Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The gentle whir of the fan in the hot, quiet room was dizzying as HuaiSang tried to catch his breath. Its light breeze cooled the sweat on his skin enough to make him shiver, and he reached absently for the blanket. The warm body next to him shifted closer.

“Hey,” Wei Ying whispered, breathless. “You’ve taken the gen ed history course already, right?”

HuaiSang froze and glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “Maybe.”

Wei Ying pushed himself up on one elbow, giving HuaiSang a crooked, bashful smile. “Well.” He reached back and ruffled the hair at the nape of his neck and let out a chuckle. “I mean, all I’m saying. Is. That maybe you could lend me your notes—“

“No fucking way,” HuaiSang scoffed, rolling over. Wei Ying’s flushed face and ruffled hair and bare chest were quite tempting, though, and he glanced over his shoulder at him. There, that’s the view. “I am not giving you my meticulous notes so you can skip class every other day.” There was no need to tell him that those notes were long gone, considering they were from two years ago.

“Oh, come on, I wouldn’t skip for no good reason!”

“List your good reasons to skip a perfectly simple and low-effort class.”

“Because it’s simple and low-effort!” Wei Ying groaned and flopped back against the pillows, a grin stretching across his face. “Oh, HuaiSaaang…”

“Don’t, not with the name thing,” HuaiSang whined back in turn. “I won’t. Just go to class, Wei Ying. Besides, Jiang Cheng will fucking kill me if he finds out I’m enabling you to skip class.”

He rolled over again, pulling the blankets over his shoulders. “And get out of my bed.”

“Why?” The affront in Wei Ying’s voice almost brought a smile to HuaiSang’s face, but he persevered.

“Semester starts tomorrow. And you have your own perfectly good bed right across the hall.”

“But you’re not in that one, A-Sang.” Wei Ying’s arm snaked around his waist and his nose pressed to the back of his neck. HuaiSang bit his lip as Wei Ying pressed against him, bare skin flush back-to-front. He squirmed.

“A-Ying,” he laughed, shoving against him. “Get off, you kick in your sleep, you are not allowed to sleep here.”

“Just a night, just a night, breaking in the new apartment, y’know?”

HuaiSang turned to him, unable to keep the grin off his face. “We already broke it in, get lost.”

Wei Ying pressed a kiss under HuaiSang’s jaw and pressed his fingers against his sides. “Let’s do it again.”

“A-Ying,” HuaiSang breathed, flushing, before Wei Ying curled his fingers over his ribs again and he squirmed. “Stop!”

“Let’s do it againnn,” Wei Ying pleaded, pulling HuaiSang close and breathing over the sensitive skin below his ear. HuaiSang shivered and wiggled more, though with less strength. “A-Sang, A-Sang, please don’t kick me out.”

“Okay, fine, fucking—AH! A-Ying, stop—“ He dissolved into laughter as Wei Ying dug his fingers into his skin and smirked at him.

“I can stay?”

“Stop, ah, stop, yes, stop!”

HuaiSang grabbed his hands and pushed, shoving Wei Ying onto his back and swinging a leg over to straddle his hips. He held Wei Ying’s wrists firmly beside his head, and was rewarded with blown-out pupils and a winning grin.

HuaiSang looked down at him for a long moment. “Let’s do it again,” he whispered, and Wei Ying easily broke his hold on his hands to grab his face and pull him down for a kiss.

——

Wei Ying was not the first person HuaiSang had ever kissed. But he was the first person he had kissed like that. Intent, and...and open. Like they knew each other, because they did.

They’d known each other about eight years by the time they kissed like that after their high school graduation. So it made sense that it should feel like that. There weren’t fireworks or epiphanies. They kissed and they liked it so they did it again. Maybe that was why things didn’t bother to change much.

He was the first person he slept with, and he was starting to think that may have been a mistake.

——

HuaiSang wasn’t unfamiliar with living with Wei Ying. They had stayed in the same dorm building in freshman year of university, and even though Nie MingJue insisted HuaiSang live with him when he whined to live off-campus the year after, he’d been transferred out of the city halfway through their third year. Of course, Wei Ying and HuaiSang had taken the opportunity to take out a stupidly expensive short-term lease in a shitty complex two minutes from campus, and both were relishing in the freedom away from their respective families.

But again, they’d known each other for nearly eleven years at this point. And HuaiSang was not exactly unused to Wei Ying’s early morning whining and waking up late. He was also used to waking up with Wei Ying laying heavily against his side, sweating all over him. He wasn’t sure how he felt about how used to that he was.

Wei Ying was difficult to rouse in a way HuaiSang could never compare to, so although he certainly wouldn’t call himself a morning person, he was definitely in charge of Morning Things around their apartment. He started the coffee pot and did the early-morning kitchen wander, remembering where they kept food and plates as he woke his brain up. He was in charge of waking up Wei Ying three times, locating him in his own bedroom or on the couch if he hadn’t woken beside him. He was in charge of throwing frozen pancakes in the microwave and thrusting the plate into Wei Ying’s face or throwing a box of cereal at his chest. Those were his Morning Responsibilities on weekdays.

On weekends, his Morning Responsibilities were more along the lines of sitting up in bed and staring at Wei Ying in the dim shaft of sunlight from his bedroom window. Waking him slowly; trailing his fingers over his shoulder and down his spine, pulling his hair away from his open mouth, kissing his hands where they would rest on the bedspread. Touching him in ways that didn’t illicit that twitching below the waist for either of them.

His Morning Responsibilities also included a great deal of turning his brain off and refusing to think, but he tried to ignore that.

Wei Ying, on the other hand, was in charge of Evening Things, which he admittedly wasn’t very good at but HuaiSang couldn’t be bothered to care about, honestly. Even if he wanted to force Wei Ying to find the time to cook, it would be all but inedible anyway. And he didn’t always shirk his responsibilities with dishes and the laundry. Just half the time. Either way, HuaiSang enjoyed having a scapegoat for some of his problems and someone to complain at when his favorite jeans were still sitting in the washer the next morning. It was cathartic, and it was fun, and they would smile at each other as they bickered, almost like they were flir—

And again, Wei Ying only ignored his chores half the time, so when he walked into the apartment and dropped his bag in the living room and went directly to the kitchen and started washing the dishes, HuaiSang didn’t immediately notice anything off about him. It was only when he followed him to the kitchen to inform him he left dinner waiting in the fridge that he noticed the look on his face.

“Wei Ying?” he said softly, leaning against the counter beside him and ducking in to catch his eye. Wei Ying blinked and looked over, startled.

“Sorry, A-Sang.” He chuckled, the sound too loud. “What was that?”

HuaiSang frowned. “There’s leftovers.” He pointed at the fridge stupidly. “Curry. In the fridge.”

Wei Ying grinned at him. “Thanks.”

HuaiSang watched him turn back to the sink, watched the glaze fall back over his eyes and his grin soften into something...something. Something that made his stomach harden like a rock.

He grabbed his novel and retreated to his bedroom. He wasn’t joined by Wei Ying that night.

——

Wei Ying and HuaiSang kissed and fucked and woke up together and took care of each other. But the thing was they weren’t...dating.

HuaiSang supposed the correct term for what they were was probably fuck buddies. Though that didn’t really…convey it properly. More like friends with benefits, except like best friends with benefits. Who lived together. And did each other’s laundry. And made coffee, even though the smell gave them a headache, just because they knew it would make the other happy. His brain throbbed, and he ignored it.

They weren’t dating, and nothing about their arrangement was official aside from their names on the lease. So when Wei Ying started talking about a Lan Zhan in his gen ed history course - you know, the one HuaiSang insisted he attend and pay attention to? - he splattered posters against the inside of his skull that spelled out in bright neon lettering “THIS IS NORMAL.”

He met him. Lan Zhan. And he understood immediately. He was tall and handsome in a straightforward way, and though he was quiet he was insightful and interesting. And the way he looked at Wei Ying...just standing next to them made HuaiSang’s heart flutter.

“This is Nie HuaiSang,” Wei Ying had introduced him. He and Lan Zhan had come straight from class to meet HuaiSang at his favorite cafe, something Wei Ying had not discussed with him and something HuaiSang was going to give him hell about. Then he had opened his stupid, pretty mouth and said, “We live together.”

HuaiSang flushed and raised his book to cover most of his face. He didn’t miss the slight quirk of Lan Zhan’s eyebrows at the wording, and he shot a glare at Wei Ying over the top of his book.

“Aha,” HuaiSang forced out, leaning over to smack Wei Ying in the arm - hard - with his book. “We’re roommates,” he sort-of-corrected awkwardly as he shot Lan Zhan a weird smile. He had tried to make it a normal smile, but he could feel that it was weird.

Wei Ying’s brow furrowed for a split second and he flashed a look between Lan Zhan and HuaiSang before he relaxed back into his carefree grin. “Right, right.” He shifted. “HuaiSang, this is my classmate Lan Zhan.”

The understatement was not lost on any of them, and Lan Zhan’s brows did that twitch again. HuaiSang wished the floor would open up and eat him alive, but instead he settled for leaning back in his chair and pretending he wasn’t there. His soul left his body to its own devices so it could stare at Wei Ying and Lan Zhan across the table, take in his friend’s bright smiles and nervous hand gestures and nod where it felt right and offer vague, encouraging smiles of its own.

He hated to admit that he hadn’t hated the interaction. And then he hated himself for hating that he had a good time. Wasn’t this good? Didn’t this bode well for any future relationship the other two might share? To be so readily-liked by such a...close...friend?

It was just. Watching someone look at Wei Ying like that. Watching them do it so fearlessly and openly. It had just felt good. That was what Wei Ying deserved.

HuaiSang shut off his brain quickly after that.

——

Two days later, Wei Ying crept into HuaiSang’s bed for the first time in three weeks. HuaiSang was awake, sitting up reading and annotating the fourth novel his stupid lecturer had assigned so far this semester. He pretended not to see Wei Ying slip into his room and close the door behind him before army-crawling across his floor and slithering under the blankets at the foot of the bed. He didn’t acknowledge him at all until he’d wormed his way up next to HuaiSang, his head emerging from under the covers with his hair standing at all ends from the static electricity his antics had accumulated.

HuaiSang looked at him and raised an eyebrow. Wei Ying smiled back. “Hello.”

“Hello.”

HuaiSang blinked at himself and turned back to his book, staring blankly at the swarm of words. He could feel Wei Ying’s breath beside him.

“HuaiSang.”

He looked over again. Wei Ying’s hair was still floating around, and HuaiSang reached over and knocked his knuckles against his forehead. He’d been hoping that by touching him first, he could turn the static electricity against his stupid friend. But in the end, he jolted a bit as the shock ran up his arm. Wei Ying grinned, then grabbed his hand in both of his own. They sat there quietly, both watching Wei Ying’s hands turn HuaiSang’s this way and that, parting the fingers and fitting his own between them, bringing the knuckles to his lips and drawing them across, skin dragging across skin.

HuaiSang wanted to pull his hand away, but he also wanted to throw himself at Wei Ying and press him to the mattress and fuck him, or ride him, or kiss him for six hours, or whatever he had to do to make him stay. Which was specifically, exactly all the worse particularly and precisely because of the growing part of himself that shouted that he should make him leave.

“A-Sang.” HuaiSang drew a deep breath and met Wei Ying’s gaze carefully. The other man’s eyes were worried. He pressed a more deliberate kiss against the back of his hand before lifting his head a bit. “Is everything okay?”

HuaiSang swallowed something thick. He huffed and looked off to the side, hoping his sarcastic air carried well. “I was thinking you didn’t want to do this anymore.”

Wei Ying’s brows furrowed behind HuaiSang’s back. He kissed his hand again, closing his eyes. “Of course I want you.”

HuaiSang felt a shudder rock his body. He bit his lip hard. Something about those words was breaking something in him and he wasn’t sure he wanted to find out what was under the steadily cracking shell.

He looked over at Wei Ying for a moment and then dove at him, grasping haphazardly at his face as Wei Ying’s hands wound his waist. Their lips smashed together in a frantic mess of a kiss. HuaiSang went weak against Wei Ying, pressing their hips together, and felt a thrill at the approving groan he received. He wanted this he wanted this he wanted this—

“I want this,” he gasped against Wei Ying’s skin. It surprised him, added another crack to that thing in his chest that he was begging himself to ignore. But Wei Ying moaned softly in reply.

“Me too.” He pushed gently on HuaiSang’s shoulders rolling the two of them over before he started kissing him again. HuaiSang clutched at him and Wei Ying was content to settle in. Wei Ying’s weight between his thighs, along the length of his body and heavy on his chest, was comforting, grounding, and HuaiSang managed to relax just a bit.

Until Wei Ying started talking again. “Me too,” he repeated, though his tone was different. He moved his lips to HuaiSang’s cheek, his breath shaking. “I want this.”

HuaiSang turned his brain off.

——

Wei Ying was the first person HuaiSang slept with—in a very loose sense of the phrase. That same night, after their high school graduation, when they’d slipped away from their families with Jiang Cheng in tow and ran down to the lake, it was not exactly the way either of them intended for the evening to go.

Jiang Cheng spent the whole walk complaining about the fact that his parents had invited the stupid Jins to attend the graduation celebrations. Wei Ying had shared the sentiment, complaining loudly and particularly about Jin ZiXuan, who he thought was “A gaudy, snooty, spectacle of a person, who sticks far too closely to jiejie for my liking.” Jiang Cheng had stopped in his tracks at that.

“You don’t think he…?” He didn’t finish his question, choking off, and Wei Ying had risen an eyebrow at him in the dark.

“What? What do you possibly think he’s gonna do with all our parents and the Nies there? Oh—Jiang Cheng!” Wei Ying had called after his brother to no avail, and he and HuaiSang stood for a moment watching him stalk back towards the lakehouse.

“Should we go back?” HuaiSang asked, casting a glance at Wei Ying. The other boy grimaced.

“No,” he decided, stuffing his hands in his pockets. “He’s a grown up. He can make his own decisions to not have fun, and we can make ours as well. Come on, HuaiSang, to the dock!”

HuaiSang followed after Wei Ying, jogging just a bit to keep up with his long strides, until their footsteps changed from the soft pad of rubber in the dirt to the clunks and creaks of the pier beneath them. Wei Ying sat at the edge of the dock and dangled his feet over the edge. Once, the lake was so full his shoes would’ve certainly been soaked from sitting on the end there. But the waterlevel was much lower than it had been in the past, and a good inch of empty air separated the toes of his shoes from the rippling surface of the water. HuaiSang sat quietly beside him.

“Did you do everything you wanted?” Wei Ying asked suddenly. HuaiSang gave him a puzzled look, and Wei Ying’s smile was melancholy in the dark. “In high school, I mean.”

“Oh.” HuaiSang looked out over the lake and shrugged. “Honestly, mostly I’m just glad it’s over. I never liked it much.” He stiffened and looked over quickly. “But of course I’m glad I met you and Jiang Cheng! I have good memories, you know. But…” He shrugged. “I’m ready for more, I guess.”

“More.” Wei Ying stared vacantly across the lake in turn. HuaiSang shifted.

“What about you?” he returned quietly. “Did you do eveything you wanted?”

Wei Ying opened his mouth, then closed it again a moment later. HuaiSang thought he might have blushed, though it was hard to say in the dim, pale moonlight. He gave an off chuckle. “HuaiSang, if I tell you something, you have to promise not to tell anyone else.”

HuaiSang tilted his head and hummed. “I dunno. I can’t make you any promises. You know how much your info sells for, especially to those girls who follow you at lunch.” He smirked at his own joke, and was glad to see Wei Ying doing the same. He shot another look at HuaiSang, who smiled encouragingly.

“I’ve never kissed anyone,” Wei Ying said, his words tumbling together. “I always thought I would, before graduation, but I haven’t, and now I feel like, I dunno, like I’m entering a world where everyone is more prepared than I am.”

“I don’t think it’s any big thing to not have your first kiss by eighteen,” HuaiSang scoffed. Wei Ying pursed his lips and looked him over.

“So are you saying you haven’t either?”

HuaiSang looked away and scratched his jaw. “Uh.” He chuckled nervously. “No, I mean. I have. Kissed someone.” No need to mention that it was just Jiang Cheng, who had kissed him for a few minutes before standing and declaring he “didn’t like it” and thanking HuaiSang and leaving the room. Yes, absolutely no need.

“See?!” Wei Ying groaned and laid back flat against the dock with his legs still dangling over the edge. “I’ll be a laughingstock when I go to kiss my first hot college date and cant figure out what to do with my tongue.”

HuaiSang made a face. Tongue? Disgusting. He rubbed his nose and glanced at Wei Ying. “Well, I mean, if you’re that upset about it, I’ll kiss you.”

Wei Ying shot up, his eyes bright. “Oh, really, HuaiSang? You’d do that for me?”

“Yes, I’m very self-sacrificing, thank me some more.”

“No, really.” Wei Ying grabbed one of his hands and held it earnestly, staring into his eyes. “Are you being serious?”

“Yes!” HuaiSang laughed and patted his hand. “What else are best friends for?”

So they kissed. And there were no fireworks or lightning bolts or petal showers. There was just a warm hand holding his and a gleeful little gasp of breath when they broke apart. And it made something in his chest ease and feel good. So he kissed him again, without thinking about it, without looking, and the way Wei Ying kissed him back was just...nice.

And tongue? Not so bad.

It didn’t take long for their breaths to grow heavy. For them to mutually recognize each other’s state. HuaiSang bit his lip when they parted to breathe.

“Um…” he whispered. He couldn’t meet Wei Ying’s eye. “D...Do you, uh, want…”

Wei Ying’s fingers squeezed his gently. “Boathouse?”

The stumbling journey to the rickety little boathouse on the shore was giddy. HuaiSang might have felt awkward tugging at his best friend’s belt, at one point, but Wei Ying’s stupid jokes and sweet touches had him laughing more from genuine enjoyment than nerves. Beyond their awkward fumbling, they shared a stupid, youthful high and smiling kisses.

Wei Ying was the first person he came with—came for.

HuaiSang couldn’t help but wonder what happened.

——

Lan Zhan came to their apartment just once as Wei Ying’s friend.

HuaiSang was sitting on the couch with a psychology textbook laying over his face, hoping he could absorb the information via osmosis, when he heard the door open. At first he didn’t move, but when he didn’t hear Wei Ying call out one of his usual greetings, he groaned and sat up, letting the book fall into his lap. “Is it too late to drop ou—“ He cut himself off when he caught sight of the doorway.

Wei Ying stood there, face flushed and rubbing his nose, and behind him stood Lan Zhan, imposing despite the polite nod he gave HuaiSang. HuaiSang, for his part, just stared blankly.

Wei Ying coughed lightly and looked like he was going to speak, but Lan Zhan beat him to it.

“I hear Wei Ying does not pull his weight in the kitchen,” he said. He lifted one hand, and HuaiSang managed to look over and notice a grocery bag hanging from it. “I would be very honored to cook for the two of you. One person should not have to cook all the time.”

HuaiSang looked at him silently for a moment. “Sometimes we order takeout,” he said without thinking.

Lan Zhan blinked and Wei Ying laughed, the sound of it too loud. But HuaiSang, still staring at Lan Zhan, thought he might have seen something—a twitch of the lips, a smile. It was gone before he could look twice.

“May I?” Lan Zhan pressed, and HuaiSang realized he was seeking direct approval from both roommates. He shrugged.

“Go ahead.” He pulled his legs up onto the couch and perched the book against his knees, watching as the two of them slipped out of their shoes and walked through to the kitchen. He leaned forward to get a better view of Wei Ying lingering close against Lan Zhan’s side, babbling as he watched the other man unpack his groceries onto the counter. He mentioned something about helping, and HuaiSang couldn’t stifle a laugh.

Both of them turned to him and HuaiSang quickly tucked his nose into his book. Why did he do that. Oh lord oh god he should’ve just disappeared into his room, he should do that now—

“What’s so funny, A-Sang?” HuaiSang looked up to see Wei Ying leaning over the shitty, rickety kitchen island, playful smirk in place. He felt his own lips tug into an answering smile, despite Lan Zhan also turned his way in the background.

“I would not suggest accepting Wei Ying’s help, Lan Zhan,” he warned. “He once started a fire while making salad.”

“Well, is it my fault the chicken didn’t say it should be served chilled?”

HuaiSang pressed his lips together to hold in a laugh, which Wei Ying wasn’t helping with what with the pouting followed by the smirking, but Lan Zhan shifted and grabbed his attention.

“Perhaps HuaiSang wouldn’t mind helping me instead?” he suggested, looking between the two. There was a long silence where HuaiSang wasn’t sure he’d heard properly. “If you want, that is,” Lan Zhan added when the silence got unbearable, his voice slightly strained.

“Oh.” HuaiSang stood automatically. “Oh, yeah, I can help.” Why. Why was he doing this. Take your homework and run, gayboy—

“Thank you.” Lan Zhan shoved at Wei Ying’s elbow. “You can watch. From outside the kitchen.”

Wei Ying’s complaining registered in the back of HuaiSang’s mind as he entered the kitchen and surveyed what Lan Zhan had brought. Tofu, mushrooms, vegetable stock, cabbage...something he himself would surely never be able to make on his own. Wei Ying plopped himself in a chair on the other side of the island and propped his chin in his hands, watching them. HuaiSang felt more uncomfortable than he maybe ever had in front of Wei Ying ever before.

Lan Zhan gave him tasks like chopping and dicing, and HuaiSang gritted his teeth to bear it until he noticed that Lan Zhan had the other half of the ingredients on a separate cutting board, and he sliced right alongside HuaiSang. It felt...weird. He didn’t know why. When they were done, Lan Zhan inclined his head for HuaiSang to join him at the stove.

“Oh, wait,” HuaiSang said as soon as he saw where Lan Zhan had the pan. He moved it to the large burner further back. “Our stove sucks, and not all the burners work. You should use this one.”

“Thank you,” Lan Zhan murmured beside him, and HuaiSang felt a warmth sweep his body. He inched away from the man beside him and resolutely watched his hands as he added things to the pan, handing him spices and seasonings when they were requested. The scent of the food was pleasant—not too strong, plenty of acid, and with an aromatic, herbal touch.

“This apartment is not great,” Lan Zhan stated, as though it was some grand conclusion he surmised after much contemplation. HuaiSang chuckled at him.

“No.”

“You should move, in the fall.”

HuaiSang looked him over and felt Wei Ying’s eyes on the back of his head. “Guess I’ll have to,” he muttered to himself.

Dinner was soon ready, and Wei Ying pulled an extra chair up to the island that acted as their dining table. HuaiSang made sure to bring the bottle of chili oil over from the cupboard. He’d watched Lan Zhan season this meal; Wei Ying would be wanting chili oil.

As expected, Wei Ying downed a few mouthfuls with praises of “Ah! How delicate the flavors!” and “The texture is...something.” Inevitably, though, he reached for the bottle of chili oil with a guilty glance at Lan Zhan. The other man barely quirked an eyebrow, but Wei Ying reacted as though he’d thrown a fit.

“Oh, don’t look at me like that, Lan Zhan,” he whined, uncapping the bottle and dumping it over his dish without even looking. “It’s not my fault! My tastebuds are literally destroyed, there’s no saving them. I just want to feel something!”

Lan Zhan hummed, and his glance at Wei Ying was fond. “I’m glad HuaiSang knew what you would want, then.”

HuaiSang, who had barely touched his food for his distraction watching the two of them flirt, jolted back to himself. “Huh?”

“That’s right!” Wei Ying grinned at Lan Zhan before turning that bright expression on HuaiSang. “A-Sang takes excellent care of me.”

HuaiSang looked down at his plate and felt miserable.

Lan Zhan left shortly after dinner, not wanting to impose upon their evening, and Wei Ying saw him out. He closed the door behind him and leaned back against it. HuaiSang stood in the living room, and they stared at each other.

“I.” Wei Ying blinked and looked at the floor. “I want to date him?”

“Is that a question?” HuaiSang asked with a laugh. He lifted an eyebrow at Wei Ying. “You should.”

Wei Ying tilted his head and stared at HuaiSang, but he was unaffected. Invincible. His brain was off. “Do you mean that?” Wei Ying asked. Unfortunately, HuaiSang couldn’t read his tone, because his brain was off.

“Yes. If something makes you happy, you should chase that.” He turned to gather his stupid psychology books. “I’m turning in. See you tomorrow, yeah?”

“A-Sang.” HuaiSang paused and rifled through some papers, keeping his back turned to Wei Ying. He strained, trying to hear the other man’s words over the rush of blood in his ears. “Thank you.”

HuaiSang turned around and gave him a big empty smile. “For what?”

That was the first night HuaiSang pushed his dresser in front of his door before going to sleep.

——

To be honest, HuaiSang never expected Wei Ying and Lan Zhan dating to be so fulfilling for him.

It wasn’t fulfilling in the same way he was fulfilled before. You know—when he actually got to be with Wei Ying. But it was fulfilling in a different way, because Lan Zhan was with Wei Ying in a way HuaiSang never had been, and even if it made him feel gross as a person to watch them it also felt good to see Wei Ying in that relationship and so goddamn happy.

Watching him hang on Lan Zhan and the simple pleasure it brought him? The look in his eyes when Lan Zhan came to prepare dinner again and he pulled out a bottle of chili oil—because he noticed Wei Ying’s was almost empty? The way he would roll his eyes when Lan Zhan reminded him of his evening laundry duties, and then the way he went and did the chore straight away? It was the sort of thing HuaiSang could never have accounted for. It was the sort of thing that made him genuinely happy for his friend.

The other thing he never would have accounted for was Lan Zhan himself, and the way he affected him. It seemed Lan Zhan had plenty of extra energy for doling out kind words for HuaiSang, seemed like he always had the patience to show him what he was cooking and how, to exchange tips and tricks in the kitchen. It seemed like he always had a hand to lay on HuaiSang’s shoulder at the end of an evening amongst the three of them.

“It’s a really good sign,” Wei Ying assured him one night after Lan Zhan’s departure as they put away the dishes that were now done drying. “Lan Zhan hates touching people! I had to annoy him for two weeks before he even looked at me, a month before he didn’t actively lean away from me during class! He must like you, A-Sang!”

The thought did bad things to HuaiSang’s stomach, so he made a funny face. “Your boyfriend likes me?” he joked. “I don’t know how to feel, A-Ying!”

When he turned back to him, he thought Wei Ying wore something of an unsatisfied expression.

——

Lan Zhan started coming over three times a week, and HuaiSang started not to mind. It wasn’t as good as his routine from before - taking care of Wei Ying in the mornings, and then pretending not to take care of Wei Ying in the evenings - but watching someone else take care of him was almost as good. Sort of. It was a little unsettling to be taken care of himself, though. It reminded him, morosely, of his brother, though Lan Zhan and MingJue were really very different.

He still wouldn’t stay long after dinner, both because he didn’t wish to impose upon their evenings and to keep to his own very early sleep schedule. HuaiSang had almost laughed at that. Imagine going to sleep at nine. It was crazy talk. How would anything ever get done without staying up until three in the morning?

They usually rotated who did the dishes after dinner, and on an evening when Wei Ying rolled up his sleeves and delved into them, HuaiSang found himself sitting with Lan Zhan in the living room. It was quiet, but it wasn’t uncomfortable. That was just how Lan Zhan was. He couldn’t even say he decidedly didn’t like Lan Zhan, at this point—on the contrary, he was often finding himself jealous in more ways than one these days, which only made him feel more weird and pathetic. All the same, sitting with Lan Zhan wasn’t the anxious ordeal it may have once been, and HuaiSang sprawled on the floor at the coffee table with his books, going over the review sheet for his stupid literature final.

Lan Zhan shifted behind him on the couch. “Are your finals preparations going well?” he asked softly.

HuaiSang glanced back at him. “They’re going okay.” He chuckled darkly. “I keep wondering if it’s not too late to drop out. My brother would kill me, though.”

“You have a brother?”

“Yes.” HuaiSang paused, the sounds of the sink and the dishes clinking filling the silence. “He’s a lot older than I am, like seven years. I lived with him before we moved in here. You remind me of him, a little.” He stopped himself and bit his lip before he could say anymore idiotic shit.

“You remind me a bit of my brother, as well.”

HuaiSang turned to him, surprised. “Is that a good thing?” he joked, a smirk pulling at one corner of his mouth. His breath caught when Lan Zhan’s lips tilted in a brief, tiny smile in return.

“It is, I think.”

“You think!” HuaiSang leaned towards him, bracing a hand on the couch cushion. “Well, now I’ll just have to ask A-Ying to know for sure, won’t I?”

Lan Zhan’s smile came back, and for longer this time. HuaiSang froze when he felt Lan Zhan’s fingers on his. “I am glad that you and Wei Ying have each other to confide in.”

HuaiSang blinked. That was. Not what he was expecting.

“Ooh,” Wei Ying’s teasing voice came from the kitchen. HuaiSang whipped around to see him leaning over the island, smirking at them. He winked at HuaiSang. “What’s all this, then?”

HuaiSang yanked his hand away and turned to his books. His face was bright red, but he was hoping so very dearly that nobody would notice. He flipped through his books at random as Wei Ying spoke with Lan Zhan somewhere a million miles away.

“Ah, Lan Zhan, it’s after eight. You’re welcome to stay, of course, but should you be getting home?”

“Mn.”

“Take the leftovers with you, at least, you paid for the stuff and you know HuaiSang and I will just forget it in the fridge for a week.”

“Mn.”

“There you go, let me walk you out.”

HuaiSang pressed his face against the pages of some stupid Earnest Hemingway book. What was he doing what was he doing what was he doing. He was stupid. This was stupid. The semester couldn’t end fast enough. He just needed to survive the semester and survive the summer and then their lease would be up and he would move out and he wouldn’t keep living in this stupid nightmare daydream where he imagined up affection from two taken men and dared to hope that they might—

“A-Sang?”

HuaiSang sucked in a lungful of parchment-air and lifted his face from his book. Wei Ying was knelt across the table from him, his brows knit together in concern.

“A-Sang, please.” He reached across the table and took HuaiSang’s hand carefully. “Are you alright?”

HuaiSang let out a heavy breath. “A-Ying, I miss you.”

He froze. That wasn’t what he meant to say. Why did he say that? HuaiSang searched for the reason why his mouth didn’t say “Oh haha it’s nothing heehee bye I’m going to bed!!” like he wanted it to. And aha! There is was.

That thing in his chest had finally cracked all the way through.

And without the repression and denial to protect it, his heart was on display.

“HuaiSang,” Wei Ying stressed, rushing around the table as HuaiSang burst into tears. He sat on the floor beside him and pulled HuaiSang into his arms. “What’s wrong? Oh, A-Sang…”

“I miss you,” HuaiSang sobbed against him. “Everything feels wrong and I don’t know where it all went off the rails. I just want this…” He wrapped his arms around Wei Ying’s shoulders and clung to him. “I’m sorry, I don’t know, I don’t know what happened, I’m sorry, I don’t…”

Wei Ying let out a shaking breath against HuaiSang’s neck. “Oh, A-Sang, no. No, don’t...don’t be sorry.” His arms tightened around HuaiSang, his hands fisting in the back of his shirt. “I miss you too,” he said, and it sounded like a flood after a dambreak. His voice trembled as he squeezed HuaiSang to him and ranted. “I thought I could keep you both, I’m so stupid. HuaiSang, I’m sorry, I never should have dragged you through this. I wanted—I—I thought I could have this, I’m stupid. I want too much. I’m sorry…”

“A-Ying,” HuaiSang wailed. “Shut up before I punch you. Or call Jiang Cheng to punch you. Shut up…”

“I’m sorry.” Wei Ying pressed his face to HuaiSang’s neck. “I thought—it seemed—I thought you and Lan Zhan…” His voice shook more. “It seemed like maybe you two were hitting it off, I imagined we could all—that we—we could—“

Wei Ying choked off on a sob and HuaiSang squeezed him tightly. Wei Ying’s words swirled in his head and he rubbed his back as he filed them away. “A-Ying,” HuaiSang sighed, pressing his face to his hair. He shushed him gently and waited for the emotions to pass. And then they sat on the floor and held each other, just to touch.

“I should have told you,” HuaiSang sighed. “A long time ago, but I just didn’t even know where to start. I should have said something.”

Wei Ying scoffed, then choked on snot from the action. “Not just you,” he finally replied. He let out a great sigh. “A-Sang, A-Sang. What am I gonna do…”

HuaiSang was quiet, thinking. He pulled out Wei Ying’s words from earlier, rolled them around in his head, poked at the implications. “Wei Ying. Do you want us all. To date each other?”

Wei Ying went very still against him, and HuaiSang was quick to continue, “Because that! That sounds...good. I know Lan Zhan and I don’t talk much...I feel awkward, he’s your boyfriend and I’m in—“ He cut himself off with a cough. “And we were sleeping together. And he’s really intimidating? And hot. Um.” He blinked, trying to remember what he was trying to say, but not having much success. But Wei Ying pulled back, his eyes wide.

“A-Sang.” His hands came up to his face. “Are you. You like Lan Zhan?”

“I would date you and Lan Zhan in a heartbeat,” HuaiSang responded immediately. “Oh my god, being around you guys is so…” He closed his eyes and shook his head.

Wei Ying laughed wetly. “Oh, baby, I’m so sorry…” His thumbs stroked HuaiSang’s cheeks, which was actually very nice and did help HuaiSang calm down very much. “We really fucked this up, huh?”

HuaiSang just shook his head a little and opened his eyes. “What. Will he say?”

“I can already tell Lan Zhan likes you.” He smiled at him, then turned thoughtful. “We’ve...well. We’ve discussed polyamory. As an idea. We’re on basically the same page about it I think. But we should all…” He hummed. “I’ll ask him to come back tomorrow. How’s that? And we can all talk then?”

HuaiSang nodded. Then he covered his face. “I can’t believe I cried,” he wailed, and Wei Ying laughed.

“It’s a lot! It really is. Look, I cried too.” Gentle fingers pried HuaiSang’s hands away from his face, and he valiantly kept up his pout in the face of Wei Ying’s sunshine smile. “Don’t hide your face, A-Sang.”

And well, what was he supposed to say to that?

——

Lan Zhan sat on the couch, and HuaiSang sat beside him. They both watched Wei Ying, who was standing and fiddling with his fingernails while he tried to figure out how to start. HuaiSang sat on his hands. This was not a thing it would be appropriate for him to just come out with. Respectfully, he had to let Wei Ying lead this conversation, considering the varying degrees of involvement.

Finally, Lan Zhan reached out and grabbed both of Wei Ying’s hands. “You will hurt yourself,” he said, his voice quietly concerned. HuaiSang agreed, but he glanced at Wei Ying. He was smiling nervously at Lan Zhan.

“You’re right.” He squeezed Lan Zhan’s hands a little before he drew back and pushed his hair out of his face. “Okay. So. Lan Zhan. Do you remember those times when I mentioned polyamory.”

“Mn.” Lan Zhan nodded calmly. HuaiSang couldn’t believe it. Surely he must know what they were getting at by now. Was he really that calm about it.

“Right.” Wei Ying let out a breath. “Well, the thing is that, I think I mentioned before, y’know, that HuaiSang and I uh…” He looked to HuaiSang for help, but he didn’t have any better way to explain the mess that was whatever the hell they thought they were doing. “We were like a thing, y’know?” he finally came up with.

Lan Zhan nodded again. “I know.”

Wei Ying let out a breath, his brow furrowing. Lan Zhan was clearly not reacting the way he thought he would, and Nie HuaiSang couldn’t help but feel puzzled as well. “Well. Um.” He steepled his fingers together. “What do you think?” he asked lamely. HuaiSang rubbed his forehead. Maybe he should’ve just jumped in.

“I understand and respect your relationship with HuaiSang, Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan explained calmly and slowly. “I wouldn’t ask you to change any of it just for me. I thought you knew that.”

Wei Ying let out a breath he’d been holding. “So you would be okay? If we went back to being...what we were or more?”

Lan Zhan paused. HuaiSang watched a pinch form between his brows. “Back?” he finally repeated.

Wei Ying chuckled. “Yes?” His own confusion grew more apparent, and in turn so did Lan Zhan’s. A long moment passed.

“I wasn’t aware you stopped,” Lan Zhan finally got out. More silence.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying exclaimed. He paused and scratched his head. “Wait, you thought we never stopped?”

“I was under the impression,” Lan Zhan explained, his ears slowly going from pink to red, “that. HuaiSang and I were. Both. Dating you.”

HuaiSang rubbed his forehead again. “Dear lord,” he finally groaned. “We are all so stupid.”

Wei Ying rubbed his whole face. “So you? Were being nice to A-Sang? Because you thought he was my boyfriend?”

“Well.” Lan Zhan’s ears were now going from red to redder. He appeared to be stuggling to find his words. “I. I had hoped that. Maybe we. All three. Maybe. I had hoped that maybe all three of us.” He stopped and looked down.

“Oh my god.” HuaiSang grabbed Lan Zhan’s hand, forcing him to look at him. “Lan Zhan, would you like to date me? I promise to be more engaging company from here on out now that I’m not hiding my massive feelings. And I care about you and want to make you happy. Can we please form a nice triad?”

“A-Sang,” Wei Ying fretted, glancing between the two of them. Lan Zhan’s ears were still bright red, but he managed to look up at HuaiSang.

“Mn.” He nodded. “I would like that.”

Wei Ying and HuaiSang both let out long breaths. HuaiSang shook his head. “God we’re stupid,” he lamented again.

——

That was the first night all three spent crammed together on HuaiSang’s double mattress, the gentle whir of the fan and the lilt of whispering voices soothing in the cool, dark room.

Chapter Text

Lan Zhan had a very particular daily routine. He woke at five every morning and padded across the hall to the bathroom. After washing his face, he would go to the kitchen and fill the electric kettle before clicking it on. As the water heated, he would draw two mugs from the cupboard and drop a bag of jasmine white tea in each. He would pull out whatever was on the agenda for breakfast and start slicing or toasting or sizzling, and usually by the time his brother emerged from his bedroom, fully dressed and ready for work in his sleek navies and whites, there was a warm cup of tea and breakfast waiting for him at the table.

“Thank you, Lan Zhan,” Lan Huan would say, all smiles, before they sat down and ate in silence. The silence was normal, and it was the most comfortable Lan Zhan could hope to be.

After breakfast he went to class. After class he tutored for two hours. On Tuesdays and Wednesdays, he would leave tutoring and go to his volunteer shift at the food bank. After that, he would go home, make and eat dinner, and go to his room to study and ignore the sleek black instrument case in the corner before showering and going to bed.

That routine changed when he started dating Wei Ying and Nie HuaiSang.

——

At five in the morning, Lan Zhan extricated himself from the tangle of arms and pile of blankets that made up HuaiSang’s bed. He bent down and rearranged the blankets over his boyfriend’s sleeping shoulders and brushed his hand through his dark hair for no reason other than to touch him. HuaiSang didn’t stir, still sleeping soundly, and Lan Zhan quietly crept from the room and over to the bathroom.

After washing his face and tying his hair up, he went out to the living room. The living room and kitchen of Wei Ying and HuaiSang’s small apartment was really one single room, half-heartedly divided by an afterthought of a kitchen island. Lan Zhan paused in the living room and sighed when he caught sight of his other boyfriend sprawled on the couch, fast asleep.

“Wei Ying.”

He knelt beside the couch and cupped the other man’s face, squeezing his cheeks a little. Wei Ying groaned but didn’t open his eyes.

“Lan Zhan?”

“Why are you sleeping here?” Lan Zhan rubbed his thumbs gently over the dark circles under Wei Ying’s eyes and frowned. “You should go to your bed.”

Wei Ying mumbled incoherently for a moment. “I’ll go to HuaiSang’s,” he eventually spoke up. Lan Zhan’s brows pulled together, and he squished and kneaded Wei Ying’s cheeks again. Wei Ying hummed, a smile tugging at his lips, and finally opened his eyes.

“Why didn’t you join us last night?” Lan Zhan asked softly. Wei Ying sighed.

“You were both already asleep. And the bed’s not big enough for all of us, anyway.”

“So you slept on the couch?” Lan Zhan asked, still confused as to why Wei Ying wasn’t in his own bed.

Wei Ying averted his eyes. “I sleep on the couch all the time, Lan Zhan, it’s usually an accident.” While avoiding meeting Lan Zhan’s gaze, Wei Ying’s eyes traced the line of his neck down to the collar of his T-shirt. Lan Zhan felt that look, felt the way Wei Ying’s eyes lighted over the large but light hickey on the side of his neck. His ears were warm.

“Ah, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying sighed. He tilted forward to press his face to Lan Zhan’s neck and throw his arms around his shoulders. “Will you take me to HuaiSang?” The brush of Wei Ying’s lips over his skin felt like a calculated move to Lan Zhan, but he didn’t comment, simply gathering Wei Ying in his arms and pushing to his feet.

“Oh.” Wei Ying pulled back and blinked, looking at the floor below. Lan Zhan shifted his hold under his back and legs a bit. “You’re actually.”

Lan Zhan turned and carried Wei Ying to HuaiSang’s bedroom, pushing the door open quietly. HuaiSang was laid in exactly the same position, still fast asleep, and Lan Zhan laid Wei Ying carefully next to him. Wei Ying gave Lan Zhan a smile.

“Thank you,” he whispered, catching him before he could straighten up and giving him a kiss. Lan Zhan indulged him for a moment before pulling away. Wei Ying immediately rolled over to lay an arm across HuaiSang’s chest, his eyes falling closed. Lan Zhan paused for a moment to take in the sight of them before he left the room again.

In the kitchen, Lan Zhan opened their fridge and began to pull things out. A tub containing seaweed soup he’d prepared last night: a carton of eggs; some fruit Wei Ying and HuaiSang had been ignoring. Quietly, he washed some rice and started it in the cooker before grabbing HuaiSang’s cutting board and a knife and going in on the fruit.

Just as the rice switched from cook to warm, he heard a quiet creak come from the bedroom. He paused his slicing to fill up the kettle and set it on the stove. From the cupboard he retrieved three mismatched mugs, and into two of them he dropped bags of the one kind of store-brand tea HuaiSang kept stuffed in a drawer. HuaiSang shuffled up to the island just as Lan Zhan was pouring the water.

“Good morning,” HuaiSang mumbled, tilting his head to the side and watching Lan Zhan. He pushed one mug across to him.

“Good morning.” He also slid the plate of sliced fruit in front of him, pointedly, as he turned to continue breakfast preparations.

“Thank you,” HuaiSang’s pleasant reply came to him. Lan Zhan filled the coffee maker with water and scooped some grounds into the filter before he started that, as well. He ducked down to pull out a pan and started making the eggs.

“What is that?” HuaiSang asked suddenly a moment later. Lan Zhan turned around. HuaiSang’s eyes were fixed on the coffee maker, narrowed slightly, and he glanced at Lan Zhan. He shuffled a bit.

“Lighter roast coffee,” he answered. He looked away from HuaiSang as his ears flushed. “Doesn’t smell as strong. And the tea to mask the scent.”

He turned back to the eggs, tending to them quietly. HuaiSang didn’t say anything. Lan Zhan pulled down three bowls and served the rice evenly between them before doing the same with the eggs. He turned slowly to HuaiSang with a bowl in his hand.

His boyfriend was staring at him, his chin resting in his hand and a smile settled on his lips. Lan Zhan placed the bowl in front of him and laid a spoon beside it.

“Thank you,” HuaiSang hummed. Lan Zhan quickly turned back around to grab his own bowl, trying to keep his breathing steady.

Wei Ying didn’t emerge until Lan Zhan and HuaiSang finished eating. He plopped himself into the chair in front of the last bowl. Lan Zhan pulled the bottle of sriracha from the fridge and set it in his reach before pouring him a cup of coffee, leaving enough room for Wei Ying’s preferred amount of milk. He ducked into the fridge to retrieve said milk while Wei Ying chuckled.

“Oh, Lan Zhan,” he sighed. “What did we do to deserve you? I hardly have to do anything in the mornings anymore!”

Lan Zhan stirred his coffee for a moment before turning and handing it to him. “It was my understanding you hardly did anything in the mornings anyway.” He shared a glance with HuaiSang in the living room, who looked away to hide his smile.

“Well it’s not like it matters anyway, with you here to do it,” Wei Ying insisted. “It balances us out better, doesn’t it? A morning bird, a night owl, and our HuaiSang who’s very versatile.”

Lan Zhan and HuaiSang shared another look, this time resulting in both of them turning away and flushing. Lan Zhan tried to ignore Wei Ying’s chortles and chuckles as he finished cleaning up the breakfast mess.

“Finals start Monday,” HuaiSang started from his position on the couch. His small planner sat balanced against his knees, a pen twirling lazily in one hand. “When are yours, sweetheart?”

Lan Zhan waited for Wei Ying’s reply, and when it didn’t come he glanced over his shoulder at the two of them. They were both watching him expectantly.

Oh. “Biology Tuesday, in the morning,” he started, ignoring the way his ears heated when he thought about how HuaiSang had called him sweetheart. “English comp Tuesday in the afternoon. Statistics Wednesday in the morning, and national history on Thursday afternoon.”

He nodded at Wei Ying at the last one, noting the test they would share, and the other man beamed at him. “And Lan Zhan will let me copy all his answers.”

“I will not.”

“He most certainly will not,” HuaiSang scoffed, scrawling in his planner. “Jiang Cheng will kill all three of us if you get kicked out of the university for cheating.”

Wei Ying whined incoherently, and Lan Zhan turned back to the dishes. “Beyond that, it’s an essay final.”

HuaiSang laughed behind him, and Lan Zhan found himself smiling at the soapy water. “When are yours, babe?” HuaiSang asked, and as Wei Ying started on his list, Lan Zhan wondered when he got so lucky.

——

Entering the apartment he shared with his brother had become somewhat of a novelty to him.

He slept there sometimes, but usually only once or twice a week. Still, there were things he needed throughout his week, so he would often swing by in the evening for a couple of hours to make sure his brother saw him and to keep from feeling like a horrible sibling.

Walking into the sparse, organized living room was interesting after four straight days in HuaiSang and Wei Ying’s apartment. He couldn’t necessarily say that the clutter and haphazardry of his boyfriends’ home was his preferred way to live, but there was something...lacking in his brother’s space. Though he may have just been missing the ability to feel that people he loved lived there.

Which was not to say Lan Zhan didn’t love Lan Huan. Just that he couldn’t feel it in his shiny wood floors and utilitarian furniture.

“Lan Zhan,” Lan Huan exclaimed when he entered to find his brother cleaning up in the kitchen. His eyes shone as he looked over the two plates set on the table. “You cooked?”

“Mn.” Lan Zhan paused to dry his hands on one of the pristine kitchen towels. “Figured you wouldn’t mind.”

“No, of course I don’t.” Lan Huan smiled and shrugged out of his jacket. “Give me a moment?”

Lan Zhan nodded. As his brother retreated to his bedroom to dispose of his jacket and briefcase and this and that, he couldn’t help but feel this evening was somehow reminiscent of two other dinners from the past.

The first was shortly after he and Wei Ying started dating.

He’d been intending to tell Lan Huan about it. He really had. It had just...not come up yet. However, Lan Huan had started to notice his absence on evenings outside of his volunteer schedule, and had brought it up to him.

“Have you been going out with friends, lately?” he’d asked Lan Zhan politely. It was still weird to Lan Zhan to speak during meals; mealtimes back at their uncle’s home were always quiet and a little stiff, but Lan Huan had very decidedly broken from that tradition. Lan Zhan tapped his chopsticks against his plate. He knew that his brother hoped he was collecting a cohort of like-minded, similarly quiet individuals to keep him company when they eventually stopped living together. Lan Zhan chewed carefully as he considered how Wei Ying was very much not that, and wondered how to explain him to Lan Huan.

“I have been at a friend’s house.” Not a lie. Wei Ying was not his ‘friend’ anymore, but Nie HuaiSang was something along those lines, wasn’t he? And it was also HuaiSang’s house, so not a lie.

“Oh.” Lan Huan leaned forward eagerly. “What are they like?”

“He is very smart,” Lan Zhan started hesitantly. “He studies literature. And he’s a good cook.” He thought for a moment. “He’s also polite,” he added, thinking about HuaiSang’s timid demeanor and his good will in leaving he and Wei Ying a few moments alone at the end of their evenings together. Honestly, he thought he and HuaiSang were getting along well, which was good. Of course he wanted to be on good terms with his boyfriend’s boyfriend.

“He sounds wonderful,” Lan Huan’s voice pulled him from his thoughts. Lan Zhan looked up and didn’t like that he couldn’t understand the expression on his brother’s face. “Maybe you should bring him around here, I’d love to meet him.”

Oh. Lan Zhan’s ears tinted pink, and in a panic he blurted, “I’m dating his roommate.”

The silence that bloomed between them just seemed to grow bigger and bigger until Lan Zhan really really thought he was going to suffocate. Finally, Lan Huan made a noise.

“Ah. And, what are they like?”

It was not one of Lan Zhan’s proudest moments, and it only made the second night he was reminded of all that much more awkward. Sitting down again to dinner with his brother, and this time filled with conviction to be forthright, he thought he had started strong.

“You know Wei Ying?” he’d asked. His chopsticks tapped and twisted in his nervous grip. It was a stupid question; Lan Huan had met Wei Ying; Wei Ying had spent the night twice. Lan Huan smiled at him.

“Yes, your boyfriend.” Lan Huan seemed to find great satisfaction in using that word whenever Lan Zhan was avoiding it and laughing at his red ears. Lan Zhan tried to ignore his smirk.

“His roommate is named Nie HuaiSang.” He pushed a large piece of tofu over, and it plopped into two pieces. “Do you remember?”

“Yes! You spoke of him a few months ago. I take it you’re getting along with his roommate well?”

Lan Zhan nodded, unbreathing. “We’re dating,” he forced out.

Lan Huan chuckled. “Excuse my wording, I hope you’re getting along well with Wei Ying’s roommate.”

“We’re dating. I’m dating his roommate.”

Lan Huan paused and peered at Lan Zhan. “Are you being confusing on purpose?” He looked doubtful, which made sense because Lan Zhan was never confusing on purpose.

Lan Zhan sighed and put his chopsticks down. His fingers went to fidget with the cuff of his sleeve. “I’m dating both of them.”

Lan Huan stared at him, his eyes wide. Lan Zhan met his gaze nervously.

“Are you okay?” Lan Huan eventually asked him. “You look upset.”

Lan Zhan let out a long breath. “I am quite happy with my choices, if that’s what you’re asking.” He gave his brother another glance, and was met with a small smile. His own face twitched in a frown. “What do you think?”

Lan Huan turned back to his food and shrugged. “I’m glad you have people in your life, Lan Zhan. Can I meet them? Both, officially, for dinner maybe?”

That had also not been Lan Zhan’s most favorite conversation, but it did go a bit better than he’d expected—his brother wasn’t disapproving or angry, at least. Lan Zhan set two glasses of water on the table and hoped this conversation would go half as well. There was no reason it shouldn’t, after all. He fidgeted with the fold of his turtleneck.

Lan Huan reemerged and they sat down to their meal. Lan Zhan pushed his food around for a few minutes as he worked up the courage to speak. “Xiongzhang?” he finally hedged.

Lan Huan looked over at him. “Yes, didi?”

Lan Zhan felt his ears flush and he shifted uncomfortably. This was a new thing his brother was pulling. He’d been pushing for Lan Zhan to call him gege ever since he’d come to live with him—another way to differentiate this time in their lives from the time before, to break from traditionalism. Another way to pull Lan Zhan from his shell, he thought. But he didn’t go for it. So, for the past month, Lan Huan had been pulling didi on him to counter every xiongzhang. It was not his favorite.

“I want to move out,” Lan Zhan blurted in his distraction due to the address. He paused for a moment, horrified that even he could lack tact so severely, then pushed on in an attempt to save the situation. “That is, I want to move in with Wei Ying and Nie HuaiSang. At the end of the summer.”

Lan Huan leaned back in his chair, and both of them set down their chopsticks. Lan Zhan took a breath and leveled his gaze on Lan Huan.

His brother was contemplating him, a slight furrow between his brows. “Are you sure?”

“I’m hardly here anyway,” Lan Zhan pointed out, deadpan. Lan Huan hummed.

“And that’s how you want it?”

Lan Zhan folded the cuff of his sleeve around his finger, his shoulders tensing. “Xiongzhang—“ He bit his tongue. He really was an awful sibling. Wouldn’t use a close form of address for his own brother, didn’t want to tell him when he started dating, didn’t spend time with him now that they had a place to breathe, didn’t want to live with him for longer than a year.

“Lan Zhan.” He looked up at his brother, who was leaning towards him. His expression was patient. “I need you to understand that I support you in the things you want to do. That’s why you’re here, isn’t it?”

Lan Zhan took a steadying breath. “I do not—“ He looked away, folding his sleeve the other way. “I do not want...gege to think I don’t want to be around him.” He folded his sleeve back the previous way. “I am not good at this.”

“I know.” Lan Huan picked up his chopsticks again, an overly smug smile on his face. “As long as didi is happy, that’s all that matters to me.”

Lan Zhan fidgeted with his sleeves for a moment longer before also continuing to eat. “Then it’s okay?” he asked a minute or two later, to make sure he understood.

Lan Huan hummed. “You have to actually let me meet Nie HuaiSang, but yes. I won’t throw a fit.”

Lan Zhan’s shoulders relaxed a bit. “Thank you.”

“No.” Lan Huan shook his head at him and pointed with his chopsticks. “Lan Zhan, this is how family is supposed to be.”

Lan Zhan nodded, and the two finished out their meal in contemplative silence.

——

“Wei Ying…”

“Hm?”

“Come on.” Lan Zhan slid his hands between Wei Ying’s body and the scratchy couch cushions. “I’m taking you to bed.”

“Lan Zhan…” Wei Ying rolled away from him, towards the back of the couch, and Lan Zhan sighed. Sunday morning rituals should be more fun, he thought. He wanted to wake up next to both of his boyfriends. Run his fingers through their hair and watch it shift and shine in the early sunlight. Take that first waking hour in quiet pseudo-meditation amid the soft breathing beside him and the steadily rising sun.

He didn’t want to wake up and feel that concern stir inside of him or struggle under its heavy weight when he confirmed Wei Ying’s location.

“Wei Ying. Let me take you to HuaiSang’s bed,” he insisted again. Wei Ying didn’t respond for a moment, but then he rolled back over and curled himself up against Lan Zhan.

“Too good to me,” he mumbled, his words slurred with sleep. Lan Zhan shook his head, shifting to get a good hold on him.

“Never.” He pushed to his feet, holding Wei Ying close. The other man’s fingers curled in his shirt over his chest.

“Lan Zhan?”

“Mn?”

“I miss you.”

The words were quiet, not much more than a sleepy sigh, but Lan Zhan was struck by them. The concern coiled tighter and sicker inside of him, and he turned and sat heavily on the couch, Wei Ying gathered in his lap. He tucked his head against his shoulder and stroked his hair absently.

“I’m here,” he said dumbly, unsure what else to offer. Wei Ying settled in, seemingly already drifting back to sleep, and Lan Zhan leaned back to let him stay there as long as he wanted. His hand kept moving steadily through his hair as he thought.

This couldn’t go on. Lan Zhan couldn’t bear it. To know that Wei Ying was exiling himself to the couch when really he was missing their warmth as much as they missed his...he was confused and it hurt. Clearly this wasn’t about whether the couch or his own bed was the more convenient place to sleep.

When HuaiSang stumbled sleepily from his bedroom an hour and a half later, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were still there on the couch. Lan Zhan wasn’t sure what expression he was making, but the look HuaiSang gave him meant it wasn’t good.

“Sweetheart?” HuaiSang came and sat beside him on the couch, his eyes sliding to Wei Ying. He poked his cheek. “A-Ying?”

Wei Ying stirred and curled more against Lan Zhan. “A-Sang?” he muttered.

“Right here.” HuaiSang smiled, a laugh hanging in his voice. “What are you doing out here, love?”

The sweet name made Lan Zhan’s ears burn just to hear. Wei Ying hummed, seemingly warm and content in his arms. “Sleeping.”

“I can see that,” HuaiSang chuckled, leaning closer. Close enough that Lan Zhan could swoop over and press a kiss to the top of his head. So he did, which made HuaiSang blush up at him.

“Hey,” Wei Ying complained without lifting his head. “You can’t give out kisses without me.”

Lan Zhan paused, unsure how to respond, but HuaiSang laughed again. “You have to come up here and get them, y’know.”

Wei Ying mumbled unintelligibly and burrowed deeper into Lan Zhan’s chest. HuaiSang settled against his shoulder, shaking with quiet laughter.

“You’re missing out,” he commented simply, then smirked at Lan Zhan. What was he supposed to do but lean over and indulge him?

They had not not kissed in front of each other. They were perfectly affectionate among the three of them. But something about the early morning silence of the apartment and the city outside, about Wei Ying’s weight in his lap combined with HuaiSang’s warmth at his side, felt...a little new. A little more intense.

Wei Ying shifted around, finally lifting his head. “Hey,” he whined. Lan Zhan pulled back to see him pouting at the two of them. “What about me?”

“I told you,” HuaiSang huffed, pretending to turn his nose up. Lan Zhan shook his head.

“You need only ask,” he said softly, and both his boyfriends flushed light pink.

“Will you kiss me, then?” Wei Ying breathed, and Lan Zhan ducked his head to catch his lips before he was even quite done speaking. Wei Ying responded with equal fervor.

“Heavens,” HuaiSang whispered, sounding breathless. Lan Zhan felt his eyes on them and was overcome by a curious burning sensation. He broke away from Wei Ying suddenly.

“Ah.” He blinked and then stood, turning to deposit Wei Ying into HuaiSang’s lap. “I’ll make breakfast.” He retreated quickly to the kitchen, ears still on fire, and tried to ignore the eyes he could feel on his back.

——

“HuaiSang?”

“Hm?”

Lan Zhan watched his boyfriend lift his gaze from his textbook up to him. He was wearing his Studying Face—a frustrated pinch between his brows and a pitiful pout pulling on his lower lip. Lan Zhan focused on setting his pen down neatly to distract himself from thinking about kissing him right in the middle of the library. “Your birthday is coming up.”

HuaiSang immediately smirked, leaning back in his chair. “Yup.” He chuckled darkly. “After finals, that is. In about a week!” His expression turned contemplative. “Don’t stress though, sweetheart. We’ve only been dating a couple of weeks.”

Lan Zhan shook his head. “I know what I want to get you.” He hesitated. “But I worry Wei Ying might feel weird about it.”

“Oh?” HuaiSang’s brows furrowed. “What is it?”

Lan Zhan tapped his pen against his notebook absently, in a precise, steady rhythm, as he thought. “The past couple of days, he has been working later.”

HuaiSang nodded. Wei Ying was a student assistant for the Chinese language department, and was busy at this point in the semester grading. The lecturers didn’t like him taking the work off-campus, so he was often in the library until nearly nine or ten at night with his grading and his studying. “Right, he’s always busy at the end of the semester.”

Lan Zhan kept up the tapping of his pen, steady and even. “I keep finding him on the couch in the morning.” He paused a moment. “I don’t know why he doesn’t sleep in his own bed, but the couch isn’t a good place to sleep. He says there isn’t room for three in your bed.”

HuaiSang’s eyes lit with understanding. Lan Zhan went on anyway. “I would like to purchase a larger mattress. Not just for his sake, of course, I think we...can all understand the benefits of it. But I don’t want him to...think it’s about this. About him. You know how he is.”

HuaiSang nodded, and Lan Zhan was relieved to see that he did indeed seem to understand what he was saying. He hadn’t known Wei Ying long, but it didn’t take long to see that underneath all his whining and making a hassle of himself, he would rather get stepped all over than ever let himself genuinely inconvenience someone. He nodded in return. “Will you help me?”

“Of course.” HuaiSang nodded earnestly, then paused and tried, unsuccessfully, to bite back a smirk. “Can I have another birthday gift, though?”

Lan Zhan shifted and glanced around the very crowded library. This look on HuaiSang didn’t exactly bode well for public decency. “What would you like?”

HuaiSang was still smirking, but he glanced away almost bashfully. It was an adorable combination of conflicting emotions, until his hands came up to cover it. “Ah, nevermind,” he spluttered. “It. No, I can’t say it…”

Lan Zhan frowned at him. “HuaiSang. Don’t cover your face.” He turned the other man’s words around in his head.

HuaiSang dropped his hands but could hardly spare Lan Zhan a glance before he’d buried his face in one of his books. “It was just, I mean it’s a joke, we don’t have to…”

Lan Zhan wondered if there was some innuendo he was missing here. “Anything you want, HuaiSang, you need only ask. How else will you know if I also w—“

Oh.

HuaiSang shifted and turned several pages of his book. Lan Zhan clicked the end of his pen six times in a row, then twirled it in his fingers, doing his best to ignore the burn in his ears. He had wondered if HuaiSang would mention this. It was fine if he never did; he enjoyed spending time with him, sharing their days and lives. But if he did really. Want that...

He clicked his pen six more times. Hum. He clicked his pen six more times. He didn’t know what to say.

“I thought,” he started slowly, “that you and Wei Ying were content with each other. In that regard.”

HuaiSang looked up at him, his eyes wide. “Haven’t you and A-Ying—“ He stopped himself and flushed suddenly. “Oh sweetheart. I’m sorry, if you don’t—“

“That’s not it. I.” The library was very public, and on top of that, it was very distracting. Gathering his words was proving a problem. “Wei Ying - I - we have. And I - you - I, I do want…”

He looked down and clicked his pen eighteen times in a row. This conversation shouldn’t feel this awkward. He wanted to go home with HuaiSang, right now, where he could think better and speak more plainly. “Whatever A-Sang wants,” he finally whispered, meeting his boyfriend’s gaze again. HuaiSang flushed at the endearment, but his brow furrowed and he bit his lip.

“Ah, w-what Lan Zhan wants too, though,” he mumbled, offering him one of those small smiles. Lan Zhan looked back down at his book, the awkwardness melding with some sort of warm emotion inside him.

“Mn.”

——

Lan Zhan stood on the walkway outside the life sciences building, his foot tapping impatiently as he listened to the line ringing. His brother picked up at the last possible second.

“Lan Zhan?”

“Xiongzhang. I hope I’m not interrupting anything.”

“Of course not, didi.” Lan Zhan couldn’t help the slight wince he gave. “What can I do for you?”

“I wanted to let you know I likely won’t be home at all this week. Finals are keeping me very busy, and Wei Ying and Nie HuaiSang’s place is much closer to campus. I didn’t want to worry you.”

“Oh, of course. I understand.” Lan Huan seemed to be speaking very quickly, and Lan Zhan frowned. “No, yes, it’s okay. When do your finals end? I can plan for some kind of dinner, maybe you could bring the two of them? Please?”

Lan Zhan shifted his weight and tapped his other foot. He couldn’t put this off forever. And it wasn’t fair to Lan Huan to want to put it off forever. He swallowed his resolve. “Yes,” he sighed. “That sounds nice. After finals we’ll all have a lot more time. Just let me know when and I’ll tell them.”

“Okay!” Lan Huan’s smile was basically audible. “Yes, we can go out somewhere. Don’t worry, though, I won’t tell Uncle. Well! Good luck on your finals, didi!”

“Ah.” Lan Zhan winced minutely again. His mouth went dry and his pulse seemed very loud in his ears as he realized what he was about to say. “Xio...Gege. Could you not call me that?”

The line was quiet for a while, and Lan Zhan finally figured he should extrapolate. “It’s not. About the familiarity.” He paused to try to put his thoughts in order. “I just don’t like it. The sound. Um.” He couldn’t figure out how to explain that he didn’t like the implication of ’brother’ without sounding like he didn’t want Lan Huan for family. That wasn’t what he meant at all. He just didn’t like ‘brother’. His thoughts spiraled.

“It’s okay,” Lan Huan’s voice came to him. He couldn’t read the tone, which caused him to despair. “I get it, Lan Zhan. It’s okay.” He let out a weak laugh that Lan Zhan struggled to hear. “You know, you say you’re not good at these things, but I really don’t think I’m much better. I’m sorry. Thank you for telling me.”

“I’m sorry.”

“No, no.” Lan Huan paused, and then his voice was much clearer and more solid. “I want you to be comfortable. I want you to tell me things.”

“Mn.” Lan Zhan looked down, the hand holding his phone shaking slightly beside his face. “This is how family is supposed to be.”

Lan Huan let out a huff. A laugh? “It is. Thank you for letting me know. I love you, Lan Zhan.”

Lan Zhan stared into the middle distance across the green, his breath caught in his chest. “Yes,” he managed. “And to you.”

Lan Huan did laugh at that. “And I’ll see you sometime next week. Study hard for your finals!”

“I will. See you soon, gege.”

He hung up before he could hear Lan Huan’s response to that.

——

“Lan Zhaaan,” HuaiSang drawled early the next morning as he leaned into Wei Ying’s chest and braided his hair over his shoulder. Wei Ying was doing his best to ignore HuaiSang’s fidgeting, as well as to find some way to write on his review sheets with the other man huddled snugly in his lap. He laid the packet on HuaiSang’s leg and tried to write without puncturing the paper, his tongue stuck between his teeth. Lan Zhan could hardly do anything but stare at the sight they made.

“Hm?” he prompted, carrying a mug of tea over and handing it to HuaiSang. Turns out that although HuaiSang’s crushed box of tea was nearly expired, as long as he had someone else making it for him, he was really quite the avid tea drinker.

“You squished me all the way up against the wall again last night,” HuaiSang complained dramatically. He pouted at Lan Zhan quite convincingly. “Honestly, is my bed too small?”

Lan Zhan raised an eyebrow at him, wondering if this was too straightforward. Wei Ying’s voice distracted him. “What? Lan Zhan sleeps laying perfectly still.” Wei Ying frowned at HuaiSang, then narrowed his eyes. “Lan Zhan pushed you up against the wall, huh?” he asked, his lips curling in a smirk. HuaiSang blushed, looking to Lan Zhan helplessly, and Wei Ying leaned closer to him. “I’d like to see that.”

“A-Ying,” HuaiSang whined as he shot Lan Zhan another nervous glance. “C’mon, don’t.”

Wei Ying laughed and plopped a kiss on HuaiSang’s cheek before turning back to his attempt to study. Lan Zhan squeezed HuaiSang’s shoulder and gave him a nod. “Coffee?” he asked Wei Ying, expecting the exuberant affirmation he received. Lan Zhan lifted his hand to cup HuaiSang’s face, brushing his thumb over his bottom lip, and relished the expression on his face as he walked to the kitchen.

——

“Is HuaiSang not home?”

Lan Zhan glanced around the apartment as he stepped out of his shoes. Wei Ying looked up and scrambled to his feet, leaving his books spread on the floor. “Lan Zhan!” he exclaimed brightly. “No, his brother came into town, so he joined him for dinner. He’s not back yet. How was everything? Your finals, the food bank?”

“Fine.” He caught Wei Ying as he bounded up to him and gave him a kiss. “Your day?”

“Oh, fine.” He smiled up at Lan Zhan. “Turned in the last of the grading today! No more grading until the fall semester. And I only have three finals left! Which I guess is kind of a lot, but one down, right!”

“Right.” Lan Zhan felt himself smiling in response to Wei Ying’s good mood. “Well done, love.”

The endearment slipped out without a thought, but Wei Ying merely beamed at him. “I made dinner! I know it’s already late by your standards, so I didn’t want you to have to cook.”

Lan Zhan hummed, pursing his lips and letting Wei Ying drag him to the kitchen island. He watched him turn on the burner under a pot and listened to his chatter. He could smell it from here, which didn’t exactly excite him.

“A lot of this did come from a package,” Wei Ying was admitting as he stirred the heating food—soup, Lan Zhan assumed. “But, I added some extra seasonings, just to spruce it up a bit. Tell me what you think, okay?”

Lan Zhan gave a noncommittal “Mn,” as Wei Ying ladled him a bowlful of shockingly red broth and vegetables. He turned and set it carefully in front of Lan Zhan with a spoon already sticking out of it. Lan Zhan looked from his boyfriend’s expectant eyes to the swirling bowl of spice in front of him. He took a moment. Then, slowly, he lifted the spoon to his mouth.

Hell. In his mouth. From the moment it touched his lips, he knew he was fucked for the evening. He held his breath and swallowed the whole mouthful, glancing at Wei Ying again. He was still grinning. “So? How is it?”

Lan Zhan didn’t answer. Because he didn’t want to lie. Instead, he ate another mouthful, and another. His eyes watered, and he was pretty sure he would never feel his mouth again, but he just kept going because if he lost his momentum it would be over. When the bowl was finally empty, he dropped the spoon into it and sat back, staring at the dark spot on the wall over the refrigerator.

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying called shakily. Lan Zhan refused to make eye contact.

“Water,” he eventually forced out, and he heard Wei Ying scrambling around with the cupboards and the sink. He held his hand out, and Wei Ying pressed a cool, heavy glass into his fingers. He downed the whole thing in one go.

“Lan Zhan?” Wei Ying sounded distressed now, and Lan Zhan finally looked at him. His eyes were wide, his brows furrowed, as he asked, “Are you okay? How was it?”

Lan Zhan reached to take one of his hands. “Fine.” Was he answering both questions? Or just the first? Yes. “Thank you for making me dinner.”

Wei Ying flushed a bit, his expression doubtful. “You’re welcome...is it bedtime now?”

“For me.”

“Then for me, as well.” Wei Ying smiled hugely at him, and Lan Zhan felt his heart swell. He almost forgot he couldn’t feel half of his face. “Let me clean up my notes, okay?”

Lan Zhan nodded and stood to go to Wei Ying’s bedroom ahead of him. He flicked on the light and went to the dresser, opening the top drawer to retrieve some of the pajamas he’d started stashing there.

Nie HuaiSang’s bedroom was more organized than most of the rest of the apartment managed to be, and also had a bright pretty window in it. This made it everyone’s favorite of the two bedrooms. But HuaiSang had so much clothing, it was hardly contained in his room, let alone his closet and drawers. Wei Ying’s bedroom was much better for keeping Lan Zhan’s clothes in, both because he had less clothing overall and because it was almost never kept where it was supposed to be.

Lan Zhan went to the bathroom for a quick shower - and to brush his teeth twice - before he changed. He folded his daytime clothes neatly before sliding them into the laundry bag he kept very decidedly away from Wei Ying’s chaotic laundry mess. Then he wandered the bedroom absently, picking up shirts and socks and books and objects and placing them in slightly-better piles off the floor that Wei Ying would certainly complain about. Then he turned his gaze to the bed.

It was obvious the bed had not been slept in since Lan Zhan had changed the sheets four days ago. This was clear because the bed was still neatly made with the blankets tucked tightly around the mattress, something Wei Ying would never do. Lan Zhan sighed, smoothing his hand over the soft burgundy bedspread. The thought of Wei Ying preferring to sleep alone on the couch as opposed to alone in his bed made his throat tight. He was beyond glad that HuaiSang was onboard for his idea—both the dancing around Wei Ying, and the letting him spend money on him. From what he’d heard of HuaiSang’s older brother, it seemed likely he was used to being spoiled a great deal more than Wei Ying was.

He turned when the door creaked open and Wei Ying stumbled in, letting his books and papers fall in a haphazard pile on his desk. He grinned at Lan Zhan. “Look at you,” he commented ambiguously, before frowning around his room. “Lan Zhan, have you been cleaning again?”

“Decluttering is a more accurate word for what I do,” Lan Zhan deflected. Wei Ying rolled his eyes and sauntered up to him.

“Ah, Lan Zhan,” he sighed, snaking his arms up around his neck and squirming his body closer. “We’re all alone, and you choose to spend your time decluttering.”

Lan Zhan paused to think, his hands settling on Wei Ying’s hips. His wet hair was twisted into a long, neat braid which Wei Ying pulled over his shoulder and flopped from hand to hand. “Do we need to be alone to do this?” he asked casually. That made Wei Ying stop for a second.

“Of course not.” Lan Zhan didn’t miss the way his cheeks tinted pink. “No, we can do this when HuaiSang is here.”

“Could we do it if he was here?”

Wei Ying was quiet a moment. Lan Zhan wasn’t sure why he was asking. He thought he was trying to gauge Wei Ying’s comfort level with the idea, but it seemed useless when he wasn’t quite sure of his own.

“Of course we could,” Wei Ying eventually replied, voice suddenly low and a bit breathless. His eyes were dark when he met Lan Zhan’s gaze, and he chuckled a bit. “Sorry. I just...I try not to think about it.”

Lan Zhan’s brow furrowed. “Why?”

“I…” He scratched his nose. “I don’t know how you feel about it. Don’t want to pressure you, you know? I mean HuaiSang and I, that’s old news, we’ve been rutting against each other for—“ He stopped himself suddenly and his blush deepened. “Well, y’know, but this whole...me and you, you and HuaiSang, we just don’t want to push you.”

The use of “we” caught Lan Zhan’s attention. He mulled that over for a moment—the idea that Wei Ying and HuaiSang had discussed the idea of all three of them at once. He pulled Wei Ying a little closer.

“Mn,” he eventually got out once he found his voice. “I...will let you know.”

Wei Ying’s eyes widened at that. “Oh.” He looked away and bit at his lip and Lan Zhan tilted his head at him. Wei Ying chuckled a bit. “Sometimes the things that turn me on are so stupid.”

Lan Zhan fought a smile and ducked in to kiss him, replacing Wei Ying’s teeth at his bottom lip with his own.

——

“Lan Zhan, what year did the Chinese Civil War end?” Wei Ying asked. His leg bounced erratically, rattling his desk.

“1949, officially.” Lan Zhan reached over and placed a hand on his thigh, trying to calm him. “You will be fine, Wei Ying. You are smart.” And very good at bullshitting his way through stuff, not that he was going to say that aloud.

Wei Ying was focused on the hand on his leg, his eyes unblinking. Lan Zhan withdrew quickly. “Just reread the highlighted points,” he murmured, tapping the tattered review sheet on Wei Ying’s desk. His boyfriend whined at him.

“Lan Zhan, I don’t think I’m gonna make it.”

“This is the last final of the year for you.” Lan Zhan shifted in his seat to face him. “After this, there will be no classes for the whole summer. I will only have my volunteer commitments. HuaiSang will only have the one week in Qinghe with his brother. Aside from that, it’s a full free summer.”

Wei Ying leaned his chin in his hand, smiling at Lan Zhan. “You give good pep talks.”

Lan Zhan looked down as his lips twitched in a smile. “Study. We still have a few minutes.”

Of course, even with all his stressing, Wei Ying still whizzed through the test and was one of the first out the door. Lan Zhan turned in his booklet forty-five minutes later and met Wei Ying outside the classroom.

“I am excited to be done with all the studying and tests and grading,” he started up immediately as they began walking, as though this was a conversation they’d been having beforehand.

Lan Zhan just nodded, keeping pace beside him. The sun was almost unbearable these days, and the crowds on the campus walkways made it that much harder to breathe. “You’ve been stressed.”

“Nah, it’s nothing,” Wei Ying dismissed the statement, shoving his hands in his pockets. He smirked at Lan Zhan. “I’m more talking about the fact that you and HuaiSang have probably been having all kinds of fun while I’ve been holed up in the library with hundreds of terrible first-year essays to sift through. Well, you’d better readjust to me being around!”

