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“Didi, are you sure you don’t want to celebrate your birthday this year?” Lan Huan asked Lan Zhan, his voice slightly distorted.
“Mn.” Lan Zhan replies, and he hears his brother making affronted noises from the other side of the phone.
“But why?!”
“Because I do not wish to?”
“Didi,” Lan Huan sighs, “your birthday comes only once a year.
“I am aware of that.”
“And you don’t want to celebrate it?” Lan Huan asks despite already knowing the answer. Lan Zhan should be used to this by now. He should be used to his brother confronting him annually and demanding that he celebrate his birthday, but Lan Zhan still finds himself annoyed. On the bright side, now he knows how to placate his brother. Kind of. “Come now, we haven’t celebrated since you were thirteen. You’re thirty-three now, Didi, and you still won’t celebrate?”
“No.”
“Why?!” He says again, and Lan Zhan doesn’t hold back on rolling his eyes. His brother can’t see what he’s doing anyway. He can just hear his voice.
“Because I don’t want to.” Lan Zhan is so tired of this discussion. He supposes that he’s lucky that he only has to go through with it once a year, but once a year is still one too many.
“So you’re never going to celebrate?” Lan Huan exclaims. “Like never? Never ever?”
“I do not plan to.”
“Oh, Didi.” Lan Huan sounds heartbroken. Lan Zhan always thought his brother was a drama queen. He knows his brother has a reputation of being the perfect and gentlemanly heir of the Lan Corporation, but his brother can be so childish sometimes. Lan Zhan curses the fact that he’s one of the few who have to deal with this shameful side of his brother. “I have so many plans for your birthday. We could be going abroad.”
“Don’t want to.”
“Eat at the finest restaurants. Abroad.”
“Don’t want to.” Lan Zhan’s brow twitches.
“Scavenge for the finest of literature. Abroad.”
“I feel that there is a trend in your suggestions, Brother.”
“Ah, you’ve noticed?”
Lan Zhan sighs. “I do not wish to go abroad. If you want to do something for my birthday, send me some books.”
“I send you books every year. I still don’t understand how you still have space in your apartment for more. It’s practically a library at this point.”
“I enjoy it.” Lan Zhan enjoys collecting books. It is a more practical way of spending money compared to celebrating his birthday. Knowledge is useful for the most part. Lan Zhan walks through a door, which causes a bell to chime. As soon as he walks out, he hears the pittering of rain. Lan Zhan curses. He swears that it hadn’t been raining just a few minutes ago.
“Didi, what are you doing?”
“Grocery shopping,” he replies. He isn’t surprised to hear his brother’s indignant sputtering.
“On your birthday?!”
“My birthday is like any day,” Lan Zhan said. He had reminded Lan Huan of this fact every year, but it seems that his brother still does not understand. “And shopping does not wait for anyone.”
“You could have just stayed home and rested,” Lan Huan tells him as though Lan Zhan was not aware. “You have a day off. Do something special. You’ll be coming back tomorrow, and we’ll be having a meeting.”
Lan Zhan’s patience has run out. “I will be hanging up now. Goodbye, Brother.”
“Oh. Okay. Goodbye, Didi. Happy birthday!” Lan Zhan doesn’t hesitate to hang up.
Lan Zhan stands beneath the white, waterproof canopy of the grocery store. It’s a flimsy thing, and Lan Zhan can barely believe that it’s what’s protecting him from an onslaught of water from who-knows-where. He curses his luck. Lan Zhan swears that the forecast expected clear skies for the whole week, and this storm had come so suddenly that Lan Zhan had not prepared for it.
He has no umbrella.
No car since he had walked to the grocery store.
Just his phone, his wallet, and his fabric bag full of groceries. Not plastic because Lan Zhan cannot bear the thought of harming animals.
Lan Zhan sighs. It looks like he’ll have to call his chauffeur today.
He was about to dial for the man, but the sound of melodic laughter stopped him in his tracks. He turned to his right and saw a man skipping and dancing out of the grocery store’s door. He was wearing a red coat so big that it practically engulfed him. He looked like a dancing apple with his long, dark hair tied in a red scrunchie. With his back turned to Lan Zhan, he reached into one of the coat’s pockets and pulled out… an umbrella. A black one.
