Work Text:
Fuck. This. Shit.
Wei Wuxian had spent the last five minutes of his life banging his fists against the vending machine that seemed to be so hungry it decided to eat the last of his coins. He exhales in exasperation, stretches out the muscles around his mouth to plaster the widest, fakest smile on his face as he caresses the bag of doritos out of his reach by a glass panel.
“Look, we had a trade offer where I’d give you the last of my coins and you’d give me the doritos I damn right deserve. So you’d better honour your end of the deal, alright, because this ain’t even capitalism anymore, it’s straight up daylight robbery.” Wei Wuxian raises his voice towards the end, borderline screaming at the machine with its stupid rainbow LED lights. He kicks the machine and shakes it one last time before walking away with a heavy sigh, resigning to his fate as a broke university student. The only saving grace in all of this was that there was no one else in the common area save for him.
So after an hour of Business and Society and lack of a brother (Jiang Cheng had skipped the first day of university, he probably pulled an allnighter watching some movie Nie Huaisang had wanted to watch together), marks the end of his first day of his second semester. Wei Wuxian practically sprints out of the campus, planning to just rot in his bed for the rest of the night. He needs to recover from the (half) day he just had.
He waits at the bus stop amongst the crowd of students, shaking his legs and bopping his head to the beat of the music playing on his Airpods. His heart soars when he sees the bus making its way toward the bus stop and puts his hand in his pocket to pull out his wallet.
Only to realise that his wallet isn’t in his pocket, and since his card is in his wallet, he doesn’t have his card with him. Shit. Wei Wuxian searches frantically through his back pockets and bag, hoping to find any leftover change but to no avail.
Just his luck, he really had to spend all his change on that damned vending machine.
He sighs heavily and looks up, dreading the thirty-minute walk he has to make to get back to his dorm until he feels a force against his back that has him lose his footing. He turns back and sees an irritated line of students wanting for their turn to get on the bus. He stares at the bus driver who tilts his head slightly, as if saying “What, you thought the bus ride was free?” and all he can do is grimace at his predicament. Suddenly, the idea of being swallowed whole by the earth seemed appealing to him. The next thing he knows, a voice rings into his right ear, "for the both of us" and he scans his card twice. He extends his arm towards the bus, prompting Wei Wuxian to hop in before he follows.
Wei Wuxian steps onto the bus and stares back at the raven-haired boy who paid for his bus fare. He didn’t recognise the boy at first glance, but then he sees the snaggletooth the boy flashes — the goddamn tooth that sets off all the alarms in his head and triggers his fight or flight like no other.
“Been a while, huh?”
He wants to throw up. Out of all people to run into on a shitty day like this, it had to be his ex.
He leaps off the bus as fast as he can and makes a run for it. As he hears the bus doors close and the sound of its loud engine fading out, the regret kicks in because now, he really has to make the thirty-minute walk back.
Anything that can go wrong will go wrong, right? Fuck you too, Murphy.
Anything was better than having to be face to face with Xue Yang again.
---
The apartment door bursts open and a beat Wei Wuxian falls to the ground upon taking off his shoes at the doorstep. Lan Wangji flinches, bowl of congee still in his hand and thankfully not on the floor.
"Wei Ying."
Wei Wuxian had met Lan Wangji a year back, through Nie Huaisang when he first moved to their high school a few months into their senior year. He had been assigned to the table next to Wei Wuxian’s and he saw that as his opening, his sign, to take this new kid under his wing.
So for months, he relentlessly tried starting conversations with Lan Wangji, from the differences between his previous and current high schools he’s noted thus far to sending him memes to keep himself awake throughout boring classes. The success rate of evoking a reaction out of Lan Wangji was approximately 8.33% (no, he totally didn’t do the math), and out of the 8.33%, 100% of them were either “Boring”, Pathetic”, or an occasional intensifier in front of either adjective.
That didn’t hinder him, though.
Until one fateful day where he saw a stuffed bunny fall off Lan Wangji’s schoolbag — if you told Wei Wuxian from even the day before that the smartest, coldest, most unironically hilarious guy who was voted #1 most likely to be a CEO in the future the way he had already got his shit together at the tender age of 17, has a soft spot for bunnies, he’d probably laugh in your face.
But such was his reality on that day, and Wei Wuxian mentally gave himself a pat on the back because that information told him exactly what he needed to do to be Lan Wangji’s friend.
He pulled a Pavlov on him. He remembered reading a Tumblr post where a girl got her crush to like her back by offering him the candy he really liked every day and after a while he’d get excited to meet her because she conditioned him to associate the candy with her. He figured he’d simply do the same, minus the crush and feelings part because he’s allergic to those. Wei Wuxian began bribing Lan Wangji with anything with rabbits on it every single day, knowing full well that Lan Wangji was leagues ahead of him in terms of wealth. To his surprise, it actually worked. Now, he gets more variations of reactions out of Lan Wangji, ranging from his “Mn”’s to his barely noticeable knitted eyebrows, the occasional “Shameless” and maybe the slightest raise of the corner of his mouth every once in a blue moon.
He thinks it's one of the world’s best unsolved mysteries how they managed to stay friends, let alone housemates (despite being able to afford an entire apartment’s rent, his older brother Lan Xichen insists that he needs to share a place with at least one other person because he knows that Lan Wangji’s social circle would be a single stickman representing himself otherwise). Through Wei Wuxian’s fluent Memeology, chronic oversharing and he quotes, Lan Wangji bullying him with the straightest face possible, Wei Wuxian still doesn’t know how Lan Wangji is able to tolerate being within a 5-metre radius from him but if there’s one good thing about Lan Wangji he can admit to, it is that he is probably the most honest and supportive person he’s ever known. At the end of the day, after acting on his severe impulse to annoy Lan Wangji at least ten times daily, he’s glad he went out of his way to befriend Lan Wangji back in high school.
Wei Wuxian would rather drink lava and sleep on a bed of Legos than tell that to Lan Wangji’s face though, because that’s too much vulnerability to display and why would he give anyone something to clown him over, that’s like shooting his own foot. Mushy gives Wei Wuxian the chills, anyway.
Regardless of all of the romantic media he consumes and the body pillow he hugs at night.
Wei Wuxian slams the door close with his back, still heaving. He had crossed paths with a lady walking her dog while playing Candy Crush on her phone who lost her grip on the leash, and Wei Wuxian swears for once he’s ran faster than the speed at which he avoids facing his emotions. Which was unimaginable. For a dead man, Murphy seemed to have a chokehold on Wei Wuxian on a Monday of all days.
