Chaos Transcends Centuries

Wu Yingfei sighed in contentment after taking a sip of his Shirley Temple. Ah, it is indeed the perfect remedy for such deadly heat. 

Wasting his time at the beach was not how he imagined his summer break to go. Sure, the beach was pretty, but the 4D beach in his movie room back at home was just as great, if not better than the one before his eyes now. The air was stifling and humid, the laughter of the children grated his ears, the summer breeze was relentless against his hair, the sand blew everywhere, and the sun’s rays were so irritatingly bright that even his $500 Gucci shades couldn’t block it out. 

However, Wu Yingfei was an opportunist from birth, so he was going to make the most out of this whole, tragic ordeal. The only advantage of physically being at the beach was the tangible souvenirs one could pick up from the sand and waters. 

And thus, he sent his minions fellow campers out to scavenge for him. 

(A few minutes earlier:

“You want us to collect shells for you?” Wu Yinli and Jian Bo asked in sync, both tilting their heads not unlike how a puppy would. Wu Yingfei had waved them over to his cozy little resting area for this? 

After pondering Yingfei's words over in his head, Wu Yinli squinted at the older boy. “And why can’t you do it yourself?” 

(He will not fall for his tricks this time- twenty times was twenty too many!)

Yingfei arched an elegant brow, shifting his sunglasses up so he could stare Wu Yinli right in the eye. “Wu Yinli, I know we have a rivalry going on, but I didn’t think you’d hate me so much that you would want me dead... How cruel of you.” Yingfei sighed in mock disappointment before taking another sip of his fancy umbrella drink. 

(Yinli stared at it, a little envious.)

“Huh? What are you talking about?” The boy was confused at the sudden change of topic. Since when did shells equal death? Ah, was Wu Yingfei allergic to seafood...? He can’t eat lobsters or crabs? How pitiful… oh, but that would also mean more for Yinli! Good job, Wu Yingfei!

Yingfei, who was silently observing Wu Yinli’s drastic changes in expressions, couldn't help but feel a little irritated. What’s with that big grin at the thought of his death? Were they really on such bad terms that he would be happy at that prospect? Ah, whatever. 

He swirled his drink forcibly, causing the ice cubes to clash loudly against each other. That brought the daydreaming Wu Yinli back to attention. Good. “I can’t swim, remember? If I looked for them myself, there's a high possibility of me getting swept away by the current.” He stared down at the drink in his hand, appearing downhearted at not being able to look for them himself. 

(As if.) 

He could feel the gears in Wu Yinli’s brain turning, but before he could let out a sound, Yingfei continued. Strike when the iron’s hot, after all. 

“But because I am a generous person, I don’t expect you to do this for me for free. Of course, you’ll be rewarded handsomely for your cooperation.” Wu Yingfei flashes them a bright smile.

Wu Yinli’s eyes twinkled. 

Got him. 

“And? What’s in it for us?” Yinli asked, trying to play it cool despite Yingfei knowing how excited the boy was over any type of reward. (There's a reason why Wu Yingfei has a 100% success rate of getting Wu Yinli to do whatever he wanted.)

He took another sip of his drink to let the excitement build before speaking up. “There’s an ice shaver in the box behind me. As well as 10 syrup flavors.” He lazily gestures behind his chair. 

He didn't even have to offer an explanation. Wu Yinli’s face lit up so fast that Yingfei couldn’t help but smirk a little. How childish, to be so excited over shaved ice. (But thankfully, how predictable.)

“You have yourself a deal! I’ll hunt for your shells, and in exchange, you have to give me unlimited bowls, okay?!” He could feel the enthusiasm vibrating off the kid as Yinli looked at him with determined eyes. Yingfei couldn’t help but cringe a little inside; how did this kid have so much energy despite the hot weather?

In a split second, Yinli’s mouth shifted into a frown and his brows furrowed.

(It never fails to amuse Yingfei how expressive the boy was.)

“And if you’re lying to me... I’ll throw your shells back into the ocean!” Wu Yinli hollered before dashing off at the speed of light. That brat.