To say Lan Zhan was prepared for anything would be an accurate statement. He watched the news everyday, read articles about what’s going on in the world, and made a hobby to be prepared for anything. Hell, he’s even made preparations for a zombie apocalypse and an alien invasion after assessing how likely both events would be. Somehow this storm had caught him off guard, and seeing how that man had been prepared for an unforeseeable storm made Lan Zhan feel respect towards him.
The man talks to himself, and Lan Zhan listens in. Lan Zhan doesn’t have a habit of eavesdropping, but the guy isn’t exactly quiet. “And Jiang Cheng said that carrying an umbrella around is a stupid idea.” The man says, giggling as though he had said an exceptionally funny joke. “Who’s stupid now, Cheng Cheng? You! You always were, my stupid little brother.”
Lan Zhan watches him intently. The man stands out in this gloomy place filled with greys and blues. He’s a bright red, and Lan Zhan can’t help but think that red really matches this man’s personality. Whatever that means.
The man takes hold of the small, compressed umbrella. It’s one of those umbrellas that have an extendable base. Lan Zhan prefers umbrellas that don’t extend because they tend to be more sturdy and longer lasting. The man presses onto a button on the side, and Lan Zhan assumes that the button is supposed to make the handle longer. It seems that the button doesn’t work, and Lan Zhan sees the stranger’s shoulders sag.
“It… It seems to be a little stuck.” The stranger lets out a self-deprecating laugh, and Lan Zhan feels his chest tighten. “I just need to open this…”
The stranger tinkers with the umbrella for a bit, hoping to get the handle to extend somehow. After a while, Lan Zhan can’t take it. He walks up to him. “Would you like some assistance?”
The man is started by the sudden voice. “Ah!” The man yells, snapping his body toward Lan Zhan. The umbrella, finally, extends, and the top inconveniently hits Lan Zhan directly on the crotch. Lan Zhan unsuccessfully tries to hold in a wheeze as the umbrella is pushed further into his crotch. Fuck. “Ooh…” The stranger hisses. “Right in the baby maker.”
Lan Zhan curls up and places a hand on his crotch. He tries to look up to the man, but the pain he is currently experiencing renders him as useless. He wheezes. The stranger makes a strangled noise, as if finally realizing that he had really hit Lan Zhan in the balls. “I—” He begins. “I’m so sorry, sir! Let me help—Oh shit.”
As if the world decided that Lan Zhan wasn’t suffering enough, the stranger accidentally drops the umbrella. It falls into a puddle, the only puddle under the store’s canopy, and the water splashes high enough to dampen Lan Zhan’s pants. Around the crotch area. The area around Lan Zhan’s crotch is darkened with water, and considering Lan Zhan had a hand gripping for dear life on his crotch, Lan Zhan can safely assume that once he takes off his hand, there will be a hand imprint.
“Oh my fucking—I am so, so sorry,” the stranger says. When the pain finally subsides, Lan Zhan looks up. Holy fuck.
The man’s laugh had been the thing that attracted Lan Zhan’s attention, along with the man’s outrageous yet charming fashion sense. Lan Zhan was rendered speechless. Who gave this man the right to look this attractive?
Holy fuck.
Whatever complaints Lan Zhan had died on his tongue because this man was just too pretty. Silver eyes looked at him with concern, and Lan Zhan swore that his ears were burning. When those eyes met Lan Zhan’s, they widened. The man frowned. To Lan Zhan, the look almost looked regretful, and though Lan Zhan was as unmaterialistic as he can get, he doesn’t want this stunning man to frown. An expression like that doesn’t suit the man’s face.
“God damnit, Wei Ying,” the man says, and Lan Zhan thinks that he’s talking to himself again. And Wei Ying? What a cute name to go with a breathtaking face. “Why are you so bad at first impressions?” The man shakes his head, and his regretful expression fades away, replaced with concern once again. “Anyway, uhm, that was my umbrella that had hit your… Junk… I mean, it’s not junk, it’s your crotch, but we call it junk. So my umbrella had hit your junk…”
“Your umbrella had hit my junk,” Lan Zhan repeats.
“Uhm, yes.” Wei Ying nodded, further confirming that he had, indeed, hit Lan Zhan’s junk. “Nice to meet you, I guess. I’m Wei Ying, and I’m really sorry.”
