For all of Zhangjing’s life, he’s been waiting for this moment. It was his first day of middle school. He clings onto his best friend, Chen Linong. The excited Zhangjing brings a smile onto his face. “Zhangjing, calm down,” Linong tries to soothe him before the start of the day. They enter their first class of the day, homeroom. The two of them sit next to each other.

“Sorry, NongNong. I just can’t help myself. This will basically be our first interaction with our soulmates!” Zhangjing hops in his seat. Linong had to hold him down from falling out of his chair. On the first day or last day of middle school, each student receives a stack of 250 sticky notes. When someone writes onto their personalized sticky notes, it disappears to appear in front of their soulmate during the day. Zhangjing couldn’t stop himself from thinking the things he wants to write to his soulmate. The bell rings, which pulls Zhangjing out his thoughts. The teacher walks into the room with a large box and sets it down on her desk.

She gives a smile towards the class and introduces herself, “Hello, class. Welcome to your first day of middle school. I’m Zhou Jieqiong, but please call me Ms. Zhou. Now, I know a lot of your are quite excited,” she looks over at Zhangjing, “about receiving your sticky notes. Don’t write anything on them yet. Now, let’s pass them out.” One by one, she calls out each student’s name. When Zhangjing’s name was called, he quickly walked towards the front of the classroom with an excited smile and thanked the teacher. He sat down at his desk and looked down at his personalized sticky notes. They were a coral pink with little sky blue polka dots on the surface. It was outlined with in a white box with light grey stars within the outline. Zhangjing silently screams in joy at the stack of notes.

Ms. Zhou collects the class’s attention once the last one was passed out, “Here are the rules that you all have been hearing in elementary school. Once you run out of sticky notes, you cannot replenish them. Therefore, use them wisely. You’re not allowed to write your full name, only initials. You musn’t disclose personal information, such as your address and phone number. If you do, your sticky note will not be sent. This is for your safety.” The bell goes off, and she dismisses the class to their first class of the day. Zhangjing whips out his pen and writes his first note: Hello, this is your soulmate. - YZJ. He looks over at his friend, who follow him in writing his first note. He smiles in satisfaction and tears his note from the stack, watching the note dissipate. Happiness courses through his bones as he hops out of his seat and grabs his backpack. He waits for Linong to finish, and the duo leaves the classroom together.

Lunchtime arrives, and Zhangjing can hear his stomach calling out for the platter of rice with chicken inside his lunch box. He drags his friends over to the nearest table and quickly opens his lunchbox. “Zhangjing, be more clean when you eat,” Linong lets out a face of disgust as he watches Zhangjing dive into his food, already causing a mess, and throws a napkin at his face. Zhangjing mockingly smiles at him with a mouthful of food. Linong shakes his head as he watches him and pulls out his lunchbox. Zhangjing looks at him and widens his eyes at the metallic, gold sticky note.

Linong picks up the note, and Zhangjing watches his eyes scan the note. “What does it say?” he questions the other. Linong shows Zhangjing the note: I hope we can meet one day. - CXK. He looks up at Linong and smiles at him. “Your first note! How are you not screaming of happiness?” Zhangjing feels slightly jealous that his friend had received the sticky note first. He feels joy for his friend, but Zhangjing is upset that his first note hasn’t shown up yet. He pushes down the feeling and hugs his friend.

“It’s because of the initials. Don’t they look familiar?” Linong panics as he sets down the note. Zhangjing had to think for a little bit before he realized. The initials of CXK could belong to the one and only Cai Xukun. Linong had a crush on him since the third grade, when Xukun had first moved in. Xukun was also known as the most popular person within their class.

“NongNong, it’ll be okay. He’s not going to run away from you. Did you write your initials on your note?” Zhangjing asks him. At the shake of Linong’s head, Zhangjing frowns and hugs his friend tighter. He knew that Linong had a fear of meeting his soulmate due to his childhood. “Are you going to hide this from him? You can’t keep this from him forever. You know that right?” he inquires the panicked boy.

