Chapter Text
Wei Ying was totally calm, and definitely not losing his mind with the fact that two of the classrooms that were going to be used to host some of the presentations can’t be used, the air cons weren’t working and for some reason no one thought to check it before the day of the event, and now they had two hours to find a new classroom and reprint the information folders with the schedule so the parents can easily find their children. It was a pity that the folders turned out really pretty, it could be even used for decor later, a memory of all the effort their cool teachers put into educating them in a fun way. It was one of Nie Huasiang’s ideas and most of the students loved but now, they would have to change and print it all again. Wei Ying could feel a mild headache on the way.
Most of the students had already arrived to set up their banners with a simple summary of what their group was going to talk about, some of them looked as excited he once believed a high school student would be, Wei Ying could see some groups that have done way more than what was asked of them. Wei Ying was especially interested to see the talk about anime and art, If they could find the classrooms of course. Lan Jingyi had walked with him for three hallways while trying to convince him to change his group so he could be with all of his friends, but there was little he could do.
He kept running around to solve last minute problems and discovering even more things that needed his attention. Wei Ying hadn’t stopped ever since he arrived at school, as early as alway. He briefly said hello to Lan Zhan and Nie Huasiang when they arrived together before Lan Zhan was being called to check some details and Nie Huasiang was being dragged by Wen Qing to prepare his stuff in the auditorium.
“Are you sure you have everything, dear?” Wei Ying stopped when he heard the voice of the must precious person in the world and looked back to see his sister and his nephew talking while she made sure he didn’t forget anything. It was a funny scene for Wei Ying, because for once, Jin Rulan is without his usual “don’t talk to me” face but instead, he is wearing a soft smile. Also, it reminded him an awful lot of when she made sure him was the one who had all he needed for school. Most of the times, he had left something behind.
“Jiejie!” Wei Ying couldn’t help but yell for her attention, and when she looked at him and smiled, he immediately felt more calm. That was just the effect his sister had on people.
“Oh! Hey A-Ying, I was just dropping off Lanlan so he can set up his stuff, me and Zixuan have some things to finish before coming back. He’s waiting in the car.”
“He’s going to make it to see Rulan’s group, right?” Wei Ying asked, defensive.
“Of course he will.” Rulan answered for her, a proud look on his face. Wei Ying rolled his eyes.
Wei Ying watched his sister leave and his nephew walk towards his friends, who are setting up banners and small trinkets on the table, all of them making more noise than the tasks asked for. Kids. Wei Ying fucking loved those kids.
__
Parents were starting to arrive, everyone at the school had enough time to prepare everything, with a few exceptions that needed to be ignored and had to exist or else it wouldn’t be something organized by high schoolers. Lan Zhan had a few minutes to catch his breath before getting to watch the result. Wei Ying was doing more than he should as usual, including decorations and giving opinions on the student’s outfits. Lan Zhan, miss Wen and the others were mostly there to assure them that everyone who participated would get their extra grade, no cheating, and that their presentations would go fine, the research and the complaining would be all worth it. He wanted to at least try to show the kids their teachers care about what they did.
Lan Zhan waited by the gates for Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen. They had arrived the day before, but Lan Zhan barely had the time to receive them properly. But they promised it was fine, that the opportunity was perfect to let A-Qing wander around the school and see if she’d adapt. They hid the secret about the paperwork of the new house in town very poorly, all Lan Zhan had to do was ask how the search was going. He’d have them around again, and despite the fact that Lan Zhan had been handling himself just fine alone, it was very comforting.
They were chatting when they saw him. Xiao Xingchen waved happily as if they were A-Qing’s age.
“Hello, the event is about to start.”
“‘Hello’? After all this time?” Xiao Xingchen teased, but he waited until Lan Zhan gave him and Song Lan a brief hug first. He said hello to A-Qing and she gave him a very polite handshake. He liked her better than both of them. They hadn’t been her parents for long, at least not legally. But Lan Zhan remembered that she was reserved and sarcastic. She was going to be a pleasure to have in class, for Wei Ying. He didn’t make commentaries about how much she had grown, because the answer would probably end up being ‘You haven’t’ but she had. And time went by too fast.
While walking around the school, A-Qing followed close and Xiao Xingchen asked about the event and an unbiased opinion of the education there in general. He could notice the controlled concern there, because he tried very hard to not corner A-Qing too much. She used to be, after all, a partially sighted child that took care of herself alone when she shouldn’t. Lan Zhan wouldn’t tell them that the teachers were very attentive to kids who needed more attention if he didn’t think it was true. It wasn’t the perfect building, it had unnecessary stairs and small slopes. But even if it wasn’t ideal, hopefully it wouldn't be hard for her to adapt.
Theyy saw a few kids grouped together in a hallway. Lan Zhan turned unconsciously when he heard Wei Ying’s voice. He didn’t notice them, he was listening to the kids with a serious expression, paying close attention. Then, he replied and his expression broke, a laugh followed. Lan Zhan didn’t have to hear it to know he was teasing them. He knew exactly the tone, that it was never mean, that he was probably trying to make them relax.
“That’s him, isn’t it?” Xiao Xingchen said.
“I bet. He’s charming.” Song Lan hummed in approval. They weren’t talking to Lan Zhan.
“He had to be, or else A-Zhan wouldn’t talk about him on the phone.”
Lan Zhan glared at them until they remembered he was still there.
Xiao Xingchen smiled, unabashed. Song Lan gave him a very dad thumbs up. Lan Zhan prayed for A-Qing. If she ever met someone she liked, she would probably have to hide them.
“We’re going to introduce ourselves. We should probably get acquainted with the other teachers.”
They didn’t wait for his permission. He couldn’t hide Wei Ying from them, and he never told him he liked him. Perhaps he did deserve to be treated like a teenager.