Lan Zhan shook his head at him fondly. “We have not,” he added, in the simple interest of honesty.

Wei Ying scoffed. “You haven’t been having fun?” There was something insecure in his tone, and Lan Zhan reached to tap his wrist. Wei Ying pulled his hand from his pocket and allowed Lan Zhan to lace their fingers together. Wei Ying’s palm was sweaty; Lan Zhan gave it a firm squeeze.

“We always enjoy our time together,” Lan Zhan assured him. “As we enjoy our time with you. But we have not been doing what you implied.”

Wei Ying frowned, his pace slowing. “Really?”

“It has not come up. Not been the right moment.” He blinked at Wei Ying, who blinked back.

“Is this conversation supposed to be weirder than this?” Wei Ying contemplated aloud.

“I don’t think it’s supposed to be,” Lan Zhan answered. He tugged Wei Ying down the street that led off campus. “But I think I too expected it to be.”

Wei Ying hummed, pressing against Lan Zhan’s side as they walked. “Do you want to sleep with HuaiSang?”

Lan Zhan wondered if he could blame the redness of his ears on the sun. “I enjoy spending time with HuaiSang in any capacity; the dynamic we have now would suit me should it never change.”

They paused to wait at a crosswalk, and Wei Ying raised an eyebrow at Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan attempted to win the staredown for about three seconds before caving.

“Very much,” he admitted quickly. “But—“

“Aha!” Wei Ying grinned and pointed at him. The signal changed and they crossed the street. “Lan Zhan! You have to tell him forthright. He will never make a move if he thinks you’re fine with making out and cuddling! You’re hard to read, y’know, so if he doesn’t know for sure what you want he won’t press it.”

Lan Zhan was quiet for a moment. The shabby apartment building was coming up ahead by the time he’d organized his thoughts. “I don’t want to push him either,” he fretted, meeting Wei Ying’s eyes. “Between me and him, it has only been a month.”

Wei Ying’s answering smile was like honey; Lan Zhan swore he could actually taste it on his tongue from here. “Ah, Lan Zhan,” he crooned, squeezing his hand. “You are such a sweetheart.”

Lan Zhan’s pulse stuttered. He was starting to like that word.

“Just so you know, though, since you’re both too polite to be straightforward with the other, he does. Want to fuck you. Or be fucked by you, to be more specific.”

Lan Zhan came to a total halt at the foot of the stairs. “Wei Ying,” he spluttered, appalled as his boyfriend did nothing but cackle at his distress.

“Lan Zhan, ah, really someone had to intervene, and who but your loving boyfriend?” Wei Ying tugged at his hand to pull him up the stairs. “Don’t be too upset. If you think it’s unfair, I’ll tell HuaiSang you want it, too.”

“Do not.”

——

Five days later, Lan Zhan sat down across from Wei Ying at the living room coffee table. The two small windows in the living room were opened as wide as they could go, letting in the summer heat and the sounds of the busy morning in the city. There were four different fans on in the apartment, and the heat was still stifling. The air conditioning was broken. This was the best they could do.

Wei Ying was distracting. His hair was up off of his shoulders in a haphazard ponytail and the strands he’d missed clung to the light sheen of sweat that covered his face and neck. He was also hanging around the apartment in just a black tanktop and some stupidly short shorts. Lan Zhan wondered if he was aware of how ridiculously eye-catching he was. Beyond anything else, he was a wonder to just look at.

All the same, Lan Zhan had to focus. He kept his eyes on Wei Ying’s, because they were, unbelievably, the least distracting part of him right now. “I will need your help today.”

Wei Ying pushed himself up from his half-lounging position on the floor. He smirked at Lan Zhan. “Oh?”

“Today is HuaiSang’s birthday.”

Wei Ying’s leer brightened into one of his sunny smiles. “It is, it is.” At the moment, HuaiSang was off with his brother again. Every time his brother made the three hour trip into their city - on a weekday - and HuaiSang returned to regale them with descriptions of fancy restaurants and expensive fruits and antique books or fans that he would then whip out to enthuse over with them, Lan Zhan grew firmer in his suspicion that HuaiSang was more than a little used to being spoiled.

“I got him something,” Lan Zhan started, folding his hands on top of the coffee table. “And I will need your help getting it set up.”

“Ooh, something big? Is it fancy? You already know HuaiSang so well.” He chuckled. “What is it?”

Lan Zhan kept his eyes on his hands. “A much larger bed.”

Wei Ying didn’t respond, so Lan Zhan was eventually forced to look up. Wei Ying was still in the process of going from surprise to excitement. “Oh. Wow.” Excitement finally settled in. “Oh, Lan Zhan, he’ll love that! He’s been complaining, though I’m sure you’ve noticed! I wonder if he was even trying to be subtle?”

Lan Zhan let out a breath, relaxing. “If nothing else, his hints were very helpful to me.”

“Do we need to go pick it up?”

“It will be delivered,” Lan Zhan answered, glancing at his watch. “Soon, actually. But I will need your help moving the old furniture and setting up the new.”

“Absolutely!” Wei Ying sighed and just stared at Lan Zhan for a moment. “What did we do to deserve you?” he wondered aloud, seemingly to himself. Lan Zhan stood.

“One does not need to do anything to deserve care and affection.” He held his hand out to pull Wei Ying up as well. “Come.”

They made quick work of moving the old mattress and disassembling the smaller frame—Lan Zhan explaining, as they did so, that the delivery service would drop it off at a donation center. Shortly after they cleared the old out into the living room, there was a knock at the apartment door. The two of them helped the delivery men move the new mattress into the bedroom as well as the boxes containing the new frame. They helped them move the old out into the building’s hallway. In less than two hours, Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were stood in HuaiSang’s bedroom staring at a spread of bed frame pieces.

“Have you ever put furniture together?” Wei Ying asked him after a moment. Lan Zhan shook his head. “My experience is not good,” Wei Ying laughed. “We should probably try to do a good job. This bed will go through a lot, won’t it?”

Lan Zhan’s ears burned and he refused to look at Wei Ying’s smirk. “Mn. We will make sure it’s done properly.”

Lan Zhan was very lucky that HuaiSang already knew what he was getting, because he figured he would be much more understanding of them simply ordering takeout for dinner instead of cooking - on his birthday - since he knew the organization the feat had taken. He and Wei Ying barely managed to get the frame assembled, sheets and blankets on it, and the food order placed by the time HuaiSang got home.

“Lan Zhan,” he exclaimed softly when he opened the door and spotted him collapsed on the couch. He beamed at him, tilting a brow questioningly. “So?” he whispered, going to sit beside him. He had a small collection of little bags hanging from one hand, and Lan Zhan felt a swell of affection for HuaiSang’s brother. He suddenly wanted to meet him very badly.

“All went well,” he assured HuaiSang, who beamed at him. Lan Zhan couldn’t help but lean in to kiss him. “I hope you enjoyed your day.”

“I did! I’ll have to show you what da-ge—“

“HuaiSang!” Wei Ying paused in the hallway before rushing to sit on HuaiSang’s other side. “Baby, I didn’t hear you come in.”

“Pay closer attention next time,” HuaiSang joked. Wei Ying didn’t even bother to pretend to be offended; he just held HuaiSang’s face and gave him a long, sweet kiss. HuaiSang chuckled. “Babe,” he complained, “you’re all sweaty.”

“You didn’t complain about Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying whined, pulling back to pout at him. HuaiSang flushed over at Lan Zhan and his hand came to rest on his knee.

“He’s hot when he’s sweaty,” HuaiSang explained in a small voice.

The look Wei Ying shot Lan Zhan was hungry and dangerous and he swallowed thickly. “I’m going to shower,” he told them softly as he stood. “Dinner might arrive while I’m in there.”

“Take me with you,” Wei Ying joked weakly. Lan Zhan’s ears flushed and he shot Wei Ying a look. He escaped to the bathroom and spent several minutes calming down before disrobing.

When he came back out, the apartment was just as stiflingly warm as it had been all day. He walked into the living room, his hair over his shoulder as he braided it to the end, and was greeted by the sight of HuaiSang on the counter and Wei Ying between his legs, pressed up against him as they tongue-fucked each other’s mouths. Lan Zhan’s fingers froze, the end of the braid untwisting a bit.

HuaiSang’s eyes peeked open a slit and then shot wide as he met Lan Zhan’s surprised gaze. He squeaked and slapped at Wei Ying’s shoulder. He flushed fully red as Wei Ying half-turned.

“Lan Zhan.” He hesitated, and they all stared at each other for a moment before Wei Ying sighed. “What is this?” he chuckled. “We don’t need to skirt around each other. Lan Zhan.”

He held one hand out, keeping the other on HuaiSang, and Lan Zhan walked over to them to slide his fingers against Wei Ying’s.

“It’s not like we’re three separate couples,” Wei Ying whispered, looking between the two of them. “If Lan Zhan wants to watch us make out, is there something so wrong with that?”

“No,” HuaiSang breathed. Wei Ying smiled at him.

“Right, baby. And...if Lan Zhan wants to be involved?”

“Yes,” HuaiSang begged, his eyes on Lan Zhan, and suddenly Lan Zhan couldn’t breathe.

A knock at the door saved his life. Lan Zhan pulled away to go answer it. “Hi,” he stated robotically to the delivery man as he accepted the slip and signed. He took a bag full of cartons of food and carried it to the kitchen island.

There was silence for a moment. “We ordered the seafood curry for you,” Lan Zhan murmured, looking away and fixing his eyes on a weird spot on the wall. He heard one of his boyfriends give a huff.

“Thank you.” HuaiSang came up beside him and squeezed his arm. “Lan Zhan, what did you get? Let me try?”

“Mn.” He wrapped an arm around his waist. “Whatever A-Sang wants.”

“And A-Ying?” Wei Ying hedged, coming up on his other side. Lan Zhan let out a breath.

“For either of you.”

——

“Sweetheart?”

Lan Zhan blinked himself back awake. He stared at the strings of the guqin in front of him for a moment before turning to gaze blearily at Wei Ying’s blurry form.

His boyfriend was staring at him. Or maybe at the instrument he’d never seen in the apartment before. It was hard to say. “Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying whispered sweetly, holding a hand out to him. “Come to bed?”

Lan Zhan looked over the table quickly. His papers were laid out, and though they were an embarrassing testament to his emotions, they at least meant the melody he’d dreamt up the night before was securely scribbled down. “Mn.” He pushed to his feet, with a lot of help from the couch, and put his hands in Wei Ying’s. “What time is it?”

“Sleepy time.” Wei Ying smirked at him as he pulled him into HuaiSang’s room and brought him to the bed. “Four days into summer break and you’re already staying up way past your bedtime,” he teased in quiet glee. “Am I that bad of an influence?”

“Mn,” Lan Zhan muttered unthinkingly, crawling after Wei Ying and settling in between him and HuaiSang’s sleeping form. “Maybe.”

Wei Ying’s laughter huffed beside him. “Well, let me try to rectify it, then. Go to sleep, darling.”

And what could Lan Zhan do but indulge him?

Chapter Text

didi 🙈🥵💔🤮💖🥰🔫
what the fuck

Missed call from: didi 🙈🥵💔🤮💖🥰🔫

didi 🙈🥵💔🤮💖🥰🔫
call me back

didi 🙈🥵💔🤮💖🥰🔫
call me back rn dickhead

6 Missed calls from: didi 🙈🥵💔🤮💖🥰🔫

didi 🙈🥵💔🤮💖🥰🔫
wei ying i’m gonna k u

didi 🙈🥵💔🤮💖🥰🔫
why did i find out from JIEJIE that you’re dating TWO DUDES and HAVE BEEN for THREE MONTHS

didi 🙈🥵💔🤮💖🥰🔫
fucking call me back 🔪🔪🔪

——

Wei Ying woke up sweaty and alone. The fan overhead whirred lazily and the sun on his skin was unbearable. He rolled over into Lan Zhan’s empty spot, where the sheets were a bit cooler. The blankets had clearly been kicked to the floor sometime in the night. Because it was a trillion degrees in the bedroom. Because the air conditioning was broken—again.

Wei Ying groaned and yanked at his hair, throwing it out of his face. Fuck this place fuck this place fuck this place. Honestly, he didn’t even know why they were bothering to stay these last couple of months of the lease. The AC broke almost every week and was usually down for a full day - sometimes two! - before maintenance got around to it. Not to mention the broken stove burners that hadn’t gotten fixed since they moved in or the fact that they could turn the kitchen island into a fucked up parallelogram by leaning against it too hard. Fuck this place.

He let out a long breath through his nose and opened his eyes. Where were Lan Zhan and HuaiSang?

Wei Ying peeled himself from the sheets and stumbled to HuaiSang’s bedroom door. He gathered his hair up to the crown of his head and held it with one hand as he stepped into the hall. He meant to head to the bathroom for a clip or a scrunchie or something, but paused when he heard a melodic twang. There was a beat of silence, and then the strumming started up for real. Expertly timed, each note evenly toned. Wei Ying crept up to peer into the living room as the half-familiar tune filled up the apartment.

Lan Zhan sat with his back to him on the floor. The long, dark guqin lay on the table in front of him. His hair was half-up, leaving half of it to flow over his shoulders and move and catch the morning light as his hands moved with ease across the strings. HuaiSang sat huddled into a corner of the couch behind him, entirely silent, eyes fixed unmoving on Lan Zhan’s form.

Wei Ying’s hand dropped, his hair falling to brush his shoulders again, and he moved silently to climb onto the couch beside HuaiSang. Lan Zhan either didn’t notice or ignored him, his rhythm holding steady as the piece grew more complex. Wei Ying leaned against HuaiSang, reaching absently to take his hand. His eyes were drawn to Lan Zhan’s long fingers where they moved against the strings.

The music stopped a few minutes later, definitely in the middle of the segment and by no means at the end of the piece. Wei Ying blinked at the stilling strings before looking up to see Lan Zhan turned towards the two of them. His brows were low and his eyes averted a bit; he was embarrassed. Wei Ying smiled.

“Good morning,” he started. HuaiSang squeezed his hand, and his grin intensified. “That was pretty.”

Lan Zhan bit his lip for a moment. “Thank you…”

“You’ve been working on it for a bit,” HuaiSang piped up. “You’re composing, right?”

“Mn.” Lan Zhan looked away, and Wei Ying smirked at his pink ears. “Sorry I woke you.”

“You didn’t, you didn’t,” Wei Ying insisted at the same time that HuaiSang went “No, no, no.” Lan Zhan shifted, gathering the hard black instrument case closer, and Wei Ying glanced at HuaiSang. “You’re not going to stop already?” he asked quietly.

Lan Zhan set the instrument carefully in the case and snapped the lid shut. “I’ll make breakfast.” He stood and fled to the kitchen. Wei Ying shared A Look with HuaiSang before following him.

“That’s fine,” he drawled as he leaned against the island. “We can just ask Lan Huan tomorrow. I’m sure he’ll spill all your secrets.”

Lan Zhan stopped to shoot Wei Ying a reproving look over his shoulder. Wei Ying smirked at him. “‘Gege,’” he started in a sing-song voice, “‘when did our Lan Zhan learn to play the qin? How did he get so good? What’s he doing at our dinky university with talent like that?’ Do you think he’ll answer us?”

Lan Zhan didn’t say anything, and HuaiSang cleared his throat. Wei Ying glanced back at him to receive a reproachful eyebrow tilt. He opened his mouth to apologize just as Lan Zhan turned back around to them.

“I transferred from a music school,” he said, his voice low and quick. “I didn’t want to do music. Law interested me more.”

Wei Ying blinked at him. “You were going to school for music?” HuaiSang asked. He came up beside Wei Ying and sat at the island. “I never knew you transferred in,” he continued, seeming almost ashamed of it.

“Well, how could we know if Lan Zhan doesn’t tell us?” He gave their partner a pointed look, and he turned back to his cutting board with a noncommittal sound. “What were you focusing in? Performance, composition?”

“Pedagogy.” Lan Zhan paused to flip his hair over one broad shoulder. “Law interests me more.”

Wei Ying knew about Lan Zhan’s convictions in law—about his goal of becoming a public defender. But he hadn’t been aware of where it had all started. He still wasn’t, really. The connection between his background in music and his current track were not super clear to him.

“Well,” Wei Ying sighed, dropping into the chair beside HuaiSang, “we’ll just have to think of other things to ask him tomorrow night, I guess.”

Lan Zhan made another aimless noise, this one more stressed, and HuaiSang bumped Wei Ying’s shoulder and gave him another scolding pout. Wei Ying winced back at him and wracked his brain for something else to talk about to get them off the subject. “Ah, it’s so hot,” he complained, leaning all over the island and feeling it tilt beneath him. “I can’t believe the AC went out again…” HuaiSang was sensibly and sexily dressed in a cropped T-shirt and shorts, but Lan Zhan was already decked all the way out in a fuckin’ turtleneck. Navy blue. It looked good as hell, but Wei Ying couldn’t understand how he was breathing in it.

“We need to get out of this stupid building,” HuaiSang agreed, fanning himself with one hand. “We jumped at the lease because it was such a weird time of year and we were lucky it was so close to campus, but this place seriously sucks.”

“No AC,” Wei Ying muttered. “We really need to move to an apartment where the AC never breaks.”

A plate clacked onto the island near Wei Ying’s head. “Mn,” Lan Zhan murmured. “I’ll put that at the top of the priority list for our new place.”

Wei Ying blinked and lifted his head. Lan Zhan had made crepes. How had he made crepes so quickly? Didn’t they like, take a long time?

HuaiSang’s eyes locked on Lan Zhan as he turned back to the stove. “Babe,” he whispered to Wei Ying, “did he just say what I think he said?”

“Hm?” Wei Ying glanced at him, then paused. Wait. Lan Zhan did say something. Wei Ying shot to full attention, his back zipping straight. “Wh—Lan Zhan?”

“Mn?” He glanced over his shoulder at the two of them. Wei Ying could feel a big stupid smile breaking out on his face.

“You wanna—like, move in move in with us?”

“Ah.” Lan Zhan paused, then turned back to the pan silently. He flipped a crepe over onto a plate and then turned to them again, his ears pink. “I wanted to bring it up better,” he said quietly.

“No, it’s perfect!” Wei Ying exclaimed.

“I can’t believe you want to live in all this mess,” HuaiSang laughed. “Sweetheart…”

Wei Ying felt his little heart soar as Lan Zhan fidgeted. “I’m always here anyway,” he pointed out. “More convenient to bring all my things.”

“That it is!” Wei Ying leaned back, his crepes all but forgotten. “So that does change the priority list! More than AC and fancy amenities, we’ll need thr…”

He trailed off with a frown. Would they need three bedrooms? Is that what everyone wanted? No better way to find out than to ask. “Would we all want our own bedrooms?” he asked, glancing from HuaiSang to Lan Zhan’s back.

HuaiSang looked away, his hair falling over his shoulder and obscuring most of his face. “Hmm… It might be nice to have the extra space, I guess.”

They both waited for Lan Zhan to say something. It didn’t happen until he turned to slide a plate of crepes in front of HuaiSang.

“I should not like to ever sleep alone,” he said softly.

“Me neither,” Wei Ying and HuaiSang agreed at once. Wei Ying couldn’t contain his idiotic beaming at the two of them. “Will they let three adults in a one-bedroom?” he chuckled.

“One won’t be enough,” HuaiSang blurted. He blushed when Wei Ying raised an eyebrow at him. “Oh come on, babe,” he sighed. “Can you imagine trying to fit all my shit in with your mess? And that’s not even thinking about Lan Zhan and his organized and orderly way of doing things. I think he’d burn all our stuff.”

“I wouldn’t,” Lan Zhan put in. He nudged their plates of crepes pointedly, and Wei Ying picked up his fork.

“So three bedrooms after all? Or should two of us share?” He took a bite of crepe and watched as HuaiSang thought through the logistics.

“You and I could use the second bedroom for storage,” HuaiSang contemplated aloud. “Without a bed, there’ll be much more room, and I’ve been putting up with your mess for forever, so I can deal better. And then Lan Zhan can keep his things in the master.”

“There is plenty of room in a master bedroom for more than just my things,” Lan Zhan pointed out. He eventually got tired of waiting and gathered a bite of crepe on HuaiSang’s fork and held it out for him. HuaiSang leaned forward absently to accept it. Wei Ying was overcome with the urge to kiss both of them.

“Of course we’ll keep some of our stuff in there,” Wei Ying agreed. “Some daily necessities, underwear, jammies, et cetera. These are very good, Lan Zhan.” He took another bite and smiled at him sweetly and Lan Zhan leaned across the island, reaching to grab him for a kiss, but Wei Ying dodged him. “Lan Zhan,” he laughed, “I’m chewing!”

“Finish.”

“Finish?” Wei Ying raised an eyebrow and gave him a smirk and Lan Zhan leaned closer, his eyes narrowing.

“Swallow.”

Wei Ying flushed and turned away, trying not to choke. “Lan Zhan,” he wheezed as HuaiSang cackled beside him.

“You can kiss me, sweetheart,” HuaiSang purred, leaning his elbows on the counter, and Lan Zhan obliged.

“Wait, wait,” Wei Ying complained, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. “Me too.”

HuaiSang huffed a laugh as Lan Zhan parted from him and turned to Wei Ying. “There is plenty to go around.”

Wei Ying felt a warm thrill. He reached out to cup Lan Zhan’s cheeks. “Too good,” he sighed before closing the distance and kissing him. Lan Zhan tasted warm and sweet. Or maybe that was just the love.

——

“Oh fuck…”

Wei Ying stared at his phone as it vibrated in his hand. HuaiSang peered over and scoffed.

“What does he want?”

“He texted me like a million times two nights ago,” Wei Ying groaned. “I never called him back.”

Lan Zhan checked his watch. “Xiongzhang is still not here; he has a few minutes.” It was hard to catch his low voice over the noise of the restaurant entryway. Wei Ying leaned close to hear him. “Step outside and take it. If he arrives without your notice, I’ll come get you.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” Wei Ying sighed, reaching to give his arm a squeeze. “I’ll be right back.”

He slipped away from his partners and pushed open the heavy doors into the warm, humid evening. He found a quiet section of sidewalk and answered the call from ‘didi 🙈🥵💔🤮💖🥰🔫’ at the last possible second. “Hello?”

“Wei Ying, what the hell!”

“Ah, ah ah, please don’t yell.”

“What are you, drunk?? Hungover?? At seven o’clock in the evening??”

“No, my phone is just next to my ear! Why are you blowing up my phone?”

“Because I think there’s something important you’ve been avoiding telling me!”

“What, that I’m fucking HuaiSang?”

“I knew you were fucking HuaiSang,” Jiang Cheng hissed. Wei Ying could almost feel his scowl. It was heartwarming. “I didn’t know you were actually dating him, or dating another guy!”

“Well, A-Cheng, I think people normally date people they’re fucking.”

“Don’t call me that!” Wei Ying couldn’t help his smirk at that reaction. “And don’t even start with me, I’ve been skeptical of your weird thing with HuaiSang since—that’s not the point, you fucking idiot! Why did jiejie know before I did?”

Wei Ying closed his eyes and processed the hurt in his brother’s voice. “Didi,” he sighed, “you know how she is; she asks you things and you just—you tell her! Plus I thought you didn’t like hearing about this stuff?”

“Of course I want to know what’s going on with your life! I fucking care about you! God, I can’t stand you!”

Wei Ying huffed out a laugh. “Thanks, that’s all cleared up. No—Jiang Cheng, don’t hang up! I only wanted to make sure you were comfortable.”

“Well, I am, there!”

“Okay!”

“Who is this Lan Zhan?” Jiang Cheng’s voice was a normal volume now, though his tone was suspicious. “He really gets along with HuaiSang? Like…that well?”

“You’ll be more surprised that he and I get along than he and HuaiSang,” Wei Ying laughed. He felt a light touch at his back and jolted before turning to meet Lan Zhan’s eyes. “Oh, sorry, didi, I have to go—I’m actually at dinner with A-Sang and Lan Zhan and Lan Zhan’s brother. Tell jiejie I said hi?”

“Sure, whatever,” Jiang Cheng grumbled. “You have to let me meet this weirdo.”

“Fine, great, whenever you want.” He rolled his eyes at Lan Zhan, then paused. “And hey? Don’t...tell Auntie Yu?”

“Of course I won’t,” Jiang Cheng scoffed, and Wei Ying relaxed.

“Okay. Thanks. Sorry. Ah, I have to go, talk to you later.”

“Only after I harass you for thre—“ Wei Ying hung up on him and slid his phone into his pocket, smiling at Lan Zhan and turning around to go back inside. Lan Zhan brought him in and Wei Ying immediately recognized Lan Huan from the doorway.

He’d met him briefly in passing the few times he’d been to the apartment Lan Huan and Lan Zhan shared—the few times he’d spent the night before they’d quickly realized Wei Ying was too loud to be…had in a house with other people in it. Something Wei Ying probably should have known already, but hadn’t thought about. They hadn’t spoken much. Wei Ying had awkwardly introduced himself the first time and said some awkward hellos the second time and after that he hadn’t had the guts to show his face around there again.

Lan Huan looked the same, which was to say very much like Lan Zhan. Only his face was more open, with bright eyes and a wide smile, and his hair was cut a good bit shorter, not even touching his shoulders. He was dressed so perfectly for the establishment that Wei Ying suddenly felt very much like a rumpled cat that had crawled out of a dumpster.

HuaiSang was making nervous conversation when Wei Ying and Lan Zhan returned, and he visibly relaxed at their approach. Wei Ying smiled at Lan Huan. “Lan Huan, I hope you’re well,” he greeted him.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Huan returned, his smile bright and seemingly very genuine. “I am doing fine. I hope the same for you.” He nodded at Lan Zhan. “Let me check on our reservation.”

He wandered off, and HuaiSang latched himself onto Lan Zhan’s other side. “I can’t do it,” he lamented quietly to the two of them. “He’s so put together and look at me! I can hardly speak for anxiety!”

“Oh, what are you worried about?” Wei Ying wondered, reaching over to tweak his nose. “You spent an hour getting ready, and you look absolutely delectable. At least your shirt isn’t wrinkled.”

“I don’t want Lan Zhan’s brother to think I look delectable,” HuaiSang hissed, blushing. “I want him to think I look respectable.”

“You are both perfect,” Lan Zhan assured them, ushering them forward when Lan Huan beckoned for them to join him and follow the hostess. “He will adore you both.”

Neither of them had an answer for that beyond flushing fully red, so they simply followed along behind Lan Huan quietly. The hostess showed them to their table and Wei Ying started to panic. It was a rectangular table with two chairs on either side. Who would sit next to Lan Huan? Should he do it, since he’d already met him? Would it be easier for him to get to know HuaiSang if they were sat next to each other? But if he sat across, he would be subjected to more eye contact, oh god—

Lan Zhan solved the problem by sitting down next to his brother. Wei Ying’s shoulders relaxed. He wondered why he hadn’t thought of that option as he took the seat next to HuaiSang’s, which happened to put him right across from Lan Huan. He gulped.

“We sort of frequent this place,” Lan Huan said conversationally as everyone fiddled with their menus. “When we were young, our uncle liked to bring us here for, oh, graduations, after competitions, things like that.”

“Oh?” HuaiSang managed a smile. “Do you recommend anything, then?”

Lan Huan returned his smile radiantly. “Well, I’m sure you know Lan Zhan and I eat vegetarian, but I do have a few favorites.”

Wei Ying tried to pay attention as Lan Huan and HuaiSang talked about the menu. He really did. But he found himself instead focusing on the way the two reacted to each other, how their expressions played one off the other in an endless exchange. It was so subtle, and HuaiSang made it seem so easy. That was something he admired about him—and something he himself would never, ever, in a million years, be able to do.

He caught Lan Zhan’s eye and suddenly realized that he, too, had been watching his brother and his boyfriend interact. He smiled over the table at him, and Lan Zhan picked up his menu and placed it in front of his face. Wei Ying did the same with his own to hide his silent laughter. He decided to just order whatever Lan Zhan got, because this menu was impossible for him to parse.

“Wei Ying, would you like to see the wine list?”

Wei Ying peeked over the top of his menu to see Lan Huan holding the small leather folder out to him. “Oh, no,” he hurried to assure him. “We know you and Lan Zhan don’t drink, we wouldn’t want to…” HuaiSang was nodding earnestly beside him. Wei Ying cracked a smile. “Besides, fancy wine is wasted on me; I literally can’t tell the difference between the good stuff and bottom-shelf sludge.”

Lan Huan chuckled at him. “Fair point.” He set the wine list aside. The waiter arrived a moment later to take their orders, and HuaiSang got one of Lan Huan’s well-discussed recommendations while Wei Ying merely seconded whatever arugula-over-a-chickpea-mash-and-eggplant-compote thing Lan Zhan ordered. With that squared away, Lan Huan turned expectantly back to the table. “Nie HuaiSang, I hear you study literature?”

“Uhh yes.” HuaiSang cleared his throat. “Contemporary.”

Wei Ying smirked and bit his tongue on a dirty joke about the kinds of ‘contemporary’ literature he and HuaiSang had looked at together. “Wei Ying, I don’t think I ever caught your faculty?” Lan Huan threw out, smiling at him pleasantly.

Wei Ying grinned. “Funeral science,” he answered. He watched the polite surprise cross Lan Huan’s face. That was the usual reaction.

“Such an interesting area of study,” Lan Huan commented. He smiled reassuringly at all three of them to show he’d come to terms with it. “What got you interested?”

“Well, funerals are just really expensive, you know?” Wei Ying sipped his water, glancing at Lan Zhan nervously. “And funeral homes are notorious for selling people the ‘basic’ funeral package for way above what it should actually cost. These people are already grieving, you know? And people are taking advantage of them. I want to like...I dunno, start my own business I guess? And actually help people find the cheapest options for what they want for their loved ones.”

HuaiSang laughed. “I just like literature,” he joked. Wei Ying and Lan Huan chuckled at him.

“That’s not true, though!” Wei Ying narrowed his eyes at HuaiSang. “Don’t think I don’t remember you ranting to me about the issues present in most contemporary literature and how most of it isn’t even really any better than the classics. You would make a great analytical critic.”

“Well, one should be critical of the things they read.” HuaiSang shrugged. “Even if they like them.”

“Especially if they like them,” Lan Zhan put in, and HuaiSang nodded.

“Exactly.”

The chatter flowed more easily after that. Wei Ying was surprised to find how much time he, HuaiSang, and Lan Zhan spent just talking to each other while Lan Huan listened and smiled. He wondered if they were being rude.

The food came and they all grew more quiet as they ate. Wei Ying had never done well in silences, and he fidgeted as he pushed his food around. Lan Huan caught his eye and set down his fork, reaching for his glass.

“Lan Zhan tells me you all intend to move in together when your current lease is up?” he mentioned casually. Wei Ying felt his chest warm just at the mention of it. He still hadn’t adjusted to the idea of building a home with his partners or how happy the thought made him. He hoped he never would.

“Yes,” HuaiSang answered. “Our current place is not exactly ideal, so we’ll start looking soon.”

“It’s worse than not ideal,” Wei Ying scoffed. He looked directly at Lan Huan. “We’ve been without AC for two days now.”

“Goodness.” Lan Huan shook his head. “I’d have moved out already. If you need any help finding a place, let me know. I can help with finding reviews and things.”

“Gege works in real estate management,” Lan Zhan said. He kept his eyes on his plate. Wei Ying watched with interest as Lan Huan’s smile brightened.

“I do. But did he really never mention before?” He seemed to blink and then shook his head fondly. Wei Ying could assume he was scolding himself for being surprised that Lan Zhan hadn’t volunteered the information. Speaking of which.

“So tell us, gege,” Wei Ying started, stabbing a colorful pile of vegetables onto his fork. “What was Lan Zhan like as a child? He never tells us anything, you know.”

He took his bite and glanced up. Lan Huan was having trouble controlling a brilliant, face-splitting grin. Lan Zhan was looking away across the restaurant, his ears red.

“Ohh, yes, we’re dying to know,” HuaiSang agreed, leaning forward earnestly.

“Well,” Lan Huan chuckled brightly, “he was always a quiet child. Though the way our uncle ran the household had a lot to do with that, I think. Still, I could hardly get him to do anything with me! It was always just studying and guqin and reading. Do you know he’s never played cat and mouse?”

“No,” Wei Ying gasped in mock horror. “Oh, what misery.”

“Was he always top of his class?” HuaiSang asked, gazing fondly at Lan Zhan. “He gives off that valedictorian vibe.”

“Four-point-oh GPA,” Lan Huan sighed. “Though I can’t fault him too much. I was the same.” He glanced between the three of them. “I’m not sure how much Lan Zhan has told you about our uncle, but he always had high expectations for us.”

Lan Zhan had not revealed much at all about his family. Wei Ying knew that Lan Zhan and Lan Huan’s parents had died when the two were still children, and they had been raised by their uncle for the better part of their lives. Beyond that, there wasn’t much he’d divulged. He was beginning to get a bit of a clearer picture, though, as he watched Lan Huan fidget and straighten just speaking about their guardian.

“Wei Ying has siblings,” Lan Zhan said suddenly. He turned back to the table. “HuaiSang, as well, has an older brother.”

“Yes,” HuaiSang enthused, grabbing the change of subject and running with it. “Da-ge raised me, basically. He’s great. He lives in Qinghe.”

“Qinghe is so far,” Lan Huan commented. “I don’t know if I could stand to be so many hours from my baby br…” He stopped and smiled blankly at HuaiSang. “Does he visit often?”

Wei Ying laughed. “Too often,” he answered before HuaiSang could say anything. He smiled over at his boyfriend. “A-Sang is spoiled. If he even mentions having a bad day, sends a text complaining about a test or a stressful essay, his da-ge offers to drive the whole way here and take him out.”

“I am not spoiled,” HuaiSang spluttered. His face was bright red, and he raised one hand to cover half of it. He glared at Wei Ying. “You’re just jealous because my brother cares about me.”

“Jiang Cheng does care about me,” Wei Ying said dismissively. “Younger siblings care about older siblings in different ways, you know.”

“Right, which is why every other text you get from him is an all-caps expletive.”

“Precisely!”

Lan Huan laughed. “Your brother is younger, Wei Ying?”

“Yes, and he’s such a brat.” Wei Ying sighed dramatically. “He thinks threatening me is the same as telling me he loves me. It’s a difficult language to master. My jiejie, on the other hand, is perfect and caring and can do no wrong.”

The other two chuckled at him for that, and Wei Ying glanced at Lan Zhan. He looked much more at ease, a slight tilt present on his lips as he watched Wei Ying. Wei Ying looked back down at his plate as his smile threatened to break his whole head in half.

The rest of the meal passed pleasantly, and when the four of them emerged onto the street the night was significantly cooler. HuaiSang’s jitters had worn off and now he was visibly sleepy, clinging near Wei Ying. He took HuaiSang’s hand and gave him a smile as Lan Huan paused on the sidewalk.

“How did you three get here?” he asked. “Shall I take you home?”

“We will be fine on the train,” Lan Zhan assured him, but Lan Huan raised an eyebrow at him.

“Oh, come on, let me drive you home, it’s hardly out of the way.”

“We would appreciate it very much,” Wei Ying interjected. When Lan Zhan gave him a Look, he gestured to HuaiSang falling asleep on his shoulder.

“Perfect.” Lan Huan smirked at Lan Zhan and turned, leading them down the street to where he’d parked his car—a sleek fancy thing that Wei Ying figured he’d never be able to afford in his life. He helped HuaiSang into the backseat and then followed after him as Lan Zhan took the passenger seat.

“What’s the address?” Lan Huan asked, poking at his cellphone.

“I will direct you,” Lan Zhan murmured. Lan Huan nodded and started the car.

Wei Ying settled in and HuaiSang’s head came to rest on his shoulder. He smiled to himself. It had been a while since he and HuaiSang had last huddled together in the backseat of a car. The dark windows blocked out much of the city light as Lan Huan started down the street at Lan Zhan’s low directions. Soft instrumental music drifted over the fancy speakers. Wei Ying took HuaiSang’s hand and laced their fingers together, pressing his face into his hair with a sigh. “Baby,” he whispered.

“Hm?” came HuaiSang’s sleepy reply. Wei Ying smiled.

“Nothing.” He rubbed his thumb over the back of his hand and kissed the top of his head. HuaiSang snuggled against him and he chuckled. “Don’t get too comfy, it’s a short ride.”

“Can’t you carry me upstairs?”

“Not me.” He smiled. “But maybe Lan Zhan could do it.”

HuaiSang didn’t respond, and Wei Ying turned to watch the dim lights float past the window. Lan Zhan and Lan Huan’s voices were muted in the front, a quiet rumble back and forth. He could have made out the words, but didn’t try, preferring to give them this moment. The AC was just cold enough to raise goosebumps along his arm that wasn’t pressed to HuaiSang’s warmth. He moved his thumb slowly over the hand he held and sank into the flow of the music.

The siblings in the front stopped conversing at some point and Wei Ying turned his head. “Is this the guqin?” he asked Lan Huan quietly. He thought he recognized the instrument but he couldn’t be sure.

Lan Huan smiled out the windshield. “Yes.” He pulled to the side of the road, and Wei Ying realized that was their crappy building slumped across the sidewalk beside them. Lan Huan turned to look at him. “This is Lan Zhan’s playing.”

Wei Ying blinked. “Oh.”

Lan Zhan opened his door. “Thank you, xiongzhang, for this evening. I’ll be by this weekend one day for sure.”

“Of course.” Lan Huan smiled at Wei Ying as he nudged HuaiSang half-awake and pulled him from the car. “Have a wonderful evening, Wei Ying, Nie HuaiSang. I hope to see you again soon.”

“Thank you, gege,” Wei Ying replied brightly. He passed HuaiSang off to Lan Zhan. “Drive safe.”

They watched his car roll down the street before Wei Ying turned to Lan Zhan. “So,” he started as they walked towards the stairs. “How did that go?”

Lan Zhan made an ambiguous noise. HuaiSang was still dozing off as he stumbled beside him, and at the foot of the stairs he paused and hoisted HuaiSang up into his arms bridal style. The other man made a surprised noise.

“Lan Zhan.” He blinked at the ground and then at Lan Zhan’s face. “Are you really going to carry me up?”

Lan Zhan nodded, and a moment later HuaiSang tucked his head against his shoulder and settled in. Wei Ying laughed as they started up the stairs together.

“I think it went well,” he went on. “He didn’t seem offended by any of us. He didn’t even make a face when I called him ‘gege’!”

“He enjoys it,” Lan Zhan admitted, sounding tired. Wei Ying laughed again.

“And it’s clear he loves you,” Wei Ying concluded. “Which was all I was trying to verify, so he passed.”

Lan Zhan glanced at him, almost smiling. “I am glad, then.”

“So did tonight go well?” Wei Ying bumped his shoulder a little as they came to the landing and made their way towards the door.

“Mn.” Wei Ying held the door to the hallway open and Lan Zhan carried HuaiSang through. He looked back at Wei Ying. “I was happy to introduce him to the two of you.”

He turned to walk down to the hall to their unit, and Wei Ying had to take a moment before he could force his legs to rush after him.

——

baby 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
I made it to da-ges!!!! How are my loves doing w/o me 🥺🥺

A-Ying 🥰
fine!! haven’t burned the apt down yet!!

baby 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Unfortunately

A-Ying 🥰
unfortunately...

baby 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Is Lan Zhan still at the food bank

A-Ying 🥰
yep!!

baby 💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖
Can I call you ?

Wei Ying smiled at his phone as he typed out his “sure!!” and hit send. He rolled onto his stomach where he lay on the couch and waited. He answered HuaiSang’s call on the first ring. “Hi, baby.”

“Hi.”

“How was the trip?”

“Fine, da-ge mostly asked about you and stuff.”

“He didn’t ask about Lan Zhan at all?”

HuaiSang hummed ambiguously. “How are things there?”

“I told you, they’re fine.” Wei Ying crossed his ankles in the air. “It’s just a week, we’ll be okay.”

“If you cook for Lan Zhan, please try not to kill him. I like him.”

“Oh, and no worry for me?”

“You’re indestructible,” HuaiSang laughed. Wei Ying smiled and pressed his face into the couch cushion.

“Ah, A-Sang, I miss you already. A week is too long…”

“You’ll be fine, love.”

“You have to call Lan Zhan, too, y’know.”

“I will, but tomorrow. He gets home late today, I don’t want to keep him up.”

“I’ll be keeping him up anyway,” Wei Ying joked. HuaiSang only gave a breathless huff on the other end of the line. Wei Ying shifted. “Are you alright? You seem a little off.”

HuaiSang was quiet a moment. “A-Ying, you know how Lan Zhan and I still haven’t. Um, y’know, fucked or really touched each other or anything.”

“Sure.” Wei Ying pushed himself to sit up, listening hard.

HuaiSang swallowed loud enough that Wei Ying could hear it. “Um, I’ve been thinking. I might like it if the first time he and I slept together...if maybe you were there, too. All three of us.”

Wei Ying blinked. “You want that? You don’t want time with him to see how you work alone?”

“It’s just.” HuaiSang’s voice became quiet and rushed. “I-I haven’t slept with very many people, and I don’t know what he likes, and I’m not sure how he is, and let’s be real, love, I hardly know what I like, so I feel like with you there…”

HuaiSang trailed off, but Wei Ying didn’t say anything, waiting for him to find the words on his own. HuaiSang groaned. “I just. With you there I’d be more comfortable. Feel safe…”

Wei Ying rubbed his face. “Baby, why are you in Qinghe?” he lamented dramatically. “Have your brother bring you home right now.”

“W-Wei Ying,” HuaiSang hissed, his voice even quieter now. Wei Ying wondered where he was and why he felt the need to whisper, and if he felt the need to whisper why he bothered calling. “No way, I want to spend time with da-ge.”

“Why did you tell me this today, then?” Wei Ying flopped on his back across the length of the couch. He couldn’t get the image out of his head—the three of them together, Lan Zhan over HuaiSang and Wei Ying sticking at their sides, telling Lan Zhan how HuaiSang liked it, coaching the two of them until HuaiSang was crying and coming and— “You love torturing me.”

“I do not, love, don’t say that.”

“I know. Sorry.”

“I wanted.” HuaiSang paused again. “Babe, will you bring it up to him? I feel...I just think, y’know, that maybe if you’re the one who mentions it he’ll feel less pressure.”

“HuaiSang, I assure you he’ll be on board.”

Another pause. “Will you do it for me anyway, A-Ying?” Beneath his cutesy whining was real anxiety. Wei Ying closed his eyes.

“Fuck,” he sighed. “I mean yes, of course, I’ll talk to him, but god. Now whenever we fuck all week we’ll both just be thinking about how you could totally be there.”

“I’m not opposed to that.”

Wei Ying laughed. “Hey, send us some nudes.”

“No!”

“Oh, like you’ve never done it before. Your nudes are always so pretty, A-Sang.”

“I will not take tasteful nudes in my brother’s house, in his guest bedroom,” HuaiSang insisted, though he didn’t sound too convinced himself. Wei Ying grinned.

“Take them on the balcony, then.”

“A-Ying!”

Wei Ying laughed again and flipped over, propping himself up on his elbows. “We’re thinking of you, baby,” he told his boyfriend softly. “And not just in regards to sex. We’re always thinking of you.”

“You are gonna make me tear up,” HuaiSang accused, his voice quiet and intimate again. “Oh, love, I’m thinking of you too.”

“Tell your stupidly adoring brother to bring you back soon.”

“No promises—I think he’s actually planning to show me apartments in Qinghe. Does he really think I’m going to move out here in my senior year of college? And he knows we’re dating, too.”

“It’s not his fault you were born so needy and cute.”

“Oh, shut it.” HuaiSang sighed. “I have to go. I love you—and I’ll text Lan Zhan, but tell him for me, too, okay?”

“I will, A-Sang. I love you, too.”

Wei Ying dropped his phone on the floor and buried his head in his hands. “A week,” he groaned.

——

“Sweetheart?”

Wei Ying’s eyes fluttered closed as Lan Zhan’s lips trailed down his neck. One long pretty finger came to tug the collar of his shirt down so Lan Zhan had access to his collarbone. Wei Ying lost his sentence as he tried to locate his lungs.

“Uh.” The morning sun was too bright and Lan Zhan was too warm and Wei Ying knew there was something he hadn’t gotten around to telling him last night but didn’t know what. HuaiSang? HuaiSang. He plastered his boyfriend’s sweet face in his mind and forced his eyes open as Lan Zhan nosed at his chest and hitched his shirt up. Wei Ying shivered at Lan Zhan’s hands on his bare skin. “Wait, hold on.”

Lan Zhan stilled immediately and Wei Ying pushed himself out of his partner’s lap—when had he moved to his lap? Curse his stupid horny body. He shook his head and gave Lan Zhan a reassuring smile. “Sorry, darling, I just have another message from HuaiSang.”

“You didn’t tell me last night?” Lan Zhan asked, his voice confused.

“Lan Zhan, you put my dick in your mouth the second you got home, I was distracted.”

“Can’t he just text me?”

“Ah, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying sing-songed fondly. He reached to cup his face. “Some things are too delicate for text messages.”

“What is it?” Lan Zhan shifted and tugged on Wei Ying, pulling him back into his lap but in a much less provocative position.

“Before you get all pissed off at me,” Wei Ying started, folding his hands together, “HuaiSang asked me to tell you this.”

Lan Zhan nodded, his brows creased in concern. Wei Ying smiled at him.

“He said you guys still haven’t gotten sexual, right?”

“Mn.”

“He said he wants to.”

Lan Zhan averted his eyes and Wei Ying couldn’t help but reach up to tweak one of his reddening ears. “Mn,” Lan Zhan managed again.

“He said he wants it to be all three of us, though,” Wei Ying continued more carefully. “He wants me there the first time you two do it. What do you think?”

Lan Zhan met his eyes again. “That sounds like a good idea,” he finally replied. He paused for a moment. “He...He’s in Qinghe for a week?”

Wei Ying laughed. “That’s what I said! I couldn’t believe he would drop that on me at the beginning of a week away.” He shifted in Lan Zhan’s lap, straddling him again. “All yesterday evening I was thinking about it, watching you two, telling you how he likes it…”

Lan Zhan made a strained sound, and Wei Ying smirked as he felt shifting under him. “Show me,” Lan Zhan breathed, and Wei Ying had to physically hold back a moan. “Show me how he li—“

Wei Ying cut him off with a rough kiss and Lan Zhan responded in tandem. He pushed Wei Ying onto his back and positioned himself over him, pressing their hips together. Wei Ying smirked and hooked a leg around Lan Zhan’s waist to hold him close.

“Oh, I’ll show you how he likes it,” he muttered. “Best I can at least. Fair warning that I mean it when I say he’s spoiled.”

“I will give him exactly whatever he wants,” Lan Zhan said very seriously, his eyes intense. Wei Ying flushed and bit his lip. What a line! He’d have to tell him to use that on HuaiSang, it would be very effective.

“And what about me?”

“I already give you exactly whatever you want.”

“Well, not all the time.”

Lan Zhan sighed and started pressing kisses to his neck again. “You do not always ask for reasonable things.”

“What! When have I ever asked for anything unreasonable? Name one time!”

“When you asked to fuck nonstop this whole week.”

Wei Ying felt a thrill travel down his spine. God, that word sounded good coming from his mouth. “Well that one was a joke, clearly,” he sighed. “If we fuck nonstop for the whole week, we won’t have any energy left for HuaiSang.”

Lan Zhan paused at the reminder and lifted his head to look at Wei Ying. “Show me,” he asked again. “Teach me.”

Wei Ying smiled brilliantly at him. “Of course, sweetheart. We are going to need a lot of lube.”

——

“How’s that, A-Sang?”

HuaiSang had his face covered with his hands. He was laid out on the bed with Lan Zhan between his legs. Wei Ying knelt beside them, and the two of them both had a finger each pressed inside HuaiSang’s body, holding still for now.

“A-Sang?” Wei Ying asked again. His heart sounded very loud in his ears. He smoothed his free hand along HuaiSang’s leg, feeling it tremble under his touch. “Talk to us, baby.”

HuaiSang huffed, dropping his hands. “God,” he whined. “Are you going to make me—yes, i-it’s fine, it’s good…” He covered his face again. “Go, go…”

Wei Ying smiled a little. “A-Sang, are you embarrassed?”

“Yes,” HuaiSang wailed. “The mortifying ordeal of being Seen is almost as bad as the mortifying ordeal of being Known, y’know…”

“But you’re very nice to look at,” Wei Ying told him softly. He shifted and smoothed his hand up HuaiSang’s abdomen.

“Very pretty,” Lan Zhan agreed quietly. Wei Ying felt Lan Zhan’s finger slide against his where they were pressed together, out and slowly back in. HuaiSang made a sound and rubbed his face.

“Nothing to be mortified about,” Wei Ying assured him. He moved his finger once Lan Zhan’s was all the way back in, slowly. HuaiSang could take it perfectly fine, but this was more about his brain than his body.

HuaiSang let out a shaky breath. “I love you both so much,” he whispered in a rush. His voice broke at the end and Wei Ying squeezed his side.

“Baby, tell us if you wanna stop.”

“I don’t, I’m just overwhelmed.” HuaiSang groaned. Wei Ying moved his finger again, slowly in and out, and when he was done Lan Zhan picked up. They started to alternate like that, and Wei Ying leaned forward to touch HuaiSang’s elbow.

“A-Sang, don’t cover your face.”

HuaiSang moaned but moved his hands to where they only obscured his mouth. His cheeks were deep crimson and his eyes were wet and red-rimmed. Wei Ying caught his eye and smiled at him. “What do you want, baby?”

Wei Ying slipped another finger in easily and HuaiSang covered his eyes again. “God, I want Lan Zhan to fuck me…”

“He’s not going to say no.” Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan, who was enthralled by HuaiSang and by the conversation taking place as though he wasn’t right there with them, his fingers buried in HuaiSang’s ass. Wei Ying did his best to stifle a chuckle. He pulled his fingers from HuaiSang’s body and Lan Zhan slipped in two more of his own to make up for it. Wei Ying crept up to lounge beside HuaiSang’s head.

“He wants you, baby,” he whispered, brushing HuaiSang’s hair from his face. “Don’t you, Lan Zhan?”

“Yes.” Lan Zhan was doing a fantastic job of keeping his calm composure, his movements measured and his free hand rubbing circles into HuaiSang’s thigh. But his voice seemed to be much harder for him to keep a leash on, and it came out low and breathless. HuaiSang shuddered.

“All you need to do is ask.” He gently pulled HuaiSang’s hands away from his face, lacing their fingers together and holding them still. He kissed his boyfriend’s cheek. “So ask him.”

“Wei Ying, I’m gonna kill you,” HuaiSang gasped. Lan Zhan did Something, Wei Ying would kill to know What, and HuaiSang nearly keened. “Oh, fuck. Lan Zhan, please, if you wouldn’t mind, I mean if it’s not too much troub—“

“The point,” Lan Zhan interrupted him, and Wei Ying bit his tongue hard to hold in a laugh. HuaiSang huffed.

“Fuck me,” he panted. “Would you, uh, please?”

Wei Ying smiled and turned his gaze to Lan Zhan. He met Wei Ying’s eyes for a moment before fumbling with the bottle of lube with one hand. Wei Ying smiled and kissed HuaiSang’s temple. “Ready?”

“Yes.” HuaiSang glared at him a little and rolled his eyes. “You love torturing me,” he muttered and squeezed both of Wei Ying’s hands. Wei Ying chuckled.

“No I don’t. I love making sure you’re telling us what you want.”

“I hate you.” HuaiSang pouted. “No I don’t, sorry.”

“I know you don’t.” Wei Ying kissed his cheek a couple dozen times as Lan Zhan finally finished getting ready. He released HuaiSang’s hands and retreated a bit to the side.

“Where are you going?” HuaiSang asked.

“Giving you the space you need,” Wei Ying replied, settling down with one hand casually brushing his cock. “Get to it, then. You know how he likes it, Lan Zhan.”

Lan Zhan’s iconic ear blush had crept to his cheeks. With Wei Ying out of frame, he and HuaiSang spent a moment staring at each other and blushing.

“Gently,” HuaiSang squeaked. He reached up, and Lan Zhan leaned down to let his fingers brush his face. “That’s how I like it.”

Lan Zhan glanced down, and HuaiSang pulled in a long, slow breath as he pushed into him carefully. He looked back up when he’d bottomed out.

“I like gently,” Lan Zhan murmured. “Can I move, my love?”

That killed Wei Ying. He actually covered his mouth, his eyes moving to HuaiSang to watch him short-circuit under the influence of Lan Zhan’s full affections.

“Mhm,” HuaiSang forced out. Lan Zhan started a slow rhythm, one hand braced on the bed and the other holding one of HuaiSang’s legs where he wanted it. Wei Ying watched them, his hand stroking his dick absently. HuaiSang’s hands stayed away from his face, clutching Lan Zhan’s arms and the bedspread as he was fucked into slowly but steadily. Their breaths turned into moans and Wei Ying bit his lip, his cock twitching.

“A-Ying,” HuaiSang breathed. His short nails left a series of light scratches on Lan Zhan’s arm.

Wei Ying blinked. “Huh?” He’d been in spectator mode, and struggled to insert himself into the scene again.

“How is it?”

Wei Ying shook his head and shifted, kneeling on the bed again. He chuckled. “Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

HuaiSang didn’t respond, his head tilting back against the bed. Lan Zhan leaned forward to bury his face in HuaiSang’s neck.

Wei Ying made an unconscious noise from the back of his throat. His hand twisted on his cock and he shuddered. Lan Zhan’s pace increased just a bit.

HuaiSang’s hands came to push at Lan Zhan’s shoulders. “Wait.”

Lan Zhan stopped immediately and slowly lifted his face. “Pull out?” HuaiSang requested, and Lan Zhan obliged without question.

“What’s wrong, A-Sang?” Wei Ying asked softly, moving towards them again. HuaiSang scrambled over to Wei Ying and threw his arms around him, kissing him messily. Wei Ying kissed him back, confused but willing, and HuaiSang’s hand came up behind his head and yanked at the scrunchie in his hair.

“Ow!” Wei Ying broke away with a laugh.

“Sorry, babe,” HuaiSang stressed. Wei Ying gave him a reassuring smile and pulled the scrunchie out. He handed it to HuaiSang, who reached back to put his own hair up. He glanced over his shoulder at Lan Zhan.

“Now I want it rough.”

He leaned forward on his hands and knees and took Wei Ying’s dick in his mouth. Wei Ying made a surprised sound. “Baby,” he breathed, his fingers tracing his temple. HuaiSang’s lips and tongue slid over his pre-slicked cock and Wei Ying bit his lip on a deep groan.

Lan Zhan came up behind HuaiSang slowly. He slid one hand up along his spine and HuaiSang shivered. He let Wei Ying’s dick fall from his mouth. “Please, Lan Zhan,” he whined. Lan Zhan lined himself up and pushed in carefully from behind. HuaiSang moaned and Wei Ying cupped his face, watching him and swiping his thumb through a trail of something near his mouth.

“A-Sang.”

HuaiSang ducked his head to suck his dick again. Wei Ying’s eyes fell closed. He kept a hand on HuaiSang’s shoulder and lost himself in the slide and warmth of his mouth, the rocking of his body with Lan Zhan’s quickening thrusts.

“Oh, god,” Wei Ying groaned. He moved his hand to HuaiSang’s hair, tugging lightly at his ponytail. “Baby, does that feel good?”

HuaiSang gave one of those incomprehensible, “I’ve got a cock in my mouth, right now,” responses, but it sure sounded good. Lan Zhan gripped HuaiSang’s hips and tugged him into his thrusts. Wei Ying threw his head back.

“A-Sang, A-Sang.” He let out a noisy breath. “I’m going to lose it.”

HuaiSang made another just lovely string of sounds before pulling off quite a bit. “Fuck,” Wei Ying gasped as he sucked at the tip. “Babe, off.”

HuaiSang lifted his face and Wei Ying took his dick in his hand as he shot over his face. His shoulders shook and he noticed that Lan Zhan had stilled to near nothing in the midst of this.

“Ah.” He shook his hair from his face. “Sorry, you two.”

“Don’t be.” Lan Zhan wrapped an arm around HuaiSang’s waist as he started thrusting again. HuaiSang smirked at Wei Ying and laid his head in his lap.

“I think I come harder with jizz on my face, actually,” he whispered, and Wei Ying flushed with heat anew. Then HuaiSang’s eyes went unfocused as Lan Zhan pushed into him hard and quick. Wei Ying held onto him.

“How’s that?” he whispered.

“Good,” HuaiSang gasped. Wei Ying smirked and looked up at Lan Zhan, who met his eyes. Wei Ying held out a hand, and Lan Zhan placed one of his into it. He led him to the base of HuaiSang’s ponytail. Lan Zhan curled his fingers into his hair and gave an experimental yank.

HuaiSang cried out loudly and shuddered. “Lan Zhan,” he wailed. He clutched at Wei Ying in front of him. “Do that again.”

Lan Zhan’s breath caught and he adjusted his hips before giving HuaiSang’s ponytail a long, steady pull. HuaiSang’s head tilted back to follow and he babbled something absolutely incomprehensible. Wei Ying put a hand under his chin and kissed his cheek.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying whispered, looking up. Lan Zhan seemed to struggle to focus as he turned his gaze over to him. Wei Ying made a jacking off gesture and mouthed “He’s close,” before pointing at HuaiSang.

Lan Zhan managed a nod and he slipped his hand around to haphazardly stroke HuaiSang’s cock. The man between them blubbered. “Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, sweetheart, sweet thing, I’m gonna come, I’m gonna come, I’m gonna come…”

Lan Zhan made a deep sound and pressed his forehead to HuaiSang’s back. He gave his ponytail one last tug before letting it go. “Come, A-Sang,” he murmured.

HuaiSang’s shaking hands curled into fists against Wei Ying’s thighs, his nails scratching at the soft skin, and Wei Ying squeezed his shoulders as he shuddered and sobbed and finally came, shooting over the bed beneath him.

Wei Ying smiled and ran his fingers soothingly over HuaiSang’s shoulders. “So hot to watch you lose it and come,” he whispered. HuaiSang appeared to not hear him, still shaking and panting.

Lan Zhan pulled out and bent over HuaiSang’s slumped form. His hand moved and twisted over his cock a few times before he tensed and released. He splattered HuaiSang’s back with thick white, and Wei Ying felt another light thrill vibrate through HuaiSang at the feeling of the warm spunk.

For a long second everyone just breathed. They did it. They did the thing that they all privately worried they’d never really do, and it had gone well. They luxuriated in it for a moment before Wei Ying slid his arms around HuaiSang.

“A-Sang,” he breathed fondly, trying to drag him into his lap. “Oh, baby, how was it?”

“I love you,” was the only response HuaiSang gave, burying his face in Wei Ying’s neck. Wei Ying grinned and met Lan Zhan’s eyes. Their partner was disheveled - as absolutely wrecked as Wei Ying had ever seen him - but he was smiling.

“What about Lan Zhan?”

“Of course I love him too.” HuaiSang tried weakly to lift an arm towards Lan Zhan, but it flopped back against his body. Wei Ying shook with silent laughter as Lan Zhan scooted a bit closer. He kissed HuaiSang’s shoulder, then lifted his face to kiss Wei Ying. Their lips moved slowly and sleepily together for a few moments before they parted.

“I’ll draw a bath for you,” Lan Zhan told HuaiSang softly. Wei Ying nodded approvingly as Lan Zhan stood and staggered out to the bathroom. HuaiSang sighed against his skin.

“He’s too good to us,” he muttered. Wei Ying pressed a kiss to his forehead.

“Not too good. Just good.”

HuaiSang hummed noncommittally. Wei Ying shifted to lean back against the pillows, taking HuaiSang with him.

“So what did you bring us from Qinghe?”

“Excuse you. I brought me from Qinghe, you’re welcome.”

Wei Ying laughed. “Then this is the best souvenir ever.”

HuaiSang huffed. “I brought you those honey blueberry candies,” he muttered in defeat. Wei Ying kissed his head again.

“I’ve got my fill of sweets right here, A-Sang.”

——

The new sink was so cool. Doing the dishes became sort of a problem for Wei Ying, because the new kitchen sink was just so. Cool. He stared at the stream of water, tapping the faucet every few seconds to watch the pressure change. With just a touch! This apartment was too fancy for him.

“Babe, you’re wasting water.”

Wei Ying jumped and grabbed a plate, slapping the sponge against it aimlessly. “No, no I’m not, I’m doing the dishes.”

HuaiSang laughed and came up beside him. “A-Ying, it’s been almost a month. You’re still obsessed with that thing?” He raised an eyebrow at him. “Well, I can see it. After all, it does have...multiple settings.”

Wei Ying smirked at his tone and turned to him. “Nie HuaiSang. Are you suggesting we use our brand new sink for—“

The front door opened and closed and Wei Ying cut himself off, both of them flushing scarlet. Even though it was a joke, he was sure Lan Zhan would not be amused by talk of doing something like that in his immaculate kitchen.

“Hello, sweetheart,” HuaiSang called sweetly as Lan Zhan approached the kitchen table to set down his things. “How was your day?”

Lan Zhan looked over at the two of them. “Good,” he responded, a beat too late. Wei Ying and HuaiSang shared a glance.

Wei Ying turned off the sink and dried his hands on a kitchen towel. “Is something wrong, Lan Zhan?” he asked gently.

Lan Zhan turned to face them fully but kept his eyes averted. Wei Ying noted his red ears, his tense shoulders. Could something have happened? They were nearly a month into the new semester; surely if any of his lecturers were proving a problem, it would have been apparent earlier.

“What.” Lan Zhan paused and cleared his throat, moving his gaze from the floor to the ceiling. “What would happen. If I had a crush.”

There was a brief silence. Wei Ying had not been expecting that. He blinked, then felt a grin spreading over his face. “Lan Zhan,” he chuckled. HuaiSang took Wei Ying’s hand, his eyes bright.

Their partner finally looked at them properly, his expression guilty and anxious, and Wei Ying hurried to reassure him. “Oh, love, come over here,” he said, holding his other hand out. Lan Zhan approached slowly.

“Nobody’s mad?”

“Mad?” HuaiSang glanced at Wei Ying and laughed. “No, sweetheart, no!”

“Tell us about them!” Wei Ying insisted as Lan Zhan laced their fingers together.

“Where did you meet?” HuaiSang asked. “What’re they like?”

Lan Zhan let out a long breath, smiling a bit at the two of them. “His name is Wen Ning.”

Chapter Text

Wen Ning’s fingers flexed against the hair tie he held as he watched the door to the classroom. The blacktop of the lab table was cold even through the layer of his sleeve, but it was sufficiently combated by the thudding of his heart and rush of blood in his veins. He twisted the hair tie around his fingers as he watched people file into the room, many already drooping in exhaustion by this point in the afternoon. He lifted his hands and gathered his hair away from his face, fastening it in a low ponytail just as a figure in pale blue slipped into the room. He smiled.

“Hi, Lan Zhan,” he greeted him as soon as he was close enough. Lan Zhan gave him a small nod as he took the seat next to him.

“Good afternoon.”

That was Lan Zhan’s signature greeting. Wen Ning liked it. It was weirdly formal, but in an endearing way. He pulled his phone from his pocket.

“Last weekend we got some new wards at the shelter downtown,” he started, forcing his voice to remain calm instead of just bursting out of him. He opened his camera roll and grinned. “I knew I had to take pictures for you.”

Lan Zhan leaned over a bit, a clear glint of interest in his eye, and Wen Ning shifted to show him his phone. “Look at these little guys,” he whispered, scrolling through pictures of a whole litter of baby bunnies someone had dumped at the shelter. “They’re only barely two weeks old, and look how fluffy…”

“Very cute,” Lan Zhan replied quietly from quite close. Wen Ning flushed and straightened back into his own seat.

“A-Anyway, I just thought you might like to see,” he stammered, setting his phone aside. He glanced over to see Lan Zhan was on his own phone, scrolling. He hoped he hadn’t bored him. He’d noticed the rabbit pin on his bag and the rabbit charm hanging from his keys and made the connection, but maybe it was weird?

His worrying was interrupted by Lan Zhan leaning towards him and showing him something on his phone. Wen Ning peered at it curiously. It was a photo of a pretty young man around their age sitting in what appeared to be a petting zoo with five rabbits in his lap and tears in his eyes. Wen Ning let out a laugh.

“Adorable. I didn’t know there was anything like that around here.”

“Part of a festival this summer,” Lan Zhan explained. He scrolled over to another photo of the same man throwing feed to a group of chickens. The next photo was of the chickens rushing at the man as he backed off in shock, and Wen Ning laughed.

“Chickens are horrifying,” he chuckled. “So much meaner than it seems like they should be!”

“Mn.” Lan Zhan tucked his phone away, a small smile on his lips, and Wen Ning let his gaze linger on it as the TA started the lab.

——

Wen Ning’s sister was a loving and protective sort, but she was also an older sibling. This, of course, meant she took no greater pleasure in life than from teasing him.

“You’ve got that look on your face again,” she crooned from her sprawl on the couch, this time without even bothering to look up. She greeted him this way every Thursday and had done so since about the third week of the semester.

Wen Ning dropped his bag on the living room floor harder than necessary. “Actually, he wasn’t there today,” he lied smoothly. Lan Zhan had, of course, never been absent from their lab hour. Wen Ning sort of doubted he’d ever missed a class at all.

Wen Qing scoffed at him and finally deigned to look up. “Doesn’t mean you’re not thinking about him.”

“A-Jie,” he grumbled, stalking towards the kitchen. He pulled the tie from his hair and redid the ponytail slightly higher and tighter before he opened the fridge and started rooting through for dinner things. He didn’t exactly regret telling his sister about his little crush on his lab partner, but he did sometimes wish she didn’t swing the information in his face so much. He threw radish and mushrooms and onion on the counter and went to the pantry for anchovies.

“What’s for dinner?” Wen Qing’s voice floated after him as he washed his hands. She appeared in the kitchen doorway a minute later.

“Soup,” he answered curtly, still sullen and not about to just give up on his mood. She sauntered up as he began beheading anchovies, and hopped up to sit on the counter by his little work station.

“A-Jie!” he wailed, scrabbling to pull his ingredient away. “Don’t sit on the counter!”

“Why not?” she simpered, smirking at him.

“It’s unhygienic!”

She scoffed. “This counter has seen worse than my ass, A-Ning.”

“A-Jie,” he huffed, horrified, before moving his things a good foot down the counter and continuing his preparations. She laughed at him and he scowled halfheartedly back.

“Well, if you don’t have anything to talk about, I do.” She sighed, kicking her legs. “As you know, taking over that old idiot’s practice has been a daily chore, but I’m really starting to consider wiping out the staff I kept on and replacing them all with people who’ve never worked in a doctor’s office before. Seriously, they’re all so condescending—especially those jackasses at the front desk, and it’s like, what do you know? The amount of times in a day they think it’s necessary to remind me of trivial shit that’s noted on the front page of the chart, I swear…”

Wen Ning listened to the rise and fall of her voice as he chopped vegetables and felt himself relaxing. His sister could certainly rile him up, but she was also his best friend. No one was as good at making him feel comfortable and calm as she was.

No one yet.

——

Wen Ning was surprised the next week when he entered the classroom and Lan Zhan was already seated at their table, folding the ends of his sleeves back and forth. He perked up visibly when Wen Ning entered the room, something that didn’t escape his notice and made him smile a little.

“Hi, Lan Zhan.”

“Good afternoon.”

Wen Ning grinned at that and plopped into his seat, dropping his bag to the floor. “You’re here early.”

“My last class let out early.” He picked up his phone, which had been resting on the blacktop. “I wanted to show you something.”

Wen Ning’s cheeks heated. He hoped this would be their new routine; showing each other something of interest when they got to lab. He perched on his chair and waited for Lan Zhan to unlock his phone and show him.

“Oh!” he gasped when Lan Zhan turned the screen to him. “Is that at the new place that opened nearby?”

“Mn.” Lan Zhan scrolled through a few photos of colorful birds at the bird cafe that had become all the rage in the past couple of weeks. He came to one of the same man from the pictures Lan Zhan had shown him last week, sitting with about six birds perched on him and looking about ready to ascend. Wen Ning laughed.

“Who is that? He must love birds.”

“He does.” Lan Zhan’s eyes slid to Wen Ning, careful, watchful. “He’s my boyfriend.”

Wen Ning blinked. Oh. “Has he thought about getting a pet bird?” he heard himself saying pleasantly. “They’re a super long-term commitment, though.”

“Our apartment doesn’t allow pets of any kind.”

“Ah.”

Lan Zhan swiped to the next photo. “This is my other boyfriend,” he told Wen Ning, keeping his voice soft. Wen Ning took in the dazzling smile and the wild, dark hair full of birds trying to nest. Of course. He really shouldn’t be surprised that a man as fantastic as Lan Zhan should have not one, but two extremely pretty boyfriends.

“The birds sure like him,” he managed, forcing a smile as he met Lan Zhan’s eyes. Lan Zhan’s calculating gaze softened a bit and he nodded, breaking the eye contact.

“Yes.” He shifted and swiped through a few more pictures quickly. “I liked the owls best.”

Wen Ning nodded, still in the middle of processing. Luckily, the TA had some announcements before they started, so the two leaned away from each other. Wen Ning pulled his things from his bag and listened to the TA drone on in the background as his brain continued to whir and bluescreen.

——

It was his fault, really, for letting himself get all mushy over a guy he had no solid reason to believe was single. Sure, Lan Zhan hadn’t mentioned his boyfriends, so he couldn’t have known for sure, but did he really seem like the kind of guy to buy himself a cutesy bunny charm for his keys or a rabbit pin for his bag? His phone case was solid black, for crying out loud. Clearly they came from someone else, and someone he cared enough about to make him actually use them. Two someones, apparently.

There was a knock at his bedroom door and Wen Ning groaned, pulling the blanket up over his head. His sister opened the door. “Hey. Get out of bed.”

“Why?” he whined back, and she picked up one of his shoes and threw it at him.

“Don’t think you can slip past me just because it’s Saturday.” He could picture her pointing a finger at the lump he made on the bed. “I know you have shifts at both shelters today. Whether or not you should jam your schedule full like this is another argument, but I’m not gonna let you dip out on a bunch of sad dogs who are depending on you.”

She had a point. He shifted and crawled out from under his blanket, dragging himself upright when he hit the floor.

“Eurgh.” He watched Wen Qing shudder lightly as he approached her. “You look like a zombie.” She reached out and combed his hair out with her fingers, dispersing the static electricity and making it lay flat. “Look, there’s breakfast on the table, alright? So go eat something and drink a nice tall glass of water and play with sick, elderly dogs and maybe you’ll get over this guy, okay?”

“Nothing you cooked will make me feel better,” he grumbled, then ducked out of the way when she tried to smack at him. Luckily, what she really meant was ‘I microwaved leftovers and put some in a bowl for you,’ so he plopped himself down at the table and poked his food around with his chopsticks.

“It’s not your fault the guy never mentioned his boyfriend before,” she went on, going into the kitchen to clean what dishes she’d managed to dirty that morning. Her chatter seemed more absent now; some kind of distraction for both of them. “Who does that? If I had a girl, she’d be the only thing I could talk about. Imagine sitting next to a guy for two months and not mentioning your significant other once.”

“To be fair, he doesn’t talk that much,” Wen Ning piped up. He didn’t like his sister’s immediate negative reaction; again, he didn’t regret telling her, but there were things he wished she wasn’t saying. He didn’t think Lan Zhan was a bad guy. His own disappointment was no one’s fault but his own.

He had avoided mentioning the apparent polyamory to Wen Qing. He didn’t really know why. He supposed he thought she would use it as another thing to complain about Lan Zhan over, and to be honest, he felt like if she knew, she’d be making annoying comments about it. It wasn’t something he wanted to hear, so he was glad he’d kept that part to himself.

“Still,” Wen Qing went on as she scrubbed a plate, “the way you talk about him it sure seemed like he was sort of flirting with you. What kind of douche does that when he’s taken?”

Wen Ning rubbed his eyes. “A-Jie, can we just let it drop?”

She paused, gave him a look, and then continued washing the dishes, grumbling more to herself but quietly enough that Wen Ning could pretend not to hear it. He ate quickly and dropped his bowl in the sink before going to his room to change. He loved his sister, but honestly, the sooner he got away from her negativity, the better he would feel.

——

Because honestly, he wasn’t upset with Lan Zhan.

He wasn’t sure why he should be? It literally wasn’t something to be mad about. Again, Lan Zhan didn’t speak all that much, and Wen Ning couldn’t really remember him ever saying anything about his personal life. He knew he was in pre-law, and that was about it. Even the interest in rabbits had been something Wen Ning had assumed based on a couple of clues, and he wasn’t convinced he was even right about it.

He wasn’t mad at Lan Zhan—he was pissed at himself for being unable to erase his soft, glowy feelings even though he knew the guy was spoken for twice over.

But lo and behold, in lab again the next week, no memories of laughing young men surrounded by birds could stop Wen Ning’s stupid smile when Lan Zhan strode through the classroom and took that seat right by his side.

“Hi, Lan Zhan.”

“Good afternoon.”

Wen Ning smiled into his hand and looked down at the lab sheet. See? Just like normal.

——

“Wen Ning?”

Wen Ning jumped a teeny bit and looked around. There. Standing by his table in the crowded cafeteria, looking surprised in his own subtle way, was Lan Zhan.

“Ah, hello, Lan Zhan.” Wen Ning smiled and wiped his mouth with a napkin. His heart was in his throat. He wasn’t used to seeing Lan Zhan more than once a week, let alone two days in a row. “Would you like to sit down?”

Lan Zhan seemed to hesitate a moment. Wen Ning watched him glance over his shoulder before turning back and nodding and taking the seat across from him. Wen Ning grinned.

“I’m surprised, I never see you around the cafeterias. I sort of assumed you never ate on campus,” he chuckled.

Lan Zhan hummed. “We usually don’t.”

W. We. Wen Ning blinked as it clicked into place. “Oh, I’m sorr—“

“Lan Zhan, ah, I wasn’t sure you’d be able to find a table, it’s so crowded.”

Wen Ning watched curiously as a man in dark clothes plopped himself into the seat beside Lan Zhan, grinning brightly. His eyes fell on Wen Ning and he leaned forward eagerly. “A friend of yours, Lan Zhan?”

Lan Zhan gave him a withering look. Wen Ning recognized him, of course—the man with the birds nesting in his hair, one of Lan Zhan’s boyfriends.

“Wen Ning,” Lan Zhan said politely, “this is Wei Ying.”

“Oh, so you’re Wen Ning!” Wei Ying exclaimed, his eyes dancing with excitement. “Lan Zhan talks about you all the time y’kn—“

“Babe,” a third voice complained. Wen Ning turned his attention to the pretty man sliding into the seat on Lan Zhan’s other side. The man with the bunnies. The other of Lan Zhan’s boyfriends. “You left me,” he continued, pouting at Wei Ying in a manner that Wen Ning thought was utterly cruel and unfair.

Wei Ying looked genuinely guilty. “Ah, sorry, A-Sang, I got excited.”

