Chapter Text
—•—|—𝓘𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓗𝓸𝓶𝓮?—|—•—
Weeks had passed by since the incident with Madam Mo and the Nie Brothers. Madam Mo had called the police to file a report against the two brothers for trespassing and harassment, which led them to be arrested and spent some time behind bars for some time. News about the Nie Brothers being arrested spread fast, causing quite a ruckus amidst the entertainment industry considering Nie Huaisang, being a famous gossip vlogger, and Nie Mingjue, being a famous Chinese classical sword dancer.
Netizens began to spread rumors of how the brothers were caught creeping on young kids at the orphanage to the Nie Brothers selling drugs and soliciting young adults on behalf of their ‘videos’. It was when Jin Guangyao and Jin Zixuan started sending out lawyer letters to the netizens for libel and slander against the brothers did the gossip stop and the true story started to spread. Of how Jin Guangyao’s half brother is trapped in the orphanage and the Nie Brother’s were there to save the day. Of how Mo Xuanyu is being held against his will by his evil aunt that deserved to be burnt at the stake.
Madam Mo had no idea of the growing support Mo Xuanyu had been getting on the world wide web. She thought that it was the last she would have seen of the Nie Brothers and had punished Mo Xuanyu to her heart’s content. She had him clean the entire orphanage up with no help, barely given him anything much to eat, and also stopped giving him any allowances for school. Mo Xuanyu silently cried himself to sleep every night, his stomach protesting in hunger and pain. He noticed that he’s been getting more attention from the other kids at school and the orphanage. They did not hide the fact that they were whispering and staring at him every time he passed by. He thought it was because of the bullies spreading news of how he was caught with two men in his room late at night so he did what he did the best, which is to ignore all of them and just look straight down.
Mo Xuanyu didn’t hear anything from the Nie Brothers after the incident for days. He had thought that they decided it was too much of a hassle to do anything that involved him and so had given up on their quest on whatever it was in the first place.
Which was why he froze in place when both the Jin and Nie Brothers came to the orphanage with a few guards and lawyer letters and proof of ownership that Mo Xuanyu is the rightful owner of both the mansion and orphanage and that Madam Mo was the one trespassing. They sued her and everyone else who was involved with the mistreatment for fraudulent misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation, and also innocent misrepresentation, all of which involved Mo Xuanyu and his assets.
“Is this a joke?!” Madam Mo screamed out loud, “Are you messing with me? Do you have any idea who you’re dealing with?!”
“No, and I don’t care,” Jin Guangyao had uttered while his gaze was locked on to Mo Xuanyu.
“You have no idea what I can do to you,” She sneered at them as she pointed her fingers at them “You will regret it! All because of this little runt?! This useless, unwanted child?!” Madam Mo raised her hand to slap Mo Xuanyu across the face.
Mo Xuanyu flinched back, his eyes closed as he braced himself for the incoming pain. He was so focused on defending himself from the impact that he was not ready for the sudden shout coming from Madam Mo and a loud smack that followed after.
“How dare you?!” Madam Mo yelled before another loud smack rang across the whole area.
Mo Xuanyu was confused. He had heard the smack yet it wasn’t him who was in pain. He opened his eyes slowly to see what had happened to Madam Mo and was shocked to see her on the floor, holding on to her cheeks and was tearing up slightly. It was not Mo Xuanyu that had been slapped. Rather, it was Madam Mo herself that had been slapped across the face by Jin Guangyao. Mo Xuanyu stared at the scene with wide eyes, unable to process the situation that was happening in front of him.
“You raise your hand one more time on my brother and I will make sure your entire descendants will suffer for all eternity and regret having you as their ancestor.” Jin Guangyao gave her the most pleasant smile he could ever give, “I will make sure that you and your son, and everyone who is involved in this… fraud… regret meeting the Jin family.”
“And the Nie family too,” Nie Mingjue added with a smirk. He was feeling a little giddy with excitement at seeing his lover take control of the situation that he was having a hard time holding himself back. Nie Huaisang noticed this and promptly smacked his brother on the back of his head with his fan.
“Control yourself, brother.” Nie Huaisang clicked his tongue.
“Since there will be no one to oversee this place once this is over, we’ll have a Jin representative take charge until further notice. I’ll see you in court. Take them away,” Jin Zixuan gestured and immediately the guards descended upon Madam Mo and the others, dragging them out of the place. Mo Xuanyu stood at the side with his mouth agape in disbelief as they dragged a screaming Madam Mo and her henchmen out.
“You were great, kitten.” Nie Mingjue gave Jin Guangyao two thumbs up, his beaming smile causing his dimples to deepen further.
Jin Guangyao smiled bashfully at his lover, nodding his thanks to him.
“We have someone to take charge of the place for now. The guards are in place as well. If she’s clever, she won’t try to get back into the orphanage and the mansion.” Jin Zixuan sighed out of relief before turning his gaze to Mo Xuanyu. “So this is him, huh?”
Mo Xuanyu turned to see both Jin Zixuan and Jin Guangyao staring at him and he gulped. It didn’t register in his mind that whatever has been happening to him was real up until that moment when he saw Madam Mo be taken away by the guards. What if this was a dream? What if he had fallen and hit his head, and he’s now making up a scenario about his freedom? What if he’s just making a fool out of himself? He widened his eyes in fear when Jin Guangyao took a few steps towards him, smiling.
Jin Guangyao stopped in front of Mo Xuanyu, his smile never fading as he immediately engulfed him into a hug. Mo Xuanyu froze in his arms, not knowing what to do or how to react to such a loving gesture. Jin Guangyao noticed that Mo Xuanyu had stopped breathing and he chuckled to himself.
“Breathe in and out, brother… you’re fine now. We’re here for you.”
Mo Xuanyu broke.
—•—|—𝓘𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓗𝓸𝓶𝓮?—|—•—
Mo Xuanyu stood in front of the double doors of the maisonette, his heart beating wildly in his chest as he hesitated to ring the doorbell to Jin Guangyao’s home. Xueyang stood beside him, eyeing everything around them with distrust.
“Are you sure this is the place?”
“The address they gave me shows that this is the place.” Mo Xuanyu reached into his pockets to pull up the text message Nie Huaisang had given him the night before.
“Such a huge place. Must have a lot of bedrooms inside,” Xueyang turns to Mo Xuanyu, sneering slightly, “They could have given you one room to stay in. You are their half-brother, right?”
“They had to settle some things.” Mo Xuanyu lightly scratches the back of his head.
