Champagne & Pools

Chapter 11- An unsolvable issue

The ride to the Qian Cao hospital was all a blur. Liu Qingge wasn't in the right mental state to think clearly. He paced back and forth, waiting for news. Any news. Good, bad, it doesn't matter. How could something like this happen? How could that beast of a child do something like this? He sat down and waited.

"Shidi?" Liu Qingge's eyes shot up. Standing in front of him was a person he didn't know. Not anymore anyway. He didn't know how to even approach the person, because if he did, it wouldn't end well.

Liu Qingge ignored the person as he didn't want to speak to them. How could he let this happen? Why did he have to leave so early? His personal situation could've waited. He heard the shuffling of clothes and then felt an arm wrap around him. Did this person not understand how to take a hint? He couldn't deny it though, it felt nice. Although he was worried, he wouldn't cry. It would be pointless. Crying won't help his child.

Minutes felt like hours as he waited. Liu Qingge sat in silence. As far as he knew, Yang Yixuan was practically dead. That is just what he assumed though.

"Shidi..." Shen Qingqiu said slowly. He was unsure how to even talk to Liu Qingge. He'd been avoiding him for awhile now, and the second something major happens, he's suddenly kind and careful? As if nothing happened? That surely would throw Liu Qingge off, maybe even cause him to resent Shen Qingqiu.

"Could you not?" Liu Qingge snapped. He couldn't stand to look at Shen Qingqiu's face. Shen Qingqiu was taken aback. What? For the many years that they've been friends, Liu Qingge has never snapped at him like that. The situation was stressful, and they hadn't been speaking for a while... that was reason enough.

"Shidi, I just-"

"Shen Qingqiu!" Liu Qingge stood up, face full of rage. This was baffling. Sure he'd get annoyed, but he'd never been angry with him. Shen Qingqiu stood up after Liu Qingge.

"Qingge just let me-!"

"No! Shen Qingqiu, as a fellow headmaster I would expect you to have more control over your students. I would expect them to have respect and discipline. What that student of yours has done is inexcusable." Liu Qingge's emotions changed faster than a blink of an eye. Changing from rage to almost indifference. Shen Qingqiu opened his mouth to say something but the words wouldn't come out. He understood that Qingge was outraged, but could he really lose his best student? He loved Binghe as if he were his own child. Could he even expel him because of this incident? The logical answer was yes, but did he actually have the heart to choose between Binghe and Qingge?

The lack of answer in fact answered Liu Qingge. He scoffed.

"Since you've got nothing to say, I'd prefer you leave my family and I alone. You've got no place in my life anymore." His words were icicles stabbing through Shen Qingqiu's heart. Just then, Mu Qingfang walked out.

"Qingge, A-Xuan is stable now." Qingfang smiled softly. Qingge felt relieved. He didn't look at Shen Qingqiu's sorry state, he really didn't care. Liu Qingge walked up to Mu Qingfang and pulled him in close.

"What exactly happened to him? What did you have to do? Will he be able to compete?" Mu Qingfang sighed softly.

"He suffered several injuries. He has a pretty severe concussion. It may lead to some memory loss. Temporary memory loss as far as we know," he paused to scan over Qingge's face before continuing. "We had to stitch up some deep cuts. And competing..." Liu Qingge didn't have to hear the rest. He knew it would be devastating for Yixuan.

"Qingge, how about you go home now? A-Xuan won't wake up anytime soon and," Mu Qingfang glanced over at Shen Qingqiu's sad excuse of a figure, "I think you may need to talk with him." Liu Qingge glanced over and gave Mu Qingfang an annoyed look.

As soon as he finished with Mu Qingfang, he made his way back to the sitting area. He pulled Shen Qingqiu up and dragged him outside. He wasn't light or soft about it either. The entire time Shen Qingqiu was pulled out, he was in pain.

Once they got out there was an awkward silence as Liu Qingge and Shen Qingqiu separated. Liu Qingge crossed his arms and waited. Shen Qingqiu rubbed his arm. Liu Qingge sighed, walked over, and grabbed his arm.

"Does it hurt?" He asked as he gently rolled up Shen Qingqiu's sleeve.

"Not much," a faint blush appeared and he looked askance. Liu Qingge hummed and rolled the sleeve back down. Then, they were back to that awkward silence once again. Liu Qingge didn't seem to have much interest, at least that's what his face showed. Shen Qingqiu was a nervous wreck.

"Shen Qingqiu," Liu Qingge finally said. Shen Qingqiu's head snapped up. However, Liu Qingge didn't continue.

What exactly was he going to say? It felt like forever since he'd gotten Shen Qingqiu alone. He didn't even know where to start. What would he ask? Would he even ask anything? Liu Qingge glanced at Shen Qingqiu's anxious face. He probably knew what he did wrong. He probably knew that Liu Qingge was upset. Maybe the silence was making it worse. Liu Qingge scoffed. Forget it. It wasn't worth talking about right now. Liu Qingge began to start walking.

With Shen Qingqiu, he was three seconds away from doing something that may make the situation worse. To him, after Liu Qingge said his name with that tone, his heart shattered again. He didn't even know that was possible! When Liu Qingge didn't say anything and just looked him up and down, he felt shivers down his spine. He knew he had to explain himself. He had to ask for forgiveness. He'd wronged Liu Qingge in so many ways, all for selfish reasons. Once Liu Qingge started walking he knew he had to do something.

"Shidi, wait, please!" Shen Qingqiu grabbed Liu Qingge's hand. Liu Qingge stopped and glanced down. He felt a warm feeling deep down in his stomach. However, just to be an asshole, he took his hand out of Shen Qingqiu's. He felt bad to see that face of shock and disappointment. But, Shen Qingqiu needed to understand that he had to figure out how to fix this entire situation. Liu Qingge cleared his throat.

"I hope that our personal conflicts won't disturb the workplace." He said indifferently and began walking again.

Shen Qingqiu watched Liu Qingge walk away. If some rain and sad music were added in the background, Shen Qingqiu would laugh at this situation. However, that wasn't the case. Did he actually mess up? It couldn't all be his fault. Surely there were some things out of his control...right? Tears found their way down his face. Was this it?

Could this situation get better? Could it even be fixed?