Chapter Text
“I found him!” A-Qing shouts, throwing her arms into the air in a rush of victory.
Mianmian looks up from her chemistry textbook (because she actually studies whenever they get together for a study session, honestly, who even does that) and raises an eyebrow. “Found who?”
“Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend!” It’s frankly a little offensive that Mianmian had to ask. A-Qing has been on a mission for a solid two weeks. It’s like her best friend doesn’t even listen when she talks.
Mianmian rolls her eyes. “We don’t know that he was Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend.”
“He was totally Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend. We are concert buddies with Wei Wuxian’s actual real-life boyfriend, and I finally found him! Look!” She leans across the table and shoves her phone into Mianmian’s face.
“That…could be anyone,” Mianmian says, squinting down at the phone. “You can barely see his face.” She snatches it from A-Qing’s hand to flip through the rest of the pictures on the profile—which A-Qing already knows won’t help, since they’re mostly shots of pretty landscapes and interesting plants and more recently a couple of rabbits. “What makes you think this is him?”
“It’s him. He probably lives in town or nearby, since most of those pictures are from the area, so I’m not accidentally creeping on some random Lan Wangji from the other side of the world. Also, there are a couple shots of buildings from Gusu University, and he definitely seemed like he was college age, right? And that blurry half a face is so obviously him!”
“What, did you, like, reverse image search every picture on this guy’s profile? That’s so creepy, A-Qing.”
“I don’t understand why you’re being so unenthusiastic about this. We could be friends with Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend! Which means we could be friends with Wei Wuxian!”
Mianmian rolls her eyes again and slides A-Qing’s phone back across the table. “Keep telling yourself that.”
A-Qing huffs irritably. Mianmian might be acting all disinterested now, but she’ll see—A-Qing’s hard work is totally going to pay off.
***
Hi! Not to be creepy, but are you the Lan Wangji who had box seats at the Wei Wuxian concert at Caiyi Theater?
Who is this?
Ah, yay! You’re totally him! This is Xiao Qing! You remember me, right? From the box. Mianmian got a great picture of you during the concert, so I’ve been on a mission to find you!
[Photo attached]
This is a very good photo. I appreciate you taking the time to locate me and share it. Please thank Mianmian for me, as well.
Of course!
So listen. I noticed some of your pictures are from Gusu University. Do you go there?
I should probably reiterate that I’m not trying to be creepy. It’s just that they have a great photography program, and Mianmian really wants to go there.
I see. Yes, I am a student at Gusu University.
Awesome! She would love to pick your brain about it, if you’d be willing to meet us for coffee sometime??
I would be happy to answer any questions about Gusu that I can, but I’m not certain I could be much help to her. I don’t know anyone in the photography program.
I mean, there’s lots she’d like to know about the school in general, not just her specific program.
I can’t say I would have much insight into campus culture, either. I attend part-time and I rarely participate in university social events.
Okay, sure, but you’ll still have more insight than me or Mianmian or literally anyone else we know!
And she’s thinking about commuting instead of living in the dorms, so actually it would be really good to hear from a commuter student.
I mean, no pressure, obvs. I’m sure you’re super busy with school and don’t have a ton of free time to answer a prospective student’s dumb questions.
Of course I can make time to help a prospective student. It’s admirable that she wants to research the university thoroughly before deciding whether to attend.
!!!
Thank you!
Mianmian will be so excited!
***
“Can you believe we’re about to get coffee with Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend?”
Mianmian sighs. She really shouldn’t have to say it again, but: “We don’t know that he’s Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend.”
The thing is, if she’s being honest, yeah, she definitely thinks Lan Wangji is Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend. The way Wei Wuxian smiled at him during that meet and greet! The fact that Lan Wangji didn’t react at all when Wei Wuxian leaned into his space, like that was a totally normal thing he does all the time! The way Wei Wuxian pulled Lan Wangji out of the room after he was finished making the rounds of his fans! Totally, definitely dating. But Mianmian is not about to say all that to A-Qing. History has shown that nothing good can come of encouraging her.
“If you don’t think he’s Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend, why didn’t you post the picture of him with the rest of your stuff from the concert, huh?” A-Qing demands.
“It would be, like, a violation of Lan Wangji’s privacy.”
“Right, because he’s Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend and you wouldn’t want to give the internet clues about their relationship!”
“No, because he’s just a person who was in the audience and didn’t sign up to have random strangers posting pictures of him online.” And also maybe what A-Qing said. Lan Wangji’s face is in profile in the picture, and pretty blurry, because the focus is on the stage in the background, where Wei Wuxian is practically smoldering right up at their box seats as he croons into the mic. So like, there’s not much chance anyone would be able to identify Lan Wangji from that shot, but it isn’t entirely outside the realm of possibility that the fandom might latch onto the picture and start debating whether the mystery audience member could be Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend. Neither one of them needs that. If they’ve chosen to keep their relationship private, that’s their business.
A-Qing rolls her eyes. “Sure, fine, keep telling yourself that. You’ll see I’m right soon enough.”
“No! Absolutely not! We are not hassling him about Wei Wuxian! Do not make this weird for me!”
As annoying as it is to be used as A-Qing’s convenient excuse for espionage, Mianmian actually does want to go to Gusu next year, and she does not want A-Qing being a creepy Wei Wuxian fangirl and ruining this opportunity to hear more about student life. Honestly, she never should have agreed to let A-Qing come along even though she was the one who set this up.
“Oh ye of little faith. I’m not gonna make it weird. I’m gonna be so subtle.”