“You did not mean to… hit my junk.”
“Yes, I didn’t mean to hit your junk, but I know how much it hurts when you get hit in the balls from experience.” Oh? This man had experience getting hit in the balls? “Anyway, I gave you my name. What’s your name, Mr. Beautiful Stranger?”
Lan Zhan chokes. “Beautiful?”
Wei Ying smirks. “The most beautiful.”
Lan Zhan thought that his ears couldn’t get any warmer, but it seems that he was wrong because they were on fire. “Shameless…” He mutters without any true heat. “My name is Lan Zhan.”
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying repeats, trying it on his tongue. The heat of Lan Zhan’s ears subside, and he finds that he really likes his name said in the stranger’s voice. “A pretty name for a pretty person. It sounds familiar for some reason though.”
Wei Ying looks down and grimaces when he looks at Lan Zhan’s pants. “Anyway, I ruined your pants! They seem expensive.”
“Not a problem.”
Wei Ying vigorously shakes his head.
“No! You dress like you’re going somewhere important, and you probably are.” Lan Zhan is dressed like he usually does. He doesn’t know what this stranger is talking about. He looks at his clothes and supposes that, yes, perhaps a long-sleeved collar shirt and blazer would be considered formal, but Lan Zhan dresses up like this everyday. “Wouldn’t want you to show up looking like you had some… unfortunate accident. My house isn’t that far from here. I can help clean you up, Lan Zhan.”
Wei Ying gleefully chirps once he opens his umbrella and taunts an invisible figure named Jiang Cheng. He invites Lan Zhan to share his umbrella, and they walk to Wei Ying’s car. It’s a rundown thing, but Wei Ying insists that it works.
Lan Zhan should really decline his invitation to go to this man’s house. He barely knew him for a few minutes. Wei Ying, despite how good looking he is, could very much be part of an organ-selling organization, and Lan Zhan could easily be walking to his death. He hadn’t even alerted his brother that he would be following a stranger to their house.
Wei Ying directs a bright smile to Lan Zhan, and Lan Zhan promptly decides, fuck it. He enters Wei Ying’s car.
Wei Ying starts the car and they begin to drive towards his house.
“I don’t see any of your groceries,” Lan Zhan says. He holds his groceries in his lap, but Wei Ying’s groceries are nowhere to be seen. “What did you buy?”
“Oh.” Wei Ying pushes a hand into his unreasonably large coat and pulls out an unreasonably large pack of cinnamon gum. “I just ran out of gum.”
“Gum.”
“Yeah. I bought a huge pack.”
Lan Zhan stares at him, and he stares back. They're at a traffic light. They could afford this staredown until the person behind them honks “You’re driving… for gum. That is very bad for the environment.”
“I—” Wei Ying looks affronted before pouting. He looks forward and drives. “Well, I can’t say you’re wrong.”
“You should walk from now on. Walking is good for your health.”
Wei Ying replies with an offended squawk. “In my defense, I rarely drive. I just drove today because my Ying senses were tingling, and they told me to drive”.
Lan Zhan gives him a look. “Ying senses?”
“Yeah, it’s my gut feeling. Have you heard of spidey senses? They’re like that, but I don’t want to be copyrighted,” Lan Zhan gave him another look at that, “so I changed it to Ying senses. Clever, right?” He doesn’t wait for Lan Zhan’s approval before yelling out, “And here we are! My humble home!”
Wei Ying lives in an apartment complex. It isn’t as nice as Lan Zhan’s but it’s decent. Wei Ying insists that he can afford bigger, but why would he when this place was enough for him. He didn’t need a better one when he lived alone.
They take the elevator.
“Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying sings. “How can a name be so fun to say? Lan Zhan!” He yells. “You try it, Lan Zhan.”
“Wei Ying,” he reprimands fondly.
Lan Zhan feels as though he had known Wei Ying since forever. It feels as though he had found the one thing missing from his life, and he found that thing in Wei Ying, a stranger whose existence he hadn’t even known about until half an hour ago. Lan Zhan must be crazy.
Wei Ying pouts. They walk out of the elevator and toward one of the doors. Wei Ying fumbles with his right pocket and takes out a key.