___
“And this is what I prepared for you people! I hope you liked the talk and that all of your young minds have learned at least a little.” Nie Huaisang ended his presentation with a round of applause. He reminded everyone to also check the students' expositions and gave everyone his contact card, making it clear that every student was more than welcome to talk to him bout any questions they might have about the art business, or just art in general. Lan Zhan felt more calm about inviting him to talk at the event, after all. He was right about being important for the kids, knew Nie Huaisand could talk in a way that would engage them and make them ask questions without making it boring.
Lan Zhan also felt very proud, that was an emotion he didn’t feel a lot. Pride, even when justified, when in excess, could make people unreasonable. But this time he was confident in opening an exception and letting himself feel it. It was a good kind of pride. Since all his pride was because of his students, and the great work they did. When he looked across the room to see Wei Ying applauding with a big smile on his face, he knew his sentiment was shared.
All of their students did an amazing job, and he wouldn’t tell anyone, but there were certain students of whom he expected maybe a little more than he ought to, but in the end it didn’t even matter, because they succeed in overcoming all of his expectations.
He also spent a long time talking to parents, couldn't avoid small talk about their kids, how fast they grew, how much trouble they brought, compliments that he appreciated but didn't know how to react to being praised for doing his job. The students were taking a break, there was food being offered to everyone and Lan Zhan finally found an empty hallway. He had lost sight of Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan but knowing them, they certainly had made themselves comfortable. He wondered what kind of conversation he had with Wei Ying. He couldn't find Wei Ying, either. They'd have time to talk this entire day out later. And then, they would probably go back to being coworkers.
"Excuse me, you're the famous Lan laoshi, aren't you?" a lady said, making him look up from his phone and realize it was Jiang Yanli. She was with a man who Lan Zhan immediately guessed was her husband. He looked a lot like Rulan.
"I don’t know about the famous part, but yes, I teach."
Her smile showed itself easily, like Wei Ying's. "Sorry to disturb you, it's just that we never met properly. Parent's reunions are usually a lot. I'm Rulan's mom, this is my husband."
He bowed to them politely. Her husband was quieter and he had seen them around before, they held hands the entire day. He asked questions about Rulan's development in class, genuinely interested in how Rulan was well behaved and a good writer, how he had friends who seemed like a good influence. Parents always wanted to know that, except for the ones who asked expecting something to complain about, to threaten their kids later. There was no trace of that in them, just joy in hearing about their child.
"I'm thankful that Lanlan has good teachers. We do hear a lot about you, from his friends and from Wei Ying." Yanli commented.
He didn't know how to react to that. He should’ve known that Wei Ying talked about school, but it hadn’t occurred to him that he would talk about him in specific.
"Wei Ying talks about you, too,” Lan Zhan mentioned, because he figured it would make her happy. “Only lovely things."
She gave the man next to her a funny look and he shrugged. Lan Zhan didn’t know how to act around couples.
"Are you talking about me?" Wei Ying's voice came from behind Lan Zhan's shoulder. That man would never die.
"Aren’t we always." Yanli's husband said, in the same tone Lan Zhan said uncomfortable truths without knowing if they sounded rude or not caring. Wei Ying smiled sweetly. They didn't seem to have such a bad relationship, but the man left soon after that. Wei Ying had been literal when he talked about him, then.
"Lan Zhan, this whole thing was the best and worst idea I've ever had." His voice was cracking like a freshman's. He had been talking the whole day non stop. Lan Zhan took a waterbotter from his bag and gave it to him.
His sister tried to soothe him. "The kids are having fun, A-Ying. Relax."
It was true. He was used to loud teenagers despite their attempts on good manners but lord, not like this. Kids being loud always meant they were having fun.
"I can only relax when Lan Zhan is around to be handsome and tell parents their kids don't bully one another."
"That's part of the job." He said, making both of them laugh. That was new.
"Seriously, you helped a lot. I can't pick favorites between the students but I can't say the same about teachers." Wei Ying leaned on his shoulder. Lan Zhan didn't know where to look.
"Sorry, Lan laoshi, it's easier for me to pick." Yanli said, kissing her brother's cheek before leaving. "I'll see you later."
Wei Ying opened his mouth to say something, but his students finally found him. Lan Zhan went with him to see if he could guide them, too. There was only a couple of minutes left, they would get through it.
—
For once, they went home earlier than expected. The ladies who cleaned the school were kind and insisted that they shouldn’t worry about anything, despite Wei Ying’s insisting in helping. Song Lan and Xiao Xingchen were really tired. They took A-Qing home and said they should all get together later, including Wei Ying, who was all about hearing instead of talking around them. Lan Zhan guessed he found them interesting, the stingy feeling was different this time. They were the perfect couple. And Lan Zhan didn’t know how to tell Wei Ying he thought they could be a more boring version of them.
Wei Ying was very quiet the entire way to the stop and until the bus arrived. He yawned a few times, but his face was relaxed. They got the job done, mostly thanks to him. It had been an amazing idea, and they were both drinking in that feeling. When they sat down, before Lan Zhan could ask him if he had time to eat, Wei Ying took a bunch of snacks that had been served from his bag. Lan Zhan didn’t even question it before accepting it, he barely had the time to eat himself. He knew that he probably taught this trick to Rulan to use at children’s parties.
“Can’t believe everything went well. Even the little punk was happy. He even sent me the pictures we took with everyone. I’ll send it to you later.” Lan Zhan nodded. Not happy about seeing himself in a picture but about having pictures of Wei Ying with his students. "He is a lot like Zixuan, isn't he? It's terrifying. And a pity. Strong ass genes."
“Rulan is also similar to your sister. He has her nose.”
Wei Ying smiled, delighted. “Yes, he has. And at least he’s brave, like jiejie. He doesn’t let anyone pick on his friends. As if he could fight anyone. He’ll protect A-Qing if she needs it.”
A-Qing definitely didn’t need it, but Lan Zhan knew her parents would like to know.
“Jin Zixuan seems to be a good father and husband.”
“Yeah. He’s just- a business man. If you know that I mean.”