“This is Nie HuaiSang,” Lan Zhan introduced. Nie HuaiSang gave Wen Ning a quick smile and then turned his attention to his food, pushing it around and poking at it.

“So, Wen Ning,” Wei Ying started, picking up a shaker of chili flakes from the end of the table and absolutely covering his meal. “Lan Zhan says you’re on a pre-veterinary track?”

“Yes.” Wen Ning smiled at him. “We share a lab hour for one of the upper-level biology courses.”

“Bio 3045, right?” Wei Ying took a bite, and Wen Ning waited in vain for his reaction to the spice. “I’ve already taken that class, so I help Lan Zhan study all the time. Oh, if you have time, we could form a little study group!”

“Wen Ning’s schedule is very busy,” Lan Zhan said pointedly, and Wei Ying paused to swallow before shooting him a sheepish smile. Wen Ning jumped in.

“No, I would love some help studying,” he rushed to say. “Admittedly, I don’t have a lot of time, but anything’s better than half-assed googling in the back of the animal shelter, right?”

“Right!” Wei Ying grinned and took another bite.

“A-Ying,” Nie HuaiSang called from down the table, “this has shrimps in it.” He put on another one of those borderline illegal pouts. “Will you take them?”

Wen Ning glanced back in time to watch Wei Ying melt. “Of course.” He patted the empty seat on his other side. “Come here.”

As Nie HuaiSang collected his things to switch seats, Lan Zhan shifted a bit. Wen Ning noticed he hadn’t touched his food at all. “If you do want to study together, we could try to arrange it before midterms,” he said to Wen Ning.

Wen Ning nodded. “Yeah, that would be really helpful. Um…” He pulled his phone out, searching for the pictures he’d snapped of his shelter schedules. “I volunteer all weekend, starting tomorrow, but I think I’m off by Sunday evening, or we could do next week sometime, maybe, unless your class has the midterm next week?”

Lan Zhan shook his head, then paused to think. “If you have the time Sunday evening, you and I could study together.” He met Wen Ning’s eyes. “Wei Ying can study with us during the week, perhaps?”

Something about that, the laying out of events in such a way, made Wen Ning flush. “Th-that would work.”

“It would be best if we could contact each other,” Lan Zhan commented. He pulled out his phone, opened it to the screen to draft a new text, and handed it to Wen Ning. “This way we’ll both have each other’s numbers.”

“Good idea.” Wen Ning ducked his head and input his number before typing out a quick message. Wen Ning - Lan Zhan. He only had to correct six typos. “I promise not to annoy you too much,” he chuckled as he hit send and passed Lan Zhan his phone back. The other man was leaning over the table, and he lifted his light eyes to meet Wen Ning’s gaze.

“You could never.”

Wen Ning flushed and glanced guiltily at Lan Zhan’s BOYFRIENDS sitting at the table with them. They seemed content to mind their business, and Wei Ying currently had his chopsticks in Nie HuaiSang’s mouth. Wen Ning shifted.

“I-I should probably get to class,” he lied, unsure if he could handle much more of Lan Zhan’s intense focus or his boyfriends’ vicarious domesticity. He gave them all an apologetic grimace. “Sorry, you all just sat down…”

“Don’t be sorry!” Wei Ying smiled at him. “It was wonderful to meet you, Wen Ning, I hope we will see you again soon.”

“Yes, we should all hang out sometime,” Nie HuaiSang added brightly.

Wen Ning nodded at them and looked back at Lan Zhan as he collected his dishes. “See you Sunday, then?”

“Sunday.”

Wen Ning turned and retreated quickly, dumping his dishes in their wash bins and pushing out into the warm autumn day. He slowed to a stop one building over and pulled out his phone, staring at the notification.

Wen Ning - Lan Zhan.

He pressed his phone to his forehead and kicked himself for feeling warm and fluttery.

——

“Tell me again who you’re meeting?”

Wen Ning pulled his bag over his shoulder and turned to look at MianMian, who had her head down on the front desk. He sighed and tried to think past the barking dogs in the background. He closed his eyes. “I’m meeting with my lab partner, who has two boyfriends, who my sister thinks is flirting with me, to study for our midterms.”

“Okay, yeah.”

“I already said that.”

“I know, six times, I just wasn’t sure I heard you right.”

Wen Ning let out another heavy breath and MianMian finally lifted her head. She gave him her fakest smile yet—and she gave a lot of fake smiles. Mostly to men. “Have fun, A-Ning! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t!”

“You wouldn’t go.”

“No, I wouldn’t.”

He shook his head and turned to the door. “Call me if you need me, otherwise see you Tuesday,” he called as he ventured into the cooling evening.

Despite the slight delay, he managed to catch the bus to the edge of campus and made it to the library barely late at all. He caught his breath at the door and pulled out his phone. Lan Zhan said he’d be on the second floor, towards the back away from the stairs. He headed upstairs and caught sight of him immediately, weaving through the tables to plunk himself into the seat across from him.

“Sorry I’m late,” he huffed breathlessly as he pulled his things from his bag. Lan Zhan shook his head.

“Not at all. I hope your shift went well?”

“Yes! Nobody threw up on me, at least, so there’s that, right?” He chuckled a bit. “So. This midterm review sheet…”

“Do we have the same one? If not, I can make copies and we can work through both…”

Wen Ning’s consciousness slipped into the low thrum of Lan Zhan’s voice as they flipped through their textbooks and defined cell metabolism and its importance and its effects on cell reproduction and so on and et cetera. He made haphazard notes on the edges of the sheet and underlined relevant passages. He glanced at Lan Zhan’s sheet once to see neatly written annotations for which pages of the textbook held the information each question asked for. He tried to obscure the mess that was his own review sheet a little better, after that.

Lan Zhan checked his watch as the evening went on and the library became more deserted. Wen Ning finished bracketing a paragraph and underlining keywords, waiting for his verdict.

“We should stop here, I think,” Lan Zhan stated. He flipped his textbook closed. “It’s getting late, and Wei Ying will be upset if we don’t leave anything for him to show off to you about.”

Wen Ning glanced up and felt a slow heat creep into his cheeks. “Alright. I certainly wouldn’t want to disappoint him.”

Lan Zhan hummed, shuffling his items into a neat pile. He paused, and he and Wen Ning stared at each other.

“If you have something to say, you may,” Lan Zhan finally told him, his voice quiet. Wen Ning flushed a deeper red.

“N-No, not...not something to say, nothing like...that.”

“Wen Ning.”

“Ah.” Wen Ning looked at his hands. He watched them as he slowly unscrewed the end of his mechanical pencil. “Well, I just have never met anyone who’s...in a p-poly relationship. As far as I’m aware, y’know…”

“Mn.” Lan Zhan kept his eyes calmly on Wen Ning, and Wen Ning kept his eyes resolutely on his hands.

“I, uh…” He chuckled nervously. “Sorry. I don’t even know what to ask. What’s it like? Sorry, that’s a really broad question…”

“You don’t need to apologize, Wen Ning.” Lan Zhan paused again. Wen Ning watched his fingers screw the end of his pencil back into place. “It’s very nice. I know that’s a vague answer.”

“I asked a vague question.” Wen Ning chuckled again. “Um, if you don’t...How did you all meet? You don’t have to—”

“It is alright. You can ask questions.” Wen Ning glanced up nervously at Lan Zhan, who didn’t seem offended or creeped out. “Wei Ying and HuaiSang already knew each other,” he said. “Before I met Wei Ying, they were already...something.” Wen Ning watched Lan Zhan’s ears tint light pink. “I met Wei Ying in one of my courses this past spring.”

Wen Ning nodded. He was surprised. He’d assumed the relationship somehow revolved around Lan Zhan—probably because Lan Zhan was the one he knew. “But you all - I mean, the three of you…”

“We’re a closed triad,” Lan Zhan rattled off. His fingers shifted to worry at the corner of his textbook cover. “I’m not the best with the terminology; HuaiSang looked it all up and explained it. It wasn’t something any of the three of us had thought about before.”

Wen Ning nodded again. “It seems to suit you,” he commented, hoping it wasn’t somehow out of line.

Lan Zhan smiled minutely at the table, and Wen Ning felt a tight thing in his chest loosen. “I can’t imagine not being with them both,” he managed, somewhat stiltedly, but all the same. “My life and my house would feel emptier without either one of them.”

Wen Ning looked back at the pencil in his hands—which was somehow in pieces again. He swallowed thickly and started putting it back together.

“We’ve spoken about...the potential of adding another person.” Wen Ning didn’t look up, but his breath did catch. “It would be a delicate process. It’s all a learning curve.” He seemed to cut himself off there.

“Of course,” Wen Ning heard himself say. “When it’s a situation still so new to you all.”

“Mn.”

Wen Ning tucked his hair behind his ear with shaking fingers. “Um. I-Is Thursday after lab still a good day to meet with Wei Ying?”

“Yes.”

“Good.” Wen Ning nodded and finally put down his pencil. “Ah, I should get home, my sister worries.” He picked up his bag and started shoving things into it.

“Wen Ning.” He paused to look over at Lan Zhan, who was wearing an expression Wen Ning had never seen on him before. When Lan Zhan met his gaze, his eyes were somehow guilty. “I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”

“You didn’t!” Wen Ning was very lucky the second floor was all but empty by now. “No, no, it’s - it’s interesting. I mean, it’s something I’m interested in. No.” He rubbed his forehead and flushed crimson. “No, I’m sorry, all I mean i-is, I’ve thought about it b-before…” Not better, not better, shut up, Wen Ning!

Lan Zhan fidgeted and bit his lip. “Don’t stress,” he pleaded. “I understand.”

Wen Ning groaned and smacked his notebook to his face. He wasn’t sure if being understood was any better than being misunderstood, at this point.

He heard Lan Zhan chuckle across the table. “Wei Ying will enjoy talking with you very much.” There was something fond and sweet in the timbre and the shape of his words and Wen Ning flushed incredibly redder. He hastily pushed the rest of his things into his bag. He stood, and Lan Zhan did as well.

“Shall we?” Lan Zhan gestured towards the stairs, and Wen Ning realized there was no reason they shouldn’t walk at least out of the library together. He followed along beside him.

“Thank you for meeting with me today,” he stammered as they pushed out onto campus. Wen Ning could feel Lan Zhan looking at him, but was too busy kicking himself to meet his gaze. “Um, I’ll see you Thursday.”

“I look forward to it.”

Oh god, something so simple, and yet… Wen Ning nodded. “Aha.” He nodded again. “Well, get home safe.”

“You as well.”

Wen Ning turned on his heel and speed walked towards the edge of campus. Luckily, there were still several buses scheduled that went by his apartment, and he caught one just a few minutes after reaching the stop. He sat in the back of the bus and stared out at the dark city bumbling past and finally let himself think.

”We’ve spoken about...the potential of adding another person.”

Wen Ning buried his face in his bag. It was ridiculously self-absorbed to think that was a reference to him. If it was in reference to some particular person at all, it was probably someone all three of them knew better and for longer and actually liked. It might not be relevant at the moment anyway; maybe they were only talking about it to figure out what their stance was in some hypothetical future situation that none of them actually envisioned.

”It’s something I’m interested in.”

“Shut up, Wen Ning,” he whispered to himself. But he couldn’t make himself actually feel it.

When he finally got home, his sister was pacing the living room. She rushed at him. “A-Ning,” she gasped. “It’s late, why didn’t you text?”

“A-Jie, I’m fine.” He patted her hand where it rested on his arm. “I told you I would be late.”

“Ten o’clock at night?? Is way later than you implied?? What happened?”

“It’s not yet ten. And we just studied,” he muttered. He brushed past Wen Qing in an attempt to hide the flush rising in his face again, seriously like again?? He wasn’t fast enough.

“‘Just studied,’ yeah okay, I believe you.” She scoffed and followed him to the kitchen where he dug out leftovers from earlier in the week. “Tell me or I’ll hide your jean jacket.”

“A-Jie!” He turned to glare at her. “Don’t threaten me—and don’t touch my stuff. Your attitude doesn’t exactly make me feel all warm and cozy and willing to spill my guts, y’know.”

She was quiet as he banged around in the kitchen and threw his bowl in the microwave. He glowered at it as it spun around, and she finally sighed.

“I don’t know how to deal with the fact that you’re an adult.” She leaned against the counter, keeping her eyes stuck on her brother. “Sorry, I shouldn’t be that way.”

“You shouldn’t.”

“Yeah, I already said that, asshole, let it go.”

Wen Ning huffed out a laugh and turned to look at her. He rubbed his nose as he tried to figure out how to word it, and she waited.

“You really think he might’ve been flirting with me?” he asked hesitantly. “I mean, everything you know about him comes to you through my bias.”

“Do you want a man with a boyfriend to be flirting with you?”

The microwave beeped and Wen Ning turned to retrieve his dish. He kept his back to her. “He’s polyamorous.”

Wen Qing was quiet as he stirred his food around and took a test bite. Still a bit cold. He put it back in the microwave for another thirty seconds.

“Yeah?”

“And his two boyfriends.”

“Two?”

“Don’t be shitty about this.”

“No, I—“ She cut herself off. The microwave beeped again and Wen Ning got his bowl and turned to face her, taking a bite. She sighed. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to get a tone.”

“It’s ‘kay.” He took another bite, and they were quiet for a minute.

“So his boyfriends...have you met them?”

“Very briefly.”

“What do you think of them?”

Wen Ning paused before raising his bowl to try to hide his face as he blushed. “They’re nice…”

“Ohh, are they?”

“One of them is going to help us study this week. He’s already passed the class, so.”

“Only passed, or did he do any good?”

“I have to assume it was alright…”

“Are you comfortable being in that kind of relationship, A-Ning?”

Wen Ning set his bowl down on the counter behind him. If you’d told him two weeks ago that he would be having this conversation with his sister tonight, he would have done everything in his power to stop that from happening. He ran his hands through his hair, absently pulling it back.

“I’ve thought about it before,” he admitted quietly, picking at a loose thread on his sleeve and avoiding her eyes. “Y-Y’know, every situation and relationship will always be different. Whether or not someone will feel comfortable depends more on their partners than anything else, right?”

“Mm,” Wen Qing hummed in what was close enough to agreement for Wen Ning to continue.

“I don’t know how well I’d fit their current dynamic. They’re all nice, from what I can tell, but I wouldn’t want to cause problems.” He stopped himself. He didn’t need to dump all his thoughts on his sister. “A-And anyway, I don’t know he’s interested in me, it would be self-centered to assume he was.”

“No it wouldn’t. If he’s genuinely giving you hints, it would be logical.”

“A-Jie.” He took his bowl to the sink so he could blush at the running water instead of his sister.

“I’m serious. Don’t ignore him coming onto you just because you have low self-esteem.”

“‘Coming onto’ me is a bit strong, I think.”

She sighed behind him. “Well, if you’re really not going to tell me any more, then fine. But please do come to me if you have a problem. A-Ning?”

He swallowed thickly at his sister’s care. “I will.”

He glanced at her and she gave him a tiny, tight smile. “Good night,” she sighed.

He watched her disappear before he continued cleaning the dishes in the sink. The hot water stung his skin and the steam made his cheeks red and clammy, but he was distracted counting down four more days until he’d see Lan Zhan again.

——

“Where is he?” Wen Ning asked as they pushed into the library. Lan Zhan pulled his phone from his pocket and the two stepped to the side to avoid blocking the doors as he searched for the answer to Wen Ning’s question.

“He got a study room,” Lan Zhan sighed. His eyebrows were high and tight. “Third floor.”

“A whole study room?” Wen Ning raised an eyebrow as he followed Lan Zhan to the stairs. “It’s just three of us.”

“Yes.” Lan Zhan thought for a moment as they started their ascent. “In his defense, he is not the best at keeping quiet. A study room keeps him from getting into too much trouble.”

The study rooms were almost entirely glass windows. Wen Ning saw Wei Ying as they approached and could pinpoint the moment he spotted them, as well. He immediately forgot about whatever he had in front of him and straightened in his seat, grinning widely. He gestured at Lan Zhan, somehow managing to get red pen all over his hands as he did so. Wen Ning found he had to bite his lip to keep from returning Wei Ying’s shining, infectious smile.

“Lan Zhan, Wen Ning!” he yelled as soon as they opened the door. “How was lab? How were your days? Tell me all about it!”

“Maybe after we finish studying.” Lan Zhan raised an eyebrow at Wei Ying. Wen Ning watched him visibly pause and then smile sheepishly at Lan Zhan before settling back into his seat, a bit more contained. Wen Ning took the seat across from him.

“How about yourself, Wei Ying? What are you working on?” Wen Ning nodded at the papers in front of Wei Ying who glanced down at them as though just remembering their existence.

“Oh! Just little things for the Chinese language department. They have me grade some freshman-class essays and stuff.” Wei Ying shuffled them all into a haphazard pile - getting more red ink on his hands - and set them aside. “Nothing important, nothing important. So biology! Show me where we left off, let me just…”

Wei Ying rifled through his bag for a moment before frowning to himself. “Y’know, I think I forgot to bring that textbook.”

“Mn.” Wen Ning couldn’t tell if the look Lan Zhan was giving Wei Ying was simply emotionless or purposefully unamused. Wei Ying didn’t even look over to see it, though, choosing instead to direct his sheepish chuckle at Wen Ning.

“You wouldn’t mind me sharing yours, Wen Ning, would you?”

Wen Ning blinked. Why would Wei Ying want to share with him? His boyfriend was right there. Why would he w— “Yes, no I don’t mind, of course.” He nodded vigorously and Wei Ying grinned at him.

“Great.” He stood and picked up his chair to move it to the end of the table, setting it down close to Wen Ning at the corner. He plopped down and smiled sweetly at Lan Zhan. “So, where were you guys?”

Lan Zhan was shaking his head as he flipped through his textbook. “The copy of the review sheet I gave you has our stopping point outlined.”

Wei Ying stared at Lan Zhan for a moment before he turned to Wen Ning. “Can I see yours?” he asked, his voice a tiny bit ashamed, and Wen Ning fought a grin as he located the sheet and placed it in front of the other man. As he looked it over, Wen Ning shared a look with Lan Zhan. Wen Ning thought he looked a little worried, his brows pinched and his gaze careful. Wen Ning wasn’t sure why he looked so sour, but he smiled at him brightly before turning his attention back to Wei Ying.

“Of course, just after cell metabolism!” he was exclaiming loudly. “Oh, you two left me the easy parts, that’s no fun. Okay, Wen Ning, explain the concept to me in your own words and we’ll see where you get stuck…”

Wen Ning saw what Lan Zhan meant—without the halfhearted sound barrier of the glass walls, he was sure they would have been kicked out of the library five times over due to Wei Ying’s exuberance and inability to modulate his volume. That being said, Wen Ning was glad they weren’t kicked out, because he was having a very nice time.

Wei Ying was just a fantastic teacher. He was animated and detailed, great at getting Wen Ning to teach himself by asking just the right questions without sounding condescending. He steered Lan Zhan and Wen Ning through the useful passages of the textbook to cover each section of the review sheet. While studying with Lan Zhan earlier had been great, leagues and leagues above what Wen Ning usually accomplished alone, the way Wei Ying taught things made it all cohesive and linked each subject to the one that came after.

And he was funny. And he was cute. And he would brush Wen Ning’s arm a little and smile at him. And almost even better - even better - than Wei Ying flirting with him was watching him fawn over Lan Zhan. Watching that soft adoration fill his face, the comfortable and knowing way he touched him—not too much, not too frequently, never risqué. The way he approached the two of them was different. He was confidently reserved with Lan Zhan, and tentatively bold towards Wen Ning.

It was all exhilarating, if not a bit exhausting. After all, how many heart attacks could one man be expected to have before passing out?

They finished up before the evening got too late. Wei Ying was teasing Lan Zhan about some tangent they found themselves on as Wen Ning ran his finger down the review sheet and double-checked everything.

“I’ll be right back,” Lan Zhan said, drawing Wen Ning’s attention. He stood gracefully, nodding to Wen Ning, and strode from the room. Wen Ning watched him go for a moment before turning back to Wei Ying. The other man had his chin propped in his hand, a knowing smirk on his face as he watched Wen Ning watch Lan Zhan.

Fuck, oops. Wen Ning flushed and fidgeted with his things on the table. “Um.” What do you say to the cute boyfriend of the man you have a crush on - who, himself, you may be well on your way to developing a crush on - when he’s very clearly about to call you out for having a crush on his man?

“You’re really fun, Wen Ning,” Wei Ying commented brightly. He chuckled. “I’m a little mad at Lan Zhan, honestly, keeping you a secret all to himself for so long.”

Wen Ning’s heart did questionable things and he chanced a glance in Wei Ying’s direction. He was still smiling at him, though it was more subdued now.

“He didn’t mention you until, oh, probably over a month ago now,” Wei Ying went on. “But can you believe that? He really got to keep you all to himself, living in his brain rent-free, for over a month.” He clicked his tongue. “Selfish.”

Wen Ning wasn’t sure what to say. “Uh, s-sorry…” He stammered, his mechanical pencil in pieces in his shaky hands. Wei Ying chuckled again, quietly.

“Don’t apologize. Why are you apologizing?” Wei Ying tilted his head, dear god that was so fucking cute. “Lan Zhan should be the one, if anyone, but really no one’s at fault.”

Wen Ning chewed on his lip as he put his pencil back together. He couldn’t tell if Wei Ying was mad at him or not? He thought he’d been flirting with him, but maybe he was seeing what he wanted to see? Making offensive assumptions about polyamorous people? He wanted his chair to swallow him.

“Wen Ning, you don’t need to look so nervous.” Wei Ying paused. “Unless I’m making you uncomfortable.” He sighed, and Wen Ning looked up to see him rubbing his face with both hands. “God, what a mess! Okay, I’m breaking Lan Zhan’s rule. Wen Ning.” He dropped his hands and leaned forward a bit, catching Wen Ning’s eye and holding the contact. “We’re flirting with you. Lan Zhan told me not to come on too strong, but I know this is sort of a confusing situation, so honest communication feels most important. So to be forthright: we are courting you.”

Wen Ning blushed and put his pencil down. “Oh.” Oh! Oh wow! Oh shit! He didn’t say those ones, just thought them as his mind reeled.

“That being said.” Wei Ying paused. “If we’re making you uncomfortable or you don’t want this, please do say so.” His voice was pleading, and Wen Ning’s chest got tight. “You seem the timid sort, so don’t just let us carry on if it’s not something you want to be hearing.”

“No, it’s okay,” Wen Ning assured him. It was sort of embarrassing to admit out loud, but Wei Ying’s honesty had taken guts and deserved to be returned. “I...appreciate it, I do.”

Wei Ying’s expression shuttered the tiniest bit, like he was withdrawing in expectation of rejection, and Wen Ning scrambled to find the right words to open him back up. “U-Uh, no, like, I really appreciate it.” Wen Ning, fucking idiot, something else! Now! “I-I was hoping that I was not being too...obvious. In return. I am not very good at reading situations and intentions. I worried I was...imagining overtures I wanted to exist where they really didn’t…”

He let his voice trail off, unsure what exactly he was talking about, but Wei Ying was bright again so what he said must have been sufficient.

“Hmm, so Wen Ning wants overtures to exist.” He tapped his chin thoughtfully. “How much has Lan Zhan told you about, um…” He seemed to stumble for a moment with the wording. “...Our relationship?” he finally finished.

Wen Ning tucked his hair behind his ear, wishing he had a hair tie to just get it out of the way for now. “I know you’re both his boyfriends. And that they’re both - Lan Zhan, that is, and...Nie HuaiSang - that they’re both your boyfriends. And you’re both Nie HuaiSang’s boyfriends.”

Wei Ying hummed. “Not quite.”

Wen Ning looked up, confused, and Wei Ying gave him a softer smile. “Lan Zhan prefers ‘partner.’”

“Oh.” Wen Ning bit his lip. A good thing to know. “I’m sorry, th...they never told me.”

“It’s okay.” Wei Ying laughed. “Lan Zhan never tells anyone anything.” Well, it was good to know he wasn’t the only one, at least. “He hasn’t ever really, mm...discussed it with us,” Wei Ying went on. His brow furrowed thoughtfully. “He just mentions it when it’s relevant, I guess? He doesn’t like when his brother calls him ‘didi,’ for example, and asked HuaiSang and I to use ‘partner’ for him instead of ‘boyfriend’… He never mentioned a change in personal pronoun, though, so we haven’t.”

Wen Ning nodded, absorbing the information and tucking it away.

“So.” Wei Ying leaned back in his chair. “You know we’re all together in a closed triangle. Or whatever it’s called. It’s clear you like Lan Zhan, but how do you feel about…” He waved a hand around vaguely, avoiding Wen Ning’s eyes. “All of us? The dynamic of the relationship?”

Wen Ning shifted and pushed his hair back again when it fell in his face. “I, uh, haven’t really, um, seen too much of the dynamic between all of you. But I do understand that to try with him would be to try with all of you. I just…” He bit his lip, his brows pulling together. “I worry I won’t fit. Or that I’ll only cause problems. Or I’ll be the ultimate cause of some terrible breakup between you all, and you don’t deserve that.”

“Wen Ning.” Long, calloused fingers touched his hands where they twisted together on the tabletop and Wen Ning looked up at him. Wei Ying smiled encouragingly. “You’re not some burden. This is the type of thing that requires understanding, commitment, and cooperation from everyone involved, and I assure you we’ve discussed it at length since Lan Zhan brought it up. We’re all on-board.”

Wen Ning blushed. That was the second time Wei Ying had mentioned that. “Lan Zhan brought me up?” he asked, voice very quiet, and Wei Ying laughed.

“Yes! God, it was adorable.” He gave a dreamy sigh, dropping his cheek against his hand. “I mean, I don’t know why he thought we’d be upset, I hope we never gave him reason to believe we’d react unreasonably, but a nervous Lan Zhan isn’t an everyday occurrence, y’know?”

No indeed. Wen Ning rubbed his nose. “My sister teases me every time I come home on lab days,” he admitted. “Says I’ve got some kind of look on my face.”

Wei Ying laughed and Wen Ning wanted to catch the sound in a jar and save it for later. “I’d like to see that look, I think!” Wen Ning wasn’t sure he wasn’t making it right that moment. He glanced down and leaned a bit closer, pushing his hair out of his face again. Wei Ying blinked at him.

“Oh.” He slipped a scrunchie off his wrist and held it out to Wen Ning. “Here, if you want to tie your hair back.”

“Oh, are you sure?”

“Yes, yes, take it, I’ve got another today, as you can see.” He smirked as Wen Ning accepted the scrunchie and tied his hair back in a simple low ponytail. “Hey, you should come to our place sometime—just to hang out,” he was quick to assure him. “HuaiSang’s been whining all week because he couldn’t come today and he wants to hang out with you. We could, um...watch a movie, or play a game or something. I dunno, HuaiSang’s better at all that. Oh, but I’ll cook something! How do you feel about spicy food? I’ve been watching Maangchi, and she has so many recipes I want to try. I’d love to make kimchijjim, if I could find the right kind of kimchi…”

Wen Ning was so absorbed in nodding along to Wei Ying that he actually jumped a bit when Lan Zhan opened the door to the study room. He retook his seat, glancing between the two of them, and Wen Ning realized their faces were about three inches apart. He leaned back into his own seat as Wei Ying turned his chatter in Lan Zhan’s direction.

“Wen Ning is coming over! And we’re going to cook! You can cook, right Wen Ning? We were thinking of making Korean food, how does that sound, Lan Zhan? That won’t be too spicy for you, will it? Oh, we’ll have to ask HuaiSang to figure out something for us to do, though, he’s so good at activities and stuff.”

“When?” Lan Zhan interrupted his babble calmly. Wei Ying hummed thoughtfully and looked at Wen Ning. “I know your schedule is very full,” Lan Zhan went on as he too turned his attention to Wen Ning.

“Uh, well.” Wen Ning scrambled for his phone to check his shelter schedules. “I th-think there’s a Saturday coming up that I only work at one shelter, I think I get off in the afternoon, or m-maybe next month I can request a day…”

“You should text HuaiSang about it!” Wei Ying beamed at him. “He’s great with everyone’s schedules, so organized, if you send him a couple of options he’ll be able to work out a day for this no problem.”

“Okay.” Wen Ning passed his phone into Wei Ying’s outstretched hand and the other man went about drafting a text to his boyfriend.

“Will you eat dinner with your sister tonight?” Lan Zhan asked. Wen Ning turned his attention to him. Lan Zhan was twisting the ends of his long hair around his fingers. Wen Ning had seen him do that before, and realized with some satisfaction that it was an indicator that Lan Zhan was nervous. He smiled at him.

“Normally I would, but…” He glanced around for a clock. He knew it was well past eight o’clock. “It’s a bit late, now. I’m sure she’s eaten already.”

“Come eat with us,” Wei Ying offered brightly. He handed Wen Ning his phone back. “There’s a little cafe we usually go to when we’re on campus until the evening.”

“You’re very welcome to join,” Lan Zhan put in and Wen Ning’s stomach did a flip.

They were flirting with him. It settled in a bit, the implications really snuggling into the folds of his brain. They wanted him around and wanted to potentially date him. They wanted to extend this, a rare moment of Wen Ning’s free time that they could all share, get a little more out of it if they could.

“Thank you.” He started collecting his things, smiling at the two of them. “I’d love to.”

——

“Wen Ning!”

“A-Jie,” Wen Ning hissed back, jumping when she flipped on the entryway light. “Don’t yell, it’s late.”

“Yes! It’s late! It’s good that you’ve realized!”

“I texted you!” He stepped out of his shoes and walked towards her. She was in her goofy pajamas with the cartoon ghosts on them. It was very hard to take her scowling seriously.

“Eleven o’clock,” she hissed at him. “What were you even doing?”

Wen Ning paused, blushing despite his best efforts, and she crossed her arms. “Ohh?” One of her eyebrows tilted. “I thought you said you three were meeting up to study—“

“A-Jie,” he groaned at her. “We did study. And then afterwards, they asked what I was doing for dinner, and I figured by then you’d eaten without me. So I went with them to some cafe near campus and we had dinner. And then we got talking. And cafes these days really are open late, y’know, I was surprised…”

“A-Ning.”

“What do you want me to say?” he sighed, finally squeezing past her. “I’m sorry, but I did text you saying I was getting something to eat with them and would be back later than I thought. What more do you want me to do?”

Wen Qing stood in the doorway, struggling, as Wen Ning threw his backpack into his bedroom and returned to the living room to face her. “A-Ning, I just worry,” she finally managed, her expression twisted. Her hands tangles together in front of her. “I don’t know what to do about it. Something bad could happen to you if I don’t know where you are…”

Wen Ning’s tensed shoulders slumped at that. He stepped closer, putting a hand on her shoulder and tapping his index finger slowly to help her even out her breathing. She closed her eyes, her brows furrowed, but did start to relax.

“Would it help if I called instead of texted?” he asked after a moment. “Or texted you when I got on the bus? Which stop I’m closest to whenever I go out, or something?”

She let out a huff. “I know it’s unreasonable.”

“It’s not, really,” he assured her. “I’m not trying to...to do this to you.”

“You’re not doing anything to me.” She sighed and stepped away, dropping onto the couch and flicking on the end table lamp. Wen Ning sat beside her. They sat, shoulder to shoulder, and stared at the wall in silence for a bit.

“Try to call?” she requested. “If I don’t pick up, just text. But hearing your voice might help me not freak out.”

He nodded. “I’ll text you when and where I get on the bus, too, if you want.”

“Nah.” She curled her legs up underneath her. “That’s too much, you’ll forget.”

Wen Ning nodded. He would, indeed, forget.

“So how was your date?” she asked, fighting back a yawn but clearly still teasing him.

Wen Ning looked at his hands as his cheeks filled with heat. This morning, he would have denied it and spluttered and groaned until she’d left him alone. Now, all he said was “Good.”

She looked over at him, her eyes sharp. When he didn’t say anything else she nodded. “Hm. So you get along with his boyfriend?”

Wen Ning shifted a bit. Honestly, Wei Ying had spent the whole two or more hours they’d been in the cafe trying to scoot Wen Ning and Lan Zhan together and then cackling merrily whenever he had Wen Ning to himself for a moment. On the walk to the cafe, he’d grabbed Wen Ning long enough to whisper to him that he should try to hold Lan Zhan’s hand, which Wen Ning refused outright to do, which made Wei Ying roll his eyes and grab Wen Ning’s hand before dragging him forward and taking Lan Zhan’s hand as well, forming a link between the two of them. In the cafe, Wei Ying herded them to a booth, insisting that Wen Ning and Lan Zhan sit beside each other while he sat across, and then disappeared to the bathroom for fifteen minutes and kept texting Wen Ning encouragement and suggestions that he resolutely ignored.

Not like he needed them anyway, because Lan Zhan was warm and nervous and kind, but their hands did brush a little under the table as they talked which did make them both flush all the way red and go silent until Wei Ying magically reappeared right as their food came out.

So. “Yes.” He got along with Wei Ying very, very well.

——

2020/10/15 20:11
Wen Ning 🧡
hi huaisang its me wen ning!! 😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘😘

HuaiSang 💘💖💕❣️💞❣️💝💞💗❤️💘❤️💓💕💕💕💞💓❣️
Wei Ying I know thats you

Hello Wen Ning whenever you get your phone back !!!!!!

2020/10/15 20:39
Wen Ning 🧡
Oh god

Yes that was Wei Ying, but hello anyway Nie HuaiSang!

Nie HuaiSang
Lmaoo figured it was only a matter of time before one of them gave you my number

And just HuaiSang is fine !!

Wen Ning 🧡
Ah, if you’re sure!

HuaiSang 👉👈💞👉👈
Lol of course

I hope yall are having fun !!! Im jealous I wanna hang out with Wen Ning :’/

Wen Ning 🧡
Oh! Don’t be too sad, Wei Ying actually said I should message you about finding a day we can all hang out together?

Okay also he’s insisting that I ask you to think of fun stuff for us to do.

HuaiSang 👉👈💞👉👈
Kahehsjshkagdgsjsh okay lmao

What kinds of things do you like to do Wen Ning

Actually you can think on it send me your schedule and Ill Work My Magic

Wen Ning 🧡
Okay! I’ll take pictures of my shelter schedules tomorrow. :)

HuaiSang 👉👈💞👉👈
Okay !

2020/10/17 21:15
SangSang
He said :) Im gonna 🥺🥺🥺 :WAH: :WAH: :WAH:

wyifnsg
LSHDJAHSJSHSJSJAJ I ❤️ HIM……….

Sweetheart
Wei Ying stop checking your phone we’re literally with him right now.

SangSang
IM SO JEALOUS I WANNA HANG OUT W WEN NINGGG :WAH:

wyifnsg
YEAH we sure are w him now we’re on a date ;))

Sweetheart
It’s not a date if he isn’t acknowledging it as a date.

wyifnsg
trust me :)) he is acknowledging it as a date :))

SangSang
WHEVWHAHDJSJ :WAH: :WAH: :WAH:

2020/10/16 15:20
Wen Ning 🧡
Img82636252728262828.jpg
Img83637282937282983.jpg

Those are my schedules for the next two weeks! Let me know which day works for the rest of you and I’ll set it aside!

HuaiSang 👉👈💞👉👈
O my word idk why I didnt think of it sooner but

You get off early a week from tomorrow it looks like ? That day would be good

And then it LOOKS like youre off on halloween?? DEFINITELY plan to come here if you dont already have plans

Wen Ning 🧡
Those both sound good! Are you guys having a Halloween party?

HuaiSang 👉👈💞👉👈
Oct 31 is Wei Yings birthday !!!

Wen Ning 🧡
Oh!!! Oh thank you for telling me, yes yes I can come over if that’s what he’d want??

HuaiSang 👉👈💞👉👈
It is :)

2020/10/16 16:03
SangSang
A-Ying I just got u the best birthday present u are never allowed to ask for anything ever again

wyifnsg
subjective, i won’t believe you until i see it

SangSang
screenshot_283627.jpg
:)

wyifnsg
KSGWHSGJSGWHSHSJSHSJA????
💞💘❣️💗💓💖💞💞💗💓❣️💖💓💞💗💞💗❣️💕💓

SangSang
Lmao hee hee :)

——

“So.” MianMian sighed, dropping her head on the counter. Wen Ning adjusted the strap of his bag over his shoulder. He got a distinct dejavu feeling from this situation. “Where are you going?”

Wen Ning bit back a grin. “Why don’t you tell me where I’m going, as you understand it?”

“To hang out with the guy with two boyfriends who your sister thought was hitting on you that you have a major crush on, except this time both his boyfriends will be there.”

“More or less.” He hesitated, on the edge of telling her out-right that he was pretty sure this was almost a date, but not wanting to speak the words into the universe and curse the concept. “What’s so hard to grasp?”

“How you got so lucky,” MianMian groaned as she lifted her head. “These are the guys you showed me? On Insta?”

“Yes.”

“Fuck.” She dropped her chin into her hand. “Even I can admit they’re gorgeous. Especially the short one.”

“Anyway,” Wen Ning said loudly, cutting her off before she could remind him how COMPLETELY out of his league these men were, “I’m going now, normally I’d say call if you need me, but please, please don’t.”

“Byeee,” she shouted after him as he pushed into the cooling autumn. Wen Ning pulled his phone out to double-check the address and found texts from all three of the men he was off to meet. He confirmed the address and checked the new notifications as he waited at the bus stop.

Lan Zhan
Wei Ying has not stopped moving for a single second since ten o’clock this morning.

He has all the necessary pots and pans out as well as piles of ingredients. I hope you do like to cook, because I have to warn you that he’s not very good. His attention to details like whether or not something is burning is not the best.

We are all very excited. Be safe on the way over.

Wen Ning rubbed his forehead, flushing furiously. The bus came down the street and creaked to a stop by the sign. Wen Ning followed the others at the stop aboard and found a place to stand near the back, getting back to his texts.

Wei Ying ❣️
wen ning good morning!! TODAY’S THE DAY!!

i’ve been informed by huaisang that you’ve been at the shelter since 7:30. it’s not my fault i wake up so late it’s in my biolgoy. 😩

*biology

wen ning you don’t hate me for being bad at typing do you? :((

i’ve been informed by lan zhan that you can’t check your phone at the shelter. WELL can’t wait for you to get off then, 2 more hours!!

Wen Ning bit his lip to control his stupid doofy smile and checked to see what HuaiSang had sent him.

HuaiSang 👉👈💞👉👈
Img10108273910.jpg

Do u see this they are both in the kitchen just picking shit up and putting it back down dhshsgsjdgshhs they cant sit still

Cam_10108273912.mov

Wkhwgwgwgwshhs here’s a video they’re dhdhshhsjashga

The first was a blurry picture of Wei Ying and Lan Zhan huddled together in the kitchen. The second was a video. Wen Ning watched it with the volume off, but even unable to hear he could imagine the sounds of the pans clattering together and Wei Ying babbling to whoever would listen. He watched Wei Ying flitting around the kitchen, touching everything, and Lan Zhan following behind him, righting the bottles and jars Wei Ying was knocking over. He actually covered his mouth and bit his palm to keep from laughing.

Wen Ning
I’m on the bus now. Be there soon!

His thumb hesitated over the emoji keyboard. Should he add a 💞? Was that too much? HuaiSang was the one he was least close to. They’d only met once for, like, 15 minutes. Should he add a 💞 or would that be making it weird?

He didn’t add the 💞.

He got off the bus and started down the street, taking a turn off the main road at his phone’s direction. He got another text as the building came into view.

HuaiSang 👉👈💞👉👈
Building code is 6073 💞

Wen Ning wallowed in regret the rest of the way down the road and into the building.

It was a very nice building, with a digital keypad and call system. Or at least, it was nicer than where he currently lived with Wen Qing. He beeped his way in and went to the very fancy elevator and took it to the seventh floor. His footsteps felt loud against the wood-looking floors of the hall as he searched for their door.

He paused outside of 712 and hesitated. It was stupid. He didn’t need to be this nervous, there was no reason to think he got the day wrong or misunderstood and wasn’t actually invited. It was irrational. He bit his lip hard and closed his eyes as he knocked quietly on the door.

A beat of silence passed, and then a thump and a muffled “Oof” and an “A-Ying, careful” before the door whipped open and Wei Ying was standing in front of him, breathless and beaming with his hair falling from a messy bun.

Jesus Christ, Wen Ning was so in love with him.

“Wen Ning, come in!” Wei Ying’s voice echoed loudly down the hall and Wen Ning winced on the behalf of their neighbors. “Don’t be shy, you can put your bag down in the living room.”

Wen Ning stepped inside, relieved to close the door behind himself and contain Wei Ying and his excitement. He slipped out of his shoes quickly as Wei Ying tugged him further down the entryway and into the living room.

HuaiSang was sitting patiently on the couch. He smiled at Wen Ning, subdued next to the exuberance of Wei Ying.

“You remember HuaiSang, of course,” Wei Ying chattered. He was still holding onto Wen Ning’s arm, one hand dangerously close to his own, and Wen Ning struggled a bit to focus on anything but that. Still, he met HuaiSang’s eyes and offered him a smile back.

“Of course he does,” HuaiSang laughed, standing. He flung an arm out dramatically. “Who could forget?”

Wei Ying laughed brightly. “Lan Zhan is in the kitchen,” he told Wen Ning, continuing to tug him along. HuaiSang tailed them, keeping quiet.

Lan Zhan was, indeed, in the kitchen. When he came into view, Wen Ning felt his breath stutter. Lan Zhan was pretty. He was a very handsome person, in any setting and any light.

Standing in the kitchen with his hair braided down his back and flour on his hands, eyes glowing amber when they met Wen Ning’s, was probably one of the best views of him that one could get.

Wei Ying nudged Wen Ning further into the kitchen. “Lan Zhan’s just put his pie in the oven, but you and I can cook in a bit, closer to dinner time.”

Wen Ning nodded. Lan Zhan shifted his weight. “Maybe you could help him clean up?” Wei Ying suggested with a poorly-hidden smirk. Lan Zhan raised an eyebrow at him.

“Guests absolutely should not be made to clean up,” he told him. Wei Ying flushed a bit and Wen Ning jumped in.

“No, please do let me help.” He turned to Lan Zhan. “I, uh, enjoy doing kitchen things, especially if I’m going to cook…”

“See?” Wei Ying grinned at Lan Zhan, stepping backwards towards HuaiSang in the kitchen doorway. “You two just finish up in here and HuaiSang and I will set up in the living room.”

HuaiSang raised his hand too late to fully stifle his chuckle as Wei Ying grabbed him and hauled him back to the living room. Wen Ning and Lan Zhan were quiet for a moment.

“I’m sorry,” Lan Zhan said softly, sounding resigned.

“Don’t be.” Wen Ning gave him a smile and pushed his sleeves up. “I wasn’t lying—I like doing dishes and things. I have...cleanliness standards, if I’m going to use a kitchen.” He froze. “Not that I, um, don’t trust—“

“I understand.” Lan Zhan shot him a small smile as he collected dirtied bowls and utensils from the counter to dump in the sink. “I’m the same.”

Wen Ning relaxed a bit. He reached to pull his hair back off of his face. “Let me do the dishes.”

“Mn. If you wish.”

Wen Ning got distracted by the fancy faucet only thrice while doing the dishes Lan Zhan brought him.

“What kind of pie did you make?” Wen Ning asked, though the black-pink mush he was rinsing from a mixing bowl was telling enough.

“Blackberry thyme.” Lan Zhan glanced at him before looking quickly away. “I’m not much of one for sweets, but A-Sang likes them, and—”

He cut himself off and Wen Ning looked over to see the tips of his ears were tinted rosy pink. He smiled a bit. “And what?”

Lan Zhan kept his back to him. “I noticed your order at the cafe.”

Wen Ning blinked. He couldn’t even remember what he’d ordered at the cafe over a week ago. Heat filled his cheeks as he turned back to the sink. He hummed an acknowledgement and prayed his shaking hands wouldn’t result in any dropped glass or clumsily sliced hands.

When Lan Zhan finished putting away flour and the like and wiping down the counters, he came up beside Wen Ning to dry the dishes on the rack. They worked quietly for a moment.

“They will be drinking,” Lan Zhan said quietly. Wen Ning raised an eyebrow at him. “On Wei Ying’s birthday. I wanted to be sure you were okay with that.”

“Oh, that’s fine.” Wen Ning shrugged. “Thank you for checking with me, though. Will there be a lot of people?”

Lan Zhan shook his head, turning to put a mixing bowl in its assigned cupboard. “It was just going to be us three.”

Wen Ning froze, dread settling over him. “Oh, I don’t mean to intrude or interrupt,” he stressed. “I don’t have to come, I-I shouldn’t—“

“Wen Ning.” Lan Zhan came back up close beside him. His warm, dry hand bumped Wen Ning’s on the counter and they both startled a little bit. Lan Zhan’s brows pinched for a moment before he slid his fingers purposefully around Wen Ning’s hand. “You don’t have to come,” he agreed gently. “But we’d like you to be there.”

Wen Ning was caught. He wasn’t sure how Lan Zhan could possibly expect him to ever move or speak again, not with the full weight of his attention holding him in place and the gentle heat of their hands making it impossible to even want to move.

“Wei Ying in particular would love very much for you to be there.” Lan Zhan squeezed his hand a bit and Wen Ning’s poor legs almost gave out. “He was very excited when HuaiSang said you agreed to come.”

Wen Ning pondered that. He blinked and managed to remember how to control his body. He gave Lan Zhan’s hand a quick squeeze before he turned back to the dishes. “I’ll come,” he told him softly. That, at least, was easy enough to determine.

Lan Zhan hummed beside him and took up his dish towel again, moving onto the next item.

“Lan Zhaaan.” HuaiSang slid into the kitchen, eyes expectant. “Are you two almost done?”

“Soon,” Lan Zhan promised, turning a bit to face him. HuaiSang clasped his hands behind his back and strolled up to them.

“A-Ning, you’re so sweet to do the dishes.” HuaiSang gave him a sugary smile, but Wen Ning was busy short-circuiting over the fond, familiar form of address. “We’ve got a game set up in the other room when you two are done. Lan Zhan, what do you want to drink?”

“Màichá,” Lan Zhan replied. HuaiSang turned his bright expression on Wen Ning.

“A-Ning?”

“Ah.” Wen Ning gripped the edge of the counter subtly, entirely missing the scolding look Lan Zhan was giving HuaiSang. “The same, thank you…”

“Okay!” HuaiSang snatched two glasses from Lan Zhan and slipped away to another part of the kitchen to pour two glasses of the chilled tea. Wen Ning went back to the dishes, willing his heart to calm down.

When HuaiSang returned to the living room, Lan Zhan sighed. “I’m sorry,” he said emphatically. “If they do anything to offend you - if any of us do - please let us know. I don’t want anyone to cross a line.”

“It’s okay.” Wen Ning didn’t need to mention that the line was essentially reaching for his pants without warning, at this point. “I’m not upset, I…” He reached for another dish to find the sink empty. He turned on the faucet to rinse his hands. “I’m not upset. I’m—flustered.”

“In a good way?” Lan Zhan eyed him carefully and Wen Ning huffed a laugh.

“In a very good way.” He dried his hands on a different kitchen towel.

The oven beeped at them politely and Lan Zhan dropped everything to check it. He pulled out a perfectly browned pie with a fine, neat lattice pattern on top. Wen Ning watched as Lan Zhan checked it over. “Should I help you finish drying?” he asked.

Lan Zhan looked at him for a moment before he shook his head. “No need, go ahead and I’ll join the rest of you in a moment.”

Wen Ning hummed. “Okay.” He hesitated, contemplated placing a hand on Lan Zhan’s arm as he left, and then turned and walked away while mentally calling himself an idiot.

In the living room, Wei Ying and HuaiSang were sitting around the coffee table, which was covered by a colorful game board and a spread of plastic pieces and cards. The two men had their heads close together, whispering semi-conspiratorially, and when Wei Ying saw him coming he leaned away quickly.

“He returns!” Wei Ying smiled brightly at him.

“Yeah, from the chore you gave him,” HuaiSang laughed. Wei Ying flushed and shoved him playfully.

“He said he wanted to.”

“Because he’s too polite to say otherwise.”

Wei Ying’s eyes widened in anxiety. “No, I really did want to,” Wen Ning insisted. He sat down at an empty side of the table, with Wei Ying to his left and HuaiSang across from him. “I enjoy cleaning a kitchen before I use it.”

“See?” Wei Ying pushed HuaiSang again and the latter rolled his eyes.

“A-Ning, you should have let him sweat over it a little, he gets away with everything.”

Wei Ying gasped. “I get away with everything? Who’s currently getting away with jumping directly into ‘A-Ning’?”

HuaiSang blushed and glanced at Wen Ning. “He didn’t say I couldn’t,” he whispered.

“No, it’s fine.” Wen Ning put a hand on Wei Ying’s shoulder, slightly concerned. “It’s really okay, don’t argue.”

“They’re always like that,” Lan Zhan stated, deadpan, as he entered the room and folded himself into the remaining empty space on the floor by the table. “It’s how they flirt.”

“No!” HuaiSang pouted at Lan Zhan before turning to Wen Ning. “I promise you I’m very cute and loving. This special treatment is just for A-Ying.”

“Ah.” Wen Ning blinked.

“He is,” Wei Ying conceded, shooting HuaiSang a smile. Just like that, the tension between them dropped and they were relaxed and smiling. Wen Ning looked to Lan Zhan for help and he just shook his head a little.

“So this game! We play in teams of two, and we figured Wen Ning and Lan Zhan versus HuaiSang and I…”

Wen Ning tried to grasp the mechanics of the game as Wei Ying and HuaiSang explained it. HuaiSang insisted the teams had to sit on the same side of the table, which resulted in Wen Ning and Lan Zhan sitting shoulder to shoulder with Wei Ying and HuaiSang smushed together across from them. There was an awful lot of passing cards and little plastic things between teammates—which really meant a lot of brushing fingers and feeling extremely, extremely gay. At one point, after Lan Zhan passed the dice over to Wei Ying, he brought his hands back and laid one over Wen Ning’s where it rested on his knee. Wen Ning couldn’t tell you what happened during Wei Ying and HuaiSang’s turn—his mind was otherwise occupied by a lot of bells and whistles.

Finally, the game ended. HuaiSang groaned. “I can’t believe we lost,” he lamented pitifully. Wen Ning had to agree, because Lan Zhan currently had his hand resting lightly against the small of his back and at this point he couldn’t even remember how to play this game.

Wei Ying leapt to his feet. “Time to cook! C’mon, Wen Ning.” He held his hands out and Wen Ning grabbed them, letting Wei Ying haul him to his feet. “Oh—” Wei Ying tugged harder than Wen Ning was expecting - or Wen Ning was lighter than Wei Ying thought - and they caught themselves against each other as the surplus momentum sent them both stumbling.

Wei Ying laughed, his face red as he steadied himself and placed his hands on Wen Ning’s shoulders. “Not quite deadweight, are you?” he chuckled. He took a step back, his gestures bigger than normal as he chattered. “Okay, so, I was thinking we could make the, uhh, cucumber kimchi thing I sent you the recipe to, I think we should make that first and let it sit while we make the kimchijjim…”

“That sounds fine,” Wen Ning managed stiltedly, following him into the kitchen. He tugged at the front of his shirt, suddenly feeling overheated.

Cooking with Wei Ying, Wen Ning would soon learn, was something of a skill to master.

First, one had to stop him from accidentally stabbing or slicing himself as he prepared the ingredients. Wen Ning eventually entirely took over slicing the vegetables while Wei Ying stood closeby and talked about his antics shopping for the ingredients with Lan Zhan and the way he mixed up the recipe with another one at first and confused himself. Wen Ning listened while he chopped and was reminded of his sister, somehow. Wei Ying was brighter than Wen Qing, nowhere near as negative, but the easy way he fell into the flow of his chatter and the nearly dissociative relaxation he achieved was definitely comparable.

It was impossible to entirely slip away, though, when Wei Ying kept grounding him through light, warm touches—on his shoulders and back, mostly. Each one sparked chilling electricity between the two of them and made Wen Ning’s hands shake.

On top of keeping him from stabbing himself, it was important to keep Wei Ying from killing everyone else via chili flakes.

“It only calls for gochujang, but I think we could up the spice level with a bit of gochugaru. What do you think?” Wei Ying smiled over at Wen Ning, who hesitated.

“Do we need to up the spice level?” He dipped his pinky in the gochujang and tasted it. It seemed plenty spicy to him.

“Just a little, y’know? To give it more oomph!” Wei Ying picked up the gochugaru, shaking it around in its little shaker, and Wen Ning panicked at the thought of Lan Zhan having to eat that.

“W-Well, let me figure out when is best to add it, okay?” he reasoned, holding his hand out for the shaker.

“Sure! I’ll leave all the hard parts to you, A-Ning.” He handed Wen Ning the gochugaru as both of them flushed red. Wen Ning met his eyes before quickly chickening out and turning away.

The final thing one had to do while cooking with Wei Ying was, apparently, keep him from distracting you so much you burnt the food.

“A-Ning,” Wei Ying drawled as Wen Ning carefully placed the kimchijjim rolls into the pan, as if he had already forgotten both of their nerves from the last time. “Do you cook at home?”

Wen Ning finished placing the final roll before he replied. “Yes, I cook most nights.”

“Yeah?” Wei Ying hummed from behind him, and Wen Ning focused on turning the burner to the correct flame level. “Do you live alone?”

“No, I live with my sister. I may have mentioned her before.”

“You do? Ah, I think Lan Zhan did mention you had a sister.” He laughed, and for the second time Wen Ning thought about how nice it would be to bottle that sounds and carry it around with him. Maybe he should ask for a recording. “You know, all of us have older siblings! Do you think that says something about us? HuaiSang is more akin to an only child, I guess, since his brother is so much older and was his guardian so much of his life…”

Wen Ning finally looked over, about to ask Wei Ying about his own sibling, but was caught slightly off guard by the way he was leaning against the counter. It wasn’t even sexual, really—it just made Wen Ning want to go over and touch him.

“What is she like?” Wei Ying was asking before he’d had the chance to recover. “Your sister?”

“Um.” Wen Ning blinked. “She’s very caring. She did raise me for a while, after our parents...um, she was raising me while she was in med school. She’s always looked out for me, so she gets worried about me easily.” He paused, thinking about how she’d stressed about him being there that evening.

“She sounds just like my jiejie.” Wei Ying’s current expression was softer and sweeter than Wen Ning had seen it yet. “My jiejie is very caring, accommodating. Too much so, sometimes, I think. I’d do anything for her.” He blinked and his smirk came back. “My didi I would push into a swamp for a bubble tea.”

Wen Ning laughed, his eyebrows shooting up, and Wei Ying grinned at him. “Well, he’d do the same to me!”

“I understand.” Wen Ning shook his head and turned back to the stove. “He sounds fun.” Shit, the kimchi was getting a little crispy. He quickly worked on turning over each roll, and fell quiet.

“A-Ning.”

Wen Ning felt the heat rising in his cheeks and he peered over his shoulder. Wei Ying was leaning against the counter in a different way that had exactly the same effect, a smirk slapped across his face.

“Is it really okay?” he asked. “To call you that?”

“I-If you want,” Wen Ning spluttered. He poked the kimchijjim absently.

“Well, if I’m going to call you A-Ning, it’s only fair I give you permission to call me A-Ying in return.”

Oh god, did he really think it was okay to just do these things to Wen Ning when he was trying to cook?? Wen Ning nodded. “Mm.”

Wei Ying smiled at him and shrugged. “When you’re ready.”

Wen Ning turned around to check on the kimchijjim, NOT to hide his face.

When the rice was done and the kimchijjim cooked all the way through, Wei Ying retrieved his partners from the living room and they all three moved around each other comfortably to get the table set. Wen Ning turned off the low flame under the pan of kimchijjim and took it to the table.

“This looks very good,” Lan Zhan complimented the both of them as they all sat down. HuaiSang shot him a look.

“Yes,” he hedged. “Do you want something to drink, sweetheart? I’m going to go grab something for myself…”

Lan Zhan nodded serenely. “Water.”

“Well, let’s serve everything up, at least,” Wei Ying crowed, oblivious to his partners’ implied conversation. Wen Ning shared a tiny smile with Lan Zhan before helping Wei Ying put a little of everything on everyone’s plates.

“It does look very tasty,” HuaiSang commented when he returned. He glanced at Lan Zhan again. “Thank you both for cooking.”

“It was mostly A-Ning, really.” Wei Ying waved a hand dismissively. Wen Ning could feel the stupid smile on his face and he tried his best to control it.

Dinner was quick. Lan Zhan ate everything on his plate with a straight face and HuaiSang refilled his water three times. Wei Ying hemmed and hawwed that it could have been a bit spicier and resolved to use the gochugaru next time. Wen Ning and HuaiSang shared a look.

By the time they’d finished eating and each had a bit of Lan Zhan’s pie - which was fucking phenomenal and one of the most impressive things Wen Ning had ever eaten - it was getting to be after nine o’clock. Wen Ning hesitated, staring at the time on his phone while the other three had a discussion on whether or not being the baby sibling made one extremely needy or not.

“I can’t believe you’d say that,” HuaiSang spat at Wei Ying, a grin on his face. “Look at Lan Zhan and tell me that’s true!”

“Lan Zhan is very needy,” Wei Ying argued. “Just in different ways.

“You are perfectly needy and are not the youngest child,” Lan Zhan pointed out to him evenly, and Wei Ying stuck his tongue out at him before turning to Wen Ning.

“A-Ning, what do you—oh, is everything alright?”

Wen Ning looked up. “Uh, yes, sorry.” He slipped his phone into his pocket and faced all of their open, questioning faces. “Um…my sister, I promised her I’d be home early. She worries, gets anxious.”

“Oh, of course,” Wei Ying exclaimed, standing. “Yes, if you need to go, Wen Ning, I’m sorry we didn’t notice how late it’s getting.”

“No, really, it’s not that late, she just…” He shrugged.

HuaiSang stood as well, collecting the remaining dishes on the table. “I’m sorry you have to leave so early, A-Ning, but of course we don’t want to make a bad impression on your sister.”

“We should meet her before Halloween,” Wei Ying suggested. “If it would ease her mind a little?”

Wei Ying followed HuaiSang with another armful of dishes and Wen Ning stood to follow suit. Lan Zhan caught his wrist.

“Wen Ning, you’ve done plenty this evening.”

“It’s fine, Lan Zhan, let me help you clean up.”

“No way,” HuaiSang scoffed. He reentered the room and took the plate Wen Ning was holding, giving him a smile. “A-Ying and I will clean this up, let Lan Zhan walk you to the bus stop.”

“Ah,” Wen Ning stuttered. “No, no, really thank you for hosting me and feeding me and everything.”

“You did all the cooking,” HuaiSang laughed.

“And the fact that we’re hosting you is the very reason why you shouldn’t be cleaning up,” Lan Zhan insisted. He stood, still holding Wen Ning’s wrist. “Please, let me see you off.”

“Okay,” Wen Ning breathed, unsure if there was any other option right now than to do exactly whatever this angel wanted.

“Wei Ying,” HuaiSang called as he returned to the kitchen. “Wen Ning’s leaving.”

There were some worrying clattering sounds from the kitchen. Lan Zhan pulled on Wen Ning’s wrist a little, taking him back to the living room to retrieve his things.

“You don’t have to walk me to the stop,” Wen Ning whispered to Lan Zhan. The other man shook his head.

“I want to.”

“Wen Ning.” He turned as Wei Ying came into the room. He grabbed Wen Ning and pulled him into a quick, tight hug. “Thank you for coming. I hope you like it here.”

The wording struck through Wen Ning, and just as Wei Ying started to pull away he held him close. “I do,” he admitted quietly. He let him go a moment later, holding him at arm’s length by his shoulders.

Wei Ying, red as a cherry, fled back to the kitchen with a squeaked “Goodnight.” HuaiSang laughed as he passed him.

“Goodnight, A-Ning. Be safe on the way.” He nodded at Lan Zhan. “You, too.”

“Always,” Lan Zhan replied easily. Wen Ning was still suffering from fatal embarrassment, but he managed a few parting words for HuaiSang before he and Lan Zhan slipped on their shoes and made it out the door.

The elevator ride was quiet, what with Wen Ning still recovering, but as the doors slid open Lan Zhan tapped tentatively at his hand. Wen Ning blinked and looked over. Lan Zhan’s gaze was questioning as he laced their fingers together. Wen Ning bit his lip and looked away. They exited the building, hands still linked.

“I hope you enjoyed yourself,” Lan Zhan said as they made their way through the dark city. Wen Ning hummed.

“I definitely did.”

“Nobody did anything too…”

“Nobody did anything I didn’t like,” Wen Ning assured him. He squeezed Lan Zhan’s hand and watched with satisfaction as his ears turned light pink.

“How do you like HuaiSang?” Lan Zhan asked quickly. Wen Ning smiled to himself.

“I like him a lot. He’s very nice...very cute.” He added the last part quietly. Lan Zhan gave a squeeze of his own.

“Wei Ying?”

Wen Ning flushed scarlet. “I like him a lot,” he repeated, unsure of why it sounded so different from when he said it about HuaiSang. “We get along very well. He reminds me of my sister, somehow? Which is crazy, because they’re not alike at all.”

“I understand what you mean.”

“How do they like me?” Wen Ning asked, not daring to look up from the cracked pavement in front of them. He heard Lan Zhan let out a breath.

“Adoration. All around.”

A little shiver ran down his spine and he walked a little closer to Lan Zhan after that. They approached the bus station, which was empty and honestly slightly creepy, what with its single orange light. They came to a stop. Cars flitted past at irregular intervals on the main road and Wen Ning watched them. He felt like the warm ambiance of the evening was already slipping away.

“A-Ning.”

Wen Ning’s breath caught and he looked over at Lan Zhan. His head was bowed, his ears bright red.

“Yes?” he breathed. Lan Zhan’s thumb ran across the back of his hand and he looked up.

“What do you think?” he asked softly. “Of this?”

Wen Ning let out a shaky chuckle. He took a few deep breaths and thought through his words.

“I want it.”

They were silent for a moment, standing in the dim glow of the light and the wind from the passing traffic.

“We do, too.” Lan Zhan sighed. “Me. I want this, too.”

Wen Ning looked away, unsure he could control the idiotic smile on his face. He saw the bus coming down the street and sighed. There it was, the end of this fantastic evening both literally and figuratively barrelling down the street at them.

“Wen Ning?” Lan Zhan tugged on his hand a bit to draw his attention back. Wen Ning watched him expectantly as he fidgeted and collected all of his hair over one shoulder. “Can I kiss you?”

He could feel the bus approaching. He could feel the cars zipping past them, and the chatter of pedestrians down the block and around the corner. That didn’t stop him from nodding enthusiastically, or putting his free hand under Lan Zhan’s chin, or sharing a quick, warm kiss with him that lingered dewy and soft on his lips in the chilled autumn night.

The bus creaked to a stop beside them and Lan Zhan gave his hand a final squeeze before letting go. “Goodnight. Be safe.”

“Goodnight. You too, text me when you get back.”

Lan Zhan smirked the tiniest bit. “I will be bombarded with questions, but I will try.”

Wen Ning laughed at that, feeling slightly giddy. “I’ll see when my sister might be free for dinner.”

“Let HuaiSang know, he’ll work the rest out.”

Wen Ning hesitated, out of things to say, out of reasons to draw this out, and counting down the seconds until the bus would pull away. “Okay. Goodnight. See you Thursday, if nothing else.”

Lan Zhan’s hand came to cup his cheek briefly. “Thursday.”

Wen Ning finally stepped back, gave Lan Zhan a wave, and got onto the bus. It pulled away almost as soon as he was aboard, and by the time he sat down the stop was a block behind.

He sat down heavily and pressed his bag to his face, grinning like a fucking idiot. When he finally felt like he wasn’t about to let out a stream of EMBARRASSING squeaks, he lifted his head and took out his phone to text his sister.

Wen Ning
Omw back, exciting news forthcoming!!!!!!

A-Jie
oh, god, i’m not ready for this.

Chapter Text

“Where is he going to sleep??”

HuaiSang paused. His brows furrowed as he shifted to look past the end of the couch at Wei Ying standing horrified in the middle of the entryway.

“Welcome home,” he teased. “Where’s who going to sleep?”

“Wen Ning!”

“At his house?” HuaiSang quirked an eyebrow at Wei Ying who groaned as if HuaiSang was being purposefully dense.

“On Halloween! He’s spending the night, right? He better be, I don’t want him out late, not with all the bars along the main road, but where will he sleep?”

HuaiSang opened his mouth. And then closed his mouth. “In bed with us?” he suggested weakly a moment later. It was where he wanted Wen Ning, but he was also aware that four people, even in a king-sized bed, might be pushing it just a little.

Also...is that where Wen Ning would want to be?

“Is that okay?” Wei Ying stressed, and HuaiSang once again thanked the heavens that he and Wei Ying seemed to share one brain. Wei Ying shook his head, finally shrugging out of his jacket. “Y’know what, I’ll just sleep on the couch.”

“A-Ying, no.” HuaiSang sighed, sliding his bookmark into his book and setting it aside. “This is what we get for getting a two-bedroom apartment. This is our hubris.”

“Maybe we can fit a bed in there,” Wei Ying mumbled before running down the hall and peering into his and HuaiSang’s room. HuaiSang could have told him that there wasn’t room—between the bookshelves and desk and wardrobes and the area cleared for HuaiSang’s easel, it was really already quite full. He heard Wei Ying groan.

“A-Ying, don’t stress about it now,” HuaiSang called, standing. “We’ll bring it up to Lan Zhan and he’ll have a solution. Maybe right now we should just...focus on this whole meeting A-Ning’s sister tonight thing?”

Wei Ying winced. He’d clearly been looking for something other than that to stress about. Something stressful, just less stressful. HuaiSang sighed at him and pushed him into their room. “C’mon, I’ll help you pick out something respectable to wear and then we can shower.”

——

SangSang
Sunshine should we bring smth

Wine maybe ?

Or uhh idk anything ??

Wen☀️Ning
No, you don’t need to!

Are you guys heading out soon? I want to meet you at the stop or at least outside the building.

WEi yIng
aww a-ning is so sweet :))

Wen☀️Ning
I just want the chance to talk to you before you come inside and A-Jie...gets her hands on you.

SangSang
😳

WEi yIng
😳

SangSang
😳

WEi yIng
😳

Wen☀️Ning
She’s just intense. 😦

What is that it ruined my face

WEi yIng
put a \ before it

SangSang
Use \

Wen☀️Ning
:(

!!! :)

HuaiSang made a strangled noise as they slipped their shoes on. “He’s too fucking cute,” he whispered soulfully as he passed Wei Ying his jacket. “Oh, he’s gonna kill me with that.”

Wei Ying laughed at him, peering over HuaiSang’s shoulder at the message. “Tell him we’re leaving.” He took HuaiSang’s free hand and pulled him out the door, leading him down the hall while HuaiSang typed with one hand.

SangSang
Were on the way

Wen☀️Ning
Okay, I’ll meet you at the stop.

The walk and the bus ride were quick and easy. Wei Ying kept his fingers laced with HuaiSang’s the whole way, huddling together when the bus doors opened and chilly October air blew past them. HuaiSang saw Wen Ning at the stop, sporting a super nice denim jacket, as the bus approached and he squeezed Wei Ying’s hand.

They slipped off the bus as soon as the doors opened and Wei Ying let their fingers slide free to bounce up to Wen Ning and latch onto his arm. “A-Ning, did you wait long?”

HuaiSang approached slowly behind Wei Ying, putting his hands in his pockets. Wen Ning was flushed and beaming.

“No, not long at all. Almost not long enough.” He gave a nervous chuckle. “Let’s go, the building isn’t far.” He stopped and turned to HuaiSang. They blinked at each other before Wen Ning extended his free hand to him.

HuaiSang took it. The three strolled down the road.

“So, my jiejie,” Wen Ning started tentatively. “She’s not really trying to be mean, okay?”

HuaiSang nodded. Wei Ying met his eyes and his brows pulled together. Wen Ning went on.

“She worries about me a lot. Like, in an anxiety way. It’s...um, l-losing our parents made it worse. She doesn’t like living in the city and doesn’t like me being here. Uh.” He blinked, collecting his thoughts. “The thing is, I’ve never dated anyone before?”

HuaiSang’s eyebrows shot up. Oh. Well, he supposed technically Wei Ying was the first person he...dated? Or whatever? So he wasn’t in too much of a different situation. Wei Ying, on the other hand, who had dated briefly but not seriously when they’d not been living together at the beginning of college, looked truly worried by this point.

“So, on top of this being my first real, like, relationship, it’s also not, y’know, very traditional. And she doesn’t fully understand it. So it’s unknown and it stresses her out.”

HuaiSang chewed on his lip. It had been four days since their little night in and the decision on all sides for them to date Wen Ning. It wasn’t exactly that he felt this was happening too soon - he wanted to ease Wen Ning and his sister’s stress, if they could, especially if there was a chance Wen Ning would be away overnight as soon as this weekend - but he did feel like maybe he could’ve known more about Wen Ning as a person before having difficult conversations with his only remaining family member.

“I think we should’ve gone on more dates,” he chuckled nervously. Wen Ning squeezed his hand and frowned.

“I see where you’re coming from.”

“It’s gonna be alright,” Wei Ying said, though both his voice and his expression said otherwise. “It’s just one uncomfortable evening and then we’ll all feel better afterwards, right?”

“I hope so,” Wen Ning replied. “This should help ease her mind a bit. She was demanding to meet you all before I even got home Saturday.”

HuaiSang met Wei Ying’s eyes again. He wished Lan Zhan was there.

“Here we are,” Wen Ning said softly, steering them towards a low, gray building. He punched the code into the pad and opened the door to the stairwell. They all released hands as they climbed the narrow stairs and were quietly thoughtful. Wen Ning led them into the building hall and down to the correct apartment. He sucked in a breath, glanced at the two of them, and opened the door.

“A-Jie.” Wen Ning ushered Wei Ying and HuaiSang inside. “I’m back.”

HuaiSang glanced around as he shrugged out of his jacket and handed it to Wen Ning. The entryway was narrow, which meant he and Wei Ying were elbowing each other quite a bit as they shuffled out of their jackets and shoes.

“With them, right?”

HuaiSang swallowed thickly as Wen Ning led them into the living room. Wen Ning’s sister was smaller than he expected—especially compared to all nearly six feet of her brother. She was tucked up in a corner of the couch with a book in her hand, her brows low and her expression unimpressed. HuaiSang reached unthinkingly for Wei Ying’s arm.

“A-Jie,” Wen Ning started, more composed than he’d been on the street while telling them about her. “Wei Ying and Nie HuaiSang. My, uh, boyfriends…”

Her eyes shot between the three of them. Wen Ning paused only a moment before continuing. “This is my sister, Wen Qing.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you,” Wei Ying greeted her, his voice bright. HuaiSang shot a glance at him, and though his grin was a bit forced, he was holding up well. “Wen Ning speaks very highly of you.”

Wen Qing moved her eyes to her brother. “Where’s he at?”

HuaiSang frowned. He didn’t think Lan Zhan deserved that tone. Apparently, Wen Ning agreed. “A-Jie,” he scolded, “I told you that Lan Zhan has tutoring until seven.”

She pursed her lips and set her book aside, not contesting his statement. HuaiSang cleared his throat.

“If you need help with dinner, I’d be happy to lend a hand,” he offered. Wen Qing almost smiled, a hard little expression.

“I’m not cooking anything,” she scoffed. “Loverboy here would kill me if I touched his precious kitchen.”

“That’s not true,” Wen Ning complained, flushing. “You’re allowed to use the microwave.”

Wei Ying laughed and Wen Qing looked at him. “Sounds like me,” he said, his tone light. “I’m all but banished from the stove. I’m allowed to visit it on special occasions.”

“Hm.” She shifted.

“HuaiSang, you can help me if you’d like,” Wen Ning offered, gesturing towards the kitchen. “I figured if we start now we’ll finish around when Lan Zhan will get here.”

HuaiSang nodded emphatically and then stopped and gave Wei Ying an apologetic look. He smiled back at HuaiSang and patted his hand before prying it off his arm.

“What are you making?” he asked Wen Ning. “No, actually, don’t tell me. I love a surprise.”

Wen Ning chuckled at him. “A-Jie, be nice,” he requested as he led HuaiSang into the little kitchen. HuaiSang watched over his shoulder as Wei Ying boldly approached Wen Qing, their eyes locked. He was almost sorry to be missing out on this showdown.

Almost.

“What are we making?” HuaiSang whispered as he followed after Wen Ning. The kitchen was small, but bright and clean. HuaiSang relaxed a little as Wen Ning turned to smile at him.

“Tofu egg soup, braised pork belly, and a mung bean salad thing my mom used to make.” His brows furrowed. “Will that be okay for Lan Zhan? I want to make sure he gets enough…”

“Of course, that sounds great.”

They slipped easily into moving about the kitchen together. HuaiSang mostly did little helpful things, slicing and prepping and stirring. Wen Ning assured him that it was better than cooking with Wei Ying, which was what really mattered, honestly. Apparently, Wen Qing - despite not being able to cook, herself - was nitpicky about nutrition, so HuaiSang spent a great deal of time slicing some fresh vegetables into perfectly-sized pieces to appease her. He was halfway through his second tomato when two loud bursts of laughter caused both him and Wen Ning to physically jolt.

“Shut the fuck up, you little gremlin!” Wen Qing was cackling from the living room.

“Make me, loathsome demon!” Wei Ying slung back at her.

HuaiSang looked over his shoulder at Wen Ning uncertainly. Wen Ning pursed his lips. “Should we check on them?” he wondered aloud. There was another bout of laughter and HuaiSang frowned.

“They seem fine.” He turned back to his vegetables and Wen Ning chuckled as he turned back to whatever he was cooking. The silence and rhythm fell between them once again, occasionally broken by Wen Qing and Wei Ying’s voices.

“Shoot,” Wen Ning gasped when he saw the time was getting to be a bit after seven. He clicked the stove off. “We should get everything on the table.”

“I’ll enlist Wei Ying to help,” HuaiSang said brightly. He flounced around the corner to see Wen Qing and Wei Ying sitting shoulder to shoulder, heads bent together, with their phones out. As he stared, Wen Qing cursed and shoved Wei Ying’s shoulder.

“Aiyoh!” he complained, tapping something on his screen rapidly. “Wen Qing, look what you made me do!”

“I win,” she cackled back. “Just get better, maybe then you can beat me.”

“Cheater…” he grumbled. HuaiSang cleared his throat and they looked over.

“A-Ying, help set the table?”

“Of course!” Wei Ying brightened up and stood at once. Wen Qing leaned against the arm of the couch.

“Nooo,” she drawled sarcastically. “You’re a gueeest, don’t do wooork.”

“A-Jie,” Wen Ning’s voice scolded from the kitchen and she snickered, settling into her spot and pulling her legs up under her on the couch.

“This is your payback for dating my brother.” She flicked her hand at them. “Go, serve me dinner.”

Wei Ying’s hand twitched like he wanted to flip her off but wasn’t sure they were that close yet. HuaiSang turned to hide his smile. If nothing else, Wen Qing seemed much more relaxed now. Or she was, until halfway through setting the table, there was a knock on the door.

