Chapter Text
He built it for his mother. He knows that. He can admit that after a whole lot of expensive therapy. She couldn’t use it of course. She died many years before the idea for the house even came to him, but he never forgot the rumours of how she saw their home as a prison. How she longed for more outside of the confines of Gusu.
So as soon as he had qualified as an architect he built her house in her memory high on a lush hill, overlooking his childhood town. Large glass windows were placed everywhere so that it would never feel like a prison. His Uncle said it was a fool's errand. Lan Zhan ignored him.
He moved to the city and got a job at one of the top architectural firms. He built soul destroying skyscrapers and sometimes he got to experience the joy of building someone’s dream home. He had an apartment in the city, so he never went back to the house on the hill. It was too painful. It sat there as a reminder of his mother’s pain, of his own agony over losing her. Maybe one day he would sell it, he would tell himself that even though he knew it was a lie. He would never sell it. It was a fool's errand. His Uncle had been right all along. Who would ever want to live in a glass house built on the foundations of nothing but painful memories?
Wei Ying sighed as he moved around the floor with another tray of cheap champagne. He hated these corporate events they held at the restaurant he worked at, why did his boss agree to them? Oh yeah…money. Wei Ying hated money. Only he didn’t actually hate money, he was just jealous because he didn’t have any and these people seemed to have loads. Some of these guys were getting pretty drunk and pretty handsy. Wei Ying was debating whether or not to start breaking thumbs when…
“Who is the pretty boy sulking at the bar?” Wei Ying whispered to Huaisang. Huaisang stopped eating the canapés he was meant to be handing out and squinted across the room.
“No idea, but he looks slightly tipsy and a whole lot lonely, get over there,” Huaisang nudged him in the arm.
“Huaisang! You know I’m saving myself for my Prince Charming!” Wei Ying retorted.
Huaisang rolled his eyes. “Just go talk to him. You know you’re going to talk to him anyway because you have a hero complex and he sure looks like he needs saving.”
Wei Ying rolled his eyes but didn’t argue. He sauntered over to the bar and noted that the guy had only drank half the beer the bartender had served him. “Hey, are you okay?” he asked.
The man turned around and sad amber coloured eyes met his. They were a little glassy. Wei Ying’s mouth dropped open. This guy was gorgeous. Perfect skin, long black hair down his back and a dark blue suit that probably cost a few months of Wei Ying’s pay. Wei Ying looked down at his black trousers and white shirt with canapé stains on them. Fuck. Well at-least his little black apron was cute and showed off how small his waist was…hold on! He wasn’t trying to seduce this guy! It didn’t matter how small his waist looked! He blinked and focused. “Are you okay?” he repeated.
The guy blinked up at him slowly from the bar stool he was seated on that was barely containing his enormous form. “Why did I build it if no one will live there?” he asked sadly.
Wei Ying frowned, then remembered this event was full of fancy architects. “Did you build something and the customers didn’t like it? That’s too bad honey, but maybe someone else will buy it instead! I’m sure it’s lovely! Do you have any pictures?”
The man blinked more rapidly up at Wei Ying, then patted his pockets and pouted. “No phone, no pictures…” he said sadly.
Wei Ying pressed his lips together. His phone was very clearly in the guy's jacket pocket. Adorable. Adorably drunk off half a beer. Wei Ying pulled a pen out of his apron and grabbed a napkin. “Can you draw it?” he suggested.
The man’s eyes lightened. He straightened his posture, grabbed the pen and the napkin and started to draw. Wei Ying tapped his foot and looked around hoping his boss wouldn’t notice him standing around instead of dishing out drinks. A few moments later…a napkin was pushed into his hands. Wei Ying gasped. “This is beautiful…is all this glass?”
The sad man nodded. “Yes. Glass. Not a prison. Always free. She should always feel free.”
Wei Ying’s heart squeezed in his chest. “You built this for someone special didn’t you?”
The man nodded. Oh. He was in love and whoever it was that he was in love with, didn’t want this beautiful house or this beautiful man apparently.
“Hey where is this place? I would have noticed if it was near here,” Wei Ying asked.