“I’m going to keep this a secret as long as I want, Zhangjing. You cannot tell him. Promise me that,” Linong mumbles softly. “Besides, I noticed the look of disappointment in your eyes when you noticed my note. You’ll get your note soon, Zhangjing,” he attempts to encourage his friend with a smile. The two gave each other comforting pats on the back and proceeded to eat their lunch. Zhangjing wonders what his partner’s reaction is. He really wants to get that note from his soulmate soon. Linong continues to soothe his friend after seeing the sad look on his face. Throughout the rest of the day, Zhangjing waits for a note to appear. It doesn’t come.

»»————-　♔　————-««

A whole year passes. Zhangjing slowly becomes less hopeful throughout the whole year as nothing ever pops up. Zhangjing became distraught, which made Linong feel distraught. Linong tries to keep him smiling by taking him out to distract him from the sticky notes. Zhangjing appreciates the efforts of his friend and tries to continue smiling just for him. He continues to wonder why he still hasn’t received a note. It seemed like everyone around the school had received one from their soulmate. The sociable Zhangjing had gone around and asked as many people as he could. Despite this, the small amount of hope within Zhangjing made him write a few more notes throughout the year:

I hope that you are healthy and doing well! - YZJ

I wish I could get a note back from you, but it’s okay. I’ll wait for you. - YZJ

It’s almost been a year. I’m not sure anymore... - YZJ

The first day of school came around again. Holding onto Linong’s backpack, he lets the taller boy drag him to homeroom. The two of them walked into an empty classroom and sat down in the same desks as they had the year before. “Linong, do you think you’re going to talk to Xukun? The two to of you have been sending each other notes back and forth.” Zhangjing asks him as he sets down his backpack.

“I don’t think I have the courage to. Besides, everyone here thinks I’m bad luck. What makes you think that he would be happy with me?” Linong sighs as he sets his head down on the desk and closes his eyes.

Zhangjing frowns at this statement and places a hand on Linong’s shoulder, “You are not bad luck. You need to stop telling yourself that. It’s not even your fault, NongNong.” He continues to comfort his friend with hugs and encouraging statements. Linong eventually lifts his head from the desk and smiles a little as another person enters the room. The duo continue to make conversation with each other as the classroom filled. Another note appears in front of Linong, and Zhangjing watches as Linong blushes. Zhangjing gives a forced smile to his friend. Zhangjing is happy for his friend for finding his soulmate and receiving notes from him, but Zhangjing can’t help feeling upset when he’s reminded that he hasn’t received a note from his other half.

Linong doesn’t know this, but Zhangjing has heard people talking behind Zhangjing’s back about how Zhangjing didn’t even received a note yet. People suspected that it was because he was friends with Linong, but Zhangjing didn’t believe that at all. Others just say that Zhangjing was born without a soulmate or that his soulmate didn’t even want to be with him. All of the gossip behind his back made him feel less hopeful. Zhangjing was starting to believe that he didn’t have a soulmate that wanted him. Yet, he held on because he can see how happy soulmates are when they roam the town. He wanted to find someone who would hold his hand and tell him sweet compliments. He wanted someone who can be easy to talk to and make him laugh. He wanted to find the other half that would love him back. He yearned for that.

Ms. Zhou enters the room to start the day and reminds students of the rules at the school. She dismisses the students to proceed to their first class. Linong grabs onto Zhangjing’s arm and takes him out of the classroom. “Zhangjing, remember what I said? Your other half will write you a note soon. Don’t give up hope.” The smile on Linong’s face makes Zhangjing’s frown disappear and a smile appears instead. This is why Linong was his best friend.

“And you should get together with that boy over there soon. He might be dying from the lack of attention you’re giving him.” Zhangjing comments as he gives a pointed look at Cai Xukun, who is standing at his locker. Linong glares at Zhangjing and gives a hearty smack to his arm.