HuaiSang looked up excitedly but glanced at Wen Ning. He gave HuaiSang and Wei Ying a smile before he moved towards the living room, but the door opened before he’d passed out of view. HuaiSang watched him pause, his shoulders tensed.

“Good evening,” they could barely hear Lan Zhan’s quiet voice. “You must be Wen Qing. I apologize for arriving late.”

“That’s all you’ve got to apologize for?” Wen Qing asked, her tone lofty and her voice pointedly loud. Lan Zhan didn’t say anything and Wen Ning was spurred back into motion.

“A-Jie, shut it,” he hissed. The front door closed. “Lan Zhan, we’re glad you made it alright.” His voice got closer and HuaiSang dashed into the kitchen for the last of the things, Wei Ying on his heels. “Dinner’s just ready, you’re right on time.”

Lan Zhan gave a delayed “Mn,” as HuaiSang and Wei Ying set the last things on the table. Wei Ying smiled brightly at Lan Zhan.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, look at all this work we put in.” He gestured to the table. “It’s been exhausting, I hope you appreciate it.”

Wen Qing hit him before HuaiSang could even open his mouth to call him a liar. She was clearly fighting a grin. “Shut the fuck up, deceitful little thing.”

“Make me,” Wei Ying sniffed, taking his seat. Her eyes flashed to her bowl of rice, and for a moment HuaiSang really thought she was going to hurl a handful at him. Instead, she sat down at the head of the table. Wei Ying was on one of her sides and Wen Ning on the other; HuaiSang sat beside Wei Ying and left the spot by Wen Ning for Lan Zhan. Somehow, he felt like that would make Wen Qing’s clearly incoming rant easier.

“We made tofu egg soup,” Wen Ning told Lan Zhan, apparently determined to ignore his sister’s souring mood. He served some into Lan Zhan’s bowl and set it in front of him. “A-Jie, would you like some?”

Wen Qing made a vague noise at him and he spooned some into her bowl as well. Wei Ying and HuaiSang quietly busied themselves grabbing from the other dishes, glancing at each other and Wen Qing and Wen Ning and Lan Zhan but not saying anything. Wen Qing was lounged back loftily in her rickety chair, stirring her soup and staring at Lan Zhan. He spoke after an uncomfortably long silence.

“Wen Qing, I hear you recently took over a primary care practice from a retiring colleague,” he commented.

“Yep,” she responded shortly. Wen Ning glared at her and HuaiSang picked at his mung bean salad. He glanced at Wei Ying with his Fucking Heavens, dude, what should we do, expression, and Wei Ying widened his eyes back in I don’t know, I feel like we’ll make it worse if we try to talk? HuaiSang put a tomato in his mouth and chewed slowly.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying tried a moment later, “have you seen—“

“I’m sorry,” Lan Zhan cut him off. He sighed and set down his chopsticks, straightening his back. “Wen Qing, I would appreciate it if you would be forthcoming with whatever is distressing you. I cannot amend my actions if I do not know which ones were offensive.”

“Lan Zhan,” Wen Ning sighed, but Wen Qing threw a slice of cucumber at him and he closed his mouth. She sat forward a bit and narrowed her eyes at Lan Zhan. He stared back, the image of humility despite refusing to back down. HuaiSang put a hand on Wei Ying’s thigh and relaxed minutely when Wei Ying covered it with his own.

“You…” Wen Qing started, but then seemed to lose what she wanted to say. Her composure was slipping slightly—her brows came together and her lips pressed into a thin line. “You caused him a lot of trouble,” she finally spat.

“A-Jie, no,” Wen Ning hissed and she threw another cucumber at him. He narrowed his eyes at her but Lan Zhan interrupted them.

“I did,” he admitted quietly. “It was never my intention to do so, or to cause anyone confusion. The situation was difficult to navigate, but it doesn’t excuse my poor handling of—“

“Lan Zhan, don’t,” Wen Ning complained, turning to him. “I’m not mad about anything—I never was!” He turned to glare at his sister. “My feelings were my responsibility. I do not need or want you to blame anyone else for my own reaction to the information I was presented with!”

“I don’t have to like him,” Wen Qing grumbled, leaning back again. She picked at her nails. “You have two other boyfriends I can like.”

“Wen Qing,” Wei Ying said softly. HuaiSang squeezed his thigh a little. “Wen Ning isn’t trying to hurt you.” He glanced up at her. “But knowing you don’t get along with Lan Zhan will make him feel like he is.”

“He doesn’t deserve it,” Wen Ning pressed on. Lan Zhan opened his mouth and then closed it a moment later. Wen Ning continued. “The things you’re blaming him for are things he didn’t do, or doesn’t deserve to be blamed for.”

“I hate this conversation,” Lan Zhan muttered. Wen Qing scoffed at him, but he continued as if he hadn’t heard. “I am by no means perfect and not everyone in the world needs to like me.”

“My sister does need to like you,” Wen Ning insisted. “Because the reason she doesn’t is flat-out unfair.”

“What if I just don’t like his stupid demeanor?” Wen Qing grumbled petulantly. She jolted and shot Wei Ying a poisonous glare, and HuaiSang was pretty sure he’d kicked her under the table.

“A-Jie,” Wen Ning said, gazing at his sister beseechingly. “I want to be happy. I am happy. Don’t do this?”

Wen Qing stewed for a moment, biting her lip. “He’s my little brother,” she blurted. “Be nice to him.”

“Always,” Lan Zhan assured her earnestly at the same moment that Wei Ying said “Absolutely, we will.”

“I’ll fucking kill all three of you if something bad happens to him,” she warned, pointing at them all with her soup spoon. Wen Ning rubbed his face. Wei Ying took a breath before responding.

“Wen Qing, we won’t make stupid, naive promises about forever. People change. We may not always be right for each other—any of us.” He paused. “But we’re all committed to doing our best.”

“That’s all anyone can ever ask of anyone,” Wen Ning put in logically.

Wen Qing looked at him sadly. “You’re a grown up,” she muttered to herself miserably. HuaiSang fought a smile. She sounded like Da-Ge.

Wen Qing deflated. “Fine,” she grouched. She mixed her soup violently. “Nobody look at me. Eat your stupid food.”

“Sure,” Wei Ying chirped. He slurped at his soup obnoxiously and gave a hum. “Wen Ning, simply divine. Send me the recipe on Pinterest.”

“Of course,” Wen Ning whispered, biting his lip on a grin. HuaiSang gave Wei Ying’s thigh another squeeze and pulled his hand back. He and Wei Ying shared a little smile. HuaiSang rolled his words around in his head for a moment before setting his chopsticks down.

“Qing-Jie,” he crooned. She lifted her eyes to glare at him and he pouted at her, twisting his hair around his fingers. “Do you like me?”

Wei Ying choked on his soup in his attempt to hold in his laughter. He gripped the edge of the table. Wen Ning let out a hysterical wheeze before quickly cutting himself off. HuaiSang ignored them both, tilting his eyebrows sadly at Wen Qing, and she threw a cucumber slice at him. He yelped as he dodged it, but he didn’t miss her reluctant little smirk. Wen Ning chuckled a few more times.

“Okay, now Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying started again. “Have you seen that fun little freshman in any of your tutoring sessions? I haven’t seen her since last semester…”

“Doctor Yao said she switched concentrations,” Lan Zhan informed him evenly.

“What?! How could she, after all that work I put into her…”

“Gross,” Wen Qing grumbled, smirking at her braised pork. Wei Ying kicked her under the table again and she raised a hand, clicking her tongue at him. “Ungrateful…”

Wei Ying laughed. “Me? Ungrateful? This is slander, Lan Zhan, tell her.”

“Mn. Wei Ying is extremely ungrateful.”

“Lan Zhan! Who died and made you Auntie Yu anyway, Wen Qing…”

“That’s Qing-Jie to you, watch it or I’ll smack you for real.”

“You already smacked me once today! No—ah! Wen Ning, stop her!”

——

“Fuck you, little weirdo.”

“Wen Qing! Wen Qing!” Wei Ying complained from under her foot. She ignored him.

HuaiSang was so busy watching them fight, he entirely forgot to even play the game. His controller hung limp in his hand as he leaned his chin on his palm and watched Wei Ying struggle with his cheek under Wen Qing’s sock, still valiantly attempting to win the race. Wen Qing crossed the finish line and hissed a little “Yesss” before letting Wei Ying off the floor.

“What can I say?” she gloated. “If you want to beat me, get good.”

“You are a cheater,” he spat at her, grinning as he rubbed his cheek.

“And I always win,” she declared proudly. “Maybe you should try it sometime.”

“Okay,” Wen Ning declared, setting his controller aside and standing. “Lan Zhan’s falling asleep in his chair, I think it’s time for you three to go home.”

“No.” Lan Zhan lifted his head and blinked rapidly at them all. “Continue.”

“Not a chance,” HuaiSang chuckled. He abandoned his own seat to go coax Lan Zhan into standing and walking as Wei Ying said his goodbyes to Wen Qing.

“I hope I never cross you in a dark alley. You’re like the vampire witch from my childhood nightmares.”

“She sounds hot, and I’d like it if you gave her my number. You’d better get lost in the wilderness, never to be seen again, because the next time I see you it’s fucking on-sight.”

“Harpy.”

“Scoundrel.”

“A-Jie,” Wen Ning said over his shoulder as he corralled HuaiSang and Lan Zhan to grab their shoes and jackets. “I’m going to step out with them. Be back in ten minutes or less.”

“Fine,” she sighed, falling onto the couch. She let a wave and a drab “Goodnight” serve as her farewells for HuaiSang and Lan Zhan. HuaiSang waved back brightly as he hauled his partner out the apartment door.

“Goodnight, Qing-Jie!” he called. “Thank you for having us over and liking us!”

She scoffed at him and that was the last he saw before Wei Ying stumbled out with his jacket half-on and Wen Ning closed the door.

“I’ll walk you downstairs,” Wen Ning said quietly, starting that way. They all followed.

“That was good, right?” Wei Ying eventually asked as they clunked down the stairs. “She doesn’t hate us. Not really.”

“She doesn’t dislike any of you,” Lan Zhan mumbled. Wen Ning sighed.

“Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying said comfortingly, “Wen Qing’s anger in misdirected. Don’t let her get to you, sweetheart; things will be better the next time you two meet.”

Lan Zhan hummed that hum he did when he was tired and he didn’t really hear what someone said to him. HuaiSang huffed a fond breath and took his arm. Wen Ning opened the door out of the stairwell and they all paused as he held it open there.

“I can walk you to the stop,” he offered, but Wei Ying shook his head.

“Three of us and one of you—it’s safer if you don’t walk alone, sunshine.”

Wen Ning flushed at the nickname and ducked his head. “You’re right.”

HuaiSang hugged Lan Zhan’s arm and gave it a tug. Lan Zhan blinked himself more awake, an easier task in the chilly night, and focused in on Wen Ning.

“Lan Zhan,” Wen Ning started before he could say anything first. “Really, don’t listen to her. She doesn’t mean it.”

Lan Zhan nodded. He stepped forward and HuaiSang let him go. He walked right up to Wen Ning and tilted his face up by the chin, depositing a short kiss on his mouth. “Her tantrum certainly doesn’t matter to me more than you do,” he assured him, and Wen Ning looked ready to melt into the pavement.

“Oh, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying crooned, huddling up close to HuaiSang. They both grinned when Wen Ning flushed and hid his face. “So sweet,” Wei Ying went on to sigh. “What did we do to deserve him?”

“One need not do anything to deserve affection and care,” Lan Zhan said, his staple response to the rhetorical question. Wen Ning rubbed his nose.

“Be safe, all of you,” he told them. “Someone let me know when you get h-home, alright?”

“Of course,” HuaiSang replied. He grinned at him. “See you Saturday?”

Wen Ning nodded as Lan Zhan stepped back. “Saturday. If not...sooner.” His eyes drifted from Lan Zhan to Wei Ying, who was beaming at him.

“Of course,” Wei Ying replied. He gave Wen Ning a silly salute. “Goodnight, love.”

“Goodnight, A-Ning,” HuaiSang called, grabbing Wei Ying’s arm and keeping close to him to escape the chill.

Lan Zhan gave Wen Ning a last tiny smile. “Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” Wen Ning breathed back at them. Reluctantly, HuaiSang turned to start down the street, dragging along Wei Ying, who continued to face Wen Ning and wave and blow him kisses. He didn’t stop until they’d turned the corner.

“So not fair,” HuaiSang huffed. “I want to hang out with Wen Ning on campus.”

“I know, baby,” Wei Ying comforted him. He wrapped an arm around his shoulders and rubbed his arm. Lan Zhan was quiet beside them.

“I’d say there’s always next semester, but I think I have less chance of having any breaks with him my final semester of college…” He kicked a rock, wishing he could say their Discord emotes aloud, because they were the only things that truly understood him.

“Maybe he can fanangle something,” Wei Ying suggested brightly. “There are way more sections of bio courses than your literature stuff, so maybe he’ll have more options.”

“Yeah, maybe,” HuaiSang grumbled. Wei Ying gave him a squeeze and he looked over, refusing to let up on his pout no matter how big Wei Ying smiled at him.

They got to the bus stop and sat down. Lan Zhan leaned against HuaiSang’s side and rested his cheek on top of his head, closing his eyes. Wei Ying laughed at them.

“Sleepy, sweetheart?” he asked sweetly. Lan Zhan nodded, which tugged at HuaiSang’s hair and made him wince. Wei Ying laughed again. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you into bed.”

Bed. “Oh!” HuaiSang jolted and Lan Zhan sat up quickly, looking disgruntled. HuaiSang turned to him. “Lan Zhan, Wei Ying and I realized a dilemma today.”

“Dilemma?” Wei Ying repeated in confusion. Then it dawned on him. “Oh! Oh, yes, help us think up a solution, pleeease.”

“Solution to what?” Lan Zhan asked patiently.

“On Halloween, we want Wen Ning to be able to stay the night,” HuaiSang started.

“Because it’s dangerous for him to be out late at night,” Wei Ying cut in. HuaiSang waved him off; they didn’t need to justify this to Lan Zhan.

“We don’t think there’s room,” he continued where he’d left off. “In our bed. We’re not sure what we should do.”

Lan Zhan hummed. “I’ve thought about it before,” he admitted. HuaiSang relaxed. Good! If Lan Zhan had already been thinking on it, there was no way he hadn’t thought something up. “I have an idea,” he went on, confirming HuaiSang’s suspicion, “but it will take some emotional work, I think.”

“Emotional work?” Wei Ying asked, tilting his head. Every time he did that HuaiSang wanted to kiss him so bad.

“Mn.” Lan Zhan’s eyes slid past HuaiSang to Wei Ying. “Wei Ying, what do you want for your birthday?”

——

“Never have I ever…” Wei Ying hummed, swirling his drink around in its glass. HuaiSang bit his lip and grinned at him. He wondered what Wei Ying had left that he’d never done. “Oh! Never have I ever had a one-night stand.”

The other three blinked and no one lowered a finger. Wei Ying sighed, staring at his last three points. “I’m going to lose.” HuaiSang laughed a little.

“Wei Ying, don’t think of it as losing,” Wen Ning suggested. “It’s like...you have more life experience.”

“A-Sang, your turn,” Lan Zhan reminded him. He still had all ten fingers up. HuaiSang was trying so hard to get him to put one down, but he couldn’t think of something Lan Zhan had done that HuaiSang hadn’t also done. Not after his third glass of wine.

“Never have I ever,” he sighed, leaning against Wei Ying’s side. “Ummm...done a handstand.”

“What?” Wei Ying peered at him. “Really?”

Lan Zhan put a finger down and HuaiSang beamed. “Really,” he replied. “You should know, you saw me in phys ed and stuff.”

“Yeah, but I thought we were all forced to do them that one time your brother caught us sneaking liquor into the house!”

HuaiSang scoffed. “Da-Ge knows better than anyone that I wouldn’t be able to do a handstand for twenty minutes. I’m frail.”

“Never have I ever eaten chicken,” Lan Zhan interrupted them, continuing down the same stupid vegetarian cheater’s list he’d been sticking to the whole game. The other three grumbled and lowered their fingers. Wei Ying sighed, staring at his last point morosely.

“Um.” Wen Ning frowned, glancing between Wei Ying’s one and Lan Zhan’s nine. “Uh, never have I ever been in a high school band.”

Lan Zhan put down another finger, shooting Wen Ning a sideways glance, but Wei Ying still groaned and dropped his hands into his lap. “This isn’t fair,” he sighed. “It’s my birthday, I’m supposed to win.”

“We can play again,” Lan Zhan offered, and Wei Ying shook his head.

“No...you three finish up, see who wins.”

HuaiSang took a sip of his wine. With Wei Ying out, it was his turn. Lan Zhan was down to eight and Wen Ning still had five. HuaiSang, now at three, was totally going to lose. “Neverrr have I everrr,” he drawled, “gotten a tattoo.”

Wen Ning put down a finger. HuaiSang and Wei Ying both gasped and leaned forward. “A-Ning!” HuaiSang cried. “Where, show us!”

Wen Ning flushed, keeping still and silent, and HuaiSang’s jaw dropped. “No way,” Wei Ying whispered. “A-Ning, is it—“

“It’s just kind of stupid,” Wen Ning interrupted quickly. He sighed and hitched his shirt up - giving HuaiSang his first glance of the bare skin of his abdomen and holy shit he wanted to lick him - to show a very small Mars symbol tattooed just below his ribcage on the left. HuaiSang wanted to lick that.

“M-My sister paid for it. Like right after I came out to her as trans.”

“That’s not stupid,” Wei Ying said firmly. He leaned back and pressed his lips together, pulling his legs to his chest. HuaiSang smirked. It was easy, in this position, to think Wei Ying was pissed off. HuaiSang knew what it actually meant.

“Never have I ever eaten a clam.”

“Lan Zhan!” HuaiSang complained. “You’re not allowed to play this game anymore.”

“Uh.” Wen Ning looked like he was still recovering from showing them his tattoo. He reached for his drink and took a gulp. HuaiSang didn’t know how he could drink that shit. Wei Ying had made it, which meant it was full of disgusting shit like chili powder and tequila and Sprite, but Wen Ning seemed entirely unfazed by it. He set his glass down. “Never have I ever taken it up the ass.”

“This isn’t fair,” HuaiSang whined again even as Lan Zhan quietly put down a finger. Wen Ning didn’t miss that. “The odds are stacked against Wei Ying and I.”

“You are simply better-adjusted and more-experienced adults,” Lan Zhan told him, and HuaiSang stuck his tongue out at his sarcasm.

“A-Sang, you’ve got one left.” Wei Ying’s voice was intense as he shifted up close beside him. “You may be out in a second, but you can still take Lan Zhan down. Think, baby, something he’s done that you and Wen Ning haven’t.”

“Why are we trying to bring down Lan Zhan?” Wen Ning asked, his confusion apparent. Lan Zhan and HuaiSang stared each other down. Something HuaiSang hadn’t done. Something Wen Ning hadn’t—

HuaiSang gasped. “Never have I ever kissed Wen Ning!”

Everyone was quiet for a moment as Lan Zhan put his finger down. And then they were quiet after that. Wei Ying and Wen Ning stared at HuaiSang. “You haven’t?” Wei Ying asked.

“Never have I ever eaten squid.”

HuaiSang dropped his hands and turned to Wei Ying triumphantly. “Nope. I did it, are you proud of me?”

Wei Ying chuckled and took his face, giving him a short kiss. “Yes, baby, you did it.”

Wen Ning still had four. Lan Zhan raised an eyebrow at him, and he shrugged. “I’ve also never eaten clam or squid.” He hesitated, glancing over at Wei Ying and HuaiSang. They both looked back expectantly. “I don’t really know why we’re trying to take Lan Zhan down, but...never have I ever fucked Wei Ying.”

HuaiSang covered his mouth. Lan Zhan turned to face Wen Ning properly and put down a finger. HuaiSang gripped Wei Ying’s arm and settled against him. The challenge in their partners’ eyes was tangible.

Lan Zhan was hesitant. “Never have I ever bought tampons?”

Wen Ning laughed at that, but didn’t put down a finger. “Me neither! I can’t figure out how to use them.” He smirked at Lan Zhan. “Never have I ever fucked Nie HuaiSang.”

Four to four. Lan Zhan was on the verge of smiling at that point, but he thought for a long time. “Never have I ever eaten Wen Qing’s cooking.”

Wen Ning frowned and put down a finger. He thought for a moment and took another sip of the sludge in his glass. “Never have I ever had my dick sucked.”

“Oh, he should have to put down two,” Wei Ying whispered loudly to HuaiSang, his voice shaking with poorly-contained laughter. Lan Zhan shot the two of them a Look before putting down a single finger.

“Never have I ever cut my hair above my shoulders.”

Wen Ning sucked in a breath and put down a finger. HuaiSang squeezed Wei Ying’s arm. “Never have I ever slept beside a non-family-member.”

“That will change,” Lan Zhan said firmly as he lowered a finger. Wen Ning flushed red and kept his eyes on Lan Zhan. “Never have I ever kissed a girl.”

Wen Ning shook his head, smiling. HuaiSang held his breath. This was it. The chance for Wen Ning to turn the tides. Two to two, if he could slip ahead of Lan Zhan right now…

“Never have I ever left the country,” Wen Ning tried. Lan Zhan didn’t move, and Wei Ying let out a shaky breath.

“Come on, A-Ning,” he whispered. HuaiSang bit his lip as they watched Lan Zhan contemplate.

“Never have I ever.” He looked Wen Ning over for a moment. “Had a pet.”

Wen Ning smiled, both fingers still in place. “That was a good one, though,” HuaiSang whispered, and Wei Ying nodded.

“Never have I ever had a person throw up on me,” Wen Ning tried, careful to stress person. Lan Zhan froze, his ears going full red, and Wei Ying spluttered a little. Lan Zhan lowered one finger.

“He’s over-eager,” he explained to Wen Ning.

“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying wailed. “Shut up!” Wen Ning was blushing again. Wei Ying reached for his glass of whatever, but it was empty. HuaiSang passed him his wine, and Wei Ying downed it, grumbling as he set the glass aside.

“Never have I ever had an animal throw up on me.”

Wen Ning was also down to his last now, but he grinned widely at Lan Zhan. HuaiSang looked between the two of them. Now was the moment. Now they would hear Wen Ning’s trump card.

“Never have I ever wanted to kiss someone as badly as I do right now.”

Lan Zhan let out a breath and didn’t bother to make a show of putting his last finger down before leaning over and kissing Wen Ning soundly on the mouth. Wen Ning responded strongly, his movements a little bit liquid from the alcohol as he lifted his hands to hold Lan Zhan’s face. HuaiSang squeezed Wei Ying’s arm and laughed.

“Look at that, he beat him.”

“I can’t believe you haven’t kissed Wen Ning,” Wei Ying said, still sounding shocked. “A-Ning!”

“Hm?” Wen Ning pulled back a bit but kept kissing Lan Zhan, their lips tangling lightly and clumsily. Wei Ying went on.

“You haven’t kissed HuaiSang yet! I mean, I’m not trying to tell you what to do, I guess, and the relationship between the two of you is really not entirely my business, but still.”

Wen Ning broke away from Lan Zhan and turned his head a bit to smile at Wei Ying, his cheeks flushed. “I’ll kiss HuaiSang, if that’s what he wants.”

HuaiSang’s cheeks filled with heat as he felt all of his partners’ eyes turn to him. Lan Zhan still had his nose pressed to Wen Ning’s cheek, but he watched HuaiSang carefully. He pushed to his feet, stumbling only a little.

“Um, I’m gonna grab another glass of wine, I think…”

He turned and fled to the kitchen, wine glass in hand. He poured about half a glass and then paused. He looked at the clock. Nearly ten o’clock—holy shit, really? He was surprised that Lan Zhan was still going strong. Since Wen Ning had entered the picture, Lan Zhan had started breaking his bedtime quite frequently. HuaiSang went to the cupboard to collect cups for water, having to go through several before he opened the correct one.

“A-Sang,” Lan Zhan’s voice came from the doorway. HuaiSang jolted just a little before he turned to him.

“Sweetheart, will you help me bring everyone water?” HuaiSang requested to stave off whatever it was Lan Zhan came to say. The other just nodded and came up beside him, grabbing all the cups from him and going to the sink.

HuaiSang leaned against the counter and watched him, sipping his wine. “What does he kiss like?” he asked quietly.

Lan Zhan looked over his shoulder and paused. “If you ask him to kiss you, he will.”

“I know,” HuaiSang squeaked, blushing. “That’s not what I asked.”

Lan Zhan set down the cup he was holding and turned off the sink. He walked up to HuaiSang and leaned down, placing his hands on the counter on either side of him and pressing their lips together. HuaiSang reached out to grab ahold of Lan Zhan’s shirt as he gave him a series of brief, languid kisses, open-mouthed and warm. HuaiSang melted into them, his wine swirling dangerously in its glass, until Lan Zhan pulled away all too soon.

“Like that,” he whispered, raising a hand to grip HuaiSang’s chin lightly. HuaiSang reached blindly behind himself to set down his wine glass - Lan Zhan eventually taking it from him and setting it aside so he didn’t end up just dropping it on the floor - before he and Lan Zhan grabbed onto each other and kissed again, hotter and deeper and—

“A-Sa—Ah.”

HuaiSang reluctantly extricated himself from Lan Zhan and turned to Wei Ying. “Yes, love?”

Wei Ying lingered in the doorway, his hands behind his back. “Are you bringing water?”

“Yes, love,” Lan Zhan answered. Wei Ying smiled a little and backed away.

“Okay.”

He darted out of the doorway and HuaiSang could hear him whispering and laughing with Wen Ning in the living room. He shook his head and turned to look up at Lan Zhan. The other pressed a kiss to his forehead. “Go sit, I’ll get water.”

HuaiSang nodded, staggering back. He grabbed his wine glass and went back to the living room slowly, peering in. Wen Ning sat in the same spot as before with Wei Ying sprawled close beside him, still whispering and grinning. HuaiSang approached slowly and Wei Ying smiled at him. “A-Sang,” he crooned and lifted an arm, gesturing to his lap. HuaiSang set his wine glass on the coffee table and plopped onto the floor before crawling into Wei Ying’s lap.

“Why do you get all the attention?” HuaiSang asked, settling against him.

Wei Ying laughed and lifted a hand to the back of his head, running his fingers through his hair. “Am I getting all the attention?” he teased lowly. HuaiSang turned his face into his shoulder to hide his blush and Wei Ying patted his back. “Besides, it’s my birthday! I’m supposed to get all the attention I want, right?”

HuaiSang hummed noncommittally. “Depends,” he drawled.

“Yes, I suppose that’s right,” Wei Ying conceded, running his hand down HuaiSang’s back.

“I’ll give you attention,” Wen Ning offered brightly, leaning against Wei Ying’s side. He beamed over at him before sticking his tongue out at HuaiSang.

“See, A-Ning loves me,” he sniffed.

HuaiSang sat up indignantly. “I am in your lap. As we speak!”

“It’s a privilege many would fight for!” Wei Ying declared. “You take it for granted!”

Wen Ning laughed at their bickering. HuaiSang watched him. He was loose and bright after three cups of Wei Ying’s sludge concoction, sprawled easily beside them, his and HuaiSang’s legs tangled and his and Wei Ying’s shoulders pressed together. HuaiSang smiled and reached for him. “Ohh, A-Niiing…”

“You’re ignoring me again!” Wei Ying laughed.

“Wen Ning just looked so cute,” HuaiSang whined back, squishing the man’s cheeks between his hands. Wen Ning laughed again, trying to duck his head.

“Hey, hey, pay attention to me,” Wei Ying complained. HuaiSang glared at him.

“You’re safe today, A-Ning,” he said, a warning in his voice. “But next time, I will pinch your cheeks and kiss your forehead to my heart’s content.”

Wen Ning grabbed one of his hands and held it, still grinning. “You have my full permission.”

“Do I want to know what you’re talking about?” Lan Zhan’s voice broke in.

“Like you wouldn’t want to know even if it was something scandalous,” Wei Ying laughed, turning to him. Lan Zhan passed the waters around before sitting down beside Wen Ning. Compared to their earlier sprawl about the room, they were all four grouped much more closely together now, squished into the space between the coffee table and the couch. They were quiet for a bit, everyone dutifully drinking their water. HuaiSang lifted his head from Wei Ying’s shoulder and took a sip, looking over at Lan Zhan. He was visibly drooping now. He leaned heavily against Wen Ning’s side, his eyelids low. HuaiSang hummed.

“Sweetheart, are you tired? Should we go to bed?”

“Bed,” Lan Zhan mumbled, his eyes falling all the way closed. Wei Ying chuckled at him.

“It is long past your bedtime,” he mused. His eyes slid to Wen Ning. “Should we all head that way? I know you volunteer again in the morning.”

Wen Ning hummed, eyes closed contently. “I can sleep on the couch, y’know,” he said softly.

“Unnecessary,” Lan Zhan said as he stood. He held a hand out to Wen Ning. “Unless it would be more comfortable for you.”

Wen Ning flushed a bit and took Lan Zhan’s hand, letting himself be pulled up. “No, if we’ll all fit, then…”

Wei Ying and HuaiSang shared a look before scrambling up to follow after them. Lan Zhan led Wen Ning down the hall to their bedroom and flicked on the light. Wen Ning paused.

“This is untennable,” he voiced somewhat blankly, as though he was simply stating a fact.

“What’s so untennable about it?” Wei Ying asked from beside HuaiSang in mock offense. Wen Ning looked over his shoulder at them. His expression was slightly pained.

“You did not do this for me.” It both was and wasn’t a question. HuaiSang shook his head, walking past him.

“Of course not. This is what Wei Ying wanted for his birthday.” He sighed, sitting on the edge of the second king-sized bed pushed up flush next to the first to create one stupidly large bed that took up most of the room. “Look at him, how could we say no?”

“Impossible,” Lan Zhan agreed sagely. Wen Ning put his face in his hands and Wei Ying laughed, rubbing his back. HuaiSang jumped back up.

“We should get ready for bed. Lan Zhan, brush your teeth with me?”

“Mn.” Lan Zhan let HuaiSang grab him and pull him into the ensuite bathroom. He closed the door most of the way but left it open a crack, lingering nearby. Lan Zhan raised an eyebrow at him and he huffed and held a finger to his lips.

“Wei Ying, you all didn’t need to…”

“‘We all’? I had nothing to do with this! I’m too broke to afford something like this.”

A groan and a string of dismissive noises. “I’m broke, sunshine. Lan Zhan and HuaiSang’s brother are loaded. They need to redistribute their wealth, actually.”

“Yes, but wealth should be redistributed in meaningful, useful, necessary ways, not used for...” He paused. “Ugh, I’m making you feel bad…”

“No, no.” Wei Ying’s voice got even quieter. Lan Zhan turned on the sink. HuaiSang glared at him but Lan Zhan crept back over.

“Suspicious for us to come in here and be silent,” he breathed before straining to hear the conversation. “Did we upset him too much?”

“Shh,” HuaiSang replied. He couldn’t catch everything Wei Ying was saying—something about adjusting to bougie-ass partners and understanding not wanting to be a burden and actually seeing being able to sleep next to all of his loves as a life necessity. It sounded like what he was saying was working, so HuaiSang straightened up, wobbled minutely, and went to grab his toothbrush.

“Seems alright,” he whispered to Lan Zhan. He held out his toothbrush and his partner squirted out some toothpaste for him—a perfect pea-sized amount. He leaned on the counter dizzily as he scrubbed at his teeth.

“Yes,” Lan Zhan agreed. “Wei Ying and Wen Ning understand each other in ways we can’t.”

HuaiSang hummed. He reached over and poked Lan Zhan’s cheek where his toothbrush protruded. “Look at you. Staying up past nine. Wasting water. Eavesdropping.”

Lan Zhan’s ears went red at the last one and HuaiSang laughed. “Whatever would your uncle say?”

“Hm.” Lan Zhan rinsed his mouth. “I don’t care much, honestly.”

HuaiSang smiled. “I like that.”

He threw the door open loudly when they returned to the bedroom. Wen Ning and Wei Ying were curled up on the bed together and Wei Ying was already basically asleep. HuaiSang gave Wen Ning a big grin and was relieved when it was returned.

“A-Ying,” he complained. “Let Wen Ning up, I’m gonna find him pajamas.”

Wei Ying grumbled and Lan Zhan clambered - gracefully, of course - onto the bed to sacrifice himself. He pulled at Wei Ying and he gave in easily, rolling over into his warmth. Wen Ning eased away and HuaiSang tugged on him. The two stumbled over to Lan Zhan’s big stupid walk-in closet - that HuaiSang didn’t resent him for getting to use - and he flipped on the light.

“You can wear some of Lan Zhan’s, I think they’ll fit.” He tried to kneel in front of the little chest of drawers Lan Zhan had tucked in the corner and fell heavily on his ass instead. Whatever. He opened a drawer and started looking through things. Wen Ning crouched beside him to watch.

“HuaiSang?”

“Here.” HuaiSang picked out some of Lan Zhan’s fancy pure cotton et cetera pajamas and held them out to Wen Ning.

“Oh, thank you. Um, HuaiSang?”

“Hm?” He picked some out for himself, too, because he didn’t feel like going back to his and Wei Ying’s room and Lan Zhan’s were comfy and Lan Zhan liked it when his boyfriends wore his clothes, so it was a win-win-win-win. Or whatever.

Wen Ning was quiet for a moment. HuaiSang turned to look at him. Wen Ning’s eyes were nervous as he hesitated beside him and HuaiSang’s breath caught.

He wanted to kiss him. He really wanted to kiss him.

“A-Ning,” he breathed. Wen Ning tilted his head slightly, which was cute, but HuaiSang pressed on. “I don’t wanna be drunk the first time I kiss you.”

Wen Ning blinked, his expression clearing a bit. “Oh.” He sat back. “Oh, love, you’re right, I’m sorry.”

“No, don’t be sorry.” HuaiSang put a hand on his arm.

“If I’ve—been pushy—“

“No,” HuaiSang cut him off firmly. “You haven’t, not at all.”

Wen Ning made an unsure sound. “O-Okay.” He bit his lip. “I’ll go change? I’ll go. Into the bathroom and change. If that’s okay.”

“Of course it is.” HuaiSang reached out to cup his face and, god, he really did want to kiss him, but he also wanted to savor kissing him, but c’mon did it really matter...

He let Wen Ning go and he slipped over into the bathroom. HuaiSang struggled to his feet and returned to the bedroom, schloffing his clothes off absently as he went.

“Can I sleep in the middle?” Wei Ying was mumbling into Lan Zhan’s shirt.

“Anything you want.”

“With Wen Ning?”

“If he wants.”

“He will.” HuaiSang slipped his arms into Lan Zhan’s pajama shirt and climbed onto the bed before he worked on the buttons. He noticed Lan Zhan’s eyes linger on him and shot him a smirk. “A-Ying,” he called softly, scooting closer. “Don’t you want pajamas?”

“Sleep in this t-shirt,” Wei Ying grumbled in response and Lan Zhan chuckled at him, petting his hair. HuaiSang slid up behind Wei Ying and settled against him, humming as he slid an arm over his waist. Wei Ying was successfully distracted and Lan Zhan slipped away to dress down.

“Take your jeans off,” HuaiSang whispered into the side of Wei Ying’s neck. “Or you’ll wake up in three hours super uncomfortable.”

Wei Ying shuddered and glanced over his shoulder at him. “We do need another bed,” he grumbled.

HuaiSang frowned. He didn’t like the sound of that. He pulled back a bit. “Why?”

Wei Ying let out a huff and turned over to push him into the mattress. “For when only some of us want to fuck.”

HuaiSang bit his lip to control his grin. “Take your jeans off,” he breathed again, his voice a bit rougher.

“Take them off for me,” Wei Ying murmured, their lips brushing with every word. HuaiSang’s breath hitched and his hands went to the button on Wei Ying’s jeans, fingers fumbling. Wei Ying groaned lowly and kissed HuaiSang on the mouth. He was clumsy and loose and he tasted like tequila and chili powder, oh, gag—

“Blech,” HuaiSang whined, breaking away. “A-Ying, I can taste that nasty drink on you.”

“Calm down, both of you,” Lan Zhan advised as he made his way back over. He gave them a firm look that said ‘Don’t make Wen Ning uncomfortable,’ and Wei Ying grudgingly pulled away. He struggled to peel his jeans off as Wen Ning reemerged.

“A-Ning,” Wei Ying started excitedly, kicking his leg in an attempt to dislodge the remaining pant leg from his foot. “Sleep next to me.”

“I want to sleep next to you,” HuaiSang whined, for no reason other than to be contrarian.

Wei Ying rolled his eyes. “You can both sleep next to me.”

“What will I do?” Lan Zhan asked innocently. “What if I too want to sleep beside Wei Ying?”

HuaiSang had not been expecting Lan Zhan to join in and he grinned smugly at Wei Ying, who looked lost and distressed because he only had two sides for his three lovers to split.

“You and HuaiSang in the middle,” Wen Ning spoke up. He rubbed his nose when they all turned to him. “You two’re easier to reach over. I could reach over both of you to touch Lan Zhan.” He paused before quickly adding, “Should I want to.”

HuaiSang thought he was going to melt. He started crooning wordlessly and moved towards Wen Ning, raising his hands to - to - to cup his jaw or squish his cheeks or something, but Wei Ying grabbed him.

“Come on, HuaiSang, you got what you want,” he huffed, dragging him to the middle of the bed.

“Who says I wanted this?” HuaiSang asked, with too much laughter in his voice to be believable. Lan Zhan and Wen Ning were still moving about the room a bit, discussing pillows and alarms and whatever it was two tops talked about together. HuaiSang started giggling at the thought. He wiggled closer to Wei Ying and pressed his face into the curve of his neck to hide his undignified little wheezes. The overhead light went off, leaving just one lamp on a nightstand.

“What the hell is so funny?” Wei Ying asked. His voice was fond and HuaiSang felt his clumsy fingers tugging roughly at the knots in his hair. He slapped his hand away, which was met with an indignant splutter from Wei Ying.

“I love us,” HuaiSang sighed. He wrapped his arms tightly around Wei Ying and gave a few more chuckles. “I love all of us.”

Wei Ying’s hands touched his face and lifted it from his neck to press quick, repeated kisses to his temples and cheeks. “I love us too,” he murmured pleasantly.

“Are you being sweet without us?” Lan Zhan asked evenly as he sat on the edge of the bed. He pulled on the covers pointedly and Wei Ying and HuaiSang shifted around to free the blankets from beneath them.

“Not without you,” HuaiSang clarified, “just before you got here.”

“Well, I hope you’ll keep being sweet now we’ve arrived,” Wen Ning put in casually as he settled behind HuaiSang and pulled the blankets up. It was hard to get them properly over all three of them, but Lan Zhan took the place behind Wei Ying and helped. Wei Ying was busy pouting.

“Wen Ning’s not next to me,” he grumbled. HuaiSang gave him a smug little smile and Wei Ying flicked his nose.

“Ow!”

“Shh,” Lan Zhan whispered, wrapping an arm around Wei Ying and nuzzling against the side of his neck. It was almost a sufficient distraction on its own.

“I’m not far,” Wen Ning reassured him anyway. He reached across HuaiSang and brushed his hand over Wei Ying’s cheek. He stared back at Wen Ning blankly. HuaiSang stifled a laugh.

Wen Ning grinned and pulled his hand back. He settled in properly, pressed up close against HuaiSang’s back, and wrapped an arm around his waist to pull him back for a snug fit. HuaiSang’s breath hitched just a smidge and he distracted himself by collecting his hair to move safely out of the way. He liked this—him and Wen Ning facing Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, Wei Ying and Lan Zhan facing him and Wen Ning.

“Wen Ning, you’re, like, ripped,” Wei Ying observed quietly. HuaiSang looked down at the arm wrapped around him. Wei Ying’s fingers carefully traced the cords of muscle under the skin of his forearm. Wen Ning pressed his cheek to HuaiSang’s shoulder as he peered over to see what he was talking about.

“I lift a lot of big bags of animal food,” he chuckled. “Some big animals, too. Dogs can be heavy.”

“Eurgh.” Wei Ying shuddered and pressed back against Lan Zhan, who had all but fallen asleep against his neck at this point. “I bet. Dogs...monsters that walk among us.”

Wen Ning hummed. “They can be terrible, that’s for sure.”

“Wen Ning, you’re so brave,” Wei Ying sighed. He pretended to swoon, jostling Lan Zhan back awake a bit. “You’ll fight off dogs for me, won’t you?”

“Of course he will,” HuaiSang scoffed. He poked Wei Ying in the cheek. “We all will. It’s one of the requirements of joining the polycule.”

“That’s right,” Wen Ning chuckled.

“The what?” Wei Ying asked. Then his expression softened, his confusion quickly forgotten. “A-Sang…” he sighed. He took one of HuaiSang’s hands that laid against the mattress.

“Mn,” Lan Zhan hummed sleepily. HuaiSang watched him press a kiss to Wei Ying’s neck in the low light. “Will always watch out for you, love.”

Wei Ying looked on the verge of tears. “Stop,” he mumbled at Lan Zhan. He just ended up on the receiving end of another little neck kiss, and HuaiSang smirked at him.

“I thought you wanted all the attention?” he teased softly. “It’s your birthday, after all.”

“Happy birthday, Wei Ying,” Wen Ning put in innocently. HuaiSang’s grin widened and Wei Ying looked wronged, Lan Zhan still laving slow kisses down his neck and shoulder.

“You’re all mean,” he accused. Lan Zhan tightened his arm around him, pulling him tighter against him, and HuaiSang watched the minute surprise pass through Wei Ying’s eyes before they glazed over. He shifted. And Lan Zhan told them to behave around Wen Ning.

“Lan Zhan,” he said through a very fake yawn. “Turn the lamp off?”

Lan Zhan gave a long, slow hum, and a solid three seconds passed before he moved away from Wei Ying and to the (now-distant) edge of the bed to reach the lamp. HuaiSang gave Wei Ying’s hand a squeeze.

Wei Ying took the moment of freedom from Lan Zhan’s warmth to scoot a little closer to Wen Ning and HuaiSang. He smacked a solid kiss onto HuaiSang’s mouth before moving to lean over him and kiss Wen Ning. HuaiSang flushed and averted his eyes, even as Wen Ning tightened his hold on him just a bit. He huddled in on himself and waited until Wei Ying settled back into his spot.

“Kisses goodnight,” he explained smugly. Then he smirked at HuaiSang and leaned back in to kiss him again, slow and indelicate. He still tasted like tequila and chili powder and HuaiSang pushed him back after just a few moments, face twisted in distaste. Wei Ying laughed as the lamp finally switched off.

“Indirect kiss,” he chuckled at them in the dark and HuaiSang felt his cheeks flush. Wen Ning’s arm pulled him tight against his chest and he pressed his face into his hair, making an embarrassed little sound.

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan murmured, his voice barely scolding. HuaiSang listened to the sounds of the two of them settling in, just inches away from him. His fingers twitched against the sheets. He lowered his hand to Wen Ning’s against his stomach and laced their fingers together. Wen Ning let out a breath against the back of his neck.

“Goodnight,” HuaiSang said quickly, before he had the chance to get worked up and lose control of his voice. “Lan Zhan, Wei Ying.”

Lan Zhan hummed, already asleep. HuaiSang felt Wei Ying’s fingers on his chin in the darkness. “Goodnight, baby,” he sighed. “And Wen Ning, too, I guess.”

Wen Ning gave HuaiSang’s fingers a squeeze. “This is probably the best night of my life so far,” he whispered. HuaiSang wasn’t sure anyone else heard it. He smiled stupidly to himself and settled further back against Wen Ning. He felt a few light kisses on the side of his neck before Wen Ning fell still and silent. A few moments later, perfectly warm and drunk and comfortable, HuaiSang fell asleep.

——

He woke up overly warm in the dark bedroom. HuaiSang stretched his legs out and rolled onto his back. The fan was off. That was the problem. He sat up carefully and scooted to the foot of the bed. He slid off and went to flip the switch for the overhead fan before returning to the bed.

“A-Sang?” a voice mumbled as he wormed his way back into his spot. Wen Ning’s hand came to rest on his arm and he shifted closer to him. Wen Ning’s voice was deep, having been pulled from sleep. HuaiSang liked it.

“It’s me,” he whispered back as Wen Ning put his arm over his waist and pulled him close, facing each other. He closed his eyes and let out a content breath. With the air moving, Wen Ning’s warmth was now a comfort instead of a sweltering hell, and he was determined to stay there until morning.

Wen Ning pressed his face to HuaiSang’s hair. “Warm,” he whispered. HuaiSang felt a little shiver run through him, something glowing in his ribs. His hands curled into loose fists against Wen Ning’s chest and he tried to burrow impossibly closer to the wonderful feeling he was radiating. Wen Ning’s hand ran lazily down his back and HuaiSang turned his head to press a sleepy kiss to his neck. Wen Ning’s hand changed course. He tilted HuaiSang’s face and dropped a kiss at the corner of his mouth, hesitant. HuaiSang sighed delicately before turning his head to catch Wen Ning’s lips with his own.

Wen Ning was still half-asleep, his kisses slow and languid in the dark. HuaiSang matched him, their pace patient, sleepy, as he shifted to wrap an arm around him. He really wasn’t sure how long they kissed. It was an easy thing; Wen Ning left him room to breathe, allowed him the space to continue or pull back, met him easily when he kept going. HuaiSang was used to a different kind of kissing. He was used to the urgency and desire and thrill of skin-on-skin contact driving him ever-forward and mounting the intensity.

The urgency never came. Maybe it was the weird hour. Maybe it was Wen Ning’s own restraint. He wasn’t sure. He could have laid there for hours basking in the simple, gentle exchange. Even when Wen Ning’s fingers slipped tentatively onto the bare skin at his waist; even when Wen Ning whispered his name. He didn’t need anything more. He didn’t want to leave this bubble, this perfect moment.

He was pulled out of it by Wei Ying squishing up behind him and wrapping an arm around his waist. HuaiSang pulled away from Wen Ning to glance over his shoulder in the dark. Wei Ying’s eyes were still closed, his hair unruly and falling over his face. He hummed and squeezed HuaiSang.

“Having fun?” he whispered. HuaiSang smiled.

“Yes.”

Wen Ning touched his face and he turned back to him. They kissed again, still slow, still deep, and Wei Ying hummed as he settled against HuaiSang’s back heavily. Another immeasurable length of time passed around them.

Wen Ning broke away and sighed, settling an arm over both HuaiSang and Wei Ying. “Back to sleep,” he whispered.

HuaiSang hummed and pulled at him to come closer. This was a problem he was used to—wanting to move closer to one without moving away from the other. Wen Ning shifted as close as he could, his legs tangling with HuaiSang’s and Wei Ying’s. Wei Ying mumbled in his sleep and pressed closer to HuaiSang as well. He held onto Wen Ning and grinned to himself, feeling properly squished and quite satisfied about it. He felt Wen Ning press a soft kiss to his forehead as he drifted off.

——

HuaiSang sat up with a start. The room was bright with morning sunlight and he blinked through it as he peered blearily around the room. There were clothes strewn about the floor. The door was half-open and the distant sounds of someone in the kitchen drifted in to him. He looked down when he felt a tug on his arm.

“Too early, A-Sang,” Wei Ying groaned, pulling him back to lay beside him. “Stay with me a bit longer.”

“A-Ying,” HuaiSang sighed with a slight smirk. “A-Ning will have to leave soon, don’t you want to go find him?”

Wei Ying whined incoherently and clung to HuaiSang. “Bring him here…”

“You want me to drag him back in here?”

“Yes, pleeease…”

HuaiSang sighed and pushed himself up, detangling his and Wei Ying’s limbs, and stumbled out of the bedroom. He could hear Lan Zhan and Wen Ning’s quiet voices as he made his way to the kitchen. He peeked around the edge of the doorway.

“Good morning,” he said softly, and they both turned to him. Wen Ning smiled at him, then paused and flushed and turned away. Lan Zhan gestured for him to enter the kitchen.

“Good morning,” he returned HuaiSang’s greeting. “I’m just getting breakfast sorted. Is Wei Ying awake?”

“Yes—sort of.” HuaiSang looked at the back of Wen Ning’s head and fought back a smirk. “He wanted me to ask A-Ning to go talk to him real quick.”

Wen Ning looked at the two of them. HuaiSang realized he was doing dishes—the cups and things left over from last night. He felt a little swell of affection and guilt. He didn’t need to do that; he should have left it for them to deal with later.

“He wants to speak to me?” Wen Ning asked, his brows furrowing. He dried his hands. “Hm. Be right back.”

HuaiSang leaned against the counter beside Lan Zhan and watched him go. Lan Zhan hummed.

“What does he want to talk about?” he wondered aloud.

HuaiSang clicked his tongue and rolled his eyes. “He wants to make out with him without getting up!”

“Hmmm.” Lan Zhan nodded sagely as he turned back to the eggs he was frying. The rice cooker clicked over to warm and sang its little song.

“Anything I can help with?” HuaiSang asked brightly. Lan Zhan glanced at him. He put down his spatula and wrapped an arm around HuaiSang, leaning down to kiss him sweetly. HuaiSang wasn’t about to complain. He clasped his hand on Lan Zhan’s arm as he reached up to return the kiss.

Lan Zhan straightened up a moment later and tilted his head at him. “Cut fruit?”

HuaiSang would die for this person. “Yes.” He nodded quickly, trying to control his big dumb grin, and went to the fridge to collect fruits.

There was a thud from the bedroom. HuaiSang and Lan Zhan made silent eye contact.

By the time Wen Ning and Wei Ying emerged, breakfast was so ready that Lan Zhan had decided to actually set the table. He and HuaiSang both paused to watch them. Wen Ning was, surprisingly, composed, wearing a pleasant, if thoughtful, expression. He rushed to help Lan Zhan get the last of the things set on the table. HuaiSang was still frozen, staring at Wei Ying.

He was a wreck. His face and neck were still tinted with a slowly fading flush, his hair was wildly mussed with the curls spiraling out randomly, and his legs were shaking. He met HuaiSang’s gaze before quickly looking away and pressing a fist to his mouth.

“A-Ying,” HuaiSang hissed. Wei Ying looked more in his direction, but still not directly at him. “Did he—“ He cut himself off at Wei Ying’s emphatic nod, his jaw falling open.

Lan Zhan cleared his throat as he came back in. “Everyone sit. We have time for breakfast before Wen Ning leaves. Wei Ying, coffee?”

Wei Ying cleared his throat quickly. “Yes, please,” he managed quickly as he found his way to his seat. HuaiSang fell into his own, mind still reeling. He needed the details. Lan Zhan and Wen Ning carried in the coffee and tea pots before sliding into their spots. Lan Zhan, determined to transcend the mood, began dishing things up.

“A-Sang, your plate, I’ll serve you eggs.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” HuaiSang crooned as he passed him his plate. He glanced around the table. “A-Ning, did you sleep well? I know sometimes it’s hard to sleep with so many people crowded together.”

Wen Ning flushed a little, and HuaiSang had to admit that he, too, got a light thrill whenever he remembered those long moments exchanging breath in the dead of night. “I’ve never slept so good,” Wen Ning stated simply. Hearts melted all around. Wen Ning poured himself coffee quietly and HuaiSang watched him. He felt there was more he wanted to say.

“Cream, A-Ning?” Lan Zhan broke into the silence, which caused Wei Ying to splutter a mouthful of eggs into his hand. Wen Ning covered his eyes, his lips twitching, and HuaiSang held his breath. He knew if he so much as breathed a little bit he’d just lose it. He glanced at Lan Zhan, still holding the cream and wearing a long-suffering expression that did little to hide his amusement, and he couldn’t take it anymore. He put his head in his hands and let the laughter stuck in his chest break out.

“HuaiSang!” Wei Ying whined, sounding not too far from hysterics himself. Somewhere under the sound of his own wheezing, HuaiSang could hear Wen Ning laughing as well—choked off, quiet little things, like he was still trying in vain to stifle it.

“I’m sorry, A-Ying,” HuaiSang choked out before breaking down again.

“A-Ning, do you want milk in your coffee?” Lan Zhan pressed on stubbornly.

“Yes,” Wen Ning gasped. HuaiSang lifted his head, sucking in a deep breath, to see all of his partners smiling and chuckling as Lan Zhan poured a healthy amount of creamer into Wen Ning’s mug. Wen Ning stirred his coffee as Lan Zhan fixed up a mug how Wei Ying liked it - Spoiled, HuaiSang thought fondly - and HuaiSang finally calmed down enough to start eating.

“You volunteer at both shelters today?” Wei Ying asked Wen Ning, tone overly casual.

“Yes.”

“You do a lot. Volunteering at two shelters, taking a full schedule of courses, cooking for your family…”

“I enjoy keeping busy—even if it’s hectic.” He hesitated. “I’ve been thinking about cutting back at one of the shelters,” he hedged.

“You certainly shouldn’t spread yourself too thin,” Lan Zhan agreed. “If you need more time for yourself, you shouldn’t feel guilty about taking it.”

“Mn,” Wen Ning agreed ambiguously. HuaiSang narrowed his eyes at him and Wen Ning noticed. He hid behind his cup of coffee.

HuaiSang chewed on a peach slice thoughtfully. What was Wen Ning not yet saying? Lan Zhan and Wei Ying’s conversation faded into the background of his thoughts.

“Lan Zhan, these eggs are fluffy and perfect. Just like you.”

“Have some more, then.”

“I can’t believe my own partner would ignore me flirting with him…”

“I am quite flustered; this courtship is unexpected and throws me off-balance. I will be recalling this exchange all day long, and my heart will beat rapidly every time.”

“Smart-ass.” The thunk of a strawberry hitting the carpet behind Lan Zhan.

“Mm.” Wen Ning glanced at his phone before shoving it in his pocket and draining the rest of his coffee. “I have to go.” He moved to stand and then froze, staring at the table. “The dishes…”

“No,” HuaiSang said firmly, standing up. “Don’t worry, we’ll get them. A-Ning, you’ve already done more than you need to.”

He shot Wei Ying a look and he tried to slide under the table. Lan Zhan turned to Wen Ning. “Thank you for helping already this morning,” he told him sincerely. “Do you have all your things?”

“My backpack.” Wen Ning hurried to the bedroom to double-check that everything was packed away. Wei Ying peeked back over the edge of the table and threw a peach slice at HuaiSang.

“Ow!” It didn’t hurt, but it was sticky, and HuaiSang glowered at him as he wiped his cheek off. “What was that for?”

“Stop making fun of me,” Wei Ying whined. He looked genuinely stressed and he lowered his voice. “He offered, okay? I didn’t even bring it up. Don’t be mean to me.”

HuaiSang sighed. “Love, I know, you wouldn’t…” He shook his head and leaned over the table to pat Wei Ying’s hair. “I’m sorry, I won’t tease.”

“Thank you.”

“Wei Ying,” Lan Zhan said quietly. They both looked at him. “Always tell us when jokes upset you.”

Wei Ying sighed. “It wasn’t the jokes, really. I just...wanted to make sure you didn’t think…”

“Oh, no,” HuaiSang fretted. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel…”

Wei Ying produced a string of noises, waving his hand and returning to his seat. “No, it’s okay, it’s okay. All good now, don’t look like that, A-Sang.” He gave him a smile. “You’ve reassured me. I’m perfectly assured!”

“I’m going to head out,” Wen Ning said, returning to the dining room and slinging his bag over one shoulder. He hesitated and looked around at them all. Wei Ying grinned at him and leaned towards him against the table.

“A kiss?” he requested, and Wen Ning’s shoulders relaxed a tiny bit. He walked forward and gave Wei Ying a quick kiss, then walked around to offer Lan Zhan the same. HuaiSang stood up to meet him halfway for his.

“Have a good day,” HuaiSang hummed.

“Let us know when you get there safe,” Wei Ying threw in.

Lan Zhan stood and wiped his mouth. “I’ll see you to the door.”

“Y-You don’t have to,” Wen Ning was quick to say, something embarrassed in his demeanor. Lan Zhan simply held out his hand, and Wen Ning placed his own into it and allowed him to pull him to the living room.

HuaiSang sat back down with a sigh, watching the two of them slip around the corner. “House already feels empty,” he grumbled to Wei Ying. He hummed in response.

“I know what you mean.” His voice was uncharacteristically dreary. “Like something in my chest has gone missing.”

HuaiSang looked over at him. “Wei Ying,” he whined, leaning towards him. “Hold me until A-Ning comes back!”

“Of course, A-Sang, if you’ll do the same for me!”

They heard the front door open and close and grinned at each other. Lan Zhan came back into the dining room and sighed, tilting his head at them. “Done eating?”

“No,” HuaiSang said quickly, sitting properly in his chair and throwing another bite of eggs into his mouth. Lan Zhan started collecting empty plates and things.

“Then, Wei Ying,” he went on. “Come help me with dishes.”

“Why do I have to,” Wei Ying complained, but he stood and grabbed the coffee and tea pots, pouring the remaining tea into HuaiSang’s cup. They exchanged smiles instead of “thank you” and “you’re welcome.”

Wei Ying’s chatter faded a bit into the kitchen and HuaiSang felt his phone vibrate on the table. He grabbed it when he saw the text.

A-Ning 💞
I’m glad that was our first kiss—or our many first kisses, I guess? I’ll never forget it. I’ll send you my schedules after I tell the shelter my new hours. Will you help me find more times to be with you all?

HuaiSang dabbed at his eyes, sure he must be crying by now. This was why he was thinking of giving himself some free time? To spend it with them? He’d only had Wen Ning - well - technically - known him for about a month, but if anything happened to him, he’d absolutely lose his mind. However, his heartfelt feelings chilled into a guilty dread when he saw the text below.

Da-Ge 💪😩
Are you still dating Wei Ying? I want to come for dinner in a week or two. Will you bring him with?

He put his phone down and sipped his tea, feeling very much like the ground he was digging his hole in was quite soft and the sky was just getting further away.

Chapter Text

“Is it okay?”

“Mhmm.”

Wei Ying held his breath as he slid his fingers down the center of Wen Ning’s chest. He followed the curve along the bottom of his left pectoral muscle. The shift from soft skin to smooth scar tissue gave him a little shiver.

Wen Ning hummed, running a hand up Wei Ying’s thigh. He hooked one finger into the pocket of his jeans while Wei Ying cupped his pec and gave a squeeze. He smiled to himself and glanced up at Wen Ning. “Damn.”

Wen Ning grinned back. “What?”

“Nice fucking tits, Wen Ning.” He paused and glanced up hesitantly. “Is it okay to call them that?”

“Yes,” Wen Ning chuckled. Wei Ying shifted onto his knees on the bedspread. He moved his hands to Wen Ning’s face and pulled him in for a kiss. Wen Ning slid one hand up over Wei Ying’s bare ribs.

The front door opened and Wen Ning pulled away a bit. Wei Ying kept his hold on him, watching his brow furrow in anxiety. He gave him a light squeeze at his shoulders.

“A-Ying?” HuaiSang’s voice called. “Lan Zhan?”

“Just A-Sang,” Wei Ying whispered to him. Wen Ning nodded and relaxed and Wei Ying moved his hand up to rub his still-tight jaw. “Do you want to put your shirt back on?”

Wen Ning made a guilty face. “Yes.”

“Of course.” Wei Ying leaned over to snatch it from the edge of the bed and Wen Ning wriggled into it. Wei Ying leaned back on an elbow casually just as HuaiSang pushed the bedroom door open.

“A-ha.” He raised an eyebrow austerely at the two of them. His eyes raked over Wei Ying’s shirtless torso. “Up to no good in here, are you?” He tapped his chin. “What are we gonna do about this?”

“HuaiSang, are you pretending to be a cop right now? Zero out of ten, super unsexy.”

HuaiSang flushed and crossed his arms. “No I wasn't pretending to be a…” He tsked at Wei Ying and turned to Wen Ning instead, smiling at him. “Hello, A-Ning, I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“And yet, here I am.” Wen Ning grinned at HuaiSang and shifted to reach for him. HuaiSang leaned in for a kiss and smiled dreamily at the two of them.

“Should we make dinner?” he suggested. “Surprise Lan Zhan when he comes home?”

Wei Ying waved a dismissive hand, leaning back again. “No, don’t look at me. You all hate it when I cook.”

“That’s not true,” Wen Ning insisted. “I like the things you make.”

HuaiSang scoffed and tried to cover it with a cough. “A-Ning and I will cook, then,” he sniffed at Wei Ying. “You just sit here and be miserable, why don’t you.”

“Nooo,” he whined back, moving to the foot of the bed and pulling HuaiSang towards him. “You have to let me watch, at least.”

HuaiSang opened his mouth and then closed it again as a pale pink flush filled his cheeks. Wei Ying smirked.

“What?” he prodded. “What were you going to say? Too chicken to make dirty jokes with Wen Ning in the room?”

“A-Ying,” HuaiSang hissed, flicking him on the forehead. Wei Ying yelped and leaned away and HuaiSang stomped to the door.

“Whatever, I’m gonna go see what’s in the kitchen,” he grumbled as he made his retreat. Wei Ying kept smiling after him.

Wen Ning glanced at Wei Ying. “Sorry,” he mumbled, and Wei Ying waved him off.

“No need to be sorry, sunshine.” Wei Ying shifted close and gave him a last, lingering kiss. “Another day.”

Wen Ning leaned forward as Wei Ying pulled away, as though chasing the contact, and Wei Ying grinned as he searched for his shirt. Wen Ning slipped out to join HuaiSang in the kitchen. Wei Ying grabbed his shirt from the floor and rolled onto his back on the bedspread, closing his eyes with a solid sigh.

He listened to the sounds from the kitchen. The muffled thumps of cupboard doors and the clink of utensils against pans and dishes. The quiet running of the sink, there and then gone a moment later. His boyfriends’ voices, bright and sweet.

Wei Ying opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling as he laughed at himself. How strange and wonderful, he thought, to not only receive love directly, but to be entirely ensconced in it, to hear and see it between the people he adored, every day of his life. He closed his eyes again and laid there a moment longer, drinking it in.

——

He probably should have known from the moment HuaiSang asked him.

“A-Ying?” he’d crooned, his voice dripping honey that Wei Ying swore he could taste on his lips. He lapped into his mouth slowly, savoring the phantom flavor.

“Hn?” he finally responded when HuaiSang didn’t go on. He had him up on the kitchen counter, one of his favorite places to kiss HuaiSang now that they had counters stable enough for it. What Wen Ning and Lan Zhan didn’t see wouldn’t hurt them, anyway.

HuaiSang hummed and pulled back. He was twisting and untwisting a lock of Wei Ying’s hair around his finger. Wei Ying gazed at him, feeling light, intoxicated on HuaiSang’s charms. “Da-Ge’s dragging me out to dinner next week.”

Wei Ying hummed back and kissed his pretty, pink lower lip. “As he does,” he prodded, wondering where HuaiSang was going with this. HuaiSang didn’t respond for a moment, kissing him back slow and sweet and apparently rather distracted with rubbing at a scratchy bit of stubble Wei Ying had missed while shaving, under the corner of his jaw.

“He wants you to come with,” HuaiSang breathed when they parted for air a moment later. Wei Ying paused, biting his lip, and then got distracted.

“Are you wearing lipgloss?”

HuaiSang huffed and rolled his eyes. “Yes.”

“So that’s what that flavor is.” Wei Ying pressed his lips together and scrunched his face up at the sticky feeling. Not for him, but it did make kissing HuaiSang a lot of fun.

“A-Ying,” HuaiSang whined. “Did you hear what I said? Also how are you just noticing—“

“Yes yes, your scary brother wants me to go to dinner with him for the first time in years.” He pouted at HuaiSang. “Just me? Why just me?”

HuaiSang averted his eyes. “He knows you,” HuaiSang whispered.

In a week, Wei Ying would look back on that line and choke with laughter. On that day, he just melted at HuaiSang’s pleading eyes, still drunk off the tender feeling of his hands on him, and said “Of course I’ll go, baby. Whatever you need,” and kissed his boyfriend’s face and neck until he was smiling and whispering with him again.

——

“Be safe.”

“Always,” Wei Ying replied easily, sliding his arms around Lan Zhan’s neck as he continued to kiss him goodbye. Lan Zhan indulged him a moment before pulling back.

“I don’t mean on the way over,” he said softly. That made sense; Nie MingJue never let his brother on public transport when they had their little dinners. He’d already called for a cab to pick them up. Lan Zhan paused and Wei Ying rubbed his fingers over his cheeks, watching the little furrow in his brow deepen. “You are...wary about Nie MingJue,” he said with a careful glance at Wei Ying. He just rolled his eyes.

“Oh, don’t worry, Lan Zhan. He’s big and silent and strong and scary, but so are you and you still like me.” He smirked a little. “Nie MingJue knows me. He’s known me since HuaiSang and I met in middle school. I’m pretty sure nothing I do can surprise him anymore. And if he was going to kill me for dating his baby brother, I think he would have done it by now.”

Lan Zhan hummed noncommittally and kissed him again. HuaiSang bustled into the room behind them.

“Okay, the car’s outside.” Wei Ying stepped away from Lan Zhan and watched him scoop up HuaiSang, pressing kisses down the side of his face. HuaiSang squeaked and squirmed.

“Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, quit,” he laughed. Lan Zhan let him go and HuaiSang shot him a big smile. Wei Ying took his hand.

“We’ll text you when we’re on the way home,” he promised Lan Zhan.

“Don’t have too much fun without us,” HuaiSang put in with a pout. Lan Zhan’s lips twitched into an almost-smile.

“Just required readings.” He followed them to the door. “I love you,” he added softly.

Wei Ying felt all his bones turn to peach jelly. He abandoned slipping on his shoes in favor of taking Lan Zhan’s face and giving him one last kiss. “Love you too, sweetheart.”

“Me too.” HuaiSang gave Lan Zhan a dreamy look as he passed Wei Ying his jacket. “Be back later.”

“Mn. Have fun.”

They slipped into the hallway and Wei Ying held HuaiSang’s hand again as they made their way to the elevator. He looked him over as they waited for it to arrive. His sweater was high-necked and slim-fitting, his jacket billowy in comparison. He was starting to wear more make up—his eyes were lined with subtle brown and his lips tinted just a shade redder and darker than usual. He let HuaiSang interrupt his staring to pull him into the elevator.

“You look pretty today,” he told him as the doors slid shut. HuaiSang tried and failed to hide a grin.

“You look okay,” he huffed back, and Wei Ying squeezed his hand and nuzzled the side of his face. HuaiSang whined and tried half-heartedly to shove him off until they reached the ground floor.

For the second time, Wei Ying got to enjoy riding in the backseat of a car with Huaisang. He sat a little too close, slipped his arm behind his back and around his waist, and was pleasantly surprised when HuaiSang didn’t even pretend to push him away. Wei Ying smiled to himself and answered the polite chatter of their driver, his boyfriend warm against his side.

He didn’t start to feel nervous until they were stepping out at the restaurant. He rubbed his hands together in the chilly air before offering his arm for HuaiSang to take. “Is he already here?” he asked, keeping his tone light.

“Yes.” He glanced at HuaiSang and was surprised to see that he looked even more nervous than Wei Ying felt. He rubbed his arm.

“It’ll be alright,” he assured him as they stepped inside. “Are you worried he’ll say something bad about Lan Zhan and Wen Ning?”

“Um.” Wei Ying couldn’t read the expression HuaiSang was wearing. Some kind of guilt or dread, he thought? “Something like that…?”

“Reservation?” the hostess called to them politely, pulling Wei Ying reluctantly from the conversation.

“We’re meeting someone. Nie?”

She led them through the restaurant and Wei Ying looked around, quirking an eyebrow. It was swanky, upscale with fancy lighting and weird-shaped paintings. As far as he knew, Nie MingJue had never cared for stuff like this, but he took a glance at HuaiSang and thought he might have understood why Nie MingJue chose places like this to take his little brother. HuaiSang was also taking in the restaurant’s ambiance, but his eyes were appreciative rather than bewildered, and in his little get-up he fit right into the scene. Wei Ying resisted the urge to reach over and squeeze his hand as the hostess gestured to their table.

Nie MingJue looked up. Wei Ying had always carried with him the general, vague knowledge that Nie MingJue was quite a bit older than HuaiSang. But he could never remember by exactly how much, and he hadn’t seen him in person for longer than a glimpse through a window or a flash on a video chat in close to three years.

He really looked like he could be his father. Not that he looked old, necessarily, just that he looked...like an adult. His long hair was pulled into a tight braid, his expression not dull, necessarily, but quiet. His clothes probably weren’t helping his case, either—he looked like he’d just stepped out of an 80’s movie, with his boxy olive blazer over his tan sweater. Wei Ying couldn’t tell if the retro look was intentional and attractive or just whatever Nie MingJue had lying around.

“Da-Ge,” HuaiSang greeted with a fragile brightness as he took his seat. Wei Ying pushed his chair in for him, which made HuaiSang blush even as he gave him a mocking little smirk, before sliding into his own chair. He shot Nie MingJue his most annoying grin.

“Da-Ge,” he echoed, he and HuaiSang snickering as Nie MingJue rolled his eyes at him.

“Wei Ying,” he rumbled back. “It’s been a while.” That appeared to be all he could spare for him before turning his attention to his little brother. “A-Sang, how have you been?”

If Wei Ying thought he looked like HuaiSang’s father before, now it was almost heart-wrenching. The affection and concern Nie MingJue managed to convey with just his expression and a common greeting—it made him miss his sister. Achingly so.

“I’m fine, Da-Ge,” HuaiSang waved him off, though Wei Ying could still detect something uneasy about him. “Just regular school stuff—except turned up to ten, gearing up for my final semester and all.”

Nie MingJue gave him a doubtful look. Their waiter bustled up and asked for their drink orders, which Wei Ying and HuaiSang scrambled to give, and then gave them another moment to look over the menu. Wei Ying opened his menu folder and watched their conversation over the top, keeping quiet.

“You almost never answer texts anymore,” Nie MingJue grumbled. “Or when you do, it’s hours later.”

“I’m in class and studying,” HuaiSang sighed. That was pretty convincing, Wei Ying thought, considering that he knew what HuaiSang actually spent a great deal of his time doing—goofing off with himself and their partners. “You know, you don’t have to freak out every time I take longer than 20 minutes to respond to you.”

“You should feel some pity for your poor brother.” Nie MingJue set his menu aside and looked at HuaiSang balefully. “Not only do I not get to see you anymore, but now you don’t even text…”

HuaiSang groaned. “C’mon, Da-Ge, don’t be a baby. I swear to try harder, how’s that?”

“And call me.”

“Sure.” HuaiSang flipped his hand around dismissively. The waiter came back for their orders. Wei Ying quickly scanned the menu as the brothers ordered and picked something that didn’t appear to have anything weird in it.

“Wei Ying, how are your siblings?” Nie MingJue asked. He sat a little more casually now that their orders were placed, less tense. Less intimidating.

“They’re both doing well.” Wei Ying smiled at him. “Jiejie says hi, and that she’ll never forgive you for ditching her to move to Qinghe.”

Nie MingJue’s mouth curled up on one side. “Tell her I’ll pay her a visit soon.”

“She’ll say that’s what you always say.”

“Then for real, this time.” He shifted and glanced between Wei Ying and HuaiSang. “I’ll be going to the Jiangs’ stupid…” He waved a hand. “Thing for the lunar new year.”

“Oh.” Wei Ying brightened up. “I hadn’t even been thinking about that yet, but…” It was getting steadily closer.

“And what of Jiang Cheng?” Nie MingJue scoffed a little, still smirking just a bit. “No messages? How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing fine—hammering away at his degree so hard he barely even calls to complain about me anymore.” He grinned. “But no messages, no, that prick. Oh, but Lan Zhan says hi!”

HuaiSang raised a hand, nibbling at one of his neat nails. Nie MingJue frowned just slightly, a confusion settling between his brows. “Your roommate says hi?”

Wei Ying tilted his head at him. “Yes,” HuaiSang cut in quickly. “Aha, we told him where we were going, of course, so he just told us to tell you hello…”

“That’s polite of him.” Nie MingJue sipped his water, undisturbed. Wei Ying could not say the same for himself. He looked over at HuaiSang and swallowed loudly, his eyes wide and accusatory. HuaiSang winced at him, looking very much on the verge of breaking, and Wei Ying was conflicted, unsure if he should focus on his panic, his concern for HuaiSang, or scolding him vehemently for not telling his brother about his partner of over half a year. Or, presumably, Wen Ning either.

“Da-Ge,” HuaiSang started, his voice falsely cheery. “Tell me about that new thingy you guys started distributing.”

“You mean the household line? HuaiSang, we started that months ago. I’m going to make ZongHui start Cc’ing you on all company-wide memos…”

“Nooo, Da-Ge, you know I won’t read them! I’d rather hear about it from you, anyway.”

Nie MingJue huffed. “Well, what do you want to know? Ask me a genuinely competent business question and I’ll eat dessert this time.”

“You should eat dessert anyway! It’s good! Um, uh, what are the, uh, profit margins on the, um…”

Wei Ying stayed mostly quiet throughout dinner because he wasn’t sure what he should say. He could see Nie MingJue shooting him weird looks but he wasn’t sure how to make him stop because he wasn’t sure what kind of face he was making. He ate and he answered direct questions and he tried to smile when someone looked at him. HuaiSang was getting more and more tense beside him. As dinner dragged on, Wei Ying wasn’t sure he was going to make it to the end.

Finally the waiter dropped off the bill and Nie MingJue paid. Wei Ying was pretty sure he wasn’t in his seat anymore as he waited for him to sign the receipt. He looked up at the two of them. “I can drop you two off.”

“No,” Wei Ying said quickly. Nie MingJue raised an eyebrow at him and he chuckled nervously. “There’s a really nice park in this area, I thought A-Sang might like to walk it.”

Nie MingJue glanced from Wei Ying to HuaiSang, his eyes heavy and questioning. “Yes, that sounds great,” HuaiSang managed, though he sounded too stressed. Whatever. Wei Ying just needed to get him away from Nie MingJue and talk to him.

Nie MingJue didn’t look pleased but he didn’t say anything. He gave a little huff and stood to lead the way out of the restaurant with Wei Ying and HuaiSang trailing behind him.

“Well,” he sighed as they stepped out onto the cool, dark street. “This was great.” Wei Ying genuinely couldn’t tell if he was being sarcastic or not. “Wei Ying, maybe I’ll see you next time, too.”

“Of course,” Wei Ying agreed quickly before biting his lip. That was ominous wording.

Nie MingJue hesitated beside HuaiSang. They stared at each other before Nie MingJue’s shoulders sagged and he just patted him on the back. “Keep safe, okay? Try to call sometimes.”

“It’s just a month,” HuaiSang tried to laugh him off. Wei Ying winced at the off-kilter sound of it.

Nie MingJue waved a bit before slouching off towards his car. Wei Ying watched him go before turning to HuaiSang. He held his hand out to him. “Let’s walk.”