“I heard,” Xueyang smirked evilly, “News traveled fast. I wish I was there to see it. Would have taken advantage of the situation and beat the hell out of that caretaker of yours. Xingchen and Songlan stopped both me and A-Qing from going over to the orphanage to help you out.”
“And by helping means to create more trouble, you mean?” Mo Xuanyu drawls dryly.
“I have no idea what you mean.” Xueyang ignores his friend to look at the door.
“You and your adopted sister are a menace to the society,” Mo Xuanyu sighed, “I wonder how your fathers can handle the both of you.”
“They don’t,” Xueyang smirked again, “We control them. Now hurry up! Get us in there! I deliberately missed the Awards show just for you, okay? Yiling Patriarch, Hanguang-Jun, and Sandu Shengshou were all nominated and I missed it because of you. Heaven knows why they made the Award show live in the afternoons instead of at night. Go on, ring the bell!”
Mo Xuanyu sighed. He lifted a hand to the doorbell and paused. What if this was a dream? What if this was just a trick? What if—
Xueyang reached over and pressed the doorbell by himself. “Heavens, you’re so slow.”
“Xueyang! I wasn’t ready!” Mo Xuanyu hissed to Xueyang when he heard the doorbell ring from inside the house.
“We’ve been standing here for ages! I’m tired! I’m hungry! I need to sit down before I start killing someone, so shush!” Xueyang hissed back.
The both of them were glaring at each other when the double doors opened up. Nie Huaisang stood at the door, hanging off the sides with a popsicle stick sticking out of his mouth. He eyed both Xueyang and Mo Xuanyu suspiciously before pulling the stick out of his mouth.
“Did I come across a lover’s spat or something?”
“It’s just Xueyang being a menace. Again.” Mo Xuanyu glared harder at his friend.
“No, it’s just Mo Xuanyu working himself up into a hissy fit for nothing.” Xueyang drawled.
“Ah,” Nie Huaisang nodded to himself, “That is a family trait. I can confirm that San-ge and Zi-Xiong are the same.”
“Oh great,” Xueyang says dryly, “Fun for all of us.”
Mo Xuanyu punched his friend on the arm and winced almost immediately afterward. “You’re an ass.”
“And your friend.” Xueyang held up a peace sign in return.
“Alright, come on in. We need help with the setting up.” Nie Huaisang ushered the two boys in and closed the door behind them once they entered the house.
“Setting up?”
“We’re having a gathering, some kind of double celebration dinner with the family.” Nie Huaisang walked further into the house with the two boys trailing behind him, looking around the house in awe. “Initially it was just going to be a family dinner but we just got the news that friends of ours won something and now we’re celebrating it with them.”
“This is a nice house,” Xueyang nodded to himself as he glanced at everything in the house, “Will Mo Xuanyu be staying here?”
“It depends,” Nie Huaisang shrugged.
“On what?”
Nie Huaisang gave a mysterious smile at the boys before turning the corner and pushing a door open. Noise filtered out through the door, and by the sudden smell of delicious food wafting through the air, Mo Xuanyu assumed that it was the kitchen. Familiar and unfamiliar voices float by, the loud boisterous laugh from Nie Mingjue and the soft chastising voice of Jin Guangyao, happy and full of laughter. Mo Xuanyu froze once more.
“Come on,” Nie Huaisang tilted his head towards the door, “They’re waiting for you.”
“He’s having one of those moments,” Xueyang drawled, “Give him some time to restart his engine.”
Nie Huaisang waved his popsicle stick at the passageway, catching the eye of someone inside. “He’s having one of those moments your family gets when they’re about to do something big.”
“Oh!” A voice chirped, promptly followed by the scratching of a chair being pushed away. Footsteps sounded through the doorway and Jin Guangyao appeared, his face lighting up the moment he saw Mo Xuanyu. “A-Yu.”
He proceeded to engulf Mo Xuanyu into his arms, embracing him as tight as he could with his petite proportion.
It had been weeks since they'd last met, Jin Guangyao being very busy with Jin Zixuan, on the legal proceedings in regards to Mo Xuanyu’s case. They won the case and they immediately set about to put everything back in place, all under Mo Xuanyu’s name. Madam Mo and her entourage were given restraining orders and jail term for the many charges that they were inducted under. Madam Mo set out money to bail out both herself and her son but had left A-Tong behind, causing the man to curse the vile woman in any way he could.
Mo Xuanyu pats gingerly on his brother’s back before pulling away. “A-Yu?” He questioned.
“Ah,” Jin Guangyao smiled apologetically, “We were talking about you the other day, Da-ge and I, about what to call you like a nickname and I just blurted out your name as A-Yu. I felt that it fit you so well that I started to call you A-Yu from then on.” Jin Guangyao's smile slid off his face right after he said it, “If you’re uncomfortable with it, I’ll stop. I’ll call you by whatever name you want to be called.”
Mo Xuanyu bit on his lower lips, feeling the prickling heat start at the back of his eyes as he blinked back the oncoming tears he knew that’s about to happen. “No, it’s— it’s fine. I… I like it.” He muttered softly. “I’ve never had a good nickname before.”
“Yeah, most of the time the nicknames he gets from school and orphanage are insults and swear words.” Xueyang added while patting his friend on the back, “Be happy, man. You finally get a good nickname.”
“And who is this?” Jin Guangyao asked.
“My name is Xueyang,” Xueyang folded his arms in front of him, “I’m his best friend, protector, and schoolmate. I used to live in the same orphanage as he did.”
“He’s not right in the head, either.” Mo Xuanyu mumbled.
Xueyang merely grinned at his friend. “Thanks, buddy.”
“It’s not a compliment.”
“I take it as one.” Xueyang winked.
Jin Guangyao nodded to himself as he watched the banter between the two of them, smiling as he did so. “My name is Jin Guangyao. I thank you a lot for being a good friend to A-Yu. I was worried for him when I heard about his situation but hearing that you were there for him gives me a sense of relief.”
Xueyang shrugged, “It’s fine. You can’t help but be protective of this idiot if you had seen him that time I first met him in the orphanage. He was so skinny, glasses big on his face, his clothes three sizes too big, literally hanging off of his body and those eyes,” Xueyang shook his head.
“He came up and yelled at me, saying that he’ll protect me from now onwards,” Mo Xuanyu smiled at Xueyang, “And he did. Until now.”
“That’s good.” Jin Guangyao said with a smile.
“Kitten, what’s taking so long?” Nie Mingjue appeared behind Jin Guangyao with a tea towel in his hands. He saw the two boys standing in the hallway and he brightened. “Oh, you’re here!”