“I had… to walk… all the way back... today.” he wheezes and puts his bag on the floor before plopping himself on the couch.
“I see.” Lan Wangji removes his apron and the lack of concern makes Wei Wuxian wish his congee would jump out of his bowl and spill all over the floor. Not like I want to talk about it, anyway.
Wei Wuxian sighs and thinks back to his misfortunes of the day. He tries recalling the last time he had seen Xue Yang. The last they had talked was when they broke up, three weeks before their second anniversary. As if his finals weren’t figuratively beating him up at every waking moment, the guy really had to create a whole scene about how Wei Wuxian doesn’t give him any time of the day and how he’s being treated like the dust under his shoes. The accusations sent Wei Wuxian over the edge because it took everything in him to get himself into the university, then he spent his entire first semester trying to balance between his studies, making new friends and spending time with Xue Yang that ended up draining him terribly, so yeah, no way in hell was he going to throw his aspirations away for a boy who never stopped for a second to consider how he felt. It had hurt, but he knew that future Wei Wuxian would thank him for coming to the decision to leave him.
“Wei Ying, are you okay.”
He sighs once again and gets back onto his feet and into the kitchen, where Lan Wangji is setting the table for the both of them. Wei Wuxian doesn’t have it in him to complain about the literal lack of taste in the bowl of congee on his side of the table, so he grabs the spoon and digs in, all while Lan Wangji observes him without saying a word.
“Wei Ying, would you like to talk it out?” Wei Wuxian sends a petulant glance across the table. sure, he isn’t being himself, but why does Lan Wangji want to know anyway? What does he get out of it?
“I bumped into my ex today...” Lan Wangji nods. Wei Wuxian never spoke much about Xue Yang to him, they aren’t the type of friends who would share personal details like this to each other, but he was there when he came to their group in tears about their break up, questioning if he did the right thing, so despite his lack of romantic experience, Lan Wangji knew as much as not to be insensitive when it came to this.
“Mn.”
“Yeah, I left my wallet in my room so he paid for my bus fare and I got off the bus to avoid him, and I couldn’t get on another bus cause remember, I left my wallet behind, then I got chased by a dog so I sprinted all the way back here.”
“Mn.”
Wei Wuxian grabs the first thing his hand reaches out for, which is a tissue box, and slams it on the table. “Lan Zhan! I literally bared my heart to you and that’s the reaction I get?”, he says, pouting. Go Lan Zhan give us nothing, he thought to himself.
“Well, is there anything I can do?”
Wei Wuxian opens his mouth to retaliate, then closes it when he realises that no, Lan Zhan can’t turn back time to remind him to bring his wallet with him.
“Lan Zhan you can be so fucking annoying sometimes, you know that?”, he says as he stuffs another spoonful of congee into his mouth.
Lan Wangji looks at him for a moment and sighs.
---
It is Wednesday when Wei Wuxian starts to wonder how many years of his lifespan he has to sacrifice in exchange for the ability to time travel. It goes without saying that he’s had a pretty shitty week, from being conned by a machine to running into someone he wished he never saw again.
He’s been on edge all week, to the extent of going to class wearing a pair of sunglasses and a mask. Yes, it’s a little much, and he probably attracted more unwanted attention if anything, but his exchange with Xue Yang reminded him of the things he wants to bury perpetually; the things that he isn’t ready to face head-on, and doesn’t plan on being ready anytime soon.
“Wei Ying, our lecture is indoors.” Lan Wangji sighs.
Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “Better safe than sorry.”
He insists on them going for their Art History lecture together and a part of Lan Wangji wants to head off on his own because one thing Wei Wuxian’s gonna do is going to arrive fashionably late (though, the first part is debatable), but back in high school Wei Wuxian had made him promise that they will go to their common classes together if they made it into the same university. And Lan Wangji keeps his promises.
Wei Wuxian walks back into his room, tosses the sunglasses onto his bed and walks back out into the living room. He grabs his bag from the couch and smiles impishly at Lan Wangji. “Let’s go, Lan Zhan.”
The two head out and they spend the next ten minutes walking in silence, mainly because it was 9 in the morning and Wei Wuxian deems it too early for him to function. They reach the lecture hall and settle down on the front row in the middle of the hall. Wei Wuxian takes his laptop out of his bag and skims through his notes. Their professor was already in the hall but with barely 10 students in the hall, he resigned and told the students to give it another five minutes before he starts the lecture. Wei Wuxian thinks that the day isn’t going so bad after all since he has company and even though they were late, they did not miss out on anything.
“Hey Wei Ying.” Xue Yang smiles at him and Wei Wuxian’s face falls.
“Uh, hi. And don’t call me that. It’s Wei Wuxian for you.”
“Fair enough. So what’s up? You kinda took off the other time.” Xue Yang tries, but Wei Wuxian isn’t in the mood for small talk, or rather, any talk with his ex-boyfriend.
“Yeah, I left something and went back to get it.” he grits out, I hate this course already, he thinks.
“Cool. Who’s this?”
Xue Yang gestures to Lan Wangji, whose presence Wei Wuxian forgets about until he mentions him. Unlike both Lan Wangji and Wei Wuxian, Xue Yang had attended a different high school. Wei Wuxian pauses, still glaring daggers at him.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Wangji calls and Wei Wuxian snaps to attention, grabbing Lan Wangji’s wrist and pulling him closer.
“This is Lan Wangji, my boyfriend.”
What.
“Oh, I didn’t know you were dating.”
“Neither did I,” Wei Wuxian elbows Lan Wangji to shut him up. Xue Yang extends a hand to which Lan Wangji ignores, too occupied with glaring at Wei Wuxian’s fingers around his wrist. “Um, so how long has it been?”
Wei Wuxian tears his eyes away from Lan Wangji (who is sure to kill him later) and looks straight at Xue Yang with the fakest, brightest smile he can muster, “Just a couple months actually, we got together in the summer and now we’re living together.”
Xue Yang nods slowly, lips pursed, “I see. Well, my friend Jin Guangyao is throwing a party this Friday and I wanted to invite you! You and your,” Xue Yang gestures to Lan Wangji, “boyfriend should come.” Wei Wuxian senses the discomfort in Xue Yang’s voice, and it gives a small part within him some satisfaction.
