark brown curls in a hair net, but still undeniably him. If there were any doubt, his wide tear-filled gaze and trembling bottom lip are seared into Shen Yuan’s brain forever.
“Binghe?”
“A’Yuan!” He rushes forward, almost spilling their drinks as he sets it down, and scoops Shen Yuan out of his booth and into his arms, leaving Shen Yuan dangling nearly half a foot of the ground.
“Hey-” Liu Qingge jumps to his feet, jostling the table. “What are you doing?”
“Ah, Qingge, it’s alright, this is Luo Binghe, my old student,” Shen Yuan pats Binghe’s head, tamping the curls down. He shivers. Binghe can’t be cold, can he? He’s warms as a furnace. “I’ve mentioned him; I used to tutor him at Cang Qiong community centre back in the day.”
Liu Qingge’s hackles drop, and he rolls his eyes. Shen Yuan may be downplaying just how much he’s talked his boyfriend ear of about his old student.
He initially worked at the community centre to look good on a college application (for a literature degree he ended up dropping out of). He had other students of course, still in touch with a few of them over Weibo but Binghe was always secretly his favourite. Shen Yuan really missed him when his A'Niang got really sick and he was taken away, even though the later was technically his fault.
“Binghe this is Liu Qingge, my boyfriend.”
Binghe momentarily stops rubbing his cheek against the top of his head. “B-Boyfriend?”
“Yes, boyfriend,” Liu Qingge spits out, oddly tense. “You can set him down now.”
That only makes Binghe tighten his grip (stubborn boy). “How long?”
“None of your business.” Liu Qingge snaps at the same as Shen Yuan says, “Almost a year.”
Liu Qingge shoots him an aggrieved look, which Shen Yuan doesn’t understand. Why is Qingge being so hostile?
“Would Binghe mind setting me down?” They are making a bit of a scene in the restaurant, though it’s a little too late to stop making one.
Pouting, Luo Binghe sets him down, helping him readjust his messed-up collar. One of his hands still lingers on his shoulder.
Still as clingy as ever.
Binghe had always been his stickiest student, loathe to share his time with any other. Tearing up and clinging whenever he had to leave for the day, as if they weren’t going to see each other the next day.
“So, this is new?” He asks, wide eyes oddly piercing as he peers down at Shen Yuan while he shuffles back into his seat.
“Hardly, and Qingge and I have known each other for years.” Binghe frowns. “We actually met at Cang Qiong too, though we were on different shifts.”
Shen Yuan had heard rumours of the rich pretty boy who got sent there to do community service for getting into too many fights. They met after Shen Yuan arrived early for his night shift and saved him from the shitty old storage room door he got locked behind, the one in the Qiong Ding administrative division people liked to have panic attacks in. Liu Qingge had been hostile initially because he knew his brother and thought he was about to be mocked. Turn out he only got into those fights because people were bothering his sister.
Unfortunate as that was, his first thought after hearing that had been, ‘Well if she looks anything like you…’.
“I didn’t know you were back in the city,” Shen Yuan smiles softly. “What have you been up to?”
“School mostly, got a Wushu scholarship,” Liu Qingge perks up at that. “And the family business.”
“I hope… I hope things turned around?” Shen Yuan asks, wincing because the words seem so feeble compared to what he wishes he could say.
I’m sorry I got you taken away. I was young, I thought I was doing what was best for you. I’m sorry I couldn’t find you after. I’m sorry I broke my promise to always protect you. I’m sorry-
“Your Binghe is fine now, my mother and I have a place in the city.” Binghe returns his smile, just as bright as he remembers. “And Tianlang-jun and I have… come to an understanding.” The mention of his father only dims his smile slightly. “Maybe we can catch up after breakfast?”
“Sure, we aren’t in any rush to get back home; Qingge and I live nearby.”
At the mention of Liu Qingge, Binghe’s bright smile dims for just a moment, so fast Shen Yuan could almost say he imagined it. “Looking forward to it. I’ll be making your order personally.”