Nie Huaisang did a full-body shiver, “Oh, heavens. Don’t use your nicknames for each other when I’m around, please.”
“Sure, don’t eat the food I made then.” Nie Mingjue gave Nie Huaisang a condescending smile before turning to Mo Xuanyu and Xueyang. “Come on, the others will be here soon.” Nie Mingjue gestured for them to follow him, kissing Jin Guangyao on the cheek before going back into the kitchen. Jin Guangyao shook his head in resigned adoration.
The four of them entered the kitchen and the first thing Mo Xuanyu noticed was that the kitchen and the dining room were connected. There was nothing to separate the two rooms. The second things Mo Xuanyu saw were the plates and bowls of food being brought to the dining table. A feast, one could say, was being laid out in front of him and he couldn’t help but salivate in his mouth a little.
“Wow…” Xueyang said the exact words Mo Xuanyu had been thinking of, “That’s a lot of food.”
“Great, isn’t it? Gege has outdone himself.” Jin Guangyao pats Nie Mingjue on the back as he passes by with food in his hands, making him preen in pride.
Nie Huaisang did another full-body shiver. “Oh heavens, help me.” He walked off, muttering to himself about how he needed bleach to cleanse his brain from unwanted memories. “Er-ge, give me something to do before I spontaneously combust.”
It was then that Mo Xuanyu noticed the other guests milling about the dining room and kitchen. His brother, Jin Zixuan, was there, but a woman was standing in front of him. They looked to be deep in conversation but Mo Xuanyu could see that there was a certain softness in both their eyes when they spoke to each other. Helping Da-ge with the food was a tall, good looking man dressed in gray slacks and a sky blue buttoned shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbow but what attracted Mo Xuanyu to him was the soft smile he gave to Da-ge whilst they chat amongst themselves. He seemed familiar to Mo Xuanyu, a certain flair to him that tickles a part of Mo Xuanyu’s brain.
Just as he was standing there, trying to remember something about the man, he felt something patting him on his thigh. Startled, he looked down to see a small boy in a yellow baby chick onesie, around three or four, smacking him on the thighs with his chubby hands. He was pouting, his huge eyes looking up at Mo Xuanyu as if he had done something to offend the poor kid.
“Y—yes?” Mo Xuanyu asked.
The boy simply lifted his other hand and in its grasp was a lollipop. Mo Xuanyu took the lollipop from him, still confused as to what was happening. The boy harrumphed, looking at the lollipop in Mo Xuanyu’s hands. Mo Xuanyu finally understood what the boy was asking of him.
“You want me to unwrap the lollipop for you?”
The boy nodded, his chubby cheeks full from pouting.
Mo Xuanyu smiled to himself as he unwrapped the wrapper from the lollipop. Mo Xuanyu had seen abandoned and orphaned children come and go to the orphanage, kids ranging from all ages. He remembered two boys that had been adopted by two couples months back, their ages almost the same as the boy standing in front of him. They had spent most of their time at the orphanage hanging around Mo Xuanyu, intrigued by his stories and what he was doing at that moment in time. Are they well, he wondered.
With the wrapper off, Mo Xuanyu gave the candy back to the boy, whose eyes lit up the moment the wrapper was gone. The boy took the lollipop in both his hands and stared at it, his expression that of gleeful awe. He then turned away and toddled off, leaving Mo Xuanyu behind.
Jin Zixuan and the woman had been watching the whole scenario, and when the boy toddled away without saying anything, Jin Zixuan clicked his tongue.
“Jin Rulan, what do you say to Uncle Xuanyu?” Jin Zixuan asked in a firm voice.
The boy frowned to himself before turning to Mo Xuanyu, his lollipop still in both hands. “Dhan kyu.”
“You’re welcome.” Mo Xuanyu smiled wide. The boy nodded, then toddled off again with his chubby legs, as the adults just watched him go.
Jin Zixuan sighed to himself before going over to Mo Xuanyu. “Sorry about that. We’re still teaching him how to say please and thank you.”
“It’s fine,” Mo Xuanyu laughed, “Is that your son?”
“He is A-Xuan’s son when he’s good and my son when he’s misbehaving,” The woman said as she approached the two of them with a smile, “Hello. I am Jiang Yanli, Jin Zixuan’s wife. The boys call me Shijie. If you’d like, you can call me Shijie too.”
“Ah,” Mo Xuanyu nodded… and then frowned. That name sounds familiar, “Jiang Yanli?”
“What do you mean by that? A-Ling is my son when he’s good and then yours when he’s not?” Jin Zixuan turned to his wife.
“Isn’t that what you always tell the others?” Jiang Yanli teased.
“No, I didn’t say that at all.” Jin Zixuan retorts back.
“You did say that, Zi-Xiong. I can confirm that, Shijie.” Nie Huaisang finger gunned Jiang Yanli, who replied with finger guns of her own. “Er-ge, any updates from your husband?”
“There is,” The good looking guy replied, “He sent a text a few minutes ago, saying that they’re on their way back.”
“Aw, he’s married,” Xueyang said, standing by Mo Xuanyu, “He’s good looking.”
Mo Xuanyu nodded, feeling slightly regretful. Why are all the good looking ones taken? He still looks familiar though. Think, Xuanyu, think. While Mo Xuanyu was busy thinking to himself, the good looking man approached him, his soft gentle smile never wavering even once.
“Hello, you must be Mo Xuanyu,” He held his hand out for a shake, “I am Lan Xichen. I’m a family friend to your brother and Da-ge.”
Mo Xuanyu shook his hands, marveling at the fact that the man is even more good looking standing in front of him, “It’s nice to meet you, Mister Lan Xichen.”
Lan Xichen laughed softly, and even that is attractive. “Just call me Er-ge like the rest.” He then turned to Xueyang and held his hand out for a shake as well, “And this is?”
“Xue Chengmei, but you can call me Xueyang.” Xueyang shook Lan Xichen’s hands with respect. Even Mo Xuanyu was confused.
Lan Xichen made a thoughtful look as he nodded, “Xue Chengmei?” He said questionably, “Are you by any chance, related to Xiao Xingchen or Song Zichen?”
Xueyang’s eyes widened, “They’re my fathers. I mean, adopted fathers. How do you know them?”
Lan Xichen smiled knowingly once Xueyang confirmed the identities of both men, “We’re friends, we know each other for quite some time. They were the ones who introduced me and my husband to the orphanage.”
“The orphanage?” Both Xueyang and Mo Xuanyu said in unison, “Why were you there?” Xueyang asked.
Just as Lan Xichen was about to answer, a set of stomping feet running into the kitchen was heard, followed by chattering voices and soft sniffles.