“No! Lan. Zhan.” He enunciates Lan Zhan’s name, then pushes his apartment door open before shutting it behind them. “But I have to admit, hearing my name coming from you does things to me.”
Lan Zhan feels his ears flush and turns away. “Shameless!”
“That’s my middle name, Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying takes a hold of Lan Zhan’s fabric grocery bag and sets it beside his door. He walks to a large brown couch, and Lan Zhan follows him. He didn’t expect Wei Ying to discourteously push him down onto the couch. “Now. Take off your pants.”
Lan Zhan blinks at him. “E-Excuse me?”
Wei Ying falls in a fit of laughter, and Lan Zhan can’t help but feel that he’s missed a very important detail. It takes a while for Wei Ying to calm down, but even when he finally does, he’s wiping away tears. Tears that must have sprung while he laughed at Lan Zhan’s expense.
“Oh my god, Lan Zhan. Don’t tell me you forgot why you’re here in the first place? What were you thinking?” Wei Ying looks amused, and he smirks. “Something shameless, perhaps?”
“Nonsense.”
Truthfully, it completely slipped Lan Zhan’s mind that the reason he’s here is so that Wei Ying can take responsibility… For his pants! His pants, of course, but if that were the case, then Wei Ying should take responsibility for Lan Zhan’s crotch too. Take responsibility in a platonic and not creepy-at-all way. They weren’t exactly at third-base yet. Actually, they weren’t even at first-base yet.
He should still take responsibility for his crotch, Lan Zhan’s mind supplies, unprompted. Lan Zhan curses at his mind’s betrayal.
“That’s also my middle name!”
“Just how many do you have?”
“As many as I want!” Wei Ying smirks.
“I was not aware that such a thing was possible.”
Wei Ying scoffs, then he winks. Normally, Lan Zhan would cringe, but winking looks surprisingly natural on Wei Ying’s face. “I’m a rebel. I’m a rulebreaker, so I do what I want.” Wei Ying sticks a tongue out at him, and Lan Zhan huffs in reply. “Oh shoot, that was inconsiderate of me. No wonder you didn’t want to take off your pants, I didn’t give you anything else to wear. Just give me a minute, I'll go grab some sweats.”
Wei Ying runs off. While he’s gone, Lan Zhan’s phone vibrates in his pocket. It dings every now and then, and he checks what’s causing all of the notifications to appear all of a sudden. He sees texts from numerous people, all of them wishing him a happy birthday.
These people were his brother’s friends and Lan Zhan’s acquaintances. A part of his did appreciate their greetings, but he didn’t need them. He tucked his phone back into his pocket.
It doesn’t take Wei Ying long to come back with a lump of cloth in his arms.
“I’m back! And with sweats! Okay, now you can take your pants off, Lan—Ah!” Wei Ying trips over one of the many articles of clothing scattered on the floor. Lan Zhan’s arms reach out for Wei Ying before his mind even knows what he’s doing. Lan Zhan finds himself with his legs spread wide and Wei Ying kneeling between them, on his knees.
Lan Zhan’s mind continues to betray him by supplying very explicit scenarios.
“Oh… Oh gods, I’m so sorry!” Wei Ying looked up, and Lan Zhan cursed his luck. Wei Ying’s hair was disheveled. Strings of hair fell out of the red scrunchie and framed his face, and his eyes that were as beautiful as a full moon looked into Lan Zhan’s own through thick lashes. Lashes that framed them perfectly.
Lan Zhan willed his body to calm down. Prayed that it would calm down.
Wei Ying laughed, ignorant to Lan Zhan’s inner turmoil. “I guess I’m lucky that you caught me, but you should be more careful with Lan Zhan Junior here.” Wei Ying looked down at Lan Zhan’s crotch. Lan Zhan’s internal cursing intensified. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. He prayed that the heavens would be merciful enough to give him strength. “I could have fell right on him.”
“That would be unfortunate.” He surprised himself with how steady his voice was. “He is sore as it is.”
“And you were the one calling me shameless!”
“As shameless as they get.”
“That would be you Lan Zhan.” Wei Ying gets off his knees. “Anyway, I heard your phone ringing so much while I was gone. Are you supposed to be somewhere? Am I holding you back? You must be an important person if the quality of your clothes say anything.”
