Chapter Text
It was the beginning of the weekend, barely 7 PM on Friday. Xie Lian's shift at his second job had been a short one, so he got home earlier than usual.
As soon as he stepped into the house, he noticed that the door was still locked twice from when he left that morning.
"That's weird," he thought out loud, "Usually San Lang would be here already."
Hua Cheng finished working at the studio before him, so their Friday routine was Xie Lian coming home to Hua Cheng already making food for both of them and later watching a movie or something together.
Looking at the present situation, Xie Lian thought it was a good opportunity to change their habits a bit, and decided to cook for his roommate after all. Hua Cheng was always so nice to him and seemed to enjoy whatever Xie Lian cooked, so he got to work on their meal.
He changed into his lounge wear that also worked as pajamas, washed his hands, and started putting all the vegetables and condiments they bought the day before on their weekly trip to the grocery store on the counter top.
Just when he was finishing cutting the carrots and about to get the potatoes to meet their new fate, he heard the door open from the other side of the apartment.
It must be San Lang!
Xie Lian was so glad to be rooming with Hua Cheng after their different situations got them to live together. Neither of them were at the best place at that moment, but somehow destiny brought them together like two missing pieces of the same jigsaw.
It was so nice to live with someone who understood you to your very core, and Xie Lian was forever grateful for meeting Hua Cheng a few years ago when he did.
A deep friendship like this was so very hard to find, and he cherished every second together.
So when he heard the voice of that person, Xie Lian instantly turned around.
"I'm home," Hua Cheng said from the door, leaving his boots and backpack near the entrance.
"Welcome back, San Lang!" Xie Lian chimed.
"Mhm, and what is gege cooking?"
Hua Cheng got closer to the kitchen across from the door, getting himself a glass of water from the fridge near where Xie Lian was standing.
The space inside the kitchen was a bit cramped, but they were so comfortable in each other's personal space that no one batted an eye when Hua Cheng hooked his arm around Xie Lian's waist. Their relationship was like that.
"I was thinking since San Lang came home late, I could indulge him a bit, so I'm making stew," he said looking up to him.
Hua Cheng looked inside the pot where some vegetables were floating. He couldn't figure out which ones, so instead said "I beg gege's forgiveness, for this San Lang was shopping for clothes."
"Clothes?" Xie Lian asked, curious. Even if Hua Cheng sometimes liked to indulge in some shopping, he could hear something else to this scenario.
"Clothes for us," he clarified.
"Aw, but you didn't have to!"
Hua Cheng knew he mostly used thrifted clothes and such, either because they were usually the cheapest and also because he found old items to have better quality than what one could find in stores nowadays.
"But I wanted to," he bent down a bit and kissed Xie Lian on the temple as he usually did, and Xie Lian couldn't help but giggle in his embrace. "Let me get changed and I'll show you, okay?"
"I'll be waiting," Xie Lian said, and resumed cooking once he could see Hua Cheng disappear to his room.
After some short minutes, in which Xie Lian finished cutting the rest of the vegetables and put them on the stove, Hua Cheng finally exited his bedroom.
"So," he said while going straight to his backpack near the entrance, "this is what took me so long today. I found these and automatically thought of you."
"'These'?" Xie Lian asked, now wary. He didn't question Hua Cheng often, but he didn't want him to spend that much money on him either.
"Yes, these," he finished grabbing a plastic bag from his backpack and showed Xie Lian his gift. "They're a match."
Xie Lian was about to ask what he meant, but when he opened the bag he found two salmon red T-shirts. Once he got one of them from the bag, he realized the size was way too big for him, he probably grabbed Hua Cheng's one.
The texture was nice, and on the front it said "BFFs" in big bold letters to the left of the chest, where the heart would be.
Xie Lian felt something in the pit of his stomach after seeing the letters, and he thought it was maybe hunger, so he looked at the other T-shirt still in the bag, probably his size.
Once he stretched out the second T-shirt to look at it better, he felt Hua Cheng's gaze on him intensify.
"What's the matter, gege, you don't like them?" he asked, and Xie Lian could feel his worried tone.
"No, no, San Lang! I love them", he hurriedly said. "It's just, um… Aren't they… the same size?"
Could it be that Hua Cheng got the size wrong? But it was obvious that their sizes would be different! Hua Cheng was at least a head taller than him, and his shoulders broader than his own, it wasn't something that could be easily overlooked.
"They are a matching set, after all," he explained. "And that way, you don't need to wear pants."
