Chapter Text
Shen Yuan considered himself a rational person. He knew the Earth was round, that humans did land on the moon, and that many of the supernatural phenomena people report can be explained by perfectly mundane explanations.
And yet, the moment Shen Yuan laid eyes on his new neighbor, Luo Binghe, he became sure that he was not human. Luo Binghe was one of the most beautiful men Shen Yuan had ever seen with dark curly hair pulled in a high ponytail or falling down his broad shoulders, his face looked like it was carved from jade, and belonged on the cover of a romance novel, and his build was what Shen Yuan could call perfection.
He still remembers the first day they met. Luo Binghe in a tight tank top, and shorts so tight on those muscled thighs that it should be illegal looking at him with warm dark eyes, and asking in his deep, velvety voice, “Excuse me gege, would I be able to borrow a cup of sugar?”
Shen Yuan felt like he was in a trance as the beautiful young man at his door, stepped inside when Shen Yuan invited him in, the wafting scent of vanilla extract and cinnamon filled his nose as Luo Binghe walked past him to sit down on the couch while Shen Yuan went into the kitchen to grab some sugar.
“I really appreciate this gege, I was in the middle of making snickerdoodle cookies when I realized I ran out of sugar. Is there any way I can repay you?” Luo Binghe asked, his eyes bright as he looked over at Shen Yuan.
“N-no repayment is necessary, any good neighbor would help out” Shen Yuan replied, walking back out to the living room with the sugar packed in a ziplock bag.
“But my cousin always said a drop of kindness should be paid with a flood. Are you sure there isn’t anything I can do?” Luo Binghe asked, his dark eyes wide, his shirt stretched tightly over his generous, well muscled chest that Shen Yuan couldn’t look away from.
“Well if you insist perhaps I could taste some of your creations if you’d like?” Shen Yuan said, “My name is Shen Yuan by the way, and what’s your name?”
“I’m Luo Binghe, and it’s a pleasure to meet you Yuan-ge” Binghe said brightly, his smile almost blinding Shen Yuan, “I should head back to finish these up, but I’ll come by with cookies later. Have a good day.”
With the amount of redness on his cheeks, his heart beating fast, and his knees buckling as soon as the beautiful neighbor left, there could only be one explanation.
Luo Binghe was an incubus!
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“Gege, are you serious?” Shen Yingying asked, leaning over the table at their favorite boba place.
“Yes, my neighbor is an incubus. He’s beautiful, he has women coming in and out of his house all the time, and every time he comes over or I go over to see him, he’s in some state of undress” Shen Yuan said, trying hard not to think of the time last week where he came by to return the plate the delectable snickerdoodles Binghe made were on only for him to answer the door with dripping wet hair, and a towel loosely wrapped around his waist.
Shen Yingying sighed, and shot a text message to Shang Qinghua, her brother’s best friend, and in this case, her backup. She knew her brother could be silly when it came to his own feelings, but this was on a whole other level.
“And you think incubus because…?” she asked, taking a long sip of her drink.
“You just don’t get it meimei, you haven’t SEEN him. I guarantee if you did you’d fall under his spell too if a straight man like myself can be affected” Shen Yuan said, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose while Shen Yingying tried to not choke on her boba.
“I’m sorry, I think I misheard you gege. Can you repeat that?” she asked, rubbing her temple as she felt a headache beginning to form.
“I said I can guarantee you’d fall under his spell if a straight man like me could be affected” Shen Yuan said in the most matter of fact tone while he took a bite of one of the cream puffs they ordered.
Shen Yingying was about to say something when at last the cavalry arrived. “Sorry I’m late, my king and I were on a date and lost track of time” the brown haired man exclaimed, sliding into the seat next to Yingying.
“Yinging, seriously?! You called Airplane-bro!” Shen Yuan said, glancing at the other man.
“Well Er-ge is on his second honeymoon with his Qi-ge, Da-ge is at a business conference in America, and A-Die and A-Niang are visiting grandma in the countryside. I needed some back up” Shen Yingying argued.
“Yeah, so you think your neighbor is some sort of vampire or something? Doesn’t he meet you during the day?” Shang Qinghua asked, looking at the menu before typing in his order at the kiosk at their table.
“You can’t even get the species right, he’s an incubus! Look, you two just haven’t seen enough evidence or seen him” Shen Yuan said standing up, “I guess I should share my evidence board!”
“Evidence board?” Shen Yingying and Shang Qinghua said in tandem as the waitress dropped off Shang Qinghua’s order.
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Shang Qinghua knew his Cucumber-bro could get…passionate when it came to certain topics, but never in his life did he expect him to have a full blown conspiracy board with pictures, red strings connecting people, and copious notes scribbled haphazardly all over the board.
“Exhibit A, look at all the women coming and going from his apartment. Even the most desirable of human men couldn’t land some many beauties so clearly something else is at play like demonic compulsion or the innate sexual prowess of an incubus” Shen Yuan said, gesturing to the photos of the various women coming and going from Luo Binghe’s apartment along with photos from their social media.
Both Shang Qinghua and Shen Yingying stared at the giant wall of string, pictures and texts as Shen Yuan looked over his evidence. They both knew that Shen Yuan was blind when it came to anything involving his own emotions, but this was a whole new level of delulu that neither of them had seen before.
“And why are they his harem and not just friends?” Shang Qinghua asked as Shen Yingying looked at the photos closely.