“You’re not going to be anything, because you’re not going to fish for information about any famous friends he— Oh! There he is!”
Lan Wangji is sitting at a table where the coffee shop’s full-length windows open onto the sidewalk, his posture upright and his gaze fixed soulfully on the teacup in his hand. He looks like he should be in an oil painting, an idyllic scene of a quaint village cafe. Mianmian shakes off the urge to snap a picture and steps forward with a bright smile and a wave.
“Lan Wangji!”
He looks up, his eyes flicking back and forth between Mianmian and A-Qing as they join him inside. “Hello. You are…”
“Luo Qingyang, but my friends call me Mianmian,” she says, and then with a wave to her side, “and Xiao Qing.” She slides into one of the chairs across from him, and A-Qing takes the seat next to her. “Thank you so much for agreeing to meet with us! It’s really great to be able to hear from a Gusu student. I have so many questions!”
Lan Wangji nods. “I will answer to the best of my ability.”
Mianmian launches immediately into her questions about Lan Wangji’s program, his thoughts on his professors, what the university does to support its students, what kind of extracurricular programming they offer. After the first couple of questions, A-Qing gets up to order drinks for herself and Mianmian, with a warning not to get to any of the interesting stuff until she’s back. Mianmian glares at her retreating back, because there’s not going to be any interesting stuff as far as she’s concerned. Lan Wangji is a little hard to read, but he doesn’t seem too put off by that remark, at least.
A nervous laugh bubbles out of Mianmian. “Please ignore A-Qing. She hasn’t been properly socialized.”
Lan Wangji hums an inscrutable response. Probably trying to decide if he should just get up and walk out, because it’s so transparent that the girls he met at the Wei Wuxian concert are planning to badger him about his relationship with Wei Wuxian. Seriously, why didn’t Mianmian just insist on coming alone? Bringing A-Qing was a terrible move!
“So!” she says, too loud and not at all the casual, cheerful vibe she was going for. She cringes internally and continues in a more sedate tone, “What about clubs? Are you in any clubs?”
“No. But it’s not for lack of selection. The university offers a wide range of clubs and activities. There are several I would have considered participating in, if I weren’t…” He pauses, a small crease forming in his brow as he seems to reconsider what he was going to say. “I’m too busy to take on any extracurriculars currently.”
Too busy jet-setting around the world to see his super famous boyfriend, maybe?
No. No, Mianmian is not speculating about his personal life. A-Qing is already doing more than enough of that for both of them. She needs to focus! Lan Wangji is still talking, telling her about a handful of clubs he had considered joining—a string quartet, a book club, a hiking club. Apparently just about any special interest under the sun has some sort of community group on campus—and if there isn’t one already, the university provides resources for launching new ones.
“What about queer clubs?” A-Qing is back, and of course she’s found a totally innocuous-seeming way to pry into Lan Wangji’s personal life. She takes her seat and slides an oversized mug of coffee in front of Mianmian. “How’s queer culture on campus?”
“Not that we’re assuming anything,” Mianmian says quickly, smacking A-Qing under the table.
A-Qing swats at Mianmian in return. “I’m not assuming! He’s got a pin.” She waves at the messenger bag hanging from Lan Wangji’s chair.
“Oh. Right.”
Lan Wangji hums a confirmation. “There is a queer students’ center, and a variety of affinity groups and events. The university also has a well-regarded gender and sexuality studies program. I have found it to be a welcoming environment for queer students.”
A-Qing leans forward. “That all sounds great, but what’s the dating scene like? This is very important. We don’t want Mianmian to die sad and alone.”
“You are literally the worst,” Mianmian mutters.
Lan Wangji’s shoulders are pulled back, his posture a little more rigid than before. “I cannot speak to the dating scene.”
“Not interested in undergrads?” A-Qing asks, blatantly ignoring the increased fervor with which Mianmian is whacking at her under the table. “Or just not on the market? Do you already have a boyfriend, Wangji-ge?”
This is definitely making him uncomfortable. Or angry. Mianmian can’t actually tell—his expression is completely blank, but surely that’s not a sign of anything good!
“Romantic relationships have not been my primary focus during my time at Gusu,” he says.
“Of course!” Maybe Mianmian can still salvage this if A-Qing will just stop talking. “You’re focused on your studies. That’s what you’re at Gusu for, after all, right? I totally get that! Anyway! Um. Commuting! You said you commute, right? What’s…um…the parking situation like?”
A-Qing rolls her eyes and leans back in her chair but lets Mianmian retake the reins of the conversation. And mercifully, she doesn’t ask any more inappropriate personal questions, so Lan Wangji seems to relax after a few minutes. Once they get through everything Mianmian wanted to ask, he even says she can reach out to him if she thinks of any more questions about Gusu. (She doesn’t think she imagines the slight emphasis he puts on “about Gusu.”) He follows Mianmian’s photography account so they can stay in touch, and when they part ways, Mianmian has almost forgotten about A-Qing being horribly embarrassing and nosy. Almost.
“My plan’s coming together!” A-Qing crows. “Make sure you think of some more questions over the next few weeks. Not too many, we don’t want to be annoying, but enough to build a rapport, you know?”
Mianmian groans. “Can you not make this so weird? I’m not following some creepy master plan!”
Not that it’s a terrible idea to find some more questions for Lan Wangji. Not for creepy reasons! Just to stay in touch. It’s, like, networking. It’ll be good to already have a friend on campus if she does end up at Gusu next year. No matter who his boyfriend may or may not be.