“Um, we’ll think about it! Well, class is starting, so see you around!” Wei Wuxian turns to face the professor, making it clear that he did not want to continue the conversation anymore. He sighs in relief and lets go of Lan Wangji’s wrist when he hears the sound of footsteps getting further away from him.
“What was that about?” Lan Wangji turns around to face Wei Wuxian squarely.
“I’m sorry, okay! I panicked!”
“We spoke of Xue Yang yesterday,” Lan Wangji continues, “and you did not discuss this with me beforehand.” Wei Wuxian leans in to shush him.
“You wouldn’t have agreed to it either way, right? Look, I just couldn’t think properly, okay? It’s a one-time thing, I swear.”
Lan Wangji sighs and closes his eyes, “Silence. The lecture is starting.”
Wei Wuxian stares at the projector in front of him and jots down notes angrily. Lan Wangji had to play along for less than five minutes and he barely said anything, so he doesn’t understand why he was so about it. “Come on, Lan Zhan, I’m not too bad of a fake boyfriend aren’t I? You didn’t even have to do anything so why are you complaining?”
“Wei Ying, what happens if we meet him again?”
“I doubt it since we barely hang out together anyway. I really hope so.”
“Mn,” Lan Wangji hums reluctantly. He turns his focus back to his notes.
---
Wei Wuxian’s Friday ends at 2 PM and honestly, it felt like he lived five weeks in a single week. He heads to the Starbucks in the campus library for a well-deserved, much-needed frappe after the amount of turmoil he went through all week. Lan Wangji’s classes end at the same time on Fridays, so they meet there when they finish. Lan Wangji walks up to the Wei Wuxian, who is happily sipping away at a table.
“Wei Ying,” He looks at the venti cup Wei Wuxian is holding and meet Wei Wuxian’s eyes, “Have you eaten anything today?”
“Come on, Lan Zhan,” Wei Wuxian rolls his eyes. “I’m perfectly fine.”
Lan Wangji gets up, grabbing Wei Wuxian’s wrist and storms out of the library.
“Lan Zhan, I swear to God if you make me drop my drink I will literally set fire to everything you love!” Lan Wangji turns back to Wei Wuxian, then continues to walk in the direction of their dorm, oblivious to the stares they were receiving from the passing students. They keep walking until they bump into someone. Wei Wuxian looks up and finds Xue Yang in front of them. Again.
“Oh, hey.” Wei Wuxian greets him.
Xue Yang looks at Lan Wangji, then back at Wei Wuxian, “You two good?”
“Huh? Oh yeah, he drags me around all the time, it’s not that deep.” Wei Wuxian lets out an awkward laugh and intertwines their fingers together. Lan Wangji freezes, breath caught in his throat.
“So, you coming to the party tomorrow?” Wei Wuxian completely forgets about the invite, unsure of whether or not he should take him up on the offer, because that means having to drag Lan Wangji there and pretending to be dating him in front of people he might know.
Lan Wangji’s eyes dart back and forth from Wei Wuxian’s eyes to their hands, unsure of what to say. “We have plans.”
“Oh come on, it’ll be fun! Just for a bit.”
“Maybe, if we feel like it.” Wei Wuxian says, desperately hoping for the conversation to be over. And if things couldn’t get any worse, a familiar voice sings out from behind Xue Yang.
“Look who we have here! What did I miss?” Nie Huaisang waves, skipping towards them. As he gets closer his eyes narrow at the two across Xue Yang, and Wei Wuxian follows his gaze down to his and Lan Wangji’s hands, still interlocked. “Uh, what’s going on-”
He releases his hand from Lan Wangji’s and desperately tries to communicate with Nie Huaisang through his eyes. Nie Huaisang notes Xue Yang’s presence and Wei Wuxian almost sees the light bulb go on above his head.
“Oh, hi Xue Yang.” Xue Yang waves back.
“Well I should get going, but I hope you two can drop by later.” Xue Yang jogs across the street, yelling out after a friend he finds walking nearby.
“So,” Nie Huaisang turns back to the two, “You wanna tell me what’s going on with the both of you?” he wiggles his eyebrows.
Lan Wangji huffs and Wei Wuxian groans. Nie Huaisang continues, ignoring the reactions from both of them, “You know, I always knew there was some unresolved tension between you two. To think I was planning a huge elaborate plan to get you idiots together but you guys did it on your own!”
“Shut up, Huaisang! It's fake, okay? And excuse me? Unresolved tension? Please. Lan Zhan loves me.” Lan Wangji heaves an almost inaudible sigh.
“Whatever you say, see you around lovebirds!” Nie Huaisang sings as he walks away, probably to find Jiang Cheng.
Lan Wangji turns to glare at Wei Wuxian, jaw slightly clenched.
Wei Wuxian glares back, “What, I didn’t think he actually goes here, okay? Trust me, he’s probably around visiting friends before that party.”
“Wei Ying, we will need to practise before we appear publicly again.” Lan Wangji states matter-of-factly.
Wei Wuxian is left speechless for a long moment, and not a lot can leave him speechless. Then, he starts, “Right, I mean we gotta show some physical affection but if you’re uncomfortable with that, it’s cool, I know your deal with physical contact and all…”
“Mn. We’ll discuss this later.”
---
“It’s my turn to pick!” Nie Huaisang squeals and grabs the controller, scrolling through Netflix.
Wei Wuxian mentally prepares himself for the worst; Nie Huaisang always makes it a point to pick a horror movie because it gives him an excuse to cuddle up with Jiang Cheng (not like they don’t without a reason, anyway). Jiang Cheng doesn’t mind, he enjoys Nie Huaisang’s company over anything, and Lan Wangji is hardly scared of anything. Wei Wuxian, on the other hand, despises anything to do with horror. The last time they watched a scary movie, he ended up sleep deprived for a week, and seeing Lan Wangji in the kitchen wearing white from head to toe at the crack of dawn didn’t make it any easier.
Jiang Cheng exits the bathroom and as soon as he sees Wei Wuxian, he grabs at his hoodie and shoves him into the couch. “What the fuck was that about? And don’t act stupid with me because you know exactly what I’m talking about.”