“Thank you, Binghe’s cooking is always the best.” Towards the end of Binghe’s time at the community centre, his student always came with homemade lunch boxes for the both of them, unnecessary repayment for the ‘bus fare’ (it was nearly ten times the actual cost of the bus ticket there and back) Shen Yuan would occasionally slip him because he knew he and his mother struggled to make ends meet.
With that compliment, Binghe leaves with a smile, not sparing Liu Qingge a backwords glance.
Binghe, don’t be so just because someone else is taking up your teacher’s time.
Liu Qingge eyes the entrance to the kitchen like something monstrous was about to burst out. Shen Yuan shares a few stories about their time there and Liu Qingge chimes in with the occasional comments about the troupe of delinquents in his self-defence class. Shen Yuan still works there occasionally, and Liu Qingge returns once a year.
Binghe delivers their food, along with an extra soy milk pudding as desert. Just as Shen Yuan remembers, it’s perfect, customized to his specific tastes, even the nearly burnt way he likes his bacon. Shen Yuan peppers him with praise and Binghe preens under the attention. He turns to Liu Qingge to ask him about his own meal, but he hasn’t touched it, staring down at his eyes.
He looks up, shooting Binghe a heated glare. “I asked for hard scrambled.”
Liu Qingge was notoriously picky about his food and those were in fact soft scrambled.
“Ah, my mistake,” Binghe says, not seeming the least bit regretful. “I thought Qingge-ge would prefer something less… simple.” He’s smiling, but he says the last word like an insult. “These are better anyway, not as easy to just make at home, unless Qingge-ge can’t cook.”
“You-” Liu Qingge grabs his fork.
“Me.” His bright smile turns sharp. “How can you take care of Yaun-ge if you can’t even manage to make eggs?”
Shen Yuan gasps. “Binghe. Don’t be rude.”
This old student deflates, bottoms lip jutting out as he prepares to guilt Shen Yuan with his tears. “Sorry Yuan-ge, I just worry about you.”
“It’s alright, but don’t you have someone you have to apologize to more.”
If Binghe looked sad before, now he looks downright morose. “Yuan-ge.”
Liu Qingge sighs. Shen Yuan doesn’t begrudge him; his student can be a bit over the top. “It’s fine, I don’t want an apology, I want my eggs.”
“Qingge-ge should try these ones at first; I promise you’ll like this better.”
Liu Qingge scowls. “I know how I like my eggs.”
“Do you?” Binghe taunts. “I doubt that, since you’re too incompetent to make your-”
“Binghe-”
Liu Qingge jumps up from the table, hands slamming down on the table counter. “That’s it. Outside. Now.”
Binghe grins, as if this was what he wanted.
Shen Yuan tries to get in the way, but they both manoeuvre around him with ease, dragging each other out to the Waffle house parking lot. Shen Yuan sighs, head in his hands and turns around to watch the pair through the large window with a view to the outside.
The fight drags on. Binghe is surprisingly capable. The Wushu scholarship was clearly well earned, though Shen Yuan’s not sure where Binghe learned to fight like that, he was never in any of Cang Qiong’s self-defence or martial art classes as far as Shen Yuan knew.
His pancakes are perfectly fluffy.
He’s halfway through his breakfast and a little bit of Liu Qingge’s when the fight ends. Liu Qingge loses, which is surprising, he’s never seen him lose before, other than the once a year spar with Yue Qingyuan. Binghe smirks, leans down where he has him pinned and whispers something in his ear that makes Liu Qingge blush.
They return to the dinner. Binghe has a broken nose, and Liu Qingge has a busted lip. Shen Yuan can see from his rolled-up sleeves that Binghe actually has several arm tattoos. Qingge sits, stares down at his now cold soft-scrambled eggs like he lost the fight to them.
Binghe stands nearby, watching expectantly. “Well.”
Liu Qingge unclenches his jaw and eats a fork full of the eggs. He frowns. “They’re good.”
Binghe grins, wide and only a little smug. “Told you.”
And so, it goes.