***
wangji-ge! i got in! 🎉🎉🎉
Congratulations, Mianmian.
I am unsurprised. The quality of the work you post online speaks to your talent and dedication. I’m sure the admissions officers were very impressed with your portfolio.
😊
omg thank you!! that’s like? the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me?
and i want to thank you again for answering all my questions about gusu
i guess i’ll be seeing you around campus in the fall!!
so i’d love to buy you lunch or something to thank you!
No thanks are necessary, but I would be happy to plan a lunch in the fall. I typically enroll in evening classes, but I believe there is one composition course next semester that I will need to take in the afternoons. After fall course registration is complete, we can discuss our schedules.
sounds great!
see you around campus, wangji-ge!
💃
***
They have their first lunch two weeks into the fall semester, after Mianmian’s modern lit seminar and before Lan Wangji’s composition class. It’s nice, and Lan Wangji suggests that they do it again sometime—probably, Mianmian informs A-Qing later, because she proved her ability to make it through a whole meal without asking any weird prying questions about his personal life. They end up making it a semi-regular thing, meeting up for lunch every couple of weeks or so.
A-Qing tags along once in a while, and actually deigns to follow Mianmian’s very stern instructions about not being a creep. She doesn’t even drop any hints or innuendos to try to force a reaction out of Lan Wangji. It’s…a little suspicious, actually. Is this just a sign that she’s planning something? Lying in wait for the perfect moment? Should Mianmian be concerned about her evil machinations?
“Evil machinations? Me?” A-Qing asks when Mianmian confronts her about it.
“Yes, you.” Mianmian levels her with a sharp glare. “I have seen your evil machinations in action before. You can’t be trusted!”
“I can so be trusted! Who’s more trustworthy than me? It’s very hurtful that you’re casting such aspersions on my character, I’ll have you know!”
Mianmian sighs but lets the subject drop when they reach the student center. A-Qing has come all the way to campus to support her, after all, so this isn’t really the ideal time for a lecture. “The gallery space is up—”
“Oh my god!” A-Qing grabs Mianmian by the wrist, pulling her to a stop. “Oh my god, is that…”
Mianmian traces A-Qing’s wide-eyed gaze to see Lan Wangji walking across the student center holding hands with a little kid. They’ve just come through a door that leads to—Mianmian’s eyes flit to the sign over the doorway—the campus daycare? Does Lan Wangji work in the daycare? He’s never mentioned having a job on campus…
A-Qing releases Mianmian’s wrist only to smack her arm excitedly. “Oh my god.”
“Shut up,” Mianmian hisses, smacking A-Qing in return.
“Oh my god!”
Which is when Lan Wangji notices them. His lips part in surprise before his face goes completely blank.
A-Qing whacks Mianmian again, and once again Mianmian reciprocates. Because A-Qing really needs to just be chill about this! It’s probably not anything like she’s thinking. It’s probably just…
Lan Wangji reaches the pair of them and pulls the kid to a halt. The kid frowns up at him. “Baba?”
Oh my god.
“Mianmian. A-Qing,” Lan Wangji says with a curt nod. “Hello.”
“Wangji-ge! Hi!” Mianmian shoots a wide-eyed look at A-Qing, one that she hopes says Be normal! but might be closer to Oooooooh my god oh my god oh my god!!
Lan Wangji has a son. Lan Wangji has a son! Lan Wangji, who is totally definitely Wei Wuxian’s boyfriend, has a son! Which means that Wei Wuxian has a son probably!
“And who’s this little fella?” A-Qing asks, calculating gaze locked on Lan Wangji’s son.
“This is A-Yuan,” Lan Wangji says. He’s more stiff than Mianmian has seen him since their very first coffee shop meetup.
“Are you Baba’s friends?” A-Yuan asks, staring up at Mianmian with wide eyes.
Does he look like Wei Wuxian? Probably if he’s Wei Wuxian’s son, there will be some kind of resemblance, right? But he just looks like a little kid. Mianmian has never been skilled at mapping little kid faces to adult faces. Like, when someone has a baby and people talk about which parent the baby looks like, Mianmian’s main thought is always: That there sure looks like a baby. She doesn’t see it, but that doesn’t mean it’s not there. Right?
“We are!” she says brightly. “Your baba was my very first friend at this school.”
“But for such a good friend,” A-Qing says, “he sure is full of surprises.”
Mianmian elbows A-Qing as subtly as she can—minimize the violence in front of the kid and all that. A-Qing elbows back less subtly, and grins at Lan Wangji with too many teeth. It’s her most unsettling smile.
“Is it your birthday?” A-Yuan asks, drawing Mianmian up short.
“Um…no?”
“When it was bobo’s birthday, we had a surprise party. We weren’t allowed to tell him about it because it was a surprise.”
“Oh, well, I bet he was really happy when you surprised him.”
“He was! Right, Baba?”
“Mn.” Lan Wangji opens his mouth like he’s going to say something more, but then just closes it again, looking down at his son with a small crease between his brows.
“Well, we actually have to run,” Mianmian says, because as much as she’d love to stay here and interrogate Lan Wangji, she is absolutely not doing that—and she’s definitely not letting A-Qing do that. “The photography club has a show upstairs. So. Good seeing you, Wangji-ge! And it was nice meeting you, A-Yuan!”
