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“Cooking is prohibited in the dorms,” Lan Wangji says. His tone is matter of fact and blunt. There is little room for arguing, now all that was left was denying.
“Who’s cooking?” Wei Wuxian asks, despite the delicious smells wafting out of the door behind him, “We ordered food from across town.”
Wangji looks unconvinced, but he is strangely reasonable. Wuxian hears Jiang Wanyin curse as he pulls the rice cooker pot out without a pot holder.
“Want some soup?” Wuxian asks. Wangji stares for longer than is comfortable so Wuxian chuckles. “Didn’t think so. Is there anything else you need?”
Wangji grunts as an answer and leaves.
“He’s such a weird guy,” Wuxian says closing the door and sitting down on the floor with Wanyin.
“You shouldn’t bother him. He’s going to write us both up if you do,” Wanyin says serving himself some of the soup.
“Probably,” Wuxian says before slurping noodles very loudly, “Do you think he believed me?”
“No,” Wanyin says, “We’re probably gonna be written up this time too.”
“What’s that? The third this semester?” Wuxian asks.
“For you maybe. It’s only the second for me.”
Wanyin’s phone goes off. He answers it.
“Wanyin, there are corpses out!” Huaisang whines through the phone.
“Why are you out so late?” Wanyin snaps, “Do I have to come get you?! I swear… It’s almost curfew!”
“Wanyin, please,” Huaisang whines, “I almost got caught by one and had to hide on a fire escape.”
“Why can’t you call a night watchmen?” Wanyin asks.
“I used all my calls for the month…”
Wanyin sighs. “I’ll come and get you…” he relents. He always does, Wuxian thinks.
Wanyin grabs Zidian and Sandu. He puts on his coat. Wuxian puts up the rest of the soup and puts it in the mini fridge.
“Do you think Sandu is necessary? Huaisang is just a coward. The corpses probably aren’t that fierce,” Wuxian says.
“Better safe than sorry,” Wanyin replies.
Wuxian smiles at how protective of Huaisang Wanyin is. “Text me when you need me to distract Wangji.”
Wanyin grunts and heads out the door. Wuxian tries to distract himself for awhile, but he gets bored easily so he decides that he will pay Wangji a visit early. He grabs a roll of kimbap Wanyin bought earlier in the week and heads to Wangji’s dorm. He knocks, and Wangji answers.
“I felt bad for not giving you any soup so I brought some sushi I bought from Asian club,” Wuxian says.
“Kimbap,” Wangji says simply.
“Oh, yeah kimbap. Impressive that you knew the difference just by looking at it even though they look the same. One of the Korean girls, In-hye, was selling it to pay for textbooks. She’s one of my sister’s friends,” Wuxian says, “I already ate a roll, and it was really good. I know you have a weird diet, but it’s completely vegetarian so I’m sure you can eat it.”
Wangji hums as an answer.
“Can I come in?” Wuxian asks.
Wangji hesitates then nods. Wuxian steps into Wangji’s dorm room. It feels larger than his and Wanyin’s but that was because it is neat and tidy. There is a low table in the middle of the room, and Wuxian takes a seat at it. He leans to the side and sets the roll of Kimbap on the table. Wangji goes to his cabinet and pulls out a cutting board and knife.
“Aren’t those for cooking? Wangji, have you been secretly breaking rules?” Wuxian teases.
“Stupid,” Wangji breaths.
“I guess, if you only eat rabbit food then it doesn’t really count as cooking,” Wuxian says as Wangji carefully cuts up the roll of kimbap. Wuxian pops one of the freshly cut pieces in his mouth and smiles, “They are really good. I’m going to have to buy more the next time I see In-hye.”
Wangji pours himself some tea and takes a sip.
“I brought this all the way here, and you’re not going to share with me?” Wuxian says taking a piece in his hands and shoving it towards Wangji.
“Ate earlier.”
Wuxian shakes his head and eats the kimbap. “Suit yourself, but it’s really good.”
Wangji is silent as he watches Wuxian eat.
“Heard you’re having an exhibition soon,” Wuxian says between snacks.
Wangji hums.
“I’ll be sure to go,” Wuxian says. His phone goes off, and he realizes that he hasn’t checked it in half an hour. “Give me a minute. It’s probably my brother.”