He rolls his eyes at the dramatic tone. Wei Wuxian hadn’t filled him in on his second run in with Xue Yang nor his impulsive decision to make Lan Wangji his fake boyfriend a few days ago. In his defense, he’d genuinely thought it would be a one-time thing, until today that is. “Hey! It’s not real, okay! We’re not dating! I didn’t think we’d bump into him again…”
“You’re so full of shit.” Jiang Cheng huffs angrily and falls back into the couch beside Nie Huaisang, taking out his phone and mumbling something about deleting his contact info as if Wei Wuxian didn’t already know that Jiang Cheng has his number memorised. Wei Wuxian decides to leave him sulking for a while, in return for ditching him on their first day of class.
After they settle on a movie, Lan Wangji comes into the living room with a bowl of popcorn for the three to share and a bowl of baby carrots for himself. “Tch,” Wei Wuxian mutters, “always so healthy.”
Halfway through the movie and about eleven jumpscares later, Wei Wuxian finds himself having scooted way closer to Lan Wangji than he remembers being. Surprisingly, Lan Wangji doesn’t seem to mind, gaze fixed intently on the screen. Wei Wuxian just wants the movie to be over, he covers his eyes with his hands most of the time but the sound effects alone are enough to have him screaming. He looks over at Nie Huaisang, whose arms are wrapped tightly around Jiang Cheng, head rested on his shoulder.
Must be nice, he thinks, meanwhile I’m stuck with fake dating a robot.
Just as he turns back to the screen, he forgets his hands aren’t covering his eyes and the scary apparition decides to mess with him by popping up on screen. Wei Wuxian lets out a shrill and buries his head in Lan Wangji’s arm, who needs an ego when his soul almost left his body.
He hears Nie Huaisang’s burst into laughter and curses himself in his head. Okay, maybe he should’ve needed his ego a little more. He springs back up and shifts to create more distance between him and Lan Wangji, bringing his knees to his chest in embarrassment.
After another hour of Wei Wuxian covering his eyes with his hands, only lowering them when he hears conversation between the characters, the movie is finally over.
“Guys, we were thinking of stopping by Xue Yang’s party for a bit, since we don’t really want to spend on takeout today.” Nie Huaisang says. “You lovebirds coming?”
“Nope! Not going. All hail Lan Zhan’s save, we’ve got plans!” Wei Wuxian sing-songs and turns to look at Lan Wangji, who nods slowly. “Mn.”
Wei Wuxian sees the couple off before settling on the couch with Lan Wangji. “Right! So! Back to business. You wanna talk about boundaries and actually learning more about each other?”
“Mn.” Lan Wangji pauses. “I’ll start.”
Wei Wuxian opens his mouth, then wordlessly nods.
“First,” he starts, “while I do not subscribe to the idea of physical touch, I am willing to cooperate if it is required in order for us to be perceived to be in a relationship, be it premeditated or spontaneous.”
It takes Wei Wuxian three seconds to decipher that sentence. “So… you’re saying you don’t like being touched but if we gotta do it to be convincing, you’d be okay with it?”
Lan Zhan clears his throat. “Mn. Second,” he continues smoothly, “I will not be willing to lie under any circumstances, as it would be immoral for me to do so.”
Wei Wuxian nods, and says after a beat, “Got it! Now time for the basics. Favourite colour?”
“Blue.”
“Really? Damn. I thought it’d be white since you scared me like, a bunch of times wearing all white early in the morning.”
“Mn. Favourite animal?”
“Turtles. Hey, don’t you wanna know what’s my favourite colour?”
“I already do. Red.”
Wei Wuxian dramatically brings a hand over his mouth, “No way, how did you know? Or was that a lucky guess?”
“You wear it a lot,” Lan Wangji points out. He scratches his head and lets out an embarrassed laugh.
“I like rabbits.” he says quietly, but Wei Wuxian already knows that.
They move on to discuss about how Wei Wuxian and Jiang Cheng became adopted siblings. He tells Lan Wangji about how he was an orphan and lived on the streets for three years, fighting tooth and nail with dogs over food scraps until the fateful day that Uncle Jiang saw him and immediately took him in, having recognised him as the son of Wei Changze and Cangse Sanren. Lan Wangji mentally notes his extreme fear of dogs.
“We should have a backstory.”
“Absolutely! How smart, Lan Zhan. You know how the best, convincing lies always have some truth in them? So what I’m thinking is we can tell people how you transferred to our high school during senior year, then you joined orchestra where I was first flute and immediately became first violin and someone spread the rumour that you placed first in every single exam ever since elementary school so you became the talk of the school until you graduated. And I wanted to be your friend so bad because I thought you were so cool! I mean I still do, anyway one day I found out your deepest darkest secret so I leveraged it, pulled a Pavlov on you and then you asked me out during summer break and here we are now, boyfriends living together and all. Most of that is actually true minus the last part so I think it’ll be convincing!”
Lan Wangji observes him for a second and says, “You are very prepared.”
“No shit,” Wei Wuxian says, “This is my reputation on the line here. Anyway! Back to physical touch, I’m gonna list down a bunch of them and you let me know if you’re okay with it or not.”
“Mn.”
“Cool. Starting off small, holding hands?
“Mn.”
“Even in public?”
“Mn.”
“Linking arms together?”
“Mn.”
“How about me putting my hand on your shoulder?
“Mn.”
“Kiss on the cheek?”
“Mn.”
“…lips?”
“… I haven’t done it before.”
It occurs to Wei Wuxian that he has never seen Lan Wangji get romantically involved with anyone and he does not seem to be the type of guy who goes around exploring these things with people.
“Don’t worry Lan Zhan, we’ll probably never have to do that in public! If we really have to, just mirror whatever I do and you’ll be good.” Wei Wuxian gives him two thumbs up.
“Mn.”
---
The following week comes and goes rather quickly, Wei Wuxian thinks it’s because they’ve done a good job at avoiding Xue Yang. Thanks to some snooping done by Nie Huaisang, Wei Wuxian learns that Xue Yang will only be in the university for an exchange semester. As creepy as it sounds, he knows pretty much when Xue Yang should be on campus, where his class is and therefore is able to work out a series of routes around the campus to minimise his chances of running into him. Fridays, however, does not make it easy to hide, since they have Plant Biology together and much to Wei Wuxian’s horror, Lan Wangji doesn’t.
Sure enough, Wei Wuxian runs into Xue Yang on the way there.
“Wei Wuxian, can I talk to you for a bit? If you don’t mind.”
“I actually have somewhere I need to be af-”
“It won’t take long, I promise.”