The man took the napkin back and scribbled on it then handed it back to Wei Ying. Now under the drawing there was an address. “Gusu!” Wei Ying exclaimed.
The man nodded.
Wei Ying patted him on the back. “Hey, don’t be sad. I think this is amazing. I would love to live in a house like this!”
You would?” The man asked with such a hopeful gaze that Wei Ying couldn’t help but smile even wider and nod enthusiastically. “Hey I don’t think we’ve been introduced but I’m Wei Ying, waiter extraordinaire!”
“I am Lan Zhan, an acceptable architect.”
Wei Ying laughed. “I’m sure you’re better than that, Lan Zhan. I’ve seen this beautiful house now, you are clearly very talented.”
Lan Zhan turned to look at his drink and Wei Ying noticed his ears were red. Adorable.
“Hey, so this place is going to close soon, you wanna wait and you can walk me home?” Wei Ying asked.
What the fuck? Why had he said that? He didn’t pick up men! But he found he didn’t want Lan Zhan to be alone.
Lan Zhan looked at him for a moment and then nodded. Wei Ying smiled at him. “I’ll just finish up and we’ll leave, okay?”
Lan Zhan nodded again.
Wei Ying ran across the room. “Huaisang I asked him to walk me home, what the fuck is wrong with me?”
“Erm…nothing you have eyes. Go get some,” Huaisang urged.
Wei Ying looked wistfully at Lan Zhan. “No! He’s drunk off half a beer but he’s really sweet and I don’t like to think of him being alone…”
Huaisang looked disgusted. “Oh this isn’t a booty call, you sound like you just found a stray cat.”
“He’s not a cat, more like a puppy or maybe a bunny with those big eyes and his cute ears…hee hee…” Wei Ying felt a little drunk himself though he hadn’t touched a drop. He didn’t drink while he was working.
“Oh fuck,” Huaisang muttered. “Well enjoy your night whatever the hell you are going to do with it.”
“Thanks, can you pretty please lock up?” Wei Ying begged.
Huaisang rolled his eyes. “Fine but you OWE me.”
“Fine, fine. Thank you!”
Wei Ying skipped back to Lan Zhan’s side. “I’m all yours!” he announced and then blushed. “I mean. We can get going.”
Lan Zhan lowered himself from the stool and they walked outside together. They walked all around the city and Wei Ying talked and talked and Lan Zhan listened. After a while Lan Zhan’s eyes seemed to be less glassy and he seemed more steady on his feet. Eventually they arrived back at the restaurant which was now closed and dark. Lan Zhan frowned. “We are back where we started…”
Wei Ying grinned. “We sure are, I live there! Right above the restaurant.”
“But you asked me to walk you home,” Lan Zhan said softly.
Wei Ying nodded. “And you did, and you’re sober now aren’t you and we’ve had a nice time haven’t we?”
Lan Zhan opened his mouth. Then shut it and smiled. “Mn,” he said.
Wei Ying shivered. Lan Zhan sure did have a lovely voice. “Okay, well…shall we say goodnight?”
Lan Zhan nodded. “Mn. I will wait until you are inside before I call for a cab.”
Wei Ying turned to door, put his key in the lock and then called over his shoulder. “Do you want to come up?”
Wei Ying, what the actually fuck are you doing? His brain shouted.
Lan Zhan met his eyes, then nodded. Wei Ying opened the door and they headed up the creaky staircase. Wei Ying didn’t know why he had asked him to come up. He didn’t have people over. His place was small and he hadn’t bothered to fix it up. Wei Ying never stayed anywhere for very long, it was just easier that way, when Wei Ying overstayed his welcome…bad things tended to happen. It was better to constantly be on the move. “Well here it is home sweet home!” Wei Ying cried, putting his hands in the air. Lan Zhan walked past him into the small living room and Wei Ying let out a snort. Lan Zhan turned to look at him quizzically.
“I’m sorry, it’s just you are so big. You make this room look so tiny.”
“Wei Ying is almost as tall as me,” Lan Zhan replied.
“Well yeah but I’m all lean waitering muscle…you seem to be all…I pull twenty cows to the market each morning muscle.”
