Author's Notes: Thank you for reading the second part to my Soulmate AU - Sticky Notes series! I hope you enjoy XuNong here! Enjoy~

(WARNING: minor character death)

Cross posted onto AO3

Internally, Linong is dreading for his first day of middle school. He hides his feelings for the sake of his best friend, Zhangjing, who has been frolicking around Linong the moment they walked into school. Zhangjing holds onto Linong’s arm, which causes him to start laughing, “Zhangjing, calm down.” They walk into their homeroom, and Zhangjing apologizes as they sit down 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 from excitement. 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. This was the day that Linong has been dreading the most after his childhood trauma. He had been called a cursed to be around. Therefore, no one had wanted to be around Linong for most of his childhood in fear of people losing their soulmates. Linong was so distraught at school that when he came home afterwards, he would cry in his room. He did this almost everyday until the first week of Linong’s second grade year. A short boy with brown curly hair walked up to him and asked if he could play with him. That little boy was Zhangjing, and the two have been best friends ever since.

Students file into the classroom one by one until the bell rings, and the teacher walks into the classroom, carrying a small, brown box. She sets the box down on her desk and faces the classroom. 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 you are quite excited 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. Linong sits frozen at his desk, afraid for his name to be called out. As soon as she calls his name, whispers fill up the classroom when he walks up to receive his stack. He thanks the teacher and quickly returns to his desk. Zhangjing gives him a smile, ignoring all the whispers in the classroom. He smiles back and takes a look at his decorated sticky notes. They were a watercolor of different shades of pink scattered with small stars. In the corner of the sticky notes, there is a small sun with a smiley face. At the sight of the sun, Linong smiles at the cute design. He felt warm on the inside, allowing him to relax and bask in the warmth.

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. Linong looks over at Zhangjing, who is already writing on his sticky note and decides to follow in his steps. He takes out a pencil and scribbles onto the note: I hope you can appreciate me for who I am. He leaves out his initials, stepping out of tradition, in fear that his soulmate would figure out who he was and leave him. He tears off the sticky note and watches it dissipate, already overwhelmed and filled with anxiety. He takes a deep breath and looks up at Zhangjing’s calming smile. He mouths a thank you to the other and leaves the classroom with him.

Linong arrives first in the cafeteria and stands near the entrance, waiting for Zhangjing to arrive. The place is bustling with activity. It was filled with loud chatter and the clanking of silverware as people start to dig into their food. A squeal followed by loud whispers catches Linong’s attention as he follows people’s gazes towards the doors of the cafeteria. It was Cai Xukun. In his grade, Cai Xukun is very popular. Not a day goes by without someone talking about his perfection. He moved in from America back in third grade and was ambitious to become acquaintances or friends with as many people as possible. They boy was smart, talented, kind, and was extremely handsome.

Linong starts to feel his heart race a little at the sight of the other. He had a crush on the other since he moved in third grade. Xukun had came up to Linong on a day that Zhangjing was sick in third grade after noticing that he was lonely. They had spent lunch and recess together. After that, Xukun hadn’t spoken to him. Linong had assumed it was because his friends back then told him how he was cursed. He tried to say hi to Xukun one day in fifth grade, but it seemed like he was ignoring Linong. That day, Linong went home heartbroken.

A hand dragging him towards a table was what brought Linong back from his thoughts. Zhangjing pulls Linong towards the nearest table, and they both sit across from each other. Zhangjing whips out his lunchbox and starts eating messily. “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. He feels his heart stop at the sight of an unfamiliar sticky note. It was a metallic gold with lavish lines in white as design. He sets his lunchbox down on the table and takes a moment to read the message:  I hope we can meet one day. - CXK.

“What does it say?” asks Zhangjing. Linong hands him the note and contemplates about the familiar initials. CXK. Linong scans the cafeteria, searching for a person until his eyes land on a dark haired boy across the cafeteria, Cai Xukun. He felt his breathing stop and felt like crying. What are the chances that your soulmate is the person you’ve been crushing on since third grade? Zhangjing puts the note in his hand and distracts him with a hug, “Your first note! How are you not screaming of happiness?” Linong looks into Zhangjing’s eyes and sees the sadness hidden behind the brown eyes that shimmered with happiness. He knew that Zhangjing was so excited to get his sticky notes that Zhangjing had told Linong dreams that he had about Zhangjing and his own soulmate. His heart ached for the shorter one.