Before he can say anything, Wei Wuxian is whisked away by Xue Yang further into the empty hallway. “Make it quick.” Wei Wuxian folds his arms, his tone makes it clear that he doesn’t want to talk.
“I know you might still hate me, but I just... want to tell you that I’m sorry.”
Wei Wuxian huffs angrily, “Don’t you think it’s too late for that?”
“I… I miss you.” Xue Yang tries, a pleading look in his eyes, but Wei Wuxian is long past falling for that, internally cringing at the fact that he actually did at one point.
“That’s not gonna work on me anymore, Xue Yang. I moved on long ago. I thought you would’ve known by now.” He walks away, feeling Xue Yang’s stare on his back until he exits the hallway.
Wei Wuxian knows that Lan Wangji notices the dejected face he pulls when he enters the dorm but he doesn’t bring it up (thankfully). Jiang Yanli unsurprisingly gets up from the couch to greet him and lifts the bag off his shoulders, and he sees Jiang Cheng on the couch, scowling. “A-Xian, you’re back!”
“Shijie!” Wei Wuxian forces a smile and makes himself comfortable on the couch next to Jiang Cheng.
“What, you’re not gonna acknowledge my existence? Fuck you too Wei Wuxian.”
“Language, A-Cheng” Wei Wuxian sticks his tongue out at Jiang Cheng and the younger rolls his eyes.
Lan Wangji smiles at the sight and shuffles to his room.
“A-Xian, do you want to talk?” Jiang Yanli grabs the remote and turns off the screen, forcing Wei Wuxian to focus his attention on the pair of siblings.
“I bumped into Xue Yang again today.” he mutters, “He tried to apologise, said he misses me and all.”
Jiang Cheng shakes his head, “And your dumbass took him back?”
“Of course not!” Wei Wuxian retorts. He might have liked Xue Yang more than the other way round back then, but things are different now. He knew better than to give his heart out without reserve again. All he wants to do now is study his ass off, show Xue Yang that he’s moved on to better things like living his best life and that he’s happier without him, that he wasn’t enough to break him.
Jiang Yanli claps her hands together, “I’m glad to hear that, A-Xian. Come, I’ve brought your favourite lotus root and pork rib soup.”
The three spend the rest of their evening drinking bowls of their favourite soup while watching a C-drama. Jiang Yanli tells them stories from her workplace and Wei Wuxian particularly enjoys it when Jiang Cheng flares up at the mention of a certain co-worker, Jin Zixuan, and how he gave her a container of peeled lotus roots with bandages wrapped around his fingers. “Yeah, well,” Jiang Cheng tilts his chin up and crosses his arms, “is Jin Zixuan a Libra? Exactly.”
“So, how are you and that… Lan Wangji?” Jiang Cheng spits, and it sounds too natural that it almost goes over Wei Wuxian’s head. Almost.
“Lan Zhan isn’t my real boyfriend! We’re fake boyfriends!” he retorts. He doesn’t understand why Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang insist on some kind of conspiracy theory that they are actually dating and had planned to fake date to mess with their heads. In fact, him and Lan Wangji are probably the textbook opposite from a believable one and he’s just lucky that Xue Yang didn’t attend their high school.
“Whatever the fuck you say, why did I even bother asking in the first place.” Jiang Cheng hisses.
“What?” Wei Wuxian sputters and looks up. “What is this about, Jiang Cheng? We’re fake dating until the end of the semester to get Xue Yang off my back, remember? You can’t possibly think we’re pranking everyone with the fake date story…”
Jiang Cheng can only scoff, “That’s making top 5 of the stupidest shit I’ve heard from you, and I’ve heard a lot of stupid from you. If you make me elaborate I swear to God Wei Wuxian I will cut up all your clothes in your sleep.”
“Boys,” Shijie interjects, and they fall silent.
Mumbles of “sorry, shijie” and “sorry, jiejie” were heard from both sides.
---
There are only two types of people in the world, which are the early birds and nocturnal. Wei Wuxian happened to be the latter, so when he wakes up to incessant knocking on his door and a voice calling out his name over and over again, he grabs his pillow and throws it across the room.
He gets up groggily, losing his balance and almost tripping in the process because of the bane of his existence that is iron deficiency, and opens the door to see Lan Wangji at the door, all dressed up. Why did Lan Wangji wake him up at 9 AM on a Saturday, he would like to know.
“Lan Zhan! What was that for? You know I don’t wake up until 2 at the earliest on a Saturday.” he glares at Lan Wangji while rubbing his eyes.
“Wei Ying, your dentist appointment is at 10 AM.”
Oh.
Oh.
Wei Wuxian blinks rapidly, and then he registers what Lan Zhan had just said.
“Shit oh fucking hell Lan Zhan why didn’t you remind me last night you know I take an hour to get ready!”
After (barely) managing to put himself together in a record-breaking 42 minutes, Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji head to the dentist’s office. Between in Wei Wuxian’s own words, defrosting because God forbid anyone function properly before ten in the morning and trailing behind Lan Wangji because too early to function properly, Wei Wuxian double takes him — Lan Wangji was wearing a black button-up shirt with his shoulder-length hair tied up in a high ponytail. Wei Wuxian decides that he hates it. He hates Lan Wangji’s life choices today, not because he cared enough to remember about Wei Wuxian’s appointment and made sure he didn’t miss it, not because he looks bad in black, but because he was wearing black and fuck what Wei Wuxian said about black being a close second to red, it’s his favourite colour now and he does not want to think about how Lan Wangji looks like the most beautiful man he has ever laid his undeserving, gremlin eyes on.
The waiting time at the dentist’s office is nothing short of torturous. Catching himself staring more than once, he tries his best to avert his gaze to anywhere but Lan Wangji, distracting himself from the thought of him in that cursed outfit.
When the nurse finally calls his name, relief washes over him. He gets up, nods dismissively at Lan Wangji and slams the door behind him.
I hate him. I hate Lan Zhan. I hate Lan Wangji.
After his check-up, Lan Wangji tells him that they need to stop by the supermarket since they’re low on groceries. The two have never gone grocery shopping together before; it was usually either Lan Wangji who went himself or Wei Wuxian after classes.
Wei Wuxian thinks this might be a little too domestic for them.
“Let me push the cart!” Wei Wuxian pipes up as they walk into the market.
“Mn.”