Lan Zhan knew why, considering Wei Ying’s personality, that bothered him. Wei Ying was also very protective of his sister, so whatever personal grudge he still had against him, it was justified.
“I know you better now that I’ve met your friends. They’ve been together for a long time, right?” Lan Zhan hummed. “You have interesting friends, Lan Zhan, that’s good. If you spend too much time with only teenagers, that will eat your brain.”
“Is that what happens?”
He nodded, very seriously “It is. I’m a victim, that’s why I’m telling you.”
“I believe in you.”
Wei Ying faked a very offended expression, then he llaughed, making people who were sitting next to them look at them. Lan Zhan could see the movement but it didn’t matter, he was looking at Wei Ying.
That used to annoy him tremendously, when Wei Ying would suddenly take a turn and he’d find himself playing with him back without meaning to. Now, it just made the night warmer. Spending too much time with teenagers meant he had to be disciplinary. Only recently he had remembered that he didn’t have to take everything seriously.
They went in silence for a while, until Lan Zhan noticed that Wei Ying was dozing off next to him. He touched his arm, and when Wei Ying looked up with a confused look, Lan Zhan gestured at his own shoulder.
“Sorry. Long day.”
“It’s fine. Come.”
Wei Ying still looked confused, but his exhaustion won. Lan Zhan didn’t know how the weight of him could be so comforting. Wei Ying’s hair tickled his jaw before he got himself comfortable.
“Wake me up as soon as your stop arrives.”
He could do the opposite of that. He could let his stop get by and end up at Wei Ying’s house, offering him a few more minutes to sleep on him. And then he’d walk him home. And maybe Wei Ying would get worried about making him walk alone in the night and invite him over-
“Of course.”
“And Lan Zhan? Thank you, it was great working with you.”
They would still work together, but probably not as often.
Don't let this end, please. He plead, unsure of whom he was asking.
__
Wei Ying's foster father had the habit of telling his children stories. After dinner, when he had time before returning to work and when he realized the children weren't sleeping but knew better than to ask for any comfort from their temperley parents. It was a rare moment where he'd go against his wife's complaints with the purpose of loving his children.
He never tried to be like a dad to Wei Ying, but he was what he had. And he did try to make him comfortable in a home that wasn't his. It was more than what his wife did, anyway and Wei Ying still thought about them fondly, even if he tried to not attend family dinners unless Yanli asked him. He couldn't be ungrateful towards people who saved him from a terrible situation.
When Wei Ying was a kid, he was shy about participating in those moments. It felt like they belonged to Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli only. Until one night, Yanli saw him standing on the doorway, peeking through the door. Before he could hide, she called his name softly and patted the spot next to her on the mat.
The three of them listened to the stories together. Later, Wei Ying would always interrogate Yanli with a bunch of questions about it later. Jiang Cheng was annoyed by it, and would insist that 'it was just a story, the details don't matter'. But when they started growing up and Yanli took on the task of telling them new stories, he and Jiang Cheng spent hours talking about what could happen next. That was probably why for Wei Ying, listening to podcasts or audiobooks sas a lot more entertaining than reading. Also, he had a really bad attention span.
Wei Ying and Lan Zhan still accompanied each other to the bus stop and naturally, all the way home. Except that now they went home at least two hours earlier, so they had more time. He noticed that Lan Zhan carried an ebook reader with him. Which was funny because the man had a weird affection for old fashioned things. On the nights where Wei Ying was too tired to bug him on the way home, he'd read next to him. Wei Ying was happy that it became a habit, to be next to him and have company while going home.
That night, Lan Zhan pulled the small reader out of his bag. Wei Ying guessed that he probably didn't have a lot of time for things he enjoyed in the middle of the week. He tried to not disturb him, but they had barely talked all day. He poked him on the shoulder and waited for Lan Zhan to look at him.
"What is it about?" He pointed to his hands. "Not anything academic, I hope."
"It's fictional. It's a suspense novel."
"Okay. And?"
Lan Zhan looked at him, confused.
"And what is it about? Telling me the genre isn't explaining the story, and a story is never just one thing. And don't tell me that it's good, either. If you tell me something is good, you have to explain why."
Lan Zhan's face showed that still confused and interested expression, reserved for when Wei Ying demanded that he would engage in some debate with him. Maybe he needed more students who asked too many questions.
"The main character is a pianist who communicates with spirits through music. It's very boring."
Even though his tone was neutral, Wei Ying had the impression he would have added a swear by the end if he were this kind of person. Wei Ying laughed, immediately interested.
"It sounds so cool. Why do you think it's boring?"
"It talks about the spirit's lives in detail, it never talks about the main character. Why is his connection with music deep enough that gives him such a skill. Or why does that ability mean anything to him?"
Wei Ying hummed, trying to follow his train of thought.
"You think the story should be about the main character. But Lan Zhan, sometimes that's not the point. Sometimes what the other characters can teach him matters, too."
"But they can only teach him as far as his own experiences will allow it."
Wei Ying couldn’t point out exactly why, but he loved that. For once, Lan Zhan had rendered him speechless. He let him continue with his boring story and sometimes he'd read a sentence or two from the corner of his eyes.
After a few days, when Wei Ying noticed him reading something else, he asked how the end of that book went.
"It was satisfying enough." He answered. "Would you like the name of it?"
"No, no. It was good enough to know it from you. What is this one about?"
Lan Zhan seemed more excited about the new one, he said the story had 'potential' and he answered all of Wei Ying's questions. He wasn't bothered by it. It was nice to find out about subjects that he actually liked to talk about, even if Wei Ying didn't mind keeping the conversation going like usual, he enjoyed listening to his thoughts. Lan Zhan was smart and sensitive, not in the expected way people could see either of those things, but in a way that he looked deeply into things in order to understand them.