“It’s late,” HuaiSang tried. Wei Ying raised an eyebrow at him and HuaiSang gave up, walking down the block with him towards the little city park. They were quiet on the street and stayed quiet as they walked the gravel path among the little trees and shrubs. Everything was bare and brown by this point of the year; straggly, thin branches barely clung to their last leaves, the others scattered on the ground and crunching underfoot. The park was mostly dark, and Wei Ying waited until they approached one of the sparsely-placed lamps to speak.

“You should have told me he didn’t know ahead of time,” he scolded HuaiSang lowly. HuaiSang wouldn’t look at him, kicking at the gravel and scratching his head.

“Yeah,” he eventually agreed. “I’m...I’m sorry, I didn’t know what to do.”

Wei Ying stopped walking in the halo of light from the lamp. HuaiSang stopped as well and finally looked at him. Wei Ying tried to keep his voice gentle.

“HuaiSang, you have to tell him.”

HuaiSang looked away, chewing on his bottom lip. “I dunno, I just…”

“You have to.” Wei Ying stared at him. “You’re gonna keep this a secret? How long? How do you think he’s going to react to this in five fucking years?”

HuaiSang flushed, his shoulders tense. “You haven’t told Yu ZiYuan,” he spat back petulantly.

Wei Ying blinked and reeled back. Was he fucking serious? “Auntie Yu,” he ground out, slowly losing control of his voice, “will kick me out of the fucking family! It’s not the same!”

“How is it not the same!”

“If she finds out, I will lose my brother and my sister and my fath—“ He cut himself off, grinding his teeth. “These aren’t comparable, HuaiSang, and you know it!”

“You don’t know how Da-Ge will respond!” HuaiSang yelled back. “He’s gonna—flip out, when I just confirmed for him about you he was—he tried to drive out same-day! He didn’t sound happy!”

“He’s not going to disown you!”

“It’s not about that!” HuaiSang wiped roughly at one eye, a wet streak appearing across his cheekbone. “It’s—the disappointment and the—he—“ He choked on a sob and forced a breath. “I don’t want him to look at me like that! Kid brother, doesn’t know shit, makes questionable decisions, puts himself in bad situations, gets himself in trouble, needs his older brother to mother him his whole goddamn life!”

HuaiSang stopped and shuddered on another sob, pressing the heels of his hands against his eyes. Wei Ying let out a breath—it clouded in front of him in the cold November air. “HuaiSang.”

“I’m happy,” he sobbed, the irony not lost on Wei Ying. “I won’t be if he says anything shitty about this. I don’t want to risk it!”

Wei Ying stepped forward. He placed a tentative hand on HuaiSang’s shoulder and the other man grabbed him, squeezing him tight. Wei Ying held him in return, pressed his face into his hair, both of them letting the emotions pass. Wei Ying waited until HuaiSang was more still and quiet before he spoke.

“Honey, you are not happy.” HuaiSang let out a muffled wail that wasn’t a refutation. Wei Ying raised a hand to the back of his neck, rubbing gently. “You want to go to dinner with your brother every month and tell half-truths? Hide in a corner of the apartment on video calls with him?”

HuaiSang just whined and Wei Ying sighed. “Don’t you want to tell him about them?” he asked quietly. HuaiSang’s hands tightened on the back of Wei Ying’s jacket. “Don’t you want to tell him what law school Lan Zhan gets into? Show him those cute pictures of Wen Ning at the shelter?”

“Yes.” HuaiSang still sounded reluctant, but he also sounded resigned. He moved away from Wei Ying a bit, wiping at his eyes. Wei Ying smoothed his hair out of his face.

“He will find out somehow, someday. You’ve gotta tell him, yourself, willingly.” HuaiSang closed his eyes and nodded and Wei Ying hesitated. “I mean, like, now.”

HuaiSang whined. “Now?”

“Baby, trust me, the sooner the better.”

HuaiSang groaned. “He left, he’s headed back to Qinghe…”

“Call him.” He reached around and slipped HuaiSang’s phone out of his back pocket and pressed it into his hand. “Tell him to come back. He will.”

“It’ll make him mad,” HuaiSang stressed. “He’ll react worse—“

“No.” Wei Ying kissed his forehead. “It won’t make him mad, I promise you.”

HuaiSang hesitated. “He comes back and then what? Where do we meet him?”

Wei Ying thought for just a moment. “Our place.” He grabbed his own phone from his jacket pocket. “You call him, and then I’ll call Lan Zhan. I’ll tell him to go get Wen Ning—or meet him halfway, or something. So you can tell Nie MingJue without them there yet.”

HuaiSang’s hand shook. “A-Ying…”

Wei Ying pulled HuaiSang close and he buried his face in Wei Ying’s neck. “I’m here. No matter what.”

HuaiSang took a breath and pulled away just enough to tap at his phone. He closed his eyes when he jabbed his brother’s contact and seemed disappointed that his aim was perfect. He lifted it to his ear while it rang, his free hand holding onto Wei Ying.

“A-Sang, I’m driving,” Wei Ying heard Nie MingJue’s voice say in lieu of a greeting. His tone was somewhere between exasperated and concerned.

“I know.” HuaiSang tried to clear his throat and the sound was teary. “Um—“

“What’s wrong? Are you okay? Where are you?”

“We’re—I’m—I’m fine, Da-Ge.”

“No, you’re not. What’s wrong?”

Wei Ying tucked some of HuaiSang’s hair behind his ear, watching him. HuaiSang chewed on his lip for a bit. “Can you come back?” he asked quietly.

Nie MingJue was quiet for a moment. “If—Wei Ying did—“

“No!” HuaiSang looked ready to cry again and Wei Ying put his hand back on his neck, rubbing gently. “No, he’d never. He’d never do anything bad to me. Da-Ge, I have something I want to tell you.”

“What is it? A-Sang, tell me, what’s wrong?”

“Please come back?” The tears might actually have been helping, at that point, Wei Ying noted. “I want to explain it in person.”

“I’ve already turned around. HuaiSang...where should I find you?”

“Our apartment. You still have the address?”

“Yes. Be there in twenty minutes.”

“Thank you. Bye.”

“A-S—“

HuaiSang hung up and threw his phone into a patch of nearby grass. Wei Ying looked between HuaiSang and his phone for a moment, half-amused, until HuaiSang shuffled over and bent to pick it back up. Wei Ying tried not to laugh at him as he quickly called a cab using his app.

“Car on the way,” he told HuaiSang. “I’ll call Lan Zhan real quick.” He stepped closer to the street, so he could see the car when it came up, raising his phone to his ear as he waited for Lan Zhan to pick up. HuaiSang bumped into his back and wrapped his arms around him. Wei Ying looked over his shoulder.

“Hold me really close in the backseat?”

“Of course, A-Sang.”

Lan Zhan picked up. “Wei Ying.” His voice was so warm and fond, it made him feel like everything was alright and nothing was anxiety-inducing. “Are you on your way home?”

“Yes, we are, but, um, about that.” He looked up and down the street. “Will you leave the apartment and go pick up Wen Ning?”

Lan Zhan was quiet a moment. “Pick him up from where?”

“His house—might want to text him first.”

“Wei Ying?”

“HuaiSang’s brother is going to stop by.” He saw the car coming and he tapped at the hands around his belly. “We want to talk to him alone first.”

Lan Zhan was quiet another moment. “Ah,” he finally said. There was something in his voice - everyone and their tone of voice, today! - something like disappointment. “Yes, I’ll be out the door in a few moments.”

“Thank you, sweetheart,” he sighed. He opened the car door and covered the speaker on the phone to speak to the driver. “Who are you here to pick up?”

“A Wei Ying?”

Wei Ying nodded and ushered HuaiSang into the car, climbing in after him. The driver started off towards the pre-requested location and Wei Ying spoke to Lan Zhan again. “Sorry—to spring this on you.”

“No need for sorry. I will text you when A-Ning and I get off the bus. Tell me if we should wait longer.”

“That sounds perfect.” HuaiSang lifted Wei Ying’s arm and settled heavy and warm against his side. Wei Ying held him around his shoulders. “See you soon. Love you.”

“I love you, too—HuaiSang as well.”

“I’ll let you go.”

“Yes. Be safe.”

The line cut out and Wei Ying sighed as he dropped his phone into his lap. HuaiSang was quiet, and now that the plan was in motion and he was sitting still, Wei Ying had the chance to feel anxious. What would Nie MingJue think about all this? Would he be very angry at HuaiSang for keeping it from him? Angry at the rest of them for not realizing he was keeping it from him?

He rubbed HuaiSang’s arm and tried not to think.

The apartment was empty when they got there and it felt strange in Wei Ying’s chest. He was starting to feel bad about asking Lan Zhan to leave. They’d barely gotten their shoes off when HuaiSang grabbed his arm.

“A-Ying.” He chewed on his lip and Wei Ying put his hand under his chin, using his thumb to pull HuaiSang’s lip from between his teeth before he hurt himself. “Uh, I’m sorry about what I said about you telling Madam Yu. You’re right, they’re not the same at—“

There was frantic knocking at the door. HuaiSang grabbed Wei Ying’s arm. “He’s mad,” he whispered. Wei Ying patted his hand.

“You haven’t even told him anything yet. He’s worried. Go sit.” He waved HuaiSang into the living room as Nie MingJue knocked again, louder. Wei Ying took a moment to plaster a smile on his face before he opened the door.

Nie MingJue put a hand on the door to hold it open. “Where is he? What’s wrong with him?”

Wei Ying tried to laugh. “Nothing’s wrong, you both need to calm down. Come in.”

Nie MingJue was giving him a look that said ‘I Do Not Trust You Right Now, Not Even One Little Bit’ as he stepped out of his shoes. He pushed past Wei Ying - rudely! - and guided himself to the living room. HuaiSang was pacing and Nie MingJue went to him immediately. He stopped short, hands hovering, and eventually placed them on his shoulders.

“Da-Ge,” HuaiSang greeted him meekly.

“Tell me what’s wrong right now.” Nie MingJue’s voice shook and Wei Ying lingered on the edge of the scene, unsure what to do. “HuaiSang, I should’ve known, everything’s felt weird for a few months, tell me what’s going on.”

“Nie MingJue,” Wei Ying tried to break in, “why don’t you sit down? Just let HuaiSang talk to you.”

Nie MingJue looked over his shoulder and narrowed his eyes at him but he let go of HuaiSang and sat in the armchair in the corner. It was way too small for his muscled frame and made him look ridiculous, but he just focused on the two of them. Wei Ying made HuaiSang sit on the couch and sat himself beside him.

“Da-Ge, uh.” HuaiSang twisted his hands together. “There’s something I’ve been keeping from you.”

“Are you sick?” Nie MingJue broke in immediately, leaning forward. “Is…” His eyes flicked between them doubtfully and he frowned, gesturing vaguely to the outside world. “Is someone pregnant?”

“No!” HuaiSang turned bright red. “No, it’s nothing like that, it’s nothing bad!”

“If it’s nothing bad, then just tell me before I have a fucking aneurism!”

“I have.” HuaiSang struggled with it for just half a second. “Two more partners.”

A silent beat passed and HuaiSang groaned, dropping his head into his hands. Wei Ying cleared his throat. “We,” he corrected under his breath. “We have two more partners…”

Nie MingJue’s expression was stuck somewhere between concern and confusion, his mouth half-open. “Partners?”

“Yes,” Wei Ying babbled helpfully. “Wen Ning and Lan Zhan, our boyfriend and our partner. Lan Zhan you’ve heard of, it seems, though under false pretenses as our—“

“You’re living will all of them?” Nie MingJue’s eyes were stuck on HuaiSang, who refused to look up. “I don’t—“ He blinked at HuaiSang and then at Wei Ying, his expression blank. Wei Ying tried to keep smiling pleasantly.

“Not both of them—just Lan Zhan!” He laughed but the sound was off.

Nie MingJue blinked and glanced around the apartment. Wei Ying was almost certain he could see him doing the math of their lease term before he turned his attention back to HuaiSang, bewildered. “How long, A-Sang?”

“Just!” HuaiSang finally lifted his face. “Just a-a few months, not that long.”

“Since when?”

HuaiSang thought for a moment, growing more panicked. “April…?”

“Huai—“ Nie MingJue cut himself off and Wei Ying thought he'd try his hand at being helpful again.

“Well, Wen Ning we got involved with just recently, maybe...maybe a little over a month ago? Sweetest guy, Da-Ge, you’ll—“

Nie MingJue groaned and put his head in his hands, mirroring HuaiSang’s anguished posture. Wei Ying closed his mouth and watched them appraisingly. They made a fine pair of brothers, upsetting each other like this.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” Nie MingJue’s voice came a moment later. Wei Ying looked over at him but HuaiSang didn’t move.

“I...I don’t know.” HuaiSang was clearly crying again and Wei Ying rubbed his back without thinking about it. “I didn’t want you to get all—all protective and worried and—“

“I’ve been worried!” Nie MingJue raised his head and Wei Ying was surprised to see wetness clinging to his eyelashes as well. “You never call, you hardly answer mine, your texts are short and vague. I thought something was wrong!”

“I didn’t know what you’d say,” HuaiSang sobbed. “I didn’t want to deal with what I’d do if you said something rude about it.”

“What the hell?” Nie MingJue wiped at his eyes clumsily. “HuaiSang, we had three parents!”

“So?” HuaiSang lifted his face to wobble his lip at his brother and Wei Ying watched Nie MingJue tear up all over again at the sight. He fought it back, though, his confusion deepening.

“We had three parents? Baba and Mama and A-Niang?”

HuaiSang gesticulated his confusion as to how this was relevant for a moment before he paused. His eyes went wide. “Oh, what the fuck?”

Wei Ying blinked, looking at Nie MingJue. “Y—“

“What did you think was going on!”

“I thought! I thought Baba died and Mama and A-Niang got married?”

“I mean—“ Nie MingJue shook his head, rubbing his temples. “I mean yes but they were all together when they were all alive. Do you really not remember?”

“I was five,” HuaiSang wailed. He shook with a different kind of sob and Wei Ying increased the pressure of his soothing back rub. “No I don’t remember!”

Nie MingJue pinched the bridge of his nose and shook his head. “Either way,” he ground out, “did you really think I was going to give you shit about this?”

“You give me shit about everything!” HuaiSang accused and Nie MingJue’s expression hardened.

“Everything? I give you shit about your grades and your health, is it so wrong to care about that stuff?”

“You freaked out about A-Ying.” HuaiSang gestured a hand absently in Wei Ying’s direction. “You almost made me transfer universities when you moved to Qinghe! And you made me send you a detailed video before you let me sign the lease here—“

“I care about you!” Nie MingJue cut him off. “You’re my little brother, I raised you myself, I want to make sure you’re safe and comfortable and happy. Are you going to blame me for that?”

HuaiSang put his face back in his hands and sobbed. Wei Ying shifted subtly away from him and Nie MingJue took the hint. He knelt on the floor beside HuaiSang and put an arm around him.

“A-Sang, I was so worried. I know you don’t like me being overbearing. I was trying so hard not to push you or pry and it was killing me.”

“I don’t feel sorry for you,” HuaiSang mumbled, though to Wei Ying it didn’t really sound like he meant it.

“I wish you’d told me,” Nie MingJue pressed on. He squeezed HuaiSang’s shoulders and he unfolded from himself, throwing his arms around Nie MingJue and gripping him tight. Nie MingJue rubbed at his shoulder. “HuaiSang, I just want you to be happy and do well… God, even without our parents, did you really think I would say some shit to you about this?”

“I don’t know, I don’t know.” HuaiSang sniffled. “I don’t know, Da-Ge, I’m sorry.”

“No…” Nie MingJue rubbed his back. “I am. For making you feel like you couldn’t trust me.” Wei Ying looked away politely as Nie MingJue’s voice broke and he held his brother tight. Wei Ying shifted and looked around the living room, pretending that the baseboards were very interesting. When the front door opened, he jumped and whipped his head around in a panic.

Lan Zhan and Wen Ning both peered at him through the gap in the door. Wei Ying scrabbled for his phone in his pocket—dead. Fantastic. He groaned to himself as Nie MingJue pulled away from HuaiSang, looking over his shoulder.

Wen Ning and Lan Zhan met his gaze for almost an entire second before they shuffled and shut the door again.

Wei Ying rubbed his forehead. Nie MingJue narrowed his eyes. “That was them?”

Wei Ying tried to laugh, but he just ended up sounding tired. “Yes…”

“Well, make them come back.” Nie MingJue stood, patting HuaiSang’s shoulder as he quickly sniffled and wiped at his face. “Might as well.”

“O-Okay.” Wei Ying stood and sprinted for the door, opening it and peering out.

Lan Zhan and Wen Ning stood close together in the hall outside their apartment. They looked very out of place, and Wei Ying was pretty sure Wen Ning’s socks didn’t match. He tried to smile at them. “I’m sorry about this,” he whispered to them both.

Wen Ning and Lan Zhan said “No,” and “Don’t be,” at the same time. Wen Ning paused and Lan Zhan continued, “Take your time. This is important.”

“Well, he wants you to come in. He wants to meet you.” He opened the door wider. “C’mon.”

They shared a look before entering the apartment. Wei Ying fluttered in the background as they both slipped their shoes off and stepped out of the entryway. They paused there and Wei Ying looked between them and the Nie brothers uncertainly. Nie MingJue stared at them before turning to his brother and raising an eyebrow. “HuaiSang?” he prompted, gesturing to Lan Zhan and Wen Ning.

HuaiSang blinked. “Ah.” He swiped his sleeve under his eye one more time. “Uh, Da-Ge, this is Wen Ning and Lan Zhan, our boyfriend and our p-partner…”

Nie MingJue nodded at them, his expression hard and unreadable. Wei Ying bit his lip and glanced at the other two.

After a moment, Wen Ning ducked his head in a tiny bow. “It’s v-very good to meet you. HuaiSang speaks of you often.”

Lan Zhan blinked and also bowed his head, though he didn’t say anything. Nie MingJue let out a loud, rough laugh. “Well, if he’s not speaking to me he can at least talk about me.” He ruffled HuaiSang’s hair and he whined, swatting his hand away.

Wei Ying let out a breath, relaxing a little. “Da-Ge,” he started hesitantly—because he wasn’t sure he could get away with calling Nie MingJue that anymore. “Sorry we made you stay so late. Will you be able to make it back to Qinghe?”

Nie MingJue put his hands in his pockets. “I’ll grab a hotel room.” He gestured to Lan Zhan and Wen Ning still standing stiffly at the edge of the room. “Besides, I want the chance to talk to my little brother’s boyfriends a bit.”

He tried to ruffle HuaiSang’s hair again but he dodged. He frowned austerely at Nie MingJue. “Partners,” he corrected firmly. Nie MingJue drew his hand back, looking abashed, and nodded.

“Right. Sorry.” He looked over at Wen Ning and Lan Zhan. “Standing around like fucking soldiers—sit down.”

Wen Ning and Lan Zhan stuttered their “Mn,” and “Yes,” as they spurred into motion. They took the seats by HuaiSang on the couch as Nie MingJue retook the armchair that made him look stupidly big and Wei Ying hovered.

“Would you like something to drink, Da-Ge?” he asked. “I’ll get you something. You all talk, I’ll be back!”

“Wei Y—“

He ignored whoever it was as he hurried around the corner into the kitchen. He thought he heard someone mumble something, but then Nie MingJue started talking to the three of them, asking questions. Wei Ying sighed and leaned against the counter. He rubbed his eyes. His shoulders felt heavy; he felt tired, like if he laid down he might be physically incapable of getting back up. He felt good! It felt good to know that Nie MingJue wasn’t out of the loop, to know he had met their whole group and was making only slightly awkward conversation with Lan Zhan and Wen Ning. He was glad they’d muddled through this; it felt good. But.

He pulled his phone from his pocket and tapped the screen a few times before remembering it was dead. He sighed, tilting his head back.

He wanted to talk to his sister. So bad.

He’d even settle for Jiang Cheng at this point. He chewed on his lip as he fished in the cabinets for a glass. After this whole thing with Nie MingJue, he felt…weird. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d spoken to Jiang Cheng, really. They texted a bit, but a full conversation was well in the past at this point. And his sister called him plenty, but he’d been missing her calls or cutting them short for the past couple of weeks. He hadn’t even remembered about the lunar new year reunion looming just a few months ahead.

He felt guilty. He was a bad brother.

He filled the glass with water and set it on the counter and crept to the kitchen doorway. He could hear Lan Zhan’s voice, low and even, talking about his coursework in pre-law, and he tried to very casually slip from the kitchen into the hallway that led to the bedroom. His partners were all turned the other direction, but Nie MingJue’s eyes flashed to him briefly. He ignored him, slipping down the hall and into the bedroom.

He scrabbled for a phone charger - he didn’t care which one, they all used the same type - and jammed it into his phone. He tapped his phone screen impatiently as it slowly gained enough charge to turn back on. He winced when he saw the time—well after ten. He felt bad about making Lan Zhan stay up so late again as he scrolled through the backlog of messages. Just the ones from Lan Zhan asking if they should come up. He opened his conversation with his sister and hesitated. It was late. He was sure she had something important to do tomorrow—if not work, then sleeping in. He texted her anyway.

Wei Ying
are you awake?

it’s okay if you’re not or if you’re busy.

i want to call you, but like, not right now bc nie mingjue is here, so later, but i know it’s late so if you can’t that's okay.

but also i rly want to talk to you. :(

but don’t mind me if ur busy lol

He forced himself to not sextuple text her and left his phone there, going back to the kitchen. He grabbed the glass of water and went out to the living room, stupid smile stuck in place. Nie MingJue paused in the middle of his sentence to raise an eyebrow at him.

“There you go, Da-Ge! Your water!”

Nie MingJue looked from the glass to HuaiSang to the glass back to Wei Ying. “Thanks,” he chuckled. Wei Ying backed up anxiously. They were out of seats in the living room and standing was weird. Standing was weird right? Maybe he should go back to hiding in the kitchen.

Before he could stress himself out too much, Nie MingJue set the water aside and stood. Lan Zhan and Wen Ning hurried to stand as well. Okay, so standing was good!

“I’ll head out,” Nie MingJue was saying. “Grab a hotel or something before it gets too late.”

HuaiSang pouted, also standing. “Already?” Wei Ying was glad to see that HuaiSang was immediately back to being clingy and spoiled now that things were out in the open. It eased some of his worries.

“Yeah, whatever, you don’t want me here,” Nie MingJue dismissed his little brother, trying to muss up his hair and getting his hand slapped away. “Next month I’ll take all of you out.” He pointed around at the other three and Lan Zhan and Wen Ning stiffened. “Force you to tell me more about yourselves. So set time aside for it now.”

“Of course,” Lan Zhan said, very seriously, and Nie MingJue quirked a smile at him. He went back to the entryway and HuaiSang trailed after him.

“Da-Ge, next time bring me something,” he wheedled. “I don’t get to go to Qinghe enough, and the mulberry wine is so good…”

“You little shit,” Nie MingJue grumbled at him, successfully ruffling HuaiSang’s hair this time. He pointed at him sternly. “I’m still onto you. Call every week. Tell me stuff.”

“I will,” HuaiSang sighed dramatically, as though Nie MingJue was blowing the situation out of proportion and they hadn’t both been sobbing about their communication issues twenty minutes prior. Nie MingJue huffed at his brother and scooped him up, squeezing him tight enough to lift him off his feet. HuaiSang wheezed and smacked at his shoulders.

“Da-Ge...killing me…”

Nie MingJue set him back down with a laugh. He looked at Wei Ying and gave him a little nod before offering the same to Wen Ning and Lan Zhan. “Goodnight. See you all around.”

“Goodnight, Da-Ge,” HuaiSang crowed and Wei Ying echoed him a bit quieter. And then Nie MingJue was gone.

Wen Ning immediately let out a breath, sitting on the couch a little shakily. “That was so scary,” he whispered. “Is that how you felt meeting A-Jie? I am so, so sorry…”

“No, A-Ning, your sister’s not as scary,” Wei Ying rushed to say. Lan Zhan pressed his lips together, like he might not totally agree, but he didn’t say anything.

HuaiSang fell onto the couch again with a sigh. “Sorry to make you come over, Wen Ning,” he said, more sedate now. “And Lan Zhan, messing up your evening.”

“No.” Wen Ning took one of HuaiSang’s hands. “I’m happy to know your brother knows about us.” He paused there. Wei Ying had been trying to slowly back down the hallway to see if Jiang YanLi had texted him back, but he paused to hear whatever Wen Ning might say next. “I only hope we were good enough,” he said all in a rush, his cheeks pink.

“Oh, no!” HuaiSang straightened up, reaching for Wen Ning. “You’re all wonderful, you’re fantastic, you’re everything to me, he thinks you’re great, and even if he didn’t, I…”

He paused, and Wei Ying knew he couldn’t truthfully say ‘I wouldn’t care.’ Because he would. His brother’s opinion was important to him; that’s why he’d been so anxious about it. HuaiSang sighed.

“Even if he’d said something rude, it wouldn’t change how I feel about you.” He squeezed Wen Ning’s arm and looked over at Lan Zhan as well. “This is the long-haul,” he said firmly, then bit his lip. “Right?”

“Yes,” Wen Ning swiftly assured him. Lan Zhan was starting up a wonderful-sounding monologue about how in love with HuaiSang he was as Wei Ying backed quietly down the hall. He slipped into the bedroom and checked his phone. She responded only minutes after he’d sent his barrage.

light of my life, heart of my soul 💞
Yes, A-Ying, call me whenever MingJue leaves!

Also tell him he sucks and I hate him but not too much so if he came to see me I might forgive him.

Wei Ying smiled as he shot a text back.

Wei Ying
he promised to come to the new year’s thing.

he left, can i still call you?

Instead of a reply, Wei Ying got an incoming call from his sister. He answered quickly. “Jiejie?”

“A-Ying,” Jiang YanLi sing-songed to him. “How are you?”

Below her clear joy in speaking to him, he could tell she sounded somehow sleepy. He vowed not to stay on the line too long—and to call her at a regular hour sometime soon.

“I’m good,” he answered. He shifted to lean against the pillows and pulled his legs up under him. “Sorry, I hope I didn’t freak you out.”

“You don’t need to be sorry,” she crooned to him and he smiled, closing his eyes. “Is anything up? Your texts did seem a little off.”

“No, Jiejie, I just.” He bit his lip. “It was just seeing Nie MingJue again made me think of you. And then he—he met everyone, Lan Zhan and Wen Ning.” He paused to bite his lip again. “I wish you could meet them,” he finally finished.

“Oh, honey,” she sighed and Wei Ying melted into the pillows a little more. “I would really love to meet them. Aren’t you bringing them to the new year’s party?”

Wei Ying froze a little. “No,” he said quickly. “No, if Auntie found out, I...I think I would get killed for real this time.”

“She doesn’t have to find out, does she?” Jiang YanLi hummed. “She doesn’t know about any of them, right?”

“Right…” Wei Ying hadn’t wanted to pick a partner to present to her, especially because ideally he’d want to keep them all away from her forever.

“Well, A-Sang is invited, like MingJue is. Couldn’t you both bring a plus one? One with you and one with HuaiSang?”

Wei Ying opened his mouth and didn’t say anything. That was. Ingenious. “Jiejie, you are so smart,” he eventually breathed, and she laughed at him.

“Yes, I can perform simple math. But that way I can meet them all. It’s not fair, A-Cheng’s already met them and I haven’t.”

“He hasn’t met Wen Ning yet,” Wei Ying corrected. “And besides, he doesn’t like me sending him pictures of them and stuff, so you still probably know more about them.”

“Well, good, then.” She sounded truly pleased and Wei Ying smiled at the thought. “A-Cheng and I can meet them...and maybe you could introduce them to A-Die too?”

Wei Ying held his breath. Wen Ning wandered into the room at that moment, his eyes questioning, but when he saw Wei Ying on the phone it changed to understanding. He moved to leave again but Wei Ying gestured for him to stay, to come closer. Wen Ning obliged and went to sit beside him.

“A-Ying?” Jiang YanLi hedged.

“Um,” he replied. “I-I don’t know, y’know, I’ll have to think about it…”

“Okay.” Her voice was so gentle, Wei Ying was going to cry. “Think about it. You don’t need to be nervous with him, y’know.”

Did he know that? Either way. “It’s not him I’m worried about.”

She sighed. “Yeah,” she agreed ruefully. “I know.”

“Wen Ning is here,” Wei Ying said more brightly, quickly changing the subject. “Want to talk to him, Jiejie?”

“Ah, it’s late,” Wen Ning put in nervously. Jiang YanLi must have been able to hear, because she agreed.

“Yes, it is getting late.” Wei Ying heard her barely stifle a yawn. “Next time, though! Can I call you again soon, didi?”

Wei Ying fought a big stupid smile, like he did every time she called him that. “Yes! All we’ve talked about is me, next time we’re talking about you.”

She scoffed. “Sure, like I’ll have anything interesting to say by then.”

“Maybe you will!”

“Maybe I will.” She hummed. “Goodnight, A-Ying. And goodnight to Wen Ning and Lan Zhan and A-Sang.”

“I’ll tell them, and I’m sure they’ll say it back. Sweet dreams.”

“You too.”

Wei Ying sighed and dropped his phone into his lap. He rolled his head to look over at Wen Ning. “Are they making out?”

“Yes.” Wen Ning’s lips twitched into a little smile. “To be fair, Lan Zhan was being very romantic.”

Wei Ying made a sympathetic little noise and shifted to snuggle close to Wen Ning. “He’s so good at that.”

Wen Ning tugged the scrunchie from Wei Ying’s hair and combed his fingers through it. “Bedtime?”

Wei Ying groaned. “I was gonna text my shithead brother.”

“It’s late. I’m sure he’s either caught up studying or passed out.”

“Shows how well you know Jiang Cheng.” Wei Ying smirked at him. “Whatever, I’ll just send one message.” He rolled over and opened his phone again. “You’re staying, right? You should get ready for bed, go ahead of me.”

“Alright.” Wen Ning laid a lingering touch on his shoulder as he moved away. Wei Ying typed his message out quickly, ignoring typos. It was just Jiang Cheng.

Wei Ying
hey gayass i talked 2 jiejie tonigt and felt like i should text you to bc it’s been awhile. ur my brother. wow………okay that’s enouogh ofbthat eurgh don’t stuy urself to desth or u won’t get to meet my partners at the new year’s party

That would do it. He nodded once to himself and hit send and rolled out of bed to retrieve Lan Zhan and HuaiSang from the living room. It was quite an ordeal, and trying to get everyone ready for bed proved to be a hassle, so Wei Ying didn’t get to see Jiang Cheng’s reply before passing out.

didi 🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬🤬
what

you’re literally the gayass gayass i’m not even gay

wait you’re not bringing all of th

wei ying you are NOT bringing all of them to the new year’s shit

oh my fuckin god i hope i get struck by lightning before february

Chapter Text

Lan Zhan smoothed his hand over Wei Ying’s bare shoulder. HuaiSang lay drooling delicately on his chest, his hair twisted and messy where it sprawled around him. Lan Zhan stared at the ceiling and kept moving his hand up and down Wei Ying’s arm, not not trying to wake him up. It was still early, but he had only a few hours left with them.

He closed his eyes at the thought. Three days without them. Wei Ying had been keeping track of funerary conferences in the area all semester, as he drew closer to the date of his graduation and eventual certification exam. Unfortunately, the funeral and mortuary businesses kept quiet in the Gusu area, and he’d only found this potential networking opportunity by expanding his searches into Qinghe, Yunmeng, and Lanling. Finally, he’d found the information on this event—which took place on the opposite side of Qinghe, just after finals at the start of the winter break.

The decision had been simple but frustrating. Wei Ying would go to Qinghe. HuaiSang would go with him, and they would stay with Nie MingJue. Lan Zhan would stay here at his own insistence to wrap up his semester and get himself in order for the break. He didn’t want to stay behind, but he knew if he went and ignored all his usual end-of-semester clearing out and organizing, he might just lose it.

It wouldn’t be all bad, though, he reminded himself as he grew impatient and began to pinch Wei Ying lightly on the arm. He’d nearly teared up at the thought of sleeping alone in the apartment, in the bed they were supposed to share. Luckily for him, Wen Ning had quickly and eagerly volunteered to stay with him the whole time and keep him from getting too lonely. He’d even switched out a couple of his shelter shifts, so he would only have to go one of the days. It was extremely good of him to do. Lan Zhan was still trying to think of how to properly thank him for making those sacrifices for his sake.

Wei Ying finally shifted. He slapped at Lan Zhan’s hand sleepily. “Stop,” he slurred. He tried to shift to lay all over Lan Zhan’s chest but paused with a pout when he noticed that HuaiSang was already there. He satisfied himself by squishing up close against his side. “Why’d you wake me up?”

“I want more time with you,” Lan Zhan murmured. He settled his hand on Wei Ying’s back and pressed and Wei Ying rubbed his face against his shoulder. He groaned a moment later.

“I almost forgot,” he whispered. He lifted his head to pout at Lan Zhan. “Gusu is homophobic for not having large, public mortuary industry events.”

Lan Zhan hummed in amusement and brushed some hair from his face. HuaiSang huffed, still face-down on Lan Zhan’s chest. “Y’all be quiet, it’s early.”

Wei Ying grinned and pressed a kiss to HuaiSang’s head. “Wake up, love, time to make the most of the day.”

“Never thought I’d hear that from you.”

“I’m full of surprises, it keeps our relationship fun and sexy.”

HuaiSang lifted his head to raise a mocking eyebrow at him and Wei Ying just smiled back. Lan Zhan shifted; if they were both awake, he’d prefer to let the right side of his body wake up after falling asleep under HuaiSang’s weight. HuaiSang whined and slid off of him.

“Lan Zhan, you betrayer. No, A-Ying’s the real betrayer. You’re supposed to hate mornings with me, how could you take his side…”

“Oh, please, like you don’t specifically wake up early to be gay with Lan Zhan while I’m trying to sleep.”

Lan Zhan thought to himself that they were both guilty of staying up late to be gay with each other while he was trying to sleep, but he didn’t mention it because he didn’t mind. HuaiSang reached over and tugged a lock of Wei Ying’s hair before pushing himself up. “I’ll make breakfast,” Lan Zhan offered to distract them. He was pretty sure they had the stuff to make a western-style breakfast—he’d spotted HuaiSang sneaking a packet of pancake mix into the basket the last time they’d been at the supermarket. He was mentally running through what else was in the cabinets when HuaiSang made an affectionate sound.

“Oh, sweetheart, look at this,” he lamented. “You woke up to spend extra time with us and we’re running you off.”

“Absolutely unacceptable of us,” Wei Ying agreed.

Lan Zhan stopped trying to wiggle out from between them. “So you’ll not cause a ruckus with each other?”

Wei Ying flashed a smirk and a wink. “Only if you ask.”

“I’ll make breakfast.”

“Nooo!” HuaiSang hung off his arm as Lan Zhan made to get up again. “A-Ying, get him!”

“HuaiSang, you should know by now that he’s stronger than me,” Wei Ying sighed, rolling over. HuaiSang whined and let Lan Zhan’s arm slide through his grasp as he flopped face-down on the covers. Lan Zhan hid his smirk by slipping from the room to fix a last-minute meal for his boyfriends.

——

“Lan Zhan,” HuaiSang laughed. “It’s just three days…”

Lan Zhan wasn’t interested in hearing about how ridiculous he was being, so he kissed his boyfriend petulantly instead. HuaiSang laughed again.

“A-Ning will be here, you won’t be alone. And I think your gege would let you see him as well, hm?”

Lan Zhan paused at that. He hadn’t thought about imposing his loneliness on Lan Huan, but it wasn’t...a bad idea. He’d think about it. For now he just gathered HuaiSang close and nuzzled at the tender spot behind his ear. HuaiSang hummed happily and stroked at Lan Zhan’s hair.

“Give me something to miss you by?” he requested sweetly. Lan Zhan pulled back and raised an eyebrow at him. HuaiSang gazed innocently back. “Where da-ge won’t see.” He pulled at the neck of his thick sweater, exposing a glimpse of his shoulder and collarbone. Lan Zhan’s eyes tracked the movement closely.

“Oh, c’mon, you two,” Wei Ying stressed as he hurried from the bedroom. His weekend bag bounced clumsily against his hip as he rushed around the living room. “We don’t have time. A-Sang, I can’t find that belt you asked me to look for.”

“It was in the bedroom.” HuaiSang pouted over at him from where he and Lan Zhan lingered in the entryway. “We have time, Lan Zhan, just a quick little bruise, please please please please—“

“HuaiSang,” Wei Ying whined back, looking truly stressed. “Do you need it? We’re going to miss the train.”

HuaiSang drew back a bit, his eyes averted. When he spoke, his voice was small. “I guess I don’t need a hickey, but I thought you—“

“Not the hickey.” Wei Ying waved a dismissive hand. “The belt, do you need it or will you live without it?”

“I can live without it if I get the hickey.”

“Sure, if Lan Zhan wants to give you one, that’s fine.” He paused and smacked his forehead. “My business cards!” He whirled around, his bag sliding down his shoulder, and booked it back towards the bedrooms. “Make it quick, we’ve gotta go!”

HuaiSang looked at Lan Zhan hopefully. Lan Zhan repressed the urge to roll his eyes and gripped the shoulder of HuaiSang’s sweater, tugging it to the side. He pressed him more firmly against the wall as he first bit and then sucked tenderly at his shoulder close to his neck. The sounds HuaiSang was making weren’t fair, considering he and Wei Ying had to leave in probably less than a minute’s time.

“Okay,” Wei Ying, sure enough, interrupted as he came back from his and HuaiSang’s room. “That’s probably good enough, let’s go.”

Lan Zhan bit down once more for good measure before releasing HuaiSang. He let him have another moment to collect himself as he turned to Wei Ying and wrapped his arms around him to pull him close.

“I will miss you,” he sighed against his hair. Wei Ying groaned.

“I wish you were coming with,” he lamented for the umpteenth time. “But I understand you need to get things in order.”

“Mn.”

“It’ll be okay.” Wei Ying patted his back. “A-Ning will get here this evening, and HuaiSang and I will call you. We’ll be back in no time, love.”

“Be safe.” Lan Zhan tightened his arms around Wei Ying. “Do well.” So you won’t have to leave again.

“Always.” Wei Ying pulled back and gave him a smile before moving forward to retrieve his shoes. HuaiSang slipped around him.

“I also want to be squeezed,” he complained as he threw himself at Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan obediently wrapped his arms around him securely and gave him a solid, tight squeeze.

“I love you,” HuaiSang gasped as all the air left his lungs. Lan Zhan hummed.

“I love you, too.”

“C’mon, A-Sang,” Wei Ying urged. Lan Zhan felt the emptiness as his boyfriend melted away to shove his shoes on.

“Goodbye,” he said to both of them. “I love you. Be safe.”

Wei Ying smiled fondly at his repetition. “Only for a while, love you too, always are.” He opened the front door and blew Lan Zhan a kiss as he hauled HuaiSang through it.

Then they were gone.

Lan Zhan stood in the entryway for longer than he’d have liked to admit. He knew they weren’t coming back, not until Tuesday. But moving from that spot meant coming to terms with the fact. So he stood there just a little longer before heaving a sigh and turning to go to the living room.

The entire reason he’d stayed behind was to get his stuff in order and deep clean the apartment so he could get the dirt-under-his-skin prickles-behind-his-eyes feelings to go away. So by god, he was actually going to make that shit happen so he didn’t cause himself all this stress for absolutely nothing. He started in the bedroom, with his school bag and his desk, and pulled everything out to spread over the bed and floor as he picked through it all and threw stuff away.

This was always a difficult thing for Lan Zhan to do. How did he know he wouldn’t need this essay on strategic defensive techniques common in the 1890’s? How did he know he wouldn’t need to reference this paper he wrote about the limits of police power in regards to private property? Once upon a time, he’d had several large filers stuffed with old, useless school papers like this. It was only when his brother had come in and found his collections of essays on composition that he’d intervened and helped him go through and throw them away.

He thought about his brother as he slowly picked through his returned essays and tests, throwing them away - recycling them, actually - one at a time until there were none left. He mulled over the weekend that lay ahead of him. A weekend of only himself and Wen Ning in the apartment.

Lan Huan hadn’t officially met Wen Ning yet. Maybe he should fix that.

He was depressed by the time his semester binder was empty, staring miserably at the sunlight on the wall with his chin resting on the edge of his desk. The apartment was so quiet, he thought he was going to cry. He still had cleaning to do, but he didn’t want to clean. He wanted to stare at the sunlight on the wall until Wen Ning got off his shift at the animal shelter and brought his warmth into this place. But the reason he’d stayed behind anyway was to do this, so not doing it felt extremely stupid and shitty. But he couldn’t make himself do it. He stared at the wall as the shadows slowly changed.

His phone vibrated on the foot of the bed and he practically dove for it, scanning the received text quickly.

A-Sang
Hi !!! We made it to the train in time are you doing okay ? Sorry we couldnt stay and help you clean sweetheart

Lan Zhan
There is no need at all to be sorry. I am glad you made it in time. Are you having fun? I love you both dearly.

He knew what his text sounded like, he just couldn’t help it. He’d hardly sent it when he got a notification from Wei Ying.

Wei Ying
send me a picture of what ur doing right now.

Lan Zhan blinked at the message. He lifted his phone and snapped a picture of the light and shadows on the wall and sent it to Wei Ying. He rested his chin on the bedspread and stared at his phone forlornly.

A buzz.

Wei Ying
lan zhan, go get a drink of water. right now. get off the floor. make tea, even, if you want to.

Lan Zhan let his expression pull into an uncharacteristic pout as he typed his reply.

Lan Zhan
I did not stay behind to make tea. I stayed behind to fix everything post-finals so I don’t scratch my skin off.

Wei Ying
are you cleaning?

Lan Zhan
No.

Wei Ying
go make tea. i’m telling you to.

Lan Zhan forced himself off of the floor and towards the kitchen. Putting the water in the kettle and the kettle on the stove was relatively easy, and he managed to select a tea before it started boiling. He carried his pot and his cup out to the living room and sat himself on the floor near the table.

The tea was nice. Warm, fragrant, calming. But the apartment was still hauntingly quiet, and Lan Zhan slumped where he sat as he sipped his cinnamon chai.

A shadow in the corner of the room called to him. He tried to ignore it and focus on his tea. What was this little note here? Was there vanilla hidden somewhere in this blend? Exquisite, honestly, now that he was decidedly focusing on only this tea and not any, say, instrument cases half-obscured against the bookcase across the room, he could really get every little hint and highlight in this beverage. Where had HuaiSang's brother procured this? He would have to ask him the next time he saw him.

Yes, the tea was interesting. But the apartment was still quiet.

Lan Zhan sighed and set his cup down before standing and striding across the room. He lifted the case carefully and brought it back to the coffee table. He opened it on the floor and lifted the zither out and onto the table. The dark wood glinted dully in the winter sunlight coming in the windows and Lan Zhan just looked at it for a long moment before he turned back to the case.

He found his folded sheet music in the bottom of the case and he picked it up and opened it. Though he hadn't worked on this piece in a couple of months now, his haphazard notes were still comprehensible. His left hand drifted absently against the strings as his eyes ran over the notes. He wagered he could play what was written here from memory, he just wasn't sure if he liked it.

He set the papers down and faced the instrument properly. The first real note he played was loud. He froze, shoulders stiff, and waited, listening. Of course, there was no response. He relaxed slowly and played a short sequence, purposefully playing quietly, before moving into the first part of his unnamed composition.

Each note was rich and full, objectively pleasing. The melody, too, was something he allowed himself to be proud of. It was sweet—he thought that was probably the best word for it. It was certainly the best word for how he felt about his three boyfriends, and he liked to think the tune conveyed that feeling well. Still, it didn’t feel done yet, as though it were not yet full enough.

Lan Zhan paused his playing. The quiet settled around him shortly, heavy and sad and annoying. Lan Zhan stared at the guqin as he pondered before replaying a central movement with added embellishments. They were distracting, almost dissonant. The kind of thing his uncle would have hated; he would have said it was an improper way to play the qin, called it noise. Lan Zhan furrowed his brow and played louder. Better—much better than before.

It was fine - excellent, in fact - to have this louder, more chaotic stretch. It was a true sort of thing to include. Lan Zhan paused briefly again before twisting an earlier bit of the composition, turning it into something from a late, drowsy night, something both sleeping and awake. He tried it several different ways, stretching it first higher and then lower, slower and deeper, before bringing it up to nearly breathy, drawn-out and tense but still soothing.

Yeah. This was good. The apartment certainly wasn’t quiet anymore. He kept going, stopping every now and then to scribble his changes onto his existing notes, until the sunlight disappeared and outside, the 200 bus rolled to its stop down the block.

Lan Zhan had to remind himself to stand and walk, not crawl and scramble, when he heard the front door open. He caught sight of Wen Ning’s back first, as he stepped out of his shoes and slipped off his coat, and approached swiftly. The guqin was a nice distraction, but his anxiety and jitters had come back full force after being jarred out of his focus.

“Here.” He took Wen Ning’s coat to hang it up and the other man turned to him with a surprised smile on his face.

“Thank you.” He pushed the sleeves of his sweater up and grinned at Lan Zhan as he thrust a hanger into the coat and shoved it into the closet. “How was your day, Lan Zhan? What do you want to do for dinner?”

Lan Zhan looked over at him. He hesitated. His body felt like it was going to explode, he was so overcome with the Need to be touched kindly and gently. It was strange. He wasn’t much of one for touching. He’d never missed touch in such a way. But he’d grown used to it, living with Wei Ying and HuaiSang, coming home to warm hands and soft voices, falling asleep and waking up with at least one of them touching him.

He was ruined for it. He needed physical affection. And he was trying hard not to throw himself at Wen Ning in his desperation.

“Lan Zhan?” the man in question asked, eyes growing concerned. Lan Zhan shook his head at himself.

“I’m doing fine.” He laid a tentative hand against Wen Ning’s cheek. “May I kiss you?” He struggled to keep his voice even and slow.

Wen Ning smiled again, a quiet little thing. “Yes, of course.” Lan Zhan pulled him in and met him in the middle, kissing him solidly. He wanted to move his hands down to Wen Ning’s shoulders, onto his back, around his waist, and pull him close and tight, but Wen Ning pulled back with a smile.

“Before this,” he chuckled at him, “let’s figure out dinner.”

Lan Zhan swallowed and nodded. He could live until then. He let Wen Ning move away and followed him into the kitchen, rubbing his arms to try and disperse the tension in them. He watched Wen Ning poke around the kitchen, definitely not as involved in the meal-scrounging as he usually would have been. He eyed his boyfriend as he moved around the kitchen, watched his arms and back twist as he searched the cupboards and fridge and placed an array of things on the counter.

“What have you been up to? Have you been answering Wei Ying’s texts? He seemed like he was getting a little worried for a bit, there. You should probably get back to him soon, if you haven’t. Is it already time to open the new bag of rice?”

Wen Ning’s voice was so pleasant. Low and kind, inoffensive, but bright enough to fill at least the kitchen with some semblance of light and life. Lan Zhan listened to the sound, felt the vibration, without quite hearing the words. His fingers pressed hard into his arms through his sweater. It helped, the noise, but he was still on edge.

“Sweetheart?”

Lan Zhan blinked and shook himself. He looked up at Wen Ning pitifully. “A-Ning,” he whispered back, hardly louder than a breath.

Wen Ning set down whatever he’d been holding and approached Lan Zhan where he huddled in the kitchen doorway. “Is everything okay? You don’t look great.”

Lan Zhan sucked in a shaky breath and watched Wen Ning’s hands hover in front of him, so close and coiling the tension tighter in his shoulders. “Just been alone all day,” he replied. He bit his lip. “I’m sorry.”

“Sorry for what?” Wen Ning’s hands twisted together and Lan Zhan wondered why he didn’t just reach out and touch him already. “Lan Zhan, look up at me, there’s no need to be sorry.”

Lan Zhan lifted his gaze from Wen Ning’s hands to his eyes. “Please hold onto me?” he finally requested. He felt small and stupid, having to ask for such a thing. “Please squeeze me.”

Wen Ning reached out immediately to pull him close and Lan Zhan grasped him back. Wen Ning’s hands pressed firmly against his shoulder blades and Lan Zhan let out a content sound as he melted into him. Wen Ning hummed and pressed with similar pressure against the center of his spine; the back of his neck; his lower back. Lan Zhan did his best to not lean all of his weight on Wen Ning as he finally, finally relaxed.

“I’m sorry,” Wen Ning whispered to him as he rubbed gently over his ribs through his back. “I didn’t realize what you needed. You can always have this, Lan Zhan.”

“It is not your duty to telepathize my needs or wants,” Lan Zhan replied quietly. His head was clearer now, if not also foggy in a new way. His eyelids felt heavy. He didn’t want to cook dinner with Wen Ning. He wanted to lay together on the couch doing nothing for three and a half hours.

Wen Ning hummed aimlessly in his ear. “What are the plans for tonight? Did you finish your cleaning?”

Lan Zhan made a noncommittal noise. “Some…”

“Do you want to continue it?”

Lan Zhan pressed his nose against Wen Ning’s neck and thought ’No.’ “Maybe.”

Wen Ning huffed a little laugh. “Should we just order dinner instead?”

Lan Zhan conflicted with himself about it long enough that Wen Ning just patted his head. “We’ll order something,” he decided for him.

With that sorted, Lan Zhan held onto Wen Ning and started pulling him towards the living room. Wen Ning stumbled after him willingly, a curious smile hovering on his lips, and took the initiative easily to pull Lan Zhan down onto the couch with him, settling the both of them to lay on it longways. Lan Zhan shifted on top of him.

“Too heavy?” he asked uncertainly. Wen Ning shook his head.

“Just right.” Lan Zhan settled fully against him and laid his head on his shoulder. Wen Ning wiggled around to get his phone out of his pocket. “Wanna see pictures from the animal shelter?”

“Yes.”

“I took so many over the last few days; we’ve had an influx of cats and somehow MianMian also ended up with four baby chicks? Anyway, the cats have been a little bit of a stress-inducer, trying to work on marketing and the like to hopefully get them adopted, but the chicks, I don’t even know what we’re going to do with them. Here, here’s a picture of the chicks…”

Lan Zhan peered at his phone without lifting his head and listened to Wen Ning talk about the animals as he scrolled through pictures slowly. Lan Zhan had relaxed into a lull by the time Wen Ning ran out of animal shelter stories.

“What about dinner?” he asked softly. Lan Zhan made a noncommittal noise and Wen Ning smirked. “Lan Zhan, I can’t be given the responsibility of making all the decisions, you’ve gotta help me out. Using words.”

Lan Zhan pushed himself up a bit to meet Wen Ning’s eyes. “Vegetarian mandou,” he finally requested.

"Vegetarian mandou," Wen Ning agreed brightly as he opened a delivery app. "Look, the place you like is open. Should we get anything extra?"

Lan Zhan huffed sadly. "No one to eat it."

Wen Ning hummed in response. "Just mandou, then, for us."

Lan Zhan watched him tap around on his phone as he placed the order. "My brother," he said softly.

"Hm?" Wen Ning glanced at him. "Your brother? Should we invite him to eat with us?"

Lan Zhan frowned a bit. "Just like that?"

"What?"

"You're not nervous to meet him?"

Wen Ning laughed a little. "I've heard from Wei Ying that your brother is the sibling I should worry about least. Except for maybe his sister, but he didn't tell me that himself. He said Lan Huan is...easy to please."

Lan Zhan mulled that over for a bit. "Not tonight," he finally decided.

"Another day this weekend, maybe?"

"Mm."

Wen Ning gave Lan Zhan a quick squeeze before finishing out their order. "Shall we do some of your cleaning while we wait?" he asked.

Lan Zhan shifted. "Probably should."

"Or." Wen Ning ran his fingers through Lan Zhan's silky hair and turned to press his nose to his temple. "Do you want to tell me about what you were working on?"

Lan Zhan wondered for a still moment what Wen Ning was talking about before remembering he had a huge wooden instrument slapped out on the coffee table. He sat up quickly and looked at the guqin he had somehow managed to entirely forget about.

“You don’t have to.” Wen Ning’s hand ran up his arm and squeezed gently. “But I’d like to know, if you’ll tell me.”

Lan Zhan hummed and chewed on his lip. “Composing,” he eventually admitted. Then he realized Wen Ning probably knew that already. “It's sort of...like a secret. Or a surprise, maybe…”

Wen Ning hummed. “You’ll play it for us one day?”

Lan Zhan’s ears heated but he nodded. “When it’s done.” When I’m ready to make an embarrassing confession of love unrivaled by any of the extremely gay things I convey verbally on a daily basis. He glanced back over at Wen Ning. The man was watching him with a tiny smile on his face.

“I’m excited,” he said, that little smile turning into a grin. “Can you play me something now? Something else? I’ve never heard guqin live.”

It was a no-pressure request, and Lan Zhan knew that. But he hadn’t even really played on purpose for Wei Ying and HuaiSang, and he couldn’t help but think that Wen Ning must know that. Still…

Wen Ning’s warm hands held him gently, patiently. His shoulders were relaxed, no pushing, no insisting. The room was dim, now, but for the lamp by the armchair and the air felt calm and drowsy. Lan Zhan wanted to play for Wen Ning, right now. Would it be terribly unfair? To play for him before the others?

One of Wen Ning’s hands carefully pulled some of Lan Zhan’s hair out of his face, placing it over his shoulder, and Lan Zhan nodded. “What do you want to hear?”

“Something with a story,” Wen Ning answered brightly. Lan Zhan gave him a half-exasperated look.

“They all have stories.” He paused there, watching Wen Ning watch him in the muted, warm light. Wen Ning moved another lock of hair behind Lan Zhan’s ear, letting his fingers trace a line down his neck afterwards. Lan Zhan’s skin burned with painless fire.

“Just nothing sad?” Wen Ning requested quietly. Lan Zhan nodded and stared for another moment before pushing himself up robotically and going to sit at the qin again.

He could play ShanJuYin in his sleep, which seemed ideal with his current level of distraction. He steadied himself for a moment before starting the piece. He kept his eyes on his hands, carefully measuring his breaths against the music to keep his pounding heart from causing him to hurry it along. He wanted to play it right for Wen Ning. He wanted to play it perfectly.

He didn’t look up until he was done. The last note hung light in the air and he put his hands in his lap as he lifted his eyes to take in Wen Ning’s reaction. Was he bored? He wouldn’t have blamed him. Guqin music isn’t exactly engaging to all people.

Wen Ning’s chin rested in his hand, his fingers obscuring his mouth. The lids of his eyes were heavy, but his gaze was focused. Lan Zhan’s hands gripped at his knees.

“I loved it,” Wen Ning eventually managed to say. He straightened up and smiled. “I’d definitely listen again. Not to pressure you into playing more—just, should you ever want to, I’d listen.”

Lan Zhan’s gaze wandered and his hands rubbed at his knees as he tried to locate words. Thankfully, there was a knock at the door and Wen Ning got distracted answering it. Lan Zhan let out a deep breath as Wen Ning dealt with the delivery person in the background.

“Right,” Wen Ning called as he finally closed the door. He walked through the living room and headed towards the kitchen. “Wei Ying said you weren’t answering his texts. Can you check those, let him know how you’re doing?”

“Yes.” Lan Zhan stood to follow Wen Ning to the kitchen and grabbed his phone from the coffee table. He did have an array of messages from both of their boyfriends—though Wei Ying was most frequent and blatant. He scrolled through thinly-veiled and flat-out concern and eventually arrived at the point after which Wen Ning had clearly arrived and let them know Lan Zhan was alive and not spiraling.

Wei Ying
anyway as long as you’re alright that’s all that matters, sweetheart.

what are you two doing for dinner? send me a picture!!

maybe you two could call us before you go to bed? i miss you so much, love, ugh this shit is stupiddddd

Nie HuaiSang
Bruh A-Ying was srsly gonna flip ure lucky A-Ning got there when he did :/

I do understand his concern but also if he’s being overbearing tell him to stop he’ll understand ure not a baby :///

Anyway I am rly glad A-Ning is there now da-ge is being supr annoying and telling A-Ying all abt the funeral homes he knows of in Qinghe like da-ge…...We R Not Moving To Qinghe lmfao

Lan Zhan typed quick, apologetic replies to both of them as he moved to join Wen Ning in the kitchen. The long day of anxiety already seemed far behind him—but for the lingering exhaustion, at least. As he retrieved plates from the cabinet, it was much easier for him to focus on an enjoyable weekend ahead, instead.

——

This was not exactly the most enjoyable dinner Lan Zhan had ever attended with his brother.

“Uncle,” he could hear Lan Huan hissing into his phone from the other room. “Now is not the time to try to win sympathy points with me. Do you think he’s a child? We’re not fighting over custody. He’s an adult, he makes his own choices, this isn’t up to you or me.”

Wen Ning’s hand was tight on his under the table. Very tight. It hurt, a little, actually, but Lan Zhan found he was glad of that. Very grounding. He couldn’t bring himself to look directly at Wen Ning’s expression; seeing it from the corner of his eye was enough. Causing himself discomfort was one thing, but Lan Zhan honestly couldn’t believe Lan Huan was making Wen Ning sit through this.

“No.” Did he honestly think they couldn’t hear him? “What do you think this is? You can’t intimidate me into anything, and I can’t make him talk to you any more than you can. Uncle…”

The front door of the apartment opened and closed and Lan Zhan closed his eyes, letting out a slow breath. He thought back on the beginning of dinner—on Lan Huan and Wen Ning greeting each other, speaking together, getting along.

"I hear you work for a couple of animal shelters in town," had been Lan Huan's opening not-question while Lan Zhan helped him finish up dinner. Wen Ning had leaned into it well.

"Yes." He'd given Lan Zhan's brother a polite smile. "Downtown, and the one by the Springs."

"The Springs!" Lan Huan had taken interest in the mention of that particular area of town. "That's a fantastic neighborhood, building up really nicely these days."

Wen Ning met Lan Zhan's eyes behind Lan Huan's back and mouthed "Gentrification." Lan Zhan turned to fully face the scallions he was chopping to hide his smile.

"It is a cute area," Wen Ning admitted. "The people around there give up some of the nicest animals—I can't fathom why, or why they bothered getting them in the first place."

"Lots of young families," Lan Huan noted absently. "I think new couples with small children often feel compelled to try out a pet."

Wen Ning hummed in half-agreement and shook his head at Lan Zhan when Lan Huan turned away again. Lan Zhan cleared his throat.

Sitting down to dinner was easy enough, and the conversation flowed well. Lan Huan was well-practiced in playing the part of forcing conversation out of even a less-than-willing partner from years doing it with Lan Zhan, and his prompting was met more enthusiastically by Wen Ning. He had Wen Ning talking about his family and his extracurricular interests before they'd taken more than a few bites.

It was interesting, Lan Zhan thought. Earlier this evening, spirits had been so bright and nice. How times change.

Had Lan Huan told their uncle they would be eating together this evening? Why would he do that? But if he hadn’t, then why had Lan QiRen called demanding to speak to Lan Zhan? Did he not know that they were no longer cohabitating? It seemed like a bit of a stretch, such a coincidence. Unless Uncle called like this frequently? Lan Zhan squeezed Wen Ning’s hand tight enough that he heard him hiss a little. He released his hand entirely, putting both of his own on top of the table and opening his eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he murmured to Wen Ning. The man leaned into him.

“It didn’t hurt, really.” He placed his hand carefully atop Lan Zhan’s again. Lan Zhan didn’t move, but that wasn’t what he’d been talking about.

“I think we should probably go home.”

“Are you sure?”

Lan Zhan nodded. He felt a very little bit nauseous. This certainly wasn’t a friendly conversation, but it seemed well-worn. How often did their uncle call Lan Huan? Was it always like this? Was Lan Huan telling Lan QiRen things about him? If so, what? He wasn’t sure if he wanted the answers or if he wanted to throw up.

“I think you should talk to your brother,” Wen Ning put in quietly. “This seems somewhat serious. Won’t it get worse?”

“I don’t want to,” Lan Zhan admitted. The front door opened again and he snapped his mouth shut. Wen Ning didn’t move away from him as Lan Huan reentered the dining room and took his seat again.

“Sorry,” he offered, his voice and his smile half-hearted. Lan Zhan barely looked at him. Lan Huan didn’t say anything else and for a moment silence stretched between the three of them.

“You talk to Uncle?” Lan Zhan eventually managed. Lan Huan’s hands folded together on top of the table.

“Talk is a bit of a stretch,” his reply came a moment later. He paused. “He says he’s worried—“

“I don’t care that he is worried about me,” Lan Zhan was quick to say.

“I know,” Lan Huan assured him. “I’ve told him. That you’re fine—better, even. That he should leave you alone.”

“You don’t tell him to leave you alone?”

He looked up in time to catch Lan Huan’s grimace. “Lan Zhan,” he sighed. “I don’t dictate how you should handle him. I’d hope you wouldn’t do so either, or expect me to react exactly as you do.”

“You encouraged me to go against—“

“And supported you,” Lan Huan pointed out, gesturing with his hands now. “Yes. Because I could tell you weren’t happy, you were doing what he wanted, what he thought was the only thing you could do, and I care that you do things you feel conviction about and that you’re seen at your full potential and not as a…” He waved his hand as he searched for words. “...a silent, unhappy guqin machine.”

Lan Zhan lowered his eyes. His brother was right, but he still felt unwell. “What do you talk about?” he asked around the sick feeling in his throat.

“We don’t really talk, Lan Zhan.”

“He doesn’t ask questions?”

Lan Huan sighed and rubbed his eyes. “You have people in your life and you’re studying well, on-track for graduation this spring, living apart from me, and perfectly fulfilled. Is that what you want to know?”

Lan Zhan realized that it was his brother's tone that was making him nauseous. It was very familiar. He'd been spoken to that way before. What was so wrong about wanting to know what was said when he wasn’t around to people he didn’t trust, anyway? He pushed his chair back. “I think Wen Ning and I should leave.”

“Lan Zhan, what did I—“

“I’m sorry, thank you for hosting us.” Lan Zhan stood shakily and strode from the room. Wen Ning caught up quickly and grabbed his arm.

“Sweetheart, he doesn’t know how he upset you,” he whispered quickly.

“Doesn’t mean I have to put up with it,” Lan Zhan hissed back, pulling his arm free and continuing to the coat closet. Wen Ning followed.

“If you explain, he may refrain from doing it again?”

Lan Zhan didn’t want to explain. He wanted to go home. And throw up.

“My grandmother and sister used to do things like that all the time,” Wen Ning explained, his voice quiet and rushed, as Lan Zhan pushed his coat at him. “Fuck, A-Jie still talks in circles and patronizes me, acts like my lack of words means she’s right. But explaining helps.”

“How can I explain without words?” Lan Zhan asked desperately. “It’s not just that, either, keeping it from me—“

“Lan Zhan,” Lan Huan’s voice cut in. Lan Zhan sighed and looked at his brother over Wen Ning’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he rushed to say when he saw whatever expression was on Lan Zhan’s face. “I’m sorry for talking to Uncle, telling him anything you didn’t want me to. We should talk more about this.”

Lan Zhan nodded a bunch of times as he pulled his coat on. “I’m more upset at the way you talked to me than what you told him,” he managed after a moment. He nodded some more. “We should talk more, but I want to leave.”

Lan Huan shook his head and rubbed his eyes. Lan Zhan thought he seemed angry, but he didn’t really care at the moment. “Yes. We can talk later.” He sighed and lifted his head, finally looking sad. “Wen Ning, it really is very nice to have met you. As always, I’m so, so pleased that Lan Zhan has people in his life to take care of him.”

“Lan Zhan does a lot of the taking care of, actually,” Wen Ning informed him pointedly. He gave Lan Huan a tight smile. “It was nice to meet you, as well.”

Lan Huan nodded uncertainly. “Be safe, both of you, getting home. Lan Zhan, I’ll call you.”

“Mn.”

Lan Zhan pulled the front door closed behind them tightly. The hallway was still and silent for a moment before they slowly started walking. They only made it to the elevator before Wen Ning appeared unable to take it anymore.

“Your uncle was really going to force you to be a prodigy caricature?” he wondered aloud, voice incredulous. “He thought all you could do was music? Has he ever met you? And your brother, for that matter. Did he really imply you need us to take care of you? Without you, Wei Ying would never have clean clothes. Tell me to shut up if this is making it worse.”

“It is making it better,” Lan Zhan assured him. Extremely validating. The elevator doors opened and Lan Zhan took Wen Ning’s hand as they exited the building and meandered through the December chill to the bus stop.

“His tone when he tried to brush off your concerns! Does he think that’s an acceptable way to speak to an adult? Someone whose trust he may have just violated?”

“I was appalled that he made you sit and listen to him talk to Uncle on the phone.”

“That was crazy! I didn’t want to say anything, but why did he even bother answering? He didn’t need to! I literally never answer my phone.” Wen Ning clicked his tongue and Lan Zhan looked over at him. This was very nice—having another autistic person to criticize his brother with him. Wei Ying and HuaiSang were always righteously angry with him, but something about having Wen Ning with him was...different. Very nice.

“Do you think you’ll be able to talk to him when he calls?” Wen Ning asked.

Lan Zhan hummed. He felt better. Maybe it was the air, or the escape, or the cathartic criticism, or just Wen Ning and his calming presence, but he felt...not good, but definitely not as coiled and sick as he had. “I’ll try.”

“When will it be, do you think?”

“Not this weekend.” Lan Zhan squeezed his hand. “He can find time during the week.”

Wen Ning smiled at him reluctantly. "Bus won't be coming soon, will it?" he asked. He tugged Lan Zhan down a side street. "I saw a bakery this way, let's get something."

Lan Zhan followed slowly. "Not exactly hungry, anymore."

Wen Ning walked a little closer to him, their shoulders brushing. "Just in case, then."

——

The clicking of Wen Ning's little knitting needles lilted under the soft music coming from his phone as he leaned against the side of the couch by Lan Zhan's legs. Lan Zhan held his book with one hand and had the other in his boyfriend's hair, carding through the long strands with his fingers. He'd reached a high-tension part of the book, and he read with stiff shoulders. He almost didn't hear Wen Ning's confused sound or his sigh, but he looked up when he'd registered them.

"I've done something very wrong," he lamented as he held up his knitting to show Lan Zhan. It was a little over half a sock. The top body of the sock was comprised of purls; the heel turn and started lower half were knits. Wen Ning sighed again and looked his work over. "I knew I'd confused myself at the start, but I thought I got it sorted…"

"Practice sock," Lan Zhan suggested. While he was already distracted, he figured he might as well check his phone. He scrolled through notifications as Wen Ning hummed and conjectured as to how he should continue and found a few texts from Wei Ying. "Ah."

"Hm?" Wen Ning looked up from where he was unravelling back up to the heel turn.

"Wei Ying and HuaiSang are going to bed soon and want us to call before they do."

"Oh." Wen Ning checked his own phone for the time and paused his sleepytime playlist. "Right. Okay." He piled all his knitting on the coffee table and stood. "Before that, I should go ahead and do my shot."

Lan Zhan looked up at him. "Mn." He blinked and Wen Ning hesitated for a moment before heading towards the hallway. Lan Zhan sat for another minute before slipping his bookmark into his novel and following after him. He hovered in the bathroom doorway and Wen Ning looked up from where he was rifling through his little bag.

"Yes?" Lan Zhan couldn't read his expression—bright-eyed, teeth worrying at his lip.

Lan Zhan shifted and leaned against the doorframe. "Can I watch?" he finally asked. He wished he'd said it differently—better. But Wen Ning smiled all the same.

"Yes." His shoulders relaxed a bit. He pulled little packages from his bag and set them on the counter. "You can sit, on the edge of the tub."

Lan Zhan wandered into the bathroom and sat, watching Wen Ning poke through his things until he found two boxes and set them by his little packages. He glanced at Lan Zhan as he popped open the button on his jeans.

"Do you do this every Monday?" Lan Zhan asked, just for something to say. Wen Ning hummed as he stepped out of his jeans and plucked at the legs of his boxers.

"Not every Monday. Honestly, I'm pretty bad at sticking to a schedule with it. I try to do it every...5 to 9 days?"

Lan Zhan's brows pulled together. "Is that okay?"

Wen Ning chuckled a bit and plopped down on the lid of the toilet. "It's not recommended. I try."

Lan Zhan leaned forward a bit as Wen Ning opened an alcohol swab and swiped it over an area on his left thigh. "Should you put your leg here?" Lan Zhan indicated to where he was sitting, but Wen Ning shook his head.

"You're supposed to keep your muscles relaxed—I don't really feel like they are when I have my leg up somewhere."

He started opening the packaging of the syringe but stopped. "Oh, shit." He glanced around. "We have an empty can or something, surely?"

Lan Zhan nodded and stood. He went out to the kitchen and poked through the recycling until he found an empty soup can to take back. Wen Ning gave a half-grimace when he returned. "Sorry, thanks."

"Of course." Lan Zhan watched Wen Ning's hands as he finished opening the syringe and peeled back the packaging on a needle. It all seemed very difficult, putting together half-opened medical instruments.

"I used to be so bad at this," Wen Ning admitted. He opened the smaller box and tipped out a small, rubber-capped vial. "A-Jie had to do it for me for a couple of months. She was very helpful in teaching me how to do it, like, technically, but I really just didn't have the guts to stab myself."

He pushed a fair chunk of air into the vial before carefully filling the syringe. The used needle was disposed of in the can and Wen Ning opened another.

"It's still not easy." Wen Ning smirked a bit and glanced at Lan Zhan. "To be honest, I dream of having a partner level-headed enough to do it for me." His tone was joking, but Lan Zhan felt like he wasn't joking. "Not really necessary though, y'know. Kind of a super specific way of being spoiled."

A fresh alcohol swab to his thigh and then Wen Ning sank the needle into his skin in a single clean, practiced motion. Lan Zhan startled just a little. Wen Ning pulled the plunger on the syringe back just a bit before slowly injecting the hormones.

The bathroom was quiet as Wen Ning pulled the needle out and pressed a cotton ball to the injection site. He dropped the whole syringe into the can and fumbled one-handed with a bandage. Lan Zhan shifted and held his hand out. "Let me help."

Wen Ning glanced up and handed it over. Lan Zhan kept his eyes down a he opened it and leaned in. His and Wen Ning's fingers brushed as the cotton ball was replaced by the bandage. Lan Zhan could feel Wen Ning's breath at his ear.

"So?"

"Hm?" Lan Zhan looked up at Wen Ning, who was watching him right back.

"Thought? Opinions?" Wen Ning smirked a bit. Lan Zhan dropped his gaze and leaned back a bit but let his hands linger on Wen Ning's leg.

"I respect you a lot," Lan Zhan eventually said. "It's interesting to see the process, as well." He hesitated a moment before deciding against saying anything more about his...interest...in hormone therapy.

Wen Ning hummed. "Honestly don't know what I expected you to say, but that works."

"Also," Lan Zhan went on, "I would do it for you. If you asked."

Wen Ning chuckled and leaned into Lan Zhan's space. "Maybe I will, then."

"I'm not. Educated. Trained in how to do that kind of thing."

"It's easy. But don't do anything you're uncomfortable with."

"Mn. Show me again, next time."

"Absolutely." Lan Zhan looked up briefly into Wen Ning's smile before dropping his eyes again.

"Hm."

"Hmm."

"Hm." Lan Zhan slid his hand over Wen Ning's knee. "Could I kiss you?"

"I very much want you to," Wen Ning whispered back. Lan Zhan lifted his face again and raised one hand to hold Wen Ning's chin as the two leaned into each other and kissed carefully. And then less carefully. And then Wen Ning's hands were in Lan Zhan's hair at the back of his head, clumsy but eager, and Lan Zhan was pretty sure no part of his body was actually touching the edge of the bathtub anymore—

A loud buzzing made both of them jump and pull apart. Lan Zhan's breath came quick, his hands shaky as he replaced them on Wen Ning's leg and watched him fumble with his smartphone that he'd left on the sink.

"A-Ying," he informed Lan Zhan breathlessly. He poked around the screen a bit. "Just asking again for us to call soon."

Lan Zhan nodded. He ran his fingers back and forth over the fine, dark hair on his boyfriend's thigh. Soon. How soon was soon?

Wen Ning shifted and put both his hands at Lan Zhan's jaw to tilt his face up again. "Just...a little more?"

Lan Zhan nodded quickly as Wen Ning pulled him in for another solid round of kissing.

Being on the phone with Wei Ying and HuaiSang had become the routine of the weekend, and Wen Ning started the call while Lan Zhan was still getting ready for bed. He could hear the two of them talking over each other as he located his pajamas and braided his hair.

"I'll just start my own company," Wei Ying was fuming. "All this bullshit talk about profit and literally no thoughts at all about sad people who lost someone they love and are already going through it Jesus FUCK I want to scream—"

"Please don't, babe," HuaiSang entreated. "Da-ge will come bug us."

"I hate it!!! We live in a hell world!!!"

"I agree with you," Wen Ning cut in. He shook his head. "I will personally do everything in my power to make your ethical funeral home a reality."

"Sunshine, I could just kiss you," Wei Ying sighed.

"Please do," Wen Ning laughed. Lan Zhan finished his braid and tied it off before climbing onto the bed beside Wen Ning and moving into the frame of the video call.

"Lan Zhan," their boyfriends crowed at the same time. "Are you going to bed??" HuaiSang asked, his brows pulling together. "You look so nice. What the hell, I know you probably always look like this for bed, but like…"

Wei Ying laughed. "Distance is making you forget," he joked at HuaiSang. "We'll go home and you'll be falling in love with Lan Zhan all over again."

"That's a treat," Wen Ning pointed out.

"Yes," HuaiSang agreed. "I'd be lucky to fall in love with all of you ten times over."

Wei Ying huffed and smacked a kiss on HuaiSang's face. HuaiSang's hand that was holding the phone shook. "Quit being gay, you guys, I'm gonna go insane."

Lan Zhan shifted and let his hand drift to take Wen Ning's free hand. He understood Wei Ying's feelings. "What time will you be back tomorrow?" he asked softly.

"Early afternoon, if da-ge ever lets us leave." HuaiSang rolled his eyes. "How do you guys feel about Qinghe? He's being very insistent that we try to move here."

"It's kind of a large city," Wen Ning hedged. Wei Ying shook his head.

"Don't worry, sunshine, I won't let Nie MingJue bully me into moving so far away. My sister almost killed him when he left, she would really rip me to shreds. And that's not to mention your sister."

"He'll get over it," HuaiSang agreed.

Lan Zhan turned his head and lifted his and Wen Ning's entwined hands to hide a yawn. Someone on the other end of the call clicked their tongue.

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying sighed. "It's getting past your bedtime, we should let you go."

"No." Lan Zhan shifted and laid his head on Wen Ning's shoulder. "I still want to hear and see you."

Wen Ning squeezed his hand and HuaiSang crooned wordlessly. "We'll be home tomorrow," Wei Ying reminded him. "Get some sleep and it'll come all the sooner."

"I'm getting tired as well," Wen Ning informed them—mostly Lan Zhan. He smiled at Wei Ying and HuaiSang. "Sorry the call's kinda short, tonight."

"No problem at all," Wei Ying assured them.

"Get some rest, sweetheart," HuaiSang sing-songed at Lan Zhan. He hummed back.

"I love you both," he murmured, not sure it was entirely intelligible. Wei Ying laughed.