They walk down the aisles as Wei Wuxian eagerly pulls things off the shelves at the snack section into the cart. Lan Wangji moves to take most of them out and places them back one by one as they continue down the aisle.
“Hey!” Wei Wuxian exclaims and grabs the bag of Doritos out of Lan Wangji’s hands. “Come on Lan Zhan, I wanted those!”
“Wei Ying, eating healthy is imperative to curb your lethargy,” he says as he takes back the pack and places it back on the shelf.
“I’m going to die either way.” he retorts, scrunching his nose in annoyance and Lan Zhan looks at him with an unreadable expression.
After gathering all of the things on their list, they stop to try some free samples. A woman stands behind a small booth, using a fork to spin strands of ramen and unspinning them into cupcake liners. They each grab one and much to his surprise, Lan Wangji hands his to Wei Wuxian.
“Is that your boyfriend?” she gestures to Lan Wangji who is cross-checking between the list and the items in the cart.
“Yeah,” Wei Wuxian answers absent-mindedly. When he registers what he had just said, he can’t help but notice how natural it felt to address Lan Wangji as his boyfriend. But they weren’t even supposed to be acting right now, heck they didn’t even practise. Lan Wangji rubs the top of his right ear, feeling it grow uncomfortably hot.
Lan Wangji steps closer to him he shivers when his lips get a little too close to his ears; it’s not the words he says but rather the proximity that makes him freeze. “Wei Ying, let’s go.”
---
Some days, Wei Wuxian wakes up feeling like utter shit. There isn’t anything to be pinpointed as the reason he feels that way, but today is one of those days. Even though he has been awake since 11 AM, he doesn’t get out of bed until well over 2 PM, bringing his body pillow with him and spreads out on the couch, hugging it.
Lan Wangji notices right away when Wei Wuxian puts on his comfort drama, only to sigh loudly five minutes later and turn it off.
“Wei Ying, what’s wrong?” Lan Wangji frowns, seating himself on the floor facing Wei Wuxian. The latter brings his body pillow closer to his chest and buries his face in it. Lan Wangji shakes his arms, prompting him to loosen his grip and is greeted with a messy-haired, red-eyed Wei Wuxian.
“Would you like to talk about it?” Wei Wuxian doesn’t know how to answer him, because he’s not entirely sure himself.
He can’t quite put how he feels into words; both the emotion and its cause. He isn’t particularly heartbroken or anything; he just feels sad. An off day for Wei Wuxian meant lesser noise to drown out the voices growing louder in his head. The events that transpired had gnawed at his self-assurance bit by bit, and now he finds himself blaming himself for everything he can come up with and overthinking his problems so much that it drove him to tears. He woke up feeling inexplicably shitty today, that much was obvious to Lan Wangji when he had nothing but a glass of water.
He settles for a soft, almost inaudible ‘I don’t know’ and stretches his arm to grab the pillow to cover his face again but Lan Wangji places it on the other couch and scoots up.
“Wei Ying, I’m sorry for being pushy, I must have startled you. You don’t have to talk about it now if you’re uncomfortable with it, but I want you to know that you are a good person and I will be here for you when you’re ready.”
“I guess the whole thing with Xue Yang is a part of it,” Wei Wuxian mumbles, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.
Wei Wuxian hates admitting that Xue Yang is part of the reason he’s feeling like the most fragile and vulnerable version of himself because that doesn’t sound like someone who’s moved on, which Wei Wuxian definitely has. But above that, he hates that he feels as though he has gone back to square one with the flashbacks of numerous incidents that made him question his worth all over again, if he ever meant anything to anyone, taking over his mind.
Lan Wangji stares at Wei Wuxian with that unreadable expression again, not knowing what to say for a while. “Mn. Like I said, I will be here, Wei Ying.” he reaffirms, trying not to sound pushy but hopes that he sounds inviting enough that Wei Wuxian might actually feel comfortable enough to share it with him if he decides to do so.
He stares at his fidgety hands for a long while, contemplating whether or not he finally wanted to talk about what really happened.
“I haven’t told you guys the entire story between me and Xue Yang…” Wei Wuxian admits hesitantly, still staring at his fingers.
Lan Wangji hums, waiting for Wei Wuxian to continue when he feels he’s ready.
He takes a deep breath before continuing, “So you know that Xue Yang was bugging me and complaining about me not having enough time to give him attention but I really wanted to do well for my finals and get into university, right? I thought I could make it up to him after finals but-” he swallows the lump in his throat down and tells Lan Wangji the truth, “I found out he cheated on me...”
Lan Wangji is silent for a while and Wei Wuxian doesn’t realise just how mad he is until he looks up and sees him practically seething with anger. It’s a little scary, even.
“Okay I know that sounds bad but you really don’t have to-”
Wei Wuxian rises from his spot when he sees Lan Wangji with his jaw clenched, looking beyond angry but with no plan in mind, he pats Lan Wangji’s back in attempt to calm him down.
“Aiyah Lan Zhan, it was a long time ago, I’m fine now. I promise.”
Lan Wangji huffs indignantly, “Then why were you crying?”
Wei Wuxian looks down again, “It- it happens every now and then, okay? I get these moments where I think about how I have never amounted anything to anyone and then I wonder if that will ever change. I know it’s weird to see me in this state, insecure and all but I am, I really am, I can’t help it some days. Lan Zhan, am I... not good enough?”
“Wei Ying,” his voice sharpens, softening when he sees Wei Wuxian wince. “You are the furthest thing from being inadequate. You’re intelligent, and the people around you care so deeply for you. You have no reason to doubt yourself because you are worth the world to me, and you will have me, always. While I can’t make you believe me...”
Lan Wangji continues on but Wei Wuxian has long zoned out, repeating those few words in his head over and over again.
You are worth the world to me.
He knows that Lan Wangji isn’t one to lie, but he didn’t trust himself to believe that those words actually came out of Lan Wangji’s mouth. Wei Wuxian can’t think of a time where he had heard Lan Wangji speak so much within such a short time. He can’t even think properly anymore, the overthinking had drained him and he just wants to go to sleep.
“You should go to sleep. Goodnight, Wei Ying.” Wei Wuxian nods numbly and slides down into his bed, pulling the covers over him. Lan Wangji stares at him for a few moments before getting up to shut the lights off and closes the door behind him.