Wei Ying usually could not stand book smart people, he didn’t know how he got through university. They were almost always the kind of person who was considered a prodigy child then grew up believing they were better than everyone else. Especially people who had access to good education. Lan Zhan was nothing like that. Lan Zhan always considered other people's point of view. He was firm on his opinions but he never talked about anything as an universal truth. He liked to say "From what I've observed" or "I've learned that…"
He would eat his brain with a spoon if he could. His brother stared at him for five seconds in terrified silence when he let that out, but Wei Ying was simply fascinated.
The first time he was invited to his home, he accidentally found this book written in another language sitting on top of his couch. He hadn't meant to invite himself over, he was just complaining unnecessarily about things he didn’t actually mind doing to keep Lan Zhan entertained through text. Like having to cook lunch on the weekend only for himself and how hard it was to keep himself from ordering takeouts often. Lan Zhan, being a great gentleman, insisted that he should come over and have lunch with him, even after Wei Ying insisted that he hadn’t spoken with the intention of imposing. It was a habit, Wei Ying guessed, to make himself comfortable around Lan Zhan and sort of invade his space to tease him, but he’d never do that when it came to his home.
“I accidently bought more groceries than was necessary, it will go to waste if I don’t cook them in time.” Lan Zhan sent, as if Wei Ying would be doing him a favor and not the other way around. Wei Ying fell for it very easily.
Lan Zhan opened the door as soon as the bell rang. Then he took out a dark red slippers from a cabinet by the door and gestured to him. Wei Ying didn’t comment on it because he couldn’t stand the thought that he had bought this for him. He hoped he didn’t, that Lan Zhan just let guest slippers ready even though he said his friends and family lived away from him. instinctively looked around. A marble counter separated the kitchen and the living room, which was big. There were two tall windows in just one wall, sunlight hit every corner and plants by it spectacularly. The floor was wooden and every color of every furniture matched. Elegant and comfortable and lived in. Lan Zhan's.
The smell of food was already spreading around the house. It improved Wei Ying’s mood immediately.
“You said you’d let me help you.”
“You can set the table.” Lan Zhan answered. Wei Ying rolled his eyes but did so happily, this task consisted on being handed out plates, pots and hashis because he barely knew where Lan Zhan kept anything anyway. When Lan Zhan turned away to check the food, Wei Ying commented about something trivial while looking at him. He was wearing comfortable pants and a plaid white shirt that was bigger than him. He was home, letting a very nosy Wei Ying with good intentions enter his space.
They ate, and it was a very ordinary day. Except it wasn’t, because in ordinary weekends he only had Lan Zhan’s texts and not his actual presence, which was more assuring and more comfortable. He could see every gesture he didn’t notice he did, hear his voice clearly. Wei Ying didn’t know when he started craving having him around.
Wei Ying insisted on washing the dishes since he didn’t get the chance to help him cook. When he finished, Lan Zhan wasn’t in the living room, so Wei Ying went exploring. There was two crochet plant hangers on the corner, close to the TV, and little details that were surprising but not really all around the house. Like the ceramic bunny on the coffee table, and a small painting on the kitchen’s wall with a cliche phrase.
Wei Ying found the book on top of the couch. There was no books in the living room, but Wei Ying was sure he kept them in his room or in the office. It was hard-covered and in a language Wei Ying didn’t recognize at first glance.
When Lan Zhan came back from the bathroom, Wei Ying didn’t even think about being polite or pretend he wasn’t going around his stuff.
“What is this one about?” He asked, interest clear on his voice and expression.
“A collection of poetry.”
“And what is this language? Is it a romantic one?”
Lan Zhan hummed, moved to the couch. “Portuguese.” When Wei Ying was still staring at him and gaping, he added as an explanation, “I had a lot of free time in college.”
Wei Ying was extremely amused. With the fact that he had ‘free time’ in college when Wei Ying had to work while studying and with how he never cared to mention he understood another language before. That was probably why he suggested to the seniors that they’d talk about foreign language and culture at the event. Wei Ying thought it was really just a suggestion, since he was clearly interested in linguistics.
“European?”
“Latin America.” Wei Ying should’ve known better than to think Lan Zhan would ever be interested in anything european that wasn’t bad reality shows. In his defense, he was just hit with a very interesting information. He sat on the couch next to Lan Zhan, handing him the book.
"Read something to me. You cannot just tell me this and not demonstrate it."
Lan Zhan hesitated. "My pronunciation is very poor."
"So? I won't be able to tell the difference." He also doubted Lan Zhan could do anything poorly. "Please?"
He took the book, then searched through it for a little while. Wei Ying waited excitedly. When Lan Zhan cleared his throat to speak, Wei Ying pictured him doing that in class and how amazing it must be to own the gift of making people pay attention to you immediately. He recited one short poem, then another.
Juro a ti aquilo que demorei
a reconhecer como tal
mas que sempre foi
e que não poderia ser
nada além
a palavra temida
da qual não se pode fugir.
Em minha estupidez
guardei em segredo
o que sempre foi
teu por direito.
His voice didn't change much in another language, it was just another kind of beautiful, the R's were pronounced differently and the whole thing sounded sort of like a song.
"Lovely," It was all Wei Ying could think of. "What is it about?"
“What are poems usually about?”
Wei Ying didn’t have to answer it That was probably why it felt so sincere and heartbreaking. He wished he could understand all the words, that would help him understand the sentiment better, maybe. Lan Zhan was looking at him, but Wei Ying didn’t have it in him to look back.
He couldn't get over the fact that Lan Zhan read poems for fun in his free time, that he just learned a very distant language for fun. He made Lan Zhan read more for him. It wasn't an ordinary day at all.
__
There was a little aesthetic coffee shop around Wei Ying’s sister house, a small cozy place. They started going when she was pregnant and needed an even bigger supply of baked goods to sustain her cravings. That's something they had in common too, their sweet, sweet tooth. When he left her house last sunday, she asked him if they could find time to bring back the habit of meeting there. She was finally having a slow week at her job, and he could always find time for her, so of course they could.