“It’s because of the initials. Don’t they look familiar?” Linong panics as he sets down the note. He sees that Zhangjing had to think a little before realization bloomed on his face. 

“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. Linong didn’t believe his words. Linong believed that he was a person that someone could just throw away, but Zhangjing thought otherwise. Not a day goes by without Zhangjing reminding Linong that he is one of the most precious and kindest person that he has ever met. Linong loves his friend for boosting his self esteem up when he can’t do it himself. He shakes his head no, remembering his fear from earlier. He can feel his anxiety build up on him, and he tries to control it through his breathing, trying to focus on the worried Zhangjing. “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. He knew Zhangjing would keep his secret. Zhangjing knew what his childhood trauma consisted of and understood why. They both knew that Linong was afraid to meet his soulmate.

»»————-　♡　————-««

“Instead of taking a final exam this year, you will be paired up with someone to give a presentation in front of the class. Your topics for this presentation…” the history teacher drones on. The end of Linong’s senior year was approaching quickly. Linong mentally groans at the thought of doing a project with someone. Usually, he would ask to work by himself since people would still try to avoid him, but this teacher would not allow that to happen. He only hoped to work with someone who would actually try to talk to him. He still sincerely thought that he was still a symbol of bad luck that roamed the hallways during the day, and it seemed like others still thought the same.

Linong didn’t realize that he was dazing out so long until he felt a presence sit in the chair beside him. He blinks and turns towards the person who is giving him a wide smile. “Hello, I’m Cai Xukun,” the now blond haired boy introduced himself as if they were meeting for the first time. Linong felt his breathing stopped and his heart started to beat faster.

“Uh, I’m Chen Linong,” he mutters back to the other when he realizes the other is waiting for a reply. He wonders what are the chances that he gets paired with his soulmate, who is unaware that Linong is his soulmate. Linong was starting to think he was really having some bad luck.

Xukun continues to smile at Linong, “I know. We met back then in third grade.” Now, this gave Linong quite the surprise.

“You remembered that?” Linong blurts out and then quickly covers his mouth, surprise evident on his face. His nerves are on end, and he feels like he could run out of the classroom right now.

Xukun nods and frowns, “Why would you think I would forget?” Linong shakes his head and shrugs, not wanting to answer the question. Linong didn’t believe that Xukun actually remembered that single day in third grade. He thought that Xukun avoided him after that single day with the news of Linong’s bad luck. The two of them discussed the project quietly, picking out a topic, a day to meet up at the library, and exchanged numbers. Whatever fate was doing to Linong, he was afraid to see what would happen later.

A few days later, Linong found himself sitting at a table in the library, waiting for Xukun to show up. He came to the library quite early and went ahead to look for the books that they needed for their project. He went ahead and started reading while taking notes at the same time. After some time, he hears the movement of footsteps in his direction followed by the chair across from him. He looks up to see a surprised Xukun, “Did you get here early?” Linong nods. Xukun grabs one of the books on the table and opens it up. The two of them discuss the project before returning to the reading. Linong finished his detailed notes and closes the book. He silently waits for Xukun to finish and assures the other to take his time.

Linong takes this opportunity to observe the popular Xukun. Needless to say, his skin was pale, healthy, and flawless. His blond hair shows off a different style of him that others didn’t know that he had. Linong noticed that his eyes were a different color and came to the conclusion that Xukun wears colored contact lenses. There was a small mole on his left cheek that was hardly noticeable, but Linong thought that it was absolutely adorable. Linong knew that he was handsome, but getting a closer look at him took his breath away. He felt like he was in the presence of a god. Linong also noticed how Xukun would puff his cheeks up while concentrating on the work in front of him. To add onto that, he would momentarily bite his bottom lip when he seems confused about something in the book in front of him. Linong’s heart couldn’t handle it all. Xukun looks up at him with a satisfied smile, indicating that he was done. Even his smile was adorable. He didn’t want it to ever go away.

Xukun scooted closer towards Linong, prepared to start discussing the information that the two of them had just found. Linong’s heart started to beat faster, and he was afraid that Xukun would hear it. The two of them harmoniously worked together. It allowed Linong to think how they both worked so well together. As they finish up discussing, Linong opens the book again, only to find the golden sticky note on the inside. He loudly shuts the book and stares at Xukun, afraid that he saw it, but the look of confusion on his face says that he didn’t see it. A shower of relief washed over Linong. “Are you okay?” Xukun questioned.

