Oh look Heathers references

HI YES I'M ALIVE (that's a lie I've cried multiple times in front of a teacher save me) but yes this fic is still alive (and next chapter there will actually be an update on the chart so be prepared for that... whenever that update may be).

Also if you're asking how Ruibin did that but didn't end up with some-sort of degree of burn, trust me, it's possible... cuz I've done it to myself before... it wasn't fun.

Today, Ruibin is feeling super hot... hot as in someone in this cafe has been glaring at the back of his head as he is brewing fresh coffee and if they keep staring they might actually burn through his actual head. He really does not want to think that he is being stalked but at the same time he really can't bring himself to turn around in fear if meeting eyes with his possible stalker.

"Soooo are you just going to stare at that coffee pot or are you gonna serve that expresso I needed 20 minutes ago?"

"Ling Chao, does it ever feel like you're being watched over from afar but it's not really a guardian angel but more like a grim reaper awaiting for you to fail?" Ruibin sighs, turning off the brewer and begins pouring the coffee into a mug. He turns slightly enough to see from the corner of his eyes Ling Chao leaning on the counter with the expression of a bored child.

The younger blinks at him in an owl-ish manner, before replying, "You mean Yue-ge when I started my first job here?"

"No that's just an overprotective brother spying on his little brother to make sure he's okay."

Before he could answer again, Ling Chao instead shifts his gaze drift downwards, raising an eyebrow, "Do you want a slushie with that?"

Confused, Ruibin follows his direction of gaze and is now beginning to feel hot yet again- or more specifically his hand is feeling hot and he just realizes he's overfilling the mug of coffee and hot coffee is pouring all over his hand. Ruibin lets go immediately and was about to shout in pain before he feels someone tug at his arm, meeting instant relief in the form of a bowl full of cold water and ice cubes.

"Yeah, I figured this would happen considering how out of it you looked," Zhou Rui places the bowl and Ruibin's hand onto the counter, gently prying the coffee pot away from Ruibin's bandaged hand and setting it back on its brewer.

"Thanks, Rui-ge," Ruibin sighs, feeling comfortable yet still unsettled as the back of his head still burns.

"You mean jie," Ling Chao snickers to which Zhou Rui picks up an ice cube and chucks it at the younger's head, the latter letting out a squawk.

Before the two could bicker, they stopped when they hear a snort of a laugh, turning to see

Oh no it's Zhengting again, Ruibin quickly feels his mind short-circuit at the sight of Zhengting trying to stop laughing at their antics. Zhengting notices their attention on him, "S-Sorry," he says in between laughs.

Ling Chao pouts at that, "You better be, laughing at my misery is not fun, even if you are Ruibin's cr-" and screams in agony when he's showered with freezing water and ice.

"I suppose you came here for your 'on the house' privelege?" Ruibin awkwardly laughs, holding the now half-filled bowl up with his hand still in it, suffering from a weird mixture of his skin feeling like it will melt off at any moment but also extremely numb and feeling like his hand might be amputated from his wrist--and his heart? Not doing much better compared to his hand.

"'On the house'?" Zhou Rui turns to Ruibin, an eyebrow raised.

"Stuff happened..." Ruibin murmurs.

"Well, that, and mind if I borrow Ruibin for a bit?" Zhengting asks, although asking is probably the last thing on his mind as he casually walks around the counter and starts gently pushing Ruibin to walk towards the destination Zhengting had in mind.

"W-Wait, but Rui-ge-"

"It'll be fine, he owes me anyways," he laughs light-heartedly and Ruibin's mind could detect low-key evilness (and he knows when there's evil considering he works with Ling Chao) in that statement but his heart couldn't care less considering he's laughing and by gawd that is the most adorable laugh he's ever heard.

"Cool bowl, bro."

He snaps out of his daze at such an odd comment, now standing in front of a table where Zhengting's friends from the morning are sitting. The indifferent boy points at his bowl, expression still very stoic, whereas the blond glances in his direction and gives a smile as a greeti- well, okay, not just a smile. Ruibin honestly isn't sure if his hand that still burned from the recent coffee assault is making him delusional, but he's some what more sure that the blond briefly narrowed his eyes at his presence before covering it with a photoshoot-ready smile.

"U-Uh, thanks... bro," Ruibin tries to answer as comfortably as possible in the face of his crush's odd group of friends but hey, who's he to judge when someone as scary as Bu Fan and someone as bright and pure as Yanchen were in his friend group.

"Ting! Come back here!" Rui shouts from afar, said boy perking up at that.

"Considering you have an injury here, how about you get comfortable with my friends as your break, I'll be back to talk about why I brought you over," Zhengting gives a comforting pat on Ruibin's back before quickly departing.

And now Ruibin stands here, in front of Zhengting's friends, Mr. Indifferent-Man-Bun and Mr. Pretty-But-Possibly-Two-Faced.

This day seems to constantly be rolling down a hill where the fall from its peak is at a negative 50 degrees angle.

Wonderful.