Lan Zhan’s lip twitched. “What an interesting observation.”
Wei Ying blushed and looked away. “Anyway, you want a drink? Not alcohol! We just got you back to the land of the living!” He started opening and shutting doors in the little kitchenette looking for two clean glasses.
Lan Zhan came to stand in the kitchen next to him which didn’t really leave any room for Wei Ying to do anything but look at him. “I am sorry if I did anything inappropriate in the restaurant,” he said, looking concerned.
Wei Ying frowned. “Why do you think you did something inappropriate? Can you not remember our little chat?”
Lan Zhan shook his head. “I do not drink as a rule. I have an unusual reaction. I came back to my senses while out walking with you but my memory of the events before is somewhat hazy.”
Wei Ying smiled and squeezed Lan Zhan’s bicep. To be comforting, not to cop a feel. “Well you didn’t do anything inappropriate. We just talked about the house you built.”
“I told you about my house?” Lan Zhan asked.
Wei Ying nodded and started cleaning two glasses from the drainer and poured some water into both of them. “Yeah, you were sad about it. I thought you built it for some customers but now I think maybe you built it for someone special and they didn’t want it?”
Lan Zhan shook his head. He took a big gulp from the glass Wei Ying had handed him. “Yes and no. Yes I built it for someone special but I will never know her feelings on the subject, she will never know about the house I built for her.”
Wei Ying’s heart fluttered again, unrequited love was so sad. “Well I think it’s amazing. You drew me a picture, all that glass! I bet it feels like you are almost a part of the landscape! I love the outdoors, I go camping all the time.”
Lan Zhan smiled. “Maybe someone would enjoy it, it is a shame it has stood empty for so long…”
“I bet they would! I bet lots of people would love to live there,” Wei Ying coaxed.
Lan Zhan smiled at him. “Thank you, Wei Ying. Not just for your comforting words but for taking care of me while I was not myself.”
Wei Ying blushed. “It’s fine, it’s what anyone would do.”
“I should go,” Lan Zhan said suddenly, putting his now empty glass into the sink.
Wei Ying felt disappointment seep through him. “What? You’re just going to go?” Wei Ying asked.
Lan Zhan’s ears were red again as he stared at the glass in the sink. “I do not want to…take advantage…” he muttered.
“You aren’t taking advantage of me if I'm offering it,” Wei Ying replied.
Again his brain asked WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING?!
Lan Zhan’s eyes turned to Wei Ying’s. “Wei Ying, you would want to…”
Wei Ying rushed forward and kissed him. It was his first kiss and as kisses went, Wei Ying decided it was probably a good one as he felt it right down to his toes. Lan Zhan tightened his hands on Wei Ying’s hips and drew him in, deepening the kiss and Wei Ying moaned softly into his mouth. He found himself deposited on to the kitchen bench with Lan Zhan between his legs and let his hands thread into Lan Zhan’s beautiful hair while they kissed then Lan Zhan nuzzled under his ear and kissed his way down his neck.
Wei Ying let out a shaky breath. “Just so you know I don’t do these types of things, like ever, I mean hook ups, I don’t do hook ups.”
“Me neither,” Lan Zhan confessed against his throat.
“You’re just…special,” Wei Ying whispered.
Lan Zhan stopped what he was doing and straightened up to look Wei Ying directly in the eyes. “I think Wei Ying is special too.”
Wei Ying lost his virginity that evening…and he found he didn’t regret one tiny little moment of it.
**********
The next day Wei Ying woke up and stretched out like a happy cat then he frowned as his hands found empty space instead of the gorgeous man who had fucked him into the mattress the night before. Wei Ying sat up suddenly and looked around. The flat was empty. Wei Ying picked up his phone and called Huaisang.
“Yo! Should I get a tattoo of a dick and balls on my ankle? Like hardly anyone is going to see it down there right? But it would still piss my brother off which I like the idea of but it would have to be tasteful and…”
“That fucker bedded me then fucked off!” Wei Ying screeched.
“What?! You slept with that guy? Oh my god what happened to waiting for your Prince Charming?” Huaisang cried.