Yingfei huffed a sigh, slid his sunglasses over his eyes, and leaned back against his beach chair. 

What should he do no-

It was then that he realized Jian Bo didn’t leave with Wu Yinli. 

He sat back up as casually as he could. 

“What’s wrong Bo-ge? Are you not interested?” He tilted his head at the boy. He hadn’t thought someone like Jian Bo would turn him down, but to be honest, just Wu Yinli would be sufficient. Yingfei just thought Jian Bo would collect higher quality and prettier shells than his clumsy didi. What a shame. 

Thankfully, Jian Bo just shook his head in response. “No, that’s not it- it sounds like a lot of fun! And shaved ice sounds great in this heat! I was just…” He trailed off, staring at Yingfei’s face. He fiddled with his fingers a little before continuing.

“Are you sure you don’t want to come out of your shell, Yingfei?”  He took a threatening step closer to Yingfei and offered a hand. “I’ll make shore you don’t drown! The folks back home always said I was a great swimmer!” He exclaimed excitedly, confident in his abilities to save a sinking Yingfei. 

Wu Yingfei cringed inwardly once again, but he gave Bo a small smile on the outside.

“I’ll be fine right here, Bo-ge. I don’t want to make this fun memory a stressful one for you, constantly having to make sure that I’m alright.” His expression turned a little apologetic. “Also, better safe than sorry, right?” He hopes Jian Bo takes the hint. 

“Oh... okay then… If you’re sure… I guess I’ll sea you later then!” He flashed Wu Yingfei a smile that rivaled the sun before running off towards Wu Yinli. 

Yingfei let out a sigh of relief. That was close…. )

And so, all he had to do was kick back in his beach chair and relax with his Shirley Temple. Simple as that. 

Well, it was supposed to be. But then... 

Yingfei perked up as his ears caught ahold of a familiar sound. Was that Mario Kart…? He turned his gaze to the source of the noise and saw a boy not so far away from him who was also sitting under a beach umbrella. With furrowed brows and a frown marred on his face, he soundlessly tapped away on his Nintendo Switch. Wu Yingfei tilted his head a little. How long has he been sitting there? It was probably due to Wu Yinli’s loudness that he hadn’t realized his presence this entire time.... 

If he recalled correctly, that was Wu Yang-Xiyong, a new edition at Yichan. He wasn’t at the camp last year, so Yingfei wasn’t really familiar with him. But… 

Yingfei stared at the Switch in his hand, his fingers twitching instinctually. Yingfei originally wanted to bring his Switch too, but with how reckless some of the kids are, he wasn’t sure that it would come home in one piece… 

Perhaps Yingfei was staring a little too hard, but Wu Yang-Xiyong seemed to sense his gaze and thus lifted his head. For more than a second, they did absolutely nothing but stare each other in the eye until Yingfei beamed brightly at him. He ducked under his beach chair to grab a can of Sprite from his cooler and walked towards the other boy. 

“Wu Yang-Xiyong, would you like a drink?” He offered it out to the boy with the same obnoxious smile.

Yang-Xiyong stared up at him with a stoic expression before taking it with a nod. 

“Thank you. And you can just call me Yoyo.”

“You’re welcome~” Yingfei made sure to smile even wider. “And okay, ‘Yoyo-ge’ it is then. My name is Wu Yingfei; nice to meet you!” He purposely glances at Yoyo’s switch and makes a noise of surprise.“Oh, is that Mario Kart? Wow, it’s been so long.” He sits down (on Yoyo’s beach towel of course) shamelessly without permission. 

“Mind if I join you for a game?” He made sure his eyes sparkled a little just like Wu Yinli’s did whenever he was excited. Only a few were immune to it (including himself), but hopefully, Wu Yang-Xiyong wasn’t. He really wanted to play. 

Although Wu Yang-Xiyong’s facial expression did not change, the aura around him seemed to become more… bright..? Which Yingfei expected because he knew he was a delight to be around. 