When he entered the place, on the first saturday after the cultural event, Yanli was already seated on a table with a half eaten pie and tea in front of her. Her smile brightened the whole place when she saw him.
“A-Ying! I was starting to think you forgot about our coffee.” Yanli says smiling, and it's a joke because, more often than not Wei Wuxian would forget about things he has to do and places he had to be, but never when it comes to his sister, it's like even his brain, forgetful as it was, knew that she should not be treated as anyone else. Yanli was simply that special.
“You know I could never forget about you, or anything related to you.” He said with the biggest, easiest smile. Despite how tired he was because of the last couple of weeks, Wei Ying would never not be happy to have time with his sister.
“Go and get your order, I’ll wait for you here, and then you can talk to me about how your day is going, and I can tell you about the new recipe I want to try next weekend.”
All he had to do was tell the cashier his name and his coffee had been ready and waiting for him. His order was simple, but it was nice to have someone who remembered.
"Do you want me to get anything else?" His sister said when he sat down. "You probably won't have the time to eat properly, will you?" I should've brought you something."
"Jiejie, it's fine. Maybe Lan Zhan kept something good for me, I won't be hungry the whole day."
She sighed, but was interested at the mention of Lan Zhan. "At least now there is someone else to keep an eye on you, since I can't be at your job 24/7."
"He doesn't really keep an eye on me, because one, I don't need it, I'm great at eating often and taking care of myself," She snorted but didn't interrupt him. Good sister. "And two, we just usually have lunch together so when he sees I’ve forgotten to eat, he bullies me. It’s probably payback because I mind his business too often."
Yanli tilted her head, watching him with a smile. He didn’t know if this time she was disagreeing with him or not. They talked about school, how excited his students were about getting the grades and the results for their hard work. Yanli talked about Zixuan, that he had more time now to cook with her and that he was finally realizing that Rulan was growing up and sometimes he didn't know how to deal with it. Yanli found it endearing, and Wei Ying for oncs did, too, and he understood. But he wasn't a parent yet. He imagined it was probably weird as hell to have a kid one day and without even seeing time going by, that person became someone with opinions and half of a personality.
"Don't let him have the talk with him, I'll do a better job."
"No one is having the talk with him, A-Ying. He has access to the internet."
Wei Ying was shocked and outraged. "Which isn't reliable at all! There are all sorts of dangerous and misconceptions. Come on, let me embarrass him, just a little bit."
Yanli laughed for minutes. She mentioned that she was always paying attention to his growth because of how much he ate - "like you, at that age" - and that led to the new receipt she'd make for lunch next weekend. She wanted him there, of course.
“And then, on sunday, we could go out, maybe somewhere new? Rulan will probably be tired of us, but me, you and A-Cheng could still go.”
“Wait, you want me to have lunch with you on saturday?”
“Yes, were you not paying attention?” He knew that if this was Jiang Cheng, he’d smack him over the head.
“I was, I swear! I just remembered I have this thing-”
With Lan Zhan. Who promised him he’d let him return the favor and cook for him someday. 'Someday' was Wei Ying’s suggestion, and it changed to ‘next saturday?’ from Lan Zhan. He really thought he’d have this saturday free for this and he really didn’t want to tell Lan Zhan no.
He didn't want to mention that they've been spending time together for reasons that had nothing to do with work. He knew how it sounded, and he knew that she'd ask eventually. What could he say? He was good at being nice to people but he hadn't the urge to let someone in like this in so long. She knew that, too. What was the point of lying to his sister, who carried the weight of knowing him best for so long now, and never acted like it was a bad thing at all?
"You see, jiejie, Lan Zhan does that kind of thing all the time. Sharing things with me. I wanted to thank him, so I offered to cook for him."
Yanli nodded, not disappointed by the change of plans. "Tell him I invited him too, how about that?"
She said as if it was very simple. And it was, Wei Ying just hadn't thought about that.
"Oh. Can I do that? You think he'd- you think that's a good idea?"
"Why not? He seems kind, A-Ying, really. You're picky when it comes to people. If you like him, I trust that."
It was special that she put it like that. He liked him, so naturally, he should invite him to spend time with his family without implying something else. It was in fact very simple, he didn’t know why it made him instantaneously nervous and thrilled.
“Rulan will think it’s so weird.”
She giggled. “He’s fifteen, A-Ying, you should know he makes a big deal out of everything.”
___
All the boys were spread around Rulan’s living room. He and Jingyi were watching a tv show while Wen Yuan and Zizhan were doing whatever on their phones. When the episode ended on yet another cliff hanger, Jingyi sighed.
“I don’t know how they can let this air, it’s so bad.”
“You watched five seasons of it.”
“So have you.”
He did, but he didn’t complain nearly as much. He had accepted how bad it was, and moved on.
“You have to embrace its flaws and appreciate it anyway, that’s what Wei Ying says, and for once he’s right.”
"Can't believe he watched this."
"Only season one. He only watches american shows if they're worth making fun of."
Jingyi snorted and let another episode play, proceeding on pointing out every plot hole he could think of. Rulan let him because he knew it was pointless, he did that every time they watched it and every time a new season came out, Jingyi would suggest they’d watch it first. There was this weird joy about being critical for him, Rulan guessed.
They spent the rest of the morning being lazy together until Wen Yuan started getting ready to leave because his grandmother made sure to have lunch with him on weekends and the rest of the boys never had the sense of not intruding when it came to home cooked meals. Rulan couldn't invite them this time because his uncles were coming. That was when Rulan’s parents arrived, carrying groceries and rushing out to start dinner. They helped his mom carry everything inside.
“How many people are going to eat here today?” Rulan asked, realizing the reason why he had to clean the bathroom in a saturday morning.
“Just your uncles honey, and A-Ying’s friend. Tell your friends I'll prepare something for them next time."
That literally never happened before. Rulan knew he was close with Lady Wen from school but he only knew that because he was A-Yuan’s aunt. “What friend?”