“But he took my candy! He even admitted it!”
“Yes, but he’s still a baby. You shouldn’t have done that. There, there, Jin Ling, have it back.”
“He’s going to be four soon. I wasn’t a baby when I was four.”
“You just turned five a few months ago.”
“Still not a baby!”
Two five-year-old boys in animal onesies, with Jin Ling toddling along in between them, came into view and Mo Xuanyu gasped. The two boys heard the gasp and turned to see who it was, their expressions shifting from curiosity to boyish glee.
“Xuanyu gege!” The boys yelled out as they ran towards Mo Xuanyu and jumped on him.
“Jingyi! Sizhui! What are you guys doing here?” Mo Xuanyu knelt to gather both the boys into his arms. “I missed you two so much!”
“We missed you too!!” Jingyi began jumping on the spot, his excitement growing more and more by the minute, “Papa, you remember, you remember, I told you about my favorite gege who helped me when I fell? This is him! Papa, this is him!” Jingyi told Lan Xichen, his jumping not even slightly affected by it.
Jin Ling saw what Jingyi was doing and did little jumpsies of his own, a few feet away. Jin Zixuan quickly picked the boy up and squeezed him in his arms, blowing raspberries into his stomach and neck, making the toddler squeal in happiness.
“Wow, you boys look good!” Xueyang admitted with a smile of his own, “Xuanyu did wonder about the two of you after the adoption. Your family has been taking good care of you, I see.”
“Yes, I love it!” Jingyi wiggled out of Mo Xuanyu’s grasp and barrelled into Lan Xichen, hugging onto his long legs with a look of contentment on his face, “This is my family! This is my papa and my diēdiē is not here right now because he’s busy with his work but he’ll be here later, right papa?”
Lan Xichen laughed as he ruffled the boy’s hair, “Yes, he will. Their event just ended and he told me that he’s on his way here, together with Sizhui’s parents.”
“You’ll get to see my father and A-diē soon too, Xuanyu gege,” Sizhui told Mo Xuanyu with a smile, “They’re busy with their work but they always try their best to spend time with me.”
“That’s great,” Mo Xuanyu sighed out in relief, “I’m looking forward to it.”
“They are cool! They wear cool clothes. Diēdiē has this purple costume he wears and it’s soooo cool!” Jingyi gushed enthusiastically whilst Mo Xuanyu watched on, confused.
“But, gege,” Sizhui tilted his head, confused, “What are you doing here?”
“Food is ready,” Nie Mingjue called out from the dining table, “We can eat first while we wait for the others. Come, let’s all eat before the food gets cold.”
Mo Xuanyu pats Sizhui on the head, promising to tell him the reason why he’s here later, and together with Xueyang and the others, proceeds to the dining table, where a feast awaits them.
“This is delicious! Thank you for the food, Da-ge,” Mo Xuanyu tilted his head down in respect towards Nie Mingjue, who waved a hand at him while smiling.
“It’s good that you enjoy the food. That is enough for me. People here don’t appreciate my cooking much as you do,” Nie Mingjue gave Nie Huaisang a look before smiling back at Mo Xuanyu, “Eat more, eat more! We need to build your body up so eat more food. Here,” Nie Mingjue took a chicken leg from the plate and put it in Mo Xuanyu’s bowl, “Have that.”
“Hey! I was saving that!” Nie Huaisang said with a pout.
“You’ve had enough chicken legs in your life. You can survive one dinner without chicken legs.” Nie Mingjue retorted.
“It’s okay, Huaisang can have it,” Mo Xuanyu passed the chicken leg to Nie Huaisang’s bowl, “I’m fine with the rest of the food.”
“It’s fine,” Nie Huaisang picked the chicken leg with his chopsticks and attempted to give it back, “You can have it. Otherwise, Da-ge and San-ge will kill me.”
The two of them banter back and forth with the chicken leg in between them only to have it snatched away by Xueyang. “Thank you,” He said and took a big bite out of it.
The rest of the table fell silent as they watched Xueyang munch on the chicken leg, not caring about the stares he got from the others. Lan Xichen raised a hand to his mouth and chuckled gently in it.
“Xiao Xingchen was right,” He shook his head adorably, “You are quite a character.”
“You should see him with A-Qing,” Mo Xuanyu sighed, “They’re the worst when they fight with each other but when they combine forces against something or someone they don’t agree on, it’s pure chaos.”
Lan Xichen nodded in acknowledgment, “I’ve heard of their antics from Songlan. The way they spoke about the adventures the two of them go through shows how much they do care for them.”
Xueyang blushed behind his chicken leg, unsure of how he should respond to that, making Mo Xuanyu laugh at his expression.
“Er-ge,” Jin Guangyao perked up, “Is A-Cheng and the rest reaching anytime soon?”
“Mn, Wanyin said that he’s about five minutes away from here,” Lan Xichen took a glance at his watch and pulled out his phone to text.
“It’s okay, don’t bother him anymore. He’ll be pissed, Er-ge,” Jin Guangyao said.
“How could he be pissed?” Nie Mingjue talked around the chicken in his mouth, “He won Best New Actor and Best Character for that villain role he had. He’ll come back in a whole new different mood.” Nie Mingjue swallowed his food and gave Lan Xichen a saucy look, “Do you want Jingyi to stay with us for tonight, Xichen?”
“It depends,” Lan Xichen smiled sagely, “We’ll see about that later.”
Mo Xuanyu had been munching on his food and nodding along with half his attention on the conversation when he froze. Best New Actor? Best Character? Mo Xuanyu lifted his gaze from the food back to the smiling man. Jin Guangyao and Nie Mingjue are famous for their line of work. Who’s to say that these people are not? Lan Xichen did seem familiar to him, but he’s had trouble remembering who he was… until that name.
“Er-ge, Is A-Cheng and the rest reaching anytime soon?”
“Mn, Wanyin said that he’s about five minutes away from here,”
“A-Cheng… Jiang Cheng? Jiang Wanyin?” He softly mutters to himself.
“Hmm? Did you say something, A-Yu?” Nie Mingjue asked.
“Diēdiē has this purple costume he wears and it’s soooo cool!”
“He won Best New Actor and Best Character for that villain role he had.”
“Jiang Wanyin, Sandu Shengshou… is married to Zewu-jun… real name Lan Xichen… CEO of Gusu Entertainment,” Mo Xuanyu’s eyes widened as he continued to mumble to himself, ignoring the others at the dining table.
“Is he okay?” Nie Huaisang asked.
“I think it just occurred to him who you guys were talking about,” Xueyang said calmly.