“I thought he WAS my Prince Charming! We had this wonderful night, we connected, everything was going perfectly, the stuff of literal fairytales and now…he’s gone!”
“Maybe he had to go somewhere really important, maybe he left a note, look around!” Huaisang suggested.
Wei Ying looked around. “I see nothing except betrayal! He took my virginity! He took something I can never get back!”
“I know a guy, if you wanted your virginity back, we could do that…just don’t ask too many questions…”
“Huaisang! Focus! I have been jilted!”
“Jilted is for when you get left at the altar, this isn’t that bad…”
“My honour has been stolen and you are saying it isn’t that bad?!”
Wei Ying heard Huaisang sigh. “I don’t want to make things worse but I overheard something last night…”
“What?” Wei Ying asked as his skin started to tingle with anxiety.
“It seems like our lovely boss is going to chuck you out. His daughter has left school now and wants to come home and learn the family business apparently, more like freeload on daddy’s money and live in a rent free flat.”
“What?! I’m going to be homeless?!” Wei Ying wailed.
“You can stay with me! I know it’s not a big place and my brother snores but hey it’s better than a park bench!”
Wei Ying sat in the middle of his bed crosslegged. “I’ll call you later Huasiang,” he said and hung up. He felt tears start to prick his eyes and told them to fuck off. Wei Ying didn’t cry. Wei Ying was scrappy and resourceful. He would find a way out of this mess. He stood up and found his work apron and pulled out his pen to make a plan of action when, out fell the napkin. He was so angry when he saw the drawing and thought of that fuckers breathtaking face that he almost ripped it up but then he looked at it. Hold on. There was a beautiful house with no one living there. He put the napkin down. He couldn’t, could he? No! That would be like…theft…well not really…would it be like…squatting? And wasn’t that allowed? I mean squatters had rights right? He wasn’t even sure what rights they had but they had them and that seemed to suggest that squatting was allowed…
“If you don’t get caught,” he whispered to the room. He phoned Huasiang back. “Huaisang, I’m going on a little trip, tell the restaurant I quit, effective immediately.” He hung up before Huaisang could ask too many questions, got dressed quickly, packed his few belongings into his trusty backpack, and headed out to the train station.
**********
Lan Zhan had been patiently waiting in the very long coffee shop queue when a man had run into the store shouted about how consumerism was a disease, grabbed a bunch of limited edition pumpkin spice travel cups and sped off down the street with them. Lan Zhan had stupidly ran after him and after catching up with the man and collecting the cups and returning them to the store, the owner wouldn’t stop thanking him and then he had to talk to the police and he tried to be as polite as possible and escaped as quickly as he could to return to Wei Ying’s with a giant free coffee in his hand and a fully stamped loyalty card. He had seen an empty cup for the coffee shop in Wei Ying’s trash and hoped he had guessed correctly that it was a favourite of Wei Ying’s.
Lan Zhan’s stomach was full of butterflies and his head was full of Wei Ying. Wei Ying’s smiles, Wei Ying’s skin, Wei Ying’s moans, Wei Ying’s long hair cascading down his back once it was released from its red ribboned ponytail…
He smiled to himself as he headed back up to Wei Ying’s flat and pushed on the door. Locked. He was sure he had left it open as he had only intended to be gone for half an hour or so. He knocked on the door. No answer. He waited and knocked again. Nothing. After a while, a man came running up the stairs and stared at Lan Zhan.
“You!” he said, putting his hands on his hips. “What are you doing here? Didn’t you run off after getting what you wanted?”
Lan Zhan shook his head. “I went to get coffee, Wei Ying is not answering the door. Is he okay?”
The man rolled his eyes and slapped the centre of his forehead. “This impulsive idiot,” he muttered. “He woke up, he saw you gone and jumped to some conclusions.”
Lan Zhan’s eyes widened. “I must see him, I must explain.”
The man sighed. “No can do, I’m afraid. He left town.”
“He left town?” Lan Zhan was dismayed. His actions had caused Wei Ying to leave town?