"Love you, too. And A-Ning, as well, of course."

"And me!" HuaiSang chimed in. Wen Ning smiled and shifted to put an arm around Lan Zhan.

"Goodnight, good luck escaping Qinghe tomorrow, love you."

"Goodnight!"

——

"Should we draw straws, or play rock, paper, scissors?"

"Why would we play rock, paper, scissors? How would that help us determine it? Who does the winner get to go with?"

Wei Ying groaned at HuaiSang's questions. Wen Ning shifted his position on the couch and ran his hand through Wei Ying's hair. "I'll just flip a coin," he offered. "Heads I go with you, tails I go with HuaiSang."

HuaiSang shook his head. Not that Lan Zhan could see, sitting with his back to him as his gentle hands carded through his hair and pulled it into a french braid. "There's a much better way to decide," he informed Wei Ying.

"Oh?" Wei Ying raised an eyebrow at him. "What's that, then?"

"Whoever attends as your partner has to meet Yu ZiYuan." HuaiSang's hands paused and Lan Zhan tilted his head back to take in his reluctant expression. "So. Who is most likely to one, meet her stupid, ridiculous, crazy expectations for the partners of her children, even the one she doesn't always like to acknowledge; two, stand up to her berating and slighting and rude little comments; and three, is willing to do so more than once should their presence be needed in the future?"

Wei Ying rubbed his face. "Babe, this is exactly why I wanted to choose by chance. It's why I didn't want her to know I'm dating anyone. It's sort of miserable! I don't want to condemn anyone to it, or make any...judgements...of any of you that you don't think are fair."

"I'll do it," Lan Zhan offered immediately.

"There you go," HuaiSang chirped, satisfied.

"Wait," Wen Ning cut in. "I'm very good at waiting through unpleasant conversations without letting on how uncomfortable I am. I can just exist and then leave and complain later."

Lan Zhan shook his head. He knew how good Wen Ning was at handling bullshit; it was exactly why he didn't think he should have to do it at the Jiang's lunar new year party. He'd already done it recently. "Let me."

"I just—"

"Look, if you both want to," Wei Ying said, shifting to sit up properly instead of lounging half-in Wen Ning's lap. "Rock, paper, scissors!"

"You can't solve all your life problems with rock, paper, scissors," HuaiSang sighed. He paused his braiding briefly as Lan Zhan shifted to face Wen Ning. They both held their hands up.

"Best out of three," Wei Ying decided. "Winner gets to be tortured by my mother for an evening."

Wen Ning laughed at his wording and shook his head. It was surprisingly quick—Wen Ning won the first, but Lan Zhan won the second and third because Wen Ning kept throwing rock.

"It's decided, then," HuaiSang stated as he finished Lan Zhan's braid with a hair tie. "Wen Ning is my date, Lan Zhan is Wei Ying's."

Wen Ning sighed as Wei Ying settled against him again and put his hand back in his hair, but he was smiling. "It'll be fun," he speculated. "We'll all get to meet your siblings, and I think that's what really matters."

"It is," Wei Ying assured him. He grinned suddenly. "Oh, I forgot to tell Jiang Cheng that I am, indeed, technically bringing all of you. He's going to be so pissed." He pulled his phone out.

"Da-ge's coming to town, too," HuaiSang observed. He sighed. "If only we could get Lan Huan and Qing-Jie there, too. A little family meet'n'greet."

"One day." Lan Zhan turned and leaned his head on one arm as he gazed up at HuaiSang. His boyfriend grinned back and Lan Zhan thought about all the days they had to introduce their families to each other. He felt a smile quirk on his own face. "One day, definitely."

Chapter Text

"You know this gazebo's haunted, right?"

"You already tried that," Jin ZiXuan sighed. "Remember? When we were, like, ten?"

"Maybe you were ten," Jiang YanLi replied, absolutely overflowing with self-importance. "I was eleven."

ZiXuan dropped the end of the string lights he was fixing and made a strangling motion at her and she laughed. He turned back to his work grumpily and she grinned at his back as she held the ladder steady.

"Thanks for helping, by the way," she said brightly. He huffed back.

"Sure. Like you didn't tell me the wrong time on purpose so I could be here to help you finish setting up."

"Maybe. Or maybe I just wanted to hang out with you." She turned her nose up a bit.

ZiXuan finished hooking the lights into place and carefully descended the ladder. He snatched the hand sanitizer from YanLi's bag and made a show of squirting it into his hand. "You know there are spider webs up there?"

She rolled her eyes as she folded the ladder back together. "I think you'll live."

"Where are your idiot brothers, anyway? Why aren't they helping you?"

YanLi slid her eyes over to him and pursed her lips. He refused to look up from pretending to pick dirt off his shirt. "A-Cheng is here already, but he's helping A-Niang." She started back towards the house, leaving the glow of the gazebo and the lapping of the lakewater behind her. ZiXuan followed.

"Oh." He didn't say anything else, and YanLi finally took pity on him.

"A-Ying said he was on the way." She leaned the ladder against the wall by the back door and took her bag back from ZiXuan to pull her phone out. "He's coming with HuaiSang."

"Riding together?" ZiXuan put his hands in his pockets and gazed out at the lake. "Or like coming together?"

YanLi gave ZiXuan another Look that he pretended not to see. Or maybe he really didn't notice it—maybe he really didn't notice how obvious he was being. "They're riding together," she hedged, sticking to the story. "But they're both bringing someone."

ZiXuan hummed. YanLi pretended to poke through her phone as she watched him. The sun was only barely above the horizon now, and the night was deep indigo with just the faintest glow of orange at the edges if you caught something in exactly the right light. Something in ZiXuan's expression twisted vaguely sideways as the twilight whisked past them in the chilly wind and he hummed again, a short sound.

YanLi sighed to herself just as she got a text from HuaiSang informing her that they were coming up one of the last roads. She had more important things to worry about, she reminded herself, than her best friend's love-hate crush on her obnoxious brother. Like making sure he didn't find out about said brother's huge, chaotic polyamorous relationship—or anyone else, for that matter.

"A-Jie!" YanLi turned at the sound of Jiang Cheng's voice. He slouched in the frame of the back door. "Nie MingJue's here."

That was enough to get her moving. She grinned and stepped towards the house. "Great! Oh, yay, I'll be right there."

Jiang Cheng sauntered back into the house and YanLi turned to ZiXuan. "I'm gonna go in and greet him, catch up."

"Mm." ZiXuan nodded and turned with her. "I'll come in too, say hey."

YanLi hesitated. By 'catch up' she really meant 'talk about our brothers and their partners before they show up,' but she supposed they could talk later, squeeze in their own little meeting elsewhere.

"Great," she finally offered a half-beat too late. ZiXuan didn't seem to notice as they entered the house and YanLi immediately spotted Nie MingJue's iconic form huddled in the foyer, avoiding eye contact with people. She grinned and picked up the pace.

"A-Jue!" She was running at him by the time he looked up and he braced for when she threw herself at him. He caught her and kept her upright easily.

"Shit," he chuckled. "It hasn't been that long."

"It's been long enough!" She pulled back to look him over, all smiles. She was pissed at him—she really was. Up until the moment Jiang Cheng said he was here. "How are you? How is Qinghe? Do you have stuff in your house yet, or is it as horrible and empty as the last time I saw it?"

He rolled his eyes. "It's fine, and yes it's furnished. Had no choice, y'know. A-Sang came over the summer last year, and he and Wei Ying were there in December, too. Had to accommodate them; couldn't let you down."

YanLi grinned at that and was about to speak when ZiXuan offered a polite "Hello, Nie MingJue."

YanLi and MingJue both stepped back to leave room for ZiXuan in the conversation. YanLi shot him a little smile. "I managed to talk ZiXuan into coming."

MingJue hummed in acknowledgement. "It's good to see you, I hope you've been doing well."

"Very much so," ZiXuan replied with easy manners. "I hear things have been going well for you in Qinghe, too."

"More or less."

YanLi watched them exchange pleasantries for a bit and fiddled with the hem of her blouse. She wanted a chance to speak with MingJue, but didn't want to break up the conversation or abandon ZiXuan. She checked her phone anxiously again just as there was a knock on the stupidly large front door. Her heart leapt up into her throat as she turned to watch Jiang Cheng pretend not to be excited as he opened it up.

“A-Cheng!” Wei Ying’s voice immediately penetrated the low murmur of the technically-yet-unstarted party. YanLi felt a smile spread easily over her face. Her brother’s voice kept going as he stepped in first. “It’s been too long, DiDi, let me see you,” he crooned mockingly as he reached to squish at Jiang Cheng’s face—and was, of course, slapped away.

“Stop being gay for one fucking second,” Jiang Cheng deadpanned. YanLi made her way towards the door, MingJue and ZiXuan forgotten, as a tall man in a baby blue sweater and white jeans stepped in behind Wei Ying with HuaiSang whispering beside him. That was Lan Zhan—she recognized him from Wei Ying’s trillions of photos and frequent video calls. He was supposed to be coming as Wei Ying’s date, though he and HuaiSang were lingering close enough, hands comfortable enough on each other, to cause confusion.

"JieJie!" Jiang Cheng was forgotten the moment Wei Ying's eyes fell on YanLi and she didn't even try to fight the stupidly big smile spreading on her face. She and Wei Ying met and melted against each other. She missed him—she always missed him. Seeing his big dumb smile and hearing his bright laughter made something in her feel whole again.

"How have you been?" she asked, still squeezing him. "Everything's okay?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" he chuckled back. He rubbed her shoulder and pulled back, grinning brighter than the sun, to gesture to Lan Zhan. "JieJie, I know you know Lan Zhan."

"Yes, but it's good to actually meet him." She beamed at Wei Ying's partner and raised her hands before remembering Wei Ying mentioning he didn't like to be touched. All the same, she leaned in a little closer. "Very good to see you in person, Lan Zhan. We have so much to catch up about, I hope we can find the time."

"I'm sure we will." His voice was even more smooth and calming in person. Lan Zhan gave her a small smile and held a hand out to her, which she immediately grabbed in both of hers. "It's lovely to see you as well, Jiang YanLi."

"JieJie," HuaiSang whined as he latched onto YanLi's side. "What about me?"

YanLi raised an eyebrow at him. "'JieJie'?" Then she looked around. "Where's Wen Ning?"

"Leave YanLi alone." MingJue grabbed his brother by the back of his jacket and dragged him off of YanLi's shoulder. YanLi let Lan Zhan's hand slide from her grasp as he helped Wei Ying remove his coat and hand it to Jiang Cheng, with whom he was already arguing, and stepped around MingJue and HuaiSang who had something similar going on. She peered out the front door to see Wen Ning half-jogging up the walk with a bag in his hand.

"Hi," he huffed breathlessly at her with a smile. He adjusted his denim jacket over his turtleneck. "Sorry, we almost forgot this." He handed her the gift bag. "Technically from Wei Ying and Lan Zhan to your parents, really from all of us to you and your brother." He paused. "Also, I'm Wen Ning."

YanLi laughed and accepted the bag. "I know. Thank you all. Come in, it's still so cold out here."

Wen Ning stepped into the house and closed the heavy door behind himself as YanLi moved through the accumulated crowd in the entryway to grab Wei Ying. She heard a snippet of MingJue and HuaiSang's conversation - "A-Ying calls you Da-Ge, how is it disrespectful to call her JieJie?" - as she passed by before reaching Wei Ying where he was still arguing with Jiang Cheng.

"...fucking diaster," Jiang Cheng was sighing as he rubbed his forehead. "I can't believe JieJie was okay with this."

"JieJie suggested it," Wei Ying corrected him smugly, latched onto Lan Zhan's arm. Jiang Cheng rubbed his face harder and groaned. YanLi wiggled her way into their conversation.

"A-Ying." She held up the little bag. "Should we go find A-Die and A-Niang?"

"Suuure!" Wei Ying kept his expression bright but YanLi saw how his hand tightened on Lan Zhan's arm. She took his other hand and patted it soothingly as they meandered further into the house. Most of the guests for the evening would be either their father's business acquaintances or distant aunts and uncles. YanLi tried to help Wei Ying avoid the latter as she searched for their parents.

"Ugh, the peacock's here," she heard Wei Ying grumble to himself. She glanced over her shoulder to see his scowl.

"Please play nice," she requested of him. Wei Ying turned so he couldn't see Jin ZiXuan anymore where he was making his way towards HuaiSang and Wen Ning. Lan Zhan looked between the siblings.

"Who is the peacock?" he asked lowly. Wei Ying huffed.

"Some dumbass priss who slighted JieJie in high school," he bit out. Yanli groaned.

"A-Ying, will you get over it? I have."

"How could he turn you down!"

"He's gay," she hissed at him. "Besides, we make good friends."

"Being gay isn't a good enough excuse," Wei Ying continued with less vitriol. "You were upset for months, it doesn't matter that he's gay."

YanLi shook her head but didn't say anything as they came upon their parents—lingering in a corner and having a whispered argument of some kind. Jiang FengMian had the tact to stop when he saw his children approaching, but Yu ZiYuan took the chance to slip in a few choice words before turning to face them.

"A-Die," YanLi started, smile stuck in place. "A-Niang, A-Ying is here!"

Jiang FengMian always had genuine smiles to spare for Wei Ying, and sure enough he pulled one out now. Yu ZiYuan barely contained her sneer.

"Couldn't have shown up a little earlier and been of some use?" she scoffed at him. Wei Ying forced a stiff smile and opened his mouth, but Lan Zhan spoke first.

"It was my fault we couldn't leave earlier," he told her in his even, low voice. He inclined his head. "My apologies."

Well, that was just not even true. YanLi hadn't even asked Wei Ying and HuaiSang to come earlier—admittedly, because she knew they wouldn't, but also because she thought it was better that they didn't. Still, Yu ZiYuan's irritation was foregone by her distraction. She gestured at Lan Zhan, somewhat rudely in YanLi's opinion.

"Who is this?" she asked. Jiang FengMian also looked Lan Zhan over.

"This is my partner, Lan Zhan," Wei Ying responded immediately. Lan Zhan shot him some kind of look, but Yu ZiYuan's eyes narrowed.

"Lan?" She looked him over for another moment. Jiang FengMian took the opportunity to move forward and speak.

"It's very good to meet you," he told Lan Zhan earnestly. He held out his hand and Lan Zhan gave it a firm shake. "I hadn't heard A-Ying would be bringing anyone."

His eyes slid to his daughter, who distracted him with the bag Wen Ning had given her. "This is for you."

"Thank you," Jiang FengMian said to Wei Ying and Lan Zhan as he took it from her. He smiled at the three of them. "We'll catch up more, A-Ying, but for now go get some food, alright?"

Yu ZiYuan couldn't let that be the last word. She let out a hard little laugh. "Yes. It's at least good to see you've moved on from that mess with the Nie boy. With hardly any promise between you, I wagered we'd—"

"Sorry, is that old man Yao calling us?" Wei Ying interrupted as he peered dramatically across the room. "So sorry, Uncle, Auntie, we'll catch up more later!" YanLi took his cue and helped steer a stiff Lan Zhan away and through the crowd. YanLi's face burned with shame and she glanced at Lan Zhan. He was walking more willingly, now, but his and Wei Ying's hands were tight on each other.

"Let's grab a drink," she suggested as they nearly passed by a drink station. She pushed a glass of some kind of white wine into Wei Ying's hand. "Lan Zhan?"

"Doesn't drink," Wei Ying informed her at the same moment that Lan Zhan mumbled "No thank you." YanLi nodded. She and Wei Ying made eye contact and cheersed cynically before sipping their drinks and continuing to the group they'd left behind. She could hear the commotion as they approached.

"And he said," HuaiSang was wheezing through his laughter. Jiang Cheng looked about ready to kill him, even with his poorly-suppressed smile. HuaiSang hung off of Wen Ning's shoulder as he caught his breath. "He said he 'didn't like it' and he got up and—"

"Will you shut the fuck up," Jiang Cheng growled. He grabbed HuaiSang and put him in a friendly headlock, ruffling his hair while he cackled at the floor. Wen Ning looked unsure if he should laugh or help. MingJue emptied his glass and looked like he'd rather be anywhere other than hearing his little brother talk about his first kiss. ZiXuan had an eyebrow raised in intrigue.

"What story is this, I've never heard it," Wei Ying complained as they approached. Lan Zhan, however, marched up to Jiang Cheng and bodily removed HuaiSang from his grasp. Jiang Cheng let him go, looking confused, and HuaiSang leaned against Lan Zhan as he caught his breath.

"Oh, it was so funny." He dabbed at his wet eyes, still chuckling, and Lan Zhan kept an arm around him and glared at Jiang Cheng.

"Wen Ning," Nie MingJue started loudly. "How goes your work at the animal shelters?"

"G-Good," Wen Ning replied, striving to match his volume. "Um, this is a pretty busy time of year for us…"

YanLi looked back and forth between MingJue and Wen Ning politely while they conversed and MingJue purposefully pulled Jiang Cheng into the conversation as well. But really, most of her attention was on Lan Zhan, Wei Ying, and HuaiSang hovering just outside the conversation.

"It's okay, really," Wei Ying's voice came lowly, so quiet YanLi almost missed it. Might have, if she wasn't paying such close attention.

"They're dicks," HuaiSang agreed, a little louder than Wei Ying. "Don't look at me like that—you know he could do more."

"I don't really want to talk about this."

"Wei Ying, your brother," Lan Zhan started, but HuaiSang cut him off.

"Oh, sweetheart." He chuckled a bit. "Don't worry, I was being an asshole. Jiang Cheng wouldn't hurt me."

YanLi sipped her drink and looked over at the three of them. Wei Ying caught her eye and nudged Lan Zhan and HuaiSang, who were getting a little close and comfortable again. She gestured them into the conversation and they all stepped forward cooperatively.

"JieJie," Wei Ying put in when he got a chance, "did you know Nie MingJue is trying to get us to move to Qinghe?"

YanLi turned to MingJue, who was pretending his little whiskey on the rocks was extremely interesting, her jaw hanging open. "A-Jue! That's my brother, are you trying to steal him?"

"Hey, it's my little brother too," MingJue defended himself. "Qinghe is so far."

"That's exactly why they absolutely cannot move there!"

"I don't want to move to Qinghe," Wei Ying whined. He grabbed Wen Ning's arm. "Besides, A-Ning's sister would kill you if you made us all move to Qinghe."

MingJue started arguing with Wei Ying about sibling seniority rights but YanLi was distracted by ZiXuan shifting beside her. "Why would they all have to move to Qinghe if HuaiSang went?" he asked, his voice low and confused. YanLi felt a chill.

"You know them," she finally managed. "They've been inseparable since high school."

ZiXuan didn't say anything, just swirling his drink and brooding. YanLi wished he could stop having a thing for her brother for a single day. Or maybe forever—she didn't really think they were well-matched, honestly.

Some of Jiang FengMian's business acquaintances approached, then, striking up a round of polite greetings with MingJue and ZiXuan. The conversation moved into smaller circles involving businesspeople and older, nosy relatives. YanLi drifted around, mostly ignored by the businesspeople and an expert at dodging the relatives, following wherever ZiXuan went. After about half an hour she pulled her phone out.

YanLi 🌸
Okay I think it's time to get our little group properly together.

A-Jue
ok

YanLi 🌸
In the garden? Maybe in the gazebo or down by the lake if the area near the house is too crowded.

A-Jue
ok

YanLi 🌸
Text A-Sang, I'll message A-Ying and A-Cheng.

A-Jue
ok

YanLi went to switch to her conversation with Wei Ying when she heard his voice. She glanced over to see him engaging in some kind of conversation with ZiXuan. It looked weird—Wei Ying somehow both aloof and aggressive, and ZiXuan confused and defensive. She sighed and went over to break it up.

"A-Ying," she interrupted whatever he was saying brightly. "I was just going to text you."

Wei Ying hummed and sipped his wine. Lan Zhan had one hand on the small of his back, as if to steady him, and YanLi wondered how many glasses of wine had come between the one she handed him earlier and the one he currently held. "It's probably better you didn't text," Wei Ying said. "I wouldn't have checked my phone."

ZiXuan scoffed and looked across the room. Wei Ying stuck his tongue out at him and YanLi shook her head. "I'll just message Jiang Cheng." She turned her attention to her phone again.

YanLi 🌸
Gazebo, 15 minutes?

A-Cheng
fine

YanLi 🌸
💜💜💜💜💜 !!!!!!

A-Cheng
-_- 💓

"It's interesting," she heard ZiXuan saying. "Y'know, I never thought about it growing up, so it is interesting to see how it all...happens. It's just also, like, really really depressing."

Lan Zhan hummed and YanLi looked up. Wei Ying had wandered off towards old man Yao to make a nuisance of himself and Lan Zhan and ZiXuan stood watching him and talking together. It was sort of funny, Wei Ying's excessive, misplaced aggression compared to Lan Zhan's calm and good will.

"I try not to think about what will happen if something happens to my dad," ZiXuan admitted. YanLi paused, listening. "Would they try to give me his position, or would I have to fight for it? If I had it, would I even be able to make the changes I want to make? Y'know, I studied this and stuff, but there's so much I just don't get. It's tiring just to think about."

"Yes." Lan Zhan was watching ZiXuan with a peculiar look in his eye—soft, like he was Seeing him. "I understand that feeling well."

YanLi glanced back in the direction of Wei Ying and sighed, walking past Lan Zhan and ZiXuan to cross the room and do damage control. There was only so much old man Yao could take before physically kicking her brother, and she didn't want him kicked.

When she returned with Wei Ying in tow, fully intending to tell Lan Zhan to embargo drinks for him for an hour or two, Lan Zhan was gone. ZiXuan sipped his wine and watched her approach.

"Where did Lan Zhan go?" she asked, adjusting her hold on Wei Ying's arm so he couldn't escape.

"Yes," Wei Ying demanded, "my partner. Did you see where he went?"

"I dunno." ZiXuan shrugged. He watched YanLi peer around helplessly for a minute. "What are you guys doing, anyway?"

"Doing?" she asked innocently, turning back to him. He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah. You're trying to round everyone up, aren't you?"

"No, no we're not rounding people up, no, um." She glanced around again. Lan Zhan was tall, where could he be hiding?

"We're steppìng out for some air," Wei Ying volunteered. YanLi pursed her lips. She would have said something better than that, but sure.

"All of you? Coordinatedly?" ZiXuan sounded doubtful.

"We just wanted to go down to the lake," YanLi said brightly. "Wen Ning and Lan Zhan have never been here before, they've never been down there."

"It's really cold out there."

"Yes," YanLi said sharply. "It is, but they insist."

There was MingJue, at least, that was better than nothing. YanLi turned to make an excuse to ZiXuan, but he had disappeared. Wei Ying was also looking around the room, seeming quite distracted.

"A-Ning?" He frowned. "I don't see Wen Ning either, JieJie."

"We'll find him," YanLi assured him absently as she hauled him across the room towards MingJue. As they got closer, she caught sight of HuaiSang bobbling around beside him.

"Hey," she said breathlessly as they approached. MingJue nodded at her, keeping one hand on HuaiSang—apparently, he, too, had to apprehend his brother. "Where's Wen Ning? And have you seen Lan Zhan?"

"They went outside," HuaiSang informed her helpfully. He tugged at his brother's hold on him. "A-Ying, free me."

Wei Ying started moving - seemingly without even thinking about it - and YanLi tugged him to a stop. "They went outside?" she tried to confirm with HuaiSang.

"A-Ning asked where he could get away with making out with Lan Zhan, and I said outside."

"That is not what he asked," MingJue deadpanned. HuaiSang huffed.

"Fine, he asked where he could talk to him for a second, but what he meant was—"

"Well if they're outside, let's go," YanLi decided. HuaiSang wriggled more.

"Da-Ge, I'm not going to run off or someshit," he whined. "Lemme go."

MingJue reluctantly released HuaiSang and he immediately latched onto Wei Ying. They crooned mindlessly at one another and YanLi ignored them as she gave the room a final visual sweep. They'd always been like that; she didn't think anyone who mattered would be swayed by them hanging off each other.

"Here."

YanLi turned to see that ZiXuan had returned. She gave him a tight little smile and then realized he was handing her something.

"It's super cold and that shirt is made out of, like, chiffon." YanLi accepted the jacket he was offering her. His own jacket. ZiXuan put his hands in his pockets. "Are we heading out now?"

YanLi blinked. We? Oh no. "Oh, ZiXuan," she started guiltily. "We'll really only be out there for a second, you don't need to come."

He shrugged and looked around the room. "Might as well."

"Oh, why can't ZiXuan come?" HuaiSang asked. YanLi turned to glower at him, but HuaiSang's eyes were stuck on ZiXuan. "We've been friends since high school!"

"A-Sang," YanLi hissed scoldingly. Wei Ying covered it with his own complaints.

"No!" Wei Ying pinched HuaiSang's ear. "The Peacock Cannot Come."

YanLi relaxed a bit and met MingJue's eye. See, at least someone had sense, and it happened to be her brother, not his.

"Babe," HuaiSang whined at Wei Ying, reaching for his face. ZiXuan's expression spasmed and he looked at YanLi questioningly. She laughed too loudly.

"Hold on, ZiXuan, just a second." She ignored ZiXuan's deadpan, "What?" as she pushed Wei Ying and HuaiSang towards the back doors with MingJue on her heels. They'd almost made it when their mother accosted them.

"Wei Ying," she demanded as she stepped into their path to stop them short. YanLi suppressed a groan. "Is your boyfriend the nephew of Lan QiRen?"

"He's not my boyfriend," Wei Ying corrected her brightly. She scowled at him and his good mood dimmed a bit. HuaiSang's fingers subtly slid around his hand.

"Don't play your little games with me, I won't put up with them," she snapped at him. "What is Lan QiRen's nephew doing here with you?"

"Who is Lan QiRen?" Wei Ying countered coolly. "I don't know that my partner is related to them."

Yu ZiYuan's expression darkened. YanLi cut in. "A-Niang, I'm awfully sorry, but someone was asking for A-Ying and I hate to keep him from them." She shot her mother a harried, half-hearted smile as she directed Wei Ying and HuaiSang around her.

"That woman is a—" Nie MingJue cut himself off before he finished the sentence. YanLi pointedly ignored whatever he'd been about to say.

"Why'd you make me walk away?" Wei Ying was grumbling.

"I figured it would be better than the consequences of whatever you would end up saying," YanLi answered. He scoffed.

"Yeah right. I'm still gonna be up a creek just over this."

HuaiSang made a soothing noise as they finally neared the back door. They were still several yards away when YanLi spotted Jiang Cheng stepping back inside. She called out to him and he looked up. He seemed thoroughly unamused.

"A-Cheng, why are you coming back in?" YanLi asked when they were close enough. Jiang Cheng put his hands in his pockets.

"I was waiting out there for like ten minutes, and you guys didn't show."

YanLi sighed and patted his arm. "Sorry. C'mon, Lan Zhan and Wen Ning should be out here."

"Where?" Jiang Cheng asked doubtfully, but he followed their group back out. YanLi and Wei Ying gave the back porch a quick sweep with their eyes.

"Oh, there they are." HuaiSang gestured lazily to the edge of the porch, where Lan Zhan and Wen Ning were standing close and talking quietly. Lan Zhan's shoulders were stiff and Wen Ning had his hands close to Lan Zhan's on the railing but not touching him.

Wei Ying duty had fallen by the wayside, and he slipped away from YanLi to interrupt his partners. YanLi watched him go warily before scanning the porch and backyard. There were quite a few people out there, mostly elderly relatives escaping the noise and bustle by braving the chilly night. The wind moved past the back of the house and YanLi shivered as she pulled ZiXuan's borrowed jacket tighter around herself. An arm around her shoulders startled her a bit, but it was just MingJue coming up and huddling close against the cold.

"Gazebo's occupied," he muttered, nodding at a few older people taking refuge in the relative shelter. "Looks like we're trudging to the lake."

"It's not so bad out here," YanLi assured him optimistically. He raised an eyebrow at her dubiously.

YanLi glanced back to check on the progress of collecting Wen Ning and Lan Zhan. Her eyes caught on HuaiSang and Jiang Cheng huddled into themselves and talking quietly.

"Can't believe you tell people that story," Jiang Cheng grumbled. HuaiSang huffed a little laugh.

"That's the first time I've told it, okay?" he admitted. "To be honest, Wei Ying still doesn't know that ever happened."

"Why not?"

"I dunno. Didn't want to make it weird?"

"That whole thing you guys were doing was weird, HuaiSang."

HuaiSang laughed again. "Yeah, I know already, thanks."

YanLi pressed into MingJue's side as the wind whistled around them again. Wei Ying was bringing Lan Zhan and Wen Ning back over, beaming. "Where to?" he asked his sister brightly.

"Lake is probably best for privacy," she answered cheerfully. Wei Ying nodded and led the way, towing Wen Ning behind him by the hand until Wen Ning pointed out Lan Zhan was his date and they switched. YanLi pressed her fingers to her temples and followed along behind them.

The lake was beautiful, even in the dark and the cold. The limited visibility seemed to amplify every sound, and the quiet lapping of the water on the rocky shore was lonely in the winter night without the accompaniment of insects or amphibians. They all drifted to a stop in the stubbly grass and YanLi sucked in a deep breath of water-heavy air. It was funny - kind of stupid - but down here by the water, the creaky old pier and the faded wooden boathouse, felt so much more comfortable than the huge house behind them. So much more like home.

"So." YanLi turned at the sound of Wei Ying's voice, her eyes expectant. He was smiling at her and ushering Wen Ning forward. "JieJie, Jiang Cheng, this is Wen Ning."

Wen Ning was stiff, awkward, but he did smile at YanLi in the dark. "Again, it's very nice to meet you in person. You know how much Wei Ying talks you up, so I hope you won't blame me for being a little starstruck."

YanLi and MingJue both laughed at that. YanLi held both her hands out and Wen Ning placed his own into them. "Of course not. It's lovely to meet you, as well."

“Sure,” Jiang Cheng deadpanned. “Forget me. Whatever.”

Wei Ying laughed in the background. “A-Cheng feels ignored.”

“Eat shit.”

YanLi rolled her eyes at them and turned to Jiang Cheng. “Come here, then,” she said and let go of one of Wen Ning’s hands to gesture him over. Jiang Cheng pulled a face.

“I’m not gonna hold your hands.”

Wei Ying and HuaiSang laughed more at that and YanLi groaned and turned away from him. “Wen Ning, I’m really interested in your field of study. Lan Zhan, too.” She bounced over to grab Lan Zhan by the arm as well. Wen Ning looked about to object on his behalf, but Lan Zhan just smiled at her. “Tell me about your studies. Jiang Cheng, walk with us.”

Jiang Cheng grumbled but fell into step beside his sister and the two men she was arm-in-arm with. “I’ve been meaning to ask you more about your law prospects,” MingJue put in as he, too, followed them. He met Lan Zhan’s gaze. “HuaiSang says you’re not scummy, but I’d like some elaboration.”

Jiang Cheng huffed a quiet laugh and Lan Zhan narrowed his eyes at him just a little before answering MingJue’s question. YanLi slowed a bit, Lan Zhan’s arm slipping from her grip, and glanced over her shoulder at Wei Ying and HuaiSang lingering behind. They were standing close, speaking casually, their eyes set on the old wooden pier. She started to fall more behind and Wen Ning followed her gaze.

“They’re fine,” he assured her quietly. “If I recall correctly, they have a lot of nice memories here.”

“They do,” she agreed absently as her brother and his boyfriend wandered slowly down to the pier. She turned back to Wen Ning and smiled, pressing close to his side for warmth. “I hope we all will. I consider you my family, now, you know.”

Wen Ning’s cheeks were pink, from the cold or the fondness, YanLi couldn’t quite tell. “You should meet my sister,” he told her earnestly. “She would love that, really. She still stresses and worries about me, I think meeting you and Nie MingJue would really positively affect her. Oh, and Lan Huan.”

YanLi hummed, tilting her head at the name. “Lan Zhan’s brother,” she stated the obvious. She recalled mentions of him, but not as frequently as MingJue or Wen Ning’s kind sister. She wondered about him.

“We should have a family dinner,” Wen Ning laughed. “All, what, ten of us? Shoved around a table?”

“We’re not quite ten,” YanLi corrected him. She grinned. “But I agree, sometimes I think about this and it feels kind of crazy.”

Wen Ning laughed and squeezed her hand. He gestured up to where MingJue, Jiang Cheng, and Lan Zhan had pulled quite ahead of them, circling the curve of the lake, and YanLi nodded as they picked up speed to catch up to them.

——

“Do you remember kissing right here?”

“Yes,” HuaiSang chuckled. “Of course I remember kissing you for the first time.”

Their fingers tangled lazily against the cold, damp wood and Wei Ying smiled, kicking his leg absently off the end of the pier. The water was even lower than when he’d last been here. As much as he could say fuck the house and the...experiences in it, this lake was somewhat important to him. To all three of them, himself and his siblings. Precious. He wished he knew more about geology and lakes; he wished he could keep this cove of good things from draining down to nothing.

HuaiSang leaned close to him. “It’s cold,” he whispered. Wei Ying pressed their shoulders together.

“Let me keep you warm,” he murmured back at him and HuaiSang hummed contentedly.

“Go for it.”

Wei Ying huffed a laugh and released his hand to wrap his arm around HuaiSang and hold him close. He pressed a kiss to his hair. “You know something?”

“Hm?” HuaiSang was busy getting as close to Wei Ying as possible and sticking his cold little hands inside his jacket. Wei Ying jumped a bit, but pressed on.

“You never told me who your first kiss actually was. Just that it wasn’t me.”

HuaiSang was quiet for a bit. “You’re right,” he eventually said. Wei Ying rolled his eyes.

“So will you tell me?”

“Umm…”

“C’mon, A-Sang, is it that bad? Was it Jin ZiXun?”

“No!” HuaiSang shuddered and then whined. “Okay, just...don’t get all...I dunno…”

“Get all how? I can’t imagine anyone who would make me mad.”

HuaiSang pulled back to peek up at him. “Jiang Cheng,” he whispered.

Wei Ying blinked. Then he laughed. He laughed so hard HuaiSang had to move away from him, whining and complaining the whole way.

“Stop laughing!” HuaiSang shoved Wei Ying’s shoulder, and he laughed harder. “A-Ying! It’s not that funny! Okay, well actually, it is funny, but you don’t even know why it’s funny yet!”

“Please,” Wei Ying gasped through his tears. “Please, there’s no way it gets better.”

“Well, I was trying to tell this story earlier, but like I kind of thought he was...y’know, we were all in high school together, I thought he was hot in a mean and miserable way, and I told him and he—Wei Ying, stop laughing! Stop, I need to finish the story. Anyway, so he was like—“ HuaiSang paused and put on an excellent Jiang Cheng impression. “‘Well, like, do you want to try kissing or something?’ So I was like yeah sure—we were sixteen! Shut up, shut up, anyway, he kissed me for like two minutes in my parents’ old house, you know in my old bedroom? Anyway, then he just stopped and stood up and looked at me and said he ‘didn’t like it’ and said thanks and all and then he left my entire house and—Wei Ying!”

Wei Ying was pretty sure he was asphyxiating. He wheezed and slammed his fist on the pier, making the wood creak dangerously. HuaiSang shoved him again.

“God, are you dying? Are you going to be fucking okay? Seriously, it’s not that funny, I don’t want you to choke over it.” His hands went from shoving to soothing, sure and steady where they rubbed Wei Ying’s spine and the back of his neck. Wei Ying sucked in a deep breath and wiped at his eyes.

“Oh, heavens,” he gasped as he straightened back up. He chuckled a few more times as he kept dabbing at the corners of his eyes. “Jiang Cheng is a mess.”

“Yes, he is.” HuaiSang pouted and Wei Ying laughed loudly again. He reached to hold his face and leaned in to kiss him sweetly.

“I like kissing you,” he assured him quietly. HuaiSang put his hands over Wei Ying’s and kissed him in return. For a moment, stuttering breath and the lapping of the lake on the shore beneath them were the only sounds on the pier. It was undeniably familiar, though this time it thrilled entirely differently.

“Da-Ge will have a fit if he has to see us kissing,” HuaiSang whispered after a few long, sweet minutes of sharing breath. Wei Ying scoffed and pressed his lips to HuaiSang’s cheek.

“No one’s making him look.”

“A-Ying.”

“Sure, fine, whatever.” Wei Ying leaned out of HuaiSang’s space. Both of their breath clouded in the wintery air. HuaiSang held onto Wei Ying’s hand as it lowered back to the half-damp wood of the pier.

“So, yeah, there,” HuaiSang wrapped up the Jiang Cheng topic. “My first kiss was your weird brother.”

“Gross.”

“Does it weird you out bad?” HuaiSang asked, suddenly anxious, and Wei Ying laughed and leaned back on an elbow.

“No. I assume in the two years between kissing him and kissing me, you brushed your teeth.”

“You can’t know that for sure.”

“I can—I watched you, several times.”

HuaiSang pursed his lips and relented. “What do you think of ZiXuan?” he asked out of seemingly nowhere. Wei Ying shot upright again.

“The peacock? Why?”

“Wondering.”

“What do you mean what do I think of him?”

HuaiSang gave him a sly little look. “Do you remember him when we were at school together?”

“Yeah, he was always at my fucking house torturing my sister with his presence.”

HuaiSang shook his head at him and opened his mouth to speak again, but there was a creak behind them. Wei Ying looked over his shoulder to see Lan Zhan walking calmly towards them.

“Hello, sweetheart,” HuaiSang greeted him. Lan Zhan hummed and sat on HuaiSang’s other side. HuaiSang reached to take his hand carefully. “Are you doing alright?”

“Much better than earlier.” Lan Zhan took HuaiSang’s hand in both of his and rubbed gently to warm the skin. “Sorry, I didn’t expect her derision to irk me so much.”

“Don’t be sorry,” Wei Ying jumped in. “It’s not wrong to feel upset.”

“Wish I had been able to control it better.” Lan Zhan looked at HuaiSang directly and opened his mouth but just closed it again.

Wei Ying remembered his aunt’s question about Lan Zhan’s relative. He rolled it around in his head, but decided now was not the time to bring it up. He watched his partners whisper and warm each other and filed it away for later.

“Loves?”

Wei Ying glanced back towards shore again. Wen Ning stood at the edge of the pier. He gestured at them.

“It’s freezing. Let’s go back in.”

Wei Ying held a hand out. “Come here for a second, first.”

Wen Ning smiled at him and turned to Nie MingJue who lingered as Jiang Cheng and YanLi made their quick way back to the house. “We’ll catch up—I promise we won’t stay out here long.”

Nie MingJue shrugged and turned to follow the Jiang siblings inside. Wen Ning heaved an indulgent sigh at Wei Ying and went to join them at the end of the pier. Wei Ying smiled and squished up against HuaiSang to make room for Wen Ning beside him. Yes, they would catch up. For now, he wanted a few more pleasant memories at the edge of the closest place to home he knew.

——

Wen Ning watched Wei Ying and HuaiSang cling to each other across the room and sighed before throwing back the rest of his wine. This was hopeless. Jiang YanLi had assured him that this sort of behavior had always been normal between the two of them and nobody would read into it, but he couldn’t help but wonder. HuaiSang was literally in Wei Ying’s lap. Should he start some kind of drama about it? Really sell the story?

No. He ambled over to a table filled with fancy, incomprehensible foods and selected one at random. It probably wasn’t worth the effort. He was pretty sure Wei Ying had consumed two or three glasses of wine since returning from the lake while trying to skirt around his parents and cause as much trouble as possible. If he went over there right now, he was pretty sure he’d just get pulled into the affection-pile. He stood against the wall, mostly ignored, and ate his weird little canapé.

“Where did you all disappear to earlier?”

Wen Ning coughed a little around the cracker and covered his mouth as he looked over at the man standing beside him reluctantly sipping his wine. He was the one who’d been hanging around Jiang YanLi—Jin ZiXuan. HuaiSang said they were friends in high school—Wei Ying insisted they were nothing of the sort. He seemed a nice enough fellow, though his mood was a bit sour now.

“I’m sorry?” Wen Ning asked when he realized he’d missed whatever he’d said. Jin ZiXuan’s mouth twisted to the side.

“I asked where you all ran off to.”

“Oh.” Wen Ning cleared his throat. “Jiang YanLi dragged us all outside to see the lake.” Luckily, Jiang YanLi had thought to fill him in on her story to those who had asked where they were off to. Jin ZiXuan looked somehow unsatisfied, but he didn’t say anything else.

Wen Ning felt kind of bad. He seemed like a good dude, and having all your friends suddenly disappear and avoid you was probably disheartening. He smiled at him. “HuaiSang said you guys are friends," he started conversationally.

Jin ZiXuan looked up sharply. “He said that?” The shock was apparent in his voice. Wen Ning nodded slowly and Jin ZiXuan looked back at his wine. “We knew each other,” he disclosed. “I was...I am better friends with YanLi.”

“Mm.” Wen Ning nodded. “I sort of picked up on that.”

“I’m surprised HuaiSang would say we’re friends,” he admitted. “Wei Ying couldn’t - can’t - seem to fucking stand me, and he and HuaiSang are so…” He trailed off and looked across the room. Wei Ying was talking loudly and animatedly with some very entertained relatives, one arm around HuaiSang’s waist holding him against him. “...close,” Jin ZiXuan finished his sentence doubtfully.

Wen Ning chuckled nervously. “Yes,” he hedged. “Well, Wei Ying has a pretty harsh bias. HuaiSang’s very welcoming, I think, just as a person.”

Jin ZiXuan looked Wen Ning over a bit. “Yeah. How long have you guys been together?”

“Since October,” Wen Ning answered and then paused. Was that really it? Only four months?

“Oh. How did you meet?”

“Umm.” Wen Ning pushed his hair out of his face. He wished he had a wine glass—something in his hands to fiddle with. They hadn’t exactly worked out this story. Nobody here was supposed to give a shit about HuaiSang and Wen Ning. “College?”

“College?”

“College.” Wen Ning looked at Jin ZiXuan to see if he was buying it. He didn’t think he was.

“Hm.” Jin ZiXuan moved his shady eyes to scan the room. “And you just know Wei Ying through him?”

“Well, Lan Zhan and I had a class together. He sort of introduced us.”

“Introduced you to HuaiSang?” Jin ZiXuan’s brows furrowed. “Or to Wei Ying?”

Shit. “They were sort of a solid little friend group at the time,” Wen Ning babbled absently.

“I see.”

“ZiXuan!” HuaiSang came rushing at the two of them through the sea of old business people and relatives making up the slowly thinning end of the party. He beamed at them. He stumbled into Wen Ning and took his hand but kept his eyes on Jin ZiXuan. “I see you’ve gotten the chance to talk to my lovely boyfriend. What do you think, isn’t he the best?”

“He’s very nice,” Jin ZiXuan conceded without inflection. HuaiSang chuckled at him.

“I wish you could have come outside with us.” HuaiSang pouted a bit. “It was terribly cruel for us to leave you in here by yourself. But A-Ying and JieJie…” He waved a dismissive hand. “They’re adamant about their little secrets.”

Jin ZiXuan blinked curiously at HuaiSang. “Don’t worry about it.”

Wen Ning squeezed HuaiSang’s hand and made a nervous little sound. HuaiSang glanced at him. “It’s okay.” He looked Wen Ning directly in the eyes and quirked one brow. “Isn’t it?”

Wen Ning blinked back. Was he...?

“ZiXuaaan, we should hang out more,” HuaiSang was whining at Jin ZiXuan. He fumbled for his phone. “Give me your number, we can all hang out, me and you and Lan Zhan and A-Ning and A-Ying.”

Wen Ning squeezed HuaiSang’s hand and gave him a little smile while Jin ZiXuan was busy being confused and typing his number into HuaiSang’s phone. HuaiSang smiled back.

“Wow, ZiXuan, really?”

All three looked up at the sound of Wei Ying’s too-loud voice. He was coming up to them through the now-dwindling dredges of the party, somehow both dragging Lan Zhan behind him and being restrained by him at once. His eyes were narrowed on ZiXuan. He was also piss-drunk.

“Babe,” HuaiSang sighed disapprovingly. “You shouldn’t have done this here.”

“Shut up.” Wei Ying pinched his arm and HuaiSang whined and huddled between Wen Ning and ZiXuan. Wei Ying returned to his little tirade, turning his nose up at Jin ZiXuan. “I see you weren’t content with breaking my poor sister’s heart; you also want to steal my men.”

“You can’t steal people,” Wen Ning pointed out. Wei Ying made an electric sound with his mouth and wiggled his fingers menacingly and Wen Ning fought hard to restrain himself to just a smile and single huff of laughter.

“Sweetheart,” HuaiSang complained. “You were supposed to keep him over there.”

“He is stronger than me,” Lan Zhan excused himself calmly. Wei Ying tugged pointedly on the one arm Lan Zhan still had a hold of; Lan Zhan's grip stayed firm. Jin ZiXuan finally spoke.

"'Your men'?" He raised an eyebrow at Wei Ying and gestured with his wine glass to Lan Zhan. "I thought that was your man?"

"They're all my men," Wei Ying snapped at him. He grabbed Wen Ning's arm. "So back off, peacock."

Jin ZiXuan blinked and his expression went blank. HuaiSang pressed his fist to his mouth and Wen Ning saw him tearing up from repressing his laughter. "That makes so much sense," Jin ZiXuan finally said, nodding a little. HuaiSang lost it. Wen Ning sighed and turned to Wei Ying, petting his hair.

"Oh, love, we're not going anywhere," he assured him. Wei Ying refused to stop glaring at Jin ZiXuan, but he did pat Wen Ning's arm.

"ZiXuan," HuaiSang gasped as he laughed. He tapped his phone. "Your number, please, please…"

Jin ZiXuan slowly drew his gaze from Wei Ying to HuaiSang. He looked at him for a long moment before looking back down and continuing to input his information. Wei Ying squirmed.

"Wait," he complained. "HuaiSang…"

"Oh, c'mon," HuaiSang sighed at him in return. Jin ZiXuan handed him back his phone robotically and HuaiSang gave him a smile. "You actually live near Gusu, right?"

"Lanling is...close," Jin ZiXuan reluctantly agreed. Lan Zhan was nodding behind Wei Ying, who had resorted to pouting.

"We should hang out," HuaiSang was telling Jin ZiXuan brightly. "You seem cool, now."

Jin ZiXuan raised an eyebrow and turned away to sip his wine. Wen Ning noticed a faint flush over his cheekbones.

"We should get Wei Ying home," Lan Zhan said sensibly. HuaiSang hummed his agreement.

"At this rate, he'll be either passed out or depressed halfway through the ride home."

"I'm right here," Wei Ying complained loudly. Wen Ning tried to care about Wei Ying's parents and found he couldn't; he pressed a kiss to his hair to hide a chuckle as he and HuaiSang started a little verbal scuffle.

"Wow." Wen Ning glanced away from HuaiSang and Wei Ying's argument to see Jin ZiXuan watching the four of them with appreciation clear in his wide eyes. He met Wen Ning's gaze and he couldn't help but smile at him.

"I do really look forward to seeing you again," he told him earnestly as Lan Zhan shooed their boyfriends towards the door. “You were cut quite unceremoniously from too much of the evening.”

Jin ZiXuan blinked in mild surprise and looked down into his wine. "Yeah." He swirled his wine. Twice. Then looked back up. "Um, yeah. I look forward to it."

Wen Ning chuckled a bit and turned to respond to HuaiSang calling after him. He followed his partners to the front door to help them retrieve their coats. Jiang YanLi came up, smiling but definitely tired, to say her goodbyes.

"We did it," she sighed as she squeezed Wei Ying tightly. Wen Ning worried they would fall, boneless as Wei Ying was and frail as his sister seemed. "We had you all here and no one found out," she continued, absolutely gleeful.

Wei Ying scoffed. "ZiXuan knows," he informed her, voice still too loud.

YanLi froze, her arms still around her brother and her eyes wide. "ZiXuan knows?"

"Yes." HuaiSang rolled his eyes and adjusted his jacket before walking straight out the door. Wei Ying pushed on stubbornly. "HuaiSang and Wen Ning told him."

"I did no such thing," Wen Ning defended his own honor. He shook out Wei Ying's jacket and Jiang YanLi finally released him so he could slip his arms in, still pouting.

"Well. Well, what did he say?" Jiang YanLi asked anxiously. Wei Ying gave a hard laugh and leaned out the door to shout after HuaiSang.

"A-Sang asked him out!"

Jiang YanLi's entire expression shuttered. It was a weird reaction. Wen Ning noted it before stepping forward. "Jiang YanLi, please don't worry," he said assuringly. "They're okay."

"Are they?" she asked doubtfully. "Are they?"

"Yes." Lan Zhan handed Wen Ning his jacket before turning to Jiang YanLi. "Miss Jiang, it's been such a treat to meet you in person. Sharing my life with your brother is one of the highest honors I'll ever know. I hope you'll trust me with him."

Jiang YanLi was stuck, the way people often were around Lan Zhan when he was being genuine and intent. Wen Ning felt bad for her. Finally, she sighed. "Yes. It's been an honor to meet both of you." She took one of Wen Ning's hands and one of Lan Zhan's and held them tight. "Please all take care of each other. A-Sang means as much to me as A-Ying does. You do, too, now."

Wen Ning thought he was going to cry. He pulled Jiang YanLi into a warm embrace. "Please call us all the time."

"I will," she responded into his shoulder, a bit of a wobble in her voice. Wen Ning released her and stepped back. Lan Zhan took his hand as they moved out the door.

"Goodnight, Jiang YanLi," Lan Zhan said warmly. She wiped at her eyes and waved.

"Goodnight, drive safe."

The door creaked closed behind them as they walked hand-in-hand down the path to the drive full of parked cars. Thankfully, many people had already left, and their little rental car was plenty clear for Lan Zhan to get it out. Wei Ying and HuaiSang stood huddled against the side of it. Wen Ning hummed as they approached.

"So that's over," he commented. Wei Ying sighed and reached for him.

"Sunshine, sit in the back with me."

"Who will navigate for Lan Zhan?" Wen Ning asked.

"Me," HuaiSang volunteered quickly as he scrambled for the passenger side front door. Lan Zhan shook his head and unlocked the doors and they all piled in. Wei Ying pulled Wen Ning into the back with him and positioned them together comfortably and warmly. Wen Ning laughed.

"This isn't going to work."

"Why?"

"Where will the seatbelts go?"

"We don't need them."

"Seatbelts are required," Lan Zhan cut in, his voice firm and somewhat loud in the dark car. Wei Ying obediently disentangled himself from Wen Ning to buckle in before tugging on him again. Wen Ning chuckled as Lan Zhan shifted into reverse and HuaiSang started speaking with him lowly about which route would be best. Wen Ning rubbed a hand up and down over Wei Ying's back and relished in the feeling of his boyfriend going boneless against him.

"Love," he hummed. "Love, love. Love."

Wei Ying rubbed his face on Wen Ning's shoulder. "That's my name, don't wear it out."

Wen Ning smiled stupidly into Wei Ying's hair. He heard more murmuring up front and looked up enough to see Lan Zhan's right hand adjusting the vent to make sure it was positioned to reach the backseat.

"Warm enough?" he heard him ask. He smiled and nuzzled into Wei Ying's hair again.

"Certainly."

Chapter Text

Birdsong never felt like it belonged in a morning scene. Something about it felt forlorn, to Jin ZiXuan. Or maybe it was just that the only birds he ever heard sang sad, sour songs.

He stared at the length of his arm laid out into the empty expanse of the bed beside him, his wrist resting on the edge of the mattress and his hand hanging down the side, fingers out of sight. The sun had woken him, like normal. He was still tired, like normal. He would lay here another twelve or so minutes, like normal.

His phone buzzed.

He let out a quiet breath before reaching under his pillow for it, unplugging it and pulling it in front of his face. He had three messages, actually. The one he'd just received, and two from last night after he'd fallen asleep. He checked those first.

They were both from Nie HuaiSang. The first was a long text with absolutely no punctuation to speak of.

HuaiSang
Hey ZiXuan just wanted to let you know that Lan Zhan and i made it back okay it was really good to see you again and get to talk to you more next time you should come to our place because Lan Zhan and Wen Ning keep planning "hypothetical" meals for when "someone" comes over and i just want them to get it out of their system lol anyway thanks again for coming i hope we hang out again soon

ZiXuan blinked at the text and scrolled down to show the picture that comprised the second message. It was a selfie of HuaiSang's, though only the corner of his face was in it, and behind him on the couch were Lan Zhan, wearing the same clothes he'd worn the evening before when they'd grabbed coffee together, and Wen Ning and Wei Ying. Wen Ning was looking at a book Lan Zhan was holding, some kind of needlework in his own hands, and laughing. Wei Ying was leaning entirely on Lan Zhan's broad shoulder, dead asleep.

ZiXuan stared at the image for a good couple of minutes. He couldn't make out the cover of the book Lan Zhan and Wen Ning were looking at. He didn't know enough about this kind of stuff to know if Wen Ning was knitting or crocheting or something else entirely. He couldn't see any of HuaiSang, really. But he could see Wei Ying, looking very much how ZiXuan had never seen him. His eyes were closed in sleep and his expression was relaxed, his lips tilted more towards a smile than the scowls he usually received from him. It was too tender a renditioning. He couldn't handle the sight, and also resolutely refused to look away.

Two more messages came through, so quick ZiXuan only got a glimpse of the preview for the second, which listed the sender as Su She and the message as reading "lol ✌ teehee." ZiXuan's face immediately twisted into unamusement as he went to see what bullshit he'd been sent this morning.

Su She
heehee hi 💕💕 good morning to people who get into car accidents and people who get inti car accidents only 💕💕

Img_7337192929.jpg

lol ✌ teehee

The picture was of Su She's grey Hyundai, absolutely fucked. From the looks of it, he'd rear-ended someone. ZiXuan rubbed his face as another message came through.

Su She
will u pick me up 😌👉👈

"Fuck," ZiXuan grumbled as he crawled out of bed and stumbled slowly around his bedroom getting dressed.

——

"Do you think your dad will be mad that you're getting me a company car?" Su She glanced at him and sipped noisily through the straw of his obnoxiously bedazzled travel tumbler, batting his eyes a little.

"Yes," ZiXuan replied deadpan as he navigated off the highway.

"But is he going to find out?"

"Not if I can help it." ZiXuan heaved a sigh as he turned onto the busy main downtown road. "Just steer clear of him for now, okay?"

Su She scoffed. "Like that's hard. Asshole doesn't even come to work three days a week."

"He's your boss," ZiXuan warned him, nodding at the security attendant and pulling into the parking lot of the Jin Industries building.

"He's also your dad," Su She reminded him scornfully. ZiXuan didn't respond because, well, he simply couldn't argue that one.

They were waiting for the elevator when ZiXuan's phone went off. It was set specifically to only make noise for two contacts. He pulled his phone out to quickly scan the message.

"Is that your brother?" Su She asked with a false innocence. "Tell him I said hi. When are you going to finally be a real friend and set us up?"

"Shut up," ZiXuan muttered, wrinkling his nose at the thought. "It's not him."

It actually was ZiXuan's brother, just not the one Su She had been asking about. ZiXuan didn't even have that guy's number. He did, however, have his little brother in his phone.

XuanYu
ge are you coming to dinner?

on friday i mean

ZiXuan sighed at his phone. His mother had informed him of the "family dinner" being held the coming Friday. He wasn't sure what made it a family dinner. It would just be his parents ripping at each other and ignoring him and Mo XuanYu. He hadn't told her whether or not he was coming yet.

He wasn't sure how to respond to XuanYu, either. He had a growing pile of backlogged messages he didn't know how to respond to. He let Su She nudge him into the elevator, feeling all of those messages heavy in his pockets.

——

It wasn't until that afternoon that he received a text he knew instinctively how to respond to.

Wen Ning
Would you like to see a picture of some baby ducks?

Jin ZiXuan
Very much

ZiXuan, who was just sitting at his desk waiting for a call his dad was refusing to take, tapped his finger on the edge of his mousepad as he stared at his phone. The photos came through a moment later – three pictures of a small group of fluffy baby ducks. They were miniscule. Microscopic, even. He told Wen Ning as much.

Jin ZiXuan
They are literally so small

Wen Ning
They literally are!! I want them so bad 😭

I hope your day is going well!

He was so nice. Ever since the new year's party, ZiXuan had been unable to get over how nice Wen Ning was.

Jin ZiXuan
I'm doing alright, I appreciate you asking. I would ask how you're doing, but you have baby ducks, so I have to assume you're doing pretty well

Wen Ning
Haha, not too bad, for sure! I know you're busy, so I'll leave you to it, but I just wanted to check in :)

ZiXuan felt sick. He put his phone down and tapped his fingers anxiously on his desk. He shouldn't feel sick just because someone – or several someones – were being kind to him.

"Were you on a date last night?"

ZiXuan glanced over at the secretary. He thought again about how stupid it was that his desk was next to the secretary's desk outside his father's office. Was it some kind of slight? He couldn't find the energy to care about it so much.

"What?" he asked blankly. Wang LingJiao popped a bubble with her gum and turned her phone around to show him his own instagram story.

"This guy, were you on a date?"

There literally wasn't a guy in sight. It was a picture of the dinner ZiXuan had gotten last night – admittedly, on his…outing with HuaiSang and Lan Zhan – and it took him a moment to realize she was talking about the hand and elbow barely visible on the edge of the photo.

ZiXuan scoffed and leaned back. "Yeah, I'm dating a salad," he said dryly. She laughed at him.

"I believe it, what with the hours we work here." She scowled openly at Jin GuangShan's office door, but ZiXuan was pretty sure he wasn't even in there.

"You don't even work that many hours," ZiXuan pointed out. "What is it, four days a week? Only have to be here long enough to eternally shuffle around the CEO's meetings that he keeps shirking?"

"And you make my job easier by agreeing to go to them in his stead," she crooned at him sweetly. "Anyway, no offense, but this place can stuff it. My boyfriend said he'll get me a job at his company." She said the last in a sickeningly sweet tone of voice, smiling at her phone as she typed away at something. ZiXuan struggled to contain himself to simply rolling his eyes.

His phone finally rang and he grabbed it, grateful for a way out of this conversation with Wang LingJiao.

——

ZiXuan tried very hard to look like he understood what was going on.

"Profits this year simply haven't risen enough," the CFO was saying as he gestured to a graph of profits over the last five years. Each year the line had gone up. How was that still not good enough for these people?

"We could cut some of our labor costs," the personnel manager put in eagerly. "There are a couple of redundant positions I've found in branch offices. Some of the stores, too, are overstaffed."

Overstaffed? Had he ever been in one of their retail locations? Or did he just stare at numbers a computer spit at him?

"An excellent idea," the COO agreed, surveying the manager's report loftily. "With these cuts, we should be able to bring profits up by twelve percent by the next quarter. What does the CEO think?"

ZiXuan stared at the report in his folder. He understood the words themselves. But it just didn't make sense. Why were they firing people, again? Because yearly profits were nine percent instead of eleven percent? He took a deep breath.

"I think," he said carefully, "that without staff, it's difficult for our departments to reach our goals." He glanced around the boardroom. Nobody's expression had changed. "And," he went on slowly, "I think downsizing is often a sign of a company's profits dropping." He thought quickly. "We wouldn't want to affect our stock price."

"Quite right, young mister Jin." The CFO nodded. "We will simply have to find other ways to boost profits."

"Our material costs are quite high, at the moment," the COO mentioned. ZiXuan sank in his seat miserably. He wasn't sure what was worse — having to sit through these meetings that teemed with evil, or the thought that if he didn't do it, his dad would, and his dad would agree to cutting personnel and sacrificing ethics.

Not for the first time, Jin ZiXuan wished he hadn't been born a Jin.

——

XuanYu
ge are you coming to dinner?

on friday i mean

Jin ZiXuan
Hey. Yes, I am. I'd never miss a chance to give you a swirlie

XuanYu
you've literally never given me a swirlie lmao

okay though good to know. thanks

——

ZiXuan understood how XuanYu felt. He had often wished he had an older brother – or anyone at all – to divert attention or help him escape on nights that Jin GuangShan elected to be at home with his "family." If he did nothing else truly redeeming in his life, he could at least serve that purpose for his younger brother.

He crunched his way up the walk to his parents' front door and knocked. He looked out over the cool spring evening. It looked very alive, here on their grounds, in a curated sense of the word. Early spring flowers were blooming with their later friends just starting to bud, and grasshoppers were making their best attempts at getting home for the night. ZiXuan wished that was him. The front door opened and he turned around.

"Hiya, ge," Mo XuanYu offered him with a thin little smile. ZiXuan smiled back. This was easier. He could be nice and kind to XuanYu, that was just instinct — it was keeping it up around his parents that would be the difficult part.

"How're you doing?" ZiXuan asked him, stepping into the house and out of his shoes.

"School's lame and I don't wanna go."

ZiXuan managed a chuckle around his real concerns. He knew XuanYu was struggling to fit in at school, for a variety of reasons both perfectly valid and perfectly stupid. They could talk more about that later — after the obligatory hour in the company of their parents. "Other than school, then," he prompted, hoping to get something else from him.

"It's been okay. I've been doing a lot of extra studying at d...dad's insistence."

ZiXuan noticed his stumble and understood it. He slung a casual arm around XuanYu's shoulders, though it didn't feel natural to either of them. They moved slowly through the house towards the kitchen.

"He making you study business?" ZiXuan scoffed. Really, the guy already had one annoyed and unhappy business-oriented son, did he need to drag down another kid's life?

But XuanYu shook his head. "He's got me lots of coding programs and different courses on comp sci and coding shit. It's pretty cool, I guess."

Interesting. "Is he around more often?" ZiXuan asked, keeping his voice low as they got closer to where they could hear his mother and father's voices.

"Couple nights a week," XuanYu hedged.

They had arrived in the dining room at that point, so ZiXuan let it drop. He tugged XuanYu a little closer against his side and the younger boy played it up in return, throwing in a random laugh for effect. ZiXuan and XuanYu, more than ten years apart in age, were not exactly super close, seeing as how they rarely saw each other and didn't necessarily have a ton in common. However, there was one thing they agreed on wholeheartedly — that they were decidedly united in the fight against their father, even if the most they could do was pretend to be best friends around him.

When Mo XuanYu had first been discovered – via his mother reaching out to Jin GuangShan in her last days asking him to take responsibility – Jin GuangShan didn't even consider genuinely taking him in. ZiXuan's mother, OuYang Yin – "Madam Jin" – had been too preoccupied shouting at him about "Another Qin Su situation" to get her opinion properly across, either. In fact, had ZiXuan not happened to be home at the time, he was pretty sure his parents would have simply continued to self-implode on each other for the next two years and would have never responded to poor Miss Mo.

Thankfully, he'd been home.

Knowing full well by now that he wasn't going to get a word in edgewise when his parents were screaming at each other, he had checked his father's email and gone himself to the given address. When skinny, 9-year-old XuanYu had opened the door and asked who he was, he announced himself as his brother and told him to get his things because he was going to live with them. By the time he made it back, in the early hours of the morning, his parents had worn out and gone to bed, so he kicked in both of their doors and introduced Mo XuanYu to them and told them which room he was putting him in. When his father had started to object, his mother cut in viciously about taking responsibility, and his father had seemed too exhausted to keep going.

Looking back, he wasn't convinced XuanYu was living a particularly better life here than he might have done elsewhere. Luckily, OuYang Yin was sympathetic enough towards him since he was just a kid, and he was pretty good and overall kept his head down, so the two of them coexisted peacefully — even seemed on good terms, sometimes, to ZiXuan. But his mother didn't have much energy for ZiXuan or XuanYu whenever their father was around.

So ZiXuan and XuanYu had each other, on nights like this, and even when it was brittle and difficult and not enough, the most important thing was to project the image that it was absolutely all they needed.

"Ge," XuanYu continued his chuckling, shoving at ZiXuan to get him off. ZiXuan laughed back and ruffled his shaggy hair violently, eliciting genuine complaints and whines from his little brother.

ZiXuan's mother looked up at them, a dish in her hands. Although they had heard his voice just a bit ago, Jin GuangShan was nowhere in sight. OuYang Yin smiled at her son, though she looked tired. "Oh, Xuan-er."

He smiled back at her, his arm still tight around XuanYu. "Hey, sorry I'm a little late."

"It's fine," she sighed, her eyes on the table as she placed the dish precisely in the center. "I've only just finished cooking, anyway. XuanYu, could you help me get the last things?"

"Yes, Auntie," XuanYu said quickly and ducked away from ZiXuan to follow her to the kitchen for more dishes. ZiXuan tucked his hands in his pockets and stood. Real good of the old man to disappear and make it so none of them could sit down until he came back.

His mother and XuanYu came back and he shifted. "Can I he–" She raised a hand and waved him off.

"Don't be silly, we're just about done anyway. You can find your father, if you can." Her brows twitched together for a moment but smoothed determinedly back into place just a second later.

Yeah, if he could find him. ZiXuan nodded and started dragging his feet towards his father's office, assuming he might be in there. As he rounded the corner, low, unintelligible speech was the indicator that yup, his dad was in there, and doing something shady from the sounds of it. Before he drew too close, his father strode from his office and slammed the door shut behind him. He fixed ZiXuan with one of those big, fake smiles he always had hidden in his pockets.

"ZiXuan, boy." He came up beside ZiXuan and put an arm on his shoulder, subtly steering him away from his office and back towards the dining room. "Glad you made it!"

"Uh-huh." Jin GuangShan was...a man. He stood an inch or two shorter than ZiXuan, which made having his father's arm on his shoulder veritably humorous. Jin GuangShan smiled more than he felt but did his best to feel it all the time, was about the best way ZiXuan could sum up his father to his therapist in their first appointment.

Jin GuangShan smacked him too hard on the shoulder as they made it to the dining room and broke apart. OuYang Yin was adjusting some of the dishes, and she looked up to smile tightly at them.

"Excellent," she chirped. "Now we're finally all here, let's sit and eat."

It was easy to think the statement was aimed at ZiXuan. Everyone knew it wasn't.

"Ah, before," Jin GuangShan put in right as he sat down. "XuanYu, sweetheart, could you bring me a different plate?" He held up the one at his setting and pointed to its clear face. "This one's got a little something."

Already off to a fantastically bad start, even if ZiXuan did say so himself. He couldn't restrain the face he made, especially with the shock he experienced in the moment where their father called XuanYu 'sweetheart.' XuanYu, though, managed only an eye twitch and a short "Mmhmm," before he took the plate and stalked into the kitchen. ZiXuan wondered if he might spray bleach on the new plate as he brought it back.

Second, yet more directly, in line for jabs was OuYang Yin. However, she just spread her napkin neatly over her knees, keeping her eyes down, as XuanYu skulked back out and placed the plate neatly in front of Jin GuangShan.

"Atta girl," Jin GuangShan 'praised' XuanYu as he returned to his seat. ZiXuan glared more openly.

"Thought you knew," he said coolly. His father lifted a dangerous eyebrow at him before his fake smile came back.

"Ah, sorry, XuanYu, slips my mind sometimes!"

"Mine too," XuanYu said at his empty plate.

"Let's eat," OuYang Yin decided. Jin GuangShan, mercifully, took the hint and began to eat, giving the rest of them freedom to do the same. ZiXuan took a grateful sip of his mother's homemade broth as his father started to make empty conversation.

"ZiXuan, your numbers have been looking very good," he said.

"Yeah, these days," ZiXuan replied sardonically, unsure of what 'numbers' his father was talking about since all he'd done for the last three months was take calls and attend meetings in his father's stead.

"Speaking of numbers," OuYang Yin said, her voice carefully orchestrated with exactly the right amount of socially-acceptable chilly distance and knowing reminder. "XuanYu's courses will be ending this month. If you want him to keep taking them, you'll need to sign him up for more."

"Surely the child work can be handled by a capable wife?" Jin GuangShan replied, his voice colder than hers. ZiXuan sighed and put a large bite of rice into his mouth. He'd barely eaten anything, yet, couldn't they wait a little longer.

"I recall," OuYang Yin started, her voice snappier, "that you had very particular parameters for what kind of classes XuanYu was signed up for." She gave him a look that was a little too knowing. "At a certain point, he will need lessons that can't be provided through conventional means." Her voice tainted with disdain towards the end and XuanYu shot her a confused look from the corner of his eyes. Jin GuangShan bristled.

"I don't see what you mean," he insisted stubbornly, pretending he wasn't definitely up to something with XuanYu's education. "If you're not capable of handling your duties as lady of my house, I can always find additional support."

ZiXuan heard his mother's chopsticks click against the surface of the table. He put some pork on XuanYu's plate, and the other boy picked at it as he glanced between the arguing adults.

"You know perfectly well–" OuYang Yin started, but she cut herself off and visibly tried to rein in her temper. She let out a humorless little laugh. ZiXuan put on his best 'I can't hear you' expression and chewed on his food.

"We both know you seek out 'additional support' at your own discretion, regardless of my performance in my roles or 'duties.' As we can see proof sitting at our table..."

"If you performed them well, 'my discretion' wouldn't seem so far-off from reality, to you."

"Hah, reality? That's what you call a never-ending line of bought-out youth that's discarded the moment it doesn't fit your fantasy anymore?"

"Everything can reach standards with effort. Perhaps if you put in any, you could fulfill your own fantasy instead of lashing out in jealousy."

"Jealousy! I'm your wife!"

"And nothing more, hm? Content with just that, as always, and feeling somehow entitled to something you think you're not getting."

"Oof, I'm stuffed," ZiXuan said after scarfing down his bowl of rice. His parents kept increasing in volume, clearly having not heard him. He stood and patted XuanYu on the shoulder. "Hey, wanna go swimming?"

"Sure." XuanYu stood immediately, his movements rougher and shakier. He wasn't as good with his mask as ZiXuan was. Not yet. ZiXuan put a comforting arm around his shoulder and steered him towards the doors to the back garden.

"We'll be out back," he called to his parents. He paused for one moment, because the argument seemed to be getting heated enough that it might warrant his presence inside the home, but he ultimately decided it was better to take XuanYu out. He led him out to the back garden. Amid the perfectly-curated flowers and shrubberies was a crystal-clear manmade lake. ZiXuan and XuanYu never actually swam in it. They walked together to the edge of the water and ZiXuan sat himself down in the grass with a sigh.

"Bad one, huh?" he chuckled, pulling out his phone. XuanYu sat beside him quietly. "I barely got to eat. Are you still hungry? Let's order something."

"Hmm." XuanYu picked at the grass by his knees, tucking the little green shreds into the big sleeves of his sweatshirt. ZiXuan watched him guiltily.

"What do you want to eat?" he tried prompting again. XuanYu was quiet for a moment before he sighed.

"I want to eat your mom's cooking. She's really good at cooking. She worked hard."

ZiXuan wasn't very good at this. He patted XuanYu a bit between the shoulder blades. "Ah, yeah. It's really shit of him, he doesn't appreciate it. He doesn't appreciate anything she does."

XuanYu looked over at him. The expression he was giving ZiXuan was a strange sort of anxiety-smile. "She doesn't cook all that for him," he said slowly. He looked down and ripped at the grass more.

ZiXuan was quiet at that. He tapped his thumb on his phone screen and stared at the evening sky reflected on the lakewater.

He wondered again. If Mo XuanYu was living any better a life here than he would have lived with his mother or in the care of her relatives. Guilt ate at his stomach.

"We can go back in," he said. "And eat."

"If we go back in, we won't be eating," XuanYu pointed out. He gave ZiXuan a little smile. "It's fine, ge."

There was a faint shattering sound from the house. ZiXuan turned to look at the lights, a couple hundred yards back. He couldn't see movement from the kitchen windows. "No it's not," ZiXuan sighed as he stood, hurrying back to the house. XuanYu scrambled along behind him.

ZiXuan eased the back door open and stepped in quietly. The kitchen was very still. He felt XuanYu at his back, peering around him. ZiXuan turned his head. He could hear a quiet sound coming from the dining room. He walked through slowly. His mother's back came into view where she knelt on the floor. A few large pieces of finely-painted porcelain serving dish decorated the floor amidst the remains of his mother's pork ribs, splatters of brown sauce and chunks of meat and vegetable staining the area rug.

ZiXuan knelt beside his mother and shooed her shaky hands away from the mess. He started collecting the larger chunks of broken dish, but she caught his wrist.

"This was my favorite one," she protested through tears. "What a wretch. He knew, I know he knew…"

ZiXuan looked down at the pieces in his hands. They shifted against each other with a clinking sound.

"D-Did he throw that at you?" XuanYu asked haltingly. ZiXuan's eyes cut to his mother. She let her head dip between her shoulders, her hair falling over her face.

"Help me clean up," she requested of both boys. So they did.

——

"Do you think you'd be capable of murder?"

Su She hummed as he mixed his ice cream. The sound of the plastic spoon scraping against the styrofoam cup made ZiXuan's skin crawl. "Depends on which asshole I'm supposed to be murdering, I guess," he eventually answered.

ZiXuan stared at the neon sign of the fast food joint and poked his own dessert absently. The combination of the chilled food and the car's air conditioning made goosebumps rise on his arms. Su She respected his silence, this time. ZiXuan knew that Su She didn't know exactly how to relate to his situation. Sure, he'd disappointed his own parents a few times and they'd had their hardships over the years, but it wasn’t exactly…the same. Their respective family situations weren’t on the same level.

“She should divorce him,” Su She eventually put in after he apparently felt the silence had been long enough. ZiXuan didn’t respond, though the venom lingered there on his tongue. He knew his mother couldn’t just…leave. It wasn’t as simple as that. Su She didn’t think about it in a broad scope. He didn’t think about XuanYu, didn’t think about the house, didn’t think about the long proceedings of a divorce or how uncooperative and hateful his father could be. He stabbed at his ice cream.

“I’ll drop you off at your apartment,” he said a moment later. Su She sighed at him.

“Look, you’ve barely said anything. I understand if you just wanted the company, but isn’t there anything you want to talk about?”

ZiXuan started the car. “No. Thanks for sitting with me, though.”

“No problem, I guess…”

On the way home, the median at the side of the road blurred in the edges of the headlights, mangled masses of concrete and shrubbery twisting around and fighting each other as ZiXuan sped past. He had just wanted the company. But something about Su She’s company was…less than fulfilling, tonight. He wanted to see YanLi. She didn't try to solve his problems with overly simplified solutions; she just patted his back and told him it was hard. Too bad Yunmeng was hours away. There had to be someone closer.

He parked in the garage of his own apartment building and stared ahead. There was someone closer. His phone burned in his pocket.

Who would he even message? Would any of them even be willing to come out and meet him? It was almost midnight. Wouldn’t they be asleep? He didn’t really know their schedules well.

The grey walls of the parking garage stared back at him. No, there was one person whose schedule he knew. One person he knew would be awake. It's only that it just so happened to be the person least likely to come out and offer support.

HuaiSang was a decent bet. He pulled his phone out and opened their texts. He stared at HuaiSang's message from earlier in the week — the one, he now realized, that he'd forgotten to ever reply to. New guilt washed through him. Was he using HuaiSang and Lan Zhan and Wen Ning? Only coming to them when it was convenient or useful for him? Would it be right to ask for help from any of these people? He'd barely started speaking with them properly.

