Chapter Text
Wei Yuan felt absolutely exhausted. He and his father had gotten up at four in the morning, and while the teenager didn’t regard himself as a night owl, even he’d had trouble waking up that early. Hanguang-jun had come to their house at around half past five, and together they’d driven to the airport. They got there almost two hours before their flight was scheduled, but with how busy it was, that was probably a good thing. The place was quite literally packed to the brim with people running to and fro!
After some time it became obvious that the second jade was feeling uncomfortable. He didn’t actually say anything, but his tense shoulders and the way he kept gritting his teeth were as clear an indication as any. The teenager could relate on a spiritual level as he too found the crowd slightly overwhelming, but he was honestly more apprehensive for the journey itself. Wei Wuxian didn't travel by flight all that often, and it had been years since he brought his son along for a trip. The last time they'd taken a vacation abroad, Wei Yuan had ended up getting lost at the airport. The six-year-old him had gotten it into his head that his father had abandoned him, and after that incident little A-Yuan had experienced nightmares for months.
He didn't remember much about the flight itself, but from what he could recall it had been loud, cramped and overall unpleasant. A-Die occasionally also liked to regale the tale of how he'd supposedly asked the flight-attendant why they'd put rubber-soles on their plates instead of food, but Wei Yuan had no memories of any such happenings. Still, he was glad to know that their current flight would be short enough to make dining unnecessary.
The boy’s nerves hadn’t settled much by the time they boarded the plane. On the contrary, they’d gotten even worse!
He’d taken a seat by the window while his father sat to his right. Wei Wuxian man must’ve seen some sign of distress despite the fact that Wei Yuan tried to hide his anxiety, for as soon as they were situated, he’d offered his hand and a reassuring smile. The teenager had felt a bit childish for clinging to his father like a frightened toddler, but he'd accepted the comfort nonetheless.
Hanguang-jun appeared to have made a mistake when booking his ticket, which sadly led to him being seated three rows in front of them. Instead of having his future step-dad sit with them, an older, fairly large man who smelled like a foul mix of body-spray and sweat got situated beside Wei Wuxian.
The stench their fellow passenger omitted was unfortunately only one of the things that made Wei Yuan feel agitated during the trip. A harried mother with a baby and an eight year old sat directly behind them. The kid kept kicking the back of Wei Yuan’s seat whenever his mother looked away and the baby kept screaming during most of the trip.
Usually, something as mundane as a noisy infant didn't face him. Wei Yuan liked to think of himself as a fairly patient guy, but his nerves were already frazzled. Coupled with the irregular knocks against his back, the foul smell permeating the air and his ever growing feeling of claustrophobia, the noise was simply the tip of an iceberg made entirely of discomfort. The longer they sat on the plane, the more he found himself wishing that they'd chosen to go by sword instead. It may have taken a lot longer and been a lot more tiring, but it would've caused him infinitely less stress.
Once they finally arrived in Chiang Mai, the teenager was quite eager to get off the plane. Wei Wuxian appeared to feel the same way, for he practically sprung from his seat as soon as he was allowed to.
Entering the airport and gathering their luggage didn't take all that long, but finding Hanguang-jun proved to be a problem. They'd lost sight of him shortly after exiting the aircraft and didn't catch so much as a glimpse of him while looking for their bags.
The Lan-heir ended up finding them after Wei Wuxian gave him a call. They met up at the taxi station, and now that Wei Yuan felt a bit more awake he was able to process the man’s appearance.
As per usual, Hanguang-jun was dressed immaculately. The outfit he wore consisted of long black pants and a blue long-sleeved shirt. The poor soul seemed to seriously be contemplating his choice of wardrobe, though, judging by the light sheen of sweat on his forehead and his red ears.
Wei Yuan felt bad for him, but he also couldn't help but wonder why Hanguang-jun had chosen to dress up like he was heading to the courtroom while on vacation. Did truly he have nothing but formal garb in his wardrobe? It was probably a good thing that he lived in the relatively cold region that was Gusu, otherwise he’d have died from heat stroke years ago!