“Their event just ended and he told me that he’s on his way here, together with Sizhui’s parents.”
“They’re busy with their work but they always try their best to spend time with me.”
“I deliberately missed the Awards show just for you, okay? Yiling Patriarch, Hanguang-Jun, and Sandu Shengshou were all nominated and I missed it because of you. Heaven knows why they made the Award show live in the afternoons instead of at night. Go on, ring the bell!”
Everyone at the table stopped eating the moment they saw Mo Xuanyu froze in his seat. They looked on with worry in their eyes when the front door burst open and a loud voice rang out throughout the house.
“WE WON! AND WE’RE HOME~~~”
Mo Xuanyu’s eyes widened further as he lifted his gaze to look at the others with fear. He recognized that voice. He’d recognize that voice anywhere.
The door to the kitchen and dining room swung open and in flew Wei Wuxian, with a trophy in his hand. “Hello, my beautiful people! Presenting the Best Actor of the Year, the admirable Yiling Laozu, a.k.a Wei Wuxian! And he brings with him his husband! Best Supporting Actor, the esteemed Hanguang-jun! And Best New Actor and a pain in the ass brother, the honorable Sandu Shengshou!”
The five-year-olds started clapping enthusiastically, followed by baby Jin Ling, who had food in his hands and the claps just made the food fly everywhere. The adults started to clap as well but they kept an eye out for Mo Xuanyu, as his reaction is worrying.
“Thank you, thank you, you’re so kind,” Wei Wuxian set his trophy down on the ornament desk, went to the table, and hugged both the boys head, “So cute! Oooh, Da-ge! This looks awesome!” He snatched a piece of chicken and popped it into his mouth, “Mmm, spicy. Just the way I like it.”
Mo Xuanyu stared incredulously at the man, his mouth agape. The door swung open once again and Mo Xuanyu turned slowly to see who it was. His throat clammed up and his breathing felt short when he saw who walked in.
“You could have waited for us, you gremlin. Who the hell closes the door behind them when someone is following behind them?” Jiang Cheng griped as he pulled on his tie loose. “Your husband didn’t even react much except to just open the door when you slammed it close in his face. It’s like he’s used to it or something.
Lan Wangji had walked in while Jiang Cheng was ranting, and went straight to Sizhui. He gave him a few pats on the head and then nodded when he saw the number of vegetables in Sizhui’s bowl.
“Good,” He says. “Eat more.”
“Mn, I will!” Sizhui piped up happily.
“Do not talk while you eat,” Lan Wangji said simply before turning to Wei Wuxian, who was smiling and chomping at the same time. “Sit down and eat, Wei Ying.”
“Ah yes, okay!” Wei Wuxian went to sit down at the empty seat which was by Shijie, “I’m famished. They didn’t give us anything to eat beforehand and my stomach was grumbling the entire time I was doing my speech.”
“Yes, everyone heard it.” Jiang Cheng went to Lan Xichen and pecked him on the cheek before sitting down beside him.
“You guys did?? Was it that loud?? Lan Zhan~ Why didn’t you say anything?” Wei Wuxian pouted at Lan Wangji, who had sat at the empty seat beside Wei Wuxian.
“No one heard anything. It wasn’t loud,” Lan Wangji comforted him.
Wei Wuxian smiled mischievously at him before noticing the two new guests at the table, “Oh! Is this the one?” He asked Jin Guangyao, “Is this the brother you guys had been talking about?” Wei Wuxian grinned wide at Mo Xuanyu.
“Yes… uh, he’s the one,” Jin Guangyao was distracted still by his brother’s questionable reaction to seeing Wei Wuxian and he stood up to go over to him, “Are you okay, A-Yu? Is something wrong?”
Mo Xuanyu’s abrupt move to stand made his chair fall back with a clatter. He backed away from the table, his focus was entirely directed at the Yiling Laozu sitting in front of him.
All those years of him telling people that he knows Yiling Laozu, about how he is related to celebrities and here he is, sitting in front of him, munching on a piece of chicken. All those years of him being bullied by Wolf Luo and his gang, being laughed at and being pushed around. And here he was, sharing dinner with celebrities. He felt dizzy as he slowly recognized the symptoms of a panic attack happening soon from the lack of oxygen. The adults saw him hyperventilating and they began to worry.
“Mo Xuanyu? Are you okay?” Lan Xichen asked.
“Shall I call for an ambulance?” Nie Huaisang asked as he pulled out his phone and started to type a number.”
“A-Yu,” Jin Guangyao’s soft voice broke his focus and he gazed at his brother with tears in his eyes, “Are you okay?”
“This is all a dream,” Mo Xuanyu whispered brokenly, “You showed me a dream that I can never have. You tricked me...”
“What?” A confused Jin Guangyao voiced out.
Before anyone could do anything, Mo Xuanyu bolted out the door.
“A-Yu!” Jin Guangyao yelled out and prepared to give chase when a voice called out for him.
“Don’t bother… leave him be,” Xueyang said from where he sat, his fork pushing and pulling his food in his plate.
“What? Why?” Jin Guangyao went to Xueyang, “What happened? Why did he react like that towards Wei Wuxian? Why did he say that?”
“Does he not like me?” Wei Wuxian asked with a pout. Lan Wangji straightened in his seat, his gaze growing cold as he regarded the boy.
“Not like you? Hah, you have no idea,” Xueyang smirked, “Quite the contrary, actually.”
“Xueyang, please explain to us what just happened, please.” Jin Guangyao’s worried face betrayed the calmness in his voice, “Why did he run like that? I thought it was going good until… what did he mean by that last comment?”
“You guys didn’t tell him. About them,” Xueyang pointed at the three actors at the table.
“What’s us got to do with whatever it is that’s happening to him?” Jiang Cheng frowned.
“Mo Xuanyu had this thought, ever since he was young, of a family that exists in his head. Of a brother… someone he could be friends with. Of someone, he could talk to.” Xueyang pushed his plate away and turned his attention to the adults, “Years passed by, Mo Xuanyu suffered from the hands of his aunt and bullies alike but that thought didn’t disappear at all. It was always this nameless, faceless brother that had protected him, talked to him, comforted him when he needed a friend. I was his friend, yes, but he regarded his imaginative brother as his protector. Someone he could ask questions, share hobbies with, do everything together.”
“Then he started talking about someone named Wei Wuxian. A new and upcoming actor in the industry. Said that he was the best actor that he’s ever seen,” Xueyang smiled, “And then after that, he regarded you as his brother and protector. Wei Wuxian this, Wei Wuxian that. He worships you, Wei Wuxian. He was the one who got me hooked onto your drama, by the way. ”
“If he worships me, then why does he react like that?” Wei Wuxian asked.
