Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

 This was the time of wars.

 Wars, Rin thought, were more than winning battles. Wars were fights between ideologies, beliefs, their stands and most importantly, grudges and pride. And if there was one thing she would never let get to her, was the damage to her goddamn pride.

 "Rin?"

 She blinked.

 Kitay nudged her side. He frowned as he adjusted the turtle neck of his dark sweater, shivering against the cold. "Focus," he said. "Don't want them to go for the offense first."

 Rin shook her head to clear her thoughts and narrowed her eyes. The other side was quiet, and she couldn't really catch where they were positioned at. Going offense meant they would be able to attack relentlessly once they caught on the upper hand yet when it was recklessly done, they would only give away their position with no avail.

 Snow had fallen with full force last night, and all of them woke up to a world covered in thick white blankets. Naturally, the first thought of the four students of the most prestigious university of Nikan was that they definitely should have a snowball fight in the middle of the woods down the hill.

 Oh it was definitely a war.

 Rin kept on making snowballs. The more, she thought, the better. "I'm not going out without at least 10 of these at my disposal," she said. 

 "You can't carry 10 snowballs at once."

 "I can and I will."

 Kitay's response was interrupted by a sudden hail of snowballs over their heads. They both yelled as Rin desperately raised her arms to block with no use. 

 "Did they just abandon their post?" Kitay said, incredulous, shaking snow off his hair.

 "Oh, they really mean war war." Without hesitation, Rin grabbed two of her newly made snowballs and hurled them in the direction where she was sure had seen Venka run between the trees. Her aim was accurate, but Venka was faster. She narrowly avoided the blow as Rin's snowball sailed past her and smacked into a tree. She didn't have time to curse herself as she immediately ducked to avoid a snowball thrown by Venka, small but deadly accurate and vicious. It hit the spot on a tree where Rin's head was just a moment ago. 

 "You missed!" she shouted.

 "I never miss!" Venka's voice shouted back.

 "Are you cowering away, Rin?" Nezha's taunting voice reached through their snow barricade.

 Rin turned around to face Kitay. "Make larger snowballs. I'm going to shove it down his—"

 Kitay's eyes widened. "Rin—"

 She caught the warning too late; as she turned, Nezha was already upon her, tackling her to the ground. Rin yelped as she felt snow digging into her bare neck, and down her hoodie, sending cold shock everywhere.

 "What the fuck is wrong with you?" She yelled as she glared up at Nezha's face, which was flushed and smirking. 

 "Got you—"

 Rin's fistfull of snow found its target as she shoved it upon his face. Nezha choked and spluttered and Rin burst out laughing.

 She heard a loud thump and twisted her head to see Venka also tackling Kitay to the ground—but Kitay twisted at the last minute, and both of them fell on the snow sideways. 

 Rin used a distracted Nezha to wriggle out of his grip and ran to the nearest tree. Glancing up for confirmation, she grabbed the trunk and shook vigorously.

 It was like a slow motion—a pause, then a cascade of snow in branches fell on all of them, some shredded away into thin bits of snowflakes but most still in chunks.

 "Why did you do that to me too?" Kitay yelled as he shoved snow off his face.

 "I can't manipulate snow!" Rin dusted off the snow she had caught on her hair too.

 "I," Venka said, "am going to make you pay for this."

 "You're going to miss the chance." Rin ducked once more as Venka threw snowballs Rin had made and gathered in the corner. "Those are mine, you cheater!"

 "No rules here!" Rin turned a bit too late to see Nezha dump snow on top of her head.

 "I'm going to kill you—"

 "Guys," Kitay interrupted. "Please shut the fuck up."

 He had his eyes closed and now was spreading his arms and legs, a sigh escaping his mouth. "This is so relaxing."

 Rin, shaking snow off of her hair with her hand, poked at him in the side with her foot. "You'll get pneumonia, get up."

 "I'm not stupid enough to actually fall asleep here." But he did grudgingly get up, blinking. "Let's stop smashing snow and actually build something with it."

 "A snowman?"

 "No, even better. I brought snow duck mold," Kitay said, rummaging through his bag.

 "You brought what now?"

 Kitay pulled out a strange looking yellow tool from his bag. "Been waiting weeks to try this out. I want to figure out the perfect pressure needed to make a pristine duckling."

 "Sometimes, I worry about your mental being."

 "That being said by you is a bit funny, Rin." 

 "Are you saying that I'm mentally not fine?"

 "Yes."

 "Just checking."

 Kitay quickly gathered snow inside his tool, squeezed, and opened to reveal a small snow duck. Rin gasped.

 "Neat, isn't it?" Kitay quickly made 3 more. "Look, it's us."

 "Who's me?"

 "Definitely the smallest one," Nezha said. Rin threw bits of snow in his direction.

 "They're all literally the same size, dumbass."

 "Still, you're the smallest one." Nezha leaned down and brushed his lips against the side of her mouth; she turned her head and caught his lips in a kiss but quickly pulled away. “Your mouth is so fucking cold.”

 “You’re the one who shoved snow in it.”

 “You’re the one who deserved it.”

 "Please stop flirting and help me arrange these," Kitay called.

 "By what?"

 "By the strength of pressure I applied."

 "God, Chen Kitay, they're all just cute little ducklings," Rin knelt to coo at the small ducks sitting neatly in a row. "They're adorable!"

 "Wait, I think you can hang them in the tree." Venka snatched the mold from Kitay's hand, scoop snow inside, found a narrow bare tree branch hanging low and squeezed the mold with the tree branch in between. After several moments, she opened the mold to reveal a snow duck hanging by the tree branch.

 "Oh shit, let me try, too." Venka handed Rin the tool and Rin quickly gathered snow and copied Venka. She laughed as the same snow duck appeared hanging in the tree, delighted. A click echoed, and she turned to see Nezha with his phone out. "What?"

 "Nothing."

 "What did you take that for?"

 "He was grinning like a fucking idiot watching you laugh," Kitay said without looking up from the ducks. Nezha kicked snow in his direction and Kitay yelped. "Don't you dare touch them!"

 "Please shut the fuck up."

 "Did I lie, though?"

 "Nobody asked."

 Rin walked up to Nezha and stood on her tiptoes to brush her lips against his cheek. "That's sweet." She felt his lips curve into a smile and she shoved another bunch of snow into his face.

 "The fuck—"

 Rin and Venka both fell back laughing as Nezha blindly swiped snow off his face. 

 "That's for the snow you dumped on my head!" Rin gasped between laughter. 

 "Oh I will get you."

 Sensing an impending doom, Rin turned to run but Nezha was already upon her—he had always been faster than her, so fucking unfair—caught her around the waist and shoved snow against the back of her neck.

 "Fuck you!" Rin gasped as she felt the ice melt against her back. She glared when she caught Kitay and Venka laughing. "It's supposed to be us against Nezha, what the fuck is wrong with all of you?"

 "I don't know, Rin," Kitay said between laughter. "You're the one who decided to date him."

 "I'm immensely regretting my life decisions."

 Nezha pressed a kiss against her cheek from behind her, still holding onto her waist. "No you're not."

 "I hate you."

 "Too bad."

 Later on, they all gathered in Nezha's room, warm drinks in everyone's hand, coffee for Venka, hot chocolate for Rin and Kitay and a latte with syrup for Nezha. Rin curled up on the couch with her head against Nezha's shoulder, his arm pulling her close to him.