“So nice,” A-Qing says, still with that feral grin. God, she’d better not be plotting to kidnap Wei Wuxian’s son for ransom—or worse, planning to post about this. She wouldn’t post about this, would she? She’s been so reasonable in not making speculative posts about Wei Wuxian having a boyfriend who she may or may not know personally.
…Maybe Mianmian should confiscate her phone and computer for a while. Just to be safe.
“Mn. Good seeing you,” Lan Wangji says, sounding like he doesn’t think it was good at all.
Mianmian loops her arm through A-Qing’s and yanks her bodily across the student center, only pausing to glance back when they reach the stairs, just in time to see Lan Wangji and A-Yuan disappearing out the door.
“Oh my god,” Mianmian breathes.
“They have a son!” A-Qing hisses.
Mianmian should probably deny it. Should point out that they don’t know anything, that nothing’s confirmed. But she’s well past that point now.
“They have a son!”
***
Hello, Mianmian.
hi, wangji-ge!
It was unexpected running into you on campus today.
I imagine you have questions about why I never mentioned my son.
no, i totally get it! privacy and all that
it was a surprise, for sure. i just had no idea you were a dad! but it’s not like you talk all that much about your personal life
a-yuan is super cute, by the way
Thank you.
This may seem like an odd request.
I do prefer to keep my personal life private.
you writing a novel, wangji-ge? you’ve been typing for ages 😆
but i think i can guess what you’re going to ask
and you don’t have to worry about me and a-qing
🤐
like i said, we totally get it
we won’t go blabbing about a-yuan to anyone
or speculating about anything where anyone might get ideas
if that’s the kind of thing you’re concerned about
Thank you, Mianmian. And my thanks to A-Qing.
I appreciate your discretion.
no problem! that’s what friends are for!
***
“Hurry up, it’s starting!” A-Qing calls, turning the volume up.
“It’s fine,” Mianmian says, even as she bustles back into the living room with a snack-laden tray. “Wei Wuxian’s performance is supposed to be in the back half of the night.” But her eyes are already glued to the TV as she sets the tray on the coffee table and takes her seat.
A-Qing has never really cared about award shows before, and she’s quickly reminded why. They’re just so boring, and there hasn’t been a single sign of Wei Wuxian yet.
“We should have invited Wangji-ge,” she says, flopping back against the arm of the couch. That would have given her something to do while they waited for the performance, at least. Every little reaction from Lan Wangji would be a useful data point. And she is positively desperate for more data points.
A-Qing has been visiting Mianmian on campus more often over the past couple of months, but they haven’t had any more A-Yuan sightings. Lan Wangji has started mentioning him, at least, so that’s something. During the lunches that A-Qing is now consistently horning in on, he talks more about his life outside of school. Not a ton, but more. Unfortunately, the stories he shares are conspicuously lacking any mention of A-Yuan’s other parent. He hasn’t dropped a single clue.
“We are never inviting Wangji-ge to a Wei Wuxian viewing party,” Mianmian says adamantly. “That would be so weird.”
Objectively, she’s probably right. But it would also be fascinating. Although either way, it’s probably a moot point on this particular occasion. “He’s probably in the audience, anyway.” Which, come to think of it, would provide its own very important data point.
“But it ends so late!” Mianmian points out. “He might have had to stay home with A-Yuan.”
“Please. Wei Wuxian can afford to hire a babysitter.”
A-Qing spends the first half of the show hyperfocused on any passing shot of the audience, searching for Lan Wangji, but there’s no sign of him. She’s about ready to lose her mind when at long last Wei Wuxian’s performance is announced. Mianmian squeals and A-Qing sits up straight in her seat.
“Oh my god oh my god oh my god, it’s the new one,” Mianmian says.
She’s right. A-Qing can tell just from the opening notes that this isn’t a song she knows. This is the mythical new song Wei Wuxian introduced during his tour. He hasn’t released a recording of it yet. It exists only in the form of short, low quality clips recorded from the audience and one spectacularly bad cover posted by a tone deaf teenager (who, according to the general consensus in the comments, didn’t even remember the song super well).
Mianmian is on her feet now, in raptures at finally hearing the song in its entirety. And who is A-Qing kidding? She’s in raptures too. She jumps up to dance with Mianmian, and at the end they cheer as loudly as if they were in the audience surrounded by famous actors and musicians who probably don’t even appreciate the experience they were just blessed with.
“Oh my god,” Mianmian says, dropping back onto the couch. “Oh my god, I hope he puts that out soon. I love it!”
“If he’s smart, he’ll drop the track tonight,” A-Qing says. “He built up the anticipation for months and now that the whole world has heard it, he must realize we’ll all need to buy it immediately.”
Mianmian already has her phone in hand. “I don’t see it anywhere yet.”
“Text Wangji-ge. Tell him he needs to get his man to capitalize on this perfect marketing opportunity.”
“What about literally anything that we have ever discussed makes you think I would text Wangji-ge that?”
They bicker amicably until another camera pans the audience, and finally A-Qing catches sight of Wei Wuxian at one of the tables. He must’ve been backstage prepping before the performance, but he has finally joined the audience, and seated beside him is…some guy?
“Who is that?”
The guy has wide eyes and a sweet, innocent face that’s completely at odds with the tattoos crawling up his neck. A-Qing decides immediately that she hates him on Lan Wangji’s behalf.
“I don’t know, I don’t know,” Mianmian murmurs, scrolling frantically on her phone. “There are some posts about it already, just some reactions. Nobody that recognizes him yet.”