---
Lan Wangji suggests that they should maintain some physical touch at all times, alluding it to his dislike for surprises and that it helps him desensitise should the need for their act arises. Wei Wuxian agrees, and they continue their act the following week, holding hands or either one of them holding the other’s back on campus. Most times they don’t cross paths with Xue Yang, but they figured it’s better to be safe since they can never be too sure of their surroundings. Practise, they claimed.
“Guys! Urgent news!” a voice shouts out from behind them and they turn to see Nie Huaisang running up to them.
“What’s up, Huaisang?”
“I, I just overheard Xue Yang and his friend-”
“You overheard or you were eavesdropping?”
“Doesn’t matter!” he pants, “Anyway, the guy, his name’s Su She or whatever, he was telling Xue Yang about how he knew you both from high school and that he thinks you guys are faking it because Lan Wangji didn’t even look in your direction back then. Apparently you two have been dating since summer yet all you do in public is, you know, hold hands so I think it’s starting to look a little suspicious to them. Also, you know the deal with Lan Wangji and his face, okay I don’t want to die in my sleep tonight but you get it. Don’t say I didn’t warn you!” Nie Huaisang says in a single breath, now panting even harder.
"Wei Ying, what did he mean?”
“What, about your face?”
“Mn.”
“Oh, you know, you just look like you think you’re better than ev-“
“Uh guys,” Nie Huaisang interrupts, “He’s coming this way.”
Wei Wuxian panics and grabs Lan Wangji’s arm, “Lan Zhan, do something!”
Lan Wangji hesitates, “Wei Ying, what would you like me to do?”
“I don’t know, hug me or something! Or kiss my forehead or-”
Wei Wuxian is cut off when Lan Wangji crashes their lips together, wrapping his arm around Wei Wuxian’s waist pulling him in. Wei Wuxian instinctively closes his eyes and presses his body against Lan Wangji’s. His lips are soft and warm, sending shivers down his body. He feels his knees going a little weak and breaks away, trying to steady his heart but to no avail.
They stay like that for a few seconds, Lan Wangji’s forehead pressed against his, both breathing heavily.
“Um...” Wei Wuxian doesn’t trust his voice to form words. He runs his hand through his hair, looking at the sky and clearing his throat.
“Where is he?” Lan Wangji asks. Wei Wuxian chooses to interpret Lan Zhan’s reddened ears and the slight tremble in his voice as a figment of his imagination.
“He turned around and walked away when he saw you two uh, making out. You know, you should consider giving me a heads up or something next time before you guys start eating each other’s faces out. Do you know how awkward it was for me to just watch you two go at it unprovoked?” Nie Huaisang says, shaking his head.
“I- We weren’t making out!” Wei Wuxian protests, face flushing red.
“Yeah, right. Have fun lovebirds!” Nie Huaisang snickers and shuffles away before Wei Wuxian can smack him.
Wei Wuxian continues to avoid Lan Wangji whenever they’re both at their dorm. At first, he thought the way his heart thumps against his chest whenever he looked at or even thought about Lan Wangji would go away eventually, maybe he’s just touch starved. But after days of gushing followed by groaning into his pillow every time he recalls the incident, he decides he is no longer capable of handling his emotions.
So that’s why he finds himself at Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang’s dorm, looking confused and somewhat afraid. Even though Wei Wuxian isn’t entirely sure himself, Jiang Cheng knows exactly why he’s there. After Nie Huaisang told him about what he overheard and how Lan Wangji had reacted to it, he had half-expected Wei Wuxian to come knocking on their door at any given moment.
“Is it,” Wei Wuxian starts slowly, “too late for you guys to adopt me?”
Jiang Cheng raises an eyebrow, “Is this about the kiss-”
Wei Wuxian glares at him the second he mentions the incident.
“Wei Wuxian, I get that you’re trying to avoid-” Wei Wuxian gives him the don’t say it look, “-that person, but you are being a piece of shit right now.”
Nie Huaisang rolls his eyes at him; for all the effortless, stellar grades he’s scored, Wei Wuxian is awfully slow in the emotions department. “I didn’t think I’d see you both get together in this lifetime and yet I’m still disappointed.”
“We aren’t together together, you know that!” Wei Wuxian reiterates, “And how could we? It’s not like he likes me that way. I don’t even think he swings that way.”
“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” Jiang Cheng sighs exasperatedly, “look, I don’t like Lan Wangji one bit, but anyone can tell he’s absolutely fucking whipped for you.”
“That’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard, Jiang Cheng.”
“Well, clearly you haven’t heard the shit you just told me.” Wei Wuxian frowns. He likes to think of himself as a serial flirter — if there was anything to catch onto, he definitely would have by now.
Jiang Cheng grits out, “If there’s one thing I don’t despise about that fucking guy with his attitude, it’s that he’s never failed you.”
Wei Wuxian bites his lower lip, not wanting to get his hopes up, he’s learnt the hard way that the only way to not be disappointed is to expect nothing at all. “Yeah but he doesn’t have many friends so I guess it’s easy for him to do that.”
“Do you remember the time when Wen Ning hurt his neck like two weeks before your orchestra competition?” Wei Wuxian recalls the neck injury Wen Ning had gotten back in senior year that prevented him from joining the state level competition.
“Lan Wangji had proposed for him to sit out the rest of the year. But what happened when you broke your ankle? You were worried he was going to do the same for you. And what did he do instead? He fucking argued with the teacher to retain you and even offered to push you on a wheelchair if he had to because he knew how much you wanted to go to that competition.”
Wei Wuxian remembers it clearly; he had been so devastated when he broke his ankle, and after seeing what happened with Wen Ning, he was sure he was going to be forced out of the band, or sit out on the competition at best. But the next practice, Lan Wangji walked in with a wheelchair and demanded that he sat in it while they ran through their rehearsals so that it wouldn’t inconvenience Wei Wuxian and he wouldn’t have to sit out on his last competition as part of the band.
Wei Wuxian looked at the floor, speechless because he couldn’t refute that and he couldn’t deny the difference in how Lan Wangji treated him.
“Did you forget how he goes out of his way to make sure you don’t miss your appointments and keeps you company the whole time? Fuck’s sake Wei Wuxian, put your brain cells to work for once, did he really have to do all that?” No.
“Think about your fake relationship. Lan Wangji is the same fucking guy who would probably kill me if I breathed in his direction yet he’s putting in the work to sell your stupid idea to the masses. Tell me, did he have to do that?” Jiang Cheng hurls. “Wei Wuxian, I’ve had more than enough of your bullshit for today so do me a favour and be honest with yourself about how you feel about him for once.”
