The mythological origin of the red string that Hua Cheng uses to link himself to Xie Lian is pretty well-known: the story goes that a lunar deity is responsible for tying red strings around couples, who’d then become destined lovers. The red string is commonly called “the red thread of fate,” it is the invisible but unbreakable bond between people fated to fall in love with each other.
What should be noted is that in Chinese mythology, people are the passive receivers of the red thread of fate; their destined romantic partner is pre-determined by the arrangements of the lunar deity. But in Hualian’s case, the red string is technically Hua Cheng’s own invention; Hua Cheng actively, and by his own volition, creates an invisible but unbreakable bond between himself and Xie Lian. I will come back to this point later.
To understand the whole idea of “the thread of fate” more fully, I need to introduce the concept of 缘 (yuan). 缘 is a Buddhist term and there’s no equivalent word in English, but it is an important concept to take note of because it’s used countless times throughout the text of tgcf, and it’s a keyword of Hualian’s relationship.
缘 originally means “hem of clothes”, but later came to represent the invisible thread that connects people. If you have 缘 with another person, then the two of you have a natural affinity, which means you’re bound to meet sometime and form a connection, even if you’re continents apart at present. While if you don’t have 缘 with someone, then alienation is destined between the two of you; you may never end up friends even when you’ve lived in the same building for ten years. And there’re many types of 缘 – there’s auspicious 缘and there’s inauspicious 缘 (and many other kinds of 缘 in Buddhism that we won’t go into here). 缘 is as abstract as it is magical.
Now where does 缘 come in in Hualian’s relationship? When Xie Lian run into Hua Cheng after his third ascension, and then Feng Xin and Mu Qing both grew massively suspicious of Hua Cheng, Xie Lian said to Feng Xin and Mu Qing:
This is my last sunrise in Phuket. I leave for Bangkok tomorrow. And you! Why couldn’t you come with me?
Don’t be mad. I just wanted more time at home.
“What you said… for you, no one could ever replace me… I just want to tell you that, for me, no one can ever replace you too. I still want to see you every day. I want to see your smiley eyes. I want to see your dimples when you smile. I want to know how you’re doing. Are you doing alright? I miss you.”
They had to pull back for air. Louis surveyed the guy’s face, in awe of his blown pupils and sharp jawline, the way their shared spit glistened on his lips.
“Hi,” he breathed. He blinked, and came back to himself a little bit, blushing at his own boldness. “Sorry. Is this okay?”
The stranger removed his right hand from the curve of Louis’ waist in order to cup his jaw, tilting it up to the angle he desired. He pressed their lips together, murmuring, “Definitely.” And then he kissed harder.
When Louis sees his ex-boyfriend kissing a random girl at a party, he acts out of blind jealousy. He kisses the first guy he can find. It turns into a thing.
tags: alternate universe - college/university, alternate universe - fraternity, frat boy harry styles, nerd louis, kinda?, fake/pretend relationship, kissing, rugby, falling in love, pining, boys in love, fluff, smut, strangers to friends to lovers