 "I feel like I've seen enough snow for a lifetime," she said, yawning.

 Nezha's voice was muffled by her hair. "You're going to regret saying that when they all melt."

 "I don't care. Right now, I'm warm and I never want snow down my back ever again."

 "Thanks for the tip on how to annoy you."

 "You sound like you're begging to get hot liquid spilled on your head."

 "Do you two ever shut up?" Venka rolled her eyes. 

 "No, let them, I want to see where this goes."

 Rin flipped a finger at her best friend as he grinned over his mug.

 This was a time of wars and she loved fighting wars with all of them. But maybe, she thought snuggling closer to Nezha and letting him drop a kiss on the top of her head, little bits of peacetime in between were her favorite moments.

Chapter Text

 “Kitay.”

 Rin heard a bit of bustling at the end of the line as Kitay picked up his phone and said a moment later: “Rin?”

 “I need you to come to my dorm.”

 “Why?”

 “I can’t open this jar.”

 A pause. “What?”

 “I can’t,” Rin repeated slowly, “open this stupid fucking jar of strawberry jam.”

 “Have you tried with gloves?”

 “With rubber gloves. Didn’t work. Don’t you dare fucking laugh.”

 “It’s funny!” Rin scowled as his stifled laughter reached her ears. “Where’s Venka?”

 “She went out. I just wanted to have toast with jam.”

 “I’m on my way.”

 When Kitay arrived, Rin was sitting in the middle of the room, arms crossed and a glower etched upon her face. A pair of rubber gloves, a towel, a pair of scissors, crumpled up pieces of paper surrounded her with a jar of jam sitting innocently in the middle of it all.

 “That’s the jam?”

 Rin nodded. “I’ve tried fucking everything.”

 “Seems like you did. Now give me.” Laughing, Kitay received the jar from scowling Rin. “I’m sure it’s just because you missed the first try, kind of jinxes everything, you know—” Kitay twisted. And twisted. And twisted. He frowned. “Huh.”

 “Yeah. Huh.”

 “Give me the rubber gloves.”

 Kitay twisted with the gloves on. Nothing happened.

 "Uh, what the fuck?"

 "See?"

 "This really is stuck as hell."

 “And you thought I was fucking kidding!”

 “I didn’t.”

 “Yes, you did.” Rin gave a wide grin.

 “You’re actually glad I can’t open this, aren’t you?”

 “Why would I be glad? I’m still hungry.”

 "Yeah, but it proved your point that you aren't the one who's done it wrong, it's the jam."

 "Never. I never do things wrong."

 “You know what?” Kitay dramatically threw the jar on Rin’s bed, throwing his arms up. “Call Nezha. He’s the strongest, if he can’t do it then just fucking file a complaint, this is ridiculous.”

 Kitay was busy on his phone when Nezha arrived.

 “There’s actual complaints everywhere,” he said, scrolling on his phone. “Listen to this review: I tried with rubber gloves and my dad tried it with rubber gloves but couldn’t open. We ended up smashing the glass and pouring the jam in another container.”

 “Smashing the glass sounds tempting.”

 “No, we’re opening that fucking jar if it’s the last thing we do.”

 “What did you guys get yourself into?” Nezha interrupted, sounding amused.

 "Why do you act like we got ourselves into trouble?"

 "Because that's what you always do, Rin."

 Rin sighed dramatically. "Why does everyone think I do the wrong things? I'm never wrong."

 “Kitay said it was an emergency.”

 “It is. My midnight snack depends on it.”

 “Your midnight snack,” Nezha repeated. “I was doing my final report that’s due in 2 hours and I still have 3 pages left to write and 10 to revise and the emergency that I got is your midnight snack.”

 “I’m fucking starving!”

 “So? Eat! Is anyone forcing you not to?”

 Rin and Kitay both wordlessly stared at the jar of strawberry jam in the middle of the room on the floor.

 “What?”

 “We need you to open it.”

 "You called me just to ask me to open a jar of strawberry jam?"

 "Try, then," she snapped. "That thing's stuck like crazy."

 Nezha rolled his eyes, gave an exaggerated sigh, and picked up the jar. He held it in his left as he twisted the top with his right.

 And twisted.

 And twisted.

 And twisted.

 "What the fuck?"

 “Told you!” Rin said triumphantly.

 “Have you tried—”

 “Yes,” Rin and Kitay said simultaneously.

 “You don’t even know what I was going to say!”

 “With rubber gloves, towels, rubber bands, shoved paper between the spaces,” Kitay said, counting with his fingers. “Rin is suggesting smashing glass.”

 "You didn't glue this together just to trick me or something?"

 "Why would I do that?"

 "You totally would."

 "Yeah, I totally would," she agreed. "But not this time. There goes away one of my prank ideas."

 Nezha tapped the jar with his fingers. "I think you’re using too much force only,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “Maybe science does work, after all.”

 “What?”

 “We should try to shrink the container.”

 “How much longer do you figure we have to wait?” Rin asked, staring at the jar in the basin filled with cold water.

 “Before the water gets too lukewarm, I suppose,” said Nezha.

 “Shouldn’t we try it soon, before, I don’t know, the cold water affects the lid, too? We don’t want the already small lid to be even smaller.”

 “Oh, for fuck’s sake.” Kitay grabbed the jar and winced at the cold. “It’s cold enough.” After quickly drying his hands on his pants, he held it between his hands and twisted.

 It didn’t budge.

 “Let me try.” Rin took the jar from him, took a deep breath and twisted as hard as she could.

 It didn’t budge. 

 Frowning, she handed the jar to Nezha, who had already put on the rubber gloves. He let out a slow, even breath and twisted.

 It didn’t budge.

 He threw his hands up. “Now what?”

 Rin narrowed her eyes. “You know, we tried to shrink the container… what if we now try to expand the lid?”

 “How?” Nezha frowned.

 “How the fuck does one make the lid hot?”

 “Hot water?” Kitay suggested. “The opposite of what we just did, I guess.”

 “No, I have a better idea.” Rin rummaged through her drawers and got her hairdryer out. "If I angle it from the side, I would avoid the container getting the warm blast, right?"

 "....I don't know."

 "I can't believe I have a fucking report due in an hour and a half and I'm standing here turning a jar of strawberry jam, helping you burn the lid just so we can open it."

 "You can go if you want then, no one's stopping you." Rin had to shout over the noise of the loud dryer.

 "No, I'm seeing this shit open."

 “You’re rotating it too quickly,” she complained. “the sides aren’t getting enough heat.”

 “Are you sure the jar itself isn’t expanding overall?” interrupted Kitay.

 “The sides aren’t hot,” Nezha said.

 “Is the heat working then? Like is the lid actually getting hot?”

 “Well—” Nezha stopped spinning the jar and tried to open the top. He almost dropped it. “Fuck, it’s fucking burning!”

 “Oh, don’t be such a baby,” Rin turned off the hairdryer, sudden silence filling the space as she took the jar from him and tentatively touched the lid. “Wait, it is hot.”

 “Let me try.” Kitay had put on the rubber gloves. Rin dropped the jar into his open palms. He placed his hand on top of the lid and closed his eyes. “Please work, please work, please work.”

 He twisted. 

 The jar of strawberry jam sat innocently on his palm, the same as ever.

 “This is ridiculous.”

 “Has anyone actually opened this fucking thing? How is this still getting sold?”

 Rin collapsed on her bed, pulling at her hair. "Now fucking what?"