At least once a week, often more, Qingge insists on going to the same waffle house and ordering the hard-scrambled eggs. Binghe never gets the order right, always serving the eggs in some other ‘better’ way: poached, sunny-side-up, over-easy, over-medium, over-hard, omelette, sous-vide, frittata, baked, cloud and in one memorable day devilled (Shen Yuan’s sure some of those options aren’t even on the menu). They fight, Qingge loses, eats the eggs and declares the result ‘good’ or ‘fine’.
Binghe usually sits at their booth to talk while Liu Qingge eats his eggs with a glum expression, though Shen Yuan can tell by the way he hoovers them down that he’s secretly really enjoying them. It turns out that when Binghe was taken away, he was dropped in the custody of his biological father, who was at the time only recently acquitted of a crime he didn’t commit. Their relationship is still rocky, Tianlang-jun wants him to take over the ‘family businesses’, but Binghe is disinterested. His adopted mother is better, her healthcare costs paid for by his newly found father. They share a decent two bedroom in the city and Binghe is pursuing his culinary school during night classes.
Shen Yuan tries to dissuade Liu Qingge from going. There are other Waffle houses in the city, other breakfast spots to try. Shen Yuan has Binghe’s number, they can meet up outside the Waffle house, no eggs involved, but Liu Qingge just looks at him like he’s the crazy one and insists it’s a matter of principle.
Shen Yuan keeps agreeing to go because:
- He gets to see Binghe regularly and catch up on lost time
- The food is amazing, as expected of anything Binghe makes, and customized to his tastes.
- Bizarrely, Liu Qingge seems to be having fun despite losing, at least he’s stopped complaining about the lack of challenge during the competition of season
- Binghe comps their meals so they eat mostly for free, because he ‘can’t dear to make Yuan-ge pay, the only exception is for one serving of hard-boiled eggs
Today is a little different, when Luo Binghe and his boyfriend get back to the table, Liu Qingge eats his eggs, sunny side up today because there’s only so many ways to make eggs, and Shen Yuan invites Binghe to a party.
“It’s at the community centre, a sort of reunion for all the kids we taught who want to come back,” Shen Yuan explains. “I’m sure everyone will be glad to know how you’ve been doing.”
Binghe’s eyes light up, and he agrees whole heartedly, “Your Binghe wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
Aiyah! Binghe, it’s just one party, nothing that serious.
“Great, it’s a potluck,” The community centre is strapped on cash as it is. “Everyone has to bring or buy a dish, snack or drinks.” He and Qingge are of course bringing a few backs of the fancy beer Shen Yuan likes and chips, because they are far from culinary geniuses.
Binghe glances over at Liu Qingge, whose finished his eggs and pushed his plate aside. “I know exactly what I’m going to make.”
“So, when’s your little admirer getting here?” Airplane asks, like an idiot, sloppily falling into the forever stained rec room couch. He’s a notorious lightweight and already two bottles into the beer Shen Yuan brought.
“Don’t be ridiculous; He’s not my admirer.” And he could hardly be described as little either. His sticky sheep had sprouted half a foot and packed on about a hundred pounds of muscle.
Not that he was counting.
“He was obsessed with you then and he still sounds obsessed with you now.”
He sighs, exasperated. “Because I’m a good teacher; Binghe is straight.”
“Says who?”
“Says me. He doesn’t have that vibe.”
“Oh, because you’re a reliable judge of that.” Xiang Fei rolls his eyes. “It took you years to notice Liu Qingge was in love with you, and months after that to stop calling yourself straight.”
“So, it took me a minute to realize I’m bisexual-”
Xiang Fei snorts, “When was the last time you were attracted to a woman?” He adds. “A non-fictional one?”
He looks down at his drink. Hatsune Miku is only real in the hearts and minds of millions. “…”
“See, the last woman you even looked out turned out to actually be a man.” Xiang Fei points, finger in Shen Yuan’s face. “Your gaydar is broken and Binghe had a massive puppy-crush on you, and from what you told me it’s only grown.”
“If that was true it’s not like it matters, I’m with Qingge.” Binghe will have to find someone else, not that that would be too difficult for him, his student had grown into quite the lady killer.