The man nodded. “I know, it seems crazy but that’s our Wei Ying. Hey a guy fucked me and disappeared, should I eat some ice cream and have a bit cry? No! I’ll leave my entire life behind me and start anew! A completely normal reaction!”
“Did he say where he was going?” Lan Zhan asked.
The man shook his head. “Nope. I tried to get him to tell me, but all he would say is that he’s off on an adventure.”
“I see,” Lan Zhan said sadly. “I really hoped that we could have…” he trailed off.
“I’m sorry,” the guy said. “I’m Huaisang by the way.”
“Lan Zhan,” Lan Zhan said with a little bow. “Would you like this coffee? I only drink tea.”
“Why yes I would! Wow, this is Wei Ying’s favourite! He would have been all over you if you had been here sooner!”
Lan Zhan winced at the missed opportunity.
Huaisang scrunched up his nose. “Sorry…hey listen…I have his phone number…I could give it to you?”
Lan Zhan nodded eagerly.
“Okay let me put it into your phone.”
Lan Zhan handed over his phone and Huaisang put in Wei Ying’s number. “I’ll put my number in here too, just in-case you never know…and I’ll just send myself a text from your phone so I have your number too…”
Lan Zhan snatched his phone back before Huaisang could do anything else with it.
Huaisang smiled and sipped his coffee. “Good luck, I’m sure you guys will work it out once you figure out where he’s wandered off to.”
Lan Zhan nodded and walked past Huaisang and down the staircase. He rang Wei Ying’s number…no answer. He sent a text message:
Wei Ying, this is Lan Zhan, please text me back.
He put his phone away and hailed a cab, Wei Ying would text back or he would call. Then he would explain and apologise, and everything would be okay. He sat in the back of the cab and closed his eyes, images of the night before danced in front of his eyes. Wei Ying was intoxicating, beautiful, bright, a light in the dark. Lan Zhan had to see him again. He had to. Last night had been the best experience of his life so far, if only he hadn’t left to get coffee, why didn’t he leave a note? Because he was an idiot that’s why. Floating on a cloud thinking about the night before without considering the feelings of the very man he was happily fantasising about. Shameful behaviour, when Wei Ying contacted him he would beg for forgiveness. When he arrived home, there was still no call and no text from Wei Ying. He took some deep breaths. It would be okay. Wei Ying was probably travelling, perhaps he didn’t have any signal, everything would be okay once they talked. Everything would be straightened out. He pushed aside his uneasy feeling and went to take a long, cold shower as a self inflicted punishment.
**********
Wei Ying started to get excited on the train…a new adventure! A house just for him! A beautiful house at that. This was good, he could relax and regroup and get some revenge on that sex fiend! How dare he hit it and quit it. To think that Wei Ying had saved himself for him! Well he had learned his lesson! No more distractions! No more sex! Wei Ying was closed for business! He would probably never find anyone who rocked his world as well as Lan Zhan had anyway…
“No!” He shouted out loud causing some of the other passengers to look at him. He smiled apologetically at them. But he had to stop thinking of Lan Zhan as some sort of sex god. He was…good at sex that was true but that didn’t mean he was a good guy! That didn’t mean he was good for Wei Ying! It probably only meant he had had a lot of sex. Yeah, that’s probably what it meant. He went around seducing unsuspecting waiters and collecting experience points from them! “Shameless!” Wei Ying shouted and then ducked in his seat as the passengers once again eyed him suspiciously. He pressed his lips together and vowed to stay silent for the rest of the journey.
It was cold in Gusu, Wei Ying hadn’t visited since he was young and had forgotten how cold it could be. He wrapped his arms around himself over his vintage leather jacket as he headed out of the train station and tried to figure out which direction he needed to be heading in. He had a brainwave to use google maps, but when he pulled his phone out of his pocket he noticed it was dead and then he remembered he had left his charger back in the flat. Oh well, he would just have to get a new one, first things first, he needed to find out where his new house was!