“No.”
“Uhm, do I want to know? Is it important?”
“No. It is insignificant.”
“Would you mind telling me why your phone was ringing so much?” Wei Ying looks at him, pouting, and Lan Zhan inevitably gives in.
“No. It is just my brother’s friends wishing me happy birthday.”
“Oh. Oh?” Wei Ying suddenly looks horrified. “Oh gods, Lan Zhan! It’s your birthday, and you’re spending it with a stranger who ruined your pants and suddenly brought you to their place?”
“I do not mind,” Lan Zhan said, truthfully. He doesn’t mind. In fact, he preferred being here rather than spending it in his own place.
“No!” Wei Ying shouted, evidently not believing him. “I feel kind of guilty actually.”
“There’s no need to. I don’t celebrate my birthday.”
“My brother doesn’t like celebrating his birthday either, but I still force my presents on him,” Wei Ying informs him, and Lan Zhan is painfully reminded of his brother. He feels sympathetic to whoever Wei Ying’s brother is. “I practically ruined your day.”
“Wei Ying did not.”
“Well, let me compensate at the very least.” Lan Zhan flushes thinking of all the ways Wei Ying could… compensate him. He stomps those fantasies down. When had he become so shameless, he wonders.
“Wei Ying doesn’t have to. You’re already cleaning my clothes.”
“Wait here, Birthday Man.” Wei Ying says, pointing a finger at him.
“I like hearing you say my name better.” Wei Ying bites his lips and furrows his brows. He looks absolutely humiliated.
“Flirt.” Wei Ying says, covering his face with two hands. One of his eyes peek out between his fingers. “An absolute, incurable flirt. That’s what you are, Lan Zhan. No one would expect you to be one with that face of yours. Between you and me, I haven’t even had my first kiss, yet people always think that I’m a player. You’re the real player, Lan Zhan, but you look so… pure!”
“I haven’t had my first kiss either.” Romance had never excited him. He saw no purpose to it and he didn’t have the curiosity to experiment.
“Lies… Maybe, I don’t know.” Wei Ying sighs and drops his hands so that Lan Zhan can stare at his face. “Anyway, stay here, I’ll prepare you that cake I have in the freezer. I was supposed to be for my…” He pauses. “What is he?“
Wei Ying seems to be talking to himself. He scratches the side of his nose, a look of concentration on his face, and Lan Zhan thinks that a look of concentration looks surprisingly good on Wei Ying.
“He’s the little cousin of my best friend, but my best friend and I are practically brothers at this point. I guess… nephew? But he’s more… Ah, whatever.” Wei Ying waves a dismissive hand. “Point is, I have a cake and we're celebrating your birthday. You have no choice, Lan Zhan.”
“Wei—”
Wei Ying twirls around, placing his fingers into his ears. “Blah, blah, blah, blah! I can’t hear anything.” Then he disappears around the corner before Lan Zhan could get another word in.
Lan Zhan heard clatters resound from where Wei Ying had disappeared. Then, he looks at the sweats Wei Ying placed beside him when he fell. He had no way to put them on, and Lan Zhan was not shameless enough to take off his pants in Wei Ying’s living room.
Lan Zhan looks around. Wei Ying has a lot of photos around, all of them framed. Wei Ying’s in all of them, always surrounded by people, but Lan Zhan sees a lot of recurring people in them.
A handsome man with a scowl. A kind-looking girl with the softest eyes Lan Zhan has ever seen. A nervous-looking man with delicate features. A woman with equally delicate features but undoubtedly fierce-looking.
And a child.
A boy with a smile that reminds him of Wei Ying’s. There’s another boy Wei Ying takes photos with, but this one catches Lan Zhan’s eye because Wei Ying looks at the boy with fatherly adoration.
“I’m back!”
“Wei Ying.”
“Lan Zhan!” He sings. He sits besides Lan Zhan. “I placed the cake in the oven, it should be ready in a bit.”
“You didn’t have to.”
“Oh, but I wanted to, and I’m not willing to wait for the next birthday to come around.” Lan Zhan frowns. Of course. Wei Ying only did this because Lan Zhan’s presence was convenient. It shouldn’t be surprising, but it still saddens him. “Since it’s gonna take a while to defrost, tell me about yourself, Lan Zhan.”