 Nezha frowned at the jar in Kitay's hand, arms crossed and said slowly:

 "One last thing."

 "What?"

 "We try doing both at once."

 “If this doesn’t work, I honestly have no idea what we’re going to do.”

 They had once again filled the basin with cold water, just till it reached right below the lid. Rin stood on the side, having plugged the hair dryer again.

 “Do you have an iron here?”

 “Maybe Venka does. Why?”

 “If this doesn’t work, maybe just pressing the iron on top would do it.”

 “Do you want to burn your hand off while opening the lid?”

 “As long as it opens.”

 “Guys,” Kitay said, rolling his eyes. “Focus.”

 "Now's not too late to confess that this was all just a prank and you did stick it together with glue."

 "Believe me, I want to confess. Here goes nothing," Rin said, aiming the lid and turning on the dryer.

 Unfortunately, Rin had angled the hairdryer a bit too low.

 Unfortunately, the blow not only affected the lid, but also the pool of water the jam was drenched in.

 Unfortunately, as Rin turned on the hairdryer, the blast sent the water rippling and splashing at the person on the opposite side.

 Nezha swore as cold water splashed all over his jeans.

 “Fuck!”

 “Oh shit.” Rin dropped the dryer which landed on the floor with a loud clatter.

 "What the fuck—"

 Kitay doubled over in laughter, gasping for breath.

 “This is―” he gasped, “the most― ridiculous ―thing we’ve ever done. Ever. What the fuck is wrong with us?”

 “Shut the fuck up,” Nezha said as he grabbed a towel and tried to mop up his legs. “That’s so fucking cold.”

 “Yeah, we were aiming for the water to be cold, weren’t we? Shrink the container.”

 “Yeah, yeah,” Nezha grumbled. He grabbed the jar inside the basin, checked to make sure the lid wasn’t too hot and twisted.

 With a loud pop, it opened.

 Rin screamed and Kitay fell backward and Nezha stared down at the contents in his hands, mouth opened and eyes wide as though he had discovered a fucking gold mines. Rin reached out and grabbed it. “My fucking strawberry jem!”

 “There’s the strawberry scent,” Nezha said, still seeming dazed. 

 Kitay wrinkled his nose. “It smells like it’s been fucking burnt.”

 “Because we fucking did, we literally tried to grill it with a hairdryer, remember?” Rin held the jar close to her chest. “I’m having a celebratory midnight snack now.”

 "Oh good, do we get one too?"

 "No, you have a report due in less than an hour."

 “That’s what I get for helping you?”

 “No one forced you too, dumbass.”

 Nezha gave a loud huff.

 "What the fuck," Rin said, biting into her toast, "is wrong with us?"

 Nezha had left soon after but not before stealing a bite from her strawberry jam spread toast—"This is the best toast I've ever had," he'd remarked, "but also please never buy that jam again."

 "You easily could've had another snack," said Kitay. "Or just bought different food. Or just have plain toast.”

 “Yet we were so fucking determined to open this fucking shit jar of strawberry jam.”

 They looked at each other and burst out laughing.

 The door chimed and Rin and Kitay turned to see Venka come in, stop in her tracks, and look around the dorm littered with gloves, papers, rubber bands, knives, towels and a hairdryer, Rin and Kitay sitting in the middle of it all holding a strawberry jam covered toast.

 "What the fuck," she sighed, "happened here?"

Chapter Text

 Rin scowled as the still-cold wind cut through her cheeks and hugged her jacket closer to her chest. She figured it would be warm enough, but now she immensely regretted choosing a lighter jacket over her winter one. The wind seemed determined to find every exposed skin. "I miss my bed."

 Nezha's grip on her hand was firm. "You go to your bed every night. You won't see this in a year."

 "A year seems pretty short to me."

 "You're going to eat your words."

 "Want to bet?"

 Nezha gave her a smile but said nothing. Rin gave a glare in return but didn't withdraw her hand. At least his hand was warm.

 A morning like this was at the bottom of the list of things she would like to do. Hell, it was in the list of things she would pay not to do. Why the fuck would she voluntarily wake up early, leave her bed, trudge through trees when she easily could've tried to compete in how to spend a sunday morning as lazily as possible? Yet Yin Nezha had decided to be the one fucking pain in the ass of her life, as usual.

 “Rin, please,” he had begged. “You’ll love it, I swear.”

 Rin had groaned, peeking her head out from her covers. “Why are you trying to ruin my Sunday morning?”

 “The cherry blossoms are at their peak right now, it’s today or never.”

 Nezha, Rin thought, should fully be well aware by now that her Sundays were sacred. Her weekdays were filled with classes and assignments. Her Saturdays were set aside for the part time job at the café. The one and only time she was able to sleep in was a Sunday, and she looked forward to Sunday every week, slouching in despair on Mondays and perking up on Saturdays.

 And yet he had barged into her dorm and was now kneeling beside her bedside, basically threatening to get her out of the comforts of her warm blanket. Rin seriously wondered if he valued his life. If he did, he definitely wouldn't be doing this.

 "My sleep-ins are also now or never."

 "You can sleep in next week, but the flowers will be gone by then! Rin, come on, you have to see them. I want to see them with you. You’ll love it, I swear."

 "I've seen cherry blossoms before."

 "Never this grand or many in one place!"

 "How do you know what I've seen or not?"

 "Because this is the best place for cherry blossoms in the whole country."

 "Says who?"

 "Me."

 "I don't trust you."

 "No, but you like me."

 "On the contrary, I hate you with every fiber of my being. I dream of you dying every night. I would pay to have you as far away from me as possible."

 "I know. Is that a yes?"

 "I'm going to make you pay for it."

 He beamed. "It is a yes."

 She smacked him with her pillow.

 That was how she ended up, hurriedly dressed and sleep deprived, walking along the mountain hills under the spring sun which did nothing to warm the everlasting cold winter wind that slapped her face. The green leaves that started to peek from bare winter branches were cute, she supposed, but not worth the lack of warm covers over her tired ass body.

 "It's April," she grumbled. "And it's still cold. This is so fucked up."

 Nezha came closer and wrapped his arm around her shoulders. 

 "Fuck off, I don't need your—" Rin's answer was cut short with a gasp as they turned a corner.

 Rin had been here before—during the winter and fall, and the snow and the brightly colored leaves had been pretty enough for her to love the place. The thick trees surrounded a large lake with willows lazily trailing against the surface. Rin remembered the ice frozen lake and how she and Nezha dared each other to go across on one cold winter before they were dating and oftentimes still fought. Kitay had the brain to remind them that it was dangerous, like life-threatening dangerous, and discourage them from doing so.

 What she didn't know was that all the trees here were cherry blossom trees.

 "Holy shit."

 "Exactly," Nezha said happily.

 It seemed like flowers had exploded in mid air and were caught in the moment of explosion—tiny pink and white flowers gathered up in thousands of dark branches, making a tunnel of flowers. Rin could see petals tracing circles on the lake where the reflections of the cherry blossoms seem to melt into and under the surface. She had never seen anything more beautiful.

 "These were all cherry blossoms?" she said, dazed.

 "Amazing, isn't it?"

 "How often have you been here?" Rin asked as they walked along, still looking around.

 "Been here when I was a kid, but not often. Come on, there's my favorite spot over there."

 Rin could see many fellow Sinegard students also amongst the crowd. There were friends, couples, small groups of family posing for pictures, walking hand in hand. 