He answers his phone.
“Are you distracting him?” Wanyin asks.
“Yeah,” Wuxian replies.
“Okay, I’m almost back.”
Wuxian hangs up and smiles sheepishly. “He was wondering where I was.”
Wangji stands up and heads to the door.
“Hey! Wait!” Wuxian exclaims grabbing his arm, “Where are you going?”
Wangji frowns.
“You really are the worst RA ever,” Wuxian says plopping on the ground, “The other RA’s understand that sometimes you get stopped by corpses, but you don’t seem to. If Wanyin didn’t go out there what would have happened to Huaisang? He would still be hiding on a fire escape crying. You’re way too strict.”
“Breaking curfew is prohibited,” Wangji says.
Wuxian groans. “Yeah, but there were extenuating circumstances,” he says.
“Night watchmen.”
“Huaisang is terrible about staying out late because he lives off campus and always uses all his calls. Do you want him to get killed because he’s stupid?”
Wangji grunt. “Just once,” he says finally and sits down to drink his tea.
Wuxian grins and throws his arms over Wangji’s shoulders. “Thank you!” he exclaims. Wangji’s body is rigid, and Wuxian stops hugging him quickly, laughing sheepishly. “Sorry, sorry. I’ll get you something to thank you.”
“No need.”
Wangji takes a piece of kimbap and eats it frowning.
“I’ll bring flowers to your exhibition!” Wuxian exclaims.
Wangji’s eyes widen, and he opens his mouth to tell Wuxian not to, but he was already out the door. Wangji stares at the remaining kimbap. He puts it carefully in a container and sets it in his mini fridge.
Wuxian opens the door to his dorm, and Huaisang is sitting on the floor next to Wanyin shuddering.
“...Why... They’re always walking around. They’re so gross,” Huaisang is complaining.
“They’re just going home,” Wanyin says patting his shoulder to comfort him.
“Spending the night?” Wuxian asks.
Huaisang nods his head.
“The corpses were fierce. They were chasing him when I finally found him,” Wanyin says.
“Did you have to kill any?” Wuxian asks.
“No, they backed off when I used Zidian,” Wanyin replies.
“I’ll go next time,” Wuxian says.
Huaisang opens his mouth as if to say something then closes it and fans himself. “It’s really not important enough to trouble you.”
“You can trouble me though?” Wanyin glares.
“Wanyin…” Huaisang whines.
Wanyin grumbles and starts to get ready for bed.
“Where were you just now?” Huaisang asks Wuxian.
“Distracting Wangji,” he replies.
“I’m sure he enjoyed that,” Huaisang says, fanning himself.
“I just ate kimbap with him. You read too much porn.”
“That was my lunch for tomorrow!” Wanyin says hitting Wuxian over the head with a pillow.
Wuxian covers his face as Wanyin beats him with the pillow some more, and he shouts, “I’ll buy you more! I promise!”
Wanyin clicks his tongue. “You better!” he exclaims.
“Next time you need to rescue Huaisang ask him. He might let you break curfew. He is sometimes reasonable,” Wuxian says.
“I’m not doing that. Anyway, who are you sleeping with Huaisang?”
Huaisang’s fanning abruptly stops. “I’m sorry?”
“Tonight. Whose bed are you sleeping in…” Wanyin is frowning.
“Either is fine,” Huaisang says, he’s fanning again.
“You can sleep with me!” Wuxian exclaims.
Wanyin and Huaisang look disappointed, but Huaisang still ends up snuggled next to Wuxian. They really have a long way to go, Wuxian thinks, how can they be so dense…
The next day, Wuxian comes back to his dorm after his classes to put his bag up. His back aches and he stretches before opening his door. He sets his bag down and is about to leave when someone knocks. He opens the door and grins delighted.
“Wangji!” he exclaims.
Wangji hands him a roll of kimbap.
“Oh, thanks, but that was a gift so you didn’t need to. And besides I ate most of it.”
Wangji stares at him very intensely so hesitantly he accepts the gift. He puts it in the fridge then heads back to the door.
“I was about to hang out with a few friends. You want to come?” Wuxian asks.
Wangji hums, and Wuxian smiles.