“I’m not very interesting.”
“I’ll be the judge of that.” Wei Ying smiles.
“I’m turning thirty-three today.”
“Cool. I’m thirty-two. So…” He sends Lan Zhan a flirty smile. “Should I call you Lan-gege?”
“I have an older brother.”
“Oh! So Lan-er-gege then?” Lan Zhan’s breath stutters at that nickname. He finds that he really, really likes that name. “I have a younger brother. Really annoying, but he can be cute sometimes. Rare, but it happens. Most of the time, he yips like a small animal.”
Lan Zhan envisions a young boy. Lan Zhan remembers the young boy with a scowl in Wei Ying’s photos. “How old is he?”
“Same age as me, but I’m a couple of days older!”
Lan Zhan’s thoughts shift to the grumpy looking man. “Oh… Small animal?”
Wei Ying laughs. “He acts all big and strong, but he’s actually a baby.” Wei Ying lifts a fist. “He fusses like a baby, throws tantrums like a baby. He even throws hands with my nephew.” With each reason, Wei Ying lifts a finger.
“A nephew?”
Wei Ying drops his hand and nods frantically. “Mhm! My sister’s child. Just like my brother, but he’s an actual baby.”
His mind goes back to the scowling young boy. “So… How old is your nephew?”
“Ten!”
“I see.” Lan Zhan says, thinking about a thirty-two year-old man arguing with a ten year-old.
“Oh shit,” Wei Ying suddenly says. “We were supposed to be talking about you.”
“I like talking about Wei Ying.”
Wei Ying flushes. “What did I tell you? Flirt.”
“I am not,” Lan Zhan insists.
“Oh?” Wei Ying purrs. He edges closer to Lan Zhan. “But Lan-er-gege, you’re such a natural.”
Lan Zhan shivers slightly at the nickname. He’s enamoured by Wei Ying’s coy expression. “A natural at what?
In a bold move, Wei Ying places a hand on Lan Zhan’s thigh. Lan Zhan holds his breath as Wei Ying takes his hand into his own and guides it to his chest.
“Making my heart beat fast.”
Lan Zhan’s breath stutters.
“Do you feel it, Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying tilts his head and relaxes his eyes. “My heart? How fast it beats for you?”
“Wei Ying…” Lan Zhan breathes out. It’s a warning.
“I like how my name sounds coming out of your mouth. Say my name more. Please, Lan Zhan?”
“Wei Ying.” Lan Zhan was prepared to pounce on Wei Ying, but the man suddenly recoiled.
“Ah, I’m sorry! That was probably really awkward for you!”
They hear the timer go off, signaling the cake being ready.
“Oh! I’ll be back soon!”
Wei Ying leaves and comes back with a cake and a candle. This time, he doesn’t trip. He places the cake in front of Lan Zhan, and Lan Zhan thinks that this birthday isn’t that bad. The weather doesn’t seem to be clearing up anytime soon.
“Want to stay the night?” Wei Ying asks, suddenly.
“Are you sure you will have me? We only met today.”
Wei Ying looks struck “Ah, right! It must be strange having a guy you only knew for a day ask you to stay.” Wei Ying looks out the window. The skies are still dark. “It’s just that the storm doesn’t seem to me letting up anytime soon. I’m sorry, that was inconsiderate of me. You probably have somewhere to be, too.”
“No.” Lan Zhan shakes his head. “I do not mind staying the night. I was just worried about what Wei Ying thought.”
“Ah?” He looks like he doesn’t believe what Lan Zhan said. “I know I only knew you for a day, but it feels as though I knew you my whole life. It’s like I just found something missing in my life, and I found it in you.”
“Ah.” Lan Zhan feels like smiling. So it wasn’t just him.
“Fuck,” Wei Ying cursed, and he ran his fingers into his hair. “That probably makes me sound creepy. I swear, I’m not usually this awkward. People love me usually. If you want to go, you can. I swear.”
“No.”
“No?”
“No.” Lan Zhan repeats. “I will stay. What you said, I can understand it because I felt the same way when I saw you.”
“Oh.” Wei Ying gives him a blinding smile. “Oh, Lan Zhan.”
“I will stay the night.”
Lan Zhan stays the night, and the next day, Wei Ying sees him off.