Just before the camera pans away again, Wei Wuxian leans in to say something in the random guy’s ear. The guy smiles, small and almost shy. Which is…unacceptable.
“Who. The fuck. Is that,” A-Qing demands.
“Oh my god, did Wei Wuxian break up with Wangji-ge?”
“Did Wei Wuxian leave his fucking family for…for…this tattooed, baby-faced home wrecker?”
“I mean. We really don’t know that A-Yuan is Wei Wuxian’s kid.” Mianmian gnaws her lip. “Maybe Wangji-ge had him before they met.”
“Oh my god, he must be devastated.” A-Qing turns to Mianmian and grabs her arm. “Has he seemed devastated?”
“No. He hasn’t seemed like anything has been bothering him at all. Maybe they didn’t break up? Maybe…maybe he really did just have to stay home with A-Yuan, so Wei Wuxian brought a friend?” There’s a long pause, Mianmian scrolling feverishly on her phone. “The internet sure doesn’t think it’s a friend, though.”
“Well, the internet doesn’t have all the facts! They don’t know about Wangji-ge. So.”
They can’t have broken up. They just can’t have. Not after all the effort A-Qing has put into Operation Befriend Wei Wuxian’s Boyfriend.
Could Wei Wuxian really be dating this guy with his sweet little smile and his neck tattoos? A-Qing hates it. She hates the thought of Wangji-ge sitting at home watching this award show with a broken heart. Wangji-ge raising A-Yuan all alone, because Wei Wuxian dumped him and found someone new.
“Wait,” Mianmian says suddenly. “Wait wait wait. Someone says it’s his producer. Or…the producer of his demo? Look!” She shoves her phone into A-Qing’s face. “Look here, an old social media post from, like, years ago. Before he was famous. It’s him with his manager and that guy!”
“Okay. Okay, so it’s his producer or, whatever, his friend who’s an amateur producer. Somebody who helped him get started. Somebody he’s known for ages, who he might want to bring to his first awards show if his boyfriend couldn’t make it.”
“Right!”
“Just a friend.”
“Totally just a friend.”
So. Crisis averted. Probably.
But maybe they should pay extra close attention next time they have lunch with Wangji-ge. See if he shows any signs of nursing a broken heart. And if he does…
Well. A-Qing will just need to find a new favorite idol. And possibly start plotting a murder. Because fuck that.
***
WWXUpdates: New photos of Wei Wuxian entering the Sunshot Records recording studio! Might there be a new album in the works already? 👀👀👀 [three photos attached]
XianFan: Waitwaitwait hold on a minute! Are we not going to talk about this? [photo attached]
XianFan: I can’t be the only one who clocked his hand in this picture. Is that a WEDDING RING????! [photo attached]
WeiFuren: wait for real? this is devastating news!
LittleBlind: Why are people on here so delusional? Devastating news, really?? Your chances with him are the exact same level of zero now that they were before he got married.
XianFan: His REAL fans are happy for him!
-
M1nsh4n: Does anyone else think it’s super sus that Wei Wuxian got married without telling anyone? Without anyone knowing he was even seeing anyone? #WWXsecretwedding
LittleBlind: Why would it be sus?
M1nsh4n: He’s done so many interviews! He posts every random detail of his life on his socials. If he were in a relationship, don’t you think he’d have mentioned them like ever?
XianFan: OMG you’re right! He CAN’T have been in a relationship this whole time, right? I just checked, he has NEVER mentioned a boyfriend or girlfriend in his posts.
XianFan: Do you think they just met?
XianFan: Do you think it was a whirlwind romance?
XianFan: Do you think it was a SECRET romance?
XianFan: Did they have to elope because their families didn’t approve? #WWXsecretwedding
M1nsh4n: I think he made it up.
M1nsh4n: Or if he did get married, he kept it a secret because there’s something wrong with them.
LittleBlind: Get a hobby
-
XianFan: I don’t know why people have to be so negative all the time. It’s ROMANTIC! #WWXsecretwedding
WeiFuren: do you think it was a fan?
LittleBlind: @WeiFuren Absolutely. Delusional.
-
WWXUpdates: A new post from WWX on all his socials! Our boy really did get married!!
WWXUpdates reposted:
WeiWuxianOfficial: Apparently I have some news I should finally share. Guess who tied the knot? [photo attached]
WeiWuxianOfficial: My husband is a very private person, so I want to thank you all in advance for respecting that.
-
MurderTurtle: Come on, that’s all we get? Where are the pictures of the happy couple???? We want to see the husband! #WWXsecretwedding
M1nsh4n: Seriously, just an artsy shot of their hands and some generic wedding decor? That’s IT????
LittleBlind: You saw what he said. His husband is super private. They don’t owe you anything!
M1nsh4n: Pics or it didn’t happen!
LittleBlind: You saw the pics. He posted pics.
M1nsh4n: He posted a stock photo of two hands with wedding rings next to some roses. This is clearly some kind of publicity stunt. He’s pretending to have a wedding to make headlines.
Sui_bian: Are you hearing yourself? If he wanted to use a fake wedding to make headlines, don’t you think he would have, I don’t know, actually talked about the wedding before he got caught by the paparazzi wearing a ring?
MurderTurtle: I bet the reason for no pictures is that the husband is famous too and isn’t out yet.
LilApple: omg wait! look look look at that hand! I know who the husband is! It’s Chifeng-zun!!!
WeiFuren: no way. that is not nie mingjue’s hand.