Wei Ying headed down the street and into an old fashioned looking book store. He walked over to the grumpy looking old man behind the desk and flashed his best smile. Wei Ying noticed he had a forehead ribbon like Lan Zhan’s. Must be a Gusu thing he summised. “Hey there! Could you tell me where this house is?” He showed the man the napkin and the man’s eyes narrowed suspiciously. “Why?” he snapped. Wei Ying had never been very good at keeping his mouth shut and he certainly didn’t feel like being quiet in the face of such needlessly rude behaviour, so he blinked and leaned across the man’s counter using both his hands to prop up his face as he announced. “It’s my husband's house, he sent me ahead to fix it up for us.”
The old man’s eyebrows shot up. “It is not!” He roared.
Wei Ying straightened up. Time to double the fuck down. “Excuse me! I think I know my own husband! His name is Lan Zhan! He’s tall, dark and handsome and can’t handle alcohol!”
Wei Ying imagined his brain packing up its little bag and leaving him to wallow in the mess he had created.
The old man looked at Wei Ying again then the fight seemed to go out of him and he sighed. “You do look like his type. Just like his father running into a relationship just because of a flash of a pretty smile.”
Wei Ying grinned. “You think I have a pretty smile? Well thank you!”
The old man rolled his eyes. “You’ll find that house up on the hill, you can’t really miss it. It looks out over the whole town. Go straight down, take a right, keep going.”
“Thank you!” Wei Ying cried and waved as he left the shop and headed up the street. The old man watched him disappear around the corner then picked up his phone. “Xichen, can you please head up to Wangji’s house as soon as you can. No, Wangji isn’t going to be there, but apparently his new husband soon will be.”
Wei Ying found the house with ease once he took the right turn off. He couldn’t help running up the bank and then hesitated when he reached the front door but as luck would have it, it came right open! Okay, it came right open after a little bit of lock picking but only a teensy weensy bit!
The house was as beautiful as he had imagined. It was all one floor, mainly glass with some privacy for the bathroom and bedroom. It was spacious and airy and not furnished…okay…surely there would be a yard sale somewhere where Wei Ying could pick up a few bits, it would be fine. Wei Ying danced along the corridors checking out the rooms, a state of the art kitchen which luckily had appliances, a massive stand alone bath, yes! The house was surrounded by a meadow and beyond that a dense forest. Wei Ying leaned against one of the window frames, looked out at the view and sighed. Oh yes, this was perfect. This was just where he needed to be.
Wei Ying heard a knock on the door a little while later, it woke him up as he had been having a little nap on the floor using his rucksack as a pillow. He squinted at the window near the door and saw…Lan Zhan waving at him! Oh fuck! Was he already rumbled? It hasn’t even been a day! How was this fair? How the fuck had Lan Zhan found him? No one knew he was here! He had been very careful not to…
“Yoo Hoo!”
Wei Ying blinked. Okay, he hadn’t known Lan Zhan very long but he was willing to bet his life that Lan Zhan was not a “Yoo Hoo!” kinda guy. He stood up slowly and moved to the door. He took a deep breath and opened it.
“Hello!” said the man who looked like Lan Zhan but was clearly not Lan Zhan. The man was smiling and had a big basket of…
“Is this for me?” Wei Ying asked, grabbing the basket and looking at all the delicious goodies tucked inside. He walked into the room and the not Lan Zhan man followed.
“It is indeed, it’s a welcome to the neighbourhood gift!” The not Lan Zhan man sang.
“Well thank you!” Wei Ying said cheerfully, he settled on the floor cross legged and started pulling things out of the basket. “Fancy!” he exclaimed.
Not Lan Zhan looked around. “I’m sure you know who I am…” he said.
“No,” Wei Ying answered without thinking.
Not Lan Zhan frowned. “Lan Zhan didn’t mention me?” he said, his voice laced with hurt.
Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Wei Ying looked up from his basket. “I mean…of course I know who you are! You are Lan Zhan’s dear brother!” He guessed.
The man smiled and Wei Ying internally congratulated himself on the win.
“He called me his dear brother? I am so glad to hear it. He has been rather distant since he moved to the big city. I was worried he had forgotten about his dear brother and his grumpy Uncle…”
Grumpy Uncle? Oh fuck, the guy from the bookstore! The not Lan Zhan man also had a matching ribbon. It wasn’t a Gusu thing then, it was a LAN thing. It was just like Wei Ying to act like a total idiot and announce to Lan Zhan’s VERY OWN Uncle that he was Lan Zhan’s husband! His brain returned briefly to whole heartedly agree.