The school year passes. Zhangjing still hasn’t received a note. It’s the last day of school. Everyone has taken their final exams. It was the time of relaxation and to play small activities. Linong and Zhangjing are hanging out in the school yard. The duo sits underneath the shade of the cherry blossom tree, basking in the silence and stress free environment. Linong is taking a nap, sitting up with his back against the tree and his head leaning onto Zhangjing’s shoulder. Zhangjing watches the pink petals fall onto the green grass beneath him and smiles at the peaceful aura the place emits.

As his gaze follows the petals, it falls upon the box lying next to Linong. Zhangjing had created the two of them boxes to keep their sticky notes in. Linong has carried his box everyday to school in fear of losing a precious sticky note. He created the boxes in correspondence to the stack of sticky notes they each had. Linong’s pastel pink box that was decorated with brushes of different shades of pink on the lid. The rest of the box was covered with small, gold hearts to make them match with Xukun’s gold sticky notes.

This makes Zhangjing look over to his coral pink box. The lid was outlined with white with light grey stars within the outline. The box was covered with sky blue polka dots. He smiles at his own creation and picks it up to set it on his lap. He thinks about how the notes could fill up inside the box. He kept his stack of sticky notes inside the empty box to give it a little bit of weight and to keep it as a reminder that he will get a note one day. He kept that hope for Linong. He promised. Zhangjing observes the box in detail for the hundredth time, proud of his own creation. He lifts the lid off the box with the intention of writing another note to his soulmate. He sets down the lid aside to pick up the stack of sticky notes and his pen. Right as he starts writing, a flash of blue appears in his vision. He looks up to see a pastel blue sticky note, flying down along with the cherry blossom petals. The sticky note flies towards him and lands inside the box. Zhangjing’s eyes never leave the sticky note as he follows it into the box and reads it: I hope we aren’t in a sticky situation. I just got my notes today. Sorry for making you wait. - LYJ.

Zhangjing squeals so loudly out of happiness it wakes Linong up, making him wake up to a happy Zhangjing, the happiest he’s been in a while.

»»————-　♔　————-««

Do you have a pencil? Cause I want to erase your past and write our future. I miss you, too. I want to talk to you more (and give you some kisses). - LYJ. That dang flirt. Zhangjing’s cheeks turn red at the note as he pulls it to his chest and silently screams on the inside. After the first note, Zhangjing came to the conclusion that his soulmate was a year younger than him since that was the first time his soulmate ever sent a note. What he knew about the mysterious LYJ was that he enjoyed to sing, dance, and be a confident flirt. The flirty side of his soulmate never failed to make Zhangjing’s heart race. Not only that, but there was a soft side of his soulmate that he loved even more. These were some of the few things that Zhangjing could tell from his notes.

It’s Zhangjing’s senior year in high school, seven years after Zhangjing wrote his first note. He’s used up about half of his stack already. They’re nearing the end of the year, and the school plans a trip to Beijing for the seniors. Excited, Zhangjing clings onto Linong. “Beijing! It’s so far away from here. Imagine all the things that we’ll be able to do.” Zhangjing lies on top of Linong’s lap as Linong groans while pushing off the boy. The two of them are at the Linong’s house in the backyard, lying down on the open grass.

“Don’t do that, Zhangjing. It’s like you gained more weight!” Linong lightly smacks the other’s shoulder, and Zhangjing gives a playful glare.

“I just finished all of my bread! I didn’t gain any weight,” Zhangjing denies as he returns to his spot on the grass. “But, aren’t you excited about Beijing?” he asks the other. Linong nods and squirms around in the grass, looking over at Zhangjing. The two of them had already packed their bags for the trip that start the next day. They decided to spend the night at Linong’s comfortable house, but mainly because Zhangjing enjoyed the amount of food Linong always had in his kitchen.  