“I don’t mind.” Wu Yang-Xiyong shook his head and handed Yingfei a Joy-Con. Yingfei hummed happily in response. “Thanks! Also ge, why don’t we move closer to my chair? I have more drinks.” He offered, though, in reality, he just wanted to sit in his chair. Sitting on a towel over the sand was Not It. Fortunately, Wu Yang-Xiyang was fine with it, and so they shuffled over. 

Resting comfortably in his beach chair now, Yingfei smirked as the countdown for Mario Kart started.

Let’s see how good this Wu Yang-Xiyong is~

---

He was too good. 

After several rounds in which Wu Yang-Xiyong bested Yingfei in a ratio of 9:0, Yingfei asked for a quick break.

“... How often do you play this game, ge?” He asked in a nonchalant tone. 

“Not that often. ...I brought it so that if anyone else was interested, we could play it together.” 

Yingfei’s eyebrow twitched. Not that often? With that level of skill, he was definitely lying! (Yingfei refused to accept the possibility that maybe he just sucks at it.) With how irritated Yingfei was about losing, he didn’t pick up on how Wu Yang-Xiyong’s voice softened a little towards the end. 

He took another sip of his Shirley Temple to cool down. “Hm? Is that so? You’re really good for someone who doesn’t play often,” He quipped with a smile. 

Wu Yang-Xiyong flushed a little at that. “N-no, I’m just average,” he mumbled softly. 

Wu Yingfei’s grip on his glass drink tightened a little. Average? If he was “average,” then what was Yingfei? But before he could say anything, he was interrupted by someone. 

“Wu Yingfei, are you bothering someone again?” A stern voice- or, a voice that tried to sound stern but came off more exasperated- spoke from behind him. Yingfei turned around and was greeted by Yue Jiezan, whose eyebrows were knitted and whose mouth formed a small pout. Yingfei just gave him an innocent smile. 

“Jiezan-ge! Just the person I was looking for~” (He really wasn’t lying; he needed someone easy to tease to relieve the irritation that had accumulated.)

At that, Yue Jiezan tilted his head and squinted, a little wary of whatever this sly snake boy wanted from him… 

“It's too sunny,” Yingfei complained with a frown. “I can feel my legs burning… Would you mind reapplying my sunscreen for me?” He asked, looking up at Jiezan from under his lashes. 

“Eh? A-Are you alright?” Yue Jiezan hurried over to examine his legs, face twisted in concern. Yingfei was right, it was red! Really red… 

He took his sunscreen bottle (one of many) out of his trusty bag and popped it open, ready to help his friend out. The moment he reached for Yingfei’s leg, however, he noticed that his hand also became the same shade as Yingfei’s legs.

Wait… He sharply turned upwards and finally saw it. It was the fault of the red umbrella! 

“Wu Yingfei!” He shouted, indignant. At that, Yingfei burst into laughter. Yue Jiezan could feel his face heating up. This boy never changes! How infuriating! He turned around to leave, but a hand grabbed ahold his wrist. He turned around to glare daggers at the boy. What did he want now? 

The boy beamed at him. “Sorry ge,” he apologized, not sounding apologetic at all. “As an apology, why don’t you rest under the shade for a bit." Yingfei took a long look at the older boy's face. "Your complexion doesn’t look too good.” 

Yue Jiezan was a bit thrown off by the serious look on Yingfei's face, but he felt his heart softening a bit. He could feel his earlier anger dissipating quickly.

“W-well, if you insis-”

“I do.”

“....Fine then.” He sat down awkwardly on Yingfei’s beach chair. 

.....Maybe this boy was actually nice deep, deep, deep do-

“As long as you help me apply the sunscreen." 

.... 

Yue Jiezan could feel one of his veins pop. He stood up forcefully and turned to face the absolute menace. “You want me to apply the sunscreen that badly? Fine! I will!” He flashed Yingfei a forced grin with an ominous glint in his eyes. 

Yingfei blinked, realizing that perhaps he went too far. He had the feeling that if he let Yue Jiezan anywhere near his legs right now, they’d be the same shade of red even without the umbrella’s shadow… He scanned the environment behind Yue Jiezan and was, fortunately, able to find a way to escape the situation.