His phone vibrated and he jumped as the screen lit with an incoming call. It was Wen Ning. ZiXuan fidgeted and glanced out his car windows. Why the fuck was Wen Ning calling him just as he was considering calling his boyfriend?

"Hello?" he greeted uncertainly when he answered the phone.

"ZiXuan, you're awake!" Wen Ning's voice got a bit more distant as he turned his head. "See, told you we might as well try."

"Don't ask him to come, it's late," a different voice implored faintly. "Lan Zhan's gotta go to bed."

"Why?" HuaiSang asked, closer.

"No, I wouldn't make good company for a party anyway," ZiXuan assured them. "Sorry."

"Are you alright?" Wen Ning asked. His voice was a bit more stable and serious, compared to the obviously bright and lightly intoxicated lilt it had had before. "You sound a bit. Down."

ZiXuan's pointer finger scratched at the inside handle of the car door. "Just had a long night," he eventually sighed.

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry for calling." For thinking of me.

"Just sorry you've had a hard time, then," Wen Ning offered instead. ZiXuan closed his eyes and leaned his head back on the headrest.

"I appreciate that."

Wen Ning hummed and was quiet a moment. "I understand you don't want to come here," he started a second later, "but if you'd like to talk, I'm here. On the phone, or. You know, anything you need."

Anything. ZiXuan rubbed his eyes and warred with himself for a moment. "Can I come pick you up?" he asked after a long silence. His voice sounded strangely hoarse to himself. "Just for a drive, I've got a lot in my head…"

"O-Of course," Wen Ning said. "But, it's so far, are you sure?"

"What's he saying?" Wei Ying's loud voice cut in from afar. ZiXuan waited for Wen Ning to answer him, but he didn't.

"If you're sure, then of course. I'm perfectly capable of listening or providing support via presence." ZiXuan could hear the smile in his voice. He wanted to see it so bad.

He turned the key in the ignition. "I'll head straight there, send me your address."

"I'll text it to you. Drive safely. See you in about an hour?"

ZiXuan ran a hand through his hair. "45 minutes."

"Drive safely," Wen Ning repeated with a laugh.

"He's not coming here, is he?" Wei Ying's voice complained again. There was a third-party shushing sound.

"I'll drive safely," ZiXuan assured Wen Ning before he hung up. He eased out of his parking spot and took back to the road, aiming for the expressway headed to Gusu.

While the road wasn't empty, it was much clearer than it might have been at a reasonable time, and ZiXuan strolled along at a solid ten-over the whole way, slipping around the other cars he encountered. He had to admit that just being on his way somewhere made him feel better — if not also a bit anxious and jumpy. His hands stuck uncomfortably to the steering wheel. What if his dad found out where he went tonight? How much worse could these family dinners get?

When he pulled off the highway and stopped at a red light, he quickly pasted the address Wen Ning had sent him into his navigator of choice. The streets of Gusu were all but dead at this time of night, and the dark buildings stacked up like blocks around him as he drove, illuminated sparingly by the odd, pleasant streetlight. The address he was led to was another of these tall dark buildings, every light off but for one. Standing in a pool of light outside the entrance were two figures, tall and short respectively. ZiXuan managed to relax minutely. HuaiSang was coming too? If he did, that would ease some of the anxiety he hadn't been aware he'd been feeling about being alone with Wen Ning in the dark and vulnerable stretch of the night. He watched the two approach his car where he'd stopped it at the curb.

HuaiSang knocked insistently on the passenger window and ZiXuan rolled it down. The other man leaned down and propped his elbows in the open window frame. "Hiya. Mind if I come along?"

"The more the merrier," ZiXuan replied automatically. Wen Ning and HuaiSang both burst into baffling laughter, at that, before turning to each other to play rock, paper, scissors for front seat privileges. Wen Ning won.

"So what brings you out on a night like this?" Wen Ning asked as he shut the door and put on his seatbelt. HuaiSang was squirreling around in the backseat quite a bit, and while the car was still parked ZiXuan turned to give him an incredulous look. HuaiSang smiled at him sheepishly.

"I can't find the buckle for the middle seat," he admitted with a chuckle. After five minutes of ZiXuan getting out and opening the back door and Wen Ning leaning into the back seat to help dig around, HuaiSang was properly buckled in and ZiXuan shifted out of park and eased back onto the road.

"So," Wen Ning started again with a laugh, "what brings you out on a night like this?"

"I was already out," ZiXuan admitted as he directed his car towards the nearest fields of vast nothing to have their drive. "I had dinner with my parents."

His hand tightened on the steering wheel. Wen Ning made a sound of understanding. "How did that go?"

ZiXuan let out a breath. "My parents don't get along. You know how it is." Even though this was what was bothering him, he was consumed by a strange urge to talk about literally anything else. "What sort of festivities were you all getting up to?" he asked to change the direction of the conversation.

HuaiSang laughed from the back seat and ZiXuan jumped a little, unused to having people in the backseat of his car. "Actually," he chuckled. "It was around this time last year that Wei Ying and Lan Zhan and I officially started dating. Like, all three of us. So it was sort of a commemoration."

ZiXuan shot a harried glance at him in the back seat and then at Wen Ning. "Oh my god, I'm so sorry. You should be at home, on an anniversary."

Wen Ning smiled to himself and HuaiSang leaned forward to speak. ZiXuan heard his words clear beside his shoulder. "Nah, it's not really an anniversary. We're a bit late, anyway. We just thought we would take a day to look back on the year it's been."

"Then someone mentioned that we should call you," Wen Ning picked up, that smile still on his face. "See what you were up to, tonight."

ZiXuan stared at the road as the buildings and streetlights got smaller and further between. Empty stretches of rice paddy yawned on either side of the narrow road. "Oh," he finally said.

HuaiSang laughed again. "Lan Zhan sleeps really early, though. It's always a miracle when he makes it to eleven, nevermind midnight."

"Otherwise we would have invited you in," Wen Ning assured him. ZiXuan shook his head.

"No, no, don't worry about it. I wouldn't expect to intrude on...an event like that?" He questioned his own wording for a moment before moving on. "I was just surprised to get your call."

"Wei Ying thought you'd be asleep," HuaiSang laughed.

"It's rather late, even for a weekend," Wen Ning commented, eyeing the dashboard clock. ZiXuan's hands tightened on the steering wheel.

He didn't ask him out loud. It was just a nudge, and he didn't need to spill the details of the anxiety rolling off of him. Could Wen Ning and HuaiSang really feel it that strongly?

"Mm," he hedged. "After dinner, I didn't feel…I-I didn't feel, uh, right, going back to my place."

"It sounds rough," HuaiSang said quietly from the back. "I'm sorry."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Wen Ning asked hesitantly.

ZiXuan glanced at him and then back out the windshield. The tangled plants at the side of the road flashed in the headlights and ZiXuan tore his eyes away from them, too. He could hear their breathing in the car with him, quieter than his own. Waiting? He swallowed and looked out over the dark, unlit farmhouses they were passing by. What was he supposed to say now? He'd been quiet too long, he realized. They were waiting for a response from –

Something scurried across the road, a flash in his headlights, and he slammed on the brakes.

HuaiSang made an "ooft" sound as he lurched in the backseat. Something solid flew across ZiXuan's chest and kept him from slamming forward into the steering wheel. The tires squealed delicately against the brake pads but came to a full stop. Whatever it was that had run in front of them was no longer in sight.

ZiXuan looked over at Wen Ning as he started hyperventilating. His hand reached up to brush the arm across his chest before he remembered HuaiSang's precarious seating situation in the back and both of them turned.

"A-Sang, are you alright?" Wen Ning was anxious as HuaiSang straightened himself up.

"No problem," he laughed.

"I'm so sorry," ZiXuan was quick to say, his words uneven and hurried. "I shouldn't have – I, I saw something, but I shouldn't have –"

"Ah, ZiXuan, don't," HuaiSang reassured him quietly. His eyes on him were worried. "What about you? Are you alright?"

ZiXuan's hands shook. How did they do it? Make it feel safe? He swallowed thickly as Wen Ning's hand touched his back.

"No."

——

The first thing ZiXuan was aware of was a quiet murmuring, too far away or too low for him to properly make out. The second thing was the scent of grilling fish. The third thing was a warm weight that was laid over him from shoulders to toes that smelled of sandalwood and peppermint and citrus all at once.

He stretched his arm out over his head and knocked something over. His eyes flew open and he sat up blearily. It was just a picture frame, knocked onto its back on the end table by the couch he was sleeping on. In the picture was Nie MingJue with Nie HuaiSang, standing near some river at night with a dazzling bunch of lights sprinkled in the background on the other side of the water. ZiXuan reached to pick it up and set it right. His eyes wandered to the other pictures on the table there. Wen Ning standing with an older woman and a short, young woman. A professional headshot of someone who was clearly related to Lan Zhan, smiling pleasantly. Wei Ying and his siblings. He started to reach for that picture, but stopped himself. Wei Ying was smiling so wide it looked like it must have hurt. Jiang YanLi had her arms around him and she was laughing. Even Jiang Cheng was grinning at his siblings. ZiXuan stared at it.

When he looked up, he realized someone was staring at him. Wei Ying stood in the doorway to the kitchen, his eyes fixed uncertainly on ZiXuan. ZiXuan quickly avoided his eyes, his gaze going to his hands. Wei Ying held a mug in one hand. They looked at each other quietly like that for a moment.

HuaiSang came around Wei Ying, yawning loudly. "Oh, ZiXuan's awake," he announced, seemingly to the house as a whole, including the furniture and rugs. That made Wei Ying retreat as Lan Zhan and Wen Ning took his place ogling in the doorway.

"Good morning?" ZiXuan was unsettled by so much staring so early in the morning. He kind of missed the yawning quiet of his apartment. Almost.

HuaiSang shoved Lan Zhan and Wen Ning back into the kitchen and ZiXuan had a moment to collect himself. He remembered, now, that he had ended up coming here last night after having a panic attack in his car. How fucking. Embarrassing. He rubbed his face and his hair fell around his shoulders. He checked his wrists but couldn't find his hair tie. He was in the process of burrowing under the couch cushions looking for it when HuaiSang came out to join him.

"Have you lost something?" he asked brightly.

"Just…" ZiXuan couldn't look at him after remembering how he'd made himself disgusting and vulnerable in front of him last night. "I lost my hairband."

HuaiSang immediately began helping him search, but they couldn't find it. HuaiSang ended up producing a scrunchy from the bathroom he could use just as Lan Zhan informed them they had to go to the kitchen if they wanted to eat any food this morning.

ZiXuan wasn't much of a breakfast eater, but he thought it would be wildly impolite to leave immediately and figured he could suffer through one breakfast among warmth he dared not dream of before going home to die all weekend. Lan Zhan and Wen Ning were shoving plates and dishes onto the kitchen island, discussing the logistics of not using the dining room table, as Wei Ying tried to sneak around them to fill his plate. HuaiSang dragged ZiXuan over to the group and also started to fill a plate.

"Do you like snapper?" ZiXuan heard him asking.

ZiXuan was distracted watching Lan Zhan and Wen Ning meet each other's eyes and give each other this Look that could only be described as Love Communicated Via Pupils. "Uh, yeah."

"Wei Ying, pass me some pickles."

"Anything for you," Wei Ying responded automatically. His tone immediately drew ZiXuan's attention, though he managed to catch himself and not look directly at him. Something nudged his shoulder and he looked over to see HuaiSang was handing him a bowl of rice and a dish of various foods.

"Eat up," he said, not giving him a choice as he started selecting things for himself. ZiXuan stared at the things in his hands, glanced at Lan Zhan and Wen Ning who had also started eating, glanced at Wei Ying who was still staring at him for some reason, and eventually perched himself on a barstool and started eating.

"Wei Ying." Lan Zhan passed his phone over to his boyfriend. "The movie is sold out already today."

Wei Ying drooped where he sat. "Ahh, you're kidding."

"Do you have plans today?" Wen Ning asked softly to his side as Wei Ying and Lan Zhan lamented their film. ZiXuan blinked at him, startled.

"Uh." ZiXuan fiddled with his chopsticks. "I haven't thought much about it." He became suddenly worried that he would be invited to spend more time with them and wasn't sure his heart could take it. "I might take my little brother somewhere, get him out of the house," he tacked onto the end hastily.

"Little brother?" Wei Ying's confused voice came from across the island. HuaiSang and Lan Zhan were engaged in conversation about different movies they could see or different theaters they could go to, so ZiXuan having a separate conversation with Wei Ying was like trying to dig a river across an already pre-established river.

"Yeah," ZiXuan hedged, not wanting to continue to cross conversational ley lines. "He was brought home when I was in college."

Wei Ying sort of nodded briefly and immediately shoved his face full of food. Wen Ning hummed at ZiXuan's side.

"What sort of things does he like?"

ZiXuan chewed thoughtfully. "Screamo bands I think? And horror movies. You know, things goth 14-year-olds like."

Wen Ning laughed at that. "I remember being a goth 14-year-old well. If he was trans, we'd almost be the same person."

ZiXuan choked on some fish. HuaiSang rubbed his back and Lan Zhan went to grab him some warm water. ZiXuan tried to suppress his laughter.

Now that he thought about it, Wen Ning and XuanYu would probably get along swimmingly. He accepted the water from Lan Zhan and schooled his expression. "If you have any recommendations of things he might like, please let me know. It's hard for me to relate to him…we're so far apart in age."

Wen Ning's eyes were warm. "Of course. I'll think up all the things I wished my sister would take me to do when I was younger."

He had thought it up as a frantic way to get out of fifth-wheeling any longer than he had to, but taking XuanYu somewhere actually sounded fun. He discussed some possibilities with Wen Ning as they finished up breakfast and helped clean up. HuaiSang and Wen Ning disappeared to work on some other weekend house chore and ZiXuan helped Lan Zhan collect all the dishes before hesitantly mentioning that he should probably get on the road.

"Of course," Lan Zhan agreed at once. "I hope we didn't keep you." He tilted his head as he tugged on his rubber dish-washing gloves. "I'm quite glad you came. I hope I can see you again soon."

ZiXuan wasn't sure what to do with someone as straight-forward as Lan Zhan. Other than blush and make a fool of himself. "Well." He coughed. "I-I'm glad I came too, it's been a nice time. I hope you guys enjoy your day."

"Thank you." Lan Zhan hesitated, glanced at his rubber-gloved hands, and stepped down. "Drive safely."

ZiXuan paused on his way out of the kitchen to yell an awkward farewell down the hall where he could hear Wen Ning and HuaiSang sorting laundry. Replies were shouted back at him as he double-checked he had all his things and went to the front door.

Wei Ying was waiting for him there. ZiXuan paused. He couldn't summon the courage to look Wei Ying in the eyes – little did he know, neither could Wei Ying. ZiXuan cleared his throat. "Sorry for interrupting last night," he managed to say in a hoarse voice.

Wei Ying crossed his arms and then uncrossed his arms and shifted his weight. ZiXuan watched it all. "Wen Ning called you, not the other way around. Don't stress out about it."

ZiXuan nodded and shuffled into his shoes. "Um. Yeah, thanks for everything this morning. And letting me crash last night. Comfy couch you got there." What was he saying.

Wei Ying turned to him a little at that. "It's not bad for a night or two…but you shouldn't make a habit of sleeping on that couch."

ZiXuan paused as cold pebbles filled his stomach. Yeah. He should have seen that coming. "Understood," he said softly before pushing open the front door and leaving their warm apartment behind him.

He needed a distraction now more than anything else. Forcing back the disappointment, he texted his brother.

Jin ZiXuan
Hey, do you have anything on today? Kind of feel like letting off some steam, haha.

—-

Honestly, Jin ZiXuan didn't think his brother would be interested in paintball. It didn't strike him as the kind of thing someone like Mo XuanYu was absolutely dying to try or anything. But of course, Wen Ning's advice had proven to be right on target.

His legs ached and everywhere he'd been hit with paintballs was throbbing painfully. But XuanYu was grinning, splattered all over with paint and chattering with a kid slightly older than him, and ZiXuan couldn't help but be a little proud of himself for doing something nice for his little brother. A warm breeze blew, welcome on a spring day like this, and ZiXuan closed his eyes and traced his index finger through the condensation accumulated on the outside of his water bottle.

"Ge!"

The bench rattled as XuanYu threw himself into the seat beside him. ZiXuan opened one eye to grin at him.

"You look pretty happy, for someone on the losing team."

XuanYu beamed. "We may have lost, but the lady leading the other team told me my aim was really good! And did you see that guy I was talking to? He said I totally have promise!"

ZiXuan patted his head and felt content for the first time in a while. XuanYu was basically vibrating where he sat.

"Do you think we can come again?"

ZiXuan winced, already not looking forward to the bruises he'd be sporting. "Maybe not next weekend or anything."

"That's fine! Anytime is fine! Please, ge? Damn, today was so fun." He heaved for breath, his face pink, and ZiXuan pulled out a fresh water bottle and pushed it at him.

"Okay, I promise to bring you again if you drink all of this before we get home."

XuanYu happily cracked it open and took a couple of sips, still glancing around at everyone engaging in post-match conversation. ZiXuan watched him and pulled out his phone. He stared at the screen for a bit before sliding over to the camera and flipping to the front one.

"Didi." He nudged XuanYu, who was so shocked he almost choked on his water. Before he could ask ZiXuan to repeat himself, he noticed his phone held up. "Say cheese," ZiXuan advised awkwardly. XuanYu smiled shyly and held up devil horns as ZiXuan snapped a picture and quickly put his phone away, instantly embarrassed. He stood up.

"Well, let's return the gear and head for home. I'm bruised literally everywhere."

XuanYu laughed a little and followed after him, chattering away again.

—-

Jin ZiXuan
Image_210417

He had an absolute blast. I feel like all my muscles are falling off, but it was worth it. I haven't seen him this animated in ages, maybe ever. Thank you so much for the recommendation.

Wen Ning
It looks like he ran into enemy territory head-first!! Haha, I'm glad he enjoyed it! I hope you had some fun, too. I'm always here if you need any advice with him :) Or to talk about anything at all.

Jin ZiXuan
Wen Ning, I don't get it.

ERR:: Msg send failure

Thank you so much. That really means the world to me.

Wen Ning
Ahhhhhhhh

Backspace, backspace, backspace, backspace…

You're very welcome. Seriously, ZiXuan, anytime! :)

——

"Then he took me for a drive through downtown, you should have seen people's faces when they saw his car! I felt like a goddamn movie star. Except I wasn't dressed like one. I told him, I was like, 'Shouldn't the girl by your side be totally decked out?' And he was like 'Absolutely, baby,' and he walked me into a Chanel shop immediately! I couldn't pick anything then, though, it was too sudden, so I just told him I didn't like anything in that shop." Wang LingJiao sighed and Jin ZiXuan heard the click of her fingernail on her phone screen as she scrolled. "Anyway, he said he would get me a job at his dad's company. He just needs a couple of months."

ZiXuan grabbed his notes from the last board meeting and shoved them in his bag. "When you quit, please leave adequate notice," he requested. "So I can find a replacement."

Wang LingJiao rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, it's not like your old man deserves that, he's never done me any favors."

"It's not for his benefit." ZiXuan threw on his bag and raised an eyebrow at her. "You really still think of yourself as his secretary? Whose meetings do you arrange, again?"

She gave him a reluctant smile. "Yours."

ZiXuan nodded and shifted, almost awkward now. "So. For my sake."

"Whatever, get out of here."

ZiXuan waved to her as he walked through the room and to the elevator. Actually, he was already running a bit late. They called a sudden board meeting tomorrow, so he'd had to stop and pick up some documents before he could leave for the day. He'd just have to go over them at home. He checked his watch and swore under his breath as he dashed out of the elevator, speed-walking his way down the main street to the agreed-upon restaurant. He was a little late and a lot wind-blown and flustered by the time he made it through the doors.

The hostess gave him a critical look, upon first seeing his hurried appearance, but then she noticed his suit and picked up on whatever brand was stapled to the pocket and straightened up. "Do you have a reservation, sir?" she asked politely, tapping the screen of the device on the podium.

"Under Jin," he confirmed. His eyes scanned the restaurant. He was a bit late, so there was a chance Lan Zhan and HuaiSang were already seated. The hostess hummed and clicked around, searching. ZiXuan heard familiar voices.

"...don't know that he's entirely comfortable with it."

"You know Wei Ying wouldn't agree to anything he didn't want to do."

"He constantly agrees to things he doesn't want to do. It's arguably the most stressful thing about him."

"This is different."

ZiXuan's heart was in his throat as he whipped his head, looking for the source of their voices. They must have been at the table right beside the hostess's station, hidden from view by the necessary restaurant front end trappings.

"Jin, you said?" the hostess confirmed. ZiXuan focused on her again.

"Yes, Jin as in…Jin," he huffed.

"He brought this up even with Wen Ning, remember? It's ridiculous to act like we can all think and feel and develop as a single unit. We all go at different speeds."

"I just don't want to hurt or isolate him."

"My companions may have already arrived," ZiXuan hurried the hostess. She glanced at him and hit a different filter on her schedule.

"Oh! Yes, they're already seated. Right this way, sir."

"I don't want that either, but we can keep talking in circles around each other or –" HuaiSang snapped his mouth shut when he saw ZiXuan approaching and gave him a big smile. "ZiXuan!"

ZiXuan smiled back, thanking the hostess and sliding into the seat across the table from them. "Sorry I'm late," he started. "I had to run back to my desk and grab some things and my dad's secretary never stops talking once she's started…"

HuaiSang laughed, his eyes crinkling at the corners and making the glitter in his eyeshadow catch in the low light. "Don't worry, we've only been here a few minutes."

ZiXuan glanced nervously at Lan Zhan, anxious about what he might see in his expression based off of the snippets he'd heard of their conversation. But Lan Zhan's eyes were warm. The shirt he wore was an airy chiffon, and his overall appearance for the evening was light and soft. ZiXuan gave the normalest smile he could while trying not to imagine what it would be like to touch Lan Zhan right now.

"How have you two been?" he asked them as he grabbed the wine menu to distract himself. HuaiSang hummed.

"I've been thinking of getting a lip piercing," he answered honestly. ZiXuan's eye twitched and he really wished he didn't have to drive home so he could have some alcohol to help deal with all this.

"Your brother would be very angry if you got a lip piercing," Lan Zhan said. He said it as though it was a well-practiced line.

HuaiSang rolled his eyes and leaned towards ZiXuan a little. "They keep saying this, but I don't know why, because da-ge would never actually do anything to me about it."

"No," Lan Zhan agreed, "he would place the blame on Wei Ying and myself, more than likely."

HuaiSang paused as though he hadn't considered that. "Well that's not fair!"

"Life rarely is, love." Lan Zhan reached to tuck HuaiSang's hair behind his ear apologetically. ZiXuan rubbed his temples and set the wine list aside.

"Well, it's good to know things seem to be normal," ZiXuan managed to say.

HuaiSang smiled at him. "What about you? Heard from Wen Ning you took your brother to paintball!" His grin became something sadistic. "Lots of bruising?"

ZiXuan avoided his gaze as his cheeks flushed. "Ah…" HuaiSang laughed at him and then demanded that Lan Zhan explain the confusing menu to him.

Their evening went along like this. HuaiSang would say something to embarrass ZiXuan, ZiXuan would somehow get embarrassed every time, and Lan Zhan would occasionally swoop in to his rescue. Slowly, HuaiSang's interest shifted and the topic moved to ZiXuan's job, though they kept it light. HuaiSang was interested in learning about what a CEO actually did, so he could show off to his brother and earn some respect points there, and Lan Zhan was interested in the particulars of the company policy. ZiXuan answered their questions without much reservation. If Lan Zhan managed to spot something faulty in their labor or financial policies and wanted to use it against the company, more power to him.

As they finished eating and the conversation wore down with the late evening, HuaiSang became antsy. ZiXuan noted it from the corner of his eye as he snatched the bill before Lan Zhan could get his hands on it, shooting him a little smirk as he let his dad pay for him to take out some gay people. Lan Zhan pursed his lips and leaned back, his eyes alight with the challenge ZiXuan had presented.

"What does your little brother call you?" HuaiSang asked out of seemingly nowhere. ZiXuan looked over at him.

"Ge," he answered simply. HuaiSang hummed and propped his chin in his hands.

"Not gege, right?" His smirk from earlier was coming back and ZiXuan had to crack his knuckles under the table to control his reaction.

"Are you free this coming Saturday?" Lan Zhan asked. This was somehow even more out of left field, and ZiXuan was stumped when he turned his attention to him.

"I suppose so?"

"Would you like to come over?" HuaiSang blurted, as though the words had been fighting against his teeth all night in their struggle to spill out. He grinned now that they were free. "We were going to have a night in, some drinks and games, maybe watch one of Wei Ying and Wen Ning's gorey horror films."

Gorey horror films weren't ZiXuan's preferred genre, but there were some salvageable ones. He couldn't recall if Wei Ying had good taste in slashers…but he could definitely recall the last words Wei Ying had said to him before he'd left their house the last time. He cast a doubtful look over the two eager people in front of him.

"I wouldn't want to intrude," was the response he finally decided on.

HuaiSang smiled more gently at him. "You're not intruding at all."

"We all agreed it would be fun," Lan Zhan added.

ZiXuan quirked his eyebrows a bit. "All of you?" he asked quietly.

"Yes," Lan Zhan and HuaiSang assured him in unison. ZiXuan chewed on his lip.

He just got these friends. He didn't want to mess it up. He didn't want to mess up their relationship, either. He did want to be close to these people, but…he wasn't sure how. His therapist's voice rattled around in the back of his skull, advice about continuing to be proactive, about not backing off when people were getting close to him. He wasn't trying to back off just because they were getting close…he was trying to make sure he didn't destroy a massive relationship.

"Okay," he finally agreed. "That sounds good."

——

"Our public relations are a mess now that this information has reached the press," the CAO ranted.

"We have to turn the consumers' attention to something else. A large donation to a children's hospital, perhaps." The CFO glanced at the COO disapprovingly after this suggestion.

"We should turn their attention, yes," he agreed. "But I'm not sure that's the best method."

"Then what should we do?" the COO asked, raising an eyebrow.

The easy way out. The CFO turned to the head of the table. "What does the CEO suggest?"

Jin ZiXuan stared at them all, his fingers supporting his temple.

There had to be a way out of this.

——

"I'm trying so hard to comprehend what you're telling me," Su She muttered, his hands over his eyes.

ZiXuan didn't care. He was desperately searching his closet for something other than a business suit.

Su She sat up and grabbed his bedazzled travel tumbler, taking a long, extremely noisy sip from it. "So," he finally said. "Your high school crush is dating three people. All three of these people seem interested in inviting you into the relationship, but the high school crush seems decidedly against it. Even so, you've been assured by the other three people that he agreed to this, like, orgy date night idea, but you still have doubts, and aren't even sure if you're going to go, and despite not being sure if you're going to go, you've turned your bedroom into a scene from Left Behind searching for exactly the right gay flaming outfit to wear so they all think you're hot and you can change your crush's mind."

Several unmatching shoes flew at Su She's head in succession. He dodged them all, taking another annoying drink from his cup. "Did I get anything wrong?"

"You left out your time of death."

"How silly of me to overlook such an important detail."

ZiXuan didn't have time for this. He let out a pathetic little wail from within his closet. "What am I supposed to wear? Is it casual? Semi-casual? More dressy?"

"You're so gay," Su She sighed distantly from the bedroom. "There's something wrong with you.♡"

ZiXuan clambered out of his Goodwill-donation-bin-looking closet to glower at Su She. "Help me," he commanded.

Su She put his phone in his pocket and stood, perusing the piles of half-identical suits with a practiced eye and his bedazzled tumbler in-hand. He reached into the bottom of one pile and pulled out a gold silk shirt ZiXuan had worn to a wedding several years ago. He turned to him and shrugged, straw in his mouth. "Your name is Jin."

At the time, ZiXuan had been desperate for any guidance, and had grabbed it and shimmied into an old pair of tight jeans Su She had rustled up from god knows where. Now, looking at himself in the mirrored elevator door of their apartment building, ZiXuan thought he looked ridiculous. He didn't look like himself. Not entirely true – he didn't look how he was used to seeing himself in the mirror.

He'd left his hair loose, but he wasn't sure about that anymore. Turning and marching through the parking garage back to his car, he searched for any kind of hair tie, and only came up with the scrunchy HuaiSang had lent him last time. He used it to tie his hair into its regular ponytail and squatted awkwardly to check his reflection in the car's side mirror. Deeming it an improvement, and aware he couldn't change much else at this point, he didn't let himself stop to think as he rode the elevator upstairs and knocked on their door.

Someone yanked it open immediately. HuaiSang and Wen Ning were both standing right in front of the door, Wen Ning still slipping into his shoes.

"Oh, you made it!" Wen Ning rejoiced. "Hope the drive was okay."

HuaiSang was pouting. "I don't want to go to the store anymore."

Wen Ning took HuaiSang's shoulders and steered him to the side so ZiXuan could step in. ZiXuan gave them an awkward little smile in greeting.

"I brought this." He waved around the wine bottle in his hand. "Aha."

"Oh, awesome! You can take it through to Lan Zhan and Wei Ying." Wen Ning patted HuaiSang on the back. "We'll be back soon, just running out for ice."

They disappeared a moment later. ZiXuan stood frozen for a moment with his little grimace still in place before he slipped out of his shoes and crept to the kitchen. When he peeked in, he saw they weren't cooking in there – Lan Zhan was braiding Wei Ying's hair.

Well what the fuck. He couldn't go in now. They were probably having an intimate, romantic moment. He was about to back away when Wei Ying caught sight of him.

"What are you doing?" His tone was only half accusatory. Lan Zhan tugged on Wei Ying's hair and gave him a Look that ZiXuan didn't catch. He stepped into the kitchen.

"Sorry," he laughed, too loudly. "Ah, ran into Wen Ning and HuaiSang on their way out and they let me in. Well, I brought this!" He gestured the wine wildly again, and Lan Zhan had to turn his face to hide his smile.

Wei Ying raised his eyebrows and put a smile onto his face. "Great!" The inflection was all wrong — nervous. He tried to make himself speak normally. "Uh. Put it on the counter, would you?"

ZiXuan placed the wine gingerly on the counter and backed up a full step. He was about to escape to the living room when Lan Zhan called for him to come closer. ZiXuan approached carefully and Lan Zhan held out five bobby pins.

"Will you hold these for me?"

ZiXuan took them without saying anything. He stood beside Lan Zhan and looked at the back of Wei Ying's head. His shoulders were so fine. So well-shaped. The way the muscles flowed from his shoulders under his shirt up into view leading into his neck was mesmerizing. ZiXuan barely noticed as Lan Zhan took the pins from him one at a time.

"Done."

ZiXuan looked down at his empty hand. He wiped his sweaty palms against his jeans as Lan Zhan and Wei Ying stood, Wei Ying grabbing a couple of handheld mirrors to check out his head from all angles.

"Are you cooking tonight?" ZiXuan asked Lan Zhan. "Is there anything I can help with?"

Lan Zhan was delighted with this man. He smiled at him. "It's all prepared. Just needs to be put together and heated up."

"It's hotpot," Wei Ying told him. "They've already made the broth and done the chopping."

ZiXuan nodded and looked at the floor. That was probably the nicest tone Wei Ying had ever used with him! Maybe there was a benevolent god favoring him – just for tonight.

"You can help me carry, though," Lan Zhan told him, kneeling to retrieve the portable gas burner. ZiXuan went to kneel beside him and help him lift it. It was then that he realized Lan Zhan was wearing a skirt – long, simple. Lan Zhan handed him the burner and he looked up.

"I like your skirt," he blurted out, his voice barely louder than a whisper. Lan Zhan tilted his head for a moment and then smiled.

"So do I." The two of them stood and took all the pieces to the low table in the other room. Wei Ying fiddled with the wine bottles on the counter, watching them go with an unreadable look in his eyes.

As soon as Wen Ning and HuaiSang returned, Lan Zhan set the pot on the burner and turned it on, adding the root vegetables and keeping a close eye on it to make sure everything was given the optimal amount of time to cook. While he busied himself there, the other four were in the kitchen, where HuaiSang had declared himself bartender and was demanding everyone make requests of him. When ZiXuan finally walked out of the kitchen with his white wine spritzer – which had a lot more components than he thought was traditional – he sat across from Lan Zhan and watched him add the ingredients in sections, asking simple questions that allowed Lan Zhan to answer at length about texture, cook time, and flavor profiles, all important pieces of the perfect hotpot meal.

The other three emerged together a bit later and took places around the table, with Wen Ning at ZiXuan's side. They watched in anticipation as Lan Zhan pressed the tofu into the broth, squished a mushroom thoughtfully, and pierced a potato with his chopstick. At long last, he nodded. "It's done."

HuaiSang and Wei Ying cheered and immediately dove in, spooning and selecting not just for themselves but for the others as well. HuaiSang took the best mushroom, which was split in half, and divided it between Wen Ning and ZiXuan. Wei Ying carefully wrapped the glass noodles into ideal amounts in Lan Zhan's bowl before spooning in the broth. ZiXuan watched in amazement as Lan Zhan and Wen Ning expertly caught every bowl and glass that the other two knocked about in their excitement, keeping any mess from occurring.

This relationship really was a well-oiled machine.

Finally, they all settled into eating and drinking. After a few blissful minutes of silence, HuaiSang perked up.

"I know," he declared. "We'll play a game."

Wei Ying narrowed his eyes, but HuaiSang quickly waved him off. "A drinking game, and an easy one. Here are the rules! Collectively, the four of us –" He gestured to everyone but Wen Ning "– will decide upon a few select keywords. Then, we'll ask Wen Ning to tell us an animal shelter story. Every time he says the word you picked, take a sip."

Wen Ning frowned. "I don't get to drink."

HuaiSang reached across to pat his arm. "You can down your glass at the end, okay?"

"Why wait?" Wen Ning asked calmly before upending his glass and downing it in a single chug. Wei Ying and HuaiSang jumped to their feet, cheering him along, while Lan Zhan shook his head. ZiXuan managed a few chuckles, glancing between all of them. This wasn't exactly the energy he had expected.

When Wen Ning's glass was empty, he went to the kitchen to get some water, and everyone huddled to select their keywords.

"I call 'food,'" HuaiSang said immediately. Wei Ying groaned.

"You always beat me to it."

"Hamster," Lan Zhan selected sagely. It didn't matter – he wasn't drinking alcohol.

ZiXuan was confused. "Are we trying to pick the word that will be said the most?" He thought the point of drinking games was to not drink.

"Yes." HuaiSang grinned at him.

"Walk," Wei Ying eventually decided on. They all looked at ZiXuan.

"Hurry," HuaiSang urged in a whisper. "He'll be back soon."

ZiXuan panicked. "U-Um. Desk??"

Wei Ying scoffed. "Desk?" But Wen Ning entered the room at that moment, and everyone returned to how they once sat.

"Okay," Wen Ning sighed as he sat down. He picked up his bowl. "I have an anecdote, but you guys have to let me eat a little bit first since I can't chew while talking."

Everyone nodded and returned to their food for a moment. HuaiSang and Lan Zhan chattered and ZiXuan watched them. His eyes drifted to Wei Ying of their own accord.

Wei Ying was giving him a strange look. When he saw ZiXuan caught him staring, he rolled his eyes and mouthed the word "desk."

Wen Ning put down his bowl and clapped his hands. "Alright. So, last week, we got in an iguana that the owner could no longer keep. The other volunteers are fu–" He paused and pursed his lips. "Just really stupid sometimes, so they just left it in a travel cage on the desk and took all the tank and food and stuff to storage."

"No fucking way," Wei Ying sighed as ZiXuan and HuaiSang both took swigs of their drinks.

Wen Ning pressed on. "When MianMian came in to see that, she just about lost her mind."

ZiXuan startled at the mention of a MianMian, but tried to remind himself it wasn't an uncommon nickname and just listened to the story.

When Wen Ning finished his first story, he hadn't said the words "walk," "walked," or "walking" even once. HauiSang laughed at Wei Ying who insisted they play again and asked Wen Ning to pick another anecdote about the shelter. ZiXuan, who had gotten a good couple of "desks" in the first one and had finished his drink, settled in to listen and keep eating.

Wen Ning began spinning his next yarn and Lan Zhan stood, reaching across for ZiXuan's glass. "Water?" he asked him lowly, and ZiXuan thanked him.

After the keyword game, which HuaiSang ended up "winning" (ZiXuan still thought the point of drinking games was to drink the least amount, but whatever), ZiXuan insisted on helping Lan Zhan clean up the dinner things. Once in the kitchen, quietly drying the dishes Lan Zhan washed and handed to him, ZiXuan became contemplative.

This was different than he thought it would be. It was still nerve-wracking, of course it was nerve-wracking to spend an evening with all four of his crushes, but it was a little easier to feel normal than he'd thought it would be. And really, that had to do with Wei Ying, didn't it.

ZiXuan poked the dishcloth into the nooks and crannies of the guo. Whenever he was talking with Wen Ning, in person or via text, although he was nervous, he was never uncomfortable. The same could be said about Lan Zhan and HuaiSang as well — though HuaiSang was something of a different creature, and he seemed to delight in making ZiXuan feel nervous. When he really thought about what made him anxious about entering this situation, the answer was Wei Ying. For…well, for several reasons.

He realized that this entire evening, although it wasn't as easy as with the others, Wei Ying seemed to be reining in the things that had previously made ZiXuan feel a bit uncomfortable and unwelcome. This was cause for its own anxieties. Was he doing that on purpose, or just because he genuinely felt more at ease around ZiXuan? Was he doing it because the others had asked him? ZiXuan pulled in a long, slow breath and put the guo down to avoid dropping it.

Lan Zhan had placed the remaining dishes in the drying rack as ZiXuan had meticulously dried the guo. He pulled off his gloves and looked ZiXuan over. "Are you feeling alright?" he asked him.

ZiXuan shook his head at himself. "Don't know why I always manage to work myself up," he said. "A desire for self-sabotage?"

Lan Zhan hummed and leaned against the counter by the sink. ZiXuan watched his hand go up to fiddle with his hair. "I think it's very normal to feel uncertain," Lan Zhan said. "We're all very aware that this isn't…a common situation to find oneself in."

ZiXuan nodded. He rolled his shoulders to try and relieve some of the tension.

"ZiXuan." Lan Zhan paused. "There's no great agenda here. We just want to hang out."

ZiXuan relaxed a tiny bit at that. "I know," he replied softly.

They returned to the other room to find that the others were setting up an interactive game on the TV. HuaiSang retrieved the wine ZiXuan had brought by obligation and served it up in real wine glasses. Lan Zhan asked for just a taste of HuaiSang's, barely dipping his tongue in before handing it back.

Before ZiXuan really realized it, the night was late and the bottle of wine he'd brought wasn't the only one sitting empty between the five of them. The liveliness of the evening had reached its peak probably twenty minutes ago — when the previous game ended, HuaiSang and Wen Ning had both gone to ponder the possibility of a next game, their heads ducked together by a laptop. Lan Zhan was sitting upright in an armchair, his eyes closed and his shoulders swaying slightly.

ZiXuan didn't know how, but he found himself sitting next to Wei Ying on the floor. His eyelids felt slow and heavy as he looked at him. Wei Ying gave the impression of being rather drunk. He had his hands folded neatly beneath his head, which rested on the seat of the couch, his expression flat. Almost sad. ZiXuan hesitated for a moment before summoning the courage to nudge his shoulder. "Are you okay?"

"Tired," Wei Ying replied automatically. His eyes drifted to ZiXuan and suddenly he sat up. He stared straight at ZiXuan, who, not gonna lie, was a little unnerved.

"What?" he asked lowly.

Wei Ying tilted his head and smirked at him. He leaned in and reached a hand behind ZiXuan's head. ZiXuan froze. Holy shit. What the fuck?? Was Wei Ying trying to kiss him?

Something tugged playfully at the red scrunchy in his hair. "That's mine," Wei Ying whispered to him, his eyes dark where they locked on ZiXuan's and his smirk absolutely terrible.

HuaiSang noticed from the other side of the room and cheered mentally. Hooray! Wei Ying finally stopped being a baby and was flirting with ZiXuan!

ZiXuan, however, paled. Wei Ying's face was unsteady through the haze of alcohol that currently befuddled him. He reached up shakily and pulled the scrunchy from his hair, placing it in Wei Ying's hand.

"Sorry," he whispered regretfully.

Wei Ying frowned and glanced at the thing in his hand. "Uh. Sorry?"

ZiXuan's heart sank. An apology wasn't good enough? "I-I'm really sorry, someone said it was okay for me to use it. I didn't mean to take it, Wei Ying."

Wei Ying gave ZiXuan a look kind of like the man was a turnip he had somehow pulled out of a potato field. He shook his head and reached around ZiXuan's head, throwing his hair back into a messy ponytail. "Ah, keep it, you idiot."

ZiXuan watched Wei Ying stand up and walk away and deflated there against the foot of the couch. Wei Ying went to HuaiSang to ask what he could have possibly done wrong and Wen Ning went to ZiXuan.

"Hey, bud," he said lightly as he sat. "You doin' okay? You look a little sleepy."

ZiXuan reached out to hold onto him, which was the most physical touch he'd initiated between any of them. "I just hope he's not mad," ZiXuan whispered.

Wen Ning patted his back. "He's not mad at you, ZiXuan," he assured him. ZiXuan knitted his brows and stared at Wen Ning, who realized that maybe they had let him get a little more drunk than he would have wanted.

"Lan Zhan is asleep in a chair," Wen Ning announced. He took ZiXuan's hands and pulled him to stand up before he went to retrieve Lan Zhan, gently waking him and helping him stand too. "Let's get you to bed."

He was talking to both of them. Wei Ying and Huaisang paused their speculations about Why Jin ZiXuan Was That Way to acknowledge that ZiXuan and Lan Zhan were going to sleep. ZiXuan rubbed his eyes. Maybe this was the best course of action. He felt unsteady on his feet and grabbed onto Wen Ning's arm as the three of them stumbled down the hall.

ZiXuan had thought – beforehand, when they'd invited him – that they probably had a guest bed to offer to let him sleep in. When he was taken into the main bedroom with Lan Zhan in tow beside him and saw just the one huge bed, he was too sleepy and slightly nauseous to think anything other than Well, it's big enough for five.

"Can you get to everything yourself, Lan Zhan?" Wen Ning asked as Lan Zhan floated around the bedroom. Lan Zhan gave an affirmative little hum and Wen Ning turned to ZiXuan. "What about you, then?" He noticed how unsteady ZiXuan was and smiled, bringing him over to sit at the foot of the bed.

ZiXuan furrowed his brows and opened his mouth, looking at Wen Ning in silence for a moment. "I left my bag in my fucking car," he finally said.

Wen Ning laughed and sat beside him. "I'll get it for you." He held his hand out. "Key?"

ZiXuan patted his pockets and located his car key in his front pocket. He hadn't worn these jeans in forever, and struggled to get his hand into the tight pocket for a moment before he yanked out the key. He put it in Wen Ning's hand and then paused, their hands pressed together.

"I should come with you," he said decisively.

"You're a little wobbly at the moment," Wen Ning told him fondly. He lifted his free hand, but restrained himself and dropped it again. "Wait here and let me get it for you."

ZiXuan liked the way he said that, so he nodded and let his hand slide out of Wen Ning's grasp. Wen Ning closed the door quietly behind himself and Lan Zhan came out of the bathroom dressed for bed and in the middle of braiding his hair. He sat down on the bed and tied off the end of his braid before looking over at ZiXuan.

"Here." He patted the space beside him lightly and ZiXuan's mind went blank. To think this kind of summons would ever have worked on him before…and yet he found himself clambering clumsily in Lan Zhan's direction, settling beside him tentatively.

Lan Zhan took his shoulders and turned him to sit with his back to him. He undid Wei Ying's terrible ponytail from earlier and smoothed his fingers through ZiXuan's hair, combing and collecting it in the back before he began weaving one thick braid. ZiXuan was quiet. He couldn't remember the last time someone had touched him so sweetly. Su She had been a terrible boyfriend in that regard. He closed his eyes, letting the gentle tugging lull him.

When Lan Zhan was done, he tied it off and flipped the end of the braid over ZiXuan's shoulder. ZiXuan opened his eyes to look at it. Then he turned to Lan Zhan in distress. "Use something else," he insisted, pulling Wei Ying's red scrunchy out of his hair. "I didn't mean to keep this."

Lan Zhan knew that Wei Ying had five hundred of the exact same scrunchy hidden all over this apartment. He grabbed ZiXuan's hands, calming them, and pried the thing from his fingers to secure the end of the braid again. "It's okay to use this."

"I don't want to make him mad," ZiXuan stressed quietly. Lan Zhan was going to lose it. He had a strict "I'm not gonna kiss on anyone who's drunk" rule, but ZiXuan was driving him to a breaking point. He put his hands on ZiXuan's cheeks.

"He's not mad," he assured him in a whisper.

ZiXuan was suddenly pretty distracted, unsure what he'd been stressing about before now that Lan Zhan was touching him and so close. ZiXuan reached out to touch Lan Zhan's face as well, just with his fingertips. Just as he'd thought — soft.

Lan Zhan was saved by Wen Ning coming back into the room. Wen Ning really was the perfect sort of person to have around at a time like this. He didn't give them any suggestive smirks, and he also didn't pretend he hadn't seen anything. He just brought ZiXuan his duffle bag, setting it beside him on the bed. "Was there anything you needed besides this?"

"No." ZiXuan opened it up to search for pajamas and his toothbrush. "Thank you."

Wen Ning clasped his hands together. "Feel free to use the bathroom, get yourself in order."

ZiXuan thanked him and decided to just take his whole bag into the bathroom, since he was having trouble rifling efficiently. Once safely inside, he changed his clothes, brushed his teeth, and splashed cold water on his face a couple of times.

He stood over the sink for a moment to breathe quietly on his own before he gathered his things back into his bag and returned to the other room. Lan Zhan appeared to already be passed out. ZiXuan could vaguely recall a mention or two in the past that Lan Zhan usually went to bed quite early. Wen Ning was still puttering around, folding some clothes that had been hanging by the window and putting them in their place. When the bathroom door squeaked, Lan Zhan managed to open his eyes using brute force, push himself halfway up, locate ZiXuan, and gesture to him before he collapsed again.

ZiXuan smiled as he found an out-of-the-way place to set his bag and tentatively made his way to the place beside Lan Zhan. Lan Zhan tried to push the blankets at him, rather ineffectively, but ZiXuan got the idea and shifted to lay down and pull the blankets over himself. He froze halfway through and sat back up. "Is it okay for me to sleep here?" he stressed.

Wen Ning looked over, trying not to laugh, as Lan Zhan assured him it was. ZiXuan still shifted and glanced around. "I'm not in someone's spot, am I?" he continued.

"There's no spots," Wen Ning told him as he tucked some socks in their drawer and slid it closed. He turned out the lights, leaving just the lamp by Lan Zhan illuminated, and ZiXuan reluctantly laid down.

Well, he was rather sleepy right now. And drunk. If he was in someone's spot, surely they would forgive him. He wasn't fully aware. He wiggled around slightly under the covers to get cozy and fell asleep almost immediately.

—-

HuaiSang stroked Wei Ying's face and hummed. "You're right," he assured absently

"Was I ever that mean to him?" Wei Ying continued to wonder aloud, apparently completely lacking in self-awareness. He poked his pinky finger through one of the holes of HuaiSang's mesh top and HuaiSang slapped his hand. "I mean, yeah, sure, I was mad at him for a while for turning down my sister, but he's acting like I traumatized him." Wei Ying paused and then scrambled around, his shoulders that had been in HuaiSang's lap bumping the floor as he tried to sit up. He looked at HuaiSang frantically. "Don't lie to me to make me feel better, baby. Did I traumatize him?"

HuaiSang smiled and pulled Wei Ying closer to him. "A-Ying, A-Ying. You didn't do anything to ZiXuan except say you didn't like him. That's not a traumatic experience."

"But he acts so afraid," Wei Ying whispered, more to himself than to HuaiSang kissing his cheek. "Why does he always assume the worst? Assume he's been doing something wrong?"

HuaiSang pulled back to look at Wei Ying thoughtfully. "Just because you didn't traumatize him doesn't mean someone else didn't."

Duh. Wei Ying's expression lit with understanding. "Oh." Then fell. "Ah. I shouldn't blame him." He stared at the wall as HuaiSang started kissing his face again. "Why just me? He doesn't assume the same things with the rest of you, does he?"

"To be fair, you haven't exactly been warm to him."

"Well how can I if he acts like a quivering criminal every time I talk to him?" Wei Ying rubbed the bridge of his nose, feeling wildly tired. He thought about going to bed, then slapped himself on the forehead. HuaiSang pulled back and raised an eyebrow at him. Wei Ying grabbed his shoulders.

"A-Sang!" he hissed. "We let both our tops take ZiXuan to bed alone!"

They stared at each other for a moment before climbing up and stumbling down the hallway. They hesitated at the bedroom door for a bit. Eventually, HuaiSang cracked the door and peeked in.

The room was dark, cool, and quiet. All three of the others were sleeping soundly, Lan Zhan and ZiXuan to one side and Wen Ning sprawled out towards the other half of the bed. Wei Ying laughed a little at himself and HuaiSang before they both slipped into the room and closed the door softly behind them.

——

ZiXuan woke up way earlier than he'd intended to. As he opened his eyes, he could feel movement beside him. Which was not normal. He reached out blindly and felt someone pulling the covers into place.

"Are you going to get up?" Lan Zhan's voice asked, sounding doubtful. Something patted ZiXuan's hand. "Why don't you sleep a little longer."

ZiXuan was confused for a second, but he accepted this advice and rolled over. He closed his eyes, his consciousness muddled, as he listened to Lan Zhan moving around for a bit before leaving the room.

The silence was comforting. ZiXuan relaxed into it for a moment before realizing it wasn't silence. There was breathing. Lots of it. ZiXuan picked up his head and blinked his eyes open to see he was in bed with Wen Ning, HuaiSang, and Wei Ying.

Ohhhhhh, yeahhhhh. ZiXuan laid back down. He almost forgot that he had stayed here last night. He closed his eyes again, preparing to go back to sleep for a bit, then woke up again all at once because oh god the person right next to him was Wei Ying.

Wei Ying evidently felt all his flailing around, because he groaned and rubbed his face in the covers. When he lifted his head again, he squinted at ZiXuan in the pale morning light. "What are you doing?" he mumbled.

What was he doing? Oh god. Wei Ying wanted to know what he was doing here in his bed with his partners. "I'm sorry," ZiXuan said quickly, moving to sit up, but Wei Ying grabbed him and dragged him back down.

"Why are you always sorry?" he grumbled, turning over. "I haven't even done anything to you, why are you always sorry?"

ZiXuan stared at his back. He should probably just leave. He reached to shakily undo the braid in his hair. He again noticed what it was secured with. He stood up carefully and placed the scrunchy on the bed as he started to creep over to his bag to get changed.

Wei Ying glanced over his shoulder and clicked his tongue. He grabbed the fucking stupid goddamn hair thing and glared over his shoulder at the stupid repressed gay man sneaking around the bedroom. "Jin ZiXuan!" he snapped.

ZiXuan jumped and looked at him. Wei Ying held up his hands and shook them at him for a moment. "Will you – just – come over here."

ZiXuan approached him hesitantly and Wei Ying grabbed him and forced him to sit down. HuaiSang muttered and shifted on the other side of the bed.

"Wei Ying, do it quietly," he whined, climbing on top of Wen Ning's chest and passing out again. Wei Ying ignored him and held up the scrunchy for ZiXuan to see.

"Didn't I give this to you?" Wei Ying asked sharply.

ZiXuan honestly couldn't remember well. He opted for ignorance. "What is that?"

"ZiXuan, really, what did I do to you? What do I have to do to amend it?" Wei Ying was bewildered. "Maybe I haven't been clear?"

"You haven't been clear," Wen Ning told him, still pretending to sleep. Wei Ying turned to glower at him and ZiXuan shifted.

"I'm gonna say it again, so don't get mad," he warned. "I'm sorry."

Wei Ying put his hands on ZiXuan's throat and he let out a startled chuckle, dodging him. "Wait – I just – I don't want to make you mad. I don't want to intrude on your life or your relationship. I know you don't like me."

"Do you think my partners are the kind of people who would try to date someone I'm not comfortable with?" Wei Ying fumed. He reached for ZiXuan's neck again and ZiXuan caught his wrist.

"No, it's just…just…"

"And where do you get off assuming I don't like you?"

"You've told me!"

"Yeah, that was, like, years ago!"

"You shouted at me at new year's, that was like three months ago!"

Wei Ying paused and pointed his free hand at ZiXuan, but didn't say anything, as if to convey Yeah okay well. You got me there.

"Wei Ying, you have to be clear." Wen Ning sat up and HuaiSang slid off his chest and also stopped pretending to sleep.

"Yeah, aren't you the one who always says we have to be straightforward?" HuaiSang raised an eyebrow at him and stood. "We'll give you a minute."

HuaiSang dragged Wen Ning from the room and ZiXuan stared at his hands. He wasn't sure how it got this way. It was probably his fault. He shook his head. "I just don't get it."

"What don't you get?" Wei Ying sounded tired. He was twisting the hair scrunchy around his fingers. ZiXuan watched it.

"I don't understand how you can like me." He paused. "That is what you're trying to say, isn't it?"

Wei Ying slipped the scrunchy onto his wrist. "Is this some kind of self esteem thing? I'm just trying to figure out where you're coming from."

Well, yes, kind of, but also… "I mean." ZiXuan's eyes moved around the room and he looked out the window at the clouds stuck in the sky. "The others I understand. They've actually spoken to me, made…some kind of effort? I don't. Understand how you could like me."

Wei Ying shifted. His hair fell over his shoulder, and ZiXuan watched it. "It's hard for me to talk to you when you make no effort to interact back," he said, his voice hard.

ZiXuan's brows furrowed. "I think it's different? I've liked you since high school."

Wei Ying's hair moved again as his head whipped around. ZiXuan picked at an imperfect thread in the sheets.

"Well I don't get it either," Wei Ying objected sourly. "If you like me, why do you act like you're scared of me? If you like me, why won't you look at me?"

A hand came under ZiXuan's chin and guided him to lift his face. ZiXuan startled and looked into Wei Ying's clear eyes for a moment before quickly shifting his gaze to his ear instead.

"God, peacock." ZiXuan could see the way he held tension in his jaw. "I don't understand."

ZiXuan reached up and pulled Wei Ying's hand away from his face. "I am scared of you," he admitted softly. Wei Ying drew back a bit and ZiXuan could see his brows had furrowed. His hands shook and he rubbed them against his knees as he let Wei Ying process that.

"Why?"

He was about to be so annoying. Nobody wanted to hear this. Wei Ying didn't want to hear this. He swallowed thickly and pushed the emotions down. He could deliver the facts without being annoying. He could keep himself cool. "Do you want to know something about my dad? He hates gay people." And lots of other kinds of people. "He also has a – a lot of control. Over my family, over my future, over every major decision I've made in life up to this point. I'm fully aware of how quickly he could make my life hell."

So far, ZiXuan was impressing himself with how calm he was staying. He could keep this up, right? "If I make moves to live my life in a way he deems inappropriate, it could all go to shit," he stressed. No-no, no stressing. Stay normal. "And not just for me, but for everyone else in my family, too. And, you know, I learned how to get away with it. After leaving his house, it's been easier to…like, become myself. Do what I want. But with. With you."

This sounded so stupid even in his head. He gritted his teeth and made himself say it. "You were what I wanted back when having what I wanted meant the end of everything. When I had no free will at all, so of course. Of course I'm still afraid of that."

There, that wasn't so bad. ZiXuan breathed a little more normally as he watched the sun filter through the curtains.

"Jin ZiXuan, look at me."

It wasn't a demand. Wei Ying's voice was really quiet. Hesitantly, ZiXuan turned his gaze to Wei Ying's eyes. There was just a lot going on there. There was just a lot they were seeing, Zixuan thought. He went to turn his head, but Wei Ying caught his chin.

"For this to work, you can't be afraid of me."

He was pretty sure this was a lethal dose of Wei Ying eye contact. He broke his hold and tried to back up, but Wei Ying caught his shoulders and held him in place. "ZiXuan!" He pulled him closer and held his face in his hands. ZiXuan's fingers curled around Wei Ying's, ready to pull his hands away, but he got stuck.

Wei Ying's eyes weren't just clear and penetrating. They were regretful. And red-rimmed. ZiXuan stared at them as Wei Ying spoke again in a voice ZiXuan had never heard from him.

"For this to work, you can't be afraid of me, anymore."

ZiXuan blinked, mind empty in the face of Wei Ying's gaze. "For what to work?" he asked absently. Wei Ying sighed so heavily ZiXuan thought he was letting out his last breath.

"For us to work, stupid. Just like a peacock, huh. All looks, no brains."

"That's really mean."

Wei Ying let go of his face. "I can't get to know you if you're afraid of me. But can't you see that I want to?"

If he was being honest, yes he could. ZiXuan tried not to drop his eyes as Wei Ying went on. "Let's straighten some things out." Wei Ying shifted to sit cross-legged on the bed. He held up the scrunchy. "This is for you."

ZiXuan took it, feeling stupid. He reached back to tie his hair up as Wei Ying went on. "Next, you're not in high school anymore. Neither am I. I can't…say that you shouldn't be careful, what with the way your dad is, but. You don't need to be afraid of...what you feel?"

Wei Ying's cheeks flushed and he looked away, which was a godsend because ZiXuan also felt hot in the face. He already knew it was dumb to hold onto these anxieties over Wei Ying.

Wei Ying continued without looking at him. "I'm not whoever I was when you like…developed a crush on me ten years ago, or whatever. You're not who you were then, either. I'd almost say we don't really know each other, if I'm being honest."

His words were fair, but they still made ZiXuan feel cold and kind of stupid. "I really am like a peacock," he sighed.

Wei Ying gave a strangled laugh. "Come on, don't look like that. What I mean is…we can get to know each other. Like you did with A-Sang and Lan Zhan and Wen Ning. That's not so bad, right?" Wei Ying smiled at him with a desperate sort of uncertainty on his face. ZiXuan almost laughed at him.

"Of course not," he said with certainty.

"Good. See?" Wei Ying let out a breath. "That settles it. We'll go from there."

That settles it. ZiXuan kind of patted at his chest over his heart. Strange, how a few words could do so much. That settles it. We'll go from there.

ZiXuan nodded and stood up, holding a hand out to help Wei Ying to his feet as well. The other man accepted, letting ZiXuan drag him towards the door. ZiXuan managed a smile, even if it was a nervous one. "Do you want some breakfast?"

The door opened and the sound of pleasant chatter from the other three drifted to them from the kitchen. Wei Ying smiled in that direction. "That'd be lovely."

——

"What does the CEO think?"

ZiXuan wasn't paying attention. He lifted his head to look around the boardroom and let out a long breath.

"You're smart. Figure it out." He stood up and left the boardroom, returning to his and the secretary's desks. He knocked on the door to his father's office.

"You know he's not in there," Wang LingJiao scoffed. Jin ZiXuan nodded a couple of times and looked at her.

"I'm not going to board meetings anymore," he told her calmly. He pointed at the door. "Either he goes, or you find some other poor schlub to take my place."

Wang LingJiao pouted at him. "What's with you all of the sudden? You're a real ass today. What, did they bite you in there?"

Jin ZiXuan ignored her. He collected his things and left the building.

——

"What about this one?"

ZiXuan pulled up to the traffic light and stopped, listening to the song as he waited for the light to change. When it flicked to green, he turned right and nodded a little. "It's good."

HuaiSang groaned and his head thumped back on the headrest. "You can't think every generic J-pop song I play you is good! You have to have some further opinion."

"HuaiSang, I am trying to drive, they are not getting my entire attention."

HuaiSang repeated his words under his breath in a mocking little tone. ZiXuan bit back a grin and reached over to punch him as he pulled into the parking for their apartment building. HuaiSang yelped and punched back.

When they made it all the way upstairs and into the apartment, groceries in-hand, Wen Ning came to greet them. He smiled at them so pleasantly. "ZiXuan, you made it," he stated. "Let me take one." His fingers brushed ZiXuan's as he took one of the canvas bags from his hand. His eyes were warm and ZiXuan wasn't sure where he mustered the strength to look into them and stand at the same time.

"Thanks," he managed. HuaiSang stumbled into Wen Ning a bit as he stepped out of his shoes and Wen Ning caught him.

"Have you already started cooking?" HuaiSang asked. "Sorry, traffic was a lot around the middle of town."

"Only barely, c'mon." Wen Ning led them through to the kitchen, where Lan Zhan and Wei Ying were already moving about at a variety of chopping and simmering and rinsing stations they seemed to have set up.

"Oh, thank god." Wei Ying went up to HuaiSang and peered into his grocery bag. "Who has the soft tofu?"

"ZiXuan," HuaiSang informed him, moving along to pass his vegetables over to Lan Zhan at the cutting board. Wei Ying came up to ZiXuan instead and he held his bag open for him. Wei Ying's hands dug around for the pouch of tofu, their heads bent together.

"Aha!" Wei Ying grinned as he pulled it out. "Next stop: soup city."

ZiXuan snorted and Wei Ying looked up at him. He raised an eyebrow.

"You dare to scorn soup city? Soup city is a pillar of culture and literature, I'll have you know."

ZiXuan couldn't help but grin at him, the feeling filling him from head to toe, and Wei Ying's eyes sparkled at him before he turned to get on with things.

He helped Wen Ning put away the rest of the groceries and then checked his phone. He had a text from Wang LingJiao

Wang LingJiao
pls come back the old guys on the board are sooooooo pissed of rn :(

mr jin pleeeesaaaaaàaseee

"Do you want some tea, ZiXuan?" Wen Ning asked as he poked around in the tea cupboard. ZiXuan put his phone away.

"Let me make it." He smiled at Wen Ning as they selected a tea together. As ZiXuan filled the warm earthenware pot with hot water, he couldn't help but feel like he could relate to it.

Chapter Text

06/26/2021
Wei Ying
do you want to see a picture jiang cheng didn't want to see?

Jiang YanLi
Yes of course!!

Wei Ying
Img_2938473
wen ning at his new internship!! can you believe he gets to play with baby animals literally all day!!!

Jiang YanLi
Oh my gosh!!! He looks so happy! And those babies will be so lucky to have him.
He sent me some updates, but no pictures!! Thank you!

Wei Ying
ofc!!

06/28/2021
Jiang YanLi
Dwnld_00294
Haha, this made me think of you and A-Cheng! :)

Wei Ying
OMG
soooooo true jiejie!!

Jiang YanLi
:)

07/02/2021
Wei Ying
jiejie how do you
uhhhhhh
julienne???

Jiang YanLi
Hahaha, omg call me!!!
I'll have to show you!

07/05/2021
Jiang YanLi
www.recipewebsiteidk.org/food
Here's the thing I mentioned the other day!!

Wei Ying
omg thank you so much!! they're all gonna love this, i think. some of them can be such picky eaters 🙄

Jiang YanLi
Haha, really? Wen Ning and Lan Zhan don't seem too picky! I believe it about HuaiSang, though :)

Wei Ying
:)

— —

Jiang YanLi closed her eyes and relished in the lakeside breeze as the cafe chatter drifted around her. The patio umbrella cast shadow over the top half of her body but left her legs resting in the warm sunlight.

"Miss?"

YanLi startled and straightened up, opening her eyes. The cafe employee smiled at her and placed her tea in front of her. "Enjoy."

YanLi watched the woman walk away and sighed, resting her chin in her hands. She was pretty.

She poked her phone. ZiXuan was late. She chewed on her bottom lip in worry. He said he had some stuff to talk with her about. They hadn't seen each other in person or talked at length since the lunar new year — which was like 6 months ago. She hoped nothing was wrong.

She sipped her tea and looked at the barista again.

ZiXuan rushed into the cafe a few minutes later. He scanned the tables for a bit before he caught sight of her and she smiled as he strode over.

"A-Li," he sighed. She stood up and they grabbed each other solidly. She relaxed as he squeezed her around the waist.

"ZiXuan, I've missed you." She pulled back and grinned at him. He looked well. His eyes were bright and there was a pleasant color to his cheeks. So hopefully nothing too shitty had happened in his family. He looked a little keyed up, probably from running late, but didn't look like he was harboring bad news.

She relaxed even more. It was so good to see him. Even better if he was doing well.

He slipped up to the counter to place an order and when he came back she immediately started asking after people. How was Mo XuanYu? How was his mother? How were things at work?

The regular checks didn't take them long. After ZiXuan had confirmed everything was alright with his family, YanLi began to get curious about what he wanted to talk to her about, which of course meant her curiosity was clawing at her skin.

"So," she said, overly casual. "What was it you wanted to talk to me about?"

ZiXuan's posture shifted. First he started slouching a bit, then he forced himself to sit perfectly straight. Her lips twitched towards a smile. She watched him poke his straw around the ice in the bottom of his empty coffee cup and adjust his coaster just so. He finally looked at her. "There's really no less awkward way to say this, I guess."

She raised an eyebrow at him. "Say what?"

He had to pause and steele himself for another couple of seconds. "I started dating HuaiSang." He met her eyes. "And Wen Ning and Lan Zhan."

YanLi leaned back, unsure what expression she was wearing. ZiXuan was on the verge of wincing.

"And Wei Ying."

YanLi started nodding a little. "Hmm," she managed.

ZiXuan's fingernails tapped at the empty coffee glass. He watched her intently. After a few moments of them staring at each other, he finally said "Look, it didn't happen overnight."

Didn't it, though? Six months ago, Wei Ying was tailing her at a party calling ZiXuan every insult he could think of. Now they were dating? Her brows pulled together. He was still waiting for her response, but she wasn't sure she had one yet.

"It took some. Work." ZiXuan was getting more tense. Surely that couldn't be good, right? Why should talking about his boyfriend to her make him tense? Bad omen. "I had a lot of internalized…stuff, and I had to deal with it. Well I guess we had to deal with it. I don't think I could've gotten over it on my own, honestly."

YanLi felt herself nodding. ZiXuan broke, his eyebrows tilting up. "A-Li," he begged. "Say something."

It wasn't fair for him to ask that of her. She was quiet for another moment, doing everything in her power to not say what she wanted to say, but it still happened. "I don't know about this."

He wasn't shocked or hurt – visibly, at least – which was a relief to her. But he was obviously still not settled. "Do you want to explain that?" he asked evenly.

YanLi looked away from him and ran her tongue over her teeth. She wasn't sure which end to start from — the fact that he wasn't good enough for Wei Ying, or the fact that Wei Ying wasn't good enough for him.

That wasn't right. She panged with guilt just thinking it briefly. It's not that either of them wasn't a quality person or desirable partner, they just weren't right for each other.

"I've known you both all my life," she said slowly. "Something just feels off."

ZiXuan tilted his head and looked at her for a long quiet moment, his eyes scanning her face. "What do you think is going to happen? I want to know what the negative thing you're dreading is."

YanLi pouted and rubbed her forehead and ZiXuan sighed. "I don't want to fight," he said softly. She looked up and he was looking at her so pathetically. "I've missed you. Don't hold it against me."

She smiled a little at that. She didn't want to fight either. She just…also didn't want them to be in this situation. "You're such a sad little man," she sniffed, pretending to wipe tears from her eyes. She couldn't fight the grin long. "I grant you 24 hours of sanctuary."

ZiXuan scoffed and rolled his eyes. "Gracious of you," he drawled. He immediately changed the subject. "I took XuanYu to paintball."

YanLi laughed at that. "Really?" She raised her eyebrows. "You and a paintball gun…I can't picture it."

ZiXuan's smile was a little strange. "Can't picture it, huh," YanLi thought she heard him mutter. But he immediately continued at a proper volume. "Just you wait. One day, you'll be asleep in your bed, and then pap, pap, pap, a dick has been paintballed onto your front door."

She laughed harder. "You're gonna draw a dick with just three paintball shots? Low standards."

"Jiang YanLi, this is bullying…"

——

Jin ZiXuan's apartment was empty and dark when he got back to it. It was very strange. He used to crave being able to slink home after a night drinking with the goons at work, used to yearn for the quiet stillness of his own space. Now he felt strongly enough to say he hated it.

He sighed and flopped onto his couch regretfully. He should have taken Lan Zhan up on the offer to stay at their apartment. HuaiSang, Wei Ying, and Lan Zhan's apartment — he had been shocked to learn that technically Wen Ning still lived with his sister. Either way, he knew at least three of them were there, and even though it was an hour away from the job he had to be at tomorrow at 9 am, he was beginning to wish he'd gone there instead.

His apartment was quiet and dark; their apartment was bright and bustling. His apartment was sparse and sad; their apartment was well-lived-in and well-loved.

He needed to move. He needed a new job.

ZiXuan rubbed his eyes and sat up, pulling out his phone. Maybe he could at least talk to Lan Zhan. Or Wen Ning. Or W—

His phone started vibrating, the screen lighting up with a call, and ZiXuan couldn't help but grin. He answered with a sigh. "Why do you always call me right when I'm thinking about calling you?"

Wei Ying laughed on the other end. "Because we're psychically linked!" He laughed again and ZiXuan smiled as he settled on the couch. "I wanted to see if you were back yet," Wei Ying said when he calmed down. "See how things went."

ZiXuan sighed and raised his eyebrows at the empty room. "Well, I hate to say I told you so…"

Wei Ying waited for a moment. "Well, hopefully you don't need to?"

"Oh, I definitely need to."

"What?" Wei Ying's voice shot up an octave. "What do you mean, that doesn't make—" He cut himself off and huffed. "Can I come over?"

ZiXuan held up his wrist to look at his watch. It was only 7. "Sure, but how will you get here?"

Wei Ying paused before calling across the house, "A-Sang! A-Sang, is your brother's card still linked to your DiDi account? Can HuaiSang come too?" He said the last thing at a normal volume, to ZiXuan, who was smiling at the ceiling.

"I would love nothing more."

"Awesome. Yes, baby, grab some clothes for me too, kiss kiss ass slap ass slap." Again, said to HuaiSang, out loud. To ZiXuan he said, "Well, I'm also glad to go spend the night at your place, but please remember we have to talk about this YanLi misunderstanding first."

ZiXuan rolled his eyes at the word misunderstanding. "I know. Do you want coffee? I'll put a pot on for when you get here."

Wei Ying said "Yes," at the same time that HuaiSang said "I want hot chocolate I don't like coffee." ZiXuan apologized for not having hot chocolate but offered to make him a nice cup of Irish breakfast and then hung up and went to boil his skin off in the shower.

HuaiSang climbed him bodily the moment he opened the door. ZiXuan found it hard to blame him, because they had somehow managed to not run into each other for almost two weeks.

"I missed you," he whispered as he kissed ZiXuan's neck and jaw. ZiXuan struggled to hold him up. He needed to start working out. He was way too weak in the arms to hold someone as gloopy-jelly as HuaiSang, and he very much did want to hold him, so it had to be rectified.

Wei Ying stepped forward with an exasperated laugh and helped pull HuaiSang back onto his own feet. "Give him breathing room, babe."

HuaiSang drew back and ZiXuan offered them both a tired smile. "Come in, get something to drink."

"Can I put this in your room?" Wei Ying asked, indicating the bag on his shoulder. ZiXuan nodded and he headed that way as the other two went to the kitchen and ZiXuan settled HuaiSang with his tea.

HuaiSang watched him as he poured hot coffee into mugs for himself and Wei Ying. "Are you alright?" he asked quietly.

ZiXuan gave him a genuine smile. "I know YanLi," he said softly. "I know that she's worried, and I can guess why. I just don't know what I can do to help her get over it."

HuaiSang bumped his shoulder. "We'll think about it together. I may not be as close with her as you are…but I've known her a long time. I know she'll come around."

"Yeah." He heard the bedroom door close. "I'm worried about Wei Ying, though," he said quickly.

"You did make coffee." Wei Ying's usual exuberance was somewhat contained. He came up on ZiXuan's other side and peered at the mug he was offered. "You're a fancy pants guy; do you have any fancy pants coffee fixings?"

They were less for ZiXuan and more for Su She, but all the same the answer was yes. ZiXuan let the two of them rifle through the syrups and sugars and make their drinks undoubtedly disgusting as he watched from a safe distance, drinking his coffee with milk but no sugar.

"Can't believe you two are drinking coffee at half-past eight," HuaiSang scolded as he hopped up to sit on ZiXuan's counter. ZiXuan didn't complain at him about it, which made him grin.

All ZiXuan did was give a short little laugh. "You know Irish breakfast is like a super high caffeine tea, right?"

HuaiSang repeated his words in a mutter, but Wei Ying drew away the conversation. "Tell me what she said," he requested. He leaned against the counter close to ZiXuan. "I want to know the words."

ZiXuan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "The exact words?"

"Well, close as you can get."

ZiXuan thought for a moment as he sipped his coffee, before relaying the conversation to the two of them as well as he could. It hadn't really been a long conversation – he had dodged off the topic rather quickly when she'd shown such immediate and firm disapproval. He was starting to realize he was kind of a coward.

Wei Ying just listened to him, wide-eyed. "I don't understand," he finally said when ZiXuan finished the run-down. "She always wanted me to get along better with you."

ZiXuan laughed in shock. "Well, I think this is a little better than she meant."

Wei Ying furrowed his brows thoughtfully and HuaiSang hopped off the counter. "Come on, she's not unreasonable," he told them. "She just needs time. Give her a little while to think about it."

"But I want to get it sorted out," Wei Ying insisted. HuaiSang patted his arm.

"I know. But just let her process for a bit before you try."

Wei Ying swirled his coffee in his mug and furrowed his brow, but he nodded. "Sure."

That didn't sound very certain to ZiXuan, but he accepted it for the moment. Give YanLi time. Bring it up in a week or so. At the very least, it gave him quiet permission to not stress about it for a little while. He rubbed his eyes and a hand touched his arm.

"You look tired, peacock. Let's get ready for bed."

"I am tired," he admitted. "But you just got here." He looked up at them, taking Wei Ying's hand. "Come sit, talk to me for a while."

It would help him settle more, ease out the stress, to listen to them. HuaiSang dashed ahead of them to claim ZiXuan's "only good" blanket and Wei Ying laughed and pulled ZiXuan along behind him.

ZiXuan tightened his fingers around Wei Ying's hand. It was worth it. He settled against HuaiSang on the couch, felt this way his voice moved from his chest up out of his mouth. Whatever it was that YanLi was upset about, they'd just have to…deal with it. Whatever it was, it was worth this.

— —

07/08/2021
Wei Ying
Img_3847474
jiejie!! we went to that exhibit you mentioned, it was really great thank you for telling me about it!! we managed to get everybody and go together, too. it was such a fun day :) how are things? hows the restaurant?

Jiang YanLi
:)
Good!

Wei Ying
good!! the restaurant is doing okay?

07/11/2021
Wei Ying
okay there's a place in gusu with really good creme brulee we have to come get it the next time you're here!! i told zixuan to send you a pin bc my maps account is still broken lol

07/15/2021
Wei Ying
whats the tea you said lan zhan should try?

Jiang YanLi
Assam. There's a good place near the train station.