The two of them head back inside to watch a movie. Linong goes into the kitchen to grab snacks for the both of them, and Zhangjing sets up the movie on the television. After Zhangjing finishes setting up the movie to sit on the couch, he takes out his sticky notes from his box and begins to write. We’re going to Beijing for our senior class trip! Your last pick up line was very corny by the way. Once we meet each other, we can talk as much as we want (along with the kisses, of course). - YZJ. He pulls off the note, and it disappears in his hand. A smile blooms across his face as he sets down the sticky notes back inside the box and shuts it.

Zhangjing has always wondered how the other looked like. He knew the general details since he had asked once before. He knew the other had dark, short hair. LYJ is taller than him, and he shows off a cold persona when he’s actually a sweetheart. Zhangjing had absolutely fell for him on the day when LYJ had sent his first sticky note. On that day, Zhangjing had never felt so much joy in his life after receiving that precious note. Linong had been disturbed from his nap and was on a mission to make sure that Zhangjing did not run around the school. Every sticky note that LYJ had ever sent always included a pick up line. It never failed to make Zhangjing’s heart race despite how corny they could be.

Linong returns with the snacks and notices how Zhangjing was off in his own world of thought with the box settled on his lap. He chuckles and sets down the food on the coffee table loudly, bringing Zhangjing back from his thoughts. “So, were you imagining your wedding with your beloved LYJ?” Linong teases Zhangjing while he sits next to him on the couch. Zhangjing glares at the other and smack Linong’s with a pillow.

The flight to Beijing was early in the morning, and Zhangjing didn’t even bother to change out of his pajamas when they woke up that morning. As soon as Zhangjing sat down on his seat in the plane, he instantly fell back asleep for the three hour flight from Guangzhou to Beijing. He didn’t wake up until Linong shook him awake to tell him that they had arrived in Beijing. This makes Zhangjing groan a little, but he wakes himself up by the time the plane lands. Zhangjing gets off the plane and boards a bus to arrive at their hotel. The teachers check in at the hotel, and they pass out the keys for each room. Zhangjing is dragged away by Linong as soon as he receives their key for their room. They settle inside the room, and Zhangjing groans as he lies down on the comfy bed.

“Zhangjing, come on! We have the whole day to ourselves today before we have to do any of the activities with our class. Let’s go take a walk outside. I heard that there is a river nearby with little paddle boats,” Linong tries to pull Zhangjing out of bed as he begs his friend to leave the room. Eventually, Zhangjing agrees after having a quick meeting with the carpet floor of their room and another pillow is thrown at Linong. Zhangjing cleans himself up and quickly gets dressed in the bathroom as Linong is impatiently waiting on the other side of the door.

The two of them trek down the streets of Beijing. Zhangjing is dressed in his stylish streetwear as he looks over at the large peaceful river that flows so smoothly. The two of them stand behind a line for the paddle boats that Linong has been desperate to ride on. As they slowly get closer and closer towards the boats, Zhangjing and Linong blabber to each other about their futures and college life. They were so absorbed in talking to each other that the cough of the person in front of them brings their attention back to where they were. A man around the same height as Zhangjing gives them a gummy smile, “Welcome! My name is Lin Chaoze. Are you two here for the paddle boats?” They both nod, and Chaoze directs them towards booth on the bridge.

As soon as they paid for their ride, they began signing the paperwork. The boy on the side of the booth was wearing a hat, which made it difficult to see his face. He points to one point of the paper to Zhangjing, “Please write your initials here.” As soon as Zhangjing finished writing his initials, he heard a gasp from the boy inside the booth. Zhangjing asks if the boy was alright, and he received a small yes from him. Zhangjing gives Linong a confused look as a door opens from the side and out comes a gorgeous man (from Zhangjing’s perspective) around the corner. He looks over at one of his friends that are working near the paddle boats and calls him over. The two of them have a silent conversation between each other, and Zhangjing watches as his friend goes inside the booth.