“Ah, Shisong-ge!” Yingfei cheerfully beckoned at the boy who just came back from a swim. Perhaps Gou Shisong, who radiates zen, would be able to calm Yue Jiezan down. The boy dutifully headed over to them and greeted the trio. Yingfei glanced at Jiezan and was slightly relieved to find his demonic expression gone and replaced with a happy smile. As expected of the reliable Gou Shisong.

“Shisong-ge, you're probably hungry from that swim right? Would you like me to make you some shaved ice? My family brought me this ice shaver to play with~” He got up from his chair and went behind it to retrieve the penguin-shaped ice shaver. 

Gou Shisong eyed it with interest and nodded. Yingfei beamed even brighter and patted the edge of the chair for him to take a seat. At least this way, there’s some distance away from Yue Jiezan~

Avoiding Wu Yang-Xiyong’s piercing stare and Yue Jiezan’s ‘proud big brother’ look (seriously, it was so fun to see his emotions change so quickly), Yingfei silently cranked the ice shaver until there was a good amount of shaved ice in the bowl. He made sure to put in a lot of toppings before handing it over to Gou Shisong with a bright smile.

“Thank you, Yingfei.” Shisong gave him a small smile in return. It pricked his conscience a little, but it did not deter Yingfei from his goal. He apologized to Gou Shisong in his head. 

Okay, on to the next agenda. Yingfei turned to face Yue Jiezan with a small frown. “Ge, are you still mad at me?”

A little startled at how sudden that was, Jiezan could only stammer out a “I-uh-no..?”

“I’m glad~ But let me make you some shaved ice as an apology for teasing you, okay?” 

“Huh? O-oh, sure.” Wu Yingfei’s abrupt shift in personality made Jiezan feel off-balanced, but to be honest, he was looking forward to eating something the younger boy would personally prepare for him... 

However, after cranking the penguin’s handle a few times, Yingfei let out a hiss of pain. 

Yue Jiezan immediately rushed to his side with a worried expression. “Yingfei! Are you alright?!”

“Ah… I think my hand cramped up… It’s probably because I held onto the Switch Joy-Con for too long earlier.” He let out an embarrassed chuckle and purposely ignored Wu Yang-Xiyong's piercing eyes on the back of his head. 

“But it’s okay, I can keep going.” He gives them a reassuring smile before reaching for the handle once more. 

A hand over his made him pause.

“If you’d like, I can take over for you, Yingfei. I do not wish for you to harm yourself even more.” Gou Shisong offered with a concerned expression.

Hook, line, slinker. 

In the corner of his eye, Yingfei saw Wu Yang-Xiyong open his mouth. Yingfei had an inkling of what he would say, so he responded quickly. “Shisong-ge..!! If it's not too much trouble, I would really appreciate it..." He 'sneaked' a glance at Wu Yang-Xiyong. "Ah, would you like some too, Yoyo-ge?" He faced the taller boy again. 

"Shisong-ge, Yoyo-ge seems to want one too!” 

“No, I am-”

“Okay.” 

And in just a few seconds, a bowl of shaved ice was presented right in front of Wu Yang-Xiyong. Shisong and Yingfei both looked at him expectantly. Yue Jiezan, who was munching on his own shaved ice, looked at the three of them with shimmering eyes. 

How wonderful..! 

Red eyes stared at Shisong’s gentle expression before Wu Yang-Xiyong shyly extending his hand to take the bowl. “T-thank yo-”

“AH! Not fair! Ying-ge, you can’t give away my shaved ice!” Someone shouted, making Yang-Xiyong flinch a little. He almost pulled back, but Gou Shisong grabbed his hand and deposited the bowl into it with a kind smile. 

The quiet boy thanked him, feeling a little warm inside. Though that warmth disappeared at hearing Wu Yingfei speak up.

Yingfei, hearing his name being called, perked up. “I didn’t do anything; it was Shisong-ge!” He retorted loudly but then he turned to Wu Yang-Xiyong with a smile. “Though of course, you’re welcome to multiple bowls~" 

“Hey! I heard that, Ying-ge! Do you want me to throw these shells back into the ocean?!” Wu Yinli’s voice was getting louder as he hurried towards them.