Wei Wuxian thinks about all of the times Lan Wangji had been there for him, even most recently when he was in a slump partially over another guy.
You are worth the world to me.
Lan Wangji showed him that he cared every day through the little things, even those that Wei Wuxian is certain he missed. He usually doesn’t like bringing his problems upon people, and he’s learnt to keep them to himself because he knows that everyone has their own burdens and worries, but Lan Wangji sees through him on the days where the voices in his head, his inner demons, weigh down on him like a downpour, and he’s there to hold an umbrella to shelter him from them. And through it all, he’s been nothing but patient and respectful about it, always putting Wei Wuxian’s headspace and wellbeing first.
Wei Wuxian thinks about the way he feels around Lan Wangji. The kiss they shared. Unlike the times he’s kissed other people, there was no electric, sparks or fireworks in his stomach. It had felt so right; how their kiss felt like a warm hug embracing him, the way his body naturally leaned into Lan Wangji’s. He’s never quite had a home, but if he had to describe the way home feels, it would be when his lips meet Lan Wangji’s.
He thinks it’s okay to allow himself to feel emotions if it’s for Lan Wangji.
“Oh my god,” Wei Wuxian breathes, “I think I’m in love with him.”
Nie Huaisang breaks out into a grin, “There it is.”
Wei Wuxian runs a hand through his hair, “I guess you’re right.”
“Fuck you, took you long enough.” Jiang Cheng growls.
Wei Wuxian finally smiles, and then pretends to wipe a fake tear away, “What would I be without you.”
Jiang Cheng hisses, “You’d be nothing at all, Wei Wuxian.”
Later that night, Wei Wuxian sits on his bed, wrapped in his blanket. He starts thinking about Lan Wangji — the best person he knew, in so many ways. Wei Wuxian thinks that Lan Wangji’s intelligence is unmatched, finds him hilarious in his very own way, not to mention always so gentle with him, and if he were to get superficial, Lan Wangji is the person who looks like he was perfectly carved and fleshed out based off Wei Wuxian’s dreams and could make entire nations go to war for him. At least Wei Wuxian knows he would.
Lan Wangji is the person that his soul chooses, who he can only hope chooses his back.
Wei Wuxian pulls on the strings of his hoodie until it covers most of his face and wipes his sweaty palms on his hoodie. He lies on his bed, feeling the lump in his throat growing until he is unable to hold back on his bubbling emotions any longer and gets on his feet before he realises he will regret it.
He forces himself out of his room and knocks thrice on Lan Wangji’s door.
“Wei Ying?”
Wei Wuxian looks at him for a moment before barely managing to whisper, “Lan Zhan…”
Lan Wangji frowns. “Come in.”
Wei Wuxian follows Lan Wangji into his room and sits on the bed beside him, who scoots over to make room for the former. They sit in silence for several minutes, Lan Wangji observing Wei Wuxian and him being painfully aware of that, having to hold his breath in fifteen-second intervals in a desperate attempt to calm his heart down. Wait, I hope he can’t hear how loud my heartbeat is-
“Wei Ying?” he says gently.
“Lan Zhan, what are we?”
“Hm?” Lan Wangji looks up and Wei Wuxian is taken by how soft his eyelashes look against his sparkling, golden eyes.
“What... are we?” he repeats blankly, not trusting himself to elaborate and mess up.
“Well, we live together, so that makes us housemates.”
“No, I mean…”
“Wei Ying, is there something specific you want me to say?”
“Damn it Lan Zhan I’m trying to tell you that I think I’m in love with you and I want us to be actual boyfriends but you’re making this more difficult than it needs to be!” Wei Wuxian bursts, eyes shut tightly and fists clenched like he’s already prepared for rejection. He hunches his shoulders and buries his face into his hands, muffling his voice, “This is embarrassing, just reject me so that I can move on already...”
“Do you want me to? If you want to move on from me, I’ll let you.” Lan Wangji says, voice full of seriousness and looks at Wei Wuxian with that unreadable expression once again, but now Wei Wuxian is able to pinpoint exactly what it is — sorrow.
He never wants to see Lan Wangji with that expression on his face again.
Wei Wuxian gets flustered and covers his face with his palms, “Don’t look at me like that!”
“Like what?”
He bites his lip, “Like I might have a reason to be hopeful...”
Lan Wangji’s face softens. He grabs Wei Wuxian’s hands and holds them between his own. “Hm, so what would you like me to do?” Wei Wuxian is lost for words, so lost that he doesn’t even notice where his eyes are focused.
“Wei Ying, can I kiss you?” he whispers, barely audible.
Wei Wuxian’s breath hitches in his throat and nods nervously. Lan Wangji smiles, the corner of his lips curving slightly upward and he guides their lips together and places his hand on Wei Wuxian’s hip. He pulls away, breath ghosting over Wei Wuxian’s lips, and he can practically taste the tension; the longing. Wei Wuxian does not dare open his eyes, fearing that if he opens them, everything will be nothing but a dream, that all his feelings for Lan Wangji will have nowhere to go.
Lan Wangji notices the slight furrow on Wei Wuxian’s brow and pulls him tightly against his own chest. Wei Wuxian’s hands are in Lan Wangji’s hair now, threading and tugging a little too hard that it elicits a soft, low growl from him. Lan Wangji grips at Wei Wuxian’s shoulders and deepens the kiss. They kiss until they need to break for air, breathing fast and hard against each other.
Wei Wuxian is flushed from head to toe by now — his wide eyes and slightly parted lips now red and puffy — and Lan Wangji thinks he’s the prettiest thing he’s ever seen.
He softly caresses Wei Wuxian’s cheek and pecks his lips once more, “My Wei Ying.”
---
“Fuck, you guys are gross.” Jiang Cheng comments at the sight in front of him. The quartet are seated at a round table— Wei Wuxian and Lan Wangji sit across from Jiang Cheng and Nie Huaisang, and Jiang Cheng shudders with disgust as Wei Wuxian puckers his lips for Lan Wangji who is brushing the hair out of his eyes. Lan Wangji’s ears flush red and he retracts his hand immediately.
“Aw, Lan Zhan, you’re so cute when you’re blushing.”
Lan Wangji’s face softens, “You’re cuter, Wei Ying.”
Nie Huaisang chokes on his water, “I hope you guys find out you’re related.”