 “Did everyone know this except me?”

 “I actually told you before, but you weren’t listening.”

 “I must’ve had my reasons.”

 “Of course you did.”

 The place Nezha led her to had a breathtaking view of the lake and a lower tree branch descending over the view, providing a curtain of cherry blossoms. There was already a crowd formed, obviously a popular place. 

 Rin pointed at an empty spot.

 "Go stand there, you look pretty under that flower."

 "Are you saying that I don't, otherwise?"

 "Why are you so full of yourself?" Rin snapped a photo and switched it into a selfie. Nezha came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her, tucking her head beneath his chin. She leaned briefly against him then wriggled her arms, but he didn’t let go. “You’re ruining my angle.”

 “You always have a shit angle.”

 “Fuck you?”

 “It’s true, that’s why you always ask Venka to take pictures.”

 “You take it if you’re so good at it then,” she huffed. Nezha merely laughed and took her phone. He was actually good at it, of course he was, so fucking annoying. Rin scowled and Nezha's breath fanned across her cheek as he leaned down. "Don't frown, smile, the camera's on you."

 She shoved an elbow at him in response. He easily dodged. 

 They found an empty bench facing the lake and Rin collapsed it and leaned against Nezha's shoulder as he took his place beside her, linking her arm through his. She closed her eyes, breathing in the scent of him, feeling the warm spring sunray on her cheek, listening to the faint chatter of the crowd.

 Rin once thought being close to Nezha was one of the hardest things she ever had to suffer through. He still was, in a way. But in a way that the challenge thrilled her, in a way whenever she went through the barrier, it gave her delirious happiness that she would fight for every day. In a way that it was somehow, paradoxically, one of the easiest choices she made.

 They were both so different in a way that when they clashed, it was bound to explode. She liked that they decided to make something beautiful with the friction, not an utter destruction. Knowing him, and knowing herself, she knew it easily could've ended otherwise.

 "You're glad that you came, aren't you?"

 Rin opened her eyes. Sometimes, maybe they were simply bound to destruction.

 "No. What makes you say that?"

 "The fact that you haven't complained about a single thing for the past hour."

 "The fact that I didn't say it out loud doesn't mean I'm glad I'm here."

 "But you are."

 "Fuck you."

 He brushed his lips against her cheek teasingly. "See? I was right."

 She punched his arm in return. He perfectly well knew she hated being wrong more than anything, especially when he was right. "Watch what you're saying."

 He was grinning, and Rin wanted to kiss him. Or slap the arrogant smile off his face, she never knew which. A single petal floated in the air and landed on his hair. She reached over and plucked it out. A sudden idea formed in her mind.

 "Come on."

 Nezha slowly stood up as she impatiently waited. "What?"

 "Just come."

 She started to catch petals floating in the air with the wind, gathering one by one as they walked by. It was more difficult than she anticipated despite the abundance. 

 Nezha folded his arms. “That looks exhausting.”

 “Shut up.”

 Ignoring his grin, she continued her expedition till she was satisfied with the amount of petals gathered in her palms. Shielding them from the wind with one hand, she gestured at Nezha with her head.

 "Come here," Rin ordered. She stood on the first of the stone steps, giving her extra height so she's slightly looking down at him. Then she dropped the petals she had gathered on the top of his head. They landed like large snowflakes unmelting amongst his hair, the pink ones almost looking white against the dark. 

 Nezha looked amused. “What was that for?”

 “It gives you a better impression. Now you look less of an asshole.”

 “Am I supposed to thank you for that?”

 Rin rested her arms on both his shoulders, leaning forward and pressing their foreheads together. “Yes.”

 He wrapped his arms around her waist, flushing their bodies together. "Thank you for such a lovely contribution, then," he whispered against her lips, sending shivers down her spine. Rin felt her mouth curve into a smile as she kissed him properly, slowly.

 A sudden wind erupted the petals into chaos, lifting the ones already fallen on the ground and snatching the ones still hanging from the tree. Rin felt a burst of laughter escape her mouth as she pushed Nezha away, ducking under his arms to run into the middle of it all. She stared up at the swirling pink and white petals, feeling as if the snow was back, only it wasn’t cold or melting.

 She turned, beaming and found Nezha staring at her, his lips curled into a smile and his eyes shining. Rin walked up to him and tackled him into a hug. He made a noise of surprise but returned the embrace immediately.

 "Let's come again next year," Rin said, looking up at him, at the lovely brown eyes, at the petals that landed on his hair, at the beautiful boy who had somehow known she would love this. "And the next. And the next."

 Nezha's smile was slow but sure, hand rising to tuck her hair behind her ear. "You plan on keeping me around that long?"

 "Keep that attitude and I will kick your ass."

 He let out a small laugh that made her stomach flip. Then he held her face between his palms, pressed a kiss on her forehead, her nose, her cheek and then her lips.

 Her Sundays were sacred, but maybe, for moments like this, Rin could make some exceptions.

Chapter Text

 Rin coughed, gave a miserable moan and fell back on her pillow.

 Kitay wordlessly handed her a mug of hot water; she sipped gratefully.

 "You're the best."

 "You know what, you being sick really brings out the best of you."

 She mimicked throwing a punch at him. He pretended to duck, grinning.

 "I take that back. You're still a nightmare."

 "Fuck you, Kitay," she said but her voice noticeably lacked the usual energy.

 Being sick had not been on her list of things to do, which was already brimming with too much work, thank you very much.

 Unfortunately, taking double shifts for her part time job, tackling two assignments at once, pulling an all nighter, depending on coffee to stay awake for the past 24 hours had not been a good idea for her body. This morning, she had jerked awake from her desk feeling worse than she did than the night when she and Kitay had gotten drunk after their first exams in college, which was saying something. Her throat hurt, her head was spinning, she barely made it to the bathroom before she threw up everything inside her stomach.

 "You need to rest," Kitay insisted. "Forget about uni, you won't be able to do anything if this cold doesn't get well."

 "I know." But knowing and actually doing were two different things and Rin thought guilt would tear her apart. She had so many assignments piled up on her desk she wanted to scream. "I can't believe I let this happen just a week and a half before exams."

 Kitay tucked the covers more firmly up to her chin. "You've already done more than enough, you can survive resting for a couple of days."

 Rin gave an indignant noise but didn't argue. "What time is it?" She muttered instead against her covers. 

 "3:45."

 "Hmm." She frowned. Something was off about the time, something nagging her, something was happening right now that shouldn't be happening….

 Her eyes flew open. "Kitay, your lecture!"

 "What?"

 "You have your lecture with Professor Irjah at 4 and it takes 30 minutes to get there! What the fuck are you doing here?"

 "You're sick."

 "Me being sick shouldn't stop you from going to the lecture, are you fucking kidding me? It's the most important one, you have to take it for your master degree!" Her voice cracked with a cough at the end.

 "One missed class won't hurt," he said but she knew she caught the doubt in his voice.

 "Chen Kitay, if you don't get your ass out of here this instant I'm going to throw up on you."

 "Rin—"

 "I'm not letting you miss your class just because of my stupid fucking cold." Rin meant it as a shout but the effect muted down as her voice went feeble and weak in the middle of her speech. 

 "There's nothing stupid about your cold."

 "You're making me more miserable by staying here. Please, and I say this as kindly as I can, fuck off."

 Kitay hesitated. "Venka's class doesn't end till evening."

