#probably could have written more about wu xiling but uh. i ran out of writing stamina

[lizhly-writes]

from this post:

@todidot thank you!! ask and you shall receive!

Sometimes, Wu Youxuan wishes the age gap between himself and his sister was smaller. He’s almost jealous of Chen Liwei --- a twin sister, an age gap of barely anything of all, old enough to pull some weight, old enough to defend herself. An equal partner, rather than someone to take care of.

He never says this out loud. Who wants to hear it? Especially not his sister. It’s an awfully unfair thing to say “I wish you were different”. And anyway, it isn’t as if Wu Youxuan actually wishes Wu Xiying was any different. Wu Xiying is perfect the way she is: bright and clever and with a good future ahead of her --- or at least, a good future if Wu Youxuan is good enough.

“---and Teacher says there are millions of stars in the sky,” Wu Xiying chatters on. “I want to see them! But if you look up at night, there’s only five?”

“There are too many lights in the city,” Wu Youxuan says. “If it’s too bright at night, you can’t really see the stars. That’s why you only see five.”

“We have to go somewhere really dark, then.”

“Yeah. Probably outside the city.”

“We should go someday!”

Someday. Not likely any time soon. Wu Youxuan doesn’t have the money for that. It’s a struggle paying for tuition; it’s a struggle paying for the apartment; it’s a struggle even paying for food, sometimes. A trip outside the city is out of the question.

“Maybe,” Wu Youxuan allows. “When you’re older.”

Wu Xiying puffs out her cheeks. “You always say that!”

“It’s because you’re a baby,” Wu Youxuan says. “You’re so little. I don’t know how you can go anywhere when you’re this small.”

“You have a kid?”

Wu Youxuan jerks his head up.

Chen Liwei is there, casual as anything. He has a jacket thrown over his shoulder, a streak of something smeared across his cheek. Dirt? Blood?

It doesn’t really matter. What matters is that he’s looking at Wu Xiying.

“No,” Wu Youxuan says tightly. “She isn’t my kid.”

Chen Liwei waves this off. “Fine, yeah, she’s not your daughter, I can do math,” he says. “Your sister? You never said.”

Yes, well, there are a wide variety of reasons that Wu Youxuan doesn’t advertise he has a little sister.

Wu Xiying is quiet. She’s taken a half-step behind him. Good. Wu Xiying knows better than to talk to strangers.

“Yingying, Gege needs you to cover your ears,” Wu Youxuan says. “I promise I’ll tell you about this later, but right now, I really need you to listen to me.”

Wu Youxuan takes a moment to make sure Wu Xiying is actually covering her ears, and then he walks up to Chen Liwei.

“If you touch her, I’ll fucking kill you,” Wu Youxuan hisses.