LilApple: It is! Look! Same hand! [two photos attached]
MurderTurtle: Those are so not the same hand.
Sui_bian: He said his husband is a private person. Doesn’t that mean probably NOT a celebrity?
LittleBlind: Or that we should all respect their wishes and stop speculating??
Sui_bian: I think the husband is a Sunshot Records exec.
WeiFuren: wait you’re right! THAT’S why they kept it quiet! they didn’t want it to look like wei wuxian slept his way to stardom.
M1nsh4n: You mean they didn’t want everyone to find out that’s exactly what happened. How else would this talentless hack hit the charts out of nowhere?
MurderTurtle: @M1nsh4n delete your account
LittleBlind: @M1nsh4n fuck off no one cares about your shitty opinion
WeiFuren: @M1nsh4n how dare you! wei wuxian is the most talented artist of our generation. show some respect!
LilApple: Guys, don’t feed the trolls. Instead help me think of what I should knit to send him as a wedding present!
***
“Mianmian!”
A-Qing is already shouting as she flings the front door open so hard that it slams against the wall and ricochets back at her. She barely manages to catch it before it smacks her in the face.
“Xiao Qing?” Mianmian’s mom calls from somewhere down the hall. “Everything okay?”
“Everything’s great!” A-Qing shouts, sprinting up the stairs. “Couldn’t be better! Mianmiaaaaaaaan!”
Mianmian is already on her feet, bouncing up and down slightly, when A-Qing bursts into her room. “You saw it?”
“Of course I fucking saw it! What do you think I’m even doing here!” A-Qing grabs Mianmian’s hands and spins her in a circle. “Wei Wuxian and Wangji-ge got married!”
But instead of squealing with the appropriate amount of delight, Mianmian hesitates, her brow furrowing.
“What?” A-Qing demands.
“…What if it’s not Wangji-ge?”
“What? Why wouldn’t it be Wangji-ge? Who else would it be?”
“What if it’s that guy?”
“What guy? Wait…you don’t mean tattoo guy, do you? I thought we agreed that wasn’t a date!”
Mianmian shrugs. “Well, we don’t really know, do we?”
A-Qing drops Mianmian’s hands and flops back onto her bed with a sigh. “Are you trying to ruin my life?”
The thing is, as much as A-Qing hates to admit it, Mianmian is right. Lan Wangji hasn’t given any indication that he’s heartbroken, but he also hasn’t given any indication that he’s been planning a whole-ass wedding, so. Murder plans back on, maybe?
“So maybe we don’t know for sure,” she admits. “But you know what? I think we can finally find out!” She pulls out her phone and scrolls until she finds the picture Wei Wuxian posted of his and his husband’s beringed fingers. It doesn’t take long—the internet is collectively melting down about this; it’s like every other post on her feed at this point. She holds up the photo to Mianmian. “Next time you see Wangji-ge on campus, all you have to do is check his hand. If we’re right—and I just feel it, Mianmian, I am so sure we’re right—then he’ll be wearing this ring.”
“Right,” Mianmian says, pulling the phone from A-Qing’s hand to zoom in on the rings. Her furrowed brow slowly melts into a grin. “Next time I see Wangji-ge, we’ll know.”
***
[photo attached]
wedding ring!!!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Wangji-ge is married to Wei Wuxian!!!!
don’t put that in writing! what if our texts leak?
lol Mianmian be serious
fine yeah okay
but we have to be careful is all
wangji-ge clearly doesn’t want to be in the spotlight. we have to protect him!
Dw I’m totally careful
We’re like seconds away from being friends with Wei Wuxian. I’m not fucking that up for us
and you like wangji-ge and wouldn’t want to hurt him and you want to respect wei wuxian’s publicly stated wishes
Sure that too
yeah that too.
***
“Knock knock,” A-Yuan says, kicking his little feet against the bench and grinning up at Mianmian.
Lan Wangji sighs quietly, the picture of fond exasperation, so it’s a safe bet he’s been deluged with more knock-knock jokes than any adult human should be expected to handle.
“Who’s there?” Mianmian asks.
“An elephant!”
“An elephant who?”
“Nooooo!” A-Yuan shouts, giggling so hard he almost can’t get the words out. “An elephant poo!”
It has no business being as funny as it is, but Mianmian finds herself laughing just as hard as A-Yuan.
Lan Wangji just sighs again and finishes packing up the remains of their lunch.
“That was a good one, kid,” Mianmian says when she’s regained control of herself. “I think you’ve got a promising future as a comedian.”
A-Yuan preens under the praise.
It’s been a few months since Wei Wuxian’s marriage announcement and Mianmian’s subsequent espionage (aka covert snapshot of Lan Wangji’s wedding ring), and Lan Wangji has yet to make any verbal acknowledgment of a husband. It hasn’t slipped her notice, though, that he only brings A-Yuan to campus when Wei Wuxian just so happens to have a public appearance in another city.
Lan Wangji finishes packing up his things, then turns to Mianmian. “Do you mind waiting while I take A-Yuan into the daycare? I’d like another moment of your time.”
“Sure thing!”
Mianmian says her goodbyes to A-Yuan, and waits at their picnic table outside the student center while the other two go inside. She does her best not to jump to wild conclusions about what Lan Wangji might need from her, but she can’t help but wonder if he’s finally going to confide in her about his secret husband. Mianmian has taken great pains not to ask or imply anything over the past several months. She’s very dedicated to proving herself a trustworthy friend who minds her own business. Maybe she’s finally succeeded?