“I hope we don’t do anything strenuous,” Wuxian says stretching again, “I’m so sore from sleeping with Huaisang.”
Wangji’s head snapped to look at him, shocked by his callous admission.
“I just shared a bed!” Wuxian exclaims, though why he cared what Wangji thought of him is beyond him, “He stayed over because he was actually getting chased by corpses. Can you believe it?”
Wangji hums.
“I’ve never heard of someone getting chased by corpses before. It’s really strange,” Wuxian says, “I wonder if he attracts them or something.”
“He should live on campus if he is chased so often,” Wangji says.
“Maybe he and Wanyin can dorm together when I get my own place,” Wuxian says thoughtfully. Wangji stares at him for a moment, and Wuxian laughs some to explain. “Next semester I’m going to start student teaching so I want to be closer to the school I’m gonna work for so I can sleep in and stuff.”
Did he look disappointed? Wuxian thinks.
“I’ll invite you to the apartment warming party,” Wuxian laughs.
Wangji hums. They reach Wuxian’s car.
“Oh, I have to pick up some people. Are you okay with carpooling?” Wangji nods. “Okay, sweet. I need to get Wen Ning and his sister. I think they may be bringing their little cousin too which is exciting.”
Asian club, which had a real club name and abbreviation that no one cared to use, runs late as it often does. Everyone is having too much of a good time to go home, but it’s dark. Some of the off campus kids find dorms they can stay in for the night, and a few decide to stay in the student center until daybreak planning on taking the party there and telling ghost stories around a flashlight. There is always plenty of left-overs after and someone suggests ordering a pizza. Wuxian almost joins even though he really doesn’t need to.
“Can anyone take In-hye home!?” Mianmian shouts over the noise and planning.
“I can! I can!” Wuxian offers, waving his hand.
In-hye smiles at him gratefully. “Thank you,” she says, “I know it’s such a bother.”
Wuxian grins. “Not at all,” he says.
Unable to stand silence they talk the whole walk to her apartment. In-hye laughs at his jokes and tells some of her own until she remembers something.
“Oh, the strangest thing happened. Lan Wangji asked about you,” In-hye says.
“He did?” Wuxian exclaims. He shouldn’t be so excited.
“Yeah, he asked me how to make the kimbap you like, and I said I could make it, but he refused to let me. So I gave him the recipe. It’s really not that hard to make, but it was strange. He must really like it, I guess,” In-hye says.
Wuxian’s eyes widened. “Wait, he’s been making the rolls of kimbap he’s been giving me once a week?!”
In-hye laughs. “He’s such a thoughtful guy,” she says as they reach her apartment, “tell him I’m mad at him for taking my cutest customer.”
Wuxian chuckles, even though he doesn’t feel like it. “I will. Have a nice night.”
“You too. Be safe on the way back,” In-hye says.
Wuxian walks back to his dorm. He can’t stop thinking about the carefully made kimbap Wangji has been gifting him. Where did he get the rice? Has he really been breaking the rules and cooking in his dorm? He was so caught up in his thoughts he didn’t realize he was out after curfew.
He really has no excuse as he shows up to the door of the dorms. Wanyin is probably asleep, and he definitely wouldn’t want to distract Wangji. Wuxian slips inside, silently praying that Wangji won’t hear, but he does or he’s been standing blocking the hallway all night.
“I know, I broke curfew. You can write me up, but I was bringing In-hye home after Asian club so I had a reason.”
“Fine.”
Wuxian hadn’t expected that. “You’re not going to write me up?” Wangji shakes his head and heads back to his dorm. Wuxian follows behind him grinning. “Maybe you do actually like me.”
Wangji mumbles something that Wuxian misses.
“Oh, In-hye said to tell you she’s mad at you for taking her cutest customer,” Wuxian says smirking.
Wangji’s ears turn pink.
“Were you really making me food this whole time? You’re such a thoughtful guy. I don’t get why you didn’t tell me though.”
Wangji opens the door to his dorm, and Wuxian stands in the doorway. Wangji hesitates. He seems to have something he wants to say but can’t. Wuxian’s heart is beating harder than normal, but he’s not certain why.
“Come in,” Wangji says finally, and Wuxian does.