Wei Ying stood up. “I’m sorry about the way I talked to your, our Uncle earlier, it’s just I have a bit of a temper and when I’m provoked I tend to…”
Lan Zhan’s brother waved his hand in the air. “Oh it’s fine. Uncle is always ruffling feathers, once he gets to know you better, I’m sure you two will become good friends!”
Wei Ying nodded thinking that the old guy was probably already planning how to boil him alive.
Lan Zhan’s brother clapped his hands together. “Well I am glad to hear you have heard of me but I’m afraid I have heard nothing about you! May I ask your name?”
“I’m Wei Ying!” Wei Ying cried, holding out his hand. Lan Zhan’s brother shook it.
“It is wonderful to meet you. My brother had not even mentioned he was getting engaged! Can I assume it was a short courtship?”
Wei Ying nodded. “It was a whirlwind romance! He swept me off my feet!”
“Oh how lovely,” Lan Zhan’s brother sighed. “I said to myself when Uncle called, I said Xichen, this must be a very special relationship, Wangji must have fallen in love, he must be head over heels!”
“Oh yes, Xichen, we are so very in love. Sometimes even I can’t believe it!” Wei Ying confirmed.
Xichen’s eyes were glazed over and dreamy.
Wei Ying cackled internally. This was gonna be so much fun…
**********
Lan Zhan didn’t hear from Wei Ying the next day or the next day, he tried to ring and left many voice messages but Wei Ying’s phone seemed to be permanently off. He started to worry, what if something had happened? What if Wei Ying needed his help? He sent a text to Huaisang who assured him that Wei Ying was scrappy and could look after himself but it did not help ease Lan Zhan’s anxiety. He sent another message to Huaisang explaining he was extremely worried but Huaisang started sending him possible pictures of cock and balls tattoos for his ankle so Lan Zhan stopped texting him. He went back to the restaurant and talked to the owner and the other staff but no one had any idea where Wei Ying had gone. Apparently he was prone to flights of fancy so this wasn’t out of character. No one seemed particularly worried apart from Lan Zhan. He didn’t know what to do…where to look…he felt so helpless…
Then on day three a call. He picked up his phone without checking the number.
“Wangji?”
“Uncle,” Lan Zhan replied, trying to quell his disappointment that it was not a call from Wei Ying. “Is everything alright?”
“No, everything isn’t already, Wangji! You get married and don’t even tell your family? And then you send your flighty husband up here to apparently get that infernal house ready for you to come back here and live together, and you don’t even discuss it with us first?! What kind of behaviour is this?!”
Lan Zhan blinked. “My husband?” he asked.
“Yes, your husband, Wei Ying? Surely you recall him? The one who you apparently fell in love with at first sight and eloped with and then sent up here to torture me! Xichen is enamoured with him! He keeps telling me tales of your amazing love story! I don’t care to hear it but he insists on telling me anyway! I want you to come home right now and sort this whole thing out!”
Lan Zhan’s brain was usually a very calm and serene place. Right at that moment it was chaotic. Words bounced around in his head, words like husband and Wei Ying and husband and Wei Ying…
He caught the end of an idea as it floated past and started to put together a theory, Wei Ying had a picture of the house he designed, perhaps also an address, Wei Ying felt scorned by Lan Zhan, would he perhaps do this to…retaliate?
Husband….Wei Ying….Husband...Wei Ying…
“Wangji are you listening? You must come right away! That husband of yours has Xichen buying all sorts of furniture for your house swearing you will pay him back and it’s all on credit. Your brother is enjoying himself way too much and Wei Ying has the entire town in an uproar, I demand you come here and restore some order!”