She jumps up from the table when Lan Wangji emerges from the student center. “So what’s up, Wangji-ge?”
“I was wondering whether you and A-Qing have any experience babysitting.”
Mianmian blinks. Babysitting? Not where she thought this was going to go. “Oh! Yeah, I babysat a ton back in high school. And A-Qing has had a bunch of little foster siblings. You need someone to watch A-Yuan sometime?”
“Mn. I have a wedding to attend in a few weeks. Normally my uncle or brother help out, but they’ll also be attending the wedding.”
Mianmian nods, possibly a little too enthusiastically. But this is huge! Babysitting means going to Lan Wangji’s house, the house he shares with his husband, the husband who is totally definitely Wei Wuxian! “Well, no problem! Just send us the details. I’m happy to babysit, and I’m sure A-Qing will be too.”
Lan Wangji nods and adjusts the strap of his messenger bag on his shoulder. He searches Mianmian’s face for a long moment, and then says, “I am trusting you both.”
It’s not a surprise, really, that he’s nervous about leaving A-Yuan with them, since it sounds like it’s his first time getting a babysitter who isn’t family (which also makes sense, what with all the hiding the identity of his husband). “I promise, A-Yuan will be in great hands with us!”
Lan Wangji frowns. “No, I meant— That is, I’m sure you’re both very reliable as babysitters. But also. I am trusting you.” He clears his throat, his posture gone stiff. “With the truth.”
Mianmian’s heart stops. “The…” She swallows. Is he really going to confirm it? For real? “The truth?”
“You’ve never said anything, for which I am grateful. But it’s clear you already know.”
She grabs his arm with both hands. “Already know what, Wangji-ge?”
“My husband—A-Yuan’s other father…” Lan Wangji draws in a long breath and then slowly releases it. “Wei Wuxian.”
Mianmian hears a noise like a teakettle, and it takes her a long, embarrassing moment to realize that it’s coming from her. She releases her hold on Lan Wangji’s arm to clap her hands over her mouth. “Sorry!” she mumbles into her palms. “Sorry. I won’t be weird. It’s just! I knew but I didn’t know, you know? And now I know, and—” Another little squeal escapes her before she can cut it off.
Lan Wangji’s lips have gone a little thin, his shoulders tight.
“Sorry!” she says again before he can express any regrets about finally telling her. “I promise I can be chill about this! I just need a minute to adjust, that’s all. And then I’ll be so chill, you’ll think I’ve never even heard of Wei Wuxian. And A-Qing can be chill too. I mean, her initial reaction will probably be like ten times worse than mine, sorry, but I can tell her so that you don’t have to deal with the fallout, and when we babysit she’ll be totally fine and normal! I mean. As normal as A-Qing ever is. Okay. I’m good. We’re good. Your husband is Wei Wuxian and I am just so chill about it.”
Mercifully, Lan Wangji cuts off her rambling to discuss the logistics of the babysitting gig. He seems to have accepted that, contrary to all available evidence, Mianmian actually can be normal about this.
And she can! She totally will. Just as soon as she’s done freaking out.
Holy shit, she cannot wait to tell A-Qing that they were right and Wei Wuxian is really for real Lan Wangji’s husband.
***
!!!
?
i can’t put it in writing! but !!!!!!!
???
Wait
Does that mean
?!?!
!!!
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
***
They’re in Wei Wuxian’s house. A-Qing can’t believe they’re in Wei Wuxian’s house. Babysitting Wei Wuxian’s son! What the fuck? How is this her life?
Like, she’s been angling for this for literal months. Cheerleading Mianmian’s friendship with Wangji-ge and crashing their lunches whenever she could. Lying in wait for the day when they’d be close enough to finally meet his husband. She’s been plotting and scheming and masterminding, but she didn’t really think it was actually going to happen!
But here they are. In Wei Wuxian’s house. And they’ve been here practically all day, playing with A-Yuan and feeding him dinner and putting him to bed, and now they’re just here, free to snoop through Wei Wuxian’s house as they please.
“We are not snooping,” Mianmian says, because she’s the world’s worst spoilsport.
“Just a little snooping!”
“A-Qing! That’s a total violation of privacy! And like… Do you want to get caught being an absolute creep? They’re going to be home any—” She falls silent at the sound of a car door slamming outside. “Is that…? Are they back?”
“Deep breaths,” A-Qing says. Because Mianmian looks like she’s about to start hyperventilating. She always talks like A-Qing is the one who has no chill, but Mianmian has been panicking about this so much harder.
Wei Wuxian had left for the wedding before A-Qing and Mianmian arrived. It turned out it was his sister’s wedding (which, confusing—from profiles she’s read of him, A-Qing definitely thought he was an only child), so he’d gone early to help with everything, and Lan Wangji joined him later. Mianmian said it was probably a good thing they hadn’t met him first thing. It gave them more time to acclimate. To see pictures of him on the walls that were normal family photos instead of glamorous photo shoots, to start imagining him as a person and not an idol. (To take a quick peek in his medicine cabinet, not that A-Qing is going to tell Mianmian about that, but you can learn interesting things about a person from their medicine cabinet.)
The thing is, all that acclimating and imagining Wei Wuxian as a person goes right out the window the second they hear voices outside the front door and a key sliding into the lock. They’re moments away from really for real meeting their idol. And not just at a meet-and-greet as a couple more faces in a sea of fans, but in his house as the babysitters of his kid.