Linong shyly nods, “Yeah, I just saw my note in the book.” A look of understanding flashes across Xukun’s face.

“Do your notes come with initials?” Linong nods and a disappointed sigh comes from Xukun. “Well, my notes don’t. It kind of makes me upset since I do want to see their initials. I want to see if I could find who they are, and if I did, cherish them until they stop thinking so lowly of themselves,” Xukun confesses with a frown upon his face. This startling revelation made Linong feel worse about himself than he did before. The last thing he wanted was to upset his soulmate, but the fear of telling Xukun was deeply rooted in his core.

It was their fourth time meeting up for the project. The two of them had completely finished the project and were just about to leave until Linong’s stomach growled. A red blush blooms across his face as he mentally kills himself. Xukun just laughs and offers to take the other out to lunch. Linong couldn’t say no. That’s why he ended up sitting across Cai Xukun at a cafe, nervous with sweaty palms. He tries to swallow his feelings and act like a normal person. A waiter, Zhenghao, comes up to them and takes their order, and they’re alone again. The insufferable silence looked like it made Xukun uncomfortable, so Linong brought the courage up to ask him a question, “So, what do you want to do after high school?”

A look of surprise momentarily flashes across Xukun’s face before he replies back with a smile, “Well, people think I’m going on to play basketball in college, but I actually want to major in music.” It was known around the school that Cai Xukun was a talented musician, but he was also an amazing basketball player. Most people thought that he was going to college to expand his basketball opportunities to be scouted by someone.

Shocked, Linong follows up with another question, “What made you so interested in music? I don’t I’ve seen you in the music halls before.”

A small chuckle emits from Xukun, “Well, my parents made me take dance and piano classes when I was a kid. They practically threw me into the music world, and I’ve just never left. Also, I do take music classes, but I guess you don’t see me when I do have class. I normally go into the music rooms after school to use the equipment here to produce some music.” A sound of admiration comes out of Linong, and it makes Xukun smile wider as he shyly rubs the back of his neck. “That’s what I want to do. I’m going to college in Beijing to get my major,” he further explains. Linong asks which college, and he replies with the same college that Linong wants to go into.

“Are you kidding me? I want to go there, too! I guess we’ll be seeing each other a lot more now,” Linong smiles as he sees the sparkle in Xukun’s eyes. It makes him feel giddy on the inside that the sparkle was because of him. They are interrupted by the aroma of their food as the waiter sets down their plates and leaves. The two of them continue to talk with the twinkle in Xukun’s eyes never disappearing. Linong never thought that one day he’d be here, sitting across from Xukun and laughing with him. The thought of just being there already makes him nervous, but everything about Xukun’s aura tells him that he shouldn’t be nervous. As they continued to eat, Linong notices a napkin coming towards his face and he freezes.

“You have something on the side of your lips over here,” Xukun mutters softly as he cleans off the food. Linong’s heart explodes. Butterflies fill up in his stomach as he feels the blood rush to his cheeks. The look in Xukun’s eyes that were filled with adoration made Linong internally scream at the dazed look in his eyes. He feels his whole body fill with giddiness that he was floating on cloud nine and hoped to never come back down from it. Still processing what had happened, Linong stutters a small thank you to the other. Xukun just smiles as Zhenghao brings them their check. Linong watches his every movement as he feels his body still tingling from just a simple experience.

As soon as Xukun lifted the receipt from the table, two sticky notes appear underneath the white piece of paper. Linong feels his body turn cold at the sight of the sticky notes, seeing his own and Xukun’s. Panic ensues within the being of Linong as he looks at Xukun for his reaction. He sees Xukun reading his own golden sticky note. He notices the look of confusion before realization settles in, and it was enough for Linong to run out of the cafe. Even when Xukun calls out his name, Linong doesn’t stop running, and he never turned around.

»»————-　♡　————-««

Linong spends the rest of the few weeks of school left avoiding Xukun. The only time he ever saw the other boy was in their history class, but even then, Linong would arrive in class right before the bell rings and runs out of class right as the bell goes off. He was scared to see what the other would say. As much as he wanted to avoid Xukun, Xukun was desperate to talk to the other and continuously sent Linong notes that Linong would set aside without reading. That day, Linong ran to Zhangjing’s house with a face full of tears. He wasn’t able to speak for a whole hour due to the sobs that emitted from his mouth. Zhangjing said he could feel the fear radiating off of Linong and that it scared him as well, but he also told Linong that he should talk to Xukun. Linong did think about talking to Xukun, but the thought of his past always comes back up and terrifies him to his core.

