Chapter Text
Chapter Seven
“I asked for baby’s breath, not Astrantia for the tables!”
“No, no, you cannot move the VIP table to the back. How the fuck does that even happen?”
“Okay, I’ll say this slowly again. The lights are supposed to be blue, and closer to the pond. It’ll come on at night. Are we clear on this, Du Li?!”
“Yes, Mr. Nie.”
“Great. Now, run along,” he gestured with his fan.
Xichen couldn’t help but grin, Nie Huaisang in his element was always entertaining to watch. He stood in the middle of the park, giving out orders for the decorations and organization of the venue; what would he do without him?
“Hey, Huaisang.”
“Er-ge!” It had been ages since he last saw Lan Xichen in the flesh, even while working on the same project they had to correspond more online. He couldn’t help pulling him into a hug. “Er-ge, it's been so long! How have you been? You look dashing as ever.”
Xichen giggled, “I’ve been well. How’s Qinghe? And Mingjue?”
“Home’s fine, Da-ge’s coming for the program, but he apologizes for not coming in sooner; meetings and work stuff, you know how it is.”
“Yeah, that’ll be fine. It’s been a while since we’ve all gotten together really, when did you get so big and handsome? ”
“Oh, stop it,” he covered his blush with the fan again.
Xichen and Nie Mingjue have been best friends since summer camp, both of them went abroad for college and their bond was nothing short of wonderful. For the most part, Nie Huaisang got to spend a lot of time with them since Nie Mingjue practically played the role of a dad to him after their parents passed.
Lan Xichen had always been a welcome presence in Huaisang’s life since he became besties with his older brother. To Huaisang, Xichen was his second brother, blood or not. He was always protective and patient with him, especially when his brother flared up or was being hard on him. There was a sort of balance in their lives. It was easy to visit one another when they were younger; barely many responsibilities with the family business on Xichen’s part, he’d spend the time with Huaisang and Wangji doting on the both of them much the Wangji’s embarrassment and Huaisang’s delight; sometimes they’d manage to drag Nie Mingjue along so he could take a break. It was a wonderful memory Huaisang held of Xichen before work snatched him away, working with Xichen on the fundraiser was more than pleasurable, he’d make sure everything was perfect.
“How has work been going, er-ge? I hope you’re taking out time to rest properly.”
“Well…”
“Pfft, you’re just like da-ge, I have to hide his laptop sometimes. Come, let’s go get some dumplings, it's almost noon and I'm certain you haven’t had anything but jasmine tea.” He tugged the older man in the direction of the street.
Huaisang ordered and made it his mission to stuff Xichen silly while bringing him up to date with the latest gossip on Jianghu’s entertainment industry.
“So… have you found anyone interesting recently, Er-ge? Hm?”
“Oh please, I barely have time for myself, let alone having a partner,” he said, stuffing his face with dumplings.
“Liar. You’ve got a crush. Your ears are practically bleeding right now.”
He cursed his Lan gene for giving him away so easily. “It’s nothing serious, I just like his face. I am just admiring beauty. That’s all.”
Huaisang scoffed, then pointed at him with his fan. “Spill or I’ll let Da-ge know about this newfound admiration.”
He considered it for a minute, then remembered Nie Mingjue could be feral and possessive; his first move would be a terrible interrogation that’ll probably leave Jiang Cheng scarred. He couldn’t risk it, at least not before they got together.
“You’re so mean.”
“I know.”
Xichen spent the rest of the meal giving Huaisang the gist of his encounters with Jiang Cheng, without telling him his name.
“Ohhh, that’s so sweet. Er-ge’s in love.”
“No no, we’re just in the talking stage, I hope. He’s quite young though, so I could be mistaken, he might be dating someone already.”
“No way, Er-ge’s going to be a sugar daddy,” Huaisang teased. “You could always ask if he’s single or something, you know?” Xichen rolled his eyes.
“Alright, fine. Enough about me, How’s A-Qing?”
“Oh, she’s great. She just got her implants recently so she’s adjusting. Apparently, I’m prettier than she imagined.”
“Aww, that’s wonderful. When’s the wedding?”
“Er-ge!” He snapped open his fan to hide his blush. “We haven’t brought that up yet, we’re taking things really slow.”
“That’s good to hear. Look at you acting all mature,” he smiled.