“Your sociology teacher. Can you pick that big knife for me, please?” His mom said, while taking out vegetables and ingredients. Rulan did what she said, ignoring his friends' reactions that were certainly happening behind him.
"I will walk the boys out, be right back." He said, looking pointely at them until they started moving. "Okay, we're not gonna be weird about this."
"Is Lan laoshi just part of your family now? Is this something that just happens?" Jingyi had to say, Zizhen was still processing it.
"No! He never came over before. Maybe it's for a good reason, maybe my grades have been bad." Rulan blurted out, all of them knew it wasn't possible. Despite not adoring the subject, the only one in which he was bad at was chemistry.
"I think they are truly close," Wen Yuan said, in awe. "Wow, Zizhen was right."
"Okay, whatever, I will see you on mond-."
"Why are you so shocked? Of course I was." Zizhen's voice came back. "Rulan, I beg you to text us for details, please. If Lan laoshi has your mom's approval and your jiujiu's tolerance, I need to know."
"You really do not and I won't."
Zizhen made pleading eyes to Wen Yuan. And Rulan saw that he would once again be prying into other people's business because of them.
"I'm a little curious, too. At least Lan laoshi is not as lonely as we thought." Wen Yuan took their side, little traitor.
Rulan took a deep breath. "I will text if anything interesting happens, otherwise, you should let it go."
He pushed his friends through the gate and turned his phone off. Did jiujiu knew about this? He certainly would have an opinion on it. Rulan begged all the gods that they friends were not right about the whole thing and came in to help his mom.
___
Wei Ying spent the whole morning giggly and anxious for no reason. He was used to it now, seeing Lan Zhan outside of work, he was starting to think that he even considered Wei Ying a friend, which was so different from hoping that Lan Zhan would throw him a dirty look from across the room at school because he said something that he'd consider offensive. Or a horny look, in more hopeful fantasies.
Now Lan Zhan said yes to a day having lunch with his family. There was nothing special about this. Except for the fact that Lan Zhan said yes and Wei Ying liked seeing him wearing casual clothes even if all of his wardrobe seemed to be detailed planned. And Wei Ying associated 'special' with Lan Zhan now, he just couldn't help it. He texted Jiang Cheng about nothing important the entire day to distract himself until he stopped answering it.
He was used to Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan being awkward and making small talk until they found something in common to complain, and to his sister loving to cook for them but being unreasonably stressed about putting the table properly. And enjoying having time to properly bother Rulan. It was funny to think of Lan Zhan included in all those scenarios, he also wondered what his family was like. From the little Lan Zhan told him, he guessed it was in between the line of very traditional and very nosy on the youngers' lives.
Lan Zhan asked what he should bring in a text when it was almost midnight, making Wei Ying wonder if he was nervous or just busy, and bought a lovely bask of fruit despite Wei Ying saying that no one would mind if he didn't bring anything. They met on the bus stop closer to home and Wei Ying couldn't decide between imagining a scenario where Lan Zhan wasn't just his coworker in a strange situation of meeting his family and loving every second of this despite how strange it was.
Wei Ying only noticed how he couldn’t stop bouncing his leg when Lan Zhan put his hand on his knee.
“Does second base have to happen on the bus? We just left your house.”
Lan Zhan didn’t sigh in irritation or move his hand. He was too used to him by now. “What's wrong?”
"Nothing's wrong." Wei Ying smiled to prove that random moments of energy caused by mundane things like Lan Zhan's tight jeans were normal to him "It's gonna be fun, Lan Zhan. If Jiang Cheng and Jin Zixuan start arguing, don't worry, it's just how they communicate. Sorry if it gets messy. Can't believe you really want to spend your day off with us when you could be alone."
It was meant to be teasing, but Wei Ying was sort of incredulous. And Lan Zhan knew when he was sort of telling the truth through jokes.
"I really do."
Lan Zhan stopped touching him and Wei Ying didn't hold his hand in place despite being an urge that came out of nowhere and stayed in the back of his mind the entire ride.
"It's not my day off," Lan Zhan grabbed back his attention. "We have to revise the grades for the students who truly participated in the event."
"No, we don't. You're joking."
Wei Ying never got an answer. After a while, he realized that yes, Lan Zhan was joking, and that was just absurd as working on a weekend after everything they just had put together. He was a terrible influence.
Lan Zhan greeted everyone very politely as usual. Jiang Cheng was hanging out with Rulan in the living room, Jin Zixuan was with Yanli in the kitchen.
Jiang Cheng was surprised to see them. "How are you on time?"
"What do you mean? I'm always on time." Wei Ying answered, straight faced.
"Did you make him leave early?" Jiang Cheng asked Lan Zhan.
"A little before was necessary, yes."
Jiang Cheng looked impressed Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan, shocked. "Did you?"
Lan Zhan just looked away, his version of shrugging.
"I'm always early for work, just to be clear. I don't get late on purpose."
"You don't, you just sort of forget you have to do things last minute before leaving." Rulan said, without looking up from the YouTube video playing on the TV.
"I do?" He looked at Lan Zhan.
"We almost missed the bus home twice this week." Lan Zhan pointed out, in sort of apologetic tone for making him leave early. It was smart, Wei Ying couldn't deny it, he just hadn't been aware that Lan Zhan noticed enough to stop it from happening.
Yanli was delighted by the basket and flustered about lunch not being ready yet.
"What's left to prepare?" He asked, already moving to wash his hand.
"Only the youtiao, A-Ying and Lanlan loves them."
Lan Zhan looked up in interest. Wei Ying knew he liked them, too. They continued from where Yanli had stopped to greet them.
"Lan Zhan is better at husbanding than you." Wei Ying joked with Jin Zixuan because he had been nice to him for about five minutes.
"Good for you." Jin Zixuan answered, unbothered. Before Wei Ying could act surprised, he started putting the table.