“How can any woman be in the vicinity of a man as perfect as Binghe, and not immediately want to be with him? It’s not just because he’s beautiful, but he’s kind, caring, and incredibly smart. When I was working on some code he had pointed out a flaw that I missed, and it was something even an expert would miss. He also is a phenomenal chef, the other day he came over, and made congee because I was sick.”
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Shen Yuan had been in bed most of the day fighting a fever and body aches. He had pulled several all-nighters for the project he'd been working on for a client, and it had finally come to bite him in the ass. He can still hear Jiu-ge’s scolding ringing in his ears from earlier, and he was so thankful that his husband’s job kept them several hours away otherwise the worrywort of an older brother would be on his doorstep to mother hen him into oblivion.
He let out a wheezy chuckle at the thought when he heard a familiar knock on the door. Ever since the borrowing of the sugar, Luo Binghe had become a constant in Shen Yuan’s life. He’d stop by with a new culinary creation he was working on, and Shen Yuan, lover of all sorts of tasty food, was happy to be his guinea pig. Other times he’d come over with a trash drama to watch with Shen Yuan just to see him tear it to pieces verbally.
While his body yelled at him to stay in bed, and Binghe would head back to his apartment if he realized Shen Yuan wasn’t answering, the disappointed face Binghe would sometimes make should Shen Yuan scold him whenever he said something ridiculous like he had nothing better to do than to hang out with his second gen neighbor, Shen Yuan couldn’t bear to put that look on his face.
When he shuffled to the door and answered he felt his heart leap in his chest. He must be sicker than he thought for his body to respond in such a way, but perhaps it could also be his neighbor standing in front of the door in a pair of sweatpants that showed off his perfect ass, and what he can only describe as his heavenly pillar.
“Yuan-ge, I hadn’t seen you around for the past few days and I was starting to worry about you. I made some congee to help you feel better in case you were sick” Luo Binghe said, his face full of worry as he leaned down, and rested his forehead on Shen Yuan’s, “you feel warm, let’s get you back into bed. Allow me to take care of you.”
Before Shen Yuan could properly form a sentence after his brain shut down at seeing Luo Binghe in such a scandalized state of dress, the younger man scooped Shen Yuan into his well toned arms, carrying him into the bedroom like a new bride.
“Yuan-ge doesn’t need to lift a finger, I’ll take care of everything” Luo Binghe said, his voice low and warm which did all sorts of things to Shen Yuan’s stomach. If it weren’t for feeling sick he’d swear Bighe’s demonic thrall was affecting him.
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“Bro, and I’m going to hold your when I say this” Shang Qinghua taking Shen Yuan’s hand in his, ignoring the glare being shot his way, “but I’m pretty sure you’re just gay.”
“No I’m not, I’m straight. I dated that one girl in uni. You remember her right?” Shen Yuan said, his cheeks turning bright red at the accusation.
“Gege, that girl barely counts, you went on two dates, kissed once, and then you both ghosted each other” Shen Yingying said, plucking one of the photos from the board.
“Hey, I worked hard to set that up to keep track!” Shen Yuan yelled, diving for his sister after breaking from Shang Qinghua. Shen Yingying was able to dodge him gracefully. Those rhythm gymnastic lessons came in handy.
“I know your gaydar is perpetually broken, but be serious with me, you didn’t notice that all these women are gay” Shen Yingying sighed out, tapping on the picture of one of the women who was decked to the nines in designer brands and tasteful gold jewelry, “she’s literally wearing the double Venus sign necklace.” She then pointed to the picture of a pair of girls walking out of Binghe’s apartment, one in a red crop top and jean short shorts while the other girl was more moderately dress with a face mask on, “That one the girl in red literally has her hand in the face mask girl’s back pocket. The face mask girl even has a carabiner looped on her jeans and has the lesbian manicure.”
“That’s just a stereotype meimei” Shen Yuan said with his arms crossed, “I know A-die and A-niang didn’t raise you like that.”
Shen Yingying was on the verge of smacking her idiot brother when she noticed some interesting photos on the board. Scattered amongst the pictures of the clearly gay women, and several flattering shots of the so called “incubus” in various outfits that consisted of tight shirts and even tighter pants (one where he was wear a midriff showing shirt), were several pictures of young men leaving the apartment who all look suspiciously familiar.
“Why are there pictures of you up here?!” Shen Yingying asked, which caused Shang Qinghua to look over to them as well with a gasp.
“Those aren’t me, those are Binghe’s minions obviously. Any good incubus would have minions” Shen Yuan stated, adjusting his glasses.
“Bro, they’re literally coming out of his house with hickies on their neck, and one of them has rope burns on his wrists!” Shang Qinghua exclaimed, pointing out two pictures on the board. Shen Yuan shifted a bit, his chest feeling oddly tight, and a burning sensation was creeping up his throat.
“They do look a lot like you gege” Shen Yingying chimed in which she noticed a blush creeping up her brother’s neck and cheeks. Shen Yuan cleared his throat and said, “It’s getting a bit stuffy in here, I’m going to get some air.”
Shang Qinghua and Shen Yingying exchanged a look as they both stared at the retreating back of Shen Yuan. “I mean I knew Cucumber-bro was deep in the closet, but this reaction takes the cake.”
Shen Yingying hummed in agreement, glancing at the photo of the woman in gold jewelry still in her hand. “Perhaps we should help gege realize how silly he’s being, and score him a boyfriend. You go out and check on him, I have a lead to follow. I’ll keep you posted on the next steps.”
Shang Qinghua nodded before following Shen Yuan out to the patio while Shen Yingying left to start their plan. Operation Break Shen Yuan Out of Narnia had officially begun.