Wei Ying
thats the one! thanks, i couldnt remember. do you recommend putting milk in it?
jiejie?

Jiang YanLi
Yes, it's good that way too.

Wei Ying
oh awesome! thank you so much, youre the best :)

07/19/2021
Wei Ying
Img_3746384
we saw this and thought of you!!

07/22/2021
Wei Ying
hey, how are things going at the restaurant? is the owner still breathing down your neck about the menu? i'll kill him for u jiejie

07/28/2021
Wei Ying
jiejie!!
Deleted Message
ah sorry actually haha never mind

— —

Jiang YanLi wiped the sheen of sweat off of her forehead and reached for her water. Her legs ached. She sat down heavily and took a few long drinks of water.

One of the line cooks clapped a hand on her shoulder. "Good work," he said, his own breathing labored. She smiled.

"You too. Sorry, one minute, I'll help with teardown–"

"Don't sweat it," he said quickly. "It was a long night for you, take a second." He gave her a quick grin and then went to join in the end of night clean up.

Well. It had been a long night. YanLi sighed and shook her head fondly as she fished for her phone in the pocket of her chef's pants. She took another swig of water as she checked her notifications. A missed call and a text, both from Nie MingJue. The text just said "Call me." She rolled her eyes. If he made it quick, she could talk with him. She dialed him back and waited, her breathing now well-relaxed.

"YanLi," MingJue answered his phone. "Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your service."

She laughed. "Well, you didn't. We're just cleaning up now."

"Do you have a minute?"

"Is everything alright?"

"I just want to tell you a quick story. If you need to call me back later, that's okay."

She raised an eyebrow and glanced at the others moving about the kitchen. She shifted to face away a bit. "No problem, what's up?"

"This story starts a long time ago." He paused. "Actually, I'm not really sure exactly when it starts. It starts with a feeling, I guess. A feeling I instilled in my little brother that I would be irritated and disappointed with him if he acted in ways I wouldn't and would be disapproving of choices that made him happy."

YanLi fingers tightened on her phone. "Okay," she whispered.

"I made him so uncomfortable that the little brother I raised started keeping things from me. He actively lied to me for eight months, YanLi. Maybe – not actively, but he kept secrets, avoided questions. Didn't tell me about things that were making him happy because he thought they would make me mad." He paused again and YanLi swallowed. "Do you understand what I'm talking about?"

"Yes," she snapped. Maybe he didn't pick up on her tone, because he went on in the same calm way.

"I've never felt so low. I knew he was keeping something from me. The worst part was, we'd drifted so far apart, I didn't know how to ask him about it anymore. I was losing him."

YanLi closed her eyes and took a breath. She knew what he was doing, but she couldn't help the pain that bloomed in her chest for MingJue and HuaiSang. She didn't know about this. That HuaiSang had kept it from him.

"So," he continued when she didn't say anything, "I guess if that's what you want, then I can't tell you what to do. But it sucked. Anyway, that's it, I'm sure you're busy—"

"MingJue!" she all but shouted into her phone. Some of the other staff peered at her, but she ignored them. MingJue had gone silent on the line and she took a deep breath. "You didn't hang up, did you? Because I have a word or two for you if you think you're allowed to lec—"

"Do you know how it got sorted out? Do you know what finally made HuaiSang tell me about them, who made him realize the direction our relationship was going? It was Wei Ying."

"This isn't the same, MingJue."

"Actually, this time, it is the same."

"It's not," she ground out. When he tried to speak again, she hung up.

Her phone shook in her hand. She took a couple of deep breaths and drank some more water.

"Everything alright, boss?" a different line cook called hesitantly. She nodded and stood.

"Yeah." She dropped her phone in her pocket again, ignoring its single vibration. "Here, hand me that pot, let me help…"

— —

She knew she had to talk to them about it. She knew nothing was getting better by not answering ZiXuan's calls. She just didn't know what she was supposed to say.

'Break up? Now?'

Not exactly inspired.

The anxiety was only mounting. On her day off, all she could do was lie in her bed and watch people make desserts on instragram. If she saw posts from people she knew, she might die.

Her phone screen went black while she was watching someone make a clock-shaped dessert. She blinked. Did it die? Then it started vibrating and the caller ID popped up. It was Nie HuaiSang.

She planted her face in her pillow and groaned. Did she have to answer? She didn't have to answer did she? The vibrations stopped and she breathed slowly. When they started again, she pushed herself up and answered.

"Hello?" she chimed, trying to make her voice bright the way she thought it probably usually sounded. Probably.

"Jiejie," HuaiSang's voice came to her sweetly. "It's been so long, oh my god, your voice is a balm to my weary soul."

She couldn't help but smile. "I thought MingJue told you not to call me that," she joked.

"Yeah, well, he's not the boss of you or me." HuaiSang laughed at himself. "I don't think you're up to date at all. Did anyone tell you about Lan Zhan's job? He's had a few interviews at a nursery school, how stupidly adorable is that?"

YanLi chuckled. It was a cute image. "What a way to spend a year off. Playing with babies…"

"Right?? I think he'll be talking down to all his professors like they're 3-year-olds when he goes to law school next year." He sighed. "Wen Ning's going to have to quit almost all of his shelter shifts, though. The next semester looks insane for him…I've been telling him to take the summer really easy, but he doesn't like to sit still."

"It's just his nature," YanLi speculated, pushing out of her bed to go find a glass of water. "If he likes to be busy, it'll be worse for him to spend the summer doing nothing."

"I guess," HuaiSang sighed.

"And don't think you can escape, Nie HuaiSang," YanLi scolded, smirking. "What have you been doing since graduation? No job applications in?"

"Well, not really," HuaiSang drawled. YanLi sipped her water. "I put in a, like, portfolio thing."

"Oh?" That was great! "At a publishing house or something?"

"At a modeling agency." YanLi's eyebrows rose and HuaiSang made a derisive little noise at the other end of the phone. "It's not a big deal, I saw it by chance and threw everything together sort of on a whim. I don't know if they'll even respond. Honestly, I'm enjoying just taking a break, doing things around the house, being here when everyone else comes home." He laughed quietly. "Probably makes me sound lazy."

"Not at all." YanLi made a sympathetic sound. She opened the fridge, browsing for something easy to eat. "Every house needs someone to clean it and warm it, right?"

"I guess. For now, at least, it's okay. Since I have da-ge sending me money at random intervals." He laughed louder at that, then gasped. "Oh, that's right! Jie–uh, YanLi, what's a good day for you for like a family dinner? We want to get everyone's families together. Not your parents," he added quickly.

YanLi chuckled. She balanced her phone on her shoulder and started cutting a cucumber. "You can call me jiejie, HuaiSang," she relented. "But yeah, I understand. That's actually a great idea." She thought about Lan Huan and Wen Qing, who she still hadn't met. It would be really good to meet them. To understand her new extended families more. She grinned. "It's an awesome idea, actually."

HuaiSang laughed a little. "Of course it's a great idea, Wei Ying came up with it."

YanLi paused at that. She placed the knife in the sink and rolled a cucumber slice back and forth across her cutting board. If it was Wei Ying's idea, why didn't he tell her himself?

She knew why. Even as the hurt curled in her chest, it was accompanied by guilt. "Why didn't he tell me?" she couldn't help but ask.

HuaiSang hummed distantly. "Jiejie." He said it so nicely and she just—she missed Wei Ying. "Is there anything you want to talk about? I'll listen."

"Am I being unreasonable?" she immediately blurted. "Am I insane, HuaiSang? I know them. I've known them forever, and I just – they're just – they're not a good match. I don't want them to send each other into spirals, I don't want to see that happen to either of them."

She covered her eyes. "I just don't understand why, I'm not…not trying to be some kind of way, I just…"

She ate a cucumber slice to try and keep herself from getting too worked up. HuaiSang hummed a little.

"I know you care about them, YanLi. You wouldn't be upset if you didn't."

"I do," she whispered. "I love them and I don't want anything bad to blow up in their faces."

"I understand." HuaiSang paused a moment and she ate another cucumber slice. "But you haven't seen them together, have you? They're not the same people they were in high school. They're not even the same people they were six months ago."

But the change would have to be so much. She took a deep breath. She didn't want them to have changed so much without her noticing, either.

"Jiejie." She focused on HuaiSang's voice again. "I just…I know da-ge told you. About all the, y'know, shit with he and I about this. You asked why Wei Ying didn't tell you about our plans himself, and well. This kind of reaction is what terrified me away from telling da-ge. He's afraid of facing it head-on, hopes he can live in ignorance a little longer."

"A-Sang—"

"And," he went on, cutting her off. His voice got really quiet. "I think you're forgetting that ZiXuan isn't only dating Wei Ying."

YanLi let out a breath. "HuaiSang," she whined.

"I like him. We all like him. It would be all of us in a ditch if they fell out with each other over your reaction."

She was pretty sure she was crying now. She ate another cucumber slice miserably.

"Look, YanLi, I know you're going through it. I'm sorry. But you and Wei Ying dancing around each other isn't gonna solve it. It's hurting you guys and it's hurting ZiXuan and it's hurting all of us. I'm sorry for meddling—"

"No, just wait." She ate a few more pieces of cucumber and drank her water, managing to pull herself together. She rubbed her forehead.

"Are you okay?" HuaiSang sounded worried. She was so glad to have him.

"What should I do?" she asked quietly.

HuaiSang was quiet for a second. "I think you just need to see them," he finally said. "Together, just. See for yourself?"

"Dinner, or something?"

"Yeah. Without the rest of us—or, well without all of the rest of us."

"No, I get it." She took a deep breath and ate some more cucumber. "Thanks, A-Sang."

"I'm sorry I can't do more," he said guiltily. "Or, I dunno, give you the answer you want? I don't know what I'm saying. I want us all to be happy."

"I want that too." She shook her head and went back into her bedroom. "Let me find a good day for the family dinner. Around when were you thinking?"

"Welllll, da-ge's got this long annoying conference to prepare for so he's busy until next month, and I don't want to load too much on A-Ning right as the semester is due to start, but I think before the end of September?..."

— —

08/04/2021
Jiang YanLi
A-Ying ❤ I'm sorry I haven't been replying much lately. I'm really sorry.
I miss you. Can we meet up? Get dinner?

Wei Ying
jiejie!! of course, nooo i know you're busy don't worry! i miss you soooo much let's please get dinner omg :) when?

Jiang YanLi
Are you free on Friday?

Wei Ying
ah? are YOU free on friday?
i am!! but i thought you'd be working!

Jiang YanLi
The other chef is in that day! I miss ZiXuan too. Is he free Friday?

Wei Ying
ahhhhhhhhhhh
should be!
you want him to come????

Jiang YanLi
Yes!

Wei Ying
okayy! i'm sure he's free, just tell me where we should meet you! :)
i'm so excited!

Jiang YanLi
:)

— —

Wei Ying braced his hands on the dashboard as the car pulled into the cramped little parking lot. He couldn't stop thinking about his sister's silence in the past weeks. Nothing felt right. He was excited to see her, he missed her so deeply, but it didn't feel. Right.

ZiXuan parked and Wei Ying let out a long breath.

"Are you okay?" ZiXuan asked.

Wei Ying reached blindly in his direction and ZiXuan caught one of his hands, giving it a squeeze. "Hey, look at me."

He could do that. That was easy. He looked over at ZiXuan. "You freaked me out," he accused.

ZiXuan huffed a laugh. "What do you mean?"

"You made me think she'll be mad and now I'm losing my mind."

ZiXuan sighed. "All I did was tell you what she said to me." He leaned towards him. "She invited us here. Maybe the time HuaiSang talked about worked. Somehow."

"I don't want her to be mad at me," Wei Ying stressed for the umpteenth time.

"I know. She's not mad at you. Let's just talk to her, yeah?"

Wei Ying nodded and took a deep breath before flinging himself from the car. ZiXuan followed more slowly. Jiang YanLi was waiting for them just inside the restaurant by the hostess's station. She smiled when her eyes fell on her brother.

"A-Ying!" She held her arms out and he entirely forgot that he'd ever been anxious, wrapping his arms around her and squeezing tight.

"Ah, jiejie," he sighed. "It's been way too long…"

"I know." Her voice was soothing. She rubbed his back and he pressed his face to her shoulder. "Let's catch up. Okay?"

He nodded and pulled back, smiling at her again. She finally turned her attention to ZiXuan. "Hey," she snipped.

"Hey," he cut back. YanLi smiled and turned to ask the staff to please seat them now.

Wei Ying lingered for a half-step to glance back at ZiXuan. He gave him a reassuring smile as they moved through the crowded tables at the restaurant. Once they were seated, Wei Ying leaned across the table. "I can tip her for a better table," he joked with a wink. Jiang YanLi laughed at him again.

"Don't bother. Don't you want witnesses?" She quirked an ominous eyebrow and even though she was joking, Wei Ying felt a sense of foreboding. The anxiety came back and he reached over discreetly to squeeze ZiXuan's thigh to calm himself.

"So what are you thinking?" she asked as she picked up the menu. Wei Ying started panicking. She just wanted to start?? Right away?? He glanced at ZiXuan, who patted his hand reassuringly.

"To eat," he prompted. Wei Ying was an idiot. He chuckled for his sister's sake.

"You're the food expert, jiejie. Tell me what I should eat!"

She hummed dramatically as she flipped the menu page. "I'm not sure what you'll like," she complained.

Wei Ying leaned his chin into one hand, flipping through the menu absently. "You know my taste," he insisted.

He missed the look YanLi shot at the top of his head. ZiXuan didn't.

"Well, all I can see is this chili salad."

"Salad? They can't possibly make salad spicy. Can they? Okay, now I'm actually really intrigued…do you think it's really spicy, jiejie? How would they do it? Okay, I think they got me…"

After a long monologue from Wei Ying about, of all things, salad, ZiXuan waved down the waiter and they placed their orders. YanLi looked at them for a quiet moment. Wei Ying chickened out.

"Did anyone tell you?" he said quickly right as she looked about to speak. "That HuaiSang submitted a portfolio to a modeling agency?"

She raised an eyebrow, the corners of her lips tilting up. "Yes, he told me."

Oh. Wei Ying didn't know HuaiSang had spoken with her. "Well, he got invited in for a test shoot," Wei Ying went on. He was genuinely excited for his boyfriend. He wasn't surprised, of course HuaiSang was bright and alluring and attractive and would make an amazing model. But it was sort of sudden, so it was still really exciting. "Lan Zhan's going to go with him, just to make sure it's not, y'know, sketchy, but he's pretty stoked."

"That's amazing!" YanLi leaned across the table, absolutely beaming. "Has he told MingJue? Oh, he's going to flip. Once he gets over the initial anxiety, that is."

"He doesn't want to tell him until he knows something for certain," ZiXuan told her.

"But I warned him again about keeping secrets," Wei Ying put in, holding up a finger.

YanLi's expression changed a little and she leaned back. Wei Ying was distracted by ZiXuan.

"I'm worried about Lan Zhan going, though."

"Eh?" Wei Ying's eyebrows shot up. "Why?"

"He's going to get recruited," ZiXuan pointed out sardonically.

"What's wrong with that? Don't you want everyone to see how pretty Lan Zhan is?"

"It'll annoy him," ZiXuan sighed. "I just hope if they do mention it, they lay off quickly."

Wei Ying hummed. "That's true…" He looked over at YanLi, to get her opinion, but she was watching them quietly with a thoughtful expression. He paused at that.

YanLi sighed. "Lan Zhan doesn't have time to be a model," she said, her expression brightening again. "Doesn't he have his hands full with a bunch of toddlers?"

Wei Ying laughed, relieved that she had come back to the topic at hand. "He's with the one-year-olds, actually, so they're more like babies."

YanLi's expression softened. "Oh, that's too much," she complained. "Imagine that."

"If I imagine it I'll go insane." ZiXuan shook his head fondly. "Have to pretend I just don't know."

Wei Ying laughed. "Feigned ignorance is feigned bliss."

"What about you, Wei Ying?" YanLi asked, leaning forward. "How's the new job?"

Wei Ying shifted and sighed. "Well. I mean, the place isn't horrible by any means." She nodded at him and he squirmed more. "It's fine for now," he eventually spit out. "I don't think I'll stay very long, but it's good experience, and that'll make it easier to get a loan when I want to open my own home."

"You keep talking about loans," ZiXuan sighed. "You know you won't need one."

Wei Ying tensed up and pouted at ZiXuan. "Stop," he insisted. "You know I won't let you."

"What if Lan Zhan, HuaiSang, and I split it three ways?"

"It's too much," Wei Ying whined, grabbing ZiXuan's knee and imploring him with his eyes. "I can't accept that from you guys."

ZiXuan sighed, but his eyes were understanding. "I know," he said gently. His voice was more placating than accepting, but he patted Wei Ying's hand. "It's alright, I know, I'll stop talking about it."

"Thank you." Wei Ying turned his pout on Jiang YanLi. "It's terrible, jiejie," he complained. "All they do all day long is threaten to give Wen Ning and I money. It's so stressful." ZiXuan smiled and shook his head in the background.

YanLi just looked at him. Her expression was unreadable, blank but thoughtful, contemplating and calculating beneath the calm lake surface.

"What would you do?" she asked.

Wei Ying tilted his head. "What do you mean?"

"Let's say you stay at your current funeral home for a year—two years, even. You have your certification, you have some experience, so you go to the bank with your business plan for five years out. But they reject your loan request."

Wei Ying leaned back, matching her blank but calculating expression. YanLi turned her eyes from Wei Ying to ZiXuan. "What would you do?"

"I would offer him the money to open his home with no need for repayment," ZiXuan said immediately. She knew he would say that. That was the offer Wei Ying was rejecting right now. She looked at her brother again.

"And what would you do?"

Wei Ying took a few slow breaths, watching her. "I would ask a different bank," he said quietly.

"They reject you. They all reject you." She narrowed her eyes at him. "At this point, you've been dating ZiXuan for two, maybe three years. He's living in your house—or, more likely, you're all living in his. He offers you the money for your dream." She pointed at ZiXuan. "That's one of the men you love, and he's offering you the money for your dream business to actually help people, to offer them low-cost grief and mourning options. You wouldn't have to worry about paying the loan back, so you could worry about profits even less. He's offering you the money. What would you do?"

"Jiejie—"

"Do you know how it makes him feel when you reject his help?"

Wei Ying snapped his mouth shut and ZiXuan leaned forward, joining the discussion again. "A-Li, we're not having this conversation now. We're not there yet."

"These are important things to know and understand when you enter a relationship! she insisted. "These are things you need to communicate about!"

"Did it look like we were having any kind of serious discussion about it right now?" ZiXuan asked at the same time that Wei Ying said "Fucking christ, jiejie, we've been dating for three months, do you expect us to be engaged, too?" The waiter came by with their drinks and they all leaned back in their seats, staring silently in different directions. ZiXuan sipped his sparkling water with lemon miserably.

"I've accepted things from people," Wei Ying said, his voice still tinged with anger. "Lan Zhan and HuaiSang are impossible to refuse. And Wen Ning…experiencing the act of giving and having it received has actually taught me a lot about how I should be reacting to people's offers to me. But what you are talking about right now is a hypothetical in an unrealized future for tens of thousands of dollars. It's in its own league for a reason."

"I thought you, of all people, would be able to see the ways that I'm just like that," ZiXuan said, as well. "I can recognize so much of myself in the way my partners interact with me and learn and change and grow through it. I think I might be more like Wei Ying than any of the others."

Wei Ying turned to look at him, his lips parting in some emotion. Jiang YanLi kept her eyes on ZiXuan as he spoke.

"Here's the truth, A-Li," he said, his voice firm. "It's been three months officially—six months since the very start, if we're going to be generous. I've experienced more discomfort and change and growth in those six months than I have in the past, like, six years."

"Discomfort," she scoffed. ZiXuan sighed and shook his head.

"Discomfort is good for you. If you're always comfortable, you'll always stay the same."

YanLi stared into his steady, sure eyes for a moment before moving her gaze to Wei Ying. He looked so much less sure. So much more uncomfortable. But he was still there, and for a reason.

"I don't want you to change," she sobbed, surprising herself. She wasn't aware that she'd started crying. Wei Ying moved instinctively, going around the table to sit beside her and put his arm around her. ZiXuan offered her a napkin and she accepted gratefully.

"A-jie," Wei Ying sighed. His hand rubbed over her shoulder. "I know you know what happens when people don't change."

"I know," she sniffled. She could hear them arguing now, her parents. Unable to grow, unwilling to leave. "But it's different when it's my baby brothers."

"Are you including me as your baby brother?" ZiXuan asked in pale disgust. YanLi chuckled at him.

"Can I tell you the hard thing that you don't want to hear?" Wei Ying asked. YanLi nodded and Wei Ying moved her iced tea closer to her so she could take a sip. "I'm sorry, jiejie. But I want to change. I want to grow. I want to be uncomfortable so I can continue to learn about myself and the people around me. I want to be upset and sad and angry and ashamed because the joy and laughter and love is worth it."

"What if it's too much?" She took a sip of the iced tea and it did help her sort of stop crying. "What if you get so sad you can't take it? Or what if ZiXuan gets so frustrated?"

"I'm not going to lay down and die," Wei Ying said, pronouncing each word clearly. "I'm not afraid to fail because I will not give up. If ZiXuan gets frustrated, that means there's another way to go about it. If Lan Zhan gets overwhelmed, it means we should try something else. If I got so sad I felt like I couldn't take it, there are four wonderful people who are there to help me find joy again. And slowly but surely, I'm getting a little better at accepting even the most outlandish types of help."

YanLi sniffed and wiped at her eyes. She reached over and squeezed Wei Ying's leg and then looked up at ZiXuan who was still leaning towards her. He blinked. "Um. Yeah, me too, I'm not gonna lay down or whatever."

Wei Ying scoffed and rolled his eyes as YanLi laughed a little. ZiXuan smirked at her. "You have to trust us," he told her softly.

That was what it came down to, wasn't it? Could she trust them? Well, up until a month ago, she had. She could do it. She could refuse to let this change that. Her brother and her best friend were trustworthy. After taking another sip of her tea, she nodded. ZiXuan reached across and squeezed her hand.

"Besides," Wei Ying sighed, tightening his arm around her shoulders. "You still have Jiang Cheng, and he's literally never going to change."

Jiang YanLi laughed louder at that and shook her head. "You're right," she chuckled as Wei Ying stood to go back around the table to his seat. "You and your crazy partners can just go ahead with your changing. There's always plenty that stays the same."

Wei Ying smiled at her, his eyes a little red around the edges as well. "Hey, there are parts of me that never change, too, y'know."

"Oh, like what?"

"Like my awesome ideas! You spoke to HuaiSang, right? Well, did he tell you about my idea to get everyone together…"
————

"Oh, god, I thought they were going to provide plates."

Nie HuaiSang lamented this out loud for the umpteenth time as he and Wen Ning carried tableware from Jin ZiXuan's car into the small banquet hall they had rented. To be fair, if they had accepted the food catering option the hall provided, they probably would have provided plates and glasses and chopsticks and the like, but Jiang YanLi had been insistent. She wanted to cook everything. So ZiXuan had had to run out and buy everything, since none of them had tableware enough for twelve people.

"It's alright," Wen Ning assured him as they set the piles down. Wei Ying immediately grabbed a stack of plates and went to Lan Zhan, who was meticulously laying out every dish along the huge rectangular table that took up the room. "It's all been settled now, hasn't it?"

"There's more in the car," HuaiSang stressed, going back for another armful. Wen Ning trailed along behind him. Wei Ying sighed as he helped Lan Zhan line up every piece perfectly on the table.

"It's all worth it," he assured Lan Zhan. "My jiejie's cooking is going to blow Lan Huan's socks off."

"I'm sure," Lan Zhan agreed with a small smile. "He is excited to meet her."

"She's excited to meet him! And Wen Qing. Jiang Cheng probably would have faked sick if he could have."

"He doesn't have to come if he doesn't want to," Lan Zhan sniffed, standing up and surveying their work so far. Wei Ying laughed.

"Are you still mad at him from the lunar new year?"

"I don't like the way he talked to HuaiSang."

"Oh, Lan Zhan, they're old friends, if it doesn't bother HuaiSang, don't let it bother you."

"She's here!" HuaiSang announced as he and Wen Ning hurried in with the last of the utensils. Lan Zhan hurried to finish setting the table as Wei Ying and Wen Ning went to the front of the building to try to help.

"A-Ying!" Jiang YanLi crowed when she saw him. She was wearing such a beautiful floral chiffon thing in pinks and teals. She looked like a dream. Wei Ying gave her a quick, tight hug and then Wen Ning did the same. Jiang Cheng got a punch to the shoulder.

"You're treating this like a wedding," Jiang Cheng pointed out, seeming uneasy. Wei Ying chuckled at him.

"It's not a wedding. Everyone's siblings want to meet and nobody's house is big enough."

"I sent the van separately," YanLi was saying to Wen Ning, gazing across the parking lot. "Yes, there they are! Thank you for offering to help."

"It's no problem," Wen Ning told her brightly.

Wei Ying's phone started vibrating. He pulled it out, glanced at the name, and answered. "Yes, da-ge?"

"My little shit of a brother isn't answering," Nie MingJue's gruff voice came over the phone. "Is ZiXuan going to get me from the train station or should I grab a taxi?"

"Ah, he hasn't left yet, but he can be there in ten minutes!" Wei Ying started jogging back into the building. MingJue scoffed on the other end.

"Don't bother, I'll just take a cab."

"Sorry." Wei Ying cringed. "There was an emergency, he was indisposed."

"I was what?" ZiXuan asked, wiping excess water off of his hands as he came out of the bathroom. Then he smacked himself on the forehead. "Fuck, Nie MingJue!" he whispered.

"Alright, yes I'll send you a pin," Wei Ying was saying on the phone, waving at ZiXuan to calm down. "Okay, see you soon!" He hung up and immediately sent MingJue the location of the event hall. "It's fine, he's not mad."

"Does YanLi need help with the food?" ZiXuan didn't wait for an answer, going outside to greet his friend and help carry serving trays as Wen Ning made his way inside, already holding one. Wei Ying helped coordinate, translating Lan Zhan's more vague directions on where to place things on the table into concrete instructions. The catering team YanLi had borrowed from the restaurant was very helpful, but they left as soon as everything was out of the van. Then people began to arrive.

Nie MingJue showed up first and caught up with YanLi and ZiXuan, chatting business and acquaintances with the two of them. Wen Qing showed up next, which stopped basically all conversation in the room. It didn't help that she entered the room already frowning at everyone and everything.

"A-jie!" Wen Ning called, jogging to the door to meet her. Her expression softened as she greeted him and he whisked her further into the room, bringing her to meet Jiang YanLi, Jiang Cheng, Nie MingJue, and, notably, Jin ZiXuan. To Wen Ning's great relief, she didn't seem to hate ZiXuan right off the bat.

"A doctor, HuaiSang tells me," MingJue said right away. "I'm interested in hearing more about that."

YanLi sighed and rolled her eyes. "You only ever want to talk about work. You meet someone new, and you immediately bring up work."

"Yeah, can't we talk about drugs first?" Wen Qing deadpanned at the floor. That made Jiang YanLi laugh so hard she nearly knocked Wen Qing down in her fit. Before much else could go wrong, Lan Huan arrived.

The room seemed to get even more quiet than it had last time. Lan Huan stuck his head in at first, which sucked the sound out, and then carefully stepped into the still room, a friendly sort of smile carved onto his face as if it were stone. Lan Zhan squeezed any part of whichever boyfriend was closest before he approached his brother, who watched him with wide, anxious eyes above his creepy smile. Lan Zhan drew close and then stopped, bowing his head a bit.

"Gege," he said softly. Lan Huan's entire expression changed, became human all at once, and he let out a sigh and patted Lan Zhan's shoulders.

"Good to see you," he said emphatically. He glanced around and his eyes landed on the other group of siblings. "Please introduce me to your partners' families!"

Lan Zhan brought his brother over and made some very formal introductions before Jiang YanLi took over the socialization aspect. Wei Ying stood across the room with Wen Ning, ZiXuan, and HuaiSang, and they all watched as Lan Huan made himself a member of the group. HuaiSang chuckled.

"Da-ge is wishing Lan Huan wasn't my partner's brother right now," he muttered to the others. Wei Ying raised an eyebrow and watched Nie MingJue listen to whatever Lan Huan was saying.

"He's just looking at him."

"No, he's staring at him." HuaiSang shook his head with a sigh. "He'll get over it."

Another head poked in the open doors of the small banquet hall and Jin ZiXuan did a double take. "No fucking way."

The others all looked at the door and Wen Ning lit up. "MianMian!"

She was frozen in the doorway, staring at Jin ZiXuan. "No fucking way," they heard her say.

Wei Ying looked at ZiXuan and raised an eyebrow. "Is this an ex?"

"Ex-cousin, more like," ZiXuan scoffed, speedwalking to the door with Wen Ning on his heels. He couldn't help the grin that was spreading on his face. "Holy shit!"

"Holy shit!" She took two steps back in surprise and looked at Wen Ning accusingly. "You didn't tell me your new guy is Jin fucking ZiXuan!"

Wen Ning looked between the two of them, bewildered. "Sorry?"

MianMian grabbed ZiXuan by the shoulders and pulled him into a hug. "Christ, dude. Is your shit dad still alive?"

"Unfortunately, the maggot still draws breath," he laughed. He pulled back and held her at arm's length, grinning. "God. Come here, come meet everyone!"

"Don't mind if I do!" She looped her arm through Wen Ning's, grinning at him, and went to join what had become one group of the polycule and their families talking and laughing.

Wei Ying wrapped an arm around his sister's shoulders and looked around their group. "I've never been so happy in my life," he whispered to her.

She laughed and poked him in the side. "I'm glad I can help make you happy."

He sighed. "Well, I'd be happier if we were all eating." He reached over and tapped HuaiSang on the shoulder. "I'm hungry."

"Me too," HuaiSang agreed, then raised his voice. "Why don't we all sit down, let's eat!"

Everyone migrated to the table, selecting seats based on who they most wanted to converse with. MianMian dragged ZiXuan over so the two of them could sit near Jiang YanLi. Wen Qing settled down between Wei Ying and Nie MingJue. Lan Zhan and HuaiSang sat across from Lan Huan and Jiang Cheng. Wen Ning took the open seat at the head of the table by ZiXuan and Nie MingJue. But there was one seat open.

Wei Ying frowned, looking down at the open seat at the other end of the table, and reached across to tap ZiXuan's hand. "Peacock, there's someone missing."

ZiXuan frowned at him and looked around, counting everyone at the table. On his second count, he froze halfway through. Wei Ying leaned towards him. "What? Who's missing?"

ZiXuan sighed deeply. "Su Sh—"

"This place was so hard to find!"

ZiXuan whipped around and Wei Ying half-stood to see over MianMian's head. Su She strode into the room, adjusting the collar of his silver blouse as he made his way towards the group. ZiXuan hurried to stand.

"So glad you could come," he lied flatly. "Please come sit."

"Sorry I'm late," Su She simpered as he took the remaining seat at the end by Jiang Cheng and Lan Zhan. He smiled at Jiang Cheng. "There was crazy traffic on the highway, some kind of car accident."

Jiang Cheng nodded slowly. Jiang YanLi stood and removed the covers from some of the dishes. "Well, let's eat!"

"Did you cook all of this?" MianMian asked, her voice deeply impressed.

"A-Li is a professional chef," ZiXuan informed her. When MianMian looked up at YanLi again, she essentially had hearts in her eyes.

"This looks delicious," Lan Huan said down the table. He and Wen Qing were working together to switch meat dishes out for vegetarian dishes at the Lan end of the table. Wei Ying helped facilitate. Jiang Cheng watched sadly as the braised pork trotter moved to the far end of the table.

"How does the business end of running a practice like that work? The finances of it all?" Nie MingJue was asking Wen Qing. She scoffed.

"I can't even begin to air my grievances…"

Wei Ying scooped some of his sisters soup into his bowl and took a sip, savoring the fresh, full flavor. He met ZiXuan's eye and they smiled at each other.

"I've never been so happy in my life," ZiXuan sighed at him, resting his chin in his hand. Wei Ying thought his face would break from smiling, thought his heart would break from loving. But it wouldn't. It never would.

"Don't worry." He reached across the table and squeezed ZiXuan's hand. "It only gets better from here."

Chapter Text

Wei Ying was never going to let this man go.

"Ah…" Jin ZiXuan's head tilted back and he tightened his arms around Wei Ying's shoulders. Wei Ying had one hand on the back of his bare thigh, the pressure reminding ZiXuan to hold himself up, as his other hand was currently knuckles-deep in his ass with two fingers. Wei Ying closed his eyes and pressed his nose to ZiXuan's neck, taking a deep breath.

ZiXuan shuddered. Wei Ying could feel the muscles in his legs quaking as he drew his fingers out so he could slide them back in solidly. "Ah, hah…did you just smell me?" ZiXuan asked.

"You still have your cologne on," Wei Ying reminded him. He pushed his fingers in carefully, searching, and gently pressed where he knew it would make ZiXuan lose his ever-loving mind. "You smell good."

ZiXuan gasped and pleaded, his voice shaky and his legs worse. Wei Ying groaned and pulled his fingers out, pushing ZiXuan away. ZiXuan grabbed at his shoulders and pouted and Wei Ying laughed at him lowly.

"I want you to lay down, stupid," he teased and ZiXuan calmed, immediately becoming obedient. Wei Ying slithered up the length of him, running his hand up his cock to listen to the way he moaned and relish in his violently possessive hands on him, then propped himself over ZiXuan and dipped his head to kiss his neck and whisper in his ear, telling him about every delectable way he was about to eat him whole. ZiXuan was breathing like a fucking hummingbird. His breath came quick and shallow and loud and he was squirming under Wei Ying and nudging him with his legs and then the front door opened.

Wei Ying paused and lifted his head. They'd left the bedroom door open – less because they necessarily wanted their partners to see them fucking the moment they walked in and more because none of their partners were supposed to come home for like three more hours – so Wei Ying had a straight shot to the door where Lan Zhan had entered. Which meant Lan Zhan also had a straight shot. He met Wei Ying's eyes and slowly stepped out of his shoes.

ZiXuan wiggled. When he spoke, his voice was removed from the previous moment, self-conscious and unsure. "Maybe we should st—"

Wei Ying put a heavy hand on his chest, right near his collarbones, and smiled down at him. "You're not going anywhere," he whispered. ZiXuan's expression glazed over again and he covered Wei Ying's hand with his own. Wei Ying was so excited now. He and Lan Zhan got to double-team ZiXuan.

"Abundance of volunteers," Lan Zhan explained simply as he entered the room. He was already unbuttoning his shirt. "Didn't need me."

Wei Ying looked up and met Lan Zhan's eyes again. "Oh well. We're more fun here anyway."

"Hmm." Lan Zhan's eyes slid to ZiXuan, who swallowed audibly. He turned to finish undressing and Wei Ying kissed ZiXuan at length on the mouth, until his breathing was disrupted again, then he moved his mouth to his ear to tell him all the new ways Lan Zhan was going to help him wreck ZiXuan.

"Did you start already?" Lan Zhan sat on the bed and put his hands under ZiXuan's shoulders. Wei Ying pushed himself up and pulled ZiXuan into his lap. ZiXuan looked over his shoulder at Lan Zhan.

"Of course we started."

"Really?" Lan Zhan's hand slid over the curve of ZiXuan's ass and Wei Ying tightened his hands on ZiXuan's hips as the other man groaned. Lan Zhan hummed. "You did." He smoothed his free hand down ZiXuan's spine and then carefully moved his hair over his shoulder, all while carefully massaging ZiXuan's prostate and making him shake and tear up.

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying scolded. Lan Zhan removed his hand and gave Wei Ying an innocent look. "We just started, don't get him too worked up."

"I think I'm going to die," ZiXuan was gasping. His hips rolled and when his cock slid against Wei Ying's he moaned again. "Please get me worked up."

Wei Ying laughed at him and kissed his face. "We'll take our time."

"Scoot back," Lan Zhan instructed as he stood to retrieve extra items from the bottom drawer of the night stand on Wen Ning's usual side of the bed. Wei Ying helped ZiXuan shift over to lay on the bed properly and traced his fingers down his body. He thrust his own cock against the side of ZiXuan's hip as he lazily took the other man's dick in his hand and stroked up.

"Wei Ying," ZiXuan panted. His fingers shook and struggled for purchase anywhere—his nails scratched at Wei Ying's shoulder and one hand got caught and twisted in the sheets. Wei Ying chuckled at him and kissed the side of his face, moving to lick behind his ear.

"You said I couldn't make him come, but now what are you doing?"

"I'm just keeping him warm and ready," Wei Ying replied to Lan Zhan easily. In ZiXuan's ear, he breathed "Isn't that right?"

"Yes," ZiXuan gasped. "Oh my god…" He managed to focus his gaze on Lan Zhan. "But I want both of you."

He flushed immediately after saying it, but Wei Ying grinned. ZiXuan hadn't done it with more than one person that many times. It was fun to watch him become a little less embarrassed, a little bolder each time.

"You are so fucking sexy," Wei Ying muttered, not really to ZiXuan just kind of out loud, and hooked his arm under one of his thighs to pull his leg up and over, exposing him rather thoroughly. ZiXuan made a surprised sound and wrapped an arm around Wei Ying's shoulders, his other hand flitting as if to cover his junk, but Lan Zhan was already there.

"I feel like it's been a long time," Lan Zhan said quietly. He smoothed the palm of his hand over the length of ZiXuan's cock.

"Like a week?" ZiXuan said uncertainly. His hand had gone up to cover his face a bit, which Lan Zhan really didn't like. Wei Ying watched him take ZiXuan's wrist and firmly pull it away from his face.

"Wei Ying, don't let him hide."

"Wouldn't dream of it." Wei Ying kissed ZiXuan on the cheek and watched from the corner of his eye as Lan Zhan went down on him. ZiXuan's breathing spiked immediately. Wei Ying adjusted his hold on ZiXuan's thigh without letting go.

"Are you embarrassed to look?" Wei Ying murmured to him. ZiXuan had his eyes squeezed shut and his face turned away a bit.

"Mind your business," ZiXuan bit back halfheartedly, but as soon as he'd opened his mouth the floodgates were opened as well. "Ah, Lan Zhan, that's – if you –"

He cut off on a groan, turning his head away more, and Wei Ying took his chin in his free hand to turn his face back, kissing him hotly for a few moments. When he drew back, it was to torment ZiXuan more.

"Don't you want to see how he looks?" Wei Ying let his free hand stroke over Lan Zhan's head where he still toiled at ZiXuan's cock.

"I want you to keep kissing me," ZiXuan slurred, then moaned and rolled his hips before he could do or say anything else.

Lan Zhan's hands held ZiXuan's hips down as he held him all the way in his mouth and throat, working the muscles of his throat in a way Wei Ying could almost feel himself and ZiXuan was shuddering and panting and Wei Ying grabbed his face and kissed him again, indelicate and haphazard and then – and then – the front door opened.

Wei Ying heard it but it took him a moment to process it and stop kissing ZiXuan, his heart thumping in his throat as he looked up. Again, it was a straight shot. HuaiSang and Wen Ning were staring back at him. Well – HuaiSang was staring at Lan Zhan as he pulled off of ZiXuan's cock and wiped his mouth with his hand.

ZiXuan groaned for different reasons and clapped both hands over his face. "Why didn't you shut the door?"

Wei Ying was a little busy. He caught HuaiSang's eye and quirked an eyebrow, taking ZiXuan's wet cock in his hand. He pointed it in HuaiSang's direction and gave it a stroke.

HuaiSang fell over trying to step out of his shoes. "I'm on my way," he gasped, failing to even take off his coat without getting tangled in it.

"Wei Ying," ZiXuan complained from near his ear, shifting and swatting his hand off his dick. Wen Ning, too, had caught HuaiSang and tried to both help him out of his clothes and also calm him.

"Do you want us to stay?" Wen Ning called down the hall to them, his voice unsure. Wei Ying glanced at ZiXuan, who had curled against his side a bit. Lan Zhan held up a finger to Wen Ning and HuaiSang and the two hovered just inside the apartment, waiting. Lan Zhan went and closed the door to the bedroom a bit.

"ZiXuan?" Wei Ying asked very quietly. "Do you want them to leave again?"

He would understand if the answer was "yes." Having sex with 5 people was…well, Wei Ying had only ever gone as high as 4, and it was tiring and daunting, not to mention the vulnerability. He knew ZiXuan had slept with all of them before and had been in threesomes with various combinations, but he wanted to make sure he was ready for like. All That. And if he wasn't, he would understand.

ZiXuan gripped Wei Ying's shoulders. "I'm going to come," he breathed, so quietly only the man he was clutching could hear him. His hips rolled desperately in Wei Ying's direction. "I-I can't stop it, and then I won't b-be any fun…"

Wei Ying let out a breathy laugh. "Oh my god, you are so sexy," he whispered. "Okay, let's think. Cockring?"

ZiXuan shuddered. "I'll come anyway."

"Breather moment?"

He whined, but. "Maybe."

Wei Ying ran his fingers through ZiXuan's hair. "Have you ever come twice? In a go?" he asked, quieter than every question before it.

ZiXuan's breath hitched and caught. "You want to kill me?"

Wei Ying took his face in his hands and kissed it all over. "I want to give you pleasure you can't imagine," he told him. "I want to see you blown apart and satisfied and enjoying yourself. I want to make you a little insane. But I do not want to kill you."

ZiXuan took a few deep breaths and opened his eyes. "Have them come in," he said to Lan Zhan. "Give me like five minutes," he requested of Wei Ying.

Lan Zhan opened the door and nodded at the other two and HuaiSang immediately barrelled in. "I can't believe our luck," HuaiSang crowed, beelining for the bed while shimmying out of most of his clothes. "I was pretty upset they were at capacity for the night exhibit, but this makes up for it!"

"It's too bad about the exhibit," ZiXuan said to him, still sounding winded. Wei Ying helped HuaiSang out of the last of his clothes.

"We should have bought tickets in advance," HuaiSang sighed regretfully. He smiled at ZiXuan. "Guess fate had a different plan for tonight."

Wei Ying glanced over at Wen Ning and Lan Zhan, who were basically all over each other while also trying to go through the things in The Drawer and select what might be useful to put in arm's reach. Lan Zhan was having a hard time keeping his hands to himself, though, and Wen Ning was by no means discouraging as he abandoned The Drawer entirely to place himself in Lan Zhan's lap and make out with him in a manner that could only be described as wanton and vulgar.

Wei Ying stretched out on his stomach at the foot of the bed, kicking his legs in the air behind him. "Don't forget to grab the bullet," he reminded them. "It's someone's favorite."

Wen Ning tried to disengage so he could grab Wei Ying and give him a piece of his mind – with tongue – but Lan Zhan refused to let his attention wander and the two of them fell over, still caught up as Wen Ning pinned Lan Zhan to the floor and ground against Lan Zhan's bare cock through his boxers. Wei Ying sighed and stood.

"What are they doing?" HuaiSang asked from where he and ZiXuan were still sitting naked talking about the museum exhibit.

"They're ignoring us!" Wei Ying went into the drawer and grabbed the extra things he personally wanted to have around, and turned to HuaiSang and ZiXuan with a little smirk. "I guess it's my night to top, after all."

ZiXuan swallowed hard and his eyes went to Wei Ying's half-hard cock. The want was clear in his eyes, which made sense, considering that was where he and Wei Ying had started the night off from in the beginning anyway. HuaiSang just shifted to push his ass into the air, giving Wei Ying his best patheticcore eyes. "Really?"

"Don't look at me like that, HuaiSang, someone's gotta do it and I'm clearly the only interested person and certainly the most qualified–"

He cut himself off as a hand at his waist and a hand on his shoulder bent him double, pressing his face and shoulders into the mattress. He bit his lip on a grin as calm breath tickled his ear.

"Is that what you think?"

"Lan Zhan you're so – cock." Wei Ying's mind went blank for a moment as Lan Zhan's cock pressed against his ass. He heard HuaiSang snickering at him and didn't care. Lan Zhan's hand moved from his waist to his hip and the grip on his shoulder tightened.

"Do you still want to top?" he asked in Wei Ying's ear. Wei Ying squirmed.

"Maybe – someone."

"Do you have the stamina?" A hand gripped his cock and Wei Ying's breath caught.

"Lan Zhan," he begged immediately, forcing his face up so he could breathe. He ended up just crying out next as Lan Zhan pumped his cock hard and quick several times.

"Don't have fun by yourself," Wen Ning admonished them. There was the distinct sound of hand-slapping-ass and then Lan Zhan let Wei Ying go, sufficiently distracted. Wei Ying took a moment to collect himself before handing Wen Ning his choices from The Drawer. HuaiSang was still laughing at him, but he gestured him over to join him and ZiXuan. Wei Ying hadn't given up on fucking ZiXuan yet, so when he got over there he settled behind him and perched his chin on his shoulder.

"Fine," HuaiSang scoffed. "Ignore me."

"I'm not ignoring you." Wei Ying rolled his eyes and slid his hands around ZiXuan's waist. "You could always come over here, you know."

ZiXuan held a hand out in invitation and HuaiSang complied, moving over to kneel between ZiXuan's thighs. Wei Ying pressed a kiss to the side of ZiXuan's neck and let his hands continue to wander his body, drifting up to feel his chest and brush at his nipples.

ZiXuan was talking quietly with HuaiSang, who seemed to have only just noticed how far gone the other man already was. "Have you been holding back this whole time?" Wei Ying heard HuaiSang ask. His voice was definitely mildly impressed.

Wei Ying moved his hands back down to ZiXuan's waist and kneaded at the soft skin there. ZiXuan gave a little shiver and made a noise that was certainly over the top for what he was doing. "HuaiSang," ZiXuan complained. "I'm seriously going to come…"

Ah, that made more sense. Wei Ying opened his eyes to peer over ZiXuan's shoulder and carefully whacked HuaiSang's hands away from his dick. ZiXuan relaxed back into Wei Ying, but HuaiSang pouted.

"Leave him alone," Wei Ying told him sagely.

"You're basically edging him, the poor guy."

"You're edging him, so insistent on touching him." Wei Ying lifted one of his hands to card it through ZiXuan's hair. "I'm doing what he asked."

ZiXuan gave HuaiSang a smug little look, almost preening, and Wei Ying huffed a laugh. Just like a peacock. HuaiSang grumbled and reached for ZiXuan's face, kissing the stupid look off of him.

The bed dipped as Wen Ning and Lan Zhan apparently finished Whatever they were doing and decided to come join them. Wei Ying was too busy running his fingers through the short hairs on ZiXuan's stomach and sucking hickies onto his shoulder to look up. He felt a warm body beside him and a hand ran up the length of his spine.

"Lan Zhan…" Wei Ying opened his eyes and peered over ZiXuan's shoulder at HuaiSang, who had stopped eating ZiXuan's face so he could gasp and complain at Lan Zhan behind him. Lan Zhan hummed in acknowledgement as he used his hands, now under HuaiSang's thighs, to position him how he liked. ZiXuan took advantage of the breather to turn, seeking Wei Ying somehow. Wei Ying lifted one hand to his hair again and pressed a kiss to the side of his face as Wen Ning settled in more behind him.

"Do you want this?" Wen Ning asked him, his breath warm against his ear. The cold plastic cap of a bottle pressed against Wei Ying's thigh. He thought through this configuration—Lan Zhan fucking HuaiSang, him fucking ZiXuan, ZiXuan and HuaiSang holding onto each other for emotional support, Wen Ning doing…well, he wasn't sure what Wen Ning's plan was yet, but regardless, it seemed like a pretty good set up to him. He turned to kiss Wen Ning for a few moments before accepting the bottle of lube and turning his attention back to ZiXuan.

Lan Zhan had his fingers in HuaiSang now, which was nothing new for HuaiSang, so he was holding conversation with ZiXuan still. Wei Ying didn't know what about. Wei Ying re-slicked one hand and slid his fingers back into ZiXuan's warm hole. He felt Wen Ning take the lube from where he'd left it by his thigh as ZiXuan quickly worked himself up again.

"Don't put that on yet," Wei Ying heard Lan Zhan say.

"Why not?" Wen Ning asked.

"It doesn't taste good," HuaiSang pointed out. Wei Ying glanced at the open bottle of lube in Wen Ning's hand. His eyes traced up to Wen Ning's raised eyebrow.

"Oh?" He tilted his head at HuaiSang. "Is there someone who intends to taste me?"

"Yes," three voices volunteered, and Wei Ying laughed.

"I wonder who will get the privilege," he mused, wrapping an arm around ZiXuan's waist and holding him close as he ghosted his fingers over his insides. ZiXuan shuddered and Wei Ying took his fingers out of him. "Lie down, I don't want you to fall."

ZiXuan grabbed HuaiSang's shoulders as he reconnected his brain to his legs and shifted around. Wei Ying took the moment to turn to Wen Ning and wrap an arm around his neck to kiss him. His free hand slid up the inside of Wen Ning's thigh and dipped into what everyone there was so thirsty for. Wen Ning huffed a laugh into his mouth. Wei Ying broke the kiss and popped his fingers into his mouth, humming.

"That's not fair," HuaiSang gasped, leaning as far over ZiXuan's body as he could get but held firmly in place by Lan Zhan, who was still working him open by the looks of it. ZiXuan just watched them with a dazed expression, absently twisting his hair around his finger. Wei Ying smiled and leaned down to kiss him, licking into his mouth to impart any remnant of Wen Ning's flavor.

"Come here, HuaiSang, you can do it."

"Lemme go, Lan Zhan."

"No. Wen Ning should come over here."

"Well then at least let me turn over—" Fwump. "There, come here, Wen Ning, bring me a pillow."

"Just, l-let me know if you want me to get off of you—"

"Yes, I want you to get off on me, now come over here."

Wei Ying chuckled and hovered above ZiXuan's mouth. "Did you want to do it?" he whispered.

"Yes," ZiXuan breathed back, his fingers tracing Wei Ying's temples and into his hair. Wei Ying squeezed his thigh and his hip and kissed him again lightly.

"You wanted Wen Ning here?" He lifted his head more and brought his hand up, levitating two fingers about a centimeter from ZiXuan's lips. He felt his soft tongue trace up their length. "Like that," he encouraged breathlessly. They could hear how well things were going with the others, even as absorbed with each other as they were. ZiXuan took Wei Ying's fingers into his mouth and Wei Ying groaned and dipped his head to kiss his collarbones.

"Yes," Wen Ning was gasping behind them. Wei Ying shuddered and ran his free hand down ZiXuan's body, filling his palms with his soft, malleable flesh. He sat up and pulled his fingers from his mouth.

"Oh god," Wen Ning groaned. Wei Ying turned to check on them. Wen Ning was rocking his hips against HuaiSang's face. Lan Zhan had HuaiSang's legs pushed up and his face buried in his ass. Wei Ying's cock throbbed and he ran his hand up ZiXuan's length.

"He's going to come," Wei Ying gasped. ZiXuan pushed himself up to watch.

Wen Ning glanced at the two of them and then quickly turned away, his hair obscuring his face. He moaned and shuddered. "They're—" His hips rolled and he braced an arm against the bed as he groaned and came at length.

"I wish I could do that," ZiXuan breathed. Wei Ying squeezed his cock gently. Lan Zhan removed himself from HuaiSang's asshole and put his dick in his mouth instead. HuaiSang arched his back and grabbed Wen Ning's hips, holding him to his face.

"Stop." Wen Ning shuddered and choked and jerked his hips away from HuaiSang's face. "You're going to kill me…"

HuaiSang let Wen Ning climb shakily off of him and tried to catch his breath, his chest heaving. "You're just so good," he said. Wen Ning leaned down and stuck his tongue in his mouth.

Wei Ying rubbed his hand up and down ZiXuan's cock and turned his attention back to him. ZiXuan shuddered.

"They look busy," Wei Ying said. "Should we fuck?"

"Please," ZiXuan complained, shifting his hips where Wei Ying directed him to. "I've been waiting for you for like an hour."

"Poor peacock."

ZiXuan groaned and rolled his eyes. "Make fun of me later, please." He hitched one of his legs up at Wei Ying's insistence. Wei Ying patted around the bed, looking for the wayward bottle of lube, but stopped when someone's hand grabbed his ass.

"You don't get to play over here by yourselves," Wen Ning's breathless voice informed him. Wei Ying's eyes fell closed as Wen Ning's hand traced around his hip and squeezed him.

"Thank god," he breathed.

"When are you going to fuck me?" ZiXuan groaned, his hands entirely obscuring his face. Wei Ying slipped his fingers back into him absently.

"Sorry, peacock, but when Wen Ning makes you an offer…"

"Fuck," Wen Ning hissed behind him. "Lan Zhan, give me a hand?"

HuaiSang's crescending pleas dipped into a lull as Lan Zhan pulled off of him and clambered onto the bed properly. Wei Ying turned and stifled a laugh at Wen Ning struggling to get his strap on correctly. Wen Ning rolled his eyes and flipped him off.

"Just you wait," he muttered.

"Please, don't threaten me with a good time," Wei Ying simpered, leaning over ZiXuan to expose his ass. They watched as Lan Zhan grabbed Wen Ning by the cock, which even made Wen Ning chuckle, and tightened the hip straps roughly.

"Good?" Lan Zhan asked lowly.

"Do it tighter," Wen Ning breathed, followed by a hasty, "I don't know why I said that, don't do it tighter, I was trying to be sexy."

Wei Ying and ZiXuan chortled into each other's necks as Lan Zhan hummed. "Don't forget." He picked up the bullet vibrator and popped it into his mouth before reaching down to slide it into Wen Ning.

"I want to be by ZiXuan," HuaiSang complained. Lan Zhan turned to him good-naturedly and gathered up his wobbly limbs to take him to lay by ZiXuan.

"Here." Wen Ning gave Wei Ying the controller for the bullet and then spread his ass, one slick finger pressing against him. Wei Ying pushed himself up a little and hummed, shuddering as Wen Ning's finger entered him.

"What do you think?" he asked ZiXuan, laying the bullet controller on his chest. ZiXuan huffed and fumbled with the remote before turning it all the way up. Wen Ning sighed and worked another finger into Wei Ying.

"Right to it?" he chuckled.

"ZiXuan is impatient," Wei Ying crooned.

"Hurry up," ZiXuan whined.

"Turn it down, it's killing the vibe." Wei Ying kissed ZiXuan's face and turned the vibrator to its lowest setting. ZiXuan gripped his shoulders.

"I'm dying," he hissed. He attempted to press his hips up into Wei Ying, who was undulating slightly on Wen Ning's fingers. Wei Ying gripped his hip.

"A little longer." Wen Ning massaged his prostate and he shuddered, struggling to catch a breath. "Baby, peacock," he gasped. "Just a little longer…"

"You're so fucking hot," ZiXuan stressed and Wei Ying laughed at him. HuaiSang's head dropped down beside ZiXuan's on the bed.

"This is better," he said, reaching up for Lan Zhan and filling his arms with him. "Hi, everyone."

"It is better," Wei Ying sighed. Wen Ning slapped his ass lightly and pulled his fingers out.

"You can have this now," he said, tossing the lube up to Wei Ying. He scrambled for it frantically.

"Thank you," he gasped. He couldn't get the cap open because his hands were shaking. "Fuck."

"Let me." Lan Zhan leaned over HuaiSang and ZiXuan and his steady hands covered Wei Ying's, snapping the cap open.

"I love you so much," Wei Ying sighed and Lan Zhan grabbed his jaw and bit his lower lip. Wei Ying shook his head to gain clarity as he lubed up his cock. He straightened fully and adjusted ZiXuan's thighs on either side of him, massaging the remaining lube on his hand over his hole. ZiXuan was whispering something to HuaiSang, their fingers tangled, but he shuddered in anticipation at Wei Ying's touch. HuaiSang's eyes were intent on him even as Lan Zhan followed Wei Ying's lead and lined himself up.

"A-Xuan," Wei Ying breathed. He stretched his fingers up ZiXuan's abdomen, waited until his eyes were on him again. He lifted his hips and hooked one of his legs around his arm as he pushed in. ZiXuan dug the heels of his palms into his eyes.

"Finally," he choked. Wei Ying's legs shook as he tried to move slowly. He paused after a moment, catching his breath, and ZiXuan arched against him in protest. "Wei Yiiiing..."

"Give me a second," Wei Ying panted. His eyes were drawn to HuaiSang, who stretched himself out with a tight inhale as Lan Zhan pressed his way in. Then he looked at ZiXuan beside him.

"ZiXuan's hiding," he tattled. Wei Ying tried to suppress a chuckle as ZiXuan immediately tried to lower his hands but wasn't fast enough. Lan Zhan caught both of his wrists and pulled them above his head. He leaned as close to ZiXuan as he could get.

"Let them see you," he muttered to him.

"I wasn't hiding," he protested weakly. Wei Ying took the opportunity to snap his hips forward and render the whole discussion useless because ZiXuan became quite incapable of speaking.

"What you wanted?" Wei Ying asked as he thrust into ZiXuan repeatedly. ZiXuan's reply wasn't exactly coherent, just an endless little stream of pleas and affirmations. Lan Zhan had let him go, but ZiXuan kept his hands twisted in the sheets above his head, leaving his expressions entirely on display.

"So pretty…" Wen Ning's lips pressed to Wei Ying's shoulder. His fingers traced up Wei Ying's spine and he shuddered, skimming his hand up ZiXuan's sternum to match. His pace slowed, the heat and pressure more than enough to make his mind reel as Wen Ning slipped his fingers inside again. "May I?" he breathed.

"Please…" Wei Ying bent forward over ZiXuan, looking down at him as he exposed himself for Wen Ning. ZiXuan lowered his hands, burying them in Wei Ying's hair as he kissed him the way a man with lingering dental anesthetic would kiss. It was silly.

"Fuck," Wei Ying ground out as Wen Ning's strap entered him. His hips twitched, eliciting responses from both ends. He groaned into ZiXuan's mouth and pressed back onto Wen Ning, causing ZiXuan to mutter in protest and press his hips up after him. Wei Ying shuddered and lifted his head. "J-Just so you know, I'm gonna fucking—"

"No," ZiXuan scolded him.

"Not a chance," Wen Ning agreed, starting a painfully slow rhythm. Wei Ying groaned, his hips moving automatically with Wen Ning's motions and pushing him in and out of ZiXuan.

"Where's that thing?" he wondered, patting around for the remote to the vibrator. He looked up and noticed that HuaiSang had it. He knocked it up a few notches and glanced at Wen Ning curiously.

"Hey." Wei Ying took it from him. "Isn't Lan Zhan fucking you?"

"We're just getting started," HuaiSang sighed with a stretch, acting like what Lan Zhan was doing to him was nothing. "You should focus on your work, A-Ying."

"Yes," ZiXuan agreed. Wei Ying closed his eyes and shuddered, but did begin to move his hips with purpose. It was maddening. First of all, Wen Ning was moving him without his active input, and secondly, ZiXuan was pushing and rolling his hips to get the most out of it, so adding Wei Ying's deliberate fucking just made it all so much more…

"I thought you didn't want me to come," he complained through his teeth as he ground into ZiXuan, making the other man writhe beneath him. Wen Ning took the chance to grind into him, as well, and man that cock was so skillfully crafted, it hit him just so. "I'm going to come," he warned frantically.

"Not yet," Wen Ning insisted, letting up. Wei Ying released a breath he hadn't realized he was holding, opening his eyes to pant down at ZiXuan. The other man looked up at him with wide eyes.

"Oh my god…" ZiXuan's hands traced Wei Ying's shoulders, wound his neck, cradled the back of his head. Wen Ning started moving again, slowly, his hands grasping Wei Ying's soft flesh wherever he could reach him. Wei Ying made a quiet sound and rocked his hips in and out of ZiXuan.

"You're so warm," he whispered. He watched blood pool warm and pink in his lover's cheeks. "You feel amazing."

ZiXuan raised a hand, almost covering his face with it, but caught himself. "Fuck." He pushed his hips onto Wei Ying and bit his lip. "I want more of you."

Wei Ying gripped the sheets and thrust roughly into him without regard for Wen Ning being in his ass. He hissed and winced at the contrarian motions and Wen Ning stopped, smoothing his hands up his sides. "Oh, are you alright?"

"More," ZiXuan begged in his ear. Wei Ying's legs trembled.

"Wen Ning," he requested politely. He kissed ZiXuan's neck and pushed himself up a bit. "Can you take it out?"

Wen Ning complied immediately. "Are you hurt?" he asked again.

"No, no, sunshine." He reached back blindly and Wen Ning caught his hand, giving it a squeeze. "Sorry. I owe ZiXuan."

ZiXuan threw his head back against the sheets as Wei Ying thrust into him relentlessly, folding his legs back to get into him even deeper. He couldn't catch his breath. He couldn't care about that.

"A-Ying," ZiXuan was panting. He was grabbing at HuaiSang with one hand and trying to use the other to avoid sliding across the bed. Wei Ying was trying not to push him, but it was super hard to focus when ZiXuan was holding onto him like that and he was trying so hard to give him what he wanted.

He squeezed his waist and then pulled out. "Turn over," he heaved. ZiXuan's arms and legs trembled incessantly as he tried to get on his hands and knees. Wei Ying's hands shook as well as he guided his hips to help him turn.

"Are you okay?" Wen Ning asked ZiXuan, coming around to sit where he could see him. ZiXuan nodded. Wei Ying wrapped an arm around ZiXuan's waist and pushed back into him.

"Oh my god," Wei Ying gasped.

ZiXuan grabbed at Wen Ning and groaned. "I waited for this…" He used Wen Ning as leverage and pushed back into Wei Ying's thrusts, forcing him deeper. Wei Ying choked and his fingers dented in the skin of his hips.

"Oh, fuck, that's good," Wei Ying babbled.

Wen Ning squeezed ZiXuan's hands. "Come down here, like this…" He helped ZiXuan rest with his shoulders down to the bed and Wei Ying stuttered. ZiXuan moaned as well and arched his back.

"Christ," Wei Ying panted. He slapped his hands all over ZiXuan's body, trying to remember where to put them, and settled with a hand over his lower abdomen, well below his belly button. He braced his other hand on ZiXuan's hip and then gave a few experimental thrusts, changing his angle.

ZiXuan jolted like he was struck by lightning. Wei Ying did it again and he whined. "How are you doing that?"

"Pseudo science." Wei Ying scratched his nails over ZiXuan's skin and ground right into his prostate, making him shake and blubber. His eyes traced up the curve of his spine. "You're so pretty," he breathed and moved his hand under him to stroke his cock.

ZiXuan had a long night, and on top of it all, Wei Ying was pushing him like an elevator door close button. Nobody threw a fit when he came loudly all over the sheets. Actually, ZiXuan threw the fit.

"Why?" he complained as Wei Ying and Wen Ning turned him onto his back. He was still so shaky.

"You deserved a good one," Wei Ying told him, kissing him soundly.

"You waited a long time for it," Wen Ning agreed.

"Now all I can do is watch." ZiXuan pouted at Wei Ying, who shrugged.

"That's up to you, isn't it?" He ran his hand up ZiXuan's cock and was slapped away petulantly.

"Watching is half the fun with so many of us, anyway," Wen Ning imparted to ZiXuan. He smoothed his hair with his hands and traced the lines of his face with his eyes. "Shall I show you something worth seeing?"

ZiXuan got over it pretty quick with the promise of more excitement to come, apparently not considering whatever Lan Zhan and HuaiSang were doing - a little bit of choking, some light brattery - to be fully in the realm of his entertainment tonight. Wei Ying coddled him over to rest against some pillows and was immediately grabbed by Wen Ning when he was done.

"Your turn," his boyfriend chuckled at him. Wei Ying wasn't in the mood to be teased and pushed around, honestly. He shoved Wen Ning onto his back and straddled his hips, relishing the mild surprise Wen Ning wore.

"My turn," Wei Ying simpered. He snatched the bottle of lube from the middle of the bed and doused the strap again before impaling himself on it in one drop.

"Holy shit, Wei Ying."

"Holy shit," Wei Ying gasped, his head falling back. Wen Ning grabbed his shoulders and dragged him down towards him. Wei Ying lifted his hips forward and up off of him before pushing back again. This was such a nice dildo, truly it was like it was made for him. "Where did you buy this?" he asked.

"What?" Wen Ning panted.

"This cock. Fuck…"

"I don't know??" Wen Ning huffed a laugh and pressed their foreheads together. "A-Ying…" He grabbed his hips with both hands and held him in place as he thrust into him. Wei Ying groaned, the air punching from his lungs each time Wen Ning filled him. They both started running low on stamina and stopped to breathe. Wei Ying shuddered.

"What is that?" he asked, his hand fluttering back to the base of the dildo. Wen Ning sighed and squeezed his thigh.

"You can feel that? It's the vibrator." He closed his eyes and let out a long breath, his hips straining. "Gotta be the highest setting."

"Who—" Wei Ying looked around and spotted ZiXuan curled up and watching them with the remote to the bullet vibe in his hand. He blinked at Wei Ying and then twirled his finger in the air to say "Get back to it."

Wei Ying huffed a laugh and looked down at Wen Ning. He braced his hands on his abs and pushed himself up before dropping back down. This was a slower-paced way to do it, but very intense on its own. Wen Ning ran his hands slowly up his body, cupping and squeezing his pecs. Wei Ying felt the muscles of his abdomen tighten under him as he thrust up into his drops.

"Come here." Wen Ning's hands settled on his hips, stilling him at first before lifting him off of him. "Come here," he said again, grabbing Wei Ying and pulling him down.

Wei Ying heard HuaiSang's distinct moans coming out muffled. He spared a glance for Lan Zhan and HuaiSang to see that HuaiSang had his head buried under a pillow, seemingly of his own volition, at first, but now with Lan Zhan's hand in his hair pressing him down. Lan Zhan appeared to be alternating between grinding mercilessly into HuaiSang's hole and fucking into him in short, quick thrusts. His other hand was hidden beneath HuaiSang's body, the muscles in his forearm tight.

Wen Ning drew his attention back by sliding his hands under his hips and lifting them up. Wei Ying dragged his eyes back over to Wen Ning's face, watching as he intently inserted himself back into Wei Ying.

"What would you do if I asked you to go crazy?" he asked. Wen Ning chuckled.

"I would fuck you hard and fast," he replied lowly. He drew his hips out and slammed them back in once to demonstrate, both of them letting out punched breaths. "Every time I do that," Wen Ning went on in a whisper, "it pushes the other end of my cock further into me. The external pressure is great on its own, but internally, it shoves the vibrator deeper inside at just the right angle to hit my g-spot."

He demonstrated this twice more and Wei Ying dug his nails into his arms, panting as he visualized exactly what Wen Ning was describing. Wen Ning paused and took a few deep breaths. "If I play my cards right, I can come again like this."

"Oh, do it," Wei Ying begged. "Go fucking cr—azyyyy…"

Wen Ning didn't need to be told twice, immediately starting a brutal rhythm. He let out a suppressed groan.

"Lan Zhan," Wei Ying heard HuaiSang crying. "Fuck, yes yes yes yes, I'm, yes, here—" He cut off in a guttural "oomph" as he dropped his face back to his pillow and muffled the rest of it.

"That could be you," Wen Ning chuckled roughly between thrusts.

"It's going to be me," Wei Ying panted, his voice high and thin. Wen Ning made a desperate sound deep in his throat and grabbed Wei Ying's cock, stroking him in time with his thrusts. Wei Ying's hands twisted hopelessly in his own hair as he unraveled under Wen Ning. "I'm going to come," he announced breathlessly. He grabbed Wen Ning's shoulder and groaned as he increased the speed of his hand. "Yes—I-I'm…"

His back arched and his mind went blank. Everything was just a pulsating warmth. When he could see and focus and think again, Wen Ning's hand was still stroking him gently and everyone seemed finished, Lan Zhan and HuaiSang huddled together in the background speaking to ZiXuan.

"Wow," he wheezed to Wen Ning, swatting his hand away. Wen Ning let him go and pulled out. Wei Ying sat up, his head spinning, and looked at the mess he'd made. "Crazy."

"You did tell me to go crazy," Wen Ning chuckled, running his hand over his thigh. Wei Ying shook his head a little and reached between Wen Ning's legs. He could feel the vibrator from outside.

"Wen Ning…"

"It's fine," he deflected quickly.

"ZiXuan, give me that." Wei Ying held his hand out for the remote, closing his fingers impatiently a few times. When he had it, he placed it aside and pushed Wen Ning onto his back. "Take this off." He tugged at the straps on his harness.

Wen Ning didn't complain, shimmying out of it in record time and Wei Ying dove between his legs, pressing his thighs open. The loop connected to the bottom of the bullet was still plenty accessible, but Wei Ying pressed his tongue in after it, pushing it further in in the way that Wen Ning had described.

"Fuck," he heard him hiss. Wei Ying adjusted his posture, moving Wen Ning's legs over his shoulders, and lapped his tongue into him slowly, repeatedly pushing against vibrator. Wen Ning's fingers brushed over his hair.

"He just won't stop," HuaiSang sighed from somewhere distant. Wei Ying removed his tongue from Wen Ning and slipped a finger into him instead, pressed alongside the vibrator.

"Nope," he replied, meeting HuaiSang's eyes. "Not until every one of you is satisfied entirely." He hooked his finger in the loop on the bottom of the vibrator and tugged it to a resting tension just barely inside of Wen Ning as he lowered his head to suck on his clit.

"Lan Zhan," Wen Ning complained.

"I haven't done anything," Lan Zhan defended himself, but Wei Ying heard him shifting around all the same. Wen Ning's thighs flexed on Wei Ying's either side and he pushed his fingers back inside of him. Wen Ning rolled his hips down on his fingers.

"Oh, fuck. Christ—" Wen Ning's babbling was cut short, but Wei Ying didn't lift his head to see why. He flicked his tongue over Wen Ning's clit and grabbed his hip with his free hand when he bucked up. Wen Ning's insides clenched around him and he made a muffled sound. Wei Ying glanced up. Wen Ning was getting his face eaten by Lan Zhan.

Wei Ying took his mouth off of Wen Ning briefly, pulled the vibrator out with a shudder from Wen Ning, and went back down again, driving his fingers deeper and pressing upwards.

"Holy…yes, shit, I'm—"

Wen Ning was cut off again as his hips rolled up and Wei Ying hummed, pressing his hips to the bed and giving short, sharp thrusts of his fingers. Wen Ning's hands shoved at his forehead and he pulled off of his clit, taking a deep breath. His fingers curled inside of him and Wen Ning groaned and tried to shift away.

"Let me live," he panted and Wei Ying chuckled, smirking up at him. He pulled his fingers from him, absolutely dripping wet. He stared up at Wen Ning and Wen Ning stared directly up at Lan Zhan and Lan Zhan watched Wei Ying, his hands still massaging Wen Ning's face.

"That was insane," ZiXuan said quietly. HuaiSang "pfft"-ed by his side and Wei Ying straightened up on his knees, stretching his back and running his hands through his hair.

"Are you guys feeling okay?" he asked HuaiSang and ZiXuan as he clambered over to them. They unfolded from each other and HuaiSang slapped onto him like a starfish. Wei Ying shoved some pillows into a pile and settled against them.

"I'm very tired," HuaiSang sighed.

"I'm sticky," ZiXuan complained. He tried to avoid touching any various liquids as he sat close beside Wei Ying.

"You should fix that," Wei Ying laughed. "We should probably all fix that."

"Okay?" Lan Zhan was asking Wen Ning. Wen Ning nodded.

"Help me up."

"Nothing hurts?" Wei Ying asked ZiXuan and HuaiSang. He pressed an absent kiss to HuaiSang's forehead as he watched Lan Zhan lead Wen Ning into the bathroom.

"My pride," ZiXuan groused.

"Lan Zhan pulled my hair too hard," HuaiSang said offhand, rubbing the back of his head. Lan Zhan immediately strode back into the bedroom.

"I'm sorry," he said. He reached across the bed for HuaiSang, tugging on him to summon him closer. "Where?"

"It's okay," HuaiSang assured him, crawling close. Lan Zhan's fingers traced HuaiSang's scalp apologetically. "You didn't make me bald," HuaiSang joked. Lan Zhan kissed his temples.

The shower turned on in the bathroom and Wei Ying sighed. He ran a hand down ZiXuan's side. "It wasn't really the night we'd planned, was it?"

"No," ZiXuan scoffed. He stretched out his legs and let out a deep breath. "No, I'll take a rain check on the night we started earlier."

Wei Ying grinned at the ceiling. "Didn't get enough?"

"You had me waiting for ages…I want you railing me that long, not getting me worked up the whole time."

"Oh, come on, spending a long time getting worked up is fun, too, isn't it?" He rolled his head to the side to look at ZiXuan. He had his eyes closed, as if sleeping.

"Hmm," he hummed. "I still want you to rail me at length."

Wei Ying chuckled and wriggled closer to him, kissing his neck. "Sorry, peacock. Tomorrow, I promise."

"Yuck, get off, I'm all sticky."

"Come here, then." Wei Ying sat up and accepted Wen Ning's outstretched hand. "Let's get everyone cleaned up and get some fresh sheets on here."

"Yes, please," ZiXuan sighed, taking Wen Ning's other hand. He pulled the both of them to their feet and ZiXuan made a beeline for the shower. Wei Ying let Wen Ning go ahead, pausing by Lan Zhan and HuaiSang where they were huddled on the foot of the bed.

"Truly not balding?" Wei Ying chuckled, running his hand through HuaiSang's hair. HuaiSang sighed up at him.

"I've been telling him, but he just won't stop apologizing." Lan Zhan hummed and kissed HuaiSang on the cheek as if to prove him right. Wei Ying shook his head.

"Silly A-Sang. This has nothing to do with ripping your hair out." He patted his cheek. "He's doing this purely because you're so cute."

HuaiSang gave a dramatic little gasp, turning on Lan Zhan in betrayal, but he just kissed him on the forehead and let him go, releasing him to the call of the steam floating out of the bathroom. HuaiSang danced away and Wei Ying looked at Lan Zhan, tracing his fingers up his shoulder.

"What is it?" Lan Zhan asked in that low voice of his. He wrapped a hand around Wei Ying's thigh, apparently immune to touching lube and cum in ways some people were not.

"Nothing." He leaned down to give him a little kiss. "Just. I love you, is all."

Lan Zhan hummed and grabbed the back of his neck, holding him there so he could kiss him a hundred more times before he stood up. "I love you, too," he said as he pulled the sheet free of the corners of their massive bed.

Wei Ying grinned and went to the far end of the bed to help. He could hear HuaiSang giving ZiXuan skincare advice in the bathroom, explaining the effects of whatever he was surely slathering on him in the moment. "Let's get this set up quickly. You have work in the morning, right?"

"As do you," Lan Zhan reminded him. He gave Wei Ying a light smack on the ass as he gathered the sheets from him and Wei Ying chuckled at him as he watched him take the soiled sheets out of the room. He sat on the edge of the bed and fell backwards with a sigh, closing his eyes as he listened to the high-pitched white noise of the water in the shower, to the warm, bright sound of his boyfriends' laughter bouncing off the tiles, to the low rumble of the washing machine filling with water, and to the gentle whir of the fan in the hot, quiet room.