Wei Ying stuck around to watch them cook and listen bits of their conversation, about cooking and eventually about work. She was so endeared by Lan Zhan that she actually let him help her instead of distracting him like she did to Wei Ying. It would be offensive if it were anyone else. Lan Zhan seemed comfortable around her, he went from answering questions straightforwardly to telling her little stories about how he decided to be a teacher and how he missed having his brother around to cook within minutes.
"I guess you're one of those people who have to share what you know with other people, right?" She said after listening to how Lan Zhan once wanted to teach small children but the plan changed along the way. "That's why you and Wei Ying get along well. People like to talk about sharing and kindness, but it's another thing to actually do it. Even the smallest bits."
Lan Zhan hummed in agreement, and Wei Ying knew he was actually taking all in. He didn't know if he and Lan Zhan could be put in the same place when it came to kindness, because Lan Zhan did everything so earnestly, but she was right about this.
At one point, Lan Zhan asked him to handle him something in the unknown kitchen and Wei Ying did, mesmerized by how casual he looked with his sleeves rolled up and hands dirty with dough, listening to Wei Ying's sister.
They all sat to eat, and Lan Zhan ended up next to him and Jin Zixuan. Both of them were too polite to talk while eating, and Wei Ying could totally see Lan Zhan try to pay attention to Jin Zixuan's attempt at small talk before they realized it wouldn't work. It had been a save. He also knew he wouldn't be able to control his laughter.
"You've been working together for about a year now, right?" Yanli asked Wei Ying.
"Has it been that long? I think it was since before Rulan started high school, wasn't it? Crazy. I wouldn't count the whole year though, Lan Zhan wasn't my biggest fan."
"Understandable." Jiang Cheng murmured. Rulan smirked, little traitor.
"Clearly it was a misunderstanding, since he's here today." Yanli added.
"I'm sure Wei Ying was just being himself." Jiang Cheng said, meaning that he wouldn't handle work with him for more than an hour for sure. School projects used to be fun for Wei Ying and absolutely hell for him.
"He was, there was nothing wrong with that," Lan Zhan blessed them with his voice after eating in silence for almost an hour. "I was missing out on actually working along with him."
Wei Ying had no silly joke to add to that. He caught his sister's eyes because he couldn't look at Lan Zhan when he was casually throwing up sweet words like that. She smiled, less stunned as he was.
Conversation went on, the food ended, everyone loved dessert, Wei Ying praised his sister but had to give special credit to Lan Zhan for hours because everything he cooked was amazing.
Rulan was told to wash the dishes and did obediently. Wei Ying followed to dry them because Lan Zhan looked really comfortable with Yanli and Jin Zixuan talking about their marriage, a story he knew too well.
"Is your phone broken or something?" He asked Rulan, who was more present that day than he usually was with the exception of when they'd played cards because he was way too competitive or in class.
"I can function without my phone, okay?"
Wei Ying gave him a look of disbelief. After a moment, Rulan spoke again.
"Are you and Lan laoshi a thing?"
"What?"
"A thing, are you two hooking up?"
"How do you know that expression?" Wei Ying was shocked by the turn that conversation had taken. "We're friends, we work together."
"I know you two work together, that wouldn't stop you."
"Why would you think that?"
Rulan shrugged. By the way he was avoiding looking at him, Wei Ying knew he was embarrassed for asking but apparently couldn't help himself. "You brought him over, right? And you two just give off those vibes- I'm not the only one who noticed."
Wei Ying chuckled out of nervousness because that had come out of nowhere. He couldn't even ask who else noticed- noticed what, even?
"We're not a thing."
"Fine."
A moment went by. "Lan Zhan is just- I know I used to say he was this stoic guy before, but he's really not, he's hella smart, and caring, how could I not be friends with him, right?"
"Right. I get it. Okay, I'm done here."
He gave Wei Ying the last plate and disappeared through the hallway. Wei Ying came back to the living room and tried not to think about what happened. Teenagers had this wild imagination. They hung out until it started to get dark outside and Yanli tried to show Lan Zhan his baby pictures. When they started leaving, Yanli asked Lan Zhan for a hug, and Wei Ying knew that he said yes because he wanted to and not to be impolite. She whispered something in his ear that Wei Ying couldn't hear, then she hugged him, too.
On the bus, Wei Ying had to make extra effort to not bounce his leg. It was out of contentment this time.
"Did you have fun today?" Wei Ying asked in a sweet-like tone. He expected Lan Zhan to just give him a bemused look. Instead, he hummed.
"Your family cares about you very much. I'm glad you have them close to you." He looked at him with this very soft expression. Lan Zhan expressed everything with his eyes, people who didn't pay attention wouldn't even notice the difference. But Wei Ying was always paying attention, this time he believed that Lan Zhan truly wouldn't rather be anywhere else, and he barely knew what to do with that knowledge. Like his body was still making space inside of him for this new sensation. He hadn't felt this in a while. "Thank you for sharing them with me."
They spent the rest of the ride in blissful silence. Wei Ying missed Lan Zhan even before his stop arrived. And the few minutes before coming home. And at home, and during shower. He thought about texting him before going to bed, a text from his sister showed up just in time.
"You found someone really precious here, A-Ying."
"Yeah, I know."
___
"They do like each other but they're not together."
Rulan typed in the groupchat with the boys and ignored their texts until sunday morning, just to let them get everything on the group so he wouldn't have to explain until the last minute and in the middle of a hundred texts. They deserved it, fof dragging him into this mess in the first place.
He couldn't believe his friends weren’t just being delusional this time. He also couldn't believe how strange it'd be to have his uncle dating a teacher - which he believed was an inevitable outcome by that point - but on the other side, it was Wei Ying. His jiujiu said once that he loved to pester people until they couldn't help but like him. Maybe that was what happened. Or maybe he got really lucky and Lan laoshi just liked him before he started pestering him. He didn't know the details, he sure as hell wouldn't ask, but he was surprised to the point of wanting to share it with his stupid friends.