Xiang Fei shrugs, spilling a little of his beer on his shirt. “The more the merrier.”
Eventually, Binghe arrives with a covered dish, apologizing for his lateness. Apparently, the bus routes from his area were down and he had to get a ride from a friend who tagged along. It’s a bit of a shock seeing Binghe in ‘civilian’ clothes. He looks like he just wormed his way out of an incredibly deadly mosh pit; black combat boots, ripped jeans, a leather jacket and a band tee, multiple piercings. His wild curls are out of their silly net and left to flow down his shoulders in a full mane. The ruffian look is completed by the freshly healing black eye he got from his recent Waffle house spat.
The friend, Mobei-jun, is cold, quiet. He spots Xiang Fei across the room and stalks forward without responding to Shen Yuan’s greeting. Airplane squawks and sprints out of the room.
…okay
“Sorry, Mobei is… not good at… anything social,” Binghe explains. “Sorry again for being late Yuan-ge.” Luo Binghe insists as he sets his dish down on the table with the rest of the food. It smells heavenly and is one of the only actually cooked, homemade meals anyone brought. Shen Yuan offers him a marker and square card to label the dish and write down any potential allergens.
He follows Shen Yuan’s orders diligently. Shakshuka traybake, main ingredients are eggs.
Shen Yuan rolls his eyes.
Just don’t bring your egg fights here.
“Where is Qingge?” He asks, tone carefully flat in a way that tells Shen Yuan he’s hoping for a specific answer.
“Probably got distracted at his training dojo then he needs to stop at the apartment to freshen up. He’ll be here any moment.”
Predictably, Binghe deflates a little. “Well, until he gets here maybe Yuan-ge could give could show me around? I’m sure a lot has changed.”
Shen Yuan raises an eyebrow. It’s a severally underfunded community centre, the last changes to this place were structural renovations it was ordered to complete.
In the 80’s.
Still, Shen Yuan accepts Binghe’s blatant excuse to monopolise his attention because he does really want to spend time with him. Binghe pesters him with questions about his life and Shen Yuan’s a little embarrassed to admit there’s not much to tell. He dropped out of college for health reasons and never went back, helps manage the family business while his brothers are of exploring the world, in a very happy relationship with Liu Qingge, which Binghe can only pretend to be happy about at when mentioned. Binghe is vague about his own life, about what he’s been doing since the he was taken three years ago.
With his recent convo with Airplane on his mind, Shen Yuan studies Luo Binghe carefully. He can kind of see where someone would get the impression that Luo Binghe has a crush on him, his old student watches him with an unnerving intensity, as if committing each word, each expression to memory, as if his anecdote about the new less harsh light bulbs was of deathly importance. He’s similarly intent on being close, leaning into his space, ensuring their hands brush.
He can understand why Xiang Fei or anyone else could make the mistake, but it’s all easily explainable. The last time he and Binghe interacted before they were separated was as student and teacher, it’s natural he’d fall into the pattern of listening to Shen Yuan so intently, and his student clearly missed him as much as Shen Yuan missed him, so it’s only natural he wants to stick so close.
Many perfectly straight explanations!
He doesn’t know who’s around that needs convincing but still.
After they finish the tour and return to the rec room with everyone else, Binghe attention shifts slightly. Occasionally watching the door. Who could he be expecting?
Ah, speaking of which Qingge is running later than he said he would be.
Shen Yuan checks his phone, a little fruitlessly. Liu Qingge is horrible at sending, responding or reading texts and worse at picking up the phone. He sends him a quick ‘Where are you?’ text regardless.
He never sees or responds to that text, but Liu Qingge does eventually return, his sister in tow.
“Student broke three fingers trying to punch through a pillar because he saw it on TV,” Liu Qingge offers as explanation in lieu of greeting. “Had to make sure they were okay and ride in the ambulance with them. Was stuck there till his parents arrived.”
Shen Yuan had hoped, perhaps naively that outside the Waffle House the two could behave, but that was clearly wishful thinking. They don’t come to blows, but they do snipe at each other throughout the party. It reminds Shen Yuan of children pulling each other’s pig tails.