 "I said I'm fine. I can manage on my own."

 "Let me tell Nezha then."

 Rin lifted her head from her pillow at lightning speed and glared. "No."

 "Why?"

 "Just don't."

 "You can let him take care of you, Rin."

 "I can take care of myself."

 Kitay sighed. "Fine. I'll go. Please call me if things get worse, promise?"

 "I promise."

 Rin was staring miserably at the ceiling, half wanting to get up to get a glass of water and half wanting to stay in bed when someone knocked on her dorm.

 Nezha came in before the rapid knocking stopped. "Rin?"

 She opened her eyes into slits and glared. "What the fuck are you doing here?"

 "Kitay told me you were sick." He was by her bedside in an instant, kneeling and brushing her hair out of her eyes. She blinked.

 "I told him not to tell you," she muttered. She wanted to make her tone sulking and snappy, but it came out sounding exhausted instead. She was too tired to be angry at anyone.

 "Now why would you do that?"

 "I can manage on my own. It's just a stupid fucking cold."

 "How many times have you said that today?" 

 Rin frowned. She hated him predicting so many things right about her. "Never."

 "Sure. I totally believe you."

 She would've snapped back; instead she closed her eyes and pulled her blanket over her face. If that wasn't a clear sign that she was feeling terrible, then nothing was. Rin was aware she was basically blaring red signals at Nezha that she was not okay at all but for once, she had no energy to act otherwise.

 "Do you need anything? Please, tell me."

 Her face still beneath her covers, she muttered: "A glass of water would be nice."

 Nezha immediately stood and left; she hardly waited a minute till he returned with two cups. "I didn't know if you'd prefer a hot one or just a warm one."

 "The hot one." She eased herself up in a sitting position and took a sip, a content sigh escaping her mouth as the sizzling liquid momentarily dulled the ache inside her throat.

 "You can go now. Thanks for the water."

 "I'm not going."

 She crawled back under her covers. "Don't you have class?"

 "You know mine ended an hour ago. Stop trying to get rid of me."

 She turned on her bed, hands pressed between her right cheek and pillow and stared up at him through sleepy eyes. She sniffed. "Why am I stuck with you again?"

 His hand caressed her cheek. "You tell me." He frowned. "You're burning up."

 "I'm not."

 "Are you cold?"

 "No."

 "You're shivering." 

 He took his jacket off and Rin wondered for a brief moment if he was going to add it under her covers when he was suddenly climbing onto her bed. Her eyes widened and she squeaked in surprise as he put his arms around her and pulled her against him. "What the fuck are you doing?"

 "Keeping you warm."

 "I'll make you sick."

 "I don't care."

 "You should." She sniffled. "This cold is nasty."

 He merely pulled her tighter against him, rubbing his hand down her back. Rin shivered, but then nudged closer, burying her face in his chest. Nezha's hug was so warm, so much more than her covers, and she finally felt the cold tremor slowly leaving her body.

 "Now that's better, isn't it?"

 "I hate you."

 "I know. Need anything else?"

 "Talk to me."

 "About what?'

 "Anything." I just want to hear your voice. "Just anything."

 And so he did; he murmured softly about the days they'd spent together throughout the year, about the surprise birthday party they had thrown for Kitay, about the time the four of them had gone to the beach; he talked about his home back in Arlong, describing the view from his room and the shining rivers. Rin let his voice paint a picture in her head, let the swirling images of trees and rivers and soft sunsets distract her from her stiff nose, sore throat and throbbing headache. Let the lull of his voice wrap her mind. Let her breath even out in sync with the beating of his heart.

 “Are you asleep?” He murmured after a few moments of her silence.

 Rin wanted to mutter a response, but she found sleep had a bigger hold on her. "Hmm," she managed to say instead.

 He stroked her hair. "Go to sleep."

 There were a million things she wanted to say. Thank you, I love you, fuck you for knowing what I need, don't stop with the hair stroke, continue talking to me. But the only thing she managed to whisper while clutching his shirt tighter in her fist was: "Don't go."

 As she drifted off, she caught his whispered response: "I'd never."

Chapter Text

 Someone was shaking her awake.

 Rin blindly reached over till her hand found something, gripped the corner of a pillow, and smashed it against the hell that dared to touch her.

 “Ow!”

 “Fuck off.”

 “Rin, it’s Christmas!”

 Rin swung the pillow clutched in her hand again but her hand got sloppy and she felt it slip from her fingers. She heard rather than see the pillow fly pass Nezha as he ducked. It smacked against the wall.

 “Fuck off.”

 "It's Christmas," he repeated, as if that validated everything.

 "And I'm sleeping."

 It was her rotten luck that her shift at the bakery for her part time job ended late at Christmas eve—out of all days. She had arrived late at night, fingers and ears blue from the cold, scowling after hours of fighting against weird groups of families that were demanding a Christmas cake when it had been noticed a month in advance that they only took preorders. A fucking month. Rin swore some people refused to have brain cells. 

 So when she arrived at Nezha's apartment where he, Venka and Kitay were all gathered around in celebration, she ignored all their greetings; Venka's wave, Nezha calling her name, Kitay standing up and approaching her. Instead, she headed straight to shower and straight to bed. She didn't immediately fall asleep though, her head was too furious to be calmed down so soon. Plus, she was hungry. So she was painfully aware when later, Nezha crept in and lay down beside her. Felt his hand on her shoulder and his soft voice saying, "Rin?"

 But she refused to acknowledge him, staying still till finally sleep claimed her.

 The worst thing was that she wanted to join them. She loved their little parties, loved when the four of them gathered beside the Christmas tree, loved the holiday and the presents and the cake and wine they inhaled. She loved it more than anything, but she was too tired and pissed off at fucking everything; at her goddamn life getting in her way for enjoying it, at her own pettiness for ignoring them and going straight to bed, at the world for making this so fucking difficult and at herself for making it all difficult.

 All of them had offered to stay with her at her work, or to wait for her, because of fucking course they did, but she had pushed them away. Rin really didn’t want to deprive them of their Christmas just because she had a shitty work schedule. She was, however, pissed that it happened, even though none of it was their fault.

 Nezha, currently, wasn't helping.

 "Rin, come on, you missed the annual Christmas Eve party, so you have to join us now."

 She slightly peeked from the covers to give him a glare. "Why are you talking like I missed it on purpose?"

 "Well, you did ignore us."

 Nezha immediately seemed to realize that was the wrong thing to say when Rin pulled up the covers over her head. "Rin—"

 "Fuck off."

 He didn't fuck off. "Venka's been dying to open the presents, and you need to open yours too—"

 "I'm dying to what?"

 Rin heard someone swing open the door.

 "Open the presents. Help me get Rin out of bed—what are you wearing?"

 Rin slightly pulled down the covers to see Venka raise a brow. “My new jacket, obviously. You should know, you bought it.”

 "It was wrapped! Under the tree! And you opened it?"

 “Last night, actually.”

 Nezha looked crestfallen. “We were supposed to open them together.”

 "As if I'm the one who broke the tradition first."

 "I heard that!"

 "Is Rin being a pain in the ass again?"

 Rin scowled as Kitay entered the room. "You're supposed to be on my side, always!"

 Kitay wordlessly grinned and slumped down on the bed next to her, shaking the bed.

 "Get out of bed, open the present I got you and you'll be happy that you woke up, I promise."

 "If I'm not?"