"Zewu-jun?" The voice was the one he'd been aching to hear since their last call. He'd been so busy he forgot Wanyin had arrived earlier today.
"Hello, Wanyin." He beamed. "How was your flight to Gusu?"
"Too early, running on coffee. Wanted to eat something decent, but my brother can't survive cooking any dish without a bottle of chilli in it." He rolled his eyes.
"That's definitely Wei-Xiong," Huaisang giggled behind his fan.
"Nie Huaisang?"
"Hey Jiang Cheng, how have you been?"
"Rascal," Jiang Cheng chuckled. " I didn't know you'd be this early,"
"Yeah, well someone has to set the venue right?"
"How'd I ever miss that? Of course, you'd be in charge of stuff like that. Anyway, I'm going to place an order, I'll see you guys around soon."
"Well...I was just leaving, apparently, someone broke the fountain, so you could just sit here."
Jiang Cheng could not believe that after years apart, Huaisang would still play the wingman. The thought made him smile a bit before walking over to the counter.
“Oh my God, it's HIM!” Huaisang whispered as soon as Jiang Cheng walked away.
"Surprise" XiChen shrugged.
"You have a peculiar taste, er-ge. I'll be off before someone actually breaks the fountain."
"Bye Huaisang."
"So how have you been holding up Zewu-jun?" Jiang Cheng asks once he settles down.
"Just fine, work meetings and all, you know how it is"
"True. And you must be stressed enough for Huaisang to dote on you."
"It’s...well…" he couldn't hide the blush that ran down to his cheeks.
"You're so cute" Jiang Cheng chuckled, taking a mouthful of his noodles. "Huaisang is like that for the most part. We went to college together, so I figured."
"Oh, I didn't know that. Small world I guess."
Wanyin was something. Lan XiChen sat there drinking in the sight of this man in a lilac sweater, his hair a messy bun, wondering if he'd someday be allowed to trail his lips down Wanyin's jawline, nibble on his neckline, let the younger man tremble beneath- fuck.
What the fuck was he thinking? He grabbed the glass of water and chugged it down, praying to whatever Gods existed that his mind would be a bit cleaner.
"Are you okay Zewu-Jun?"
And the water went down the wrong pipe. Classic Lan XiChen, is this how he dies? Choking to death in front of his crush? Over a glass of water? No excuse for CPR or something? Pathetic.
He felt a large hand down his back before he could make sense of what Wanyin was saying.
"God, you fucking scared me." Wanyin's voice was softer than usual, somehow it made his insides warmer.
"Sorry." XiChen could still feel his eyes burn. He let out a cough then a sigh. The situation was so comical in his mind that he couldn’t help chuckling to himself.
“You are so weird” Jiang Cheng scoffed, finishing up his meal.
"Would you mind if I showed you around? Gusu's a lot different from Yumeng. We don't have as many lakes."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah and there's this place with lots of puppies, helps with nerves you know. It's really not far from here. We can walk down..."
"You had me at puppies. Lead the way."
They had spent the rest of the day at the puppy shelter, petting puppies. Jiang Cheng had Lan Xichen reschedule the tour cause he could not bear to leave any puppy ‘un-petted’. He felt the most excited he had in ages. With the way it went, he might just pull a few strings to get one in Yumeng, at least somewhere far away from lotus pier.
Jiang Cheng vaguely remembers having his own dogs; Fairy and Princess. He had to put them up for adoption because Wei Ying was traumatized by dogs. At the age of seven ‘traumatized’ was too big a word to comprehend. He resented him for years because of that. Most of their teenage years were bittersweet memories, Jiang Cheng’s parents pitting the two against themselves.
At the time Jiang Cheng felt lost; as though Wei Ying stole everything from him. Wei Ying in question felt like a fraud, trying to overcompensate in ways that blew up in his face, dragging the Jiang siblings into his trouble. Despite that, it was instinctive to protect one another, Jiang Cheng protecting Wei Ying from his mother’s tongue lashing, and stupid kids at school, Wei Ying returning the favour when he took to the blade. The brothers guarded their Jiejie like a hawk, Jin ZiXuan was so close to dying when they broke up the first time. Forgiveness came slowly, it started when ‘trauma’ was no longer a big word and they shared a room in college, with a little help from Nie Huaisang.
