A/N- A (not too) dramatic sounding title for our drama, book loving boy! Xingqiu is just so beautiful to me, I don't know why. I guess I'm just a sucker for men who love books and literature- plus his hairstyle and everything about him is so elegant I just can't- also I'm going to be making a new original character just for this oneshot, I'll add her to the book of original characters later to write for her more if I like her.

Trigger warning- talks of abuse/suicidal thoughts and death. I'll add notations when bad moments start if you want to skip them.

BEING THE HEIR to a huge fortune had its benefits and drawbacks. You knew this more than anyone. Your family, the L/N clan, was a very rich family from Inazuma that had immigrated to Liyue when you were only a babe in arms, so you knew nothing of the country you were born in. Your parents would tell you stories of the springtime there, the most beautiful season, when the sakura trees would bloom and everyone would collect blossoms- young women and girls would take them to put in their hair or in their bedroom, and young men and boys would take them to woo women or girls with. You loved the descriptions of nature in Inazuma, and always wanted to return there as an adult.

But then tragedy struck.

Your mother, after giving birth to your younger sister, a slip of a girl named Hua Yue, died.

A/N- Mentions of abuse start here.

And your father, who had always been so firm and steadfast in everything, from his beliefs to the way he treated you- never striking you as a punishment and never lashing out at you- sunk into a deep pit of depression. He took to drinking as a way to relieve his stress, and ended up beating you up harshly when he returned home. You got scars on your back from the metal-tipped nine-tailed whip he used to beat you, and one night you saw him standing over five-year-old Hua Yue's bed and threatening to slit her throat if she didn't stop crying about how much she missed her mother.

A/N- Mentions of abuse end here.

You were shocked by the way your father treated you and your younger sister, but you could do nothing about it. You were still a child, after all. So you waited and painfully endured it for many years, until you turned sixteen. Then you took Hua Yue, who was ten, and ran off to Liyue Harbor, the capital city. You heard rumors of your father searching for you, but he never found you, and eventually you heard nothing more about him. You assumed he had died, and felt no sadness at that.

When you first moved to Liyue Harbor, you were walking around the city when you saw a young man sitting at the Liuli Pavilion. Judging by his clothing, he looked rich, and you hesitated to approach him as the fear of your father was burned into your mind, but he looked friendly, so you ended up walking up to him and saying hello.

You were shocked to learn that this young boy was Xingqiu, the heir to the illustrious Guhua clan fortune! You didn't know that Xingqiu, who had, by all accounts and gossip, a very protective family, would be allowed to hang around outside in public without any guards. You also didn't expect such a sheltered boy to be so friendly. However, when you began to speak to him, you were pleasantly surprised to find out that he was quite friendly.

Your conversation went something along these lines:

"Hello there! I just noticed you and thought you looked pretty! My name is L/N Y/N, what's yours?"

"Thanks for the compliment, my liege! My name is Xingqiu, of the Guhua clan. It's a pleasure to meet you, beautiful one!"

Judging by the way he spoke, you knew that Xingqiu was well read. He used book-like words in everyday conversation, which was a bit weird but also quite attractive. And to know that he was from the Guhua clan but referred to you as 'my liege...' did he know of your noble origins?

"You're the heir to the Guhua clan? But you don't act like a noble! And why are you calling me my liege? Could it be possible that you know that I'm noble?"

"Are you noble? I didn't know that. What family are you from?" Xingqiu asked.

Your heart began to beat faster. Now that you told him you were a noble, you felt anxious. Memories of your father's drunk rants about how high up and noble your family was filled your head, and you felt weak.

Before you knew it, you were lying on the ground, and Xingqiu was kneeling down above your body, a fearful look on his handsome face. He looked very feminine for a man, but he made it look attractive. Now that he was closer to you, you noticed the tasseled earrings he was wearing and the gentleness of his brown eyes. His thin lips that had previously been turned up in a smile were now seriously pressed together, and his long and thin fingers ran over your skin as his porcelain-pale cheeks were lit up with a blush.

You heard fast footsteps, and noticed the golden hem of a qipao hanging above you. The woman wearing the qipao knelt down, and you noticed the anxiety on her face. You barely recognized your own sister. Hua Yue had matured so much in the past years, and wearing makeup and a fancy dress, she looked more adult than you did. Her long auburn hair tickled her face, falling out of the bun she usually put it in, and her hazel eyes lit up with tears. She took your hands in hers, and you felt the warmth of her skin. It soothed you.

"Are you alright, Y/N?"

Xingqiu's velvety voice whispered insistently into your ears, and you forced yourself to stand back up on your feet.

"I'm fine, Lord Guhua," you said, speaking extremely formally. You could tell from the way Xingqiu's lips twisted that he disliked being referred to in that way, and you cringed internally.

"Jiě jiě (older sister in Chinese), did you have another anxiety attack thinking of Father?"