 "I can't believe you're doubting me. I thought we were supposed to be on the same side, always."

 Rin tried to scowl but she also couldn't help her lips twitch in a smile. Curse Chen Kitay.

 “If I’m not happy within five minutes, I’m coming back here and marrying this bed.”

 Kitay's response was lost by a much louder voice. “You’re not cheating on me with a bed.”  

 “Don’t fucking test me. You’re on thin ice.”

 Nezha let out an annoyed huff.

 The first thing Rin did after she washed her face was not unwrapping the presents. It was to run and press her nose against the window next to the Christmas tree. Her face fell. "It isn't snowing."

 She saw Nezha's face faintly reflected on the window. "There weren't any reports of snow."

 "The forecast said there was a fifty percent chance." Rin stared up at the cloudy sky, frowning. "And everything's just fucking gray. Merry Gray Christmas, I suppose."

 She turned glumly then spotted four differently shaped presents under the tree (one was already unwrapped) and squealed. “Presents!”

 "What happened to Merry Gray Christmas?"

 "Yin Nezha, do you wish to be punched on Christmas day?"

 “I arranged them in order,” Kitay interrupted, entering the room. “From the biggest surface area to the smallest.”

 “Was that necessary?”

 “No, but I was bored last night waiting for you.”

 "I really shouldn't be separated from you if this is what you do in my absence." Rin picked up the present that bore her name, hugged it and turned. "Why didn't you wake me up sooner?"

 Nezha raised a brow and folded his arms. "Oh?"

 "Let's open them."

 "What I've been trying to say."

 The four of them gathered in a circle beside the Christmas tree, their individual presents sitting in front of them. Every year, they randomly picked who they should give the present to and sat accordingly; this year, Rin sat left to Nezha who sat next to Venka who sat next to Kitay.

 “Since Venka so delightfully opened her present from me first—" Venka gave a snort. "It's Kitay's turn to see what Venka got him."

 "What are you, a moderator?" Kitay took his present from Venka. "Let me guess. Is it a book that was burned when the Library of Alexandria fell but somehow mysteriously has been rediscovered?"

 "No. I'm getting that for you on your birthday next year."

 “I’m remembering that,” he said as he unwrapped the present. Kitay's face brightened up. “You knew I needed another accounting book!”

 "I know, I'm a genius."

 “What’s this then?” Rin reached over and opened a smaller rectangular box next to the accounting book.

 “Why are you opening my present?”

 “I’m just helping out!” Chasing away Kitay’s outstretched hands, she peered inside. “Shit, Venka, this is the coolest.”

 Nezha leaned over to take a look before Kitay finally snatched it back. "Is that a quill?"

 "Quill and an ink set." Venka shrugged. "It's the aesthetic."

 Kitay had already opened the ink bottle and tipped the tip of the quill. "December 25th…"

 Venka snatched the quill away as he let out an indignant noise. "You're not doing it on Christmas!"

 Kitay made a face. "Rude. You gave it to me!" But he closed the book and put his presents aside.

 “My turn!” Rin studied the huge square, flat box. “This looks like a pizza box.”

 “I did not buy you a pizza, if that’s what you’re asking.”

 "I wouldn't have minded a pizza, to be honest."

 "Well, I think you'd like this better."

 “This better be worth leaving the bed.” Rin tore open the wrappings and stopped. Then she shrieked. “You did not get me RED vinyl, oh my fucking god, Chen Kitay!”

 “It’s even the target version, it’s the red ones―”

 Kitay’s excited commentary was lost as Rin tackled him down to a hug. Squeezing her best friend, she felt a laugh escaping her mouth and not stopping.

 "Okay, okay, let me breathe," said Kitay even though his hug didn't lessen either. 

 "I love you," she said in response.

 "I know. I told you you’d be happy, didn’t I?”

 “You did, you did, you totally did.” Rin finally released him.

 "Can I open mine now?"

 Nezha's eager face suddenly melted all the excitement down her stomach, turning it into a nervous twitch. She didn't know what to give him. She wanted to give something useful, practical, but what was the point when he could easily buy anything he needed? That meant maybe an ornament, decorational, something only she could make. Rin couldn't help but be tense as Nezha opened the small box.

 Venka peered over. "Is it a snow globe?" 

 "Yes," said Rin, suddenly feeling defensive. "It's not just any snow globe, I had it custom made, it has a ship and on the deck of the ship—"

 Kitay also scooted over to look closer at the present on Nezha's hands. "Is that us?"

 "Yes! I mean, it's four people and it's hard to make out proper faces and stuff but it is us because I say so." She was definitely getting worried. Nezha hadn't said a thing yet. Rin looked down, ridiculously self conscious. "I thought it was cool, I mean like, basically it's the only thing in the world so…"

 She felt his fingers under her chin, lifting her face up. Before she could read his expression, he had already kissed her. Her eyes widened in surprise but almost immediately melted against him. 

 Something hit her in the head. “Ow!”

 “Get a room.”

 Rin picked up the wrapping paper scrunched up into a ball that Venka threw and hurled it back at her. She easily dodged. 

 "I love it," Nezha said, snapping her gaze back at him. He was beaming, all his pretty features brightened up and making her heart skip a beat. "Thank you."

 She tried to suppress it but a grin was twitching her lips and she knew her futile attempt was in vain. “You’re welcome.” 

 The sun was setting. Christmas was creeping toward its end.

 Rin was pressed against the window, still hopefully looking up at the sky. It wasn't too late for a White Christmas, and the sky seemed full of enough clouds. The setting sunray barely made it through.

 The four of them were going out for dinner after spending the whole day inside. They had rewatched Spiderman: No Way Home that Venka somehow managed to download. ("And it all goes down to being Jake Gyllenhaal's fault," Kitay declared) That prompted her to play the Red Vinyl on Nezha's LP player ("I still don't understand why you own this, you don't even own a single vinyl.") and all four of them ended up screaming along to All Too Well ten minute version. ("The idea you had of me, WHO WAS SHE!" Rin screamed and threw a cushion that smashed a lamp on a coffee table. "Oops.")

 She felt his presence before she saw him come up behind her, sneaking his arms around her waist and tucking her head beneath his chin. 

 “Someone’s feeling lonely.”

 “I’m so happy you’re here.”

 “Christmas doing wonders to you?

 Nezha hugged her tight. "I'm sorry you weren't here yesterday. I missed you."

 Rin wanted to say something, anything, but none of the words seemed adequate. So she merely turned around in his arms and hugged him back, pressing her cheek on his chest.

 “Now who’s feeling lonely?”

 She frowned. "Go fuck yourself."

 Nezha laughed, and the sound echoed against her ears.

 I love you, she thought, but she didn’t say it.

 "It's snowing," she said instead.

 It was true; lazy snowflakes had started fluttering in the air. Rin saw the Christmas lights glisten against the window as the sun slowly crept away and night fell. She saw snow flying against the wind, visible even through the dark evening, and she saw, reflected against the window, Nezha's eyes trained on her, lips pulled into a smile, his hand stroking her hair.

 Rin felt her own smile threatening its way to her lips and decided that this was the best Christmas she ever had.

Chapter Text

 Nezha was asleep beside her on her bed.

 Rin honestly didn't know how or when this happened. About an hour ago, he'd come to her dorm while she was writing her essay on her laptop on the bed, looking as though he would gladly sprawl on the ground if it meant he could lay himself down.

