How Have You Still Not Fallen for Me?

"Content warnings"

1. Nobody cheats.

2. Neither of them is perfect.

Xu Dechang and Liang Yan had dated for a while. It wasn't a particularly intense romance, but it was his first relationship. Then, on the second day they were together, Liang Yan gave him the whole package: cheating, breaking up, and disappearing.

Xu Dechang decided to act as if they'd never dated. He made such a public fuss that Liang Yan got what he wanted and left.

Liang Yan was the grain of rice Xu Dechang wanted to grind underfoot, and Xu Dechang was the mosquito blood Liang Yan wanted to squash.

They couldn't stand the sight of each other. One lived east of the city, the other west. Unless they absolutely had to, they could avoid each other for the rest of their lives, just as they'd agreed when they broke up.

But Xu Dechang hadn't realized that a lifetime in Liang Yan's mouth could be so short.

The day Liang Yan returned to the west side of the city, he went out of his way to see Xu Dechang. He didn't come sobbing and begging to get back together, or ask the successful Xu Dechang to let him off the hook.

"Just letting you know I've come back. I live less than five minutes away." Liang Yan was as irritating as ever. "You'd better stay home more. Not because I'm going to beat you up, but because I don't want you falling in love with me all over again."

Xu Dechang laughed right there. "You'd better avoid walking alone at night, too," he said. "Not because I'll get someone to throw you in a sack, but because you've done so many bad things, I'm worried you'll run into a ghost."

Liang Yan said, "Yeah, wasn't that what happened back then? I ran into you."

They looked at each other, then one turned back to his shop while the other headed home.

That night, someone let the air out of Xu Dechang's tires. When Liang Yan stopped by to buy soy sauce, he fell into the drainage ditch behind Xu Dechang's shop.

They both gritted their teeth and shouted, "Liang Yan/Xu Dechang!"

Later,

Liang Yan: "I gave you my address so it'd be easy for you to come see me. Your shop is in such a remote location, and there are barely any residential buildings nearby."

Xu Dechang: "Too bad I have several shops, while you only have a two-bedroom apartment."

Liang Yan laughed loudly three times, wrapped his legs around Xu Dechang's waist, and kissed him.

Theme: Find the god of love and the one who is with you, then pay him your respects on my behalf as a matter of course