The flowers Wuxian gave Wangji at his exhibition are in a vase wilting. They weren’t that nice when he gave them to him either, but he still had them out. It made Wuxian glow on the inside.
“Wangji, you kept my flowers!” Wuxian exclaims looking at them closer. He thinks back to the exhibition and the other flowers that Wangji was given. “Where are the other flowers you got?”
Wangji doesn’t look at him. He sits down at the table and pours himself some tea. Wuxian sits down in front of him frowning.
“You had much prettier flowers, but you kept mine.”
Wangji hums.
“If I didn’t know any better I would think you liked me,” Wuxian laughs.
Wangji’s ears turn pink. He doesn’t speak, he just sips his tea.
“But so many beautiful flowers. It really is such a waste,” Wuxian sighs.
Wangji stands up and grabs a flower from the vase. He hands it to Wuxian then sits down. Wuxian smiles and spins the flower in his hand. The petals are discolored and browning at the tips. He thinks it might have been pink at one time.
“Thank you,” Wuxian says, grinning, “I almost never get flowers, but I really like them.”
Wangji’s head snapped up, and his ears were bright red now. “I will buy you flowers,” he says. He looks surprised by his own words.
Wuxian smiles. “That’s sweet of you, but you don’t need to.”
“I want to,” Wangji says.
“Stop, you’re making me blush,” Wuxian says covering his face, “When did you start saying stuff like this? You’re not supposed to say this kind of stuff to people unless you like them.”
Wangji closed his eyes and let out a long sigh, and silence stretches between them. “It’s time for bed,” he says, breaking the silence that he created.
“Oh, I won’t bother you anymore. See you later,” Wuxian says jumping up to leave.
As Wuxian leaves he hears, “You weren’t bothering me,” and stops in his tracks. He turns around and bites his lip.
“You want to get lunch Saturday?” he asks.
Wangji looks up. He nods his head.
“It’s a date then!” As soon as the words are out of Wuxian’s mouth, he flushes red and retreats as quick as he can, embarrassed by his audacity.
He accidentally wakes Wanyin up as he slips into the dorm room. “Where were you?” Wanyin asks flipping his pillow to get more comfortable. His voice is still thick with sleep.
“No where,” Wuxian says getting ready for bed as quickly as possible as not to disturb his brother anymore.
“Whatever,” Wanyin pulls his covers over his head and falls back to sleep.
Wuxian is drunk. Wanyin is bringing Huaisang home so he will have to distract Wangji. He can’t wait to distract Wangji so he goes to his dorm early. Wangji opens the door and sees Wuxian grinning at the door. He smells strongly of spilled alcohol.
“Alcohol is prohibited in the dorms.”
“What alcohol?” Wuxian asks, giggling. He steps into Wangji’s dorm without permission and flops down onto the floor next to Wangji’s table.
“It’s late,” Wangji says sitting at the table opposite of Wuxian.
“It’s not curfew yet,” Wuxian says, “We still have,” he checks his phone, “half an hour.”
Wangji sighs. “Are you distracting me for your brother?”
Wuxian shakes his head. “I got lonely,” he says.
“You are drunk,” Wangji sighs.
“I am,” Wuxian confirms, “I was playing truth or dare with Huaisang and Wanyin.”
“Truth or dare?” Wangji asks. His face does not disguise his wonder at Wuxian’s choice of games.
“Dare,” Wuxian says, imagining that Wangji asked him to play. He bursts out laughing.
“I--”
“Wangji, please, it’ll be fun.”
Wangji frowns then reaches for his phone to google some truth or dare dares. Wuxian watches with his mouth open as Wangji scrolls through until he finds one that is appropriate. He stands and takes a bag of chips out of his cupboard. He hands it to Wuxian.
“Dare you to open it with your mouth.”
Wuxian grins. “You aren’t good at this. Huaisang did good dares,” he says before taking the chips and attempting to open them for a long while. Finally he opens it and the chips spill all over the floor. Wangji grabs a handheld vacuum and a dustpan and cleans up the mess.
“Truth or dare,” Wuxian says.
“No.”
“Come on!” Wuxian whines.
“I will see you tomorrow,” Wangji says standing up.