Lan Zhan trusted Wei Ying enough to personally drop him off at his home, which Wei Ying gawks at and teases him for, telling him that he’s so rich and that, maybe, he should be Wei Ying’s sugar daddy. Lan Zhan reprimanded him immediately, much to Wei Ying amusement. He carries his bag of groceries inside, wearing Wei Ying's sweats and clutching onto another bag. A bag which carries his newly washed pants.
Lan Zhan got prepared for the meeting today and met up with his brother. Lan Zhan had expected the meeting to start right away, but the head of the meeting, Jiang Cheng, only frowned. He didn’t announce for the meeting to start. Though this was the first time Lan Zhan had met Jiang Cheng, he couldn’t help but feel as though his face were familiar. Perhaps, Lan Zhan thinks, he had passed by Jiang Cheng on the streets one day.
“I apologize for withholding the meeting,” Jiang Cheng said. “One of the people who’s supposed to be here is running late.”
Lan Huan shakes his head. “Don’t worry. I understand that some things are out of our control. Everything else seems to be prepared.”
“Still, I apologize.” Jiang Cheng sighs. “That person is known for doing things like this. I should have expected this.”
Lan Zhan frowns. What kind of irresponsible person was competent enough that his shortcomings were ignored?
“Jiang Cheng!” A familiar voice called out. Lan Zhan instantly turned toward where he heard it. “Smack talking about me behind my back? Shame on you!”
Jiang Cheng sighs as the door to the meeting bursts open. Lan Zhan’s eyes widened when he saw Wei Ying’s familiar face. Now that he thinks about it, when he first met Wei Ying, wasn’t he taunting a person named Jiang Cheng? Jiang Cheng, as in the head of the Jiang Corporation? Their potential partner in business.
“Very inappropriate behavior, Wei Ying.” Jiang Cheng hisses.
“When have I ever cared about what was inappropriate?” Wei Ying turns to look at who he’ll be dealing with, and his jaw drops when he sees Lan Zhan. “You!”
He throws out a single arm, and that’s when Lan Zhan noticed that Wei Ying was holding a cup of water. Wei Ying extended his hand, the one holding the water, in, no doubt, an attempt to point at Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan wouldn’t accept such behavior from anyone that wasn’t Wei Ying, but considering the one who was behaving in such an unruly way was Wei Ying, he just cursed at himself for being fond of someone so unruly. The water in the cup was forced out and promptly splashed onto Lan Zhan. More specifically, Lan Zhan’s crotch area.
It seems that Wei Ying has an agenda.
“Wei Ying!” Jiang Cheng yelled, forgoing all courtesies. “What the fuck!”
“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to!” Wei Ying placed the cup onto a table conveniently placed next to the door. “Oh fuck, hold still, Lan Zhan.”
“You know him? Wei Ying, don’t you dare make the situation worse than it already is!”
Wei Ying ignores him. He inserts his hand into one of his pockets and pulls out a handkerchief. Then, to Lan Zhan’s astonishment, places his handkerchief against Lan Zhan’s damp crotch. Lan Zhan freezes.
The room is stunned into silence and horror as Wei Ying persistently pats at Lan Zhan’s pants.
“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan chokes.
“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying says. “Huh, so that’s why your name sounded so familiar.”
“Wei Ying, this is extremely unprofessional.” It was also dangerous because Lan Zhan was not about to have a boner in the middle of this meeting.
Wei Ying stops patting at Lan Zhan’s crotch to look at him in the face, as though he finally realized what he was doing. In public. But Wei Ying’s eyes widened for a split second before grinning. He slides himself to Lan Zhan’s ear, as though he were a sinful snake tempting Lan Zhan.
“Lan Zhan,” he whispers. “Is that a hidden weapon, or are you just happy to see me?” Wei Ying’s breath against his neck makes Lan Zhan shiver. Wei Ying laughs, and he actually begins to feel Lan Zhan up. It’s subtle and does nothing to attract more attention than he is already receiving, but it does things to Lan Zhan, especially when he remembers that they are in public. “Doesn’t matter. By the way it feels, it would be dangerous either way.”
“Wei Ying!” Jiang Cheng is livid. “Get out! Get the fuck out!”