Wei Wuxian took one look at his future husband and sighed heavily.
“Please tell me you brought something cooler than that, Lan Zhan. If you didn’t, you’re probably going to end up fainting before we even reach the hotel.” Hanguang-jun tellingly averted his eyes before muttering:
“Can’t say that. Lying is forbidden.” Wei Yuan pinched the bridge of his nose while A-Die shook his head.
“I thought something like this may happen, but I really hoped I was just being paranoid. Lucky for you, I planned ahead in case of emergencies. Here!" He reached into the pocket of his shorts and fished out a crumpled qiankun-pouch. It was promptly tossed at the second jade who caught it with a raised eyebrow.
“Head to the bathroom and change. The two of us will be waiting here until you get back.” Lan Wangji tilted his head questioningly but complied without protest. Once they were alone, Wei Yuan looked at his father and asked:
“What exactly was in that bag?” A-Die shrugged and started counting on his fingers:
“If I remember correctly I packed three sets of clothes for each of us including sandals. I also packed sunscreen, hand sanitizer, wet wipes, safety pins, a few bottles of water, some cash, tissues, a comb and a first aid kit.” The teen watched his father in silence for a few moments before eventually asking:
“Why exactly did you pack a bag of essentials? This is supposed to be a vacation, not a survival test!” Wei Wuxian rubbed his nose sheepishly and replied:
“Well… Let’s just say that when you’re a lone parent dealing with small children, you learn to plan for eventualities lest you get stranded at some no-name train station at two in the morning clad in nothing but a bath robe.” … Why did it sound like there was a story behind that statement?
Since Wei Yuan didn’t want to know what sort of shenanigans his father had gotten involved in, he chose to ask another question that had been sitting on the tip of his tongue.
“How did you manage to sneak the pouch past security?”
“The same way I managed to smuggle porn past my teachers back in high-school,” his shameless father said with a completely straight face. Well, that was decidedly unhelpful.
The teenager knew how to take a hint and refrained from asking further questions. If Wei Wuxian didn’t want to tell someone how he’d managed to do something, he could lead the conversations in circles to the point where you forgot what you’d even asked in the first place. Wei Yuan felt tired enough already - he did not need to contort his brain to follow along with A-Die’s mental gymnastics.
They chatted about tourist attractions and things they wanted to see for a while before Lan Wangji finally returned. The man was dressed in a pair of jeans shorts and a light, short-sleeved shirt made of cotton. He looked distinctly less uncomfortable which made Wei Yuan quite happy. What didn’t make him happy, however, was the way his father kept ogling the second jade’s calves. He elbowed the man in the ribs and before pointedly clearing his throat.
“Let’s go find a taxi.” He put on a mask of false cheer, but inside he couldn’t help but shrivel up a tiny bit. Don’t get him wrong; he was really glad that his father had found someone who genuinely seemed to love him. Wei Wuxian had gone through a lot in his life, and he truly deserved everything good the world had to offer.
That being said, Wei Yuan couldn’t help but feel a bit weirded out when he saw the man who’d raised him eye his boyfriend like a piece of meat. The fact that said boyfriend was one of the most sought after cultivators in the Jianghu didn’t exactly make things better.
(To be honest, he still struggled to comprehend the fact that Hanguang-jun had tried to enter an arranged marriage with his father. Wei Wuxian may be one of the best men on the planet, but he was very, very different from the second jade. Oh well, perhaps there was some truth to that old saying about opposites being attracted to one another…)
Lan Wangji hummed in assent, which in turn seemed to bring A-Die out of his horny stupor.
“Yes. We should totally do that. We need to find a taxi in order to get to the hotel. Remind me again; did we book a room for three?”
Wei Yuan groaned loudly and hid his face in his hands. It was going to be a long week…