“Because society is the devil in disguise. Because he told people that he knows celebrities and that he knows you. He wanted to fit in with the community so much, he lied about it.” Xueyang sighed, “And when people found out that he lied about it, well... “ He trailed off.
“Gege always comes back to the orphanage bruised and bloodied. Always...” Sizhui softly voiced out sadly, “Then when the caretakers see it, they punish him because they thought that he had been fighting and causing trouble.”
“We always try to sneak food to him when we can.” Jingyi added, “We try to help him with chores too but he always tells us to go away before we get caught by Madam Mo.”
“Madam Mo always punishes all of us whenever she can. She’ll either stop giving us food or make us do the chores and clean the orphanage. But she always makes sure Xuanyu gege gets all the bad things.” Sizhui played with the end of his shirt as he talked, “We either get no food for breakfast or dinner. Gege will get no food for the entire day. She made him do a lot of things. Even when he was injured, she didn’t care. He had a bruised rib once and she scolded him.”
“Gege always cries in his room at night. We hear him.” Jingyi mumbled.
Jin Guangyao had already sat down in his seat while Xueyang explained the situation and he felt his eyes tear up when the boys voiced out their experience. The other adults were practically burning up in their seats when they heard the unjust doing of that vile woman towards the kids in the orphanage.
“The school didn’t do anything about it when Mo Xuanyu brought up the issues with the bullies. Said that it was his fault for doing what he did. Of course, they’ll blame him. One of the bullies’ father is a chairman of the school board.” Xueyang spat out the words in disgust, “They just let it happen.”
When he decided to come out to me as a gay, he was scared yet proud of it. Your speech about being true to yourself gave him the courage to come out. Somehow, someone found out about it, and…” Xueyang swiped a hand on his face, his face haunted, “The bullies made his life a living hell but the orphanage made it worse. When I was adopted, I was angry about it. Why wouldn’t anyone adopt him? Why would anyone adopt me? When Xiao Xingchen and Songlan came for me, I lashed out at them. I was really angry at them. But Mo Xuanyu told me that he was happy for me. That I should live the life he didn’t have and let him live vicariously through me. He was really happy that I have a family.”
“I try my best to be there for him at school. The bullies, the teachers, all of them, I’ll kill them if I could for causing him so much hurt. He was half right, anyway. He does know Wei Wuxian. He didn’t say that Wei Wuxian knows him… they could have seen it as a joke but that Wolf Luo,” Xueyang gritted his teeth, “I can be there for him at school… But the orphanage…”
Xueyang stood up from the table and pushed his chair back in gently. He then turned to walk away but stopped. He slowly turned back to Jin Guangyao and bowed his head low, “Thank you for doing what you did to Madam Mo. You saved not only him but the rest of them as well. I hope you get to save him from the other hell that he’s living in as well. Da-ge, thank you for the food. It was delicious. And I’m pumped to see Sandu Shengshou, Hanguang-jun, and Yiling Laozu in front of me but… I should go and find my friend and help him. Don’t worry, I’ll see myself out. Goodbye,” He bowed to all of them and straightened up. “Boys, I’ll see you again soon, yeah!”
Xueyang waved to both Jingyi and Sizhui before leaving the room. All of them sat in silence as they processed what Xueyang had told them about Mo Xuanyu.
Shijie read the atmosphere in the room and got up from her seat. She picked Jin Ling up from his seat before reaching out for the two boys, “Sizhui, Jingyi, let’s go and clean up before we go to bed. You’ll be sleeping over for tonight, how does that sound?” She smiled.
“Can we have bedtime stories?” Sizhui asked as both he and Jingyi got out of their chair and followed Jiang Yanli out.
“Sure, we’ll have bedtime stories. Say goodnight to your papa and diēdiē,” She waited as the boys went up to their fathers and kissed them on the cheeks, said goodnight, and trailed off to the bathroom. She then gave Jin Zixuan a look before following the boys.
“That woman… that vile woman,” Nie Mingjue slammed his fist on the table, almost smoking from the ears as he tries his best to contain his anger, “Those people…”
“I’ll get more information from the kids who have been adopted, as well as kids that are still there, about their well being in the orphanage while Madam Mo was in charge. I’ll make sure the charges on her pile up so much, she’ll never be able to see the light of day.” Jin Zixuan wiped his mouth with a napkin. “I’ll have to get the detectives to talk to both Jingyi and Sizhui about it as well if you guys would allow it.”
“If Jingyi and Sizhui feel comfortable talking to the detective about it, then I give my permission for you to do so.” Lan Xichen said with a grim look on his face.
“You have my permission too,” Jiang Cheng agreed.
“Lan Zhan and I give our permission too, but if Sizhui and Jingyi say no, then you’ll have to find another way.” Wei Wuxian spoke.
“Of course, don’t worry.” Jin Zixuan took out his phone and started typing an email.
“What am I to do now, gege?” Jin Guangyao asked his lover, “I didn’t mean to trick him or anything. I thought it would have been a good surprise for him but…”
“Kitten, you didn’t know,” Nie Mingjue hugged Jin Guangyao tight in his arms, “Nobody knew. It’ll be okay,”
“I remember the first time I met him, he had blood on his lips and clothes. There were bruises on his face and hands too,” Nie Huaisang voiced out, “If what Xueyang had said about the school not doing anything because of the chairman then it’ll be quite a scandal if word goes out.”
“Seems like you’re cooking up something in that head of yours,” Jiang Cheng drawled, “Will you be the one to cause the scandal?”
Nie Huaisang gasped as he leaned back into his chair, a hand on his chest as he stared at Jiang Cheng with mock horror, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“We have to come up with something regarding the school,” Lan Xichen voiced out, his eyes solemn as he stares at nothing, “That is not a good environment to be in. Only heaven knows what Mo Xuanyu has been through all these years.”
“Jin Guangshan is such a…” Nie Mingjue held himself back from cursing.
“Bastard.” Jiang Cheng completed the sentence for him.
“Wanyin,” Lan Xichen gave Jiang Cheng a disapproving look.
“No, no, he’s right,” Jin Guangyao sighed, “It’s all because of him. If he had kept everything in his pants then none of this would have happened.”
“If he had kept everything in his pants then we would have never met,” Jin Zixuan mentioned while he reached for his drink, “I’ve grown rather fond of you. And of Mo Xuanyu.”