Wei Ying leaves the room with everyone’s eyes trailing after him. He laughs as if there’s nothing wrong with the world. Jiang Cheng is huffing and puffing as though he had run a marathon.
Lan Huan places a hand on Lan Zhan’s shoulder, and when he turns around, he sees his brother’s knowing smile.
“I apologize,” Jiang Cheng says, tired beyond belief. Tired of Wei Ying’s bullshit. “He will be punished accordingly.”
“If I may be so bold to say this, I insist on not punishing him,” Lan Huan says. “It’s fine. He seems to be an energetic fellow. Very lively.”
“Too lively,” Jiang Cheng adds. “He’ll never learn if he doesn’t learn that there are consequences to his actions.”
“Perhaps,” his brother says, and there is something in his tone that makes Lan Zhan want to punch him, “you could allow my brother to be the one to punish him.”
Jiang Cheng flinches, and Lan Zhan glares at his brother whose placating smile is hiding the true evil behind his words.
“Inappropriate,” Lan Zhan tells him. “Unnecessary, rude, and unprofessional. We should just continue the meeting and discuss what to do with him later. Time is important to the Lans.”
“Yes,” Jiang Cheng says. “Yes. Again, I truly apologize for him. He… I don’t know what he was thinking, touching you like that. He’s not this bad, usually.”
“Not a problem,” Lan Zhan says, and the meeting begins and ends with an awkward tension that doesn’t seem to go away. It had a constant presence, and it was so thick that you could cut it with a knife.
When it was finally over, Lan Huan insisted on staying with Jiang Cheng to further discuss the plans. It was inappropriate to discuss after a meeting, but Wei Ying’s behavior made Jiang Cheng accept easily. Before Lan Zhan left, he saw his brother wink at him and give him a thumbs up.
It wasn’t hard to find Wei Ying, especially when he wanted to be found. He stands right in front of Lan Zhan with a large bunny plush in his arms, and Lan Zhan thought that he looked adorable.
“Happy birthday,” Wei Ying says, pushing the bunny plush into Lan Zhan’s arms.
“It is not anymore,” he replies, easily accepting the toy.
“Yeah, but I didn’t have anything prepared to give you yesterday,” Wei Ying shrugs. “I mean, I didn’t exactly plan to meet the most beautiful man on the planet on his birthday, and it didn’t sit right with me that my first ‘gift’ to you was an umbrella to the crotch.”
Lan Zhan stares at him. “Who’s the flirt?”
Wei Ying grins. “You!”
“That doesn’t sound right.”
Wei Ying bites his lip and hugs his chest. He’s looking everywhere except Lan Zhan’s eyes, and Lan Zhan can’t help but notice the faint blush on Wei Ying’s cheeks. “Our first meeting was kind of unconventional, and I know things are going a bit—no— really fast paced, but I was hoping that, maybe, you would like to accept my invitation to a date?”
Lan Zhan doesn’t reply. He only takes Wei Ying’s hand into his own and plants a kiss on top of it. Wei Ying responds with a dopey smile.
Lan Zhan wakes up.
It’s his birthday.
And he wakes up with the most attractive man on the planet right next to him, naked.
Wei Ying’s long lashes flutter open, and he rubs one of his hands against his lid and yawns. After Wei Ying plants a kiss on Lan Zhan’s forehead, he whispers, ever so lovingly, “Husband, how will we celebrate your birthday this year?”
“We can host a party and invite A-Yuan’s friends,” he replies. He’s rewarded by Wei Ying’s tired smile.
“He would like that.” Wei Ying intertwines his fingers with Lan Zhan’s left hand and pulls their hands out from underneath the blanket. On their hands rest matching, beautiful rings. Rings that are—and forever will be—unimaginably more beautiful than the rest because they belong to them. Because they are proof that Wei Ying and Lan Zhan belong to each other.
“I love you,” Lan Zhan says.
“I love you more.”
“I love you most,” Lan Zhan insists, and Wei Ying huffs.
“No fair,” Wei Ying says, quietly. “My love for you is too large to even be expressed with mere words.”
“Mine too.”
“Then we both love each other the most.”
Lan Zhan concedes. “Fine.”
Wei Ying plants another kiss on Lan Zhan’s head.
“Happy birthday, my beloved.”