The gorgeous man looks directly at Zhangjing and walks closer towards the pair. Zhangjing is frozen and hypnotized by the other’s dark eyes that emit so much emotion. A smirk appears on his face as he opens his mouth, “I hope we aren’t in a sticky situation. I’m sorry for making you wait so long,” Zhangjing gives him a confused look until he realizes that the first few words the other spoke were from his first sticky note that the other had sent to him. He scans his body for his name tag and sitting on his jacket is the name plate that flashes “Lin Yanjun,” which makes Zhangjing come to the conclusion that standing in front of him is his soulmate.

Zhangjing walks closer to the man and whispers softly, “Hello, this is your soulmate.” Zhangjing watches as Yanjun’s eyes lit up with happiness and feels arms securely wrap themselves around his waist. Zhangjing could feel his heart beating so fast that he is afraid that the other could hear it. Zhangjing stares into the taller’s dark eyes. He falls deep within them until Linong calls for him. He whips his attention towards his best friend. A deep, red blush appears upon Zhangjing’s face as he watches his best friend did a waving hand motion towards the boats, indicating that Linong wants him and Yanjun to go on a ride together. “But, who will you go with?” he questions his friend out of worry.

“I will,” a familiar voice pops out of nowhere. A blond Cai Xukun walks up to a blushing Linong, explaining that their friend group had too many people on one boat. Seeing that the situation was okay, Yanjun gently holds onto Zhangjing’s hand and guides them both down towards the boats. Securely fitting a lifesuit around Zhangjing, Yanjun continuously checks to make sure that Zhangjing is safe. He holds onto Zhangjing as if he’s made of glass and helps him into one of the boats. With much guiding from Yanjun, the two of them cruise on the river. Zhangjing feels his nerves on end as silence fills the air, but it seemed like Yanjun didn’t want that silence to last as he looks over at the smaller.

“What’s your name?” he asks. Zhangjing replies with his name, and the two of them begin to chatter nonstop after that. The two of them became comfortable with each other, talking non stop. He figured out that Yanjun didn’t like it when someone stepped on his white shoes and enjoyed bread just as much as he did. Zhangjing had told Yanjun that he was going to college in Beijing, which meant that the two could always see each other as much as they can. The two of them continued to talk to each other until it was interrupted by Zhangjing’s stomach that let out a growl, and he blushes out of embarrassment. Yanjun doesn’t judge as he starts guiding the boat back towards the dock with a soft chuckle, “I have to go back to work, but give me your phone. You’ll have my number, and we can talk to each other as much as we want to.”

As soon as they arrived at the dock, Zhangjing hands Yanjun his phone. He watches the other input his number and a feeling washed over Zhangjing. He couldn’t stop himself from leaning in towards Yanjun and placed a kiss on his cheek. A surprised look appears on Yanjun’s face as Zhangjing covers his face out of shyness. Yanjun wasn’t having any of that and pulled Zhangjing’s hands away from his face. He cupped Zhangjing’s face and placed a kiss on his forehead. Fireworks exploded in Zhangjing’s mind as he looks up to meet eyes with dark haired boy. Yanjun hands him his phone back, but still holds onto his hand. “Let’s meet again before you go back home. I do want to take you on a date properly,” Yanjun tells the older. Zhangjing smiles and nods in agreement.

“I’ll see you soon,” Zhangjing whispers back to his lover. He really doesn’t want to go, but he was hungry and had to meet up with Linong sometime soon. Yanjun leads him off the boat and wraps his arms around the shorter one last time before they parted. Zhangjing runs towards his friend, who was still talking to Xukun. Later that night, Zhangjing messages Yanjun for the first time, sending a few messages back and forth before bidding him a goodnight as Zhangjing gets ready for bed. He reads the last message from Yanjun and smiles: Thank you for today. I’ve waited so long for this moment, meeting you.

Author's Notes: I hope you guys enjoyed my story! If you want the Xukun x Linong story, please tell me in the comments! Thank you so much for reading!

Cross posted onto AO3