“I will be there by six,” Lan Zhan vowed and hung up the phone. He emailed his boss stating he had to take a personal day and left immediately. He went home, packed a small suitcase and got into his car. He tried ringing Wei Ying again but the phone was still switched off. He left a voice message and hung up. He started the car and tried to calm his mind. He was going to see Wei Ying. Wei Ying, his apparent husband. He was sure this was all a big misunderstanding. Everything would be made clear once they saw each other again. His brain did its best to keep his thoughts peaceful while his heart beat out a steady rhythm of…
Wei Ying and Husband…Wei Ying and Husband…
**********
“And then one time I nearly fell off a cliff!” Wei Ying lied as he and Xichen returned to the house back from their latest shopping trip.
“Wei Ying! No!” Xichen gasped.
Wei Ying nodded with serious eyes. “Yes. I nearly died but Lan Zhan, he said “Not on my watch” and he saved me! Plucked me right out of the air and into his arms. He told me he would always be there to save me from that day on, I swear I swooned right there, Xichen.”
“Oh I can hardly believe it, my little brother who used to categorise romance books in our Uncle’s bookstore as “useless junk” is a secret romantic!” Xichen gushed.
Wei Ying nodded. “He is my little honey pot. He is so sweet you have no idea, I have a million stories!”
“I want to hear them all!”
“And you shall Xichen, you shall. Now do you think the sofa looks good there? Or should I move it closer to the tv?”
“I think it looks good there, Wei Ying. You really should have let me buy you another tv for the bedroom too.”
“Oh no, we don’t need a tv in there Xichen, between you and me your brother is insatiable when it comes to me! I barely have time to sleep in bed let alone watch tv!” Wei Ying said with a wink.
“Oh Wei Ying! You are such a scamp! I will pretend I didn’t hear that!” Xichen giggled as his cheeks went red.
Wei Ying almost felt bad about lying to Lan Zhan’s brother. He was adorable in his own way, not as adorable as Lan Zhan but close. But it sure was fun making up all those wonderful stories about his great love affair with Lan Zhan and really what was the harm? The furniture could be returned or sold. Everything would work out fine…
“Oh Wei Ying, I noted that you forgot to buy a phone charger again, so I picked one up for you.” Xichen pulled the charger out of one of his bags and handed it to Wei Ying.
Wei Ying took it and bowed to Xichen. “You are a god among men.”
Xichen laughed again as he headed to the door. “Oh I adore you, Wei Ying! I can see why my brother married you!”
Wei Ying waved at him until his car pulled away then went to retrieve his phone in the master bedroom. He plugged his phone into the charger and looked at his new outfit in the mirror. Xichen was an excellent shopping partner. He had insisted on buying Wei Ying some new clothes after he had explained he didn’t have many pieces left after the fire…luckily fictitious Lan Zhan had turned up then too to save Wei Ying from the clutches of that almost deadly blaze…
Okay, so it was going to be harder to return the clothes than the furniture but he would pay Xichen back when he got his hands on some money, it would all be…
He felt his phone buzz on the bed and moved towards it. There were a few messages from Huasiang asking where he was and if he should still get that cock and balls tattooed on his ankle, there was a message from his brother saying that he had heard Wei Ying had skipped off into the night again and demanding a location or it was leg breaking time…and there were a bunch of messages and voicemails from a number Wei Ying didn’t recognise.
Wei Ying, this is Lan Zhan, please text me back.
Want the fuck? How had he gotten Wei Ying’s number?! There were more texts also asking Wei Ying to text him back or call him, something about a misunderstanding.
“Yeah right!” Wei Ying told the empty room.
Then he decided to listen to the voice messages, the first few were more requests for a response, the next few were rather pleading, asking Wei Ying just to confirm his wellbeing. Wei Ying’s heart fluttered a bit at that…then there was the final voice message…
Wei Ying, I am coming to you. It seems you have situated yourself in my house and you are claiming to be my husband. My Uncle has requested my arrival in order to clarify things. I am sure this is all some sort of misunderstanding but I shall be glad to see you well. I shall arrive at six.
“Six?!” Wei Ying shrieked, just as his new Xichen approved cuckoo clock on the wall announced it was precisely six pm.
“Shit,” Wei Ying whispered as he heard the front door open.
“Honey,” He heard the unmistakable low tones of Lan Zhan’s voice call out. “I am home.”
**********