 Rin glanced up, head leaning against the headboard. "Why are you here?"

 He pulled his shoes off and dropped his bag on the floor. "I'm fucking tired."

 "That doesn't answer the question."

 He continued stripping his clothes off, pulling his navy hoodie off his head, revealing a plain white t-shirt. 

 "I missed you."

 Rin raised a brow. "Affectionate today, are we?"

 A sarcastic, flirty comment she expected didn't come. Instead, he made a beeline toward her bed and promptly collapsed beside her. 

 "Watch my laptop, my whole college life is in here—"

 "I'm not touching your laptop." Nezha lay on her bed, put his arm around her waist and pulled himself close. Rin gave a loud, exaggerated sigh but didn't push him.

 "I'm busy."

 "You can work on your stuff," he muttered, voice already sounding half asleep.

 "Whatever." She rolled her eyes and let him be, figuring he would get uncomfortable soon.

 Now, about an hour later, his breaths brushed against her side in a steady rhythm. She glanced down occasionally to check; every time Nezha's face was impassive and calm, lost to the world.

 Her fingers brushed through his hair as Rin contemplated what to do. She should wake him up, obviously. She had an essay to finish and Calculus to revise. Her legs were starting to fall asleep and she would really like to stretch them. 

 But he looked so peaceful. No furrow between his eyebrows, no frown turning his lips down, utterly content. No stress of college weighing him down. He had always been pretty, but now, she thought he never looked more beautiful.

 She let herself comb through his hair for a couple more minutes. He recently cut it short and although she would never admit it, she sometimes sort of missed his long hair. 

 She sighed and gave his shoulders a little shake. "Nezha."

 He didn't move. Rin knew he was faking it, he always woke up whenever she called him.

 "Wake up before I kick you out."

 "Don't," came a sleepy voice.

 "I need to study."

 Nezha's arm around her waist tightened, although his face slightly turned so that he could see her face. "You're already beating my ass in Calculus.”

 “Who says I’m doing Calculus?”

 “Because you’re hell bent on beating me next week too, I know.”

 “I don’t need to study to beat you.”

 “You definitely weren’t saying that last semester in the finals when I beat you.”

 She gave him a shove with her leg. “Wake up.”

 “Just a few more minutes,” his voice muffled against her side as he buried his face again. 

 “You’ve been here for an hour already.”

 “Have I?”

 "Yes. What happened today?"

 A beat and a silence. "Nothing."

 Rin snorted. "Nothing."

 "Yes. Nothing."

 "Then you can leave the room and leave me alone in peace as I do my Calculus."

 "So you are doing Calculus."

 "Don't change the subject."

 "I'm not."

 "So are you going to tell me what happened?"

 "There's nothing to tell."

 "Then leave."

 "Can't I stay just because I want to?"

 "No, because you'll distract me and I can't afford that right now."

 Words slipped from her mouth without thinking. She only realized what she had said when Nezha looked up at her with a lazy smirk. "I'll distract you?"

 Rin opened her mouth, closed it, felt heat rush to her cheeks. "In a terrible way. You'd bother me on purpose."

 "Sure."

 "Fuck you."

 "Can I stay, then? I promise I won't bother you on purpose."

 Rin decided the subject change was needed. "What happened?"

 Nezha groaned and his face disappeared again. "Can't I just have a bad day for no reason?"

 No, because Nezha always had a reason, as annoying as it was. He wouldn't let 'just a bad day' get into his mood like this, like she would for absolutely no reason at all, which was, in her opinion, a genuine normal human reaction and Nezha was simply the weird one.

 "Bullshit."

 Several minutes ticked by during which Rin typed a few more words on her essay. Then finally his muffled voice came.

 "Why did you drop Nikara history class?"

 "Because it's boring and stupid and the professor sucks. I learned loads more by reading books myself than that stupid class last semester. What the fuck does that have to do with everything?"

 "Because I just had Nikara history lecture."

 "And?"

 "And you weren't there."

 Rin felt her brows scrunch up in confusion before oh.

 "It's just—you weren't there to make fun of the way the professor explains shit like you did last semester, I had no one to write down the funny jokes to, it's so fucking boring without you breathing down my throat to copy my notes you missed and I—I missed you."

 Her heart did a funny dance as both of them stayed silent. It was ridiculous. Plain ridiculous. She knew Nezha liked her. They were dating, for god's sake. It shouldn't be a surprise and a flutter of her heart to hear genuine truth to his words that he simply missed her in his lecture.

 Her silence must've been taken negatively judging by the way Nezha's shoulders visibly drooped.

 "Fine." A sigh. "I'll leave. Just text me when you're done, okay?"

 Just as Nezha's body shifted and he lifted himself up, her arm shot out to hold him back. He turned, question in his eyes that died down as soon as Rin turned his face toward her and kissed him. 

 A muffle of surprise echoed against her lips and she almost drew back when she felt his hand curl around her neck and pull her close. Kissing Nezha was nothing new yet it never failed to make her head spin and her stomach flutter.

 "What was that for?" He said, slightly breathless as he pulled away.

 Rin shrugged, trying to seem nonchalant, trying to ignore her beating heart. "No reason."

 His lips tugged upward. "No reason?"

 "No reason." Rin chewed on her lip. "Also, you can stay if you want."

 "For no reason?"

 "For absolutely no reason."

 "Love doing things for absolutely no reason."

 "No, you don't." Rin reached across her bed to grab her Calculus textbook and leaned back on her headboard once more. "For the record, I will beat your ass in Calculus next week."

 Nezha settled back in his previous position, arm around her waist and his head by her side. "Not if I'm distracting you."

 Rin smacked her textbook over his head.

Chapter Text

 Rin woke up with dry lips, churning stomach and an intense headache that made her regret she ever regained consciousness.

 She attempted opening her eyes. The room was bright, clearly morning. The light unfortunately did nothing to improve her current state of health. She felt ridiculously uncomfortable. She found out why when she shifted her body; her back and neck screamed almost immediately in protest.

 "What?" A voice came from the other side of the room in response to the vulgar words that escaped her mouth.

 "Shut up." She gritted her teeth.

 The floor. Why did she fall asleep on the floor again? She closed her eyes again. Because last night, it felt infinitely good and relaxing. Fuck alcohol. Fuck sorghum wine. Fuck everything.

 Rin was never drinking again. Not that she had made this promise to herself way too many times before. 

 Just make it to the sofa. The sofa. It was right beside her. Surely it wouldn't be that hard.

 Rin lifted her hand, braced it against the seat of the sofa, took a breath and pulled herself up.

 Wave of nausea attacked her with ferocity that would’ve sent the Red Emperor crying. She rolled herself onto the sofa, gasping. Vile rose up her throat.

 “You sure it was a good idea to move yourself?”

 Rin closed her eyes. The world was spinning too fast. "How the fuck are you standing and walking?"

 "I wasn't the one who lost most of the drinking games last night."

 "I'm going to murder you."

 “If you do, then nobody’s going to bring you water.”

 “I’m going to murder you after I get my water.”

 Nezha's answer was lost to her ears as she rubbed her eyes. She was going to shut down all her senses. Cut off all her nervous system. They were attacking her.

 “Rin?” Nezha’s voice drifted over the air.

 She groaned.