Mianmian grabs A-Qing’s wrist, her whole body gone taut as a bowstring. “Be normal,” she hisses, as if she isn’t the one who’s got A-Qing’s arm in a death grip.
But before A-Qing can throw a quip back at her, the door swings open, and there’s Wei Wuxian, laughing as he leads Lan Wangji inside. “Oh, girls! Hi! We’re home.”
“Hi,” A-Qing says, and she sounds totally normal, thank you very much. Mianmian’s the one who’s just standing there like a deer in headlights.
“How was A-Yuan today?” Lan Wangji asks. He’s leaning against Wei Wuxian, blinking slowly.
“He was great!” A-Qing says, and gives them a short rundown of the day’s activities, from their spelunking adventure under A-Yuan’s bed to his finger-painting masterpiece. “He said it’s a picture of his gugu’s wedding, but there are a surprising number of dinosaurs in attendance.”
Wei Wuxian laughs. A-Qing made him laugh! (Well, okay, A-Yuan made him laugh. But still! A-Qing relayed the story that made Wei Wuxian laugh!) “He’ll be so disappointed when he sees the pictures and finds out there wasn’t a single dinosaur. Just a bunch of humans and one lousy peacock.”
“Be nice,” Lan Wangji murmurs. “He’s your brother-in-law now.”
A-Qing shoots a look at Mianmian. She can’t believe they’re getting inside scoop on Wei Wuxian’s family drama. This is amazing!
Lan Wangji straightens up from where he’s leaning against his husband’s shoulder. “Let me just look in on A-Yuan, and then I’ll drive you home.”
“Lan Zhan, ah, Lan Zhan, look at you.” Wei Wuxian shakes his head, eyeing Lan Wangji with a crooked grin. “You’re dead on your feet. You go on up to bed. I’ll give the girls a ride.”
Mianmian’s death grip on A-Qing’s wrist somehow gets even tighter.
Lan Wangji turns to Wei Wuxian and slow blinks at him twice, then dips his head in a single nod. “Mn.”
And just like that, they accept their payment and say their goodbyes to Lan Wangji, and then find themselves in the back seat of Wei Wuxian’s car, because he’s driving them home himself, not sending them off with his personal driver or even calling them a rideshare. Wei Wuxian—world-famous superstar Wei Wuxian!—is driving the babysitters home like some kind of regular suburban dad.
There’s an awkward stretch where the only sound is the radio, turned to a classical station. (Which isn’t what A-Qing would have expected of Wei Wuxian’s music tastes, if she’s being honest. But then, maybe it’s like a defense mechanism, the only way to avoid his own songs always popping up unexpectedly.) Mianmian is wide-eyed with barely concealed panic, which is rude, because she was supposed to be the normal one so A-Qing could be the freak. But apparently, it falls to A-Qing to not make the world’s weirdest impression on Wei Wuxian.
“We saw your show at Caiyi Theater last year,” she blurts. Was that weird? It was probably weird. Should they be pretending he’s not Wei Wuxian? That they’re not fans? That they’re just babysitters being driven home by a regular suburban dad? Why hadn’t Mianmian thought to make a plan for this?
“I remember,” Wei Wuxian says brightly. “The meet and greet. And I really like that picture you sent Lan Zhan. You’ve got a good eye for concert photography, Mianmian.”
Mianmian squeaks. She looks a little like she’s going to pass out, actually, so maybe A-Qing should steer the conversation away from Wei Wuxian complimenting her photography before her soul leaves her body.
“So what’s the deal with your next album?” A-Qing asks. Mianmian whacks her arm, and for once A-Qing decides to be the bigger person and not whack back.
“There might be something dropping soon.” Wei Wuxian glances in the rearview mirror at her, grinning. “But you didn’t hear it from me.”
Holy shit. Sure, she’s the one who asked, but she wasn’t really prepared for him to just answer. And now what’s she supposed to do? Just be quietly in possession of all this top secret information that she can’t even tell anyone about? First the secret wedding and now a secret album? A-Qing is going to combust.
Since her plan to be cool is already completely out the window, she spends the rest of the ride peppering him with questions about his music and his tour and famous people he’s met at his various appearances, all of which he answers with an air of amused indulgence. She only leaves off when they near Mianmian’s neighborhood. (This would have been an ideal time for Mianmian to chime in, but she still can’t seem to find her tongue, so it falls to A-Qing to give directions.)
When at last he pulls up in front of Mianmian’s house, he turns to look back at them with a warm smile. “Thanks again for watching the radish today. Have a good night, girls!”
A-Qing elbows Mianmian, because seriously, she’s going to regret it forever if she doesn’t manage to say a single word.
Mianmian shoots a panicked look at A-Qing, swallows, and finally opens her mouth. “Thanks for the ride, um, Wei Wuxian. Bye!” She waves awkwardly and climbs out of the car.
A-Qing scoots across the seat after her, but pauses at the door, looking back at Wei Wuxian. “I’m really glad your secret wedding was with Wangji-ge, because if you’d broken his heart, I’d have had to murder you.”
“A-Qing!” Mianmian hisses, reaching for her—to smack her or yank her out of the car, A-Qing doesn’t know, because she slides out on her own before Mianmian gets ahold of her, and shuts the door on the sound of Wei Wuxian’s laughter.
They stand in silence for a long moment, watching Wei Wuxian’s car drive off. And then Mianmian draws in a deep breath. “Oh. My. God.”
A-Qing grins. “I think we’re officially friends with Wei Wuxian.”