The day with Lan Xichen brought a wave of happiness and a boat of nostalgia. Apart from that one time he dated Wen Qing, he never had a crush on someone before. He never flushed under attention the way he did when he caught Lan Xichen staring at him with a silly smile on his face. He had a hunch that his feelings were reciprocated; Lan Xichen was too honest for his own good. His emotions were bare, sincere and innocent. It scared him. Should he plunge deeper? Explore the depths of their emotions? Bask in Xichen’s affection for the little time he knew it would last?
He wasn’t sure.
At the very least, he would be by the end of the fundraiser.
“I wonder what you’re thinking of Didi,” Wei Ying said, bringing Jiang Cheng back to their kitchen. “Your expression just changed like five times within a minute.”
“Work,” he said, you know, like a liar.
“Right, that’s why you’ve been grinning like a fool.”
“Don’t you have some painting to complete?” Wei Ying had been hyperfocused on a piece he got ‘inspiration’ for at 2:00 am that morning, he didn’t even notice when Jiang Cheng left the apartment to eat something that wasn’t chilli soup.
“A man needs his breakfast okay?” He shrugged, wiping his paint-smeared fingers on his jeans.
“It's 8:00pm.” Honestly, Jiang Cheng couldn’t be bothered enough to roll his eyes this time. “Tomorrow's the fundraiser, eat something then sleep; I can’t have you look like a walking corpse.”
“A-Cheng cares,” Wei Ying’s grin was intentionally annoying. He’d come to understand his brother’s passive-aggressive affection.
“Important guests are coming, representatives of all the sects and major companies.”
“Alright, didi. I won’t embarrass you in front of your crush.”
“I don’t-”
“You can’t hide stuff from Xian-gege, Chengcheng.”
“Goodnight.”
** *** **** ******* **** *** *** *** *** *** ******
“Places everyone,” Luo Qingyan yelled.
Remembering the moves was not something difficult for Wangji, it was all muscle memory, so he wasn’t bothered. What made him nervous was his uncle. His uncle would be seated among the audience, watching him. And sure, he knew his uncle loved him tremendously, had come to accept that this was his profession, but something in him always wanted to prove to him that he had succeeded. He had followed his dreams and made something of himself. Hence his reason for going over the routine one last time at the venue before the event officially started for the day.
“Lan Zhan!” Wei Ying’s voice always came like the sun; loud, excited, curious. “You should smile more, it's so pretty, here look!”
Wei Ying was always on his camera, never off duty. It was this diligence that made him catch amazing shots, twirls of his dancers, a crazy pose in a routine, a friendly moment during their lunch time and today, Lan Zhan’s smile.
“What do you think? I’m great at what I do, hm?” Wei Ying poked seeking praise. “I wonder what you were thinking about, or who…” he winked, giving him a nudge.
“You’re shameless.”
“Ah Lan Zhan, we’re in public.”
“Ridiculous,” he huffed, checking his clipboard for the arrangements. “The event’s about to start. Let’s all get ready.”
“Yes, yes. Alright, everyone,” The conductor ordered, mounting the podium leading his members in the opening.
Everyone went to the dressing room for a costume change. Lan Zhan wore a pale blue hanfu, his hair was done into a neat top knot, and decorated with a few gems. Wei Ying could only hold his breath behind the lens. Lan Zhan could not be any more fairy-like. He looked too pure to touch… too… surreal.
“Hm?”
“You look surreal, Lan Zhan,” Wei Ying whispered. He almost forgot to capture the moment but no lens could do justice to this man’s aura.
“We’re up next everyone.”
“Jiayou!” Wei Ying encouraged running back to his seat.
Lan Zhan was ethereal. Wei Ying could only stare, watching the man glide his way through the steps. Everything about him was so graceful. By the end of the performance, Wei Ying had made up his mind to take the first step; he was going to ask the Haunguan-Jun on a date.
The event started in a blur to Lan Xichen. Thank goodness his uncle agreed to take the opening remarks. He’d been planning this fundraiser for months now, it was the first time his uncle allowed him to organize it without supervision; nervousness was an understatement to what he felt that night.
Although his job at the moment was to mingle, fake a smile, be polite, he couldn’t help but feel nauseous. As he weaved his way through the crowd, barely holding in the sparkling wine in his glass, slight flashes came through his mind. He remembered the screams, all he could smell was blood and a mix of smoke. That night started out like this one, only this time Meng Yao wasn’t in the picture. It was just him and Nie Mingjue, who couldn’t make it because his flight was delayed.