 “Is your back okay? I tried to carry you, but you resisted so hard last night―”

 “Stop. Talking.” She felt the vile in her throat settle down as she breathed in slowly. One. Two. Three. Breathe in. Breathe out. Do not think of the wine, do not think of the wine, do not―

 “Here.” She squinted to see a glass of water hanging under her nose. The ice in it made a clicking sound. It was the first sight of relief she had seen for a long time.

 “Thanks.” She took a sip, looked up and almost spit out the entire content in her mouth.

 “What?”

 Rin stared.

 “Is something wrong with the water?” Nezha leaned in closer to see the inside of her glass. “It’s cold, with ice, the way you like it when you're hungover.”

 She stared.

 "Don't tell me your preference has changed."

 She stared.

 "Rin? You're scaring me?"

 "You…"

 "Me what?" Nezha looked down at his front. "Do I have something on my shirt?"

 "Your eyes…"

 "What, are they bloodshot?" He rubbed them.

 "No, you're wearing…"

 “A t-shirt?”

 “Glasses,” she managed to splutter. “You’re wearing glasses.”

 Nezha looked puzzled. Rin was infuriated. “So?”

 "Since when do you wear glasses?"

 "Since I was 10?"

 "You never wore them!"

 "Contacts exist."

 "Well, why aren't you wearing them now then?"

 "Rin, I'm tired and hungover. I have no energy to put contact lenses on my eyes."

 "Why is this news to me?"

 “Because you never paid attention?”

 “That’s not true, I pay attention to―” she caught herself from saying something infinitely embarrassing. “I’ve known you for years now and I just found out you wore glasses?”

 "Maybe because I don't wear them often?"

 She stared. "You should."

 "What?"

 She opened her mouth, closed it. 

 Nezha peered closer at her face. “Are you still drunk?”

 She felt herself blushing for a reason that had nothing to do with the remaining alcohol in her bloodstream. “No.”

 His face was too close for her this early in the morning. Especially with… Rin closed her eyes. 

 She felt him press a kiss on her forehead. “I’ll wear them if you want me to.” The stifled laughter that she heard in his voice could’ve been enough for her to strangle him, if only her head wasn’t screaming at her.

 “As soon as this alcohol is out of my system, you’re going to wish you'd never been born.”

 “Really?”

 “I’m going to poison your drinks slowly every single day so you won’t even know you’re being murdered until it’s too late and the poison attacks every single part of your nerve system.”

 “That’s… oddly specific.”

 “I’ve been planning it for a long time.”

 “Charming.” He kissed her cheek. “I’ll be in the kitchen. Just shout if you think your stomach can handle anything other than water.”

 She threw her arms over her face. “Go away.”

 “Also, don’t worry, I won’t wear contacts today.”

 Rin mustered all her remaining strength and threw a cushion in his direction.

 "Does that mean you want me to wear contacts?"

 "Go fuck yourself."

Chapter Text

 "Kitay?"

 "Hmm?"

 "Would you deliver a message for me?"

 Kitay glanced up from the table which was occupied with his work. "To who?"

 "Nezha."

 "...What message?"

 "Tell him to fuck off and stay out of my miserable life."

 A pause. "Why don't you tell him yourself?"

 "No."

 "Why not?"

 "Because I'm mad at him."

 "Rin."

 "Yes?"

 "You're literally sitting on his lap."

 Rin gave a loud huff. "Unrelated statement."

 It was true that she was currently on Nezha's lap at the moment. But it was also against her choice.

 Not that there wasn't any space left; her sofa in her small home wasn't big but it was big enough for two people. Rin had simply deemed it better to sit on his lap when she had come home and got mad a moment later. Completely different incidents. Zero correlation. 

 When Kitay arrived later to join her in their works, he merely looked at them, sighed and took his place at the table. If he felt any tension in the air, he showed no signs of acknowledgement.

 “What did you do?” Kitay's question was directed at Nezha.

 Nezha shrugged. “Nothing.”

 Rin folded her arms and glared at the floor. "Nothing?"

 "Nothing life damaging or serious."

 "You asshole—"

 Nezha rubbed his hand up and down her arm. Rin scowled but leaned her head against his shoulder.

 "You know what?” Kitay’s hands raised and dropped in a dramatic flair, the pure gesture of someone who has seen too much of Rin and Nezha’s disaster. “I'm not gonna even try to ask what happened. I’m not going down that road again. You two sort out your issues by yourselves."

 "Kitay—"

 "No, Rin.”

 Rin gave her best friend a glare as he gathered his stuff and left the room. “I can’t believe he betrayed me.”

 “I don’t blame him, to be honest.”

 Her head snapped up from his shoulder. “Oh fuck you, as if you didn’t betray me―”

 “I don’t think eating the last remaining chocolate chip cookie is a betrayal―”

 “I specifically saved it up! For today! Because I knew today would be miserable with the fucking project biting my ass!”

 “I didn’t know―”

 “Well, you should’ve.”

 “How was I supposed to know that?”

 “You should’ve seen the last chocolate chip cookie and wonder, say, why did Rin leave this last one piece behind? Was there a particular reason she did? Maybe I should ask her before I inhale it?” 

 Her high, mimicking tone drew a sigh from Nezha.

 “I will buy you a whole packet more, I promise.”

 “It’s not a matter of buying me more.”

 “What is it, then?”

 She huffed. "Take a wild guess."

 He definitely knew her well enough now to know what. 

 Rin’s life was a meticulous, tightly controlled schedule―one toe out and she freaked out. She kept up in her head at least a week ahead of her plans, hour by hour. 

 The tendency got so much worse during exam periods. Slight change of dinner schedule meant she had 10 minutes less than before to revise for Advanced Calculus, which meant she might not be able to take one more look at chapter 13 but what if that part was the most fundamental question of the exam and ended up butchering her whole grades and in cue, her future―

 Kitay oftentimes, reminded her she was being overdramatic. She denied it.

 The thing was, Rin sometimes hated herself for being such. 

 Nezha’s hand found her cheek. “Rin?”

 She closed her eyes. His hand was warm, and she really didn’t want to push it away.

 “I hate it,” she muttered. “I hate feeling this way.”

 “Betrayed?” His voice had a light, teasing tone. She opened her eyes to see his face bearing a similar expression.

 “It’s all your fault.”

 “I know. I ruined your plans. I’m sorry.”

 “I hate you.”

 Nezha raised his eyebrow. “Really.”

 “Of course.”

 “Why are you still on my lap then?”

 “You’re not letting me go.”

 Nezha’s hold on her arm and legs relinquished. “Feel free to go.”

 Rin gave him a glower. She didn’t move.

 “Thought so.” His hold returned and Rin’s head automatically returned to the crook of his neck.

 “I simply wasn’t aware you had consumed my last bit of happiness when I first got here.”

 “Exactly, you sought me out first before the cookie.”

 “If you say whatever you’re trying to imply, I will kill you in your sleep.”

 “Oh, I don’t think I need to spell it out.” His lips found her forehead, then cheek, light butterfly kisses. “Bad day?” he muttered.

 She tried not to sound too breathless. “Disgustingly terrible.”

 “I can try to make it better.”

 She shoved him away, but not too much. “Fuck you.”

 Nezha laughed. “I’m sorry I ate your last bit of happiness. I promise I won’t do it again.”

 When she didn’t answer, he peered down to meet her eyes. “Are you still mad at me?”

 Rin tried to resist, but she couldn’t help it; the corners of her lips twitched.

 “You’re on thin fucking ice.”

 “So the same as always.”

 She let him brush his lips against hers. “Same as always.”