Hua Yue's voice, clear and ringing as the clearest crystal, penetrated the dimness of your mind and shot you back into reality. Damn that foolish girl! You had told her millions of times never to speak about your family issues in public, but now she had revealed it- to the heir of the Guhua clan no less! You couldn't let the L/N clan be torn apart like this! You had to defend it.

"An anxiety attack? I'm so sorry if what I said adversely affected you!"

Xingqiu sounded thoroughly terrified, and the delusion that he actually cared about your father and what he did popped like a balloon. He couldn't care less about your family history. Right now, all he cared about was you. That made you feel appreciated, and it gave you the confidence to speak out.

A/N- Mentions of abuse start here.

"It's not you. Thinking of my father... it adversely affects me. After my mother, Lady L/N died due to the complications of giving birth to my sister, my father has been mentally deranged. He used to get drunk and abuse me and my sister, but mainly me. I have a lot of scars on my back and arms, which is why I don't wear dresses with short sleeves or backless dresses. I just want to hide my scars, but it's impossible at this point. I'm sorry."

A/N- Mentions of abuse end here.

Hua Yue wrapped her arms around you and whispered, "Be strong, jiě jiě. Everything's going to be okay. We're away from Father now, and he can't hurt us."

Xingqiu was silent after your long monologue. You were afraid that you had offended him by your frank words and your lack of filial piety. A good child would never speak evilly of their parents, even if they did hurt them. In Liyue, you knew that people strongly believed in the values of filial piety, and you hoped you hadn't offended his sensibilities.

As it turned out, it wasn't that. When Xingqiu lifted his head up, you saw tears in his lovely eyes. Shocked by his crying, you backed away from him and cried out, "I'm sorry for hurting your feelings!"

"Please... don't go," he whispered.

You spun around and saw him stumbling towards you, his arms stretched out. Although you had just met him, you knew that he needed some support, so you held your arms out for him and let him embrace you. He laid his head on your shoulder and sobbed softly. Beneath his thick collar, you noticed the mark of a belt wrapped around his thin neck. You recognized that mark- it was around your sister's neck.

The memories came flooding back of that one night.

That night your father tried to kill himself and your sister with him.

A/N- Mentions of suicide/suicidal thoughts start here.

Your father had been going especially insane that week. You were afraid to go to play with your friends, terrified that you would come home and see your father dead and your sister either hurt or dead as well. One day, you came home from visiting your neighbor's house and saw your sister writhing from where she hung on the chandelier on the ceiling, your father hanging next to her.

You went straight into protective sister mode and used the power of your anemo vision to blow your sister out of the noose your father had made with his belt. It was tight, but not tight enough to be undone. Hua Yue's body free fell through the air, and you slowed her fall with a quick blast of wind, catching her in your arms and then falling to the ground due to her weight.

You got up quickly after you fell and hesitantly saved your father as well. He was delirious, so he didn't say anything, just walked off to his room. You could hear him crying and screaming from where you were standing in the lobby. Those sounds, sounds you never thought you would ever hear from an adult, were echoing throughout the house. With tears streaming down your cheeks, you took Hua Yue, who was in shock, into your bedroom suite and laid her down in your bed, sleeping with her by your side to protect her.

It was only a week after that event that you chose to take your younger sister away from your father. You hadn't heard from him since, and you didn't know what to think. You hoped he hadn't killed himself- you firmly believed that suicide was a terrible and wrong way to die, even for the most evil of people- but you didn't wish him any happiness either.

A/N- Mentions of suicide/suicidal thoughts end here.

"Xingqiu, your neck..." you whispered.

Hua Yue gasped and drew back from him. You could see the memories playing out across her mind, reflected in her facial expressions. She looked away from you when she began to cry, and Xingqiu looked directly up at you.

He said, clearly and loudly, "My father did that to me. He is a fool."

You were shocked to hear a native of Liyue insult his parents and abandon the virtue of filial piety that his people valued so much. But then again, if his father hurt him so seriously, then he deserved to be brought down in any way possible.

"The lord of the Guhua clan abuses his son?" you asked.

Xingqiu mutely nodded, and you realized then why he was crying. He had been experiencing the same things as you. He had found someone to share his emotions with, and the tears that had been bottled up for so long flowed freely now in your presence.

"I'm so sorry to hear that," you said, although you knew your apologies meant nothing.

He looked happy at your apology, and said something you would never forget.

"All my life, I've been seeking my father's approval. When he beats me and hurts me, he says that it's because I'm not good enough. And I ended up believing him. Everything I am right now is what my father wants me to be. I now see that I'm seeking foolishly. He never approved of me in the first place. He never even wanted me to be born. I need to accept that, and leave him to rot in his hatred of me."

You didn't say anything in response. What the boy had just said encompassed all your feelings towards your current situation- towards your father and towards life in general. You didn't even know who this boy was ten minutes ago, and now you had found a soulmate that you would never ever leave.