“Oh, yeah, our date,” Wuxian says, smiling widely, “I want to see you now though…”
Wangji’s ears turned red. “Wuxian…”
Wuxian brings his knees to his chest and hugs them. “Why wait? I like you.”
“Wuxian.”
“Can you say something other than my name?” Wuxian asks, “Can you sweep me off my feet or tell me you’re madly in love with me or… or…”
“Stand up.”
Wuxian stands up thinking that next he will be asked to leave, but suddenly, his feet are out from under him and he is in Wangji’s arms. He’s eyes are wide.
“I am madly in love with you.”
Wuxian is red. Redder than he’s ever been. His eyes are wide, and he left his stomach on the floor. Wuxian kisses Wangji harder than he means to. His hands are on either side of his cheeks, and he kisses and kisses until he breaks the kiss gasping and stares at Wangji wide-eyed.
“We still have a date tomorrow though, right?” Wuxian asks.
Wangji nods and puts Wuxian down.
“I don’t want to go to my room now…” Wuxian mumbles.
“Stay,” Wangji says.
Wuxian smiles, sheepishly. “Okay,” he says, “but first I need to go to the bathroom. I’ll be right back.”
Wuxian slipped off to the bathroom and tries to call Wanyin to explain the situation, but he doesn’t answer. There’s no way corpses got him? Was there? He calls a few more times, somewhere near a hundred times and texts Wanyin demanding he answer him. Finally he texts Huaisang.
‘Are you alive?’
‘Yes
Wanyin is spendin the night with me since he doesnt want to get written up’
‘Get it’
‘Stooooop Pppp’
Wuxian pockets his phone and comes out of the bathroom and walks back to Wangi’s dorm. It’s late. He opens the door and finds Wangji nodding off in front of the table.
“Oh, it’s time for you to sleep. I don’t need to…”
Wangji looks up and gestures for him to come to him. His ears are red like he’s going to say something embarrassing. “Lay with me.”
Wuxian grins and kisses Wangji on the cheek. “Yeah, sounds nice,” he says before they both cram into Wangji’s twin bed. He envelopes Wuxian in his arms and promptly falls asleep. Wuxian wonders how much after his bed time he kept him up, but with the warm presence against his back he too falls asleep.
Wuxian wakes up to the buzzing of his cell phone. He reaches for it and notices a text message from his brother asking him to bring his bag over and to hang out with him and Huaisang. Wuxian shakes his head.
‘Cant got to practice for a performance’ That’s a lie but he’s not quite ready to admit it’s because he’s having lunch with Wangji. ‘Ill bring your stuff soon’
His phone keeps getting messages and Wuxian finally rolls out of Wangji’s bed. Wangji is sitting at the table drinking some tea. Wuxian sits next to him and smiles.
“Morning,” he says.
Wangji hums as a response.
“I have to drop something off with my brother so I’ll meet you out for lunch,” Wuxian says.
Wangji nods his head and Wuxian kisses him quickly before leaving the room, only hanging at the door for a few moments, grinning like an idiot. His face is still red at the thought of cuddling Wangji the whole night. Sleeping next to Wangji was the best rest he got in months.
Wuxian checks his phone as he grabs Wanyin’s backpack. Huaisang sent him a text a minute before, ‘im begging you please let me spend time w/ your brother alone’.
Wuxian laughs and sends him a text back. ‘No worries, got date’.
‘With wangji?’
Wuxian sends a winky face and stuffs his phone in his pocket. He runs down the stairs and out the door. Huaisang didn’t live all that far away, and it is a much shorter distance during the day when there were no corpses to stop him (not that they would stop him). He drops the backpack off and runs back to the dorm. He changes into nicer clothing and waits for a few minutes, scrolling through social media to occupy his time, but he is impatient and already misses Wangji.
Wuxian sheepishly heads back to Wangji’s dorm and knocks. He leans to the side as Wangji answers it. “Miss me?” Wuxian asks.
Wangji has a ghost of a smile on his lips. “Yes.”
Wuxian blushes and laughs. “Wangji, you can’t say things like that. You’ll make me die of sweetness.”
“Not die,” Wangji says, “just get sick off it.”
Wuxian wraps his arms around Wangji’s neck. “What can we do until we go to lunch?” he asks, “Have you any ideas for me?”
Wangji kisses him again and again.