#love... feh!

Xue Yang didn’t like anyone in Carp Tower. He despised Jin Guangshan for being so pompous and fake, he despised his wife for her constant berating, and he despised Jin Zixuan simply because he was handsome and talented and righteous.

He half-liked Jin Guangyao, because they worked together and did all sorts of fucked up shit and that was very fun, plus he let him get away with a lot, but he was fake, too. He pretended to do all this fun stuff under the guise of the greater good, and that alone made Xue Yang sick to his stomach.

Nobody else deserved the mention, mere filler characters in his adventure.

Until Mo Xuanyu happened.

His eyes held an intelligence akin to Jin Guangyao’s, but with a colder edge. He studied his surroundings in silence, but always with a mischievous little smile. He didn’t cause trouble, but he didn’t stop it, either. He just watched. 

Where Jin Guangyao recoiled, Mo Xuanyu leaned in. He had a clear fascination with demonic practices and was most likely taking notes in secret. And yet, when he spoke, he did so without cruelty. He didn’t seem like anything other than a well-meaning, agreeable guy.

It wasn’t fake. All of that, strange as it may seem, was part of Mo Xuanyu. 

Xue Yang didn’t feel stupid things like love or affection, but as soon as he saw enough of Mo Xuanyu’s personality, he latched onto him and only begrudgingly left his side when Jin Guangyao needed him. He flitted between them both, aiding them wherever they needed him, but Mo Xuanyu was his preferred company because he seemed to understand. 

“I’m gonna move my bed in here with you,” Xue Yang sang playfully as Mo Xuanyu finished up his note taking for the evening.

“Why? To watch me sleep?” Mo Xuanyu smiled and put his notebook away.

“Duuuuuuuuh. And so nobody comes in and tries to wreck your shit,” Xue Yang threw a crumpled up piece of paper at Mo Xuanyu, who swatted it away.

“Okay, but you need to take a bath first,” Mo Xuanyu stood up and straightened out his robes. “Those are the rules.”

“What!? I took one yesterday.” Xue Yang huffed. It had actually been the day before, but he didn’t care.

“If you take one, you can skip the extra bed and just sleep with me,” Mo Xuanyu closed his eyes and let his hair down.