Xie Lian got the T-shirt closer to his body to truly assess the situation, and realized the hem of it got almost to his knees. Their size difference wasn't something that was usually brought up, but in that moment Xie Lian felt a bit dizzy.
He did liked being around the apartment in a T-shirt and some shorts, but when he knew Hua Cheng was coming he quickly changed into proper pants. So the idea of just wearing this shirt —which was Hua Cheng's size— stirred something in him, and didn't really know what it was.
Luckily for him, bubbling noises came from the kitchen to get him out of the trance, and couldn't see the shine in Hua Cheng's eyes as he went to check on the stew he was making.
The result of the mistake was not that bad, only the bottom of the pan was running out of water and the half cooked vegetables were screaming for help, so he happily replied by using a few more cups of water than he should probably use.
Xie Lian still felt a bit guilty of his reaction to Hua Cheng's gift, so he turned around to look at him getting the T-shirts from their place on the sofa and neatly folding them.
"San Lang, would you mind taking care of the kitchen a bit?" he asked. "I was thinking I should take a shower after today."
"Not at all, gege, go ahead and take all the time you need."
Xie Lian was so appreciative of those words, so he got to where Hua Cheng was standing and grabbed one of the folded T-shirts, the "BFFs" print screaming at him.
"I'm gonna try it on after the shower," he explained, smiling. He wanted Hua Cheng to know that his efforts weren't in vain, and that he really liked the gift.
Hua Cheng returned the smile as he caressed Xie Lian's cheek slightly as he went past him to the kitchen.
Once Xie Lian was sure Hua Cheng couldn't see him from his place, he touched his own cheek, the feel still lingering on his skin.
Yeah, BFFs.
After taking a shower to leave all the work day behind, he stared at his new T-shirt waiting for him to change into. He also had some shorts prepared, but after thinking about what Hua Cheng said, he thought twice about it.
That's right, he thought, this way I don't need to wear pants.
Xie Lian wasn't particularly shy about his body, but he always was careful when being in any state of undress in front of Hua Cheng in case it made him uncomfortable. Now, since he had Hua Cheng's explicit consent, it shouldn't be that bad to go through with it.
When Xie Lian exited the bathroom, Hua Cheng was finishing putting the plates on the table.
"Ah, let me help you!" he soon exclaimed, and quickly gathered his damp hair from the shower into a high bun.
"No need," Hua Cheng said, looking at him. Almost everything was already set on the table. "But if you want, you can get the glasses from the cabinets."
Xie Lian liked to help, so he did that. Except the fact that the cabinets Hua Cheng mentioned were slightly too high for him, and he had to stand on his tiptoes to reach the glasses.
It shouldn't have been a problem, it wasn't the first time it happened either, but considering he was only wearing the T-shirt Hua Cheng had gifted him, he soon became conscious of his movements.
He stole a glance in case his roommate had seen him, but he was still busy with the plates.
Xie Lian quickly pulled down the hem of the T-shirt and made himself proper again, since it did in fact go to his mid-thighs, and went to the table as if nothing had happened.
"Thanks for the food, San Lang," he said once they started eating. It looked way better than before he went to take his shower.
"No problem, it's a shared effort," he dismissed. "I'm glad you liked the T-shirt after all."
"I do! It's very comfortable and the material is very soft, and the size makes it cozy!"
Even if he could feel the wooden material of the chair under him directly to his skin and the neckline flashed more cleavage and part of his shoulder than he meant to show, it was still comfortable.
They talked about their days as usual, Xie Lian talking about the new dog he found on his way home and Hua Cheng about his latest sculpture that Xie Lian couldn't wait to see it finished. Even after years of seeing each other everyday they never ran out of things to say, and Xie Lian deeply adored that from their friendship.
The talk went on even after finishing their dinner, and they only paused the conversation they were both immersed in when a yawn interrupted Xie Lian mid-sentence. It was already past 11 PM, and even if they didn't have anything planned for the next day, both had woken up early that day, so they decided to put a pin to the conversation until tomorrow.
—
The next morning Xie Lian woke up feeling lighter than usual, noticing the summer breeze from the open window directly on his skin.
He had slept with a light blanket, which was now pooling at his feet. But most importantly, he only wore the T-shirt Hua Cheng had gifted him, now resting all the way to his mid-stomach.
He was lucky that even if they shared floor, they didn't share rooms. The last thing he would've liked to do was flashing Hua Cheng the whole night. How embarrassing.
Even if he knew it was prone to happen, he still decided to not put any pants on when leaving his bedroom. He did feel a bit naked walking around like that, but a good kind of naked. So as long as he didn't make any sudden or weird movements, he was safe enough.