As seniors, the school allowed their whole grade to go on an escapade to Beijing. Linong had spent the night at Zhangjing’s house, and they left for the airport together. Linong kept an eye out for a blond in the crowd, but when he doesn’t see Xukun, he silently lets out a small sigh of relief. They board the plane for Beijing and slept until they arrived in the large city. Once they arrived in the hotel and settled into their room, Linong wanted to go out and explore. “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 that he crashed upon as Linong begs his friend to leave the room. Eventually, Zhangjing gets out of bed and gets himself ready as Linong waits for him.

The two of them arrive at the dock with the paddle boats. Linong was excited, feeling his worries wash away as he talked with Zhangjing. Right before they get the chance to get a paddle boat, Zhangjing meets his soulmate that wore the nametag, Yanjun. Linong could feel happiness beam off of Zhangjing, which makes him happy that his best friend finally found the person he’d been wanting to see for six years. He calls out Zhangjing’s name to get his friends attention and waves at him to go ride with Yanjun.

A worried look flashes across Zhangjing’s face, “But, who will you go with?” Right as Linong was about to reply that he just wouldn’t ride one, a hand gently grips his shoulder and the familiar, soft voice comes out from behind him.

“I will,” the person says. Linong turns his head to look at the person who just smiles at him as if nothing had ever happened between them. “Our boat got filled up, and I was the odd one out. Since we’re already out here, let’s take one boat together.”

“Xukun,” Linong whispers softly, feeling a blush slowly creep up on his face. He turns around to see Zhangjing giving his an encouraging smile before he turns back to Xukun with a small nod. The two of them drift off from the dock and sit above the water once they were at distance where they were by themselves. The tension between the two was so thick someone could cut it with a knife. Linong recalls how Xukun doesn’t like the silence, but this time, he couldn’t say anything to him after the last encounter.

“Linong, did I do something wrong?” he hears Xukun ask. Linong gasps and shakes his head, startled that Xukun would even think of such a thing. “I want to fix the problems between the both of us. So, please, tell me what’s wrong?” Xukun begs softly. Linong felt like he kicked a puppy at the sight of a desperate Xukun. Linong swallows his saliva and lets out a shaky breath. He feels Xukun moves his hand on top of his and entangles their fingers together. Xukun gives him a gentle smile and that’s what encourages Linong to start talking.

“I had a traumatic experience as a child,” he starts off, feeling the tears build up in his eyes. He felt Xukun squeeze his hand as he starts his story.

Linong’s parents looked like the happiest couple together. They had a child and got married together. They were soulmates. When Linong was seven years old, his parents started to have small disputes against each other everyday. It all escalated to one night, where he watched at the bottom of the steps, his drunk father having a conflict with his mother. It turned out that his father was cheating on his mother, saying that he didn’t love his own soulmate anymore, that soulmates were completely crap. The verbal fighting gets worse throughout the night, and eventually, they started to hit each other. Seeing that his father was too strong for his mother, his mother started to panic.

He was coming on too strong, which made her run towards a different part of the room to reveal a handgun that she had hid. He runs towards her with a glass beer bottle in his hand, seemingly determined to hit her with the bottle. She shakily points the handgun at him and shoots. A loud bang, followed by a groan, and the sound of a body hits the floor. Linong stares in horror at the amount of blood that pools around his father. He looks over at his mother, who is bawling her eyes out of misery. He watches his mother pass out from shock, and Linong takes this opportunity to run to the neighbor’s house to get help. His mother was arrested that night. He started to live with his grandmother since both of his parents were unable to look after him.

After that night, Linong didn’t believe that all soulmates were a perfect pair. He was scared to meet his own soulmate. Later on in life, Linong would felt fearful if his soulmate would just leave him in the dust, similar to how his parents had just left him. When he returned to school, his friends were avoiding him. He overheard someone say that hanging around Linong was bad luck because that’s what their parents told them. He was the birth of a pair that didn’t work, and this scared the other kids in the room. So, they avoided him. Until later that year, a little boy with curly brown hair and a bunny-like smile approached him. It was Zhangjing. From that point on, Zhangjing turned Linong’s life around, and he was grateful that Zhangjing decided to approach him that day.