“That is the only good outcome out of this ordeal,” Jin Guangyao agreed. He sighed out dejectedly, “What should we do now?”
“I have an idea,” Wei Wuxian piped up.
Everyone turned their focus towards him.
“You? Have an idea?” Jiang Cheng taunted, “How surprising.”
Lan Xichen lightly tapped Jiang Cheng on the biceps, making the younger one smirk back at his joke.
“Let us hear it then, Wei Wuxian,” Nie Mingjue spoke, “What is this idea of yours?”
Wei Wuxian gave the most mischievous smile he could as he turned to Nie Huaisang and asked, “What was the name of the school again?”
—•—|—𝓘𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓗𝓸𝓶𝓮?—|—•—
Mo Xuanyu was tired. He shuffled towards the table in the middle of the courtyard with heavy steps, his head throbbing painfully as he tried not to throw up his breakfast. Classes start in an hour and he had time to spare so he decided to just sit at the table, lay his head down and die.
He had cried the whole night in his room, questioning his sanity about everything that has happened to him for the past few weeks. Had he dreamt of all of this? Will everything go back to normal once he wakes up in his bed? Will he see Madam Mo standing in front of him tomorrow at breakfast? All the questions and no answer is given.
“Are you dead?” Xueyang’s voice piped up from somewhere above his head.
“Not yet. Soon, hopefully.” Mo Xuanyu mumbled.
“That’ll be a bummer for your brothers then. Can I have your stuff if you die?” Xueyang asked as he sat down opposite of Mo Xuanyu.
“I’ll give you everything,” He sighed out before straightening himself up, “So yesterday was not a dream?”
“Nope,” Xueyang had tried to look for his friend the night before but he couldn’t as Xiao Xingchen had called and asked him to come home. He shoved both his hands into his pockets, “You ran away and Wei Wuxian thought you hated him.”
Mo Xuanyu groaned pitifully to himself, “Oh heavens, why~” He whined.
“Hey, Four Eyes,” A voice called out from afar.
Mo Xuanyu groaned to himself once again. Today is going to be a fun day.
Wolf Luo came strutting to the table where the both of them sat with his cronies trailing behind him, “What are you guys up to, huh? What’s the topic?”
“Nothing much,” Xueyang drawled, “About him running away from Wei Wuxian and stuff, things that are none of your business.”
“Wei Wuxian?” Wolf Luo scoffed, “Again? What did I say about that, Mo Xuanyu? I told you if I hear anything from you about Wei Wuxian again, I’ll punch your face in. Didn’t I say that?”
“I was the one who said it, dipshit,” Xueyang retorted, “He didn’t say anything.”
“I assumed that anything that comes out from you comes from him anyways,” Wolf Luo shrugged, “You guys are weird like that. But I’ll let it slide for now. I need his expertise for something.”
Wolf Luo sat down beside Mo Xuanyu and placed a stack of paper in front of him. His cronies took up the empty seats beside Xueyang and Mo Xuanyu, a threatening smile on their faces as they did so. “You’ve done your homework, haven’t you? Great. We need your help with it. You see, we’re too busy with the co-curriculum and real life that we didn’t have any time to do our homework, you know? Seeing as how you have no life and have nothing better to do, why don’t you help us do it?”
“You’re making him do your homework for you?” Xueyang scoffed.
“No, not for me,” Wolf Luo smirked, “For us. You have a problem with that?”
“No, no! I’ll do it!” Mo Xuanyu cried out, “I’ll do it. It’s fine. I have no problem with it.”
“Great! We’ll wait for it right here.” Wolf Luo pats Mo Xuanyu on the back forcefully, “Meanwhile, we can have a little chat about things. Anything exciting happened to you? We heard quite a lot of things, you know? Bringing boys to your room and all,” Wolf Luo gave a full-body shiver of disgust, “How could you. There are kids there, you know?”
Xueyang was about to fight back at what Wolf Luo had said when he noticed something, or someone, approaching them. He smirked. “You know, Xuanyu, you may not have any problems with doing the homework for them but I know someone who will.”
Wolf Luo gave Xueyang a baleful look, “Oh yeah?” He taunted, “And who will that be, hmm? Who has a problem with Mo Xuanyu doing my homework, hmm?”
“You’re doing his homework? Why?” A familiar voice piped up.
Mo Xuanyu swerved his attention towards Nie Mingjue, who was standing by the table, looking down at the stack of papers in front of him, “Da-ge!”
“Da-ge?” Wolf Luo questioned, “Oh! Is this oldie one of them? The one you brought into your room?” Wolf Luo gave Da-ge a once over and laughed, “You like them old?”
“Why don’t we take this outside the school and I’ll show you what this oldie can do,” Da-ge intoned menacingly.
Wolf Luo scoffed as he stood up to level himself with Nie Mingjue, although missing a few inches than Da-ge. “You have no idea what I can do to you, asshole.”
“Can’t say anything about him, but you have no idea what I can do to you, that’s for sure,” Nie Huaisang appeared by the table with his fan in hand, “Is that homework? Ugh, I hate homework.”
“Huaisang! What are you guys doing here?” Mo Xuanyu was panicking slightly. What’s going on? What’s this?
“Your brother wanted to see the school that you go to so I brought him here. Da-ge insisted on following so…” He pats Nie Mingjue on the back with his fan, “Down, brother, down.”
“And who the fuck are you?” Wolf Luo directed his question to Nie Huaisang haughtily.
“Ooh, language.” Nie Huaisang clicked his tongue, “Do you kiss your mother with that mouth?”
“Wolf,” One of the cronies voiced out, “Remember that time I talked about a vlogger that is famous on the web for exposing scandals and shit? That’s him… That’s Nie Huaisang.”
“And? Should I give a fuck?” Wolf Luo retorted.
Before Nie Huaisang could even reply to the rude comment, Mo Xuanyu waved his hand at him, catching his attention.
“My brother is here? San-ge is here?”
“San-ge?” Nie Huaisang made a face, “No, San-ge is at home. Before you ask, it’s not Zi-Xiong either. Jin Ling wouldn't let go of his leg so he decided to work from home instead,”
Mo Xuanyu tilted his head questioningly, “Then who?”
One of Wolf Luo’s followers, who had been sitting beside Xueyang, quickly scrambled to his feet as he pointed at something behind them. One by one, the followers got up to their feet and gawked. Mo Xuanyu heard faint screamings and voices chattering from around them, talking about something. Wolf Luo turned to see what was going on and paled immensely. Confused by the reactions of the people around him, Mo Xuanyu turned.