After preparing breakfast for two, he heard Hua Cheng's door open, and took the freshly brewed coffee he just made for him from the counter top.
"Morning, gege," Hua Cheng said, accepting the mug that Xie Lian gave him.
"Good morning, San Lang, how did you sleep?"
"It was alright," he answered. "Did you put sugar in this?"
"I totally forgot!" he said. Hua Cheng usually liked his coffee with one or two spoons of sugar— after so long, he shouldn't have forgotten about it.
Xie Lian turned around to get the sugar from the cabinets, but it was a bit further than he thought, not even reaching it if he stood on his tiptoes like the night before. Had it always been so high up?
He still tried to do it, and only when Hua Cheng told him "Let me help you," he remembered he wasn't alone, and should probably keep his arms down.
Xie Lian felt the closeness of his friend behind him as he easily got the sugar from its high place. There wasn't much room inside the kitchen, so Hua Cheng was practically caging Xie Lian due to their size difference.
Then Xie Lian turned around, and his face was at Hua Cheng's chest level, the "BFFs" letters right under his nose.
His breath hitched as he said "You're wearing the T-shirt," Xie Lian noted.
"I am, we're now matching," Hua Cheng's T-shirt was actually his correct size, and even though the T-shirt itself was kind of tacky, Xie Lian found that his friend could pull off any kind of clothing and look like a supermodel.
Something stirred inside Xie Lian's stomach as thoughts began to flood his mind. Thoughts he shouldn't have with his best friend and roommate.
"Um, I should," he said, remembering he was still standing really close to Hua Cheng, "I should probably do the laundry and stuff," he exited the tiny kitchen and ran to the bathroom.
He could still his heart beating faster as he got the clothes from the laundry basket.
It was bad, bad!
He shouldn't think stuff like that with his friend, it wasn't fair!
Xie Lian could feel the start of something in the lower part of his stomach, and tried really hard to ignore it. If anything happened, the T-shirt would certainly alert any kind of activity down there, and he would not be able to live past the consequences out of shame.
He never had a high libido or anything, so it wasn't something that usually happened. But for some reason, the sudden realization of their bodies, how different they were and how distinguished they looked together, did something deep inside of him.
Only after calming down did he exit the bathroom, and started doing the actual laundry he said he would. The machine was near the kitchen area, so Xie Lian could still see Hua Cheng sitting on the sofa with his sketchbook and coffee mug.
They didn't need to say anything, yet they still felt the comfortable peace of the mundane.
Xie Lian straightened up and turned the washing machine on, leaving it as a background noise while he busied himself with the dishes.
It was still early to make lunch, so after the dishes were done, he decided to catch up with the book he was reading beside Hua Cheng on the sofa. The overhead fan was turned on, but instead of turning it off or lowering the setting, Xie Lian opted to use a soft blanket that was always near the sofa for situations like these.
After just a few minutes Xie Lian's legs were resting on his friend's lap while Hua Cheng continued to sketch as if nothing happened. It was so natural for them to be so physical, so there was nothing wrong with that.
The problem arose once Hua Cheng fixed his posture after being engrossed with his sketch for a while now. It shouldn't have been a problem, but while he did that, Xie Lian made the mistake of looking up.
The size of Hua Cheng's T-shirt was the perfect fit, so when he stretched, the material stretched as well. He did that a couple of times until he was satisfied with his muscles coming back to life, and Xie Lian had never felt his mouth so dry before.
He has seen Hua Cheng's bare chest before, for Christ's sake!
But for some reason he could once again feel his own T-shirt neckline and how loose it was on his body, compared to the fitted one of Hua Cheng.
Identifying the same sensation from before, he realized his body also noticed that fact. Mortified by the situation, Xie Lian quickly got his legs off Hua Cheng's lap and closer to his own body.
"Are you okay, gege?" he asked, concerned. "I've been sketching for a while and needed to stretch, didn't mean to disturb your reading."
"It's nothing, San Lang! You can stretch all you want, don't mind me!" he answered. Instead, he grabbed the blanket he was luckily covered with, and put it even further up his body. "I just got a bit chilly, that's all."
He shouldn't lie to his best friend! But the prospect of making Hua Cheng uncomfortable by his own body reaction was way worse.
"Do you want me to turn the fan off?" Hua Cheng offered, he was about to get up, but Xie Lian stopped him by the arm.
"No!" Xie Lian lied. He could feel his skin prickle where it was connected to Hua Cheng's arm, a trail of goosebumps slowly traveling all his body, and the slow breeze from the overhead fan making his neckline dance didn't help at all.