Linong finishes his story, and the tears don’t stop coming out. He sits there, unable to move while crying. He feels Xukun shift his body and wraps his arms around Linong. At the sudden surge of warmth, Linong starts to cry even harder. He starts to wonder if Xukun would leave him after this story. Linong tells himself that he’s ruined all of his chances of being with Xukun. He believed that Xukun was going to reject him, but yet here they were. Xukun holding onto Linong tightly until the tears stopped coming out. He hears him whisper the softest, “I’m sorry,” and Linong shakes his head.

“It’s not your fault. It’s my insecurity,” he mumbles through his hiccups. Xukun momentarily pulls away and digs into his backpack, pulling out a water bottle. He hands it to Linong and encourages him to take a sip of it. He takes in the refreshing water and tries to give it back to Xukun, but he just pushed it back into his hands. Xukun takes a hold on Linong’s hand again and squeezes it tightly.

“I won’t do any of that to you. I won’t leave you, ever. If you ever need someone, I’m always here for you, Linong. Please, don’t close yourself up,” Xukun attempts to assure the distraught boy. The two of them return to the dock, and they stand off to the side, waiting for Zhangjing to return. Linong still felt a little unsure. Linong just believed that he was just an unlucky person and felt that Xukun would eventually leave him. He tells Xukun this after noticing the look on Xukun’s face when he spaced out. Xukun continues to reassure Linong, “I will keep telling you that I will never leave you until you believe me.” When Zhangjing returns, Xukun stays and sticks with them for the rest of the day, not wanting to leave Linong just yet.

The next day, Linong receives a text from Xukun, telling him to prepare for later tonight and to dress nice. Therefore, Linong spent an hour and a half, trying to find an outfit that was nice with the unhelpful Zhangjing. Just when Linong is finished getting ready, there was a knock on the door. On the other side was Xukun, dressed in a fancy, black tuxedo with his hair pushed back. Linong just stares at him and doesn’t even realize that Xukun is even talking to him until Xukun takes a hold of his hand. “You look beautiful,” Xukun says again. This time Linong hears it, and his cheeks pink.

Xukun takes them out to an expensive restaurant in Beijing called The Hidden City as a first date. The two of them move towards a separate room. Inside the room, a small table sat in the center with candles lit around the room, and the table contained a single rose in a vase in the center of the table. Linong stares around in awe, wondering how Xukun had the money to do such a thing. The two of them sat down, and their dinner had started to come in since Xukun had already ordered the food for the both of them ahead of time. The two of them talked to each other in a much more comfortable way than they had before. It gives Linong a sense of security as he watches Xukun give him multiple reassuring smiles throughout the dinner.

Towards the end of their dinner, Xukun gets up and walks towards Linong. He pulls out a long case and opens it to reveal a necklace. “It’s a family heirloom. It’s been passed down through many generations for my family to give it to their soulmates. It was a sign of long lasting love, happiness, and luck,” he explains as he puts it around Linong’s neck. Linong felt his heart was going to explode at how close Xukun was. He didn’t know what to say back after he puts the necklace on. “I have one as well. I want you to know that this means that we both have each other. You don’t have to feel alone anymore,” Xukun places a kiss upon Linong’s forehead and shows the same necklace around his neck. Instead of saying anything, Linong gets up and wraps his arms around Xukun and hugs him tightly.

“Thank you,” he whispers happily to Xukun. That’s when he knew that Xukun was being sincere about never leaving him. Xukun pulls away slightly, just enough to take a good look at Linong and stares straight into his eyes. 

“I have one more thing for you,” he smiles and wraps an arm around Linong’s waist and guides him towards the nearest park, where a fireworks show is about to start. They walk towards a secluded area from the people. Xukun stands in front of Linong to face him and pulls Linong close to him. Instinctually, Linong wraps his arms around Xukun’s waist and looks at him. Linong looks down at Xukun’s lips and back up into his eyes. He moves his arms and wraps it around Xukun’s neck, pulling him in for their first kiss right as the fireworks went off. Linong could feel the butterflies within him burst. A warm feeling fills up every part of his body as the kiss gets deeper. Xukun breaks the kiss, resting his forehead against Linong’s. He stares deep into Xukun’s eyes that convey so much love as he starts speaking again, “Chen Linong, you’re not cursed or unlucky. In fact, I think you just made me the luckiest man alive.”