“Hah, just get over here already.” Yingfei crossed his arms as he waited for his shells to arrive. 

While Shisong made shaved ice for the newcomers, Yingfei examined the content of the buckets Wu Yinli and Jian Bo brought back. He placed the ones he really liked into a glass jar and shamelessly dumped everything else back into the sand. The haul wasn't bad. Jian Bo’s collection met his high expectations, and Wu Yinli had a better eye than he originally thought.

After emptying the contents of his fifth bowl, Wu Yinli sniffled, catching Yingfei’s attention

Seeing the boy shiver whilst rubbing his arms up and down made Yingfei sigh. That careless child probably lost his towel somewhere when he was in the Zone during the hunt. That’s why he shouldn’t have tied it around his neck like that; not only did it look childish, but it was also easier to lose. Tsk, tsk. 

Yingfei dropped his extra towel onto Wu Yinli’s lap without a glance. He couldn’t have the boy catching a cold since he was sharing a room with him, after all. 

The boy visibly brightened as he picked up the towel. “Thank you Ying-ge!” He chirped, his voice muffled behind the towel.

“.... Are you wiping your snot on my $300 bath towel?” 

Wu Yinli flinched like a deer caught in headlights, but before he could reply, someone else spoke up.

“WHATCHA GUYS DOING?” Yingfei cringed at the boisterous voice. This volume... It could only be one person. That realization of who it was made him cringe even more. 

On the other hand, Wu Yinli and Jian Bo brighten up.

“Min-ge! We’re eating shaved ice; do you want some?” Wu Yinli asked, his hand already moving towards the penguin. This brat. 

“Ah... Yingfei said that we can only get shaved ice if we help him look for shells,” Jian Bo informed Hu Min with an apologetic frown. What a nice boy. “But I can help you look for some if you want!” Bo offered with a bright smile. Yingfei will never know how one could be so nice without expecting anything in return. If Yingfei ever wanted to be a better person, he’d probably use Jian Bo as a role model. But he doesn’t want to be, so he won’t. 

“Hmm…” Hu Min dramatically hummed, placing a hand under his chin as if he was thinking extremely hard. “Then I’ll give you this!” He chucked something carelessly at Yingfei, who clumsily managed to catch it. Hu Min gives him so much stress...

“Ya better treasure it, I risked my life for it after all!” He laughed (obnoxiously) as he sat down without Yingfei’s permission. Curious, Jian Bo asked him what he meant, and thus Hu Min started his dramatic recount.

Wu Yingfei tuned them all out as he inspected the shell. It was… not bad. In fact, it was actually kind of pretty… Or, really pretty. The shell was a turquoise shade and resembled the scene of the ocean when the sun’s rays hit the surface. He glanced at Hu Min.

 Who would’ve thought someone as obnoxious and insensitive as him would have such good aesthetics?  

Until he saw it.

At first, he thought it was just his imagination, so he kept staring at it. But at one point, it revealed so much of itself that he wished it was his imagination. 

Yingfei froze. Before quickly chucking it at the group of kids before it could attack him.

“...! Hu Min!”

Min’s bright laughter filled the air as chaos erupted around him. 

“I told you, it was super dangerous to catch it! It almost pinched off my finger!” 

“Woah, is that a hermit crab? Cool! It’s so pretty!”

“It’s so tiny! …..There’s not a lot of meat on it though…” 

“C-calm down everyone! There’s no need to panic!” 

“Shisong-ge, SOS! Chuck it as far as you can!”

“It is a harmless creature, Yingfei. You do not have to be so afraid. But I understand." 

Wu Yang-Xiyong just stared as Gou Shisong calmly picked up the hermit crab and walked towards the ocean.

When he saw Shisong gently place it down onto the sand, he couldn't help but sigh, a bit envious. He, who was unfortunate enough to be dragged into all this, just wanted to hermit too...

If only he hadn't let himself get pier pressured into signing up for the camp, then he wouldn't have to be here in this sweltering weather with this... eccentric bunch.

Hah...