OZZ : and the plot thickens
i cant believe it took you so long to say something whats wrong with you
you dont know what being friends mean rulan you dont even KNOW
JY : he literally said he wouldnt tell us if he knew
OZZ : i'm a hopeful person alright?
WY : are we talking about our teachers again?
JY : no we're talking about mike and will
duh
WY : dont be mean :(
JY : sorry just wanted to see Zizhen's reaction
OZZ : sometimes i doubt if you guys truly love me
WY : we do!!!
JY : debatable
alright Rulan I thought it was story time tell us the rest
RL : whats more to tell
lan laoshi is a good cook my mom approved
OZZ : jesus christ dude you took 12 hours to reply and thats all you got
WY : how do you know they like each other?
RL : you guys have no patience
OZZ : shut up you were a premature baby
RL : okay i don't mind other people's business like you but. jiujiu was so weird about being in the same room as them and i know he hates it being around couples even if they're not aware they're a couple yet
and i get it because wei ying is very flirty it's so inappropriate
and my mom was all about advices and asking questions to lan laoshi
just being protective, you know?
also sometimes he does smile at what wei ying says it's like even creepier up close
OZZ : hold on a second man hold on
JY : you were right we should have hidden behind the bushes or something
RL : you want to be arrested so bad
WY : that's very cute
i mean lan laoshi being in love not you guys wanting to spy on them
but then why do you still think they're not together?
RL : i asked
JY : no way
zizhen you created a monster
RL : i just wanted this assumptions to end okay
anyway he acted like jingyi when he has a crush
JY : i dont know what you mean
RL : he was like what? no. lan zhan is the most incredible person ever but we're just bros
OZZ : he did not say that
tell me he didnt say that
RL : he basically did
WY : oh no
do you think lan laoshi will say something?
JY : maybe wei laoshi hadnt realized yet
RL : nah i think wei ying probably already knows but he has the emotional intelligence of a boy and think they can't be more than friends
JY : Rulan is being wise today guys i'm so impressed
RL : at least i'm not MR. "he's the most incredible person but we're just bros"
OZZ : he could be friends with him and kiss him on the mouth sometimes
RL : i swear i'll be this close of blocking you if you start talking about kissing
WY : Jingyi has a crush on someone?
JY : Rulan is cockoo in the head havent you noticed yet
OZZ : guys thats not the point
WY : right anyway
WY : If they do get together Rulan will know before us
let's leave it at that how about that
OZZ: okay wow
we were right
who would thought
JY : alright we'll let it be. i'm happy just to know my guy is about to be getting his kisses soon
RL : dude seriously
JY : like you don't know it's true
come on Zizhen we have american fictional people we can project into
have you watched season 4?
___
The credits rolled down to a movie that Lan Zhan had chosen. It was a romantic one. Wei Ying was slowly finding that he was a huge sap and he didn't even try that hard to hide it. It wasn't Wei Ying's favorite kind of movie, but he trusted Lan Zhan's taste, and he always indulged Wei Ying's.
This one was… too deep. It didn't have to, it had cliched tropes and a famous cast. But the story touched Wei Ying in a way he wasn't expecting.
"Wei Ying?" It took him three seconds to react and look at him. "Would you like some tea?"
"Yes, please."
Wei Ying kept staring at the wall until Lan Zhan came back from the kitchen. The warm cup of tea helped him focus again, he made himself comfortable with his feet beneath him on the couch. Lan Zhan always made good tea because he made it often. Wei Ying hated it the first time he offered it, but with time, he picked the habit of drinking with him.
"Have you watched this one before?" Wei Ying gestured to the TV. Lan Zhan shook his head.
"Did you like it?"
"Did I like it? I almost cried, it was awful." Lan Zhan shook his head again, in a way he did in amusement. "You watch too many cheesy movies. This one was cheesy, too. But in a heartfelt way, you know? I thought it was going to be silly."
Wei Ying made himself small. There were things that he simply didn't say to Lan Zhan, despite knowing how understanding he was because they were too sincere. It felt itchy.
"I like hopeful endings, too." Lan Zhan said. It helped to make it less weird. Lan Zhan was always sincere, after all.
"I know," Wei Ying smiled. He liked knowing these things about him. "God, I think I've been single for too long, It's easier to get me emotional these days."
Lan Zhan sipped his tea. "How long?"
"Hm, I don't even know. It's been a long time since I even tried. Dating got boring after a while. I used to shoot in any direction when I was in college and it was fun but-" Wei Ying focused on his mug. "This is going to be embarrassing, but the cliches, going on stupid expensive dates just to impress someone, making a big deal about holding hands, dancing in the kitchen with no apparent reason, it all started to sound more appealing to me than hooking up with people while putting a lot of energy in keeping a safe distance anyway. So I stopped trying. It's mostly dumb luck at the end of it, and I never really had that."
He tried his best to not sound self depreciative, because despite everything, it truly wasn't. He was too old to have big expectations when it came to these things. But apparently, he wasn't old enough to stop being touched by it.
"What about you?" Wei Ying had to ask "I bet you would be a heartbreaker if you weren't so nice."
Before, Wei Ying couldn't really imagine Lan Zhan with someone in that way. He seemed so stiff and preoccupied with literally anything else. But now that he spent all that time with him, Wei Ying knew that Lan Zhan was a real catch. He didn't think Lan Zhan was completely aware of it, but he was so charming. The kind of person who listened to chattering old ladies, and made a good impression to parents with high expectations for a son-in-law, and made little kids stare in awe. He was the kind of person who made men that never realized anything was even missing until they met him, hope for more.
"You just said it," Lan Zhan pointed out. "It's a matter of luck. And I am too nice for casualties."
That made Wei Ying laugh, his heart also ached a little. Lan Zhan was too intense, in the most amazing way. In a way that you wouldn't guess just by looking at him that he wore his heart on his sleeve just like Wei Ying. He knew that Lan Zhan didn't do anything halfway and hoped no one ever took his affections unseriously.