Huaisang tried distracting him, but he still had to supervise the program of events, hence Xichen found himself standing next to the water fountain, trying to steady himself with some grape juice cursing Lan lineage for being lightweight as fuck.
“Hey, Zewu-jun.” Jiang Cheng was definitely the only guy that could come up to him at this time.
Xichen always saw Jiang Cheng as terribly handsome, but tonight, he looked stunning. He was in a three piece suit, a deep shade of grey practically black beneath the night sky. There was no tie, leaving the top of the shirt opening; the view of his jawline trailing down his neck brought his mind back to the night at the lake. He gulped, praying his self-control would keep him in check for the night.
“Wanyin. How are you enjoying the party?”
“It’s great. You outdid yourself. Uncle Lan seems really pleased, he’s been smiling all evening with my dad,” he let out a chuckle.
“Well that’s relieving. It’s the first time he’s left it all to me.”
“Well you know what they say; with great power comes great responsibility and shit like that” He took a swing of his wine; Wei Ying was right, Gusu did have good wine, pretty scenery; another glance at the man in a light blue suit next to him made him add pretty men to the list of things he loved about the city.
He wasn’t sure what bothered Lan Xichen, neither was he ready to hear the sob story, but he did want to see him smile a bit. There was something about Xichen’s nature that tugged at Jiang Cheng to protect and spoil with affection. Xichen made him want things he hasn’t wanted in a while; things he thought he wanted with Wen Qing, things that made him feel he was running too fast but he didn’t want it to stop.
“Let’s take a walk, the music’s really loud.” The alcohol started buzzing a bit; a little liquid courage never hurt anyone, right?
Xichen felt himself being tugged in the direction away from the crowd towards a different end of the park and towards the woods.
“Wanyin, where are we going?”
“Nowhere, just a stroll. You look stressed.”
“Well...I..”
“Come on, Zewu-Jun, I’m not sure what’s bothering you, but you’ve worked really hard. You deserve to be happy at some point, right?”
Was Jiang Wanyin pouting? Was he drunk?
“Wanyin, are you drunk?”
“A little tipsy that’s all,” he rolled his eyes.
“Maybe we should... head back, and find your brother or something.”
“He’s probably pining over your brother, don’t worry about him.” With each step Jiang Cheng took towards him, Xichen took one backward till his back hit the tree.
“Wanyin -”
“You’re really pretty, Huan-ge.”
Xichen wasn’t sure if it was the compliment that made him blush, or the endearment; it had been a while since he heard his birth name. He wasn’t sure of anything anymore, with Jiang Cheng’s hands gripping his waist, his heart raced. Jiang Cheng’s scent did something to his head, in more ways than one.
“Wanyin...this...this is inappropriate.” Xichen knew the height gap he had on Wanyin, but right now because his knees were weak, or by some magic; Wanyin seemed to tower over him.
“Of course, it is,” he scoffed, covering the man’s lips with his, drawing out the sound of a moan.
After the performance, Lan Zhan was nowhere to be found. Wei Ying knew because he had been standing in the dressing room for fifteen minutes and he hadn’t seen him since. He walked around the party, thinking Lan Zhan would most likely stand-alone somewhere close to the walls, or be with his uncle. It wasn’t until he wandered away towards the woods that he heard some sounds. At least someone was getting some affection. He walked a bit further, without the intention of peeking, it wasn’t till he realized the back belonged to Jiang Cheng that he managed to hold back a giggle.
His didi moved quickly, it was impressive. The light blue pair of trousers made his stomach drop. A mix of his emotions welled at the bottom of it. It felt like a betrayal, but it wasn’t; it hurt; Like a knife in his heart, gradually twisting itself in.
He wasn’t sure what to do in a situation like this, so he did what he was best at doing; he ran. He held the tears that welled up in his eyes till he opened his door and leaned back against it. He just couldn’t get why he had been so stupid to think Lan Zhan would care for him, to think Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng couldn’t get together. The Jiangs and the Lans were friendly, even though he barely mingled with sect kids and heirs. Maybe they had met earlier at a meeting or something, wasn’t that how all the heirs knew each other? Maybe-
“Xian-ge.”
He had been so occupied with his thoughts that he didn’t notice the two people sitting on the couch, and ...was that blood on the sides of their clothes?
“Wen Ning?”