Dressed in an abstract shirt, white top, and pants, Wei Wuxian walked down the pathway of the courtyard towards them, a huge smile on his face as he waved his hand at a gobsmacked Mo Xuanyu. Mo Xuanyu stood up to face Wei Wuxian directly, his ability to process the situation happening at that moment is non-existent.
“A-Yu!” Wei Wuxian cheered out as he ran towards him. He engulfed Mo Xuanyu into a big hug and laughed his heart out, “My baby Mo Xuanyu! My darling sweetheart! Why did you run away from me yesterday, huh? Seriously, I felt hurt by that, you know. I thought you hated me.” Wei Wuxian pulled away from the hug and set Mo Xuanyu at an arm’s length away from him, “Are you feeling better?”
“I—I… You…” Mo Xuanyu stammered.
“Hello, Xueyang! How are you?” Wei Wuxian waved at Xueyang, who waved back.
“Not too well. We’re being bullied by these people.”
“Oh?” Wei Wuxian eyed coldly at the group of them, “Are these the ones that we’ve talked about, the ones who have been bullying my brother?”
Xueyang nodded as he cheered gleefully inside. Serves them right.
As Wei Wuxian continued to stare at them, Wolf Luo decided that he should just leave and turned to walk away… only to jump back and yell in fear when he saw a tall man with dead eyes standing in front of him, blocking his way. The rest of them whirled to see what made Wolf Luo yell out and almost immediately, chatter and screams started once again.
Lan Wangji approached the table with silence, eyeing the stack of homework laying innocently in front of him and he turned his deadpan stare at the group of guys, “Do not bully the weak. Do not honor dishonest practices.” He turned to Mo Xuanyu, “Avoid imparting knowledge to the wrong individuals. It’s a waste of time. Understand?”
Mo Xuanyu nodded, unable to speak the moment he saw Lan Wangji near him. By this time, a crowd had gathered around the table with a few professors standing amidst them all, after hearing the commotion that had happened before class.
“You don’t have to do homework anymore. Well, not from this school, that is,” Wei Wuxian commented, “You can give it back to them.”
“What?” Mo Xuanyu finally found his voice as he faced Wei Wuxian, “What do you mean by that?”
“We’re here to pull you out from this school! We found a better school with better facilities and professors that are more competent at teaching and imparting knowledge for good students like you.” Wei Wuxian grinned, “Oh, and Xueyang, you too.”
“Yes!” Xueyang did a fist pump and got up from his seat to stand by the Nie Brothers.
“Wait, what…” Mo Xuanyu was still lost, “What school?”
“Gusu Lan at Cloud Recesses,” Lan Wangji spoke in his baritone voice.
Gasps rang throughout the area, both students and professors alike when they heard the name of the school. Gusu Lan at Cloud Recesses is considered to be one of the prestigious schools in all of China. Their headmaster, Lan Qiren, is considered to be strict and is very picky about the students entering the school, and having Mo Xuanyu be offered a place in it was shocking.
Mo Xuanyu’s head was throbbing even worse from the headache that’s attacking him right at the moment, so painful that he shed a few tears as he tried to understand the situation.
“But… why… why?” Mo Xuanyu tried to voice out his concerns but all he did was just mouth out words.
Wei Wuxian gave Mo Xuanyu a gentle smile, pushing back a strand of hair out of his face with a soft touch that made Mo Xuanyu’s heart clench in longing, “Because I’m your brother, right? I’m here for you now. So are the rest of us, and your brother’s back home… all of us are here for you now.”
Hearing those words caused something to break inside of Mo Xuanyu. His fear of being alone, his desire of being in a family he could call his own… all of it came crashing down on him. Mo Xuanyu gave a small sob and Wei Wuxian pulled him immediately into his arms, making the boy weep even more into his chest.
“Xueyang told us about what you've been through and we felt that enough is enough.” Wei Wuxian turned to look at the crowd around them, “If the school itself can’t protect a young boy, who we believed and trusted the professors to see to it that no harm is imparted on them, then it is no longer a haven for students like you.”
“It was never a haven in the first place anyway,” Nie Huaisang drawled, “With all the illegal transactions that have been happening, what with all the corrupted admission dealings that the school has been doing, with the backup from the Chairman of the Board, might I add? Fuu… So much to expose. Oh! Don’t worry, I’ll include you and your group of friends in the exposure as well.” Nie Huaisang winked at Wolf Luo mischievously.
Wolf Luo growled at Nie Huaisang and quickly lunged towards him only to find himself slammed back onto the ground by Nie Mingjue.
“Stay down, if you know what’s good for you.” Nie Mingjue said menacingly.
“Um, excuse me…” One of the professors piped up, “You’re not supposed to attack the students of the school. That is illegal.”
Lan Wangji went up to the professor and looked down at them through his lashes, “Direct me to your headmaster.”
The poor professor sputtered and gawked at the vision of the ethereal beauty of a man standing in front of them and guided Lan Wangji towards the school.
“I’ll go with him. There’s so much content I can get from him. I’ll see you later,” Nie Huaisang waved at his brother and followed the two.
Nie Mingjue waved back and then whirled around to talk to the crowd, “That’s enough gawking from you all. Don’t you have classes? Professors, do your job, won’t you? Do you need me to teach you how to handle kids, huh?”
The crowd started to disperse as the professors herded them away, feeling a little put off at being called out by Nie Mingjue. Da-ge then turned to the group of bullies and then back at Wolf Luo, who was still down. “And the lot of you… proud of yourselves, eh? For bullying those that you deem beneath you?” He growled deep in his throat, “I hate bullies.”
Wolf Luo scrambled to his feet and ran off in an instant, leaving his group of followers behind. Once they realized that they had been abandoned by their leader, the cronies scattered as well, running into each other and off somewhere where they can hide in fear. Xueyang was bent over, laughing his heart out when he saw the commotion happening. He raised his hand to high five Nie Mingjue.
“You’re awesome, Da-ge.”
“I know…” Nie Mingjue smirked.
Mo Xuanyu wasn’t even listening to any of it. He was still hidden in Wei Wuxian’s embrace, his fear of finding himself in a dream popped up in his head, over and over again. As if he was reading his mind, Wei Wuxian patted Mo Xuanyu’s back comfortingly.
“It’s okay, Mo Xuanyu… you’re okay. I don’t know if it’ll be better or not but it’ll be okay,”
Mo Xuanyu sniffled into his chest. Wei Wuxian smiled, hugging Mo Xuanyu safe in his arms.
“You’re home now.”
—•—|—𝓘𝓼 𝓽𝓱𝓲𝓼 𝓗𝓸𝓶𝓮?—|—•—