Why was everything suddenly so hard? Why was he suddenly hard?
Only when Hua Cheng sat down on the sofa again Xie Lian's head finally stopped steaming. For some reason, they were now sitting even closer.
Xie Lian tried to make himself smaller, his knees now almost touching his chest under the blanket. He felt every inch of his body on fire, and Hua Cheng was looking at him with an odd expression.
Did he realize?
"Are you really okay?" he asked again.
"Yeah, yeah," Xie Lian tried to fix the neckline of his T-shirt, but the material brushed a sensitive part of him which only made things worse.
He could feel Hua Cheng's gaze fall to the T-shirt itself, and Xie Lian only clutched the blanket tighter and higher to cover up more of his body.
"If the material is uncomfortable, I can buy you another one."
"It's not that…" Xie Lian assured. How was he going to tell his best friend he got an erection for him?
"Would you mind telling me what it is? I'd gladly help you with anything I can."
Xie Lian felt so guilty, Hua Cheng was just being a good best friend. He could always run to his bedroom and pretend nothing happened, but standing up meant the problem would only be more obvious.
"Gege, look at me," Xie Lian could hear him say. He had covered himself with the blanket up to his face, he just couldn't bear to look at him, but Hua Cheng slowly lowered the blanket so they could face each other again. "Hi there," he smiled.
"Hi," Xie Lian shyly answered. Seeing his friend smile always made all the worries melt away.
"Would you tell me what's happening?"
"I could but…Ah, it's embarrassing," he covered himself again.
"Gege, we've known each other for years. Please, I want to see your face," he sounded patient, even with a bit of teasing hint in his voice.
Xie Lian lowered the blanket once more as he uncurled from his position. Not only showing his face, but also the elephant in the room.
There was a lengthily pause. It wasn't short nor long. They could only hear the buzzing sound of the fan and the washing machine in the background.
Xie Lian was already filling applications to move into another apartment, maybe to a new city or country, when finally Hua Cheng spoke in a low voice, "Would you like help with that?"
"Huh?" was all Xie Lian could say.
"You know, I could help you with that, if you want," Hua Cheng repeated. He was looking at Xie Lian with an unreadable expression, one Xie Lian had never seen before. Was it pity? He sure hoped it wasn't.
"Wouldn't it be…weird?" Xie Lian asked. He had to ask.
They were best friends! They would never make anything the other didn't want to. And best friends helped each other in times of need.
"Not at all," Hua Cheng answered. "Do you want me to help you?"
Xie Lian really wanted, he wanted Hua Cheng in more ways than one.
So he finally said "Please," without looking at Hua Cheng in the eyes.
"No need to be so polite, gege, we're best friends after all," he started removing the blanket off Xie Lian's body completely as he got closer to cage him down on the sofa, "We help each other out, right?"
"Right," they were so close now, Xie Lian could feel Hua Cheng's breath inches apart from his lips.
It was an imagine he only dared to dream before today, being at the complete mercy of his friend, feeling his body towering over him. It was too much, and when they finally touched lips, Xie Lian moaned into his best friend's mouth.
It was embarrassing, being this his first kiss and all, but he knew Hua Cheng would not judge him nor make fun of him for his lack of experience. He was always so ready to teach Xie Lian anything, and it seemed this wasn't the exception.
After the electrifying first contact, Hua Cheng only seemed to grow bolder, and soon introduced his tongue into Xie Lian's mouth. The intrusion wasn't weird, but the things inside Xie Lian's lower abdomen were beginning to stir once again.
Where should he put his arms? They were currently grabbing Hua Cheng's biceps, but he felt it was kind of awkward, so instead he circled his neck with both arms without stopping the kiss.
He could feel the T-shirt riding up due to the movement, but Hua Cheng soon understood and grabbed the hem of it. Xie Lian was grateful for it, but only for a few seconds, as he suddenly felt Hua Cheng's whole hand on his bare thigh.
Another moan escaped his mouth between kisses, he felt light headed and the problem between his thighs only grew harder to ignore.
"Is this okay?" Hua Cheng asked.
"Mmm, yes" he answered. It was more than okay, it was perfect.
He could feel Hua Cheng's big hand slowly making its way upwards on his thigh, until something seemed to grab his attention.
"Where's your underwear?" Hua Cheng lifted an eyebrow, seemingly amused.
Xie Lian was so embarrassed. He did spend the whole night and morning going around doing chores in nothing but a T-shirt, and he just realized how awful that sounded.
"I didn't have any," he weakly lied.
"Since when?" Hua Cheng seemed extremely curious, and Xie Lian didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
"Yesterday night, after showering," he said, covering his face.
"I see…" Hua Cheng seemed to think about it. "Even when doing laundry?"
Xie Lian was about to combust. He really had to bend down to put the clothes inside the washing machine, and it wasn't any different earlier today.
He could only nod, clearly too shy to admit it. But Hua Cheng only pressed further.
"And here I was, diverting my eyes to be polite, while you had your ass exposed for the world to see…" his hand got further up, squeezing Xie Lian's bare cheek before continuing "For me to see."
"Ah, only for you," Xie Lian managed to say.
Maybe it was true. Maybe he really wanted Hua Cheng to see him like that, and not just as his BFF as their T-shirts said. Maybe he didn't want Hua Cheng to be polite, and instead wanted him to pin him down to the nearest surface and fuck him silly.
Another gasp took him out of his thoughts as Hua Cheng right hand continued massaging his behind and started kissing his jaw and neck instead, giving his collarbones special attention as the neckline of the T-shirt was wide enough on him to do that.
Panting and moaning, Xie Lian couldn't do much aside from slowly falling apart under his best friend's ministrations. Then, he felt Hua Cheng's hand leave his cheek, and when Xie Lian thought it may be over, Hua Cheng gently lifted the hem of the T-shirt to his stomach.
The sudden exposure of his cock to the breeze of the fan was a quite the shock, and Xie Lian's goosebumps returned. He could feel his own hardened nipples poking out of the T-shirt, and Hua Cheng's hungry eyes said everything.
One hand aimed to Xie Lian's cock and the other to his chest, Hua Cheng seemed to be living the dream. Meanwhile, Xie Lian was a babbling mess under his touch.
"San Lang— ah, it's too much!"
"Do you want me to stop?" Hua Cheng's thumb was barely brushing his nipple while the other worked on his erection, the precum helping him slide up and down the shaft.
The movement wasn't hurried, but that was exactly what drove Xie Lian mad.
"N-No" he said, gasping. "I'm just not used to this," he admitted.
"Well, we can change that," Hua Cheng lowered his head so he was level to Xie Lian's chest, most specifically his left nipple.
Xie Lian couldn't bear to look, and closed his eyes. The sensations were overflowing him, and Hua Cheng began kissing his chest, wetting the material of the T-shirt right where his nipple was, near the "BFFs" stamp decorating it.
It was kind of funny given the situation they were in. Would they still consider each other best friends after this?
Hua Cheng seemed to enjoy hearing Xie Lian be taken apart by him, his mouth on his chest, one hand working on his cock while the other now squeezed his ass cheek again. Hua Cheng's hand was so big that not only could it cup it entirely, but his fingers sometimes brushed his hole, making him squirm even more.
Xie Lian was speechless except for moans and the occasional "San Lang" that came out of his mouth. He really wasn't used to this kind of stimulation, and Hua Cheng seemed to know every little thing to drive him to the edge.
"San Lang, I'm— I'm coming," he managed to say as a warning. He didn't want Hua Cheng to dirty his hands, even though he was doing an excellent job to get to that point.
"Can't wait to see you, to hear you come under me," he said. He stopped playing with Xie Lian's chest and instead started kissing his jaw again.
"Please, kiss me, San Lang, I need you," he couldn't even think of what he was saying, only what he was feeling. And he felt so, so much at the moment.
Hua Cheng urgently kissed him on the mouth, mixing their breath together as he quickened the pace of his hand.
It only took a few more seconds for Xie Lian to come all over his T-shirt and Hua Cheng's hand. He felt his head spin from the force of his orgasm, and only after he came to himself again he felt Hua Cheng slowly kissing him.
Between heavy breaths, he managed to say "San Lang…"
"Yes? How do you feel?" Hua Cheng asked, carefully giving Xie Lian distance.
"I feel… really sleepy."
Hua Cheng laughed at that.
"Then sleep, do you want me to get you to your room?"
"Do you mind if I nap here?"
"Not at all, let me get the T-shirt off of you so you can be more comfortable."
Xie Lian obeyed and let Hua Cheng undress him carefully. It was so sweet, and Xie Lian couldn't help feeling his heart beat at that.
Hua Cheng stood up from the sofa, covered Xie Lian with the blanket that was laying on the floor, and kissed him on the forehead.
"Call me if you need anything," was the last thing Xie Lian heard from Hua Cheng before he fell asleep.
Truly, Xie Lian was glad he had someone like Hua Cheng as his best friend.